Instrumental Intel - Ep 8 Music Culture Conversations with Shaun Don (6-22-24)

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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

Thank you for tuning in to Instrumental Intel. I am your host, music producer, AChickWitBeatz. And I've got another show lined up for you with beats produced by me, Music Industry News. And this week's special guest is actually my big brother. He's a music producer, music artist, graphic designer, and fashion entrepreneur, Shaun Don, and he'll be joining me for Music Culture Conversations. So let's get it started, but before I get ready to drop that beat,

00:26

Let me give a shout out to my home station, Grander Radio out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Thank you so much for sharing your platform with me. I truly appreciate you. All right now, let's go.

09:09

Hey, I'm back with the music biz brief. This week there's a lot to unpack, so let's get into it and give you the cream of the crop of what's been going on out there. So first up, the battle between songwriters and Spotify continues. The National Music Publishers Association has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission on behalf of U.S. consumers, accusing Spotify of converting music-only subscriptions to bundle ones without consent and complicating the whole cancellation process.

09:36

Additionally, the NMPA has initiated legal actions and sought support from state attorneys general and consumer advocacy groups. Spotify still defends its actions as standard industry practice, but thanks to prompts from the NMPA, U.S. lawmakers have now written to the U.S. Copyright Office questioning if Spotify's reclassification is an abuse of the Music Modernization Act. They are seeking information on protective measures and recourse for rights holders suggesting possible legislative action.

10:05

Staying on the Spotify theme, industry experts are discussing the potential impact of charging a small fee for the free ad-supported tier to raise its revenue.

10:15

suggesting that it could bridge the price gap between paid and free users. This idea aligns with Goldman Sachs' proposal for evolving ad-supported offerings to boost conversion rates to premium plans. Their hypothetical scenarios examine the revenue impact of introducing such fees and shutting down the free tier altogether in mature markets like North America and Europe. Who knows if this will actually happen somewhere down the road, but it's definitely something worth talking about and considering.

10:42

In a little bit brighter news for Spotify, they're rolling out their showcase tool, which was previously available in the US, but now it's available to Australian artists. So this allows artists with at least a thousand streams in the last 28 days to be able to target specific markets directly and promote their music, potentially boosting streams.

11:00

Spotify is also launching a new premium tier with Hi-Fi Sound later this year for an additional cost. This comes as competitors like Apple Music and Amazon Music already offer Hi-Fi options. Meanwhile, HDTracks, known for Hi-Fi downloads, joins forces with Linbrook Media Group to enter the streaming game with a new service featuring MQA, which stands for Master Quality Authenticated.

11:22

a format known for delivering high fidelity sound. Next up, TikTok is making a big move by forming a music content investment team in Los Angeles, New York, and San Jose, dedicated to acquiring music rights and companies. So this could definitely shake up the music industry landscape a bit, impacting artists and content ownership. We'll keep you posted on that as more info comes in.

11:44

On the independent artist front, indie licensing agency Merlin just renewed their deal with Metta, which covers the use of Merlin members' music on Instagram and Facebook. The agreement includes new tools to help fans discover artists and boost the visibility of releases. Another win for independent artists comes as Bandcamp's partnering with Empire. While this directly benefits Empire's artists with new retail opportunities,

12:08

It highlights the ongoing strength and innovation of Bandcamp as a platform for indie artists to sell directly to fans and build relationships. Independent artists can benefit from understanding Bandcamp's capabilities and considering how to leverage similar tools and features to grow your own careers. Speaking of building relationships, GigLife Pro, a music industry networking platform with over a thousand active members in the Asia-Pacific region, just launched in the UK and Europe.

12:34

So if you're located in those regions, it could be a great tool for independent artists to be able to connect and collaborate across borders. So definitely check that out. Another interesting partnership is Warner and Streamyard teaming up to provide ad-free radio stations with popular gaming platform, Roblox. This opens up new revenue streams and audience reach for artists and songwriters.

12:55

Now let's talk about money. US recorded music revenue is up overall reaching $17.1 billion in 2023 but the share going independent artists and labels is actually down to 36.09% in April of this year compared with 37.32% in May of last year. So this means major labels are regaining dominance but don't be discouraged independent artists just focus on your niche, advocate for fair streaming practices.

13:22

and consider platforms like Bandcamp and Patreon to maintain financial control through direct fan sales. Finally, let's take a peek into the future with the rise of AI and music. Several companies are developing AI tools that can generate music or even create new vocal models. While the legal implications are still unclear, this is a trend that's worth keeping an eye on because whether we like it or not, AI and music is definitely here, but there can be some benefits to it other than what most people have been hearing. So let's go ahead and get into this.

