And this drinks chess, motherfucking podcast makes he's a legends every Queens rapper.
He ain't agreed as your boy in O r E. He's a Miami hip hop pioneer. What up his dj E f N?
Together they drink it up with some of the biggest players you me and the most.
Professional unprofessional podcast and your number one source for drunk drinks chants.
Mother posty days, New Year CST.
It's time for drink Champs.
Drink up mother? What a good bee hoping to me? This is your boy n A O n A A one up his dj E f N and it's drink Champs. Yeah.
And when we started this show, we started this by saying that we wanted to give flowers to the people who came before.
So people who paved the way for us.
But people who are set, you know, all their market in this hip hop game.
You know what I mean?
Uh, these people in front of us are icons. They are more than legends. They are tycoons. I was so happy when we get to call that we get a chance.
To interview us. So I want to do something.
I want to do something personally, because we never had more than.
Three artists at the time. So I want to pass them and let them introduce theyselves.
We know the name of the rest of developmental know, I go create it to a question that to this, but I want everybody to introduce theyselves.
You know what I'm saying. You gotta talk to the ladies because we were Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's why I land, right, Okay, let's go, okay, okay, yeah, JJ buget from the at LS. What's up?
This is for Rita a baby?
Oh la okay, I'm one love okay, and speech from everywhere from because when you google you, it says Milwaukee, but you lived in Atlanta, but you got a soul named Tennessee.
I was.
So, so let me ask all of y'all collectively as a group, how much do we hate to show arrested development?
You're correct?
Google?
And that came up first, like me, bother. It bothered me so much. I was cursing about I don't even notice it, you.
Never saw it.
I was like them, we were talking about that earlier, right, because actually my very first album.
Was called component Oriegga right.
And and what I didn't know is when I signed my name, excuse me, when I signed for the deal, I signed my name.
So that's why my next album, if you look at it, says n On right.
Because I was in the process of buying back by name.
I didn't even know you could sell your name. I would say, that's how naive I was. So let me ask y'all.
Because you guys got Grammys, we're gonna go through all that. But how did like because I asked g Depp right, and g Depp was sitting right here and Lil Wayne had sampled this record, and I said, Gepp, how did you feel about that? And he said, on one hand, he enjoyed it because it was a new generation paying homage, right, But on on another hand, they didn't even have to clear it with him. So I want to ask all of y'all, like, you know, because you're all arrested Development, is that?
Like?
How does how did that feel? When you first heard? It?
Felt confusing because we heard it at the Super Bowl so day, many many years ago.
Wow, And the announcer said, and.
Coming up next is arrested Developership and I'm looking like, no, we ain't coming up.
So I didn't get it.
And it was a TV show, so I was confused to announce the TV show at that day, never announced it.
First time announced it. They were saying it was coming on Monday or whatever, or tonight. Actually they were saying it was coming on tonight.
And I was confused and so much the commentators on the super Bowl it was like you about the band, and it's like, no, it's a TV show. And so I found out that way and I was like, what's going on, Like I never heard of this. I don't know what's going on. So yeah, then we we sued them.
Right, oh yeah, all right, so look look so I would make you feel better, let me go away.
I feel better.
I didn't know my record Superdug was in answerage who I watched Entourage.
So yeah, so listen, everybody feel good. We don't like the result of that lawsuit, were you.
We settled out of court.
We settled out of court, but they we had the name trademark, so they want supposed you know, that we had a trademark.
They were not supposed to use it. They just used it anyway.
Wow, And they figured we was broke, that we had no way, you know, no means of fighting it, and so we was like, yeah, we had to go to court and everything.
But for kids who's listening.
That's something that you have to actually know, like there's other people who would come and take your name. You have to fight for it, especially if it's something that you noted his work fight for I'm glad to hear.
That, make sure. So so it's it's amicable. It's amicable.
It's able now, yes, now it was. It was weird at first though, for real, I still don't like the show.
Exactly. A little bit.
A little bit of the first.
Episode and they made a joke about Babo j. I don't know if y'all don't know, they made a joke about one of our member that's our brothers recipes.
J Yeah, and he was mean his grandfather, right.
It means his grandfather.
Didn't do what they were doing.
They knew what they were doing exactly.
But yeah, they made a few jokes about us a couple episodes, just little you know, little sucks, you know what I'm saying.
Yeah, basically.
So, so so let me ask you all this this famous big small line. It might sound cliche, but every time, you know, you get to hear you know, like a bad buddy doing a Super Bowl and you get to hear like you know, Kendrick, you know great race in these days. Did you ever think that hip hop would make it this far?
You know what that is a great question.
Yeah, not for me.
I didn't think it would make it, like meaning the super Bowl. You know what I'm saying, because I mean at that time for me, Michael Jackson.
That's what.
Okay, So now I didn't I didn't think it would do the super Bowl. I knew, I knew it. I knew it should make it. Put it that way, you know what I'm saying. But yeah, what are you think?
I agree? But you said I didn't think it would make it to the high school.
It got to me it kind of got broad you know where you know, everything was kind of being called hip hop, and so it was being laid indoors that you know, what we thought was hip hop shouldn't necessarily be in hip hop. But I feel the same like a version of hip hop that i'mbly.
So I didn't think it was, you know, to the extent.
You know it's since you want to say, Okay, you know what's talk about me is if you asked me that question, I would think it was going that far because of you guys, Because I'm like you know what I mean, I'm forty eight, right, forty eight, so I'm like maybe a little younger, but like when I see y'all have that melodic, yeah, that sound that you knew it was still hip hop, like for lack of a better term, like that's where like.
Nate Doggs and you know, the Tea Pains kind of get that style from.
Like the first time I ever see a melodic hip hop song that was still a hip hop.
Song was you guys? So that's crazy if you ask me that out of the question.
But but all right, boom moving on. Yeah, the Grammys, right like you guys got too, we got to Grammy you got.
I'm sorry kids today that I'm sorry. I know some of some of you know and some of you and a lot of them. Listen, We're ain't a Grammy back then, it's right, that was opening doors.
Yeah, yeah, they were not only representing black people, but but you also represent a whole genre of music. So it wasn't popular and then and then at that time you might have faced the backlash from your own peers. So so so describe to me, anybody who wanted to take this question, how was that moment in time.
It was crazy. So we were up against Billy ray Cires.
Like Billy was it Chris Cross maybe Chris Cross forget.
Somebody else.
Before they had category, had hit category, they had hip hop.
Yeah they did. We got best best okay, So yeah the first time, I think, yeah, we were first rap.
So we honestly thought that Billy ray Cyrus is gonna get it the best Cyrus pops, right okay. And so then they called our name and we were like what were just finished performing? And we went back out. It was just amazing, Like I mean, such an honor because people have been in the industry for years, legends, legends, they've never won Grande and then for our first time out and I just so happened to be sixteen at the time. We were all young in the early twenties, and it was just a blessing.
And I believe that's the first time they televised it as well, so we got to see y'all eat.
It's a good point.
I think Fresh Prince in the wont something. But it wasn't television they were.
Did they boycott that one? You know, I gotta be confused when I when I that everybody in hip hop tried to boycott. I think it was two.
I think it was one with Will Smith and on the stage, and I think I think that's two separate ones. And I think when people bring that up, I think they mixed up the two.
I don't think willing them was boycott necessarily. Maybe they was, but I forgot about it on our show, and we just forgot exactly.
Yeah, they gave it to him backstage.
They gave it to him backstage, Yeah, exactly.
If you looked the footage from ours, you could tell it was like part of the first ones.
Yeah, yeah, right, But looking at it, looking at the Grammy shows from now to, do you see a more representation of the culture in it or That's.
A great question to me.
I feel like it can't really be said that it represents the culture perfectly everybody where it needs to be because tribes never won. I mean, so many people have never won a Grammy, you know what I'm saying.
They get so much respect, right, I would say Nas didn't win one, but he won one, and we said.
Yeah, he won one, his newer stuff, right right, So yeah, so.
I can't say we have.
That was on the Grammy campaign and he's let them have it, Uh.
Wonder he's on he's like a little bit control all.
But but I think that in my opinion, right, I think that hip hop is always just wanted a placements like like like like like when you when you see the rock and Roll Hall of Fame, right, yea, we know that's that's not ours right exactly, but we know it's still somewhat of an ironer like and we're going to salute We're going to sute him publican, I think that hip hop lead a full fledged awards show, like
we had to Bet Awards. Everyone about it, but like like I mean, where it's where it's really the artist controls, not not not VC, not adventure capitalist?
What do you what do you guys think?
For me?
Definitely that's exactly what question.
I mean.
The original Source Awards was Source Awards was don't but Zino and they've made we all owe your apology.
We all the original source. Yes, they did a great job. We just did.
The system was a great job made.
I think the people because I was it little John, I forgot who who said it just recently was like, Yo, we really don't have a platform where we're saluting ourselves.
Like like that, and I agree with that.
I think we're ready now.
I think we're ready for something like that because the conversation is just bubbling and hovering.
We're ready for something like that now. Yeah, we're sure enough multi generational now.
I think we're mature enough to Yeah, because we're talking about it, but we can make it happen.
Yeah, even with old.
You know what I'm saying, even with the committees right, Like I don't know who these committees are, right, the community that people are, But what if this guy is a person that's just a risk guy that owns toys arrest and I know old school toys arrest, know, Like.
That's what I'm saying, Like like because because they never.
Revealed who's in these committees, who actually does these vote tracts? So I wouldn't mind if it's always been off peers like like like like exactly, credible artist who's been through it. Maybe even when a Grammy, he's a credible artist that we respect and they be in charge.
Like when you said Q Tip earlier, I.
Thought of that automatically because I believe you Tip was mad at like what I believe it was cute, Tip, I forget what remember that he's credible, incredible, Like, yeah, so do you think that that would that that's what we need.
We need our own committee, without a doubt.
I think also, to be fair, hip hop is not a monolith. It's not just one thing. I think that's one of the things that's missing.
