All 414 All
An urban take on Milwaukee's hometown artists, focusing on the city's music and pop culture.
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All 414 All Podcast Episode 38 W/ Rick Taylor
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Episode 38 The hometown commissioner himself, Rick Taylor paid a visit to the pod to discuss his premier venture The Rap Draft among his other pursuits! We talk about his origins and the progress he has made thus far! We then discuss our picks in the Steve Da Stoner VS BigFrank414 event and wether or not Milwaukee artists are more in competition than they are helpful to each other!!
With the next pick, the rap dragon select.
SPEAKER_03It's an MOC I see while I know it's pinnac when I leave a whole time he will keep and rappers in a fetal. Niggas see my name and told Snake like a Z Bows, but keeping P do. Cause P Wamido, he too for nothing like a Zero, but back to me though, back on Briggs for the city of Little It's the Relo City.
SPEAKER_19I'm a dumbbell, I'm a dumbbell.
SPEAKER_07Sunny square from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
SPEAKER_16This ain't no relationship. So my name is eating a home needing. I'm a puppy spin of blood so she ain't making my baby null and I'm a dumb cool hot boy summer.
SPEAKER_14Yeah, that went crazy once we dropped it on um Instagram. It was just going crazy back to back, like in a month of an hour. Yeah, bro. Bro got a nice flow.
SPEAKER_06With the next pick, the rap traps.
SPEAKER_17You say it's life in your city. That shit is lifeless to me. I'm in the lake is for me. That's the likely to me. Be trying to have a cake and need it too, but the knife is a fit. I need more than some pieces. Some of these bitches from the city need more than the lake. Like name a time I've never given you more than some space. Never mind how you've never belonged to one but the street. Okay.
SPEAKER_13He gets that is crazy, so I had no idea for him. In my mind, I thought he was just that's why I'm you know I ain't tapping in enough. That's crazy. Shout out to party at the four.
SPEAKER_09If it was for the R414 team, that would have been a first round draft for me in the face.
SPEAKER_14I'm even personally knowing her, I know like she really takes her craft seriously. She she rehearses, uh, she also models, so that also can play a part of her performance and stuff like that. And uh, like I said, she she also like um her vocabulary is really different and it mixes well with that confidence that she got. So she be doing her thing. Shout out to her.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, you can definitely tell there's uh there's a performative aspect that goes along with um, you know, making music, you know, having a character and having that um ability to how they say, like flip the switch on and off when you're on stage or whatever. You know, I I always hold it in high regard when people can do that, you know, because like he said, sometimes it just doesn't feel as natural if you haven't rehearsed shit like that, you know. So it's like sometimes it feels a little foreign. I know when I started performing back this year, the first couple months has been like a little rocky, you know what I'm saying? Because like you gotta get back into finding who that character is and you know, like just that performative aspect of yourself. Right. You know, but yeah, she definitely valid. Not a lot of rappers can match a beat that hard. Yeah, yeah, you know.
SPEAKER_13No, that's facts. And the way you put it is exactly what I meant. Like that performative. Sometimes I'd be like, I feel like I'll be lacking in that shit, and then I see that, I'm like, I'm definitely lacking because that shit is the way they be bobbing to it, bro. It adds to it. Yeah, yeah, you can necessarily even tone down what you're saying and just have that, and people will be like, oh, I'm watching this because it's fucking energy. Attention grammar, yeah, yeah. Facts.
SPEAKER_09You know, and it it goes with, you know, as you're creating your punchlines and shit like that, like that's what you're visualizing in your head as you're making the punchlines, like, oh, I'm gonna say this, and I'm while I say this, you know, and then it's like what that day did you get on stage if you haven't rehearsed and like really fucking remember that that fucking punchline is coming up. Yeah, it's like you could have added a little bit of flavor, spice to the performance just by remembering, like you know, these niggas in the back getting money, you know, and everything like this and shit.
SPEAKER_13That you know, something simple as that, you know what I'm saying? Like that shit changes everything, everything. Hey, you know what's that's another thing that you bring that up. I fucking suck at that too, bro. Like being on stage and then you get done, and you know, people will be like, you know, and they just have that little ending like statement, fam. Yeah, every time I ever try to do that, I'm like, yeah, fuck everybody, fam. Street T, nigga, yeah. Like, I don't say nothing, bro. I just be talking shit, bro. Like, what the fuck? I ain't say nothing. I'll be rehearsing. I don't I don't necessarily rehearse it, but I'll be trying to have something in my I'ma say this when I get done, it's gonna be cold. Yeah, or like in between this song, I'm gonna be like, I'm gonna introduce it like this. And yeah, I just get on stage like, yeah, I'm rapping my fucking ass off, nigga. Fuck y'all.
SPEAKER_11It'll be the moment. I'll say nothing, bro. I'll say nothing. That's just funny as up.
SPEAKER_09All right, Mike Check. You now tapped into the R414 Podcast, where hometown artistry isn't just a statement, it's a standard. Before we dive into today's episode, take a brief moment to hit that subscribe button and notification bell so you can stay updated on future episodes as we continue to bring you the truest talent our hometown has to offer. I am your host, the 414 Tycoon, more commonly known as Illy. And joining me as co-host is my lyrical brethren, the verbal executionist Street Team Hectic. These episodes are brought to you out of the Third War Studios, and behind the lens, we got SG Films. Joining us for episode 38 is the Milwaukee Media personality and videographer, founder and host of the Rap Draft, which in my opinion is one of the dopest podcasts in the city. Let's go. It's a pleasure to sit across from the legend in the flesh, Rick Taylor. Man, man, thank you. I'm honored to be here, bro. Honored to be here, man. Rock Patrol Heavy, man. I appreciate y'all for letting me come up here. Likewise, bro, man. This is uh this episode has definitely been um one that's like we've been waiting on, you know what I'm saying? Like it happened the way that's a good thing. You know, because when we started this podcast, we um, you know, we had the idea of like just uh using clips and stuff and talking about, you know, different artists in the city. We started off with doing we were like doing um Milwaukee Essentials, basically, and then trying to see if they had performances and shit like that so that we could start showing the audience um what artists are out here making noise, you know. And one of the first um one of the people that was the most consistent with uh showcasing artists was your platform. You know, so we relied heavily on your platform, uh breaking and entering. Um there's a few other ones, but you know, yours was definitely one like top three.
SPEAKER_14Man, that's right. I appreciate that, man.
SPEAKER_13I know that's facts. You put you put a lot of legwork into something to make it look so nice that it was it was you know undeniable. We had to we we were just starting, so we like we we need we need to have the the dope the dopest, you know, the the nicest looking shit and the the dopest lyricists, all that, and then you had it, bro. You had the and then you had the whole the whole idea of your shit is super cold, bro. I appreciate that rap draft with the rating, and you know saying that shit that shit's cold, bro. I appreciate it. And then I uh before we found out, because I didn't know you AI generated them at first. I was like, who the fuck is giving them these rates? I'm like, how the fuck? You know, because some of us I was confused. I'm like, how the fuck? I didn't get this rating that this is. And this other artist was like, you know, so we was like, but then you know, it's just AI rated. I was like, oh, that that that takes away from, you know, yeah, it's not like you was just over there fucking personally giving points and shit, you know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_14Right. And that just came about just from having fun, bro. I weren't I really wasn't even serious about that until I seen what it started doing, and I was like, oh man, this is pretty cool, it's pretty cool. Like I just see how the like AI was like really taking information from these artists and their body of work and just grading it like that, and people like love to see it and they wanted me to continue with it. But you know, of course I got backlash from it. A lot of people like, man, I should I should get this score, this person could this score, but I'm like, it's not me, you know what I'm saying? And um I I understand, that's dope, but I gotta be fair. If I did it with them, I'm gonna do it with everybody else. So you know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_09And I definitely feel like um, you know, don't don't take this any like it's supposed to be that way or not, but like uh, you know, you could actually be the um like a Gordon Ramsey of fucking music, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, the person, the the the absolute critic who's like, okay, fuck it, this is what you could do better. That, you know, because in all sports and shit like that, even if there aren't actual players, there gotta be somebody judging and keeping score and keeping the numbers and shit like that, you know. So, like, you know, that could actually be, you know, eventually you could get out of doing the AI shit and you be the person, like, you know, raiding and shit like that. Or have a committee. That's what I was gonna do. I was thinking about that too. Because they I do agree a little bit with the um with the artist in the sense of like he said, sometimes we would see some artists like, how'd this artist get more than this artist? You know, but granted it's taking an overall um view of it and not just like okay, lyrical ability or whatever, but you know, sometimes they're there that human aspect is needed.
SPEAKER_14Because it get a little iffy, and I'll be like, Yeah, I'll be nosing at myself, like, all right, man, let's look a little shaky. I did probably start doing this myself.
