748. Long As The Lord Say: YP aka Young Paul's Story

[00:00:00] Let me give him a proper introduction. YP, also known as Young Paul, is a Christian hip-hop artist born in Jersey City, currently residing in the Bronx, New York. He's got an impressive discography that includes three albums, 24 mixtapes, six EPs, all available on digital platforms, by the way, under YP aka Young Paul. That's a whole nother conversation to name, bro. We just went through some problems with the name. Known for his raw, gritty East Coast sound, YP has collaborated with some of the most respected MCs in the game.

[00:00:29] You better believe that, including Eshawn Burgundy, Derek Miner, Jared Sanders, Dayton Braille, R. Swift, Will Cotter, C4 Crotona, Sailor the Corner Hurt, and many, many more. His acclaimed mixtape series, Guillotines on the East, Volumes 1, 2, and 3, created alongside Bronx native, the commissioner, highlights his influential role in Christian hip-hop.

[00:00:51] YP's also teamed up with top producers in a genre such as Ayo Shamir and Dax Hammer, cementing his reputation for authenticity, powerful storytelling, and an unfiltered East Coast style that resonates deeply with fans.

[00:01:04] YP!

[00:01:05] Poop, poop, poop!

[00:01:06] Air horns is in the building.

[00:01:08] Yeah, we need air horns for that one.

[00:01:09] What's good, man?

[00:01:11] Praise God.

[00:01:11] What's good?

[00:01:12] Cool, man.

[00:01:12] Cool.

[00:01:13] It's a blessing to be here, man.

[00:01:14] It's good to have you.

[00:01:15] Bro, so before, as I was getting prepared, I said, let me go back through the emails, and let me just go back through his discography, see which ones I remember.

[00:01:23] So, you know, on Spotify, you only have your discography, I think, back to 2016.

[00:01:29] Right.

[00:01:29] And that's probably, you know, largely just pulling stuff together, trying to pull stuff, you know, and, you know, a lot of people weren't able to.

[00:01:36] So I went back to my emails.

[00:01:37] Wow.

[00:01:38] I went back and found stuff from, like, 2011, 2012.

[00:01:42] We used to send stuff via email.

[00:01:43] I was like, yo, look at our email history, man.

[00:01:46] That's right.

[00:01:46] Crazy.

[00:01:47] It's crazy.

[00:01:47] Bro, I mean, all the songs you've done and whatnot.

[00:01:49] Okay, so you've been in this thing for a minute.

[00:01:52] Mm-hmm.

[00:01:52] What's one thing you think that most people don't know about you?

[00:01:55] Man, what's one thing that...

[00:01:57] Even those closest to, even Nick, who drove me, like, what's one thing that'd be like, I didn't notice about this, brother.

[00:02:06] You know, I don't know.

[00:02:07] It's hard for me to kind of just pull that out.

[00:02:10] Okay.

[00:02:11] But I am kind of reserved, so there's so many things that I can say that people probably don't know.

[00:02:16] Yeah.

[00:02:17] What's one thing you're willing to share that people may not know?

[00:02:21] You feel like you haven't put yourself...

[00:02:22] So what could it be?

[00:02:23] Like, something that I'm into that I like watching or whatever?

[00:02:25] Something you're into, personal, favorite movie, you know, what, favorite hobby.

[00:02:28] Okay, so as far as movies are concerned, I don't know if this is okay as a Christian, but I'm into, like, thrillers.

[00:02:35] You know what I'm saying?

[00:02:36] Absolutely.

[00:02:36] Not the crazy supernatural horror movies, but, like, I'm into thrillers.

[00:02:40] I like mobster movies.

[00:02:42] That's no shocker.

[00:02:43] Yeah, yeah.

[00:02:44] I love mobster movies.

[00:02:45] No shocker.

[00:02:46] You probably hear the influence in my bars.

[00:02:48] Absolutely.

[00:02:48] I love, you know, obviously I love sports, basketball, football.

[00:02:53] Yeah.

[00:02:54] But somewhat with baseball, I just put out a single, actually, right now, my guy, A.L. Shamir, called Aaron Judge.

[00:02:59] But I'm not tapped into baseball like I once was.

[00:03:02] Okay.

[00:03:03] And, like, weird stuff that I'm into, like, I ain't gonna front.

[00:03:06] Yankees or Mets?

[00:03:07] Oh, okay.

[00:03:08] Yankees.

[00:03:08] Okay.

[00:03:09] Let's get that out the way.

[00:03:10] Yankees, however, Citi Field is a better vibe.

[00:03:13] Okay.

[00:03:13] Mets, where the Mets play at the Queens.

[00:03:14] That's a good compromise.

[00:03:15] Shout out to Queens, man.

[00:03:15] Give back to the folks.

[00:03:16] Yeah, for sure, for sure.

[00:03:19] And so definitely Yankees, though.

[00:03:21] I grew up on the Yankees.

[00:03:22] Bernie Williams, Derrick G.

[00:03:23] The whole episode.

[00:03:24] I used to work in New York, man, and just listen to people have that conversation in the office.

[00:03:28] As a guy from Philly, I'd come up and you'd be hearing people go through it on Monday morning.

[00:03:33] Yeah, bro.

[00:03:34] You know, Yankees and Mets fans can get after it.

[00:03:36] And it's crazy because last year, when Flavor Fest came around, me and Commissioner, we were asked to, you know, perform.

[00:03:43] And I told Commissioner, I'm like, yo, you was born and raised in the Bronx.

[00:03:47] You know what I'm saying?

[00:03:47] So you could wear the Yankee gear.

[00:03:49] Yeah.

[00:03:49] I'll throw on the Mets gear.

[00:03:50] Yeah.

[00:03:51] You know, we got on stage that we was repping NY.

[00:03:53] There you go.

[00:03:54] Repping East Coast.

[00:03:55] You know what I'm saying?

[00:03:55] All of them.

[00:03:56] So I was telling you before we started, I feel like you're one of the few who have lasted this long, not just from an earlier era of CHH, but particularly from an East Coast boom bap and stayed with the sound.

[00:04:14] Let me add that element to it.

[00:04:15] Because then it gets even that much tighter in terms of people who have stayed with it, stayed in the area and not migrated to Atlanta somewhere.

[00:04:24] Right.

[00:04:24] Seriously.

[00:04:25] Right.

[00:04:25] Or North Carolina.

[00:04:26] Yeah.

[00:04:26] And stayed with the sound.

[00:04:28] What's kept you?

[00:04:30] Man, Trey, I'm glad that you're highlighting that because I don't know if people understand that because a lot of people who are just getting familiar with my music now, they probably think I'm a newer artist.

[00:04:38] But I've been putting in the groundwork for a minute and a half time.

[00:04:41] A long time.

[00:04:42] A long time.

[00:04:42] You know, we're talking about we're going way back.

[00:04:44] I was putting out mixtapes with DJ Sean Blue and DJ I Rock Jesus.

[00:04:48] You know what I mean?

[00:04:49] In 2009, 2010.

[00:04:52] Shout out to my man Blue.

[00:04:53] You know, those are pioneers right there.

[00:04:55] Both of them.

[00:04:56] Hall of Fame this year.

[00:04:57] Both of them.

[00:04:57] Wow.

[00:04:58] Both of them Hall of Fame.

[00:04:58] I didn't even know that.

[00:04:59] Went to the Gospel Hip Hop Hall of Fame this year.

[00:05:00] Shout out to DJ I Rock Jesus and DJ Sean Blue.

