Keepin It Rio Podcast: LEE

Welcome back to Keepin' It Rio! Tonight we've got a guest who's proving you don't need a major label to make major music. Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, and now calling Charlotte, North Carolina home, Lee has created a unique sound that blends his Midwestern roots with Southern influences. His music is built on storytelling, clever lyricism, and seeing life from perspectives that make you stop and think.

With projects including The Project Pt. 1, The Project Pt. 2, Madura Blend, and his album "You Got McDonalds Money", Lee continues to carve out his own lane as an independent artist who's always creating and always pushing himself. We're talking music, inspiration, the grind of being independent, and where his journey is headed next.

Episode 262 starts right now—let's welcome Lee to *Keepin' It Rio!*

Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 0:01

And uh ladies and gentlemen, welcome back once again. Favorite time of the week, it's keeping it real time. This, folks, is episode 261. Maybe 262, but I think it's 261. I'm a roofer, so I stopped counting after like 10. I ran out of toes. So it's up there in the 200s, and we're gonna have a great episode today. This is another one of my favorite ones where basically I had a gentleman that reached out to me a couple days ago and asked if I would have any interest in speaking to some um artists. And obviously, I'm all about speaking with artists. So he lined me up with a couple podcast guests, and today I've got a guest that I've got quite a bit in common with. So no hesitation whatsoever, ladies and gentlemen. Let me welcome Lee, my guest, to the show today. Welcome to keeping it real, my friend. How's it going?

SPEAKER_02 0:51

I'm doing good, Chuck. How are you doing, man? It's a pleasure to be here.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

Yeah, absolutely. We were just kind of chatting a little bit before we got started here. I always joke and say I usually get to meet people and we know each other for like two minutes before we hit record. But yeah, I learned a lot about you already. I saw that my guy Brutus back here. He was uh, you know, he's hiding his face right now, but we're we come from the same hometown. So I want to kind of kick off a little bit there. Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and then we'll just kind of roll with it and see where the conversation goes?

SPEAKER_02 1:21

Yeah, so I'm an independent hip-hop artist, like you said, originally from Columbus, Ohio, now living in Charlotte, North Carolina. Um, and a lot of the music that I make focuses on like storytelling events and things I've experienced when I was a kid living back in Columbus or other people's stories that I have close relationships with. Um, you know, so I do like to do a lot of storytelling, but also like to just make good, uplift, and feel good music that makes people want to smile or dance or you know, go out there and try to be the best version of themselves. Um, so you know, that's me, and I just really enjoy the artistry of it all. And uh, you know, now I'm here down here in Charlotte, North Carolina, which has been a really interesting experience for me because I'm, you know, immersed myself in a different culture, especially when it comes to hip-hop. So, you know, like I found a way to blend the Midwest with the South and all of that and put it together. So I think that's what uh makes my sound a little special and a little different.

SPEAKER_01 2:15

I love that. And having a little bit of that mixture is something I definitely understand because, like I said, I grew up in Columbus and straight from Columbus, I moved to Charlotte and I was there for a few years. And you're right, it's kind of uh it's a little bit of a different scenario there, and then I end up in Texas, and that's totally different.

SPEAKER_02 2:31

Oh, yeah, and well, I guess I'll add this too. I lived in Texas for nine months, also. I lived in down there in Katie near Houston.

SPEAKER_01 2:39

I know exactly where Katie is. I lived in College Station before I came here, so we've been kind of in the same circles for our entire lives, and now it's time to finally meet and and see what's going on here, but I love it. And like you say, you know, growing up in Columbus, there's a lot of influences there as well. Hip hop is pretty, you know, prominent in Columbus. And I lived there um basically my entire life until 2010. And I always like to talk to folks from Columbus and kind of feel like, you know, what was your inspiration growing up? What kind of what did you look up to, or what what kind of things did you experience along the way that have kind of formed you as a human being and as an artist?

