Unsigned518 - Episode 224 - Mirk

[00:00:01] Speaker A: He was born on a Saturday in 73 he loves punk rock music fighting the 13 cabin on the beat guitar with the short with radio back his motherfucking envy SC Here he comes Andy Scrolling wearing his or his hat. [00:00:27] Speaker B: Welcome to unsigned 518. I am sitting here with Merc. What's up man? [00:00:31] Speaker C: What's up? [00:00:33] Speaker B: We have so much to talk about. Like I had to like stop us and be like, we need to grab microphones because we were already talking and just so much good shit. So I don't even really have, you know, a plan. I don't have like interview questions per se or whatever. But let's just get talking. [00:00:53] Speaker C: Let's get rolling. [00:00:54] Speaker B: We should. [00:00:55] Speaker C: We were just talking about Cam Camtron 5000. [00:00:58] Speaker B: So let's go back to there. We were talking about winning the Eddie. But you have a very special reason to be excited for his success and [00:01:09] Speaker C: that is because, well, he and I have worked together for, I don't know, almost a decade. And for like five years we were working in my studio producing all of this music together. So like every beat that he has on every record that he's been putting out, like 95%, let's just say conservatively. So we was produced by myself and him in the studio just from scratch, just making music. So I haven't actually, because of what happened three years ago, getting the cannabis license, which we'll talk about at stage one, that I hadn't been really running the studio full time anymore. So he and I haven't been running recording a lot. But he. We recorded so much. There was like a hundred songs that we were sitting on that would never came out. He was just like, I just want to get. I just want to be the best. So I know to do that I just have to record all these songs. And like even from when we first started, I was like, this kid is. It's talent is super talented. Like the. It's different. It's. He's like a wordsmith and the way he weaves shit together is super interesting. He's like a pop culture. He's like Trivial Pursuit, pop culture reference wise when it comes his music. There's so, so much of that. It's just so interesting and it's just a different take on things. And so as a music person, I was like, oh this, this kid's special. Let's like, let's go. We'll just make. We'll just make music together and let's go, we'll just make, you know, and. But he never wanted to put Any of it out and then find. But I just think he was working to get to this point, and then he just started putting it out. Putting it out, putting it out. And I knew that when he gave it, when he, you know, let people hear it, he's gonna win critics over and win awards. And so him winning the Eddie for best Hip Hop this year was just. [00:03:03] Speaker B: And it's not just what you hear on record with him, but it's like his performance. [00:03:11] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. [00:03:12] Speaker B: He doesn't miss. Like, it's unfucking. You could wait all day for him to make a mistake. [00:03:17] Speaker C: No, no. [00:03:18] Speaker B: He's like, not happening. [00:03:19] Speaker C: No. And his performance again, from day one, like, I first performance, like, we put together the tape and it was like, on some showcase. It might have been like a showcase that I was throwing with a band or whatever, and that he came and performed at, and he. We put together this, like, mid. In the middle of a song, there's like this, like, kind of breakdown where he got. Where this woman's voice comes in and. And she's like this witch from beyond. And, like. And he was like, we. He wanted to do that song. And then he's. He had this whole idea to pull out a sword and like. And have a cloak on, and he did. So he was. He. The theatrics. He's a theater. [00:04:07] Speaker B: I mean, I've got his comic book. [00:04:09] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:04:10] Speaker B: On. [00:04:11] Speaker C: On the wall, which is something that he and I came up with as, like, an idea for how we could promote his album. Or it originally was like, yo, let's create this Instagram page that reads like a comic book, and we'll put. Build it behind the scenes, and then it'll scroll up and it'll already be built. So if you look at it as a scroll, it reads like a comic. And if you look at it as a grid, it reads like a comic. So the. The end would be the first post, and the last post would be the beginning. Right. So you'd have. We'd have to do it backwards. We have to plan it out. So that was actually how the comic idea started. And then he started getting kind of panels made for it. And then he found an artist that he fell in love with, and then he did the whole comic book with this one artist who I think lives in Italy maybe, and he did the [00:05:07] Speaker B: COVID of Ezekiel Rubio. [00:05:10] Speaker C: Yeah, I think he's from Italy. And the whole. And the inn. The inner shit is one artist, and the COVID is a different artist. And he got really super. And I was. And he wrote the whole thing. And we discussed concepts of ideas of where the story could go. And if you listen