When those haunting piano keys and rattling bass hits, you know it’s going down. SleazyWorld Go catapulted into our collective consciousness earlier this year with the release of “Sleazy Flow” – a song that cemented his fate as a frontrunner of the new generation of artists. At the time, SleazyWorld Go lost his YouTube page and had to rebuild the momentum from scratch. However, he created a new YouTube channel where he dropped “Sleazy Flow” and soon after, it formed a life of its own.
In a matter of months, SleazyWorld Go became one of the hottest names in hip-hop. He earned co-signs from heavyweights like Lil Baby and Offset, both of which appeared on his debut project, Where The Shooters Be.
SleazyWorld Go. Image provided by label.
“Sometimes, it feels surreal,” SleazyWorld Go told HNHH of his meteoric rise from YouTube sensation to earning the respect of artists like Baby and Offset. “Back when I was younger listening to them, I never would have thought or known that I would be doing music with them in the future but, it happened… Listening to their music back then, now I’m doing music with them.”
For the penultimate installment of HotNewHipHop’s 12 Days Of Christmas, we caught up with the SleazyWorld Go to discuss his meteoric success, relationship with Tech N9ne, and leaving a legacy behind like Juice WRLD.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
When the psychedelic hues of Jimi Hendrix meet the eccentricities of Future, an artist like Seddy Hendrinx comes out of the woodwork. It would be a disservice to refer to Hendrinx as simply a rapper because his intentions are not limited to hip-hop. “I’m gonna save music,” he says during his appearance in HNHH’s On The Come Up.
It’s a bold statement for any one artist to make, especially one whose yet to become a household name. But Seddy Hendrinx is different. He’s a visionary with an eclectic list of influences — from Lauryn Hill to Lil Wayne and Chief Keef. The amalgamation of the array of artists is what turned his single, “LOWKEY” into such an infectious bop. It was this very single that commanded the attention of Jacksonville, and soon enough, the rest of America.
Seddy Hendrinx on HotNewHipHop’s “On The Come Up.” (Cam Kirk, Collective Gallery)
Like many, music was a form of escapism from the harrowing realities that he faced in his city. The death of a close friend at the hands of gun violence became a wake-up call to find a form of expression that he can use to vent. After stepping foot into the booth for the first time in 2016, thanks to close friend Lebanon G, Seddy Hendrinx found an outlet that allowed him to capture his thoughts creatively and push the boundaries.
His first taste of success came when Seddy Hendrinx delivered a freestyle to Bryson Tiller’s “Exchange.” At this point, the song slowly began bubbling across his city and turned him into the next up from Jacksonville. Though the support of his city is integral, the experiences are what drove his hunger.
“Coming from Jacksonville Florida, when you grow up how I grew up, go through what I went through you hungry for more,” Seddy Hendrinx explained. “Not being greedy but I want it all. And I’m hungry for it. So that’s how my city influenced my music and what it’s taught me.”
In the six years since launching his career, Seddy’s earned fans out of established acts. K Camp and Lil Poppa locked in with Seddy over the past few years. However, the release of Well Sed, a collaboration with DJ Drama under the Gangsta Grillzumbrella, put a new set of eyes on him as he traded bars with artists like Fivio Foreign and fellow Floridian, T-Pain.
However, he has ambitious plans for the future. Though he has plans to save hip-hop & R&B, there really isn’t any limits to what he plans to do next.
“To the moon and then past it,” he says. “I’m tryna take it all the way there, everything. That’s where my music gonna take me.”
Watch Seddy Hendrinx as he performs “LOWKEY for HotNewHipHop and peep his interview for “On The Come Up” below where he discusses his plans to save hip-hop, his musical journey, and more.
Following his retirement, Pierce became an analyst on TV where he became known for his controversial takes and obvious Celtics bias. He was certainly one of the most entertaining voices over at ESPN, although now, he can be heard giving his opinions alongside Garnett for Showtime. Additionally, Pierce has been working on a whole host of different businesses. He continues to make strides in the Cannabis industry, and Pierce is investing in enough companies to keep him busy. Overall, it’s been a productive retirement for the Celtics legend.
Paul Pierce, presented by Kevin Garnett speaks during the 2021 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame ceremony at Symphony Hall on September 11, 2021 in Springfield, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Of course, the 2022-23 season started just a couple of months ago, and so far, it has been extremely interesting. Just like the rest of us, Pierce has been tapped in, and he has plenty to say on what he’s seen so far. With that said, we got to speak with The Truth for the latest edition of our “12 Days Of Christmas” series.
Throughout the interview, Pierce got to talk about the Celtics’ heartbreak from last year, the Ime Udoka situation, Jayson Tatum’s MVP campaign, and the difference between his era and the current one. You also may be surprised by who he thinks will be in the Finals this year.
This interview has been slightly edited for length and clarity
HNHH: Starting things off, when it comes to the season so far, what have your thoughts really been on the quality of basketball?
Paul Pierce: It’s been pretty good. You know, what is one thing that’s probably standing out the most to me? It’s kind of like the balance around the league. You know, you can’t just say one or two teams as contenders. I think you got about like six teams that can possibly win the championship this year. I really like some of the young teams who are thriving in the Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Pelicans. They’ve been a surprise early in the season. Obviously, we knew the Celtics will be good after they run last year. But when you look and you see Golden State, you know, they not in the top four right now. It just shows you how almost better everybody else has gotten. And I liked the balance across the league this year.
In terms of those young teams that are contending, you see Memphis and the Pelicans, you but they don’t have the same experience as a Golden State. So how do you think that will translate for them as the season goes on?
Man, you know, this is the way I look at it. Golden State was one of those young teams before too when they made the leap and they had to get over the hump of beating teams like San Antonio, who was in the middle of a dynasty or just finishing up. And so yeah, they don’t have experience which is why I believe that would give Golden State their advantage because of their experience, because they’ve been in deep playoff rounds, won championships, and these other teams are still learning how to win. So hopefully, they’ll use the regular season. For some of them who played in the playoffs last year, like Memphis and the Pelicans, they were in the playoffs last year. So they have a little experience. So hopefully, you know, they can gain confidence from that.
Former Boston Celtics player Paul Pierce celebrates on the sidelines after the Boston Celtics beat the Golden State Warriors 116-100 after Game Three of the 2022 NBA Finals at TD Garden on June 08, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
As a former Celtic obviously, you’re watching the team a lot. What do you think of their strong start to the season so far?
Yeah, I really expected them to come on really good, especially with the additions. Malcolm Brogdon really gave them some depth. I expect them to come on and be strong. Did I know they were gonna be this strong? I don’t know. But you know, right now, they look like the team to beat in the NBA. So they got strong play from the all-stars. Jayson Tatum looking like an MVP. Jaylen Brown is also looking like an MVP candidate too. So, you know those guys are playing well. They tough to beat.
Everyone is talking about Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum as an elite duo right now. They were an elite duo last year. But now they’ve really sort of kicked it up a notch. Where would you rank them in terms of the duos across the NBA right now?
I think they’re the best duo right now. I mean, you look at what they’ve been able to accomplish this year, even last year, when you look at the numbers, the numbers don’t lie. Jayson has given them 30 points again, and Jaylen giving them like 27 a game. So I’ll put them right up there at the top. You know, this ain’t no disrespect to the other guys who have got really good players, because you can name guys like LeBron and Anthony Davis, Kyrie and Kevin Durant? Joel Embiid and James Harden, and a number of other young stars with their teams. Murray and Trae Young… but I think I do truly believe that the [Celtics] got the best duo.
Coming into this season for the Celtics, there was a bit of controversy. They have a new coach, although one that was already in the system. On your end, how difficult is it for a team to overcome that mental hurdle, especially at the start of a season? Or do you think it didn’t really matter since they already had that core together?
It’s easy for us to speculate because when it all happened… Ime Udoka got suspended. It was just like, what he was able to create? What kind of culture did he make and taking into the powers you thought would kind of like, put a dent in their armor? But it looked like they got the leadership from within. A lot of his coaches are still there. A lot of the same players. They just added a couple more players, but I just think the infrastructure was there. And you know, when you got leadership from within from the sidelines to the players, and it just carries over, no matter who’s head coach, and because these guys have been together, they’ve won together. And they know what it takes.
Paul Pierce attends the game between the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Kansas Jayhawks during the 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament National Championship at Caesars Superdome on April 04, 2022 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Going back to last season, you know, how hard was it for you personally to watch that Celtics team lose the finals to the Warriors, just having a personal attachment to that franchise?
It’s always tough. Game four was the game where I think Curry…That was the turning game. They got a chance to go up 3-1 and I just knew once they lost that game, I was like, ‘this ain’t right.’ They gave this team confidence and a courageous plan. Like the best player in basketball. So it definitely hurt. And I know they feel it more than me, because I was out there [once]. They knew that this was an opportunity, because you know, it’s hard to make it to the NBA Finals, and let alone winning. You can’t take that for granted.
What do you think the next step will have to be for this in order to get over the hump and be able to win a championship this time around? Because players like Jayson Tatum had it rough in the Finals.
Well, now that they’ve been on a big stage, they know what to expect. They showed that they was a veteran team, they didn’t get rattled in big moments. They understood the moment. Boston is a young team that has that experience now. So now, when that moment comes, they’ll know how to react better, and they will be better prepared. Not only for what it takes, and so on. And that’s that’s huge. You know, it’s tough when you’re going through your first finals against a team who’s been there, done that, you know, the lights, the media attention, all that can get to some young players, and you know, now that they’ve experienced it, I think there’ll be more equipped for it this time around.
As someone who won a title in Boston who knows what it is like to be on a dynasty in the making, do you think this current iteration of the Celtics has dynasty potential?
Well, yeah, I mean, I think the pieces are in place when you got two young stars like they do. A number of other young guys. Everything is in place, because when you looked at dynasties over the years, where you look at it, like how the Lakers did it when Kobe and Shaq were young, the San Antonio Spurs, the Golden State Warriors, you know, they had the infrastructure built with the young stars. And so that’s definitely there. But you got to get that first one. And once you get that first one under the belt, who knows what might happen with this thing?
Paul Pierce, NBA legend speaks during the NRL Grand Final Media Opportunity at Martin Place on October 04, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
In terms of the modern-day NBA, you look at a team like the Warriors and they’re probably the best example of a dynasty in the contemporary era. Especially with players always jumping around from team to team. What has been the key to the Warriors dynasty and what is the blueprint for future NBA dynasties, moving forward?
If they didn’t win that much, then you know, they wouldn’t be resigning these guys all the time and keeping them together. So you know, they gotta win. That’s what’s gotta happen for Boston to stay together and for these two guys to grow together. They gotta win. You know, they keep going to the finals and losing, you probably see a shakeout. Right now is their time. They are still young, they know they got two great players, and that’s what you can build around moving forward, but they got to win. And that’s how it always starts with culture. You know, Boston Celtics have created a great culture for winning and it starts at the top, also ownership, coaching staff all the way through.
I just want to know what your thoughts were on the Draymond Green and Jordan pool situation because that was such a viral moment for that team and it also had ramifications on their free agency situation.
Well, you know, it shouldn’t happen. I think Draymond knows that it shouldn’t happen. Him being the veteran leader… shouldn’t have ever come to that. And I know he realized he made a mistake. But you know, they can get past stuff like that. And I truly believe they’ve gotten past it. When you’re in a culture like the Golden State Warriors, what they have in their leadership and their locker room, they can sweep stuff like that under the rug, and move on.
Jumping into the difference between eras. You played in a more defense-heavy era. You guys always talk about how it was much tougher to play, it was more aggressive on the defensive end. Maybe expand on that and how the game has changed because now more than ever, we see guys putting up these insane 40-50-point games.
I mean, it’s not only the difference in eras. As time has gone on, they’ve adjusted certain defensive rules that really give an advantage to the offensive player. They don’t allow a lot of bumping, they don’t allow a lot of holding, you know, and so, they really try to preach freedom of movement. And so when you allow that, then the advantage, the advantage is always gonna go to the offensive player. And that’s why you’re seeing these guys putting up record-setting numbers, not just individually. Just the other day I saw Sacramento put up like 140-145 points. But it’s good for the guys. Guys are better shooters these days, from top to bottom, and that’s why we are seeing these types of numbers.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – OCTOBER 01: UFC interim middleweight champion Israel Adesanya (L) and former NBA player Paul Pierce (R) pose for a photo during a media opportunity ahead of UFC 243 at Marvel Stadium on October 1, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
In terms of just the young stars that are really dominating the game right now, who is somebody that you think could dominate in any era? Whether that be your era, the 90s, 80s, etc.