SPEAKER_13No, you know, I mean, I I think you could for a foundation, you could have the AI forever, you know what I'm saying? Just to just to set it off. And then and then you'd be like, well, I'll take some from this because of this, or you know, yeah. But overall, shit, like I said, when I found out it was AI generated, I was like, oh, then I'm that's cool with me, shit. It doesn't matter at all anymore. You know what I'm saying? Because it's not, it's not uh, it takes away your bias.
SPEAKER_14Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_13You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_14And that's exactly why I did it that way, because I ain't want to see him being biased. And I also was gonna do it like um when I do start doing more things like that or judging people and stuff like that. I will have a comedian or have some people who are also not biased, yeah, or probably not even artists at all, and just you know, rape these rappers and musicians and stuff like that as well.
SPEAKER_13Yeah, that's facts. It's just like I said, but bias is just a human nature thing. So you're gonna do that no matter what. You're gonna be protective over the people you fuck with and love, and then other people you're gonna see differently. That's just natural. Yeah, so the AI generated is cool, but overall, the idea itself is fucking amazing. Yeah, thank you. You know, no bullshit, bro. That shit is amazing. Only question I have is where the fuck is mine? There's a lot coming up. You're really only here today to find out why the fuck we're talking about. Nah, I'm talking shit. No, but you know, and then uh another aspect, you you've had people rapping on your shit before, you know. So, you know, um that's kind of an open thing for all the podcast world and shit. But you did do it before we did, so we salute that forever, because you know that's that's some shit that the city needed, and I seen you do it before we did it, and I just you know, I'm putting that out there that you was doing you you are uh uh a pioneer with it, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, and the city needs that. The city needs stuff like what we're doing, you know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_09Well, I recently seen um too. Um there was a reel on Instagram where um we watch dude all all the time, but uh he was basically an AR for um some of the bigger labels, and now he's kind of doing his own thing, and he was talking about how now because of the fact that record labels are cutting their staff and all this shit, there's not as much um platforms to artists to go to to actually like showcase their talent and to be interviewed and talked about and like work that uh that media to get the to give it to their audience, you know. So it's just like they're doing shows, but they're trying to set up their shows by themselves, and then you know, like um whenever they're doing uh stuff for their social media outlets, it's just basically off their phones, or if they have their own camera setups, which a lot of them don't because they're spending so much into the actual production of their music, that it's just like it makes it hard for artists to um do their promotional side because it's they just can't afford it, or they just they don't um have the means to like focus on both things at once, you know. And if people like us could be there to like really be um a space for artists to not have to think about that, you know, to just think about the art side and then we think about all the technical production side of uh you know the visual media to help share to the audiences and shit, that's that's something that's missing from the game now.
SPEAKER_13Right, you know, and you know even more so in Milwaukee. Yeah, mainly in Milwaukee. Even more so, you know, because we don't have we I'm telling you, bro, you you holding it down, you breaking and entering. Who else, bro? Us, nigga. Yeah, y'all. I'm saying, I'm saying, like, uh obviously aside from us, I'm saying like who else though? Like, yeah, well, where else is it? Not a lot, yeah. I guess dog does it sometimes, yeah, but he's not super consistent with it. Um fam, who be managing this shit with the red sign? It's the it's called like the platform or some shit.
SPEAKER_14Is it cold red? Cold red. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um playmaker.
SPEAKER_13The KB, there you go. Shout out to KB.
SPEAKER_14We also, you know, you also got like juice talk and uh mixtape trappers.
SPEAKER_13Okay, uh Jerry Coleman.
SPEAKER_14Yep, DJ Jerry, yeah.
SPEAKER_13DJ Jerry. So yeah, shout out to him. He just posted some shit that I was like, man, I would love to have him on here to argue with him because they was trying to clown lyricists and shit. Yeah, like y'all be saying all that shit with it. Oh, I seen it. I seen it. I went on there, but uh, I went and commented because dog was trying to make fun of him. Yeah, and he was like, Yeah, talk about some epiphany, sympathy. I was like, hey, low key, that bar was code. You was trying to clown and that shit was code. No, but yeah, so yeah, we do. So okay, so that and that's why I'm asking. So we got mixtape trappers, cold red. What was the other one? Juice talk. Juice talk. That's the one I don't know of. I never we're gonna have to plug in with that. I'm gonna tap in. Yeah. Uh you got rap draft. Yeah.
SPEAKER_09And then but think about how many that is. You know, that like that's not even enough for artists to have one a month. You know what I'm saying? Like Type So you can't, yeah, you can't do a whole year, a whole year of press of one a month. Right, not at all. Like and and and then, you know, you probably could if you like throw in a lot of the people that have like home podcasts and shit like that. You know, but you know, back to the consistency thing, you know, like a lot of people, you know, you've been doing yours for years. Yeah, we just like we're just reaching our first year, you know what I'm saying? But like it takes so and side note, the growth that you've made in the year that we've been, you know, doing this abortion. And then like where you're doing it out of now, and just like the setup, the whole setup of the setup and the growth is like fucking yeah, yeah, because you used to be kind of like this right now. You just had a rapper next to you.
SPEAKER_14Yep. So I had yep, so I I started in my um, well, before I even had performances, I was pulling up on people with the cracked camera.
SPEAKER_13Okay.
SPEAKER_14And then I had turned it into the um a podcast in my apartment, and they was we was at my kitchen counter side by side, and then I found my first spot, and it was a table just like this, side by side, lost that space, went back to the apartment. Now we at where we at today. So yeah, it took a lot of trial and error and just a lot of like um steps back and stuff like that. But I kept going and trying to be consistent with it because I know what I was trying to build.
SPEAKER_13So man, so like salute to that, man. Thank God, because I didn't know that. Yeah, you know, that's crazy to go to a spot and then you, you know, because a lot of people, me, that would have fucking took away so much of my um the drive, bro. Exactly. The drive to do it, fam. Yeah, like if I would have had lost, if if I would have gone from an apartment to get the spot and then had to go back, that would have killed my whole shit, bro.
SPEAKER_14It almost did, bro. I ain't gonna lie.
SPEAKER_13I bet, I bet, fam. And you snap, though, that's that's yeah, that's dedication right there.
SPEAKER_09And you know, statistically, because I was looking up on Google like how many podcasts make it past certain time frames or certain amount of episodes and shit like that. A lot of podcasts don't make it past uh 10 to 15 episodes, you know, and then that's crazy. Once you put in um as far as like the amount of money that they get spent into the podcasting and promotional and you know, just all the little shit that people probably don't think of that we pay for in this shit, is like you know, that's what makes a lot of people stop before episode 10 and shit like that. So like if you get past episode 20, you're like in the top one one to five percent of podcasters, you know, because the other 95% of them quit. You know what I'm saying? Just because you get to realize real quick, like, oh shit. It ain't as easy as it looks, you know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_13Yeah, it's really not, bro. It's not, and then and then like you know, we we got a good um chemistry and a good setup, you know. We we we got roles, and we never really sat there and like, all right, you gonna do this. It just kind of was like, all right, this is what I'm bringing to the table. Hey, I could do this. And it just so happens that it's fucking it's working out really fucking well, you know what I'm saying? You know, so it's like it's still so much, bro. Like, you know what I'm saying? It's still a lot, fam. Like, I still find myself, I'm like, man, I gotta now I gotta sit there and three hours real quick. I gotta now I gotta take two hours that day, and you know what I'm saying? Right. Just because the look matters though, you know what I'm saying? And as much as it is for our brand, we want the people that come onto the platform to reap the benefits of the looks of it. Yeah, the sound of it.
SPEAKER_14I know what you mean.
SPEAKER_13You know what I'm saying? No, I know I know I'm saying it. When I say our, I mean I'm talking about all of us as a you know at the table, because your shit is like the the growth is crazy, bro. Like the the podium idea, bro. The podium idea, like, how the fuck did you get that for this year or the draft? That sound, yeah. How the fuck that shit is gone, bro?
SPEAKER_14Man, it's I'm appreciated, bro. Like that just came about. Like, I always had my title for my show is rap draft, and I'm like, how can I make it feel like a rap draft? Yeah, I couldn't too much do it in my apartment, so it's like, you know, my family's here. But once I got that um that spot, shout out to my wife because she was like, You gotta get you a spot, you know what I'm saying? Thank you. She was like, You gotta get you a spot. And then um, we pushed to give me a spot. I found it on Facebook Marketplace, went to go see it on Wabua Toaster, and I'm like oh yeah, this is it, this can work. And then in my mom, like now I can set it up how I want to set it up. And I thought of that podium. I was like, okay, we're gonna do the podium like a draft. If anything, if I want to get it to a draft field, I need that podium. Yeah, and I had the sign. It ain't nothing to have a get a backdrop and then just you do your my performances like that. And then I just got it, and now he is where he is. You know what I'm saying? We rocking and we rolling. It's amazing.
