RZA | Ep. 143 | ALL THE SMOKE Full Episode | SHOWTIME Basketball

season three? You anticipating the drop? Thank you, thank you? Episode five were production and that right now. Um, it's uh, it's to be crazy this season, you know what I mean. We're gonna really go into the successful. You know, we've seen the struggle, you've seen all the paperwork getting engaged, you know what I mean. Now we're gonna see how that unfold. What happens when you sign a five year contract. You gotta keep up to your joint, you know what

I mean. We're seeing the relationships men too. Yeah, you know what I'm saying. We'd be at that point now everybody getting along. Yeah, we actually, uh, you know a lot of people don't know that when Wu Tang do albums, we would come together and live in the same location. So we started out here. We did it in the l a um. At one point, we're just all living in oakwad apartments, you know what I mean. We turned

the Oakwood into a project, what I mean. But but when we do that, it just keeps that energy close. So this season you'll see that. I think. I think it's a it's kind of like a basketball camp when you think about it in reality that everybody got to be together and go to go to the studio and come back. Yeah, so we're gonna show that this season.

So what is it like? I mean, you're you know, you're producing, you cre aid, you written for But what is it like going down memorily Lane back to the start? Because we've been talking about a lot so often we don't appreciate what we've been through, the ups, the downs, the celebrations, to struggle. So now going back and kind of giving the world another look at you know, we all saw the outside. Now we're seeing the inside. But

what has it been like for you personally reliving that? Wow, it's so good one Yeah, it's I mean, it's both it's beautiful and it's ugly. The beautiful things, you know, you kind of feel accolated, like, wow, I did that, We did that. But the ugliness is like, yo, we we definitely came from, uh, you know, a struggle, a lot of you know, violence, a lot of loss on the way, you know, so some of those things definitely, um,

you know, hit you in the heart. But the beauty is if you live through a story or live through a part of life, and you're blessed to share that with somebody else. Hopefully somebody else would be inspired and they'll see that and they could jump over that land mine because you're like, yo, it's a land mine, right, um, real quick, before we change directions, can we do you have a date for the drop of season three year? I think we're gonna I think it's I think it's

gonna be more like January. Let y'all wait a little bit on that, ye waiting on anything else you have going on television side? I mean, you know, I mean, I just stayed creative, you know what I mean. You might catch me on the movie Manya's coming out. That's kind of funny because my son's you know, when Manias first came out my son was young, you know what I mean. I mean I think it started with Despicable

Me first. Then Yeah, so it's crazy that this. Yeah, you know, I'm one of the voices up in the joint, you know what I mean, talking and whatever. But that's the blessing of our art. We just contendue to keep building and um, you'll find yourself in unique places. Yeah, how you like doing voiceovers? I mean voiceovers is like that's come on from the studio, that's like spitting dots. Yeah, I mean so voiceovers is like easy, easy work for me, you know, like I do it for free, you know.

But yeah, I mean, you've been blessed to just stay busy since like we see on the show, since the beginning. But even though you weren't always out and about and always for Ford facing, you've always been consistently whether it

be creating, producing, acting voiceovers. Um, do you ever just think about just man like, like I said, understanding and kind of giving yourself Like damn, I did a lot of great ship during this time because you have, and it's something you know, we all look up to you and just love to see you similar to Snoop to be just be able to stay in the game so long, to be relevant and continue to press you know, uh, give, give positivity and show people you know there there's a

light at the end of the tunnel. Yeah. I mean when you kind of recognizing yourself that you are unique, you know, you each any posie, you know what I mean, And then you realized as an artist or as a talent that you could take that talent and that mastery and apply it to other things. You know, you you

it's your duty to do that, you know. I remember when I first started, when I wanted to be a composer, I was like, ye, there's no there's not a lot of black composers first of all, but it's definitely ain't no hip hop composers. And I got a yacht, a lot of kids that's buying drummers scenes and trying to figure out how they're gonna eat, and they can't all

fit into the bucket we got already. So so I started to leave footprints, like, yo, you could go left and find some oil, you could go right and find some oil. You don't have to keep digging in the same spot. So I felt like that's that was one of my callings in life was always continue to show inspiration and the show that we got the power to break stereotype. You know what I mean. It's like, Yo, you can't do that, you know, because you're from the hood.

You can't do that because you don't got a master's degree. You can't do that because you're black, or you can't do that because you hip hop. It's like, na, son, I'm gonna crush all of those stereotypes and I'm going best on the talent that I've acquired. To believe it is it? Is it true that you're working on the biopick d b Well, the bio pickure. I've been working on that for a minute. Um having some ping pongs on that because you got other people that's in his

life as well trying to do the same thing. So you know what I mean, it's like me the best man win that we got a chance to see it from watching the show. But Ris represents Bobby Digital. How did they talk about that and and experience behind that? Well dropped as a character. Bobby Digital was one of

my all the autistic expressions. I gotta um, I got a graphic novel coming out which I'm proud of you know, um whereas you know, we took and kind of mixed Japanese anime with hip hop culture u Z comics and I put a soundtrack to it. You know, music is my second nature. That that would be out like June and uh, something very unique. And that's something that put on yourself, y'all put that on yourself. Brownsville, New York

in the seventies eighties. What was that like, Come on in Brownsville, hold on Riddick Bowl all right, Mark Greenland, I mean fighters, Yeah, you gotta fight. That's that was on the reality is the toughest streets I would walk in my life, you know what I mean. And and to get out of that, it's a blessing, you know what I mean. We're talking about projects after projects after projects.

