JERRY CLARK - Streets Spaghetti

Hey, guys, welcome to another episode of Eating While Broke. I'm your host, Colleen Witt, and today we have very special guests. Legendary music exact Jerry Clark is in the building, and get.

It right, and.

Get it right. I wanted.

I also, no, I wasn't gonna mess up your name, but I wanted to.

I wanted to talk.

I also wanted to leave in the introduction the legendary story time with Jerry Clark. That's why I wanted to somehow segue so it's not just music Exac, but fellow.

Podcaster on iHeart Now. So I wanted to include all that. I didn't forget the name.

I was just trying to get.

I wanted to I know, I was like, I wanted to do the legendary storytime Jerry Clark, and then but I also want to include legendary music Exac.

And then I was like, all right, let's focus on what you're cooking for me.

Okay, I'm gonna.

Keep it very, very very basic, and I'm gonna do some spaghetti with the signature ground Turkey that I grew.

Up that my mom used to use signature.

I mean, I guess everybody's ground turkey now.

But we when I was growing up as a kid in Chicago, my mom she was you know, we didn't really eat a lot.

Of beef and pork.

So years ago, in the seventies, we ate turkey, ground turkey, turkey bacon. So that's why my love for turkey come from. So that's why I cook everything with not everything, but a lot. So my spaghetti's I like that.

So while you hop up and get in the kitchen for me, I ain't really let me tell you.

You know, I do a lot of other things good. But see the streets, the streets.

I'm sorry, you're gonna have.

The streets. What did you say?

You screamed the streets, Jerry, I'm gonna say it now, legendary Jerry Clark, scream streets.

Are you married right now? I don't want to say that. If you're married, I'm streets.

I was married before I was married, before the streets you got sweat.

Streets have anything to do with the possible ending.

No, no, not that I'm a square. I'm a quiet square, real the quiet square guy.

I'm gonna cook.

I find that hard to believe you.

You're legendary and music exact. You work with all these Southern.

Rappers and yes, so what does that have to do with me being in the streets?

Colon.

By the end of the interview, I'm gonna we're gonna determine if you if you was for.

The streets or if you are a square. We shall see.

Why No, But you know what, technically you can be both.

You could be that's someone that's from the streets.

But say that you could be both.

Okay, but you look, I have not to cut you off and have some mom of wheat noodles that I like to use.

Yeah, I noticed that you were very particular. What's up with the wheat? I didn't even know they sold wheat until you said wheat?

Come on calling you stop?

I was like, shit, how do you tell? I literally looked at the noodles. I said, how do you tell which ones are weak?

And then I saw some that look like wheat, and then I saw some that said wheat, and I said.

Okay, Coling, you had never heard of wheat noodles.

I eat protein noodles. Have you heard of protein noodles?

Sadly, just like you got white bread, you got wheat bread. So it's anything you can you know.

What's your obsession with these wheats? They taste better?

Nah, just like them, their little healthy And I'll eat some mom, I'll eat someone where do U tells? I'll eat some Mom, I'll eat some white noodles?

Okay?

Yes? Will okay?

And you know you cook all that spaghettiod for two?

Yeah?

All right almost?

Yeah, I wasna. Look, I'm I'm I'm talking and cooking and I'm not. I never usually do that, and I really don't cook a lot. You should, I feel very you should. Okay, so you definitely should.

You cook it.

Take me back to what was going on during this time of spaghetti noodles with ground turkey.

I had a very simple upbringing. Uh.

My parents were married before before my father passed in twenty sixteen, they were married for forty five years.

So I had a good solid upbringing.

Uh, three siblings. I'm second in the pecking order, so I watched a family, you know, growing up. My mom was big into, well, my errands were being into you know, having dinner. No matter what we had, whether it was practice or you know, moving around, we had to have dinner, whether it was five ten minutes before we you know, every night. So all that to say, I I came up in a in a very I'm very appreciative of coming up in.

A very stable, solid upbringing, cause I look at shit.

Now, sh was it middle class or oh.

No, we ain't had no money?

Okay, we ain't had no money. Okay, we was in Chicago. We moved in ox to Tennessee for a quick minute, and then we moved down south. Well, we moved farther south Carotlanta, Okay, And that was the best decision my parents could haven't made, because I loved this city. It was you know, of course, being a black mecca. I was able to go to high school here and just

Did the economics change in your family when they moved to Atlanta?

Also, yes, yes, it did get better than Chicago. We didn't have no money Knoxville, we didn't have no money. But when we gave him the Atlanta things, you know, got a lot better financially from my parents. So, of course, you know that made a big difference.

Were your parents in the industry in any capacity.

No, no.

But my uncle was the late Gray Stanley Bethel was He was in the music business, and that was my first foray into the music business cause he used to take me to the different conventions, the Jack the Rapper conventions, br conventions, Impact, and I just fell in love with to be honest, I first fell in love with the glamory and the glitz of just being in the mix

Keep you grounded.

What did he mean by that?

Like that you're going to bet a lot of people that are phoning in a three dollar fucking bill in this music business. And I've been surrounded by those type unethical phony people, not all of them, because I know some great individuals that are like family to me now.

But this industry, unfortunately, it has been very fit when it's very phone. To this day, it still lives. But I learned the maneuver, run maneuver.

You know I have you know, I have three kids, So having a family and being grounded with a solid you know, I tend to think that I'm a very spiritual person.

So what what kept you grounded?

