Episode Transcript
[00:00:04] Speaker A: Yo, it's effective immediately.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: I'm DJ Head, and it's your favorite homegirl, Gina Views.
[00:00:07] Speaker A: We got a special guest in the studio, all the way from the East Coast. His name is Ben Reilly.
[00:00:12] Speaker C: Ben Reilly. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Thank y' all for being here.
[00:00:14] Speaker B: Welcome.
[00:00:14] Speaker C: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
[00:00:15] Speaker A: Welcome to the show.
[00:00:16] Speaker B: How you feel about the weather out here?
[00:00:17] Speaker C: I love the weather out here. I love, love, love the weather.
[00:00:20] Speaker A: Well. Cause y' all got some shit going on at home.
[00:00:22] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. It's cold.
[00:00:23] Speaker A: It's cold.
[00:00:23] Speaker C: It's cold. We just came from Boston, and it was like. The snow was, like, this high. It's crazy. It's crazy.
[00:00:28] Speaker A: You don't have no problem with that?
[00:00:30] Speaker C: Nah.
[00:00:31] Speaker A: Like, being in that kind of weather?
[00:00:33] Speaker B: Nah.
[00:00:34] Speaker C: I'm a winter, baby. I love the cold.
[00:00:36] Speaker A: I'm a Capricorn, too.
[00:00:37] Speaker C: But word.
[00:00:37] Speaker A: Well, I'm a real one. Aren't you in December?
[00:00:40] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm a real one.
[00:00:42] Speaker B: You know his birthday?
[00:00:43] Speaker A: No, I don't know. I know he's a December. Cause I remember I saw you talk to Rob.
[00:00:46] Speaker C: Rob Harkman.
[00:00:47] Speaker A: That's my bro. But I know you was a December Capricorn. Y' all niggas. Not really. Like, officially, I'm just. No, I'm just.
No disrespect.
[00:00:57] Speaker B: Y' all a diet Capricorn.
[00:00:58] Speaker C: Nah, nah.
[00:00:59] Speaker A: Y' all like the Teemu. Capricorn.
[00:01:01] Speaker C: That's crazy. Teemu is crazy. Capricorn disrespect is wild. Capricorn. We supposed to be on the same side. Cap knockoff is crazy.
[00:01:07] Speaker B: Cap knockoff.
[00:01:08] Speaker C: No, no, no, no, no. We the real deal.
[00:01:09] Speaker A: What I say is, typically, is like, you're the acetaminophen over the counter. Capricorns like, I'm the Tylenol, and you be like, slow it down.
[00:01:18] Speaker B: He just dissed you.
[00:01:19] Speaker C: Nah, I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie, man. Hold on.
That's crazy. When's your birth?
You not even that far. You damn near an Aquarius.
[00:01:28] Speaker A: That's not true.
[00:01:29] Speaker C: You close enough, nigga. Can I curse?
[00:01:31] Speaker A: You can say whatever you want to say. That's not true. But I'm just saying. Welcome to the show.
[00:01:36] Speaker B: When's your birthday?
[00:01:37] Speaker C: December 26th. Day after Christmas.
[00:01:39] Speaker A: Oh.
[00:01:39] Speaker B: Oh, damn. How was those holidays?
[00:01:42] Speaker C: It kind of sucked kind of dry.
I can't, like, when I do shit for my birthday, people be out of town with their family and shit, so I be having to do shit, like, after New Year's.
[00:01:52] Speaker B: So, growing up, did you get Christmas gifts and birthday gifts, or were they all.
[00:01:56] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, it's the same day. Hyper. Virtually. Virtually.
[00:01:59] Speaker B: So they just split them up?
[00:02:00] Speaker C: Yeah. So was.
[00:02:01] Speaker B: You open the gifts for three days? You know, we was kids. You could open up that one gift on Christmas Eve.
[00:02:04] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, I was doing that. I was doing that. But, like, I ain't really. Yeah, whatever.
[00:02:10] Speaker B: I think it's selfish of a baby to come today.
[00:02:12] Speaker C: I was supposed to be born on Christmas, but it ain't work out that way. Quonset.
[00:02:18] Speaker A: So you were late. Like, your due date was Christmas, but you was like, fuck that. I'm stalling.
[00:02:24] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. I'm on my own day, so headline your own birthday. Yeah, exactly.
[00:02:29] Speaker B: You just did this cipher, and I'm watching your body language.
[00:02:33] Speaker C: What's wrong with my body language?
[00:02:35] Speaker B: Like, the way you, like, turned around and you was talking directly to niggas.
[00:02:38] Speaker A: Word.
[00:02:39] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:02:39] Speaker B: Was that intentional?
[00:02:40] Speaker C: You tried to start something?
[00:02:42] Speaker B: No, I could.
I'm not, but I could.
[00:02:45] Speaker C: No, no, no, that's fine, but. Nah, it's part of the performance. You know, you want to interact with the people around you, you know? So, like, if I'm spitting shit, I'm a turn. I'm a. You know what I'm saying?
I see great students, so I practice that and try to do the same thing, like, my own way. Of course.
[00:03:02] Speaker B: So little competitive.
[00:03:04] Speaker C: Yeah, for sure. We all competitive. You know what I'm saying? Like, everybody up there is dogs. So, you know, you want to make sure you come with that shit. Chris a dog. Suave.
Ray. Me and Ray been locked in for a minute, and, like, I done worked with that nigga. That nigga dog. So it's like, Marco, dawg, Ruben. Everybody's a dog. So it's like, you really want to make sure you, like, you know.
