Corte Ellis

WEBVTT
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What's going on, guys?
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It's The Godmother, and welcome to Let's Talk Music with Me, The Godmother.
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Today's guest is Corte Elliott, and I'm so excited to get this life going.
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We are gonna talk about his history in the music industry, the work he's done with artists such as Beyonce, Brittany Spears, Fantasia, Missy Elliott, Monica, Ariana Grande, so many artists that he's had the pleasure of working with well, they've had the pleasure, um, they've had the pleasure of working with.
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So I'm just so excited to get him on the live.
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He's on his way now.
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And I cannot wait to get into these levels and get into the history, the present, and the future.
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What's next for Corte Ellis?
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What's next for the music business, for the entertainment, for writers, for producers?
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So if you are someone who loves music, if you are someone that wants to um create um longevity in this industry, this live is for you.
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If you have any questions for Corte Ellis, go ahead and drop them in the comments and we're gonna shoot a movie to him.
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Hello, hello, welcome to the live.
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Hello, hello, hello.
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How are you doing today?
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Amazing.
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I can't complain.
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That is good.
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Yeah.
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Happy to be here locked in.
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Let's see, let's run it.
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I'm excited.
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Let's get these levels in.
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Um, we're gonna do 10 levels with Corte Ellis.
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If you guys have any questions, drop them in the comments.
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And and and if he's not too diva, we're gonna get him in.
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I'm just playing.
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Alright, so um, let's go ahead and get started with level one.
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Alright.
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We're gonna do um the background.
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Who is Corte Ellis?
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Before the credits, major records, industry relationships, and recognition, who was Corte Ellis?
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Where did your love for music begin?
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And when did you realize music could become your life?
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Oh man, I feel like to answer the first question, like, you know, who is Corte Ellis?
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Corte Ellis was just a guy who was just trying to make it out alive from his neighborhood, to be honest with you, man.
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You know, I was just a guy that that saw more, you know, it was more for me than Messi, what was pretty much placed in front of me.
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You know, I just I just always knew that, you know, it was more out there, you know.
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And I just knew as long as I had an opportunity, was uh what was able to be placed in the room, I I could succeed.
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So, you know, I just been a hustler at life.
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That's that's just been me.
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Yeah, you know?
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But um and when did you realize that music was it for you?
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I always knew music was it for me.
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I remember as early as being in the third grade, my uh no, no, no, fourth grade, my teacher, Miss Hosky.
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She that was like my first talent show.
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I was in the fourth grade, and um I wrote a song and she let me perform it.
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It was something about being on the stage, having the microphone, and being creative, just let me know that yeah, this is something that I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
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Even when I was younger, I knew.
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Although I played football, I I knew that um music was my thing.
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Yeah.
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You played football in high school?
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Yeah.
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That's what's up.
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Well, it makes sense.
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You're you're you're tall.
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Yeah, play ball.
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That's what's up.
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That's what's up.
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Um, thank you.
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First of all, thank you for coming on the show.
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Um, I really do appreciate for those of you guys who don't know.
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I mean, we've known each other for over 20 years, you know.
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Um my my dad and my mom, you know, they owned the label.
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And Corte was one of the um one of the people that developed or helped develop, you know, unique sounds.
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You know, my sister and I, you know, uh, so we had the opportunity to work with you.
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And um, it's been so many years.
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It's crazy because from when we were 20 years ago, everything that you're doing today, you know, you said you were gonna do 20 years ago.
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Right.
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And I think that's the that's the coolest thing about um developing relationships is that what you said, um, you had that house in the in Jersey, and you said you said to us, one day you're gonna walk in my house and you're gonna see plaques all over my walls.
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And and and they didn't exist yet, you know what I'm saying?
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None of that none of that existed, you know, and it was crazy for me in 2024 to go to the house, you know, to the space in Atlanta and then to see all the plaques in the walls and be like, yo, Tay, you know, uh, you did that, you know.
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So I want to just recognize you for that because a lot of people um don't understand the amount of work and the work ethic that it takes to have a vision and to actually see it through, you know?
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Right.
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And so this episode, I want this episode to be inspirational and motivational for um anyone who has a dream of actually um being not not just in the music, and any any this can go for anything that you know that you say, hey, I'm gonna put my mind to something, I'm gonna put my work towards something, and I'm gonna actually see this through, you know?
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100%.
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I mean, for me, like I said, when you when you are uh how can I how can I say this?
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When you have been ordained in life for a thing, and when God put you know a certain task and uh journey that's designed strictly for you, yeah, the best thing that you could do is be obedient even through the trials and the tribulations.
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And I feel like that was something even through discouragement, because nothing's always gonna be, you know, perfect.
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Nothing's perfect under the sun, right?
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But when you sign up for something blindly and having blind faith, you never know where uh you may wound up.
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Right.
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You never know.
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Right, which is um, which is gonna actually take us to level two from talent to songwriter.
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There are a lot of talented people, but very few become professional songwriters.
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How did you learn how to turn an idea, melody, feeling, or conversation into a record, um, into a record another artist can make their own?
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How did that happen?
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Say it one more time, because I want to make sure I answer everything, you know.
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Okay, so there are a lot of talented people, but very few become professional songwriters.
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How did you learn how to turn an idea, a melody, a feeling, or a conversation into a record another artist could make their own?
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That's a really, really good question.
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I mean, I just think um for me, I I just always have just a bunch of ideas first, right?
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So, of course, there's a process that you go through.
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Like you can have talent.
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You well, you can have a gift, right?
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You can have your God-given gift, is just what it is.
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But um in order to grow it and to be an expert at what you do, you're gonna have to surround yourself with people uh with knowledge.
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And if you're the smartest person in the room or if you know everything, then you need to go to another room.
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So so earlier on, um I just was I would ask questions, man.
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I would ask how how do you do that, and and why does that sound like that?
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Can you show me how that works?
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And then, you know, when you put the 10,000 hours in, like I would just really just work diligently, day after day after day, night after night after night, not only just myself, just as a vocalist, and um, but I would just study.
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I would study, I would listen to songs and and and actually try to study what made me like these songs.
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You know, like one of the things um Pooh Bear said that was so profound to me, he said some of the greatest songs are the songs that ax a question.
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And when you really think about it, you know, where do broken hearts go?
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You know, you know, like just certain certain songs like that.
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Justin Bieber had a song, um, What Do You Mean?
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It's just like, you know, if you can have a song that asks a question or tell people something to do, nine times of ten in a conversation, if you ask a question, it triggers somebody to do what?
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Respond.
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Right.
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Music, you need people to respond, whether it's physically, emotionally, or verbally, you need that, you know.
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Um, so I always try to make songs that people can respond to.
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And um, making songs that could translate and other people could do them came from me being able to mimic vocally what I thought the other artists would sound like doing it.
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And at that time when I first started doing it, I didn't know that, you know, I was gonna be demoing records for artists, and you know, uh, next thing you know, I'm playing ideas for Fantasia, but I'm just kind of mimicking her on a song or like Beyonce on a song.
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And you know, even some of my demos for Britney Spears are online where I sang the record as if I was her.
