HR of the West

Hey, everybody. Welcome back to Royalty room podcast. It's legal queen LA. And today we have LA West coast legend Sallis Money in the building. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Glad to be here. Glad to be here. No, like, really, thank you for stepping from BTS to front of the camera. Yes, I do. When I'm invited. You know what I'm saying? Anytime I'm invited, I will always show up and have conversation. But, you know, I also don't seek it at the same time. So, you know, it's always gonna be an authentic opportunity. Cause people will have to, like, ask me. Once you asked me, I was like, sure. Like, when do you wanna do it? Like, you know, there was no running around or trying to figure out, like, what are the availability? So, yeah, anytime people want to, I do it. Which leads us to where I met Sallis was at Jbrock's clap it up LA panel, which was super amazing. I was literally, the whole time the boys were up there, the men were up there. I'm just like, wow. Yeah. And my sis, I'm looking at my sister. She's taking handwritten notes of everything you guys were saying, and I'm like, this is really good. Obviously, I was part of the women's panel, so I didn't get to, like, take in as much. I was just kind of focused on, like, being up there and, of course. Of course, figuring out what to say. But, like, that. I've heard about you before the panel. Well, that's good. Hopefully positive things. Horrible. The worst. Listen, the worst possible things. But for those who don't know, you are an artist manager. Talent manager. Talent manager. Yeah. And as far as my knowledge is, you have one of the greatest not up and coming, but already came up. Zo Osama. Yeah, absolutely. That's a rapper. We have west coast legend, dj head, and media personality extraordinaire, cutie. Gina views. Yes. Yes. Gina views. That's your starting lineup. Is that. Are you managing anybody else? Yeah. So I have another recording artist named Alexis who assigned to bootle Kev. He's like, a Mexican American. Like, urban. I know him. It's Alexis, but it's spelled with X c. Yeah. X c I s. Yeah. Okay. So I've been managing him for the last year or so, and I've known him since he, you know, kind of got in the business, but officially started managing him last year. I also work with Chuck Dizzle, DJ heads partner at Homegrown radio, and then I have some producers that I manage, as well. Wow. You know, full service full firm. Full firm. That's exciting, honestly. Like, I know I do. I have a lot of different hats, but I think people like us are crazy enough to want to manage other people's lives. And I was talking to someone recently, and I was just like, do you know how big of a blessing it is? Like, how big of a, like, wow moment when you realize someone put their life, their career, which is their life, in your hands? Like, that's. There's so much trust behind that. It really is. You've been doing a phenomenal job. Thank you. Over the last year. I can't speak for before that, but, like, every single place I go, every single, like, time I scroll online, it's one of. One of your talent that's kind of taking over the Internet in the entertainment industry. How do you do it all? Well, the way I do it all is actually love. First of all, I genuinely love what I do. Right. It shows I'm not one of those people who needs to, like. Like, I don't have. I don't have vacations. I don't do anything else. I don't even party much. Like, actually, I don't party at all. I genuinely love what I do. So it's coming from a real place of passion, and I'm also a fan of the people that I work with. I don't just work with people for financial opportunity. I'm generally a fan of what they do and then come from a place of wanting to help them make it bigger and scale it and help them become the full potential of who they are. But it's just a place of passion. I literally just love what I do, so. And it's all that I do. You know what I'm saying? Outside of that, a lot of people don't know. I've been a full time single father of two daughters, two girls. Can we. I'm a steal a J. Brock. Can we clap it up for that? Because my daddy raised me by himself, and that is no easy task. No easy task, girl. Dad. So career and being a dad was all that I've done and whatnot, and I literally, just, on the last couple weeks, literally, like, as of, like, last Thursday, dropped them both off in college. They both went to different colleges when. And did all that, and. And so now it's, like, not gonna, like, really just focus on just, you know, like, working whatnot. But I genuinely love it. It's. It's a real. I feel blessed every day that I get to do this, even with all the b's that comes with what we do. Right. And there's a lot of it. Mm hmm. I love what I do every day. I just live. And so it's not hard to do it all exactly, because it's. I really want to. And that's, like, one of the reasons why I literally said people like us, because I have been. I've been getting a lot of feedback on my platforms and all of the things that I'm doing online, unsolicited advice and critique. But someone who's really close to me, know me almost my entire life. He's like, if I'm looking at your page, I see two artists that you care about more than you care about yourself. And sometimes you like to be sexy. Like, that's what it