Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Shopping at Payless with Lute & Shame Gang
2 Playsin 9 hours
This week I am joined by Lute & Shame Gang, we talk about their journey with music. How kicks influenced them, how DC inspired Shame. Also how North Carolina inspired both of them. We also touch on Lute's history with kicks and skateboarding and BMXing. We touch on my white on white Air Force's were so big. How the music from North Carolina was heavily slept on. Plus a ton more!
Follow Lute:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/lute_west9/
Album: https://www.hardtoreach.live/
Follow Shame Gang:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/iamshamegang/
Album: https://vyd.co/OilStains808s
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/Iamshamegang
Follow The Pod: Podcast Linktree: https://linktr.ee/myfirstkicks
Sign up for the Patreon: https://patreon.com/MyFirstKicks
Intro & Outro by Sango: https://www.instagram.com/sango_/
Recommended
Transcript
Air Force Ones and Regional Popularity
00:00:00
Speaker
yeah how did you get into to air force ones when in in dc because like that's like a huge shoe out there what's crazy is uh i didn't dare i got into like in north carolina when i used to come and visit like i had family that stayed in like the country country it was like johnson county and so i used to come and visit like on the summers And then a lot of the homies, like I used to play ball with and stuff like that. They was like on the F-O's ones, heavy. And Sacconeys. Remember Sacconeys? Yeah, they was on Sacconeys heavy. It's Sacconeys. I don't know what I'm asking. I'm wearing them right now. I don't know what I'm saying. I was on Sacconeys too. Yeah, bro. They was heavy on those. Back in the day, when nobody was correcting anybody, it was Sacconeys. was Sacconeys. were hey, man, you got Sacconeys on? Yeah. They was real heavy on it then. That's like said. And then...
00:00:44
Speaker
But I was like in the like basketball sneakers more like the T-Mac threes and stuff like that. Or like the was it was a defense Carter's. get car too Yeah. Like those like I was I was big on like basketball shoes. Like, you know, mean, I wasn't big on like that. I felt it felt like Air Force One wasn't basketball. shit
Podcast Introduction with Haas, Shame Gang, and Lute
00:01:05
Speaker
What's good everyone? Welcome back to my first kicks the podcast where I use sneakers as a through line to get to better know my guests. I always fumble on this, but whatever rolling with this one. I'm your boy Haas and across from me, we got shame gang and I was going to do a whole thing. i was like slum country zone.
00:01:21
Speaker
Slump County. bad. I don't know why i thought about the Village. Yeah. it together.
00:01:40
Speaker
that i love that love county zone
00:01:46
Speaker
And Luke, gold mouth in the building. Yo, man, appreciate y'all pulling up. You know, you guys, I've been listening to y'all music for a hot minute. So this like getting hit up by your manager to pull the podcast. I was literally telling everybody like, yo, I can't believe I got this email. That's crazy. Shout out to Finn too. appreciate that. For real. Yeah.
00:02:06
Speaker
Thanks for for making this happen. um But in case people are not familiar with you, introduce yourselves a little bit. man I'm Shane, rapper from Raleigh, North Carolina. I've been doing music for a minute now. You know what saying? just trying to get out there, you know what saying?
00:02:23
Speaker
Man, you know, just yeah just keep grinding, man. That's all I'm doing, man. man I'm just going with the Lord, taking this. We're walking with it going with a spirit of the Lord, bro. That's what we doing right now. You know, yeah. Oh, I'm Luke. I'm from Charlotte, North Carolina. You know what I'm saying? I got the album, Goldmouth.
00:02:40
Speaker
I got West 1996, part one and part two, and my most recent project, Hard to Reach. So, Yeah. Yeah. and That's coming out. I'm just out here. Yeah. Be out here. Yeah. You got that album's coming out. Yeah. June 8th. June 8th. I was almost at 6th. Yeah. Yeah. June 8th. And y'all out here, you know, doing On the Radar. By the time this come out, that's going be out, right? Yeah. So. yeah Probably. Probably. Yeah. No, no, no. For sure. Because this is coming out later. So. Yeah. But I appreciate y'all pulling up New York. You know what i mean? um But let's jump right into the question.
00:03:12
Speaker
And that question is, what's your first kicks with that first pair of sneakers you absolutely needed to have?
First Sneaker Experiences and Promotions
00:03:18
Speaker
Man, alright Well ain't necessarily have to have these It was kind of like, you know Growing up when we didn't really have The money, my mom ain't really had the money like that You know what I'm saying, get yours and stuff like that But man, she used to Have I said pay less, no cap I had some, hey, it was, what's some drinks was called? Some pro wings, they was called pro wings or something like that. I remember, I remember, and I'm being real, yo. The reason why I know so much, like, know, like, I can't forget this name, was embedded in my brains because when I went to school, like I said, everybody's like, yo, what type of shoes you got on, son? Like, they was frying me, you know what mean? But always, like, wanted, like, Jordans, and I remember getting, like, my first ever pair Jordans, though, which was, like, the Jordan 1s, yeah, course, but,
00:04:02
Speaker
Yeah, man. Growing up, man, like I said, we had to do, we had to do, you know, something for shoes. Look, man, I've been a Payless. No, no shame in the Payless game, bro. hope you've been enjoying this week's episode with Shame Gang and Lute. And real quick, I got to this quick plug for their albums. So Shame Gang just dropped oil stains and 808s on all streaming platforms where you get your music. And also...
00:04:28
Speaker
Lute recently dropped hard to reach on hard to reach dot live. ah It's a pay what you feel type of drop strictly done independently. And, you know, we support the independence up in here. So make sure you check out both of their albums. They're really good. I gave them a listen.
00:04:49
Speaker
Come on. Go mouth and shame gang. It was fire. it You can't you can't go wrong. And of course. Don't forget, since you're watching this or listening to this, if you're watching this on YouTube, put a comment or like or subscribe to the podcast page on YouTube. And if you're listening to this, hit up that review. Five stars.
00:05:14
Speaker
Write a review. I'll read it at the end of the episode. i have one that I'm reading. at the end of this episode. And of course, if you want to support the podcast, like I just said, independently, i'm doing this independently,
00:05:28
Speaker
patreon.com slash myfirstkicks. I have one tier, $5 tier. You get the episode a day early in the middle of the day. You get newsletters. You get, you know, my thoughts. I will be probably releasing my video short video essays on there early just to see how people think about it before they go on YouTube. um But You know what we say.
00:05:55
Speaker
Let's jump back right
Sneaker Culture in North Carolina and DC
00:05:57
Speaker
into the episode. where Where you don't got a lot of money, you gotta do what you can. Facts, facts. You know? how You get it. You gotta get it. I was in there getting converses. right Hey, converses? Hey, I got... I mean, it wasn't those. i i know It wasn't those. it was it was It was the the worst ones. It was like... Because I was a big ah Larry Johnson fan. So I always wanted the... um They're called... The weapons? The React... No, React Juice. ah shit I wish I had the weapons. Yeah, ah yeah the weapons was a thing. and then they And then you had them, what's the shits that look like blazers? ah The Dr. J's.
00:06:29
Speaker
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah when I thought they were like CF flyers, no? where what what is that That was the name? I think so. But they weren't converses, right? Nah, I'm talking about the converses. The ones that look like ah they look like blazers. Like the silhouette of it.
