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#Akon Reveals Master Plan To Change Music From Gangsta Rap & Drill Music
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Nov 12, 2024
Check out Akon as he unveils his game-changing new song "A Beautiful Day" and upcoming album '"Not Guilty'." in an exclusive interview with Chuck "Jigsaw" Creekmur @ChuckCreekmur at Won World Studios. Discover how Akon plans to transform the Hip-Hop landscape with his new release, bringing positivity and innovation back to the forefront. 🎶 Subscribe to AllHipHop on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/allhiphoptv?sub_confirmation=1 If you're passionate about Hip-Hop or curious about the intersection of art and activism, this interview is a must-see. Akon's vision for a brighter future in music is both inspiring and thought-provoking. 👉 Comment, like, and subscribe for more exclusive content! CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:47 - Akon on Inspirational Song Creation 01:30 - Akon on negativity 06:15 - Akon on Social Media's Impact on Gangster Culture 12:24 - The Impact of Algorithms on Music 17:49 - The Importance of Unity in Music 21:01 - Discussion on Africa's Influence 22:51 - Overview of Akon City Project 23:35 - Insights on Cryptocurrency in Music 26:25 - Preview of Akon's New Album
View Video Transcript
0:08
yeah check it out man this is your boy acon and you got a lock right here to all hip hop don't change that di baby you know what time it is what's going on
0:14
world it's your man Chuck Creek M AKA jigsaw here at one world Studios we are here with a international yet domestic
0:21
Superstar my man Aon in the building what's good what's going on time amazing
0:26
yeah yeah good to see you man see you got the you know got the super Michael jaon I don't even want to call it
0:32
Michael Jackson cuz it's your own thing ionic yeah okay is that the name of the album no no no the name of the album is
0:38
not guilty not guilty coming in February look out for it okay okay 2025 looking
0:43
good already um you got a beautiful day new song new record it's an inspirational joint can you talk about
0:51
that a little bit like like why why'd you go to in this direction man I just I just felt like it was necessary you know
0:57
as I'm was as I got back from Africa listening to the music the vibration of music was just so low
1:02
yeah you know what I mean then I was watching all these clippings of all these drill rappers dying and all coming
1:09
from lyrics and music you know what I mean I'm seeing Rico cases of artists getting locked up for 25 years or better
1:15
because of lyrics and music yeah and I'm like okay we got to change The Narrative of all of this man it's just not music
1:20
is supposed to bring positive Innovative you know memories of what you experience and it shouldn't be something that
1:27
should be as a tool to get rid of a culture sure yeah yeah now who who is that to blame like like thug just got
1:34
off right um by the you know barely I mean he PL
1:39
out right he get off got 15 years it feels like he got off I mean 15 years
1:45
appr it's it's only off if we go 15 years without violating and 15 years a
1:51
long long time man listen so believe me we all going to contribute to help him keeping Thug out of there Poss so
1:57
technically yeah so he's he's essentially on house arrest for for that long but but his lyrics and stuff was on
2:04
trial right right um I think he got off on a technicality because Nicki Minaj
2:11
wrote some of those lyrics that were in question and that's one of the things
2:16
that helped him get off but ultimately it was his lyrics right um a lot of people argued art black art protected
2:25
things of that sort I mean you've gone back and forth in your career care um do
2:30
you feel that now we need to think differently I think we should always
2:36
have thought differently you know I think we take we do kind of take the art for granted and often times we forget
2:42
the environment that we're actually in like right like we've never been in a position where when we did things that
2:48
was perceived or uh received from a perspective of positivity yeah we always
2:56
have to overdo things or do it above and beyond to be recognized like even now we're constantly protesting about things
3:02
that we've actually contributed to that we don't get credit for right so being the fact that we're in that situation
3:08
where we actually come out the gate on the negative we should always think worst case scenario we should come in
3:15
with plan a plan B but for the most part always try to figure out how do we enter the marketplace from a perspective of a
3:22
culture where we are and always have been under attack right so we can't look at it to be so naive to think that
3:28
because we're great at something will be credited to be great for it right does that make sense yeah it makes sense yeah
3:34
because well I mean think about it like okay I use myself as prime example because I hate to speak on other people's situations right so when you
3:40