SPEAKER_11Yeah, appreciate it. The podio. Illy love the podium.
SPEAKER_14He was like, I don't do this shit, bro. Man, when I first like got it and I did like the first, um, I had Soglo summer. She was the first person on it. They was like, bro, I gotta come up there, bro. She's so cold. Yeah, yeah, man.
SPEAKER_13See, and then people sleep on the uh the sequence of shit like that. Yeah, like that. That's a good decision to have somebody like that. Hey, I want you to launch this look for me. You know what I'm saying? Cause she she set that shit off. You know what I'm saying? Like, they seen her, like, oh, no, I need that, fam. I need that right there.
SPEAKER_14That they was like, what is this, bro? What the fuck is this? Like, bro, you got a new spot. I need this, bro. I see that podium, bro. That podium. Every time they come in, they're like, All right, um, we okay, I know I'm doing freestyle, but I'm gonna be in front of the podium.
SPEAKER_11I'm like, Yeah, yeah, you can be in front of the podium. Yeah, don't put me at the table for me.
SPEAKER_14They want that table, they want that podium.
SPEAKER_09And I mean, we definitely understand it because when we first started ours, um, we had Rich P here, and it was for us, it was a real big um, it was important for us to have start our first episode with a really good lyricist, you know, and like just a really good artist. Because I feel like since we've had that, we haven't backtracked into like just accepting anybody to come on. You know what I'm saying? Like, if if you want to get on this podcast, you gotta meet a certain threshold, you know. At the very least, you have to like fall within this good music type field. You know, not just like I just put out whatever and you know, I'm trying to get on y'all podcast.
SPEAKER_13I make music and I'm from Milwaukee. Like, all right, that's cool. I got you. Like, I we for the we for the hometown, bro.
SPEAKER_09We for we for the and we respect it, but at the same time, it has to be a standard. You gotta respect what we're trying to do as well. Right, you know, you snap though, so so so glow for the first one. Right, yeah, right.
SPEAKER_13You know, shout out Rich P. Uh Rich Peter. And we hit him the last minute too, so he didn't even rap, for he wasn't even the first one to rap either. That sucks.
SPEAKER_09No, we definitely gonna get him back, though.
SPEAKER_13Oh, yeah, he's finna come spit some shit.
SPEAKER_09Fuck that. Yeah. Um, so what are a couple of things that you are involved in outside of um your podcast rap draft? I know you got the Rick Taylor Entertainment.
SPEAKER_14Yeah. So, you know, Rick Taylor Entertainment, that's just my brand as far as from um the film stuff and the video production. Um, mainly that right there. Um, I do film. I um I don't know if y'all seen Slap City. It was a series we did back like four years ago.
SPEAKER_13I seen I seen some of it.
SPEAKER_14Yeah, me and Ray Shot at Productions, we did that. Shout out to Ray Shot. Shout out to Ray Shot. We did that, and then we also had a um short film called The Muffin Man. It was like a little horror short film. So I'm pretty much in the in the film stuff, man. I like writing film and doing skits from here and there, but mainly films. So that's what I'm trying to get.
SPEAKER_09Man, if you remember, please send me a link to those. I would love to check those out. I got it.
SPEAKER_14I remember the Slap City one for sure either though. Man, a lot of people be like, man, what's going on with that, bro? Why y'all ain't keep going? It's just like a lot of people start like, you know, going to jail, falling out with each other, and the main character didn't want to do it no more. Because we was gonna do it um part two and turn into a movie just now, but all that stuff happened. So I'm gonna probably do a spin off.
SPEAKER_13Slap City South Side coming to look at it.
SPEAKER_14Yeah, yeah, you're right, though. Slap City Slap City universe.
SPEAKER_11You gotta just gotta pivot. You gotta pivot now, you know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_14Yeah, so that's that stuff. I like doing the film work, you know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_13So that's what that's crazy because I uh I definitely uh I haven't taken a step yet. I I have a script, like uh actual, it's actually really professional. But I got like three, maybe four complete scenes written out. But that's as far as I've gotten to it. But my interest with that shit is so much, bro. Like, I because film is like a whole nother level. It's almost like music, fam. Like, yeah, you get to tell a whole story painting the picture to it. Yeah, you're painting the picture for it, you know, you do whatever the fuck you have, but it's just I'm such a fucking perfectionist, bro. Like, and I there I've had video ideas a thousand times where I'm like, I want to do this and I want to do this. I'm like, nah, yeah, I'm not gonna be able to do that.
SPEAKER_14And that's the thing too, because I was I'd be the same way, but I be trying to like not get in my way because you can get in your way by thinking like that, trying to want everything to be perfect, but it's like just put out what you got, try to make the best of what you got, and then just go from there. Because in my mind, I'll be thinking like I'm thinking too big. The idea I got, you need a million dollar budget for this. Yeah, exactly. You don't, you just need to have it set up a certain way.
SPEAKER_13Yeah, you good, you good.
SPEAKER_09That's my that's why um this podcast took uh like a year, maybe a year and a half to actually come to fruition because I was I had the idea, and then I was like, I don't know if I got the means or the time or the people to like actually pull this off, but like this would be so dope if like we could actually do it. I sat on the idea for like a year plus, you know, and then I was like, you know what? I'm gonna just hit up SG. And I told SG about the idea first. And then I was like, I sent him kind of what I thought about like a logo idea, and then as soon as he sent me like a polished version of the logo, I was like, I gotta do it. This nigga just snapped out of my logo, you know, trying to fucking pull the trigger out this job. Yeah, that's what's once I actually did, like how you said, like, you just work with what you got, and then the rest kind of builds itself from there, you know what I'm saying? Like, just take it uh a step every day in the right direction, and eventually, you know, you'll be a mile far down the road. Yeah, you know, that's true.
SPEAKER_13So do you uh as far as kind of to add to that question, though, so you never did music yourself? I did. So you did, you were an artist before.
SPEAKER_14I was like, I started doing music like in 2010, 2011, or really in like middle school, but then I started getting serious about around that time, 2010, 2011. I was in this group called MHG, and then it was uh Fly Division, and then um, you know, I went by Ricky Rich Picasso. That's how I knew a lot of artists like LL Coolie and stuff like that. And um, DJ Jerry did my mixtapes, hosted the mixtapes, and then I just stopped doing music and I ended up getting to like the film stuff. And then um I bought Ray Camera, his old camera, and then you know, I wanted to I was gonna do music videos, but I'm like, you know what, I'm gonna do interviews first to get my you know my name out there, and I just fell in love with it. And then it was just like, you know, me being an artist before, what can I create that wasn't around for us? And I'm like, that's where it came, like the platform, interview people, a podcast, let them rap because we didn't have too many platforms here to let you showcase your talents and lyrical ability. So I'm like, I'm gonna do that. You know what I'm saying? So that's where it started. Like my love for music and still trying to be in the part of the culture spilled over to where we at right now.
SPEAKER_13Man, shout out to that. That's facts because that's literally, I was gonna say that earlier, I forgot the not that I forgot, but we kind of just moved on. But I never had that opportunity, like not that I never, I think it was once or twice. Shout out to Icon. He was the only that was the first time I really went in front of a camera and rapped, just just to rap and show people like a rap, you know what I'm saying? And uh uh shout out to Ricky Allen, he had put me on a radio show one time. Ricky Allen, shout out Ricky Allen, uh, and I did that one time, but that kind of was uh the situation just wasn't uh it wasn't a crispy situation, and it wasn't a visual either. It was literally just like some radio shit. So I'm like, we need that. We need the city need that, fam. Like, yeah, it really does, fam. Like, because there's so much talent, and if nobody sees it, hearing it is ten times harder, I feel like. You can hear it all you want, but when you see it in a world like especially in this world today, everything is visual, bro. Everything is shorts, content. You gotta look at somebody, see how they look, why they dress, how they, you know, how they move and shit. Yeah, so it's like you snap, bro. You said because I I thought about that. I'm like, I I feel like I heard your name before, bro.
SPEAKER_14Yeah, man. I I had a lot of different names. It was Ricky Rich Picasso, Castle the Great, then Ricky Taylor, then Rick Taylor, like you know what I'm saying? So yeah, I've I've done some music. Um uh I even done music with Ray. We had a group, right? Rich with Bands. Uh you know, I was in a lot of things. I was in some ciphers and stuff. I remember they had a cipher here. Uh nigga dropped the beat, nigga. You I was about to be like, what? But yeah, man, I I had my share of trying to be an artist at the time, but I was like, you know what? Even though I'm stepping away from being an artist, I still want to cater to you know the artistry and still be a part of the uh hip-hop culture. And I'm like, you know what? Start a platform and give it to artists that need to shine, that deserve the shine. You know what I'm saying? Instead of like, you know, and I'm not knocking anybody, I get being popular with music, but it's a lot of other artists' talent that got good music, good visuals, and good like lyrical abilities that I wanted to showcase.
