- 6 weeks ago
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00:00105. I want to bounce Detroit. Still back for your pop and R&B. It's your boy Showtime, The Czar.
00:04I have a special guest in studio with me today. When you talk about leading the pack in lyricism,
00:11man, in the city of Detroit, you got to talk about this guy, man. Courtney Bell. Thank you
00:14for coming to the show, man. What up, though? No doubt. Peace to the God. What up, though?
00:18First of all, how are you? Got to ask you that, man. All is well. All is working. Navigating
00:22through a lot, adjusting to this new level of music and everything that's coming with it,
00:27but I'm good. That's what's up, man. Glad to hear that. I want to start from your beginning,
00:32man, real quick, if you don't mind. You grew up on the West Side, right? Yes,
00:35sir. Joy Row. Talk about some of your musical influences real quick, man.
00:39Locally or musically? Just in general. People that you felt like
00:44helped you become the artist that you are today. Man, I feel like I would have to pull from
00:48everywhere. I would have to pull from Stretch Money. I had to pull from Big Hurt. I had to pull
00:52from Doughboys, Cash Out, Team East Side, Blade Icewood, first and foremost. Street Lord Wine is my
00:58favorite Detroit rapper of all time. I didn't start really getting into Eminem and Royce until I got
01:06older and had a palette and a high respect for lyricism. Now, outside of that, locally in the city,
01:15I would say Tupac. Tupac is my favorite artist of all time. Why Tupac?
01:22His heart. The passion that he had for music, you felt it. It was his lyricism, his charisma,
01:32just the way he carried himself. You felt his soul through his music. That's something that as a kid,
01:38I picked up on and I knew that when I was going to do music for the rest of my life, I knew that those
01:44were traits and characteristics that I wanted to pick up. You talk about lyricism a lot, man. I've
01:49talked to a lot of other lyricists around the city and much like yourself, I feel like lyricism is
01:57coming back in hip-hop. No doubt. How did you keep yourself from falling into the kind of sing-songy
02:03thing in hip-hop to where you don't pay attention to much as into your lyrics?
02:10I feel like we all do fall victim to it, my bad. I feel like we all do fall victim to it
02:17at a certain point in our career, whether it's trying new things, blending in what the new Sonics
02:25is with whatever the time is. I feel like as the lyrics is, you do pull from that level of creativity
02:32still. But I would say I always knew that like everything is in a cycle. So I knew then that
02:39lyricsism me is going to come back. So I feel like it was like a delayed gratification thing with my
02:46career and just with music itself. So I feel like I'm arriving at that moment now. But I do feel
02:52every artist has pulled from that level of creativity in some way.
02:56You ever feel discouraged when you felt like the lyricism was disappearing in hip-hop? Like,
03:01yo, they don't want to hear this no more. Yeah, yeah. Heck yeah. Heck yeah. I always
03:06felt little pieces of discouragement in the beginning, you know, because I've been doing
03:12this professionally since 2017. And it was like, when I started like really, really rapping around
03:18that time, nobody was rapping how I was rapping, especially locally in the city. And I didn't,
03:23I didn't realize how special that was at the time. It took time for me to mature and wisen up to see
03:29that damn what you doing brings longevity to not only to your career, but to the genre of hip-hop and
03:35rap locally for your city and worldwide. You dropped a new record today, man. It's called
03:41Everyday. Yes, sir. I want to talk about a line in there that you, that you say, you said,
03:45I got bad habits that effed up my stacking. I blame everyone for my actions. Scared when this ish goes
03:50good. I'm used to the bad. I keep going backwards. Talking about accountability. Yeah, no doubt. And,
03:56and, and, and I'm just talking about the everyday cycles that we all go through. I feel like, you
04:00know, if you, we move unconsciously in earth's circadian rhythm, right? So your body is a computer
04:07and with your body being a computer, um, you get placed on programs that you subconsciously just get
04:13used to moving on and doing, like you put your socks on the same way every day. You wash the same
04:19arm when you get in the shower first. You grab your toothbrush with the same arm and that's an
04:23unconscious behavior, but you've programmed yourself to do that. So for me, when I said that
04:29line, like, that's what that meant. Like, I keep, like, I keep messing up, but I'm blaming everybody
04:33else and that's accountability, but that's also me being stuck in a pattern that I'm trying to get out
04:39of. How you get out of that pattern? Have you figured that out yet? Are you still working with it?
04:42Yeah. Yeah. Most definitely. I feel like practicing mindfulness and awareness every,
04:45every single day. I journal every single rising when I, when I get up, I become present to the
04:50moment, um, to the best of my ability. You feel me? Cause sometimes I might wake up and be stuck
04:55in a loop. I might get up and fall right in the trap and I'm on my phone and I've been on my phone
04:58for 30 minutes or an hour before I get out to bed. So, um, I think it all starts off with how you start
05:03your day. You dropped the project last year titled dark, uh, I'm sorry, micro dose dark side. Yeah.
