DotLife: Tiny Dot Concert Series - Daniel Laurent and Jeff 2X

Hi

everybody, welcome back to this week's Tiny Dot concert. We're here today with Daniel Laurent and Jeff two times. Really excited to have you both here. Jeff, as the existing Dorchester person in the room, I'm going to start with you. Tell me a little bit about your musical history and what brings you to the room

today.

My music history goes back. Way

back,

back in the time. Late 80s, early 90s, been DJing.

I'm

in the rap group, produced, did a lot. I'm still here. Say that name. I don't want to do all that. I mean, jeez Louise. I'll let you do that. Almighty RSO. Okay. Right. And then Made Men.

And

you're a part of Wise Guys. Yeah.

Wise

Guys.

So it's, it's, yeah,

it's a whole

long history. Yeah.

He's, you know. We can be in

for hours.

That's why.

He

downplays a lot and it's just kind of like, it's, it's, it's cool, but it's kind of obnoxious because the intro is intro, right?

Right.

Like, you know, you've heard of Nas before. Like he has produced for Nas.

Oh

yeah, I forgot about that. I'll knock it off. Yes, right. Jesus Christ. Okay.

Nas like the Nas?

The Nas. Wow. Exactly.

You should not downplay that.

He's, you know, toured across, you know, across the world. Source Magazine. Source. What was it? Source Lab? Source Sound Lab with Ray J and Egypt and then Source All Access with Lisa Ray and Tretch.

Oh my gosh.

I mean,

that's a

pedigree.

He's just like,

it just rolls. Oh, I forgot about that. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

It must be nice. Okay.

Well, tell us a little bit about you, Daniel.

I

mean, I just, you know, I work at a pharmacy. I just, I don't, I mean, I, I am, I'm an artist.

Roxbury, but we'll, we'll, we'll claim part of you.

Roxbury, but this

is the connection,

right?

So in the thing, like, you know, there's a checking in, right? And so because I, I checked in and then I have a connection, he is my gateway. He's my past. So

when I

walk through, you know, I walk on Dorchester Ave and I'm actually going to be doing, um, shout out to, uh, state rep Brandy Fluka Oakley. Brandy

Fluka

Reed now.

Yes.

Damn.

She's going to, she's,

I'm

going to pay

for that. She will

notice that. I'm going to pay for that. Yes, you will. Sorry. Um, I'm walking with her for, um, Dot Day. Awesome. Cause it's the day after, right?

Yeah,

it is.

Yeah. So I'm going to be walking with her. So when I walk down the streets,

they're

like, oh, that's Jeff's guy. You know what

I'm

saying? So I'm good. So

thank

you. Um, I'm artist, filmmaker, um, clothing brand, Black Dollar. Um, I just recently got the trademark, so I own it.

Um,

so that's,

you know what

I'm

saying? So, um, and, you know, community advocate, I'm, I'm involved in a lot of different things. I do a lot of advocacy and domestic violence spaces and,

um,

yeah.

And how long

have you been performing?

Um, a long time. I don't, you know,

I

think with me,

it's

hard to, it's hard to calculate the time because I never really gave it a

form.

Full go.

I was always

doing it while I was working or something else or some project or, and it was always,

you know,

like 30%.

Yeah.

You know what

I'm

saying? So, um, however, I think

when

I look at certain people and I don't want to make it,

I

don't want to make it Boston specific. When I look at certain artists who are like aging, they're not aging well. And I don't mean aesthetically.

I

just mean like

they're

not sharp and it's just kind of like

they're

being wheeled out and performing. And then, and

then,

so for me, it's important. Like I look at people who I'm inspired by, you know, past, present, and

I

always constantly want to be better,

you

know? So

even

the performance piece,

um,

there's different ways that I try to like attack a song

or,

you know, I call it dancing. So, you know, there's certain ways. So like the, the all money in record, um, you know, the line is I've been grinding all my existence past few years. I've lost a couple of friendships,

but

what I was like, I've been grinding all my existence past few years. I lost a couple of friendships full steam ahead. So it's like little weave in and out that like a musical ear would get, but like someone else would be like,

Oh

yeah, it's a cool record,

you

know? So anyway,

that's a very

long intro, but it is what it is.

