Instrumental Intel - Ep 6 Boldly Breaking Boundaries with P. General (6-8-24)

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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.

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Transcript Generated by Riverside

00:00

Hey, welcome to Instrumental Intel, the podcast for independent music artists navigating the music business. I am your host, music producer, Achickwitbeatz, and I've got a great show lined up for you today with special guest P.General dropping in later for an insightful conversation about boldly breaking boundaries to create. But before that, I've got beats produced by me and current music industry news. So before we get started, as always, I definitely have to give a shout out to my home station.

00:29

Grander Radio out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. And without any further ado, let's go.

15:12

All right, I'm back with the Music Biz Brief highlighting some crucial news stories affecting our industry. So let's kick things off with the recent controversy surrounding Spotify CEO Daniel Ek. His tweet about the low cost of creating content sparked outrage among artists, including the Future of Music Coalition. They felt that he was downplaying the effort involved in making meaningful art, which I mean, you know, according to the tweet, that's absolutely what was going on.

15:40

But although he later clarified his intentions, the incident kind of underscores the importance of terminology and the need to actually support artists in a crowded digital landscape instead of treating us just as quote-on-quote content creators. So, you know, it's a little telling about how Spotify has actually been treating artists if you look at it as far as payouts and all the different things that they've done to try to keep from paying artists more. So, anywho, he did apologize and try to rephrase it.

16:09

But yeah, it still kind of left a bad taste in many people's mouth. All right, next up, Live Nation confirmed a massive data breach at Ticketmaster affecting 560 million customers. So hackers are selling 1.3 terabytes of personal and credit card information for $500,000. The breach was detected on May 20th, but Live Nation took 11 days to confirm it publicly.

16:33

So while the company reassures investors of minimal impact on operations, the lack of detailed information basically raises concerns and rightfully so. In financial news, Blackstone increased its offer for Hypnosis Song's fund by $12 million, bringing the total to $1.6 billion.

16:51

So this slight increase aims to secure shareholder approval and avoid resistance from minority shareholders. With significant investors involved, this move could be crucial for Blackstone to actually gain full control. So we'll see what happens with that and definitely keep you posted as the info rolls in. Alright, Spotify and Pandora are both raising their subscription prices. Spotify's premium individual plan goes up to $11.99 per month and the family plan to $19.99 per month.

17:18

Pandora is also increasing its prices, citing the rising music licensing costs. So these hikes reflect the growing expenses in the streaming industry. Believe it or not, there's even more Spotify news. They're facing a class action lawsuit over its discontinued car-thing device. So the lawsuit claims that Spotify misled consumers by selling a product they knew would soon become obsolete. So this legal challenge just adds basically to more of their ongoing disputes and everything else that they've got going on.

17:48

But yeah, it was released in 2021. They announced that they were discontinuing it in 2022, and then it's going to be completely obsolete by the end of this year. So, you know, there's a good reason to be upset by that. And again, as more relevant information comes out, I'll make sure to keep you updated. A major copyright lawsuit involving over a thousand reggaeton songs is moving forward.

18:14

The lawsuit was filed by Cleveland “Clevie” Brown in the estate of Wycliffe “Steely” Johnson. It alleges that artists like Bad Bunny and J Balvin used an iconic drum pattern, or riddims as some people call them, without credit. So despite attempts to dismiss the case, it will now proceed to the discovery phase. And so yeah, we'll have to see how this plays out. Yeah, if this suit is actually won, this could mean so many different things for the industry. So I'll definitely make sure I keep you updated.

18:43

All right, Instagram is testing a new feature called Trial Reels, so it lets creators experiment with content without actually displaying it to your followers. So this aims to reduce the pressure and to also help creators gather insights before sharing their reels publicly. So selected professional account holders globally are participating in the test, and we'll have to see if they roll that out some more after that.

