Episode 468 w/ Erykah Badu and Alchemist

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It's d J E f N. Together they drink it up with some of the biggest players you know me and the most professional unprofessional podcast and your number one source for drunk drink chansy days New Year's c That's it's time for drink Champs. Drink up. Motherfuck? What a good be hoping he should be. It's your boy and a O and a one off his DJ E f N.

And this is Drink Camps yap.

And when I tell you, when we started this show, we said we wanted to give allowers to the people, legends, the people who deserve it, people who are icons.

These two people is icons.

I mean, I don't I was going through this both the discography. I don't think that either one of them made a whack record ever. I mean all you hear is hits after hits after hits. I don't even know how they got together. We're gonna get through it. We're gonna ask all the questions. But in case you don't know what we're talking about, We're talking about Eric off time that's is nothing a single? The first record is Yeah, is that a single? Or is that like a warm

Okay, first off.

The record obviously reminds me of you know what I mean. I remember when that record came out and I'm just listening and I'm like, it sounds so refreshing, like even though this beat has been out, but it sounds like it right now. Liked, how did you'll, y'all, y'all orchestrate that?

That was really the catalyst of our working together. I think, I mean, she's Erica first of all.

I I mean I was. It was ninety six, ninety seven.

I was on tour with Cyprus as a roadie, just carrying records for Mugs Smoking Grooves tour and Erica was on the tour and I didn't.

Know it was just a.

Kid carrying records. I used to be in the crowd watching her sets every night.

This was I think.

Ninety seven, and I didn't even know her. I was just a fan. And so it you know.

Full circle all the way, all through the years, and it was a guy by.

The name Cole Chris who works in the camp with Erica. Shout out to Cole Chris. And he actually was in a group in the nineties. Are you're going to remember the group? You remember matd Flavor?

Of course that's not the original a group.

From the nineties show.

Long story short.

My first tour in ninety three with Cyprus Soul Assassin tour, the first show as the Hooligans. My first show was in Dallas. Who opened for us Mad Flavor. So I had met him in ninety three and we didn't keep touch, but it was like six years ago. I did a show in Dallas with Action. Action. Actually, yeah, backstage six years ago, you said, backstage.

And I meet this dude who comes up?

He said, Yo, what's up? I'm cold Chris book shows out here and I actually met a long time ago.

I said, no, Matt Flavor. I said, oh shit, how you been. He says, yeah, you know, I.

Work with Erica And I was like, bucket list man, like you work with Erica Badu. He said yeah, you know because he was from a part of the scene in Dallas early on, and from that moment on I connected with him and we stayed in touch, and I was just like anything, let's just stay in touch.

Whatever we worked together back then, Okay, yeah, yeah, don't work No, this is the first time y'all working together period.

Me and Cole Chris used to right and listen to lots of music.

I'm a huge Mob Beef fan, of course, and I always wanted to sing over this the Realist and he goes, I know the guy that produces it.

He goes, I say okay, and he gets in touch with you.

And that was three or four years ago at least, and he just kept the conversation going. How did it by sending music every time he thought about me?

And I finally got around to it.

And when I wanted to record to the Realist, I went to his studio in La. When I got there, I just felt like, okay, well this is happening. So he had seen me by then about ten fifteen songs, and I told him I wouldn't come to the studio waste time if I didn't have ten or fifteen songs.

So you weren't lying. It wasn't that one record was the catalystic?

Was?

That's right?

So shout out mob Deep.

Funny.

Last week we had ha, it like that lazy.

So when you first announced the collab album, I remember people speculating and everyone's saying Andre three thousands, and they saying Jay Electronica, and they saying all people. Everyone was kind of thrown off when it was like you and the Alchemist, if you had a chance to probably do a collab with anybody, what made you choose Alchemists?

See, I wasn't trying to do a collab per se.

And I didn't even know that that was like your hustle collapsed, right, you know what I'm saying. I was and super bow profession, you know, personal collab among other things. But I didn't know that. So when I got the idea to do it, it was sitting there in the in the thing in the studio, and go down, this is something we should do. A collapse. And I ain't never put nobody else's name on my ship ever.

I was. I was very I mean, but you have to understand, like she and I discovered this once we started working. First of all, the first couple of days, I was kind of useless, but you know, you first meet her, I was useless because when you first meet her, everybody you know, I had to work through that first couple of days I get to know him, became friends, and but once we started working, it was like, yo, she does everything. I don't think people know this, Like

She had her hands.

In every record, like everybody knows what I do. I'm gonna come to the table and bring the beat. But you know, if that is not where production starts, where it may started, doesn't end there. And I learned a lot working with her, just like in the early days working with Mugs when I was a kid. Working with Mugs, it was like he used to know how to like apply to shoe, string to the shoe and tie the shoe.

Now, is this is an album or this is a mixtape? A album? Full flood? Always okay? So all right? Well?

Is it more records like that, like samples a hardcore beasts like that? And and and that's that's a beat you made correct for my originally?

Yes, for mob and g rapping.

So is it more of that type of stuff or.

Or what is it?

Well? His compositions already kind of tell a story, you know, and people are rapping over them and it's so melodic and beautiful, atmospheric without even anybody doing anything. So you already have that composition and he allowed me to paint on it, and anything that I contributed is an extension of my voice, whether it's strings or horns or drums or whatever it is. And he was a very gracious partner, like kind of okay, cool and encouraging, and I love that.

More of that, but.

Yeah, I know both of you guys could do anything, But did you feel like you might have softened up and you might have hardened up working together.

I know, I don't notice.

I mean I think you see.

That I learned a lot working with her in general in a short period of time, just how to like, you know, I do a lot of my own ship, run the show, you know what I mean, do everything from ages. And when I got with her, it was like, Wow, you could know so much and then you can meet someone else and realize like I'm at the age or I can still. I learned from my young homies.

I learned from my older friends.

I learned from people. I learned, and I realized when I linked with her that it was like okay, but I didn't change. And I think people when they hear the album, they'll see like it sounds like we met in the middle. You'll hear my shit, you'll hear her stuff, and you're real like, right now, I.

Ain't gonna lot that thing.

Wo sounds so good, Like I already I'm already throw the pressure on y'all. I already think y'a made the classes, like just from a single based alone, Like I know music.

Bro, that ship is fire, yo.

I was like, I have to keep listening to it, like because I first went out of the.

I thought it was a mistake.

I was like, Yo, wait a minute, this is a like I was like, Yo, did they blit this? And then they was like no, this alchemist on doing it. I'm like, holy ship.

And I was just blown away. And the artwork that came out with it is well they did it.

It reminded me of like the old ron G Yeah, you know, and it was like an old classic with a melody on it and hip hop R and B like just so infectious like her melodies that's missing though nowadays.

Like you know what I mean, like especially in the summertime, like to me, a single dropped at the right time.

Yes, I'm gonna take a shot to y'all deppinely sock it? Would you drink in the SoCon? Ever since? Yeah, that was a great turned me out, right, don't we all? So?

So, how many records were you in the studio together on this?

All?

All of them? All?

Yeah?

We went back and forth between his studio in l A and my studio and Dallas, Okay, and we put a long time periods in yeah, like I'm sure three four months here.

It's a it's a different process because I'm kind of used to going fast and working with her is like stages. These records grew like the demos, and in the beginning we would lace. She would lay something and I'd be like, that's perfect. Let me okay, I got it, let me just mix it. She was like, slow, now, this is a reference. But it was the references, like her demos

We know you did collab appums before. Is this your first R and B collab?

Am I R and B I you know, like I mean this is the first like non like.

There's nothing wrong with RB.

I'm sorry, I mean, this is definitely the first non wrap. Like I was other for a while, I wanted to do something like this, and I would have probably been happy just meeting an unknown young artist or who has pain and smoked cigarettes in their voice. You know, I never imagined that I would be able to connect with Erica. You know what I'm saying, Like.

One song one you know, in the fact that we got to this point. Now we're on tour, like we're joints, are on the project seventeen.

Got a show tomorrow here, Yeah, we have a show and we've we've been performed the album basically.

Last week out here.

Okay, oh last week she's ahead.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right.

Let me take a shot to that, old boy.

So how's that reception been to an album people are just hearing for the first time.

I mean, it's it's crazy because I wouldn't have I wouldn't have done it. You know, I wouldn't have thought to do this. You've never done something like with y'all seen. Okay, y'all seen this year. Yes, we have a project and we went and did a sold out show in Paris and we played out from start to finish.

The new album.

And yeah, this was id that Eric also had that we were like talking about. And shoot, I was kind of nervous because you know, when you do unrelated I.

Just think y'all seen in are some kind of suit solo twins. We always think of the same thing m same time.

Yes shouts y'all seen when the family member you know what I mean?

And you've got an album coming out with ghost Space too.

No, no, that was a rumor, probably a rumor. I have album, y'all seen.

We have a we have a collective called Forensics, and that's gonna be coming out soon as well. But just the live like, you know, just to say you know, you know this. You know when you perform of course and you get to your hits, it's always easy because the crowd, you know, you think got them in a part of your hand. So when she said we wanted she wanted to do the whole album live, I was kind of nervous.

Are y'all recording the album live? Like, oh no, it's just just uh we.

Recorded shows, okay, cool, just in case.

Yeah, but it's been amazing and it's crazy to see like a whole crowd of people.

Mind you were no phones, no phones.

Ah.

I wish we could do this for every show.

And fresh Head they can't bring equipment either. They have to use disposable cameras that we provide.

So that's awesome.

It's fun. Who's idea with that.

I mean I like it, you know, like it.

Part of it is functional because I'm not out yet. So yeah, absolutely, it's not just because you're doing it. It's also, hey, we're not leaking.

This out right.

The main reason, right, and to create and experience for the fans who were there who could really hear.

It's almost like a listening session. That's what I want to say on stage, you know, and if you'll be scared of they have to do that.

See what.

A little scared but worked.

Well.

We're not in the same age as we were in the nineties and two thousands is the age of streaming, right, but.

Even the league would be to our advantage.

Is something, and I think your fans are your fans enough to come out so much.

We had five shows and no one has done anything.

They haven't seen any footage.

Nobody everybody after you, you guys have done with the album? Do you guys perform like your hits after that? Or that's it the show? I was gonna come tomorrow. I thought them last week. I was last week.

These questions.

So I gotta ask you, is everybody named Tyroll mad at you?

I don't know.

Know they seem pretty happy.

They like it.

Yeah, because it's just like it.

Yeah, mom, Tyron, my name is trow Is Tyron a real person? No, it was the freestyle, Okay, okay, playing around because I.

Imagine you made it tough for everybody named Tyrone.

Not tough.

I think you probably got more pussy there you.

Go, ty I didn't know she just said that. Holy holy okay. Yeah, I don't give man. I know you for the years. When did you switch to the killer? I was gonna, I sworet you was going to order darker. Oh no, No, I was gonna er wine. Yes, remember the last time we went that wave?

You know, we go through different you know, I think I want to get on that the saki.

I think.

I want to get on the shock. We've had some good natural one.

I think that was the first time I met Action Promston at just at your studio, and it was and then at first I was I was like this is nasty. I was, But then I kept drinking and I was like, all right, it's organic wine.

Like you know what I mean. You gotta used to know pesticide. You remember, did we me and Nor We go back so many time? Do you remember when we.

Were talking with Ki Cundy when you first got one, you were an honorary hipster.

Yo.

Take that he came from that.

He's like, I didn't even know what it meant. But I was just like, hey, I'm like, we didn't know what We have stories man, Like this is a real friend, like rap music.

That's same s.

We have history.

