Episode 549 | Akeem Ali

0:35Speaker 1:Good old Saratoga. I know y'all just put it in this bottle. That's 100% what we did.

0:41Speaker 2:I'm on my Icelandic now, though.

0:43Speaker 1:That shit is good. Saratoga and Icelandic actually got two of the best sparkling waters, too.

0:47Speaker 3:Yeah.

0:47Speaker 2:Saratoga sparkling water is crazy.

0:49Speaker 1:Yeah.

0:49Speaker 2:The Icelandic now in the glass bottle. Yes. The water game changer.

0:53Speaker 1:Oh, no. They sparkling water in the glass bottle.

0:55Speaker 4:Yeah.

0:56Speaker 2:So, no. We can record this.

0:58Speaker 1:No.

0:59Speaker 2:It's not an ad. We just believe in this water. I ordered in glass bottles. I ordered on Amazon. Glass bottles of this water. Game changer. They sent me the plastic. So it happened before.

1:11Speaker 5:And I was like, I said, yo, I ordered glass because it's more for the glass bottle.

1:16Speaker 1:Yeah, of course.

1:17Speaker 5:So I hit Amazon back. I said, hey, I ordered glass. They sent me plastic. They refunded me the last time I bought like three cases of it. So this time they sent plastic in and I went to go do the same thing. That option no longer exists. Because they never had it. So even if you order the glass bottles and they send plastic, you can't even be like, yo, but I ordered glass. I want a refund. They will not refund you anymore.

1:38Speaker 2:I only see them at my deli. I don't see them at every other deli.

1:41Speaker 5:Yeah, so now that's what I got to find, like a grocery store to actually go in and buy the glass bottle.

1:45Speaker 1:Go to Whole Foods and get that glass sparkling.

1:49Speaker 2:Icelandic?

1:49Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's not like, you know, some of them be like super carbonate. It's like a crisp, clean bubble. Right, yeah. And it's like not like super bubbly to where it's like strong as a Coke or a Sprite. It's like soft bubbles that's just like really soft. Yeah, I'm a fancy nigga now. I just.

2:07Speaker 2:I can tell by the top.

2:08Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying?

2:10Speaker 5:If y'all haven't noticed yet, we are joined by the very talented, the very charismatic, the most viral nigga probably on Instagram when it comes to any rapper, any artist. You can't open Instagram without seeing this gentleman. We are joined by Akeem Ali. It's in the building today.

2:29Speaker 1:I appreciate it. Appreciate it.

2:30Speaker 2:We've been trying to connect with Akeem for a while.

2:32Speaker 1:Yeah.

2:33Speaker 5:Roy, you remember years ago I played Kimi Casanova.

2:36Speaker 1:Mm-hmm.

2:37Speaker 2:On the old show. And, um, a lot of people hit me after I played the record, like, yo, is he joking?

2:42Speaker 1:Is he for real?

2:43Speaker 2:Like, I'm like, no, he's rapping for real. This is a character that he created.

2:48Speaker 5:Um, but the bars was always there, but talk to us about the character, Kimi Casanova, obviously, uh, what most people probably know you from.

2:58Speaker 1:Yeah.

2:58Speaker 2:Like how did that whole idea come about?

3:00Speaker 5:Was that something you was like, I need to create kind of like an alter ego, uh, Was it intentional? Like this is going to just grab people's attention because the aesthetic of it all is so different.

3:11Speaker 1:I just kind of didn't know. It was more so of an act of desperation. Okay. And so it was supposed to be the name of a song. I named the song Kimi Casanova. Right. And people liked it so much that they thought that's his name. But it was like, no, this is not who I am. It's just like, you know, I'm naming that song that.

3:31Speaker 3:Yeah.

3:32Speaker 1:And it just stuck, man. And so I just had to be the character and like do that. And it was like a. let me just create content type of situation. And so like, even now where you see me doing like different freestyles for the CDs that I'm going to be going on tour to, it was like, I had to turn it to serve mix a lot. I had to turn into like bone thugs. I had to turn into like, you know what I'm saying? And take that character on. And it was like that type of thing.

3:52Speaker 1:But it's like, it's stuck. And it's like most people's introduction. And it's like, nah, you hear it now. Like, and we don't want shit, but that.

4:00Speaker 3:Yeah.

4:01Speaker 1:Just stuck it, man. And had to wiggle myself out of that. Because I had like pigeonholed myself into it.

4:07Speaker 2:How did you get out of that? Because that's tough. That's a gift and a curse.

4:11Speaker 1:Yeah. A lot of fucking work. I had to kind of like ooze or ease who I really was back into it. You know what I'm saying? Because for a long time, when people would see me out and I didn't have a fro. man, why you ain't got on the front? Why you don't have on the ascot? Where your bitches at? And I was just like, where your bitches at? Yeah, it was just like, all types of shit.

4:32Speaker 2:I would have led with that question. Yeah, yeah. Where your bitches at?

4:35Speaker 1:Nigga, I'm in here grabbing milk. I can't bring no jug. I'm like, what the fuck?

4:39Speaker 2:Like sparkling water.

4:40Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm just grabbing some sparkling water, brother. Yeah, yeah. But yeah, man, it was... That shit was a lot of work, but I maneuvered my way back into like regular content. And even now it'd be people like, he need to go back to Kimi Casanova. And when I'm doing too much Kimi Casanova, he need to go back to Akeem Ali. And so it's good because it sets the tone for me being able to give everything back. and so it's nothing that's too far left or too far right and it's like if he puts out akim ali music well we he kind of came out like this first for y'all who didn't know yeah if he do kimi casanova it's like well he kind of been doing that for months we didn't know and so it's like boom perfect you you go through the storm and it's like like hectic at first and then when you get out of it it's like now i can do what the fuck i want to do right yeah you know what i'm saying drake makes a caribbean album it's like nobody or international albums like well Right. He kind of been doing this. He gave us moments of this. Yeah.

5:30Speaker 1:So we can't say we didn't know or he's experimenting or losing it. We've had this the whole time.

5:34Speaker 2:You're a Kendrick fan, you can. Huh?

5:38Speaker 1:Man.

5:39Speaker 5:But I want to talk about just that whole moment because this was 2020.

5:43Speaker 1:Yeah. Right.

5:46Speaker 5:Now, when I first saw the video, like a lot of people, that was the first time I.

5:50Speaker 2:Heard the record.

5:51Speaker 4:Yeah.

5:52Speaker 5:I saw the video and immediately I was like, I understood. I said, okay, I see what he's doing.

5:59Speaker 1:Yeah.

5:59Speaker 2:But I'm listening to the lyrics though.

6:01Speaker 1:Yeah.

6:01Speaker 5:Because that's where I come from in music. I'm listening to what you were saying. So immediately I knew like, I'm like, no, he can really rap though. This is obviously a character that he's created.

6:09Speaker 2:I like it.

6:10Speaker 1:Yeah.

6:11Speaker 5:But I was like, I wanted to see if it was just for the moment, if that's who you were going to be or you want to transition out of that and really show people who, who your true self was. Then seeing what you were doing as far as just rapping in the car.

6:24Speaker 4:Yeah.

6:25Speaker 5:Seeing all those videos, I'm like, okay, no, like he can really, really rap. Was that something you feel like took people a while to catch on to? Like, yo, but now I'm really, because I even hear it in your bars, you say it a lot, like none of these dudes.

6:38Speaker 2:Can rap better than me. Like, I don't know if y'all have caught that yet.

6:42Speaker 1:Yeah, they can't. What I will say is like, now the Kimi Casanova character did help elevate the branding for me. On a branding level, that shit did wonders once I learned that nobody gives a fuck about how good you rap. It's about how it's packaged or what it looks like. Because there's people who've come before me who rap really good or people who you've heard rap really well. And it's just nothing attached to it that people can attach themselves to or associate themselves with. It also helped me rap different subject matter. So it's like when you hear Kimi Casanova, you expect fly shit from like a player, like pimp type, boom, boom, boom. So I can just rap about that shit all day fucking long. And I don't have to say shit about nothing else, but that's what you expect from that character. So when I'm doing my car freestyles, it's like, like battle rap based or like, you know what I'm saying? Like one minute. And it's just like me just, wham, wham, wham, bar, bar, bar, bar, bar.