One block away Tilden, Langston Hughes, Marcus Garvey, Van Dyke, I mean Stone the Avenue back before with mother Gas and it's like you could just be cool in this building and gets done in that building right next door. But it was m le say, let me say one thing about it, if I could elaborate a little bit. The crazy thing I learned years later, right that before was a black populated project. The Jews all populated there. And I learned that from my buddy Eli Roth because

his father's like, oh, from Brownsville. I was like, from Brownsville. He said, yeah, but they got out right and they moved on to the suburbs and bought homes. One of the issues is the system. When Blacks got in, the system kept us there. And then also we became complacent as if this is the place to be. Projects is for you to start. It's low income, you don't got enough money, We pitch you here, but you gotta build

up out of that, you know what I mean. It starts getting sad when it's like, Yo, your grandmother's there because she's been there since her mother was there, you know what I mean. And and I think, you know, there's a book called The Color of Law that I've read that I think it's very important to read. Whereas the system has kept us there systematically, but then it's also the psychological complacency that we've that we've yeah, we got comfortable with and uh yeah, but I'm from Brownsville.

Never man, never will y'all. It was introduced to music and nine, what was what was going on in your life at that time. I means hip hop is my first musical love, you know what I mean? Then it's just my older cousin took me to a block party, right uh, New York. You know Bronx, you know what I mean. Yeah, Bronx, the you know, the birthplace of hip hop. And I heard it. I heard dip deep dives so socialized. Clean out your ears and you open

your eyes, you know what I did. Cleaned out my ears opened and I left that and I never forget him and him and hip hop and falling in love with it and knowing that that was my calling. Who did you adolize at that time? Man, Cold Crush Brothers. Uh. We had Dr Rock in the Foursome Sees from from stat Island. We had Um Grandmaster Flash and Mellie mel Nephurious five. It's like it wasn't the records, it was tapes, you know what I mean. Like you couldn't go to

the store, like let me get that record. It's just like you had to go have a dub tape of of of it, Fantastic five or the Fantastic Freeze, Um Poison Clan Feelless four. Anyway, Yeah, those were those were some of the pioneers and saying busy be all of them had all those tapes. Seven is was your favorite decade of music? I mean, seventies is definitely my you know, my youth growing up and and and music being kind

of new and expressive. Like you gotta think about in the seventies we went from the singles of three minute songs or two minute songs to seven minute songs. You know what I mean. You know, look at Pink Floyd giving you all albums that was more thematic, or The Doors, or or Marvin Kaye giving you What's going On where it's a whole thematic to the album. So the seventies opened up a whole world. But hip hip hop and music to me, I'm still in love with it no

matter what. How did the time spending that you're spinning on hire with your mother shape you look, Ohio, North Carolina, all these different places of our country or got their own speed, and then each got something to offer to culture. I was blessed, you know, to travel like the CDs play races. Most people in my hood they're stuck in

a four block radius. Um so just going down south and seeing corn fields and tobacco fields and I used to pick tobacco yo, you know what I mean, since that's doing that, or going out to Ohio and seeing that still mid culture in the Midwest, coach, all these things help help help spark me. You know, like they didn't have Triangle pizza, yo, you know what I mean, they had the Square, they had the square slices at

the Carlos or whatever. When obviously hip hop is your first love, when did you feel like, Okay, this is I want to make this my career. I mean, even if it wasn't, my career is what I do every day. It's like, you know, I definitely had a you know, when I heard a sugar Hill Gang on the radio, I knew that I could be on the radio. I

knew it, you know what I mean. And when I you know, eventually start hearing you know, the Pineer Grace before me, Rock Kim Cares One Daddy Chain and the content of their lyrics versions with my pin was doing and what my music was doing with Molly Marl Lost, Professor h Prince Paul, all the all this different energy was was was was just spark and be like, yo, I know I could do this too. I'm living it,

you know what I mean. And then even when when you think about when um you know, of course one DMC, but then when DRE and n w A and bought it from that side, you know what I mean, it was like, Yo, this is the country, this is this is real. It ain't like that's New York. And so you know, I not only knew I was to do it as an artist, I realized I could do it as a businessman. That's the last thing. I mean. Obviously, watching the series like you, you were always the business

side of it. I mean, obviously before we hit you had your solos, a little bit solo stuff, had some smaller groups. But what in you kept you driving to bring everyone together, because we saw you had a hell of a time getting so many different personalities and egos and beasts under one building to create what you turned into history. You know. Also, I was blessed to, like um, you know, to be conscious of the Holy Koran, the

Holy Bible and stories that men lived before me. You know, one of the one of the best stories is Noah. He's like Yo, in order for us is survived, we gotta or git on the arc, you know what I mean? And far as my crew Wull Brothers. You know, we was definitely at the point where street drugs, crime and poverty was was taken Brothers away, you know. Yeah, so it was like, yo, we gotta use with naturally and us.

You know, we said on the song Cream every week we made forty g s. You're taking forty z s to vide that between a dozen people ain't really that much, you know what I mean. Now you put wu tang on the show, right on a on a concert, you're gonna get you can get up to a half of them in one night. So as it says in the Bible, for every positive thing you do, I can multiply you by ten. And so understanding that multiplication, understanding that that

my vision was clear to me. You know, that's when they say that to it to all your or your or your viewers. It's always gonna be somebody in your family or amongst you that have got a clear vision. I mean, whether or even even the culture of your team, you know, I mean the conductor of the orchestra. Somebody got to have a clear vision, and everybody gotta be a witnessed and fall into that vision in order ford to manifest and I was fortunate to have nine brothers

who are Alpha. No chumps in woo alpha any one of them, it's dangerous as the other one, you know what I mean. But at the end of the day, having noledge itself and saying that there's a common denominator and that Yo the Abbot, he's always been pure, he's always can't do on his word. And they've been witness to the vision, even though they couldn't see it clear, they believe, they believe um assembling all nine. Was there anyone early who to release stood out to you? Or

they kind of took that first jump? You don't you know? It was a special remember I mean all special. But the first brother to sign on that doted line, his method, man, man, his loyalty is unquestionable. You shout out to Meth, shout out Davis for killing it, Davis slaying killing it. He

