DE'WAYNE

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I feel so good coming just in here and seeing you, seeing the homies. It feels like home, bro. You know, you've been. We've known each other now a long time. A long time. Yeah. Yes. So you've seen me through iterations as well. Yeah, 100%. So, and I, you. Yeah. But it's the same for me though, bro. Coming here today, like I felt so at peace. And like at home, we took a little walk early and I was like, yo, like when we were like babies, I got to play here with my friends all the time and like learn how to just have fun and exist as an artist. Bro, you were working at Pitfire. Pizza Rev. Pizza Rev. Yes, sir. That's right. One of the P's, bro. One of the P's. One of the pizza spots. But you were working a job. Yes. Sleeping on couches. Yeah. Staying in. Best house or wherever the fuck you could stay. Rapping. That's like a trigger word for me. You were very good at rapping. Thank you so much. Thank you. You're still one of my favorite rappers. I love you so much, bro. Anytime like Mike will bring up that I used to rap to people and like I get like the nastiest face. I'm like, bro, like that was a part of your history. It's still a part. It was like me and my dad. He just taught me. Yeah, man. I just love. It was like only type of music that I knew until I came to LA. Don't. You know? Yeah, I know. Don't. I know. That's the insecure swat. Push away. I know, bro. Yourself. Thank you, bro. I appreciate that. The kid. Don't reject the kid. I know. Yeah. Why would you do that? Well, it's that's me dealing with my own thing. But it's like that was a very important part because I came to LA thinking that I was going to be something else than I am today. And I've always heard artists and like entertainers, people that I love and respect always say that like the plan B actually was the one that they end up having their life on. And not that. Yeah. Rock and roll was my plan B. But I think just becoming a complete artist was that next step for me. And that's where I've kind of landed in. Yeah. I'm trying to learn that younger person more. No, please say it, bro. Please. But I want to let you. Yeah. No, I'm working it out. I want to let you vomit it all up. You saying that, I'm trying not to make it into like a word of. It was just who I was and what I knew. And like I studied it very deeply. It's still who you are. Yeah. You think so? Yes. But it's a kid who thinks he's something special because all of the kids are. When they become adults, they become unspecial because they got told enough or shown enough. Yeah. You know, the implied message around them was you're not special. And the explicit message sometimes. For sure. Sometimes people have people saying you're not shit. Oh, yeah. 100%. But sometimes people have. Sometimes people. Sometimes people say you're not important through their actions. Yeah. Through the way they feel when you walk in the room. That's fair. So, because you always liked rock and roll. So, what if you didn't think you could? What if you thought, oh, that's what I must have to do? Understand. Right? Yeah. So, you start walking down the road in faith. For sure. Right? And you go, well, I guess I'm a rapper because I want to make music. Yes. And so. It's everything I know. Right. Yeah. You grew up where you grew up and the predominant music. It was rap. 100%. You enjoyed it with your dad. I love rap music. So, I fucking am the biggest hip hop fan in the world. So, and I don't look at hip hop as a genre of music. I look at it as modern poetry. So, I see it differently. So, I look at rappers as poets. Yeah. And then they go and perform on stage and that's, you know, but when I listen to music, I listen to the lyrics I always have. So, I've always thought. Yeah, same, same, same. I'm a lyrical person. Mm-hmm. So, melody. Is second most important. Mm-hmm. And then I'll get into production. Gotcha. Like, what does that music sound like? I'm actually 100% with you on that. Yeah. And lyrics are always. Yeah. And I think it started from. Because you're a poet. Yeah. Yeah. So, I would say. Mm-hmm. If we don't stop. Mm-hmm. And examine what we're labeling things as. Yeah. Including ourselves. Mm-hmm. We can't get to the full breadth of like what it actually means to be us. Yeah. So, am I a rapper or am I a poet? Mm-hmm. Both. Some people would maybe say, I'm just a rapper. Yeah. True. A more artistic, more elegant person, a more person with more depth. Yeah. Would say I'm a poet. Yeah. Does a poet sound a little bit more. Yeah. No, I feel a little more sophisticated. More sophisticated to the turtleneck-wearing fucking art critics. Yeah, no, for sure. Right. Not that you're wearing a turtleneck. Oh, no, no, no, no. I'm not saying. No, no, no. Joel, I love you. So, I'm. I'm. I'm just saying, the important folks, the classy folks. So many things have changed. You're very classy. I love you so much. But I'm just saying that the important folks would say, oh, an artiste versus an artist. No, an artiste gave me this turtleneck. Yeah. Yeah. So, I'm just saying, you can be both. Yes. We can be artiste. Yeah. Like the collectors. Yeah. And then to the streets, we can be a rapper. Mm-hmm. And it is. It's both. Both things are true. Yeah. Both things. You can be a rock and roll guy. Mm-hmm. Because you have always been that guy. You couldn't be this now if you weren't this then. It's very true. You know what I mean? Very true. Just what do we let ourselves be? Yeah. Like, do we let ourselves just. Yeah. You know? Can I say that's what it felt like to me when Josh, when Naveed, when Mike were playing me Bowie in Arcade Fire for the first time, and I was like, it made me feel like I could. It was like me becoming like the superhero. The superhero version of myself. Yeah. There's no box. No. Not at all. I've always been into songs and like writing songs. Like since I was a kid, I would just like write these songs out. But when I heard Moon Age Daydream, I was like, oh, this is. Oh, shit. It was like solo. It just turned me on in a way that rap music hadn't turned me on and that gospel music hadn't turned me on. And it also felt like the first thing to where it was me finding it for me. Like you guys showed it to me, but then I was like, I would go home and just, this feels like Dwayne, you know? And I just kind of. I would have been on that. But thank God for the raps and the poetry early on, you know? It got. Because it got me to LA. It got you here. Yeah. You know? Just became like. And sitting down with y'all. It became less interesting. You were just digging. You were like. Yeah. And I don't mean it as a dig, but it did though. You were digging for more. You were searching for more. You were looking for. I wanted more sounds and. More mediums. You were like, I've been painting with this kind of paint for the whole. Now I want to fuck around with this other kind of art. Yeah. Very true. Very true. So I just. I say it all the time. Just to say that that kid was the kid that I fell in love with. Yeah. Thank you, man. I know. So I remember the first like. It was still so early on and I appreciate that. I was also in love with him too. I just think we should, you know. I mean, you know. We should just keep growing. Yeah. I want to keep growing and evolving and. Yeah. It just felt like the right time. Yeah. Yeah. Just bring him along