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Super MC Locksmith Talks Trump, Kamala Harris, Styles P & The "Wine & Circus" Of Modern Culture
Dec 18, 2025
Locksmith, a renowned lyricist from the Bay Area, joins Chuck Jigsaw Creekmur @ChuckCreekmur and DJ Thoro at WonWorld Studios to discuss his latest album, "Wine and Circus," produced with the Heat Makers. Locksmith delves into the album's concept, which critiques the overwhelming flow of information in today's society and its impact on public perception. He shares insights into the creative process behind the album, highlighting collaborations with artists like Styles P, Joel Ortiz, and Mysonne.
Locksmith also talks about his innovative promotional strategy, the "Lock Lyft," which showcases his live rapping skills with other artists. The conversation touches on his political views, the state of the world, and his journey as an independent artist. Locksmith reflects on his career, expressing gratitude for his achievements while remaining driven to continue evolving as an artist.
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Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
Yo, it's locksmith. Shout out to all hip hop. Y'all know what it is.
0:08
What's going on world? It's your man Chuck Creekman aka Jigsaw here at One World Studios with my man DJ Thorough aka Thorough Bridge to the
0:16
streets. We here, baby. Let's go. And we are here with a special guest, my man. my man from the Bay but here in New
0:24
York City one of the best lyricists but one of the best a thinker a thought leader
0:30
Lock Smith Lock Smith what's going on man it's good to be here fellas lock Smith
0:35
with the f with the no I'm kidding lock Smith yeah right yo Lock Smith has a new album
0:43
out wine and circus with the heat makers maker shout arsonist the arsonist man
0:48
one of my favorite producers by arsonist heat makers That's what's up. Well, first of all, how did that come
0:54
about? Cuz that's an unlikely pairing, at least from my perspective. No, you know, um when I had been coming
1:00
out to New York, you know, over the past, you know, just years, um I would always link up with arsonist. I just
1:07
somebody I uh connected me with and was like, "Yo, arsonist, he [ __ ] with you, man. He like, you know what I mean? He
1:12
seen some of your stuff." This is probably back like 10 11 years ago, you
1:18
know, and um went by the studio, did some stuff with Fred, you know, rest
1:23
in peace. And we just always so pretty much every project I always kind of had like a at least one track produced by
1:30
arsonist and then he was like, "Yo, we should do something together." And I was like, "Yeah, let's make it happen." You
1:35
know? So we just Yeah. How's the feedback been? It's been great, man. It's been great.
1:40
It's a really dense album. You know what I mean? What's that mean? I love that word, by the way. Like there's a lot of depth to it. This
1:47
isn't like something you just put on Yeah. and just clean your house. Well, you have to tell us. Well, go
1:54
ahead. I'm sorry. No, this is something like you have to digest. Yeah. It's a depth. Like it's I think Art said it best. He's like,
2:00
"Dude, not one bar is wasted." Like there's no bars wasted. And uh that was intentional. like um
2:08
when I went into the project, you know, we went over there. He we started poking, you know, picking out beats. He
2:13
gave me beats. I had topics and things that I wanted to talk about. Some of them he made them around
2:18
the specific topics and things that I wanted to talk about. Um we just kind of just like put it together like that, but it was very um
2:25
deliberate. Right. I was going to ask you, so it's it's heavily concept based like in terms of the album, not just not just rhyming.
2:32
Yeah, I had that idea right before maybe like after the first song. I kind of knew the direction.
2:38
Um, and we just kind of built it around that, you know. So, talk about the album art. It's
2:46
I know what it is, but tell tell us what it is and what you're trying to get across.
2:51
Well, the the the title of the album is Wine and Circus, right? And it's basically it's kind of a play off the
2:57
concept of bread and circus, but it's like in today's um
3:03
in today's world, specifically in this country, we're just it's so much information out there,
3:09
whether it's online, whether it's traditional media, whether it's social media.