killed it. I mean, if you were the same Dave yesterday on the on the footage we shot, uh, he had the whole motors like I don't know if you've seen that video triumph with Meth on the motor so Dave, Dave is on the motorcycle with the Stipe and the helmet, and I'm telling you, even for me, I was like, damn yeah. Look him and his manager, they was like yo. I was like, he's like, he's embodying the spirit of it, y'all. How important I mean, since we're kind of over there,

how important for it was you? Because obviously this is a personal project to find people that really fit who your group was. I did a great job at that and not easy, yo, you know, but we you know, we called through a lot of talent. Um. You know, some talent was already on their way to success, like SHAMG. Moore. You know, I met think one of the best young actors in the game. He's going to continue to grow. That's what we went to dinner with, right, Yeah, yeah,

young man. Um the brother that's playing was a discovery out of Staton Allen and his career is taken off of that, and he definitely had that spirit. Um the brother playing Ghost, you know, he's a trained actors killing and he's he's so trained that it though. Yeah. And then the dude playing my brother Divine once again Juilliard. He's from Yale, you know, he's like a Yale graduate or something like that. Right, and we found them on Broadway. Um,

but and Aston standards playing me. A lot of people was, you know, like why she was asking it? And I say, Aston, he has these odds of an artist that, no matter what, he's dedicated to being an artist. And I think when I when I interviewed him and I heard his story, he was like, Yo, why people was he's from He's from l He's not from New York. Why people was

running around doing whatever they was doing. He's the dude that was up in the art school, up in the art classes and looking for something else to express itself versus getting caught up and what the what the neighborhood was offering him. And I just saw his eyes. I was like, y'all, you might not have been locked up shots bust statue, you know what I mean? But those odds of the odds that I had, you know what

I mean? Knowing that, Yo, my art is period is gonna be my savior beyond everything else I was trying. And he's doing a great job as well. Love that. Okay, I kind of figured this out from the movie, But for people that don't know, how did you come up with the name Wu tang Oh? Wow, how we do that? That's yeah, that's let me if you don't know that. But but yo, we watched a lot of kung fu movies, you know what I mean. There was a movie called

Shouting Versus Buchang. Wuchang represents the sward technique, and uh, we said, our tongue is our sword, you know what I mean, and with that you're going to chop heads off. So it was like Wu Tang Clan. First of wass Woutank Production. If it was like like Woutank Production, that's gonna be named my company, you know, I mean, then Wou Tang Records the name in my label, and then now we're gonna be the Wu Tang Clan, I mean,

then Wu Tang Management. So we just kept going. But it was something about the spirituality of what that represented it and something about the strength of what it represented in Asian culture. I felt that I could, um, I could um you know, translate that into Western culture and you and you did first single protecting neck crazy says it all to experience the experience making that, I mean, yo, we um you know, once again, was never a symphony with that many mcs all in one group and all

giving you bars. It wasn't like somebody you didn't give you bars, you know what I mean. And protect your neck was was our scrub. I'll scream out or cry out to the industry like, yo, protect your neck because we're coming for your head, you know what I mean.

And at one point, you know what I mean, you couldn't even be in the club without turning it down because it was definitely a lot of the starts to own Aggressive Minutes thirty six Chambers with the debut album ringing number one of the charts, one of the greatest albums of hip hop all time. Going back and look at that album, Did you know it's gonna be this big? You know, it's a hindsight, but foresight is too, you

know what I mean? And I foresaw it being great, Yo, and I and I. You know, people I don't like to sound like as a grown man, as a father or that try not to be egotistical by nothing I say or do, But at that point in life, I was super egotistical. When I knew that the ru was coming through and was going to break down and change the game, and I had no I didn't have an inch of doubt. And whoever doubted it. I was like,

he's stupid, you don't see it. I told the exact could have just that to their face, because then it was like nah, after the first album and everybody having success in the first album, guys started to get solo deals going through that time, Like what were you thinking? Like, I know, I know you was all four because you want everybody to to to to do their own things and stand on your own, but you also want everybody

to stay as a family while doing that. But what was the toughest part of during that time where you're trying to keep everybody together but the solo deals are coming around. I mean, the toughest thing you're gonna faces before before it's money, because money sometime it's don't become a problem when you grew from the same cup, from the same cloth. But what happened is as you grow you also attracting other people. I think the biggest thing is other people coming around the crew and having their

advice or their words put into you. You know, a lot of times, a lot of influences in life come from outside and eventually, you know, I always give a story of my man who was who grew up with me. One of my best buddies, still want my best buddies. But he, uh, you know, we grew up. We said we need together and all that, right. But he joined the New York City Police Department, you know what I mean. And as years went on, he became more of a cop. I had to and that's when he's sup posted. He's

spending and I was worried about our relationship. And I remember talking to my lawyer. I said, yeah, my buddy, seems like I wanted to my house. I shold him my gun and he was looking at it like like it was a collar, you know what I mean. And I said, you know, like why is that? He's like, no, he said, he's spending more time every day with police office.

That's where his mind becomes. So when you look at our crew, as we growing and we become successful and we're spending the time apart, and all the people were taking that space, they started whispering, you know what I mean. Proverbs say something about the beware we are the whispering man, Like you know what I mean. Because they whispered things into it years and I became a problem. Ye know, it's still a problem. You know. I think people used

that problem in their lives. People facing the social media and you look going there and you start reading comments, you start taking a comment literal. They start affecting what you're gonna do next. Because when somebody said yesterday, you know what I mean. So I think that was one of the biggest issues. The agent culture had a huge

influence along with the martial arts. Um with you, when did you decide that you could, like you said you said earlier, you feel like you can merge that into the Western culture, Like if when did you kind of feel like, Okay, I really feel like I could take this and flip this into our vision. Man, we all grew up watching Saturday Afternoon Kung Fuut Theater, you know.