[00:03:25] Speaker A: Okay, I have two questions about that cypher.
[00:03:26] Speaker C: Sorry. Yeah, go for it.
[00:03:27] Speaker B: No, I just wanted to know, like, going into it, because I produce cyphers.
[00:03:31] Speaker C: Okay?
[00:03:32] Speaker B: So in my mind, this is a lot of pressure for me, but I'm not writing nothing. I'm not rapping at all, you know?
So I always wondered, like, as an emcee, what is the pressure, like, going into a cypher knowing that it's a bunch of dogs, like you just said.
[00:03:47] Speaker C: I ain't gonna say it's not pressure. I didn't really feel pressure by that.
It's just, you know, making sure that.
It's making sure that everybody, like you stand out amongst the pack. Everybody gonna have their favorites. So as long as you somebody Favorite. I feel like you gonna be straight. Cause, like, at that point, you compare.
Not to put niggas dead, but, like, I see it for niggas like Jordan, Michael, and I mean, Michael Jordan, Kobe, and, you know, LeBron. At that point, you just compare. Like, who's your favorite 10? You know what I'm saying? So that's how I approach it. Like, they gonna think Ray a ten. They gonna think me a ten, whoever, you know? So I'm competitive, but I ain't. I ain't scared. Did you.
[00:04:26] Speaker A: Going into the cypher, did you know who was all gonna participate? Did you have any thoughts? Like, okay, he might.
Like, who was that thought about what? Who was that? Did you have that thought? One, and then two. If you did have that thought, like, okay, he might come with it. Like, he might bring.
[00:04:42] Speaker C: Oh, I felt like.
[00:04:43] Speaker A: Just pick one or two. One.
[00:04:45] Speaker C: All right. But I gotta tell you why.
[00:04:47] Speaker A: Okay. It's all good.
[00:04:48] Speaker C: Ray, right?
[00:04:49] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:50] Speaker C: And the reason. No, no, no, no. But, like. Cause. Cause, like, Ray, my nigga. Ray, my nigga. Like, we've been locked in for, like, four, five years now. So, like, I fuck with Ray, but I.
[00:05:02] Speaker A: We all once.
[00:05:02] Speaker C: We all got, like, yo, we doing the cypher.
[00:05:04] Speaker B: Woo.
[00:05:04] Speaker A: Woo.
[00:05:04] Speaker C: I'm like, damn. Someone you know love the dot, but looks like someone gonna have the Kendrick moment. Damn. Someone gonna do the nigga. Oh, y' all niggas suck.
[00:05:11] Speaker B: Ooh.
[00:05:12] Speaker C: And I'm like, control.
[00:05:13] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:13] Speaker C: And I'm like, ray might do that.
[00:05:15] Speaker B: But that's why I mentioned you turning around and rapping to N. Because it was direct, you know?
[00:05:20] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure.
[00:05:21] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:21] Speaker B: Not no disrespect. Nah, nah, nah, I'm here.
[00:05:25] Speaker C: Yeah, for sure. Yeah, for sure. Of course. But if anybody. I felt like, all right, let me make sure I got my gun bars together and stuff. I was like, all right, Ray gonna be there. Let me do that.
[00:05:35] Speaker A: Did you change anything?
[00:05:37] Speaker C: Mm, mm, mm.
[00:05:38] Speaker A: You didn't change nothing. Okay.
[00:05:39] Speaker B: You wanna change anything?
[00:05:40] Speaker C: Nah, I don't like to do that. Like, I was confident in what I had to say. And I know what I said was crazy, so, you know, if.
You know, if people like it, people don't. But I knew what I said was dope.
[00:05:51] Speaker B: So who had the verse that you was liked? Damn, this nigga Cook.
[00:05:55] Speaker C: Actually, you wanna know what's crazy? My boy Marlon Kraft. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He went crazy. He went crazy. I really, really enjoyed this verse.
[00:06:03] Speaker A: Okay, outside of the obvious, why do people not take Kraft serious?
[00:06:10] Speaker C: I don't know. To be honest, like, to be honest with you, I'm not like, I don't know, I can't even say it.
[00:06:16] Speaker A: Cause I've heard his name come up before. But then people do kinda like take
[00:06:19] Speaker C: it a little light if I'm being honest with you. I think there's just like a subsector of hip hop that kind of ignores all of us because we like the smooth, more traditional, you know what I'm saying approach.
And I think if anything that's probably why niggas get a look overlooked. But Kraft is dope. Yeah, yeah, he's dope.
[00:06:40] Speaker A: And then also I'm gonna move off the side. But also I wanna get your perspective' cause you brought up Kraft.
Is it. You know how people say, like. Well they've said it to our brothers, I mean our sisters and our moms, like you're attractive for a black girl or attracted for.
[00:06:55] Speaker C: Oh, like is he nice for a white guy?
[00:06:57] Speaker A: Right. But also how do you feel about that?
[00:07:02] Speaker C: I don't like it when people do it. I get why people do it, but I never liked it.
[00:07:07] Speaker A: Why do you think people do it?
[00:07:08] Speaker C: Because it's not what the norm or the standard is. Right.
[00:07:13] Speaker B: When you.
[00:07:13] Speaker C: Unfortunately, when like for the example you use when they talk about black women, I think black women is God, I think black women, the most beautiful women on earth. Especially dark skinned women. Right.
