INTERVIEW: Marco Plus Talks Southern Hip Hop, Touring With J.I.D., New School Influence + More

Summary

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The Breakfast Club: INTERVIEW – Marco Plus Talks Southern Hip Hop, Touring With J.I.D., New School Influence + More

Podcast: The Breakfast Club (iHeartPodcasts)
Air Date: October 28, 2025
Hosts: DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne Tha God, Ashley Nicole Moss
Guest: Marco Plus

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Overview

In this engaging episode of The Breakfast Club, rising Atlanta rapper Marco Plus sits down with DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne Tha God, and Ashley Nicole Moss to discuss his journey in hip hop, his creative evolution, the realities of the new generation’s music industry, mental health, lyrical authenticity, and Southern rap’s legacy. From memories growing up on the show to reflections on vulnerability, faith, and the bustling Atlanta scene, Marco shares a sincere, unfiltered perspective on being young, hungry, and true to himself as both an artist and a man.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Early Life, Upbringing, and Hip-Hop Roots

[02:53-05:44]

• Marco shares the surrealness of being on The Breakfast Club, a show he grew up watching:

  "This is my childhood, like, dead serious... I honestly didn't think I was going to make it up here." (Marco Plus, 03:02)

• Raised in a musically-inclined family (grandfather owned an indie label in Pensacola):

  "My whole family is kind of musical... I've been rapping my whole life, bruh." (Marco Plus, 04:39)

• Early influences: Hot Boys, Lil Wayne, BG, T.I., Jeezy, Prodigy from Mobb Deep.

2. Personal Struggles and Mental Health

[06:00-07:47 / 13:27-16:18]

• Marco uses music as therapy, explaining his introversion and communication struggles:

  "My girlfriend told me I don't talk. So, like, I realized I do most of my talking in my music." (Marco Plus, 06:11)

• Candidly shares battles with depression from a young age and the process of self-exploration:

  "Depression is a sticky... It's a weird thing. Sometimes you don't know where your depression come from until you actually dig deep." (Marco Plus, 12:56 & 14:48)

• On faith and confusion about religion:

  "I feel like I battle with the idea of faith sometimes... Of course, I believe that God is real. I just don't understand sometimes." (Marco Plus, 16:18)

3. The Creative Process: Vulnerability, Storytelling, and Evolution

[12:01-13:27 / 18:27-22:03 / 38:26-41:18]

• Describes new album Marco Plus vs. the Underworld as a personal battle with shadow sides, industry ills, emotions, and broader life issues.

  "The underworld is the industry. The underworld is my emotions. The underworld is infidelity, trust issues... all of that shit could feel like hell." (Marco Plus, 12:10)

• On being vulnerable in music, yet guarded in life:

  "I'm a vulnerable guy. I'll be cooling. And I'm also like, a very—like, if I say you my partner, you my partner. People don't respect that all the time though." (Marco Plus, 20:32)

• On evolving as an artist:

  "I realized I hate my older music. But not because it's bad, because I know I've gotten better... This newer album is like, it feels timeless." (Marco Plus, 38:41)

4. Southern Hip-Hop, Atlanta’s Legacy, and New School Influence

[11:01-12:00 / 31:00-36:24 / 37:24-38:26 / 43:23-53:36]

• Proudly represents a resurgence of lyrical and conscious Atlanta rap (shouts to Dungeon Family, Goody Mob, Outkast, Killer Mike, T.I.):

  "Y’all are really in that space of, like, ‘man, this is the Atlanta that I grew up on.’" (Charlamagne, 11:08)

• Recalls the sound of Atlanta's Southside and its permeation across musical generations.
• Debates Southern rap “royalty”—comparing the longevity, impact, and relevance of J. Cole, T.I., Scarface, Outkast, Future, and Wayne with vibrant, at times contentious, exchanges:

  "Cole has had the longest run of being at the top in the South. Cole came out when? 2011. It's 2026." (Marco Plus, 48:51) "Wayne, TI, Scarface—like, come on, bro." (Charlamagne, 53:51)

• Highlights the blurred line between “up next” and “up now” status in the internet era:

  "Up next is kind of like a leash... When are y'all going to actually, like, push... for the guy to be up?" (Marco Plus, 35:12)

5. Career Moves: Authenticity, Collaboration, and Industry Realities

[08:06-10:19 / 21:28-22:58 / 23:56-27:27 / 34:04-35:48]

• Recently signed a distribution deal with Roc Nation, retaining creative independence:

  "I like to be able to control my timeframe...I could put out a song that I made two weeks ago. A lot of people can't do that." (Marco Plus, 08:51)

• On collaborating with JID and co-signs from Atlanta’s new vanguard:

  "He seen me wanting to make something more of not just myself, but of our scene. And he was like, all right, I gotta put on for that." (Marco Plus, 10:29)

• Struggles with social media demands; describes himself as part of a “transitional” digital generation.
• Takes pride in lyricism but aims for mainstream status:

  "I want to be the biggest rapper ever. I want to be the biggest musician ever... I have no problem taking the route I gotta take to become one of them." (Marco Plus, 24:46–25:26)

• On dream collaborations: Kendrick and Drake top his list, citing their respective impact on him as a young fan.

6. Contemporary Hip-Hop: Virality, Attention-Induced Short Careers

[40:15-41:55 / 36:46-37:24]

• Discusses how song structures and lengths are adapting to shorter attention spans, streaming culture, and new listening habits.
• Reflects on the rapid rise and fall of modern rap stars, blaming both the audience’s focus and artist ego.

  "The lifespan for rappers nowadays is so short. Max is two years... the attention span of the fan and the ego of the artist." (Marco Plus, 36:46)

7. Purpose, Legacy, and the Atlanta Scene

[54:11-55:22]

• Ambitions for his musical legacy:

  "I want to be the reason that these young kids want to do more, say more... I kind of just want to help my city figure out its true identity." (Marco Plus, 54:18)

• Hopes to be remembered as the artist who "shifted the paradigm" and inspired Atlanta's youth to seek more than the narrow confines of street or industry expectations.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Music as Therapy:

  "I do most of my talking in my music." (Marco Plus, 06:11)

• On Authenticity in Southern Rap:

  "I want to show that somebody from the south can be at the top...I just want to show, like, it ain't like that." (Marco Plus, 45:28)

• On Collaborating with JID:

  "He seen me wanting to make something more of not just myself, but of our scene." (Marco Plus, 10:29)

• On Mental Health:

  "Depression is a weird thing... Sometimes you don't know where your depression comes from until you actually dig deep." (Marco Plus, 12:56)

• On Religious Doubt:

  "Of course, I believe that God is real. I just don’t understand sometimes." (Marco Plus, 16:18)

• On Mainstream Ambition:

  "I want to be the biggest rapper ever. I want to be the biggest musician ever." (Marco Plus, 24:46)

• Roots of Atlanta’s Sound:

  "All of Atlanta, it's kind of like...everybody is from...the west side...and then they moved out and spread out." (Marco Plus, 37:30)

• On Longevity in the Game:

  "Cold has had the longest run of being at the top in the South." (Marco Plus, 48:51)

• On Legacy:

  "I want to be able to be like, yo, this kid shifted the paradigm. That's what I want people to say." (Marco Plus, 55:22)

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Key Timestamps

• [02:53] – Marco Plus introduced; emotional about appearing on The Breakfast Club
• [04:39] – Family roots in music and influences from the Southern hip-hop scene
• [06:00/12:10] – Processing pain and struggle through music; album themes
• [08:06] – Journey to Roc Nation distribution & artistic independence
• [10:19] – Relationship with JID and representation of Atlanta's underdog lane
• [16:18] – Deep dive into faith, personal confusion about religion
• [20:32] – On the dangers and necessity of vulnerability as a rapper
• [24:46] – Open declaration of wanting to achieve worldwide stardom
• [31:00] – The Michael Jackson/Youngboy debate; reflection on celebrity and accessibility
• [35:12] – Up next vs. up now: industry and generational shifts
• [38:41] – Growth: critiques of older music and the importance of evolution
• [41:55] – The challenge and art of crafting shorter songs for new audiences
• [43:23–53:36] – Wide-ranging debate about Southern hip hop royalty and the impact of J. Cole, T.I., and Wayne
• [54:11] – Marco’s aspirations to positively transform Atlanta’s youth and rap culture

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Final Thoughts

Marco Plus delivers a heartfelt, insightful conversation that bridges hip-hop’s past and present—deeply aware of the South’s legacy while passionately intent on forging his own path. From navigating mental health and digital-era fame to upholding Southern authenticity and dreaming big, Marco’s episode is a stirring reminder of hip hop’s power as both art and lifeline.

