Everybody's On Strike

The funny thing about this is that after this show, I supposed to go on a batting cage date with my girl. Yeah. Speaking of strikes, you a fool.

And we're back.

Yes, we are.

With another episode of fuck you, money.

Yes, we are.

Ty and yo.

We.

We are in a movie theater today.

Well, this feels more like a play theater, like where people go to do plays. But I can see people filming some movies in here and watching the movie. But this feel like you would come for like. I learned about this something recently called improv show. And when I heard about it, I thought it was like comedy. I was like, oh, it's a standup. They're like, no, it's an improv show, which. Where the actors, the whole time, they're just improv. I was like, oh, so that's what this feels like, this place feels like.

Have you been to an improv show?

No, I haven't.

Okay.

No, I haven't. I haven't been to one before. But this is queuing up the conversation for the day, talking about the strike.

There are strikes.

Yeah, plenty of them.

There's plenty of strikes going on. But when we first, I guess, conceptualized this episode, we were talking about the writers strike that was going on in Hollywood. And, you know, Todd knew that. Since November of 2021, we've been working to develop a show version of Rap Portraits to air on network television. So the process of preparing this has been what I would consider a patient period, mostly because there was a period of show development where we were developing and conceptualizing what it looks like if you take something from YouTube and you want to position it on the stars or HBO or something of that nature. So once we conceptualize the show, that took about a year going through that process. And then coming up this summer, it seemed like we were really making strides and getting ready for what I call the pitch is when you have the chance to actually sell your show to a network. And as we're preparing for pitching, it's about getting your materials together, having as much information to present as possible. For us, it was cutting a demo version of what we want the show to look like that really helped us solidify what the idea was. Right. I kid you not. The day before the strike, yeah. The conversation was that this thing might happen. Right. This is something that might happen. And for us, we were just trying to get our materials in, in time because, you know, we were hoping to continue the momentum we were building. And once we got the okay that all our materials look really good and that they were Setting up meetings for us, the strike happens and we are told that things will be slowing down. I did not know that it would be 146 days before our next meeting.

Oh, shit.

Yeah. But literally that was the length of the strike. And that was pretty much the length of that period of waiting for us. And it was a. It was an interesting time, I'll say at least.

Well, you know, they have all these different concepts of these things. Like on the sports side, it's called a lockout because they haven't come to agreement on the collective bargain agreement. Then obviously, when you got things that, you know, TV and film side is a strike, but all of it is a strike lockout. Just different terminologies, right? And so it's funny because, you know, working in music, there is no such thing as a strike. I would love if it was a strike working in music because I think it would be a lot more organized organization within the chaos. The only thing that was close to a strike in music was called Covid. That was pretty much the only thing that was that.

The slowest you've seen the business since you've been a part of it.

1. Oh, that's the slowest I've seen life to have been a part of it, right? And so when we started talking about like this strike, and we set up this conversation in this, like this auditorium style North Hollywood, like right next door, there's like vintage theaters, right? And we're like, what does the strike means when you start talking about fuck you money, right? Like when you say, okay, I'm going to be actor, I'm gonna be a screenwriter, I'm gonna be a director, right? And you're in the middle of like, your stride, right? You like, I'm getting hot. Like, next thing you know, the strike hits and you're like, I was talking to all of these networks about all of these terms, bad terms, good terms, good terms, just terms, just terms in general. The next thing you know, something triggered, you know, I'm new, right? If I'm a writer, I'm new. I don't want a strike to happen, right? I want to get grooving and grooving and get my projects in order.

Part of it is selling your first one 1,000%, right?

And so now you trying to get you some fuck you money, but the strike stopping you from getting your fuck.

You money strike makes it feel like they're saying fuck you basically for real.

Basically.

Especially, you know, not to cut you off, but the idea of this thing, your dream, becoming profitable Right. You start seeing the money, you start seeing your dream home, your dream car, your dream girl, and then everything stops.

Right, Right, right, right.

I mean, did you feel like that with COVID Because you guys dropped Fuck the World and it seemed like you guys were about to get ready to go on tour.

Yeah, we were definitely. We had sold almost 34,000 tickets in North America. It was a sold out tour. We wasn't about to go on tour. We was in rehearsals, about to leave two days later to go on tour when we got that call. And when we got that call, you know, like Live Nation, our touring agent, they were like, oh, yeah, this all good. It was just probably a couple delays and I was looking at the news and I was like listening to my spirit, I was like. They was like, yeah. I was like, bro, we're not gonna be on the road. And then they cancel the tour, Then we don't spend all this money. So I just made the decision and I just called the tour and literally, probably like eight hours later, they was like, yeah, so this ain't gonna be able to happen. So I was able to get ahead of it. I didn't listen to the booking agent, I didn't listen to Live Nation. I was like, sorry, guys, I know y' all are experts, but my spirit is basically saying that this is gonna definitely not happen and I don't wanna be on the road. Done started all this debt and I can't get it back because they cancel all the shows. Why are we on the road? That's not gonna be good for business. I made a business decision to just can it and, you know, luckily it did not. Luckily, like luckily. But the decision was the right decision. Right.

