Achickwitbeatz presents ⁠the Instrumental Intel podcast⁠, bringing you information instrumental to your artistic career including music industry news & tips, insights & interviews, and beats for your inspiration. Listen on Saturdays at 7 pm EST on ⁠⁠⁠Grander Radio⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠Achickwitbeatz.com⁠⁠⁠.
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Instrumental Intel Podcast

Achickwitbeatz brings you information instrumental to your artistic career including music industry news, insights, interviews, and beats for your inspiration. Listen on Saturdays at 7 pm ET on ⁠⁠⁠Grander Radio,⁠⁠⁠ Achickwitbeatz.com⁠⁠⁠, and your favorite podcast platform.

Transcript Generated by Riverside

00:00
Hey, thank you for tuning in to Instrumental Intel. I am your host, music producer, Chick with Beats, and I'm glad that you've joined me today. I've got an episode that's got music industry news, beats by me for your inspiration, and later my special guest, my big brother, Shaun Don, who is also a music producer, artist, graphic designer, writer, name it, he's a multi-hyphenate. He's coming back.

00:24
for part two of Music Culture Conversations. So it's going to be a great time. Once again, I'm excited to be bringing this episode to you. And before I go ahead and drop that first beat, I gotta give a shout out to my home station, Grander Radio out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. And with that, let's go.

[BEAT BREAK]

12:28
Alright I'm back with the music biz brief first up Sound Exchange and the National Association of Broadcasters or NAB for short have reached an agreement on non-subscription royalty rates with the per performance rate set to increase from .0025 to .0028 in 2026 rising by .0001 each year until 2030. The deal also shortens reporting deadlines to 30 days

12:56
It caps late fees at 1 % per month during audits, and it mandates that broadcasters provide access to performance data from third-party vendors by 2027. This settlement aims to provide more stable royalty rates while avoiding costly litigation benefiting both broadcasters and the music community. Next, Spotify has teamed up with Dutch event platform Stager to enhance concert discovery, allowing event organizers to list shows directly on artist Spotify pages.

13:24
The integration follows Spotify's ongoing push into live music, having previously partnered with platforms like EventTix and Skittle. While Spotify scaled back its own ticketing initiatives, it continues expanding concert-related features, including personalized concert playlists and third-party integrations like Bands in Town. This collaboration with Stager will help event organizers reach Spotify's engaged audience and drive more ticket sales.

13:49
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has sold another $28.2 million in company shares, bringing his total stock cash out to roughly $778 million since mid-2023. He's been offloading shares bi-weekly in 2025, while Spotify's stock has nearly doubled over the past year, fueled by its first full year of profitability. Meanwhile, Spotify has been raising subscription prices globally, including in the US, UK, and other places as it chases sustained profit.

14:17
Their controversial 1,000 stream rule may have cost independent artists nearly $47 million in royalties last year, according to Disc Makers CEO. New data shows that 87 % of tracks on Spotify didn't meet the stream threshold to qualify for payouts, despite collectively generating over 14 billion streams. While Spotify disputed parts of the analysis, the numbers raised tough questions for emerging artists. The takeaway? Treat Spotify as a discovery tool, not a revenue source.

14:47
and focus on pushing tracks past that thousand stream mark and look to live shows, merch, and physical sales to drive income. Spotify added 5 million premium subscribers in the first quarter of this year, reaching 268 million globally, a 12 % year-over-year increase and its best first quarter growth since 2020. Monthly active users hit 678 million, with ad-supported users slightly down. Spotify posted a record

15:13
509 million euros, which is about $535.6 million in operating income. Though just shy of guidance, it brought in $4.4 billion in total revenue. Premium revenue rose 16%, helped by global price hikes, and a 4 % boost in average revenue per user. The company plans even more price increases in Europe and Latin America, but not the US.