7:39Speaker 1:And then over here in my personal, I can rap about something. So it just opens the gate to just prove like whatever lane is there or wherever I'm at, like, you you do not win against me like you know what i'm saying and so it just helped me learn how to like elevate my opinion for real for real and that's what i you know i don't give enough credit to that character for that yeah because i had to i was forced to talk about different and still make it sound good yeah like it still has to be like you know like your book yeah.

8:06Speaker 3:I think like ludacris i think was similar in that way too he was packaged so well and his his videos were so amazing sometimes i think people forget how good of a rapper Ludacris is.

8:16Speaker 2:Yeah.

8:16Speaker 1:And people forget, like, people just want to hear bars or they either want to hear, like, relatability. Technique is a thing that is, like, lost, like, certain times. Like, technique is so fucking important and, like, I tell people from a technique standpoint, there's, like, three or four people who are, like, gods or like dogs when they come to that shit like Eminem a technique guy for sure technique like you know I'm saying and I can't say that Eminem or G were like out bar Wayne or a side how to Prince but it like you know when it come to technique you had these people who were like or like a fucking Lupe yeah you know I'm saying and so it's like.

8:53Speaker 2:Students of the real yeah um.

8:58Speaker 5:Now, you've mastered this thing of, like I said, anytime I open Instagram, I'm seeing Akeem Ali, whether it's.

9:08Speaker 2:Promoting the tour.

9:09Speaker 3:Yeah.

9:10Speaker 5:Was that something that you came up with on your own or do you have like a team of people where y'all just sit down and throw ideas and like, how do we attack the algorithm?

9:18Speaker 2:How do we, you know, get more visibility?

9:21Speaker 5:How do we let people know that this tour is coming, this tour is happening, but in a unique Akeem Ali way?

9:26Speaker 1:So my book agent called me one day and he was like, man, you know, the ticket sales ain't doing so good in this market or none of the markets. You know what I'm saying? And I was like, he was like, well, do you think you could get online and do like a freestyle tour? for just New Orleans and see how that works. If it goes good, you can think about doing more. And I'm like, yeah. So I sit down one day, I do shit like, I treat this like a job, like don't know about how to tell me to clock in. So I get up some mornings at like 3.30, 4 in the morning and we'll sit at the table and just write all fucking day, literally for like eight, nine, 10, 11 hours. And got up, wrote the new Orleans freestyle. And I was like, you know what? While I'm writing New Orleans, I'm gonna do the Carolinas. I'm gonna do Memphis. I'm gonna do X, Y, Z.

10:11Speaker 1:I'm gonna keep going. I'm gonna keep going. I'm gonna keep going. You know what I'm saying? And so doing that, um, I did it, dropped it. And people was like, we like this. And I was like, hold my beer. You know what I'm saying? I'm going to be right back. And he gave me that idea and he was like, just do one of them. And I was like, you know what? I'm just going to do all the shits. You know what I'm saying? And I had seen one of my partners, Dearsilas, he had done it a couple of times for cities he was going to, but I was like, you know, and I always want to give him credit. You know what I'm saying? For seeing it there first, because he'd be like going to Dallas and he like turned into whoever he needs to be for that or going to Houston. And he like takes on that, you know what I'm saying? And so I was like, I'm gonna do this shit for every fucking city though.

10:52Speaker 1:And every time you open your Instagram, Twitter, <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL>.

11:06Speaker 3:<HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL>.

11:11Speaker 1:<HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> <HAL> yeah man.

11:23Speaker 3:Is it is it i remember mo you said to me after i did that eminem said if this don't sell tickets we never going back again.

11:29Speaker 1:Yeah that's how it be and i told i told people i'd be telling people that from these cities y'all be like come to this city come to my city come and see us nobody ever comes here and then i didn't like literally went out like i dropped the ep and a project and had to do 40 more songs. These ain't like 30 second freestyle. These are full, like I'm having to engulf, I'm having to like study, do work, go to some of these places, look at what's there, figure out the culture, call people and be like, hey, is such and such still open? Is that still a thing?

11:58Speaker 1:Like I'm having to do dead live research for motherfuckers to be like, great, we still won't buy a ticket. And I'm like, what the fuck did I just do all of this shit for? And then motherfuckers is like, they don't pay attention, they like, Oh my God, you should come to this city. I'm like, motherfucker, I'm telling you I'm going on tour to this city with this freestyle. Yeah. Like naming shit in your city. And he's like, I could be like doing a Houston freestyle. They'd be like, come to Houston and see us on tour. Yeah.

12:24Speaker 2:All right. Just listen to the freestyle.

12:26Speaker 1:Like, did you hear anything I fucking said? And then I like, I'm going on tour. Get your tickets. Then the motherfuckers would be like, see all of the tour dates and be like, Come to Itawamba. I'm like, this ain't enough. Come to Africa. Motherfucker, I'm not selling the tickets where I'm going. First of all, like, give me a... I'm like, fuck with me. I'm like, what the fuck?

12:45Speaker 5:Come meet me here and then maybe I can get to that shit.

12:49Speaker 3:The worst shit is when you do like individual flyers for cities and then all the comments will be from another city.

12:54Speaker 2:It's like.

12:55Speaker 3:yo we in chicago tomorrow and all the comments is like why you're not in dallas yeah like and.

12:59Speaker 2:Then i go to dallas and no one from dallas came i will tell.

13:02Speaker 1:You the worst i will tell you the fucking worst go to dallas the show don't sell out or it don't come out you wanted to or it may sell out or you a few shorter selling out leave come to dallas yeah yeah yeah yeah brother sister oh they.

13:15Speaker 5:Didn't know you they like oh you was here like i was i just was here last night christ but that's i mean i you know It's kind of a good and a bad thing because obviously people are engaging. People are saying they want to see you come to my city. But then it is, like you said, I'm sitting here writing all of this, shooting these videos for the promo for the show, and it's still not connecting to certain people. Is that something that you look at like you're doing something wrong, you're not doing enough, or some people just ain't going to ever connect to it?

13:46Speaker 1:All three of them.

13:47Speaker 3:Okay.

13:47Speaker 1:It's something that I'm not doing... to win you over.

13:51Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying?

13:53Speaker 1:Because it's like, All right, so like we were just talking about the water. Out of all the waters that are out there, you chose to drink the water you were drinking. But it's like Ozarka is sitting over here or you got like fucking Pure Life like, hey, I exist. And it's something they're not doing to pull you in. Like you've been drinking it before or you subscribed to it or had a bottle of it. It's like, yeah, no, I just don't want that. So what is it that y'all are not doing? And we can't be mad at you for not drinking our water. It's just like you do what you want to do. But if I'm the water company, I'm like, hey, what do we need to double down on? How do we need to like capitalize on X, Y, Z markets or like target this demographic of people in this area? Like, how do we do the thing to like, you know, scale our business larger?

14:37Speaker 1:And that's what I'm always thinking about. Like, it's not that they're not buying the tickets. What am I not doing that's making them not want to buy the tickets? Yeah. OK.

14:44Speaker 2:I mean, because even. That's a great way to look at it.

14:45Speaker 3:Yeah. Like even when we fired our previous booking agent. I was still thinking on the accountability side of like, we would put our London vlog out and all the comments would be like, damn, they was in London. I'm like, what the fuck are we doing? How the fuck did a person that follows us not know we was in London last week?

15:01Speaker 1:That's not a booking agent problem, though.

15:02Speaker 2:I know it's not.

15:03Speaker 1:Oh, okay.

15:03Speaker 2:So, no, we took accountability on that regard.

15:06Speaker 3:Like, even with infrastructure being fucked up, it does fall on us at the end of the day of not reaching our own fans. But- Part of me thinks that's also an algorithm thing, too, that it's tough to control. Like, how the fuck do you follow us? You pay for our Patreon and you still this still did not get on your phone. That's a battle that I've yet to figure out. I don't understand that algorithm part where I can't even reach the people that follow me anymore.

15:31Speaker 1:It's an attention game. I learned this. And I think the guy from the who created the Savannah Bananas, the baseball team.

15:40Speaker 3:Yeah.

