Black Music Month QLS Classic: Q-Tip

Questlove Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora.

What's Up, Everybody, It's Sugar Steve from Team Supreme. June marks Black Music Month. We often speak about it on Questlove Supreme and we've had some of the legends responsible for the recognition on the show. Every day this June, we are running a different episode from the QLs archives to honor the tradition and the tent of Black Music Month. This week we are focusing on some of the great hip.

Hop conversations in the ULS catalog.

Our leader Questlove has a new book out called hip Hop Is History. Check it out at questlove dot com. Today we are re releasing an interview with q Tip of a tribe called quest whose contributions shaped the direction of hip hop over the last thirty five years.

Supremo Sun Suck, Supreme Mo, Role Call, Suprema Suck Suck, Suprema, Roll Call, Suprema son Son, Supremo Roll Call, Suprema Son Son Supremo Roller.

What's love going, Ramble, Yeah, what's love going? Gampbell?

Yeah?

Q Tip not leaving it? Yeah, he tells me a crookedly sip.

Supremo, So something Supremo son sign.

My name is Fante. Yeah, this is the squad. Yeah, the phone is ringing.

Yeah, Supremo, roll call Suprema, Son Supremo roll call.

My name is Sugar, Yeah, Sugar Steve. Yeah, I am so backwards. I stop and breathe Suprema.

Something something Supremo, roll call Supremo something so Supremo roll call.

I'm gonna pay Bill.

Yeah, live in the dream. Yeah, fucking cute, Tip Man. Yeah, Quest Love Supreme.

Roll call Suprema some some Suprema roll called Suprema something something Supremo roll call afternoon.

Yeah, well US fans, Yeah, this is boss Bill. Yeah, Trump called question.

Supremo son So Supremo, roll Supreme, Son Supreme roll.

It's my ear. Yeah, I'm very excited. Yeah, Tip is here.

Yeah, I'm a ladies inviting O.

Supreme roll Suprema something Supremo roll call.

Yeah, what's your appraisal? Yeah, I have a cold. Yeah my voice extra nasal ro call.

Suprema so some Supreme, So.

Supremo, Supremo, roll Suprima Supreme.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another edition of Quest Love Supreme. I am your host quest love. Uh we have Froan Tickeolo.

Yes.

Uh man, it's a beautiful day in New York City. It's a little cold out, Yeah, it's un dropped the hawk then came out January.

What do you expect. I'm glad.

I'm glad because I was worried for a minute, but now I think winter is here in full force, really full force anyway.

But no, no, no for a while. I mean because I mean in at least in North Carolina.

I mean up in like November, late November we had a couple of seventy degree days, so New York.

I'm good, You're right.

I mean December was cold as shit. I remember one particularly December it was like really really cool. But in January it's even colder. Yeah, I'm glad.

I'm glad winters here to you know, get the get my get my body right. You know what I'm saying.

I'm about forty pounds in the stomach virus away from my ideal weight.

So I'm working on it. So that stomach virus is gonna get you through. That's that's gona give me.

It's gonna give me to my to I'm in my jurrial avert stage right now, that stomach virus gonna get me to my Anthony Anderson.

There's always like smooth moved tea or something. No, man, that's just cameras. No really, the stomach virus.

Oh yeah, stomach virus will take you. It'll get you some yogurt. How will you get the stomach I don't know how I'll get it.

I got that is, I got kids.

I'm about to get front cutis just hold on a minute, just like it could be within the next five minutes.

You guys are basically saying that you will hope that your kids get you sick so that you lose some weight.

Well, no, that's him.

I necessarily hope it has depends. But if it did happen, I can't say that would be mad about it. It would help me get over.

This like the holiday, the extra holiday weight and all of that.

And just you know, just stress weight. Smooth move tea at least takes out like seven to ten pounds.

Of some of that home two boxes.

Nah, I don't I know.

I don't do the detox tease, I don't do that plan.

Yeah, I just you know, cut back, virus, lift and get a stomach virus, you know what I mean, A little, a little not ro virus is just a man get those abs right for the spring.

I got the stomach virus a couple years ago, drop like fifteen pounds and then didn't come back.

Oh my god, fifteen pounds. I'm glad you alive.

I think I think didn't. Wasn't this a thing like in the twenties or something where they would give no, like tapeworms, Like well, people would get bled do tapeworms for people go to Brazil right now for that, Like.

And just what are you seriously? Yeah, dead ass. It was just like people would do it. Tapeworms would do stuff to like not the.

Cool skult, not the hot burning the light bulb. It's like five different. It's a lot of Yeah, no, it's a lot of ways to lose Beyonce lemonade.

Yeah, other than eat right in and breakout, because no one wants to do that.

Yeah yeah, yeah, the waist trainers just gonna have all these people fucked up. Nah, we don't do none of that. Why we want to do that? We could just you know, we don't want to work out to eat right. So yeah, if I get the summer virus and you know, stay in the gym. Hopefully by springtime I'll be on my Blackish Anthony Anderson.

I'm life Anthony Anderson right.

Now, but hopefully i'll be I'll be Blackish Anthony Andersen by Uh.

I hope to meet you there, bro.

Yeah, okay, so you I've been abstaining this, this has been this has been the period of abstinence.

Okay, I'm doing it's I've made it through.

Uh.

I made it through the at least what I call the the underground tunnel, which was the first fifteen days of avoiding sugar, avoiding flour, bread, gluten, fried foods.

Are you angry, don't? I don't know, just one day? Yeah, you know what?

You know what?

You know what the stepback to all that is.

I've been snapping at more people than normal withdrawal like clear. I don't know if it's a clear mind or just what it is, but yeah, I've been like I feel like my boxing gloves might be in my future, like I could.

Are you past the cravings phase? Are you still craving?

I was dreaming heavily of food, Like, you know that's bad when you're just you know, dreaming of a pound cake?

Were you dreaming of it or were you dreaming of eating it?

I was just dreaming of it. Like you know that that intimate's cake that dad used to.

My dad was the kind of dude that would measure like what the family wouldn't take, Like he have the sharpie mark on the lemonade bottle and the tea bottle and the fruit punch bottle and everything, and how much intimated cake was was consumed before he got to it.

So yeah, that's that's as some real black daddy shit. That's real though. There I'm with you on that.

You don't measure your shit?

Nah, I don't, I mean most of the time because for me with sweets, I particularly buy them in very small quantities. And our whole thing with sweets is like if I buy it, we gotta kill it today. So I let my kids go in, Like if I buy like cupcakes or whatever, it's like, all right, we're gonna go in today, and then that's it, because if you keep it around and you eat it day after day after day, then that's how.

You, you know, set the bad pressure exactly.

If you just going one day maybe maybe once twice a month, maybe you know what I mean.

So even when you were on tour, now forget your kids, your bandmates. Some of the worst roots band fights ever over food. Oh in the name of food brouh. Yeah, like we would. I remember, I guess the period where we just covered almond milk instead of soy milk. Vanilla almond milk was just as good on your cereal than soy milk was. And I remember, shit was about to be set off because it was like I put my name on the milk. I guess I didn't realize that it was either Hubb or Camal, like they put their

Phostle, Yeah, it was. It was fade. It was almost fade time. So you know that's the.

Tours would be because particularly if you were on the bus and like you've been driving through the middle of nowhere and you've been thinking about food. Yeah, you've been in your bunk and you get up in the middle of the night and go to the bunk, go to the refrigerating.

That shit ain't there.

You're basically describing Chicago to Denver. For for most for more touring acts, I mean, if you're a pop act or you're a country act, there's some stops in between Chicago and Denver that you can do. But for most urban acts, especially if you're under the tuolage of Carol Lewis, like the first question she proposes to you is where

Your way back to the East coast.

But yeah, with with the touring dynamic, there's a whole being considerate of food factor that not many people getting I suspect that that's probably one of the prime reasons why they're more solo accident group accidents.

Oh man, I can believe it.

I mean I tell people all the time, if you ever want to get to really know a person, live with them or tour with them, like, because you can't hide, like whatever your vices are, whatever the fuck shit you got with you, if you it's gonna come out.

It's gonna come come out and watch. Oh my god.

You can't hide, bro, you can't hide. So yeah, if tour was not enjoyable at all, request.

Of I think it's important you know that it's inspirational and you're doing so much. I can't tell you how many times I've seen your like social posts and I've been like, I'm gonna eat some will now he's holding out. I don't need this cookie.

So yeah, I keep going. It's it's it's it's hard. I mean, look at it. It's like more for me. But you're naturally like a thing god bass Bill.

So yeah, I don't think you either you're a starving artist or you just don't overeat.

But then you talk about like checkers, I have the worst diet world. I have a Steve diet. One has Steve.

You really want to lose weight, I'll tell you how.

I lost thirty pounds weed, cigarettes and coffee diabetes.

That's when I lost thirty pounds.

But for real, you you're right for those Checkers, huh. I mean if it's late at night and nothing else is open, I mean, what am I going to do as the Checkers in the city. There's lots of them in the city.

What is Checkers?

Checkers is fast food. It's fast food.

It's burgers, fries, and cola.

It's like.

That.

There is I feel like in most most college town there's a Checkers. The only one I know of is in d C.

There's one next to that days in On New York, A New York I have, yep, do you know about that days in Wow?

Now, I know I know what you're talking about, but I don't know what's the specific significance of that. Oh no, it's just shot no. Yeah, But it's just that when you're in Verry Hotel, I feel like you're no, no, no. When you're touring.

For some reason, promoters will put their artists in that particular days in On On, New York Avenue next to the twenty four hour Checkers. Like when we were first touring. I think the first time we met Old Dirty Bastard, he had just mastered returned to the thirty six and they gave us. Someone from Electric gave us a copy of that CD, like at that hotel. But now I've seen a lot of crazy shit go down there, like with a lot of nineteen ninety four ninety five era

But they did so. Thus, uh, it was like, yeah, a lot of crazy function done went down.

But you know, speaking speaking of the group Dynamic, today's a special episode of Questlove Supreme, and the reason being is that our guest today is one of the most beloved members of one of the favorite groups of not even hip hop history. I guess we have to take him out of ye hip hop. Yeah, I think they've just become the group Dynamic. But ladies and gentlemen give it up for a Q tip. All right, So, brother Kamar,

No no, no, no, no, don't get for twenty years, twenty years, but I don't remember. I don't really don't. Sampling don't matter no more. You can reveal I know it doesn't.

I'm not being like that. I totally would reveal it. Like I really don't remember. I know it's like an e CM joint. I know that for sure. To check Steve.

Swallow one of those random like library record things. No no, no, yeah, so it might be Keith Jared.

It could be you know, well, it's not definitely not that. Let me see. Oh I'm feeling like it's Steve Swallow.

So Paul us a guitar player that pauls.

Can we talk about that.

You paused itself? I don't know, but I just just it's Ho's fault.

I think pause is Ho's biggest contribution to hip hop. Well it sucks, okay, I agree, I agree more pause but I can't.

But but I don't know.

I can't remember.

Man, can't you like Shazama?

Sample?

And uh, it doesn't play long enough if it weren't, if it were you know, isolated, if it were isolated.

The minute it here is like a vocals then it tunes into the whole.

I've heard everything. I heard it was red Halt.

I heard it was It's definitely not that. It's definitely putting you in the right or the right terrain there. It's definitely some em ship. Damn when I find it. I promise you if you saw the album cover, would you know what? I wouldn't. I'd have to listen to it.

Man, do you remember the day you made it? Or was it just like I made it there in the studio. This is one of those like mindless five minutes.

Yeah, I just went from I just came from record shopping and I went to Ed's studio, which is which was called Dollar Cab Lab in Flatbush, Wait.

Special had a studio called Dollar Dollar Cabs.

Yeah yeah, so what what yeah?

Yeah?

What was that? Seriously? Yeah he talked about it in a source like I mean back then, I remember that.

Yeah, Dollar Cab Lab, that's where we did it at What did you?

Was you on the sp sp that that was there?

And I had to I had to break out, so I just like do this ship on him like five minutes, literally like five ten minutes.