SPEAKER_13Yeah, so yeah, it's almost like uh real quick I used to work at this fucking crazy ass, hard ass job. It's called waterproofing and shit, right? It was ever dry waterproofing. And we used to hate that there was never anybody that was on the field that would be the salesperson.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_13Because then what happens is we'll get to the job and the homeowner be like, oh well, they said you was gonna do this. They said you could do this, they said that it wasn't gonna be nothing for you to do this, and we'll be like, if it was somebody from the field, we could tell you we'll never fucking do that. You know what I'm saying? Like so it's like when you have somebody that is from the field that fuck around and go to that, now all of a sudden the the ecosystem of that works better. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? So it's dope that you know, being an artist and you came and then like you said, you knew where the the uh the deficiencies were. Like you were like, this is we're short on this, so I can do this for y'all because nobody did it for me. Yeah, so I've made that point before, it just it just popped in my mind, like it just works better for the everybody, yeah.
SPEAKER_09And that's probably why you know yours and ours works flows so seamlessly, is because we are artists and we've had you know our journey and we know what we uh didn't get to do that we would have liked to do, and now we're offering that to people, and that's what makes it so valuable.
SPEAKER_14Yeah, exactly. And when I seen y'all's, I was like, oh shit, there's somebody out else out there doing like you know, letting artists come up there on rap. I'm like, I like that, I love it. That's what I was I've been seeing. I'm like, damn, this is a dope podcast, bro. That's crazy, bro. So and the fact that y'all wanted me to come up, I'm like, hell yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_13Yeah, shit. We didn't, I didn't. I remember uh we had played your shit one time. I'm like, you think I should hit him and ask them if I can put it on here, bro? Remember, yeah, yeah. I was like, should I hit him and ask him? I don't I don't because I ain't really know the etiquette, you know what I'm saying? The podcasting is a little different, but I was I just did it in this shit, yeah, and I'm like, shit. I wonder if he if they be seeing our shit, bro. Like, because yeah, because that's his love, bro. Like, that's how we we see your shit like some pioneer shit. So for you to see ours and say that that's super love. Fuck that.
SPEAKER_09Definitely. Um, let's go into this next song that uh you chose. Go ahead and introduce that.
SPEAKER_13This is Von Alexander. I can't die.
SPEAKER_14My boy.
SPEAKER_13Let's go. This is probably the third or fourth time he's been featured on here.
SPEAKER_14Yeah, yeah, dope artist.
SPEAKER_01I know the little money don't make everything on the legs. I'm gonna tell you when I'm finna do it.
SPEAKER_13Yeah, bro. That's the first time I heard uh Von Alexander on some other shit like that. Yeah, he dope. Um he's usually like on some super hip hop. Yeah, like that's the first time I heard him uh on that that type shit. He was doing his thing, though.
SPEAKER_14Yeah, man. Dog is a dope artist too. He's another versatile artist. Yeah.
SPEAKER_09Every time we've showcased his music on the podcast, it's always been really quality shit. Yeah, like I can't say I've heard anything so far from him that has been like less than radio quality.
SPEAKER_14Yeah, yeah. He's one of those artists that he's really serious about his craft and production.
SPEAKER_13Yeah, that's facts because his videos be crispy too.
SPEAKER_14Yeah, very.
SPEAKER_09I'll fuck with that. Um so before we head into this next portion of the episode, if you haven't already, take a moment to hit that subscribe button and notification bell to help us help us grow this audience. A like, comment, or share with a friend are also great ways to let us know you supported and watch the episode. Also, shout out to our sponsor, Illy Tense, for financing these episodes. If you or someone you know is looking to transform your vehicle, add privacy, or keep it cool by blocking out the sun rays, give us a call today at 414-326-7283 or stop by the shop in Franklin, 8581 South 27th Street to book your next appointment. Um, also, I want to turn it over to you, see if there's anybody you might want to shout out.
SPEAKER_14Man, shout out to everybody, man. Shout out to um, you know, my wife, my my my family, shout out to all the artists who rock with me, man. You know, shout out to y'all, y'all platform, and uh man, yeah, everybody, shout out the whole 414, man. Everybody who's doing something, you know, positive and trying to, you know, stay consistent with their work, man. Shout out to you, bro, and keep going.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, keep working, keep us busy. You know, we we trying to stay consistent, and we need y'all for the other half of that.
SPEAKER_13We need that heat.
SPEAKER_09That heat.
SPEAKER_14Yes.
SPEAKER_09Um, I want to go into a little bit of an interview portion. Um, give us a summary of how the rap draft came to be.
SPEAKER_14Well, you know, um one day I was just like, you know, playing around, just like creating little this is like before AI, but like just creating little cards with artists. Uh it kind of it's funny because it kind of came through like You talking about like baseball cards? Someone like that. Yeah, yeah, something like that. And with the ratings. And it was kind of like the idea kind of came from like the Dev Jam fight for New York game. Yeah. I like how it looked like artistically. So I'm like, let me try to start making some little cards, cartoonage like this. And then that just led to me creating the rap draft, and that's when I started like, you know, doing like the interviews, and I also loved, you know, sports like NBA. And I liked how they like during draft time, they like compare artists or point out their strengths and their weaknesses and stuff like that. And I started doing that with my interviews. So once I kept doing that, I just blended them both together, like, and that's how I came up with rap draft. And um, I just been doing that ever since, just studied doing the interviews, and then later on down the line, that's when the cards came back up. And I had a new idea for it. So do you still do the cards? I do. I haven't posted them in um a little bit of time. I just posted one like last week, but uh, I still do the cards. I got a lot of cards coming. Let's go. That's a lot of cards coming.
SPEAKER_09I love that idea. Are you gonna translate them over into like a tangible card?
SPEAKER_14I thought about it. A lot of people like, man, if you uh really print those cards out, I'll buy them.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_14And I think that's something I'm gonna try to do.
SPEAKER_09Maybe like finding out a package uh pricing for artists to order their cards and sell to their fan base, like merch or something. That'll be hard. You know what else would be cold?
SPEAKER_13Like you can make packs for different like subgenres, yeah. Like trap artists, MCs, yeah, boom bap. You know what I'm saying? Have like four or five in there, or then you could you can start doing like some Pokemon shit, like throw a throw a gold one in there every fucking 500 or something. And if you get that one, I was like the shit, you know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_14Yep. So that got some ideas for that coming.
SPEAKER_13Yeah, that's cool. Verbal agreement, fam. We just need 80% off the past. Nah, but that shit code, bro. I also I'll I'll support that shit 100%, bro. That shit is cool.
SPEAKER_09I appreciate that. That definitely something I would want to invest in, bro.
SPEAKER_13I'll have that shit right here, right now. Yeah, look at my pack of rap draft cars. Just I'm telling you, bro, just I can't say it enough. The name, the concept, the whole shit.
SPEAKER_14And that's crazy because I used to be fighting back and forth with that name. I used to be like, dang, did I box myself in? Because I want to interview other people outside of artists, like you know, but I didn't because that's it's perfect for what it is for music artists. And if I want to do something outside of that, that's why my brand, Rick Taylor Entertainment, is still a thing, too.
SPEAKER_13So yeah, but I mean, I don't think I don't think you can box yourself in with that, bro. Yeah, because it's a sport. That's true. It's a sport, bro. Um what I love about the the overall name of it is you don't you you don't even you're not even boxed into the city, yeah. You can have anybody, yeah. Any fucking mainstream artist, any fucking underground, anybody, you can anybody could be a part of the rap draft, yeah, and can be rated. You can be put through the fucking the numbers and you know, and you can rap draft national, right? You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_14Because I see it growing, like I'm starting where I'm at right now, but I see this like growing to something just crazy, bro. Like as well, bro. Just just just like you can really put an artist on. Like, have you been on the rap draft? If you've been on the rap draft, you've been solidified.
SPEAKER_11Exactly.
SPEAKER_14Like that you've been on somebody's radar, like it means everything to get on here, but I got a lot of ideas for it, and I just see it really happening like in the near future.
SPEAKER_09Man, um well like to me, like, like you said, like um, if you've been on the rap draft, you've been on the radar. That makes me think of like the podcast on the radar. Yeah, you know, um that's a podcast though? Well, I don't know if they just do freestyles, right?
SPEAKER_13They do interview too.
SPEAKER_14I never have ever in my life seen on the radar interview. That little couch that'd be behind them, they do their interviews right there. What the fuck?
SPEAKER_09But that makes me think of like you know, with them, the the only thing that I don't like is you know, once once some of these uh outlets get too big or these platforms get so big, you know, they just start opening the floodgates to any and everybody, you know. So and then it kind of like diminishes the value a little bit to me. Well it's pay to play after a while. Yeah, you can't do that.
SPEAKER_13After a while, you're like, if you pay me, we'll put you in.
