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Fashion vs Streetwear With Kota The Friend
154 Plays5 days ago
This week Kota pulls back up on the podcast! We are talking about his new creative mindset. Working on Local Art Dealer Vol. 1, performing at the legendary Blue Note. How we perceive the internet and speaking with conviction! What it means to be a creative in this current landscape. How he's been able to beat being a perfectionist and much much more!
Follow Kota:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/kotathefriend/
Twitter: https://x.com/kotathefriend
Local Art Dealer Vol 1: https://www.even.biz/r/local-art-dealer-vol-1
Podcast Linktree: https://linktr.ee/myfirstkicks
Sign up for the Patreon: https://patreon.com/MyFirstKicks
Intro & Outro by Sango: https://www.instagram.com/sango_/
Backing Music by The DoppleGangaz: https://thedoppelgangaz.bandcamp.com/
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Transcript
The Challenge of Skepticism Today
00:00:00
Speaker
we we don't fact check like we used to we just take it as you what mean it's right there yeah we don't we we we see something we see some shit and we take it for what it is and we tell the next person yeah and we're like bro did you see this like did you actually fact check did you see where that was coming from did you so that's the only that's one thing that i really don't like about this generation is that we don't care where the information is coming from nah and it could be coming from some shady instagram page that's trying to rile people up for sure so i just wish that we had like you know more not not not even control but just self-control i'm for me i'm saying skepticism yeah we gotta be more skeptical like they used to the old phrase the old saying was um believe half of what you see and none of what you hear yeah
00:00:50
Speaker
But we don't live like that. No, no. We believe 100% of what we is. Everything.
Welcome to 'My First Kicks' and Guest Introduction
00:00:54
Speaker
And while yo
00:01:01
Speaker
What's good, everyone? Welcome back to My First Kicks. This episode 258. 258. 258. I sound like junior high school 258. Shout out to Bed-Stuy Brookings. Yeah. Yeah. We got a returning guest. Welcome back, Coda the Friend, man. What's up, bro? Nah, yeah. Yo, appreciate you for the first time pulling up Make sure you tap into that first episode. Got to learn about your first kicks and, you know, journey through life and stuff. So you wanted to pull back up because you've been doing a lot of change. You changed it up. Crazy. I and um i don't even know what I'm doing, bro. I'm just working, taking it a day at a time.
00:01:34
Speaker
Like just just trying to make shit shake. That's it. I mean, look, yo, I think what you've been doing has been really, really dope. ah But before we jump into that, I don't want to do any more cuts to me being like, yo, subscribe to
Supporting the Podcast
00:01:45
Speaker
my podcast. So if we're just going to do it right now. Yo, subscribe to the podcast, please.
00:01:49
Speaker
Please. Subscribe to the pod. Stop playing, bro. It's good content. Please, please, yo. And ah join the Patreon, patreon.com slash myfirstkicks. It's only $5. Like, all that money goes straight back into the podcast. Brings me into the studio here. You know, i have to pay Koda sometimes.
00:02:06
Speaker
You do? No, I don't. I'm like, yo, my check at, bro? Yeah. Yeah. what? You know what? You said it. You said it, said it. I was just playing. I playing. Nah, I'm happy to be here, bro. Nah, man. We've been chilling, yo. like it' been It's been crazy. like you You've changed my life.
00:02:25
Speaker
Oh, damn. Yeah. like the The experiences, just a couple the couple times, being able to be around you has been super inspiring. like When I pulled up in Brooklyn to the,
Coda the Friend on Creativity and Authenticity
00:02:38
Speaker
what'd you call it? was like the It was at the back of the that restaurant.
00:02:42
Speaker
Rob Markman- Oh, it was like a little pop up. was like an open mic kind of vibe where invited some fans and they did their thing. It was at Choice Market, Brooklyn. Shout out Choice Market. It's one of my favorite spots in the city. Rob Markman- And cover, you shot the cover of the album. Markman- Yeah, I shot the album cover for No Rap on Sunday at that spot, bro.
00:03:01
Speaker
That's kind of my whole thing. I like to bring in my real life and things that I actually love into the art. Yeah. And then before that, you had me in the photo shoot for New York vs. Everybody. Us vs. Everybody. I had it right the time. I got to put out that video. Please. was like, I've been waiting. I got to put out that video. I got the files. I was freezing, bro.
00:03:21
Speaker
ah that We was all freezing. That was like a year ago. That was. That's crazy. Yeah. um But yeah, man, like what you've been doing as of late, like I've been super curious of like, you know, you changed up and started doing these videos on your balcony and then like in the studio. And like what, what was like, why, what made you want to do that? What made you want to switch it up like that? I don't even know if I'm really switching it up.
00:03:46
Speaker
I feel like I haven't been doing what I've always done for a while. I started the still videos with the subtitles. It's like I started that. You know what I mean? So it's almost like I kind of stopped it, I guess because now everybody's doing it. So I'm trying to figure out something else. But it's just like I just got back to creating and showing people who I am and showing people what I'm working on and All this music that I've made over the years, it's like, bro, it's still out here. So I'm kind of just, I'm showing up. You know what mean? And um I'm in a very creative space where every day I want to get back to creating something. And I love shooting videos and I love making music. And ah at the end of 2025, this random creative itch and...
00:04:33
Speaker
I made an album
Creating Music from the Heart
00:04:34
Speaker
in like 12 days. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember. You was on live. I was going crazy. Yeah, yeah. Like every day I was working on like two different records and the album, I feel like it came out so beautiful, bro. um It got emotional in the studio. You know what I mean? And like...
00:04:52
Speaker
It made me feel like how I used to feel making music. And that's what I that's what i loved about it. and um and And I miss that feeling of of like like shedding tears in the studio and like getting into it. And so I just really put together this very like vulnerable album.
00:05:10
Speaker
And it really inspired me to get into different things that I used to be into. Like I grew up playing a trumpet. yeah. I started playing the trumpet in the third grade. yeah A lot of people don't know that. You know? I only knew that because when I went to the pop-up, we were talking to your mom. Right, right. My mom put everybody on. You know why? Because my mom, in in her and her mind, I should have never stopped. You know? And honestly, that's that's probably the truth.
00:05:35
Speaker
Because like when I was when I was young, so I picked up the trumpet by the time um because obviously they give you an instrument. They gave us an instrument when we were in school. I don't think they do that as much anymore.
00:05:47
Speaker
But no. Yeah. Because I remember they did the was the Save the Music program. Yes. Because they taking the music programs out of the schools. But the music program gave me a life, bro. It gave me something to really. I grew up playing the trumpet. of I remember it was like probably the second or third ah rehearsal or practice that I had with the band and my band teacher, he put me in an accelerated program, you know mean? So he put me in like up with the with the older kids, cause he was he told me I remember him, i remember him telling my mother like, yo he's gifted, you know, and he's gonna, you know, he he he understands music and he understands this thing.