Throughout the life of hip hop is that, you know, in the beginning, everything was different. You had the West Coast to East Cote, and everything that popped up was so unique that that was kind of celebrated because it was all hip hop.
Now you have such a wide variety of what is.
Considered hip hop that isn't always represented in the mainstream, and you need to celebrate at all.
So if you had something like that, you can have the.
Categories and not that that's been the old now that you don't have to be too old to be a hip hop no more.
We had ghost based on this show, and that's what he was trying to say. I believe he said it like a better version.
He said, Yo, it's.
Messed up to say like hip hop and then you go morn and you see das music, you see like, you know, a snapping music. He said, there should be different versions of hip hops like.
You know, like sub genres, genres we deserve that.
I mean, our new album is called adult contemporary hip hop because of that, we felt like there needed to be more, you know, split it up, you know what I'm saying, Like it's like talking.
To your pres Yes that I mean, I mean, I mean that's why like four four four is one of my favorite jay z Holbem is because like and that's and that goes against his his original albums is because like, I like who.
He as is as a black man.
Now he developed and I identify with that more like like being in the streets when we me not be in the streets. I can't identify with that. So I love I love like people making should that genre music be called that?
Adult?
I personally love it.
It's dope.
I think I think there needs to be different categories, whether it's adult contemporary hip hop or anything else. And then whether you know, whatever the newer styles of hip hop is, that's cool, but like have a few different categories because that makes sense to me. You know, a lot of young people ain't vibing with what we're vibing with, you know what I'm saying, and they feel left out when it's only when the discussion is about whatever we're like, you know what I'm saying.
Has a facilion genre like cre like that to discard whatever they think is old or different like everything else.
Right, Yeah, that's cool.
But but but but we would give them their lane too.
They would have the new hip I will say, drill lane. But then there's a lot of like you need a committee for that though, something and and and that's something I always wanted to ask, because like, do you guys win in the Grammar? You guys with like conscious music, you never like, you know, like winning the Grammy. I can imagine the knights, the parties you guys are inviting to, especially back then, it's probably cocaine everywhere.
You know what I'm saying. And you know, I can imagine. But you guys stuck with your guns. I mean, but I imagine because I mean those days different, that's any murk. How did y'all maintain because you've.
Never heard like nothing like not like when they're out here getting pulled over some speed in Like, how did y'all maintain that? No Instagram and y'all just got.
Away with it.
So we just I can't speak for Rocks we never really we don't drink smoke. Ross were kind of seeing but.
Right, so yeah, we just I think for us, we were so busy and just focused on what we were, you know, just the whole energy of the group, you know, and we were representing the black community, all these different facets of it, you know what I mean, and the music just life music.
We just wanted to stay in that vibrant energy.
And then we were able to do shows with like we did a show like Lenny Kravis came up staying to stay to us.
Then we did like a whole tour with all.
These African artists, a lot of stuff that jazz festivals, we went.
On, tour, folk festivals, festivals, a lot of stuff.
Artists weren't able to do at the time.
We were we were the only ones able to do it, the only ones.
So yeah, and I was like, way too y'all to be doing any type of drugs.
Let me let me keep it real.
I won't say any names, but there was there was people in the group struggling, you know what I'm saying, with addiction and things like that. We we were dealing with that, but it just it wasn't what we were striving to like chase after a du but there was you know, some real things going on, but we just you know, we was the ones trying to save everybody from it, and like, you know, let's let's keep it focused on what we striving to do, because going.
We just found a lot of that out recently. We didn't even know you in that time that they were struggling.
Yeah, at least some of them.
He realized one of the worst druggs in the world.
Is fame.
And the most addictive.
Yeah, Like I say this all the time.
It's hard being the person on Monday and not being that person on win hard.
And vice versus some people.
So some people chase that fame and they chase they chase it and instead of chasing the art, you know.
What I'm saying, So like and that's that's I think that's the best way to say it.
Like for me, I was always trying to just focus on the art, like, stay focused on the art despite these distractions that was going on at certain little times in our in our group, you know, in our tribe.
Well, I know one thing that kept me grounded to whenever I remember after we wanted the Grammys, I came home.
My mom was like, I need you to walk down to the corner and give me some was.
Mama kept it real, But I'm sure it's all also just as difficult to be to want to be that example to people and to be in that positive lane, that has to be just so difficult.
Yeah, especially at that time. But I got the battle in the n w A right like it was.
Well, I'll tell you this.
I come from Milwaukee, and the disparities between black and white was so clear cut in Milwaukee.
We're I'm raised.
It was known.
Statistically as the worst place for black people to grow up in.
Wow, I heard you say that.
Yeah, And so I did see the disparities.
And my mom and dad were both civil rights leaders, so my mom owned still owns to this.
Day, biggest black publication there you go, the biggest.
Black publication in all of Wisconsin.
And so for me, I had this burning passion to bring other things to the table for hip hop, like Okay, we got this, we got that, we got this, Now we need this part too, you know what I'm saying. And that's that was a big thing. So my point is is not being distracted just like, Okay.
We're on that mission.
We was on that mission.
So as far as how hard it was, it was hard, but it was also the passion we had it since day one.
You know what I'm saying.
It wasn't like, yeah, I was gonna say the other thing is it was.
It was definitely our backgrounds how we came up, Like my dad's a pastor, my mom you know, like these community people.
I hooked up with them. Yep, more community people, more community people.
She's mom was a dancing truck helping our community, right exactly.
The stuff was coming at us, but it wasn't.
And think about what we was doing back in those days, like when we first started, we would do sound check, leave sound check and go where y'all remember community center, two community centers. We go to the projects. We would go to the projects and speak about things there. We go to the homeless shelters and speak about things that. We had two tours going on simultaneously. One tour was the shows at the night and then we had a whole other person named Dearrel who used to work with
Bob Marla. She she was in charge of making sure we were going to the community centers every day every day, so tours like living that. You know what I'm saying, so non stop, NonStop, and we all you know, helped us focus, you know, to what.
Speech was saying about and rise about the upbringing.
My mom was one of the first black on dance schools owners in the States, so I grew up with the artists and.
Just you know, coming from a t L. Being born in the Swats, we had a level of black xcents.
Yeah.
Well Sea Low used to take dance from my mom. My mother talked him tapping jail.
Yeah, I went to school Sleeping Grown.
Yeah, so shout out to Sea Loan and Sleeping Ground went to We went to there together.
Yeah, so we used to He was in the dance group. I was in dance room a lot of and we go. Wave was in that grop like it's just the whole at L, you know what I mean.
Yeah, I remember going to a c L and please people from at I don't kill me. Well, I remember back then and I used to say.
It's Brooklyn in the house. People were.
Because I remember ATL at one point didn't have an identity. Was like when you look at it now, like I remember, uh, I think I think he was on uh be Hot be High TV and you're saying that I couldn't go to people with a record label because they had no no.
No, nothing in Atlanta.
And I remember just looking at it now, like every record label.
In the world.
So I want to shout out some artists like Atlanta did have a sound, but it was just I think it was just more regional local at the time when we came out and kund Of exploded because it was t O C. Criss Cross, I think we were all around the same time.
But Sammy, Sam, Hitman Sam and Sam right in the dream him, Yes, it.
Was a lot of that's the sound we were saying the South, Oh yeah, from from because.
From someone else, but.
He yeah, I think he was from New York originally, I think, and then he came down to the land, but he was doing this.
Every day.
But he made his mark in the at so yeah, so they you know, we definitely had a sound and then he was Yeah, but it was just not as.
Global, but it wasn't labels at that labels.
Shout out to the DJ dj is in Atlanta.
They created like a culture around our music and our sound that.
Was a very specific DJ smurf.
Yes, you know, what I'm saying sort of evolution of that. I feel like I saw the episode.
Of that because I felt like it was so much time that they was gonna, you know, keeping to say like they're from over here, like they're like like it was one thing for short deep for certain I know this is so simplistic, but it was the waffle House.
We didn't have to We're like, like, you got a club at the fucking.
Like the Flex Club going on to me like this leaving the show was like they're like, they're like, where you're going.
We were like, yeah, where you're going?
And they said the waffle House and was like they were saying that like it was something to Julian.
And then even the strip clubs like when when what was it? Players Club? When when? When we heard that, we were like us in New York, we were like, wait a minute, you'll throw money.
We were like talking about the German's Club, the.
Gentleman's Club that I never seen.
That's the first time in Atlanta and then I came to Miami, but it was the first time where they chilled like they and they were eating, how they were breaking they records they were like and it was a certain type of job I believe Jamaine called the strip club music. He's like, there's also strip club music that's just made for just strip clubs.
But I had never seen that.
Yeah, but let me actually ask you, right, because from Milwaukee. Yeah, I believe you said that. The day you graduated, I left, someone pulled out a gun on you. Facts and you had left. Yeah, but at the time, Atlanta is not the place that it is now. What made you choose Atlanta of everywhere else you could have went?
So I used to spend all my summers in Tennessee.
My grandmother's from there, my father's from there, everybody on my father's side, So.
I loved it.
I fell in love with the South.
I fell in love with the community, the self determination, like people was growing their own foods. They was poor, but they were able to barter and make things happen, and it was all in the community. I fell in love with that.
So when I.
Graduated high school, which I did horribly in high school, so I knew I needed to do something different in my life because I wasn't going anywhere.
And I got this gun pulled on me at my graduation.
And I said the actually graduation after you left.
After I, and so I said, you know what if I don't. If I don't leave here, I'm not gonna. I think I won't make it because stuff was getting tight, and so I I wanted to go down south. So I went to Atlanta because Atlanta was it had first of all school, which is where I met Headliner, who was the first person I brought into the group was Headliner.
He we met at Art Institute of Atlanta. So it was the one place that my low grade point average, which was a zero point nine, but my low grade point average could get into this school, the only school I could think of. So that's Atlanta was the place to come. Not to mention, it was a lot of progressive stuff coming up in Atlanta. It was like a little Africa like it was very progressive, Like people were thinking differently in Atlanta.
