Latest / Yeah Buddy! Podcast / Catching Up with Rapper Esquire Ali: From Sacramento to Worldwide Beats

Transcript

Catching Up with Rapper Esquire Ali: From Sacramento to Worldwide Beats · Yeah Buddy! Podcast

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Music.
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Yes, yes, yes. What's going on, world? This is your man, Buddy Rami,
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and we are back at it, y'all, with another episode of the Yeah, Buddy podcast.
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If this is your first time, tune in, man. Hey, y'all, welcome.
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Sit in, tune in, man. Check it out.
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And if you are a returning friend, thank you, man, for returning back in with
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us. We got another great episode. Y'all know how we do.
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Like every episode, I always try to bring one of my friends in their entertainment business in.
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We sit down, chop it up, catch up, see what we got going on.
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And this episode is like no other, y'all.
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This episode, man, I got my good friend representing hard for the 916.
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Y'all represent for the King, Sac State, all that good stuff, man. He is a rapper.
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He's got, he's going to be talking about all his parts. He's got coming out
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with Fred Squire, Bar Fight, and his upcoming album that I'm going to let him talk about.
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But right now, y'all make it live, make it loud for my good friend, Mr. S. Squire.
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You know the motherfucking bars. I'm happy to be here. Let's go.
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Yeah, buddy. You know the motherfucking vibe. Come on.
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Get it in, my guy. How we doing, man? I'm amazed. I'm happy to be alive.
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Any day above the dirt is a good day.
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And I'm just excited, man. The future is happening. It's right here. It's right now.
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I've been in the desert for the past 30 days. It felt like a mirage.
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It felt like, you know, I was just on some spiritual pilgrimage,
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It's a musical journey, you know what I mean?
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And I'm back in California. I'm back feeling this good humidity, you know what I mean?
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It ain't even humid like that, but you really take for granted this beautiful weather we got out here.
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I'm just happy to be home. I'm happy to be back in Sacramento.
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And it's just, it's glorious. I'm happy to be alive. You know what I mean?
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I'm happy to have my freedom.
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I'm happy to just be able to continue to be me. I'm happy to be myself.
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I'm happy I don't got no enemies. You dig? I'm happy I'm hopeless.
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You know what I mean? That's what I'm talking about. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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Hey, man. Shout out to staying out the way. Man, right?
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Staying out the fucking way. I'm pushing peace and positivity.
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I make music for my grandma. I'm not a politician. Don't include me in no politics.
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So no man i remember i first met you a couple
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years ago and stuff like that i was working at the insurance office and stuff like
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that but you was out there grinding and still doing your music
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thing bro i'm glad to see you still out there doing it yeah grinding
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bro putting it out there and stuff like that it's been beautiful journey
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and we still going like to think just all
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the open mics all the poetry slams all the
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street performances all the little shows all the
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pay to play you selling tickets just to open up to
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all the little independent grind to then
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like you know really doing shit going on tour and
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having fans people singing your music like
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it's beautiful it's definitely been a blessing i'm just excited to to keep the
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ball rolling man like it's a real magical time right now and if you know you
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know and if you don't it's not too late I promise you, like, come on home. Come on.
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How'd you get started into making music? You started, was it always rapping?
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All right, so here's how it started. My first memory in life,
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actually, is at Disneyland.
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I'm on a Dumbo ride with my mom.
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This is my very first memory in life. And I'm like, when were we at Disneyland
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on a Dumbo ride? Like, why do I got this memory?
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Oh, we was on a church trip. We was singing in the choir.
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It's Tabernacle of David, Vallejo, California. It's a beautiful,
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glorious Baptist Christian church.
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And that's where I was born in Vallejo.
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I would say I grew up in the church probably until I moved to Sac at like five years old.
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And even when we was in Sac, we probably went to that church until I was like maybe eight, nine, ten.
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Just to be around like the gospel, our choir director, Eugene Cole,
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He was just such a faction, such a pillar, man. God bless. Rest his soul.
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Like, he's just Eugene calling Persuaded. This is Jim. If you're listening,
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Eugene calling Persuaded.
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That's where it all starts. Just even from being in the church as a kid,
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people was telling me, they was like, you're going to be a preacher when you get older.
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You got a calling. I can tell you got a calling.
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I'll be running. You know what I mean? I'll be running from it, but in due time.
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And I'll say, it's like I grew up in a black household. My pop, he from Iran.
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I grew up with my mom, and she black. And, like, when you growing up,
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like, because I got friends, like, they have memories of, like,
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they first hip-hop. Like, I don't know.
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This is just from the jump. It's enlaced. It's ingrained. Like,
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I couldn't tell you the first moment.
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Like, I knew I was, like, finna be doing it.
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It just is what it is. Like, my older brother, I remember seeing him do a talent
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show, doing karate shit to MC Hammer.
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Too legit, too legit to quit, bro, up there doing Taekwondo.
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My sister, you know, she's doing cheerleading and mom's around the crib,
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like, always bumping oldies.
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Like, and mom was super solid. Like, I remember she was having us listen to
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Baroque music at one point because, you know, single mom, three kids,
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you stressed out, you working.
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We ain't doing nothing but pissing you off and costing you money.
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You know what I mean? Anything you could do to calm down and just keep going.
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And I just remember, like, having a real eclectic array of, like,
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Black music, Black culture, Black everything. You know what I mean?
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Like, even... Like, I remember...
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Like, even my pop, like, my pop love hip hop.
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He love, like, DMX, his favorite rapper for real. He love Bobby Brown.
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He love, love him some Prince.
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And, like, it's just when I think about music, this is all I ever know.
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And it's all that's, like, intrigued me. Like, my first concert I ever went
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to, my mom took us to the Scream Tour, the very first one, Lil' Bow Wow, Art Colorina.
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And it's like, I shit you not, 75% of Sacramento is there. Like, I bring this up. Yeah.
