Akon on Kanye West, Young Thug, Gunna, Big Meech, Michael Jackson & more | Ep. 60 | CLUB SHAY SHAY

the only person in my opinion that could have achieved just as great as a legacy as Mike to me would have been Chris Brown I just believe that Chris Brown wasn't surrounded by the circle of creative people that Mike was surrounded by wow because Chris got the talent wow he just needed the Direction all my life that grinding all my life sacrifice hustle baby price wanna slice got the roll the dice that's why all my life I be grinding all my life all my life been running all my life sacrifice hustle paid the price wanna slice that's why all my life I be grinding all my life foreign conversation today is a diamond and platinum selling uh singer songwriter producer Grammy nominated recording label owner entrepreneur and philanthropist Akon what's up baby how you doing for the Creole all the way from the a i have amazing man look let me get this pronounce your full name for me alien done my love a good time [Music] yeah I need you to slow it down the only thing I heard was Akon everything y'all ran together okay so everything else run together for sure okay so you say the first part alone time [Music] oh so also what they wrote on my card oh that's not you got more names than that you got like seven eight names so let me ask you a question who actually called you your government name or they just call you Akon yeah my family's calling me Ali let me just call you Ali Ali it's short for Ali so if so if somebody were to like if you're walking down the street and they would say Ali you're gonna assume they face I would have I would have 100 you see the family or somebody that knew me since I was a kid okay got new music coming out what made you this what made you decide to get back into the music game at this point um well actually you know it's like after you've done achieved everything yeah you kind of go back to what you love right go back to the root of what makes you happy right and music was just that thing because I realized my first go around in the music business everything was so based around the business right everything was like okay cool I need to make money I need to get rich I need to invest I need to make sure that my family my kids and their kids are straight right so once you got your Investments all in order then my legacy was built out philanthropy was really you know it was um based and balanced in Africa I was like man I want to I didn't I wasn't enjoying myself after a while I wanted to just go back to having fun again so you wanted to go back and make music that you like not so much that it it might not have the commercial appeal because you've already satisfied that side now let me do what I like right but but you want a commercial appeal steal but no but this is the thing even when I was doing music I only did what I liked anyway that's the only part of it that I enjoy okay but it's the everything that's attached to music all the opportunities that you can actually run into that you know that the business I came from what music attracted right so the music opened the doors and no that normal doors wouldn't open for me what is it that you don't like about the music business I don't like the politics about it when you say politics I think the politics about it is what really drove me away from it and then it's also the uh the aspect of just the unoriginality of it like I felt like if one thing worked the whole industry would ride towards that one thing that work and everybody would try to duplicate that it became more of a copy and paste industry right it originally didn't matter anymore and then if you was in it if you tried to be original you got shunned or blocked because it wasn't nothing close to what everybody else was doing everything because yeah I couldn't get with that yeah so you you I mean when you talk about locked up but I'm looking at your career before uh locked up took off you were going around to prisons and actually performing right that's how he broke the record yeah it was interesting why I heard a small gymnasium YMCAs they really heard people kicking it off at the prison system so so what made you decide to go that route well it was it was about being creative but it ain't like they got a whole lot of money to pay for top price for tickets at all it was free actually yeah because I had to actually pay to get it done exactly no but what it was when we first did locked up it it was it was it was tough to get it played on the radio right tough to get it marketed and promoted and my whole concept about it I was like wait this is a street record right obviously Street to the core the best place for this record to actually get any kind of marketing promotion is the place in where the concept came from which was in jail right right so I ran into this Warden over at um Rikers Island at the time okay they had this new program that they was exercising and he reached out to Steve Rifkin one of you know at the time it was the CEO of SRC Records who I was assigned to and he said yo listen man we got this concept where we want to be able to bring artists to come perform for inmates you know and just kind of get these kids you know thinking more about how long yeah positive so I was like man listen I do it let's go locked up it's the perfect record right so we went in and did it the program was so successful he invited us to all his other areas that he controlled right and we end up doing a Penitentiary tour and then how the record popped off was that the inmates would call their parents and have their parents call the radio station on three-way to request the record and that's how the record broke on the radio wow yeah did you think at the time that you was making this record that it was going to do what it did no I had no idea at the time it was it was a passion product project I was just going through the process and wrote about it because I had a habit of writing things that I went through so when I got locked up that habit followed me in jail and ultimately just became what it was so that would be so Locked Up is real life for you yeah yeah real experiences yeah speaking of that we see now in Atlanta what's going on in Atlanta we see Ghana we see I think Young Thug the Y cell and they're using their actual lyrics right in the Rica and the statue right you wrote this is real life to me how much should they be allowed because the California governor nurses or not we're not going to use lyrics against people right and you know what I agree with not using lyrics against people because a lot of times most of the stuff that a lot of rappers are talking about about ain't true right it's this fantasy world of being a gangster this fancy world of being the the studio gangsters Studio gangster right so which is cool because movies do the same thing exactly real life right yeah yeah you kill somebody in the movie don't mean they can go and say oh you kill somebody I'm trying you for murder right but the difference in a lot of these cases is that this a lot of information that's being released on these songs or information that's never been put to the public in an investigation right so how do you justify lyrics an investigation that match a case almost to the T that is information that's never been released to the public right it's kind of hard to fight that so to kind of confess your own crimes on a record it's kind of stupid a little ridiculous it's ridiculous I mean look I I love your stuff I mean you from the crib so I got a special like into artists that's in Atlanta like tip and looter yourself uh Goodie Mob uh outcasts those guys so I I'm I'm biased I love locked up but my favorite song you on the hook with the Soul Survivor yeah so how did how did that project come about yeah that's actually one of my favorite records as well too at the time um BMF was a group out of Atlanta that was just like they was they would be they was killing it in every aspect right literally and Misha was a really really good friend of mine okay and he said listen Khan I got this artist man I need your help on it I promise you man I'm gonna look out for you however you need me I got you I said man brother just bring them too you brought them by the studio yeah and Jeezy at the time was so raw right I was like bro this kid I don't