SPEAKER_14Yeah, and that's something I'm trying to separate from like I'm I'm taking people now, but I want to get to a point where I gotta I get it back to how I was. Like, you gotta earn a spot to come up here, you know what I'm saying? I'm gonna do a sub, like a different, like um a different like part for a rap draft though, like proving grounds, pretty much like you can come up and do some performances and people rocking with you, just like uh, you know, trying to build your resume of it.
SPEAKER_13Bro, the rap draft combine, yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_14Or the object stuff combine artists that you got to go through all these type of trainings to like, you know, it even like uh maybe one maybe one day, even like a reality show, like you know, niggas rappers and trying to compete and they going against each other, getting into teams, producers, all kinds of stuff. I got that's a lot of ideas I got, bro.
SPEAKER_13Bro, I 100% support all this. Cold, bro. Yeah, yeah. Because like you said, you don't have to do just artists, bro. Because like I like I said, you're so you're so far from being boxed in, bro. Because if you play it like any other sport, bro, they interview coaches, staff, the fucking, they're always getting updates from like physical therapists and shit to help you. You know what I'm saying? Like, yeah, you can fucking anybody, fam. You know what I'm saying? The cheerleaders are a part of it, yeah, everything.
SPEAKER_09And like uh, you know, city economics and shit like that. Like, how's the fucking sports translating into creating jobs for the city and shit like that? Like, it there's a lot, you can't.
SPEAKER_14Yeah, bro, it's a lot, and that's why I'm like, I had to tell myself, like, how's the music translating to what's what type of revenue is that bringing in for the city? Right, you know, and that's where that overthinking comes in. That's like you you're overthinking again, bro. Just yeah, package it the right way. It all makes sense. Yeah, you know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_13No, it makes sense.
SPEAKER_14All right, the combine got me geeked.
SPEAKER_09Like, that's no, that's that is fire. That is super fired. Um, what what's one of the most important lessons you've learned uh in life or music journey to this point?
SPEAKER_14Time wait for no man, and ain't nobody coming to save you. Ain't nobody coming to save you, and then like you gotta do it yourself. You know what I'm saying? Like, you sit around waiting on somebody, years have been and went by, like, you know, you could have just started where you at. And also, like that's another uh lesson. Start where you at.
SPEAKER_07Right.
SPEAKER_14You know what I'm saying? Because I almost did start my podcast because I'm like, I'm looking at other people like Drink Champs, a million dollars worth of game, no jumper. Like, damn, they got like all five of these cameras, all this big studio equipment, only got one camera, and I ain't got no good like professional mics. It's like, bro, it don't matter. Don't nobody care about like, oh damn, he got the sure as being mic. They care about what you're talking about, right? They care about what kind of content you putting out, what what like what your stuff means.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, you know what I'm saying? And the effort that you're putting into it, yeah, bro. And it if uh you know, it ain't gotta be like you. Said a million dollar effort, you know what I'm saying? But you know, if you got a thousand dollars and you're putting $500 effort into it, nigga, you didn't, you know. You took half of what you got and put it into what you cared about. You know what I'm saying? So that's the thing that I see with some podcasts, is like, or just uh some things in general, it doesn't even have to be podcasts, like artists just um are not putting enough effort into what they say they care about. You know what I'm saying? That translates to you can see that as uh the viewer or the fan or you know the audience. Yeah, the finished product shows for sure. Yeah, you're like, okay, you could have fucking put a little bit of it, could have showed that you cared a little bit better than that, you know.
SPEAKER_14You can't be cheap with your dream, bro. Like you gotta put it like whatever you have to put in there, start where you had, but at the same time, start putting more. It don't make sense if you're gonna spend this amount of money on an outfit, but don't spin it on to towards your your your craft. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? It just it's gotta like, you know, make sense. Push push your um quality, push for your quality to be better and for your your craft to be better.
SPEAKER_13You know, that's facts, because a Gucci outfit is gonna look trash if the camera trash. Yeah, man. If you if you hire the cheapest cameraman around, then your outfit ain't gonna fucking matter. Yeah, it's gonna look it's not gonna look right.
SPEAKER_09And one of the things that I like that you said is uh, you know, ain't nobody coming to save you.
SPEAKER_13Nobody's coming to fucking save you.
SPEAKER_09That makes me think of a quote that I I use often is like people are only gonna help you if they see you pushing the whip. You know what I'm saying? Like if your whip dies out and you're sitting in the car, like, hey, can you push it for pushing it? I'm not pushing your shit. You fucking get out here and push it too. Right. If anything you push it, I'll fucking die. Right. You know what I'm saying? Like, that's a help.
SPEAKER_14Like, right, you can help it. Not to cut you off, like you can't expect somebody to invest in you, and you ain't investing yourself. Facts. You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_13Yeah, we preach that. That's one of our main fucking uh messages on this show. Like, you cannot expect somebody to take you more serious than you take yourself. That's a fact. Like, how does that work?
SPEAKER_07Yeah, big facts.
SPEAKER_13Real quick though, that flashing on the shit, that's actually doing that while they're rapping, or that's an after effect.
SPEAKER_14That's an after effect. At first it was, but I'm like, you know, I like the way it looked after.
SPEAKER_13I'm saying because if you did that shit while I'm rapping, they got this.
SPEAKER_14Yeah, and that's another reason too, because it's like it could probably mess with the artist, but I'm like, you know what, I need as much light as I can. I add that actor effect. Okay.
SPEAKER_13I was just asking because I was thinking when you brought the shit up. I'm like, damn. Damn, that shit looks so cold with the fucking flash.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, no. I I know that shit uh that fucks with me while I'm like performing and shit. And I, you know, people are like fucking videoing, but like they're fucking flashlight design and shit. Like, I'm like, duh, like, I'm trying to fucking perform here. You got this bright ass light like that. Right in my face. Like, no bullshit. But um next question I got for you is uh what compels you to create and what are some sources of inspiration for you?
SPEAKER_14Um like I said, just playing my part for the city. Um that inspired me to create and create that outlet that we need to push each other for. Um and other platforms like such as yourself and uh the no jumpers, the the drink champs, the fun flexes and stuff, that's type that type of stuff inspired me. You know what I'm saying? Like I wanna be a service like that to my city, you know what I'm saying? Just play a part in to the in this community that I love so much. Right, you know, so I fuck with that.
SPEAKER_13And that's facts, because I d I I do love the fuck out of this city, bro. And then it does feel good now that we're doing what we're doing. Exactly. To um like just to walk into spaces, and it's more of a it's less of a what can you entertain me with as more more it's more of a you know, hey, I see what you've been doing for somebody else. You know, like last night that happened. I walked in, I seen everybody, Brad Fax was there, KV was there, I seen Lodi Powell for the first time in fucking like 10 years. That's my dog, shout out to Lodi Powell, uh Jay Wingo. I seen a bunch of people there, and they was like, bro, what's up? I see what you've been doing, bro, and it's a good look. And I'm like, I appreciate it, bro. You know what I'm saying? Like, as opposed to, hey, I see what you've been doing, it's a good look, what you're doing for yourself, you know what I'm saying? Like it's just what you doing and you're just trying to rap for people, you know what I'm saying? Like, yeah, which isn't a bad thing, I'm not saying it's bad, but you know, I feel I feel what he's saying.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, and it kind of sets you apart too. Like, you know, when you go places, you're it's less about uh what can y'all do for me, and it's more like how can I help y'all? You know, how can I help you? Like I said, being of service, you know, to the city and shit like that, you know, it it's definitely set you apart and it's it feels good, you know. I I definitely agree with that. Um last question I got for you is uh how can the all four one for all podcast audience find your content?
SPEAKER_14Well, y'all can find me on um, you know, YouTube at Rick Taylor Entertainment, or you can type in rap draft. Um on Instagram, it's at the rap draft. Um and also I'm Rick Taylor on um Instagram and TikTok and um Facebook Ricky Taylor. So let's go.
SPEAKER_09If y'all haven't seen this man's podcast, y'all need to go check it out. Episodes and his clips on Instagram, just everything's firebody, you know. You will not be disappointed. He he's the truth.
SPEAKER_13100% more. So if you like our shit, bro, go check out somebody that inspired us.
SPEAKER_14And that's another thing too I like to do, bro. Like, I like to show love to other platforms. Like I said, when I came here, bro, I was in awe, bro. I'm like, this is fire, bro. That's why when Mo and uh Stax reached out, and they was like, but we went on a uh podcast and they want to, you know, interview. I'm like, I mean, for sure. I'm like, you talking about all four and four? They was like, yeah. I'm like, yeah, most most definitely. Yeah, that's what's up, y'all. You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_11I was happy as hell, like, man.
SPEAKER_14Man, because like I said, I seen y'all a minute ago, and I'm like, I don't care, I'm I'm tapped in, and I'm just just seeing what y'all doing, bro. Y'all doing the same thing, creating, you know, you know, a platform for artists to come show their art and share their art and just make the city pride, bro. Like, that's everything, bro.
