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TECH N9NE Talks New Album, Lil Wayne, If He Wrote For The Rock & Addresses Devil Worship Rumors
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Jun 28, 2025
From Running Away to Rap Legend: Tech N9ne Breaks Down His Origin Story, Trauma & New Album “58 16 Forest” 🎤 Tech N9ne sits down with AllHipHop to reveal the raw truth behind 58 16 Forest — the most personal album of his career. He talks running away at 17, growing up in a strict household, finding his rap voice, and turning childhood trauma into Hip-Hop gold. Plus: the story behind his face paint, scrubs, Lil Wayne collab, and why this album hits harder than ever. 👁️🗨️ WATCH UNTIL THE END for Tech’s reflections on genre-bending, family, and the defining moment that changed his life forever. #TechN9ne #HipHop #5816Forest #AllHipHop #LilWayne #RapLegend #OriginStory #StrangeMusic #HipHopInterview #newmusic Subscribe to AllHipHop on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/allhiphoptv?sub_confirmation=1 Check out more of AHH here on social media: https://allhiphop.com https://twitter.com/allhiphopcom https://facebook.com/allhiphopcom https://instagram.com/allhiphopcom Executive Producers: “Grouchy” Greg Watkins and Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur AllHipHop.com, a powerhouse in the Hip-Hop world, was established and brought to life in 1998 by the visionary CEOs "Grouchy" Greg Watkins and Chuck "Jigsaw" Creekmur. Over the years, AllHipHop has solidified its position as an invaluable hub for all things Hip-Hop on the web. With its daily dose of news, exclusive interviews, in-depth reviews, multimedia content, a newly-minted expanding community, and a treasure trove of other engaging material, it has garnered immense praise and a dedicated following.
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0:05
All right, Tech9's in the building. All hip hop's with a legend right now. First of all, how you doing? I'm doing good,
0:12
man. What about yourself? I'm I'm I'm all right, man. I mean, you know, bombs are dropping in places and
0:20
things are happening. But I I'm blessed. I mean, you know, as much as I can say.
0:25
Right. You you making you making your own heaven in this whole hell pit, huh? There that man. There you go. Yes, sir.
0:32
Yeah, me too. Absolutely. Now, you know, before we start, I have to I I am a
0:39
person that is not fake. I can't be fake if I wanted to be fake. So, with that
0:46
being said, I gotta do something real quick. Okay. Oh my god.
0:54
Hold up. Uhoh. Uhoh. Uh oh. We still We still winning.
1:03
We here. We here. I got it close by. I got it close by. It ain't over till it's
1:08
over. Okay. Okay. You know, I had That's dope, though. You know what I'm saying? I see. I I see you. I see you. Yeah.
1:16
Yeah. Yeah. I had to I had to um you
1:21
know, just put that out there, man. But salute. Right. Right. Right. Right. Salute y'all, man. Salute y'all. Salute
1:26
y'all. Salute y'all. That's funny. All jokes all jokes aside,
1:31
man. That was a a great a great rivalry to say the least, you know, y'all got
1:37
Yes, it was. Yes, it was, man. I mean, it was it was it was so brutal that every time y'all scored, I laughed.
1:44
Really? Right. Right. It was so brutal. I just couldn't take it no more. My partner Travis was sitting right next to
1:50
me just stonefaced. I couldn't help but just laugh, man. I'm like, "Look at this, man." Yeah, it was it was a a
1:58
tough loss, man. That my home girl just got she's just she wants her lick back.
2:03
Let's put it like that. I said, "Let's go. Let's go." Anyway,
2:09
man, let's talk about how do you say it? 5816 Forest or that's it, right? 58 5816
2:16
Forest, man. You know what I'm saying? That's my uh home that I lived in from age 12 to 17 when I ran away from home
2:23
on a quest to become Tech 9, you know. Yeah. Um
2:28
this is an origin story. This album is considered an origin story in comic books, you know, that's that's a very
2:36
important story to tell. Yeah, man. Uh crazy. My origin story is coming now. 25
2:45
years of strange music, 40 years in hip hop for me. You know what I'm saying? But uh it was uh brought to me by a old
2:52
friend of mine by the name of uh Black Walt. Uh he gave me my name Tech9 back
2:57
in 88. He was the first one to do music for me back in the day. You know what I'm saying? Before he went to prison for
3:02
a while, you know? And uh he called me last year and said, "Hey man, we want to
3:07
hear an album with no collaborations, man. All you on the verses." I was like, "That'll be boring as hell, man." And he
3:14
said, "No, no, no, no, no. That's what the fans want to hear." And I told my partner Travis the next day in his office, I said, "Black Walt want me to
3:20
do a All versus by Tech9 album." He said, "Yep, he's right. You need to do that." So, I did it. And I thought that
3:27
telling the story, the origin story of my life on 5816 Forest from age 12 to 17
3:36
would be perfect. You know what I'm saying? All the things that happened in between. And the songs are in um
3:42
chronological order, you know, from 12 to 17. All the beats are produced by
3:48
JPZ, one producer. I've never done that before, and I've never done an album with me all through the verses, you
3:53
know. Wow. Wow. Now, why is that? I I mean, you obviously have a a competent
4:00
pen. Um your history is everything is there. Why Why were you reluctant to do
4:06
it yourself? I don't think it's boring. I I would never assume you would even feel that way. Well, if you look at my
4:14
discoraphy, man, you know, I do a lot of collaborations. I love to collaborate with different types of artists,
4:20
different genres. I think that's beautiful. I think it pushes the music even further, you know. So, when you
4:26
when you think about this guy rapping the whole album, the first thing I
4:31
thought it would be boring, but as I got into the third song, I was like, "Wow, this is amazing." Because in Tech9
4:37
fashion, I always the beats always change the mood, the cadence, the pitch and
4:44
everything. So it doesn't get redundant in my opinion. So I was wrong in the
4:49
beginning, you know. Right. Uh you know, you talk about becoming Tech 9. Um what
4:57
what was the what was the was what was the incident? What what happened? What
5:03
clicked? um the song on the album called Lola
5:10
and I was, you know, before I started writing rhymes, uh I was a break dance for Pop Locker, you know what I'm
5:16
saying? Uh MC Hammer. Uh oh. Uh oh. You know what I'm saying? Perial Prep back
5:22
home in Kansas City and Kid and Play, all that with the high top pay, with the Quame streak, all that, man. With the
5:29
the the parachute pants, everything, man. I mean, no, no, no, no. What do you call them? Hammer pants? They weren't parachute pants. I forgot what those
5:35
called. But uh we called them hammer pants. But hammer pants. That's what we call them hammer pants.
5:41
I had all that, man. But by the way, one time I went, man, one time I went to school uh and I had on hammer pants.
5:49
They did. Let's just say that the homies let me know. Yes. I I thought the homies
5:55
gonna always give you crap. You know what I'm saying? They always give always Jones on you. You know what I'm saying?