My family? My kids, your.

Kids, and your wife and all that at the time. Yeah, my kids, okay, your kids.

Yeah.

And then what was like your first encounter with the phony and the fake, Like.

What was your very first like oh shit, like reality check.

I don't remember one incident, but just the fact that, like you're meeting people and go to meeting people say hey, Colleen, this is what we go do.

We're go do this deal. Let's say blah, let's handshake on it. Then you don't never hear from him again.

Oh I don't like that.

It should always bugged me out, like why would we go through all this shit and talk about this and say we're going to do something.

If we can't do it, just say, hey, man, something happen, We're not gonna be able to do this deal right now or the.

Budget change that but just disappeared that shit is that shit is whack. Yeah, that shit is whack.

This shit is whack. So it wasn't just Coleen, It wasn't just one incident. It was really numerous ones.

Because I came I started interning at two labels. This was ninety three ninety four, so in those early nineties, of course, the game was way different than what it is now. So I came in and I was able to learn from street promotions and you know, taking it from that ground level.

And taking it.

Yeah, that's like the start starts.

Oh yeah.

And then what were the rappers around that time?

Uh, well, you're only in hip hop at the time, because hip hop was fairly.

New, right, well, not really fairly new. But one of the labels UH interned for was Relativity. Ruthless Red Distribution.

Had an office here in Atlata, Okay.

So of course on the Roofless side, that's you know, Easy E mc rae and Bomb Thugs, Holes.

With Attitude did and all those guys too.

And then on the Relativity side was more East Coast, the beat Nuts, Fat Joe Common, So I was able to get that experience. And then at the same time I was internal for independent label. Brother Marquis from two Live Crew and the super producer DJ Toomp had a label and I interned for them. So that tells you how bad I wanted to be in it because I can turn it too.

Label and did you have to work like side jobs in addition to the internet. Well, were you trying to how have your parents?

I just told this story recently for the first time. Excuse me. I was working at Delta Airlines.

Oh shoot, shout out. Okay.

Yeah.

So I remember coming home and telling my parents that I wasn't working at Delta anymore, and my mom kind of lost it.

Like what they got. It's a good job. You could have worked benefits, you could have worked there for years.

What were you doing at Delta? Were you like a student?

Uh?

They had a program for for students, college students at that time. I was in school for a couple of years, and.

So we we just did customer It was customer service, some of us at the gate. Some it just depends, but it was customer service.

So my mom, you know, in her defense, she she had the right to be mad because I was young.

My dad pulled me to the side, he said, hey, come here, some excuse me, he said, go for it.

Shout out.

Rest in peace, Tom Clark. I love you, brother, I miss you too.

But and you told her, like the reason why is because you really wanted.

To put all your buckets in this.

I have no income.

So she was like, were you living with them? Yes, I was young, okay, shout out to Papa. Duke's okay.

So that put me on. It's like he put the batteries at my back to go forward.

I love that.

And then from the internship things just start happening. Things just start rolling, and my career started taking off.

And when did you get that first? Like that?

I was in the music and Freaknick Weekend.

Uh. Of course, men.

Talk about talk about hey, this is out of hey man, this, I'm trying to brown my ground.

Turn because you're turning it off. You got to turn that doll the other way.

It says, okay, you know I'm three quarters slow.

Well no, I'm realizing.

Quarter right now.

I'm right now, I'm three quarters slow that You're never in the kitchen. Why is it not.

Getting because look no, look look look Collen. It says high and it says low. But I saw the dot.

He was getting real close to the doctor.

It was so so freaking weekend every year. Of course, every artist came to land.

So I was still interning at this point with Relativity Ruthless, and we had we had m c ran in town and he came by my apartment and I couldn't believe it because you know, I was such an n w A fan. I was man and I was like, I'm in the industry.

Became by your apartment or your parents' house.

At that point, I had moved, I had got me a little one barrel, so he came by my apartment. Oh wow, and I was like, damn, I made it and she ran foreign apartment. So that was like the first time that I felt even though I.

Was no money.

Yeah, but that's when I was I felt like, Okay, I'm really in this business. Yeah, but literally I know that it would take for years of me really cultivating certain relationships to really be in this business.

Yeah.

So but that was that was really my first time. Yeah, I was like damn in my apartment.

So I know, for me personally, like I was an entrepreneur for a long time, but it wasn't until I bought my first house where I really was like I'm legit, like one of bank ones to you based on the money, because you know, you always feel like a hustler, maybe imposter syndrome. What was that next time or you were like Okay, I'm legit.

Legit honestly, when I started getting paid.

Yeah, let's talk about that. Okay, Well it.

Wasn't a lot. It wasn't a lot.

Relativity eventually hired me, uh that our our I think our VP, I think he was VP. His name was Muhammad Ali and the national our national director was rich Kid. That was his name, and they hired me to do streets. And guess what my salary was. I was on a monthly stipend of five hundred dollars.

I mean back then that was probably cool, right, No, it was still bad.

No, but it didn't matter. It could have been five. I was just the fact that I was getting a check.

Yeah, of course, doing what you cared about, and at this point you're probably killing the game in promotions.

Yeah I was, Yeah, I was. I was.

I was definitely good at what I what I did, and still good at what I do. But when I got a check for it, that's when I was like, okay, and I showed my parents and it was okay, you know, you know, one hundred dollars a month, that's a start. But then within a few years that five hundred turned into thousands and thousands because my career started.