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You know, and, like, just even from, like, as a kid, you know,
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like, I remember I seen Allen Iverson with the Braves. I'm like,
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yep, that's what we doing.
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Like, Charles Woodson. Like, I don't know.
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It's just, so music, I'll say the hip-hop shit, like, Rapping,
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me being serious, I'm going to be an emcee for real.
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Me and my older brother would always freestyle. We had bunk beds. We'd be talking shit.
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But when I moved to Hercules, when I moved away from Sacramento.
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I think I was 13, 14 when my boy Rooney Racks, he put me in the booth.
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We just moved from Sac to Hercules.
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Me and my older brother, two badass kids, we come into the bay.
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We like, yep, it's lit. We about to live with Pop. is lit and
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it wasn't none of the sorts no disrespect you know
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i love my pop love my stepmom love my little sisters
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my little brother but it was just like this
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we was moving to an environment that we didn't know wasn't really set up for
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us to be there like that like it sounded good on paper but and that's that's
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where the the inclination to like all right i gotta i gotta find something else outside of the home.
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I got to look for, you know, that's where the skateboarding come from.
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You get like a therapy or stuff. Yeah, yeah. Being with Rooney Racks and the stew all the time.
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Like I was heavy in the sports, like anything that keep me away from the crib,
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away from the drama, all of that.
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I'll say like And rapping and skateboarding were two of the biggest,
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most pivotal things in my life that still to this day, like,
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I encourage every young person that I meet everywhere, like,
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don't put down that skateboard and don't stop making music.
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Like, I got homies that I met up when they 15, they 19 now.
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And I'm like, I'm trying to tell you, keep rapping, keep skating,
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and you in trouble now. Because I know that's what kept me on point.
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That's what kept me disciplined, kept me humble.
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Kept me out of the streets, kept me away from certain types of things.
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Even though all of that is there, it's like being able to disappear, be in different spaces.
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Like I said, Rooney Racks, man, he put me in the booth for the first time ever
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and the rest was history.
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We was recording on a rock band microphone.
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He had Cool Edit Pro.
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I just met somebody the other day who still uses Cool Edit Pro.
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Cool Edit Pro, like one of the most archaic digital audio workspaces in the world. What is that?
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Yeah. Cool Edit Pro, man. Shout out to Rooney Rags.
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Shout out to my boy from Taylor Group still using Cool Edit Pro. You know what it is.
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Cool Edit Pro, man. Come on. I'm talking about classics was made on that.
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Barry Bonds. I'm Loaded.
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And a lot of just early joints that helped
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shape like my teenage years like all
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of our homies was bumping our music we was performing at
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the high school rally like i remember the first the first like lit show we did
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man we must have been 15 and we in rodale california boy performing with kilo
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and jay and and this jay and little brother went to our school.
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This probably, when I'm looking back, this probably 15 years ago, 14 years ago.
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Like, it's just been a beautiful journey, man. And I just can't stop for nothing. I'm hooked.
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I'm hooked. I love it all. From the boom bap with the old heads,
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like, to the choker chain, digital heart face tattoos with the sound cloud. I love all of it, man.
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And it's just beautiful. like hip hop is
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the most beautiful thing in the world it's beautiful
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to see the impact that it's
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having and just to know the importance
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of expression and you know i mean like i've been to the east coast and did poetry
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slams in dc as a kid i'm walking into you know me we don't got no ids or none
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of that i'm up there reading off an ipod touch you know what i mean like really
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reciting some shit and it's like,
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I don't know what I would do if I didn't make music like for real,
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for real I know that's a long-winded answer it's all good that was just the
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first question but it's all good.
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I don't know, I went too deep that's good though, at least you know what I'm
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saying that's cool, that's cool,
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so how did you get your start when it comes to making music out here in,
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Sacramento, North California because I know you were doing shows out at Chico
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for a little bit too yep so right chico the dirty 530 i still got a chico phone
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number yeah i'll never give it up i love chico man chico really it it made me
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not like when i went there i went up there for school,
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prior to going to chico it was like i'm in high school i'm lit i'm at risk youth
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all this shit I'm popping it.
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And like, I got into school by the grace of God. You know what I mean?
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My granddaddy had adopted me.
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I was on juvenile probation at the time.
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So it was all these extraneous circumstances to where my granddaddy,
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he a Vietnam veteran, man. Love you, granddaddy.
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We was able to get me to school, you know what I mean, the player way.
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I had no intentions on going to college.
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I'm 17, selling weed. I got a prepaid sidekick and shit.
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You know, I'm in school enough just to get a seat, just to play football.
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I get into Chico. It's a crazy story, even within itself.
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One of my football coaches, we was on Big Bull shit together.
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We drinking 40s, watching film and shit like that.
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My high school was crazy. The high school day was going to be a movie one day.
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And he had this homegirl that he was finagling with that was in the CSU system.
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And he had to plug on multiple applications for the price of one.
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Chico State was one of, I think it was the only school I got into, for real, for real.
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And I had known nothing of Chico. The only thing I knew, my brother went up
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there and partied a couple times. Yeah.
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I was like, oh, yeah, we going. We going. It's lit.
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And I get up there, talking about the school shit straight.
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So it's like, I'm just there just to get the degrees.
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No stress, no nothing. So it's like, they was like, man, come on.
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Me, my granddaddy, my mom, they're like, let's take out a loan.
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Let's put you in the little college dorm. I'm like, hell.
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You know what I mean? I'm like, drop the bag on me. Let me rent a crib.
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They're like, nah, get the college experience. These are going to be your best
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friends forever. And I promise you.
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The people that I met from there in that little, like, freshman,
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little living situation, they steal my dogs to this day. That's what's up. It's beautiful.
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I'm talking about maybe being in Chico, like, 10 days, I had it like that.
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And I tell everybody, man, like, especially if you're growing up fast,
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please go to school because they're not ready for nobody like us at academia.