00:06:41
Speaker
Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's got the star. Yeah, yeah. don't know what those called. I think they called Dr. J's. I'm not sure. That's what we called them. Yeah. In the comments, let us know. because I could be wrong. I could be wrong. I just know they look like the blazers and shit. I had a couple pair of those. mean, I you have to look at those. I'm going to have to look at those. Because i only remember Chuck Taylor's and then I mean when basketball became the big thing, like with the with the different 90s forms of sneakers, so like I always wanted like, yeah, weapons, but the weapons look like ah airm ma i mean ah Air Force Two. yeah oh Yeah. I was telling somebody about the Air Force Two's not too long ago, and they was like, air Force Two's? I'm like, where you? You don't know about the Air Force 2? I you never heard of those, bro. It was just crazy. That's the first time you ever hear them. Bro, I remember my my my my homeboy had the ah the dirties. uh hu The Air Force 2s with the Atlanta Hawks.
00:07:34
Speaker
Those were like some of the most. And that was around when I was in middle school. And those shoes were fire when they came out. Yeah. I had the... So I had the Air Force IIs, but they were just like a Carolina blue with a white. I know exactly what you're about. And I was like, these were... burned Damn, Air Force That was amazing. ain't seen those in a minute. But what was your first kicks, Luke?
00:07:53
Speaker
Um...
00:07:56
Speaker
Well, the first kicks that I bought myself yeah was um those ah Joy 8s, but they were the opposite of the aquas. Because the aquas was like, what the the the main shit was like black and the purple and teal. But I had the white ones, the ones that you had to get in women's section. Yes, I know. And they had like a little yellow one. A little one. Yeah, I had those. Because my mom was not buying me no shoes. So was like, i couldn't get I couldn't get the pair of shoes that I wanted until I got a job. So when I got my job, Those were the first pair of shoes I got. But back in the day, i was like big on dunks. um When we was talking about Converse's, I was big on like One Stars.
00:08:37
Speaker
My favorite pair of Converse's is the fucking, ah the fast breaks. Oh, yeah. Yeah, those. I used to skate in those. Fast breaks. And then... um You was skating around me? Yeah, yeah. Middle school, middle school, high school. um I was skating in BMX and shit. Oh, snap. Here and there. that so now I was in a little bit of everything. But, nah, I was really big in dunks in middle school. Yeah, that was our thing. Because we had a... um a skate shop called Black Sheep. And then- Yeah Black Sheep is legendary. Yeah. So um Black Sheep would have all the dunks and the and the kicks and then it beside Black Sheep was this boutique called Niche. and Or or i don't know how to say it. It was like Niche, Niche or some shit like that. But it was next door yeah and they had all the like, that was like, that's why I got introduced with like Blazers and um fucking Supras at the time when they was around. So yeah, it was just a bunch of everything.
00:09:31
Speaker
You didn't have a super phase? bri i none I didn't have a super phase though, but they were in there. and And the crazy thing was, bro, I wanted a pair so bad at that time, but i don't know what the little universe was just like, nah, bro, we can't have you in these. Now, unfortunately, I did have a pair of creative wrecks.
00:09:48
Speaker
Every time we talk about creative wrecks on this podcast, I go viral, bro. Every single I did, bro. I don't know why, but I just, yeah, I had a pair of them shit. Did you have a pair of creative recs? Nah, when I was going to DC, man, what was like a popular shoot then was like phone posits. I can't stand phone I hate them. They was ugly, bro. But I know DC is like real popular with phone posits. Yeah, phone posits like new balances. That's what they on. They on stuff like that out there, but that's... I can't stand this shit, dog. I can't tell you what it is. can't tell you what it is now. I remember when they came out with the copper joints. Eggplants. The silver joints. Yeah.
00:10:23
Speaker
I couldn't fuck with it. Nah. Nah. That's crazy. I mean, I didn't
Significance of Air Force Ones Across Regions
00:10:27
Speaker
even know you grew up in DC. So when that was happening, were you just... I mean, it's such an expensive shit. I wasn't still rocking Rollins, bro. All the pro wins, my nigga. Nah. I think I graduated to Air Max and stuff like that or something then. But yeah, I don't know. I've always been like a converse nigga too, though. Chuck Taylor type shit.
00:10:48
Speaker
I never really got into the phone posits. Like I said, I just thought they were so ugly me, yo. Like I never could get on like that. Yeah. They just didn't look right on my foot. Like them and, it's certain Air Max's that just don't, they don't look right on Nah. Yeah. I got some Air Max's. I'm like, well, for me, I'm a size 13. So like when I put on a foam posit, that joint look like spaceship. Speaking of that, what were you talking about? before we got in Kobe's, the Medidas Kobe's. Yeah. Oh yeah. The Martian joints. Hideous, bro. And I didn't have a pair of crazy eights though. No crazy eights. I wish they would, they would bring back the like,
00:11:32
Speaker
the Kobe colorways for those. yeah Because they did it one time, but it did, like, I think it happened during the pandemic, I think it was. They brought out like ah like a white and purple, and but then you can't use- They had a white and purple, they had a black and yeah purple, I want to say. They did like a yellow and white too, straight Lakers. But they can't do when they were, like, the old Crazy 8s used to have that like eight in the middle, because the Kobe 8. And you can't do that anymore. But I had the red and black ones with the eight in the middle. Oh, yeah? Yeah. I had them in like, what?
00:12:01
Speaker
It was a around the time that LeBron's was out too. I had the, the I want to say the the second ones that he came out with. It might have been the first ones. I can't remember. ah The LeBron's? Yeah. Where he had the, it was like white, it was like white crimson, and like black, but it was majority white. And then they had a majority black and crimson.
00:12:20
Speaker
I'm trying to remember which LeBron you're talking about. yeah i'm trying um I want to say it was the first one. It wasn't the Zoom gen zoom Generations? like They look like boots. they're like they're like big They're bulky. Yeah, they they were kind of bulky, yeah, but they were like very simple though. okay They weren't like the crazy shit. Nah, yeah. yeah I got to remember the number. When I remember the number, I'll let you know. Just let me know. Then I'll put it here. Because it was that, and then LeBron came out with the... He had the Air Force Ones. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Those tough though. Yeah. Those the burgundy shits. Mm-hmm.
00:12:51
Speaker
yeah How did you get into to Air Force Ones in D.C.? Because that's like a huge shoe out there. What's crazy is I didn't dare. I got into, like, in North Carolina when I used to come and visit. Like, I had family that stayed in, like, the country country. It was like Johnson County.
00:13:06
Speaker
And so I used to come and visit, like, on the summers. And then a lot of the homies, like I used to play ball with and stuff like that, day was like on the f os one heavy and sicones it was sock mama sicone's it's on sicccone's heavy and it's soing is sock sicone's two year but they was heavy on those styles code when back in the day no but when nobody was correcting anybody ah so so socon you got the coniess on yeah there was real heavy on it then that's like and Jumping in one more time to tell y'all, I have shirts. I have my first kick shirts. I've been holding on to them for a whole year now. If you are local, I will come to you or you will come to me. We can meet up at a sneaker store.
00:13:51
Speaker
And these shirts are only $40 locally. But if you want to cop them wherever you're from or you want me to ship them to you, please add shipping. ah We'll talk about it. But hit me in the DMs or shoot me an email at info at myfirstkicks. I have a box of these. I have a full-size run, and I'm trying to sell them so I can make more.
00:14:14
Speaker
And you will help me out tremendously because I would love to put more merch out. So if you're a listener, new or old, and you really like this t-shirt, like the back is dope also. It's got a you know, kind of like ah a sneaker box breakdown of the podcast with a Jordan 3 on it.
00:14:32
Speaker
I'll post it on my stories. I've been posting it on my stories. I've been, i will probably post another picture within the Patreon. I'm trying to get rid of this box. So please help your boy out. Cop a t-shirt. $40. $40. Let's jump back into the episode.