Unfortunately, the societal standard is, oh, if you fair skinned or white or whatever, you are beautiful. So if you are dark skinned and beautiful, it's like for a black girl, you know what I'm saying?
[00:07:33] Speaker A: There's a catalyst.
[00:07:34] Speaker C: Yeah. You know what I'm saying? And I think that's an issue. But when it comes to artists, I understand the stigma on white rappers, you know what I'm saying? But white dudes be nice too, you know what I'm saying? You can't front on them just cause they white, you know what I'm saying? And I think Marlon's one of them, you know, that's why people loved and cherished Mac Miller the way they do and em. Because they nice and like, I think it is backhanded when you like, you nice for this, you know what I'm saying? Just get the credit where it's due. I understand why you would say it, but just let him have it.
[00:08:05] Speaker B: He nice you had a nepotism bar.
And I've been getting into it with my parents these days. Cause I'm not a product of nepotism.
[00:08:13] Speaker C: I should have been.
[00:08:13] Speaker B: Okay, what are your thoughts just on
[00:08:15] Speaker C: that in general, I love it, I respect it. You know what I'm saying? I think especially as black people, I think we should enforce more bringing our own into the fold. I think that's important. For sure. Yeah.
[00:08:28] Speaker B: When you said n got me fighting nepotism, what did that mean?
[00:08:34] Speaker C: Is me responding to criticisms I've received.
I'm not related to someone famous that could do something for me.
This is awkward, but you don't even gotta finish. Yeah, yeah, but I don't wanna do that. Yeah, nah, nah. But it's love, you know what I'm saying? I enjoy the people that I do get compared to. But it's also a battle for me because I'm trying to establish myself as myself.
So that's me just addressing like, I don't like it. Like I'm kind of fighting against it. Cause I'm my own man, you know what I'm saying? So that's really what it was, was
[00:09:08] Speaker B: that bar picked up.
[00:09:11] Speaker C: I think people picked it up. But I think I seen a lot of people thinking that I was related to like a Wayans brother or something. And that's why I was saying it. I'm like, nah, that's not what I
[00:09:18] Speaker A: was doing a Wayans bro.
[00:09:20] Speaker C: Cause I had a lot of Damon Wayans bars. I had a whole Damon Waynes.
[00:09:23] Speaker A: Oh, so you getting at the family in the scheme?
[00:09:26] Speaker C: Not even that, but like.
[00:09:27] Speaker A: No, I'm saying that was the perception.
[00:09:29] Speaker C: That was the perception. Yeah. People thought I was.
[00:09:31] Speaker B: It was the way you set it up.
[00:09:32] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I understood the confusion, but nah, it was just me addressing like the criticisms I received and like just saying, like, hey, I'm my own man. That's all.
[00:09:40] Speaker B: Were you compared to somebody's son?
[00:09:42] Speaker C: Son? Nah.
Yeah.
[00:09:46] Speaker A: So I know the origin story of the name. Obviously that's not your government name. Yeah, I don't want to get rehashed that. But I do have a question, because I did, like I said, I pay attention.
Was Ben Reilly your backup rap name?
[00:09:59] Speaker C: Yeah, it's gonna be Peter Parker. But it was a DJ named Peter Parker.
[00:10:03] Speaker A: It was a DJ named Peter Parker. Shout out to DJ Peter Parker.
[00:10:06] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:10:07] Speaker A: So you just. You hyper fixate on this Spider man shit?
[00:10:11] Speaker C: Yeah, that's my thing. That's my fact. I got two Spider man tattoos.
[00:10:14] Speaker A: For real?
[00:10:15] Speaker C: Yeah. Swear to God, I got the original panel of great power comes great responsibility on my rib. And then I got.
It's real fucked up. It's a bad tattoo. But I got Spider man swinging through the city on My arm. Nah, I ain't never been to jail. I ain't never been to jail.
[00:10:29] Speaker B: Damn.
[00:10:31] Speaker C: That's crazy. I ain't never been caught for nothing, so.
[00:10:32] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:10:33] Speaker B: Get a Spider man tatted in his death.
[00:10:35] Speaker C: Crazy.
[00:10:36] Speaker A: That might not mean what you think it means.
[00:10:38] Speaker C: Nah, hell no. That is wild.
[00:10:40] Speaker A: That's crazy.
[00:10:41] Speaker B: Professionally.
Professionally. Was anybody telling you, like in your ear saying that it's not a good idea to go with this rap name?
[00:10:51] Speaker C: Nah, it's. Cause when I googled you, that came up. Yeah, yeah, it's come up in conversation, but. But we haven't ran into those issues yet.
[00:11:00] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:11:00] Speaker A: Oh, I see what you're talking about.
[00:11:02] Speaker B: Yeah. Cause we was talking about in group chat.
[00:11:04] Speaker C: Yeah, Word like, oh. Then nah, nah.
[00:11:07] Speaker B: I just didn't know who was coming today.
[00:11:09] Speaker C: Oh, oh.
[00:11:10] Speaker B: So I'm like, oh, Spider Man. Cause we've been getting actors. I'm like, this the nigga from the cypher. This is not Spiderman.
[00:11:15] Speaker C: That's so funny. That's hilarious.
[00:11:17] Speaker B: Do you see yourself growing out of it or away from that?
[00:11:21] Speaker C: From the superhero narrative? Yeah, yeah, for sure. Well, not out of it like even currently. It's something I've been pushing like my entire career. So it's like I don't want to get pigeonholed to the concept of like, this nigga is like the, you know, the ghetto superhero type shit. I don't want to get pigeonholed to that concept. So. And there's more to me than just that.
