Welcome To Hilltop Glove

SPEAKER_02 1:48

Welcome to another episode of the Hilltop Glove Podcast, where we explore where culture meets economics across the Carolinas. Today we had the pleasure of speaking with Charlotte-based artist Jamante Lyde, better known by his moniker, Lord Jamante Agbon. I want to be a big melanated people. Yes. Yes. Lord Jamante has quickly established himself as one of the distinctive voices in the new generation of hip hop artists. Known for his energetic delivery, sharp lyricism, and unmistakable vocal presence, he brings a level of personality and intensity to his music that sets him apart from his peers. That's true. His ability to combine thoughtful, introspective writing with dynamic production has earned him attention well beyond the Charlotte scene. It has. His album, Beautifully Black, produced by the acclaimed artist and producer Navy Blue, showcases Lyde's versatility while exploring themes of love, identity, vulnerability, and personal growth. It does. Whether he's delivering rapid-fire bars or reflecting our heartbreak and relationships, Lord Jamante brings an authenticity and emotional weight to his music that demands attention. Yes. Stay tuned as we explore the music, influences, creative journey, and unique voice of Lord Jamante Obagon on this episode of the Hilltop Glove Podcast.

Finding Lord Jamante On Spotify

SPEAKER_02 3:03

How are you doing today, my brother? I'm blessed. How are you feeling? Awesome, man. Feeling great today, despite the weather. Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_03 3:10

Yes, sir. Man, we just appreciate you being a guest, like I was telling you earlier. So I found uh I discovered you um about four years, about five years ago, actually, um, through Spotify. And so when we first started the Hilltop Glove, one of the things that I did was I wanted us not necessarily to be a music podcast, but I also want but at the same time, I still wanted us to be able to highlight and to celebrate the culture and the amazing artists and the musicians here in the Carolinas. Yeah. And so each episode we would do a playlist, and it would be basically like five songs that I discovered just from like exploring just different local music, local artists through Spotify. And um, when I first started putting together this playlist, each episode it had five of them, and you just kept popping up. And then one of the albums, and then the album that really draw me to you was Beautifully Black. Right. Um, especially the song Um Tried Your Best, and then Um Where Are You Part Two. And I was huge fans of those songs. And you and I got in like my royal tell, I got ADHD. Okay. And so for me, like the symbol, like the sign of the song is good to me, at least to me, that's good to me, is if I play it on repeat and I'll switch it. Because there'll be songs I like, and I can listen to like two or three bits and I'll be ready to switch it. Nah, facts. But I know, especially with those two songs, especially with Tried Your Best, those are songs that I could play on repeat. Like I could just lose, like it was just, and I just love like like I love the way you put your lyrics together, I love the way you put your stories together, you can tell us authentic. Thank you. And like I said, and I've just been like I said, following you, just drop the years and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 4:35

Thank you. As far as Beautifully Black, I feel like the intro, like the missing link and the sneaky link, the first half of the intro, that's one of those songs I can just play on repeat. Because the beat is just like dunno that's sample. It was just like I remember writing that record. I'm just like, yo, I just gotta turn up. Just went into a different space with that one. Yeah, so I appreciate you for giving Beautifully Black that compliment. Because those that is one of those ones that's like a um one of my records that just got around, you know. So yeah, Sergei.

SPEAKER_02 5:06

Awesome, awesome. I will tell you, obviously, with our audience, we always like to start the interview off a simple question.

SPEAKER_01 5:14

Yeah.

Akron Roots And Early Writing

SPEAKER_02 5:15

Just something about your early beginning, um, specifically, just asking about your musical journey. Um obviously, growing up in Akron, Ohio, um writing rhymes as a teenager under King Callis, um, establishing yourself as a force in Charlotte, and eventually signing with Lex Records. Um, if you could just look back at your early beginnings and explain some of those influences that led you to where you are musically.