I mean, I remember being a kid and when Kung Fut movies came on, the whole neighborhood was empty for like two hours because everybody went up to watch the Kung fu flick came back out throwing punches and kicks. That's why me and d scratched to the album called Saturday Afternoon Kung Fuu Theater because it happened in his neighborhood too. It happened in uh Kendrick Lamar was like Yo, That's how it was with his pops and things like

God from Kenny right. So, Um, knowing that that's part of our culture, you know, I just knew that it was gonna resonate, Yo. You know the goodness of anything always were. You know, our show is called Wuchang and American Saga. You know what I mean, because in America you're gonna get all these chambers. You're gonna look right now, we we we lowered East New York City everybody, but you go a few blocks that way trying to towns

right there, baby, you know what I mean? And trust me, some of that is spilling over, trying to the starting to come. This spill right over. The twenty five year anniversary of your second album, You Tank Forever is going to be celebrated soon. Um, what do you remember most about that album? That was one of Wuchang Forever was an important album for us, our biggest selling album. It was done doing tough times though. You know, we lost a couple of hip hop icons. We had lost Park

in ninety six. We lost Biggie the same year while we was making that album. We you know, seeing him like moments, not moments, but days before this happened and all that, and it's like, uh, I think we was like, it's important for us to make sure what we do remains forever. It's important for us to put our capture our spirits at this youthful age and and and and leave it on this vinyl and this wax. And it was important for us. And I think we lived it out.

You know, seven, it's a year. In mathematics, it means born God, right, because nine is born, seven is God. And if you add nine and seven together, it's gonna come to sixtheam or still give you a seven. And so it's like you gotta let God be born through you, you know what I mean. We were talking like that. We gotta let God be born through us. You know what I mean. Let's let's let's go listen. It's don't let nothing take us here. Don't worry about if they

like it, they don't like it. We gotta let it be Gon be known. And that's why you hear so many songs and you hear you know all the skins, what you're doing. I'm setting my lessons, call me back mathematics. God, Yeah, like you hear you hear that. You hear the lyrics, you hear us you know, the five elopments to search

for a higher intelligence. You know, you hear all that stuff because it's like yo, and you know, at that age and at that level of life, we had to capture that and recorded not for ourselves, you know what I mean, for the youth coming up so they could have something, y'all. And so it was an important album when I'm I'm happy that it was accepted and it was the first time, to be honest with you, that Utang left the hood because when that album came out,

it was the entire country responded to it. In fact, the entire world was the number one in multiple countries. And at one point we was like, yo, a lot of white boys here, so yeah, but started feeling like what's going on? But then we embraced it, like, nah, this is they love us. Yeah, And the truth is has no gender nor color. Fire plus five is that's

not the mattice. It works for everybody. So is that kind of when you felt like that was kind of leading to my next questions that when you guys kind of feel like like your name is ringing around the world, you feel like that was kind of your your real footstep and you know, into the music space as far as like we're here now for real. Yeah, that was the completion, you know what I mean. I promised, brothers, give me five years and we're gonna be number one.

I said. I ain't saying number two, said number one. I said number one, And you know what it was, number one? You made it. How has your families You just touched on a little bit, but how is your fan base changed from when you first started to obviously the longevity you guys have had, have you seen a

kind of different waves? And yeah, you know. The cool thing is that, especially based on today's outlet of music and internet and digital and on our social media, is it's like I go to a Wooltan concert and I see three generations there, you know what I mean. I see the pops, the sun and the and the and the and the grandsun, you know what I mean. And

that's a blessing. And especially I say it's a blessing not because of the economic and the longevity stability of it, but it's a blessing because I know that within that product is something good there, something healthy there, Like that kid, that kid gonna He's gonna be all right because if he memorized some of this that we had a song where he was like, uh, casting stone was cracking the two hundred and six bones and watch it like it's two hundred and six bones in your body. You can

take that data, you know what I mean. My brother said, ninety three million miles away from came want to represent the nation. Yeah, the sun is ninety three million miles away from the sun. It's like it's facts and jewels and and and and and and and ready to give up. But I seek my old earth. Seek your mother sometime who explain working hard to help you maintain this. It's jews in there, and it ain't just like pop that bottle,

you know what I mean. Twerky twirk, you know, you get some of that, but it's real life stuff in there. And I love that a young man could get that in his life. You know, some some young people be depressed in their cribs, nobody to relate to, and then they hear weight they all in their comics and they feel like they're they're a widow and go wait method man v comics, you know what I mean. They're playing chests, feeling like a square. Wait, the justn't plays chess. Wait,

old eb, You know what I mean, he's crazy. Look at look what he look at Look all the things he was into, you know what I mean. So that helps, and so that's how I feel about it. You got a chance to work with Big Fellawur, Big Brother, Shock and ninety four helped produce a few tracks on Shock Fool. What was that like? Come on, Shock, come on Shock? And super superhero Man. He's a he's always been a superhero. He yeah, he's always been a super hell yeah, yeah, man.

He picked me up in that video. Right, But I wasn't getting a chance to work. It was it was it was in a different space. Now, I was incredible, y'all. We had a good time. We be many friends from from that moment, you know what I mean. Uh, until we see each other, we just smile, you know, and look he took a serious you know what I mean. That's let's talk about that for a quick second, you

know what I mean. And it's want to compliment you too, you know what I mean, Because you mastered your craft, so as a master of your craft, you're able to join other things in master and get into it you're not you know, you know, you guys ain't on TV shooting at oh you know what I mean, you're on TV host and talking to loomen of hes building your mind,

giving adding on the culture because you are coaching. And so Shock was that early he was able to come to the studio, get his pen and he wrote his own people like Shocked in right there. No, Shock wrote with that. You know what I mean, he cord he has some lines in there. I was like, yo, you had a couple of lines in there, y'all, you know what I mean. So so that's that's that's you know, it was. It was a beautiful thing to see that.

