Ten Toes Down

ABC's David Muir, the most trusted anchor.

In America, the most watched anchor in America. Thank you for making World News Tonight.

With David Muir the number one newscast in America. Most trusted, most watched. David Muir on abc. What's happening?

Yo, yo, yo, man.

You know, we ended to win it.

Back again for another episode of you Money.

Got to get the you money, man. Listen, man, I'm gonna come clean, man. I'm trying to be the Stephen A. Smith for your money, man. You know what I'm saying to Amazon, man. Cut us that. That ste. That's Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bailey's check now.

ESPN with it. So talk to me, Ty, this week. What's up? What's going on, man?

I'm in Atlanta, man. We 10 toes down. 10 toes down in the grind.

The grind. That's what we talking about today.

Hold you on. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, man. I've been, you know, I've been blessed to be. To be. To be graced with the presence of the grind my lifetime, you know what I'm saying? And the. One of the things that I've. I've respected about the grind is that there's always a fruit that bears from it. You know how long it takes. That's up for a broader discussion. You know what I mean? But the challenge and the resilience and the grit and the balance and the resistance that you have to have when you're on that grind, be different.

Now, look, tell me, if you had to paint a picture of what the grind looks like. Like, is it an obstacle course? Is it a track? Is it a bulldozer? Like, what do you envision when you say the grind?

Skydiving, nigga. That's what the grind look like to me. You don't know if that parachute gonna come out or not. You hope because you've been preparing for it. You think the experts, you know, that's setting you up that you own, but you don't know if that parachute gonna come out or not.

That's kind of scary. That's a scary thought to think of jumping. Jumping out of a plane. And that chute doesn't open, and all you see, you don't even see the ground. And I think that's an accurate depiction of what grinding feels like. You're not aware or where you're going or when you're going to get there, or will you even be safe and sound? Will you even be fully together? You might not even have your legs when you get there while you grind it.

Oh, yeah, 1000%. 1000%.

But what. What attracted you to the grind? I mean, you're someone that I know who doesn't shy away from the work aspect of it. But was there something about, like, the first time you actually got the fruit that made you say, okay, I'm gonna. I'm gonna be on this path?

I mean, being an athlete, you know, being an athlete is always gonna. If you're gonna be successful at it, it's always gonna be. You're gonna. You know, that comes with a certain level of work that you have to do. And it's a lot of resilience you have to have because you're not just. When you're an athlete, you're not just working, like, through the grind of, like, workouts or trying to get your body in shape or trying to figure out, like, coaches be talking to you crazy, bro. Like, if you playing a certain sport, the type of mental health and mental strength that you got to have when you getting taught too crazy, when you trying to finish that mile, or when you feel like you're going to quit and your motherfucker is picking on you, it's just a different type of mentality that being an athlete, you know, create. Like, if you never been an athlete and, you know, and you're trying to do music, music is a grind, my nigga. And if you ain't never been an athlete, you better have some athletes on your team.

I'm actually fascinated by how many former athletes become artists. Because I think about it, Jid. Jid was playing football in college. Shoot. A lot of different artists. From basketball to tennis, you can see a consistent amount of artists having a pipeline from the field or from the court. They tend to have a different kind of work ethic than artists who are strictly artists. They don't really have a background in something athletic. Do you see that connection when you're looking at not just the charts, but when you come across artists, do you see a difference between artists who have a background in sports and athletics than artists who maybe just are interested in being creative?