A lot of these guys. You got to figure that Kevin Durant, Kyrie, the Greek Freak. A lot of these guys will be dominant in any era… Jokic, The Joker. Steph Curry, of course.
Transitioning into your post-playing career, what are some projects that you’ve really been looking forward to doing or working on right now?
Right now, I’m doing the podcast with Kevin Garnett. We do our weekly podcast. I’ve just been doing a lot of investing in different companies. I’m working on putting together my documentary, as we speak, been doing stuff in the cannabis space, launching my brands in Boston, Phoenix, Ohio. And I’m gonna talk to somebody about starting my own long tequila brand. Why not?
What has it been like to sort of reconnect with Kevin Garnett and be able to do that show and just talk hoops all the time?
I mean, we just at the house chillin,’ man. We were really good friends. He lives five minutes from me, our kids go to school together. So it’s just natural for us to just kind of come together and talk hoops.
It’s still pretty early into the season but if you could pick an MVP right now, who would it be and why?
Right now, I gotta go with Jayson Tatum, man. I mean, because he’s leading the best team in basketball record-wise so far. He stepped his game up to another level. But it’s a long race, you know? But right now as of today, I gotta go with Jayson Tatum.
Just lastly, probably the Celtics are in there, but who do you think is probably destined for an NBA Finals appearance this year and who do you think is going to win, and in how many games?
Oh, I really see the Celtics are getting back in the finals. It’s gonna be tough because I believe it’s gonna be them and Milwaukee but I think the Celts are gonna win in seven games. I think it’s gonna be tough to find another team that can beat the Golden State Warriors in a seven-game series. It’s just hard for me to see them losing a seven-game series to anybody in the West, so I’m gonna go with them. I’m going with a rematch of last year.
Who do you got winning that series?
Celtics are winning in seven.
Awesome! Thank you so much for taking the time today.
Hit-Boy is undoubtedly the producer of 2022. After closing out 2021 with a third collaborative effort with Nas, Magic, he kept the momentum high throughout the year. He reunited with Beyoncé on “THIQUE” off of Renaissance – a strong display of his ability to craft hits. However, he also locked in with some formidable MCs. We saw him work alongside legends like Snoop Dogg and 2 Chainz. He also served as the executive producer behind The Game’s Drillmatic Heart Vs. Mind and, even more recently, Nas’s King’s Disease III.
“My responsibility is to just bring quality every time,” Hit-Boy told HNHH. “Like, really get into like the sonic sphere of where they flourish at. I feel like that’s why me and Nas win… I just like getting a specific pocket that allows their shit to breathe.”
Hit-Boy’s emphasis on bringing quality helped usher in a new era of Nas’s career. However, on the cusp of releasing King’s Disease III, 21 Savage sparked a debate surrounding Nas’ “relevance” in the culture. Fans and critics initially considered the comments disrespectful, but it didn’t take long for them to put their differences aside for “One Mic One Gun,” produced by Hit-Boy.
Hit-Boy via Thirdeyeraz
“I definitely was just like… I’m just a little like – man, this is crazy that we are the only genre that’s so quick to downplay the people around us, the OGs, whatever,’” Hit-Boy recalled of his initial reaction to 21’s comments. “And it’s like, I feel like what me and Nas are even pushing for is a bigger agenda just with hip hop and artists being able to mature and still make the flyest shit that they could possibly make that don’t sound dated.”
For the latest installment of HNHH’s 12 Days Of Christmas, we caught up with Hit-Boy to discuss bridging the intergenerational gap in hip-hop, King’s Disease III, and the history behind “Legit.”
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Jacksonville, FL became a hotbed for talent in recent years, though Lil Poppa could be the most promising export. However, the grim realities of the city became a central force of his artistry. The pain-riddled melodies are coupled with vivid accounts of growing up in Jacksonville, Florida. Above all, he considers his music a survival guide to make it out of such harsh environments.
The budding star began making music at the age of 12 following a stint writing for his church just two years prior. However, his maturity and life experiences in the following years developed his songwriting skills further. 2018’s “Purple Hearts” was a turning point that provided a form of escape during a trying time in his life. The record grapples with survivor’s guilt following the deaths of his two best friends. The auto-tune in his voice induces pain and anxiety but he crafted bars that felt wise beyond his years. At this point, Poppa’s passion ultimately transformed into a therapeutic outlet. As a result, the feelings of grief and solitude cultivated a loyal fanbase. 2021’s Blessed, I Guess was an exemplary body of work revealing his maturity since he began to make waves. The album captured his ability to turn these harrowing emotions into beautiful poetry.
Lil Poppa on HotNewHipHop’s “On The Come Up.” (Cam Kirk, Collective Gallery)
However, it was2019’s Under Investigation 2 that set him up for success in the years that followed. The 11-song effort found Lil Poppa swapping bars with formidable artists who carried the same M.O. Mozzy, his label mate at CMG, not only appeared on the project but later returned the favor when he invited Poppa onto “Price Tag” with Polo G off of the Sacramento rapper’s critically acclaimed, Beyond Bulletproof in 2020. The unadulterated thoughts seeped through gloomy Southern production that related to a wider audience than ever before.
Given that he watched his brother pursue a career in music, Poppa naturally gained a passion for crafting bars. Then, he mixed with the ethos of Southern mainstays like Boosie Badazz and Webbie. The combination of these influences formed the foundation of his undeniably riveting sound that relies on the brute honesty that he masks through his melodic delivery.
Lil Poppa is emerging as a singular voice representing the South, minted by a deal with Yo Gotti’s CMG. Following the deal, he released the third installment in the Under Investigation series at the top of 2022. But even after turning the projects into a trilogy, he considers his CMG debut as much of a formal introduction as his previous efforts.
“[I’m] getting everybody familiar with me and to this day, I feel like when people go back and listen to my first project, they still do that. Like they still getting a chance to know me,” he says, adding that his mood is the primary indicator of his creative direction on any given song or project. “Whatever mood I’m in is whatever’s gonna come [out in] the music at the time.”
Check out Lil Poppa’s acapella of “Pledge” below, and the latest episode of On The Come Up with Lil Poppa. The Jacksonville, FL rapper discusses a dream collab with Juice WRLD, the reality of the music industry, and more.
She’s the multihyphenate “it” girl that has captivated viewers on shows like Star and Grown-ish, but Ryan Destiny’s career started in music. A global audience has already been introduced to the several talents Ryan has to offer, and often, it can be easy to box her in as an actress with a big voice. Yet, Ryan has been pursuing music since her pre-teen days, even being a part of a girl group and signing a record deal. Acting catapulted her into stardom, but R&B-Pop aspirations have lingered.
Recently, Ryan shared her new single “How Many,” and the accompanying visual was a stunning nod to R&B mavens of yesteryear. We’ve seen her star in music videos for artists like Doja Cat, Justin Bieber, and two for Big Sean. This time, she’s taking center stage as she delivers a track about a cheating partner who has taken her for granted.
In our insightful 12 Days of Christmas interview with Ryan, she opens up about perfecting the balance in juggling multiple pursuits, especially as her acting career continues to elevate.
“Just being transparent, I feel like it’s something that still has to kind of go day by day with it,” Ryan exclusively told us. “And I’m very interested to see how my next year goes because it’s probably going to be the hardest to juggle, just out of the past few years, because of the pandemic, and everything that went on, I feel like it really slowed a lot of things down.”
“But now, since things are starting to pick back up, it’s just going to be really interesting to see how it all really can be done, because of the projects that I have coming out, with acting, and then more things being produced, and then music as well. And just kind of how those two live together.”
Read more from our interview with Ryan as she opens up about maintaining her privacy, only being in competition with herself, and being okay with not having it all together.
This interview has been slightly edited for clarity.
It’s an annual holiday tradition at this point for Jim Jones to join HNHH for 12 Days Of Christmas. Days ahead of his latest holiday album, Jim Jones Presents 12 Days Of Christmas,Capo joined HNHH via Zoom for another in-depth conversation about the year but this time, Juelz Santana also joined us for the latest installment of our holiday series. Juelz Santana and Jim Jones are back on the road together, more so than we’ve seen them in the past. Capo held it down in Juelz’s absence between 2019 and 2020 but now, they’re back and stronger than ever as a unit.
“We’re older. Our mindset is different, we’re thinking different. The business moves that we’re making are different,” Jim Jones told HNHH. The two have a few plans for the foreseeable future – a possible venture into the tobacco industry, and a potential joint project.
Jim Jones & Juelz Santana via Via Publicist
“Jim’s hustle has always been undeniable,” Juelz added. “It’s something I’ve always able to look at no matter what I’m dealing with and find a goal in that to get me going. I’m just happy to be back at full motion.”
For the latest installment of 12 Days Of Christmas, Jim Jones and Juelz Santana join HNHH to discuss Hip-Hop 50, KRS-One, bringing Master P to Harlem to film “Bout It Bout It III” and so much more.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
HNHH: I feel like we’ve seen you guys on the road together a lot more this year. How has that been for you guys, just getting back on the road and hustling together?
Jim Jones: Feels good, man. Feels good to have my brother back. Have a brother back on the road. He was in school for a while, which took a little time from us but now we back full speed. It feels better than it did before, actually.
Juelz Santana: I totally agree.
Coming from such an iconic run during the 2000s, what are the differences and similarities between those times and now?
JimJones: What we did then, shit… The Diplomat run is undeniable. You can’t compare that to anything but it’s a bit different now. We’re older. Our mindset is different, we’re thinking different. The business moves that we’re making are different. It’s way more about the business than it is about the music, even though the music is just as much important but we more in the business now. I’d say 10% music, 90% business.
JuelzSantana: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. The approach is 100% different. But everything else is kinda the same. Jim’s hustle has always been undeniable. It’s something I’ve always able to look at no matter what I’m dealing with and find a goal in that to get me going. I’m just happy to be back at full motion. Getting ready to put out music at the top of the year. January with Drama, we’re gonna put out In Motion project. Turn sh*t up.
Jim Jones via publicist
Jim, what’s the update on the Hitmaka project and when can we expect that to come out?
JimJones: Well, before the Hitmaka project, I’m actually dropping a Christmas album next week called 12 Days Of Christmas… Got a nice compilation going on with all of my artists… just to be in the Christmas spirit. Besides that, the Hitmaka project is coming at the top of the year. It’s an incredible project fully produced by Hitmaka. I’m excited, man. I got a record with Stefflon Don that I think could be a very big record.
You just dropped a “Gunshot” with BEAM but I wanted to know, what was KRS’s reaction to hearing you use that sample?
JimJones: I didn’t actually get to speak with KRS personally about the sample but for all the samples you use from KRS-One, he has to give the thumbs up. So, that was good enough for me, man.
Back in the day, it was like, this shit ain’t even gonna last. [BDP] had to go through that era of really making people believe that hip-hop was gonna be here today as what it is.
And what memories does KRS-One’s “Step Into The World” bring back to you?
JimJones: Well, KRS-One was a big part of my life as a youngster. Not even a part of me becoming a rapper. BDP, Boogie Down Production.. *breaks into BDP’s “My Philosophy”*. BDP was so influential in the Bronx coming from Harlem. It was like the end-all-be-all. Very instrumental for me coming up as a youngster. “Black Cop,” so many records that resonates with me whenever I see KRS-One. His style. They had all the leather, the BDP jackets. Hats all fly. Man, Self-Destruction was another big record. There’s so much, man. I can recite KRS-One rhymes all day.
JuelzSantana: And they was movin’ militant.
JimJones: Super militant. It was a little different back then. They was on their God body, hard body, you heard?
Juelz, would you mind chiming in? With Hip-Hop 50 coming up, I’d love to hear your thoughts on KRS-One’s impact on you coming up.
Juelz Santana: Oh, I was a super music head coming up. It’s funny we were just talking the other day in my house and I was telling some stories. I grew up just being a music head so I was definitely into KRS-One, heavy. The whole BDP. I mean, Jim hit it on the notes, man. They carried the Bronx. They had the Bronx on their back. KRS-One… his lyrics were on point. They were styling. They were putting on for the city, what else can I say? At a time when hip-hop was shunned upon, and I mean, way more than it’s shunned upon now. Now, they just pick and choose what genres they want to– like drill music and stuff like that. But back in the day, it was like, this shit ain’t even gonna last. They had to go through that era of really making people believe that hip-hop was gonna be here today as what it is. So to me, he’s part of that era. Sh*t.
Jim Jones: Speaking of making it last, just look how long– I don’t know if people know the correlation between KRS-One and D-Nice. D-Nice is probably one of the biggest DJs in the world, at this point in time.
Juelz Santana: “25 to life, my name is D-Nice.”
