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Lil TJay Talks Affirmations, Traveling The World, Jewelry, New Music and 5 Rappers To Watch from NYC
Apr 13, 2021
Lil TJay is on a steady rise to fame at the young age of 19. And with hit after hit continuously coming and the new album Destined 2 Win he doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. Sway spoke with TJay in an exclusive one on one interview where he spoke about everything from working with Pop Smoke to getting beats off producers on YouTube.
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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.
Lil TJay Talks Affirmations, Traveling The World, Jewelry, New Music and 5 Rappers To Watch from NYC https://youtu.be/tUD93DZsLRY
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0:00
here the homie is here i shoot for the
0:01
stars
0:05
man how you doing bro how you been man
0:08
i'm trying to maintain it just you know
0:11
living life
0:12
going dude you you got a permanent smile
0:16
on your face right now man it's it's
0:18
like all the ducks are lined up
0:20
you know destined to win is hit the
0:22
ground you know you
0:24
when i first met you on a i like telling
0:26
this story on the street corner
0:28
somewhere near bodega
0:30
and i remember you telling me man i'ma
0:32
be big sway
0:33
i'm going to be big and i'm looking at
0:35
you like
0:36
man you know i heard that a million
0:38
times you know and you was like wait and
0:41
see
0:41
and and you made it happen
0:43
congratulations
0:45
i appreciate it bro i used to tell
0:47
everybody that this is crazy like
0:49
but yeah like [ __ ]
0:54
yeah you i i want to ask you man because
0:58
when i when i look at like titles like
1:00
destined to win or born to be great or
1:02
you know these titles to me are
1:04
premonitions you know what i mean it's
1:06
almost like you speaking your success
1:08
into existence
1:10
um do you believe in that do you
1:13
practice that i
1:14
definitely believe in it i definitely
1:16
believe in it because it's like
1:18
something about like
1:19
something about i had like this
1:20
confidence about it that i was gonna be
1:23
great
1:24
and then it just like when it just
1:25
started working it's like i'm like oh
1:27
now i could tell myself anything i can
1:29
just really like
1:30
start believing it and make it happen
1:32
it's gonna work
1:34
that's definitely how i feel i feel like
1:35
if you speak negative things negative
1:37
things happen too
1:38
uh-huh what did you discover that power
1:41
if you will
1:42
that power of persuasion what was it
1:45
like i'm really like i really started
1:47
stamping on this word like these like
1:49
watch how you use your word things like
1:51
this to the point where like if somebody
1:52
even just telling me too much negative
1:54
stuff possibilities about myself i'll be
1:55
like yo bro change the topic bro
1:57
like i don't even like for me i just i
2:00
don't know like like i've been on
2:01
heavier on that like probably like the
2:02
last seven months
2:04
the last seven months huh like your
2:06
words are so powerful
2:08
when you when you first came out um when
2:11
i listen to songs like go crazy and
2:13
and i listen to some of the lyrics how
2:15
you talk about
2:17
like you've always had to tell people
2:18
you were going to be big and people
2:20
doubted you
2:21
um what was that first definitive moment
2:23
that you
2:24
believed it yourself like you saw
2:26
something tangible
2:28
i mean i believed it from the um from my
2:30
first song
2:32
like for my first song i thought that
2:34
[ __ ] was gonna blow up and be the
2:35
biggest [ __ ] in the world
2:36
like i just used to think like i used to
2:38
look at myself and just over confidently
2:39
tell myself like damn you better than
2:41
everybody
2:42
like this [ __ ] gotta work like that
2:46
and now this [ __ ] is working i was
2:48
online man i saw kylie jenner
2:50
uh rocking to one of your songs uh
2:54
did you see that yeah i see i seen the
2:56
little um vlogs posted
2:59
yeah man uh run it up she was rocking to
3:01
run it up
3:02
you playing you kind of being real cool
3:04
about it man you know that's a
3:05
billionaire with
3:06
millions and millions of of you know
3:08
followers that what does that mean now
3:11
these days back in the day for kylie
3:12
jenner listen to a rap song
3:14
it may not have held that much weight
3:16
what does it mean to you now
3:18
um i mean that's that's that's cool
3:21
shout out to her
3:22
like you know like i don't know i don't
3:24
know how much i really could just pick
3:26
up stuff for listening to but shout out
3:27
like you feel me
3:28
like how am i gonna be like extra little
3:31
fake
3:32
yeah you see anybody i kind of like
3:33
honestly i kind of was like i was like i
3:35
was like
3:36
i was kind of like a little like them
3:38
they posted it i even know it was that
3:40
serious
3:40
but to think about a billion dollars a
3:42
billionaire that's big
3:44
come on tj man come home television i
3:47
didn't really even see that [ __ ] like
3:48
that
3:49
you seem real focused uh i was you know
3:52
and i can appreciate that man i you know
3:54
just seeing your eyes
3:56
it seemed like it happened all of a
3:58
sudden it's only been a couple of years
4:00
right and i and i look at your uh
4:03
documentary
4:04
and how you started recording the album
4:06
and seeing that you're traveling and
4:08
i have this theory bro that traveling is
4:10
the best teacher you could ever meet
4:12
you know what i mean it ain't going to
4:14
happen in the classroom like it's going
4:15
