Mm hmmm, mm hmmm.
Welcome back to another edition of All the Smoke. Jack's been a minute, Bro, been a minute, But we're back in this bat like.
We never left. Man, we got a special one today. Audience tune is mother. It's packed out out here in Milk.
Yeah.
I'm just saying, it's a building, right, man.
Where do I start?
Rapper, actor, songwriter, producer, Grammy Award winner, the one and only Ludacris.
You Yeah, I appreciate you.
Yeah.
First of all, man, congratulations on the the.
Star on Hollywood.
Thank you man.
I mean, you know, come on, man, what is knowledge?
I tell everybody.
It makes me stand still for a second because I'm sure, just like y'all, I'm constantly looking forward. There's been two decades of I never look back, you know what I mean. It's hard for me to take in the present moment because I'm always just looking at what's next. And this is one of those times where it honestly just made me.
It making me stop for a second and look around, and you know, just it's amazing, Like it's hard to put into words because of all the peers and all the people that showed up for that, and you know, to hear someone else, and certain people talk about the accolades and talk about the things that you've done and the history that you've made.
That's different.
That's different what kind of stuff comes to mind though, because, like you said, we're always so hamster wheel, what's next after that next? So when you do finally take a look back at your journey and it's been twenty plus years, like, what are some of the things to.
Jump out to you and what do you remember about those?
I think where the journey started to where it's at right now. You know, you hear people say those cliche things like, you know, would you ever thought that you would have been doing this or doing that? And the honest answer to that question outside of music would be no. You know, things just a lot of unexpected things happen in everybody's lives and you kind of have to go with the path to a degree. And so to answer your question, you know, I started in radio. I wanted to.
I always knew I want to do music. But when I say I started in radio, that was kind of like my means to an end. So in case y'all don't know the story, Yeah, I was at this station and I was trying to get the attention of certain people so that I could put the music out.
And it was like.
Amazing because during this time, I'm like seventeen eighteen years old at the radio station and like a local celebrity, and it was a pit stop. And for a second, I was like, this is this is pretty nice because I'm over here to get more money than I ever got in my life, host and parties, getting cash and I'm in music, so you know what I mean, like around it and I'm around all these celebrities. I'm making friends.
But the whole goal was to go up there to play the music for people and try and get put on, which you know ended up me putting money in my own pocket and investing in myself and putting out my own album.
And that's what it got there.
But like I said, that radio music acting, hosting, producing, creating.
Right, That's when I look back and I'm like, wow.
We're just on some Just congratulations, bro, because like you said, obviously we were fans of music from the beginning to where it's been, but like you said, the crossover is what makes everything else stand out even more so.
Absolutely, Man, we've been to a we've been to a few parties together.
My brother. I definitely.
We've had some times. These are my guys. By the way, Man, we got.
And we came and fucked his hoop game up wasn't here and I was hit on some other ship.
Man.
Listen to the day weekend.
We have the bast football tournament every single year, and it's like, honestly, the basketball players that come are not really supposed to be giving it. They all, they're not supposed to be playing at one hundred percent because you know, if they get hurt, then it's.
Gonna be hell for them.
You know when they coaches from everybody, These two more buckers showed up like they was playing a real.
Goddamn game, and we as high as the coast of Living too out there hooping real dunken, blocking shots.
Shooting deepster That shit was fun. Though.
Man, I'm glad that you.
Had just retired, right, And I was like, I was like a year or two weeks retire. Yeah, new music in the works, it is.
It's been in the works for a minute, man, and then I get a script for another fast and furious goddamn movie. But uh now it has been I'm joking, But what I'm saying is after putting out nine ten plus projects, you hear people say the best artists, which is so true that your best art and your best music comes from life and experiences. So if I put out ten projects, I got to live some life again, and I gotta make it authentic, and I gotta make it organic, and I gotta.
Make it real. And it takes a little time.
As you continue to reinvent yourself and still satisfy the core ludicrous audience, it will take a little more time as opposed to just throwing music out, definitely, because the one thing about me is you know, that shattering that stereotype of just because he's doing all these other things, he doesn't have it musically anymore. That's my number one goal, you know. So I put out these little styles.
Yeah.
Yeah, so it's just like the show people.
Man.
Look, make no mistake, I one hundred percent still hungry, still got this shit. I'm just doing other things that you know are are adding to my legacy. But make no mistake, I know what got me here.
Period.
As you continue to add to your legacy, what are some of the new things, any new things you're working on right now or projects music, anything outside of music.
So tell us what's on your slate. I know your movie's coming out soon.
