"I did the thing with bonds, which was about 30 million dollars, and didn't get none of the money on them"

This quote by James Brown is most likely referring to a financial investment he made in bonds. It shows up that he spent a large sum of cash, 30 million dollars, yet did not receive any one of the money back from the investment. This might imply that the bonds were not effective as well as he lost the money he invested. It can additionally indicate that the bonds were successful, but he picked not to take the cash he earned from them. Either way, it shows up that James Brown did not benefit economically from the bonds he purchased. This might be a lesson to others to be careful when spending large amounts of cash, as it is not always ensured to be successful.