So you want to explain to them the story. I mean the game, the game. Yes, all right, this is our drinking game. We're going to give you two choices. If you pick one, we don't drink. But if you say both and neither, we all drink. The whole table drinks and really say, it's not to just anybody.

We want to just bring up there anything the jogs your memory or story that can come up.

Please, you know, let's talk about it.

The instruction.

That's it.

Usually people don't understand.

Do you know what I'll do?

Hockey smart, shocking, sucking me.

So I take the first one, go for it, buddy? You ready?

No, well, let them get their shot. Okay, my bad, what don't matter to play the game whatever, because I'm speeding ahead. Alchemist just said she told him so down, Okay, I told you, I told you guys.

Okay, they got their shots right, all right?

Good, go for the first one. It's not on the board.

It's big shots you gotta make, but make smaller shots.

Still the baby oh yeah, yeah, yeah, we're trying to do baby shots.

It's really not like liquor.

Yeah, it is LIQUI don't get into Yeah, come on, Abby or Alan?

Is that for me?

It's our question? Abby or Allan?

Okay?

What do I have to do?

Like, you gotta pick one Alan? Okay, you're gonna pick Alan? Yeah, so who are you picking both? I'm drinking drink drink that I love. I don't pick salute. All rightway, hold for the album, right, Abby and A great names?

That's your real names? Right?

Great?

Great?

Great? Great?

That's whose idea that was?

I feel like everything's the idea. What is on this side? Tupocket, d m X, both of you, both, both of you, both of us.

Okay, TUPAC or d.

M X, rest in pieces of both?

But I like this game. Okay, let's see TUPAC or d m X.

It's any criteria.

Yeah, in any criteria, Tupac, Okay.

Both both, Okay, you're going picking.

I'm not picking between two?

Yeah, I respect that. I don't understand it, said the game.

They know though, all right, how I want to drink like the I don't want to drink, But that's that's what.

Happens Michael Jackson or Prince, and we need stories if there's stories.

To be mad anyone.

Yeah either, Yeah, I met Prince really like Prince. Never met Mike, but I can relate to Mike a lot. I love Mike both for me both.

But can you told us the night you met Prince?

Prince was once my rhythm guitarist on stage wait for a one offer like Thomas Gone tour the whole tour. No, just.

I've seen a clip of it. I've heard Prince on stage.

Holy, I got a Paisley Park a little bit, I recorded some.

Songs, crazy legend.

This is very cool.

Wow, we got to make some noise for that answer.

You said both both.

I'm not picking between Prince and fucking so it's one shot, right shot.

You ever met either of them? Never met either, never met either. I feel like pretty much popped up in Hollywood stories and stuff. I heard stories. I missed them one time by fifteen minutes.

I know he was like notoriously short. Yeah, he wasn't, but he could play ball. He did hear that as the world heard that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I like that one where he comes up when I think he was James Brown was on stage. You know that clip when Princes in the crowd.

And he comes fame.

He comes on stage on his security guard shoulders from the crowd.

I never saw that.

Clipton hype that up later James Brown.

It was funny.

Nas came on this story and we asked him, did anybody ever tell you no, like you know, to do a record? And he said, he asked Prince to do a record, and Prince asked him, do you own your master's And I said no, So they said he wouldn't do the record until he owns his masters.

That was like the ill stick and he said.

Because I don't want to put those executives kids through college, yo, And.

Like that's just crazy, right, Like he was so knowledgeable that back then, Like you said, it's crazy.

You remember young Love the mob deep song came out with the Prince sample.

That was because that came out officially came out that white label.

The story was that they were, like I guess they were going to try to clear it, but I guess Prince was if he on curses. Do you remember the first line in.

The piece versus I mean, he definitely.

Was the first line of peace versus fresh out just a bitch pussy, But it wasn't. I mean, it was a great record, but.

It would have been I think it would have been the genius for that.

It would have been a hit record. And he wasn't gonna change his verse, you.

Know, Pete, and you didn't have one twelve on that record.

But I wasn't around it.

I heard the stories. No that was this was before I was with them all. But I heard the story that p was. You know how he was. He was rigid. He wasn't not not going to change his mind for nothing. Yeah, blal or. D'Angelo, Oh solo, cheers, cheers, I'm gonna go d Angelo. I'm gonna go d Angelo.

I used to say, you still got to take the shot. I used to say, we did, Dangelo?

Really?

Yeah.

Premiere hooked me up with him, so I first moved to New York. And it's a funny story because when I went to meet him the first time, Premiere was like, can you know, bring some weed? D'Angelo gave me. The address was like in around the fashion district in Manhattan, like twenty eighth and thirtieth from Broadway, and he was like, when you go there.

Don't have anything in your hand? Anything in your hands. Yeah. I didn't know what he meant.

So I walked in and he it was like literally like out of a movie. He was in this big law by himself in the middle of the loft, sitting in a chair with a guitar, like writing songs. And I walked in and shit, I walked in.

I go up to him.

He's like, what's up?

Give him a pound. I'm like, yeah, I'm Premire. He said, oh, that's what's up. So gave me another pound.

Everything I said, you had to give.

Him a dap with you.

I don't know if you know people like that is adapt And then I understood what Premiere said when he was like, don't have under It was crazy, But shout out to D'Angelo. I haven't.

I mean, yeah, D'Angelo, but blood too.

I mean, it's hard to pick, but could they're both greats?

Amazing both.

The Riza or mugs. That's definitely an alchemist's question. No, for both of them. They're both of them best ways. That's ridiculous.

I mean, Mugs is my big brother. I got my start because of Mugs. But you know what I mean. But if I would sit here and lie, if I was to say that the Rezar didn't change my way of thinking in general, Like they're both behemoth giants, creators of the ship.

Like I wouldn't be shipped without either of them.

So I've seen ris in action. Battery Studio, nineteen ninety six.

That's fresh.

We were in a session. I was in one session. Riza was in one session. D'Angelo was in one session. Most was in sessions. Yeah, Battery Studio. They had three rooms, and it was in one room and he went in to listen to the mix. I don't know who the engineer was, I don't remember, but he didn't like it, and he told him to move out the way and he just did the board like Domino's. Then he said, put it on the bigs. They played it and.

He was satisfied that it was incredible, this one, you know.

Just impressed.

I try it sometimes.

He tried to do that on the boards, put it on.

Just the other part to say, put it on the big.

The bigs really big, let me hear that, and Riz is uh. The fact that he was able to make a different sound for every one of them on their solo first endeavors, like you know, just an album didn't sound like to Cal or whatever.

They all had like a certain little unique twist.

You thought he knew them.

But each one like if it was tapping into this type of movies for this one. It were like certain nuances of each album that were different.

An interview in time, he said, he said, I.

Try to make mephan man beats violence so he has to fight back to the beat. I was said, damn, I want to listen to Cal. I was like, damh, that's crazy.

And he changed the whole sound at that time, just for the first while. There is a man I can't even say enough. Now, do you want somebody to roll your joint?

No? Thanks, we gotta try, gotta try.

J Diller a cute t. J Diller a cute t oh uh, rest in piece.

Yes, rest and beats, Yes, my guy, you know who we are almost a Q tip because he's here and I want him to know. I want to come all to know how his beats inspire me as a as a producer, as a beat maker, as a as an artist period, how he puts the compositions together. Yeah, he's he's bad.

I can tell what beat is.

Here is on anybody's album, My deep album, his things up?

You know.

He's incredible. You're incredible. Where's the camera, Tamal? You know you're incredible. There's no no comparison to what you do.

Everybody has their own thing, but you.

I still can't get over when he was looping that record.

With the needle. Oh my god, I'm gonna go cute Tip also.

Man, I mean Tip.

Man, thinking about all those records that he produced, like because back then I didn't really know.

Wasn't Jay Dilla under Q Tip anyway?

Yeah okay, yeah, but like at that time, I didn't really.

Know about production like that.

So it was kind of all magical when I heard the beats, and later on I discovered the samples and the drums, and to think that how he was putting certain drums to those loops like electric relaxation or something like that, like that's a drum break from another record, and the synergy and effusion and he was.

So ahead of his time.

Or think about the drum pattern for one love like just a fucking drum pattern.

Like yo, he was the night with heat. Tip.

Tip is like, uh, he's like the foundation for so much. And he was also the way we also discovered like I didn't know RAMP. I didn't know about RAMP until they sampled it. And you know there's like certain records that we discovered later. Yeah, he dug deep and it was funny because when we were young, I thought that he was doing the beats.

That's what until one love we didn't realize.

You know who put me on large Large he was a lost professor. Think up Large, that's my best case scenario for me. He told me he was like Tip was in the crates. Tip was really the one because back then we always start to put the DJ jaking the beats and shout to Alisi. I'm sure he had a hand in it, but cute Tip man can't say, you know, he's.

Sorry, Jada subject a little bit. But you told me a great story one night. He said that I believe I'm quite sure this was you. You said that Large Pro went to a Ray Kawan show and Ray Kawan didn't have on the Cuban links and he walked out.

Yeah, he was he disappeared. We went to the show in La. The crowd, Ray came out was gone, where'd he go? His man was like, nah, he's outside, he's chilling, and I came outside. Afterwards, Ray came out killed it. He didn't have his normal big link on. He had like a jeweled shirt.

Or so that's Ray.

We could do what he wants. The Large was like, he went outside, what was up? He's like, God didn't have to link.

He felt like nah, like as a fan, like he wanted to. Large is the essence like everything he pop. You gotta see he owns a pizza like.

Yo, yoga, I want, I want, I want to kicking on it.

You know, I took one time we went to a Meeba record stores in La.

This is a store.

He snuck a turntable in his own table, and he had gloves for digging. And then yo, he went he went to the dollar section. And this is for the people who understand this. He found a Rupert Holmes drum.

Break, which is like a break we used to all chop up. It's a dollar record.

Yo.

He hit it so no one else could get this is ship we used to do.

He went and hit the record so nobody else could hit it.

It was like some old b boys ship to do like like like there's not more copies of it that exist, but the largest is He's the essence of this whole ship and rhymes DJing. He always did it all and that's been a big inspiration for me because I always wanted to have all all sharpened, you know what I'm saying, all elements able.

To And he's been a sort to a lot of folks.

Six degrees spot like he's coming to my DJ sets and I would hear somebody I know when he gets there, because I hear somebody over my shoulder going come on, come on.

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.

Yo.

You know he would be there.

Yea world up that's large, you know, a large, my brother.

I imagine him like having a baby token to the doctors. Make sure you don't look too much. I can see that.

I'm I don't know what I thought like that, Boldie James or Conway.

But I'm going both on that. Those I'm both both solid both to say about that. Two legends.

Billie Holiday or Nina Simone.

Billy Holiday Currency or Earl Sweat, very very disrespectful and horrible question asked. But I have to answer it. I don't want to drink another shot back.

You would have said both.

No.

Yes, you can bring in someone to be your drinker if you'd like.

Is that a part of it?

I mean you have to drink a little bit.

Okay, I don't do anything, but you can have some We would like you to drink a little.

You know, I think I'm good soccer smooth though, sock smooth cool. It might be a trickery, but.

It is the episode I was stand up, you stand up, and then you realize we took a picture. I went to the bathroom. I came back and I said, we.

Didn't take a picture, and I got mad at everybody.

He was going hard because I wanted to take a picture with it.

Some thing I brought some prefernt. I was like, this is the first flights, Like we took it already, Like nah, man the tape Currency or Earl sweatshirt. Wow, I'm gonna have to go both.

Both of them have a significant role in in what I've been able to achieve. Like Currency was the one that kind of started the run of me doing these one person album and at the time I was kind of nervous.

To do it, and he wanted the Cobra Coop, you know what I mean.

He he wanted to just throw it out. I was nervous as hell, and he was like, we'll do this and we'll sell some which will put it out free.