Oh yeah, yeah, No, it's a lot of it's a lot of different projects movies obviously this past and Furious ten just came out. I think the cat is out the bag. We can say that it is more than one because there's like a part A here, so it's open ended. I have a movie that Will Packer produced in Tim's story direct that I've been wanting to work with them forever. It comes out at the end of this year on Disney Plus and that's called Dashing Me
and Little Real Black Santa Claus movie. You know, they kept saying they haven't seen a movie with a Black Santa Claus, and I'm like, I had to think back, and this might be the first Black Santa Claus like starring movie. We just talked about working on music. If you haven't heard The CARMA's World, this is based off My daughter on Netflix season of that merchandising in store streaming, chicken and beer restaurant were about to open up one in lax There's one in Atlanta right now. So what
else what am I forgetting? I know it's a lot of stuff, man, but those are kind of like the main components right about now.
I guess you could say, I mean, we're gonna get to it later, but you brought it up now. Getting the opportunity to work with your daughter and just see her fall in love with, you know, a space that you're in and her growl with it.
What is that like for you?
I mean, listen, man, people talk about what we're doing on this earth, why are we here? That's one of those full circle moments that you know, I've done my duty in terms of helping the next generation with self confidence and all the things that they're dealing with right now, you know it being inspired by my daughter, so it's unreal to her, Like she has no words.
I mean, she's out.
You going Target, you go on Walmart, you see a doll in your likeness and you hearing this music. I was just I took my youngest daughter, who is almost two years old, to the.
Playground the other day, and our kids, you not.
I saw another kid that was about four years old playing on the playground and she had the Carmerce World doll in her hand while she was playing, and it's like there's a lot of you know, people can tell you certain things. People can say how it's affecting. You can read text, you could look on social media, but when you at the playground randomly with your daughter and you see another kid, that's a whole different kind of wow, like beautiful. Yeah, it's a beautiful thing, man, beautiful thing.
Thank you, Fast and Furious. Ten we say ten, like the first thing come to your mind? Number ten.
The first thing that comes to my mind is what the fuck?
What fuck? Right?
I mean, listen, I can only be honest, and I say that because me and ty Reese both came in at two Too Fast, Too Furious, so we didn't even start the franchise. We got lucky. Rest in peace to John Singleton. John Singleton takes you know, he's known for taking ice Cube and certain people from the music world, ty Reese and throwing them in movies and then all of a sudden they have a whole career. He took
me and put me in Too Fast, Too Furious. Tyese had already done Baby Boy with him, and it changed the entire direction and trajectory of my life because I was on tour with Eminem at the time, and I remember it like it was yesterday I got the call from John Singleton. He was like, I want you to try out for this part. I'm backstage about to go on in like thirty thirty minutes, and he's like, I'm sending you the sides right now. Like I'm thinking to myself, like,
why the fuck is this such a rush? Like can I get a day, you know to look over these sides and stuff? And I read the sides and did everything. Come to find out later, John Rule was supposed to get the part.
And I don't know what happens.
I don't want to misspeak, but however it happened, they came to me and that those are the best sloppy seconds I've ever had in my god damn life. Yeah, said I got the part. He called me the next day. It was like, you got the part changed my life. So when I say bring it in full circle, when I say, goddamn, too fast, too furious, you come back in five so years have passed.
So then it did you know what I'm saying?
And then it did three and four and then you just get this call we want you to come back, and I'm like, oh shit, all right, that's a surprise.
And then you go six, seven, eight, nine. What you just say it's one part of ten.
That means it's more than this mother, right, are you kidding? It's the gift that keeps on giving. Bro, When you say ten to me, I was happy at two. That's basically what I'm trying to say. So to be in seven of them is it blows my mind man, Like now we have lifetime memories with every single cast member, Like it's this is a quarter century of our lives. So our families hang out with each other, our kids
know each other. Me and Ben's youngest daughters are like best friends, birthday parties, I've spent Thanksgiving, you know.
What I mean? Like it's that it's that real.
And while we're on it, just so that y'all know and y'all could ask I reach the same thing. I put my cast up against any cast in movie history in terms of when you yell cut in the movie and the camera goes off, of who really fucks with each other? Truly, nobody can fuck with us when it comes to that.
All of us but started talking about too. Now we're at ten, Like how crazy has has each movie got?
And like do you do your own stunts?
That's a good ask question. Let me ask it.
So let me break this ship down.
Ask first one.
That's a good question because people people really need to know. So your first your first question was before you said you did your own stunts, was what was.
It how the movie gets crazy?
How crazy do they get each movie?
So what I was going to say was that's one of the things that we seem to defy stereotypically, because you know, as sequels go on and on, before it was like sometimes they will get worse and work. Arguably, these have gotten better and better to the point where it's like people just trying to understand how the hell we keep doing this shit? And I also hear people say all the time, why do y'all keep doing these movies?
That's the dumbest fucking question in the world.
I'm gonna tell you why, because no matter what industry we in podcasts, music, movies.
It's all about a bottom line.
It's all about how much you spend compared to how much you make.
We're making billions of fucking dollars every time, bro.
And I'm saying that like, I'm just giving you my heart. I'm not trying to brag nothing, So when you say why do y'all keep When some of y'all keep saying why the.
Fuck do y'all keep shooting these movies? Let me tell you why.