That's

okay. So you are also no stranger to the podcast scene. You've got a couple of themes under your belt, I believe. Tell me a little bit more about your podcasting background.

Wedlocked and loaded with, uh, my manager is Jeff calls her management. Yeah. She's, I mean, what are

you

going to do? So, uh, so my wife, Leah, who's actually, uh, the star of cry for me also.

Okay.

Um, so we do episodes. Um, it comes out every Wednesday at 8am.

Um,

actually haven't done it in the past two, maybe two weeks. Um, life is life.

And

however, like it's super important. And this is,

we're

up to maybe a hundred and 40 episodes or maybe, maybe more. I

can't wait to be there.

That's impressive.

Yeah. But, and, and,

you know, the thing is a lot of people, you know, it

was

this whole big podcast explosion and everybody was doing a podcast and after four podcast releases, they disappear

because

no one has consistency. People thought that they were going to be quick money grabs, right? Like, you know, like the editing,

quick

attention grabs.

Yeah. And it just doesn't

like, you have to

be hard.

Yeah.

And so we

can talk about how hard it is more hard than, harder than I expected. And

I'm even seeing

from the episodes that I saw, I see, like you did something on this episode and you made it a point not to do it on this episode. So like, I'm seeing it in

real time. Right.

So like, you know, but a lot of people are just, it's just, I don't know. And that's part of what me, even with not being fully into dedicated into, you know, art creating. Um, I've always been doing something.

Forever.

Right. And that's why I take my hat off to like people like term, right. Terminology who

he

lived and breathed it every single day.

Yeah.

Right. Like eating ramen noodles or whatever he had to do every single day. He was

a

rapper

committed

to

it, you know? And

so you have to have that level in order to, what is it? The 10,000 hours, you know, that's a real thing. So a lot of people have done, you know, 150 hours

and,

um.

And they get tired or they get bored.

Yeah. But God

bless.

Stay away from me. I, um, I, I have stuff. I want to only be with the 10,000 hour people.

Yeah.

You and I, we

got to talk offline about collaborating artistically with your partner. Cause there's some, uh, there's some lessons to figure out there. We, we're loving it, but man, it's a different dimension to the relationship.

It

is, it is. And it's, it's, it's,

you

know, it's, it's, yeah. And, um, I will say just to put a button on the, the, the wedlocked and loaded piece is, um, two things. One, coming up with it, I really wanted to

have

a podcast experience.

And

what I was seeing and I still see is a lot of people will say they have podcasts

and

it's just an internet live. It's just an Instagram live or it's just a Facebook live.

And it's just a stream of consciousness. There's no real thoughtfulness

to it. And so

like, you know, and then do you have like a hub? Like I've always been big on having, um, a hub of where like I would live.

Right.

So even back in the MySpace days, I was one of the only artists that, that bought a domain name and had a website.

Okay.

Cause I always said, what happens if MySpace goes down and then we see

what happens. And all

of your assets are there then. Yeah.

So were

you friends

with Tom,

Tom, that guy, man. Where'd

he go? I miss Tom.

Yeah.

Good

old Tom. Tom cashed out. That's what Tom did.

Tom

was smart.

Good for him.

Yeah.

Yeah. So anyway, but, um, the wedlocked and loaded. So I wanted to make it a real podcast experience. And then also I wanted to master the audio experience before making it video. And I just felt that was a better way to like gradually grow and not do video. And then you can't keep up with it or it doesn't look the way you want it to look. So, you know, I was intentional about it. Leah also. Um, and we wanted it to be the presentation that we put out.

Yeah. And

you mentioned cry for me.

Um,

it's a short film, 20 minutes.

Um,

it's one, I think 34 awards to this date, like 45 film festivals. Um, it, I wrote it. I wrote the song cry for me. Um, I wrote the video and wrote the,

um,

short film.

Um,

co-directed it, produced it, executive produced it. Wow. Maxed out credit cards,

um,

did scout location, all the things. Was it shot in Boston? Um, some of it. And then some of it was, I think Dover. I think that was a house. I found this house and it was an arm and a leg and two fingers, but it was an important character in the movie. So I had to have that house. Dover, New Hampshire? Dover, Mass. Dover, Mass. I think Dover, Mass. Yeah. I think it was Dover, Mass. And so, you know, um, it,

it,

I'm proud of it. There's definitely things as a creative. I'm like, like watching it, I see stuff.