05:10Okay. So real quick, is that, is that like a sequel to your first micro dose?
05:14Yeah. Okay. Okay. I just want to make sure. So the original project is micro dose.
05:17Okay. And then is that the project that, um, Royce EP that's one? Yeah. Okay.
05:23Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep.
05:23I want to make sure everything, what did that mean to you, man, that Royce the 59 EP that project?
05:28Um, it meant that I arrived at a moment enough, um, for him to not only become a mentor,
05:38but pass the torch to my generation. I feel like locally in a city that doesn't really happen as
05:44much because lyricism and hip hop is such like a, a sub genre within a culture of Detroit because
05:51everything is street driven. Right. So like, you don't see, um, if blade was living, you when I'm
05:58not even gonna say blade, who's a part of my generation that would, that would make sense.
06:02Um, like it's like no boys cash out, passing a torch down the band gang, like that, that,
06:08that thing. I haven't seen that in the street culture of, of rap. So for Royce to do what he
06:15did, like it meant everything. And we had a real relationship outside of music prior to him doing
06:20it. So when I came to him with the idea, it was a layup. He like, come on, let's go. I got you.
06:25Don't even worry about it. And he really took me up under his wing. Like he took me to the Grammys.
06:29Like he went to LA with me and this was like during the era when like Royce wasn't really
06:34like outside for real. He wasn't moving around. He wasn't, he didn't have a product, um, or music
06:40in the, uh, in the space of music. So for him to do that in the game that I got from him during that
06:45time and now, man, it's, it's priceless. You talk about Detroit artists a lot. You bring them up.
06:50I seen you talk about interviews and just the growth of music in Detroit. What you think the next
06:54step is for the city? Cause I, I completely agree. We got the street part on a lot. But artists like,
06:59you, that's the side that we're not displaying enough. Yeah. So what do you think the next step
07:04is for, as a whole, for people to see all of Detroit, the music scene? I feel like a piece of
07:09it is already coming together for real. Like you, you, you are watching, um, a lot of, a lot of men
07:15who grew up in real street beefs, you know, where they've lost people on each side of the war when,
07:21when it comes to street stuff. We're watching them put a lot of
07:26their pride to the side and actually starting to come together. So I feel like first,
07:30it starts with us coming together locally from a street perspective and just bringing the awareness
07:37to what we're doing over here on this side. Because when you look at the street genre,
07:43everybody's going to mention him. Everybody's going to mention Royce. Everybody's going to mention Sean,
07:47like they're over here, but they're from Detroit as well. Right. So I feel like it just starts with
07:52this side coming together to a certain, to a certain standard and everybody that's on this
07:58side of hip hop, the lyrics is, and all of that is just us, um, expanding the awareness of what we're
08:04doing and figuring out how to blend the culture together. Because certain guys that is from a
08:11generation above myself. Um, I feel like it was a disconnect with them in the streets.
08:16Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Your M, your Royces, your big Sean's like they were,
08:20they were part of just this culture and they never like really stepped over here until now.
08:27And I think it's really, and not Eminem and Royce per se, but I would say Sean,
08:31I noticed how he started to weave what he was doing into the street artists. You feel me?
08:37And I just feel like it just got to, it has to make sense.
08:40Now you bring that up. I feel like I want you to talk about your relationship with this person.
08:43I swear Vezo. Yeah. Oh yeah. I'm not saying this cause you here. You want, I swear, do not miss,
08:48bro. I don't, y'all got like a, I appreciate it. Y'all got like a peanut butter and jelly kind of,
08:53you know what I'm saying? It works every time. And I, when the first time I seen y'all two name on
08:57the song, I'm like, it was a Deebo record. Yeah. I was like, they don't even talk about the same
09:02stuff, but I played it 17 times back. I'm like, oh man. Yeah. So talk about your relationship with
09:07Icewear man. Man, I've known Icewear for, for, for years now at this point. And he's always somebody
09:15that I looked up to as a big brother and somebody that outside of rap, he stood on a lot of the same
09:20principles and morale that I stood on as a man before anything. Like I'm big on man business
09:26before music business get involved every single time. Like if I don't, if I don't, I can rock with
09:31you sonically, but if I meet you in person and something is off or you know what I'm saying,
09:36then I, it just is what it is. I keep it strictly music with you. And Bezo was one of them guys that
09:42when I started to like get a lot of attention, he was one of the ones just like Royce who took me up
09:47under his wing. Like that's my big brother for real. I can call him at any given time in the middle
09:52of the night. If he up, he going to answer the phone for me at two in the morning. And we going to
09:56talk for an hour every single time. And we talk mainly just about life, spirituality,
10:01God, business and stuff like that. So it makes the music 10 times easier when a relationship is like
10:07that. We not in the studio thinking about how to create. When we did Debo, I had a house on Puritan
10:13and North line, right? Middle of the hood. It was getting renovated. I had baseboard floors,
10:19like my carpet wasn't laid yet. Like this was like a trap. And when I had reached out to him,
10:24oh no, actually he reached out to me first. He reached out to me first in the DM. Like a little
10:28bro hit me. Let's get something done. So I caught him and he pulled right up and he pulled up by
10:33himself. I got all my homies on the porch, like from my block cause I'm from Joy Rose. So I'm standing
10:37on Puritan. And when he pulled up, he pulled up by himself, all his jury on, all his ice on, hopped out.