Because if you spend two hundred million and you make a billion.
Who the fuck is you gonna tell the stop shooting movies when you make it eight hundred motherfucking million dollars every time? How I need people to stop asking that question, even if you don't like it, even if you don't want to watch it.
Stop asking that goddamn question. That is the answer.
Because there is a person who's a CEO and a whole bunch of executives that work at an office, and they say, we just made eight hundred million dollars, We're going to.
Make another one.
That's why it's part two.
Period shit and the second part of your stunts.
When we first started in Too Fast, Too Furious, and on the first one, they used to let us do our own stunts, meaning they would have like we would be driving the cars and everything, and they would have duplicate cars waiting just in case we wreck one of them, and then we getting the other one and just keep going, you know, seatbelts, strapped up everything, safe as the budgets continue to grow, they said, get the fuck out of them damn seats, and we're gonna replace you with stunt men.
And no, we don't do our own stunts anymore to a degree, like we do little stuff, but the big shit we just lead to the stunt.
You wouldn't have did that stunt in real life when you was prankingly jawn.
Without hell No, absolutely not. Nah, that was falling off a damn falcony. I don't play like that. I like to do crazy shit, but you know, jumping off balconies is not one of these things, not at all.
You speak holly of Vin Diesel. What makes him the face of the franchise.
That's another good question, because y'all are asking questions that like people don't ask one and then number two.
That's going to.
Allow me to tell you shit that other people don't fucking know. Vin is one of those people that he's okay with not getting the credit. And what I mean by that is what makes him so special. He's a producer on these films. When I tell you, this man eats, sleeps, breathes, shits fast and furious everything. But it's like other people will kind of get the credit. He just stays behind the scenes, but he's involved in every element, in every detail.
I'm talking about to my character, to Tyreese's character, not just his character. He's looking out for everything, and he's looking out for the heart of what makes this franchise, you know, just the heartbeat of it. Because you know, you can see all these flying stunts and all this craziness and people can say it, but if you really think about when you watch these movies, why people keep coming back to the theater, there's a certain element of heart.
And I know people joke about the family, and that's saying family all the time. But he is so in tune with making sure that there's heart moments that leave you even subconsciously wondering why you want to keep going back and watching this fucking movie and why you are just so.
Tied to it. And that's what action besides.
Besides all the besides the stuff that's on the surface. What I'm saying, he's he gets way beneath the surface and understands what makes the human fiber and people tick. That's why he's so phenomenal. And this is what he does. Man, He's very methodical.
Where does the Rock stand with the Fast and Farish franchise.
That's a good question as well. You would have to go see the movie to see. Man, that's all I can tell you.
So he might be in it, Yeah, yeah, I mean he might not too. They gotta break band Rock.
He may or may not be. We just don't know. And that's the story with every character in The Fast. If you think they died, the motherfuckers came back.
He ain't really dead. No one ever died.
And keep in mind, there's one more coming, so he might see the ghost.
Of and that the Rock never died in the franchise, by the way, he made a spin off and everything.
But no, that's my guy. Man, that's my guy.
What's it like working with him? I mean the just following off Instagram? We trying to get him on. If that's your guy, We're gonna ask you at the end of the show, but we need to plug listen.
If he just followed, y'all, he's watching that, I do just about it. Trust me.
All you got to want you to DM the motherfucker shit I mean on social media. Take that shit serious. I will tell you that we need it.
We need him.
I mean obviously a great cast. As I told you, we're shooting your your man, Tyree Slater. But what is it like working with the Rock in particular. I mean, he's just someone we've all followed his path to where he is as well, and he seems like he's sitting on top.
Of the world.
Absolutely the most disciplined human being I've ever met in my entire life. Mark Wahlberg sits up there as well. But when you talk about the Rock, it's the closest thing to a robot, and I mean it's in the best way possible. Like you know, he'll get up three o'clock in the morning. This man will go do cardio for thirty forty minutes every single day, no matter how much sleep he's got. Sometimes he'll get two hours of sleep, depending on what he had the day before.
Be that cardio, go eat a steak in like eight eggs, and you know what I mean.
Thirty minutes later, do workout for two hours and he's you know, weightlifting, and it's just like then he'll go to work. So now it's like six in the morning, seven in the morning, he'll go and shoot a movie and he's there all day and he's eating every two three hours on the dot, and what he's eating is very specific to the macro nutrients and all of the exact protein to fucking carves, to vegetables that are supposed to work exactly in sync with what the fuck he
just did three four hours before that. And the man like go get five six hours of sleep on a good day and do the same thing all over again every single day and drink water and that's it goes crazy. So if you ask what it's like working with him, man, it's inspiring working with him.
And I used to be the.
