Futuristic - How To Make It As a Rapper in 2020

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All this is dope. Like, doing what you do is dope. Doing what I do is dope. But if you're not happy, at the end of the day, none of this shit matters.

Yep.

You know what I'm saying? So work hard as hell. Go after what you want.

But.

But don't ever let it take away your happiness. Realize you're blessed. Realize that this life is the most valuable thing. You know, your time is the most valuable thing. So don't get so down on yourself and don't get depressed over trying to make your dream come true. Like, work hard, but realize you're blessed.

What's going on, everyone? Kasey Adams here. Welcome back to the Rise of the Young podcast. On today's episode, I am excited to have have my brother Futuristic. Yes, sir. Thanks so much for coming on the show, man. So first things first, I want to say that I've been listening to your music for years now, and you've been in the game for quite some time, and I absolutely love everything you're about from an independent artist perspective. And I'm really excited to just dive into your story because I know we got connected through Nolan, who works with Super Duper Kyle. And it was one of those things where he calls me up from a podcast he heard with me and my boy Charlie, and he was like, yo, you gotta meet my buddy Futuristic. I'm like, dude, I've been listening to him for a minute. So he put us in touch and we. We linked up the other day. And I just wanted to say definitely appreciate you having coming on the show, man.

Yes, sir. Appreciate you for actually coming.

For sure, man. Really. To just really kick it off, man. Like, when did you get into the music scene? Like, where did this start? And because I want to just like, preface the conversation before we get into it, because, you know, a lot of maybe young people are listening today and they want to get into music. They see themselves where they're like, you know, this is a dream. How do I do this? Where do I start? But for you, where did music come into your life?

From the time I was a young kid. I really started writing raps when I was like, 6 years old. My older brother rapped. He was. He was probably like, nine at the time. And we just started writing raps. My dad was a drummer, bass player, guitar player, dj. So, like, it just happened naturally. He was always. He had bands over. His band would have rehearsal in our basement, and I'd be on the mic rapping. And just, like, it stemmed from that, you know, and my whole family was just in music. So from the time I was six years old, it was like what I, you know, was. Was ready to do what I wanted to do.

Yep. So where are you from exactly?

Bloomington, Illinois.

Illinois?

Yeah.

How was it over there?

Way different than Arizona, for sure.

Okay.

But dope?

Yeah, it was dope. Okay. Growing up, like, did you have brothers, sisters? What was. What was the family? That name? Because I just want to more so get into, like, the. The childhood aspect of, like, where you're from in the noise, when you went to school, like, how was that scene?

Yeah, it was. I'm one of nine, so, like. But all from kind of like my dad was out there doing his thing. So, you know, it's like one of my brothers came every other weekend. Then my other brothers. Two brothers came for the summers and sometimes Christmas. Then my sister came the opposite weekends of my other brother. And then I had one brother that lived. My only full brother, lived with me full time. Like, so it was just like, crate. And then my parents split and my dad had three more. So it was just like, then I would be seeing them, same type of situation, like, every other weekend type thing. So we've never all been in the same room at once, but we're all still close. And we all have, like, our separate relationships. And it's dope. It's cool because it was like, I was the only child for a little. And then I. But I'm still like, one of nine, but kind of the only child is weird.

It's a weird school. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, like, when you were in high school, elementary school, middle school, when did music come into your life where you, like, were like, hey, this could be something, you know, Because I think nowadays, you know, you hear there's so many different careers to get into, and some people may say, you know, be realistic. Right?

Yeah.

And I'm sure you heard things like that coming up, but when was that moment where you Were like, yo, I'm going to pursue music, and this is going to be my career.

It's crazy because it was literally from when I was six. Like, I would go to my dad's crib and I would record whole albums every weekend I was there. And then I would go to school and I would literally walk the lunch line and sell those albums. Like five.

Okay. This is like seven years old. Yeah.

Who wasn't getting the free lunch? Who was, like, actually buying the meals and stuff?

Yeah.

So then I was. I was speaking of family and my sister walking into the room.

What's going on? Welcome.

But, you know, I would just walk the lunch line and be like, okay, he's got some money. He's paying for the, like, the ala carte items now. You gonna buy my album?

Yeah.

And so it's like every week I come back to school with new music, whether it be five songs, 10 songs, it'd be on my new album, you know, get it? This is what it's called.

Okay.

So it was my plan my whole life.

Okay. So you just knew what. What that looked like. So when did it become something? Like, for example, I know with social media nowadays, right, you have a massive brand on there. That's how a lot of artists are blowing up nowadays. What was that pivot point for you where it's maybe the first song of the first album you dropped, where you're like, yo, this is something I want to ride with. And I know I can actually get a lot of. Not only streams, but really just utilize this as a foundation for your career. Like, what was that song for you?

Or back in the day, like, when I was coming up, there wasn't even streaming sites yet, you know, so it was different. Like, the. The industry kind of ran on blogs, so I was getting on these blogs. Like, blogs. Like, it was like, bro Bible complex. Two dope boys, Good music all day was the biggest one.

Yep.

So I think that was, like, the first time I realized I didn't even know what independent music was, to be honest. Like, I didn't understand it. I didn't know. I just shot videos with my homie and we would just put them out. One got picked up by blogs, and that's when I realized, oh, you can get fans from getting on different platforms. Then my mind just went crazy on trying to get on every platform in the world, like YouTube, how. How people were getting on all these different things. So I got on a blog called Good music all Day, and it was like my video went from like, 5,000 views to like 25,000 in a day. And then it went up to like 40,000 the next day. And then so I'm like, who owns this blog? I need to get in touch with them because I need to be on here every time. Then from them I found all these other blogs. And that was when realized, like, okay, this is a business, this is a grind. This is something I have to do. I have to find every platform and get on it, period. So that was in 2012 with a song called fuck you mean.

Okay, got it. So for you just heard that when you say independent artists, maybe someone just listened to this right now and they're like, what does that mean? So what's your definition of being an independent artist?

An independent artist is somebody who is not backed by a label. Somebody who, I guess nowadays you could call them a lot of YouTube rappers, but just some. Somebody that's not backed by a label. Somebody that doesn't have outside funding from a label and is doing it on their own. I mean, nowadays you can put other people into place to where you kind of run your own label structure. But like, even with me, like, I'm doing everything independently. I'm not backed by anything. My money is my money that I put into it. I do my thing independently, you know. So you. Yeah.

When, if you were to speak to like young artists today.

Yeah.

What advice do you give to them if they're either a thinking about getting a record deal or being independent? What's the line there? And pros and cons, what would you say that?