19:07

Rostr has launched Stack, a new directory of music tools and resources. It covers over 125 categories. It offers curated lists from industry experts and compliments Rostr's existing job listings. This resource aims to support musicians and industry professionals with valuable tools and recommendations and currently intends to make its money on advertising and promotion.

19:31

All right, as far as the live music industry is going, we've seen a lot of major artists cancel shows and tours recently. So factors include consumer spending fatigue and high ticket prices. So data from SeatGeek shows a decrease in resale ticket prices and experts are suggesting that the initial post-pandemic demand surge may have been an anomaly and things appear to be kind of going back to the way that they were.

19:58

So economic conditions and an oversaturated market are definitely contributing factors to the decline in attendance. So just something to kind of be aware of as you're planning either for your own entertainment or when you're setting up stuff for live shows. So yeah, it seems like now would be a good time that people might start getting a little more interested in attending smaller venues, the ones that are still open and also not closing and canceling things.

20:26

But yeah, the ticket prices for independent artists might seem a lot more appealing after seeing these soaring prices and everything that's been going on with the ticketing business lately anyway. All right, lastly, the US Appeals Court has set an accelerated schedule to hear TikTok's challenge against the divestor ban law. So since ByteDance must sell TikTok or face a ban by January 2025, TikTok is arguing that this violates the First Amendment and it could harm US businesses.

20:55

while lawmakers cite national security concerns. So the fact that this is being fast-tracked, it should be interesting to see how this plays out. I would not be surprised if TikTok or Bytedance actually emerged from this victorious. But again, you know, that's just a prediction. We gotta wait and see what actually happened. All right, and that's all for today's music biz brief. Stick around. I've got P.General coming to join me after a quick pause for the cause. Stay tuned.

26:46

Hey, I'm Achickwitbeatz, multi-genre music producer and strategist to indie artists and labels. Visit at 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 at Achickwitbeatz.com. That's Achickwitbeatz.com Let's make something happen.

27:16

Thank you for joining me for instrumental Intel. I am so excited to announce that I have with me in the virtual building P General. Now, for those who may not know, I've had the pleasure of having him on my previous radio show, Music Marvels. But now, since it's your first time on instrumental Intel, could you kind of give the people a taste of who you are and how you got into music? Um, you know, it's your boy P General, the Bush kept secret, you know, AKA Bank High Fam, number one.

27:46

And I'm here, you know, this, I don't know. I've been, I started music around, I want to say, 2009. Okay. Yeah, I want to say, 2009. It was by, it was on, it was by accident. I, I've always been a fan of music. Like my brothers, my oldest brother, God bless the dead, was a DJ. So I've been exposed to all, you know, all genres of music at an early age. So I became a fan. And,

28:16

I've been away from the neighborhood for a quick second. So I decided to pop up in the neighborhood one day and you know, the family was hanging out and everybody was kicking it and everything. And I said, you know, let me run to the liquor store real quick and come back to match what they had going on already. Soon as I got back, the rain started coming down hard. No warning, no drips, drizzles, nothing. Just straight thunderstorm. And...

28:44

Everybody started scattering and going where they was going and whatever they had going on. And I was like, damn, I just came on set. So I was my man, Nutshoe, he was doing music. I forgot at this time he had the whole set up in his house and everything. I just always used to just listen to his CDs they had circulating throughout the neighborhood. So it's actually when I actually get there, I'm like, oh damn, I forgot all about this stuff. So we start drinking and everything and talking. And I said, I told him, you'll put some of your music on.

29:14

Why are we kicking it? He put his music on and we there and we there. We just having a good time. And then I don't know what's what told me to tell him, say, put a beat on. He looked at me and he laughed. And he's like, put a beat on. I was like, yeah, put a beat on. And I sat there for about 10, 15 minutes, probably even longer, knowing what I wanna do, but didn't know how to do it. So I asked him,

29:43

Could you just write, give me a line? I didn't even say a bar. Like I didn't even know the terms or anything. Like, you know, I just, could you give me a line? A sentence. And he gave me one sentence. I don't even remember what it was. We did three songs that night. Wow. Yeah, for one sentence, he gave me one sentence and I just, I got it. I still didn't know how to count the bars, but he would chop me at 16.