though. Mm-hmm. Because he deserves to be here. Yeah. Thank you for that. And I've been. I know you are. But that's true though because that's. Just reminding you. Yeah. And I thank you. Thank you for that because there are so many things happening now to where I think about him so much and like we freak out because I'm like. I almost said it because I'm crazy. But I'm like, this is crazy. Like, this is weird. Yeah. You know? And it's everything that I've dreamed of and it wouldn't have happened without him. That kid. At all. Yeah. No, sir. And they both. But I say this to say, there's nothing worse than when I go home and someone says, you've changed. I'm like, yeah, I have fucking changed. Yeah, right. Right. I've grown a lot. Yeah, yeah. And I keep. And I only want to grow. I want to go to the edge of. Of growth. Yes, sir. I want to find the edge of it and keep pushing on like what, you know what I mean? A hundred percent. The difference is the kid in Maryland who didn't know anything and was just kind of curious and excited about everything. Yes. And everything was amazing because I was experiencing everything for the first time because I had never left Southern Maryland. Yeah. Yeah. A hundred percent. And I was so ashamed of that place. I was so embarrassed of myself. Of myself. Not the place. The place is just, you would never know it because it's too far away. But I was just ashamed of myself. I was ashamed or embarrassed that I didn't know. I felt stupid. I felt like I didn't know what everyone else knew. Bro. They were so cool. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's a part of, like, and I'm so happy we're having this part of the conversation because I think that's a part of like me being like, well, this is what I've known from this place that I was trying to get away from as soon as I could. So maybe there's a bit of that there. But I love it. Now it's like, I think of it now as a adult. And I think of my parents and my dad and my stepdad, who I've grown to just admire and cherish so much and learning that even though as a child i kind of push those things away i'm becoming more of my stepdad and it's fucking cool it's like my stepdad was someone who was stable yeah and like knew how to love my mom solid bro and you don't run away from that you know what i mean so like the older i'm getting i'm like oh like it's still here i haven't pushed it away but i'm just more starting to appreciate that place and those people from that place because i wouldn't be the propel fitness water with gatorade electrolytes zero sugar and vitamins propel hydrates better than water to help you get the most out of your workout and get back to your best self what propels you propel with gatorade electrolytes this person without that yeah you know it's good yeah it's a lot and i know we had like a similar kind not similar but like you know just hard times yeah yeah and that already yeah or whatever you want to call it yeah that'll make a person a whole lot of money would change your week you know i mean 20 bucks would change your week a hundred percent you know what i mean i was talking about that with someone the other day it was like i never take it for granted yeah that i have access to all kinds of things including just fucking cash i need to get some money yeah or that i could tip people because i don't go to i go to the same places oh it's same i've been going there for years you know creature i have it and i like all i love all these people they all yeah there's all these different you see a guy working hard he works at the valet or he he deserves but he really does this and he's on his way to where he's going and i was there you were there at pizza rev yes going to jesse j's house after and she's like i'm gonna cook you some food i know you ain't got no food i'm like yes ma'am thank you so much jesse j yeah she used to just like going back in the day love jesse taking me to europe for no exact reason i'm just like well i mean for a good reason but just like i was a kid and just getting out and you know jess fucks with artists yeah she's a real one yeah she is bro she's um well y'all fuck with real artists you know i'm saying that's why we're all here and that's why we're still here you know yeah the real ones are all just trying to figure it out and we're dealing with all our shit we all have a bag of shit we're carrying up the hill with us big time and what i've learned in my age is try to help people start taking stuff out of the bag i mean you helped me at the top of that because that was a thing that i needed to address clearly i'm like oh don't say that it's just like why yeah yeah yeah bro but i was i was thinking just how grateful i am that i'm in that place in my life and the kid that i was ashamed of or embarrassed of i remember i was um the one of the first times i was at i got the first time i went on a plane i came out here for like label assign us or whatever how old were you 20 yeah wasn't that wasn't that young wasn't that i was young but young enough um but i had already been out in the world i left home and we had already been like trying to make it and we were like 17 18 19 20 was when it started to happen they took us to like nobu or something i'd never been i never had sushi in my life that's fair no it's my favorite food of course yeah yeah yeah we were just fucking eating everything we were excited it was amazing and i remember catching myself somewhere in like the peak part of the dinner when i noticed that they were kind of entertained slash a lot of other things other than just accepting of us and cool and like it was a bunch of things we were entertaining them they also thought that we were like it was it was a bunch of other things other than just like oh these poor kids man they've never had a fucking fancy nice meal in their life well this is great let's yeah yeah yeah i feel you other you know what i mean it was it was like it was a bit of a like a moment where they were there was a moment where i could feel them little a little bit laughing at us and also kind of like a little bit like a little bit laughing at looking at us some other way other than just being happy to be with us appreciate us and i caught myself and i felt embarrassed and i remember that feeling yeah because they must have been more valuable more important than me because they already knew about this place and they come here all the time fully hear you bro you know what i mean fully hear you yeah and i remember that all the time when i start feeling like yeah i got you you know what i mean like what do you mean you don't yeah yeah you mean you haven't you know what i mean bro yes and i just remind myself that is so real if i ever even get close to that area yeah that's self-esteem that's my self-esteem yeah i got you that's me needing to feel bigger more and i remind myself because that kid was fucking the coolest kid in the world in the room yeah 100 bro and and that's what i look for now is that kid it's why i love fucking chase atlantic yes because 10 years in they can eat wherever the fuck they want they can do whatever the fuck they want but they're still they're still the at the core of those guys they're still the same kids i met yeah man you know what i mean like christian when i met him he was probably 16 after school this was in australia in australia i met i found them on