JimJones: But he from BDP. DJ D-Nice in the president’s party and that type sh*t. He different. It shows you how far hip-hop came.
Juelz Santana: D-Nice still doing his thing, now. Shout out to D-Nice.
JimJones: He’s super doing his thing now. He’s the biggest DJ in the world.
Juelz Santana: He’s that dude.
JimJones: Don’t forget about Just-Ice. That was my man. Ms. Melody, KRS-One…
You mentioned how KRS-One and BDP, specifically, were moving militant. How did they influence maneuvering your way through the streets and the music industry?
Jim Jones: They set a precedent in the rap game of every era of gangsta rap to the way they were moving was different. You see them. It just felt like you shouldn’t play with them. I just watched them on TV because I didn’t even see them personally. This was something we was watching on TV. But the aura that they gave off, they might not be the n***as you want to play with. In turn, you take bits and pieces of everything you see in the rap game because that’s part of who you become. When you mix all of that together, you vicariously might have a little bit of KRS-One and BDP in you when you moving as a group. You make that into who you are as you become into your own artist and things like that.
Juelz Santana: You know how you talking about moving militant and shit and Capo was saying the difference between now and then. You know how now, certain n*ggas got that image and you kinda know, you’re like, “aww them n***as might kill you.” See, they didn’t have that aura. But they had the aura, “you gonna get a good ass whooping f*cking with them n*ggas.”
*Jim Jones laughs*
Juelz Santana: Like they gonna leave some of that leather jacket on you. They might leave the B from the BDP on your back. They look like they was gonna kick your ass. They didn’t look like they had no guns. They looked like you was going to leave the situation, but you was going to be in the hospital fuckin’ with them n***as.
Do you two feel that energy is missing in hip-hop these days?
Juelz Santana: No, it’s totally f*cking missing it. N***as ain’t kidding. N***as ain’t trying to get no a**whooping. Most n***as can’t fight. N***as get made now by picking up guns and shooting almost cooler than getting money nowadays. Sh*t, I don’t know. I’m just trying to stay safe. Make it home. Shit’s crazy out here.
JimJones: A lot of things that are missing from what we used to do. A lot of lessons – it’s just nasty. Violence is at an all-time high right now in hip-hop. Do I wish we could settle our differences with fights nowadays? Yeah, I do. Do I wish we could settle our differences without violence nowadays? Yeah. The harsh reality –
Juelz Santana: It’s f*cked up ‘cause as much as we want to tell them and we mean what we say when we say, “stop the violence, learn from our mistakes,” but there was a generation that was telling us the same thing. And we were still negating a lot of sh*t and just living recklessly and living fast and getting into sh*t in the streets. We had to live and learn. And I don’t think we want that for them ‘cause it’s ending up way worse, but who are we to really tell them? All we can do is just give our advice and sh*t. But the streets are gonna be the streets. N***as gonna be n***as in the streets.
Do you think there’s some sort of solution that could at least slow down the violence that’s happening in the culture?
JimJones: The solution is us taking a step at the solution. And that takes a combined effort of everybody with influence inside this hip-hop game. I’m not saying we could change the world and make everything stop by tomorrow but it’s worth a try. Figure out something that could help our situation, maybe make it a little bit better. You gotta be accountable, first of all. You gotta hold people accountable for what’s going on before we wanna move forward. There’s a lot to it, man. But I do know one thing, there are a lot of rappers out here that hold a lot of influence, even me and Juelz. We need to start banding together and push forward a narrative that can help start the solution. Make this gun violence disappear.
Juelz Santana: I agree. I totally agree.
I got a record with Durk, super dope. I got a record with A Boogie, super dope. I got a record with Dej Loaf and Young Thug, super dope.
I wanna just pivot back into the music quick, Juelz specifically for you, you just dropped Whitney and you were mentioning you had a new project on the way. You said the project’s called In Motion?
Juelz Santana:We In Motion. Gangsta Grillz with DJ Drama. Finally. It’s long-awaited. Me and Drama had talked about doing a tape years ago. Me and Jeezy were actually supposed to do a tape together and it was supposed to be with DJ Drama. We doin’ that at the top of the year.
Before we go into the project, can you tell me more about this Juelz/Jeezy tape that was supposed to come out? When did you guys have this discussion?
JS: Oh, you know, I was at Def Jam. Jeezy was at Def Jam. When Jeezy first came out. Right before his album came out, that was one of the reasons me and Wayne wound up doing the I Can’t Feel My Face tape. I don’t know if you know but if you look back, me and Jeezy got a couple of records together. Like, 4 records, and those were supposed to be the records for the tape but Jeezy really took off. He had a very successful career and it just didn’t pan out at the time. Wayne reached out to me like, “Yo, when that tape coming out?” I was like, “I don’t know. I’m waiting on the boy to finish some records and sh*t.” And he was like, “sh*t, if he ain’t with it, then let’s do a tape,” and it just so happened that me and Wayne ended up doing a tour the next month. It was me, Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, and Dem Franchise Boyz. And me and Wayne had just built a bond that was crazy throughout that tour. Just going to the studio every night and just, know what I’m saying? We recorded tons of music and got I Can’t Feel My Face from that. I mean, us not doing that, got us I Can’t Feel My Face. So I’m kinda happy that it happened.
So what’s the status of the I Can’t Feel My Face project…
JS:I Can’t Feel My Face running the streets right now. We gonna turn this thing into a movement, it’s a whole lifestyle. It’s an empire. But as far as the Wayne project, that’s my brother – I don’t even need to promote that project anymore. Me and Wayne got a lot of songs in the stash and when they come out, they gonna come out. We don’t need to promote it, we just gonna slap it and say I Can’t Feel My Face out like how Beyonce did the Lemonade album. I hate talking about it ‘cause then they wanna say “Juelz said this about I Can’t Feel My Face…” Nah, I ain’t doin’ all that. Wayne’s my brother. We got a relationship that’s deeper than music but we always record music together.
That’s exciting. I will say though, your verse on Tha Carter III is probably my favorite verse on that entire album to this day.
JS: I’m still waiting on fuckin’ my Carter III plaque. Mac, I need my plaque, baby.
Well, I hope he reads this and that comes your way this holiday season.
JS: Yeah, that’d be a good Christmas gift. How many Tha Carter III sold? Almost 10 million, right? I would take that plaque.
You dropped “Whitney” and I think you recently teased a record with Lil Durk, am I correct?
JS: Yeah, I teased a couple of records. I got a record with Durk, super dope. I got a record with A Boogie, super dope. I got a record with Dej Loaf and Young Thug, super dope. I think it’s gonna be a great look. Great look for myself but also a great look for Dej Loaf. I love Dej Loaf as an artist. I think this is definitely gonna get the people like, “what the f*ck? We need some Dej sh*t, too.” So I’m really excited about this project. It’s called We In Motion. Me, Jim and Meek got a record that’s real dope that’s gonna be on there. So January, top of the year, stepping on them. We got a lot of dope artists I’m bringing with me. So, I’m just looking forward to the movement. Lotta motion, lotta motion.
Juelz Santana via publicist
Will we be hearing that as a single before the album drops or is that something we have to wait for?
JS: Well I mean the top of the year is here, that’s why I didn’t put the record out. I’m doing it around January first. Super top of the year, preferably January 1st. If all goes well. I just didn’t feel like I needed to drop too many records, you know? I’m probably gonna drop one before it but I’ma give yall what y’all been asking for, which is a whole project from Juelz Santana, at least 12-15 songs. The ball will be rolling and then we can just keep it going from there.
Jim, how much of a role did you play in Juelz and Drama together for a Gangsta Grillz?
JS: Jim played 90%. 90%.
JJ: I ain’t gonna lie. Juelz said the other day, “I wanna do this Drama tape.” I said, “Drama gon’ do the tape,” and then, we were on a No Jumper interview and Juelz was talking about it and then Drama called his phone like “where the music at?” Done.
JS: I say 90% because — of course, Jim, he don’t gotta call Drama and ask. Like, we all got relationships but just as far as helping me just get in motion and getting me in the space of where I need to be. Putting out music and being creative. You know, ready to put out music and just keeping us alive with the music he’s been putting out. Being so effective in the game. It’s just been good to watch.
JJ: It ain’t over, we just started. That’s what it feels like.
JS: By the way, we been talking about doing a project together, too. Putting out something. I think the people are ready for that now. They’ll accept that without giving us no sh*t about awww it’s not a Dipset project. But me and Jim, we working. Whatever is gonna come out of it is gonna come out of it. That’s my brother.
I did wanna ask on the status of the Dipset movie because I remember you were all waiting for Juelz to come home. Is there any update on that?
JJ: Not yet. I mean, not yet. But this is something – time changes everything but there’s no update on that but just something else to look forward to. A movie about the Diplomats history and things like that. Definitely the people need to see it. We definitely have a dope story from where we started to where we are. Where rap took us. The whole adventure in between, it’s definitely worth seeing.
Do you have any interest in directing a movie, specifically a Christmas movie?
JJ: Specifically a Christmas movie? I never think about no Christmas movie but directing, I do have a passion for. I definitely wanna naturally progress from doing videos to shooting movies and short films and documentaries. And also, that takes a lot of time, most of the stuff.
Looking back, [Master P] was definitely a good sport. I definitely would’ve told myself some fly shit like that, too, if I was Master P.
Speaking of directing, when Cam’ron was on Drink Champs he discussed the “Bout It Bout It III” music video. He recalled how Master P was under the scorching sun, and yelling at you that he’s worth $400 million. I wanted your guys’ perspective on that day.
JJ: That definitely was a different day. You know, a bit younger. Fame was coming at us fast but that day was special. Master P came out –
JS: Yo Capo, you really remember that day, though?
JJ: I remember that day clearly because I remember he came out the whip –
JS: You remember me, though? You remember what was going on with me?
JJ: What happened that day?
JS: I had a warrant that day. Remember I was hiding in the trailer?
JJ: We was tucking you and all that shit!
JS: I was duckin’ in and out of the scenes. The police was looking for my a**, boy.
JJ: That’s when you were locked up and Cam did the song couple of days later. The ‘get him out ASAP,’ right?
JS: “What’s Really Good.”
JJ: Looking back, [Master P] was definitely a good sport. I definitely would’ve told myself some fly shit like that, too, if I was Master P. He was as courteous as he could be, man, I will tell you that. But he definitely styled on me like a lil’ n***a. Like, ‘Lil’ n***a, I’ma give you the benefit of the doubt but huh, I’m worth that money.’
JS: He was at that point in his life where n***as have so much money, they don’t even know what to say. They just start makin’ up shit to say. “I got $400 million! Why I’m standin’ in the sun, n***a?” Everybody standin’ in the sun, n***a! The sun is there, mothafucka! You can’t buy the sun, n***a! You know what I’m sayin’? N***a got so much money, a n***a don’t even know what to say. “N***a, the sun? Get that n***a out of here. Move him over there.” Like, nah we can’t do that. Know what I mean? N***a be sayin’ some wild sh*t when he got all that money.
Juelz that was in your neighborhood though, right?
JS: Yeah pretty much. I mean, it was literally in my neighborhood what I would call my stomping grounds. Battle Grounds park where I always be. Hung out, grew up. Sh*t like that. But, yeah ‘bout 2 or 3 blocks away from my house where I used to live at on 53rd street. That was dope. Bring Master P to the hood. We were known for that, though. We’d bring n*ggas to so many different parts of Harlem. N*ggas had Baby on 140th. N***as had everybody everywhere.
Well bringing artists to Harlem is kind of a tradition for you guys at this point. Who else sticks out to you in terms of artists you’ve brought from out of New York into Harlem?
JJ: Everybody. We had Meek in Harlem this summer. We had Icewear Vezzo in Harlem. We had Fivi’ out there with us. You name it, they be pullin’ up. Harlem was busy this summer. We had Lil Migo this summer. We had Yo Gotti in Harlem, shooting videos. Sh*t, I had Mozzy come to Harlem, shot a video. Had Yung Berg out there this summer shooting a video. I had Stefflon Don out there shooting a video.
JS: We had the whole BMF in Harlem. We had the whole BMF in Harlem on the rooftops.
You had the whole BMF out in Harlem with you guys?
JJ: On my block! If you go to the video with me, Jeezy, and Lil Wayne called “Make It Work For You” – it’s on my second album – Meech is in that video. The video with Jeezy’s verse was shot in my mother’s bedroom. Jeezy was standing on my mother’s waterbed, damn near, like recording. My man Duke The God was like fake engineering Jeezy in the video. We was making the CDs like it was crack. That was in my kitchen where I grew up at. That was literally in my house, the whole house that I grew up at, from a baby until I met Jim and Cam and they took me out the hood. Literally, that’s where that video was shot at. And the whole BMF came. Them n*ggas had phantoms all out on the block. Meech and them was up top. There’s footage of that on the internet.