Smallest guy on the Fast and Furious cast and being around him now not so much. He got me on my shit, Like I just monitor. I watched, and I observed, and I took certain elements of how I want to incorporate that into my life and figure it out, man, Because it's like when you see somebody and they show you what's possible, that's what we need, you know what I mean? Like we hear about things. You guys know
the same thing before you started balling. Sometimes you see that person in that car, you go to see that house. When you're able to make it tangible, then it's like you know, you know, without shadow of a doubt.
That you can make it happen.
Paul Walker.
Yeah, how was the word rest? First of all, rest in peace. I know he was a brother to you, and I know what it feels like to lose a brother. But give me for the people that don't know not only how great of an acting he was, but how great of a human being was Paul Walker.
Listen, I don't even have to tell you. I think people know.
If you ever saw him speak, if you ever just felt his presence even through the screen, you know on interviews that he's done, if you ever saw his daughter, if you ever saw the work that he did through his reach out worldwide, his you know, foundation, and him trying to preserve the planet and the earth and save animals and all of these different things. Absolutely amazing. We're both virgos. Our birthdays are one day apart, extremely close, very humble.
Man. Just just love man.
It was.
You know what's so similar about us is his energy wasn't just he couldn't give that out to just anyone basically, so he was very reserved in a sense that he's very sensitive towards who he can be around, because you know, you got energy drainers, and so his his energy was so pure and so magnifying that he could only be around certain people. And it's just like even more magnified. Now, that's the best way that I could do. And his daughter is in the movie Dope. She got a cameo
in there. So his legacy it lives on as it ship.
Man.
Fuck y'all forgetting me secondhand? Hell, Like, what the hell ain't thish?
Yeah, that's how you gonna start saying, I ain't never told nobody this, but that's how we really.
See me on cameras. Start going like smoky, I'm.
Just born in Illinois, moved around a little bit, landing in Atlanta.
How were we when you got there? And when was your first impression?
Yeah, my parents went to a University of Illinois, So fighting a line. I and my dad moved to Atlanta really early after that, and so I used to I would go stay with him summers when I was like six seven years old, and then I moved full time around nine ten, and man, Atlanta, think about this like the Chriss Cross Air and the ABC era and I'm around I'm that young, So I'm like, man, I gotta I know I can make it. It's like Chris Cars got discovered in a mall, Like that's where ain't du
prediscover them. I don't know if y'all remember that, Like they were walking around in the mall. JD was like them two kids are stars. I'm about to make y'all millionaires, and so to me, I'm like, shit, man, you know I could do this untalented. Atlanta is the mecca, man, It's the motown of the South. And you know people said that early on, but I'm sure after two decades of seeing what's going on in the industry and how prominent it is, there's no doubting that at this point.
So you had the face, you had the Dallas Austin rowdy records. You know, during this time. This is the Freaknick air that everybody's bringing back.
Up right now.
Best place on earth man, black Man's Heaven, black Man's Heaven.
Y'all know that. Why y'all asking me this shit? Y'all was at freak Nick. You know what the two thousand and three and I.
Ain't left set up jah Jack set up home there.
Yeah, you know what it is, Magic City, man, Gentlemen's Club. There's a lot of history five, five, nine, one, twelve. When you really think about it, Man, so much culture, Man, so much history, birthed so many stars, so much talent, producers, just movers, shakers, industry insiders, and you know, just trend setters.
Man, trend setters, trend setters, trend setters.
Yeah, uh, at what age did you find music as far as feeling like you could? You said, when you saw all of it, But that's when you started, or you'd already started.
I had already started. Man.
I made my first song when I was nine. Some people know this story, but this audience you'll probably hear for the first time. Man, I was nine and I lied and said I was ten because my first song was called I'm bad. I'm bad, I might be damn, what the fuck was it? I'm cool, I'm bad. I might be ten, but I can't survive without my girlfriend, so I had to rhyme with girlfriends. I had to rhyme with girlfriends. So I was like, shit, I'm nine, but I need something to rhyme with fu in ten.
This is the prelimiting, you know, this is the early on rhymes, This is the nursery rhyme. Shit, So I was like, I'm gonna say ten, I'm ten, and then you ask rap goals, you could be braggadocious. You gotta speak shit into existence.
And what do you know, before you know it, I.
Was ten, I can say and I could say that damn song the way that I intended to say when I wrote it, with honesty, integrity.
And pure heart.
So yeah, now to answer your question, it was a little bit before nine. But I made my first like official song when I was nine, So that's how long I've been doing it.
Nine. I could be ten, right.
But I can't survive without my girlfriend and ll cool Jay is who made me want to rap, which is extremely phenomenal because he was one of the ones that just spoke at the Hollywood Walker Fame star ceremony.
But when I'm Bad came out, you know, this record started off with.
No rapper can rap quite like can I take a muscle ball man and put his face in the scend?
Like?
How do you start off a record like that?
So for you know, a kid like myself, I heard that ship, I was like, it's given me confidence that I never even knew was there, you know what I mean?
Yeah, shit, I mean that's that's what made me.
Want to rap.
Catalog very impressive, one of the best to have done it, and anybody of work stick.
