So I have an older cousin, he's slightly older than me, but my closest cousin that was just
going through a lot of stuff that we either go through ourselves or our family was going through.
Just gangs and drug addiction and stuff like that.
And me and him didn't really have the best trip when I went out there to see him.
So the first two verses kinda came a little bit from a place of anger, and then maybe
two weeks after that, he almost lost his life.
And so that's why the third verse sounds a little bit more regretful.
If he did lose his life, and that would've been the last interaction we had, like that
wouldn't have been something that it would've been easy to live with.
I was just looking for soulful records, anything that sounded like something that you would
play on a Sunday morning.
Listening to something that was a free fulfilling song or a free fulfilling instrumental but
maybe had pain and hope inside of it as far as the lyrics go.
It’s like at that time of my life, I was just really hoping that things would get better.
My cousin would live a better life, my family would live a better life like it was just
simple for me.
But I saw my friends and stuff looking for more than that.
You know, jewelry, money, whatever the case may be.
Instead of trying to figure out the way to get it the right way, the first thing that
people run to is robbing somebody or scamming somebody or selling drugs.
I woke up in the morning and my chain was missing, you know what I mean?
Having to accept that like that chain is gone and not hold that grudge against him cause
it’s family and family is forever.
It’s like that old saying you know on the airplane, you gotta take care of yourself
before you take care of somebody else.
If you too busy trying to stay with that person, it’ll mess around and only drag you down
and that trip into Atlanta to see him kind of showed me that it wasn’t productive.
I lost money.
I lost jewelry just trying to still be that same person.
I’m not even a huge Pippen fan like that.
I be feeling like he be hating on Mike sometimes.
That was like the stereotypical thing at the time was people calling Drake soft, saying
he makes music for women or whatever the case may be.
But it’s like…
He’s being true to himself whenever he makes a record so I respect that.
Reminiscing on our younger lifestyle.
Like I said, this is my closest cousin.
We went to summer camps together.
Every summer, we would either spend the whole summer at his house or vice versa.
You know, wake up, video games, cartoons, whatever it may be.
And this was my first time seeing him in three years cause he moved to Atlanta and I mean…
He’s just a different person now.
He stopped playing sports in the 7th grade and that was kind of when he started going
through all the transitions of being involved in gangs or whatever the case may be but I
played basketball all the way up throughout college.
I was just broke man.
Just like literally living check to check.
Not having no money.
Borrowing money from my twin brother.
I was just broke.
He actually passed away and they brought him back.
He was in a coma for a little bit.
And all I could think about…
I vividly remember everything that happened that week is just how I would feel if those
were my last thoughts and words directed at him.
That’s where a lot of my music comes from.
The hunger and showing will to persevere through rough times or doubters and people saying
you can’t do something but then also referring back to ‘The Fresh Prince.’
One of my favorite shows growing up along with ‘Martin.’
I just had a conversation with him like two days ago.
He was at the show in LA.
All of this, just him seeing it is creating a way for him ‘cause it’s keeping him
motivated through the rehabilitation process he’s going through now.
I mean, he’s made like a complete 180.
Just as hard as he’s working so we proud of him for that.