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But they need it and they thrive. Like, I went up there and was the man.
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You know what I mean? Like, you was in Chico and I was in Chico,
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you know. You know, I don't got to say too much. What year was this about?
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2012 to 2017. Okay. Because I know I stayed out at Yuba City.
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Yeah. So, yeah, we, yeah, very familiar with the Chico parties.
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Yeah. The Chico lifestyle.
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Yeah. Shout out to Chico. Yeah. We probably crossed paths, man.
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We probably have. We probably been at a couple of parties.
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You know what I've been? street chico party scene yeah
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that's my dog shout out odell man no i don't
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know i don't know you no i don't know i love
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you baby but yeah i love chico and
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then so anyways back to sacramento making your moves and the rap scene music
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scene out here at sacramento you stop about doing like the open mics yeah so
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like with sacramento i like my first like we was young we was kids And I was
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with C-Plus and DJ Epic the other night,
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man, listening part. Shout out to Plus, man.
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I'm talking about, like, on some musical shit, I'll say Plus,
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Chewy and Abstract, all of them, Illicism, Fly Hot, all of them.
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Like, they really, like, showed niggas, like, all right, it's doable.
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Like, you can do anything in this world, for real, for real. It don't matter.
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You just have to dream it, and you can do it. And I remember being at C-Plus
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All-City album release party.
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I must have been maybe 10, 12, you know what I mean? Like, this is a long time ago.
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And, like, just to, like, be around that type of shit, I remember, man, God bless DJ Gio.
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That's the first DJ I've ever seen. I was in the fifth grade.
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I'll never forget this shit.
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It was Tone's birthday in the Tone Miss, and everybody was there, man.
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Shout out Kyle Hayes, man. DJ Gio, man.
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God bless, man. But as I say all that to say, like, being around all of that
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at such a young age, being at FTC at such a young age, like, Second Saturday,
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like, just being around this shit, it really helped shape my mind in a positive
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way, in a, like, you could dream type of way.
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Like, like I'm seeing Sam Flores art my whole life in Sacramento.
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I meet bro in the city. Like, I don't know, a few months ago,
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like working with the Giants and shit.
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Like, it's just full circle shit like that. Like, even to like,
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I don't know if you know, John Cartier, like he like the Dr.
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Dre skateboarder. He from Sacramento.
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I bumped into bro on 420 a couple of years ago.
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He gave me this roster ring. I'll never forget this shit, but I love John Cartier.
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Everywhere I go, everybody is all hail Cartier.
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You know? It's a song.
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He a cultural phenomenon. And, like, I was working with somebody that used to
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kick it with him back in the day in San Diego.
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Man, shout out Bush Sturbins, man.
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He's like, no way. You from Sac? Like, I'll go back with Cartier.
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We used to skate in Sac, skate in the city, blah, blah, blah,
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blah. And I'm like, man, when I bumped into him, and when I bumped into him,
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I was like, man, you know Butch? You know Butch Sturman? And he's like...
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Like, how you know? But, and we was cooking together in San Diego a couple years ago, man.
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And when I say San Diego, I'm being vague. I really mean Oceanside to 7-6-0.
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You know what I mean? It's a sunny place for shady people.
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I really mean Oceanside, man, to 7-6-0. You hear me rep that shit.
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Shout out to North County, you know. And it's all California love, man.
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That's really what it is. Like, we really be outside and be everywhere.
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And it's just so beautiful, man, to be like a staple out here, like a pillar out here.
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I'm telling you, I pop out. Anytime I pop out, I'm always seeing people. It's hard, it's hard.
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And we did it. You know, me and Coach, we got a song on 103.5 before they dismantled that bitch.
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And it's like when you talk about legendary shit, like I got to crowd surf at
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the Crest Theater with my dog.
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You know like we was on tour with channel five and
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shit it's just you know it's just been
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beautiful to to represent sacramento and
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be a part of the lineage you know
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we talking about brother lynch hung and cbo and you know fast forward to the
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black star to some terrible lavish d the mozzie all of that shit then you fast
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forward you know i already mentioned
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c plus illicism all you know the Nate Curry's, the Harris Ruppman's.
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Like, I feel like I'm there for every, you know, shout out T-Nutty everybody, man.
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Like, I really feel like I've seen all this shit.
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Like, recipe's Joey Rock, man. Joey Rock, man. Real legend.
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Like, there's a lot of people out here that's put on for Sacramento.
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And I just, I feel like I'm one of them ones too.
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Like, when people be out and about and they asking, Like, they know Esquire.
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They know he putting on for Sacramento. They know what it is.
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They know I'm not out here doing janky business and just on some bullshit.
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Like, it's big do the right thing, gang.
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You know? We op-less. You know what I mean? Like, we do this shit.
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Like, peace, love, prosperity. I make music my grandma can listen to.
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And it's just, you know, we trying to get out this bitch.
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We trying to make millions and billions and trillion. brilliant
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and that's just you know i'm proud to
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be from here shout out to everybody that's from here we
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gonna make it you know sacramento up right now
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yeah when you reflect on because you talk you know uh paying homage and giving
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flowers to a lot of you know artists out here at sacramento but you personally
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don't say does this show you know we don't give artists to the flowers and stuff
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like that when you sit back and you reflect you seeing the time that you you've
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put in on this scene and stuff like that yeah talk a little bit more about you
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know specifically the impact that you you've made and stuff.
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Man, personally, I really just think.
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I feel like I'm the artist, artist, your favorite artist, favorite artist.
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And when it comes down to it, it's like, it don't matter if I'm doing some shit
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with Dre T with the live band. It don't matter if I'm doing a punk rock show
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where we got Nate Curry in the mix.
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It don't matter if at an open mic, like, I just am proud to do this shit.
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And I'm just so thankful that like
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you know people people rock with
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it like man shout out to Zoo Divine man
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the pop out tour like it was a
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time where like bro wasn't able to attend this shit but we had to keep this
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shit lit for him no matter what and people was still pulling up and like you
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know like I could I could talk about myself but it's like that's the beauty
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of me for real, for real. I'm the people's champ.