youtube yeah i dm them on fucking twitter it was like back when the beginning of all the shit yeah and then anyways we met up at a coffee shop in sydney near where he lived or something just you and christian uh me and benji okay cool benji was there yeah and he was like 16 yeah and he was like he he was like shaking we laugh about it now because like he was excited it was it was like his dreams you know and like i didn't even know if he knew who we were but he looked us up and like and it all like he was like oh this is a this is a real opportunity this is some real shit and like he could be embarrassed about that now he isn't we laugh about it but at the same time that kid was fucking focused oh yeah he got on a fucking bus and came to the city and went to the fucking coffee shop and was like nervous yes because he wanted something 100 wanted to do something bro that's the coolest shit to me you know what i mean yes for sure he was being himself still still that way man he's still the same guy he's more experienced obviously he's not as he doesn't give a fuck about meeting anyone now but he appreciates shit in a way that only someone who is still in them he's still in himself yeah all those guys all three of them they're just real motherfuckers like to me like that's the coolest guy in the room and me and you both were those guys like when i think about the guy that i kind of ran away from for a little bit i'm not saying that but i'm just relating to i wish i could get back the time i spent ashamed of that guy understand that you know i mean understand that fully bro because i lost a lot of years to shame and do like embarrassment and slow self-esteem and then i came around through this building right this place like for the last 12 years or 13 years or whatever it healed me it grew me you know what i mean yeah and you were there so yeah no we relate i was like you know talking about because you were there but i will say at like every point since i've known you man like talking about growth earlier and like trying to get to that edge you've always felt more tapped in every time that i've seen you more yourself every time that i've seen you like when i saw you last at midi's party yeah i feel like we were closer and more connected than we had ever been just because our own like individual journeys that we were on but that's what i would say about you i feel like i didn't see any part of that where you were like going away from something that always felt like you were getting closer to who you were and i think that's what i would say and it made me feel just loved and safe yeah you know what i mean yeah i think you're right i think i i think i got more and more i've been on a journey of self esteem yeah and the more i just accept myself the more comfortable i am to be whatever i am when i'm with you yes and that's more honest than if i have to be happy yeah or i have to be a certain whatever for sure you know what i mean yeah bro and the more comfortable i get with myself the more in the room i can be instead of somewhere else yeah you know what i mean and your boy is definitely still working on that just you know it's like 15 years ahead of you bro yeah i mean but way older than you there's just certain things like i'll be having conversations or like something will get said i'm like oh it makes me feel a certain way but i think when i'm being more honest like i've been out the past two nights with like friends and like in over stimulating like areas and when i just like say something to like just let people know it makes me just feel more like i that's me being myself and i'm locked and i can't look at people's eyes and talk and feel comfortable and feel confident you know you know what i do in those rooms what's that i'll give you a little tool please i just go hey i actually i don't know if i really want to be here so i'm gonna try my best to hang yeah or like i'll be like yeah i don't know if i'm feeling it tonight but i'm here i'm gonna try my best if any point i leave just know i'm just yes yeah i'm not on the level tonight i understand you know what i mean hey that's i might i'll take that i felt like i made it through and it was good like time just like in certain moments you know we are programmed without knowing it yeah and this is why therapy is important because we wake up and we go wait a minute i just give me a minute how do i feel right that's all it is it's just like one little pushback like hey hold on a minute how do i feel i don't know man i don't really fuck with that and then nothing becomes extreme because it's not offensive when i say i don't know it's not for me i know i'm supposed to like it yes i don't know so i say all that to say is that's how you got here whether you realize it those are tools what you just were talking about too those are tools that i've just started this year you just started obnoxious you were doing it when we met yeah because you are smart yeah so you look for people definitely who are living more like how you want to live and then you find them yeah you really do man that shit is a trip bro it's as simple as that yeah if you want to be successful in life find people with the kind of success you want in any category marriage money yeah music health fitness yeah you are not going to have success spending time with and following people who do not have success in that category understand the fact yeah so your subconscious which is your stream of consciousness which is also where you get your music from led you yeah because what if you didn't choose any of this yeah do you know what i mean yeah this is my type of conversation yeah i know because this is giving me like i knew we would i knew we would do this because it's like to be honest i have not been to therapy but i've i've done quite a bit i know i know but i want to say i've just get on better help i will i will fucking call somebody i will i do have people that i talk to a lot and i also just do a lot of medicine work so it's like ramdas of just what you're talking about like mushrooms sometimes further you know ayahuasca sometimes there's one called cactus that lives straight from the heart everything that the heart is processing all the clenches all the flinches of life cactus called cactus yeah and it kind of brings them out and ramdas just speaks on like there's a point in life to where you can either you shouldn't like or dislike things and i feel like within any relationships that i've been in in my life if it's work if it's love the closer i get to just being in the middle with them it just makes me way happier be able to be way more present like being here with you now i'm like a hundred i'm like 99 like i want to say 100 but i'm like right here with you and it feels so right you know i'm not like disliking or liking i'm just like i'm here with my brother and i'm just like having a great time just like i've just been existing more in that and using that tool because it used to just our fates are somehow connected oh yeah for sure somehow some way for sure which and but that's the part to me that's it's like so psychedelic it is you know but but there's a aspect of life that you could call so i call it transcendent yes you can call it psychedelic you could call it spiritual you could call a lot of things and it's all those things yeah all things can be true yeah it's very true