Iâm not trying to do these partnerships where itâs like, Look what we got a rapper to do! Iâm trying to be a part of the company. Having something that I actually like is very, very important. Iâm always drinking White Clawâitâs a natural partnership.
It was already on the rider?
Already on there, and itâs still there. The only problem I have on the road is people getting the wrong variety pack. Iâll drink any of them, but peach is the one. If you get me a peach, weâre going to have a good day. Strawberry is a close second.
Youâve been on the scene for a while now. What do you remember about your first tour?
It was 2006. Chris Brown was the headliner and I was the opening act. I just remember not knowing what the hell I was doing. I had a wardrobe change in the middle of my show, and I didnât know where my wardrobe was! The one thing I remember was, on the first night, the wardrobe was backstage and I didnât know. I ran all the way to my dressing room and tried to run back to the stage before the next song started. I didnât make it because I didnât know the process at all. Thatâs one of the core memories from my first tour. Ooh, that was rough as hell. I was doing a panic run back to my wardrobe. Other than that? Pretty smooth.
Having a wardrobe changeâas the opening act, on your very first tourâis hilarious. I respect that level of ambition.
Well, I came out in a marching band uniform. I couldnât perform in that the entire time. It was brutal.
Is this the top hat era?
I wasnât doing the top hat yet. But I did have a marching band hat with the chinstrap and the feather on the top. Itâs something I couldn’t do a full show in. I had to do a wardrobe change.
How long did it take you to figure out touring and find your groove?
I mean, Iâm still figuring it out now. Itâs ever-changing. Itâs not something you actually figure out, itâs something that, as an artist, you always try to conform to the crowd with. Once you think you have it figured out, thatâs when you get boring. If you keep doing the same show over and over again, what is life? What is the tour? Itâs boring as hell. If you donât have anything different from the last tour, why am I coming to the next one?
Does tour get disorienting? As far as like, what day of the week it is or what city youâre in.
I have no idea where I am right now. [laughing]
That seems like the standard.
I think itâd be more acceptable if it was drug-induced and shit like that. But, no, itâs not. Iâll be honest. I just canât keep up! I wish this was because of drugs. Thereâs so much confusion and so many different things. I just keep saying yes to everything. Yeah, I can squeeze this in. Where am I at? Whose house is this?
Whatâs your plan for this summer?
Iâm on tour right now, right this second. This is the middle of tour. Itâs been fun. Iâm having a pretty good timeâfully independent, able to go out and do what I actually want to do, itâs not a label or management control thing. Itâs all just me.
If thereâs people you know in a certain city, are you trying to see them, or would you rather be left alone while youâre on tour?
Yeah, I throw my own festival, Wiscansin Fest. That was a pretty cool thing. All my fans from Twitch got together and rented out an actual mansion in Wiscansin. I was there with all my fans, just chilling. It wasnât like going to meet fans, it was like going to hang with friends! I do get to hang out with people that actually fuck with me.
These are strangers from Twitch?
Strangers in a physical sense, yeah. I met a lot of them for the first time. These are people that are always on my Twitch. They call themselves T-Painiacs. Theyâre fans that I see on Twitch all the time, but in a physical sense I have not met a lot of them. This was a big gathering of them.
It was a little bit before that, kind of the âIâm N Luv (Wit a Stripper)â era. Thatâs when things started getting real bothersome. It wasnât bothersome. It was just, Whatâs the big deal? Iâm one of those people thatâs like, Why do you think Iâm important?