Growing and what was that next thing that made your career start.

A lot happened.

Like I said, I started working for other labels doing street promotions.

But then Racist Records. Uh. For those who don't know Most Depth talive quality, you know.

We had sound bombing and we had a lot of stuff with eminem Common.

They called us the backpack label. So Racist Records hired me.

And why would they call what does the backpack label mean?

It's backpackers? Like that's that.

That's what we were known as the backpack Look at look at the artists and I'm talking about and this is and I love most depth talive quality, but at that moment in the nineties, it was.

More of the backpack kids, you know. That's what they called us, the backpack label.

And a lot of white kids listened to the artist you know, listen to the artists we had on the label, Eastern Conference, all those artists.

Uh.

So I started working with Rackus Records, and then from there I started taking on other positions. I was working here at in my distribution offices marketing. We had verg in Capitol Records. Then Outcasts hired me to run their promotion department at their label.

Wow.

Yeah, they had they had a label as well, so I was working with with with the label Aquimini. That was the first before it became Purple Ribbon Records. So then I, you know, then Steve Rifkins. Shout out to Steve Rifkin. Uh, he's one of the biggest icons in this music game.

He brought me on, Uh, you're looking at I might burn the man.

You ain't got to look like that's how you cutting your eye cut her eye and me like, I'm about to burn up the whole studio. Colleen, I don't do me like that. But uh so after that, uh, and these are just jobs. And keep in mind I still.

Was on ms of things. Yeah, consoleting man, I have my own.

So you're like, now now you're like a hustler, slash promoter, a hustler.

I just became that one of those.

Dude, Like I became that nigga I mean.

Ship, Yeah, that niggas in that line of nigga. I was one of them niggas.

Yeah, so I like how you did that. I was one of them niggas. Niggas.

Yeah, I was ship.

You know, I tend to think I still am, but you know, see that because I'm for the streets streets on very sorry. Oh boy man, I just want to come and do a great interview with you.

You're doing a great job.

Great you said you're saying women love the dudes from the street.

Because I heard you not not to change. But I heard you doing another interview and you said you got like slots, but we're gonna leaves. We're gonna stay on. We're go stay on point. I'm gonna cook my brown, my little ground turkey. Yeah, she said she got slots.

Okay, back to your story.

So yeah, Steve Rifkin.

Icon, Steve Rifkin brought me over to work with him as vice president of SRC, and we had you know, Ashra Roth and I mean Steve Rifkin, I don't have to tell, but those who don't know, I mean he brought he signed some of the biggest acts in the history of hip hop. So when I worked for him, I thought like, Wow, I'm working for one of the biggest icons. And I went from there to Shakir the Late Let me let me preface the late Great Shakir

And that's just from having jobs. That's not all the other things.

And that's why you have to tune into story time with Legendary Jerry podcast because I talk about all the other things that I do.

Before we even well, I want to get to all some of the other stuff you do, but I want to talk about promotions for a second, since you are the goat promotions when comes definitely not the music music marketing, Well you definitely, Okay, well.

Definitely, Now I can name some goats.

Now share share with me some of the tippits that you learned along that helped with your promotions.

At least well in radio, in radio, in radio promotions and marketing. There's really one thing that really pushes the needle and Colleen, that's relationships. You have to nurture. You have to develop and nurture relationships. That's the end all be all. You keep great relationships, you have a very very successful career. It's all about relationships.

At the end of the day. That's it.

And when you're talking relationships, you're talking about relationships and.

Media radio across the board.

Okay, yeah, And I'm.

Sure even in politics, we'll get there. I'm gonna get there, you.

See, I know, I know why you look, even in politics, even in politics, let me cut it.

Look, let me look now, I can cut it down.

Okay, cut it down. Why you shout that look? Is that off limit?

No?

Okay, because we ain't gonna leave.

It listening for transparency?

Right since since we did segue into politics, did we pass this chapter in your life yet or you didn't skip over it?

Right?

They kind of they kind of overlap because I got into politics. It really wasn't my idea, to be honest. It was other people's idea because they saw so much potential in me, uh, from a leadership standpoint. So it was like, what we're going to do is we want to appoint you to a board called the zone and Board.

H and Colleen, I had no clue what the fucking.

Zoning board was, but come to find out that it is a very powerful board no matter what municipality you in.

And they appointed me, that appointed me to that board.

The folks that that that that random county that I was living in, which is right here in Atlanta, nor Carolanta.

Uh so, uh so your relationships at this point are buzzing.

Yeah, that's you could drain the water into that. I was trying to help.

I was if you will help me. If you was gonna help me, you would have had a strainer.

Tell this eating wall broke. You better use one of those.

Yeah, use one of those tools.

I forget the eighty five South. They built this whole set for us here.

And shout out to eighty five South. I could pour all this in here.

See that's how I know you ain't in the kitchen. You better use stop you Let me just say something to all y'all listeners. He taking the raw meat thing and he can keep swapping, so like if we have some kind of bacterial thing.

I just want to just high like that.

Jerry Clark, reason in your mouth than this.

Oh my god, Jerry, Arry, you're gonna be an atl Are you going back to l A.

I'm having a great time, but this is I.

Had to let me look, let me use something else. Now you see how I switched it up.

Yeah, after we already died of.

Did anyone else think that when they were seeing him switch those utensils.

Out because nobody look, because they're.

Not eating it. They don't care exactly.

Like I said, but we go. I'm not gonna get your Backteriy.

