Sivers the Third

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to Art of the Nation, a brand new podcast where we discuss the arts, music and entertainment with the people who make it. Hosted by yours truly, Josue Ramirez Nelson. On today, our first episode, we have with you Darian Sivers, also known as Sivers iii, rapper, musician extraordinaire and all around man of the people. He'll be talking to us about his new project, Songs for Her, Dollar Signs for Me. Join us as he breaks down tracks from the album and shares his insight on love and relationships only here at Art of the Nation. So a year ago you were fresh off the release of another album. You had Shadow Boss and Demons in Babylon coming on the way and now you're here again, like you're very active. [00:01:04] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:01:05] Speaker A: How are you? How do you keep that momentum going? [00:01:08] Speaker B: Funny enough, I had songs for her like ready since then, but like they were all demos so they weren't really like fleshed out. How do I keep active? It's just like after I finish Shadow Boxing I kind of wanted to change gears and do something different because obviously with Shot of Watson had done the show at the museum and then before that I was just doing shows at Sage and I would have just been rocking the same material pretty much, you know what I mean? So I wanted to kind of like switch gears and I wanted something lighter, funner to kind of do on stage. I still can, you know, in my late sets I'll still have like songs from Shadow Ball saying and you know, the 12 days project and stuff. But I wanted to have music where I just can have fun, you know, I mean where I have fun where you talk about something. I've always avoided my music which is like love just because I just felt like I wasn't really mature enough to write how I would want to raise about it. So I, I wanted to refocus and do Shadow Boxing and kind of like get some of the like personal, personal issues off so I can to do this project. Cuz it's like there's a lot of singing on here. Obviously this project has like a theme, like it's all pink theme and of. [00:02:24] Speaker A: Course you're dressed there. Of course he's dressed in pink. [00:02:28] Speaker B: Pink sweater, pink sweater, pink shades. [00:02:32] Speaker A: You look very much like the idea of Dram mixed with Cameron. [00:02:37] Speaker B: Yeah, that's good. Yeah, yeah. So the thing about the project too is that like I have never owned a piece of pink clothing in my life before. Like you knew seeing me 30 years, it's just been like hoodies and like jackets always like black, black or White or so, you know, I mean, it's like it was kind of like a challenge for me too. Like. All right, you know what I can call my comfort zone? I'm do something completely different. And the pink theme, I think it really. It's like such a lukewarm color. [00:03:07] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:03:07] Speaker B: Any sense that like, you know, you can get the intensity of like both hot and cold from like the emotions on the project, you know, I mean, it takes you places and the paint. [00:03:17] Speaker A: Just gives you a sense of aura. [00:03:19] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, and then, you know, as a, as a dark skinned brother, you know, the pink is making skin pop. [00:03:23] Speaker A: On, you know, so I only regret that like in my younger years, it took too long to warm up to like the beauty that. What? Pink? How pink contrast with. [00:03:33] Speaker B: Yeah, but you know what, that's a societal thing too, you know, Like, I mean, if you go way, way back, like primary school, secondary school, you know, there was, I guess I would say like a stigma around bright colors, you know? [00:03:45] Speaker A: Yeah. Wearing bright colors. [00:03:48] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, and then, you know, during those ages, like you're so fragile. Developmental way. [00:03:55] Speaker A: Precisely. [00:03:55] Speaker B: You kind of don't want additional things for people to pick at, you know, so you'll pick like stuff that you would see people around you wear. But yeah, being an artist, you know, in any kind of field is just about. I just try to be like my authentic self, you know, and part of being on, like for me is like improved by like 1%. [00:04:14] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:04:14] Speaker B: I mean, I won't say every day because that's a little extreme, but like, if I can improve by 1% every month, that's great for me, you know what I mean? I'm always constantly trying to figure out what's the next thing about meeting or address or a taco I work on, you know, like spiritually, emotionally, whatever. [00:04:30] Speaker A: You also see art here, especially being in music. Like a friendly competition where you always have to keep mine. [00:04:36] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, because they'd be saying a lagoon, you know what I mean? And all the guys playing on, it's like, yeah, I might want to step back up soon, you know, but. Yeah, this. This one is a. This road is gonna be really special, man. Like, there's some new stuff I have planned so many conversations are looking to have. And I already started having all of my socials on my personal phone and stuff. Like it's all party the Rolo, you know, this really is like a social experiment for me too, you know? Yeah, sure. [00:05:06] Speaker A: So songs for her, dollar signs for me. And this is fair to say Your love album? [00:05:12] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. [00:05:13] Speaker A: What brought you into this? Touching these topics? You said before that you didn't feel mature enough to tackle these. What, what changed for you now? [00:05:23] Speaker B: I think it was just like how it looked at music, you know, I mean like for me hip hop was a competitive sport. I wanted to make raps, you know, I mean I wanted to show people that you know, like barbadians can rap too, you know, I mean and that was the focus all my projects before this. When I started last couple years I've kind of been focusing on the art of things like, you know, how, how to like use every tool which is like. I started off singing, you know, I mean I started off as a songwriter for people and I wanted to kind of use everything. Like it's like there's no raps in here, there are rap songs there, you know, I mean I got verses sprinkled across so many songs and then I got some songs that I sing from top to bottom. So what got me here is kind of just a, a journey of like, kind of I said task myself and having fun with it, you know, I mean the music was just beautiful because you know, anything makes it produces and I touch is something that I fall in love with. And Minim had sent me that beat in an email like 4 years and every time I see him I was like, yeah bro, I'm working on it, you know, I mean and it's like I feel like I tell people that and they think that I just forgot. But my process really, it's either I write something right away or I have such a. Like it has a song like this and it takes so long to write it. So it's like though that was one of those songs and when I finally finished I was like, oh I love this, you know, I mean this is just, it's so groovy, you know. The music on here extends from R B to some neo soul with a little bit of hip hop in there. Obviously there's like some lush pop songs in here, like pop melodic rap songs on here. What else you got? Some elements of like I don't really see any or so not really me or so but more so like yeah, traditional R B thing like you know, think T Pain, you know, and then what a Hell of a Life got like some three six mafia esque hooks, you know, like some ratchet stuff in there, you know. Yeah. So I just try to, I just try to show the diversity of like being this age, you know, we're not young no more. Yeah, and it's like, how old are you now? I'm like 30. [00:07:31] Speaker A: 30. [00:07:32] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure, for sure, for sure. [00:07:34] Speaker A: Honestly, it's amazing to. To see, like, the passing of time. Because I know you from Saint Michael Diaz. [00:07:40] Speaker B: Yeah, I've been doing hip hop shows since I was like, 17. [00:07:45] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:07:46] Speaker B: Yeah. Crazy saying that. Alone in it, but, yeah. Avenue was that I was that sort of age. [00:07:51] Speaker A: Precisely. And you were very young, like organizing and mobilizing these hip hop platforms. [00:07:56] Speaker B: Yeah. Working with them. Working with the artists. Yeah. I mean, just around my age too. You know, I'm big up to all the artists that I kind of collab with all the years and then, you know, early 20s, the Bridgestone stuff. And it's kind of crazy to say that Brightstone was like almost like five. [00:08:11] Speaker A: Seven years old, you know, and still so fresh. [00:08:14] Speaker B: Yeah, people. People, you know, I guess still get tagged. People use that song to this day. But that was really my introduction to, like, music. And then, you know, recently Bombsy was the Kennedy trap. People have been like, spinning out the 12 days project. And then recently it would be like, Mesmerize and Vinnie, Vinnie Vici and then those kind of songs. Like, people always kind of like to hear my deep cut cheeks on things. So I. I just wanted to do something that was a little lighter. I mean. Yeah, there are topics on here about if you listen to this project, you kind of realize, like, I'm very selfish when it comes in relationships, but it's like, it's not selfish in a bad way. To me, I don't see that, you know. [00:08:54] Speaker A: How do you see it? [00:08:55] Speaker B: I see it as like, music has always been my penultimate goal. And to be fair, a lot of my relationships have suffered because of that. [00:09:03] Speaker A: Because