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So, you know, there's talent and then there's a level of delusion, like you know, yeah, and then you gotta be an actor.
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So with with those things and um paired with God's gift and uh my studies and relationships and relationships, yeah.
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Put me around some of the people that I need to be around.
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But like I said, I uh I always ask questions and I show up before I stay later than everybody, and if you put me in the room, I'm gonna be an asset.
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If you don't need me to be the songwriter that day, you might need somebody that could grab the coffee.
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You know?
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Somebody gonna say, Man, this guy, man, yo, he offered to go, he was going to the store, he offered to bring me coffee.
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You know, one time I was working with Timbaland and I showed up, the engineer wasn't there.
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And I I I can engineer.
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You know what I mean?
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It's like you just gotta make yourself an asset in the room so that you always get the phone calls and just be a good person, man.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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That's that's really good.
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That's really good advice.
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I hope you guys write that one down.
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Be an asset in the room, you know, play the role that you need to play in the moment.
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Monday, Monday, you might have to be the quarterback.
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Tuesday, you might have to be the wide receiver, but whatever.
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You just show up and you just play the position that's needed for that day, you know, and all and always be able to uh learn, you know.
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Just put your when you walk in the room, man, put your ego aside, you know.
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You don't like, like one of my my biggest, you know, teachers and mentor is Missy Elliott.
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You understand what I'm saying?
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So it's like when you go in a room with Missy, let's just be clear, she don't need you.
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She doesn't need you, you understand?
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So it's just like she can do all things.
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She can make beat, she can play, she can sing, she can write.
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So, you know, you you you want to put yourself in a place where to find where you could be utilized.
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And sometimes, sometimes me walking the dog led to me wound up on a record.
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You know?
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Or if she had to run out and do something, she'd be like, hey, can you lay the background vocals down on this?
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And I'll be like, Well, next thing you know, I'm singing on um Keisha Cole's Let It Go.
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Like, you just never know.
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Jasmine Sullivan needs you bad.
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Like, it's just get in the room.
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People need to shut up and get in the room.
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Right.
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That's it.
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I like that.
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That is um, that is really well said.
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That is really, really well said.
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Um, yeah.
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Okay, I don't know how many of a response to that because that's so good.
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I mean, um, actually, so tell me more about uh Missy.
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So how long do you know Missy or what's your um how how how did you get the relationships that you got?
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I see a lot of people.
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I keep seeing invite.
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What that means, you know.
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That's my first.
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Oh, that means that they're they're trying to um get on the live.
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Oh.
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I don't know.
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You know, do you know these people?
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No, no, no, no, no.
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Um yeah, I mean you could add people in if you want to, but go ahead.
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What what was the uh what were you about to say?
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Well, um, how did you get the relationship with Missy Um with to even get in the room?
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Well, the thing is this Missy's my my family.
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That's my that's my cousin, but I was going to studio with her when I was 15 years old.
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I didn't, you know, I I just was just happy to be there, you know what I mean?
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Yeah, I could sing, and you know, she was just kind of exposing me.
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This is pre the rain, you know what I mean?
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Right, right.
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This is pre-super duper floor.
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Like we she was just making music, and you know, yeah, that's my husband.
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Just like this is exciting, you know what I mean?
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Right, right.
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She'd just be like, hey, sing something.
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I was literally there just to sing when she needed me to sing.
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Right.
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And um, and then that that just that relationship, it transitioned into me, of course, being an understudy, being able to be utilized in the room, also trusted, you know what I mean, and um showing up and and and just learning and working and working.
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And when, you know, when my name was called, you know, when it was time for me to coach, put me in the game.
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It was what it was.
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And you know, that transition to us, you know, becoming just partners in music.
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You know, I did my first publisher deal with her.
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Uh we uh she signed two of my friends, the Soul Diggers, K Mac and Blessed, those are my homies.
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She signed up that's how we met.
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Yeah, yeah.
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We we did that deal, and then um, you know, just we still worked together.
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We worked on so many things together, so many.
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And then um later on, I you know, I became her music supervisor for like all you know, all her tour stuff.
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So when you see her out on the road, you know, that's just an extension of what we do, just helping put the shows together, and you know, that's my folks.
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That's dope.
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That's dope.
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Congratulations on that.
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For real, for real.
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All right, so let's go to level three the records that changed everything.
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You've built credits connected to artists including Beyonce, Britney Spears, Fantasia, Monica, Missy Elliott, and many others.
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What was the first major placement that made you feel like you truly belonged in this industry?
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To be honest with you, like I love all of those, the accolades, those records, working with those people.
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I mean, man, it's so many different levels to a lot of the people that you name.
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But I would say, like, my first, the first thing for me, I would have to say it was Olivia.
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Olivia was, she was, she was on Candy Shop.
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Um Gene.
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But she was signed to Clive Davis at the time, and what made that so significant for me, because I was interning for David Pitconley, who was uh an older gentleman that was in the group surface from like a long time ago.
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I was interning.
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We built a relationship, and not that that song was the greatest song, but it showed the integrity of her as an artist because she wanted to be, you know, kind of one of my first placements in the business.
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She didn't allow that album to come out without me being on that album, you know.
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So just the integrity for that taught me a lot in terms of just like, you know, this is uh an artist, yes, but also there's a human factor to that, you know what I mean?
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And there's a loyalty factor to that.
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And I just kind of took that with me, you know, like that was early 2000s, and that that really stood out for me.
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And then the other one I would say would be working on, of course, Beyoncé is is lit, you know.
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Yeah, yeah.
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Super lit, you know.
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That story could, you know, shout out to Mark Jordan who, you know, connected that relationship.
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He was um, I was signed, I had a demo deal at Columbia Records before the Twin Towers fell.
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On his exit from that deal, he's he goes, Hey, there's this girl, you know, she's in this group, Destiny Child.
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I think you should meet her, you know, play her some records.
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I I mean, I was I was familiar, but not really, you know what I mean?
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And that kind of sparked that relationship between me and Beyonce.
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And that went on, oh, you know, to be what it was, you know, Grammy Award winning, dangerously in love, you know.
00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:20.160
But we were working with you at that time.
00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:20.880
Yeah.
00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:39.440
But Jill Scott, I would say, for me, is one of the most significant because she, as a as, as a uh as an artist that has kind of been in the game for a minute, she saw something in me that a lot, you know, that I didn't even see in myself, and that was the time as an executive.
00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:43.359
You know, this is before I had launched my record company and everything.
00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:53.519
You know, she she saw how I was able to put people in the room, um, close deals, and she came to me and she said, you know, you you understand me, this project.
00:17:53.759 --> 00:18:03.039
She allowed me to help source the new record deal, and I became the associate producer of the number one album that she put out in the country on Billboard.
00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:05.680
Her first number one album, right?
00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:13.279
Well, no, it was she she did two number one albums working with me, but the second one was the one that I was the associate producer of.
00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:24.880
So both albums that I worked on went number one, and the second one, Woman, which I was associate producer, was the number one, and that was the first time I got executive credits on a full album that went number one.
00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:25.920
That's dope.