Aside from what you already do business wise, is there any other industry you’d like to enter in 2023?
JJ: I’d like to get back into the alcohol and beverage industry again. I’ve got something I’d like to push forward. We venturing into the tobacco business, me and Juelz.
Dipset cigarettes are on the way?
JJ: Not cigarettes. We don’t smoke cigarettes, we smoke weed. I had a meeting today actually, I wish I could talk about it. I been working though, man. I’m hyped. Sh*ts gonna happen that people are going to get very excited to see.
Juelz, what about you?
JS: Same. I agree man. Just building this empire right now. ICFMF. I Can’t Feel My Face. I got some super dope artists. Got the clothing line. Of course, like Capo said, we venturing off into tobacco. My brand is getting real big som of course, I’m going to go into all the products that can be sold, legally, as far as that industry is concerned. Like, the pens and all that stuff. Just everything, ‘cause the brand is just growing so strong, down to the movies. I wrote 3 scripts. You were talking to Jim and I didn’t want to [interrupt] but I actually wrote 3 scripts while I was incarcerated. I’m just waiting to get them into the right hands. I truly believe in them. They super dope. The concepts behind them — you know, that’s not our area so I’m just waiting for the right person to hear me. I know they dope. I don’t really wanna act so much, but if I get a role or something… but I ain’t shooting for that. I just kinda wanna be behind the scenes with that. As I said, just building my brand ICFMF into an empire.
Both of you came to 21 Savage’s defense when he made his comments about Nas and then, the song came out. What were your thoughts on the two of them coming together after that?
JJ: I think that’s pretty dope. It’s dope to see them do a record together, it’s dope to see Nas [took] it as any misunderstanding. We all have opinions as to what’s going on out there. But seeing generations from right now mixed in with generations from back then and both are relevant entities in hip-hop culture, it’s pretty dope. It shows a lesson to music moving forward and we both need to meet at a medium. So there’s a lot of confusion and conflict when it comes to rappers from the older generation to up-and-coming rappers and rappers from the younger generation that are very influential and things like that. But what we really need is to come together and make more music, like what 21 and Nas just did. It’s something that me and Juelz been doing all the time. We need more of it.
JS: I agree. I think that was dope that they came up with that and it didn’t lead to anything else. I think that was a positive solution for the situation, especially for the younger generation to see. It was kinda like touching back – not to move backward but like Jim was saying, just taking steps in a positive direction. That sh*t coulda went left, but it went right. Two grown men like that.
JJ: We all gotta learn to agree to disagree without causing conflict. It’s very big and what they did is exactly that.
JS: Even with Jungle, who’s Nas’s brother. He said something. He tweeted something, sharing his opinion and how he felt during the time about the situation. But like I said, it just goes to show you nobody lets too many feelings get involved and stuff. They carried that like men, and how they should have carried it.
I feel like we put our imprint on this game to the point that we are part of this history.
What do you guys think the key is to create an understanding between the younger generation and the OGs?
JJ: Everybody being open-minded. It’s not just the older people that have to be open-minded to what the younger people have. The younger people have to be open-minded to some of the things that we’ve provided for them. It’s a two-way street. But I always wanna give advice, give a helping hand — this is what I do, ‘cause I was once in a position where I didn’t have them people that I needed to count on that was in the game and that could help guide me and give the advice that I needed. So this is one of the things that I’ve been doing for so long as far as helping youngsters.
Juelz: And then, some of those guys get past that “f*ck it” age. In life, man – I don’t know what age it is, but you go through this “f*ck it” age. Some people get through it fast, they grow up quicker than others, but you go through that time where it’s like “f*ck it,” especially if you winning and you’re doing you. How do you get through that? As far as them younger kids ‘cause I think once that attitude gets instilled in them and then they start feeling themselves getting into the paper, it’s kind of like, what can you really say to somebody like that?
Do you guys feel that the impact and the lane and the contributions of Dipset are something that is recognized by the younger generations just based on your interactions with a lot of the new rappers?
JJ: You can definitely see the impact on today’s younger generation, for sure. Listen to these drill beats and these drill beats have a lot of heavy samples like Dipset. It’s no different to style. It seems like it’s 2003 again as I’m seeing the BB Simon belts, True Religion cut jeans to rock and roll this, rock and roll that. It’s something that we created wholeheartedly. The rap-rockstars is us. We did that. That was something that we started. So seeing a lot of these things coming back is pretty dope, just to see how heavy our impact was and still is today. So I appreciate that.
JS: Facts. Super facts. That’s why we can’t lose right now. I feel like we’re in a situation where as long as we keep doing what we doing – what we selling…we selling a lifestyle. We selling what we do, what we been giving them for years. People been winning off of us for years. It’s no different. It’s just under our roof now. It’s gonna be in our building now. We gotta be hands-on, which we shoulda been, but, you live and you learn.
How does it feel being a part of that history in that sense? Because what KRS-One meant to you is what you guys meant to a lot of kids who came up under you. And that impact is everlasting.
JJ: I mean, to be a part of history in hip-hop… it’s something you think about as a kid, wanting to be a rapper. But to know that you actually did that and accomplished that… I feel like we put our imprint on this game to the point that we are part of this history. That you could pull out a file on us and the things that resonates with people all over. Things that we started and created. Having opportunities to come out of our hood through our music, rap music. [1:07:00-1:07:25].
JS: Yeah I agree. I feel like, I don’t want this to come out the wrong way – *call cuts out*.
Did we lose Juelz?
JJ: He comin’ back. I think he’s on the phone.
Before he comes back, I wanted your take on Kanye’s recent presidential campaign and alignment with alt-right figures since we discussed Ye’s genius earlier this year.
JJ: Kanye is very interesting. He’s a bug out. Lately, I’ve been finding a lot of the things that he’s doing – the direction he’s going in, I don’t know where he’s going so I kinda got to step back all his antics. Is he a genius? Is he smart? Yes, he’s very smart. But sometimes, you can be too smart for your own good. Do I wish he figured all this out and maybe, there’s a method to his madness? I pray there is but where he’s at right now is a very dangerous place. And I don’t know if too many people are next to him that’s giving him some sound advice that he might need to navigate where he’s going. But for me, I’ma back off Kanye for a little while. I don’t understand where he’s going with it. Talking about things I have no interest in even getting into it It’s one thing when you fighting for a cause and making sense and things that people could latch onto. It’s crazy. He went from being a billionaire to being – I don’t even know what. Society builds you up to tear you down, they do say that. Sometimes you trick yourself out of your own position just by doing stupid sh*t and having too much money. Like Juelz said, “Move the sun! Where the f*ck is the sun? I have $400 million, n***a! Why am I out here in the sun? Move the sun over.” He’s on that trip right now. He’s trying to move the sun. This n*gga’s crazy!
JS: Crazy. All I’m gonna say, man, ‘cause I don’t really wanna say nothing. I wish Kanye the best, man. I’ma pray for the guy, my guy. And I feel Kanye gonna make it through whatever. He gonna get through it. So I’ma just keep wishing ol’ boy the best and see how everything continues to play out.
Juelz, just wanted to get you to pick up where you left off before you cut out about Dipset’s legacy in hip-hop.
JS: I was just saying how they owe us a lot more credit than they give us. Like Capo was saying, the whole sound of hip-hop is Dipset-related, from the samples. Even if people don’t know it, so much goes back to our original sound. The sound that we created and the sound that we put out there. I think our era was one of the strongest eras to ever get put in front of the people. I was gonna say – I didn’t want it to get taken the wrong way – but I feel like our era was one of the strongest eras. I’ma just say that. It’s just like the Jordan era because you’re going to have people say, a lot of people before Jordan was better than Jordan. But, they paved the way. The people in the early games – it’s f*cked up – but they never get the credit even though they put in the most work. In every sport, every category of everything, the people that start sh*t never get the full credit that they deserve. They don’t get the money they deserve. They don’t get the just due they deserve. Nothing. That’s why I say our era is the strongest ‘cause we kinda came in that era where it was super potent and effective. Like they paved the way but we kinda got to reap the benefits and really lead that impact on the world. Now, you got these artists now that see all the money from it, which is like basketball, you know?
Jaysse Lopez is a pioneer of the sneaker space. For those who may not know, Lopez is the creator of Urban Necessities. UN is a store located in Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, and it is one of the most impressive retail spaces you will ever see. Upon walking through the doors, you are immediately overwhelmed with rows upon rows of sneakers in every color. Leather, suede, and nubuck overpower your senses in an alluring way that will you have browsing each row for hours.
Appropriately, Lopez describes himself as Willy Wonka and his store is like the Chocolate Factory. If you can name the shoe and the colorway, chances are, Lopez probably has it somewhere in stock. Over 10 years, Lopez has been working with consigners and building trust. This trust has allowed him to become a one-stop shop for any person’s sneaker needs. Additionally, numerous athletes and celebrities have come to him to sell their collections. Simply put, he has touched shoes that you probably didn’t even know existed.
Jaysse Lopez (Right), takes a look at some sneakers while attending Sneaker Con (Image via Jaysse Lopez)
Much of Lopez’s success can be attributed to his YouTube channel, TwoJsKicks. Lopez started the channel as a way to advertise and bring attention to his brand. Eventually, the YouTube channel took off, and it quickly grew Urban Necessities into the empire it is today. Now, Urban Necessities is seeing upwards of 7000-8000 guests per day, all while boasting one of the most diverse selections of shoes in the world.
Just like any great success story, there were some massive hardships along the way. Before opening Urban Necessities in 2014, Lopez experienced a bout of homelessness. Thanks to some hustling and just a bit of luck, he was able to overcome adversity and build what he has today. Luckily, we were able to speak to Jaysse for the latest episode of HotNewHipHop’s “12 Days Of Christmas” series.
During the interview, Lopez spoke to us about his come-up, his philosophy when it comes to retail, and he even gave us the rundown on some of his favorite shoes of the year. This is an interview you won’t want to miss.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
HNHH:for those who might be reading this and don’t know you or hearing about you for the first time, maybe just explain your background and how you came up in the sneaker game.
JL: So my name is Jaysee Lopez. A lot of people know me by twojskicks on Instagram. A couple of years ago, forever ago, I migrated from Jersey out west and made it to Vegas. In my first couple of months, I was homeless and used to panhandle on the strip and went from like panhandling and selling bottles of water to standing in line for shoes for people. Got myself in a Weekly’s job hopped a little bit, met a girl, lost a job, turned into sneakers, figured I’d buy some time till I found another job, I never found another job, right? And then, about eight and a half years ago, we opened Urban Necessities.
I joke now about the hood mall. And then we went from the hood mall to the good mall to the great mall. And this eight-and-a-half-year journey got us back to Caesar’s Palace, which is when I was homeless, I used to shower in the fountains in front of the place. So it’s kind of surreal, you know, the whole journey has been pretty wild man. And it’s a consignment shop. And what we focus on is getting people the items that they want in a safe and efficient manner. We’re getting our consigners paid, without having to go through the hardships of what is retail. Right? And, it’s been a lot of fun kind of growing this brand.
I was reading just about the growth of Urban Necessities really out of the gate. You were saying that you had sold $1 million worth of shoes in just the first three and a half months of the brand. Did that go above and beyond your expectations or did you know you would sell that much?
You know, it feels like I get asked that question a lot more now, right? Because the lights are a little different. But, you know, when I started looking at the business side of sneakers, and really trying to build something that I thought was, I could get to this, I always felt like what we were about to embark on from the very beginning was being approached so differently than everybody else. It was like, Hey, I’m opening a sneaker store. Like I didn’t want to just sell sneakers, I wanted to really get in the trenches of the culture and figure out what the best business practices are and figure out how to scale it. I’ve been in retail for so long.
And I’ve worked for some really big companies over the years with logistics and I just as I was unearthing and learning about sneakers, I just saw the flaws right like so many people that got into sneakers, like myself, it’s a passion it’s something that you like gravitate to because you’re like you know it helps you get away from whatever those deeper issues or whatever and that we all have right like to be a hoarder.
There’s got to be something wrong with you for you to just invest so much time. From day one, the first video I even put out that’s still on YouTube, where I was talking about some of my hardships in the community, I really felt like we were going to open and build something that was different. I’m thankful that as this passion project, stumbled on becoming a business, and went from small business and everybody looks at it as this big business that I’ve been able to put enough lipstick on my pig, to get people attached to what I’m doing to now turn it into a real business.