I think anybody listening, the most important thing in life in general is your happiness. So I think that when you're thinking about your career, you have to think about what makes you happy. Right. So if your goal is to be the biggest artist in the world, it's literally impossible to do that independently, period. Yeah, it is. Like, you can't be the biggest artist in the world independently. It's. You can be pretty big, but you're not going to be Drake independent.

Yeah.

Doesn't happen. So if your goal is to be Drake big, Justin Bieber big post Malone big, you have to sign. So you got to think of that if you want to just make a living off music, support your family, support your friends, support yourself and live a great life. And you want to be able to do whatever you want whenever you want.

Yep.

Being independent is probably the route for you. And then also, even if you do want to be super big, you just have to gain yourself some leverage before you go into that Deal and get fucked over.

Yeah.

And you have to look over the deal, and you have to know the ins and outs of it and not just sign the first thing that comes to you because you want to be famous.

That makes sense, you know? So who was some of your inspirations? Coming up?

If we start all the way back, like, growing up, originally, it was like Will Smith was the first rapper I listened to, because he didn't.

Okay.

And then it was like Ludacris, Eminem, Busta Rhymes, Nelly, all like, animated hyper musician, you know? And then it turned into, like, as I got older, it was like Lil Wayne and then Childish Gambino. I would say those seven people really, like, formed my sound. And, like, those were the people that I looked up to musically.

Okay. Yeah. And, yeah, I know when we were talking the other day, there was no one connected us. Right. And we're talking about Kyle and how you guys came up together, like, was. Because nowadays, like, yourself and all these people you're associated with, like, you guys are massive big influences on culture and is as artists. So when you were coming up with these people, like Kyle, like, what was. What was the dynamic between just everyone's energy? Because I love to hear it from a sense of, like, you know, every winner wants to see other people win. Right? Like, so what was the group dynamic of just with your team and with your just crew coming up? You know, Because y', all, I'm sure, all had the same ambitions and goals. Yeah, but how. How did that look like over that time period of.

It was kind of crazy. Like, we kind of had a crew through my videographer, Jacob Owens. Jacob Owens. Me and him went to high school together, so his first video he ever shot was for me.

Okay.

And then he shot a video for this cat Sampson, who recorded it. My studio. Not. Not my. The same studio I recorded at.

Yeah, yeah.

So linked Jake with Samson, then. Samson was from Ventura, where Kyle's from and Nolan is from. So then Nolan saw Samson, and then that. It just, like. It just was like this weird domino effect, and that led to Kyle. And then we, like, we found Kyle and Nolan both lived in Ventura. So then they started working together. But, like, we did a song together called no Budget, which was. It's like, me, Kyle, this guy Dy, this guy Sky, Sk4, Mc D Fields, and Mr. Man. It was six of us. And, like, when we were filming all that together, it felt like we were a group. Like, it felt like it felt right, you know, because we all were coming up. We all were like, at different levels, but like all coming up. And we sat down actually at Nolan's crib, Nolan's parents crib, and talked about forming a group and even started, like trying to book a tour with all of us and like, okay. But then it was kind of like Kyle popped over here, I popped a little bit over here. And it was just like the group thing kind of didn't. Didn't work. Yeah, it wasn't. We weren't a group. Everybody had like, you know, everybody has their own agenda a little bit. You know, we. And we all. We were never a group. We were just independent artists that all had the same videographer and all had like the same ambition. Like you're saying so, but yeah, it just felt. It felt dope, all of us being around each other and just working and grinding and like, if it felt almost like an odd future type situation. Yeah, yeah.

Back then, that's a sign. What year was that when, like, that was all happening?

2011 and 12.

Okay.

Yeah, probably 2011 and 2012.

In that time of like 2011. 2012. Because people listening today, majority of the audience, they're usually 18 to 24. Like myself, I'm 19. Right. So 2011, I'm 11. Right. So if you're. If you're thinking. If you're thinking in terms of like, how you looked at the industry then versus now, like, what would you say has changed?

Everything. Everything's changed. You're talking about 2011, 2012. People were still buying albums. Like, itunes was big. You were getting music on itunes. There was no streaming. There was no Spotify. There was no Apple music. Pandora was just kind of coming around like. Yeah, so like, that was. The streaming was Pandora. And then like I said, blogs kind of controlled the Internet the way that like, like the music scene the way now, like a lyrical lemonade would.

Yeah.

You know, so like those popular YouTube music channels. Back then it was the blogs. If you didn't get on the blogs, you weren't anything. So it was just like. It was. Yeah, it was way different. And you were focused on, like, you were gaining fans from trying to tour and trying to be physically in front of people. And now it's like you could stay at your house all day and you could just make songs and be huge.

Yeah.

You know, back then it was like, I was always on the road. How do I get in front of new people? How can I touch new people? And then how can I get people to buy my album and physically buy it too? Like, I was in the streets slanging CDs you know, like. So it definitely is way different now than it was then.

Okay, so looking back though, on that time frame of like you're selling albums, like it was just a completely different grind than a new artist coming up today, right?

Yeah. Yeah.

So, like, if you were just for the sake of. Maybe a young artist is listening today, if you were to give an artist like a blueprint of like, hey, it's 2019 going on to 2020, like, what should an artist do at the beginning of their career?

First of all, know who you are and know what you want to be. So just knowing your brand, who do you appeal to? Because that's, that's the most important thing. Who do you appeal to? And then now how do you get in front of them? You know, so it's like if you're. Let's just say you're a stoner. All right, Your lane is you smoke hella weed. Okay. And. And you dress well.

Yep.

All right. So you need to be always dressed well. You need to be rapping about smoking. You need to be in those scenes and then you need to start collaborating with those artists that are more known in that scene. I think that, like, I take every song like it's its own. It's its own thing. Every song is its own entity and it needs to get to the right people. So the only way to do that is collaboration with people in those lanes. You know, whether it's an influencer who smokes hello weed, whether it's a. Another artist that does. Whatever your appeal is, you need to appeal to those people and you need to brand it very well from the jump. And you just need to be consistent. Quality stuff, quality music, quality photos, quality videos, quality clothing, everything quality from start to finish, within your brand and within your lane. And that's what's going to. And tell your story and that's what's going to draw people in.

That makes sense when you, when you say brain, because you've now you've built brands and you've had this brand for, for years now that's been very successful.

Yeah.

What's your definition of a good brand or brands that you follow or like artists that you would say have done this the best in your, in your eyes?