3:15
It's almost like there's so much information, it's hard for people to digest it. We go along with it. We play along with
3:21
it. we're entertained by it but don't really understand the ramifications of it. Um, so a lot of times we just we go
3:29
along with the circus. We're drunk off the the entertainment of it, not knowing the real life consequences of
3:35
whether it's just everyday life, whether it's political life, whether it's, you know, whatever, you know, aspect of
3:41
life. Um, and that kind I guess that's a general statement to kind of sum it up. And then the album cover, um, shout out
3:47
to my man Graphics Art, um, back in the, uh, Hem from the Bay. Um,
3:53
it's, I guess it's kind of political thing, but it's like social commentary, but we have that picture of Uncle Sam.
3:59
Um, but in the framework of a circus, you know what I'm saying? Um, as the
4:05
ring leader in the circus and clown makeup. Yeah. Kind of looking at ourselves here in, you know, in the United States because
4:11
politics has almost become like a clown show. Yeah. It's kind of I mean it's we have a reality
4:17
TV. Yeah. You know what I mean? President like it's just it's ridiculous, you know? Um but it's serious at the same time.
4:24
Yeah. So yeah, that's the whole concept of the Absolutely. Um lyrically. Where do you rate yourself on
4:31
this one? I think it's some of the best. Well, as far as bars, I think it's very high
4:39
because I was telling um Ars because he just did all the producing, you know,
4:45
because I produce too, you know, in a lot of projects, a lot of my albums, if I'm not, you know, working on the beat,
4:51
I'm finding the beat, I'm putting it together. But this way, I just let arsonist, you know what I mean? Certain things, he's like, "Yo,
4:57
you know, we just put it together. he play me a beat or we going through beats or he makes something. I don't have to
5:03
worry about the production, right? You know, it's just a project where it's just like the the job, half the job is
5:10
done for me. All I got to do is focus on making these bars and conveying this message.
5:15
So, I think it's very dense lyrically. I think it's very dense
5:20
every aspect of lyricism and hip-hop. I think it's it's heavy in that sense, you know. So all those freestyles that you
5:27
see you can get in there how you know but you had mentioned it early those are all um not necessarily
5:33
freestyles they're the songs from the project. Gotcha. You know what I mean? So but I'm performing them in the lock lift which
5:39
has been like um the lock lift. Yeah the lock lift. Yeah. So that's
5:44
that's the concept that I created specifically to promote the music and the art that I'm doing is like
5:51
um uh feeding into my wheelhouse. Like I have the ability to rap live.
5:59
Like that's my strong suit, you know, whereas a lot of artists nowadays So no rapping over the vocals.
6:05
Yeah. Like we're doing this live. Yeah. Um, so since I'm able to do that, I said, "Well, what's a dope way to get
6:12
my music out there?" Well, majority of the rhymes that I when I'm writing I'm
6:18
writing while I'm driving in the car, right? You know what I mean? I'm rolling around listening to beats. I'm coming up with the bars. I was like, how do I take that
6:25
concept and convey it to promote the music? And then that's when I came up with the
6:30
concept of the lock lift. Gotcha. Right. Now, other than yourself, obviously, who are there any other
6:35
features on the album besides yourself? Yeah, we got um definitely Styles P. Okay. Uh Joel Ortiz, uh my man Myan.
6:43
Oh, wow. Um who else? Uh Angel Hill, he's a dope
6:49
vocalist. Um am I missing anybody else? I think that's I think that's the
6:54
feature list. So, when you're doing these lock lifts, is are you doing them right after y'all record the song or is that later?
7:01
No. So, um, so it's interesting. I'll give you Oh, Joel Ortiz, too. Yeah. Yeah. Um, it's interesting. Um, so
7:10
for instance, let's take the song with Styles P. Um, the song it's called Culture.
7:18
I was I had like this idea in this bars, you know, the concept of culture, like what is the culture at this point, you
7:24
know? Um, and has it become so corrupted that it's not beneficial to us? M
7:30
I wanted to talk about that. I had some bars. I had some lines. Arsonist came up with a beat. I said,
7:36
"Okay." So I wrote the song just the way it is. So actually once we
7:42
had the album pretty much done like 70 80% we start thinking about well who are some artists that can that we fit can uh
7:49
that we feel can fit into the structure of the album conceptually. So we start thinking throwing out names
7:56
and um Ars was actually like what about Styles P. I was like, "That would be fire." You know,
8:01
hit up Styles P. So then um inserted Styles P on there. It fit. I sent them
8:08
the song the way it was. We just rearranged it and made it structured so it you know what I mean? And it perfect.