it's like, you know, that's your first love. [00:09:05] Speaker B: When you tell someone you talking to that you won't be a rapper, it's kind of very hard for them to say until they see you do it. And they're like, oh, he's. I'm sorry. It's like, you know what I mean? They're like, oh, wow, he's really doing this. You know what I mean? And. And then it becomes a situation where it's like, okay, I'm always in the studio. I'm always doing meetings, planning, talking to people, trying to figure out, you know, I mean, luckily for me now on this release is like, I've done this. The. My 90 hours of, like, talking to, meeting people and building connections across the globe. That is like, you know, I got different little things moving and shaking to me in the background. So this is my shot to kind of not only put my brand on the next level, but also talk about something I wanted to talk about for the long as well, which is like the idea of like love and romance and you know, like what is it? You know, I mean rappers haven't exactly been. [00:10:04] Speaker A: No. [00:10:05] Speaker B: The most accurate champions of love in a traditional sense. You know, maybe lust, you know, maybe, maybe, maybe infidelity. [00:10:15] Speaker A: But like love in all the ways that shows those different layers of it. Whereas like the vulnerability, being open, caring for someone else. So I want to get into like, you know, how you view. View love through this album. But I want to say like to your point, being 13 years in this game, that you bring something like this that is different to what you've done. It shows your longevity but also your evolution as well. [00:10:38] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:10:38] Speaker A: How do you managed to find ways to keep yourself fresh? Cuz I know it's creatively. [00:10:45] Speaker B: You're still a fan, bro. Like, I mean even now I still listen. I think I always hear people say, oh, you know, I don't listen too much, right. I listen to a lot like two curse words. But I listen, I listen to like. Like one of my favorite artists is Bon Iver. You know what I mean? So I listen to his stuff. I listen to. [00:11:04] Speaker A: You can see the influence to. [00:11:06] Speaker B: Yeah, I listen to a lot of R B. So even like the newer guys, like a lovely Elon Thomas's stuff. I think Brian Free Eyes is tight like we can. And even on the girls like Cleo Soul, I love her stuff too. And in rock, I still, I just listened to Two Changes project with Alchemist and forget first guy's name right now. But yeah, I listen to that project. I listen to Cornucopia, you know, even Drake project, two song sexy songs, Kendrick's project. Like I'm still a student to the game, so I'm listening. And then I'm still trying to like reimagine hip hop in my eyes and like what do I want to talk about? How do I feel about it? My idea of love is that like, you know, it's about trust, is about commitment, it's about understanding. I think people get kind of twisted about what love is in like a modern context, you know, I mean even myself too is like, you know, you, you live on. On social media, online and you know, as a public figure, there's a competitiveness to what you want your life to look like and then there is a. What your life actually is, you know, and how do you kind of juggle those things? How do you. Be serious. You turn it. I've also. I've always had, like, a good divide. I've always had a good divide on, like, keeping my legs kind of like, separate. And I mean, like, even just like, personally, like, with my other businesses too. It's like, this is something that I really just wanted to be about the art, you know, I mean, I haven't done a lot of fanfare and to my detriment, maybe that has been where my brand hasn't grown bigger because, you know, I haven't done any TikTok challenges or. [00:13:00] Speaker A: Yeah, you're not like, always in people's faces. [00:13:03] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, I kind of only appear when I got something to. For y' all listen to, which is. Which is, you know, I'm okay with that. [00:13:10] Speaker A: But I think what also works for you in a sense that, you know, you. There may not be as much like, aggressive promotion, like, you know, always on social trends, but I think what's different with you is that you're always outside. [00:13:20] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:13:21] Speaker A: So you're someone that's very approachable and very reachable. So even though you may not be, you know, on your social media page, you will very much run into you at a party, down at a bar, having a social. [00:13:32] Speaker B: Yeah. Because I love even like. And don't get twisted, I love Barbadian culture, bro. Like, I mean, I don't make soca music. And that's not even any, like, ah, soca music. It's just like, I just respect what they do so much that I could never pretend to fake it, you know what I mean? Like, you know, there's so many, like, hard contemporaries, you know, like Grateful Cole, Pipe Sadis, you know, even bigger my guy Chris that doing a lot of work don't. In Trinidad, you know what I mean? And then like, along my, like, older mentors, like Ed Wayne, you know, I mean, who's. Who's like, you know, always giving me advice throughout the years and stuff. Like, yeah, I love fats, dog. I love a fat. I like to a party, like, to go and dance and drink and enjoy myself. Yeah. Because, you know, I mean, I guess that's part of like, rapper lifestyle, I guess. [00:14:19] Speaker A: But yeah, entourage with you. [00:14:22] Speaker B: Yeah. My friends are like, so involved in my career too, you know, I mean, like, even when I put out something or like, I. I finish a song, they're always the first like, yo, let me hear it or let me share this or let me put it out. So, you know, like, I Do have a big support system and I do have a big team of people who want to see me win, you know. So yeah, I do love, I do love the culture and the elements of Barbados. I think. I know. I think Crop over is a great idea. I think the festival is a great idea. I think music is. It inspires people to enjoy themselves and you know what I mean? And I don't. I never. Before I used to see the industry separate. I say this in interviews all the time, but before I used the city industry separate. But I'm just like, yo, all of us going through like this in a different way. [00:15:07] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:15:08] Speaker B: You know, I mean like SOCA artists, hip hop artists, R B artists, we all got struggles coming from here and I mean. [00:15:15] Speaker A: And so much of the music is similar as well. [00:15:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:15:18] Speaker A: Have you ever had any thoughts of like jumping into soca? [00:15:21] Speaker B: No. [00:15:22] Speaker A: No. Not even as a one year. [00:15:24] Speaker B: You lose something. My friends ask me all the time if I could write for them. [00:15:28] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:15:28] Speaker B: I have written Soca so songs before four people. So. [00:15:32] Speaker A: But any, any that we would know. [00:15:33] Speaker B: It's not, it's not, it's not anything that I would like broadcast though, you know, it's just like, you know, in my early stages I was in SOCA studios trying to do rap. So it's like since I was there, might as well write a song or two. But I wouldn't be against it. If the right person approached me, I would write some songs for them. [00:15:52] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:15:52] Speaker B: I mean but, but for me it's like Yeah, I saw 10 toes down and for focused on. It's like this like hip hop, R B space. It's like. And I feel like I almost there, bro. You know what I mean? Like, I mean look at it. I went from doing shows with like 20 artists on it to doing shows was just like me and two openers, you know what I mean? And, and then just seeing all the people there was just like so cool. So I was like, you know, even if it was, I mean like to me it's like it's just always growth, you know. Like I had like 127 people out in the show world. Like, you know what I mean? I remember doing open mic night for like 15 people in a bar. [00:16:31] Speaker A: Yeah. So it's like those were the days. [00:16:34] Speaker B: You know what I mean? I mean I great times too because it's like developmental wise. Me, Saint Rock, Chian, we were like. [00:16:41] Speaker A: Around such amazing talent. [00:16:42] Speaker B: We were like the Avengers, Kyoma, you know what I mean? [00:16:46] Speaker A: Laryx, Wesu at The Hilton. [00:16:50] Speaker B: At the Hilton. You know, not too f far from here. It was just, it was, that was. Those were some of the best times of my life, bro. [00:16:57] Speaker A: I remember a day, I think it was weu, it was sunrock. I, I, I want to say I think that you were in it as well. But they were doing a freestyle where I know, like, Yoma has such a fantastic dope. Everything his style is that you would just put an object in front of him and he would just rap a cord into that. And the people from the crowd were just calling ra random things like tilapia, fish market. And then it just. [00:17:23] Speaker B: And you know what's crazy with that, bro? We did that every week. Yeah, it was just me, Chris, Me, Chris, Rock, Kyoma, Chian sometimes or depending on what was going on, Larix every week. You know, Wesu Laris is amazing. And we was just doing stuff even before then they had mike chat when it was training of them. And that was such a great environment to grow and perform in because, like, before then where, what stages do you have to, like, as a young artist doing? Not so could it perform? Yeah, you know, I mean, like, at least with a soca artist, you got tents, you know, I mean, like intent culture. [00:18:03] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:18:03] Speaker B: And then you'll