Viral Rapper Connor Price Doesn’t Need A Label
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Today's episode is brought to you by Angie. Angie has made it easier than ever to connect with skilled professionals to get all your jobs and projects done well. Let me tell you, there's the version of it where you try to do something at home and then there's a version of it where you have someone help you, you watch them do it the right way and you go, thank God I didn't try to do that myself.

I have fully done things around the home that I think look good and then a bang in the night and I wake up to a shelf collapsing, a painting falling off the wall. Like it, I've seen it all go south. I own a home and I can tell you, I know how much work it can take. Whether it's everyday maintenance and repairs or making dream projects a reality, it can be hard just to know where to start. But now all you need to do is Angie that and find a skilled local pro who will deliver the quality and expertise you need.

Whatever your home project, big or small, indoor or outdoor, you can Angie that and connect with skilled professionals to get the project done well. Right now, one of my wishlists is I want a bike for my condo in Milwaukee and I would love to rig it up on a pulley in the ceiling because I have one of those like lofted ceilings.

but I'm so scared to try that on my own. Angie has 20 years of home experience and they've combined it with new tools to simplify the whole process. Bring them your project online or with the Angie app. Answer a few questions and Angie can handle the rest from start to finish or help you compare quotes from multiple pros and connect instantly, which means you can take care of any home project in just a few taps.

Because when it comes to getting the most out of your home, you can do this when you Angie that. Download the free Angie mobile app today or visit Angie.com. That's A-N-G-I dot com. Hey, everyone. It's me, Drew Alfoalo, host of the Comment Section Show. Come join me and one of my iconic special guests every week on the show as we dive into the dreaded comment sections of our tagged videos and take down the most terrible men on the Internet, period.

Somehow, they won't go away, no matter what I do, no matter how incredibly awful and mean I am to them, but I don't mind doing this work. In fact, if I'm being honest, I think it's God's work. So, make sure y'all follow me on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts for new episodes every Wednesday. You want to be in my interview, Ben? No. Oh, okay. Well, I'm going around interviewing guys that wear shirts too small for them because they don't work out, but they still want to look jacked.

Is it working? Is that? Kind of. Is that a medium? No, I think it's a large. Mike, do you want to be in my interview? Sure. Okay, cool. Because I'm just interviewing guys that run around the hotel blacked out by themselves at four in the morning and pass out in the alley. What is it? The hallway? The hallway. The fucking alley. The alley sounds a lot better. You know, the room alley. Yeah. Mike, that's a good way to end up in the clink. Yeah, that's true.

Well, should we run it? For sure. Let's run it. I legit can't believe that we're doing this right now. It's just, it's cool to meet you. It's cool to meet you. 100%. We're big fans. We're big fans. Yeah, for sure. Did we start?

We're rolling. Who do I thank for putting my music in your videos? I mean, kind of all of us. Yeah, I think all of us. For sure these guys, but dude. Okay, awesome. Yeah, yeah. All right, guys. Today's guest is a rapper and a songwriter. If you've watched a single C-Boys TV YouTube video or been on TikTok or Instagram, you've definitely heard one of his viral songs. Welcome on the podcast, Connor Price. Thank you so much, you guys. Appreciate it. Woo!

Thank you for having me. Thank you. I suppose you've probably never been in a studio this nice before, huh? You know what's funny? I have recorded every single one of my songs with a Shure SM7B. These are the best mics. I love this microphone. Yeah, these have been around for a long time, too. These are just the industry standard, it kind of seems like. I remember I saw a video of Logic on a tour bus recording...

like all his songs for a project off of this mic. And then he had like a Apollo twin interface, the little, the silver square thing. And I was like, I need that. And I got that and this microphone and I've recorded all my music with the, with those two. They're the best. They're the best. When we first started making, or when we were looking at getting into podcasting, we were like, well, I mean,

let's just look and see what like Joe Rogan uses. And we just would like screenshot the biggest podcasters and send it in the group chat and like, we got to order this. Yeah, no, so many podcasts use this mic, if not all of them. It seems like every clip you see, it's this microphone. Yeah. Yeah. Well, anyways, we're, we're in the beautiful planet Hollywood. Yeah.

I've never been in this hotel before. Yeah, no, it's probably for good reason. So you live in Las Vegas? I do. So I live in Henderson, which is a suburb like 20 minutes out. I've lived here for about three years now. Really? So how'd you end up here? Yeah, yeah. So born and raised in Markham, which is...

little town about 25 minutes northeast of toronto so grew up in canada lived there my whole life and i started acting when i was really young when i was six years old which we could probably get into later but because of that career i spent a lot of time in la and so i would split my time between canada and la and then i got married young i was engaged at 21 got married at 22 and my wife brianna she has family that lives in vegas and her little sister chloe used to be a child actor

And so when I was young acting, I would come to LA and I used to stay at this apartment complex called the Oakwood Apartments, which was like known for having a bunch of like child actors stay there who were like pursuing a career in acting and families would come there with their kids. And that's actually how I met my wife when I was 10 years old. She was 11. We were staying at this apartment complex. We stayed in the same spot. Fast forward about

a bunch of years and we're married now but Brianna had my wife Brianna had family that lives out here and so when we lived in LA we would take the drive like three and a half hour drive or so from LA to Vegas like almost every weekend just to visit and I just we just fell in love with the area and LA is really fun to visit but living there is tough I find and

Just the kind of energy of the space and the traffic and the smog and the air. We've never been. Really? We have a shoot there in a week from now, so we are making our way. We've been on a two-week, well, we're on a two-week long RV trip. Wow. Z-Boys TV across America, second annual. So that's what's happening. Okay, cool. I was going to ask what you guys were doing out here. Yeah, no, so we've just been cruising around, making YouTube vids, obviously, and then podcasts. I love it.

But yeah, so Las Vegas, like what do you, do you participate in all of the activities around here? No, I'm like rarely on the strip. Yeah, people assume that. I feel like if you live here, it's like you don't. Not really, no, it's so touristy. It's like there's incredible restaurants. So I'll come here probably like once.

Twice a month, just for like a nice, like my favorite restaurant, Zuma, is in the Cosmo, the top floor of the Cosmo. If you guys are looking for a place to eat tonight. You might have to check that out. Zuma is my favorite restaurant in the world. It's incredible. I've never gambled a day in my life. Yeah, so you're a very clean guy. Yeah.

Yeah. As far as like, you don't swear in your songs. Right. Yeah. Yeah. No, I don't. I don't really drink. It just seems like Las Vegas is like a strange place to. You'd think. Yeah. And if it weren't for having family out here and visiting and falling in love with the area and now because it was also like it's so it's close enough to L.A. that if I do need to be there for acting stuff or whatever, I can I can take the 40 minute flight and stay with some friends there. But the cost of living out here is so much better.

I find the quality of life out here is way better than California. When I think about raising a kid, which Brianna and I have now, we have our son Jude. Congrats on that, by the way. Yeah, you got a whole song about him. He's 11 months. I do. Yeah. And so when I thought about raising a family, I never saw LA as that place. Yeah. But when we came to visit here, it's just incredible. So Henderson, the area I live, I recently learned is the fourth fastest growing city in the US and the second safest, which is kind

kind of interesting. But yeah, it's like it's growing so quick in between like the Raiders and the Golden Knights. There's now all this like sports fandom that's coming to the town and it's just exploding. It's really exciting to see. And this is the best place to live for as far as taxes. Yeah, it's one of the one of them. Yeah. The zero income. Yeah. State tax. Yeah. It's fantastic. So so you were a child actor. What was that like?

So, yeah, I started when I was six years old. The way that that happened. So I'm one of five kids in my family. So I've got a bunch of siblings. I'm right in the middle, two younger, two older. And the younger two are twins. And my mom was friends with this woman in Canada who started Twins Talent Agency. And no one in my family had ever been in entertainment at all. So this was all just like... Was this your choice or did they kind of push you into it? It was definitely my choice. So the way that it happened was...

My mom, who was friends with this woman, Cindy, who started Twins Talent, so this woman was like, hey, you have twins. You should consider putting them into the acting world, especially kids, the whole Cole and Dylan Sprouse thing. The reason that works so well, if you're identical especially, is two actors can play the same character, rotate, you get more hours out of them. Yeah, they did that on Full House with Mary Kay and Ashley. Exactly, good example. So they were only hiring twins.

A lot of times, yeah. Producers would prefer twins because kids under a certain age can only work a certain amount of hours. So if you have two, you can like get, it's a little exploitative. So you really didn't have a normal childhood then? I guess not. But yeah, so they started first and then I saw how much fun they were having and I was like, mom, I want to try this too. And so when I was six, I jumped in, started with commercials. And when I was 10, I did a movie called Cinderella Man where I played the son of Russell Crowe. And that was like the first kind of. That's insane.

Yeah, like huge project that I was a part of. That was the first time I went to L.A. for the premiere, and then I signed with a U.S. agent, and I've just been doing TV and film ever since. So you went to normal school then? I was, yeah. Oh, so you still managed to be in just normal. I was. That was important to me. So went to public elementary school, went to high school in the States, did two years in the States, two years in Canada, but was always in public school, yeah. What do you think is the reason for all of these child actors growing up to become like –

absolute shit bags you can't say all of them he's great he turned out great no no it's a majority question well I mean especially the Disney actors like you got Macaulay Macaulay Culkin like that'd be the number one turned into a shit bag did he?