Out as your favorite?
Are you talking about from my song?
Yeah, you're yeah, from what you've done.
But I can guess, are you what? Let's be specific. Are we asking which song is my favorite song? No, I'm talking about album album.
I'm curious to know what you're gonna guess.
Man, Chicken and Beer.
That's hard because it's every single album has its own different sentimental value, like Chicken and Beer became a restaurant release therapy.
You want to rap album? But man, you know.
People have asked me that question, and it's like, I don't even think I've been able to truly give a real answer, like really thinking about it. If I had to say it, man, I would just say and you close. It would probably be word of mouth, just because man, like the world is.
In the palm of my fucking hand.
Man, you get with you and you know why, it's like you get over that sophomore jinx. That's big for artistics well, and maybe not as much now to a degree because it's a lot of singles and streaming. But you know, people would be like, you know, if your second album don't compare to your first and all this other shit. Once I did, once I made it over that hump and I knew what them first week sales was gonna be. And that shit went on the cell like triple platinum.
I was like, Oh, it's over. I'm good.
When was that, like, oh one word of mouth was two thousand and one, two thousand and two, because it was two thousand and three.
He was in college at I tell y'all used to push from LA to Sacramento bumping that shit and.
Then move bitch was was obviously on word of mouth, and it was like, who was the bitch?
Move?
It's all type of bitches that need to move till this day it could be. And it's not just human beings.
It's cars.
They'll hump off your back, you know what I mean, whateverever, it's whoever gave me that second hand smoke. They But I was gonna say, man, when you talk about catalog, I don't even know if y'all was getting into this shit. I used to be in radio, so I might get a little bit ahead of you motherfuckers for a second. But what I was gonna say was you can never tell somebody how much of a hit song you have, Like it may go up the charts, it may hit number one, but in terms of being like embedded in
hip hop culture, we're talking about this song. It's twenty years after so this is two decades and this song is still relevant. Humbly speaking. That's when you know you got some shit. You gotta wait, You gotta wait your records out. That's why doing verses and shit like that. It's so dope to me to what Timberland and Swiss Beats have come up with, because it shows not only the artists, but it shows the rest of the world
how records age. It's like you playing your cards and how you play your hand and how you know house dealt.
That ship can be an ego blow.
Because some artists. What's so dope about versus It shows you where the artist ego is at when them motherfuckers want to play a record that only they think is the ship and then they play that card in the rest of the world sitting there like.
That's reality.
The whole world just shows Usually you do that ship with your management and your people. I'm telling you, man, what the fuck is you talking about and nobody. You don't really get no accountability real on versus accountability for your actions and decisions.
Bro, that's funny, instant.
That's why I love that ship.
You just mentioned streaming. What is the state of the music business in your eyes? Right now?
We've seen Snoop going the other day on the street.
Yeah, I just saw the headline. I didn't listen.
Listen to it. Listen to it.
You gotta hear the way he's saying, might not even should Maybe I should be saying this.
No, it was on Where was it that? Yeah, he was like on a panel for something.
Give us one of them lines?
What he said? You give us one of the lines panel man.
I mean, there's so many ways that that question can go. But I would just say not outside of what Snoop is saying, because I agree one hundred percent with what he's saying. But you know, if you don't evolve, then you'll evaporate. That's kind of one of my things that you know, you have to kind of embrace what's new, So you can't just because I didn't start in the streaming age doesn't mean that I hate what's going on here.
It's just it's evolution. It is what it is. Now.
You're gonna have your gripes with the business aspect of it or what's going on behind the scenes, and you might have your gripes of how people are trying to manipulate streaming and things of that nature.
But at the end of the day, we all listen. We all playing a game.
Man.
You got to play the game. You got to play the game, or you quit. You can f you can put your hand down.
You can put your chips away for everybody.
Everybody.
Yeah, and I mean not in every aspect, not just people that's watching this, like not just the music game, like movie game, life game, basketball game.
Y'all know. I mean, it's just it is what it is.
Man.
You gotta play it. Don't don't hate the player, hate.
Talk to him.
You didn't only come on come on the scene with a new sound. You came with the visuals. Like how big was How big was that?
Young man?
It was big?
But you know, there's a there's a downside to it, because even jay Z was one of the ones that said, you know, he don't think I get the lyrical credit that I.
Deserve because of the visual of the visuals.
So you know the answer to that is like people ask me, you know, why don't you think get the get the credits?
I play to goddamn much. That's what I do, you.
Know, And I wouldn't have it any other way. That's why my name is Ludacris. It's beyond crazy. It's wild. It's ridiculous. I like post effects and augmenting reality, big ass shoes, a big ass chain and bibblehead and all that.
So it's like, I get it, you know, I can't be mad at it.
I just have to show the multifaceted aspects of myself.
And I actually love that, you know.