And that kind of.

Was the first time when I started looking at how to sell music differently because he had a whole fan and we.

Sold merchant put the music out free with Cobra Coop. But he's not your first because turning Back would be the first, of course, and then we do Albert Einstein later.

But I feel like Currency was one of the ones because I gave it my all. I remember I wasn't holding back with the beats when I when we did Cobra Coop, I just met him. It was like a new thing, but I was like, fuck it, just put

The loop was because of Earl.

Really what he put me onto everything, Like he's so ahead. Earl is a generational gift. He's not regular, and like me being able to he's younger than me, so me being able to stay in and loop with him. And then he got his young homies. It never ends, you know what I'm saying. And and and.

Like local history in a sense that you guys kind of relate to course.

And I'm just thankful to have him as a friend and a mentor and and and and this ship because trust me, man a lot of the ship that people know me, they say, you know, I always putting me up on ship. They don't know he's putting me up on it. And then he got his young homie who put him up on ship. It never ends.

So you know, shout out to ear that's the both my brothers. You got it. You got Eve or Missy Eve or Missy.

Missy for me.

Yeah, I'm gonna go Missy too.

Them in the same.

Aminican guy Missy.

That's not even tricky.

They write it so that you look at us crazy.

What do y'all know about miss see Elliott dope as what performance artists that do what.

She's an incredible writer.

She's a producer, she makes beats. Yeah, that's different, that's the something else.

Yeah, what are we comparing tis shout out to Missy Elliott.

Yes, yes, yes, Missy.

We need you, We need both of y'all. But miss will be a dope episode. We've been trying to figure it out. Hopefully we can get it, get it done.

So see three thousand or the A s R ten ten.

Yeah, I mean machine okay, back.

Mountains Okay, yeah, I did all my all my classic.

MP okay.

Wow.

Yeah, so you're still using machines both, y'all.

Yes, because some people are coming down saying now they're just using programs.

I got sloppy dish everywhere.

How do you feel about fruity Loops f.

L I never really learned fl and well I got suck it logic.

Okay, you're saying that ship like you know what fruity loops is.

I mean, you know, you know, you know what. It's funny.

Regg Don't is made on food.

Looks a lot of that's out in general through fruity loops.

Like we just outside on the show too. He's a foody loop.

He's the man. Yeah, outside gets busy with.

Fruity the word with people who use fl studio.

But I've never yeah that found It's just another machine.

You know.

People get caught up in the machine.

Is it gets you there?

If you got to hear, you're gonna make make anything sing like you can make any machine work. It doesn't matter.

We ain't taking a show, Marvin Gay or Stevie Wonder.

Son.

And you've got to tell stories, everybody.

That's why you're doing all this talking stories. Come, what's wrong with you?

Know?

I'm a slow burn.

Stevie Wonder or.

Gay.

I can pick one today and change my mind tomorrow.

Yeah.

So I'm gonna go with Stevie Wonder because you can hear me, and he's here, and I want him to know as well. He's made maybe one of my biggest influences ever in the world. I started listening to Stevie Wonder as a toddler. He came out maybe nineteen seventy one with an album I think called Talking Book and don't quote me, World, don't come on my.

Drunk, Facts up facts if you get a year off drumpa.

Nineteen and seventy one, and I've just been listening to him.

It's a voice. I thought it was my daddy as a kid.

Thought because my mom used to say my husband claim my husband out. But it was kind of satire little yeah, but yeah, I love Stevie wonder his voice. There are billions of atoms of him and me.

Have you worked with him?

Never worked with him? Really? No, that kind of surprises me. Well nothing public. Yeah, what you said mentor bring me is.

He seems and the absolutely it'll happen right Well, you said that that he can hear you, right, Some arguably say here on drinking.

Do you think that's the rumor that he can see?

I have no idea, you know, I don't think so, though.

Snook Snoop came on the show and says, Stevie FaceTime. That's doable.

Someone could have just put him on FaceTime all right.

In the elevator was oh, yeah, saw in the elevator and Shaq walked in and he didn't say that in the Stevie and Stevie was like, what's up, Diesel, like before you go into yeah, and the Iley Brothers said the street crosses the show just no one is playing around, by the way, no one. We're laughing, but no one is around.

You can see he's playing along.

Drinks because, oh, analog and digital.

My favorite questions.

Thank you.

One of my monitors, this analog girl in the digital world. Mm hm oh, but uh, I do further warmth childhood because it's it's like, you know, nostalgic for me and I love you know what we can do and how quickly we can do it now too, But I'm gonna access cellboard kind of girls, so I'm gonna have to say analog, yeah, man long too for sure.

I can touch this comptability of digital. But I like analog like like one thing for short thing for certain like us just hearing that y'all both was in the studio for as of every record makes me my mind me of the analog days used to can't you used to can't send in the person a record, the physically come to the studio. That was the better.

That was the better days to me.

You know, I feel like we're lucky too, because like my first beat like keep it thorough, We're gonna make it.

Those were on two inch tape and those were like that.

Was right before ship switched over.

And it's like if I play those beats out of the A s R.

They don't sound the same because that saturation when they would hit the tape and go through the S S L. Like, I feel blessed to have those first couple of batches of beats bang bang we did.

That was through the ssang.

The other day, I was sitting there talking to the brothers outside and I go, yeah, because you know, there was performing on a dat And then I realized no one knew what about it was that the two in Remember when we were mixing, you'd have to sit there in silence when they were rewind it.

And it wasn't you to like be lucky enough to have two reels, two reels so you can drag one in order to make a flang sound.

You got some ship. I don't even know about it.

Actually, the table that is crazy.

I don't know nothing.

About sitting there waiting for the whole ship to rewind and you're doing an eight minutes Oh.

Yeah, I remember, not eight minutes long, but I know.

Minutes at what I know about.

Them drops on the board though, those are the best.

A lot of drops for automation, flying faders.

Yeah, we're from that.

We're from that, remember right, track right, that's right track. Does the studios still exist?

Yeah, of course, Man, the right track one and.

By forty seventh Street, okay, by the music stores.

Right right, yes, old point. It was a real bad strip club next to right track.

Remember that.

It was like you talking about sound.

So we did queens over there.

Yeah, we did queans over there.

I maye that beat on the spot. Yeah, that was a good time. It was horrible to mar I drank.

I went there to drink, but I didn't.

I didn't.

I didn't have fun.

It was like it was just you know, back then we would come up from my m C and y'all hits over there like on downtown, like as they mix in and just have a drink, you know what I mean.

Like what was saying on that Joe was a complexion complexity question?

Yeah.

Yeah, let's put this quick time with.

Slung, which is so we say for sure analog right?

Yeah?

Yeah, both everybody said it.

Is that you cannot roll the joint on a digital download.

You cannot have to have it. That's right. I can't roll a joint on air. I don't know what that means.

You'll get it later.

Think g rapper slick Rick, mm.

Cools you Rap, Yes, can we can?

We can we have an era? Okay do we have to just.

It's whatever criteria. It could be that Coolie Wrap made amazing mac and cheese. One day he was like, silet pick.

Him slick Rick.

I mean, Coolie Rap shall just slick Rick.

I mean, I feel like he's the inventor of so much style, Like you could just you know what I mean, But Coolie Rap, Like I feel like at this moment right now, like you could get a verse from him and it was smoke. Yeah, he's anybody, and he came from an arrow of King Kim just like and he never really got that, but g Rap always through every era like, so back.

To go for your guns with Mop and you can do the realists.

The realist that I'll never forget that day is because you know, I didn't know MAB but really well at the time, and I just met them and Pete called me and was like, I knew the beat because I played it for him already. He said, come to the studio, we want to use that beat. I loaded up the fucking SR and the big ass that shit was huge, you know what I mean, took it to the studio and walked in and Cooolgi Rappers sitting there, and I was just like, you know, the fan in me was

Plug me up.

I tracked the.

Beat and g rap went first because he finished his rhyme first. And he went in there and laid that ship, and everybody in the room was just like, what the hell? I remember? You know, P took they both P and half took your time and wrote half mother wrote four rhymes for that before he laid his verse, you know what I mean.

And at the time, I was kind of insecure because it was a loop.

You know, it's really just a it's a one shot, you know. And I had all these like fancy beats at the time, and they wanted a rhyme on that, and I was kind of insecured because I was like, damn, you don't want these to showcase yourself understanding the time.

Yet now I get it.

You got to get out of the way sometimes. You know, if I can do any style, but if if the beat is already there, get out of the way. You know what I'm saying. And that was just one of those moments. But g rap Man, g.

Rap was was that the record that opened you up to that whole side.

That I mean, that's when started the connection with Mob Deep. It was that ug music.

It just felt like from then on and just spread because from New York.

I mean on a timeline with Mob Deep and like like like BC and a D like.

You said you was Puerto Rican.

For Bod, I had the thin.

He wasn't saying it, but you know.

I showed her an old picture that had the thin mustache.

You know that.

You know when we were that's when we was rocking, you know.

But you know, my whole ship you could put on the timeline once I linked.

It with Mob Deep. I mean, that's how I linked with CNN.

I remember walking into Halves Crib when he used to live in Freeport, walk down into the basement. One day he said, come over, we're making beats and ship. All of a sudden Naves walked in. That's the first day I met Naves at Halves Crib, you know, and I was making the beat for.

TikTok.

I was making the beat in the Halves basement and Nas walked down and was like, yo, I came to this. He thought like he didn't know me and nothing. He just That's when we made that song and it was like, like I said, everything happened. I owe so much to Mob Deep, Like my whole we wouldn't. Yeah, shout out to Mob Deep, rest some peace, my brother Pan come.

On between Solar Assassins and Mob Deep and that whole site, like it's crazy, Yeah, shout out no.

But when people found out like you was from LA, people.

Was like, get the fuck out of it.

Even Snoop when I first worked with him, he didn't know until later because I did, you know, I moved to New to New York in like ninety five and I was going to NYU and I just immersed myself and you know, mugs. He basically connected me with Mob Deep, right because he was recipes the recipe.

He's bigger Bee. Let's just shout out Bigger Bee.

One time, he was an important person on the West Coast who worked with Loud Records and Muggs was working on Solo Assassin's first album and.

He connected Bigger Be connected.

Mob Deep with Mugs and then I was moving to New York to go to school. At the time, I was working underneath Mugs and he was like, Yo, you need to link up with Mob Deep's young homies. You're my young homie.

They got these guys and from a small.

God Twain and so I linked with them first and we did Doug music and then he heard it was like, I want to put a verse on it.

And that's how it, like the whole connection started and all that.

What do you consider your style East Coast style or pretty much it's a blend.

I think I got a little of everything, you know.

And at this point, I'm I'm on the West and I've been there for so long now that I feel like but moving to New York was so pivotal and important for me, Like I feel like just all the people like that era that we caught, we were in the tunnel together, Like I caught the New York era when it was when when when Nori was hitting records market hit records, the biggest Ship, and I feel blessed because I just caught the time and I was able to link with the right people and showcase my That's

Legendary man. Yeah, Pete rock or large pro.

Ah need some more? Okay both.

I ain't picking between those two man, two greats, Sol Sol shout to both.

All right, comment or y'all seen?

Ben?

Mm hmmm, I just had a shot. You would have to choose for.

As quiet as you are, you're very loud right now, am I?

What do you think I'm saying?

I don't know, but you're contemplating.

Shoot that.

I mean both grades, But for me, I'll go with y'all seen. I'm gonna pick I've seen Okay, Yeah, I mean.

I'm gonna say, babe, because the versatility, uh creativity, h viability Kayden's voice tone, I would have to say, yeah, see see he's.