I don't think he did. I thought he got into some mad drugs. No, I think that was because of Michael Jackson. You're thinking of Aaron Carter. I'm pretty sure. There may have been a drug situation, but I think now he seems to be doing well. Yeah, he's doing very well. That's good. But I don't know. I never had anywhere near the fandom of someone like Kevin McAllister from Home Alone. I can't imagine what...

what that was like for a kid. Like I've, I've pretty, it's got to fuck you up. Yeah. It's hard for me to speak on that because I, I've never really had that level of fame as, as a child. And I can only imagine what kind of,

What kind of parties they're around. And then, you know, drugs could be rampant and you're young and you're impressionable. And maybe it's a parent thing. Like I'm very fortunate because I have like incredible parents who always kept me grounded and level-headed and made sure I wasn't being stupid. It seems like a lot of those people, like you look at like Britney Spears or like Lindsay Lohan or...

You know, a lot of the ones that kind of went off the rails, it seems like their parents didn't have much of a grasp on them. And then also, I mean, you're getting so much fame and money at a young age, you just like have no sense of reality, I would imagine, by the time you're 18, you know. Yeah, yeah. How does that work? Do they set up like a bank account for the kid? Yeah. But it's still all managed by the parents? So in the U.S., it's called a Coogan account, which was named after a famous child actor. Do you know about this? Yeah. Yeah. Keep.

Keep going, sorry. No, no, no, it's good. You're like nodding. Finally, someone knows because I talked about this. Yeah, I've never heard of it. Okay, so there's this famous child actor named Jackie Coogan who I believe was like very famous in like the 20s and made a lot of money as a kid. But there were no rules set up about putting money aside for kids that his parents spent it all. And he was broke by the time he was, you know, 18 or whatever. And so they set up a Coogan account named after this child actor.

where I believe, I believe it's 25% and in Canada it's 15%, but in the U S I believe it's 25% of every dollar that a minor makes goes into an account that no one can, can touch until that minor turns 18. And then they have to go into the bank and take it out. Oh really? So it's completely protected. Yeah. In Canada, it's called a minor's trust fund. And then in the U S it's called a Cougan account. Um, and no one can touch that until that kid turns 18 and then he gets all of it. I've

I've heard countless stories just from growing up as a child actor and knowing other child actors who have grown up. And there's a lot of that. Because even then, even 25% is put aside. There's still the other chunk that kids might not ever see. And yeah, I don't know. It can get messy. It seems like some of these parents...

they were just like putting them, trying to make them actors. And it, yeah, it almost seems like the parents weren't even working. They were just like, you make the money. Like they were working the kids. Yeah. I don't, I don't know that specific situation. So it's hard for me to speak on that, but I'm, I'm sure, I'm sure that that happens that yeah. Parents can definitely like kind of live vicariously through their children and exploit that in a sense. Talk about a switched role. I even think about that with like, uh,

Addison Rae or Charlie D'Amelio when they were like blowing up on TikTok and then their parents were blowing up because they were getting famous. Like, dude, what a weird scenario. Yeah. Imagine your mom becoming a TikToker or even worse, your dad becoming a TikToker. Just because their kid is such a big TikToker. Yeah. And they're like 50. I have seen like, you know, this whole like stage mom thing. Not that this situation we're talking about is, but I have seen in many scenarios, child actors whose parents are,

are just absolute stage parents. And they're there. It's very clear that this dream is theirs and not the kids. And I've even seen to the point of a child actor being fired off of a show because of the mom being so difficult on set. Really? Yeah. Yeah. My, my sister's boyfriend used to work for dance moms and he,

And he has plenty of stories about that whole world. Other world, isn't it? Yeah. Cause, cause dance moms just in general, that show is crazy. I see. I'm like, God damn. Yeah. And he, I was like, how real is that? My girlfriend's totally into it. Asking every question. And she,

all knows all the names of the moms and he's like oh no it's real these dance moms are crazy I believe it and they they just get amped up with the cameras because then they just like drama gets involved and then the producers are like trying to twist it oh totally and they're if when it's a reality show too they're gonna make it worse and like they want that drama they feed off that so yeah

How do your peers like react to you being in movies and stuff being that you're still in school? They they like it. They make fun of you. Like what was it like? Weirdly enough, it was very normal. I don't know. You know, it's interesting. One of my best friends also growing up was also an actor. And so the two of us were doing it. And then my little brothers were doing it. And then my two older siblings were doing it, too. And we were all in the same school. So it was sort of like it wasn't like I was the one kid that was doing it. There was weirdly like a like a lot of actors in the in the school.

And it was just sort of like, it very quickly became normal. I was never, I never felt like a, like a outsider because of it. I was never made fun of. Luckily it was just like, Oh yeah, that's Connor. He's the actor guy. Like, yeah, whatever. Did you know how to spit bars back then? Or when did you come, come into this?

I've always loved hip-hop music. I shared a room with my older brother my whole childhood. He's two years older than me and he loved hip-hop and was like always playing it in our room. So I was just I was always listening to it whether it was like early Eminem, Lupe, Fiasco, MF Doom, stuff like that. And I just always loved it. But I had never thought about doing it myself until around high school when I really started becoming obsessed with like

the underground like YouTube hip hop kind of scene and like all these artists doing like cyphers and, and even like rap battles. I would watch all that. And yeah, that was hot back in the day. Oh, totally. Like King of the dot and all that kind of stuff. Oh man. Um, and so I've just kind of became obsessed with that and watching artists like, especially on YouTube who were like,

Because I always viewed this music as like, oh, these like huge production values and they must have these massive studios and the music videos are crazy. And it just always felt something that was out of reach for me. And then seeing like a lot of artists on YouTube just like doing it in their room and like filming videos on their phone. And I was like, oh, this is doable. Like maybe I could try this. And that was the first kind of...

Like I remember a moment in my head where I was like, maybe I should do something with this. Cause I do sometimes freestyle with friends for fun. And sometimes I get a good reaction and people say, you sound like you know what you're doing. And so it was like, ah, maybe I should try this.

And so the first thing that I did was I bought like this USB microphone off Amazon. Um, and I started uploading music to YouTube anonymously. Like I would enter rap contests and not tell anybody, not even my family. What year was this? That would have been like 2012, maybe 2012, 2013, I think. And I entered a few competitions. I like won two of them. That was the start of something. Um, I, I, I won two of them. And then, um,

That really just kind of gave me the confidence to be like, okay, maybe I am good at this. Maybe I should explore this more. And then I didn't end up taking it serious until years later just because acting was kind of the main priority for me. But then it switched around COVID when acting completely stopped, all the production stopped, and I was like, okay, I need to go all in on something. And I always had this music thing, so I decided to just go for it. It's dope that you went all in on it, but I love that you approached it like,

Well, so you were like reading everything. Social media is there. I can make something happen. And then you did. Like I'm not saying – you had a lot of the basis in like growing up listening to hip-hop. But like you're just like I think I can –

We'll get into it later, but your angles on TikTok are just brilliant. Thank you. It's too good. I have to give so much credit to my wife, Brianna, because she was the one. So early on, I remember in 2015, 2016, this is when we were just dating. She was one of the first people I decided to show my music to. I was like, I don't.

usually you know I'm like I do this thing anonymously on YouTube I normally don't tell why it was still all anonymous well the reason I was doing it anonymously was because and this is like my number one regret in life is I genuinely was worried about what people would think I was worried about what my friends would think I was worried about what my

my peers would think and I'm already like the actor kid so it's like if I want to start rapping I just knew all the eyes would roll and rightfully so and they did but you know ultimately you just kind of kept going to a point where they're like oh wow this is actually working out for him I had a friend in high school that it was similar he was a producer and he was selling beats to like Kid Ink um

you know like rappers at the time uh he actually he actually did pop out with polo g so he's iceberg oh wow okay but uh anyways he was the same thing he never would tell anyone i was like bro this is so cool like why don't you tell like this is the coolest thing like you're making money off this like but it was the same yeah same thing he was just worried about what other people would think yeah a small part of it too was i wanted to prove to myself that

Um, like especially doing the whole anonymously on the contest and stuff. Like if I did put it out as Connor price and was using, like, yeah, not, not that I was like really had a crazy amount of fame as an actor, but there was an element of that that I could see. Like if I did win a contest, people would be like, Oh, he just won because he's the actor guy or whatever. So I wanted to prove that like if nobody knew who I was and what the face was and I didn't use my real name, I just uploaded it completely anonymously to still win those competitions. Um,

I was like, okay, this is, you know, people are liking what I'm doing. There must be something here that I should explore. What was the name under your anonymous name? It was awful. Is this the first time I'm saying it? Yeah, you don't have to. No, I will. It's an awful name. It's like the cringest thing ever. But I just went by unidentified. No, it gets worse. But I spelled it un, like E-Y-E, unidentified. And then the logo was an I. I'm like.

what? Why? It was stupid. Um, yeah. At the time, like this is brilliant. Um, yeah, stupid. But, uh, yeah, that, that was the name I went by. I was just looking up when we found you, uh, March 11th, 2021. So about two years ago. Okay. And, uh, the first song was typical rapper. And, uh, dude, I remember, I remember coming into your office and being like, dude, you got to check this guy out. Yeah. Uh,

Cause we're always his, his songs aren't at the time copyrighted. And then from there. Yeah, bro. Cause we're always looking for music on SoundCloud. Yeah. Still, even though like we have like 15 different paid subscription for uncopywritten music. Yeah. Um,

But SoundCloud, you just find way, I think, way higher quality, like rap songs and stuff like that. So it's still scouring SoundCloud constantly. So that was how you guys first found me was on SoundCloud? Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. It was, I saw a TikTok and then I immediately, for me, most of mine is just, is music. And then I just,

Quickly dip over to SoundCloud send it to Ben. Yeah, and it was like it was too good I do I do want to say thank you that you know you guys using my songs and your videos have an impact on my streaming and my audience like I always know when you guys are using one of my songs because My YouTube gets flooded with I'm here from the seaboys. I'm here from the seaboys. Oh, yeah No, it's crazy And I have had a lot of people like DM me being like yeah ever since I heard your song in the seaboys video I've been a fan so I just want to say thank you because it really does make a difference and

Today's episode is brought to you by Angie. Angie has made it easier than ever to connect with skilled professionals to get all your jobs and projects done well. Let me tell you, there's the version of it where you try to do something at home and then there's a version of it where you have someone help you, you watch them do it the right way and you go, thank God I didn't try to do that myself.