15:37
Also, Warner Music Group is suing Cookie Chain Crumble, accusing the company of using at least 159 of its copyrighted songs in promotional TikTok and Instagram videos without proper licensing. The lawsuit claims Crumble misappropriated music from high-profile artists like Dua Lipa, Lizzo, Taylor Swift, and Beyonce to build its brand, generating massive sales without compensation to the music creators. Warner is seeking up to $23.85 million in damages,

16:06
and a permanent injunction. This case adds to a series of lawsuits for major labels against companies using copyrighted music and social media marketing without authorization. Next, European regulators are officially investigating Universal Music Group's proposed $775 million acquisition of downtown music holdings following requests from Austria and the Netherlands. While the deal didn't meet EU-wide turnover thresholds, regulators say it

16:32
could significantly impact competition across several music markets. Universal must now notify the European Commission before moving forward. Downtown no longer owns copyrights, but provides services across publishing, distribution, and royalties for over four million creators globally. Independent label Voices have also raised concerns over the potential consolidation. In other news, Bandcamp is raising its default pricing from $7 to $9 for albums.

17:00
and from $1 to $1.50 for tracks, but artists still set their own prices. The change reflects what fans are already paying and aligns with new chart eligibility standards from Luminate, the data source behind Billboard. To qualify for chart reporting, digital albums must be priced at at least $7.99 and tracks at $1.50, among other requirements. Artists can use Bandcamp's bulk edit tool to quickly update their pricing catalog.

17:26
Next, Splice has acquired UK-based virtual instrument company Spitfire Audio in a deal reportedly worth around $50 million. Known for its orchestral libraries, Spitfire expands Splice's reach into the $640 million plugin market. Both companies will continue to operate independently, with Splice aiming to blend its tech-driven tools with Spitfire's rich instrument catalog. The acquisition comes as Splice reports over 350 million sample downloads in 2024,

17:55
and continues to build artist-first AI features focused on creative support, not replacement. BeatStars has partnered with AI protection startup, Surreal, to prevent unauthorized use of its catalog from machine learning training. The deal includes a system to flag when BeatStars music is used in AI models alongside a dashboard for creators to monitor such activity. Approved developers will also be able to verify which tracks are off limits.

18:22
And finally, Epidemic Sound has acquired AI music recognition startup Song Sleuth to launch a new service called Anadote, which aims to identify and recover unclaimed royalties from remixes, covers, and live recordings, a major issue in the so-called black box of music revenue. With a claimed 95 % accuracy rate, Anadote combines AI and industry data to track music use across platforms like TikTok and YouTube.

18:50
where Epidemic Sound Catalog already fuels over 3 billion daily views. The company's focused on monetization tools that help creators and rights holders get paid more accurately in the expanding creator economy. Alright, and that's it for this week's music biz brief. I'm gonna take a quick pause for the cause and then I'll be back with my special guest, my big brother, music producer, artist, designer, writer, Shaun Don. Keep it locked.

[BEAT BREAK]

22:49
Hey, I'm Achickwitbeatz, multi-genre music producer and strategist to indie artists and labels. Visit achickwitbeatz.com for resources for artists and instrumentals in various genres available for songs, vlogs, blogs, podcasts, themes, TV, film, commercials, and more. Once again, that's achickwitbeatz.com. That's A-C-H-I-C-K-W-I-T-B-E-A-T-Z.com Let's make something happen.

23:19
Hey, thank you so much for tuning in to instrumental Intel. I am your host, music producer, Chick with Beats. And I'm excited to say that I have my brother, Shaun Don, in the virtual building with me once again, you know, just for a little bit of background for the people who may have missed it the first time that you were on. If you could just let them know a little bit about what it is that you do, how you got involved with music and many of the other creative projects that you're part of. Oh, OK.

23:49
It's good to be here with you again on this platform. You're doing a wonderful job at it. You keep doing what you're doing. Thank you. Well, I go by Shaun Don. You're a big brother. Our music roots go back so far because the family itself, everything, the root is Mississippi. Mississippi is the root. So, you know, we had grandparents came from Mississippi and moved to Chicago for a better life.

24:18
Then people brainstorm from there. just the music is there. We get Chicago style. We get, you know, Detroit style, Kalamazoo, Atlanta, Memphis, because I've been just traveling my life, as you can see, throughout the states that I've stayed in. And so I've adapted to a lot of things. the music has just always been a passion. Like I say, it runs in our family. You know, our father loves music. We love music and movies as well.

24:47
Uh, me and of course, um, my siblings, we, we talk about it podcast still coming soon. Yes. Um, we looking at you, Bri. Right. And, um, so, uh, music has been there. Poetry was first and I used to use poetry just for fun, but didn't know that, you know, I actually had a, had a talent in it, then turned it into, um, music and started rapping and.