So yeah, you know, because what it is now is like it's almost baby Wakanda.
That's what it was. Even more we didn't get to see that. Yeah, yeah it was. It was.
It was a lot of like revolutionary stuff going on there, like the main community we grew up in, or at least I could speak for me and Headliner.
We spent most of our time in West End. Well, West End is a very cultural center of Atlanta.
All the Rosters, all the Africans, a lot of you know, Nation of Islam, Shrine of the Black Madonna, like all of these kind of like landmark.
Places and so that's the area. And of course the HBCUs all of that exactly vegetarian.
So so all of these places was where we used to hang out at. So it was sort of our like place to be, you know, it's where we felt the most comfortable, at the West End and the West End, West End which is still a dope culture there.
So did it really take y' all three years, five months, two days, and did wow?
It was like it's got to be true.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And the evolution of it all, it was really fun. So I mass speech and headliner, So my Ski and Bird we got a shout out.
We got to shout out Ian birt Atlanta.
I mean, if you were doing music in the nineties and and then blessed or touch it, it happened in the eighties, eighties, I mean speeching with eighty eight eighty nine. I was thirteen when I joined the group. My sister was offered the opportunity to dance, she didn't want to do it.
So they want to dances, right, Yeah, I want her to dances.
I went to the audition. I look because I love Come. I was dressed like come. We all did our audition and then we were together for a while. Then we had some people nicer ashtrak They came in some other dances, and then we met Rise and.
Engaged.
They were engaged.
I think you all was engaged at the time we were working on it.
Yeah, I mean, and when it was at a step show of Greeks, that's what we meant.
Stuff we got booed on that show. We did miss the window we got, but it was ahead of his time.
Atlanta was on a certain general I think it was ahead of his time. And and so for us, we were just doing crazy stuff like that they didn't get. And so yeah, they like, did you consider what you were doing? Experimenting?
Like very much. So, But I'll say this, I got a shout.
Out Dayla Soul because when they released three Feet High, or even when they released plug Tuning and stuff like that, they gave us permission.
I didn't know them, but I'm saying.
Meaning when they did it, it was like, okay, we could go further than because it worked and it.
Was they were different and it worked, different worked.
And it was dope, right, And so I always tell them. I tell them this all the time. And I used to call pass back then. I got his number from a sister named Kat and I would you want to.
Be on Tommy boy?
You can imagine? Was like, no, you don't want that.
So it was like, no, do something different. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you was raised Muslim? I was in California.
Yes, Okay, my father is ma'am Okay, lame hot spun that's right.
Mass Wow.
And if we just finished the mass it there, We've been building it. He's been building it since I was in school there. It's just clear Muhammed and it's now a beautiful school.
And Moss and he's.
So dad yeah and I'm old, he's ninety four, like.
Wow, yeah, let's make it.
Yeah, because what was it?
What was the fight for the religion? It was the joy that had.
That's the one thing that I never could understand, like of what religion I researched you.
I knew you was a Muslim.
But one thing that the group embraces is it feels like it's all religion. Is that something that could because it feels like it's Christians is down with y'all, it's father Sensus down with y'all.
Yeah, Am I accurate in assumption?
In the beginnings it was just spirituality because for me personally, I really wasn't. I wasn't a Christian I was at that time. I wasn't a Christian. I was more so, you know, just just believer in spirituality, you know what I'm saying exactly. I was sort of on that tip at the time. And so, yeah, we embraced everything to some extent or another, you know.
But it's funny.
I did use a lot of talk like Lord, and you know, I say stuff like this, you know, Tennessee. Like, so I do think that it's sort of seeped into me from my grandmother, you know, just being raised around it.
So yeah, But the gospel group they just labeled it conscious though. That was the easy way to talk about it, Call it conscious and conscious.
Do you think that's the easy way to talk about it?
Conscious's the easy way to accept all of it?
Okay, exactly, we're just conscious, just conscious band, that's fact.
That's fact because.
There's a difference between conscious and backpack rack, right right, It's like I believe, like most is that all the people's party, And I assessed that too.
Yeah, so well, okay, what's it called hold on? Hold on? Your father's club when you first learned how to dj?
Yep, So my dad owned the night. He was a serial entrepreneur. So he started off with gas station. He had a fast food restaurant, he had a corn roasting business, and then he got this club corn roasting.
I want to invest in that business. So he started a.
Club called the Fox Trap.
And at the Fox Trap, it was the best club in Milwaukee for black people. So everybody was going there. The DJs were crazy, but they weren't at that time. This is in the eighties at that time, eighty three somewhere in there. At that time, DJ's and Milwaukee at least weren't scratching and mixing and stuff. But I was because I was in love with like grahmm mix of dst and you know what I'm saying, like Herbie Hancock on the Grammys.
Actually, when they did.
Rocket, it was like that was my first time ever seeing scratch.
So I was on that tip.
So I learned how to do like the regular fades and stuff like that from the DJs. But then I was bringing to Milwaukee, you know, scratching and mixing and stuff like that.
What was the name of the group, What was Attack?
Attack was my first group, yeah, exactly.
And that was the first people on Whack in Milwaukee, first black people at first hip hop's.
It's argued that we're you know, there was another group that did like some kind of wrestling record that had rap in it, you know how like fat back, like you know, it's sort of like debated, but like, but yeah, we was one of the first without the questions.
So it was probably the first or second, depends how you look at it.
I went to Milwaukee one time and they had shootouts and pips. I was like, wait a minute, facts, I was like baseball team.
Yeah, so I want to talk about Tennessee, okay, because I was surprised to find out that this was the last record y'all recorded for that album.
Yeah, yeah, so what happened?
We finished the record, We recorded the record album done. We did it in Milwaukee actually at a studio called Tracks thirty two, and then unfortunately my grandmother passed that same week my brother died, and so the last place I saw both of them was at my grandmother's funeral in Tennessee. So that song just was written out of pure motions, just like as you can see, you know, you can tell, you know what I'm saying with the
with the lyrics and everything. So so you know, that was the last record we did, and we did that one at Bobby brown studio called boss Bosstown.
He had a studio which is now stink Oni.
Now.
So yeah, which is how good that record felt for me as a youngster. And I'm i'm uh.
I was born ninety seventy seven, so I must have didn't pay attention to the lyrics and just pay attention to the feeling.
I would put that record on for a good feeling. I didn't know.
Here's because the melody and the message was so powerful that I might not never listened to the lyrics, so like I would take me to the place I didn't even realize you were.
Saying out of this, like oh this might be with this record, like this is energetically a little bit, you know, so it is, but you know it's funny.
Caris one called me one day, he called my I was, and I wasn't there. The answer machine picked up, and so he left a message and he's like, yo, speech, I'm just kidding.
This ten years later, so it's like yo.
It was so like it was encouraging to me because to me, that's a skill set, you know what I'm saying, to be able to be able to talk about stuff that's really from your soul.
But it doesn't bring you down. It lifts you up.
And you don't even have to listen to it if you don't want the first time, Like the lyrical track, you know that track of it, you don't have to even be on that track, You just be on the five you know what I'm saying. It just that's the track you want to be on, you know. So it's just different people could get on different tracks listening to it a lot of times, you know what I'm saying, Different different pathways or whatever.
That's the power of music, though, it's the power.
It's like I just I just saw what I saw and I felt what I felt exactly right.
And every time I get it, it still goosebumps to this day, you know what I mean. I still remember the black and white video. I remember like Ralph McDaniel's I remember going to the jukebox, me trying to order it and get in trouble for you.
So it's like it's like damn. And then years later I'm like, holy ship.
As a as a lyricist, I'm listening to the lyrics, I'm like, you've been celebrating like almost.
It is.
But then what's crazy about that is his what's the best thing about the group?
Right?
Is us all known? We come from Africa? Right, no matter what I don't keep, you're white, black, Germany's original whatever, you all, you all come from Africa. And the one thing about the act for him Proverbs is the family trade is the fact that like, you know, what's my man name, bob oj Like I love that even the story of you asking him, I wanted to elder person in the group at the time.
I believe he was fifty seven or something like that, and it was just like when you hear that story, it's just like that's that.
African uh, you know messages that we heard like how family was and how when they see it when they say when they say they take a village to raise the child, that's what.
They talk about.
The African villages and you sit there and when I look at the group always from from back then to now, I always say, damn, Like if I've learned something from them, I've always learned that the African caromatererie that y'all put together. And I even see like like like I kind of like kept going back to see like, you know, the interviews that was happening after the Grammys, and I'm sitting back and I'm saying, these guys have always been the same. They stayed the same, and that's a lot that's a
lot harder to do. So let me get back to my original question is how hard is that?
Right?
Because back then, uh, there was gang bangers, Like it really wasn't fly to where you know, it was the X Clan era for righteous teachers, and then that kind of like you know, you know, went out and then it was like gang banger's big, and you know, being a drug dealer was big, and then how how was it to navigate through that and still maintain who you are?
I know I asked it in a different way, but I'm asking this musically now because like when you start to be along winning with this question, if you look at a lot of New York artists when when the South started to change, South started to take over a lot of New York artists started to play their bags with the South and change their their their their tone of music and try to see who they could fit in.
What made y'all never want to fit in? For us?
I guess the sort of good part about it for us was we was before a lot of that, so you know, it was before our cast was before. So for us, it was like, okay, you know we was playing it earlier. Mama is always on stage. We brought this like harmonica energy, you know, to the hip hop sounds. So it's like for us, it was just trying to be unique, trying to trying to bring that Southern energy, even the video Tennessee, making it in the rural South instead of in the city landscapes.
Which is what New York was already on that right, So just trying to be different.
It wasn't that hard because back then you were celebrated for being absolutely unique. Like if you can bring something unique to to some extent or another, you're going to be celebrated.
