Episode Transcript
[00:00:04] Speaker A: Yo, it's effective immediately. I'm DJ Head.
[00:00:06] Speaker B: What up, Hip Hop Nation? It's your favorite homegirl, Gina Views.
[00:00:08] Speaker A: Special guest in the studio. Artist, producer, writer, all the things AJ McQueen. Welcome to the show.
[00:00:14] Speaker C: Glad to be here. Thank y'all for having me.
[00:00:16] Speaker A: For sure. Welcome here. I see you said you fresh off the airplane.
[00:00:19] Speaker C: Fresh off the airplane. East Coast, New York show last night. Baby's all right. Sold it out.
[00:00:24] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:00:25] Speaker C: All independent. It was special, you know what I mean? So I got a show Sunday, you know.
[00:00:30] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:00:31] Speaker C: So.
[00:00:31] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, for sure. Being on the road, like. I mean, where you from originally?
[00:00:36] Speaker C: St. Louis.
[00:00:36] Speaker A: St. Louis. You don't have the typical St. Louis accent. Do people tell you that?
[00:00:40] Speaker C: Well, you know, it depends if you heard me say her and there and all that, you know, we just. We ain't get that far yet, you hear me? But no, I've been around too. You know, I'm cultured, you know, from St. Louis. But y'all spent a lot of time in Houston as well. You know, my life sent me into where I was being raised by six different families throughout high school. So I got a little bit of Caribbean culture in me. I got a little bit of this. Got a little of that little melting pot.
[00:01:06] Speaker A: Yeah, when I listen to you, I'm like, yeah, you don't sound like. You kind of sound like. Your voice and your. And your. The way you talk kind of remind me of Ryan Coogler. Has anybody ever told you Ryan Coogler, he's a director?
[00:01:16] Speaker C: Yeah, he the director of Black Panther, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nah, that's new.
[00:01:19] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah. Coogler from the base.
[00:01:20] Speaker C: Pete. Sarah. Yeah, yeah.
[00:01:21] Speaker B: Okay, what's on your hands?
[00:01:23] Speaker C: Us African people.
[00:01:25] Speaker B: Can you break down each ring?
[00:01:26] Speaker C: Yeah, I got a sankofa bird, you know.
[00:01:28] Speaker A: Say that again.
[00:01:29] Speaker C: A sankofa bird. So that means to go and retrieve, you know? So you go, you find a way, you come back, get your people. That's what that mean. I got a black pearl. I got tigers.
[00:01:37] Speaker A: Show them to the.
[00:01:38] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tiger's blood. And then I got a pharaoh, you know, that's the energy I carry, you know? Young black pharaoh. You know what I mean? So then I got an African turtle that just mean to curry us, you know? Curry us, you know, along the water, got. Got a tree of life. Also one on my face, and then an ankh. You know, Some people reverence the cross. You know, I reverence the ank. And then I got some jade on me. You know, I like that word thing. And I got Same thing on my jewelry.
Whole tribal mass on my body. You know, things that represent us.
[00:02:05] Speaker A: You black for real?
[00:02:06] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. Nah.
[00:02:08] Speaker A: You ever been with a white woman?
[00:02:09] Speaker C: Never. Come on, I just asked. Dr. Umar will be disappointed.
[00:02:14] Speaker A: I know that's why.
[00:02:16] Speaker B: Nah, man, you came in hot.
[00:02:18] Speaker C: I just asked.
Listen, I love us. And I've spent a lot of time studying Egyptian history. I got pictures of Marcus Garvey in my yard. I got pictures of Malcolm Martin. You know, I mean, things just represent us, you know, Black Jesus. I grew up seeing that, so. And then I was taught nationality, you know, as a child. My uncle did 30 years in the pen and he would call me from the pen and, you know, randomly just blurt out little stuff while he had, you know, the phone time. You ain't. No, you ain't black. You a God. Hang up the phone. And at seven. I didn't know what that means at seven.
