Embark on a narrative voyage with the multi-talented Gianni Lee, as we traverse the intersections of art, music, and fashion that map his life story. From the humble beginnings in the landscape of West Philly, Gianni's trajectory is a testament to the transformative power of creativity. Our conversation peels back the layers of a man whose artistic prowess touches the walls of city streets, the threads of fashion, and the beats that drive the nightlife—each chapter a verse in his living anthology.
As the needle drops on Philly's vibrant party scene, Gianni spins tales of his evolution from a fledgling DJ to a connoisseur of cultural beats, blending the influence of Baltimore Club Music with the essence of his hometown. The melody of his journey harmonizes with the synchronicity of serendipitous moments, like kindling a clothing brand with the spark of celebrity influence. Every anecdote is a stroke of paint on the canvas of Gianni's career, which stretches from the tactile realm of fashion to the audible dimensions of music production.
Closing the curtain on our session, we turn the spotlight onto Gianni's burgeoning podcast, teasing future symphonies of conversation laced with personal quirks and introspective musings. His story—punctuated with laughter, reflection, and a candid dissection of career milestones—serves as an invitation to listeners to join the chorus of dream chasers. Tune in, not just for the echoes of Gianni's inspirations, but to ignite your own ambitions and revel in the collective crescendo of creative pursuits.
Talk Soon! ✌🏾
Stay connected! Follow @wnttlk on all platforms.
Embark on a narrative voyage with the multi-talented Gianni Lee, as we traverse the intersections of art, music, and fashion that map his life story. From the humble beginnings in the landscape of West Philly, Gianni's trajectory is a testament to the transformative power of creativity. Our conversation peels back the layers of a man whose artistic prowess touches the walls of city streets, the threads of fashion, and the beats that drive the nightlife—each chapter a verse in his living anthology.
As the needle drops on Philly's vibrant party scene, Gianni spins tales of his evolution from a fledgling DJ to a connoisseur of cultural beats, blending the influence of Baltimore Club Music with the essence of his hometown. The melody of his journey harmonizes with the synchronicity of serendipitous moments, like kindling a clothing brand with the spark of celebrity influence. Every anecdote is a stroke of paint on the canvas of Gianni's career, which stretches from the tactile realm of fashion to the audible dimensions of music production.
Closing the curtain on our session, we turn the spotlight onto Gianni's burgeoning podcast, teasing future symphonies of conversation laced with personal quirks and introspective musings. His story—punctuated with laughter, reflection, and a candid dissection of career milestones—serves as an invitation to listeners to join the chorus of dream chasers. Tune in, not just for the echoes of Gianni's inspirations, but to ignite your own ambitions and revel in the collective crescendo of creative pursuits.
Talk Soon! ✌🏾
Stay connected! Follow @wnttlk on all platforms.
Gee, I've actually been trying to get you on the show for a while, so I'm happy you're finally.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you the look, you the that kind of the crazy, don't put it on me.
Speaker 1:That kind of the crazy, you know, I was like oh man, I'm in Paris this week, oh fuck.
Speaker 2:I'm in Philly with the mayor Wait. I'm actually like Now I'm in Paris, now I'm in Philly with the mayor.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no. It would be really hard to find.
Speaker 2:Well, you, don't be with the New York mayor, do you? No, I?
Speaker 1:don't be with no guy there. I'm not you, Gee. I'm not you. I'm sorry, Not yet. I'm still trying to let you.
Speaker 2:I'm trying to get like you with the orchestra. Yeah right, I'm trying to get like you.
Speaker 1:But now I'm really glad and it's funny, because even I remember when I saw like your compound you got a DJ set up that you can paint, then you play the guitar and then you go on your fucking big ass computer and create. I'm like nah, this, this is gold.
Speaker 2:What's up y'all? Gianni Lee here, make sure you check out my remix with the Philly Goats. You might have seen my tag around the city, so now you see it in the physical.
Speaker 1:Nylon. This is really good. So let's Well, let me do the intro. I just started chatting, but let's do the intro. I'm showing my score.
Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying? Yeah, you know.
Speaker 1:What's going on, guys? Nylon Simone here with another episode of we Need to Talk, and today I have a very special guest in the building. We have Gianni Lee here. How are you?
Speaker 2:How you doing, man, I'm good, I'm happy to be here, I'm so, I'm just hyped to be here. I feel like Tom Cruise, when he was sitting next to Oprah, I might jump. I might jump on top of this chair and just like I might turn your shit up a little bit, don't get mad at I. Just feel like I'll stand the next to the next Oprah y'all. You know what.
Speaker 2:Well, I appreciate that I'm so excited, I'm excited, I'm playing, I'm playing, I don't even know how to intro you because you have so many things under your belt.
Speaker 1:As a creative, you do mad things, from cover arts Grammy nominated cover arts to DJing, to painting, to clothing. By the way, clothing is fire. Sneakers also fire. High quality, great material. I wish.
Speaker 2:I brought the sneaks.
Speaker 1:I'm clearly a fan. I wish you brought the sneaks too. I honestly probably should have worn the sneaks. I be wearing your shit, you do All the time. I wear the shoes. I wear the shirts. Hey, I got the skateboard. I'm not going to pull it down.
Speaker 2:We'll get a little video of the skateboard and then we'll like drop it right here so you can see it, or I'll just come back and hold it in and just something like that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but also outside of that your tag is notorious in New York City. Everywhere I go, I see your tag, I see the skeleton.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I always add elements of it somewhere. Yes, yeah, this ain't even my jacket. This is a jacket gifted to me from Major League Soccer, and they did a collaboration with an Asian designer and they did it for the All-Star game that was in DC. I always like to just add my. I just paint on stuff all the time, so whatever if it's outside or if it's just on me, you know what I mean. I wish I would have brought my paint. I would have just spray painted it on you. I started too, but I was like you can't have the aerosol on the inside, I wouldn't have mine, I mean I would have stepped out.
Speaker 1:We should probably do it at the end, but it's cool. Yeah, next time, next time. But, gianni, you have done so much, so let's just do a backstory as to who you are, where you from and how you got started.
Speaker 2:All right, damn, my name is Gianni Lee. My middle name is Blast, which is crazy. I don't really talk about that that much, but my mom, that's actually a fire name.
Speaker 2:My mom was a model, so she just named me as the designer. So Gianni Versace and Bill Blast. I don't really know too much about Bill Blast. I think he made handbags and like pants or something like that for women. But she loved Bill Blast so she was like all right, I'm going to make Blast the middle name and make Gianni the first name. That's cute, that's just me, but nobody knows that it's just Gianni. Gianni Lee.
Speaker 1:No, Blast is fire. Maybe, in an alternate.
Speaker 2:You know, no, Gianni Blast could be like I could make handbags when they be Gianni Blast or something like that. True, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But from Philly, man from Philly, philly, philly was crazy growing up. Philly was wild growing up. Like looking back at it now, it just was wild to be a person that was like so into visual art and my mom kind of like just pushed me into art Like I really just wanted to play ball and just like hanging around chicks growing up Like that's all I wanted to do. I just wanted to be outside be bad, do you know?
Speaker 1:Niggas shit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, do niggas shit Wait. Can we say, can we curse? No, no, you're good, All right, you know, hang out with my friends, Like you know what I'm saying. Like getting a good trouble, not bad trouble. I wasn't the baddest kid but I got into trouble like any other boy. But it was fun to get into trouble. It was fun to just do things you wasn't supposed to do. Who the hell is your friends?
Speaker 1:It was fun. What's your son?
Speaker 2:I'm a Gemini Trouble. So it was just fun, you know, and like I just had to buckle down because this is the problem. Like it was it was, it was still crazy. In West Philly it was crazy. It was a lot of, like you know, gang violence. We didn't really think it was gang violence thing because we wouldn't call it that. It was just like hoods, beef and what hoods you know what I'm saying Every day stuff, every day stuff Hoods, beef and what hoods, and like we just didn't really know what to do with it.
Speaker 2:So it was just kind of like you picked a side and my mom picked a side for me. She was like you ain't gonna be outside too much now, Like I'm gonna let you go play and all that, but no, you're going to be doing after school programs art. You know you want to play football for that team or you can go play football and go to football practice, but you also got to report to your school programs for your AP courses and like art courses. So I was doing art class since I was like four or five, like my first art class was an art school. It was called Moonstone, it was a kindergarten and like when we did bad shit, we would have to draw it.