[00:05:03] They are definitely Hall of Famers.

[00:05:04] Well deserved.

[00:05:05] But yeah, I was putting out mixtapes with them back in the days.

[00:05:08] And I always played with different type of bops.

[00:05:12] You know what I mean?

[00:05:13] Definitely, boom bap was the core.

[00:05:15] Right.

[00:05:16] But I definitely played with a lot of different type of sounds, whether it be, you know, Trap

[00:05:21] Beat, 808, you know, whatever.

[00:05:22] But I still kept the East Coast.

[00:05:24] Like, you would hear me rap and know, oh, you know, he's from the East.

[00:05:27] You know what I'm saying?

[00:05:29] And yeah, man, I just, I stay true to the art.

[00:05:32] I just try to be as authentic as possible.

[00:05:34] And I come from the East Coast.

[00:05:35] So I want the music to express that.

[00:05:39] You know what I'm saying?

[00:05:39] Yeah.

[00:05:40] How, what would you point to as a, some factors around staying, you know, staying power?

[00:05:47] Because I think, I think that's a question for many.

[00:05:49] You know, CHH, we're, you know, hip hop just celebrated 50 years.

[00:05:53] We, we, we're part of that.

[00:05:54] I mean, if I look back, we've got, you know, Michael Peace, Steven Riley.

[00:05:59] Yeah.

[00:05:59] Peaches in the Sky, she won't hold the culture records, by the way.

[00:06:02] Okay.

[00:06:03] And so many that left, came back, you know, PID took a, you know, took a breather.

[00:06:08] Right.

[00:06:08] And they're back.

[00:06:09] But, you know, again, let's call you second, I consider you kind of second generation.

[00:06:14] Okay.

[00:06:14] Right.

[00:06:15] I think late, later second generation, kind of right after the cross movement era.

[00:06:19] Right.

[00:06:20] It was right.

[00:06:20] Right.

[00:06:20] I can't kind of came in right there, right under there.

[00:06:23] Right.

[00:06:23] Right.

[00:06:24] After them, like they were doing eight things, like rapid size, cross movement.

[00:06:27] And then I feel like we were like the next wave that came in after them.

[00:06:30] So I was like the young dude.

[00:06:31] Right.

[00:06:32] Watching them and seeing what they was doing.

[00:06:33] So early gen three, let's call it.

[00:06:35] What, again, you know, if you had to point to something and say, man, like think about,

[00:06:40] think about who performed at Vince with you back then.

[00:06:43] Just stop for a second and think about that.

[00:06:45] How many of them are still around?

[00:06:47] You think about when I was, when I was on the lineup at this event,

[00:06:50] early on.

[00:06:51] Yeah.

[00:06:52] How many are still doing it?

[00:06:53] You know what?

[00:06:54] I think a lot of the guys too, that came in with my class, they were, they were older

[00:06:59] already too.

[00:07:00] I mean, you know what I mean?

[00:07:01] Remember I was still kind of young, you know, early, early twenties, 20, 21, you know what

[00:07:06] I mean?

[00:07:06] And, um, just putting in the groundwork and, uh, yeah, I noticed that a lot of the guys

[00:07:12] that I came up with either, um, you know, they just kind of left it all alone altogether

[00:07:18] or maybe they're making music for a particular, like a, you know, I wouldn't, I don't want

[00:07:23] to call it dated, but they just stood right there with that type of boom bap sound where

[00:07:27] it didn't elevate with the current more boom bap sound that's out right now.

[00:07:32] And they're cool with that.

[00:07:33] Yeah.

[00:07:33] And that's fine.

[00:07:34] But, you know, I praise God.

[00:07:35] He got me, you know, moving with the young lions right now.

[00:07:38] Yeah.

[00:07:38] And it's like a fresh wind.

[00:07:40] It's like, you know, I feel like I'm in a, uh, I'm, my platform has, has, has expanded

[00:07:45] and I'm in a, I feel like I have the most buzz that I've ever got.

[00:07:50] You're in the growth season, man.

[00:07:51] You've been in the growth season for the last, at least the last 18 months.

[00:07:54] Right.

[00:07:54] Before we leave this thing though, with some of the people from back then, let's just throw

[00:07:57] some roses.

[00:07:58] Who are some names that come to mind from back then that you enjoy either performing with

[00:08:02] or watching on stage?

[00:08:03] Who are a few names?

[00:08:04] Uh, Corey Red Precise.

[00:08:06] Sure.

[00:08:07] Sure.

[00:08:07] Yeah.

[00:08:08] Um, legends, you know, um, indeed.

[00:08:11] Richie righteous was a great performer.

[00:08:13] Bruh.

[00:08:13] He was a great show.

[00:08:15] Yes.

[00:08:15] Great performer.

[00:08:16] I remember that band.

[00:08:17] Yes, sir.

[00:08:18] Um, who else?

[00:08:19] Uh, ER.

[00:08:20] Yeah.

[00:08:20] The ER room.

[00:08:21] Uh, who else?

[00:08:22] Who else?

[00:08:22] Uh, um,

[00:08:25] How's the Kim?

[00:08:27] How's the Kim?

[00:08:27] I remember being tapped into their project.

[00:08:29] I don't think I ever seen them perform live.

[00:08:31] Really?

[00:08:32] But I definitely was tapped in when they put out where I like, I just like the lyrical

[00:08:35] theology.

[00:08:36] Yes.

[00:08:36] You know, Shaolin and them guys too.

[00:08:39] Did you ever perform at Rap Fest?

[00:08:41] I did.

[00:08:42] I think I did one year.

[00:08:44] If I'm not mistaken, shout out to Bert, by the way.

[00:08:46] He just hit me up the other day.

[00:08:47] I'm supposed to be doing an interview or sit down with his daughter.

[00:08:50] I think they had something going on too.

[00:08:52] Yes.

[00:08:52] So shout out to Bert.

[00:08:53] He had me on his, on his platform as well.

[00:08:55] But shout out to them brothers, man.

[00:08:57] You know, RP to, uh, to brother E.

[00:08:59] Yeah.

[00:09:00] You know what I mean?

[00:09:00] So yeah, I remember, man.

[00:09:01] I remember, I remember a lot of them guys.

[00:09:03] Um, you know, you know who's another name that's still doing anything?

[00:09:07] Who's that?

[00:09:07] Braille.

[00:09:08] Yes.

[00:09:08] He was around, around that time and he's still, you know, putting out projects.

[00:09:12] He still sounds relevant.

[00:09:13] Mm, mm.

[00:09:14] Mm.

[00:09:14] Preacher, man.

[00:09:14] He sounds like he hasn't even lost a step and he's out here preaching the gospel.

[00:09:18] That's good.

[00:09:19] So yeah, shout out to Braille too.

[00:09:20] Braille had one of those CDs I had on, and I say CDs, right?

[00:09:23] Because it was CDs then.

[00:09:24] Right, right.

[00:09:25] And I had them repeat like a champ.

[00:09:26] He had that song Preacher Man and a couple others on there that was just knocking.

[00:09:31] He had some classics.

[00:09:31] He had some classics.

[00:09:32] And he still, he just came out on Mike Kelvy's Bodega Project.

[00:09:35] Oh, I didn't know that.

[00:09:36] The new one coming up?

[00:09:37] I think it came out, uh, Midnight.

[00:09:40] Okay.

[00:09:40] Yeah.

[00:09:41] Okay.

[00:09:41] I gotta check that out.

[00:09:42] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:09:42] So you got a new coming.

