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Jimmie Allen Talks New Music with Nelly, The Game, K-Ci, Earth Wind & Fire, Elton John & More
Jul 2, 2022
Country music star, Jimmie Allen gave exclusive insight into his new music on the way with a bevy of stars!
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Exclusive interviews from Sway Calloway and the Sway In The Morning/ SwaysUniverse.com team with some of today's biggest celebrities, like Kevin Hart, Kanye West, Eminem, Usher, Jessica Alba, Steve Aoki, Torey Lanez, Julia Stiles and so much more.
Jimmie Allen Talks New Music with Nelly, The Game, K-Ci, Earth Wind & Fire, Elton John & More
https://youtu.be/21iW3RyWV7c
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0:00
i think he's he's finally here man it's
0:02
a he said man we got jimmy allen up in
0:04
here y'all yo
0:05
[Applause]
0:08
bonnie came home man hi how are you
0:10
doing what's up good morning
0:12
what up bro
0:13
what up man jimmy allen's just sitting
0:15
in he just hanging out we we we we
0:17
communicate via text okay have to be
0:19
turn this mic on for this text message
0:21
tuesday it is text message tuesday
0:24
tuesday yeah man
0:26
let's go how you doing man good man up
0:28
here uh promoting new records remember i
0:30
hit you yesterday yeah cause we was
0:31
gonna swing through whatever i didn't
0:33
even know like i yeah i was hop by say
0:35
what's up man so we're in new york
0:37
doing uh the new record uh
0:39
tulip drive just came out tulip drive
0:42
yeah so it's like it's country but uh i
0:44
always try to like put something on
0:46
there for everybody so i got a song with
0:47
jayla on there i got a song with t-pain
0:49
and see little green called pesos
0:51
so
0:52
we got country hip-hop pop rock some
0:55
christian stuff on there so it's kind of
0:56
like
0:57
disney world for music to where
0:59
everybody can go and find something
1:01
dude i i i can't think of what show you
1:04
did and i texted you i feel like
1:05
afterwards and just um just
1:08
congratulated you man i think you what
1:10
you doing in that that genre you know
1:12
help raise a lot of questions and give
1:14
people a lot of insight about country
1:15
music you know and folks don't realize
1:17
that it came from black folks yeah bruh
1:19
it's a lot of uh so i tell people all
1:21
the time there's a lot of black country
1:22
artists out there because i grew up
1:23
milton delaware and all my dad let's do
1:25
his country music my grandpa too uh he
1:28
was my i saw my dad listen to him my mom
1:30
went to his christian music so like
1:32
you know fred hammond uh you know
1:35
brooklyn tabernacle choir
1:37
andre crouch daryl coley i grew up
1:39
listening to all that same time i was
1:41
listening to aaron timp and allen
1:42
jackson sawyer brown you know then i had
1:45
to get into uh hip-hop and yeah we got
1:48
to use one of your songs for good news
1:49
thursday then absolutely hey that song
1:51
me and nelly got good times rolling good
1:53
times roll yeah
1:55
that's the christian that's the
1:56
christian which one is that so the good
1:57
news thursday a song called uh pray
2:00
there's another song called uh
2:02
uh uh you won't be alone i don't want to
2:05
write about my son
2:06
but yeah it's been fun man just being
2:08
able to
2:10
you know i feel like
2:11
representation is important
2:13
like you know shout out to the og
2:15
charlie pride uh deford bailey uh darius
2:18
rucker kane brown tony jackson brown
2:21
cleve uh cleve francis
2:24
so many new ones coming up chuck adams
2:26
camille parker uh breeland blanco
2:31
i just signed this band called neon
2:32
unions this dude this black guy named uh
2:35
leo he was pit bulls bass player the
2:37
last eight years but he was a country
2:39
artist so i'm putting with this guy
2:40
named andrew so they're duo now i just
2:42
got there
2:43
got this stuff rolling man so it's it's
2:45
been cool man you know
2:47
just blessed i got to host that uh abc
2:50
sullivan nation yeah and i got to meet
2:52
marvin sabin bill i about lost my mind
2:54
brother
2:55
you had a good run bro it wasn't always
2:57
easy though right nah man i moved to
2:59
nashville from delaware 2007.