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And I always tell everybody, the people gonna do the talking for me.
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I could talk all day, but the dope gonna sell itself, you know?
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I could tell you this, the A1 uncut, but you gotta see it for yourself, you know?
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No, I feel it for sure. Well, we're gonna talk about you then.
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Let's get into, let's talk about the music then. Is that cool?
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We can highlight how about your music? Let's do it. Like that.
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I know you got project, well, by the time this episode airs,
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the project will have just dropped or whatever, but we're going to start with the.
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Beginnings, the origins, if you will, and stuff like that, because like you
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said, you've been making your
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imprint out here in the Sacramento music scene, almost a comedy scene.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah. But yeah, the Sacramento music scene and stuff like that,
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and one of the very first projects you had put out was a project called Trebsquire.
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Alright, so look, even before the Trebsquire shit, me and Coz shut this bitch down.
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Me and World Coz, 1919 2020 big
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sacramento staples we got on 103.5 all
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this shit but fast forward that's like five years
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ago and like fast forward i dropped the
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project bonding that was a real special one it's a lot of people's favorite
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project like people told me they bump that shit every day i love it it's like
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some real serious shit but the treb squire shit so big treb he played bass in
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the punk band with me. And it's like.
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When I talk about, like, just amazing people and somebody that I'll die for,
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somebody I'll jump in front of a bullet for, like, he one of them dudes with no hesitation.
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Like, I'm talking about we got to live together. I got to see Big Trance develop
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into the amazing, beautiful man that he is today.
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Like, we just, me and Cleo was the best man in the May to honor him and his wife's wedding.
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And it's just the most beautiful, like, experience, you know,
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like, to have friends that you love and it's, like, unconditional.
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Like, it's the most beautiful thing in the world.
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And I just feel like Treb is just so special and he's so rare.
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Like the only way I could I could
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ever thank him or appreciate him properly in
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my love language I'm like man we gotta
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make the shit like we gotta like we have to do it you know like if anybody is
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sitting at the table that's not us like peace be with you like we gonna make
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it the Trev Squire shit like we probably been working on this shit for like two years.
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We played a lot of shows before cutting
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up the project like you know I'm a real performance
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artist before a recording artist so it's like it's easier for me to like play
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the music and see how we feeling and what's working what's not but when we got
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to it I think our first show we play as Trev Squire.
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I think we did Solomon's. Oh, okay, for sure. Yeah, yeah. It was fire,
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man. Shout out to Abs. You know what I mean?
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But it was beautiful, man, like, just to be in that space. That's the old Tower Records and shit.
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Like, I love downtown. I love being there.
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And, you know, Chewy popped out and performed.
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Zoo Divine. I think Lil' Remy Bo performed. It was a vibe. It was a vibe.
25:50
All the homies was there, friends, family.
25:53
It's beautiful. and like from that
25:56
moment to putting out the first project to
25:59
performing this shit people being
26:03
like whoa like this is different it's
26:06
it's just been such a beautiful response and
26:09
I can't thank everybody enough like for us
26:13
to pour so much into a whole separate band
26:16
and put that to rest and then be
26:19
back with some whole new shit and people are like I wouldn't say just as excited
26:26
but like they're just as appreciative like they really like Trev Squire is something
26:33
special it's like if I could compare Trev Squire to anything it's like.
26:39
It's like the secret weapon it's like it's like your six man it's like the unsung
26:45
hero it's like Trev Squire is like
26:48
like i compare trev squire like shwayze or
26:51
fucking it's like casuals might overlook it but
26:54
the people who like are like with the decor of like
26:57
what you got going on and stuff they go look at it like you don't understand how
27:00
important that that project is to the whole entire discovery right right so
27:05
like the trev squire shit is is the most important thing to me right now because
27:12
it's like we done been through hell and back like and Tred been with me through
27:17
everything and it's like.
27:19
I just want to let him know, like, we could do the impossible.
27:25
Like, if there's anything to prove, I want to prove it to Trev.
27:28
Like, we finna do Coachella, all that shit.
27:31
Like, in a matter of, like, a year to two years, we gonna be the Grammy Award
27:37
winning Best New Artist, all that shit.
27:40
Like, I really feel it. The music, that's special. Like, we just left the studio earlier.
27:45
We cutting up the new project, man. The first one is called When I Say Trap.
27:50
The second one is You Say Squire. It's coming soon, man. Trap Squire,
27:54
man. Two goats, man. Come on. That's what's up.
27:57
That's what's up. So what's the creative process like, y'all two in the studio?
28:00
Because you said like the first, I know Trap Squire is kind of like a,
28:02
you said like punk rock, but then like you being more sort of raps. What's it like?
28:06
So the studio generally blended those genres. It's beautiful, right?
28:10
Because it's like we just so multifaceted and like Trap, he's a conventional bass player.
28:17
And with that being said like his
28:20
bass setup is insane like he do shit
28:23
on the bass that it don't sound like a bass
28:25
he got all these effects pedals and you know musicians are like mind blown but
28:31
the average person is like boy what in the fuck it's just beautiful to see it's
28:36
like well if i could combine him and compare him he's like thundercat mixed with battle cat.
28:45
And it's beautiful.
28:47
Like, this boy be cooking up beats. Like, I'm talking about he just stepping
28:51
out and making his first beats in his life and they're all bangers.
28:55
And it's just like, man, like, he be coming to me with beats. Sometimes they done.
29:01
Sometimes they have done. Sometimes it's just the idea.
29:04
Sometimes he'll be like, man, I got this beat, but I don't got no bass.
29:08
And I'm like, I got the bars right here. And then he'll hear the bars and then
29:13
he's like, I got the bass now.