8:14
I was just like, "Yo, we love you do the lock lift, swooped them up from the juice spot, you know what I mean?"
8:20
And then we just performed it just like that. Simple. Boom. Um, with Joel, we actually I wrote the song like for him.
8:29
Like I was like, "Yo, um, got this. I think Joel would sound dope on," you know what I mean? Wrote it. Ars was
8:35
like, "Yo, let me let me see Joel." He loved it. Jumped on it. Boom. We did the lock lip and, um, with my son, it was
8:41
actually interesting. I think this is dope. So the song, so my son is on a song called Culture Part
8:48
Two. And I'm a huge Myan fan. I I love what my song stands for and I love
8:54
the way he raps. Yeah. You know, um so I wanted to get him on something and
8:59
I sent him the track originally that was with Styles Pete. I sent that to him first.
9:05
But he was busy doing some stuff. Um and if we would have had everybody on the
9:11
same song would have been way too long, you know what I mean? It's too much bars. Right. Right. So when I got the my son vocals
9:17
back, I said, "Yo, Arts, let's build a beat around his vocals." Okay.
9:23
So he did that. I was just going to spit the same verse and have it like a remix. But when I heard my son's vocals on the
9:29
track, I was like, "Yo, I gota you gota you gota get I got to come with some, you know." So the way we actually he spit he actually
9:35
had like a long um twominute verse because my original verse was just a long twominute bars, you know. My son
9:42
did the same thing. I was like, "We can't. That's not going to really make the song." So, I split his verse up and
9:49
I inserted and I wrote around him, okay, to make it sound like a complete song. And I was like, you know, sometimes
9:54
rappers, we don't like when people do that. So, I sent it to him. I was like, "What?" He was like, "Yo, it's phenomenal. It's fire.
10:00
That's dope." Because ours built the beat, produced it around it. And I was like, "Yo, this sounds better
10:07
than the original." You know what I mean? Like the beat in a way. So, shout out to my son. He murdered it. um RS
10:13
murdered it and I just I was happy and then we I was like yo I want to do the lock lift smobbed up to Harlem.
10:20
He hopped in and we just rolled around Harlem spit it and you know what I mean? Yeah. All of them went viral. I think
10:27
each of them at least got over a million you know what I'm saying on social media. That's important. That's important. And
10:34
and authentic is not always in in alignment with social media. You see, I'm glad you
10:40
brought that up because, you know, as an artist, and you know this because you guys are creators,
10:46
you know, we create um content, you know, we're artists, you know, um
10:53
you want your art to be seen, you know, you you you're making a mark on the world. You know, you're not going
10:59
to sacrifice your integrity for that, but you do want, you know, for people to
11:05
to absorb this art. And as an artist, I know I want that. But then we're in this
11:11
age of social media. If you look at social media, a lot of
11:16
time you say, "Oh, I got to do silly silly stuff in order to get noticed, right?
11:22
But I'm like, yo, what is, like I said, I go back, what is my wheelhouse? Like, I can rap. I have something to say. How
11:28
do I utilize that and do it in a way where it can be seen on social media?" And I studied it and I
11:35
watched it. Mhm. Um, and I was like, that's why the concept of the lock lift,
11:40
the concept of freestyling, how, however, just giving this raw in-depth look into how art because not everybody
11:47
can do it. No, every some people got to punch in every five and there's nothing wrong with that when you're doing certain things, but if I have this skill
11:54
set, let me display it. Right. You know what I mean? Absolutely. So, and it works for social media. Yeah. you
12:00
know, and um yeah, punching in used to be the worst thing you could ever do. Like from back in the
12:07
day, if you punched in, you failed. Yeah. Now, sometimes it was necessary, but for the most part,
12:13
it was a L. Well, I think it's good. I mean, back in the day, Yeah. But I know what you say. Yeah.
12:18
Because you hear hold one take hold. Like, you know, everybody want to go in there one take. Yeah.