Why, Because the good side of it is there's this thing where if somebody comes out with, you know, certain material and it's like the best thing that anyone has ever seen or heard of, you have to compare to that every single time. So I like kind of being somewhere in the atmosphere where you are idling on the arguably one of the best, and you still have time to prove it as opposed to it's just definitive.
He's one thing, you know what I mean.
So I'm like, I love being a lot of things because then I can come and at any moment, let's just say which I'm going to do. Just drop doing everything for like a certain amount of time and just focus on one thing. It's not even a question. I know I could kill it, same thing like with music, and that's what I'm saying I'm gonna do. So stakes are high, but I'm willing to take the the risk and I'm definitely willing to take that pressure.
What was the biggest budget wanted videos?
That's a good ask question, but I want to say like half a mial something like that. It probably wasn't like the million. You know, maybe it inched up to that six hundred thousand. But you know, you hear about when Diddy and Mace did the one million dollar videos. It was a couple of those, so you know the can't stop, won't stop it if that's what.
It was, or.
Yeah, what was the what was the Didi and Masum? Yeah, so more money, more problems? Was a million? I remember I think Wu Tang at Triumph video, Steve Rifkins said he did a million. It's a bunch of them, so it was like maybe about five or ten. I never made it to the million category. I never wanted to do that, but I did about half of that up.
Right, two thousands. You cross paths with many legends. We try to compile a list when we tell you the name in the song, just tell us a little bit about it. But Nate Dogg and Area Coats, Wow, man.
That's my I'm the biggest Nate dog fan in the world, man. People know, and I think I've done more songs with Nate Dogg collectively than any other artists, maybe Sierra, but Nate Dogg was just man, He's just amazing.
He's just amazing. He smoked the.
Whole wherever you at, he'll smoke that whole shit down, and uh, you know he just you throw on the beat, he'll smoke. Take him about an hour or two. When he jumps in that booth, everybody's paying attention. Kills it every single time.
But just such a.
Dope demeanor about himself, cool, calm, collected, and you know, just how he chose his melodies and how he chose to do certain things musically was just always surprising to you because it was out of the unexpected. I know people would say talk about his tone and stuff, but he was one of the most complex individuals when it comes to singing not only hooks but just entire songs that I ever her.
So I'm huge Nate Doggh Man man.
Uh for railing the Neptunes. Southern hospitality.
Wait, I was going something just came to mind when I was like one of my favorite rap lines I said on one of Nate Dogg's songs, and I said something like something something going to bed. You got a frog in your throat like Miss Piggy giving head.
It was.
I was just like, God damn, sometimes I'll be saying some of the artist ship in the world.
Okay, put me up there.
Man, come on, come on, man for railing the Neptunes.
For railing the Neptunes.
Man.
The first thing that comes to mind, and y'all might not notice. For so incog Negro was my independent album, and it was missing three songs when we signed The Death Jam, and not missing three songs when we signed the Death Jam. We basically repackaged it and added three songs to it and took like two or three songs off of what was on there, so that it was kind of repackaging that now for the world, as opposed to being sold out.
My trunk and throw them Bow's was one of those records, and I remember this was the like eleventh inning, like we got to turn the album in tomorrow. We're going to Virginia. We're going to higher At for Real. If anybody could give you a hit the last minute, it's for Real and Chad and the Neptunes and we in Virginia is me and Shaka and he throws on this beat and I'm vibing to it. I'm thinking it's cool. I'm not you know, I'm not like thinking this is a hit. But I do what I do anyway. I
go to the car. This is where I write all my music. I just go in a car. This is like my spaces where I zone out in the car in a car. So I'm in the parking lot in the studio, in this truck, listening to the instrumental.
I'm writing to it. All this shit's coming out, Cadillac grill, cadillact.
Man, and I'm thinking it's cool. I come back in, you know, and I'm saying it for Shaka for real. These motherfuckers like, oh shit, this is it, this is it, And I'm still like, man, it's cool, man, And so you know, forhar real kind of like helps with the hook a little bit all of a sudden, you know, they play it for me, and I'm still thinking that this is good, but I still don't think it's a hit. So we you know, we put that shit on the album. I'm not thinking it's gonna be a single because what's
your fantasy is the first single? And then everyone identifies with that damn thrown and bowls. And it's crazy because you hear a lot of artists always saying I knew that shit was.
I knew it was a hit.
I for Southern Hospitality. I did not know that it was the hit that it became and what it is still till this day. And that happens with artists all the time. Sometimes when you the one you least expect becomes a hit. And obviously sometimes your instincts are correct, sometimes your instincts are wrong.
So how the game goes?
Uh, Nas and Jake do it for hip hop.
Man for me to get both of them on a record together. And this was right after they had squashed to B. I just remember Jay kind of hold out because you know, he liked to make an element of surprise when you get him on a record. I think I got Nas on the record first, if I'm not mistaken, and then Jaye hopped on there, and the day we got both of those verses on, there were just like, man, this is hip hop gold and what better way to do this than to have a record that's just for the love of hip hop?
They saying, you know, if.