[00:02:51] Speaker A: That sound like the boo dying.
[00:02:53] Speaker B: It sound like Kendrick Lamar. You a God even when they say you ain't.
[00:02:57] Speaker C: Yeah. But now it's amazing how things manifest.
[00:03:00] Speaker B: Yeah. Wait, okay, so not to go back to that. I'm sorry, but is the dating outside your race? Is that off the table?
[00:03:06] Speaker C: Off the table.
[00:03:06] Speaker B: You just haven't done it off the table.
[00:03:08] Speaker C: It won't happen.
[00:03:09] Speaker B: Have you ever been attracted to anyone outside your race?
[00:03:11] Speaker C: The closest hole. So I was with a woman that was a Creole.
She was black and her mom was Creole. So if you looked at her, I'll never forget. I was working at a job and I had this sister that came to me, you heard me, on lunch break. And she started going off on me. You know what I mean? She was like, I thought she was with us. You with this white woman? I was like, hold on, she Creole. But she.
[00:03:37] Speaker B: They niggas too, right?
[00:03:39] Speaker C: That's why I was trying to explain to her, but she wasn't hearing that. You know what I mean? But no, she just didn't have as much melanin. But no, I love us for real. I'm all for preserving the black family. You know, in order for us to do that, we gotta. We gotta be with us in order to do that.
[00:03:51] Speaker B: No, no. How would you feel, though, like, if your son brought a white girl?
[00:03:56] Speaker C: I mean, I'm all for individualism, but I believe that if I do my job as a parent, it won't happen.
[00:04:01] Speaker B: It won't happen.
[00:04:02] Speaker C: No, it won't happen.
[00:04:03] Speaker A: I know the red man hate seeing you coming.
[00:04:05] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. No, but see, the thing is, you know, I'm I don't even care about what they do, though. Like, when you so.
[00:04:12] Speaker A: No, you pro us.
[00:04:13] Speaker C: Yeah, when you so pro us, you don't even care. Like, y'all do y'all thing, man. Hey, shout out to y'all. We own black economics over here. We own black music. We own black health, black wealth. You know what I'm saying? Black spirituality. So I don't even care what they do. I don't know what's happening over there either. You ask me anything about it. I don't know. Cause it's not affecting us, for real. Not when you build your own. Not when you do it independent. It don't affect us for real.
[00:04:37] Speaker B: Birdie told me that you are a reformed gang member.
[00:04:41] Speaker C: Yes, for sure.
[00:04:42] Speaker B: What point of your life did you decide to make that change?
[00:04:44] Speaker C: I ain't gonna lie. I didn't decide it. You know, it was decided for me. I got shot up when I was 15.
[00:04:49] Speaker B: So, you know.
[00:04:50] Speaker C: Yeah. Inch away from being paralyzed, like, you know, I met God on my back, like, for real. So it wasn't just my mama, you know, was like, you leaving and you're never coming back. You know what I mean? And in retrospect, that was the best decision ever made. But as a child, while it was happening to me, it was happening for me. You heard me. So, no, I didn't make that decision. But probably when I was, like, 25, I accepted that this is my life, and I started to operate in my purpose, you know, from that. And the Most High started to use everything I learned in the streets, and then everything I learned in the books, you know, just mixed it together. So while I'm a reformed gang member, I've been. I went back to the prison systems. I started speaking to the inmates. I wrote a book. When I was 23, I received the White House Service Achievement Award from Barack Obama. I got my own day in the city of Houston. So all of it from taking everything. Because a lot of us are taught to just get rid of your past. No, use it. Yeah, use it.
[00:05:43] Speaker A: Had you ever had you ever had any? Like, okay, you performed Gang band. Congrats, too. Because I know what that's like to lose people to the street shit. You said you hadn't been. You hadn't had God in your life before that, like, you had.
