MADETOLEAD
MADE: The other
day you posted a
canvas of yourself
on Instagram and
you mentioned some
of the things that
you want to do this
year. You mentioned
getting back to your
younger, fearless self.
Can you talk about
that?
motivate yourself. I
think that was just
a reminder to stay
motivated within that
energy.
MADE: Speaking of
motivation, in your
interview with Myleik
you discussed the
300 people that
Sometimes
people will put a
wall in front of
their dream and
that wall could be
whatever it is that’s
stopping you.
DT: When I was
trying to get into
the game 20 years
ago, I was super
fearless. You’re
just fearless like,
“Let me in,” and
you’re willing to
do whatever you
need to do to get
in. I want to take
that approach again
and I think the best
way to do that is to
tap into that image
from back then. This
is harder when you
start dealing with the
industry and they try
to break you down.
You’ve got all these
different obstacles.
Now I have different
responsibilities as a
father, husband, and
friend. It makes it a
little bit harder to tap
into that day. It really
is a mentality more
than it is imaging.
What I was trying to
do with that is one,
remind myself that
it’s possible and, two,
to remind someone
else that might need
to hear that. You have
to find new ways to
you thought were
up there and it was
nobody even there.
Please talk about that
boldness and also
going to Diddy and
approaching him.
DT: The Diddy
one was really wild
because also at the
same time while I was
in college and just
coming out of high
school, I was making
beats at the time and
that was my thing. I
thought I was going
to be this ill Pete
Rocks/DJ Premiere
producer. With me
realizing that might
not be the case, I
just kept pursuing
it. Along the travels
of doing that I was
going to all these
made-magazine.com |
showcases for DJs
and these freestyle
and battle joints and
I was hooked up with
the X-Men DJ crew.
I was running with
them getting into a lot
of different clubs and
networking on my
own and leaving my
block in Brooklyn.
Doing all these
different things that a
normal kid probably
wasn’t really doing
like that afforded me
opportunities to see
certain people. This
particular time I saw
Puff in front of the
Phat Farm store that
Russell use to have
on Prince Street and
it was early in the
morning. I had my
cousin with me and
we’re walking down
the block and we see
Puff in front of this big
body Benz. This was
back then when the
Benz was crazy and
he was by himself,
no security and just
before 10:00 a.m.
because I remember
that’s when they
opened up.
MADE: Very vivid
memory you’ve got
there. Go on…
DT: It’s on a
Saturday, I believe.
Sun’s shining. It’s
summertime. We
ready to go to
this pool party so
we wanted some
fresh gear and Puff
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