6:01
But, you know, being a a B boy, I used
6:06
to beatbox as well. You know what I'm saying? And uh one day I was beatboxing for a a rapper on my bus that I hung out
6:14
with. His name is Money Dog. Anthony Holland, you know? And uh Lola Morris,
6:20
she was a pretty girl in school, you know. She said, "Aaron, why don't you stop spitting on everybody
6:26
and you rap? You write one." I'm like, uh, I ain't got no raps. So, I went home
6:31
and I wrote my eight bar rhyme and I came back and spit it and everybody loved it. So, that was one thing that
6:38
was going to show me I was going to do something. I didn't, you know, I didn't have the name Tech9 yet, right? You
6:44
know, and uh, that didn't come till like right around 8th grade when I met
6:52
Black Walt. You know what I'm saying? And he gave me my name after he heard my first rhyme, you know? He told me to
6:58
write my first three verse rhyme which was called the new breed. And when I bust that, you know, the whole story
7:05
about how we came up with the name Tech 9 and the Guns and Elbow book happened, you know, and uh but the but the but the
7:13
but the one thing that let me know that I was going to be on this path, the last
7:18
song on the album is called J6's. It actually happens two years after I run
7:23
ran away. You know what I'm saying? Um uh J6 is the story. And in that story,
7:30
that last verse, I won a rap contest, and I was uh and the prize was to open
7:37
up for EPMD at Kempo Arena, a big arena in in Kansas City, Missouri. So uh I won
7:43
it. First thing I ever won in my life. This is in ' 91.
7:49
And uh I had on my J6s. And uh it happened to fall on the day
7:54
the concert fell on the same day as my graduation day, you know what I'm saying? 91. You know what I'm saying? Uh
8:01
so I had to choose one because they both happened at the same time. And I didn't choose my graduation. I choose I chose
8:07
to open up for EPMD. And that's when I knew I'm like, "Okay, this what I'm
8:12
going for." And I'm rocking the crowd. Everybody screaming. I'm like, "Oh yeah. Oh yeah. This is it." That's crazy. Why
8:21
wouldn't you, man? Shoot. I would, too. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I didn't have a,
8:26
you know, cuz I ran away from home at 17. So, it was my choice to uh not go to my graduation. Now, if I
8:33
was still staying at with my stepfather, he's a Muslim. You know, my mom married, my Christian mama married a Muslim. If I
8:39
didn't run away from home, I wouldn't have been in that rap contest. Right. And I wouldn't I would have been walking
8:47
across that stage. Right. Right. Right. you know. Yeah. I was going to talk about this this particular song a little
8:53
bit later, but but Punishment is a song you talk a little Well, it's about being
9:00
on Punishment. It's, you know, it kind of talks about your stepfather. Can you
9:05
talk to us a little bit about that song and how that played a role in in really what's now, you know? Man, when you're
9:14
17, you think you know everything. Yeah. No.
9:19
And uh at the time I thought he was being mean to me and being hard on me
9:24
from 12 to 17, you know. Yeah. So I told my mom that I was going to go in my aunt
9:30
Zita's house for the Thanksgiving holiday and never returned, you know.
9:35
And uh as I got to, you know, further in my life and maturing
9:42
um I realized that he was protecting me from the blood neighborhood we lived in,
9:49
right? Which is which it still affected me a bit, you know, and uh he was trying
9:54
to keep me out of harm's way and he was trying to make me a stronger human being cuz my mom before she married him when I
10:01
was 12, she babyed me, man. I was I was the only child. You know what I'm saying? And it was hard for us because
10:06
we were poor, but at the same time, she worked at KPNL Gas Service. Man, she she
10:12
did what I she had to do for me. If I wanted to be in the talent show in fourth grade and pop, I told her, "I
10:19
want that album. I want this song called Scorpio by Grandmaster Fashion 45 because I'm a Scorpio." You know what
10:24
I'm saying? Back then, I'm thinking Scorpio is a hard Scorpio. You know what I'm saying? Oh, that's a hard song, bro.
10:32
Yeah. I danced off of that in the um fourth grade talent show at Tom D Cordy,
10:37
man. Um and she bought me the white gloves and the all gray breaking suit
10:45
and everything, man. You know what I'm saying? She would she would give me stuff, you know, even though we were poor, you know what I mean? But uh when
10:51
he came along, all that stuff changed, man. And you know, he was just trying to make me be a stronger human being and an
10:59
entrepreneur like him because he owned his own food spot called Steak and Take.
11:05
And that turned into fish captain with his brother Abul. And I worked for fish captain for a while for for the Muslims
11:12
up there. You know, he was trying to make me a strong man. He didn't want me.
11:18
He wouldn't let me buy Jordans. I wanted Jordans so bad. He wouldn't let me buy Jordans. That's why that's all I wear
11:24
right now. for real. He wouldn't let he he would have me go to school and
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slacks, blossoms, and button-ups with a tie, you know what I'm saying? He's assalam alaikum time all day, you know?
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And uh so I studied Islam from 12 to 17 with him. And uh my mom was still a
11:41
devout Christian though, you know what I'm saying? But she just was in love with him. But what I found in writing
11:47
the punishment is that I let him know in the last verse. I found resolve, man. You know,
11:56
he wasn't being mean to me. He was trying to protect me and make me a stronger human being and make me an
12:03
entrepreneur. And that's what I became. Yeah. Yeah. You know, but I took a chance running away because I could have
12:08
died out there selling dope, running with Blood Gang, everything. I could have died, man. Yeah. And not been
12:15
here to talk about this 5864 to tell the story. I could have died. I took a chance. I took a chance to become Tech 9
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and I didn't stop until I got it. Man, that's isn't But isn't that that's a Gen
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X thing? Like it's a real like a hip-hop thing. Like we Yeah. Were we would risk
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it all for our dreams, I think, in a way that that you don't see anymore. You don't see you see it in a different way
12:43
because I'm not on a pedestal. I I hope not when I say that
12:49
there was no pathway. There was no hip-hop was young. There was no like,
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oh, okay, let me build on that, right? You weren't building on top of the
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spinners or like Temptations or something like
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EP. Huh? And I'm coming from Kansas City, Missouri, where opportunity is none when it comes to hip-hop like that.
13:13
You know what I mean? Facts. Facts. You know, so so we had to Gen X, man. We had
13:19
to make something out of nothing. The roads that grew from the concrete like Pac, you know. Yeah. I'm originally from
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Delaware, by the way, too. So back in the day, they be like, "If you're not a square from Delaware, you got on clean
13:32
underwear." I was like, "What do you got to what do we do? What did we why why
13:39
are we in these records? Right. Right. That's funny. That's funny. Yeah. But yeah, I did take a chance, man. And uh
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by the grace of God, I got with the right people throughout
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my career. Yeah. To be in the position that I am right now. Yeah. Yeah. So,
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thank you, Abul Hassan Rasul Khalifa, for your protection until I left at 17.