29:14
You know or like sometimes he'll have a melody and like sometimes he'll just
29:19
have the drums it's just so collaborative and it's so beautiful and it's like,
29:25
He's so skilled at what he do, and I'm so skilled at what I do.
29:29
When it come together, it's like two Batmans.
29:33
It's like Batman and Superman. Batman and Superman. You know what I mean?
29:36
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's just beautiful.
29:40
I don't know.
29:43
I'm just excited for this new project, man. Being in Arizona,
29:47
people fuck with the Trev Squire shit.
29:49
In the Bay, they fuck with it. Seattle, Vegas, everywhere. where everybody fuck
29:54
with the TREV shit. TREV taking over, man.
29:57
I'm tripping off the TREV, man. Half man, half TREV, man. Come on.
30:02
What is it about your music style that you feel makes it to where your music
30:06
does resonate in all these different regions, especially like up and down the whole West Coast?
30:11
I think what it is for me, I just be me. And I just love having fun.
30:16
And I just love to be myself.
30:18
And I don't like to pretend.
30:20
You know what I mean? Like, if I'm not fucking with something,
30:24
I'll say it. I'll let you know.
30:26
If I love you, I'll say that too. And a lot of people be too cool to support
30:32
people or too cool to big up anybody. And it's just like, I'm not with that.
30:38
Like, I know I treat everybody the same, man.
30:42
Like, I'm talking to Larry Baird. It's the CEO of the Giant.
30:46
I'm talking to him like, how are we talking? I got weed in my pocket talking to Brad.
30:51
You know remind me your name again you got
30:54
such a great vibe and it's like you
30:58
know i just i just do me everywhere i go and
31:01
it's just it's hard to hate on somebody who just love they self who's not out
31:06
here like trying to trying to do some gimmicky like so copycat type of yeah
31:12
this person he did that i think i could do this i know you feel me like i like
31:17
skateboarding i like hello kitty i I like anime.
31:20
I play the dream cast.
31:23
I'm a real nerd. You know what I mean? I'm a real nerd.
31:28
It's just like I just love being alive. I love doing shit. I love seeing shit. I like traveling.
31:35
I like drinking blue champagne. But sometimes I might be on the block with the fellas we drinking E&J.
31:42
I'm a multifaceted person.
31:44
I think that's what people gravitate towards. It's so infectious.
31:50
I can walk around without being shaven, clean you know what I mean? I don't give a fuck.
31:57
It's just what it is and people just appreciate that I appreciate them appreciating
32:05
that because I tell all the kids out there, all my youth, them.
32:11
There's nothing worse than waking up every day and having to lie to yourself.
32:19
You know what I mean? That's the hardest thing in the world to upkeep this charade.
32:26
You cosplaying every day of your life.
32:30
It's so hard to just lie. You know what I mean? It's easy to keep it a buck and keep it funky.
32:37
Just do you. And, you know, like, I love baseball and shit. I like going to baseball games.
32:43
Some of my rap homies, they like, what the fuck? What do you see in that shit?
32:47
I'm like, man, I love this shit.
32:50
And I'll just never not think it's cool to be yourself and be original and be fresh.
32:57
Like, that's what hip hop taught me.
32:59
Like, it's cool to be yourself. Like, if you fat, be fat. You know what I mean?
33:04
Be heavy D. You know what I mean?
33:06
If you don't like that shit, change that shit. but don't not do you.
33:11
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So people want to listen to the Treb Squire.
33:16
Where can they go? Treb Squire is out now. When I say Treb, out now on all digital streaming platforms.
33:23
And you know, you can Shazam Treb. You can ask your man about Treb.
33:29
You could go ask your favorite rapper about Treb. You could ask your favorite DJ about Treb.
33:35
If you don't know Treb, you about to find out. And I'm telling you,
33:38
it's not too late. It's not too late to get on the trip train.
33:42
We are rolling. Next stop, Flavortown. But we can wait for y'all.
33:47
Yeah, there's a little bit more room here. We got a few more tickets left here.
33:51
A few more tickets left on this bus. So let's jump into the project that you got coming up.
33:56
I know you say you have been out in Arizona for a little while. Yep.
34:00
Doing your thing, man. Yep, yep. I love Arizona. Yeah.
34:03
Arizona will forever have a special place in my heart. You know,
34:07
they call it the valley out there, and it's the valley out here. Yeah.
34:11
And there's something special about being in that heat. Like, it cooks your brain.
34:16
Like, I remember being a kid playing in this heat. It's so hot.
34:20
Like, it make you an animal. You just get used to doing everything you need
34:25
to do. When it's 100 degrees, can't nothing stop you, man.
34:29
It's just beautiful being in Arizona, man. Shout out to everybody in Arizona, man.
34:34
Umiyo Ren, Avatar Flick, Jace Davey, PVK, Unk's House.
34:40
You know what I mean? The list goes on and on. Neto, Pablo,
34:45
Shout out to Bo Bo, man. KD, man. Shout out to y'all. Deep Book, man.
34:50
And I know I'm forgetting a bunch of people in Arizona, man,
34:54
but I love y'all. I love Arizona with all my heart. Yeah.
34:58
So you got a project that just recently dropped, but before you did that, you had dropped an EP.
35:04
Yeah. That was the lead up to it. This EP, I was listening to it earlier today
35:07
while I was at work. It's called Bar Fight.
35:11
Yep. Bar Fight. So check it. It's the first ever bar-for-bar mixtape in hip-hop history.
35:16
We really having fun. We really loving ourselves.
35:19
We really just doing this shit for the homies, man.
35:23
Everything, like all the music from Bar Fight and from Thugging on the Weekend,
35:29
there's probably just as many songs that's about to be out. Babe, out now.
35:33
But there's probably just as many songs that's out and that's not out.
35:38
And all this music been recorded in the Taz, year and a half maybe,
35:44
at the Dirt Shack, live, Dirt Gang Records, man.