look at and the reason why musically I've always dodged or never paid attention to
3:48
Stats accolades of that nature because it throws me off Focus right and I can
3:54
easily find myself in a very depressed state if I was focused on credibility
4:00
and credit right right because I can't really name how many artists that I've
4:06
probably put on or signed or how many hit records that I've had on the Billboard charts or you know propelled
4:14
other people's careers right I've never received the grabby yeah that's crazy now nominations is fine but receiving is
4:21
one thing yeah naturally no awards for for that matter one which was American
4:26
Music Awards okay so my whole career 20 years in the game I've only walked away with one actual award that I can say was
4:35
given to me by the people and that was the People's Choice Award right so that was the most important award for me no
4:40
matter what anyway because the people chose it but if it came from a aspect of uh business and being nominated by a
4:47
group of people in the back that may vote for who you are because of political purposes right I would never
4:53
get it because I never you know like my music was never for that it was always for the people right right so when you
4:58
look at the music I mean the Global Music Awards like the the world music awards for instance which is all also
5:04
judged by the people I got countless amount of those Awards so I knew that what I did was for the people yeah so
5:10
anything that related to the people that's how I was always justifying My Success because wherever I went in the world people knew who I was stadiums was
5:17
packed out and I knew okay that was my award there yeah but now for the aspect of just people that do music for
5:24
accolades or things that they may feel that needs to be publicly publicized and then you don't get that
5:30
credit you can drive you nuts yeah yeah like it could drive you crazy you know it's no different from you know the the
5:37
the situations that Kanye had to burst out just to be recognized because he felt that those things needed to be like
5:43
said or needed to be um uh uh uh you could say uh promoted to an extent right
5:49
right yeah yeah do you do you want those accolades like are you looking for them
5:55
now no I never cared about them actually so you don't care about a Grammy I couldn't care less about that because
6:00
the people is who justifies My Success right that's why I'm still here yeah of course of course you know what I mean as
6:05
long as the people say you are who they are to them you're going to always be here your longevity will always extend
6:10
the test of time and that's how you really know okay now back to the back to the the issue Around lyrics you know in
6:18
my opinion there's always the uh idea that the there's only a couple ways to be successful right there's only a
6:25
couple ways in and it seems like you know the criminal what I don't know what
6:31
you want to call it the gritty reality criminality whatever um aggressive music whatever you want to call it seems to be
6:37
the way to doing that um now obviously it's changed a lot you know you
6:43
mentioned drill people dying it's gotten worse it get I think it changed for the worst but I think it all depends on the
6:49
person and what they consider success to be well okay fair enough I think I think
6:55
well the the business that we're in is a bandwagon riding business whatever's working everybody hops on it so I
7:02
remember there was a time where we frowned upon you know gangster music it
7:07
was a time where music was all positive you know it was all about protesting it was all about everybody representing the
7:15
Afrocentric perspective of us and empowering black people right and then it went into gangster rap you know when
7:22
NWA introduced it and that spoke to a whole generation of people that was going through the struggle that was
7:27
being harassed by the cops and there was brutality all over the place that wasn't being noticed right but it was still
7:34
positive at that time right because it was about telling the story of the environment that the world or White
7:39
America didn't know anything about yeah it wasn't something that okay it was a thing to be gangster to the point where
7:44
you had to glorify it right yeah the OG's will still see you on the corner and be like boy get your ass home and do
7:50
your homework what the [ __ ] you doing here yeah you got basketball skills or you [ __ ] you got you're an honor Ro student yeah I don't want to see you on
7:55
this block no more so even though the environment was still uh aggressive from a perspective of
8:01
survival the OG still had that honor among Thieves to know that these kids can't be caught up in this we're only
8:08
here because we don't have no other choice yeah whereas as those guys got locked up or most of them passed away
8:14
died through the streets or whatever the case may be the the Next Generation who was raised by single parents most likely
8:20
by the mother or the grandparent yeah they couldn't raise men yeah right so they became the ones that actually