14:04
Right. Right. Is he still with us? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. He's heard the songs.
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My brother Hakeim played it for him. Played them the punishment. He said, "Tell Donnie," I said, "Thank you." Because that's my middle name, Dante. He
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said, "Tell Donnie." I said, "Thank you, man. Don't forget to tell Donnie." I said, "Thank you for this." That's ter.
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Then I And then I was kind of worried about this. I know because I'm telling a story about when he hit me in the head with some money for messing up in school
14:29
when he was counting money. Like that messing up in school. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. So I said,
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uh committed a lot of sin. Felt like I was not a can. When he brought that olive in, heart ran from me.
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Alhamdulillah. He said, "When he popped me with some bread, you'd done knock me in the head with some goddamn money. I'm
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gone." You know what I'm saying? So dope. So dope. But I was worried about
14:52
the world knowing that's what happened. It wasn't too bad that he hit me with the money, but that was just the last
14:58
straw with me. So I I I sent it to my brother Hakeim. He talks to Hassan all the time. I don't get to talk to him as
15:04
much. Uh but uh I said, "Hey man, I want you to play him This I Know. I'm about
15:10
to go far with this one radio and everything." And uh I talked to my brother like a week
15:16
later. I said, "So what did he say about This I Know?" He said, "Man, he liked it. He really liked it." He said, "It's
15:21
a really good song." I was like, "What?" He said, "Yeah." He said that's he said it sound like something he would have
15:26
did back then. Yeah. Right. Well, it'll it would probably hit different if it was like the 90s or something. You know
15:32
what I'm saying? Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. right? Everybody's happy, you're successful, you know, I
15:38
imagine it all worked out. But if it was like uh Tret and uh what was that song?
15:45
Biological didn't bother us or maybe that was Shaq. I don't know. I'm getting all my stuff. But anyway, it might hit a
15:52
little different. Right. Right. Right. But but um were let me ask you, were you
15:58
into like superheroes, comic books, and stuff growing up? No. No. No. No. No. Not at all. So where where did where did
16:06
tech where did the visuals come from? Like what I don't I'm tell you I'mma
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tell you. You talking about this kind of stuff? Yeah.
16:17
So my mom was diagnosed I mean she's been having
16:23
grandma seizures since 18. Okay. You know my mom she you know throughout my
16:29
whole childhood she'd have grandma seizures. You know what I'm saying? And you know, in the Christian family I
16:34
have, we would just keep her at home in the bed, make sure she don't swallow her tongue or bite her tongue, put something in her mouth, you know. Yeah. So when
16:40
she married Hassan when I was 12, he thought that after she had seizures
16:47
that she she should be in a psychiatric ward. So he put her in several psychiatric
16:53
wards throughout my childhood. And uh I used to uh go visit her and every time
17:00
I'd go visit her, they'd have her in hospital scrubs. You know what I'm saying? And gotcha. Um that's so that's
17:07
one level. Uh the Michael Myers and all that kind of
17:12
stuff, you know, of hip hop and the killer clown and all that, man. The expl explanation for that is uh I was born in
17:21
71 and she took me to go see Carrie in 76 and Halloween the premiere in Kansas
17:26
City in 78. She took me to haunted houses around u Kansas City during the
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Halloween uh season and uh you know she
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took me to Ringland Brothers Bunnman Bailey circuits and error rat shrine circuits when I was young and I was terrified of clowns so I became the
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killer clown later on in my life. overcame my fears. So from the hospital scrubs from my mom, from the Michael
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Myers hip hop, you know what I'm saying? The killer clown lyrically, all that I applied to Tech 9 and it all
17:58
saved my life, man. My Christian mama taught me all that, man. So when they used to call me devil worshipper, I used
18:04
to laugh. It used to piss me off at first, but now I laugh because I know exactly where it come from. But they
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don't know that it came from my Christian mama. And a lot of people think dark imagery is evil, you know.
18:17
And uh she taught me early on, man. She said, "This Dracula toy you got, don't
18:24
look at it any different." Cuz I used to love Dracula when I was little. You know what I'm saying? She bought me the action figure, you know, Ba Losei. Bella
18:31
Losce, you know what I'm saying? He had an action figure, I think. And uh she said,
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"Don't look at this Dracula action figure any different than your
18:44
G.I. Joe action figure or your Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker Star Wars toys.
18:51
They're all plastic. You can't give them any energy. Don't let people tell you that you can't." You know what I'm
18:57
saying? Because in religious teachings sometimes they think that dark imagery you can hold spirits in them and stuff
19:04
like that, man. But but you know, my mom taught me that that wasn't real early
19:10
on. You know what I mean? I love her for that. Being the Christian woman she was, the devout Christian she was. I lost her
19:16
2014 to lupus. My condolences. So that's You see me
19:22
with the hospital scrubs with the clown on it. you know what I'm doing and all the I used to paint my face back then.
19:29
Got the song called Red Nose back in the day. Back in 2009, I shot the video Red Nose, you know. Um, it's been a uh it's
19:38
been a theme throughout my whole career, you know, especially the scrubs on stage and the scrubs, you know, I'm wearing
19:44
them in all the interviews on this this the first time I've worn them in a lot of my interviews
19:50
um on this on this uh press run
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because um we're going all the way back to 5816 Forest and this is when I used
20:01
to visit her when she got sick and the psychiatric wards. Um, research
20:08
psychiatric. Um, uh, Western Missouri Psychiatric.
20:14
Um, Manora, I had one I visited her in and it was one more. I can't remember
20:20
the name, man. You know, I'm sizzling, but but I, uh, Marty Su Yates Khalifa
20:26
was up in there and I wear her garment.
20:32
Yeah. in honor of my late great mother Khalifa. You know, I've been having to
20:37
tell that story a lot lately because people people, you know, they don't come to my shows and see me wearing this. You
20:43
know, this this is from my last tour. I don't usually wear these on tour. You know what I'm saying? Because it's extra
20:49
large so I can move around. It's too big for me. You know what I'm saying? In regular wear like I am wearing it today,
20:55
but uh people are asking me about it because they're starting to see it on me. You know what I mean? because you
21:02
have to come to the show to see it, you know. That's what's up, man. Shout out to your mom, man. Mom, you know, I had a
21:09
very similar mom, man. You know, back in the day, I used to like a lot of different things. Comic books was one of
21:15
them, but the rock group Kiss was something that I grew up liking. Yes, me too. Simmon. Yeah, there there it is.
21:23
You You ever seen Tech9 pictures like that? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
21:29
Yeah, man. I mean, I I had, you know, my parents faithfully like patiently
21:34
freely. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. They allowed me to like Jean Simmons and Kiss even though Yes, sir. Same here.
21:40
Yeah. Yeah. That's that's dope. I see. That's that's the freedom. I don't know
21:46
what I They allowed the imagination to to to be what it what it is, you know, allowed you to grow and be who you are.
21:53
I love your shirt, by the way. Yeah. Yeah. I had to I had I have to hat.