25:17
Music has such a big effect that is passed on to the other generations because you know, my little brother Mike, he had two projects, you know, I sent you those I think last week. Nephews, Quan, you know, GFM Maintain, may he rest in peace. He was following his music passion before he passed. You know, and we turned the music into well our family thing, which was GFM, God, Family and Money, which started with us.

25:47
Um, we breathe, we breathe that you know what i'm saying and they all the family members they love it i'm talking about mothers, aunties, everybody go off GFM – God, Family, Money–in that order. That's what we believe in. So That was the name of the first project When I started rhyming, um Then from there it went to clothing so we had clothing lines trench, baby and um Then I end up

26:15
having to change the name to, I had to create another name because trench paper was already taken trademark wise. So I changed it to one I came up with called Soft White. Soft White, we booming Soft White, know, jogging suits, shirts, hoodies, everything. Then I get a cease and desist letter from Off White. Oh wow. Right. So, know, so I get that. I'm like, okay, we doing this good.

26:44
You know what saying? So my lawyer was like, you know, we could fight it. I said, I'm not going to win that fight. I don't have the money that Off-White has. Why would I even try to battle them for a name? And, you know, they got a platform with, you know, Virgil as the originator, you know, made he rest in peace. You know, he did a lot of major things and they still doing good. So I had to find another name. So now the clothing line is

27:14
Lux de Goutierre, which means gutter luxury. it's, know, I've seen some things so can see what we got and I've seen you some items too. that's what's going on with clothing and fashion has a lot to do with music. run, they run together, you know? So, cause I mean, just like, when you're dealing with like movies, cause we like movies and TV shows as well. When you look at a movie, you looking at the fashion and the music.

27:43
Yeah, you know what saying? So all of that runs together. And we went to go see Sinners on on Sunday on Easter and it was a great movie. So if you hadn't seen it, says it'd be that's one to go see. He did his thing on that. Ryan did his thing on that movie. OK, that's definitely the plan. But yeah, you're right about how involved fashion is with it. can think of, you know, especially coming up.

28:09
younger, know, my influential years and whatnot, watching music videos and just, you know, kind of emulating some of that stuff like, I like that. Ooh, you know, getting kind of into it. Like to this day, I still love me some, some Tims, a good variety of them. Yeah. had asked my family once before, I'm like, you know, how many Tims is too much for a non New Yorker to have? Right? Yeah. I love them.

28:35
But yeah, most of that came from, you know, coming up, watching hip hop videos and stuff. It's a trip. Yeah, because like, like if you look back, you know, like anything like Nas, Eric Ben Rockin, LL Cool J, TLC, Jermaine Dupri, just, you know, just how the styles are and what they're wearing. That's a, that makes a big difference. Yeah, it really does. And I even went through my little phase at one point where I had like the

29:01
silk Looney Tunes boxers showing over my body suit like Aaliyah. Yeah, music and fashion really do go hand in hand. They do. They do. Absolutely. So yeah, you know, it sucks that you had to kind of switch stuff up, but congratulations on doing so well that you were catching attention. That's really awesome. You know, it might not have felt like that at first, but that's really great. I looked at it, you know,

29:31
It was like a learning thing. I just, I was like, I was flattered actually, really, if you look at it. Yeah. And I probably would have been a fool to fight it too. That'd be like a waste of money. could put, I could take that 20-30,000 on something else, which of course would probably cause more than that. But we talking about a retainer fee. You know what I'm saying? Right. But you know, for somebody that's as creative as you are, it makes more sense to just kind of move to the next thing. Cause it's not like you got a shortage of ideas.

30:01
Exactly. Yeah, that's like, I've been going mad ham on designs. think like, over this three, I just took a break this month. Well, I say like the last three weeks, I hadn't been doing any designs because like, I was on a thing like three months straight, I came up with like 115 different designs. Wow. Yes. designs.