gives. And I was kind of, like, taken aback, but it was just like, you're right. I do care about their career. I don't know if it's more than myself, but it's something like, I'm naturally a nurturer, caretaker. Like, I manage everybody's lives around me, and it is something that I love to do. I try to run away from it for a while. Like, I got asked to be Shank's manager back in 22, 221, and I was just like, oh, no, I'm a lawyer. I can't do that. Yeah, I'm busy. And it kept just finding me, and I kept doing, like, managerial things on accident without even thinking about it. So I'm just like, bro, I just can't keep running from this. I just have to have to go on. I was the same way. I hadn't managed artists in until last year. I managed Zoe and Alexis the same year within, like, months of each other. But I hadn't managed artists for years because I was over it, you know? And I was like, you know, let me just stick with media and producers. My life was so much easier, so much less chaotic and whatnot. But it presented itself in such a way. The artist was like, oh, I think it's my time to, like, get back into it with what I know, the information that I have, the experience that I have, the relationships that I have. I can do it at a much better and higher level now. But, no, I wasn't. I was, you know, avoiding it, too, for several years. Yeah. So I get it. There's a lot of horror stories, and that's another way that I'm blessed, because the talent that I manage air, the prophecy, and shank, like, they're just so I don't, I don't get to experience the craziness that other managers have dealt with, you know, like, I don't have to force them to go perform. I don't have to beg them to be in the studio. Cause they don't feel like it, and they're having, like, this prima donna moment. Like, I don't have those types of horror stories that other people do. And I feel like that's kind of the reason why everyone's like, don't be a manager. You're gonna be a mom. You wanna just take care of these people. Well, that's what I do exactly. You know, so why not but manage, you do a little bit more diverse management themself. What is it like having to do? You have to, like, switch gears often or. No, because I feel like it's all the same. It's like there's one experience happening and with different. So right now there's like three cameras on ride us, right. And, you know, no matter, you know what we're talking about, there's always gonna be a camera on. And that's kind of like the hats that I wear. So if I'm managing an artist, right, I also manage producers, so that's easy. I can find, you know, I can source the, you know, beats, blah, blah, blah, you know, work on the music. Once the music is done and whatnot, then they have to do media as well. I know the media people and you know what I'm saying? So it's kind of like it's all the same business. I'm just doing all of it where most people specialize in one. I do all of it, you know, from, you know, like I said, producers, media, artists. I'm, you know, I'm touching every aspect of it, which allows me to, to have a much broader knowledge base than the average manager. Cause I know the different roles that it takes for different talents to be successful, and so I don't have to. It's not really switching gears. Like, I can literally be on set with DJ head at the bigger picture, get a call from Zo, step outside, handle that, step back inside while he's filming that, take another call. And then, you know, with my producer junior, who just, you know, getting a placement somewhere else, and then hop in the car, me, and head go over to Sirius to do the. Effective immediately. You know, it's just, just my life just ongoing, and then end up in the studio later, you know, working on the next album for, you know, Alexis or so like, it's just, it's all the same thing. Yeah, you know what I'm saying, sometimes I do struggle on what day it is because, like, the early part of my days can be, like, administrative stuff. So, you know, I wake up like most people, you know, in the morning, and then I can have a whole second half of the day where I'm either in the studio or going to events and whatnot. Well, that becomes a long day. And I can't believe that that was all, like, one Monday. Yeah. Are we sure that wasn't, like, Tuesday, too, like, no, that was all just one Monday. So sometimes I do get my. When I look back, what day? Did something actually happen? Everything is a blur. Everything. Everything is, because so many things happen in one day. You know, like I said, I, you know, I have long days that. That's just because I am wearing so many different hats. A lot of people aren't built for this. Is there a lesson or an advice that you would give someone before they decide to go full force ahead into the managerial aspect of things? Because it is a huge undertaking. If it's one person or ten, there's two. One is make sure whoever you're going to work with has the work ethic to be successful. Even if you weren't going to be around to help, that's big, because you can't, you know, we get, we get a commission, we get a piece, but we don't, you know, we're not, you know, 5 5 partners on their career. So, you know, I can go hard, but you're dictating the pace of your career and whatnot. And like you said, I shouldn't have to ask you to or beg you to get