21:59
Thanks. Thanks. Thanks. Shout out to Ice Tea. Ice Tea is uh one of my favorites, man. And um I love I love how he moves
22:07
in all these different worlds. Yes, sir. Genre bender way back in the day. Yeah.
22:12
Genre bender. What they call me of a genre bender. That was him back in the day. That was run DMC back in the day.
22:18
You know what I'm saying? That was of a down back in the day. You know what I'm saying? like, you know,
22:24
with a [ __ ] I love how you can rhyme over metal as
22:30
much as you can rap over boom bat. You know what I mean? Like, well, the thing is is that I bring what I'm under the
22:39
umbrella. You I'm under the hip-hop umbrella, right? So, with that being
22:44
said, when they call upon me, I bring what I do. Yeah. Right. When Ronnie
22:50
Ratkkey say, "Hey, I want you to come in shredding on my song." What is up with your money thinking the devil is making
22:56
a crime and the people are evil and demon opposite of the divine? No. Yes. You know what I'm saying? It's tech nine
23:01
still. You know what I'm saying? True. I'm not You ain't g He ain't gonna call me. I'mma be like, I run. You know what
23:09
I'm saying? No, it's me doing my hip-hop thing within the genres. When I did the
23:15
song with Gary Clark Jr. on some blues type uh vibe. I did me with Gary Clark
23:24
Jr. on No Gun Control. A lot of people don't even know that song exists. I'm that one up. Yeah. Tech Gary Clark Jr.
23:31
pull it up, man. You say, "Whoa, this went under the radar." You know what I mean? Me and me and me and Marsha
23:37
Ambroes did one called Anywhere. It's wonderful, man. Tech9 discoraphy is
23:43
crazy, man. That's why this next album I'm going to start doing after 5864 is called Decorated because I'm a decorated
23:50
MC, man. Yeah, man. That's real talk, bro. I mean,
23:55
it's interesting cuz now music is so fragmented and it's hard to keep up. You
24:02
know, you don't have the same promo systems, the the same um industry
24:08
systems, at least for from us. Right. Right. Right. you almost have to catch stuff accidentally or you you have to be
24:14
intentional like you have to subscribe to people's YouTube or follow them on right even social media doesn't really
24:21
help because the algorithm is if you're not Jim Jones you might you know
24:27
trolling us or you might miss something you know what I mean so you think he's trolling about him being got more hits
24:34
than Nas and all that you think he's trolling yeah he's trolling I talked to him yesterday and and uh he he's I've
24:40
known Jim gym over 20 years. And I had to hit him up like, "Hey, hey, hey, how
24:45
you doing? How you doing? How you doing? What's going on? You all right?" And he
24:51
was just, he was just basically like, "I know how to rig the algorithm now." Yeah. I know how to go. Him him and
24:58
Shannon had me in stitches. Oh, I was dying laughing, bro. I was
25:03
But then Jim Jim got up there and started doing them pull-ups, man.
25:09
Exactly. Can you pull yourself up, big man? I'm like, uh oh.
25:15
People sleeping on Jim. I said, they're not fighting. They're not gonna fight, y'all. No, we know we know Shannon can
25:21
bench press more than Jim. Yeah, he probably he could probably do more leg
25:27
leg exercises than Jim, too. But right, you know what I'm saying? Jim Jim can
25:32
get down. He can go down on one knee and go up like on one, excuse me, one leg.
25:39
Put one leg out front like this. Yes. Go all the way down to the ground and bring
25:44
his leg back up. So, I'm like, "Hey, I don't know. I I I can't do that. I've
25:49
tried. I ain't never tried it. I tried it. I came close, but no." So, Jim Jim
25:55
sleep. He's a sleeper, but he's trolling a lot. He's trolling a lot. Yeah, I ask
26:01
you um this this album 5816 Force is is
26:06
not a collab album, but you do have Lil Wayne on there. You guys have collabed a lot in the past. What made what made you
26:13
uh put him on there again? As I was going through my uh notes,
26:20
my uh notes in my phone, I was kind of getting a lot of,
26:25
you know, um audio out of my phone. You know what I'm saying? trying to, you know, get some more space in my phone.
26:32
And I I I listened to me trying to do the hook for Yoda. Okay. And I was like,
26:38
it says something like, "Man, I don't really know, bro. Why they calling me? Yo, the Yoda Yoda Yoda Yoda." I was
26:45
sounding like Lula. It was just so whack. You know what I'm saying? Be trying to do it. You know what I'm
26:50
saying? And after I was going through it and and I sent it to Black Vault, he said, "No, that ain't it, man." You know
26:56
what I'm saying? I'm like, you know what? I ain't got to have nobody on the verses, but I can have somebody on the
27:03
hook, right? So, I hit Wayne up. He did send it back immediately. And he was so
27:08
he's so musically inclined. He's not rushing anything, man. Uh I didn't have to tell him do variations of the hook
27:15
because on this song, it starts with a hook and there's a hook right here and it's three verses. So, it's four hooks,
27:20
right? I didn't even have to tell him that, man. He He did He he did variations. Yeah, that boy know what he
27:27
doing, man. He is a genius, man. I was like I was so happy with the outcome of
27:33
Yoda in the hook, man. I'm so glad I didn't try it in the studio. You know what I'm saying? And uh you know, I got
27:39
a few more on there. Kevin Church Johnson, he did uh he's my drummer. He
27:44
did uh the hook for This I Know. We came up with that on the last Falling in
27:50
Reverse tour, man. on my bus, you know, talking about if they don't if we don't know anything, this I know. This music
27:56
thing, this I know, you know, we had that in common, you know, and families telling us to our families telling us we
28:03
need to get a real job back in the day when we were young and this is just a hobby. You need something that'll take care of your family and make sure your
28:09
family is secure. And now my family is secure from doing that rap that rapping
28:14
they were telling me to not do, you know. Yeah, man. That's that's another theme. My mom did not want me to move to
28:22
New York and I still have I still have a letter from I never I don't think I even
28:27
gave her this letter but I wrote it and and it wasn't I wasn't running away from
28:32
home because I was grown but I I was leaving Delaware. You know and I told
28:38
her I said if I don't do this I gotta I gotta try and fail, right? Yeah. I gota
28:43
try and fail. Right. I never I've never I've never lived in Delaware since, you know. Yeah. Shout out to Delaware.
28:50
Nothing wrong with it. All are there now, by the way. A gen X thing to do.
28:55
Yeah. Yeah. To leave on a whim. You know, you might know somebody somewhere maybe. I don't know. But even if you
29:02
didn't, you still took a chance, man. You know, and that's what we do to try to do what we do. Now, you are are you
29:11
the most successful hip-hop artist ever? Hip hop. You mean independent?
29:16
Independent hip-hop artist. Independent. Uh,
29:24
that's what they say. That's what they say. That's what they say. That's what they say. But, you know, since then,
29:30
we got new ones like the Russell. Yeah. Yeah. And I think Russ may may be
29:38
independent, too. I'm not sure. and uh Whiz Khalifa, you know. Uh yeah.
