Omari Hardwick on Ghost’s Future & Untold POWER Stories | ALL THE SMOKE

Mm hmmm, mm hmmm.

Welcome back all the smoke. We're coming to you from Dallas.

Back home in his long star state.

We got a good one. This wouldn't have been a long time coming. We've been trying to connect the dots with this dude for a long time. Man, one of my favorite actors and just one of the genuine, real good people in this space, and there's not too many of those.

Man.

Welcome to the show.

Mari Hardwick, thank you, thank you, thank you, sat having people.

How's life recently nominated for a Grammy name Ghost.

Ghost that's crazy, bro, I'm uh.

For your roll in star trek Man and many hats.

I'm trying, Bro, I'm and and by the way, Stack's if you remember this. But when I started and the music thing, it was spoken word poetry. I had a show called Versus and Flow and I would get up neo soul artists. The likes young poets, which is the best part of it to me, is like giving the stage to young people to figure out their voice and bro in the audience, write in the epicenter, right in

You was with the Spurs, early time with the Spurs and early two thousands.

Uh.

And so Matt been supporting for so long and by the way, God God Stephen as too stag Man been rocking with me for the longest I've been rocking with him. One of the realist cats in the league. The league is a bit different now, Yes, the world different.

The world is the.

World is different now.

But yeah, it's been nice, man. It was amazing to get a nomination for the side of the entertainment industry. To your point, Matt, that I don't put food on the table, or I haven't thus far. So that was super humbling, man, because just reminded me that it's a nice Uh.

How motherfucking talented you are. How about that part anytime you're getting your flowers. It's a beautiful thing, bro, I appreciate it. It's a beautiful thing.

Yeah.

Yeah, And the declaration to again the young cats who look like us, the young ladies who look like us.

Yo, empty the bag.

Empty it before you go up to the pearly gates, and God go, what did you do with it?

I gave you a lot of shit in there.

Man.

You don't want God to scourry through the bag and go it's seventh motherfucking things still in there. So for me, that was always in objective like get it all out, but while doing so good permission other people to get it all out.

You want to see it, yeah.

Across my mom. You want to see his pat I'm just I'm just cool, my nigga. I can't help that, you know.

That's what God gave me.

I mean, hey, that's one of them. That's one of them. Definitely let that out.

The bag too fresh to be stall man got to do it.

So it's a long time coming to the brother's point.

And uh, we were supposed to be on you know, on this way back in middle of the summer.

Yeah, we did something together for uninterrupted last summer right.

Yeah, we did. It was really cool that I did it, Maddy. We did some ship.

We did some ship.

We did a softball game at UCLA. We just played no, no, no, but we did some ship stacked so.

Many years back.

Okay, yeah, him being out because you know here, you know here food in baseball. Yeah, crazy, I just said he was six ninety went six eight. Why you take away the atch?

I don't want to steal. I don't like to lie.

Oh, but with the right shoot not them shoes. But if we give you what's who got some kicks in there?

We don't wear them no more. That makes it two inches taller. You used to wear them. So people used to wear them high high heels, high tops, not even the three quarters.

I'm talking about the high souls.

Yeah.

The David Robinson so wings wings.

Long Stack wants to be an actor one day. Yeah, Stack, you're a talent scout.

What what what would you think? He didn't make fun of me like Kevin Hart. Appreciate that. That's my boy.

I love you, bro, I think that. Yeah, my dream got him up, don't really got my ship down. Really really cool short basket.

H so for me for me, mad And I know you know art really well.

And it's too controversial for me to say to one cat who in music when I think about music? Since you let in with that point, he's in jail.

Now we all know.

Who he is, the R and B. King.

I always would have been a phenomenal actor, and I always thought that Kanye would be a great actor. And what I realized is that what I honor perhaps most. I mean, I guess Robert tried it, Kanye. What I honor most is that he and he made a comment was he was like, I want to get my chops right if I were to do that. One of the things that was most fascinating about your brother, our brother being in the league and he's doing it right now, Matt, Matt, you need to take this shit in.

I already seen it. I think he's good enough to do it.

So this is my point.

One of the things that was so dope about Stephen Jackson is that Stack was always and is always who he is and the most confusing thing. And you try to not as an actor give too much away because your tricks are your tricks and it puts food on your table. But one of them was confusing things about that professionist a that it is monikered titled or labeled acting when it should be not that because acting is not good.

Anybody who acts is.

So the authenticity and sincerity that comes with a Stack that when you came to the League, David Stern was at what point of being commissioner.

He was in full almost almost on his way out.

So I'm right also to the point where he was trying to change the league dress code and all that stuff.

Okay that I throw a nice love to you, And the reality is that an Alan Everson and a Stack Jamaret doesn't count as much where I'm going at because Ja Morant is a victim but also a victim I'm gona specify a victim of a generation that has to contend with a cell phone and social media in ways that we didn't have to. So in that way, Joah kind of is still trying to figure out where this job at.

Who am I? What is my thing? But y'am being dufeleously gifted? What is my thing? But and Alan Iverson really was a tupac on.

My roof for our NBA and Stack was very befitting of that.

And when I think about you carry that to me, you would.

Rather work at the local, whatever the local is, rather than sell your soul. To me, my answer is he would be a horrified actor. Not only because he has that innate desire to be like fuck that, I'm Stack. He also wears stack really well. And we just saw a scene play out with his wife before we rolle cameras and it was his actual wife.

My nigga might as well and make ghost Tatasha.

So I really feel and I've never said this to you before, but you have not only the intensity but the joy with the pain. You need joy and pain, and you need an ability to forgive the shit. By the time they say roll camera action go, you would have had to forgive all of the childhood shit and just put all the stuff into whatever that is, whether it's comedy, whether it's drawn, where it's horror, and just kind of sit in it and less.

It's always more.

And Matt, you ain't far off of being the same thing you do two of the coolest duo.

And I ain't just saying that.

I know you'all gonna get teased by the rest of the podcast cats because they're gonna fuck with you and go, oh claim these cats.

Cool, But yeah, I already knew that. Y'all.

You're super laid back and you operate at a real at a real for me, what actors provide the actors who really who really have it? They operate in a in a beautiful We can be insecure all day, but they operate, or we operate. I think I'm pretty gifted. We operate at a place where we are super secure and emotionally kind of together when the camera starts rolling. Afterwards, when they say cut, you might be a nutbag, but when the camera's rolling, you have some kind.

Of ability to go to a place a gift. There's something there.

There's some negative energy. You're out out right now. And we're definitely not about that. We're more just fans of of what was going on and and and and the character you played. Will we ever see there's obviously a ton of spin offs going on in that universe. Will we ever see you as ghost in any shape or form?

Yeah, okay, you will, Maddie and we talked about, Uh.

I got the chills, right, that's my favorite character.

I think I'm ghosting with a life. I just don't have the suits and the money and shit like I act like you I act like or the good hair not the hair either. My shit ain't that bad, but it ain't that ain't.

So Matt asked a really good question, I think, and I could compliment Courtney and Curtis and saying this, we definitely, Matt, we as a culture, as a black culture and brown culture, Latinos included, we did not have outside of of a Sicilian character, whether it be Marlon Brando playing a Sicilian character, whether it be.

Al Pacino who is actually Sicilian.

Right and Robert de Niro being part Irish, part Italian my favorite all time actor outside of Steve McQueen. But looking at uh and I would say probably Denzel. But looking at the reality of what those movies and the character of those big, big mob movies and gangster movies, what they provided was it provided more of a peak. It was very Shakespearean, all of them were. But it provided a peak into uncles that we knew, grandfathers that

I just use the characters as my way of doing community outreach.