SPEAKER_02 3:19

Yeah, so um first and foremost, I mean, for two people here from Columbus, it's only right that I give a special shout out to Bow Wow. Um, you know, he was, you know, the hip hop artist during his time, um, originally from Columbus, Ohio. I mean, we had a lot of overlap, same way like you and I do, where we were in fact living in the same neighborhood, same, I went to the same middle school, same area, obviously two different times. But like he was there, and then about eight to ten years later, I showed up. Um, so I really had he had a big um big influence on me just in terms of liking music, liking hip-hop, things like that. Um, once I started like taking a little more serious around like 2008, you know, 2006 or so, um, other people, you know, like Little Wayne had a huge influence on me when it comes to how I approach music. Um, people like the game and Dipset had a big influence on me, you know, putting together that East Coast, West Coast kind of energy as well. Um, so I kind of like pulled from everything. Um, I grew up in a house where I didn't grow up in like a music house necessarily. No one in my my house in my in my family like truly played music or an instrument or anything like that. But I grew up in a house that valued education and sports. So, you know, I played football all the way up until I was 18 years old. And the the focus was you're gonna go to school, you're gonna get an A, you're gonna put the pads on, you're gonna knock some heads, then you're gonna go to sleep, and you're gonna do it all over again. Uh you know all about that football culture up there in Columbus, Ohio. It's um I put it up there against Texas's any day. Um, so so it was really intense. But the thing was, while I was doing all that, music was always being played. So while I'm being forced to do homework or studying, my dad's listening to DMX. While we're on the way to a football game, my brother is listening um to you know another hip hop artist. While my mom's cleaning the house, she's listening to gospel music or Neo Soul. So music was always, you know, in the house 24-7. And I think just hearing that, I kind of like gravitated towards it. And it became something of my own, you know, like like I said, in the house, everyone valued education and sports. That's what everyone did, everyone valued. But like for me, it then became yeah, I value education, I value sports. Um, but I also like really appreciated and value this thing called hip-hop. Um, and it was like my own little thing I got to keep to my keep to myself.

SPEAKER_01 5:54

I like that. And it's you know, like you say, you can kind of have your own identity, it it's got a blend of stuff going on around you all the time, and you start to kind of, you know, you've got a soundtrack to your life, really. And as you're going through, you start to really appreciate that. And you think, you know, whenever this good thing happened, this is what I was listening to in the background, and just all that stuff kind of it just kind of all blends together, and you get this love for music, and you start, you know, expressing yourself artistically, right? And I always like to know a little bit about this. And I've had 42 best-selling authors on my podcast, and you'd be surprised at how people get creative and like some of the stuff they do. Like, I've had people that have like gone out in the woods and like lived in uh you know, a cabin or like a little teepee type thing for like three weeks and in the freezing blizzard, come back with a bestseller. I've had people that have like, you know, kind of just progressively done it. And I always like to ask, you know, for your creativity, what kind of a process do you have when something comes to your mind? You know, a lot of people say, you know, something just everyday life is going on, and all of a sudden something kind of pops into your head, boom, there it is. Do you have a process to where it's like, you know what? I need to keep that, I need to hold on to it, or like me, do you forget about like a lot of your brilliant stuff? And it's like, man, I hope it comes back someday because it was brilliant back then. I just don't remember it.

SPEAKER_02 7:16

Yeah. So like when I was uh younger, um, my my dad he knew I was into music and he wanted to you know be involved in that as well. So like he was the one who was encouraging me to write down lyrics, write down my raps, all of that kind of stuff. Before that, it was just I said it and who knows if I'll ever remember it again. Um, so he was the one that encouraged me to keep writing and keep working on my lyrics. Um, as I got older, you know, thank God for the phone, man. Um else I'd remember nothing probably. I love that notes F. And you know, a lot of my creativity is drawn from life experiences, like I said. So, of course, going out, hanging out with friends, being with my family, things like that, that's what helps me pull a lot of my creativity and my storytelling. Um, but but the most I've gotten creative is when I'm driving. Yeah, I know it's probably gonna sound the same.

SPEAKER_01 8:10

I make up words when I'm driving, trust me. Yeah, about that.

SPEAKER_02 8:14

When you're just like, I mean, I used to have a job where I would drive three, four hours a day. Um, so I would just be on the road and it gets silent, you know, you get tired of hearing this, you want to, you know, you're just in your own thoughts, and then next thing you know, I start start rapping, and then I start coming up with lyrics. And then, oh man, that sounded really good, what I just said. And I put on the microphone or the record microphone button on my phone, I'll just rap in the car and then stop, and then I'll come back to it later and pull what I like, rewrite it, clean it up, and then I just would keep doing that over and over and over. So um, like when I put out my album back in 2024, I would probably say 60% of those songs were written while I was driving. And the other 40% was probably for me just sitting down, enjoying, you know, a nice cocktail or something and feeling, you know, feeling the vibe, and then I'm gonna go ahead and get to writing. So it's always different, but I would say the car is the most part where I get my creativity.

SPEAKER_01 9:12

You know, I think that's that's pretty amazing. And a lot of people actually say that same thing. They're like, I just go for a long drive and it all just kind of comes out. And yeah, that's me. Whenever I go for a long drive, I mean, I I don't know, a lot of stuff comes out, but nothing's really productive or creative. It's always, you know, I guess that's your brain dump time, but I love to hear about people that you know really are passionate about stuff that they're doing. Obviously, you're super passionate. You have, you know, your entire life been influenced by the music. You've gotten into it. Now, I always like to ask this question as well. Obviously, at a young age, you kind of get into music. Tell me a little bit about the moment or that you know, maybe there were a series of events where you thought, you know what, this is something that I'm pretty dang good at, and I think maybe I could make a go of it, and I'm gonna try to, you know, really go and pursue my dream. So, what was that moment like for you? And you know, I we're definitely gonna dive deep into living your dream here, but what was what was that first thing that just kind of caught your eye? Maybe it was like someone saying something to you or just something that caught you that uh that sparked it.

