EVERYTHING IS GOODZ | Goodz

INTERVIEW @KBTindal PHOTOGRAPH @Directed_by_GTown

A Bronx-born and bred MC, The Slick Talk God aka Mr. I Came Here to Rap, has stood on many stages and battled the best of the best. He has over 42 million views on YouTube. His entrepreneurial spirit has spawned several apparel pieces, footwear, cologne and more. His calm demeanor is exemplified by his laid-back flow that encompasses hard bars, punch lines and slick money talk that makes the hardest hustlers stand up and give praise to his word play and leaves his fan base wanting more. Validated Magazine got the chance to sit down with the battle rap legend, Goodz.

Validated: So you’re from The Bronx, the  birthplace of Hip-Hop. What part of the BX are you from and tell me how the BX influenced you in your early years.

Goodz: I'm from University, 181st and University. I just spoke about this, it's crazy. I'm actually not too far from where Hip-Hop was born, which is Sedgewick Ave. I got used to being all up and down there. That's literally maybe 10 minutes from me, it's like right up the block. I guess being from over there, I guess rap just kind of flows man. It kind of flows, like you grow up wanting to be a rapper man. I grew up watching a lot of people in my building. My man D Boog is somebody that was a big inspiration to me. My man Fast Sam. They were people who were older than me and they were doing it. I used to watch them and be like “Damn they nice. I want to be nice too.” They kind of pushed me to get to the level I am now.

Validated: What's your earliest memory of Hip-Hop?

Goodz: Oh man, do you mean like industry wise or in general?

Validated: I mean the first time you heard a song or saw somebody break dance.

Goodz: Well it wasn't even that. My first introduction to Hip-Hop actually was battling.

Validated: Okay.

Goodz: That might have been the first thing I really paid attention to just coming home from school one day and being young coming home from school, having to get in the house by a certain time and I stopped and was intrigued by a crowd of people kind of squeezing through the crowd and seeing two people going back and forth rapping. And that's I think that's how I got introduced to Hip-Hop. I just wanted to know. After that I just wanted to know what that was. It was the crowd going crazy, it was just like it was a rush and I was like dang that's fire, what is that? I got home. I got in trouble. But I think that was it right there.

Validated: Where did the Animal part of your name come from? I know like I seen you on TV promoting the products and stuff and we know you go by Goodz. But where did the Animal part of the name come from?

Goodz: Rest in peace my man Bill Blanco. I had to be around 15. I think he was the first dude that was running around with me. We were going to every Cipher, every battle, everything like between the Bronx, Harlem, Queens between the Bouroughs just going everywhere rapping in cyphers doing everything. And that's how my name was up in the streets. And the first name was Goodz and then he put “Street” on the front so it was “Street Goodz.” Then that's when I was younger and then as I started getting older and like really doing the battle thing I was killing a lot of dudes like off camera. The “Street” kind of fell off. He was like “Man like you an animal, you going be Goodz the Animal. You an animal, you're killing these dudes like that.” That's kind of where it stuck right there.

Validated: I saw you recently post some bars over a new version of “Ain't No Half Steppin,” the Big Daddy Kane joint. Is there anything in the works to make that a single or make that happen?

Goodz: Yes, I sent it to Kane. I’m trying to bait him to get on it. Big Daddy Kane is my man. He been showing love since I met him. Before I met him. I became one of his favorite rappers and that's like a very big thing for me. That's extraordinary. And ever since then he just showed me wild love. So I wanted to do something to kind of show him love in a way. So I said and I wanted to surprise him. So I had hit my producer up and said, do “Ain't No Half Steppin” over, and send it to me. “I'mma do a freestyle. I'mma do like a joint to it but I'mma lay it too but I'mma do it first like in the car.” I did it and it got a good response. He fucks with it. I laid it already. I sent it to him. He’s gonna get on there whenever he got time to and then yeah we go from there.

Validated: You've been battling for over two decades man. At this point in your career do you want to continue battling or do you feel like you're kind of phasing out of that due to the other endeavors that you're in that may be more lucrative or just more passionate for you at this time?