But anyway, Hey, y'all, this is Colleen, this is Jerry Clark.

We're having a great time and this mill is about to be even.

We don't see no season. All I know is mean.

There's no seasoning. There's no seasons of season. I didn't know this. This is my first time, said by.

What seasons do you need? Let's not don't look, don't look, don't look.

Watch there we go.

I just wanted to see, if you.

Know, hold on, let me stand up.

When I do this, this see this, this goes into jiggo Jerry for the strict look.

Ah, okay, okay, okay, Jerry, I'm sorry. I'm having a great time. All right, let's go back to the politics. Because I want to get to prison sentences and all that good stuff. Okay, I I don't want to get to that. I want to get to the promised Land.

So uh so fast forward. I was appointed to the board. I was on the board for a few years. And at this time, I was still flying back and forth to New York for my meetings. And let me say this, I'm all about accountability. So I'm not gonna sit here and act like that I didn't do anything wrong. I

So they took care of you. You blessed them.

Individual.

He needed some he needed some help with a vote, and I gave him my vote, and I told him I needed some help. I was flying some black kids out to California to play baseball in the baseball tournament, and I needed some help paying for those plane tickets, and he helped me. The amount was thirty five hundred dollars. I went to federal prison for nine months for three thousand, five hundred dollars.

That's a heavy that's a heavy fist.

It was, it was.

It was so interesting when I got down to Maxwell Federal Prison camp in Montgomery, Alabama, that a lot of people on my work detail and in my dorm.

Card man, you ain't even have a no three thousand dollars. I was like, Yeah, what the fuck you piss out?

That's me.

I was in Downing in twenty fifteen. I went to prison twenty sixteen, so I did nine months of federal prison. And I'm able to say this now, I'm looking at the camera and say it. That's one of the best things that ever happened to me.

I never thought I would ever say that, Yeah, tell me, why, tell me why nine months.

Because let me tell you something I got a call from. We're gonna go back to the people in the music business that that really helped me and that really grew me. Outside of my uncle Stanley Bethel, there's a young lady by the name of Sherry Riley. She has books. She's a very motivational person. She's just a great person, and she helped me early on in the music business. But outside of that, she helped me early on personally as well. And she called me. I was in a deep depression,

And she said, she.

Said, Jerry, what is synonymous with nine months? And I said childbirth? And she said, God is birth in the new U. Pay attention. Those were some of the greatest words I ever heard. So shout out to Sherry Riley.

That's an amazing perspective.

Yes, but you can't say day three. I went to jail one time for twenty four hours. It was a terrible, terrible experience.

Want prison.

Yeah, it felt like prison, felt like real legit.

And when Cat Williams did the interview, he said, no, no, no, no, no no, I went to jail.

Not I went to prison. You went to jail.

Okay, there's a difference. Huh.

Ship.

Yeah, you can't drop the soap or nothing, or I had to go. I had to do it.

I had to do it. Yeah, because one of those was that drop the sap was in your slot, that's why. But no, but I went to and one thing I can say, I went to a federal prison camp.

So it wasn't was it like the like FB, like the white collar crime prison.

It was street niggas there too, But yeah, it was a lot of white collar attorneys, doctors, bankers.

I want. I went around because I feel like.

In the fan system make at different levels. Now I was at a camp. You got a camp, you gotta low, you got.

A medium, you got a high. You got to put aitendency. So I was at a camp. I was at the lowest.

So it was like luxuries.

Well, prison ain't never let imies.

That went to jail and like you could like get them food and stuff.

I don't know that happen. That didn't happen where I.

Was, Okay, So what happened in jail?

What happened that ship? I worked every day. I went out on the base and.

I was on landscape and detail, and I went out and cut gray, I played softball, I did yoga.

Well you said it wasn't it.

Wasn't great that I went, Now, hold on, it wasn't great of going to pray. It was great of what it did to me what I needed to get back right spiritually and everything. I needed that situation at nine months, like I said, Sherry Raley told me I needed a new me birth, birth with a ED.

And that's what that did.

It birth knew me and I needed that because I had been skating by in life, living great financially, great, beautiful family, three kids, but it's still I was surrounding myself with certain people that I should have and not just that, but I was.

I just needed to be a.

Better person in that situation strengthened me spiritually, because when you get knocked down to that canvas. I'm gonna say it again, my daddy died the same day I got sent as the federal prison. When I got the federal prison, not even a maybe a month until my sentence, I got a call that my daughter in college up in New York had a suicide attempt.

So I was getting I'm getting hit every which way.

So I got knocked down to that campus, and sometimes when you get knocked down to that campus, you get knocked down to positions praying. So I'm gonna say that it helped me spiritually and it helped me just become a better person. I don't wish prison on nobody. That shit is like somebody told me when I first got there. They was like, card, you ain't really gonna be here that long. You hear nine months, but this shit is like being dead while you alive.

Plus nine months feels like eternity.

Right, motherfucker felt like nine years. You can't eat what you want, you can't get no pussy, you can't be in the streets.

I'm gonna tell you, I did my one day in jail. I gotta rep my jail time. Okay, I did my one day in jail. I learned about daddy's and mommy's aka institution. Yeah, they call them daddy's and mom or daddy's or whatever. I don't I don't remember what prostitution languages I learned, but I learned a lot about what language.

Do you use? Okay, my bad?

All right?