But I'm always going to like enforce my love for comics, you know what I'm saying? But it's a lot to me, you
[00:11:45] Speaker B: know, if you was a battle rapper, like, that would be such an easy scheme.
[00:11:48] Speaker C: Yeah, I know.
[00:11:49] Speaker B: To use against you.
[00:11:50] Speaker C: I know.
[00:11:52] Speaker A: I saw you rock the cape in one, but I don't remember.
[00:11:58] Speaker C: I did it a few times.
[00:11:59] Speaker A: No, I know, but I'm just saying I don't know what the correlation is.
[00:12:03] Speaker C: So for me, I got the. Like, when I do projects, I do characters, right? And like, my first project was called Freelance. My character was Red Bird. It was based off of Cardinal Bird.
Excuse me, sorry. My second project was Freelance Charlie. It was still the Red Bird theme, but I gave him a name and called him Charlie. With this project, I. My character is Heroman. And with Heroman, I wanted to kinda pun intended. Cause I mentioned his name in the Cipher, but I kinda wanted to go like the blank man approach. Like almost like, you know, throw some jeans on, throw a white tee, make it look like any nigga could be a hero. And that was my idea.
[00:12:38] Speaker A: That was idea.
[00:12:38] Speaker C: Yeah. Okay. Got it.
[00:12:39] Speaker B: I appreciate your attention to detail. And even at the way you do songs and, like, concepts and things like that. You got the music video. Don't lose the plot. Where's the MTV setup? Like, even the way that the title is at the bottom in the first few seconds of the video, and then it transitions into 106 in part.
[00:12:56] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:12:57] Speaker B: Is that all you creatively or.
[00:13:00] Speaker C: So I come up with a lot of my concepts. Me and my director. My director Jacob Rink, shout out to Jay Rink.
A lot of times I write the treatment first. I'm like, okay, I want to do this because I pull references from a lot of things I love. Like, old school photography. So, like, Gordon Parks, Andy Warhol.
I like to pull from, like, just.
Just real cool art. Like, I don't know. I go to galleries and museums and I look at pictures and I'm like, yo, that would be crazy if a nigga was rapping in that setting. You know what I mean? So I do stuff like that a lot, and I'll come up with a concept and how I want things to, like, transition between scenes and all types of like. Like cgi if necessary. And then I'll tell. Like, I'll shoot with my director, and then me and him will, like, edit together and stuff like that. But yeah, when it comes to, like, just a lot of my ideas, for the most part is, like, me sitting down and really, like, spending hours on it. Cause when I write songs, that's, like, two things I think about is how I perform it and how I shoot videos for it.
[00:13:54] Speaker B: A lot of artists aren't spending too much time on it. It's just like they homies standing behind them while they in front of a car rapping.
[00:14:00] Speaker C: Yeah, that's boring.
[00:14:01] Speaker B: That video is just so nostalgic to me because the all white, which was like the, like, Carl Thomas, LL Cool J type of vibe back in the day. But then even when it switches to the 106 and parks style, it reminded me of the Sean Paul video.
[00:14:14] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
[00:14:15] Speaker B: I forget the name of it, but with the.
[00:14:16] Speaker C: I think it's. It's not giving me no light. It was Sasha, get busy. It's not get busy.
[00:14:20] Speaker B: I'm still in love.
[00:14:22] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. With you.
[00:14:23] Speaker B: Yeah, that's how, like, the colors came out.
[00:14:26] Speaker C: That was one of my references, for sure. That was one of my references.
[00:14:28] Speaker B: Oh, okay.
[00:14:29] Speaker C: Yeah, okay. That and frontin with Jay Z and Pharrell.
[00:14:32] Speaker B: Oh, okay.
[00:14:32] Speaker A: You rapped over that One too.
[00:14:34] Speaker C: I did.
[00:14:35] Speaker A: Yep.
So I know you have, like, cross pollination between the south and New York, right? Yeah. Yep. Is change clothes really frowned upon in New York? Like, is it really not one of them records?
[00:14:47] Speaker C: I'm of the younger persuasion. Like, I'm younger, so I don't know, like, maybe what the older crowd it was. But I know people around my age, we really like when Jay Z and Pharrell get together. And I think, like, I know growing up, change clothes was the shit, right? So, like, mm, okay.
[00:15:02] Speaker B: What is it, the R and B rap thing?
[00:15:04] Speaker C: It's probably the R and B shit. Cause, like, that's also a thing too.
[00:15:07] Speaker B: I feel like we was influenced by that.
[00:15:08] Speaker A: Hell, yeah. People just. They have this adverse reaction to change. They wish change clothes never existed.
[00:15:14] Speaker C: That's crazy. I ain't know that. The older generation, probably my generation.
[00:15:17] Speaker A: Yeah. They just do not fuck with change clothes.
[00:15:19] Speaker C: That's crazy. Cause, like, you know what? I get it though.
[00:15:22] Speaker A: Why?
[00:15:23] Speaker C: Because especially when it comes to New York hip hop, a lot of people only like it when you stick to the streets. Straight up.
[00:15:28] Speaker A: They just want to hear raw.
[00:15:29] Speaker C: They want to hear raw shit. They like it when hov talk about drugs. You know what I'm saying? And not like shorties. So, like, I get it. I definitely understand it. That's why I like, you know, n. Like bean. Like, it's gully, it's gully, it's grimy. You know what I'm saying? It's gutter. So it's like, I get why people prefer that, but, like, I like that shit. I like both.