30:09

That's how we was doing it. I finally got it down pack, but I didn't know how to count the bars. Wow. So that day, that night, I must've left there like about two o'clock in the morning and then I went home and I forgot all about it. I forgot all about it. Like I, you know, it was just like, Oh man, it was just something for me to do that night or whatever, whatever. So, uh, you know, I disappear again and I come back a little while again to the neighborhood. And

30:37

DJ Lunchbox, we're walking going to the same place, but he's coming from across the street. And I'm already on one side of the street going to where we going. Okay. And he's singing something to me. And like, you know, when you heard something before, you still know where you heard it from? Yeah. He was rapping the verses that I laid that night. They done made copies of the scene, and everybody got a copy except for me. Wow. Man. So, it's...

31:06

You know, that's how it happened. Basically, it was an accident. I didn't mean, I didn't, if I would have went somewhere else, I probably wouldn't have been doing music. Wow. I mean, okay, I can only imagine like the surprise, like, man, this sounds familiar. Wait, wait, I said that. Like, how did that make you feel in that moment? I was, I was, it was, it was, it was dope at first. Cause I'm looking at him and I'm like, he's reffing it word for word.

31:34

And I start nodding my head, all in unison while we walking, going, you know, connecting. And I'm like, yo, that's the sound. I'm thinking he's rapping somebody else's stuff that I've done heard somewhere before. And I'm like, hold up. And then he start laughing. I'm like, yo, hold on. How you heard that? He like, you mean I heard it. I got a copy. I'm like, copy? Just they done made CDs, made a, they done copy CDs and all that throughout the little neighborhood. And.

32:03

They knew how people knew I rap before I knew I rap. Like, that was wild. So I guess from that point, like, when did you decide to just put your foot on the gas and go for it? Um, I think from the reaction that I got from them, like, damn, they really liked it, like, you know, damn, maybe I couldn't, you know, let me try to, let me try, let me try something else.

32:31

And then another one of my partners named Munch, he introduced me to this guy named KD, who had Underworld Studios, which was in Brooklyn. And he took me there one day and I just liked the vibe. I liked everything, I just liked, you know. Man, I just liked everything about it. All the buttons and the lights and everything. And that just became addictive. Wow.

33:01

Okay, so with that being said, so you had mentioned like you had him put on the beat, you know, he gave you the line. How do you feel you draw from inspiration now compared to back when you first started like in that moment? I'm motivated by just by you know other other other other musicians, you know, it doesn't really matter the genre. I only I don't just listen to rap. So it's like um

33:29

I don't know, a dude like, see like I'm part of a group called the Bankha Fam and they always, they always busy. So that keeps me motivated, you know, like, don't want to be left in the back, you know what I mean? Yeah. Everybody's constantly working. So that keeps me, even though I've been away for a second from it, you know, I've still been doing features and shows here and there and stuff like that. But it's like.

33:54

you know, these, these, the people around me keep me motivated, you know? Yeah, that's what's up. Sorry, you mentioned like how you got started. You didn't even know like the lingo to call the bars or that was supposed to be 16. But I personally feel like some of the best songs kind of come from that, you know, like when it's just that raw energy. So what do you think gave you the courage to just go for it while you basically knew that you didn't really know a lot about it, but

34:22

You know, you still had the guts to get in there and record without having the background. Um, I don't know. I don't know. I just, I just liked it. Cause like I said, I always was a fan of music. Like I used to buy all the magazines. I used to have stacks and stacks and stacks of magazines. I used to like to read the back of the CD, see who produced what, who wrote what. And it's like, I always been a fan, but it's like for me to actually do it myself. It was like, damn.

34:51

I didn't know that I can do it. And I was just like, shout out to, you know, Yugi also was like a good mentor to me. He's from Japan and he taught me a lot also, like, you know, and he showed me...