Speaker 1:You had to draw what you did.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you had to draw what you did, wow, yeah, so like, for example, one time, like this little girl wanted to like I was really in the ghost busters, that was like my shit growing up, and she wanted to. I had like a little trap that you pull out, you step on it and open up and stuff, like I was. I was, I thought I was a ghost buster growing up and she wanted to play with it and I'm, you know, you, you, you repeat what your mom says. So my mom was like ain't nobody playing with nothing? I bought that. So I was saying, no, you can't play with this, my mom bought it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:She told on me I get in trouble and I got to draw. So it's like this little crew like drawing to me, like with like the stick figure with the eyes pointing in because I'm mad and I'm like not letting her like play with the trap and that's the punishment. That was the punishment.
Speaker 1:That's a damn good punishment.
Speaker 2:It actually works, cause it's like you learned like okay, you got to share, you know what I'm saying. So then, going back home, my mom just taught me, like you know, like well, you know, when you're outside you have to play by their rules to a certain extent. Not necessarily saying that you have to share, like I still pay for that, but you have to learn how to like work with others work with others.
Speaker 2:So it was like an interesting, like lesson. But yeah, that was me and Philly and like I don't know, do I tell everything, or?
Speaker 1:like, did you go to a performing arts high school as well?
Speaker 2:I wouldn't call it performer arts, but Kappa was the performer arts high school and Philly I went to a school called charter high school for architecture and design and like just to get people background, if y'all know who Quinta Brunson is, quinta B, you know. Quinta Ava Elementary. She went to Chad also we call it a Chad for short. She went to Chad also. So she was a year under me and she went to and like that's kind of like the type of people that would. You know. That school was breeding like you know, architecture, design, like all different elements inside of that, and it was just like a fun school. It was like the same setup as like kindergarten. It was like eight periods, whatever like that Then had to do with art during the whole thing. Like I designed buildings, I designed like my first. I worked with a rapper and we recorded like an album like off of like I don't even know how we did this.
Speaker 1:Wait, you were rapping.
Speaker 2:No, I was just making the beats, okay, and I made them on this little small sampler called the SP505.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:And I was like sampling all the samples in and he was rapping over the stuff and we was using like Asset Pro to record and we was recording off of Mike into like a tape recorder or something like that. I don't know, it wasn't mixed enough. And then after he recorded like five tracks, I did all the album art, shot it and that was like my senior project or something like that that's fire, yeah, so like that was high school, and then they had the wrong people come and speak to us.
Speaker 1:What do you mean?
Speaker 2:Like they just had, like I don't know. I just thought that, like I don't know, it just made me think art was lame At some point. I just figured that art was lame. They just had lame folks coming and speaking to us. Like everybody that they had to come speak to was people that was pursuing art and decided to teach. And I'm not saying that being a teacher is wrong, but I'm somebody who, like I, wanted to be lit, like I wanted to do everything. Pharrell was my inspiration. Right, I'm seeing what Pharrell did. Pharrell didn't go to art school. He went to perform at art school, but he didn't go to college for arts. He could have you know what I'm saying? Like that's how talented he was, but those were my, those were my, like you know, my heroes. And then, like y'all bringing these people in that's like you know, telling you that they gave up on their dreams, so it just wasn't. I'm like damn, like maybe art not for me, you know, like, what can I do?
Speaker 2:And I always, like it's so funny, like, like even being here, like being on this strip, like right here, like in middle of time square, like I used to enter into MTV and like. So, basically, college, I went to Temple University, I went for communication and broadcasting because I was like I got a look like you know what I'm saying, I'm charismatic. I was on TV and like MTV told me that I don't want to be on TV, like, or at least by Wait, what were you doing for the internship?
Speaker 2:Interning in the. I was just in the, in the thick of everything. I was really just logging, logging and capturing footage and just like typing every word that was written and stuff like that. But I was working under Sway too. I was working under Sway and I was working under Ramon Dukes.
Speaker 1:Oh yes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so like they, like I learned a lot from them. Legends, yeah, legends, and I was in that small period of time, so like I can't diss them. But just the whole, I guess just the uh politics politics of it.
Speaker 2:It turned me off of it. Like you know what I'm saying, like I would have. And then, like the internet happened, and then I saw that I don't really need to do it that way. I can still, like, enter it my own way and like it's 2023 and it's been. We got so many different examples of you. Don't got to do it that way. Like you know what I mean. Like you're here, you're the perfect example, but it's crazy because we're on, we're walking in these same hallways as they did. Like you know what I mean. Like this strip is like this is a legendary strip.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And for you to have, like you know, your film and your show here like that's, like that's beautiful for real.
Speaker 1:I never actually looked at it like that, but that is kind of symbolic yeah.
Speaker 2:Like Beyonce walked through these hallways. Like everybody, like, like T-Pain, like whoever you name has walked through a building either this building or the building next door over and over again, Like now you're here doing the same exact thing, and just the new version of it. Damn the new generation.
Speaker 1:That's kind of crazy.
Speaker 2:Yep, sheesh, I'm here as a guest, like that's crazy too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, cool, I like that perspective. I'm gonna have to kind of keep that in mind. But all right. So you entered in that MTV. You realized, all right, this isn't really for me, did you try doing like on camera work or not. You did it.
Speaker 2:I didn't even really get to do it. I don't know Like I was. It was just harder than it was just harder to do all that stuff because you needed so much. It wasn't like.
Speaker 1:Cameras weren't as accessible.
Speaker 2:Yeah, cameras wasn't as accessible. Everything was still analog, so everything was like you just needed all this stuff to do it, and I was just like once. This is the problem with being like a jack of all trades is like you don't really hone in on one thing.
Speaker 2:So, like one thing wasn't working. I was just on to the next. So it's like, since I really couldn't get on camera to really like put in that 10,000 hours, I was like, all right, I'm just going to go back home and throw parties. I was like throwing parties, but that helped me as being a promoter and Philly, because I was just able to meet people and just like get a network. So like in a way, like I still was forced to actually be on camera or be in front of people, in a way, because if I'm hosting these parties and promoting them, I'm on stage, on a mic saying something.
Speaker 2:And then that kind of led in the DJing, because I started being around the other DJs and I was getting my crash course in Philly, so I was around like the greats and not even just the greats on the radio, like, of course, diamond Cuts and all of them. Like I learned stuff from them just like by being around and watching them do what they do, but also like college DJs, which is like a real skill. That is a skill that we don't talk about as much being a college DJ, having to like really take different cultures. Like you got the New York, the DMV, you got the DMV.
Speaker 1:Philly, and you were a college DJ. No, I wasn't a college DJ. You just went to college.
Speaker 2:I mean, I went to college, back to our DJing towards the end of college. But you still, kind of like a college DJ, you still had to know all that stuff. You know what I'm saying. So in a way, you probably ain't do everything, but you still, like, had to have that.
Speaker 1:So, like you said, like the DMV, has their own style, down south of course, and it's also like a culture shock too, because the DJ starts playing shit and you see certain people react highly and then you're like, oh wait, what's that?
Speaker 2:Man, my favorite part was like being at a party. Like you know, it would depend on who was throwing what like, because I also was promoting on college campus as well at the same time. So it was like promoting on college campus and if you think from a money standpoint that's five to $10 to get in Then I'm still doing local parties. That's 30, 40 at the door. You know what I'm saying. And then I'm going up on the weekdays to go up to MTV and to have the whole New York experience. So I was like back and back and back and forth.
Speaker 1:That's a lot, but that's great.
Speaker 2:But through that I was learning how to DJ. And it's like being at that moment where you throwing a party and like you know, like you look around, you look in the crowds, like oh, it's about a good like 70, 80, like DMV MS in here, like I know, when I play this go go song, they go crazy, yeah. And then you play it, they go crazy and everybody's looking around like what is he playing? And you got to bring them back into it. I'm like all right, let me play, get on my level or something like that. Get on my level, what like? Just play something you can never, ever and everybody's going crazy. So like that was the crash course in DJ in general and that's what like made me love it.
