Transcript
Speaker: We think the best is the best because that brings us back to a better time. It's an emotional attachment. Yeah, yeah. But you know what? I was i i was talking, i was on ah an NPR show, but this is what I do truly feel.
Speaker: I don't feel like where we are right now. I just, don't know. I feel like 70s 80s i think those were the standard bear yeah there's still some amazing things out right let's look at it and from an mc perspective right you know you got cole you got drake you got kendra right you know what mean that's like a version of biggie jay-z non-s if you think about it right but like what's happened what's gonna happen after that
Speaker: What's good everyone? Welcome back to my first case, the podcast where i use sneakers as a through line to get to know the guests in front of me. This week I am joined by none other than DJ cousin B, AKA a Bobby. I don't know which one you want him to go Bobby first or or you could do Bobby. All right, Bobby. um I got to tell this story because I was thinking about it on the way here. The story of how this episode happened. Yes, because um it's so it's funny to me and I hope it's funny to y'all, but last year i'm chilling with abdul and abdul uh at complex con abdul was like yo meet my man bobby right here so what up we chilling we walking around it's me you toussaint we're just walking around rocking around we'll talk to each other talking to each other and then you know complex con finishes and totally forgot that you followed me that day yeah like all that stuff and i didn't really like look into your page after that too so i was just like all right cool yeah i met i met yeah i've Abdul's boy, right? So then a couple months later, or months, months, months later, who helps me with the podcast, you know, D, shout out D, should be here, but he goes, yo, there's a dude named Bobby from NPR. You want to get him on? I was just like, yeah, sure. Not even putting it together. Yeah, I'm not putting it together. Right? So the emails, he's like, yo, I'm setting it up. I've been talking to him. He's good. His wife been putting it together. Him and Chrissy. Shout out Chrissy. Shout out Chrissy. And putting it together, putting it together. That's who I got the DM from. Yeah. Yeah, she shot me the DM. And then, and, cause Spirit Box played FDR, right? Yeah. So, uh,
Speaker: So D is like setting this up and and i and he's like, we're talking about it, but he's not mentioning who, like, do like he never asked me, do you know him? yeah Like, he just goes, yo. i'm And i'm thinking like, you know, and disclaimer, do not hit up D to get on the podcast. Just hit me directly and we'll talk about it. But ah so D, anybody that D putes puts in front of me, I'm already like, all right, I'll think about it. The trust is good. Yeah, yeah. I know it's going to be a good conversation, right? So then...
Speaker: He's like, yo, I locked it in. And then he puts us in an email. He's still not knowing. He puts us in an email. And I'm like, why does name sound so familiar? I look you up on IG. You're already following me. And I look at your picture. And I'm like, yo, it's Bobby. It's just like...
Speaker: I love it when it goes down like that though because I mean you know how it is like you want to introduce yourself you want we want to connect on a personal level yeah you know what mean and I'd rather know who you are before what you do you know what mean so I love that it went down like that yeah it was just it' just and then I and so then I see Abdul at the ah ah ah is it's a Dallas Penn's Family Foundation Day or something like that Family Day yeah so I'm here I'm talking to Abdul and he's he's driving me back to the city it's thunderstorm whatever I turn to him I go I go yo I'm getting Bobby on the pod he's like oh for real and I was like why didn't you tell me he work at NPR usually he does like usually depending on where we are like you know
Speaker: You know, Abdul, sometimes it's just Bobby or when we're accomplished, he's like, yo, come on you know he tell you, got my man Bobby, NPR, tiny desk. He got the Air Force Ones. You know, Abdul, which, by the way, come on, Abdul, like, why is he not on this couch yet? It's in conversation. He likes to lay too low. So super But he's the guy.
Speaker: Yeah. And I was just like, I turned to him and he turns me, he's like, nah, man, that's whack. And I was just like, all right, got it. You right. You right. So then we link up, we run into each other ComplexCon. I just like, yo, it's Mad Love. We were kicking it for a minute too that day. We were kind of rolling around the convention for a while. And then after, I think we stayed at like the same hotel or something.
Speaker: Oh, and last year. Yeah, last year. yeah We were just kind of hanging out after too. But this one, yeah, we we we linked up and I was like, can't wait. What'd you think about this year, man? This year, I thought it was... i i did like a little spiel at the end of one of my episodes about it because I think the way I look at things is a lot different than anybody, in my opinion. Like, I i look at it from... ah Like, I try to give grace around of course around it. of Because like I can easily be like, yeah, this is no more. no This is not for the old heads no more. You know what I'm saying? But the way that they split it up, to me, I just thought it was too big. It was a lot. um
Speaker: And because of that, and this is what I think with anything that becomes too big, you lose out on the conversations. Yeah, for sure. So like it all just kind of devolves back to the people you know. Right. So like. That's right. You'd go to booths that you know. Exactly. You don't. You're not pushing yourself out there to be like, let me check out the new booths. As opposed to Vegas, for example. Right. You're just like, you can find You walk into it. discover. Yeah. know what mean? Yeah. I agree. the Same thing. I just feel like I i was finding out where the homies were, what booths was here, stuff that I was interested in. I would find that because it was just like, it just wasn't concentrated. know, it was too big. Then you had, you know, The vintage downstairs, it was just it was a lot to it was a lot to consume. Plus, was hot as hell. it was It was hot outside, but it was freezing in there, right? It'd be like you would go out there in shorts and you're sweating, you're dripping. As soon as you walk in, it's like 40 degrees. was just like, yo, you're going to get sick this way. No, for real. We had fun. At the end of the day, I'm just like, everybody's there. You know what I mean? At the end of the day, you can say what you want.
Speaker: everybody's there. And it's just, a's it's it's turned into like an amazing hang. It's just like a great hang. Just chop it up with the homies. Just talking about kicks and fashion. It's just, I love it, man. I think, yeah. But to to answer your question, I do think it's like,
Speaker: The one thing that you that you'll see and people are very critical about is like one side cater to ah one side one side cater to the and one side cater to the old There was a huge division Super It's going to be really interesting to see what they do next year in terms of the headliner, right? Because having Playboy Carter, you knew like the show. You knew who was going. You knew who wasn't going. You what mean? So it's going to be interesting to see where they go next year with the headliner because I thought,
Speaker: There was a different dynamic for sure there. um So I'm curious to see what they do next year. Yeah. And I mean, even if you think about last year's, it was a better mix of like young and and older.
Speaker: Depending on who you talk to. well I heard a lot of people calling it unkind. Yeah, I do. But the reason why I say that is because if you bring out those specific, like, those unks that, like, you know, the verses and stuff like that, these are unks that are having, trying to have the conversation. to have the conversation. Yeah, talk to the younger kids. that's true. Yeah. Versus this year was very, like, yeah, I don't think, like, the kids weren't really trying conversate. Yeah, I wish, you know, I...
Speaker: I always think about that, especially as an aunt. Like, what can I do better? Because it definitely feels like a divide. And also as someone who's been in this for a very long time, you owe it to the younger generation to A, show them some love, show them some grace, give them some knowledge. You know what i mean?
Speaker: come go to them, you know what mean? try to Try to extend it because i don't know if we don't do that, some of the things that we complain about when it comes to the younger generation, we really don't have a leg to stand on. what I'm saying? So I, you know, while there are a bunch of stuff that I can't necessarily relate to or get with or rock and all of that kind of stuff, but they're in the same position that we were in when we were kids, when our parents were saying, what's that? You know what I'm saying? What's that shit? That's that's ridiculous. So It's all a cycle. there's They're doing nothing different than what we would really. And your your episode's coming on after Jeff Staple. is the first time you're hearing this. but So me and Jeff Staple, we were talking about just my biggest critique of just like the way we are now is that we're losing curiosity. Yes. And so it's like when you think about it that way and if you think about it yourself, like...