to the album that we put out together with John Glenn Foster Planet, that was. [00:05:37] Speaker B: I reviewed that one. [00:05:38] Speaker C: Yeah, you did, you did. And that, like, ties into the storyline of Cam's comic book. If you. So, like, there's like the moon base and the alien and all of these different. So, like, he's the. He's still the alien even on that. And John Glenn is. Is like the astronaut. John the astronaut, and I'm the scientist. So that's kind of the theme of that. The Foster planet. And, like, it ties into his whole thing. So it's like we, you know, to get. Got to get me and John Glenn to buy into that degree. Like, yeah, we're going to do this collab album, but it's going to totally tie into your whole fucking. Yeah. Like, let's make another. Let's just make an album together. Like, that was. It's just been. It was really natural and. And felt real. Feels really good, all this. I'm so proud of him for him to win that award. And it's been, like, awesome to watch. Yeah. [00:06:33] Speaker B: Like I said, I've got my cam. I've got a bunch of Camtron stickers somewhere around here. [00:06:38] Speaker C: And right next to it, you got the 38 Special. [00:06:40] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah, the 38 Special. And then up here at Andy Palooza 3, Camtron played. [00:06:47] Speaker C: He. [00:06:47] Speaker B: He jumped on, like, last second. Him and jb, they. And they were just like. They asked me like, you want to know how fucking cool that feels to have somebody be like, hey, your thing, you know, it's my birthday. It was my birthday party. [00:07:00] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:07:00] Speaker B: It's no more we, you know, because it was that single cut. But they were like, hey, is it cool if we come and do a set? [00:07:05] Speaker C: Yeah, it's like. [00:07:06] Speaker B: You fucking kidding? Yeah, you can come and do a set, Mike. I'm changing the poster right now. I'm putting you on it. [00:07:14] Speaker C: That's awesome. That's all. And also, Camtron is like a class act of a human being, too. And. And so is jb, for that matter. They're just like, great dudes. So, like, just the success. And both of them have won now. Both of them have won Hip Hop Artists of the Year at the Eddies. So. Yeah. Great company, those guys. [00:07:37] Speaker B: Definitely. [00:07:38] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:07:39] Speaker B: Two of my favorites, for sure. [00:07:40] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. [00:07:41] Speaker B: So, you know, and I do want to talk about. And we will play something off the new album. Yeah. But I kind of want to. Want to Talk about the weed thing a little bit. [00:07:51] Speaker C: Sure. [00:07:52] Speaker B: About, like, how stage one came about. And like, you know, you were telling me a little bit. So it might be stuff that I just heard half an hour ago when we were talking about it, but the listeners haven't heard it. Totally, totally tell us how that that came about. [00:08:05] Speaker C: So in 2011, group of people that I was involved with got arrested for conspiracy to distribute 10 pounds of cannabis. So I was involved in that conspiracy to the degree that there was about five of us that were charged within it. And so that was like, you know, here I am in my 30s, like, damn, getting arrested for selling weed. Like, my band has just started. So 2011, I don't know if anybody remembers, like, that era that was like pre Grind and the Grind album with the band with Merc and the New Familiars, the band that I. And Post the Love album, which had come out in 2009. And we did like, the Love Live album where we re recorded it with Carl Blackwood. Actually, I don't know if you know Carl Blackwood. Yeah, he's been on the show. Yeah. Yeah. So we re recorded it with Carl Blackwood at. When he had the studio down there on Broadway and we put that version out. We were having a crazy run. It was like a crazy run. We were doing these huge shows at like, Red Square or the Hollow where we bring, like 300 people out. And it was just a big party. And we were doing it consistently. Elda's on Lark street for, you know, New Year's Eve every year. And it was just always. We. We knew what was going to happen. It was. And so think about. Things were going really well for the band. And then I get arrested for this conspiracy charge. It was so. It was like a real low in my life at that moment. And I was like, I don't know. This is going to. It like, made touring very difficult. I had a probation officer all of a sudden, so leaving the area to go to south by Southwest. Although she did eventually sign off on it and she let us go to Southwest. Southwest two years. So. Because I was like a good. I was like model. I didn't smoke weed during my probation at all. I pissed clean every time. I was like, model because I couldn't fuck the shit up. You know, that's gonna be fucking just scary. It was. It was terrible. It was terrible. So then. So then, you know, Fast forward to 2022 and they're starting to talk about how they're going to give out this license. And they say, oh, the first licenses are going to be given out to people who were charged