Questlove Supreme: Angie Martinez

Question. Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. All right, So Ange, you don't know this, but you're actually part of our theme.

I am.

Let's go. What is it?

Suprema Supremo role, Suprema Supremo role, Suprema shut, Suprema.

Roll, Suprema. You're gonna get a verse supremo, he says. She says, yeah, she's a genius. Yeah, better than three heads all rise with Martinez Supremo Supremo role. Came Suprema son So Supremo role.

My name is Fante and I'm doing it right there with Angie.

Ma.

Yeah, it's ladies night.

Supremo son soun Supremo role called Suprema sun Supremo Roll.

I'm Sugar Steve. Ye'all spit a verse for you. Yeah, up close and personal.

It's like, yeah, you know that's right.

Yeah, And just like Angie, I made this last night.

Sure do it again.

I'm Sugar Steve. Y'all spit a verse for you. Come get this, Sugar. Yeah, up close and personal.

Was the first.

My name is Edgie.

Yeah, I'm in the room. Yea.

They made me.

Supp sup sup Roll.

Ladies. Another episode of Quest Love Supreme gonna be very very interesting, Steve. That was hard for delivery.

I practiced for eight hours.

You guys could have given me a heads up. I would have had some bars bars for you.

The joy of this show is watching people think quick on their feet.

I had anxiety because we started the show in a weird unique you.

Got our way. See, you can't put it out there like that, And what do you mean you gotta you can't.

Oh, I have to have to say, okay, manifest anxiety.

Anxiety.

I can't anxiety.

All right, let's have them mo of silence people.

Okay, m hm.

We are going to breathe in seven seconds in our nose, hold it five seconds in our mouth, seven seconds in, hold it five seconds out, seven seconds in, five seconds out? Okay, are we calm?

Yeah?

And we all got COVID. Now you have no idea how much I needed that today.

Really, we just don't briefe. We don't don't put that in the air. He just said, only put it.

In the air, Steve. Only Steve's humors is his defense for emotions.

Yes, I'm very disappointed in my role, calls or whatever.

No, you're not more disappointed than me.

No, No, you actually beat me you guys.

I didn't even hear the beat. My headphones are low. I don't know what's happenings.

Okay, all right, So, ladies and gentlemen, all guest today is a super legendary figure radio Hall of Fame inductee. I should add, yes, you got it inducted when I did. What year?

Oh well, I was the year before last?

Was it?

I heard a bunch of COVID time, so we didn't get in all the people.

All the people of color basically just got lumped in.

Yeah, that's what somebody was like, Hey, there's no people of color here, let's get them all.

In this year, right exactly. She's a taste maker who I feel her voice has raised generation after generation, a very trusted voice on radio. I will also say Fante reminded us that she was a Grammy nominated artist. Yeah, I totally forgot about Ladies night, I've come out about

But I think when I came up, there was only one you know, there was only one place to go. It was only one station, so there was no competition. So when you have no competition, you could do whatever you want.

That's right. It was just hot, you know, it was just hot. It was just us.

We were the only place to get hip hop, so we could pretty much do anything we want and we would win.

And so.

When competition came, I almost had to light I was so sad because I knew everything was going to change. I knew interviews were going to have to get shorter because we're in competition. I knew that the days of like doing whatever we wanted, because how it felt, we're kind of over. But so I was lucky enough to come up at a time where it was really just a free for all, kind of a free for all.

I see. Oh, by the way, ladies, let's get our hands to get no.

Oh, sorry, let's get it.

Let's get it together. For Angie Martinez, thanks guy. Was what was the highlight of your day.

This is the highlight of my day.

This was what time did you get You asked me about my day. When do you get up in the morning.

I normally get up around seven. I had to worst my grain last night, so I got up in the middle of night three am, and then I was up for a couple hours and my sleep was all messed up last night anyway. So I got up today because we were doing an event earlier for this big podcast that we did around the Life after Death. The celebration of that, I saw miss to see there, which was a really nice moment in my day because I haven't seen him in so long. And then I just was

It's I think it's important, like you got to start your day with positive, good intentions.

It's one thing to know that, and it's another thing to exercise and do it regularly and be diligent about it.

Most of us, when we wake up, we grab our phone. Yeah, we doom and gloom. Literally, grabbing your phone is like, hey, hand me my bottle of pain, handy my stress. Now, just because I'm currently in that situation with organizing the Roots Picnic and these movies I'm doing, and twelve other projects that you know, if we don't, if we don't go inward.