Speaker: Especially you doing what you're doing. You have to find new music. for sure So it's like you have to find the stuff that you'd be like, yo, this is going go crazy exactly before it goes crazy. right And so that's probably one of the hardest things. But being an A&R of your own life is like you have to create that curiosity. And I don't think a lot of people are doing that. But I do, and the one thing I have to credit to Lambs, ah Stevie, Scotty, Joe, all of them, they brought New York and that newer creative scene that he's, you know? That's the first spot. As soon as we walked into the convention and we went straight over there, and I was like, this is fire. Yeah, yeah. Because it felt like old New York and new New York. you know what mean? They brought out all that together. And that's what you have to do, man. I think if you get stuck in the thing, right?
Speaker: that you love. it's I mean, I think about the people that you know that you went to high school with and they don't know anything other than the stuff that they grew up with. It's like, I get it. I love that stuff. I think I personally feel like some of that stuff is the best of the best, but it's still good stuff out there. But I think, I mean, look, we're going to be real, you know, introspective about this. and And I do think about this from, you know, very multitudes, but I do think that like jumping in real quick to remind y'all to like subscribe and leave a comment on this video. If you've been enjoying it, definitely interact with me in the comments. I'm definitely reading every single comment. I do respond to every single comment. And of course, If you're listening to this on Apple or Spotify, do not forget to rate this episode five stars and leave a comment or a review. I will read the review at the end of an episode.
Speaker: i appreciate y'all for it's tapping in. And of course, if you want to help out the podcast directly, I got one tier on Patreon. Patreon.com slash myfirstkicks on there. You get extra episodes, you get extra content, and you get...
Speaker: you know, the episode a day early and that's patreon.com slash myfirstkicks. I got one tier, $5 tier. $5 goes a very long way. We start starting to build up this community.
Speaker: But for now, let's jump back into the episode. Like we think the best is the best because that brings us back to a better it's an emotional attachment. Yeah, yeah. But you know what? I was, I i was talking, i was on ah an NPR show, but this is what I do truly feel. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: I don't feel like where we are right now. I just, I don't know. ah i i feel like 70s, 80s, I think those were the standard bearers. yeah There's still some amazing things out there. Let's look at it from an MC perspective, right?
Speaker: You know, you got Cole, you got Drake, you got Kendrick. You know what I mean? That's like a version of Biggie, Jay-Z, Nods, if you think about it, right? But like... What's happened? What's going to happen after that?
Speaker: I mean, So I'm very heavy into like trying to find the newer shit. yeah And I do think there are you know current this current generation that is bubbling up. yeah If Chris Patrick keeps going as yeah as heavy as he's been going, and I've been following him since 2019, but he tends to jump off a little bit and come back on. I think he's one of the few, like him, Kenny Mason. Yeah, Kenny Mason's dope as hell. Denzel's still young, yeah even though he's been in the game for a hot minute. But he's doing great shit. good shit. And I think like...
Speaker: These are all very lyrical people. My biggest... Yo, know shout out Red Vale. Red Vale, I'd say he's the future in music right now. DC representative. Yeah, shout out PG County. PG Baby. He's good. we had him We had him at the desk this year. Yeah. I ran it back like four times. Okay, man. I like... ah Very passionate, man. He cares. And that's the thing. Like when people, I just want to listen to music and and think to myself, like they care about what they're doing. Right. It isn't instant. It isn't just like a a verse and a hook and we get out. Like he cares. He really, you can tell he's putting real effort, real time into the writing. And teaching himself. Teaching himself. Learn. He's young too. So that's that's a really good one because he's like, I don't even know if he's 20 yet. You know what mean? He's a young guy. No, he's 20. He's 20 either. I know he made.
Speaker: He made ah Swimming at 16 Right And I think Then he took time off Then he came back And I think he's like 23 maybe Okay So he's young Cause I remember I went to his headlining show And he sold He sold Brooklyn out And I was like Damn He's like yeah I sold I sold Brooklyn before I was 20 I was like that is crazy So I was just like alright Yeah Nah there's There's still There's hope for sure But like I do often think like
Speaker: Tyler, I think once, I think Tyler is at the forefront when it comes to like the next GOAT. Yeah, for sure. You what mean? But like, I do think about like, who's going to be this younger generation's GOATs.
Speaker: You what mean? I think about it a lot. And I'm pretty sure something's going to come. I mean, people probably yelling at us being like, Yeet is the GOAT. Yeah, people are yelling at us. Comment below who's your GOAT, please. But listen, and again, I want to know. You know what mean? I want, you know, I have, you know, my nephews, they're always playing me stuff, you know, stuff that I should listen to. lot that stuff ends up on the desk. You know what I mean? Like, I'm listening for sure. And like you said, like, part of my job, I cannot be closed. No, you can't. know what I mean? And as a DJ, too, just like,
Speaker: There's nothing, there's still nothing like discovering that thing that you know is going to be amazing. You know what i mean? There's just no feeling like it. Which is, I'm going to bring it back to sneakers because like I do think now, to bring it down, going to bring it back to right now. I do think the creativity that we're seeing right now is like, it's you are finding that new yeah that new shit. You are, for sure. That Tala De Rafa, the J-Tips, you know, like. I think we're in a good space, man. I think it, you know,
Speaker: The headlines are the headlines. People talking about Nike this, da-da-da-da. Like, Nike's Nike. Nike's going to be Nike. It's going to be fine. But I am excited about, like, these youngins really doing, like like, you know, like doing the exciting stuff on the lower level. But you know what's going to happen. what mean? But you're here to answer. that I'm just going jump into this. You're here to answer the question I ask everybody each week. yeah that question is, what's your first kick? Was that first pair of sneakers you absolutely needed to have? You know what?
Speaker: I wish I could say it was some sort of obscure, but it's not. It was 1990. Jordan 5 was my first one, man. Fire Red, the white and Fire Red. 1990, man. I remember, obviously, I don't know about you, but as a kid, like you probably get two really good pairs of sneakers a year. I was like, yeah, you doing one or two. one you You get your good pair. And I remember, I think i think the Jordans came out. It was cold. It was like probably February, March.
Speaker: And, you know, I ran track. I'm from St. Louis, Missouri. so i ran I ran track um all my childhood. You know, it was track in the summer and football in the winter. And with track, we travel. yeah So when I got the Jordan, begged my mother to get the Jordan 5s. And she got us my very first pair of Jordans and first pair of shoes I remember wearing.
Speaker: like obsessed though. You know mean? So I got them and I held them. You know what i mean? That was like the pioneer of keeping it on ice for a while. know what I'm saying? um and i And I kept them because I knew I was going to Orlando, Florida. And I got to show you this picture. I posted it on my gram. I have a picture of me in the white fives in Orlando, Florida at Universal Studios auditioning for this kids TV show. No way. there's like a, the picture I'll show you. The picture I'll put it in here. Is me standing in ah in a row of kids. I was in the back of the row. Still my favorite outfit of all time.
Speaker: It's the white Jordan 5s. I had the black Levi denim shorts. And at the time, simp the Simpsons were going crazy. So I had the black Air Bart t-shirt. Oh, sick.
Speaker: crush Crush it. Crush it. So yeah, that's that's the very first pair. But you know, St. Louis... I was thinking about this. St. Louis had a very pretty eclectic eclectic taste when it came to sneakers. yeah yeah So there was a lot going on. Obviously the Joyens, the Nikes, but like I was talking to my boy the other day.
Speaker: There was a pair of l a gear boots back in the day. They were called ah street hikers. We got obsessed. There was about a year's time where Everybody in school had to have a pair of L.A. gear. You wasn't on if you didn't have it. But it was like a boot, but it was kind of biting off the Jordan 4 because it had like the netting on the side. It's a wild looking shoe. Came in a bunch of different colors. You bringing them back?