Pete Rock explained to us that he procrastinated on the Shut Him Down remix so last minute that even when he was like, yeah, yeah, I'm twenty minutes away, he just like grabbed anything and just hear it.

Yeah.

Now I'm realizing that some of the best beats in hip hop were just mindless and overthinking. Just time to overthink it.

Well, okay, so, of course the more help I'm gonna find, I.

Mean, you know so much because he put it in the damn the damn thing, the intro song. So I feel really bad that the world.

Yes, like, there's there's certain samples that I can't find that.

Ship I got everything, Okay, great, you can work to do.

All right, we will find it. So coffee, Well wait, do you know that the sky sample?

Of course that's Eric Dolphie.

That's off the same record that the Jazz is the Prison. No, well that is.

That is not Grant Green.

That was yeah, Grant Green was the Jazza I'm thinking, so.

Yes, skypage is Eric Dolphie out to lunch you Jesus?

All right, all right, finally something that's how even the baseline too? Yeah, all right, all right, forgive me ladies and gentlemen like I normally I go through the chronological order of a person's life. But no, no, this this is a burden in hand to the first moment. All right, So tip, sir, I know you're tired of answer these questions and we've known it before, but all right, So the name of the high school that you guys, Mary Bertram? Yeah, what I hear so much about this school? Was it

It was a business school.

So you aspired it, like when you were in first grade, You're like, yo, I want to go to Mary Bertram to learn.

No, no, actually, uh what happened was my sister was older than.

Me, just medical you did. I met her for the first time at thirty Rocks Yeah, oh yeah.

Yeah yeah. So she's like super duper brain girl, right and uh she took the SAT which is standard chest back in the day, I'm pretty sure.

So they still do that.

They still do that. Y. So she got like one of the top scores in the city and she got accepted to Stuyvesant, which is like the top top high school, like specialized high school.

Whatever.

So my dad wouldn't let it go. My dad was Trance was working for TRANCEY was a token booth clerk transit and during the time, you know, there was a rash incidents where girls were getting pushed off the platform. So my dad was like old school.

He was like, you're not going to no Manhutdan.

We were living in Queens, so I was like wanting to be like my sister. I'm going to take the test too. I want to go to Stuyvesant too. So of course I didn't make it. Got accepted though to Brooklyn Text. I went to their orientation and it was just like all the Decepticon dudes, which was a New York gang back then. I was just like, okay, I'm not going. Yeah, I'm definitely not going to my zone school.

And there was safe.

No, it was not safe. That's why I was getting the hell out of there. Okay, you know what I'm saying, because my zone schools out there. It was like it was crazy. I probably would not be sitting here and yeah, it was that bad. But so I would hour and a half two hours every morning the school to Mary Berkram High School, which was ironically enough in that time,

Brother J. That was brother Brother J is the rapper. He always talk like this. They always they were like forty years old. In my head. They were just like the old guy like I don't know why I thought the man's old guys and not.

Like nice J never lost it. J still got it nice. His voice just crass, you know what I'm saying. So he was the first dude I met at Ali, and then as the school year went on, I eventually met Africa.

And all them.

Yeah, Kiarana always jokes that Ali and Mad Yes, but she always jokes that Ali always had the Gucci clutch, yeah, like but she called she called it the fixed briefcase because what was in that bag, like he just wanted.

Now it was a clutch. He he had a burner in there. You had like a you know really yeah alas say Mohammed, Yeah from bed stye do or die?

Okay, I'm sorry.

I mean that's how I was back then.

I always say, your mom is like the fourteenth disciple that wasn't mentioned.

Like angeloises and like, okay, you know he used to carry all sorts of stuff in there. But I hope I did not out Ali, but uh yeah. School was was fun though. Man.

It was just like.

I don't know how it was for you guys, but back then, like that was for us. That was like our kind of coming of age thing.

It was.

It was a it was a true place, especially for me just geographically being that far away from home. It was a place that I could really uh at you out you know what I wanted to do or who I wanted to be. Yeah, you know what I'm saying because I went to school for computer science because I wanted to just like be a program designer.

Did you make some like lifelong friends too?

You start? Oh yeah, man, it's like, that's everything.

You're probably one of the figures, one of the few figures from the Renaissance hip hop period that doesn't have a I dropped out a school narrative. It's like, yeah, pretty much eighty of all of our hip hop favorites have a story that leads to and I just dropped out of high school and went straight to that.

School post and those guys.

Yeah, I'm just saying that.

Well, Mace I think dropped out.

Okay, I see, Mace may have dropped out, But it's just weird.

It's rare that you hear of make, you know, liking high school when you know, I actually enjoyed this experience because for most people, I mean, high school's none but a precursor to prison for some for some you know, So, how did I mean obviously you, you and five were childhood friends, and you and Ali were high school friends. Like how did well, how did Jerobi enter the picture? And how did the twain meet? Like, how did you guys?

Jerobi was he lived on five? Uh, his mom his mom's crib was like on my side of the tracks, you know, so track thing so and his grandparents' house was on the other side of the tracks and when he would go to the other side of the tracks, that's what Jerobi. That's where he met Jerobi. Okay, so that was like around twelve thirteen. So I knew Jerobi when he was probably like twelve eleven. That's when I first met him.

Yeah, okay, So at this point, even though you're going for like in high school, was it just like okay, we're just fans of music.

But you know, there were no grand designs to start a band or become.

Yeah, there was. I mean we were pretty we were pretty resolute and what we wanted to do.

By what point, like ten eleven?

Wha. I mean I've said before another interviews. You know, Fife put the bug in me. We was like nine. Wow, you know what I'm saying. We were eleven twelve like just wrap. I mean we were goofing, but was definitely rapping and definitely like you know how I don't know if other kids would do this, but you know you have your pad and you right out what the name of the group was, who was in it?

Oh yeah, you always you remember that used to draw album covers? Yeah, yeah, brother, we did the exact same thing right right.

The watch yeah, yeah, the whole ship. Like we did a little I remember one time we did we did this demo. Uh okay, this is freshman year. No, it was tenth grade. It was tenth grade. So we were like fifteen. So Jerobi was going to tech, Fife was going to Springfield in Queens and me and Ali was in Birch or whatever. So on the weekends, you know, our hostel a little bit, and for my money, I would like scrape up and I would I looked literally

And everybody, what was the loop? What did you payback?

And we had and we had a drummer his name was Anton shouts out to a boogie. It's the o G a boogie from the brooks.

Uh.

He was because he was he was drumming in school whatever. So I was like, yo, so you're gonna play the beat over this and it was called a routine routine.

And he has your rugby with that beato, so y'all just rhyme over the back. Yes, it was pretty bad.

And Jazzy and Scheff, through my assistance and bucking my sister day came one Saturday. They looked like they were hungover, like they had they I don't know, maybe Halem World or something was the night before and they came by and listened to it, and Jazz he was like, Yo, that shit was kind of whack.

Y'all.

Gotta keep working on that ship, wow, really keep working.

Like he saw something, he heard something.

I hope. So, oh, maybe he was just being nice, because you know, we wanted up bang one of my sister's friends. But that was kind of like but we weren't discouraged by it. We just okay, like we were some really industrious little bastards man, so we kind of like had an idea To answer your question, So was this eighty six, eighty eighty? This is eighty five eighty five? Yeah, wait, eighty five, eighty six? Yeah, it was probably like eighty six eighty six.

It had to be in eighty six, So I was like, even the idea of rhyming over a record, is that even the idea back in eighty five?

Like well, and by eighty six samples were like, yeah, that was that was all you had. I think you had that if you didn't have a drum machine.

I mean I remember, I mean look, so what year was the biz Dance?

Eighty eighty six, seven, eighty six, a little bit more.

Yeah, it was like sund.

Okay, So.

What was the first step to seriousness as in, I'm gonna save up and get this drum machine?

Or because what I didn't know?

I only found that recently that you guys actually were thinking about signing to Geffen.

Yeah, back in eighty nine, I read Yeah, I forgot where I read that.

But because Jeff Fenster gave us, well, Glenn Freeman was really the orange pin to the whole things. So, you know, I had worked with Jungle. You know, we were in high school and they were finishing up the album.

So they were the Jungle Brothers in her high school. I mean Jim Brownski Era was in high school. So while they were in the high school Jim Brownski's album, what was like like for them to.

Crazy because even for us, like in Philly, like it must have been crazy.

Yeah, So I can imagine in high school, high school having a record out the Jungle Bros.

Yeah, yeah, that was kind of ill.

It was.

It was wild because we were finishing up the album while I believe we were in twelfth grade.

And finishing up the debut album for people. So wow, no, no, no.

Finishing up of Jungle, gotcha. So you know I did some ship on it. I did uh promo, well, I did promo that was eleventh grade, and.

Then Time and then Time yeah, and then promo two.

Yeah, in Time that was for the album and Black as Black did that and I the first record I ever mixed was straight out the Jungle, So it was me and Red Alert and Tony D and Mike. We actually mixed that record. That was the first time and I remember yeah and Red and Red was like, so this is what you do, tip, So these are the faders, so I already equed it. We got it sounded right.

You the automated system, Well it was.

It was I never did it before, right, you know what I'm saying. Mike had did him and Aff were doing by himself. That was like my first time actually mixing a joint, you know what I'm saying. I was crazy, like intimidated, but excited about it because I felt like, wow, this is fucking Red Alert.

And in high school at high school, so he was of legend status o man, he was.

I was just telling my assistant as we were talking about, you know the history of this studio. Like right across the street was Latin Quarter. There's a parking lot on forty eighth Street. That's what Latin Quarter was. He's wearing Old Quad City, right, yeah, Old Quad Studios.

I call this Tupac Central. Yeah really, so right.

Across the street was Latin Quarter and that was where Red was. Like he bought the whole Harlem and Bronx ship to Midtown and he was ruling ship like that was I mean, even Magic and Molly and them was like on the radio, they was the Dawn. Tan's the thing that kind of took to me, in my just opinion that had read elevated is because he had a place to play. Literally after he went, after he was on the radio, everybody would flock to the quarters or go to the square.

So that was up the block.

So Red was, Yes, he was supreme status, Like you will go to the Latin Quarter yeah, hell yeah, I have, I got I got a lot of Latin Quarta stories.

Yeah.

I was going to say everyone that's I've been trying to get the definitive Latin Quarter story out of people, right. And but the thing that amazes me the most about the legend of the Latin Quarter, right is the fact.

That you go there knowing that someone's going to know.

Well, I mean that was his old joint Latin Quarter, so he transformed into something different.

Yeah, you really know about it that we don't know.

But no, no, I'm just saying that like our Latin Quarter, and Philly was a place called After Midnight, of which my parents were like, hell, no, people get shot there.

No, you ain't going. But everyone that has done this show has a Latin Quarter story.

Was Whose house was it?

Though?

Was that like a schooly d? Yeah, I mean it.

It was. The The reason why.

The reason why After Midnight was so special was because at the point where MSG stopped hosting hip hop after the death all that stuff, the closest you could get. You couldn't even get to the spectrum. Sometimes you could, but like the East Coast Mecca least and Chuck The's Eyes was like always After Midnight, Lady B hosted that.

Yeah exactly, But it's just that people don't talk about her enough.

But every but every person that talks on the show about Latin Quarter they I guess the rewards of hearing hip hop far outweighed the risk of getting shot or getting your chain taken or it was exciting.

No, you know what I'm saying, Like, well you went with Red, obviously correct.

Violators. We'd be carrying carrying his records. The first time I met Chris Slider, who was carrying Red's records. So later I became you know, after I was became the dude whould always carry REDS records. Yeah, well it was Chris and he would do that for a while. Then as Jungle started popping, I was still around, So then I eventually became REDS Record.

But it wasn't like you had to wait outside for an hour to get in an I would meet up with a f And.

The first time I went to the Last quarters, right, there was a sabarro across the streets, pizza. There was probably the scene. Yeah, right, thinking about that, so.

Exactly.