15:41Speaker 1:And so they was trying to find a mascot and it was like, what do we do? Or how do we make this a thing? And it was like, when he decided that the mascot would be like a banana, people were fucking pissed. And it was like, we don't want to be bananas. Like, oh, whatever. He's going to fucking ruin. And you know what? At the time it would seem like such a bad thing. You'd be like, oh no, I'm upsetting the people. Or somebody is going to say something bad or they're going to send threats.

16:06Speaker 1:It's not about whether it's right or wrong. It's not about whether people like or dislike it. It's about whether it gets attention. Because if you can't bring attention to it, it gets absolutely nothing, right? So it's like, it's like almost if a tree falls, No one there did it happen. Like if it didn't have attention or eyes on it, does it even matter? And so it was so bad that it turned out to be good. Like because the banana idea is fucking ridiculous until we win a game. Right.

16:30Speaker 1:And we can celebrate or we can have something that's like marketable. Like everybody, we sell bananas at the games or it helps the economy or these are the ways that we can do X, Y, Z. And it's like, oh, OK, I'm a proud banana now. You know what I'm saying? And it's like, no, fuck you. Because at first you hate it. You gave me all type of shit about an idea that you just didn't understand. You don't know what it takes to get here or how to put some of this shit together. You don't understand the shit that y'all thought about me, said about me and like tried to like shut down. You know what I'm saying?

16:54Speaker 1:And so it's like get attention. Once you get the attention for the thing about, you know, the algorithm, once it gets attention, if somebody says something negative in my comments, I respond and I pin it to the top.

17:07Speaker 2:They say something negative.

17:08Speaker 1:Yeah. OK. Yeah. Like this shit is trash. He can't rap as good as he think he does. He's not better than Kendrick. He's not better than this person. Why does it even matter? He's gay. He's this or he's too flamboyant. He's too. Pin it. I don't care about how you feel about me as long as you feel something.

17:23Speaker 3:Right.

17:23Speaker 1:Because guess what happened? You just tricked yourself into telling your algorithm. Well, you just tricked your algorithm into like showing you me again. Don't you know, when you comment on something, when you like something, enough to comment on it, share it, whatever, whatever the algorithm say, oh, they must like this. They're subscribing to it. They're commenting on it. Oh, and then what happens is now you got to come to your own defense in my comments and respond to other people. And the algorithm don't know whether it's good or bad. It just keeps saying, oh, they keep responding.

17:50Speaker 1:They must like this thing. I don't give a fuck what you say about me. Say something.

17:55Speaker 4:Right.

17:56Speaker 1:So I can make you look bad. How are you trying to make me? You know what I'm saying? And now the algorithm is going to say, because these apps are designed to keep you on the app. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? It's not just like with certain keywords or certain shit that you do. You can't say, click the link or do X, Y, Z, because it doesn't want you to go to external sources. It wants to keep you in that app. And that's how it's designed. Right.

18:15Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying? If you don't want more, I want to keep you a Walmart sharper. Why the fuck I got shit going on about target X, Y, Z, boom, boom, boom. And so it's like, what I got, whatever I got to do, keep you here. If you don't like me, you still got to see me. Yeah. Right. Even shit you don't like. Sometimes you send it to people like, bro, look at this or check this out. It don't, it don't matter whether it's right, wrong, up, down, purple, green, left, right.

18:35Speaker 1:It just gets attention.

18:36Speaker 3:Yeah.

18:36Speaker 1:And that's what the algorithm is based off for these apps is gain the fucking attention and stop worrying about it. We base it off feelings a lot of the time. I feel like this. I feel like, no, get the fucking attention. And that is the base level. If it can keep them on the app, you win it because the app will keep showing it to them. Right. You know what I'm saying? It may not be this post, but that's how you strike virality for life. One post down, three, four posts down because it's showing that. The same motherfucker that said something bad about you or, man, I don't know what the fuck they talking about. And you got people on there coming. We get offended sometimes. Like, they don't know me. Why would they say that? I don't give a fuck what you say. You just talk about my grandma, my dog. You call me what you want.

19:13Speaker 1:Pin it. And I'm going to say something so you can argue with me. And I'll sit up and go back and forth in the comments with you just so you can keep on coming.

19:20Speaker 5:So you do subscribe to that type of interaction is healthy. for the algorithm, as far as your content, of going back and forth with negative content.

19:31Speaker 1:For the sake of getting the job done. And then another thing is too, even if you're a fan of me and you see something, you'd be like, hey, this is too far on the king, bro. Come on, y'all didn't have to do this. What it does is when you come and come in it also boom triggers your algorithm everybody was coming under a comment it triggers your algorithm like and so i'm just even though you're seeing all types of shit and that's why i stay in there and stay engaged with those people because it's gonna keep popping up on your algorithm yeah every time you say something about me i'm gonna be like somebody was like the most gay rapper ever i'm like.

20:04Speaker 2:They say you're gay?

20:06Speaker 1:Well, so, the persona, or Kimi Casanova, is meant to be, like, a 70s, like, pimp. Like, and if you looked at the 70s, like, niggas wore makeup in the 70s. They had high waters on, like, tight pants. Niggas wore crop tops. And they were very, like... they had very like feminine gestures. It was very like, you know what I'm saying? And so when I'm playing a character, I'm going to play the character. Like now, however it looks to y'all, it's like whatever, whatever. And at first I used to get offended because I'm like, motherfuckers don't know me from the character.

20:33Speaker 1:And it was just like, but if you're looking at the character, you assume that is me. Right. And so I was just like offended and shit at first. But once I learned, I was like, Oh nigga, that's not you. You're just playing. I'm like, you letting people like troll you into like, and that's when I had started learning. They're going to keep saying shit, but you have to figure out a way to flip it and like trigger people to say stuff and then keep them there. because you're you're reacting once you once you start reacting i can control you if you don't do nothing it's just like if you look at it in bypass you never did come in i never knew you were there once you start reacting boom got you yeah let's hone in on that like let's see let's see what's going on right here.

21:05Speaker 5:But i mean nothing about the kimi casanova i mean well sitting with the leg crossed maybe The only two.

21:13Speaker 1:People who sit with their legs crossed are women and really rich people. Men with a lot of shit.

21:21Speaker 2:Right.

21:21Speaker 3:Can you pull up the Jay-Z New York Times interview and just do Google images? Jay-Z had his whole thigh over his other thigh. We were taught not to sit like this because that's for women. The older I got, I was like, every rich white man that I see sits like that or every person that got a lot of money, they'd be like, and they lean into it. And I was just like, see, we hit the motherfucking goddamn guy like this.

21:43Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying? See, you got some money, but you ain't got this type of money. You feel what I'm saying? You got some shit. Now, he ain't got no money. There's levels to it. You know what I'm saying? No money.

21:54Speaker 2:But show money.

21:57Speaker 1:Some more money.

21:57Speaker 5:Yeah, but I don't see nothing about, you know, I mean, they call anybody gay, but I don't see how people will see the Kimi Casanova character and say, you know, oh, he's gay. Like that to me, that is, you know, it ain't for me to decide.

22:11Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying? And it's like, I just love that you feel something about it.

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23:02Speaker 5:How much of it do you feel like is, like how thin is the line between gimmicky and like, really just trying to get visibility. Like, how much of it do you battle with, like, okay, this may start to feel like too much of a gimmick.

23:17Speaker 2:I got to be careful.

23:18Speaker 1:It was that in the beginning, shit. And it was like an attention thing. And that's why I was like, it was a mistake. But people liked it more than I wanted them to. And so then I was just like, shit, I made a mess. Now how do I clean it up? You know, I got a mop. I got a broom. I got some Bounty Quicker Picker Upper. I got a dish towel. Like, what the fuck do I use? And so it's like, with the tools I got, just... shimmy all that shit together clean it up and like make it look presentable so now it doesn't feel like a gimmick it just feels like and i accidentally like superbly trapped myself into becoming a like a brand master and like branding some shit or like learning how to market because like i was just doing shit pressing buttons and making mistakes and it taught me how to like brand and like you know my director right that scene right there he was like we were shooting last week and he was like yeah you um you don't care about looking stupid or failing or being wrong he was just like you just have this thing where like because some of that don't be looking like you think you'd be

24:14Speaker 1:looking but it's like you don't have that button in your head that says i shouldn't be doing this because it wouldn't look right to people it's just like yeah do it and show people the process show them like it ain't always what you think it is in the beginning or it turns into something different And so if you've seen me before, it's like, you know, you go from rapping in your car to like, I can't stop seeing a nigga. But at first it's just like, you know, or you, you got the pimp persona or you got this, this, that, and then some of the videos or songs I've put out, like, I haven't even liked all of them, but it's like, I don't have a button that says, don't do it.