[00:09:43] So, so one of the things that's interesting for me is I can usually, I can usually tell when

[00:09:49] it's a YP song.

[00:09:51] Seriously, I don't know how to describe it, but when the track comes on, I'm trying to

[00:09:55] think of what, there's a signature to it that I can tell.

[00:10:00] This is probably YP.

[00:10:01] This is probably YP.

[00:10:02] How do you describe your signature in your music?

[00:10:05] Um, how do I describe it?

[00:10:07] Well, there's certain phrases that I like to say, like, Lord.

[00:10:10] Yeah.

[00:10:10] Or let me talk to him, Lord.

[00:10:12] You know what I mean?

[00:10:13] Yes.

[00:10:13] Or do, do, do.

[00:10:14] You know what I mean?

[00:10:14] You'll hear those things on the record.

[00:10:16] Yeah.

[00:10:16] Yeah.

[00:10:16] You know what I'm saying?

[00:10:17] Like, I'll do those type of things.

[00:10:19] And it's intentional because of that, because I want to kind of have my signature on the record,

[00:10:23] you know?

[00:10:24] So I'm glad that you noticed that.

[00:10:26] I peeped it, man.

[00:10:26] So, so long as the Lord say is the new project dropping, I believe next Friday.

[00:10:32] November 15th.

[00:10:33] November 15th.

[00:10:33] Yeah.

[00:10:34] And we here.

[00:10:35] We right here.

[00:10:35] What inspired the project and the title?

[00:10:38] Long as the Lord say.

[00:10:39] Say more about that, bro.

[00:10:40] Yeah.

[00:10:40] So shout out to my man, Wanda Beach.

[00:10:42] He produced the whole project.

[00:10:44] He's actually the one that came up with the title.

[00:10:46] Okay.

[00:10:46] He was like, yo, originally this was going to be part two of my Hector album, which is out

[00:10:52] right now too.

[00:10:53] I would say one of my more vulnerable projects where if you want to get to know me, I talk

[00:10:58] a lot about my personal life on that Hector album.

[00:11:02] Gotcha.

[00:11:02] Sure.

[00:11:02] And he also produced that whole body of work.

[00:11:04] And he's just a great mind.

[00:11:06] He's, you know, he's real creative.

[00:11:08] And, um, what I, what I think is dope about Wanda and guys like me and Wanda, when we're

[00:11:12] creating music, we put ourselves in the shoe, in the fan shoes.

[00:11:16] Like, what would I want to hear as just a listener, you know?

[00:11:20] And he does that.

[00:11:21] And so he's thinking about song titles, album titles, and he'll run it by me and we'll just

[00:11:26] kind of brainstorm together.

[00:11:27] And when he said, yo, how do you feel about long as the Lord say?

[00:11:29] So it was originally going to be Hector part two.

[00:11:31] Then I said to him, I'm like, yo, um, we have about seven solid records.

[00:11:36] Why don't we just turn this into an EP?

[00:11:38] Cause you just took a different turn.

[00:11:40] Gotcha.

[00:11:40] You know, it didn't feel like Hector part two.

[00:11:43] It felt like something different.

[00:11:44] Gotcha.

[00:11:44] And we're just listening to the records and he was like, yo, how do you feel about long

[00:11:47] as the Lord say?

[00:11:48] And I'm like, well, I love that.

[00:11:49] Yeah.

[00:11:50] I love it.

[00:11:50] I love the title.

[00:11:51] I love how it feels.

[00:11:52] It just sounds good.

[00:11:53] And, um, perfect example.

[00:11:57] Some of the things I say in the record, let me talk to him about, you know what I'm saying?

[00:12:00] Of course.

[00:12:01] Of course.

[00:12:02] You know, so it goes well with, with a lot of my phrases or whatnot.

[00:12:06] And yeah, November 15th, man, we got two singles out right now.

[00:12:10] Uh, Bang Bang and Chasing Nightmares.

[00:12:13] So, you know.

[00:12:13] We're going, as we end, we're going to play Chasing Nightmares.

[00:12:16] Let's go.

[00:12:17] And thanks for being on Gladiator too, bro.

[00:12:19] Thanks for lending your voice.

[00:12:20] I love that record.

[00:12:21] Your skills.

[00:12:22] I love that song.

[00:12:22] I'm a bias, but I think, I think rightfully so.

[00:12:26] I think, I think it came out really nice.

[00:12:27] It was, it was an honor to be on that record.

[00:12:29] Thank you.

[00:12:30] Shout out to Monster Tarver.

[00:12:31] Monster.

[00:12:32] And Manusi, I think I'm saying his name right.

[00:12:34] Good, solid brother right there.

[00:12:35] You know, from the interactions that we've had.

[00:12:37] Yeah.

[00:12:38] And shout out to DJ Lost and Found too.

[00:12:40] Exactly.

[00:12:40] The master curator.

[00:12:41] Yes, sir.

[00:12:42] Yes, sir.

[00:12:42] What are some of the themes that people should expect to hear on this project?

[00:12:47] Um, so like I said, the Hector album was more like me storytelling.

[00:12:51] A lot of storytelling.

[00:12:52] This has some of that too.

[00:12:53] Some of the storytelling.

[00:12:55] Um, but I feel like it's a broader message.

[00:12:57] Like it's not just focused on like what I've been through, but yeah, it's focused on stuff

[00:13:01] that I've been through.

[00:13:02] But also, um, like I have a record in there.

[00:13:05] It's called, you know, Walk With Me.

[00:13:07] Well, me and my man Lito.

[00:13:09] Shout out to my man Lito.

[00:13:09] It's like a real gritty East Coast boom bap record.

[00:13:12] And I told them when we was writing a record, I'm like, yo, when you hear talk, talk with

[00:13:16] me, what, what, what, how does that resonate with you?

[00:13:19] Right.

[00:13:19] And you can hear in his verse, he's just awesome.

[00:13:21] Like, I'm going to show this monster side of me, this, this side of me that I don't like

[00:13:28] this side of me that's real dark.

[00:13:29] Yeah.

[00:13:30] And God is my hope.

[00:13:32] And I mean on like the light in the midst of that darkness.

[00:13:35] And then in my verse, I come in and I talk about like the dark side, the ugly side that people,

[00:13:39] you know, don't want to really touch on, you know, that dark alley type of music and how

[00:13:44] like, man, we're going to lean on God, even in the midst of this darkness, even in the

[00:13:48] midst of this chaos, even in the midst of this terror.

[00:13:51] Yeah.

[00:13:51] You know what God got to say about this.

[00:13:53] I know it looked bad, but I'm going to turn to the, to the one who can rescue us.

[00:13:57] You know, the one that could, who could snatch us out of the situation.

[00:14:00] You know what I mean?

[00:14:00] Right.

[00:14:00] So records like that, um, then I have a record called The Family Praise.

[00:14:06] And I really love that.

[00:14:07] I really love that record because, um, you know, I live in the Bronx, you know, I live

[00:14:11] in the South Bronx, you know?

[00:14:12] Um, and I was born in Jersey city.

[00:14:14] Like I lived in all different types of ghettos my whole life.

[00:14:17] Yeah.

[00:14:17] And, uh, you see crack fiends on the corner.

[00:14:20] You see dirty syringes on the floor.

[00:14:22] You see blades, you see, you hear shootouts and all of this stuff.

[00:14:26] And so The Family Praise is like, you know, you're trying to build a family structure from

[00:14:31] a Christian worldview.

[00:14:33] You know, you're trying to be peaceful.