8:27
became more part of the streets from a sense of not survival because they was bought into it but out of fear so then
8:34
the gangsterism became more of a a a a protective shield over yourself to where
8:40
you had to be hard so nobody don't try you right right so it was almost one of those things where okay now if you
8:47
gangster it was a good thing because nobody wouldn't step you wouldn't get robbed you wouldn't get tried so everybody at that point used that
8:53
protective shield to become what they really wasn't then when social media came right it made everybody gangster
9:00
yeah everybody became what they thought at that time was cool until they got to
9:05
the point where you was now being tested for real because social media allowed people to be exposed yeah so in order to
9:11
not get exposed you had to truly show that you are who you say you were on the record so then that transformed into
9:18
people actually trying to do exactly what they said yeah it's a mess it's a
9:23
mess so that's the transformation so now you got real people dying in real life because somebody said I got bod
9:29
now are sming
9:36
proed it's because of just lack of guidance like you know and to answer
9:41
your question we do play A Part yeah because it's not like we don't know better yeah is is it is it is it our
9:48
generation's fault is it like did did did was there a point where we could have steered this in a different
9:55
direction uh no I think there's always a point where we can steer in a different direction can we now we definitely can
10:00
it's never too late okay I just think that people have to be willing to take the initiative and also have the courage
10:09
to be seen in a light less than what they assume themselves to be because everybody's doing it to perceived to be
10:16
a big to be bigger than who they are right so our ego play way of a bigger role in the decisions that we make right
10:22
even though we know okay we shouldn't do it we a look corny right because we a look corny we won't do it right we know
10:29
it needs to be done yeah but but now but now we got people they want to preach to
10:35
the young people but they they always remind you that yeah but yeah but back in my day I used to right we would clear
10:43
the block or whatever I mean like it goes back to credibility again right so
10:48
the young guys is like okay why am I listening to you and you ain't never been through it right so they have to remind him that hold on now I'm only
10:55
telling you this because I have been through it but again your approach is it's not because they went through it
11:01
and they need that credit it's almost like all right little [ __ ] don't try me now right but I'm going to tell you
11:06
right now don't do it but but if they back day but if they don't go through it they but then if they don't go through
11:12
it then we we like you ain't get out of here so it's a catch 22 but they don't
11:19
know they mentality again but they don't know when to say hey hey let's let's pull back let's hold let's slow down
11:26
right here right right I I think that's the thing but it's also okay to say I'm
11:32
scared it's okay bro like guess what if there if fear if fear is not within you
11:39
you're not human fear is actually reminds you that you're human yeah yeah it reminds you that there are things in
11:45
life that you should fear yeah and because there's no spirituality within the household no more that changes
11:51
everything because guess what we all came up fearing God we were all God-fearing men and that made us say
11:56
okay do the right thing or the wrong thing you're like man I ain't doing the wrong thing cuz I'm going to get punished for it so because there's lack
12:02
of fear today these kids are doing any and everything because they feel like there's no retribution from it and when
12:08
I was coming up the fear of God was more you was fearful of that more than you was fearful of the police or anything
12:14
else in life yeah and that's I think that's what we're missing we're missing that spirituality that used to guide us
12:19
that reminded us of what to fear you know what I'm saying yeah let's talk let's you know you have new music coming
12:26
out um algorithms are also a factor into this
12:32
to me um YouTube and Views and man I don't I still don't understand I still
12:38
don't understand what that is it drives it dri like so give you a good example you know with all hip hop we might
12:45
promote we might publish a really positive article right someone did something good in the community you look
12:52
at the numbers you're like and this is just regular media you look at the numbers you're like ah okay post
12:57
somebody getting killed the numbers are up right on on social
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media it's completely I don't know a thousand X right you know um likes algorithms and
13:09
then and then and then at the end of the day whoever creates the algorithm whoever owns the platform guides it too