24:43Speaker 2:You willing to just try it.

24:44Speaker 1:Just try it. You know what I'm saying? And let shit... you can't make it perfect if it doesn't exist. It has to be a thing first for you to even start nitpicking, removing, putting stuff into place and trying to make it perfect. And so people get so caught up in perfection. If you're a perfectionist, you probably won't be rich. If you care about what people think. Perfection is the biggest problem to start. You feel what I'm saying? And so it's like, get the thing into existence first, make it exist and then fix it. Like, a Tesla didn't just come out like what it is today or the car you drive or some of these shoes that we wear shit like you know what I'm saying motherfuckers wore twigs on their feet you know what I'm saying for shoes you know what I'm saying in the BC days and it's like now we got boots that come up to here and shit like moon boots all type of shit like to cover you but just make it exist we don't wear Jesus sandals but you know it's people are all fucked up they just care too much about what people think man.

25:40Speaker 3:You ever felt like with knowing that i don't want to say well yes negativity to some degree based on your comments of pinning those type of responses to lean more into negativity i think you've done a great job of not doing that but has that felt like maybe easier.

25:56Speaker 1:I'm not a negative person i don't like that like i'm not like a i don't want negativity but when it's there i'm like Everything that's happening is for me to see things a certain way. So it's like stop fighting against it and like start using it. Yeah. If negativity is coming my way, I'm like, come on. Like, what's up? Like, fuck, we here. If y'all gonna be negative and if all this is going to be is negative, like find a way to make my negative a positive. Like, yeah, I'm not going to fight that. negative with the negative, you know what I'm saying? I'm just going to be like, I'm just going to use it for what it's used for.

26:30Speaker 1:Like if that's that energy that's over there and shit, like capitalize on it, figure out a way to do that. You know what I'm saying? We got, we got crazy motherfuckers out here or people like, just crazy and like not mentally ill, but just like do shit. And we have managed to make a place for those people. Right. Like, you know what I'm saying? And all of the negative shit that they can do, like people go out and kill people. People go out and cuss people the fuck out, beat people up.

26:53Speaker 3:Right.

26:54Speaker 1:Oh, let's create a place to keep all of these people together.

26:57Speaker 3:Yeah.

26:57Speaker 1:Like create places for that shit. Positivity.

26:59Speaker 2:And reward them.

27:00Speaker 3:Yeah.

27:01Speaker 1:Like we got spaces for everything. Like, you know what I'm saying? It's like, oh, positive people come over here and let's kumbaya in the park. And like, you know what I'm saying? Hold up. peace signs and smoke weed together we're like oh y'all believe in Jesus we got a place we got all this church y'all can come here like make a place for all of this shit you know what I'm saying so how did.

27:18Speaker 2:The relationship with you and Lou Will come about.

27:23Speaker 1:My partner my barber we cut each other hair and he went to he cut Lou hair too you know what I'm saying so we both we was both barbers and he was at Lou house cutting his hair one day and he was like my boy he do music X Y Z blah blah blah he was like what shit play me something Played him something and wham, got him. And then he wanted to meet me, you know what I'm saying? He heard the music and he's just like, shit, all right, well, I think I want to sign you.

27:47Speaker 1:And I'm just like, me? All right, nigga, yeah, let's do it. Yeah, and so from there, we just kind of like kicked it on some cool shit, like homeboy shit, like, You know what I'm saying? Just formed a relationship and shit like that. And at first I was just like, I was skeptical about all this shit. Signing to somebody or doing business with somebody and there's a bunch of people in your face at one time, it's like picking the best stranger. I don't fucking know y'all. And you're my homeboy's homeboy. That don't mean you're the same person to me. Or you're going to be the same way to me that you are to him. You know what I'm saying? So it was just like shit. Doing it was cool starting out. Luckily we became like homeboys or friends first because some of this this shit that we didn't have to tell each other or say to each other or express them been like enough to make motherfuckers like.

28:33Speaker 2:We not fucking.

28:33Speaker 1:Fall out in the street.

28:34Speaker 2:Yeah.

28:35Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah. But I don't, you know, I tell people, I don't mind people having big feelings towards me, getting mad, cussing me out, saying your piece and just being like, I was tripping. Well, forgive me. I'm like, all right, fuck it. You know?

28:46Speaker 5:So you and Will, so you and Lou Will creatively, have y'all had y'all differences on.

28:51Speaker 1:On the business?

28:53Speaker 2:Oh, yeah.

28:53Speaker 1:On the business tip? Hell yeah. Yeah, we done had differences. Like, yeah, hell yeah. We bumped heads like a motherfucker. But, you know, we was just friends. I noticed, like, at one point in time, I was calling him. He wasn't answering my phone calls. And I'm like, nigga, I'm your artist. I ain't got no money. I can't do X, Y, Z. You know what I'm saying? And then he'll pick up the phone one day when I call him. Like, yeah, I ain't gonna lie. You can shit. You done blew me. Like, nigga, this shit... You know what I'm saying? I'm spending money on X, Y, and Z and you ain't trying to do what the fuck I want to do because it's my money, it's my investment. You know what I'm saying?

29:25Speaker 1:And I'm just like, well, on the other hand, I got a child on the way or I got this going on and I can't depend on people to do X, Y, Z. And no capacity shouldn't artists or anybody be depending on another grown man, unless you're a woman maybe or a child, another grown man to fund their lifestyle or fund. their career. It's not Lou's dream to be a rapper. It's mine. And so I had to start taking accountability. Like, stop asking for shit. And if you're going to do shit your way, make your own way. Won't nobody be offended.

29:50Speaker 1:And that's how I got myself to like right here. And it was just like, okay, shit. I noticed like if, and we're just, is logical. You're spending money on a project and somebody don't listen to you. It's like, why the fuck am I spending money for you to just do what you want to do with my money?

30:05Speaker 2:You have to learn that though.

30:06Speaker 1:Yeah. And it's a gamble. I'm gambling on you because it's not guaranteed. Any of this shit is going to work.

30:10Speaker 3:Also on the other side, if I'm signing someone, I'm signing them because I think their vision is incredible.

30:15Speaker 2:And sometimes you got to leave them the fuck alone. That's part of your investment. That's true.

30:18Speaker 1:Literally.

30:19Speaker 3:To me, as someone that's worked with artists, I'm investing because I think you have the vision that you want to do.

30:25Speaker 2:Like, I'm going to shut the fuck up and let you do what you want to do. I'm here to fund your vision. Yeah.

30:29Speaker 1:But when you don't know that, and there's been, we've sat on the phone day in and day out and just say, hey. we've gotten calls from labels and we get on the phone like yeah nigga I don't know what the fuck going on or I don't know what to do or I don't know none of the lingo they were talking about and we get on the phone and say that like he like I don't know what I'm doing and I'm like yeah me neither and so that's where it's like he got the funds I got the talent but we still don't know what eggs to put in what basket you know what I'm saying and so it's like you can't just we spent a lot of money in the beginning just throwing eggs in random baskets and it wasn't working and I was just like fuck it when he stopped giving me eggs, I was just like, fuck it. I turned into a chicken. Pop my own shits out and just get this shit grooving some type of way. And so that's where, that's what we're seeing the effects of right now. Like, and all this shit you're seeing, it ain't taking like a big budget, a whole lot of money. It's just taking like studying, watching shit, learning and like capitalizing on it. Like when

31:24Speaker 1:you get a moment, like when God gives you the ball, ball, like ball like a motherfucker.