And it’s tough because the stuff that I used to love doing at the beginning, that was like, ‘oh, we could do this.’ I could just pivot and go in any direction. And so many of the ideas were so different at the beginning that they were really received well, and I’ve been so transparent with the growth and the lumps and like the hardships and the wins, and like the lessons that I think that we’ve been a really good ambassador for sneakers and the business side of sneakers for so many. I’m just really thankful for all of it.
Jaysse Lopez attends the Art Basel art show in Miami (Image via Jaysse Lopez)
When I first started getting into sneakers, you were one of the first YouTubers that I was really watching. What made you specifically want to get into the YouTube game?
At the time, it was free marketing, which was more than 15 seconds on the platforms that existed. Especially at the beginning, I was so foot in mouth and didn’t understand like, this is forever, this is representing you forever. I just focused on that one moment. And I don’t have regrets about the content. But I just wish I would have had, I mean, can’t change anything. I’m not upset with the way anything played out. But I just wish I would have had a little bit more business acumen with it. And I know that I’m removing the emotion from it. And it’s not that I don’t care in that sense, because I really do. But like, if I even now I struggle with the consistency on it. Because I’m still running a business.
The guys and girls that are jumping into this, this is their passion project, right? It’s like, how do they get in this space, and they’re representing this culture. And we’re trying to be a voice for others. We’ve had some really cool videos and some monumental moments. We’ve had some ‘I wish I could have done that a little bit different’ moments with how I went with some of the business sides of it. But Instagram and YouTube and Twitter, like they all changed the dynamic of a brand. And like I feel like I’m putting out better content now. It’s just not as much, right? And yeah, man, the YouTube was extremely important and vital to my brand.
I’m sure you must get a lot of people who will just come into the store and who probably heard of Urban Necessities just through the YouTube channel, or just, you know, the YouTube algorithm pushing your videos because a certain release was happening. Speak on how those videos really helped with foot traffic.
Oh, yeah, I mean, there are so many videos. To this day, this one video, gets talked about, it’s almost nine years old, right? Like, my most viewed video is a sneaker collection I pulled from Mayor, right? It’s got three million views almost on it, right? And there are people still commenting, I’m still reading the comments. Like I get the email notifications. The shit mattered so much. And like it every single day. There’s somebody that it’s new to, right, and that’s why I haven’t deleted any of those ‘foot in mouth’ videos.
And you were mentioning how you moved into Caesar’s Palace and you’ve got the biggest space you’ve ever had 18,000 square feet. How has it been trying to manage a store that big for the first time?
Oh my Gosh, just the most overwhelming project. It almost took me out physically. When we went in we loaded up on staff way more than I think any resellers that are not corporate have. I think we had like 50 or 60 staff members and they were dropping like flies at the beginning. And it’s not that we were asking people to do traumatizing or overwhelming work. It was just that it was all hands on deck and it was coming at us from every different direction and like a slow day was 2000 guests and busy days were like 7000-8000 guests. It’s a lot of different emotions with a lot of different people. Imagine being stressed out and a moment being bigger than you and then like, what your reaction is to that moment.
Also, it’s retail…you’re lucky to get six months out of people, no matter what you tell them what you give them or how much you give that raise. There have been all these bottlenecks that you don’t necessarily foresee. There’s no manual that says, ‘Oh, hey, you sign up for an 18,000 Square Foot space.’ And because he did this, there’s like no algorithm that you can build to yank analytics at the beginning to say, ‘Okay, well, this is how you’re going to need to play. Here’s your playbook A to Z there.’ We’re still writing it. We’re now going on year two. I’m at peace with the data that we’ve pulled, I’m at peace with the processes that we’ve built between me and my new partners. And I trust my leadership, now more than ever, so like, ‘Hey, you got enough data and information to run this correctly?
Is it gonna run 1,000,000% efficiently and smooth, and it’s like, the best well-oiled machine in the history of sneakers?’ No. But I feel confident enough that I don’t have to micromanage it anymore. And so that’s allowing me to work on bigger projects, that when we first started selling sneakers we never even anticipated.
You see, we’re opening a store in Saudi Arabia in Riyadh. If you would have told me that, you know, day one, that I would have a store in Saudi, I wouldn’t necessarily think that that would be the second, like, try at something outside for me outside of Vegas. But I felt like I’ve always wanted something in the Middle East, I just felt like it was important to have something there. And I think we’re going to be doing a lot of cool stuff going forward that just people didn’t see. And it’s because of eight and a half years of lumps.
Now, understanding and having the business acumen to know, ‘okay, well, this is what I think I’m worth and this is what I struggle,’ and then finding the right people that can articulate and delegate and create and scale with the profits that you need to be able to keep adding layer after layer after layer. It is the American dream. So yeah, man, you can see why all the grey hairs are here.
Jaysse Lopez continues to expand his brand all throughout the world (Image via Jaysse Lopez)
You were saying that you’re sort of expanding into the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, stuff like that. Just off-rip, what have you sort of noticed in terms of the difference between the sneaker culture maybe here in North America and then in Saudi Arabia?
They’re pretty hip and most of the consumers that are asking or buying or hoarding products in those regions have the ability to travel. They’re on the internet way more than we are I mean, they’re, I don’t want to say they’re in the middle of nowhere, but it takes them a little bit longer to get to the product right? Because of the logistical issues for some of these brands, and then the taxes and duties, it’s just that like, it doesn’t really move the needle for them to feed them 100,000 of whatever, so they might get 1000 of something. So it’s the same, it’s the same diet, it’s the same appetite for what we’re selling.
You know, you see all the weird stuff that’s going on with certain individuals that are really tied to sneakers. And you’re like, ‘Hey, man is like, is there still an appetite for this product from this person?’ And the answer is yes. The tougher part, and setting up over there is finding partners that could represent your brand, in the same way, and intentions that you have to stick to your core values. And then how do you get the product over there? Those were the two bigger issues, but once we found our workarounds, we felt really confident about not only signing up to do this first store but multiple stores over the next couple of years.
With the stores you have built in Vegas and now overseas…What is your philosophy when it comes to retail? Because you have so many shoes and streetwear pieces that it feels like you put a lot of stock into enhancing the in-store experience.
Retail, for it to work, and this, in my side of it, it has to be an experience that you’re there for greater than north of 30 minutes. And it’s not about necessarily getting you to buy something on the first row, but it’s more about planting the seed that says I gotta keep an eye on this on this spot. So the sneaker wall, that’s, you know, 15 rows, 156 feet, almost half a mile long, when you piece it all together. At its peak, it had over 5000 different pairs of sneakers. As we’ve gotten on, some of those one-offs that were on the wall have sold, and it’s not as many, and I’m sure my staff is thankful that it’s not over 5000 pairs anymore.
But you know, at any given moment, we have 50 to 60,000 pairs ready to sell thanks to the amazing network that we’ve built. And we do a little bit of clothing, which is Urban Necessities stuff. There are some brands that we’re going to start carrying in the store that I think are up-and-coming brands that are relevant, that are going to stay in the light for a little bit that I’m excited about carrying and that offer better margins for me to be able to keep the lights on. There’s an ice cream shop that we named after one of my Frenchies that we named BilliUN Flavors. It kind of got away from me a little bit, but we now have the time, energy, and effort to run it correctly. Imagine being able to buy candy, sneakers, and milkshakes, and win sneakers from buying candy and milkshakes.
Upstairs, I have a handful of master barbers. I have a handful of award-winning tattoo artists. And even that’s getting revamped. We’re probably going to be adding a bar up there for you know, private events and stuff. Harder-to-find stuff is going to be showcased a little bit differently. So think like the aquarium that I have. But there’s another aquarium with even crazier stuff upstairs. So it’s definitely a unique environment. I’m not playing music that you hear at H&M. It’s all rap but it’s all stuff that dates from the early 90s all the way to right now. And it’s like every direction. It’s equal east, west, north, and south. You know, I got a playlist that’s like over 6000 songs. And every Friday I’m adding new music to it.
Reggie Sergile (L), Jaysse Lopez and Esteban Sarmiento negotiate prices for sneakers valued at $8,000 – $25,000 presented by Sarmiento, Inc. during SneakerCon 2019 at Fort Lauderdale Convention Center on February 2, 2019 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Photo by Sean Drakes/Getty Images)
You were noting how you have over 5,000 shoes in the store at times. This means multiple colorways of the same silhouette. Multiple sizes. How do you manage to bring in staff that can handle the legit-checking process? Fakes have gotten so good these days so how do you make sure everything that comes through the store is real?
That’s such a great question. Right? The reality of it is is no matter how well-versed someone is they don’t know everything, right? So you know, when I’m in the store, I definitely try to verse myself on stuff that’s coming in. I have a group of individuals that have been around me for a really long time. I’ve kind of shared some of my best business practices and what I’m looking for. The reality of it is if it’s something that pops up that we’ve never seen, or we’re unsure of the first thing we’re doing is run into the internet.
The second thing we’re doing is reaching out to the community, whether that’s another shop or resources that we’ve built over the years through the community. You know, truth be told, if we get one wrong, and we find out that we got it wrong, we’re doing everything, not only to make it right. We hold the moment. I’ve had a few scrapes. For the number of shoes that I’ve touched, I could count the [fakes] on one hand so to speak hand. The community’s done a great job of letting us know, ‘hey, this one wasn’t right.’ Or we caught it. It’s not like 1000s, but we’re catching probably 10 to 15 fakes a week.
One thing I’ve noticed is that with sneakers becoming harder to cop, many are normalizing fakes. People will wear them with no shame like they might have done in the past. What are your thoughts on fakes and this current trend in the industry?
Well, I’ll say this, if you focus your energy on one thing, you’re going to find that or you’re going to notice that more than the other. I hope this doesn’t get taken out of context when I say it, but this is a part of the business that has to happen for the brands to understand where their flaws are. We have to do better educating the consumer where they know what these look like, what they feel like. Then the brands need to figure out a better way to create you know, CODs or the certificate of authenticity for these items. Whether that’s an NFT or RFIA, that’s where all of this is going.
I used to get really bothered by the fact that people would justify the expense or go out of their way. But I am also judging it with what I have in my pocket, judging it, assuming that everybody acts, thinks, and feels like I do. And that’s not necessarily the case. Right? So it needs to be an education. There are parts of the world where fakes is all they know. I’ve been to China for trade shows. There are facilities that the Nike and Adidas of the world were using them to create their work. But then these warehouses are left with all this machinery and employees, and they got to do something. I understand the positives and the negatives of it.
I really try to look at stuff without emotion. I’m not a fan of it personally, but it’s here and you can’t really ignore it. I just really feel that there’s a lot of people that are making these purchases without a full real understanding of why it’s wrong. But then I also understand that there are people that want to fit in so bad and need the attention because there are deeper issues there that they’re not comfortable talking about that gives them joy. It gives them a sense of belonging, and you can’t ignore or ridicule that either. Now more than ever, we have to be mindful of each other’s emotions. And I think now more than ever, we’re in a position where we can articulate it, and not feel bad about, ‘hey, this is why I’m doing stuff.’
Jaysse Lopez, owner of Urban Necessities, poses during SneakerCon 2019 at Fort Lauderdale Convention Center on February 2, 2019 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Photo by Sean Drakes/Getty Images)
Shifting into sneakers from 2022 to now. Maybe just tell me what were some of your favorite sneakers from the past year so far.
Almost everything New Balance 2002. As I get older, those are easier on my feet. I was such a fan. I’m such a fan of that silhouette that Shoe Surgeon and I, our anniversary shoe for the store we themed it after 2002. Tom Sachs, I like that bigger sole. The colors were easy. I’m a big sucker for earth tones. The AMM [A Ma Maniere] Air Jordan 4s were a great shoe. The Crocs that Salehe [Bembury] did…If you look this year at sneakers then look back 5, 10, 20 years, some of the things that happened would have been considered blasphemy.
Using certain colors, using certain patterns, neck faces, and patches all over a shoe. That wouldn’t have happened 20 years ago. Some of the imagery used, we would have been like, ‘Nah, man, we’re not using that.’ I think now more than ever, we’re at a point not just with sneakers, but just consumerism, where, like, if you can imagine it, it can be created. Right? I think it’s great. Now more than ever, you got people that don’t look the part they want to be the part and they’re more consumed with learning more so than the guy that looks the part.
Just in terms of brands, which one do you think is the best in the game right now when it comes collabs, new silhouettes, and just pure execution?
Well, that’s sort of subjective right? I really like New Balance. I think they’ve found their seats, but I think they found a format that they could run for a little bit. But consumers get tired and everything man so you know what I mean? For a while there, Adidas was everything, and now, Adidas can’t get one out of the infield. So I’m curious to see where fashion is taken and where marketing takes some of this stuff and I can’t wait to learn and adapt and shift in whatever direction we need to continue providing the products in a safe and efficient manner for our guests.