[00:15:48] Speaker B: As a New York native, do you guys assume that our streets are like our movies? The way we assume y' all streets is like y' all movies?
[00:15:55] Speaker C: I definitely assume that. When I like my first trip out here, I was like, damn, niggas gonna bang on me. God damn. Finna.
I had to fight niggas, man. I'm like, shit. Like, my favorite color red. I'm like, damn, I can't even.
[00:16:06] Speaker A: Interesting look.
[00:16:09] Speaker C: I'm like, damn. I can't even wear certain shit.
[00:16:12] Speaker B: Is there a movie for you that was just like, the perfect.
Marathon is cool. You gonna be good at marathon.
[00:16:19] Speaker A: You gonna be good at marathon.
[00:16:20] Speaker C: I hope so. Yo, recipes. I love that.
[00:16:22] Speaker B: You good with that hat on?
[00:16:24] Speaker C: Okay. Oh, shit, yeah.
[00:16:26] Speaker B: Yeah, you good with the hat on?
[00:16:28] Speaker A: Yeah, you straight?
[00:16:29] Speaker C: That's what.
[00:16:29] Speaker A: That's what they got both covered on that half.
[00:16:32] Speaker C: You know what I'm saying? Yeah, that's what they told me.
They told me I Couldn't wear the Yankees fitted. They said, who's they?
My LA friends.
[00:16:40] Speaker A: Understood.
[00:16:40] Speaker B: Oh, he tapped in with the other folks.
[00:16:43] Speaker C: I'm tapped in with a lot of folks, but I've had conversations where it's like, okay, all right, I can't wear this hat.
[00:16:49] Speaker B: That's not the safest hat.
[00:16:51] Speaker C: Yeah. I've been told.
[00:16:52] Speaker A: The thing is, I don't wanna get into that.
[00:16:54] Speaker B: It depend on where you went. He gotta know.
[00:16:55] Speaker A: Yeah, okay. Well, it's not. It's not a 100% ratio on that. It's really how you carry yourself and where you at and what you're doing.
[00:17:03] Speaker C: It probably don't help that I'm wearing a blue Dickie either.
[00:17:05] Speaker A: It just. You got a lot of shit going on.
[00:17:08] Speaker C: Like, now that. Look.
[00:17:09] Speaker A: Look at my shoes. We both did the same.
[00:17:12] Speaker B: You have to look at the nigga's shoes. I don't.
[00:17:17] Speaker A: Hey, we both. We both.
[00:17:21] Speaker C: What would have been the shoes if
[00:17:22] Speaker B: it was some black forces, I would have had to ask security to escort you apart.
[00:17:26] Speaker A: We both did. At the same time.
[00:17:27] Speaker C: Yeah. That was craz.
That was crazy.
[00:17:30] Speaker A: We really from la.
[00:17:32] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:17:32] Speaker A: Nah, I beat.
[00:17:33] Speaker C: I beat the way y' all did that shit in town. It was crazy.
[00:17:36] Speaker B: Nah, you good. You giving fly.
[00:17:38] Speaker C: I appreciate it.
[00:17:39] Speaker B: You giving fly. It's not giving like.
[00:17:41] Speaker C: Like gangster.
Thank you. But it's the clip.
[00:17:44] Speaker A: They got the clip. They gonna clip your ass.
[00:17:48] Speaker B: Is there, like, a specific movie that you think is, like, the perfect depiction of Los Angeles?
[00:17:57] Speaker C: Nah, I don't know. Cause I feel like there's different. Like, I feel like y' all are multifaceted, like, area.
[00:18:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:03] Speaker C: Like, some days where, honestly, I feel like the wood is probably a good one. I think the wood is a good one. Yeah. Cause you kind of get like, the. I don't want to say soft, because I don't.
[00:18:12] Speaker A: It is.
[00:18:12] Speaker C: Yeah, but, like, the softer side you get.
[00:18:15] Speaker A: Yeah, it is. Then you get the hood shit.
[00:18:17] Speaker B: It's different layers.
[00:18:17] Speaker C: It's different layers.
[00:18:18] Speaker A: Don't let the wood get you fucked up.
[00:18:20] Speaker C: Oh, no, no. Hey, trust me.
[00:18:22] Speaker B: I'm not saying nothing wrong.
[00:18:24] Speaker C: Don't let the superhero shit confuse you.
[00:18:26] Speaker A: Real shit.
[00:18:27] Speaker B: He not saying nothing wrong.
[00:18:28] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:18:28] Speaker A: Nah, the wood is. The wood is a light.
Okay.
[00:18:32] Speaker C: It's a lighter.
[00:18:33] Speaker A: It's a lighter shade of wood, for sure.
[00:18:35] Speaker C: Like, growing up, I definitely thought it was boys in the hood, menace to society, you know what I'm saying? South Central, I thought it was that a lot. But just coming from where I come from, I understand that there's layers to cities. Like, every city's like onion. You know what I'm saying? I come from Brownsville. That's one of the most dangerous cities in Brooklyn. So it's like, I understand, like, me coming from that. What I'm interested in the type of people I grew up with, the type of people I'm still cool with from back home. So it's like, I understand that I could be cool with a killer and be cool with a nerd or a skater or whatever. Like, it's different people coming from the same environment.