with. Originally charged with cannabis, then if there was no violence associated with their charge, no gun charges, no additional drugs. And for us, it was just weed. It was just shipping weed from California, selling it, and that was it. That was what was happening. And I wasn't even really involved in it. It was my bet, my best friend who was, like, doing it, and then I just happened to be on phone calls and. And, like, the guy who snitched on us, like, didn't like me, so included me in it kind of. And, like, was, did I get some weed from him? Sure. But was I like, this big dude who's selling it to everybody? Not really. I just got good deals and just kind of, like, kept on my own. I was. I was doing the band. I wasn't really focused on selling weed, you know, I was selling. You know, but, you know, whatever. I mean, you get what I'm saying? I wasn't moving. [00:11:43] Speaker B: You weren't a big dog? No, I wasn't moving pounds. [00:11:46] Speaker C: I'll buy like a pound. And I was moving eighths and ounces. Like, it wasn't, like, worth anyone's time at that point. It's stupid. So. But. But because this one person didn't, you know, didn't want to see me win, he wanted to include me in it and whatever. So then I was like, man, this seems like the. The. They're like. They're like. You get points if you were charged and. And you didn't have any of those things. You got points if you were minority. You got points if you were married. These are someone who is. Yeah, positive points. So, like, the more points you get, the closer to a license you get in the first round. So then if you're a minority, if you're a woman, if you're. If you went to prison, if you lost job opportunities because of. Because of this charge that you had. Like, if the more negatively this cannabis charge affects your life, the better it was for you in this application process, and the more points you got. So my current business partner and his wife and my wife, we all did the application together. So there's four partners. We're all. And they pull from all four. They pull from all four people on the application. So the license is in my name, but because I live here, and they didn't live here, my wife and I lived here. So my one partner, Nate, he's black. He went. He did a year from that charge. His wife, she lost her law license. She was Disbarred in New York state. My wife is Dominican, So we have 50% minority owned, 50% women owned with that makeup. I was, like, denied teaching positions a couple times. I have my master's in music, so I can teach at the university level. But because of the felony, it prevented me from getting not every teaching job, but some of the more high, you know, more prestigious ones. And yeah, so we all that ended up on our application. And also Nate's wife, Galena, she went to jail as well, for she did like 60 days, I believe. So all of that got everybody points, and then we ended up getting our license in the first round. I guess we were told kind of behind the scenes that we had the most points in the state on any application. So, yeah, so we ended up getting. And did they do like, like, not [00:14:36] Speaker B: at, like, not included, like, I guess in the business, but, like, with your record, do they expunge that shit? [00:14:41] Speaker C: Yeah, it's supposed to be with the law. Part of the MRTA is supposed to be automatic expungement for everybody. Unfortunately, I didn't have a cannabis charge. None of us really had cannabis charges. We had conspiracy charges, which technically required an extra step. So I had to, like, submit an application to the district attorney. [00:15:11] Speaker B: Just to basically tie it. [00:15:12] Speaker C: Yeah, to tie it. And then they. Yeah, and then they. They had seal it. So. Yeah, it's not like a full expungement. It just becomes a sealed record. So it's the same difference. But. Yeah. Crazy. Yeah, there's. But all that's supposed to come with it. Yeah. So we got. So then the word, like, one of the lowest points for me in my life became like, all of a sudden one of the highest points. And I was like, oh, you know, just believe. Trust the process, I guess. You know what I mean? Yeah. And that. [00:15:41] Speaker B: And now, you know. [00:15:43] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:15:44] Speaker B: How long have you been open? [00:15:46] Speaker C: It'll be three years in. In June. So we started delivery June 6th of 2023. [00:15:56] Speaker B: So wedding anniversary. Yeah, it's also D day. [00:16:02] Speaker C: Well, our store. Our store opened July 7, like, for business, retail store. And my wedding anniversary is July 7th, so. And you can't plan the day you actually get open. You're pushing. You're trying to get open the whole time, and OCM comes and stamps you whatever day they pick. And so then they picked July 7th. It's not like I even picked that. So. Yeah. [00:16:25] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:16:25] Speaker C: So now our wedding anniversary is the same day that the store opens, which is like. [00:16:30] Speaker B: Yeah, ours, like, you know, we just. We picked like a day that. That worked. And it was. We were getting married in the park in Saratoga, so June 