So we're on the corner, so it's hot. It's like must have been one hundred degrees that day. So we're out there, right, it's like twelve thirty. So AF and I standing in the corner and he was like, yeah, I'm waiting for my man on Greg. He said about Greg Nice. He's like, Now, at the time, Greg Nice was the beat box for Empcy Search and they were on Select. And at first I see they've come around

This is Greg.

Greg was like what what up? He's like up, He's like this Search. We're all kids, you know what I'm saying. And Searches they're like yo, what up?

Homeboy?

And the water bellon juices. I'm like, this dude is wow. I didn't know see ship. Then d Nice comes up. He had his BDP ship on it whatever, his little letther BDP Dapper Dan Joint.

He's like, ah, was like a Derek. He's like, yoah, what up?

What up y'all. He's like, yeah, it's cute.

Tip.

He's like, what up?

Slight pause, yes if d Nice who okay, I'm sorry my fault. D Nice is team right alert, Yeah, I'm getting my yeah right right. It's I'm thinking wait, d Nice is not supposed to be there. That's the wrong territory, you know what.

You like that really because all of the juice crews, I mean, it wasn't really like that was more of an instigation of magics. They always kind of.

Like around when okay took so so.

D k and A was like, Okay, we're gonna go in, and Derek was like, now I'm about to meet Caine and I was just like, I just straightened up his shit because you know, Caine is Caine at the moment, he's tears shit up and he It was just off of just rhyming with Biz and then you would always hear about this dude Caine, like in the streets whatever, in the circles. So we go across the street on

Y'all?

Everybody's like, yo, what up? Whatever. We're just like standing back and he was like, yeah, yeah, so play me that joint and sudden he was like his man, I guess was sitting on it was a super stretch, so I guess the uh the tape player was towards the partition, towards the front. So his man presses play and it's raw. Wow, it's it's rushing out of the fucking window and it's just everything just got just at that moment, like how we just had just the second how everything kind of

Yo.

I was I couldn't think of nothing else like and then he just drove ae, I got the show whatever, and he just drove off in the night. He met him there to play him raw and that was just that was one of my Latin quarter moment.

Sorry, No, that's exactly that was a Q tip exclusive. Wow. So wow, okay, that was that was a happy, a great you know, makes it nobody moment. Waiting, I was like, oh man, he please don't live it say he said, nigga please.

All right, if you're just joining us, we're chatting with the rapper, actor, producer DJ member of a legendary hip hop.

Group a tripholl Quest Q Tip.

The group released their critically claimed sixth studio album, We Got It from Here, Thank You for Your Service in November of twenty sixteen.

Have you guys ever performed at the Latin Quarter? No, we didn't know.

Okay, okay, I saw a lot of performances there, though, what.

Did you see? I know you saw like a lot of first I saw well, I.

Saw mc light uh cram to understand you. And then when she got off stage, I tried to kick it to her and she was kind of happening and we went on a date ship. Yeah, okay, that's what's up. You got that?

No, but that but that was it was.

It was it was early. I mean, you know, it was like Crean and said she was That was the first one of the first that I saw audio to do before they did that. I like cherries. So was it grape sauce hour?

Yeah?

Yeah?

Wait a minute, wow? Did that fly over with y'all? Though? Was there a little bit of have you seen.

A legendary act perform at the Latin Quarter that didn't have their sit together at that moment? I mean, I've heard conflicting reports of public enemies first time.

Yeah, I didn't see that night. I didn't see that night, but I heard that that that.

Was about Chuck's on the mission.

He said that was it didn't go well and he said it was actually Melly Mail in the back was like, yeah, he's like Mail had.

Like the big deb yo. These niggas as wax yol. It was ill because you yo mail is.

I mean, we all know right right it's not Rushmore architect, But at that time it was like a generation.

The old guy in the back and it was but it wasn't that.

But we never viewed him. We always looked at him as yo, that's Melly Mau like your mayor busy be got suicide. He's ringing off like we were still kind of fucking with him. I feel like Mel kind of felt, no, well, he would come and will always instigate the fact that he was older and we were young niggas. Y'all young, y'all young niggas and y'all young boys. I'll be seeing him in the court be like like with the muscles, I'm flexing out there.

Everybody. Yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo you.

Young ya young niggas don't know what you know?

All this ship and wasn't And I saw the battle, yeah, a thousand dollars battle.

Yeah with KRS. And he got up on stage.

This is meiling male versus Kress.

Yeah, okay, I saw that ship and mel was on stage doing push ups and ship.

Like jack.

Yo.

It was Easter.

It was the Easter Easter Sunday. And you know, He's like, I'm real, I'm a real nigga from the bunks ship. You know what I'm saying. You know, Yeah, I'm not trying to play. I'm just telling you.

I'm just saying it because I don't like it sounds just like him.

That's why I'm laughing, because.

That niggas.

An old man's trip.

He is fucking can open and ship on barehand and type ship.

One time, one time I did a documentary. I did a documentary which one time we were not.

I was in the documentary once in my life. You need a sound effect that I was in a documentary once.

No Man had admitted that when he was doing White Lines he was on coke, that he was cooked up.

So I have to mention that, Wait, you do you remember this?

Like did not know this?

No No so at Tasty Treats.

Oh he came to Tasty treat.

Dog Okay, like I mentioned in the documentary. Well yeah, you know, well the ironic thing about White Lines was anti drug message.

Yeah, dog, I got I got a better one.

So there was that moment where I was djaying and then y'all mean was like, hey, yo, Mellye's mail. Melly Mel want to talk to you one second because he said that because you said him, because you said he was.

On crack, because and I was like what I looked to the right. It was this mail with like missiling man status. Though, yeah, this is hell. Like wound up being around for like two or three years at every event.

Yes, yes, we squashed it, but then he just came to every event, at every Okay player event.

He noticed that wait, he was there at the Christmas party with.

He used to be seeing Melle bell in there.

Like yeah, wearing lime greens. I love shout out to Mel. Mel is a legend.

Oh my goodness.

Yeah.

So all right, see, I want to stay at the latt. Got it got that quarter, We.

Got enough, I think we got But anyway, I'll finished this up. That krs. You know, Mel had said some rap whatever and he was like, you're supreme and he hit the floor, was doing like push ups and they threw the beat on it. I forget what the beat was, and all I can remember is Kris was hitting that rund from poetry? Right, how did this start? Let us begin? No, no, no, no, no no no, that's my philosophy. Poetry, the poetry.

You stop.

Yeah, he say something now he put the mic down to him.

Thought so it was like one of them, it was. It was over for real.

Niggas start fighting. Niggas got they shut the ship down, the normal quarter like it was just quiet.

It was. It was wild. Were you there for the last the quote last night?

That was the last night?

Everybody day one day, normal.

Easter Sunday when that ship happened and niggas the violets got into it, and I'm telling you that was the last night.

Everyone has a last night at the last quarter, like Faith Newman had her last.

Night, like her last night? Like what was her last night? What she said? Right? I think it was I can't remember, but she.

Said, wasn't there for the last night? She said, a fight broke? I remember she said. It was like all this, we need to have that Hunter to finish the story and then to damn. She was a coach, that girl. That's why I want to get her on the show.

She knows mas progress. That's amazing. Yeah, wait a minute, it's not a stab.

I love him the Hunter, so do jack me too?

Anyway? All right, so all right, wait, I feel like there's more.

What what other historical first in classic hip hop history have you been able to witness?

Let me see?

Oh well, I remember when Biz was working on.

Just a Friend. I heard you're the reason that it even came to be.

You told him like, well, it wasn't that, like not Q Tip told me to do it or some ship like well, he he played it for for me in Calliope Studios, and the original was you you must be on speed. If you say he's just your friend, you must be on speed. I was like, Biz, you cannot say that, or he's that.

I know.

I was thinking about doing this other one. You you got what I need.

I was like, you must be on speed.

Yeah that's another Yeah, a Juice Crew interpolation didn't didn't Big Daddy Kane do a perfect combination? Or you on your suation. He had a whole routine with Biz where they used to do Johnny I believe that. I was like, live it never mad, Yeah, record okay, I believe. I mean it was so routinely done, Like I feel like somewhere in history there it exists something.

It has to be somewhere on some demo tape. I could believe that somewhere. I forgot to ask Marley that question.

All right, So your record collection, see before before your career and I guess during at least up to the Jungle Brothers, Like at what point are you?

Are you going through your father's records?

Like how are you well, I'm going through my father's record before all of it, Like as a kid, it was my father's records.

Let me let me okay what I really wanted to okay, Like the Bronx had their beginnings of hip hops and going to part jams and whatnot.

Was there a story of that in.

Queen's Actually, of course Brooklyn and Queen's actually there was a lot of this. It's a lot of even recent recollection about the beginnings of literal hip hop, you know what I'm saying, like jams and shit. Know, Grahad Master Flowers was doing it Brooklyn, but he but the Brooklyn and Queens guys they would always be you know, it was the parties would kind of be overflowing there that that was the territory, much like Bronx and Harlem, you know what I mean that connection.

Because we only hear about the Bronx and I know, like.

A lot of this if you look. It's funny because one night somebody sent me a link and one night I just got into this whole YouTube. You know, yeah, exactly It's Labyrinth and you see all of these these ogs from like Brooklyn and Queens. You know, they had Infinity sound out of Queens. You had the Albino Twins and Disco Twins, like an Infinity machine was a pretty big sound system at the same time as you know, the Hercule, which was cool herds and Sashquash, which was

So your dad encouraged, didn't discourage you from touching his record collection, you didn't have it.

Don't touch my stereo, dad.

Or my mother was more still, yeah, I would do that and fuck the ship up. Yeah, because you know, you have the whole, the one system with the take the open the wood cover and.

Like, but I won't look at you know that type of Yeah, it was the belt drive.

They were like, they wouldn't even go back. It was just straight the belt drive. It wasn't direct drive.

Yeah, which'all think?

How do y'all think that affects music now that the era of your parents' records is over? Like kids today don't get to go through their parents'.

Albums like we all did. Yeah, because now there's ninetyums.

Do they go through it?

But do they go through their parents? I phone out like how do you.

My boys get it in the car? Like when when we go on road trips and stuff and I'm playing my music, that's.

When they get you control the music? Yeah, I control the music in the car. The car is a lot much to their chagarn uh. Sometimes I mean you're purposely like they got headphones on. Sometimes.

Do you find that that in the car when you're having those trips that they are a little bit more open to hearing it? And I was like, oh wow, Dad like that?

Yeah?

Yeah, yeah, that was I mean I give me an example that someone from our era that they really dig someone from from our era.

I mean that you put them onto you like when they was like five or six. Yo. No, no dead ass.

And I'm not saying just because he was here. When the new record came out, I was just playing it in the house and my son came home from school. He's like, oh, Dad, is that the new Tribe album? And he and you had them like, oh, I had him. I was like, you might be, you might get it, but not my son.

He was he's fifteen, and so he was. I mean, I had him. I was playing when he was a kid.

I made him like a tape of just some of my favorite music, had some Tribe on there. Micheondego, cello like came. I mean, I just made him a tape and so he would go to sleep to that as a kid. And so now I will say, man, I mean, and I see. I think this generation, the kids, they're the most open because everything is free. So whereas back in our day, like you might want to take a chance on a radio Head or some shit.

But it's like, Okay, I can buy Radiohead, I can buy Cuban links. Yeah, nigga buy a cubul links. I mean, but now everything is available.

So those kids, now, my boys, they listen to everything from like the most ignorant trap shit to like Tribe King, you know what I mean, Like they listen to it all because they have access.

To reach starters that way.

Celia, when she was born, I made her an iPod of just random stuff and to this day, like she's eleven, but she loves the police.

Why she loves my boy my son.

For last Christmas, he asked for uh, he wanted me to buy him a CD copy of Metallica's and Justice Fall because he used to play one on Guitar Hero.

And so that like led him that.

So like that ship Queens of the Stone Age, like all that kind of you know, Rocky's into that.

It's funny because you know, my little cousins they are like fourteen fifteen, and you know they're not necessarily what everybody deals with the millennial or whatever. I feel like that that crew is a little bit more open. It's like it's like, okay, I feel like the millennials or whatever when they had streaming and all of that stuff

Ain't been out. It's like, come do this. I'm like okay, and you go to it.