A good brand is like that same thing. A good brand appeals to a certain demographic very well and it tells a story. You know, it gives. It gives somebody something to feel attached to that makes them feel cool and that they relate to, you know, so like you're wearing young and reckless, like Rob Was preaching that to Drama. He's like, bro, you're supposed to be young and reckless. You better jump off this building. If you're really young and reckless, like, you gotta live your brand, you know, so that's. I think, you know, you find that story and you relate with it, whatever it is. Like, if it's a skateboard brand, like, whoever has that skateboard brand better know how to skate or get a bunch of skaters that know how to skate to wear it, you know, so it's like every single thing just has to make you feel cool. It has to make you feel like it's part of it, of. Of that, and you have to relate with it and it has to tell a story and it has to be consistent.

That makes sense.

Yeah.

So when you. When you look at the landscape of social media, a lot of big brands around there today, whether that's young and reckless and how they're still continuing to capitalize with influencers and brands like Fashion Nova or evolve, like all these big brands that are, like, capitalizing on this social media currency.

Yeah.

Well, how. How do you think social media changed you as an artist? Like, in terms of the transition from slinging CDs, physical to then everything going digital, streaming being the number one thing to focus on social media to. To build an audience. Like, what was that transition like for you?

It's hard, like, when you've built something up so big and then, like, you have to completely switch it and morph it. It's tough, you know, but having social media was. Was the catalyst, like, really blowing up. If you want to say I blew up on Facebook off of a nerd rap, dressing up like a nerd. And also utilizing Big Dawes TV, who was a popular YouTuber. The video went on his channel, on his YouTube channel. And then through social media, it was just like on Facebook, it was just getting millions and millions and millions and millions of views. So if Facebook didn't exist. Yeah, I wouldn't be who I am. Because it's. When you're selling CDs in the streets, you can only touch, say, a thousand people in a day. When you go viral on the Internet, you can touch millions and millions and millions of people in a second.

Yeah.

You know, so it's like, it's just. It changed social media, changed the game, and then you're able to tell your story and build your brand consistently. Like, all the things I'm talking about through your social media.

Where did the nerd rap idea come from?

Dawes. Did Big Dawes TV is a popular YouTuber. We do a lot of work together. He did a nerd rap first, but he can't really rap like that.

You know what I'm saying?

He did, like, a nerd freestyle and it popped. It had, like, hella views. So I'm just like. And he lived here, so, you know, we just had the natural. Like, he was listening to my music, whatever. We just had the natural. We're both from Arizona, let's work type mentality. And, you know, so we did a nerd rap as me. And it just. The rest was really history. It just changed my life.

Yeah. Changed my life when you say that. Because this is, like, super interesting to me. Like, everyone. You're getting started in your career, like, everyone's waiting for, like, that moment, right? Like, maybe it's that pivoting point where you have a video go viral or you sign that deal, or you, you know, have this event or have this person, the show, whatever it is. Like, yeah, that was a moment for you.

Yeah.

In that moment, like, what was the game plan? Meaning, boom, you're getting all this attention. You. You. You're having all this new, like, viewers and listeners. Like, yeah, you. In that moment when that's happening, like, what was your blueprint moving forward? Meaning just to take a moment and then leverage it and capitalize on it. Like, some people, it happens to them, then they can't capitalize. Exactly. That's important.

Capitalize on like crazy. I mean, the good thing for me was I already had so much music out that people just binge watched everything. Like, all my. Literally, no exaggeration, all my videos were going up. Hundreds of thousands of views every day. Like, all of them. And then my album, my old albums were climbing up the charts on itunes. Like, it was just. It was crazy. And I was on tour at the time, so I'm on tour and, like, my shows were like 80 people to 100 a week later. And 300 people are coming. Yeah, 350, 400. And it just, like, built up into this thing, and I'm just seeing it. Also, I'm sitting in my hotel room like, okay, first of all, we got to do this again. Second of all, we got to work with more YouTubers. Third of all, I need to drop my album now.

Yeah.

So, like, I literally hit my engineer and was like, mix all these songs the best you can. Send them to me tonight. Uploaded the album in my hotel room while I'm on tour for pre order. Then I put out another music video with it so people could pre Order and know about it, started doing that. And then I waited till the album came out, and then the next day, I dropped another nerd rap and it blew up again. And then my album was number two on iTunes for, like, a long time. And just, like, it didn't budge. Like, people came and went, and mine was just there. And then I just started focusing on going viral over and over again and working with influencers over and over again.

Yeah.

And it just, like, just kept going.

That's insane.

Yeah.

So. So with Big Dos, I know that you guys do a lot together now, but how do you guys connect? Because I just think that's super important of, like, that collaboration that. That relationship I always talk about on the podcast. Right. It's like, I spent a lot of time the last three years networking and meeting those people. Because whoever you have in your universe can lead to that moment, Right?

Yeah.

So how did you guys originally meet?

I was just on Facebook, and he went viral from doing eating junk food at the gym. It was super funny video. He's working out, eating donuts and drinking chocolate syrup. And I was like, this looks like my gym. Like, this looks like where I go play basketball at. So I'm like, let me see who this dude is. I look him up, and I noticed he wasn't that popping on Twitter. So I was like, let me tweet him. Cause he'll see that one. And I hit him like, you're at my gym eating junk food. What's up? I live in Arizona. He hit me back and was just like, bro, I listen to your music all the time. Didn't know you're from here. Just. He just had. He had just moved here, and we went and got some food. We shot one prank called Awkwardly Staring at Strangers and did that first. And even that, like, that boosted one of my songs. And I didn't. I didn't even rap.

Yeah.

You know, So I was like, oh, this is crazy. You know? And then that's when we were like, okay, let's do the thing. And it happened pretty fast.

That's super cool to me because, like, there's so much noise out there. But it's like that one message, that one tweet. Like, you never know what can happen from a simple outreach. And that's what I always like to preach to younger people that are trying to connect with people, are trying to prepare for that moment. It's like, you put yourself in that position to meet the right person, to have the right vehicle, to have the right video go viral. Right. So it's like understanding that as like a step by step game plan. Like, that's something you just did. And I wanted to kind of dissect that because it's super important, I believe, for a young artist who's like, trying to do everything independently, but it's like, okay, you need maybe that person to collaborate with or that person that you can do a video with to, like, help.

I think collaboration in general is the most important thing for an independent artist. Right. Because you can always get in front of new people by collaborating. And a lot of times you don't have a lot of money. Like, I didn't have no money to do any of this. Like, I didn't have money like that. Like, I didn't have a job.

Yeah.