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so you might have I mean I I think you know Elon Musk and Twitter X or whatever
13:24
is the best example example you know you know that he's tilting it way this way
13:29
you can see that right but it happens in all of them in my opinion same with music so so your song might not get as
13:37
much views or whatever you want to call it as um someone shaking their ass naked women
13:45
whatever right um how do you wrestle do you do you I mean you're I honestly don't I honestly but you're here now
13:52
though yeah I'm but would you if you were new I mean that's the thing like I'm still trying to understand what that
13:57
word algorithm actually means and me like because I'm ignorant to it it's
14:03
probably what gave me my success now because think about it if we look at the song aon's Beautiful Day is probably the most positive song in Urban Music right
14:10
now but yet it's already broken all the records okay from a positive perspective you know the number one record on Tik
14:16
Tok the number one shared and creates on Tik Tok right now and on Instagram like
14:22
so when you when you say that the reason why it confuses me because I've seen records from artist
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that's been around the whole time I had my hiatus hiatus and they're they're still at the top of their game like the
14:35
weekend for instance our numbers versus the weekend's numbers his single and my single it's not even it's app and
14:41
oranges like we surpassed him so far ahead and mine he's been credible and
14:46
probably credible giving credit to be the number one artist in the world right now but his single is not even competing
14:51
with mine yeah and that's algorithm right wise you look at the numbers it says everything and we didn't do nowhere half the things that the
14:59
majors did for him right cuz I'm completely independent under convict culture but that just goes to show that
15:05
what the people want and what they're yearning and thirsting for outweighs algorithm on any given day people want
15:12
positivity right now like people want to see like they want to feel good they want to hear feel good music they want
15:18
they want something outside of the norm that everybody's chasing to think that that's what's hot or that's what's
15:23
happening and what's happening with artist they're just going about what they think is going to work because it work for everybody else yeah yeah you
15:30
understand what I'm saying yeah fair enough so I think this is a good lesson for everybody to learn but also it's also give them hopefully the courage to
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do something different because what's different is always going to C crash through the algorithm and probably the
15:41
reason why mine is working is because nobody else is doing it I'm the only one doing it so it it gives it opens a lane
15:48
like a a clear Lane for it to work yeah no no you you got a good point but what about the flip side of that right um the
15:55
the reality of of of what we're what we're dealing with with in in this world
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and in this country is really oh crazy crazy it's Insanity it's insane is there
16:07
is there a space for it there too I mean I I agree with you it is it actually is for for to address those things it's
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100% room for it and again the reason why it's not happening is goes back to fear you know America's always been
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driven and by fear yeah and when there's things that you know needs to be done
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and you stand aside and watch and nothing happens the cycle going to constantly continue so I mean just as a
16:34
culture we have to know that there's certain things that we have to get behind and put our full interest and and
16:39
energy behind because what we believe is only going to happen through voting and it's going to happen through
16:45
action that's it other than that it's not yeah it's it's just going to be an
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un it's going to be a cycle we're gonna continue to talk about you know we going to sit there and complain about yeah bro
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I keep telling people like until we get up and do something I mean it is what it is I made listen I you know you talk
17:04
about fear I went to my old neighborhood where I'm originally from and I hit the streets passing out literature and and
17:12
and trying to tell people to vote this ain't the best place you want to be any
17:17
at any point in your time in yeah it's a tough time yeah it's not safe I got warned many times big mama was
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like you be safe you said it for right that's scary what Big M say and
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then OG OG was like yeah somebody gave me the history of shooting in Z I was like all right man but the point is is