35:48
Shout out to the Dirt Man, you know what I mean? I was just on Dirt Man Mountain.
35:53
And, you know, God made dirt, so dirt don't hurt. And that's just what it is.
35:59
And Dirt is an acronym because a lot of people do it wrong, you know what I mean?
36:04
And if you do it wrong, just do it right then. mm-hmm
36:08
do good or
36:11
be good at what you're doing yeah i mean yeah so all
36:14
this music man bar fight like we just had to put it
36:17
out it was such a vibe it was such a moment we captured
36:20
like and we do these trips like these
36:24
arizona like rap camp you know that's how i feel like homies from seattle pull
36:29
up it'd be people from la out there and this kind of started my boy umio rin
36:35
man He threw this show out there Almost 10 years ago And when I pulled up.
36:43
We cut up a project in like three days it's the arizona way it's a very special
36:48
project it's a soundcloud classic we're gonna drop that on all streaming platforms soon but.
36:53
Just the idea of it was like i set up the
36:56
computer little m audio interface little
37:00
mic everybody passing around we made a project in
37:03
the kitchen that is like 500 square foot
37:06
apartment there's one bathroom there's
37:09
probably like 10 kids sleeping all spread out
37:12
the little living room a bunch of savage ass
37:15
woods we were smoking backwoods at the time here's savage ass
37:18
woods savage ass boss way man shout out to
37:21
gym forza chart t wish baby man ashtray surfer
37:24
man these all the boys from seattle drove to arizona just
37:28
for this show we made a moment and then
37:31
you fast forward like that that vibe that
37:34
energy that method just gets
37:37
translated over time like and you
37:41
get bar fight like the the same spirit of
37:44
joy and just love and brotherhood
37:48
that's where you get because we it's called
37:51
bar fight because we really going bar for bar we really like taking turns punching
37:55
in it's no thought it's just all vibes and we all have a hella fun and like
38:01
that shit translates into the music and like i'm just so excited to share this
38:06
thugging on the weekend.
38:08
Everything from Arizona. Arizona gonna pop. I'm stamping it.
38:11
I'm like ain't nobody from California stamping Arizona.
38:15
I'm the first. And I love Arizona, man. Left Coast is the best coast, man.
38:21
And we welcome y'all to Open Orange from Valley to Valley, man. Hello.
38:26
That's great. So Bar Fight, it was a... So you went out to Arizona but all the
38:30
artists was from a whole bunch of different regions around like the West Coast and stuff? Yep.
38:34
Yep. So and bar fight like a lot of people from out there is either Cali, Arizona or Seattle.
38:42
That's like our crew and,
38:45
this project man is just so special bro like we made everything umio rin and
38:52
nihilist motion they made all the beats do all the recording at the crib and
38:58
it's just beautiful man like,
39:01
we almost lost my dog man he on his like through the wire victory lap right
39:06
now like our bro umio ran man he he almost lost it all like driver ran through
39:13
the red light boom like Like,
39:14
if it was maybe six more inches,
39:18
you know what I mean, pause. But he would be gone.
39:21
You know what I mean? And I'm just so thankful, bro, still here,
39:25
you know, to tell the testimony, too.
39:28
Like, this shit really real in real time. I keep telling everybody,
39:32
it's the new real world. It's really real. It's really happening in real time.
39:36
And it's just beautiful, man. And so it even gets deeper, right?
39:41
Like, the first crib we was at, the Arizona way, it's probably five blocks on
39:46
the same street where we at now. It's all on Fifth Street.
39:51
It's just magical, man. Like, it's serendipitous. And it's like we captured
39:57
lightning in the bottle.
39:58
And everybody out there knows it because they seen it. And now everybody out
40:03
here is going to see it. Yeah.
40:05
I'm excited. Yeah. That's cool, bro. Yeah, because I was listening to,
40:10
like I said, I was listening to the EP, While I was at work and stuff,
40:13
but I just put it in, like, shuffle mode.
40:15
And what they, like, what that does, it, like, it easily transitioned to,
40:19
like, a lot of other mainstream other songs and stuff, but it sounds good, bro.
40:24
The quality of the, like, what you say, like, is bars.
40:28
Like, y'all could really tell, like, yeah, y'all was having fun,
40:30
y'all was vibing and stuff like that, but y'all was, it was still,
40:33
yeah, y'all was talking to y'all shit, and there was still, like,
40:35
that friendly competitive banter between back and forth with y'all and stuff
40:39
like that. I was like, all right, for sure, yeah.
40:40
Yeah, it's beautiful, man. And that's just what it's about, man.
40:44
Like, that's what this doing the right thing, this opp-less lifestyle.
40:49
Like, that's really what we are. Like, we really, you know, like,
40:53
we done lost hella homies to this shit.
40:56
It's homies that ain't even dead that we done lost just
41:00
that alone is like we we just have to be
41:03
there for each other even more in any type of way it don't matter what it is
41:09
you know what i mean like it was some sessions for the new project my boy from
41:14
seattle calling put me on the project they're like no bro you're not gonna be
41:18
on the phone in the booth i'm like i'm in the booth on.
41:25
It's just like the spirit of like you know we
41:28
just let it i really feel like that's
41:30
what's missing you know everybody i wouldn't
41:34
say everybody but it's a lot of people who do music that
41:37
forgot like what it is that they
41:40
fell in love with this shit for or you
41:44
know they're just been chasing something else for so long like you forget that
41:49
you can have fun or you could smile or you could talk about some real shit and
41:54
some bullshit at the same time you know what i mean like it's it's the duality
41:59
it's it's the multi-facetedness,
42:02
that's that's just what it's all about man like yeah this music we making is
42:07
really for the world it's gonna help a lot of people it's gonna save a lot of
42:10
people is i'm just so happy to be here I'm just so, you know what I mean?
42:17
She could go any way, any day. But we have an R way.
42:21
And I just thank God. He's just so blessed.
42:25
Yeah. And is there a name for the crew?