Speaker: No, I'm not. I saw a picture of them. It's like, what the fuck are we doing? But at the time, you couldn't tell a shit. You know mean? But it was like, you know, a lot of polo boots, a lot of Eastlands.
Speaker: A lot of people were wearing... um Y'all wearing a lot of boots down there like that? A lot boots. Isn't it hot? But let me tell you, not in the wintertime. We had hot summers and very cold woods. Oh, okay, okay. um But I So my nickname in high school Was Lil East Coast Lil East Coast Because I was so Influenced by East Coast Hip Hop I looked For a time I looked at I tell all my New York friends I looked at New York Like a planet That I would never see Yeah I looked at it like The planet Mars Because I'm watching like Black Moon I'm watching Wu-Tang I'm like I'm watching these videos Like Just like Enamor Like
Speaker: Damn, these nicks look cool as hell. I want to dress like them. So i was the first guy. I was the first dude in my high school huh to put on a pair of Timberwolves. No way. Mind you, they were butt neckeds. Single soul butt neckeds. But you could not tell me shit. you know what I mean? And that was all because of Black Moons. I got your open video. was I got to put that on. You know what I mean? So, yeah, man.
Speaker: That's crazy. Yeah. I mean, it's it's interesting. ah like Doing this podcast and hearing so many people just be love New York, right? And how much New York and LA influence. It was a combination. Because St. Louis is right in the middle of the country. So for me as a kid, I took all those influences. It was East Coast and West Coast influences. One day you'll see me with my Thames on. The next day I'll throw some Chucks on. I was like...
Speaker: It was a direct influence, the hockey jersey, because I saw Snoop in the Jen and Juice video. It was just, i was watching videos. i As a kid, it was watching Rap City and and just pulling in all of these influences. That's wild. I mean, yeah, music i mean music is always going to be- That was the thing, man. Yeah, man. That's where you get, like, that was your get ready with That was everything, man. And it was just it was just a combination of that, bro. Like, I- So when I go to these places now, even now, yeah I'm still like, I'm just looking around like I can't believe I'm in this place. Because there's no place like here. yeah at Not even close. You know what i mean? It's just always so something going on no matter what borough you're going to. It's like a different world in each one. and I went to school with a lot of cats from New York. So, nah, man, I took tons and tons of influence, in especially in the 90s, from those from most hip hop videos. Were people being like, yo, where'd you get that? like Did you influence a lot of people within school? we're not Not necessarily, because we everyone kind of had their thing. i just they always They always saw me coming. They like, oh, there go Lil' East Coast, brown hoodie, big ass black jeans, and the butt naked butter. The butt naked butter. So, nah, man. I just, everyone, if anyone from my high school reached out to you, if if you ever ran into any of them, they'll just tell you, like, I was just kind of like almost a one-of-a-kind in my little area. Obviously, the Midwest, you know, had tons of Southern influence. And it actually shaped everything that I'm doing now, like, when it comes to the music. Because I just pull from, I can appreciate it all. You know what i mean? When at the time, especially in St. Louis, it was heavy West Coast. Especially doing like the Biggie, the Biggie Nas shit. It was, mean, the Biggie, Biggie Pac shit. It was, St. Louis was primarily pop. Biggie Nas shit have been crazy. I know, right? But there was a little bit of it. But the Biggie Pac shit, it was like, it was heavy.
Speaker: It was all pop. Yeah. As a matter of fact, I went to a Biggie show uhuh in St. Louis. What? It was the Lost Boys, Patra, Two Live Crew, Uncle Luke wow and Biggie.
Speaker: Headline and Biggie. Headline and Biggie. But let me tell you, yeah they were born Biggie because Two Live Crew was before them. Yeah, I was going to say. And they wanted to see more ass.
Speaker: So they were getting ready for the Freaknik. Yeah, but it was also at the height of the beef. Yeah. So it was so wild to remember that because like. How old were you when you did that? I was 14, 15.
Speaker: fourteen fifteen And you was in the front? No, definitely wasn't in the front. Oh, okay. But it was it was three of my homies. We but we were fans of all of that. yeah Lost Boys. pat We were fans of all of it. Mind you, the ticket was probably $10. 30 dollars. Yeah, was gonna say, cheap, bad cheap. Yeah, it was cheap.
Speaker: But i'll never I'll never remember that shit. That was the one time I saw Biggie. And he he eventually won us over, or won them over. yeah Because people were just so enamored by Uncle Luke at the time. but he got him there. Yeah, he had girls on the stage shaking ass. We teenagers too.
Speaker: All those young hoony motherfuckers up in there. You were like, yo. Even far back, you feel like, yo, could grab it. could grab it right now. They definitely should have had Luke as the headliner. They didn't do Biggie no favors. Definitely But no, it was a great show though.
Speaker: Man, I mean, it's crazy. like the way The way music travels has always been something that intrigued me, especially at like the younger age. We know about Stretch and Bobbito. We know about that, but like I don't know much about St. Louis until Nelly, right? So it's just like, that music scene, like it seems, if it's very minimal in my mind. Minimal, but again, very, very eclectic. that like I wasn't, I won't claim to be the only person who loved what was going on on the East Coast. I was obsessed with it, more probably more than most. But for us, you know,
Speaker: One of our biggest like breakout guys was this guy named Domino. He claimed the West Coast, but he was from St. Louis. And he had a huge he was signed to Def Jam. he had a huge song called The ah the Ghetto Jam.
Speaker: He was like our first kind of like claim to fame and in terms of people from the city actually putting on for the city. But again, when you listen to the radio back in those days...
Speaker: it was, it it didn't lean one way or another. There was a little bit of everything. And that's what I loved about it. yeah Until the South sort of like in the late 90s when Outkast was coming out. Outkast, No Limit. it That's when things kind of really, really took, you know, kind of really shaped and the South took over. One of the biggest moments, I'll never forget, summer of 95, want to say when Bone Thugs drop East Yes.
Speaker: There was nothing else mattered in St. Louis. Yeah. Nothing else. Nothing else mattered. But yeah, it was a lot of lot of West Coast, a lot of Spice One, a lot of Warren G. The Brat was huge back when I was a kid.
Speaker: oh But again, we're listening to Digital Underground, a little bit of Wu-Tang. Cream was undeniable. Didn't matter. Universal song right there. That's a universal classic. But nah, man, growing up in St. Louis, I wouldn't trade it for anything because there was no bias, really. You know what I really, really took influence on everything. I fell in love with everything. And that's why I got into DJing. Oh, I mean, yeah. Like, how do you DJ in that area? And then- was fine. Yeah? It was fine. The first time... Were you like traditional? Like you just... Nah, man. couldn't afford to be a traditional at the time. So was this guy who used to actually work out here. This guy named DJ Cut, who was on High 97 for a long time.
Speaker: um He was the first DJ I saw and I was just like, everything stopped. we We used to go to the skating rink in St. Louis called Saints. And when you walk into the skating rink, you can either go straight to the skating rink or you can go to the party room.
Speaker: I always went to the party room. See what was going on. And that's when I spotted DJ Cut just like controlling, controlling the crowd. And I realized I didn't, that that's what I wanted to do. And the way we started, um a friend of mine, um I went to high school with named Tyrone.
Speaker: ah We used to just go to, park we used to do all the house parties, but we were doing with like two CD decks. Two CD decks. He'll play one song. I'll cue one up. I'll hit it until he finally um saved up enough money to to cop a couple turntables. Jumping in once again to remind y'all that I have merch. I have t-shirts. My First Kicks t-shirts are available for $40 if you're in New York City.
Speaker: Or $40 plus shipping if you are outside of New York City and don't want to meet up or you just don't want to even see me. I'll ship it to you if you are even in New York City. But I have shirts. You can see it in the bottom right.