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this is important to me right and our people we need to understand that this
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is it this is yeah so anyway I'm glad we're on the same page cuz there's a lot of us out here that's not on the same
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page and and I think it I've never look we're old enough to have seen many presidents many leaders many troubling
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times and I've never felt this strongly that this is not the right person you
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know and I'm not trying to beat the dead horse or nothing but this is like a existential crisis like this could be it
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but I'm I'm going tell you one thing that may break the hores back okay no matter who's in that office if us as
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people aren't United it won't make a difference okay let's talk about that it won't make a difference let's talk about
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that because America um Black America is more diverse now than it's ever been
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right we had you know when I went to college everybody was Black American
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africanamerican um there was I mean there were only a few people from even like the islands you know there was I
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mean at least from where I grew up now granted I wasn't in New York City or something like that um where do you feel
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we are now um I I feel like we're we're very divided no I think we are divided
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as people yeah we divided as a country but I think these kind of things need to happen for us to see the true potential
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of where we can go like you know they always say there's always a storm before the calm right we're in the middle of
19:10
the Storm at this point right but for the most part we all just have to be more human I think that's the part that
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we're actually missing because everybody's so focused on themselves as to how they're going to survive if they
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don't think about if everybody survive you not your survival is intimate it's automatic right but if you're the only
19:27
one surviving then and there's a lot of people that's not then you become a Target MH right and I think the moment
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we become selfless problems will be solved a lot simpler and a lot easier and then a lot of the problems will be
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something that won't be a challenge for us because we're thinking of others as we're thinking of ourselves so I think
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the lack of selfishness is what's going to solve the problem on a global scale yeah but we have to again think about
19:50
each other from a Unity perspective before we can even make an advancement for the future which is why aon's
19:55
beautiful day is the perfect thing to talk about beautiful day my favorite song right now
20:02
definitely I listened to it a 100 times on the way to this no absolutely man definitely but I'mma tell you that uh
20:07
the the damn algorithm did not send me the song that sucks I hate that I'm
20:13
keeping it a counting on the algorithm you can't count on the algorithm well the old days are over right the days
20:21
where a publicist calls you up and says hey man we got a new song right you know
20:27
come to the office and listen to it those are gone you know I got a email my
20:32
inbox is full of freaking everything I don't even know if I got an email man that's crazy you know what I mean so
20:37
it's it's just different it's just different no it's different I mean but just to just so you understand the magnitude of where we at with this song
20:43
right now it's the number one song on Tik Tok it's the most shared song on Tik Tok with the most creates on Tik Tok as
20:50
well it's the biggest growing song right now we debuted on the billboard CHS of 27 and we're going to be number one by
20:57
the time the holidays actually came kick in question good good internationally how how are you being I mean you you've
21:03
got that Duality right that African and that American you know it's Africa in America
21:11
right I'm Africa in America we're African in America everybody they call you African-American right you're
21:17
African first that's a fact um how how are you being you know how was it over there oh man it's unbelievable over
21:23
there yeah it's unbelievable especially since we've been now kind of inviting everybody back home you know we got that
21:30