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Transcript

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Marco Plus]

Wednesday at 10, 9 Central on BET. An all new episode of 106 in Sports from executive producers LeBron James and Maverick Carter. It's a new top five countdown with hosts Ashley Nicole Moss and Cam Newton. They're breaking down the top moments in sports, culture and entertainment and highlighting both established pros and the stars on the come up. Watch the all new series 106 in sports Wednesday at 10, 9 Central on BET or catch up the next day on BET.

[Maggie Freeling]

The murder of an 18 year old girl in Graves County, Kentucky went unsolved for years until a local housewife, a journalist and a handful of girls came forward with a story.

[Marco Plus]

America, y' all better wake the hell up. Bad things happens to good people in small towns.

[Maggie Freeling]

Listen to Graves county on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and to binge the entire season ad free. Subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.

[Hunter (Hunting for Answers host)]

I'm Hunter, host of Hunting for Answers on the Black Effect Podcast Network. Join me every weekday as I share bite sized stories of missing and murdered women and girls in America. Stories like Erica Hunt, a young mother vanished without a trace after a family gathering on 4th of July weekend 2016. No goodbyes, no clues, just gone. Listen to Hunting for Answers every weekday on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[Kyle McLaughlin]

Hey, I'm Kyle McLaughlin. You might know me as that guy from Twin Peaks, Sex and the City or just the Internet Stand. I have a new podcast called what Are We Even Doing? Where I embark on a noble quest to understand the brilliant chaos of youth culture. Each week I invite someone fascinating to join me to talk about navigating this high speed rollercoaster we call reality. Join me and my delightful guests every Thursday and let's get weird together in a good way. Listen to what are we even doing on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Every day I wake up. Wake your ass up. The Breakfast Club.

[DJ Envy]

Morning everybody. It's DJ Envy. Just hilarious. Charlemagne the guy. We are the breakfast club. Lauren LaRosa is here as well. We got a special guest in the building.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yes indeed.

[DJ Envy]

And on our Breakfast Club AM Twitch Chat as well. Ladies and gentlemen, we got Marco. Plus Welcome.

[Marco Plus]

Yo, this is crazy. How are y' all doing today? How you feeling, bro? Plus, I'm. I'm kind of nervous. I can't cap.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Why is this crazy? Marco, why you nervous, bro?

[Marco Plus]

What? This is My childhood, like, dead serious. I was watching my boy Reuben up here with Nice up there.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah. Salute to Ruben.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah, shout out to Ruben. And Nice said something about how this is, like, one of the last places where you can come get some credibility. For real. Like, everything gone. I ain't going to lie. I ain't. I honestly a think I was going to make it up here.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Well, you thought we'd be gone by the time you popped off.

[Marco Plus]

They took away the BET Award. Like, I was like, what? That's crazy. You don't like. You never know what's going.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What's going.

[Marco Plus]

Yes, sir.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

How old are you?

[Marco Plus]

27. Going to turn 28 in a couple days. Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So we've been on half of your life.

[Marco Plus]

Yes, sir.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah. Yeah. When you first get tapped in, you.

[Marco Plus]

Think, I, I, I'm, I'm young, but I got a old soul. I seen the Ray J Fab joint.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Oh, wow.

[Marco Plus]

Wow, wow, wow, wow.

[DJ Envy]

You seen it? He, he wasn't. Because he would have been.

[Marco Plus]

Oh, no, you'd have been. Your mom would have been. I, I got kept back right in like, the eighth grade. So.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

17?

[Marco Plus]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

Damn sure.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's crazy. I was bad, though. I was bad.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah.

[Marco Plus]

See, I got kept back. Like, I ain't never go to class. So when I started doing homeschool the next year, I ain't do that work either.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I just watched y'.

[Marco Plus]

All. Dead serious.

[DJ Envy]

And Breakfast Club raise you is crazy.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah, Breakfast Club's crazy work, man.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Well, thank you, Marco. We appreciate you skipping school to watch us.

[DJ Envy]

So you are, of course, you're a rapper from Atlanta?

[Marco Plus]

Yes, sir.

[DJ Envy]

Originally born in Florida?

[Marco Plus]

Yes, sir.

[DJ Envy]

And tell us what got you into rap? Cause you're unlike, I would say, a lot of the rappers now. You got a different way of doing it. So what got you into what you do now?

[Marco Plus]

Honestly, it's kind of like embedded, you know what I mean? My whole family is kind of musical. My granddad, I think it starts with him. He owned a label in Pensacola from like the 80s to the 90s. Anybody big on the label? I think it was like TSM or something. It wasn't really very big. And like some, some, some floss stuff happened with like co owners and stuff like that. But like, yeah, like just the whole family, especially the immediate family, like, we're all kind of talented. I think I'm just the one that actually had the chance to get out there and do something with it, to be honest. I've been rapping my whole life, bruh. My. I remember I Remember being a Hot Boys fan as a child. Like, I have a very. I have a very strong memory. It goes far back. I could say, like 2000. I was trying to, like, look like Lil Wayne and bg.

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

I can see that.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

And what were your inspirations? So they were your inspirations?

[Marco Plus]

Yeah, them Tip Jeezy. As I got older, it was probably like, I like Prodigy from Mobb Deep a lot. We got the same birthday.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So you naming awesome. You naming some heavy hitters. I like this.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah, man.

[DJ Envy]

The crazy thing about Prodigy, I think people are starting to find a new respect for him in the last couple of years.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah. Long live P. He was talking a lot of real stuff. A lot of real stuff. That's one of my favorite rappers ever. I. I think Infamous is one of the best albums ever.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Definitely is. A lot of your music touches on, like, pain, reflection, you know, you tap into, you know, mental health a lot. When you write, are you venting or you think healing or just documenting?

[Marco Plus]

You know what's so crazy? I just started realizing that's how I kind of heal from things. My girlfriend told me I don't talk. So, like, I realized I do most of my talking in my music. Yeah, I do most of it.

[DJ Envy]

Seems like you don't like too many people either.

[Marco Plus]

I hate people.

[DJ Envy]

I can tell. Not from this interview, but listening to your music.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah, yeah. It's just like. I don't know, man. I kind of have a. I have a super sense of. What's the word? Cognizance. I compete when people is cap. I know when somebody is kind of being weird and everybody be weird. So it's like, sometimes I'd rather just stay away.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Do you approach people with an open mind, though?

[Marco Plus]

Yeah, for sure. You gotta give everybody grace in every situation. But at the same time, I don't give people too many times to show me. When I first heard the whole fool me once, shame on you. I felt like it shouldn't be no, fool me twice. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, it's a shame on me if you fool me once. Anyway.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I feel like that, especially in a work environment. But, boy, we still getting fooled up here by people, though. Shut up on yourself. God damn.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

So is that how you grew up, though? Like, did you grow up introverted or are you just not a people's person at all? Did anything happen that made you.

[Marco Plus]

I got a lot of family. I got a lot of family. So honestly, I don't be feeling like I need friends. Cause it's like, I Just call my cousins, call my brothers. I wouldn't say I was necessarily introverted up until a certain point. Up until my whole life became trying to write at 16 every day. Yeah, I got kind of like shut in.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

For the chat. I just want everybody to know. This is Marco. Plus, we're talking to. If you just joined us.