12:23
That too. And it spills over into people's actual performance because they can't hold a note or a verse. So, when they on stage,
12:29
Yeah. It sounds crazy. They're not They're not in pocket. Absolutely. Because they can't rap. They can't rap. Yeah. This is actual.
12:35
This is rap. And it's still People love that [ __ ] You know what I'm saying? People like
12:40
when they see somebody could do it, this is a skill set that as much as we people like the lazy the lazy eye or the
12:48
lazy ear. We're entertained by the the [ __ ] [ __ ] You know what I'm saying? But when you see somebody that has a skill
12:54
set, people still they gravitate to it. You know what I mean? Um, one of the people
13:00
that I really, um, uh, studied and learned from and I had, you know,
13:06
in-depth conversation with was my, uh, was Lar Russell. Lar Russell. You know what I'm saying? Yeah.
13:11
And, um, and I'm watching him. I'm like, yo, he's, you know, he started in his backyard. He's doing this thing because,
13:16
and as an MC, I'm watching him. I'm like, yo, I love that this young brother is up here rapping, performing.
13:23
That's what I do. Why not, you know what I mean? Why not lean into that more? I'm already doing it. Let's lean into it,
13:30
right? All right. I take the lock lift to the next level. You know what I mean? Um, so yeah, but
13:37
being successful on social media without sacrificing your integrity, without doing the the funny style [ __ ]
13:43
Yeah. Politically, you are very outspoken. Um, I think so. Right. Yeah. I mean,
13:50
okay. Yeah. Right. Um, what do you what do you think about the state of the world, the
13:55
United States right now? I mean I mean sometimes Well, let me end that
14:01
question there and I'll follow up in a second. But what do you what are your thoughts? That's a g that's a general question.
14:06
You got to be specific. Well Well, let me let me let me let me
14:12
say this. Let me say this. All right. Let me let me be a little more specific. Um
14:19
Okay. I'll start with Kla Harris. Yeah. So you will get specific. Yeah. Kla Harris is not the president.
14:26
No. Uh Donald Trump is the president. Yeah. Right now we are in an unprecedented
14:33
time where most folks, a lot of folks wish maybe since we had two choices.
14:40
Yeah. That she was the president. Yeah. How do you feel about that? Um well,
14:47
I think that the way things are right now is bad.
14:52
Yes. It's bad. I mean, I think that um
14:59
because I think that Trump is such a divisive individual.
15:04
Um yeah, he's just so divisive that internally
15:10
we're just like he feeds into that stuff, you know, this whole right-wing, leftwing thing. um you know, always
15:18
blatantly criticizing the other side, like just going to war with other, you know what I mean? There's no bipartisan,
15:24
there's no dignity across the aisle. And I think that's where Trump um I
15:30
don't know, you know, yeah, I think that's I think that's the worst part about him, you know what I
15:36
mean? Is his divisiveness. But at the same time, um
15:42
I think that the problem that a lot of people have because I don't judge nobody for whoever they voted for. You know
15:48
what I'm saying? Um but at the same time, um no, I was going
15:54
to say I don't judge anybody for who they voted for because I think that people should vote for their own interests. Now, sometimes our interests
16:01
don't align and we have to deal with the consequences. Now you're dealing with the consequences of a person who now
16:06
wants to roll back all these social funding. Um very divisive,
16:12
very um do we really want to go there? F you
16:18
know funding genocide.
16:23
Um and uh leaning into it. Yeah. It's just like it's horrible, you
16:30
know. It's disgusting. But would things have been different if Camala? I don't know. I don't know. I mean, I think some
16:35
things would have been different, you know? Um, so every president I feel like that you have to take the good with the bad.
16:41
But right now, he's the one in office and it's not it's hasn't even been a full year. Damn. Has it?
16:47
No. Nine months. About nine nine months, right? He's sworn in in January. Like it feel like four years, bro. He like,
16:53
"Yo, Thomas was up this year. Three more to go, bro. That's crazy, right?" Yeah. So, um,
17:00
yeah, it's not good. It's not good, you know. Yes. Um, we in a deeper recession,
17:05
prices, you know, you got who are like people like Elon Musk, like who these people are not they shouldn't even be in
17:11
politics. You know what I'm saying? Um, it's just ridiculous. It's it's a circus. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's a circus.