The most natural. He's so like he just had a rhyme and just effortlessly like it was a conversation.

Saw him in a commercial with Dion Sanders or somebody like m early on an actor before evening.

Yeah, yeah, we have known to us as so it was very.

Impressive because usually that doesn't really work out. You got anomalies, she got Drake, you got Jamie Fox and y'are seen. Other than that, it didn't really Does.

He get mad if like you slip up and call him most?

Uh?

No, I don't think. I don't slip up. Did I just do it?

No?

No, no, no go.

Yeah, because sometimes I see him, I think, man, okay, I.

Think what he prefers is our scene.

But if you slip up and called on Most, he ain't gonna bug out. Did we slip up when we had him?

Definitely? Like four times.

I don't think he was great.

He was great.

It's both but you know, and he respects that because that's why he made it smart for us.

So, yeah, we we have we have a crazy record. I'm excited to put out this record as well. Forensics. Yeah, with me and me and y'all scene, it's like nine records. He's done.

Yeah, I'm excited. Shout to Sea or Queen Latifah.

Both need some more juice h.

Q.

Thank you.

Both.

I know them both very well.

Alchemist too, you got a shot.

Queen latif for Jill Scott and I went out on a tour called Sugar Water Tour early two thousands. It was all Queen Latifa's relationships, all of her sponsorships and things. She was doing a lot of stuff covered girl tam facts. She's had a lot of broad relationships that were solid, and she brought all the sponsorship for four and invited

But I love Latifa.

She's a powerhouse.

She got in my ass though when I was late to the studio, Oh my bad.

With no hesitation.

No she did. She said, Hey, I've been waiting here for two hours. You told me you were coming at a certain time and you didn't come. I mean, I don't have time to wait like that. That's not cool. You're going to You're going to fix that before we do anything together. I was like, okay, yes, queen, Yes, she's right.

So like I'm gonna be honest, I must to work because you had the first guest in Drink Champs history that came.

An hour early. Yeah, I was.

I told you. I was bugging like we're all on group chat and they're like, they're here. I don't like, wait a minute, somebody come twenty minutes early. They might come a half hour early, but it's usually ten minutes early.

No one came an hour early.

We was on a hire, like.

I was here.

You know, we don't play that late.

Yeah, Drink Champs man crazy.

We appreciate it early, but that's super early though.

I ain't gonna even lie that.

I was like I was, and so we're always just so we know, yeah early, but yeah was another hour earlier. Yeah, so just so you know, we we we we we judged the guests by uh, what they drink, So we say we're gonna know about what how this this this interview is gonna go and then we always make best on who's.

Going it's gonna come late.

Happened one manist he's coming late.

I said, one.

Maybe I want I want that, but I said, I know having too long, bro like he's coming.

Annoyed, didn't make it. Annoyed didn't.

Know, but.

I didn't know how it was going bet on this one. So we usually get here to make the best. Yeah, I was here.

Before, So who lost the bat?

We get to make the bat because it's usually I'm here.

Our we do it, how we do it.

Yes, you guys got here and our tech messages blew up boom boom boom, and I want to I want to brag about this.

You want to black strong woman get together comes?

Yeah, you like to do sour pepper, you know, just.

Do it black thought or Andre three thousand.

Now you're messing with my child support. I actually thought, y'all gup hit two of.

The babies, listen out the conversation, and I walked the West. I want no parts in this.

That would have been better.

I love that it makes The question is do anything.

Mm hmm?

Well letot you know I got love.

Mm hmm.

But I think I may be one of Andre three thousand's biggest fans outside of being family super inspiring. Now if we're talking about rhyme, that's gonna even be hard too. But y'all going to hell.

Yeah, you guys are going to hell.

Save it's of course I'm gonna have to say. Well, I'm saying andre uh I follow him a little bit tighter than I do.

Uh h.

H h.

I lean more to the creative h h side of art, and I am inspired so much by that. Someone has to say three thousand.

I like how he calls everybody by their real name though, Like, I.

Mean, she has what I'm gonna go both both, Yeah, I'm both let me wish my glass.

We're going to do that.

I can't do that. What do you think black thought is?

You think a lot of people are going to see this nobody?

But do you think black thought is a trillion sounds better than jay Z?

Like, who's saying that?

Well?

I am where was my guy?

Man?

Too much? I think I understand what he was saying.

They tried to.

Run with dad. Yeah, come on now, man, I think I know what he was trying to say. The Trillian thing is the thing is crazy.

If he prefers black jay Z, I understand that could never take.

Yeah, come on are we talking about here?

Man?

That's come on now. That's black thought is a peace. Black thought is insane. He's perfect but we're not.

About black thought the other day doing the freestyle show.

What it was it wasn't not the flex when Yeah, it's like I have to FaceTime.

That's the old one, that not not not a new one.

Right, but still that's still goes around maybe within the year.

Really I didn't see the one within the year.

Okay three years.

Ago, yeah, a couple of years old.

He didn't take a breath. Oh yeah, it went about six minutes.

Yeah, yeah, it was crazy. Yeah, it's sanity. Yeah that was pretty Yeah, Black Daughters, it's hard.

I just I just started out as an MC, so I mean I have That's what I wanted to ask you. I love that I write all my babies daddy's raps. Why y'all left?

What was the rap?

My rap name Apples Apples?

Yeah, I'm not sing Apples.

I am the big Apple, but I'm not from New York.

I thought it was knife Betty.

What oh but nine No, that's just another areas.

Okay, yeah, but you weren't MC for real though, Yeah, carry out thinking, I know I.

Was a singer until I wrote Apple Tree.

That's crazy.

Yeah, you didn't know.

I didn't know that I was that you had it in you. That's crazy singing thing. You know. I was a writer, you know, I like writing literature. Yeah, I used to write raps, but poetry that saw so much.

Hm hmm. It's crazy number on it.

Yeah, Like so would you ever do an all wrap album?

But you know, if you am, you got to keep up with the weather. You gotta. It's a currency. It's a feeling, right, a current, Yeah, feeling.

Some bars on the album.

Might be there, may or may not be some bars on the album. You had to tune in. Okay, Okay, we're gonna we're gonna hear something. We don't have to put it.

Maybe we should let him hear the whole album after this.

Yeah, we have all the time for that.

Okay, Prodigy are biggie.

Mm hmm, rest in peace, We'll get my shot ready, rest and beats.

I mean, impossible to pick. It's not impossible to pick.

You just want to. Let's just if you just want to.

Let's say game is bullshit a meal?

Now, that's when the Mamajuna hits lintenders.

I know, I was like, it wasn't even nothing in that fucking thing. Will we uh, okay, take down questions you might as well bring a couple more.

Yeah, she knows, she knows bulls questions.

So the next bullsh questions is j electronic or jay.

Z having fun doing this?

Don't let y'all know in there looking make me sleepy, to keep.

You up upward.

The words of.

Believe it. Yeah, yeah, I'm not, as I told you that message. With my child support, I can't anything like that. So you out.

Okay, Yeah, that's that's that was great. You can pass it about that. That's a new road.

Matters.

Yeah, because I ain't thinking that I might.

Get mad, but my money don't get mad.

That's a new rule.

You just passed the cello. Oh mm hmm. All right, imagine some new jay Z ship right now. Imagine some new jay Z just saying said wringing on something. He spilled the beans. Yeah, you're working on it. He could have a line. We're going he's working. Then we're gonna throw that energy on them. We're gonna sayd in the studio. No, it happens, it happened already.

Okay, So you suld picked, you picked drink we drink a ready, Okay, you got to do.

Jill Scott or a Lisia.

Keys Jill Scott or Alicia Keys. This is the kind of show that like Tears of friendships, that's not about you can.

Drunk.

It depends on I guess your honesty level.

And you can say a beautiful story about both.

We would love to hear stories.

Can I just tell stories about both?

You gotta pick one one or both. Give you.

Have a shot.

I don't like to pick you sissss. So we just take the shot and then we tell a story. Okay, let's do it shot first, then story. Yes, can we do story first? This show.

You've got a story verson and show you can leave all Well.

My story with Alicia Keys I was it was nineteen ninety seven or eight and Bodyism was going to come out, and I lived in Brooklyn. I had an apartment in Brooklyn, and a woman called me from Universal I think my label, and said I have this young girl, the high school student, and she likes you or I think she said she I just want you to hear the music, whichever way it was, and I heard it and it was Alicia Key singing butterflies on acoustic piano.

Oh wow, before it came out, before it.

Ever came out, I was like, who is this. It was so beautiful and I don't know if I totally shad that, but yes I was. I played it for all my friends and everything as a way to compare myself to you and say, see, this is how we do when we have the you know, And I was trying to level leveraged myself with you because you were so amazing at that point and my music hadn't come out yet either. But I'm want to tell you that Jillie from Philly, we started off a little rough because we were kind of both.

Played a little bit.

I sang a song called You Got Me written by Jill and I never sung a song written by anybody in my life, and it was so amazing that I took a chance to do it because the route said we want you to sing this song. Well, I didn't know it was written by Jill until it was time to win a Grammy, and it kind of invertedly knocked her out of her opportunity to be this first artist with this beautiful music. And I always felt really bad about it, and we've talked about it since then.

How did it knock her out?

Well, because she didn't come out until two thousand and one. I came out in nineteen ninety seven, and I was already a recording artist, and she was a writer at the time, an aspiring artist whose album would come out soon. So when that happened, sometimes I didn't know the writing game and all that.

I just it was a good song. I didn't know she did it, but.

When I when I performed it with the Roots, we want a Grammy.

As well.

And the night, you know, a couple of nights before the Grammys, calm and told me this is the writer of it. And you know, I called her, talked to her about it, and got up on stage and won the Grammy. But I still couldn't help but to feel like, oh my, I wish yeah or something, you know. But that's my Jill story. Me and Jill are real cool now and I love her. She's a great mommy, great friend, great listener. Do yeah, I know Alicia as well, but

She was amazed.

She seemed like she wasn't drunk at all. You know, she drank drinking the ship down and ship I'm sorry, I say both did we drink?

We say both we didn't drink. We didn't. Yeah, I don't know why I'm reminding you.

This is terrible.

You want to take a break big time and going to the flower Time. No, no, yeah, I've seen it. I seen it. I seen that.

Okay, making sure Dead Press or black Star at the DEEPO whoa.

Very Afro centric.

Two different kinds of things though, Okay.

Okay, you can break it down to pass and shout out to my Florida that one. In case want to drink this one, I'm going to go black Star black Star, Okay.

And I think they're both just personally, I think I think it's just a minor age, but they both represent something very important the press, like when they came out President that record was we need it right now?

Really the same kind of energy. Yeah, that's that's uh down south. Yeah, I was in the East Coast.

Yes, yes, things.

They were early on their ship. Yeah, you know, I think Kanye did that beat. A lot of people don't know that which one it's bigger than.

Are you serious?

They did not.

I don't believe that.

Ship.

You know, you would know, you would know. Yeah, I don't know that you'd be surprised. I traveled with dp uh dead press. We traveled around together for about a year. We had shows, but we also were going to community centers and having forearms and you know, reaching out to younger artists, building programs and things like that, food banks and food deserts and and those kinds of things. And and then two thousands, Yes, great works.

Yeah is it?

Yeah, it's in the matrix.

So is that about the time that that Kanye did the People's record.

Was around that time when he was in his back Yeah, yeah, making beets. Yes, hmm, good one, Black Star People. That's a good trivia ef fect. You know who produced top billing massive good trivia.

Let me think milk is chilling audio.

She might get it, she might get it. Molly Map, did they, Sophie? Yeah, Fan, I think you should know this one. I actually and I used to have them on my This is one of the greatest beats at all time of all time. Drum program insane. That's the beginning.