I was doing this full time or then I would. I would work for three months, save up, and quit my job and, yeah, put it all into music. But the reason why I was able to get quality music videos was collaboration. I collabed with Jake. He shot my videos, we put them on his channel so he could grow his channel, and that was his payoff for the music videos in the beginning. And then my producer, we split the percentages on the song, so I never had to pay him. Then with Dawes, it was like, this is mutually beneficial for both of you. You get it on your channel and then I get the song. And it's just like, so if I wouldn't have collabed with all those people, then I wouldn't have even had. I wouldn't have been able to do any of this.

Yeah.

You know, because I didn't have money to pay any of that for sure. So it's all about collabing and always about getting on new platforms so new people see.

Yeah. It's like being resourceful, right? Yeah. It's utilizing that as a philosophy. So that's dope, though. So when was. When was the first tour? I know we talked about that the other day.

The first. My first tour was probably. It was like 2011. Yeah.

Okay.

2011 was my, I think my first tour.

Yeah. An artist like, back 2011. What's the. When's the right time to go on tour in 2011? Like, what was your. Like, okay, I'm gonna set up these tours.

Not the right time for me, I'll tell you that right now. I definitely lost. I lost money on, like, my first three, four tours.

Okay.

Yeah.

What was, like, learning experience from that?

I came back, I sold everything that I owned, sold all my shoes, sold all my jerseys. Sold my Xbox and, you know, went back to work and made new music for me. Like I said back then, I felt like that was how I could get on, and it partially worked. So what I would do is I would rent out a venue in another state. I would book an artist that lived there that was poppin, and then I would open up for them. And that's how I did my tour. And then I promised them that I would bring them to Arizona and do the exact same thing. Y' all could open up for me and I'll headline. So I did that in nine cities. And I used to do local showcases here called Pruvit, where people would perform or whatever. So basically, I just turned one of my pruvits and. And to approve it out of state.

Okay.

And I just brought in all nine of the states I went and performed in. I just brought all nine of those acts here and did approve it with all of them.

That's cool.

So that's how I booked my first tour. And I just had to either rent the venue or do a door deal with the venue. Meaning, like, it, you know, I get half the money from the door. You get half the money from the door. The venue. And that's how I did it. I printed way too much merch. Money on merch. Because I. I was like, let's see, if 100 people come to every show, and I sell to, like, 80 of them.

Yeah.

And it's like, no, if you 100 people come to your show, if 10 of them buy it.

Yeah, 10%, exactly.

So, like, I just misjudged everything. So I lost, like, three, four grand.

Yeah.

And at that time, three, four grand to me was like, what do I do?

Oh, no, I'm screwed.

You know, Like, Sure. So it was just.

Yeah, that's cool. So now. And we were talking the other day, too. So you've lasted five years. You've been doing tours every year.

Yeah.

And performing in front of thousands of people. And it's obviously the tables have turned in your favor. Right. So I sort of want to jump to more now. Currently, just now. Now, when you look at touring and what you've been doing these last couple of years on tour, what's the energy like? You know, as an artist, I always like to. You know, one of my. I would say everyone has dreams, right? To be an artist, to perform in front of people. Your song, everyone's jumping to it. Like, I'm sure. Just the energy. Insane. Like, how do you describe that moment on stage?

It's A dream.

Thousands of people just vibing with you.

Yeah, it's. It's a drug. The adrenaline you get from tour is like. It's, it's. There's nothing like it, you know, if you really love to perform and you. And yes, it's like the payoff. Like you can see people comment on your stuff on the Internet. It's great. But when you physically see them at a show, saying your words, jumping, turning up, having the time of their life, like it's real.

Yeah.

You know it's real. So that adrenaline you get from that, like, nothing beats it. It's a high. It's a high better than any drug, you know?

That's so cool. One was, do you have any moments like, before performing or ritual that you do to. Before you take on the stage or what's like your. In terms of like your rituals, before you make a song, before you go on tour, before you go on stage? Do you have any of those little things that you would say you've noticed throughout your journey?

I'm an overthinker, so, like, I just. I'm very logical and very, like, analytic and just overthink. So at my. In my shows, I drink to like, not calm my nerves, but just to be more loose. So I'm not overthinking anything.

Yeah.

You know, have a couple of drinks before I go on stage. As far as recording, I don't really have a ritual. Like, I just jump in the booth.

Yeah.

I've been doing it for so long, it's like second nature. And even performing now is like autopilot.

Okay.

Just. It just goes down.

So were you ever, like, growing up, were you ever. Were you the shy kid or were you enthusiastic, energy driven? 24 7. Like, what was.

No, I was. I was always very, very energetic.

Very.

I played every sport, obviously, did music. So, like, I was always just doing stuff. I'm like, I'm. I guess I'm a little bit of both. Like, I'm not that person who will just go up to any person and start talking to them.

Yeah.

But I'm also not like scared or like shy or timid, you know?

Yeah, that makes sense.

Yeah.

So moving into. It's about to be. I like this question. The end of the decade, Right. We're moving into 2020. The beginning of this decade, music wise, is a lot different than this next decade. Coming up with streaming and social.

Yeah, yeah.

Moving into 2020. Like, how. How does an artist look at the current scene now in terms of like, where are you spending Your time? Where are you spending your focus and energy as someone that's built this platform, that's built this career, moving into this new decade of streaming and social and everything that's happening now, like, how are you looking at it and preparing for.

This next for me?

Or how should somebody else do it for someone else?

I would say right now, I think once again, it just goes back to what you do in and, like, who you are. So, like, I've noticed there's. There's. Okay, there's all these different things. There's. There's touring, right. There's. You have your touring income, you have your streaming income, you have your YouTube income, you have your actual sales income, you have merchandise, you have. You basically, if you're an artist, you should. You have, like, seven businesses, you know, basically. And everybody's different. So, like, there's this cat named for who kills merchandise. Like, kills, like, we'll sell a million dollars on Black Friday.

Yeah.

That makes more than his music. You know what I'm saying? So, like, does he. He puts his focus on. Obviously on music, but, like, a lot of focus on merch. I know cats that don't do a lot of streams, but go on tour and murder it. Like my homie Watsky. He probably has like 600,000 monthly listeners, but he can sell out 2500 cat venues. So his focus should be, I'm gonna do a big tour. Then there's cats that stream really well, but can't sell a ticket to save their lives.

Yeah.

So your focus is stay in your studio and make music. You know, so it really just depends. And then I have. I have friends that are you. They're YouTube rappers. I guess you could say that. Like, they do reaction videos and they do type raps videos and they do reviews and whatever, and then they put out music and then it does well, because their channel is built up.