into the studio or beg you to come perform or any of those things. Like, these are things you should want to do. So work ethic should be on the artist, or the talent side should be number one. And I'm blessed that everyone I work with has tremendous work ethic. The other thing is, now more than ever, if you're going to be a manager, especially in the music space, learn the entire business, because you have to interface every aspect of that for your artists now, especially with labels consolidating and shrinking departments and whatnot. So, you know, you should understand how publicity works and how it's different than digital marketing and then the difference between, you know, promotions, which is still doing radio and whatnot, and then who within the company, who takes you to the DSP or to a podcast? Is that gonna come from the publicity side, or is that gonna come from the promo side? Like, who has that relationship? And you should have those relationships, you should learn that stuff and learn how publishing works and all these things. Learn the full scope of the business. So that way, when you're working alongside a partner, distributor, and or label, you're knowledgeable to have educated conversation about it. Like, you don't just hand them everything and be like, all right, now make us famous. It's like, no, how are we working this? What are the goals and whatnot? And so with my artists and whatnot, like, I had so many relationships in media outside of my own clients, I could help get, you know, interviews and whatnot during the promo run. Right. And I was working with both a publicist and working with, you know, the promo team on that kind of stuff. Like, I was being value added. Yeah. So I would tell any new manager, learn the business, like, really, and ask questions, you know, whatever you don't know, because a lot of it, you can't necessarily get out of a book. You have to literally experience it. And so sometimes you have to ask older, establish people and whatnot, get advice, but then find people that if I wasn't around, you're gonna work your ass off anyway, so I might as well help you. That's so true. I might as well come along with you because you're determined. Like you said, there's nothing worse than seeing someone who's amazingly talented and feeling so entitled that, yeah, you can't get them to do the things that they need to do. And it's like, yo, you're crazy talented, but why is it such a struggle to get you to do, or why are you pushing back on everything? You know, why is everything. Why is everything a struggle? Because it's not Michael. It's not my career that's in. That's in the lights. Yes. You wanted to be an artist. I didn't ask you to do exactly. I didn't pluck you. I didn't pluck you out of obscurity and be like, yo, you should be an artist. Like, this is something that you'd say you chose to do, right? Why is it being such a struggle to get you to do it? So I care about work ethic more than I do talent. That's good, because I've been with amazingly talented people, and nothing ever happened because they just didn't have the work ethic or they didn't believe in themselves or there was a level of self sabotage within them or whatever. Right? That's big. I feel like in the entertainment industry and in Los Angeles itself, I feel like imposter syndrome and self doubt is a huge, huge problem. Yes. Like, it's hard to overcome sometimes or kind of. So have you ever felt things like that? Like self doubters, imposter syndrome? 1%. And then I'm, you know, I'm a pretty arrogant guy. Like, I'm. I know I'm smart, and I'll. I'll feel like, okay. I'll be like, oh, man, I don't know if I can do this. And then I think about people that do it that are the dumber than me. Right. And so when I'm having that moment, I'm like, why am I having that moment? A lot of it is just because I haven't experienced that specific thing yet, and I just need some information. So, you know, maybe I'll just Google a term that I've never heard. I've never heard anyone use that term before. Right. What does that mean? You could chat, GPT, anything. Yeah. And so, you know, I'll just google it and be like, oh, this is what this means. And a lot of it is just, you know, getting some information. And once you get the information, like, oh, you feel a little better. And then be like, yo, and let me have this initial experience. And it may not be like, great because I'm still learning this aspect, but I'm built for this. You know, I may not get it 1% correct, and I give myself grace because I've never experienced it. But then once I experience it, oh, I know what this is now, and I go forward. But anytime, you know, imposter syndrome usually is you're. You're in a realm that you're not used to because you haven't experienced it and you're doubting, can I do this? Always believe there's someone dumber, stupider doing it. When you think about that, when you think about, like, and you've encountered them, it's like, that guy's an idiot, and he's having success with this particular artist and whatnot, and he's an idiot. Like, okay, he can do it. I think I can probably figure this out. And we can figure it. I mean, the music business isn't rocket science, right? You know, it just isn't. It's interesting. Definitely not science. That's good, though, because even. Even if you're