graduate. You do either one in competitions or you, you go into a studio and you start working with producers and you build. But like, what is the rope for a rapper or RB artist to like, get, like, performances? You know what I mean? You know, that's why people are so accustomed to like, rapping to tracks, you know? But like, I had a chance to rock with the Lake Band every week for two years, three years, four years. Amazing. Hilton Dizz was good. [00:18:28] Speaker A: And it kept you on your toes creatively as well. [00:18:30] Speaker B: Yeah. Because, you know, one thing about Barbadian audiences, we, we are a tough crowd, you know what I mean? So it's like, you know, sometimes we be up there rapping and you get no response. And then you come off stage and my house like, yo, bro, that was dope. I really like what you doing here, boy. You just like, really, I didn't really see it for, you know. And then sometimes, you know, if they're really into it, you would get them to move and, you know, that would be like your badge honor that, you know. So, yeah, big up, big up. Hilton Open M. Great times. [00:18:58] Speaker A: Yeah. So, so going into your song, I still want to get something out of you about these lover boy tracks. Cuz I remember back days, like rap albums used to be at least like 1321 tracks. Yeah. [00:19:09] Speaker B: And this, this is probably one of my. [00:19:11] Speaker A: You can listen during your lunch hour. [00:19:12] Speaker B: I am known for like long projects too, and long songs, you know, like Sugar Guns, like they're all concept songs are like four minute like thought pieces, you know, I mean, but these songs, a lot of these songs are like three minutes max, two minutes max. [00:19:27] Speaker A: Sure. [00:19:27] Speaker B: You know what I mean? And that, that is intentional in the sense of like, I wanted it to feel like you could sit down and play this on like a Drake or somewhere. [00:19:37] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:19:37] Speaker B: You could get from your destination and it just loops, you know. So. Yeah, we really wanted. We won't start. [00:19:44] Speaker A: Well, it's there from the beginning. Saturday, you said Saturday. What a hell of a life. You said these weren't very deep. [00:19:50] Speaker B: Yeah, so. So they're not, they're not love songs. They're not traditional love songs. It's like, it's a start of a story. So the, the overlaying story of songs for her is essentially like the journey of being single and a young man in Barbados and is trying to navigate that. So like Saturday, if you listen to it, it's just like. It feels like a Saturday night in Barbados. I mean, the video that I'm planning for is gonna be that. Exactly. You know what I mean? It's gonna be like the journey of these four characters out in a boat. You know what I mean? Even some of the lines on yourself, you know, stopping every endeavor and I'm too clever Please don't mess with my chat I need all my zeros dance. You know, it's just like rapping that I. That people know me for. It's like I really wanted to paint the scene of like this person as a boat, you know, getting ready in the mirror. You just prepping yourself. Yeah. You know, you just. You're just prepping yourself to like to go on its own. And it feels like the music feels like a Saturday night in Barbiez. That was honestly when it was. When I told Mix, I was like mix, yo. I want a song that feels. Feels like Saturday night life in Barbados. And I mean like that feels like all oysters. That feels like regular lounge. That feels like souks, you know what I mean? That's why it has a very simpy. It has a very kid Cuddy like kind of vibe to it, you know what I mean? Like, you know, I want it to feel like a, like a, like a 90s throwback pop track, but like it still had like modern day drums on it, you know? I mean and then it still kind of introduces so many themes of love. Like on here, I say something. I, I, I don't want like, paraphrase or quote myself wrong, but I say something along the lines of, I found my soulmate and then self destructed the piece because I was too. Because I was selfish to. All too selfish to offer my heart on the plate. And that's really how I felt. You know what I mean? It was like headphone this person. I thought, yo, this is gonna be one. You know, I can, I can train my best. And it was like, this was like right during the beginning of Kovi when I was even all we home, we practically home, trying to figure out if we can ever conversate again. And I met this person. We spent so much time talking, and it's turned into something. And I'm writing this song and that just to show you the day on the song. And they're writing this song, like, yeah, you know, I miss outside. Let me make something that feels like outside talking about this. Like, but then it's like, as when I get back outside and I finish in this song, like, oh, shoot. Like, not together anymore. So it's just like. And I'm the reason I failed, you know, because it was just like, yo, like I'm. I want to focus on this thing. And clearly I'm not giving you enough time and attention. So it's like I literally self destructed. I can't b. From my heart on a plate plate for something right now, you know, I mean, and that sucked, you know, is it really sucked, you know, I can meet. I could have been talks. I could have strangled along and got whatever I wanted out of this situation and probably not tell her that I'm not gonna probably last for like a year, two years, whatever. But it's like, I just, that's just not me, bro. Like, I can, I don't know. Every rapper's like, real, I'm real, you know? But like, to me, I really am like that, you know? Like, I can, I can be fake with people, bro. I can't. If I have a problem with you, I definitely gonna address it, you know what I mean? Good or bad, even if I come on positive or negative at the end of it. [00:23:09] Speaker A: But that's very, it's a very mature thing to do. Like, knowing that it wasn't going anywhere, rather than having the person have their whole experience. [00:23:17] Speaker B: Intimate and like, deep. No, bro, that's because of my upbringing. I grew up and I watched my dad destroy his marriage. You know what I mean? I grew up and watched my mother raise us without him, you know what I mean? So it's like, like I would say develop like this like hypersensitivity in my head towards women. So it's like, oh, no, I would never put nobody through that because I see my mother go through that. You know, I've had. I see my, my sisters and my brothers go through their own situations. And that's like one of the pros and cons of being the youngest, you know? I mean, like, you kind of get to watch your, your elders mess up, you know what I mean? And then it's almost like you were. [00:23:53] Speaker A: You went there to see the good times. You, you just saw it from. [00:23:55] Speaker B: Yeah, unfortunately. You know what I mean? Unfortunately because of time and how on when it was born. Like I was born in 94. My parents marriage was already going through things when I came to like, knowledge. Like, yeah, by the time it was 8, I already had memories and situations and scenarios I was placed into. And you know, and then, you know, I've lived long enough now to like, have so much different thoughts on this. It's like when you become an adult working and you get into a relationship with somebody, you get to see, oh, okay. It's not as, as cookie cutter as, you know, this argument or you cheat on this person. Like there are a lot of layers. This, you know, I mean, yeah, they got crap people out there, you know, I mean, people make mistakes. But it's like a marriage is not easy. A relationship is not easy. Friendships, sometimes they're easy, you know, Know, because it's like you, you so obsessed on what you're doing and it's like, you know, you got to live in Barbados. Like it costs a living. So crazy. And it's like sometimes you spend two months with your heads down grain to get something done and you say, oh, when's the last time talk to my friends? You know? I mean, when was the last time you went on a date? Oh, you know, like a lot of things suffer because of where we live and how we live. You know what I mean? Even people with decent jobs, bro. Like, yeah, you're gonna pay good. But it's like, what time do you have when you enjoy and then when you, if you can't pay it bad. Like that's another problem because now you gotta juggle multiple things to pay bills, you know, and it's crazy. So, yeah, I started now going back to Saturdays. Like I felt like that it's like, yo, I can't make this work with just me, you know what I mean? And at the time, like 2020, like, my team wasn't huge. It was me, Mixie, Dark Wing. I don't even think I really started Red oil yet. You know what I mean? I was still kind of. I mean, how do I idea of it was running around saying right now, but there was no company yet. There was no structure yet, you know what I mean? So it's like we just here trying to make something. We're a dream, you know, trying to. Trying to figure it out. And it's like, how do you explain to somebody, are you trying to be a rapper in Barbados? But they're not seeing you doing shows, but they're not seeing you make any money that you're supposed to make from it when they see you work every day, all these hours, you know what I mean? So I was just kind of like, you know what? Anyway, and I've had conversations after this about it and then just say, oh, you know, that's so selfish. And it was, you know, her whole thing was like, you didn't even approach me or talk to me about this. These are things that you keep in your head. [00:26:16] Speaker A: You feel like you made that decision. [00:26:17] Speaker B: Yeah, by myself, essentially. You know what I mean? And I did, and it sucked. And I was young, you know what I mean? Like, 2020. [00:26:24] Speaker A: How are you all at now, this mystery girl. [00:26:27] Speaker