SPEAKER_01 5:41

Yo, so many influences, bro. I got time. Starting back like my upbringing in Akron, Ohio. Akron Ohio is like a it's a weird place. It's like a strange place. You know, it's in the middle of the Midwest. Yeah. I'm from like a like a poverty stricken, like heroin type of town. So um, you know what comes with that. Yeah. It's almost like small towns in like South Carolina um that can relate to it. Or some like great migration type thing. Uh so growing up at Akron, that was like my like my upbringing, but it was good, you know, like middle child, my older brother, growing up with my younger sister, just like roaming outside, just getting into things. But musically, music has always been in my family. My great-grandmother in Akron, Ohio was the first like black woman pastor. Wow. And one of my great aunts was like the choir director, you know. So we'll be in church like every Sunday, just like going crazy, you know. And it's like my aunt directing a choir, like she got vocals, pipes, whatever you want to call them. Yeah, she's going crazy, like two more of my cousins in a choir, just like every Sunday. And outside of that, I had a I have two older cousins named Queen Blue and Chaos. They used to babysit me a lot when I was younger, and they rap too. So it was just a lot of like seeing people before me and older than me who's already doing it. And I started writing in 2003, like when I turned 10. Um, so just from there, just like I started writing like about colorism, you know, just being young and being expressive. So I was dealing with a lot of like colorism type shit growing up, especially in the Midwest again. So I yeah, I would just write about like just how I felt, like people making jokes about complexion. Not the turning hair, because I love my complexion. Yeah, but that's just how I started writing. Um, but again, that at that time, it'd be funny, like Bow Wow was one of my inspirations. I was just like young, being 10, like writing raps. Like, I'm like, Bow Wow, yeah, yeah, Bow Bow Wow doing this, and he was from there. So Bow a lot of like kid entertainers at the time, right? Lil Bow Wow. We had him, Orlando Brown from Nassau Raven. Yeah, okay. Um, but also like my aunt used to listen to Bone Thugs on Harmony Heavy. Yeah. So Bone Thugs was the inspiration. Mac Dre, I remember being younger, people were rocking with Mac Dre Heavy and Akron, like the West Coast Midwest connection. Um just like a lot of local artists, just like a lot of people around Akron that my family knew that I was inspired by. And that kind of just helped me like gain the confidence to just like start writing, start writing more. But I didn't really start recording until 2007 type thing. Like in the house, my mom bought me a mic because she seen I was serious about wanting to be an artist. And that's how you know the music journey picked up.

Colorism And Learning To Express

SPEAKER_02 8:39

So I got a question, and I know you were talking about colorism. Yeah. Um you said you were 10 years old. Yeah, early. So what do you know was there a specific moment or a pivotal um event that occurred that made you think about color you're 10 years old, think about colorism? Yeah. You know that's not normal. Yeah. So there must have been something like was it a family member or somebody that spoke to you that said something about something that keyed you on to pay attention to that?

SPEAKER_01 9:10

I think it was more like you know, like kids are mean. Yeah. So I think it was more like some school stuff or like just outside, just being a kid, running outside, you know, trying to make friends, just people just being mean. But no, I didn't really experience that much colorism in my family. That's good. Like my mother's dark skin, my father's dark skin. Yeah. Yeah, not really. It was no, it didn't come from home. Like, I had a lot of love at home. Okay. So yeah, more just like school stuff, man. Just messing, just messing with kids and just being outside. Like, people just want to call you, like, you know, the nicknames they call you. I ain't gonna shout out. I was about I was about to, but I'm like, nah. I already know. I already know. Yeah. Also, I'm not trauma dumping or anything like that either. No, no, you just for the people. Just for the people. Yeah, we're not trauma dumping.

SPEAKER_02 9:55

I'm just asking because, like you said, you were very specific. You said 10 years old. So I just was wondering. And then so obviously that leading into you writing music, um, you're writing, are you writing poetry or are you writing actual rhymes? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:08

As of late, it's been a straight at the time? Yeah, at the time, yeah. Yeah, I would say more like poetry and then raps. Okay. Like poetry at first, uh-huh, like just freely writing, and then a little more structure. Like, okay, let's write raps. Like, you know, we rappers. I had a friend I lived on my street, his name was Tevin. We was like the rich boys. He was T Rich and I was G Rich. And um, yeah, we used to just write. Like, we used to write in our building, like in the lobby of our building, we used to just sit and write. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:39

And then that's how you started to learn your your flow. How to actually like, how did you learn how to spit? Because this is a this is a question I like to ask people because like where where did you learn your flow?

Building Flow And Studying Influences

SPEAKER_02 10:49

Like your ability to get cadence and rhythm.