To I like what Fonte said a few months ago, that first thing he does in the morning is take like a whole bunch of deep breaths, right, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, you got to. Yeah, man, you got to. Yeah.

You know what I started doing lately that has been a thing for me is I started golfing at golf Now, is that like the weirdest thing.

I can't even believe that's me.

I love golf.

I'm jealous of you assuming north of forty people, yes, that have taken up golf, because that's the one thing I feel like, like everyone my age is now like going to the golf courses, Like various members of the Roots are golfing, golfing and stuff.

It's two things. It's the one thing I do that I'm not multitasking. There's no phone involved there. It's just I'm trying to get better at this very specific thing and this whatever it is, my short game. I look whatever it is, and it's and you're outside in this beautiful environment and the grass and the sky and.

The who taught you how to play golf?

Nobody.

One of my girlfriends who golfs, was like, come. I was like, I don't know how to golf.

She was like, so what none of us do? Nobody's good. Don't worry.

And so I went to just ride the cart and have a drink and chill, and I did it a couple of times. And then I took a couple of lessons from a guy at the range.

And her name is not Ashley, is it?

No?

But I have golf. I do golf with actually sometimes.

I was gonna say I golf.

With actually a few times and then I.

Got a hustler, like I didn't know that she was that good at it. So she's good.

She's been golfing a long time.

Your child, Ashley Witherspoon actually.

Helps with me with my podcast, by the way, too. She helps with a lot of the digital on my pie. And and then when we GoF we golf last week actually together.

The only thing I won't do with Ashley is anymore game nights. I brought her to one game night and the ship almost ended in a fight. So she's very competitive. She's very intense with game nights.

I got to say, I'm excited to see squads of women on golf courses now, especially brown and black women, because that's like a thing.

Let me tell you my other friend, Jamie, another woman, she's she's a Callid's head of digital and she we golfed and Compton together.

Yes, and.

There's a golf course in Compton.

Yes, And I don't want to be correct me if I might be right outside of Compton, but it's the Compton golf course where you went there and it was all people called it golfing, all black and brown people golfing, and it was so dope to see that and feel that, because you know, most golf courses not that.

It's not that, that's not the scene.

Okay, So if you're going to start.

At any point, go there and feel and get catch the vibe, and then on my list, it's a good place.

I was supposed to start with miniature golf first and then don't do that.

Don't do that place.

So golfing is where golfing is where you find yes.

For me, that's a thing, but I don't.

I can't golf every day, So clearly I need to do some type of meditation in the morning. It's just I have to just I know what I need to do. It's just about getting diligent about doing it. But yeah, and now that my plate is filling up because I'm like, I have all these things that I want to do and achieve, and sometimes it all gets overwhelming, and like you said, I have to get inside. It's the only way to create it or really be creative and tap into that.

Usually this is my last question, like what is it that is still on your bucket list for achieving that?

Kidding, it's it's an endless list of things. But I tell you right now, as I've been doing this pod that I you know, I launched the podcast, paid for it, we shoot it, we have a whole production team and.

Very professional looking Thank you. I like it.

And I did that because I just wanted to have conversations.

I don't want anybody anybody's opinion about who I booked or what we talked about.

I really wanted to create something that with some of my heart.

But I learned a lot about production from this process, and it made me have a little bit of confidence to to be able to feel like I could do what I've been really wanting to do for a long time, which is tell stories kind of like you. And it's funny because I heard you talking about being afraid to direct for a long time and kind of shying away from that feeling and I and I related to that so much because I felt the same way. I feel

So now do you say that, like, how's your pursuit of comedy going?

Why do you always put me on the spot with that?

Because I got sometimes in the river.

It's hard when you I mean, I think Angie can speak to this. It's like, it's hard sometimes pursuing your passion when you got multiple jobs.

But I'm girl. First of all, I still have a full time radio job. I got a pocket, I got seventeen jobs, right, But.

You know you prioritize what's calling, whatever's inside you.

That's like screaming to get out.

As we're talking about prioritizing yourself and meditation is hard.

No, That's why I'm so receptive to what you saw, how it came in the room as soon as I'm receptive to that, because I know I cannot deliver at the level I want to if I am not finding a place to kind of center and get creative and give myself that kind of.

So the answer to that question is, I'm working on I'm listening to you and trying to figure out where to make the space because obviously you have found it.

And are you doing it in the morning. Are you meditating and stuff?

Yes, meditation, meditation and the comedy thing that he said, I kind of took a took a She.

Has a comedy, she has a comedy dream that she wants to pursue, and comedy is hard. Because there's a lot of the only way you're going to learn how to be the greatest comic ever is you're going to have to tell jokes, embrace but really like embrace for failure in silence, And that's the way you figure out what.