[00:05:58] Speaker C: Well, it depends. Like, I feel like there's a difference between having God and knowing God. So I think that, you know, the most. While I was in the hood, the most I've heard about God was when we was praying over food, you heard me. But I never seen it before, you know, and then. So I think seeds were planted. Like, my dad was definitely a man of God, but it wasn't your traditional, you heard me? And because we didn't grow up in the. I didn't have my dad in the household with me. I wasn't able to see that until I got older and he passed away seven years ago. So I never. I never. I heard of God, but I never seen God before or felt God until I got older for sure.
[00:06:33] Speaker B: How did the homies from your hood take it that you didn't want to participate in that type of activity anymore?
[00:06:39] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I'll be honest. Like, my story ain't the traditional. Like, when I say the streets, I want to be clear. I wouldn't walk around here with, you know, 30 clips and shooting at the opps. Like, that ain't my story. You know, I grew up. I'm from the streets. I grew up in the streets, and I did whatever I need to survive. Everything from poverty to, you know, drug addicts, you heard me. To, you know, drive by. I've been involved in all of it. But I always had a heart. I always knew I was separate. Yeah, you heard me. Like, always. I had an unction as a youth, like at. At the. At 9. Like, this ain't right, you know what I'm saying? But I also was taught principles and stand on principles. So when I would go back, you know, to my hood, they would all make jokes, you heard me. Because I was changing slowly, you heard me. But eventually they all end up following me, you know what I mean? And so the influence, you know, when you just stick to who you are for real, like, for real, for real. Like, you gotta evolve, not even change. You gotta evolve. Yeah, you heard me. When you evolve, I believe it's gonna influence and empower people. So.
[00:07:39] Speaker B: So you didn't suffer, like, having to actually get put on the hood and stuff like that?
[00:07:43] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. At 12.
But like I say, I got OGs, though. Like, I come from, you know, I jumped out the porch. Well, I was kicked off the porch at 12. So I'm talking about. I don't know about that. Gang banging at 18 and 19. I don't know about that. I can't speak on that.
[00:07:57] Speaker A: Or getting famous and then I can't speak.
[00:08:00] Speaker C: Yeah, I don't even. That's foreign to me. You hear me? Because when you really in it, when you really went through it, you don't want to do it right?
[00:08:05] Speaker A: You're trying to get out of there.
[00:08:07] Speaker C: What.
[00:08:07] Speaker A: Yeah. How do you. What about. What about rappers and artists now? What do you, like? What's your thoughts on that? Like, have you spoken to any of them? That.
[00:08:14] Speaker C: Yeah, a lot. Like, and the thing is, we've spoken in secret in private, right? Yeah.
[00:08:21] Speaker A: You don't have to say who it is.
[00:08:22] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So. But I will say one thing that they respect about me is because the same energy that I had in the streets, I still have now. If you see how I move, this ain't even a. This ain't even. I move in solidarity. I move in uniformity. I. You. I move. You know what I'm saying? Like. Like. Like a God. Like. Like, you know, like tribal. I'm very tribal. So gang. Went from gang to tribal.
[00:08:43] Speaker B: You came with a lot of people.
[00:08:44] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. But this. This. I'm traveling light. I'm traveling light, you know what I'm saying?
[00:08:48] Speaker A: This ain't light, bro. I know you got the email.
[00:08:50] Speaker C: That's far from light, but this is a light day because, you know, I believe that shows power. You know what I'm saying? It shows power and it shows leadership, you know? But no, I speak to them, and they respect me. And a lot of the questions be like, okay, so how do I take this and transmute it, you hear me, to where I'm not losing myself? You know, Suppression ain't evolution. You know what I mean? I used to suppress my past, too, though. I used to think, I need to put makeup on my face task. I got a church dryer right here. I used to feel like I need to put makeup in order to be accepted.
[00:09:21] Speaker A: You literally put makeup to cover up.
[00:09:23] Speaker C: I've done it before.
[00:09:23] Speaker B: To cover the tears.