We know the producer, but we did the joint and so who didn't we know the producer.

He's a legend. John bar say that again. Wow, just trying to get us, like, I just take the shot. I want to take a shot for that shout out to Daddy know the greatest beats ever in him. That drum program is mind blowing. We did the zoom with him, Yeah we did. I want to say the shot.

I want that for what to just what Tom did in the beat but not knowing it.

Yeah, but can I tell you this might be just a personal opinion, but I think the people's joint you did, that's one of the best.

Yeah, one of the best. Man. Yeah, great, great time talking that we can come back to that. Uh n w A or Wu tang plan.

Oh my god, that's what I say on the show.

I know this question.

What do we got here?

Just get to drink ready. I think it's not the same. I think it is the same. I don't think it's.

Doctor told me a story about n w A.

When you say doc, you're talking about doctor, Okay, Okay, that's that's right.

He told me that in his understanding and envision that n w A was a political group, was a radical group who was trying to express what America had created through the characters that they portrayed, and where E or Eric was really in this you know, in this world, and it just became something else. But he said, first day, we're trying to balance public enemy.

To me the same on the different sides of the spectrum.

But the sac energy the first yeah, publicli those two.

Drake was a visionary and he definitely took some of the East Coast inspirations and.

Everybody and hip hop at that time was had to take that. That was it's a visionary. Let me correct.

D O c is a visionary.

D O c s That makes a noise with important people, don't.

Drink the most important, very important.

And the fact that he lost his voice and kept writing rhymes for for Dre that's like how that Yes, see his documentary, right.

Have I seen it? I think I'm in it.

Yeah, I know I'm saying yeah, but you know, have you seen his children gave to what I'm saying? How good?

How good that documentary? Like it's it's it's fucking phenomenal, Like it is, like he's a great dude.

His first album, but he seems like a great person like WorldWind, Pyramid, Let the Base Go.

Like in the West Coast, he was like an anomaly, like he was. We were just completely fucked up by that first album, Like.

We didn't know he's from Dallas, neither.

We didn't know that.

There was there was something that happened. What was he wearing. He was wearing the Kings. That's what King's Lauren and Lords. He was in front of that, right right, and that's that's Los Angeles Hockey.

Yes, but there was something that he would say in the album that would say that he was from Texas.

I forget what it was, right, he knew what he was.

I believe he said it, but I believe his his attire was like so much looking like that West Coast that we just assumed.

It it was already, but it was already his style before he left.

He was dressing like that.

He was like he was actually wearing Fela.

Okay, let's made some noise.

We say, oh, yeah, he was already wearing that kind of stuff. He's in Phila. I mean he was. His hats were the same as as the Stallion Boys Crew, right, yes, yeah, he was ahead of his time as a kid, you know. And well, yeah, we opened the Wrap era in Dallas where Cole Chris came up.

Chris. Yeah.

So it was only a few like groups that were like really thriving in that era, but the whole everything was inspired by East Coast, of course, Yeah, but we had our own culture of hip hop and in that culture, d o C reigned supreme and so did Cole Chris. Yeah, and when he got discovered by a man called Doctor Rock who was a DJ. Doctor Rock introduced him to Doctor Drew And as a kid, he's not even fished

Of of what we hear as West Coast rap.

Or in w in the DNA of West the popularity. He was so ahead ahead of time, ahead of his time, game his flow.

We were with DJ Quick in the studio recently.

He came when we were working on the album, and the stuff that he said about d OC was like someone endearing, like he really said the same thing we're saying, Like d OC.

Was pivotal in the West Coast sound comes from so much.

DJ Quick is one of my favorite producers.

Yes and Quick safe to say you got DJ Quick on the album.

He yes, he plays wood block.

He has block.

Quick and he did something really important that expanded my production game. He gave me Overenheimer.

He gave her.

He came to the studio with a keyboard and just gave it to Oberheimen, which is I think you're using on stage with us?

I do, and then the album shout out, quick man, drink chest.

Teacher, all right, Larry jun Or two chains.

Oh you silly, you must be dragging. That's not going by the way, that's not going to happen.

Yeah, drink up. Something to say there.

This is crazy.

We're almost done. We're almost at the finish line. Get us home, Get us home.

Your m TV wraps a wrap city.

You know what TV raps for me? Thanks y Freddy, all day.

Doctor dre Love. That was the beginning of everything. We saw everything. Yeah, I saw all the videos first there shouted Uncle Ralph. Though you know what, I'm Ralph just because.

No, absolutely we didn't get him down here, but we knew the significant VHS tape.

Three more havoc, both of you hazard.

He knows he looks.

Pretty more havoc. What he just wants to get the game.

We could have a conversation, Like.

The conversation and the drinking is kind of like the casual part of me, the stories, and then we're taking all this personal.

They're both so important in everything I do, you know what I mean? Like first first, first it was Premiere. Premiere was my everything, you know, like Premiere. I think any producer could say that as like as an inspiration, like my first beast. You can ask evidence they were fake Premiere beats and he used to be like, no.

No, no, that sounds like rappers are in danger. Not that sounds like whatever. And it was like I had to learn to craft moll stout.

And then later when I moved to New York, I became friends with him, so then of course I can't make a beat that sounds like him, you know what I'm saying.

And then from there it went to Lincoln would have it and Mob Deep and have it. He's a beat.

I can't even say it because you experienced it at the time, Like the Mob Deep days, it was like shit you never saw before, Like they used to be in a studio twenty thirty deep, and he was like a conduit, like a or like he used to come in there drunk.

Ian j throw a.

Diskin and then he would just start making beats in the studio and was it right track, right track, unique d n D And he would make sure live and then his whole crew would just you know, guy, he would be in there swinging his arm and no, he would be wilding and it would be like he was feeding off of the cruise energy. And I swear I learned so much from Havoc, like drum programming, Like if you listen to Burn, that's like a perfect that's a beat mix baseline.

He played that ship on the MP. The guitar.

He played that ship on the MP like he just took one chop and went And I just say that to say, like I used to sit there and just absorb, you know. So both of them are are like are in my DNA?

You know what I'm saying. You can hear it premiere and have it. So pour a fucking drink.

Up, God.

S Blue. I'm sorry we're drinking tonight. Make sure you guys order the mineral water.

And uh, you know it's a good thing. I have, like a ship answered, I have a piece of pea bread in my pocket.

Damn should you want to bite it?

Oh?

My god, great bread, Peter bread.

Some people don't think that we have the I'm little girl.

Scout makes sure bringing it in her pocket to keep up people straight.

Bread.

Here, here, I have a piece of Peter bread.

So dilated people's on Cypress Hills. It's definitely a high question. Where's she at?

Poor up? I'm not thinking between those two, man, those are both families.

Oh my god, pick someone.

You're gonna have to pick.

Okay, who is it?

Dilated people?

Cypress Dilated people are Cypress Hill, Cypress Hill?

Oh, David, Oh, so we're still want of y'all said both?

The ruler again say that, but he could drink a lot.

I'm gonna say Cypress Hill because when I met you, we were on tour Cypreushil nineteen ninety seven. I'm pregnant as hell. Andre three thousand is on the tour. He's an outcast. They're on the tour. There's Parliament from Cadelic on the tour and Cypress Hills on the tour. Far Side is on the tour. Who are you at.

Us?

Yeah, I'm gonna have to say that.

I'm gonna have to Cypress Dilated people's eclectic and beautiful I just don't know the music as well. Some of them choose that what about you, what's say you?

I'm going to go with both yes, because they are both my family. Both. My first beat might have been dilated People's. I think third degree might have been one of my first actual.

Beating official Liquid crew.

We all were.

We were mad there. We were all l A was like a really dope.

Mix and everybody's sounded different at the time, like Will, like Will.

We grew up together.

Will and Evidence were in the group together from that American neighborhood.

Will used to get busted in Man. He told the story over here.

Will was on the west side, hanging out for us, right he did. Will, Will I am, I swear to gun. If he didn't become what he became, it would have been criminal. He was so talented when we were young, like he was.

No.

He used to win the He used to win the deep, the dance battle, the freestyle battle. Because it was a club called Ballistics. Shout to David Faustino Mud Bundy. He used to throw apart in l A Bundy from Yes, Yes, they threw up every Thursday night and in the whiskey.

You look so drunk.

No, No, I'm getting there. Don't worry, I'll get there. I'm saying for real.

Yeah you solid? Okay, good.

The west side of l A was just a dope mixture of sound for side was there?

You had sight? Perce had the underground l A seem like it was dope. We all grew up underneath that. What was the name of like that one club that rast cast talks about. Mr talks about this? Okay, this is.

What was the name of that globe the club Unity? But yeah, l A was a great time. Man shouts all in. Did we take a shot for that? Because he said both if you want right now, Shadow, okay, yeah, that's a ginger shop.

It's the ginger sho.

It was a juice juice bar.

Yes, you ginger. Yeah.

I would love to talk a little bit later.

M Yeah, thank you. I'd love to talk to you later about Yeah. Yeah, I'm an all greenise girl. No fruit, no lemon oh wow, kale celery, ginger, cucumber spear.

Lena can go below.

This is the last one. No, it is last, the last one to get back into the interview. I'm not going to say not. I'm not going to lead the witness don't loyalty or respect.

I mean, okay, loyalty respect.

I'd say respect because you can't have without loyalty, right, I say respect because you can have a bunch of people loyal to you. Who could be dream killers, Yeah, who could be someone who doesn't think you deserve what you have who you are. I say respect. I'd rather be respected in front of me and from a distance, and it's okay, But either way, I don't really care.

But if I have to choose, I'll say I say respect.

How about you? Thank you? Neither neither neither. We shouldn't need anything. We don't need validation, scholar.

I don't think no one ever said neither neither. I don't think.

We don't need nothing.

I don't think no one's ever said that's one of these yeah, yeah, now we got a flower.

Now.

Now, when you look at hard copy, you know, copies, just hard like you know, I'm gonna finish, I'm gonna bad. But when you look at hard copies, does that remind you of a good time in the industry? Or is do we own our masters? Or is it looking at saying man? You know.

Man?

For years, I couldn't listen to the War Report one because I didn't own it, and I just when I would look at it and it was just so much pain and the person I used to be. So when when when you look at these hard copies?

What what? What do you say to yourself?

Ladies? First, Yeah, ship, Yeah, I see a green person who is very fortunate that got an opportunity that a lot of people did not have. I see a partnership between a machine and a singular artist that worked out very well because both of our plans were demonstrated in the collaboration. You know, I got. I wanted people to just hear what I have to say. And I'm not a big money focused person. I don't really care about that. I can tell you that he doesn't think that's very smart.

I'm proud of that work very much.

So how about you out, Yeah, Like I'm like, I'm thankful for the journey, but you know the whole like even looking that's like old mixtapes that was like the Bob Perry days and well, just like give fucking what.

Was that lan?

And it was like I went through so many phases, you know, and then it went from that to Cotch yep. That's how I did my first album, Infantry, And it was like it was so many stages that I had to go through, and it was like one shit started clicking, like like maybe five or six years ago. It was like, damn, I wish. I wish it was like this twenty years ago and I we could have just sped that. But it's like you have to go through those steps.

You have to.

You can't skip any steps, you know.

And I don't know how to explain it, but it's like it's in the process, you know, And it was it was all I learned every step of the way. Like I told you with E I'm just learning new ship, still learning, and it's like I got into the indie stuff and started doing my own thing, and I started realizing, we don't.

Need these companies. They're just giving you money, like we have all the ideas. They're just banks. They're just banks.

Yeah, he told me, Like when I finally I was liberated from my label after twenty seven years. Yeah, and when we were trying to figure out what we're going to do about this album, he said, I'd rather take a loan from a bank, straight.