Speaker: I had to think about it again. Bottom right. It's a front hit with a back hit. Designed by Chris Chaney. If you came and saw comedy at Renard's recently, he did a little set.
Speaker: But just a small little plug there. But I have shirts, Rep the Podcast, Cop the Merch, $40 $40 plus shipping. and forty dollars plus shipping Hit your boy up in the DMs or hit me on email info at myfirstkicks.com.
Speaker: but know Thank you. But for now, let's jump back into the episode. yeah So I would practice on his stuff. And that's how I got into it And by the time I went to college, it was kind of off to the races. Jeez, man. I mean, well, how did you do that and then collect sneakers at the same time?
Speaker: Yeah, yeah, it was tough. Too expensive hobbies. Or one you treat them like a job. Yeah, I think for the music, I won't lie, the music set precedent at that time because I was buying every CD. My first job, my first job was at the mall, at the record store, Sam Goody. yeah That was my first, very first job. So I won't lie, most of my money, I had- ah thought you were going to I won't lie, I stole most of my CDs. It was music first for a long time. yeah like i was you know You can always catch me in a decent pair of shoes. It was always important to me, but it was music first for sure. Like every Tuesday, especially working at the record store. I'll put my my three or four the side or even get to the point where I will have to buy one on CD, one on tape because I ain't have enough money. Damn, you're like, we gotta make it work. You gotta make it work. gonna get this. Yeah, exactly. ah A lot of people know what I'm talking about. So yeah, I was set aside my my little book. So most of my money for a good while was music, for sure. And then, like, I guess, where how did you... i guess how did you cause Because of that, well, for me, and this is why i gotta I'm getting stumbled, is because, like, for me, music...
Speaker: I love music as much as a sneaker student. They work hand in hand. Yeah, they hand in hand. But for me, I'm always like, I be digging. I want to find the good shit to me. The people I... I name rappers on here or have rappers on here nobody really knows about. Because I'm like, yeah, I've been listening you since you were posting shit on... You know what it is? And I'm pretty sure you can do this. You can think of, for example, like a Kendrick Lamar. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: you For me, I was listening to him when he was doing like the Kendrick Lamar EP when yeah nobody knew. And you you kind of take pride in that. oh there's There's so many. Anderson... pay I can go on and on. like I was listening to these guys when no one knew. My my favorite is like when people be like you know you like, for example, this is an example, where you'd be like, oh yeah, I love Mac Miller. And then you'd be like,
Speaker: Have you ever listened to Larry Lovstein, though? Exactly. Exactly. We like, no, what? He's like, huh? I mean, we just nerd out like that. Music and shoes are the two things you will always nerd out about. And I'm like, we always take pride in being in at the ground level. You know what I mean? And it's almost, sometimes there's this weird feeling when they get too big, when they blow up too much. They're no longer yours. You know what I'm saying? It happens a lot. You know?
Speaker: For you, I mean, for you especially. Because you're helping people. You're helping them little bit. Yeah, I think now, especially on the tiny desk side, like there's no better rush. like The big names, cool. It's exciting. All of that's cool. But I'm like, I love when i when there's an artist where nobody knows. And on our platform, that's where most people discover. You know what I'm saying? I mean, just to go back to the Redville one, because, yeah, I've been listening to Redville. Yeah.
Speaker: Forever. yeah guess when see was Probably before me and I was i was there. but It's crazy. Because Learn to Swim was my introduction. Yeah, Learn Swim was... Learn to Swim. ah No, but I think I definitely heard... i want to say I heard the first album, but I wasn't like... You can tell that he was brand new in that. and you could when he The one where he has it's this picture... What's what's the song? I forget the name of it. Damn, all that my bad. But that was like... Learn to swim when it all came together. Learn to swim is definitely his penultimate in that he was like... When he came out with the ah the last one. The did the latest one. Sankofa. Sankofa, yeah. I think I'm saying that right. i think he says it differently.
Speaker: But you know what? yeah It's funny because Learn to swim... i was i was talking to them while Learn to swim was out. And they you know wanted to do Tiny Desk then, but...
Speaker: In our space, like timing is so important. right And we have in the past, we've gotten artists to our space a little too soon. I think sometimes we have to get them while there's momentum. Right, yeah.
Speaker: A lot of artists, they come thinking that Tiny Desk is going to be like the launch pad. The launch pad, yeah. And in some ways it is, but it's it's more helpful for them to have momentum.
Speaker: A little bit happening. And then we can add. You know. Lighter fluid to the flame. You know what I'm saying? I do think like the right way to do it. And you know. For anybody listening. I think the right way to do it. Is you're on tour. Yes. You're on tour. You make that. Like you do a DC stop. Yes. You pull up.
Speaker: Yeah. You do that. And then. After that episode. After it drops. Then you can. You can. Push the other. up A lot of people do that. You what I'm saying? people. a lot of people come right before.
Speaker: The tour starts. That's what Isaiah Rashad did this year. He hit Tiny Desk right before he started going crazy yeah um on the road. And it it you know it sells tickets, man. Same with when we did Usher. Like, Usher, he was... I mean, he don't.
Speaker: he I always say, Usher is Usher. He didn't need Tiny Desk. But like... he He couldn't have done it at a better time because that tiny desk helped extend the um the Vegas residency, which eventually led to the Super Bowl. Right, yeah. You saying?
Speaker: My favorite is probably Little Brother. Because that... I saw them right that when they finished the their finishing tour. I don't know what to call it. Their retirement tour? Yeah.
Speaker: And I i freaking cried. Little Brother's family. yeah though Those are my friends. Oh, yeah. Fonte's a good friend of mine. Knight's a good friend of mine. We're friends. You know what mean? And while we never got...
Speaker: Little brother on, we did get Fonte with the Foreign Exchange. But listen, Fonte is in, when you ask, if you were to ask me who are in my top five of all time, Fonte is in there. You know saying? My bad. I did mean Foreign Exchange. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The Foreign Exchange is my first Tiny Desk that I ever produced. Oh, really? Very first one.
Speaker: hit it out the park on that one. yeah had I had to start off the right way. Let me call in a favor. yeah Robert Glasper. That one's crazy. Crazy. Crazy. he is so We got to actually have him back. I ran into him on the street. Word. He lives out here? Nah, he was doing um Blue Note. Nah, he's a wild dude. He a wild dude.
Speaker: I don't think he knew that. Because he was just walking down the street. And so I go, yo man, you a legend, because he's a fucking legend. And he puts his hand out, and I wasn't even expecting, I just wanted to be like, yo, you a legend. Put his hand out, fist pal. But he was just like, he was like, damn, somebody recognize me? And was like, yeah, bro. That's dope, man. That's dope when people recognize you, man, because he is. He's a genius, Genius. On the music side, genius. Genius. Wait, so what did you go to school for? Because I cut you off. no. So I went to Jackson State University in Mississippi for broadcast production. Wow. My goal when I started, I was like, I want to be in radio. And so I worked at the school station, which happened to be an NPR member station.
Speaker: Wow. So two or three weeks before graduation, I was working at the radio station, WJSU. there was a recruiter there from NPR. I didn't know what a recruiter was. I just knew in two weeks I'm graduating, I ain't got no job. yeah So I ran up on her. You know I'm woman named Debbie Howe. I was like, yo, what's up? What's up with a job? You know what I'm saying? she was like, all right.
Speaker: No. But we got an internship for you. And ah that's how I started at NPR, man. That was 26 years ago. That's crazy. You have only had, that's it. That's it. It's my first job. You went Sam Goody. Sam Goody.
Speaker: NPR. NPR. No fucking way, bro. No bullshit, man. Yo, that is crazy. yo That crazy. That's pretty wild, You never hear It's a true blessing, man. I ain't, you know...