not, like, literally, like, oh, that person's, like, not as smart as. At least it gets you out of that, like, slump and you can giggle about it. Exactly. You know what I mean? It's like going on stage and imagining everybody in their underwear. Exactly. That whole thing. Exactly. Even myself, like, I'm literally an attorney. And sometimes I'm like, I can't do that. I don't know how to do mathematic or whatever, was just like, you went to law school. You passed the bar exam. Like, what are you doing? These actually, these are things that actually happen in life. You know what I'm saying? And when we give ourselves credit for what we have done in life, we realize I'm actually a very capable person. That's hard sometimes, though. It's hard whenever you're trying to climb a ladder so, like, quickly or, like, the mountaintop just seems, like, so far away. It's hard to just, like, look back and be like, I did all these things. When you're looking at, I still need to do all. Exactly. We never look back. We always look, you know, ahead and whatnot from time to time, take a look back and be like, oh, wait, this has actually been done, and I'm terrible at it. Like, I don't celebrate my victories. I don't celebrate my wins. Me and hed talk about this all the time. You know, we've done some things, and we don't even, like, fully, like, digest what we've done because we're so goal driven and so, you know, ambitious that, you know, there are times we look back and say, yo, we've actually kind of done some shit out here. Yeah. So now that you mentioned, this has been an incredible summer for the west coast as a whole. And I think it's kind of cool that I get to not be from here and experience everything that's been going on. And also, you know, I have, like, friends and family from all up and down the east coast that, you know, still support me and stuff, and they have no idea what's going on here or, like, what a big deal some of these things are. So, like, you guys have had an incredible summer. Yeah. Yeah, it's been. It's been amazing, and it's. It's been a long time coming because a lot has been happening. There just hasn't been a spotlight on it. It exists. And, like, I feel like we talked about maybe it was around bet or juneteenth, one of the, like, big weekends out here. And we were both like, yeah, whenever we process what's been going on, then we can talk about it. And that's one of those things. Like, you didn't even, like, like, oh, yeah, we just did the Kendrick and friends pop out, but, like, okay, what's next? Well, what's funny is I didn't even get a chance to ever actually process it, right. Cause we, you know, that night happens. You know, that day happens, right? By that night, I'm dealing. I'm working with heads, publicists on, you know, media that is reaching out and whatnot. Right. And so, you know, I'm coordinating media, looks and media, you know, things with the publicist and him and whatnot. And so that, you know, so Juneteenth was the 19th and whatnot. Will Zoe dropped his album. Zo Osama dropped his album the 28th. So we're going into bet week. Bet week, right. So Juneteenth was, I think, a Thursday. By that Monday. Zoe had an interview with Sway in the morning at, like, 7: a.m. and whatnot. So I go from Juneteenth publicity for dj head right into bet week slash album promo week of Zo Osama. I never. I'm stressed out. I never got a chance to process the pop out personally. I never. And then it just has kept going and going, and then, you know, family stuff and all that. It's like, I never got a chance to, like, truly, like, process that until, you know, weeks later. I was gonna say, let's process that right now. Well, our friends got us together, and we had, like, a fish fry, and we watched it again, and I got to watch it, like, from a fans perspective and be like, that shit was kind of cool. Right? Right. That was kind of cool. You know what I'm saying? And congratulations again. I like to give flowers where they're due. You are doing a phenomenal job. Thank you. With your career, but also the lives of everybody else's careers. Like, it's just mind blowing to me. Like, I feel like. And I don't like to compare people's successes, but I feel like this summer, Washington, over the top, overwhelming, out of control. Like, just nonstop for me. And, you know, we've been doing so many things. Like, you. You always see me, like, doing a different event, doing whatever for you. Like, I'm just really proud of everything that you guys have been doing and working towards this summer. Like, every single person on your team is just reaching newer and higher heights. Like, every single week, it's another thing. And then also, I wanted to talk about. I didn't know that you. You managed chuck, right? Chuck as well. I didn't know you managed him as well. Whenever I. I've heard of him, I've heard, you know, him talk and stuff before, but before the panel, I didn't really know much of his story. And so for you three, you, dj head, and chuck dizzle, to all be on that same panel, that's also really cool. Like, you have a team of really powerful people, and really, that was dope for us. To, the three of us have never shared a stage. Like, really, not all of us. See, that's what I'm saying. Like, I'd be trying to tell j. Brock, like, you are doing something so good for this