Eric Bellinger Interview with Joey Franchize
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00:00It's Wild 94.1, wild94.1.com, Joey Franchise, Papi Shampoo, here with the homie Eric Bellinger.
00:06Best pen in the game, hands out. One of my favorite and the best pen in the game.
00:12No cap, no cap. Not because you're here. Not because you're here.
00:15No cap, you know I got to wear this beanie on. It's alright. Thank you.
00:18Yo, glad you're here, man. You got the Rebirth 2's out, but you also got a new project on the way,
00:24Saved by Bellinger, with a record called Moist. Interesting choice of word.
00:30It's interesting. It's interesting because you know what's crazy?
00:32A lot of girls are not, whenever I've told a girl, yo, this kind of feels moist,
00:37and she'll be like, don't ever say that word to me.
00:40So what makes you actually call the word, that song out that way?
00:43Because everybody is like, yo, the moist word, I don't know, be the moist word, you know what I mean?
00:48But I'm like, I like a challenge. I'm about to change the narrative of this word, moist.
00:54Because I'm a fan of the dictionary, and I don't discriminate against words.
00:58So I'm going to articulate it in a way that's so wavy that the girls are just like,
01:02I, I, and I'm asking them, because they commenting.
01:09So I'm seeing, you know, this is something we've been talking about amongst the label, management, the whole team.
01:15And I'm just like, man, as a songwriter, my art is like, oh, that's my baby.
01:20The title moist makes it the song.
01:23So, right, I went through all the titles, I was like, look, I asked the fans,
01:27and a couple people was like, nah, you know what I mean?
01:30You changed my whole perspective.
01:32You definitely changed the narrative of the word moist,
01:34making it more sexier than most would ever thought it would be.
01:37Yeah, sexy, it's fun, you know, we out here.
01:40That's what's up.
01:41You got K-Camp on there too, and you're also going to be working with a lot of new other people on this project too.
01:45Yeah.
01:46Who's on it?
01:46Okay, she making headlines right now.
01:50We got a song, it's called Headline, Kalani is on there.
01:54She's with YG now, I saw that, Cats Out The Bag.
01:56Cats Out The Bag.
01:57That's wild.
01:58Them is my dogs, both of them is my dogs.
02:00So, you know, and I'm out here, you feel me, I'm going on five years.
02:04So I'm always a person that is, you know, promoting love and positivity, like,
02:10and I love both of them, so, you know, I'm in that corner all the way.
02:13That's what's up.
02:14Now, you got the album dropping in October, right?
02:18Oh, no, the 27th, this month.
02:19September, yeah, September 27th.
02:21Saved by Bellinger, Saved by the Bellinger?
02:23You remember Saved by the Bellinger?
02:25Yeah, Saved by the Bellinger.
02:26Hmm, saving it.
02:28Now, is this a way for you saying, like, hey, you know, I've wrote and helped pen a lot of stuff,
02:33and a lot of people have, I've saved a lot of, you know, hit singles,
02:37and maybe a couple careers in my time?
02:38See an emoji?
02:39See an emoji?
02:40Hey, I'm saving things, you feel me?
02:45And I definitely feel like it's time for me to kind of step up and claim my spot.
02:49You feel me?
02:50Like, I've been, like, putting the music out, loving it.
02:53My inner circle's been loving it.
02:55The Bellinger's been loving it.
02:56But it's time to take things global.
02:58It's time to take over to the point and gain that spot.
03:02And I've just never seen nobody take the crown or take the spot or get the spot
03:07without actually climbing up there and grabbing that spot.
03:10So, I got to talk a little bit.
03:13You know, this album is going to be gargantuous.
03:15You know, this is going to be guerrilla.
03:17You know, like, when you press play the first song, I'm my own boss.
03:21Made it to the top because I did my way.
03:24Period.
03:24And that's the feel and the temperature of the album as a whole from number one
03:30and number ten.
03:31Dude, and I've always respected your consistency over the years, man.
03:34It's like every record you have is legit a hit.
03:38How do you know which ones to keep and which ones to actually share with other
03:41people?
03:42Because I understand music is a really creative thing and people, you know,
03:45picking ideas and stuff.
03:47That part is the most important part as an artist to be able to pick your track
03:52list because I've been in situations where I'm watching people have an iTunes
03:58catalog of hits but pick the wrong songs at the end when it's time to get the
04:03actual A&R-ing, you know, that lost art.
04:06You know, just recording all the songs.
04:08Like, now can you make an album of it?
04:09Can you put them in order?
04:11Can you make them cohesive?
04:12Can they sound like Lauryn Hill Miss Education?
04:14Can it sound like Kendrick Lamar, Good Kid, Mad City?
04:16Like, how can we make a marriage of songs?
04:18That part people don't know how to do.
04:20They don't even know that that's a thing.