17:17
It's a circus. It's definitely That's true. But, you know, misinformation is at an alltime high.
17:24
Yeah. How do you deal with that personally? I mean, you seem like a thinker. I believe you to be a thinker.
17:29
Yeah. Yeah. I try not to make up my mind before I hear
17:35
what the issue is. I feel like a lot of times with people in general, we make up our minds before we even hear
17:42
because we're like, "Oh, I politically or I socially identify with this."
17:49
So, whatever you're saying, I already made up my mind before you got a chance to say it. Like personally, I mean, some
17:56
things I'm liberal about, some things I'm conservative about, you know? I don't go too far either way,
18:03
you know. Um, so I try to and I feel like I have a foundation like I grew up
18:10
um my OGs were socially aware. You're from Oakland.
18:16
Oakland. Yeah. I mean, that's Black Panther. Black Panther. So those are like
18:22
I'm a descendant of that. So growing up in high school, I
18:29
this is what I was raised on. So I feel like because of that information, I'm able to see things. I
18:36
don't, you know, I look at everything. I try to look at, you know, I try to hear stuff out and be like, "Okay, nah, I don't
18:42
fool with that. I don't rock with that." Um, and I try not to speak about things until I get enough information where I
18:49
feel comfortable because a lot of time people like, "Yo, what do you think? What do you think?" And I'm like, "Yo, I need more information before I I don't Sometimes I
18:56
don't like to jump out the window emotionally about things." And I don't judge people who who who choose to do
19:01
that. You know what I mean? But some people they want to do that. That's fine. I do. Yeah. No, that's fine. I do. But see, that's part of it. Like, you
19:08
know what I mean? Not literally, but but I do tell people and I said this recently. I said, "Yo,
19:13
we don't we don't really have to talk about homeboy who got blasted at the thing because we don't
19:19
we we don't really know what's happening right now." And furthermore, they are tracking and looking and seeing
19:25
everything you say. So, you might want to chill out in general. Yeah. But on that one, if it was found out to
19:32
be very true. Yeah. Well, I just like to speak I just like to have I don't like to speak from
19:38
a place of ignorance or emotion, right? You know what I mean? I just like sometimes I do, you know what I'm
19:43
saying? Like nobody's perfect, but I try to use discernment how I say things and you know what I mean? Before I
19:50
know what's going on. So that's how I I just I just try to think about it before, you know what I mean? And
19:55
because I see a lot of some of my peers post stuff and speak out on stuff that I know, I'm like, "Yo, that's a lie.
20:01
That's not true." But because they feel emotionally connected or they feel like this is the thing to go along or whatever at the
20:06
time. And then later I'll be like, "Yo, that was false." Yeah. You know what I mean? like that was not factual
20:12
question. Would would you ever consider this? Well, I'm obviously I'm sure you know who this is cuz he's from your area. Yeah.
20:18
Paris. Yeah. Yeah. I know Paris. You know Paris? Have you ever considered doing a a song with Paris? Because I
20:23
think you guys Well, we went I went on tour with Paris. Oh, you went on tour with Paris. All right. Have you ever did a record with Paris? No, we haven't did a record.
20:29
I think I think that that's a much needed record in a political space. Paris is dope. Dope producer, too. Yeah.
20:35
I think you got you should entertain that cuz I I hear that. You know what I mean? You remind me so much of Paris. That's why I'm I'm saying
20:41
is a good brother. That's big homie right there. Yeah. So, definitely I me personally, I would love to hear that, you know.
20:46
That's what's up. Yeah. You know, so yeah, he put in the work. He put in a lot of work, you know, especially on the political side of speaking on politics and what's going on
20:53
now and and things of that nature. So, I think you're a spin-off of that in terms of what he does. For sure. He's always been politically
21:00
charged, right? Him and um Boots from um the Coup. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know,
21:05
talented brothers. Talented brothers, man. So, I I would love to hear that, you very smart. He can direct a video.
21:10
Yeah. He can conceptually come up, conceive it. Yeah. Um,
21:15
you know, there used to be a there used to be a phrase, uh, if you want to hide something from people, put it in a book.