Let me make your look. Let me make Can you hand me a fork please? And I can make here. This is your plate. You just gonna have to switch. Don't try to hey man, don't do that. Don't do that.

I know you go throw it away. She's not gonna eat this on camera.

I eat okay, because eighty five souths. I missed all the good meals and then I live on.

You don't want salmonella poison, as she.

Said, that's right. Here, make your plate. I want to make you got to make two plates. I want us to both die together.

That's what we're gonna do. What was that, Juliet? Who did it?

I don't know?

Okay, okay, I told you. I read a little bit.

So what happens after you get out of jail, Like, what's your first play?

I went to a halfway house for two months and then that's required.

It depends on or were you just like homeless at that point?

No, well I had something, No, hey, I went to my parents. My dad had passed, so my mom was in the house by herself. So I went there. And one good thing going back to relationships is when you have great relationships, people.

Start calling you. So I started getting calls to.

Start back in promotion in the music business. Yeah, oh nice, Yeah, okay.

Yeah, So so I got right back in the mix. Okay, even though a lot of those same people treated me like I had the Zeca.

Virus, COVID twenty eight all that shit.

When I was going through my federal stuff, which I mean looking back at it. I mean, you know, people when they hear oh, I'm sorry, your majesty, thank you, if you're your majesty.

See if we live through this, oh you just got you ain't pro No, no.

We definitely need to pray there you please Jesus put your hands to keep us from dying.

Okay, the streets is cook this.

One utensil touching the back there and meat.

Yes, please look at this.

Make Joe take a bite at the end of this.

Look man, look at this, Look at it, Look at that. Look at that ground turkey high. But let me tell you I ain't never cutting on spaghetti like this all because I'm.

Here with you.

All right, here we go.

M m mm hmmm. It's the best baghadia I've never had my wife.

Hm hmm.

Okay, hell good that ship good man.

You know there's only been seasoned with garlic powder.

Soe you like on comics. I was going to tell you to stop that bitch and get your ass in the kitchen.

But it's okay, it's okay.

Not that bitch, and get your ass in the kitchen. If you're this this me good though.

At waita paa.

Spaghetti is good. Pause this this ground turkey.

I'm sorry boy, this is you from the streets, because I'm not gonna sit here.

With you and say the meat is you like some met me?

Stop.

Okay, I'm gonna take one more bite of.

Death bes spaghetti I've had in my life. All right, let me put my shades back on, put these days back on. Okay, okay, make sure the oven is off.

I'm eating this and I just want to say what it's decent, but I am starving.

So wow, Okay, okay.

All right, okay, you get out of prison, not jail, but it's prison camp. So it's like the baby prison.

So you're serving nine months.

I ain't seen nobody get cut up or rape.

You could drop the soap freely, yes, I could.

Did they have like solo? Yeah?

We had individuals?

Man, it was like a star or was it?

Like?

I like those prison.

Movies, like the what kind of weirdo Ships?

You were too?

I'm all into that ship Like I like all that stuff. I know, movies like the Addiction show.

You said the dick in a booty movie. I was like, that's what you said, addiction. Okay, it sounded like you said not a dick in a booty. That's what it sounds like. You said, no, no, I'm.

Not into those type of movies. Okay, okay, but you could safely drop the soap.

It was, it was, it was it for it to be prison. It wasn't a horrible experience. I'll say that to the point that when my kids came down and saw me, they was like, Dad, it's.

A golf course right there. We saw horses.

I was like, yeah, there were horses.

I mean because on where I was, they have they trained some of the inmates to careful.

Horse That's nice.

Yeah, yeah, but.

It was still prison. Let's not get it twisted.

So I went to prison for three thousand, five hundred dollars.

Boy, somebody here singing, y'all, Jush.

I was trying to find out where it was.

I don't know they's singing.

Where is it coming from?

The singing? Damn? This spaghetti good?

Okay. So after you get out of prison, then what happens?

They came back home to Atlanta. Due to strong relationships, people started calling me, placing me, Hey, let's do this, let's do that, let's do this, And I jumped right back in the mix. So Colleen, that was a great thing. Goes back again to relationships.

That's it. You're finding heads.

Who knows, I might have been out here selling, selling, selling my sausage or something to some women selling selling sausage. To look when you when you're in the jungle, you gotta do what you gotta do to survive.

From a marketing perspective, we're in a new age with social media and the way the industry is just flipped so many times over on its head.

Do you find do you think it will be harder for people now that they're getting into music game?

Good question, it's.

I think it's it's it's harder and easier because you have, from a technology standpoint, you have so many ways of getting your music out to the masses. But then it has taken away from like the really touch gorilla marketing and cans kiss babies and just personable. It's gotten away from that because people just they feel like with you know, with media, I mean, with technology has to say you can get which is.

A great thing.

I love it because a lot of people that I that that have blown up when it never got found. If it was just for the traditional way of how I came up in a business where you.

Got to wait on somebody to sign you and.

You know, get on the ridd of now ship you can. You can, you can create your own story. So and that's a good thing. So whether or not it's easy, I would say technically just to say, I would say, yes it is.

It's definitely easy to get.

Your music out because I can go, we can, we can any of the DSPs me and you could do a song and then we can put it up. Now as far as getting out to the masses is different, but we could steal you know, we can, or we could do a TikTok video with our recon and it should go viral next thing, you know.

Boah.

So it's definitely now that I'm thinking about it is it's easier now because in those days, let's just say nineties, early two thousand, it was a different game.