31:29Speaker 5:Well, like you just said too, also we have to, First, just start and create something and then we work on it and then we figure it out and perfect it and get it to a place that we're all happy. But the fact that, you know, Lou even gave you a shot and was like, listen, I want to invest in you. That takes a lot because a lot of times people don't want to invest in you. They think you got some talent. That don't mean they're going to put you in a position to give you opportunity to create your dream and your vision.

31:56Speaker 1:He was smart because he knew labels and shit was calling to at the time.

31:58Speaker 4:Yeah.

31:59Speaker 1:This was one of the things where it was like.

32:00Speaker 2:Absolutely. There's motion over it.

32:02Speaker 4:Yeah.

32:03Speaker 1:Ain't got to do too much work. And then he got in and he was like, bam, got you.

32:06Speaker 5:Right.

32:06Speaker 2:There's something happening already. I just want to be a part of it.

32:10Speaker 3:But even that bump does help too when you're negotiating with labels. Like, I got a bank over here.

32:14Speaker 2:Yeah. I have access to some capital.

32:17Speaker 1:I think that hurt us a lot of times too. Okay. Why? Because knowing that you got a bank. and it's like because they assumed like so you walk in the labels some people know who he is some people don't know or some people just don't give a fuck we know but we don't give a fuck like that's his money right he's not us and he don't have the infrastructure that we have and they see it all the time where athletes or people who make a lot of money try to invest in or get into the music business they know that you don't know what's going on how to operate any of this shit at that point okay so sometimes it hurt us it's like okay, you got money.

32:48Speaker 1:We don't have to offer you so much money. Okay. Y'all seem like y'all got to figure it out. And then like a lot of times people was like, Hey, I thought you had a deal because, and you know, we independent. So it's just a person who sees the talent and they're spending their money. And then it's like, uh, You're not major or signed until you're signed to a major label for people who don't know. So it's like you saying, hey, bro, I believe in you and I want to sign you to me. But you're not a label. Right.

33:12Speaker 1:Or y'all ain't a label. You know what I'm saying? And people would think I'm signed. But now that I'm signed to y'all. Now what? Because guess what? Y'all want to get this podcast on a network because y'all aren't signed. It's like independence. It's like. that is separate and so it's like even y'all are trying to make strides to like if I can get my shit on goddamn Hulu Netflix Peacock at the same time that would be fucking great or if I can shine to somebody who guarantee me X amount of dollars per month or per year that would be great and that's the goal and man when I tell you bro that shit was just so nasty like on some some crazy because motherfuckers always was like we didn't know exactly what we needed or how to ask for it and we also was just like you know what I'm saying give us an offer. And then when somebody giving us an offer, it don't sound right or don't sound like something we feel like we can take or everybody be comfortable. And it's also, you don't know what the fuck to look for because I have never been in this position. You're not a music nigga.

34:04Speaker 5:That's dangerous because, you know, sometimes those labels, they smell that. They're like, yo, they don't know what they doing.

34:09Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah.

34:10Speaker 2:You know what I mean? Like, yes, they have access to some capital, but they don't know what they doing.

34:15Speaker 1:And luckily, we didn't sign or didn't do anything because now I would be like, fuck.

34:20Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah.

34:20Speaker 1:And I'm glad that I had to, like, you know, me and Lou kind of, like, bumped heads and I had to, like, do the shit myself or start, like, executing on my own. It's taught me so much that now, and he'll tell you, like, I sit back and let, let bro do his thing and sometimes I'd be like, damn, like, I ain't gonna lie, he called me one time when I was on tour last year, he was like, ain't gonna lie. You, you hitting that motherfucker. Like you, you, you doing your thing. Like for real. Like you, he said, you putting this shit together for real. You know what I'm saying? And that was just like, whether he gives it to me or somebody else like makes it happen for him, it's going to happen. Like it's my shit.

34:52Speaker 1:It's going to happen.

34:52Speaker 2:Right.

34:53Speaker 1:Yeah.

34:54Speaker 2:Because we even saw that with like Meg and Carl Crawford, I think.

34:58Speaker 1:Yeah.

34:58Speaker 3:And again, I don't know their personal business, but you just saw that maybe a label did take advantage of, somebody with some money and a very talented artist.

35:07Speaker 1:You can't say that about Meg though. You can't say that.

35:09Speaker 3:How so?

35:10Speaker 1:You shouldn't say that about Meg. Why? That was just some clickbait so people can look at it.

35:13Speaker 2:I was wondering what the fuck you said. I was waiting for the end of the bit.

35:17Speaker 1:If it gets attention, if it gets attention, you clickbait that shit and be like, they had an argument about Meg this day and then you see me like, you can't say that. Why? Why not? Let me see what he said.

35:27Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly. Jackson, Mississippi.

35:31Speaker 3:Do we think that Rappers from Mississippi may be better at the internet than anybody else.

35:37Speaker 2:If we're, if we're going to rank.

35:39Speaker 1:Right now. Yeah. Hell yeah.

35:41Speaker 2:I mean, Soulja Boy started everything.

35:45Speaker 1:Yes, but I'm like, there's a lineage of Soulja Boy. I got mixed feelings about how Soulja Boy like, and Soulja Boy, if you're hearing this, you don't fuck with us. That's fine. But don't play both sides of the fence. I understand. And don't get on the enemy until I say, Akeem Ali, you a bitch. And don't do all that. Akeem? I know how to fight. I ain't saying I want to fight. Don't take that the wrong way. But don't get on there doing all that. But, like, we barely have anything, and we'd be so proud to big you up and, like, speak on your name and just say, like, you know what I'm saying? But just fuck with us.

36:20Speaker 1:Don't fuck with Ali. Give us a little credit. You know what I'm saying?

36:23Speaker 3:Okay, so I'm trying to figure out, are you upset with Soulja Boy because... He's from Bompton now.

36:28Speaker 1:I'm not upset.

36:29Speaker 2:And he's not from Mississippi.

36:30Speaker 1:I can't tell him what to claim, but I would tell people I'm from Jackson, Mississippi, tried and true, proud, born and raised, but I wouldn't be the artist that I am without Atlanta.

36:38Speaker 2:Gotcha.

36:39Speaker 1:I'm never going to mislead you. And he could be from Atlanta. I just don't know how he grew up.

36:42Speaker 2:Well, he's from Bompton. He told Floyd Mayweather that to his face.

36:46Speaker 1:Oh, man. I'm repeating what he said. I can't say where the man from. Yeah. Mr. Drake, Drake, Draco. Draco. Yeah. Draco. Big soldier, man. Boy, soldier boy, man.

36:57Speaker 2:Kiss me through the phone.

36:58Speaker 1:I can't say where you from, man. I don't tell you none of that, but it's like, give credit or pay homage. And I'm not saying that you have to, but I got to pay homage to Atlanta because I wouldn't be the artist or I wouldn't be sitting here in front of y'all without the director right there. shooting and hitting me up with ideas on me back and forth and bouncing ideas off him. My photographer right there, like Letitia Marie, Kevon Price. Like I can't be without B-Flat or without, you know, Roy O'Oylands or without Kelton.

37:23Speaker 1:I can't be the artist that I am right now without some of these people who've helped or put me in position. Like I met Lou in like Atlanta, like Atlanta has like started my career. And so I can't just ever be like, you know, fuck them folks. Like if you was in Mississippi when this shit started, like, This is a part of some of the shit that you like your friends or your surroundings or the people that were there with you. They helped you do some of this shit. Or this is the reason why you, you probably was raised in Atlanta and influenced by it wholeheartedly, which same with me and Jackson, right? You don't get the type of nigga that I am without the Jackson in me. But it's like, At what point do you say, like, shout out to all my people in Mississippi? And maybe he's done it. I just haven't seen it. But it's just like we'd be trying to claim Soulja Boy and people were, Soulja Boy from Mississippi, Soulja Boy, Soulja Boy.

38:03Speaker 1:And he'd be like, I ain't from no motherfucking Mississippi. And I'd be like, whoa, nigga, what are we doing? Is this so bad that you just can't say anything from there? Like, what's up? You know what I'm saying? But we, yeah. If you mean my rapper has been the best on the internet from Mississippi, yes, I am.

38:16Speaker 2:Gotcha.

38:17Speaker 1:I am the best on the internet.