Real, that's a better deal. The way she thinks is independent. And she was telling me stories every step of the way.

She had to fight the fucking power to label the people, in convinced people, and it was like she had the independent spirit and she won every time.

Every time she told me about the ship she went through, like with with.

Even Tyrone, Like she told me they had to convince the label, like the fucking record on Tyrone.

Yeah, I mean, when it's something new, nobody really knows the vision. But you I mean, it's it's all a part of it, you know, the convincing, it's a big part of it, you know, getting everybody on the same teams. Thank you for all of these beautiful compliments, and that place.

I learn a lot.

But just like he's never said any of this to me.

No, well, that's what we're here for.

But look, as artists, that is not want you go ahead. We see ship, you know, yes, you know what it is. We all created, so we see ship in our mind. And she moves at the fucking speed of light like she'll see shit in her head and start moving in and fill me in later and be like, yo, my bad. And I said, it's okay, I trust you, but I think sometimes the people don't see the shit that you see, and then like, you'll explain some shit to one of

Like, oh, shit is crazy.

And it's like I had to learn how to be humble and just accept it instead of being like I told you you should have listened to me, because that's not classy. And that's what I learned from her too, how to be tasteful and classy and be like, just.

Follow your ideas.

Like every idea she had that was insane, it's worked, you know what I'm saying.

So I realized like how.

To collaborate with somebody to get out the way and inspire their ideas. And it's been it's been a crazy journey.

He's like that across the board though, just with everything, every part of his life. Willing to learn or willing to share, or willing to step down. Sometimes you have a choice between being right or being a good friend. And I see him choosing being a good friend, and it's inspiring to me as well. So I feel you. Thank you for that, thank you for trusting me.

You know it.

I have a bit of erica.

Are you kidding me? This is an amazing collaboration relationship for sure.

When did you start smoking joints with tobacco?

When you went to Amsterdam? Amsterdam? You have a song? What you were saying just got turned out?

He is.

He has never turned back. All right, that's right, that's right.

So our show is about giving people they flowers when they could smell them, they thoughts what they could think them, and they drinks while they could drink them. We want to give y'all both flowers to your face. Snoop said, it's better than overdue.

It's honor man, this honor man. I appreciate you.

This is yours.

Let me see what you get.

Ericau, thank you man, thank you, thank you.

It's a champion flower base. This is so special.

No, thank you, guys, thank.

You so very much. I want to bring you guys something to it sold out, it is sometimes it sold out whenever I say it is, oh ship.

Damn Sonny, you got the wrong Google. She just drops whenever she wants she do a drop.

Yeah, okay, So it's kind of when when I think you deserve it basically okay, it's bottle pussy instance, and the people talking about it on your show Lives, Yes, talk about it.

You're gonna like one.

I'm going to like one right now.

I can see this I bought, I brought the torch.

Help me out.

Okay, we like it to be like that. Yeah, definitely.

Sold out everywhere else.

So so that is like a question, this is the point where everything will change. Let you know, everybody got seriously jokes and ship everybody got real serious relas joking relax.

So well, entertainment is like have a product to sell, and you know, some people sell liquor, some people sell you know, marijuana, some people sell shoes. So what what what what.

Made you want to do incense, And then the sentence.

The answer, yes, I understand, I understand the question. Okay, Well, incense and candles and things have always been a part of my esthetic. I did not create it, any of it. It was just a part of you know, if you came into my world that that's what's happening. But I've always been associated with candles and incense. And then there was this urban legend, of course, as you all probably know about that, my pussy make niggas change gods and jobs. I don't know why didn't No, I heard it all

Is it.

Have you heard that before?

I've heard that.

Did people tell you when they meant me not to look me in the eye? See these are things.

That I see.

Did you see where my friend went in to get the vinyl autographs.

Of the room sweating? He said like, oh my god, that was so very difficult.

That is so funny. What a legend can do? You know, a legend that I make men change jobs and gods. Come on, that's only half the legend. Women too, children and animals, any living breathing thing. I feel cheated on that legend because they didn't tell the whole story.

Everything everything.

I'm not sure we're talking about the.

I don't know what we're talking about either, but we're talking about everything.

Taking a shot.

Taking already, but everything. You guys want to drive my ship.

It's drink Champs, y'all, ain't no champs.

Say something I knew. I knew when you older.

But that's that's what it up with it.

So that's an urban legend.

You're saying.

You know that it is about this. You've heard everybody come on your show and say this type of thing about me, right.

So what is true and what isn't true?

Erica, Well, I don't think the magic lies between my thighs. I think it lies between my ears. And I think that's hard for people to understand or accept that.

Is a mental connection.

Perhaps, yeah, it's mental. It has very litt to do with any of these other things. But I think it's a good thing to sell a bottle puts the instance, because I think I'll all deserve it.

Sunny he said it sold out twice.

Oh more than that.

You can get it more than that, baby bout you.

We've been trying to get it for a long time we wanted to support you.

Well, now you have it, will you.

Give it to him?

Now he's never gonna bring it back.

I'll make sure I give you one to thank you very much.

I'll make sure I get three sticks to Boris.

Because the first thing I walk in the door, it is like your boys, man, you know what.

I'm not gonna put it all on boards because obviously I sent Borys in to get the autographed.

So I was like, oh, go ahead, Brod.

Do you do you think do you think people meet you and are are nervous of that? Like like you said, people get nervous of that, your presence, like you said, people tearing your world apart, like people saying like people say, don't don't don't look you in the eye, like.

Breaking up your happy home? What is it?

What's talking about? More specific?

That's what they say, Like they say that about Janet Jackson, about Janet Jackson too, they say that Jason Cary tells you don't look at Janet's eyes.

You never you never heard of that. I heard that, Nikim and I and they would saying.

Look, well maybe it's a lot of us then more than you think. Okay, yeah, but I think the urban legend kind of comes from just being a creative person. Yeah, creative who is fearless, and it is saki okayak.

All of what I just said, I think, Mama Juana goes more with the conversation.

With the conversation, it.

Is for you moment.

I don't even know what I was saying just now. You said, I trying to say, the urban legend is what it is because there's something happening here. There's something happening here. When I get into the lives of of guys, something happening here. Do you see the pattern? No, you don't see the pattern. You're fired.

We do see the pattern.

Okay, Well, this conversation is over because I don't know where it's going. All I'm trying to say is I'm giving a gift to body pushing incense, and I want everyone to enjoy it. I enjoy making them and enjoy sharing them. And you said, but you didn't make it make what make it? I made the incense, but I didn't make the legend. The legend made itself.

So the big question was, without being crude, how is it made? How did the smell come about?

How did the smell come about will.

Most guys say that my vagina smells like strawberries and gunpowder.

Man, it sounds like the sounds like a nice place in the wild, wild West.

So I tried toplicate there. You know, I don't know, that's what they say.

I don't know, she said, I don't know where they.

Getting strawberries from. But yeah, that's what they say. So I try to do picase smell strawberries and gun powder, and I hope that I'm doing that.

J all right, answer your questions, because they had all kinds of reasons of how you got it together, and it got weird.

It got weird, got real weird.

They were like they didn't have someone make their hands their hand up.

He got a question.

We're here, God, come on for Haiti bro.

No, maybe not, because he's gonna up come here and sign here.

He listen, listen that candle is it's not a candle. I mean sorry, I was staying and I would definitely use those every day in my house for the rest of my life.

Go sit down the legend.

For the rest of his life, he said, He said, strawberries and gunpowder for the rest.

Of his life.

That's what it is.

Oh, man, that was amazing.

How would legends get started? I don't know, something's happening.

Though something has definitely happened something. And early on you worked with Tom Ford. Yeah, Like, how did that come about?

Tom is also from Texas, is a designer, and he reached out. He's from Houston, Texas, Austin, Texas. He started out in soap operas as an actor, but he reached out to us and he had a campaign called White Paculi. He wanted me to be the face of it, and I thought it would be really fun. It was the first kind of campaign thing that I did. Like that,

Director of Gucci.

Where it comes from, Well, he came from himself, but he was hired as the creative director of Gucci and then to his own brand and for very classy, very cool.

Were you the first artist he collabed with?

I'm not sure about that.

Yeah, And then you had a collection come out with Yeah.

After that yeah, Marnie, same thing. The brand reached out and wanted to collab. Francesco Riso and I became very very good friends because of our same kind of creative eye and art and and fashion and shape and sculpture, and that's how that happened. And we did a really really cool line, very short run, but very fun things. He used all my aesthetics basically and created a line and gave me permission to create with him, so it was his world.

Yeah, what do you love more? Fashion or music?

I love art. All of it takes the same process. Yeah, I have to be doing it making something. Yeah feels good to me. It's my therapy.

Both of them fall under art.

Yeah, I would.

Anything that you're creative. Yeah, I came here. How much you drink? I would have never thought you came here to drink?

But he's in.

He's a smoke really but you know, keeping up.

He didn't drink the whole thing though she called you out.

You gotta drink it, bro. Now I get to that man, you feel refilm.

That was the guy.

Let me let me go into this record because I wanted to go into this record. So I got the test press of it. A bang bang, this is the test press.

How the funk you have that come on?

You know?

And this cause there was a lot of controversy when it came out, and I remember you showing it to me in the studio when you got I think you got the mix here in Miami at Criteria, I believe.

Okay, And I mixed it in Criteria. No no, no no, I think you got it.

We got it.

I went to the studio you were playing records and then booming and you playing You was.

Like, this is going to be bananas when it comes out, and it was Foxy talking about what she was talking about. Did you know when you made the beat when the record was made?

Because you didn't make Quiet Storm, right, I haven't made a quire storm.

But I remember the session for this for Bank Bank because I came to the studio.

And one thing about Nori, like anytime we ever.

Worked, it was always so easy because it was like the second beat that I played, it was never more than two beats. He was like, that's it, put that ship up, let's go. And I remember that day I came to the studio and I played that beat. He was like, put it up, and then he was like, yeah, this is hard. I'm gonna get my little sister on this. And he went on the phone in the studio phone.

I don't know what the fuck he was calling. He called Foxy. You didn't know it was called no Idea Aead.

She must have been in the neighborhood because she was there in like fifteen minutes. He must have been death Jam somewhere. She fifteen minutes, she pulled up beach playing. She wrote like three different rhymes and I'll never.

Forget to see see she three rhymes, and.

Then Johnathan Lighty came through because I had to go leave to go to another session. I think it might have been even the dude, We're gonna make it with Jada, but we stayed.

Come on, we stayed. It was the same time, it was the same era.

Well, we stayed and waited, and she went in the move and laid that rhyme and I was.

Like she she went in there with bis yes, like like like because I sold just in case.

The stage the stage, Yeah, because I didn't know.

All of us helped her understand what happen. So Little Kim and Mob Deep Drops, Quiet Storm remix. Right, this is the remix of quemix the remix. Excuse me, I'm bad Foxy At the time, I considered my sister right, so I finally she was like, yo, let me get on the record with y'all, because like we're mob Deep's competition, but we're like not their competition, but but we're trying to be up there right so here and it's like

In my mind, like I.

Was like, oh, and I just have never seen nothing like that, especially from a female. And I wouldn't. I wouldn't. And the beating is like I wouldn't edit a man, so I wasn't. I couldn't edit her, you know what I mean. I couldn't be like, yo, chill, don't say that. So it was it was weird because like she just puff on and ship like.

She just went crazy. She just even have to do with nothing. Let me REI the mill Man. I was like, oh, when you showed me the record, you were uncomfortable. Yeah, he was uncomfortable. I really was controversy.

Stop, Like, I don't know the hook Bang Bang Bank.