Did you do a lot of pay to play when it came to radio.

That's illegal.

So I've never done that. I've never done that in my life. I'm looking at the camp I've never paid anybody for any record play or nothing.

I mean, I was in the industry. I saw a lot of that.

You saw.

I know that you never did it.

Nobody I know, I've never done it. Nobody I know's ever paid anybody to play record really, Okay, ever, no people that I know.

Okay, but your stuff was all relationship.

Anyway, So you got if you got great relationships, you can make a lot of things happen. I've never paid nobody to play a record in my life.

So who are you working with currently right now?

Well, I'm concentrating on my podcast, but I have an artist that I'm working with and I'm excited about.

Actually from your from the West.

Coast, I'm from New York originations, So you know you don't ever, don't ever claim West Coast on me.

You know I lived there way too long.

All right, how long you've been living on the West Coast?

That's exactly why the coast jerry about you.

But I'm just asking.

I pleaded the fifth.

Okay, what part of New York you're from?

Even though live from Bedford stuyve the something the livest one.

So tell me who are you currently working with?

I have an artist and I'm really excited about. First I managed a producer. His name is July.

Uh.

He just wants being my producer. Uh.

Had one of the he did the Billie Ellis record for Armani White. Okay, so he got an award for being my from being my last year. Then I have an artist named Juliari from l A. Actually he's got a song with a little baby. We're shooting the video like in the next few days.

So so you're gonna be in my necker.

Was you shooting video here? In a line?

Okay?

Yeah, okay, yeah, so if.

You want to come, you know, throwing your little no tennis, throwing your little tennis.

Curt come out start Nope, rub the ground. I know that was old that was old school. But yeah, so I'm excited.

Then.

Of course, the one thing that I'm most.

Excited about this the podcast.

Yeah, storytime of legendary podcast.

So what can people expect when they hear your podcast.

The South Narrative.

I needed to tell our give our narrative, and tell our narrative, and tell my story because there's so many stories that have been told him and not only myself, but we have been left out.

And we just celebrated fifty years of hip hop.

And half those years arguably because me and t I just had this argument on the episode on Storytime Leedgsday year.

The South has controlled the narrative.

What do you mean by that? The narrative run this ship, man, Oh we run this South.

Yeah, between Houston, Memphis, Miami.

New Orleans for twenty five years and lined up at lined by itself damn near ran.

So we have for half of these fifty years of this.

Hip hop Why is the only half?

Know what I'm saying is we've we've can we We've definitely controlled the narrative for twenty five.

Of these years, for half of these It just is what it is.

You can hate it whatever I know. You know New Yak cast Nigga, y'all go nah nah we.

But yeah, like when you said control the narrative for hip hop rap.

For the last twenty five years, Colleen, the South has hold on. Yeah, No, jay Z fifty, I love all of those. Got DMX come on, But you look at it between I mean you you look at from cash Money that no limit to everything coming out of Memphis, and I can go on, I can have a whole show just talking about Atlanta. Okay, Well we done from our cast on Okay, so Chris crossing our cast from nineties and TLC to USh.

We can we can go on, we can have a whole.

From where here. TLC's from here.

Come on, that's a freaking.

Out no way. I don't know why I didn't know that, all right, okay, okay, you know that I know they live here now.

I just nil lately with.

So sad is that I would have thought tl C was from like.

Where you being man for you not to know tl C is from.

I don't know, huge t C fan. I don't know why I missed.

It, but I was very young from.

My gosh, all right, you are, I claim a little bit of upstate.

To Yeah, you better because you're not from Brooklyn to but you didn't know t C.

You know what.

I just remember I was a huge t l C fan.

Let me take passed and then I checked out that that's okay, ship, I'm getting you were.

If you were a huge t l C fan, you would know that they were from the a I was.

But tl C when tl C was around, I was really young. I will say that.

Okay, I didn't start liking hip hop to, so my first real love for hip.

Didn't start till J until J and I didn't get onto J. I didn't get onto j till.

Yes, he had been out damn that came by that time.

After Lisa passed, it was a rap I was done with. She passed in two thousand five.

I forgot.

No, she didn't pass in two thousand and five and four she passed when I was in high school.

It was like two thousand and one, two thousand. I know because I remember everybody calling me like, are you.

Speaking of TLC? Perfect?

Perfect segu I have t BOS and TLC coming up on one of the next episodes, the story.

I try to get her while I was out here. Look at you. You got all the plugs I need to live in your roller decks.

I mean, well, you come up and get on the streets with me, maybe store together. You had to do a little bit more than okay, bad, the streets is watching my bad.

I had to man an.

Agreience that he's for the streets were all right, we're an agence.

No I'm not. I'm I'm a straight school. We're just out here trying to leave my basics.

That's what every street it is.

My kids are grown.

So what are some good stories that you've seen behind the scenes that I can have a good chuckle at Well.

You're gonna have to tune in and watch.

Unlike you saying you were a TLC fan and not knowing every from Atlanta, You're gonna have to watch or listen because I'm never confessed.

I don't perpetrate. Don't perpetrate.

See you old enough to say that word, because young folks wouldn't even say that.

So they tell you you're in the demo.

My dema.

But you gotta tune in. Here's so many stories, just like recently when Pastor Troy.

Was on, he said he did the ad libs for Justin Timberlake's Cry Me a River.

This fucked me up. I didn't know.

