Enlightenment Issue MADE Magazine | Page 16

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. made-magazine.com | 16