6th. And, like, it was perfect weather. Do you know what kind of memorial is in the park in Saratoga? [00:16:43] Speaker E: No. [00:16:43] Speaker B: A. It's like a World War II. And so. And, like, I was like, oh, my God. Like, and, like, I was. And it was embarrassing. [00:16:52] Speaker C: Yeah. So there's like, a World War II. Like, there's, like, people coming to, like, pay respect to the World War II memorial. [00:17:00] Speaker B: More than one that came to pay respects to the memorial. That was in very plain view of the happiest day of my life. [00:17:06] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:17:07] Speaker B: It was a little weird, but, you know, and my fashion. That's like. [00:17:10] Speaker C: Yeah, It's a great story, though. Yeah. You know. Yeah. [00:17:13] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:14] Speaker C: I guess could laugh about it now. [00:17:19] Speaker B: It was 11 years ago. [00:17:20] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. [00:17:21] Speaker B: But, yeah, it was tough. So, you know, I do want to. [00:17:25] Speaker C: We want to talk about the album, [00:17:27] Speaker B: but I think we'll. We'll start the conversation off with a song and then come back and tell everybody what the album is. [00:17:34] Speaker C: Perfect. [00:17:36] Speaker B: And so I guess what's the first song we want to hear from? [00:17:38] Speaker C: So I would love to listen to get the Cash, which we. The video. I'm not sure when this is dropping, but the video's coming out, you know, in the same Ish. [00:17:49] Speaker B: This will be a couple. It'll be a couple weeks. [00:17:52] Speaker C: Yeah. So the video comes out. Has come out then. [00:17:56] Speaker B: Yeah. So it's middle of May now, so, [00:17:58] Speaker C: yeah, it'll be out for get the Cash. It's going to be the first single from the album, and it's basically a walkthrough of a transaction from the perspective of a bud tender. And you're the customer walking in the store, and this is what you might hear. And so we did. We shot a video for it and put that out. And, you know, it's a great kind of look into the life of selling weed in the rec market. [00:18:28] Speaker B: Right. Sweet. Well, we'll hear the song, and then we're gonna come back and we'll hear [00:18:31] Speaker C: all about the album. And it's. Jason LRX is the artist featuring Ricky Bandana and Scotty Knox. [00:18:38] Speaker B: And there's a million features on this album, so we'll talk all about that. [00:18:43] Speaker C: Awesome. [00:18:44] Speaker B: What was the name of the tune again? [00:18:45] Speaker C: Get the Cash. [00:18:46] Speaker B: Get the Cash. All right, well, let's listen to get the Cash from Mercury, and they'll be right back. [00:18:50] Speaker E: In the New York area, there were an abundance of people that also had product, quality product, but you just had to be Able to tap into the right people. You understand what I'm saying? And I'm looking, looking at the client's responsiveness to the product and they're liking it, loving it and enjoying it. I know we got a winner I'mma [00:19:11] Speaker F: play the front, I'mma play the back I'mma take the orders I'mma make the bags I'mma get the cash I'mma play the front I'mma play the back I'mma take the orders I'mma make the bags [00:19:19] Speaker D: I'mma get the before you step inside I need some identification oh it's your first time? Sorry how My name is Jason started blood sending now we run the operation looking for some weed and we should have a conversation do you want some flower edibles and you be vaping Need a good sativa maybe something more sedating GBD is GBG I got moeducation can't believe it's actually my legal occupation Fab 5 Freddy gave us the documentation the grass is greener when there's representation crystal people stokes help write the legislation for New Yorkers to get them education now [00:19:51] Speaker F: I'mma play the front, I'mma play the back I'mma take the orders I'mma make the bags, I'mma get the cash Imma play the front I'mma play the back I'mma take the orders, I'mma make the [00:20:00] Speaker D: bags I'm confusion differences between the spray packs and in the fusion want to let you know about it one is an illusion as long as you be honest I ain't knocking what you doing cause my rising got no solvent in it I am the solution Sorry that one's out but I'mma find a substitution this one just dropped and we the first to introduce it I just tried to think it got me kind of zooted that's why I love my job cause I get blessed with these exclusive shout out to the owner which is also who produced this legacy the legal made to be in the we looped [00:20:27] Speaker C: it started right there where the stairs [00:20:29] Speaker G: and the stupid now we in the [00:20:31] Speaker F: store moving units I'mma play the front, I'mma play the back I'mma take the orders I'mma make the bags I'mma get the cash Imma play the front, I'mma play the back I'mma take the orders, I'mma make the bags I'mma get the cash I'mma play the front I'mma play the the back I'mma take the orders I'mma make the bags I'mma get the cash I'mma play the Front, I'mma play the back, I'mma take the orders, I'mma make