04:22So I'm like, all right, cool.
04:23If I can make these songs feel like they're one cohesive feeling, you know,
04:29then when they press play on the song, it's going to be easier for them to just
04:35let it run.
04:36Right.
04:36You know what I mean?
04:37That's what's up.
04:38Now, when do you have to shut your phone off?
04:40Like, because, I mean, I feel like you drop album.
04:42Like I said, you're very consistent.
04:44Yeah.
04:44And Rebirth 2 just came out, like, a little while ago this past summer.
04:48Yeah.
04:48And now you're ready for the next one.
04:49Ready.
04:49It's like a constant, like it's a whole, the cycle just keeps going.
04:53It is.
04:53When do you cut that phone off and, like, because I know people are going to want you
04:56to help them out with records and this, that, and the third.
04:58You know, a lot of albums probably going to drop in the winter.
05:00When do you just be like, you know what, bro?
05:02I can't.
05:02I can't.
05:03Like, yo, Chris, I can't.
05:04I did that for maybe, like, two years.
05:06I say for the past, like, two years, I was like, I got to focus on E.
05:12I got to let people know that I'm taking this serious and then they're going to take it serious.
05:16So when it was like, all right, cool, let's go and go.
05:19Let's get the radio running.
05:20Like, once I was like, oh, wow, wow, I'm an artist.
05:23I'm a real artist.
05:24I respect this craft.
05:25It's not just recording songs and throwing them on SoundCloud, you know?
05:29So once I figured all that out, it was like, all right, cool.
05:32Let me take the time.
05:33Let me nurture Eric Bellinger.
05:35Let me water Eric Bellinger, the brand as a whole.
05:38I didn't really work with nobody, you know, because I hadn't, like, worked with Chris since the X album.
05:43Right.
05:43So I missed a couple albums, you know?
05:45I missed the Royalty album, you know?
05:48And I love working with Chris, you know?
05:50Like, I feel like we got to a point now where I was like, all right, let's get back in that booth.
05:56Let's get these bars up.
05:57This is what I did to get here, and that's what I'm going to do to stay here.
06:01The pen holds leverage, you know?
06:03So I literally told Shy, I was like, yo, I'm about to start writing again.
06:08Watch this.
06:08Let's go crazy.
06:10Boom.
06:11Chris Brown album, Tiana Taylor album, Wale album.
06:15Yeah, because you did the one with Jeremiah.
06:17Yeah, so it's like, I put it out there.
06:20I manifested it, and God said, I see you, and then he matched my work ethic with favor.
06:26And boom.
06:27Wow.
06:28But does it feel good, too, to feel needed to be a part of these songs from other people?
06:33Yeah, it does, because I know how many people want to be on these albums.
06:38Bro, everybody around the entire world is saying, I want to be a songwriter, and I want to write on Wale's album.
06:46I want to write on Usher's album.
06:48I want to think about how many studios there are in your city.
06:51Think about how many songwriters there are in that community that go to that studio that try to wish they can send it to the right person to hear,
06:59to get it to maybe a manager of cousin or sister or auntie or brother of the A&R who can maybe get it to Mark Pitts,
07:07who can possibly download it, and he going to hit the shoulder and be like, it's a jam, and send it to Usher, and Usher listen to it.
07:14It's such a system.
07:15Yeah.
07:15And the fact that I work that damn system, I know that entire system.
07:20So now, guess what?
07:23Usher going to be like, what you doing, bro?
07:26You got to get it to that point.
07:28It can't just be like, all right, I'm just a songwriter.
07:30That's it.
07:30You have to actually gain relationships.
07:32You have to know these people.
07:33You have to get into their brains so that when you're writing a song, they can feel connected to it.
07:38You can't write a song for you.
07:39I remove Eric Bellinger any time I'm stepping into a song, writing for another artist.
07:44Tiana Taylor, How You Want It.
07:46Those ain't Eric bars.
07:47I ain't saying none of that.
07:49But she.
07:50You can speak for her.
07:51Boom.
07:51Speak from her perspective.
07:52That's what's up.
07:53Yeah.
07:53And, man, that's why I respect your craft a lot, bro, because there's a lot of people that just don't know how to effortlessly play both ends of the spectrum.
08:02You know what I mean?
08:02To be an artist and hold your own, but also know how to put yourself and help out with certain songs like that.
08:08So, man, that's a hell of a serious balance.
08:11And it took a while for me to understand the difference between an Eric Bellinger song and a Chris Brown song.
08:17Eric Bellinger's song, Justin Bieber's song.
08:19Eric Bellinger's Jason Derulo's song.
08:21You know, there were songs that even with Jason Derulo, it was like, I remember one song, I really loved this song, and they were like, yo, we really like this song for Jason.
08:31And I was like, I just love this song, though.
08:35I'm married to this song.