community. I feel blessed to have been a part of something like that. He has just handpicked amazing people to give inspiration and tips and tricks and tea, and I feel like there's some just really upstanding, talented and good people that you are building and molding. And of course, it comes from the top. Nobody likes to think about the manager or the lawyer or the whoever, but it starts from somewhere. And my inspiration is to do good work and not seek the publicity of it, but the work will publicize itself, you know what I'm saying? And over the years, it has done that and whatnot. And like you said, you had heard of me prior to actually meeting me. And in the last couple of years, I've been having to get used to that. People coming up to me and be like, oh, I know who you are. They'll be like, are you salads? I'm like, yeah. And I'm like, okay. Yeah. Uh huh. I don't know. Y'all keep hearing the man talk, but you don't really know. He's really, like a legende. Um, and it just comes from really, like, just loving this and loving the culture and whatnot. And really just wanting to be helpful. Yeah. To the culture. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Cause there's a lot of things I do that I'm not officially attached to, but my DNA is all over. Yeah. You know, and it's nice, like, for a change. Like, the west coast talent is not just West coast. Like, we're global. Yeah. We started to, you know, finally, like, venture out and people can understand because people have always liked LA west coast culture, but they were able to get it from other people who would come in and tap in, whether, you know, other artists would work with a dj mustard or, you know, everyone comes here to shoot their videos. Yeah, we have, you know, most of the recording studios and things like that. You know, a lot. Even some of the labels were, like, moving their heads of the labels over to the laden. A lot of stuff was happening in LA. You know, I always say that, you know, America's like, you know, biggest export is, like, pop culture. Yeah, we influenced the world with pop culture. Well, the biggest export city of pop culture is Los Angeles. Yeah, that's. I just had, like a whole image in my head. It's like everybody's coming here and sucking all the resources out of LA and then just like, dip. And that was something that bothered dj head, and I was like, yo, people come here, you know, literally bleed the resources and don't invest back into, you know, what we're doing. So then our artists and our talent don't get the same shining opportunity. And, you know, and in West coast, and LA specifically is the one sub genre of rap music where people will say, oh, that sounds too regional. That sounds too west coast sounds too. Where it's the second biggest media market. What do you mean it sounds too LA? We get music from all other parts of this country, much smaller cities. And whenever, say, someone sounds to any of those other cities, right. But we say it about our city, it's like, oh, so there's this. There's this disconnect of not understanding LA. And people don't understand LA when they're not from here. And they get here and they're like, they think Hollywood is LA and it's like, it's not, you know, Hollywood is Hollywood. And Hollywood has its purpose, but it's not LA. And then when you get to visit LA and the surrounding cities realize, oh, this is the culture of the city. Yeah. And whatnot. And so, you know, what head and I have been trying to push for the years is getting. Is packaging the culture in a way that you'll want it from our actual talents. Yeah. And so, and so getting back into artist management with zo, he, like, does that specifically. It's like, yeah, so you do that specifically now, Lee, and let me work with you as a. You know, as an artist manager for that. Yeah. Okay. I think I've only been here October makes five years. Oh, okay. But I started in the valley, lived in Hollywood for a couple years. I lived in Long beach for a little while. I feel like I'm just now starting to really get a full picture of LA. Yeah. And, like, it's a lot to learn. Yes. It's a lot to see. I've been here again almost five years, and I've seen nothing. It feels like, because it's just so much. There's so much diversity and it's spread out, too. Yeah. Like, LA county runs all the way from freaking Malibu to Long beach. Like, those are like 1, different LA's. And it is weird that everybody. Oh, that's to LA. That's LA. Like, that's LA. It's not. Whatever. Whatever. But, like, la's super diverse. Very diverse. Like, super. I probably. I try to explain LA to people back home, and they're just like, I don't get it. And they don't. Yeah. And when people move here, I explain to them, don't come with a preconceived notion that this is gonna be, like, another big city that you're coming from. Oh, I thought. I thought Cali. South. South Cali was gonna be just like Florida. No. Oh, absolutely nothing the same. Except there's, like, a beach somewhere. Yeah, that's it. But it's been an interesting time. I like to say I have a love hate relationship with LA, but I couldn't possibly imagine being anywhere else. Exactly. Like, what would I do in Orlando, Florida? Exactly. I don't know. Like, we exist for a reason. Yeah. So that's why we're here. And everybody's kind of seeing it now. Yeah. I think, again, what we do is, like, really, just really important. And something else that you mentioned, like, way at the beginning, you love what you do. And I feel like if there were more people who did what they're doing in their careers out of love and operated out of love for their clients, no matter what industry, no matter what, it would be a lot better of a place. 