Goodz: I think that's the thing right there. Well right now I wouldn't kind of phase out of that because I got love for it and I'm not doing it for the money. I'm not doing it to pay rent because I need it. To each his own. But when it's more of something you could do freely as a hobby or as a sport and you can be happy doing it and there's no pressure where you got to do it or you are forced to do it, whatever it is, it's always better and your love lasts longer for it. When you got to do stuff for the money or you are being pushed to do something for certain reasons you are going to fall out of love with it because it's not coming from the heart any more. It's coming because you have to do it. So, I think because I'm able to do it like that, my heart stays in it and I got love for it because I don't do it as much as a lot of the other people. I might come out once a year or something like that and that alone keeps me hungry and wanting to do it just because I don't do it as much. So, as of right now I still got the hunger and love for it especially the way I come out and do it and because I don't do it a lot, I still got the love and hunger there. And it gives me time to still do everything else I'm doing because I only come out once a year. So, for the whole rest of the year I'm kind of caught up in doing other stuff like that.

Validated: I'm sure at this point in your career as a battle MC you get to pick and choose who it is that you want to battle. Is there somebody that you want to battle that you haven't battled yet?

Goodz: Nah for me being in the game for as long as I have I kind of battled everybody that made sense. And for me it's more of a make sense thing. It's not like I really have a particular person I want to battle. A lot of people don't know it's not easy work. It's hard man, especially leading up to the battle that's the hardest. You got so much on you. So when you finally get it off it’s like a breath of fresh air. So yeah man, I've been in this so long ain't nobody I really want to battle. I like to take the battles that just make sense and that the fans, and the supporters want to see. So every so often, those battles come along. So me sitting out and not doing it, every time I'm going back into it is because they want to see me against this person. So I just wait for that and wait for everything to flow.

Validated: In your opinion who was your hardest battle respectfully? 

Goodz: Tay Roc for sure. One of the dopest dudes.

Validated: So at this point what's your opinion on the state of battle rap and where it's heading? I've heard so many people say it's dying out. I've heard people say, it's still alive and well. What do you think as a legend in the MC battle space, is going on in that genre today and where do you see it going?

Goodz: I don't think it's dying out for sure. As long as you got new talent and new people that want to do it. And it's always going to be like that. So let me start from this. Back in the day we grew up wanting to be a rapper like in the industry. So we grew up wanting to be that type of rapper, we wanted to be signed. We wanted to be making music and doing videos. Nowadays the dudes coming up want to be battle rappers. You have a whole bunch of people that want to battle rappers saying what we do. So they prepped to be battle rappers. So as long as we got that, that strength like that to make people want to do it I don't think it'll ever die out because new talent is going to keep coming and they're going to come along, it's gonna be somebody else hot. I think it'll keep going. 

Where is it now? I think battle rap always hits a plateau because it's big now. How much bigger can it get it? It can always get bigger but what can you do to make it bigger? So that's what happens every so often it comes. It's a plateau where alright we are here now. What's going to be the next big thing in battle rap? Maybe it might go to TV but they kind of tried that. Battle rap is funny man. Whatever you do with battle rap you got to keep it gritty because when it looks too commercial, it loses the essence and what battle rap really is. So you have to find a way to keep it gritty. And I learned that from when Eminem came into it when Joe Buttons battled I think battle Hollow Da Don. And the way they did it, they had nobody on stage, they had seats and it just was too clean. It ain't got that feel of real battle rap. So I think it'd be dope if somebody come along and did a TV show on it like HBO or something like that and they could keep it gritty and keep all the cursing and all in put it on something like that.

Validated: One of your most recent Bars on I-95 you said, “Shorty call me a dog I'm not a poor one. Matter of fact, I'm a clean dog, I get my paws done”. Your punchlines be real mean like that. Why did you feel the need to start the Slick Talk Cypher? Was that just to showcase and get bread with other other battle MC’s that you respect? Or was it a combination of trying to put on new MC's that wanted to become somebody in the battle space?