[00:09:24] Speaker C: Yeah. Cause I was in politics when I went to D.C. when I went to Washington, D.C. and I was on Capitol Hill, I wanted to be accepted by. I'm looking at Michelle and Barack right there, and you know what I'm saying? And I wanted them to look at me and not see my past.
[00:09:39] Speaker B: Did you think they knew what the teardrop represented?
[00:09:41] Speaker C: Everybody do. Even if they don't know, they know. Like, I was in T mobile one day and I was like, 20. I think 24. And this young lady came to me, and I was standing in line, and she was, like, very aggressive, and she was like, you gonna have to get out of her. I said, what? She said, we don't serve as murderers.
[00:10:01] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:10:02] Speaker C: I was like.
And I took offense, but I took time to educate her. You know, there's two different types of trip drives. There's a closed one and an open one. You know what I mean? And I said open means that you're mourning. You know what I'm saying? And a closed one means that whoever made you mourn is no longer with us. And I just left her with that. She's never heard that before. So I think we just got to change how we respond to being disrespected or challenged. You know, if. You know, if you stand on your principles, you shouldn't be in your emotions about it.
[00:10:30] Speaker A: Allow me to offer a counter to that. Right?
[00:10:33] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:10:33] Speaker A: So let's say you do have a face tat and you were to get discriminated against. Would you. Would that be. Would that bother you in a way that, like, not now, former you. Would that bother you being discriminated against, knowing that people have an adverse reaction to face tats?
[00:10:48] Speaker C: No, because like I said, when you know what you come with, you know what you come with. If you at peace with what you come with. Now, if you ain't at peace with your face tats or your locks or anything that represent you, then you shouldn't even be doing it. So how you gonna get upset at them and not be upset at yourself? So I think that even older me, I'm so, like, I have bullet holes going through high school. You heard me. So whatever comes with that energy, I know what come with that. You know, I know my locks are matted to my head. I know when I go out, people might not see me and look and think decency and in order. You know what I mean? But I'm at peace with it. And also, I just move in places where I'm accepted at, honestly. You know, I create my own rooms. Build your own table. You ain't gotta. You don't need to be accepted by nobody when you do that. Yeah, yeah.
[00:11:33] Speaker A: Musically, your influences, I could see. I can see your influences. Like, I saw what your influences were from, you know, the Tupacs and the, you know, even the Kendrick type stuff. Like, is that who. Like, where do you get your style from? Because to me, it's a little. It's a little not. It's not traditional.
[00:11:51] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. No. So 85% of my music is reggae, you know what I mean? So a lot of reggae music, a lot of revolutionary music, you know what I mean?
You know, a lot of jazz, a lot of black jazz, you know, and you got your POCs, NAS, common, you know, Sade, you know what I'm saying? Nip, you Know, definitely, like, and with the crazy thing about that. I was just telling somebody this in my last press run that somebody. I didn't even know who Nip was. And somebody was confirmed. They were like, man, you remind me of somebody. But I had never. I didn't even know who that was.
[00:12:25] Speaker B: What year did you discover him?
[00:12:27] Speaker C: A year before he passed. And I did a deep dive on the music, and I ain't gonna lie. Blue Laces plays before I go on my. Whenever I perform my D drop. Blue Laces too. You heard me? Like, that's how much it captivated me. Because in St. Louis or, you know, I'm from the west side, I used to be a blood. So in my area, I was, you know, I was moving in a way to where the same way, you know what I'm saying? Like, same, like. So it's just amazing, you know what I mean? So definitely Kendrick spurs, you know what I mean? And if anything, what Nip influenced me to do, you know what I mean, was to slow down a little bit, you know what I mean? With my knowledge. You heard me. And so I went to Nip book list and whatever was on the book list, contagious. Give me that. You know what I'm saying? Apollonomics, Give me that. You heard me. So it just added to who I am, but definitely Nip. And we on the west coast, so, you know what I'm saying? Peace to the guy. Nip. But yeah, Pac, Nas, Common, you heard me.