know where you found him but he's out of here right like he's out of here right so Jeezy played me his mixtape at that time and I said Okay cool so when I left the studio I reached back to me and I said I got him trust me so I I did a record which was so survival send it to Jeezy as soon as he heard it he's like oh bro this is it this is it yeah this is it he knew like he knew I mean literally an hour didn't pass he sent me back the song always with his lyrics already on it I was like oh yeah this is a monster record but it was it was as simple as meech connectedness right yeah is that how is that is as simple as that somebody brings you know because it happens all the time people passing you mixtapes on the street hey hey bro hey I got that heat on me bro I need you to take a listen what what made you so sure that Jeezy was it I just knew like I think that's always been a gift of mine that God just gave me that post to know a star when I see it like I just knew it like I just automatically knew it but me a lot of my collaborations come from me just passionately liking it personally right like if I like it personally I'm gonna do it regardless of what because I just I just like it right and I see it's gonna go somewhere but oftentimes it was never politics involved in my decisions when it came to music you got the Guinness World Record number one selling artist that ringtone right how did how did that happen well at the time like music was always like a vehicle to me to get to the money okay like imagine a hustler seeing an opportunity where you can be famous and use that to open up doors for other opportunities to make money right right so when I was doing records I looked at the concept and the stats of how people were rushing and beating themselves up to sell singles which was like four minutes long right and for 1.99 right and then you had ringtones which was just new in the market you know a digital you know concept where the ringtone was like 15 seconds long right but it was 4.99 I said well hell up I think I'm on the wrong side yeah you need to be selling ringtones right if all I need is 15 seconds left for five dollars it was that simple it was that simple and that's when I started creating my whole Revenue model around selling ringtones so every single was based on a ringtone obviously the Atlanta scene I mean everybody knows everybody you know Killer Mike you know Gunner you know the Young Thug you know tip you know Luda right so what makes the Atlanta seem so special oh I think the what made Atlanta so special was the fact that it was something brand new to hip-hop at the time you know they had a different perspective when it came to rap music because we used to be r b we had we had baby face oh yeah yeah LA Reid we had TLC I think laface yeah don't get enough credit for they started they started it all man yeah LA Reid and Babyface if it wasn't for them that wouldn't be no Atlantic seed right like they took it to to the South where they saw the I mean it was just brewing talent that nobody was actually cooking right like how do you like a day's like man we need to set up shop right here right and sure enough when the um when the Olympics came and the world came to Atlanta it also created this International Vibe as well too so you got a lot of like myself I came because of their um Olympics so but when he created that and then people actually was able to hear the sounds of the South and feel the energy of it I think it really transformed the business because everybody was so inspired that even people from New York was trying to sound like this right and it just changed the game you mentioned uh we were talking about the YSL in their situation and and and BMF uh Black Mafia Family how how did that because it seems like the BMF and what they had they glamorized it they had a doc had a thing on I think it was Netflix and they showed the rise in the fall of the BMF and they showed the big lavish cars and they showed the strip clubs and all that stuff is that Captain Atlanta's more than that no Atlanta is definitely more than that I mean you got to think New York had it too in Brooklyn like yeah right you can go in pretty much any city right you know La had it with Rick Ross like anywhere you go They're gonna have that rap music was based around the lifestyle of the struggle like the brags to riches story is rap music right so when you in any major you know challenge neighborhood or Hood you can kind of say okay there's always been that one person that everybody looked up to which was a neighborhood drug dealer right he made the money fast he looked amazing all the girls wanted his car he's right he's the guy that all the kids want to be like yeah but see coming up the OG's would tell you nah bro they ain't touching that go to school right today it ain't the same they know old Jews oh geez that I gotta give you that game all the OG that gave us the game all dead are locked up yeah so and so now what it is is social media it's called social media every everything on social media everybody doing well because social media got me thinking I'm poor to mug they got roll Roy they got businesses but the social media is just like a rap song now okay you can become whoever you want to become right so the rap song We idolize those that group and that's just we're telling their stories right like when you look at rappers they telling the BMF stories they tell a no story like that it wasn't them living it but they living through there with them but through the music you can become that right so social media is no different the only difference is now now you can curate your background you know produce your whole environment and make it look like you're this billionaire you know and then right when you jump off that private jet that you just took a picture next to that you didn't even rent yeah you go back to the front of the you know the signature place and ask for and call you Uber right right so it's like you know but at the end of the day when you look at the the I mean man your feet look like oh man this boy getting it yes yes you know do you has social media skewed reality 100 because social media took reality but well well artificial reality to the next level right so before everyone believed what you saw on television like TV was the truth because you can visually like Vision right now social media has become and took the place of Television because now television everyone can curate their own program right like they can create what they want the world to see or Envision when it comes to them like you can create your own personality through just you just got to be good at Tech you know be very creative at the end of the day do you I mean these charges that Atlanta uh on on Young Thug and the YSL they seem very serious no they're very serious and uh they won't get Bond they've been they tried to get bonded they've been denied I think three or four times Thug and Ghana you think they go you think they're going away for a while man I pray that they never have to deal with that kind of experience but the the worst part of me is saying that they probably going to utilize them and use them as an example that's what scares me because I'm sure they probably did I mean ain't nobody Angels right everybody gonna go through what they go through but right I think a lot of the issues that they're dealing with are more issues that might have stemmed from their past right that that's being present ties right and of course when you come from a past environment of that kind of life as you get more successful if you're smart you will kind of distract yourself away from it but unfortunately these kids kind of try to keep that environment close to them to justify and make real what they're seeing on records like everything is about okay is he real okay what's the question and what's the like what is the definition of real right is it that okay what you're saying on your record is something that you're actually doing in real life or who you co-sign or co-signed by on record is actually around you when you've seen in public right so when now when you got these credible Street guys that's out there standing next to somebody like a young thug or a gunner and these guys are still active and you know obviously if you active in the streets I mean you're