SPEAKER_09Right. And I look at it like uh, you know, team I look at this in every aspect, but teamwork makes the dream work. You know, and that's why I like how you mentioned, you know, we got the team here, everybody's got a position, you know, everybody's kind of doing their thing. Um and I even look at that like with you know how our podcasts are, you know, like like I mentioned before, it's it would be dope if artists had a different podcast to go to each month. You know what I'm saying? Like if there was like 12 code podcasts here in the city where artists could make around and have a different look every month for their audience, you know, like that shit would be super fired. You know what I'm saying? And it takes uh, you know, what we're doing right now, like extending the olive branch and like, hey, you know, like we support you, you know, whether regardless if you know you fuck with us or not, like we're gonna support you. So fucking I just think that's you know that's the way we all get further, is that we're all chatting with each other and fucking helping each other uplift each other up, type shit. That's okay. Um wanna go into the topics? The topic or the reviews? Uh yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_13The MK music reviews. We'll do the reviews. We play like how I've been doing so far, just clips of it. So uh this next one is my dog, fam. I'm telling you, I I love that when we find out about people, we do be kind of clustering, like it just so happens that way though. You know what I'm saying? Like, but Mo City, fam, I'm telling paper stacks and Mo City, bro, they've been, they they've become two of my favorites for sure, for sure. The more the more I tap in, fam, the more it's like, bro. Yeah. So uh this is Mo City, it's called Darth Vader. This is uh Rick Taylor's pick. Let's go.
SPEAKER_14Shout out Mo City and Paper Stacks.
SPEAKER_03Uh Body growing to the man, rap happy high playing, Wi-Fi to the lane. Catch a nigga when you can. Little baby she a win. Sweet light for the man. Press attention to the ran. I dunno deal with the frenemies, I duna play on the fringe. Cause we know what it is. We never making amends. Ask her mama, she gon' tell you. You should just leave alone. No, I never beat God. I got the gifts and I don't. This is the moment, this we won't, gotta go get it. I keep the home cover that advantage. People I'm not at home, they ain't winning. They can't diminish what we accomplish. I came from the bandit while no it's astonishing. I'm just a product cause some broken promises, some get no phonemes. Don't let them solid shit on I've been piling up thin and I'm toppin', I'm yelling, Jarruna. But they want my honor, but I ain't got time to the app before. Well, two phones going crazy. We was really in the basement, only on the basics. I've been cracking on the daily. Inside going crazy. Outside you never know. Never let these nigga phase you. Don't try to keep it player. Subtle rolling on the fatal, season pointed with the laser. Made a nigga dive. Watch you, judge.
SPEAKER_13Bro, the way Mo City he'll he'll do the uh son of the son of some of the son of it. And then the way he comes off of that, yeah. That's a fucking talent, bro. Like, yeah, then it ain't it.
SPEAKER_14Like, oh, you sat, bro. The way you came off of that. Fun fact too. You know, when I first started Rap Drive, Mo City was the first interview I did. Let's go. Yeah. Very first. Where's that? Let's get it. Very first.
SPEAKER_13Shout out my boy Mo City, man. Shout out to Mo City, fam. I'm telling you, and whoever that model is, bro, let me know.
SPEAKER_09I need you for a video.
SPEAKER_13Yeah, I need you for a video. Beautiful.
SPEAKER_09We got two videos, like all right, let's go.
SPEAKER_13So uh my pick is, and this is an older video as well, but you know, like I said, I'll be trying to tap in as much as I can. So but I just don't all obviously it's hard, it's so much music in the world today. But I seen this just as a clip like a week ago or something, and I fuck with Mook all day. Mook G. I fuck with Mook G fam. I seen him shut down Jam Fest. When I did Jam Fest, it was Shamara was there, me, uh PBG the prince, fucking it was a bunch of us that day. They did the first Jam Fest, and I I was uh I'm honored that I was a part of that. Bro, when I tell you that Moog G shut that bitch down, bro. He had all the hole shaking ass, fam. I'm talking about, bro, and I was like, what the fuck is going on, fam? I'm like, I need to go to a moon.
SPEAKER_09No, no, I'm telling you, bro. I was like, what the for real?
SPEAKER_13You know, because I'm like, I I used to bring crowds, but they was always my people crowds. You know what I'm saying? It was, you know, not that I, you know, I've done great shows where I've shut it down, but like, dog was just there, and people just came to see him. And when he got on stage, bro, and that was the mirror, and that bitch was pretty packed. He had that bitch lit. Yeah, I'll never forget that shit.
SPEAKER_14He's been like that since high school. He'd been, he's been on that type of time.
SPEAKER_13Bro, he called. That shit. So anyway, Mook G, Steve the Stoner, and then I seen this, and I'm like, they're uh, they almost on some like paper stacks Mo City shit. Yeah, you're two different sides, but you when you came together, it's great. So this is called tag team. Shop shot by Beyond Entertainment, and I never heard of that one until today, so let's go. This is just a turned up ass song, too, bro.
SPEAKER_09I'm gonna start taking my shirt off more than videos, man.
SPEAKER_05When the money called a T, it bursts like a city.
SPEAKER_11That shit's like fucking fire.
SPEAKER_13That shit was super.
SPEAKER_14I like when they be going back and forth like that.
SPEAKER_13Man, that shit is. Hey, man, hey, if he do that verse, Frank, you he on your he on your heels, fam. That shit would be crazy right there. He on your heels, man. We're gonna talk about that in a second.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, I fuck with that.
SPEAKER_13I fucks with that, fam. When I'm telling you, I seen I'm like, I gotta play that on the pod, bro. That's gonna be one of my hometown picks, because that's the type, and then that it sounds so good. That's some shit I'll play anywhere. Be like, nigga, this from my shit. This from Milwaukee. Yeah. This from Milwaukee, fam. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, hard shit. Yeah, and it's just it turned up. It's just the whole time.
SPEAKER_09Yeah. Shout out to that track too, because you know, they used to be trying to play Steve like he just be dancing and shit. But like when you hear shit like that, you're like, all right, man.
SPEAKER_13Are he a veteran? Right. Yeah, yeah, no, facts. All right, so this is the third pick, it's Illy's pick. Uh, this is Chrissy B. I don't want to speak for you, but I the first time I seen her was that that open mic. Okay, so the first time we both seen her, we met her at the uh at an open mic that's run by uh Aya.
SPEAKER_09Yep.
SPEAKER_13Uh is there a name for her open mic?
SPEAKER_09Yeah, it's called TBH, which if I'm not mistaken, sans yep, to be honest.
SPEAKER_13Okay, so the uh at the TBH open mic at Canai. Can I, I don't know how people say it, can I, yeah, but um we were there, it was her and her manager, they were super cool, like, hey, what's up? They was talking to us and shit. We get got their Instagrams and shit, and then she she went on stage and did her shit, bro.
SPEAKER_09Like, nigga, she was trying to rob me for my shirt, yeah. She was trying to take our 414 shirt. She was like, I like that shirt.
SPEAKER_13What size is it?
SPEAKER_09I'm like, hey, my nigga bought me this shirt. You know, what the fuck?
SPEAKER_13All right, but um, yeah, so this is Chrissy B, bipolar love. We have not heard this before. Yeah, so we're just literally playing it. Um, she's cold like that. And she says she writes her own shit. So Chrissy B.
SPEAKER_09You know, when we heard her at the open mic, we're you know, flabbergasted that type of shit, you know.
SPEAKER_13The song was and she said she wrote it. And we're like, that song is really fucking good. Like, you know, songwriting puts for us, it puts if it if if songwriting was part of the rap draft thing, that's a part of it. That shit goes fucking 100% for me, bro. Yeah, it takes it takes it takes points up.
SPEAKER_14At an open mic, you never know what you're gonna get. Right. You gotta add your own pin game and then you know, on top of the talent, yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_13What though, yeah. Let's get it. It's Chrissy B's called Bipolar Love.
SPEAKER_18We're so in and out, you made me hate the way I'm feeling. So much in my head and on my heart. I'm getting busy. Trying to forget to sweat out on cause I don't get it. I need intermission to break from all this week. I really don't want to live. The better days on the wood. We laughed and dance for a minute. So breaking dishes in the kitchen. I do want to put somebody willing to take responsibility. Nobody willing to get away.
SPEAKER_14The music video fire too. Yeah.
SPEAKER_09Like I said, when you go to an open mic, you never know what you're gonna get. Right. You know, from a lot of artists. So for her, like, and she had just she started up, they started up conversation with us, like it was completely random, you know, and then Heck was like, oh, what y'all doing? And she was like, Oh, we do hair and shit too. Like, get rid of like and then she gets up there and starts singing like this, you know. It's like, holy shit, like she cold.