Speaker 2:So then I guess I started throwing house parties and house parties is what allowed me to like DJ myself because, I didn't feel like I was strong enough to like play like a venue or anything yet and play on like the turntables. So I would just play on this little forgot what it was like some like early controller type thing, and I would just play at my crib and we would just throw like little house parties. And then I remember like my roommates got robbed and I didn't, but they got robbed because they wasn't fulfilling. I was, I just figured it out.
Speaker 1:You know, Philly is so.
Speaker 2:I was just I figured it out. So one day I was going to the Chinese store and, like one of my friends called me from my old block. I lived in North Philly, I'm from West, so I'm in North Philly living on like off the campus and I'm just on the phone talking. So when you talk to the people back home, your, your, your accent tends to come out. So I didn't have that college boy accent Like I was talking like yo, boy, what's up?
Speaker 2:Oh, are you? Oh, he drawn, like saying all that stuff. So one of the like the local kids came in and it was like yo, where you from? I was like I'm from West, he's like where. I said, oh, I'm from 54th Delancey, and he was like D block. I was like, yeah, d block. And he was like I was like wait, you know, somebody named Porkey and if anytime Porkey is somebody, if you from my block, if you mentioned Porkey, because Porkey could fight. He used to always suck his thumb and he had like a gap too, but he could fight, he could fight his ass off. So if you mentioned Porkey to anybody that says D block, they know you solid. It was just like mentioned. It was like mentioning like the right, like that right, gangster.
Speaker 1:Porkey was a grown man that sucked his thumb. That's his thing.
Speaker 2:He just sucked his thumb man.
Speaker 1:It was like a like a twit type thing or something Like a twit since a child and he, he whipped, he had hands.
Speaker 2:So when I mentioned Porkey, dude just looked at it. He's like yeah, I know Porkey, I know Porkey, he said it for sure. I said oh, you really know Porkey. Cause you called him Porkey? Yeah, so then he nodded and then that was it. I don't know what happened after that, but then, like in the past, in the next two weeks, my roommates got robbed and I didn't.
Speaker 1:Damn, that's hilarious. Yup, so like I don't know, Shout out to him for sparing you yeah.
Speaker 2:It was something about like going to temple, a Philly school, but being around so many different cultures and then being able to share yours and like even it, it helped you with certain ways, Like okay, I know what blocks to walk down.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Y'all, don't you bring your little Connecticut ass and walk them? Come with me, you good, you know what I'm saying. Or like having a little girlfriend and like driving into my hood, like, yeah, we go to West Philly, I'm gonna show you a little couple of my spots and all that. She from Connecticut or New York, never seen New York at the end of life, so that was fun. And then, yeah, then I left New York, I mean I left Philly.
Speaker 1:Didn't you end up going to LA right?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, tell me about your time in LA. I hear people tell me they moved to LA. They get depressed or they moved to LA.
Speaker 2:I moved to LA. You got depressed. You did yeah, I got depressed in LA.
Speaker 1:I wasn't expecting you to say that I thought that's when you really thrived.
Speaker 2:I thrived but got depressed at the same time. So, amongst all this stuff, I had a clothing brand with my boys called Babylon Cartel. So that was like the driving creative force for me. This is before I started like painting or anything. So that was the driving force. It was just this clothing brand and once again, it was just before TikTok, before Instagram, so it was a little bit harder to really get things out.
Speaker 2:So I was like how am I going to really make this thing shape? What am I going to do? So my ex she moved to LA and I don't know, I rekindled with her and I was like you know. I was like, oh, I'm going to come out there, try things out, but just to let you know, I'm coming out there for my own thing. So if it don't you know what I mean we basically just like if it don't work, no hard feelings, but I'm out there to really make something shape. So, and I'll never forget, when I moved out to LA was 2012. So Kendrick's album dropped and that was like the soundtrack of everything for me, like Kendrick's first album we already knew Mixed Tape, kendrick we already knew Overly Dedicated and all that stuff. Mad.
Speaker 1:City.
Speaker 2:Yeah, good, kid Mad City that dropped at the same exact time I stepped on LA's soil and that album was-.
Speaker 1:What a time to be there, man. Yeah, perfect.
Speaker 2:So I got a job like it didn't even take long. I got a job at Awesomeness TV and this is when I really started like figuring out the power of YouTube and Awesomeness TV was it was like owned by Russell Simmons randomly, or something like that but Awesomeness TV was just a YouTube network and they made like Kid Friendly. It was like, basically, the producers of Nickelodeon started a YouTube network and called it Awesomeness TV and they would just like take programming that you usually would see on Nickelodeon or something like that Put it on Like, put it on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was like reality TV for kids.
Speaker 1:Got it.
Speaker 2:And I was like doing all the YouTube back end stuff for the job, so I was just getting paid coming in there. Well, I liked about this job was they fed you every day Fire. They fed you at lunch every day. So like I had my first like startup Santa Monica style job in LA.
Speaker 1:We love a job that feeds, by the way.
Speaker 2:I like to eat. So you know, yeah, yeah, y'all make sure if y'all come up here, y'all feed this girl. Man, y'all feed her. Okay, get a budget, get it in the budget, get in the food budget, Feed her. If y'all come up here, you need to start bringing some like chefs up here and stuff like that Maybe become. Bring some food.
Speaker 1:That's a good idea.
Speaker 2:Your aunties or moms cook. Bring her a plate. I should have brought you a plate in my bag, I ain't even you be shuffling yes, what I cook.
Speaker 1:I didn't know that.
Speaker 2:Yes, I knew I really could cook when I made a roux, when I, when I like it, like a roux, just like a sauce, like a sauce, like a gravy, but it's called a roux because you know it's French or roux yeah, I don't even know how to spell it. But yeah, once I started making roux and I was like, all right, I'm going to accentuate this with a roux, I was like, okay, I could cook, like you know what I'm saying. So next time I bring you know that might have to.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but um yeah, so I was doing that at Austin is TV, the brand started popping off randomly. So what happened was it was so crazy. So I had this logo. Was like a B in the sea and I got really inspired by the Chanel logo. So I wanted something as simple as the Chanel logo. I was printed on the back of these military jackets and like nobody in Philly was fucking with them and I was like, oh, y'all crazy, like this is hot. Like a vintage military jacket with a logo on the back like y'all tripping, like this is the hottest thing ever, and like nobody was really banging with it, like that man.
Speaker 2:I went to LA. I was like I knew if I go to LA, like so I saw a. I went to a Rocky show and I knew Rocky's DJ. Rest in Peace, jay Scott. I knew his DJ. I don't know how we met, but I just knew him. So he was like, yeah, we got a show at the Hollywood Play Dio. I'm like, pull up. So I was like, all right, I got the little backstage joint, so I'm just back there, like not thinking nothing of it, and then Rihanna walks in because she wanted to catch the show. So I'm like so, like it's just we are backstage, it's no real big thing. So Rihanna just stand the next to me, so we just both looking at the show. I'm like I understand right here, like how can I make this connect and not be a fan? I didn't know what to do. It's like-.
Speaker 1:To not be a fan. Part is key.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like how can I make this connection and not be a fan? And I was like I looked.
Speaker 2:I was like, oh, I actually got on my camo jacket with the logo on the back, just so happens. I was like all right, let me go to the bathroom and make this. You know, I went to the bathroom, took it off, folded it up. It was cold at the elegant cold. So if you're on the elegant cold at night, so it was cold that day and I wasn't driving that like this, I was on a bike, so I was getting around on a bike. Folded that join up. Oh, it was cold as hell going on yeah, folded that, join up.
Speaker 2:And right when I I came out the perfect time, cause she was about to be on her way to wherever. So Rocky gets off, he says hustle and bustle security, trying to make sure everything set and solid. So I tapped her on the shoulder. That was a mistake, Not like for the security. She was chill about it, but security was like look at him. I was like no, no, no, no, no, I'm not a family, I'm just trying to give it his jacket. So she was like so she takes it. She don't say thank you, she looks at it, that's it and walks off a week later and this is when Instagram really started popping.
Speaker 1:I'm cracking up at this. She don't say thank you, she don't say thank you.
Speaker 2:The best part of the story that she don't say thank you. She does not say thank you. So I was like whatever, like, like what the fuck, she's gonna say it's Briana, yeah Like whatever she wears it like every day. So now everybody from fully call me yo, we got your jacket on, yo, I need two. I need one for my son, I need one for my sister.