B: We're cool. [00:26:28] Speaker A: Yeah, but it's not something where you guys would try again. [00:26:35] Speaker B: Now and then, like, if you go to what, hell of a life now. [00:26:38] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:26:38] Speaker B: I literally, honestly, I am not even gonna lie. I know. And there's no deep stories about hell of a life. I literally saw Rick and this birthday song, this Dubai for your birthday, you know, I was like, yo, that is insane. And I always used to love, like, 50s. Go shoddy. [00:26:55] Speaker A: It's your birthday. [00:26:56] Speaker B: So I was like, all right, you know what? I'm gonna write a birthday song. [00:26:59] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:26:59] Speaker B: I mean, so I did that. You know, I wrote that song. Well, like, I want something that really moves. And it was like. [00:27:10] Speaker A: It was. [00:27:10] Speaker B: It was that period where people were like, using a lot, like three, six morphe interpolations. And I was like, all right, well, I don't want have my publishing eat up by this thing. [00:27:19] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:27:20] Speaker B: So let me figure out how do I keep the energy of that Again, Mixy crazy mix came up with a. Which kind of feels like like a Mike Dean, you know, intro to like, some like, animated Justice League series kind of vibe. And I was like, all Right, cool. I can get Milo to sing the beginning because Milo got like this haunty kind of jazz vibe going on and then gay sing at the end. I didn't just put like a very simple hook, like I literally was just like, all right, I can do the birthday element. I can just do the instruction and command type things. And then the second verse I can go into a little bit deep story about like, you know, this person I knew that was like very high strung. Like she is like super corporate, you know, I mean, but like parties on weekends, like, you know, I'm. I'm gonna base about her and her friend group, you know what I mean? And that's the song, you know, I mean, a song for the girls. Yeah, for sure. Literally. Literally the songs are here and that's what a hell of a life, bro. It's just, literally just going out to a club and seeing people enjoying themselves. Drink, drinks and party and have fun. That's what that song is about. I Need you, which is the third song on this project, is the last song that I wrote for this project. Minim had produced this beat for me. Me, not for me. He produced this beat and he sent it to me about four years ago. Yeah, you know, it's about time you may work together. Listen to say it's different. It got like an afro vibe, but it's not Afro. They got a lot of African instruments in there. See, you could do with it. I listened to it and I say, yo, this be hard. I don't want to rap to this, you know what I mean? Like, I want, I want like, right. I want to sing something to, you know, I mean, I initially had written it for Chris to sing the hooks to these for this song. It would just like do the verses or I would rap something, you know. [00:29:18] Speaker A: But it's both you singing and rapping. [00:29:21] Speaker B: Yeah, for the old track. And then I guess recently, like really recently a year ago or so, like I was just listening to that song before I was able to go. And I was just like, yo, I can. I got the pretty little thing in love with a glitz of to go. I was like, oh, that's, that's hard. You know what I mean? I know. I was like working every day, trying to buy a family a home. X men ways she think more friends are all men are bones. And I was like, oh, that's cool because, you know, women always calling men dogs. So I can use these, like dogs eat bones, I can use that. And then they're just like, yeah, you know, But The I caught your eyes staring at the lights. I was like, that sounds so pretty, though. And. Yeah. And then they just kind of. I took that song to kind of encapsulate, you know, that first feeling when you meet that person. Like, yo, I really mess with this girl. You know, I like. I like her, you know, I mean, I need this person. And I really wanted to, like, have it like a puppy, puppy dog. Like, lush, lush kind of song to it. You know what I mean? Even the video for this, my idea. I mean, hope it, you know, comes to fruition. It's like I wanted it to be like a very atypical, no, out of the ordinary, like, Barbadian D. Like, my idea for this was like a karaoke. And then like, all of a sudden it turns into like this Tony Broadway kind of thing. [00:30:43] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:30:44] Speaker B: Like a bloody fan comes in and like a spotlight is shining down. So. So hopefully. I get that. But that's what I saw in it. That is gonna be like this lushy pop song where you kind of just like the atypical outside the window, the boombox, you know, I mean, R B type kind of song. [00:31:02] Speaker A: Oh. Like singing in the rain, Knees down. [00:31:04] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, that was. I need you. [00:31:06] Speaker A: You know, what's a. What's a typical Barbadian date for you? [00:31:13] Speaker B: I mean, there's so much stuff you could do, man. I mean, do I want to give it all my sauce? All right, so it's like. Yeah. You know, you could go for ice cream. [00:31:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:31:20] Speaker B: I mean, Tara cup Milky Wave has a. Has a good ice cream spot. You know, I mean, if they're like outdoors. You could go on hikes, trails. Animal foreclave is great. [00:31:32] Speaker A: That's beautiful. [00:31:33] Speaker B: Harson cave is great. [00:31:34] Speaker A: Like a garden. [00:31:35] Speaker B: Do a picnic gardens there. If. If the. If she's into like partying and stuff. You could do bar hopping. [00:31:41] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:31:42] Speaker B: Start from one course. Because the next coast, east coast is great for like. Like draves and stuff. Yeah. You can get creative. Yeah. [00:31:49] Speaker A: You got. Yeah. Drop any ideas and like, you know, and all of them are very inexpensive for the, you know, financially challenged. [00:31:55] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, and then, you know, there's like, you know, you could go like. Barbados has some premium, like, restaurants and like, stuff too. I mean, like, people. I guess because we live here, we don't really know. But I've traveled, so I've been to some places. Chopper is pretty good. Chopper's up there. [00:32:12] Speaker A: You know, Chopper is good. Point. [00:32:14] Speaker B: I haven't made the sake yet. Looking at. Looking at the ch. [00:32:17] Speaker A: I got. I Got plans for that one. [00:32:19] Speaker B: Yeah. Chef there is. [00:32:20] Speaker A: Is good friend Scott Ames. Yeah. Yeah. I saw it pop up because, like, I don't get to come to go down that side of yourself anymore. [00:32:29] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:32:29] Speaker A: And I went there recently and I said, like, I. I gotta try that. That spot. Because, I mean, anything that's like seafood. [00:32:36] Speaker B: Yeah. Carlisle great, too. [00:32:38] Speaker A: No car brewing. That. Those are my guys spot. [00:32:40] Speaker B: Then my guys, too. [00:32:43] Speaker A: I saw you were posted on. On one of their socials once. [00:32:46] Speaker B: Yeah, man. I'm actually doing my. My launch party for my. For this album. [00:32:51] Speaker A: Fantastic. [00:32:52] Speaker B: It's gonna be fun. [00:32:53] Speaker A: No, I've been trying to, like. I've been evangelizing everybody, like, bringing them down there, so you gotta try. [00:32:58] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, with new spots in Barbados, it kind of gotta be like, each one teach one. Yeah. [00:33:03] Speaker A: Just grab them, like, precisely and bring them because you want them to outlast. [00:33:07] Speaker B: Yeah. And then, like, his story is so great, too. Not to go, like, too far off topic, but it's just that he makes all of that beer there. A microbrewery. [00:33:14] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:33:14] Speaker B: I mean, I would like a very. [00:33:15] Speaker A: Small team, and they're very interesting concepts to the beers as well. [00:33:19] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, and their popcorn is the greatest. Yeah. [00:33:23] Speaker A: The first, man. The first time popcorn and beer is. [00:33:25] Speaker B: Such a great idea. [00:33:26] Speaker A: The first time I went there and I just heard the popcorn popping, and it was like. It was like me and Jontay colleague here, you and I, multimedia journalist here, John. Tammy went down like a. A time after work, and we were having some beers, and then we just heard the popcorn popping. It was like they're popping popcorn and they. We thought that was for a fee. They just gave us a popcorn. They just give you it, man. They treated us like kings in there, man. [00:33:52] Speaker B: There's great spots, man. Yeah, great spots. Their chicken burgers and get two from the cafe. Yeah. Talking about I need you. Yeah. It's just like, one of those spots. Like, this is one of those things where it's like, you know, like a. A romance that anybody could get. And that's. That's always been my niche. Right. About Barbados in a way that anybody anywhere could relate to it. Yeah. You know what I mean? Even like somebody. I need you in there. I layered that song in a way, like. Oh, I literally had, like, a beige and I need you in there. And if you listen close enough, you know, we like these phrasings. The song is just really pretty, man. It's literally about this person who. They're obsessed kind of like in the same Way. I mean, like, working to build a life for themselves and, you know, you find somebody that you, you know, you relate with on all these topics, and it's just like, yeah, I need this person in my