I'm trying out for the team this freshman year, and me and my best friend, he made bar thinking I made JV or something. And he said, Shit, if G ain't make bar, I ain't make bar. We both quit on the spot, and we went to my crib and made our first song ever. And that's how music got started. You feel me? Wow. Period.

The Papette pod with Roon.

Roon, special guest Roon. I couldn't wait for this one.

Special guest.

Special guest Roon. Couldn't wait for this one. I should get right into it. You have to. What you mean? You literally have to.

He's as big of a renaissance man that you could ever see in public. Producer, actor, rapper. Best believe that Eazy does it. On his wrist, the presidential because he's a American-born. So you should see the cars that Jerold afford. Millions of sales, billions of streams. He's got Stripes, Please Believe Me with a new album coming out this summer, The Bayes' Own, G-Eazy. Welcome to the show.

I love that.

Welcome to the show, bro. Welcome to the show.

Hey, man. Hey, thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Welcome, man.

I thought Sway was good at that, man. Wow, you knocked out.

No, no, no, no, no. Not touching. I mean, that's a Bay legend, Sway. You already know, but I'm not holding his or whatever. He does his own thing, but we're very excited to have you on the show. Album coming out this summer. You just said release party at the...

At the Box. Thursday. At the Box on Thursday.

We there on.

Yeah, in their last win, we're hell up. We There, Ron.

You have to go this time now. Roon likes to leave me in places.

But the box is interesting. I've been living in New York a year and a half. I was in LA for six, seven years before that. The night and day difference, obviously, between. But for a spot like the box to be the coolest shit in the city. But you see real quickly who's not comfortable. You bring some of the homies to the box. To me, that shit is art. To me, that shit is like...

He didn't like the Teddy bear in there.

Yeah, but if you're comfortable, you know what I mean?

Yeah, 100 %.

I've definitely brought some of the homie and said, Yo, son, what the fuck is this shit? I'm out of here.

Different.

Because they're put in places and Things in places, you know what I mean? And there's staples and nipples and stuff like that. It's exciting. It's exciting, but it's different. So maybe I'll slide through and whatever gets shit on or whatever happens there. No, it's all right. Breast milk in cups and it gets passed around.

It's a hell of a hot story to a podcast.

Very entertaining.

Very entertaining. Very entertaining. So you've had an incredible... I think we're all close to the same age.

I'm 35. I'm 36.

I'm May 35, May 24.

Congratulations. I'm 36 in July, so you're the oldest.

I'm the oldest. Elvish Day has been in here.

Don't want to bragg or anything. So numbers-wise, old ass chicken legs.

He dies first. Normal, you die first.

No, I'm well on my way, especially with this piping hot high noon.

Why don't you put it in the microwave?

I just thought it would taste a little bit better. A little boil to it, like some tea or something. High noon has the T's now.

A little bubbling boil? Yeah, dude.

You know who Averb is? Averb?

Not.

I just put a million I was on Ron, freestyle battle against a guy named Averb.

Averb, yeah. So I came up battle rapping. Okay. Tons of great battle rappers from the Bay.

Yeah. Locksmith. Shouts out.

Locksmith. Actually, Locksmith is an incredible rapper, even outside He was the guy to the battle raffle.

You went against him?

No, he was like a notch before my time, like a half step on his last couple of events. You know Frack?

Love Frack. Yes, my gosh. That's how Frack, man.

I was going to bring up Frack, but I was like, is that He's like, okay, so look, at a certain age in life, I think you pick what's the thing that...

If you're lucky enough, you find something you fall in love with, right? I imagine at the age, you had to pick hoop as like, okay, you probably played all sports, whatever. But you had to decide by this age, okay, basketball is the one I'm in on this. For me, hoop has been one of my loves of my life, you feel me? But I just had to realize this ain't my calling. You know what I'm saying? I was into a few other things, but when I found music, it was like my whole life changed. That's why I'm all in on this. Is it the sound of it? You can't explain why you love something. I love that. You just love how it makes you feel, the obsession, the addiction, the willingness to just... Because you can't dedicate your whole self to something you don't entirely love. The hours in the gym required to be as great as you are. One of the only on the planet that's ever played this thing that's as great uniquely as what you give to the game. If that just came to you without trying, that doesn't happen. It comes through dedication and hours and work.

Music was that for me, but it didn't initially just... It wasn't like it was a God-given gift or talent. I lost the train of thought a little bit. Oh, oh, oh. Fract. Yeah. Every now and then, because I'm I'm such a student of the game because I love the game as much as I love succeeding in it. I'm still always a student, still a fan, studying, admiring the greats, learning from, stealing from, you feel me? All that. Every now and then, I see somebody come along like, This motherfucker made me really fucking good. It's a mix of jealousy and envy with admiration. I say that all to say is some people are really fucking talented and great. It's a long-ass shout out to the homie.

He's the type of dude. He'll go up and he'll have 15 words on a board and he'll just go through, and he'll just have some type of freestyle shit with it.

With all 15 words?

Brilliant. That's fire. That's something that K-R-S-1, a lot of people.

That's what I'm going to say. My brain just doesn't work like that. Have you ever seen somebody just dunk? I wish I'd play basketball like that. That's true.

He's a great natural talent, and he's just a brilliant thinker as far as his battling acumen. He'll just come up with ways to diffuse what somebody else is doing in a very brilliant way. He'll go.

You all are both in music, and I love music. I love the R&B part of it. I love, obviously, the rap part of it. I like the instrumental vibe of it. But from being around musicians, when you guys, I don't know, hear a beat or hear someone else hop on the track and you feel like you've What would have done better, what does that come from? Does that come from a competition or that comes from a place of like, No, you all fucked it up. You all should have did it like this. Yeah.