the bags. I'mma get the cash. [00:20:53] Speaker H: Stage one, we family for life now. [00:20:55] Speaker B: All right, that was get the cash off the album. Stage one stoned. And you know, we were saying while we were listening to the song, it's like, it's not a merc album. [00:21:05] Speaker C: Right? [00:21:05] Speaker B: It's a Stage one. [00:21:07] Speaker C: It's a state. Yeah. So Stage one is like whatever falls under the umbrella of this kind of weed rap, like brought to you by the Stage one brand, which is the podcast that we have. The store, obviously the dispensary, which is the beginning, the beginning of it. The actual beginning of stage one is. Many people don't know this or maybe they do if they look into the lore at all. Stage one is an actual place in Albany. The corner of Lark street and J Street is there used to be there currently is a corner store there. But there was a corner store there when we were growing up in the 90s. That's the neighborhood I grew up in. And there's like a stoop there and a payphone and so had everything you needed in the 90s. The corner store of the payphone. We all have beepers. So if you. And back then nobody had cell phones and everybody had landlines in their cribs and maybe you weren't home. So like a sure fire way to let people know where you were, what you were doing was to use the pager system. So we had codes for different places. [00:22:24] Speaker B: 429 11. [00:22:26] Speaker C: Exactly. So what? So 11111 was meet at stage one, which was the corner of Lark and J. 111114. 20 was like make sure you bring five to throw on a 20 bag. 911 was. There's beef. You know what I mean? But 11111 was always meat at stage one. So that's the kind of the. Where the name stage one even came from. And Nate and I grew up together like and hanging out on that corner with our core group of friends. [00:22:58] Speaker B: I love that. I love how all that shit comes together. [00:23:03] Speaker C: And then it was spells out stoned. When ST&STAGE and 1 O, N, E and 1 and D and the D and dispensary spells stoned. So in the logo it spells out stoned. We were like, yeah, that's awesome. Let's. Let's create something. [00:23:23] Speaker B: I thought I had a Stage one [00:23:24] Speaker C: logo somewhere behind this. Let's, let's. There's like a. You know, so now if you look at the logo. The logo. Actually, there's like a knockout for all the solid letters in the logo spell stoned for. For dispensary. For the podcast. There's a D and podcast for the album. Stoned. There's a D in stone. So sick. Yeah. [00:23:47] Speaker B: So let's talk about the album then, because there's a ton of. And I'm actually, you know, by the time. By the time this comes out, the. The new issue of Metroland will be out. And I'm reviewing the album for Metroland. And no spoilers, because I actually haven't heard the whole thing yet. [00:24:06] Speaker C: All right. [00:24:06] Speaker B: I still have. I still have. I do it in chunks, but I, you know, so no spoilers. Although, whatever, you know, fucking. Who cares? But so let's tell me about, like, who's on the album. Like, what. [00:24:20] Speaker C: What's going on? [00:24:21] Speaker B: Because there's a lot going on. [00:24:22] Speaker C: Yeah. So we. We like tied it in with the podcast or the. As much as I could. So a lot of the artists who have appeared on the podcast, there's a bunch of like, clips from the podcast that tie songs together. We just had that. And it kind of tells a story. It creates this storyline and talks, and each one ties into the song. It's the song that is. I don't know, it's really. The way it worked out was kind of like kismet. It wasn't even planned to be that way, but I was looking for at the end when all the songs, like, we had them all. And I was like, man, that's what a collection of songs. Like, how do I make this, like a thing? Every. Every other album I've ever done, it's like a. I'm like planning on an album scale. This one, I kind of was planning on an album scale, but I also was like, just letting it happen, you know, it was just like we do the podcast, we'd build the relationship with the artist and say, hey, what would you like to collab on a song? And what's that gonna take? And how do we make that happen? And then kind of figure it out. And it worked, like over and over and over again and that. And I was like, fuck it. This is. The album's done now. It's done now. We're gonna put it out for our three year anniversary. We're doing an album release party, a concert that's gonna feature some of the people on the album. So we have Benny the Butcher is gonna headline it and 38 Special is hosting and he's gonna do a couple songs so that's a song right there that's on the album Benny the butcher and 38 special and myself. That's like, first of all, like, a dream come true to even be on a record with those dudes. But also, like, the feedback is like, man, you fucking murdered it. Like, they murdered. It's, like, one of my favorite songs that I've ever been a part of. I'm so fucking. And then we have Dave east and Styles P on another record that I'm on with Ricky Bandana, which is, like. To be, you know, even in the conversation with Styles P is, like, insane. And there's, like, a little. So we. We did the Stiles P interview at last year's party live on stage. We had Styles P come, and we did, like, the stage one podcast interview with Styles P. And every episode, Jason lrx, one of the artists that's heavily featured on this album. He's an artist that I've been working with for a really long time. Even to bring it back to Camtron, we had, like, a kind of a project together we were working on called Foster House, which is the name of my studio. But the three of us, it was like, me, Cam, and Jason, and we. We put out a few songs. Actually. 