so it can be all those things yeah i live in a state of wanting to stand in the truth i had to get there i looked i reached for the truth yeah and i tried but then somewhere in the last few years i let and this show's been a big part of it it's been a big part of developing myself like my real self because i have to bring it here yeah and and and put it out there in order for you to do that yeah there's no one can sit in this chair and if i don't open up they won't open up 100 and then the conversation's weird and it's not it's not interesting and people don't get anything from it there's some nutrients in the conversation oh bro yeah and i love for this one today it's like we started straight from the jump yeah you know that's why i didn't want to talk to you out there i feel that i tried to tell you i was like no no no you did it let's go right into the chair no it was save it save it come on come on it was perfect and i was like don't know duane don't pull me into a conversation because i will start talking once i start talking i'm gonna be like it's over man what is that's why this is so nice bro because yeah you're right though you made the right call you know what you're doing man i know myself yeah and i know this yes i know what we're gonna i can sense what what's gonna happen on the way in it's very important to me you're the first episode i know of the show yes sir you're also someone that i've again i say our fates are connected somehow we have like all these intertwined it's very interesting like even this building yeah do you know who sold us this building i do mr will smith yes i'm done with you will smith i'm aware fucking the man there's been many conversations when um you know i'm hanging with with the lady and her family and uh they'll bring up this place the royal family yeah when we were first like hanging and i'm like oh like yeah i'll be over there then you know go into beautiful conversations about it yeah i don't know i always fucked with will i never nothing he's ever done has fucking bothered like the world is so harsh and they want to take them down yeah but it's not possible you know talking about someone who has truly like transcended a lot of things i don't want to speak too much on it i just want to say like they are guiding lights in my life yeah i can tell from willow to jayden to trade to mr smith mr smith like accepting me so early on with love because i think when i went on tour with her as i still remember you and benjamin like you guys are going to become really good friends and i was like no we're not i just actually thought y'all were going to be together you knew early on i just thought you guys are like she's a good soul she's incredible since you know the the relationship that we've built like the friendship that we have bro is just one of the most important relationships i've ever had and they've just inspired me for everything and always just been so supportive and yeah i just love them it's okay too it's okay you should be protective oh yeah of that that's why i know you don't want to talk about it and i don't talk about it a lot either yeah i'm protective of nicole's family yeah yeah yeah yeah because it's the same yeah it's the same you know me lionel and brenda were very accepting of this like country ass unrefined bro raw yes gem of a guy yeah that's how they saw me yeah at the time i didn't see myself that way same but brenda who is my my mother like truly always treated me like she said i always wanted a son and from day one she treated me like a son and and bench yeah and and lionel too yeah um but to get the the mother's love is a thing you know it's a big thing and you know i'm i'm such and the father's respect yes you know it's it's incredible bro i literally um i couldn't ask for like a better bonus family it's good in a way you know good people incredible man but anyways i say all that to say this building yeah only happened because when we you know the story but for everyone listening this is the guy will smith is okay i can say it no he's literally the best okay yeah we're in here that this building's coming on the market i had worked here before it was a big studio everyone worked here will own the studio okay he made boom boom boom boom room okay okay the boom boom room it's not like from maryland uh oh i am from maryland um i love that so he owned the he he owned the studio was a big studio everyone worked here beyonce jay-z prince michael jackson tupac everyone and their mother has worked here all the great artists and everyone knew will on the studio and it was super cool there was like fresh prince of bel-air stuff and there was all these big classic right you were like oh shit they made that record here they made that record here jada her band had recorded in this room crazy and so it's just like this this building had history they'd owned it a long time and um so they they were putting the building on the market everyone knew about it because it's a famous studio and so we found out about it and on the day of the it's going on the market um they were smart they were like it's going on the market it's going to sell the same day yeah everyone knew it it's a badass building so we come in and it's packed 50 people 100 people everyone you see all these people you know too it's like all these big music people and big ballers everyone's here not a problem yeah yeah and so we get here this is in 2013 maybe or 14 and then we're trying to find the real estate agent it's like packed we find the guy and he's talking to somebody and we're like hey um how do we make an offer on this place and he's like hey how do we make an offer on this place and he's like we already have 10 offers you missed the fucking the window the window yeah those offers were written probably yesterday right so um so then i was like we go in the car we're like fuck felt so right what am i missing because we had worked here and ever since we worked here we always said that's my favorite place i want to okay yeah so you need ever could get that place right it was a dream and then the dream was possible because it was for sale and then so um we went and we sat in the car and i was like fuck man like we weren't prepared for that yeah and then i was like wait a minute lionel knows will al is friends with will i'm gonna text al and i was like hey al you got a second and he's like yeah and i called him yeah i was like hey we'll sell in the studio i know this is a lot but is there any way you could just ask him if you would entertain our offer we'll beat anyone's offer like just give us a shot yeah at it just give us a shot and he's like i'm with will right now he's like hold on bro yes and he's like hey madden brothers they're they're calling about your your you sell in the studio and he goes oh yeah yeah we're yeah he's like they want to buy it and he goes oh i love the madden brothers yeah tell him tell him done easy like that and then didn't asking price whoa didn't make us bid yeah no he just said yeah it's done get it and then we got a call from the realtor wow and he's like i was told we have to go to the realtor and he's like i was told we have to go to the realtor and you know just do the wrap this up that's and it was done that's fire that is the best story ever but that's why this building is i'm gonna tell him when i see him now i hadn't heard that well now