10:42He recorded in a trap with me, like in the trenches by himself. And he stayed over there for about six
10:47to seven hours. And he's kicking it. Like we got a whole nother record. Well, we got a couple of records,
10:52but we did one that's so hard that we haven't put out yet. But yeah, he pulled up right then and
10:59there. You ever thought about doing a collab album? Cause I'm telling you bro, even the record, the
11:03100 record on your last project, I'm like, man, these guys got an energy that just like,
11:09and it's funny that you was talking about earlier, the lyrical rappers and the street rappers coming
11:14together. And then it's kind of, when you see certain names, you like, I don't, but when you listen to
11:20it, it's not like y'all trying to out rap each other, but it's also a like, y'all are, but y'all
11:25are, but in a competitive way, you know what I'm saying? But it still makes sense to, we're not
11:29trying to outshine each other, man. So have y'all thought about doing a collaborative project?
11:32We didn't talk about it maybe like once or twice. I just think it has to make sense with where I am
11:36in my career and where he's at, where he is. Cause I feel like I put my shoes on and like, I'm running
11:42this marathon now. So like, um, I just, I just want it to make sense. And to your point, um,
11:48I kind of just had a thought when it comes to like street rap and lyricism, I think the beautiful
11:55thing about that is how we make that connection is and why me and him mesh so well and why I can
12:00get on the song with the him or a skill or with anybody is because I come from street essence first
12:05before lyricism. I was a real street guy, right? You know what I'm saying? I real, really into gang
12:11banging culture and really into all of that growing up. So before I started to really rap on
12:15this side, a lot of guys knew me over here for something else outside of music. So when it came
12:20to me and Vezo, that street essence is already there. So it makes it easier to connect to the
12:25street culture. I just rap like this, you know what I'm saying? It's like having a book bag on and
12:30some nerd glasses and all of that. And you mobbing through the hood, but everybody is looking at you
12:35like, nah, just cause he got his glasses on, don't get it twisted. Like he one of us. And that's a
12:40conversation that me and Vezo have one all the time. He like, bro, you, you rap like you one of
12:46them. But when I see you and like your essence, I know where you from. Like I really know where
12:52you from. And I think that's what, that, that is what bridges the culture because I'm not too far
12:57left to where I can go lyrical here, lyrical miracle, all of that. Right. To where I disconnect
13:02from them and they don't understand what I'm saying or don't connect with what I'm saying. So with me
13:09writing, I make sure that my heart is felt, my neighborhood comes out of my pen. You feel me?
13:15Our slang, how we talk, how we move on Joy Road. It's a, it's, it's, it's a certain poise that, um,
13:21comes with how I write. So to go back to the point, my bad, Vezo, um, me and him have, uh, for sure
13:27talked about doing a project, um, once or twice, but it just gotta make sense. Right. In fact, um,
13:33I hear you talk about spirituality, mental health a lot, man. What made you want to open that
13:39Pandora's box? I'm pretty sure coming from the West side, you seen some things you wasn't supposed
13:42to see at a young age and, uh, you know, probably learn some things that you thought was normal,
13:47but not got to unlearn it. Taking a deep dive into your brain and that mental health, man,
13:52what made you decide that, okay, some of this stuff I got to unlearn, man? Um, it was always there.
13:58Honestly, I feel like as a, as a little kid, um, being tapped into the spirit realm,
14:04that runs deep into my family. So being able to see, interact with spirits, lucid dream,
14:08astral project before I remembered what all of these things were, it was already in me. Um,
14:14what I feel shifted me was, um, being sick mentally and having a real spiritual awakening.
14:22When I was like 17 or 18 years old, that changed my life. I had a very divine interaction with God.
14:28And I heard God's voices, voice very clear for the first time ever in my life. And I think that is
14:34what shifted. I was in college and I had a girl over my crib and this was from a night of partying,
14:42kicked her out of my crib. Well, we'll not kicked her out like that.