Also, don't you have to tell yourself and believe it. When you tell yourself that you are a comedian, that you.

Are sold that part. And I'm not. And this is what I know. I know, I'm I say that that's a probable way.

No, I say that to say that I feel like there are funny people and we notice, right there are people who are.

Funny, and then there are comedians.

And so what I did was when I moved my last radio job, I got fired and feeling, and I moved to LA to pursue like TV dreams, and I wanted to make sure that my funny. I knew formulas and things, I knew to call back and things. So I started doing stand up and whatnot. But it's really about, like you said, being a creative and putting your stories out there. So, yeah, the comedy thing, but I have stories.

But the only way you could do that is you have full confidence in your vision and confidence.

That's a word right now.

No, you need it, I'm sure, Like, let me ask you this, let me ask not my podcast.

Sorry, no, no, this is literally what this podcast is teaching class.

You're teaching class, like you were, like, even when you start calling yourself a director, it's something.

When I just started calling myself When you just.

Started calling yourself a director? Was it before the Academy awarder after? Or like when did.

That I really fully accepted who I was and what my mission in life is? Probably July of twenty twenty two. Okay, so I was, did you. It's to the point where Disney was like, dude, you're going to self deprecate yourself out of this award if you keep on telling people that you know you like what I mean that All shucks, guys. And I was in such a habitual routine of self deprecating and and a lot of me why do we do that? Because we want to manage the expectations of

Think, what do your director friends think about you stuff.

Oh dude, for the longest, like I would go to Knicks games, and you know, I was like, ah, man, Spike's not gonna you know. I went to this event and if you remember his partner, Ernest Dickerson, who used to juice right, shoot shoot stuff, Ernest came up to me. It was like, brother, I've watched your movie five times. It was so emotional, so incredible, and I saw Spike's ears prick up, and I realized, oh, okay, Spike didn't

But did it switch for you when you could call yourself a director? Do you show up differently after you have the after you say to yourself, oh, man, I am a director.

Like the second you have that high of a moment, And what you have to realize is the Oscar is the last stop on that journey. Like I've been spending an entire year going to the awards ceremony, wards ceremony, local ceremony, that film festival. Then I sun danced all this stuff, and then after like like we were sweeping everything. It was like the Thriller days. Like after the thirteenth Award. I even asked Disney like, yo, like can we just stop?

But are you calling yourself a director?

Yeah?

Okay, yah, yeah, I just wonder like once you by the way, I didn't know you went through all that.

I didn't know you went through all of that. But like how you say, like you.

Don't call yourself comedian or you don't call your self director, like once you kind of own it. I just wonder if you could lean into it more, like if you can really fully.

But I'm also leaningto like twelve other things, like this week too much. This thing is now like oh I'm I'm a children's book author, you know what I mean. So it's like each week is like a new challenge.

So and we're born on the same day. So I'm just looking over here laughing because I'm like.

You, we're all born in the same month.

So we responded, I'm going a quariers, oh January.

Yeah, okay, I'm December twenty.

Y'all got it, y'all you got your head on your shoulders were over here when it's Quarius.

We're like, what are you saying, Steve.

I'm just thinking about your conversation here and about what you said about sort of accepting that you're just a great storyteller this.

Yeah, and I feel like, you know, in the long it took me.

Like I'm fifty two, it's the one thing I'm like, I wish I could talk to young me.

But they were like, so I could tell myself a different narrative is super?

You know how much work I could I would have done if I told myself that earlier in life.

Yeah, but it doesn't work that way.

That's true. You have to build up to it.

Yeah, Like I was going to say, like when you start off, it's faked till you make it, and then when you make it, it becomes imposter syndrome for a long time, and then there's this acceptance of like, oh shit, I can do this stuff.

Well, you know? And is that our age is that when this happens question.

I think for different people different times.

I'm always fascinated when I see a young talent, twenty five thirty year old talent and they seem to just have this confidence. So this that might be to fake it no, No, I think of like a young Rihanna going around thinking this girl believes I don't know, I mean she is a unicorn, yes, But I'm just saying there are people that at a young age, for some reason, tap into a confidence about who they are.

She has something because she walked up to me once. I've never spoken to well, I spoke to Rihanna first before I spoke to Grace Jones. An, Wait, aren't they from the same island? There are they?

Jamaica, Jamaican, She's from Trinidad, Barbado, Barbados.