35:07

Somebody tried to show me how to count bars. I don't remember exactly who it was because man, so many people I've been around, so many people that do music, has been doing music before me, that everybody tried to teach me how to count bars. And I never got it. The way I did get it is KD from Underworld Studios told me like, yo, that's not one bar. That's two bars right there. So I would say something. He would try to say something to me and he'd be like, that's one bar. But I always felt like when he was saying it to me, it was.

35:37

He wasn't finished, ain't what he was saying. If that make any sense. I was like, wait, there's supposed to be more. And then now he like, that's one bar. So then now when I say, okay, boom, boom, boom, boom, he like, now that's two bars. So, you know, I never even changed it. I never tried to change it. It became an advantage, a writing advantage for me. Instead of having to sit there and write 16 bars, I write what I think is eight bars in my head, but it's really 16 because I'm writing them by twos. Okay.

36:05

You know, that makes sense. It makes a lot of sense because I get what you mean because it kind of depends on your flow and how you count in it. And I think that a lot of times in your head, the way you envision it is what makes it snap. So like, it would be a lot different if you did know how to count it and you wrote it specifically for that way. But you might get a better result by just doing it the way you hear it in your head. I think that's really dope. Yeah, it is. And when it's, you know, when you look at it, it's less writing on my part. Yeah.

36:34

Yeah. So what would be look, what, what, what, what I would, uh, what would be 16 to you? It would be eight for me the way I write it. Wow. Okay. So, you know, with this in mind, um, do you try to apply any techniques or do you just do it the way you hear it in your mind? Like when you're doing the whole song writing process and writing your lyrics? Um, no, I just, I'm already, I'm used to it now the way that, um,

37:03

I didn't, you know, obviously I didn't learn the traditional way to count the bars, but you know, it became more comfortable for me. So I never even tried to, um, to adjust it. I just, I just write that way now. That's the way I write. Yeah, that's what's up. So do you have any advice to offer anybody who might be kind of struggling and thinking that they need to fit the mold? Cause what's that one quote like, you know, learn the rules like a pro so you can break them like an artist. And I think to just already get to that.

37:29

to where you can break rules is kind of where that magic happens. So what advice do you have for somebody that might be struggling with that, too busy like worrying about, you know, what traditional structure is instead of just letting the creativity flow? Yeah, that's basically what you just said. You just got to let your creativity flow. Like you're not going to know everything right away, but you just got to do what works for you. You know, I don't say to totally break the rules and don't, you know, follow tradition in a sense.

37:58

that way, you know, the song structure will come out totally different if you don't. But I feel like if you, you know, just keep working at it. Everything doesn't work for everybody. So it's like what may work for me may not work for you. So you just got to find where you're comfortable at and stick to it. That's it. I don't really, you know, stick to it. You know, if you may not learn like nine plus one is ten, five plus five is ten.

38:27

It's more 8 plus 2 is 10. It's more ways than one to do it. It's not necessarily the wrong way. It's just, you know, it's different. It's more than one way to get to where you're trying to get. You don't have to follow or, you know, be frustrated if you don't get it this way. Because, you know, you just got to do what works for you. Work at it and practice at it and you'll figure it out. Either it will work for you or it won't.

38:56

Yeah, just got to be, you know, had the courage to try it because you won't know until you do. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, you know, being different is nothing wrong with being different. There's really nothing wrong with being different. So people think you have to do the music, 16, eight ball hooks, 16, eight ball hooks. You don't have to do that. You could just make the song how you want to make the song. Yeah. You know?

39:22

You can put the hook where you want to put it. It's your song. You can do what you want to do. You know what I mean? Exactly. You know, while we're talking about this, it kind of makes me think of, uh, Winter Wars and how Capadunna, like, I don't even know how many bars that was, but like sometimes they cut the hook short. Um, so yeah, it wasn't like your traditional structure. It was just all this lyricism kind of jam packed into the entire song. And for me, I think that's one of the things that actually made it.