Yep.

And then they make a killing on that. So it really just depends on who you are and what you're good at and what you want your lane to be on, what you focus on.

That makes sense. You know, you broke that down. Yeah. You know, there's so many verticals to it.

There really is. And with each artist, it's different. Obviously you have to do all those things, but people always say, focus on your, you know, focus on your weaknesses and build those up. But why focus on your strength? If you're murdering this, keep murdering that. Like, if you're killing your streams, get more and get more and get more. Like, that's naturally Going to build up your other platforms, hopefully. But, like, keep killing that.

Yeah.

If you're killing on merch, don't stop, don't slow down to try to do some other shit.

Yeah.

Keep killing your merch, you know, so just find out where you're good at, what's bringing in the income and what you love and go after that.

Speaking of merch, I know your brands and Zoomies. Yeah. And where did. Where did this brand start from? And for the people that may not know, give them a sense of what it is, why you started it, and. Yeah. Where the idea originated, what from?

I think it just came with the branding. Like, as an artist, you make merchandise and it's like, oh, cool, my face is on my shirt. Or like, you know, it's, you know, wtf My, you know, WTF gang? It's on my shirt and it's real simple. You. You print it up, it's cheap. Sell it at shows for cheap. Cool. But a brand is something totally different. A brand is like, I was like, what would I wear? Like, what do I like to wear? And let's make that, you know, let's tell my story. Let's, let's. Let's wear what. What I want to wear. So I just went to work on, kind of with my partner Ryan, went to work on creating something that I enjoyed wearing and, you know, wanted to. And. And I had a. I had a partner, Wozy, at the time, too. And we were just designing things that we wanted to wear, you know, so even if we saw something we take inspiration from, it's like, instead of buying this shirt, take a picture of it, use it as inspiration, and now make that. But doper.

Yeah.

You know, and cater it to you. And it's just a brand. It's different than Merchant. Yeah. And. And people buy into it and they want to dress. People already want to dress how you dress. If you're a rapper.

Yeah.

If you go to an MGK show, you see a thousand kids that look like mgk, you go to G Easy. You know what I'm saying? It's like, these kids clearly listen to Gezy. They have leather jackets and their hair is slicked back.

Yep.

You know, so it's like, make that your brand and sell it.

Yep.

You know, so that's where it came from.

So it's like a, like a distribution deal with, like, Zoomies in terms of, like. And me and Drama were talking about this too, because they do a lot of stuff, like young and reckless in Pakistan. Right. But yeah, a lot of whether, like, their focus is obviously E commerce, but from a branding play, like, having it in retail stores all over the country is great for them, right?

Yeah.

So what is. What would you say has been for you guys in terms of, like, being in Zoomies? Like, in terms of the branding, the esthetic, the location, like, it's super dope for the brand.

Yeah.

And just more so, how do you. How do you look at retail versus E commerce nowadays with being in both lanes? Yeah.

I think it just goes back to your customer again, you know, and on and on what, you know, where you make your the most of your money at. Some people kill on retail and never sell anything online. And some people kill online and never go to retail. Yeah. But for us, it was like, we sold a little more online than retail, but it was. It was almost half and half, you know. So when you can get in 75 stores. I think our first order was 75 stores, and our second order was 115 stores.

Wow.

But, yeah, when you can get in all those stores, it's just like. And it's a dope look. It's just everybody wants. If you follow a brand or you follow an artist, you always want to see them going up. So when you start making those moves and you're like, I'm in Zoomies. That's a household name. Everybody knows what Zoomies is. So it's just a really cool look. And then obviously, yeah, you're in front of more people and people that might not be fans of you, but just like the clothes, which is really, really, really dope.

Do you remember seeing it in Zoomies the first time?

Yeah, well, yeah, seeing it in Zoomies was really dope, but I think was. What was doper was I was in LA on Fairfax, and this dude was shopping and it was right after we got in Zoomies and he was wearing the shirt.

Okay.

And I was like. I went up to him thinking, like, he was probably a fan and be like, oh, nice shirt, bro. And he looked at me like I was a weirdo. He had no idea who I was. But he bought the shirt because it was that dope to him.

Interesting.

So, like, that was the coolest thing that, you know, the coolest thing.

He bought the brand for the brand and he found out the extension of the brand is someone like you. And it's like there's two different lanes to it now.

Well, he probably never even found out it was me.

Okay.

I was just like. When he looked at me like that, like I was a weirdo. I Was like, dope. He has no idea who I am. Yeah, he bought that shirt.

That is cool.

That was like the dopest moment as far as that.

Okay, super cool.

Yeah.

So speaking of Fairfax, you. You spent a lot of time in la, right? You're in Arizona now, but you told me you lived in LA for like, three years.

Yeah, yeah.

What was that experience? Like, why did you go to la?

Went to LA and lived with Jake. Jake moved out there first, my videographer. And it was just really to level up. It was just like every time I went there, I just got this feeling of like, damn, there's a lot of shit going on. I need to be in there, you know? So every time I went, it was like, boom, I did this, I did this. I'll do a bunch of shit in like, three, four days. I'm like, man, if I lived here, I can't imagine what would happen. And then after I, you know, started doing the viral stuff, it was like, I have to be in this all the time. I have to be. I guess I already lived in LA when I started doing the more viral stuff, but, yeah, I just was like, I have to be around all these people that can push the envelope.

Yeah. What would you say, like, if a young artist is, let's say, wanting to move to la, is there a right moment? Or do you. What do you recommend to someone? Because even someone like myself, my plans to move to la, I go out there, the four days I'm out there, love it, crush it. A lot of stuff's happening in Arizona. Bounce back and forth. And my plan is to pull the trigger sometime in July to get a spot out there, right? Yeah, but what do you tell to an artist who's looking to go out there? Like, do you recommend, hey, like, build up your network first, have connections out there? Like, how do you. What information would you give to someone who's looking to make that jump to move out to la? Cause it's crazy out there, right?

Yeah. As an artist, it's tough because if you're going to la, you're probably the big fish in the small pond wherever you live at. You know what I'm saying? Like, you're like, for me, Arizona, I felt like I had almost hit a ceiling and I needed to get to something else. And you're used to, like, out here getting treated like, oh, you're the shit, then you move to LA and you're bottom of the barrel, you know? I'm saying you're bottom of the barrel. Everybody is doing other Things. And so what I found was just that as much as people say they want to work with you, when you get there, if there's a better opportunity for them to do something else, that's where they're going.

Yeah.