Speaker: ah you know I spent half of my career at NPR not doing anything in the music. So after my internship, I flipped. They still have a job for me. So I was like, what's up with another internship? Yeah. So I ended up getting another internship. And then I got hired um in digital media, which was like early, early internet. Like this this is the summer of 2000. So ah in new they they called a new media at the time. So I was editing like audio for our website doing live streams and
Speaker: Once NPR music was created, that's where I knew I had You were like. You know what saying? You were made a beeline. Yeah. it It was a long beeline. It took a while. you know what I mean? Because it was like, nah. But yeah, the guy that I started my career with, the first guy of Bob Boylan who created Tiny Desk, that's who I interned for the first time. Wow. So I kind of had his ear. Yeah. And eventually weaseled my way over there. Hey man, I mean, the one thing that people don't do not talk about is how to maneuver like You have to, man. It ain't even shit. It's harder now. and You know what mean? For sure, yeah. But ah yeah, man, i just I like to think that I kept myself in the right places at the right time. like Whenever NPR Music needed us someone to do a live stream, I was like, I'm doing it. You're there, yeah. Whether it's South by Southwest or Newport, I'm doing Mm-hmm.
Speaker: um So when the time came I was like What about Foreign Exchange? You know they they i was a familiar voice of yeah Someone familiar over there And that there was a trust established And that's how happened Man that's crazy Yeah And then from there Who's I guess who you You start off Cause for it the one thing If you don't listen to Foreign Exchange You must First of Go back The catalog is crazy Insane But that's like I feel like that does resonate, like that sound resonates with a Tiny Desk. You have the full the full music, like the full instruments. It's stripped down, but also like this electronic element. Fonte's going Fonte front and center, just like the ultimate entertainer.
Speaker: You know, that album, that that first Foreign Exchange album that they did, that was one of the first albums ever recorded via the internet. Really? That was one of the first times. He was in the Netherlands. Oh, yeah, you're right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And Fonte was in North Carolina. They would send the files back and forth. Yeah, they sent the files back and forth. And they didn't meet each other while they, I don't think they met each other until after the album came out. So in ah in many ways, they were pioneers. But yeah, that was that was the start for me, man. Sheesh.
Speaker: Yo, Tyler would. yeah The Tyler one, he was like, nah, let's change the, it was it was his own vibe. it was It's still one of the most unique yeah shows because we don't shoot a lot of shows at night.
Speaker: But, you know, Tyler's always gonna think outside the box. know what I mean? She's like, nah, nah, it's gotta be at night. And they all were super sick the day before. Really? They all had food poisoning. No way. This their flu game, bro? This their Jordan flu game? Bro, somebody didn't want them to win. But yeah, they were all sick the night before. But yeah, they hired them. It was a big lighting setup. They spent some bread, you know what I mean, for the lighting. But... Now that show, so many people, so many bands come in and say, we want to do the Tyler thing. It's going to cost you this because we ain't got that stuff. But now Tyler is still like top five, top ten. All right. I knew he was going to say that. I knew he was going to say top five. Give me your top five. Top five tiny desk? Yeah, your top five tiny desk. Hobo Johnson.
Speaker: ah He pulled out the Hobo Johnson on him. If you know, you know. If you know, you know. Man, I got to put Scarface up. go That was great
Speaker: I gotta put Anderson. Pack up there Mac is like in another That's that's like s tier um Especially because it and like The news literally happens A few weeks later yeah um But you know even before that It was just like yo this was this show Was special um Damn who else man
Speaker: I got to go like Chaka Khan is up there. And then I'll say, lately I've been kind of obsessed. It's this kid from, i don't know if you've seen this kid from Argentina named Mila Jota. No, I haven't seen that one.
Speaker: Insane? Insane. Insane. What my homie Ana and Felix are doing in the Latin music space with us, changed the game for us, man. It's taken Tiny Desk to a new place. yeah You know what i mean? Our Latin audience is just crap. It's really dope to see the music expand. You're not just tunneling on what what's going to be the surefire hit. Exactly. And it's like, again, we pride ourselves in discovering that thing and nobody that you know is great but the world doesn't know yet.
Speaker: And putting it on our platform, if you do the tiny desk the right way, it will change your career. We've seen it time and time again. You know I mean? But also, bruh, like speaking of culture is very important. for Like making sure our audience sees themselves on our platform. It's like, it's become a responsibility when we do Black Music Month, when we do Latin Music Month. like It's a responsibility to put on for real culture so that when people are watching these shows, like they know like people behind the scenes are outside. You know what I'm saying? They know what's going on. So that's become like something that's been like at the forefront of everything that we do. The one thing i have to call out, and we but everybody needs to make sure about this.
Speaker: NPR is a free radio. yeah public radio. And it's public radio. Publicly funded. The government has been actively trying to shut it down. Like, the awareness of it, I feel like it's gone by the wayside. You know, like, I feel like, you know, the way that this administration is trying to move and suppress people's voices. Like, you know,
Speaker: People are not understanding that that's what NPR is as well. Yeah, we're speaking for the people, man. Exactly. I will say this, though. For as shaky as it got, our supporters came out of the clothes. You know saying? was fire. Because, like, now it's like, especially with the younger generation, like, younger generation, they don't know what NPR is.
Speaker: But they know what Tiny Desk is. They do know. You know what I'm saying? And, like, when the news came out, there was a lot of questions, a lot of, a lot of misinformation, but like, everybody's like, oh, Tony, this is going away. Yeah.
Speaker: And I forget what headline or what, what tweet, something spread over the weekend. And my mother called me. She's like, are you getting Are they letting you go? yeah Like, it got it got crazy. For two days straight, everybody was just like, Tiny Desk is done. And I don't know what the source was, but I had to come out and say, listen, y'all, Tiny Desk ain't going nowhere. You know what I'm saying? lit over here. Ain't nothing stopping it. You what mean? So, yeah, it was it was shaky for a minute, but like, you know, the company's figuring out ways to generate revenue to make sure we can keep doing what we're doing. Like, yeah Tiny Desk has become...
Speaker: a crown jewel of the organization and has, you know, in many ways given um NPR a lot more oh longevity yeah because of this young gen the the young demographic that is pulled in. So, nah, we good, man we ain't going nowhere. Nah, facts. But the the awareness needs to be there. Absolutely. like Once we lose you know free press, it's like... What do you have? yeah we a then Dude's kicking out people from the freaking the the White House press conferences. It's shaky, man. It's crazy. it' sha I don't even know how you handle it. I don't know what it's like in right Every day, yeah it feels like it's something new.
Speaker: Every day, it feels like... you have to You kind of have to sometimes detach yourself. right Because if you don't... You just feel like you're in it. You're just consumed by it, man. You're just like, so much news. literally listen to a lot of news. Yeah. And if you allow it, it'll take over your entire life. yeah And you're just paranoid. yeah So you you kind of have to kind of pull away from it. We're very lucky in a sense where...
Speaker: my focus is bringing y'all the best shows. You know what mean? And we have everybody in the building who, if as long as everybody kind of do, if they, you know, they do what their, what their focus is and what their concentration is, i think it's fine. Obviously you want to be aware of what's going on and I am, but like we are doing in music,
Speaker: it is a form of resistance like we allow where we we don't censor any of our artists you know what mean like we always come in and we we tell artists like once you're behind the space express yourself yeah whatever's on your mind you know what i mean tell us where you're from all of that kind of stuff to the point where sometimes especially with hip-hop We have artists coming in, like, not cursing. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker: Like, I remember we had um Damn, what's my guy from Oakland?
Speaker: D Smoke? No, not D Smoke.
Speaker: Damn, I forgot his name. But he was on the show, huh and he was on he was rapping. And he was just not... He was censoring himself. Oh, yeah? He was just like...