00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:27.279
Yeah.
00:18:27.599 --> 00:18:28.480
That's dope.
00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:32.319
I remember that time uh for Dangerously in love.
00:18:32.799 --> 00:18:35.759
I remember um you working on that.
00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:43.359
And it's it's crazy again in manifesting things because you were saying it back then.
00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:46.160
I'm gonna grab you, I'm gonna get a Grammy for this.
00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:51.039
I'm gonna, you know, I'm gonna get I'm gonna get Grammys for this work, you know, and got God is good.
00:18:51.359 --> 00:18:52.160
God is good.
00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:53.519
You did that.
00:18:54.400 --> 00:19:00.000
So it takes us into level five level four.
00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:02.240
Okay, level four.
00:19:02.559 --> 00:19:04.400
Inside the studio with greatness.
00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:09.119
You've been in rooms with some of the biggest artists, writers, and producers in music.
00:19:09.680 --> 00:19:14.160
What separates a superstar in the studio from everybody else?
00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:18.000
Because a superstar doesn't have to say anything.
00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:22.720
A superstar is, you know, this is they're a superstar when they walk in the room.
00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:23.759
You know what I mean?
00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:33.039
It's just like as a songwriter and a producer, my job is to tailor make what's needed to enhance that.
00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:35.599
But a superstar is just what it is.
00:19:35.839 --> 00:19:37.680
You know him when they walk in the room.
00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:47.839
Um, it's not a sound, it's not a, you know, like if Mike didn't open up his mouth and you saw him walk in the room, you know it was a persona, it's just a thing, you know what I mean?
00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:55.200
That's why you can have superstars that are actors, superstars that are athletes, it's it's the superstar is what you embody.
00:19:55.519 --> 00:19:57.200
It's not what you do, you know.
00:19:57.519 --> 00:19:58.480
It's not what you do.
00:19:58.799 --> 00:20:09.440
Yeah, that just that's why you're gonna you can have a lot of people that can sing, but you know, a lot of people all all around the world make music, but it does not mean that they're gonna be embedded in your mind for the rest of your life.
00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:09.839
Right.
00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:12.079
Right.
00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:20.079
What's who was someone um that gave you that superstar power like that just automatically when you met them?
00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:29.599
I would say Britney Spears.
00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:34.000
There are stars and they're superstars.
00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:35.039
Right, right.
00:20:35.839 --> 00:20:42.400
Brittany is uh she's uh a whirlwind, like that's a different that's a different thing right there.
00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:45.359
Came from, you know, yeah.
00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:48.319
Brittany Spears, definitely.
00:20:48.960 --> 00:20:55.680
And it's crazy because um, so you have um your story with um Get Naked.
00:20:55.839 --> 00:20:56.799
I have a plan.
00:20:57.440 --> 00:20:58.960
Oh, great story.
00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:03.200
Great, yes, tell us the story on on that, on Get Naked.
00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:07.359
Shout out to Danger and Marcella, his engineer.
00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:17.039
Um, I had been working with Danger on multiple records, um, and we were mixing Captain McPhee's album at Sony Studios in New York.
00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:19.200
They were mixing it, I wasn't mixing it.
00:21:19.279 --> 00:21:23.680
And I was gonna stop by the studio just to hear kind of where they were.
00:21:23.759 --> 00:21:28.799
It probably was about 1.30 in the morning when I decided I was probably out to dinner, hanging out, doing whatever.
00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:33.599
I'm like, all right, I'm gonna pop by, you know, because that's when all the studios were in New York still.
00:21:33.759 --> 00:21:39.519
And uh and I went in and I got in, you know, Danger's there, they played in mixes for me.
00:21:39.599 --> 00:21:45.200
And before I'm about to leave, Marcella says, Hey Danger, you should um you should play quartet at beat.
00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:47.680
He said, Nah, not really.
00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:48.960
You know, I'm cool.
00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:50.720
I'm like, nah, nah, nah, play it.
00:21:50.799 --> 00:21:52.559
He's like, nah, nah, it's not really done.
00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:54.480
Marcella's like, come on, man.
00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:58.640
And I don't even know if she got that green light from him, but she hit play.
00:21:58.799 --> 00:21:59.680
And I think King.
00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:05.839
Through them speakers, and I and I looked at him, I looked at her, I said, Yo, I knew it.
00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:09.200
Like, I would get like my the hair stood up on my arms, yo.
00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:12.000
I was like, yo, I need this right now.
00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:22.880
And uh as I'm talking to him, the engineer says, Well, one of the interns said, You know, there's a um there's a room downstairs you can use, you know, while we kind of pack up.
00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:25.119
I said, I just need 30 minutes, bro.
00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:27.039
I just need 30 minutes.
00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:33.599
And uh I went down there and the engineer was there and they loaded it up, and it just came to me, man.
00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:38.559
Like, it man, in my mind, there's a song called White Horse.
00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:44.240
And I was saying in my mind, it's an old song, like an 80s song, like, do you wanna ride, ride a white horse?
00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:46.880
But it was just the boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boo.
00:22:47.039 --> 00:23:02.160
It just was the the cadence of the beat, and I thought, if I could make a song for Britney Spears that felt kind of dark, but like, you know, kind of cool, you know, I I felt like that song embodied that what I, you know, the feeling of it.
00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:02.480
Right.
00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:05.039
And so I approached it like that, and it just came.
00:23:05.119 --> 00:23:06.640
It just that that's just God, man.
00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:15.359
That's that's like I said, that's the years of studying and working, and then just, you know, the man upstairs, making that thing come together.
00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:17.519
So I did the song about 30 minutes.
00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:18.400
I run upstairs.
00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:21.119
I'm like, yo, I got one.
00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:23.200
Got it, right?
00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:25.440
Because I know when I get it, I get this feeling.
00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:27.119
I'm like, man, I got it.
00:23:27.359 --> 00:23:35.279
And I play it, and um, next thing you know, Danger, like, look, what you're doing tomorrow, um, you should come to you should come to LA.
00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:36.319
I'm like, what?
00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:38.319
It had to be like two in the morning.
00:23:38.559 --> 00:23:42.799
Next thing you know, I get I get the flight information.
00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:46.400
Yeah, I'm at the airport 6.8 in the morning, flying to LA.
00:23:46.559 --> 00:23:51.279
Next thing you know, I land, Malibu, took the drive, I'm at Britney Crib.
00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:52.319
You know what I'm saying?
00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:52.720
Yeah.
00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:54.000
But then it gets crazy.
00:23:54.079 --> 00:24:01.200
So I get to the house, and Britney has, she has like a house is beautiful, it's amazing.
00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:09.680
And you know, you gotta go in, they take your passport, they take your phone, they they do like a whole background check on you before you go into the house.
00:24:09.759 --> 00:24:19.519
And then you go in, and then um they took me to the studio, and I remember getting into the studio, and it was, it probably was maybe like 300 square feet.
00:24:19.599 --> 00:24:21.839
The studio was small, it's like a little personal space.
00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:23.839
You have some little ass speakers in there.