Artistry. I mean, it's got to be a mix of both. I would imagine, say, your team gets eliminated and you're still watching the play-offs. You have to have a mix of you're studying the game, you're a fan of greatness. At the same time, if I was in here, I would have... You know what I mean? It's got to be a dichotomy, right? Because too much of one or the other, too much of like, I'm the great, I'm blah, blah, blah, blah, then... But too much of just fandom and just too much... Because this is competition. This is war. This is combat. This is a sport. You feel me? It's like, don't get it twisted. That's why I'm like, when I listen there, I see somebody who's really, really, really great. I could appreciate it. And a part of me gets a bit just like, fuck, man, that shit. I can't lie. That's greatness. But then I'm like, I still want to cut his head off. All right. Same shit.

That's a great thing about rap, too, is beats are almost an exchangeable currency where it's like you just put out a mixtape on everybody else's beats, and it's like, Okay, I feel like I could do well on this. You see, like me and people do something like that, and they'll just put out an entire project on beats that you might have heard something on already. And then it's like, this is his offering on this, which is like, you don't really see that in other musical genres.

I like what music is going, though. At first, it was at a stale spot, but now it's changing. Like, guys, I implement vocals and singing with the rap, It's a different types of beats. I like what music is right now.

I do. Where do you think things are headed as far as the artistry that songwriters can use to break out from traditional boxes that they might have been put into, where maybe there was a day where it's like, Oh, you're a rapper. You're just going to wrap a '16.

Maybe someone else is saying- I mean, we're all same age, right? You know what I mean? So we live through... When I'm eating cereal before I walk to school, in the morning, I'm watching music videos. I remember if you had $20, you had a pick which CD you were buying. You feel me? I'm getting Jay-Z or I'm getting 50 or I'm getting M or I'm getting... You know what I'm saying? You couldn't just get everything. I remember just going through the fucking booklets, the album cover booklets, producer credits, writer credits, the thank you to everything, the obsessing over the details of the music because there's an appreciation of it. There was a limited space because you found music through radio. You consume music through going to the store to buy a CD. And then in the streaming, and then now everything's available. I started making music at the time where I was uploading songs to MySpace. The idea I could make a song after school with the homies on a laptop and then put it out was damn near brand new. And then I went to school with the pack who had the Van song.

We were the same age, weren't it? Same, you know what I'm saying? When I watched them go from sitting next to me in class to being all BT and MTV with that video for Vans, I was like, Oh, it's possible. This isn't just a drain. The shit we're doing, it could actually happen because I just saw it happen. Oh, say less. I will. Period. It felt attainable. Attainable, period. That's all I need is to know is it's attainable. I'll do the rest. I don't care how long it takes or what it takes. I will get there because I've seen it happen. I know it's possible. It's not impossible. It was really cool.

Do you remember the first record that you bought, the first album, whatever that you went to?

It was 400 Degrees.

Yeah? Yeah. Juvenile? Yeah. Bam. That's a classic.

Great one. I used to have that T-shirt. But from all that to say is that once you didn't need a record contract or a ton of money to get into a big studio and all this, that, and the other to make music. And now how accessible the tools are to create music and distribute it, it's completely shifted the landscape to this It's for everybody. And there's good and bad signs to it because everybody can make music and everybody maybe does not need to be making music. But also it's like there's no genre anymore. You don't go to Tye Records and go to the jazz section or rock section, rap section. Everything is genre bending because there's no rules. So it's a wide open playing field.

And that can manifest itself as far as there's not a way that you have to dress or present yourself. And I think that goes back to having a listening party or a release party at the box. You know what I mean?

I don't think you fit a box of a typical... You know what I mean? How would you define yourself as a player in the NBA? Because you're very uniquely... There's only one I'm in my own lane.

I think it might be, I don't know, a couple of us. You feel me? But that can have their own lane.

Who do you put in the conversation of the couple of you?

Me and Draymond.

That's all I was going to say.

What are the things you share? Where's the Venn diagram?

Impact winning. Impact winning.

Any time. And especially at times when you least expect it. Oh, man, damn. Fucking Yannis is out, fucking Dane was out there. Had a bit of double-double. You What the fuck? Where the fuck did that come from? Impact winning. Fuck, are they playing? Fuck it. I take a charge to win a game. Impact winning.

The unconventional, you know what I'm saying? To the untrained eye and ear, the casual basketball fan, I'd say, from the outside looking in, would not be able to understand the greatness that you and Dre both possess. Because you both are unicorns in a way. And uniquely, but are so profoundly impactful and important and difference-making.

And it's more of like... When me and Good friend, we had a conversation about stars and superstars, right? Steph Steph Currys, Ron James, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordans. The Jeezys. You feel me? Those guys come all the time. We might not understand it, and we might, Oh, those guys are a dime a dozen. Look up, it's the next. You feel me? It's the next Derrick Rose, it's the next, Russbrook, it's the next. You feel me? But it's only one Draymond Green. I'm one Pat Bill. The motherfuckers don't come with that, man. It doesn't.

It's only one Dennis Robin.

Would you put Dennis Robin? You feel me? You know what I'm saying?

It's this one. It's just those going to come in. I put Marcus Smart up there. I put Drew holidays up there. Derrick White. Guys who, Derek White, guys who you don't know how, but they- Who are you going to take for MVP? This series? Yeah. Jay Brown. But for me, that's the media answer. For my personal answer, Drew Holidays. Drew.

That's what I would take.

They're a different team because of him. Because of him. He's the most valuable player on their team.

Chris Tapps blocks when he was... When the announcement said he's on that fast break in game one. He said, There's one man, he's got to beat, and that one man is 7-3. And he swatted him. Chris Tapps to pop out like this in the last two games and be effective was incredible. But Drew is the real-The real reason.

The real reason. And no matter what, no matter what team you got, you need guys like that on your team.

You need them. A hundred %. What's your relationship with the game of basketball?