30:26
Okay, congratulations. You know, I really wish that I had the talent for visual artistry as well. We got it sonically. That's it. Okay. We'll make that work. telling you. We'll make that work. All right. Well, yes. Okay. Congratulations on that. You recently released a new project. I'd like to talk a little bit about that. You know, how you, well,

30:52
I don't want to spoil it before you get into it. The one that you sent where you took some of your old songs and reworked them for R &B. Yeah. The Dirty Alternative. Yeah, the Dirty Alternative. And that name just popped in my head because I was listening to my old music and I always said Dirty Streets. You know what saying? I spell dirty with a U.

31:21
So it just was, and that's also what I gave my brother. That was my brother's, my little brother's first rap name. His name was Dirty Mike. So he changed it now, but that's what it was when he first came out. But yeah, dirty is just a term that I use because we're down south and because the streets are evil. You know what I'm saying? They could be real bad, especially in certain areas.

31:49
you know, because everybody don't have it. Silver spoon, you know what saying? So you get people that's in the hood and that's what my music is for because that's where I came from. You know, I was poor and didn't even know it until I got older. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. OK, we was poor. know, and so, you know, it just popped in my head like, OK, dirty alternative than a GFM project.

32:17
because that was the original project that goes back a long time to like my nephew worked on that project with me and he was 12 at the time and he will be I think 33 this year. Wow. Yeah, I he'll be 33 this year. Okay. And, but yeah, just it just popped in my head one day, you know, my mind, it moves a lot and I just thought how would it sound?

32:45
for me to change it to R&B flow, of what I call it, a trap rap neo soul. Yeah. That's how I grasp the concept, you know. And just went with it and just had songs that I had already wrote and I may have used a verse or two from those and did the hooks and then I did some original ones as well and put those together like I say real quick, because poetry,

33:14
It just flows and if I just sit up long enough, I can come up with something real quick. So, and I came up with other original ideas and made those into songs as well. Okay. Yeah. Cause I know I got kind of hyped when you sent them like, man, I want to put this in the car and ride around with it right now. Kind of had those vibes to it. And yeah, I've been kind of enjoying those types of blends lately. Okay.

33:41
You know how people been doing the, and I'm kind of late to it, I think just because I'm not that much of a TikTok user, but more so recently I've been trying to get into it a little bit more. yeah. And so what's the terminology, the YN R&B, like where they turn and like make it a little gangster, like with the classic, you know, either eighties, nineties tracks. I'm like, no, I'm kind of feeling this though. yeah, a little bit of nostalgia with a freshness to it.

34:11
Yeah, with a freshness, so. Yeah, no, definitely digging that. So, OK, you know what? We didn't really talk that much about poetry the last time. Is there any chance I'm not like asking you to recite it or nothing, but is there any chance you remember like some of your early poetry? Like when you think about it, how much you may have changed like since then? I think I can't remember a thing. Well, like I did it. I'm going to tell you the truth where I started. Had something to do with girl.

34:41
So my thing was when I was in junior high, you know, you know, back then you on the phone all night sneaking on the phone, talking low, cover over your head, hoping your mom don't come in the room and blast you out while you on the phone. And what else? Don't go to sleep first thing, you know what saying? You sleeping? All that. So it just started off like that with me.

35:10
you know, talking to a young lady and then be like, you know, I'm into this and write me something and I write her something real quick. And truthfully, like it really wasn't anything to think about. It just just flows out. So it's like write something real quick and tell it to them when they was loving it. So that's where it started from.

35:31
Yeah, it's funny. Yeah, nostalgic feeling like the chords before, know, choruses and stuff got popular trying to pull it through the door. Yeah, things like that. yeah, yeah. I'm that old. Oh, dang. I didn't mean to date myself like that either. But that's the truth. But go ahead.

35:55
Yeah, I was just kind of thinking about some of my early stuff. Like I actually called myself writing a song in elementary. Oh, okay. And I do kind of remember like pieces of it because I think I had actually started with my girl cousins on my mom's side at first. Okay. But then kind of, you know, started branching off on my own. And I don't really remember a whole lot about it, but I just remember like, you know, if it had actually been recorded, how embarrassed I probably would be today.