[00:13:17] Speaker A: Wayne, have you been able to tap in with any of these people that you.
[00:13:22] Speaker C: No, no.
I mean, I've met a few. The beautiful thing about the last two years of my life is my life has transformed to where DMs that I sent back in 2018 and 17 are being answered now.
[00:13:35] Speaker B: Hello.
[00:13:35] Speaker C: It's just beautiful. And I'll be showing India, you know what I'm saying? We working on some Word. Joey. Joey Badass. That's my brethren. Like, we working on some.
Who else?
I'm waiting. So. So me and. Me and Zion Mall, you know, that's Lauren Hill, son. I have a big Lauryn Hill silhouette tatted on my chest, you know what I'm saying? And I'll tell you the story about that, if you want to know. But, you know, so we tapped in. We about to do some music with each other. So just people that I resonate with.
[00:14:04] Speaker B: He out here?
[00:14:06] Speaker C: Yeah, we just met him.
[00:14:07] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:14:08] Speaker C: Yeah. And I'm so. But it's kind of. It's a duality because I'm so Comfortable in my skin that I don't feel the need to, like, like, reach out to, like, reach out to the point to where if it ain't aligned, it ain't organic. I don't want to do it. So just amazing how I be looking at my phone and people just not getting help or something's happening, you know what I'm saying? Like, even. Even meeting you, I've had respect, bro. I've. I watch your. Your wisdom.
[00:14:32] Speaker A: Thank you, bro.
[00:14:33] Speaker C: Yo, for sure. Trolling.
I see how. I see how you show up for. You know what I'm saying? His. His side and his people, and I. And I see that. And so, like I said, I even know that this will happen when it happens. So it's a God thing, you know? I mean, like, I'm just. I'm just flowing.
[00:14:49] Speaker A: Thank you, though.
[00:14:49] Speaker C: Thank you. Like, and. And. But. But I think the beautiful thing about what you said is you can't really. Like, my style is different because I believe I'm a brush breath of fresh air for hip hop, though. Something fresh, something different. It's soul, but it's. It's bold.
[00:15:01] Speaker A: What do you think? Change? What do you. Do you think there's a pivot in. In hip hop now where people want to hear you say something? What do you think caused that?
[00:15:09] Speaker C: Honestly, you know, the God is sovereign, so let me be clear. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, God is sovereign. I believe that, you know, there's a time for everything. That's just how it goes. And I think that those who are chosen, you know, you just got to be ready. You got to be prepared. You know, people tired of Donna early song, if they be honest, you just shot me 16 times in this song. Like, people tired of that and like people tired of that. You know what I'm saying?
[00:15:33] Speaker A: Like, I'm dead.
[00:15:35] Speaker C: It's overkill at this point. You know what I'm saying? So I think that there's a paradigm shift happening. I would love to take credit for it, but I can't, because that wouldn't be true. I do think that I'm a partner of the revolutionary music that's happening now. You know what I mean? But again, but it's. It's consciousness, but it's really soul, because I'm not up here pointing fingers and telling you what to do. If you listen to my music, I tell my story. Yeah, you heard me. So I ain't even up here on that. And I think that's why not even. I think I know that that's why the Most High is using me. Because, you know, he's trusting me in all these other areas of my life. So it's just time. And I think that it's a lot of artists out here that are similar, that have been making this music in their yard at night, posting on Instagram, or doing a show with an open mic, and ain't nobody there. But I think that the paradigm shifting, the industry is falling, Babylon is falling. You know what I'm saying?
The labels going to distro everything diy. So if you've been diy, then it's your time and I believe it's my time. You know what I mean? And I say that with boldness. But not separate from God, though.
[00:16:40] Speaker B: What do you. Can you just break down your day to day? Like, from night to. From morning to night? Like, what are you eating?
[00:16:48] Speaker C: I love questions like this.
[00:16:49] Speaker B: Do you smoke? Do you drink? Like, how do you keep yourself entertained? Like, what are you doing on a daily basis?