38:19Speaker 2:The best rapper on the internet.

38:20Speaker 1:Yeah. Me and Dearsilas and one other rapper that I got to give his credit, LaRussell. It's two people that I get a lot of my marketing from. I looked up to how LaRussell marketed. At one point, you could not see LaRussell on the internet. Three, four, five years ago, you could not see that. I said, God, are they paying him to do this? Who's behind this? And I got so sick of seeing him, I just had to follow him.

38:42Speaker 2:You're a better rapper than Lil Russell, but he's incredible.

38:44Speaker 1:I'm a better rapper than everybody. It ain't just him. It's everybody. It's you, your best friend, your grandma, your dog, all y'all. Soulja Boy. Soulja Boy, too. Shit, I'm a better rapper than Soulja Boy. I'm not fucking with you. I'm a better rapper than all of you.

39:00Speaker 3:But I'm good.

39:00Speaker 1:I work hard. very very hard for very fucking long to be this good and it ain't just like it's a he popped up out of nowhere and it's like he's just started rapping you've seen me consistently for six years straight yeah rap this good be this present and like you know what i'm saying it ain't like oh like you just said oh okay he can really rap this ain't a facade he didn't pop down and like pull some shit and just hit struck struck by uh look you know i'm saying no i've worked very fucking hard to be this good and why am i doing it if i'm not better than all y'all niggas, man?

39:31Speaker 1:Come on, dog.

39:32Speaker 2:Is there anybody that you've reached out to to work with?

39:34Speaker 1:I thought you were going to say anybody. I was like, hell no.

39:37Speaker 2:That's your name, Jesus.

39:39Speaker 5:Devontae Burns or God.

39:42Speaker 2:You tried to work with and they weren't as.

39:47Speaker 5:Receptive as you would have liked them to be? Like you reached out to them? Yeah, I reach out to people. I used to reach out to people all the time. When people didn't get it from me or when people didn't see it. And I see people now who like, I done DM'd them before. Man, listen to my project, but could you check me out? And they didn't see it because I was a nobody. And then it's like, years later, like, boy, that boy Akeem Ali. I'm like, chill, bitch.

40:07Speaker 1:Right, right. I'm just like, I'm just glad they recognized me.

40:10Speaker 5:What's the Sierra record doing for you, though? Because that's a great look.

40:13Speaker 1:Man.

40:14Speaker 2:And how is that connection happening?

40:16Speaker 1:Okay, so right here, my photographer, Letitia Marie, is one of the people who work very close with KP. KP hit me about the record. Okay. Yeah. uh kawan prether uh he hit me about the um record and was just like you know c got this record and we thought you would sound good on it me i'm just like because sometimes people will have you do records and not use them oh yeah and so i'm just in the groove of like i'll be working so much i'm like yeah i'll do the record it's sierra if she use it whatever if she don't whatever i'm so used to writing and putting shit out i'm just like fuck it and i sent it to him he was like oh boy you killed this motherfucker and i was like appreciate it And I'm just thinking nothing of it. It's sitting in my phone. Then one day, somebody hit me and was like, hey, it's me. And she wants to know when can you do content or shoot a video or something. I'm like, oh, yeah. And I'm still not thinking nothing of it. Even now, I'm just kind of like, damn, it's so surreal. Because I'm like, I grew up watching Ciara on a money car. Like, you know what I'm saying?

41:10Speaker 1:Doing her thing on top of a money Carlo. And it's just like, now I'm sitting on the back of a Chevelle. You know what I'm saying? Rapping my verse with her.

41:17Speaker 2:That's the air driving. Crazy.

41:18Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm just like, fuck. You know, it's... very sweet you know what I'm saying very kindred spirit man like nice um man it was just like damn you know and it was almost just kind of like while I'm sitting on the backseat rapping I just wanted to be like is she.

41:33Speaker 4:Real yeah that's you yeah you for real what's your last name I'm like shit no the song is dope though thank you I appreciate it the song.

41:46Speaker 2:Is dope I like the visual for the album I mean for the song as well um.

41:50Speaker 3:And i just think that's fire that she had the record and yeah wanted you on it not the other way around.

41:56Speaker 2:And was ready willing to like you said just shoot a visual for.

41:59Speaker 1:I think it was a mixture of things too like meeting people who've known people or who meet people and like they believing in a vision i don't think that she just had like let's put a keemali on i think somebody saw a vision for her and hey this guy would be good but at any rate she could have heard and been like yeah nah fuck that somebody else and she heard and it was like I like this. You know what I'm saying? It takes a lot for a motherfucker to just like it. You can like it.

42:19Speaker 1:He can like it. That don't mean she going to like it. She going to like it. Everybody don't feel the same about it. So for everybody to be in agreeance and like, hey, this is the guy. And like, yeah, I was like, shit. That's dope. Yeah, man.

42:30Speaker 2:Do you also got into the joint with Money Long as well?

42:33Speaker 1:Yeah. Well, it's on her album, but nobody knows that. But y'all will hear that later on. Y'all will hear that later on.

42:41Speaker 5:I see what you're doing with these features, man, with the women, man. It's still some Kimi Casanova in there.

42:47Speaker 1:What? What do you mean, man?

42:50Speaker 2:Everybody's married in that situation, too.

42:51Speaker 1:No, no, no.

42:52Speaker 5:Everybody's married, but it's a lot. It's just like you in this picture, you and money right here in this picture.

42:56Speaker 1:Money isn't married. People think she's married. I don't want to have a misperception or people be like, isn't she married? My bad, Iceberg.

43:09Speaker 5:I saw y'all at the BET Awards on the carpet. The aesthetics was very, very nice. Just putting that out there. Do with that what you will. I like the record.

43:22Speaker 1:What record?

43:24Speaker 2:Don't you have a record with her?

43:25Speaker 1:What record have you heard of?

43:27Speaker 2:I've been seeing y'all.

43:28Speaker 1:You saw, you saw me in a video of hers probably. Yes. And yeah, so that was a record that was off her album and it was for a rollout.

43:35Speaker 2:Okay.

43:36Speaker 1:So we did the video and it's just like, you know, the video looks so fucking amazing. So good. Uh, the richest by money long ago streamed at the day. I also streamed the Lulu. I think that's out. Um, yeah. Support her.

43:51Speaker 2:And support Akeem Ali.

43:53Speaker 1:Yeah. Support me. That's why I'm here.

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45:19Speaker 1:Yeah, hell yeah.

45:21Speaker 5:What was that process for you finally getting that together and getting that out on DSPs?

45:27Speaker 1:I wrote some of that shit on tour last year just in passing some of those songs. Some of them I had already prepared. Some of them just came up on like, you know, the biggest song off there right now, Mesh, wasn't even supposed to be on there. I was trying to find a song that went in between like Latex and Yarn. And just got home from the studio one night and just literally started humming a voice memo into my phone and just like went to the studio, recorded that.

45:52Speaker 1:Stuff like Ray Young was more curated and just writing it and passing while I'm jotting down lyrics every day. Stuff like acrylic. I think I started writing acrylic on tour. Spandex was a song that I just kind of like revamped. Wool was something about some crazy shit. Silk was, you know, velvet. I was coming from a baby shower one day and literally just made the hook to velvet just on mistake. I was just in the booth doing runs and just came up with that and was just like, all right.

46:21Speaker 5:You're doing a lot of that more too. Like letting people know that you actually have like, you can, you can, you can rap and kind of hold a melody.

46:28Speaker 3:Yeah.

46:28Speaker 1:My name is Talented.

46:30Speaker 2:Talented.

46:31Speaker 1:Yeah. Talented.

46:34Speaker 2:Welcome to my TED Talk. Welcome to my TED Talk.

46:36Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying? I'm talented and welcome to my TED Talk. This is my best project out right now.

46:46Speaker 5:Most artists say their latest project is their best.

46:50Speaker 1:I intentionally don't put out my best shit. People think they have heard the pinnacle of me rapping. No. Not to be funny about it, but To be in all seriousness, you haven't heard me decline rapping. Or you haven't heard like, maybe you don't like it as much as you like something else, but you can't say it's lacking bars or that it's lacking like the Akeem Ali-ness of it. Like rap, rap wise, this is good. Songs, this is good. I got shit so wicked sitting in my phone. I'm like, my ears bleed sometimes when I'm listening.