[Marco Plus]

Yes, sir.

[DJ Envy]

Rapping artist from Atlanta.

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

I was gonna ask how you went from. So your background in music. Not really liking people, but finding your way in the industry where you gotta deal with people and then you get co signed and you're now distributing your music through Roc Nation.

[Marco Plus]

That's a big hell yeah shout out to the gang.

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

So what was your. How did you meet people from Roc Nation? And how did that all come about?

[Marco Plus]

Honestly, I was leaving another situation and I honestly didn't know where I was going. But I just knew that they were showing interest, like. So I think it was one of my friends who assigned there. I think he still signed there. He like. He just told me, like, yo, these people talk to you. Talk about you up here all the time. And I was like, I need something to do. I need something to do. And they was. They was real quick with it as well. It was like one month we were just talking, and then the next month I was signed.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah, but it's just distribution, so you still gotta handle everything yourself.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah, for sure. And I love it that way, though. I like it that way. I like to be able to control my timeframe and all of that stuff. Just be able to, like. I could put out a song that I made two weeks ago. A lot of people can't do that. Yeah, that's a blessing right there.

[DJ Envy]

But it's costly, though. Cause you gotta pay for everything. Correct. They help out.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[Marco Plus]

Okay.

[DJ Envy]

So it's more than distribution. So they help with.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Okay.

[Marco Plus]

You know what I'm saying? Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

He was like, six, seven, six, seven.

[Marco Plus]

I love that.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's crazy. I know you. I know. J. I see Jid shot you out a lot. Chance to rap. How'd you tap into those guys, Jid?

[Marco Plus]

It's funny, it was like 2021, right. Somebody posted something on Instagram and he was like rapping an unreleased song from his album the Forever Story. If I'm not mistaken, the song was Crack Sandwich and he ripped it. But I'm a rapper, so I commented like, yo, this is hard, but wait till I drop. And he seen that and he just remembered. He just remembered it and waited till I dropped.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Like a rapper. Yeah.

[Marco Plus]

And then he posted the Song he posted lately, if I'm not mistaken. And honestly, that's kind of where my career fully started, if I. Wow.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So he posted it. Did he say it was hard, too?

[Marco Plus]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Okay.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah, yeah, he hit me up. We really talk damn near every week. Two weeks at this point. Real cool, dude.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

The reason I respect that is because a lot of artists on the come up wouldn't embrace another artist on the come up. People be feeling threatened, you know what I mean?

[Marco Plus]

Yeah, that's the thing, for sure.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

He didn't feel like that with you at all?

[Marco Plus]

Yeah. Nah, I think it's more so a kindred spirit type thing. Cause it's like just being front of a. We kind of like the underdog, just off root. No matter how hard we is, we just the underdog. Cause it's like everybody not finna listen to us. Everybody not finna want to listen to us. So I really think it's one of those things where it's like he just. He seen me wanting to make something more of not just myself, but of our scene. And he was like, all right, I gotta put on for that.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You and Jed represent, like, a lane of the A that I'm glad is kind of making a resurgence.

[Marco Plus]

Yes, sir.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I grew up off the Dungeon Family, Goody Mob, outkast, and that, you know, don't get me wrong, there's fruit off that tree for sure. Like the killer mites, you know, lyricists like TI but, like, y' all are really in that space of, like, man, this is the Atlanta that I grew up on.

[Marco Plus]

Yes, sir. I wonder what that's about, though. You know what I'm saying? I wonder why we like. Cause I really don't have no idea of why I, like, was attracted to the style that I do. Like, I'm from, like, Atlanta. Atlanta. Like, all I really know is D fol, you know what I'm saying? All I know is young DRO All I know is DRO get busy.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I mean, defoil was hard, too, but DRO get busy as a lyricist?

[Marco Plus]

Come on, man. I'm so happy you said that.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

But I guess. And I guess, you know, there's just different ways to do socially conscious music. You know what I mean? TI does socially conscious music. You know, Mike definitely does socially conscious music. It's just different ways to do it.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah, for sure.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

So the name of your album is Marco plus versus the Underworld.

[Marco Plus]

Marco plus versus the Underworld.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

So break that down. What is you versus the Underworld?

[Marco Plus]

The underworld is honestly. Well, number one, is dealing with your shadow Side. Yeah, see, that's a. Yeah, that it's me coming from where I come from and just the pitfalls of being from the area where I'm from. It's about the underworld is the industry. The underworld is my emotions. The underworld is infidelity, trust issues, all of that. I feel like I chose the word the underworld because all of that shit could feel like. Or excuse my language, it could feel like hell. You know what I mean?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[Marco Plus]

So that's kind of where I was coming with it. You know what I'm saying? And of course, Scott Pilgrim versus the world.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Oh, that was a fire movie.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah, I love it.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I'm sleep on that. So was it depression trauma?

[Marco Plus]

Just all of it. Like a culmination of all of it, you know? Sometimes you don't know where your depression come from until you actually dig deep. Yo, I just be sad, like, so. Like just. Just having to realize that nobody gonna do it for me. Ain't nobody really gone outside of, you know, your family. Ain't nobody gonna love you for real like you. And it's by yourself. And that's. I feel like it's just a journey. It's a. Like the project is a journey for me.

[DJ Envy]

And where did the depression come from?

[Marco Plus]

I'm sorry. A few things. I ain't gonna lie. I was depressed as hell when I was a kid for some reason, like. And I ain't like. Granted, I probably didn't even know what I meant, but it was one day at school, I forgot what we was doing in gym. I couldn't do it. A push up, right? It was something crazy. I don't know. But I told them folks I wanted to kill myself. Them folks called my mama so fast and they thought my mama was like abusing me or something.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Oh, did you really feel that way or you just was upset about what happened in Jim, bruh?

[Marco Plus]

See, that's the thing. I think I was just sad. I think I was just sad. Sometimes I don't know if I wanted to die. Like, death. I don't even know if I understood the concept of it. But then it was like later on, I kept having, like, just little problems in my head, you know, Like, I don't know if it was coming from, like, having just a tad less than everybody. So, like, you don't got the same type of swag, you don't got the same type of things. Or whether it's like me not seeing my pops a lot. Like, just because, like, we was in different places at the time. I don't know where it came from. Depression is a sticky. It's like. It's a weird thing. It's a very weird thing.

[DJ Envy]

I always wonder. I always wonder what depression, like what you're dealing with. Is it because you seen it and people talked about it so much?

[Marco Plus]

Right.

[DJ Envy]

When I was a kid, that wasn't a thought.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

You know what I mean? It's like you can't do push ups. Either you're gonna try or you're gonna joke your way out of it or you fail. But nowadays I feel like that's a reaction that a lot of kids hear and see. So that's that emotion that they go to even like you, even if they don't mean it.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

But when they say it opens up a can of worms because you never know if they're saying it because they really mean it if there's a problem at home. So I always wondered like when you thought it, like where that came from. Where that feeling came from.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah, man. Honestly, I'm. I'm not. I'm not sure.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

I don't think they never got to.

[Marco Plus]

The bottom of it. Yeah. I feel like it's a lot of people who. Trying to figure out why they don't feel full and. I don't know, I kind of been. I've been one of those people sometimes I still am. I don't know. I feel like we all just kind of go through our things and get through them sometimes people brain receptors be.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Different trying to figure it out.

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

I was gonna say you said you feel like you're one of those people that still battles with that.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah, for sure.

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

When I was listening to. So I listened to the opening on the project and it felt like that. It felt like you're talking about so many different things, but it felt like a battle between. You have hope and then you lose it, but you're still pushing through. You say they lost hope. They convinced that God don't listen. At one point, did you feel like God wasn't listening to you or this is just what you're seeing and then you're recanting it?

[Marco Plus]

That's a very loaded question. Because honestly, I feel like I battle with the idea of faith sometimes. A lot of people probably wouldn't have said that, but like dog. All right, who am I to say that the man from wherever he's from is wrong? Because he read another book when he was like younger and his family indoctrinated him into this. Like, I would feel wrong. And like, not only that, what if I spent My whole life believing in something and then I go to hell. Like, go to another hell.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah, yeah.