Because that's what that was. What was, That's what it was about. You know what I mean, and no one.
Sounded like each other prob exactly.
So no, it was it was, it was dope, it was.
It was easier for us because of that, because but it was still hard.
Because I mean, here we are, like I was, like we was talking about when we got booed at the Step Show, A lot of the music that was coming out in the South at that exact time sort of had that.
Miami based style.
It was, you know, one twenty you know what I'm saying, one thirty piece per minute, and we're.
Coming out with this other vibe.
We was very influenced by New York, very influent. Well I'm from Milwaukee, so for me, I was very influenced by New York, but also DC go go music, the you.
Know, house music from the Chicago.
Chicago meant a lot to us, Like that was a big deal ninety miles away, an hour and a half away, so house was a thing, you know, the house music.
So so all of those different styles we embraced it.
And I'm the producer for the group, so that early music, I was producing that stuff too, so it was like, you know, I wanted to embrace all of that sound. So it was a little easier because there wasn't we wasn't expected to do a particular thing.
We had all those energies though. Some of those energy like I'm from Jersey, the same area where so me and pr T from the same neighborhood exactly, and Wise and culture Freedom from the same neighborhood. So when I met speaking, so when I met them, the Jersey energy facts, the New York energy, the house energy, because.
Jersey was big in house at that time. It was huge in the house.
I agree, I agree, but I was probably into New York.
Okay, So like Latin Quarter going to uh uh, I wouldn't say Red Para, that's way, that's way back.
Uh what is it?
Uh?
Anyway, Mars? You know, so I was. I brought that energy to the band fast.
So when we started performing, people knew, like, oh, he's from up top.
But it's not just the Georgia energy, you know what I'm saying. So we had to cover he had New York Atlanta. Yeah, exactly.
I feel like, for lack of a better term, y'all officially a global band.
We are global at the end of the day because and it's funny because while hip hop obviously represents wherever you're from, right, I was on to me personally, I was on a tip. It ain't where you're from, it's where you're at, you know what I'm saying. So it's like, Okay, I love Milwaukee, I love Atlanta, I love like I said, DC, blah blah blah. So for me, it was just a matter of, well, this is what we're doing, this is what we're bringing to the table at all, exactly exactly in the past thirty.
IM trying to say, you know what I believe or like I believe on certain job advocations they should ask hip hop right, like, because I believe some people religion into some people who raises really hip hop Like.
Just no, I'm just being honest.
Like I know people who I don't consider black white nothing, I just considered them hip hop.
We could just sit there and just talk hip hop for nothing else.
And that's like crazy because this music raised this person. He might have not been raised by me at all, it might have been for Portland, Oregon, but his knowledge of hip hop.
He knows g rapp like I do. We used to talk about the hip hop flag that you wish to see. That always the hotels, you know, flag.
Just think about it, right, that's crazy, so so think about and this is a real ship.
I know I'm saying this like you know, bucking out, but I'm not wucking out.
Like if you was to check into a hotel and you was to see the hip hop flag and you say, this is, by.
The way, I have to follow all the rules. It doesn't mean I could break the rules because but like for lack of like like a soho house, but these people go to whole house and they respect the rules. They do it.
Imagine we had a hip hop so whole house. Like I'm sorry, I know I'm bugging out.
Are you?
Are you setting it up? Because you're doesn't this No, no.
No, no no, I'm I'm speaking at to Paris because I ain't no clue how to do it.
I have a clue how would it would look? You know what I'm saying.
I'm saying like like me doing that, like you know, you know, going to Hollywood and hanging out and these guys going hold these clubs is here, and the clubs is here, and I'm saying, Okay.
Then one day I was with alchemists.
And alchemist says to me, we're in Amsterdam, and he goes, I go, I can't smoke at my hotel, so I'm going to smoke. And in the coffee shop. He goes, well, you can smoke at my hotel. And I go, well, what is your hotel? Why your hotel is special? He goes, well, I'm at the hip hop hotel. And I went to his hotel. It was graffiti everywhere.
It was graffiti everywhere, and I was like, holy shit.
And it was smoke everywhere too, though, Like I didn't agree with this smoking.
The lobby more. I was like, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold up to boss some type of because some type of some type of But what I thought.
About it is I'm like, okay, if this is an eighteen years or older, okay, but that's not that's not it. I want hotels where it's like a hip hop hotel, which we're accepted, you know what I mean, Like like and when we deserved that at this point, and we have we have the bank, and we have the characters to get behind a person like I always I always said this, I always.
Wanted chrest One.
And we bring up Karris one and me and me and him been fighting for the hip hop union forever. I always would put the budget in Karos one hand like this.
I would put it in Chris hands like this, like it's sang for hip hop. Yeah, like Curtis Blue, Harris One is involved.
So you know we're doing that.
There were in there, yea, because when you think about it, the only other entertainment that doesn't have a union is boxing.
We're not that bootle bro.
Come on, is American worldwide culture now? Like everything is influenced by hip hop?
Fact?
Yeah, the biggest cultural export from this country.
The country the country wave now that's out double hip hop is a little it's trapped country now like that.
I love that. I love it. I love to think about this hotel.
You see because because architect, you know, I'm like this, but beyond that, beyond that, beyond the hotel.
Flag, the flag when you look at the establishment, like what we look at the establishment.
If you see, uh a Jamaican flag, you know, I this guy might have some good chicken, you know.
What I'm saying, Like like like you know what I'm saying, like my bad Jamaicans a little good that's all we get. Jamaica flag you mean like that, But you know what I'm trying to say. So I always wanted to hip hop.
Flag like wherever we go, Like does Alchemists actually have a hip hop There was a.
Hip hop hotel when he was staying at it, and he told me, and I don't I don't know, I don't know if he was.
It was actually called the hip hop he called okay, but I walked in and we smoked, and I was like, holy ship. But I knew what he meant because they accepted our kind of like, oh no, I'm limited just smoking that because that's that's like, you know, it's very simple, but I'm saying it's totality.
What it meant was, Yo, you.
Want to a room, you would go through graffiti in rue room, You'll go like DJ in run room.
And I was just like, oh, that's kind of like that's crazy. Yeah, years ago. That is years ago. I want to track back to the album.
Again, okay, because we're talking about how you guys were experimenting making the music and it felt maybe different, right than what was going on at the time.
How do you get a deal two years? Okay? My bad?
And you know everybody turned us down.
So and I often say this, I think you already picked up on this, Like we we shopped everywhere, you know what I'm saying, But they just was turning us down. And there was no labels in Atlanta at the time. This was before La Face La Face South came soon after us, but there was no labels that was doing hip hop at the time. So you it was a tough It was a tough you know road, and only one label, which is Chrysalis, took a chance on us, and they didn't give us an album deal.
They gave us a single deal.
The first deal was for mister Wendell with a B side of Natural and this wasn't created yet, this song Wow.
So we signed that deal.
And I don't even know if y'all know this part because my mom told me I had two years to try to make it in the rest of development in Atlanta, and if I didn't make it, she said, you're coming back to Milwaukee and you're going to school. We didn't make it into year, which is why that three years school teacher, right she was, and you know that publisher this paper, and so two years it didn't happen. So I went back to Milwaukee, and that's why we ended
up recording in Milwaukee. We got the single deal three years five months and we got that single deal and we ended up recording the album in Milwaukee, and then that single you Know a Little, the last thing.
We did and that was in Atlanta.
The album was.
What speech was saying.
I think we did a lot of shows, like back then, it was a lot of showcases and stuff.
We performed all the time.
All the time. Every weekend shows we did V one on.
Three would have like stuff like that, we didn't do them, and so we were constantly like performing. We used to rehearse eight hours a day, and at this place called rehearse.
Too much, and so.
Yeah, yeah, jam.
We started going to crossovers and rehearsing there all the time. I think we were the first hip hop out of crossover studios, So I think that.
Has something to do with it too. And then I remember the year we did Jack the Rappers.
So we did Jack the Rappers, and I remember when we did the performance, no one was in the room.
No woman, no one heard, no one was. Let me tell you the power of the of the.
Music vibrationally, we started playing one by one, then Naughty by Nature, I mean.
And after the whole room was just packed out with just these people that we look up to.
And this is the first time you're performing as Atlanta Group.
Well yeah, and so after that, that's when I feel like everything kind of just took off.
It was a very raw show.
It was it was.
It was a beautiful, vibrational thing. And I want to say the rest of open to me. We always have that vibrational energy, like when we come on stage.
I think it moves.
About y'all, me doing the research and seeing flyers and seeing y'all. Like some cases the groups, I was like they was there was the logical people tonight.
Everybody had to see you like this is now that we're good? Yeah?
You know that good?
Yeah? So how about Easy? I was your ladyship with Easy?
I never met you?
Never met Easy? Okay, I never met Easier?
Did y'all have you all met?
Okay?
I met you?
Okay? And that was interesting? Okay because wait, wait, what about the airport? Wasn't that Easy at the airport?
Tell me more?
Maybe we were.
Walking in the airport one time and they were together. This is when all the together can walk because they were gangster.
We like, you know, we ain't know what we can speak about. We got going, you know, you're in an air.
Going in the morning, and I think it was easy to say why they're to speak to us because he knew it was us.
Somebody came and got us and we walked back. Okay, I didn't know that all right, So we walked back. We said was something that we went on the car.
We definitely see I'm a huge fan of n W A, like a huge fan, so I mean, for me, it was. But I will say I now get what at that time period, we were sort of pitted against gangst to hip hop, and I think it was mistaken because I would get on stage and say a lot of our peers are calling black women bitches and holes.
We're not down with that. But we weren't saying anything bad about those that were down with that. We're just saying we're not down. We're trying to do something different.
But I understand how that could have been misconstrued as like we're dissing you know, anybody that's not you know what I'm saying, Like absolutely, So I think I think that's why we were probably in a in a zone of are we speaking like are we cool?
You know?
What I'm saying.