[00:14:35] You're trying to be loving, but in the midst of these, you know, broken neighborhoods.

[00:14:39] Mm-hmm.

[00:14:40] And it's like when you pass the fiend who walking like a zombie who's barely standing

[00:14:45] up, you know, you walk past the dirty syringes on the floor.

[00:14:49] Like one time I'm throwing the football around my son and it falls into a puddle of water

[00:14:53] and there's dirty needles all in the puddle of water.

[00:14:55] So I told him we're going to leave that football right there.

[00:14:57] Yeah.

[00:14:57] You know what I mean?

[00:14:58] And then when we get home, when we get back to the base, it's like, yo, you know, we got

[00:15:01] to pray for these people.

[00:15:02] You know, I don't want to, I don't want to fall into that trap of just judging them and

[00:15:06] just, you know, they have a stench and it's like, oh, they're annoying.

[00:15:09] Like, you know, I've been through a lot of ups and downs in that, in that community.

[00:15:13] You know, I'm not perfect.

[00:15:14] You know what I'm saying?

[00:15:15] Sure.

[00:15:15] But it all comes back to like, yo, we need to, we need to pray.

[00:15:19] You know what I'm saying?

[00:15:20] Like we see a lot of death.

[00:15:21] We see a lot of, you know, this dark energy in this community.

[00:15:24] You know, we have to come together as a family and we need to pray.

[00:15:27] Yeah.

[00:15:27] And then, you know, we share some struggle in that record.

[00:15:30] It's like, I'm talking about what it's like to be a dad and, and, and, and the beautiful

[00:15:35] things about it, you know, but also there's this darkness that we're in the middle of,

[00:15:41] you know what I mean?

[00:15:42] Like this other world that's happening, you know what I'm saying?

[00:15:45] And sometimes, you know, I don't want to make that mistake of just being stuck in this

[00:15:49] Christian bubble and forgetting that all that is around us, you know, instead of, so the

[00:15:55] record is like pretty much saying like, nah, we're not going to put us in the

[00:15:57] ourselves in a bubble.

[00:15:58] You know, we're going to glorify being parents.

[00:16:01] We're going to glorify the Lord being the savior, but we're also going to touch on how we shouldn't

[00:16:06] forget about this community.

[00:16:07] We shouldn't forget about this brokenness.

[00:16:08] We shouldn't walk by like that that's happening.

[00:16:10] Let's pray for these people.

[00:16:11] Let's be a light in the midst of darkness for real.

[00:16:13] Yeah.

[00:16:13] You know what I'm saying?

[00:16:14] That's good, man.

[00:16:15] It explains a lot of your lyricism too, because there's a lot of storytelling in your song,

[00:16:20] and that storytelling is vivid, almost like a narrator.

[00:16:24] I'm just sharing what I see.

[00:16:25] Mm-hmm.

[00:16:26] And so what you just said explains a lot.

[00:16:28] Your proximity to it is really close.

[00:16:31] Mm-hmm.

[00:16:32] And it seems like you stayed there intentionally.

[00:16:34] Yeah.

[00:16:35] What makes you stay?

[00:16:36] I stay there because I feel like there's not a lot of that happening in the Christian hip-hop

[00:16:39] space especially.

[00:16:41] Mm-hmm.

[00:16:41] I feel like, and if there is, it's very subtle or there's not a lot of it.

[00:16:47] Yeah.

[00:16:47] You know?

[00:16:48] And I feel like that's what makes my music my music because I'd stay right there.

[00:16:53] I like to story tell on what I see in front of me, what I've personally experienced.

[00:16:58] Like I've said, I've lived in bad neighborhoods my whole life.

[00:17:01] Right.

[00:17:01] You know what I mean?

[00:17:02] Even the neighborhood that I stayed in that weren't as bad as maybe the South Bronx or

[00:17:05] Jersey City, I was still in those pockets where they were considered the bad

[00:17:11] area.

[00:17:12] You know, it's just how my life has been.

[00:17:14] You know?

[00:17:14] Right.

[00:17:15] That's, you know.

[00:17:15] So in my music, you can hear that influence, you know?

[00:17:20] Like I said, whether I experienced it personally or a close friend of mine got shot.

[00:17:24] Right.

[00:17:24] In front of his mother.

[00:17:26] Or, you know, me getting stabbed holding down one of my homeboys.

[00:17:29] Or my man getting, you know, shot in his car, you know, doing a deal.

[00:17:33] They put a bunch, they put a couple holes in him while he's sitting there.

[00:17:36] Mm-hmm.

[00:17:36] And he was early 20s.

[00:17:38] You know what I'm saying?

[00:17:39] Mm-hmm.

[00:17:39] Mm-hmm.

[00:17:40] So all of these things I'm exposed to are like running around and my young boy is going

[00:17:46] in and out of the youth house, you know, and the stories you hear from there.

[00:17:51] Absolutely.

[00:17:52] You know?

[00:17:52] So it's just a lot of that.

[00:17:53] So it trickles into the music.

[00:17:56] Yeah.

[00:17:56] You know?

[00:17:56] How can it not help?

[00:17:57] I mean, if that's what you're living and seeing every day, it's like being a street

[00:18:00] reporter.

[00:18:01] Right.

[00:18:01] Exactly.

[00:18:01] It's the report from the street.

[00:18:02] Facts.

[00:18:03] Right.

[00:18:04] That's right.

[00:18:05] So how do you, how do you look at what's happening right now?

[00:18:10] What kind of D1 and let's call it in the rest of the, you know, the secular rap industry.

[00:18:15] Yeah.

[00:18:15] Yeah.

[00:18:15] What's your take on that?

[00:18:17] Look, so me and some of the homies had conversations about this.

[00:18:21] And I understand D1's intentions are good.

[00:18:25] Yeah.

[00:18:25] He's being bold about the truth and he's standing 10 toes on it for sure.

[00:18:31] Um, but I do believe there is a certain way of addressing, you know, these guys because,

[00:18:39] you know, me personally, I would like to build a bridge with people first and then communicate

[00:18:47] the truth to them in a way where they don't feel like I'm condemning them or pointing the

[00:18:52] finger at them because who am I?

[00:18:54] Right.

[00:18:55] I'm a flawed human being like you.

[00:18:57] Right.

[00:18:57] I just happen to love Jesus and I choose to live life from a Christian worldview.

[00:19:02] Right.

[00:19:02] But I know what it's like to be lost.

[00:19:05] I know what it's like to not be aware.

[00:19:06] Absolutely.

[00:19:07] So there's a certain way me personally, I'm going to approach you because of where I come

[00:19:11] from, because of what I experienced.

[00:19:13] You know what I'm saying?

[00:19:13] And so, um, but Hey, if God was glorified and how D1 did it, then amen.

[00:19:18] Cause it was a trending topic.

[00:19:20] Yeah.

[00:19:20] It did go viral.

[00:19:21] Big time.

[00:19:22] You know what I'm saying?

[00:19:22] So, um, I would just hope, I feel like, and I don't, I didn't really, I didn't listen

[00:19:29] to all of D1's videos or whatever he put out there.

[00:19:32] I only saw a couple of things that were floating around on the internet.

[00:19:35] Yeah.

[00:19:35] But I would hope that in his interviews or in these conversations with these guys that,

[00:19:42] you know, he would take a humble approach of like, yo, look, you know, um, I'm not looking

[00:19:46] down on you.

[00:19:47] Yeah.

[00:19:48] You know, I'm just, I'm telling you that we all should be responsible with our platform.