00:24:24.079 --> 00:24:26.319
I said, and they was like, You gonna play this song?
00:24:26.400 --> 00:24:27.359
I said, nope.
00:24:28.319 --> 00:24:29.759
I said, I ain't playing this song.
00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:32.160
I said, Brittany, you need some speakers.
00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:37.680
We need to go to I'm not playing, I'm not playing my song on these little ass speakers.
00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:39.599
I did, I swear.
00:24:39.759 --> 00:24:42.400
And then she was like, I got another studio.
00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:43.519
I said, Well, let's go.
00:24:43.599 --> 00:24:46.720
And everybody in the room was giving me the don't do it quartet.
00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:47.759
Like, I was like, what?
00:24:48.240 --> 00:24:51.279
Man, and then they had to, for one, it's a production.
00:24:51.519 --> 00:24:54.400
You know, she got the kids, it's like a whole production.
00:24:54.480 --> 00:24:56.480
Then they got to get the black trucks to come.
00:24:56.640 --> 00:25:07.039
And from the time we left and get in the car, we were chased from Malibu all the way to the studio in um Hollywood from by the paparazzi.
00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:21.440
Now, if you know anything about Malibu, you know, it's like uh on that long stretch, it's like one way in, one way out on that, like the highway, or you know, because the beach is there, the water, and people was literally chasing us trying to get pictures and for hours straight.
00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:22.640
It was the craziest thing.
00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:24.720
And I said, Oh, she's a superstar.
00:25:24.880 --> 00:25:26.240
Oh, I get it.
00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:31.359
Never been chased by the paparazzi before, but yeah, that was crazy.
00:25:31.440 --> 00:25:33.920
But we went on to do Get Back It Naked.
00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:37.440
Um, the the blackout album came out, and um, you know, we killed that.
00:25:37.599 --> 00:25:38.559
Shout out to Danger, man.
00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:40.720
He did pretty much that whole album.
00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:47.359
That's what's up, and then um she ended up saying that that was her favorite song to perform.
00:25:47.680 --> 00:25:51.440
Yeah, she actually put it in that was like in Rolling Stone and everything.
00:25:51.599 --> 00:25:54.319
Shout out to Brittany, but she said my song was her favorite.
00:25:54.400 --> 00:25:56.079
I said, Wow, man, you just never know.
00:25:56.240 --> 00:25:57.599
She was mad cool though.
00:25:57.680 --> 00:26:00.319
She's super, super, super cool dope.
00:26:00.720 --> 00:26:01.680
That's what's up.
00:26:02.160 --> 00:26:03.359
I love that story.
00:26:03.599 --> 00:26:07.119
Um, and that's why that's the record I use for all of your promos.
00:26:07.279 --> 00:26:15.839
Because even um every time you hear it today, and then um in the they just used the record on the uh Victoria's Secret thing.
00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:17.920
On the Victoria's Secret thing, yeah.
00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:20.640
I'm like all these years, and it's still a hit.
00:26:20.720 --> 00:26:23.440
It's like those are like undeniable hits.
00:26:23.680 --> 00:26:24.319
Yeah.
00:26:24.640 --> 00:26:25.279
I love that.
00:26:25.440 --> 00:26:25.839
I love that.
00:26:26.079 --> 00:26:28.160
Okay, love being paid from it.
00:26:29.200 --> 00:26:30.640
That God is good.
00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:31.920
God is good.
00:26:32.160 --> 00:26:35.039
You know, okay, and level five is a little personal.
00:26:35.119 --> 00:26:38.880
Okay, so level five, we're gonna go back to Corte and Unique.
00:26:39.039 --> 00:26:39.519
All right.
00:26:39.680 --> 00:26:43.839
Um, so uh Corte, Ellis, and unique before the GAMOTHER.
00:26:44.160 --> 00:26:48.240
Before people knew me as the GAMOTHER, you worked with Unique, my sister and I.
00:26:48.400 --> 00:26:49.680
Take me back to that time.
00:26:49.839 --> 00:26:56.640
What do you remember about us as artists, our sounds, our work ethic, and what you saw in us back then?
00:26:57.839 --> 00:27:02.319
I mean, yeah, Pops was a G, first and foremost.
00:27:02.400 --> 00:27:13.039
You know, Pops Pops was just, you know, you know, pastor, you know, politician, music executive, you know, made man.
00:27:13.119 --> 00:27:14.799
He just is who he is, you know.
00:27:14.960 --> 00:27:17.680
Um he baptized me, you know what I mean?
00:27:17.759 --> 00:27:18.799
I'll never forget that.
00:27:18.960 --> 00:27:19.279
Yeah.
00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:24.079
Um, but one thing uh I I love the the unity.
00:27:24.160 --> 00:27:27.759
So, you know, the unity that your family had.
00:27:28.319 --> 00:27:31.359
And even, you know, y'all was renting out the hit factory.
00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:33.599
I'm like, yo, we missy's here, they next door.
00:27:33.680 --> 00:27:34.319
What's poppin'?
00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:35.039
You know what I mean?
00:27:35.119 --> 00:27:40.799
Like, y'all renting out the big room in the hit factory as a family, and we connected.
00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:42.799
We was outside playing basketball one night.
00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:43.680
We all connected.
00:27:43.759 --> 00:27:45.440
I see my daughter, my daughter chiming in.
00:27:45.519 --> 00:27:46.480
What's up, Clay?
00:27:47.519 --> 00:27:48.400
Hey, hey.
00:27:50.880 --> 00:27:54.079
Yeah, she she uh yeah, I seen her chime in.
00:27:54.160 --> 00:28:00.960
But yeah, so um, you know, just working with the family, and um, like I said, it just the unity and all.
00:28:01.119 --> 00:28:08.000
And I remember, you know, us connecting and then saying, yo, we're gonna we're gonna bring food to the studio for y'all because y'all be working and working.
00:28:09.279 --> 00:28:10.880
I'm like, oh, amazing.
00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:15.039
So, you know, y'all showed up to the studio and catered the whole studio.
00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:16.960
I was like, Oh, it's nice.
00:28:17.119 --> 00:28:42.480
It was all different types of things, and everybody was working, and then y'all did it again and again, and it just, you know, and we we just connected, and and and one of the things that I I loved about, you know, you and your sister, for one, if you if you're gonna go marketing here's you know, two beautiful sisters, you know, Spanish, English, your sister's a producer, you writing and singing, your brother's the engineer.
00:28:42.559 --> 00:28:50.720
It just was it just was a uh a thing that you just weren't seeing at the time, you know, especially like from it's like the Spanish Jacksons, you know what I'm saying?
00:28:50.880 --> 00:28:53.839
Like it was crazy, you know what I'm saying?
00:28:53.920 --> 00:29:05.599
Like, and y'all's sound, it just was it was it was fun, and it was a it was at a time where you could mix Latin and you could mix urban and and hip hop and pop at a time, and you know, y'all just did it so cool, you know what I mean?
00:29:05.759 --> 00:29:10.720
And uh I wanted to be a part of that, and we did it, you know, and y'all were like students of mine, you know.
00:29:10.799 --> 00:29:12.400
So Yeah, we learned so much.