[Marco Plus]

Like you feel what I'm saying? Like, so it's honestly. It's honestly a confusing thing. Like, of course I believe that God is real. I just don't understand sometimes.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

But that's fine. I don't think that. I don't think that is confusing for anybody. As long as you just admit we really don't know.

[Marco Plus]

We really don't know.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

The problem is everybody think they fucking know exactly what's going on and they don't. Like you read what you read, you believe what you believe, and it is what it is. You really don't know.

[Marco Plus]

Exactly. That's my whole point of life.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

I just respect your vulnerability because like you said, a lot of people wouldn't say that. A lot of people are afraid to let out the things in their head.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah, see, I ain't gonna lie. And I got country ass family. I don't play by that.

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

What?

[Marco Plus]

Man, my daddy said I own the church.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[Marco Plus]

It's like they don't play about that. But the higher power gave me this mind for a reason. You know what I'm saying?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You know, it's a higher power.

[Marco Plus]

Exactly.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And that's all I'm like, yo, I think about. I always think about like, okay, think about before there was anything called religion, Right. And it was just humans here on this planet. They just knew that there was a higher power.

[Marco Plus]

Exactly.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

There just wasn't all of these different religions with all these different practices and rituals and you have to be here on this Sunday and you gotta do things like this. No, I don't think that's how any of this should be.

[Marco Plus]

That's a fact, man.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

A lot of it was for. It was created for control.

[Marco Plus]

Exactly. But that's a whole nother story. That's a whole nother story.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

So Marco versus the Underworld is a bunch of storytelling. Basically, you're telling stories about your journey.

[Marco Plus]

Yes.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

From then to now.

[Marco Plus]

Yes, yes, yes. It's. It's really like, I'm really. I was really trying to paint the picture of a young man coming of age and trying to. Trying to make a name for himself while dealing with all of these types of issues. Because a lot of people don't understand, like, yeah, we musicians, but like, we got real life, like, real life things going on. So it's like, yeah, like, this is the main mission, but I gotta. I gotta kinda conquer all of these other things. And it just becomes a very difficult trip sometimes.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

So when do you have fun? What do you enjoy doing? When do you feel full? Do you have times that you feel full?

[Marco Plus]

When I'm with my kid. Okay. Yeah. When I'm with my daughter, for sure. When I'm with my girlfriend. I smoke a lot. Bullshit.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You smoke good. Good shit. What?

[DJ Envy]

I'm just making, man. Say you smoke Reggie.

[Marco Plus]

Crazy. I'm from the trio Wesley.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Nah, for real.

[Marco Plus]

Not for real, but, yeah. I be cooling, man. I need to figure out what to do to relax. I don't know how to relax. I. I feel like my shoulders are tense right now.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I literally told my wife that yesterday I went to the dentist, and the dentist told me, you always clenching your teeth. You gotta stop clenching your teeth.

[Marco Plus]

I just learned I do that in my sleep. Yeah, I learned we not supposed to rest our tongue at the top of our mouth. That's crazy. Like, that's a sign of, like.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I don't even know I can do that. How you.

[Marco Plus]

Right? You just.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

Well, he got a lisp. His tongue too thick. Sometimes you just press it at the top of the roof of your mouth.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I wear a mouth guard at night, though.

[Marco Plus]

I need to start doing that and get a retainer or something. Yeah, grinding my teeth, man. What?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

No, but that. That guy. I don't know. I don't know. I'm. You figuring it out. I don't know how you figure that out.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Marco Plus]

Crazy.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Do you have a sense of yourself out of fear that, like, being too vulnerable might change how, like, fans will see you?

[Marco Plus]

Nah, I gotta. It scared me because the. The rat weak as hell. And they'll try to, like, take advantage of you or, like, play you for a lane, like, just because you like you yourself. I fade any one of y'. All.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

Okay.

[Marco Plus]

That's just honestly how I feel. I, like. I feel like your. Your supporters are your supporters for a reason. They're gonna understand and feel you because they. They, like, you connect from this certain place, whether it be one part of the music or the other. But, yeah, sometimes I'd be like, that's kind of why I be distant from a lot of people, too, because it's like, I'm a vulnerable guy. I'll be cooling. And I'm also like, a very. Like, if. If I say you my partner. My partner. People. People don't respect that all the time, though. Yeah.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

So with that being said, right, how does collaborations go? How do you think about that?

[Marco Plus]

I got my. I got my few friends that I like to rap with, of course. But honestly, when it comes to songs, I'm willing to make music with anybody. It just has to be right. This doesn't mean I have to be friends with everyone. But I have no problem making great music. Cuz music is. That's what it's for. Like, we're all supposed to collaborate and make something fresh and new and like, something for people to love. I don't got no problem with none of that. Just. Yeah, you know, respect.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

Do you have dream collaborations? Like, who would you dream to collaborate with?

[Marco Plus]

Kendrick. Drake?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Well, you still want to do a song with Drake? What?

[Marco Plus]

I don't care nothing about that. I don't care nothing about that beat.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You say Kendrick first, though. I ain't gonna lie.

[Marco Plus]

I'm a Kendrick fan. I'm a Drake fan too, though. It's just like I was. I was a. I was a teen. Like, I. My. I had a partner. This fool gave me take care like a week old. Like, it was a week old. I've never heard it. I ain't like the only song. Like, I think Headlines was out, of course, all that stuff. He just gave me the album. And that's really. That's really when I became a Drake super fan for sure. But I'm like. I think it was like the BET Awards, 2011, the Hip Hop Awards. That's the first time I ever heard Kendrick Lamar. It was like the cipher. That's what made me a fan of Kendrick for real. So like, I was like 13, 14. Yeah. Like, I can't. I can't escape that. I can't escape them.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

As a rap fan though. You love the back and forth between them, though.

[Marco Plus]

Honestly, I hated it.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Really.

[Marco Plus]

Bruh, you guys should make music together. I don't. I don't want you guys to beef. I just. That's not what I wanted. I like, it was like, it was entertaining. It was entertaining in this, in the moment.

[DJ Envy]

Like, it got too nasty.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

It got too.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah, I ain't gonna lie. It just. It was like. It was like.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I loved it.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah, he's a Drake hater. It was hip hop.

[DJ Envy]

He's a Drake hater over there.

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

You thought it was a good thing when J. Cole was like, nah, we don't need to be doing it.

[Marco Plus]

Not in the moment. Because I was in the moment. Like, these niggas fighting, you know what I'm saying? But I ain't gonna lie. That's probably like, for his peace and for his sanity, that is the realest thing you could do.

[DJ Envy]

We seen it after. He seen him fall, but we seen it after.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah, you Know what I'm saying?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah. Get out, Kendrick, way before he bust all y'. All.

[Marco Plus]

I ain't gonna lie, boy. That's that boy right there.

[DJ Envy]

Once it goes that personal, there's no getting back to it.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah, for sure.

[DJ Envy]

I wanted to ask you, though. You know, I was looking through your videos, and one of the biggest things a lot of your fans say is they feel like YouTube shadow bans you.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah, I don't know.

[DJ Envy]

Where does that come from?

[Marco Plus]

Is that true?

[DJ Envy]

Cause, I mean, it wasn't just once I see Matt, like, I don't know what that's about.

[Marco Plus]

I be smoking weed in my videos. I don't know. I don't know if it's like, if it's that.

[DJ Envy]

So you see it, too. You see when people say it.

[Marco Plus]

I definitely think I should be one of those 200,000 views of video artists for sure. And. But I just. I don't look at it like that, because I just look at it like I just came out in 2021. You know what I mean? Like, I have a. I have a million years to garner these views, so I just. I don't be really tripping.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You know what I mean?

[DJ Envy]

Do you chase the mainstream? Do you want to be mainstream? Or do you, like, your core is.