Speaker 2:I just asked y'all about this joint and y'all was like that's how everything is, though I just asked y'all about this jacket and y'all was like I don't know, I don't know if I can do the 150. I was like okay.
Speaker 1:But Briana in it, so they can do the 150.
Speaker 2:Yo, so yeah, so that catapulted us and it didn't got us enough money to be able to go and get some stuff like actually made. So after that we did this soccer jersey, like right after I just got enough money to be able to take it and flip it into the soccer jersey, and so like the brand kind of like blew up from that, from like that Briana wearing it, and then like everybody started wearing it, like Meek, tiana Teller, iggy Azalea, like all the people at that time that were like kind of popping around at time, like we're wearing it. At some point, I think, yeah, jaden and Willow Smith wore it, that's fire.
Speaker 2:They wore something from the brand, but yeah, but like, that was like, and then all of it was just like posting it on Instagram. Posting it on Instagram Every time somebody wore something, post that shit, post that shit, post that shit.
Speaker 1:And like it was definitely worth that cold white grout home, yeah, 100%.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, see you a woman for real, because women you already like comfort and I I do you already like comfort, so you still call that out. I ain't even say anything about that right home, like wait. I gotta be cold. That right home was crazy. That right home, like on that bike in the cold LA air. Yeah, I'm riding home no jacket on and I'm like, yeah, I hope she wear this shit. I ain't even know she was gonna wear it or not. Literally like the next week, everybody's hitting my phone, they want one.
Speaker 1:That's sort of I don't wanna go on a site.
Speaker 2:Just here go the money I. Just how can I send it to you Like it wasn't cash every that time?
Speaker 1:but it's sure, man, that is your thank you. Shout out to Rih-Rih.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I always gotta thank Rih and Rihanna for that, cause they're kind of like that's what brought me into this world for real. So afterwards, you know, like any other business, like if you're not really like developing it or like running it like perfectly, it's gonna like fall off. So like the supply and the demand didn't hit. So like we weren't hitting the demand, like people really wanted stuff and we just didn't have enough to really hit the supply, like it just wasn't enough, it wasn't enough money. We needed an investment for real.
Speaker 2:So it just was kind of hard to get that stuff at that time, like I'm just this black guy in LA trying to make it happen.
Speaker 2:And then, like we kind of like, you know, we lost a little bit of our like I don't know, we lost a little something at the time because, like at the same time, virgil came out with one of the first off white jackets and when I'm not saying that he took from us, but everybody gets inspired by something Virgil put out an off white jacket that was a camel jacket that had just the simple off white logo and white screen print on the back, and we was like we don't know if he took our idea or not, but this is what we talking about, cause everybody started wearing the off white camel jacket with the off white logo on the back. It was the most simple thing in the world. It just hit you know what I'm saying Like it was just like a good, just a good design, like anything. It didn't matter what the logo was on the back, if it was just a cool logo and if it was the right person at the head of it put it out, it'll go.
Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying? So, like Virgil was the right person hitting it and it went when he did it too. So we was like telling people, like I told y'all, like we did it, now Virgil doing it too. Like I told them, like it was so many people that they didn't have ours, they had Virgil's version. And we was like see, told you so, like that just-.
Speaker 1:So that's when the business gotta be right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the business wasn't right man.
Speaker 2:The business wasn't right so I stopped doing it. And then my girlfriend at the time we don't got to worry about who she was, but I ended up, you know, I ended up cutting it off with my girlfriend at the time that I moved out there with and I was dating this singer and she was really inspirational in terms of she was like one of the ones that told me to paint. So she was like you know, I always see you like always see your designs, like you always are drawing your designs. I would draw the people in my stuff. She's like you ever thought of just like taking that and just making artwork out of it and I was like, nah, so then, like towards the end of our relationship, I started really just painting.
Speaker 1:You started listening.
Speaker 2:I started listening to her and I started ignoring her at the same time. So it was just like I was just like turning my living room into like a art studio and I would just paint every day and I would just ignore everybody and just be in there painting.
Speaker 2:Because we weren't making clothes, no more. I was like I got to be in the zone so I just started like if I wasn't painting, I was like making beats, I was doing one or the other, and that's kind of like how the painting should develop. It was just over time I just kind of like started developing it and honestly, I feel like I'm still developing. I feel like I'm still like kind of like in the infancy stages of what my art could be Really. Yeah, I don't think I really like even really like hit my stride for real.
Speaker 1:No, I'm shocked.
Speaker 2:No, not enough. People know about me yet. That's how I know I haven't hit it yet. People know about me, people know about it, but it's just like.
Speaker 1:Or people have seen it too.
Speaker 2:People have seen it, but it's just like that moment hasn't happened and really tied all together, but it's happening. You know what I mean. So, like the more and more I do things, it's really getting there. But like during that time and like you know, this is way, this is like 2016, 17, 18. Yeah, this is when I really started painting, like I didn't know you were that new to painting.
Speaker 1:I had no idea. Yeah, no.
Speaker 2:Like I just started painting in like 2017.
Speaker 1:Wow, I love that. What's the cause? This is photography. You do photography as well, yeah. Um the blue. You did a shoot. The woman has a blue body. Yeah, what is that? Based off of your tag.
Speaker 2:No, so I wanted the tag to be different from the paintings that I do inside. So that way I just have, like any artist, especially artists that you know, like they kind of got like a perfect example, a tattoo artist. If a tattoo artist is known for certain things, they got like a menu stuff. They was like you know, you might have a tattoo artist that does certain things. They have a menu. I got this, I got this, I got this. So I like to look at my art as a menu and you might know me, you know you got a menu. You got the item that everyone knows where everybody goes to McDonald's for the fries.
Speaker 2:Right Then you got the fillet fish, you got the Big Mac, you got all that other stuff. So it's like my French fry. To me is the skeleton, like, if I'm McDonald's, like that's my French fry, like it's going to be the same wherever you go. It's going to smell the same, taste the same. You know what I'm saying. It's classic. It's classic.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know it's easy to produce. Yeah, fries is just cut them. You know what I mean, as long as it's consistent. I use the same brushes, I use the same style, like I just kind of like figured it out. So, even with the skeleton, it started off as like me using paint brushes and all that stuff and I was like, nah, I need to be quicker. So I started using spray paint, but then spray paint takes a little bit of a time to dry. So if I do a bunch and walk around the corner, so that way I don't be like on the corner too long, smart, I'll just spray paint first, walk. I don't know, maybe I'll do it after a party. So that way I'm talking to people. I like doing it after parties too.
Speaker 1:Kill time.
Speaker 2:Kill time. My, you know people be excited about it. They'll film it. But also so many people being centered around while I'm painting, I don't really look like I'm committing a crime.
Speaker 2:So, I used to always do it after parties in New York and stuff like that, or like during Fashion Week broad day, like people waiting in line. I would just like literally move people out the way as they're waiting to get in, like Javanchi, issa, laram, louis Vuitton, like whatever. Like they literally waiting in line to get in this stuff. I'm moving these little fancy people out the way.
Speaker 1:Excuse me, excuse me and then paint.
Speaker 2:Spray painting. They're like. They're like looking at me like I'm crazy, that's dope though, and then I'm done and then like they like who is this guy? And then I walk off and then it's like a whole wall of skeletons and they were just waiting in line the whole time. And then it's like y'all my cover. I told one lady one time oh, the white lady. She was like what made you do it? Now, I was like I was like, cause you my cover.
Speaker 2:I was like they ain't gonna arrest you Right, like who they gonna arrest first me or you and I looked at her. She didn't want to say nothing. I was like you know they gonna arrest first. God bless her.
Speaker 2:I was like she just made this space. Like now, sir, like so. But all of this is like real world experience, like how do I do this? And so then I did it so good in New York. Now I was like, okay, I started to get a little bit money from like brand collaborations, people being interested in me, so I would save that money. Instead of like buying designer, I'll just take trips, I'll go spend. You know, I'll never I'll never get a Paris ticket, cause I could always go to London and just kill two birds with one stone. So I'll go to London, get a little Airbnb or a hotel, stay there for a week, go out every night. I can see what walls I can hit up, meet, link with friends. If I got friends out there, then I'm like, all right, bet, I'll take a train down to Paris, get an Airbnb or a hotel in Paris for like three days. It's way cheaper than flying to Paris.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Out in Paris running around tagging Paris.