00:14:47
Speaker
But I was like into like basketball sneakers more like the T-Mac threes and stuff like that. Or like the Vince Carter's. yeah those part too Yeah, like those. Like I was i was big on like like basketball shoes. Like, you know what wasn't big on like that. I felt always felt like Air Force 1 wasn't basketball shoes. It's crazy because it is a basketball shit. But it didn't feel like it. like You don't see nobody rocking it on the court. That's a heavy ass basketball. That's like when people was balling with the Chuck Taylors back in the day. like I'm like, how, bro? like yeah You ain't got no souls in them things. There's nothing. Air Force 1's like putting on um a pair of bricks. Not the Nigels. You see why they got the black A1s when they bought the squabbles. They're going to you down. hold you crazy when When you moved, like, was there a culture shock between, like, D.C. and North Carolina? Yeah, it was different, bro. Of course, because everything was so fast. Living up north, and you coming into, like, North Carolina, it was like, damn, your next your nearest store was like, what?
00:15:47
Speaker
You had to drive, so it was like, you know, five miles up the road or something, or ten miles. It was crazy, bro. But, I mean, it humbled me, though. You what lot of shit, bro. What was it like growing up in North Carolina?
00:15:59
Speaker
Um... You had different, ah East Side of Town had something different. So you had to go to East Side of Town for different things. um We had a spot, Eastland Mall, so you had to go to the East Side if you really wanted the kicks and the, at the time like the airbrush shit. Like you really wanted all the fly shit. You had go to Eastland Mall. Yeah, shit coming back now. Yeah, yeah. And then you got South Park Mall, which was like the more upscale. So if you wanted like the Louie and all that other shit, you had to go to South Park Mall. We had Freedom Mall on the west side, but that was more so for like, if you wanted some kicks, like you want to go to Foot Locker. I think Freedom Mall had the best Foot Locker, in my opinion, growing up. So, you know, each side of town had their own little thing you had to go to.
00:16:45
Speaker
Like you had to get to. I mean, I don't know because I don't know much outside of like, I think the the black ah the white on whites down in North Carolina is probably the biggest shoe, right? like What the Air Force was? At a time. Yeah. Hell yeah. Because I feel like every time we talked about it, like when you bring up the... the regionality of Air Force Ones and the biggest impact. Everybody's always like North Carolina, DC. Oh really?
00:17:10
Speaker
Yeah, because like, that's crazy. But I will say that like, yeah, growing up, a pair of all whites and all black, yeah, that was like, that was the thing. And then you had the, um when they would do like different like holidays and shit like that, like you had the um the Valentine's Day forces and the St. Patrick's Day forces and shit, like those are really big in school.
00:17:30
Speaker
You know what I'm saying? yeah I didn't know we was like in the in the top or whatever. But it's only because like the people that always are like, yo, it's D.C. I think it's like D.C. New York.
00:17:41
Speaker
And I'm trying to there's some somewhere else. But then everybody's like, what about North Carolina? Because like and and St. Louis because of ah Nelly. Oh, yeah. so yeah I can definitely see. But around that area. Yeah. Around that area. Everybody's always like to speak up about it because of how big the white on whites and all you like on black on blacks. They was definitely big. on that is it's do they call is is It called that has a name, right? It's like g it's not G. Fazos. was' what's the In North
Getting into Music: Lute and Shame Gang's Stories
00:18:07
Speaker
Carolina? just forces us horse force we handle yeah no name out In my opinion, i don't know. It could be a name. I wasn't outside like that. I feel like somebody... i don't I don't know where G. Fazos is. like Where they call them G. Fazos at. I don't remember.
00:18:20
Speaker
And so... i don't know if it's out like a, it might be Midwest thing. It be. It sound like it would Hey, hey. Don't get mistaken. um when did When did y'all decide to be like, yo, I'm gonna pursue music though? Cause like, i'm I'm very curious about that.
00:18:38
Speaker
Dang. I'll probably say, Well, it's like a long story with me, kind of, so yeah I sum it up. But I got to like ah a bad wreck, and then when I got to that wreck, I kind of sat sat still for a minute. And um I used to write poetry, and so that's how it kind of segued into that. and But it like it was like my outlet, because ain't gonna front. Like, i used to play ball, and so then when I got into that accident, all that was kind of stripped away from me, so I kind of had to find like an outlet for depression and and a whole bunch of things like that. And so, yeah, but I always could rap, but I never took it serious till then.
00:19:15
Speaker
And then when I did that, you know, i so um I started to notice like, dang, you know, I really could probably do something with this, you know what mean? Writing songs and et cetera, et cetera, you know what mean? then, um yeah, fast forward to now, but like said, it's a long story, but that's me summoning up. Yeah, no, nah, I mean, I appreciate that. Like, you know, I wanted to be a rapper at one point in my life, but like, I realized how hard like the road would be. And it's like, if you don't 100% commit from the jump, it's gonna be the tough, like music industry stuff is tough as hell. So it's like, yeah, I mean, and y'all both have, you know, you've been doing this for a while now. So it's just like, when you first start off, it's like the chip on your shoulder of like, y'all gotta prove it, you know, why I'm doing this every time you're doing it. So, yeah.
00:20:02
Speaker
What about you, Luke? It's kind of, Yeah, it's kind it's kind of around the same, kind of like it's it's so many different um things that led up to...
00:20:17
Speaker
niggas pursuing rap. But um I started in middle school with my homies and then my other homie ended up going to college. So me and my other nigga was like, yo, where we we got to figure some shit out because well college, I knew college wasn't going to my route. So it was just like, yo, we got to figure some shit out. Then we met some other homies going to the CPCC and we started just rapping together or whatever. and um And then we just started realizing like, yo, we could really we could really take this shit somewhere. And so after we all released our mixtapes, we really realized like, yo, we could we should really just stick to you know finding or figuring out a way to really make this shit pop.
00:20:57
Speaker
And I mean, North Carolina is like a huge, it like for me, in my opinion, is huge
North Carolina's Music Influence and Collaborations
00:21:02
Speaker
musically. i mean, Little Brother, like ever since ever ever ever since I started listening to Little Brother, I've always been like,
00:21:08
Speaker
you know, the music sound that comes from North Carolina resonates with me personally. Cause it's like bars over like soulful beats. And I'm like, yo, this shit is all me. So like listening to y'all music, I still feel, i still feel that through that. But like ah where you get your inspirations from?
00:21:26
Speaker
I get my inspiration from a little bit, little everybody. ODB, OutKast, Goody Mob, um and the list go on. like i i'll just I'm just a fan of hip hop and music in general, and I just try to plug you know the shit that I resonate with into what I'm creating or what I'm inspired by. So yeah, I'm just inspired by a little bit everything. That's fire. Yeah, it's about the same for me. ah It was like Bone Thugs and Harmony, Big L, of course, Big Pac was like my favorite. Well, Pac and DMX was like my favorite rappers of all time. ah
00:22:05
Speaker
But yeah, same thing. was kind of pulled from everybody. I feel like we all get inspired by somebody, you know what I mean? But then at the same time, we be trying to like figure out our own lane. You know, because I remember I went through a phase of trying to rap like a certain person. Oh, yeah. I think we all did. I was like, And then I got tired of people saying, oh, you sound like person, you sound like this person. I was like, damn, I gotta change my shit up, tell your shit. You know what mean? yeah, just like he said, I kind of take something from everybody, the great shit.