00:06:25
Speaker
And so making that album really inspired me to bring all of these different parts of me back to life. like that So i start now I play the trumpet every day, oh nice whereas like I haven't played it in the last 15 years. yeah but um i So I think about that with all the different things in my life that I kind of let go of and and didn't bring with me on a journey. And I'm bringing everything
Artistic Synergy and Collaboration
00:06:47
Speaker
together. And so I kind of like that's with the videography work, with the with the music, with the musical instruments, um with everything. I'm bringing it all together and just I'm i'm just back to getting creative yeah and i'm figuring out what's next. And, you know, I'm in a different mode. Yeah. The I'm curious what was Kinkoda thing about you playing the trumpet in the crib. Oh yeah, he loves it. He loves it. he um
00:07:12
Speaker
he He watches I play randomly. I'll pick it up and just randomly play some notes. But he loves he specifically loves when I play it in my music. Because that's one thing with the new album. I actually played the the trumpet on some of the songs.
00:07:26
Speaker
Which I think makes it special. But um he he he loves seeing me get creative and he he loves rapping and I got him in the studio. He's making his own music. Oh snap. so And he's getting nice too. like you know He come up with some flows like and I love that because I guess he's been watching me for so long. yeah Now he's coming up with his own idea of what what sounds good. Yo, that's fire. I know you had like i mean you built a studio in a crib. I'm still waiting for my invite. I got you.
00:07:55
Speaker
I got you. um But like, it's so dope to see like the snippets that I get to see on the story where, you know, you have like you had ah Fresh Waters and, you know, you had Life of Tom in there. You've had like a lot of these like super creative people in there. And I know that like,
00:08:11
Speaker
that's gotta to make you be like yo i gotta be coming up a little bit more you know differently into or like you're seeing things a little bit differently because especially because like they're younger and like you're like seeing the different like hearing how they come up with things and you're like man like how do i you know you know channel that in a specific way like does that influence you and it can continuously like try to change it up or like you know be creative as much as much as possible Yeah, at every every every artist, no matter what generation, is going to bring something different out of you, you know?
00:08:42
Speaker
So it's like, yeah, I definitely notice that there's something that artists like Life of Time, like that the the generation coming up right under us, yeah I notice that there's different things about that and different things about the flows and the energy they come with and different things that they appreciate versus what what what we would appreciate. But at the same time, it it can all make sense and it can all like coexist. yeah And I think that's the beautiful part about it. So they definitely have been kind of inspiring me to like understand and and and bring everything together and figure out how I can like create a glue. And so it could all like sound amazing. yeah so
00:09:22
Speaker
I love getting in the studio with people. That's been my thing for 2026. I want to get in the studio with people because I feel like, especially because remember, we went through COVID. yeah So everything was like sending music over yeah over emails. And i remember really I'm in New York. Usually people are making music out in l LA. yeah In New York, people aren't getting in the studio as much. actually did not know that. thought was like, All I heard was like, all I always hear was be like, yeah, you know, we in the studio to tomorrow. And then they'll be there for eight hours, make one song. and be like, we paid for all this time, yo. I can't do that. You know what mean? That's what I'm saying. It's like stuff like that. I can't do that. I be in the studio for three hours. on the hope The record is done. You know?
00:10:04
Speaker
like But that's just me. it's I can't be in a studio for eight hours only just to do one record. like I got to get back to my kids. yeah I got to wake up and take them to school. So it's for me, it's like i'm ah I'm kind of on the clock. you know Because I know whenever I'm in l LA, I'm in the studio. yeah But when I'm in New York, it's like I guess I'm home and I got more responsibility. I got things to do. So it's like i' I'm more on ah on a time crunch.
00:10:30
Speaker
But um it's been good to have my studio. And so and so when people come into my space and we lock in and we work and we you know we can bring instruments into the mix and I got a live, I got a drum set right there. I got the the keyboard there. And so everybody, I do rehearsals down there. So we're coming up with songs, like me and the the band that I work with, the band that we do shows at the Blue Note, we create songs on the spot. And we record everything because I got the whole thing um I got like five, six cameras in there, you know, always rolling. yeah So that's been beautiful too, to just be able to record sessions and like build up that catalog of like footage of moments and memories that we gonna remember forever, you know?
00:11:15
Speaker
I mean,
Performing at Iconic Venues
00:11:16
Speaker
it it's sick, man. I i love seeing it. and And seeing you at the Blue Note was so fire too. Cause I'm like- bro. That's the homie too. I'm like, damn, my homie playing Blue Note, bro. Like, that's insane, bro. Like, there's so much heritage and like history behind that. And like, what did that even feel like even being able to do like the first run?
00:11:34
Speaker
Man, it felt it felt good to do Blue Note. I've done like guest sets, you know like surprise sets, like um when Static, yeah yeah he did it he did something years ago.
00:11:46
Speaker
it was it was early, probably like 2018, 2019, years ago, bro. But he invited me up and I just spit a couple of verses. And I remember that felt good. I was like, damn, i'm doing Blue Note, even though I'm not really like yeah on the bill. yeah But that was my first experience and I loved it. And then um now to be able to have my own set, it was legendary. It's it's honestly, it feels good to like be in that intimate space and be in a musical space. yeah yeah and And the second time I did Blue Note,
00:12:18
Speaker
I brought out my trumpet. You didn't see that one. You weren't there for that one. But I brought out the trumpet and I played. I saw the video. Yeah, and that was the first time I played in in in like over a decade in front of people, yeah you know?
00:12:30
Speaker
So it definitely brings something out to you. Like I did like a live spoken word. I did a lot of things different that I usually don't do at my shows. yeah And it gives you that opportunity in that stage to just focus on the art. And because people are there for the music. Some people have never heard about you.
00:12:46
Speaker
they're just there because it's Blue Note. You know, yeah. They don't- Well that strip is definitely like that too. Cause they'll be going to random comedy shows at the Comedy Cellar and be like, i don't know who's there. be like, yo. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right. So Blue Note and Comedy Cellar, they're right across the street from each other and they have that same vibe yeah where people are going because of the culture. People are going because of the reputation of the place. You know, so it's like people are there for the music. So when somebody goes to a Blue Note show and they don't even know who you are, And at the end of it, they're like, oh, my God, that was so amazing. You know, it's real. Yeah, for real. For real. That's crazy. well I mean, we need that. We need that. Like we need like a hip hop spot like that in general where it's like we build in the culture around it. It's a mainstay. I mean, like maybe like beer wax is kind of like that. yeah i don't know if you ever been to beer wax. I've never been. Beer wax is fire. hop bar. All the all they play is vinyls. They get DJs to pull up like it.
00:13:39
Speaker
It's dope. Where's that at? Where is it? It's like by the Barclays, I think. We go one night. Okay. We out one with it. Beer wax? It's fire. Okay, right around the way. I went to school around the Barclays. It's crazy I'm old.
00:13:52
Speaker
Because you know you old. I'm old. Now you know you old. You know you old because I went to school around the corner from the Barclays, but it wasn't even Barclays. No, it wasn't. You mean?
00:14:03
Speaker
It was just like those those train stations. Yeah. Abandoned trains. Yo, there was a barbecue spot there that was insane. It was called like the barbecue pit, I think it was. That sounds about right. And then it had like a dino rib that you can buy. and it was gigantic. I never went there.
00:14:19
Speaker
Fire. Never went there. I think it turned into the ah the ah a Sweet Chick. That's where Sweet Chick is now. Man, shout out Sweet Chick. Shout out Sweet Chick, yo. They the homies. Shout out. Yeah. yeah but I mean, yeah, New York has changed crazy, but I would love like, I mean, I don't know if you remember back in the day.