But again, I think making business decisions like that, where I guess people are saying one thing but you don't really know what it is. Right? You said the news is saying another thing, right? I feel the same thing about the writer strike. News is saying one thing. You might run into someone that works, like on the money side of finances side, and they might be like, this ain't gonna happen. Everybody's gonna be fine. You should be straight. And then it happens. It happens.

It definitely happens.

And then it's hard to forecast how long you'll be in that waiting period. But I guess that's what I'm interested in from your perspective is what do you do while you're waiting?

Well, from a company side, one of our clients is an actor. And what we did for him is that we just really narrowed. Then he started focusing on his Business on the music side, he has other ambitions to diversify his business as a music artist, as a songwriter. So we started helping him build out his business by releasing music was, you know, he got his first Billboard top 25 record on radio during this strike. So I don't know if that might. I would like to think that that adds another different brand value around his overall business so that when he does go back to the show and acting, he has more accolades of his overall brand than he had for. So that's what we've been doing from that perspective. The other thing about it is, you know, there's been some filmmakers finishing up projects because it had already been written, Right. They was already in the filming process. Now they want to put these records, these films out, and the actors, they can't really promote it, Right. Because they're on strike with saga. And so that's been a lot of things happening. And then what we did see is a lot of the TV and film, like, media syncs on digital. Things started being more of a thing. Digital content started to become more of a real play, you know what I'm saying?

So you did see some type of rise on the business side as far as music syncs?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. It was a decrease on music syncs, but people started focusing more on, like, broadcast television or things that was like commercials. Like, commercials for products, songs there. I don't know if we had an Uber sync with one of the clients for Uber commercial, but I don't know if it was. I can't remember if it was doing.

The script during that time period or.

Right before, but it was this year, though. But we just been trying to help our clients figure out what are the new moving pieces for them if they were in the TV and film world. I mean, like, my cousin is a director, aspiring director who. Same way like you, like, she got with a new team that she really loves. You know, she's been pitching and doing commercial things that she really love. And now we just get into the feature and get into the docu series. The strike hits, and she's just like, shit. You know, she just. I talked to her the other day. She's like, I've just been writing. You know what I'm saying?

You gotta keep busy.

Yeah. Just keeping that creative flow going. So when we start talking about these things, like, is there a way to pivot doing these different strikes, say, to get, you know, a corporate job at Trader Joe's?

Right.

While you go through these different things, or do you Say, hey, that doesn't align with my fuck you money strategy.

Right.

Right. I think I'm just gonna thug it out so I can be creative and have time to fly around to. To put myself in more creative things to keep me inspired. Instead of going straight brick and mortar and going to a corporate. Because you're like, you need some money.

I feel like that's pretty much the two sides. Right. Those are your two options. You can. And it's like, I've seen people buckle, right. And just be like, I'm gonna get the job. I'm just chop. I know some folks is I'm gonna do Uber and I might do little something part time. And I know people that was like, I'm gonna go sleep on some couches. I'm gonna finish the script.

Yeah.

Like seeing the very size of that. And I guess it depends on what your. What are your dreams? For real?

Yeah.

What are your dreams? Because if your dream is to just find some life stability, you get a job, you know, and you kind of wait it out. But if your dream is to, like, complete something that really represents who you are as a person, as a creative, as an artist, and it requires you to thug it out, I think people want thug it out.

So what did you and your partner do?

Ducked it out.

Yeah.

But this is kind of like what's interesting. Having other projects to work on was kind of like another thing. Because we end up getting the call to do the Dahi documentary. Right, like, right before the strike happened. Yep. So that became a priority. All of a sudden it's like, okay.

It'S like a music project.

Exactly. You have another thing to prioritize, and you get a chance to shoot, and it's a. It's within the world of what we want to build. Like, a big part of our series is picking the proper day to put a camera on somebody.

Yeah.