Yeah, 1,000%. I mean, even if you was a D level athlete in high school, even if you did play in college and you was D level or C level, but you played, but you. You didn't. You knew you wasn't going to the league, but you was able to make the team and play whatever position you played, if you decide to be an artist and you're talented as an artist, or if you just got enough talent, you gonna outwork everybody. Because the artists that are extremely gifted Them niggas probably ain't play no sport, you know what I'm saying? So they got them don't have. They haven't even encountered the type of work that it takes to be an artist, especially in today's time. 20, 30 years ago, it didn't really matter about how hard your work ethic was, because when you was picked by the labels, they kind of forced that shit down everybody's mouth, you know what I'm saying? Like, once you get a record recorded, you know how many songs you did like, Tupac had a different type of work ethic than Biggie Smalls, right? I just seen an interview with dj. Clark Kent was talking about when Hov and Biggie first met and how Hov wrote his verse in 5 minutes, 6 minutes in his head. When it cut it, Biggie like, I gotta take the beat home. And Biggie didn't come back till like seven months later to finish that song, you know what I'm saying? But with art, you can be exceptional. You can be Lauryn Hill and make one exceptional project and it just lasts forever. With athlete, you got to keep showing, improving game after game, season after season, you know? And artists don't really have to do that. You can make one masterpiece and fucking disappear. And if it was landed the right way, you don't even got to worry about coming back. People will remember that for forever, you know what I'm saying? But niggas ain't Remembering Super Bowl 37, you know what I'm saying? Niggas not remembering what you did in the 2001 NBA Finals, you know what I mean? It's a consistent. You got to show improve every single season. And even if you are Olympic, think about if you train for the Olympics, then you got to train for four years for one event, for four years. You see what I'm saying? So I think that artists have the most difficult time adjusting to the grind. Because being an artist, when you in middle school and high school, it doesn't give you a certain real life simulation of what it's like when you're really doing it and you're older. You gotta figure out how to work, how to balance life, how to, how to invest, how to get people to buy into what you're doing. So yes, athletes gonna always have a better edge over anybody that's doing music or doing photos or doing whatever, because they work ethic is just gonna be different.

That's a really interesting perspective when you think about the Olympics, right? Four years for one event and you can get Gold, you can get silver, you can get bronze, or you can not even place. But that work ethic for that one event is gonna change your thought process on that day versus an album by album artist. You can drop an album and go right into the next album. You can drop a song or right into the next song. It doesn't necessarily have to have that same weight of working toward that moment 1,000%.

1,000%.

But how do you. How do you. How do you challenge the grind when you meet people who might not have that same kind of work ethic that they need to have in this business? So how do you even make it practical for someone to understand that this is. This is deeper than just making music?

Well, at some point, those individuals just got to know, like, they got to want it when a person wants it. Anybody can turn on their grind. Everybody can. Anybody can turn on, like, the level of what they want to achieve from a work ethic perspective. But they got to actually want it, right? They have to. Because if they don't want, doesn't matter what system you put in front of them. It doesn't matter what floor plan you give them, they actually gotta want it. You can book them five sessions, back to back days. They gotta actually want to show up. You know what I'm saying? They gotta actually want to be productive. It's a real thing.

Nah, I feel you. I feel you. I mean, it starts internally, man. You can't make somebody want it more than they want it for themselves. But, you know, for you, specifically, for yourself. When did you want it more than maybe the people around you? When did you know you wanted it differently? When did you know you had a different kind of grind about yourself that maybe changed the way you even perceived grinding yourself?

I remember in high school, like, at ninth grade, I wasn't starting. I wasn't even playing in ninth grade. I was playing on, like, the JV team. But I would walk. I would walk and follow the coach up the sideline, like, come on, coach, you gotta put me in. Come on, coach, you gotta put me. I was one of the. I was that guy, like, very small, have no clue what the fuck I was talking about. Now that I look back at, like, talking about put me in. So for me at that particular time, I was confident enough into the work ethic that I had put into it that I felt confident to just be chasing my coach up and down the fucking sideline talking about, put me in. Put me in, coach.

I feel that. I mean, that's. But that's. It Right there. I love that about football, man. You gotta show improve. You gotta show improve. The coach not gonna see you if you're not in his face. If you're not out there really doing the drills, you're not out there really hustling. You're not gonna get seen. And I think that, from a business perspective, is very similar in music. You can see it when the artist wants it. I think Gia just put out a song where Cole speaks at the end of it, that he saw it in Gia's eyes that he wanted it. You know, everyone can say that for a great story, but there is something about certain people's tenacity, their hustle, their desires, that it just. It jumps out and you want to bet on them, you know? And I think that's a huge part of. Of a lesson in being 10 toes down. When someone sees it in you and they support that, you gotta. You gotta show up.

Yeah. And one of the things that's very unique about being an artist is that your mental capacity, like, it's the difference between going into the gym, working out two times a day versus doing two shows a day, and doing meet and greets simultaneously. There is no, like. There is no, like, interfacing with humans on that depth of a level when you're, like, grinding as an athlete, you know? Yeah, athletes may sign some autographs and things of that nature, but humans don't have the same investment into athletes the way they do into, like, their favorite artists. You know, athletes are superstars, too, but it's just a different type of mental thing that I think artists have to deal with that athletes don't necessarily have to encounter.