you know um that Festival that we do in Ghana every year the Year of return so
21:35
people are now opening their eyes to it you know more people are taking trips you know to to Africa a lot of women are
21:41
getting flown over to Africa these days over that's another
21:48
story that's a fact I missed the first one I was mad man I I I didn't plan
21:53
properly go no don't worry you got time yeah yeah but I'm already I'm set for next year that's for set
21:59
definitely um can you there's a a lot of American folks
22:07
feel like Africans don't like us is that that's a stereotype yeah yeah that's that's that's definitely a stereotype
22:13
that's for sure a stereotype I think those are all little agendas that's kind of planted to keep us divided as well
22:18
too yeah okay I'm glad to hear that and I and I think no matter where you go you're going to find some snobby
22:24
Africans or snobby Americans towards each other but I don't think those are the guys that you utilize to to to paint
22:30
a picture that would you know prevent you from actually going to find your own culture and your history good I met an
22:36
African king this year oh did you uhuh he prayed over me oh that's amazing man you feel it hell yeah I felt it that's
22:43
second best thing since baptism that's what I'm talking about you know what I'm saying that's that serious I ain't even
22:48
told nobody about that till just now wonderful yeah um can I ask you about the acon city is that going to happen do
22:55
you think as as we get closer to toward that that information I bring more out
23:01
okay you know my my biggest thing was I promoted it way way way too early cuz it
23:06
was out of the excitement and of course anything that exciting that will change a culture people will naturally want to
23:11
know what's happening right now assuming that it's already happening but it was in a process of creating okay so it's
23:17
not no no nowhere near it's a city okay good good I'm glad man cuz you know they compared it to wakanda and I'm I'm a
23:25
comic nerd love black panther I mean it that's not obviously that's fantasy but
23:31
still anything even remotely close no absolutely all right that's cool um are
23:37
you still into crypto at all are you still nah I I kind of I kind of left the
23:43
crypto space yeah cuz the area where I was entering in was a little too
23:48
political for me to be a part of yeah yeah let just say that's a safe way to
23:53
put it that's in fact the last time I met you well yeah I think yeah and how we was promoting it we was promoting it
24:00
a good day though I was happy it really was it really was yeah no that's what's up are you are you thinking about any
24:06
other emerging Technologies you know are you you know I think when you start
24:12
talking about um wakanda or anything with black folks we have to think ahead
24:17
we're always ahead no we that's the thing we're always so ahead and me the way I think I think so futuristic but
24:24
I've also learned a an amazing lesson too because you can't really speak out
24:30
into the universe what you're thinking about or what you're planning on doing until it's already done yeah so now what
24:36
I'm doing is I'm going to get it done first and then I promote it yeah so just know I got a lot going on in this brand
24:41
promise good good good good I'm glad to hear that I'm glad to hear that I'm going to have to hit you up offline cuz
24:47
we you know we're still in technology space you know we I used the AI to talk about all hip hop and I was like yo tell
24:53
me tell me about all hip-hop and they were just like yeah all hip-hop this all hip-hop that they've been adaptable to
24:59
uh all the changes and technology and all that I was like okay AI we still here AI is a powerful tool it's going to
25:06
be very very like I believe that it's going to be very beneficial for us in the future AI absolutely yeah 100% um do
25:14
do do you fear anything regarding music and Ai No I think it's only going to grow bigger yeah and I think the one
25:21
thing that people fear about AI is it being out of control and them not being able to control it right that's only
25:26
because they don't have the information on anything that you don't really know much about you're going to fear naturally right but just understand that
25:33
a computer only does what a human programs it to do right it's not going to do more than what it doesn't know how
25:39
it don't it it won't know what to do unless you program it yeah so it's not the AI or the technology you should be afraid of is really the person
25:45
programming it yeah and that's that's actually my fear cuz I think some people that's the only thing you should fear
25:50
yeah right right cuz they already have movies where AI has like rights and Bots
25:56
have like babies it's just a movie it's just a movie I don't know man Elon Musk I you
26:03
know he's he's looking at movies and trying to make the stuff in the movies that's what's happening now I mean think
26:09
about everything that's happened now it's all was in the movies first yeah I mean from FaceTime audio that was in the