00:14:38
Speaker
i mean, s SOBs maybe got that kind of? No. No? No. When's the last time you played SOBs? Long time ago. That was like the, you had to. you Everybody goes through SOBs.
00:14:52
Speaker
i was just talking about that the other day. Everybody has to, that's like the rite of passage. Like when you do your first real New York show, chances are it's SOBs. I remember when um Knitting Factory used to be open. Rest in peace. Yeah, rest in peace. But it still looks the exact same. That's what's crazy about it. That's what's crazy. like It's just a different venue. yeah know And i wish I wish, I guess, the name could be the same. but They have that, because I went to go see um Lord Sko at the knitting factory that's in behind the bar. That's like a a bar, and then the in the back is the knitting factory. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:15:28
Speaker
Bruh. These kids now, and I mean, if you listen, if you're watching Kids These Days or whatever, but like, and this is like a rant that I've had for a hot minute after going to shows. These kids these days love cigarettes now, bro. They do? Yeah.
00:15:42
Speaker
Like if you go to like, shout out Tom, shout out Tom. But his crowd is obviously younger than him and like, or around his age. And like, therere like I went to one show and we were Baby's All Right. And I guess they let them they let people rockin' Baby's All Right with smoking.
00:15:59
Speaker
Came out smelling like an ashtray. And I was like, yo, this is crazy. Yeah, i can't do that. I would have had to leave. Leave your own show? would have to leave. you rock If you rock it and the oh you like- But the thing is, people not really smoking cigarettes in my shows. You know what I mean? like You don't got to really worry about that in my shows. like Anytime, bro, is cigarette smoke around me, i immediately got to go. I'm tapping out. I have to, bro.
00:16:23
Speaker
Yo. Shout out to Dave Chappelle. Yo, went I remember I was at- Yes, I want to know about that show. I remember we was in um used in Ohio. We was in Yellow Springs, huh Ohio. And it was it was me, it was Vic Mensa, and Dave Chappelle. And Dave Chappelle was like kicking knowledge, you know, like crazy.
00:16:46
Speaker
And I remember, and and he he smoked cigarettes, so he he's smoking his cig. He smokes cigarettes anywhere, everywhere, bro. Yeah, but he he's cool as fuck, man. I love that dude. He shows mad love. But I remember, like so Davis is sitting like right here, right?
00:17:03
Speaker
And then Vic Mensah is sitting right next to me. yeah And they both smoking cigarettes. Yeah. And I'm in the middle of the cigarette smoke. I remember I was just sitting there like, you know what I mean? You know when it's just so, you know what I mean? I'm fighting through it, bro. I'm fighting through it. I'm trying, I want to be here for the vibes.
00:17:24
Speaker
I was like, yo, I got to go, Dave. I got to go. I think as a non-smoker, it's just like, bro, I got to be out of here. It's bro. I can't do it. It's too much, yeah. Because I would go to Atlantic City Vegas, and you're on a slot.
00:17:42
Speaker
I'm on the slot, and I'm like, oh this going to pay right now. Oh, yeah. bro Bro pulls up right next to me. Newport just going crazy. I'm like... Yo, I think as a non-smoker too, it probably does something. You know what I Maybe if you a smoker- Yeah, it doesn't bother you because you're just used to smoke. That shit would ruin my whole mood, bro. That's just me, bro. That's just me. That's just Nah, I'm with you. I'm with you. It's wild because it's funny because I was just walking up the train station to come here. And I'm coming out. And I'm like, as soon as you start smelling like a little bit of it, you like, oh, man. And then it's like these guys in New York. don't know if y'all got these out there, but they smoke this weird tobacco. It's not. I always say it's K2, but K2 is gone now. Not the K2. nah, you got to talk about K2 now. Yo, K2. Here's the thing about K2. A lot of people, and they may not even know about it. Not everybody knows about All right, so K2 is synthetic marijuana. Synthetic marijuana. Yo, it used to say one thing you may not even know.
00:18:44
Speaker
It used to say, not for human consumption yeah on the packaging. And people still smoked it. Smoke that shit. And that shit looked like AstroTurf. That was crazy. That was a time. Yo, that was a crazy time. We're going crazy. You can buy that at the corner store. And it'll come in that like weird SpongeBob packaging. You can get like a Jordan 5. You get a Jordan. You get a Fire Red 5 package. That was the early fentanyl. That was the early fentanyl. For sure. For real. They had people looking like zombies out there.
00:19:14
Speaker
Yeah. It was down. I know a couple zombies. That's what's wild. I know a couple of them. Bro. K2 is a wild time. Yeah. Sidebar.
Experiences in Unique Cultural Spaces
00:19:26
Speaker
Sidebar. But like, how did you even get invited to do that show at Dave Chappelle? What is this? A new venue? It's just a venue? It's it's a it's a venue.
00:19:36
Speaker
Like, you know Dave Chappelle, he owns... He owns Yellowspray. Yeah, i' was going to say, yeah. I saw that video of him at the town hall. he genuinely owns everything out there. Like...
00:19:48
Speaker
It's honestly beautiful to see. That's the that's the dream. To like live somewhere and own most of what you... As a black man? Bro, that's so special. Yo, protect De Chapelle at all costs, bro. For real.
00:20:00
Speaker
But nah, so he has the venue and he he just he invites everybody out. So if he likes your music, then he'll invite you out. he'll be like, yo, pull up. And he really he really liked my song, Summer House. And so fire so he was like, he want me to perform that joint. You know i mean? So he would wants you to come and do the thing that he wants you to do and And so I'm like, you know, i mean of course I'm going to do it. He's like, oh is you know what? He's like, he's like I'm going own the town. I'm going to have my own venue. And I'm going to make my own playlist. Exactly. What do I feel like listening to this? I'm like, as you should, bro. As you should. So like, um yeah.
00:20:35
Speaker
So I went i love Summer House. That's one of my favorite records that I've ever made. So I love that he loves that song. And so, like, he just invited us out. He took care of us, bro, like, put us up. And we did the show and just had the time of our lives, bro.
00:20:50
Speaker
Like, I'll always be um be grateful for Dave for just, like, showing love and and opening his his space to us, bro. yeah Speaking of Vic Mensah, yo, he's been killing it Yes, yes, yes. You know, like, his message... Like him being the like the way he messaged it. Well, they there's that video. know if you saw the video where somebody's like they did like a fake big mental. Pulling the orange. Right. yeah But he really made he really like becoming like the word, like just spreading the word of like the things that we we don't really talk about. And like really, especially in within our community, we kind of just like.
00:21:26
Speaker
just like moving on. We, we's too busy working. So it's just like, it's hard to pay attention what's going on, but like, you'll stop for somebody that you really enjoy. Like your videos, I'll stop for all your videos and hear what you got to say. Like recently you talked about, you know, immigration was going on. And so, you know, I'm really loving that like,
00:21:43
Speaker
You know, people like you, people like Vic, just like speaking up and being like, yo, we should really be paying attention about this. You know, this shit is crazy right now. yeah Right. um But yeah, Vic has been, I mean. Nah, Vic, his voice is much needed in this time. You know i mean Like he is actually that guy when it comes to like knowing about, knowing about like injustice and things happening around the world.