You see this and it's these fifteen sixteen year old kids like, oh my god.

You don't know what I'm like, huh. Pop up stores are now there. It's the new black.

Yeah.

Yes, it's encouraging and it feels it feels encouraging. I'man encouraged by it.

No, you, I will say, Tom, you were one of the one of my favorite producers in the sense that you always though I've always described it is like you always kept the foot.

In both worlds.

Like you could do a Midnight Marauders, but then could do the infamous you know what I'm saying. Or you could do like a Craig mac remix, and like you always found a way even when you work with big mainstream acts of the time, you still found a way to put your stamp on what.

You were doing.

And I think that's and in my opinion to me, that always kept you kind of you. You never to me, never came across as like that bitter guy like a lot of the older cats.

So you know what it is, you know why, and he could tell you it's not evenly a big secret. It's DJ right, don't you find it?

I mean like DJing or I'm smart about it now because I wasn't DJing as heavy since maybe the last three or four records where I'm now aware of it. Yeah, now now I know why Dre, Like when I saw straight out of Compton and realize the environment that Dre was DJing a at that roller skating rink where it's

Now I realize that that, yeah, that's that's the.

The other thing about it too, is that it's it's you get to see what works and why, you know, because I, you know, I think that you and I we maybe I think we come from the same philosophy when we spend you know what I'm saying, it's like, you know, current, current, a little bit back on another one, throwback, tempo wise, tempo match, baseline match and boom now current, you know current, you know, just to try to mix and then sometimes you know that the crowd may not

Psychological stuff.

If you're just tuning in, we're getting a hip hop history lesson with rapper actor producer DJ member of a tripal Quest Q Tip. The reason why I brought the record collection is because in the era of when you guys finally get your debut record out.

Uh.

First of all, the long ass title of People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm.

Why I mean Captain beef Hart and yeah, I mean, you know, we need a title.

We need to stick the fuck out when we need other options for the debut album.

Before was the you know either or we always had like three to choose from it.

Now were just like, yo, this is what it.

Is really, you know. Okay, So in the era of you guys making that record.

Well as a music producer, the first thing, the reason why I have a dividing line between the renaissance era of hip hop and the classic era of hip hop and the thin line that's in between is the fact that you guys managed to miraculously avoid James brown Well using anything from Break B Loo's Ultimate Beats and Breaks collection, which all right for our listeners, Break B Lou shout Out, What's Up?

Lou? Lou Flores.

Wisely came up with a Wikipedia or a cliff notes if you will.

Of records and street Beat Lenny.

Yeah, Street b Lenny shout Out of all the records that Bam and HERK and fl and Theodore would spin.

Back in the day.

And when this compilation came out, in late nineteen eighty five through nineteen eighty nine, pretty much, I'll say sixty percent of most hip hop relied on these breaks for their daily diet. All these you know, synthetic substitution impeached to President. God made me funky. It was just to the point where the average record take, like, take a producer like Herbie Lovebug his productions on saying, like a filler cut on a kid in play record, You get comprised.

You can they tell, oh, that's volume made.

He used the drums from here and the loop from there and the baseline from there, you know, all on the same record where you really didn't do any heavy digging. So this is the first time, or at least with the native tongues, this is the first time that I'm hearing loops that aren't on the compilation. And it's like, oh God, I gotta do some work to figure out what they use.

What this is? What was that?

Was that already a rule that like no substitution, no funky drummer, no impeached the president.

Yeah we were.

It was.

It was a crew of us, right like it was me Africa, Juju.

The Beatnuts. Who is the music head of the beat nuts.

They both are.

But who's your go to?

Well, Juju, who made because Juju? I mean because that was my men, like in senior year high school, like we were me him Rashad.

Yep.

They all went to the No no, no, we all went to different schools, but we were all like meet up at the hubs and ship, like we just knew niggas from when you know, we was getting up getting beats and ship and you'd see dudes, you be like, yo, that dude got because we always there was a there was a small group of us who was like anti break beat, you know what I mean, Like we had to have the right ship, you know what I feel like, all right, the.

Large professor substitutions. But not once did you feel like all right.

Oh yeah, well after after you know, after we've established ourselves in that way, you didn't come back. There's been times I've used substitution kicks and ship like that and like.

That whatever tell yeah okay, or like you know, and like Pete would.

Use he would use substitution a lot, you know, some of them ships. Just as a producer, you'd be like, yo, that ship is still that that James brown Snea is still rocking. We got to boot, you know what I mean. But back then, early on, it was just about it was about the hunt nigga, you know, saying you know that ship just had the fight. It was just like and then we got so on it. We would travel out of town and fights. Me and Paul would get fucking rent cars and.

Be driving Pittsburgh. Yeah, all types of ship. You would go to Jerry's and Pittsburgh. Yep.

I went to Jerry's.

Yeah, it's yeah, if any beat bigger.

There's seven Pilgrimage like Mecca Pilgrim, but Jerry's you'll never get past.

Like the letter D and or C right right, right right, that's how large his warehouse is.

But the crew was it was like Juju and and this is the crew. Like we all would know each other. We all would go to spots and ship. It was Juju Diamond large myself Africa, Pete, I said Paul, right, Paul.

Prem had already bought a store.

He already had everything. Wow, he had a store. Oh Latif Latif, I said Rashad, No, noah, it was we was we was. Mark already had He's a OG so he was already. So Prem had the record store that he bought when he was in Texas and came and they just shipped him every like forty thousand records of some crazy ship. So he had everything, and Mark had everything. So we were all putting our ships together kind of at that time, you know, at the same time, you know.

I'm glad you're saying this because even though my career came in the tail end of it, many a record dealer had the fear of their eyes when like, because I would just straight up ask them, because they like, record dealers will do this thing where it's like, all right, they know what kind of money is walking in, right, so they'll look at me.

They'll look at me and like, okay, a mirror's good for ten thousand.

So they have a system where it's like they'll give you all right, that's ten, that's twenty, that's ten, that's twenty, that's ten, that's twenty.

No, that's right.

But then they know you're itching and I'm like, so that's it, and they'll be like, well, you know, I got a shipment that just came in last night. And all the warehouse is up the block, right, Oh, take you over the block. Yeah, there's all that kind of I got some dresses over here. Yeah no, but that's what it's like.

And then there's just a points.

Well I would tell them to just cut to the chase, like and that's the thing as a record collector, you never tell them like, look only got a thousand, Just cut to the chase and give me the good ship, because no, they'll just do the same shit the tens, the twenties, the tens, the twenties, the tens, the twenties.

Were you out there?

And then they'll be like they they will usually say like Pete Rock was always the thing, like well, yeah, we were holding some of the stuff for Pete Rock.

You know, I'll give you an extra ten for it. Yeah. But then you're like you get desperate and not realizing this wouldn't be true. No, no, no, no, I realized then I realized that was the hustle.

And then finally I found a guy where he's just like, look this is worth one hundred, this is worth one fifty, this is you know, and those type of things. So of course those prices would be jacked up because they would use it like stuff already, so like like a prime example the Manty Alexander and having his all right, so before you use that for gangster bitch, know that

Feel bad a little bit because it just happened like okay boom, so.

Yeah, my generation is now paying the extra on the New Tribe album.

I used this this for whatever would be the Nairob Yeah, like that ship is got rocketed already.

But give me an example of like from once it came to whence it got once?

Tip touched it no all the time, like oh Jesus Christ, I've read ram Ramp is a five dollars record.

I don't even think there's an original Ramp record. Like every Ramp album I've seen is. I just felt like they Yeah, they finally just printed it in the name of the interest of finding the need an apple bum sample.

So how much is that now? Ran three hundred?

Well you for an original press I've never seen an original pressing of Rent, but uh, Eugene McDaniels, I've never seen I've never seen the Headless Heroes under two hundred bucks original. I playing that, I played that ship. The first argument Stacey and I ever had over music, first tasty treat Stacey and I ever had over music was over that record.

She by the time we got to that song, she was like.

A little this is the last song on eug McDaniel's debut album. Helial play everything. I've plaid everything, No, no, no, the SAMs for this, for the tip Us, it.

Was jagget dagger. It was jagged a dagger. You know, we was having a ball. That's good on the MYCT.

Weird enough, Jack of the Dagger was such a dig at Mick Jagger, like stealing black music.

What the loop was so dope.

One of the one of the last dates that we did on when Lauren released that, did you play that as he walked out?

No?

No, no, no, man, you know what he can't Yes, he was scheduled, he was scheduled to be on the show.

We prepared that song.

And then he okay, okay, he didn't do it, but yeah, when he comes down, dude's jagging the dagger Like what they gonna do the research on it?

Anyway? Last the last date, the last date of this Lauren Hill tour when she did that unplugged record Smoking Groups tour. I remember that right.

So it was Thanksgiving night in Seattle and I played the Parasite and blasted it because I DJ before she came on dog the look on the art, it was the best.

I might have to play you. Yes, I gotta. Can I play the whole song? Please? The whole song is like that, no minutes. We can't not right now.

I mean if you can put a little bit, just skim through, skim through certain.

Yeah, I think it's a good close. We'll close the show with it. Okay, stop, we will close the show with That's fair.

Can we talk over it the show like Mystery Science Theater.

That is kind of what we do. Great, awesome, that's all we do, all right? So what making this?

Making the record the debut? Yeah, people's I call it Peter Peter p tour Peter Peter to make him that record? What is because this is a group of super producers. I mean it's a group of multiple c's, but it's also a group of super producers.

How what is the.

What is the agreed upon method of making joints, like, is it just yo, I got this loop?

Yeah, I got this loop. I like that loop. Okay, let's work on that. Or is it you know, do you just come in with the finished product like I like this? Does alast say? Yo? What do you think about this? Yeah? That joints nice? I'll do that.

It's kind of both.

Okay in the beginning, what's it like? What's it like on the first album?

Like in the beginning, Uh, A lot of it was demos that I'd done over the prior, I'd say five years maybe.

Okay, I'm calling. I'm calling an audible storytime with Q Tip. All right, I'm just gonna play ten seconds of random tribe joints and you tell me, like, what comes to mind when you made this?

Well, if you remember any details, read.

It, read it, turn the page, see what it says.

Read it to you?

Will you please? I mean running away roy is you know it's one of my favorite.

This shake catches a lot of slack, like I I'll read, I'll read you know, like uh uh lists like Ego trip list or whatever, where of course this didn't description didn't of course, so it catches flack as in weird debut songs by groups that will later God. But there's nothing wrong with this loop. This is not my go to song to spend. But I was never mad at this loop or.

The place of the ending. It felt like a good ending for the album.

Yeah.

I used to run that joint and.

That was actually the B side was even funnier. Pubic B side the joint talking smack comics.

It was funny.

It was like, it's very skipped to my loop.

No, no, no, you know what it was to I had two years earlier. There was a store on Bleika, the street where you get all the fucking prints unreleased joints.

Well, not Bob's, but it was another joint. It was Generations.

I think it was not on, but it's off. You know where all the chest stores. I think it was a cross the street and down the block from my Moods. I think there's a story where Prince actually walked in to that store and walked out with all this ship. Yeah, that had yo, It's ill because I was in there. I would always hit there after school because Karena and I would always be in the village and shit and I would always go get I was just a huge

Of like one of the Yeah, what who's the you know, it's about George?

You know what I'm saying. I like doing all that silly shit. Underneath it is the BT Express beat, you know what I mean. I mean it's it's clearly tuned out. But it was also still inn overage of disco kind of house parties that were still going on. You know, you still have Frankie Knuckles Ip, still had Larry Levan doing parties back then, even though their houses had closed, and maybe Frankie was doing back and forth from Chicago

Have you ever got to see Larry spin or his systems? Yeah, well I saw him at Limelight. Okay, did he control the system there?

I don't think so. This is towards because.

When you DJ, you hea the world's loudest bass cabinets ever. And I know that. He always me you you're always aiming for a paradise.

Yeah.

I'm trying to go for that man.