It's funny you said, because we had come on last week and I didn't know that he was on the n w A tour with play and.
I was like, this is this just makes so much sense. We just literally had said you come up with I.
Mean it's a master like a boy Jains.
Yeah.
For us, it was, you know, it was it was a little and plus our song people every day, I said in a lyric and I in ice Cube, but I had to take the brother out for being rude and to read. One of our members said who and she knew who he was. But so that was that I think came off to ice Cube is like maybe a disc And so when when we when I met him, we were at one of the award shows and I met him and he didn't want to speak, so he just gave me.
That that famous ice cube.
Look up. It was all good and I seen the record.
For people that don't understand what's.
Interesting about that time was I was in California at my dad's school and arrested. Development was at the heights of it. And because of the type of messaging that was like the set, because it was we was listening to all the ice tea ice cube and my brother, who's.
Years older than me, he was all into that.
So it was kind of like refreshing to have hip hop that was also okay for nine year old me to be listening to.
And we was listening to all of it. But then when MTV.
Came out and videos, was like, okay, now we're finn to see what these groups look like. And you see the group and they're in the rural countries and they're driving to pick up I'm you know, we're going back and forth from l.
A to Georgia.
So in l A you got the snoops and the you know, the l A vibe, and then you got Atlanta and and you being.
There you know what it's like, but you know the difference. But it was like, wow, I can relate to this.
I see, that's what I want.
That's because in all the other wrap, you gotta end up up uh. To our Crew, my brother loved to to our Crew.
The album cover, we're growing up where you had to be yeah, and you have to be you know, more conscious of females, queendom and all that, and that's what this group represented.
So my my dad, my stepdad was to tell you.
It's like, Okay, yeah I saw and I was like, we can still be hip hop and not represent that.
Women right now? Whoever is is that rhapsody?
Yeah, we love big fan of rap that comes from from direct from this lenient.
I mean, I think the best, in my opinion, the best place for hip hop is when there's balance.
In hip hop. Which is that balance?
Definitely?
Yeah, you point about having the the hip hop kind of coalition.
It's like you can represent all of it and give it balance that you don't right now.
It's so one sided. You only hear one see that.
That's what I liked about those tours that Kwame was talking about, Like we were all touring with each other.
You know, agredible to me, same tours.
You know what I'm saying, different region life and everybody represents exactly.
I introducing every crowd a different thing. And so now if you weren't a fan of this or that when you got there, now you are.
Yeah we did. That was in Alaska. Oh Ship white Clapp was on the bill. Okay, he's opening for us.
Wow, you're shouting from the stage, arrested the unups contixt.
Who's we wanted to be him. I can see it for them.
It's like we model ourselves after arrested the untain.
He's telling the audiences, so you can clearly see.
Yeah, a couple of years later, we can do a show with the Black Eyed Bes in Jerusalem. Wow, the last time of all back stage speech man, we wanted to be you guys when we started.
We wanted model.
The rest.
I can see it, and not only that, you could see even like you know the Pharrals, you know what I mean, which which is for my solo career, which means that I might not exist without me and his commodity together. And so you can see, like I said, for lack of a better terms, we can see your sons.
You know what I'm saying.
But not I'm not.
I'm not justing nobody.
And but I think they'll agree with it too, because like that was like that was one of the first feel good hip hop moments for me, Like watching the rest of the better, watching what you guys are doing. And then here's here's what I wanted to know as a personal question, one thing about me, Helen like super Doug what what what what? And then I come out
with another record. Oh well, let's not super dumb, and then cool I come out with Grimy and well, let's not super don and I come up with home Boy, I Can't a Body finally, and they're like, all right, that's better than super dumb, but is it? And then I come up with the next record and that's not. I gotta keep doing. Like you guys have major hits? Were you guys like what is it of your own success?
Like you know what I mean? Because like when you met a year, watched it.
Because you make Tennessee and then you know, you drop another record and they're like, well, it's not tennis.
It's like you can't be tennis.
We're not trying.
To do that.
So like like like of course or lustrious career, but you guys got these these super major records.
That does it haunt you? You know what I'm saying? It does for me because I got you ton't me so.
Because it's haunted because you're wondering if if the fans ever let you get past that particular thing and really embrace this thing which you're excited about, like you're in this moment now, you know what I'm saying. So it's not like you don't appreciate that moment, but you're in this moment.
They don't sometimes let us go to that moment exactly, I see you having to say. Or the other day he said, you know what, I realized your fans are like your parents.
They don't want you to grow up sometimes. You know what I'm saying. You know that's what something to and think about it. If you think about it, that's.
Their selfish needs because they don't want to grow up.
They don't that time and.
That you understand that time and that life was so perfect, and they're like, why are you growing?
Why are you wear a suit? Now? Can you go back to the plea? I can't wear a suit one time, but you can put it on a tux.
But I like what jay Z said.
He said in one of his lyrics, basically like if you want to listen to that, go back to that stuff.
But this is what I'm doing now, Like why did I go back? You know what I'm saying? Like it was Blue playing three, he was talking about that, Yeah, what we talk about. I think that was the song.
Yeah, yeah, But you have been haunted by this definitely. Okay, not only through the record labels, but through the fans to the fans questions.
You know what I'm saying.
When you're doing the show and you start the show, start the show, and.
Y'all got major, like y'all should have major major, Like with all love and respect to y'all, like y'all broke genres of music like like it was.
It was.
It's still a hip hop record, but it was played and it was like everywhere you went you heard this record, you know what I mean, Like no matter where, it didn't matter what part you was at or whatever. So I know how hard that ship is and people come out like you know. I had one dude one time I was performing It's about me. He was like bloody money. I was like, the fuck man, like bloody money and no disrespect. So I couldn't tell you this disrespect.
But it's like you got to shut up.
But okay, so okay, flowers, man, listen. The show was about giving people they flowers appreciate.
Man. I'm really like, man, you guys, what you did.
Is legendary, but you continue to do is legendary. I love the fact that y'all still in the row.
Other facts.
It was like, yeah, they're gonna do sound check, right, now I said, damn, still, you told her like a wrestler.
Let's do that like.
Ste yes, yes, literal flowers.
Yeah, this is crazy, ridiculous, it's better than you know.
It's not a graphic, but.
Because what you did is really really legendarius, ground breaking.
I mean, I need to give you all these because.
You know, yeah, don't take yeah, but write my car. This is gonna be.
This is crazy what you did, and y'all continue to do. It's legendary.
Man. We all owe you, you know, hip hop owes you. Or the fact that y'all.
Stayed down, the fact that y'all stayed family. Yeah, that that is the first thing is.
People people can't stay together two months.
You've been together for decades. That's beautiful. And I'm not saying that to people to to just them. I'm saying that to people to here goes an example that you can you can actually do this.
And here's a question I want to ask you.
Right, you know, all the time the record labels would would always see that the guy artist, they call him the lead artists and call him the you know, the producer or whatever, and they always try to get him away, right, They always say, yo, you know what you can do the rest of development, But what do you think of about doing your own solo and doing your own and breaking off and you doing that?
What made you not anticipate doing something like that?
You know, It's funny because there was a lot of that going on, but on a micro level.
So like at photo shoots, you would see the photographers say, hey, speech, come up to the front, come to the middle, do this, do that, headliner, you go back to the back, you know, like and.
Those kind of things was happening all the time. I don't think the label ever told me to try to.
Do a solo career. I did do a solo career, but it was after we took a break. We took a break from ninety five to two thousand. During that time period, I did start a solo career, but the label didn't push me to do that. So I would say that from a group perspective, I don't think they ever really the label ever really tried to make it like, you know, a speech thing or a headliner thing.
I don't remember that, you know, Okay, yeah, I mean we had we definitely had our issues.
Oh yeah, definitely had issues.
But I think what's so important is just getting together and talking things through speech. And I like a few months back, we had a beautiful conversation about the earlier years because I've known this man since I was thirteen years old. So it's like it's kind of those type of relationships regardless of what you go through, you're gonna make it. You're gonna make it and so and we've
been able. Like now my role position, so to speak, is I've been doing a lot of stuff behind the scene, producing with speech on.
Videos and you give what I mean, and so and and rise.
You know, we do like special shows because we're you know, two of the original members, so we have special shows with a group and I just am so grateful for these people here that are continued in the legacy and keep us right. So I mean, it's just at the end of the day, it's so important to just come together and heal. And I think we had a lot
of time to heal over the years. You know, speech, you know, I know, he if you're okay, I know I notice been publics, but he was sick and sometimes you know, I've been I'm a breast cancer survivor, have been through different things and when.
You when you face things like that in life.
You like, you know what, my little tiff with him or her, it really ain't that important. What's important that you know, we we can feel good about being in each other's space and really loving each other for really, you know, like genuinely really loving each other and caring.
Because the one thing that seems like your group has expanded absolutely as opposed that, like most people like they get trapped in this industry and they say, you know what, I got to.
Split the pot four ways, yea. And the fact is, like, that's.
Why I broke up to a freaking family thing is because I feel like it's I feel like to y'all outside of looking at the inside of looking out, I feel like family is more deeply rooted into y'all.
Really important with us. It's a big deal with us. Vibrations, that energy, like all of that stuff. We talk about a lot in this crew, and it's a very big deal for how we run things. We run things very different than a lot of other people do, but it works for us.
Seeing everybody's growth has been.
So beautiful, beautiful because we listen, we's like.
Would to that point.
One of the things that I loved about being in this in this group is that if you've ever been in the band, you're a part of the band. Everybody from from early days, so if you've done a couple of shows, you're part of you're a part of the band.
And when I came after.
She speech never was like, Okay, she did this, so you gotta do this is what she did, so you got to do exactly what she did. He's the everybody's unique thing that you bring to the band is the band.
That's the band, not one particular vibe.
It's like we we all bring the energy, like there's a foundational energy that's that needs to be there that anybody that has been in the in the band embodied that energy.