21:22
But now I feel like if you want to hide something, put it in some dope some dope lyrics. Some dope lyrics.
21:29
Um, your your album is obviously thematic and and you always are saying
21:34
something. Yeah. Um, do you how do you h do you ever feel
21:39
uh compelled to bring it down or compelled to
21:44
dilute your messaging? Not dilute. I just think the artistic
21:51
side of me I do like to be challenged. You know, I have made songs that are a little bit more digestible, that are a
21:58
little bit more, you know what I mean? Um, easy listening, you know? Um, because to me that's a
22:04
challenge. Yeah, I like to do I'll be like, "Oh, because sometimes I don't want to do that. Sometimes I do want to just
22:10
speak about personal life or uh or enjoying life or speaking, you know what
22:15
I mean? Whatever is going on and doing it in a way where people can um
22:21
can consume it easily, you know, it's easily digested and um so yeah, I I I take it as a challenge and I love that
22:27
too. I love that artistic, but I don't look at it as like, oh, I got to dumb my stuff down." I feel like that's not a sincere place. So, I can't
22:34
create that way. But when I hear some dope [ __ ] that's like, "Okay, that's dope."
22:40
But it's not like it's something super deep. Like, I look at that, I'm like, "Oh, that's dope. I like that. I like
22:45
that energy." Yeah. And I want to It challenges me. Like, I want to make something. I'mma do it in my way.
22:50
Um, and yeah, I take that as a challenge. Like, I love it because I feel like the dope MC's do that.
22:56
Yeah, they do. You know what I mean? You got to be able to do the dope artists, you know? They have. Yeah. Facts. How's um how's
23:01
the album been received? It's been great so far, you know. It's been um I think when we uh debuted it
23:08
was like it went up to number six on Apple Music, you know. Okay. Um all the music, like I said, we the
23:16
way I strategized to market it, I used the lock lift. I used Instagram, social
23:22
media, Facebook, all these things to market the singles, the songs
23:27
beforehand. And I mean across platforms, I mean I was I was just hitting artists.
23:32
I'm like, "Yo, some of the songs that I released two, three months ago are now going viral,
23:39
right?" You know what I mean? Because that's how that's how it works. You know, it's one of those things where you have to be send seen 10 times before people see you
23:47
once, right? It was seven before. Now it's 10. Yeah. 15. 15.
23:52
I mean, because I'm an independent artist, you know, we put this out independently. Um, there's
23:57
no timeline, right? I can promote this. You know what I mean? I've had songs where
24:03
six months later that song end up going viral and then and then you know like um
24:09
matter of fact I was telling ours when we were putting out um uh I have a song called America
24:16
you know uh America actually it was America part two and uh I think we put it out
24:25
right around the time of the inauguration. Okay. you know, even though I had wrote the song before,
24:31
right? I put it out, it did well, but then like all of a sudden I'm like,
24:37
"Yo, what's going on? Why am I getting all this these followers? Why am I getting all this?" It starts going it's just going it hits like a two million,
24:44
right? You just never know. Then I'm looking at the the song, the streams going up. I'm like, "Yo, oh, this is I'm see." And
24:51
then it starts going back affecting my catalog for my last album, right? from 2020 uh 2023 or 2024
25:00
and now I'm like oh now I'm seeing it you know and that's kind of like I know a lot of artists um we are used to
25:07
monetarily being you know we want our money for our album but the beauty one of the aspects of streaming is like you
25:13
get paid forever on that. Yeah. Right. So, if a person buys my album one time, I don't get paid no more.
25:19
Mhm. But if they continue to play it in perpetuity, right?
25:25
Perpetuity. Get paid in perpetuity. Did I use that? Yeah. Did I use that correctly? You did. You did. You did. You did.
