Audio Plies
Shawty feat. T-Pain

MP3: Plies. Plies: How you doing, chief? Good, man. How about yourself? Oh, trying to get to the money, man. I hear you. So yeah, dude, I just want to talk a bit about the new album you've got coming out and your background and how you got into the game and whatnot. A lot of people—I mean, your single is real hot right now, but a lot of people, this is the first time that they've been hearing about you. So could you just give us a little backstory about how you got into it? I had the misfortune of losing something to get something. Easy way to put it. But I had a situation that my brother's incarcerated, and he's doing some federal time and he kind of, he started the whole vision of creating Big Gates Records once he came home. So once he came home, man, we kind of put our money together, put our hustle together, started f***ing with this music. Been f***ing with it now for about probably, like, four years. I'm, like, 3˝, 4 years in. Originated out of Fort Myers. Spread it through Florida. Started eating up the whole southeast region and s*** man, I've been one of the major players, like, in this s*** in terms of the southeast region from Florida to Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina. Like, I've been, like, the hottest street nigga over there for, like, you know, the last 2˝, 3 years. Right on, man. And, I mean, do you feel like this is your time to really go national with it right now? I was so content with what I was doing in terms of creating the system over the course of the last three years, man, and being getting—you know, last year this time I was getting $10,000 a show and was doing, you know, at least six, seven shows a month. So $70,000, $80,000 a month, you know what I'm saying. And don't have no radio song. Don't have no visual on TV. That's huge. Right. That was impressive to me. So I was content doing what it was that I was doing. Like, the other side of this s***, you know, when the whole radio side started happening for me, I had a whole 'nother new-found respect for radio because I never really respected radio because a lot of s*** that's on radio I don't even listen to anyway. It's garbage, yeah. Absolutely. That's the not the s*** that I actually even listen to. So for me, to see the amount of ground it covers in a short period of time and the number of people that it reached, I got the respect for it now in that sense. But, you know, it's still a lot of side to that radio side that's still crazy, too. They didn’t play your record because you didn't answer the phone. Right. I mean, the bottom line is, I mean, you're making music for yourself and your fans before you're making it for the radio, you know. That's the key. So what can you tell us about the album, man? The Real Testament coming out in August. Who do you have on there in terms of producers and features and stuff, and what's the general vibe of the music? I make reality music, so for me it's, s*** that I talk about, and I try to pride myself off of, is that I talk about current struggles. Like, I'm not going to get on my s*** and try to overwhelm you with how much money I got or how many cars I've got or many hos I done f***ed. Like, that ain't important to me. It's part of my life, but it's not important to me. The s*** that I can pay for in this world, I don't respect it, you know what I’m saying. I can pay for cars. I can pay for jewelry. I can pay for women. So those things I don't respect. The s*** that is dear to me is actual reality. There's motherfuckers in the courtroom right now at 3:00 today fighting for their life, you know, in front of a judge. And some muhf***ers ain't coming home today. And some muhf***ers caught a life sentence today. So for me, that's reality to me, and I try to talk about that kind of stuff. I feel you. Now, your track, you've got a track, "Bid Long," is that sort of directed about your brother or just about homies that you know that are kind of caught up in the system or both or what? It's broad and as general as I can possibly make it man. For me to talk to some of my buddies that's locked up now and to hear other cats that I never met before but know me through my music and they jump on the phone and talk to me for five or ten minutes and sang all my songs to me and s***, that's gratifying homie because at the worst time in your life, you've been incarcerated, like, it gets you off to talk to me on the phone. Like, it makes me feel good that I helped whatever nigga that was that jumped on the phone for 40 seconds. I helped him ease his mind for 40 seconds.