00:22:06
Speaker
Like that's on the top of his mind. And so he is he's the right person to be talking about that. you know And so I love that he was able to find his space as far as on social media. And and been um he's the person he's the good he's the right person for the platform. yeah So it's like, I'm glad that he's the one talking about it because right now people need to be informed and he's the right guy. Yeah. yeah I mean, it's just, I mean, yeah, the way this world has been as of late, you know, We're recording this on 1.30. This is the, you know, everybody's supposed to be doing absolutely nothing.
The Impact of Misinformation
00:22:41
Speaker
This is the general strike today. And and ah I mean, that's hard for me. I will have to say, because I work a corporate job. So it's just like, I can't just be like,
00:22:51
Speaker
Like, you know, if I did that, I'll literally, I'll lose my job too. But like, you know, i can, ah shout out to everybody that really, you know, did the general strike. did not I didn't spend any money today, you know, to make sure that like, you know, I at least participated in some way. like- I don't spend no money anyway. yeah I'm never spending money. You know, so like, it's just a regular day for me. i don't, I don't participate. And a lot of this shit, you know? yes, it's it's it's important. You know what I mean? It's definitely important for us to be able to come together, you know, in times like this. Yeah. And it's much needed. I think that, like, a lot of this stuff doesn't really get talked about in general, especially, like, When I talk to this stuff to my friends, they're just like, aw, man. You know? Like, whatever. That's like is everybody else's problem. It's not happening to you. You know? Yeah. Dave Chappelle, Dave said something like that, too. He's like, everything is funny or whatever until it happens to you. yeah You know? So, it's we definitely, I think it's a time to be grateful for what we do have. You know what i mean? Because...
00:23:53
Speaker
Anything can happen. That's the way I look at it. Like, yeah, we we see it happening to other people right now. But we when it it could be you tomorrow tomorrow. And we have to be aware and we have to be like, we have to have mastery over our minds enough because what are we going to do when we're in that situation? right yeah So i already think about that stuff. yeah it's just know It's tough to see too. Like we're seeing this like every single day now. yeah And it's it's like...
00:24:21
Speaker
It's been heavy on my mind. That's why mean I'm bringing it up now. It's just like like scrolling through the internet, that's what we're seeing. Yes, yes, yes. And it's kind of like like, is it doing more harm? is it doing like we being or Is it really, are we being well aware? Or it's just like, it's coming every day now that we're like, whatever. I was just thinking about this. I was like, we see so much stuff online.
00:24:44
Speaker
we can't take everything as fact. I think that's the danger. That's the dangerous part about the internet. yeah It's like, we have to really we we we don't fact check like we used to. just take it as it is right there. yeah we don't we we We see something, we see some shit, and we take it for what it is, and we tell the next person. yeah And we're like, bro, did you see this shit? Like, did you actually fact check? Did you see where that was coming from? you So that's the only, that's one thing that I really don't like about this generation is that we don't care where the information is coming from. my
00:25:19
Speaker
And it could be coming from some shady Instagram page that's trying to rile people up. For sure. So I just wish that we had like you know more, not not not even control, but just self-control. For me, I'm saying skepticism.
00:25:35
Speaker
Yeah, we got to be more skeptic. The old phrase, the old saying was, um believe half of what you see and none of what you hear. Yeah. But we don't live like that. We believe 100% of what we is. And here is living wild. It's crazy. was like,
00:25:52
Speaker
ah because i ah i was ah I had this crazy, guy oh man, I can't even, I don't think I should talk about it on the end of the episode. I'll tell you after. But like I had a crazy conversation last night. um And it was like during work. like So it was just like, I can't talk about it. But like the what i what I think about when I look at the internet and how people Like there was recently ah ah Aria Hughes, shout out Aria Hughes. She posted this clip and this guy was talking about how Cortese is not this, is not doing fashion right or whatever. And I'm like, what? So I'm watching this clip and it's starting to get me like, what is this guy talking about? I commented on it. I'm like, you're confusing fashion and streetwear.
00:26:31
Speaker
There's two different things. Right. And people are like, nah, you know, streetwear is fashion. I'm like, nah, streetwear is counterculture to fashion. But because this guy is telling you that what Cortese is doing is fashion, you're just being like, yo, this is this is fashion now. And you're taking whoever this guy is because he has a massive following, word, because he has a massive following. And And then I was just like, and then it's also just like, there's, if you look at the generation of like when Virgil started coming in started melting, you know, fashion and streetwear, we got Louis Vuitton, air forces, you know, like that pushes it where it's just kind of like, all right, is streetwear fashion? You just, you know, like it's, it's, if somebody tells you, cause like even what you're wearing now, Savant Studio, shout out, shout out the homies. Shout out Savant. Yeah. They, That's fashion I would consider that fashion He's putting out shows He's doing shows But streetwear They do shows too Nah It's not like When I'm thinking about streetwear I'm thinking Supreme When's the last time you've seen a Supreme show
00:27:45
Speaker
I ain't seen any show. You know what mean? I never seen any show. Like you talking to somebody that be in the crib. You know what mean? I know, know. Remember who you're talking to. You know what mean? I see shit online. I'm like, oh, that's nice. That's cool.
00:27:56
Speaker
You know what I mean? So it's like, I really don't. I thought Supreme would have its own show. Nah, they don't have shows. It's streetwear. Like streetwear. Man, you putting me on game. All right, all right. So streetwear, they don't do shows. Yeah, Stussy. Stussy don't do shows. No. No, never. Never.
00:28:10
Speaker
I've never seen a Stussy show. You sound like an Instagram page. I feel like this might not be facts. You know what mean? I feel like Stussy should have a show, no? Nah, they're not a fashion house. You got fashion houses, bro. Fashion houses make it. Like, Kid Super's a fashion house.
00:28:25
Speaker
Yeah, but I feel like Kid Super is super um street wear, though. Nah, because they don't put out street wear. They do collabs with brands and then put out their gear. But, like, if you go, yo, if I go, I'm like, yo, I'm to some Kid Super. It's always, like, you know, the the face jacket where they, like, touch But it's, like, like maybe you buy, like, 20. There's, like, maybe he makes, like, 20 pieces.
00:28:49
Speaker
And that's, like, considered fashion. Yeah. it's like It's, like, concept cars. Where it's like, you know, this is like, we're never going to be able to own this stuff.
00:29:00
Speaker
Like, that's that's like where where fashion lives. Okay. All right. We talking semantics. I'm like, all right. I get what you're saying. I get what you're saying. I get what you're saying.
00:29:14
Speaker
I get
Exploring Fashion and Streetwear
00:29:15
Speaker
it. Damn, man. Nah, the curve was crazy. I'm trying. I'm trying. I'm trying to get it, bro. I kind of understand where you're coming from, though. I get what doing. Nah, yeah. mean, look. Yeah. Because I love streetwear. Right, right. What I love about streetwear is, like, you know, when you did your brand, you know, and that's considered streetwear. People rocking it on the street and promoting you on the street. Right, right. You're not, like, you're not over here sewing full bag together, you know? Right, right.