life, you know? And then pretty, like, all purdy. Funny enough, when I heard they get Nicole. Nicole out of la, you know, Nicola sent me a. A pot. And I was listening to these beats. I was just like, yo. And I wrote songs to all of them and I sent them and. Because, like, I ain't be really, bro. I only like one of these. And I like this pretty song. This is good. And I was like, all right, cool. What's funny about pretty is that I wrote pretty lit if I wanted to. Like, like a. Like a country kind of vibe. Because I was like, all right, I'm gonna phrase the opening of this song as a. As a country song. And that's why, like, the rating on here so pretty, like, kind of like. [00:35:28] Speaker A: It'S very poetic, but it's like, it's. [00:35:31] Speaker B: Very poetic in a sense. So the whole. One of my favorite fragrances is Chanel number four. It smells great. Anyway, so it's like. So it was like brand new Chanel. You're smelling pretty. [00:35:41] Speaker A: So. [00:35:41] Speaker B: So I was like, all right. I could just say pretty, but I like, kind of like the whole pretty thing, you know, like, make it sound like a country kind of like, you know what I mean? And then the whole ancestors. So funny thing about online. We were talking about online before we started here. Yeah. So I. [00:36:01] Speaker A: Fantastic. [00:36:02] Speaker B: I was going through, like, a lot of, like, spiritual journeys and, like, you know, like, talking to, like, like, you know, a lot of African spiritualists and stuff. And they were talking about how ancestors would, like, help protect you and gauge you through life and stuff. I know. It's just like, yo, people always talk about stars dying. You know, like, stars get. They get really bright and then they die out, you know, So I was like, yo, you know, like, she's. I wanted to rich, like, oh, she's like a star. And I just. I don't want to, like, damage, like, who she is. I just want to, like, be around that energy. Yeah. And keep it alive. You know what I mean? Yeah. And I just. I wrote that song with. With the intentions of, like, going back to. The idea is like a East coast drive kind of energy, you know? I mean, when a car talked over the windows down and just driving out east coast, that song playing, you know, that was. That was the kind of energy I was going for that with, with, you know, so pretty is just like a. Such a. And then like it has like a very club futurist kind of auto tune vibe going on there, you know. I mean. [00:37:04] Speaker A: Yeah, so the, These like songs and the trend that I notice in it is that even where you look at the person in a way that's like very pure and has almost like a childlike innocence to the way that you approach, you know. [00:37:17] Speaker B: So that, that's the thing. Like the whole thing about the project is like, even with the album cover, which I'm going to do, I'm getting wrapped in like cling wrap. Kind of like how like a. A item would be processed. I feel like that's what love is. Kind of like pitch to you. As long as this process thing, you know, on the, on the men's side is, you know, you want this, this perfect girl that looks this way and does these things. And on the girl side is that you must be six foot five and make seven figures, you know. You know, I mean, it's like this just like weird kind of ideas that just get pushed on the Internet, which ain't really real. I mean, yeah, you could say you want all these magical great things, but it's like these aren't real human beings. [00:38:03] Speaker A: It's a very online thing. [00:38:04] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:38:04] Speaker A: You know, people have believed that's how. [00:38:06] Speaker B: The world works, honestly. But yeah, I wanted the rating to be like very hopeful, you know, I mean, I didn't want it to be pessimist. I mean, you got pessimistic songs on here. Which is funny because in that song, Sumi is literally, literally argument I had. And it's, it's literally just like you and this person get into this argument and each person on both sides think that they're right. [00:38:31] Speaker A: You can't see each other's perspective, you. [00:38:33] Speaker B: Know what I mean? So that's why the whole hook is literally sue me. You know what I mean? Like, if you got such a big idea, like prove it, you know what I mean? And, and that's, that's, that's. [00:38:42] Speaker A: You're literally looking to get arbitration to, to deal with the issue. [00:38:46] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:38:47] Speaker A: What was the argument about like that inspired this, this song? [00:38:53] Speaker B: Funny enough, when you listen to it, you sound like it sounds like she's chastising me, but this is literally something I told her. So it was like, you'll be with your friends and you always wasted, never took accountability for all your actions. Please tell me what you want. Questions or shifting. And every time I'm holding another complication. We were. Yeah. So that opening. That opening was just literally me, like, oh, like, everything I do is always a problem. Like, what is going on here? You know, I mean, and then on her side of things, it's just like, yo, you always outlay, you know, why are you. Like, you had to plan to do this thing, you know? And it's like, for me, like, a day for me is just crazy, dog. Like, I would. I start most of my days at 6 o' clock for work, and then when I get home, like around 7 o' clock, 6 o' clock, sometimes I go to the studio. So it's like I leave there to, you know. And then at the time, I was trying to, like, juggle all these things, and I ain't late, you know, I just. [00:39:56] Speaker A: And then you have a whole other. [00:39:57] Speaker B: Person as well, you know, I was bad at it. It was bad at it, so. And after Sue Me is Forever. [00:40:04] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:40:04] Speaker B: Which is this super pretty, like, R B song with, like, violins and Spanish guitars. [00:40:12] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:40:12] Speaker B: You know what I mean? And then the. It was just kind of like the whole. The focal point of this project, essentially saying, like, yo, all in all, like, I just won't be here forever. You know what I mean? That's why the hook is like. So like, people always say I got this obsession with tea. I was ready about tea. I love tea. I drink tea a lot. You know what I mean? Call me. Call me a grandma, boy. I grew up drinking tea with my grandmother. This is something that traveled me until. You know what I mean? So, I mean, tea is like. [00:40:43] Speaker A: It just sets the mood. Like, if you're in the morning, like, you're stressed, you get tea, you're hype. You drink tea to come calm down if you feel bad or ill. Yeah. [00:40:56] Speaker B: Grill. [00:40:56] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:40:57] Speaker B: Green, even green. Regular green tea, bro. Chai tea, you know, I mean, like, teas are great. And it's like, you can always find a tea to fit a mood. [00:41:05] Speaker A: Yo, like, is like, tea is where we come to find ourselves again. [00:41:08] Speaker B: It's great, man. So, yeah, sometimes I was like, oh, I like the idea of someone keeping me warm like a cup of tea. Yeah, I'm gonna write a song. And I've done that with, like, warm water on 13. [00:41:19] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:41:20] Speaker B: 3. Which is my mixtape from forever ago. And I was like, okay, I like that. I like that idea. I'll keep using it in songs. That's my thing. I don't. I don't mind. To me, I don't mind being off to be T gay. [00:41:31] Speaker A: These lines are fantastic. These are things that Come to you as you're writing? Or is it just like a moment you're asleep and you wake up, you think about it, you jot it down. [00:41:40] Speaker B: Well, as it turns so Forever, I wanted bigger to Rochelle. She's singing backup vocals on here Bigger Rochi. So yeah, Richie usually does like backups for like soccer songs. And I, I had heard her do some backups for like mo because I was at Noise Boys and I heard, I was like, oh, that's clean. Who's that? She's like, oh, that's Rochelle. I said, all right, great song called Forever. I need some female voice vocals. And then like she came in, she's like, yeah, how you want these done? Like, like watching her work, like, she is a hard working, like very like zen person, you know, like she just came in, did exactly like, gave ideas, improved. And I was like, all right, cool. But yeah, so when I did Forever, I was just like, I wanted this song to feel more mine. Like when you turn it on, I mean. Yeah, the, the. The song concept is literally like you're in a relationship. You can see your person around these bad people and you trying to like tell them like, you know, these people ain't here for you. You know what I mean? And that'd be a hard part. Yeah, like parting because you know, like, they can always tell you, well, you know, my friends is here before you, you know. And then like you always dabble in that lane of not trying to be controlling. [00:42:57] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:42:57] Speaker B: But at the same time, it's like when you see people like they don't have your best interest and they might just be interested in what you're able to provide for them. And then unfortunately that's a lot of people masquerade as well as friends precisely. [00:43:10] Speaker A: Just looking to get what they want out of you. It's hard for people to see that, you know, see outside of there or like believe that the people they've been with all that time and, and this. [00:43:19] Speaker B: Is where you can bringing crux to it now, bro. We saying, oh, we talk about six songs. Every song that I've. Everything took, talked about. It's stuff that we go through as like adults and relationships. [00:43:28] Speaker A: It's very real, very lived in