You know, so it was like I would make all these plans to chill with people and do stuff with people and they would always fall through because something cooler came up in LA, which in LA, any given night, there's 20 dope events going on.

Yeah.

So it was hard at first. It was hard to, like, get in the room with the right people and do the right thing. Until the Nerd Rap popped off.

Okay.

And then it was like everybody wanted to chill.

Yeah.

Everybody wanted to kick it. So, like, it's a weird dynamic and it makes you feel kind of weird because you feel like, oh, man, this shit's fake. But, I mean, it's kind of part of the industry. Like, you. You're gonna deal with some fake people and you're gonna find some real people, and that's just how it goes. So if I was to tell you when to move to la, it's kind of even just like signing that deal, like, move to LA when you have leverage. When, like, when you go there and you say who you are and people are impressed by it and they want to work with you.

Yeah.

Other than that, you're gonna drain your pockets real fast trying to survive in such a huge scene.

Yeah.

You know? Yeah, it's. And I mean, I've heard stories of people being homeless, like, literally being homeless in LA and just knocking on doors and going to events, sneaking in here, doing this, doing that, and then they meet the right person, you know, so it can happen. But for me, it was like I moved there with $20,000 in my pocket. That's all I had. And then, I mean, it's a good amount of money, but, like, I was getting drained. I was down to having like eight grand or so in my account, maybe less. And then when the Nerd Rap came out, it changed all that. So it's like it can drain you.

Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense, man. So. So Arizona, now, why do you decide to stay in Arizona?

I think it just goes back to the happiness. You know, I have more family here, I have more friends here, I have more business here. And then also to help the scene, like, I like being here and I've worked with a lot of artists from here and. And eventually I would like it to where you don't have. If you live in Arizona, you don't have to go to la.

Okay.

Like, let's be that ecosystem. Yeah. Create something here and, and, and grow something here. To where there's a bunch of successful people here. To where, yeah, you, you can go to la, but you don't have to. And Arizona is so dope that like people actually do enjoy being here. People from LA love being in Arizona. People from the Midwest and the east coast. Every time they come here, they're like, bro, I had no idea it was this dope.

Yeah.

So it's like, it's a dope place. Let's make it now a dope community of, of music. Because there's a lot of dope musicians here. They just don't know how to do it and they don't have the resources yet, so.

And speaking that too. I know that's, that's one of your goals, to help artists without resources with what you're doing. You want to touch on that right now?

Yeah, yeah. I'm starting something next year that's gonna be pretty big. It's gonna be, it's with Big dawstv, you know, using the viral content to help push artists, you know, forming short term deals with people that are very beneficial for them. And it's not like where you sign to a label and it's five years. It's like, let's do three songs together, let's do one song together, let's do one album together. So it's like we mutually benefit from the experience and either we just keep re signing or if you want to go do your own thing, you can.

But yeah, I love that concept.

Yeah, I've been, it's kind of like, that's like, you know, it's changing and it's adapting. You know, people don't want to be locked down because we're all so, we're all so over the place with everything we see. Like, we don't know what we're gonna. I don't know what my life's gonna be in five years. You don't know how big you're gonna be in five years or what the hell you're gonna do. So like when it's talking about let's do three songs together over three months, that's not scary.

Yep.

But when a label's like, yo, I want to lock you down for three albums over a five year deal, you're like from 19 to 24, you're a whole different human being.

Yeah.

You know, so it's like I just want to help people in the, in the short term and if you rock with me and we rock with you, let's get. Keep building and keep doing it, you know? And I'll prove myself to you. You prove yourself to me. If I fail you, by all means, you can go do something else. If you outgrow me, by all means, go do something else, you know?

That's so tight. It's super cool, for sure. So with. With just everything that you've built up to this moment, do you have any mentors that you would say that you've talked to and got advice from in your life that you've consistently had throughout your journey, or what would you say?

Not really. To be honest, I feel like I always just figured it out. Like, whatever it was, I feel like I figured I would just have to figure it out. I literally have to sit myself down, calm myself down, and logically just think of every scenario and every situation and how it's supposed to work. I'd say my biggest mentor was probably my pops, but I feel like he gave me so much knowledge from, like, a baby to the time I was, like, seven or eight. And, like, it just was things that, like, I took and just ran with, you know, from the value of a dollar to, like, consequences for action, my actions and. And all that. Like, I just feel like so many positive things were instilled in me when I was young, and then when my parents split, it was kind of just like, okay, Zach, figure everything out. Like, yeah, get your brother to school, get yourself up, get yourself to class, get yourself to practice. Pick your brother up, make him dinner, you know? And then my mom needed money from time to time, and it was like, okay, I have money. She don't know how I have it, but, you know, here's the money. Okay. How can I do things that I want to do now? I got to make my own. It was just, like. I just figured it out the whole way. I've never really had anybody that's like, do this. I just pick up little game here and there from different people in different.

Fields, you know, that's super cool. And I wanted to bring out for people watching this video, the studio we're in right now, it has the colors on the wall. We got the turf and the Jordan box. I wanted to bring up this, and because it's. It's a very creative element that you've created for yourself.

Yeah.

So for the people that are watching the video on YouTube, how did this idea come about to. Why is the colors and the turf, like, where did the inspiration for the.

Studio come from this whole house. The. The sheesh House is just. It's your imagination. Like, you. Like, your imagination can go wild throughout this whole house, and everything is nostalgic. Like, you walk the halls of this house, and everything is, like, from the 90s. That's all the stuff that we grew up on or that I grew up on, you know? You know, it's all the things, like, it's. It's all the cartoons that I watched. It's. It just makes you feel like a kid. And, like, when you're a kid, you're not. You're not really scared. You. You're honest. Your. Your imagination runs wild. So, like, when you come to this house, I want you to feel like that, and that just should open up your creativity, and you can make anything you want to make and not be scared to do it.

I love it because it's like the records on the wall and the murals in the back, it's just. It's a creative element, and I'm gonna make sure that I go around and we get some video so that you post it on Instagram, the stories, so people can really see it. Because I think it's. It's an element that unless you see it and feel it, you might. You know, you might be like, oh, you know, it's just a studio, but you can feel it. If you see in the video, you can kind of get a glimpse of it. It's like, it's a creative element that you've created for yourself, which is dope.

Oh, yeah. Thank you.

Nowadays, who is someone. And we talked about this, too. Who is the dream person you want to collaborate with in your career?

I would say, like, the perfect song.

We talked about that.

Like, the perfect song for me is, like, me on the first verse, John Bellion on the hook, Andre 3000, and then childish Gambino. That'd be a really, really dope song.