13:52

Sound Labs and Universal Music have partnered to offer UMG artists access to Mic Drop, which is a responsibly trained AI vocal plugin that allows artists to create high-fidelity vocal models with their own voice data, retaining full control and ownership, and it's exclusively for the artist's use, not for the general public. ByteDance, which is TikTok's parent company, is investing $2.1 billion to develop an AI hub in Malaysia.

14:17

The company has secured several patents and trademarks in the US related to music generation and launched AI-driven music-making apps like Moth and Ripple, which can turn a hum melody into a song. And it's also testing an AI song feature for lyric generation.

14:32

Suno, the AI music generator that recently raised $125 million, is now paying its most popular creators. So what they're calling the Summer of Suno program will distribute $1 million to the top creators with payments based on track popularity. Meta unveiled Jasco, an AI tool that transforms chords or beats to complete songs with enhanced control. Jasco's code and model are set to be released publicly.

14:57

building on Meta's music-gen release reflecting the rapid advancements in AI music technology. Alright, well that's it for this week's Music Biz Brief. Knowledge is power so stay informed, stay connected, and definitely keep making music. Follow me on social media at A Chick with Beats for links to some of the stories covered today. And now it's time to take a quick pause for the cause so stick around and I'll be back with my special guest, my big brother, music producer, music artist, graphic designer, and fashion entrepreneur, Shaun Don.

15:27

who will be joining me for music culture conversations. Keep it locked.

20:47

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-Z.com. Let's make something happen.

21:17

Thank you for tuning in to Instrumental Intel. I am your host, music producer, AChickWitBeatz, and I'm incredibly excited to announce that I have in the virtual building with me, the one, the only Shaun Don, who just happens to be my brother, but he's a very, very talented creative, venturing into so many different things, including music, graphic design, and all that good stuff. So without any further ado.

21:43

I'd like to introduce to you Shaun Don. And if you could please tell them a little bit about who you are and how you got into music. Oh, thank you very much for that introduction, little sister. All right. Um, well, I go by Shaun Don. Um, I'm a graphic artist. Uh, I make beats. No, um, I have a love for hip hop. That's phenomenal.

22:11

I have a clothing line, it's called Soft White, and also another one called Trench Baby. So just 24 hours a day, I'm running. I barely get sleep, always hustling. And one of the slogans for the clothing line is I hustle no sleep. And GFM, you know, God, Family, Money, that's what it's all about. Hey, Thuss, what's up? So if you could, you know, how you mentioned that you make beats, because I do want to kind of back up and let everybody know.

22:40

that you introduced me to a lot of hip hop that I didn't really know about. But I remember being young and hearing like one of those first beats and stuff that you made. And I was like, wow, that's my brother. He did that. So if you could kind of talk a little bit about how you got into that and like what's your process for creating? How I got into that was I had started rapping. I can't even remember the year. But I want to say it's 20 years ago. You can say at least 20 years ago.

23:07

And I was going to the studio spending, I think the guy was charged me, he charged me like a hundred dollars for a beat, then he was charged me $25 an hour for studio time. So, you know, that was cool. So I was going out there probably every weekend, sometimes two times a week, going out to record a new material. And every beat that he made for me was a beat that I told him.

23:35

in my head how I wanted it to sound. So after a while, I thought about it and I was like, man, you know what? I could probably do this myself. I don't need anybody to, you know, all the money that I was spending on these beats, I could do it myself. So one day, went to a pawn shop and I bought me a Kord Triton. And I think I paid probably about $1,100 for it. That was a good price, cause that's like a $3,000 keyboard.

24:03

So I bought that, then I bought an MPC 2000 XL. Oh man, that thing right there, that is a wonderful tool. So I got that and I just had it. I made me a studio in the house. Didn't know how to play the keyboard. Did not know how to use the MPC. So I had a guy coming down from Mississippi. He was coming up. Now he like to do smoke weed, so he was just like, look, keep the weed coming.

24:31

and you tell me what you want, we're gonna put it together. I'm like, cool, so all I'm doing, I'm just rolling blunts, passing them to them, and we making beats, and I'm writing. So, and the other guys are like, you know how to work this? I'm like, nah, I got people coming up to do it. And they was like, man, that's wild. I'm like, yeah, that's what I got going. So, all of a sudden I started just messing with the keys a little bit, and messing with the MPC, and looking up info on it, and I learned how to play both of them.