Yeah, I didn't know that was good. I didn't know that that was confessed on your show. Huh yeah, So we gotta listen to your show.

But even like I had Princess from Crime I know you Crime Mob, not to I know you was dancing that in.

High school, thank god.

So I just had Princess from Crime Mob on storyte with Legendary Jerry.

She said the reason that they broke up was two females in the group.

Maybe you didn't know for those listening watching her and Diamond the reason that the group broke up because she told Diamond that Michael Jackson was getting on a remix of Knuck of You Buck and.

Was at their house at the studio where they were.

Over here in Atlanta, and she came there and they told her she was joking. They told Diamond that they were joking. They said that Michael Jackson was getting on. He was there at the house and he was getting on a remix of Knuck of You Buck. And they fell out and the group of platinum selling group broke up over that.

Are you serious?

According to Princess from Crime Mob, she said that was the reason that they broke up, and I'm not gonna dispute it because I want there because I know Princess

What made you get into podcasting.

I was getting ready to go to federal prison, and I was just thinking of ways to reinvent myself.

When I came home and DJ Drama.

I was at his studio my night with him and Canon since and I was gearinganted might have been a week before I was turning myself in a couple of weeks. Father, I was turning myself into federal prison. He said, you should do a podcast, and I really didn't know. I knew, but I didn't know. Of course, with the way combat Jack has paved the way for podcasts and especially with people that look like us, I had knew about it because I had.

Listened to some of his stuff, but I really didn't know.

So when I came home twenty seventeen, I said, heh let me get a couple of mics and a couple of cameras and my ship was so bootleged.

Looking, lighting was bad, the sound was fucking my shit.

But I had like huge guests, so people was like, how fuck is he getting all these folks on his show and his shit like you know when you first started.

But now look I have a new deal. I'm here on your.

Show, and I heart reached out to you on this new deal this time, right, Yes, So it was a random Tuesday, you get the call.

Well, I had already developed a relationship with somebody over there, and we just had been linking up and talking until finally he said, I want to I want you if I can monetize this for you, will you be interested in doing the deal? And something about that word monetization that does something to me. Oh shit, it's like some pussy monetization.

I love that word.

I want us to be able to do a whole clip of just you, and we're just gonna just do it all about the streets on you but.

Going, damn you do an episode of the screen.

No, it's it's literally we got to figure out a way to do a clip where it's just dedicated to you and women. Now, okay, so the monetization, yeah, does something to you?

Okay, yeah it does? Oh boy, Oh it swelled me up.

But anyway, anyway, anyway, anyway, so but but look listen.

So that's when I said, all right, because I'm sorry.

I had stopped taking my show. And like I said, I've had some huge guests from Uncle Luke to kill a mic Uh, to the Dream to a gangst the booth. I've had huge, huge guests on my show.

Bumb and you're you're booking them all yourself, right because you're just calling text okay. And they didn't mind, the homies didn't mind if the platform wasn't set up correctly the first time around at all.

They were just support yeah okay.

And so I was able to now transition into this new deal.

And now here we are and I'm excited about the relaunch.

Yeh, when does the launch?

We launched this is the four it's been launched.

For three weeks now, had Pastor Troy, had the Young Bloods t I just dropped, and then I got t Boss from TLC coming.

I got a lot of freaking exciting Do you pre tape a lot?

Yes, That's what I do because, as you know, not being funny, dealing with talent, dealing with yeah, we're dealing with talent can be a little.

Tricky at times.

Yeah, you know, especially I find it when you're dealing with them on the text and the relationship.

They tend to.

Show up late, canceled last minute, Yeah, thirty minutes. I'm on the way, and then I'm not gonna be there. Can we do it tomorrow. So those type of things happen. So it has caused me a lot of anxiety over the years. But the fact is I still have these relationships and I know that they're willing to do this show for me, and that makes me continue you to go.

So that's why I'm so excited about this show.

And I want to grow it. And you know, I'm glad that I'm able to be on this show. Because I walked and I said this off camera, maybe I didn't. I watched some clips of you on Instagram, and you got a gift. Like I know, we've been talking a lot of shit, you got a real life gift. So I was like, when I was watching, I went through and watched a bunch of clips. I was like, Okay, she good, So I gotta step my ship up straight up.

Oh thank you.

That's a lot.

I always in my head, So thank you. That means a lot to me.

That was all.

That was the streets. He's like, yo, I got the closest deal before.

No, but look at him now, he's looking to the ceiling for the Lord when I say the Lord every time we talk.

Then, but no, I did no, seriously, I said, you got a gift man, and I was like, no, seriously, because I when I first got into it, I was.

Like over talking all the yeahs. I was like, I didn't. I was just home somebody I didn't know. I was just think.

So my mentor was like, go and watch other people's shows. Go watch Larry King live.

You know.

He's like, go watch like Charlemagne and and just see how you know. So that's how when I watched. So that's when I went and went through.

When I was scrolling, I watched a bunch of clips. I said, damn, she good. That said she's good. I don't know how long you've been doing it, but whatever, it's good.

Yeah, I just started.

But I love people's stories and people's journeys, and I really like the hero's journey, like where it's like you're rooting for the hero but they fall and then they find the strength to get back up and then they fall again. And I like your story a lot. Obviously there's moments that we didn't get to really touch on, I.

Feel, but yeah, we covered a lot though.

I mean because personally and professionally, I continue to grow.

God continues to bless me.