But that character was such an incredible community outreach because if I'm talking to the President in the White House and I've talked to two during that time, one was colored Us, and then if I'm talking to every Pooky and every respective hood that we grew up in, whether Cali, Wather Texas, whether Georgia. The reality is that character was built to be able to play on so many sides

Do I miss only Ghosts?

Now I realize I missed o Mari playing a character like Ghost because I'm getting it again and I'm getting Omri while getting a character.

So I have to provide that. It's funny you say, Yeah, I hear you.

I want to be the hit man.

It's interesting the end of what you said, because you've been outspoken about Ghost and Amar are two different people. Why are you so outspoken and trying to drive that message home?

Well, I will tell you what I never said that they were too stark different. You know that there was such a contrast.

There definitely have to be some of you to get that great in Ghosts.

But yeah, so.

This is my whole thing. My whole thing is.

We have to look at it from a perspective of where our priorities lie as a people. In many regards, oftentimes white Americans follow us. I have heard it be stated as such when Donald Trump won the first time. Excuse me if there were arguments being made by a certain faction of black folks who might not have won it, forget political affiliation, who might not have won it Donald Trump, and maybe mainly because of his followers, the MAGA contingency,

I didn't.

I didn't come from Africa ancestrally, I did, but Stature not from I.

Don't know nothing about it.

So when when people make that comment, y'all chuckle. But it's probably one of the truths that I love Stack the most. And uh, I grew up with that thing. It's so interesting because I grew up with Fred Taylor.

I did.

And I don't mean literally, guys, I grew up with that thing. I grew up with I grew up with Matt Barnes, and I grew up with Stack.

There's a common thread there. I grew up with.

Really tough fuckers who are super vulnerable and loving and stack. There's never been a moment that you haven't greeted me with a hug. It's very interesting. There's never been a moment, Matt, that you haven't greeted me with a hug. The necessary, the necessary permission of all permission given is for our young black and brown men to be granted that. I don't understand the season, even if it were more than a year or two, the seasonal moment of no Homo.

I fuck with you, I'd never understand. I didn't understand that.

I tried to play every single character in a way Matt, where you felt o Mari in the character I'm saying, priorities are such, where our people right. If you were to hear someone say go back to what America's mind and if you got Native American blood, which all three of us do, I don't even care about the young brothers who grew up going, nah my hair, ain't that shit.

What people rooted for at home was he's trying to go right.

I made the dude of biblical character, and I've said it to maybe ten individuals, but now say it on this podcast, because Stack I love you, or Matt, I may go.

Saul from the Bible.

Saul is very symbolic in any kind of template of religious belief. It could be the Koran, it could be the Torod, a book of lotterday Saints for Mormons. It could be the Book of Hinduism, the Book of Buddhism. It doesn't matter what it is. Phil Jackson was in Buddhist, right, he'd say the same thing. There is that character in whatever I happen to believe.

In in Christ. That dude was Saul.

I always thought the show needed to end if he ever became Paul, because then we have no more entertainment of watching him try to become good.

So Matt.

When I say there's a contrasting difference, and I probably haven't used that specific word, but when I speak on that, my brother, what I'm really saying is I am so much of Ghost, but there is so much more to me than ghost because I wasn't written by Courtney. Courtney never wrote Omri. Courtney wrote Ghost. So for a world I would imagine at this point, twenty five and under. For that fan base, it is harder to conceptualize that because they get to not.

Every twenty five year old.

Some of y'all are phenomenally mature, but twenty five and under for the most part.

As you know, Matt, and you got kids growing and stack.

You notice too, there is an ability to change your look on every single post you post. So it's an equal ability to believe you are something that you're not. So my big thing, Mat is receive omar and then dissect it from there once you meet me in person. If you got five minutes, I get it, Matt. Where you go five minutes is hard? Oh you have badgers, claim that's hard.

I get it. But even in five minutes, nigga, I'm so much get me in five minutes. So in five minutes.

You then decipher as you walk off, you go, how much is like have fun with it, have fun with it, just sit and think about it. But the other thing, now, I'm gonna give you all, y'all roses. There's a reason that all of these podcasts are so prevalent and so prominent and so watched and so good. Siri included twenty five and under has an amazing opportunity. I'm not picking on that age group, but that age group specifically has an amazing opportunity to do all research within a nanosecond,

Was he actually close to George Floyd?

Was he not?

Was he the uncle of George's daughter? When he How quickly can it all come to you?

So for me, these are moments, Matt, after an interview like this, where you ask such a great question and it's a dynamic question, so I have to answer it in this kind of way.

It's a very good question.

It's not out spoken about the contrasting difference. It's an outspoken reality of going, y'all do better with just hanging out with the person first and then figure out the character next. But there are a lot of people in our world, and this has no chronological age to it, who are really about the character who they've presented verse who they go to sleep and imposta syndrome is a

Had of actual chops and really having some chops.

Those incredible actors from Sicily Tyson to yaffiic Coda, the Sydney Poitier to Lena Horn to Denzel to Angela Bassett to Lawrence Fishburne there to Don Cheeto, Will Smith inclusive, there wasn't a reality in that age group.

The age group I just specified it.

Colored us throwing Latina actresses and actors included. There wasn't a reality that they had to contend with a confused audience member going, who are you actually? You kind of knew you kind of knew that their character was relegated to the screen, and when you met them out in public, if you so lucky or blessed to get an autograph, if that is that could sound pretentious. Maybe the public figure wants your autograph. I'm a fan of fans, so it's always gonna be weird for me. Bro I'm a

Oh, I'm a fan of that. That's a different human to go everything you do. I rock with That's a beautiful thing.

So I've never had issues with those people being of confusion, Matt.

It is the folks that are about a character verse.

Let me figure out who O is? The roads given to you and a Steven as y'all do interviews. Why not pull up on all the smoke. You can actually sit down with me right now and let me let me watch Power tonight. Wow, because I just watched all the smoke, let me compare the differences. Oh, wasn't wearing a suit, he didn't have a gun, he didn't murder somebody. I wonder if the nigga ever did murder somebody. He wasn't selling crack rock. He was selling stories, but not

Bro. Our leverage increases, Our leverage increases.

If me or a Drease are up for James Bond and our fans are petitioning for it, if they get more educated about the differentiation between the character and the person, they could literally be going. I want Tomori to play it. I want a dreas. Omar is happy if either one of us get it. I love him and he'd be happy if I got it. So I think for me, mad As that I don't want you and Sweet say again.

My broll black James Bond, you would kill that.

You would kill that, bro, You would kill that shit. You know I'm saying.

It's just I just want our fans to allow their voices to be You got ahead on you, bro, you shocked. They told me about you for you walked in, but you sharp the shit you here, you sharp. I want our fans to be a part of that. Matt, I do, Bro, I do. I want our fans to be pro hip hop is a three billion dollar company. It's a three billion dollar company, not a company on Mario. Yes, it is a company. It's an overriding, all encompassing company.

Last I check.

You can count on one hand the people who look like me, you and Steven who have some of those billions. And it's not a three billion dollar company, not if jay Z almost has three billions to himself. It's a seventeen billion dollar conglomerate of reality.

I want our fans to be more fan of themselves. I'm big on that. I want people to really like themselves more.

I just think it makes it all a bit more balanced. You ain't got to run past your wife's dack and bulldoze her to get to you, because you would the one that someone salivated and wanted to meet. That's dope, that's flattering and shit. You ain't got to run over Matt's kids to get to Matt. If that day your wife says some shit that actually saved your life. If that day Matt's twins looked at him in a way that may and Matt go, you motherfuckers really got it.

I think they can sit and go. There's a lot on Murray in that character.

But I equally see Omar so that when they meet O mariy out they get to go I rock with you.