25:01

I mean, I'm not a pianist, but I know how to find that sound that I want in that keyboard to get what I want. And that's how it started. Yeah. Okay. That's what's up. I think nowadays it seems like not a lot of people are kind of willing to do the hands on thing, but you know, it's kinetic learners and like, it's just easier to kind of be pressing the stuff yourself and whatnot. But, um, so, okay. Yeah. You had to rap in a long time. Cause I remember being in middle school.

25:31

visit. And so what I want to say I was it was probably like around the time fireside was really popping or whatever. But I remember you had brought up something for us to listen to. So yeah, you've been at it for a while. Yeah. I still write a little bit every now and then. Matter of fact, my little brother, he goes by a dirty mic and he's he's on another level. He's not. He doesn't rap that Southern flow. He has that

26:00

more like a Childish Gambino, you know, type J. Cole type style. And so he did a song called Escape Out, send it to you later on. And he asked me to put a verse on there and I put a verse on it, that was just last week. But yeah, so, you know, back then when what I was putting on at the time, just what I was believing in, that was the GFM, that Guy, Family & Money, Inner City Blues, Wrong or Right, just...

26:29

about my life and what I was going through at the time. Okay. Well, speaking of that, how would you say, so you've lived in a few different cities and all the cities got different styles or whatever. How would you say that that's kind of shaped the music that you've made over the years? Um, I shaped it wonderfully. I can say at first being down south in Memphis, Tennessee, um, there more.

26:57

on the southern tip, then you know, you got a few people that expand and listen to a Nas or a Jay-Z, but it's mostly strictly down south. So I kind of had my flow was mixed with both. It was mixed with the south and north. So people had to get used to it. But once they listen to the lyrics, then they got with it because it is a cultural difference. Yeah. Yeah. And even the sound most of well.

27:25

Nowadays, things seem to kind of be blending a little bit more. But yeah, like it was very distinctive difference at first, but you know, the internet. So yeah, you mentioned earlier about, you know, your graphic design and clothing lines. You want to talk a little bit more about those and kind of the inspiration behind them? Um, I always like designing. I can't draw a lick. I can't draw a lick, but.

27:51

I mess with their computer and I get Photoshop and other programs and just learn how to do what I need to do to create what I want. This is a blessing that a gift that God gave me and he gave it to you as well. You know, all our siblings were very creative. And so with that, that's right, that I breathe. And so what started with the trench baby clothing line was that

28:20

Um, you know, your nephew, my son had, um, get killed. Um, and that, you know, that messed up the whole family and, you know, we all got together. And I think that actually, uh, brought us closer when it did happen. And he brought before he passed, he was bringing an idea to me. He was constantly calling me like, dad, what you think about this, this name? I was like, I don't like that. And he just constantly calling me like, I don't like this. So then he was like, Hey.

28:50

came up with Trench Baby, I was like, I like that. I said, I like that. And then he told me a little design that he had and he gave it to me. So when he sent it to me, you know, like we doing our daily thing, things that we do. And I sent it to a guy that's an artist in Houston. He was a member of the night, Houston doing tattoos and he's doing wonderful. And he drew it up. So.

29:17

I didn't get the drawing back until Quan passed. GFM maintained the peace. So when he passed, I was going through my phone and I saw it and I was like, oh man, this is what he wanted, you know, for his boys. So I was like, all right, this what I'm gonna do for Kaysan and Khalil. I'm gonna start that Trench Baby clothing line for him. So that's how it started. Just start putting that pressure on him.

29:45

created probably about three different logos for it. Started doing shirts, started reaching out to manufacturers, doing it. And that popped off. And then I came with another clothing line, soft white and soft white. It has to do with that being like a that being my favorite color is white, but it's softer and then it goes and blends in with the streets as well. And that's just how I came up with those. OK, that's what's up.

30:14

You know, just the creativity behind it and the fact that you, you know, put the drive and the effort to, to get it off the ground and making it what it is now. And I know that, you know, it's just going to continue growing. I'm sure people that follow me on social media have seen me share some of it. So make sure that you get with him for your graphic design needs. Man, from shirts and stuff, be crazy. You are so talented. I appreciate it. And we do custom shirts too. It doesn't have to be out the clothing line. You know, if they got something custom they wanted.

30:43

You know, the website is under construction right now, but on Instagram, you can reach out Instagram is trench baby, soft white, and on Facebook is GFM trench baby apparel and Tik TOK is that soft white label. Make sure y'all get that for real. So yeah, we talked a little bit about music from back in the day, but maybe to get more into it, who would you influences might've been? Man. I have 20.