3:02
uh i lived in this trailer with no
3:03
electric five months lived in my car for
3:05
five months damn i was a janitor
3:08
overnight stock at walmart then i just
3:10
picked up other jobs because i had a son
3:12
my son was born in 2014. i'm like
3:14
i can still chase my dream but my son
3:16
shouldn't have to suffer what he needs
3:18
or what he wants so
3:19
we would still i was you know i would
3:21
just pick up extra jobs we could still
3:22
hit disney world you know what i mean so
3:25
yes but uh it paid off i feel like when
3:27
you work for something yeah you
3:28
appreciate it yeah
3:30
a whole lot more yeah uh man well you
3:33
you've been killing it and i you did
3:35
american idol too right yeah i was a
3:37
mentor on there last season and then uh
3:39
this season cause i actually did it as a
3:40
contestant
3:42
when jayla was a judge that's crazy
3:43
having wow that's wild did y'all reflect
3:46
on that though man does she remember you
3:48
from there yeah she does remember me
3:49
from there and then i got to play new
3:50
year's rocking eve going into 2021 right
3:53
before her um you know uh but yeah man i
3:56
only made top 40 on the show so when i
3:58
went back as a as a mentor you know all
4:01
these contestants asked me all this
4:02
advice about the show i said y'all made
4:03
it fallen i did
4:05
top 24. but i tell them i said look i
4:08
said don't look at this show as like
4:10
a competition don't look at these other
4:11
artists as competition because the only
4:12
person you're in competition with is
4:14
yourself yeah because no matter how much
4:16
you admire another artist you will never
4:17
be able to do what they do yeah and they
4:19
will never be able to do what you do
4:20
true so look at other artists as
4:22
inspiration ways to improve ways to get
4:25
better like i don't see darius's
4:26
competition i don't see kane as
4:28
competition i don't see chris brown's
4:29
competition i don't see one republic's
4:30
competition i see these artists as
4:32
artists that i respect their music i
4:34
love it what can i learn from what they
4:36
do especially the opportunity of
4:38
collaboration
4:40
that's true uh man jimmy allen is here
4:42
man look at his waves have to be i don't
4:44
know what kind of wave cap that man got
4:46
but he might have to
4:49
go to the neck because i normally always
4:50
wear a bandana
4:52
your waves are great that's kind of like
4:53
the hotel
4:54
your representation is so important to
4:56
to uh the music community as a whole
4:59
what kind of reception have you gotten
5:01
over the years with the country audience
5:03
man it's been great i tell people this
5:04
before i got my record deal i had 3 000
5:07
followers on instagram wow and i tell
5:09
people
5:11
see a lot of people
5:13
the way my parents raised me my dad's
5:14
from the small town where i'm from but
5:16
my mom's from the bay my mom's in
5:17
richmond california that's what it is
5:19
about him my mom from the beginning it
5:20
was something i knew he had blood in
5:22
them
5:24
she from uh she grew up in easter hill
5:26
okay yeah okay yeah i went there
5:31
but uh
5:32
they raised me to focus on what we can
5:34
control and what we can't because a lot
5:36
of people ask me well jimmy just does
5:38
country music support black people they
5:40
support women i said i tell you what
5:42
focus on the music first because just
5:43
like every genre country media supports
5:45
good music so what i chose to do instead
5:47
of looking at where i'm from and what i
5:48
look like let's write good songs first
5:51
you know what i'm saying let's write
5:52
good songs
5:54
and then let's let the song tell the
5:55
story and then if success happens people
5:57
will see on black i don't hide that at
5:59
all so i was like let's leave with good
6:01
music let's build success and then i can
6:03
be an inspiration because so many people
6:04
feel like want to be an inspiration
6:06
before they put out good music like
6:07
you're a musician you need music first
6:09
you know what i'm saying so then you
6:11
kind of you build your story from there
6:13
so that's what i just chose to focus on
6:15
uh my work ethic how i treat people and
6:18
the quality of music um i put out and
6:20
then everything else kind of
6:22
you know country radio has been well all
6:24
these festivals
6:26
you know tv stations showing love
6:28
um you know it's been great i'm a part
6:30