So you know, from Chicago, to first coming into the music business in the early nine these, to raising a family, to going to prison and bouncing back.

From that, and what was the hardest thing that you went through personally and professionally, And it could be separate times.

I mean, well, all that personally is all tied in back to you know, all that situation happening that once with you know what happened, the situation with my daughter in college and me going away to the FEDS, and you know, because it was I felt like I let my dad and my mom down, because I felt like I embarrassed the family, and I felt like I let my kids down.

So that hit me like a ton of bricks.

Because you got to understand, they were all in h well, my daughter was a freshman in college. My other two were in high school. So you gotta understand they going to they going to school.

Teachers asked them, he tell your daddy on the news. You know, all that.

Really activate that concern, but they really getting fucking nosy. Uh So I was I was embarrassed. I felt like I let my children down. I felt like I let my mom and daddy. I couldn't tell I told my dad on his deathbed.

I know he heard me.

I apologize, like profusely, like I just kept saying I'm sorry because I felt like I let him down and he did so fucking much for me to put me in a position to win in life. So for me to you know, even though the people are, oh, man, you went to do a short time in the field, that ain't shit, you know.

But still did your ex wife at the time, did she were you guys on decent terms where she could give you some inspiration at all?

Not at all? And nine years later we still not. But that's just fine.

We have we have three beautiful kids, and I just want to have a great cordial relationship, cordial relationship with her because our kids are our young adults and I'm sure we're gonna be grandparents one day and have to go to weddings, and I just want to be cordial. But you know, I don't never speak about her because she's not here to defend anything. So it's you know, it would just be one side. But I'm great. I'm in a great space in life personally and.

Profession And I was gonna say, is your professional hardest point? Is it the same? At that time too? The jail situation or was there another point?

There were other points. There was another point earlier in my career when I had a situation where I was working independent, working as an independent contractor for a label, and I had signed a contract to get paid a monthly. I think it was ten or fifteen thousand a month. I forgot what it was and they got behind so much so many months on my payment that everything in my house I went into potential foreclosure. Eventually it was paid and I got it out. But like things like that,

Did you see the I'm sure you saw the n W A movie where ice Cube went in there.

So as an entrepreneur, this is yes.

And when I say this as an entrepreneur, I stress this to every entrepreneur. You cannot predict when someone holds your money, and that ship is painful because I'm like, imagine, if someone owes you three months worth of money, you can't necessarily call them up and be like, motherfucker.

You owe me this money.

You gotta be like, so I need the money, you know, And you got to hear their excuses.

You eat what you kill, yeah, entrepreneur, you eat what you kill.

Yeah, So it's it's different than just getting that every other Friday diregular pause in the.

Money going to the Fall. One came up, like, you eat what you fucking killed.

But when you when you saw the ice Cube movie and he did the bad thing.

I don't hear that.

Let me tell you something. I don't know if it was true, but man, the entrepreneur in me was like.

Yes, get it, swing it, break it, And I was like, I just wanted to get it.

The streets boy, the streets is live in you. But yeah, no, when I saw that scene, I didn't know if it was real or not. That you know. But but that.

Situations that I've I've seen working at a label where situations.

Happened like that.

Yeah.

Sometimes when I hear Rihanna's bitch better have my money I'll be like someone did. There was inspiration behind that ship, you know, like I'm kidnapping your wife.

There's a lot of.

Young black men in this music business that a lot of us are rough around the edges. So you know when you when you play with our money. It's really a lot of these people, these executives and these higher upies, they was the only thing they respect is violence.

And it's sad to say.

Cat told me years ago he was that the only the only thing that a lot of people in this bus respect is money and violence.

But I just do right, man, just do stand up. Yeah that's it.

Yeah, we can all make some money. We can all, but unfortunately everybody they don't do it. And like you just said, when you're an entrepreneur, you eat what you kill.

So you can easily get.

Thrown into the jungle where you in survival mode. And with you, like you said, you have a child.

When you're in survival mode, I'm sure you move a lot differently. I ain't gonna play with me and my daughter.

Oh yeah yeah, but I will say this. I've worked for companies but they didn't pay me for six months a.

Year and been like an independent contract as an independent contract.

There's some but in white white, all white people, I'll be like, yo, I'm gonna pull up to the gas station. I'm calling you to fill my car in a minute, like getting up in older white people's face, like it is a.

Problem, sir. They owe me thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars if you.

Just yeah, that ain't cool.

It ain't cool. But I do think it does happen across small table industry, so for sure, definitely.

And I always tell people now, like when I look at business, I take on big clients and small. I never discriminate on the small because you'd be surprised when your cash flow gets messed up, how that small business is the one that that really saves you.

But shout outs to you, Shout out to you because you've got a great show man.

Like I said, I now you gotta you got a new listener.

Now, thanks, and you got a new listener.

Be I'm gonna because you got n the streets.

I'm gonna be like, yeah, we're gonna we gotta, we gotta, we gotta do some work together. But the next time we together, you know, if if the roles ever.

Put us in the situation where someone's cooking.

Oh wow, it's gonna be spaghetti.

I make a good spaghetti. Man. I don't know what this Uh.

What kind of sauce you put in?

I put I even met the streets is watching? Oh all right, thank you so much.

Let me figure out a nice play on how we're gonna close out this.

So let's see eating.

Hanging in the streets with mister legendary Broke. Eat, Peace out, y'all out. For more eating while Broke from iHeartRadio and The Black Effect, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever

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