31:13

Now, the thing is, from me moving from Michigan to Atlanta, Georgia to Memphis, Tennessee, I have to say the South has put so much on me and that just some of the lyricism and the things that I've gone through, because music is a way of life, you know what I'm saying? If somebody wants to be sad and depressed, there's music out there for you to listen to.

31:40

You know what I'm saying? If you want to be happy, it's music out there. You know, to be happy, it's, you know, whatever it is that you need. So I'll say this. I have, okay, from the South, and this is not in order, but I will say Scarface, Outkast, Ghetto Boys, TI, Lil Wayne, Jeezy.

32:09

Three Six Mafia, UGK, Goodie Mob, and then like the whole Master P move. Just that whole movement is real big. And that was a big impact on, on Down South. And also what Master P created was.

32:28

these graphics for CD covers, people weren't coming out with the CD covers that Master P was coming out with. So they put me in the idea of coming up with fancy, you know, CD covers and designs and things like that as well. The other list, it kind of goes East Coast and a little bit on the West Coast. So I would say love, Beanie Segal, Jay-Z, Nas. I like Dane Family. You like Dane Family?

32:58

Yeah, I like Dave Fammis, uh, Notorious B, Classic, uh, NWA, 2 Pop, Dre, Ice Cube, my favorite, DMX. Man, that is quite the list. Like all of them have done something that's been impactful. So not just music that you can vibe to, but like stuff that sticks around like that ever breaking concrete stuff. It'll never go away. Yeah.

33:27

So, you know, a lot of times coming up in the timeframe where we had what they call the golden age of hip hop. Sometimes people don't really, I don't know, I guess, vie to some of the newer stuff that's out even though there's a lot to choose from. Most of those people just don't really look and dig. But yeah, who are some of the artists that you kind of rock with current time? And I guess, how would you say maybe the industry has kind of changed over the years as far as music goes?

33:57

I know that's a loaded question. You can say it one at a time. It's changed a lot. And really, if you look at it, everyone is adapting to down south beats, just the way the down south sound. Everyone has the down south sound now. And with Metro Booming, and just there's plenty of other guys, too. There's some other guys that do paper route. There's just so many that's talented.

34:28

I like J-Cole.

34:32

I like Kendrick Lamar.

34:35

I like Youngboy. I like Youngboy. Yeah. It's a couple of other guys I listen to. It's just some of it. I ain't too crazy about drill music, but I do like some of the beats. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Because that's kind of what's like going on right now. Everybody's doing drill music. Oh, and I like...

34:58

that guy name. He's from Florida. A kind of heavy set guy. Got a song called The Biggest. I don't know if you... D-Lo, Bossman D-Lo. You heard him? No, I haven't. Listen to him. He's funny. He's funny. See what I mean? You be educating me on stuff. Yeah. Bossman D-Lo. Listen to Bossman D-Lo. Nanny Memphis. We got a guy called Y-T-B Fat. F-A-T-T. He's out of Memphis.

35:25

He's tight, of course, you know, Moneybag Yo, Yo Gotti, you know, all of them. They're out of Memphis. Everyone that I just named from Memphis. So, and of course, Rest In Peace, Young Dolph. That's one of my favorites as well. Okay. Yeah. So, you know, with that being said, there's been a transition and people are adapting to down south beats. I feel like part of that is just because it's so huge. So.

35:52

But like, you know, I kind of miss some of that blend that you would get when Southern rappers collaborated with East Coast or whatever, because you kind of got a mix of both. But yeah, you introduced me to 3 6 Mafia. You introduced me to Master P and that whole movement as that was popping. So yeah, what do you do to kind of discover stuff? Because I noticed like you were really up on stuff before.

36:18

It got like popping in mainstream. So how do you manage to be able to stay up with stuff like that? Um, genetics, you know what I'm saying? Thanks. Thanks to our father, you know what I'm saying? It's genetics. It's crazy. Uh, just how music plays a big part on everyone's life, you know, and because you can actually hear a song that you hadn't heard.

36:43

So you're about three, four, five years old. Never heard it, you know, since then, and it come on the radio or something, and you actually know the lyrics, or you don't know what it is. And it's because it'll give you the place and time where you were. I love music. It does me like this. So it could be like if I hear a certain song by T.I. I could be like, oh yeah, I say it over there on the South Street over there in South Memphis when that came out. You know what I'm saying? I love that.

37:12

And so I always play older music, like right now, like you said, it's some artists that I don't listen to. So like right now I'm bumming old music. So I'm like I said, I'm bumming AT Aliens, Old Ghetto Boys, The Carter Two, you know what I'm saying? UGK, Pockets Full of Stones. I'm playing stuff like that right now. And I'm blasting it when I'm riding in the car.