1%. Because everybody's trying to not just suck resources out of a place, but, like, suck all of the talent out of the people and, like, work them like meals. Exactly. I was watching the. Did you ever watch it's a Spotify? Like, a show about Spotify on Netflix? I think it was called the playlist. And each episode was a different character who had something to do with creating the Spotify platform. And in the last episode, it was them going to court over, literally not getting paid a dime off of their streams. And the artist was like, do you know the last time we had a minimum wage sweatshop type of thing? The artists are lit to release, slaving away, creating all of the entertainment that you just want to consume and consume and consume and consume, and we're getting paid sweatshop prices. Like, does that not make sense to anybody? And it's just easy to think about, oh, it's just music. It's just music. Music makes the world go round 1%. Entertainment makes the world go round. The entire presidential election this year, on both sides, is fueled by entertainment and music 1%. Like, it's crazy to me. Yeah. Utilizing, yeah. The different talents and whatnot to get to the people 1%. It's, music has always been, you know, influential. We, you know, music timestamps a generation. Right. And so, no, we, we will always, we will always need it and whatnot. Yeah. We're having to try to figure out over the last 2 years or so what that business is looking like going forward, you know, but it's not going anywhere. And the business, music isn't going anywhere. Like, you know, just as much as people can be independent, there's still a lot of the business that, you know, people don't know. So, you know, you're like, yeah, you can do it yourself, but you don't know a lot of the things that still need to happen. So you probably will always need a partner of some kind and whatnot, and a team partner as far as distribution, label, whatever and whatnot. And, you know, everything, you know, matters and everything's not for everybody. Yeah. This is, I will say this is the most diverse the industry has ever been as far as how an artist can participate. Right. That's true. You know, they can do a major label deal, they can go to tune corps. They can do something. They can get something going on themselves and then do empire or go to, you know, the orchard or what. I mean, there's all these different ways to participate depending on, you know, what experience you, you know, you as, you as an artist and you and your team want and whatnot and what the goal is. And I think that gets lost in the conversation and rhetoric about streaming is, yeah, but there's so many other ways that you can have a career if you choose to have it in that way. Or you can, you know, start off at a major, you know, put out a couple projects. Maybe it doesn't go so well, but the major invested some money into. You have some marketing, you have a new fan base, and then you can go independent. Right, right. That didn't used to happen before you, when you got dropped. We never heard from you again. There were no other opportunities. And so there's a lot of different ways to engage. So I'm not the, even though I'm older, I'm not the anti streaming guy. Yeah. I mean, it's not perfect, but this is, like I said, you, you know, the most diverse we've ever seen. I mean, and there are literally independent artists that are legitimately rich doing music, and people have never heard of, they've never had a hit song, a hit record, anything like that, and they're worth seven figures independently, whether they're doing it through distrokid tune core, or doing Empire or whatnot. And it's like, that didn't exist before. People don't understand. It was hard to get physical distribution. I'm old enough to remember physical, like, what it took. You couldn't get physical distribution, you know? So I'm not gonna lie. Music, entertainment, all the things that was never, like, I wish there could be a career day outside of LA. Cause I feel like this happens a lot, but I wish there could be career days on, like, unconventional careers, because all that we get in high school, and especially from my dad, like, being from a third world country and I'm first generation on his side, it's just like, there's only one path to success, and it's college, and it's grad school, and it's law school or med school, and then you do this, and that's the rest of your life. Like, I wish there was a career day that focused on things that were not taught in school, because the same path, just like in music, is not for everybody. So I wish that could be, like, a bigger thing, because if I knew that what I'm doing now could be an actual career instead of, like, a hobby or a. A passion project, I can envision my life being a lot different. I didn't know anything about the entertainment industry or the music industry, et cetera, until my third year of law school, okay? And I'm already way deeper