[Marco Plus]

I want to be the biggest rapper ever. I want to be the biggest musician ever. I love that. I rap great, but a lot of people don't understand that. This is just how I have, like, how I. How I release my art. But I can do everything else. Like, it's just. Everybody has their starting point. Everybody has their starting point. Michael Jackson didn't start off with Thriller. Like, yeah, he started off with his brothers and stuff. Like, everybody.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Jackson 5 was fired.

[Marco Plus]

You feel what I'm saying? Come on. But that's what I'm saying. It's like tears of greatness.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Absolutely.

[Marco Plus]

Exactly. And I have no problem taking the route I gotta take to become one of them.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You taking the stairs. I'm glad you said that, though. Cause I'm tired of hearing these people lie, talking about, no, I don't care about sales. I don't care about being the biggest.

[Marco Plus]

What you wanna be the biggest he. I want to be the biggest ever. Like, and that's a tall ask, but I don't care. I ain't tripping.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

But if you. But if you set your bar that high, you'll hit a high point. You'll get somewhere.

[Marco Plus]

Exactly.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I mean, you may not. Nobody gonna be Michael Jackson on ebay.

[DJ Envy]

Every fine has a story like if you're looking for a vintage band tee. Not just a tee, the band tee from the last show your favorite band ever played. You wore it everywhere. Then your girlfriend started wearing it, which was cool until she dumped you and took it with her, which was not so cool. Anyway, now you're on ebay. And there it is. Same tee from the same tour, still living in your memory rent free forever. See, the things you love have a way of finding their way back to you. But ebay isn't just for getting what your ex stole back. It's also for that rare championship foul ball you caught, then heroically gave it to the kid next to you. And where else are you going to find your first car? The one you wish you never sold but now finally get the chance to take back home for good this time. You know I'm a collector of cars and sometimes I'm looking for the right rim that I had when I was a kid. Yeah, it might have been 20 years ago, but I want that same feeling. And the only way I can find it is on ebay. Shop ebay for millions of fines, each with a story.

[Maggie Freeling]

EBay Things people love there's nothing like sinking into luxury. @washablesofas.com you'll find the Annabe sofa which combines ultimate comfort and design at an affordable price. And get this, it's the only sofa that's fully machine washable from top to bottom. Starting at only $699. The stain resistant performance fabric slipcovers and cloud like frame duvet can go straight into your wash. Perfect for anyone with kids, kids, pets or anyone who loves an easy to clean spotless sofa. With a modular design and changeable slipcovers, you can customize your sofa to fit any space and style. Whether you need a single chair, loveseat or a luxuriously large sectional, Annabe has you covered. Visit washablesofas.com to upgrade your home. Right now you can shop up to 60% off store wide with a 30 day money back guarantee. Shop [e-mail] Add a little to your life. Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply.

[Marco Plus]

All I know is what I've been told and that to half truth is a whole lie.

[Maggie Freeling]

For almost a decade, the murder of an 18 year old girl from a small town in Graves County, Kentucky went unsolved until a local homemaker, a journalist and a handful of girls came forward with a story.

[Marco Plus]

I'm telling you, we know Quincy killed her.

[Maggie Freeling]

We know a story that law enforcement used to Convict six people. And that got the citizen investigator on national tv.

[Marco Plus]

Through sheer persistence and nerve, this Kentucky housewife helped give justice to Jessica Curran.

[Maggie Freeling]

My name is Maggie Freeling. I'm a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist producer. And I wouldn't be here if the truth were that easy to find.

[Marco Plus]

I did not know her and I.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Did not kill her or rape or.

[Marco Plus]

Burn or any of that other stuff that y' all said.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

They literally made me say that I took a match and struck and threw it on her.

[Marco Plus]

They made me say that I poured gas on her.

[Maggie Freeling]

From Lava for Good. This is Graves County, a show about just how far our legal system will go in order to find someone to blame.

[Marco Plus]

America, y' all better wake the hell up. Bad things happens to good people and small towns.

[Maggie Freeling]

Listen to Graves county in the Bone Valley feed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and to binge the entire season ad free. Subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.

[Hunter (Hunting for Answers host)]

I'm Hunter, host of Hunting for Answers on the Black Effect Podcast Network. Join me every weekday as I share bite sized stories of missing and murdered black women and girls in America. There are several ways we can all do better at protecting black women. My contribution is shining a light on our missing sisters and amplifying their disrespect, disregarded stories. Stories like Tameka Anderson. As she drove toward Galvez, she was in contact with several people talking on the phone as she made her way to what should have been a routine transaction. But Tameka never bought the car and she never returned home that day. One podcast, one mission. Save our girls. Join the searches. We explore the chilling cases of missing and murdered black women and girls. Listen to Hunting for Answers every weekday on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Marco Plus]

Nobody gonna be mine.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

But you'll get up there.

[Marco Plus]

Except probably Youngboy is what I learned the past month.

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

NBA Youngboy.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah.

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

Numbers wise.

[Marco Plus]

No. The way them people will have a seizure when they see him.

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

Impact.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah. Numbers wise? Hell no. Michael Jackson sold. What, what, what is 100 plus million?

[DJ Envy]

100 plus million?

[Marco Plus]

Yeah. Come on, dog. That's, that's, that's over 10 times diamond.

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

When you see the impact.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's interesting.

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

Go ahead.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

No, I was gonna say that's interesting. I think, I think what helped Youngboy is the fact he was on house arrest all those years.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And you know, it was. It was an air of mysteriousness about him. Yeah. You know, I mean, I Think that. That that's lost in this era. People are too accessible.

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

I think he feeds his base well, too.

[Marco Plus]

It's kind of like the Kendrick thing when you think about it.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Absolutely. Yeah.

[Marco Plus]

But their fans don't realize that they're kind of the same type of artist, like, in terms of how they treat the public, how they treat their public life. It's just youngboy kind of erratic, so it's like, you gonna see more of that.

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

I had a question. I forgot.

[DJ Envy]

It's funny. I'm looking at the chat and the chat believes it. It was like, young boy is definitely well surpassed. It's like, for this generation, he is the Michael Jackson.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Y' all got it. But stop, stop, stop.

[Marco Plus]

You know, I feel like. I feel like a lot of people, a lot. A lot of people conflate the two from, like, musicality standards and literally how these people treat you when you walk out the house. Kassanat is another guy on that level. Like, these guys can lead a house, and they won't get any, like, peace unless they got three security guards with them.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

But you know what y' all are seeing now? Y' all are actually seeing real celebrity. And there's a lot there. There is. There's a couple of real celebrities still left because of the social media era. Everybody's so accessible. Everybody looks so regular. And playing J. Cole riding city bikes through the damn.

[Marco Plus]

I can't lie. That's tough as hell, bro.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So it's different. Like, some people still get treated like real celebrities out here, and I think it's because of how much access you give folk.

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

Yeah, but what young artists in there, like a Kaisernai NBA youngboy's age has that celebrity because they're. They're all over social media. Like, it's hard to do both. They're doing both.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I've seen Kaizen Net God bless overseas, and nobody cared.

[Marco Plus]

That's how I be. But.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

But not for Michael Jackson. That's why y'. All. Y' all keep talking about Michael. Stop comparing anybody. Nobody compared to Michael Jackson. That ain't no old head stuff. Just go back and watch.

[Marco Plus]

You know who had them overseas tripping?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Who?

[Marco Plus]

Speed.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

Oh, for real?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah, but it still ain't like Michael.

[DJ Envy]

They waited outside the airport for that. Man's playing the land.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah, but also Michael. Think about how much Michael got. Michael.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Michael would land in countries. World leaders would greet him. Think about how.

[Marco Plus]

Think about the level of mystique you just had by design as a top artist in the 80s and 90s. A lot of People don't got that chance. You have to post on the Internet. Michael Jackson, all he had to do was drop a video and his label handled the rest of was a different thing. And everybody didn't have phones. Oh, just turn something on accident. Everybody didn't have phones or Internet like that. Exactly.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

But no, before you even said I show speed, everybody was saying that in the chat. Like, speed. Speed of getting crazy. Getting crazy fast out the country.