Yeah, okay, I'm But the first real big system I think I heard was in the World as we discussed a A Twice's favorite song.

Wow, my favorite song.

I haven't heard this ship ever because I got mine, especially slide the family stone.

Advice take my advice.

That was Scott Page from the ninety one album classic The Low in Theory.

When I made this beat, I was like, Yo, this is like one of the most perfect beats I ever made, just because you hear the brushes, You hear the brushes on the drums playing like playing right in between that fucking monstrous ass snig kick, that fucking gregorco Is rocking, and the just the and then when the flu the with the fucking phone and ship. I was just like, damn, I wanted I wanted to make this ship longer, but I was like, you'll fight, we should keep this ship short.

Like this.

It's like he was like Burt, he said this even though I would love to we got all the joints. We need to make this short, like because this one, I just I just love this record. I think this is my favorite. I think I've said before the butter was my favorite on the album, but it's really this.

I haven't heard this in a while. Wow.

See this is where we haven't common because I don't know, like maybe it was the Beast being the B side of Check the Rhyme or whatever, but this just hit me at the right moment, Like we brought the Check the Rhyme single. It's like a Friday night Tower Records, and when like we already knew Checked the Rhyme. So when we heard the B side for sky pager In on a loud ass car system on a Friday night, like we sat it. We sat there and listening to like twenty times in a row, Like I was so mad.

To to Maybe you understand it, amir, but don't. Sometimes it's like you take yourself out of it as the actual artist and then you as the DJ Resister, Listen, you know what I'm saying, and you just hear it and for a minute you be like, oh shit, you know what I'm saying.

I'm sure, but you have to have time. I think like you have to have distance away from it. You know what I'm saying, Yes, because like why you're working on it while I'm working on stuff like I can't write, Oh my god, but.

I'm certain that you make records that younger you would want to buy as a consumer or.

Correct? Do you not make rhymes that.

You wish.

You're you're you're?

It would like like right now, you mean like like just in general, I thought that was the whole goal of a musician to make the stuff you want to hear, make the stuff that you would buy as a music Oh absolutely, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, making the stuff that you want to hear, and pretty much, well, at least for me, just making the stuff that, you know, the stuff that I felt was missing, like a record that man, I wish I could buy this record.

I make the record that I want to buy and uh, but but.

I think it only gets to that point for me, like kind of going back what Tip was saying, why you're working on it.

I don't listen to none of it. Yeah, it's like like, I don't, I haven't listened to this, Like when I put it out, I don't listen to it. And the only the only time I'll go through it is if I'm DJing, I'll listen to the ship because I really try to stay away from playing my own ship. But when you're reading a crowd or if you know, sometimes you may hit a little bit of it and then

What? Yeah?

Wow, see, now that's weird.

I have a roule against playing our shit because every time I play the root.

Ship is the fastest for.

Yeah, I don't, I don't.

But no, but I'm saying they got this already.

It's already established that you're the establishment of that level. Like you know, there's at least five tribe songs that are the mount rushmore go to songs of a party starter. So even when you were DJing, like is it embarrassing to play what's the captain obvious one like scenario.

I don't play none of it obviously.

So even when you were DJing in let's say nineteen ninety.

Three and you put scenario on knowing the motherfucker's gonna go out, they mind like, is this still like a weird thing?

Like yeah, I don't, I don't.

I don't do that.

I can't do that. I'll play Oh.

You'll play some obscure sit.

I'll play something more if, like especially if it's like a I have a groove rowing or whatever. Like let's say, okay, so what is somewhere like one hundred and five bp M or some ship.

I know what you're going to say, what no, I was doing do it? Do it?

I was going to say you you would probably play no footprints. I feel like you would play footprints a not club song. But okay, you taught me this term part of my French niggag drum.

Drums, nigga drums dr.

Drums. No, he's just it's just he taught me that term. He's just like it's like that's the secret.

Like the music smooth, but the beat is so cracking and hard and just hard like it's it's it's like Freddy Fox.

Punching you in the news. It's this ship over on top while like in my head, why was Freddy Fox? Yeah? The hip hop yeah, like damn it, like.

We're getting a pound from busting rhymes, you know, like it's yeah, no, when Busted picks you up, it's you gotta hide your hands like him, him and the Angelo, Him and Angelo the harip like he pulls your finger like our things.

But he did is relentless deal do it all night for two hours.

Every since Primo said the same thing, he has like he adapted every two minutes. D M buster the reason why I get pounds down. They will pull your joints out of sockets, giving you a pounds so hard touch your manlihood.

It's just now it's just pounds, man. It does.

Jesus, I feel like each album is like nine hours worthy of right, Right, So we got any any any people's instinctive questions I missed?

Well, I mean, I'm trying to think.

I just remember this funny plate description of a fool because that was the first time I can recall my older cousin of mine pointing out to me that it was a sample because I didn't know. I didn't know the roy As record, and I remember him playing, you know, the typical old school y'all, all the y'all y'all stealing.

That's still like.

About this whole sample ship. I mean, and you guys know this. I mean there's fucking twelve notes, you know, right, And it's like you have different varying degrees of voicings and ship that you could use. So everybody has sampled Private Joy by Prince. Okay, did you play that real quick? Just a little bit.

We're not allowed to, Okay, I'm sorry, sorry, all right?

Do you have uh.

Frankie Valley who loves You pretty baby?

Okay? You ain't got no Frankie Valley and nice reference.

But my point is is that it's the same voicings, just different keys, you know what I mean, Like if you listen to them back to back, it's the same ship. Like it's like people, you.

Know, I'm playing it. It's Frankie Valley. Yes, it's uh, who loves You by Frankie Valley in the four.

Seasons, just the highlights and illustrate mine, it's Private Joy.

I didn't realize that.

Yeah, that's private joy.

That is private joy, you know what I mean. I never realized that till now.

It's like that that ship goes on. Some people can rearrange and revoice certain chords and you know, you know, reapproach the melodies and stuff like that, but sampling is something that has been done for how many how many times you've heard the chord changes from Cherokee in regular Ship? You know what I'm saying, Like it's.

Stupid, it is.

Yeah, when y'all were in terms of you were talking about Juju, it's funny that you mention that because I always it makes total sense now hearing it that you and Juju ran together, because I always thought, like to use a stranger things reference. I always thought that the Beating Uts first album was like the upside down version of Midnight Marauders, Like that was a real Black Sea album.

Oh man, it was.

That is so they there you go, Joe, You're right, because I love I love days they and.

They don't get their props. Their sucking albums always fucking.

Razy. There's no album that doesn't have like when.

I first heard that fucking that Diamond Bird ship.

That do.

Do Do Do Do do do do just worked on like, how does that work with with ideas or whatever? Like have they ever worked on?

No?

We never like did that.

The only thing we did was we started this group called the Fabulous Fleas.

How far? How far did that go? Why didn't it materialize?

I don't know. We had two records?

Wait what wow? Exist actually made.

Shout Out to Pass and I'm still waiting for my fabulous Fleas has a lot of ship, yes he does.

He has a lot his wedding for free to get some fleas.

Yo.

He has a lot of stuff.

He does.

He is, he's going to low He's like, so yeah, that was the That was you know, Juju Man and Light and Less Sorry. And I remember when Fashion was with them for the first couple of joints, right, Fashion joined in the second because it was Fashion on the first one.

He was on the first was the first, and then he left after no no, No, He was on the EP and then he was on the album and then he left when they did Street Level.

That's because he did the God Connections. That's right.

That's a couple of joints to Fashion is dope. And you talk about sampling. One thing I wanted to ask you, like from Marauders to Beats Rhymes in Life? How did the sampling laws like did it? Was it harder to sample at that time because Beat Rhymes Life had a lot more live stuff on it.

Especially didn't pay attention because this record, like I was bomb squad terry like so much.

I was like, how do they clear they clear all this ship? Yeah?

The laughing speaking of which, Uh, sir, come on, yes, sir, it is time for Uh, it's time for a moment. That's why I gave you a pen and paper. Uh, We're going through round one of so all right to be fair because I wasn't fair to Pete Rock when he did it.

Here we go.

I'm gonna test your gangster. I'm gonna test a gangster on samples like.

Gangster and gyle.

Yeah, I'm gonna play you.

I'm gonna lose this horrible No, you're not You're not.

And because I'm gonna give it to you twice, I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna.

Play you a slew of samples and you name them ship. You ready, you can do better than me. Here we go. I'm gonna do this for you twice. Here's the first round. Name these two. You might want to have a pin because they're gonna come quick.

Oh ship like that? You ready, yes, sir?

Part one? Here we go. Oh man, Okay, Tip is singing, he's not writing. There you go my favorite song.

I'm not gonna I'm never gonna win.

All right, you gotta get closer to close to the mic.

I'm not gonna win. I got this too much.

It's too quick. Yeah, because I was like, I'm not gonna do this.

This is too crazy.

It was like, this is this is this is a Stapley, this is a staple.

Already, I'm ready.

I'll give it to you one more time, and I write this this rite the art? Everybody, just right right? The artist? You don't song? I know he concocted this ship to come on now. It's fun, but you guess it is fun?

All right, come on, all right you genus?

Ready, all right, just named the artist. I don't know. I know that, I don't know.

You know this don't know, I don't know. It's not enough for me. Eddie Kendricks.

Okay, you're saying the song next?

Is that Marbret Holmes no up titled uh.

You know the song? Yeah?

Bang guy that's a ship. Oh fuck is that for all? That's Hamilton bohand that's Brenda Russell.

Okay, got a little bit. Okay, we missed Tyrone Davis and the brick Fun brick Fun, Yes, and uh our farmer soul sides.

He does use that for the pussy. That was right exactly. Well, that's when he mentioned that. I was like the night Lighters. There you go and Detroit Emeralds.

Detroit Emeralds.

All right, so you you sort of guessed it.

I'm sorry, it's Carl.

Yeah, yeah, give me another one.

Do you have another?

Yeah? Give me pete, give me pete.

No, I got advanced rounds you. We'll get you a little bit later. You got advanced rounds.

Give you a breather.

So did you Were you satisfied? Were you satisfied with? How did you feel? The general reception was for the debut record going into the second record, like.

You feel like I had a little bit of a chip on my shoulder coming from the like who chuck Eddie rolling Stone?

The three star review?

I never yeah, fuck you the fucker. And then that's what I slowly but surely got on my diet, of which I'm now practicing of trying to, you know, look at any kind of articles, of any kind of reviews, anything at all of good bad. I don't want to hear nothing because you know.

You and I took it personally, that's weird. It's not even my record. And I to this day, Chuck is on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame thing. He him and Alan Light profusely apologize.

To you for it. I never I'm literally all right, I'm on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame board.

So basically the Rolling Stone editors of the eighties and the nineties are in the same room.

Trust me.

They realized that them reviewing hip hop ten years ago was the equivalent of a vegetarians review and chicken contest.

Exactly what they need to make a statement, because that's in a room.

No, even with Alan without Allan Light has regrets over America's most wanted Chuck Eddie has regrets over People's Sea. He said it was the least danceable hip hop.

Dude. When I read it, I was just because I got the Source review.

Tribes debut record was the first album to get a five mic review in The Source in the summer of ninety and they because I had it already. They were saying everything I felt. I was like, wow, this is like real critics actually are reviewing. That's when I realized like, oh, the source might be onto something, being like our Bible. But then, because I was collecting all those Rolling Stone reviews on the back of.

The who's the main review?

It was someone else that I think was it Neil Young, I don't know if it was Freedom, whatever it was. Tribes was the thing on the back, and I was just like, how can critics be so out of touch? And then I realized, oh, there's a double standard between hip hop experts and rock experts.

Like Solange and Brandy.

Yeah, what happened with them? Unclear?

Well, now Solange gave just due to Brandy's work and kind of the.

Pitchforkian or John of John Cara, Yeah, John care I can never get his I don't even know if I said it right.

I think I think, yeah, you got right, John Caramonica. You know there's kind of there's kind of like a snarky.

They said stop kaping for Brandy or something, yeah.

Like basically right, yeah, like a snarky like what do you know about like real musical and Brandy's high art.