You put a camera on somebody on the right day, you don't know what you're going to see. Put a camera on Dahi for six days, and in and out that studio, we saw Childish Gambino. We've seen Kendrick Lamar, we've seen PG Lang. Like, so many people were coming in and out in six days. So it just kind of reinforced that our concept was not only something we can replicate, but being able to have the conversation with the people you want to work with still while you're waiting doesn't hurt. Then we also had, like, the Little Brother project that was. We just needed time to finish it, and it kind of gave us time to focus on that. But you're still kind of, like, worried, when is it going to end? Yeah, right. When are we going to be able to say, all right, we've been doing our B sides. Right. But when can we get back to the A side?

Right, right, right, right. Yeah.

It's interesting, like, also for the record, it was times where I was like, I'm gonna get a job. There was times, like, if you start to feel it on certain days, where you wake up and be like, all right, I was very close to getting past a certain threshold. And now I'm waiting. Now I'm waiting. Right. And I think when you're waiting, you get all these other ideas about what am I doing with my life? Or does this make sense that I'm doing this now? Would it be more comfortable to maybe switch this plan?

Right. Is there anything that you would say to any of our listeners, like, did this strike teach you or put you in a place that you start thinking about? It's other shit that you probably should.

Go on strike for, man? What I do think that that does come into your mind, especially watching the journalism media landscape right now.

I think there's strikes.

How you talk about music, there's never been no strikes. I feel the same way about journalism. Like, across the board, there has been nothing that makes writers feel protected or secure or that your life can't just be upended because something ain't going right for another company.

Right, right, right.

So, yeah, but I think to me, it's more about how organized are the industries you work in. Cause if you can't necessarily organize a strike, it ain't never gonna happen.

Yeah, this is very true. That's why it's kind of weird because, like, musicians have a union that go out and protect them, but the artist industry and the managers don't have a union.

Mm.

Mm. Love it. Just like you say with, like, the song, like, journalists. Yeah, but like, screenwriters have a union. Yeah, but like, journalists that write for.

We all could work for different publications, but there's no type of union for us collectively. And I guess with screenwriters, you can be working for different studios, but you all are protected.

Underneath this, there's a boogeyman.

Yeah. Dang.

That everybody's afraid of.

And when you want to press that button and bring that boogeyman out, you guys know, is something that's going to affect the entire industry, y' all decide that y' all not going right. Nobody's writing. That's crazy. There was an aspect of it, too, where they were like, don't, don't be the writer who's not in the guild, going out there working for studios, because you'll never, will never accept you into this world. And I, and I read this about baseball a couple years ago, maybe like 20 years ago, there was like an umpire strike. And it had lasted so long that they started hiring other, like, I guess, like lower tier umpires to work in place of the umpires. So when the strike was over, they actually still had both umpires. They wouldn't speak to each other. Like, if you wasn't here when we were striking, I'm not talking to you now that the strike's over. Because I look at you as someone that kind of, like, came up while we were like, fighting for our rights.

Look at you. I probably would have been one of them umpires. I just went to give. Why cut me that check? Why give me some that fuck you money? Why?

It's niggas like you that create. I guess again, if you fighting for what you really believe in, you shouldn't really care so much about what someone else is doing. You got your own life, you got your own worries. I'm still trying to fight for the whole, the collective whole. And I think there's some real, Something real revolutionary about keeping an eye on the whole and not just yourself, but again, people got bills. People got bills.

I would have started a whole new union, but they would have fucked around. They would have fucked around there, started fucking with me, came back. They would have started tricking me like that. I would have started a whole. It would have been two unions now.

You would have been two unions.

They would have wished they would have never did any business. SAG would be thanking me like, you know what? I didn't see the vision.

Well, Todd, tell me, if you were gonna do a union for managers, you felt you could put it together the same way you would do this union because is it easier to make something. Because you see an example of.

Is easier to make something when you see the example of it. I mean, the example of a union is a union, right? It's so many of them, it's not hard to find them. I don't think that the managers would. The managers don't have enough control because. And I don't think artists really respect managers as a whole. Because if you say to an artist, hey, man, if you want to work with this manager, we ain't working with you. Majority of the artists is going to get rid of that manager, right? You know what? I'm Saying it's not that much creative and infrastructural loyalty that like a writer has with a network, right? The network know they cannot survive without writers being in harmony with them. On a business perspective, artists don't necessarily think that they cannot survive without management. Because if they. If they did really think that, they would think twice about how they treat their management right. Like abc, NBC, Disney, they're not saying, you know, they're not saying, yo, fuck you, writer. Like, we're gonna go pick this other writer. Cause then it's gonna. The world gonna get around that you don't really treat the writers right that you work with, right? But with artists, if an artist is hot, they go through two managers. That third manager gonna sign up. He's gonna be like, man, how you treated those managers before me?