than it's even remotely possible to back out now. You know what I mean? So then I was just like, huh, maybe I can make a career out of the industry as a lawyer. So that brought me over here, and then it took the pandemic to shut the world down. And I'm at home with. With no job and no, like, anything to do, and my friend put me in a booth and, like, forced me to make a record. I was like, don't you want to work with artists? Shouldn't you figure out, you know, how they feel and what they do? And of course I'm leaving the booth. I was like, yo, this why everybody want to be a rapper? Like, I'm gonna be an artist now. This is so cool. I feel great. But, no, not that. But I am a creative person. I love creating, whether it's the flyers for the events or putting the event together or just watching people do what they love. I wish I would have known sooner than the last, what, six, seven years? Because I feel like it's not talked about enough. No, it's not. We're in the industry, so we talk about it all day. It's not talked about, you know, you showed that picture of me and snoop, right? And I always tell people, like, you remember that movie brown sugar, where, you know, like the saying throughout the whole movie, when did you fall in love with hip hop? Right? I remember when I fell in love with hip hop, and it was when I saw the video of nothing but a g thing for the first time. And I'm like, whatever this is, I want to be involved with that. Uh huh. Now, I had no resources to get more information or whatnot, so I had to kind of figure things out. So that's when I started reading, like, liner notes and reading magazines and blah, blah, blah. But, you know, figuring out. But I knew that that's what I wanted to do. I still went to college and got it, you know, got a finance degree and did all those things, but it was always like, yeah, I'm gonna get that education and whatnot. But the end goal is trying to figure out how to get into this business, this space and whatnot, and figuring out what that career is and whatnot. And what's funny is I'm known as a manager because that's what I do, but that's actually not what I really want to do the things that I do. I managed to give me the opportunity to produce, to executive produce, to be involved in these other things that I really wanted to do. That's why I tried not to manage for so long, but the universe kept saying, no, you need to manage. And then one day, I'm in the studio and I'm working on the record, and I'm, like, helping put the record together. I'm like, oh, this is what I always wanted to do. I didn't realize that I could do it from this perspective. Yeah, that's so true. And so that's why, you know, now I became so much more open to managing and doing it because it allows me to do things that I really wanted to do, which is just, you know, work on the project. So, like, if I'm with, you know, Gina or head and their productions, like, I'm executive producing those projects even though I'm their manager and whatnot. And when I'm, you know, working with, you know, artists and whatnot, I'm, you know, either, like an arling or helping produce a record or even executive producing that, the album. So I'm getting to do the things I really want to do. I just had to come through the portal of being a manager. Yeah. Okay. That's dope. I feel like it definitely opens a lot of different doors, especially at the level that you're doing this. What? My last question for you. What would be, like, your ultimate dream project or collaboration, either between your talent or, like, anybody I know. That's a big question. You know, I've done a few things. I've had a few different experiences. Um, my dream, um, you know, I don't know. I mean, there's some legendary artists that, you know, I probably would like to be involved with one of their, you know, like, albums to some degree, participate, you know, like a Jay Z or even. Even a snoop, but just kind of just doing what I'm doing, just with a legend, you know what I'm saying? And not worrying about how successful is just the experience of. I can worry about streams and sales with everything else that's just, like, that experience in itself, but really just having the opportunity to be around the people that inspired me to wanna even do this business in the first place and have a positive experience. Sometimes they say, don't meet your. Don't meet your hero. Oh, listen, I'm. I'm a big barb. I'm a huge barb. One of the originals. But I'm scared to meet Nikki because I don't want my entire life to just crumble in front of me. Like, please don't be mean to me, Nick. I'm scared. Exactly. And, you know, you've heard stories, and there may be some truth to those stories, and maybe there's some exaggerations, but you don't know. Right. Yeah. Um, so there is that concern, but, yeah, just, you know, um, being able. And, you know, in recent years, I've been able to work with, you know, the people that I'm fans of. You know, Snoop and e 4 was on, you know, the underrated remix with Zoe and whatnot. And, you know, Zoe's got something cooking up with, like, you know, Warren g and whatnot. You know what I'm saying? And so, you know, and I've been, you know, I've been able to just kind of be in these spaces and. And. And have these opportunities. So, you know, childhood teenage me is kind of being