00:29:42
Speaker
you know Damn, but I feel like at this point streetwear and fashion, streetwear has become fashion. You know what mean? I think people- Because think about the pieces that you know Supreme makes or Kid Soup or whatever.
00:30:00
Speaker
It's very blended now. is Everything's kind of gonek come into one. But I'm saying that's because of Virgil. That's because of Virgil. Because of Virgil. I don't think we haven't, we haven't seen that before.
00:30:11
Speaker
we saw it when Virgil started making Pyrex. Pyrex became Off-White. Off-White is considered fashion, but streetwear at the same time. Because he was still charging people fucking $1,700 for a shirt with a long ass tag and some crazy art piece on it. What about Kanye?
00:30:28
Speaker
Kanye, I would say like his, when he was doing seasons, yeah like he was doing Yeezy seasons, that's fashion. But then the street wear part was the Yeezys for Adidas. You know what I'm saying?
00:30:40
Speaker
Damn, this is very complex, bro. yeah. This is i be this my wheelhouse. like yeah this is not This is not that simple. This is a whole like, you gotta break this down on paper and be like, that or that. You gotta make charts and stuff. yeah I just think it's just like, I mean, but the whole point was that was like, if somebody who speaks with a lot of conviction becomes the leader of said thing. Yes, yeah and that's the problem. That's the problem. book That's the internet and social media is that once, you like you said, once you say something, if you have a big enough platform, yeah it becomes fact. And that's that's a problem because these cultures already exist. You know? And just because, like, I may be important in the culture, but I may not have a massive, like, Instagram or TikTok following. But, so that's kind of disrespectful to the culture. I get what you're saying. It's like, but how do you how do you combat that? You know?
00:31:29
Speaker
I mean... See, that's I think that's like the million dollar. Not not even million dollars, maybe 10 bucks question. like yeah yeah Because the thing is, is just like we want we want people to care. Right. We're in the business of having people caring. Right.
00:31:45
Speaker
And so the thing is, those people that do that, like they just blatantly lie. they're They're not in the business of people to care. They just want people to share.
00:31:55
Speaker
Well, are they are they lying or are they just ignorant? you know I mean, if you think about grifting, right? If somebody is purposely being wrong to make money,
00:32:07
Speaker
and get the views and get the followers, then they're they don't care what their perspective is. right Right? Like, I mean, whatever. I'll talk about this. But, like, the the whole thing with, like, Sneeko and all these, like, i don't know about any of that. You what mean? So I'm just going off of the broad, you know what I mean? i so Yeah. So there's this whole side of the internet where it's like,
00:32:32
Speaker
They call it like red pill. And so therere these are these people that are are in it to just kind of like blatantly be like, you know, oh, men should be doing this. Women shouldn't be doing this, this and that. And then they point these fingers, right? So they they came together. They forced a DJ to play Hail Hitler by, i don't know, I'm probably going to have to bleep that, by Kanye. like you don yeah you don't You shouldn't have to bleep out Hitler.
00:32:59
Speaker
But Kanye. I'm not even going to say that. yeah i' have bleep it. Oh, Lord. Because you know what it is? Somebody could definitely take that one part. know, yeah.
00:33:10
Speaker
And then AI you doing some other shit. I mean, they're going AI me doing whatever at this point. There's enough content of me and you together that they're like, I'm talking about in general, where they could just make either of us do anything at this point. Don't say that. Don't say that. Don't say they went to a club and got that song played, HH played. Yeah. They got HH played. paid um And they did that to Rage Bait, to create content, to be like, we got we got the DJ to play. the yeah the everybody the cloud The crowd went crazy. The whole crowd was singing along. Nobody was singing along.
00:33:47
Speaker
Hear me. Hear me out, bro. Yeah, yeah. Because I really want to talk about this. It's like... oh yeah All this stuff you're talking about, it's the rage baiting and all that. Obviously, i feel I hate this so much because I feel like it takes away from real culture. yeah And it's is' it's kind of like destroying everything that we love. It's destroying, it's messing up everything we love. yeah Like, how do we just keep doing, keep going as we as we're we've been going?
00:34:14
Speaker
what a Do you think we should do something different? You know? Like, how do we preserve what we've created? You know? yeah I mean, we both love culture. was like, okay.
00:34:27
Speaker
I mean, my bad, but I'm going to bring it i' i have a question for your question. Okay. Right. um The question is, and I've asked this a couple times and nobody's ever given me an answer. So I'm pretty sure you're not going to give me an answer. That's a challenge. But ah is the is the goal to jump the wave? whatever the wave is now, and then take that audience and then sell them the culture, like, like, like bring them in. Right. Instead of sell it, sell is the wrong, it's the wrong word, but like usher them into the right way. Or is the goal to find the audience that really appreciates this from the jump and then build that. And then you have those people spread the word too. Hmm.
00:35:13
Speaker
It's a tough one. It's a tough one.
00:35:19
Speaker
I think that the goal is always to create something new. you know But if we're creating something new, which is what I'm never be new fully.
Purpose-Driven Creativity
00:35:27
Speaker
It'll always be a derivative of something else. yeah But you create something, you share it,
00:35:34
Speaker
And people will always do something different with it. But you build. You know what i mean? It's like you you just you just build. And whatever happens, happens. I just, we want an ethical culture. You know? yeah We want a culture built on ethics. Right, yeah. We want the people that want to grow it.
00:35:54
Speaker
And I think the the hardest part right now is where we live in this world where like, I mean, for sneakers. Sneakers is an example. I'll i'll use sneakers as an example. And like, where it's like we see what the algorithm allows for like popping sneaker content, right? I don't do any of that, right? like And is the is it for me to be like, you know what, I'm a make a video that's going to go viral. i'mma figure out a way. I'm gonna keep trying until I go viral with these dumb videos.
00:36:25
Speaker
But then am I really pushing the podcast at that point? Am I going I'm going to be known for the videos and not the podcast. Let me, let me, I think i I've been thinking about this a lot too. I think you should figure out what your purpose is and move in that direction. yeah You know what I mean? So it's just like, whatever, what do people love about you? What do people love about what you're creating? What do people appreciate about it? And and don't do anything to get viral.
00:36:53
Speaker
Do it because there's people that appreciate that. yeah Even if it's five people, 10 people, yeah whatever it is. It's like, if there's somebody that's like, bro, I needed this today. Bro, I'm so happy I saw this today. Yo, keep doing what you're doing. If there's a couple people like that,
00:37:08
Speaker
That means there's a bunch of people like that. exactly So forget about the algorithm. There's five people that want to see this content. That that means that there's 500. That means there's 5,000.
00:37:20
Speaker
So it's like, that's part of your purpose. You feel me? That's the way I see it. You answered the question. You answered the question. he said You said, so we're not doing the wave. We're doing part B. We're doing we're building yeah with the crowd that's coming to us. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Definitely, definitely. yeah where where There's people out there that want to um that want to share in the thing that you're creating, for sure. Yeah. I'm pretty sure you get, I mean, I'm sure you get a ton of a ton of messages and be like, yo, man.