the whole world's gonna know yeah but that's who he is it's i bro i mean in my few years of knowing them like i completely agree and it wasn't like some hollywood oh yeah no it was on some real shit it was like yeah i love those guys yeah tell them tell them done yeah tell them it We'll get it, we'll get it done. And then we were like, what is that? And then we got off. phone we're like i think we're gonna get to buy and then we get a call wow serious yeah that's real man damn you're gonna give me some crab bro i'm about to go because they're the best storytellers in the world and you know my like i'm very quiet like just like to watch the room but i'm about to have a great story it's a great time i see the homies so but that's what like every building every place that's special has great stories yes very true and that is the classic story about the time will smith sold us his fucking studio that's beautiful it's classic world-renowned historic piece of property yeah wow you know what i mean yeah i'm just saying no it's a beautiful story too bro honestly that's who someone is a hundred i mean that that's who the whole whole family that's the family so i was just saying i say all that to say you're all fortunate and blessed to find you each other in this yeah less fortunate and unblessed world sometimes i agree you know we've been digging on that a lot the past couple of weeks it's like man just to be by somebody that you dig it's like so special yeah so been people you want to protect yeah bro yeah oh the texas comes out sometimes yeah you know we're vibing of course yeah we caught up we pretty much caught up a lot this is this feels so good i knew it was going to be good but like last time i got to catch up with you was in december yeah and we've texted a bit i wore my leather pants for you dude you look great by the way thank you like and i just i love you like i'm just loving this conversation like it's dope that the cameras are here too yeah it's like that should be caught on camera and people should be able to listen to it but i'm like it's just nice to talk to you it is nice yeah so we can talk about anything bro to me that's the magic of the show is as much as we could get i mean we're aware of what we're doing we're aware of the cameras but as much as we could have a thoughtful open conversation about anything is the only thing that people that's interesting you know what i mean when you go out and do press yeah it doesn't matter what you say like for the most part you're talking to someone who is not it's not that they're not comfortable and they're not good at what they do it's that they're not open they're not willing to trade yeah they're not willing to give you something that makes them vulnerable got you that's the that's the fair yeah that's a fair relationship i love how intimate it is you know what i mean it's like we're extremely close to each other very close and it's like you can get deep right here some people can't it's too close no i dig it bro i mean it's like i prefer man i get real weird like sometimes around people like if it's not i just prefer this yeah like when it gets like eight people start to gather around a certain vibe and i'm just like i don't know you know i prefer to like look in someone's eyes and like even if it makes me a little it just makes me feel more connected yeah but also then i do want to open up yeah we we do history yes like i i want to open up here like i don't want to just like anyone anyone can sit here but if they are open to it yeah yeah yeah but yeah this to me is the best show best music show period yeah no y'all killing it bro yeah honestly man thank you like we try really hard we try our best killing the two i just want to put it out honestly and i see some of the homies i'm just like this to see nick here i'm just like ryan yes bro like we all grew up in this building bro it's just like i love this shit and seeing um like seeing joey coming in here i just i don't know man you guys just family bro so same old yeah man it's good it's good to have it's they told me they told me chase might be here later too yeah yeah i gotta give mitchell a big hug and a smooch when's the last time you saw them since december oh since his birthday yeah yeah i haven't seen him zavy was here but i was catching up with him but i hadn't seen middy since he got back they're doing good i saw clint another day and he played me like a little bit i was like fire just to see him at the computer working i was like oh this is making me feel like you know just that feeling yeah and i'm sure you've been happy to you know i love those guys yeah man yeah i'm trying to say chase atlantic has i don't know man like as much as we've as long as we've worked together which is over 10 years they've done something for me yeah yeah like it's really important i mean but they're my brother you for them too bro like you know middy and like you know we'll have our boys we'll have our boys nights yeah we get to talk like this and listen to music and he's brought you up so many times and like being able to like we need to call on that person or like need to go see that person not even to talk sometimes just to fucking sit down by someone that you know loves you and cares for you yeah you know like you've made a big impact on them as well bro truly and you know middy is middy is middy so i think that's important yeah yeah he's you cannot force him yeah to think anything to to be anything he is him yeah i love i love those guys i love mitchell i love clinton christian yeah um i guess i just want to keep encouraging you yeah thank you baby because um you continue to arrive you know i mean this is my mama raised me to be i don't know it's like yeah thank you for that too but or emerge yeah it feels like what else am i going to do you know what i mean like i'm not like i just want to be a better artist and being you yeah and being a better person and like being more open to conversations and learning and being a better lover being a better you know writer and all those things and i feel like i'm right i'm doing that tell me you know tell me more about the lover part oh man these voices that you've been doing i've never heard you do that and it makes me so happy i'm like yes this part of me is so happy i'm like i'm so happy i'm so happy i'm so of joel i've just been a little more free i love it joe seriously like i mean like my guard down yeah bro you know have fun play is i talk about this with um you know with people in my life i'm like play is fun let the nerd emerge please the nerd come out yeah yeah that'd not be so cool yeah bro i mean dude most of the time if i seem like i was being cool it was more just shy or confident enough to say like a fucking like make a little joke or have fun with someone i prefer to joke around all the time i really like sometimes i go not too far but like i love making jokes and it's mostly for me like i'll just throw out some bits and i'm like even if it didn't land like i'm happy i said that yeah you know yeah yeah it's real yeah but thank you for that though joe i definitely like i hear you and i feel like even though i'm sure they'll have to top down like i more appreciate the long-winded ones because for me that's kind of how i get to i don't even think i got all the way to the end of it i don't even think i got all the way to the end of it i