My relationship with the game of basketball. And basketball, besides music, has been a love of my life. Same with basketball.

Every basketball player will be a rapper. I promise you.

So it's a crazy story. Maybe I elaborate it a little bit. Maybe I can't remember exactly what happened, but this is how I tell the story, and I'm good at telling stories. I'm good at telling stories. I'm trying out for the team this freshman year, and me and my best friend, he made VAR thinking I made JV or something. He said, Shit, if G ain't make VAR, I didn't make VAR. We both quit on the spot, and we went to my crib and made our first song ever. And that's how music got started. You feel me? Wow. Period. Because Hoop was just like, growing up in a bed, after school or any day, we had Hoop shorts under our fucking size 38, academic jeans, rock averse. You know what I mean? After school, we would go to the park and just hoop. And even back to my childhood, that was the one thing when I visit my dad for summers. Me, my little brother, my dad, that was our connection. It was Kobe. You feel me? Watching the Lakers. I have a 824 tattoo right here. My mom's Christmas present to me and my little brother every year was tickets to see one game, Warriors Lakers.

We had been in a nosebleach just to see Kobe. Kobe was my everything. You feel me? I remember, bro, getting in. When I met him, you feel me? What he said to me, that shit's the most impactful day of my life. What did he say to you? He goes, Young Elvis, Yo, chase the Beatles, dog. You're fucking great, bro. That's hard. He was like, let's get lunch. I'm like,.

So you're a Dubs fan growing up?

You're a Warriors fan? I was in Donald Full, like Antoine Jamieson era Warriors. So it was hard to be a Warriors fan. I would go to... Once a year, I would get to go to one Warriors game, and it was either to see Minnesota, Kevin Garnett or Cove.

That's a beautiful... I mean, those are some great players.

Obviously, I mean, yeah.

Stone cold, man.

You need a fresh one? You're about to get the hot... That's the hot pack.

I came to New York to work and get drunk.

Hey, hello.

Offseason, it's treating me very well.

Yeah, You have to enjoy yourself in the offseason. So what made you come to New York? Why New York? Why did you decide that it was time to go from... You got the hands.

I really don't. You called it. I was a lucky catch. I just didn't want to... Cheers, brother. Cheers.

But yeah, you live in Los Angeles for a long enough time.

How you like it? What's the difference? La, New York. Because I got a crib in Cali.

In music, it's like what you're supposed to do almost. You The industry's there. You're a rapper, you sign a deal, you get the crib in LA, you go platinum, you live in the hills. That's the thing. All the producers, all the writers, all the studios, that's where you're supposed to... It's almost like following the script. Same thing with basketball.

You got to go right to LA, start training.

Yeah. It's a lane of opportunity in a lot of ways. But to me, I've been different my whole life, bro. I never fit in. I never felt like I kept moving a lot as a kid because my parents kept either losing jobs or having to move or splitting up. You know what I mean? I've never felt like I'm... I always felt a bit of an outsider. So I do the LA thing, and I kept waiting, feeling like, All right, my first album goes platinum. Maybe if my second album goes platinum, I'll be able to make the album I want to make, or I'll be able to live life on my terms. I don't have to play the game. Because you earn that, you buy that. Fuck, I didn't succeed enough to make shit on my terms now. To me, growing up in the Bay, which is very different than LA. It's two sides of California, but it's very different. But I'd always had this idea in New York for some reason. I think the movies and listening to Nas and Jadikiss, Mob D, Jay-Z, Trial Call Quest. I had this image of New York in my head, and it just came to me like, All right, you've been in LA seven years.

You've done this. You're really unhappy here. Either shut up and stop complaining or do something about it. You're not married. You don't have kids. You have the resources. Just go. Do it. You can. You can change your life. You can And adjust and make a change. If you want to quit a job or if you want to move to a different city or country, this and the other, or you want to break up with a person, or you want to... We have more power than we realized. And for me, at that point, I'm like, this is a window in my life. I'm in my 30s. I've accomplished all this. I'm very grateful and appreciative of it. I feel like I have another chapter in me. I want to change my life.

And that's the thing that takes, I think, the most energy is making the It's like physics. It's like an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by another object. So it's like taking yourself out of your routine or taking yourself out of the stream of life that you've been living in is the hardest thing. But once you reset that course, it's probably easy. Being in New York has probably come easy to you.

Bro, I fucking love it. I fucking love New York. I love it, though. I walk every day, 20,000 steps. I'm outside, bro. Nobody bothers me. Nobody. But tourists. It's the only people who ask for pictures of tourists.

I go to a cultural park right now.

Chill. Yo, chill. And you get to experience people watching, just being in culture. You walk three blocks this way, you're in a different universe. Three blocks this way, you're in a different culture universe. And that shit is fascinating to me because as an artist, I'm like, I need to live and experience and absorb to be able to tell these stories. You know what I mean? And go see shit that inspires me or experience it and live it.

People combine their own fucking business in New York, too.

Yeah. But in LA, you could just I literally just order a Postman and stay in the crib or get in a car and only see another human being at a red light.

Listen, we literally do that. We got summer house in Manhattan Beach. We literally sit in a beautiful beach every day and order a DoorDash every single day.

That ain't life. I'm in Soho. I'm downtown, bro. I'm walking outside every day. I haven't ordered one DoorDash since I've been here. Come on. Central Park. Try a different restaurant every day.

Every day. Give me ice cream. I know I don't need it.

I don't need ice cream, but I'll try it. Cool.

You know what? I'm working on.

I'm going to take this icy. What? For real? I went to a fucking yesterday, man. I was walking my homie catching up. He's a film director. You know what I mean? I have friends that are painters or artists or directors or different types of art and all different walks of life. You feel me? We're walking through downtown and we passed this little cafe that was all chai tea. And the smell just hit. I ain't going to lie. Walked past it and the spices. And we got halfway past the spot. And I said, Man, should we just get some chai? I don't even know, really. I don't know. In there, it was mad. Like pillows on the ground, like rugs and shit was all cut. I'm like, Dude, I've never been in no shit like this. Yeah, let me get a chai tea.