SPEAKER_01 10:53

I want to say maybe like around the time when I really started recording. Like, cause back then I used to just write. I used to write and I wouldn't really perform it that much. That's what I was wondering. Yeah. Yeah, I wouldn't perform it that much. I would write it and give it to my friends, and I'm like, y'all read it, and they read it until I met this guy. He was a little older than me, probably when I was like 14, like 17, 18. When I in North Carolina, he used to let me record in his house. Okay. And um, he used to make beats, have beat CDs and stuff. Let me borrow his beat CDs. And I used to write raps and give it to him. And he's like, Yo, reading. He's like, nah, you gotta like, like, where's your voice? Like, you know, you have to you have to say it in your voice. Uh-huh. And from there, I don't know, I just started practicing. I think like listening to this artist, listening to that artist, like, if I need to be specific, um, listening to Red Man, listening to again, Bow Wow. I don't I don't think I really got like cadence from Bow Wow, but just like that, the inspiration to do it. Um, but definitely I was studying like Red Man. I'm like, oh, I need myself to sound like this. Cause I used to be real, I used to be real heavy on like Boom Pap. I'm not as that I'm not that heavy on it now.

SPEAKER_04 11:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:59

But I used to be real heavy on like Boom Pap Underground Rap. So I'm like, yeah, I need that like Eric Sermon sound. I need those like um rock rilar type beats. The fact that you're saying that. Yeah, so yeah. Specifically Red Men's There is a Dark Side album. My uncle gave me that album. My uncle Adrian, he gave me There is a Dark Side. Blessing so I remember he tried to give me that, and I'm like, yo, he's ugly. I'm like, yo, rapping ugly, bro. He like, yo, what you like, cute rappers? And I'm like, You're right, you're right, you're right, you're right, you're right. And he gave me the album, and I'm just like, whoa, this album is crazy. Like so for the longest, I just wanted my stuff to sound like late 90s, like 96, 97. Um, but I've had a lot of journeys. Like, there was a point in time where I was kind of like, because I'm from the blog era, you know? Yeah. As far as hip-hop. So there's like, there's like times where I was like very inspired by Big Crit, Currency, Wiz, Khalifa, Smoke, Dizza. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:51

Man, that was good.

SPEAKER_01 12:52

A lot of a lot of guys like that, Mickey Facts, Sky Zoo. Yeah. Um, I feel like I'm kind of like, maybe not so much whiz currency, but like Smoke Dizza, Mickey Fats, I'm kind of like like the lineage from there, as far as like the indie underground scene that I'm in. Uh, they were kind of like four founders, four founders of that. Um, but yeah, bro, really just like listening to I was like on some weed rapping stuff for the longest. I ain't rap. For the longest. I was like, I was like on some weed rapping stuff, like really chilling. Yeah,

Truth-Telling Rap And Black Thought

SPEAKER_01 13:29

yeah. And then I met I met this guy named Shalim. Okay. Shalim was a Hebrew Israelite, right? Yeah. He like, yo, if you gonna rap, bro, you need to like rap the truth. I'm like, what you mean, bro? Like, again, I grew up Christian, like Baptist churches. I'm like, what you mean, bro? He like, yo, you know we the real, you know we the chosen people, you know how to yo, you know we the chosen people. You know, da da da. And I'm like, I've never heard nothing like that before. And I'm like, oh, you breaking it down. I'm like, okay, tell me more. He breaking it down, like, oh yo, the Bible, he got his Bible, then he got like the translator of the Bible. He's really just breaking it down to me. I'm like, okay. And I'm like, yo, I think I want to be Hebrew Israelite. And then I'm like, oh no, I don't. I'll figure out some certain things. I'm like, oh, y'all don't like women like that. Not all of them. Not all of them. The I was around, I'm like, oh y'all really don't like women like that. I can't I can't really rock with y'all. Y'all some old testament to the T type stuff. Yeah, yeah. So I wasn't really rocking with that, but that introduced me to like different school of thought. So like 5% nation, yeah, nation Islam, whatever. So I started listening to like rappers like um wise intelligence from poor righteous teachers, yeah, Lord Jamar and Sadat X from Brand New Bian. Yeah, like Sadat X, Lord Jamar from Brand New Bean, Brother J from X Clan. Like, no, after after Shy Limit put me on, I'm like, nah, I'm on my black. Like crazy, like I'm on my black shit. Crazy. So I just started going through the pipeline, so I'm just learning everything. I'm like, all right, we got this, we got that. You got the you got the outcast, afro-futuristic black, you got the X Clan with the Unknumber. The unk Kang Kong black, then you got like it was just so many like different sides of blackness, I feel like I want to I want to embrace it all. So a lot of those artists in that like hemisphere, like really helped me develop my flow. Um, and then things became like real like Griselda adjacent. Um maybe around. Yeah, you name maybe like 2000.