25:31
Yeah. You know, that money keeps coming in. So, um it's just all about how you look at it. If you own your music,
25:37
right? You know, so that's the way I frame it. Like even when we put the album out, I was like, I'm not worried about it because I got
25:43
so much content. I'm doing other things and other music. I'm going to mix it in. The album roll out lasts can last for a
25:50
year. Yep. I'm see I'm seeing it. Yeah. Yeah. It's guerilla warfare when you're independent artist. You got to get down
25:56
in the in the dirt, you know. Yeah. It's a fact. You've been in New York City a little
26:02
around a year or so. Um what made you leave the bay? You know, I've always had something in
26:08
New York pulling me out here. You know, I work with so many artists. I think from the beginning when I started coming out here working with Ski Beats,
26:14
shout out to my man Ski Beats. We did a project with him and Dame Dash and you know, that's a whole that's a story
26:21
for but we did a project together and once I came out here, I connected with so many
26:27
producers, engineers, videographers. Um
26:32
I think that's when I met you, you know what I'm saying? Coming out here promoting stuff when you was on the other platform, you know? um I just
26:39
start connecting. So I never, you know, I would always come out here often. Yeah. And then finally I was going to come out
26:44
here before things, you know, when we had the um pandemic and I was like I ain't coming now.
26:51
You you smart smart man. Let me wait. Let me wait. You know what I mean? Let me hold up. And then once
26:56
things got chill um and then a lot of my family from the Bay, they moved, you know, they moved to down south or
27:02
whatever. And I was like, it's really no reason keeping me from California. I I wanted to change a pace. I wanted to as an
27:08
artist, I wanted to, you know, absorb new energy. Okay. So, yeah, I decided, hey, why not, you
27:14
know, why not come to New York? Nice. Nice. Yeah. I like it. You know, it's been really, it's been dope. You came at a time when people are
27:21
leaving. I know. I hear a lot of people saying they leaving. People always leaving New York. People are always leaving New York.
27:26
Maybe it takes somebody from California to get, you know. Hey, I'm here for it. I'm here for it. We had Griselda, now we got locksmith.
27:32
Exactly. Right. Yeah, man. They're from New York, but not Yeah. Up state, right? Yeah. Buffalo. Buffalo. Is there anyone you want to
27:38
work with you haven't worked with? Great question. It's a lot of people. There's a lot of people. Who?
27:44
Artists, producers. I mean, I would love to work with Griselda. I think they dope.
27:50
Yeah. Um, I could see that. I would love to work with Papoose. I could definitely see that. Absolutely.
27:55
I would love to work with Pap. Um, let's go back. K. Slave was putting it together, right? There was a time K Slay was like, "Yeah,
28:01
we going to make this happen." And then you know obviously rest in peace that was my brother. Yeah. Like K I feel like that's one of the
28:08
things that New York lost so much. Yeah. When K Slay passed. Yeah. A lot of independent artists owe
28:14
him gratitude. You know he's the only one playing them on commercial radio. I cannot thank him enough.
28:21
You know what I mean? Um and what he means to hip hop and specifically New York. Like
28:27
every time I would touch down, you know, he would just be like, "Yo, lot come." I'm like, "Yo, K. I ain't got no bars right now. I'm just He's like, I don't
28:33
care. Just come through. You know what I mean? He was just such a a great dude. Um but
28:39
he was he was actually we had talked about working on the album like he was going to put some things together and um
28:45
you know, he passed away so you know, arrest him. But that was one of the artists. He was like, "Yo, put y'all
28:51
together." Do you have a relationship with him? With Pat at all? I've met him. We've talked, but I don't have a relationship with him direct now.
28:57
But I'm sure I'll that could happen because he respects he has a special place for lyricist. No, we've met and he's like, "Yo." Okay.
29:03
It was mutual respect. You know what I mean? So that's why we gonna put it together. But um you know definitely
29:09
would love to work with Maybe I can assist with that. I'm I'm going to Please. Yeah. I would love any assistant. You know what I mean? I want
29:15
to work with dope artists, you know, and I'm out here now so it's easy, you know? Um
29:21
producers. Um uh there's a lot of dope. Um, I would
29:27
love I I really would like to work with Hit Boy. Oh, okay. Yeah. I I really I really respect Hit Boy, you
29:34
know what I mean? I like his diversity. He was just here, too. Yeah. I I really respect his diversity and what he can do.
29:40
And um and he's from Cali. Yeah, he's from Cali. You know what I'm saying? Alchemist. I think he's dope.