08:36I had an emotional moment, and that was a bad moment in my career.
08:42Wow.
08:43And I learned from that career and figured out that Eric Bellinger is the songwriter.
08:49Therefore, you must be able to do it again.
08:53And if you can't, you don't belong here.
08:56I was kind of hard on myself.
08:57That's real, though.
08:59Like, bro, like, Jason Derulo, like, I'm tripping, like, I was tripping, tripping, like, no, that's my song.
09:03Don't ever be emotional.
09:04Don't be attached.
09:05It's business first, and it's business second.
09:08You got bars right there.
09:10My man Eric Bellinger here in Squad 94.1.
09:12Now, you've had the opportunity to work with a plethora of people, man, a lot of great artists over the years.
09:17Yeah.
09:17But, man, on Rebirth 2, you know, you had Nipsey on that one.
09:21What was it like to actually have that Nipsey verse, and what could you tell about Nipsey and that energy, you know, of working with him?
09:27Okay.
09:27Well, when we initially got in to do this song, man, me and Nipsey's through these is, like, across the street, you know, from each other.
09:34And while we was just happened to be working, it was like, yo, let's do this joint.
09:41I'm working on my album.
09:42We was working on his album.
09:43Working on my album.
09:44Boom.
09:44We did that song.
09:45We started the song.
09:47He was doing his thing.
09:48I was doing my thing.
09:49We was, like, you know, got to vibe each other, the energy.
09:51But it was so long ago.
09:52We did that song, like, five years ago.
09:54Yeah.
09:54You know, and with everything that I was doing with my career and he was doing with his career, we was, like, building, building, building.
10:02And then he was, like, hey, yo, finish that song.
10:07Four years later.
10:08I was, like, okay, I got you.
10:11Finish what you started.
10:12Period.
10:13I learned, you know, that from Nip.
10:15And I loved the song, but it was, like, I never knew.
10:18You know, whenever I worked with an artist for their project, I respect the fact that I went there to do a job.
10:23You know, so when he hit us about, like, finishing it, it was, like, it's easy.
10:27Boom.
10:28Finished it.
10:29Ran into him at, like, a party.
10:32And a serious party.
10:34Yo, I feel like L.A., y'all run into each other all the time at parties or in the middle of the street.
10:37It was New Year's.
10:38I think New Year's Eve, Jay-Z, Beyonce, crazy.
10:41Oh, wow, that's next level.
10:43New Year's Eve party.
10:44Just, I'm talking about stars.
10:46You know what I mean?
10:47I'm in my suit.
10:48Oh, you different.
10:48I'm in my tie, baby.
10:49I got my baby on my arm.
10:51Ah!
10:52Ah!
10:52And I was like, yo, I finished the joint.
10:57What's up?
10:58Can we do something?
10:59He was like, send it to me.
11:00Boom.
11:00Sent it to him.
11:02I said, what's up?
11:02You feeling it?
11:03He was like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
11:05Ran into him again at a studio session.
11:08Hit Boy was like, yo, come through for a session.
11:10Nip was in there.
11:11I was like, yo, that song.
11:13He said, oh, I heard it.
11:14It wasn't much text messaging with Nip.
11:16Right.
11:17You get with him, you had that talk.
11:19You feel me?
11:20It's man to man.
11:21Serious.
11:22You know, it ain't no, I got you on a text.
11:24It's like, you know, but the energy when you right there is, it was always spiritual.
11:29It was always a different type of respect level.
11:32You know what I mean?
11:33It wasn't like you did a song with Nip and then you just going to put it out.
11:36Oh, yeah.
11:37Nah.
11:38So I was waiting until I had the clearance of the clearance of the clearance of the clearance.
11:41You know?
11:41And once he gave me that, like, yo, I love what you did to it.
11:45It's all yours.
11:46You can keep it, do it, use it on your album.
11:49I fuck with it.
11:50Let's go, Lil Bro.
11:52Wow.
11:53That was like...
11:53He was always like, I feel like he was always like Lil Bro, like Big Bro, you know, to a
11:57lot of these cats out there.
11:57Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
11:58You know, yourself included.
11:59Most definitely.
12:00I had an immediate example.
12:02I had an immediate, uh, uh, just, you know, mogul or what have you, right in my face,
12:11always, in L.A., representing L.A., representing for the community, doing things on a large,
12:19grand scale in business that people didn't even know about.
12:23Bro.
12:23Bro, when you go, it's been like this for the past three, four years, not just in L.A.,
12:28and it's been to, when you land LAX, it's Nipsey Hussle billboards, period.
12:35Like, you know, when you go to Atlanta, you see Jermaine Dupree.
12:37When you go to L.A., you see Nipsey, Nipsey, Nipsey for years.