SPEAKER_02 15:30

Great musical. Yeah, yeah, I'm I I like what I'm hearing.

SPEAKER_01 15:33

Maybe like 2017, 18, when I was kind of like going on my like best rapper in Charlotte Run. Yeah. When I was trying to figure out how, because I feel like I met, I hit a shilling here. That's interesting. Because you know, like the industry at that time, the industry wasn't coming, wasn't really here. Yeah, of course. You know, like you really gotta have money. This is a lot of stuff you gotta have to really break out um out of North Carolina or the Carolinas generally. That's why I respect Trap Dicky and um and baby so much, because it's like I went to high school with the baby, and he wasn't rapping in high school, he was like playing rugby and just being him. So to see his like journey to like he become an artist and then blow up, and then like the people behind him, and then some of the people on the street, like the administrative side, like King Carter, Arnold Taylor, whoever, right? Okay, always need that. And then like the street team who's at the shows with him, it's like a lot of people I went to school with. So I'm like, yo. So when they like community effort. Yeah, so like when they struck, and I'm like, yo, these people really riding around Charlotte and like camouflage charges, like people that I went to school with. So it was real like inspiring to see somebody like that make it. But yeah, there was a point in time where I feel like I reached, I hit a chilling in Charlotte, and I kind of like burnt out all my connects because I never really had mentors to be like, hey, just how you move. Like, hey, nobody's sleeping on you. They're not hating on you. You're just not in a spotlight yet. And I just be like, nah, they hating yet. I emailed them. They didn't, they didn't like they're hating. Yeah, they're hating, they're obviously hating. So it was just a lot of like bridges that I burnt, and I feel like I started feeling like, oh, I have to leave. And then

Grinding Past Charlotte To Lex

SPEAKER_01 17:08

I went on his best rapper in Charlotte Run. I was going to the studio every day, I was filming videos every day. Um sending emails out to any blogger, anybody, any label you can think of, from like Stone's Throw to Lex Records type. Wow. Even bigger, you know what I mean? Bigger labels. I'm just emailing them like any to anytime I'll drop, and I was dropping a lot at that time, so anytime I drop, I'd be like, Def Jam's newest artist, Jamante. Yeah. And they'll respond and be like, hey, we're a little busy right now, but keep at it. And I'm like, Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_04 17:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:37

Okay. You feel me? This is a name I take down. I'm like, hey, do you have anybody you can reference? You can refer me to? And then like they either answer or not. So around that time, this producer discovered me and just pretty much opened his fan base to me. And he produced for West Side Gun, Ma Kami, a lot of those people. And so I was like, I just elevated from this local Charlotte scene to like this indie underground space. Yeah. Um, and from there, I was just able to do shows in Philadelphia. Pretty much what I was doing here, like, I put up some money, throw a show, put like 10 artists on a show. I got throw my logo on it. Yeah I worked the door, talked to everybody, still perform. So everything I was everything I was doing. It's just things that you gotta do. You feel me? If you wanna like, if you wanna make a name. So I was doing a lot of stuff here, and I'm like, I kind of already ran it up. So I'm like, now that my opportunity is, now that I have the opportunity, I'm just gonna do what I do here and other places. So I was doing it in Philly, Chicago, New York, New Jersey, Atlanta, wherever else, or Los Angeles, and just use that community to like build the leverage. That's why I started releasing all these vinyls. I got with Copenhagen Crates. Copenhagen Crates reached out to me and was like, hey, I want to around the time that that producer reached out to me and gave me beats and like opened his fan base to me. The timing was so crazy because Copenhagen Crates reached out and was like, Hey, I want to press your vinyl. Wow, that was perfect. I want to press one of your vinyls if you don't mind. And it was my album Infinite Wisdom in 2019. Around that time, I was like, probably like 500 song ideas in my vault, like deep. So it's like that's why I got so many records. That's why I got like 12, 12 vinyls. I was about to ask, that's why we asked like when you started right now. Yeah, from like preparation. I'm just like, on when it was time to go, like when our producer reached out, I was already ready because I was I was on my best rapper in Charlotte Run. So I'm releasing like 55 videos, you were in the like music videos, recaps, yeah, um, in studios, day in the life vlogs. Yeah. So I all all this all this content, all this short form content is going crazy. Twitter, Instagram, um, Facebook, YouTube, and I and I got connected with a lot of like YouTubes, big YouTubes overseas. One of them is Sun Tzu. Sun Tzu will um they already have a good fan base. It's just like a Copenhagen craze in a way. It's like they are the audience is already there, the music just has to be good.