still out there committing crimes but yet just you know you're so with someone who might have been attacked or involved in their life in the past but they're still currently with you you could easily be caught up in any kind of conspiracy because you know that person if it's a case on that person and they pull up a RICO just you knowing the person you you tied in because of conspiracy so you got to be a lot smarter than you know the average person to understand how much you have to lose by being attached to that environment you got to be able to let that go what happened to like man laying in bed at night and the situation not because I come from a very improper situation but when I laid in my bed at night I was like God just give me an opportunity to get away from this yes yes I can tell you about my story but I didn't want to I didn't want to relive it okay if you're trying to get out these streets why do you care to go back once you made it to try to relive that and try to impress people man I'm still Hood well the problem is most of them never was okay but when you got money you can become what you never was you can become what you always wanted to be yeah because ain't no reason believe me you know because our generation was different right we did it to get the hell up out of there for sure I ain't look back since I don't plan to and don't get right you follow yeah I mean Pete they tell me all the time oh you had this you had money all your life no I know I ain't finished love it that she to prove that you out right I'm definitely again people you're right people try to relive try to relive a situation to try to prove to someone else no I really came from the streets I really sold drugs I really did this like why like why would you even want to put that on your back and and yeah you're actually proud to be proud you didn't know any better you were trying to make ends you was trying to get out of a situation and things happen but once you know better and you made it it shouldn't be a situation where you try to impress somebody and go back to that thank you thank you when you were when you got locked up what was going when you were when you were in there right the actual inside the facility they said there's one thing between your physical body being imprisoned and your mind being imprisoned he said that's when you're lost is when your mind is there your body was there clearly your mind wasn't there because you were thinking about something else yeah how did you pass the time how did you get past that moment in your life I was thinking about how I was going to over like what I plan on doing when I get out and it was in jail that I made my tenure plan and I literally had a 10-year plan where I want to be in the next two years okay and at the top my plan was I want to be able to work with Michael Jackson that was the top of my plan and that wasn't the other plan now you were incarcerated I would work with my job with Mike he's getting a bigger Mike I'd have made it I'm good God and blessing right and for sure enough within five years of that plan I had already reached it and I think that's what drove me to philanthropy quicker because once I reached that goal in five years I was like man God gave me everything I ever wanted to do right like what do I do now I don't want to just be known for singing and dancing I want to be able to be an impact I want to be able to you know when when I when I rub or I'm attached to anybody their name or their their situation is upgraded better like I want to be able to make lives better just like God give me the position to be in a position to help other people you know what made you decide to move to Atlanta what's what I mean you got there and then you lived there that's home now um we saw each other a couple it's funny how you meet somebody each other for years to Atlanta or did you move with family or you moved on your own and what's Atlanta what's the Atlanta Atlanta experience been like for you well in the beginning my dad actually was a you know he was a um jazz musician okay but he's also was a professor okay because he told you know he um he taught a lot of he did a lot of culture exchange programs with universities okay he did it with Miami he did an Atlanta Clark okay so he moved Atlanta early right at the time I was hustling New Jersey right so when pops decided to move to Atlanta I decided to stay in Jersey for reasons only I knew right then pops was like listen you got to come to Atlanta Atlanta is a beautiful place it's fresh and I'm like wow that's a new territory for me then I heard the Olympics is coming in I said oh yeah I'm gone right so I moved Atlanta but when I got to Atlanta I was I was honestly surprised of how amazing it was there yes I never turned back and went back to Jersey I'd like I didn't have until this day I left my furniture everything in that apartment never came back right you know but then when I realized the opportunities in Jersey I mean Atlanta and then the people and how nice they was the food and the beautiful women and it was just it was like it was a no-brainer it was a no-brainer so you came in with your 95 I came in 94 94. oh so you came to freak me you know my friend yes you know day that where I stayed that's what this would never happen in New Jersey ever I don't care I mean we had freak we had Jack the rapper right we had everything no everything Freaknik is Woodstock man foot black steroids ain't nothing like freak Nick and nothing like it man you had a student uh before blowing up you went to you went to jail for armed robbery stealing cars bruh I know you know that's stealing cause danger because the owner run out there up on you and then what but so that's the thing in Jersey we we kind of perfected the art of stealing cars but that's what we was known for Jersey like this is what we do so when I came to Atlanta you brought that to Atlanta because they didn't know anything about it so it was like the perfect uh it was so perfect you had a studio who are some of the famous artists that came through your studio oh man man everybody worked I mean practically almost everybody from Atlanta if you name them they don't work through our studio like literally everybody you still got Usher TLC I mean I mean even everybody everybody everybody so everybody came to our studio you're sitting you're sitting on your cot and you said I would have worked with Michael Jackson did you always know what you wanted to do from that moment on you like you know what Lord if you get me out of this situation I promise you I will never ever come back I will never ever ask you to do me another favor again that was my exact words too you know what I'm gonna steal a piece of bubble gum situation I promise you and I kept my word and my life has been amazing ever since when we see we see what happened with pnb Rob and we see what golf we see what uh pop smoke what's going on it's it goes back to this generation again trying to prove to people right so you get to the position where okay it's one thing to acknowledge the fact that there's people out there starving yes struggling yes but it's another thing to know it and Flash it in their face and make them feel as if they're less than what they're sh what they should be right so if you're utilizing someone else's environment to profit the people that's being profited from is going to feel some kind of way right and they're going to feel like not only did you owe them something but it's disrespectful that's just being poor and knowing this right so when you get to a situation like that you got to also respect the idea of knowing that the environment in which you came from that you don't plan to go back or if you did or if you haven't done anything for those people that feel that you should there's going to be some repercussions in you opening up the treasure trunk of your what's the blessing because unfortunately our people is black people we just believe we owe something you made it you made it from here you got to break it back but even look at Nipsey Nancy was giving back this community and it still happens because that jealousy man we have this energy that that it's this why are we on the community that's like that it's not like that in other communities it really is they're not feel like they're old something I mean