Is one of the best records before, but but we had I have it on.

Here last week and I just had to tell him.

I was like, yo, bro, if I had to, if I had like.

A more of a like.

Idea of where life was going, I would have asked.

Foxy to calm down a little bit.

I would have asked, but I didn't even know how to because I was like, she came in just like and then she had three.

Different ones.

Because I don't want to.

The moment she went was the one. Though I loved.

Making making I loved making the record with Foxy, but I do regret making that record because you still regretted to the leg to a lot of drama. Let's unnecessary problems.

Obviously this is a regional thing.

Yeah, this is it. Yeah, because you have no idea what we're talking about.

But it's an interesting though.

Yes, and I asked you what you like more performing or or recording.

Yeah, it's it's different things. But I prefer performing. Thus why we did this tour this way. A lot of times as artists we have to wait. Like myself, I'm a performance artist. That's I came from the theater theater.

Yeah, I got that in my notes.

Yes, I majored in theater in high school and in college HSBCU, I did Grammlin State University GEUS.

I can't say that, right you round upon right?

Ought you knew what college is that. I went to Grammley and State University, Louisiana HBCU.

I majored in theater there, and I did that also in high school.

I was.

I had a lot of fun acting and creating. You know, I forgot the question though, what was the full question? Do you remember?

Ship?

I forgot too, I was. I was into your answer.

H What do we say performing or perform recording?

I prefer performing.

I think recording gives you an opportunity to perfect a moment, where performing gives you an opportunity to just create a moment. That's why we don't have any cameras in our shows, or the press can't have any uh equipment, They can only have.

Digital What was it.

You said, You said disposable cameras.

Yes, we want to be able to create that moment, to stay in your mind and urge the audience to write about it, you know, because I think that it's very special, takes us back to another time, and I love performing a lot. It's where I get the immediate response from the audience. It's kind of like we become one living, breathing organism together. It's a feeling that cannot be duplicated anywhere else, not even on an album. Yeah,

But performing is just once. It's only that time.

No cameras is crazy.

It's like the lyricist lounge type of thing, right, but.

Does it No, It's it's actually better because the crowd is completely.

You forget because we can't from the era.

When it was no phones, right, and forget it when you when you do showing now with no phones, niggas.

Can't catch nobody crowd surfing with them phones right.

Hard you try to jump in with the phones, they.

Had to like protect the phone for.

So let me ask, because we live in real time, right? We live in real time?

Right?

So meaning like you know, you guys can perform a new album and can see there's great reactions to certain songs, but there's like subtle reactions to other songs. Do y'all live in real time and say, let me chuck this song or let me like replace this or what do you do like? Or do you stick with it?

Like?

How does this go? Because we live in real time, really, we can switch the record like and an album could be live in a sense now.

Yeah, so I haven't experienced any of that yet. Everyone is so present because there are no phones that you are absorbing every single thing, you know, and we're doing the same thing too. We're absorbing the audience's reaction and becoming even more inspired by that. What do you think?

Yeah, not changing nothing, but and is it live band or DJ?

It's like a mix okay, so we like nobody's heard anything before anyway, playing with some of the beats live, you got to see it. But like, like, like performing with her is something I've never done, Like I've done DJing, I've wrapped once.

I got on.

We we went first before the store, we went to Japan. We did perform. We did a whole tour in Japan, just practiced. And the crew is called the Cannabinoids. First of all, shout out to the cannabin.

S.

One job born, Rob Free.

I don't I don't want to see anybody are seeing you know what I'm saying, Leon Brother.

It's a crew.

Listen.

She has the most talented motherfuckers on stage with her.

We're all we're all digital band.

We've been performing together for a long time and Alchemists came in and just became one part of the thing.

So she has aliens on stage with her. Everybody on stage is like, I feel like an imposter because I'm just I'm just triggering.

So like that's fair.

We went to Japan first, We did a chour in Japan. We did, and when we went to Japan, we didn't play the new album. We played like two songs.

Maybe play two songs, two singles.

That were testing out the theory of what just.

Out like our chemistry because we performed totally live on digital instruments.

But you guys had never been so you were that's what you're like it out. It's a band like her crew to cannabinoids. They are insane. It's everybody has their own like production station.

Were you intimidated by that? Of course everybody is like insane, understand.

That, but you know, once he gets out there, she.

Pushed me like, okay, shout out to exile, shout to a rad beats you know about the like PC, right, I've never done that. So when she had the idea, she was like, I want you to play on your MP and trigger the beats and like join in with us.

I was nervous, you know, because that's not my world. But she she's the type. She said, you're gonna be You'll be ayad.

And we went to Japan and it was insane, like, I'm playing beats out the n P I never played before.

Triggering ship in sync. Well, the best one is playing the drums.

Job Warren is playing the drums did of course, but.

You know what she told me. You know what she told me, if you fuck up.

Keep going. She's from the jazz. Well that's analog. She fuck up, she's jazz and theater. So she told me from the gate, if you fuck up, just keep going, pick it up, just keep doing.

Just no fuck ups.

Yeah, everyone knows what you're doing.

Right. The audience is a nose that gave me because you are weird than the audience nose. I've never done it, so it gets me confidence, you know what I mean.

And he's amazing on stage. I wouldn't know that you've never done that before.

Never.

Yeah, and it seems like such an amazing collaboration.

Yeah, we have so much fun.

It was great. And now the tours now is like we were able to go to Japan first and like tune it up.

Now we're playing the whole new album. You should probably go back to Japan and give them the other the now the refined version.

We'll do that too, you know, we're playing it by ear. I'm a very intuitive artist and I'm just lucky to have people around me who are patient with my pace as I am creating. And you have been that so much, and I thank you and the Canalinoids and all the other members of my Badu world, thank you so much. It's a labor of love. Everybody sacrifices so many things too. You know, when you have a head like I don't

So did I name it like a new group or it's not. It's like, it's just.

I'm a live performer. So what people know about Eric Ibadu are these albums. But what I do for a living is perform live. I put out an album when I have something to say. But for the past thirty years, I've been performing eight months out of the year with no brief I have never taken a vacation. Wow, because it's what I do and I've been traveling the world doing that. It may not get a lot of press or everything, but I don't need a validation of that.

That's what feeds my therapy.

It feeds, it feeds me. I don't have to feed off of others because I have that, and that's what I do.

Can we see a future in a second project?

I see so many projects, so many different other things. He's a genius, and he doesn't want to talk about it. He's trying to play this sweet old ship. I don't know.

This man is a fucking beast.

I gotta go the restaurant.

Yes, yes, they know me.

Yes.

So do you see another project?

Y'all working on a project?

It's yeah, it's a I'm saying new beasts all that.

About.

Let me just say this, man, it's been a fucking long time man.

How long have you been working on that fun the album? What do you saying album? It's been a long time. I came to drink camps one time and I.

Was a visitor and you didn't say.

You guys are in that fucking Orion's was old. It was that it was with earthquake.

Yeah, he just he came through. But listen, let me just say this man, I known you a long time.

Bro.

You we made history. We did all that.

This ship y'all got is special and I'm glad that I was able to be a part of it.

It has been a long time.

Man.

Shout the Drink Champ All right, what kind don't forget you made the Drink Champs record. He was just hearing the work drink around the office. Did you know that? Let me let me tell you how real nor is take a shot. Let me just shot.

Yeah.

I did the original beat for the Drink Champs beat. Yes, right now, the Drink Champs beat in the place. It was a song called Drink Champion here in my studio. Defeat was for we Originally me and Norri did it. It was like Carton said, Yo, little Wayne. He was Wayne Wayne. He was just goddamn God, was so gangster. He said, I don't give a funk beat, and we're good, and I have a picture. I did a contract for one dollar.

One dollar because we had to put some money under contract, and we cut it for one dollar for the other remix for Drinks Camps. That's what I say, Bro, I appreciate you because that was one of my biggest records.

Man, Wayne, you want friend, and you called me, he said, Lil Wayne.

I was like, yo, you got to do that. Just swist the beat and that's it. Like it was quite more mad than him though.

Oh yeah yeah.

It was like drink second.

That's the thing we were saying at the time of the studio record.

This was show, but the second bet, the second was It wasn't.

A it was waiting for the podcast was a night idea for everything.

But like yo, I just want to say, man, I appreciate you.

I love you, bro, man. I appreciate you for letting me live.

I appreciate you holding me that. Remember that's my that's my that's my little son that I brought.

To your studio.

He's older now, yeah, yeah, yeah, remember he was little that my wife brought them to studio and we played ping pong all day and you know your organic wine.

I appreciate I love is a staple, man.

I like it. Man.

I appreciate why you doing this? Love the game. I got my partner.

Listen easily, both of y'all separately, Like Eric could be here by herself. We needed her by herself. You by yourself, Yes, but this is amazing together. Yes, yes, I appreciate y'all.

Both. So you're not change the group like you know how like Bruno Mars and what you called they named the group. You're not gonna name different. It's just it's what is it? Abby, Al that's the name of the album. Abby Allen know named the group bad too. I followed her, Lady, she's my fear of this, this leader. Okay, you know what I'm saying.

It seems like that's what's happening.

Okay, all right, yeah, Now who you think got more hats?

Alchemists or you and what?

Like hats just like the words you know, he's saying.

No, we don't have no hats, real hats, like real like hatt because you guys are because I don't remember seeing Alchemists without a hat never never, And I don't.

Remember seeing throw it out there.

I haven't seen you without a hat in a long time.

I understand.

Okay, So, so who you think has more hats?

We not. We don't separate that anymore. Our hats are one.

One happened equal hats.

Okay, it's just our hats now.

That's because of Abby and Al And it's kind of like we don't try to fight about it. Anymore.

At first, we.

Did you know we would.

Established Christopher Columbia, Chris Columbia, Columbia is.

Columbius is crazy.

So you have this represent before.

But she had a crazy outfit she wanted me to wear that was like it looked like a mixing and Luigi.

Okay, I thought you would be really cute and it was really.

Pressing.

I thought you she is a style king.

I follow her lead. Okay, it's nobody, but not in the c Let me just say. Let me just say this. There's nobody Ilert in the whole fucking world with.

The lepar tites. Not for me, not for me.

I'm just saying, I can't you got wearing Leopard.

He is good in everything. He's like sample size ladies. Anything else too big?

Oh ship, I ever heard of my life like.

A strong like six seven sample size. And I tried things on him and he lets me a couple.

Of crazy faces. I had the yeah, are you suspended?

And I'm not gonna get mad if he doesn't like it, as long as you let me try to take a picture.

You just take a picture.

The album cover you're gonna throw, You're gonna throw on that ship.

You don't know what's gonna happen for the album cover.

You don't know?

Yeh, so you got young divisions for the alcohol he leaves man. Okay, no, but come on, but.

If he tells me something like, hey, this makes me tell it, Toby, I don't. I don't push it. I don't push it.

I wasn't ready.

I couldn't see wearing some crazy ship now thatt Ill style, very subtle.

That want to laugh.

Yeah, we'll take a shot for ours.

You see them over empty shot?

You see the mobs, this one that.

She did, you get She's a good deal. So your meal. Here's the super major question. This is a super major Wait what you didn't pour that?

I'm looking right at you.

You're not going to be.

Looking over me? Is this major?

I'm looking at you, looking at me.

I'm looking at you. I'm looking at you. Go and drink and see all too shot?

You did not?

Absolutely did anybody see that? Yeah, okay, we ain't gonna argue about this show. Yeah it's okay, I see it.

Okay, okay, but you have to drink.

Some of this is fully independent. This album is fully independent.

Yes, that's amazing, but not so Who's disbute beauty, though you don't distributed disabuted like you.