12:42Like, for, I went for All-Star Weekend when it was in L.A., and that's all I saw was
12:45Victory Lab had just came out, all, circling the streets, clockwork.
12:49Period.
12:50Period.
12:50That's why it was such a big, it's still a hit, you know, for L.A., because it's like,
12:56he was the god, you know, in L.A.
12:58Like, we, we gave him his roses, you know.
13:00We celebrated Nip every time, you know.
13:02I knew when I got, when he said, yeah, you can get this verse, I knew it was legendary.
13:07I knew it was legendary, you know.
13:09So, just to be able to be in that position, you know, to be blessed, to work with him
13:15in the studio, vibe, you know, have a real relationship, you know.
13:19Like, that hits harder, especially when you have the same vibe, the same chemistry,
13:26the same goals, the same love, and the relationship, right.
13:30And there's no egos involved with nothing.
13:32That's dope.
13:33That was a, that's a tough one.
13:35It's still tough.
13:36No, trust me, I still, to these days, I'm like, okay, I can't end this.
13:39I can only keep saying positive things, you know.
13:42But now, you know, you work, you work a lot, man, with the new project on the way.
13:46Yeah.
13:46And, like, what do you do in spare time?
13:48What does Eric Bellinger get to do on his low key?
13:51You play 2K or Matt or anything like that?
13:53Golf.
13:53You chill, like, what do you do?
13:54You golf?
13:55Yeah.
13:55Legit?
13:55Are you nice?
13:56Yeah.
13:57For real?
13:57Yeah, I'm terrible, man.
13:58I've been wanting to do golf for, like, a long time, but I'm just, I'm just so bad.
14:03Golf is the swag.
14:04My coordination is, like, really bad.
14:06Golf is the swag.
14:07Listen, I'm golfing.
14:08I'm always, you know, posting when I golf.
14:10And the people that hit me to say, hey, let's golf together, whoa.
14:13That's rare.
14:14See, I would never have thought you'd think of you as a golfer.
14:15Oh, man, my dad had me in golf early when I was a kid.
14:19I was golfing in my high school team.
14:20Oh, damn.
14:21So, he was, like, really golfing with that.
14:22That's crazy.
14:23So, we got to go to Topgolf sometime soon and see what that range is like.
14:27I can give you some lessons.
14:29For real, I need some Eric Bellinger.
14:31Yo, I'm down.
14:32I'm down.
14:32You see that?
14:32Topgolf.
14:33Topgolf, baby.
14:34I'm down with some Topgolf.
14:36Let's get it poppin', for real.
14:37Let's get it.
14:37Cool.
14:37So, Saved by the Bellinger coming out the 27th of this month, September.
14:43Man, and this is, like, where everybody's going to feel like.
14:45You're going to get your roses on this one.
14:47Where everybody's going to understand, like, yo, like you said earlier.
14:50That's what I'm feeling.
14:51And, honestly, with the project, it feels like that already.
14:55So, that's why I'm walking around here like a gorilla with my chest out.
14:59Because I know it's about to drop.
15:00You feel me?
15:01You know, like, say, for example, you, like, see everybody on the 4th of July.
15:04This is Neiman.
15:05This is my best friend.
15:06This is my manager on the 4th of July.
15:08Everybody's going crazy on the whole block party on the 4th of July.
15:11And then Neiman comes out with the damn.
15:14Um, what's that called?
15:16A wagon?
15:18He had the whole, he had the Tijuana, he had the Tijuana set up.
15:24Everybody was in danger for their entire life when he pulled out the fireworks.
15:27And that's how I feel with this album.
15:28That's dope.
15:29I'm like, it's the 4th quarter, ladies and gentlemen.
15:31I saw y'all with the releases.
15:332019, say, why the belliger?
15:36And then I'm in a corner just, like, watching the wick and the fire.
15:39Like, I'm real confident.
15:41Everybody that we play the music for receives it so just graciously.
15:45You know, and, like, when we're in the studio partying and dancing, before anybody hear the music, I'm seeing it now.
15:54And I'm loving it.
15:56I'm excited.
15:57You're never disappointed on an album or any records that, you know, that I rock with.
16:02Yeah, thank you.
16:03I'm looking forward to this.
16:04It's going to be good, man.
16:05All I compete with is my last project, myself.
16:09And because that's all I got to do.
16:11To me, you take the pressure away when you worry, when you're not worried about too much, when you're worried about your fans, when you're worried about your circle,
16:21when you're worried about the people that are concerned with you, not trying too hard for the people that ain't even heard from you and don't know who you are if they say, yo, I don't even know who that is.
16:30If you cater to the people that love you, the people that love you will cater to you.
16:34Bryce Wise words right there.
16:36That's right.
16:36Eric Bellinger, appreciate you for sliding through, brother.
16:39It's Y94.1 Joey Franchise.
16:40We out.
16:41Yee!