I have fully done things around the home that I think look good and then a bang in the night and I wake up to a shelf collapsing, a painting falling off the wall. Like it, I've seen it all go south. I own a home and I can tell you, I know how much work it can take. Whether it's everyday maintenance and repairs or making dream projects a reality, it can be hard just to know where to start. But now all you need to do is Angie that and find a skilled local pro who will deliver the quality and expertise you need.

Whatever your home project, big or small, indoor or outdoor, you can Angie that and connect with skilled professionals to get the project done well. Right now, one of my wish lists is I want a bike for my condo in Milwaukee and I would love to rig it up on a pulley in the ceiling because I have one of those like lofted ceilings.

but I'm so scared to try that on my own. Angie has 20 years of home experience and they've combined it with new tools to simplify the whole process. Bring them your project online or with the Angie app. Answer a few questions and Angie can handle the rest from start to finish or help you compare quotes from multiple pros and connect instantly, which means you can take care of any home project in just a few taps.

Because when it comes to getting the most out of your home, you can do this when you Angie that. Download the free Angie mobile app today or visit Angie.com. That's A-N-G-I dot com. Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co-founder of Angie. And one thing I've learned is that you buy a house, but you make it a home. Because with every fix, update, and renovation, it becomes a little more your own. So you need all your jobs done well. For nearly 30 years, Angie has helped millions of homeowners hire skilled pros for the projects that matter. From

From plumbing to electrical, roof repair to deck upgrades. So leave it to the pros who will get your jobs done well. Hire high-quality certified pros at Angie.com. We've probably used like 20 songs. I know. No, I know. And in the montages and stuff, I'm like, this is awesome. It's really cool. It's been so cool for us, especially when you made it on the Top 100 Billboard. Dude, we were pumped. Yeah. We were pumped. Well, bro, I've actually never made...

Hot 100. I wish I did. I thought you had 15. Last time I saw you, you were on, wasn't he? I mean, there's like Spotify charts that I'm on, whether it's like viral charts, but the actual official billboard I have. Maybe I was looking at the wrong thing. I guess we'll keep going until then. We're manifesting. No, it'll happen for sure. Yeah, dude. And I've been DMing you on Instagram too because I think you were like, hey, bro, thanks for using my song. And I was like, dude,

you're killing it and I guarantee one day you're going to be massive and we're going to look back at it and then yeah that was two years ago and I'd say it's definitely coming into fruition. That's insane that it was two years ago already. I'm sure time has been flying for you. I remember when you dropped the spin the globe challenge and that was like the first video that went like viral viral right? Like 70 million on TikTok 60 million on YouTube shorts at the moment yeah crazy. And once that happened I was like

Called it, called it. Yeah, that was a huge moment. That changed everything. And again, credit to my wife. That Spin the Globe was all her idea. So she's the one who like whenever I'm done with a song, I'll sit with her because her background is in, you know, just figuring out how to market something. She used to be the creative director at this pet company and she would have to market these products. So now she pretty much does the same thing, but treats my songs as the products. And so she's full time my manager. We work together.

And that's all I have on my team. I'm independent. No label. It's just me and her. Run and lean. Yeah, I edit all my TikToks. I film all my TikToks. I love that so much. And so we're just completely DIY, yeah. And so when I finish a song, I'll sit with her and I'll be like, all right, how do we market this? What's the standout element of the song? Whether it's the beat, the flute. It's like, oh, what if we make a flute out of a carrot? And the carrot flute skit was born like that. Or for this one, it was I had this song with this artist from Zambia.

And we were like, how do we market that? Because that's such a cool angle. You're from Canada. He's from Zambia, this country in Africa that most people don't even know where it is on a map. I didn't. Oh, hold up. Yeah. Are you telling me that you didn't spin the globe? That's exactly what I'm telling you. Oh, my gosh. No, no, no. But hear me out. The internet is fake. Hear me out. All right, carry on. Let me tell you the whole story of how this happened. All right, so the song, the first one, which is called Violet, the song with Killa, which was the first spin the globe. So I was making that song.

for the new Fast and Furious movie. They wanted me to make a song that they were gonna place in the film.

Which I was like over the moon about. That's so sick. They wanted a hip hop song for a heist sequence in Europe in the next film. Which is why that song has like these Euro house drums that come in randomly. Because they're like, we need to add some Euro element. And so I was working on the song with them. And then at the last minute, they decided to go a different route. So they're like, we're not going to use the song. I'm like, damn. But at least now I have it. Now I have this awesome song. It's like a chorus and a verse. Yeah.

And what should I do with it? Like, should I finish it? Should I put it out? And then Brianna was like, what if we get kill on it? Who was this artist that I connected with earlier that year? It was from Zambia. It was like this incredible rapper, super underrated. At the time we did the song, he had under a thousand monthly listeners. Now he has close to 2 million. Yeah. Um, and,

And so we put them on the song and then we were like, all right, how do we market this? And then we had the idea. She was like, what if you spin a globe and land on Zambia? And I was like, oh, okay, whatever. Like we really were like, that's a throwaway piece of content. It's not a skit. It might not do well because all my content that was converting while we were in my skits. And so we put it up and it was just one of those things where like in the first hour it was like,

Whoa, 800,000 views or whatever. And the like to view ratio was higher than anything I posted. I was like, Oh no, this is going to go crazy. Woke up in the morning. It's like 3 million hour later for, by the end of the day, 10. And it just like kept going. And all the comments were like, do more spin the globe again, spin the globe again.

And so it started as like a fluke. It was just like, I have this song with this artist from Zambia, let's spin the globe. And then it was like, oh, we need to turn this into a series ASAP. Like the whole thing for this series that I wanted to maintain was finding underrated, independent, up and coming artists from other countries and giving them a platform that they didn't have that I luckily had through TikTok. And so...

All seven of the artists, none of them were with labels. They were all independent. They were all, I tried to keep them under 30,000 monthly listeners. Like the second guy from the Netherlands, Benz, when we put out Spinnin', which is now my number one song.

He had 30,000 monthly listeners and now he has close to 3 million. He's the second most listened to artist on Spotify in the Netherlands right now. Dude, that's crazy. Because of that song. I mean, that's the power of the internet. That's the power of social media right now. I love that you curated that though. That you were like, well, you could pick anybody up probably at this point. And you would be...

amazed to see how many emails i got from labels being like universal australia being like hey uh how much money do you want for us to put our australian artists on your next spin the globe i was like no this is not how this is gonna work like i i need these artists to like that's not the point if i'm just gonna put on artists that are already on labels like who who are we really helping here the label right that's not the point it's it's got to be like a an easy no but also a tough no

No, it's an easy no. Because I'm like, look, the artist you're talking about is already with the label, all the power to them. They're doing great. But I want to give a platform to artists who don't have that platform. And so that was important to me. And also being independent, I own the masters. And so I'm giving all these artists a percentage of the song and they're all earning off of the song. That's so sick, dude. Yeah, dude. I remember when you first released it, though.

And seeing that the Instagram, I'm not super big on TikTok, but the Instagram reel was going hella viral on Instagram. But your Instagram was like growing like 100K a day. Yeah, it was crazy. It's amazing how much the globe content converted. And I think the reason it did was because it was a series. So people were like...

Like one video would go viral and they're like, I wonder where he's going to spin next. I'm going to follow him so I see his next video. And so because it was like a series and like episode two, episode three, episode four, where am I going to spin next? It like converted to followers so well. Amazingly too, on YouTube shorts, when I first started posting the globe series on YouTube,

for the month of november i found out from youtube that i was the most subscribed to music artists in the world for that month i got 760 000 subscribers in that month wow and i got almost almost 90 95 000 just in one day

And so it just completely blew up on YouTube. You cracked the algorithm. It felt like that. It felt like that. I was like, yeah, this Globe series, like anywhere I posted, it converts really well. It's getting the song streams. I get a lot of followers. The artists that I connect with, like when I would post it on Instagram, I do a collab post. So now they're getting a bunch of attention.