Fans are like, I miss you. I'm like, I'm so here.

I'm right here, Stack, I'm so here, Bro.

I'm in Texas, man, right now, I'm in the state, in an undisclosed.

Spot, the state that raised not only Stack, but equally a differend of mine who grew up in Tarot, Texas, and that being Eric Ak Jamie Fox. Like, I'm here, man, traded. Truth is in Houston, j Prinn. I know a lot of a lot.

I'm a Texas lover because I'm from the A.

Yeah home, I.

Am at home, bro, So like I'm always here.

People can always pull up and go let me just how let you for a minute, I'm here.

Characters or other characters you drew when you were coming up with who ghost was going to be on the screen.

Matt you you're doing some ship today, bro, You motherfucker. He's talented. You're looking at me like it's not doing bad yet. No, No, he just burnt that just he just burned out.

That's just burnt out face, just burnout. You're not burn out.

Yeah, yeah, but don't believe that, not far.

I guess I was real big on on the era. You spoke about you guys having fun with the Peaky Blinders night in the pubs Dack, that's prohibition right, kills killed it.

He killed the movie that he and Robert Downe at Jr.

One day.

What an actor, great actor. I would love to work with him one day.

And who wouldn't want to work with you know, the incredible director of course that Chris Nolan is.

But in terms of Peaky Blinders.

Just to use that example to answer your question, Matt, I went backwards and thinking about the gangs I went to yesteryear, and what I did, Bro, was I tried to grab from thine self. So so Matt, you threw me THELB, my bro, you threw me the LIB and going yeah, oh right, A righteous actor pulls from themselves for sure, and to thine own self be true. And nigga, we all flawed, the three of us might not in quantity.

It's not a it's very political. It doesn't work.

It's not and uh and Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson culture world can't say that, so I'm saying it for them.

They were highly called. It's a very it's called. They were chosen.

So if I was part of a world in which I was chosen, particularly as a Black American doing entertainment, which sports is often forgotten about as entertainment, it is entertainment.

And y'all are artists. You don't hear that enough, particularly me being an next athlete.

I'm gonna sell y'all down the down the road of celebrating the artists that you are all day long. And I and I realized that if I needed to pull for myself Matt, then I went, so what is Omari?

What what can Omar bring this guy?

Okay, Mary speak Spanish enough, right, Omar's been confused for Dominican his whole life, Matt, You've been confused for being Latino your whole life.

So we what what? So?

How does that look? Yes, this nigga's been confused with being Cuban. Of course he hasn't look Matty, I saw you look at him.

Matt, think I got kids of Dominican. Report.

Well, here's the other thing. Here's the ship.

I don't think there's the other thing.

Last I checked when I watched Sammy Social Swinger bat the first Sami, so I was raised watching motherfucker looked like Steve they Ne motherfucker ended up looking like Matt Vaughn. I look like Jim, shout out Sam. But in the in the grand scheme of of pulling out of myself, Matt from me, I was like, I'm an athlete. I'm a poet. That's a big thing, bro. I'm a poet, so my sensibilities are different.

Right.

A poet is not pent to pad.

A poet is staring out a window and stack oh and Matt saying to the.

Young poet, yo, what you're doing. And they're truly not daydreaming.

They're devising whatever, playing the divisor to try to save the world. So my outlook on life was perhaps more of a poetic outlook. So I went as far back bro as Langston Hughes and then meets Nicky Barnes. I went Malcolm X, and then I thought Malcolm X, right, so now let me go Miles Davis. I was marrying Malcolm X to Miles Davis. I'm already raspy voiced like Miles Davis. Then I was thinking, Nah, he shouldn't be

But the reality is for me mad. It was really diving.

Back into the sixties bro and into Harlem Renaissance and fucking Stokely and freaking Huey P.

Newton, and I was.

Really going a lot of black panthers, a lot of activists because you know how it worked back then, and particularly in that Berkeley area, right, particularly that Harlem area. Like the way it worked was gangster, still got to gangster. But I'd be damn if them activists weren't gonna make you pass out Turkey's doing.

Oh nah. Yeah.

So that was a beautiful marriage. And I think for me, Maddie, I just thought, the goal in life.

For me is that. What I heard is that? What excuse me?

I heard God say, which is a mary, make the world small as you can? I heard God say, Really, when I was young, Matt, the age when you and I played in a softball game at LA when the twins what age they were and they were maybe six, six or seven years old when I met match boys at that age a little bit older.

My son is nine.

I remember thinking Nov's twelve in a minute and a week, brave as nine.

I remember thinking, like the world to be small. That's what Muhammad Ali did Wright stack right, Matt, Muhammed at the world small.

So I realized that my objective was to match what God had wanted me to do my whole life.

And now that I'm being cast as a.

Thirty eight year old young man to play such an incredible character. I'll always think Curtis and Courtney for throwing me the live of getting all I could think of? So how do I make the world small on Sunday night?

When is it air?

Courtney?

Sunday Night?

What time?

Cool? Oh? That time? Okay? So teenagers asleep, but they gonna sneak it.

So how do I make it where Nova's age, which is almost twelve, all the way to the great grandparents of a twelve year old. Now you're pushing ninety. How do I get twelve and ninety in the same room while Stacking his wife are debating about what's going on between Ghost and Tasha. How do I get the pre teen and the great grandma to equally debate.

I'm talking about the teen directly debating with the great grandparent.

And I just thought a show is one thing, but God has really given me a gift to try to make conversation happen via the use of me as a pretty solid actor.

And that was the thing.

I thought.

The only way to do that is to go get all the generations.

So for me, Matt, it couldn't be the local homies that I grew up, who was slinging crack rock.

The nigger I grew up's name was Uli. I could think about Uli for a minute. I'm from that.

I had to think about Uli because Uli was the one who had the blood dripping for the chain. When my big bro told me stop staring at Uli, it only was like, Nah, that nigga's cool, And so Uli embraced me.

Uli was dead within five years of embracing me.

But equally, if I'm at Harlem during that time, wouldn't a Malcolm Little now Malcolm X embrace me if Uli did so? My thought was, whomever would embrace me, make ghost an amalgamation of those people would embrace me. If the gangster would take me in, and if the activists would equally take me in, if you can marry the two together, then you you're making the room smaller.

When the room is the viewership of who's downing.

In and watching it sounds like great balance, yeah, me, because if it's one extreme, you balance it with something something more level headed or so just being able to balance balance the extremes, Yeah, to be able to garnish the entire so that.

You could feel that, so that you are a stat could feel that now you're you're you're You're still the same player that took a basketball and thrusted it without releasing the basketball in a one Kobe breen Bryant's face. That that's stat can say all that along. I think like ghost though, Yes, that because you think a lot

That's the point I'm making.

You were balanced, Bro, the same dude you did that too, became one of your dear homies.

That to me, that's the objective.

Whether Canaan rocks with you at the three crop, like, make it where they can all at least sit down. That's what the mob boss is there, right, like just sit down, just let's have a conversation.

Did you get to keep all them suits because they was fitted? Did you get to keep.

Them stacking joints all fitted just for me? Bro? Right week before rap week before No.

Season six, No Think the Board Season six, Courtney, let me go do a movie.

I still had three episodes to do.

You know that?

Who done it?

The final sixth episode where the who done It's right, and I know a lot of the fans were mad, like, wait, who done It's better? The reality of the who done it? Is better to be the ghost a living But obviously we learned that who done it? Were just about who did it? What a conclusion being that ghost is not a lie? I can say it now still hurts a week before a stack like rap rap, pack up the New York apartment rap rap, because I know the fate of my character.

Remember the world.

I know the faith but you knew already.