00:22:33
Speaker
how did How did y'all link up? Is there like a crazy story for that? No question, bro. Was it that? Nah, was those guys wont it? Was it? I think it ah probably was hopscotch. For some reason, I keep thinking that that time we was shooting that video, this nigga Doe was directing the shit at the lake. Nah, that was after that. Hold on. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that was crazy that day, yo. Hold on. I think it was Hopscotch though.
00:23:01
Speaker
Hopscotch Fest. I can't remember what year. Was that 2017? 2018? think it was. when Damn. hold up.
00:23:14
Speaker
Nah, it was after. cause that's not Because that's when I linked up with y'all. Because I linked up with you at Hopscotch because Dunny introduced me. And I think when I first met you, you thought my name was Dunny. Yeah, you was like, yo, I've been hearing about you a lot. And I was like, nah, it ain't Dunny. Was that after Hopscotch? Yeah, that was after Hopscotch. And then I think we had like got cool.
00:23:35
Speaker
Nah, matter of fact, I think I hit a doe. about something, I think it was like, either wanted to try to link up with you on some music stuff or something and Doe invited me, I think to the video shoot, I think to help. Yeah, I think that's what it was to help or something. And that's when we- Yeah, that was the first time we really like chopped it up and like talking shit was at that video. All right, so now I need the context behind the video. Shoot. It was just a video that just didn't happen. It didn't make it to the eyes of the people. It was an experience. It was an experience for sure. I mean, that sounds crazy, bro. It was an example. It was crazy.
00:24:14
Speaker
but i mean That sounds crazying rob like it was eventful it was crazy whole day was a man for ya. But speaking of, matter of fact though, like yo, speaking of like you was talking about earlier, like ah the whole like royalty of like North Carolina and the little brother and everything like that. like like That man over there sitting the left comes from that. like He came from the little brother and all of them. like He helped set them up. That's Big Doe, you know what I'm saying? so Shout out Big Doe. Shout out shot Big Doe. You know little brother, Poo, Tay, Finn.
00:24:48
Speaker
Shawn Donne, my bad all of them. You know what I'm saying? You were I'm wet, but yeah, yeah. Shawn Donne. Joe's cut Like, you might as just keep going. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They kind of like, for real, I say like, ain't, bro. Yeah, to me, I say they like, part of like the forefathers of this the North Carolina rap shit, bro. For real, for real. Like, royalty rap, bro. I mean, yeah. I mean, then it from there, Cole. Yeah, to everybody, too. Rapsies to everybody. Yeah, but it's like, a line yeah. I do think like,
00:25:15
Speaker
North Carolina got slept on so hard for like a good bit. But I also think it's just like once you find that music, it does really connect with you. Cause like I was just listening to all your music, but on the way here and I like, nah, you got a fan now. Cause I was like, cause like I only heard you a couple of times. I was like, Oh, I listened to the song before. But now don't mean to cut you off, but even with Luke, like listening to him, like I was, when I first heard him, I was inspired by him. I was like, damn, it gave me Lil Brother Nostalgia too, but it was like, yo, it sounds so fresh though and and new, you know what I'm saying? And i was just like, okay. And then when I found out that he was signed by Cole, was like, oh, I definitely see why Cole picked him up. You know what saying? Cause i was like, yo, he hella talented. Yeah. yeah
00:25:55
Speaker
appreciate that. But I was just, was just, don't know. What do you mean? I don't know. Are you a person that just, like, it's awkward to get praise or, you know? Probably. I don't know. I be having imposter syndrome sometimes. But be feeling like, don't know. Back in the day, though, I used to be like, damn, what? Like,
00:26:14
Speaker
how the hell did I get here type shit. You know what I'm saying? But I had to change. I had to start seeing what other people see. But that's a hard thing Yeah, but at the time I was just, you know, these was just kicking in and creating and just, I didn't know what it, I had no idea what it would turn into. So you saying you just sat back now like in- Yeah, within the past-
00:26:36
Speaker
year and a half, i I just had to hone in and and be like, damn, okay, I'm starting to see. it took me it took me giving myself some grace and appreciating the things that I have done to really step back and look and see like, oh, okay, I see what i see what people see a little bit. But I would say, i think listening to your music for so long, like, I think because you're so introspective, it's hard for you to step out and be like, yo, I've attained these things. Because you're like, I'm still going through a lot. No, feel that. Yeah, because I'm still in it. At least that's how I feel. Like, I still i feel like i'm still I'm still creating the legacy or whatever it is. I'm i'm still creating that shit. Yeah. Building a plane and flying it at the same time. I mean, yeah, but you still gotta to be you you still gotta to give yourself props like, yo, I really got this off the ground. yeah You know what I mean? I'm thankful. I'm hella grateful. I'm grateful for the spaces that I've been able to be in. um But yeah it took me a while to see it.
00:27:30
Speaker
to notice it.
Personal Challenges in Pursuing Music
00:27:32
Speaker
I mean, you've seen success yourself, though. You know? Not on this man level, but... I mean, it's not comparing. No, there's no difference. Nah, I mean, it ain't no comparing, but at the same time, like, I look at levels of success and I look at, like, my peers, because to me, he's one of my peers. You know saying? look at people who have they inspire me to to to go as hard as I go, you know saying? And everything like that. but So that's why when I sit back and and and I am in sessions with him or anything like that, like I'm also there as a fan too. cause I'm like, damn, I'm not saying grew up listening. That's crazy, bro. But I listen to his shit. I listen to him before like before I even knew who he was. yeah I listen to him, you see I'm saying? And so it goes back to what he said. like He's like, yo, I sit back now and I'm like, damn.
00:28:23
Speaker
I did all these things, I sit back too and I'm like, damn, like Luke, one of my dogs, you know what I'm saying? i grew up listening to him, like Sean Don, he was in Justice League, little brother, like i grew up listening to Tay Poole, all these dudes, and now like I could call these dudes, you know what saying? like And it's just like, it's mind boggling to me at the same time, like you know what mean? it's It's like a dream. Yeah, man. Look, I think, and to both y'all credits, like, you know, when it comes to something like this or, like, when you when you're a creative overall, right, as you're creating things, like, I think we always put that chip on our shoulder of, like,
00:29:01
Speaker
right, this is good, but now I gotta move on and make the next best thing. And so it's hard for people who are are just constantly being like, yo, I gotta keep i gotta to keep making things, I gotta to keep making things for you to be like, yo, look at the thing that I made that got me here. And then by the time you've realized that, you've already done five other things that got you somewhere else. So yeah, take the time, bro. I'm starting to take the time. It's it's starting to happen, but like I said before, everything just, it was just so fast that it never really, never really had the time to write really sit and think about the things. But when I had the time to sit and think about shit, like I realized like, damn, like, yeah, I did do a lot or, you know, I did do that, that said thing or I did do everything that I said I was going to do type shit. You know, it was one moment where i just sat there like, damn, I did everything I said I was going to fucking do. Was there, what was there, was there like a story that you have in mind that you kind of, you know, go back towards and be like, yo, this is unbelievable that this is happening?
00:30:02
Speaker
Yeah. Just, just rapping in general. Like after I got kicked out of school, bro, It was a part of my life after I got kicked out of school where I didn't know what I was going to do. yeah And like my back was against the wall because everybody in my ear, my mom, my family, they like, yo, you need to do this. You need to do that. You need to go back and do X, Y, Z. You need to go. Bro, it was brose a time where I enlisted, tried to enlist in the military just to kind of like, you know, get everybody...