And like I said, um, I think sometimes we don't just speaking on the outside and we as as different fields of artist me don't recognize the common denominator between other luminaries. And with Shock, he was one of the first ones to let me realize that. On the court, he's a big, strong dude, but we in reality is a fun loving, yeah, big kid, yeah man. And you don't think that never breaking backboards and sucking people up,

you ever know? Yeah? Yeah, So it was a blessing to see that and a blessing to see right now. He's I mean, he's like a comedian. It could have been a comedian. It's funny, it's shocking commercial every single endorsement. Shock is just someone who's gotta protect Shock at all costs and a big com You guys first started traveling

the world, um as a group. What was that experience like for you guys to kind of get outside of New York for the first time and really start seeing the world do what you love doing, which is music. That was crazy. You're traveling in the world. First of all, I'll traveling in the world. When I chose not to eat meat. That was a bad decision. I had a lot of cheese sounds, but it was a bad decision, yo.

But um, you know it's cultural cultural differences. But the young people always got you know, find a way, right. So you're gonna have fun, You're gonna get you're gonna have good times. But the cultural differences I think, um, in the beginning was was was was WORRIOUSO, Like we wanted we couldn't wait to get home, you know what I mean, I can't wait to get home. But as time went on, maybe like let's say, by the time you get to the year two thousand and two thousand one,

and and there's a shift in culture happening. You go back and there's a veggie Burger and McDonald's now, you know what I mean, and the people who have got more hip hop into their system. It started to become a big joy, you know. Um, So in the beginning, it was tough. Germany was tough. Um Sweden was tough. Switzerland was tough. Norway and Copehagen, all those places was tough, you know what I mean. But now it's like a joy. I love. I love Cope cope Haagen a nice city. Yeah.

Some time then you got a chance to work with Kanye on Dark Twisted Fantasies. Uh. Thoughts on him as an artist and the producer and just kind of what he's given to this space as well. I mean Kanye, you know, as a man who definitely moved our culture. Um took hip hop culture from one degree and multiplied

it into you know, fashion art. Pure artist in all reality, So him being a pure artist, he plays in and dipping fields, but he still plays at the highest level of art and so he's he's successful in those fields and he brings awareness to feels that we wasn't paying attention to Um. You know, I spent some time and I'll consider the consider him a brother man and and very very um what's the word very? Uh? I mean I'm gonna use them. I'm as big brother, so I

can say very proud of what do you doing? What do he becomes? You know what I mean? You know, let me say something that the abbot was. It would say, you know, a law works and they say, they say, a law works in mysterious ways, right the master planner. And it's mysterious because you just can't figure out the equation. But check out this equation. Fifty cent gets a floor and his jaw from a shot, and Kanye gets the floor and his jaw. But that floor gives them the

ability to change the world. You see what I'm saying. So that's from my floor. Hip hop was a DJ. The story is he held the record when his mother came in the room and what what what what what? And yo, wait a minute, I mean the break beasts we sampled talked to some of the producers who made this. It's like, oh, that was the break because somebody in the somebody in the band took a break like it's he got tired and therefore you heard that it's like the floor and that's the mercy of it, you know

what I mean. So I just wanted to say that when I when I see you and I see what he's he's achieved, and I see that it took off after a very life threatening situation, you know what I mean, I could go back to myself. For me, it was jail. He's like, yo, they wanted to pick me in there. That was that was gonna be my life. And I was saying, Nah, that's not gonna be my life. And I turned but I had to turn a different direction.

So proud of what he's doing, proud of what he's stands for in all reality, you know I mean, And the controversy we sometimes get with him, it's only fuel I think for for a mine like that, it's feeling for you to be great. Yeah, you produced a New Day and watched the Throne one of my favorite albums. Uh got a chance to collab with J. What was that experience like for you? Ja? What was it say about Ja like that? J? We was kids when we met, you know what I mean that? Yeah, it's just like

you know, um, I told Jay this here. I said, you kind of inspired me one day. Um, he had did a remix. This is like ninety one, maybe, like I'm still a prince roking and not, you know, still hustling, not knowing, you know, hustling so kind of in the middle of going serious or whatever. And he's he did a remix with Glenn Jones or something like that, right, And wevana to him and he was like, yo, yeah, yeah,

like that remixing. Yeah yo. So it wasn't hip hop, but it was they you know, and they paid him Tim Rocks for it. I was like, you got Tim tim Geez for that. I was like where He's like, yo, yeah. I was like, man, let me go back and make let me get back in the back in the lab, because that's a that's a that's a half a break back. And so I told him, I said, you inspired me when I when I was because I was because they gave me ten zis from my whole deal, you know,

I mean, you got ten zis for the remix. Let me go back and we we calibrate this, you know what I mean. So that's one other thing about our business and about our culture. If we could share our knowledge, share our experience, which we don't know. We don't keep it to the hill. Look, and I'll expect you know Snoop had the album The game is to be sold, not told. I expect that. But you gotta tell somebody, okay, So tell, tell your PIDs, tell your culture. You know

what I mean? This world is you know, this world is big enough. You know, even as Americans. You got three fifty million Americans, all right, that means you got seven point five billion, not Americans. All right, It's enough to keep our culture, if I would think tight, because the world becomes our consumer, not each other. So we're not against each other. Right, Any truth to you cleaning out your beat machine and instrumentals and giving away to

the life of nas Buster. Yea, yeah, definitely yeah, talk to us about that. I mean, you know, just sometimes you know, you guys sitting on the abundance, right, you gotta let it go, you know. So Bus actually played me a couple of joints he did. That sounds crazy. I don't know what he what are he gonna do with it? But he played two joints that he took from the from the Yellow Machine. Um, that sounds crazy. And for Um, I mean Nas put out the that mix tape he did last summer. A couple of old