29:46
Love the Cali. Um Yeah, I think you could challenge Alchemist, too. Yeah. Yeah,
29:51
for sure. Because Alchemist has got a lot in his his toolbox, too. like he can do a lot of different things. People know him for the loops,
29:57
right? But he still has done, you know what I mean? You know what I mean? He's done some hard-hitting [ __ ] too.
30:03
So, um Yeah. But, you know, it's a lot of folks. What about your touring life? You you
30:08
moving and shaking. Yeah. I didn't even think we were going to catch you, but you in between. Just got off tour. Yeah.
30:14
Um Yeah, man. Touring is is beautiful, you know. Um
30:20
it's independent, bro. like I don't have I mean I have different I'm not exclusively signed to nobody so I've
30:26
worked with different booking agencies I've worked with different people and I'm fortunate enough to have these
30:32
relationships right you know with um I got personal relationships with
30:37
artists so a lot of times when I do tours like if it's not my headlining tour people hit me up direct like yo
30:43
lock I would I want you to come rock with me oh okay um and then I've been around I've done
30:50
enough shows around the world where I've built up my rolodex where I can tour on my
30:57
own. So, I can put together my own tour. I can reach out to a booking agent like, "Yo, can you route put this together for
31:02
me?" Um, so yeah, it's just independent. Um, one of the bene benefits of being
31:08
independent, right? It's less red tape. Yeah. Let me ask you a question. Do you feel like you've made it?
31:15
No. No. Okay. I disagree with you and I'm gonna tell you why. Okay. Because success and I've made it
31:21
is subjective. And this is my outlook on it. If you're doing what you love and you're getting paid for it
31:26
and you're doing it for a living, you made it. Because you just sat here and said, I can call a booking agent and do
31:32
tours. You're doing tour. I know artists that I've been running around with. They've been in the business for 30 years and they not they're sitting at
31:38
home. Yeah. Yeah. You're independent artist and you're doing shows. If somebody's paying you, if that if that's what's paying your
31:44
your bills Yeah. and you doing that for a living, for sure. You have made it. Yeah, in a sense, yeah,
31:49
you have made it. You know, it may not be the money you desire or maybe you're struggling and you're
31:56
making it. Yeah. But the point is you're getting paid. Yeah. Well, you know, I don't look at it from a monetary standpoint.
32:03
Um, I look at it more from just like a work. Like if I start in my mind like I feel
32:08
like I'm still growing as an artist. Of course, I'm not talking about from a financial
32:14
standpoint. I'm just talking about as an artist. in my mind frame there's always work to do. That's how I continue to
32:19
right you know what I'm saying to grow like I've had people that I came up with um
32:25
and they're either stagnant or they regressed or whatever you know I try to continue to push myself. So if I have
32:32
the mind frame like I do I'm grateful for everything that I've had because I've had some really good
32:39
successes and I'm grateful for every single one of them. Sometimes I look back I'm like, "Yo, I did that shit." Like, man, I was on the BET Awards. I I
32:46
did this. I did. You know what I mean? Like, you know, I got our picture from the BET. Yeah. From 10 15 year 15 years or 10
32:53
years ago, Lock would have that locksmith would have been like, "Oh man, I wish I was doing this or I wish I
32:58
could do that. I wish I was able to go on tour. I wish I would go to Europe. I wish I'm like, yo, I've done that."
33:03
Yeah. So, I'm grateful for that. But at the same time, I'm like, "Yo, I got work to do." Yeah. You always more to do. Even when
33:10
you do look at it like that, even when you do more, there's still more to do. I'm grateful, but I'm not content. No. Yeah, that's what I mean. But I just
33:16
want you to know, man, you you have made it. You know, I don't I'm not in your business like that, but I don't know if that's all you do for a living. If you
33:22
only do musicals, so then you you have made it. You made it. You know, of course, you want to elevate. You don't
33:27
want to stay stagnated, but as we speak, you made it. I appreciate it. Yeah. No, I I'm grateful for that, man. Like, I get to
33:33
get up and make beats and rap for a living. You know what I mean? I know so many people
33:38
with platinum records they not doing that. They done. They're done.
33:44
They are done. Well, I think as you know I think
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