to happen in the experience
4:17
what else and i heard you say something
4:19
about like
4:21
traveling helped you see that your
4:22
circumstances that you lived in
4:25
were weren't normal yeah when did you
4:28
first realize wait a minute how i'm
4:30
living ain't normal where did you go
4:32
um i mean i was like i realized that
4:35
from
4:35
going different parts of the u.s before
4:38
i even like
4:39
left like the country i was just like
4:42
like it's just like everything is just
4:44
different you just move around
4:45
like the world you just see different
4:46
like environments
4:49
and you just really just think about the
4:50
like i just think about the whole
4:51
universe i'd be like damn there's a lot
4:53
going on and i'm saying so you can't
4:55
just
4:55
keep yourself at one thing or just live
4:57
like one way where a certain community
5:00
lives when you just like i wanted like a
5:01
little taste of everything
5:03
so i like grab something from something
5:05
i learned from over here
5:07
or something from this culture this and
5:08
just it creates me you know i'm saying
5:10
i feel like everybody should be unique
5:12
and just being outsiders
5:14
it just show you a lot just show you for
5:16
me
5:17
so you don't you don't shy away from
5:19
like being cultured shocked you're the
5:21
type of person that if you go into a
5:22
persian neighborhood you're gonna want
5:24
to eat persian food
5:25
yeah yeah i'm gonna see what's up i'm
5:26
gonna see what's happening and i'll take
5:28
what i like from that
5:29
and then they probably just got probably
5:31
put a new thing on
5:33
my menu or what i like what i'm saying
5:35
but just try it see what's good
5:38
i mean i ain't trying anything i'm not
5:39
gonna lie to you yeah
5:41
i ain't trying no bugs you ain't going
5:43
nobody
5:45
you never you never tried the
5:47
grasshopper then
5:48
nah i definitely did it you know you got
5:50
to travel and try next time you travel
5:52
like today i've seen them i've been
5:54
around and seen those i've seen the
5:55
little crickets
5:56
they had like some sunflower seeds type
5:59
of looking ones
6:00
potatoes i never i ain't never do that
6:04
okay i'm really clowning around with you
6:06
but i'm glad you took that seriously
6:09
you wouldn't try it no no no but the
6:11
real [ __ ] is one of my mains i tried it
6:12
i remember
6:13
i told him he tried he tried to [ __ ] so
6:15
i ain't even know you could have been
6:16
that as just different cultures
6:18
yeah i've eaten stuff like that before
6:20
like they they prep
6:22
i've been in places the nastiest thing i
6:25
ever ate was um
6:27
well i ate snails um in france
6:31
i didn't like it you know other people
6:33
liked it you know it kind of tastes like
6:35
squid to me but i wasn't i couldn't get
6:37
over the fact that it was snails what's
6:39
the nastiest thing you ate
6:42
i mean i
6:45
probably probably run along i mean along
6:47
the lines of like
6:49
liver or um octopus
6:53
to be honest been too crazy it's coming
6:56
man you still you still young man
6:58
it's coming to you man you you're gonna
7:00
be eating some dirt real soon i
7:02
tried them chicken feet some chicken
7:04
feet chicken feet chicken foot
7:07
man you grew up eating chicken that
7:08
ain't nothing yeah
7:11
hey uh man let me ask you this bro um i
7:14
want to talk about the album but
7:15
instead of emergency we never got to
7:17
talk about that um
7:19
and it came out at a time when i was
7:21
really um
7:23
really just paying attention to what was
7:25
happening in the new york music scene
7:27
and then how drill kind of came into the
7:29
play and then you start seeing
7:31
newer artists start adapting to that
7:33
drill sound
7:35
you know is there a difference in your
7:37
opinion between drill
7:38
that comes from chicago and drill music
7:41
that comes from new york
7:43
um yeah it definitely is i mean
7:47
like chicago i feel like they just more
7:48
like
7:51
like i feel like it's more like is you
7:52
got you got like a certain knock in a
7:54
new york drill type of beat that makes a
7:56
new
7:56
show type of beat and i feel like it's
7:59
that like
8:00
actual type of vibe i don't even know
8:02
how to like my vocabulary can even try
8:04
to explain it
8:05
but like mike you know i'm talking about
8:07
that like it's like
8:09
it's something about that little some
8:10
ticks and in chicago they got like a
8:13
similar thing but i feel like
8:15
it's more like day daydreams more just
8:17
talking hot you for me
8:19
we got like a little vibe to it like i
8:22
don't know
8:24
who was the first person like that you
8:26
collaborated with and kind of went in
8:28
that direction
8:30
like drew yeah um
8:34
first person i made it so i thought that
8:36
was true
8:37
i mean it probably it probably had to
8:39
bend on pop
8:40
probably yeah because yeah cause
8:44
what i mean like i mean
8:48
you could you could kind of nah you
8:50
can't say pop out of this drill
8:52
it's just like a club for me but yeah
8:55
for me i probably probably was pop when
8:57
we made that wall for the city that was
8:58
the first time i hopped on
9:00
on a drill beat and it was like for me
9:03
it was lit
9:04
like as a established stars
9:07
like the movement i like father you are
9:09
like pop rest in power man
9:12
you know damn you know he was on the
9:14
brink
9:15
he still exploded you know what i mean
9:17
in the afterlife he still exploded
9:19
uh what you doing j critch you know i
9:21
like i like a lot of that that new sound
9:23
man
9:24
and i'm also a hip-hop head you know and
9:26
i i feel like you are
9:27