39:52

stick out, you know, compared to like some of the other songs that were out around that time, because my brain, you know, like how you listen, your brain kind of gets used to certain things going in certain places. So, you know, that little shock to your system, it kind of jolts you into listening a little bit more. So yeah. Yes, yes, yes, yes. And if you're doing something right, then there you have it. You don't need to, you just got a fan by doing stuff your way. Yeah.

40:21

I feel you on that because I think that that's a lot of the complaints that we hear from, let's say, I want to say maybe the seasoned hip hop crowd. A lot of times they say, oh, you know, today it sucks. And I don't think that that's necessarily the case. It's just as far as the mainstream goes, we're not really seeing as much difference. Nobody really has their own identity. I shouldn't say nobody, but most people kind of sound the same.

40:48

from what you hear on the radio. And I think, you know, back in the day we had that, but now we don't. I think, I think it's always was like that, personally. I think it always been like that. You know, anybody that listens to the two different, the two different genres of hip hop, you know, is rap and is hip hop. So it's like,

41:13

I already know. I don't know. I don't know. It's, it's, it's, it's, ah man, I don't know. It's, it's almost like, uh, it's almost like with Freeway. Like he doesn't rap the way you would, like he, he, he rhymes his word, like every other word or something like that. Like it doesn't, it's not traditional, but it's dope. Yeah. The way he does it, you know? And it, it, it, it's like now you was like, damn, I wouldn't even.

41:38

Why, you know, what is he saying? And then when you let him like, Oh, I see what he doing. And that's what makes it all unique. Well, you know, that's what gives him, you know, and as far as, you know, the identity goes, everybody's just trying to do what they think will work. You know, so if they see, uh, I don't know any one of these guys, they see somebody doing something they figure. Okay.

42:07

This is the way that it has to, I have to be. It's even down to the dressing, to everything. Like you said, the identity is crazy. There's very few people that do what works for them. And they go against the grain. But the problem with that is, it's like everybody is trying to do what they think is going to work. Everybody wanna sound like what they think is working. Even with the...

42:34

with the Detroit flow now that everybody's like, you know? Yeah, yeah. You get what I'm saying. It's like, it's nasty, but it's always been like that. It's always been like that. And as far as the radio and stuff, they gonna...

42:53

pump a bunch of BS, you know? And like you say, it's not that it sucks. We, it's, it's, we just not, it's not for us. That's all it is. It's not, it's not for us. I find myself nodding my head to some of the music when I get a chance to listen to it, but I don't listen to it often, cause it's not for me. You get what I'm saying? Absolutely. Absolutely. I think we're kind of like on the verge of a shift because most of the things that people are doing.

43:20

I guess like to remain relevant or popular, it's not really selling the way it used to. So I'm thinking, I mean, granted it's probably not going to be on a major scale, but now is the time for people who are unique to kind of break through a little bit because it's got to cut through the noise. So yeah, I'm always an advocate for artists doing their own thing, regardless of what they think may or may not sell.

43:44

But yeah, like since this the same old same old is getting tired, people are getting tired of hearing it. So yeah, it's time. It's getting tired, you know, like, how much dancing could we do? Like, you know, like, how gangster can we be? Like, you know, it's just, you know, it's just about finding what works for you, man. And, you know, I don't know, it's just balance. It doesn't, you can tell when stuff is forced and that's just me. I don't like to force nothing.

44:13

I don't even feel right writing it down. Knowing that, I don't do that. Why I'm gonna sit here and write that? Like, you know what I mean? Yeah. So I don't know. Some people do it with ease, man. Some people have great imagination, you know? Yeah. Yeah, but me, I just pretty much do what works for me. I don't ever know what I'm gonna do. The beat takes everything what I'm gonna do. I don't have no pen and pads. I mean, no pad full of raps, nowhere laying around.