of the black music collective for the
6:32
grammys um just trying to create great
6:36
music and be involved and try to find
6:37
ways to show people you know what we're
6:39
a lot more alike uh than we are
6:41
different jimmy island man know this
6:43
dang this dude is incredible he's huge
6:46
and he's hanging out with a hoodie on
6:50
the telly other than nelly who what
6:51
other hip-hop artists have you uh collab
6:53
with man man it's me in the game did a
6:55
song together it was nice not released
6:57
yet you in the game yeah man did you go
7:00
to the west coast man i did it so i
7:02
finally met him at the studio but i i
7:04
did this song and i said it to my boy
7:06
vic and lonnie and lonnie knows the game
7:08
real well um so he hopped on it um i did
7:11
one with uh me and pitbull got it right
7:13
okay uh me and earth wind and fire
7:15
they're sawing together wow earth wind
7:17
and fire this is a variety you know john
7:20
got a song together on this new record
7:21
called beating the bones um
7:24
uh who else i got one with rob thomas
7:26
that's not released
7:29
yeah uh
7:29
casey from casey and jojo did a record
7:32
yeah how do you get casey away from jojo
7:35
i went to his house in carolina when i
7:37
played a show down there he mad kubrow
7:39
you went to his house yeah and the whole
7:41
time i'm sitting there just tripping
7:42
like yo this is casey from casey and
7:44
jojo yeah he's like mad cool bro like
7:47
and i did this whole collab record came
7:49
out in 2020 um i titled it betty james
7:51
gold edition i named it after my grand
7:53
mom and my father rest in peace so i got
7:56
to work with the oak ridge boys uh
7:59
what is the difference when you're
8:00
working with like a oak ridge boys in a
8:03
in a
8:04
in a game yeah the crazy thing is not a
8:06
lot bro really it's artists that are
8:09
good at what they do and they respect
8:10
music because all genres is is a
8:13
language if you stripped away the
8:15
production
8:16
and this to the lyrics a lot of us
8:17
saying the same thing we're talking
8:18
about how we used to live how we live
8:20
hope and love yep and all the genre
8:23
music is this this this it's what grabs
8:26
the listeners attention to listen to the
8:27
words so if you're a hip-hop fan yeah
8:30
the heavy beat the heavy drums is what
8:31
grabs their attention to listen to the
8:33
message if you're a rock fan it's those
8:34
guitars that grab you so you can listen
8:37
to the message so that's how i listen
8:39
that's how i look at genres it's just a
8:40
language we're preaching pretty much the
8:42
same message and hip-hop and country is
8:44
very similar it's worship music to a way
8:46
of life i'm saying if you listen to a
8:48
lot of hip-hop artists talking about
8:50
kind of how they grew up and kind of
8:51
people kind of in that same lifestyle
8:53
they used to be in same thing with
8:54
country it's like nine to five blue
8:56
collar middle america yeah you know a
8:58
lot of countries talk about working nine
9:00
to five we're not working nine to fives
9:01
no more but that music is designed to
9:04
help people continue to push through
9:06
where they are and help them to learn to
9:08
advance where they are that's why
9:10
country and christian i mean uh hip-hop
9:12
and country are very similar in like the
9:15
messages and like the storytelling hence
9:16
why i love them both can you come back
9:18
and maybe do a play for us oh yeah dude
9:21
we should make that happen yeah man
9:22
cause this is just jimmy allen stopping
9:24
by he got another they got a lot of
9:25
stuff
9:26
yeah
9:27
cause i ain't know you was here today
9:29
cause i know he was off the other day
9:30
whatever i just faced time to say what's
9:32
up i said you in the studio that's
9:33
swinging through i didn't know y'all was
9:34
on
9:39
shout out to my tour manager and my
9:41
manager because i don't be knowing what
9:42
side is it my job is to show up my
9:45
little skinny jeans normally in my boots
9:46
and smile and louie back yeah
9:57
hey man write that book jimmy allen yeah
10:00
man
10:00
that crazy thing is i got a book out
10:02
called my voice is a trumpet it's a
10:04
kid's bit
10:05
wow i like that title yeah it's teaching
10:07
kids to use their voice because like you
10:10
know a trump is a very distinctive
10:11
instrument and it can't be it can't be
10:14
washed out by anything so that means
10:15
your voice you are the trumpet your
10:17
