DX: Do you have other siblings though?
CO: Yeah. I have a sister. My family has always been so supportive. Since day one, my sister would give $100 to $200 a week out of her paycheck every week to help pay for my lessons – for seven years. She’s five years older than me. Same with my mother. I play guitar. The guitar is my main instrument; I’ve been playing for 10 years. I’ve played piano for six years. My family’s just very supportive. That’s the reason I’m here with him now.

DX: Let me be blunt. Akon has “signed” Red Café, Mack 10, Glasses Malone, Rock City etc. So many rappers came and said, “I’m signed to Konvict.” You obviously have an Interscope situation that they don’t, but what guaranteed to you that your project will come out, when none really have?
CO: For one, me and my father, our determination was not gonna let [the album] not come out. [Laughs] We’re the types that…I would pick up the phone everyday and say, “What’s going on with the project?” Everyday. I’ve been signed to Akon for three years. I’ve called all the time, constantly. It’s like the saying “out of sight, out of mind.” That’s true. I would just constantly keep in touch. Especially ‘cause I have my own studio…the majority of artists don’t have that, so they have to wait for producers to hook up with them to make music. Me, on the other hand, I have my own studio and can create my own music, write my own music, so I didn’t have to wait. I was getting it done while he was doing his thing. When I first met [Akon], he just started Konvict. This was before it blew up to what it is today. As he was making his label to the status-quo that it’s at now, I was in the studio, just grinding. I’d make a song and email him. “Check it out. Tell me what you think.” I’d send songs all the time, and let him know.

DX: As a producer, do you find you started with the music or the writing?
CO: Honestly, it changes with moods. Most of the stuff you’ll hear on my debut album, I pretty much freestyled into the mic. To me, it gets hard for me to write on paper. I just freestyle on the mic and clean it up at the end. That works best for me.

DX: You’re self-sufficient. Do you think your ability to write, produce and perform without help makes you, or artists like you – I’ll say Soulja Boy’s abilities here, more attractive to labels? Is the era of Babyface writing and producing over?
CO: It’s funny that you say that. I was actually signing to Babyface before I met Akon. My dad always tells me, back in the ‘70s, artists used to all write their own material mostly. They played their own instruments too. To me, I feel like no one can know my voice better than me. It’s coming. I hope it is. I’d definitely like to hear songs by artists and know that they’re the ones who created it. It puts them on a whole different level. Like Ne-Yo, I have so much respect for him. He does his own stuff.

DX: Who’s your biggest influence?
CO: I definitely would have to say Akon. He really teaches me. He’ll show me something, then explain why. He’ll break things down on production. He’s mentoring me. I love that. Also, Michael Jackson. Always been an influence.

DX: Did you ever get to meet Michael through Akon?
CO: No, not yet. I got to hear [Akon] have a conversation with MJ though. It was funny. I was sitting with Akon on the bus, in Canada, on tour with Rihanna. We were sitting on the bus, and he picked up his phone and said, “Yo, look.” It said “Michael Jackson.” My heart almost sunk into…I don’t get star-struck, ever. I look at them as regular people. When I saw Michael Jackson’s name on that Caller ID, I almost passed out. He let me hear the conversation too. It was crazy. It was beyond imagination. To be privy to see Akon and Michael Jackson have a conversation was just so huge to me.

DX: Coming back to Lisa Lisa. That ‘80s era saw a lot of Latino artists dominate the Pop market. It was wonderful. I don’t mean to exploit race, but do you think you can help restore a Latino presence in a Pop/R&B market that really hasn’t had it from a male artist in some years?
CO: My dad has always been proud of that. I can say, it was very hard for us to break in, just because of our ethnicity. Trying to get into the R&B industry, it was hard. We broke in. That alone, was a big accomplishment for us. The thing about me is, I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, I don’t have tattoos. I’m trying to set an image. Like you said, there aren’t a lot of Latino artists out there who are setting great images. I’m trying to show kids, you can be kid. This can happen for them. They can do this. You can’t be limited to your race or your skin color. Everyone’s created equal. I actually have a song on my album called “Hustle Man” about that. It’s pretty much explaining that no matter what you are, who you are, that if you have that determination, you can get to where you need to be. It’s the story of my life.