42:30
The Dirt Gang. Dirt Gang? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dirt Gang. Do the right thing.
42:34
That's right. You know, do it right then.
42:37
You know, it comes from, you know, sometimes you got to activate the Dirt Man.
42:43
But you could get lost in the dirt, man You know, the dirt, man Sometimes you
42:48
gotta do some shit you don't wanna do To get to where you wanna go.
42:52
It's a difficult balance, but with yin, there's yang, you know?
42:57
It's beauty in the struggle, but some people get lost in the dirt, man.
43:02
Some people let the dirt, man, take over. Like, you definitely got to activate
43:05
the dirt, man, at times, but you can't just be doing dirt.
43:12
Yeah, you can get dirty, but you can't just stay dirty. Like,
43:15
you got to shower. You got to clean yourself up. Exactly. You got to be like,
43:17
hey, bro, straighten the fuck up. Exactly.
43:20
So that's, it's dirt gang.
43:22
And everybody, we all rocking. We all understanding.
43:27
And at the end of the day, God don't want you to be perfect.
43:29
Because if you was, he couldn't work on you.
43:33
Everybody trying their best. That's all that matters. As long as you're doing
43:36
right. As long as you're staying positive and staying the game.
43:40
You know what I mean? You go to prison for life.
43:44
If you end your life, if somebody take your life, it's game over.
43:48
But as long as you alive and you breathe in it's fair game this shit beautiful
43:55
I'm proud to be an American,
43:59
it's a land opportunity facts so let's get into this project that just dropped,
44:07
Dirt Gained Sugg It On The Weekend this is an interesting cover out because
44:13
for some reason all this animated AI have been popping up on Facebook Check it, right?
44:18
That's the thing, right? I knew this had to be the album cover because it's
44:25
just... As soon as I saw the New York Times article, because I'm all onto the
44:30
internet. I'm all with the AI and shit.
44:34
ChatGPT 4.0 Beta is a premium service only for their top-tier subscribers where
44:41
they release the prompt.
44:42
You can type in whatever. Make this into a Studio Ghibli-style art.
44:47
People are outraged. And the reason that they're outraged, the bro who found
44:52
this studio, Ghibli, there's a documentary that they put out with him maybe 10 years ago.
44:57
And there's a clip where these kids just, you know, like an office type setting,
45:01
like he invites them to the studio.
45:03
They got some shit they want to show them. It's digital renderings and shit.
45:07
And they're showing him this program that they made of this like creature.
45:11
And they're like, so the basis of it is it's doing whatever it's learning in
45:18
the parameters of the program.
45:20
And it's trying to figure out what it is.
45:23
This shit is ugly. It's like a human, but it's like flailing around using its neck as an arm.
45:29
And it just looks weird. And he's just sitting back watching this shit.
45:34
And he's listening to them explain.
45:36
And he asks them, he's like, so what's your end goal with this shit?
45:39
And they're like, you know, we want to make digital art, be able to make art just as good as human.
45:47
And he's like, you disgust me. Like, this is a disgrace.
45:52
We are at the end of humanity as we know it.
45:56
And you should be ashamed of yourself. and
46:00
just to know how profound
46:03
the dichotomy is between
46:07
like what's real and what's ai like i love the internet ai is here y'all already
46:15
fucked up if you mad about ai you shouldn't have fucking been on social media
46:20
to begin with you shouldn't have been playing pokemon go or None of that shit.
46:24
You shouldn't hop in no Uber. None of that shit.
46:27
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And technology-wise, it's like, yeah, it was already set up.
46:32
So it's like the fact that, you know, this was such a profound debate on the
46:39
internet with so many people who were like anti-consumerist and pro-whatever the fuck, you know?
46:47
Like just all the woke shit. Like I knew it was going to be eye capturing.
46:52
I knew it was going to sum up the time, encapsulate the time of where we're at.
46:59
People are going to remember, this is the new shit. Graphic designers are gone tomorrow.
47:07
And this album cover, the specific cover is from, I sent Brody's screenshot
47:13
of us doing a listening party in the studio in Arizona.
47:18
So it's like, these are all real people in that picture.
47:22
Being cemented in time in a very digital new age timestamp type of way.
47:29
That's extremely controversial, you know,
47:33
So, yeah, like the cover, it speaks volume because it's like just where we're at culturally.
47:42
You know, I was listening to the new Kanye shit. I could tell a lot of this shit is AI.
47:47
You was listening to it from his interview or you listened to the music?
47:51
The music. The music, okay.
47:52
The interview was kind of crazy. I couldn't sit through that.
47:55
I was like skipping through and I've been seeing the little snippets like, Rell is on a sick one.
48:00
I can't believe they stood up in that corner.
48:05
We could have done that. We should have done this whole entire interview and
48:08
just standing up in this corner.
48:10
It looked like a Chappelle show skit. This is crazy.
48:16
I was just looking at it. I was like, DJ Academis is really just sitting here
48:19
like it was normal as shit. I was like, yo.
48:23
He's like, oh, let me just put the microphone here. I'm like,
48:25
oh, now, bro. You see Kanye's eyes blinking through the mask.
48:28
This is crazy. This is stupid. I'm like, this is 2025 five
48:31
right here for sure i was like damn well yeah
48:35
one of my homies my boy flick man shout
48:38
out to avatar flick he he gonna be
48:40
the new king of the digital revolution man like he
48:44
got me thinking about ai in a completely different way
48:47
like is how how the vast
48:50
majority of people use ai we just
48:53
barely scratching the surface like i'm talking
48:56
about bro got me sitting down like hey chat
48:59
come up with a business model for a
49:02
marketing scheme to highlight the best characteristics
49:06
of Esquire Ali and what it is he does and
49:09
it's just this whole like step-by-step game plan of like very innovative very
49:15
modern very current ideas you know what I mean like ultimately you're a human
49:20
being yep you can decide whatever you want to do but to not utilize the tools
49:26
that surround you is crazy.