Now there's a lot of women that's rocking ball has now. She was like the originator.
And you know what, Dion rocked one too, and yeah, I love.
Like back then it was looked at like an Apple Central.
South too.
I got oh wow, I did you know.
A lot of men will say why did you cut your hair?
That's your glory and but I just felt comfortable like that headline used to cut my hair.
Okay, headline, okay, headliners.
Yeah, so I would be walking around. Yeah, bald head.
I mean I just recently started warning back now, but yeah, I loved it. It was such a freedom in it. And even now when like when I went through my breast, hands out shape, you know, shave it off started all over.
Okay, yeah, I still do it. Okay, okay, okay, because you're knowing for that one.
The blind and short blind.
Yeah, let's do a quick time I think. Okay, you got your said it all right. This is our drinking game that we're gonna play. Obviously, you don't whenever you're drinking.
Michael B.
Jordan's drinking.
Okay, okay, okay, I got socky. That's different. I don't know what soot.
We're going to give you, guys two choices, and you pick one and we don't drink. But if you say both are neither, so basically you don't really want to answer the question, then we all drink.
Some of us say one.
I mean, this is disorganized anyway, But the real, the real point of this is not to peck people against each other the question. It's really to bring up any any stories you might have with that's really it's really to bring up names because we want to talk.
About, you know, positively about people. Thank you, ad appreciate it all right? Public enemy or n w A who you pointing at? We're gonna start with.
Public enemy, public enemy.
Yeah, tribe called quests or brand new.
View quiz quests big l or Biggie.
Big big, big girl. Okay, I think you might have to drink just because.
I caught that let's do it was beef Okay, rock him? Okay, rest one, that's that was both, but that we gotta drink.
Cheers. I like drinking out cast ghetto boys.
I don't even know who else you said.
Okay, I.
Don't remember any stories, but anybody we mentioned, if you've got a story that pops off means telling us obviously outcasts, you know that's.
From them, absolutely form one that they got their name from the the dreads.
Because I say outcast, I don't know. I'm not saying they did, but I don't.
Know if they did or not.
I danced in their Rose Parks video.
Video.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, shout out how can Yeah?
Our cast is major?
I mean and and to me, to me, they always anything that they might have been inspired by by what we did. They took it so much further and that always just blows my mind, like how far they took it.
As much as we love our cast, I do know all words of my my mind playing trees.
Yeah, right, planets. I just wanted to say, I just wanted to say something back to you. Just you know, my mind's playing tricks on me. I'm a grown ass man. I still get kind of scared when I still.
Yeah, I smoked out with.
Wild Man. Yeah, he's a different one.
I used to promote shows. So I used to do concerts and I brought outcasts. I brought there's somebody else, goodie mob outcasts, Fujis brought Fuji So like for me, like where were these shows at in Atlanta? I used to promote huge shows, well huge rap shows in Atlanta, and so yeah, I brought all of them to the shows.
So yeah, and I'm assuming early on, right in their careers, early.
On, h early on, but what they was already, they was already huge, you know, like doing their things. You know what I'm saying. But there's it was. It was great. It was great.
Yeah, far Side or Souls a Mischief, which.
We too with them, just we literally just got off the road with them, and and I think They have a tour right now for Sight and Soul of mischie shows right now, which is yeah, yeah, we would love.
To do shows with Souls and.
Shout out to the far Sight. I went to school with the Flips, shout out the six Way.
Yeah, heavy D or your rock.
Heavy heavy D.
I was.
Heavy dance.
Recipe. It's amazing.
I love this question right here, X clan or parts teachers.
Me.
I'm gonna say X clan, But I like righteous teachers. I love both of them.
But plan came teachers right so very close.
Actually, yeah, you're drinking.
All right. Main source of third Base m for me, It's gonna be main source for me. It's third Base.
Mm hmm.
I like that.
Main source.
Main source from popcorn.
Yeah, we got popcorn from third Base from I'm gonna interesting story.
We did a show with Third Base arrested Development and Naughty, and I was backstage with Trench Search and speech and I didn't know all my career people come up to me and say yo trash or yo search, but I didn't know what was happening to them too. He took a special picture just exactly.
All of us have been mistaken all the time by people saying speech you know, yeah, it's hilarious.
Yeah, run DMC or Beastie Boys.
That's a really good one. But I have to say Brandy would.
Say Indian like they would say.
Least these were incredible to.
Sleep to, revolution, crazy and incredible for everybody black m.
J or Michael Jackson. I mean, Prince, we know what gonna.
Say, but I'm saying Michael Jackson.
Michael Jackson.
Says Princes from the Lake of Miltitoba.
But I mean, to me, it's just all the instruments the brother played all he was crazy with it. He's you know, he's not just an amazing and entertainer, which he was, but he was also just this multi instrumentalist, songwriter, producer.
I mean, I mean, come on, you know.
Story got a million? Which one do you think about this?
I was thinking of the one when he invited us to the club.
Tell me that story, cause I forget about.
The loss thing happened.
Oh yeah, okay, so yeah, so okay, now I know what you're talking about. So Prince, I'm a uge fan of Prince. I sampled Tennessee his word from Alphabet Street. He says, I want to take it to my back seat and drive a to Tennessee, and I grabbed that Tennessee for Tennessee.
And sample it throughout the song, and the song went.
To it was going up the charts and went to number one on the rap charts, number one on the R and B charts, and then it went to number six, I want to say, on the pop charts or whatever they call it, the hot one hundred. And the day it went down to number seven, our office got a call from Prince saying he wanted some money for that, that that word Tennessee, and so we had to pay him a hundred thousand dollars, which was.
Then exact back then.
And the truth is he gave he did us a favorite because that could have been he could have told us to take it off the shelf like this, He got his.
Whole record taken off the record. Yeah, the whole record.
He could have asked for any percentage he wanted for that.
Because y'all have already did it without person.
Already exactly exactly.
And so what instead what he did is just ask for cash. He got one hundred thousand dollars right off the rit for that.
He was showing up at all. That shows he was, and we did shows.
At his club too, and he was up there we uh got man got mad and us Yeah.
At glam Slam in the middle that my record mother here showing up with high hells like that.
I was like, all right, cool, he got hurble, he wants some crazy.
One of my favorite champs ever is I said with Nas And I asked Nas, I said, I don't feel like no one ever told Nas no?
And he goes, yeah, someone told me no, And I go, who you go, Prince?
Oh yeah, and then he goes, uh, Prince asked me, did I own my masters?
I heard, and I said no, I don't owe my masters.
And he said, well, come see me when you owe my masters, and when you're on your master, your master's And you wouldn't think that's like a harsh sting saying to a younger artist coming up in the game, but it's probably the exact statement that you need to hear.
Yeah, you went forward in this game. Maybe maybe it was like that Mike Tyson.
You ever see Mike Tyson with a little girl said where's your legacy? And Mike Tyson like legacy. Maybe it was that moment for Nas with Rents. But maybe moving forward. NAS needed to hear that, you understand I'm saying, And we don't know that with Mike Tyson. I don't know if y'all seen this for this, but was the moment she did need to hear too. I just I'm sorry, but that's crazy. So when you hear Prince he was
so advanced in this game. You see about the slave tattoo, and you realize that years later, I had to buy my own name back, and I'm.
Like, when he changed his name to the sign to I didn't know that then. I didn't know that. Yeah, he was. He was definitely fighting that fight.
Yeah, And to be honest, he might have been the first in our generation, like in our general generation, to fight that fight on such a public platform, you know what I mean.
Like and say against the machine, against the machine that's showing us exactly right.
But see that was a whole nother you know, because Sam Cook did it as well. And you are right then, yes, all right? What was on that? Yeah? All right? I argue that ship right, all right? A ball m J G or Goodie mob. I gotta say goodie mom.
I gotta say goodie mob.
You know from the South with good.
When I tell you, I can pick my friends by how much they know about a ball.
M you like, do you know this song?
Do you know nine millimeters?
Boys?
Right?
Goodie mob?
Though, all right, black Star, dead Press, that's.
I'm gonna have to say both for me. I can't.
I can't.
I can't. I can't say one or the other.
I just can't do it. Wow. Yes, And by the way, dead Press, whatever, y'all we missed y'all. Man, everyone's in Africa. I think he moved to Africa. I want to go to Africa.
Yeah, shut and man, they're great for you, man, Florida.
That okay, that's don't know they weren't there.
Yeah.
See, to me, both of them made such an impact and a totally you know, in the same way.
But just I can't.
I can't.
For me, I can't choose either one as more important to me, Like Black Star.
Because you know that Kanye made that beak that Yeah, Alchemist told us that we searched it, we researched it, we researched it.
Yeah, it's kind of yeah, it's kind of like up in the air.
Baseline.
I'm going to ask I'm going to text that more baseline. Yeah, say, oh yeah, yeah, yeah what sorry, was he signed to produce already? I don't I don't remember. I don't remember, but I know that he had something to do with that production for sure. That but that's crazy. I't never heard of that. That's yeah.
Lord, well, well he was a part of that, like dead press, like that's right, that h like I think helping them get the deal and yeah, like a whole I did not know that brand new and helped a lot of folks.
Man, Yeah, yeah, we had Lord mar I guess I don't have to ask the questions.
What were saying about Lord Moore said, we had Lord of Wall and it's his doc right, want we want the whole brand New being together, and we would need.
Your Grandpool, but we haven't had Grandpooper yet. Man.
I actually like Grandpoopa's album. He just dropped it out. He dropped it out either late last.
Year or early this year.
I forget because it's you know, it's been nine or ten months. But yeah, it was dope.
I like it.
I liked the shot Grandpool He's dope.
Oh yeah, what's the next one. Let's see what we are? Ice Cuba comment or common cute. Ice C's tough.
For me, I'm gonna have to say.
It's crazy.
It was really Yeah, yeah they did.
But I got to say both for them because they did barbershop together.
Yeah, they came, they came together.
I didn't even know that.