SPEAKER_02 10:20

Yeah, so I I'll try to make this as short of an answer as possible, but I do want to like frame it so you understand my mindset at the time of what was going on. Um, I probably started like getting into making music around the age of eight or 10-ish, somewhere around there. Um, it started becoming known within my family maybe around when I was like 12. Um, I I mean I did hip hop classes in middle school, and I used to I had a basement studio and I used to sell CDs at the corner store off of Morris Road, like all of those different kinds. Um Granddad's Pizza. I'm just throwing it out. Oh, yeah. I know, I'm just throwing it out. Um, but so it was always an on-again, off again thing for me because you know, in within in my community and my environment, it was kind of like, oh, you want to be a rapper? Like everyone, we all want to be rappers, everyone wants to be a rapper. So it was like that thing you say you want to do that people start to pick on you for if you take it serious. Like if you don't take yourself serious and it's cool because oh, he can rap, but he doesn't take it serious. That's all right. Yeah, so if you can rap and you take yourself serious, then it's like, no, that's not cool. That's that's lame and wrong to make fun of you for it. So I was always on again, off again with music where I would focus on sports, I'd focus on school, and I wouldn't write for like two or three years, or I would write privately to myself, but no one would know I was doing it. And that went all the way up until I was 18 years old. Um, where people some people knew how to make music, but no one truly ever like heard me rap. Um, so fast forward to 2020, where now I am 22, 23 years old or so, and I'm going back to Columbus to hang out with some of my high school friends. He has a basement studio and he's in there playing beats. You know, we're drinking, we're having a good time. And of course, you're in the basement studio. The first thing that everyone does is you gotta freestyle. We all gotta go around and freestyle. So everyone does their thing. I'm the last one up, and people are like, All right, go ahead. Like, we we hear that we got this rumor that you rap. So let's see what you got.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

Oh, yeah, announced the moment.

SPEAKER_02 12:30

Yeah, and I'm not a kid anymore, so now I have like this confidence of like, I know I'm I'm gonna do this. And I mean, I kid you not, man. I do a 16 bars rap with metaphors and similes and all of this kind of stuff. Like, it wasn't I'm playing around, it was like I'm being being dead ass serious, I'm rapping, rapping. Um, so then I finish and I'm expecting instant response because that's usually how it happens when you rap in front of people. You rap and it's oh you know, all of that kind of stuff. And I finished, and then like you could hear a pin drop, it was just silent. So now like I'm I'm crushed, right? I'm like, oh my gosh, like I have I has something been telling me I've been right for the past 20 some odd years that I shouldn't do this, and then everyone just like sits there, and then they all freak out, like I didn't know you could, oh so then they then I get the late reaction. Um, and then that's when I got the confidence to see, wait, if the words that I come up with in my brain can make people feel this way and create this kind of response. And so I'm like only know two people here personally, and they don't owe anything to me. They can say, Man, that was whack. But they gave honest reactions. Everyone else who hardly knows me gives honest reactions. Um, and then right after that is no, no, no, come on, we're gonna record something, we're gonna make song right now, and we lay down the track right then and there. Um, that experience told me, hey man, you are talented, you have this special gift. Um, and God gifted you with this gift, so it'd be wrong for you not to use it, you know. And the other thing too is I know, like I'm a new father, so I know at some point my son's gonna ask me, Dad, what did you want to be when you what did you want to be when you were a kid? And I I I'd be lying if I don't say I want to be a rapper. So I I that's the response I have to get. And the follow-up is gonna be, Well, well, did you did you try it? Did you do anything? What? And I at least wanted to at least show him, yes, I did try. So, you know, I was thinking about all of that, and I talked decided I was like, you know what, I'm gonna take this serious, I'm gonna put a budget behind it, I'm gonna make, you know, a project. And probably about six months later, I dropped two EPs, the project part one and part two. And a lot of it was just stuff I've had written when I was 16, 17, and I just polished it. Um, and then from that I was able to put out an album because while I'm recording the stuff I did when I was a teenager, I'm also writing stuff now as a 20-something. So then put those two out. I wait, wait a year, put the next album out, and I just haven't stopped since.