too you may not know the depth of the
9:30
history
9:31
but i feel like you got when i listen to
9:33
your bars it's important to you that you
9:35
come off
9:35
a certain way you know what i mean how
9:38
important is that though the lyrics and
9:40
being that the top notch the top dog
9:42
i just feel like and it's something that
9:45
is something that like
9:46
even like now i want to even just like i
9:49
ain't even satisfied or some
9:51
i want i want to get better at what i do
9:52
you know what i'm saying so like
9:54
i mean it's def it's definitely it's
9:56
definitely important to come to come
9:58
aggressive and poke your chest out and
9:59
just let [ __ ] know like
10:01
it's like you don't gotta say no flukey
10:02
[ __ ] all the time i'm saying so
10:05
that's how as i feel like i feel like i
10:06
was just trying to be competitive with
10:07
myself on the record
10:09
who do you think like right now to the
10:11
newer generation i'm not
10:12
i want you to say who's better than the
10:14
other necessarily but if you had to pick
10:16
five of the top emcees coming out of new
10:18
york right now
10:19
in the newer generation who would that
10:21
be um
10:23
um like
10:26
as far as like as far as like what level
10:29
like anybody besides myself or you mean
10:31
like
10:32
like 30 and under 30 and under who you
10:35
think are dope
10:37
um i mean like
10:40
in a situation like me saying like fabio
10:43
am i tweaking because he's already there
10:44
you actually like like in general new
10:46
york artists or like that's what i'm
10:48
trying to say
10:49
yeah uh in general new york artists when
10:51
you listen to them rap
10:53
who do you go oh [ __ ] yeah
10:56
nice or she nice right
10:59
well fabio i feel like he he he big on
11:02
that [ __ ] i big up father all the time
11:03
that's my god
11:04
i'm saying he's gonna give you that he
11:06
got his own sound it's not the
11:08
traditional hip-hop like it's
11:09
you know i'm saying but i i like that
11:11
you know what i'm saying he got his own
11:12
way
11:12
he gonna give you that punchline he know
11:14
how to make you recite
11:15
um jaya [ __ ] with j.r
11:20
[ __ ] he was saying some [ __ ] you know
11:22
what i'm saying you know how to
11:23
you know he got he got he got a nice
11:25
little air you know what i'm saying i'd
11:26
be like
11:27
i'll be i'll be [ __ ] with with jay
11:29
i'll be coming through
11:30
okay um
11:34
i say nino man he another he's another
11:38
like
11:39
he's one like you know what i'm saying
11:40
like i had to just like go there a
11:42
little because i played probably not
11:43
even thinking like i never went there
11:45
right now but
11:46
nino man like i used to always listen
11:48
you know when i was like
11:49
i mean he just really give me that like
11:52
you feel me bumping
11:53
he give you that you feel me you won't
11:55
[ __ ] with it
11:56
you think people sleep on him like do
11:58
folks know me no man like that
12:00
i mean you know man guys his fan base
12:03
definitely i'm saying i definitely feel
12:04
like it'd be a lot larger
12:07
um you know what i'm saying so it's like
12:10
you feel me it definitely could be a lot
12:12
a lot larger than what it is but i feel
12:13
like you know what i'm saying you really
12:14
go through some you know catalog you
12:16
wanna hear some [ __ ]
12:17
yeah you got some bangers what you got
12:22
um
12:24
well this is a couple oh critch you feel
12:26
me chris chris
12:27
shout out to the gaza i'm standing in
12:31
well there's a couple people trying to
12:33
think
12:34
it's my um my boy ek you know what i'm
12:39
saying he
12:40
he caught i [ __ ] i [ __ ] with booboo
12:43
booboo savage my friend my boy ek from
12:45
his blog too when booboo cyrus
12:47
i feel like that k you know what i'm
12:49
saying he's gonna grow up and be
12:50
something
12:51
yeah probably be something gonna be
12:53
something great never saying so
12:55
yeah i got fit for him yeah
12:59
and then i'll be tapped in with like
13:00
busy banks
13:03
a couple more people busy banks see
13:05
everybody you mentioned uh
13:06
i'm aware of so i got up for busy banks
13:08
i got to look that dude i got to look
13:10
busy banks up busy banks nice
13:12
yeah busy banks nice [ __ ] [ __ ] nice
13:14
she um he from brooklyn he
13:16
be talking [ __ ] okay busy banks i'm
13:19
curious man when you when you go home
13:21
now
13:22
like when you go back to the bronx man
13:24
what do the kids say to you
13:25
when they see you in the streets um
13:28
no i definitely like since i moved to
13:31
l.a it felt different now
13:32
because i guess it's like when you take
13:34
time away from something that's a little
13:35
more because that was kind of like
13:36
still in new york just always popping up
13:38
so it was like yeah
13:40
tj tj now it's like i'm going back and
13:42
i'm hearing a little
13:43
like and i'm like oh [ __ ] this is a
13:45
little different that way
13:46
yeah i mean it's love
13:49
it's love you know what i'm saying i
13:50
enjoy going back to the bronx always
13:52
getting some food
13:53
from my borough you know i'm saying old
13:56
spots i used to hit
13:58
uh-huh what a change that bro every time
14:00
i see you in the picture you got to
14:01
change
14:02
i thought she was going with the change
14:03
for me man i should have would have
14:05
changed i got i got
14:06
gonna grab a chain two [ __ ] i got damn
14:09
is it really crab you know
14:10
normally i'll be wearing them shits in
14:11
the in the crib sometimes you know what
14:13
i'm saying
14:14
like you don't take them off when you're
14:16
in the house