2020. There's, like, a few. Let me see. What else do we put out? Because we did so many. We did a bunch of them. We only put a few of them out Summer Home. Anyway, there was like. So Jason did every episode of the podcast, he does this thing called Buddha Bars where he spits a verse because he's just an artist that I just been supporting for a long time. Just like Cam. Like, Cam came on, and he was like, on that. On this podcast, and he spit a verse too, like. And I don't. I don't usually spit because I just like to showcase Jay because he's, like, the generational talent, in my opinion. And so he spits a verse on, like, in front of Styles P. And you, like, hear Styles P in the background reacting to it. And it was originally an acapella, and how this kid's so good that when I. I was like, all right, I'm gonna put it on the album, but I'm not gonna leave it in acapella. I'm gonna put a beat behind it, but I'm gonna see if I can make it work. If I can't make it work, fuck it. I'll do it in acapella, but I want to put a beat behind it. And he's so on point like, spit like a metronome. It was just a little bit of shifting, but he spit an acapella. I didn't have to adjust his tempo or anything. He was so on point the whole way through. It fits the beat. It's craz. But I have Styles P, like, reacting to Js, and at the end, he's like, fucking bars. Like, it's just an awesome moment that we get to relive over and over and over again because we recorded it live. And then I have Mr. Cheeks, who I've collaborated with in the past, shout out Mr. Cheeks, who's on the Grind album, and Vato and Graff and Jae Juan, who is Jadakiss's son. And. And Right. Yeah, it's. It's. We interviewed Jadakiss and J Juan. We had some really great. Got some really great shit with them. Like a story about when Jadakiss first learned that J. Juan smoked. So. And we got both sides of that interaction and look it up. It's really hilarious. That was, like, a viral moment. Joe Budden talked about it on his podcast. It was wild. So, yeah, that's the big. That's like all the big name features, which is like, a crazy amount. And then we have, like, kind of appearances on the album, we'll call them where, like, clips from that we got while we were recording the podcast of artists and such. Afroman, we have a clip from Jim Jones, Ghostface, Fab Five, Freddy Branson, who. If you don't know who Branson is, he's like a legendary, legendary weed dealer from Harlem that all the rappers used to buy their weed from. And they all rap about them. So, like, Biggie and Jadakiss and Redman, like Wu Tang, they all. [00:30:41] Speaker B: I was not familiar with that, but it made me think, like, I wonder if that. I mean, it's probably very obviously what the half baked. Samson. [00:30:48] Speaker C: Samson. Exactly. [00:30:50] Speaker B: As soon as you said that. [00:30:51] Speaker C: Exactly. [00:30:52] Speaker G: So we. [00:30:52] Speaker C: When we interviewed Branson, we actually asked him about that, and he think. He think. He didn't think so for a long time, but now he's starting to think so because of the number. The amount of people who have said it to him. Yeah, yeah. Brett Samson. Exactly. Yeah. Hilarious. [00:31:08] Speaker B: That's funny. So, you know, we should probably play maybe another. Another song. [00:31:15] Speaker C: Yeah, let's play Buffalo Blue Bills, the one with Benny and Special. I hyped up so much because. Because it's like a banger, and. And I know people want to hear that one. [00:31:27] Speaker B: All right, cool. Well, let's check out Buffalo Blue Bills. Oh, I. I was like. I didn't even stutter over that. Yeah, we'll say that five times fast, right? And then we'll be right back to wrap it up with merch. [00:31:40] Speaker I: Since we talking cannabis, sometimes people leave me out of the culture, you know I done got bud directly from Burner I don't exchange gas with snooze Let me be frank, been counting Blue Bill feels like buffalo yeah the 716 [00:31:59] Speaker G: right in my way [00:32:03] Speaker C: no undertone, [00:32:07] Speaker I: let's go sound like music. You know I got a thing for this money I got a thing for it what does that make me? [00:32:25] Speaker C: A slave to the money O that's [00:32:28] Speaker I: what that make me Big Butch, let's go. All red Porsche for the summer Same fork for the butter Whip it in that pot until the stalker switch colors with no thanks I carried you jits like a big brother and before the next Friday I dip like I'm Chris Tucker Black cloud over the biddy huh down me when you ain't getting money Bernard Benji's 30 bucks look skinny chain so frosty