36:25
But it's like, you know, gotta start somewhere. You gotta start from somewhere. And another thing I learned, don't forget, don't forget what you're thinking about. But I had to say this. We can never give up on ourselves. And we always like, we, a lot of times we're scared to be successful. And that's including me. And it's just like, we just got to do it. Because if we got the talent, it's no sense to waste the talent. Let's use what we got because we don't need to fear because if you

36:55
If you never lose, then you won't know how to win. Oh, that's heavy. I like that. Yeah. You were, I know you were sharing that like, you know, for everyone, but I feel like you were talking directly to me. Cause it is some stuff I need to go in and do. I've been kind of contemplating and yeah, that just kind of solidifies it right there. Yeah. You know, let's, you know, let's, let's, let's push on, you know, and, um, um, you know, our dad told, told me.

37:25
that procrastination runs in our family. Yes. And when he told me that, was like, okay, all right, that's where I get it from then. So like other people might think you and I and Bri as well, think like, well, okay, they successful in doing what they doing. That's cool. But what they don't know is we supposed to be beyond where we at now. Yeah. And I know this for a fact without you even telling me. Yeah. This is what we got genetically. You know what I'm saying? So.

37:54
Just think if what we're doing now, if we really like take the scared part out and just push, push it, man, we'll be on a whole nother level. Yep. 100%. I agree with you and yeah, I'm definitely guilty because I just saw recently, um, let see. says, eventually you'll realize that waiting for the perfect moment is just another form of procrastination. Yeah. It's like, okay, well no, I gotta tweak this. It's gotta sound like this and that.

38:22
And that'll just let you just keep putting it off and you never know who's waiting for it. You never know. Yeah. If you feel compelled to make anything creative, that means that it's somebody out there that needs to receive it. So anytime that we don't actually deliver, we're kind of doing a disservice to ourselves as well as whoever it's intended for. yeah. Yeah. was supposed to be an interview, not making me realize some stuff, but I appreciate that.

38:52
Oh yeah, you know, everything happens for a reason. Absolutely. I don't know exactly what it is too. So yeah, it's okay. You you've always got stuff going and flowing. Do you have anything, I guess, intended in the immediate pipeline that we should be looking for? Or, you know, you just got it mapped out. We have to wait little bit. I'm not trying to make you spill any secret sauce or anything.

39:21
I'm gonna tell you what's in the pipeline. of course, you know, working with the clothing line, but what I also want to do, like, I'm getting in to writing. So I'm thinking about a movie. So I'm thinking about, you know, GFM the movie and just go to the beginning of that and start this. So

39:48
I started writing that actually I'm writing too, because it's another project that I got going too. I just want to get into, I believe I can direct, produce, I believe I can do anything. Because anything I put my hands to, I can do it. You know what I'm saying? Absolutely. Yeah, you can. If you put your mind to it and you want to do it, even if you go back to editing your own videos and stuff like that, that's something you didn't know how to do and you had to learn how to do it.

40:16
you can do other things. So me watching Sinners, it like put myself like, okay, keep working on the projects that you get going. So like I said, I have two. So with those projects, of course you're going to have to have music and fashion. So that should help with the clothing line. And I want you to help as well as with the soundtracks and we just get it, you know, saying, get it popping all the way around. Absolutely. Whatever you need. I got you.

40:44
For sure. Oh, that's exciting. Yeah, I can't wait to watch how everything turns out. I know it's going to be magnificent, especially doing two at once. But if anybody can do it, I know you can. And it just came and like I said, the stuff popping my head and I just get started on it. And by the way, I did see video yesterday with Jemail and. Yes, yes.

41:13
Yes, and for the listeners who may not be aware, that's my husband who just did his first short film for the Kazoo 48. And man, let me tell you just the work that he put into that. So it had to be done in 48 hours. They sent in the email that Friday at 6 p.m. you had to have it submitted by Sunday at 6 p.m. Wow, that's cool though. Right? So, I mean,

41:41
I can't even tell you the type of anxiety that I would have had trying to do that. Right. But I mean, he handled it so gracefully. mean, you know, maybe a couple hours sleep for that entire weekend, but he worked so hard and it turned out so great. That, that, that like, makes character and then it makes you change your game. Yeah. Yeah. You know, goes back to what we talked about with procrastination.

42:08
You can't procrastinate with 48 hours to do practice. Right. So you got to do it. Exactly. So like even working on the music, he was actually working on the film while I was doing that part, you know, like, yeah. So, yeah. But, you know, it's something that they've been doing in Kalamazoo for a while. I really wasn't that aware of it. Like, I think I had kind of heard the name around, but didn't really know what was involved in it. Right. Yeah. I mean, it's a lot of work, but.