14:17
i i i take them off sometimes sometimes
14:20
when i'm laying down
14:21
but sometimes i'm in a crib i just be
14:23
here smoking a blood and i'll be like
14:25
nah just on my close friends instagram
14:27
just like i don't get to change
14:30
the chains are nice man i'll be curious
14:32
like um
14:33
you're starting to get that money now i
14:35
hear a lot of people talking to you
14:36
about your money
14:38
everybody say hey you look like you got
14:40
money now
14:41
and i'm always curious to how people
14:43
invested when they first get the money
14:45
and when i see change i see change
14:47
different like folks who think
14:49
artists waste money on change i see
14:53
chains as you know you buying gold and
14:55
gold
14:56
holds a certain value you know what i
14:58
mean and so i'm curious to is
15:01
is that part of the reason why you buy
15:02
chains and then also
15:04
go ahead to a certain extent
15:08
you know like when you start customizing
15:10
[ __ ] that's when you like
15:11
really start losing value like it's like
15:14
when you like like for example like my
15:15
trench kit chain
15:16
won't hold as much value as a cubic
15:18
because the cuban is decided to go to
15:20
some that's like a
15:21
solid for me but i mean to be honest
15:24
like me i don't really worry about that
15:26
[ __ ] this
15:26
it's like i'm a rapper bro like you like
15:28
here we go here we go
15:29
that's what we're going through right
15:31
here okay does it have a name
15:35
this is rose gold cuban link okay
15:38
rose gold cuban how much you that way
15:40
that's about a
15:41
pound and a half five and a half hours
15:44
it's like 700 grams
15:46
a kilo okay yo you talk about gold now
15:50
like you a jeweler bro who taught you
15:51
all of
15:53
i that learn a little song i know i know
15:56
i know this right here is one now
15:58
that that that hold his volume what i'm
16:00
saying and it's like you know
16:02
this it's my uniform there it is
16:06
trench this make you know when you
16:08
talking to me
16:09
the price is up yeah yeah
16:13
hey you've seen people react to your
16:15
goal like that where you walk in the
16:16
room they take you more seriously
16:18
bro let me tell you i ain't even know is
16:20
that serious i went and got this chain
16:22
for christmas
16:24
i was like it's about time i gave me a
16:25
nice big chain yo bro
16:27
i'm talking about dms everything crazy
16:30
the next day i'm like damn yeah i
16:32
thought i had money because i ain't
16:33
gonna buy this [ __ ]
16:34
last week like i ain't gonna lie this
16:36
the love is different i'm like yo
16:38
[ __ ] you gotta show [ __ ] up to get
16:41
respecting this [ __ ] or something i
16:42
don't know cuz
16:44
it's crazy i ain't gonna i never really
16:46
thought about training i used to always
16:47
be like confident
16:48
in myself like i'm not the [ __ ] i need
16:51
that [ __ ] you know what i'm saying
16:53
like oh bro i'm not but
16:56
put these shits on [ __ ] different so you
17:00
put your chain on and people change up
17:02
instantly
17:04
yo this is what [ __ ]
17:07
oh no it should get crazy damn man so
17:10
look i got my little
17:12
medallion man that do you you think this
17:13
will work this won't work this won't
17:15
this one
17:16
it's gonna work
17:21
what you got there you know you know you
17:24
know this might work a little this might
17:25
be this
17:26
you know come on man you got the gold
17:27
writing on it i might try that bro
17:30
you know trench that's the company right
17:33
yeah change care i mean i'm gonna get
17:34
you some merch i'm gonna get some who
17:35
you sent down so yeah
17:37
hook me up trench kid man so what's the
17:39
plan with trench kid
17:40
what's your vision like what do you see
17:42
for the next three years
17:44
oh i'm i'm bringing this [ __ ] to the top
17:46
you know what i'm saying like
17:48
it's a label it's a clothing brand i got
17:50
i got a couple things like i'm about to
17:52
turn trench kid into like a nerf
17:54
you know like i've got the little the
17:56
toy guns
17:58
and um scooters and all of that
18:00
everything transcended i'm gonna open up
18:02
a trench case stores my everything
18:04
i see this i see this happening and it's
18:06
my first time speaking on it too
18:07
but this this this was going that's
18:10
where it's going
18:11
so the full picture is a record label
18:14
you're going to get merchandising
18:18
i love it because when you say it the
18:20
[ __ ] happens
18:22
you speaking into existence what is it
18:24
like
18:25
you have a team around you now so you
18:28
you're a boss
18:29
you know so you got to think different
18:31
how how is that transition being for you
18:33
like being the boss people come to you
18:35
to make the decision they got to get the
18:37
the green light for you how has that
18:39
affected you what's that been like
18:41
keep keep your head straight you know
18:42
you gotta film you gotta just make sure
18:44
everything going right and i'm saying
18:45
like
18:47
for me it's [ __ ] i said [ __ ] no
18:50
phony when you slacking me i'm trying to
18:52
get get this [ __ ] up hold hands man so
18:55
i mean i guess like that [ __ ] mature me
18:57
just being who i
18:58
am mm-hmm i love it man hey man i i
19:01
man i love it bro watching your your
19:04
eyes calling my phone doing as big as it
19:06
is man it's your biggest record to date
19:09
you know i was thinking black should get
19:10
a follow-up black should have an ep
19:12
ready to drop too
19:13
just to piggyback off that momentum when
19:16
you when you put the chain on you see
19:18
the room change