SPEAKER_04 20:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:08

And again, once that producer broke me into that world, my research game is crazy too. So it's just like only thing you have to show me, you don't gotta tell me nothing. You feel me? Like you just you just show me and I'm gonna figure it out. And once that happened, everything just came together. So, yeah, bro. So everything being kind of like Griselda adjacent, I kind of like switched my stuff a little bit. It got like a little like more like talking of like street things, yeah. Um so that's kind of like how my style is now, but I'm I'm changing a little. Like I've been a lot, I've been on more Uptempo records. Well, to explain that, right? To explain why I moved to like more Uptempo records, because I feel like when things got so Griselda adjacent because of the producer that kind of like put me in it.

SPEAKER_02 20:53

Yeah, the sound matters.

SPEAKER_01 20:54

Put me in the sound. I was like, okay, this sound is fire, but I don't want this to be my my ceiling again. I feel like I hit another ceiling, like how I've how I felt out here. I'm like anything that I want to do in this space is like 10 artists before me. Yeah, yeah. You know, like um, like we do a lot of stuff with Peter Rosenberg. Peter Rosenberg was one of the guys that I met in that space. And Peter Rosenberg is very supportive. I always appreciate him for playing my music on hot 97, Shade 45. But he have like eight or ten other artists that he's gonna hit before me. Yeah, right. You feel me? And it's like, I hey, I'm happy for what I can get. Exactly. Yeah, I'm happy for what I can get, but it also lets me know it's like yo, there's tears in here. Uh-huh. Um, and I don't like to play the tear game. So it's like, okay.

SPEAKER_02 21:40

Do you think that's like so and I gotta ask you this because I'm happy you said that. Do you think you're still trying to find your niche? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:47

No, I don't no, no, I don't think so. I think I found my niche, niche, however you say it, my bad. Either way, yeah, I feel like I found that in like 2018. Okay. Now it's really like building that audience. Because I was I was good at sorry. One thing that I learned is like building your foundation off other people's foundations is good, but your foundation might be a little shaky because you're building off a lot of other people's things. And I feel like that's what I was doing for a long time, and I was able to make something of it, but when you stop that run, which you're winning, when it's okay, so now I'm in a space where as of now being signed to Lex, it's like, okay, there's no more 10 people on your shows. It's you. Yeah. You feel me? Like, it's you and somebody else. So now I'm just like really figuring that out. Like my my community, my real audience. Um, and I feel like I know where my audience is. It's just like the lay of the industry of getting there, just like the people I want to be around. Like, I really enjoy Sabah, no name, Mick Jenkins, Chance, everybody in the Chicago scene from that time, like 2012 to 2014. I feel like that was the time I was supposed to come out as an artist. Yeah. But I just lived in Charlotte. So I really could, I really, I could I couldn't make it happen. But that's at that time. It's different now. It's different now. But it's like, if I could have moved to Chicago then, uh, you know what I mean? I could have like been a part of that community that I feel like which was my community. Every time I go to a like a no-name show, I'm like, in my family. Yeah. You feel me? I talk to I talk to people, it's easy. Now it's real different than no disrespect going to a Grigilda S show where everybody's just mugging. Yeah. It's just like, y'all, yeah, y'all, like, yeah. Yeah. We kind of nerd, y'all. Like, we go, we listen to music, we go on the computer, talk about it, and we go on Facebook and Twitter. Like, why y'all like?

SPEAKER_02 23:45

Yeah. Yeah. You feel that way.

SPEAKER_01 23:49

And so and sometimes I'll when I just do a lot of those shows, I'm like, this ain't it. Like 'cause I like to talk to people. I'm like, yo, how y'all doing? Like, how y'all feel? What y'all think about the performance? Oh, it's straight. Y'all have any positive or negative feedback? Oh no, we good. I'm like, okay, y'all obviously like too smacked or something. Yeah, yeah. Engage in conversation. So I feel like it's really just like honing in on my community and just being able to um network and be around people that I feel like we share like the same values. Um, especially like an artist like no name who has her radical bookstore in Los Angeles and sending money and sending books to prison. Yeah. You know, it's just like that's I live for that. Again, it's just like that takes me to the time when Shalem put me on the knowledge. I'm like, yo, this is what you need to be on. This is what you need to be rapping and talking about. So it was like aligning with stuff like that. Yeah. So I don't think I'm finding my niche. I think I just I need it's just that to hit that other tier. Yeah. Because now I I live in like, I live in two worlds, bro.