Okay.

There's so many artists I want to work with. So many. But, like, that's always the one. When people ask me that question, like, I go to that. Andre 3000 is, like, so rare. Gambino's pretty rare, and he's my favorite artist. So it's just like that. And then John Bellion is just so. His production and the way he puts melodies together and stuff like that is just.

Yeah, yeah.

That'd be the most interesting song I could possibly make.

Okay. When we're watching this in, like, 2028, and it happened. There we go. It's here.

Yeah, yeah.

No, just. I have a couple More questions, man. So just when it comes to, like, one of my favorite songs with Dizzy Wright that you have, right?

Yeah.

How did the collaborations like that come about? When you think about this little collaborations of some of the songs that are super big in your. In terms of your career, where do those collaborations happen? Why do they happen? Why do you work with those people? And someone like Dizzy Wright, how did it go?

So when I discovered independent music, the first two artists I discovered independently was, like, on the blogs and stuff. It was. Well, three. I discovered Mike Studio, Machine Gun Kelly, and Hopson. Those were the three first artists that I was like, oh, they're not signed to a label. Oh, like, they're not making commercial music. It's like this other shit.

Yeah.

It opened up my. My whole. Everything to independent. So, like, Hopson was the one I related with the most. I'm like, this is like, what I do.

Yeah.

And so I'm like, how do I get in touch with this dude? And it all happened so fast. So Damien Ritter was managing Hopson. They had just signed Dizzy Wright, and they signed Jaron Benton. Turns out they were coming to my town to perform, like, in a month. So I ended up getting on that show. I hit the promoter, they put me on the show. I emailed Damon. I was like, I want to do a song with Hopson. And he was like. And I was like, I want to shoot a video in Arizona. Here's our videos. And he was just like, hopson doesn't do features. Like, I was like, okay. And he's like, I'll do this for you. I'll give you one with Dizzy Wright. I was like, okay, cool. So me and Dizzy did another song called Don't Mind if I Do. That came before. I guess I'll smoke.

Okay.

Jaron had just signed, so he got on the song for free, and they put it on their YouTube channel. So I was like, oh, this is money.

Okay.

So that happened. From that relationship, I started gaining more fans. And then they asked me to go on Dizzy's tour. So I did a leg of Dizzy's tour. And every night he's smoking hella weed. And I never. I didn't smoke like that. So every night he's like, come on, man, just smoke with me.

Come on.

And so every night I'm like, nah, nah. Then one night I was like, I guess I'll smoke. And it just turned into. So it organically happened. And my DJ was like, that's the song. Like, you and him need to make a stoner song. And it's about, like, how you don't smoke. And so the crazy thing is, like, yeah, I'm in all these big, like, weed communities.

Yeah.

And I don't smoke like that. You know, like, very rarely I say it in the song. I say I only smoke. I'm eat a sandwich, get some booty, and go to sleep.

Yeah.

And it's like, that's. That's how it happened, you know? So it was just organic.

Okay. And then. And when did that song come out?

2014.

2014.

That song made me be able to live off of my music sales.

Really? That one song?

Yeah, that song, like, I was making.

Was that another pivotal moment for you?

Yeah, and that was before nerd rap.

Okay.

So that was like. You know, it was like I was. I was making money off music because I was doing the Prove it. I was doing a bunch of features for people, but that was like, okay, now I'm getting enough money through my TuneCore account that where I don't have to work.

Okay. Yeah, Speak. So tunecore. Because I know Russ has this one verse and talking about tunecore and how he was making 600 bucks and the next year was like, a hundred thousand. Right?

Yeah.

So as a young artist, that's. Maybe you wanted to make music. What is a TuneCore account?

Yeah, so a TuneCore account, or DistroKid, Those are, like, the two big distributions sites. So you upload your music to those, and it automatically puts it on Spotify, Pandora, Apple music, itunes, itunes, anything else that you could possibly imagine. It's like 150 different things that people listen to music on. It puts you on all those. So. Yeah, and then it. It gives you monthly reports, weekly reports on your sales, and then, yeah, they give you basically one big check, you know, and then every month, they give you a check, and you transfer to your bank account, and that's how you get your money as a completely independent artist.

And if you were just like simple math, like, if you have a million views or streams on your TuneCore account, like, what is the average payout of million streams? If you had to.

Spotify streams is roughly point 006.

Okay.

I think Apple is. It's right around there, too. I think it might be a little higher.

Okay.

But, yeah, so it takes a lot of streams.

Yeah.

You know, but that's why being consistent matters, because if you have 50 songs out and they're all, you know, getting even a hundred thousand streams, you know, you do the math on that. Now you're making some money.

Yeah.

You know, so don't give up. If one song doesn't blow, just keep putting songs out. Because the dopest thing is when you do blow, then all those songs start streaming, and all those songs make you mad. Same like what Russ was saying. It's the exact same thing. Like, I was going from getting 800 in my tunecore account to then when I guess how smoke dropped, it was like, oh, now I'm getting 5,000amonth.

Yeah.

And then when nerd rap dropped, it was like 60 bands.

Yeah.

And then it just keeps growing. And the more you add to that catalog, the more people see you, they find your old music, and everything just builds.

Yeah. That's so tight.

Yeah.

So with. With tunecore and being independent, if there's a young artist today, because I know you had that moment where it was like, okay, should I sign? Maybe you had opportunities or things on the table, or you remain independent. And I'm sure that was a hard decision you had to make.

Yeah.

I'd love for you to give some thoughts into if you had that decision you had to make in your life and why you decided to stay independent.

Yeah. I always relate it back. Well, there was a lot of funny stuff to happen when I. When I. When I was about to sign, I saw a lot of other artists that were signed that weren't happy. A lot of other artists that were getting kind of did dirty by their label getting put on the shelf. At that point in time, I had just done this song with a group that was super. They had a song that was 26 times platinum. And, like, they were asking me for advice. They were like, how do we market this? How do we do this? And I'm just like, how does this. 26. That means they sold 26 million copies of their song, and they have. They had a little apartment in New York. And I'm just thinking in my head, this is crazy. If I sell 26 million copies, that means I have $26 million.

Yeah.