19:19
but when you start charting big what do
19:21
you see change
19:22
around you yeah a lot a lot and a lot of
19:25
things gotta respect it
19:26
you gotta come correct now i'm saying
19:28
it's like it's just it's matching up
19:30
with the change it's just
19:32
something you gotta respect it and i'm
19:33
saying it's just like
19:36
i just pretty much keep going up you
19:37
know what i'm saying i try to
19:39
be humble about it still enjoy [ __ ]
19:41
though for me
19:42
took my [ __ ] when i wanted but i'm
19:44
really just trying to get up more now
19:45
i'm still not satisfied
19:47
you're still not satisfied no way what
19:50
you got drake dreams
19:52
what are your [ __ ] dreams bigger than
19:54
drake yeah
19:57
oh yeah what's what's that
20:00
you know what it is i'm just i just know
20:03
i think about it right now
20:04
like when drake came in [ __ ] started
20:09
i don't know 0.708 long time ago man i'm
20:12
saying that i don't remember what age he
20:14
was when he started but i know
20:15
probably a little younger anything's
20:19
possible so you know
20:21
everything is possible i ain't mad at it
20:24
huh 19 bro i got a long long future
20:27
ahead of me man
20:28
hey i'm trying to process that you know
20:31
you're 19 and you sitting in a good
20:33
place and
20:34
from what i could tell you got a good
20:35
head on your shoulder i know you went
20:36
through a whole lot
20:37
you know i i've heard you talk about
20:39
being behind bars and
20:41
you know all the struggles that you had
20:43
to do growing up in that neighborhood in
20:44
the bronx my daughter lived in the south
20:46
bronx so
20:47
you know i'm over there all the time um
20:49
i'm curious though i've had a lot of
20:51
friends who've been in and out and said
20:52
well i had one friend tell me that being
20:54
behind bars was the best thing that ever
20:56
happened to him
20:57
yeah you know can you relate to that
21:00
it probably is to me too because that's
21:03
just sammy damn
21:04
i really thought like yo bro yeah now it
21:07
definitely is the best thing like in
21:08
that moment i would never want to say no
21:10
[ __ ] like that
21:11
but you feel me and i still don't wish
21:14
it on anybody but
21:16
it definitely helped me in my mind
21:17
together because i was in there
21:19
like i don't watch really tv too much
21:21
i'm not too heavy on it
21:23
like i just like my attention span don't
21:25
go to it like
21:26
basketball wrecking [ __ ] it was never
21:28
really my thing
21:30
so i'm spending the whole time just like
21:32
writing and i just like
21:33
i educated myself in there like
21:36
i remember in the jail i remember i did
21:38
like the regents and i had like the best
21:40
[ __ ]
21:41
in the whole jail like the schools type
21:43
[ __ ] and everything like
21:44
for me i was like really just i was like
21:46
i mean do something while i'm here
21:48
there's nothing else to do but nothing
21:52
like might as well feel me try to get my
21:54
life a little bit together
21:56
and then i just came home and just
21:57
became successful or for music
22:01
how long you been home um
22:04
i mean it's been a while i i came home
22:07
when i was like
22:08
16. ain't a while bro it's only been
22:10
three years like
22:12
look look what you did in the first 16
22:14
years of your life
22:15
what you accomplished and look what you
22:17
did in the last three years
22:19
yeah you to me bro you um
22:22
to me you may not even be trying to be i
22:25
don't know what you're
22:26
what your mindset is like but you and
22:28
you're a great example of what's
22:29
possible
22:30
now for a lot of us i swear like i ain't
22:33
gonna lie
22:34
i i like outside looking in like i'll be
22:36
just really trying to get over the fact
22:38
that
22:38
i just be feeling like wanting more and
22:40
[ __ ] but like i really just try to like
22:43
step outside my body
22:44
and just look and and i feel like that
22:47
that that that
22:48
that's true what you say because it's
22:50
like it's crazy because like literally
22:52
like people be asking me
22:54
like they'll ask me like the simplest
22:56
[ __ ] like yo
22:57
like i remember somebody asked me the
22:59
other day like yo what
23:00
was yesterday what i should name my kid
23:03
like your bro like and
23:04
and the real [ __ ] is the deepest thing
23:06
is i already tried to say is that i'm a
23:07
regular person bro
23:09
like all my decisions like even to now
23:11
like i just be trying to figure it out
23:13
with a regular person like for me just
23:14
what i know
23:15
and i'm saying so like literally all i
23:18
did was take the initiative to start
23:20
and i figured it out what i'm saying so
23:22
it's very much possible to do what you
23:24
want to do in life
23:25
absolutely man how has your family um
23:28
reacted to it i know like the elders in
23:32
your family they they saw you going
23:33
through it man they probably thought you
23:34
was a little whipped snap little
23:36
knucklehead they didn't know what was
23:37
going to happen and then they seeing
23:38
this now man
23:39
how's your mom responded to it
23:43
she happy [ __ ] she like you for me she
23:46
be
23:47
she's just calling me like all day
23:50
telling me lies from
23:51
some of my favorite parts like you know
23:54
it's it's like i ain't gonna lie i don't
23:56
know i
23:57
i like i was in tunnel vision i'm seeing
24:00
like
24:00
from when i came out of jail to now so i
24:03
don't know how much
24:05
like they thought i was serious about it
24:08
or what they thought was going on
24:10
but i just knew like me personally i