37:39

It just brings good memories and it's good music. Yeah. Um, it's not directly related, but I've admitted on here multiple times that it's basically like the eighties and nineties in my car when I'm riding. Sometimes I do listen to newer stuff, but for the most part, I'm listening to Black Moon, Redman, and like you said, it's almost like, you know, it just instantly transports you back.

38:04

But one thing that I've noticed, like now that I'm older, going back to visit some songs that I liked on the surface when I was little, but I might've been too young to fully understand or appreciate everything like rhyme schemes or how, you know, these are like him for that example. Like I knew back then he was dope, but like listening now with the knowledge that I have and the experience, like he really changed stuff in the way that people were doing things.

38:29

So I think that's one of the other benefits of going back to listen to the old stuff, because you can have a different appreciation for it. Because, yeah, at six years old, what do I know about rhyme schemes? I'm just like, OK, this sounds dope. But yeah, later going back to revisit, I'm like, man, this is even better than I realized back then. But yeah, the old school stuff, ain't nothing like it. Yeah, ain't nothing like it. And like you said, also, of course, I left out a lot of other people, but, you know, I love Wu Tang.

38:59

Um, uh, Method Man, that's just one of, one of my favorites out of the group. I like all of them, but Method Man, I really like. He's my favorite too. Yeah. You know, like you said, Redman, ah man, soul lyricist, soul lyricist and Tribe Called Quest, ah music just, music that soothes the soul and a lot of people just didn't catch on to well, down south, you know, up north they knew about it.

39:26

and East Coast and West Coast, but like down south, like if I play stuff like that, you know, they like, even people my age, they be like, what? What's that? Listen to it too. Yeah. Jazz, I mean, it's got a lot of jazz. Yes. Which I found later that, you know, I really enjoy. I didn't realize until I started making beats, I guess more often, I want to say like maybe around like 2012, 2013, somewhere around there.

39:53

But like right around that time is when I started listening to more of my stuff in the car. At first, it was just to kind of do like the audio check to see what needed to be tweaked. Then I found like even later, so I'm just riding listening to beats. And I was like, man, this is kind of like my generation's version of jazz now. But like it was so vital to hip hop culture. And so like even not just jazz, but like 70s soul and all the other stuff that gets sampled. Sometimes you don't even realize the beauty behind it.

40:21

until you go to like, you know, repurpose it or do what you want to do. Um, yeah, with that being said, with your love for the old school, when you choose samples, how do you decide what you're going to pick? Oh, it could be something like.

40:38

Coming up, I loved, as I listen to stuff now, it's just mad. You can't just say like I hear something on Pandora, I'm on Pandora or something. And I hear an old school song, something from the 80s or the 70s. And I listen to it and actually, sometimes I get a sound of something that was just popping my head and then I'll find it.

41:01

and create that sample like that. But sometimes I just listen to something old and my mind is always open. So I could be riding in here, man, it could be Prince, Alexander O'Neill, whomever. And I just catch a little part of something and I'd be like, oh, I'm gonna sample that. And you know what? And then I'll get that song and I'll put it in that MPC and I'll twerk and try to get what I want out of it. And man, turn it into something nice. I'm actually thinking about getting back into beats more than I used to. Okay.

41:31

Yeah, I mean, for me, it's therapeutic. And especially with your talent and skill at it. I support that wholeheartedly. I hope you do because I'd love to hear some more. But so, yeah, with that being said, we also talked. So you mentioned that our dad, you know, we got genetics. We're kind of inclined to music naturally. And one of the things I remember, and I actually made a song about this at one point, might have been about 10 years ago.

42:00

ago or so by now. Donald Byrd. So I remember sometimes, you know, when we had that Mark five, we riding around playing music. I remember it was Think Twice. So you know, I'm like, okay, that's listening to jazz. Fine. But then I remember when that beat change kicked in. And I was thinking, oh my gosh, what is this? This is beautiful. Something about that sound. And it was the same one tribe sample for footprints, the same one

42:30

Lisa Lisa and Colt Jam used for let the beat hit them and who else? Main source looking at the front door. So it's like once I started hearing those songs, it kind of gave me those flashbacks like yeah, I remember being in the car like hearing this and so yeah, even listening to those songs, like it automatically gave me those good feelings of being little, you know, no stress, no worries, no, no.