experiences. [00:43:30] Speaker B: Yes. Like you. Well, it's like the first moment you fall for this person, this, this moment you get an argument. The first time you like, might have seen her in the club or. You know what I mean? Like the first time you may have but her somewhere maybe on the altar, maybe, you know, for Barbados, you know, maybe I Like a church or maybe I like a. The park or. Or a party or a friends. I mean, it's relatable stuff and that's what I want about this album. I want it to be like. It's short, but I wanted to. You could start and just keep playing it over and over again, or you could come away from it and be like, come on, get up tonight. Like, what hell of life is my song. Or I just want chilling with like the missus or someone I interested. I could turn on forever, you know what I mean? I could turn on I need you. You know what I mean is you could dance to a lot of songs too, you know, as a long movement, which is kind of different because Mixie always used to tell me it's like, bro, you make such sad songs, bro. Like, what is wrong with you? You need to. We go on Max and Fun Dog. I was like, all right, fair enough. And like all these songs are just attempt of us making like fun songs over the years. Because like all these. I had one more song, probably gonna put out a deluxe version of this that I wanted to put on here. And it's called Just Dance. One of the hooks is like an interpolation of like a biggie song. And you've probably seen that one. My life shows the whole party. So I had a song that I wrote for that. And yeah, I probably gonna put down the deluxe of this, but it's like I just wanted to make fun music, man. [00:45:04] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:45:05] Speaker B: And then the last song, hey there is actually not on project at all. That's about the track. But I wrote that song super inspired by Juice World. You know what I mean? Just. And then it's just like an inspired but like old love songs too. So like even the first reprieve, the hey there, Delilah, won't you pour me a drink sometime? And I mean, it's like. And then the hook is just like a. The Cardigans had a song. Love Me, Love me. Say that. So like, that hook is inspired. You know what I mean? Obviously now we know why it's not on the project. But it's like I still wanted to like put it out there. I mean, even if I just put it as like a track and they can claim all these. I mean, I wrote it very slightly, so maybe I'll get away with it. I don't know. You listen to it. Let me. I think I wrote it very clever. [00:46:01] Speaker A: No, but I think I like. I like that when it shows, like, you know, your influences come from so many different. [00:46:05] Speaker B: Yeah. It's like tongue in cheek, to be honest. But it's like, yeah, that whole area like pop, you know, and that's what I loved about Juice's music so much. Like, he was the embodiment everything. I like hip hop and then, like, this whole era of, like, punk rock and all that, you know, Like, I was one of those kids, you know, like Lincoln Park, System of Adam Green dead, My beautiful boy, you know, Follow boy, Chemical Romance, you know, I mean, like, like Juicing body and all of that. And he still rap and it was like those. I mean, if you look at it. No. Look at how many artists been inspired him since he bought a rest in peace. God rested dead since he passed away, bro. Like, a whole wave, a whole genre of music got birthed. Not I didn't exist because before in pockets. Because, like, he was definitely one of a kind, you know, and even if you listen to, like, the, like, old recordings of him, it's like, yeah, how could you not be inspired by that? [00:47:01] Speaker A: You know? [00:47:01] Speaker B: I mean, and that's why, like, it's so very, like, punk rocky with you. [00:47:05] Speaker A: Yeah. I'm honestly very happy to see more of that happening in hip hop because I was one of those people where coming into it, I mean, outside of my influences with salsa music and a lot of music, I was very, very much into classic rock and then jumping into hip hop. There were a lot of samples from songs like Pink Floyd, whether it's Lou Reed, like, so many rock songs that were sampled. And so, like, so much of the hip hop songs were, like, formed from rock songs. [00:47:35] Speaker B: Yeah. Reprieves. Yeah. [00:47:36] Speaker A: And you listen to Tribe Called Quest, Tripod Quest is like, so much of it is, like, literally only bluesy. [00:47:43] Speaker B: I always say it, right? Like, hip hop artists are journalists or genres. [00:47:47] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:47:47] Speaker B: And not, like, listen to everything. We listen to everything and we just kind of present the accumulated idea as, like, our ideas, you know, I mean, but, like, sometimes we cite sources and sometimes we don't. We should. [00:48:01] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:48:01] Speaker B: I mean, but it's like you sitting there and you just try to create something, dude. Like, and I think that's where, like, KRS1 hip hop is the intellectual movement. It really is. It really is a. A scrape of the times. Like, what's popular was current, and it is a scrape of the times. No. And it's still a young genre, so. No, you're seeing, like, more. More mature rap out there, you know, like what Mick Jenkins doing. See more Matri, you know, like what Kendrick talked more like Mr. Rob. [00:48:29] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:48:30] Speaker B: You know, you know, Killer Mike and sociopolitical commentary on like what's going on and being a black man in America and don't self and gun carrying rates and you know lynches and you know like so many. So many things throughout history that we. We really are like these graves for the. You know what I mean? I mean that's where like I was. So I go. I went so hard on my previous projects to like, you know what if I die, bro? I still want to have songs that talk about Barbados in a real intimate way. That's why I wrote songs Sounds like sugar and I mean maybe I look at the time. No, like I wrote 20, 23 was the second 12 days someone just got shot, you know, a couple days ago. If you listen to this tracks like Heat, you know what I mean? Is it the heat that's like driving us so crazy like these. You know, you got so much financial problems. And if you listen to songs like this guns where it's like. It's literally concept of this gun talking to this young kid. And I mean but it's like if you listen to any music, you know, like you. You glorify it, you know. Like they would shoot somebody outside in front of a church if they had to catch this person. And it's like when did we get here? And I mean our. Our culture isn't based around violence or. [00:49:51] Speaker A: Or. Or. [00:49:52] Speaker B: Or like revelry of these. Of ladies. Like I even want to say like satanic world but like these evil things, you know, I mean. And it's like I. I wrote those songs looking at the beginning of that and I mean because like I dare. I seen it, you know, in my neighborhoods, you know. So I was like seeing these kids. I'll never forget this. Ronnie sent me to other projects. There are these little kids that was like runners for like the neighborhood dealers or whatever. I want him, I want a little kid say yo, I'm gonna kill that dude and take his spot one day. These kids are like 14 bro. So imagine where they at now, you know what I mean? Like that's where they are 14 years old. You know, at 14 years old, bro, I was playing chess, messing around with like yuh cards and like. Sorry. And you know what I mean? Like. But now these. These. They live in like such different realities than us, you know. I mean. And it's like you will say that and I feel like some. Unfortunately I can bring this back to ages point. I feel like some older Barbadians are very ignorant and naive to the realities of what's going on there, you know what I mean? And unfortunately, they're gonna kick the bucket in about 20 years, and it's gonna be us that is gonna have to deal with these next generation of kids that are crying for, like, help and leadership and mentorship. And not in a. In a very cheesy way of, like, you can't always. It can't always go back to, oh, you know, the need God in the life. Like, bro, like, God's been here. Christianic crusades happen, you know, I mean, the murders have happened in the name of God. [00:51:30] Speaker A: I spoke to a guy. I spoke to a guy who. [00:51:32] Speaker B: Smart. [00:51:33] Speaker A: Yeah. I spoke to a guy who, like, recently one of my interviews, he would have spent 24 years in prison for a crime he committed at 2190, he killed someone. And 24 years after, he was speaking about, like, the difficulties of trying to get back to an honest living. But he mentioned, like, a lot of people will say, like, you know, you need God. He said, like, you can go to church, but then when you come out of church, the problems are still there. You know, it's still a struggle to get food under the table. It's still a struggle to get gainful employment. And then without those two things, without those different things to be able to live honest life, you have no choice but to return to. [00:52:11] Speaker B: I mean, unfortunately, like, our society is a very judgmental one in the sense of, like, there's not a lot of grace for ex convicts. You know, there's not a lot of. I mean, like, what came. I mean, I've seen people kind of turn their life around and they went into, like, landscape. You know what I mean? [00:52:28] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:52:29] Speaker B: Just because, like, that was the only real opportunity they would get. They would let you cut their grass, but they wouldn't let you sell them products or work inside their organization. You know, I mean, and I. I mean, I guess I'm not going to sit here and say, oh, well, he didn't. That person, they commit crimes or that person