- 7 weeks ago
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00:00We're about to have one of the best pedals we've been had.
00:02We're going to bring out Essence, entertainment editor.
00:06His name is Oakla Jones, so give it up for him.
00:10Come on, y'all. Come on, make some noise.
00:11If that was y'all, y'all want to smile and clap for y'all.
00:12Come on.
00:16How y'all doing today?
00:20As he said, my name is Oakla Jones, entertainment editor.
00:23I will be overseeing everything today.
00:26So this is the In His Own Man experience.
00:29And today, I want to introduce two very special guests,
00:34two industry heavyweights who managed to flip their legendary success
00:37in the music industry into forays into other industries as well, too.
00:42So please clap your hands for Cortez, Tess Bryant, and Maino.
00:54What's up, buddy?
00:55Good, good, good.
00:57What's up, Maino?
00:58What's up, buddy?
00:59Oh, where you want to sit at, bruh?
01:01What's up, bro?
01:01What you doing tonight?
01:02You just stop, bruh.
01:03What you sitting there, bruh?
01:04You missed out.
01:06How y'all doing today, fellas?
01:09Hey, we good.
01:10What's happening?
01:11Yeah.
01:14All right, so my first question is for you, Maino.
01:17You from Brooklyn, as everyone knows.
01:18Brooklyn, big Brooklyn.
01:21Yeah.
01:21You spent a couple years in jail, too.
01:24Oh, wow.
01:25That's a hell of a way to do it.
01:25You're just going to throw it at me.
01:26You're just going to throw it at me.
01:26You're just going to throw it at me.
01:27That's how you're going to start the whole conversation.
01:31Really?
01:32But then when you gained your freedom.
01:33A couple of days, right?
01:34When you gained your freedom, you know, you hit the streets with an imprint.
01:37Right.
01:38And you kept every deal that you signed, correct?
01:40I did what?
01:41You kept every deal that you signed after you got out, right?
01:43I kept them every deal?
01:44No, some deals, we expired.
01:46Okay.
01:47Right.
01:47Okay.
01:48But then you took your talents over to Grand Theft Auto, and you still redefined yourself
01:51as a rapper, correct?
01:53Grand Theft Auto?
01:55Auto, yeah, the game.
01:56Yeah, I don't know who wrote this.
01:57Yeah, I don't know who wrote this either.
01:58It's crazy.
01:59Yeah, we did a song for them a long time, a few times, though.
02:03Yeah.
02:03Yeah.
02:04Okay, so here's the real question then.
02:06When did you decide to come more than a hip-hop artist?
02:09I think, naturally, that's just the progression of the game.
02:13I think that right now, with hip-hop, we got the opportunity to do many things, to do
02:19many different things.
02:20I started a podcast that actually turned into a show that I did a deal with, Fox Soul.
02:25So now my show's on Fox Soul, comes on seasonally.
02:30Right now, I'm also co-hosting with Angela Yee on Power 105 in New York City.
02:36That's actually syndicated here as well, number one here in this market.
02:41And we still competing.
02:42We still putting out music.
02:43We dropped the project last year, Lobby Boys, with me and Jim Jones.
02:47Yeah, definitely.
02:48So I just think that right now in the game, you don't have to give up one for the other.
02:52You can do many different things.
02:54How do you feel about that, man?
02:56I mean, I agree.
02:57Hands down.
02:58He spoke the truth.
03:00I think that, for me, on the back-end side, on the management side, it's literally how,
03:07you know, our philosophy for our company, that's what we lead with.
03:11We look at our artists, not as artists, I say, but we look at them as brands.
03:15And that's literally how we build them from the ground up.
03:18So we understand that it's more than just the music.
03:21And we leveraged that well while we're building our artists' brands to make sure they have a whole lot of other things going on outside of music.
03:29So, all right, so Jackson State alumni, correct?
03:35Absolutely.
03:35All right.
03:36The Jackson State University.
03:38You had a lot of management accomplishments, too, with Young Money Entertainment.
03:42Yes.
03:42With Drake's successes as well, too.
03:45And you also kept it fluid when you got to education, activism, and philanthropy as well, too.
03:51Yes.
03:51So tell me about what makes you stay connected to the youth and also, too, like, how do you uplift your community when you're doing your work as well?