29:44
Yeah. Yeah. I heard Kendrick now. I don't know.
29:50
Well, come on. But see those Yeah. They they got the major they got the major machine. So Yeah. Yeah. Fact. I don't
29:55
know who has the major machine. I you know um I don't you know sometimes they
30:01
pretend to be independent too sometimes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But but they know they they know I still me and my partner we
30:08
still use our own money you know. We put it back into the company all the time, you know, and uh you know, sorry, man.
30:15
Um, but uh
30:21
yeah, man. There are new ones like uh those that I said Russell, man, and I and I really they really look up to me,
30:28
you know, and I I think it's flattering, man. you know. Yeah. And uh but to this
30:34
day I indeed I don't know what about the numbers and all that but I know you know
30:41
to this day I think I'm still the number one independent rapper in the world. Yeah that's what's up man. I appreciate
30:47
I salute you man because I'm quite sure you've had offers and and and things people presenting situations. I think
30:55
Jonah Lucas is uh independent now and I think he's
31:00
said he has the title. I don't really know. Yeah. I mean, I'm not I'm not
31:06
trying to be ignorant or, you know, but it's it's different, bro. Strange music is a force. It's a movement. It's not
31:13
it's community. It's a community, right? It's not just a label. It's definitely
31:18
what I would call a movement. And so for me, even the name itself is like, yo, I
31:23
gravitate to that just off the name alone, you know, and then and then the visuals uh stand out. They're unique.
31:31
You know, you're unique. The movement is unique. You know what I'm saying? I have to give you a different type of um
31:38
respect in that regard. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. you know what what's the
31:44
if any if any what would you say what would you attribute your success to as
31:50
an independent artist with this this unique movement
31:56
touring going to places where nobody knows you and
32:02
posting up for a week or so going to house parties with flyers
32:09
all kind of things man that we used to do back in the day we to we got out and we did the footwork. Yeah. In Denver, we
32:17
did the footwork in Spokane, Washington and Bend, Oregon and Portland, Oregon
32:22
and Seattle and you know just Yeah. You
32:28
know, even in Vegas, you know, like we we just hit the road, man. You know what I mean?
32:33
We had and we still have quality music,
32:39
quality merchandise, quality everything, man. You know, and uh people remember
32:44
that. Especially the show. Yeah. They like they bring their friends back the next day. You know what I'm saying? The
32:50
next time you come through. Like I say, u my first show in San Diego was seven people. We invited all of them on stage,
32:56
the security and everything, right? Yeah, but when we came back because that first tour we lost $140,000, me and
33:04
Travis to go back would be called by some insanity. But
33:12
when you feel like you have something special, you keep going back. Went back, it was 50 people. Went back again, it
33:17
was 300 people. Went back again, we sold out the House of Blues in uh San Diego, you
33:24
know, now doing bigger venues, you know. Um, I got attributed attributed to
33:33
touring and merchandise and the nonstop grind.
33:38
[Music] Okay. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. What would you say? You know,
33:44
independent has changed. Independence has changed a lot. Um, especially now in
33:50
this what you I don't know if it's a streaming world. I don't know algorithm world. I don't know what we're in now.
33:56
Yeah. We in a b we in a [ __ ] world where the artists don't get paid what they deserve for beautiful art. Yeah.
34:05
Yeah. So when you talk to me about streaming it's not going to be positive. Yeah. I hear that. But you know it has
34:13
changed and some labels will be forced to close because we won't be able to s
34:20
sustain. Yeah. So, I' I've been talking to my partner for the last couple years about direct to consumer.
34:27
We have the kind of fan base that would love
34:34
to purchase our records exclusively from us. [Music]
34:41
You know what I'm saying? Especially if we can ship overseas. You know what I'm saying? It's humongous, man. It's
34:47
humongous. This this Tech9 strange music following is humongous. I see it when I'm out there. When I go
34:53
over to the UK, when I go over to Australia and New Zealand, when I go when I went to Kuwait and Bahrain, you
34:59
know what I'm saying? To do shows, man. You know, I saw it. I haven't been to Africa yet. I got gotta get there.
35:05
They're waiting on me. I haven't been to China. Yeah. You never been to Africa? No. Wow. You gotta go. And I had I had
35:13
this song that was about to come out from this these two guys in Iran. Now this [ __ ] is happening. I'm like, damn,
35:19
man. Right. song probably won't even come out now. You know, I was like I I said I used to I was just saying last
35:24
week, I can't wait to get to Iran and perform for my people. I'm like uh oh
35:29
yeah, it's t it's t it's crazy. And they they persecute
35:34
rappers in Iran right now. Like they I know. I know. I know. That's why the song we did is like two years old and
35:40
they had never could put it out because they wanted to put my boy in jail. And it's it's three of us on the song and we
35:46
talking we're talking greasy about the powers that be, you know. Yeah. And that and that could really hurt them out
35:52
there. Yeah, definitely. Absolutely. You So, you know, there's a lot of talk
35:58
about the tech bros. What does Tech9 think about the tech bros? You know, meaning Spotify. Well, you talked a
36:05
little bit about streaming, but it's more more than streaming now. It's it's a bit a bit of everything. Facebook is
36:11
algorithm based. Um, and when I say that, I mean that in terms of not only
36:19
the music, but also the community, building community also. Well, I know I know I know I have 3.6
36:26
people on my Tech 9 Facebook that I frequent uh IG.
36:33
They uh shadowbanned me ever since 2021 over some [ __ ] You know what I'm saying? So, you know, I don't really I
36:40
don't really be I don't be on X. I don't be on TikTok. I don't be, you know, I have a social media team that when I'm
36:47
doing the Super Bowl and stuff like that, then we'll go to Tik Tok, but I really don't have time to be creating
36:54
things like I deal in real life. You know, I deal in real life in my real life. We could post that up, you know.