I'll put it on me I look chilly told the plug I need five minutes it took 20 I'm a trap star I don't know how y' all make y' all paper pay to annoying bitch type of hoes that chase off paper she get a bbl she probably get a rapper or a trapper get a nose job that bitch gon find a baseball player and my team like the Yankees so thank me, respect me, then hate me then blame it on the ghettos that raised me put my name in the record better be the wreck shots cause the president giving pardons but BSF not is butch [00:33:16] Speaker G: I ain't counting money lessons blue and red or a stack of 120s in a purple band I ain't count money till the crew is fed and we sold at least that amount of money worth the grams I ain't count money less it's Buddha bread and the whole community smoking stage one brands I ain't counting money cause they running through the money counter for me Ain't no time to use my fucking hands the way [00:33:39] Speaker H: I grind frustrated guys but it isn't right to dim my light to let a hater shine I told my little man take your time make sure that nickel plated 9 stay on your side like nationwide niggas spit overrated rhymes to get lit but you can't get rich with a broke state of mind when finns was sick I gave em lines or let em give me Eight for a dime like good behavior time this pain ain't able to bear a shot from this thing'll disable a bear I bought some boots last year I ain't able to wear the ones with your blood My most favorable pair in my trunk is a pump, cable and spares Some tools that I use for my fatal affairs. Y' all broke, y' all gonna need major repairs. You never sat down at a round [00:34:21] Speaker G: table with squares trust I ain't countin' blue and red or a stack of 120s in a purple band I ain't counting money till the crew is fed and we sold at least that amount of money worth the grams I ain't counting money less it's Buddha bread and the whole community smoking stage one brands I ain't counting money cause they running through the money counter for me Ain't no time to use my fucking hands blue hundreds and bred 50s like we on the field Feel like I'm in the mafia the way I'm counting bills Got trust up in the building cause we found the will the way we piling this money make a mountain out of hill Shopping it up with the butcher got them numbers jumping stage one the new pusher and we up to something creating culture got the mothers running trying to keep up with the cook up we who they look up to Cause we run the summer we been on a run up for a minute now shit's a marathon Ain't no in and out we moving gas, no time for beef when you winning now? Target on your back make it hard to sleep when you been around Weeping at the table Waiting for the other heads to show themselves Having dope conversations while we smoking nails Ask the top sellers who control the sales frankly we've been in the top position so we know it well. [00:35:28] Speaker B: That was Buffalo Blue Bills off the. Off the album stage one stoned and it'll. [00:35:34] Speaker C: It's out when 6:20. [00:35:38] Speaker B: Yeah. So probably won't quite be out when this episode drops. [00:35:42] Speaker C: Yeah, drops on six. [00:35:43] Speaker B: But you can read the review of it, get you more excited for it. [00:35:46] Speaker C: Well, if you really, really want to hear, come in and come into the store for before between 5:20 and 6:20 we're. We have copies available. Yeah. So it's like to download. So download cards come in, scan the QR code. It'll bring you to the download. And the download's exactly like you have it, which is one long track. Kind of like the mixtape vibe, which when we put it out on 620 it comes out on stream and all the IDs will be there, but that one version that you'll be able to download before, before it comes out on stream and in there you can also pre save for streams. [00:36:27] Speaker B: And like, I'm such an album, dude. Like, sometimes I really love the power move of, yeah, it's an album, but it's one track, so no skipping bits. [00:36:34] Speaker C: Exactly. Hell yeah. Started listening to the whole. Because I put a lot of work into that, making that whole. All those transitions are, like, very purposeful and thought out and I, like, hemmed and hawed over them and I really put. Put a lot of, like, the thought into the order of the album and like, all the pieces that needed to come, like, all, like the little clips from the podcast that go in there, that was like a ton of work to make that. [00:37:02] Speaker B: And like, as an audio editor myself, like, I'm like, yeah, I understand that. [00:37:06] Speaker C: Yeah, it's a whole. It's just like, to make it one cohesive project. Yeah. So, yeah, listen to it as. Please, please. [00:37:13] Speaker B: I've, I. I have notes where I left off, like, you know, because I'm doing the review. [00:37:18] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:37:19] Speaker B: About like, you know, seven minutes and something or whatever. You know, that I'm like, when I come back. [00:37:24] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. [00:37:25] Speaker B: Gotta get it, scrub it to the right spot. But anyway, before we go, I do want to give you the chance