[00:19:06] Speaker A: The one thing that's unique about out here is that you'll be in somebody's section and you don't know. Like, I took a. When I was in New York, I went for this Red Bull Symphonic. They had a Shaq perform. It was Fire, and I just was exploring. Like, I stayed in Brooklyn, so I jumped in a cab and went to Brownsville. Like, I didn't know I was in Brownsville, but I jumped into Uber and I went to Brownsville. They had this spa over there. I was like, I'm finna go check out the spa. And I see how niggas come out
[00:19:31] Speaker C: here and just end up in the wrong area.
[00:19:34] Speaker A: And it's like, nigga, you was in Brownsville. I'm like, I was.
But in other regions, you can tell when you're in the hood.
[00:19:40] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.
[00:19:41] Speaker A: In LA, it'd be palm trees and a $1.5 million house, but niggas in there with a Cutlass and a chopper.
[00:19:46] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I'm saying? That's something I noticed too. I was like, I forgot what area we went to, but we just ended up in the area. And I'm like, I heard this. Heard this street name in a song before. And I'm like, it looked pretty okay, but again, those can be deceived.
[00:20:01] Speaker A: It's layers.
[00:20:01] Speaker C: You know what I'm saying? Exactly.
[00:20:02] Speaker B: A lot of the hoods, too, are in middle class neighborhoods.
[00:20:05] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.
[00:20:06] Speaker B: Or a lot of. Not the hoods. A lot of the hoods where they're. How do I say it? Like sections where a hood is.
[00:20:12] Speaker C: Yeah, sections.
[00:20:13] Speaker B: Like, it's a middle class. It's a real expensive houses over there, but it's, you know, it's somebody hood.
[00:20:19] Speaker A: I remember you talking about writing, and basically you write for others and you say you don't want to speak on that.
[00:20:25] Speaker C: Yeah, you've done it before.
[00:20:26] Speaker A: You've written for other artists.
[00:20:28] Speaker B: You don't speak on it.
[00:20:29] Speaker A: Yeah, he don't even Want to talk about it? I'm not gonna do that. Not gonna go there. Yeah, but you also said you're not open to people writing for you.
[00:20:36] Speaker C: No.
[00:20:36] Speaker A: Okay.
Is there hypocrisy in that, or.
[00:20:40] Speaker C: I don't think so.
[00:20:40] Speaker A: You don't think so?
[00:20:41] Speaker C: Okay, can you elaborate?
Well, maybe there is, but it's justified. Yeah.
[00:20:49] Speaker A: Cause, like, it might be justified.
[00:20:51] Speaker C: I believe, as an artist, as a hip hop artist, what comes out my mouth should be from me. It should be from the source.
I couldn't see myself being comfortable spitting someone else's story, you know what I'm saying? And I would never feel comfortable someone orchestrating my story for me and then I'm rapping. That. That just don't feel right. You know what I'm saying?
But I also understand the other aspect of it, where it's like, someone might, like how you put piece words together or your cadence to shit. So it's like, I get why someone would tap me and be like, bro, I like how you approach beats like this.
Can you fuck with me? It's happened. You know what I'm saying? I've never had someone do that for me because, I don't know. I'm a little too prideful.
[00:21:30] Speaker A: So we interviewed Partisan Fontaine, who's notoriously written for whoever you could think. Whoever you wanna name. Right?
[00:21:37] Speaker C: Yeah, he's dope.
[00:21:38] Speaker A: And I asked him straight up, can you be considered a goat if you don't write your rhymes? So now I'm asking Ben Riley the same question.
[00:21:47] Speaker C: Damn, that's.
It's interesting because, like, there are.
[00:21:51] Speaker A: He said no.
[00:21:52] Speaker C: I'll tell you straight up, I'mma say no. But I also have people that. I'm like, dang, they one of the greatest. And they get written for for sure.
[00:22:01] Speaker A: But that's artistry.
[00:22:02] Speaker C: Not artistry. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah, as a straight up, like, mc, no. Okay, as an emcee, no. But as an artist, like, I ain't tripping on you like that.
[00:22:11] Speaker A: Have you ever been in a situation where someone did lend you a hook or an idea?
[00:22:15] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:22:16] Speaker A: Is that not the same thing?
[00:22:17] Speaker C: So I did a camp and someone.
It was a miscommunication thing. And I thought I was arriving to the camp to, like, just work on shit, but someone tried to write some shit for me, and I was like, I'll throw a verse on here, nigga, I ain't you not writing for me. I'll throw a verse after you, whatever you did.
[00:22:33] Speaker B: But is that awkward?
[00:22:35] Speaker C: Nah, I'm not gonna let nobody Play with me. Like, so it's like.
So it's like. It's like, if that's something. If that's the concession, I'm gonna go in there. Because one. Not only that, it's like, people would think that I'm gonna rap on some shit, and that's not how I approach some shit any fucking way. So it's like, that's how you rapping. I'm gonna show you what I would
[00:22:55] Speaker B: do to this shit.
[00:22:57] Speaker C: So. Yeah. No, no, no, that's. Yeah, that ain't my vibe with that.
[00:23:00] Speaker B: Has there ever been a verse or a song that you wished was yours?
[00:23:04] Speaker C: Yeah, there's been a couple. There's been a couple for sure.
[00:23:07] Speaker B: What's like.
[00:23:08] Speaker C: I'm like, damn, I wish I would have wrote that. What's a big one? Mm, that's a good one. Recently, I really, really like the ASAP and Brent joint. ASAP and Brent.