47:23Speaker 2:Why are you holding it?

47:27Speaker 1:I'm not. I just put out a project.

47:29Speaker 2:Nah, but you just said you got some shit in your phone.

47:31Speaker 1:Yeah, it's going to come out. It's going to come out.

47:35Speaker 2:Just not texture tape?

47:36Speaker 1:I'm thinking about doing a texture album. And that's going to be the end of that.

47:41Speaker 2:End of that series?

47:42Speaker 1:Yeah, the end of that. But this is getting people in a groove. Shout out to my photographer, Letitia. She shot this. The artwork? Yeah, and then somebody else put the three over it. Um... Shout out to her for that. Shout out to Ari. Kevon, he was there that day. We shot like the velvet visual. That's a whole velvet wall, suede wall type shit. So like, yeah.

48:08Speaker 3:How do you time out putting projects? Like you say you have stuff that's unreleased. You want to do the texture album. Like how long do you wait in between? Do you kind of judge that off algorithm shit too? The way you go with social media, like?

48:19Speaker 1:When you're independent, you kind of just do what you want and it's like a different structure set up. Like, I'd be wanting to take like the Youngboy or the Larry June approach and just boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. But for my shit, it's like, give it a minute. Let it settle in. Like, live with it sometime. Like, I don't want to drop another project at least until like another year and a half, two years and just let people live with this one. Yeah. I don't want to be hungry to just drop music all the time.

48:41Speaker 1:But when it drop, it needs to be like, this, what the fuck is he doing? And when you hear it, you're going to be like, I thought this nigga was bullshit. I thought he was playing, but he's really not fucking playing. You know what I'm saying? So far, I've been right about everything I said I was going to do. So far, I've been right about everything.

48:58Speaker 5:What do you think the biggest misconception about you is as an artist?

49:03Speaker 1:I think a lot of people just think I give a fuck, man. I don't know.

49:07Speaker 3:And they just be thinking- I thought it was the gay pimp.

49:10Speaker 1:Thing, but yeah. Fuck all that. I just be like, shit, whatever, shit. I don't be giving a fuck about a lot of stuff. And people be thinking I do, but I just be like, y'all do y'all thing, man. And I'm just going to sit over here and chill and rap and just vibe, you know? Nah, but people be thinking I'm somebody they can play with. And I'm not.

49:33Speaker 2:Who be thinking that?

49:34Speaker 5:Everybody You seem like such a Just a cool In your own zone Type of dude Like I.

49:38Speaker 1:Don't I be trying to convince people of that But they don't give a fuck And so I just be like Alright People think I'm just like Talking shit When I be saying I rap good Or they just be like He can't rap.

49:47Speaker 5:This good I've never heard of him Anybody that sees Anybody that sees your videos Or hear your bars They can't not say you don't rap Like, anybody that listens to rap and they hear you rap, they're going to say, yo, this dude can rap.

49:58Speaker 1:You'd be surprised.

49:59Speaker 2:No, that's just niggas just hating.

50:00Speaker 1:You'd be surprised. I'm telling you, like, they'd be on some shit, Patch. I'm telling you. They'd be disrespecting me in my own hood. Can't do that.

50:10Speaker 2:That's just them.

50:12Speaker 5:Having that video with Ciara, music coming with Money Long, like, That changes all of that.

50:17Speaker 1:I will tell you like a very big misconception that a lot of people have around what I do is that they think that I have it all figured out or that I got it all put together or that I have more than I already do or that I'm probably rich or that I'm like, you know, you see people on the red card. I got invited to the fucking BET award. Like I'm not rich or famous. And like, you're in a video of Sierra. You must have a million dollars. No, I don't have none of this shit figured out. I don't have it like y'all think I do.

50:41Speaker 1:I'm just one person who just decides not to quit. Keep pressing them buttons. Like when you're playing a game and you don't know what to do, you just start pressing shit. I'm that nigga. Like if I'm losing, I'm going to just start doing shit. And I just press all the buttons at one time. And like, you know what I'm saying? So I don't have it all figured out or I don't have like this grand, you know what I'm saying? People be like, can you listen to my stuff or give me some advice? I can tell you to stop going, but then you're going to be like, he trying to be funny. I mean, don't stop going or don't quit. You're going to think I'm being funny.

51:09Speaker 1:Keep going. That's literally the answer to all of this shit. Like, don't stop. You know what I'm saying? And just like, make sure you got the right direction. Right execution. I was telling somebody the other day, you know what's crazy? They was like, why people be like, why ain't I further ahead than what they think I should be? You know, if you stand at the top of Madison Square Garden and shoot a basketball into the hoop and make it, that shit is so impressive, right? Still two points though, right?

51:36Speaker 2:Or three?

51:36Speaker 1:It's three. No, it's not even. It only counts when you're playing inside of this rectangle.

51:42Speaker 2:That's true.

51:43Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying? And when you're shooting on the correct goal and when it's your team's turn to like, or when you've stolen the ball or got possession, It's impressive from way up there. But until you learn how to like do execution, like you got the fastest car on the track, but you're outside the fucking, like you're out of bounds or you're on the fucking side wall riding and you're faster than everybody, but you never crossed the finish line because the finish line ain't on there, like over there. And so it's like, have all of these things and be good. Execution matters And how you're doing it Where you're doing it When you're doing it All of that shit matters That's a fact You know what I'm saying And so Some of it is very impressive Like Hot Sauce can Put his ball on his shirt And throw that motherfucker around Boom boom boom boom But You know what I'm saying My guy And not that He's fucking phenomenal Lead the shooter Okay Yeah Motherfucker can shoot a basketball From outer space Right Why don't he got Steph Curry money Right You know what I'm saying? Like, why don't he got Kevin Durant money?

52:38Speaker 2:There's other nuances you have to learn before.

52:40Speaker 1:You feel me? And so it's just like, we could just post this motherfucker up and just pass him the ball and just. Yeah. Every time. It just don't work that way though.

52:48Speaker 3:Yeah.

52:48Speaker 1:You know?

52:49Speaker 2:Absolutely.

52:50Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah.

52:50Speaker 2:Oh man, we really, really.

52:52Speaker 1:Hold on man, I'm going on tour. Oh, yeah, no.

52:55Speaker 2:Let the people know. Listen, we want you to plug everything.

52:57Speaker 1:I'm going on tour, man.

52:57Speaker 2:Let the people know where they can find you, when they can see you.

52:59Speaker 1:I'm going on tour. Y'all buy tickets to see me on tour. Now, let me tell y'all, because people tell me.

53:04Speaker 2:Are you going to rap it, though?

53:05Speaker 1:Am I going to rap it? Yeah. No, no, no. It's too much shit to rap. Hold on. Let me see if I can.

53:10Speaker 2:Also, send us the image.

53:11Speaker 3:We'll put it up right here when you say the dates.

53:15Speaker 5:When you coming to New York, or are you? Because I sound like one of the niggas in the comments now.

53:21Speaker 1:Right. Right. What is my New York date? Hold on. Let me look this up because let me tell y'all exactly how y'all embarrassing y'all city and state good people by not showing up the way y'all said y'all would. Where's New York at?

53:35Speaker 2:November 5th.

53:36Speaker 1:November 5th. Damn, y'all.

53:37Speaker 2:It is right there.

53:39Speaker 1:Yeah. November 5th. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Now, this is missing the fucking Las Vegas date. which is October the 14th is missing Las Vegas, which is October the 14th. Okay. Um, let me tell y'all some of these ticket sales. Um, Columbia, South Carolina, y'all are okay, but you do need to build on your ass out of 1200 tickets. I've only sold four 21. Okay. Um, Orlando, Florida, you need your ass beat out of 816 tickets. I've only sold one 35. This tour starts in like a week and a half. Yeah.

54:12Speaker 1:You feel what I'm saying?

54:13Speaker 2:Yeah.

54:14Speaker 1:Um, Who else? Miami. 950 tickets need to be sold. Only 265 sold. Y'all told me to come to Miami. What the fuck happened?