to say what I refer to as your gratitudes. So the microphone is all yours. [00:37:37] Speaker C: Oh, man. I want to thank the whole 518 scene for just being a thing that has supported all these great artists and great musicians who've been doing their thing here for a long time. And I've been. I've, you know, been witnessing it and been a part of it in many different roles. So I just want to thank everybody for chugging along because it's not always easy, you know what I'm saying? Because it isn't. It's like, you know, it's clear that the people who are still here and are still doing it do this shit because we love it. And not for the accolades or for, like, any source of income or, you know, we're all just. We're here because we love this shit and we're in the trenches. So just thank you for, like, still supporting that scene and, and, and creating art and being there. So that's because that's what this is, right? Like, without, without this platform and things, like just throwing shows and doing all those things, it's like, we wouldn't be here without the Metroland, you know, thanks to Aaron Harks for bringing that shit back and being, you know, the torchbearers. There's a bunch of us torchbearers that are around here still being that. And so I want to not only thank the torchbearers, but thank everybody for supporting the whole scene as a whole. I want to thank my wife and my kids, obviously, and my family for always supporting everything. All these decisions and things that haven't always led to the best, you know, circumstances, but have transitioned into great things. And I always had a supportive family through all of that. So just, I want to thank them. I want to thank the whole Stage one family, old and new, you know, the original OG Stage one dudes that are all spread across the country doing their thing from California to Florida to New York and everybody in between just holding it down. And the new Stage one fam that has helped to build the store to what it is. I don't know if everybody knows us about Stage one, but we are like, we have such a high retention of our staff. Everybody who's working for us now has worked for us from basically the beginning. So, you know, we've shrunk because of the influx of stores that have opened. We were the second store and we were the second store for six months and there's just two of us, you know, so that was that. In order to support that amount of, you know, volume, we needed a lot more people. We're shrunk down to a more manageable staff for what we, for what we're doing now that there's 70 plus stores in the capital region, which is, which is great, you know, but it's definitely more of a convenience thing. So you're not always. You got you. We have our loyal customers. So I thank, want to thank all of them and I want to thank everybody, anybody who's really ever supported Stage one in any way. But, but the team that's there right now has been there basically since day one and they're the fucking best and I love all of them. I want to thank Rap Dills for being the co creator of the Stage one podcast that has really helped to kind of solidify the brand overall from not just the store. Now the podcast has millions upon millions of impressions with a lot of shit on Instagram reels and TikTok, like cannabis shit. Not even just rapper shit, but a lot of the rapper shit that's gone viral is really, he's the mastermind behind all of it, all of the clipping up and the video. So I gotta thank that dude Cause he's really like, help. We've created this brand together that's blowing up with the rap deal, stage one, pod kind of family, marriage. It's been awesome. And then anybody who like participated and believed in the vision for this album, which I think is gonna take everything to the next level of the trifecta of like creating the culture in New York State. Recreational cannabis. So there's the store, which is like the in person vibe, and then the podcast, which is telling the story through interview and through just other through word, spoken word. And then this album that's going to tell the story through music. So just thank anybody who believed in that and participated in that project. So I'd say thank and thanks to you for inviting me on this. Amazing. This just, I mean you're like, I said, you're like a torchbearer with what you do. Your name's brought up often as someone who's like helping to keep this scene alive, which is a testament. And so thank you for that. [00:43:02] Speaker B: Thank you for noticing. [00:43:04] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:43:05] Speaker B: All right, so he is Merc. I am Andy scullin. This is unsigned 518. I'll see you on the road. Unsigned 518 is produced and hosted by me, Andy Scullin. New episodes are available every week wherever you stream podcasts. If you'd like to help support the show, please like and subscribe wherever you are listening. Or you could buy me a [email protected] unsigned 518 if you would like to advertise on the show, send me an email at unsigned518mail.com and to be a guest on the show, reach out to me through Instagram signed 518 take care of one another and I'll see you next week. [00:43:50] Speaker C: And Scarlet.