44:43

And I don't know what I'm gonna do until I listen to the beat. And the beat tells me where I'm gonna go all the time. I don't know how to do that. Like how some people could sit around and rap with no music and just focus in and zone out and just, nah, I can't do that. I need to listen to the beat and I write as I go along.

45:05

Okay, so that way you've got to get a fresh take every single time and you know you're not kind of doing a cookie-cutter thing. So what are some of the things that you look for, I guess when you hear a beat, what catches you first like drums, melody, combination or is it just like the music? I don't know, I like, I don't know, that's a good question. I don't know, I guess I know it when I hear it, you know that type of way? Yeah. You know like you know, I don't know, I can't believe

45:34

I can't really describe it. I can't put my finger on it. I can't describe it. I don't like to rap too fast or I don't like to rap too slow. Okay. I personally think I've found my pocket where I'm comfortable at. All right. And you know, I don't like to rap 100 miles in, you know, and then I don't like to rap slow where it's like I'm dragging the work. No, I just like, ah, you know, like, you know, like if you're driving in your car, you play the music.

46:02

But you don't play it too loud. You play it just enough so you can hear yourself think. Yeah, that's pretty much that's the kind of music that I like to me. OK, I'll fill you on that. So once you catch the vibe, you know, that's the one and you just go at it. And then I'll be like, yo, this one, let me get I want this one. It depends, like if I'm sitting down listening to what personally sitting down with the person right then and there.

46:28

He going through beats or they going through beats. I'll be like, okay, yeah, yeah, I like that. What you doing with that? Somebody that belongs to somebody right there. And if not, then I'll be like, yeah, email me that. It's just, you hear it, you hear it. I don't know. I like, I like melodic, just laid back. Hear yourself think beats like, you know, it's not loud. It's not low. It's just, it's perfect. You know? Yeah. I feel you on that.

46:55

So, alright, you already talked about like being in the neighborhood, being exposed to like your brother DJing and all that. How do you think actually being from New York has, I guess, had an influence or impact on your artistry as a whole?

47:15

Um, I don't, I don't know, just being from here, it's not just because, you know, music started here, and I'm like, New York is just a different place. And you have, I can explain it, you'd have to be here to see it for yourself to experience it. You can't just come and go. You have to be here for a minute and you will understand. It's just like any other place. Every other place has their own, their own unique thing about them that what makes them them. Yeah.

47:42

Yeah, it's just, no, you know, yeah, I listen to, the kind of music that I make is what I listen to coming up for the most part. Okay. So I just take everything that goes on around me. I don't, like I said, these are, these are the things that you hear in my music is if I didn't do it, somebody standing right next to me did it. I seen it, I heard it, I was right there. It's not like I'm making these things up. I use a little bit.

48:13

of non-fiction to paint certain pictures.

48:18

And, you know, yeah, but for the most part, man, everything you hear is just me. So I don't know, I could be anywhere. It's just me being, being creative. You put me in Atlanta or Ohio or wherever you want to put me. It'll be the same thing. I'll just, uh, sponge up, you know, sponge up my atmosphere and then ooze it out on the beat. Oh, wow.

48:43

I love it. That's a quotable right there. Because I kind of feel you on that. So I feel like a lot of times for me, if I travel, you know, I'm from Kalamazoo, born and raised, I'm a native. But when I travel other places, just like you said, it's kind of like a sponge. And I feel like it kind of gets added on to the tapestry of like the foundation. So my first time in New York outside of LaGuardia was in 2022.

49:11

And I spent a week with my cousin, Son Solo in Bushwick. And just within that timeframe, that energy and everything, I felt tremendously influenced in that moment while I'm there, recreating, making music and that sort of thing. But yeah, it's just something to be in different places and kind of soak up the vibes. And so yeah, I was just, I was curious about what it was like being from there, kind of having all that energy at your fingertips at all times, yeah.