because now I gotta man I gotta drive a beat up truck or I gotta dress down because I'm afraid somebody gonna see something and be mad at me because I bust my ass to make it out and now you jealous because I got on some design or I got a little chain or I drive a nice car you like bro you owe me break me off nah get up and go to work I'm not saying everybody everybody's not gonna be gonna make millions of dollars right but you can you can do something you can't you shouldn't feel like well you got I'm gonna take it from you it's just unfortunate because we've created this this scenario that we have to Value ourselves with material Deeds right and that's how we measure ourselves right that's how we measure ourselves so when somebody's coming up the first thing they do is buy a car buy a house buy some jewelry right so and then it's a sale okay you gotta look like money to make money right half the time we faking it until we make it and that's just being real now I ain't going to debt till I make it I'm just saying as a culture as a culture we fake it till we make it it is right because me and I and it's like a radar because if I walk into a business meeting and somebody's all drinking it up with all these ornaments on them I already know he ain't got no money I already know you broke you ain't fooling me bro that used to be me yeah yeah up top I'm now tuned out already right because like why do you have to do all that right if you're successful just come show me the you know present what you got to present and sell it yeah but all actually this is all that stuff [Laughter] you said you uh you like you believe uh uh labels are making money off rappers dying one oh yeah for sure I mean because believe me there's a lot of there's a lot of things that can be put in place to prevent it believe it or not you know um but at the end of the day we can't always blame the establishment for mistakes that we make right right because it ain't like we don't know better either like it goes back to people used to always get on Jay on why he don't go back to Marcy Projects I'm like why should he yeah and do what because somebody's jealous and do what but what but why why are we like that I mean you look at uh Justin Timberlake ain't trying to beat up Robin Thicke I mean you know ain't trying to fight so why is it the rap culture why is it us that feel that even if it's nothing there we'll create a situation and it's about you know all of a sudden now you got to be disrespectful about somebody's girl right you got to be disrespectful about you know how I snatch your chain and you snatch this or I ran up on your boy what what what what what's so big about that what is honestly I can never understand that is to this day I don't know how to answer a question like that this is our mentality has been so twisted and distorted in this history of just being manipulated by each other and then we don't have trust amongst each other so it's hard for us to come together and create anything great because there's always going to be this uh you know he got more than I did or why should he be in that position when I created or you know established this is never say let look let's just put all that aside how we can come together put ourselves together and create something great right without and actually wanting it for each other than to be jealous of each other right it's just I mean it's tough I mean you can always blame it on History because we've always been separated according to classes we've always been you know but at the end day there has to be a time in life where we can say you know what yes it happened but we can do something about it right but when do you get tired enough to say let's just stop talking and protesting and just happen let actions actually allow us to come together and create something great he said Fat Joe says he believes rappers are an endangered species you believe that one thousand percent I mean it's a new rapper dying every week it's the most dangerous occupation in the world right now did this start with the bigot in Tupac beef because I don't remember look I remember when LL and cool Modi had it right back man I used that I use that as an example all the time right uh Kubo D wouldn't try to roll up on him right hey we just ate it was just you know lip sparring at his fine that's it's rap and that was built on battling and then somehow Tupac and big it and it escalated to that level and we hadn't looked back since yeah it's unfortunate because a lot of the gangsters are very emotional they're the most emotional people on the planet and most of them was raised by their mother or their grandmothers their father Figures were in the part of their lives so the man cited them that would take a joke ain't there because the father wasn't there to show okay as a man your skin should be as tough as leather Little Words should never affect you right to the point now I mean because of me being raised more for my African side of my family it's like okay you get it because it's just a different level of responsibility that the man like owns today the man of the house will easily tell you well that ain't my responsibility that's oh matter of fact he's not a role model you got famous people that says I'm not a role model that ain't my that's not my you know responsibility right okay then whose responsibility is it right if the kids are looking up to you right it's not a choice this comes with the territory once you become successful and you're in a position where you actually influence people that's your role towards God to say man he put me in this position for a reason it ain't just for me to focus on myself and tell everybody I'll show everybody how hot I am I gotta actually be some kind of used to the environment and to the population to say okay cool I have to lead by example because what I do kids are watching this and going to want to do the same thing and you got to keep that in mind right Kanye West you've defended Kanye West in the past and I I believe in freedom of speech but I believe you can take it too far also right what are your thoughts on Kanye right now well yeah I always I'm always defending the people that nobody wants to defend I'm always defend Kanye West because I always believe in life and opinion is just an opinion if yay say something that I don't agree with I just don't agree with it right but I'm not gonna go jumping all over mad and letting it affect my energy do real life but he's a person of influence it goes It goes right back to that right now the last comments he made in these last days I definitely don't agree right because it's there was a reason why the phrase black lives matter was even created right it wasn't just a concept for marketing and gimmick right it was a history of behavior and hurt and painful years that led to that to the point where the world was like wait a minute something Our Lives got to matter too it has to right right right so I see what maybe what he was trying to say or what he was trying to do clearly everybody we all believe that all lives matter correct we do right I mean it has to matter for us to survive yeah it's supposed to be all lives matter but we've seen these situations all lies don't matter it hasn't mattered all lives hadn't matter right so you can't use your emphasis or that phrase into a situation like this right because it don't fit here right this has to be resolved first before that happens right you understand yes in order for all lives to matter this this these lives have to matter correct because we're the lives that's driving economy Sports entertainment fashion I mean multi-billion dollar corporations are benefiting from our sweat tears work influence everything right so if our life don't matter nothing really actually matters in America he said about you know he's gonna go def com one two three say something about the Jewish Community he was supposed to be on the shop his uh interview on the shop they canceled that Candace Owen showed something from JP Morgan Chase where they said we're entering our relationship when a bank says I'm going to end my relationship with an individual and that individual is worth billions right I think that speaks volume that says a lot that says because one thing we know about Banks they like money oh I mean what they're more like