To you that sort of thing, and she.

Your record ship exactly so, but she did the slime sting got in the ass and yeah, you know, yeah exactly.

So it's I remember when she was talking to me about doing the record she was mad about She was so mad that it was a little bit intelligible. So so it was I just like I was like looking at her.

Too, like.

On the ground, right, So she proposed to the idea of what the album was going to be before you got started working. Yeah, yeah, when she she came, that's the first thing, like she's like, come out of the studio whatever I want you hear some ideas, see what's up. And then like she gave me the pitch and Sampa is there too, and I'm looking at Sanfa like who met me? No, No, it's just like she was just like I wanted I'm making a manifesto and I'm tired of the ship.

You with me or not?

And I two three and falling, Like, dude, that's exactly like is that okay, you're joking, that's exactly what they playing record. Yeah, she knew what she wanted and was like she was not gripping me by like full force and crust groove to get the results.

So I love the records you did on her too. That was my favoritejots.

Her and I have about about ten records together. Yeah, and pub we were working on this ship and then she went to Raphael and and at one point she came back to me.

She came back to me.

But I've been working with Cilantro. I've always encouraged her to like go, like she's like a ded ded dear dear like that, like we come come to the crib cook type ship, like that's my sister right there. And I'm just really happy for her. So how good is that album? Maybe so fucking good, man, so good? And I'm so happy for her, you know, because it's like like just not to digress, but you know, obviously her sister is you know what I mean, And it must

Man.

I'm still clad for Salona. So happy. Well, that's why I wanted y'all clap with me, So it didn't sound like.

Like that.

So for you, it was like the chip on your shoulder was wait till they get a load of me. I always I see. I didn't know if you read your your like if you read reviews or not.

And so when you had another little chip after this one too though, but I can't say what it is yet.

But for low in theory, this new album, yeah, I don't know who.

Refuted Well, it's not you know, it's I just.

All right, what's the name of the periodical? Does it start with the pet mad? Is the rating good? You can do? Damn? Anyway? Because about three seconds this.

Murder was it?

Was it a mad? Was it a publication? Was it? Is it a peer? Was it like someone? It was like peer review kind of good questions?

We're all good man, I'm just gonna fuel it into the music.

There you bet?

Monkey, stop your show?

I'm sorry.

Was that an aunt moment?

That was such an an you got to bring some chicken in here for us? So was there a meeting or a manifesto of like what should we do this record?

Or was just just like yeah, yeah, I think it was.

It was more like, come on, fife, you know what I'm saying. And I was just like, yo, let's go.

So was it that he didn't feel No, it was just even with the last record, like should he have? Was he late to a few sessions that like what song should a fight been on on on the first album that he wasn't on?

There was just like all right, well you're not there, so.

Probably go ahead and the ring rhythm?

Uh, he should have been on going the.

Ring Yeah rhythm, Uh, push it along.

On that what it's time to decipher the situations. Situation you made me think I was crazy right now.

I mean, I mean footprints he should have been okay, I mean it was a couple. But when we got we were gonna make low end theory, we was just like we need more of you with that, and were just like, Yo, now it's time to two. You know, we put all the colors on the canvas with the first album. Now it's time to go cubism, you know, like sharp, you know, distinct, exact like show now we got to show our lines, you know what I'm saying.

We'll also so you guys, like you broke it down more simple for.

The people, Whereas like my idea of a tribe called Quest was definitely like whatever. The back cover of the Benita apple bum twelve inch was like, my version of tribe is the abstract kind of artsy looking kids whatever. Whereas now the same group, it's now on the Tarik side of the fence and just rocking.

Because the first thing I noticed I was like, oh, they're rocking Champion right right. We started that.

We kind of was doing that purposefully.

I know.

The time we got to the Cannot Kick A video, we was like, okay, now we gotta start. We got to start phasing it in fashion and fashion in it too as a precursor.

You wanted to look like the people.

Well yeah, well we came out like the first album was like about the first album was more about the the spirit and more about just philosophically kind of the thing.

For me, one of the most important musicians on the low end theory rock Carder No by Power. Oh well, yeah, so how did tell the story of how Bob came into uh to be?

We were working in the studio Gilliope and Shane Farber was like the head engineer, right. There was another cat there too. They were all kind of like you know, rocker dudes, like real rock and roll whatever, and it was a beautiful studio and Shane was doing the Jungle Brothers, he was doing Bizz he was he was doing a lot right. So we started to work on our ship and this was the first album and I remember Africa and had to have a sub one day, like Shane

And then.

And well before we get there, when you go into the lobby or into the front desk room of Calliope, they'd have all of their records that they that were done at the studio up on the wall, twelve inches and shit, one of them being Stetso Sonic Ghost Tetza. That was one of the Latin quart of staples. You know when that ship We'll come home with those fucking drums rumbling, It was a fucking problem. If you had anything on nice, you would want to hold on to it.

Little bit of the police. Are you trying to sinuate that the heart of the song? The more like.

Yes, it was back then it was exciting for this, Yes, it was exciting. Really, it was like yes, because the d you know that that how do you say that? How does how do you say the jiff with the battle kid and he's standing with his glasses.

It was like, yes, It's like, Yo, where do you go? Man? How do you find that jiff? Because I look for that jiff and can't. I don't know what you call it.

I don't know battle rap really battle rap.

So you heard ghost.

Sets of by stets of Sonic in the Latin corner. So this was like your smells like spirit. This was your smells like teen spirit at the Latin Quarter.

That record was so crazy that it inspired them to make this other cup came out the Mighty Mic Masters. You ever hear that no.

Get you? Word feels like an answer record, the best that's kind.

And that ship is banging to Freddy Freddy being Mighty Mic Masters.

The Mighty Mic Masters. What's the name of the song?

I think it's called word, It's just word. I'm the real McCoy, I'm the real play boy.

Ladies man a door. Remember that it was on Tough City.

Yeah, turn it up, turn refuge alert, Arnie.

Oh man, that's day Swing. It's like hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, this isn't a compression. Wow, this is what year? What year is this? What years?

The pumpkin was on drums Pumpkin's a mother Pumpkin was the house rummer of Enjoy Records.

Ladies, gentlemen, what what uh what Keith LeBlanc and Doug wyn Bush World sugar Hill Records. Nah, huh, Pumpkin.

I always wanted to know where these drums came from on Swing a Lot King because I thought this was a prince like this is like a prince Ball beat to me, like every prince Ball beat my mind is this, And I thought he programmed it.

I'm not saying that what studio was that done in?

Uh?

The information is not here.

Wow, I wonder if that was done.

Freddy be the Mighty on Aaron Fuchs Tough City. It was nineteen eighty six eight.

It was crazy so Bob so I looked. I looked. I was like, wow, Stetsa because I remember always looking at the credits and it said recorded and mixed by Bob Power Jump cut two. You know the sub is in there and it's the engineer for Africa and for a session on Dumb by the Forces, I think, and you know the song I can't remember.

I was about to say, it has to be doing our own thing. No jb'sh JB's coming through hard.

It could be because that's one of the artist, it's one of the In terms of arrangements for hip hop songs, it's either the first or the second for me, Like like JB's coming Through. You listen to the fucking arrangement on that record and what's going on that ship is like a Queen record.

Yes, insane is criminal.

It's criminal. That was not even considered the first single off. I feel like, if that can't burrow my god this world, ye oh my god. They was, and the video of that ship could have made a difference. It could have made a difference. I swore it was going to be like I mean that.

Ship is to this day, it's like because that was never an official single, was it? No?

And then it was it was because the B side is what FOREL based nothing on for Norri the George Michael father figure.

That was.

You know, but that freaking so anyway, So this guy is like this engineer guys like recording vocals on Africa and he's like Africa's rapping rap rappings up. Then the engineer goes, oh, that's okay.

I think that take was good.

Did you want to get another one?

Are you ready?

To do another one, and as like, what the fuck is this motherfucker? He's like, okay, clear, stand by, Like he was just okay, clear, It's like this motherfucker sounded like a fucking an airline pilot associate that he would say or whatever the fuck right. So I liked his efficiency. I like the fact that he was just like on it and just accommodating and nice. Because Shane was a little old rocker guy, rough, little rough, a little rough, not old rocker guy. But he started because he had

So now he's balling.

He's feeling the feeling himself. And Bob was just like okay. I was like, so then we had to have the session were supposed to use Shane, and Shane couldn't do it because I guess shame is in Costa Rica balling whatever regretful vacation yo. Sudden Bob Power was I was like, wait, didnute Bob Power? Is that the guy who was doing the Jungle Brothers session two days ago and the guy who did and he was like, yeah, I was like book them and that was it. Wow, that was it.

Was our second guest on the show. It's amazing, literally exact same that.

Record, that's that's the sonic record. That was it and that was like and I saw him work because he and I.

Like, that's how Like I wonder if say regrets it now, like in hindsight, if you didn't take that vacation like Shane could have on so much hip hop history because.

He did just a friend, he did that stuff, Monies in the Middle, he did.

But for a lot of the mid nineties, late nineties generation cats, like we all read the engineer credits to our favorite records and it was like Bypower, try by Powered, Daylight Soul. So that's who we rolled with, Like we wanted the person that sounded chrisp and clean. So how

Well because these everybody, if you if you sound good on that, that was his big rule.

Like and I to this day he's so right because if you could if.

You get it sounds great.

You're here and you hear everything and it's in articulation, and you know that you're seventy five there and he will always say so being at you. You hear everything, then it's about what you know the person, what kind of personality you wanted to have, Like so if if it's going for this or that, he he leans more to what's naturally their sonically, you know what I mean.

So how did y'all achieve that?

Because as simple as the record sounds drums, bass, voice, minimum samples, that is some hard ship to achieve to be that loud. It's it's louder than the average hip hop record. Like you take an album like Nation and Millions, Yeah, and which is crammed with everything, and it's it's not really loud though, but it's loud. It's not heavy, it's light. It's it's loud in the in the high end sense of the word.

But do you feel like it has a lot of compression? Takes a Nation.

Milly a lot, right, Yes, So how did you guys loudness? How did you guys achieve that? Because that's some hard Bob.

Because Bob, I mean, his thing is about placement too, Like a guitar should kind of naturally be in like anywhere.

Damn, that was before my time.

That was I was in studio b really, So we did a lot of shit going through that Neve and then we wind up mixing in a on the SSL. So the actual recording of it, the ship I was giving him, I was giving him, So.

You would record that battery on in the b room. Yeah, do you miss going to battery just.

To feel Yeah, it was fun.

Like when did y'all go, because y'all was We started December of ninety three, so.

What's weird?

Was Okay, the first joint y'all did. Y'all did home?

Right?

Well, we did organics home at some spot in Nepolis, great studios.

Well that was like in the grid. We didn't know what we were doing.

So all of Christmas of nineteen ninety three, and this before automation. This is on two inch tapes, so like you know, I would regretfully, like the guys would get mad at me if I'd say, like, okay, I want to echo on this part, which would mean that Bob would rewind rewind, and you know when you rewind the tape that's already ninety seconds worth of time. Now we're trying to perfect it. Any any request I had of Bob Power was a twenty minute exercise.

So we're taking eight to nine hours per song per day.

And you know we were used to just knocking shit out like okay, now song's done, but now it's like but Bob explaining like this is the meticulous process.

And guys, I need some quiet. If you guys want to talk, please guys go another room.

Did you hear that a lot?

Did you hear that a lot?

I said that a lot? Boss Bill.

Boss Bill has alerted me to the fact that what's the website all Music All Music or discocks When you go to discogs and you look up someone's information. Because I gave Bob a new moniker title for each song, it would be like mixed by Bob.

Guys, you really must take this in the break room. Power he has over he has over like sixty his credits guys. Really, I left you, guys some food in the fridge. Go check it out. Why I mix this song like literally, yeah, Bob was you it must be quiet?

There was no like, none of that, none of the ship that I thought was going to happen when you make a rap record, like girls and parties and all that stuff. None of that was going on at Root sessions, like we were quiet and and focused.