I think. I agree. I've been watching a lot of baseball lately, and Acuna on the Braves is like a superstar when he steps up to the plate. But I don't know nothing else about bro. I don't know where he from. I don't know where he hang out at. I don't see him on ig. Like, the only times I see this man is when he's playing baseball. But when it comes to artists, I can jump on my phone right now and find out where Brent might be or where, you know, Earth Gang is in the world. I can message them. I can ask them to follow me back. Like, there's a different level of connection. I feel like we want from our music artists than our athletes, that it has become natural, but I don't think it's a very natural association. Just the way that we're able to demand so much. Not Only of their time, but just their presence.

Exactly. You know, do you think that's going.

To change over time? That we, we are going to disassociate from wanting so much from people who make songs or albums or even, sometimes even the business people? I've noticed certain managers have become almost celebrity.

Like I think it's not going to open. We don't open up that can of worms and it's going to be very hard for that can of worms to be closed. And that can of worms is basically has. It has created another level of work for artists. You know, having to really have these deep engagements, probably more than they would want to have them, is something that I think is something that weighs heavy on artists. They just can't make the art and just go live their life. They can, but it comes with the thought process that, dang, maybe my fans are gonna think that I'm not really that deep into who they are. And as you're building it, that's when it counts the most. Once you break through and you're bigger now, the fans just got. They just, they just understand probably a little bit better than they do from a standpoint of like when you're a new artist and you building it up, you know.

Although I agree, I think a tricky part of it is you might, you might have a moment right where you blow up. But it's almost like if you don't stay at a certain height, like if you drop off at all, then the perception is like, oh man, you lost it. Oh man, you might not be that guy. No, more like, I think that that's part of the psychological aspect of it too. Because like when I'm. When I'm thinking about artists in venue sizes, you always want to see someone level up. Right. If you start off in a 150 cap room, the next time I see you, I would love to see you in a 300 cap room and then a 500 cap room. If you stay in that 100 cap room, my perception of you is that you're not actually growing. So then, you know, I think that that hurts on all parts. Like, we want to see artists blow up, but what does that entail? I think, I think it's a lot more than just the forward facing side of things.

I mean, it has become such a competitive business that now it doesn't matter if you independent or if you signed to a major label, your work don't change. That's how competitive making music has gotten. You can be an artist, that you can be the Artist where a label just spent a lot of money on you to sign you, but then it's this other cat that ain't signed that's out working you like crazy. It doesn't matter how much money you are getting invested into you, because the money can run out. A person's work ethic can never run out, but money can run out. It's budgets, it can run out. And I think that that's where artists is getting it all misconstrued at. Now when we start talking about 10 toes down, we start talking about the grind is designed to be challenging. Every artist is going to have to go through the grind. Doesn't matter how your business is set up. But when you start thinking about every artist is on the same playing field on what they got to put into the world to harvest a level of success. In today's time, it's the same amount of work. Sometimes having money helps expedite that, but not if you are lazy. Nigga, how much money you got if you lazy?

That's a bar. I noticed that sometimes people who are independent think that if they had the label, it would be different. And I think it's easy to have that sense of the grass is green on the other side if you're not over there. But what you're saying is that the work won't change. You can have a label, you can have a financial backer, you can have an angel investor, but that's money. And money runs out. But if you're not. If you're not hustling, you're not grinding, then what is it going to amount to? So tell me. But tell me this though, Ty. Can you grind the wrong way? Can you just be grinding, grinding, grinding and not be able to get any closer to your goals?

1,000%. I met like back in 2011. It was a really big producer who would go by their studio and work. Because I was working with this songwriter at the time, and he would play me songs and songs and songs of these new artists that he was signing. But none of the songs was ever out. And I was thinking to myself one day, I was like, man, they got so many songs when they gonna put it out right? And I'm like, they grinding the wrong way. What you recording all these records for if you're never gonna put them out? Like, you're working your ass off in the studio. You're knocking out five, six, seven songs a week. Crazy catalog. None of those artists that were signed to Bruh ever seen the light of day. So that was Working really, really hard, putting the music together. But see, it's a holistic approach to the. To the grind and the work ethic. Because you can work really, really hard in the studio, but not work hard on your socials. You can work hard on your socials, but. But not work hard in the studio. You can work hard on your socials, work hard in the studio, but not work hard on your live show. There's too many elements to a musician and an artist in today's element in today's day to help you get to the next level. And having a budget, I'm not even going to say labels just having a budget, Those budgets are going to run out. And the entities that supporting you, they can only push as hard as you're willing to work. Even when the money does run out.