So Pat Bap should get a spot in New York is what we're saying.

I'm literally trying to get a spot here. You should. I've been trying. They tried to fleece me. My last deal. What do you mean? I buy a spot. We've talked about it. It was literally 15 minutes from here. I buy a spot. It costs 2.6. Okay, cool. But the guy's like, You have to sign a piece of paper saying you want to buy the spot, but we don't know what the total price is.

So they could have jacked up the price?

I could have been paying for a million for a spot after that. I can't. And so it scared me. Yeah, but you got NBA bread, bro. I know. I'm cheap with my shit, though.

There's some days where I wish I maybe would have picked basketball.

I'm so cheap with my shit, though.

Music is a crazy business because it's like, it's spinach in a frying pan. It's so much overhead for us. So it shrinks down? Look, you could get paid this for a show, but then the overhead of like, okay, flights for your whole team, salaries for the whole team, like sound guy, fucking monitor guy, lighting guy, tour manager, security, drummer, DJ. Everybody needs hotels. Everybody needs flights. Everybody needs salaries. And then you bring that turns to this. You bring that home. Then you got to give the commissions to the management, the business managers, the lawyers. And then you take what you got left and you got to pay half the taxes?

I'm glad I hoop.

Yeah.

Damn, that's nasty.

I wish I would have made Varsity.

That's some nasty work there. Shit. And it's like that with everybody.

Yeah. But at the end of the day, it takes a village. I would think similarly to your work is to win collectively. With a group. Because you don't play tennis, you play basketball. It takes those 13 guys, and the coaching staff, and the everybody, and the med staff, everything. It takes a village. And the people that collectively come together for one common goal is a beautiful thing when you get that many people on one page and go to war for you with you.

Music is the It's the best job. Of all the jobs that exist.

At the end of the day, I say that to say that, Fuck whatever. At the end of the day, to bring home this, that, and the other. That's not why I do it. To get to just do what makes me happy is making and playing music.

You listen to a song and cry. That's wild.

I get to make music that I cry making, that people cry listening to. I get to make music that makes me happy while I make it and makes people happy when they listen to it. And then I get to travel the world playing it for people. It's the best job.

It's the best time. Of all the jobs. So, yeah, I'm glad I didn't make Vars.

So is it ever a time when you're doing a song, right?

And you're feeling it, crowd feeling it. You and your feelings about it. But you want the song to go forever. Is it a time like that?

Bro. I'm about to say something. Say it. Yeah. Sometimes I do definitely feel like this is the more like not PC version, but the answer that's more… This is the question. And then I'll get to what I was going to say. But you feel limited by the structure of music because you have 48 minutes. And it round that up to probably hour and a half of a game. But one thing could just be three and a half minutes, a song. You know what I mean? And you could play it, play it, play it, play it, play it. But sometimes when that lightning It strikes so crazy. Because I make music most every single day. I'm always either writing notes on my phone or have shit in my head or I'm in the studio all the time. But there's days where it's You do something so long, I can do this any day of the week, but there's not every day of the week that it really... That shit that's different. And then it's really It's not really that special, but it's only three minutes. And as you listen back to it or you feel it and it hits you, it's like I almost get as fun as it's ending of like, damn, I wish this experience was...

Because a film is an hour and a half, two hours. The game is an hour and a half, but that song is just that.

But it is all yours, though. A film, you're maybe saying somebody else's words, a basketball game you're playing.

I was going to get to great sex, man. You don't want to care. You know what I mean?

Like, ecstasy. Yeah.

Right.

Type of vibes, different vibes, places you only reach a couple of times. I like that. Because what that with music, I listen to some shit. Fuck it. Meekah say some shit, Jay-Z say some shit, I'll be, damn, that shit hit home. It feel good. I feel it here. It's really making me feel some type of way, for real. It motivates you. You go play on court, all for that. I remember going through a whole game. We're playing Toronto Raps. I'm listening, I don't know. I'm thinking a little baby, a little Gunna song. What a money I'm on for. Whole game, I'm going through humming a song, but I'm at peace the whole game. The whole game, everything feels so easy. I'm flowing through that bitch. Every shot feel perfect. And I'm Drake's sideline. He talking to me, but I'm humming a song still. What is he saying? I'm humming. Like I'm zoned out, feeling too great. Yeah, it's a vibe. Music is a special tool, bro. If you use correctly, you can change the world. Use correctly, you can change the world.

It's next level communication, honestly.

I think that music is-It's the universal language. That's what they say. Music is the universal language that connects all of us because it's crazy because it's just vibration of air at the end of the day.

So my favorite rock band, Google Dolls. Why? Every time I say that I have a literally laugh in my face.

I mean, you knew I was saying that. Every time you say it, everybody I tell that to.

I love them, though, bro. The vibe they have and make me feel away.

It's always funny. Why?

I know.

I don't literally- It's just in Congress.

You're just talking about how you love Meek and Jay-Z, and the Gugu Dolls doesn't necessarily fit in that bucket.

But I'll say as a fellow, individual who's been exposed to an eclectic range, a wide range, and I listen to all different types of stuff. The same thing that why the box doesn't bother me, you know what I mean? I'm fast. I listen to more jazz, probably, than hip hop. I'm into I'm fascinated by the world. And that's why New York is so interesting to me because you could walk and see all different walks of life. And some people, I think, not judging us and just any other, we're all different people, but Some people just really find comfort in their unique little slice of pie. And I'm just like, it's a whole wide world.

I want the knife.

Come on. It's so much out there.

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Yeah, I've been there a lot. I did a show. What's that?

I did a- Jazz Club.

Okay. Here?