00:30:31
Speaker
you know, get back in everybody's good graces. But you know, I was just doing shit where I'm like, I i don't want to do that. That's not what I want to do. And I remember the moment where I had tell my mom like, yo, um um I'm good. I'm not going to do that. I'm not doing that. Like I'm going to figure something out, but I'm not doing i'm not doing those things that y'all think is best for me. I know what's best for me and what y'all think is best for me ain't what's best for me right now. So...
00:30:56
Speaker
It was the moments where I'm just like, man, what what am I going to do? yeah You know? so And I stuck to the music shit. And I remember somebody was like, yo, you need a plan B. I'm like, nah, this I got to make this work. I don't have a plan B. Either this work or who who knows, but this going to work. I don't know how it's going to work. I don't know when, but I got to make this work. yeah And somehow, and I think about that shit all the time, somehow that shit, it worked.
00:31:21
Speaker
I mean, it's surreal to say it's like because it's like, damn, like I had all the things that I've done. But I just remember those moments where I'm like, yo, I got to make this work. And like, I mean, because like when you when you're living in New York, right, you always see people like those shop you your the demo tapes, whatever on on Times Square and stuff like
Building Music Careers Pre-Social Media
00:31:39
Speaker
that. So I don't know how it was back in like North Carolina trying to build up.
00:31:44
Speaker
that like, you know, a following and kind of shows. Yeah, same Same way. You had to, you had to, it wasn't this social media shit like at all. um You had to hand that shit out. You had to go to the gas stations. We was at gas stations. We was at at school. Like, you know, I was rapping since middle school. We was burning CDs in middle school and handing them out to people in the classrooms. Like, yeah, it was, it it was word of mouth type shit. Like you had to really do shit physically.
00:32:11
Speaker
You know what i'm saying? So, cause, We didn't have, we was going up through the internet. We didn't really have the internet in the beginning. You know what I'm saying? yo know that reminds me. i that Matter fact, I want to ask this question to Luke. Because, yo, you was surfacing in the blog era, right? monkey Yeah. so yeah so you know and So, describe the difference between music, like coming out, how how you put out music then to now. Because I i wasn't doing music around that time in the blog era. I was more of a fan. It was fun. It was just so much fun. like
00:32:44
Speaker
Now it's just like,
00:32:48
Speaker
how can I explain this, bro? Back then it was literally just about the music. It was literally about what you were posting it and and now it's like, it's like they won't feel like they want more than the music. Like now niggas want to see, oh what oh, okay, cool, that's the music, but nigga, what you do in within 24 hours? Like nigga, I don't want to show all that. like I don't want to show you.
00:33:08
Speaker
There's certain shit where it's like, damn, now you got to show everything, Yeah. it's Now you gotta be, and there's nothing wrong with that. And there's nothing wrong with the people who i say who are really good with that. But it's like, it sometimes it's like, it takes away from it takes away from a lot of shit. Like back then you was posting the music and it was about the music. Now it ain't it ain't necessarily about the music, bro. It's about everything else you do outside the music. And sometimes that get kind of lame. Yeah, I was, um I mean, I said this in a previous episode, ah people will probably forget, but like i was listening to this thing Trevor Noah said and Trevor Noah was was saying, ah
00:33:43
Speaker
sometimes you have to realize there are people that are creating content just so they can say that they create content online. And it's like, like you lose the the sight of like, what did you start making stuff for? Like, if you don't have a baseline of like, yo i need to like I need to get this off my chest or I want to be creative in a certain way. But even as an artist, even as a creative, it's like, what's left for me? Yeah.
00:34:07
Speaker
Like, I'm showing everything, but what's left for me to hold on to for, you know, that's not being shown, like, every 24 hours or, like, I'm showing everything. So, like, what do I have left to to hold on to? You know what I'm saying? Like, what? I don't know. I just, I'm not a fan of showing everything. I don't mind showing the processes. I don't mind showing how I got here, but...
00:34:30
Speaker
I don't like showing completely everything. It's like, damn, I got to hold on the song to something for myself. I mean, I wish more people did that. Because when you go online, everybody's just giving their whole... like You don't even know if it's the same person alive or not. Again, there's nothing wrong with people who go live. But it's like, damn, bro, I'm going live. I'm showing everybody everything. Showing your location. like damn everything i can't now I need something for me. na yeah i need that space for me. I'm definitely curious about, like because you said you started making
Style Influences: Skater Culture to Hip-Hop Fashion
00:35:00
Speaker
music later. So like what was your process trying to get your name out there? It's almost similar. like i mean Of course, it was a lot of hand-to-hand CDs and everything like that. and um I did a lot of open mics, bro.
00:35:15
Speaker
they got You got an open mic down there? Yeah, the circuit at that time was pretty was pretty crazy. like i When I came to North Carolina, Like I built my name off music in North Carolina so that when i went back home to DC, I got respect off of what I did in North Carolina, which was crazy. yeah And so that's how I got lucky. At first when I was in DC doing music, niggas wouldn't fuck with me like that. I was just my i was just my brother's little brother that did music. He was the nigga that was the rapper for real, for real. You know what saying? and so But when I got to North Carolina, it was kind of like ah I was able to step away from that shadow and and do it on my own. and um
00:35:52
Speaker
But yeah, like it was it was a bit of the same, just like ah a lot of open mics and just getting better from that. It was repetitive. that was I used that as practice, honestly. Yo, man, that's the gym. That's the gym. You gotta get you ten thousand hours got You got to put the shots up, bro. yeah but I just remember man, just being able to have your music posted up on blogs and and having the write ups and shit. You know what used to be like exciting to see like what, you know, what people was thinking about the shit that was posted and shit like that. but Yeah, I never got that experience. Yeah, bro. That was a time, man. I used to love, like, we dropped some shit and then, you know, the shit get posted up on Two Dope Boys. Yeah. You go read the comments and shit, bro. You see how many people, yeah, it's just like, that was a thing. I mean, because you were collecting dunks or you were rocking dunks. I'm pretty sure you tapped in on the sneaker forums back in the day too. yeah. Yeah, it was a few. Yeah. So it's just like that combined broke. It was a little bit everything. What was the other shit? Where we had everything.
00:36:53
Speaker
Which one? was like a blog. ah was a hype beast. No, no, no not hype beast. Nah, I'm just saying where you could like do your own shit. Oh, do. Oh, um Tumblr? Tumblr. Yeah. right tumbr was' a Tumblr actually was, that shit was lit. where you Where'd y'all get yeah your style, like, you know, your influence on style though?
00:37:19
Speaker
I'ma let you go first on this, I gotta think on that one. Well, like I said, I come from- I know you pull from everything. You what I'm saying? A little bit, e but I come from like the skater era. So like in the beginning bro, I used to be big on like ice creams and not the not the waffle bottle of ice creams. I'm talking about like the the boutique kind of, um not boutique, but they were like,
00:37:38
Speaker
You talking about like the beepers? Yeah, like the beepers. I had some with the teddy bears on the side type shit. Like all really into like- They look like, i when I think about them- Kind of like Adidas. Yeah, they look I was going to say they look like- Without the shell toe. I was going to say Rick Olooms. What's the other ones? The green one. um I know what you're talking about.
00:37:55
Speaker
Rob Markman, don't not rod Laver, it's the, ah I'm going through her every freaking signature bottle. Rob Markman, I know what you're talking about, i just don't know the name, but yeah, it was just, i don't know, I just, I like the skater era, grunts, grind and um hip hop, like, i was I was really influenced a lot by ah Andre, but not like, just by what he wore, but it was the fact that he was like,
00:38:19
Speaker
he He had that confidence in what he had and what he had on. You didn't want to pick up a pair football pads? Nah, not just to be wearing them. You don't want to him for a tournament? I did appreciate like how confident he was and and how different he wanted to be. um That inspired me a lot growing up.