Yeah.

But

you know, it is what it is.

Where can

people find that?

So

it's purposely not

readily

available online because two things. One, it's in consideration for three different film festivals.

Okay.

And part of those requirements is you can't have it like online and for people to just see whenever they want.

And

then two, I don't know what the next iteration is and what I'm going to do with it. And so

there's

a, a, a, um, a FOMO element to it. So when people see that it's going to be screened, they're like, oh,

you

know, I got to come see it. I heard about it.

Right. And

I can't

see it anywhere else.

Yeah. And so

I've been using it for educational. I did something with teen empowerment,

did

something with Boston public schools

and

I'm intentionally talking to young people, um, young men in particular. And I always say that,

of

course, men are abused also, just not as disproportionate. The numbers are just not even in the same stratosphere. Um, but I'm trying to have course correction.

Yeah.

You know, so I'm talking to

young

men, older men with like different, you know, behaviors and trying to fix certain things and trying to prevent the next victim turned survivor. And with the whole Diddy and Cassie thing, it's all in the

zeitgeist.

Like people have their opinions. How come she didn't leave? And,

you

know, she was on a gravy train till it wasn't. Right.

And

it's like,

I'm

silent because that's just not how it works. No. And the stats are, it typically takes seven times,

you

know, the attempts of seven times to leave

before

you successfully leave.

And that's when you're not with someone who owns your entire career

in their future. Well, it's

that

part.

The power imbalance.

And

she's a beautiful girl,

but like, I

don't know if she was the most talented. I don't

think

that's a secret.

Right.

So, I mean,

yeah, it's a

whole different podcast episode.

It's a whole different podcast. But anyway.

So how did Daniel and Jeff, how did you guys connect?

Man. Yeah, that's crazy. How do we connect?

I didn't warn you

about this

question. Do

you even know?

Wait

a minute. Well, I did radio, so I would get his music. That's how the relationship. Before that. You would get me the music. And, you know, we just stayed in touch and communicated a lot. That's crazy. No, because this is before 80. Because you weren't on Hot. You weren't on Hot. You weren't on 87. Yeah, 87. But, like, we had, we were, we had a relationship. I mean, I don't know how that sounds.

I don't

want

to say

that. I know.

But we were, we

were in community before 87, for sure. Yeah.

I

don't know. I mean, I don't know. Anyway,

I

think

it's

one of those things where, like, it was always a genuine mutual respect

in

a real way from both of us. And we would have,

like,

real conversations. And, um.

And just, like,

in

the same circles for a while. And

then.

Also, we also got to keep in mind that we share the same birthday.

You

do?

The exact same, yeah.

What day?

September 6th. Yeah. September. Nice. With this, yeah. So, Virgo's. Yeah. And we think differently.

Yeah. And whether that gets. Yeah.

See,

like, if

he's

having

a bad day, if something's on his mind, he'll call me. Yeah. We'll talk about it.

Yeah. Because you think the same way.

Yeah. Yeah.

Like, if he's feeling a way, he'll call me, like, ah, by the time we hang up, he's. Yeah.

You know

what

I mean?

I'm an Aries, so that whole,

it's very

different thought processing.

It's very different. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, you know, it's, people have their opinions about Virgo's, but the reality is, like, Virgo's are very process systems oriented. And I think in a world of chaos and people just doing whatever they want to do,

they're

not going to so much understand and or appreciate Virgo's.

Yeah.

And

in turn, I don't so much appreciate most of y'all. So,

it's

a perfect, it is what it is.

Yeah. So, yeah. Tell

us a little bit more about your music choices, your styles. Um,

did

you, did you adjust your style at all when you got together with Jeff to,

two

time

or? Honestly, right. Always. Now I know, always liked what he was doing. Okay. For number one. Mm

-hmm.

Like, he's real hip hop.

And

I always felt

that

his name,

to

me, should come up in more conversations with a lot of these other guys.