04:00What makes me stay connected to the youth?
04:02I think I have to stay connected to the youth.
04:04I'll age out this game.
04:06That's right.
04:07That's a smart thing you have to do.
04:08I mean, I'm still fairly young, but I'm still 19 years in the business.
04:12So I center around my office with the younger voices.
04:17I'm not naive to know that I'm getting older and there's different trends and hip-hop has been evolving and it's going to continue to evolve.
04:25So I think keeping young people around you is strength.
04:28Keep you smart.
04:28Keep you sharp.
04:29And as far as a community, you know, I've been blessed coming.
04:33I'm born and raised here.
04:34I'm home, New Orleans, right?
04:36And I've come a long way and been very blessed along the way.
04:42So it's only right that any time that, you know, anything that I could do, as soon as I started getting any type of success monetarily for myself was to pay it forward and lift the hand to lead back.
04:57And, man, a similar person, my brother, like, how do you use your art to uplift your community?
05:03How do I use my way?
05:05Your art to uplift your community?
05:06Inspiration.
05:07Inspiration.
05:08Inspiration.
05:09We needed it because we didn't have it.
05:11You know, one of the first things that I did when I was able to was open up a store in my community, you know, and give jobs to, you know, young people in my community.
05:22You know, they need to see it.
05:23They need to see us.
05:24You know, it's one thing to become an artist or become an entrepreneur or whatever, and then for them not to see you.
05:31But they need to find inspiration and motivation in what we're doing.
05:35I didn't have that.
05:36I had to find that elsewhere.
05:38And I found it in the wrong places at first.
05:41And then once I figured out that I could shift the energy and do different things, one thing that Ted said that was very important, and I said this to myself the other day,
05:50I said I got to start looking at myself as a brand, as a brand, and that just encompasses everything, not just our artists because we're not in those times now.
06:00This is the greatest time right now because you can just flourish in so many different things.
06:06But, you know, giving back to the community, for me, it's important that they see me.
06:13It's important that they're able to still tap into what I'm doing.
06:18And for me to keep, you know, some of the younger guys around me so that I can still learn and still keep, you know, things moving.
06:27So with that, I want to piggyback off that, too.
06:30You know, I think you're a seasoned veteran in the game.
06:33You know, you've been around for a long time, too.
06:35So how do you keep reinventing yourself as a musician?
06:38Man, just staying young, just keeping young energy.
06:41Young is an energy.
06:42It's energy, right?
06:43It's energy.
06:43It's coming to the game and, you know, never looking like you need a favor even if you need one, right?
06:50Hip-hop is the way we dress, the way we talk.
06:53Got to be looking good.
06:54You got to put that shit on, man.
06:55Come on, baby.
06:57You know?
06:57And, you know, and just keeping the young energy around and being able to continuously learn, right?
07:05My son is 20.
07:06I learned from him.
07:07You know?
07:09We, your dad, this is the new artist.
07:12I'm like, this is him?
07:13Okay.
07:13And I want to be able to have that dialogue with him because we didn't have that when we was growing up with our fathers.
07:19It was like they wasn't tapped into what we was doing, you know?
07:23So that's how I stay young.
07:25I keep that young energy around me, you know, the way I can learn from it and tap into it.
07:29So, Tess, my brother, you've done a lot in the game as well, too, man.
07:33Do you think you find more inspiration in faith or in fear?
07:38Most definitely faith.
07:40That's the foundation of everything I do since the beginning, you know?
07:43You know, that's what leads me and that's what literally drives me.
07:51Fear doesn't even, that's not really in my vocabulary.
07:57I have an understanding that even, you know, when I jumped off the porch, when Wayne hit me up and asked me to, you know, manage him,
08:04we was figuring it out on our own early, I understood that, you know, there was going to be a lot of obstacles bumping my head along the way.
08:13Still to this day, you know, I'm still ever, ever learning in this business.
08:18So never been afraid of those type of things.
08:21I lean into those things because it brings learning lessons and valuable skills to help you grow.
08:27So faith is what literally is the foundation of my entire career, and fear just doesn't exist for me.
08:34How about you, Mano?
08:35Do you have something like that?
08:37That's an interesting question.
08:40I think a little bit of both I felt like I learned from because the thing about faith is that you can live off that, right?