42:36
you know, especially be able to watch it on the big screen. thought that that was really special. So, yeah. Yeah, I bet you that was nice. Yeah. Almost like a film festival type thing. Yeah, it was. And, you know, Calvin's, Calvin's, he's got a lot of talent in many different ways. So it's just kind of cool to see, you know, just like a big old melting pot. Because, mean, to be honest, it's not like it's a whole lot of other things to do. It's either sports or arts here. Right. Yeah.

43:06
Yeah. You know, you're here for a while before moving. And you know what? It's a guy. It's a movie I watched about two or three months ago. Can't remember his name. I'm sorry, people, but just look for him. He's from Kalamazoo. And the movie, I'm sitting there watching the movie and I mean, it almost got me in tears. The guy, father was on drugs and he was an artist.

43:34
And I want to say he's like 49 years old, but it's a movie and the movie was so good. And so it just had me look him up. When I looked up, said he was from Kalamazoo. I was like, oh man, that's awesome. And he is an artist. Matter of fact, he did, um, when, when the police, um,

43:56
had a, man, he did, was a time, it was a time piece. And he did, he drew the art for the Time Magazine on this particular article. Yeah, but he's from Kalamazoo and I'll give him the name to you later. just, you know, I can't remember right now, but he's from Kalamazoo. So it's a lot of talent out of Kalamazoo. Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, like it's kind of nice to be immersed in it. So like, you know, I was always into music and some of the other creative stuff, but

44:26
I feel like being here and growing up here helped cultivate that. Right. Kind of being immersed in it, if you will. Yeah, I put my time in and open mics a lot when I got deeper into the music and I was grateful for the platform before branching off to some other places.

44:54
Man, so yeah, I'm really excited to check out what you're working on. You know, if you need somebody to kind of take a look at the script before you ready to film, let me know. OK, for sure. That's just because I'm being nosy and excited and want to see it as as I can. You know, I want to be up close and ended with. Yeah. All right. Yeah. So, OK, especially talking about that and with soundtracks. Since.

45:21
We love music, love movies, TV. What are some of the best soundtracks that you think of? if you had to name like maybe a top five all time. Dead Presidents, most definitely. There's nothing like Dead Presidents. That is an awesome double CD. That was a double CD project. I loved it because I like all the old school music they had on it. Like Isaac Hayes.

45:50
And know, as case that's a Memphis native. You know what So, uh, and amongst other people's, mean, I mean, it's just, I just, I just love this soundtrack. Um, so, okay. New Jack city. That was, that was the nineties hip hop. Um, what's that? A new Jack swing type. You know what I'm saying? So yeah, we're going to say new Jack city, dead presidents.

46:20
I have to, you know what? I'm gonna throw something in there that I'm gonna throw in the wood as well. I'm going to because the wood laid a platform of this young man moving from one side of the country to the next side where he was from the country. He went, you know what saying, to the West Coast and it was a total different lifestyle. But

46:47
how the music that they chose to play at the times throughout the movies, it brought back memories and that's what it was supposed to do. So that's why I have to say the wood as well. Yeah, that's a good one. Yeah, yeah, that's three. I had to think about that. That's one of the things that I kind of appreciated about Friday.

47:07
You know, since that soundtrack had some new stuff on it, but they threw in some of the old schools. Oh, yeah. Yeah, the Isley Brothers. Yeah. Yeah. James. Yeah. OK. Yeah. You can put that. You can make that my number four. OK. You know, it's so many. It's just so much you can pick from. But those four, I can say those four all the time. What about you? Yeah. Man, I got so many because soundtracks used to be my thing.

47:36
especially buying CDs. You had that little bitty job at the library. Might've had like $30 every two weeks. So I was trying to stretch my money. That was the best way to get the most bang for your buck. Was just buying soundtracks. And then you had a whole bunch of different artists, various artists. Yeah. Sunset Park was one of my favorites. Okay. That was... Minister of Society.

48:03
for sure. Okay, see, I forgot about that. That's in there for me too. Yeah. And you know what, even the first Nutty Professor soundtrack, I thought was kind of too. Okay. Oh, you know what else? I listen to it all the time because I listen to Tupac's song when they're called Pain. Yeah. my goodness. Yeah. SWV.