Yeah, I think I had three episodes, but this is after that. I had three episodes left. When Courtney did a really cool, solid and let me go to a movie. I did a movie with Nate Parker American. Skin had to lose some weight, real real quick, had to gain the weight back and then finish three more episodes of Power. We are now finished the sixteenth episode of season six

They're all yours. Oh wow, I said, what he said, They're all yours, just my rap gift to you.

Damn wow.

So I said, when can I come in? He goes, your what are your? What's going on? I said, Jay and I packing the New York apartment. We had bought the spot in Denver, which you knew, Matt. We were hiding out in Denver so doing the thing and the thing, and Chauncey was excited about me coming back to denverstack Chauncey billup shout out to Chauncy, like really excited. Champ told me he was gonna stay in Denver if I in fact really came back that Nigga left.

Champ.

You left me home, but I was prepping to move, and uh, I went bro. I was so excited that and I found there's so many suits.

Bro.

I was like, wow, felt so complimentary.

Yeah, you deserved them.

It was so many suits. She said, Okay, I got them. I said, are you are you doing? And he said, no, you I can. He said, I know your measurements. So pick out five, I said. He said no, no, no, you're getting seventy five suits. But pick out five that you could use right away for future things, interviews, whatnot. And then I'll get those done the way that all the other suits.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Man.

That look you got so within that space.

Of those five suits being made and the other seven years so floating.

Stolen.

No.

I called Frank and I said, are you mailing him? You said you were mailing them, they were shipping them.

He said, oh.

I said it wasn't ship one of them moves. Huh oh it was his ship.

No, not Frank, now, Frank, No, Frank was right.

He was right, almost in tears, right, said Frank, I never got those suits. Crickets on the phone. Frank has offered me to buy some of those suits. Years have passed, obviously spent five years since that show.

It so hurt him that he is offered to buy some of those suits.

Some of them either Oswald and or Tom Ford, whatever suits I got from that show, or whatever suits I had gotten or been gifted to war to either promote power and or any other thing, and stack those suits just happened to not be returned.

From the closet. The entire.

Rolodexum suits never got Wow, Thomas Man, you.

Got you special because you just made a motherfucking suit story so suspenseful and had everybody on that I tell about suits, and he just had me running like, God, damn, what have these suits? Think this nigga?

But but but I had to tell you that way.

I had to tell There's no other way to tell you the story, Matt, because I wanted it to be known that the benevolence involved in that was that Frank had called and said, I have all these suits you and I can't not tell that story because Frank was a g for setting those suits inside for me. So for me, it is the thought that counts. As corny as that may sound, that's real. He really really was, Like I got these suits for you, bro, and so he and I.

I don't know.

You could use the word ghost all you want in many facets in life, but in this regard it's pretty apropos. I guess a ghost took them because I never saw those suits again.

On that's a real story, bro.

And if I could, if I could elongate the pat less stack gott of putting the motherfucker suits on you.

Pimpin yeah, I told you six seven, Yeah, I would have put suits with so different.

Early in the morning of the show too, that nigga suited up at seven am like that, waking up early early to be making Tom he's gonna kill.

His first I always wonder, I always you know, I know, y'all give credit to Spike Lee for being such a part of the basketball movement and hip hop becoming so synonymous with basketball. Spike has a lot to do with that. You think about Michael Jeffrey Jordan and his commercial, there's a lot, you know the relationship there. Power was such

With it, man, A lot of as soon as the game over.

You seen the new show Power Mad because.

I wanted to binge watch it. I don't want to know when to talk about it because I don't like just watch one is not enough for you go. I like to watch at least two, three, four, call asleep on you know what I mean? So, and then rewatch that when I leave off. So I never really want but we were all fucking with that ship.

Bro.

I'm the guy that like on Hulu some shows come out, They're supposed to come out Thursday, but they come out eat them before the out midnight.

Yeah, I've been waiting on them. I'll be waiting.

You ain't seen what happened to this the whole day up?

Man?

I know you see Kill last night? Oh my bad?

But did you watchoo wife Field?

Did you so?

But you had to? She would get mad like.

I didn't watch it. Yeah, that's how we are now still with shows with Yellowstone.

Yeah, yeah, I'm anna ask so when me and my girl fight, I'm gonna go watch our show without her?

Yeah, you would you? And then actly would you play it off like you ain't seen it?

I'm gonna letter. See me, I'm a letter, Come downstairs and see me in my little spot.

Probably leave that day.

That's what I'll be doing. We getting our fights. That's my pettiness is I'll watch the show we're watching together by myself, like ye see, fuck you.

That.

I was reading the book before it started. Do the fans of all the smoke y'all got crazy fans? Now y'all got a lot of fans. Do they understand what you meant when you said we make love to pressure?

I don't think a lot of people do.

What would what would your I want to carry that for the next twenty years of mine? You talked about Star Trek. That's a different kind of pressure. I'm truly in space.

That's a different barometric literal pressure.

How you act like you in space, that's a whole different thing.

That's crazy, It's a different thing, right.

So in my mind, I'm like, what that I want to carry as a mantra? Your answer to what that means to we make love to pressure? When I think about the next twenty years of my career.

I can say this.

It was exactly the way I thought of it when I was being asked about my road to get into the NBA. Everything I've been through, a big brother getting killed, all the stuff I've oed in on certain stuff at drugs at nineteen twenty years old, like all the stuff I've been through.

I was asking the question because I was.

It was after the championship, and they said, nothing broke, but you've been through so much stuff and you stay, you made to this point like this doesn't feel great. I said, I make love the pressure because I know how to make love to the good and bad times. So when it's when I'm down on having a bad time, you won't know it because I'm thankful for being alive and I got a day. I'm alive today to make

Whatever it is.

I love that ak Frankie Beverly saying joy and pain. Can't he did?

That's it. That's it. That's it, Joy and paint, that's it.

And you really need it, and even today being successful, I'm still trying to find joy.

Yeah.

Yeah, so much pain still in me. There haven't let out there.

You know what I'm saying.

I want you to know it's gonna stay there. I just need that full circle. Matt Barry said, could Stack be an actor? He wants to be an actor? Shack I said, when I got money, and not money money, but like the beginning of the career, like grid Iron gag, you know, Dwayne Johnson two thousand and five money, I remember thinking.

Damn, I'm not gonna have pain anymore. I needed the pain.

Who's a dude who used to let me live on his couch in La And he said to me, said, bro, that ain't go nowhere anything.

It's in the front. I said, somebody that's in the back pocket. Hell no, I said, once it's there's there.

And sometimes Stack, I would listen to Tupac and I always loved that Tupac felt still hungry to me. And then I would listen to BIGGI and I was like, Damn, Biggie, don't sound hungry no more. Maybe it wasn't that Biggie was lacking the hunger and or the passion. Maybe it was that Pop just felt this urgency to work on the pain at all times, and Biggie might have decided at times when the camera's not wrong, apartment was constantly

Pain is unbelievably beautiful.

Hallmark cards only work during Valentine's Pain is everything else, it's everything.

Right, Well, the joy wouldn't feel so good without.

Without the pain, I mean, all the smoke is why why?

Why why did y'all title it that? I'll ask you that man.

We were high as heir and his sister was high with us, and she said it was.

Like, you're right, that's it right there, But it's double it's double meaning.

But you know it's double meaning.

He mighty say something like that, and it just rings to you like you don't even question it.

That's it, you know, Yeah, that's it.

If you knew better, you do better.

Baby.

Yesterday we did a show with Roy Jones and Are Watt their partners with us.

Oh nice, all the smoke fight with our boxing side right.

Oh I love that man, and and congratulations, gratulations and.

Art of war and show song to is.

That's a crazy This was our first time doing a cross show.