In New York. Best, oldest jazz club.

Incredible. I saw Andre at the Blue Note. Playing flute? When he did his flute show, yeah.

That's fucked up. His flute I literally listened to them in the half of the season. He played it live. It sound got awful.

You can't play it live though.

You can't say that. It did though. It sounded awful.

Okay, why can't you say things?

Yeah, but I mean, it sounded awful.

He was playing the flute in a mic in front of an outside crowd. The sound.

You saw it live. Then it turned awful live.

What I'll say is- See, you can't say that. My bad.

My bad. No disrespect. It's my favorite album.

Here's the thing. Andre is one of my biggest heroes, period. And I also admire or wish that we have more freedom in the world to be able to just have opinions and without being like, you can't say that. You know what I mean? Why? He just hit me with that. God forbid, we have opinions or whatever or have... That's called. But I'll say this. What I think was incredible about the whole thing is that he did it at all. Somebody who they want this from André, and he's like, I'm going to do what I want.

When you hear it, the album by yourself, it's phenomenal. I listen to it every single day in the playoff. A whole crib zoned out.

The show wasn't it.

The show wasn't it. The sound for it to carry, it just wasn't it.

But also in fairness, let me say this. My little brother, my only other sibling, We're born three years apart, but one day apart, May 23rd, May 24th. That's hard. 3:00 AM, 3:00 PM, three years later. He's as much my twin as as much as- Gemini. Complete opposite. Yeah, Gemini. But he was music major all through college, jazz, classical, everything. So it's like, I've had a connection to the world of jazz and high level. And as much as I love the ambition of like, yeah, I'm going to just make an avant-garde jazz album. I know I'm on the 2000, and I'm one of the greatest rappers all time, top five. But this is what my heart wants to do. And I'm going to do it in the bravery and courage and bravado it takes to do that because no one was asking for that. They were asking for Anja to rap, and he's like, I want to do what I want. That's such a powerful statement. I'm going to tour it and I'm going to play the Blue Nodes of the World. I'm going to take it to jazz clubs this and the other. That's the side that I totally respect and see there.

The other side is this, Yo, Katz really actually do this. You You know what I mean? I don't know how that's going to land or sound.

But there's great flutists out there. There's people who are classically trained flutists.

That's all I meant to say. You know what I mean? And that's not just...

A music thing It's funny business, man.

But if somebody who was great at being a flout, all of a sudden decided they wanted to play basketball and they just got on an NBA team, he would be like, Yo, dog, we do this.

What's your doing?

Yeah.

It's like when Manny Pacquiao plays basketball with all of his closest friends, he's the greatest boxer, one of the best boxer of all time. Then he plays basketball with all his friends, and they let him get to the cup a little bit. You know what I mean? He had a little bit of a leg up, but the artistic, trying something new is something every artist probably wants to do. What's new about your album that's coming out this summer? What's something new that you thought that you'd try with this? What are the risks that you're taking?

Yeah. So throughout most of my career, like I said, I kept waiting for when am I going to get to do things on my terms or make the record I'd want to make. I get it as a business, it's a business. It's a job. You're paid. You're on RCA records. You perform at this level. But at the same time, the creative ambition and individuality to pursue your truth, I'm not talking about. But with this one, it was like, all right, I started in Paris. I had to get out of LA. I'm there. I'm in a different environment, inspired by this, listening to Cabaret, saying, going to shit like that. Spend some time in London, came to New York, a lot of nights at the box. Ultimately, it came down to embracing self-truth, self-acceptance, and not being as self-critical and telling a real honest human story of I have flaws, I have scars. You know what I mean? I'm crazy. But I'm also delusionally ambitious and driven, but I'm also fucking insecure and anxious.

You sound like human.

Human. And for me to call it Freak Show was what we consider freaks that we call that are really just human beings.

The real ones. The real ones. The real ones.

And that's the essence at the bottom core of what the album is.

And on your new single, right away, you're talking about these mental health issues. How much of that is stuff that you've gone through or how much of that is dipping into this pool of relatability to give people an anchor in your music?

Well, I mean, ultimately, I firmly believe as an artist, you should want to create what doesn't exist yet that you'd want to listen to or that's what you'd like, as opposed to trying to make or force to make something for people to like. Make what you'd like.

That's what Miles Davis did. He said he doesn't listen to new jazz music. If he wants to hear a new jazz, he makes a new jazz.

Steve Jobs said, I don't do R&D, research and development. They don't know what they want yet. Until I tell them what they want because I know. And that just make what you trust and what you, if you have that strength and confidence. It's an eclectic, broad body of work that the anxiety song samples to clash. French Montana is on the album, Coelia Ray is on the album, Leon Bridges is on the album, Burna Boy is on the album. A lot of genres. But that's a part of me in the life I've lived and all I've been exposed to, being raised by two visual artists. But at the same time, growing up in Oakland, sharing a room, my mom and little brother, living this way. But then it moved to New Orleans and culture shock. It was after Katrina, I got in on all the grants and scholarships I could get. But also at the same time, they're taking anybody they can get, come back, rebuild the economy type shit. I got into college by skin of my teeth, and I'm around these kids that I've never been around people like this. They got cars, they got money, they got...

You know what I mean? Just finding your place in the world, I guess.

Their stories online of your early career, and one of them is one of your early performances. It said you almost got booed on stage or something like that.

I've been booed, for sure.

Can you tell a full retelling of that story as opposed to just the Wikipedia line? Do I have to? It was nasty work, right?