Speaker 1:That's dope.
Speaker 2:Then boom, come back to London and then just get on the plane and like head back to New York. That's dope and like same thing in like Cuba. I had a friend out there in Cuba and linked up with some other artists who were like graffiti artists and that's the thing is like my stuff is graffiti but it isn't so like. The thing about graffiti is graffiti is like like and I hate to say this and know if no diss to any graffiti artists, without y'all I wouldn't be here. But the only thing about graffiti is when you walk down the street in Brooklyn or wherever you know what I mean you see graffiti like a lot of it doesn't really like capture your eye right, because it kind of all blends together.
Speaker 1:That's it. I don't know what it is.
Speaker 2:And it's all just words. But if you see my skeleton, that will stand out and you know what I mean. And like, that's the same for any pedestrian at all. Like my stuff always stands out and I'm doing the same thing as anyone else. And it's just because it's a different figure. And I learned that from just like following the greats, jean-michel Bosky, before he was doing all the stuff that he was doing he, him and his partner at the time I forgot his name, but they used to write sentences. So instead of doing graffiti, they would just write I don't know, a pen is like a punch in order, and they would just write it and it would stand out to people and they'd be like oh, this is cool. Oh yeah, some dude named Sambo did this.
Speaker 1:Because it's cleaner.
Speaker 2:It's just clean, it's just, it's just, and the sentence means something Keith Herring same thing. He was just doing these little characters and they were just running around all over it. So it's like yo I was like I gotta do something like that and that's what I was doing. Like that stuff inspired me. So I'm like I have to do something like that. So that led to the skeleton. So then I was like okay, something that stands out. It don't look like Bosky out stuff, it don't look like Keith Herring stuff, but it has those same sensibilities. It's clean, like Bosky out, it's in movement, it's interacting with the public, like Keith Herring's work. So like that's kind of like how I made sense of it.
Speaker 1:That's a great recipe.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just like I really studied the graceful for a life, especially with art when I got into art, I'm gonna say and study, like I watched this documentary called the radiant child. I watched that probably like 150 times. Jesus yeah, just I'll just have it on repeat while I'm painting. They've been like damn you, really inspired by Boschie. I'm like no, I'm not watching it for his work, I'm watching it for his story.
Speaker 2:How he finessed the art world is crazy. Like y'all think he just came and he finessed y'all niggas, straight up. He finessed all of y'all. Y'all even realized he finessed y'all In a good way. I like to see it Like. You know what I'm saying. Like Boschie, I was aware though people don't realize that like a weirdo in a good way and a weirdo in a bad way. He didn't wear those shit sometimes, like he walked up on his homies, girlfriends. It was giving them flowers and stuff like Weirdo, clown shit. Yeah, because he thought he was the man, he was the and he was. So he just did stuff like that and the girls was so not to your friend.
Speaker 2:Maybe they're not really friends, I don't know, but if you watch the documentary he really did it. He would go up to his friends and give flowers to their girlfriends.
Speaker 1:That's, that's wow.
Speaker 2:He was. That's how he communicated, that's how he did stuff. He thought he was the man. He thought he could do that. Lord have mercy sometimes he got away with it.
Speaker 1:Yes, he's gonna watch this doc.
Speaker 2:You gotta watch the doc man. You gotta watch the doc. You gotta watch that one. It's another documentary called boom for real. Boom for real covers his first few years before he got famous. And it talks about the different women that he stayed with during that time period. So he stayed with a lot of women and he stayed with them and like because he needed places to stay.
Speaker 1:They helped inspire his stuff. No, he just had a place to stay, okay.
Speaker 2:Had a place to stay, he would just turn their crib to an art studio. Wow so imagine, just like you see this guy, like you don't know if you got a crib or not, but you attracted to him. He somehow y'all get the, y'all get to, y'all get to the, you know saying y'all get to it, mr Art Studio, y'all get to it. And then now the sun, you are your, your, your, your apartment living room is our studio.
Speaker 1:That's hilarious.
Speaker 2:But that's like the story for like, like a young 20-something woman that's into art In new york, that might be a thrill to her. I don't know like you know what I'm saying. Like you know you got to think about these different like unions in the in, like the new york called in, like new york city and like the culture that we're living in. Like to some women they be like I ain't housing no nigga. But some women they be like I mean, I don't know Like you know what I'm saying I might leave with some art, I might get in, she might get inspired. Like you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:So I never, I never, really I never shacked up with women and like use these spaces Is like Not, you personally haven't done it, but I'm like, I'm like have I? No, and yes, like I never shacked up with somebody, like I always had my own, like I never did. But like, like, if I'm yeah, if I'm staying over, like I might, it might just be I might be pain or something in there. Like you know what I'm saying, if I'm staying enough days, like yeah, it's gonna be, because, like I can't just like what?
Speaker 1:are we gonna do?
Speaker 2:What do we know? What are we gonna do in the house, Like? What are we gonna do Like watch movies? Yeah, I get boring. Talk at the water gets boring. I could talk to you while I'm painting, or something like that. Then we talking and I'm painting, like you know what I'm saying like a vibe, like a vibe. You know, I'm a vibe creator, so I feel like in some way, I just have to create a vibe for myself.
Speaker 1:I'm not mad at it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm not mad at it at all. But I ain't. I was never shacking up with nobody, and just.
Speaker 1:On purpose. I think that's called Homosexual.
Speaker 2:That's what that's.
Speaker 1:I heard that word before homosexuals when you're homeless, but you shack up with people so you have a place to stay damn our money way actually taught me that filly something, something going on over there. Yo, homosexual is crazy yeah he was homosexual in LA for a little bit.
Speaker 2:He said I mean, it worked out for him.
Speaker 1:He got it. It worked out, you got a hit song. Yeah, couple, yeah, you can rap too. Yeah, yeah, you can really rap, yeah.
Speaker 2:I saw, I saw one of his. I mean, he from filly, come on. I know someone in the freestyle, I think you can really rap.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah damn feel like me, so biased about filly. But you guys are having a moment.
Speaker 2:What is it? What's going on? The filly, you tell me, because I don't know what you mean that. The hips. That's not what's going on. We stole that from jersey. Really, and they stole it from bottom, or, just to be clear, they stole the hips from bottom, or they stole the sound from bottom, or yeah, but that's what I meant.
Speaker 1:That's the resurgence of that sound.
Speaker 2:You want to talk about that, what you think about it.
Speaker 1:What you don't like it.
Speaker 2:I love it.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:I love it.
Speaker 1:What you said. It was like you want to talk about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, no, no, I'm just, I'm just, I'm just, I'm just joshing.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, okay, yeah, no, filly, a lot of cities are actually having a moment right now. That usually would not have a moment, but filly is definitely one of them.
Speaker 2:Yo, but it was crazy because we call that music party music. That's what we call it in filly, and particularly we call it a party music and, like you, would get bashed if you played it too much.
Speaker 1:I mean, I think it's still the same.
Speaker 2:I think it is kind of still the same, like no one wants to hear, but they're the biggest songs. Is it just because it's the repetitive beat? Like what is it? I think?
Speaker 1:people just want to feel good right now. And it's not too many things that are making people feel good right now, so I think like want to rock now this one with nicky. Uh, what's the rich baby daddy drinking sexy red.
Speaker 2:Delhi deli ice spice like all those records, just make you feel good, it's not it's not really about anything and it doesn't have to be it just so happens that the background music is a club beat club pattern.
Speaker 1:It's club music in marielyn.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh, it's club music in marielyn. Yeah, I mean baltimore Baltimore pioneer, that it came from detroit house.
Speaker 1:I'd rather say I said that Was it detroit people or chicago people and names like we're gonna like her rock for saying that? But everybody, never, nobody wants to give credits to the medwest and I'm like you know, I'm pretty sure it started in baltimore, but okay, yeah, no, so it did so.
Speaker 2:The club music did start in baltimore, but the sounds and a lot of the samples that they was using was from house.
Speaker 1:House that started in detroit in chicago. Yeah, but this is different.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this is different. We would, but we was take but I can't say we're not from baltimore, but baltimore dj's like Damn case with and even before case with like even before black. Yeah, rodley, more than anybody rodley People. His generation was taking little. House detroit house samples and sounds like you know there's some holes in this house and all that. They was taking those and then chopping them up.
