So speaking of business, I feel like people are familiar with you due to who you're seen with. I hate this word and act, because it seems so transactional, but it's "networking." What is your approach to it? Because I assume you don't do it in a sleezy way.
I never asked for any favors. I never asked for any favors. I think the only reason I have all these connections is cause I don't try to make all the connections. There's people that I met, that we became the best of friends five years after we met the first time because I'm never like trying to force a lunch or whatever. To me, I'm just like, let me just focus on what I can focus on, which is like building my company and building my things . And then, you know, do cool shit on the way and linking people up with other people. I always actually like to introduce people to each other and let them do amazing stuff. But sometimes it comes back around, sometimes it doesn't. The best ways that always supposed to be genuine. Kids are smart, right? Even talking about as consumers, kids can tell when you're posting stuff for your friends and kids can tell them when you're posting stuff that's paid for. So I tell people, if you're gonna post the music, do it because you actually like it. People will catch attention anyways.
Like, Field Trip— our record label, we just curated the music side of ComplexCon. So we curated the whole stage, and what do I do? I booked the whole stage full of my friends. Like, Lil Yachty who's a dear friend and never DJ'd before, but he's always telling me "I want to be DJ" So I was like, "yo, why don't you DJ for the first time? Like start selecting music. Like let's not even call it DJ-ing And it could be your first set of selecting music live." So his first set ever is on
our stage at complex. That's the whole thing, like how do you tie together friends? Like he sent me an open verse three months ago. He's like, "what do you think of these songs?" I was like, this is fire and sent it someone else. I sent it to this kid, Kobe who we signed. Kobe put a verse on it.
And we've been sitting on it for three months. We just kind of have it in the vault. The other day, we all happen to be in New York. He was staying at the Mercer, so I just went to go have lunch with him. We're hanging out. My artist Kobe landed at Newark because he had to come into town for a rolling loud. So he's landing and I'm like "Yo Yachty, why don't we shoot the video to that song right now?" And he's like "okay, bet." I hit Hey Kobe's manager, I was like "Yo, when he lands, bring him straight to the Mercer." So he comes to the Mercer, you know, 17 year old kids, fresh off a plane.
I'm like, "Yo, just go change in the bathrooms," he's opening his suitcase, changing in the lobby of the Mercer, puts on a fresh fit. I hit my two friends, one that has a VHS camera and one that has like a little handheld. And I'm like, "yo, both of you guys pull up to Mercer, one of you bring a beats pill." They all pulled up at the same time, I'm like just start filming and we'll just walk around the neighborhood. And we just started playing the song off of like a beats pills. The reason the video is cool is because it's just real and raw.
You were talking about people always wondering what you do. Has there ever been a moment where someone has been so bold and then come up to you and has said, "So what, what do you do? And what do you say?
It happens. I say " I own a record label, I DJ, a couple of other things, but they all lead back into music."
What do you like to do on your day off? Do you ever have a day off?
My personal life and work life is one of the same.
But what do you like to do in your free time? What are you and your friends doing?
I watched pretty woman with my friend the other day. Look, I've been out more than I haven't. So I don't know anything else. When people won't understand and are like "why are you always out and stuff?" And I'm like, you guys realize that throughout the history of like art, music, and business— being out has always been the most common ground. Because where else than like a bar, party, or a restaurant, can there be a skater, a businessman, an actor, college kid, and everyone's in the same room that are all brought together by either food or music. And so to me, it's a beautiful sort of place that if I'm not doing anything, why would I just be out with a couple of friends?
What are you, what is your biggest theory? Or words to live?
Be a good person.
What does that mean to you because that's pretty subjective.
So going back to like what we were talking about earlier, like how do you do things in the right way, like maybe network or whatever. It's like to me, where my life is so interdependent on developing places, dealing with art, artists are human beings and very emotional. It's a very personal thing to put your art into the world for anyone to consume. So it's like always make sure you put artists in the right positions. Like, I don't do a deal if it's only a financial thing, I have to be like an actual emotional alignment. That's kind of how I treat everything. So being a good person sounds like stupid and trivial, but it's that's the golden rule. Don't be an to asshole to anyone.