I ain't really like, I see what you saying.

Cause now everybody. The managers don't even really have a. They're not in a position to really make a lot of money anyway. So they're like, really, really, really like, yo, fuck that. I'm finna go work with this nigga. This n making some money. So it's tough to organize a union.

That type of mentality. Cause I guess with the writers, the writers say, collectively, we're not writing. And the studios are thinking, like, all right, cool, we can run reruns. We got shows already in production. But it comes to a certain point where, like, the talk shows stopped. So right before the strike ended, Late night all that. Drew Barrymore has a talk show. She came out and said she was gonna bring her shit back without the writing. Bill Maher said the same thing. Came out on Twitter, had a whole post like, look, man, we all got problems. What was in the messaging? Like, we all got problems. We stand with the writers, but I'm bringing my show back. The backlash from that, from them saying they were gonna bring it back. Yeah, they both came back and was like, nevermind, we good. Like, I didn't. I didn't real. I didn't. I. I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it.

You know what? I fucked up. That could never happen to me. Like, do you know how many managers. Do you know how many managers that's been screwed over by artists? The record label don't give a fuck. The publishing company don't give a fuck. The business managers don't give a fuck. The lawyers don't give a fuck. Nobody cares if the artist screw over the manager.

No one.

But Drew Barrymore brought her ass out and said, I'm gonna bring my show off without these writers. And she cut that fade on Internet. Him and Bill. Two white people. Two white people.

And Drew's writers did not come back once this track was over. They was just like, no, we're not gonna.

Yeah, since you're just so fancy. Cause you can't take it back.

No, you can't.

Can't take it back.

And again, I think that's such a great example how sometimes people feel like, well, we might be bigger than the problem, and the problem came and tells you not.

I got my own union, though, with the managers. Do you? Yep. Yep. I don't fuck with no artist. If they hot, if they fire the manager. If an artist fired a manager and they come trying to fuck with me, I'm like, I'm straight. Or if they came to us and they had a manager and they wanted us to collaborate with their manager, and all of a sudden they're like, I don't want to work with that manager no more. I'm like, I don't want to fuck with this. I'm straight. I'm like, you come together, you stay together. That's just how it is.

You come together, you stay together.

Unless the manager, like, stole some money, slapped their mom or something like that. You know, some violent shit.

Right.

Other than that, I don't fuck with that shit.

Is there a certain kind of principle that comes with staying together?

Yeah, it was tough. That's the principle.

Yeah, it's tough.

You're not gonna like me one day. I'm not gonna like you one day. It ain't peaches and cream. No successful business is peaches and cream. No successful relationship is peaches and cream.

No. It's not an idea of something just being perfect.

No. And we have to do better at that. Like, I was having a conversation with my girl, and she was like, you know, sometimes we're gonna argue. I said, I don't agree with that. I said, we can have disagreements, healthy disagreements, but I'm not signing up for no. No.

Sometimes we're gonna argue.

No, that ain't real. No, we can have disagreements because we're human with our own opinions. But just because we disagree with one another doesn't mean that it gotta be an argument. Doesn't mean that it has to be unhealthy. We can agree to disagree as mature adults, and then maybe down the road, we might end up finding something that we like. You know what? I really did fuck with what you were saying about a year ago, but I don't live a little life now. And I see what you mean now.

I didn't came around.

Yeah, I came around and vice versa. You know, I still don't fuck with that shit, niggas, no matter what you're talking about. But.

But that's staying in it, right? That's not allowing something to escalate to the point where we start talking to each other disrespectfully or we try to separate 1000%.

All of my beneficial relationships have came with ups and downs that if I didn't work through it, I would have never got to the other side of that relationship. The brightness of that relationship. Right.

Cause there's the other side.

Yeah. It's always the other side. So that's the other side to this strike. Right. Obviously, based on what Vanessa told us today, they proposed a new deal. Can you get into that?

Yeah, the actors. So the actors started striking after the writers. Right. And there was some real solidarity there because it felt like, well, we have power in this industry. You guys are actors. Rewrite what you do. So the writers were able to get their agreement first, and they were striking for 146 days. I don't have the exact number for the actors, but they started negotiating with the studios, and they said today that the studios came back with an offer that was worse than the one that they currently had before the strike.

So. So let's walk through this shit, right? A writer. Let's talk about before the strike happens. A writer will write the. Write a script. Yep. Right, right. And if they can get actor, big actor to be attached to the script, it increases the likelihood that the studio will green light.

Absolutely.

So now the writer got their check. Woo. We got our check. They like, fuck you, nigga. Fuck you acting niggas. Y' all gotta figure it out. Why hasn't there been no solidarity?