Speaker 1:That's true.
Speaker 2:But we, but you know what I'm saying, like when, now. When I say we, I just mean the tri-state, like just this east coast stuff. Yeah we took that stuff and those chops and those edits and that beat and that cadence and that pattern and we made something out of it.
Speaker 2:Yeah so then baltimore, have it, had it. Philly was then those, just the mix tape circuit now. So now it would. Club music was doing the same thing as what 50 cent was doing. Yep, what, what g unit was doing, what camera and them was doing. It was just like, okay, we got this shit, let's put it on wax.
Speaker 1:Yep.
Speaker 2:Let's get it up to new york. Let's let them distribute it. Let's get it up. So they was making rodley and all them was making CDs, burning them, putting them, taking them up 95.
Speaker 1:I really need to do a documentary on this.
Speaker 2:Actually, some of you I know I know, I know, and they was just taking them up 95 and then, like you know, they was on the ad. So once it made it to the ad circuit we was buying those baltimore club CDs and those tapes and we was playing them in the house and we was just doing dances to them doing the sponge bob, the rock off, the shake off.
Speaker 2:We was learning them. And then, yeah, because the fruity loops, like you know, like one of the best dolls. I use Ableton, I don't use Fruity Loops. But Fruity Loops was kind of like used to make all of that club shit. Philly kind of took it and pioneered it. So then you got people like DJ Saga, dj Swizzy, mac Diamond Cuts, and then Jersey took it. Jersey's whole swag is different. It's more sexy, slower, a little bit slower, you know call and response you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely call and response.
Speaker 2:Call and response for real so then, you got like damn Brick Bandids, dj Slink, natus. You can go down the list with so many J-Hood like you know what I mean, but as a Philly boy I loved all of it. So yeah, that was definitely a part. Like I listen to club music, I make club music.
Speaker 1:Do you really?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I actually remix. You know what the Philly go's are? Oh, yeah, I do, I just remixed. I remixed like two of their songs, like it just came out on streaming, like last month Quiet.
Speaker 1:I gotta get into that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I remixed like two of their songs. I made it a little bit more housey, but like two of their biggest songs, like I just remixed. And then I remixed one of Armani songs too, that's how I'm streaming as well too.
Speaker 1:I'm definitely gonna listen to that. I've been wanting to get into it, but I feel like because I'm not from Baltimore specifically.
Speaker 2:I don't mean anything, man, I don't know. I don't mean anything, man. No, no, no, no, but I did.
Speaker 1:I grew up off of it. So that's why I'm like when I went home actually this past for Christmas and I was on my old Mac man, I'm finding all these old tapes. Dj K Swift Strictly for the Kids. Part one, easter edition.
Speaker 2:You sound you were mommy K Swift. Do I really you sound like her?
Speaker 1:I mean, I grew up off of her First female DJ I ever followed. I used to go to Detail Art get her tapes, so anyway, I was having a ball, though, listening to her old shit. Yeah, man I was like damn, this is, and there's nobody in Baltimore really in that, like that I know of like doing that. I was like damn, where is that?
Speaker 2:So you're from Maryland, right? So you're from closer to Baltimore or closer to DC, Maryland.
Speaker 1:Close to the Baltimore.
Speaker 2:That makes sense. That makes sense. Yeah, that makes sense, because you got a little bit more like.
Speaker 1:But I'm not from Baltimore. I'm not claiming I'm from Baltimore. You know people be territory checking and all that.
Speaker 2:No, I love that, I love that you ain't claiming, but it still is like it's still.
Speaker 1:I'm influenced from the city.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, if you're closer to whatever city you're closer to, you're going to be more influenced by that. Like you, don't give me like a DC vibe.
Speaker 2:No, PG County yeah you don't give me that for a full world. You give me more like okay, closer to Baltimore. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, you got a little bit more a little hood to you. You know what I'm saying Really. Yeah, it's just like a little bit more hood time voyage to you, but that would be like Baltimore for sure. Yeah, Not wrong with DC now At all.
Speaker 1:I love DC. I love DC, I be partying. All right, let me yes you be what. Partying.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you be getting crazy in DC.
Speaker 1:Not crazy.
Speaker 2:Where you be at a DC party.
Speaker 1:Not crazy.
Speaker 2:Where you be at a party in DC.
Speaker 1:Chill, chill, I'm actually going to beanyway. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I fuck with the.
Speaker 2:DC. You going to be weird, you DJing in DC.
Speaker 1:Yeah. We're at Don't worry about your DC. Okay, all right, it's coming up, it's coming up, it's coming up.
Speaker 2:I better get an invite.
Speaker 1:Yeah, don'tfirst of all, I'll be inviting you out. You don't lead a house. No, you don't.
Speaker 2:You don't lead a house you don't lead a house, Yo all right.
Speaker 1:This is the first time I've gotten to see you in years.
Speaker 2:It'd be her, honestly, it'd be her. So, look, it'd be her. Y'all know she is busy as hell.
Speaker 1:Oh, whatever G.
Speaker 2:So, he just explained how we we trying to out-busy each other.
Speaker 1:He'd be in Paris going to London. Then you just gave the home Next season Barcelona. All right, you doing the same thing, so it's a difference.
Speaker 2:All right.
Speaker 1:Anyway, anyways, anyways. So what can we expect from Gianni Lee this year 2024? What do you have coming up?
Speaker 2:Damn. So I've really been in the soccer now. So I've been in the soccer because I really feel like, for a lot of different things, I want to own a team one day. I want to own a soccer team one day.
Speaker 1:That would be tough.
Speaker 2:I really really bang with the way soccer is and the fact that there's a lane for it and like they don't gatekeep as much as they do in the NFL and the NBA, just because, like they can't, because it's not really that big in America like it is everywhere else. Okay, I'm trying to get big in America. So I'm just like an early adopter, like anything else, like I want to hop on something like before anything. So right now, I just got this Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg way of thinking where, like I'm just trying to be at the forefront of new things, whatever it is Like I'm trying to be more of an entrepreneur, now more than ever. So, as much as I am an artist, I'm trying to be an entrepreneur. I'm trying to get that bag, I'm trying to double that up real quick. So I'm just trying to like really get into soccer.
Speaker 2:So, like last year, I did a small collab with Major League Soccer, which is the MLS, and I did a Black History Month collaboration and we did some jerseys. We did some soccer jerseys and basically I did a design for every team in the MLS. So every team is a major team. So these are major teams. Like we just really don't know about it because it's not really like marketed towards us. So one day I thought, like well, how would this look if we actually like marketed this to us? So after that happened, it just gave me a lot more access to like the MLS and I found out that a lot of people that I knew that looked like me work at MLS, like they actually work in different departments. So I just kind of like got cool with everybody, got invited to the All-Star Game, just stayed in touch with everybody and I really made a real good friendship with the New York City team which is called the New York City Football Club NYC FC for short, but I just called it the New York City Football Club. They play at the Yankee Stadium right now and they're building their stadium, which is going to be next to MetLife Not MetLife, oh the.
Speaker 2:Queen it's going to be. That's not MetLife, that's City Field. Oh, City Field so it's going to be next to City Field in the next two years.
Speaker 1:Nice.
Speaker 2:So I just became the Creative and Art and Culture Consultant for the New York City Football Club. That's major so it hasn't actually been announced yet, but I guess I'm announcing it here. Hello yeah.
Speaker 1:Wait, we don't got no wine.
Speaker 2:Nothing to celebrate with. No, neither will we.
Speaker 1:We'll eat it, all right.
Speaker 2:Let's cheers to that though.
Speaker 1:Yes, that's major.
Speaker 2:So you know 2024, just to anybody like, make your own positions at Like you know go yeah. You made your own job, Like I kind of like got inspired by you and a lot of other people, but definitely you, because, like you really like carved your own lane and like all of this. You could have got lost in a lot of this. You could have been just like somebody's assistant forever and like, no, you kind of carved your own lane? No for real.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Like you know, being somebody's assistant or just like little robbing to their Batman. That could be for a long ass time.