Man, I feel that. Tell me about. I mean, when it comes to you and budgets, right? Like, how do you put them together in thinking about the grind? Like, do you put your budgets together thinking about. All right, if the artist is working this hard, then this much money is going to be enough, or is it based on what the ideas are?

Oh, yeah, man. I'm a firm believer in scale. So you starting or here, go $500 for a music video and get it done. You get that done. He'll go $1,000 for a music video and get it done. You get that done. Okay. They go, you know, 2,000, 3,000. So by the time you get a $17,000 or $20,000 music video, you've shown improve to produce five or six music videos at $500. A thousand dollars, $2,000. I don't think new artists who ain't even really got a fan base, who ain't even really grinding their grind, haven't maturated yet. Getting fucking crazy budgets for music video. Get the fuck out of here. Everybody got a scale. Because if you don't, then you're not going to really, truly appreciate the times when you only had $500 to shoot a music video.

It's about appreciation as well, right? You got to know what $500 can get you, what thousand dollars can get you, what $2,000 can get you.

Or you got to know that there's somebody in the world that Wish they had $500 to shoot a music video. There's somebody in the world that wish they had a thousand dollars to shoot a music video. So, yeah, I'm a firm believer in scaling it when it comes to budgets. You're not there yet. I don't care. You're not there yet. I don't care how dope the song is. The music video budget ain't there yet. I don't care how dope the song is. Well, you don't got no sample budget. It ain't no sample budget, so you can't sample. Gotta earn all these things, man. That's the only way that an artist can develop some level of work ethic. It's about making them earn things in the music space. Too many people just give artists because they talented, you know? You know how many times I thought I've. You know how many times I've thought like, shit, this nigga Brent gonna fire me because I'm like, man, I don't give a fuck about that shit, bro. Nobody care about your talent. It's a work thing that we gotta do. These are things that are realistic. You can't do that. We gotta look into these things. We can't do that. No, you're not there yet. No, we can't spend budgets like this. You're not there yet, bro. Ain't no disrespect to you and your talent. It's just the truth that you're not there yet. Gotta be able to justify these things.

I don't know if we ever really talked about artist development, but something that I hear pretty often is that artist development is dead. What is artist development to you?

Artist development is the grind. When you not develop that. When you think about it, I used to know this artist developer in Atlanta named Marvin Marvelous. Probably most people don't know who the fuck Marvelous is, but he did artist boot camps for so many different people. Big superstar artists, artist development. They used to go through media training, workout sessions, vocal lessons, studio sessions, rehearsals for. For the live show. These used to be like boot camps, man. These motherfuckers nowadays ain't doing no boot camps, man. Artist development is not dead just because the infrastructure stopped investing into it. Artists looking on Tick Tock, seeing how they don't blow, don't blew up on Tick Tock by making a little sound. You're not gonna convince these that they gotta go do two a days.

Yo.

Two a day. You think I'm gonna be able to convince Brent to do 2A days because he needs to be artist developed?

No, these is not doing two days.

But this was a real thing in it 90s, early 2000s, like Usher. These went through boot camp. 2A days. TLC, Destiny Child, Mariah Carey. Hell, even TI went through fucking boot camp. You know what I'm saying? You think NBA young boy Gonna go do two a days Kodak Black. Oh, this niggas ain't doing that shit.

Hell no. But to your point though, it's an investment from the infrastructure they have to invest in the artists. They have to believe that this is going to get artists to where they're going. And I think it's a fact artist development worked. I think artists back then were more prepared to be in the limelight. Now like you said, you can just be on your phone. They just signed an AI artist. Then Capitol Records just signed an AI artist from TikTok. 10 million followers.

Yeah, he ain't got to do no work ethic, you know, he ain't got to do. He ain't got to go outside and talk to fans and shit like that. Do no two a days, his breathing is going to be just fine.