Team Building And Touring Like A Pro

SPEAKER_01 24:54

It'd be so crazy. So it's like I live in a Lex world, right? Yeah. So it's like, I'm talking to people who've worked over like hundred album campaigns. You feel me? It's like they know what they're talking about, they know what they're doing. So I live in that world, and then I have to live in like the squad world of people who is just like, yo, bro, maybe you should do this. Maybe you should. And I'm like, where are you getting this information from? What's it built on? Yeah. I was like, where what? Um, so it'd be crazy to like to be in both of those worlds, but I'm mainly I'm in the Lex world, but I'm mainly, I don't live in Europe, you know what I mean, or London. You feel me? So it's like I'm mainly here with my people, with my core team. Yeah. So it's like getting the core team, getting the core team on that same mindset as them, to where it's like, okay, when I'm performing, uh-huh, y'all need to hear on some scout shit. Y'all, yo, you ever heard of Lord Jamont Alabama? You want to sign it? You want to sign an emailing list? You want to be on the team? You want to put something in your hand, blah, blah, blah. So it's like, on this side, I don't have to worry about that at all. I just did a European run. We did London, Amsterdam, Paris. How was it? Um, beautiful, right? So I remember after the Paris show, I'm like, oh shit, I forgot to talk to yo, my guy Monkey. Shout out to Monkey. He worked at Lex. He said, Yo, don't worry about it. You did your job. I did my job. See, did your job. I did my job. I'm like, yo. No disrespect to nobody.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

Yesterday? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:24

I did yesterday. I'm like, oh shit, there's so many people I didn't talk to. Yeah, yeah. I forgot. Or it's just like I didn't get there early enough to set up my merch. You had to be James Brown again. Yeah, you had to do everything. So just being in those worlds is just kind of crazy. Um, but it's just getting everybody over here to really understand like the Lex world way of doing things.

SPEAKER_02 26:48

I have to interrupt, I have to say this because you're saying something that's very key. Yeah. He's big on this. He'll tell you. It's funny because you're touching on a lot of stuff.

SPEAKER_03 26:55

We want to talk about it.

SPEAKER_02 26:56

We don't have to say nothing. You good. Okay. So being prepared as a business person, having um a system, and knowing like your roles and your jobs so that your team, your organization can work well. Because as an artist, one of the things you all had to depend on is a good team to help promote you. So you can focus on doing your art. Exactly. Could you explain to audience how like you're explaining that right now? It's very important. Is that true?

SPEAKER_01 27:24

Yeah, man, it's true. It's very important if you're like, if you're blessed enough to be able to just focus on your art and have people around you whose opinions and thoughts that you trust and believe in. It's like it makes it worthwhile, you feel me? Because when I started traveling, there's people I meet in certain cities, like in Atlanta, my homie Promise. It's just like when we met, it's just we hit off. We hit it off because he just already knew what was going on. Like, oh here, he just already knows how I move. Yeah. Um, he's just from the world. And it's like we didn't really have to like keep going back and forth on certain things. So, like when I met him, I put him on my tour real easy. Um, and he was like, Yeah, bro, I don't even need to ride with you. I I've I'll get there. He'll make his way. Yeah, and it's just like, bro, you get it, bro. And I've been working with him since 2019. So it was just some people who get it. Um, and he had a good team of people as well. So that's how I was able to like create the base that I have in Atlanta because of him and like his his community. Yeah. But yeah, I think it's real important just to have a team of people who know what you want to do, who knows your long-term goals and your short-term goals. So you can like work and everything can just um be effective, like in a positive way. Because I feel like I have a lot of like back and forth conversations with people. And it'd be hard to be like, yo, like sometimes I want to be like, yo, I'm the nigga gang. I'm not telling you what I think, like, I'm telling you what I know, bro. Like, yeah, I got the the what is it? The field research. Yeah, you feel like that's what I'm saying. Yeah, like I'm not, I'm not just telling you some shit I seen on TikTok. You feel me? I'm telling you like what's going on. So but it'd be a lot of back and forth. And one thing I learned is like if you're excelling by yourself, but you have a crew, um, and things isn't just making sense to you, like, yo, why this not? Why this not? It's because what's around you. They're like probably unsure and they're questioning your moves. And it's like you can be so locked in on your art, you don't even you don't even know there's like miscom miscommunication going on. Sound like what Jalen Brown was talking about. Yeah, because you because you so locked in and you thinking it's just like, oh no, we're great, we're good. You guys get it. And it's just like, oh no, y'all don't get it. Different mindset. Yeah, different mindset. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's kind of like where I'm where I am now, I feel. It's like um it's another thing too. Sometimes you have a team and you have a squad. You feel me? So I feel like I'm an artist with a squad instead of like an artist with a real team. Yeah. And that's that's nobody's fault. You feel me? Like again, again, we from Charlotte, we had to do the best we can. I had to like utilize everybody around me and turn them into something. Yeah. Um, and that works well, but you have to replace that with something more efficient. Yeah, and I feel like I burnt a lot of bridges early in Charlotte. But just because I'm so passive and like adamant about this, it's just like I'm not gonna mention words, you're straightforward. I don't come out, I don't come out to have fun.