26:14
Jetson you know driving cars by themselves it's all happening I saw in cartoons so just pay attention cuz
26:21
what's in the movies sometime would kind of predict what's happening in the future okay okay um as far as the album
26:27
is concerned um I know it's not here till February but what can you give us
26:33
on that the album is going to be one of those albums I think is going to change hopefully the face of how music is
26:38
presented okay and kind of bring it back to not only the old way of how we used to distribute music but also create a
26:45
more futuristic perspective of it and an approach because I think right now everything is based on Singles yeah
26:51
everybody come out with a single as a single as because it's so much fear that okay you come out with a album it may
26:56
not work or that's not not the way to go but what made music so amazing was that you came with an experience you came
27:02
with a body of work there was a theme attached to it you know what I mean and I want to bring those days back you know
27:08
what I mean like I'm always I'm even going into the point where I'm putting out a section where when I do announce
27:14
the album I know how we are like people aren't as patient as they would like to
27:21
be we [ __ ] we impatient in The Mother We want out now we don't want to wait till the end of February to get it so
27:26
I'm I'm I'm I'm open up the doors for people to actually be able to go take it back to the old days where you can actually buy the physical copy okay good
27:33
if you want to get it before the release date okay so I'll be announcing that that's good money too yeah yeah yeah
27:39
um what's your favorite album of your albums out of O I don't man it would probably be the
27:48
one that's about to drop okay to be honest but if it's if I had to pick one out of the ones that already came out I
27:53
I don't think I could pick one but I can tell you the one that actually gave me the most
27:59
the one that I probably meant the most was trouble the first album okay because of the environment and how it was made
28:05
like you know what I mean yeah yeah yeah that that album saved my life yeah how
28:10
um how long did you do how long were you locked up for uh it depends if I'm if
28:17
I'm adding all the dates up okay all right all right the total am matter a
28:22
matter it ain't a matter that one time the one but the one the last time I was locked up which was 6 months
28:28
is what changed my life okay cuz I knew at that moment yeah okay this ain't the life that I'm right right six months is
28:34
6 months is a long time it's a skid bid for a you know for someone three weeks was a long time three weeks I was done
28:41
now imagine staying five weeks later I mean five months after that bro it was it was it
28:47
was cuz uh I don't know how people happen again yeah it's not going to ever happen in fact I went to I went with
28:54
Styles P to Riker's Island right after he got out of he was you know going back
28:59
to you know do community service type performance and I was like nah this is
29:05
crazy that's crazy that's actually how I broke locked up we actually rikus was the first uh jail that we actually
29:11
performed it in then we went out to do all the other uh Tri State um you know facilities but boy just coming out and
29:18
being free yeah and then when you go back in the best part was knowing that I
29:23
can leave whenever I was ready to go like and also knowing that okay I'm going through here to entertain these
29:29
[ __ ] but I'm about I'm actually going to leave yeah but bro it felt my my heart dropped knowing that damn these
29:35
[ __ ] can't even leave after I can go home order some White Castles
29:42
castles we love the S the end yeah n it's crazy Rikers is crazy um you've
29:48
dealt with a lot of hip-hop in your in your career did you ever try to rap um n never I time singing a rap Cen
29:57
yeah well yeah that's the thing because the the kind of lyrics at the time it it didn't cater to R&B and what
30:04
I was going through wasn't R&B topics right so I just sang about what rappers wrapped about because I was going
30:10
through what rappers were going through I just happened to be a singer right so it became more hard and B than it was
30:15
R&B okay you know yeah who who what would you say what would you say hip-hop
30:21
the rappers specifically brought to the table then like I think they gave me the the the the the the
30:28
audience because I ain't going to lie to you like when I first Dro locked up it was released without Styles peon and we
30:34
had a hard time getting it played on the radio you know um bet thought it was too Urban and interestingly enough MTV
30:43
didn't think it was Urban enough oh that's crazy so I couldn't get no really no real play because it would it couldn't be identified as a specific
30:50
genre right you know you got this hardcore hip-hop beat on it and then you
30:55
got this African singing about something that a't normally sang but in The
31:01