When I post a song on Spotify, I make them a primary artist, not a featured artist. Because if they were a featured artist, they wouldn't get the monthly listeners. It would show on their thing as getting streams, but they won't get the monthly listeners. But because I made them a primary artist, so instead of Connor Price featuring Killa, it's Connor Price and Killa, they'd get the monthly listeners. So everybody was just like winning and profiting off this content doing so well. It's got to mean so much to these guys that are getting a couple thousand listeners and then you come in there, give them that.

opportunity and then you basically gave them a career well like but also they they they capitalized like like i would reach out to these artists i was on such a time crunch because it was going viral so quickly and i knew like if i wait a month for episode two no one's gonna care yeah and so i was like i need to get the second episode out fast and so when i reached out to the guy from the netherlands he sent me his verse and his video in 48 hours man

And then I uploaded it to DistroKid the next day. It went live that Friday. And then I did all the Globe content. He sent me his stuff. We were working quick. So to that point...

I was lucky enough to have a platform to give them, but they all just like capitalize off the opportunity. They killed their verses. They made amazing content to help it grow. So all the power to them because they really, they could have dropped the ball, but they didn't. And they all really kind of capitalize off of it and made the song way better than I could have on my own. Seem like spinning, especially in like the motorsports world.

that we're in went like super viral on Instagram because everyone was just using it then for their own. They were just stitching it on their own. Can you just like,

rap a little bit of it just so like everyone watching is like i think i know what he's talking about and then as soon as yeah they said that i couldn't do it so i went and did it yeah yeah dude everyone's like all right yep got it yeah i think it was like the perfect lyric for like a trend like a like um what's the word i guess like a transition moment like they said that i couldn't do it so i went and did it so it's like the first part is like

They underestimated me and then here's my achievement on the drop. It was like the perfect like soundbite. And I don't know how I didn't think about that. But the first time I saw someone do it, I'm like, oh, this is perfect. I really hope this catches on. And then specifically on reels, it was like, I

I felt like one day every reel I was looking at was using the song and it just, it was amazing. How many reels have used that song spinning? Do you want to, you guys look that up? Yeah. Evans used it. We've used it. I love it. Thank you. Yeah. It's, it's somewhere between two 50 and 300,000. I think that's crazy, man. That's just like, and then that's just organic.

people marketing your song. Yeah. You know, it's amazing. I have not paid $1 on advertising my music. Everything is completely organic. I create vertical content. I post it on shorts. I post it on Tik TOK. I post it on reels. I just started posting on Snapchat. Um, I post music videos on YouTube, obviously Facebook, stuff like that, but I don't pay, I don't, I don't pay for ads. I just let it go organically. So you've always been anti label, right? And you rep that.

Cause we've done a podcast talking about how like, you know, people are using social media to build all these careers and especially the music career. And we use you as an example of it. But, um,

Yeah, so you were just always don't want a label, never going to conform to that. What was the reasoning behind that? I do want to say I'm not necessarily like all labels are evil, stuff like that. There's obviously deals that are just awful, but there's a lot of artists who really work well with labels. Some artists truly are such masters at their craft of songwriting. They have no idea how to market. They have no idea how to create content, which is totally fine. And so they need a label to give that push.

For me specifically, I love making content. I love editing. I'm at the moment trying to, because I'm realizing I spend so much time editing my content that I should probably hand that off to someone else. So I'm in the process of working with an editor. But I just, but I love it. Sometimes I love editing the content more than making the song. I just, I love seeing it come together. I love doing the skits, all that. You want to be our editor? We use your songs already. Yeah, that'll just mark it up. It's just a win-win. Yeah, I mean, you guys could speak more on it, but like,

You have what you create and you don't want to hand it off, but like you maybe should like, so I'm saying like you're, you're, if you're editing your stuff, like it is clearly top tier. It's, it's your own thing. Well, it's your own touch. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so, yeah. Working with another editor, obviously there's going to be things he does differently, but it's just working with them and you figure out, he'll figure out what I like and we'll, we'll figure out that pathway there. Yeah.

But so for me, it's like I love doing, you know, with Brianna, with my wife, we love doing the marketing. We love coming up with the ideas, the content. I record everything with this microphone in my room. I send it to my brother-in-law who mixes and masters. Like we keep, mixes and masters the music. So we keep everything in house. Our overhead is really low. And when we have, because I've had Zoom calls with every label, I'm always open to hearing, like I'm not just going to be like, I'm not talking to you. You're all evil. It's not that at all. I'm just, every conversation I've had with them, I've left the Zoom calls just being like,

I don't think they could do anything for me that I can't already do on my own. And for the thing... They're going to be offering a bag though at this point. Yeah, but it's... That's the thing. The way that advances work is it's recoupable. So it's technically a loan. So to like... Because people don't really necessarily know how this works. But let's say...

A label gives you a million dollars, but on average, they're also going to take 80% of the mastered. So they're going to take 80% of the song. So you're left with 20% assuming you own a hundred percent of it, but normally there's producers, there's other stuff. So it's not 20%, but let's say, let's say you do own all of it and you have 20%. If a label is, is advancing you a million dollars, what's going to happen is they're going to profit 80% off of your music on the side and on your 20%,

The first million you make off of your 20% goes to them because the loan is recoupable. So they're making 80% on the side and also getting back their million dollars. And so people just think like, oh, wow, you got a million bucks. It's like, it's like, no, it's a recoupable. It's technically a loan. And then obviously you take taxes into account and then, you know, managers and this and that. It's like, you're not left with much. And then you just spend, you spend your whole career paying back a label. How many rappers do you think realize that?

That like sign with the label, they get the million bucks. That's why you hear horror stories like this all the time about artists just getting screwed over in label deals. And, and now they have to, especially in rap, you know, you have to kind of a lot of artists who are making it in rap, like put out this facade and this lifestyle of like, you know, the fancy cars and all this kind of stuff. And then,

And then COVID hits and the real way that they can make money because they're not making it off streaming music is shows and merch. Now they can't do shows and merch and now they're struggling, but they have to maintain this lifestyle of like fancy cars and they're going into debt. It's like, I've heard, I've heard awful stories and I feel really sorry for those artists because they've just put themselves in a deal and they just didn't have the right entertainment lawyer or someone looking over their stuff to say, Hey, this isn't good. And I feel for those artists because that that's a crappy position to be in. Um,

One other thing I'll add to of a mindset that I brought into music that makes me personally anti-label is on the acting side, there are so many people that...

That are gatekeepers and so many doors that have to open for you to get a part. There's like you need an agent, you need a manager, you need a casting director to like you enough to have you come into the room. The producer has to like you, the director has to like you. All these stars have to align and all these people have to say yes just for you to get the opportunity to work.

And that's like my least favorite part is because as an actor you really have such little control and so much of it is luck just like the right part being written at the right time and you being there and and it being a good audition and there's just there's so many stars that have to align so many people who are in the way and it's very frustrating. So I'm music.

I have full control as an independent artist. I can say what I want. I can work with the producers I want. I can upload it when I want. I use this website called DistroKid that allows me to upload unlimited amount of music for like $35 a year, $35 a year, unlimited music. And they put it on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, everywhere. And then they're the ones that, you know, when the streaming numbers are released every month, you get paid through DistroKid. And

And so I can upload and put music out when I want. I can market it how I want through my social media. Like no one can tell me no. No one can say, hey, you can't put this out this week because you're competing with our label artist or whatever. And so I can, I have full control. And that's so important to me because I feel like in acting, I have very little control. So in this part of my career, I want to maintain as much control as I can. And being independent is by far the best way to do that. How is streaming money? If you're streaming a lot, very good.

To put it in a perspective, on average, 1 million streams on Spotify is $4,000. Let's see. So Spotify for Artists will tell me how many streams I got in the last month. And assuming that you're independent and you own... So because I'm independent, I own anywhere between 80% to 100% of my songs, depending on if there's a featured artist, etc. So let's see. The last 28 days, my catalog has done 60 million streams. Wow.

Making a bag. I mean, let's go. If you are streaming a lot, it's, there's a lot of money. Yeah. That's when people ask like, how is the YouTube ad revenue? It's like, well, if you get a lot of views on, on YouTube monthly, pretty good. Yeah. If you don't, not very good. What would you say is like, like for a million views on YouTube, what's the average payout? It kind of depends on the time of the year, but like right now, right now it's low. I'd say, I'd say,

10,000 bucks. So like 1 million views is $10,000. Okay. That sounds high to me. And I also find maybe it's just music, but my like, uh, it depends how long it depends how long it is. And also, uh, depending what kind of category you're posting to, like, like if you're in the financial space, they have like a higher CPM. And then like, I think being that we're in the off-road space where we're above average, honestly, because there's a lot of just manufacturers, uh,

trying to, you know, push products and ads. And hit the audience that you attract. Yeah, and then, I mean, maybe why it sounds high to you is because I'm sure, you know, a song is three minutes long, where if we're posting a 20-minute YouTube vid, it can have way more ads in the middle. So you got to think about that as well. Good point. Yeah, I've never posted anything longer than like, yeah, a two and a half minute music video. It's a beautiful thing what technology and social media has done. I mean, you can...

You can do it on your own, right out of your house, like you said. Yeah. I mean, and that's what we've done too. Like, you would never be able to...