08:46You can live off hope.
08:48And when I was in my situation, you know, and I was finding myself because I had never wanted to be an artist in my life.
08:55I didn't know nothing, I didn't start, you know, rapping until I was incarcerated, right?
08:59And, you know, and I was living off of faith.
09:02I was faithful that one day it would be better.
09:05One day I would get out.
09:06One day that I would be able to, you know, do something, right?
09:10But the fear of not knowing what I was going to be able to do is what drove me, right?
09:17The fear of coming home and having a three-month-old son is what made me kick into high gear because it's all about perspective, about how you look at things and how you manage them.
09:32You understand?
09:33We don't get consumed with fear, right?
09:36We don't get consumed to the point where we don't, it disables us from moving.
09:41So for me, I think the fear pushed me to a point where I was like, whoa, that's a scary thought, not knowing what I'm going to do, how I'm going to feed my family, how I'm going to feed myself, how I'm going to feed my son.
09:52Because all I got is these streets and I need to get out of them.
09:55I won't be here forever, you know?
09:58So I think the fear kind of drove me.
09:59So what advice would you give to your younger self to avoid on the way up, man?
10:06My younger self?
10:08Don't scare the money, man.
10:10Don't scare, don't, don't not scare the money, you know?
10:13I found myself bumping my head early on in the game because I just didn't know and I didn't have the information and then I had to learn and unlearn some things, you know?
10:23We come from like, you know, violent backgrounds and, you know, these backgrounds that we come from, you know, these issues as young black males that we had growing up and then you get into the game and you think that you're coming through the game with some of that energy and all you're doing is really scan away your opportunities and you're putting yourself in a position that people don't want to invite you to the Essence Festival, you understand?
10:50So that's what I would tell my younger self.
10:53It's not to, you know, disassociate yourself from the opportunity.
10:59Tess, how about you, brother?
11:01Oh, man.
11:03I don't know if I would tell my younger self to do anything different.
11:08I think my experiences that I went through and had to learn from built who I am today, you know what I'm saying?
11:14So, like I said, I'm content with all those things that I had to go through along the way because it built who, you know, the person you see in this chair today.
11:28I would just tell, you know, I would give my younger self confidence and understanding that, you know, you could do it because at some points, you know, all we had, in the beginning, all I had was faith to lead by because, listen, I was just figuring it out.
11:44I didn't go to school to be a music manager or understood anything.
11:48Literally, I was, you know, Wayne saw something in me that I didn't even see in myself based off us being best friends.
11:53So, there was times when I didn't know what I was doing, so I would just tell my younger self, have confidence, you know, you know you got it, you're going to figure it out because that's what it is.
12:02And like I said, I accept all those things along the way as far as the journey, but I probably just instilled confidence knowing that you could do anything you put your mind to.
12:11And when it's all said and done, what would you want your legacy to be as a man and as a manager?
12:18Man, that's a tough question because I really just started thinking about this.
12:24I just had a son three years ago, so my perspective kind of shifted, you know.
12:30At one point, you know, all those accolades and all those amazing artists that I was able to help architect me and my team to build up to, that's one great thing.
12:39You know, lately now, last couple years since I had my first and only son, you know, I've been thinking about, you know, pouring it, you know, the things that really matter outside of the success and the type of man that he's going to see in those core valuables and principles that I live by to make sure I'm doing more of that.
13:02That's why I'm in education and giving back and the community and all those type of things.
13:06So it's kind of shifted.
13:07I still haven't figured that part out, so I can't really answer that question because I literally really just started thinking about that at my big age right now when, you know, I had my first child.
13:18That's real, though.
13:20What do you like your legacy to be, man?
13:21I think I want my legacy to be inspiration.
13:23I think I want my story to be inspirational, very inspirational for those that come from turmoil, whether they're coming from the streets or they're coming just from any kind of deficit, you know?
13:40And the way you start, you don't have to end that way, you understand?
13:44You know, I come in contact with a lot of younger artists, with a lot of young black men, and I try to just tell them that the opportunity is greater than the problem, you understand?
13:52We don't all have the answers.
13:55We're all still trying to figure it out.
13:57But inspiration to me is something great.
14:01I want them to look at me and say, damn, he went through all that.
14:05He went through all that and did this.
14:07That to me is a greater thing.