Speaker: I'm like, what are you doing, had to stop the thing. It's like, yo, bro, you can curse. Yeah. So, and that's the thing with like npr people People know that like it's, you know, it can be high brow, it be sophisticated. But nah, man, like we we we created this space um on the fourth floor in the building where like you can be your whole self behind that desk, man. We take a lot of pride in that, man, because- I've seen, know, being in NPR for 26 years, I've seen a lot change. You know what I mean? And where, you know, when I walked in, I didn't see many people who looked like me, who came from where I came from and talked the way I talked. And now, you know, it's in a place where that isn't so abnormal. You know what mean? There are people who are, who can come in and just be who they are and not feel like they're a threat to anybody. You I'm saying? That's so important, especially now. I don't... I mean, it's hard to definitely... We come from, especially when you're older like us, we come from that you need to assimilate. You got to be certain way or else people won't accept you and this and that or you won't be able to move up. Because there's this innate fear. Mm-hmm. Depending on how you grew up. Imagine being a child of an immigrant. Like, well, you have to behave. You know what I'm saying?
Speaker: Let them call you. If your name's, well, if your name's Hassan, let them call you, you know, Mark or whatever. You know what saying? Get the fuck out here. But now it's like, I love that, you know, people from other cultures, there's a ah sense of pride. Like, look at look at what's happening with Africans. You know what mean? Like, they have literally, like,
Speaker: Like, I go to the club and like, half the set is Afro. Yeah, yeah. And now you have these people who are who can be proud of where they're from. You know what i mean? And I think every culture should have that. You know what mean? Why not? It makes, you know, Afrobeats has made music better like this. This makes us better. You know i mean? And this is what we've been trying to do like at the Tiny Desk. Like for for years, for like the first five, six, seven years, it was just...
Speaker: a certain type of music. yeah And the moment, you know, people like myself and others came in and say, well, no, I think this has a space. Hip hop has a space. R&B has a space. That's when the shit blew up. You know what I'm saying?
Speaker: we have to invite these different perspectives into the fold, because going to make you better if you if you bring in the best. Yeah, man. It's ah opening up people's eyes is definitely the hardest thing, right? Like getting people to be like,
Speaker: Not what, like going against the grain and letting people know that that's okay is probably the hardest thing. Yeah. Yeah. And I, I, I'm glad that, you know, I'm super blessed to be in the position where I'm like, we invite that. Like, let's do something. In fact, we challenge them to do that. You know, when we have, know,
Speaker: MCs on, you know, we had a Cardi B on. yeah It's like, no, like, let's try something different. you know this You know, she didn't perform with, she doesn't often perform with a live band. yeah You know what mean?
Speaker: And I love that she silenced in all the doubters. It's crazy, man. Like working with certain artists who are on a level like that, it's so eye-opening and shocking.
Speaker: The hate that they get just for existing, bro. yeah yeah Like, yo, the internet is a can be a nasty place, bro. I mean, what Tyler said is probably the most truest thing. I'll always repeat it, right? It'll take me 10 years to make an album. It'll take you 10 minutes to tear it down. That's right. And I think like...
Speaker: Cardi B could have spent a whole month perfecting that whole set. Yep. As soon as that video goes up, see people are expecting something. Yeah, they're hoping. They're hoping that it... Well, I'm saying more like this. They're expecting you know it to sound a specific way, but now it's changed. Yes. And they're like, this shit is wack. Yeah. But then it's like, but did you really sit with it Did you really give it a chance? It's wild to me that like... i don't know, man. I mean...
Speaker: ah i came you know I grew up when that and wasn't around. like The internet and social media wasn't around, so it's it I still... have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that there are people out there at home just not doing shit. yeah Literally just pressing a button and looking to hate on stuff. It's like, what's wrong with you? yeah You know what i mean? Like, what she did is undeniable.
Speaker: You know why? Because we wouldn't put it out if if it wasn't hard. You know what I'm saying? Like, we ain't putting it out. So... I watched it, we watched it a million times before it went out, so I know it's dope. So to see, like, just comments was just like...
Speaker: That don't make sense. Like, y'all here, she was off. I was like, come on. that was She killed it. yeah You know what i mean? I just, I don't know, man. i I, obviously social media is a tool and we've gotten a lot out of it, but i don't know about you, but I find myself sort of falling back a little. I've always been like that. So it's just like, it's no long, it's not fun. Nah. I mean, the problem with,
Speaker: I guess the problem with starting a podcast is you have to... You have to be out there. You have to do that. Same. i feel the same way. like And you have to make those clips. You got to do those clips for the show people that go. yes um You have to put the stuff online. You got to make sure it's aware. You got to make... Especially what what Tiny does. i feel like, you know, the soonest it takes off on Twitter, it just goes crazy on YouTube. So it's like, you know, it is a give and take, but it's also just like...
Speaker: I mean, at a certain point, I feel like even i mean, when you post your stuff, when you post your sneaker pics and stuff like that, people are always going to be like, oh, yeah, that's cool. And then if people are going like, you know, you'd be like, but you could have just saved the yeah you didn't like. And for me, it's like.
Speaker: you know i do my shoe I do my little shoe unboxing thing with the with the Luther Vandross song. And I initially started doing it because like that has that has always been the song that plays in my head when I get a new box of sneakers.
Speaker: So it's just become like this fun thing. I know it's not a craze or anything, but like I have certain friends who look forward to it. I've even had like brands hit me up like, yo, yeah I need the Luthor unboxing. Yeah, I need the Luthor. I need the Luthor. I need the big Luthor unboxing. So it's like, nah, man, I just i just want to have fun. So and so I don't understand. like we were It's actually me and Abdul, we were on our way somewhere. we're taking a road trip. No, we were going to um to Philly to see the clips. This was last year.
Speaker: And he was like, yo, so-and-so hit me up wondering how did Bobby get those shoes? Why didn't I get them? I'm like, cuz. It's shoes, dog. You know what I'm saying? It's it's shoes. like Whenever I see somebody get a pair that I didn't get, I'm showing love. like We can't have everything. You know what I'm saying? I don't know it's you know. Certain people just, they aren't built that way. Look, I mean, look. the after traversing this space for as long as I have, and brands starting to send me stuff, and people starting to give me shit, and you know, like, yes, I've been in like weird interactions and stuff like that where people just like, yo, gonna hook you up, and I'll be like, you know. How do you feel about that when when they do that? Do you feel like a sense of, is it all gratitude? is it guilt?
Speaker: I always wonder how how other people, because you're in that space now, and it's gonna continue to happen, where you're gonna be throwing shoes your way. I... the The only word i can only say, because it's me, because this is the way I think, grateful, because I never thought I'd ever be in that position. um So it's not... It is gratitude, but it's from a sense of like...
Speaker: I don't deserve this stuff. It's both. It's basically a little bit of- That imposter syndrome. Yeah, I definitely have it. Of course. That's why I don't ask anybody for anything. Even sometimes I'll joke with people, be like, yo, you got something in the back? But it's never for real. I'm never a for real, yo, you need to give me this. But that's why you will get things. Because you're not that person on somebody's line every other week looking for free pair of shoes. So that's when people will show you, like, he don't ask me for nothing. But it's funny because it's like, I've actually met people that do that. And I'm like, how the fuck do you do that? Sometimes I look at it as a gift. Because I know people, they are not afraid to ask. And I kind of look at that like, sometimes I wish I was that way. I wish I had that thing in me where it's just like...
Speaker: they can do one or two things. They can say yes or they can say no. You know what I'm saying? no then i But to me, I'm like, to me, the only time, and I mean, this is definitely peeking behind the wall, like my brain when it comes to this, is the only thing I'm ever to ask for somebody is time for for their time to come a podcast, right? If they're in that position, it's I want to learn how they they've grown to be able to be this person that they storyteller, man. yeah yeah You're telling these stories. Versus the product.