I mean, have a platform or have people know you 10 years ago, or I should say 20 years ago, you know, without knowing the right people. No, it's the, the world that I live in now, I couldn't be more lucky. Like, especially with Tik TOK, it's like this, the organic reach of Tik TOK is just ridiculous. There hasn't been anything like it. And I, I don't know if there will be anything like it in the future. Um,

But yeah, I just, I was so lucky to hit TikTok at that perfect time and just be creating the type of content that just seemed to connect and be able to then convert that to real listeners and real streams. It's just, it's worked out incredibly well for me. Yeah, it's all about timing. Yeah. It's all about timing. I always find it interesting, like,

We've met, we ran into a few TikTokers. Like we didn't know who they were, but they were like, oh, you guys film for YouTube video? Oh, we do TikTok. And then I'm like, these guys are TikTokers. And then when, let's say you had to describe yourself as a TikToker. Yeah. And you're a rapper and songwriter first and foremost. You're the person I would describe as actually TikTokers.

it as a TikToker. Well, thank you. Like, yeah, I've always, it's funny. It's, it's just like a, yeah. If you're like, yeah, I'm a TikToker. That term has always like rubbed me the wrong way. If people are like, Oh, he's a TikToker rapper. And I was like, yeah, I don't like the way that sounds. But then also I'm like, but also that's how 95% of people know about me. So can I really be upset about that? Right. And then, and then it's also like, well, at one point, um,

Ariana Grande was the Nickelodeon actress. Zendaya was the Disney actress. Selena Gomez. That's very true. So it's like people will label you for what they know you as. I even now, because my shorts are going so popular, people refer to me as a YouTube rapper now. So I'm like, oh, okay. So I am, people are going to attach to me what they know me from, which is totally fine.

Because I feel confident knowing sort of like with Zendaya's situation, Ariana Grande, that they were able to like elevate beyond that. And so that's what I hope for myself and have confidence in is that I will, like sure I'm using TikTok to market myself, but I will make people see me and hear my music in a way that's more serious than just like a,

oh, wow, he's more than just like a TikTok rapper. He's really doing this thing and touring and blah, blah, blah. All that's needed, I think, is that mindset right there. So that doesn't bother me now. It's like, yeah, you can call me whatever you want. I'm totally fine with it. And I understand it. Like I even, since Will Smith, you know, started putting YouTube stuff out, there's now all these kids who are like, oh, that's the YouTuber. I'm like, yeah.

Like crazy. All right. If they can call Will Smith a YouTuber, call me whatever you want because, yeah, it's not affecting, you know, my streams and my listeners and people discovering my music. So it's all good. I'm at peace with it. I feel like YouTube used to kind of be the same way, though. Like it was a little bit more of a derogatory. You know, I shouldn't say derogatory. Yeah, it's like YouTuber was more negative connotation, but now it's like...

I mean, everyone kind of gets it. It's pop culture. You're a YouTuber. The kids want to be YouTubers. It's like, that was the statistic. Yeah, it was like 70% of 12 to 18-year-olds. That's crazy. Well, it makes sense, though. I'm sure they just see it and they're like, and it is honestly the best job in the world, I think, personally. But it's crazy. I mean, look what you guys are doing. It's incredible. You're hanging out with your friends. You're making videos. Everybody's winning. I'm sure you get to a point where you're growing it so much that you're hiring your friends to do stuff. It's incredible. Yeah.

Yeah. It's amazing, though. It just goes back. I mean, the world we live in, you can seriously do make anything happen if you want it bad enough. I mean, you got the power of Google at your fingertips. You can teach yourself how to do anything. You can learn, oh, what kind of mic do I need to start a podcast? And I mean, just...

if you want to do it, you can, you can make it happen nowadays. I agree. Yeah. One of my good friends, Nick D who, I don't know if you guys, we use the songs too. Yeah. Awesome. So he's incredible. And so much of what I've learned about being independent and especially on Tik TOK is he, he was like when he was first popping off with fine apple and all that kind of stuff, he really kind of wrote a blueprint of how to market yourself on Tik TOK. And I've learned a lot from him. Where is he from? He's from Virginia. Okay. Yeah. Um,

we're actually going to work on a collab project together very soon. So that's, that's going to be exciting. But he's working on a book for independent artists. And the title of the book is you don't want it bad enough because that's what he finds is the most common mistake is, is you can look up all this stuff. You, you can, you can look at other artists and how they're promoting their music. You can follow what they're doing, but if you don't want it bad enough, you're not going to do it every day to be consistent. Like you have to be,

You're not going to learn how to, if you can't afford a mixing and mastering engineer, you have to learn how to do it yourself. And there's ways to do that on YouTube. All my early stuff on YouTube, the remixes and stuff, you can read in the description. It says Mix and Master by Connor Price. It doesn't sound great, but I learned enough from YouTube on how to do it. And you just, yeah, you got to want it better. We're the same way, man. Just everything, our whole operation is done within the group. And, you know, it's been seven years now, but it's just slowly gotten a little better. If you go back and watch our videos,

you know, in the earlier days, it's pretty rough, but you got to start somewhere. Totally. And, and I mean, that's the one thing that I think is really contributed to the little bit of success we have is that we're just consistent. We always show up. I mean, it's just every week. It's awesome. And, uh, I mean, you have the same thing, you know, obviously you just,

consistency is key. It's very important. And, and having the focus to create what you're creating, let's say on TikTok, the, the vertical, but then the focus to change it up. I would like your last, uh, skit, let's say with baby, no money. So good. Because like spin the globe and he's like Canada. Right. Right. Yeah. Just like,

switching it up is super important and you do that very well. Thank you. Yeah, that's the one thing I keep trying to figure out how to do is like innovating new like formulas, if you will. Like the globe thing worked really well and every time I posted a globe video, it would always do like at least 10 million views, whatever. But then it gets to a point where it's like, okay,

One, I don't want to just keep recycling the same content. Two, so many other artists are copying this idea and watering it down, so I don't want to kind of keep doing it. And yeah, number three, I just I want to be known as like a content creator that's innovating and doing new things. So whether it's like like the podcast set up where I kind of make it look like I'm on a podcast and then I go into a rap that works well. Obviously, the skits work well with the weird brother and all that kind of stuff. Yeah.

So now at the moment, I'm actually right now trying to figure out like, what's the next series? Like, what's the next thing I can do? Everybody wants a globe part two, but I also just don't want to be the globe guy. I feel like if I do this too much, it's like, Oh, that's the globe guy. And I want to be more than that. So I want to figure out, okay, what's, what's the next series I can do? One idea I had was like getting a map of the U S and throwing a dart and whatever state it lands in, go, go to that state, find an artist, do a music video with them, blah, blah, blah. Maybe I'll do that. I don't know. Um,

So our first video that ever blew up, we were driving a shifter cart, like a really fast go-kart, and we were so stoked that it got views and we're like, we made it. And then CJ said some of the most important words for our YouTube channel ever. He goes, let's hold off on posting another shifter cart video. Mm-hmm.

because we don't want to be known as the Shifter Cart Channel. And it was like, it truly is one of the most important things we ever did back. So it's like, I get that. Like you don't want to ever be known. You don't want to put yourself in a box, man. Oh, let me speak on that real quick because I have another really good example that I think if anybody who's watching this is an independent artist trying to pursue this, it's like really valuable information because it was like a decision I made that changed a lot for me.

lot for me. So when I first started popping off on TikTok, it was for remixes. It was for like, like if, if I had a verse on so-and-so Drake song, if I went into the studio and G-Eazy was working on, and I do the back and forth remixes and those would always go viral. But I was then becoming known as the remix guy and like the freestyle guy. And when I would post an original song, all the comments were like, post another remix, post another remix. I'm like, damn. So I'm, I'm sort of cultivating this audience to expect that.

how you, and good advice to, like, you could have been cultivating an audience who only wanted, what was it called? The shifter card. Yeah, the shifter card, which sound really cool. I gotta see what those look like. We'll put you in one one day. I'd love to, I'd love to. Yeah, shoot a music video with it or something. Dude, I was gonna say, we should be in a music video at this point. That'd be awesome. Wait, we gotta talk more about that. That would be sick. Yeah, wow.

That'd be sweet. Like even if we're, I'm like, like premiering part of a music video, like halfway through one of your videos or something like that. Oh my goodness. And it just like, it just goes into a music video for like one verse or something. And we should do something fun like that. Some dirt bikes or whatever. Totally. Cool shit. Dude, can you put like, man, this is a lot to ask, but if you ever put like Seaboys TV into a rap,

And we use it, bro. That would be the most legit thing ever. Everyone listening that knows that we use all of your songs would be like, yo. I'm going to write that down. Yo, they've elevated. Hold up. I like to think. To-do list. Name drop, C-Boys. Yeah, can you freestyle? Like, do you come up with all these songs off the cuff or do you sit down and write them out? So my writing process is, and real quick, just to finish my last thought about not being the remix guy. So when I first connected with Nick D, the biggest advice he gave me was stop posting remixes.