SPEAKER_01 15:06

Man, I love that. And the the reasons for doing it are so awesome. And I love when people give their why, and it's like, you know, I want my kids to know that I tried. And you know, if you don't try, you're never gonna succeed. And and who knows, you know, the the people that are persistent, the people that keep going, the people that don't give up, they're the ones that win. So you got just as good a shot as anybody as long as you're you're in the game, and I think that's an important lesson for your kids, and that's that's tremendous. So um, I love what you just said. You make this decision, and you're like, all right, I got the skill, I'm gonna, I'm gonna focus on this a hundred percent. Yeah, one word that came in there that I really was paying attention to was budget. So this is not a cheap, cheap little thing to get into. Believe me, I know. I got a podcast and I got all this stuff over here, and and this is like not even remotely close. So you start getting into this. This guy I had on yesterday was kind of funny. He's like, I started off on a little table at the end of my bed, and I was doing it into my cell phone, and then finally got a microphone, did all that. So tell me about your progression here as you get going, because obviously it doesn't just all come together, you gotta like really go out there and work, you know, selling CDs on Morse Road and doing all that. Tell me a little bit about that hustle getting there, and then you know, when you finally got to the point where it's like, yeah, here we are.

SPEAKER_02 16:30

Yeah, so I started out with a basement studio that I did not pay for. Um, I don't know if you've seen Hustle and Flow, but I kid you not, it looked exactly like the studio on Hustle and Flow. I mean, we had the egg cartons on the wall, and you had the cart the curtain and all that stuff. Uh, but I was a kid, so I didn't pay for any of that. Um, and we used that, that's where I put down my first song ever, and that was the song I was selling on Morris World called We Just Some Kids. Um, then I progressed around like 12. I was in a hip-hop class, and at the end of it, we all got to go to the studio and record. Each person got to record their own song. Mind you, I had a little bit of experience of working in the studio from the basement. So I was compared to the other people in my group, seemed professional. Yeah, yeah. People are like, clearly, you have an idea of what you're doing. Um, I put together a song there, and it was actually a diss track to the school that paid for me to be there.

SPEAKER_01 17:27

Um, I understand. I've done that to a couple of my former jobs.

SPEAKER_02 17:33

Yeah, it happens. Um, but then like when I was a 20-something, I knew I didn't have no skill set of how to use pro tools. I didn't have any equipment, I didn't, I didn't know any of that stuff. All I knew is I could write raps, I know how to put these lyrics together. You give me a beat, and I can take care of the rest. So, you know, I found a studio that seemed professional enough, and I started vetting different engineers, almost like interviewing them over the phone. So I would call, like, hey, I want to book studio time, and they'd be like, Okay, what do you want? And then I would start asking all these strange questions of, well, how long have you been doing this? What is in it? And I would say, like, are you a yes man? If I make something that's bad, are you gonna tell me it's good just because I'm paying you? And I was waiting for someone to like say, like, no, dude, like, we don't make trash here. If you, if your music is bad, I'll tell you it's bad, and but I also will tell you what you need to do to make it better, and that's what I was looking for. So when I found that person, I started working with them, and it was just hey, you know, most people don't do this, but it was just me paying him for hourly studio sessions, and it advanced over time because it started with okay, I just want to come in here and record. I don't want to mix, master, I don't want any of that. I just want to record it so good that it sounds clean enough that I don't have to mix and master. And then it got even more of okay, well, now I want to purchase beats. I want to I don't want to steal beats anymore. So now I'm buying beats and I'm paying for studio time. Then it gets more, and now I'm buying beats, paying for studio time, paying for mixing and mastering. And I just kept like putting my budget towards it more and more and more when I started getting some traction from it. So, I mean, to this day, I I don't have a home studio. I still you know pay for hourly studio sessions, but I think leaving the house and going to the studio helps me creatively because it's I mean, like like Lee is almost you know, like an alter ego version, not alter ego, like a version of myself I don't always get to express. Um, so when I'm in a studio, I can be 100% Lee and I don't have to like hold back or anything. And I've been in studio sessions with friends and you know with my wife, and I'll try to say, like, hey, can can y'all leave the studio so I can record this one song? Because the stuff I'm gonna say, I don't want y'all to like be here while I do it. And then they're all like, no, we ain't going nowhere. Like, what if whatever the hell you got to say, we just gonna sit here and listen. So they refuse to leave and they they get to see, you know, leave 100%, and and they love it. Like, it's no one's ever come back and said, You're not being who you are. In fact, if anything, they see me 100%, and you know, they appreciate me for it.

SPEAKER_01 20:12

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's so cool, and you're true to yourself, you're not, you know, you like I love the fact that you you align yourself with winners and people that are gonna tell you, like, dude, it's trash. If it is trash, you're gonna know, right? And I always think back, I'm a I'm a fan of talk radio, and I remember I listened to Howard Stern for years, and there was a uh there was a dude on there, and he was like the white hip-hop guy, you know, and he's like an Italian dude, and he's like, Yeah, man, I cut this album, they said it was awesome. I paid them like 3,500 bucks, and they, you know, they they cut the album for me and it never sold anything, and they're playing and it was total trash, and they're like, Yeah, but the guy at the at the studio said I was good. Well, what's like, yeah, dumbass, you're paying them.