[DJ Envy]

Do you like that part of it, though? The part where they say you have to post, you have to be. So people want to know more than just listening to your music?

[Marco Plus]

You can ask my team. I have the best, hardest time posting.

[DJ Envy]

They laughing behind you.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah, I had the hardest time. And it's not because I don't care about posting, but it's because I be overwhelmed with it. Like, it's very overwhelming. Like, yeah, I'm a young guy, but I'm also from the era of. Right before it got this hectic. Right before everything was super duper. Oh, you can post an Instagram story. You can post a reel. Like, it was just a square. Like, you could. You would literally just be able to post a picture, post a tweet. When you had to retweet, like, you couldn't quote it. It was like, it said RT next to the tweet. Like, I'm from that era, so it's kind of. It'd be kind of difficult for me to try to latch on.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

You ever go back on Facebook now? Like, it look like a whole different world.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah, right? It's crazy. Yeah, it's crazy. Facebook is not the same.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

No.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

No, it's not. It's not.

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

Talk about the tension between up next and up now that you explored with this project and what that even means. Up next versus up now or end.

[Marco Plus]

So I feel like. I feel like up next is kind of like a leash. I feel like it's kind of like a leash for sure. Because it's like, how long am I gonna be up next? How long are y' all gonna keep telling me that? Like, when are y' all gonna actually, like, push, you know what I'm saying? For the guy to be up. Not even just me. Cause this can go for anybody. Like, I just feel like if y' all gonna say somebody next up, say it once or twice and then just let the guy beat the one up. That's just how I be feeling.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Well, to your point about Tiz, there used to be a time where you could see it, right? Like, you knew, okay, here go Marco plus in the beginning, he got a mixtape or whatever. Then, oh, okay. Now Marco plus just signed. Oh, Marco plus now he on, you know, BET or MTV or whatever it is. Oh, Now Margo plus put out a single. Oh, Marco puts. Put out an album. Oh, he went platinum. Now he's on award show. Like you could see nowadays, you can't really see where it starts and ends.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah, yeah, that's exactly. It's such a blur. It is a complete blur. Everybody's career is like. It's so. It's weird. It's weird, but I think it might be for the better for these guys.

[DJ Envy]

Well, they chase records too, now.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

A lot of times they're not chasing the artist. They're not trying to build a brand and build the artist slow. They see a song on Spotify, they see a song on TikTok, and they chase music. And usually they artist has one song, they got a year max, and then you never see them again.

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

Somebody in the chat just said, the lifespan for rappers nowadays is so short, max is two years. I think they just talking about the art, not that life.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[Marco Plus]

Nah, for sure. I feel like it's two reasons for that. I feel like, of course, the attention span of the fan and the ego of the artist. I'm trying to practice what I preach by actually, like, making sure I can do all the work. But, yeah, a lot of people kind of get complacent, get jaded. If one thing doesn't work, they forget. Like, they forget to keep going. But if something does work, they forget to keep going. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. And you can't. I don't know, can't move like that.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You from the south side, right?

[Marco Plus]

Yeah. College Park.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What does the south side sound like to you?

[Marco Plus]

Honestly, all of Atlanta, it's kind of like. It's kind of like. All right, so the way the south side is, everybody is from. I feel like everybody from the. From the west side.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

For real.

[Marco Plus]

Or, like, just the center of Atlanta, and then they moved out and spread out. So I grew up with a lot of folks, like, yeah, we from the south side, but the folks from the west side, for, they from Bankhead or they from, like, Zone 6 or they, like, from Boulevard or something like that. So, honestly, the one of the first, like, outside of Jermaine Dupree, one of the first big Southside artists, was two chains, you know what I'm saying? So really, what we had, we had what we had for real, like, outside of, like, the young, like, the. The up and coming artists and stuff like that. We listen to, like, Tip. We listen to Gucci, we listen to Jeezy. We listen to Young Ralph, Young School to the Future. You know what I'm saying? All that type of stuff.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

Your album was described as a major creative leap, right? So how did you sound on. I know, right? So they. I guess they basically saying that your sound has evolved from previous projects. Do you agree with that?

[Marco Plus]

I. I do. I do agree with it. And I only. I only feel like that now because I realized I hate my older music. But not because it's bad, because I know I've gotten better. I was listening to my music the other day. Cause I'm preparing for a tour, and I had to. I was really listening. I was like, yo, I hate all this older stuff, but this newer album is like. It feels timeless. Like, it just feels better. And maybe I'm gonna say that the next time. The next time I drop an album, but right now that's just how I feel.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

It should only get better and better. But what exactly do you hate about it? Is it the subject matter? Is it, you know, how you.

[Marco Plus]

Sometimes it's my tone of voice. Sometimes I. I feel like I just got very, very good at hooks. So it's. A lot of times it's that. A lot of times it's beat selection. A lot of people say I have great beat selection. I've been saying that for years. But my ear changes all the time. So it's usually just things like that. Me being a psychopath.

[DJ Envy]

I want to ask, when you're writing a song, you know, I look at your songs and they vary. And the way I say they vary is before, it used to be 16 hook. 16 hook. 16 hook, right. And then for some reason, it just stopped. Now, as the song is a minute, 42 seconds or 2 minute, the longest, for sure. How do you get everything out in that short period of time? Is that easy or is that the most difficult thing?

[Marco Plus]

Yo, I ain't gonna lie. That's a good question. Because I used to be the artist. Three 16s, like, one of my.

[DJ Envy]

I'm looking at some of your records are four minutes long, five minutes long. But now the last couple of two.

[Marco Plus]

Minutes, I had to figure out how to consolidate it for the younger people, man. Like, even for the. Even for the people who don't got that much time in a day or don't want to listen to the same beat for three and a half minutes, I had to figure out, oh, instead of doing two 16s and a hook. I could do a cold 24. I could do a mean 32, you know what I'm saying? Do a hook and a bridge instead of a bunch of hooks. Like, just things like that. Even, like the song out my Way, I have. I'm only on that joint for one minute. Smino. I feel like Smino is on the song for more time than I am. It's really just things like that. Just trying to figure out how to consolidate the art form for the next generation.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You know what I mean? Don't that mess with your art, though.

[Marco Plus]

Song 30 seconds. Not if you cold. Not if you cold. Because a lot of people. I feel like a lot of people. A lot of people kind of be drawing it out. Like, you could draw. Like, you could make a long song and it could sound drawn out, or you could make a short song that's compact and you like, yo, I want to play this again. I want to listen to this, like, right after this and the next time.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

But you could be dope, though. You could be dope, though.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

And you can listen to a long song because for real, like, not like us is long as shit. But you can't stop the song. Like, you got to keep listening to it.

[Marco Plus]

I like to.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You know, I liked the song from Killer Mike. That's not out yet. That's like 14, 15 minutes long. And that song is incredible.

[Marco Plus]

I need to hear that. Why would you tell me that?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You. You're not. You should. You should connect with Mike. You and my connected.

[Marco Plus]

I have not. I've not met him. I know his son, though.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Okay. Okay. Yeah, you and Mike need to connect because y' all just, you know, I feel like, spirit, spiritually. Y' all have, like, an artist. You have a spiritual, artistic connection.

[Marco Plus]

Yes, sir.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You know what I mean? But, yes, him and Dre got a song that's like 15 minutes long.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

And it's just them, too.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

It's just them too.

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

But they storytelling. The feelings probably go crazy now.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

The beat is changing because. The beat is changing because based off what Andre is rapping about and the things he's referencing, the beat changes to go along with what he's referencing.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah, that's.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

It's. It's really dope.

[Marco Plus]

That's crazy.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I just think if something's dope, it'll keep your attention.