more than money is your money they ain't gonna leave you know theirs a little bit again absolutely but that I mean I mean someone like Kanye I think sometimes in certain areas he honestly forgets that his opinion doesn't always matter right it doesn't he thinks his opinion is low though he thinks his opinion always matters his opinion is just his opinion but as as us listening to it we got to also know that too but then to your point there's kids that don't know the difference between how powerful his opinion is right when they're themselves are trying to find themselves but you know what sometimes Kanye forget that he he he he you and I cover and then they got to do things to remind him no they got to remind them they have to remind you and you see what happens honestly I think he knows no he don't know he forget I think no I think I know you get a little money no I I think Kanye's smarter than y'all think this is the brilliant side of them what is what is his next plan to run for office right I'm just saying yeah from our knowledge his next plan is to run for office right who was his main endorser Trump okay now in order for Caillou to even have a shot he need a piece of that drip That Base yes this is how he's getting it right he knows this yes he knows that it's going okay he gonna he gonna make a lot of black people angry right but guess what we're forgiving people that's what we are yeah he knows that too right you know what I'm saying he said something up but guess what tomorrow you're gonna do something great we're gonna be like you know what that crazy but yeah yeah he made good music so you're right he's kind of playing the Seesaw but he's got to be careful because if it's too much weight on one side or not enough weight on the other side it's gonna go down you're originally from St Louis yeah St Louis Missouri did you know Nelly man you know me and Nelly like brothers like we went to the same middle school okay that's like my heart right there so did you what did did you want to do music when you were when you were little when did you what did you want to do when you were growing up when you were like in middle school so you're like 9 10 11. what did Akon want to be I want to be a brain surgeon and then I wanted to be an FBI agent I know it's crazy right yeah to making music and then the music part came when I was locked up when I realized okay cool when I get out of here I need to find something that's going to keep me out of here right something that's gonna also allow me to be wealthy and then that's all this time music has always been as a hobby so you always have a ear for music always had always had the love for music right you had a love for music but it wasn't nothing that I ever wanted to pursue as well thought that I would be pursuing as a career okay it was always a hobby and then you get locked up you said okay I got to find something I can do that's going to keep me not to get locked up again right and then so when you got out so so how did you how did you find this you had this gift for music well the gift of Music came from my father my father was a jazz musician right and he always was well he was a jazz musician before you got locked up he just didn't realize he was a magician when you was in there I knew that but the thing is to go to all his and everything but it was Jazz and I was a kid no kid loves jazz so if that's what threw me up I'm like man I don't want to be listening to this all night I like to hit a horn at the size the trumpet the Trump oh man that was cool yeah but when you're playing with groups like The World saxophone quartet where every player that's playing brass plays their own thing all you hear is like if you need on somebody the stuff that just all over the place right I couldn't get a a sense of just a real Melody with real Rhythm like it was always the Jazz was always so diverse and everyone everywhere I went it was a different type of jazz I used to like the real soft jazz with the you know the hi-hat with you know like me you know soft listening music yeah that's the kind of jazz I used to like but I never really heard that much so as I got older and I was into the streets I couldn't really talk to people about situations I was going through so I wouldn't break songs about them right that was my way of kind of venting and then when I started making money and I had to justify where the money was coming from that's when I started investing it into recording studios Okay and at that time cash according to it was a cash business right so I would allow any and everybody to use my Studios for free just to keep it busy to justify where the money was right from but whenever there was time available that is what they call it uh I never knew that word even existence so that's what the habit of me just writing about my experiences so when I got locked up that habit followed me in jail and I wrote about being locked up wow yeah you know it just happened naturally St Louis you know Nelly did Nelly Nelly is a hell of an athlete oh no he I am surprised I mean I mean I mean he could run he could catch he can shoot the basketball yeah he was he was unbelievable football skills and baseball he was a monster yes I was surprised honestly I'm surprised that Nelly ain't go pro like he really had to potentially do GoPro do you think Nelly would be on the side that you are did you think I mean you thought he was going to go pro in baseball and Harry turns out to be one of the biggest you know rappers right from the Midwest um are you surprised that he went that route honestly I'm I'm not because Nelly was always the cool kid right at school I mean in middle school and high school right because he was a great athlete handsome I mean he was going to be somebody right but I didn't I didn't I didn't know I honestly rap was the last thing on my mind Yeah you mentioned your your African background your heritage your roots was it a culture shock coming from Africa and being here and the way you did things over there opposed to no complete it was like I don't know how to explain imagine okay imagine being this kid living in the jungle okay well it would say rural Africa okay yeah right target no it was it was it was a little better than Tarzan Tarzan so imagine no electricity right no running water right and I was like I just pick I was the the barefooted kid playing soccer in the sand okay there was no cars in that area with Africa where I was at like you had to go all the way into the City and we never went to the city so we was there where the horses where you had to jump on the back of the horseback okay so I went from that to getting on an airplane now looking in the sky I always think those are birds I never knew they were actual air I never knew what they was right when I get to the airport I see this big old bird right and I'm like this is a bird so now we're going inside I'm scared I'm like we're going inside the bird I'm like yo what is going I go inside and there's seats and chairs and stuff and I'm like I don't know what I'm looking at but then I'm I want to sit by the window because I want to see so now as the plane is taking off I'm crying thinking it's going to fall to the ground I'm boo tears then I fall asleep wake up into New York City wow as we're waking up we're flying over New York City I see these high-rise buildings right a whole bunch of yellow bugs going down the street I'm not knowing any cabs at the time right when I finally get into you know in the city I'm looking around I've never seen anything like this in my life buildings the tallest heaven cars faster than speed of light this is like the Jetsons for me right then my mom brings us to this apartment that's so beautiful so luxurious I look at it there like a normal apartment but for me it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life I had no running water no electricity you had dirt floors and all of a sudden it might have been a small apartment but right running water you had heat man listen I turned a knob and clean drinking water comes out then I hit a switch and lights everywhere and then she fed me corn flakes the most delicious I've ever tasted the Frosted and I could relate to the tiger because I just came from the jungle right right so can you imagine my experience this culture shock was on a different