You just mentioned Adidas and I wanted to touch on that for a moment. With Adidas dropping Kanye, how do you think that affects the brand, moving forward?
Oh, man, what, uh, what a touchy, crappy, weird, frustrating conversation that you wish you didn’t even have to acknowledge the elephant in the room. No matter what you do, you have to acknowledge it. So I’m frustrated that one of our heroes, one of our good guys is turning into the bad guy, right? But you do something long enough, sooner or later, you’re going to be the villain. So he’s the bad guy right now. It’s very frustrating to see him be so inconsiderate of so many emotions, with the type of people he’s talking about. You know, the religions and all that other shit.
Adidas doesn’t really have much of a choice. When you’re a brand that big, you have to scale so far in advance. Right from the second somebody says something from the second every department that’s attached to the green lighting of a project or an item. It’s like at least six months of production because it’s not being just fed into your town, it’s being fed to the entire world, which is, you know, billions of people. And in some cases, some of the silhouettes are in the millions, right? So how many items were already made before this ‘foot in mouth’ moment? It’s billions of dollars. I mean, how much of a percentage of the business was Yeezy?
No matter how you splice this they’re losing, but they also own the silhouette. And from a business, the show must go on? Are there gonna be the sneaker purists that are like, ‘oh, man, I can’t wear that no more. It doesn’t even have his name.’ Yeah, sure there’s gonna be a lot of those. Those are the tryhards that are going to talk about I can’t wear this anymore. Their affiliation is with Kanye, not Adidas, which is cool, fine, and respectable.
But there are also a gazillion people in the world that have absolutely no clue about anything Kanye is saying. And they’re in a region doing their own world, where they’re not paying attention to anything. They’re still going to be able to move those units like before. He revolutionized the group of individuals that were attached to that sneakers. They essentially created the new Jordan 1, the new Jordan 3. They’re here to stay those silhouettes.
Inshan Hassan (L) and Noam Attias negotiate a sale price for a sneaker collection valued at $8,000 with Jaysse Lopez (R), owner of Urban Necessities, who offered $5,000 for the collection during SneakerCon 2019 at Fort Lauderdale Convention Center on February 2, 2019 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Photo by Sean Drakes/Getty Images)
Throughout the year, you’ve had so many people come through the store, whether it be consigners or buyers. What seems to be the shoe that you keep seeing over and over again?
Everybody’s favorite is the black-white tongue. Black-White Dunks have been selling wild man. We’re not tired and I don’t think we’ll ever be. We’re not tired of that silhouette and we’re not tired of that color pattern. Air Force One white on whites. I’m selling more Air Force One white on whites, there are times when we have we don’t have sizes, guests are asking us for sizes, and we’re walking right over to Nike and buying it for them. Tons of New Balances, though. Remember, Vegas is a hub and we’re seeing 2000 guests on a slow day. So let’s sat at least 14,000 people a week. The National conversion rate is like 7 percent, we’re a little bit higher than that conversion rate. So we’re selling a couple of hundred shoes a day. People from all over the world. It’s like, no, two people do sneakers the same.
At this point in your career, you have seen so many sneakers come through your door. Your collection has also grown quite a bit. It’s probably hard to be surprised or shocked anymore, but what is the one shoe that you saw that really blew your mind when it ended up in the store?
I’m Willy Wonka in the candy store, in the Chocolate Factory. I try my best. I love what I do. And I love the world that I’ve been able to create for myself. I was always into learning. History was my favorite class in school. Sneakers… it’s so new. It’s like a history class. And every single day, I’m seeing something that I forgot about, or never thought would come in. Forget the dollar amount, you know, but just the rarity of stuff. I’ve slowly become the guy that when you want to shed, you call me.
Those conversations always wind up being with people that have been pillars in their industries. A lot of rappers, a lot of athletes, and they’re seeded stuff you didn’t even know existed. So I geek out. Mike Bibby, Marshawn Lynch, some of these guys that I’ve worked with on pulling their collections. Guys that I’m about to work with.
The part that geeks me out the most when I’m talking sneakers with them is seeing which ones they nerd out on, or get those goosebumps or the hair standing up and then putting that shoe in their hand and then watching that reaction or emotion. There was a lot of them with Mayor, there was a lot of them with Joe. Like, for me, Paris Dunks… when I first started selling shoes, I never thought that I could even afford and they were only like 1000 bucks when I started selling now they’re like six figures, right?
So to have that shoe, see ‘em a few times knowing the sacrifices I had to make to buy a pair and I didn’t pay $1,000 for my pair, I paid way more. I could have bought a car. A nice car. That store has shoes from 100 bucks all the way to $300,000. And all of them are going to make you say, ‘Wow,’ in some shape, form, or fashion.
Jaysse Lopez attends Bootsy Bellows at SoFi Stadium on September 08, 2022 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Cassidy Sparrow/Getty Images for Bootsy Bellows & The h.wood Group )
This goes into my last question which is, as someone who can pretty much get any shoe they want…
You know, believe it or not, I really still don’t feel that way. Like no matter how hard I try, there is still stuff I can’t get…
So would you say that there is still a grail out there that you want to get or do you have a grail that you finally got your hands on recently?
When I opened my business, I wrote down five things I wanted in five years, and a couple of those were shoes I was able to touch. But like most people, there were still moments throughout my career, with my business where I was living outside my means. And sometimes you gotta let them go. Right? So Kanye Air Max 1, which I know he’s been very ‘foot in mouth’ but that was such a crazy shoe. At that point in my business, I had a partner and my wife and we tell each other, ‘alright, this is our Grail list. So no matter what we’re doing, we’re all chipping in and getting each other’s Grails kind of thing. I spent money we didn’t have for mine. Then there was a big moment in the business and you just got to let them go.
I’ve had two pairs of Wu-Tang dunks. I wish I could get that one again. I pray that I no longer have to make the sacrifices that make you cry kind of thing. But I sell shit man. So I’m really learning how to remove the emotion from it. When we moved to Caesars, you know, I was partnered with a really big brand. One of the conversations was about opening a store in Caesars and the dream was too big at the time. That dream required me to sell like 1400 of my personal pairs and timepieces and this and that and it really sucked to let them go. But I get to look at probably one of the coolest stores on the planet. And one of the most monumental parts of a mall that’s like iconic you know, like it’s a fair trade-off.
Yeah, absolutely. And I think that’s a really sort of poignant way to end. I just wanted to thank you so much for taking the time. I really appreciate you and what you’ve done for sneaker culture.
Thank you. I’m excited, you know. I think we’ve had enough practice over the last eight and a half years and I think the people that have been watching us up into this moment are really going to be proud and happy about the next couple of layers that are next. All of its getting more efficient, and I can’t wait to share it with the world, man. So I appreciate the platform and the opportunity tonight.
The music industry can be taxing on everyone who partakes in it, from artists to journalists and everyone in between. Unfortunately, the Hip-Hop community deals with additional issues that can make the music business even harder to stomach. On November 1, we learned of Takeoff’s passing, and in a year that has also taken away artists like PnB Rock and Trouble, many rappers were understandably distraught. Desiigner was one of those rappers.
“Yo, I’m done, I’m done, I’m done,” Desiigner lamented in a video response to Takeoff’s death. “Why do we fucking do this? I swear this shit ain’t nothing. I’m done [with] rap. It’s done, it’s done, it’s done, it’s done. Not to Takeoff, bro. It’s done.”
Desiigner’s reaction was harrowing and, more importantly, representative of the pain that many of us have felt all year long. For a moment, it appeared that the 25-year-old artist was ready to call it quits on his rap career. Thankfully, he did not because he still has a role to play in the Hip-Hop community. Like it or not, Desiigner — once touted as the crown prince of GOOD Music — is in Hip-Hop’s history books. And that’s not up for debate.
Thanks to the mid-2010s smash hit “Panda,” the New York-bred artist has a quintuple-platinum-certified record under his belt. In addition to those early career RIAA certifications, Desiigner also landed multiple appearances on Ye’s The Life of Pablo. His mentor heavily sampled “Panda” on “Pt. 2,” and Desiigner also appeared on the joyously chaotic “Freestyle 4.”
Desiigner’s presence on TLOP served as a huge co-sign from the artist formerly known as Kanye West. At the time, it was rare for Ye to feature GOOD signees, especially newer ones, on his albums. During his creative stretch from Yeezus to TLOP, Kid Cudi was the only recurring GOOD-affiliated artist on Ye’s solo efforts. Desiigner’s presence on TLOP broke that trend, and subsequently, his life changed forever.
(L-R) Desiigner and Pusha-T attend the FADER FORT presented by Converse during SXSW on March 16, 2016 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Roger Kisby/Getty Images)
Bringing youthful energy to the seasoned GOOD roster, Desiigner teamed up with his labelmates for “Champions.” The sensational posse cut was the first and last single for the long-awaited Cruel Winter compilation album, and six years later, it’s still a poignant reminder of what could have been.
Nevertheless, Desiigner’s infectious hook work on “Champions” further made him a shoo-in for the 2016 XXL Freshman Class. As expected, Desiigner made it on the XXL cover, appearing alongside industry leaders such as Lil Uzi Vert, Kodak Black, Anderson .Paak, and 21 Savage. Surprisingly, Desiigner was able to dominate a significant amount of the 2016 XXL Freshman buzz thanks to his unforgettable freestyle. After going viral for his trance-like freestyle, Desiigner delivered “Tiimmy Turner,” and the success of that single paved the way for his debut mixtape, New English. A couple of years later, he followed that project up with his debut EP, Life of Desiigner. Unfortunately, his official debut studio album never materialized during his tenure on GOOD Music.
Years removed from the record label that helped make him a worldwide phenomenon, the New York-bred rapper is in a good place. However, Desiigner has his sights set on “Bigger and Bigger” things in 2023. Following a flurry of fiery fourth-quarter singles, Desiigner recently joined HNHH for an exclusive 12 Days of Christmas interview. Throughout our conversation, the Grammy-nominated artist discussed his long-awaited debut album, major lifestyle changes, and his deep love for Christmas music. Furthermore, he shared with us insane details about Cruel Winter, and he also revealed his fondest GOOD Music memories.
Scroll down for Desiigner’s full 12 Days of Christmas interview, edited lightly for length and clarity.
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Desiigner joins HNHH for a enthusiastic 12 Days of Christmas Q&A.
HNHH: Today, you dropped “Bigger and Bigger.” How are you feeling about that?
Desiigner: Yo! Feeling amazing. Word man, I’m just now waking up man from the strip club. Just now, man. It was a vibe. It was cool man. I’m happy to drop some more super shit for y’all, for real. And just keeping it going. We supposed to have the video coming up in the next couple of days. Getting that shot, making sure it’s prepped up for y’all. Get that up, word up.
Bet. So were they playing “Bigger and “Bigger” in the club last night?
Yeah, word. They played that thing a couple of times. We was in there vibing. No funny, it had to get ran back.
I’m really feeling that one. Of the four most recent ones that you just dropped within the last month, I think that was my favorite one. That one and “Kilo.” I really liked “Star In The Room,” too, but we’ll get to that. Let’s talk about “Kilo” with Slim Jxmmi. Tell me how that one came to be. How’d you two connect?
It was a situation where he was flying into town. He flew in LA, right as I was coming. So when I went to the crib, I told Kyle, KT, and everybody, ‘I’m on my way out.’ When I came back, they was already on the phone with Slim Jxm. They was like, ‘Yo, Slim on his way.’
So soon as I came in, you know, in the studio, I heard the beat. Beat sounded crazy lit, so I was like I need to jump on it. Once I jumped on it, Slim was already walking in the studio. He was tired, you know. Bro was mad tired. He fell asleep, and then out of nowhere, he just got up. Man was on a pen and paper, just writing and getting lit. We partied all night. It was a great celebration after that one. It was cool.
He came correct on that one. It was very reminiscent of the mid-2010s, like how he used to be. I guess since we haven’t had a lot of Rae Sremmurd music recently, it felt really good.
Word, no kizzy. Slim? He go hard, man. We’re working on a project right now. Slim got some shit, man. Definitely, definitely. I feel like he put put some shit on that verse, for sure for sure. That’s a vibe, you feel me?
Gotchu. Did he let you listen to any of Sremmlife 4 by chance?
Ah, nah. I listened to Sremmlife 4, man. But when he was in Saudi Arabia, he was talking about me and him coming back and working in Atlanta. We gon’ put some work in, you know what I mean. There might be Desiigner x Sremmlife vibes, I don’t know man.