Yeah.

That's my opinion.

Like,

he, cause he's definitely nice at what he does.

And

that's my thing with him. Always like, whenever he calls me, I'm always going to pick up. He ever needs me to do something, I'm always going to be there because I believe in what he got going on as I always did from day one.

And

that means a lot because he doesn't, he doesn't, he's not readily available for everybody.

No.

You know, and that doesn't come from,

um,

that doesn't come from a paycheck attached to it.

Right. You know

what

I'm

saying? But at the same token, I'm always very mindful of, I know in my heart, if I need him for some performance that I'm doing on mass and cast in the middle of the street, right. And I just want to stand in front and perform and I'm like, yo, I need you. He'll show up.

However,

when there's opportunities where he can make a couple of dollars or make

a

little more than a couple of dollars, I'm always doing that also to balance it out.

Yeah.

You know?

And

so whether it's weddings and bar mitzvahs and,

uh,

divorce parties, you haven't done a divorce party yet. Have you?

Are those big, are those more popular? Are you seeing those? Man,

you know how relationships go, you know, to having a whole, to death do us part. Sometimes people die a little sooner. Um, I digress.

Another whole episode.

That's another one. Yeah. Benjamin, I

have no control. I know. I'm

going to

hear about it as soon as this airs.

So

this will be fodder for the next podcast.

That's

right. I'm going to have to tune into yours to hear how she responds.

Yeah.

We've, we've, we've, um, we've had some, some really good ones. Um,

one

of the highest viewed ones were like over 30,000 downloads.

I think

like hard downloads.

Um,

one of the highest rated ones was we interviewed, um, the flirty swingers.

Oh,

that sounds intriguing.

And

so it's a couple and they, I think they both were married before and they're together. And it was just a,

a

normal conversation about the matriculation of their relationship and how they got to this point.

And

they're big on social media. It's a whole big thing.

But

for

those of you who are just listening to this, Jeff is shaking his head actively at the flirty swingers.

Yeah. That's not his bad.

I'm intrigued by stuff like that.

Right. That's

interesting.

Like

I know that I can't have

a

life where that's just kind of what it is, but I'm very intrigued by it. I

always

have been, you know, that he's much more, he's much more conservative in that regards. Like, do you do, I mean, this is a wild question. Do you do PDA? Do you like kiss in public? Yeah, you have to. Okay.

I

would see him like, ah, babe, don't do that. Wait too long. Nah,

nah, nah, nah, nah. Now,

you're not like going crazy. Nah, I'm not going crazy. Okay, yeah.

You're not doing

public makeouts or anything.

Yeah.

Like, that's me. I'm in, I'm in

Washington

Park, like going crazy.

The

crazy thing? I always, I always said I just want to like just make out in public, like, you know what I mean?

Go

for

it.

Yeah, do it.

Yeah,

yeah.

At

Dorch Fest. This is a

family

event. I don't think my girl's going to be there. Oh, I just can't just make

out. Is it family?

No, you said that the kids are going to be earlier.

I mean, there's kids all day.

Yeah. But

that's how they get here.

That's true.

So.

That's true.

Yeah.

And

by the way, it doesn't have to be your girl. No.

Flirty swingers.

No way.

So bring it

back. Trying to

get him jammed up. Hey, man.

Yeah.

All right.

Bring

it back to Dorch Fest. So you guys are going to be there. You're

going

to be there, I think at one o'clock. I got to check the schedule, but I'm pretty sure you're in the early slot and you're

going to

be at 104 Beaumont. So we have Beaumont Street closed this year.

Yeah. You

guys can

come

down and walk around and not worry about traffic, which would be great.

That's good. It's going to be

a pretty busy.

We don't want to

be hit.

Busy site. Yeah.

No hitting.

Where

else can

people

catch you guys?

Do

you have anything? I just got a new time slot on 88.9 Saturdays from 5 to 6. Okay. Legendary 88 .9. Yeah. Wait. Now back,

we

must, I'm going to, you know what? I'm going to try to figure this out

because

back when, so funny story about 88.9, my record

and

it was like verified by people at the time

was

the most requested record by a local or national artist on 88.9.