Well, hold on. I don't think it was a fuck y' all niggas, because the studios were in conversation with the actors at the same time. So again, today's the first day that the offer that came out of that conversation was something that felt disrespectful.

Right, right, right.

So now I will be extremely interested in seeing what the writers do next to be in solidarity. But, yeah, I think that part to.

Me sound like the writer's gonna say, y' all better figure that shit out. We went on script before y' all did. We might end up figuring our deal out before y' all did. It ain't like they scriped together, right?

No, it wasn't it was especially.

Everybody was getting fucked up this. Why didn't they scribe together?

Well, I think two different unions. Oh, the actors have their own guild. The writers. Man, that's interesting, though, why the guild split.

Yeah, I mean, listen, at the end of the day, it's like, if I was a writer and y' all didn't scrag with me and y' all scratched a little later, I gotta figure that shit out then. That's the part about being solid. The solitude. Right. You know, solidarity and coming together and being in one breathing motion.

I do feel you. I mean, look, if. And I guess I feel you, what you're saying about the managers. Like, no one cares about the managers. Cause the managers started striking together, Right? Like, we're not working with none of the artists. Right. Are the producers gonna join the managers?

Yeah, it's like. It's like. It's like. It's like, who is gonna side with the manager to make this valid?

And that's how the writers feel. Who's gonna side with us to validate this? Now, the actors did come with their own strike, but I wonder if the actors felt great about where they were at, would they have came and supported the writers?

All of this shit be a lot of installation. Yeah, but all of everybody need each other to get a show greenlit.

Yeah. No, there's no way interview shows are actually happening without everybody being taken.

Like, an artist is not gonna be successful without a manager. No, a manager is not gonna be successful without an artist. No, a label is not gonna be successful without the conjunction of partnership between the artist and the manager. And then everybody be kind of, you know, the. The producer is kind of like the stepchild.

It's kind of like. Yeah, it's like a pyramid.

The songwriters is the fucking orphan.

They got adopted.

Yeah, they. The orphan. They. The foster kid. They don't buy. They don't even think about them. They don't even include them in the. The master splits. When it's time to get paid on the screen, they don't even get. They don't even get thought about. Right? So it's loud to me. I'm like, we need everybody to make money. But when it's time to talk about how much money we make, it's a very insulated conversation.

Yeah, everyone kind of goes into your own tribe, your own group.

See, I don't fault none of that shit.

No.

I just had this situation where in the Scope where they was trying to clear a sample, and I told them, hey, man, y' all Owe us some money. That means you owe Brent some money. You owe a two some money. You owe Fabe some money, right? And this is not the first time this happened. One time it happened with a producer that we got that we don't have this producer. We worked with a producer named Los Hendricks. It's probably like two years ago, three years ago. This is before COVID Interscope wanted to clear record value. It was a song that Los produced on as well, for different artists. But then in a conversation, they had another song that he had produced on that was out in the World making money. They hadn't paid him on it. So I said, hey, man, I'm not clearing this sample here because y' all ain't even paid my man on this side. It's the same company, right? And I think if everybody do that, people to get paid quicker, it'll be more fair, man. You know, I'm dealing with it right now. One of the homies, Neil. Neil, Dominique, he needs something done for artists that he got signed to Interscope. They got a sample that they got to clear through us. He's like, man, let me go solve your problem. Cause I need my shit resolved, right? And that's what he did. He went through that process and he did what he needed to do, whatever.

And he solved your problem. Cause I got some shit I did.

Yeah, that's how you. That's called community work. That means that I. Driving down the road, somebody in front of me is stopped because there is a tree in the middle of the road. Now, we ain't going to the same location, but we got to get through this tree. So let me help you figure out how to get this tree together, right? So that we can move this tree together. Because as soon as we get through this tree, I'm gonna go there if you gonna co ride, right? But at this particular moment, we gotta put our resources together, get this motherfucking tree out the way. But people don't like that.

You make it sound so simple, Ty.

It is simple. I live a. I live a very black and white life. My life is so simple, it's complicated. That's what I used to tell my ex girlfriend or whatever. Like, my shit's so simple, it's complicated. And they'll be like, what you mean? You know what I'm saying? But to me, it's black and white. It's like. So it takes a writer, a screenwriter, a director, an actor to come together to pitch. And more than likely the studio ain't gonna pick it up unless all of those three people have some type of.

Weight, some type of alignment.

Yep. But we can't come together to make sure that we get paid. Right? Amen. And this ain't even a black and white thing at this point. No, this is just a unified unity thing. You motherfuckers just ain't unified. So I don't know nothing but that. Cause that's what changed my life. Community sharing.