37:00
If I got something funny or if I do some weird dance, I'll send it to my team like, "Okay, put that on there, you know, if you want." You know, but uh I'm
37:08
where the bulk of my people are. 3.6 million, man. You know what I'm saying? on my Tech9 Facebook and uh that's where
37:15
I post a lot of all my content and my team will hit me and say, "Hey, can you
37:21
send us that to post on your IG?" Of course. You're right. Got you. All right. Yeah, that that makes a lot of
37:27
sense. A lot of sense. Now, when I when I think of uh AI, artificial
37:33
intelligence, there's a lot of conversation right now. And recently I saw uh a virtual rapper
37:42
um rapping very
37:47
I don't want to say authentically but for lack of a better word it was almost
37:53
hard to tell it was not a human. Um, when I think of AI, I think of people
37:59
like yourself because I know that there there's an element
38:06
that cannot be replicated or cannot be duplicated or or is so original that if
38:12
you did, it would be very clear and obvious. I was on I I was on I was on a
38:18
young lady's show uh in New York recently and she had this thing on her phone that the AI
38:25
she told her to write a song for Tech 9 and she had me read it and I said that's
38:31
funny because it's it had to grab things from my discoraphy
38:37
to make it sound like spiritual and all that kind of stuff. It knew to do that,
38:44
but it was the Cat in the Hat style. Yeah. Right. Right. And I told her that,
38:50
oh yeah, it can gather information about what I've done thus far, but it doesn't
38:56
know what I'm about to do on June 27th before June 27th, right? So, they would
39:01
have to wait for that information. So, AI is going to be always waiting on me and see what I'm going to do next
39:07
because you cannot duplicate
39:13
an artist that have multiple cadences and he changes them every two to four
39:19
bars. Yeah. The AI would have to study that, right? But still have to wait on
39:25
me to do the next thing, right? Sorry, I'm the originator. Yeah. Yeah. You can
39:32
duplicate me, right, after I release it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Do you ever have any
39:38
concerns with it at all? There's it's a huge debate now with Timberlin
39:45
that thing I just explained. Uh let me know that I will be the
39:51
originator until I'm dead. You know what I'm saying? Then the after I'm gone, then they can
39:59
reminisce and program the AI to do what I've done and it's no more. Yeah. Yeah,
40:05
but until I pass, I will be the originator of whatever
40:14
flow, pitch, cadence, vibe that I'm thinking of next. Cuz I,
40:21
you know, when I sit down, man, I always tell people before I go into an album,
40:26
like, I'm excited. I don't know what I'm going to write. I have no idea what my brain is going to do. Yeah. Yeah. I say
40:32
that about myself, right? Yeah. Yeah. And I won't know until the beat gives me a vibe to follow and I start painting.
40:42
Right. Yeah. So until I paint AI, you will be behind me and not ahead of me.
40:51
Yeah. Create something the Tech9 hasn't created yet, AI, and see what it does.
40:56
It's gonna be the cat in the hat like a [ __ ] It's not It's not gonna It's not going to change pitch. is not going to go is
41:04
not going to know to go tech nine tech nine tech nine tech nine. You know what I'm saying? Or do harmonies.
41:11
Yeah. And octaves. Yeah. I'm an intricate MC. So when you listen to
41:17
Worldwide Choppers, it's everything in one. You know what I'm saying? It's everything. harmony, octave,
41:26
hip hop, word play, chopping,
41:32
everything. You know what I'm saying? Any of the choppers for that matter, even speed
41:39
with Eminem, you know, I mean, Chris Calico, you know, when you listen to
41:44
the verse I did for NF few years ago, song called uh Trust. Mhm. If you listen
41:52
to that verse, Tech 9, it's like a master class
41:57
putting rhymes together that make sense. Yeah. And how it morphs
42:06
into other cadences and all kind of stuff seamlessly.
42:12
Right. Right. You could try. Hey, I Hey, I can go look. It can go. It
42:19
can go find that, right? Been out for a while. You know what I'm saying? But
42:24
I will be Japetto.
42:30
Yeah. I will be Jeppetto. You know who Jeppetto is? Oh my god. Who is Japetto? I I I've heard Pinocchio. That's right.
42:38
Ah, I remember. Yeah. I will be Jeppetto. Yeah. I will be the creator.
42:44
Yeah. Until I'm gone. You know what I'm saying? That's what I think about AI, right? Right. Can't beat me. Yeah, man.
42:51
Because my brain is steadily evolving. So, you cannot have that information
42:57
already unless you hook into my brain somehow.
43:03
Well, that's a whole another level. Okay. And I I ain't let nobody put no chip in my [ __ ] just just so I can buy
43:11
groceries, right, man? Listen, I'll be living off the land like my wife says.
43:17
Well, it's time. That's a fact. Yeah, it's time. Yeah. Yeah. So, um I I
43:25
interviewed King ISO a few years ago about this next question, but you
43:30
wrapped with the rock on um Face Off. Face Off. Yes. Uh first of all, did you
43:37
write those raps for for Rock? I know he didn't write those rhymes, did he? Oh, man. He knew exactly what he wanted to
43:43
say. I just helped him structure it. Okay. Come on, man. So,
43:49
it's about drive. It's about power. We stay hungry. We stay We stay hungry. We devour. Put in the work. Put in the
43:56
hours and take was hours. I wouldn't have said hours and hours. You know what I'm saying? I wouldn't have done that. But it makes sense. You know what I'm
44:02
saying? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And take was ours. Black mo in my veins. Uh, black
44:09
and some moan in my veins. What's my [ __ ] name? I wouldn't have said none of that. You know what
44:15
I'm saying? But dope how he said it, right? You know what I'm saying? But that's amazing. That's amazing. If you
44:21
want to bring it to the masses, you know, I was helping him in there. You know what I'm saying? Face to face. But he said face to face. Now it's
44:27
escalating when I have to put booster asses. I'm like, that [ __ ] is dope, man. He's dope. He's so talented, man.
44:33
He know what the [ __ ] he wants to do. Yeah. I ain't lying. That's what's up. You know what I'm saying? It's dope. It
44:40
was dope. He had a he had a he had he had some words he wanted to say. I just
44:45
help him structure it. Okay. So, he co-wrote it. He co-wrote it. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. That's That's what's up. I'm
44:52
with you. I'm with that. I'm with that. Shout out to Rock. He keeps me uh in the gym. He keeps me working. I know he's
44:59
he's apex, but I'm I'm trying to stay inspired thanks to him. Right. Right. Right. I can tell in your shoulders.
45:06
Yeah, man. I I I work hard. I I do the most, man. I'm just trying to, you know,
45:12
be here for the long haul. You know what I mean? Trying to Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Do you ever did my my my
45:18
trainer said when you when you're working and you putting on muscle, stop weighing yourself because you're going to think you're fat because the muscle
45:24
is going to put weight on you as well. Yeah. I you know, I weigh myself every day, right?
45:30
Why you do yourself like that? You know what I'm saying? It keeps me like, you know what? I don't want to feel I mean
45:36
obviously I want to make but you know you you you'll be able to tell if you're muscular but you're lean like the rock
45:42
you know what I'm saying you probably won't weigh as much but right that that muscle will put on extra pounds you know
45:48
have you have you witnessed that uh yeah yeah I have it's it's flat but I
45:54
can feel clothes fitting different and stuff like that so yeah yeah and I've
45:59
cut out a lot even though potato chips still kick my butt I uh I still eat French fries. Yeah. Yeah. Me too. Me
46:06
too. Potatoes. Why? Why did God create them, man? God. I mean,
46:12
you know, we needed to bulk up. Don't Don't we don't we needed potatoes to bulk up a little bit? Mashed potatoes.