Wow.

And that was Masterpiece.

I

seen somebody last night who was, who served like, you know, he did like an 18 year,

you

know, um, bid in jail and

he

was like, Daniel Laurent,

you

had that record.

Oh

man.

And

same thing with Neil. Neil would tell me that.

And

so,

you

know, it's always, it's, it, power of music is beautiful.

Anyway,

I digress. That's 80.9, the legendary 80.9.

So

tell us a little bit more about your inspirations. What, where do you draw your, you write your songs?

Yeah.

Where do you draw your inspirations from? Is it?

I'm

no Drake. Um, I don't, I mean, I think, uh, people that come to mind now, um, Pac, Tupac, um, Nas,

um,

um,

uh,

Nipsey, Killer Mike,

uh,

Royce the Five Nine. And do you remember that,

what

happened with the live? So Almighty RSO, right,

um,

Ray Dogg, which then matriculated to Benzino, right? And a lot of people know Benzino from like reality TV shows and all the different things. We did our COVID MC, um, and we did an Instagram live and Benzino, because they, they're group mates, right?

And

friends, Benzino joined.

And, and

we were just having a conversation. His daughter's Coyla Ray too. Okay. So it's a whole, right? So we talked about that and talked about whatever.

And

so, um,

I

was saying like, yeah, you know, one of my favorite groups is Slaughterhouse. Because it is.

Okay.

Right? Joe Budden, Royce the Five Nine, Crooked Eye, and Joel Ortiz.

I

completely forgot that Royce the Five Nine, who is friends with Eminem

and

Benzino just have issues. And it was like public threats online.

It

was a whole, so like, I'm like telling Benzino like, yeah, you know, my favorite is

and

it like, yeah.

How'd that go over?

It

wasn't crazy, but like, I was genuinely being sincere about my admiration for these.

And when

it clicked, did you backtrack? No,

the show was

over.

And

I went and looked on it because there's a, there's a video on YouTube with Royce like going crazy

at

him and bazookas are involved. It's crazy.

Oh my God.

Exactly. So I forgot. And I'm like, oh no. But anyway.

Oh well. Yeah.

It is

what it

is.

Anyway,

I think, um, the way Killer Mike in particular, um, it's not that I love all of his music, but the way he is able to blend his activism and social consciousness into his music without feeling preachy is very like inspiring to me.

It's a tough line to

tread. Yeah.

Cause I don't, you know, like public enemy love them. Right. But like,

I

just always felt like, please, how low can

you

go?

And it's like, I don't, you know what I

mean? So, um, blending the, the, the worlds is very tricky and, and Royce the five, nine, I feel like does it really well also. So those are who I look to, um, and Kendrick now, you know, I guess always, but like now he's

super,

super inspirational.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And how often do you write new music?

Um, not as much as, um, shout out to Rex. I mean, you know, he, I'm sure he writes every morning. I don't, I write when I have something to say.

Okay.

Um, I'm going, when I leave from here, I'm going to record a record that it took me probably

three

months to write. And I, I write a song in 10 minutes,

but

this new record that I wrote, I wanted it to be perfect and I wanted it to be organic and for me to like, so I would listen to the beat every day for three months.

And

then I finally sat down and you know what? I was at, um,

19

keys, 19 keys was here. And I went,

I

think I went in the bathroom and like locked a stall and went on my, I didn't sit down, like not TMI, but I locked the stall and I stood up and I was on my phone typing and I got like the first half of the song and then I finished it later. So

I'm going to write

when the inspiration hits.

Yeah. So that's how that goes. And I, I don't, I don't believe in just fluff. Um, I was never one of those people that had,

you

know, 40 mixtapes, you know, and like I, I say what needs to be said and otherwise, like I don't take a record that's a really big record and then I want to do it over and remix it.

Okay.

Like the

arrogance of you to feel like the record wasn't good enough. Now your voice has to be,

you know,

but that's a, that's a dumb rapper thing.

Yeah.

Anyway.

Do

you mind performing a few tracks here?

Um, sure. That'd be great. Let me figure out what I'm going to perform.

Okay. Cool.

Well, thank you both.

Is Jeff

going to be behind me on the ones and twos? We'll

see. We'll see.