was from that, you know what I mean? So brothers got it. It's like to me, it's like whenever you ready eat, play play with it, yo, have fun. Let's talk about I want to talk about fatherhood a little bit. Ye can we do that? Y? Of course? We all got a father got eighteen kids? So kids? No, I got seven kids. You know, we've got eighteen children. Papa, Papa who had eighteen children. They said, oh, dirty had thirteen. Haven't met all of them? Um, I got seven, you

know what I mean? And I like talking about fathers. Beautiful seven seven. It's how we do it exactly. I got six? You got one more more? Yeah? Now like no, I don't know, no, no, just gonna watch this episode two. Maybe don't listen to that ship. But you know what, that's fun. You're not know what's so crazy though? Think about a generation before when fathers could have had a hunt it and didn't care about one you know what I mean? We you know, I'm a you know, we

were products are that in all reality? You know? Fathers you know that, you know, just just for the generation of fathers not knowing how to love. And I'm proud that we do have a generations or fathers that do know how to love. It's not shy to say I love you, you know what I mean? And and I will say, you know, as a as a father and as a full blown man, that you need the mother and the father in the household. And and a lot of you know, my father's said one day to me

it was like rappers don't got no fathers. And what he meant was that most of us, if we got a father, we even talk about him because of the absentee or and it's you know, and the same thing with lot of ballplayers. You're here, yo, my mother my mother or mother my mother. I'm I'm glad that we have a generation that the father is a present. But I will say for for the fathers who have children, and it's and you're doing the co parenting picture time

in you know. I mean, I've seen the difference from from the child that I had more time to give versus the ones I didn't. You know what I mean. It's a security. It's a security a child feels when it sees both parents there and it has both Yin and yang to let it understand both sides of that coin. We when we're sitting there, you know, and you had these baby mothers, and and she gotta figured things out by herself, even though you may be mailing her check.

It's beyond the checks. Beyond the check. It's a presence. It's a it's a comforting feeling. I know because I see that my youngest son, he had the blessings of drawing his whole life with his mother and father, and he's so balanced. He's so balanced. Yeah, So I just want to say it's important. I hope that you know this the Chork generation. You know, we got Larry saying, Yo, do me and my man? You know what I mean.

I mean, it's you're young, You're gonna have fun. But I hope they realized that, Yo, when you start having these children and having these babies, Joe, dad takes man and to raise that child. And you don't necessarily not to cut you off, but you don't necessarily have to be together. Like you said, the co parent is is the new norm, and and it takes a lot of work.

And I think at times we forget because sometimes we may be beefing with our co parents, and there's a beautiful creation or two in my you know instance, you know what I mean, so to be able to and I saw it with my kids, you know, because my extive wife and I divorce was very public and got nasty at some points. And you can see that affect the boys. And then now we're on a better accord and they have two safe houses and and and and

four parents now that love and care for them. You see them starting to obviously you know, come from that. So it's not always having them in the same home, but it's still having them on the same page. And that's what That's what I was kind of saying when I said my youngest because me and her mom not together, but I wasn't together with my other kids moms. But my youngest daughter, mom, let my let me be in my daughter life. She lives with me most of the time.

I didn't get that from other kids because of different circumstances. But the relationship for her and and the and and everything she has, she's solid, right, She has the love from me, and she know we both presidents, you know, were there. She can call me like yesterday we're shooting. She calling me, you know what I mean. But you know I'm here, you know what I mean, And I know that means a lot because my dad Restupece, he lived five minutes from us, right and we barely see him.

But I didn't hold that against him, you know what I'm saying, because me having kids, a boy, different women, I understand how it could be harder than why it looks, you know what I mean. So I just I still gave him that same love. But just like you said, just being there makes a world of difference. Because my grandfather had nine kids, you know what I'm saying. From that's what I guess, you know what I mean. So, but but it's it's, it's it's it's not normal now.

But before we was born and we was kids, it was normal families, kids from eleven my moms. But but you're right, yo, it was if you know, if the relationship is not here between the mother and the father, don't that that relationship in fact the child, the child has no clue, nothing to do with you know, the sun moon is cars as the Holy Koran says, we give you signs. The sun shines to day, the moon shine at night. But they're both guaranteed to be there, you know what I mean, we just kind of trust

on it. But your thoughts on hip hop and stay in hip hop today. I mean, I love hip hop, man. Hip hop is feeding so many families. It's yo. I don't know if you're up into the Afro beat of it all, like you know, beyond Burner Boy and and and the brothers out of South Africa Ghana hip hop and started here where maybe five hundred people knew what it was, you know what I mean, the first generation didn't even get a chance to you know, to buy a house off it. Now it's spread around the world

to so many families are being blessed off. And so the state of hip hop, I'm grateful for it. Uh, the content of it, yeah, we need more substances, you know, I mean the substance come. You know, you listen to the Kendrick's new album and he you know, he's he's speaking as a man now. His album five years ago he was still growing from from from I don't use the world boy, but still going from young adults to adult And so if you give the artists a chance

to get there, I think they'll get there. I'm with little Yati was first out, and um, you know if I'm a lyricist, so I was like, there was an lyrics in there, you know what I mean. But then as his music went on, he started doing in there now and I just that, you know what, just give them, give us, give them time, yo, give the artists time to evolve. But also pushed them to evolved, right, don't. Some some men stayed in that cave, you know what

I mean, He kept eating the meat raw. But those who took fire days so so pushed them to evolve. When I'm I'm grateful for hip hop, I'm grateful for so many ways that is integrated into our culture. This is hip hop right now. I mean we're doing my heads hip hop, you know, I mean so bunk bunk. Any young producers out there, to remind you of the young hungry risin many that they had same circumstances with just two seconds on the sampler trying to figure it out.