don't there with what i was trying to say yeah yeah but you felt me i feel you for sure the message for me is more just like keep digging for you yeah like yeah keep being more you every day keep being more yourself yeah and then let the music let the work just be the thing you love to do and you'll never be finished because you'll always want to paint again yes if you are excited about like you and what you your ideas and like dude it's i agree with you and what you think is cool because you're different you're cool yeah and like everybody that knows you likes you everybody that knows you fucks with you and i just think that like i think where we started in the conversation of like not throwing away the rapper kid was important to me because like i like that kid he's the same guy i don't see a different i don't see the different yeah you're not different thank you you just grown up you're just like a you just you've just been on your journey and like but this is you and but i thought you this was you then yeah i never saw a difference got you music is music it's like if i went and did some other kind of music you'd be like oh that's cool what's that over there you're doing that's my boy it's a country album yeah i'm doing my country album and you would low-key eat that shit i would kill country is your voice bro just won't put that out there i'm just saying yeah uh or if i rapped you know who will be you know i did rap when i started really yeah before we started good charlotte was it good charlotte or was it no it was on a i did not know this little uh on single cassettes yes one side would be the single the other side would be the beat yes okay on some hip-hop songs now i've heard about this i've never shared this with anyone ever wait can i say before you finish this i just want to say me and midi would be pissed if we couldn't help with this new rap career if you were gonna if we couldn't help with you well you guys would be my ghost writers so perfect i was probably 14 at the time yeah i was probably 14 at the time yeah i was southern maryland anyway so you get the single and on one side on a lot of hip-hop you would on some of them right most of them you'd get the song and then you'd on one side and on the other side you get like the beat and maybe like a b-side or whatever so i would get the beats and put it in the karaoke machine incredible and then the blank tape on the other one and record with a mic yeah and rap i feel like you were probably boring out like i feel like you were killing it i even had a rap name man man no wait since this is new wait can you tell us what it is what it was i had a few by the way i can't say it out loud you can't say okay i'll tell you later okay okay okay i love i had a few too it was nice yeah it was very nice i don't doubt you bro yeah i genuinely like i mean that anyways love it yeah yeah i had a few names before i arrived at maybe i should just go by duane my name yeah just my name yeah so uh let's talk about the what do you want to talk about the new music the new album or the tour we can talk about new music okay in tour what's the album album is june but i dropped that last year that was like the most realized you me artistically yes bro felt so incredible felt so like i'm like i've arrived is there new music coming there's new music that i'm dropping with lenny a song from june but we did a remix okay i had a beautiful friend the goddess lady in my life reposted it and then lenny found this song highway robbery and that's how we then started to build our relationship and he was like what the fuck is this who are you and i was like he's cool he's cool and he knows what cool is fucking cool as and i think it was like he was like i've been looking for like a young black rock star yeah with this sound and it was we just then went on you know that was last year and then now he's like big bro but it was just like the most beautiful journey to go on man just like being realized by someone that you look up to and he's not being like i know what you're doing it's like i see what you're doing and i want to help yeah he sees you and it was kind of the first time i felt like just by someone that you know someone looks like you they're in the same sport genre that you're doing and that you're trying to become what you are in that genre and for him to just like well okay so i have to say this is why i love it yeah as you know like mddn yes or or the the media company uh with veeps with the magazines alternative press and revolver and all these like we've always been interested in and wanting to find and support uh people different yeah right from us like there's a lot of versions of you say you know someone who looks like you i don't know what that's like because everyone in rock looks like me come on no let's talk about it you'd be hard pressed not to like get me mixed up with five or 50 other bands if you didn't know my music and me and you were just some pedestrian you come into rock and you'd be like uh which one are you the guy in black with tattoos who you know i'm just saying no no i feel you to be different is a good thing yes but to come in and be accepted and and and also see yourself yes and a lot and and like come in and and be able i don't know what that's like yeah and speaking to that point it's like me and my friends over the past year have kind of been making sure that we come arms and arms and you know support each other and like let us do our disco or let us do our rock and roll let us do our alternative you know like our to the left of center yeah a little bit but lift everyone up and it's like for someone like lenny to be the og and like the legend in the game pioneer pioneer and especially for me like i know what i do well and i see him doing his like rock of course but soul pop something that you can hang on to you know i love the way that he writes and it's always been something that i've found quite attractive you know and for him to hear highway and be like oh like oh yes you you doing and i'm like yeah you know like i'm on it so for him to build me up and just not even that just for the relationship you know when you can get into contact with someone who's been in the game it changes so many things for you like i was in the bahamas with him and in new york with him i was like oh this is how you like this is how you become 60 and successful and still look good and still have your voice intact and you know it's not by fucking around he's a healthy guy yeah yeah yeah he like jokes with me for like eating what i eat he's like what do you eat i'm still at the place to where like i'm workout by the way i think some people get it you know you know thank you but you look healthy to me thank you and i would say that i am but he just was like if i'm really healthy yeah he's like oh like you're still eating that i'm just like well yeah you're not bad food yeah like mcdonald's or something no not that bad but like gummies from like the corner store oh or like yeah like we like yeah we were in the bahamas and like there were mothers there were people on the street and they were like oh my god i'm still at the corner selling the food of the island yeah and yet i was partaking in that so he's a healthy guy yeah he is man that's how you live a long time it's true it's very inspiring for me like especially coming from where i come from yeah