42:55

Bills, yeah. I'm not gonna say no bills. No bills. Yeah, that's a beautiful thing. Yeah. Oh yeah. Music is, like you said, very therapeutic. It's a wonderful thing. And like you said, bring back, remember, that's why I also, one of my favorite movies is The Wood. Because it shows the childhood, and if you, you know, people paid attention to it, the music that they played.

43:24

You know, it was, it was, it took you back to like, okay, that was the one at the time, because when they were older, them, they would go back. And every time they went back, they played a song. And so it set you back and be like, oh man, yeah, I remember that. I was doing this at that time, or, you know, you know, so it's, yeah, it's cool. Definitely. And since you mentioned movies, like soundtracks used to be such an incredible thing. And I don't think they really do them in the same way that they used to.

43:54

But yeah, right. Like back in the day, that was a great way to get a variety. Like if you didn't want to, you know, just so, you know, teenager, I ain't really have a whole lot of money. Like my whole check might've been $30. So to spend like more than half of it on a CD or tape, like it had to be good. And that was one way I could make sure that I had the variety. But yeah, you actually took me to get the I'm about it soundtrack.

44:22

And that was actually the first CD that I had owned like from that camp back then. But, oh. See, and I forgot all about that. And look, when you mentioned it, I know exactly where I was staying. I was staying in the bad neighborhood in North Memphis on Step Street. Yeah, and that created, you know, and Master P did that movie, you know what I'm saying about that sound effect. You know what I'm saying? So that was, it was just, like I said, he did a lot for music, you know.

44:52

And you know, he had like the best deal nobody ever had. He had to deal to where with priority, he got 85% and priority only got 15. Yeah, that's, that's practically unheard of. Very few people can get deals like that. Yes. A lot of people don't know that, but that's what happened. And you probably won't see that again. Yeah. So I'm quite sure they realized, man, he got us.

45:18

Yeah, because I mean, you know, distribution typically is the hard part in the just give up 15% for that. Like that's nothing. But that's another reason why it's so important to kind of study the people that came, you know, ahead of you as an artist. Because I think that's why a lot of people are getting stuck in these bad deals now, without doing the research to find out that the stuff could be available one way or another and especially like even the 360 deals like terrible. I mean, yeah.

45:47

And three murders like slaves. Yeah, you signed like four people. Yeah, yeah. You know what I'm saying? You look on there, like when you look and see the label, you're seeing like four different names, you're like, what? Right. Where did you get your money from? Yeah, it's terrible. Then they make you, you know, you might have to do a song with someone you don't want to do a song with. Right. You sign to them, they're like, hey, you got to do this song, because that song will give us some money. Yeah. That's like Kendrick and.

46:16

And Drake, you know, they beef. Remember, that was something that was said, I think it was, they was talking about the Maroon 5 song that Kendrick did, like he really didn't want to do it, but hey, you know, they made you do a top-off, do it, you know, so. Yeah, you have no choice with those types of deals. And people are so eager to get the money up front. A lot of times I think they don't even do their due diligence. Like, oh, you're going to give me two mil? Great. Not realizing it's just a loan.

46:43

And now they own everything you do. Exactly. Yeah, you gotta pay that to me back. Right. And a lot of times they're even wrapping up the NIL deals, the name, image and likeness right into it so they can't even do anything, like their hands are completely tied and I feel like, yeah, we're hearing these stories way too often. Screwing them on their publishing. Yeah. Screwing them on their publishing. You gotta have your publishing.

47:11

got to this only way you're gonna get money and now you see people just now getting their publishing from the 90s. Yeah Mary J Blige, you know the locks uh few other people, you know, it's Crucial You know, you know, yeah Especially those people you just named I had mentioned on the other uh radio show that I used to do I knew that was a goodwill thing. I didn't know how bad things were gonna be but I was like you're getting ahead of something

47:40

I didn't know it was gonna be that bad though. I never would have predicted that, but I knew he wasn't the type of person to be generous and be like, oh, I'm gonna do the right thing all of a sudden after all these years. So now, yeah, makes sense. He up to something, I don't know what, but I don't trust it. No, it's terrible. People want the fame, you know, it look good to them and you just don't know what they going through, why they at there, cause...

48:07

I mean, it's a lot of people going through some terrible things and they had to smile in front of their TV. And then later on, 10 to 15, 20 years later, you hear the, you know, the bad side, like, wow. Right. And it can all be, you know, kind of avoided to a certain extent just by doing your research, you know, checking out some normal deals, what's actually supposed to be standard as opposed to what they're trying to sell people today. But yeah, it's it's insane. What was that? It's a it's a business, you know, just like

48:36

Man, what's my boy? Jason Weaver. Love Jason Weaver. Yeah. With the Disney deal, they were gonna pay him a million dollars to do the movie. His mother said, nah, we don't want the million dollars. And so she got proceeds from the movie and he got a hundred thousand cash to do the movie. So he getting paid the rest of his life. He doesn't even really had to do anything else. He getting paid off Lion King the rest of his life. Yeah.