[00:19:52] We all should be responsible with the things we said, but yeah, I respect y'all grind.

[00:19:56] Y'all came from the ghetto and y'all are be, are y'all are able to provide for your families.

[00:20:02] And that's beautiful because you put the hard work in.

[00:20:04] And I feel like that's one thing we got to do.

[00:20:06] We got to highlight what these guys do.

[00:20:08] Right.

[00:20:08] Yes.

[00:20:09] Not just focus on what they do wrong because if we only focus on what they do wrong, they're

[00:20:13] going to feel like, yo, y'all just, y'all doing like every, y'all behaving like every other

[00:20:16] person I know from church.

[00:20:18] Y'all just putting the fingers at us, acting like y'all better than us when y'all just in

[00:20:22] perfect.

[00:20:23] When I know there's a lot of funny stuff that goes on in our churches too.

[00:20:26] Right.

[00:20:26] You know what I'm saying?

[00:20:27] So my whole thing with, with D1, God forbid he gets caught in some type of scandal.

[00:20:31] He falls flat on his face in front of the whole world to see it.

[00:20:35] Now they blah.

[00:20:35] You see, that's what you get for, you know what I mean?

[00:20:37] And I hope that never happens, but we should also highlight what they do right.

[00:20:41] Like if I was D1, I'd be like, y'all Jim Jones or who else do you call Rick Ross?

[00:20:45] Rick Ross, Meek.

[00:20:46] Yeah.

[00:20:46] I'd be like, yo, listen, man, you know, I applaud you guys because I know it's not easy to

[00:20:49] be in the position that you win.

[00:20:51] It took hard work.

[00:20:52] It took consistency.

[00:20:53] It took learning the business.

[00:20:55] Like it took all of that to be where you at.

[00:20:58] So I want to also acknowledge that like you guys are legends in your neighborhood.

[00:21:01] You got out of the slums.

[00:21:03] You got out alive, but also, you know, let's be responsible with what we're putting into

[00:21:11] the music.

[00:21:11] Let's be responsible with the message that we're putting at the forefront.

[00:21:14] Yeah.

[00:21:15] And that's how, you know, that's pretty much my personal opinion on that.

[00:21:18] Yeah.

[00:21:18] So your playback is, you know, establish the relationship, acknowledge the good and then

[00:21:23] get to the construction.

[00:21:24] Salute them.

[00:21:24] Because when you salute them, especially street guys, they already got a chip on their shoulders.

[00:21:28] Like, yo, you don't know what I've been through.

[00:21:29] Who are you?

[00:21:30] Yeah.

[00:21:30] You know what I'm saying?

[00:21:30] Like, who's this kid do you want trying to tell me that, but I survived gunshots.

[00:21:34] I survived, you know, being in the worst type of situations.

[00:21:38] You know what I mean?

[00:21:39] Stick up kids trying to plot on me when I was out here selling drugs.

[00:21:41] You know what I mean?

[00:21:42] Like I survived things that you have no idea of.

[00:21:45] So who are you trying to embarrass me?

[00:21:46] Because that's how they're looking at it.

[00:21:47] I got you.

[00:21:48] You're looking at it.

[00:21:49] They're looking at like, why are you trying to embarrass me from all these people?

[00:21:51] And it's like, when you acknowledge like, yo, I know what it took to be where you

[00:21:56] are.

[00:22:00] I don't know what it took to be where you're at.

[00:22:02] So, but I am going to acknowledge that it took hard work to get there because not everyone

[00:22:06] makes it.

[00:22:06] It took consistency on your part.

[00:22:08] It took a level of intelligence to understand the business, to be where you're at.

[00:22:12] And I know internally you're already going through a lot of things because the Bible

[00:22:17] tells me that.

[00:22:17] The Bible says we deal with a deceitful heart.

[00:22:19] You know what I mean?

[00:22:20] We deal with this flesh that wants nothing to do with God.

[00:22:24] So it's like, I want to be able to be sensitive to that and still convey the truth and not

[00:22:30] compromise it.

[00:22:30] But package it in a way where it's like, they don't feel like they're being condemned

[00:22:38] or like we're pointing the finger at them.

[00:22:40] Because that doesn't work.

[00:22:41] Look at the reaction.

[00:22:42] It was more like a back and forth, heated, hostile, negative energy.

[00:22:46] But it's created some conversation.

[00:22:48] That's the part I do like about it.

[00:22:50] Yeah.

[00:22:50] Because I'm with you.

[00:22:51] I'm probably closer to you, man, because I tend to be diplomatic and want to talk things

[00:22:57] through, yeah, I'm definitely diplomatic, but I couldn't have done his approach either.

[00:23:02] Like, that's just not my way.

[00:23:03] But I also appreciate the fact that, I think the other day I saw a post with like Rakim

[00:23:08] saying to him, Rakim or someone like that saying like, keep going, bro.

[00:23:12] Like, we need this conversation because what it reminded me of too is, man, maybe 10, 12,

[00:23:17] 14 years ago, even when Drake talked about it and the problems he was having with Shug, right?

[00:23:22] Like, I'm not there anymore.

[00:23:24] Like that, we've grown up.

[00:23:26] I don't want that coming to my doorstep and my family.

[00:23:30] And I think those inflection points of people maturing and realizing some of, okay, that

[00:23:37] was that then, but we don't need that that way now.

[00:23:42] Right, right.

[00:23:42] Right?

[00:23:43] I think the level of honesty happening in these conversations, I'm not sure would have gotten

[00:23:49] here, at least not this quick.

[00:23:51] For sure.

[00:23:52] Without this.

[00:23:52] That's why I said, I want to be clear.

[00:23:53] Shout out to the brother D1, like I said, for boldly proclaiming the gospel and standing

[00:24:01] on his personal convictions and just saying it how he felt needed to be said.

[00:24:06] I definitely respect that as well.

[00:24:08] You know what I mean?

[00:24:09] But if you're asking me how I'm looking at it, that's how I would have handled it.

[00:24:13] That's how I'm looking at it.

[00:24:14] So how do you, because given what you do and again, how long you've done it, how do you,

[00:24:21] if you, how do you balance all this in your area, right?

[00:24:25] Man, just talk about balancing, man, faith, family, and your fruit.

[00:24:30] I mean, you're bearing a lot of fruit, bro.

[00:24:31] You put out a lot of work.

[00:24:33] Praise God.

[00:24:33] I mean, the last 18 months, it was like a resurgence of YPAK, your fault.

[00:24:38] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:24:39] And I know you did the piece with, you know, partnering up with Doc and RMG Amplify, which

[00:24:43] helped too.

[00:24:44] And so how are you balancing all that?

[00:24:47] Yo, man, I tell people, like, when I'm writing rhymes, my kids could be, you know, fighting.

[00:24:53] How many do you have?

[00:24:54] I have two boys.

[00:24:55] Okay, what ages?

[00:24:56] 15 and 11.

[00:24:58] Yes, you got handful.

[00:24:59] Yeah, handful.

[00:25:00] So, like, you know, my lady could be doing her thing.

[00:25:04] My kids could be doing something else.

[00:25:05] And in the middle of all of that going on, I'll just put my headphones on and start writing.

[00:25:10] You know, as far as, like, balancing studio and family.

[00:25:13] So, like, you know, my sons, they live in Jersey.

[00:25:17] You know, they're from a prior relationship.

[00:25:21] So, obviously, I live in the Bronx.

[00:25:22] However, I'm heavily involved in their lives.