like, oh, my God, I'm having this moment, but Zachary. And this is when we celebrate the win, literally. I had that moment for the bet awards. Like, I'm not gonna hold you. Usher was my first crush, and then I'm front row at the BET awards. Watching him get a lifetime achievement award like that is insane. To me. So we have to celebrate those wins, and we have to, like, really give ourself grace and take a step back and look at how far we've come. Yeah. And, you know, I should do better. You know, I tell people to do it. I don't do it myself. Biggest critic. You're always your own biggest critic. And also, it's easier to give other people advice 1%. Cause it ain't got nothing to do with you, you know? I mean, and when you. What's funny? When, you know, what you're trying to accomplish, the steps along the way to everyone else is like, oh, my goodness, you've done x, y, and z. And I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But, like, cool. We're past that. Like, yeah, but, you know, I'm, like, trying to, like, you know, get somewhere, you know, further along and whatnot. And so, like, when people, you know, call me a legend and talk about what I've done, I'm like. It took me a minute to, like, receive that. It's like I'm not anywhere close where I want to be. And then I was like, oh, no, no. I need to receive that. I still have ambitions, additional ambitions, but I do need to, you know, accept and receive how people see me and view me and appreciate me and things like that. And it was like, okay, but I had to get. Find comfort in that. Yeah, I keep saying that last question, but I have another one. Oh, no, I'm here. How do you. How would you define legend or legacy? Like, what does that mean to you to reach that stature? I think when what you produced and or accomplished speaks beyond a generation. Right. Whatever that may be. And so another generation who didn't experience it firsthand is still impacted. Impacted somehow, one way or another. Right. You know, whatever you were able to do. I'm just saying, Tupac, in my mind. Yeah. Right. I. You know, so for me, it's. It's not what I'm doing currently. Am I doing anything now that will have a, you know, a ripple effect to another generation? Like I told you, you know, what made me want to get in this business is nothing but a g thing. I want to create that moment for. Somebody else, and we're still playing it. You know what I'm saying? And maybe that moment was when someone saw, you know, a Zol song. Song or whatnot. Oh, my God. I don't know what this is, but I want to do that. You know, maybe I've done it and I don't realize it, right. And I won't know. Until someone tells a story 25 years from now, it's like, yeah, you know, I saw, you know, zo sama do all money in and whatnot, and I had to, you know, get in this business. I'm like, oh, we actually, like, impacted somebody. But I think of legend or legacy in, like, that way. Like, I look at my children, my daughters, as my legacy. What are they gonna do? You know? You know, as much as, you know, you know, like, I'm living my life. I'm like, yeah, but I tell them all the time, but I'm really more interested in, what are you guys gonna do? No pressure, but I'm just genuinely interested, like, what are you guys gonna do? Because I don't think what I do is all that amazing. I'm just going to work every day, but I'm interested in what you guys gonna do and what are you. Who are you gonna become and how are you going to, you know, integrate yourself into society? As with the salads name, they now are old enough to know that, oh, salad's name means something, and they wear it proudly, but they also don't understand it's like, oh, like, this actually is something. It's like, yeah, kind of. I'm building something with this name and whatnot. But I look at them as, you know, like, legacy. But that's what I think of legacy is, like, what, legacy or legend? What speaks beyond the generation that you're in? Like, I think there's people that are talented within a moment or generation, but I wouldn't call them, like, a legend. Right. And then there's people that, you know, like you said, like a Tupac or something like that. Like, you know, I think what Nipsey was able to accomplish. Oh, yeah, he's got a legacy. Absolutely. You know what I'm saying? Like, we'll still be talking about Nipsey, you know, generations from now, from what he's done in LA, the marathon, his own music, blah, blah, blah. So that's how I look at legacy. I love that. That was a great answer. And big salads, not the little one. Sallis money, living legend. Even though you don't agree with that term, I'm learning from you. I'm getting used to wearing that terminal. Well, you're gonna wear it, and you're gonna wear it well, because you're inspiring me, and we're going to inspire the future of the BTS, you know, everyone behind the scenes. BTS? Yeah. It's a lot that goes on behind the scenes. A lot. So thank you for stepping in front of the camera. I really appreciate picking your mind. Y'all already know it's the royalty room podcast legalqueen LA on all platforms like subscribe, comment if you have questions for him. Of course, follow him on all platforms. Sallis money and I can't wait to see what happens next for the team. Thank you so much. Thank you for the invite. Had a good time. See you next time.