it's like you know yeah we come from well i will say this we're from similar places in the sense of like i would say economically yes for sure different parts of the country though there's just not access and information and for the price point and like now i could go to arizona and i could go to arizona and i could go to arizona and i could go to arizona and i could go to arizona and get like a 20 smoothie yes and i know like it's got all the ingredients listed in it and like it's still even not good for you because there's a lot of sugar bro we be doing the same thing looking at i'm like oof yeah but yeah it's healthier than going to mcdonald's for sure which i still do sometimes yeah t-bell more has my heart taco bell that's the one that's like taco bell but mcdonald's for some reason i love from when i was young yeah eight years old i was like i'm gonna go to arizona and i'm gonna go to arizona and i'm there a lot and that was like eating out you know so like it's a comfort food yeah i mean you know it takes me back every time for sure i probably eat it four times a month yeah i'm probably that would t-bell that would t-bell it's like that meeting that label that you had where you guys were 20 and came you know and you were just like whoa you know after that tour when i opened up for her it's i didn't know about these foods and i i know now i'm very aware and very conscious to it but it's fun talking to my parents about stuff like that and then lindy and i were like oh my even like checking on my parents and making sure like they're okay and you know we're doing the best that we can with what we have yeah so you know and you're all learning well you have to learn how like yes like but now i really do obviously now i'm i for the most part i would say 90 i'm healthy locked in yeah i don't drink i don't smoke yeah i stay away from sugar as much as i can that's the real that's the other that's the real addiction yeah uh that for me that's the like gas station food yeah that's what i eat yeah yeah literally i will go and have a feast yeah and so happy about it but now i'll go i'll get a fair life protein 42 grams of protein they usually have a banana or something true yeah and like uh and maybe like a nature valley granola bar where it's like oh yeah it's sugar but it's not as bad as crazy you know what i mean not as bad as a snickers or something like that anyways lenny yeah he's healthy he looks great he looks amazing he's a cool dude yeah he really is but it's every time i talk to him or see him it just shows me that man i got so much to work to do how to age gracefully like and still elegantly yeah bro truly elegant gentleman yes and he's a rock star still fucking rock like when you when you see his energy you're like oh like well he had to be think about it from when he came out to now he's seen it all bro yeah and we're in a different world now so i'm just saying he's a he's a bad motherfucker he's a bad dude man and it's once again that moment of me being a kid and understanding like damn like like i was picked like it's like for this tour for this song like for all the homies that i know for all the talented individuals you know for the people that have been on their journeys i'm just so grateful you know like i just feel very lucky and blessed so it's fucking just you worked really hard to be this lucky yeah yeah um we could only be blessed if you're aware of blessings yeah and grateful because you're not blessed if you're not grateful yeah you can't be blessed if you if you aren't in gratitude yeah you just can't yeah it's very true man and i do find that i'm i've been living i've always lived in it but i think as you knowing me for so long too man it's just this is just kind of where i've always dreamed of myself being and it's hard not to be in gratitude with that you know but also the guys like lenny kravitz don't just uh lightly co-sign people dude yeah you know what i mean like he's just like what am i gonna do today uh you know what i mean like that guy is getting to know him like it makes me feel more like just thankful and like i'm yeah man it's just really beautiful that's really beautiful man yeah yeah but like what we what we started on is you do have to pick who you want to grow up to be you do got to look for the people that you want to grow up to for that you got to look for it i started seeing guys ahead of me yeah and i go man i like how it's turned out for him and you realize it's not an accident yes because you get to know that they make decisions yeah and then they stack them on each other yeah bro and then you start to realize that life is actually the sum of your life at each stage is all the decisions you've made yeah dude you know what i mean yeah i've been that's that's why i was saying earlier i've been becoming fascinated with duane's story like yeah i'm like damn good story all of all of these decisions have led me to this moment and i feel so prepared and just down you know and i know the work that i'm trying to put that i put in and what i'm trying to do you know for the future too but just feel happy about it bro i'm happy to be honest i'm just like oh man like so the song comes out tomorrow night yes bro yeah highway robbery featuring my literal hero lenny kravitz man and then are you guys going on tour going on the road in europe yeah wow yeah man starting june through through like end of august awesome yeah bro so it'll be good for you i love you congrats bro thank you man i'm killing it i'm excited bro we got the one with mgk right before that in america oh cool which would be awesome it'll be my first time in arenas and i'm about to you're touring with mgk touring with mgk first now then about to yeah yeah we're about to leave for that and then we got lenny right after about to turn some people on to i wish people knew once again like we were talking about the big homie earlier i wish people knew how sweet he was i think people who are smart no I hope so because he's a star but also talking to him it's like we've had talks on the phone because it's also that story to me is amazing because I used to the lady opened up for him years ago I was just on the road with her always treated me with so much love and respect they never knew I was an artist though and then we got to connect on that level he was like you should have told me i think like i said people who are intelligent you see him yeah he's very creative very bro he's a very good person he's a nice guy yeah but he's not afraid so if you and he's he's young he's he's he's come up from a young age i i met do you know our story of course yeah so i met him at a young age yeah where he's like maybe first trip to la he's got stuff yeah so he's not afraid so he's more likely at a young age to not back down yes and he's very good he's very smart he's very good with words yeah and he's incredible and he's not afraid and he's been on his own so long that he couldn't rely on anyone to protect him yeah so i always saw machine gun kelly and i saw him coming yeah and when when he when he fully developed as an artist on his journey very similar to yours yeah i always believed like that he would ultimately be a huge success as a person and what does that mean to me it means happy healthy and wise yeah you know what i mean and so i like that when i see someone who's that lady kravitz happy yeah healthy and