But when you are up against potentially artificial intelligence, does that not make the grind more important?

Yeah, because now you gotta, now you gotta do shit that the damn computer can't do, Man.

That's a fact. That's a fact. Now I was it make it difficult.

For the lazy artists. Think about the logic. Why would I go sign a lazy artist when I could just sign an artificial intelligent motherfucker that I can go work with some songwriters, get some song, put the nigga on the stage with hologram. Like ain't no different than having Coca Cola or Pepsi or having like a mascot, like the Cheeto mascot, you know what I'm saying? Putting out a, like all of this shit, it makes it so that the artists that are not like really hard working, they can get replaced. It's hard to replace an artist that worked hard.

Yeah, and there it is.

It's very hard to replace a muffler that work hard.

Now with. Has your work changed over time? I mean obviously your work ethic isn't going to be altered, but when do you know that you having to work in a different direction?

Like what you mean?

Well again, like we were saying earlier about how you can be grinding the wrong way. Have, have, has your work changed over time or do you get up and have you been doing like the same kind of process, the same kind of like initiatives? Has anything changed in your work ethic as you've gotten older or as your career has progressed?

Only thing that changes my work ethic is not putting this, that ain't trying to work just as hard as me. I've always been like a zero in this is what I'm trying to achieve type of. You know what I'm saying? Like Right now in my life, I identify. When I identify that you don't want to work hard, then I'm starting to focus on some shit that I want to, that, that makes sense for my time. Because just like an individual have the choice to say, I don't want to do this, I don't want to do that. Well, I have the choice to say, well, I ain't finna do this, I ain't finna spend that. I'm good. I could just, you know, spend my money somewhere else, like invest into a new company. Shit, I just got them reserved me a semi truck with Tesla trying to hustle, see if I can God dang license that bitch to somebody that want to use it for their trucking company. That $20,000 down payment two years ago, I probably would have put that into an artist trying to believe that they really going, you know what I'm saying? Like just, just believing in. And I just done did that for so many years at this point. Well, I'm like, nah, I'm gonna put this money in something that don't talk back and tell me what they ain't gonna do.

Yeah, that truck not gonna talk back for sure. But I guess I hear what you saying. And for artists that are listening right now who are trying to get someone to believe in them and they're working hard, how do you keep them inspired? Or what would you say to keep them inspired after they meet that person? Because I do see that that's a change, right? Like sometimes artists get lazy later. They don't get lazy at the start, but they get a little success, they make a little bit of money, and then they don't keep that same tenacity.

The biggest thing I would tell an artist that that's looking for somebody to invest into them and spend and really, really buy into what they are doing is that when you find that person or that person finds you and it's early in your career, unless that person is finished, unless that person is stealing from you or directly or indirectly being very disrespectful to you or somebody that you actually love, if that person is coming into your life and they believe in what you trying to do, your best, best, best, best, best chance is to trust and believe that they have the best interest for you because they not making no motherfucking money with you that early. You know, the artists that get lucky to have a manager who's have they in order already that can help them elevate, man, that's a rare thing. You know what I'M saying. And if you are not taking it very, very serious, what ends up happening is they're gonna. There's too many people doing music. They're gonna find somebody that's gonna appreciate and fucking rock with them. So my advice to any artists, that's grounding, that's grinding, if you found somebody that fuck with you, you better treat.

Them.

Like they are rare humans to your journey. Unless they are doing something that is very detrimental to your growth, then that, that's a problem. But if they're working every day trying to figure it out with you, man, them are so valuable. And artists that are new, they don't understand it because they don't know no better. You know, most artists are like taking away, they're using, not realizing that they're using. Because in order to be a successful artist, you almost got to be like a little ego driven. You got to have a little narcissistic characteristics here and there. You got to believe in yourself so deeply that your shit can transition. So you got to be a little arrogant. It's a little balance that you got to find. But you can't be a user, a taker or abuser and. And then expect people to want to be around you and push your dreams. You know what I'm saying? You got to know the balance on when to turn on your artistry and when to turn on your human aspect of this thing, you know? And so that's what I've learned over the years with artists. It's like, man, these people, they like losing time, spending with their family, rather that's their mom, their dad, their kid, their grandparents, whatever, to really bet and believe in your career. So, like, the least you can do is really, really understand the value of them and work your ass off, especially if they're working hard too.