[00:23:22] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:23:22] Speaker C: I'm like, damn, I wish I would have came up with that. I really like how they approached that. That was really cool. Yeah, Yeah. I don't know. I have that artistic. Not envy, but like, that artistic. Like, damn, I let that nigga beat me to it. Yeah, yeah.
[00:23:34] Speaker A: Think about a concept like, Simba just did the one with.
When he was going with J. Cole. But then J. Cole did one on his album where he was talking about hip hop was manifestated into a woman and he was chasing the woman in New York. I thought that was fucking fire.
[00:23:48] Speaker C: I love that. Yeah, I love that. I thought that was really cool. I liked it when Simba did it. I liked. What is it? Like my father figure. My father figure. Father figure.
[00:23:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:23:55] Speaker C: And then like, Dot did Gloria. I like it when rappers personify hip hop. I think that's super beautiful. Because our culture is so much to our culture that you could really make it a person. You know what I'm saying?
So, yeah, there has been concepts where I'm like, damn, they beat me to it.
[00:24:13] Speaker A: But like, something you already had in the tuck and you just been holding on to. Got it.
[00:24:18] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's been a few.
[00:24:22] Speaker B: What were you doing before? Music.
[00:24:24] Speaker C: Music.
So I started.
What do you mean? First, whatever you was about to say,
[00:24:33] Speaker A: he was about to cap.
You know what?
Let me clarify.
[00:24:39] Speaker C: Nah, but so I started, like, recreationally or in practice or as a hobby. I started rapping at like 15.
[00:24:45] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:24:46] Speaker C: You know what I'm saying? And then when I graduated high school, that's when I really invested in myself. I got a job or whatever, and I.
I spent my paycheck every time on, like, some new equipment.
[00:24:56] Speaker B: What was your first job?
[00:24:57] Speaker C: I was a busboy. Yeah, I was cleaning up tables and shit. And then I got fired from that job trying to take off. Take my SATs.
[00:25:07] Speaker B: Yeah. You got fired for trying to take your SATs?
[00:25:09] Speaker C: Mm hmm.
[00:25:09] Speaker B: Did you pass?
[00:25:10] Speaker A: He didn't have no PTL.
[00:25:11] Speaker C: Well, you don't really fail at SAT, do you?
[00:25:13] Speaker B: Well, it's average. Below average.
[00:25:18] Speaker C: I did slightly above average, but yeah, I mean, I didn't even, really, like, finish college. I went to a community college.
I kind of like, to be honest, like, I'm smart, I'm bright, but I get bored with school and, like, I kind of started fucking off a lot. Like, I like girls, so I got distracted real easy, you know what I'm saying?
Unfortunately. But yeah, but I take the music really seriously. So up until 2022. 2021, I dropped my first project, 2022. That project kind of, like, went viral and it allowed me to be able to quit my job. At the time, I was bartending. Yeah, I was bartending.
Yeah. So, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:25:55] Speaker B: Did you expect.
What is it called? Maytag.
[00:25:57] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:57] Speaker B: Did you expect that to go so crazy?
[00:25:59] Speaker C: No. 1.4 million views right now on the video. Yes.
The song itself is over 60 million plays.
[00:26:08] Speaker A: Fuck your shit.
[00:26:08] Speaker B: Congratulations.
[00:26:09] Speaker C: Appreciate it. Yeah, appreciate it. But, like, locally, it was already doing well, you know what I'm saying? I live in Atlanta, so locally in Atlanta, everybody was like, oh, that's the nigga with the dude. But once that shit, it was my first TikTok. I posted and everything, and it went insane.
[00:26:25] Speaker B: So you benefited from four years ago? What is that, 22?
Did it come out in 22 or 21?
[00:26:32] Speaker C: It came out of 21 and then like six months later, it went out.
[00:26:35] Speaker B: You benefited in the pandemic.
[00:26:37] Speaker C: Yeah. If you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yep. You can say that.
[00:26:39] Speaker B: Cause for a lot of artists, it happened in reverse.
[00:26:42] Speaker C: Yes. Because my first trip out here, I had to show my vaccine card and all that, so. Yeah. Yeah, it was during the pandemic still.
[00:26:47] Speaker A: Yep. Did okay. So I only have a couple. I got some nerd questions I want to ask you. But then also, I know the fans want to know about music dropping because you dropped your album, I think, one November.
[00:26:57] Speaker C: Yes, sir.
[00:26:58] Speaker A: And I know you probably one of them ones who you work on your shit, and it's coming expeditiously.
[00:27:03] Speaker C: Yeah. So you know, with that project, right.
I talked about a lot of super personal stuff. I talk about my Daddy issues. I talk about the time I got stabbed. I talk about my mom. I talk about a lot of stuff. So it took me a long time to really craft that project.
With this next project, I'm like, you know, I kind of want to, like, obviously I'm always going to be a little conceptual because that's just how my mind work. But I want to, like. I want to come back soon and I want to take advantage of, like, all the things that are happening and will happen this year.
So. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:27:33] Speaker A: It's coming. You think we'll get it before.
[00:27:36] Speaker C: I can't say all that.
[00:27:38] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:27:38] Speaker C: I can't say all that before Avengers Doomsday. I would hope so.
[00:27:42] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:27:43] Speaker C: I would hope so.
[00:27:43] Speaker A: Will we get it before Spider Man?
[00:27:45] Speaker C: I would hope so as well, because. What's that, July? Yes, I would hope so.
[00:27:48] Speaker A: Now I'm talking to MCU Turner.
[00:27:50] Speaker C: Yeah, I would hope so.