46:18
We did back in the day. Now we don't. Right, right, right, right, right, right, right. You're right. But, um,
46:24
shout out to King Iso, too, by the way. Man, I love that. U I I feel in my head he's like your little brother. I don't
46:30
know if what ship is like, but Yes, sir. good guy who who who I know he's been
46:36
through a lot as well and u he has I'm glad to see him still rocking he's uh
46:43
treacherous lyrically man he's gonna obliterate every song man you
46:48
know what I'm saying that's why I got him with me yeah definitely because I want I want all the dope [ __ ]
46:54
on my team that's why I got X-rated with me I want all the dope [ __ ] on Joey cool you know what I'm saying Jerry
47:00
you know what I'm saying it's just you know I'm looking had a female rapper by
47:06
the name of uh Venom State Dripping. She's waking his be well imprint. You
47:11
know what I'm saying? And she's dope, man. You know what I'm saying? I'm just trying to get all the dope [ __ ]
47:17
around me like I've always done with Crew, like I've always done with Chris Calico, like I've always done with
47:22
Stevie Stone and JL and you know, Scoutman and Snuck Brim and Cut Calhoun.
47:28
You know, I've always done I've always kept them around me, man. You know what I'm saying? Brother Lynch, you know what
47:33
I'm saying? Like, come on. I work with Kendrick. I work with what? No, no. I
47:38
Well, I was going to say the uh second Well, the song Damation, that second verse X-rated dropped, I was like, yo,
47:48
I was like, yes. And it's way different than the first verse. Yes. I was like,
47:53
hold up, bro. Is crazy with I knew he was nice, but I didn't know. It just felt so he's he's a problem because he's
48:03
so smart, man. It comes through in his lyrics, man. He's he's so equipped
48:09
mentally. Yeah. Yeah. That Oh, man. I don't know how he sleeps with
48:16
all that on his mind. You know what I'm saying? I don't know how he sleeps because it's hard for me to sleep, you know? I have to do mantras sometime to
48:23
go to sleep, you know, just and but X-rated, man, he's a he is a monster,
48:30
man. He he is a he is a force to be reckoned with, man. Me, him, me, and him together, man, on on Damation, man, is
48:36
just such a wonderful display of MCing with content. You know what I'm
48:43
saying? Facts, facts, facts. Um,
48:49
wrapping up just a little bit here. um wanted to get
48:54
if if you can this is a tough question for a lot of people but I appreciate you
49:00
lyrically and wanted to know like who your who your top five were like and and and again you don't have to you could
49:07
just say you you can make it simple and say the ones that influenced you the most or who impacted you the most as a
49:14
young uh rapper spitter MC coming
49:22
Ice Cube, DLC,
49:28
Chuck D, KRS1,
49:36
Slick Rick. Slick Rick. Okay. Okay. That's that. And Slick Rick just
49:42
dropped. He's 60 years old. Just dropped a a great project. And um that's the
49:48
power of hip-hop. So shout out shout out to all those legends by the way. Yeah, man. For sure. Yeah. They really they
49:56
really inspired me. Yeah. To want to do this thing. You know, a lot of people don't know
50:02
that psycho [ __ ] guys. The part-time suckers drums.
50:10
Right. Right. Right. I did it before Puff did Hate Me Now, you know. Yeah.
50:15
Yeah. I didn't even know they use the same drums. Yeah. Wow.
50:23
Right.
50:28
Psycho [ __ ] Yeah. Yeah. Okay. All right. Well, I had
50:37
I had I had it years before they did it. Two years before they did it. Okay.
50:43
Well, you know how that goes. I know. I just never told the story because I don't want to hate on nobody.
50:49
Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. You You are a family man. Um your your kids
50:58
are in involved in some ways recording wise on some of these songs. How how how
51:04
are your kids in terms of your legacy? Do they want to follow in your footsteps? Are they doing other things?
51:12
What what are their views and opinions? They are music babies. Even my new
51:18
two-year-old Alina, man, music babies, man. It's It's hard to not be. Yeah. Yeah. They're music babies. My son
51:25
Dantes, you know what I'm saying? He does beats, you know, so musically inclined since he was little. You know what I'm saying? My my eldest Aaliyah,
51:32
she works in uh broadcasting. You know what I'm saying? She loves to work amongst hip-hop. You know what I'm
51:37
saying? She wants to do hip-hop, you know what I'm saying? and she she she wrote this story on TK that never came
51:43
out. You know what I'm saying? And she just that's her passion, you know? Um, Rainbow, she's rhythmically inclined,
51:50
man. She's 26, man. She's she's she's so musically inclined. They're all so musically inclined, man. You know what
51:56
I'm saying? Uh, it's wonderful. Yeah, it's wonderful.
52:03
You know what I mean? Love to see it. I used to trip out on their um their their
52:08
their playlist, you know, back in the day. You know what
52:14
I'm saying? It's like they young as hell and they got Curtis Blow in there. They got Right. Sonic Forest. You know what
52:20
I'm saying? Yeah. I'm like, "What are y'all doing?" You know what I'm saying? Rainbow, she told me about
52:25
Megan the Stallion like 10 years ago before she blew up. Like, you need to look into this girl. And you you used to
52:30
find this girl named Tiara Wack. And then years later, they blew up. I'm like, "Rainbow, man. You need to work in the industry." Yeah. Facts. She can find
52:39
talent like crazy, man. Yeah. She told me about Tyler the Creator like early on
52:45
before Odd Future, you know what I'm saying? It was like they really in tune, man. You know?
52:51
Yeah. They got the um they're in the the vibration is is is strong. Yeah. That's
52:57
dope. That's dope, man. Music. I and I, by the way, being that I'm always trying to stay ahead of the curve, I'm
53:04
hard-headed. So that people are telling me about stuff and then Yep. you find out years later and now they blew up.
53:10
You can't even interview them now. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right.
53:15
All right, man. Well, I appreciate you, my brother. Any last words for 5816 for us? Any uh final final thoughts
53:24
or anything else you wanted to get across?
53:32
Try your best to hear your elders out, man. And
53:39
don't be so emotional and let your emotions
53:44
dictate your life because emotions can mess your whole life up, man. You know, I was emotional and ran away from home,
53:50
man. I could have got myself killed, man, when somebody was trying to protect me, you know. Yeah. And uh just pay
53:57
attention to the people that were before you, man. They got
54:03
even though the world is changing, man, and it's changed and it's more digital and everything has just changed, they
54:09
have the the
54:14
map, yeah, for success and protection
54:20
and all that, man. You know what I'm saying? It's deep in the thoughts of our elders, man. You know what I'm saying?
54:25
We got to listen to them, man. If they're still here, your aunties, your uncles, all of them, man. Just Yeah. You
54:32
know, try to listen to them, man. They can guide us in a direction.
54:37
Yeah. I I totally agree, bro. And I'mma I'mma tell you this. I've um started
54:42
interviewing older people. I I interviewed my great aunt. She passed away just two weeks ago, and she was 10
54:52
when she Oh, condolences, man. How she do that there, man? Oh, man. She I got I
54:57
got all the sauce, bro. Like, I was like, man, what did you do? Um I think
55:02
more than anything, man, she didn't stress and she lived unapologetically
55:08
herself. Yes. And she smiled a lot and she joked a lot. She partied a little.