You're gonna give a record to these two individuals, it's got to be something that's all about the heart. And you know that that could be the theme of this podcast when we talk about then in heart when it comes to music, Man, if it don't have heart to it, then I can easily see people saying, I ain't fucking with that.
Yeah, man, Welcome to Atlanta, Jermaine dupri Welcome to Atlanta, j D Man, j D j D.
The first thing that comes to mind was way before that record was.
Made, JD.
I actually went to his house one time, and this was when he had Chris Caross. He didn't know who the fuck I was. I just found out way he lived because he was in College Park, not far from my pops lived, had a gate around his crib and one day I pulled up. I had my demo tape. I was gonna put the shit in the mailbox. I see this man walking outside in front of his.
House, like yo, JD Yo yo.
Now imagine this shit like a complete fucking stranger. It's a little light skim motherfucker with braids telling you to come here, like you don't know what the hell is going on. He don't know if I got a gun, He don't know what the hell I'm trying to do. This motherfucker walks up to me by himself, like no security, nobody with him. I'm like, my name is Luther chris Man. You're gonna hear about me. Here's my demo. Takes my demo. I don't know any other human being that would do
that shit till this day. I have a crib if I see a motherfucker saying, hey, Luli, come in, come in, Like.
The fuck is he talking about that?
No?
But like JD is, he's one on one man. When he made Welcome to Atlanta, I definitely knew what that shit was, you know what I mean. That's an anthem when you know you can go on this Janet Jackson tour and you go to every other city budd Atlanta.
And that's one of the first.
Songs I do, and the crowd is still going crazy when you not even in Atlanta, and I'm telling motherfuckers, welcome to Atlanta.
You know what it is?
Uh? Usher?
Well little John one, Lil John sent me that record with Usher's you know, verse on it, and I like, when I say I knew something was a hit, everything else that I talked about to this point, disregard that I got that ship. I was like, this ship is out of here to the point where take that and rewind it back, put that shit on the front of the record and at the end of the record, and I'm gonna do a verse in the middle of this.
Motherfucker. I'm on this record straight up. This is it.
This is that ship between that Justin Bieber.
But I don't know where you're going with this, but I'm like, all I do is win Justin Bieber, baby Usher, Yeah, Ludicrius, Moneymaker and you know, throw the bowls, move bitch.
There's a couple of ones that are just like to this day, the publishing checks, they they rolled, they roll. You know what I mean.
We got ring Man, we got rings bro uh big ring Grammys, Yeah, three of them. What does that mean to you? It means it's great. I want more of the motherfucker's I want some old man. But three is three is great. It meant a lot to me because when I was first starting the first five years of me being put in the same category as Eminem and DMX and Jah Rule and jay Z and I'm just this little motherfucker sitting in this seat, like here we
go again with this shit. And then finally after five six years, they couldn't deny me no more, and it was like I just started winning awards because I held out. You know what I mean, It's that longevity shit.
That's what happened.
Yeah, congratulations, way to go.
Speaking of legends of any truth that you're related to Richard pryor.
It is true to it, I don't know to which end.
You don't hear people say shit like this all the time and he's like my fifth or sixth cousin some shit like that. Y'all google this shit if you don't know what that is. That means he's very far down the line of cousins, but we do air of the same blood. It's probably where I get all this silliness and want to joke around and ship from man. I study Richard. He was born in. If it wasn't Peoria, ILLINOI was right outside of it. My whole mom's side of my family is from that area Illinois, partly why
you probably went to University of Illinois. So that's Illinois, Illinois, Illinois, Yep, definitely my cousin just further, just far down the line.
That's dope.
Well, before we get out of here, uh, we just want to give your flowers.
Man.
Like I said at the beginning of the show, man the wait man, we're done already. Man, I'm having fun.
Man, they have us on the clock. They said you had a hard house. I got yeah, so we got we got quick. As we just want to say, like.
You know, the way you've been able to continue to elevate and do it in a positive way and pure intentions is why we feel like you continue to just a real master and we look up to you and you're someone that's kind of behind the scenes, but you know, you're still front and center.
So we appreciate you.
Know, I take that to the I wish I could say you were telling one hundred percent of the truth because I might be on the backdrop on this motherfucking wall, but you know, at some point legends.
Take that, take that out iry about that? Take that out of podcast? Bring that?
Hey man, thank you man, I greatly appreciate that. Yeah, you know what I'm saying. I accept all of those flowers. I accept that y'all got me high here today. And man, listen, this ain't This ain't the last time I'm coming back, even on.
The crossover side of it, Like I'm just getting into acting.
So to see somebody like you that come from where we come from able to do different things. Like you said, they like to put us in the box and may make us do one thing that we're great at. No, we can be great at a lot of things. So you are a great example of that. But even guys like me, So salute to that.
Man.
That means the world.
And thank y'all for supporting me way before you even knew how much you would support. So man, let's continue success, let's build, let's uh, let's become billionaires.