00:29:14.160 --> 00:29:20.160
You know, y'all just was was students and we just would literally have fun, we'd make music and then have church on Sundays in the same room.
00:29:20.480 --> 00:29:20.960
Facts.
00:29:21.200 --> 00:29:46.079
I would never, you know, I was facts, you know, every time that we um that I look back, because this was over 20 years ago, you know, and or 20 years ago, and it was such a memorable time of our lives, you know, and so many relationships were built in that time that today still exist, you know, which is um the beautiful thing about what we built.
00:29:46.160 --> 00:29:49.920
And I I I thank God every day my father he looks at you like a son, you know.
00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:57.359
My mom and my dad, they they look at you like a son, you know, and it's and when you say it like that, yo, he baptized you.
00:29:57.599 --> 00:30:03.359
We went to when you were you were sick one time and my pops.
00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:05.279
You almost died on a plane.
00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:15.359
You all we almost died on the plane going over there, going over there to see you, you know, just so to go pray for you, to go pray for you and go be with you.
00:30:15.680 --> 00:30:18.319
You know, and those are those are the relationships.
00:30:18.400 --> 00:30:21.039
This is why um I'm grateful, you know.
00:30:21.200 --> 00:30:31.519
I'm grateful when when I see your success, you know, um, I always what I remember is the visionary that you were back then.
00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:43.039
I will never I will never forget you pointing at your empty walls and saying, one day these walls are gonna be filled with Grammys.
00:30:43.279 --> 00:30:46.240
You're not gonna be able, they're gonna be stacked.
00:30:48.400 --> 00:30:51.519
And um, I just I'm I'm grateful.
00:30:51.599 --> 00:30:53.680
I'm really grateful that we had that experience.
00:30:53.759 --> 00:30:56.240
You know, I learned so much as a songwriter.
00:30:56.480 --> 00:31:03.200
Um, today my niece Marcy's daughter, uh Mariah, her favorite unique song is When the Beat Stops.
00:31:03.440 --> 00:31:07.599
Well, you help me when the beat stops, so you never ever let me go.
00:31:10.160 --> 00:31:13.759
I'm gonna show y'all the record when when you know when all of this is done.
00:31:13.839 --> 00:31:17.519
But yeah, God is good, and we just went down memory lane.
00:31:17.839 --> 00:31:21.519
But um, okay, let's go to level six, okay?
00:31:22.160 --> 00:31:25.920
Songwriter, producer, or psychologist.
00:31:26.480 --> 00:31:29.599
Songwriting can become extremely personal.
00:31:29.920 --> 00:31:37.680
Artists walk into sessions carrying heartbreak, relationships, pressure, trauma, ego, and real life.
00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:44.400
How much of being a great songwriter comes from knowing how to read people and pull the truth out of them?
00:31:45.839 --> 00:31:47.119
A lot, right?
00:31:47.359 --> 00:31:54.400
Um you just gotta be able to go into the room and um be a sponge, right?
00:31:54.559 --> 00:32:01.440
And I like to use Monica as like uh, you know, some person I could speak on in terms of that.
00:32:01.680 --> 00:32:09.279
When you go in a room with Monica, Monica is gonna tell you about everything that's going on in her life.
00:32:09.440 --> 00:32:10.400
You know what I mean?
00:32:10.640 --> 00:32:17.599
Just not even I I believe that's her engine to get started so she can tap into what she needs to do and deliver.
00:32:17.920 --> 00:32:22.720
So the the therapist part is very necessary, you know what I mean?
00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:29.279
Because you have to be listen a listener, like 99% of the music that I've ever put out was on women.
00:32:29.519 --> 00:32:37.599
So, you know, you know, women they have an emotional side that men tend to avoid.
00:32:37.920 --> 00:32:40.480
So me, I just like to I'm a listener, man.
00:32:40.559 --> 00:32:43.839
I could sit and just listen and and I could take one thing.
00:32:43.920 --> 00:32:56.799
You could have been, you could have told me that he gave you one yellow flower two hours ago in the conversation, that might be the topic of the, you know, the song that may happen.
00:32:56.960 --> 00:33:04.400
You know, the the thing that speaks to you most in a conversation, or I look at it like if if you can put it on a shirt, right?
00:33:04.559 --> 00:33:08.799
Yeah, like if it could be a slogan on a shirt, that's gonna probably be your song, you know.
00:33:09.119 --> 00:33:09.599
Facts.
00:33:09.839 --> 00:33:12.880
So um I just the therapy part is like is it's real.
00:33:12.960 --> 00:33:14.000
You just gotta be a listener.
00:33:14.079 --> 00:33:16.240
I've sat in a a lot of therapy sessions.
00:33:16.319 --> 00:33:20.480
I could probably be a doctor right now, a psychologist.
00:33:20.559 --> 00:33:28.960
I've heard a lot, you know, something will never be repeated, but I've listened to a lot, and now I'd be like, You serious?
00:33:29.279 --> 00:33:29.759
Hmm.
00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:40.720
And I found a way to put it in a song where you know, we me and Jill, we call it the song snitch, because in songs you could tell a lot in a song, you know.
00:33:40.880 --> 00:33:42.000
So yeah, that's true.
00:33:42.400 --> 00:33:44.079
Yeah, you hold a lot of secrets.
00:33:44.319 --> 00:33:53.839
I remember um when we used to have our writing sessions, before our writing sessions, we used to say, okay, let's have our how are we feeling?
00:33:54.000 --> 00:33:55.759
What have we been going through?
00:33:56.000 --> 00:33:59.839
You know, what is your what is your what energy are you in right now?
00:33:59.920 --> 00:34:02.480
What have you experienced as of late, you know?
00:34:02.799 --> 00:34:09.760
And we would let that be the um, we would let that be what kind of carried us into the sessions, you know.
00:34:10.079 --> 00:34:16.480
Um, and I think I think that's the dopest thing about, you know, being a songwriter is being able to carry these emotions into these songs.
00:34:16.559 --> 00:34:18.159
And and you do that so well.
00:34:18.480 --> 00:34:23.119
Um, I can't wait to have like uh another writer's, but that's like another thing.
00:34:23.360 --> 00:34:30.239
Okay, so let's go into level seven, which is the business behind the hit.
00:34:30.960 --> 00:34:41.599
A young artist may celebrate getting a song placed without fully understanding publishing, splits, royalties, ownership, contracts, and the business behind the music.
00:34:42.239 --> 00:34:48.159
What are some of the biggest mistakes you've seen writers and artists make when it comes to this?
00:34:50.639 --> 00:34:52.000
And you don't have to name them.
00:34:54.320 --> 00:35:15.679
I'm not gonna name them, but um I mean the the mista the mistake I see a lot of creatives make is just allowing attorneys to be the in or the authority, you know what I mean?
00:35:28.639 --> 00:35:30.960
If you can hear me, you're frozen right now.
00:35:36.880 --> 00:35:39.039
Well Dante, you were frozen for the last minute.
00:35:39.119 --> 00:35:44.239
The last thing that we heard was um them depending on attorneys, you were frozen for a second.