49:40

mean? That's just that's because you're from not here that's because you're not you're not from here that's why. Okay. I'm sure I'm sure you know you go anywhere else it'll be you go go to LA and ask somebody about LA they're gonna tell you the ins and outs and everything but it's not it wouldn't be nothing you know extra to them because that's where they're from they watch that for every day they like so how many years you know what I mean so

50:07

So is it that it's just a part of you and that maybe you don't even recognize how it's influenced you? Okay, my music was different when I spent time in LA, you know, DC, when I go all these places, I feel like, you know, you get these, these, I don't know. Like you said, you kind of absorb the environment and I think everywhere kind of has their own essence, but maybe when you're in it, you can't really see it.

50:29

Okay. And it depends on where you're at also, because you could, you said you was in Bushwick. You was in Bushwick. Bushwick is 24 hours. Like New York is 24 hours. Yeah. Bushwick is always something to do. Like that's where a lot of the bars and clubs and stuff like that. Yeah. Oh, that's right. Yeah. So, I mean, if you was in, in, in, in upstate New York somewhere, you would have a totally different vibe. Gotcha. You get it? Because it's like those places close down at two o'clock.

50:59

People just coming out of their house at two o'clock to go to parties and stuff like that and do whatever in New York and the city. Yeah. You know? So you was in a nice little melting pot, a nice little area and you know, you're easily inspired when you're in a certain place, you know? Either which way. It could inspire you to get up and do some music. It could inspire you to go read a book. It could inspire you to do whatever. It depends on where you're at.

51:29

You know? Yeah, I feel you on that. Yeah. So all right, you said that you've done some shows and stuff here and there lately and just throughout your whole career. Are there any super memorable performances that you've done or locations that you felt that you just kind of always take with you when you reflect on it? You're like, man, this was something really special. Oh, I would say California. OK. Because.

51:59

Let me tell you a quick story. Okay, while I was getting into doing the rapping thing in the studio and everything, I have never performed live. I was just basically like, trying to perfect my craft for the most part, as far as the creative parts go. And they had this place up here called Sullivan Hall, and it was open, it was on Mondays, Monday nights, open mic.

52:29

and you go take your CD, you pay your money and you sign up and whatever, whatever. And it was a nice crowd, nice crowd. And I went there, I went there to watch Gangs perform one night. And I said, man, I'm coming back to do this next week. And I came back by myself. Nobody was, nobody even come with me. Nobody was available or I don't remember what it was. I know I got on the train and I went by myself. And, um.

52:59

Coming to the stage, I was so nervous, right? I was so nervous that I was like, man, let me have a couple drinks to try to shake this shit out of me, like, you know, get a little liquid courage or whatever it may be. And I tripped coming up to the stage. Oh no. Not, I didn't fall or anything, but I mean, so I was like, okay, now I got up there, despite all of that, I did it.

53:27

I messed up one time, but they didn't know I messed up because you know, you only, that's one thing I learned. You only make it, they only know you messed up when you, when you make it an issue, you stop or you just do something. But if you keep going, nobody knows, but you and the people that around you that know how the song actually goes or whatever. So I didn't mess up where, you know, it was crazy. I just switched the words around by accident. Like I said, this word that comes next, I said it in front of this word or whatever, but nobody knew. I knew.

53:57

So I was like, I didn't like that. Even though I came off the stage and I got love, I was surprised. I really did it. So I came back the next week and did it again. Right. And then my third ever time stuck touching on stage was in California. Wow. And it was too, it was too late for me to be nervous. Yeah. Like if that makes sense, I didn't even have, I didn't get a chance to think about it.

54:26

Cause we had the show, shout out to DJ Show Nuff, these dudes that they are, I'm not sure if they, they calling it something else now, but it was called Husky Radio. And it was their seventh year anniversary, they invited me to come out and perform. So I was like, you know what, ish? I had just met them in April. I met them online and then I went to April, I went in California in April to shoot two videos and to do a couple of radio interviews. And I met those guys, it was one of them.