48:32
Oh, yeah, that was a nice soundtrack. That soundtrack was killer. Yes. Yeah. That's definitely top five of anybody who came up in the 90s love and movement. Yeah, that was a lot. Yeah. Absolutely. And I do like, it's not on my top list, I do like the Way Next Hell soundtrack. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that was nice. Oh, you know what? I'm trippin'. Boomerang.

49:01
Oh man, I'm tripping too. I'm tripping too. Remember I told you I watched that movie at least twice a year. Yes. Yeah. Man, that soundtrack was so good. And it has something for everybody. Yes. Yes. They hate it on that movie too. Really? Man, it was so good. But you know, I think sometimes when people don't know that, how can I say this delicately, they don't know that something's not necessarily for them.

49:30
and that they're not really meant to understand it. Right, that's right. Yeah, you gotta recognize when you're not the target demographic for something. Like don't mean it's bad, it just means that wasn't necessarily for you. Yeah, exactly. And that's the truth. Yeah. That's the truth. Because that movie was dope. Dope movie, dope soundtrack. Yes, all the way around, everything on there. Yes. So, okay, I know.

49:57
Now that this time we got the soundtracks done, I think we did the top artists, like some of your favorite or influential ones. But now that since you mentioned like the weight and the exhale, what about R &B? You got any like top favorites? That's of all time or what's going on right now? All time. All time R &B. Man, I ain't gonna lie, R Kelly's up there. I just, hey.

50:27
Talent, talent, just to have the man, somebody that's writing for Michael Jackson, I mean, come on now. You know what I'm saying? Like if you wrote for Michael Jackson, what else should I say? Right. So. I've had a guest here a few times, Fabian James, and he actually worked with them on Chocolate Factory. think that happened. Yeah.

50:56
Yes, I mean, you know, that's incredible.

51:01
R. Kelly, used to like, I like, not used to, I mean like Babyface, because Babyface so talented. Like he wrote every song on Waiting to Exhale. So like, what mind state do you have to where you just constantly spitting out these songs writing for everybody on earth? Right. Right. You know I'm saying? Everybody. You know, watching his...

51:29
him and Teddy Riley when they did their verses the second time, not the one that went wrong. But that one was one of my favorites just because, you know, like hearing all those songs back to back, like going back and forth. And like a lot of this stuff shaped a good chunk of my childhood. Yeah. So it's like these two men were responsible for what? Like 90 % of the hits around that time frame. And yeah.

51:58
Because I mean, it's great to be able to do it for yourself, but when you can do it for others. And people not even know you involved in the right. Right. Because there was a few of them that pop up in there and I'm like, oh, you know what? I can hear that sound like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I seen a video and it was like babyfaces by itself. And he did a concert of songs that he wrote. That's all he did. He didn't do anything that he sung before. He just song songs that he wrote.

52:28
And I can't remember all of them, you know, it's just like, was like, oh man, he wrote that. Cause a lot of them I didn't know he wrote. Yeah. Yeah. That verse was mind blowing for me. I know there's a lot of people who probably knew all that stuff, but it was a lot of them that I'm like, okay, okay. Yeah. No, I can hear that. But yeah. Just like you said, just those two people right there. Yeah. You know, and also I gotta say, uh, Jodeci, you know, again, fashion.

52:57
Look at the fashion, you know what saying, and the music. It's for the longest. They called them Jodeci boots. Yeah. They just staying in Vietnam. Oh, they were getting them Jodeci boots. Yeah. I sure as heck went and got me some. I think they were high tech boots. OK. Yeah, high tech boots. Yeah, I had got a pair. to scrape up that money to get them because they wasn't, back then, that wasn't cheap. I think they were like about 90 bucks.

53:27
And 90 bucks, it ain't what it needs to come back. No, not back then. Well, kind of like now, but yeah. Right, right, right. Oh, man. Yeah. Again, not to date myself, but you know, it's getting a little long in the two. But yeah, good times, good music. Yeah, you some some stellar people right there. Yeah, just yeah.

53:56
And it's always and it's always more because you get, oh, now I will say all time favorite artists because I don't consider Michael Jackson and Prince R &B. Like, I don't even know what you want to call it. No, they transcended for sure. Yeah. But Luther Vandross. That's my dad. Yeah. Number one. Yeah. Number one.