00:35:45.119 --> 00:35:53.760
So depending on attorneys solely for me would be like a no-no, especially in today's business.
00:35:54.079 --> 00:35:56.880
So you have to ask questions, you know.
00:35:57.599 --> 00:36:12.239
Attorneys are making five percent on deals, they do a million deals a yeah a year with uh majors, so their um loyalty is gonna lie where their bulk of their money is being made from.
00:36:12.480 --> 00:36:19.199
Uh attorney sometimes will sell you into a deal so they can make another deal happen.
00:36:19.440 --> 00:36:21.039
I've seen the craziest things happen.
00:36:21.119 --> 00:36:24.960
So you just gotta want to read over your stuff also and ask questions.
00:36:25.199 --> 00:36:28.000
Even if you talk to an attorney, go ask another attorney.
00:36:28.159 --> 00:36:30.880
You know, get a get get get around intelligent people.
00:36:31.039 --> 00:36:35.840
Now, these days you have Chat GPT, you have Claude, ask questions, you know what I mean?
00:36:36.079 --> 00:36:38.239
Upload that contract and then ask it.
00:36:38.400 --> 00:36:39.920
How does this contract hurt me?
00:36:40.079 --> 00:36:41.679
How does this contract help me?
00:36:41.840 --> 00:36:44.559
What are the pros and cons of me signing this deal?
00:36:44.800 --> 00:36:51.199
Um, look out for words like in perpetuity, that means forever, you know.
00:36:51.280 --> 00:36:56.800
Um and deals, understand your reversion period in terms of like your copyright.
00:37:01.679 --> 00:37:02.000
Right?
00:37:02.239 --> 00:37:04.320
So yeah, so that's important.
00:37:05.119 --> 00:37:05.679
I love that.
00:37:06.000 --> 00:37:06.320
Thank you.
00:37:06.400 --> 00:37:07.039
That's good advice.
00:37:07.280 --> 00:37:08.639
I hope you're right that one down.
00:37:09.119 --> 00:37:11.679
All right, we're gonna go to level eight.
00:37:12.000 --> 00:37:14.320
Surviving different eras of music.
00:37:14.719 --> 00:37:24.159
You've worked through different generations of music of the music business from traditional studios and physical records to streaming, social media, and now AI.
00:37:24.800 --> 00:37:28.320
What has changed for the better and what has changed for the worst?
00:37:28.639 --> 00:37:33.679
And what do you believe the industry has lost along the way or gained?
00:37:37.199 --> 00:37:46.800
Well, I just feel like I feel like you know, we're gonna always love music, and in this business, you're always gonna have to adjust to the times.
00:37:47.039 --> 00:37:50.320
Anybody that's not gonna adjust to the times will be a dinosaur.
00:37:50.559 --> 00:37:58.800
But I think we have lost I think we have lost the uh the art of songs.
00:37:59.440 --> 00:38:17.440
Um we have lost the art of artistry, you know, just it's just a lot that's been you know just missing, and we we're just in a microwave area, era, and things are it's it's more commerce over art, you know.
00:38:17.599 --> 00:38:26.960
Yeah, it if it can make a quick dollar because all the companies are public now, and yeah, it's just turning into this this assembly line of bullshit.
00:38:27.039 --> 00:38:27.760
You know what I mean?
00:38:28.400 --> 00:38:32.480
So it's like we have to really champion for just real art when we see it.
00:38:32.639 --> 00:38:36.800
We gotta go out to the shows, we gotta download it, we gotta support it, we gotta stream it.
00:38:36.960 --> 00:38:40.800
Because if not, it's just gonna look like the foolishness is just what rules the world.
00:38:40.960 --> 00:38:50.079
Right, you know, you know, they say there's a place for everything, but you know, just just just be mindful of where you you know share your energy to, you know.
00:38:51.360 --> 00:38:52.639
Yeah, I love that.
00:38:52.800 --> 00:38:53.760
I love that answer.
00:38:54.320 --> 00:39:00.000
Okay, and we're going to level nine the people behind the credits.
00:39:00.719 --> 00:39:13.199
People see the major names and accomplishments attached to your resume, but they don't always see the sacrifices, the disappointments, relationships, the records that never came out, or lessons behind those credits.
00:39:13.760 --> 00:39:19.199
What has this business taught you about loyalty, rejection, and longevity?
00:39:20.400 --> 00:39:37.440
Well, I look at it like this a lot of the times, people they start to, you know, have some type of success, and then, you know, somewhere down the line, somebody jumps in their ear, and next thing you know, they're switching up their team.
00:39:37.679 --> 00:39:40.719
You know, I'm never switching up on my people.
00:39:40.880 --> 00:39:42.000
I'm just not doing that.
00:39:42.079 --> 00:39:47.440
You know, the the people that were there for me in the beginning, I can still ring their phones today.
00:39:47.599 --> 00:39:48.559
You understand what I'm saying?
00:39:48.639 --> 00:39:50.159
I can still ring their phones today.
00:39:50.480 --> 00:40:02.960
So it's just important that um you find your your music family, the ones that are gonna challenge your perspective, that are gonna hold you accountable.
00:40:03.119 --> 00:40:05.760
I don't want nobody around me that can't hold me accountable.
00:40:05.840 --> 00:40:13.360
I don't want nobody around me that's gonna hear a song and and and and and not be afraid to say, like, hey, Corte, that's not it.
00:40:13.440 --> 00:40:14.000
I don't think that.
00:40:14.079 --> 00:40:15.280
I think you could be better.
00:40:15.519 --> 00:40:23.360
I have I have people around me that's that if I play something and it's not jamming, they're gonna be like, man, you you could you better than that.
00:40:23.440 --> 00:40:27.599
My man D, that's one of my guys, he'll be like, Corte, it's cool.
00:40:27.760 --> 00:40:28.960
You know, I don't like it.
00:40:29.119 --> 00:40:31.280
I love somebody to tell me they don't like something.
00:40:31.360 --> 00:40:31.679
Yeah.
00:40:32.079 --> 00:40:36.559
It doesn't mean that it might not be good for somebody else, but I don't want no yes men around me.
00:40:36.719 --> 00:40:48.159
And a lot of people got people that's just in the room shaking their head to the beat and just, you know, listening to the the 808 and not thinking of, you know, if it's really good or not.
00:40:48.480 --> 00:41:00.719
So yeah, make sure you surround yourself with real ones, man, that just not kissing your ass because you got the most money out the crew, or or you got the fly car, or you know, you making a shake for everybody, man.
00:41:00.800 --> 00:41:03.760
Nah, it might be your boy, like my boy TJ.
00:41:04.079 --> 00:41:06.480
My boy TJ, he's just a street dude.
00:41:06.559 --> 00:41:07.599
That's my guy.
00:41:07.760 --> 00:41:10.239
He don't work in the music business for nothing.
00:41:10.400 --> 00:41:13.519
And he'll be like, you won't even think he's listening to me.
00:41:13.679 --> 00:41:17.440
He'd be like, hey man, that right there, that's jamming right there.