Can be invidio, but still you have distribution.

It still you have to have distribution.

Are using the empire you I'm not gonnswer watching until you use the right terminology.

You know it's Les Lex, right, I just listening. So who's the distribution?

We can't really discuss.

Why you take over.

Distribute to discusion.

You say you just the ship. This ship is amazing.

You don't have to worry about that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, all right, you're worried.

And then are we looking at a date? If we have a date or no?

Yeah, we do have to day.

It's late this month, right, Yeah that sounded like forgotcha, bro. She's like, yeah, yeah, whatever, buddy, Yeah yeah you gotta I thought I heard the twenty eighth.

No it's on the way something like that.

No that means not this month.

No, it doesn't mean that.

I could tell I can tell stop this.

Is it this month?

If it comes to the show.

No, you find out we say you guys in this like we say everything in the show.

Thriller, take a shot for the show. No, absolutely not the show.

I know you can't got this is my last one.

When is the show gonna be? When is this gonna be over?

Twenty four hours? We got right here, episode me have ten hours left. What is your favorite song to perform for this album or just period period period.

Other side of the game from Bodyism. You look, you're not familiar with that album.

I was gonna be wrong.

You think it's gonna be Tyron.

I think Tyrone is my least album to perform. The song, yeah, yeah, perform. I think it's the most popular one, and people yelled it out in the middle of ship.

Shut the fun up. I don't want to do that. I'm not like, shut the fuck up kind of in your mind a little bit.

I'm just like, shut the fuck up.

I just said kind of in your mind kind of that sounded like that a little bit in.

Your mind in my mind a little bit. Yeah, I don't.

Yeah, Tyrone is so popular that I've written all these really thoughtful lyrics over all time, and it seems like a joke God is playing on me. Right, Called tyrone is what they want to hear. We don't care about that. We want to hear called tyrone. So it's hard to get out of the call tyrone box or any of any kind of box when people really enjoyed and championed what you've done. But working with Al has given me an opportunity to at least be seen in another light,

Place to say it. But in his world, I'm writing Al's wave right now.

Really, I think we got to say it again as a producer, Erica as a producer, yes, yeah, it always be too many together on the album.

Like I was about to play her beat, she was like, let me see that ship came to the NPS, started pressing keys, and I was just like, yo, go ahead, and she remixed the beat that I made, like like your beat ain't ship, and made.

Don't do that.

Effect it's on the album, Like, she made a whole different beat to it. And then I played my beat and she was like, I like this one too. I enjoyed.

I enjoy making beats, I enjoy creating, and I felt safe in that space with you because unfortunately, you know, I'm in a room full of dudes and some girls, but it's very hard to be in a left brain game as a girl, you know, because I enjoyed it just as much and.

I am just as good.

M h.

Literally yeah, And you.

Don't get to really say that a lot because not a lot of people are like Alchemist, who knows that he has a history of beautiful things behind him and that me saying that I love what I do doesn't take anything away from him. And that's you know, it's a different kind of thing that I've dealt with in my life. In this world of music, it's a very left brain, male dominated thing, and I get it. I also respect it, but I'm also here, I also have something to say in this space. Yea, in this space.

Yes, yeah, Oh, how did you come up with Alchemists? Because when she was talking, that's that's I never thought of that.

It was like a friend when I was young gave me the name and then based on the book. Nah, that book is great. Yeah, it is a great book to read. That book. It's a great book.

Great, you can read it one night.

In my life, you can read it one night. Yeah. No, it's an easy book to read. Yeah, great book.

Yeah.

Yeah, but I take it serious, you know what I'm saying.

But someone just said call yourself, my friend. Yeah, rest in peace, my man Bernard. Yeah, it was like, that's your name, alchemist.

But did you know what that meant over time? You know what I mean? Not in that moment.

No, no, okay, it sounded good, right, was it when you and the Hooligans after that, like a couple of years after, but he was around us around those days.

Yeah, so we can't bloss over the Hooligans. That was early listen early.

You don't understand how long I was going through my records to find the Hooligans records that I have.

I have that record, Yeah, I have doubles. Yeah, ef I e eighth EFN is a hip hopologist. I could not get it because I have my records spread amongst my crib, my home office, my my fucking living room, my outside office, the studio.

I couldn't find. And if I'm pissed right now. And I have the stickers too as well. That was the stickers getting signed as whack. So I'm gonna bring the stickers.

But the Hooligans early days, you know, I was rapping and you know, uh boy, Tommy Wyn, what are you just like?

Who?

Absolutely?

Theligan is amazing man, shots shots, don't get fired yo.

And first of all, who's your partner in the hooligans again? Sky Scott comm Yeah, my brother.

Yeah, you guys know who that is. Yeah, you we met him at the Juice Bay.

We hung out. Yeah, I was bugging er yeah, Lemon actress back then.

That I want to thank both of y'all, man, because I don't know. Did you have to do an interview yet together?

Nothing else?

Just the first in this is special.

This is your first interview together. Oh my god.

Like I wanted to brag on Twitter it's so bad, but I was like, you know what, I don't even want somebody to hate on me.

No, no, no, no no.

This is the one time, you know, every guest that we go on, I go on Twitter and I asked it, but do you have any questions?

But I don't want.

I was like, I'm listening to the algorithms and I'm saying, IM gonna skip that question on Twitter because I go on black Twitter and it's not it's not the best.

Sometimes what you ever go on best?

Yeah?

Yeah, I love it.

I love it, but it's very negative.

Jo, It's very it's very negative.

It is so some positive and hilarious and it's hilarious.

So you're going you go on black Twitter. I look, can I go on? Listen? I really need to claim black Twitter like like it's it's like a it's like a it's a really different place.

This regular Twitter. Right, I'm just being honest.

I'm not trying to be on any particular.

Twitter, right, but when you go on Twitter, you gotta.

Go on Twitter. Yes, I guess I'm on black Twitter. So I'll be getting canceled.

Everywhere.

I heard you say that. I heard you say that that you felt this was a year ago or nine months ago that you said that you felt like it was tough to be an artist because of this cancelation thing. Do you feel still feel like that?

Like, I think it's the kind of equilateral against across the board. Now you know where the fans have just as much. Say I want to say fans to say that, I want to say the people who are responding to the music in the art. It's not just fans, it's human beings who are very intelligent. When we are on equal playing field, everyone is the celebrity.

So right, even the fan fan can't be Yeah, So.

If you choose to play that game, then you are willing to be challenged in some type of way or be held accountable in some type of way. And it's not a bad thing, you know, because everyone keeps growing and learning and talking and dialoguing. And the purpose of my art is to create dialogue. That's what I want to do. I want could be chaotic, but guess what it sells. Bottle puts the in sense, oh ship about said you didn't hear the bottom.

An aggressive cub.

It sells this.

So whether the people are talking about negativity or positively or in any kind of way, it's going to create a dialogue that will lead you directly to my pussy. This is just the way it goes.

And I'm so sorry, but Buster Rhymes wouldn't like that either.

No, he doesn't.

I mean, what is it?

It's just a word, pussy? What's the word? I mean, it's I'm so sorry I didn't create it.

Listen, just stop being worried about pussy.

Man.

We we just did a wellmans retreat and we couldn't even curse personally, curse. You couldn't take it.

We couldn't use the N word every time we did it. Buppy, I think it was not the word.

Pussy, but y'all couldn't say nigga.

I don't think pussy came up, mister. I'm gonna be honest with you.

I think but we were, you know, we were jogging, we were doing things, but it was unnecessarily in words being thrown out there. So every time you say an N word, we had to have to do fifteen burpees and uh we all stopped.

Saying that because she didn't want to do the exercise.

Damn the Yeah, but that is Christmas.

She don't want to exercize, like you just didn't.

Want to do this. But shouldn't that be the month frame? Like how you're going to exercise and still have a filthy mouth and we're going to be We want to be well missed.

We want to be you want to be better.

We want to drink.

You know, you say this as just as a human, as Erica, as a person. Filthy is relative any word we are, any word, it's relative. I mean, funk is a great sentence, enhandswer no matter where you are, She's a great adjective.

Yeah, all right, I never thought.

I know you don't. You never thought a lot of things. We can build a whole wear all the.

Ship you have. I'm taking the shot because I think that that's what I take.

Your wish you okay, and you're not skipping record.

I'm to stop.

That's at one point.

Hold on, let me get my man one on together together. I'm an escapist.

Will never stop.

Mm hmm. You gotta sure, Mohanna.

I'm not gonna be white. This is what you're trying to do, but we not.

I'm not trying to do it. Come and hang out, no, Satan. So let me ask you, do you still do you still love this game? Hell?

Yeah you do.

I want to end.

It's a sport to most of us who are really creative, who create every single day. Every day I make something in the studio, whether it's a beat or music or a piece of art.

That's how buster is.

Yeah anything. Yeah, it's a sport to us. And it's a friendly competition because we love the competitors. We love who we are levering, leveraging ourselves with. So it's a it's a sport.

I like the sport.

Yeah I did. It keeps me on my a game.

Yeah do you still love the sport? Of course? Every day everything you're better like I'm still. You know what I mean.

I want.

I'm going to sit to me. I think we can make somebody any time. Every time we work a new CNN listen.

I just did because you know, we've got a run club. I did a run club, so I know when componere age because we've been trying to do it's just hasn't been together.

But a little bit.

That's what I do. It's eventually do a little bit. We're gonna do it right now. We're in the house, boy, and have fun.

Just go.

I'll have a couple of drinks with you, guys. Okay, A couple of drinks.

A couple all right, that means we gotta do it.

So in a certain way related that you came today. Yes, yes, thank you, thank you so much. We're honored.

Yeah, I've enjoyed myself today. I appreciate you guys.

I'm gonna take a shot for you enjoying yourself.

You don't have to, that's okay.

I will drink absolutely.

I definitely don't want to mix these two things.

I get I get I get it, I get it. But I just want you to try.

Black folks who don't do that. Black folks don't do that don't make drinks.

Listen, Latino people don't do everything you clear.

Time I ever drank in my life, I was in my forties.

I'm now in my fifties.

The first time you drank fellas? Wait, wait, the first time you drank?

Yeah, I was in my forties and it was with Ringo Vershod Tomblin, Dice Smith, that's a mouthful, and Thundercat. We were on tour together, all of us, and we were in a hotel and they had a mini bar and I was like, well, hey, I just want to try drinks.

Wait, Erica, you never drank until that point.

No, I didn't into your forties my forties.

Yeah, and psychedelics or so psychedelics.

Well, I started everything pretty late. Yeah, I was really very very pretty.

Didn't psychedelics or something.

No, okay, never until my forties all of that.

Well, we're sorry for that's okay.

I missed out. I'm catching up.

No, I shouldn't do this either.

Yeah, you mean I'm in my fifties now.

Yeah, Well fuck drink champs.

I'm fine.

Now.

I mean this man is he on y'all side? What you're trying to do?

Manson? He's not he wears no hats.

Well, I'm drinking the point.

Goddamn, I can't get this fucking mic to work. I think the poison is sucking up my mic.

And I'm fine, but I didn't start to drink to about my forties. And the first time was with a Thundercat and Ringover Shot Tom and Dice Smith. We was on tour and we there was a mini bar and we had a mini bar and I was like, okay, yeah, all my kids are like, go on, take care of so now I can kind of be who I am.

Forties you're trying to get some raidings.

I don't whooping your ass. Later on, in our forties, we're crawling, and then we crawled down the hall. We're in the the hotel was called the The Park Hotel. It's in La It's popular. Artists stay there. And we run into Spliff Star. It split yeah, bust runs with slip Star throws what's going on? I said, we're doing a fire trill.

And you need to know the route to go.

So he got behind.