[00:16:57] Speaker C: My team will tell you. You heard me. They call me. Hey, what you on the routine? I have a routine. I have a song called Routine too, but I'm a routine person.
Sometime I'm off my dean a little bit, you hear me? But you gotta give yourself grace for that. But we rise at five. I was at five in the morning, you know what I'm saying? I'm trying to wake up before the devil up. I wanna wake up for everybody up. And that quiet time, that first hours for me. Before you give yourself to the world, how you just gonna run into your day? You know you ain't got nothing. You ain't got nothing for you. So I like to wake up when the sky black, you know what I mean?
[00:17:28] Speaker A: That's black.
[00:17:29] Speaker C: For real, nigga.
[00:17:31] Speaker B: Piss me off.
[00:17:32] Speaker C: I hear a nigga up when I'm black.
[00:17:35] Speaker A: I wanna wake up when the sky black.
[00:17:37] Speaker B: Running water and shit get back in.
[00:17:39] Speaker C: Look, but I'll be. I'll be up. You heard me. And I got a big old body mirror in my yard. And I. I got my yoga mat and I sit there and dare I say, I sit there naked, like, truly, like you know what I'm saying? In the backyard, in the front, in my yard, my crib, I can call it a yard, my crib. Like, you know, I'm sitting there and I got a body mirror. One my yard full of plants. I love plants. I got like 60 plants in. In the crib.
[00:18:05] Speaker B: I'm sorry, I'm trying to paint a visual. You said you would be naked so you sitting like, Indian style?
[00:18:09] Speaker C: Like I said Indian style?
[00:18:11] Speaker B: Yeah, like balls to mat.
[00:18:13] Speaker C: Balls to the mat.
Just like that.
[00:18:16] Speaker A: I got floors. I got wood floors in my shit.
[00:18:19] Speaker C: Get you a yoga mat.
[00:18:21] Speaker A: Get on a yoga mat.
[00:18:21] Speaker C: Get a yoga mat.
I'm a sipping my yoga. Like, you put the yoga mat down and you sit.
[00:18:27] Speaker A: I'm gonna be just sitting there. Okay, so tell me what, like, what you you eating? Oatmeal. Like, what the fuck are you doing?
[00:18:36] Speaker B: I know you don't eat noodles no more.
[00:18:38] Speaker C: No, I can't. When you read the back of it, I knew you, but you ain't that.
[00:18:43] Speaker B: Much of a nigga.
[00:18:44] Speaker C: Okay, one pack, One packer. You caught me one packer at quarter the creamy chicken with the little hot sauce in there and some garlic butter.
[00:18:53] Speaker A: Garlic spreading butt ass naked with the fucking.
[00:18:56] Speaker C: But listen, but listen, but listen, listen. Nah. Cause eating it with a spoon when I lead it, when I leave her, he gonna think about it.
[00:19:02] Speaker A: I'm not.
[00:19:04] Speaker C: Look, I'm gonna tell you why.
[00:19:06] Speaker B: He meditates. He's a very peaceful person.
[00:19:07] Speaker C: Okay, I'm gonna. Why? I'm gonna tell you why. And. And again, I come from. I'm from the streets, right? Toxic masculinity is all I knew facts, you heard me how to show up this way. But I was never like that. I got four sisters. I'm the only boy. So I've always been, like, in tune with who I am, you know what I'm saying? Even just vicariously or inadvertently, right? Like, I've always been in tone, but I could never show that.
[00:19:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:19:29] Speaker C: But once I decided who I want to be as a man, once I unpacked and repacked, I'm like, damn, I ain't want to be. I ain't no tough guy. I stand on principles, though. Like, you know what I'm saying? But I ain't no tough guy. So then when I'm by myself, because you know, you are, whoever you are when you are alone, you ain't. We ain't who we are right now. I'm talking about when you ain't nobody, that's who you are. So me, who I am, I'm transparent. I'm. I'm see through, you know? I mean, so in my yard, by myself, of course, I ain't gonna put no clothes and walk around my crib by myself, like if I got kids and, you know.