Goodz: It was solely on trying to bring light to new MC's. It ain't based on any like people that's already popping know what I'm saying. I think the last Cypher that I did on Bars I-95 that particular one right there, I've been on Bars on I-95 about twice or three times I think. So for me it's kind of nothing no more. So I wanted to give the people that did my Cypher and some up and comers that look because that's a big look for them. For me and Bars on I-95 it's even. But for them it's a gigantic look. That's like being on Flex. Bars on I-95 is probably the second dopest freestyle platform you could have. So I wanted to give some new people that look and that's what the Slick Talk Cypher is really based on giving new people that I think is fire a look. And it's a lot of work. I'm gonna do another one. I'm going to put one in the works. It's a lot of work and a lot of things to do but I'm going to do another one soon and get some people in on it.

Validated: You've done a ton of singles with some of the best MC's just to name a few, Fred The Godson, Dave East, Ghostface, Method Man. I know you put out a bunch of singles and the Slick Talk EP. When can we expect a full project from you?

Goodz: I don't know man. It's hard now because like I said I remember at one point I wanted to be a rapper. But when you do the battle rap thing you get boxed in. And I don't understand it. I feel like why not take some people that already got a fan base, and are already known across the world, got the same fame as a rapper, like a rapper in the industry, probably just not the money and take them and build them and do that. I never understood it. It's an easy business move to just pick the right one, take them and do it. I don't know, a lot of people have been kind of on me asking me to do a project and stuff like that. What it is for me, is for a person like me you put all that work into the project right and I got my core fans that want to hear me do it. But you put all that work into the project and then you drop it and you don't get as much views and hits and likes as you would get if I did a battle rap. So it kind of makes me stray away from dropping like a project and maybe just dropping a single. A song with a quick video or something like that just to show rapping as opposed to dropping the whole project. But it kind of just makes you like I did all this work, and it be like that because like I said, I get millions of views battling. But it's like you got to convert those people over as opposed to you doing this. I have a nice little cool following on doing that but it's still not as much as if I did a battle. So it kind of makes me like ah I don't want to do a whole project because I don't want to put in all the work, and then it doesn't get the push that it deserves for all the work I put in. I've been thinking about doing it. The last one I did was Slick Talk and a lot of people didn't hear that because I didn't drop it on streaming platforms. It was on my site Slick Talk. I think when I did that it was maybe 2021. I think I dropped that in 2021. So I’m gonna go ahead and release that to the streaming platform and let that go out there and all. I'm working on an album maybe like a 8-10 song album maybe. I'm thinking about it.

Validated: We know you're a hustler by nature bro. Everything is on www.nothingbutgoodz.com. That houses all of your designer apparel from the leather hoodies to the leather jackets to the bucket hats, the Slick Walks, the cologne and more. Why did you decide to get into the fashion side of things and what are some of the best sellers out of your items at this point?

Goodz: The funny thing is when it came to doing clothes that's something I didn't want to do.

Validated: Really?

Goodz: It's very cliche to me. For me to just do clothes, I feel like everybody does it. As far as doing something like a cologne that's not that's kind of farfetched. People don't think. So I try to think outside the box and do things that everybody is not doing. But it still has to be something that fits my brand. I got into cologne deep in like 2020. Now I'm in with over 100 bottles of cologne. So I got deep into it and I started saying I want to do my own cologne. And then I just got into that habit especially around Covid time to stop saying I want to do something and actually going to do it. And I think that's what stops a lot of people, just saying they want to do something and keep it there. They don't go do it. I went and did it. I went and looked up the place. I Googled everything. And I actually did my own cologne. And it came out so fire that I wanted to put it out. I was first going to do it for me then it came out so fire and now I want other people to have this. I want to put this out. I want people to smell this. I wind up putting it out, and it went very well for me. And that was a big thing to see me create something and put it out, and people actually liking it. And then you got to think about it like this cologne; and this is why I say shout out to my supporters I love them to death; with cologne you can't sample it. I don't have samples. I can't send a sample out to everybody before they buy. So they are purely buying it off of me, off of what I gave them throughout the years and that style, fashion. All that smelling good goes with style and fashion and being clean and looking clean. All that goes together. So because that's what fits under my brand and that's who I am, they was able to, we call it “Blind Buying” the cologne off of my word and they loved it. And I just kept going from there. It was a dope thing.