That’s exciting. Y’all definitely both got that infectious energy. Well, let’s talk about the other singles. Like I mentioned you dropped four singles in a matter of a month. What inspired you to go on this run?
I just wanted to just give it to y’all. I feel like the game has changed. The game ain’t like when artists could just give the supporters one single and keep driving and pushing. I feel like the game has changed so much. Y’all just want to hear more music and hear your homeboys just dropping heat on a spree. I just love the idea of moving with my brand now. I wanted to have been doing that since the beginning, when I was with Def Jam. But when were you dealing with certain major labels, they just don’t see it like that.
Like they ain’t understand the SoundCloud wave, when we were just going on SoundCloud and throwing that thing up. This was before they were doing the subscriptions, and you could be able to tap in with your supporters. Get a video out later on that week or whatever. Like you could just make sure you could keep it going for your shows and stuff. So definitely, getting back on this was something I always wanted to do. It’s super fun now, super fun. I’m moving like that rather than just trying to promote a record all day. I can promote it and let my people promote it, and then when I go to this club or go to my shows, I can keep banging ‘em non-stop.
I wanted to have been doing that since the beginning, when I was with Def Jam. But when were you dealing with certain major labels, they just don’t see it like that.
Nah, definitely. It helps build up momentum. When I was going track by track, I was like yeah, ‘He’s getting into a groove.’ With that said, each of them has a different vibe to it, especially “Star In The Room.” I would say is the most different of all of them.
Appreciate it bro.
No worries, man. I was looking at the credits. I’m just like a nerd with the music stuff, so I be looking at the credits. You’re credited as a producer on “Star In The Room,” “My Brodie,” “Kilo,” and “Bigger and Bigger.” Have you been getting behind the boards more?
Definitely, man. Produced them, for sure for sure. Being able to put certain things and touches when we in the room and seeing how it’s gonna come out [is important]. I just got that type of air, and I love being part of the lyrics as well as being a part of the production.
Desiigner performs at It’s Time For Hip Hop In NYC: Brooklyn at Brooklyn Army Terminal on August 19, 2021 in New York, New York. (Photo by Jason Mendez/Getty Images)
Interesting. What made you get into production? Or have you been producing, and we just didn’t really know?
[Laughs] I did “Tiimy Turner” with Mike Dean. Y’all probably just don’t really know. Yeah, Mike Dean did the pianos and stuff at the end. He was dope, and he was impressed that I even had some beat cadence like that. Dean was like, ‘Yo, man, that was fire.’ He liked it. And so he was like, ‘Yo, bro, I ain’t gon’ lie — you go hard. But I’mma put some saucy on it for you.’ And from then on after “Tiimmy Turner,” we were locked. Our relationship built after that, from that creation we made.
That’s dope. Well, since you’ve already dropped these singles, what else do you have planned for the rest of 2022? Because I know you’re not finna stop.
Oh yeah, man. Nonstop. Word, what else we got planned? We got this video coming out, like I said for “Bigger and Bigger.” Definitely tryna hear about some merch. I’ll probably have some Christmas vibes or some coming up for y’all. Going into 2023, man, we just going hard. I’m thinking about restaurants I want to open up. Thinking of live centers with games where kids could come over there and stream live. I’m thinking about a whole bunch of things. I’m putting it together step-by-step, but it’s all gonna get accomplished.
New Color. The new album’s called New Color. I’m working on it right now.
Nah, for sure. Well, one of the things that I think a lot of people may be interested in is your debut album. You’re kind of like a path similar to Jay Electronica, with how it’s been a long wait for your debut.
Yeah, word man.
New English was a mixtape.
Yeah.
Life of Desiigner was an EP.
Yeah.
So yeah, we’re waiting, man!
New Color. The new album’s called New Color. I’m working on it right now. It’s fire. I got some features on it already. It’s lit. I’m just putting it together. Shout out to a couple of great producers, like Rich Skillz, ATL [Jacob]. You know what I’m saying, people like that.
New Color, you said, right?
Yeah, New Color, man.
Gotcha. And what has that process been like putting it together? Because it’s been a long time coming. Does it feel like you’ve got a lot of like weight going into it? Are you just having a good time with it?
Um, I feel like it’s cool. Even with me just thinking about the color, like the color of the cover. I’m really trying to bring out a new color, something that we haven’t seen before. Bringing that and making it aesthetically match with the music and having that paired with the music right is gonna be dope.
Gotcha. Yeah, that sounds lit. Listening to you talk now compared to when I was watching interviews from when you first came out, I can see your growth. You’re 25 now, so how are you approaching the game differently from when you were 19?
I’m just approaching the game more comfortably, you feel me. P Diddy told me like, ‘Yo, it’s gonna take like five years before you get really comfortable in the shit.’ And word, it just took that. That and yoga, breathing, and understanding balance in life. When you get in the fast lane, you just got to understand that balance. It’s not the same as when you was a kid and you could just say, “Ayo, I’m outside. I’m gonna go turn up, and we will come to the crib and go to sleep. You really got to have this shit organized. You got to make sure you got your stuff together. You’re growing up, maturing, and you are a business. So yeah, become more mature and understand that this is given. I’m appreciating it and knowing that it was given to me. I’m just moving like that, you feel me?
Yeah. So how did the transition from like Def Jam and GOOD Music to independence influence your maturity and music as well?
There were executive decisions that I had to make. I had to adopt the standpoint of whatever I’m saying right now, I’m standing on it. And I gotta make some out of it. I can’t it and then be going back to the hood. That ain’t gonna happen. I got to make sure whatever I’m doing right now is gonna push me 20 steps ahead. Thinking like that and knowing that I had to make decisions like that in my career and my life always kept me [focused]. Breathing. balance. Vibes like that.
NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 28: Kanye West (L) and Desiigner attend the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)
Speaking on what you just said about saying stuff and standing on it, I have a question for you about the “Letter to Ye” song that you dropped last year. In that song, you rapped, ‘They let me through the doors/now it’s time to live it up.’ And you’ve been standing on that. You’ve definitely been going hard this year. But tell me about the whole idea and conceptualization behind “Letter to Ye.”
I really just wanted to speak about it. I felt like I never really got to talk to Ye at that time. We met each other, but we hadn’t really like met each other. We greeted each other, but we hadn’t really met each other, you feel what I’m saying? I wanted to meet him and really speak to him and understand each other. Because that’s the type of artist I am. Every artist works differently. I like to have conversations with people and build, and as we talk, I’m generating the song. It really wasn’t like that with him.
It was more like, I’m signed to bruh, and bruh was just like, ‘We in the stu, do what you do.’ I wanted to hear something, like bro, you’re Kanye West. I wanted to hear some of that Kanye vibe that’ll inspire me to [go off]. But yeah, moving with Ye, it’s helped me. It’s helped me focus on that thing that I got. Become more mature and know that I do have the executive decisions, again. I gotta make sure what I’m standing is straight because ain’t nobody around gonna lead you. You got to make sure what you’re doing is sturdy.
Yeah, absolutely. Like I said, you stood on what you said in “Letter to Ye.’ You went crazy this year. Even at the beginning, you dropped “BAKIN” with Slushii and DJ Whoo Kid.
Word up, man. Shout out to Bob Saget. Yeah, RIP the goat.
How did that connection come about? I know Snoop was in the video, but like, was that connection really through Snoop Dogg?
Not that connection was through DJ Whoo Kid. Whoo Kid knew Bob Saget.
Oh, okay. I was not expecting that answer.
Yeah, it was a vibe man. Whoo Kid, Bob Saget, man it was all chill. He was over there turned up too, slapping the booty on a stripper and all that. [laughs]
Ah, RIP man.
Word up, man RIP the GOAT. Full House, man. If anybody don’t know Bob Saget is, if you’ve seen Full House, you’ve seen that guy man.
Man, I used to watch that show all the time on Nick at Nite. It’s so crazy looking back. But someone else who we lost this is Takeoff. I mean, we’ve lost so many people this year, it’s really tragic. But with Takeoff, specifically, you had a reaction to his passing online. I know you’ve worked with Quavo on champions, but like I’m you’ve probably worked with all of the Migos behind the scenes and we just haven’t known it. So what was your relationship like with Takeoff?
Dope, bro. It was amazing. My first time coming out to Atlanta, I went to go see them. I took my niggas out there. We was chilling. It was a movie meeting bro. Next time, we always linked up. I can’t say every time, but bros know the vibes. Those were my boys before “Bad and Bougee” blew up. I was over there chilling with them, Teyanna and Shump. We all had that family understanding.
The Migos and Teyanna were like my go-to’s in the beginning of the game for me. Even towards the end of bro life, like at Hennessy’s birthday party. Me and Takeoff, we were over there chillin’ and talking about how we shrooming it. So yeah, it was that type of bond with my boy. Every time I seen my boy, it was good vibes. Sturdy, sturdy. Heavy in the A. And he was one to talk like, ‘Yeah, you got it twin. Yeah, you got it.’ 100%
Man, rest in peace to the Rocket for real.
No funny. We taking off forever.
Speaking of the connection between you and Migos, let’s go back to “Champions.” That song was just such a big moment. But on the real, was Cruel Winter ever actually close to becoming a real thing?
Yeah, honestly, it really was. Honestly, we was in studio, and we was working on it. Ty Dolla, all of us. Word, Nicki. Yeah, everybody was on that joint man. It was about to be dope. And Ye was just doing his thing. Ye had things, [grunts] other things he was working on at the time, and it just never got finished up. But word man, we still got our verses in our phones and a lot of verses in them studio files.
Ah man, it always sucks to hear stuff like that. I was kind of hoping you were gonna say, ‘Nah, it was just in the early stages.’
[Laughs] You just don’t know when it comes down to Kanye, man. Bro might just say, ‘Yo, let’s all get back in the studio for something.’
I don’t know for certain, but I think I was the first one to start with the seven, in the gang. I wanted to give y’all something with different vibes. Then when I heard bro was doing sevens, I’m like, ‘Yo, that’s crazy.’
Speaking of that — I’ve been having this theory for a long time as well — but was L.O.D. kind of Ye’s unofficial start to the album every week thing in 2018? Because that project, Valee’s project, and 070 Shake’s project were all like six or seven tracks like the rest of the GOOD albums that came out that summer. Was GOOD Music just obsessed with like, short projects at the time? Or what?
[Laughs] You know what it was, man? I don’t know for certain, but I think I was the first one to start with the seven, in the gang. I wanted to give y’all something with different vibes. Then when I heard bro was doing sevens, I’m like, ‘Yo, that’s crazy.’ The whole team was working on the same frequency. Since we’d be around each other so much at that time. We would just pick up each other’s things. Like I’m doing seven, and then you’ll hear that Kanye is dropping and doing an album with seven songs next week. It was like, ‘Okay!’ Everybody was just moving in that moment, and we was doing the same shit. It’s crazy how you can share ideas like that.
Yeah, that’s really interesting. One more question about GOOD. When looking back at the entire experience you had with that label, what was your favorite memory?
That Summer Jam moment. I’m not gonna lie, bro. No cap. It was me Travis, and all of us on stage. We were supposed to have a GOOD Music tour coming.
(L-R) Desiigner, Travis Scott, 2 Chainz, and Kanye West perform at Hot 97’s Summer Jam 2016 at MetLife Stadium on June 5, 2016 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage)
That would have been crazy.
Crazy. It was about to get crazy, but something happened where couldn’t do it. But them times when we were performing together were the best. Even that night after the time when we flooded out the city. Yo Gotti came out. Qua came out. Travis. Lil Yachty. They was talking about it on like Complex, how we just turned up and was jumping in the crowd. It was a movie, bro. To see all of us in one spot, but it’s just a whole nother party.
That’s beautiful. You could probably write a book with all the stuff that you have witnessed and just how insane that whole time period was. I definitely feel like mid to late 2010s was a different time.
Word, man, it was. It was turnt. It was sturdy, man. No funny. It was good vibes with everybody coming out. We just wanted to turn up, man. We were more in the club action around that time.
Speaking of clubs. You appeared in the video for a very popular club song last year. “She Make It Clap.” When I was watching it for the first time — because I actually was writing about for work — I was like, ‘Is that Desiigner?’ So what’s the story behind that? How did you end up in that video?
Oh, that’s my brother, man. Me and Soulja be on Live frequently. We be talking, that’s my boy Draco. I had to pull up on my boy. We linked up, he hit me in the DM and was like, ‘Yo D, pull up on the video.” He’s been fucking with me since I was a kid. I’ve been fucking with him, of course, since we was kids. So I was like, ‘Aight, bet bro.’ It was like me and my older brother, just chilling out.