Speaker: Like, if anything, i will pay. Like, if I want something, I will pay. And the reason why I do that is because I'd rather have less things yeah instead of just sitting on a ton of shit. Bro. You know? and they' We're definitely in that place where it's just like, it's beyond too much. Yeah. But also, like,
Speaker: You're a relationships guy. I think the most important thing about what we do and why we do it, it is fostering relationships at the end of the day. yeah And like, you never want those relationships to be based solely on this person does this for me and I do this for them. You know what i mean? I guess you have some of that business is business, but like,
Speaker: I'm like, if someone, always say, if I'm doing some something for somebody, it's because I want to. Yeah, exactly. If you're sending me a pair of shoes, it's because you want to send me a pair of shoes. It's not because I'm anything. There's obligation behind it. Because then it's just solely transactional. Yeah, transactional. And there's no substance.
Speaker: You know what saying? So I... Sure. i You had someone on on ah the pod not too long ago, one of my best friends, Jason Mayden. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker: What an episode, man. What an episode. No matter whether it's sitting down here for an hour yeah or talking for five minutes, if you meet J-May, you're walking away with something. Something. I'm leaving you with something. So he's one of my best friends. And I've had a working relationship with the brand as a DJ for a long time. Yeah.
Speaker: And all of that is because of Jason May. I met him almost 20 years ago on The Strength. We were DJing some. We met, we actually met at Chi 54 in Paris yeah at the basketball tournament.
Speaker: and we just became Thickest Thieves. was me, um my partner, 9th Wonder. We all met him at the same time. partner. Damn, bro. That's my brother. You know what I'm saying? 9th Yeah. 9th Wonder Bread. lee at Roy Lee. Yeah. So we met and we've been Thickest Thieves and for a long time. So he finally says, yo, you know, I think they still do a Nike. They do this thing called Sneaker Ball. Yeah, yeah, yeah. ah for ah black Black History Month. So we so we started, we DJ Sneaker Ball maybe three, four years in a row.
Speaker: And even though Jay May is younger, he's a couple years younger than I am, but I look at him as a mentor yeah because he's taught me so much about relationships.
Speaker: He's taught me so much about business and taught me a lot about just being a good person yeah and where that gets you in this world. And like, before you know it,
Speaker: I look up and like, yeah, he's the OG of OGs at Jordan brand. And sure, I've, ah you know, i've you know he's he's always show love. But that always taught me like no matter what. Because I've known him. He's been at Jordan. He's left Jordan. He's come back. yeah And shoes were like the least.
Speaker: It became the thing, the least important thing in our relationship. You know, he's been to my wedding and I've seen his kids grow up and That's a brother mine. So I learned so much him. And there's a few others from the brand, but it did start at Nike. And I still do stuff with them. And it's literally still on the strength of him because his name is gold everywhere.
Speaker: It's crazy because like i just hearing you talk about that, like the similarities in y'all careers is kind of crazy It's kind of wild. yeah He was the first intern for Jordan. You know what mean? I was the first intern for All Songs to Set a Tiny Desk. Now, I mean, there's a lot of parallels. and ah I truly love that brother. But on the sneaker side, he did bless me yeah with the most important sneaker of my life. What was that?
Speaker: So I got married in 2012. And, you know i you know, I knew he was coming to the wedding. And one day he was like, yo, what's your wedding colors?
Speaker: gray, turquoise. Yeah. He was like, what's your favorite Jordan? You know, sometimes our favorite Jordan, it changes. But at the time, yeah it was the Jordan 5. Okay.
Speaker: He goes... ah How many groomsmen you got? I got five groomsmen. He's like, say less. ah He made seven promo pairs of leather.
Speaker: Jesus Christ. leather wo They were leather wolf gray Jordans, essentially. with a turquoise head and like our our wedding logo stamped on the hill. So there's one of seven. He blessed me, my five groomsmen and my wife. What?
Speaker: They just showed up in the mail. Oh my God. It's the most I've worn them one time. It's the it's my most prized sneaker. Toughest to wear. Yeah. a na I will never wear it again. But ah anniversary. You pull out anniversary. they they ah They've been shrink wrap for years. Okay. Okay. I'll never touch them. Sometimes I just break them out just look at them. Yeah, you got of it, man. But yeah, that was that was the greatest gift of all time. Again, we we this whole episode could be J-Man, honestly, man. That's brother. Well, unfortunately, we're at the end of the podcast. So that's a hell a story to go out on too. But ah I have one last question and that deals with a little visualization. want you to think back to, you know, younger, younger Bobby, you know, he's about to get that, that pair of those fire red fives. Now you're older, you behind your younger self. What would you tell your younger self as he opens that box?
Speaker: Oh man. This box is going to change the trajectory of your whole life. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: this is going to be one of hundreds more. But this this box of shoes is going to open up so many doors when it comes to your community, when it comes to brotherhood, sisterhood, friendship, and also just connectivity with people. You know mean? Like before then, i didn't know just like, I didn't realize that it isn't just a sneaker to me. It's so much more than that. It's confidence.
Speaker: It's again, it's connectivity, it's community. And this is, this is the start. So I would have told my younger self strap in, you're in for a long road, man. Let everybody know where to find you. Oh man, at DJ Cousin B. DJ C-U-Z-Z-I-N-B.
Speaker: um should Keep watching those tiny desks. and you know I might be spinning some records in the city near you too. Yo, please. oh yeah yeah need you to do record room. Ooh, put me on. I'd love to. Yeah, yo. Come man. We got to make it happen. We got to make it happen. I told you before um before we start rolling, just like, you are on a tear, man.
Speaker: And these conversations are important, man. Yeah, mean, I try, man. And it's it's a privilege to have to be, to sit on this couch, which will one day be like an infamous couch. I already know it's going be the premier spot, especially knowing what I know. yeah yeah um I just know this is, this is I'm um'm just, it's a privilege to be here having a conversation. So i thanks for... even consider me for this man come on man i mean look the story was hilarious to how we end up here i do think like you know as as we're rolling up towards episode 300 you know like you are an illustrious guest and to borrow a phrase from my friend maro but i think it's like you know you a lot of people don't know
Speaker: what you do from you know the sneaker aspect. like you know like In the sneaker community, we're and as you said, you know sneakers and music, like these are things that we both come up from. and like you know From me going to underground shows and going to see like rappers before they were even big and stuff like that. like While also looking at everybody's feet. Exactly. And being like, and being like why would they wear that on stage? you know like you know Stuff like that. But ah for me, it's all just like hearing your journey through NPR and how you've been able to apply your taste into that. The the the the thing about that's beautiful with music
Speaker: that I think also blends itself into sneakers is like it does keep you open it does give you that reason to have an open mind because if you close yourself off and be like I'm only gonna listen to Mobb Deep and Nas for the rest of my life like you'd be like damn you're missing so out on so more it's good place to stop but still but you're gonna you're gonna miss a lot nah thanks I mean look if you're gonna stop somewhere I would say open it up a little bit more up beyond that you know throw a little bit you know like I don't know. Throw a little DMX in there too. I mean, we and i mean you from Queens, man. We ain't even to talk about like the legacy of Queens and hip-hop. So we'll come back. That's when you invite me on. Yeah, let's do that, man. Because this is, Queens is the place. Nah, fags. But like I think the the way that we've traversed around music and the way you've been able to you know embrace and do your thing with NPR, I think, yo, man, this is ah this beautiful. i appreciate you pulling it. in No man, likewise man, i look again like like I said, i'm so I'm so blessed to be able to do and take part into some things that I truly love. You know what mean? And not I know, and you know, not everybody gets to do that. Nah, facts. no but
Speaker: Can't take this to granted. Nah, not at all. getting to talk to you, crazy man. And you know where find me, who is Haas on all social media. Follow the podcast on My First Kicks Pod. Hit me up, info at myfirstkicks.com. Shoot me your My First Sick story. I would like to read it to a guest at the end of an episode. Support the Patreon. Patreon.com slash MyFirstKicks. I got extra content on there. i might be starting to put half of the episode on there soon, too. So be careful.