Guys. I just need a little bit of quiet, please, Tip, Why don't you come in and take a little you know, I.

You know, I know it didn't get right right exactly.

He would talk you down in a non condescending in a way you feel like, yeah, you are doing this for the greater good, Bob. Okay, let me take all this weed and hookers and the right right right right right, all right. Well, at this rate, I'll be lucky to get the Midnight Maran.

We gotta gets now, let's come on, all right, so look, so look.

For me.

Know this is nerd facts, but it should be noted. It should be noted that, uh, I feel like the scenario remix ushered in well, the chopping of the chopping of Blind Alley and what it represented. I felt like that was the most influential move that you guys did as producers, because.

Pretty soon.

When Kats heard Blind Alley chopped in a way okay, I'm speaking of the emotions Blind.

Alley ain't no half step in being yeah, all these songs and you brought it back for phony rappers on uh.

So to to chop it up in a way in which.

I feel like producers were like, wait a minute, you don't have to play the complete four bar phrase of a drum.

Weekend now.

That that you know, just to interrupt that happened on check the rhyme. Actually, because I remember having a conversation with Large because prior to this, and this is not like me trying to do none of that ship but just on some like producers ship, geeky whatever. But I remember having a conversation with Large Professor, and I was like, Yo, those drums on the ep m D album. You know that E P m D song?

Uh it was.

The Hydro It was on their album, right, and they had the whole loop just playing, and I had the I had the record and I remember just wait, you remember yo. I remember just playing it and I was like, yo, Paul, Yo, I could just get half a bar. All these drums they're naked right here, and I can extend it.

He was like what you mean.

I was like, yo, listen, and it was like, doom.

Do do forgive me? Do this Hydra Washington Jr.

And then I just took an extra and then I took an extra kick off of the mini rip he put it, and I was like, Yo, look at this kick.

Just translate for me. I'm just having a moment.

Yeah, that was the first time. Yeah, you could take half of a half a half a bar. Like it wasn't that wasn't being done, you know what I'm saying. So it was just like you would get the loop and loop it, or you'd have a program still to that point. But to realize that you could just get a little fun peace and extended.

I was like, oh, Ship, it was so weird that you said that, because when you said check the rhyme, I was gonna say, well, that doesn't count to because no one knows what those drums are anyway.

We know them all alone, all right, Philadelphia's own Grove, Washing Bosville Just go Sie Sie.

Side note Lewis Johnson and the Brothers. Johnson is playing base and Steve, you are the master.

Of all things. Cree Taylor.

Uh oh, yes, kudo, Yes, what what album is?

It?

Is it?

Feeling so good?

Feel so good? Damn mm hmm.

Mm hmm.

Papa love it? Play check the rhyme I will.

I would still love to flip it, show our listeners exactly I was made.

But you know I can hear it. They can hear it, because yes, if you couldn't hear poison, if Auntie can hear it?

Yo, where was where was Creed Tailor's studio at Creed Taylor Studio the ct I like, where did he cut Rudy van Gelder? Oh he cut it. He cut it in Englewood.

Everything there, yeah, all at ct I she was cut.

I wouldn't do that, all right, just for tip, I'll do it right now, Thank you, thank you, You're welcome.

Now I forgot what I was looking for.

The kudoo stuff too, mainly over there, some stuff at electrically. Actually, I realized that it should be a museum. The reason why it was taking me so long was because I forgot that rhyme was spelled.

They cut Love Supreme in that room.

They cut all that blue note. You know, all blue note.

I hear.

Yeah, boom boom, boom boom. It's fucking amazing.

Speaking of speaking of that, speaking of the remix, Yeah, speaking of the remix, Uh, where did Hood come from?

The Hood was through on my Way, you know street k. He was in and out of group homes. He was really trying to get it together, and I was looking forward to working with him because kind of pre dating, you know, a Redman or b I G like, I thought that, like he kind of occupies something that I hadn't heard in about, like a real, real street energy that was now but it was just real like he has he has rhms man. He was dope, and unfortunately I was the only he was from Hollis. I was

Oh damn. How long was his demise after Well.

After we did the record, he was murdered. I think the week after damn Jesus.

Okay, So how many versions of scenario are there? And why did it go through so many drafts before we wound up with the final version that we have.

I think there's like one which is original two.

Do you know who was on each version.

No, I know, there's a there's one version with us again with there's one there actually four. There's the riginal, there's the one that's out. Then there's another version with all of us who were on the record, with just different placement in different little versions.

So there's this different way Busted doesn't end the song and.

He does, yeah, something something different. It was a rough about it. I don't know if he didn't end it, but I know it's a different rap a little bit. Then there's another version with Jirobi.

And pass.

On it and right that, and then there's another version with Dress pause and Chris Lady.

Like, this is our moment. Let let's not mess this up for.

I already knew that it was going to be the first one.

So the album version is the first one.

Yeah, I already knew that that was going to be it.

Wait a minute, let me make sure this straight. The version that's on the album, Yes, was done completely as we know it. And you're saying that there was a discussion like we could do better.

We did that and I kind of knew what it was. But everybody was in there and heard it and heard about it was like run on it.

Yes, So here's the other million dollar questions and you know what's coming.

Mm hmmm.

Why wasn't Daylight on every any tribe records and award tour? It doesn't count, you know.

I wanted.

Fantasy in our minds. No, no, no, no, no no.

The first thing I wanted to do. I had a record called Native Tongues for the first album and it sampled Pride and Vanity by Ohio Players. I still have to beat actually, but and I played it. I told Daylight and Jungles that come by. I got the I got the record for all us. And then I had like on Instinctive Travels ship right, and so then I was playing it and passing him was like, you know, mercy, you know, listen to a dude. That ship day was

Yo, that that's hype. That's the hype. That's the hype.

He kept saying, that's like yo, But let me play you the beat for Native Tongue, and it's all like do do do, dude, and where, And he was like, no, we're gonna rob on the other one. I was like, nah, that's mister morass. At least joined now, y'all not roming on that. It's this one.

No, fuck that other one.

Come on, y'all, come on, pause, come on, come on, let's do it.

We rubbing the other world.

And I was looking at him. I was like, I was like, well, this is a rhyme on it, so that would never happen.

Then, well that doesn't count.

Yeah, that doesn't count. I was that was the one chance I believe other than a war tour and the scenario things, you.

Know, because like every native tongue entry has their own native tongue posse cut on it, and.

It never happened on a tribe record. And I just.

All right, so Midnight there's a there's a version of Midnight with.

Ad Rock on it. The night is on my mind.

Yeah, But before it was even that, it was just a beat over there.

Wow, I just found that ship. Uh, the George Juke Jordan m hm, wow, ah, don't make me figure out what it is?

The aura?

Ah?

Is it? Okay? Yes, that's it? You sure you found it?

Well?

I knew I was on it because it felt familiar. I didn't figure out which cord y'all used, but it.

Was just who was the voice for the tour guide Rest in peace? Laurel Dan She just passed last year.

Oh man, she was.

She was the production coordinator at Jive. Sweet lady, like just super nice and oh man, she was white, white, Yeah, but she was super cool. Man Like, I feel like she was dope.

And how did y'all eq her voice to make it sound like that?

You know, we just wanted to make it sound like a computer or phone something like that, something that was just that didn't funk with the other frequencies and ship. You know, this is the voice on your Yeah. I remember writing all of that ship out for her and telling her say it like this, No, no, say it like this. And I was like, Okay, now, Bob, you gotta chop it. I know, I know, Tip, I know, I know.

So he was.

I was. I was more excited about that than anything else on the record. I said, Okay, got it, got exactly Tip, I know.

And hard computer? How do you do that?

Ye?

Like he's chopping it, like you mean, like on actual real he's chopping a voice.

That was done on tape.

Mm hmm, yeah.

She would say, oh no, no, no no no no no, no no no, I gotta ask Bob. I can't remember. I wanted to say it was either done tape or it was a or it was samples and I would fire off this sample, the fire off the sample for the next phrase, like I am on the front of your album cover and then yeah, you're about to you know, I tried quest, you know, I think it was.

That cute tip. Was that the first time? So you carried that, uh that graphic over into the Beats Rhymes and Life cover And I've always wanted to ask.

You this, Yeah, who is that person? Yeah? No, well no, that was it. I'm sorry, No, you know you was kind of completing it right, who was that person?

And also my my theory or how I always interpreted the Beats Rhymes and Life cover. To me, it looked like, because this is around the time, this is like Biggie pop, like all that ship was going on, and it just looked like hip hop was just kind of in a state of emergency, and you know, so you had like the red, black and green, the figure was crying and the city was burning, and to me, it just that's what it represented.

It represented hip hop kind of falling apart.

I mean, it was just like be Rhyme's a life period. It was an odd time. It was a little dark, just because I guess Fife and I were having our issues and I converted Islam and then I met Dyla and just meeting him was just like a bright spot and bringing him in on the record, and I bought some Consequence on the record. So I guess everybody started feeling threatened. And my whole thing was like come on, you know, I was all this old happy go like no,

So sorry, but I mean, but y'all had released like three perfect albums before, so it's kind of like, I mean, you can understand where that pedestal came from.

I mean, it was I was saying it was a well deserved pedestal.

Well, I you know, after that first.

Wait a minute, why are we skipping a record? Like we know, we're not We're we was just asked the question.

I was just he was talking about the figurine and whatever whatever represent Wait before we go to the dark place, wait, go to the happening place. Please explain this, tell me the story. All Right, I'm gonna play. I'm gonna play this for it, I'm gonna play. I'm gonna play you this and you explain what this means to you. This Don't walk Away by Jade on Quest Love Supreme.

Joy Lit It know you're in the constant mind.

I'm the one with the bracest of course, no rock, another rock, got a rock home. How about said there there's a reason why I'm playing this. Ladies, and gentlemen, Tim's gonna explain why.

Shout the girls who have poetic justice braids?

Can? I? Yi, you're an R and B head head.

That's weird to me because it's like you live in a world where like Gaut McDermott lives.

But then right now you're doing the rebot.

I just took the video.

This is gonna be great because there's no music behind it, like.

Garfield Garfield minus Garfield, explain to me why that song is so important to you?

Man, this is to that record.

That ship is so dope. But this is the thing though in.

The baseline obviously, but I heard it.

It didn't hit me that way. So how where did it hit you to the point you were like, yo, we gotta go there.

Well, of course, turn it off.

Wait it's a turning off. Hey hey no oh way, see I'm the only one man is off, said Barb.

Put it on Barbar Right, they gotta based off that song? Well, right, yes, you gotta let this play.

You gotta get to the don't walk break it down. Okay, this is the breakdown.

You can turn it down. No, we just turn it down. Every time we hear the talk over it. It's the baseline, know that you make you explain.

Dumb.

I was just hit as ship in the club. That ship would just be rocking so hard.

All right, the course is back. It's I've heard you played this in the club many times. Yeah, yes, I mean, my.

God, and it's an era like the whole era.

It's summer ninety three all over. That was a good summer.

Oh my god, that she was cracking. So when I heard it, I was like, I gotta make a record like that, that baseline. So I just wanted to like reapproach it.

So it was digital digital bom pom pomb, I.

Mean, because obviously was going against the Weldon ravine.

You know what I mean, I never would have gotten like it took me a long time to figure out.

That's where Yeah, boo boo.

How do you hear these music ideas? Because because I know.

The imergion, because I know I think you're the king, especially with songs like this where you.

Will force a a square and a circle peg. Because the thing is the the horn line.

Doesn't have anything that is a guitar line from Charles Earling.

I'm sorry.

Yeah, so the guitar line from Charles Erland has nothing to do with which has nothing to do with the j bassline, which has nothing to do with the bridge.

And it works, but you forced it to work.

That was fun, wasn't it.

Yeah? It always fun.

Yeah, we don't have enough dance breaks.

You need to have more dance breaks well on every episode.

How about this?

I was the first guest, now I'm on the show. You can be the fiftieth guest, now you're on the show.

I would either that or is this a proposition? A proposal, and you guys could talk it over.

The Chapelle level of proposal. Music might not ever have crazy. It's just like a mayor.