He's like, you need to pursue your original music because you can't profit off remixes. Even if you post it on YouTube, you can't, you know, copyright, blah, blah, blah. So because of that, I stopped posting remixes just to get my music.

just cold turkey. In the midst of posting one a day and then each getting five million views, I just stopped. And I only started promoting my original music. And for a long time, it just didn't connect. And I was losing followers. But I just stuck with it. And soon enough, the content ended up working. But yeah, definitely go all in on your original music. I think it's important to do stuff like that, like the remixes, stuff that you know might convert well to get the initial audience. But don't do it too much or else you get put in that box. Yeah. Yeah.

Okay, so my creative process is the beat always comes first. So there's one producer I work with for like 95% of my stuff, Graham, who's like the beat tag at the start of all my songs. Honey, Graham. He does a lot of Nick D stuff. So he'll send me the beats. I'll put it into my session. And then I will just record myself freestyling gibberish to try to find...

A melody, a tone, a flow, a word. So I'm literally just like, I got to deal in the bands. They told me to break into the bands. Like I'm not saying anything, but I'll just record a bunch of ideas. I'll maybe kind of go a bit shoutier. No, I'll go more low key and monotone. I'll go quick. I'll go slow. And I'll just record it all. Like just my first instincts. And then I'll play it back and I'll listen for the stuff that catches my ear. Ooh, that melody was good. That'd be good for the chorus. Ooh, that flow is sick. I'm going to put that in the verse. And then I'm sort of structuring out, copy and pasting, moving stuff around. And now I have like a skeleton of gibberish, right?

So the melodies and the flows and the feeling always comes first. And then I figure out how to put words and how to fill in the syllables. And that's the second part. Something I love about your music is that it's all upbeat and happy. You're in a good mood listening to it. Something that I'm very cautious about is I don't like listening to sad songs or songs that are...

you know, can make, make you feel like, Oh, like depressed or anything like that. Just cause I don't know. I'm just very careful about what I put into my ears. Are you, do you deliberately do that then? Not really. No, you're just an, I mean, obviously you're a very happy, energetic person. Yeah. Yeah. Like, yeah, it goes into the music, but I'm sort of, I sort of make what, what I'm feeling in that moment. And just luckily for me over these last two years, yeah, I've been like in a good place. And, and so that's reflected in the music, but I do have older songs like, God,

gosh i've i've too many songs what is it called why i'm forgetting my own song but i do have sad songs um but just the stuff i've been making over the last like two years or so um have yeah just been naturally upbeat and happier because that's just kind of how i've been feeling and and i'm also thinking about like the content to make for it and and yeah it's just it's fun to make fun upbeat stuff because then the content's fun and upbeat and there's some playful moments we can throw in there and all that kind of stuff so you don't really ever

I don't think you've ever sworn in any of the songs I've listened to. No. You do that obviously deliberately or just naturally or? So the way it started was so early on when I was just putting remixes on YouTube, I was swearing in my music. But I, and I also, I don't even swear that much in my normal day to day life. So I think I was doing it in the music cause it's like expected in this genre. And I was almost kind of putting on this character and it didn't really feel like me. And interestingly enough, it was my mother-in-law. So my,

my wife's mother, Maria, uh, is it doesn't listen to music with swearing in it. And I remember one time, um, cause she's, and she's such a huge supporter of me, like with the acting stuff. And she's a professional photographer. She does all my headshots. She's just, she's very involved. And, and I love her a lot. We get along really well. Um, but she like would, she never talked about my music when I started doing music. And I was like, just out of curiosity, like, I'm, you know, I know maybe hip hop isn't your thing, but like, have you ever heard my songs? She's like, I tried listening to one, but you, you,

you swear in it and I don't listen to that. I was like, whoa. It had never crossed my mind that there's so many people out there who don't listen to music that have swear words in it. And I was like, I might be losing out on a massive audience because I'm doing something that I don't even feel like is natural anyways.

So I just sort of tested myself and challenged myself to write a few songs that didn't have any swear words in it. And then that was interesting too, because I started to realize that I swear as like, as like a crutch, like a, like a word to fill in something like it's like, it's easy. So I'm like, Oh, now writing is more difficult, which is fine. Cause now I'm challenging myself.

And then I just started putting out music like that just to try it. And now all of a sudden it's like I'm getting messages from like dads who are like, dude, I love your music. And now I listen to your stuff on the way to school with my kid. And I'm like, oh, that's so cool. And so now there's like this whole other audience that I'm tapping into because I'm not swearing in my music. And I don't feel like it's changing my music at all. So I was like, oh, I'm just going to stick with this thing. I think that's the cherry on top. If it's not...

already amazing the cherry on top is that anyone can listen to it the dad could listen to it on the way to school with the kid yeah and I also want to reiterate that I have no issue with people who do swear in their music I listen to explicit music all the time I have songs out right now that are explicit because the featured artist swears in their verse I'm not going to tell them what

to do and I think people should rap how they speak and what the and if that comes out naturally all the power to you so I'm not like anti all my music has to be clean because I have songs that are explicit because of the featured artists I just personally choose to not swear and and it's challenging and fun and I connect with a bigger audience because of it so I'm going to stick stick with it hip-hop music nowadays a good portion of it is just

drugs money and girls or sex it seems like but yeah some are so aggressive and then and then country music is about a truck here and a girl hey man sometimes artists just have to speak on what what they're around and what their lifestyle is and for a lot of hip-hop artists it is that and so all the power to them to to rap about

that you know and it's up to the listener to decide if that's something they want to listen to or not I have nothing against whatever people want to say in their music if it's authentic to them if they're rapping about oh cars chains and girls and they're not about that life but they're just projecting it because they think that's what they have to do then I don't think that's cool but if that really is the life they're living then all the power to you because that's organic and authentic to you so yeah it's tough to keep it going if you got a front

You know, especially in today's age with everyone's got a camera. Yeah, there's definitely artists who are putting on a front. And yeah, the truth always comes to light. And I find if music isn't authentic, it rarely connects anyways. So that's why I feel like all the best and most popular artists in the world are like, are really living the things that they're saying. And you're the best at being yourself. That's another thing I always tell. Like kids will ask, I want to be a YouTuber and like,

They got their channel name is like, uh, like B boys TV. Like they like even copy the name. I'm like, you gotta just be yourself. Don't try to like copy us. Cause you know, you'll never be able to be as good as who you really are. And that's exactly what you're doing. Yeah. It's like that kind of cheesy thing where it's like, like, like you have to be yourself. Everyone else has taken. Exactly. There's really truth to that. Yeah. I've, I've been experiencing that a little bit too. When I see artists like,

who are like, hey, I was inspired by your globe video, so I made this. And then I go check it out. But it's just a rip of my globe videos. It's the same edits. It's the same sound effects. I'm like, there's a fine line between being inspired and doing your own spin and just stealing it word for word. Yeah. We have people doing the same thing. They copy our thumbnails. They literally copy our ideas. And then they just do it poorly and it doesn't work. Well, there you go. So that doesn't bother you to a point where you've ever felt like you have to reach out or do something about it? Like, how do you guys deal with that?

It's, you know, it's flattering, but it's really annoying. Sure. But rarely, rarely threatening, which is a good thing. Yeah. But it's like if a bunch of people are doing the same thing that you're doing, it dilutes what you're doing. So that's my issue because I like there there are some very large artists right now that are doing the globe videos and completely stealing it.

it shot for shot, word for word, and then just putting their own song. Dude, that would... Yeah, I mean, it's like flattering, but that's... It's annoying if they're bigger than you. Yeah, and then you're just like, well, shit, I don't want to do this. One of the artists is bigger than me. Dude, we've had... It's frustrating. I'm not going to say names, but... Because we honestly have no beef. We love every YouTuber we meet and whatever, but there's one bigger YouTuber or a couple bigger YouTubers that will sometimes...

basically redo a bit we already did. And then people will say that we copied them. I'm like, bro, I did this two years ago. I'm getting the same. It's so annoying. And, and the other thing about like, for instance, like thumbnails, a lot of people have been kind of copying our thumbnail. Um,

What is your like brand? It's just like the way that it's set up. They copy like our sky. We'll cut out and put a better blue sky and like with nice clouds, they'll use the exact same arrow. The way they set it up, they blur the background and all that. I get you. Because I mean they see it works. Yeah, exactly. And I don't blame them because it's like you're trying to fucking make something happen. Excuse my language.

But now we're like, yeah, I can't promote this now. But the thing that I'm sorry, Maria, Maria, yes. I'm sorry. Keep watching. I promise. It's a one time thing. Yeah. Clicked off. But yeah, just like she's gone. Yeah, she's gone. People see that. And I don't want them to click it. And then it's a terrible video. And they're like, wow, that video sucked. And then they see our thumbnail gets suggested. And it looks very similar. Like, oh, I've already watched this guy. See, that's a great. They suck. Is it? It really could be hurting. Stop looking at ours. Yeah. Yeah.

And so that is one thing that actually does bug me. Yeah. And it's so hard. It's so frustrating because like in,

in music if someone were to copy my verse word for word i could get that taken down no problem true if you copy someone's film shot for shot it's like you get sued for that but with content there's like there's no specific rule set up like someone can post a globe video with the exact same scripting editing as mine put in their own song at the end it'll do well because the formula works and and i can't i can't do anything about it it sucks because like i've we've spent seven years like

building and creating this formula. And then it's like, now you just rip our formula. That's the thing that's actually annoying, but what are you gonna do? - I think that's why it's also important to keep innovating. And that's why I'm thinking of, instead of just doing the globe thing again, I wanna do something different.

