Icewear Vezzo joins The Jay Hill Podcast for a revealing conversation about leaving the streets behind, fatherhood, marriage, money, Detroit, business, generational wealth and why he can proudly say today, **“I don’t live my raps.”**

Vezzo has built the career, made the money and created businesses, but his definition of success is changing. Today, he says the next level isn't simply making more money. It's having enough freedom to spend more time with his wife, children and himself.

That evolution also changed the way he views his past.

Vezzo explains that the experiences in his music are real, but they don't represent the life he's currently living. After losing his cousin shortly before he was supposed to return home from federal prison and later becoming a father, Vezzo began realizing he had too much to lose to continue living by the same rules that once helped him survive.

He also opens up about learning to make music sober, trying to clean up his image after signing with Motown, and eventually realizing that growth didn't require him to erase his past.

**“You gotta find your place within yourself before you find your place in this world.”**

The conversation expands into why successful rappers continue returning to dangerous environments, retaliation when you have something to lose, Black unity and accountability, Detroit's hip-hop history, Big Sean, Eminem, Blade Icewood and the independent culture that helped shape the city's sound.

Vezzo also gets transparent about the business behind his success, including major-label advances, taxes, owning businesses for the wrong reasons, managing millions of dollars and why making money and understanding money are two completely different skills.

Then the conversation gets personal.

Vezzo discusses growing up alongside his wife, whether he ever felt undeserving of her love, why young men shouldn't force relationships, fatherhood and why the success he's chasing today looks very different from the success he wanted when he was younger.

### In This Episode:

• Why Vezzo says he doesn't live his raps anymore

• Money versus having control of your time

• Fatherhood and having more to lose

• Why s