14:12And as all of you know, we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop this year, too.
14:17And both you guys are very important to that genre.
14:19So, Mano, without hip-hop, where do you think you would be?
14:24Oh, that's a scary thought, baby.
14:27Say, say, say, baby.
14:29That's a scary thought, man.
14:32That's the thing about hip-hop.
14:34It saved so many lives.
14:36It saved my life.
14:37And I'm not ashamed to get up here and say that.
14:39It saved me, bro.
14:40Like, I'm not going to act like I'm some polished person.
14:44I came, listen, right, it was a real journey to get here.
14:49And without hip-hop, I wouldn't be sitting here, I would never have been invited to Essence Festival.
14:54I've never, you know, achieved some of the things that I've achieved in my life.
14:57So, yeah, that's the thing about it, right?
15:01So, we kind of sometimes focus on some of the negative aspects of hip-hop.
15:05But the positive thing is that it gave so much light and opportunity to so many young black men, you know, so many families, you know.
15:14And I'm one of them.
15:17Taz, what does hip-hop mean to you, man?
15:18Oh, man.
15:19And I echo the same thing Manuel said.
15:22Like, it definitely changed my life.
15:23I say it all the time.
15:27I say it all the time.
15:29But if I wouldn't be doing it, it's probably what I'm doing right now.
15:34I have a thirst for giving back.
15:36I've always had a thirst for helping, you know.
15:38And the things I'm doing right now in using the platform that's been built with me through hip-hop to take advantage of it is, you know, probably teaching and educating, building these music degree programs, these internships, you know, training the next minds to become the next Cortez Brines because we still need that.
16:01You know what I'm saying?
16:02And we got a lot of the talent, you know, but like Manuel said, we don't have exposure and representation matters, so there's a lot of executives, you know, that needs to be taught the game, you know.
16:16So I think that that's still a void in our business that needs to grow even more.
16:21So purposeful for me, probably if I wasn't doing hip-hop, but what I'm doing right now is trying to uplift and create change and create those next generations of the black leaders behind the scenes.
16:33So to help our artists and to help themselves to keep control of our culture, you know, so we can keep some of this money in our pocket and understand how big and the things that we can do with it.
16:45And Mano, earlier you spoke about inspiration, my brother.
16:48Yep.
16:48What continues to inspire you to create?
16:52Just life, just the hunger for more, just knowing and feeling like, man, nothing feels better than being alive, no matter everything that we're going through, right?
17:01We got days where we feel down, some days we don't want to get out of our bed, but if you really look at it and be like, man, what's better?
17:08What's really better?
17:09You know what I mean?
17:10Like, kind of focus that energy and just, you know what?
17:13I don't believe in having bad days.
17:15You know what I mean?
17:16Every day is a great one.
17:17I mean, it's going to be some bumps.
17:18It's going to be some bruises.
17:19But we got to accept the fact that that's just part of the journey, you know?
17:25So that's what keeps me going, man, knowing that there's so much more to do.
17:29Knowing and feeling like I haven't accomplished.
17:32I'm not the biggest artist.
17:33But I feel like, you know, hip-hop gave me the opportunity to branch out and do other things.
17:39And it's so much more to still do, you know?
17:43So I want to continue to keep pushing, baby.
17:46What about you, Taz?
17:48What inspires me?
17:49Yeah, what continues to make you, like, inspire?
17:51I think that, for one, like I said, I have a three-year-old, so I need to keep making money to make sure his life is totally different from how I came up.
18:03So that's probably my lead inspiration right now.
18:06I still love the game.
18:07I still love this.
18:09I still wake up every day and love listening to music, love helping people, the people that come into my life, whether it's the young executives that's in my office or the artists that I work with that still have these dreams.
18:24You know, I still feel, get that joy out of someone coming to me with the hope and the dream and ask, like, Taz, can you help me?
18:33And the fulfillment of reaching those goals, you know?
18:36So I still got that tick and that buzz that makes me keep going, even though it's been a lot of years doing it right now.
18:43Yeah.
18:44Well, gentlemen, thank you so much for coming up here and speaking with Essence today.
18:48Mano, Cortez, Brian, y'all give a hand for these two gentlemen.
18:51Thank you for having me.
18:53I appreciate y'all.
18:54Love.
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