49:05

Yeah, that was, yeah, that was incredible. People weren't doing stuff like that back then. No, you put the money on the table. They were signing it. Right. McCulloch-Cocken don't have a partner at home alone. Wow. Yeah. Get no money from, you know, all the numbers that he had. You know what I'm saying? I didn't just think that he did. Yeah, just think. Yeah. And that is crazy. But yeah.

49:31

So yeah, we've seen all these stories that can put out all these biopics, but without people actually gathering the information, then yeah, we just keep seeing the same process repeated over and over again, which is part of the reason why, you know, do the podcast for the information so people know like how the industry works and what's actually going on. But a lot of times it's just kind of pushed to the side. But you mentioned something earlier about seeing how many people that the artists are signed to, and it made me think about.

50:02

the writers that are involved in most of the mainstream stuff. Right. Like, and how long those lists are getting out. Yeah, it's crazy. It's crazy. Um, what's the word, what are you saying? Yeah, like it can be a song that repeats the same line, like so many times, and it'll be like 15 different writers. And I don't mean just like the sampled.

50:27

Because of course they get writer's credit. Yeah, but like outside of that, it's like, man, like you really needed five people to help you with that. Yeah, if you don't have the talent, you know, cause like I said, that is a gift, you see. And there's certain people that just have it, just off the top of my, like her, I love her. Very talented. And...

50:53

Those artists like that, you know, how to play everything, they writing everything, you know, even Jermaine Dupri, that dude is awesome. Jermaine Dupri, a lot of people don't know it. He wrote so, they know of the groups that he's produced, but he wrote a lot of songs for him too. Escape, Mariah Carey, Usher, just those names right there. I mean, look at it. Yeah. You know, so their writing is good. And if you can't write, then it's a terrible thing.

51:22

They saying Drake ain't writing his stuff. Yeah. You know, ever since that whole Quentin Miller thing happened, I just assumed everything else was written for him. So I don't know why people just assumed it was like a one and done. But if you do it quietly like that, then they don't tell him how many others we don't even know about. Exactly. So, yeah, like if somebody listed him as their favorite rapper, they used to kind of irk me a little bit because I mean, he is a music artist.

51:52

So I'm not going to discredit that, but I mean, are you really a rapper? If somebody else putting words in your mouth, cause it's not like you singing it, you know what I mean? Like, it makes sense when singers have people that write their songs cause they've got a voice. So I mean, with rap, you know, you need the poetry element of it in order to be considered an actual artist, I think. But, you know, it's probably a lot of people that disagree and I might get some comments after this, but I said what I said.

52:22

Yeah, I mean, the music is supposed to come from the heart. Yeah. So like if... I don't know, it's kind of like you said, you might get, you know, somebody might say something to us about us saying it, you know, but sometimes I can't understand a little bit if... I guess in a song, you know, you could tell them, you could pour your heart out to them and then that person write it for you.

52:50

You know, but it just seems like it's more passion when it's from you. Yeah. That is true. Um, cause it almost just, you can connect with it a little bit more because it feels authentic. And yeah, when it's not your words, then that makes it not so authentic. But I've had that complaint for years. Nobody listened. I got called a hater until now. So that was part of it.

53:15

I was so excited about the beef. I'm like, now everybody's saying what I've been saying and used to, you know, you hate? Like, no, it's just the fact. I mean, you can like who you like. Everybody doesn't have to like your favorite artist. You know, that doesn't mean anything about you, even though they take it as a personal attack, but. Yeah. It's a passion thing, as I just thought about it. I had gotten to it, like, I had got to where, like, Lil Wayne, Lil Wayne wasn't writing anything.

53:45

So I had got to where I still wrote, but what I was doing was I had a nine to five, I was driving a Ford, let it come. And I would think of lyrics. So what I would do is just keep running them back in my head. Just keep running back in my head till break time. So like when I go to break, I'm like writing 16 bars, which you don't hear anymore. Now it's 12 bars, two verses.