He put me on things that he was doing. And it’s like, Soulja get bread bro. I ain’t even gon’ lie. He got so much shit he be doing. I like that shit. Being around bro, he be putting me on things.
No cap, I feel like he’s kind of like the rap Ray J. Both of them always got some type of venture going on.
You feel me? [laughs]
So with all these iconic artists that we’ve mentioned, who would you say are some of your favorite people that you like collaborating with? And who are you still trying to collaborate with in the future?
I like how me and Soulja be collaborating. Cause we be chilling. It be jokes, it be laughing. We can play the game all while making mad shit. And Jay Critch. Pharrell. I love me and Pharrell collaborated. Damn, Rick Ross. I got so many people, man, and I don’t want to miss any names. But heck yeah, I love when me and Swizz Beatz collaborate. The energy with Swizz Beatz was different. So many dope legends. When you’re around the legends and they’re working, it’s a whole nother vibe. I love being around the GOATs and the young up-and-coming artists. Lil TJay, that’s my lil bro. When I’m around the young guys, it feels good to see them being in the space where I was at right before I blew. Seeing that shit never gets old.
I wasn’t the kid who got everything on Christmas that I wanted. And I ain’t never asked for much because I didn’t think we could get it all. I was a kid with a little tree, big Christmas.
Gotchu, respect. Well, I got some Christmas questions for you since this is our 12 Days of Christmas thing. You celebrate Christmas?
Aye, word man. Little tree, big Christmas.
What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions?
Oh man, really just mackin’ out, being with my homeboys, being with family, and just chilling Like I said, I was a kid with a little tree, big Christmas. So just having that mindset of wanting to see us all chill. I wasn’t the kid who got everything on Christmas that I wanted. And I ain’t never asked for much because I didn’t think we could get it all. I just wanted to make sure I can just be happy and chill out.
No, I like that. This is the first time I’ve ever heard that — little tree, big Christmas. I like that though. Well, what’s your go-to when it comes to Christmas music? Like who are you playing first?
Oh man, son. [Sings “Jingle Bell Rock]. But we playing everything. Michael Jackson, we listening to that Mariah Carey. You know she gives the good Christmas vibes every year. Honestly, no funny shit, I listen to everybody, man. My house is old. My moms is 65, and pops is 66. So it’s just a vibe, you know.
Yeah, they got the best Christmas music to be honest with you.
You feel me! Word up. We was listening to the Isley Brothers, man. Before you know it, by the time it’s about six o’clock, Isley Brothers was on. Earth, Wind & Fire done got played!
[laughs] Then the James Brown creeps in.
The boy James Brown! Can’t forget the big stepper, the grandfather of this shit for sure.
Well, I’m curious. Since you have like a distinct voice, have you ever given any thought to like doing a Christmas song or Christmas album of your own? I’m thinking something like DMX’s “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” would be crazy.
I’ve thought about it, for sure. Definitely, after X put out that album for Christmas, I thought about something like that.
Gotcha. Well, what’s the word? Is it something that you think you’re gonna make eventually?
Come on! Come on, man! I might just gotta put together right now. Drop a little something on the SoundCloud, take you back there real quick.
We can’t hoard everything, bro. We become hoarders and try to collect everything, thinking we’re like leveling up on material. But as a person, your mind and your mental is everything that you need.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 02: Desiigner attends the boohooMAN x SwaeLee Launch Party at Casita Hollywood on November 02, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Momodu Mansaray/Getty Images for boohooMAN)
One more Christmas-related question for you. Even with all of the fun and festive stuff that comes with Christmas, this time of the year can also be really like sad for a lot of people. When watching some of your recent interviews, I noticed how you were talking about taking care of your mental health following Takeoff’s passing and your homies’ passing around the same time. What are some mental health practices, tricks, or resources that you would suggest for people who may be struggling mentally during this holiday season?
My advice for people at this time is to really enjoy your life beyond these material ‘needs.’ Really enjoy what you got and what was originally given to you, and that’s your fresh air, your breath, your legs. Really take the time to embrace that, you know what I mean. If you’re around people, hopefully y’all share that y’all care about each other that day.
Tell each other how much y’all care about each other that day because — like you said, bro — we lost people towards the end of the year. We lost brothers; we lost friends. And it’s real. People need to understand that we got to share these times. When you with your homie, explain how dope bro is. Tell your friend that they’re smart, you know. Because you don’t know when the last time we might be able to see each other. Even with us having this conversation, it’s the last time we gon’ say it with this type of energy again, so just really appreciate things in time.
We can’t hoard everything, bro. We become hoarders and try to collect everything, thinking we’re like leveling up on material. And you gotta just level up with your relationships, your time, you. Understanding yourself, and that’s when you can just tap back into this realm and be like, ‘I want this, I want that.’ But as a person, your mind and your mental is everything that you need.
Respect. It’s been great talking to you, and I appreciate you taking the time. One more question before you go. What do you want fans to know about Desiigner going into 2023?
Oh, man, we go up. We getting [sings] “Bigger and Bigger!” Word man, we getting bigger and bigger man. So stay tuned. We got merchandise dropping, new jackets keeping us warm outside in Desiigner fabric. We got restaurants, like I said, dropping. I got gaming streaming libraries that I’m trying to open up for the kids so they can stream there and link up there. You know, more places where young men can go and get our knowledge and stuff. I feel like our knowledge gets lost. I’m tryna find ways to for men to learn something without trying to incorporate violence so much.
Preciate you again for your time, man. It really has been great. Stay safe and enjoy the holidays.
Her viral track may have introduced a new wave of fans, but Omerettà The Great has worked on her career for years. “Sorry Not Sorry” ushered in a new era for the Atlanta star as people debated who truly is a native of the ATL. Beyond her controversial release, Omerettà also highlighted aspects of her personal life in the Love & Hip Hop franchise. Her short-lived tenure on the series further pushed her into mainstream conversations.
For our On The Come Upseries, we sat down with Omerettà to discuss her first years of fame. Like many other emerging artists of this generation, the rapper gained attention thanks to social media. More recently, the rising star delivered herEmotional Gangsta EP which hosted looks from Key Glock and Tink. At first glance, Omerettà’s petite frame and baby face don’t match her raw bars; however, her distinct sound and authentic delivery command attention when she grabs the mic.
Omerettà on HotNewHipHop’s “On The Come Up.” (Cam Kirk, Collective Gallery)
Although her music aspirations have her schedule filled, Omerettà revealed that she has bigger goals on the horizon. Fashion is an industry that she one day looks to dominate, because, as she told us exclusively, that’s where the real money is.
“That’s why Rihanna, she got her own thing,” said Omerettà. “You see Beyonce branching off to fashion because that’s where the real money at. Even when you think about basketball players like LeBron. What do they make—they make from, like, shoes and stuff. They all—Michael Jordon, he got shoes. Like, everybody in the entertainment business knows that fashion, clothes, shoes, and selling stuff is where the real money is at.”
Read more of our conversation with the rapper as she tells us about valuable lessons she’s learned, her inspirations, and earning respect from her hometown for carrying Atlanta on her back.
This interview has been slightly edited for clarity.
HNHH: Omeretta, how did you get into music?
I got into music when I was about six or seven years old and me and my sisters had a group called 3XD. I was also the songwriter of the group. So, I started writing music then.
Tell me more. What was the name of your first song?
[Laughs] It was called “The Lies Of So Many Years.” I think me and my big sister wrote that. It was: “The lies of so many years, got me nearly broke down in tears…” [laughs].
Who are some of your musical inspirations?
I feel like I’ve been inspired by Lil Wayne, Eminem, and Jeezy. I used to be a really big fan of Lucci, I love Rihanna. But right now, currently, I don’t listen to nobody.
Who’s your G.O.A.T.?
Who the G.O.A.T is? Lil Wayne. Nobody is harder than Wayne.
What was the turning point that helped you realize you were on yourway to becoming successful?
My turning point was when I dropped out of college in 2015 and I hopped on the internet and I started—well my first rap on the internet went viral and that’s when I knew that I was gonna use the internet to be successful.
If a music fan were to discover you today, for the first time, what song would you suggest that they listen to?
I would suggest that they—to get to know me? I would suggest that somebody listen to my song called “Reality” because it basically kinda…it don’t tell my story but it would show them who I am as a person.
Tell us about us a valuable lesson you’ve learned during your come-up.
A valuable lesson that I’ve learned is not taking stuff personally. ‘Cause Ifeel like a lot of times in the game, new artists—well, artists period—well,just in life period, a lot of the things that happen, people, we tend to takeit personal when it’s in the business field. Also when you in this industry,it’s not personal. Like, when they do stuff to you, you just do it ’cause theygotta do it for themselves it ain’t really towards you for real.
Read More: Omerettà The Great Is Feeling Like An “Emotional Gangsta” On Her New EP
Summarize your debut project, mixtape, single, and what inspired you to create that.
I would probably say it was my—everybody say it’s a single, my song “SorryNot Sorry,” but it’s really not a single. It’s really a freestyle that turned into a single cause of how viral it went, but I wrote that because I was just bored. I just needed something else to write about so I figured I’d write about people not being from my city. And then that sh*t just like, blew up way more than I expected it to blow up. I also thought that people—I knew people was gonna be mad but I thought they were just gonna wanna go fight and stuff.
Did you have to lay hands on a couple of people?
Nah, I almost did, in the club. Girl was trippin, like…
How do you feel about that? Like, when people hear that song some people look to you now as the voice of Atlanta. How does that make you feel?
Good, that make me feel real good. Because it made me feel like I did something right. Like, I feel a lot of people in Atlanta that’s actually from Atlanta respected it a lot, ’cause a lot of us be saying the same thing all the time. Like, you got so many people down here now that’s from the outskirts and they swear that they from the city, but we actually from the city for real. Had to struggle here and go through all this different stuff. So, its disrespectful to come down here and say that you from here. I feel like a lot of people that’s actually from the city they like, “Respect, this shawty actually stood up.” ‘Cause ain’t nobody else standing up. I actually stood up and, like,put Atlanta on my back.
Where do you hope your music career takes you?
I hope my music career takes me far. I’m actually using music as like a stepping stone cause I want to do a whole lot of different other things. ‘Causemusic—like, I love making music, it’s my passion, but the music industry kinda weird and it’s kinda something that I don’t really see myself just absorbed in.So, it’s like, yeah, I make music and I wanna build my fanbase so that when I branch off and do other things ima have customers and stuff. But I still want to be big in the music industry. just cause I wanna be great at everything that I do. But I don’t really see myself getting wrapped up in it, for real.
Talk to me about some of that business right and where you wanna go with it. Run up the bag? What are you investing in? What do you see yourself doing in the next 10 years?
After music, I feel like—well it’s not that that I feel like, I know for a fact that I’ma get into fashion. I already been starting on my fashion line, and I’m finna go to school for fashion, ’cause I really love fashion. I feel like that is where all the money is. Like, music is money, but if you look at the richest people in the world, they sell stuff. So, you know what I’m saying?
Music, we’re selling stuff. Most music artists, they don’t make all the money from the sales of they songs. They make their money from touring and merch and all this different stuff. So, it’s like, we not even getting paid for our real—like, if we was getting paid for our real songs, music artists would be way richer. But the labels getting paid for that, so the labels is rich.
But that’s why Rihanna, she got her own thing. You see Beyonce branching off to fashion because that’s where the real money at. Even when you think about basketball players like LeBron. What do they make—they make from, like, shoes and stuff. They all—Michael Jordon, he got shoes. Like, everybody in the entertainment business knows that fashion, clothes, shoes, and selling stuff is where the real money is at.
Omeretta on HotNewHipHop’s “On The Come Up.” (Cam Kirk, Collective Gallery)
Gotta educate. A lot don’t know that. If you could create a dream song what would it sound like and who would feature on the track? This is with an unlimited budget, past or present artist. Who would you put on the track?
If I had a dream song it would be a Pop song for sure. I would have Rihanna and Adele on that because both of them are just like, they fire. And I really like them.
If you could give one piece of advice to an up-and-coming musician what would be that advice?
My advice to an up-and-coming musician would be to basically just always continue to be themselves. ‘Cause following trends, you will literally crash out trying to follow a trend ’cause trends die. And basically, continue to put out your work, put out your content. Don’t be scared to put out content, know the people around you, and know that everything is good.
‘Cause a lot of times, when artists are blowing up and money start coming in, they just start thinking, “I’m lit, I’m getting money.” But they don’t even know all the money that they missing out on. They don’t know that people doing stuff on the backend. And they don’t know that they spending more than what they making. So, just being aware of everything that’s going on and just continuing life. Be yourself in the process.