You gotta trust me on this.

Yes, so I have traumatory idea. Great. You don't get.

Great idea every time that y'all want to have a dance seg. Just call it the tip dance segue. I don't care nigga. If it's nigga, I have beef with said, Okay, this is the tip.

If d do that, you have to record an intro for the second.

I'll totally I'll do it. Don't worry about it. I'll record the tip dance segment music.

All right, give us the intro like interrupt. We interrupt this for a Tip dance break.

We interrupt this for a Q Tip dance break.

Dance this, I will always want way come on eftless wait dancing. It's a q Tip Brands dance break.

Man away.

Okay, let's talk about arguments in the group. See, actually, Midnight Marnas is so overwhelming.

I don't know what to talk about it or how to praise it. Electric relaxation, Like, okay, let's get to the dark because there's a lot of a lot of dissecting. I want to do creative. Can I ask what popped in my head? Ahead?

I don't know if it's ever going to come back again, so I have to take advantage of it.

Okay.

The part on the album where you are you and Rich? And I think it's you rich and who is youll arguing on the.

Phone that yes, that was very much real.

What was that?

Okay? So we were it's talking about the intro to rising, the introll, the Rising down?

Should I played Have you heard ifah? If Liyah hasn't heard it, then that means it doesn't exist.

You know I heard it, you didn't. I want to hear it. I feel like if if a root song falls in the forest and doesn't hear it. It never made a sound. I'm good to game there, I am good. It's like it's not game. Just the album.

Oh yeah, that that was a good one too. Had the Go Go drawn with Christte Michelle.

And anyway anyway, all right, so this is what Tip is asking about.

Like this, I mean that ship wasn't fun.

That it was not It wasn't no trip. It was hard working ship.

You know what I'm saying.

And I feel like I'm busting that. It breaks my heart when I hit us further and not getting gatic.

Well if you God, really that fucking unhappening only got problems with me and made me are to go somewhere how fucked up like truly is is what he was really saying.

That it don't get no better than this unless you got your own record label.

That's basically a point I'm trying to get the problem.

I mean, And when you got that phone call from you and know where it came from, and energy like.

The bandage can't handle the you tell me some screaming at me, I'm kind where the energy needs to go A mirror, mirror, please tell him it doesn't matter.

All the way. This is what I'm talking about. What anyway, it sounds like that conversation we had a couple of weeks ago.

That's Rich right there, right.

That is niggas.

They know that that nigga Rich, don't matter what the nigga look like.

Rich got a net soul like Ethan Rich. I p yeah, man, that is like he was Peter Grant.

That motherfucker bloody. Somebody knows real quick.

Rich will bloody you knows and you will thank him for it afterwards.

I mean, but yeah, So what you're hearing is, so who was that talking at for that waster?

That was okay?

Uh a j Shin who is uh the stretched Armstrong and Bibido of Philadelphia who discovered us and with his accident money settlement money made a demo called Organics for the Roots and we somehow nuanced.

That into a record deal.

So this particular back for some pay. Next question, No, a bootleg recently came back. Like I was like, wait, where'd this album come from? It's like us live in London somewhere anyway. So the scenario is we are doing our first promo tour down South and this is where we're slowly realizing that this is going to be a long hard journey, and that long hard journey, you know, in our minds, we thought like, well, if we make what's good to Like, we didn't know what a formula level.

We went. We went to a nightclub in North Carolina.

Uh And in hindsight, the DJ probably shouldn't have stopped playing warreng g immediately, Like it was one of those televisions.

It was like it was like no, it was like yeah, no, no no. It was like a perfect example.

It was like the five Heartbeats, this next group coming on, say they better than the five Folktops putting together we.

Shall see goddamn. I'm just saying.

I'm just saying as as a DJ who is DJ through the bad Boy era, like Puff is notorious, especially like let's go ten years back, you beat DJ in the club and then the bad Boy street team commandeer's.

Your DJ booth with yo here play this now?

Like and so this person obviously didn't have any nuance with the segue, so it's like a very popular own song.

Suddenly he just takes it off and puts on a song.

Maybe I should have put the kick drum on the one and the three so that the beat was more steady. That he just puts the source of static on. And I literally watched a dance floor. It was like, no, it wasn't even that. It wasn't even that it hurt them to dance too. They were just like that kick drummers a little disorienting.

I didn't know.

I meant for me, I was just taking the second half of substitution. I was taking the second half of substanution. I wanted to do off substitution, but because those guys were like, we'll get sued, we'll get sued. And I was like, all right, well I'll do the second half of substitution. And I flop them on it because I said, Yo, Dayla already did the second half of substitution on the last song on Blue Mind State, and and you know they're like, no, man, don't do substitution. We're gonna get sued.

And so just all that week, we go to in stores with just.

Like three people there and those are like the employees we go to. We went to Florida somewhere and nobody cared.

It was like a week of hell. And so we got on the phone. It was Wendy Goldstein, Joe Rindy was on that call.

Yes, oh my god, and Tarik quiet, hell, yeah, what y'all got damn contracted in the shred of.

Like right, so right over that muff, Tarik is fussing and cussing and like he laid into it, like you know, what the fuck, Like we're out here, the street team doesn't know who we are, and.

Right, no, well that's okay.

Yes, in the very beginning, Wendy called and cursed out Wendy gold Steam. Wendy then called Tarik like I just got cursed out by Tik, What the fuck? And then then Rich called Joe and me and Tariq was like, yo, like, y'all can't be spassing out at the A and R like that, and you know, you can't be spassing out and Tarik would just like you know, it was just basically we had all these expectations to do well.

We thought is a.

Wild boy too? Yes, so it must have been crazy. Like I was listening to that ship when it first came out, I was like, I felt, you know, the group.

Dynamic through anything. Yes, every group. This is why like groups.

One thing I can ask, did you guys just take record every conversation you guys on the phone?

You tape that right? Did you like that? Oh? I was too? Okay. This is the part that I'm leaving out. Was that I still had a bunk bed. Yeah, exactly. Here's the thing I was.

I had.

I'm still in my childhood home as a teaching So because I was on the top bunk, the message already went to machine a mirror. I know you're there, pick up the phone, you know, like old school answer machines.

Machine recorded it, right, So then you know, on on the top bunk region and didn't.

I was too lazy to get off off the bed to turn the machine off, right, So I just let it go and stay.

But then, you know, so why was.

He calling out your name like AMA, talk to them and tell them well, because it.

Was Rich was saying, Amir, will you tell them these people think that they're talking to me.

No, he was like, Amir, will you tell them what happened on the road.

Basically, it was kind of the two managers arguing with each other, whereas Joe aj Shin was like, yo, don't mess up our good thing at Geffen, and Rich was sort of on me and Serika's side, like shits fucked up out here.

And we were broke, and when you're broke, you argue.

So that's there was a lot of that going on, but surprisingly we stayed together now twenty five plus years.

We'll get a sound effect for that.

The key to that, like a.

Well, this is what I want to know, Like why didn't y'all just not that you guys were road dogs as far as like always on a tour bus, but we knew from the gate that two tour buses would save this group. And you know, I joke about the whole Gryffin door and Slytherin thing, but you know, in hindsight, could a lot of the tension then avoided.

If we had two tour buses?

Yeah, I mean it was just like doing all a lot of pay were y'all on the same bus, so.

You gotta remember and it's probably like y'all too, like we grew up together, you know what I'm saying, So you getting separate buses to me, Yeah, I've seen a lot of rock and rollers say that and networks but that, and that's very well. But our ship was deep, you know, part of the pun, deep rooted. That had nothing to do with any sort of physical separation.

It was more, I mean.

Like it's it was really like we were cool. Then you get on and then people start coming around that you've never seen before. They start working their way into your equation, and then this starts to become separate groups like yeah, yeah, a little factions, and you know how

I feel you, and especially for you, because there's nothing more awkward when you get singled out, and.

That's why I situation said from the beginning, well, this is the way I tribe never put my face on the cover.

And I wanted to ask you that man like me, you always seem to be and let me know if if I was reading it wrong, you always seem to be like a kind of reluctant.

Very reluctant, you know what I mean, Like you never I mean, you had the talent.

I mean.

But the thing, the thing though, is at least there is sometimes at least there's justifiable understanding for the lead voice to be the center of attention.

It's twelve more times awkward when the leader is the.

Guy that's way in the back, Yeah, the jont Yeah yeah, it's like, oh Jesus, like I don't want this attention.

And it's but thank you, that's what she said.

No, but it's it's it's like no one understands the group dynamic more and the ship that goes on with groups, especially in your situation and in your situation more than me.

Like it's it's just I get it.

I think at least me and tw week situation, the greater good of the group is probably I mean, we at.

Least had that understanding ironclad.

You know, we've only had one fistfight in our twenty five years, and that was like maybe a two weeks after the distortion of static video.

It's never I mean, I'm too bick Like I sat on top of him, like it's like he threw a chair.

We wrestled in the in the office, and then like, well here's this that rich This is the thing that riched later ad minute, like we like post post fights with anybody that you've ever been in a fist fight.

I don't know if you've personally been in a fist fight.

But yeah, even even the person that gets hit and the person that does the hitting, they both are equal pain, like you know. And but me and Tarik like didn't want to let each other know that we were so we were like limping in the hallway of our apartment.

But when we see each other like I'm not hurt. Then like a month later we just laughed out loud about it like yeah, I wasn't I wasn't hurt either. I'm sorry man, you know. So it's it's it's I get that ship. So obviously tip your career, I feel is keep talking, Oh.

So fight, Oh yeah, this that was do it t right Tip fight right here. So Tip, obviously your your your story is.

Way more expansive. You're going to have to come back later in the year in the future. Ull speaking about.

Is this part one?

Yes? This is part one?

What did you learn from I learned that Q Tip is still one of the biggest music fans ever to see you drop records and him still be dancing to it, and you know, for you to drop a record like Ghosts and him to reminisce on it and it takes him right back to the last quarter, you know what I mean.

That's just a beautiful thing to see.

It's a lot of brothers that you know, have been in the game, have been in the game as long as you have, you know what I'm saying, but have become somewhat jaded and have lost that passion Like.

How could how could you? Maybe it's just me being naive, but how could you not have to excitement for music?

It can happen because some people they they did take it personally. So it's like if you have musical dreams and okay, dream for me a dream, what happens to a loan deferred?

You know what I mean? It's like it's that kind of ship.

So like if your if your ship gets deferred, then all of a sudden, it's like sour grade.

You know, I can't even understand that, like seriously, like I can't even I don't have a comprehension of that. Like I love music so much, Like it's so much a part of of everything, even when if I'm in a fucked up most said whatever, like there's music to accompany, Like when Fife passed, you know, for you know, days after, you know, I'd have to put together some I'd have to hear some music to get me up.

To what was your stuff?

I mean you go to Stevie or Herbie or you know e w Web for you know, go to just keep me up, keep me optimistic, keep me you know going, And you know, I don't know, I guess.

I sound corny, Yeah, Verry Human, did you have any records that you played for like the other stuff, just to really get into the sadness of the moment, Like did you have any of those joints?

No? But it's funny because you know how it is, like you you always find something about whatever it is that makes you sad. It's just very relative a poignant to that moment, you know. For a horrible example, like if you have a breakup with the girl and every song you hear is like relatable to the breakup or whatever, you.

Know what I mean.

So even in those joyous songs, there would be points that would take you here that you know, tear you up, you know what I mean. So I just can't even fathom somebody not appreciate loving music.

Well, I'm gonna actually take the liberty to say that I think we all learned something really important, and.

That's the importance of a good goddamn dance breaking ladies and gentlemen.

Yes, I've taken over the awesome backswell no, we We're going to dance break right now. This is the best farm beat song of nineteen ninety.

Three, according to Camal Forrie.

Don't walk Away by jay On behalf of Fran tikeoloas Boss Bill Sugar Steve Unpaid Bill, Yeah man, yay yo, Margaret and you tip this Quest Loves signing off West Love Supreme.

Got you.

Quest Love Supreme. It's a production Iheartrating. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora.

One.

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