SPEAKER_14Caught you off guard, yeah.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, and then just like you said, seeing her video and like she she the truth.
SPEAKER_14Yeah, she the truth. Like, I I I love her creativity.
SPEAKER_13I I again not to harp on the fact, bro, the songwriting structuring of it and the way it sounds is great. Yeah, taking all in, like this by that shit is bro. That shit is uh, it's just ready, ready to be the shit, bro.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, she got it.
SPEAKER_13She got decent views on there too. Yeah, 5.4k on her back. The concept is nice. That's crazy how how uh you can make a video just with that one scene like that and just snap.
SPEAKER_09Yeah. Angles.
SPEAKER_13Yeah, just angles. She's in that chair the whole time, bro.
SPEAKER_09As she told me, that shit angles. We'll go this side. We've used we've shot like hella videos at my shop, bro. We just use different walls every time. Light it up differently. Make it work. It looks like completely different video every time. That's crazy. Um, all right, so let's go into these topics. Uh first topic we got Big Frank versus Steve the Stoner. Versus, let's go.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_09That's gonna be fire. First off, who you got? Damn, that's that's tough.
SPEAKER_14That's tough. I mean don't hold us to it. I I'm I don't know. I'm I'm gonna probably be saying Steve. Steve? But I but Frank's still fire too, though. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_13Who you got? Bro, that's that's tough, right? Because they both got hella energy, right? Yeah. And they both do the dancing shit. So the the performance shit can go either way, fam. They're performing, right? Yeah, it's a performance. So the the performance uh section are part of it. It can go either way, fam, because they're both about to get up there and do they shit. And then it's very rare to have two people from Milwaukee that have the following they do. So the shit finna just be lit.
SPEAKER_14Right. It's gonna be a dope.
SPEAKER_13And they fuck with each other.
SPEAKER_14Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_13So it's like they could do a record together, I'm sure, right? They got a few together. So it's like, you know what I mean? So it's like I I I say if if the crowd turnout just so happens to lean one way or the other, it's gonna go with that. But I'm gonna say a big Frank just because I feel like he's more of a um he's he's more of a TikTok type. Yeah. He blew up a little bit, just a little bit more on that scale, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. Steven Stone is more of an in-person, I'm out here, I'm in your I'm in your face with it, man. Yeah. So that's the only reason though. But again, it all turns it all comes down to how that crowd is feeling and the performances and shit. It can go either way, fam.
SPEAKER_09Ask me now. Go ahead, man. Who you think? Who you think? Frank, nigga, the fuck is y'all talking about? Stupid. No, but you got a song with both of them. Yeah, I got a song with both of them. But um, and I and I love my songs with both of them. You know, like Steve went crazy on your shit and Frank went crazy on your shit. They both went crazy on on the fucking feature record. Um, but I'm gonna have to I'm gonna have to say Big Frank, just because I've listened to Frank, I've listened to both of their catalogs while I'm at my shop just working, and Frank's catalog just fucking it's very engaging, bro. Like, you know, like there's not I don't think I skipped one song. Like I just I had that bitch playing and like I was just vibing, you know. And then you know, the day that I had uh Steve's, you know, like he's got phenomenal catalog as well, but like there were a few songs that I was like, eh, I don't know if I would have like, you know, that would have been crazy. Not for me type of shit. You know what I'm saying? So like but you know, you can't go he got a lot of music. Like I said, it's both no matter around you know what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_13I'm not gonna be mad at whoever wins, really. Because you know, to me, to me, especially because I'm on the outside of that style of music and shit, too. So I'm like, I'm just looking in, enjoying the shit. Yeah, like I said, it could go either way, but and the whole thing in general is a win.
SPEAKER_14It's a win, you know. You know what I'm saying? Something big for the city, they're gonna bring the city out.
SPEAKER_13Yeah, you know, where they doing that shit at?
SPEAKER_14I don't know.
SPEAKER_09But I think you also had the flyer on it.
SPEAKER_14I think they even also invite you and kids come through and you know enjoy the show as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_13It's gonna it's right on one of my kids' birthdays, bro. But I might fuck around it.
unknownYeah, you got the laptop looking good.
SPEAKER_14It's a boy, it's gonna come down to that crowd control.
SPEAKER_13Yeah, you know, one of my boys, bro. He'd be all right if I miss a couple hours of his birthday. I can't do it to my baby girls. So we want to.
SPEAKER_11But the boy, get over that shit.
SPEAKER_13Bring him over. I'm coming right back. Kid friendly. See, but I don't like I don't like bringing my kids to uh events because we in Milwaukee fan. I don't give a fuck how kid friendly it is. Shit go shit go up sometimes.
SPEAKER_09I'm bringing my kid and the blicky.
SPEAKER_13All right, but we got this uh this clip. Steve the Stoner shared it. He's it says May 16th. Get your tickets now. Thanks. And this shit is so funny. You can't even really see it, can you? Because the light right on that motherfucker. Let's go. I can see it. Okay, let's go.
SPEAKER_00Looks like we have more than two celebrities in the house. Kitty City was spotted first row. Let's get down to the ring. Looks like the fight's about to begin. I want a clean fight. No cheesy Wisconsin. My bullet ricochet.
SPEAKER_09Dude, that shit. When I saw that shit, I was like, these dudes are crazy, bro. Like, like you said, it's so nostalgic, and it brings back so many memories of watching that shit at the crib, like as a kid.
SPEAKER_14It felt good seeing that, I ain't gonna lie.
SPEAKER_13That shit was cold.
SPEAKER_14That's gonna be a good one. That's gonna be a good one.
SPEAKER_13Dog, dog lit the blunt, smacked him with the blunt, threw the cheese back out, then shot him and ricocheted and killed himself. That's crazy, bro. Bro, that's overall good look. Great look for the city. Right. I fucks with that. I hope that shit goes super well. I damn near want to be there, I'm not gonna lie. I'm gonna try to make it. Uh that shit was valid, fam. That shit valid.
SPEAKER_14That was a good promo, too. That's a great promo. Great promo.
SPEAKER_13And it looked amazing.
SPEAKER_14Yeah.
SPEAKER_13It looked amazing.
SPEAKER_14We were literally, really, literally watching it.
SPEAKER_13Like on TV, like back in the day. Facts. Real quick before who you got, fam?
SPEAKER_10Who I got?
SPEAKER_13Yeah, because we all, he said, he said Steve, we said Frank, but by very, very slight margin, bro. Damn. I said, I said based on how the crowd is that day, and Big Frank is a little more tick-tock.
SPEAKER_10No, no, that's a good point. Y'all, y'all put yeah, y'all put me on the spot, but but uh before y'all put me on the spot, I already said Stoner got it. Oh, I'ma just be real, you know what I mean? Like it's a different caliber of artist or type of artist, you know what I'm saying? Where it's more fun, family friendly. Ain't too much family friendly over here with this one. Right. You know what I'm saying? So depending on which side you you side. But overall, I think, you know, I think Stoner got bars. You know what I'm saying? He he go hard, man. You know what I mean? So I'm I'm I'm a fan. I'm a fan of Stoner. Yeah, yeah. I'm a fan of both. They beautiful look for the city, but yeah, if you asking me, you know what I mean? That's what that's what I that's what's in the caddy. You know what I'm saying? That's what I'm listening to.
SPEAKER_14You can't go wrong, like I said, they both fire. You understand? I don't know how it's gonna go. We split so you got that G.
SPEAKER_12Like I said, um, that that's a good point though. Um, the crowd. Yeah, yeah. I think uh Steve Estoner and that's because like he said it's a 21 and over joint. It's at what are you saying? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_10Where is it at?
SPEAKER_12Say right there liquid lines. Liquid lounge.
SPEAKER_14Yeah, oh that's 21 plus. I thought it was gonna be kids for some reason. I think he said that, but uh seeing where they haven't at, yeah. Well shit.
SPEAKER_13I feel like that's some shit Steve would just say anyway.
SPEAKER_22Bring your kids, man. Oh my god, fuck the rules, man.
SPEAKER_09Oh my line. But even, you know, even with it being 21 up, you know, if if more people from like 21 to 30 show up, I think Frank might have it. Like, but if like that's what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_10The crowd is gonna matter. The crowd matter. If you're asking me, that's my opinion. But yeah, the crowd is. The crowd, yeah.
SPEAKER_13You know, the crowd and this is what I say for any verses, and like anyone since the beginning of them doing that shit, the way you play your music is gonna matter. Yeah, you Frank has records, and Steve's have Steve has records that if you play out of order, like if he plays one of his ones and you might not play the right one after, that that gets you an L on that round, bro. So, you know, that shit matters, bro. Yeah, that lineup, that lineup matters, fam. And you gotta be able to pivot. You gotta be able to, you know. They both got hit.
SPEAKER_10Yeah, you're shocked.