54:56

and they invited me back to perform at their seven year anniversary. And it's like, soon as I got there, it was a big crowd. It was huge. I didn't have no time to even think about being nervous or anything. Soon as I got to the door, the guys said, yeah, I know who you are. Who I am? Yeah, right? That right there twisted me up. Cause I'm like, how you even know? But anyway, he said, I know who you are and who with you. I was like, these two guys right here with me, we went in, soon as I went in.

55:25

The guy put a bracelet around my hand and he said, you go over there, all this and everybody go in that. It was a VIP area. And as soon as I went in, I got a drink. I didn't even get a chance to sip the drink. They was like, yo, you up. Wow. So I was like, damn, you know, it was that quick, that quick, they said, yo, you up. And next thing I heard, coming to the stage all the way from Brooklyn, New York, y'all make some noise, man.

55:54

And it was, yo, it was so much love in there. I was like, damn, this is crazy. This is crazy. I got off the stage. I felt like if I was huge, like I was, I had some CDs on my phone, my first, my first CD. I said, let me just, you know, let me just give them away to the crowd. Oh man. It was like, it was crazy. Wow. It was crazy. You know how you see a big audience.

56:21

Everybody just trying to get at him and get next to him. And it was like that. I was like, damn, that's crazy. That was the, that was a show that I said, okay, I could do this. Oh, wow. Man, that's what's up. What an excellent story. I gave the guy a CD, right? I gave the guy a CD and he's like, nah, I got one already. I gave it to my mom. I was like, what? Whoa. Look, his mom was in the club.

56:51

That's what's up. His mother was in the club. I said, oh man, shout out to Tabasco. That was the name he out in California, man. Shout out to Tabasco. He are as the first person I seen with tattoos everywhere. Like his is his mustache is beard is shape up. Everything was tattooed. Say, oh man. Man, that's incredible. Okay, you know.

57:17

Sorry, staring at the clock is looking me right back in the face. But before we close out, if you could let everyone know where they can keep up with you, what you got going on, where they can follow you. And, you know, if you've got any shout outs you want to give before we close out, you can do that now, too. You can follow me at P General. P General straight, no underscores, no nothing on Instagram. I'm not on Facebook.

57:46

anymore like I switched my phones and I don't know what happened I just lost access to it so I'm right now I'm just strictly on Instagram as far as what I got going on now I'm just finishing up a project but I don't even know if I'm gonna put out a whole project but I want it done just in case but I'm gonna release her music like next month I'm working on a merch right now and that's doing kind of okay so I'm excited now to put out some music

58:13

to see how much faster and more that this merch is going to go. Because it's moving slowly. It's moving. It's going. It's doing OK. And I don't have no music on. So I'm just gearing that up. So about a month from now, I'll be releasing a single with Sugie the Artist called Reasons for My Mood. When you get a shot, we get offline. I will send it to your email and let you hear it. OK. And you can give me your thoughts on it. And that's pretty much it. Shout out to the whole Brooklyn, New York.

58:44

Shout out to you for having me on the podcast. Shout out to the Bangkok fam. Shout out to the back house boys. Um, you know, rest in peace, bam. Rest in peace, he quake. Rest in peace too much. Uh, rest in peace to my uncle Ralph, AKA Boogles just passed away. His services tomorrow and, um, peace and love to everybody, man. That's it. Hey, well, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your story and, um, looking forward to having you back again soon.

59:13

Oh yes, that's when everything is, um, when everything is wrapped up, I'll reach out to you and we'll see if we can do this again. Excellent. All right. And that does it for this week's episode of instrumental Intel. Once again, I've been your host, music producer, Chickwood Beats. Um, I really appreciate you tuning in again, a super huge shout out to my home station, Grander Radio out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. And I hope that you found this information helpful. And if you did that you share it with a friend.

59:41

And next time, we got another great show lined up next week. Music producer Deepspawn Logic will be joining me and we're gonna have a good conversation about passionate productions. So make sure you tune back in for that. So till next time, you know where to find me. Tune in, tell a friend. I'll see you then, peace.