[Marco Plus]

100,000 makes me so angry, cuz he's my favorite rapper ever. Like, Outcast. I don't separate them. They're both. They're like, the act itself is the greatest rap act ever. Like, I understand what he means when he says he don't think people want to listen to him, bruh. Just try it. Like, try it, gang. Try it, Bro, it's people like me out here in Atlanta who need you. Like, dead serious. Like, you think these folk don't need you, and we do. Like, it's folks who want to hear you. It's folks who want to like. And no disrespect to your instrument. Albums. Flute album.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[Marco Plus]

Like, no disrespect to that, but, dawg, we need a big homie, bro. Everybody.

[DJ Envy]

Big homie.

[Marco Plus]

Trying to be in a club. Trying to be in a hookah lounge. Like, nobody. Them folks not like. Nah, we need a real big homie. You don't like the flute? I love the flute.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Out.

[Marco Plus]

I be high as hell. But, like, dog, we need. We need them bars. Like, what's the last thing we got from. From Dre? Life of the party.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Life of the party with. Yeah.

[Marco Plus]

No. Scientists and engineers.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's what it was. Oh, yeah. Scientists and engineers. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They want to grab me for that.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So who do you feel spiritually connected to artistically when you. You know, I'm real. I'm specifically talking about the generations before you.

[Marco Plus]

This might sound cliche, but Pac, I'm a big pot fan. Super Pac fan. This is crazy. Wayne, at a certain point in his life, cuz, I feel like. I feel like I'm in that best rapper alive bag sometimes. I just feel like every time I do a verse, it's cold. So, Wayne, I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure what the rest of that, to be honest.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Those are two good ones.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

Yeah. You said you was tour. You're getting ready for a tour. So you on tour with Jid J.

[Marco Plus]

I D, Young Nudie.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

This man got me calling J I D, J.

[Marco Plus]

Because the period.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

The period stole me off.

[Marco Plus]

I mean, it's just like, yeah, it's.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

J. I D, but. Okay, J, whatever.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

So how did that happen, you being on tour?

[Marco Plus]

See, it's kind of funny. I know I was gonna be on the tour, but G was talking about the tour one day, and somebody said, are you taking Michael plus on the road? And he said he don't got no choice but to come. I know that I was going, but I thought he was just. I thought he was just saying that, but I found out. I was like, oh, yeah, it's cool.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You don't got no choice but to come.

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

Checking all the Breakfast Club things off your List.

[Marco Plus]

That's hilarious.

[DJ Envy]

That's all you heard?

[Marco Plus]

Yo, I thought he was gonna get.

[DJ Envy]

You with the flute when you said, I love the flute, but I love the flute, too. Oh, all right. We know you do.

[Marco Plus]

Damn, bro.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What I do want to ask you. What is crazy for Atlanta mean to you in 2024?

[Marco Plus]

Honestly, just showing folks that is more than. It's more than what meets the eye. How these young kids killing each other, all these, like. And just even, like, on the rap side, like, we ain't just stupid now. Like, everybody think just because, like, we. We got a certain energy or we talk a certain way that we, like. Like, they think country people slow. You know what I'm saying? I don't know. I just want to be. I just want to show, like, it ain't like that. That's really it. That's really it. I want to be and I want to show that somebody from the south can be at the top. Outside of J. Cole, like. Cause Cole is like the. He's like. He's low key. The real king of Southern hip hop.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Stop. He made it to the highest.

[Marco Plus]

Did he not make it to the highest point?

[DJ Envy]

Talk, talk.

[Marco Plus]

Did he not make it to the highest point?

[DJ Envy]

Why you feel that way?

[Marco Plus]

Did he not make it?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I'm from the Carolinas, but come on.

[Marco Plus]

Did he not make it to the. So you know he made TI not.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Make it to the highest point? Did Outkast not make it to the highest?

[Marco Plus]

Tip ain't make it high, bro. Cast don't count.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What's the number one movie and album in the same week?

[DJ Envy]

What is the highest point, in your opinion? What is the highest point that you speak of, sir?

[Marco Plus]

Are we serious? Are we serious?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Tip had a number one album.

[Marco Plus]

See, I do got. I do got, like, three, four Grammys, Cole, what do you think? Cole just got one.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I think we forget how big the album was.

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

A certain generation.

[DJ Envy]

I'm just asking what you mean by.

[Marco Plus]

I'm from New York.

[DJ Envy]

So you said he's the king of your south, so how different?

[Marco Plus]

Why?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Like, what is one album of the year at the Grammy?

[Marco Plus]

I'm talking about the king of Southern hip hop.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Talk about it, like, is Atlanta, not the South, Bro, can you let this.

[DJ Envy]

Man finish what he means?

[Marco Plus]

Okay, first of all, if you really want to get. Atlanta is a territory of its own.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Let's keep it a bun.

[Marco Plus]

It's like a peninsula.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Is it about sales? What are we talking? What are we basing this on? Cuz it's Scarface.

[Marco Plus]

I think it's about ti. I think it's how people care about you. Like, bro, look at how they treat TI today. They will never treat Cole like that. Cole will never get. TI is the most underrated mainstream major act ever.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yes. But at his peak, TI was the biggest.

[Marco Plus]

That's his peak, though. Cole, Cole, one of them guys where people like, I don't. I don't even think that the Rat Beef apology is gonna set him back too much. Like, he's cold. He's cold.

[DJ Envy]

You know, the crazy.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Can I say something else? You know, if you talking about accolades, Future got more accolades than Cole, Right?

[Marco Plus]

All right, all right. I thought we was talking about something else.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

Like.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What do we mean? What do you mean? What are you talking about? Cuz? You started talking about Grammys. What are we talking about? When you say he's the king of the south, what qualifies you as king of the Southern hip hop?

[Marco Plus]

People still stood the test of time. He stood Scarface, bro. It's about, like. I don't know, man. It's a lot.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Scarface do one record with DJ Paul. That's that not good. And y' all acting like space.

[Marco Plus]

I thought that was an ice cube. All right.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Literally. Okay, I get.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

I get what you said.

[Marco Plus]

Somebody in the chat, the song they said was bad.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah. Acting my age or something like that.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

The future has no substance to his music. We're talking about lyrics.

[Marco Plus]

That's a Scarface face is that guy. You know what's so crazy? Ti, I just. That's crazy.

[DJ Envy]

The thing about Colton, I look at Colton the other way, I feel like he.

[Marco Plus]

Why you ain't no Cole? I'm not.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I just don't like when y' all make these desperate NBA young boys bigger than Michael Jackson.

[Marco Plus]

All right, I'm gonna do something. I'm gonna do something. TI's career, he came out in 2001 with. I'm serious.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yes.

[Marco Plus]

He had arguably one of the longest primes in the South. I'll give it, like, I'll say 12 years, because I like trouble, man. Cole has had the longest run of being at the top in the South. Cole came out when? When did Sideline story come out? 2011. It's 2026.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What are we basing this? I really need to know.

[Marco Plus]

It's a plethora of things. I got a chart. I'm so happy I'm up here. Okay.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I got chart is agreeing with this man.

[DJ Envy]

So longevity.

[Marco Plus]

I got a chart. I got a chart. It's, of course, longevity. It's rap. Skills, Right. It's everything that goes into your rap skills. It's metaphors, it's lyric ability. People don't understand that. Lyrical ability and technical ability are two different things. It's how TI it's how consistent you are.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

TI And Face. Check those boxes.

[DJ Envy]

Relevancy.

[Marco Plus]

Did they have a Wayne esque feature run, though, where they killed everything?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

T.I. absolutely.

[Marco Plus]

Who you all right.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

T.I. absolutely.

[Marco Plus]

Outside of Stomp, I'll give you that.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Stomp Magic remix. Soldier remix. With Death, you taking over and I remix. Listen, what are we talking about? I'm just saying I think we have recency biased so much.

[Marco Plus]

You know, I might. You know, I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm a newer generation guy. That might be the case.