00:41:17.679 --> 00:41:21.199
But if it's not, he'll be like, man, turn that bullshit off, man.
00:41:21.280 --> 00:41:22.559
He ain't trying to hurt my feelings.
00:41:22.639 --> 00:41:23.920
He's just like that shit trash.
00:41:24.000 --> 00:41:26.000
Like, I'm not trying to either, you know what I mean?
00:41:26.079 --> 00:41:29.519
Like, yeah, I just like I like real having real ones around.
00:41:29.760 --> 00:41:32.559
Yeah, I I agree to that one 1000%.
00:41:33.280 --> 00:41:38.960
Um, and it goes back to not always wanting to be the the smartest person in the room.
00:41:39.199 --> 00:41:41.599
No, you know, uh, you gotta elevate it.
00:41:42.159 --> 00:41:45.599
I surround myself with the the the new young guys coming up.
00:41:45.679 --> 00:41:53.199
My man Fresh, Fresh worked on um he one of the writers on the song Spin That, uh, the Doche.
00:41:53.599 --> 00:41:55.360
He's on so many joints.
00:41:55.519 --> 00:42:00.719
And when I go in the room and and I sit back sometimes, even when I'm invited to sessions, you know what I mean?
00:42:00.960 --> 00:42:04.400
My girl A Chic, you know, uh go in the room.
00:42:04.480 --> 00:42:06.320
I'm listening, I'm still learning.
00:42:06.400 --> 00:42:07.119
You know what I'm saying?
00:42:07.199 --> 00:42:08.800
I want to learn from what's coming.
00:42:08.880 --> 00:42:10.880
Like, you know, that just it just makes it cool.
00:42:10.960 --> 00:42:15.679
Like you should never be too far ahead of yourself where you can't go in a room and learn.
00:42:15.760 --> 00:42:18.960
I like asking questions, like, oh, and hearing new melodies and approaches.
00:42:19.039 --> 00:42:20.480
I'm like, yeah, yeah, that's fire.
00:42:20.559 --> 00:42:21.280
You know what I'm saying?
00:42:21.440 --> 00:42:21.599
Yeah.
00:42:21.760 --> 00:42:23.039
And give people their props.
00:42:23.119 --> 00:42:26.719
Like, you're not the you listen, your only hot is your last record.
00:42:26.800 --> 00:42:30.159
I tell everybody, you can never win today's game off of yesterday's points.
00:42:30.320 --> 00:42:34.559
Yeah, you get the accolades, you know, billions of streams, and it's cool, man.
00:42:34.639 --> 00:42:38.239
But if you're talking about the art, we gotta keep pushing the art forward.
00:42:38.320 --> 00:42:39.360
Let's keep creating.
00:42:39.519 --> 00:42:41.119
You gotta leave this world empty.
00:42:41.199 --> 00:42:42.079
You know what I mean?
00:42:42.320 --> 00:42:44.639
None of us are gonna make it out of here alive.
00:42:44.719 --> 00:42:46.000
It's never happening.
00:42:46.159 --> 00:42:49.119
So if you got art in you, you leave this world empty.
00:42:49.280 --> 00:42:50.719
Keep creating, keep dropping.
00:42:50.800 --> 00:42:51.760
You know what I'm saying?
00:42:52.000 --> 00:42:52.559
Amen.
00:42:52.719 --> 00:42:53.280
I love that.
00:42:53.360 --> 00:42:53.760
I love that.
00:42:53.840 --> 00:42:55.840
Yo, you've been dropping gems this whole evening.
00:42:56.000 --> 00:43:00.320
I hope you guys are taking notes because this has been it tonight.
00:43:00.559 --> 00:43:05.199
So, this is gonna take us directly into level 10, which is the godmother level.
00:43:05.440 --> 00:43:10.960
And um, again, this is this level means so much more because of who I'm talking to.
00:43:11.199 --> 00:43:16.960
So, 20 years ago, um, you said you're gonna have these plaques.
00:43:17.519 --> 00:43:28.559
You said you were gonna be um you said anybody that's that's uh my name is gonna be attached to the to the most known and to the biggest.
00:43:28.960 --> 00:43:33.519
You said that 20 years ago, and today you have accomplished that.
00:43:33.840 --> 00:43:38.079
So now we're gonna go to 30 years from now.
00:43:38.320 --> 00:43:38.639
Okay.
00:43:39.199 --> 00:43:41.840
So 30 years from now, how old are you take?
00:43:42.559 --> 00:43:43.360
Me, I'm 47.
00:43:43.920 --> 00:43:44.320
47.
00:43:44.639 --> 00:43:46.559
Okay, so 77.
00:43:47.519 --> 00:43:50.960
Okay, so take me to age 77.
00:43:51.760 --> 00:43:55.039
We are in your um, you're we're in your house.
00:43:55.199 --> 00:43:59.840
We're about to do the Netflix documentary on Corte Ellis, okay?
00:44:00.639 --> 00:44:05.840
I want you to tell me one, who's gonna be in that room with you?
00:44:06.239 --> 00:44:06.559
Okay.
00:44:06.960 --> 00:44:10.400
Who's gonna be in that room with you celebrating your accomplishments?
00:44:11.119 --> 00:44:16.239
And two, what are we gonna be saying about Corte Ellis?
00:44:16.400 --> 00:44:20.559
What did Corte Ellis accomplish at the age of 77?
00:44:20.719 --> 00:44:21.920
What is what was your life?
00:44:22.000 --> 00:44:23.920
What what is the wrap-up of your life?
00:44:25.519 --> 00:44:34.000
Well, my daughter, my son, my my grandchildren will be there, you know, wifey will be there, you know what I'm saying?
00:44:34.320 --> 00:44:38.639
Uh, you know, you know, I just and and the thing, I look at it like this.
00:44:38.800 --> 00:44:48.320
I feel like the one thing that that I would be able to say, and people would say, Music, like I said, it's a gift.
00:44:48.480 --> 00:44:50.800
I already knew God said that was for me.
00:44:51.039 --> 00:44:55.519
But the one thing I always wanted to do in life, if nothing more, was to make my mother proud.
00:44:55.679 --> 00:44:56.800
And I know I did that.
00:44:57.599 --> 00:44:58.079
That's it.
00:44:58.159 --> 00:45:03.840
Yeah, because I know what I I know what my life was, and I know that I had to make a change.
00:45:04.079 --> 00:45:07.599
And first and foremost, I didn't want to let my mother down.
00:45:07.760 --> 00:45:08.079
Yeah.
00:45:08.320 --> 00:45:08.800
You know?
00:45:09.039 --> 00:45:09.840
So that's for me.
00:45:09.920 --> 00:45:10.960
I made my mom proud.
00:45:11.039 --> 00:45:15.679
Like everything else is just, you know, you know, it's just icing on a cake.
00:45:15.760 --> 00:45:16.639
I'm cool.
00:45:16.960 --> 00:45:17.360
Amen.
00:45:17.760 --> 00:45:25.280
And I'm I'm so excited to see um where your journey goes from here, you know.
00:45:25.440 --> 00:45:27.519
Um, what's next for Corteelis?