00:37:50
Speaker
Your music saved my life and all that stuff. So it's like, it's hard to be like, because I get those too where it's just like, yo, I really needed this episode. Yo, you really got me through. I'm i'm i'm jumping right. i've getting yeah I've gotten so many messages, but like, yo, you really inspired me. I'm ah like. so Yo, I think that, I think, bro, for you, you should think about what what are you doing that's inspiring them? You know? And you build on that. Yeah. I mean, that's what I'm doing. I know you were asking me directly the question, but I've already answered those questions. Like, this is it, man. Like, you know, the storytelling, the... I'm trying to push the culture forward because I feel like where we're currently at in terms of just sneakers is super surface level. But there's so much story. Right? And... the individuality about it and how people just kind of see it as like, yo, there's this like, it's just this and then a sneaker. But like, I'm like, yo, there's all this in between, you know, and highlighting that. And so I find so much purpose between that and like having these conversations with creatives like you like, you know, like, people like that. On some, just from what I've seen, dude, I think you should definitely,
00:39:03
Speaker
just how Just how you tell these stories on the pod I think you should tell these stories like Outside the pod you know i mean i don't even I don't know if you're already doing that Or whatever But you are you are I've tried i think you should just keep going just doing you should do it i do i do i do solo episodes now So like bells break those out people been loving those so like yeah you know i'm outside the box we call i call it out of out of the box moments I love it. So like, yeah. I love it.
00:39:31
Speaker
keep Keep that up, bro. mean, I'm trying. It's tough, man. i don't know how you do it, but i think i think I think you figured out a really cool way of doing it with the with your videos and like the porch. I keep bringing up the porch, but like I think it's really dope and...
00:39:48
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's like what's something that I would like to implement, too. So like figuring out how to present it, because I already got what I'm trying to say. And like the solo podcasts are for like the diehard My First Kicks listeners. Shout out to y'all. And so um that's why I get the most feedback on that, on those the most where people are like, yo, I really love that episode. I really love what you had to say about this. and And I think like I do have to implement more of them.
00:40:16
Speaker
They just, you know, once I do one of those, bro, I'm tapped. I don't want to talk. Like, I'm yapping for an hour. And I was just like, I don't want to talk That's you don't got to yap for an You can yap for five minutes, bro. You know I mean? yeah You can yap for a minute, 30 seconds, whatever it is. It's like...
00:40:32
Speaker
You don't gotta to be an hour But yes I have a secret TikTok where I'm like The secret? The secret Yeah you scared Cause I gotta I wanna figure it out first I feel you I feel you It's just like that's that's That's the perfectionism talking You what mean?
00:40:47
Speaker
It's like Being a perfectionist I don't know how you handle it I'm not a perfectionist You know You just let it rock I let a lot of shit rock bro Um I think that's been my superpower yeah since like the beginning, is I've never been a perfectionist. bro I never sat on music. I make a song. Yo, bro, and this has been since the beginning of my career. And people hate me for it. People in my camp hate me for it. Because they're like, bro, as soon as you got an idea, you execute it in a week.
00:41:13
Speaker
And then you want to put that shit out tomorrow. You know what mean? Because it's just like, that's just how I am. It's like... I perfect it to a certain point. And once I feel like it's good enough and it ticks off all my boxes, i give it to the world. You know? And and I think that started early when, um like, I remember when Nipsey had passed.
00:41:32
Speaker
I remember i pushed up my my release date because I'm like, shit, I could die next week. You know, that's and that's generally how I felt. It's like, bro, when he when he passed, I was like, Life, like that kind of started my life is short, like era. Where it's like, okay, anybody can go at any time. yeah It could be me.
00:41:52
Speaker
So why would I sit on what I got? You feel me? So ever since then, i kind of just been releasing, releasing. I let it let it fly, let it fly. You come up with something, you love it. If you love it, you drop it. Forget about it. I'm more like that with the podcast. Oh, okay. But like...
00:42:10
Speaker
stuff is where I'm like, obviously like if I'm like really being creative, like if I'm like sitting down and be yeah, i am pretty perfection. I was like that, especially as a kid, like when I was first designing stuff, yeah I would let nobody see it. I'd be like, work on it for like two were perfectionist. Yeah, yeah. real perfectionist. I know, I know. But like when it comes to this though, You know, I'm just like, yeah, you know, I'll put something together and I'll be like, all right, cool. Like, we're good. Like, right but I think because like when Tyler said the whole thing of just like, why are you why are you holding on to anything? Just put everything out. That's true. You know, so I was just like, was like, true. And I also took me two years to start this podcast alone because I was just like, I got to find my guy. I got to find my ah my perfect co-host that we do this together. It's a gift and a curse. yeah It's a gift and a curse. Like the perfectionism thing, you know what it is? It's like. you gotta perfect it to a point.
00:42:59
Speaker
yeah That's really all it is. It's like, there's ah there's a middle ground of making it right and just being able to just let it fly. You know what I mean? i mean That's cool, though. That's cool to know about you, though. like yeah i look at I think there's great people that are perfectionists. You know i mean? Like, some of the greats in... the in in I know great people that are perfectionists that are sitting on like gold mines of music and I'm like, you're a genius, but you can't, you just can't let it fly.
Creative Problem-Solving
00:43:28
Speaker
Nobody's heard these gems. You know what I mean? Why this draft 106? Exactly. And it's amazing. It was honestly the draft number one was amazing, but here we are draft 106, five, 10 years later. So it's like, it's, it's always funny, bro. It's funny. I mean, it's just like the way that people move when it comes to creativity is where it's like you get to see if a person is really, really being creative or not. Because my thing is like what I find the most fun is like creative problem solving to get where I'm at, like to get to where I want to go. Like I know I had an episode where I was like, I don't have Zoom anymore.
00:44:10
Speaker
we didn't have Zoom on here. And i was like, instead of figuring out how to how to like you know ask them to Zoom the stuff, I would figure out how to Zoom on Premiere and I did it. so And it still looked clean. and i was like And then I did the movements and stuff like that. But I didn't know how to do that before then. And like being able to create a problem solve that was way more fulfilling than actually like cutting every single episode, cutting the clips together. And I think that like,
00:44:38
Speaker
Like I'm pretty sure you do that a ton. like Yeah, I do that. Yeah, I know like on the last episode were talking about like how to get around ah like samples and stuff like that. but like, you know. you talking about getting around samples? Yeah.
00:44:50
Speaker
You were like, you use AI to get around samples. Damn, I said that? Yeah, you did.
00:44:57
Speaker
you want me to cut this? Nah, nah, nah, nah. It's all good. It's already in the first episode. It's already it's already there. That's what realized. I was like, God damn, I said that shit. because AI is going crazy right now. AI is putting up big numbers. It's drinking mad water. It wasn't putting up numbers like that. with Last time we did the episode, it wasn't putting up these kind of numbers. I didn't know where it was going to go. But like, ah yeah, I did that. I did that one time, like to get around to get around a sample, just because there was no way we was going to be able to clear the sample. Right. And it worked.
00:45:26
Speaker
But now I'm like, damn, now people going to start AIME. Yo, y all got the CODA feature. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, my God, bro. I think somebody did that. No way. I think somebody did that.
00:45:40
Speaker
And I just been kind of acting like it didn't happen. way. know what mean? That's crazy. Not going hold you. It's a wild time we live in, bro. Yo, that's crazy. I can't believe that. It's a wild time. You know they try to do a whole AI podcast one time?