All right. I'll tell the good story first and then the bad one. I met Rocky right after Purple Swag and Pets came out. My manager linked us and he pulled out. I was in LA and We just smoked, talked, played each other's music for two hours straight. It just hit it off, me and Rocky. And he was like, Yo, I'm going to fuck with you, bro. You're a star. This is back ASAP, Rocky. Oh, yeah. Okay. This is 2010. Probably around then, whenever his shit first hit. Within the first, I remember him telling me, Yo, my new shit just came out. It got 80,000 views. That's a lot for me. You know what I mean? That's wow. And he told me, he was like, I'm doing my first show in New York. I want you to open for me. And I'm thinking in my head... Because I was like, nothing yet at this time. But I could see in him, this He's out of here. The star, the aura, the everything. But he was telling me the same shit. Like, bro, you got the sweat, you got the everything. Bro, you're a star. And we were just going song for song, playing each other's shit.

And he was like, I want you to open my first show in New York if you're down. Anyway, I'm thinking like, damn, that's tight, but it's probably cap, whatever. Next day, I get a call from his manager. He's like, Yo, this is the white boy, G-E-E, some shit. Rocky said, it would look, you know what I mean? And put the flight together, did the show. It was me, Flabberg zombies, Danny Brown. It's at Rocky in New York at Rocky's first New show. You feel me? And that shit, I remember, they don't know me from a can of paint. I'm going out there in a varsity jacket with cuff, with the 50s, with the slick back, with the... You know what I mean? And this is all Supreme and Babe, wearing that 2010 Hypebeast, New York crowd ready to boo the shit out of me. I was like, I will not lose. I will not lose. Fucking by the first drop of the first song, I went out there, had them going, and I won. I was like, Yeah, I did that. Danny Brown was watching the show. He was like, you feel me? But then they had another show.

And Rocky was like, I want you to open this, too. I'll just say that when it goes well. I didn't get a soundcheck, none, man. I walked out the mic's feedback and the beats not playing on the shit, man. Nothing's going well, man. Get his ass off the stage, man. It was ugly. It was hideous, man.

It's necessary, though.

Yeah, bro. You have to get your heart broke. Get beat up, get chewed out, get... You know what I mean? Get back up. Come on, get back up.

Get back up. No limit.

Diamond. Ten million sold. Oh, pop it.

That part.

Pop it. Hello.

I love that. I'm here for it. I tell my kids, Hey, man, you fall. What you about to do? Get back up, get back up real fast.

Stay on the ground.

Get your ass up fast, too. Not get up, get up fast, my father.

Yeah. But in that moment, I know you around there, I'm like, damn, this is not going to be it. The mic was... Oh, that hurts. I'm looking back at the DJ like, You're fucking me up, bro. What's your on? Man, it was...

Love it.

And that quiet is really quiet. That's like a different type of quiet. It is?

It wasn't quiet. It was a lot of boos. It was a lot of boos.

But boos, I mean, you've been booed. I'm on the court with other nine motherfuckers, too, so I can- You take it together.

Yeah, we just been up there.

When you're out there by yourself, you go back home.

Because I had the confidence, like, yeah, I mean, I did this once. Okay, yeah, I got this. You feel me? Man, the second show, it didn't go as well.

Love that.

But you got to love it. You got to love the Ls. You love When he wins, it's like, bro, come on.

It's the grind. Got to love the grind, though.

Or there's probably some people who have taken the L and they're just like, No, this isn't for me, and they just walk away.

What do you all think about female rappers? Because I know a lot of female rappers.

They're beating our ass.

They are kicking the male rappers. They're beating our ass.

I love it. Thank you for honestly saying Thank you. It's at last, we have a recalibration, a reset of the seesaw that's been so out of whack and so unfair for so long.

Ladies that's putting belt to ass right now.

Beating our ass.

Belt to ass. And they rap and they shake ass.

For the longest time. It look good. Sound good.

You look good. I wanted to listen to it. Yes.

And can wrap your eyes off.

Yes. I want to listen to it.

Hello.

Wait, we do a segment, a new Amsterdam starting five. So give me your Starting Five female rappers.

All time or current?

You pay.

All time.

All time?

Lauryn Hill.

Lauren Hill.

Easy.

Easy.

She's the coach. She's easy.

I mean, that's in my top five, period.

Damn. That's a great one.

Lauren Hill. Okay.

She's in your starting five? Obviously, the second one. Obviously, Nikki. Nikki. Because Nikki can wrap her ass off.

She has a ton of hits, and she opened up the gates for a lot of the people we see today.

Not only opened up the gates, but with Rapperm, the look of her rap. A lot of.

And we got Monster. When she came in on Monster, and it's such a defining moment. I think across many mediums, whether it's sports or music, you see these defining moments where somebody took advantage of a chance and fucking leaped. You know what I'm saying? That was her ascending, ascending, ascending. It's Ye, it's Jay, it's Ross. You know what I'm saying?

And she came in and washed them cats. You got to understand, from a guy who's not in music, I like to look at the look of it. A lot of rappers who were really successful as females were brown skin, darker. She opened the door for light skin pretty girls also that can have nice bodies that can wear nice stuff because you use the foxy browns. You feel me? They're real rugged, they're rapping with their hands. You know what I'm saying? They're all in your face. They're like this.

Well, Kim did have a titty out at all times.

I know, but she She was on the brown side, too. Okay, fair enough.

But I'm talking about the light skin, body put together, nice boobs, heavy on the pink, heavy on the pink.

You know what I'm saying? I'm letting you guys know I am a Barbie. It's okay to be a Barbie, and I'm still going to rap. She opened that door for a lot of females, a lot of Barbie females. I like that. I respect that.

Okay, so that's two. Lauryn Hill.

Nikki. Yeah, Lauren Hill and Nikki.

I'm going Queen Latifah. I know you all ain't going to like that. I got to put the queen out there. I got to put Queen Latifah out there, man.

But this is his starting five.

No, it's our starting five.

No, his two is my two also.

The first two are immovable. Yeah, you can't. Nobody's having that conversation. It's first two are immovable.

Four and five might be tough.

I mean, Lotto should be in the mix.

Cardi B is definitely in the mix.