54:24Speaker 3:Did the promoter say it's a good walk-up crowd? That's my favorite thing. It's a big walk-up town.

54:28Speaker 1:A thousand people gonna walk up.

54:30Speaker 3:It's a big walk-up town.

54:33Speaker 2:And then when the show ends, they're like, hey, there was a Marlins game.

54:36Speaker 1:Man, but watch this though. Tampa Bay. 550 tickets need to be sold. 234 sold. Oklahoma City, 851 tickets need to be sold. 187 have been sold. You need a belt on your ass. You might need to shove a belt up y'all ass. San Diego, 705 tickets need to be sold. Only 91 sold.

55:00Speaker 2:Las Vegas, I'll belt up your ass.

55:01Speaker 1:Las Vegas, 750 tickets need to be sold.

55:02Speaker 2:Only 118 are sold.

55:03Speaker 1:Who else? Omaha, Nebraska, only 119 tickets out of 600. Denver, only 124 out of 450. Oh, Portland, you need to belt up your ass, pull through your mouth, and whoop with the belt because out of 550 tickets, only 79 have sold. New York, Irvin Plaza. The Trailblazers have a game that day. Watch this. New York, you need a Timberland boot that's the size 15. Shut up your ass. Because out of 1,100 tickets, only 151 tickets have been sold. It's funny now.

55:41Speaker 2:Thanksgiving, you know.

55:42Speaker 1:Yeah, Little Rock. Little Rock, you need the same treatment New York got, but somebody need to wrap you upside your fucking head because out of 1,300 tickets, only 85 have been sold.

55:49Speaker 2:The Clintons will solve that one.

55:51Speaker 1:Who else? Birmingham, 182 tickets sold out of 1,000. Huntsville, 133 tickets sold. Only shows that are sold out. And I had to do a second Atlanta show. or Jackson, Mississippi, my hometown, and Atlanta, right? Y'all tell me to come to these places, and if you're not a fan, I get it. I'm not forcing you to buy tickets. Tickets are only $ 30. I've been promoting this tour for five and a half months. It costs five fucking dollars to fart. You poop, it costs you $ 5. And you can't say $ 5 a month, $ 4 a month. You spend, come on, bro.

56:21Speaker 1:I just spent $ 10.

56:22Speaker 4:Right.

56:22Speaker 1:Just then.

56:23Speaker 2:Just breathing. In New York, maybe $ 20.

56:25Speaker 1:It cost $ 20 fucking dollars to breathe.

56:27Speaker 2:$ 40 an hour to walk outside.

56:28Speaker 1:And y'all tell me to come to these cities. And then y'all say, oh, he's complaining. He's a crybaby. He's doing this. Oh, he's trying to force us. He's trying to pocket. I'm not trying to pocket watch you. If you're a fan or if you know somebody. And this is me advocating for myself because maybe the algorithm isn't showing you. So the people who got tickets and you do support me, I love you. I appreciate you. You mean a lot to me. I want your business. I want your support. I want your love. And I want to reciprocate that to you and for you. I do appreciate it, and I am grateful to be in this position, all right, that you're taking time out of your busy day schedule life to spend effort, time, money, and energy on me. But for the people who haven't seen this, I'm bringing this belt. I'm bringing them Tims. And if you ain't got them tickets, don't hop on. I'm going to hop on my live. Tell me how you a fan and you ain't got no ticket. And if y'all not at the show, I'm coming back up here. I know where y'all live at.

57:12Speaker 2:Oh, no, I'll be at the show. All right. I got it. I got to see what you do.

57:16Speaker 1:Money bag, man.

57:19Speaker 2:Algorithm. You got to attack that.

57:20Speaker 1:One last thing. I want to give a shout out to some artists in Jackson.

57:23Speaker 5:OK.

57:23Speaker 1:All right. I'm going to get a shout out and I'm going to leave y'all alone. Get out your hair. All right. So shout out to some artists and some platforms in Jackson, Mississippi from the I love.

57:30Speaker 2:I love I love that you're doing this, by the way.

57:32Speaker 1:Yeah, man. Appreciate it. Antusay, Franchise, Hollywood Luck, J. Scott, King King, Tricky Hudson, Dollar Black, D. Horton, 2TV, Gnarly J, Fat Dizzle, Malik Cash, Casting Boy Dre, Jules, Ariel J, Kiera Archie, Lake Forest D, Air Slim, Hershey Black, Flawless, Vitamin C, B. King the Goat, Kenny Pahina, Navia, Dev Mac, Kamikaze, Mojo Kids, Cool Jazz, Coke Bumaye, Dear Silas, Trilluminati, Nico, Polo Baby, King Heem, Lil C, Doe Hicks, Dirty Costello, Slim Pusher, The Joker, Cool KM, RBA School, Jody Boy, Ray Kincaid, Donald Vegas, DJ Finesse, Don Juan, that's my DJ, DJ T. Lewis, DJ Reese, DJ PM, DJ Pretty Ricky, DJ Scrap Dirty, DJ Twigga, Fly Walker as a producer, Markel producer, Rashad Street producer, C. Gutter producer, One way to produce it Now some platforms That y'all can subscribe to too Rita Brent My dog Cousin Tim Jonathan at Tapped In Reviews Bars to Blow Squirrel World Crystal Sturt on SC Money TV Fox Cave Chronicles 601 and Park Michaela Phillips Big Mooch Portia C Alexis Noble Shout out to all y'all My closest friends You know Chuck and Javadric Goddamn Brian BJ Tim Rolo Shout out to my

58:42Speaker 1:dogs My sister Shout out to you I love you I don't say my sister's name Because I don't want to know Who my folks is For real like that y'all niggas be weird and you know all my people back at home man if you ever in jackson if y'all go visit jackson go eat at johnny t's go eat at uh go to m bar go to names and faces elf jones shit fourth lounge trio um a couple of businesses and places you can go to what is looking like in jackson just go eat at the places i told you to eat.

59:07Speaker 2:At they shaking ass in them places.

59:10Speaker 1:I Go do what I told you. I don't go to the booty club.

59:14Speaker 2:What? Why?

59:15Speaker 1:Why? I work hard for my money. Yeah. All that complaining I do about not having the money just to go in there and be like.

59:21Speaker 2:Take it.

59:21Speaker 1:There you go.

59:23Speaker 2:Yeah, but sometimes you need, you know, inspiration.

59:26Speaker 1:No, and I'm going to tell you something. As hard as I work for my money, give me all my money in rolls of quarters. I'm going to knock somebody out in this bitch. I'm throwing him. I'm throwing rolls of quarters.

59:42Speaker 2:It's $ 5 a quarter.

59:43Speaker 1:Lumped and knotted up. Lumped up.

59:45Speaker 2:The texture to Hakeem Ali. Listen, man, go get them tickets. Have you been to Jackson? I've never been to Jackson, Mississippi.

59:52Speaker 1:Oh, man. Okay.

59:53Speaker 2:I've been twice. PJ and I got robbed in New Orleans and then we drove to Jackson, Mississippi.

59:58Speaker 1:And got robbed again. Damn. We came home after that.

1:00:03Speaker 2:I just had it.

1:00:04Speaker 1:Barely made it.

1:00:05Speaker 3:All of our stuff taken to New Orleans, robbed, and we went to Jackson, Mississippi with the shirts on our back and somehow made it back to New York.

1:00:11Speaker 2:Fuck you.

1:00:12Speaker 1:We made it.

1:00:12Speaker 2:Jackson took us in. Nigga, we made it.

1:00:14Speaker 1:No, some of the greatest people, nicest, most genuine people you'll ever meet in your life from Jackson.

1:00:19Speaker 3:Jacksonville it was a cool city the time that we spent there for sure.

1:00:23Speaker 5:Akeem Ali we appreciate you man this has been long overdue it's a pleasure to finally have you in the studio anytime you back in New York you want to come through pull up.

1:00:30Speaker 1:I'm going to be back tomorrow.

1:00:33Speaker 5:No definitely for the show you definitely got to come through whenever you get to the city before the show come kick it with us Detection Tour go get those tickets now support Akeem Ali real talent real bars I'm that nigga he's just ginger Peace.

1:00:48Speaker 1:The gender niggas.