SPEAKER_13That's why I fuck with the uh that's why I fuck with the Gucci main Jeezy one so much. Because they had the live DJs on set. Yeah, yeah. So when you watch that versus, if you'll watch, he'll do a song, you'll be like, Oh, I got something for that. And then you know, you're playing the song you think will beat that one at that round. That's why when the Jeezy did that, it's one thing for sure, two things for certain blah, and then he dropped that song. It was the perfect timing for that record. That lineup matters. So again, crowd, lineup, but there to me, it's yeah, it's a fucking it's right there. But I feel what y'all no matter what for the city, we win it. That's that's a super dope look. You know, but you're right though, Steve does make uh they're in different lanes for sure. Yeah, so let's go. I'm excited about how that celebrity deathmatch got me geeked up. Yeah, yeah, I might I might have to go up in there, bro.
SPEAKER_09All right, and then um, so the last topic we got do Milwaukee musicians support or compete against each other too much? This kind of goes along with that, but it's different from that.
SPEAKER_13Yeah, this is a little different, but yeah, yeah. This is support to me. You asked me the big Frank and Steve Stoner's like definitely we we let's get together and make some shit that's you know.
SPEAKER_14I I think it used to be like it wasn't support like that because everybody was trying to compete against each other because everybody wanted to be the one that wanted put the city on.
SPEAKER_13Yeah.
SPEAKER_14And also, like people didn't want to be looked at as a like a dick rider or something like that. Like for some reason, like being a fan, that's kind of out the window and it's it looked down upon. But now I think that since Milwaukee is getting that light on them and we see what is what's going on, it's like we know we're stronger together. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? So it's good to see people like Frank and Steve put on a versus and bring the city out, and then also like you know, just bringing more light to the city and other artists as well.
SPEAKER_13That's a fact. Because that that that uh that perspective always tripped me out, bro. Like, because what the fuck does you making it stop me and anything I'm doing? If I'm already doing the underground fucking journey and shit, I don't understand. I never understood that. Like, what what what does you doing big major shit have to do with me? I'm still doing the shit I've been I've been doing. I just gotta make it to the next, you know what I mean? So it's definitely been like that. Um I I'm I personally am a jaded individual as as it comes to as it pertains to being a musical artist. I'm definitely jaded. I try my best to thank God I got somebody like Illy next to me all the time, like fuck that shit, bro. Just do what you, you know, and then because that helps me, you know what I'm saying? Because I've definitely I've been to the plenty of shit where you know everybody in this room has done good business with me. We've done I've done a uh a project with Leto. It was produced by Kirsch back then, but we did the six weeks project, I've done the plenty of feature songs with them. It's always been legit. SG, I've done a bunch of videos with dog. It's always been a legit process, bro. If it was if it was ever discounted or every, it's always been I still treat you like a businessman and we're still gonna fucking do it, you know what I mean? But then that competition from other aspects kind of gets in the way of shit like that. You know, so it it jades you a little bit, you know what I mean? But I love to support people. I've always been like that. You could you could ask a thousand people in the city, fam. Like nine times out of ten, I'll just pop up on somebody's show just because I want to go do something. And I'll just show up and I don't need nothing from you. I'll pay at the door, I'll go I'll go buy some drinks, and I'm just in there. You got a merch there, I'm gonna go buy a merch. Yeah, I just did that last night.
SPEAKER_10Real support.
SPEAKER_13I just did that last night because I went to go fuck with Mo City, and then and then it just so happened that Kia was rapping. You know, Ellsworth, I fuck with them with Keys Picasso and uh Omari. I fucked Cole, bro, Cole. We'll talk about that.
SPEAKER_09But yeah, thanks for not inviting me.
SPEAKER_13No, but I was at the Snow the Product concert, so I was like, Yeah, I was about to say you already said you was gonna do something, fuck you. No, but but I just I just went in there, you know what I'm saying? Just to support, bro. And I'm a rapper too, bro. I still plan on having projects and and work and all that shit, but I I'm just coming here to chill, bro. Like I'm come I came to rock with you. I want to see how good you perform, bro. Right?
SPEAKER_09Just because it's like you said, you know, like just because you're um highlighting somebody else or giving somebody else their flowers or their just due, that doesn't take away from anything that you got going on on your end, you know, and a lot of artists feel like, well, if I fucking tell my fans to go support him, what if they start liking him more than they like me? And shit, you know, so it's like you know, for one, are they really do they really fuck with you if they would do you like that? Right, you know what I'm saying? And then for two, it's like you're stopping your own progress at that point, you know, because you know, there's the same blocking your own blessings and shit. If you could help anytime you give a blessing to somebody, you're also blessing yourself, you know what I'm saying? Because that every decision leads to another decision, which is usually an opportunity, you know, if it's made in you know a good heart. You know, but if you make a decision in a bad heart and you know with malice, then of course it's gonna fucking lead you somewhere where you don't wanna be. But if you're if you're making a decision like, yo, you know, I'm gonna decide to you know support this person or something like that, 10 times out of 10, bro, you know, maybe 9.76. You know, but like you know, very close to 10, it's gonna work out better for you in the long run. You know what I'm saying? Like if say like I support you somewhere down the line, you might name drop, and then somebody be like, oh well, I fuck with you because he we were talking one time and he mentioned something nice about you, and then now I get the opportunity to check you out and uh realize you're a cool motherfucker, you know. Like, kind of like what happened with uh Mo City and Paper Stacks, you know, like we had them here, we had already been fans of your platform, and we were just talking about it.
SPEAKER_13Yeah, we were just bigging you up, like hey man, shout out to the rap drive for you. Yeah, paper stacks. I'll call it right now, like yeah, that's funny.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, you know, and then that led us to where we are right now, exactly.
SPEAKER_14You know what I'm saying? Ain't nothing wrong with showing love, and it's enough love and money can go around, enough attention for people like that part, it's enough to go around, enough, bro.
SPEAKER_13I mean, and then what y'all just said just made me think of something. We do gotta remember we're we're from a Midwest city that we really ain't never had shit. Yeah, so that adds to the scarcity mindset, yeah. Yeah, exactly. The damn, it ain't enough for everybody, bro. Yeah, and why do you feel like that? Well, because I grew up with we ain't had shit. We didn't have cities, yeah. We didn't have nothing. We we're from the gut, we the gutter, bro. People don't know that until you go to another city. The bottom. Go go go to go to like Miami and go to their projects and shit like that. It's way different from over here, fam. We the we the grind, fam. Like, this is winters and shit. We yeah, you know, we inside all winter and then we come outside when it's hot and shit go down. You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_14A outside year round and shit, huh? Yeah, you know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_13Right shit. The LA shit. Like, that's like the LA shit. You go over there, yeah, it's it's dangerous, it's fucked up, but bro, it's sunshine and palm trees, fam. You know what I'm saying? Like, we from the gutter fam. So you gotta think about we we we don't have we have that mindset where we're just just stuck, like we ain't got shit. And if I can't have shit, you can't have tornadoes might fuck your shit up three days in a row.
SPEAKER_09Hey, these two tornadoes is crazy, bro. That's just crazy.
SPEAKER_13These these floods might fuck you up. That's a whole nother topic. Right, they have one.
SPEAKER_14A whole week straight. And by that being said, that's why people be feeling like they want to be the one that they put the city on right first, giving somebody else a shot who might make it before them.
SPEAKER_13And and then the when they do it like that, though, they're doing it like Illy was saying. You're not doing it with like the intent to be like, I'm gonna put my city on. Yeah, you're doing it to the intent like I'm the one, I did that. Right. As opposed to like, yeah, when I make it, I'm finna turn around and shed light. You know what I'm saying? Selfishness. You ain't really trying to team. You're doing it from the wrong perspective, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, the wrong place.
SPEAKER_09For the wrong reasons. Yeah, wrong reasons. He's got that me first mentality.
SPEAKER_13Um we are growing though. So before we end that topic, we are growing with it. Uh, shout out to everybody that supports everybody else and like does what the fuck they're supposed to as uh uh just a person of the community of the city, bro. Like, shout out to you, bro. Because that's shout out to us. Yeah, you know what I mean? Shout out to all y'all that do the shit that that excels and doesn't hold shit back. Yeah, contributing to your teammates. We making it, bro. We're getting there, bro.
SPEAKER_09I love the vibe, fam. Shout out to everybody doing their thing. Big facts. So that concludes this episode of the R414 Podcast, brought to you by Illy, Street Team Hectic, Third War Studios, SG Films, and our guest for episode 38, the founder and host of the rap draft, Rick Taylor. Appreciate having me once again, man. It's a pleasure. If you haven't already, we encourage you to take a moment to subscribe to our channel, like this video, and leave us a comment about the topic that interests you the most. Thank you for watching and come back for the next episode of the All 414.
SPEAKER_13Big Frank and Sticks, nigga. Let's go. Let's go.