That's more than important to me because if you ain't careful you can get caught up into believing that the world love you as a artist just because you packing out shows. And I can never make myself believe that s***, like, because 1,500, 2,000 people in here to see me, I don't believe 1,500 to 2,000 people love me that much. Like, they claim they do when every song come on. Because if I get f***ed up tomorrow and I go to prison for 17 years, I'm going to be doing that time by my motherf***ing self. That's true. They're not going to be there for you then. Now, I know last summer you got in a situation out in Gainesville at the club or whatever. Is that all cleared up and all done with, or are you still dealing with the ramifications from that? It's a situation for me that I can't really get too deep into. It's a situation, man, I'm still fighting for my freedom. And everybody that was involved in the situation is still fighting for their freedom. There's a lot of muhf***ers that was injured in the situation, so my prayers go out to them as well. But the system don't love me, you or nobody, you know what I'm saying. And as for me, I don't care what differences or dislikes I have with a person in general, I don't hate them as much as I hate the system. Because I just feel like the fairness in the system, I don't totally believe in it. Yeah, the muhf***er that got caught driving repeated times for driving on a suspended license, and you give him the option because of their celebrity status, the option to pick and choose where they want to go do their time at, that's not a fair system to me. No, no. Definitely a lot of people, if you've got money and fame, you definitely get a different treatment than everybody else, that's for sure. To me, that's not—I can never agree with a system that doesn't apply the same way for everybody. I hear you, man. So do you have a second single picked out or a new video that you're working on, or what's coming up next off the album? I've got a monster, monster, monster record that the whole building's going crazy about. The actual person that's on the record, I'm going to cross my hand for a couple more days because we're going through the clearance process and getting the record cleared. I promise you, dog, I make sure I bring you up to speed on it. But it's a huge record. Everybody projecting the record, who have heard the record to be bigger than this "Shawty" record. And the "Shawty" record, up until today from what I've been told is, like, one of the biggest records at this point that Atlantic has ever seen. Yeah, it's huge right now. Definitely, man. So this is—I know you've done the mixtape thing before, but this is, like, your first big national release, major label, all of that. Are you nervous at all about it or are you just, you know, anxious to get it out there? Naw, man, I just got a call today about, somebody just killed one of my partners last night. And for me to sit here and even do this interview, like, for me it's reality to me, man. So I know life going to always go on, but to know what his family going through right now, it's hard for me to be nervous. I think the s*** that I've been through, when you come home sometime and there's an eviction notice on your door and you've got 24 hours to get all your s*** out, that prepares you for pressure, you know what I'm saying. Those are the worst pressures in life. You hide in your car because you're four months behind on it and the repo man's looking for it. Reality pressures for me. Like, selling records, that ain't—that's not—you know, I do got a pride issue, so, I would love to have a successful situation, and I believe dearly in my situation. But this music business is just a small part of my life. So are you going to be doing, like, a big tour this summer once the record drops or what? Yeah, they got a tour they're working on together here in the building that they're trying to get a lot of Atlantic artists on. So I definitely will be a part of that. I got a tour that's going on right now that will kick off, like June, I think the second week of June. And really more important to me, it's a prison tour. Going around to different facilities, talking to some of the cats I done ran the streets with or different dudes I knew from the neighborhood or some people that just reached out to me. And I'm just trying to shed light on their situation, man, and just let people know how unfair the system can be at times. But not only that, just showing you from a different set of lenses, like, what this s*** really take families through and how it breaks up families when you got somebody that's been incarcerated. No doubt, man. Well, they need that, for sure. So what do you want to tell the fans out there, the people that are digging the new record and the people that are, you know, that maybe aren't quite up on you yet but are, you know, curious to hear what you've got on deck? It's important for me, man, to know that—let them know, for people who have been following my situation for the last four years, they already kind of know how I rock it. But for the people who are not familiar with this whole Plies, I don't even like the term "movement," but this whole reality music that I try to give off any time that I cut a record, is that August the 7th, man, I'm a firm believer that it's going to be a historical day for this whole hip-hop thing. Cuz for me, I think our music going to speak for itself. It's got me this far, so I don't think it will let me down now. But at the same token I'm trying to give off more than just music. I'm trying to give off the values of life that I think the streets don't abide by no more, you know what I'm saying. It's cool to get locked up now and tell on all your friends and get your time cut and you come back home and your friends get sent up the road for the rest of their life. That s*** is acceptable now, and I'm trying to bring what the streets used to stand for, back. Right on, man. Well it's good talking to you. Good luck with the album. I look forward to hearing more music off of it, and appreciate you taking the time. I appreciate you, and I like to tell any and everybody when I feel like I get an honest, fair interview, people don't have hidden agendas, I like to thank people for that. And I'm going to tell you, man, I appreciate it. I thank you for your honesty, man, and not being mad at the artist and looking just for the big story. So on my end, homie, it's my pleasure to do it. Whenever you want to do it again, the pleasure's all mine. That sounds good, man. Have a good one and take care. Thank you, man.