00:45:55
Speaker
I believe it. They're doing AI everything, bro. There's AI artists with 3 million monthly listeners. Yo, that's crazy. Yeah, I saw that. And somebody got a record deal recently or something like that, right? Nigga, who? It's like, it's an AI. Like, how you get a record deal? You're not even a person. Like, what was the meeting like? You know what I mean? Like...
00:46:15
Speaker
The meeting was in ChatGBT, bro. What's going on? Imagine ChatGBT on the phone in the meeting like, oh, we love your music. Thank you. I tried my hardest. What's going on, bro? We are really in a dystopian society. It's crazy, bro. We're the freaking matrix, bro. We're in the matrix, dog.
00:46:37
Speaker
Like, I don't know anymore. You got, you still, you still able to perform. You shut down mu Music Hall Williamsburg. Don't say I shut it down. Don't say that. You shut down. You're the last performance. I wasn't the last performance. All right, you're second to last. Second last. literally, nah, did I see? Nah, I saw, um. You I saw somebody Because I know I sent it to you.
00:46:57
Speaker
I saw somebody at Music Hall Williamsburg. After you? After me. It was, um, that was, that was, that was, That was out of my mind. That's crazy.
00:47:10
Speaker
why why why Why am I not thinking about it? Why am I not thinking about who it was, bro? Damn. That's it. That's it. You got it. I got to find out. I got to remember. I got to remember. He's from LA. He's from LA? Yeah, he's from Smoke. D Smoke. saw Smoke there. Yo, shout out to D Smoke. Shout out to I Smoke.
00:47:27
Speaker
I saw D Smoke and he killed it. Man, D Smoke was fire. And think a few, maybe like a week or two weeks after that, closed down. Yeah. I mean, second, that's what saying, second to last. You still second. I wasn't the second to last, bro. There was other shows in between my show and D Smoke's show. And then I'm sure there was probably like a couple shows after. All right, here we go. Here we Last person from Brooklyn to perform there. I still don't know if that's true. We would have to see. We can't just say that. You see, you're part of the problem. I am. You can't just say that. I'll give you accolades. Rob Markman, No, no, no, no, no. We don't do fake accolades. You what saying? Like we can't do that. We don't give out participation awards shit. You know what I mean? That's not the generation we from. That's the new generation. They get shit for just participating. We didn't get that shit. know what I mean? So we can't move like that.
00:48:14
Speaker
You gotta earn it. All right, all right. I will do my research and I'll make a video and I'm gonna do it on his part um on his porch and I'll be like, Koda was blank, blank, blank of Music Hall of Williamsburg. just Do the research, man. Do the knowledge. ill Do the knowledge. Shout out Deontay Kyle. Do the knowledge. Yeah. But um but we we we we came in late, so we do have to bounce it a little bit. Yeah, let's do it. 8-15. Yeah, is there anything ah i didn't touch we needed to touch on?
Beyond Monetization: Art for Passion
00:48:45
Speaker
I know Local Art Dealer.
00:48:47
Speaker
Yeah, Local Art Dealer. It's like my new universe that I'm creating. know you started the new page, A.G.R.E. Yeah, Avery, Avery, Avery, that's my name. My name is Avery Jones. So it's like Avery Jones Studios. Where I'm just like, that's just my creative page. Like I do a lot of things that people don't know about. I do like photography. I do videography. And I've just been, um like I said earlier. You know what's crazy? Real quick, my bad. You know what's crazy? I went to, I i met Marlon Kraft.
00:49:13
Speaker
And I'm telling him, like, yo, yeah, I had a coat on. Because I'm trying to get him on. And then he's just like, you know. Cody used to do my videos and I was like I was like what i didn't even know you used to do videos yeah I used to do it I did a Marlon Krat a couple of his videos I think and it was like 10 years ago or something like that and it's crazy both of y'all yeah it's actually crazy crazy I used to shoot videos for everybody bro everybody in the hood everybody in in is anybody in the city you know So it's just like, I'm kind of just, I'm bringing those things back where I just want to like create. So Avery Jones Studios is just that opportunity for me to be as creative as I want to be. Like if I find free time during my day, I fill it up with something creative, with something I can do. If I can shoot a video, if I can go out with my camera yeah and take a you know, so take some pictures of nature or something like that. It's like,
00:50:03
Speaker
That's just fulfilling me. I realized that I needed a hobby, bro. yeah You know what I mean? you we I feel like we forget that we need that. We need something that's not necessarily making us money or, you know, it's nothing about finances or economics. It's just like, I'm just doing this because I love it. yeah And I feel like sometimes men's too men, two men, bro, we don't give ourselves that. We're like, nah, I'm not allowed to like anything. I gotta put the whole world on back. It's like we're not allowed to have fun and enjoy our lives, but I'm starting to realize like I just want to ah want to have things that I love again. yeah you know That I'm not making anything from.
00:50:41
Speaker
I just love it you know so That's the Avery Jones Studios thing. And local art dealer, like I said, is this new universe I'm creating. And it's just about art. It's just about artists and creators because I feel like everybody is just trying to monetize. Yeah, everything. so so Everybody's monetizing their hobbies. Yeah, so instead of just thinking about monetization, i want Local Art Dealer to be about the art and the actual creative process. Whereas I feel like everything is taking a turn where the money is now in the forefront completely. And before people even listen to the music, they're like, buy my album, buy this. Like, buy the merch. It's like, bro, niggas ain't even hit it get to hear music yet. But you trying to sell before.
00:51:28
Speaker
so it's like, I'm trying to put the music before the selling, you know, and the art. And I'm trying to highlight artists and people that actually create things. You know i mean? Yeah, man. I mean, I love seeing it, man. I'm excited for the what's on the horizon. Hopefully we can do something together. I believe it. Yeah, I believe it. Yeah. ah Real quick. Got a shout out John Geiger for the for the what the Geigers man, the the what the friends and families, you know what I mean? It says what the what? Shout out to the John Geigers, bro. I got a couple at the crib, but I need these, bro. you I need these. They're fire. You know, shout out Geiger, man. He's he's been a huge help for the pod. um Really put helped put me on the map as well, especially within the Snoopy community. So shout out to John. um
00:52:14
Speaker
Koto, let him know where to find you. Yo, you can find me everywhere. Codeofthefriend.com or Instagram, Code of the Friend. You know what mean? Or you can find me in Brooklyn somewhere.
00:52:25
Speaker
That's it. In the crib. Don't find out. He's just in the crib. Probably see me walking down the street, walking down Myrtle Avenue. I don't live over there anymore, so y'all can go. ah You know where to find me, who is Hassan on social, all social medias. Follow the podcast, My First Kicks Pod. Hit the Patreon, patreon.com slash myfirstkicks. I'm going to kick it to myself to do the outro.
00:52:46
Speaker
Peace. Boom. I hope you enjoyed this week's episode with Coda the Friend Man. It's been really dope to see... what he's been able to do since the last episode that he was on. And if you haven't checked out that episode, his first appearance on the podcast, which happened in 2024, we were, this was like Sango pulled up.