Man, you got a lot of deals you need to talk to us about moving too. I'm ready, quick hitters, We're gonna put you on the spot with this one.
The top five most impactful artists or group from Atlanta.
From Atlanta when you say groups. I will definitely put outcasts in there. I'll definitely put goodie mob. This is this, This has to be just Atlanta. Yeah, just Goodlanta outcast, goodie mob.
Man.
It's like when you when you say just Atlanta. I want to put like no limit in master p. I know this is still I can't do it. No influential and it has to be artists or it could be producers as well, both you throw them in there. Oh, definitely definitely organized. NOI it's definitely Jermaine Duprie. That's four.
Who am I missing in this thing? I mean that was Austin when.
We talk about the ones, you know, like right when I was starting and having that Face records and having the rowdy records and having the Soso death. You gotta think about that, man. They started a whole movement that that just grew sour.
Say those.
What's your favorite car of all time? And is it true that you purchase a car after every fast and Fir.
I do, No, it is true.
But the last two movies we've been shooting in London where the steering wheels on the other goddamn side. So I just said the hell with that shit. Yeah, but all the movies previous to that. I definitely own a car. My favorite car is still my nineteen ninety three Accurate Legend and I still drive it to this day, two hundred and fifty.
Thousand miles on that built to last.
If it's not that car, my favorite car of all times is the four GT, and I love it for GT. Man, I love that car. Bro No tracktion controls the gears shifting. How that's like. It's so unique the way that it looks, the way it drives the tires. To this day, you could drive a twenty thirty year old four GT and you drive down the street. Motherfucker's gonna be like, what in the fuck is that? It's dope? Three must has
when you're traveling. Three must has when I'm traveling. I mean, besides clean draws and socks, and man, it's gonna sound random. As peanut butter. I don't know if y'all saw the commercial idead the peanut butter commercial.
I love fucking peanut butter.
Man.
I can eat peanut butter every guy there there.
I have no idea what that is, but peanut butter is definitely one of those things. My AFRO pick I gotta have that even if you read it up. Yeah, I mean, because it's it's coming out. That's that ship, my afro pick and then uh man, my right now, this big ass Atlanta World Series ring that I got, right, I just gotta show this ship up.
They go.
You three that bigger than yours?
Yeah?
You see? Heh yeah, I got three of them though.
Nice.
Five dinner guests that are alive.
Tucac, Biggie, Barack Obama, Malcolm X, Martin, Luther King.
That would be one hell of a dinner man.
Who would you like to see on our show?
But before you answer that question, you have to help us get your answer on the show.
Damn, I'm bam.
I was just I was so ename of the but whether the way you presented that, I know he's gonna happen.
He's gonna make it happen.
He's gonna make it happen.
A lot of people don't make it happen, but he's gonna make it.
Hell, I ain't making who who the hell?
I don't because there's so many people that's been on y'all show already. Now we gotta come think of someone who hasn't been.
On Hereaberg Ben Diesel, I would definitely say.
I think Mark Wahlberg needs to come on.
Yes, we already talked about The Rock, so that was a given, But I feel like Mark has a lot.
Sure, he has a lot of games.
Take away.
Mark, Mark.
That's like because when I said two of the most disciplined people I know, the Rock and him, that's a good reason for you to try and get him on here because he needs to share some of that discipline.
Let me tell you how random I got to know Mark Warburg. Well, so maybe like two years ago, I put an Instagram post like a selfie like, hey, I'm taking my family on a.
Camping trip.
I'm looking for a big you know, if you could uh r veter rent, if you can recommend anybody, this motherfucker dms me and tells me I can take his and I've seen him, but I never really met him.
Crazy, this dude you.
Could definitely get Now.
We been back and forth on getting him on the show. But listen how round and the sow it was.
I find out. I was like, look, I was like, a damn baby, is that him? She's like this is the star? So I hit him back like yeah for real. So this dude lets me borrow his ship. We're at the gas station, an old lady backs into me and scraped the side, So I have to end up fucking paying for a new panel door for and everything. But random situation that that that's how me and him kind of met. And we just saw him at the fight recently. Huge basketball fan. Yeah, but just random can make this happen.
He's gonna be the one. But like I said, just great dude, Like I don't really know him, know him. I've just always fought him. And then he randomly just let me use his motherfucking RV to go take my family camp.
I must not know how bad my kids are. Yeah, we held it down.
Just sold his house. Motherucker lived like fifteen minutes away from here.
But now yeah he's in vegasy. Yeah he's out of yeah here. Yeah man, that's it. You got a little package give him sure du my brother.
Thank you. All the smoke gear appreciate this.
Yeah, all the smoke Dots store, man, all the smoke Dots store.
Pull uplug plug yeah, shameless plug.
Pallua man, we appreciate you. That's a wrap.
You can catch this Showtime Basketball YouTube and the iHeart Platform, Black Effects.
We'll see y'all next week.
Hell yeah.