voice is who you are as a person so
10:20
you know that book is for me is designed
10:22
to help kids build confidence because i
10:23
feel like this whole bullying thing
10:25
would go away dog if parents actually
10:27
did what my parents did
10:29
instill so much confidence in their kids
10:31
to where somebody says something to them
10:33
it don't matter right they're non-factor
10:35
it's words man so like that's what i
10:37
hate when i see like parents go on
10:38
social media talking about my kid was
10:40
bullied well you didn't do your job as a
10:42
parent you didn't prepare them for the
10:44
world you help them with their grades
10:46
that's great but you didn't build their
10:47
confidence up so much to where someone
10:49
said something to me it don't matter
10:51
like i got people tried to pick on me
10:53
but they didn't matter i could only
10:54
imagine because i knew who i was right
10:56
so i challenge parents i challenge any
10:58
adult that has any child in their life
11:00
whether it's a neighbor a nephew or
11:02
whatever your job is to build this kid
11:04
up so much
11:05
that they're not wavering they know who
11:07
they are they know where they come from
11:08
they know their worth that's the biggest
11:10
thing so that's what my voice is of
11:11
trump is about jimmy allen man tell them
11:13
what you got coming up man coming up now
11:16
uh my album tulip drive is out now
11:19
i was still on the road doing country
11:20
festivals
11:21
i'm going on tour this fall with carrie
11:23
underwood the um denim and rhinestones
11:26
tour
11:40
see country music focuses on a career
11:44
a lot of times popping stuff is a moment
11:47
right now like you can have
11:49
one hit in country and tour the rest of
11:52
your life
11:53
to where you see now i hate to see it it
11:56
shouldn't take
11:57
five r b hip-hop legends to fill up an
12:00
arena dog
12:02
you know i mean why why should it take
12:04
why does it take nelly genuine uh black
12:06
street yin yang twins all them the
12:09
philippine arena man i feel like you
12:10
know i i want to do a better job at
12:13
respecting our legends yeah respecting
12:16
our icons when they come through buy a
12:18
ticket you know what i'm saying support
12:20
you know like boys demand should still
12:22
be selling out arenas dog you know this
12:24
is music we grew up with music we
12:26
painted our life too and i feel like
12:28
sometimes when we get to a certain point
12:29
we disregard what helped us get to that
12:32
point man does country music feel just
12:34
as crowded as hip-hop the way people
12:36
will view it and feel like every week
12:38
there's like 20 new artists that come
12:40
out yeah it can be you know what i'm
12:42
saying but i just again i focus on me
12:45
what am i adding to it yeah because a
12:47
lot of people like jimmy you trying to
12:48
change country music no i'm not trying
12:50
to change it i'm trying to add to it
12:51
because it's like if you got like a
12:53
some tea right and it's not sweet enough
12:56
it's sour you don't you do what you add
12:59
sugar to it and eventually the sugar
13:00
pushes the sour i like this guy i'm
13:02
saying so that's what i try to do with
13:04
music because i feel like when i change
13:05
it a lot of times i could take away
13:07
country music what my dad loved about it
13:09
what other people love about it and i'm
13:11
saying so i'm not trying to change it
13:12
i'm just trying to add to it and add a
13:13
different avenue and i feel like every
13:15
artist should add to it the next thing
13:16
you know you got this big ass pile of
13:18
just
13:47
and a producer was like i don't think
13:49
i've ever seen anybody record a hip-hop
13:51
r b song with chewing their mouth i said
13:52
you have to date baby welcome
13:55
i'm gonna be me bro yeah you're gonna be
13:57
you obviously spend tobacco juice in the
13:59
cup next they have to be
14:03
[Laughter]
14:09
the better thing about tobacco than
14:11
smoking is you can chew tobacco at
14:13
church on the plane i was like my dad's
14:15
funeral dipping you was dipping at your
14:17
dad's funeral yeah the price to preach
14:19
too long dawg my sister told him boy he
14:20
had 10 minutes
14:22
you can't turn on black pastor that
14:23
horse was 35 minutes saying me and my
14:25
sister in front real like bruh you got
14:27
me done nicotine buzz
14:42
a whole door
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