So I just came up, came up with the name for the cross show. What is it? Ar the smoke? I just said it just out the blue?

Am I am my guest host? Why not?

Absolutely?

So we asked the question, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, I would love, I would love.

We asked the question. We asked him a question. We asked him a question. What entertainer our athlete would be good to fit in with Roy Jones and Andre Ward? Who can look good talking about the boxing with him? I could, we asked, And we asked him that question. Also, and I know you.

Can be a sport iu with be hop of with Roy olive Is and fellow Capricorn level maybe one of the greatest athletes we ever had as a monk.

We talked about that could play the basketball game or it wouldn't beat somebody up later that night.

Yeah, Pensacolas find us. I would do that in a heartbeat.

Bro.

Yeah, we definitely gonna have you lined up.

There were born and raised in g a tight knite family. I live in about the last twenty years. Painted picture of your of your upbringing, and how was it?

Mama popped both home Stack, which.

Was such a blessings. And it's an interesting thing when that becomes such a blessing in our community, as you know Stack, When all of a sudden somebody will say Cosby family just because of mom and a popper both in the house, you ain't got to be financially where Claire and Cliff Huxtable words.

Both Cosbree family.

So that was a very unique reality for me, for especially when I looked at the left and the right and it was an all black neighborhood.

I grew up off Wesley Chapelin snap Fingerstack.

You know where it is non gentrified Decatur, Bro, this ship is still not gentrified. I gotta go back and do whatever I can to get it right. I planned to, and it's getting right. There's beautiful businesses there beautiful people, but it just sort of forgotten about it in the downtown decayed areas. Start about more five of us in the house as in kids, because the oldest brother was more.

He was in and out.

He played at more House and as I told you all, he went on to play for Detroit, but he was definitely raised as the oldest brother. He was murdered, and then Malik is over me. I definitely got middle kids syndrome. Shit, I can relate to j cole song and then Jamil who matt un Stack of course know who's in LA and then Shiney was the lone.

Sister and uh all black neighborhood Browns.

Male baseball soccer got kind of boring quick. Baseball turned to basketball, turned the football, and then at one point I was playing all three and was doing that in high school as well.

But Golden Glade is still there.

Stacked.

I went to do a video for the Golden Clad song that's off the Grammy nominated album, and the skating Ring they try to close it down, my bro. The infatigable, undefeatable spirit of Decatur is replicated or reflected in the fact that the skating ring that raised us, Bro is still there.

Not not not Cascades cast games was dope. This is called Golden Glide.

The song, yes, right, that's the that's the two aunt.

Yeah, and I grew up right there, Bro. We was in the woods, Texas was the same. We played in the woods, right, growing in the woods.

BB still in my hand from getting shot to this day, you know, in my in my uh, I would say six to twelve, thirteen year old running around self folks then moved the Stone Mountain. I'm in high school by then. But de caatur, I don't really, I don't you know. I said, I did a song recently, Bro, I got a project that the world will here soon and uh it's with an incredible cap from North Carolina, Anthony Hamilton.

And Anthony had challenged me.

He said, oh, I want the world to know more about where you're from and being the stack y'all know this.

As a musical artist, you do say where you're from.

As an actor, you don't as much because you got to hide out be wherever that character needs you to be, wherever that characters from.

But I have.

Stated it in songs, even in a song where they have, but Anthony missed it. So he was like, on this project, I want you to really put it out there. I was like, okay, So I did a song about it, and at one point it was a real nice, joyous moment to your point about joy Stack, where I said, man, I fuck around and realized in the middle of writing the verse, shit, ghosts from where I'm from, so as much as ghosts from New York, but ghosts from where

Then ghosts were from where are you from?

So that's an interesting, uh kind of perspective to look back when being asked, you know, how was your upbringing on and I think about it, I'm like, what's the most humbling part of that answer, Stack is the fact that any part of my upbringing is now forever in every single job and role I take on that I get to carry the cater with me in that way. That's kind of a really cool thing, and I guess we all do. If we get a stage in a microphone wherever we're from.

Yeah, you played all three sports.

He was nice and all of them.

Really really nice and not trashing anything nothing.

So you hoop baseball and football.

Yeah, and uh starter all three really good in baseball, which Matt Madden and I played baseball together, really good in baseball.

That nigga was crazy baseball.

I was really good in baseball, Pops thinks that was my best sport obviously.

Stack.

I was a really good football player, running back, running back in the dB corner. You know, high school you go both ways, but as you know, collegees end up recruiting dbs because it's so rare to find good dbs.

Yeah, and then in.

Basketball, I was a really solid player play point guard obviously, and really solid and still get down with it, which is why Chris Matthews with me lethal shooter. I'm gonna get out there with you at Maddick. We ain't never done that. But how you ain't invited me? You one of the great basketball players the NBA. You ain't never invited me to play ball.

You never played in the Luttle game.

And yeah, I played in the lot game weekend. Yeah played and I just played together. We destroyed that. We were crazy Ludas still do his lot weekend.

You still doing okay, he still do it?

Yeah, shout out, I got it, starting to walk of fame.

Yes, sir, he got big. That was a big yeah. Man.

You end up going to Georgia and cross Paths with a lot of talent, from Champ Bailey to Terrell, David Heines, Ward Kirby, Smart with Herby. What was that experience?

Like?

It was interesting while being in it because you didn't know, as you know, Matt, you you didn't know, especially with football, you might know the fate of some of these cats, but you didn't.

Really know, really didn't know.

Yeah, it's different for y'all because you know when you're in a college campus. Matt's at UCLA, guys, he's did you grow well in school?

Were you six six?

Then?

No?

I was already okay, all right.

He was already familiar with the campus too. Before he got there, he had been a thought.

Did you just take a drink? Because of that, now.

I'm confused on what he was saying. I didn't know what the fu he's talking about.

You wasn't getting yeah, CLA campus there.

Yeah, I was like, I've always kind of did my thing but.

He's going to hooping and all that before you went to school, right.

He thought you were saying. There was a moment where I remember, this was a crazy moment.

I remember when Hans Ward who was playing wing back, a little bit quarterback, a.

Little bit to wide receiver.

I remember when Haines was being set because he was so gifted that they couldn't figure out where to play him. And so I think when I referenced basketball and then Stack, you were going through a different journey than Matt.

But you was a baller nonetheless.

From y'all the freaking Monsy Bogues right growing up in the Baltimore area he grew up in. Once you get on a college campus as a basketball player, y'all really do stick with each other. It ain't but like you know, eleven players on the team or whatnot. The football players are so bountiful in number that sometimes you look back and you go, damn, did.

I know that one was going to end up? It was so many cats.

Yeah, and you just racking each other every single day that there's not necessarily standout moments in practice, if that makes sense.

But sometime time during the Saturday games.

You were like, oh, shit when they moved Robert Edwards from dB excuse me, and put him at running back.

The year that Terrell left.

Terrell had transferred in as y'all know, from Long Beach State, they lost their program. He transfers to Georgia and really didn't get enough burn at Georgia. But as y'all also know, John Elway has no rings without Terrell Davis, and then Terrell's in the Hall of Fame.

Terrell was the same way as he is now then to me.

As was Champ, as was Travis Stroud, Robert Edwards, Randall, Godfrey, Kirby, not as much Kirby. In terms of this thing. I'm gonna say they were real big on yo. If the football don't work out for u, O, you got some shit with this poetry stuff, with this art stuff. Because I was minoring in theater and already doing stage plays. There was one player in that group outside of Robert.

Nah?

And right three? I mean yeah, right, cover corner definitely up there, top five, top five cover corner.