00:38:39
Speaker
Him, CeeLo. Yeah. Yeah. How about you, Shane? Bro, I was heavy on AvaRex jacket, stuff like that. Shout out to my people at AvaRex. A lot of what I saw in hip hop on a like tv bro, life from A-recks to like the Rockaway jackets.
00:38:58
Speaker
Like Jay used to rock, stuff like that. Oh, I was big on the G on his shoes. Yeah, the Hurricanes. Nah, for real, I was though. Yeah, like I had a curve. I didn't do the Hurricanes. Yeah, see me bro, like me even growing up in D.C. though, I don't know why I was heavily influenced by like just New York hip-hop and stuff. So what I seen on TV with...
00:39:20
Speaker
with Biggie and them or Jay and them was wearing or 50 and them was wearing because was huge G and the fan too. I wanted to wear stuff like that. even went through an era where I was trying to dress like Fab, with the big jerseys, you know what I'm saying? And the big tees, you know what I mean? The big jerseys and the colorful hats and all that stuff like that, bro. I was big in that era. We need that throwback Thursday. That's why say if anybody ever throw like a 2000s party or something, I'm in there. I know what the fuck know what up. See, that's the thing, bro. Like, even around that era, like, when people was wearing the baggy shit, my shit was like, I was wearing the skinny jeans that. You know I'm saying? Because I was big on like, like, Pharrell, Fly Society, Terry Kennedy, all them. Like, bro, that was like, was... Yeah, He's real fashion hit, Pharrell, then. Not fashion. I went into fashion. How you really into shit like that, bro? That whole era was just mind boggling me. Fucking Johnny Cupcakes and all that shit. Yo, shout out Johnny Cupcakes, bro. The craziest thing is that Johnny Cupcakes does not get his flowers, Yeah, he need to, bro. OG. Like, I get it out the mud. Like, he was like, yo, I'm going to come to you. used to this thing called briefcase sales. And he would just come in with like four different shirts. And he would just go to different college campuses and just sell shirts. Like, they're like CDs. That's crazy. Yeah. And that's crazy, bro. He had everybody. don't know if you remember. It was like a cupcake with skulls. Yeah. I mean, that's crazy. Fire. Yeah, bro. Yeah. Niche, that boutique I was telling you about, they used to sell hella Johnny Cupcake shit again, bro. And fucking Tandy type shit. You know what I'm saying? was just in the shit like that. Shane was like, nah. He's like, only do Mecca. I only do South Pole. I only do Avery. was doing simple shit, bro. I was dressing out of character, dog. Like I said, I don't know what the fuck of shit I was doing.
00:41:22
Speaker
Beasel jeans. You know what I'm saying? Oh, Jabolles, I was heavy on Jabolles though. We had, in North Carolina, I don't know if it's just a Southern thing or what, but we had, niggas used to wear soldier reeds too, they was Reeboks. Yeah, there was, I want to say, who was it, was it Juvenile? Did Juvenile make them shits? They were the camouflage, but they also had like a pair all black, all white. They were on the same level of forces too. Like in the South. Yeah. We used to call soldieries. They probably not called soldieries. Yeah. That's why I think you're throwing off with that. Yeah. They were Reeboks though. They were Reeboks? Like Reebok classes? Yeah. But they were like the, they had the strap. Some of them had straps on them. Might be the workout.
00:42:11
Speaker
The workout came up to like up here and it had double straps on the top. We called them soldieries. don't know what this shit is. I've never heard of you. I'm out of looking the jabones. Yeah, bro. You got to start bringing them back, bro. Now, okay. So niggas be like, yo, you see nigga in a pair of all black forces. what I'm saying? You got to, nah. You see a nigga a pair of all black soldierese.
00:42:31
Speaker
Don't fuck with a nigga. Nah, not at all, bro. You got a story of somebody rocking You got a story of somebody rocking them? I'm just saying, every nigga I knew that had them all-black soldieries was thrown.
00:42:42
Speaker
Like, you just, them some niggas you just didn't want to be around, bruh. Yeah. I'm like, forget the all-black forces. That's the niggas at me. That's another level. That's the niggas at me. That you gotta be weary of, bruh. Yeah. I mean, what, North Carolina style, was it more just like, what would you say outside of you? Because you,
00:43:02
Speaker
I don't know, it it seems like you were- couldn't tell you, bro. Small group. I feel like North Carolina is a melting pot of a lot of things, so I don't think you're going to get a particular style. Especially now. Everybody just be on their own way. ah You know, they had these moments in school where everybody was, you know, you had to have a certain type of J's, you know, tall T's. Shit had to be a certain type of length or baggy or whatever the fuck. But i feel like
Footwear Culture and Regional Influences
00:43:25
Speaker
that's everywhere. as far as style go, out i can't really I can't really say for real. Yeah, it's hard to pinpoint it. I don't think yeah i don't i don't necessarily think we had our own style, style dressing.
00:43:36
Speaker
I don't know. That's interesting because, like, I mean, I feel like, well, P.D. Pablo... Did the whole, everybody had white shirts. Yeah, no, that's what I'm saying. White tees. I feel like that was more an era thing than it was more of a culturally, like North Carolina type thing. I'm not saying North Carolina don't have culture. No, yeah. I was more referencing the video in my head. was trying to think about what people wearing in the background. Ah, okay. Yeah, be something like, you know, Baggy Pants, you know, Forces or Tim's, especially like the Beef and Broccoli's when them shits came out. Oh, yeah? Yeah, yeah. Beef and Broccoli's over there? Yeah, for sure. didn't even know that. For sure. I didn't even know that. Like I said, Soulja Reef. Beef and Broccoli's hard.
00:44:19
Speaker
ri vao I've seen a couple of, shout out to my homie Hector at Timbaland, but like I've seen a couple, like I want to get a pair of military boots so bad now because of that. Like I miss a- Oh Reeboks? No, no, no. The Timbalands. Oh, okay, okay. my Military boots are beef and broccoli. Okay. Yeah. But now they like got different colors now. oh shit. So it's just like, yeah, you can get any flavor you'd like that's crazy and it's crazy. But That shoe was like, oh, that, the Timberland, the military boot Timberland. I didn't think it would travel all the way down. Yeah, no, it did. It definitely did. I thought you was excited to get some Reebok. was about to say, man. I am, too. Shout out to my people at Reebok. We got the G Eunice back, bro. are a pair, yeah. Yeah, they coming back. They they are, yeah. yeah that Tony Ayo announced it. That's crazy. That's crazy. That's gonna be fire. I wanted a pair back then. I wanted a pair of those in the SDOTs, but I never was able, like said, my mama didn't give a fuck about no shoes, bruh. I'll never forget, man.
00:45:19
Speaker
My mom came. so it was like the first day of school type shit, and I guess she thought she was getting some forces, but they ended up being some like... I think there was like some Ava Rex's. That's crazy.
00:45:31
Speaker
It might have been Ava Rex's or something, but they had like- She copped them for you or- Yeah, copped them for me. Yeah, but they were like- She was like- They look like they had the Forces silhouette, but they were like basket weave. Yeah, like the toe was like weave. The toe was basket weave. That's And the side was basket weave. I'm like, nah, you about to get me cooked bro. I used to get cooked on a regular with them. Nah, was like, no, stick to these damn. I got cooked. I stick to these chucks, bro. Chucks was safe. That's crazy, bro. But we're towards the end podcast. So I have a last question that deals with visualization. want to think back to younger y'all.
00:46:06
Speaker
You know, we're going to start with Shane. He's just about to get the box. What the first kick? You better not to do this.