level obviously kids they see you you talk different you sound different you look different you you know we got some dark skinned Brothers in Jersey right you right they seen nobody so what was it what was it like for you how was it you know did they pick on you we call it picking but they call it bullying or making but whatever they want to call it at the time I mean I think bullying is a little too strong of a word for it because well for us our culture because we just droning each other yeah but that's that's what helped give you that thick skin correct right right so when I first came I was super nappy-headed okay I mean black is tall right and black was not in style no you know no the light-skinned curly hair kids got all the girls we took Wesley Snipes and Michael Jordan for us to get the number one right honestly honestly I think this the the it shifted when Tyson Beckford got on board the supermodel yeah then every girl wanted a dog yeah yeah yeah that that changed the game right all of us yeah then Tyrese came with that smile in the Cocola commercial yeah then we started like oh okay okay yeah then it started then right when I came it was more like okay he's really black right then he's like well wait a minute he's African right but because me I was coming up in a different environment I did any and everything this you know to just to impress the girls okay yeah we spend a lot of money in the clubs in Atlanta man I had to overdo it because I was dark right but I also had them you know and I was African so being black and African dropping the money at 112 like that no magic oh like you was at the city I was at the City gentlemen's club like I was there so you let Jenna was on Ellis [Laughter] come on man what so not so now you like okay okay I kind of I kind of like being on this side so this is what you became what you got out you started making a little you got some money and you're like okay I kind of I kind of like this okay this this can work I'm on a straight narrow and you haven't looked back never look back say ever since I mean but when you arrived in the states could you speak English no I speak not a liquid English and then when I started learning I started speaking with this heavy African accent which made them laugh even harder right right so then I vowed to myself that I I'm listen I'm gonna learn English but once I know how to speak unless I tell you I'm African you would never know because I wanted to learn with no accent so I I would literally pay so attention to how they spoke the Cadence the way they said it how how did you learn I mean I heard a lot of people say well I watch TV I watch American TV shows I listen to them and so that's how I learned right because now I mean most people now if you want to learn a second language you take classes you get ebooks or rosettes or whatever the case may be right right and you listen you learn that way but just looking at American television people a lot of people that says well I learned how watching I Love Lucy I watch learning watching American TV shows right it actually I mean it actually works but I think it's all of the above because me I learned majority just by hanging with friends okay you know just hanging with my friends and being outside all the time man how you get rid of it you I mean just being around them while I was around people that I've been speaking English all my life and I still talk with a heavy Global dialect but yeah but yours is more yeah Southern drawl it's I was about to say it's more Southern Southern is hard to take off like even in Atlanta even Atlanta I kind of try to find a way like to kind of talk like that you know what I'm saying yeah I mean like I can go there too so I had to master the art of accents blending like for real Charlotte foreign I mean obviously the fujis are from Jersey yeah close with Wyclef yeah the whole family man clef Lauren price spider like all those guys kind of brought me into the music world they introduced me into the music side of it okay because when Cliff um uh met me I actually met him because he sat in my chair I was cutting his hair as a barber what y'all do a lot of jobs I didn't want to go there I'm gonna leave that alone you go ahead so yeah I was cutting his hair and clever worked at a laundromat details [Music] and it was funny because clef knew like I'm I'm literally cutting his hair but then when he saw what was parked outside he was like like he knew so he's like yo listen you know I got a studio I had my uncle couldn't provide for us you should come out there you in the music I was like yeah I'd love to so he had me come to the studio we used to right there produced there come up with records and songs and that's how I became a part of refugee camp and then before you know it they just introduced me to a whole nother opportunity of what the world could be if I embrace music man I'm looking at some of the artists that you work with Michael Jackson Whitney Houston Madonna Quincy Jones Lionel Richie Snoop Dogg Dr Dre you are you remixed uh uh uh uh want to be starting something with Michael for the 25th anniversary of the Thriller right when you I mean when you talk to producers it doesn't get any better than Quincy Jones and Dr oh man I mean you do yeah that's the goal I was talking I was talking about I think I was talking to Snoop and I was like Snoop if it was a versus Battle who would you put against Dr Dre he's like hell the only person you could put him is Quincy Jones right I mean hey can't nobody first of all I don't believe anybody could beat Quincy not with all his hits because he's touched too many too many and every job breaks the Notre yeah yeah it's on TV shows every genre so he's unbeatable in a versus Battle he's like you can't even compare what what was it what what was Michael like man Mike it hurts me every day to think about it because he was the coolest dude you probably would ever met and he was like the biggest misconception was Mike was just this Hollywood character right but he wasn't he was the simplest guy and he can ain't knew when to turn it on obviously because his generation he knew what a superstar is supposed to look and feel like in public right so when come public oh he turned it on right like he knew like Mike was a g like he get it right right but behind closed doors is a person man he used to have me crying like so funny super cool just a great great heart man pure Soul Man so you you do you remix I want to be starting something how did that project come about um actually a project came about because I I received the call one day um me and Mike actually had the same attorney but I didn't know at the time that we shared attorneys and then you know my attorney called me um he was like Mike wants you to come on board and you know and and produce on in this new re-release for the Thriller I was like man stop playing Michael Jackson he said yes Michael Jackson so but he started laughing after he said it so I thought he was joking and at that time I ain't got time for this so I hung up the phone he calls me a bat he calls me back with Mike on the phone on three-way he said remember what I told you Mike is on the phone hi Mike to talk to Khan and he's like hey Khan how are you with the voice right that's all these is again so he calls back on the phone right he calls back he said no miss me seriously it's me I said no it's not he said yes it's me he started telling me everything about myself that I forgot about it was so interesting because when I flew out to Vegas to meet them I didn't understand it made me realize how and why he was so big first of all he was a he was a music guy like he was a fan of the art and the people involved in it because even how he explained and kind of narrated his story about me from his point of view he made me look at myself different but then more than anything I started to realize how even how easy it was to work with him because out of every artist I ever worked with Mike was probably the easiest person to work with if I were to ask him to bark on the record he would have barked on the record only because he believed in what I did and he wanted me to be able to be to coach him right to do so if the collaboration felt like a real collaboration you know what I mean so it was just amazing he had no ego about nothing he was