[DJ Envy]

But you know the crazy thing that might be the case. Most people say the opposite. Most people say Cole is underrated and people don't respect him and rate him the way that he should be.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah, but he's like. People say the same thing about Crit, and he's way bigger than Crit. Like, I just feel. That's true. I just feel like. I don't know, man. Cole did a. Cole. Cole. Putting a lot of. A lot of work that were the average Southern artists wouldn't be able to stand right here still. Like. And I don't count Future transcended hip hop, but I can't count Future. Cause like, that's like Atlanta rap been around.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You can say TI Transcended hip hop at one point.

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

I could say.

[Marco Plus]

You could definitely say that.

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

You could say that about J.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That was on My Love. And Robin. Thick Bird.

[Marco Plus]

I'm so happy you're a TI Fan, bruh.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Oh, my top five. T I, Jeezy and Mike.

[Marco Plus]

Folks, don't be. Man.

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

I feel like this is a generational TI Fan argument. Like, both of y' all are fans, but you're just younger than him. So you see it differently.

[Marco Plus]

I think they're two different rappers.

[DJ Envy]

They're totally two different rappers.

[Marco Plus]

I was like saying they are, but.

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

I think he's arguing the longevity of the impact and staying power. And both of them have had it, but it's viewed differently.

[Marco Plus]

And also, I know more people influenced by Cole than Tip Sage. Like, all right, man.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

This generation. Yes.

[Marco Plus]

I'm from the generation that was influenced by Cold.

[DJ Envy]

No.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

That was influenced by Typical, bro.

[Marco Plus]

I had every TI Album.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Now you're confusing us now. You just said that Cold. More people are more influenced by Cold. Yeah, they are. Okay, okay, I get what you're saying.

[Marco Plus]

Backpack rap. People don't want to. People don't want to rap like T. I T. I was. A lot of that was. That was.

[DJ Envy]

Basically, everybody wanted to rap like T.

[Marco Plus]

At one point today, but now nobody wants to do that. People tip was on Thug out, and people's like, huh, what is TI Doing on Thug Album?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Because I say it's a recency bias thing. By the way, that could happen, Nicole.

[Marco Plus]

That's not happening, Nicole.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

It could quite.

[Marco Plus]

40 already. That's not happening, Nicole. You say you 40 already, Cole 40 already.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I know. I'm not saying it will. I'm saying it cemented. Because you never know what's going to happen in the next five years.

[Marco Plus]

He cemented.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I think he's.

[Marco Plus]

And he finna drop his last album. He doesn't even play like that.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I think. I think Cole is cemented. I think Kendrick is cemented. I think Drake is cemented. You know what I mean? But also, TI Is cemented as well. Jesus. You can't take away who they are and what they do.

[Marco Plus]

See, I'm not doing that. But also, I just got to keep it a fact, bro. These white kids listen to Cole before they cut on Thug Motivation.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Thug motivation is 20 years old.

[Marco Plus]

It don't matter, bro. It was. It was.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

It was.

[Marco Plus]

Nick. Everything is 20 years old that people like.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

By the way, J. Cole don't got no album like Thug Motivation.

[Marco Plus]

You right. Come on, man. I was there. I was there.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I don't understand your argument no more.

[DJ Envy]

But also, like, what he said.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

He said.

[Marco Plus]

I'm not a biased guy.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Okay, okay.

[Marco Plus]

I'm not a biased listener.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Got you.

[Marco Plus]

So I can. I can. I can. I can understand where it's like, yeah, I appreciate this.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I.

[Marco Plus]

And I understand this, but I understand also understand the magnitude of these kids.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You're right. Right. But we. You know who else we keep. We said Scarface. We said T out. Wayne, bro.

[Marco Plus]

I love Wayne.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Wayne Cole ain't had no run like Wayne.

[Marco Plus]

I forgot.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I forgot to. Exactly. But Wayne, bro, what are we talking about?

[Marco Plus]

Wayne, People be forgetting Wayne from where he from. Wayne. Wayne, just a rapper. Like, Wayne is one of the. Like, no matter where you from in the country, Wayne gonna be somebody favorite rapper out there. Yeah, like, that's like.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

But people forget what Cole from.

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

They're in the chat arguing right now that J. Cole is from New York.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

I literally was like, he from down.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

The street.

[DJ Envy]

All the time.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Wayne, TI Scarface. Like, come on, bro.

[Marco Plus]

Yeah. All right, so it's. It's Wayne and Cole with the longest. Did you just say something, dog?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Like, and Wayne been around since he was a kid. Kid. Like a kid for real. Wayne was.

[Marco Plus]

Bow out. Yeah. Yeah. Me and Julie now got two K's we about to ride.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What about your legacy, Marco plus When it's all said and done, what do you want the Atlanta scene to say? Marco plus contributed to the culture.

[Marco Plus]

I want to be the reason that these young kids want to like, say, like do more, say more. And don't want to get into beef and get shot over nothing. Essentially, I kind of just want to help my. My city figure out its true identity. It's kind of been lost upon since like the, like a bunch of things that like the whole Rico debacle. When Shawty put out the list of like all the gangs and all that stuff, it kind of didn't cool nothing down. It just made everything hotter. I just. I don't know, man. It be. It's. It's 12 year old kids getting shot and killed. Like, I. I want people to understand like, you ain't gotta be. You ain't gotta be something like that just to like. Cause you a talented kid, you know what I'm saying? And you wanna get out and you feel like, oh, we in this city, I gotta do this. When you can, you can be everything.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Marco Plus]

You know what I'm saying? You don't gotta be one thing. This. The success of a rapper is not linear or the same for anybody. And I just want to be able to be like, yo, this kid shifted the paradigm. That's what I want people to say.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

We appreciate you for joining us.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

Come back.

[Marco Plus]

Thank you.

[DJ Envy]

Absolutely.

[Marco Plus]

Sorry I'll be rambling, y'. All.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And when you become the biggest rapper in the world, don't forget us, man.

[Marco Plus]

How the hell am I going to do that?

[DJ Envy]

It's happened before.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I'm going be one day. I'm be done. Your day.

[DJ Envy]

Ladies and gentlemen, it's the Breakfast Club. Good morning. Thank y'.

[Marco Plus]

All. Chad.

[DJ Envy]

For riding with us this morning too.

[Unidentified Host/Interviewer]

Oh, yeah, Chad.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Every day I wake up, Wake your ass up. The Breakfast Club.

[Marco Plus]

Mint is still 15amonth for premium wireless. And if you haven't made the switch yet, here are 15 reasons why you should. One, it's $15 a month. Two, seriously, it's $15 a month. Three, no big contracts. Four, I use it. Five, my mom uses it. Are you. Are you playing me off? That's what's happening, right? Okay, give it a try. @mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment of $45.

[Maggie Freeling]

For three month plan $15 per month equivalent required. New customer offer first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. See mintmobile.com the murder of an 18 year old girl in Graves County, Kentucky went unsolved for years until a local housewife, a journalist and a handful of girls came forward with a story.

[Marco Plus]

America, y' all better wake the hell up. Bad things happens to good people in small towns.

[Maggie Freeling]

Listen to Graves county on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and to binge the entire season ad free. Subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.

[Hunter (Hunting for Answers host)]

I'm Hunter, host of Hunting for Answers on the Black Effect Podcast Network. Join me every weekday as I share bite sized stories of missing and murdered black women and girls in America. Stories like Erica Hunt, a young mother vanished without a trace after a family gathering on 4th July of of July weekend 2016. No goodbyes, no clues, just gone. Listen to Hunting for Answers every weekday on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Kyle McLaughlin]

Hey, I'm Kyle McLaughlin. You might know me as that guy from Twin Peaks, Sex and the City or just the Internet Stand. I have a new podcast called called what Are We Even Doing? Where I embark on a noble quest to understand the brilliant chaos of youth culture. Each week I invite someone fascinating to join me to talk about navigating this high speed rollercoaster we call reality. Join me and my delightful guests every Thursday and let's get weird together in a good way. Listen to what Are We Even doing on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ashley Nicole Moss]

This is an iHeart podcast.