Melodies that people Wen really used to it was they didn't know how to they didn't know what genre was in so and then DJs had a challenge because they
31:07
didn't know what to play before or to play after it yeah so I mean the missing piece was styles on it cuz when Styles
31:14
came on it and from the top then it was like okay it's a hip-hop record right but then when I came in it just made it
31:20
a an interesting different style of hip-hop yeah you know what I mean yeah
31:25
yeah definitely definitely yeah so that that's when I realized okay the best way for me to introduce my music to this audience is to make sure I'm really
31:32
close to hip-hop because hip-hop identifies what I am yeah yeah you know what I mean that's why I did so many
31:38
hip-hop features I was even to the point where I was even labeled a hip-hop artist yeah you know what I mean yeah
31:43
you um you have some songs right what do you think like I listen to some of these
31:48
songs like man I can't play this no more like it's kind of it's kind of
31:56
rough like man I listen to songs I be like because you know what's interesting is sometime you you go through the
32:01
comments and you listen to the fans and they be like man we want some of that o Aon man that that old acon and I can
32:08
tell those are the people that just started listening to me because the real acon fans know okay he's the kind of
32:13
artist that singers sings about his experiences because when you listen to the first album as dark as it was to the freedom album it goes from dark to light
32:20
like you can tell every stage of my life career and the change in me m you can
32:27
literally period in the music right so the way the I couldn't I could never find myself in a position where I can
32:33
ever give them back the OA con cuz I have to be in that position to give you that type of music again you know but I
32:39
was able to find the perfect line between the two on this new album that's
32:45
why I said this probably GNA be the best album I released dope dope and it'll be 20 years from the the very first album
32:50
yeah that'll be crazy crazy yeah crazy so I know we have a a wrap up cuz you
32:57
have other places places to be but I have a question and I I hope this doesn't offend you no nothing offend but
33:03
you went man he's the watch doog watch
33:10
doog um my dog that's my dog my dog my dog too my dog too but
33:16
um your hair was a topic of discussion right oh that was a topic of disc forever right forever okay right um I
33:24
see you you know got the fresh Baldi the new look the new look the new
33:30
look see we had you in here before but yo I'm glad you could laugh at it man
33:35
but bro it's nothing not to laugh about right like it's okay yeah that's you know what I'm saying you know I but I I
33:42
see what happened in the beginning you know I had a lot of dark skinned guys you know jealous of the Waves right right all you know that's what it was it
33:49
was the waves now I took you know I took the waves off but that was that was a moment in time when I had a surgery okay
33:54
you know what I mean so and I had a uh a on my head which I actually about to put
33:59
up for sale cuz I realized how many guys actually actually had it a lot of the celebrities that you actually admire
34:06
right now till this day got it nobody really never knew yeah but it's a big big business and I'm about to actually
34:11
get into it you okay you about to get into that get into for sure yeah you about you about to see some Hair Club for me com you know popping up I
34:18
appreciate that though hey man it's a different day and time we can do that now no bro it's a new time it's nothing
34:24
to be like bro the problem with people is they're so afraid to be in their own
34:30
truth and I feel like the moment you're dishonest with yourself bro life is going to be hard to go you you can't you
34:36
can't manage through life being something that you're not yeah you just can't yeah you know what I mean and me I I'm I'm like I I'm I'm so happy with who
34:43
I am and who I am to be yeah and there's nothing around like bro I promise you
34:48
when I tell you nothing offends me like life is supposed to be fun like it's okay bro like that's good that's good
34:55
you know what I'm saying like come on I promise you them them hairlines ain't that sharp for nothing a nobody hairline
35:00
that sharp if you start watching sitcoms and you see the most razor sharp trust
35:05
me it I know human hair ain't that sharp I know I'm like damn you could just your joint cut every second every moment
35:12
that's what's up man just about looking good feeling good that's what it Wass down to that's good man yo man I just want to say thanks for coming up no
35:18
appreciate you as always now we got to do this again when you do the album cuz I got I'm already planning for your
35:25
album so we got we got to figure something out out bro I promise you I promise this album is going to change
35:30
the game good good good I promise you all right thank you man man thank you brother
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