SPEAKER_02 20:55

Of course, they're gonna say five hundred. Like, what why would you? He's not gonna say it was awful.

SPEAKER_01 21:00

I would tell you you're the greatest thing ever if you were that dumb, and you were giving me that kind of money for that. So I think it's cool to be around people that are honest and it'll tell you that, and it it just helps you continue to evolve as an artist and as a person. So that's pretty cool. Yeah, now I know you.

SPEAKER_02 21:17

Oh, I'm sorry. No, no, go ahead. But you know, now it's at the point where like I'll work with someone and then it'll say, Hey, I really like working with you. Hey, you're like really talented, I want to work with you, and that helps me where now I have like personal producers, uh not personal, like I have producers I work directly with. You know, I have engineers I work directly with, and we have you know a good working relationship where they know how I work, I know how they work, we text, all that kind of stuff. And it's not necessarily a I pay you to do a service and then I'm never gonna see it again. It's it's I mean, it's changed to where it's become a working relationship.

SPEAKER_01 21:55

Yeah, and I love that. That's the best way to do it, I think, because. Everybody's focused on what their strengths are, and you can just have your fun and do your stuff. So I a couple minutes ago, you were kind of chatting, and you had mentioned, you know, being from Columbus, which we all love Columbus, I lived there for 32 years. I moved to Charlotte, North Carolina back in 2010 to open a roofing supply company there. And I moved out of there about three years later. But you also said you lived in Texas. So I want to hear a little bit about, you know, the movement around the country, what kind of prompts that kind of stuff, and some of the differences that you experience in all these different locations. Because Ohio, North Carolina, and Texas are like there is nothing the same about any of them.

SPEAKER_02 22:40

Yeah, so I was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. Um, we lived in different parts for quite for, you know, we bounced around, um, mostly on the east side, living off of Livingston. Um, then we moved up to the north side, um, living off of Morris Road, right not too far from Easton, things like that. Um, my mom decided that she wanted a fresh start. She wanted, you know, something different. And we had family that lived in Texas, and they were doing fairly well, and we visited them. So she knew she had an open invitation, and it was pretty much, hey, I want to, I want a fresh start. I got a kid here who just got into high school, um, but he's used to bouncing around. And I got another kid I just sent off to college, so it was a hassle to do it with two, but now it's just one. So she gave me the option. Um, like, hey, you're welcome to stay here and be with your dad, or you can come down with me. I was always down for the rise. I was like, Yeah, let's go, let's get down there. So we moved to Texas. Um, I lived there for nine months. Um, so I spent my sophomore year of high school in Texas. So when I say like I know the difference between football in Ohio and football in Texas, like I lived it.

SPEAKER_01 23:53

Um I was I'll say louder for everybody in the back because I'm telling everybody in Texas that they don't believe me.

SPEAKER_02 23:59

One thing I want to say though is like we had practice in the middle of the school day. So like you would go, you know, like you first period, second period, third period, you go to practice, you're supposed to shower, then you go to do the rest of your periods and come back and practice again. We never did that in Ohio, but Ohio does two-a-days when you're ramping up for the season, and Texas isn't allowed to do two a days. Last I checked, so you know, we got to do all of that stuff. Um, living in Texas didn't work out for our family. Um, so we moved back to Ohio nine months later. Um, I finished high school there, and then I went to college in North Carolina in Greensboro, and then from there I moved to Raleigh, and then I lived in Raleigh for two or three years, and then I went from Raleigh to Charlotte, where I am now. Um, what I will add, the the beautiful part of this story is I moved to Texas when I was six uh 15 years old, going on 16. When I was there, I met this young lady, and we had a relationship. We went to homecoming and all that stuff. She moved from Texas and went away, and then I shortly left Texas after that as well and went back to Ohio, like I said. Um, we decided to get back together and do long distance in 2014, and then and and we stayed together from 2014 all the way to this day, who is currently my wife. And we went to college together. I lived in Raleigh, she lived in Charlotte, came down to Charlotte. So I always like the the you know, on the page, you know, or the story that is technically the right story, I guess you'll say. I don't even know if that's the right phrase, but you know, my mom wanted to go for a better, better life, it didn't work out, so we went back. And what now what I say is God told my mom to send me down to Texas so that I can meet my wife, who is also the mother of my my son, and so that I can become you know the man I'm supposed to be. So it's a it's a beautiful story, I think. Um, but that's I hope that answered your question. I know there was probably some other parts I didn't answer.