[00:25:26] So, basketball season comes around.

[00:25:28] Yes.

[00:25:28] Right?

[00:25:28] But I'm working on a project.

[00:25:30] Right?

[00:25:30] So, what I'll do is I'll book studio session.

[00:25:33] Shout out to my man, Bugs, or my man, Gabe.

[00:25:35] These are two separate studios I record at.

[00:25:37] I'll hit them up and be like, yo, look, my son has practiced from 5 to 7.

[00:25:41] So, let me get in there from, like, 8 to 10.

[00:25:44] So, I'll go handle my daddy duties, take my son to practice, feed them, talk to them, hang out with them,

[00:25:51] take them back to where they got to go.

[00:25:53] Then I'll go work and hit the studio.

[00:25:55] You know?

[00:25:56] So, I just try to balance out.

[00:25:57] Yeah.

[00:25:58] The two.

[00:25:59] You know what I mean?

[00:26:00] If I'm shooting a video, which are now reels.

[00:26:05] Reels is what's lit now.

[00:26:06] Right.

[00:26:06] You know?

[00:26:07] Either I'll have them come with me, sometimes even shoot it with me, or, you know, I'll balance it out.

[00:26:13] I'll be like, all right, cool.

[00:26:13] I'm going to go handle this for, like, half an hour to an hour.

[00:26:16] And then, boom, I'm going to make sure I devote some time, you know, and make sure I give my family, you know, their two or three hours throughout the day.

[00:26:24] Because then you also need time for yourself to unwind.

[00:26:27] You know what I mean?

[00:26:28] Unwind or whatnot.

[00:26:28] For sure.

[00:26:29] And I'll make sure I do that as well.

[00:26:31] For sure.

[00:26:31] So, you know, it's all about structuring all of this.

[00:26:34] Yeah.

[00:26:34] That's good.

[00:26:35] And I thank God for that.

[00:26:36] Because, you know, that takes, I pray about it.

[00:26:38] I'm like, Lord, give me the wisdom that I need to be able to balance all of this out.

[00:26:42] Those are nuggets for people, man.

[00:26:44] Those are nuggets.

[00:26:44] Because, I mean, truly, you've put out a lot of projects.

[00:26:46] And you just got to do it.

[00:26:48] Yeah.

[00:26:48] Like, that's another thing.

[00:26:49] Like, when I say I'm going to, like, if somebody reaches out to me for a verse, I'm like, I'm going to do that verse because I'm working right now.

[00:26:57] This is part of the grind.

[00:26:58] Right.

[00:26:58] Especially if it's somebody who I know is giving me an opportunity.

[00:27:01] Yeah.

[00:27:02] That if I get on their platform, more eyes is on what I got going on.

[00:27:06] If I said I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it.

[00:27:08] I think this is a mistake a lot of artists make is they start slacking.

[00:27:13] Oh, I'll get to that later.

[00:27:14] Oh, I'll do that later.

[00:27:15] Oh, I'll do that later.

[00:27:16] Is that a common thing?

[00:27:17] I think so.

[00:27:18] That's another mistake artists make, too, is they don't put out the music.

[00:27:21] Right, right.

[00:27:22] It just sits in a hard drive for three or four years.

[00:27:24] Why?

[00:27:25] I think a lot of artists are very self-conscious and they want to operate in the spirit of excellency, but they don't realize that they're becoming stagnant doing that.

[00:27:33] And by the time they put out the music that they've had sitting on a hard drive, it sounds a little dated by the time it come out.

[00:27:42] You know what I mean?

[00:27:42] Yeah.

[00:27:43] It's not as relevant.

[00:27:44] So you've jumped into the six-week Spotify algorithm.

[00:27:48] Right.

[00:27:48] You've jumped in.

[00:27:49] Yeah.

[00:27:50] So it's like that's another thing, too.

[00:27:51] I'm constantly dropping because I understand how this algorithm game works.

[00:27:55] Yeah, yeah.

[00:27:55] You know?

[00:27:56] Like I've noticed, okay, my numbers on Spotify continue to spike up by consistently putting out the music.

[00:28:03] So you've got to be consistent.

[00:28:05] If you want to see some type of progress, obviously I'm not where I want to be.

[00:28:09] But if you want to see progress, bro, you've got to be consistent.

[00:28:12] You've got to commit to whatever you say you're going to do when it comes to recording a verse, putting out a project.

[00:28:19] You've got to stick to it.

[00:28:21] So if an artist says, all right, I'm putting out the single 11-29, put out that single 11-29.

[00:28:26] Don't say, oh, no, I'll put that out next year.

[00:28:29] Because the next year comes whatever whole bunch of other opportunities come.

[00:28:32] Now that single that you're going to put out is just stuck there now.

[00:28:36] And it's just, you know, you've just got to do it, man.

[00:28:39] You've transitioned with the business, man.

[00:28:41] Yeah, yeah.

[00:28:41] Yeah, you've transitioned.

[00:28:42] You know, it's interesting because a lot of folks, to the point that we talked about earlier, of who you share stages with are not doing it.

[00:28:49] And then some who are doing it, fewer have transitioned than more.

[00:28:55] Right?

[00:28:56] Yeah.

[00:28:56] In terms of holding on to the old ways of wanting to do it.

[00:29:00] And this is how we used to do it.

[00:29:01] Right.

[00:29:02] Versus being a student of what's happening.

[00:29:04] And quite honestly, bro, that's kind of been you for a minute.

[00:29:07] I mean, first of all, thank you, man.

[00:29:08] If I never said it then, I'm going to say it again.

[00:29:10] I'm going to say it now.

[00:29:11] And if I did, I'm saying it again.

[00:29:13] Like, when we were conversing over 10 years ago, one of the things that we would talk about, I don't know if you remember this, it's just business things and marketing.

[00:29:23] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:29:23] And even when I was struggling to do, I was trying to market something.

[00:29:27] And you said, hey, I got this email list.

[00:29:29] Like, I don't want you to beat it up.

[00:29:31] But I'm going to share it with you if you use this sparingly.

[00:29:34] Like, I remember you telling me this.

[00:29:36] Like, don't.

[00:29:37] Praise God.

[00:29:37] Like, I'm going to share this list with you, Trig.

[00:29:39] But don't make me regret it, bro.

[00:29:42] Yeah, yeah, for sure.

[00:29:43] You probably don't even remember.

[00:29:44] I don't.

[00:29:44] But it was so helpful, man.

[00:29:46] I forget what I was working on, but you shared your resources with me.

[00:29:49] And so, thank you, bro.

[00:29:50] Thank you.

[00:29:50] Listen, man, I try to do that even with my guys.

[00:29:54] You know who's like that, too?

[00:29:55] Shout out to my boy C4 Crotona.

[00:29:56] Because, you know, he has put me on to a lot of stuff, too, especially when it comes to the reels and how the Instagram algorithm works.

[00:30:03] Yes.

[00:30:04] But, like, I feel like that's what's dope about me and my crew.

[00:30:07] It's like, we want to share the information.

[00:30:09] We don't want to just keep it to ourselves.

[00:30:11] Yeah.

[00:30:11] Like, I see my man, the commissioner, moving and God using him the way he's using him, and that makes me happy.

[00:30:17] Yeah.

[00:30:17] Because I'm like, yo, that's what's up.

[00:30:19] Like, the techniques work.

[00:30:20] Yeah.

[00:30:21] The hard work, the consistency, it works.

[00:30:24] Like, the fruits are big.

[00:30:25] We're seeing the fruits being bared.

