admin That’s cool. The City Edition court has the words “For All of Dallas Fort Worth” on it. What does that phrase mean to you?
It’s pretty significant. I feel like there’s always been this kind of beef between Fort Worth and Dallas. Fort Worth has always been perceived as this country bumpkin kind of city. It’s always been overshadowed by Dallas. Fort Worth is a big part of the basketball community with the Mavs, but I don’t think they’ve ever incorporated Fort Worth anywhere with the team. I remember initially I felt like I wasn’t the right person for the job, but then I was thinking, I’m one of the few artists that’s made it out of Fort Worth. Prior to me, it was a band called the Toadies, which was kind of a one-hit wonder. And before that, you got country artists from the ’40s and ’50s, Americana stuff. So it was a huge honor for them to have me do this and I had to incorporate Fort Worth somewhere in there. (Laughs.)
I’m from Toronto, and Drake’s always been about putting us on the map. He’s the global ambassador of the Toronto Raptors and has been bigging up the team for years. Can you see yourself becoming the global ambassador of the Mavs?
Man. I mean, I’m open to whatever unfolds in the future. I think I need to do my part in keeping grinding on the music for that to make sense. But also shout out to Drake. I see a lot of parallels with my life and his, as far as really wearing our city on our sleeve. Ever since I got in the game, I’ve been very vocal about Fort Worth and where I’m from.
You can be the Drake of Forth Worth!
(Laughs.) That is so funny because one of my best friends, Zeus, he’s my right-hand man. We linked up organically, but ultimately, it became one of those things where I couldn’t go out in the city without having somebody with me. And so it’s crazy how that almost parallels Drake and Chubbs’ relationship.
Man, you never see Drake without Chubbs! Ever. Have you ever met him?
I’ve been in a room a few times with him. But I’ve met Chubbs and, man, he’s a solid dude. His artist Lavi$h was doing a show at Peppermint Club, and so I just came through to support, and Chubbs bought us a bottle, which was crazy. He seemed like a cool cat.
(Laughs.) I mean, I’m just going to be one of the cats that’s like, ‘Hell yeah, I’m just happy to be here. Boom. Minding my business.’
Even though you’ve blown up and you’re a Grammy winner, you still live in Fort Worth, right? You’ve never moved.
Totally. Totally. You know, I’ve been there since I was 2 years old and never really had any reason to leave. And I guess the beauty of it is, I love the pace of it, and life within the music industry is chaotic. So it’s nice to come back to somewhere familiar. And my family’s there and so, yeah, it’s home.
Kind of like your Fortress of Solitude.
Oh, def, def, you know? It’s my place of, you know, where I can recharge, you know, and I guess kind of be normal for a second.
In the campaign pics for the Trinity River Blues Collection, you’re rocking these metallic blue pants and a matching jacket. You gotta walk me through that drip, man. It looks insane.
(Laughs.) Man, it’s so crazy. I bought those two pieces, like, separately. The pants are these vintage ’70s satin joints, and then the jacket, I believe, is Ami Paris. It was just perfect how they went together, you know? And I was thinking of how I was going to style the jersey and man, that just came together perfectly.