SPEAKER_01 26:04

That's awesome. That's like way more than I was anticipating. I was anticipating, like, yeah, I got a job offer or something like that. But that is so cool, and you're right. I mean, it's fate is so weird how it works, you know. You're you're you're in Texas, but not really gonna stay here. But you meet the one person that changes your entire life. So it's like, all right, Texas probably sucked, but it it was all right because of that. So that's cool. I love going to North Carolina, it's a completely different, um, it's a completely different environment than when I was living in Columbus. When I first got to Charlotte, I was surprised, right? Like, yeah, there's a lot of stuff that goes on there that you just are like, dude, really? That that wouldn't happen in Ohio because someone would probably catch hands or whatever. But tell me a little bit about the experience for you. When I got down there, I was pretty shocked. It was like, man, you know, the south is a real thing.

SPEAKER_02 26:57

The funny thing is, I I got pretty used to being in the south pretty quickly. Um, because like I said, I had family that lives in the south, Texas, Atlanta, Alabama, all that stuff. So we would come to the South regularly, but we still lived in Ohio. So when I came down here for college, I quickly got adjusted, and I grew up with the yes ma'am, no ma'am, yes, sir, no sir, all of that kind of stuff. So that I was used to that, and I had to get adjusted to just random people, just hi, smiling at you. That kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_01 27:28

How are you today? That's like we don't do that in Ohio.

SPEAKER_02 27:31

Well, I got used to it very quickly. I would go back to Ohio and go visit, and I would just say, people, hey, how you doing? Hey, hey, look at me like what do you want? Who are you? Why are you talking about it?

SPEAKER_01 27:41

Who are you, dude?

SPEAKER_02 27:42

Yeah, I know. So uh, you know, like it's it's different, um, you know, just in terms of like southern tendencies and things like that. Um, but like I would say the other thing too is just like the culture in general, like in the in the Midwest, um, things are a little bit more cold, a little bit more, a little like kind of rough, rugged, a little bit. Whereas in the south, it's more like free, easy going. Now, don't like it's still rough. I'm not saying it's not, but it's more of like uh how can I put this? Yeah, it's just more like an easy going rough, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 28:22

Like that's the perfect way to explain it right there. I know exactly what you mean. When I was in Charlotte, we were there, and I got to experience quite a bit. It was a cool time in my life, and I, you know, I I never even dreamt that I would ever end up in North Carolina, but yeah, yeah, I had same as you. I got an opportunity with the job, they were like, Hey, you want to go down there and do this? I've been driving a truck for 12 years, yeah, and I don't even have any idea why they asked me, but I was like, Yeah, dude, let's go. So I packed up, went to Charlotte. I lived there for several years. I do have to ask a question, and I know that this is gonna be like, Man, what's this dude's deal? Because I already mentioned granddad's pizza over on Morse Road, right? Charlotte, okay. What part of Charlotte do you live in? Because I gotta ask you favorite restaurants in Charlotte, North Carolina, and I gotta know if you're familiar with the absolute greatest restaurant on the face of the earth because it's in Charlotte and in Huntersville. All right. So what's your favorite spot in Charlotte?

SPEAKER_02 29:22

Yeah, so I mean you're you're talking to a foodie. I just cooked dinner myself. Um, I think some of the best places in Charlotte, uh, well, I'll I'll say this it's uh called the Crust Pizza. I give a special shout out to them. And I don't know if you know, but the crust pizza is started by some Buckeyes that moved to Charlotte and they're doing Ohio style pizza down here in Charlotte. So you need to do it here, yeah. Oh well, and like when I got it, I was like, this tastes like Donato's, which I haven't had donados in forever. So I was like, oh my gosh. Um, so I really like the crust. Um, soul food down here is is pretty good. I know merch is like the popular, that's where all the celebrities go. Um, you know, there's a lot of like new places popping up. There's always some new lounge, always some new bar and grill. Um, 10, I think it's 10 1058 or 1028, and for people affiliated with them, forgive me if I got the name wrong, but that's a really good restaurant. It's right next to the truist stadium or truest field. Um, so like, yeah, like I like to bounce around. Um, you always get some good stuff. What's the one in Huntersville?

SPEAKER_01 30:31

All right. So this the one in Charlotte is better, okay? Yeah. And my office when I was there, we're right off of um Freedom Highway or Freedom, whatever, is 74, right? And then there was independence, and right there, there's this little spot, and it used to be an automotive shop. Okay and it's called Pinky's West Side.

SPEAKER_02 30:49

Oh, I know Pinky's, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:51

And they got the old thing on the roof and everything. Dude, I went there the day that that place opened. And anytime I ever go to Charlotte, I make sure that I have like a three or four hour layover so I can leave the airport and go eat at Pinky's. And that is my favorite restaurant in the world. And I'm glad that you know about it because well, funny story.