Speaker 1:It can, and you get all the perks. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying yeah, you know, but still, man, yeah, you get the perks, but then when you carve your own lane, you start giving out perks. Yeah, you know what I mean. But um, yeah, man, like we really pitched them, like yo, I should come in and do this Like look what I did with the MLS in terms of Black History Month, like I added my art, my spin to something and I got other people interested. I wouldn't normally be interested in soccer.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Let's try to get more people that look like me, and not even just my color, but just the way I dress, the way I move around New York City. Yeah, taste and yeah taste Like let's get them interested in soccer, but also like this football team that is playing on our doorstep.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying. You make me want to go to a game. Can't lie.
Speaker 2:Like it's a you at a home game at Yankee Stadium, a New York team, it's soccer, it's all the same. It's like going to the NFL. It's like going to an NFL game and once you feel like the like impact of how it feels to be on it they call it the pitch instead of the field, but being on the pitch or just being in the stands, it feels big.
Speaker 1:Really.
Speaker 2:And that's just the American games. Now just imagine, like Premier League, some of them, crazy teams like um over there in Europe.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It feels like you on Gladiator Dang. It'd be Horace Trumpet in and stuff like that. It feels like you in Gladiator.
Speaker 1:That's fire. You went to one over there.
Speaker 2:No, but they had one. They had a Premier League game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philly. It was I forgot who was playing. It was, I forgot who was playing, but yeah, it was a Premier League game and they made that. It was at the football stadium and they made that thing feel like.
Speaker 1:I didn't even know that they did soccer games at football stadiums.
Speaker 2:Well, they're trying to. This is the thing they're trying to make it bigger, it's just time. It's just time to get American to the fold now. It's just time to bring America in. Like Messi's playing in Miami, they're trying to bring folks in.
Speaker 2:So yeah, so, dad, I'm working on that's major I'm really trying to grow my DJ production career right now, so like I'm releasing music all the time, so like I have a few songs coming out this year. I worked with this one guy who worked with Beyoncé on a couple records and we're hopefully putting out this song. I got this. You know who John Doe is? Mm-hmm yeah, I got a song with her too.
Speaker 1:Oh, I don't know her, but I know of.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, I love well. Yeah, you know who she is. Yeah, I love her music. We got a song that we're dropping this year.
Speaker 1:Fire.
Speaker 2:Yeah, she is talented as hell. I'm like really excited about this song and it's like a little groovy, like little upbeat little house-y vibe.
Speaker 1:I love that.
Speaker 2:She killed it. Yeah, we're gonna allow the music this year, god willing. I don't know. I applied to this art residency, and that's another thing. As an artist, y'all look at me. Y'all see the chains and all that stuff. That don't mean I made it. You know what I'm saying, like, and when I say made it, art is so weird. Like I could do this shit until I'm 80. So, like, don't think it's ever done. So, like, I still apply to art residencies. I still apply to like programs, funds, things like that, because you can always use some free money. Even if you're making it, you can always use some more free money. So, like, don't ever stop applying this stuff. Don't think you're too cool. That's what's good about art. Like, you can still apply to this stuff. So I applied to an art residency called Silver Arts and by the time y'all see this, hopefully I got selected. I don't know if I'm selected yet, but I'm putting energy out there. They have space in the World Trade Center.
Speaker 1:Oh, I know exactly where it's at.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so like, literally, like I would have a studio in the World Trade Center building.
Speaker 1:That would be tough.
Speaker 2:So if I do it, then you got to do like a little remote part of your podcast. You got to come to the studio man, I would love to, or maybe you can just be on my podcast, because I'm doing one too. Yes, oh, yeah, I'm doing a podcast. Yes, yeah, I'm doing a podcast. It's called In Studio with Gianni Lee and, yeah, you know, I'm pretty sure I can probably put the links in here somewhere, or something like that.
Speaker 2:Yes in the middle of it I did one episode. I don't really talk about it yet because I don't really. I'm trying to just build it up. So I might have to come in and just like shadow you in a couple of these and just see how you run things.
Speaker 1:I think you're doing great. I think you're doing great.
Speaker 2:Okay, cool, cool, cool yeah yeah. But yeah.
Speaker 1:And this is good. Where can they find the podcast?
Speaker 2:Gianni Lee Music, I think, or something like that. I don't. I don't remember the link. Youtube yeah, but I'll see the links.
Speaker 1:Send it, we'll put it below.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, I don't remember the. That's how you know. I just started this shit. I'm still figuring it out. I got one episode up and basically the format of this podcast is like all painting based. So it's like we're having this conversation but we're painting the entire time.
Speaker 1:Fire.
Speaker 2:So two easels up, we're painting and then, like you know, we talking.
Speaker 1:I love that. Yeah, Damn busy guy.
Speaker 2:I'm trying to be, I'm a busy guy. All right, we're going to. We're trying our busy, but really you put a busy meter at the bottom and see who's busier.
Speaker 1:Yo, we really sure.
Speaker 2:You on the phone right now because she's got.
Speaker 1:No, because we bought the play a game.
Speaker 2:Oh, I'm with it.
Speaker 1:Questions that need answers. All you have to do is fill in the blank.
Speaker 2:All right, but.
Speaker 1:All right, the older I get, the less I blank.
Speaker 2:The older I get, the less I sleep.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that that sounds about right for you for sure. Okay, when is it at? I can't believe I actually blanked when I was younger.
Speaker 2:I can't believe I actually broke my fake my pinky when I was younger.
Speaker 1:That's so random.
Speaker 2:I broke my pinky trying to jump off a ramp. I was on the bike and I tried to jump off a ramp. I was on some evil, evil shit.
Speaker 1:Thank God, it's just the pinky then.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that John went the other way, that John was touching my wrist. No, I was dumb. I would jumped up a ramp on the sidewalk near a gate and I came down wrong and tried to like brace myself and hang out.
Speaker 1:Caught in the gate, that's disgusting Pinky, pinky touching the wrist.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, imagine that I heard the snap too. Oh, as a kid. No, that's terrible, I can't believe. Also, I don't like cheese.
Speaker 1:Good for you.
Speaker 2:You're going to probably live with all of it. I hate cheese.
Speaker 1:I don't know why it stinks. It's great. It stinks, it's great, and also so did the pinky hill back normal.
Speaker 2:Yeah, hill back.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, it did.
Speaker 2:Yeah, hill back.
Speaker 1:Cheese, all right. Thanks for watching.
Speaker 2:Potato salad. I'm embarrassed that I know so little about potato salad.
Speaker 1:You gotta get the right recipe.
Speaker 2:It's no, it's just the fact that I don't even like it. You don't like potato salad. See what I'm saying. See, exactly. I'm embarrassed about that.
Speaker 1:Oh Lord.
Speaker 2:I go to cook out stuff like that. I don't want, I don't want to touch nobody. Potato salad, you're missing out. Auntie in there getting mad at me. She feels. She feels like I'm like, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1:She feel like you're missing out. Could you missing out? Yeah?
Speaker 2:she like, I'm, like, I'm sorry, like I'm making you feel this way. I just don't like potato salad, I don't like mayonnaise, oh.
Speaker 1:God, cheese, mayonnaise. And you want to continue.
Speaker 2:I don't like white sauces, man, they just like. I don't like white sauce.
Speaker 1:What about the sauce when you get gyros?
Speaker 2:No, yeah, yeah, yeah, white sauce. What?
Speaker 1:about the buttermilk ranch at Chick-fil-A. No fire, All that stuff is nasty.
Speaker 2:So when I go, when I go to the hot beaves up and I be like, yeah, let me get a halal chicken and rice or right outside, no sauce, they be looking every like no sauce. I'm like no, they're like that's dry as hell.
Speaker 1:I'm a sauce cheese steak Philly cheese.
Speaker 2:Steak no cheese. So when I go to like the real one, when I go to like Paso geno's, and you got a order- the real one. You see how shady he is when I go to Paso geno's and they be like go with you, what I'd be like me and bird and say a lot and he'd be like me Because you know you gotta say with, without all that, yeah, and they be looking at me like I'm crazy. Just like the meat and bread, yeah, I don't care, I'll pause. Shout out came around the mace.
Speaker 1:Yo, they're making it worse yeah they are sometimes I look back at my life in blank.
Speaker 2:Yo, sometimes I look back at my life and think I ain't dead enough. Really, yeah, yeah, I'll be really like I'm heart of myself. I Look back at my life and think I ain't dead enough.