did do things. But isn't the fundamental principle of, like, religion or like Christianity to be kind to your fellow man? You know, I mean, to be accepting of people that live from these different walks. Like, Jesus wasn't walking around with holy men, you know what I mean? [00:53:05] Speaker A: But welcome people who opted to do better with themselves, to not turn this. [00:53:08] Speaker B: Into a fully, like, political conversation or whatever, you know, everybody's got ideas of how society should be, you know, but yeah, man, I've. I've done my work in scraping these things, and I'LL still like Songs for her is a project, you know, I'm not fully converting into like a full pop lane or anything. This is just an idea I have. Even my next project, like Rap Basquiat, which has been written forever, you know, their songs on there that, you know, it gets intimate. You know, it's just like I just, I wrote it, but I just haven't found the instrumentals for them yet. But like, the thing about songs for it is just a nice reprieve to be like, you know, there, there's dimensions to me as artists. I, I, I still love these things and I'll still talk about these issues in interviews or podcasts or whatever, but it's like, yeah, man, I just trying to be a holistic citizen and be real, real about these things, you know, I mean like, yeah, a lot of these, a lot of these kids need mentorship and guidance and I mean opportunities because it's like talking to somebody and telling them the right way to live the life and then not providing them like a legal, financial way to feed their children and our families. Like you need both. [00:54:21] Speaker A: Precisely. [00:54:22] Speaker B: You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. [00:54:24] Speaker A: You come from, you had mentioned how your friends would have said that you had, you know, a bit of like a darker tone to your music. They wanted you to do something brighter. You come with, you know, picture a lot, right. Would you say that you're at a more positive and brighter point in your life right now as well? [00:54:42] Speaker B: I mean, there are days. Yeah, there are days. You know, it's, it's just, you know, they'll always be like a dark element to like because it's like, you know, you spend your teenage years, your young adult life, you know, in a real mess up place. Like, you know, there's big nation article when we talked about suicide, blah, blah, when it was the one you saved me songs and stuff like that. It doesn't, it never really goes away, bro. I mean, I guess you when think about mental health issues is that it's a lifelong body. Some days I'm great, you know, most days these days I'm great. And then there's some days where I just kind of take it as a step by step process, you know. But yeah, I feel like there is still some testament to be able to show that even in dark times you can make happy songs or make flavor. [00:55:44] Speaker A: Music, you still find reasons to smile. [00:55:47] Speaker B: Yeah, sure. 100. You know, like I, I think, don't get me wrong, bro, as much as like Tess told me something once and he was telling we were talking and he was like, yeah, you know, at the end of the day, bro, like you just define what success is, you know, like, you know, people might think success is like these millions of dollars or xyz, but you gotta kind of figure out what success is for you, you know what I mean? And then, you know, proceeded to tell me like a bunch of things he went through and like successes for him. And I was like, oh, I didn't know that he was. [00:56:19] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:56:19] Speaker B: Because I don't need to tell people these things. Their success is for me. Yeah. I mean, who however you'll say people look at this, I don't know. And that really like stuck with me, you know, I mean, I grateful for my friends, I grateful for my team. I'm grateful to know great people such as yourself, you know, that you can call upon, you know, you know, in whatever kind of settings. But it's like a lot of people just don't got that, you know. And again, I know speaking on this over the years of developing this like circle forming music and in my personal life, it's like some of these people fresh off tablet babies, they haven't even had conversations with people. Yeah, imagine like, like imagine you spend, you finish. Imagine just I was literally talking to someone with this. 10 or you being 10 years old and you're supposed to start secondary school. [00:57:13] Speaker A: You just jumped into Covid. Yeah. [00:57:15] Speaker B: Spent two years home, you come back out pretty much you've only been with your family, family, friends, you all go back into a public system and this. [00:57:24] Speaker A: Would be social again, you know what I mean? [00:57:26] Speaker B: And it's like, and I thought about how I was at 12 years old. It took me a while to develop friends like that, you know what I mean? So it's like now you gotta go and build from scratch. [00:57:37] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:57:38] Speaker B: Hopefully they do find people that they, they relate to. It's like that's gonna be a upward battle and then even look at a different side of it too. Imagine you just finished high school, you want to start first year BCC first here. Ue are you gonna spend new classes online, in lectures, in zooms? [00:57:56] Speaker A: Lynn There were, there was something I, I remember seeing, especially people who had their kids would have been born or like about two, maybe three years or before they were to start elementary school. And then obviously the pandemic hit, so they were pretty much under lockdown. And the first time that they were able to leave home, it was pretty much that. The first time that their child saw someone else that was around their age or they saw Anyone that wasn't just people in their house and they were just mesmerized. It's see that there were other people in the world outside of the one. Like she just kind of went to a play part. She just paused and just stared. [00:58:35] Speaker B: Like, what am I supposed to do here? [00:58:37] Speaker A: Like, what? How would I process these other people around me? [00:58:39] Speaker B: You know? [00:58:41] Speaker A: But even if I found for myself being very social, those year two years that I spent there initially, it was what, like six, seven months that you were inside? For me, we came around like July or so. So it was so hard for me to just be social again. [00:58:57] Speaker B: It was strange. Like, I literally told people I felt the. I've never been an anxious person and that was the first time I felt anxiety. Yeah, I spent six months doing dog. [00:59:07] Speaker A: It's almost like you forgot how to have a conversation. [00:59:09] Speaker B: 2020. I don't remember that. I don't remember that year. I don't. I remember being home. Yeah, I remember we had like a little discord group. We were talking every day. I remember that, but I can't remember. I remember Cheeks Boy J English, you. [00:59:24] Speaker A: Know what I mean? [00:59:25] Speaker B: Support it. But I don't remember nothing about 2020, bro. Like, I don't even remember 2021 like that. I mean, I remember like having to figure out running a food business post that after so many businesses had started during COVID market is super saturated. [00:59:43] Speaker A: Incredible. [00:59:43] Speaker B: Trying to still. I mean, still is technically, you know, I mean, everybody in the mother, cousin, uncle, aunt selling phrase and yeah, burgers. [00:59:51] Speaker A: Those like outside food spots, like became on curbside food spots. [00:59:55] Speaker B: I mean, luckily for me, my business is traditional Beijing food. So I wasn't really in the same lane as everybody else. I was. I was blessed to still have like a clientele of people. But then it's like because I inherited this business from my dad and like a lot of my customers older and then, you know, with old age comes, you know, a lot. Some of them passed away recently and had some health issues, had changed the diet, stuff like that, you know. So, you know, absolute man. Life in barbarism is very interesting, man. I still wouldn't trade it for anywhere in the world. As somebody that has spent time in Canada, la, I love both those places, but it's just nothing in like waking up and going to the beach on a Sunday, you know what I mean? Or. Yeah, I mean, one of my spots is I just get a bubble sports bar. I'm just sitting on just people watching, grab some food, do some work on my laptop and stuff. [01:00:51] Speaker A: It's your. It's your home. So you. You're with it for good or bad, and you make it better. [01:00:56] Speaker B: I don't want to say in a cheesy way, bro, but I love Barbados, bro. I do. [01:00:59] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:00:59] Speaker B: You know, I think they're a lot of cultural, like, erasing stuff going on in terms of, like, there are things that are not getting passed on, not because they don't. The. The adults are becoming younger and unfortunately there's like a generational gap between like the older generation and like I would say our elders were. Some of my sisters generation are 30 to 40 old, late 30 to 40 category, and 50 to 60, 60s. So it's like a lot of things that they. Their grandmothers or great grandmothers would have passed on and kind of get lost, like in a couple years. Nobody know about the boy. You know what I mean? You know? Yeah. So it's like stuff like that is where both. I mean, people just. Oh, you think it was stuff like that, But I really do. What happened when the nut cake, the sugar cake, when those recipes get lost somewhere because in the morning pass it on and then it's like you see the pastry shops popping up, knowing it's like everything's just becoming like Eurocentric or Americanized. You ain't got chocolate. [01:02:03] Speaker A: K. Yeah. [01:02:04] Speaker