They can sample for two days and go to sleep, now you know what I mean. Anyway, but a lot of great talent, you know what I I man, and invest in peace. You know we don't I don't know Paris, but you know, let your boomate just lost. Yeah. Man, yeah, I know you're a big movie fan. Uh, how do

you look at movies now? Because you're so entrenched? I know you you were telling me a story about I'm not forgetting this name now kind of your mentor in the movie space hitting Tarantino, Tarantino, talk to us how that relationship developed and just kind of have that changed your perspective of the art. I was fortunate to learn filmmaking from Quentin tian Team, who actually didn't go to school for it himself, but it's considered one of the

greatest directors about about time. And what I noticed from him is that he was watched. He watched the films with a certain eyesight. He actually watched the films the way I listened to music, you know what I mean. And there's certain parts that that hits you a certain way. And when I noticed that about him, I saw a sort of common denominator, and so I asked him, could he helped teach me how to become a film director?

And he did, and I am, Um, the thing is, if I could summarize that for anybody Hit or some game for you, I think every film ever made has something to offer. And if you are an artist looking for being a filmmaker in world, you should be able to detect that. All right, I'm gonna give you two examples.

Of course, if you watch Star Wars and it's a galaxy far far far away, and you see them with lightsabers, but they're still dressed as if it was due to Japan, and instead of the sword being a sword, it's the light saber. But then if you go okay, that movie teaches you that time and story could be placed anywhere. But then there's a movie called Attack of the Chiller Tomatoes. Okay, this film is just a stop motion movie with tomatoes are moving and the guy must have kept taking it

to me and those are moving them. Listen, the toughest film you may ever watch in your life. But what I learned from that film is that somebody still gave him a budget. You know what I mean. No, so, no idea can't be brought into fruishtion, you know what I mean? Keep going over decades, you work through different lanes out through song, video, film, more recently, talk to us about how many different ways and how much you enjoy just the storytelling. Could you tell it from all

different components? Yeah. I think it's a blessing not to be able to tell stories. And I think we all should. I advise everybody, ex Wife, I write your book, baby, to write your book, write it because somebody else maybe learn from that experience. So to me, it's important, you know, and whether it's fiction, whether it's biographical, whether it's taking something I've read from the prophet job and being able

to translate it to somebody else so they could learn patients. Um. Storytelling is is one of the probably one of our oldest forms of entertainment before the written word, and I'm I'm blessed to be able to play with it as the written word, as the spoken word. And now I get the good budgets and the screen yeah blow some helicopters, yeah uh, several cameos and shows and movies in particular. But I wanted to know what was it like working with Denzel and Russell Crow and American Gangster And that

was super cool working with Denzel first of all. First of all, this if anybody could intimidate you as an actor is Denzel Washington. If it was a microphone or some hip hop whatever my name ever, d I would have busted to the side as a as a I would say, as a young man trying to be an actor against one of the greatest living actors in the world, I never felt I thought he didn't like me, you know what I mean. I thought, like, uh, my, Denzel store,

you edited anyway? I saw y'all first thing, like, you know, he's on you know first, we want to set three weeks before him because they shot the movie that way, right, And so I'm cool with everybody. Now Denzel comes to said, and somebody come up hit on my my trailer. Hey, um, want to meet Denzel. I said, yeah, you know what I mean. I'm a big fan of Denzel. So they take me over to its trailer and they knocked and you know, open the door and knocked the game open

the door. They go, okay, we'll bring you back. So they take me back to my trailer. Thirty minutes later, the same thing. And now it's the end of the end of my day. I'm about to leave. I got my car waiting, and I'm like, let me just say peace for him before I go. And it don't happen. Isn't answer right. Finally, there's a scene in the movie that wasn't written with my character and his character. There was no interaction to my character and his character written

in the movie, right. Um. But but Russell had insisted that this is the same where we interrogate him, this is the crew that brought him down. The police would all be there on his ass because this is the team that did it, and he want the whole team there. But it wasn't written. And so Denzel comes to the uh to the set and he kind of sees it.

It's like it wasn't what it was written. So he walks away, right, And so I'm like, and I'm telling I'm so self conscious everything that's going wrong, I'm blaming myself, right because like I think at that time, Sam Jackson had an article out with Hodge Rappers doing roles, right, and so I'm like, nobody wants me here. So then we do the scene and it doesn't really smile and you know, doesn't even like you know, really kind of like didn't acknowledge me. And I was just like, you know,

finished the saying. I just went back to my trail. I was like, man, it's crazy, right, um. And then there was the premiere and I'm on the line walking. I got my wife and somebody comes from behind and give me the biggest hug. And then and so I had a chance and said, yo, why like why why do you ain't smile at me? And that said, Yo, you're a cop. I was Frank Lucas to a whole movie. I was Frank Lucas, I can't give two cents about you. I was like, that's the master, that's the master. And

I took that wisdom. Yeah, talk to us about your five year will plan in the past, and then what's your five year plan now? Yeah. So so five year plan the first one worked and on this on the second plan, it started close to five years ago. And you know, I told I gathered the brothers together. We do these Wednesday calls. And I was like, listen, this is the play here real quick. I don't mean once a week, once a month. Once the calls were once a week. Now they're bi weekly until a project go