I mean, Doja could really rap. She's almost more of a pop star at this point with the amount of- Yeah, but here's the thing, and that's where maybe I'm a bias because of how I... I can be in a pop space and I could be in a RAPS. You're sure in diamond? Yeah, diamond.

That's tough. I don't give a fuck. What you say. Diamond is tough.

Platinum is tough.

Gold is tough. Diamond, it's only a few motherfuckers that went diamond.

Hello. Hello. Hello. Twice.

Damn. Love that.

So, yeah, don't you?

I'm throwing me off. I'm down.

I love what Sexy Rez doing. How Bluntly and just the same reason why, man, me and Cardi B had played some radio shows together before we did No Limit. I was a fan, and I went to her dressing room to say what's up. I was like, Yo, I just want to say what's up. This is before No Limit. Both Maybe it just come out. But I've been fucking with the mixed taste and her whole approach being so bluntly, abrasively, unapologetically herself. As a powerful woman, just Just standing there like, I'm this. Yeah.

Left eye. That's my five. Left eye? Left eye is in my five. That's my five. I got the Queen Latifah. I got Cardi B. I got I got left eye. I got Nicki Minaj, and I got Lauryn Hill. That's my five.

That's your five? That's my five. So who's rounding out just to get up?

Left eye used to be in that biz like this.

She cold. I mean, rapping, rapping, Jean Gray, for sure. Good call.

Yeah. Can't be wrong with that. Yeah? Yeah.

So wait, just give it definitively.

But women are better at everything than us. That's true. But just seriously, bro, in the imbalance in so many places of life, workplaces, you know what I mean? But hip hop and just to see this shift, it's a reckoning that has been a long time coming. I think it's a beautiful, strong thing to see that Rappers are beating our ass.

And they're putting on entertainment with it. They're shaking their ass, man. They look good shaking that motherfuck, too, man. The words that they use, they're using it with their ass shaking, and they're getting on their knees and doing these challenges and shit. My fucking knees are stronger than mine, Ron.

Of course.

All right, top five.

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Top five in the WNBA.

Top five WNBA. Players? Shit. Damn, that's on the spot. That's a good one. Here we go.

Don't fuck this up. They'll be on your fucking head, dude.

You can't fuck this up. This one ain't that bad. Okay, here we go. Damn, that's tough though.

Yeah, you put...

We can edit this, right?

No, we got to go with this one. Okay, shit. I like Enrique.

Okay.

She didn't make the USA team.

Ogumbawale? I like her a lot.

Yeah, she's tough.

She's tough. I like her a lot. Diane Obviously. Obviously.

As the O-G. I saw Sue Bird the other day. I was walking in Soho, and I was just seeing it. I was like, Oh, my God. Just in the presence of greatness. Goat. A lot of people didn't go like this one, but I like Brittany Griner. Oh, what? All day. And I love that she's in the league, back to see her.

You've never seen a talent like that. A long time. Obviously, I got to go Aja.

Yeah, the best in the league, hands down right now. Hands down, not even close. That's in the street.

Not even close.

It's going to take Kaitlyn at least three or four years to even approach the conference.

Okay, so the last spot is tough because he just said a name that if You don't say people are going to be mad. You know what I mean?

I don't think she's top five.

No. Somebody who just finished college six months ago to jump in here. But I do love the What it's all done to the conversation because however, whatever catalyst to create change or bring conversation, attention, and awareness, and shift.

Sabrina, my fifth.

Yeah, that's nice.

Sabrina, man, I loved when she said, We're playing the best basketball in New York for a certain year. That was before this year. No cap.

Yeah, she's a superstar. I mean, she's also putting it at a different level being in the NBA All-Star Game.

Is that a new afternoon starting five?

Sabrina's got to be in the top five, right?

Is that high noon starting five?

High noon starting five. That's a high noon starting five. That's a good one. That's a great one.

That's a great one.

My point is that a lot of people just started watching the WMBA this year as Kaitlyn Clarke was drafted, and it seems like you've been following for longer than that.

Yeah, last year, I think the story was to building the super team in New York with the Liberty and to try to beat the Vegas aces or whatever. And at the end of the day, it's whatever it takes. When the shift and you have NBA players making 50 million a year, and then WNBA stars making this, it's like... 328,000. You know what I'm saying? I've never understood. I don't have ambition or desire to want to be a billionaire or something like that. I don't personally understand and relate to people who do. I'm just saying that's not how I'm wired. So I'm like, what can you do with 50 million? They can't do a 49 or they can't do a 48. They can't do a 47. You feel me? So it's like, in a perfect world, why can't this be restructured and balanced better? You feel me? Or put more resources into building up the WMBA. And the NBA is the healthiest and most successful league. You know what I'm saying? More the NFL, baseball, everything. So it's like, why can't we just put more effort into... And I'm talking like, I don't know how that would work, but...

Ideally. But ideally, yeah. And I think Kaylyn Clarke helped that, though. I think Kaylyn Clarke helped. I think, Sabrina and- Rihanna.

Candice Parker laid down the foundation of it. Lisa Lazy laid out the foundation of it.

Yeah, but you need these pillars of catalyst moments to bring attention and create moments to get the world to pay attention.

And I think that with the Kaylyn Clarke, with her. I look at the situation, I hear people talk, and I'm like, Man, I don't want to give my opinion so much because I don't really know too much about just everything. Because you can't compare her to Candice Parker. You can't compare her to Maya Moore. You can't compare her to Aja Wilson. You can't compare her to these women. She has a normal woman's frame. The everyday average woman is her height. So same with Steph Curry. It was no surprise why he was so relatable, why people loved him.