54:24
Yeah, he can make you feel anything he's on. It was nothing. I know you saw that clip where they was singing a song, him, Dionne Warwick, and Whitney Houston. They were all up there. And he was like, oh, OK, I think, OK. And he did that. Right, I'm telling you. Yeah, that's my number one. Man, yeah, phenomenal talent. Yes. Phenomenal, yeah.

54:53
And yeah, lot of his music was a part of my childhood too. Yeah. You got music in your head that, you know, you was like, does this come from? it comes from Pops, you know what I'm saying? The music he listened to. So, you know, that's why like Blue-Eyes Soul right now. I love, you know, Hall and Oates. Oh, yeah. And like music like that, because like, if you just listen to that music, it's like you can't tell those two white guys.

55:21
No, I think I was like an adult before I found out about Bobby Caldwell. Right. I was like, wait, what? Yeah, a whole childhood. thought, yeah, he was a black dude. I was watching the documentary where they said that they had done that on purpose. Like, that's why he wasn't on the cover. They didn't want you to just enjoy the music. You're like now Bobby Caldwell.

55:49
I know some of his music, but is what people do, is that one of his songs? Yeah. Okay. So what people do then, know, Tupac sampled that. And amped on it. For real. With, uh, what's his name from Blackstreet? can't even think of it. Yeah. Yeah. You know, can't think of his name either. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's good music. And I got that on my own. I got.

56:17
I got YouTube music, which I love very much because you can get things on YouTube music that you might not be able to get from Spotify and Apple Music. So I like YouTube music so much. YouTube pays their artists better. yes. You know what I'm saying? Yes. So I got YouTube. Man, like when I got married, that's when I created my music, the music for the DJ. Really? to get out my YouTube musical account. So all I did was create it in my account.

56:45
Then send it to the DJ. He called me and said, man, you on top of that. I'm like, hey. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome wedding, by the way. So much fun at that reception. Yes. So, yeah. You know, thank you for coming and sharing your experience, the stuff that you're working on. And these music culture conversations are fun. So I'm glad that we get to have a part two. I hope we get to do a part three sometime soon.

57:15
We'll make that happen. Yeah. So be on the lookout for that, everybody listening. But before I let you go, I want to make sure that everyone knows exactly where they can find you. Follow you, check out everything that you got going on, music, fashion, everything. Okay. Be looking for us online. LuxeGoutier. We got the website that's about to come up. And so for now,

57:45
with Instagram and everything, I got to get it all together because I had to change names and stuff around. So I got that information. What I do is I send it to you. So when you post this, you can post that as well. OK, I will definitely do that. Everything at once. All right. And, know, if you have any other advice, you you dropped some gems earlier. I'm not procrastinating, but any thoughts you kind of want to leave the listeners with? You know, just

58:15
My main thing is about, you know, right now is like mental health and because it's messed up out here. So my thing is for people that's going through, that's not talking to people, find somebody that you can talk to, you know, because it's lot of going on. This affecting us, our color more now than it used to in the past. Because you could say back in the day, you knew it wasn't us. But nowadays it is. They're crashing out.

58:44
You know, and it's a mental issue. It's not just saying about days and times and YNs are crazy. It's literally like people have mental health issues and they're not talking about it. And then we seeing the outcome when they crash out. So, you know, just talk to somebody. It never hurts. It feels better to, if you got somebody that you can talk to. Yes. All right. Well, thank you so much for that. That's so true. May is mental health awareness month.

59:12
Right on time with that. On time. All right. Well, yeah, I just want to thank you again. And I'm already looking forward to next time. I appreciate you. And yeah, love you. All right. Love you too. All right. And that's a wrap for this episode of instrumental Intel. I've been your host, music producer, or chick with beats. Once again, I'd like to thank you for tuning in and listening. Of course, I want to thank my special guest, my brother, artist, producer.

59:39
writer, designer, Shaun Don, for coming through again for this wonderful conversation and sharing his story. I'd like to thank my home station, Grander Radio out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. And I'm already looking forward to next week. I'll be back with more goodness for you. So make sure you come find me. So until next time, tune in, tell a friend. I'll see you then. Peace.