Reflecting on Sneaker Experiences
00:46:14
Speaker
So... Why say this, though? Jordan We do the Jordan All right, all right. We'll do the Jordan What was that, like, monkey rules or something? Yeah. Never heard of that shit. No, that was the shit y'all was talking about with the pouch. Yeah, the pouch. But your younger you, older you standing behind your younger you as he's about to open that box with the Jordan 1s, what would you tell your younger self as he opens that box?
00:46:39
Speaker
Man, finally. We ain't about to get cooked no more. I remember coming to school. I remember coming to school and then having my fresh band. I was like, yeah, what up? What y'all talking about? I was like, oh yeah, yeah. Just having a conversation, just pulling the J's up so they can see it. But yeah, I ain't getting cooked no more. That's my first thought. He's like, yo, we came up. We up now. What would you tell your younger self when he's opened that box the eights?
00:47:09
Speaker
Bro, don't trade them shits. I traded them in for something. I traded them with a homie for, I can't remember what they were, which is even worse. You know saying? And then I remember they had came back out and I was like, damn. And I remember selling them to, didn't sell them. I actually traded them for another pair of shoes, two pair shoes to my homie. But I wish I didn't, I wish I never did that. I wish I still had them. Cause I could still wear them. I still wear the same size. you still wear the same size? Yeah, still wear the same size. Damn. You got a crazy collection in the crib or you just...
00:47:38
Speaker
oh Nah, because after a while, bro, I really stopped giving a fuck about shoes, bro. Like, ah me, if once I like something, i will wear that shit completely out. yeah I'm not the type of nigga that's going to put them shits in a box, let them shits. Like, these Vans, bro, I wear these shits every day. Damn near. Like, I wear them out. so Those are Vans? Yeah, these are Vans. I thought those were Pumas. Nah, nah, these Or Adidas's. Yeah. They tough.
00:47:59
Speaker
Oh, snap. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I had to see. I had to look up. Yeah. Well, yeah, nah. I don't have no crazy collection. I just, you know, just like shit. Oh, yeah. Let everybody know where to find y'all. um I'm at loot underscore west9 on Instagram and also Twitter. And yeah.
00:48:18
Speaker
Yo, shame gang on Instagram everywhere, Black Planet, all that. Nah, I'm sorry. But yeah, yeah, man. Me, hente. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I dropped the ball on the intro, man. Yo, I got a new drink coming out called Family Ties, too. So, yeah, this summer. and listen to the single that he dropped, is Prayers? Yeah, Prayers with Brother Jones. Yeah, that joint was fire. That joint was fire. And then the album? Yeah, Hard to Reach. It's a little you know what I'm saying? Little six songs, you know what don't understand what difference is, I just say EP because I know it's short. When I have like six songs, I call it an EP. Or when I want to do like four songs, I don't know the difference. But I just know that's just what I call it when I know the songs are not longer than 12. I'm going to put it in the description of the podcast. make sure y'all tap in too as well. So yeah, you know where to find me, Whois House, also media followers podcast and My First Kicks pod. Hit up the Patreon, patreon.com slash myfirstkicks. If you want to write in, info at myfirstkicks.com. And I'm going to kick to myself and the outro. Peace. Can you cut it in? You can cut it in? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, shit, you know, exclusive on engineers.live.
00:49:37
Speaker
Damn, what was it? I'm bad. I'm bad at that shit, bro. Especially with drops. Hard hard the rail how to Hard to reach. I'll do it at the outro. I'll add it to the... I'll i'll make sure i add it. Exclusively on engineers. Okay. Exclusively on engineers. I'll write it down. I'll hit y'all up and make sure I do it. I'll do it in the outro. I'll plug it and I'll put it in the... and Oh, you it in the joint? Okay, fire. Hell yeah. All right. Thank you. I hope you enjoyed this week's episode with Shame Gang and Lou. Man, look.
00:50:08
Speaker
We talk about it briefly in here, but i remembered when i got an email from Shame Gang and Lute's manager asking...
00:50:20
Speaker
like Shout out to Finn. He asked if they can come onto the podcast. And, you know, during the pandemic, I listened or 2021, I believe, because that's when the album came out. But that was still technically the pandemic. I was listening to Goldmouth pretty heavily. Right. Like even before then, Under the Sun on Dreamville 2, like,
00:50:45
Speaker
Lute had my favorite verse on the album. So instantly when he dropped that album, when he dropped the Goldmouth album, I was like, I'm locked in. Really good music. And, you know, getting a chance to talk to him and Shame Gang and really hearing about the North Carolina sound and Just the atmosphere and never being really ever there, but always been a big fan of like Little Brother and Ninth Wonder and and a lot of these North Carolina artists that um and kind basically like shaped my love for music as well. Because...
00:51:23
Speaker
You know, we touched on a little bit, but like Little Brother was this group. Well, it was a group at one point, but big Big Poo and Fonte really had something to say. And they were very vocal and very like omnipresent is what the word I want to say, because.
00:51:50
Speaker
you knew about them and you knew about their trials and tribulations. You knew their ups and downs with the labels. You knew like how much they love making music and you knew how much they love performing for crowds. And, and when they felt like a crowd didn't give them what they needed, they would talk about that on, you know, the forums and stuff like that. And so they were very vocal. They were very present and, know,
00:52:17
Speaker
like that current day of when they came out. But like hearing Lutz just and Shame Gang's like journey through music.
00:52:29
Speaker
With using sneakers was like really dope. And, and you know, i know this is this is back to back, like kind of short episodes. If you watched last week's episode with Paulina, shout out to everybody that watched that episode.
00:52:42
Speaker
And, you know, when I have a guest on that has a hard out, I try to make sure we can I can accommodate that. Because I don't want... to be like that one podcast i was like yeah they cut me over because they felt like it or something like that but I wanted to make sure that we could touch on a lot of the things that really brought both of them into the podcast studio and basically you know what they were there to promote but but but also just I thought it was really dope to be able to go down this memory lane with them and and use that as a way to get to where they started you know talking about their music. And and it was really dope to see Shame Gang like ask questions and and you know the stuff that he didn't you know talk to Lute about before and or heard before. And so that's what I love about this, right?
00:53:41
Speaker
you know These are all conversations that they can come and go or you can walk away with something from them or you can you know learn a lesson and take that into the next thing. And that's probably the most important.
00:54:02
Speaker
fun thing about being a podcaster or being within podcasting. And the one thing that I was like pretty, pretty like,
00:54:14
Speaker
taken aback by because even though I stumbled very from out the jump right like I was a I was able to really have like a really good conversation and make them laugh and and we were just all joking around and um you know that could have just went sideways like me bringing it up right now I'm pretty sure like maybe you forgot about it towards the end of the podcast but like like I said like even in this episode and even in last episode, you know, I'm very big on, on making sure my next step is also my best, my best step. Like I'm always, I'm always watching the film tape because I truly believe in like, you know,
00:54:54
Speaker
I have to keep watching myself in order to get better, i in order to do a better job next time, right? Maybe next episode I won't have the stumble I had in the beginning, or maybe next time they pull up to the podcast, you know, I'll have more questions. And my my way of processing that and living in that moment of, you know, getting the information that I was, like, you know, super curious about for years now is It's something that like I don't take lightly. And you know I'm hoping you know to do more of that. I'm hoping to do more of that with a lot of people that I'm very interested in. And and and I do think I'm in that right path of talking to the people that you know i I feel have inspired me, but also that are inspiring. like
00:55:50
Speaker
That is something that like I'm not... too shy about i'm not too uh concerned of like showing my like you know i'm out of my depth type of thing because i think a lot of these conversations are these conversations these conversations i've had or or have been having or these conversations that i'm having like in person they're all very similar in terms of just like i'm trying to learn something i'm trying to pick your brain i'm trying to you know hear more about you and
00:56:22
Speaker
a lot of that goes into just my incentive of listening and, and just knowing about, you know, these little weird facts of like, you know, where they're from or, or these like weird little facts of like, you know, like what, what, what the, the scene was like, you know, or like a weird tidbit. And he was just like, that like sparks a, a flash in memory and you're like, Whoa, what is that? um I find that the most fun. And, you know, I feel like I really needed to to touch on that at the end of the podcast. I really hope y'all enjoyed this one. I'm really hoping they'll pull back up to do another episode more, you know, down the road, hopefully. And I'm very excited to to kind of just...