willing to try any and everything to make the best product he could um you were the last I mean Michael Jackson last song Hold My Hand yeah you work with him Whitney like I never left you worked I was the last to work on her as well too before she passed which is crazy when you look at look I understand because look you've worked with a lot of guys from G's and all these guys but you understand what Whitney represents you understand what Mike represents you're talking about the upper upper upper there's levels to this music thing 100 and you talk about Michael he's he's at the top of the food chain you're talking about witness she's at the top of the food chain and the last to work you were the last to work with them yeah that was the only one that I that I was right in motion to working with before he left was Prince he's the only one I missed that was that would have sealed my legacy for that I'm trying to think I think he had a concert in Atlanta and the way he did his concerts you could only buy you could only get two tickets but you had to show up at the box office with the credit card in hand okay obviously I'm not going to wait no line and the tickets that were like 100 bucks people were selling for like two thousand three thousand dollars and I'm like nah hell nah it was really the last concert he ever did hit it at the fox and I'm he's one of the only guys that I didn't get an opportunity to see and he's one of my favorite artists and so I understand you know obviously I wasn't gonna get a bunch of just to hear him right right you get an opportunity to work with Michael work with some of the people work with a Whitney and to say I work with Prince because now again we're talking about the upper effort see the Press was a little bit different and a little the reason why I was harder to lock or block it get into him was because he himself was a writer and a producer correct he created his own music right that's why I was such would have been such an honor right for him to go outside that space of himself and experiment with someone else you asked you know what I mean so it was a matter of just getting close enough to them but just let him hear some of the things that you told me I promise you if you would have heard it he'd have been in he'd have been locked right but you could one thing about Prince he always had that Mystique that like that's that's what I just want to think I could actually admired about that generation Superstars weren't easy to get to right and they made it hard so if you find it did get to him you had to make a count right today you go to the ball you see it everybody you go to the club you see it everybody everybody there's somebody right the access to these guys now is a lot different than what it was what it was you're probably you weren't proper you weren't bumping into Michael at the club unless it was Studio 54. you weren't bumping into Prince you weren't bumping into those guys right unless it was a very very special occasion absolutely now hey oh no yeah you go out and let you probably put your little baby a little dirt yeah you know bumping all of them I'm looking at um what was it like to work with Mike in the studio oh man that was the best experience ever like Mike Mike was the first artist that I worked with of at that time that didn't need no Auto to him he need to order to him but I had to do it because I just wanted to see auto-tune owner just a little bit but so so when you hear people say well uh uh I don't know how because I hear people say talent and singing right okay if you want to say Talent I think Prince is obviously because he can play Oh No Hands Down hands down he does everything right his eyes closed but when they would see people miss when they talk about Chris Brown and Michael right see now y'all got to miss me I only want to talk to y'all no more I ain't got nothing to say uh this uh let me let me give another perspective on that in this day and age the only person in my opinion that could have achieved just as great as a legacy as Mike to me would have been Chris Brown I just believe that Chris Brown wasn't surrounded by the circle of creative people that Mike was surrounded by wow because Chris got the talent wow he just needed the direction right right so imagine if Chris had Mike's team right just imagine that it would it would be something different and that's big but Chris is hell like he got he got Bloods around him he got little gang bangers around right he don't have the guidance right he's smart but he's smart according to what this generation smart attracts right okay for me to survive in this era I got to keep certain things around me certain people around me just so I can keep getting it going right but if he was able to delete all that and say look I'm going to focus on being the greatest entertainer ever if Chris has the opportunity it's too late now thank you what [Laughter] ain't nobody said no 100 million albums but but you know you got to screaming so now you're saying I I don't know really how streaming work do you get a quarter you get 50 Cent you get a dime for how many streams you get out right you know how that works right but I mean he seems to be doing unbelievable in that oh yeah he's killing it he's killing it I've also you signed Lady Gaga T-Pain French Montana Wiz kid you mentioned something auto-tunes has auto-tunes ruined the industry nah it helped it honestly helped because a lot of these jobs he's saying so I get an auto tune that will sound like yeah I would rather you get on Auto-Tune please you know the the most amazing part about working with the older generation artists like the Michael Jackson's and the Whitney Houston and the Lionel Richie's they need to Auto they didn't need it I never used black Nebraska I mean everybody from like from the 90s moving back towards the 70s and 80s I mean 80s and 70s they didn't use any of that forces were impactable impeccable like impeccable and and guess what those recordings that you hear that you heard those are one takes because every time they messed up they had to start again from the top whereas us if we mess up we can just all right start from what I messed up at and re-punch it right so it was a different it was a different time then I don't use no auto tools now you know have mercy that voice of hers you signed Lady Gaga T-Pain French Montana where's the kids how did you meet these artists oh man just in the travels is moving around um with pain my little brother boo brought me pain okay I give Boo the credit for finding a discovering pain I was just a platform that we can toss them on to give him get him to where he needed right right Gaga she was actually already on Interscope when I signed my label deal there and I saw her and I was like yo Jimmy I need that for my label and Jimmy tossed me that bowl gave me that like my latest gift he's ever gave Lady Gaga can really sing I mean people I think I think sometimes people look at the makeup and see how the outfits no no she keeps saying she's not human bro she is amazing like creatively mentally like she's I mean she she she thinks beyond the average artist like just to come up with the things that you guys seen we had to dump certain things down just to get it across so people can understand it but she's she's on a different level what is what is your um your artist development process how do you like okay I got this person this is where I think they can go right here's the process that I'm going to use in order to get them him or her there how do you go about that like all the artists that I take full responsibility for they all go through the same system they start with me we figure out what they want to do how they want to see their years in 10 years okay where you want your life to be in 10 years then we have a real conversation about the industry learn the business once they got that part right then we take them straight to Auto development take them right there to marvelous studios in Atlanta okay the best that ever did it all the artists that we ever loved from new addition to boys and men to TLC you name it he's the shape them up into Superstars they all go through that process okay then they come out of there we go into the studio okay we make the biggest hit record according to our conversations your passion and what