SPEAKER_02 31:10

So I we went to my wife and I went to Pinky's, and she's on this diet at the time, and she's like, Well, I'm just gonna order a salad, but I'm like, Okay, yeah, that's what you want to get, and she gets a like a chicken salad, I think. And the salad comes and it's just like say it weighs like 17 pounds, a pile of just fried chicken on top of it, and yeah, I'm like on a some diet, so um no, Pinky's is really good. Uh, I've been there a few times actually. Um, and I you maybe you know, but I've always thought it was loosely based on the character Pinky from Friday.

SPEAKER_01 31:48

I don't know if you it tell me I could never get a real answer from anybody there, and I guarantee I haven't been to Pinky's probably in like at least five, six years now. I guarantee it's like the same waitresses that were there, like the day that I I first went there, and you see some famous people in there too. Like, there were some like Ric Flair and guys like that that just kind of show up and hang out, but that's that's completely off the subject, but I appreciate that because I always love to pass on a little bit of uh goodness about Pinky. So we'll kind of dive back into what we were actually here to talk about, which is your music. And I I want to know a little bit more about you know, you said you've you've put out a couple a couple singles, you put out an album. Now, I gotta know about the album here because I'm looking at the title, and the title is very intriguing to me. So, yeah, the title of the album is You Got McDonald's Money. So tell me a little bit about what's going on with that because that's a pretty cool title, no matter what the story is.

SPEAKER_02 32:45

Yeah, well, thank you. And and I so I was chatting with a buddy of mine, and I was like, I gotta name this album, and I need it to be something that is gonna just catch your attention. The second you read it, you're gonna say, What what what the hell is this? Like, I always imagine, like, you know, when you used to go to the actual CD store, you would go buy CDs and stuff, and I would think of it like if someone saw this in a CD store, would they at least pick it up? So that was what I was going for. But I also wanted to be able to like cut through and speak directly to my community. And the phrase, you got McDonald's money, question mark is something that a lot of people in the community know because when you're a kid, you're riding with your parents, your mom, your grandparents, whoever, going home, going somewhere, and you say, Can we stop and get McDonald's? Can we get McDonald's? Can we get McDonald's? And a lot of times the response instantly is you got McDonald's money, basically saying, No, we're not getting McDonald's because I'm not paying for no McDonald's. We got food at home. Um, and what I wanted to take that and just kind of put like a quick story behind it. So instead I said, You got McDonald's money, period. Where I'm not asking, I'm I'm telling you. And in the cover of is me looking at myself, a younger version of myself, saying, Hey man, look, you you good, you got McDonald's money. And it's a silly metaphor to just say you have resources, you you are doing okay, you've learned how to become financially intelligent, you learn how to become emotionally intelligent, you learn how to you know um provide for people that you care, care about, and love. Um, you know, you've got an education, you're you're progressing in life, basically, you're evolving and maturing. So that's really what it is when I say you got McDonald's money, saying in something that used to be used as a term of like putting someone down, and you're now you're you're changing it and you're lifting it up to tell somebody, hey man, you you you're gonna be just fine. You you're doing all right.

SPEAKER_01 34:36

That's an awesome story, right there. I love that, and that's that's such a cool origin, man. Like that that's that's terrific. Great. Um, I do want to ask you that like I'm just caught up in that. That was like a really that was a great story. So you've gotten, you know, some stuff out, some published material out there. Obviously, you're pretty serious about what you're doing, you're serious about your craft. Tell me a little bit about what the future looks like for you, as far as you know, you're continuing to evolve with your music, continuing to pursue that as your you know, your your overall means of supporting your family. What's the future look like as far as that goes? And if everything goes according to your plan, what are we looking at five years from now, besides you know, platinum albums on the wall behind you, obviously?

SPEAKER_02 35:24

Well, thank you, man. I I'm claiming that I appreciate it. Um, you know, like what I've been doing lately, and you've seen a little bit of it so far. After I put out my album, I put out a second EP called Madura Blend, which sounds fairly different from some of the other music I've worked on. And I put it out totally by accident, but it was just I'm in this new phase of life, and I got creative and I started writing about it. So now I'm kind of shifting my artistry from talking about then and how things used to be and what I saw and who did what then to now it's let's talk about me now. Where am I at in life currently? I'm a father, I'm a husband, you know, like I'm you know the leader of my household, you know, I'm someone that people look up to. I I like to think at times I'm you know, if I don't, then that's okay too. But like, so now I'm trying to like make music about that kind of stuff, um, but also make it sound cool, you know. So like a lot of people around my age, they're still making you know rap songs about you know, popping bottles and chains and cars and all of that. And I I like that stuff. Like, that is good music to me. People my age though aren't talking about 401ks and investments and you know, taking care of your kid and um you know, providing for your wife, things like that. But that's my truth, that's who I am. So now I'm focused on like a lot of my music is related to that, and I've challenged myself to make it sound just as cool. Like you hear it, and it's like, oh man, this is just as good as Lil' Baby or you know, um, 42 Doug or whoever else. And like, and I've gotten feedback from people where I was just at a wedding. Um, we're getting I was one of the I was the best man, actually. We're all getting dressed, and the one of the songs came on from that EP, and we're all just having a good time, getting dressed, enjoying it. And then my my friend, he's like, Yeah, y'all know that was you know, that was Lee. And I'm like, What? I didn't know that was you. Man, that's good, man. Play that again. I didn't, but I'm on there talking about investments and taking care of my kid and all that kind of stuff, but I'm getting the same reaction as I did when I was in the studio back in my early 20s. So um, you know, like I'm just evolving when it comes to music. I just did my first show back in Columbus. Um, you know, I when was that April, early April or so? Um, so I'm looking forward to doing more shows in Columbus, more shows in Charlotte. And I'm currently working on some new music now that hopefully will be out within the next three months or so. Um, and then that's something I'm looking forward to sharing with the world.