But that's the thing. He wasn't 6'6. I think sometimes why some people transcend a sport or a space is because they seem relatable. You can identify. They're like, I could be that. I remember the first time I heard Kanye on the radio. I'm 13 years old, and he was my first concert. But rewind before going to see him get his gold plaque for College Dropout at the Filmore in San Francisco when I was 13 years old. I could recall before that first time I heard him on the radio. And it was like the worlds still because in the era of get rid of that, trying and you know what I'm saying? Gangster rap being, that's the voice of hip hop. It's talking shit like that. You know what I'm saying? All tough shit. Hearing somebody talk about being self-conscious, it was like I'd never heard anything like it before. And because he just sounded like a human. And I think when you see somebody do superhero shit, that you feel like, Oh, I could do that. That's where you feel like you can connect and maybe even aspire. I look at Michael Jordan, I'm like, Never in my long-looking life am I ever going to be able to.

You see somebody who almost seems human, I'm like, damn, I could connect and feel like I see myself in that a little bit.

It's a relatable lyric. I'm so self-conscious.

I think that's... Obviously, she's talented as fuck. She can shoot the ball from ranges that a lot of people can't shoot her from. But She's so relatable because the normal- She's not Angel Rees.

My daughter loves her.

You know what I'm saying? My daughter loves her. She's so relatable. So I think when it comes to pushing, like he said, transcending things, I think the average size, look of a person, I think that matters. I think it matters. I really does think it matters.

Interesting. All right, guys. Let's take a second to talk about game time. Game time. That's Pat. Pat told me to say that game time. We love getting to live events. You love getting to live events. I love getting to live events, whether it's concerts, football games, basketball games. Yeah, that's for me. If you're going to be going to those specific lovely events, make sure that you're using game time. I'm about to go to the Philly's game with a bunch of friends. They're like, Where should we get the tickets? I was like, Don't worry, guys. I'm going to game time. It's the simplest. It's the easiest. It's the most straightforward and It's the best way to get tickets to the game. It's almost fun buying the tickets because you know it's going to be lickody split. You're going to be in, you're going to be out, and you pull up your chosen event. You go to Game Time Picks, GT Picks. It's a setting right at the top of the screen, and you will be able to filter out the fluff to show you incredible deals on great seats, so you don't have to waste time searching through thousands of tickets.

That's right. What are you waiting for? I'm about to buy these Philly's tickets right now, right on my jack. That's slang for phone. Browse the best games with GameTime pics. Get deals near you on the GameTime app homepage. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with GameTime. Download the GameTime down on the GameTime app. Create an account and use code, PatBev, for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply again. Create an account, redeem code, PatBev, for $20 off. Download the Game Time app today. What time is it? Game time. Some of my friends from Philly, a group called Ground Up. Breakfast. Crazy track. Incredible track. That was one of my favorite times just in music in general. I know that you're doing shows with them, recording with them. I know that you're good friends with all of them, but it made me think about the different periods of your career, and so excluding the current one, what do you think was the favorite stretch of your career as far as a retrospective and just the things you were doing, the music you were creating, the times you were having, the people with whom you were surrounding yourself?

I mean, that's a good question. Obviously, when it's ascending and when it's coming up and everything is new and the growth is It's the most intoxicating, exciting feeling. Because I remember we were trying to do shows and three people came and one of them was my manager. You know what I mean? That shit. Then when we first had 50 people and that was like, oh, shit. And then 200 people and then 500 people. And then coming back and all the way up to my first big New York moments, I'm thinking, three nights sold out in a row at Terminal 5. You know what I'm saying? They're doing Barclays, bringing Jay to Kiss out. These types of... It's so crazy because at the end of the day, you had asked earlier, circle me back, do you ever wish a song would last long or something? I'll have these moments. I'm like, Yo, I'm on stage in Barclays, and one of my favorite rappers all time is backstage. I'm about to bring him out. Or I'm at Coachella and my favorite rapper, Lil Wayne, is side stage. I'm about to bring him out. At the end of the day, it's Just 60 or 90 minutes.

You know how fast 60... We've been talking probably an hour and a half. I just saw my assistant go like, I think it's time to go. You know what I'm saying? But that's how fast it goes when you're in a moment. And it's crazy because when you're in a moment, You just feel alive. And then you get left with the memory. It's not like you could relive it. You feel me? I got pictures of it. It goes by like any other 60 minutes. My mom, there's a picture of me and DMX on stage at Terminal 5. Dap it up when I brought him out. And shit like that. There's all these moments, but the memories last longer than the moment did, obviously. So it's tough to really recall because That's why it's important not to always look ahead, I think. Because I could think about a lot of times where I'm at this stage. I'm like, We could afford the holiday in, but I can't wait to get to the this, or I can't wait to get to the Soho I can't wait to get to the... You know what I mean? Or we finally afforded our first bus, but it wasn't that nice.

I couldn't wait to get the nicer bus, or this time the other. But at the same time, if you don't slow down and just be present with This is happening.

You got to smell the roses.

You can't smell the rose from a Galipon horse. That's an old- Got to smell the roses. Like saying, like a Chinese proverb. But my grandpa used to say, that's like, you got to be present and appreciate this because I appreciate this, dude. Not just saying this shit, you know what I mean? But even just getting to meet you and have a conversation with you. I'm a basketball fan. You feel me? Same. I did Melo's podcast the other day, and I'm like, Yo, never in my long-licked life I thought I'd just be able to sit down and talk to Melo for an hour. That's fire. You know what I mean? All right. So it's like, Stay here. That shit tight.

Let the man go, man. You got shit to do.

All right. I appreciate you, bro. You're a legend. You're easy. Go buy this man's album. What days are coming out?

June 21st. June 21st. June 21st. And this Thursday, the box. Box.

I'm copping the album. I'm be there Thursday. I'll be there. I'll be there, for sure. You're going to be there also, right?

Say less. I'll be there with bells on.

Check it out, gang. Check it out, gang. Love, love, love, love, love, bro.

Thank you, brother. And congratulations.

Yeah, much love, for sure.