Speaker: Be careful. That's a threat. But yeah, I'm going to kick to myself do the outro. Peace. I hope you enjoyed this week's episode with Bobby Carter. Well, DJ Cousin B, shout out to Bobby for pulling up to the podcast, man. I love telling that story in the beginning. i only told like a piece of it to him at ComplexCon this past year, and it was...
Speaker: Just funny to come to this realization. And shout out to Dee and k Chrissy for putting this together. ah You know, Dee helps me with the podcast. and Like I said in the beginning, do not message him. If you want to get on the podcast, message me directly and we'll talk about it. But...
Speaker: I'm outside. I'm doing another episode do another outro outside because my house is still under construction post-leak. I'm just trying to make sure that I'm still pushing out these outros and make sure that, you know, ya i yeah I'm in a better place when I do these. But I think that, like, over this past, like, couple weeks that this has happened, I've been thinking a lot about The perspective of being outside, but like your inside isn't as good as my what you know, what we portray on the Internet and what do we push around? i think it's like.
Speaker: It is very interesting. I've been having a lot of like weird introspective conversations with myself, not in terms of like weird as like, oh, what you're doing is wrong or what you're doing is weird per se. Or like if you're moving weird um in that sense, like, you know, we all think weird is is ah a different, you know, different definition for everybody else. But.
Speaker: I'm going through a lot of this, like, you know, dealing with, you know, the the demo of my apartment. So, like, I own my place, right? Like, it's it's mine, so it's not like this is rent. So it's like this whole other, ah I guess, jurisdiction that I'm, like, traveling because i'm not really sure. I'm used to, like, you know, something bad happens in a rented apartment. You get it fixed and it's covered and stuff like that. So ah this is, like, a totally different experience and this is my first time going through this and i'm trying to keep my hopes up. You know, last week I talked about how now I wasn't I wasn't in like the best of mind space when I was recording my outro last week. So I had to redo it at the park and now I'm outside of Kith and I'm doing it out here. You know, I'm eating Ronnie's pronto because Ronnie told me on Twitter that I needed to eat this as it was hot for me to have a better experience. So I'm doing that right now. ah
Speaker: But I've tried to find a better place I wanted to record this at, and I walked around this neighborhood or the neighborhood that's like near where I work at, and I couldn't find like a really good spot.
Speaker: And I still wanted to eat something on lunch and... I was like, let me get this. And and another version of this conversation happened in my head. I was just like, do I show like, you know, everything's good and and when really like everything's not that great or like do I continuously, you know, battle these intrusive intrusive thoughts um on my own. So I decided just put it in this outro because I thought like I feel like I'm not the only one that goes through this and the conversation that me and Bobby had about just being able to be in a space to have conversations. I feel like I should I should implore that, you know, like and i I'm going to make sure that I loop it back. But
Speaker: in the In this conversation, i really took away or post post the conversation, I really thought about something that kind of like...
Speaker: I guess bothered me in the the wildest sense because it's like, you know, after this conversation, I tweeted, you know, it's we it's wild to be applauded or, you know, get praise from people that have been doing this for years about my interview style and how I'm able to go about and go through conversations with, uh,
Speaker: such a way where people at the end that have been doing this for years ask me, like, do you do like a ton of prep or do you like how do you do how do you do what you do? And that kind of played into this eternal conversation I've been having about like do the outsides match the insides. And I do think this all comes back around to.
Speaker: Imposter syndrome. And I know I talk about imposter syndrome a lot on the podcast, especially recently with AD Sneaks and Andy. And I think it's something that's like it gets become it becomes glaringly hard to maneuver around. So.
Speaker: As I'm saying that, like, you know, my house is under construction, like I'm moving stuff around. I got sneakers everywhere. I got clothes everywhere. It's all affecting me mentally. I'm going to work every day trying to make sure that, like, I'm still doing a good job. I'm editing the podcast. I'm still trying to make sure the podcast looks good. I'm trying to do all these things to make sure that everybody around me thinks I'm doing well or I'm doing good.
Speaker: And then i go home to to an apartment with no walls for now. It's coming. It's coming soon. It's coming soon. I go home to that. And it it does affect me in a way where I don't necessarily want to portray it as like, yo, let me post this online and y'all know what's going on. Right. Like.
Speaker: I made this one off tweet, talked about it, and like I was getting text messages and I'm just like, let me just address it at the end of this podcast. So one of the main reasons I wanted to bring this up was because of that conversation with Bobby post post podcast where he complimented me and then Rob Markman, previous guest, Rob Markman, make sure you tap tap into his episode as well.
Speaker: He also complimented me on Twitter. You know, Jinx also complimented me. A lot of people that listen to the podcast complimented me. And it's like, I, i have to figure out how to, how to navigate this in a way that I can appreciate it. And I think that's where it's coming from. like And it's harder for me to appreciate that when you know my in the the my the what I'm going through outside of the podcast or outside of you know doing all the cool stuff you can see that I've been doing.
Speaker: like How do I come home and still have the the same appreciation for that or not feel like maybe this is not deserving or maybe I'm not doing like enough appreciation of that. um I think that's like the hardest thing I've been able to deal with right now. And we're on the road to 300 and I like next week I have crazy episode after crazy episode lined up and I'm excited for y'all to see to to see and watch and hear that because
Speaker: Yo, I never thought I'd make it to 300. I know I say this about every single episode or every single milestone I reach. I do think it's like, you know, it does play into the imposter syndrome of like, yo, this stuff is hard to do to consistently put stuff out. And I and I implore everybody to when you dive into or do or do something or whatever you want to pursue, just do it as consistently as possible, because.
Speaker: Not only the sharp ah sharp iron sharpens iron, but consistency consistency creates growth. If you create habits to set yourself up to success, you will feel better about the things you are doing. You won't have these mental gymnastics that I'm doing um nine times out of ten. I'm just the the tenth person that has to go that goes through this because of...
Speaker: just the ups and downs of my life. um i think that like as much as you can say or continue to do, to put pour yourself into the passion that's gonna, you know, at the end of the day, make you feel fulfilled.
Speaker: That's what you should do. And you continue to to pursue that. So I know this is like a super intro, like this might be the most deepest outro I've done in a while, but I appreciate y'all for tapping in. If you have gone to this far, um I'm still working on myself and I hope you work on yourself as well. You know, I wanna see myself get better at what I'm doing and I wanna see y'all pursue y'all dreams and do better with whatever you're pursuing.
Speaker: So i appreciate y'all for tapping in. Let's do the Patreon shoutouts. And you too can get shouted out at the end of an episode by signing up for Patreon. Patreon.com slash myfirstkicks. Let's do the Patreon shoutouts. We got Plox. We've got Derek Hawkins. We got Ross ah ah ross Adams. Adam Neustadter.
Speaker: We've got... uh jesse jesse g we've got ad sneaks we've got brett we've got samia grandpierre we've got jordan kaiser we've got uh creative mind studios i'm doing this all of a memory my bad uh we also have we had did i say brett um I know I'm missing like two more people. I'm so sorry, but we do have a new Patreon subscriber.
Speaker: Jeb, welcome to the party. Welcome to the My First Kicks Patreon. So don't forget, sign up for My First Kicks Patreon at patreon.com slash myfirstkicks. And i appreciate y'all for tapping in to this week's episode.