So so Dionavs check Dale Green Green Green. I would say no, but Charles a strong safety free corner, Okay, I would give Champ over him at I would. I

For a minute now has been that.

How did being an athlete prepare you to be an actor?

I think, first and foremost the number of people on a on a movie set working with the team. Yeah, because again specific to the sport, the football team has so many people in the locker room, man on the sideline, and I think the first level of preparation, maybe that's the last. Maybe that's the last step of preparation because they got to make it to a movie set, right. But in terms of getting through auditions and all of that, it's just the rejection.

I feel like every single day your coach is rejecting you at some point, is am I wrong?

So I just feel like the audition process just didn't affect me negatively. You and Stack started out this conversation with saying y'all try to bring just positivity to the world of conversation. I hate calling them interviews, this conversation pull up a chair and have a conversation, and y'all having to be.

Really successful at it. But I think a lot of that we learned as athletes.

I know it was me individually, but when you asked that, you're asking all of us.

I think the three of us just really deal well with what is rejection.

Rejections just that day's telling you no, but the next day you're gonna tell me yes. And I'm gonna do everything i'm my power to get you to tell me yes. So I think I don't know how an athlete doesn't carry every day that they wake up. I don't know how they don't carry that athletic thing that they have right every day.

Y' all athletes right, whether the room whom you're meeting with understands it or not.

So forget acting. I think it prepped me for life, bro like being an athlete is. I'm so thankful God gave me athletic gift because what if it wasn't there. I don't know if there's better training than that of an athlete, which is why so many jobs Fortune five hundred companies included go Yes, come hither.

Yes, give you a chance athlete. I was brought up with biracial parents, my mom being Italian, my dad being black, and I remember I remember being young on the Italian side, my family didn't accept my mom, my dad, or even us as children until I was maybe seven or eight. And then then it became a great relation with her side of the family. But early on there was an acceptance with your marriage. You know, we read that your wife's side disowned her for dating outside of her race.

Well, initially, you know it has to bother you because you care so much about you know, this person, So you feel like that's a personal attack attack. You feel like it's a And again there were times that Jay would have to remind me, like this is you know, I gotta get let me, let me experience the heat not only for you, but let me also experience the pain before you jump in front of the train and go I got hit because it's you know, the direct

So much about. And so.

Yeah, that was that was a real interesting reminder that sometimes the apple doesn't necessarily fall, you know, that that close to the tree. And uh and that in whatever year that was, twenty years ago I met her. That damn as much as things have changed so much, as not changed so much. And you always think that kids would would would do it, that braven Nova being Matt Barnes would make grandparents go fuck it, look at these beautiful grandkids.

And her mother eventually did.

But uh, but Pops outroed without without ever having a part of that, and uh, you know he I guess god is who has nationality is? You can't tell? I know, right, She's like a month, You're like, what is Jay?

Jay?

When doing her family history, finally learned that there's a whole bit she's German, but there's all this Turkish which the Turkish is at Yakut, which is the Aboriginals of Turkey, and there Indians from Turkey. So for years people didn't know, you know, a lot of a lot of people didn't really know what Jay was.

When I met her, I couldn't tell.

I don't know. It didn't matter.

But everywhere we go, you know, it's always been a history of going to a country that if we're in Matt's native uh Italy, which is obviously part of matsan ancestral line. If we're in Italy, Stack people go Italian. If we're in Israel, they start speaking.

Arabic to her.

If we're in you know, whatever that particular language is, or a particular country that we're in, they tend to think that she is that.

So I don't you know, I don't know. Somebody said one day she just looked like a character from the Bible. Just one of the things.

My wife is to telling her mama talk about that same ship. Her mom say that her whole family disowned her like for for life because she got her husband. My wife's dad is from DC, a real black man, and she said once she's had a babey him like they like to this day. My wife beople asking like, Mom, I want to meet some of my family. You have any family, and it is I don't know nobody. Yeah, she don't know nobody.

But that's the thing. Stack is such a it's it's an instinct, you know. I know it's an instinct.

When you say real black man, it's like, butta you also know, like Matt's a nigga.

Yeah, no question.

So what I'm saying is no, I know, you know. But what I'm saying is what also makes it hard. And I imagine that you know, it's different for Matt. I've talked to Halle Berry about this, right, bi racial and in that era, bro really different and Matt's era really different than it is for Novan Brave.

But you can't have Omari in the house and not come out.

With some tendency.

You can't. I don't know how to. I can't. It's this nigga. I say nigga, and he still got residue trying to get out of him.

And I say niggas their hardest.

They will try their hardest to uh, you know, to.

Unculture. You can't.

And there's so many people that that have had misnomers or you know, it's a misnomer to think like, oh, if you interracially marry, you just stopped being Like no, you don't stop being who you are who you are.

The person just has to adjust to that.

And you know, we also know that in our bowl of whatever called all black people, there's a motherfuckers in there that you wouldn't necessarily want to rock with.

So all skin folks ain't kim folk. All skin soak aint caim fold.

You know what I mean.

So it's that's a that's a yeah, Maddie, I've always felt I mean, maybe Stephen and I both failed from you.

A lot of people do a lot of a lot of a lot.

Of the pain I see in Steven's eyes, or the pain that are are is the pain.

I should say that.

It's very specific to what I know about stax life, and I know a lot about his journey. I don't know everything, but I know a lot. And I see the chip on your shoulder, and it's a good chip.

It's good. Jason Kidd does the same thing. Same ship. It's just good.

It's like it's it's what it is, same ship.

Is that all that? All that Oakland ship that I'm Atlanta's Oakland?

Right? Yeah?

There at very.

Very similar, bro very similar.

Now you're talking raised language.

Here we go, right oak the boy right there?

It's real.

You know, even if Phoene was she really wanted Tupac and Atlanta. It's it's a real there's a very Boots rally. And I got along really well man, if that makes sense to you. When I did Sorry to Bother you, that Oakland nigga and this the Cat nigga, we was very.

Tight Miss Boots.

Before we get out of here and work with him again, before we get out of your fatherhood?

Everything is that what you guys?

Yeah? Everything? What does it mean? What does it talk to you? But what does it mean?

First?

And form is what It's definitely taught me that they know more than us.

What's the ages nine.

And no Bravest nine and Nova will be twelve, no twenty. First, the irony is.

The level of patience.

Obviously that that we have to have and uh, and it's taught me man to you know, Maddie, when I was doing the freaking power Ship, I'd wake up and like, I get off. Maybe, especially those first two years we were trying to you know, establish the show and.

I get off.

And I love that they really pushed it towards Joseph season two right he was. They were able to develop Tommy Moore in season two of those first that first year, especially oh bro, So if I got off two am. You know, I'd be up and y'all know I'm already naturally rasped me. But then I'd have no voice the next day, and then I'd be holding nov and Brave the Brave wasn't born yet, holding over and Jay would be.

Like, Man, you gotta go to this. I said no. So what it's taught me Mad is.

Like, oh if I don't hold him, I knew the show was gonna be successful.

This show ain't going nowhere.

So the show's gonna take some years from my relationship with her, and if not my relationship in terms of intrinsic bond between she and I, then at least my relationship in terms of time allotted for us to hang.

It's gonna take it, Matt.

So for me, it has definitely taught me that my instincts couldn't have been taught, which is get all the time you can get while getting it.

But now, Bro, I have to be so patient with this, especially with the girl.

Man, you got three boys four, Yeah, you have another son, stack, you got a daughter, right, so you know how it goes.

You know how it goes with the daughters.

Yes, the level of because you got nephews stack the level of maturity MB for the.

Girls, I gotta I got a thirteen year old stepdaughter. She's sitting in the room all day, talking shit to both of us and listening to music and wearing clothes. We comeing out the room like, what the fuck are you wearing? Like it's it's there.

