Cat People

Live show.

I don't wait for things just to happen.

Does this place have a location on Facebook?

It does, yeah.

I know what it's like to not have.

You should be able to check-in.

- Check-in's right here? - This one. Yep.

I know what it's like to be fortunate.

I truly understand that nothing is going to be handed to me.

I like to create my things, I like to own my things.

Hit the... hit the music whenever you're ready.

That's just the fire that just burns in me.

I literally have unlimited energy.

Hit it. Thanks.

Grab your cat.

I wanna see all those comments right now.

Shout-out to all my cat ladies.

This is for all my cat people out there. You know we love you.

Let's go. Come on.

All right.

Growing up in the projects of Baltimore City,

I had no exposure to animals.

My mom wasn't big on animals, my dad wasn't really big on animals,

so I had no idea what I was missing.

What?

My wife, MC, grew up with cats.

What are you doing?

- He's like, "The toy, the toy, Dad!" - I know, right?

And through her, I fell in love with cats.

So, I got five cats.

They all have crazy personalities,

and we're just one... one little cat family.

Queen Sushi is like, "I'm the queen, this is... this is my place."

Aww, Savi! But play with me.

There it is.

You're starting to understand the whole Queen Sushi thing.

Yeah.

MegaMam would always tell me, "Dad, feed me cat treats."

"Aww, Dad, you just got in the house, cool. Cat treats."

I think that's Mega.

Black Savage...

I think he would be, like, the person that's kind of like an introvert a bit.

And he would just be like, "Dad, I love you, man."

I think Lil' Parmesan is like the super pretty girl.

"Aren't I cute?"

And then you give her a pet, she's like, "But why? Like, don't touch me."

DJ Ravioli is 100% obsessed with me.

He's my rocks, my second heart, my other half.

What you're witnessing is just straight-up real love

from me and my cats.

We just have a undeniable bond.

You know, that... that love and that dedication

that I have with my cat family is just...

It's-it's on a higher level. It's so much bigger than me.

I'm just 100% with my family,

and that is the total amount of bliss that I strive for every day.

I don't think you can see me.

I can't hear you.

Mom. Mom.

- Mom, everything is recording. - We haven't started quite yet...

I have my volume up, but I can barely hear you.

Honestly, it says at the bottom. It says, "Start video."

And there's a red X, and then, when I click on it,

it says, "Unable to access camera. Allow Zoom to access your camera."

Wait a minute, I can see you and myself.

I grew up with not a lot.

You know, being in the projects, I was growing up in a place

where they told me that I wouldn't make it to the age of 16.

I've seen five deaths in my life,

uh, just from the environment that I was put in.

And I don't say that in a proud way.

I'm just saying that that's what I've seen.

When a lot of my friends wanted to hang out on the corners

and get into, like, mischief, I was the person that was like,

"Come on, guys, let's just hang out. I got my PlayStation in the house."

So, just being a nerd just saved me,

from not feeling like I had to prove a point.

I've always been a good kid in school, so I went to my mom one day and I say,

"Hey, Mom, if I just do a really good job in high school, once we graduate,

would you mind moving out of here so I can have a better chance at life?"

And I graduated from high school, I stayed out of trouble,

and that summer, she kept her promise, and we moved to the county.

My grandmother always taught us, "When children speak, you listen,

because they're telling you something important."

And I didn't realize how much it bothered you

that we should've been in a better environment

to give you more of a chance to be able to be the best "you" you could be.

I had this epiphany one day where... I'd been rapping for some time.

I was rapping about things that I saw, and it wasn't me.

I knew that I'm not hardcore. You know, I'm not gangster.

I don't wanna hurt anyone, I got a lot of love for people,

and I know that I loved cats, and I said, "You know what?"

"I'm just gonna focus on... I'm gonna just be myself."

This is who I am.

Love me or not.

And I just put that into my music,

and I just stepped out in front of the world and just was myself.

You have now entered the cat rap and family relaxation time.

I met my cat lady in college.

We went to York College of Pennsylvania.

It was just a...

One of those intermediate classes you had to take. Like, arts and things.

So, we both ended up in theater together.

He came in, turned around, I saw him, and I was like,

"Oh, my God, he's so cute."

And he was just really friendly and warm and, you know,

sometimes the really good-looking ones aren't always super nice and friendly.

But he was, he was so kind and sweet, and I really like that about him.

Once we started dating, we hit it off really well.

We hung out all the time,

and we would go visit her parents on the weekend .

Sometimes, I would stay the night, and I would have to do projects.

My major was Information Systems Development,

so I had to code a lot downstairs.

And she had a black cat named Queenie who would just watch me code all night.

First month, she would just be very far away.

Second month, she got closer.

The third month, cats sneak up on you, man.

She was just in my lap.

Come on, buddy.

Yeah.

And before I knew it,

I was making sure Queenie had a spot to sit on the bed,

asking Queenie if she wanted to watch a movie with us.

Like, this right here, like, this ain't...

This is like, uh... This is cat energy right here.

Just after a while, he's just ready to go home and just chill with the others.

- They're all inseparable, so... - Mm-hmm.

- He gets antsy. - Yeah.

Misses them.

When Queenie sat in my lap, it was just like, poof.

Cat fever just took over.

Let's go!

When I first started this, I really didn't have any support.

People would say things like, you know, "Cat rapping, like, that's not a thing."

When we lived in Maryland, when he said he wanted to be an artist

or that he was an artist, people were like,

"Okay, but, like, what do you do for real?"

And he's like, "That's what I do."

- You know his habit. - This one's you.

I had this epiphany one day where I said, "Hey, babe, like, you know,

you're not happy here, I'm not happy here."

"We got three cats."

"Let's just save up some money and move across the country

and start a new life, and we need a fresh start."

And, uh, we moved across the country with my three cats at the time.

That was Tali...

...Queen Sushi, and MegaMam.

We land here in Portland. We moved into the place.

I immediately hit the ground running.

Ravioli just wants me around him 24/7.

He doesn't want me to record without him.

He stands next to the studio room and meows sometimes,

and I take it as him saying,