55:14
She had fun, you know. She really enjoyed her life, right? And um you know but in terms of wisdom in terms of
55:21
wisdom she drops gems just accidentally you sometimes it's not an interview it's
55:26
just talking and and then you listen to the pearls of wisdom. So and when they give it to you
55:32
it's so simple it's like basic life lessons. Yep. Yeah. Yep. You know what
55:38
I'm saying? But we know everything all the time. So we like they're gonna repeat. We done done what
55:45
they doing. Yeah, absolutely. I'll be 54 in November, man. Don't let this Don't
55:52
let this young face fool you, man. Congratulations, man. No, that's a Listen, bro. Getting older is a
55:58
blessing. It's always been a blessing. I don't know why sometimes young people it
56:03
feels like they start calling you or whatever. And that's cool. I don't uncle or OG is cool. But you know what, you
56:09
know what I tell them? You tell me to stop you. I'm like, try to do that. Try to get old
56:17
cuz you're dying like crazy. Yeah. Yeah. Try to have your 54th birthday. Yeah.
56:25
Yeah. And know and not die before your 26th. Yeah. Or your 22nd or your 19th or
56:31
your 15th or your 12th. Yeah. Yeah, man. I I think Get old, man. It's a blessing.
56:38
Get old. It's a blessing. Yeah. Even in a world that's in turmoil with war and all that kind of thing, man, it's like
56:45
try to survive, young ones. Yeah. Yeah. And that's what I that's what I'm trying
56:50
to do, man. I I I literally Well, I I won't say I devote my life to young people, but a good piece of my life is
56:57
in dedication, service to the young people and trying to keep them on the right track. It's it's a lot more
57:04
complicated. It's a lot more complicated now and confusion. um thanks to these phones and thanks to
57:12
um DMs, whatever, you know, drugs, the leans and all the all the things that
57:18
you Oh, there's I don't know, man. I I don't
57:25
want to sound like a like I'm like super preachy, but I felt like there were guard rails back in the day and now
57:32
Yeah, man. Yeah. You just got to know You just got to know that social media amplified everything. Yeah. Yeah, I can
57:39
send out smoke signals if I say somebody's name right now and said that [ __ ] so and so when I see him it's on.
57:46
You know what I'm saying? He gonna see that and his people gonna see that when I come to that town they at me. Yeah.
57:51
It's easy. It's direct now because of social media. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? When when when when when you was
57:57
going to have a fight back in the day, it happened in the classroom. Like after class we gonna get it on. You know what I'm saying? And then y'all have to fight
58:03
and sometimes y'all have to keep fighting or not. You know what I'm saying? But it's like now everybody has
58:09
a television has a has a channel and on your channel you got to try not to send
58:15
out smoke signals because smoke will come. Yeah. Yeah. Be careful what you
58:20
put in the universe people. Yeah. Because it will return to you quick fast
58:26
now because you got your own channel and they got theirs too. Yeah. And that's why that's why
58:33
that's why King Von that's why Pop Smoke that's why Drake
58:39
the Ruler that's why PBM that's why
58:44
that's why TK you know what I'm saying in jail you know what I'm saying that's why you know um XXX
58:55
you know what I'm saying um why Jeffrey was in there for a while you know I'm You know, things out now, young thug.
59:02
You know, it's like everybody got a channel, man. And the FBI is watching and your ops are watching. I got to
59:09
fight all of the night with cops, crips, bloods, wits, sore fist, and them nazies. I used I've been saying it
59:15
forever, man. You know what I'm saying? But we all have a channel. And now that
59:20
social media gives everybody a channel and you got a YouTube channel and
59:26
YouTubers killing each other in Vegas and
59:31
yeah, it's easier now. It's more accessible. You know, it's like you you
59:36
embarrass me on my channel, I'm pull up to your channel and then we're going to have it out and everybody's dead. You
59:43
know what I'm saying? And and it's like it all goes back to emotional intelligence. So if you don't let your
59:50
emotions make you do something in five minutes to give you 50 years, you win
59:56
it, right? Yeah. You know what I'm saying? It's practice emotional intelligence, man. I've been working on
1:00:02
it for like seven years. You know, it's hard sometimes, especially with people you love. Yeah. Yeah. Wife say something
1:00:08
like, "Don't speak death. Speak life in my house." Right. Right. Like, let me
1:00:14
calm down. I'm sorry. Right. You know, yeah, certain things, you know, in your
1:00:20
house, you don't, you know, but I'm working on myself, you know, that's good. Emotional intelligence. And
1:00:26
I think a lot of us need to because that that you that YouTube word thing
1:00:33
that happened in Vegas, man, I just saw it, man. I'm like, this is so senseless.
1:00:38
I'm not familiar with that. I I may have missed it. the the the the Mexican dude
1:00:43
killed the the black dude and his wife right there on the strip. You ain't heard about it? No, I think I I might
1:00:49
have been tuned out on that day. Oh, man. I just saw it last week, man. Last week. Okay. I just saw I just saw I
1:00:56
don't know if it happened last week, but I just saw it last week. Okay. Um they they were fighting for
1:01:03
space on YouTube. You know what I'm saying? Like, okay, I'm I'm I got these fans over here and they like, "Nah, no,
1:01:09
no, no, no. [ __ ] yeah. I'm over there." You know? just that quick. And dude's like, I'm
1:01:14
posting up on the strip, you know, on Hey. And dude just walked by and bow.
1:01:20
And his wife like, oh my god. He shot her, too. You know what I'm saying? Oh man, that is crazy. Whoa. Everybody,
1:01:26
everybody got a channel, man. You know what I'm saying? And you got your channel. Okay, now let's try
1:01:33
to work on emotional intelligence. Don't let people get you off your square
1:01:39
so soon. to where you go do something that changes the course of your life.
1:01:46
Or ends your life. You know what I'm saying? So that's what I got to say lastly. Okay. That's a lot. It's that's
1:01:53
a lot. It's good though. That's Listen, when I do these interviews, I share this
1:01:58
stuff with young people. And you said you said a lot. You said a lot, man. I
1:02:05
appreciate you. We met in person a long time ago at South by Southwest. Yes,
1:02:10
sir. I wanted to meet you in New York, but unfortunately I could it couldn't work out. But Richie, we gonna catch you
1:02:17
in Camden later this year. Okay. Let's go. Let's go. Yeah. Yeah. We're gonna
1:02:22
make it work. All right, man. Good to see you, man. Respect. Respect. You take care of yourself. I'm gonna go find me
1:02:28
some breakfast. Yeah. Yeah. All right, bro. Handle that. It's only It's only 11:02. I think I still got got a got a
1:02:36
chance. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You good? You good? Yes, sir. Keep fasting. Yes, sir.
1:02:41
Yes, sir. Take care. All right. Thanks. All right.