And something new so that people are always playing catch up with me. And at the end of the day, your legacy will be innovators and people will know you as that. And your YouTube channel, like, like real ones. No, they know when someone's ripping you guys off and you're the OGs of doing this certain style thing. So evolve or die, evolve or die. I mean, that's literally what we've done our whole career. I'm sure you get it too. How do I get into music? So we get, you know, emails, DMS, whatever. How, how do I start a YouTube channel? And I'm like, to be honest with you,

Less on the camera. You don't need to focus on having the best camera ever. I tell them, pick what you want to do and innovate it. Just start. I'm just saying, let's say, random example, unboxing videos. I'm like, do an unboxing video and do it different than anyone's ever done and creative and good. Obviously, that's bad advice because they still have to come up with the hardest thing, the idea. But I'm like, do it different and better than anyone's ever done. You got to do what you want, though, too. Because if you're like...

if let's say you're like, Oh, unboxing videos are popping off. I'm going to do unboxing. But you actually don't like unboxing. It's not going to work. Cause like, yeah, you can do that for 10 years. But that's what I'm saying. Like, so what do you want to do and then do it differently? Yeah. And there's still elements that I'm inspired by from other people. Like with the globe video, I do the like one, one word text at a time, which is very Mr. Beast. And that's where I was inspired from that from. Um, and so there's definitely certain elements that, again, there's that fine line between like being inspired by someone, um,

and then just ripping it off. So it's sort of like, yeah, look at what, if you wanna do videos in the motocross world, look at videos that you like and that are working, ask yourself, why is that working? Okay, how can I put my own spin on that now? And then just start, just do it. People worry about the quality, what camera do I need? It's like the fact you're asking that is a problem.

like you have an iPhone in your pocket. You have something in your pocket that can take videos. Even if it's 720p, no one, no one really cares about quality anymore. Like I film all my skits with the front facing iPhone camera. Okay. I put on a tripod. I hit record. You think,

The front facing is better. No, it's not necessarily better, but that's interesting. No, it's good for me because I film by myself in my room, so I can put it on the tripod, see where I'm framed, hit record, and then talk to nobody and look crazy for a few minutes, and then turn the camera around and play the other character and then edit it together. Also, all the audio I use is from the iPhone, so I'm in Premiere gaining everything up 10 dB because I'm too far away, but it just works. I think people specifically go to TikTok to find...

organic feeling content. If they want the professional stuff, they'll watch Netflix or they'll watch, you know, a documentary on YouTube, but they want something that feels authentic to the app, which is very DIY. And so don't overthink it. People overthink too much. It's like a whole new style. I mean, like, especially with music, like you were saying, like the, what do they call it? Like drill, drill type music or whatever. Just like the sound cloud, like you made it in your room and I don't know. It's just a whole vibe. Yeah.

yeah, people's biggest mistake is just like not starting or overthinking. Like even people who come to me are like, how do I get into the music business? I'm like, the fact you're asking that is crazy. Like you have the internet. Like I never once had to ask someone like, how do I do it? Because the answers are there. Even if it's not written in an article, look at your favorite artists, look at what they're doing.

I think the best way to learn something that someone is doing is be close to them. So if you could like say, hey, I would love to for one month, I will fly to you. I will even just pick up your coffees for you. Like I just want to shadow you and see how you work for a month. Like you're offering value. You're coming to them to help them for, you know, offer your work. Like I think doing that for a month to be around somebody that you look up to is so important.

You would learn so much. When we were in Moab the other day, this kid pulls up and he's like, dude, I saw your stories. I had to meet you guys. And then he's like, it's been my dream to be in one of your YouTube videos. And then I was like, I mean, I can't promise you anything, man. And then...

A lot of shit went down and we had to go pick up this. That was him? Yeah. That's what I'm saying. I said, like, I can't promise you anything. Like, you know, what are you going to say? Oh, here you are, Hester. Shout out, Hester. But he helped us out getting the R6 out. And then I'm like, this is it. This is it. You're providing mad value. And then, like, it's just too good. So providing value. Wait, so will he be in the video? Yeah.

Yeah. Hey, there you go. Wait, what's his name? Hester. Hester. Shout out to Hester. He drove a big, big yellow diesel into the rocks of Moab and picked up our crotch rocket that Evan yardied down the... And then he ran out of fuel. Dude. Coming back. Yeah. And look, now we're talking about him. That's what I'm saying. Provide value. Don't just like...

Like, because when you're asking a question, how do I do this? You're now asking me or you to like give you... I guess in a sense you're being a burden. Sort of, but... And there's nothing wrong with that because everyone has to start somewhere. But there's a way to get the answer. And it's either asking for it or providing value and like putting yourself in a position to figure out the answers because you're in the right spot at the right time. So if you join a label... Mm-hmm.

Is 95% of our YouTube videos going to get copywritten? Probably. Yeah, probably. I won't though. Please don't. Yeah, no, I won't. I won't. And even now, like even when I upload my music through DistroKid, there's a thing that says like click the box here for YouTube ID and I never click it because I think it's way more important for my music to be used by content creators and giving it that natural awareness than making a few extra cents because I'm like charging you to use like. Oh, we appreciate that.

- Of course, I appreciate you guys using it. - We're like, man, dude, 'cause honestly, I stopped using yours

for a while when you were really blowing up off of the fear that that was going to happen. No. So I, I have that Spotify playlist called like, you know, Connor price and Nick D like whenever we have a song, um, that like, cause there's some, like I did a song with Idris Elba called Courtney Cox and his label set up stuff that it's copyright. So there, there are a few songs I have because of other artists that are on it. Oh yeah. I know I've checked all of them. Okay, great. Yeah. So, but if you check out that, that, that playlist, I'll keep updating it with all the songs that are completely copyright free. Um,

And yeah, I, I don't see myself ever in a situation where I'm going to just all of a sudden turn it on. It's a genius, genius strategy, honestly. And I don't know if there's really anyone else doing it. Like there are kind of the, one of the early adapters. I was kind of inspired. There's this artist named Nefix. I hope I'm pronouncing it correct, but he's, he's an independent hip hop artist. Have you heard of him? I heard you nod your head. So he, he, he does that. He uploads like a song every week. He's been doing it for like three years. His output is insane. Um,

he's like an independent guy. I got that Russ mentality of just like consistent releases, independent. And he doesn't copyright any of his stuff. And he's very vocal about that. Like whenever he posts and, and like whenever he even posts the YouTube audio in brackets, it'll say like copyright free, like content creators use this. And I was like, that's genius. I like that a lot. So that, that was a big inspiration for me. So shout out to Netflix.

It just seems weird that I get there's all angles. It just seems weird to not do that almost. I just love it. Obviously, we appreciate it a ton. I mean, there's pros and cons of both. And from the label side, right, all they care about is making as much money off the songs as possible. So, of course, they're going to copyright ID. So if someone does use it, they're getting paid for it. But then on the flip side...

I have gotten so many listeners and fans because of you guys using the, the, the song in your videos that if I had, first of all, if I was copywriting it, you wouldn't have used it in the first place. So it wouldn't have happened. But even if you did, and I turned it on later, I would have made what, like a few extra hundred dollars or whatever. Right. But I, but I'm now having like real fans. These could be fans that show up to my shows and pay for merch like that, that longterm gain of exposure through content creators using your music could be worth anything.

a million times more than just getting a few cents on the dollar. And that to me is worth way more of the risk of not copywriting it for YouTube. I just can't believe, I guess I can believe, but I did not know that you could make such a bag off of streaming. Dude, that streaming money is crazy. I've been thinking about it the whole time, dude. Shit, maybe we should just start streaming. Start rapping? No, no, it's really interesting because there is this...

this headline conversation that happens around Spotify, like not paying the artists. And a big reason that is, well, it's for two reasons. One, a lot of artists are with labels and they don't have ownership of their master. So they're making anywhere from, you know, zero to 20% of that percentage already. But most of the time it's just, it's not even close to 20. So, so they're getting a percentage of the, the percentage of,

And then also it's very difficult to get a million streams on a song. A lot of artists aren't doing that. I'm very fortunate to be in a place where over the last month, my catalog has done 60 million streams. That's insane. Like I can't believe I'm at that point.

And it's very difficult to get there. So I understand why that conversation exists. But once you do start streaming a lot, and if you own the music, the money's crazy. So do you spend a lot of money? Are you a big spender? Not really. I just bought like a Mercedes. That was like my first kind of big purchase. But yeah. What kind? An E350. Okay.