[00:20:01] Speaker B: Yeah, right.
[00:20:02] Speaker C: But by myself, by myself, I'm. I'm transparently a naked black man by myself. And I think that that's what my music represents us. Like, bro, take that street. Take that off, brother. Like, if you want to hang it in a closet and pick it up when it's time to slide, do that, if that's what you want to do. But that all the time. That ain't even. You're not even designed to be like this. So, yeah, I sit with myself, you know, I mean, I sit with myself, I pray, I meditate, I talk to God, I put on some worship music. I need to. I burn some sage too. You know what I mean? Light some Palo Santos, cleanse whatever the atmosphere is. Then I go to the gym, you know what I'm saying? Cold plunge. I love cold plunge. I've turned into a cold plunge enthusiast.
[00:20:42] Speaker B: Have you had any crash out moments?
[00:20:44] Speaker C: Yeah, I think that's healthy. You know what I'm saying? Crash out moments are healthy.
[00:20:49] Speaker A: You think it's healthy?
[00:20:50] Speaker C: Yeah. Now that type of crash out, you know what I mean? But no, I share my real emotions.
[00:20:55] Speaker A: You know what's interesting about what you said? We gotta wrap. But you do. Like, I always think people who do that much work to protect their peace are crazy as a motherfucker.
[00:21:04] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:21:05] Speaker A: You know what I'm saying?
[00:21:05] Speaker C: No, factual.
[00:21:07] Speaker A: You burning shit. You sitting. You meditating? Like, you talking to God a lot. Like you suppressing something in there.
[00:21:14] Speaker C: Well, no, I think it's quite the opposite. I think that I like Smash. Yeah, no, I think darkness is healthy too, though. I think that all of it's healthy, you know what I'm saying? Like a plant don't grow in the light. A baby is born in the dark too. Like, so I. I'm into my darkness and everything. Your darkness always with you. It's your shadow, bro. Like, so. No, I'm not saying this on some. Like, and it's. It's sad that it gets put in a box of, like, consciousness and deep stuff. I'm just a human. Like, I'm a human, I'm telling you, a human experience that ain't gonna be publicized, that they ain't gonna talk about it on the record. But I'm showing you a man. Like, you're gonna be surprised when you heard that I cry.
You know what I'm saying?
[00:21:52] Speaker A: Like, last time you had a good.
[00:21:53] Speaker C: Cry the other day, I bought my. I got my mom out the hood.
[00:21:56] Speaker A: As you should.
[00:21:57] Speaker B: Congratulations.
[00:21:58] Speaker C: Yeah, thank you, guys. Like, I got my mom out the hood. She no longer in Wilson no more. And I cried. I FaceTime right now and I cry, like, to see her smile. So, yeah, I Cry. And so I'm trying to show men.
[00:22:07] Speaker A: That I did the same thing when I did with my mom, too. Yeah, bro, like, it wasn't cry. It was like, tear.
[00:22:12] Speaker C: Yeah, like. Like. No, like, straight up saying, like, I cried when I would. When I'm. I'm single right now, but when I'm with my woman, I ain't no street. I ain't no militant. Like, I'm soft. I go cook some food. I'm a warrior and a gardener. And I think that if I can get my message to the youth, I'm what the streets need. Because that balance of life. You a gangster in a garden. I'm a gangster in the gardener. Healing is gangster, bro. That's the most gangster thing I've ever done, was heal. So that's my message. And do I think the industry ready for it? I don't care. That's why I built my own.
[00:22:45] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:22:46] Speaker C: I don't need the radio. Play my music. We just sold out a show. I did two, 10 city tours. I put my own money up. So if you want to come on this side, cool.