SPEAKER_01 38:00

Yeah, I love it. And I'll tell you what, you're good at this interview stuff because that's the segue of the year. The next question I had is all right, so we've got people that are watching this. I always say millions and millions of people already told you I'm I'm taking Joe Rogan down eventually. So we're gonna see some people that are gonna be watching this show. They're gonna be like, you know what? I like this guy, I like what he's talking about, positive, very upbeat. He's you know, just saying what I want to hear, and I'd like to buy some of his music. So, how do we go about making that happen?

SPEAKER_02 38:32

Yeah, so you can all my music is available on all streaming platforms: Spotify, Apple Music, Title, Amazon Music, YouTube, all that kind of stuff. Um, and you would just search Lee Music. Um, that's probably where you're gonna find it most likely. Or you can go to my Instagram, that's where pretty much that's like my personal store. Anything you want related to me is gonna be on my Instagram page at Lee Triple underscore music. So L-E-E underscore underscore underscore music. You can get links to all my you know, music that's already been put out. You'll be able to see links to shows I have coming up, you'll be able to see behind the scenes footage of me making songs and things like that. Um, I like to like really connect with people via Instagram. So please follow me if you if you like what you hear, and I look forward to interacting with you guys soon.

SPEAKER_01 39:18

Yeah, absolutely. And I I think that's cool. And I'm gonna go listen to your stuff now because you're on my show. I appreciate you. You came on here and supported me, so I'm definitely gonna support you. And before we wind this up, there's one last thing I definitely gotta do. And this is probably my favorite part of every episode. I get to introduce somebody brand new to my sponsor. Let me tell you, Lee, about my sponsor. It's called Roofer, R-O-O-F-R, Roofer.com. And Roofer is basically the solution for any roofing company for any problem you could ever have. We basically capture our initial lead from our clients, we walk them all the way through the process. We do all of our paperwork, we collect all of our payments, we do everything through the Roofer CRM. We measure the roofs and have a great time doing it. Roofer's been my sponsor for four years now, and it's been amazing watching them develop from basically just a free little service where you could measure a roof with a mouse pad to now literally running the entire organization through their software. So shout out to Roofer. I love you guys, and uh it's it's always been cool to have them as a sponsor. Before we call it a day, I definitely want to thank you for your time here. Is there anything that you'd like to impart upon our audience as a uh you know audios type uh message to our people today? And then we'll uh we'll play an ad for the roofing sponsor and uh we'll wrap up on the backside.

SPEAKER_02 40:46

Okay, yeah, I appreciate that. Uh first thing, thanks for giving me information about Roofer. Um, when I need to get some roof stuff done in my house, which hopefully isn't soon, but if so, I'll be sure to reach out to them. That's uh always good to have more information. So thank you. Um the biggest thing I like to leave people with, and I kind of alluded to it earlier, is don't be uh I wish I would have or I wish I could have kind of person. Um that's kind of what's driving me a lot when it comes to this music thing. If there's something that you want to do, if there's something you aspire to do, if there's something you want to try, just go out there and do it and give it your all and your best. And if you are seeing progress of any sort, and it doesn't matter, it doesn't have to be drastic, it doesn't have to be huge, but as long as you're seeing progress with whatever it is you want to do, keep doing it. Um, because the last thing you want to do is be someone that says, I wish I would have done this, I wish I could have done this. Um, so just you know, whatever it is you want to do, keep it up.

SPEAKER_01 41:41

There you go. That's the story of life right there, folks. And I can't say enough how much I appreciate you taking the time to be here this evening. Um, on behalf of everybody at Keeping It Rio, you know, you guys know how I ended every week. This is actually my first episode with my new logo in the back here. It's a lot more energized than what it was. So I always like to end by saying until next week, you guys, keep on keeping it Rio. And uh we'll be back next Thursday. Please stick around for just a second after I cut this off and we'll finish our conversation on the back side. Thank you guys.

SPEAKER_00 42:14

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