You're when you're not content creating, not doing your job. What do you like to do for fun? Uh, well I'm a dad now, so that takes up a lot of my time. I'm up in the morning with, with Jude. We walked to Starbucks every morning and we get there. Bree and I kind of talk about what we want to do that day. We have, uh, the sitter comes at like between nine and 10 AM. And then that's my like four to five hours where I get to be in my studio. Um,

So yeah, it's really like work or hanging with my son now. Prior to that, I love video games. I'm like a big Super Smash Bros fan. I actually used to compete. I used to go to tournaments. No way. Really? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So video games was and kind of is still a big part of my life. I still love watching Twitch and keeping up with the tournaments and all that kind of stuff.

but yeah, now it's really just like music content editing. Luckily I can do everything in my room, um, from making the music to editing the skits, filming the skits, or I'm like hanging with my son or having a date night with Brie. Like it's, yeah, it's, I really, I don't do too much other than work and just hang with family. So no gambling though. No, never. No, I rarely go out where Brie and I are very much homebodies. We're like,

Like our date, our perfect date night is like ordering sushi, watching Ted Lasso. You know, it's just like just being in and enjoying some time to ourselves. I'd probably be a lot better off if I was like you. What? Not gambling? I don't ever win. No, just a degenerate. CJ, you should have a kid. I don't know if I'm ready for that either. I can barely take care of myself. How old are you guys? 26. 26. Yeah, how old are you? 23. 28. 28. Okay. Yep. I'm 27. Okay.

So you don't want to go hit the blackjack table after this? No, no. I've never, I've never gambled a day in my life. There's something, there's something I kind of wanted. Well, I was going to say that you live in Las Vegas. You've never gambled in your life. Everyone always assumes. I'm just like, no, it's not. There's something I felt like, you know, you have to walk through the casinos all the time to get to restaurants and stuff like that. They were like in every lobby. They're in grocery stores. It's crazy. You're not just sucked to the blackjack table. No, no. If anything, it's the opposite. I'm like, I feel so depressed. Like seeing a lot of these people just like there and they just, they look so sad and I'm

I'm like, oh, man. It, like, hurts me. This slot machine just... Yeah, just... Yeah. No, seriously. Like, it genuinely, like, depresses me that I know a lot of... And there... I...

I don't know without getting into too many detail. There are people in my life who, who have gambling problems and I've seen what that has done to the people around them. It's not appealing at all. No. Zero. You think you have that kind of a trait, maybe addictive or obsessive? That scares me too. Especially with the video game thing. I like would get, you know, obsessive, obsessive about wanting to be the best at something. And I'm afraid I could get addicted to it. I feel like anybody who's like, not anybody, but most people that are like doing a really good at their craft are

have that trait that kind of obsessive trait um you know where you just go all in on like one thing or whatever you just kind of have a tendency to overdo things so you're probably right on that you would like it a lot or you know what's interesting too is so i'm now good friends with hoodie allen who was like growing up one of my favorite artists yeah and we just went on tour together in europe and he's actually coming to vegas uh it's tomorrow saturday it's

Yeah. He's coming. What day is it? Uh, Friday, I think. So he's coming tomorrow for like the world series poker tournament or whatever. He's a, he's a poker guy. Huge. Yeah. So during COVID, um, when things slowed down for him, he went like all in on like, just like, and he's really good. Um,

He was at a celebrity game last night with Bryce Hall and these other TikTokers. He won $38,000. He came out on top. He's a really good poker player. So he's been trying to convince me to like... And I'm scared. I'm not going to do it now. Poker actually is gambling, but it takes skill. It takes skill versus like the slot machine is...

Pure luck, blackjack, it takes a little bit of skill, but it's still mostly luck. But like poker, if you're good, you can... To me, there's still that element of like, oh, I could lose money. And that's like my least favorite feeling. Oh, dude, last night? Going home and coming home with way less money than you started with. Yeah, a little bit. I was just sick to my stomach. So have you ever felt like...

like it was worth it because it was fun or are you always like yeah honestly because okay that's good because I don't live here and I come here and you probably have a certain amount that you said I bring a couple thousand bucks and it's like if I lose it all that sounds very healthy and honestly I enjoy I enjoy it I have a really good time doing it

maybe I'll, I don't know. I'll never say never. Maybe I will, you know, at least try it. I think if I set a boundary of like, especially with poker, it's like, Oh, there's like a $5,000, you know, you know, to, to get into the game. So I know I'm spending that much. I'm comfortable losing that much because I'm aware that I probably will. And it's more for like the fun elements. Like I'm sort of playing a game. It's like, you know, you go to Chuck E. Cheese, like you're paying a certain amount. You're not, you're not going to make it. You don't even have the opportunity to win there. You're going home with like the, uh, Chinese finger thing. Some, some, yeah, you'll get something. Yeah. Um,

So, yeah. But my worry is that I get, like, addicted to it and I just, like... It is a slippery slope, though. And that's why when we go home, then, there's, like, these pull tabs at bars. I don't even know if they have them here. But it's, like, the only kind of gambling that you can do. And Ev's a degenerate. Every single time we walk into a restaurant or a gas station, this dude is getting these pull tabs. 20 bucks. You might as well just throw it in the garbage. Wait, so what does it do? It's, like, a pull tab and you might win, like, 50 bucks from it. Oh, so it, like, tells you right away. Yeah, it tells you right away. It does.

It tells you right away when you lose. Yeah, it tells you right away when you lose. But when I go home, I don't do that because I'm like,

it's a slippery slope and and then i watch evan's and losses yeah so i guess coming to vegas is like this is the only time yeah enjoy it and then you go home if you can set if you can set a limit and you're you're genuinely having fun and enjoying it all the power to you my thing is i didn't i don't have a debit card so like i can't go to the atm so the the money i bring is the only money i could i could withdraw or spend yeah like tempted and tempted well i did go to ken last night i went to my sugar daddy last night i

Hey, Ken, come on. Give me some of that moldy money. I don't have a debit card, Ken. That's amazing. So like circling back on like Hoodie Allen, we're huge fans of him. Who is someone that you were super stoked to work with and who is someone that you want to work with and haven't yet? Um...

everybody i've worked with has been awesome like all those globe video artists they're all so incredible and like whenever we would find someone we're like oh this is the perfect guy for netherlands oh this girl she's from india perfect and then it just kept getting better yeah and so we would get in a whatsapp group chat it would be me that artist and my wife brianna and we'd like plan everything we'd send them the beat like we'd we would be very involved with them um and even to this day we'll like check in or they'll you know

So I've gotten close to a lot of them. And I was just in Amsterdam 'cause I did my first European tour and I got to meet one of the artists in person. We shot a music video for Spinnin' and it was like the whole thing has been crazy. So that, like I haven't had really a bad experience working with an artist.

I've done two songs with Idris Elba, who I've been a huge fan of because, you know, he's an actor, he's a DJ, he does a lot of things. Yeah, that seems so random. Yeah, right? I know. Because I just know him from acting. Right, yeah, yeah, yeah, from like The Office or Luther or whatever, The Wire. But he does so many things at such a high level and that is really inspiring to me because that's something that I want to do and continue to try to have a really solid acting career, a great music career, maybe get into directing,

And so people like him and Childish Gambino, Donald Glover, that to me would be my, like it's like Drake, Gambino, and Russ. Those are my three guys that I would love to have the opportunity to work with in any way. I would love to see Gambino.

And you I mean, I just I just really like he is yeah, like he is an anomaly 100% acting alone. Oh dude, dude, man this guy I could go on and on this guy I first started listening to or not listening to him watching him when he used to do a comedy skit on YouTube He had this channel called Derek comedy where him and his guys from NYU would upload skits and this was in 2006 This was the start of YouTube

And that's how I first discovered him. And then he was acting on Community. And then he was writing for 30 Rock. And then he started doing stand-up. And then I discovered he had music. He raps. And now he created Atlanta. Oh, my gosh. This dude is just like – he's one of the most talented people of our generation. Man, you might be like the truest OG Gambino fan ever.

2006? I know, I feel like such a, yeah, like a hipster when I'm like, I've been listening since 2006. But I really have. Like, yeah, that YouTube channel where he was just doing comedy stuff, I'll never forget when I was young just like showing all my friends and we'd just laugh our asses off at these stupid skits that they, and they're still on YouTube. Derek Comedy. I'd love to check it out. Young Childish Gambino doing comedy. It's really funny.

But yeah, so yeah Idris Elba was awesome to work with I love whenever I work with Nick We always have so much fun I always have so much fun recording songs with him like like all like in so many of our songs you'll hear us like laughing at the start or at the end and that really was just us in the booth just laughing or like throw that laugh at the end cuz that's really funny Yeah, yeah Russ Russ would be awesome. He recently Followed me and DM me like showing me love which was like to me like it's such a huge moment and

So, yeah, who knows what could happen there, but that would be awesome. That's sick, bro. Thank you so much for coming on, dude. Thank you, guys, and seriously, thank you for using the music, and I would love to figure out a way for us to, like, do some sort of fun collab. Yeah, we're down. Because it seems like our audience is, like, clearly the people that watch your videos seem to like my music, and that seems like a good marriage of, you know.

We'll fly you up to Minnesota just for a couple days and just, hey, whatever. I'm glad that we've been able to, I mean, maybe just a little tiny bit be able to give back to you like you were saying with some people going over and showing love on your YouTube channel. So guys, seriously, go check out Connor Price's music. You haven't heard of him already. It's available everywhere, isn't it? Yeah, yeah. All streaming platforms, just my full name, Connor Price, C-O-N-N-O-R. Follow him on Instagram. But thank you so much, dude. Thanks for having me. And thank you for listening, guys.

We'll see you next week. Until next time. Peace. Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co-founder of Angie. And one thing I've learned is that you buy a house, but you make it a home. Because with every fix, update, and renovation, it becomes a little more your own. So you need all your jobs done well. For nearly 30 years, Angie has helped millions of homeowners hire skilled pros for the projects that matter. From

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