I always wanted to do a sneaker. I think everybody wants do a sneaker. Everybody wants to have their own sneaker. Once I did the cologne I said, “Oh I could definitely do a sneaker and I could definitely sell a sneaker because you can see it”. You can't smell it or something. You can see the sneakers. I can show it on camera and then you can see it. So I wanted to do something that's, as you get older you want easier stuff to put on your feet you want comfortable things. You want something that looks nice but they’re uncomfortable. I learned that just getting older I want something comfortable. I can slip on my foot and just go. 

So I created the Slick Walk which is a sneaker which weighs about one pound. Around there it slips right on your feet to go. You would never complain about the sneaker being uncomfortable. You can wear that sneaker for three days in a row it will never be uncomfortable because it goes to your foot. So it's like putting your foot in a sock. So it would never be uncomfortable. That's probably one of the most comfortable sneakers in the world and it ain't just me saying. I'll challenge anybody else on it. It's got a super soft sole. Everything was made just for that and his and his gear towards working out also. I got into working out doing that. So when you get into those things when you work out you want to be comfortable. If you walk around all day you want to be comfortable. That's what the sneaker is geared to. That went great for me man. I'm proud of that. I just wanted to do the sneakers and cologne. The clothes are not something I wanted to get into. Somebody was telling me “Drop some things to go with the sneakers.” So I said, I'll drop a shirt here and there, something like that. But I didn't really want to get too deep into it. As I started doing it I said “Well now that people are buying it if I'mma do it, I don't want to do regular things now. If I'mma do something, I want it to be totally different.” So that's why you see the more higher end stuff like leather jackets. Nobody really came out with one. When I was young I was wearing the Pelle’s, the Pelle-Pelle’s, the Avirexes. But I was mainly wearing them butter soft Pelle-Pelles. Nobody did a jacket of that quality like that. So I said, I want to do my own version of that Pelle-Pelle I used to wear. And that's what I did. I found this manufacturing company that Pelle used, went through them, did everything and did it the exact same way. So I want to do different clothing items instead of just a shirt and a sweatsuit or something like that. I want to get in the jeans eventually but I want to do stuff like that. If I do the clothes I want to do different things, more high and stuff.

Validated: That kind of leads me to my next question when you said you use the same manufacturing company as Pelle-Pelle. Is that being manufactured here in the states or are you taking trips overseas to look at materials and things of that nature?

Goodz: Well I could say this. This is some advice for anybody that wants to start a clothing line. Anybody that's listening that wants to start a clothing line can DM me and I could put them in the right direction to where they got to go. A lot of people aren't serious though. Yes, when you are doing a clothing line, a startup you got to have a startup costs. It won't be that much. I could tell you the lowest amount it’ll be and you can start up your clothing line. You can't do nothing in the States. You can't do nothing here because they're gonna charge you way too much money. For anybody that does anything, Nike gets their sneakers from China. Every sneaker they get from China. I definitely had to find a great manufacturing company outside of the States that does that.

Validated: Which is easier to manufacture the clothes or the cologne?

Goodz: I would say the cologne because I'm in there hand making it pretty much myself. I'm in there mixing and adding and putting stuff together and getting it to a smell. So it's easier because I'm more hands on. For the leathers and the clothes it's trial and error. So before people see a finished product I went through a few samples to get it to how I want it. I'm not flying out to do that. I'm just getting it drawn up how I want it, with the details, talking to them, telling them exactly how I want it, going through trial and error. Paying for the sample to come. If it's wrong I got to tell them fix this, fix this, fix this and pay for another sample to come until it's right. And then I say, okay. This is how I want it. I need a bulk order of whatever.