[00:30:27] You know what I mean?

[00:30:27] We're bearing that fruit, you know?

[00:30:29] Yeah.

[00:30:29] We're seeing the progress.

[00:30:31] And you're saying, like, that whole thing of the shift to reels from full video.

[00:30:34] Right.

[00:30:34] I mean, it's amazing to watch it all in terms of, you know, back in the day.

[00:30:39] Yes.

[00:30:40] It was music videos.

[00:30:41] It was music videos.

[00:30:41] Yeah.

[00:30:42] And even during the release was like pulling back this giant slingshot and all these things.

[00:30:46] Right.

[00:30:46] And now it's just so different.

[00:30:48] Now it's just being present on social media.

[00:30:51] And I'm going to be honest, I don't really like the social media game because I come from

[00:30:54] that era of like, you know, music videos.

[00:30:57] You're letting the label pretty much doing the marketing and all of this stuff.

[00:31:01] But now the artist's got to kind of be everything.

[00:31:03] The manager, the marketing, the, you know, everything.

[00:31:06] The music director.

[00:31:07] You know, I shoot my own reels and I got to be creative with how that's going to look

[00:31:11] and how we're going to put it on the platform.

[00:31:12] And what am I going to put in the caption that's going to have people engage?

[00:31:17] Like, all of this is part of the package now.

[00:31:19] So you're doing most of it yourself?

[00:31:21] Yeah.

[00:31:21] I do a lot of my own reels.

[00:31:23] I do a lot of, you know, the guillotine stuff.

[00:31:25] Like as far, you know, some stuff Pastor Charles does for the commissioner and then

[00:31:28] other times I do it for him and stuff like that.

[00:31:31] And yeah, but my own reels for the most part, you know, I'll do them, you know, as far

[00:31:36] as editing and picking spots and got it.

[00:31:39] Yeah.

[00:31:39] Got it.

[00:31:39] Got it.

[00:31:40] Yeah.

[00:31:40] Got it.

[00:31:41] This last, this last record though, my last record and the judge, which is not

[00:31:44] boom, but actually shout out to my guy, who produced it.

[00:31:48] C4 Cretona actually came out to the Bronx and he was like, yo, I'm going to shoot

[00:31:50] this video for you.

[00:31:52] And so I appreciate, I appreciate him for that.

[00:31:54] Shout out to A.O. Shamir.

[00:31:55] He's been killing it.

[00:31:56] He's been killing it.

[00:31:57] On the production.

[00:31:57] He's been killing it.

[00:31:58] Putting together some nice pieces.

[00:31:59] Yeah.

[00:31:59] He's one of the best producers in our space.

[00:32:01] Yeah.

[00:32:02] I got no argument, man.

[00:32:04] What is, what's held you in terms of your personal faith walk, man?

[00:32:09] What are some of the things you hold dear in terms of these are some of the truisms and

[00:32:13] whatnot that have held me down?

[00:32:16] One of my favorite Bible verses is be swift to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger.

[00:32:21] You know, as you can hear my music, as a young kid growing up, I was always getting into like

[00:32:27] fights and stuff like that.

[00:32:28] You know what I mean?

[00:32:29] Some of my friends call me KO and all of this stuff.

[00:32:31] Like I, I'm not glorifying none of it, but like I look into my past, I'm like, wow, there

[00:32:36] was a lot of anger there.

[00:32:37] There was a lot of hostility, like a lot of violence in my home.

[00:32:41] There was a lot of violence.

[00:32:42] And, uh, the Bible verses like being swift to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger has

[00:32:49] been therapeutic for me to not lash out and act out right away.

[00:32:53] I'm not saying I got that down pack, but I've seen major progress where at one point in

[00:32:58] my life there was conflict and hostility and negative energy every other day to now,

[00:33:05] uh, you know, just being older in life, maturing as a man, but more importantly, maturing as

[00:33:10] a Christian man, I've seen, you know, I've seen me apply that scripture, you know, at

[00:33:16] a whole other level.

[00:33:17] Yeah.

[00:33:18] You know what I mean?

[00:33:18] And literally I've asked God, Lord remind me, you know, the word says, you know, write

[00:33:23] the scriptures like a tablet on your heart.

[00:33:25] I literally pray and I'm like, Lord, help me write this as a tablet on my heart.

[00:33:30] Like speak to me with these Bible verses.

[00:33:33] I don't want to just read them to just read them.

[00:33:35] I want to actually apply them.

[00:33:36] That's good.

[00:33:37] So, you know, that, um, that one sticks out to me a lot.

[00:33:41] Um, you know, when the apostle Paul says things like, you know, that, that I want to

[00:33:46] do, I, I don't do and that, that I don't want to do.

[00:33:48] I do, you know, in that whole context of like him, you seeing a man who loves God, but he's

[00:33:54] frustrated because he's dealing with his imperfections as a man before a holy God.

[00:33:59] So those scriptures helped me understand.

[00:34:04] And like, you know what, while we're still in these earth suits, while we're still here

[00:34:09] and our flesh, we're going to go through things.

[00:34:12] We're going to have our ups and downs.

[00:34:14] No doubt.

[00:34:15] Some days we're not going to want to be peaceful.

[00:34:16] Some days we're not going to want to be loving.

[00:34:18] Some days, you know, you might see an attractive female walk by.

[00:34:21] You might look too long, but like, wow, Lord, forgive me for that.

[00:34:24] You know what I mean?

[00:34:24] Like, let's keep it 100.

[00:34:26] That's right.

[00:34:26] Let's keep it 100.

[00:34:27] Like we're still, we're still dealing with the human experience.

[00:34:31] You know what I mean?

[00:34:32] Absolutely.

[00:34:33] Um, just a lot of the, a lot of the stories of how the men of God who fell and bounced

[00:34:38] back, you know what I mean?

[00:34:39] Like the grace of God was magnified.

[00:34:42] Even when I, when there was a season where I was really wailing and I was mad at God,

[00:34:47] just mad at a lot of things that I even took a pause for music.

[00:34:50] I think my last mixtape was with DJ Wado.

[00:34:53] Shout out to DJ Wado.

[00:34:54] We put that out around 2013 to 2014.

[00:34:57] I think it was called the proclamation mixtape.

[00:35:00] And after that, I kind of just went downhill, just going through a lot of things in my personal

[00:35:04] life and I kind of disappeared for like two years.

[00:35:07] Gotcha.

[00:35:07] And, uh, and, and those two years, even though I was in a place of darkness, I feel like God

[00:35:14] was making his grace known to me.

[00:35:17] He was showing me how unconditional his love really is.

[00:35:22] You know what I'm saying?

[00:35:22] Because I'm in this, in this place of darkness.

[00:35:25] I'm not practicing holiness.

[00:35:26] I'm not praying.

[00:35:27] I'm not reading.

[00:35:28] I don't, I don't want nothing to do with Christians and God still, you know, dealing

[00:35:33] with my heart, still loving on me, still reminding me daily of who he is.

[00:35:38] And it humbled me.

[00:35:39] And that's why with the whole D1 situation, I take a different approach now.

[00:35:43] Cause I'm like, man, I know what it's like to fall flat on my face and, and God's still

[00:35:48] be patient with me, be loving with me.

[00:35:50] You know how the scripture says he's slow to anger.

[00:35:52] He's patient with us.

[00:35:53] I experienced that.

[00:35:55] So that's why now when I minister to people, I come with that grace, with that understanding,

[00:36:00] because I saw how God was with me in that place of darkness.