[00:27:50] Speaker B: I don't know what y' all talking about.
[00:27:51] Speaker A: I know, I know, I know.
[00:27:52] Speaker C: Yeah, but we'll see. We'll see. But I'm definitely, like, actively, like, I'm. I'm actively working on my next project.
[00:27:58] Speaker A: So we'll get it in the spring. New Big Riley in the spring.
[00:28:01] Speaker C: He keep going higher. Yeah, that's spring next month.
[00:28:04] Speaker A: Nigga, you said before July.
[00:28:06] Speaker C: That's. I don't know yet. I can't put a date on it. I can't put a date on it. But I am actively working. I got a lot of cool ideas. Cool. Like, just concepts that I really want to see out.
[00:28:16] Speaker B: So during your writing process, is there ever any resistance to be so transparent about your family and things that you've gone through?
[00:28:22] Speaker C: There has been, for example, like the song about my father.
Well, that song is specifically about my father. Figures. It's about my. My stepfather, my mom's ex fiance, and then my actual father. And for me, it's because I'm a very private person. You know what I'm saying? I don't like to talk about my life like that unless I really know you. So for me to do that. But I also had the understanding that in order for people to really feel like they can connect to me, I gotta talk about stuff that I feel like they can relate to. Yeah, exactly. And that was something tough for me. And since then, there's been a lot of people like, yo, bro, I had that same experience. And as unfortunate and, like, disheartened as it is that we have that shared experience, it also makes me feel less alone. And I know that it probably works like that for other people as well, but.
Nah, I think it's important for me to do that, you know?
[00:29:11] Speaker A: So a couple of nerd questions for you tonight. We'll let you go for sure.
So, Spider Man, Best villain in the Spider man universe.
[00:29:19] Speaker C: Green Goblin.
[00:29:20] Speaker A: Why?
[00:29:22] Speaker C: That nigga's. That nigga's what?
Green Goblin's an asshole. And like, like, so is Kingpin. Kingpin is great, too. Kingpin is amazing. I love Kingpin. I love Wilson Fisk. But Norman Osborn, Green Goblin, that's. That's.
He really, really knows how to fuck up a life.
And I love it when you put my hero through the worst of the worst, okay? And he still prevails. All right. I love Green Goblin.
[00:29:47] Speaker A: Best and worst Spider man actor to play Spider Man.
[00:29:51] Speaker C: Boy, I think Andrew Garfield is the best.
Toby got my favorite movies, but I think he's technically the worst. And like, I mean, again, we. We argue on Jordan, LeBron and Kobe.
[00:30:05] Speaker A: I just wanted to know your perspective.
[00:30:06] Speaker C: Yeah, I'll put Toby. Toby at the bottom, acting wise. Because I feel like, per the script, they didn't really give him a lot to do as Spider Man. Yeah, I feel you. Yeah.
[00:30:16] Speaker A: And then pick a superpower for yourself.
In real life, you get this superpower and you can use it at your discretion. You get one, though. One.
[00:30:25] Speaker C: Teleportation.
I really, really just like the idea
[00:30:29] Speaker A: of the convenience just to be able to. I'm going to New York.
[00:30:31] Speaker C: All right.
[00:30:32] Speaker A: I'm going to Denver.
[00:30:33] Speaker C: You don't gotta pay for a plane ticket. You know what I'm saying?
[00:30:35] Speaker A: But you can get them sky miles, though.
Word.
I'm just saying.
[00:30:40] Speaker C: I can't argue with that.
[00:30:42] Speaker A: All right.
[00:30:43] Speaker B: What would yours be?
[00:30:44] Speaker C: What?
[00:30:44] Speaker A: Superpower.
[00:30:45] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:30:45] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:30:46] Speaker A: Probably teleportation.
[00:30:47] Speaker C: Exactly. That Convenient. What about you?
[00:30:49] Speaker B: Invisible.
[00:30:50] Speaker C: Invisible.
[00:30:51] Speaker A: She wanna get little. She turned her phone off on us and all kind of shit.
[00:30:54] Speaker C: Oh, for real.
[00:30:55] Speaker B: I wasn't slapping still.
[00:30:58] Speaker C: I ain't gonna lie to you. I ain't mad at that. I ain't mad at that. Invisibility is fire, too.
[00:31:03] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:31:03] Speaker C: All right.
[00:31:04] Speaker A: So you got something. Okay.
[00:31:05] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:31:05] Speaker A: So look, thank you for coming through.
[00:31:08] Speaker C: Thank you for having me.
[00:31:09] Speaker A: We'll get the Ben Reilly Project before June.
You heard it here first.
[00:31:14] Speaker B: When it drop, you gotta come up here and rap.
[00:31:16] Speaker C: I will, I will. Whenever I drop something again, I'll come up here and rap. I wanna see you stand on that chair. So.
[00:31:22] Speaker A: Okay.
That's a good goal to have. A lot of n. Had that goal and didn't.
[00:31:26] Speaker C: Yeah. Didn't do it.
[00:31:27] Speaker B: We didn't deliver.
[00:31:28] Speaker A: We don't really do that. Yeah. So it gotta be like that.
[00:31:31] Speaker C: It gotta be like that.
[00:31:32] Speaker A: It gotta be like that.
[00:31:33] Speaker C: I think I'm capable.
[00:31:34] Speaker A: I think you capable too, for sure. Well, thank you for coming through, bro. You're welcome to come back when you drop that project before June. Ben Reilly is here. It's effective immediate.