00:53:10
Speaker
Then after that, I shortly got Coda and i was like building my way to episode 200 with Mero, which I feel like a lot of people that are watching me now started off. So if you want to go back,
00:53:26
Speaker
go back. I still have episodes with Sango, Coda the Friend, Peter Deer Brew, Welty. These are all in-studio episodes. Ramey.
00:53:40
Speaker
It's been a hell of a journey. so I've been a huge, huge fan of Coda for a really long time. You'll hear about it on that episode if you go back to that episode. and This past year, getting to hang with him and chill with him, got to celebrate his birthday with him, and been able to like see...
00:54:01
Speaker
this whole other world that um not many people get to see. And it's been really dope. I feel like Koda is such a a dope person, a real, just like, ah like he's in tune with who he is and he's always trying to find himself and he's always trying to be a creative and be expressive and tap in with his audience and not What I like doing is not give somebody, give them a false bill of goods. Like that's what I've always prided myself on. Like if you listen to any episode, whether it be the beginning of the podcast to right now, I've always prided myself on that. I'm just showing a genuine side to through something that I love and and being able to have these conversations. And sometimes they're not always going to be about sneakers the entire hour. Sometimes we're going to talk about their journey from the last time we spoke or their journey with their profession or their passion or
00:55:16
Speaker
you know moments in their life that they they feel like they rediscover themselves like in this episode and i think i always have that openness to that where somebody wants to come back on and talk about a little bit more about themselves because we all know that my first kicks the the the all the the the initial a question is an icebreaker. it's I sit down with this person to get to know them and then
00:55:51
Speaker
I use that question in the hopes of just like, you know, we get a little piece piece of their life in the beginning and hopefully we get a chance to progress with them or we'll get them to have come back on and we can have a deeper conversation because we're not going to get everything on the first, my first kicks episode. And this episode with Coda definitely touches on that. Like you could, you can feel that. um I think,
00:56:21
Speaker
what Koda is doing right now with local art dealer which is out now on even check that out I'll link it in the bio not the bio I'll link it in a description of this episode so make sure you tap in it's pay pay your own price so you can pay anything between like a dollar I think maybe or I didn't check but you can pay anything between a dollar to however you want and It's so dope that he's been able to just like take these chances and and build with his audience. And, you know I've always been trying to do that, especially since day one with me asking for my first kick stories.
00:57:04
Speaker
Love, love to love to to get some of those in the inbox, you know, info at my first kicks dot com. Would love to have people write in so I can read it to the guest.
00:57:16
Speaker
And, you know, I don't do a great job of pushing it. But please, if this is maybe your first time listening to this or if you want to, you know, maybe you're 100 time listening to this podcast.
00:57:29
Speaker
this is an all immersive podcast. Like you are able to reach out to me. I'll have conversations with everybody. DMs, DM me, send me a message, email me info at myfirstkicks.com.
00:57:43
Speaker
This is meant to be for everyone to interact with like, Hopefully in the grand scheme of things, when you get a little bit bigger, i get ah maybe we do a call-in episode. Maybe we we'll do like our best of ah my first kick stories with a previous guest and that has been on a bunch of times, like an AD or an Aaron. We can just talk and I can just tell these stories. but this is what it's always been about. It's just been about people's stories, people's ah genuineness to to finding themselves and
00:58:24
Speaker
I always appreciate that these type of com of conversations and like we've had, I've known Coda ever since that last episode. but That was my first, first time hanging out with him was the first episode. Right. And since then we've hung out a couple of times. I got to see him at the blue note. I'm going to go see him in the blue note again in March.
00:58:42
Speaker
Uh, and it's just been really, really dope. Like getting to know somebody that I've listened to their music for a really long time. Like, um, And just hearing how he's been such a pivotal part around the New York scene and helping other people get their creative ah itch scratched. We talked about this in the out-of-the-box episode. If you haven't listened to that, i talk about my need for scratching this creative itch that my job didn't scratch for me. So we created I created this podcast and
00:59:20
Speaker
There's a lot more where I talk about like... I mean, if we... I need to probably do another out-of-the-box episode of Volume 3 because, you know, i got into... i self-taught myself how to...
00:59:35
Speaker
do Photoshop and graphic design. So I went to school for that. And that's where my creativity always began. But I did in that episode, in episode volume two, well, in volume two, I talk about how I was told I wasn't going to be a good artist in in high school. And so hearing Koda talk about his creative itch, how And also, like, him not really being a perfectionist or, like, there are things he is he is a perfectionist about ah perfectionist about, I thought was really insightful. So I hope you enjoyed this episode. And, of course, if you want to help out the podcast, Patreon. you got to hit the Patreon, please.
01:00:16
Speaker
Patreon.com slash MyFirstKicks. I'm kind of um flirting with the idea of of only cut cutting down the podcast to 30 minutes.
01:00:28
Speaker
and putting the rest of the episode, like the full episode on Patreon because right now i'm not able to to kind of like tap in to add more content on there. It's been really busy at work and...
01:00:47
Speaker
You know, I really would love the Patreon to be a lot more poppin' than it is right now. Like, I haven't gotten a new a patron to sign up in a while, so please, it really...
01:01:00
Speaker
Really goes a long way if you help me out by signing up for the Patreon. Patreon.com slash MyFirstKicks. Of course, we get to do shout outs. Shout out to Clox. Shout out to Samia. Shout out to Jordan Kaiser. Shout out to Derek Hawkins. Shout to Derek Lipkin. Shout out to Adam Butler.
01:01:16
Speaker
Shout out to at Ross Adams. Shout out to Adam Moosterter. And i think that's it. Sorry if I missed you. um i always I always just do this off the top of my dome.
01:01:28
Speaker
And I always feel like I miss somebody every single time. And I'm so sorry. ah But please sign up for the Patreon. Patreon.com slash myfirstkicks. ah Also, before we bounce out, you know, I wore these in the podcast.
01:01:45
Speaker
I have to show both because they're different colors. These are the What the Geigers. I did a quick shout out towards the end. What was really dope was i got to go to a studio session with Koda after, and I, that was like, I've never been in something like that. We were in there. It was me, Koda, cartoons, Lord Skull was there. i got to see like Koda's process when he's making a ah song.
01:02:14
Speaker
Look, I don't think I could ever be a rapper. That, I would, I was, i was, if it was me Like, I'd be like, here's the bars. I'm rapping it. This song is done right now. But, like, cartoons.
01:02:29
Speaker
Shout out to Cartoons, man. His beats. And if you haven't checked out, you don't if you you've never heard of Cartoons, C-A-R-R-T-O-O-N-S. Cartoons. Lots of, like, he makes beats that, like, really speak to me.
01:02:43
Speaker
Jazzy, hip-hop, like, yo, fire. Definitely check out his last, like, two albums that he dropped. But, I got to hear some of the stuff he's been working on.
01:02:55
Speaker
I got to chill in a crazy studio and and I think it was like Bushwick or something like that. and it was crazy. ah This, like the beginning of this year has been dope, has been super dope. Shout out to Koda. Thank you so much for pulling up again. And of course,
01:03:12
Speaker
If you want to see more of this podcast or listen to more of this podcast, check out these two episodes here. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button. And, you know, we say each week, wear your kicks. Peace.