Validated: What are some more endeavors that we should be looking out for you coming up in the future?

Goodz: Oh man, I'm working on doing my own liquor.

Validated: Okay. And in what space, tequila or vodka space?

Goodz: No, I was thinking hard on it man but I think I'm gonna go cognac. They know me for drinking cognac and tequila kind of took over because Henny had a run for a long time. And that was kind of like tequila. So, I think coming out with a new dope cognac something new, something fresh, something they know me for it'll be super dope. I'm close. I'm this close to being right there and I really just started working on it. I've been looking at the stuff for years though trying to figure it out. And this year I really started putting my foot on the gas and really trying to figure it out. I'm close to getting it done. I can't wait. I also got a drinking game coming out called “Tap Out.” It’s a board game for adults 21 years old and older. It's a drinking game card game, you play the card, you lose, you drink. It's a dope game. I want to make my own liquor and drop that at the same time with that.

Validated: What would be your message to the younger generation that want to be entrepreneurs? What would be the first two steps that you would tell them that they need to do?

Goodz: Well the main thing I would say is what I just said. Don't let a thought be a thought, if you understand what I’m saying. If you think of something, write it down. When you write it down, visualize in your head what you need to do to make that happen and then go do it step by step, whether the first step could just be Googling how to do it. Go do that. Little stuff like that people don't do. They just let the thought be the thought and they always think it's about the right time. “Well I'mma do it when this time or when this happens or when I get this money from here.” It's never the right time. You might say I'mma do it this time, this time, this time. A whole year went by and you ain't do nothing yet. So, at least if you did all the moves and did everything you had to do and you don't have the money, now when the money comes it's quick because you did all the footwork for everything else. You know exactly what to do with the money. So that's probably the biggest thing I could say.

Validated: Okay. That's what's up. And then my final question. I've been hearing a lot of people doing interviews and they throw this question out there but I've been using this question for years because I'm always about the culture. The name of my show is The Essence. It's always Hip-Hop for me. What does Hip-Hop mean to you bro?

Goodz: Hip-Hop to me means everything. Everything you see me doing is because of Hip-Hop. All this stuff I'm doing, whether from the clothes to the cologne, is all a part of Hip-Hop. Battle rap is a funny place because in battle rap if you are cool and you look like you are getting some money that's not a good thing in battle rap and the stage I'm at. It'd be puzzling to me because I say I remember with Hip-Hop when your look meant everything. In Hip-Hop if you didn't look cool nobody respected you. There's a lot of nice rappers that was out. A lot of nice rappers that nobody knows about, they never got put on because they ain’t have the look. They wasn't believable. They weren't sellable. So everything I'm doing falls under the Hip-Hop umbrella and I wouldn't be able to do it without Hip-Hop because I got a name, and got supporters and fans off of me rapping words. And that's where it first started. And that's from Hip-Hop. And that opened the door for me to do everything else I'm doing.

Slick Talk God. If you want to support, go to www.nothingbutgoodz.com  Go check some of the stuff out man. If you want the most comfortable sneakers in the world definitely go check out those Slick Walks. The cologne, I gets busy. Trust me,I know it's good.

Validated: What is your most popular and your most favorite scent? 

Goodz: My favorite scent is different from maybe what is the most popular is. The most popular is the first one I did which is called Slick Talk Leather that sells to this day. That and Chocolate Leather. Those are the first two I did. Slick Talk Leather first and Chocolate Leather. Those sell to this day. Those sell out.

My favorite might be Gentlemans 30. It's because, you know the cereal Fruit Loops?

Validated: Yep.

Goodz: They got this scent in it like a note called Froot Loops. It smells just like cereal. And it just brings you back to my childhood. So that's my favorite. But the one that people are liking now a lot, is the two new ones I dropped which are Touch of Success and Cherry Cola. So those are two new ones I dropped, and those are the new ones that everybody's liking now man that's starting to pick up and people are starting to buy it. Slick Talk Leather and Chocolate Leather sell the most to this day. They've been selling since I dropped them.