But my brand is called God Body. You know what I mean? God and your body. We was taught that God is up here. I'll teach God in her. You know what I mean? And reformed gang member is that's. I feel like we'd be the best ones. Because we told you we know how to stand on something. We know how to be loyal. We know how to protect. It's just we doing it without the knowledge and without having peace within ourselves. So that's what my whole mission is, you know what I'm saying? And that's why I know the industry need me, like, right now. So I'm grateful for this opportunity and whatever opportunity is there, because when I perform and when I hear they hear my music, you hear the same confidence your favorite rapper got when he's sliding and talking about killing. I'm just talking about healing, though. Yeah, that's it.
[00:23:34] Speaker A: Hey, bro, I respect it.
[00:23:35] Speaker C: Gratitude, brother.
[00:23:37] Speaker A: I respect it also. You gotta talk about the Weeknd, too.
[00:23:40] Speaker C: Yeah. God Body Weekend. So they wasn't booking me for festivals, so I created my own. So we got God Body Weekend. We just did our third annual. You know what I'm saying? It's days full of, like, you know, this year we had people fly from all over the country, you know what I mean? And we got a therapy event where literally everybody in one facility, we all on yoga mats, and I got licensed therapists come up in there, talk about therapy. We got the free food program where we do a mass community.
[00:24:07] Speaker B: That's the name of one of your albums.
[00:24:09] Speaker C: Yeah, it is. It is. And so we do the free food program, Feed the homeless. Man, you know, the good books say, look out for the fatherless, the homeless, and the widows. So I make that my mission. And then we do the Inner Child Play Day. Like, literally, big old kids playing tug of war and kickball and all that. You know what I'm saying? Like, and then we do a show.
[00:24:27] Speaker A: You said that. Congratulations, bro. Last thing you say healing is gangster. Give one book recommendation or something. Like, if somebody want to go on their healing journey, where should they start?
[00:24:37] Speaker C: It's a book called what Happened to youo? By Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey. That book changed my life. A lot of us are told. We get asked, what's wrong? What's wrong? It's not what's wrong, it's what happened. And when I read that book and I realized that I had fetal trauma syndrome, like, I was born 3 pounds, 6 ounces, bro. I was destined to deal with some stuff and not be. You know what I mean? And a lot of us, we just, you know, it's your genius, for real. But you was told that it was mental health issues. So what happened to you about Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey? That book changed my life.
[00:25:06] Speaker B: I would love to sit in a room with you and 19 keys.
[00:25:10] Speaker C: No, that's my. That's.
[00:25:11] Speaker B: Go back and forth.
[00:25:12] Speaker C: 19. He was that guy by the weekend. That's my brethren. Like, that's my dog. That's my dog. And we. We approach it from two different sides of the field, but it's the same. It's the same goal. I'm. You know, I'm. I'm he high level. I'm ground level. Like, I'm ground level. I'm in the community, where the people at. You know what I'm saying? My g, he gonna fly around and. You know what I mean? He wanna know what's happening in Korea and all that. I wanna know what's happening in the hood and where the elders at and if they got food and if they got water. Not saying we both can't go on east side, but I think it's beautiful right now that we. Him, I. And it's a whole bunch of other brethren I can name. We heard it ain't. Listen, we in a great space as a people. We just gotta tap in deaf culture. I can't promote it. You know what I'm saying? I ain't saying I'm in the gym listening to Mozart. Cause I'm not. I'm listening to. You, know what I mean?
[00:25:57] Speaker A: That's what D1 is talking about, too.
[00:25:59] Speaker C: Yeah. Shout out to D1. We've been on the same bill, in the same spaces. Everybody approached a different place. It's just. It's just my time now, so, you know, I'm here.
[00:26:07] Speaker A: Congratulations, bro.
[00:26:08] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:26:08] Speaker A: Like I said, man, you. You welcome to pull back up whenever. Whenever you in la, bro. And I. I look forward to hearing more.
[00:26:16] Speaker C: Thank you, bro. For real.
[00:26:17] Speaker A: AJ McQueen is effective immediately.