[00:36:03] That's good.

[00:36:04] You know what I'm saying?

[00:36:04] That's good, bro.

[00:36:05] Bro, let's, uh, let's close on, on this one.

[00:36:08] Um, let's talk about the future.

[00:36:10] Okay.

[00:36:11] Three years from now, your sons are 18 and 14.

[00:36:15] That's right.

[00:36:16] Um, where are you?

[00:36:19] Where is Christian hip hop?

[00:36:21] What's happening with your family?

[00:36:23] Three years from now.

[00:36:24] Uh, if you had to predict, I'm hoping that I'm able to, at that point, be doing music

[00:36:30] full time, um, where I'm able to bless my family.

[00:36:35] With it as well.

[00:36:37] Um, and just opening the door for a whole bunch of artists like myself, who maybe didn't

[00:36:44] make a Rapzilla freshman list.

[00:36:46] You know what I'm saying?

[00:36:47] Who maybe was overlooked a lot in their career.

[00:36:50] I could, but still just focused on the mission, keeping God first, being consistent, working

[00:36:57] hard, studying your craft, like being that, um, role model or for lack of better word, role

[00:37:03] model.

[00:37:04] I guess that was, or the blueprint.

[00:37:05] Yeah.

[00:37:05] Even the blue.

[00:37:06] Yeah.

[00:37:06] And it's like, yo, stick to your sound, put God first, study your craft, be consistent.

[00:37:13] The hard work will pay off.

[00:37:15] Look at where I'm at.

[00:37:16] Right.

[00:37:17] You know what I mean?

[00:37:17] Look at what God has done with my platform.

[00:37:19] Look, I'm able to, uh, you know, um, bless my family and provide for them working hard

[00:37:24] and what I love to do.

[00:37:26] Yes.

[00:37:26] You know what I'm saying?

[00:37:27] So, and, uh, and that gritty sound being like respected opposed to like, oh yeah, those

[00:37:34] are the gritty guys over there.

[00:37:35] You know what I'm saying?

[00:37:36] No one says that.

[00:37:37] You think no one says that?

[00:37:38] No one says that.

[00:37:39] I don't know.

[00:37:39] I don't know.

[00:37:40] But I feel like the, the, I feel like gritty, the gritty sound is definitely, um, being

[00:37:46] respected.

[00:37:46] It is the minority in terms of like what's being played.

[00:37:49] Right.

[00:37:50] You feel what I'm saying?

[00:37:51] I feel what you're saying.

[00:37:52] I don't want it to be the minority.

[00:37:53] I want it to be like gritty rappers that are getting booked like KB's getting booked.

[00:37:57] Yeah.

[00:37:57] Like a Lecrae's getting booked.

[00:37:58] I feel, I'm with them.

[00:37:59] You get what I'm saying?

[00:38:00] Yeah.

[00:38:00] We got to figure out how Holy Coach can help.

[00:38:02] We've been adding more and more to rotations, but we get, um, yeah, we, we, we, we got

[00:38:07] to talk.

[00:38:07] Me, me, you, and C4 Cortona.

[00:38:09] We got to talk.

[00:38:09] And I'm going to say this too.

[00:38:11] Yeah.

[00:38:11] I feel like gritty is getting the exposure is getting now because a lot of the guys that were

[00:38:16] my age, young, who are getting saved right now, they're still in their thirties, forties,

[00:38:20] fifties.

[00:38:21] Yeah.

[00:38:21] They love that.

[00:38:22] They used to be fans of Mobb Deep.

[00:38:24] They used to be fans of Nas.

[00:38:25] They used to be fans of Jay-Z, even underground rappers like Ransom.

[00:38:29] Look what's happening on the secular side, like with Griselda and all of these guys.

[00:38:33] Some of their careers are being resurrected because Boom Bap is at the forefront again.

[00:38:36] And New York is special.

[00:38:38] New York.

[00:38:38] I mean, listen, how many legends we have in New York?

[00:38:41] When I was up there for the, um, the KCA event the night before you think you got bars?

[00:38:46] Uh-huh.

[00:38:47] I missed that one.

[00:38:48] How was it?

[00:38:48] Brother, the KCA's there.

[00:38:49] They were going crazy?

[00:38:50] Malachi the truth.

[00:38:52] I'm just going to salute him right now.

[00:38:54] The acapella pieces he did.

[00:38:55] He went crazy?

[00:38:57] I'm mad I missed it.

[00:38:58] I'm mad I missed it.

[00:38:59] Second to none.

[00:38:59] Those acapella pieces, man, because not only was he, um, for lack of better terms, theatrical

[00:39:05] in the delivery.

[00:39:06] Yeah.

[00:39:07] Every bar was a bar.

[00:39:09] Wow.

[00:39:10] Like every bar.

[00:39:10] No bar was wasted.

[00:39:11] There were no bars wasted.

[00:39:12] There were no words wasted.

[00:39:13] It was substance and it was art and it was precious, man.

[00:39:20] So salute to Malachi the truth.

[00:39:22] Salute to Malachi, man.

[00:39:23] That's what's up.

[00:39:23] Tell people where they can reach you, man, and get this project.

[00:39:26] Yo, so November 15th, long as the Lord say available on all digital platforms, Spotify,

[00:39:33] Apple, YouTube, Tidal, all digital platforms.

[00:39:36] I got two singles out right now from that project, Chasing Nightmares and Bang Bang, produced

[00:39:41] by my man Wong De Beats.

[00:39:43] You know what I mean?

[00:39:44] So yeah, if you want to get a feel of what that album's going to sound like, we got two

[00:39:46] records out there right now for you.

[00:39:48] We also have a different record that's out right now that's outside of that EP, but I'm

[00:39:52] working on a separate project with Shamir.

[00:39:55] Not a lot of people know that.

[00:39:57] Shamir going to come out in 2025.

[00:39:59] And, you know, we did something a little different with Aaron Judge, even though, you know, we

[00:40:04] didn't have favor with the Yanks.

[00:40:06] You know what I'm saying?

[00:40:08] You know, Aaron Judge couldn't get a hit, but we helped him out with this one.

[00:40:11] You know what I'm saying?

[00:40:12] So Aaron Judge out now as well on all digital platforms, November 15th, long as the Lord

[00:40:18] say.

[00:40:18] That's what's up, y'all.

[00:40:19] Y'all heard it first here.

[00:40:21] Yeah.

[00:40:21] YP, a.k.a.

[00:40:22] Young Paul.

[00:40:23] Go check out this new project.

[00:40:25] Follow him on all his social platforms.

[00:40:27] Yes, sir.

[00:40:27] Holley.

[00:40:27] Go ahead and stream.

[00:40:28] Go ahead and pre-save long as the Lord say.

[00:40:31] Go ahead and pre-save and run them numbers up to support the brother.

[00:40:33] Yes, sir.

[00:40:33] Yes, sir.

[00:40:34] Good to have you, bro.

[00:40:35] Likewise.

[00:40:35] I appreciate you, Trey.

[00:40:36] You a legend in this thing, man.

[00:40:37] Oh, man.

[00:40:38] Thank you, brother.

[00:40:38] It's an honor to sit across from a legend, man.

[00:40:40] Oh, come on now.

[00:40:40] Thank you, brother.

[00:40:40] I love what y'all doing.

[00:40:41] Love it.

[00:40:42] Thank you.

[00:40:42] Yes, sir.

[00:40:43] Much love, y'all.

[00:40:43] Till next time.

[00:40:44] Be blessed.