00:57:12
Speaker
be able to have these opportunities. Like you don't know, you don't know what you're creating and you don't know the path you're creating until you actually do it. And so if you're listening to this and you feel like, man, you know, I could be doing something or should I should be doing something or I'm, you know, hesitant to to really do this thing that I've been putting back on a back burner for years now.
00:57:41
Speaker
yeah i think You just got to try it, right? and And I also believe sometimes trying it leads you to the thing that you're really better or good at or that you really wanted to find out because if you're if you're just looking – And to make the thing that you're making work, then going to tell you, you've got a better chance of just running through a wall. Because that's not how life works. And I think I learned a lot of like, you know...
00:58:18
Speaker
There's a lot of like i was pursuing job after job after job after job and I was doing these interviews and and that kind of like opened me up on like, OK, got to learn how to interview better. Oh, I'm doing better. You know, interviewing. Now I'm easily getting you know my foot into the door now. okay How do I turn this into something else? And so you'll you who there are going to be moments where somebody or something really just clicks with your idea, and you do have to try it out.
00:58:50
Speaker
And you'll never know how much of your journey is building for you to actually get to that point, to really be good or start the thing that you've been thinking for the past 10 years, Right.
00:59:06
Speaker
I've said the on here before, like, you know, people think or, you know, have this notion of like, if I come up with an idea, if I don't act on it, maybe, you know, God will give it to somebody else. I mean, sure, in the tense of, in the in the presence of like, not presence, in the sense of,
00:59:28
Speaker
in a way of like, hey, I need to figure out a way to like motivate myself to do the thing. Sure, you can use that. But I also think the the best the best advice is to always pivot.
00:59:44
Speaker
Like, you can start a thing, figure out, all right, these are my strengths. Highlight your strengths. And that causes you to pivot, right? we We hear on this episode how both these guys had to pivot, right? Like,
00:59:59
Speaker
outside I mean, Lute was like, I'm going all in. I'm going all in on music, right? Shame Gang, same thing. Got into an accident and went all in on music.
01:00:12
Speaker
Life is all about pivots, and that's one of the biggest things that you'll probably hear. It's a common thread. you'll kind You'll probably hear within my podcast and the guests that I have on because our strongest...
01:00:29
Speaker
moments are in our biggest failures. But we got one, because mentioned this earlier, we got one Apple Podcasts review. And I gotta read it. I gotta read it because it's hilarious. It's about Rob Hayes' episode. Shout out UberMedicated. He said, or they said, Dissing mids is hilarious. Just say y'all don't know about slash never collected DMP packs.
01:01:03
Speaker
So, real quick. I messaged Rob this episode. I messaged Rob this review. He said,
01:01:17
Speaker
packs were never that great. And I also agree with that. Now, I do think, you know, we live in this current world where we...
01:01:31
Speaker
We idolize. Not idolize. we We definitely look at our past with, like... colored rose colored ah glasses and um like to be honest I remember DMP packs sitting at the top of like collecting dust at Foot Lockers like nobody wanted to pay that price and nobody was a big fan of like the material of it as well but like as time goes on people will definitely make it seem like it's bigger than it was you
01:02:05
Speaker
I don't know if I'm like, I feel like I'm an outlier when it comes to a lot of the retro stuff. Like I like couple retros here and there. I'm not like a big takedown person. And and like, I love people's different perspectives and and I love hearing from them. And I love just seeing people appreciate a different form of something I appreciate.
01:02:29
Speaker
Like, and I, and like, I'm fine being an outlier when it comes to retros, but like, I don't know. They just don't do anything for me. And Mids has always been, like, number one on my hate list, to be honest. Because that tongue, the tongue tag just never agrees with me. I was just like, this this is not...
01:02:55
Speaker
something I like. And so I've never bought a pair mids. I don't own a pair of mids. All my Jordans are 85s or OGs or they have a Nike tongue. Like, just give me that.
01:03:06
Speaker
That's all I need. That's all I need. But Let's move on to the patreon Patreon shoutouts. You can be shouted out on Patreon. You can be shouted out by signing up for the Patreon at patreon.com slash myfirstkicks. If you're watching this, you'll see the the website right in the bottom left corner. I appreciate every single one of y'all for tuning in. If you've gotten to the end of this episode, I also appreciate you.
Acknowledging Patreon Supporters
01:03:33
Speaker
But I will shout out.
01:03:35
Speaker
these patreon users because oh these Patreon patrons because they signed up for $5. $5 you help out the podcast. $5. Please holli and holla at that Patreon at that bottom left there. But let's start it off. We got Adam Neustadter. We got Ross Adams. We got Derek Lipkin. We got Adam Butler. MSR Podcast. Make sure you're tuning in at and MSR if you want a different perspective of the current podcast.
01:04:04
Speaker
daily zeitgeist, I want to say, or like what's what's happening in the zeitgeist, politics, music, culture, all of that. Check them out. I was on there. Check out that episode. Shout out Jesse, Jesse G. Shout out Plox. Thank you. Yo, shout out Plox big time because I do notice you. I do notice how much you ah really interact with a lot of my content and a lot of my posts. and ah So,
01:04:27
Speaker
Really appreciate you for checking out and being really active on the Patreon. I think you're like the only person that's like really active on Patreon. So um a big shout out to you, Plox. We got Derek Hawkins. We got Jordan Kaiser. We also have Samir Grandpierre.
01:04:42
Speaker
We have Sean Hates You, whose birthday was recently. So happy birthday to you, Sean. And thank you for being a Patreon patron. Shout out Brett. Shout out Andy Dutton. Shout out M.new, new patron. ah Really thank you all for being part of the Patreon. And you too can become a Patreon patron by signing up for Patreon at patreon.com slash myfirstkicks.
01:05:10
Speaker
Now, in the earlier beginning of or in the middle of this podcast, I did cut myself off and put in a plug
Promotions and Listener Gratitude
01:05:19
Speaker
for this shirt. This shirt right here.
01:05:21
Speaker
It's the My First Kicks official shirt. I have a box. I have a box in my house where I have a full size run of these.
01:05:34
Speaker
And if you are local, if you are in New York City, i we will meet up and I will sell you this shirt. $40, $40. Please, please, please, please. I would love to design a new shirt and I need to sell all these shirts before I get to that design. So $40 and hit me up info at MyFirstKicks or hit me up in the DMs if you are interested in buying the shirt. I don't have it on like ah I don't have it on the website. I don't have it on Patreon unless until I figure that out. And I don't want to start ah ah Shopify. So cop the shirt, please.
01:06:07
Speaker
But I appreciate y'all for tuning in this week. And of course, you know you can check out these two episodes here. Hit that subscribe button in the middle.
01:06:18
Speaker
And you know what we say each week, wear your kicks. Peace.