Amen. I hear that. I want to pivot just slightly. I saw last week that Swizz Beats and Timbaland are now suing Triller behind Versus. And I thought it was interesting because they really grind it to make versus what it was. And they had an opportunity to sell, they sold. And it hasn't even been like a year and they're already taking the partners they sold to to court. And I know you believe in that 100% of nothing's only temporary. So when you see a company like that really be huge in the culture and see the outcome of that, like, what does it make you think about? Or do you have any perspective on that?

Well, no, my only perspective on that is Versus was nothing. It was an idea. Tim and Swizz did a great job storytelling and building it out, and they made it 100% of nothing was temporary because when it first started, it didn't have no value, but they owned it at 100% and they built equity in it. They built the storyline, they built a business, and they acquired a business partner that wanted to partake in the efforts of it, and then the business partner didn't hold up their end of the bargain. It's very black and white.

Right? Absolutely. But again, like, looking at how that company came up, like, the amount of grinding it took for that to even happen, do you think that when a new business is in that same kind of trajectory, like, man, you really working. Should people think or should people second guess how soon they should sell?

I think selling is all about what you aiming to acquire. You know, anytime I sell anything, I'm aiming to acquire, you know, I just sold a whole bunch of cryptocurrency because I'm about to acquire some property. You know what I'm saying? So, like, I'm a firm believer that your selling strategy should have some level of you acquiring something. You know, now that's just me. Then. I think there are certain things that I'm never going to sell because it's not meant to be sold. I think it's meant to be treated as the foundational cornerstone for the wealth building for your bloodline. But I think Swizz and Tim, they hit a lick. They came up with some shit during the pandemic. It turned into a. It turned into a moment, it turned into an event, and then they. They sold that thing off.

I feel that. I feel that. I mean, I. I do think you. You exchange one grind for another, and that anytime that you're building something that you want to get it to the point where it can either A, be a cornerstone for you or a B, something that you can sell and build off that into the next thing. I just. I'm inspired when I see artists or I see anybody who has been seasoned in their 20, 30 years until into one career, and they're still making strides. Like their grind didn't stop at all.

Exactly.

I mean, who. Who are.

Who.

Who inspires you right now? Is there. Is there someone grinding out right now that you like? Yeah, I like the way this person's moving. I know we talk a lot about the Russell, but anyone else that comes to mind that just got that. That right work ethic.

Talking about as far as in just artists or just people in general, people in General.

It could be a business, it could be a person. It doesn't matter.

Kevin Hart. Kevin Hart work ethic is crazy. I think Serena Williams work ethic is nuts. There is Uncle Snoop. I think Snoop work ethic is nuts. Shaq. I think Shaq work ethic is nuts. Wallow, wallow. OD with his work ethic. You know what I mean? You know, it's a lot more that'll probably come to me, but I do have a good amount of people that I respect. Like how hard they go when you can identify, like, man, how they doing all of this? You know what I mean? That's what it like span from. Like, man, how they doing all of this? What about you?

Nah, I hear you. I'm glad you said Snoop. I think I look at Snoop like he otherworldly almost. Like when you look back at the 90s and see that he was fighting a murder case like his whole life almost didn't happen. And to see that not only did he do what he did with Death Row, he went down and route with Master P, then he went and route with Pharrell. Like, it's the amount of pivots that I find inspiring. It's almost like he didn't see a direction that he couldn't go into. And I look at people who make those pivots. I was just reading about of Michael Jordan going to play baseball, I think about that a lot. Like, man, why would you go play baseball? Like, what would possess you after being someone that they would even look at like a God on the court? You would go somewhere where you, you know, it's just brand new. I think that starting over, period is such a inspiring thing to see in people of all walks of life. But you know what I'm saying, I also find like my parents extremely inspiring just because they've been, they've been running the skating rinks for like 18 plus years. And their schedule, they so locked in on their schedule that the pandemic is what threw them off because they didn't, they didn't know what to do when they didn't have that. That thing to go into, that, that thing to constantly work on Again, they bout to push 20 years with a roller rink. And I think about that all the time. Like, man, like where you want to be in 20 years, can you find something that you love so much that you'll pay all your sweat equity into making sure that this thing stays, you know, the light stay on, that people stay coming in and you know, they've seen about two not just two decades, but like multiple families have come in there. People didn't got met their wives at the ring, they didn't brought their kids to the ring. Now their kids having kids. So it becomes almost like a community space. And I think that you need that in. In any place, anywhere you need that place you can go. And to know that they run that, folks, is extremely inspiring.