14:45I walked her out of my crib for sure. Um, and as soon as I laid down, I probably have been laying down
14:51for maybe like 10 minutes, 15 minutes. And, um, when it comes to spirituality and spirit,
14:59spirits communicate by frequency. And if you are in tune enough, you can hear the frequency
15:04and feel the frequency. Um, and I felt the vibration first, like my body started to seize and kind of like
15:11lock up, but it was like a soothing, chill feeling that came over my body. And I heard the voice say,
15:18go home, like crystal clear. Are you nervous? You heard that? Hell yeah. I woke up like,
15:25wait, I can say that right. My bad. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Man. I woke up like,
15:30okay, I'm tripping lay back down and maybe like 15 to 30 seconds later, I heard go home even louder.
15:38And it was so loud that it sent chills through my body. You feel me? I'm a junior at Michigan
15:42State at that time, you know? And man, I packed my clothes and like, I didn't think about it. I
15:47dropped out of school that day. Didn't talk to my advisor, my team, my mama, nothing. I packed my clothes
15:52and went home. And I think the most high so much for being obedient and knowing what God's voice is
16:01and being able to decipher. Um, because I ended up catching a case in the midst of all of that. And
16:09that changed the trajectory of the path that I was going on. And it led me to where I am right now.
16:15So that was, that was my defining moment. Um, just to keep it short.
16:18All right. Two more things, man. And I'm gonna, uh, let you get up out of here. So
16:24did you say you did say you have a new project on the way? Yes, sir. You have a title for it yet?
16:29Yes. Okay. Can you talk about it just a little bit without giving away too much or not? I'll talk
16:33about it real quick. Can we reveal it? Okay. That looked like, no, we can't talk about it. Okay.
16:40Okay. So yeah, we do have a new project. Okay. It's on the way. You got a date for it yet? Y'all still
16:44working on that too? Nope. Nope. We're still working on a date for it. So today we just released the first
16:48record every day. So, um, from here on out, man, we in campaign, campaign rollout mode from here.
16:54Every, every three to four weeks, a new record is coming. So, um, I'll let you do the math
16:59on how many records comes before a project comes out. And then you will be able to kind of gauge
17:05when it's coming out based off today's date. So it was four, four weeks in between every single.
17:11Okay. All right. So, but it's coming soon though. I wish I could reveal it and talk about it,
17:14but yeah. Nah, that's cool, man. Um, last thing you are performing next Sunday, uh, August 17th at
17:20the, um, is it Afrofuture? Is that how to, cause it's not Afronation no more, right? It's Afrofuture.
17:25Okay. Yeah. You are performing. Um, this is your first time performing there, right? This is my first
17:30time performing at a festival. Yeah. Like, like, like, like at this, at this magnitude. I'm excited.
17:35I'm nervous at the same time. Um, I feel like I'm a crown stage. I ain't gonna lie just because
17:42it's a testament to, to, to everything that I've been through and for every artist that's
17:49here and across the world that, that raps, um, within the sub genre of hip hop and lyricism in
17:55a city that like, I'm, I'm, I'm getting my just due, you know, this is 10 years in the, in the making.
18:01And that happened by moving off of God's speed, being obedient to God. Like we started with a
18:09performance with Wyclef and I did such a great job that the lady who is a part of the media and
18:16gets the artists like their liaison, she just so happened to be there. And after I performed,
18:22like she pulled me to the side and like, just gave me my flowers. Like you are so amazing. You are a
18:26great artist. You are going to be very big. What can we do to get you an Afro future? And at the
18:33time I didn't know what Afro future was. I'm thinking of Afro beats and Afro fest. And I'm
18:37like, Oh damn. Okay. This sound dope. And when I pulled my team in, they had a conversation initially.
18:42And when I seen like the cap size of how many people is going to be there and how big this
18:47festival really is every year when they, when they travel, it was beautiful. It was beautiful. So,
18:53you know, um, practicing obedience, man, more than anything. Listening when the most heart
18:58tell you to do something. Man, I appreciate you for coming in here,
19:00bro. I ain't gonna hold you up too much longer. Thank you. I was so excited when you said yeah,
19:04man. Cause I'm like, I've been watching you do your thing for a long time, man. I'm like,
19:08yeah, this guy's it, man. So, um, if y'all haven't checked out Courtney,
19:12but you need to definitely do it right now. Your new, your new song, Every Day is out right now.
19:16Where can they find it at, man? Man, everywhere music is being streamed at.
19:20All right, man. Apple Music, Spotify, all that. Definitely. All right,
19:24Courtney Bell, Showtime the Zars, one on five, one to bounce. Peace. Peace to God.
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