And then their brain, their brain is so developed that and Novah's been fine with the clothing, she's not. But again, you're thirteen. Mine's not even twelve yet there's there's the uh, where's my I want to I'm miss baby. It went fast with Novah, it went brave. Still Brave was on. They took me to UH to dinner to celebrate the Grammy nomination and uh and brave is still not. Yeah nine ballin Ballin' ballin great crazy basketball player, as is Jamal's son Heart my nephew Hart.

They both can ball out, but.

Nova volleyball transition out of baseball not softball. Mattrees baseball player, rock and rolling.

Very gifted.

Young lady played in her first played her first character played Raffiki and Lion King last year.

Really, we've got a lot of gifts.

Thank you for that.

Thank you for that and.

Brave Bill lay goals in five seconds, mad if he can't finish it in ten seconds, Like, they're very very gifted kids, but his to your point, there is still a child there.

I'm like, I got some years.

Well, nova, bro, I'm like, I hope she don't be eighteen tomorrow. So it's taught me patience. It's definitely taught me to really value their their their their feelings because as Maddie, they get to have feelings in ways that we didn't get to have feelings.

And privileges that we couldn't talk and I didn't.

We can't.

We were They would tell you, actually don't speak unless spoken to, and it was we could express ourselves.

We had to fun. I grew up having fun with them.

Feelings my uncles.

And nots were incredible for me and my cousins. But we definitely were not allowed and by the way, we were outside all day. We weren't allowed that, but we could be outside all day all day. Man, the kids can't go down the street to thee.

They can't go.

It sucks what happened. I think the world changed. There's a lot of weirdos, too many weirdos out there.

Social media flush brought that.

Out anywhere else, and then video game trafficking.

They picking up kids and Yankee kids up all kind of shit and they safe.

I missed that. I didn't mean to cut you out, but I just missed because I think about all the life you learned from that, just being outside, from that, as soon as we can get outside until the lights, was outside, drinking hose water, playing in the creek, playing in the woods, going.

Back, fight fight.

You learned everything by being outside and then become close to the dude. You You learned everything how to beat that for somebody. You know, all you learned, all that.

Shit is gone.

It's terrible.

So when you asked that, it's interesting to ask because I could imagine you asking that. If you and Stack had to show twelve years it's a different you know, twenty years ago. For sure, it's a very different reality. And I'm in my mind thinking, wow, I remember moments where at least these kids are athletics, so they're not playing the video games all day.

But I remember moments.

Where I'm sitting and listening to a conversation between adults, even if I'm not involved in the conversation between adults. Kids now get to go what.

Say what interrupting and talking about we're talking. It's different dad, to be parents now right now, to be parents. My dad used to think playing video games will fuck up the color on the TV. Did he think that a nick was crazy?

He thought he.

Would fuck the color up if we put the video game on the TV while he is at work. What he's saying, fucking my color up? Now you used to think to fuck the color. I don't know. I mean, he was off a lot of different drugs. So, but that was the one thing he thought was putting the video game on the TV. Fuck the color up.

They used to tell us because the controls only went so far oh from the court, So they to tell us, did you sit there close to the TV, You're gonna get blind?

Yeah?

Yeah at that point, you know what I'm saying. So they didn't play the game.

I can't see where the ship so that might have been true.

Yeah, but the teeth, but the freaking the phones.

Now, the kid's gonna be You said your daughter played Lion King. She did you play with in the movie or.

The play the Broadway? No?

No, no, playing school?

Okay, okay, so okay, after because my godson is he in it? He played two years he played Simba and Uh Broadway in New York and The Lion King and The Original, The Best, The Original, and then he just got through doing Michael Jackie played Marlon and Michael Jackson Jackson. Now he's in the movie playing Marlon and Michael movie that's been that's getting shot. That your nephew, my godson. Hats off, bro, Yeah, shout out jack He's he's unbelievable kid, brolable.

That's super the hewed.

Is he that's he's fourteen now and he made a song called black boy Joy.

Y'all go check it out.

He's just rocket.

It's just good for the youth to hear.

Spotify could go and get it.

Yeah, black boy Joy. He's super positive, good kid. Shout out to his mom, Shout out to his dad. Snap hunted like they're doing a great Where is he lim Memphis? Listen Memphis? So yeah, from Dayna.

Well Mark, it's been a it's been an in depth, beautiful long overdue too.

Bro. We can do.

We sit here talk all night before we get out of here, and we got some quick hitters for you. So first thing to come to mind. Let us know five dinner guests U plus five did or alive? Who's at your table?

I love this ship. That's a good question. I want.

It's a great question.

This thing I want to Muhammad Ali is back there. I get to hang with him before he passed about two years. Shout out to may Mae Ali and his doorter for hooking that up. And and uh, Malcolm X is there for sure. Uh you know who I've always loved. You're gonna You're gonna trip on this. I've always wanted to just pick his brain. Davante from Joessy Beautiful mind, I just beautiful mind.

Do you hear the crazy? But then you hear how talented and how smart he was?

Yeah, it was a brains man all that.

That's the that's the first first time.

Yeah, yeah, special And and the and the brother. I check on him a lot, y'all know the brother. Now he's playing college ball with the one arm.

We coached. I coached him in the opposite.

So I've been talking to him.

But I would love for a manual to not only be at that table, but to be able to because because his tears would start when when when I put him on the spot by telling him how many of those greats at the table admire that he can do something that none.

Of us can do. Most won't even have, most don't have the confidence to do with two arms. Crazy, right, Think about that.

You got people that two arms that don't believe in the basketball skills he has.

One and confidences through the roof. I love it. I love it. Bro and a good kid.

I love talking to him.

And and then I would say, I got Lastie, last Sie making a special seat.

I never got to.

I met Prince a lot so but I never got to.

I never.

It's so tough, Matt, because who I want to say, because I never got to meet this gentleman, and that being Michael Jackson. But but I want to say Quincy. I want to say Quincy. I never I met Quincy. Very quicken and passing. But I'm so musical. There's got to be somebody that's a musical giant there that can go back and forth between Davante and I think that's that's interesting like that.

It's a nice table. It's interesting conversations. Some ship, right, yeah, some real ship.

What was your mount was Davis to Broda would be Miles would be killing.

Your mount Mount Rushmore. Of actors.

Only get four slots or.

For this, nigga said five.

I'm okay.

He was trying to have been a new mountain. Okay, I ain't know.

Dead over there tripping.

Mount Rushmore. That's amazing. The one who made me want to become an actor. I saw him in a stack, still laughing at you. Nigga, usually come sit with me.

Come I have that in there comes sit.

I feel they told me before you came in. You know what your name precedes. But God bless you though, oh the fact that you're here. God bless you Mount Rushmore.

So the actor Stack who maybe one act I saw Raging Bull and I was blown so Robert Dinner on first almost.

I was blown away.

Denzel Uh, Meryl Street. God, I got one slot left. My honorable mentions would absolutely be Marlon Brandon and Steve McQueen. But and I really love Angela Bassett. But but I'm going to say rest in peace. Having just passed the range of James Earl Jones was crazy. I think about from Darth Vader two to to to Bingo Long traveling.

To Conan too, to think it's coming to.

To even Sandlot, guys Sandlot like like James Earl. Jones's range was just some Claudine right, but he played in Claudaine and long jefviy. I just think James was as special as they come, great White Hope, right, James O. Jones, So that that would be Those four were pretty magnificent.

One album on repeat, damn it, only one? Only one, y'all truly all all to smoke. This is unbelievable. One album.

I want to do two and you can do? You mar you do you want give me two?

I'm gonna give you two.