1000%. What is the. You know, we talk about Fuck youk Money and how Fuck youk Money is the New American Dream. I was with. I was with B Dot and we was talking about the Playbook, and we was talking about Fuck youk Money because it was one of the chapters. And I said, man, you know, he read it, he was like. He read somewhere in the book where it was like, Fuck your money is the new American Dream. And he was like, real shit. You know what I'm saying? And that made me feel real good about what we're aiming to do with this platform. Because I truly believe that the American Dream is not for black people. It's not for people of color. But when I say the American Dream, it's not for black people. Especially when systematically, through constitutions and regulations and policies, when black people was boxed out by legislation, by boxed out by policy that was passed, you know, where you can't own this. They want to give you. Wouldn't give you a loan or you couldn't qualify because of the things that you didn't even know about. So now when we are seeing all this increase of black people generating a lot of money, and we're trying to figure out how to funnel it so that we can build generations of wealth, you know, it's very important on this platform to speak towards the things that I'm experiencing, that yo is experiencing, that some of our peers are experiencing when it comes to growth of our financial literacy, financial freedom, and being able to have a certain passion and fulfillment into the things that you're doing and pulling yourself away from things that don't serve you. And so when we started talking about a lot of these objects and these identities and these mind frames, I'm super excited about what the future is with Fuck youk Money, the New American Dream, and really starting to build and carve out what that new American dream looks like for black people. And for me, it starts with the information about how do you own your ip, how do you own and run your business? How do you go about doing that in a way that you can employ your friends, your family, that you can actually send your kids to school, to be the lawyer that can defend the family trust, to be the accountant that can make sure all of the financial things are running a certain way. All of this stuff is meant to fund for the kids to go out and do things that can protect the things that you building, you know? And so every time we get on these calls, and I know once, once we get into a good rhythm, a good groove and we get a good understanding of the platform, we're going to increase these type of conversations and really make it more interactive and bring in more guests on the platform, is going to have more features as Amazon grows it. But like, I really, really, really want everybody to understand that what we're aiming to do is plant these seeds that it can grow and everybody can have a roadmap to like their version of what fuck you money look like. Because my version of fuck you money, when I hit 55, my nigga, it's a rap. I ain't doing shit. Fishing, sports betting, hanging out with my grandkids and my kids, whatever the case may be. And that's my version of fuck you money. So that's what I'm working on up to then, you know what I'm saying? I'm 17 year countdown. Because once I turn 55, I ain't doing shit. You see? You see what I'm saying? And I want to build up my life and work extremely hard now so that when I activate my fuck you money, that shit is going to last me forever, however long that I live. After 55.

Why is 55 the number, Ty? Why? Yeah, why 55?

I ain't gonna lie to you. I never, I ain't never even envisioned myself turning. I can't envision myself turning 60. Like, I don't know what that looks like. Like in my mind, I try to envision it. So 55 is an age that my grandmother made it to, my mom made it to, my grandfather made it to, you know, both of my grandparents. Everybody that I know that I loved that lived past 50, they made it past 55, you know what I'm saying? So that's why that number kind of sticks there. Because everybody that I grew up with experienced it. Everybody that I grew up, grandparents, parents, whatever, they grew up and they experienced 55. After 55, she got a little, little tricky. My mom just turned 59 this year today. Actually, my mom birthday's today.

Hey, happy birthday, mom.

Yeah, so that's why My number is 55.

Nah, I love that. And again, it's about activation. I'm glad you put it in that frame of reference because you want to work towards something that when you get there, it's the life you want to see for yourself. You don't want no one to disrupt that. You don't want no one to get in that way. And again, having a new American dream is for a new generation of innovators, for creators, for artists, for business people. We need something new. We need a new path. And I feel like, Ty, ever since you even put that phrase out there, it was the first time I ever seen someone actually have a perspective that could be that for Black people.

Yeah. 1,000%. Thanks for listening to Fuck you, Money. Hope you all enjoyed the conversation. Speak to you next week.