24:12
just came out shooting like that's what
24:13
i want that's what i'm doing
24:15
so like deeper than like i didn't even
24:17
really go for like a verification so i
24:19
kind of always just got there like
24:20
oh i see you nephew like are you good
24:23
like how you doing like uh
24:24
something like this has gone for me and
24:27
i'm saying i try to tell them like like
24:30
what i'm playing on but everything is
24:31
like i ain't never like for me
24:33
i ain't like i don't know i know they
24:36
just looking like them
24:40
come on man i know anybody asking you
24:43
for money bro
24:44
um
24:50
i'm clowning with you bro people don't
24:53
people
24:53
like i mean i feel like i feel like i
24:55
mean i feel like
24:56
like old [ __ ] don't [ __ ] with and [ __ ]
24:59
like
25:00
be chipping off that [ __ ] everybody like
25:03
around me like at least that i care for
25:05
and i love
25:06
they be good for what i do for them
25:11
that's what's up man uh man the one
25:13
thing i noticed bro
25:14
uh when i was watching the documentary
25:16
part one you know
25:18
by the way is there a part two um is
25:22
is the part two coming it's a part two
25:24
coming out yeah
25:26
yeah okay man you kind of left us
25:27
hanging with the part one
25:29
but the thing i i i i really took note
25:32
too
25:33
is how hands-on you are in the studio
25:37
and then i heard you say every beat i i
25:40
picked
25:40
it's been a hit and you pick beats off
25:42
of youtube
25:43
yeah um how many like what's the
25:46
percentage of beats you picked off for
25:48
youtube
25:49
that became a hit yo listen out of my
25:52
songs in general
25:54
probably like 65 to 70
25:58
is the range of youtube beats that they
26:00
are like everything is
26:01
mostly youtube beats like i just because
26:03
it'd be the fastest thing i should be
26:04
clicking clicking clicking that's how i
26:06
started
26:06
so i never really like for me and then
26:09
when i tell you like
26:10
right now i'm looking at um a plaque on
26:13
my wall
26:14
it's a true to myself like my first
26:16
album and it's showing like
26:18
the beats from um from the album
26:22
and if i'm not mistaken i think probably
26:25
every b
26:25
except for one on the plaques is youtube
26:30
ruthless that's a youtube beat uh
26:33
yeah ruthless youtube beat um
26:37
yeah ruthless one one take
26:40
um fm what about fn
26:44
i think definitely youtube beat that
26:45
[ __ ] that's a youtube
26:47
i swear to god fn is a youtube beat that
26:50
should probably
26:51
hide like two million views before i
26:52
wrapped on it
26:54
so hey man how does that work then like
26:56
so do you just
26:58
this should be having so much clearance
27:00
problems i swear to god
27:02
they they be mad at me they be like why
27:03
you keep doing i'll be like bro cuz
27:05
you notice like i don't really like even
27:07
i don't be liking to take sessions with
27:08
producers sometimes it'd be a little
27:10
weird
27:10
because it's like you listen to they
27:12
beat and then sometimes they just don't
27:14
like your vibe and now you just going
27:15
through them system be like yo bro
27:17
i don't care how many beats you play me
27:18
i don't really like them [ __ ]
27:20
that i had i mean so like i'd be picky
27:22
bro so at least on youtube i could go
27:24
all day
27:25
different people different flavors for
27:27
me and i just keep clicking away
27:30
and then you just purchase to be flat
27:32
out and you don't even purchase i don't
27:33
worry about none of that so i just go
27:35
i feel me i rap on this [ __ ] send it
27:37
back the team hit them up figure out
27:39
what we gotta do to clear the record
27:42
damn yo that's crazy
27:45
and i know i swear to god if so many
27:47
producers now funny [ __ ] like shout out
27:49
to them
27:50
they work for this [ __ ] but yo bro don't
27:51
[ __ ] [ __ ] like i didn't show
27:53
love there's so many things i know you
27:54
think he's getting signed and everything
27:56
like you know i'll be filming
27:58
be trying to work out [ __ ] sometimes
27:59
with producers but like i really just be
28:01
showing love because i know like imagine
28:02
you're just a producer you just finish
28:04
it on youtube in that little tg
28:06
go put you this last status dropper um
28:09
with offset and um
28:12
and money back yeah youtube that's a
28:15
youtube beat
28:16
i know he woke up like run it up it's a
28:18
youtube beat
28:19
you to be 100 damn it let me get on soon
28:22
as we get off this interview i'm gonna
28:24
go find
28:24
some some beats like where do you look
28:27
do you just
28:28
type up beats i'm not i normally i put
28:31
like a little tj type beat
28:34
i'll click away and then it'll just
28:35
bring me to everybody it'll be like oh
28:37
there's a little tj type beat little
28:39
baby polo g little dirk i just keep
28:41
clicking and they've got different
28:42
sounds and
28:43
you just be like oh i ain't just find
28:46
some [ __ ]
28:47
be knocking that's dope bro
28:50
uh you also man i i feel like man you
28:52
really good
28:53
at um at writing hooks
28:57
you know i like the the chorus that you
29:00
even of course
29:01
what's the chords how the chorus go with
29:03
tiger and sweetie you'll move
29:05
i want you move move and then unless you
29:07
want [ __ ] you can't flex on that [ __ ]
29:09
like me
29:10
because i like doing more move move
29:15
you know and i i listen to stuff like
29:17
that even uh on
29:18
calling my phone and it's you know shoot
29:20
for the stars you know other stuff that
29:22
you made
29:23
in the past you know i always look for
29:26
that kind of