So there their weekly calls and currently their bi weekly. Um. And so the plan was documentary first, TV series second and then topped that off with a tour documentary Everybody here on Showtime, UH TV series Hulu, and we just announced a few weeks ago one of the biggest tours of the summer. Woutangan not us and me and nothing need to be right up there with Tolani when you guys come to the bowl. I think she got a booth. I gotta be there, come out a yeah. My homeboys like, yo,

you know, yes man, I heard were in there. Yeah, I always I gotta be. I gotta make a confession. I always wanted to play the Hollywood ball. Never played it, yo, So this is gonna be uh something special. But once again, that's the plan, that's the that's taken the steps, you know, because at one point, yo, people was making hip hop documentaries and it was just producers making it or talent making it, but didn't live it. And I just said, nobody's gonna really be able to understand our story. We

gotta tell our own story, you know. Massive Pill with Sassage jenkins Um, the director of of the documentary. He also came to me with a very compelling because I had all these different people like pitching to do it, and Sauce was like, y'all listen, you can get them to do it, but I live hip hop too, so let me and I told my wife says, uh sausage says, he's right. Let somebody who lived the culture tell the story of the culture. And that you know the you know,

we got nominated for the Emmy. His work, his work showing and proved thisself. It's beautiful. But like you said, his hip hop, we're all telling. That's what we're doing. We're all telling our own stories, creating our own narratives. Given other people a platform and tell their stories because they've always told our stories. And although some have done it well, like you said that, none of them are really lived it. So he better to tell the stories

and the people who actually lived this. So I'm glad we're at that place. Um, coming down to the stretch before we get to these quick hitters. One piece of advice you would give you a younger self, Um, just yeah, just don't never doubt yourself, never done. All right, quick, this first thing to come to mind. Let us know, stuck on the island. Three albums you bring with you? You bring Stevie wonder uh any one of those? You know? All right now, I want an island, you said, all

right now. If you had asked me this a while ago, I would have said, uh, fank Sinatra. But I'm gonna go not King Cole because I've been listening to his music yo, and trust me not King Cole with tequila pineapple. Yeah. Life is good and I gotta bring something from my crew. Uh. It had to be a tough one, but um, just for the nostalgia of who we are, I'll probably bring um.

Yeah'll bring changes. They don't even creating your music festival, right we tank headlining what we're hoping and actually bringing pastor president pastor president President. Let's get Kindrick Lamar in the building with the Wu Tang. It's just get the Kung Fu Kenny with the to see that at Hollywood Ball. I don't know if that's up your sleep. You should expect to see that in l A and let me see and and let me pour somebody from the past.

Um makes sense for the path, you know what, I'm gonna keep it a hip hop and I don't know, I'm just go to the first concert pioneers of hip hop in my opinion one dm C. Yeah you know what I mean, you know who I was thinking. I don't know if that's affects. That's a fact I rocked with them a few times. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Yeah, that was my joy. First thing you do when you

wake up, last thing you do before you go to sleep. Wow, I mean you know, honestly, the first thing I do is I pray, you know, Um, And that's the last thing you do. Yeah, should be the last thing you do. But you know, I'm in betting back with my wife, you know what I mean, So I keep that personal. Exactly five films of all time. Five films on your list. Um, I'm just gonna go film, ain't gonna even go. I'm gonna say Godfather. You gotta have Godfather on your list.

You gotta have thirty six Chambers on your list. Um, and all reality you gotta have. Um, you gotta have Malcolm X on your list. Uh, No, a reality you gotta have. You gotta have Star Wars on your lists. And did I did? I say thirty Chambers already? And you gotta let me give you one that you might not recognize. But I think a film, a film you gotta see in life. Uh, I'm gonna give you Calment go up with Dry Thing, which yeah, yeah, check that out. And if you haven't seen that, man, I wanna tell

you iron Fish was good. We didn't get a chance to talk about that press was really great job. But uh, I was about to actually about another movie. He'll come back to me. If you could put one message on the billboard for the world to see, what would it be. I mean, it'd be one word. It would be peace. You know what I mean? Yeah, if they say I could do what I want, I'll put the twelve jewels on the on the build twelve jewels all knowledge, wisdom, understanding, freedom, justice, equality,

full clothing, shelter, love, peace and happiness. Oh that's how did you like Jackie Chan's Drunken Master? That was man, that was crazy. Yeah, that director too was Yeah. So you got your Kung food love every type. No, no, no, yeah, let me see what's what's the new one you've seen? Uh, there's a new one right now with Donnie Yan and uh and Nicholas c. Hold on, look at the rage, raging raging fire. I haven't seen it. Check that out. Ye. They're breaking backs and now I've been, I've been. I've

been running back back all three or four of them. Yo, Tony John might be coming to a Mamica next month. Hey, he is a problem, you know, you know, you know, you know what you're talking about. Come on, man, over to the knee all in your face. Ya. You know what Tony y'all did. I gotta shoulder injury today. From him? From him, he threw a move. Why did a movie with him? He threw a move on me, and I didn't kind of do the whole way I was supposed to be. You know, I was being a little extra,

like I knew what I was doing. Crack never hell hello, hello ago, Yeah that movie had it's been over six seven years. You know he threw a move on me. It works, Yeah, it works. Oh man, I've been a little come from movie. Uh, last question, you already told us you watched the show. If you can, if you can pick a guest to come on our show, who would it be? But you have to help us get your guests on the show. Yeah, he already knew the question. The show here let me see, Yeah, I mean'll be

having a great group of people on this show. Look, this is totally left field. Let me it's left field, but it's I just think. I mean, you haven't had Obama on your show? He smokes, Huh would do that would break the ind ofnet? If we can hold the smokes Um. Yeah, I'm gonna. I'm gonna go big. Let's get o B here. Man, We're gonna, We're gonna push. That will be awesome. I'll be incredible before we got some one, you bro. Can't let you leave if they handed,

because we're so we appreciate you being here. Thank you, thank you. Can they get him Matt all the smoke Dot story, that's where you can get hooked up. We got to hook you up for pulling up and appreciate line. Yes, so make sure you guys chuck you out. Wu Tang American Saga come in January of twenty three, were all waiting good luck on the tour this summer. Man. I'm sure we can building, but thank you for your time.

Thank you man. That's a rap with the Risa can cass Us our Showtime Basketball YouTube and the I Heart Platform Black Offense And that's today's mathematics. See you all next week. Peace you bitches. B