you want to be now we got a body of work you've been through all this development so you can speak well you can perform well you are prepared for what you're about to get then we're going through the right distribution partner who do we decide is the perfect partner for distribution for this record depending on the size and where and territories that we want to go then we pick the labels that we want to partner once we got them come to release dates come release once we release they like it's almost like raising a chick into a chicken and just letting it letting it go put it in the oven and it's a great meal so used to I let it go Diane what you know that ain't what you did you talk about putting the oven now but you willing to let your artist out of contracts you don't believe me keep a lifetime contract we see what made the stallion is going through so many even Mike ended up having a problem with his with his label Prince had a problem with his label you're like okay you're not happy you want to leave but okay right I mean all my contracts are built to create Superstars entrepreneurs and give them the freedom to give that opportunity to somebody else right so I never hold them to the fullest extent of the contract ever at the moment they feel like okay they've grown and they want to grow on their own and I feel like we didn't gave them everything they need to do that right then we we just let them walk we don't ask for no recruition we don't ask for anything we just allow them to be who they are T-Pain originally wrote I'm strong for you but you didn't like it no it was a hit but I believe the record would be bigger on him because that was a hit record right I could have took it and he right the reason why I didn't want it because I wanted it for him right because I knew that record was going to make somebody's career my career was already made right he didn't see how big that record was but I knew I knew how big that record was and I knew that record would make him the biggest Urban artist that can line up with what I need going on to take him to the next level right so I refuse to take the record because I believe that that record was supposed to be for him is there any other songs you've turned down you wish you hadn't I really wish you would turn that down there any songs that you turn down and you're like damn I should have took that one one record that I gave away that I felt damn I should have kept was so survival yeah I needed that for myself right what happened with the the fan that you threw back in the the fan in the Crowd Oh man that was an interesting time because that was around the time when I had just got out are you alone I was fresh a lot of money super arrogant and confident right but I had the same you know the street mentality I can't I would never be disrespected especially in front a lot of people right so I'm on stage and I'm performing and the next thing you notice I see something coming at me at first I thought I was seeing something but then when it got really close I'm like oh whoa that almost like hit me in the face and I said yo wait a minute who threw that so the crowd everybody just put it there you asked me okay he bought it so he did it now at that point it's like okay shoot what do I do now I can't be out here I can't I can't just be like okay bro don't do that no more right I couldn't let it slide because especially in the industry we was in around that time if one person tries you everybody feel like they can try right so it's almost like you had to set an example which is a wrong analogy so at the point when all the fingers was in I said come on up here bring air bring them up so now the crowd is bringing them to me as he's coming I'm deciding what am I going to do to show this dude and the audience that I'm not to be played with right I said man should I just hit him with one boom just knock him out I said nah that'll be too much and then I said you know what don't worry about when it come I just play it by ear and as soon as he came on stage he just came to hug me and at that moment I felt bad I was like damn I can't do nothing to him he actually this is he probably tried to get my attention right so I said nah okay I gotta figure something out then it hit me I said cool I'm just gonna throw him in the crowd in a soft spot right so as he come to hug me I just picked him up found a soft spot and threw him right but then of course it it got it got thrown out of proportion but at the same time it did give me the respect that I needed right to move forward but at the same time I felt so bad because I said you know what I could handle that a little bit better hey guys look you provided electricity for over 16 countries in Africa you have a utility company work with the body Administration because you grew up with no electricity is that was it was that one of the reasons you wanted to give back in that way to your your own like me knowing the impact of just growing up without electricity made me say okay the moment I make it and I'm in position to do that I want to be able to provide electricity right but that didn't have absolutely but um I see uh China gave you six bill I gave you a billion dollars I loaned you a billion dollars I see you have watered a six billion dollar contract to build a city yes the acon city in Senegal I'm super excited I can't wait to host child with that how how how close is that upon completion or I mean how much have how much of the build out have you completed wow so I learned so much dealing with this project right I realized that it was so much prep leading into even construction right so for the last two years we've been doing Environmental Studies we've been doing soil studies all the studies leading up into it then getting all the licenses and everything else so now 2023 in January we actually start the construction process and the first phase is going to take three years right but then after that phase it's going to be done in three three um three phases in three years per phase but after the first phase we can start inviting people in right yeah I read as you try to start a diamond business in Africa but he said it's worse than the drug game no I actually had I had purchased a diamond mine and realized yeah it was way worse than the drug game so I sold it man I had it for five years I said boy it was no oh yeah it was it was a great profit of business around the time when I was in the music business I was actually supplying a lot of the Jewelers in Diamond District with my diamonds wow and you gave it up I had to it was it was it was then it was around the time we also had the blood diamond conflict there was other mines early on yeah there was a lot going on and I didn't want my name getting tied into that stuff because I know how the media works sometimes I got to get you out of here on this one you're a big sports fan who's your favorite team basketball to Lakers Laker who your favorite player LeBron honestly whatever team LeBron went that was my favorite team before LeBron was Shaq right you had I'm reading that you almost got a scholarship would you have a scholarship to Georgia Tech but you messed your knee up yeah you had Hoops like that I could play I can play now one thing about St Louis Sports was the thing that was our way out somebody had I mean if you wasn't gonna make it through music you'll never make it through right my man I appreciate that bro absolutely I appreciate your time today I really appreciate it and I had a good time all my life been running all my life sacrifice Hustle by the price wanna slice got to roll a dice that's why all my life I've been grinding all my life all my life been running all my life sacrifice hustle pay the price wanna slice got to roll a dice that's why all my life

Channel: Club Shay Shay

Views: 526,080

Keywords: Club Shay Shay, fs1, fox sports, fs1 Club Shay Shay, fox, fox youtube, foxsports youtube, fs1 youtube, Club Shay Shay youtube, Shannon Sharpe podcast, Sharpe podcast, Shannon podcast, Club Shay Shay Shannon Sharpe, Club Shay Shay podcast, Shay Shay podcast, Shay Shay, Shannon Sharpe Club, music artist, akon, chris brown, michael jackson, Billboard Artist of the Year, Grammy nominated singer

Id: JJFO8NHNp4M

Length: 65min 16sec (3916 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 14 2022