And stay tuned.

And

we're live. We're rolling.

So

my name is Daniel Laurent. I'll be one of the featured artists this year's, um, Deutsch Fest.

Jeff,

two times going to be on ones and twos. They still say that.

Yep.

I've been grinding on my existence. Past few years. I lost a couple of friendships. Full steam ahead. Never ending.

I'm

writing scriptures at the state of the city with the mayor's private admit. And

I'm

trying to remain civil, though. Boy, I tell you, they intentionally making it difficult. Each and every step, they put up some obstacles. Learn from the great Sean Corey. The streets watching you.

If

I kill you, I'm brainless. Clout chasing viral moments, making them famous. Trying to stay out the way, bro. Black dollar, the movement and mission and building. They know hustle of spirit. Hear it throughout my tone. Intentional with the poetry. Purposely in my zone.

I'm

well-respected. Tab ain't cost a dime. My credit was good before my first credit card would align. I'm feeling good. Getting so better with time. Built my castle brick by brick. Finally say it's mine. Family dysfunctions. Choose to put in rhymes instead of more hours on a therapist's couch with the blinds. Link with Camo and Diamond was impressed. Sentence record and now was prepared for you to digest. Putting the pause on the cheers and the toast. All money in till we victory lapping with blue notes. Yeah.

All

right. So

that

was just a little, little preview.

We

got a whole set prepared.

I

don't want to, um, unveil all the magic here. Right. But, um, just a little taste of what we're going to do. So this is a record. Um, nobody knows. It's actually a new visual experience I have coming out. And, um, it's probably one of my most personal records.

Yeah.

My heart was broke many times, uh. Many faces, spaces, many times, uh. Things and family equally. Now I don't answer my phone so frequently. Narratives float. DL don't speak to me. Focus is the pro tech, enter peacefully. And by that, I gotta stay by my lonesome. New me, 3.0. Yes, I'm on one. Force field around just in case the foes come. I'm looking for consistency. If anyone knows some, I'm no longer concerned with so-and-so's from. I'm a hustler. Connect with like minds even if the smoke come. Keep that energy if you type it. My posts are mine and you don't have to like it. A lot of Kool-Aid drinkers I see on timelines. Communities in ruins seeking power in prime time.

Even those I respect, the necks can't stand them. Complicated reverence like victims of handguns. Honor no longer as I once knew it. Distant associates to some I was cool with. Sink the pool in the corner with my pool stick. I had to unfollow some that I grew with. Just because we from the hood, it don't mean I fool with. Opposed to one from a different hood that I shoot with. Bop! Shout out to D-Quest. Shout out to Latila Rock.

And

fun fact, this record actually inspired the Native Land podcast theme song. So, shout out to Angela Rye, Tiffany Cross, and Andrew Gillum. You know, that's one of the proud moments.

Yeah,

I'm a creator and an executor. I don't think pie in the sky. No roofers. It's plain practical approach. No need to reinvent the Tesla wheel or Ford scooters. You want Kirby demos or store hoovers? You want a team full of passers or mixed shooters? You pick your path. Don't fold to the stress. Try one. Don't work. Don't quit. On to the next. Self-made is the best. Way I know how to get it out the mud. My only road to success. Never played a full game of chess. But I know it's the game of life. 20, 20, 40 is at best. Everyone wants it now and they can't wait later. I pay my tab plus tips. Don't owe favors. Held down the household when I grew pubics.

I'm jaded through that time but glad I grew through it. As an adult, I'm now able to move fluid. I'm thinking on the fly and adapt to the new rubrics. Stay far from timid heart moves when it's in tune with. No new friends, bad habits. I'm used to it. Primo quality or else I can't move it. Lee Denbiner in Thames. I just bruce it. Lots of loved ones is fuel to go harder. Peace to dad, Tosh one and Mr. Garner. Love.

So

catch us at the George Fest 2025. I don't want to speak. I don't have the exact address. But this is where you'll put it. Like right here. Right? I'm ad-libbing. But I think the address will be like right here. I'm going

to

look stupid if it's not. Anyway, I'm Daniel Laurent catching me and Jeff two times. Yep.