00:45:27.920 --> 00:45:30.639
What can we um what are we what are we working on?
00:45:30.719 --> 00:45:31.440
What are the artists?
00:45:31.679 --> 00:45:32.639
What is it that what's next?
00:45:32.719 --> 00:45:34.320
What's going on with Corteylis today?
00:45:34.719 --> 00:45:41.360
How funny would it be that I have a partnership for a Latin label, which is Avenida Records, launched in Panama.
00:45:41.840 --> 00:45:48.320
Still have Academy Records and uh develop my own app, which is Sparta.com.
00:45:48.480 --> 00:45:50.480
Right now it's on the Google Play Store.
00:45:50.960 --> 00:45:53.119
I just wanted to make a community for real art.
00:45:53.280 --> 00:45:55.039
Sparta is a space for art.
00:45:55.199 --> 00:45:57.519
I didn't even do a full launch yet, but you asked me.
00:45:57.599 --> 00:46:00.559
So it's you know, it's coming, it's on the Google Play Store.
00:46:00.639 --> 00:46:03.920
We just, you know, connecting people that really, really love art.
00:46:04.400 --> 00:46:08.880
Um it's just gonna, we it's the foolishness won't be there.
00:46:08.960 --> 00:46:10.159
It's not gonna be tolerated.
00:46:10.239 --> 00:46:18.960
You know, you can have Instagram for the fights and you know, whatever have you, but I wanted to create a community because you know, like all artists, we're sensitive about our art.
00:46:19.039 --> 00:46:19.519
You know what I mean?
00:46:20.559 --> 00:46:27.199
Create a place where artists could just kind of just be and and and scroll and listen and connect.
00:46:27.280 --> 00:46:31.760
And, you know, it's a place where you could you could actually create music inside.
00:46:31.840 --> 00:46:32.639
You can do sessions.
00:46:32.719 --> 00:46:34.480
I have a thing called Sparta Sessions.
00:46:34.639 --> 00:46:45.760
You can log in, you could get a subscription, you can work with your people, and the algorithm as we grow, grow, grow, grow, grow, will direct people, you know, that fit your community.
00:46:46.000 --> 00:46:46.719
You know what I mean?
00:46:46.800 --> 00:46:51.360
And you can, you know, you could DM, you could talk to people, you know, just learn about people.
00:46:51.440 --> 00:46:59.519
I just literally wanted to make a community where, you know, it's a real one because it's created by a creative, someone who has those real relationships.
00:46:59.679 --> 00:47:08.000
So when I say that the vice president of Republic Records is dead, like Danielle is gonna pop in there, you know, or Harlem's gonna pop in there, or St.
00:47:08.239 --> 00:47:10.480
Haraway, like the people that we really work with.
00:47:10.639 --> 00:47:12.559
Um, you know, just real executive ship.
00:47:12.639 --> 00:47:16.320
If they look in, they really could jump in and be like, oh, I heard that.
00:47:16.559 --> 00:47:20.880
Connect, you could sell music up there, you could get hired, you could write songs, you could do whatever.
00:47:21.039 --> 00:47:23.920
You know, I I came up with this idea in 2013.
00:47:24.000 --> 00:47:30.400
I knew everything was gonna be going digital, but I didn't know the, I didn't understand the know-how of how to really put it together.
00:47:30.559 --> 00:47:36.400
But um just connecting with people, you know, um, I've been able to make it a real thing.
00:47:36.559 --> 00:47:53.440
And I've been, you know, I've been working in the finance space, helping black creatives when it comes to their music rights, just understanding, you know, you know, the the the worth of their catalog, the masses, you know, wrote a lot of multi, multi, multi-million dollar checks for a lot of people, man.
00:47:53.599 --> 00:47:55.440
And um, we just gonna keep doing that.
00:47:55.519 --> 00:48:01.360
I'm just gonna keep serving the creatives and and doing my part to make sure that uh that we we all right.
00:48:01.440 --> 00:48:02.159
You know what I'm saying?
00:48:02.239 --> 00:48:02.719
We all right.
00:48:03.440 --> 00:48:04.320
I love that.
00:48:04.480 --> 00:48:05.840
Yeah, I love that.
00:48:06.079 --> 00:48:09.840
Tay, um, I really, this has been one of my favorite lives.
00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:13.760
I really do appreciate you coming onto my show.
00:48:14.000 --> 00:48:16.639
Um, I love the friendship that we have.
00:48:16.800 --> 00:48:30.320
I pray that this relationship lasts forever and that we can always look back at um at our life and be like, yo, different chapters, different ways, and and just look how far God has brought us, you know.
00:48:30.800 --> 00:48:34.239
And um, before I end the show, is it okay if I pray for you?
00:48:34.559 --> 00:48:35.280
I'll go for it.
00:48:35.440 --> 00:48:36.159
I appreciate you.
00:48:36.559 --> 00:48:38.320
I knew you were gonna do that anyway.
00:48:38.960 --> 00:48:41.519
That's how we always nothing changes.
00:48:41.760 --> 00:48:42.079
Okay.
00:48:42.639 --> 00:48:46.400
Father God, I want to thank you right now for my friend Corte Ellis, Lord.
00:48:46.559 --> 00:48:49.199
I want to thank you because you've brought him this far.
00:48:49.360 --> 00:48:56.960
I want to thank you because um he's here, Lord, and he has accomplished all the things that you have um asked him to do, he has done, Lord.
00:48:57.280 --> 00:49:01.760
I ask you, Lord, that you continue to bless him, continue to open doors for him, Lord.
00:49:02.000 --> 00:49:09.280
I ask you, Lord, that you remove anybody that is trying to come against what he is building in your name, Holy Spirit.
00:49:09.599 --> 00:49:16.239
That you keep supplying him with all the finances, with all the doors open that he needs so that he can get to where he needs to be.
00:49:16.719 --> 00:49:23.199
Holy Spirit, I ask you to bless his family, his kids, his mother, his wife, anything that belongs to him, Lord.
00:49:23.280 --> 00:49:37.519
I ask you, Lord, that you bless it, protect it, Lord, and that you continue to show him what is it that he's supposed to be doing so that he cannot only make his mother and his family proud, but make you proud and make the people that depend on him proud, Lord.
00:49:37.679 --> 00:49:41.280
Thank you for all the wonderful things that you do, and it's in your mighty name we pray.
00:49:41.599 --> 00:49:42.239
Amen.
00:49:42.559 --> 00:49:43.199
Amen.
00:49:43.760 --> 00:49:44.400
Amen.
00:49:44.880 --> 00:49:47.519
Well, you have an amazing night.
00:49:47.679 --> 00:49:51.360
I know we were supposed to meet at nine, but hey, you're gonna go be with your family.
00:49:51.599 --> 00:49:55.280
Enjoy your dinner, and um, we'll see you again soon.
00:49:55.360 --> 00:49:56.320
I'm gonna see you soon.
00:49:56.480 --> 00:49:57.360
All right, chill.
00:49:57.599 --> 00:49:58.559
You have a good night.
00:49:59.360 --> 00:49:59.920
Peace.