Speaker 1:You done mad shit. Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I look back on my life like man, I ain't dead enough or I could have did something different. I'm always like I don't. I'm like LeBron with my shit. Like I know LeBron being there, it's like I could have just pivoted. That way I would have two more points. I would have one more rebound like that's how I am, like I'm really like a scientist, like I'll be just little things, I'll just be like harder myself about the little shit, overthinking yeah, I do overthink, shit yeah. Shout to Kenny Bees Don't overthink shit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, from time to time it's good to do blink Yo honestly from time to time it's good to just dance it out, like sometimes, just like a little one, two, even if you can't dance.
Speaker 2:I'm into that now. I wasn't always like that. But just turn some music on dance. You know I'm saying get a little movement going. Yeah, exactly, yeah. Yeah, there you go. Yeah, you know it's growing up. I used to go to this. I'm a Army brat, so I used to get dropped off before school. I was like I'm not gonna be able to dance.
Speaker 1:I was like I'm not gonna be able to dance. I was like I'm not gonna be able to dance. I'm an Army brat. So I used to get dropped off before school to this Like daycare on bass, and in the mornings they would always play club music. So we used to be like Sweating and battling before going to school.
Speaker 2:That's tight.
Speaker 1:So yeah, and and now, like, if I'm having a day in the morning, if I put on like case with superstar, it like it gets me going.
Speaker 2:Wow, wow, I feel you on the just dance it out Cuz sometimes you just got to, you got to hype yourself. Yeah, you do. You do for real.
Speaker 1:All right, you would never believe me if I told you blank.
Speaker 2:You would never believe me if I told you I actually sang on the song what song? I got a song out. Yeah, that's actually funny. I got a. You know who don't? Uh, don Richard.
Speaker 1:I'm not familiar don't man.
Speaker 2:She's a legendary singer legendary, yeah, but we got a song together and I like I was so on it and it was really supposed to be a reference. Yeah, it's two versions of it. It's one that's like and it's funny, it's like a my phone. It's like a um, it's like a acoustic, john.
Speaker 1:So it's like real vocals you can hear it.
Speaker 2:You can hear my vocals on that, john. And then I made a club version to it too. I'm gonna check it out, yeah, but it was like it was like a reference track and and I was like no, I wasn't intimidated, but still I'm like she on a level, like in terms of vocal, she on Beyonce level, like you know what I'm saying, like I look at her in that regard, like like she up there with all those great singers singing wise, and like she came in the studio and I was like, yeah, that's just my little vocal. She was like no, let me hear that. And I was like, oh shit. She was like you keep that on there, I'm gonna sing over that. That's so dope. I'm like what? And then we ended up putting the song out, so like yeah.
Speaker 2:I love that I'm not saying that I can blow, but, like you know, I For real did it.
Speaker 1:I must say even outside of Pharrell there's a lot of talentless people doing.
Speaker 2:Way more and doing way better.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you know, I don't doubt it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, okay, all right, babe, that's true.
Speaker 1:All right, my last one is my personality trait is blank.
Speaker 2:What's your personality? Trait is blank.
Speaker 1:Mine's vibrant why. Consider myself vibrant.
Speaker 2:Like. What does that mean, though?
Speaker 2:Let me look it up, but to me it means, to me it means like high energy Standing out okay, I learned that I was going in with something nice and whatever like that. But no, like I've kind of learned something about myself that sometimes, like this is certain this is such things being too cool. I didn't know that, I did not know that, but like I just made it my business to not just be around artists, lady, and like they don't be trying to hear all that, like it just be like so. Like, for example, like I was talking to this, like one person about, like Um, like this, like this dude, he's just like a corny as dude to me. When he see this, he'll understand why I think corny he's not corny, but he's corny he. When I say corny, I just mean like he's just a regular Plain Jane, do he work? He just corny dude. He wanted where to mention a Like pajamas with his girl. That is not corny. I just see what I'm saying and like I thought it was corny and it's like Cool.
Speaker 1:So I learned that about myself and then I had to.
Speaker 2:really I was like they was like yeah you, are you not gonna be able to keep a girl if you thinking like that, I'm like how they were like too cool.
Speaker 2:So I'm, I'm getting into that spirit and I'm sorry to think that ain't no wrong mention PJs, but that's like just the more so, just the. I guess, the Way I look at life now, it ain't no wrong mention PJ. You know what I'm saying? Ain't nothing wrong with somebody, that corny shit. You know I'm saying yeah, after all the, the creative sessions and all the the talks and the traveling, you still need to have a family and you still need to. You know Love and not just another person, but love your family, love you. The family you came up with like. You know what I mean? I just love friends and stuff like that and like a lot of that stuff is what people would get, the cool people. We'll sit a corny just like regular.
Speaker 1:No, that's essential.
Speaker 2:That's what I'm saying. It is essential. So that's how I learned about myself. I was like you know you too cool. Sometime, bro, you need to just like the regular plain Jane stuff is the stuff that you need some time to complete life. It's not just about all this cool shit we doing, we running around and doing like. Sometimes that simple stuff is like what we need to just like hell.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they going.
Speaker 2:Just know that there's somebody at home that loves you. There's a parent at home that cares about you, that wants you to do well, that wouldn't care if you wasn't on TV, that just cares that you just happy. You know what I'm saying. So, yeah, I learned that about myself, man.
Speaker 1:I like that.
Speaker 2:I don't want to be too cool all the time.
Speaker 1:Good yeah, that's good. I love that. Well, gianni, too cool Lee in the building, shout out. I'm just joking, but shout out to grandma. Everybody know where they could follow you and tap it you could follow me.
Speaker 2:You can follow me at Gianni Lee. One word, so that's g I a and an I Le, and that's on everything. Follow my tiktok too, man. I've been on tiktok lately.
Speaker 1:I've been trying to talk.
Speaker 2:I mean, no, I'll be dancing, I'll be, I'll be doing like painting stuff, mixing the music in and trying to be interested in. This is more fun than I thought.
Speaker 1:I like that. I'm getting new to tiktok. I'm getting on. Yeah, I'm getting.
Speaker 2:I'm getting new to it, man, we are we are. But tiktok man for real, tap it to that join if you didn't, man. But yeah, that's. That's me on everything website, gianni lee calm. I'm selling all types of cool stuff, you know let me see what's that, what's in that bag? Oh man, you know it's crazy. I was supposed to have this up during the interview, but this combo was so good I forgot.
Speaker 1:But that's how you doing a good job.
Speaker 2:I wasn't gonna actually had that joint display right here, but I'm gonna display it for you.
Speaker 2:All right, but like Nala has been supporting me since the beginning, before any of y'all niggas like no for what she really been supporting me, like For real. Like came to my studio One of the check stuff out and it was just always don't be a man, always be got something to eat. But this is one of my. Yeah, this is it, was, this is there. This is one of my figures. So basically that whole skeleton that I was talking about, this is the 3d version. Oh yeah, wanted to get this for you, for your studio.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean. Oh my god, I love it yeah man, you've been looking out action figure action figure Now, that's a little sword comes with a base.
Speaker 2:You can put them right on the base.
Speaker 1:Oh my god, I love it. Now that's ill. Yeah, that's actually fire. Yeah, man, I'm a sign of box to see you had a box, but please do oh my god, you know, I gave my shoebox because I love the shoebox, because you design had to give my box away for something. But I'm so sad about it, I still got the shoes.
Speaker 2:So good, I miss my box, got it, got it, you gotta. You gotta make room for shit, you know, I mean, it's a shoebox, I ain't touch it. So it's different. If I would have signed it It'd be different.
Speaker 1:But true, but it still has the yeah, you know, I feel you, I feel you.
Speaker 2:I feel you, I feel you I'm that I have certain box stuff I keep, so I get it. Certain packaging I keep.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah, man this is dope. You even got the eyeballs yeah.
Speaker 2:All the little elements, the blue hand, like all the elements of like you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, now this is dope, thank you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no problem. Thank you so much anytime.
Speaker 1:We really should have had this up during I know.
Speaker 2:Forgot. Like the combo was like you, we got right to it. Yeah, so I was like damn, I forgot about it.
Speaker 1:It's definitely staying in here. I love that because we need, we need, need to be. Yeah, it's perfect. Thank you, gee. No problem until next time, guys make sure you guys follow Gianni Lee talk soon.