They sold 26 million copies in. Obviously didn't have that. So all these weird things were happening all at once with the label. And then, like, the label owner wasn't meeting up with me when he was supposed to. I was taking flights to New York, and he wasn't showing up. So I just felt like I wasn't going to be a priority on that label. And I didn't feel like they knew exactly what I could do and what lane I should be in with any of the labels that I talked to. So I just decided that for my own happiness. I was not going to sign and I've just stuck. I've stuck with that. Like, I won't even really entertain a label situation unless it's like, like the deals I'm trying to offer to artists. Yeah, let try out. Let's try out one song, let's try out an ep. And like, I wanted to do those things and they just, they don't want that. They wanted me for five years, three albums, you know, and I'm just like, I can't. That would mean I would just be getting out of my contract this year. And that was in.

Five years ago?

Yeah, five years ago I was 24.

Wow.

Yeah.

That's scary to me. Five years, like, yeah, imagine like you.

Try to plan for one year. Imagine how much stuff you do in a year. Yeah, five years.

Yeah, for sure.

And then I saw artists that like. I mean, Trinidad James is one of the homies. We actually had a show go on, like a Internet show called Independent, and he talks about it all the time. Like just. He put. He put out the song that blew up, but then his other stuff didn't do that as well and he basically got shelved. But he's in a five year deal and you have no control. You can't do anything. You can't put anything out. You can't. You just can't do what you want to do. And that would make me miserable. Yeah. So that's the main reason why.

That's crazy. That's crazy. And I want to bring up this. So speaking of just being on a podcast, I know that we have a mutual relationship. Our boy Drama.

Yeah.

And it's funny because when I saw that short story Long followed you on Instagram, then we were talking how that was one of the first interviews on his show. I'd love, just. I'd love you to give some reference to that because I do a lot of stuff with Drama. Everyone listening, they know I do a lot of collaborations and events with Drama and the whole Young and Reckless team. Yeah. So where does that relationship come from, you and Drama? Because he's someone that's been on the show and you've done the events together. So just, just, I'd love for you to go in depth on that.

Yeah. I mean, Drama was somebody. Obviously I watched on tv, you know, I feel like I watched dude grow up on Rob's show and then it was. I forget how it initially happened. I think through Jake. Actually through Jake's.

Okay.

Jake had somebody who was filming, like a friend that was. You Know, involved with Young and Reckless, and he was like, y', all, you know, I can get you some clothes. Get you some clothes. So it just started off like, younger Reckless was just giving me clothes.

Yep.

And then it was like, oh, like, you should actually meet Drama. And then just started chopping it up with him a little bit. I think we met, like, two or three times before. He was like, yo, jump on the. Jump on the podcast.

Yeah.

And, yeah, that was, like, my first. I think that was my first podcast.

I really.

Yeah. First podcast I ever did.

Short story long.

Yep.

Yeah.

Yeah, just a cool cat, but, like, for one of the first clothing lines, like, big clothing lines to ever give me anything. And, like, first podcast and, like, first big plug in la.

That's so tight. Yeah, dude. John was the man.

Yeah, we're cool. Super chill.

Okay. So you used to watch them on mtv?

Yeah, of course.

Okay.

Course.

When you coming up on mtv, like, as an outlet in which that was for music compared to, like, how it isn't at all nowadays to have, like, the MTV stuff.

Yeah.

Was MTV inspiration to you growing up or what was that?

Hell, yeah. Yeah. MTV was like, the goal is MTV and bet and they always had their countdowns of like. Like, that was the dream, like, being 6 years old, 10 years old. Like, the dream was like, we're gonna have the number one video on, you know, the. The countdown shows, the TRLs and the 106 and parks. Like, that was what we wanted. So, yeah, MTV was. And then, you know, when you see those performances and you see all the celebrities in the crowd for, like, the MTV Awards and all, that is, like, that's what we wanted. Like, that was what. Like, I remember watching it and then going downstairs in the basement and writing, like, that was. That was the moment where it all actually started, was from that. Like, from watching the MTV Awards, or it might have even been the VMAs or something, but watching an award show and going down and being like, all right, we need to get on that award show.

Okay.

In writing. Yeah.

That's so sick. So really just. I have one more question, man. Just moving into 2020. What is some new music, new things coming up that the people, the fans should expect coming soon? What should they expect? Anything?

A lot. Yeah, a lot. Expect me to be. I'm gonna be everywhere. Like, as far as this independent music landscape, like, I really want to be somebody who's helping all these cats get to the next level, as well as getting myself to the next level, I think that I kind of Took these last couple years to just make the music that I wanted to make. I haven't, like, gone really hard on my promo. Like, when I tell you, like, the albums where I was like, I got to do viral, I got to do this. I got a collab with this person. Like, I really have focused on my happiness the last two years and building my life, you know, like moving back to Arizona and getting my life together. And it's been the most amazing thing ever. And now, like, I'm super, just good. And I have a ton of songs. And you'll probably see multiple albums from me this year.

Okay.

You'll see hella collaborations from me this year, and you'll see things done in a way that have never been done by anybody else in the world ever. Real shit.

I appreciate it, man. So, real question, just to wrap it up, just if you were to tell your 18, 19 year old. So a piece of advice stepping into this game from the journey you've been on now, what advice would that be?

Be yourself and never give up. And don't lose your happiness on the pursuit for more. Shout out my guy Mike Stud for that quote. But like, that, that's always stuck with me. I always tell people that those things are. They're the most important. You know what I'm saying? Like, all this is dope. Like, doing what you do is dope. Doing what I do is dope. But if you're not happy at the end of day, the. The day, none of this shit matters.

Yep.

You know what I'm saying? So work hard as hell. Go after what you want, but don't ever let it take away your happiness. Realize you're blessed. Realize that this life is. Is the most valuable thing. You know, your time is the most valuable thing. So don't get so down on yourself and don't get depressed over trying to make your dream come true. Like, work hard, but realize you're blessed.

Yeah, I love it, man. Well, just to wrap it up, everyone, I just want to say thank you so much for coming on the show, man. Where's the best place that everyone can follow you and stay up to date on everything?

Yeah, Instagram, Facebook, you know, just type in futuristic Spotify, Streamyar. Boy, my Instagram is only futuristic onlyfuturistic.com.

Yeah, and I'll make sure to link all that down below so everyone listening and everyone watching can go check that out. So, my man, Futuristic, thanks so much for coming on the show, man. See y' all soon. Thanks so much for listening. Make sure you subscribe to the Rise Young podcast, and I will talk to you guys soon.

Legacy of Monsters An Apple original series. The world is on fire. I decided to do something about it on November 17th. This place, it's not ours. Believe me. The most massive event of the year arrives. If you come with me, you'll know everything. I promise.

Oh, my God.

Go, go, Go.

Monarch. Legacy of Monsters streaming November 17th only on Apple TV Plus.