Ship on repeat, on repeat, I'm gonna I'm gonna say Michael Jackson's off the Wall, Jones. I'm gonna say Michael Jackson off the Wall, and then I'm gonna sit.

I just love this dude's voice. It's so amazing. What's the album? What's the album? Guys?

Chris Stapleton's album, and it might be where I'm at these days?

What's this album called? Know? The New One, the brand New One? Higher?

Chris Stapleton's Higher, because what I wanted to give you, Matt was where I'm presently at. So Chris Stapleton is on repeat and we in textas, so fuck it. Chris Stapleton's album is on heavy repeat. That albums called Higher, and I think I've always kind of gone back to Michael Jackson's Off the Wall and it just never gets old.

I freaking love that damn Mary J. Blige album.

No, My Life, My Life, that's you got to start there.

That joint was k C shout out to marriage Pleasure riding that damn motorcycle stand riding that bike. I love that, Matt, that gave that sound right away. At this point, Jay and the kids have relegated me to riding in the neghborhood and you're.

Part of the club.

No, I was at one point.

Yeah, it was definitely me and Uh, Malcolm, Jamal Warner and uh and f Gary Gray will ride with us as well, Malcolm F Gary Grade. When I was in Cali, Matt and I was really riding Angela's crest.

I was really too tempary.

I was going at it too dangerous.

It's too crazy.

Because you know when I started stacking, wasn't there's no cell phones when I started riding the motorcycle. Now it's crazy. It's not the cyclist, right, The motorcyclists are usually pretty.

People on the phones on their cars.

But it is a guilty pleasure.

Bro.

It is in sweets. I still really I always like my cookies, and.

Yeah, I like my get away from that. You the same?

What that caka pie for you? I'm a I'm a cookie.

I make cookies. I baked cook You never give me no cookies fire none. You lean in to say that what you mean.

He talking about that? You peels bury out the the.

Thing the butter that was look was that he was pissing and came off the bro.

I got him oat mill pecan. Though I know what I do.

I'm only old.

I'm no other cooks. I'm an oatmeal guy, oat mill pecan, no rais. I don't do raised he the pecan.

Would you hooked me up? Bro?

I got you, Bro, I was I was holding. Somebody asked because my MoMA gonna.

Make some ship wrong stack for real.

I just made a gumbo a couple of days ago. I'm like that in the kitchen.

You are like that.

I'm Judy's son, Judy.

Judy's birthday this weekend, not even jud Judy Judy at happy birthday coming up on my birthday.

The Texas birthday is on the twenty of this month.

Birthday that's the day before nov the day before my daughter. Yeah, hay birthday all you birthday, Judy?

Is your is your Monday?

Is that still scorpio that the cunning in. Yeah, my twin the twins are the six they just turned sixteen.

That was about to say, they really, I don't like it.

I don't like it.

That's all today about six two sixty three girl friends condoms like they just turned sixteen.

Which one of the most like pop.

They both have different sizes of me. One's the loving side of me and one's the crazy side of me. But they both got sense.

But they're very close.

They feel they've been there before Broy one hundred years age.

I met him when they was little.

The tough kids.

Yeah, I had to make them tough to me because, like we were talking about, like they don't get the bumps and bruises. So I used to let them fuck each other up. But as soon as one would hurt the other one that they was like if one cry, the other would cry, stop and help.

It was.

It was such a crazy bomb. But like I said, they didn't get that outdoor experience. So I had to toughen them up behind the gates.

Yeah, I mean you go over there, what's up? You up step what? This has been going on for a while now, you know what I'm saying.

So that, but that's why they're so ahead of the game because he's been raising them like men for so long.

So yeah, I try to not talk to Braven over like kids ever.

I mean, you know, like not the baby talk.

Yeah, childhood crush will take you back. Oh yeah, you got a childhood crush.

Easy for me. And I ended up working with him. I bet y'all. Ain't never had nobody on that can say they ended up working with him.

Ain't nobody I had a child crush with. It turned out to be shipped ship damn sore. Ain't saying nothing.

The motherfuckers my childhood crush.

I had to The first one was was burning that standards Thelma from Good Time, and then uh, and then of course when when Janet was Charlotte ironically planning a character where I wasn't trying to get in get nothing from her because the character was gay, but you know, and Tyler Perrys for Color.

That's what it was. I was trying to think, where.

You know if you need, you can cast me. Baby.

You've been my crush. It ain't been no secret a crazy time. Then I see it for the first time. I'm with my wife. We're wearing a whole nother curntry. Uh Croatia she walked. I'm like, how you just come to Croatia.

I ain't seen nothing. This is my question. Wait wait who Regina Hall?

Oh yeah Regina, And she just walks in we're creating my time and say you bet not turn around.

I'm like, I'm just seeing it. I just want to see if Matt was talking to her, because I know Matt Nor.

And Matt was he did she didn't go speak to mass so I got off Regina. She walked, I lost my jaw dropped.

Hers and yeah, she gonna walk right back like that in Croatia all plays.

Yeah man, yeah.

The hall past to speak.

We gonna do a movie called a movie called Also, We're gonna do a movie.

I think Jane Kennedy also really like. I like Jane Kennedy Young. I like that Apolonia, right.

Vanity, Apolonia?

What's that?

Wasn't nothing? That's our girl from last Dragon?

Yes, huh many clown crazy.

Beautiful and a baloney. Both of them was tough.

It was crazy.

Yeah, Chris had oh man, didn't he remember lamar Odom told a story about Prince one time that he did he went to the house and he did some kind of performance and and La Mar said he almost his wrist almost went limp just looking at Prince. I said, oh, ship, that's too much information.

But here you way too man.

Yeah, yeah, it wasn't in those words. But go ahead, yeah, finish it off. Yeah, I feel you threw me off question PM right, Yeah, finish them off.

If you could see.

One guest on our show, because we know you're a big support of our show, who would it be?

But you have to help us get your answer on the show.

Done deal, killed deal.

I love this ship, no say, because only y'all could really funk with him.

Donald Trump second persons said that I think we should bro.

We might. I might need because I got a lot of ship going on. I might need some cases. I got Mama's on the line like that. I might need, bro. Man, I ain't y'all.

It would be very interest conversation.

Yeah, it would be finally a very he wouldn't be able to really duck and dodge.

He wouldn't be able to do that. And that's the come with it I got.

You know, I love having said that recently, Skip Bayless, Donald Trump, I gotta have a conversation, have y'all, have y'all had President Obama. He's on the way, he's coming here.

He's y'all have fun with him. Well, oh, man, basketball Cat.

We appreciate you, man, not just for your time today, but just what you've done for the world. It's been a blessing, man, and we're happy to hear that you're in a good space and your family's good and you're going to continue for another twenty years at least. At least bro, blessing us with your presence. Man, So appreciate your time.

Excited to see Yeah, thank you guys.

In that ghost form somewhere else, Yeah, somewhere said I'm gonna be the hit man in the back, chilling with my suit on.

Yes, fucking balls up.

Yeah yeah, Gilly, Gilly might be competing with you trying to be there.

That's my boy. We can do it together and no competition for all of us, Bro, Just keep it peat.

We got some T shirts, but we definitely want to give you our first hard copy. Yeah, first hard cop was not in this joint. We appreciate you, man, Thank you.

Second man, of course, yeah, this is what me.

Second, the second you'll be in the second book. Second, Bro, Hopefully we cook another one up y'all.

Bro, y'all cook. And speaking of cooking, I'm proud of you'all.

Mari Hardwick. Man, you can catch this and all the I love you too, bro, this moment, all the Smoke Productions YouTube and the Draft Cleans network. Man, We'll see y'all next week.

M hm.

Mm hmmm

Mm hmmmm