Yeah, I know that.
That comment was such a cool guy.
He's such a good spirit. He's a very kind I mean to.
Me, those early ice Cube days, like his first number of solo bes that just from CERTI I could never put anything above that easily, Like, yeah, of course common is just He's ridiculous.
I mean, I love that brother.
All right. E p m D. Or Pete Rock and Steal Smooth.
For me, I'm gonna say E p m D.
Although I love.
Yeah, we're gonna go.
Yeah, I'm saying or Pete Smooth. We say both of them both official group. You're right, I mean would say p m D because came before.
Yeah, yeah, definitely, man, that stuff their albums is just major. And we just did a show with them too.
Y E p m D. You do shows with everybody. Let's make some.
Your favorite.
I love that, I love that. I love It's a tough one. They lost so Jungle Brothers. That is tough.
Wow, you're gonna have to say Daylight. I'm gonna have to say that.
But it was tough one because to me, Jungle Brothers brought Daylight, you know what I'm saying. Yeah, so that's but Daylight to me, the catalog is just so you know, expansive.
I mean, just think they brought to your table.
I mean your last year you did was it the the Love the Hollywood Bowl and they were there.
It was just the energy was so amazing.
Fact, there's so many people on this boy.
Yeah.
I just remember before when we were in Africa.
Yeah, before we went.
With Daylight.
Oh, it was just such a South Africa too. In South Africa.
Question, yeah, yeah, in South Africa it has black people, right because I always debate with him.
Yeah ninety seven percent.
Yeah yeah, I told you, I know, I know, baby playing around.
Yeah yeah, in South Africa. So we did the first time I went to South Africa was in nineteen.
Ninety four and with Nelson Madella we did. We spoke with him and I spoke right before him.
It was amazing. That was like it was amazing. And then we shot one of our videos and not in front. Antoine was our Yeah, the director that did on training day. Yeah, he did our video.
Yeah, a song called United Front.
Yep, you're not in Front.
I did it in South ain't get a gang in South Africa to United Front, know what?
Not in Front?
I saw with the two kids walking down the dirt road.
That was album cover. That was in South Africa.
That was That's what I remember. I think that was Headliner was saying.
That was.
That was an amazing little moment.
You gotta got Lauren Hill or Queen Latifa? Are you serious?
Queen and Tifa help my baby?
Yeah?
She she just came to say both for me.
I can't say one of the other.
One time when I saw her.
Tifa as a young woman coming up and you know, before I got into rested, I would look up to her and I had all the crowns like the cat she used to wear the crown and I was like, I like this woman because to me she represented a cur hervy black woman and I can relate.
And she said you why, oh my?
She was just powerful, just everything about her just powerful.
Damn covered up and.
Were yes uns.
Show trying to.
Get her on the show. Yeah, Queena tifas she's but of course Lauren.
Hill is absolutely We're not taking that away, not at all.
And when shout la on her, Lauren Hill, let's talk about that mis education.
Is a very kind spirit. She she is such a sweet person.
She's Yeah, we we tour with her many times, an incredible career. And Lauren, I mean, like.
I said, I brought Lauren Well, I brought the Fujis to Atlanta. They opened for us in Europe to I don't know if you remember that opened the front a lot of times.
So we've known that for years.
Yeah. Black Thought or Andre three thousands, no, no, you t t top of I gotta go both. Definitely both.
Yeah, I have to say both.
I have to say because they're they're two different there are dope, two different reasons. And we just we toured with Black Thought and the Roots and so yeah, they're awesome.
Rod Digger, Lady of Rage, Oh my god, lay.
Yeah I love Eire Yeah yeah, yeah.
Rhap City or Lady London, Rhapsody. I'm gonna say Hapsody. We just did a show with Rhapsody too, So yeah.
We we got another beautiful the last one to get back to the interview.
Loyal to your respect, loyal respect, respect all the long.
Yeah, I'll say they almost mean the same thing.
That they mean the same thing.
But if you don't have respect, what good is your loyalty?
Come on?
That was deep, but.
Repect exactly?
It comes one.
You can't have one when I respect.
But are you loyal though, because you're.
Just inside the crew, you might be part of a sabotage you if I don't have If you don't respect, you gotta respect.
Respect.
Go ahead.
I don't think I could be loyal to someone I didn't respect.
There you go, there you go.
That does make sense that.
We didn't answer the question respect.
I'm saying respect first and foremost.
I'm gonna just drink because.
The time that me and him we say that, this is the one time that we should say both. I do believe that loyalty and respect those That's that's.
Why if you if you have to get both, give me.
If you want you better be you're gonna be loyal because of your.
Believe I believe that. I believe that.
Is there anything that if you had and now with the conclusive quick time was fine?
Good?
But is it anything that if you guys had a chance to do over, you would do over? The like basically I'm asking, is it anything you regret this beautiful, illustrious career that you guys are.
Yeah.
I mean there's a few things I mentioned a couple. One is I wish.
If I knew better in the early days, I would have figured out a way to make sure that every body in the group felt appreciated thoroughly by me. So I'm just speaking for me right now. And then the other thing I wish I would have known and done differently is when we finished our first album put it out.
We sold four million albums, five million albums.
The label was really rushing us to put out new material, and I wish I would have just waited and just took a little bit more time, took as much time as we needed, because I do feel like it just would have gave us a chance to check out the landscape of what was happening, you know, because Wu Tang was coming out, there was a whole different energy dropped all exactly, so it's like just seeing, Okay, this is what's happening. Okay, now, this is what we can contribute,
you know what I'm saying. I think that that would have been a good play for us. So that's for me that's what I'm saying here anywhere else.
Nope out Like I shouldn't say regrets or anything, but I.
Okay.
I feel like artists need the opportunity to experiment, Like we need the permission to suck, Like, make some stuff, let it be as wack as possible, because you're letting your creativity go as far as you can let it go, and then you kind of reel it back in it, you know what I mean. But sometimes artists, I think we feel like once the first album is dope, the next album everything has to be dope after that, and
if it's not dope, then you fell off. And it's like your creativity doesn't get this chance to be able to grow. And growth isn't It is not comfortable, it's not pretty, and it's not always like you won't always be on top every single time.
It's not always linear too, you know what I'm saying. Sometimes it's like that, you know what I mean.
So giving artists to the opportunity to put some stuff out that's different and give it a chance, like we open to just here something different.
That'd be the difference between industry and culture, industry and art.
Yeah, and that that means what andre three thousand and outcasts to do a lot of different stuff for that period of time, and it was dope, you know.
I think for me, I was all passion and I didn't know much about the business.
So I was very green when I came in because I was so young, and then we didn't have the internet.
You know.
My mom, uh was an avid reader, So that's how I learned a.
Lot about the industry actually through my mom just reading books and about the industry.
But I was just all passion, all passion and no business.
And so I think if I had to do it all over again, I would learned a lot more about the business. But back then someone literally had to take your hand and say just follow me, you know what I'm saying. It was just a different world back then, and I just I wanted to learn more from a business perspective because once we got out, the group.
Came out, and just how everything moved so fast, and just how I was.
In an adult world as a teenager, you know what I mean, And just how they were everything was more business than it.
Was creative, you get what I'm saying.
And then we spent more a lot of times being creative, you know, and parsing and stuff like that. So I didn't know about like copyrights and you know, writing, publishing, none of that stuff. So you know, learning through trial and narrow and then like latter years when we came back together and got to do records, we wrote.
We wrote a lot of stuff on the.
That was a third album, Your Hair's of the Harvest, So that was like our third album, and that was super fun. And you know a lot of growth had taken place through those years. Throughout those years, so you know, just just being in the industry, you know, not knowing how it really worked, you know.
But honestly, I don't think we I mean speech, none of it.
None of them.
Yeah, it looking like yeah, yeah, I wouldn't do my own ship that you would do.
I didn't know nothing.
Yeah, That's why I tell a lot of young artists now when I do have a chance to talk to them, like learn as much as you can, you know, And relationships are so important. You know, a lot of people don't build relationships now like we used to back in the day because.
We didn't have the internet. You had to get out and talk to people. I don't think we do that as much anymore.
Yeah, it's something that if I could comment on what you just said his what's crazy about the new artists, They definitely don't need a label at all.
True, Yes, like they don't need what we needed.
Yeah, right, we needed a top forty record. We needed a record to go and travel right now, God bless me. NBA Young Boy is all over. He is selling out arena right now, and I don't know anybody in their thirties that could even quote a record.
Now.
What I'm saying about that, I'm not dissing him. I'm giving him light. What I'm saying is that people under thirty could be the people that's that's that's doing it, that's quoting his records. What I'm saying is that's an example to us. It's an example to people that came before us, example people that came that's coming after us.
Is that look, we don't even need these people if really apply the pressure to ourselves and say, look, let's it's a direct to consumer market right now, let's just talk to them direct and NBA Young Boy, I don't know who's behind you. I see bird Man sometimes behind you, I see whatever. NBA Young Boy, you're a great example of that. I see you selling out Arenas, I see you doing this shit, and I see you it's like what your.
Fans that is? That shit is something to that school. What we strive to do is like you know what. That's the beautiful thing about this part podcast.
Is I remember like going on tour and they sending me to places that it didn't matter to my career.
I had to pay for it anyway. Right, So let's I had to go to which is all Kansas?
Right?
I don't know, give me an example. I'm not saying that.
I mean I go to which of God to Kansas or whatever, and it's three people at my instos.
Yeah, yeah, there's three people.
But I was right next door in Cleveland killing them.
I was right on the block. And they didn't have the algorithms back then exactly. Now we actually have the algorithms.
Where you can actually see and say, oh, listen, we're not going to do a forty city tour with Drink Canser.
We'll do a twenty eight city tour. All of these twenty eight cities is going to matter.