29:27
that kind of hook man who taught you how
29:29
to write hooks
29:31
or choruses like yo one thing i could
29:34
say
29:34
yo i swear to god and it's crazy you're
29:37
gonna see this
29:38
right because i know they're gonna pick
29:39
it up and i think almost
29:41
hated him for it bro and i could say
29:43
this [ __ ]
29:44
that has helped me because i kind of
29:46
think about it now french montana i
29:48
remember i played him fn in the studio
29:51
and this was i was already as like a
29:53
rapper i already knew how to rap and
29:55
[ __ ]
29:55
for me and i remember i played him fn
29:57
before
29:58
and he kind of i'm like yo this this is
30:00
about to hit for me it's about to hit
30:01
for me
30:02
and he kind of brushed me like that [ __ ]
30:04
you need a hook
30:05
he like like that [ __ ] is only gonna
30:07
last so long you gotta make some
30:09
simplest [ __ ]
30:10
and then he started playing me some of
30:11
his [ __ ] and he like look you see the
30:13
hook is simple they don't care about
30:14
none of that [ __ ]
30:15
he like do that [ __ ] in the verse ah i'm
30:18
like
30:19
ah feel me and then i think i don't know
30:22
what the [ __ ]
30:22
song and i started kind of getting it
30:24
like we pop out at your party
30:26
i'm like damn it's the simple [ __ ] that
30:28
hit i'm like oh yeah that's how i gotta
30:31
do it you feel me make it simple
30:33
catchable and then spasms on the verse
30:34
you know what i'm saying and that [ __ ]
30:36
kind of like
30:37
months later ticked to me and i just
30:39
remember him telling me that and i was
30:40
just like
30:41
for me when i played him fn and he kind
30:42
of brushed him right this thing i'm like
30:44
my [ __ ]
30:44
it has and i got what he said though you
30:46
for me a little later on that's dope man
30:50
hey man it's obvious to me you know i've
30:52
been listening to music a long time so i
30:54
was like damn this dude got some
30:56
real strong hooks but what do you do
30:58
like have you been in a studio where
31:00
somebody was like nah man i'm not
31:02
feeling that
31:03
like who who's told you i ain't feeling
31:05
it
31:06
i mean bro like [ __ ] don't be just got
31:08
that you can't even talk to me like that
31:11
keep it a buck and you better get out my
31:13
session like
31:14
i mean french was big bro you for me so
31:16
he he had free rights to say i'm
31:18
listening
31:18
i'm trying to see what you're trying to
31:20
say for me even though i kind of was
31:21
like
31:22
[ __ ] ah for me but it's like
31:25
nobody ain't never already been in my
31:26
sessions like and i i write all my [ __ ]
31:29
i'm saying so you write everything you
31:31
don't no i don't take no reference no
31:33
none i never have in my life
31:35
why not because people people defend
31:38
people say that's okay to do it's
31:39
collaborative effort
31:40
let me say something bro there's a lot
31:42
of [ __ ] that do that there's a lot of
31:43
people i know that do that
31:44
but it's just not my thing you know i'm
31:46
saying i just get that confidence i like
31:48
to say
31:49
[ __ ] i write my [ __ ] so [ __ ] i'm
31:51
better than all y'all [ __ ] like for me
31:53
i just like
31:54
i like poking my chest up it's my [ __ ]
31:55
nobody going for me
31:57
i'm gonna say what i want to say but i
31:58
feel like nobody in my opinion i feel
32:00
like nobody drippier than me like i'm
32:02
the source
32:03
so it's like what you want to say better
32:04
than what i'm going to say that's how i
32:05
think
32:06
hmm i like it so the first i want to say
32:10
is it the first what's the first line on
32:12
calling my phone
32:14
steady calling my phone i always talk
32:16
about the island i play these games no
32:18
more
32:19
well steady call on my phone i told you
32:21
it's over what you
32:22
what you say i didn't told you before
32:25
that's over
32:26
leave me alone yeah hey man you you
32:29
never really had to break up with nobody
32:31
huh
32:31
have you um i had a little couple
32:34
situations i ain't never had no real
32:36
like yeah
32:37
yeah because that ain't how you break up
32:43
that's the first thing i thought this
32:44
dude may not have never broke up with
32:46
somebody have you ever had to tell
32:48
somebody it's over stop calling my phone
32:51
i mean like nah definitely had to tell
32:52
people that coming from a million times
32:55
it's kind of what i was going through at
32:56
the time i was like somebody was calling
32:57
my phone
32:58
but yeah i never think i've been through
33:00
like a real like
33:01
breakup breakup yeah is that important
33:04
to you right now
33:05
your focus is just strictly on the music
33:07
in the movement
33:12
my focus is on the music and getting
33:14
this [ __ ] to the top you know what i'm
33:15
saying so anything that's gonna come
33:17
along the way
33:18
gotta be helping me get there you know
33:19
what i'm saying so
33:21
all right okay all right hey man i ain't
33:23
mad find
33:24
love at the top while i'm there and just
33:27
try to skim through what i can find
33:28
because
33:29
to me right now ain't nobody slowing
33:31
this [ __ ] up
33:32
i'm trying to go let me see what you
33:35
rocking with dawg i see you being in the
33:37
gym now i ain't got there yet you know
33:39
when i
33:39
hey when i met you you was featherweight
33:45
hey what's that regiment like you you
33:47
you and callie so i know you're doing
33:48
some push-ups with that regiment like
33:51
oh you told me how many i could do
33:52
straight yeah like what's your workout
33:54
plan
33:54
oh um uh every time i drop i do at least
33:57
50.