SPEAKER_02 30:40

Like I'm not out here to hang out with y'all. Yeah, like when you came in today, I just gotta tell people. So when you came in today, he came in, he had his merch and stuff ready, and he was ready to bring it out and have everything ready to set up so we can see his album stuff. Like we told him, there's no disrespect. That's perfect. That's what we want to see. Right, right. Because a lot of people don't come prepared. Yeah, yeah. They don't come with that, and so you you have to pull it out of them. So to come and be prepared, like I tell folks, especially artists, you gotta do that. There's no bad feelings in

Origin Story And Charlotte’s Shift

SPEAKER_02 31:09

that. But I know we're getting about to the end end um of our interview, and we want to make sure that we got some of these in. So these little cards, these are just questions, general questions. You can pick and choose whichever ones you want. I want you to at least get one. We'll see if we have the time for two before, because we want to make sure that you get some uh some uh some uh time to promote. So choose any of these cards, and I want you to read it.

SPEAKER_01 31:45

My origin story. What moment changed the direction of your life? I keep your artistry, I wanna say when there was a point in time like 2015, 16, there were a lot of things happening in Charlotte. Like shout out AMCS Bodega, they were doing shows at the Fillmore at Amos, and we were able, we were able to create a subculture from that. And just to see like Samir from Family Matters bring Nipsey Hustle, bring currency, bring all these people. And me just in a crowd. I remember one time watching De Niro Ferrar perform at the Fillmore. He's going crazy. He's just got so many people on stage, and I'm like, yo, bro. I gotta turn up, man. I have to turn up. Like, I remember again, shout out to De Niro. I remember he was the first artist, a Charlotte artist I've seen with like a Vice four episode. Like That's true. Yeah. I forgot I was supposed to say I'm supposed to send some ice on bread. I just remember I'm like, damn, I'm supposed to gotta send some ice on bread real quick. Um De Niro was the first artist I first Charlotte artist I've seen with like a four series um from Vice, and I'm like, yo, he walking around streets, he naming streets that I know. So I'm like, yo, I really gotta turn up. So it was a around 2015, 16, there were a lot of things happening happening in Charlotte to where I'm like, oh, there's about to be a shift. Yeah. And that shift is happening now. Yeah. So it wasn't at that time, but I'm like, yo, it's about to be a shift, and I want to be a part of um the shift. Like, I want to be the guy, Sprinter, backdoor, green room, stage, stage, green room, backdoor, sprinter. You feel me? Like, I'm not trying to be coming through the door, coming through the front door, GA. So just around that time, seeing a lot of moves happen, I'm like, okay, I gotta make something. And I was able to create a buzz that got me to a bigger market, and then that got me to Lex Records from that subculture from AMCS Bodega. So awesome. One more? Yep, one more. One more.