49:29
I'm sure the first motherfucker with a screwdriver was pissing people off.
49:34
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm sure the first motherfucker with a cement truck was like, wait, what?
49:41
So it's going to take some time and I'm just like,
49:47
I've seen all the sci-fi movies. This shit is going to get out of hand before
49:50
we know it. Yeah. Let's have some fun while we can.
49:53
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I'll let you in on a little secret and stuff like this.
49:58
Like, this whole podcast right here, this book will be run by AI.
50:01
See? See, like, look right here. I'm going to do a separate like this.
50:05
Like, you see the camera angles. Watch this shit about to switch,
50:07
like, every five seconds now. See? That's what I'm talking about. They know.
50:11
They know. See, now I'm going to switch right here. Go give it three, two, one.
50:16
Boop right now like people
50:20
don't understand like yeah AI man AI be our
50:23
best friend sometimes man I ain't a lot jumped in one of them autonomous cars
50:28
out there for the first time I've been seeing them in San Francisco but yeah
50:33
I was like we got in one and it drives crazy it drives just like me even safer,
50:42
I'm talking about yellow lights you know what I mean bikers coming over and
50:47
swerving out the lane a little bit, getting back in the realm. Yeah. Crazy.
50:52
So it's machine learning, man. I don't know when it'll stop, though.
50:58
You're going to get the computer chip in your head girly? Am I going to do that?
51:02
I don't think I'm going to go all that far. I don't think I'm going to do that.
51:06
It's coming soon. I know it's coming soon. That's probably going to be some
51:09
Elon Musk business. I'm probably still going to be like, you're tired of being depressed?
51:13
Let's put a computer chip in your brain. Now you feel happy. All the time.
51:16
Just somebody just flipping a switch. I'm like, oh, I'm happy.
51:19
The cure for depression, this shit is.
51:21
And they're going to get it like Parkinson's, arthritis.
51:25
Like that's going to be the real selling point. Like neuron type of like physical
51:31
synopsis is like, and I think that's going to be when people are like, ooh, shit, ooh.
51:38
Yeah, yeah. When this transhumanism starts to take place.
51:43
When the AI starts, like, right now, the AI, they kind of, like, look like.
51:46
They don't know how to get out the computer yet. Yeah, they just,
51:49
they're like, they look like a computer still.
51:51
But once they start looking like humans and all that, it's wrapped.
51:54
Yeah. And it's coming, too.
51:56
That's what I'm saying. Labort James, who's going to be the first robot basketball
52:00
player? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
52:02
AI for AI, you know? Right. It'll be wild.
52:07
So, no, I say, yeah, man, thank you for hopping in on this fucking podcast episode.
52:11
Something over taking it to the conspiracy theories and all that stuff.
52:14
So we're going to follow it up with more of the conspiracy theories with landing
52:16
on the moon, aliens in the ocean and all that.
52:19
I'm a real tinfoil hatter, man. Me and Aaron Rodgers, man. Chico.
52:23
Come on, man. Come on, man. That Chico water.
52:27
Something in the water. Joke.
52:30
So, yeah, so you got Thugging on the Weekend. I'm going to put that slide back
52:32
there. Pick one more time back up so people can check it out.
52:35
Thugging on the Weekend. Tell people where they could listen to that at.
52:39
Check it out. Thugging on the Weekend is going to be available on all streaming platforms.
52:43
That's Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, all of that. We even on Roblox, goddammit.
52:50
And it's dropping. It's out now. By the time you see this, it'll be out.
52:55
And I'm sure you're going to hear
52:56
about it. And, you know, Thugging on the Weekend, it's not a good thing.
53:02
But I can tell you what. to be truly humble under God. That's what thug means.
53:09
To be truly humble under God is the goal.
53:13
So in that sense, I'm thugged out. I'm thugging until I'm dead.
53:18
And yeah, man, thugging on the weekend. Let's go. And where can people find
53:23
you at? So check it out. I'm on all the,
53:26
You know, my mind went crazy for a second. Last time somebody asked me that,
53:31
I was like, you can find me at Sun Man Liquor Mate.
53:36
But no, you can find me on all that social media. I'm on Twitter, Schwab, S-C-H-W-O-G.
53:44
That's my brand. That's like Frank Lucas, Blue Magic. You know,
53:48
that's like Phil Knight to the Nike.
53:50
That's like Jeff Hamilton to the Jeff Hamilton jacket. You know.
53:54
But yeah, S-C-H-W-O-G, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, Esquire Ali.
54:01
Ask anybody. You know what I mean? Schwagman. Come on, Dennis Schwagman.
54:06
Johannes Mann Schwagalat. The fella about the sky, boy.
54:09
Captain of the Ganesh Enterprise. I'm still riding around Rowdy.
54:12
I'm still trying to see the light. I'm still trying to bring the vibe.
54:16
And that's just what it is, you know?
54:19
In Northern California. And I've been buddy. You dig? I've been buddy around McGill.
54:26
Your host you dig what i'm saying this is that yeah buddy entertainment and
54:30
this has been the yeah buddy podcast you can follow me at yeah buddy ent everything
54:34
and you can also go to the website,
54:38
www.yeahbuddyent.com you dig what i'm saying almost 30 hitting short films all
54:42
across america so y'all be on the lookout for that and tune in for more things
54:46
we got coming up y'all my man Esquire Ali, you dig?
54:49
Almost 30, coming soon, man. Shout out to Buddy, man. You know what I mean?
54:53
Movies on top, some movies and music. We talking about real productions.
54:57
This ain't no middle of the mall movie, man. We talking about real Sundance.
55:01
We coming for you. Coming for y'all. South by Southwest, we coming for you.
55:04
And then we going to have Dirt Gang do the soundtrack.
55:08
Come on now. I'll catch y'all next time. You dig?
55:14
Amazing.
55:17
Bye.