33:58
straight straight
34:02
i think i'm caving you got a song called
34:04
no cap man but i don't
34:06
i don't know if you could say that in
34:08
the song
34:11
i'm gonna send you a little video after
34:12
this yeah you'll send me a video man
34:14
you're doing diamonds or you know you're
34:16
doing elevated
34:18
work come on okay i don't really eat
34:20
that much i'm a little stronger than i
34:22
look i ain't gonna lie
34:24
okay all right tj i believe you man hey
34:27
if you say it
34:28
i believe it i've seen you say stuff
34:30
that that has come true so
34:32
i'm definitely gonna believe it man one
34:34
of my favorite um
34:36
songs on this project is actually a
34:38
bonus track
34:39
and i want to ask you about some of the
34:40
lyrics if you don't mind
34:42
uh it's called losses yeah
34:45
to me bro that song
34:49
i don't know what it is about that song
34:51
but you know you know you name your one
34:53
project true to myself
34:54
and i listen to your lyrics and
34:57
dissect your lyrics not just the ones
34:59
that just go with the flow of just
35:00
rhyming but i hear things
35:02
that you're saying this song to me um
35:06
i want to read part of the lyrics that
35:08
that really stuck out to me even that
35:09
first verse
35:10
you know but i'm a skip where you say i
35:12
was locked down locked down
35:14
almost lost it brody lock down tell them
35:17
fight don't forfeit don't you forfeit
35:19
sometimes we just do some stupid [ __ ]
35:22
when we be off it
35:23
i don't seen too many [ __ ] dying so
35:25
i'm precautious
35:27
thinking about them flashbacks really
35:29
got me nauseous
35:30
this is what the what comes with playing
35:32
with them bosses
35:34
um i'm worried about my free i'm
35:38
skipping uh you said could i could have
35:39
changed that
35:40
uh could have caught a hammer charge the
35:42
other day i tossed it i'm worried about
35:44
my freedom every day got me exhausted
35:47
that line right there was powerful to me
35:48
bro i'm worried about my freedom every
35:50
day got me
35:51
exhausted is that how is i know that's a
35:54
line in the song but is that
35:56
really what's going on in your head yeah
35:59
cause there's a lot going on bro you for
36:01
me
36:02
bro [ __ ] just bro you know this guy's
36:04
defending himself in this dead age i'm
36:06
saying got to keep everything clean
36:07
i'm saying running the business at the
36:09
same time it's so much [ __ ] i to worry
36:11
about obstacles
36:12
police be trying to [ __ ] with [ __ ]
36:14
there's a lot going on am i saying so
36:16
that's that's what i was going through
36:17
that's how i was feeling
36:20
how how are you moving different now to
36:21
make sure you avoid those traps
36:24
no you just gotta feel me you just in
36:26
life
36:27
saying something's gonna say it happens
36:28
you gotta just like like learn how to
36:30
for me be prepared for next time
36:32
i'm saying so i just like
36:36
i would say that i just like you know
36:39
i don't know man i don't know man i just
36:42
you for me i just try to
36:43
i just try to i just try to keep it as
36:45
clean as possible but at the same time i
36:46
just feel
36:48
like living life huh man that's a
36:51
powerful song man
36:53
that's actually one of my favorite songs
36:55
on your project um with losses
36:57
uh for me personally because this uh
36:58
just what you're talking about i mean
37:00
you got a
37:01
born to be great you got a a couple of
37:03
bangers you got a lot of great tunes on
37:05
this project and i know some of them
37:07
have already been
37:08
out already but i feel like man you
37:10
you're really a genre-less
37:12
kind of guy you know what i mean like
37:14
you can't really put you in the mode and
37:16
and i almost i feel like i'm gonna see
37:18
you collaborating with pop artists one
37:20
day
37:21
have you ever thought about that if
37:23
that's the goal that's the goal i just
37:25
want them to
37:26
to come come welcome to the brand man
37:28
you feeling i'm trying to ease my way in
37:30
there
37:30
i definitely want to do some [ __ ] with
37:31
some again the pop world mm-hmm
37:34
again
37:47
[Music]
37:48
hey destined to win is is um a great
37:51
project
37:53
um congratulations on the tj and you
37:56
know
37:56
you and i man i i think about it man i
37:59
love your story man i like telling
38:00
people too man i'll be using you bro i
38:02
tell kids about you
38:03
you know that that be on the rise and
38:05
they man sway man can you help me out
38:06
blah blah blah
38:08
and uh do you think i could make it and
38:10
i tell them the story man i remember
38:11
dude
38:12
approached me on the on the corner of
38:13
midtown manhattan and told me he was
38:15
gonna be
38:16
big and i said and i tell them it was
38:18
you
38:19
you know if there's anything you could
38:20
say to these these folks out here just
38:23
trying to find their dreams they ain't
38:24
got to be about rap man what would you
38:26
tell them
38:26
they said give me a chance thinking
38:28
about the [ __ ] again bro but
38:30
i i said anything is possible like
38:32
literally
38:33
anything is possible i'm saying you just
38:34
got to really focus
38:36
and you can't do um another thing you
38:38
can't you can't really take opinions
38:40
i'm saying you gotta really just really
38:42
want it and just like if you [ __ ] with a
38:44
song if you
38:45
just be you and just let that [ __ ] flow
38:48
man just work for it relax
38:50
i had a tunnel vision that's what it is
38:55
gotta have a ton of vision all right man
38:57
what's next bro
38:59
y'all talking about touring yeah i'm
39:01
about i'm about to be on twitter mother
39:03
about to turn up man
39:04
who you going with uzi i don't know
39:09
right now by doing a little self tour
39:12
right now just
39:14
just [ __ ] it up real quick okay what's
39:16
your stage show like man i ain't seen
39:18
your stage show
39:19
like some tickets one day but um
39:22
i'll be turned you'll be turned i mean
39:25
all right
39:25
yeah okay i'm coming through tj man i'm
39:28
glad we finally had a chance to talk bro
39:30
let's continue this though
39:32
okay let's listen
39:47
you
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