54:14

4 bar hook, you know what I'm saying? 2 minutes, 2 minutes. You know what I'm saying? Back in the day, my song was at least 4 and a half minutes, at least 3 and a half minutes. But for sure it was like, we was giving you 3 16's and 3 16's, man you had to, you gotta, that's a lot to write. 3 16 bars, you know, verses and to have a nice song. But that's what you had to do back then, you know, so now, you know, they changed it with

54:42

where you don't have to do that. But so I got to where I was remembering my stuff. So, and even if I did write some of it down, as I wrote it down, I would remember it. So I had guys that wanted me to get on song. So just say, I had a guy, he called me, his name was Hurt, he called me, he was like, hey, I got this song, I want you to be on, come to the studio tomorrow at four o'clock. I'm like, all right, I'll be there, send me the song.

55:10

He sent me the song. He like, you know, do the hook too. I need you to do a hook to him. Okay, do the hook. Do my verse. Get to the studio. Me, him and another cat that he knew. So we get in the booth. I'm in the booth. He said, uh, where, where, where your paper at? Where you know? I ain't got no paper. It's all right here. He said, man, how you do that? I just called you 11 o'clock last night. It's four o'clock. I said, hey, I said, it's just how it's going now, man. I said, it's just a passion. When it's a passion.

55:40

It's coming like that. It's like you won't have to do certain things. You won't have to, if you anything, you jot down notes, that's it. Other than that, man, you going in there, you deliver. Right, right. That's what's up. Yeah, now my memory doesn't work that way, but yeah, you got a point. Yeah, when I first started, actually, yeah, I wouldn't even call myself a rapper when I started because I felt like I was just a poet doing stuff over beats. And that was kind of how it was.

56:09

I tried to make sure that it was a little more fluid so that way it didn't feel like I was hitting every line, you know, exactly with each bar. But then, you know, as I got a little more comfortable with it, so what I would do would be I'd write it, I'd record it, and then I'd like write around listening to the recording until I memorized it. So yeah, it took me a while to be able to do that. Yeah, but even so. You have to stop it that way too. What was that?

56:37

I say your music is awesome by the way too. Oh, thank you. Yeah, I mean, your singing, your rap vocals, your beats, is phenomenal, you know, nothing sounds like it. You keep doing what you're doing. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. Cause I am so self-conscious, especially about my singing voice. So. When you sing me that song, I can't think of that. I don't know who that guy. Oh yeah, Trindiggy. Yeah, yeah.

57:07

When you send me that, I was like, hold on. You did that. You sound so good. Thank you. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. Almost definitely. So yeah, see our time is winding down. Counter's going. So before we close this out, I wanna make sure that everybody knows all your socials to follow you on and how they can stay in touch with what you've got coming up and make sure that they can support everything you're doing.

57:35

Okay, on Facebook, my personal page is GFM Shaun Don. GFM Shaun Don. And for the clothing lines, that's going to be Instagram, which is @TrenchBabySoftWhite. And for Facebook for the clothing line is GFM Trench Baby Apparel. And for TikTok is @SoftWhiteLabel. So yeah, that's

58:01

They can reach me in anything, you know, anything on either one of those. And I respond back quickly. All right. Is there any final thoughts or anything that you want to leave the listeners with or any shout outs you want to give? You can do it now. Uh, man, give shout outs to our father. Um, you for doing what you doing is wonderful. You keep doing it. It's a, it's a blessing. And, um,

58:25

to our sister, Bri, our cousin Destiny. I'll see him next week, because I'm going to the Javontae Davis fight in Vegas. So I'll see him then. I think Bri gonna try to come up on Saturday and see us. So, shouts out to your mother, tell her I said hello. I will. And we're gonna have to get that other podcast going about, you know, the sibling rivalry, you know, about the movies. We're gonna have to get that started. You know, everything starts from,

58:55

You have to either write it down to keep it alive. And that's why I did that little video that I sent y'all with the popcorn. And that's the start of it. That's the start of it. And we're going to have to, we're going to have to do it. Cause I think it'd be wonderful because we always call each other about TV shows and movies, you know? And, oh man. So, I mean, we might as well do it, you know, Sibling Rivalry coming soon. Yes, absolutely.

59:22

All right, thank you so much and I can't wait to have you back again. This is just part one. All right, I love you. I love you too. All right, that does it for this week's edition of Instrumental Intel. I've been your host, music producer, AChickWitBeatz, and I hope you found this episode both entertaining and educational. Once again, I'd like to thank my home station, Grander Radio out of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and I'd like to thank you for tuning in.

59:46

Join me next week. Special guest, Daneja Mentale, will be dropping in for a chat from pause tapes to present day and it'll be a great time. So until next time, tune in, tell a friend, and I'll see you then. Peace.