And community unity.

Yeah, 1,000%.

I mean, I hear what you're saying, but also, your business is independent.

Yeah, right.

I mean, so if you were a company that was underneath a major label and somebody wanted to clear a sample, how much, say, do you have from that perspective?

I say decreases. Yeah, no, it decreases, but you know, it decreases. It is a certain. You do. You know, I was on a call today, we was talking about something, and I wasn't able to articulate this last piece, but it was something that was on my mind that it took us seven years to build an infrastructure to be able to tell Interscope, yo, fuck you, unless you gonna pay me. You right? And then it gets so crazy because I'm like, okay, now I got my money. Now I gotta be like, hold on, did the producer get their money? Did these people get their money? Cause now that's an additional thing that is taxing. Sometimes I don't fault and got my money, but now I gotta fight to get your money. Your money, too. But sometimes you gotta do that. I'm in that process right now where now I gotta be like, all right, y' all see, y' all send me my money, right? What about my mans and them? One of my man's is hard to get in contact with, so he probably ain't even did the steps. My other man, he's probably in the system already. Did you. You know what I'm saying? But it's a process, man. It's not always easy to be unified.

And I get that, and I get that. But I think it's the time it takes to build the infrastructure to have some say, to have some power is what tends to be the biggest hurdle. Because the infrastructure that you're entering in does not consider you being able to say yes or no.

I'm gonna tell you another story about unity. We get a lot of samples that come through. You probably hear me here talk about a lot of these samples, right? When you get somebody to sample your shit, you get a lot of power to say what you don't want to do, what you do want to do.

Yeah, just if you own it right?

So I'm not going to put out any names, right, Because I don't want the manager to feel like worse than he already feel from how I made him feel in real life. But it was a situation where a young producer signed off his rights to this record for a very small amount of money. I didn't know this, but just so happened that this sample that needed to be cleared, I hadn't cleared it yet. I agreed that I was gonna clear, but I haven't done all the paperwork. Long story short, the kid had ended up being friends to son to one of my homies. So her son and him was friends. And she came to him. Well, he came to her like, hey, I got this situation. She was like, well, I know that team and they don't even rock like that, right? So what end up happening is the word get back to me. And basically me clearing this record would basically green light this producer not getting none of his publishing because he signed something stupid. Him being dumb, not getting a lawyer, right? Cause he's young, right? Gave the leverage to another dumb motherfucker to take advantage of. Not to be disrespectful a person. That was a unfair motherfucker. Let me not say dumb. Cause they was actually pretty smart on how they did their contract. But an unfair motherfucker to take advantage of this kid who is actually not just foolish, right? So I followed back up on the email with the sync people, the sample agency. Like, hey, this need to change. He need to get all his publishing back or the lawyer gonna file for this record to be put taken down. This record's got some momentum. It got a feature, it got remixes. I don't give a fuck. So now the label pressing the manager, like, hey, we gotta get this sorted. And the manager is like, yo, can I just get on the phone with Ty? I'm like, I don't want to talk to you, man. Cause I don't want to talk to people that are unfair to other black people, man. It just doesn't make sense to me. Like. It doesn't make sense. Like, it's so much opportunity for us to be successful. There's no reason why nobody should be taken advantage of. I'm always standing on that. I don't give a fuck who it is. Cause I really ain't scared of nobody for being honest, like, except for God, but that's not a body. But I'm not really scared of humans like that. You know what I'm saying? Especially in this business. Do good, do right. I'm cool with whatever the results might be. But it was just wild to me that the artist was gonna benefit, right? The label was gonna benefit, the manager was gonna super benefit, but the artist, the producer that helped put together this vision was not gonna benefit. And if I did not know about the information, we was gonna benefit. Cause I was gonna charge them for the sample and take the percentage of the publishing, whatever. But if I didn't say anything, bro, everybody would've benefited. Self of the person that helped put the idea together. Even though they sampled and even though.

They signed away their rights, even though.

They signed away their rights, he was done for signing it away. He was known for not seeking legal advice. It happens all the time, but they're.

Still taking advantage of.