wise facts you know what i mean for sure that's the goal who do we admire who do we look to people who are happy yeah healthy and wise very bro so but yeah machine gun kelly man what a special guy i love that guy very special man i yeah i love him and i want him to come on the show but i feel like he would give you a great episode yeah we would talk and i'm just happy to like he's someone that i've been around a little bit lately to where i get so much knowledge from him every time on life stuff but also he'll drop gems on me on the music tip and i'm excited to just you know be with him every night and get to watch him learn from him and um you know yeah yeah man i'm trying to i'm trying to get there you know and vibe that vibe so it's a it's a beautiful one good for you man man you're a huge success i love you bro thank you so are you bro sorry i mean you know just like we wasn't supposed to any anything like what is going on now especially in my life like i think my my family my mom just gets a kick out of it that's cool it and it's so it just makes my heart smile like she like she doesn't laugh because she's like you've been saying it's not silly things anymore it's just stuff that i wanted to accomplish in my life but she really gets a kick out of it and it just just makes me smile bro it makes her smile i'm sure she's um proud yeah yeah man and happy yeah it was just her birthday she turned 52 bro oh she's young yeah she's young she's a baby damn and i'm just she's gonna come to some of the european shows she's never been a year gonna come to some of the mgk shows too so it's like me getting to live my own life and i'm just like my dreams is kind of allowing her to just get to travel more and like do things that she's been expressing to me in her age where she is now that i never knew as a kid because she was just working and doing what she had to do to get by so yeah it's incredible the nice gift it's a blessing yeah yeah the least i can do it's always like the funniest thing because my mom never let me do anything as a child like i couldn't go to party i couldn't hang out with girls like outside of the house i couldn't do much and like was she strict very okay you know like grew up in church yeah came out of trouble and the one thing she said yes to a lot of things but my mom was strict too she was strict man but she allowed me to come here and that was always she gave me so many gifts in life but like her being okay with me coming to la is just something that you know i could never thank her enough for yeah she was a part of it yeah i mean she said i believe in you yeah i don't know what you're doing but i believe nothing but that right for sure that's cool yeah man so good for her yeah he deserves a trip to europe yeah euro vacation literally yeah yeah she's stoked she's good yeah yeah man yo my last thing i want to say we're in calabasas i was there last night you know it's beautiful yeah it was beautiful and i spent so much time there but we were driving up to the house fucking punk band playing in their garage great you know in the neighborhood so it's all good and we stopped by maybe two weeks ago we're coming from maybe soho and she made us stop i was like she's like she's like she's like she's trying to get to the house and we just stayed and watched this band for like five songs in their garage in their garage called bleach oh great kids they did about three smashing pumpkins comfort i'm like the world is healing these are three young kids that do not have to be doing this their their life is you know they're fine yeah and um they they had a show like two days ago we went in me in the home here you know there's a lot of young white kids and they're like yeah these are the friends that came and like we just stayed in their garage and talked to them about music and it just gave me another boost in my battery to be like this is what it's for people still want to make music yes yeah they want to be where you're at you want to be where lenny's at and lenny's like you'll get there bro but stay in the garage it's the best place it's real and it's we went to the show 30 people all family these kids are fucking going for it though man and it was just so beautiful so shout out to those homies and the bleach kids man and they're just like yeah you know our parents do this and that but we want to fucking play with them and they're just like yeah you rock and roll yeah and that shit was just that's cool yeah it was amazing man i just got to this place where i'm like every moment i'm happy to be in that moment yeah and no matter what i feel if someone's looking at me one way or another because it's all just angles yeah for sure you know what i mean it's very true it's just a perception of like you could walk in one place and like oh my god if i'm talking to this person who's in a band who's who's a brand new band in the garage yeah bleach yeah and they're like i've accomplished this and i'm like oh my god they think they want to so they look at me different but to this of the moment biggest pop star in the world i could be a washed up old guy what does he know understand but i'm happy with all of it yeah yeah yeah do you know what i mean bro same and then you start to realize like it's all just like a thousand different angles yeah of how someone might see you and that's actually is you all of it is this is just so fascinating to me because are you on ayahuasca right now bro i'm just kidding i'm just kidding god no say what you're gonna say no but it's like you are no no you're good that point though it's like why i'm the more i think it's the more happier i become with duane yeah the more fascinating i'd be like my story is to me yes because all those angles especially the past few weeks i've been doing like the thing you know because i have a song coming out with lenny kravis i have these tours you have promo and all that you know but like the angles that people are catching me from i'm like just a badass angle you know and i say that with love but like i'm digging these angles that they are catching me from because it's just me you know and it's like i don't know i just feel happy with all of that yeah you know and it's not whatever it is but it's like i'm stoked with it i'm just saying yeah it's exactly what i want for you yeah yeah yeah is to not fight anything but for what you believe in yeah i love you know and also you have so much wisdom so i'm just saying i'm just saying i'm just saying i'm just saying i'm just i could literally talk to you all we just need to get dinner and do you know you may you me yeah sushi yeah i ate there last night i love you bro yeah me and the lady gonna see you there one night let's just let's just do it so we get everything i think we did bro yeah i and we just got to talk so that's great yeah i'm happy for you man thank you i'm really glad you're here thanks for coming thank you cool man so the song comes out two days yes sir tours this summer say hi to lenny kravitz for me i will yeah dwayne thanks for coming man i love you congrats thank you joe thank you bro thank you for watching artist friendly if you like this episode please make sure you hit the like button you follow the channel and please share it with your friends we appreciate the support that is why this show exists because you listen to it thank you guys and we'll see you next time