MADEFEATURES
MADEXXXX
MADE: In your book, you talk about how you
were fired from four radio stations before you got
to the Breakfast Club. What was your mindset as
you were waiting for the next opportunity?
CTG: I just knew something better was coming.
I never ever thought it was over. I remember the
first time I got fired from Z93 and I remember
it like it was yesterday. I felt so naked because
you’re talking about a kid from the street who
never had anything. Now that I had a full-time
radio gig, I felt like the man. In South Carolina,
that was a big deal. I felt like it was a different
level of respect I was getting.
PHOTO CREDIT
Andrew Morales
I remember just riding and coming back from
Myrtle Beach and I was listening to Z93 Jamz on
the radio and one of the local DJs, DJ Cass, was
going in. He said, “This guy will never work in
radio again.” Me and him would always go back
and forth. I just remember hearing him say that.
I’m never going to work in radio, huh? Alright.
Watch this. Literally that was my mentality. I just
knew God has bigger and greater things for me.
Whenever I’m faced with any kind of setback,
I never look at it as,” Aw man, I got fired.” My
friend, Kendra G, gave me great advice. She
said, “Every time you get fired, they tell you,
‘The company is moving in another direction.’
I just want you to know that that’s actually God
moving you in another direction.”
MADE: That’s really great advice. Let’s move in
the direction of talking about your interviewing
style. You get a lot of flak for the things you say,
but I know you operate in honesty. Have you ever
said anything and felt that maybe you went too far?
CTG: I feel like it depends. I always try to be
pure in my thoughts. The one thing that really
made me feel bad, like extremely bad, that was
absolutely, totally wrong was when I played
the audio of Floyd Mayweather reading the
iHeartRadio drop on the air. That was when
everyone was talking about Floyd can’t read.
My producer said, “You know we have audio
of him reading,” and everybody in there told me
not to play it. Everybody—Envy, Angela, all the
producers and I was like, “No, play that.” And
we played it.
I didn’t get in any trouble for it and nobody
pressed me about it. I just genuinely felt bad.
I just felt like I did it for all the wrong reasons.
There was no reason to do it. (laughs). We
weren’t desperate for ratings, we didn’t need the
attention. I didn’t like it and my energy was just
bad. It’s just like that whole situation with Drake.
I had the Drake ghost reference track. I had them
and I didn’t put them out. I actually hit up his
people and was like, this is what I just got sent
today because I didn’t want nothing to do with
it to be honest with you. Simply because of how
the Floyd Mayweather situation made me feel,
and I didn’t like that feeling. I didn’t want any
parts of it.
MADE: Can you walk us through how you
prepare for interviews? I think people assume
you’ll say anything to get a reaction. What is your
strategy?
CTG: At the end of the day, I consider myself
a fan. I’m a big fan of the culture. I’m a fan of
certain artists and if I’m not a fan, I’m curious.
For me, it’s just approaching it from that curious
aspect. I’m not a big bad radio personality
who you should be happy to be talking to. I’m
genuinely happy that that person is there and I’m
curious about them and their career.
What I try to do is first write down all the
questions that I want to ask. I’ve always done
my research to see what this person has going
on, what they’re into and what’s the latest
story about them. That’s just the way I do it. I
just combine those two things. I combine what
everybody already knows about the artist, all the
news that’s out there about them and just my
genuine curiosity. I just mix that up and go.
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