Still taking advantage of. I don't give a fuck. I don't give a fuck. There are certain laws in place that protect people that are just not savvy enough to have legal representation or they can't afford legal representation. It's just certain things. That's why kids that are underage, there's laws to protect them because they'll go do some dumb shit. This kid wasn't underage, but he's still young, man, this is a very complicated business, this man. Like, man, I just thought I was signing off that I'mma get, like, I'm going get what I was supposed to get. This nigga signed off his master royalty, his publishing, and he got a small check. I don't even think the nigga, I think he probably got credit maybe, but that's worse. To get credit and then be broken makes you feel terrible, you know what I'm saying? There's some stuff, man, people mentally can't recover from that type of stuff, right? So I gotta follow up on that one. Cause my last email was like, yo, this better get sorted. Cameron, prepare that motherfucker. Let me look at my email. Better prepare that motherfucking lawyer paperwork to get sent out. Because it's like, why is it even taking this long? You know what I'm saying? Why is it even taking this long to get this kid's shit sorted? You know, a bit of a. Bit of an issue do you have.

I guess, like in your past, someone that protected you when you didn't know better.

I would like to say yes. You know, I would like to say. I would like to say. I would like to say yes. Look, I'm reading email right now. I'm waiting for some form or something formal for my client, but it appears a 5% or the 25% left will be going to the new producer, with the remaining 20% going to breezy new producer. Who is the new producer? Who is the new producer? Like, this is like. But this is my real life. That's why I'm so comfortable talking about it on film and on camera that we're gonna actually. This is my real life because I'm like, I'm not trying to be a crusader in this aspect of it. That's why I can't understand the strikes not being union. Like it's a union, but it ain't a union. Like it's a union, but it's no unity. Should I say, right, like in synchronization? Cause you add more power to it.

For all the roles, for all the people that's involved.

Cause you need all the people to.

Get the money for this industry to operate. Why are we not unified the same way we have to unify to make the thing.

Yeah, 1000%. Who is the new producer there? There are two producers.

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Let's get them over with.

Yeah, it's one of them things like. Like. Like I was trying to be patient and, like, not pull this record down, but I will because I don't really give a fuck.

Right?

Cause it's not fair.

Right?

It's not fair to the artist that the record get pulled down, but it's also not fair that the artist is not knowledgeable to know that somebody's taking advantage of the person that's helping you change your life. That's what the art does for artists and producers. These are the things that help them change their life.

And you do one person wrong. Like, how can you, bro?

You do one person wrong. You definitely did multiple people wrong.

And they'll do you wrong.

They'll do you wrong.

And no one likes being done wrong in any industry, any facet of life. So, I mean, I guess I really. I really just. I'm really intrigued by how much time would it take to restructure the film industry, where it does seem like you unify the writers, the actors, the screenwriters. So that way, if one group gets done correctly and to get Done right. Everyone feels like they're being done right. Having to have multiple different strikes for people that work in the same industry does seem kind of confusing, especially if you not getting the terms you want. But we got the terms we want that your terms have to get right. Then, like, before I'm going back to work, I need to make sure that my man's over there is good. Because eventually you're going to be acting and you're not going to be happy, and I'm gonna be right and I'm be happy. Cause we got our shit. But how do you make it fair for all?

1,000%. It's a very interesting concept to be, you know, to be honest with you. It's, you know, all of these things is.

And it seems like people have talked about in music striking or trying to find some ways to unionize. And I've always been told that it just could not happen in music.

Yeah.

That they could never be like a union.

Yeah.

Do you feel that?

I mean, it could be anything, man, but how does shit take time? It takes time and it takes people really being dedicated to the civil rights movement, you know what I'm saying? That's what it is.

So, I mean, this conversation is very much about the strikes, but also just about the principles of being a business owner and working in an industry where if you see something wrong, wanting to do right and want to make sure you protect as many people as possible. And again, like you said, that's taxing. That's not something that you necessarily wake up and be like, today I'm about to fight for this kid who signed away something that he should not have done, you know, and that's not your son, right? Like, that's not. That's not like your kid or your, you know, So I see, I get it.

But, you know, I like to stand. I like to stand on. I'm doing like business. Business leadership classes and shit. It feels like business therapy. But. But what I learned through that, you know, it was saying that when you build like mom and pop shop type businesses, like families and friends, people operate out of emotion when they should be operating out of principle, right? And when he said that to me, I was like, man, that's so fire. I never even thought about it like that. I never thought about, yo, we need to be operating out of. Out of emotions, out of. Out of lacking emotions and operate out of principles, right? So since I've been like, under that level of guidance with this business coach, right. All of my decisions have been made based off of principles, right? So I'm, like, thinking about even this sample situation. Nothing about this situation to me is emotional. It's all principle based. You know what I'm saying? I recently had a situation where something had went this way, something went that way. And I'm like, yo, this shit is not fair. This is a principal thing. This is not how I feel, right? This is. This person said they was gonna do this. They decided last minute that they don't wanna do that anymore. And that's not good for business. It's a principal thing. You know what I'm saying? And I be surprised that people even fuck with me because I'm so direct and like, nah, that's not fair. No, that's not cool. And what I've learned is, over time, it just sits well with people. It don't sit well with people in the moment, but it sits well with people over time. Long term, when they're like, man. Cause I don't know who that producer gonna turn it to.