Diaspora Wars And Black Unity

SPEAKER_01 33:51

What problem in our community do you wish people were paying attention to? Right now, I would say like the diaspora sorry. How you pronounce it? Diaspora? Diaspora. Diaspora. Sorry. The diaspora wars? Oh, the diaspora. Yeah, the diaspora wars. Diaspora wars. So did I say it right the first time or no? Okay. The diaspora wars, like the African Americans versus the Caribbeans versus the Africans versus the y'all. Let's figure it out. Y'all, let's figure it out. Let's stop. Preach. Stop. Come on. Stop. Silly. And it's like black Americans, it's like, y'all, we do, we're all the ones, but black Americans, we the ones, yo. You knew feel me? No matter what you believe. Like, if you believe in like Nation of Islam, like, okay, whoever brought civilized us and gave us the knowledge itself, it's like, as black Americans, we gotta be a little more understanding. And I know, like, it's because of the hand that's controlling all this shit. So while we gotta be like so ahead of the game. We gotta be so ahead of the game. Um, because there be moments and I'm like, okay, I don't think I want to say anything about Iran because Iran doesn't fight for us. Yeah, I don't think I want to say something about about iced because Mexicans don't fight for us. And it's like, yo, you sleep. Preach. You're sleep, bro. How you sleep as a black American, like you know what's going on, bro. And you're letting this like mess up your view. You feel me? It's like, yo, we got the knowledge itself. So it's like, okay, people in the continent, they might play with us because the media, they might think we're lazy, they might think this, whatever they push into them, but it's like, as black Americans, we gotta be like so above that. So we're just like, oh no, they think that because of this. And we think this of them because of that. So yeah, we gotta, we gotta stop all that, y'all. Yeah, we gotta stop. No matter what you believe, if we were if you believe we were already here, if you believe we came here, if you believe we came here from the will, yeah. Shout out to the honorable, shout out to the honorable Elijah Muhammad. If you believe we came on a will, y'all, we gotta figure it out. We gotta stop it because I don't want to keep saying it. Yeah, and it's really affecting me in like real life. Like, yeah, I believe it.

SPEAKER_03 36:17

I believe it. I believe it.

SPEAKER_01 36:18

Tariq Nashi, stop! Yeah, thank you. It's you said that it's you, it's not just you, but it's you, bro. Like, you got people looking at us crazy. I'm trying to go get, I'm trying to go get my cassava leaf and then my nigga, bro. Y'all about to get me jumped in here, and I'm like no cassava leaf.

SPEAKER_02 36:37

I remember I love cassava leave.

SPEAKER_01 36:38

I went to Zoey's on North China, and it was just an African guy, and he was like, What you know about this food? I'm like, come on. If it was black American, I'm like, what you mean? Like 10G what? I gotta be woke. I'm like, yeah, I know about this. I know about the food. I know about the food. Yeah, I know it's good. But if it was on some other shit, I was like, what you mean? I didn't know I'm talking on what's going on. So yeah, we gotta stop that.

SPEAKER_03 37:05

Yeah, I agree. True.

SPEAKER_02 37:06

Tariq Holland.

SPEAKER_01 37:07

Real talk, real talk. Showers holler, I leave what's good.

SPEAKER_02 37:11

And to wrap up, obviously, we want to make sure that you um it's gonna be this camera here. We want

Where To Find Music And Merch

SPEAKER_02 37:16

to make sure you look in there. We want you to tell people what you got going on, where they can find you, how can they get your music, etc. Yes, yep.

SPEAKER_01 37:25

Hello, everybody out there in TV Land. One of my favorite shows. Okay, so what's going on? We're just like we're we're creating, we're trying to create a new sound. Um, we're still pushing as of now. We're working on a deluxe that's gonna come out. You can find me anywhere, Lord Jamonte Ogbon of Millinated People. Any platform. Uh, what else?

SPEAKER_02 37:52

Real tall real tall. If you have if you have anywhere that they can uh purchase your music, you can purchase my music through LexRecords.com or through my band count.

SPEAKER_01 38:03

I I have many platforms you guys can search up, but just search up Jewelry Rap Productions, Lex Records, Lord Jamonte Ogbon. I got everything for you. Merch, CDs, cassettes, that's what I was about to say, yeah. Water bottles, I got it. Whatever you need, I got for you.

SPEAKER_02 38:18

Awesome. And um, brother, thank you so much for joining us. No problem. We appreciate it. Even though you had a show last night, you came here. Yes. You ain't even that late. You was good. You was good, even though I understand you had a show last night. And the weather's not perfect today, but we're gonna make the day better. Um, outside of that, man, I want to say this DJing what? Skip.

unknown 38:38

Tamaya.

SPEAKER_02 38:39

Mike in the back. Mike. And then our Tamaya and our esteemed guest.

SPEAKER_01 38:45

Lord Jamonte, Agmon of Melanated People. Y'all hit me. You know, feel me. Like, hit me up. Let me know it's good. I can't work with everybody, but we can brainstorm.

SPEAKER_02 38:54

Awesome. Awesome. I appreciate the truth and honesty. This is DJ and what until the next time. Make

Final Thanks And Closing Words

SPEAKER_02 38:59

sure you tell somebody next to him that you love him and you appreciate them. You don't know when you'll get a chance to do that again. Peace. Peace.