It's the market still writing Marcus our mars Yes, and you young brothers. That's out there. You got the algorithms. You have a advantage that we didn't have. Better take full advantage, and please continue to take full advantage, because this is like I love Leo Cohen, right, I don't care whoever feels about Leo. Come, that's who y'all feel. Your relationship with Leo Cohen told me this is one of the best times to get in the industry. And you say why, Okay, well, you don't got to press
up an album. If you're producing your own album. You have a relationship with a person that's producing your own album, y'all can make a deal and you can say, you listen, let me do this, this and that, and then you can really own everything, get algorithms from the photography, everything, and it's not as expensive.
Remember your album packaging was.
One hundred and seventy thousand, when you can include it who you travel to your stylist and you know all that you spending money that you didn't even really understand. But now it's like I can look at everything and I can control it. So I want elder artists, uh, you know, younger artists, don't. Don't be confused about these algorithms. Understand these algorithms and said, you know what, continue to promote to your own fed.
I agree, but I want to ask them in to that because one thing we got to be careful with is as independent as we feel in this tech age.
These platforms are the new record labels and they can platform you.
So make discussion.
Should also understand that I don't think you're totally I'm this indie artist, like diversify these platforms that you're on, try to find the most independent ones your audience.
And have a grassroots part of your campaign as well. Agree, there's a.
New platform called Coda that I think is dope.
So I'm just saying that, and I want to just add I think that what.
Needs to happen or continue to happen, I know I actively do it.
I know other people to actively do each and different people, but a lot of older artists, we got to embrace these younger artists and bring them up. And then the younger artists also, Like I spend a lot of time with younger artists and they teach me a lot of stuff I did not know about the Internet, and they're like this easy, you can do this, Miss.
Easy, you can do that.
And so I'm learning too, and I think it's you know, we got to take the old and the new and bring it together because that's what's gonna make us greater, you know what I mean. And because I think a lot of the ways, like our work ethic and how we came up everything, literally we want a carbon copy like that was considered whack if it was like somebody else.
Just the individuality we have back then. I think we still need to embrace that, you know what I'm saying, But also understand this tech world because AI is here and it's here to stay. You gotta, you know, we gotta embrace stuff that's coming, you.
Know what I mean.
So cautious absolutely, but it's coming. It's coming, you know what I mean.
I understand, Yeah, I mean, you know what I'm.
Saying, It's coming.
That's the one thing that I really would love to improve on this bridge in the gap. And what I say about bridging the gap is, you know, sometimes I listen to these young brothers and I don't mean to sound like the old dude, but fucking let me just sound like the old dude for now.
Okay.
They'll be like, yo, man, you know, I got the Jordan's on and I got on Patrick Ewings or they'll do. And you know the sneakers that you're wearing when it comes to basketball, you know the throwback jersey that you're wearing when it comes to basketball. But here you are making money off of hip hop and you don't know who fucking Biggie Smalls is exactly right that it is disappointing. And I don't mean to be the old homie that critique you, but I also have to be the old homie.
They'll be like, yo, you're not right when you come on the block. Got to tie your shoelaces, you got to pick up your you're.
Suspended this homie, you got to do that.
Like, I have to be that person because it's like, damn, we're all being the fitting off for this. And you could tell me that Jordan One needs fucking right. It's that eighty seven. You could tell me that, But you can't tell me Biz Markey's record is you.
You got.
In the world.
Of the girl. You want to take your platonic to wherever. You can't tell me you're not going to sing bis marks. Yeah on, bro, But you know what's happening in baseball, and you know Messi's watch like I can't I can't respect.
And I think to that point, as a culture, we need to stop pitting generations against each other, because everybody's going to have a different greatest of all time thing based off of what era you came up in. But but I don't like the idea that it's like the older generations like, oh, that's whag, and the younger generation is like all the.
Old stuff is whack. It's like, nah, it's just different.
And if you educate yourself, like the idea that what happened before you isn't important anymore because it's about the now, well, you'll end up making the same mistakes that the artists before you did that we were hoping you would push it forward, and then there's gonna be another generation after you that's going.
To build off of what you do.
But we have gotten into this this pie, these pods where it's like the only thing that's dope is this, and that's not that's not true. And if if we're more celebratory of every it doesn't we don't have to like or everything don't have to be your cup of tea, but just the idea that anything but your stuff is whack or the older generation or newer generation.
We just got to get out of that.
I wish it was a podcast that gave flowers.
And I have to say this, but I wish there was a real platform where it was a hip hop platform. Like what I mean by that is like, and I'm not saying we're not the platform. What I'm saying is we prefer to give flowers to people that has been here, you know, you know, ten years or more. Right, But then there's a platform where we should all co exists, right, meaning.
The newest of the newest guy from fucking you know, Indiana should be connected with the newest newest guy from Compton, and you know, and vice versa.
Do do what the fuck we do in hip hop? You know what I'm saying, like.
We do is so beautiful, and it's like it's like that's the one thing I regret when you said I forget what you want to say like the younger generation.
I always regret that because me.
As a OG, sometimes I look over there and I want to say to him.
Similar to like that you said the new intervw RA story there say, so I.
Similar I look over there, and then I can look and I can see one of his homies, and I can feel like one of the homies, Like look at the old nigga trying to say, I've got that guy over here, my own smoking, of my own jam, none of that ship.
That's me as an og being wrong.
I'm supposed to be able to supersede that and say, all listen, let me introduce myself, right, young homie. Look regardless if you know who I am or not, you know what I mean? Like, I know, I met Young Doug one night, and I did the wrong thing. I walked up to Young Doug and he uses slim. Slim is my my sling. Slim is my slang since two thousand and the more you can pull it up. And I walked up to him and I was just like, what's up, Broke. He was like, oh, what's up, Broke?
And I was just like, all right, I.
Know it's me that was wrong though, Like I fully didn't introduced myself.
I just wanted him to.
Know who I was right then and there, and he did, and I was just like, you know what, stay in your own zone.
But that was wrong of me.
Like you know what, sometimes we can even bow down to ourselves because this is our community. And by the way, the reason why your name slime is because of me. Someone else's name you Slim, but that original.
Name was was me since two thousand and one.
And I could have easily said that. I didn't know how to say it, but I knew that that was the problems for us. Sometimes it's like I didn't know how to be like yo, yo home. I just want you to know you made a whole career ten years and you kind of took my ship.
Laugh about it, you know what I mean.
But that's the part that I wish we could improve and hip hop relations I was looking.
Like that when you said that, because that happens to us a lot.
We're weird.
It's like I don't want to introduce myself.
I did.
I don't want to sometimes yeah, yeah, I'm good. I want to get your handshaken. You be like, what's something like it should just be real?
Really needed it all more than that.
But then you got you got you got, you got this younger generation that does know you got a Kendrick Lamar that would sit.
There and be like, yo, what's up bro? You be like, oh ship you everybody.
I didn't expect that from you, and you got J Coles, you got these people who will sit down.
But I think you could easily say that there's artists that are culturally invested and artists that are just here for what.
Let's just make this buck.
And so I think my issue for for generationally going younger is that there's no problem with you not knowing something.
We all don't know everything. We don't know that there's a problem with you not wanting to know. You should want to know. I know that about my thing that I do. Let me know that history will say for us.
We're getting a lot of young people coming to our shows all of a sudden, All of a Sudden'm talking eighteen.
You know, they weren't even born when we were. Because you know why hip hop is trying to learn.
They want to learn, which is encouraging, right what I'm saying.
That's beautiful, Yo, man, I had so much fun doing that.
Man.
But you guys are a group that people should study. People should understand definition of loyalty, people should understand the definition of respect, and people should understand the definition of unity. Facts that is not that is not common in hip hop. I've been in this motherfucker twenty five years. Like I said, I see, motherfuckers can't even survive two months, let alone two years, let alone twenty seven to thirty years.
And that shit is not normal.
I wanted to take the time out to respect y'all.
Thanks.
Tell y'all how much y'all mean to not only me, you know, not only say EFN and a drink chance it's a hip hop. Think you man, there's an example that we should all study and continue to study and continue to represent and respect because it's not a lot and the fact that y'all are one of many, but y'all are probably the first. I have to salute y'all. I want to tell you how much I respect y'all.
Thanks. Tell y'all. Man, like the ship that y'all did is not normal. It's not normal.
Like like all right, all right, there was a Rockefeller tree right one time, and they said Rockefeller. But then they seen every group that could be related to rocket fell word up. Do you know understand every group that if we did that same shit, every group that could be Lady, y'all, y'all would look like Johangti word up in the field, because it would look and it would keep going because there's certain groups that y'all birth that birth to other groups, so that ship keeps going.
So in casey I didn't know it, I was just saying.
We made it to drinks. But it always has to be. We always have to validate each other sometimes.
Hell yeah, but it's well warranted. Man, we were waiting for this. Okay, one last question.
Okay, one last question. Because you know hip hop, we always have these crazy names. How you get the name speech?
I used to be called DJ and you know, you know, and they used to call me DJ Peach because in my head and how big it is, so period a name peach. Of course, when I started rhyming, I didn't want to be known.
As m C.
Peach. That's like, so why I put an in front of it?
That was it?
Speech? It just made sense. I just started rhyming. I was like, this is this is it?
This makes sense? Yeah?
I had something to say, So that was it.
Please take a look at the record because it's dope, the actual take a look at But he's.
Very he's very about this one. Yeah, about the old school one we had we had on head and he gives one of the old.
Records, like that record, right, So this this, this is the care, the care.
Yeah.
Drink Champs is a drink Champs ll C.
Production hosts and executive producers n O r E and d j e f f N.
Listen to drink Champs on.
Apple Podcast, Amazon Music, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for joining us for another episode of Drink Champs hosted by yours truly, d j e f N and n O r E. Please make sure to follow us on all our socials that's at drink Champs across all platforms at the Real Noria go on I g at noriag on Twitter, Mine is at Who's Crazy on I g at d j e f N on Twitter, And most importantly, stay up to date with the latest releases, news and urch by going to drink champs dot com.
Mm hmm