No clue.

That mother might turn into Pharrell, right when I'm 50 years old. And this man might come up to me. I never met this kid. I never talked to him even.

Nothing.

That man might. Or he might leave music and go run for office. You see what I'm saying? Like. And he's gonna remember, man, it was somebody that really kind of fought for me. I ain't even really met this guy. I don't really know him. I know of him, you know, I just. I'm just appreciative because that money that I made gave me enough money to go back to school, to really practice, you know, in law. And I decided to run for politicians.

That would be a good movie. I'll watch that movie.

Yeah, I'd definitely watch that movie. But I don't fuck with not being unified. And today's show with Fuck youk Money is really about this strike, but the underlining connectivity of it is that not being unified. You know what I'm saying? Being able to come together, bro, I have to do so much recall with conversations with people. I remember calling two of my friends and putting them on.

Like you merged the call.

No, no, no, no, no. Text message. Putting them on text message.

Group chat.

Group chat. And I said, hey, I don't know what the fuck y' all got going on. This shit's stupid. So y' all better figure it out. Cause I stopped talking to both of you motherfuckers, you know what I'm saying? Because I don't think it Makes sense to be having these clashes when it ain't real. Nobody done slept with your wife, nobody slapped your mama, nobody robbed you at gunpoint. Nobody beat you up with brass knuckles. Like, these are not real problems. They are emotional. And if we can operate from a principal basis, maybe we would have more unity. Because what I'm talking about makes sense. If it takes an actor, a director and a screenwriter to come together, to use their leverage to sell a show to a TV series or to a network, Why the fuck did it not take an actor, a director and a screenwriter to come together and they unionize to make sure that everybody getting paid fairly. Because corporations are going to be corporations. They going to try to grow their bottom line every year.

Right.

Through acquisitions, through unfair practices. Yeah, Especially United States of America. They don't give a fuck.

But the people that work in those industries can give a fuck.

Yeah, man. And probably people can give a fuck, man. And so the strike is more so about. It's a loud display that people really didn't give a fuck to together. They only gave a fuck when it affected their job title. They didn't really give a fuck when it affected the person you writing the screenplay about. And I'm blind. I'm ignorant to it. I'm just looking at it from a. Hold on. So how the f. The writers got. They seem to be cool, but the actors get a. That means that the. That means that the studio are not afraid to. Of the writers enough. And the writers haven't shown the studios that. Y' all better figure this out with my partner or we're gonna have some problems again. That's what it shows me. It shows me that the. The studios would be like, the writers fuck with us, so we'll up. They pay and then fuck the artists. Another thing that really, really been loud for me. This hasn't been the driving reason on why I wouldn't sign. I like, not want to sign a record deal. But when you sit with me is, damn, I'm going to get a better deal because I built leverage and built equity. But this nigga that y' all gonna sign probably the same month as me gonna get a terrible deal. So now I get this blood money.

Y' all sitting in the same lobby. But you know, you walk in there, you gonna walk out with a better.

He gonna get his head knocked off and I'm gonna get a crown put on mine. Like that shit really kind of. That. That bothered me too. Like, I was like, damn, man. Like. But everybody don't fuck. I can't be doing this shit, man. I be caring too much. Man, this shit getting tricky. I be like, man, this shit getting tricky. You know what I'm saying?

That is tricky.

Be cared too much about humans that I don't even fucking know.

But it does feel weird knowing that you walking in and you really about to get the royal treatment.

Especially when I look up and the kid look like me.

Yeah. Oh, they tend to look like you.

You know what I'm saying?

In that business.

Yeah, it look like me. I'm like, damn. I done went in and got. I done went in and robbed the bank knowing that they finna rob him. I came in, made sure that y' all barely gonna make money off me. But they gonna rob you. They gonna make all the money off you.

Other they probably more exc than you are.

So it's like very, very. It's a very, very difficult thing for me when I. When I see that people are not unionized in a business that literally, directly helps us build generational wealth.

And it seems like it's much harder to sustain your fucking money if you're.

Not here to buy it. Oh, yeah. Community is one of the beelines to your money. Having a community built around you is 1000% that it increases your chances of you money. Yeah, your money and community is, like, very, very connected.

That has been another episode of you Money with Tan. Yo, hope y' all enjoy this break.

To break it, Break it, break it.