B: I mean, but you might not see in that kid or sh. K. You know, And I guess, you know, with the whole new initiative for like, you know, diabetes and sugar, it's like a lot of those things can erase too, because of nutritional value. Bad. But again, like, you keep telling people where the reason why these things have value, nutritional values is because a lot of these things come from post slave times. It's like you made what you can make. [01:02:29] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:02:29] Speaker B: You know, sauce was pig entrails. I mean, we got pretty. No. Yeah. You know, I mean, like, pretty up. No. With like clean cuts of meat. [01:02:37] Speaker A: I heard someone said the history of a lot of food and you would notice that someone is involved in. In like the. The culinary. But the history of a lot of food. Food is built out of struggle, you know, so whether whatever little ingredients the lower class had, they made these treats and they survived off of that. [01:02:56] Speaker B: When you go look at, like recently someone told me, look at the history of pillow. Pillow is a one pot dish. [01:03:02] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:03:03] Speaker B: For people that are in property. You literally put whatever you had left back. [01:03:09] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:03:09] Speaker B: Would I. Rice, potatoes and chicken. Or chicken. And like traditional pillow doesn't even have like fancy cuts of meat, is usually like scrapes of lamb, scraps of chicken scripts of like, like bones and stuff. [01:03:21] Speaker A: It's what you had left. [01:03:22] Speaker B: So you mix it be stretched. I. I feel so great that we live now in a time where some of these things are delicacies. [01:03:33] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:03:34] Speaker B: In a sense that like you could have got conkies for free or your grandmother. [01:03:41] Speaker A: There you go. [01:03:42] Speaker B: Frozen $11 brother $10. [01:03:46] Speaker A: Frozen conkies. [01:03:48] Speaker B: And isn't privilege great? [01:03:49] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:03:50] Speaker B: You know, we don't go alone, pick cottons or working fields no more. We can sit down in nice AC buildings and talk about rap songs. [01:03:58] Speaker A: But songs for her. Dollar signs for you. What are the dollar signs for you coming. Is this because you had this album coming out? [01:04:05] Speaker B: It's just a literal thing is like I wrote these songs for these people that were in my life. And the only thing again the monetary value of performing them, singing them, collecting the royalties from them and then just a moral to it too. Like the moral ain't really trying to tell this project like love doesn't have to be materialistic. Like and it's just like as a hip hop album too. You know, there's always some. Some flare or some catch to it. So that's what the dollar signs for me thing is. I really truly. The name of this project is actually one of my favorite R B projects of all time. There's a singer out in the uk, his name is James Morrison and he has a song. He has a project called Songs for Troops. For me. [01:04:50] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:04:50] Speaker B: And I was like, oh, I like that. I'm going borrow that. You know songs are. Was the most hip hop thing. You know what I mean? [01:04:59] Speaker A: So yeah, that's fantastic. [01:05:02] Speaker B: Biggest James Morrison. [01:05:03] Speaker A: Love James Morrison. [01:05:05] Speaker B: He's amazing. [01:05:05] Speaker A: When, when does your album release? [01:05:08] Speaker B: June. July is the date we're looking at right now. Right now we got some stuff we trying to do with the ncf. So if I finish that first and then once I finish I'll be able to be say that they can play out early June or the other thing I'm trying to do know is like work records. I feel like now it's Only woman don't falls on my past releases. Like I feel like artists we put music but we don't work records long enough. You know what I mean? Like and then you hear stories about people working records for four years, two years, one years. But it's like we put saying sharing status ones. Tell your friends about it. Put a little snippets for the music video that we spend half money punishment. I guess people tired of hearing with this. Yeah, you Know what I mean? So, no, as somebody that's like, done a course on marketing and social media. No, because like I said, every release I try to switch up, you know, I mean, like, algorithm. Okay, well, that's not like, you could post something a million times and you can get a different response every single time. Some people, because of the timing and the volume of the post that went on on the day, like, your stuff might get shuffled the bottom algorithm, and 10 people might see it. Yeah. And you could post that exact same video tomorrow, and 20 people gonna see it, 100 people gonna see it. You know what I mean? Then it also depends on, like, all right, how did you. You run ads on this? You. You just post this? Like, what day did you post this? Is it the hours? You know, I mean, like, you know, a lot of stuff I wasn't really studying before. I had to learn. And that's way. You know, people like Tat Niners, besides such a big inspiration to me, like, you know what he did with Strange music on an independent level. You know what I mean? [01:06:45] Speaker A: He's a mental giant. [01:06:47] Speaker B: Yeah. Crazy. You know what I mean? So it's like. And then it's like, even if you look across the sea, not too far from here. Puerto Rico by Bunny. Their backstory is bad Bunny's manager and Bad money wanted to start a company, and they saw, like, this old army general to give them money to start their thing. [01:07:04] Speaker A: It warns my heart to see. To see him grow that big, bro. [01:07:08] Speaker B: I was in the cigar lounge and coast. I was there smoking cigars, and I met this guy from Puerto Rico. He's like, yo, Balpani is huge in Puerto Rico, bro. He's like, there are people two blocks down from where the entrance to his show is just waiting to get inside. [01:07:24] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:07:25] Speaker B: Like, selling out the biggest venues in Puerto Rico. And I'm like, oh, crazy. You know what I mean? Insane. He's one person I won't work with. [01:07:33] Speaker A: No, he's fantastic. I mean, my. In my younger days, the biggest Latin pop star was Selena. And that was. That's. That's the Dating myself, but that was the biggest Latin pop star. But to see him be, like, bigger than anyone that ever. [01:07:48] Speaker B: His last project, bro. [01:07:49] Speaker A: Fantastic. [01:07:50] Speaker B: Great, beautiful, beautiful, great stories about Puerto Rico. And he kind of, like, talks about stuff that I worry about. Barbados, too. [01:07:57] Speaker A: The same one about don't let. [01:07:58] Speaker B: Don't let Portugal become Hawaii. [01:08:00] Speaker A: Hawaii. That's my favorite song on that. [01:08:02] Speaker B: That is a cautionary tale to all Caribbean countries, bro. [01:08:05] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:08:06] Speaker B: Because there is, you know, like with all the hotels and projects and stuff, it's like we just a couple years away from becoming that. That's the tale in that story. [01:08:16] Speaker A: I love that so much because I. I listened to that about the same day that I was writing about the civic center and it just felt chilling to see. I think one of the things I found out while doing that research is that almost all the beachfront areas around the country have basically been sold to investors to build hotels. It's just such a chilling thing because you fear going to a point where as you speak about writing about Barbados and preserving an image of Barbados that in that future that would no longer. [01:08:49] Speaker B: Be there even like 12 days part one. When we did the 12 videos, we were. We were literally looking over the footage and I was like, yo, some of these places don't even. Lily, there's no more. Because when we did take. Take note, we did it in Spikestone. But the little cut rock there's. That's not there anymore. There's a building there now. [01:09:08] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:09:08] Speaker B: You know what I mean? So it's like these things. I will call it gentrification vacation, but technically that's it. [01:09:15] Speaker A: It is, yeah. [01:09:17] Speaker B: It's just. It's crazy, man. What. What will be the Barbados in a couple years? They're just hotels. [01:09:23] Speaker A: Hotels. [01:09:24] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:09:25] Speaker A: People said Pride Hotel and industry. Well, I'll see. [01:09:30] Speaker B: Well, we want to pray the industry part though. [01:09:34] Speaker A: S thank you very much for coming down and joining us and it's always a pleasure. [01:09:38] Speaker B: I appreciate it. Appreciate it. [01:09:40] Speaker A: Always great to see where you go with your music. [01:09:41] Speaker B: Yeah, my songs for songs for her doll saying to me it's going to be on June. I'm going to do a bunch of stuff, man. I got some. Some cool promotional. Some. Some social experiment stuff that I can be doing too. So just log into my social media. S A D E R S T H A third as usual and yeah. [01:10:01] Speaker A: Bro, I appreciate the time for sure, man. Anytime. And until in next season bring you down. [01:10:07] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean when Rock Boscot is done, this probably going to take about two years. So like 20. Probably like 2027. That project going to be crazy. I even got some. Some features they're looking to do for that too. I got some features offering some remixes and going for this year too. So it be cool. Deluxe version is going to be nice for sure. Yeah. Sa.