I'm sorry, hey, Bill, when we need them right exactly. So when she first walked up to me, it was like a young Grace Jones and she comes up to me like you and I look like, oh ship, Rihanna does know who I am. And she's like, I want to work with you, like and she she just had this very.

Commanding the short hair, short hair Rihanna.

She was in Kanye's video for one of those songs on Ato Eight's and Heartbreak where she's behind in the car. Yeah, I forget what it was, but like that's when def Jam was like throwing video release parties for just videos

Oh, just throw that young girl in here. She's the only one here who really knows anything about hip hop, and then.

Just jump in the pool looking at you again.

So I'm working out.

I'm seventeen eighteen working at a station, a radio station, because I was I was a mess with my mother. I got, you know, getting kicked out of school, and my mother was in radio.

She got me an internship. I was interning.

Your mom used to be on radio.

She wasn't on the air. She she did say she used to do. She worked in the sales department.

And when like this, when red Alert was like KISSFM read alert, you know, like kiss cards and like legendary Red Alert, young red. My mother was like a sales rep there. Then she worked then she wounded up becoming a music director and program director at CD one to one point nine and stuff like that.

So she was in for a long time. So I got an internship.

I was eighteen, So it was a dance station.

When I first got there, there was no commercial hip hop radio station.

So the place that was Hot ninety seven was.

For dance station.

I was you know, they play like you know, C and C Music Factory kind of, you know, like that, and so, but I was a hip hop head like and so when they when they were slowly transitioning, I would get asked a lot of questions because I was the kid who knew. I was like a nerd, like a hip hop nerd, and so I was in the right place at the right time. Then they brought Flex in as going to be the head of this when they decided to go hip hop, and then I had so I learned. I was running the boards for him.

Wait, in my mind, like what the idea of hit ninety seven was like always here, So you're saying that in the nineties.

There was seven. It was it was dance music.

It was no There was no commercial hip hop radio station in existence in New York City.

Just a show, maybe hip or not.

You would have to listen to Kiss or b LS on the weekends, like you would have to listen to Red Alert Moll mister Magic. You have to listen on the weekends and tape you couldn't. There was no There was no twenty four hour day hip hop.

You're saying like ninety three ninety four is when this starts happening or ninety two.

Ninety so bad this years? Well, you were eighteen, so yeah, I was eighteen. So you do the math and.

Y'all are setting like standard for the whole country.

Yeah, but you know, when you're in it and you're creating something and that in your babies, you're just doing it because you love it. There's no understanding of what this could be, what it would evolve into, what it could grow into. Even when I started doing interviews, there was no understanding of one day these interviews could matter to somebody, or we could grow into something. It was just like, oh my god, I love this Wool Tang album.

Is there right now?

I feel like everything is very agenda driven because people kind of have the codes and they know what works, and they know what you have to do to get results, and you and people understand the business of it.

There was no business of it. We really were operating under.

There was just hard The people were operating under a love for the music, for the culture. For we weren't even calling it the culture then we did. We weren't even organized enough to call it that. We we just were operating on sheer like love and connection.

And this is such a beautiful circle back because we just talked at least the Cortez earlier, and I feel like y'all both hit the scene around the same well but still, I mean, ninety seven was the first, and so it's the.

Same thing the same time without hot ninety seven. How old were you when you How do you become a radio personality? Did they put you on like four in the morning? First?

Oh, I was doing everything. I was running the boards. I used to run the boards for flex. I was like I was just I was pushing the buttons and running the boards. And I was nice with the you know, back then you just have to edit on the real reels. I mean nice with that and the tape, I'd have cuts on my fingers.

Yeah. Nothing sexier than a female engineer. Yeah. The amount of times where.

Yo, when I tell you I was nice, I could make somebody say something they didn't mean to say with the white marker.

And the raised blades and the I was nice.

I saw the first time I met h Mecca of Diggable Planets, she was like, this is why when they were recording a blowout come and she was like the tape, I'm like, what the hell? I'm in love also, but.

What the hell?

So I'm there, I'm this young girl who's a hip hop nerve who knows everything. And then I can also run the boards and be on the radio. And then they brought flexing. I'm running his boards so that it was like this put this girl on overnights and just gives see what she got.

But don't you have to have the gift of gab and know how I had no.

Gift to gab. No, no, I had no gift to gap. I learned gift a gab throughout the process of of being on the radio, that I was god awful at least two years of being terrible on the radio. For sure, Like if I went back and here tapes, I will be mortified right now. And then over the years they weren't always great. I really had the I had the privilege of like learning how to be on the air while I was on the air. What I did have

The reported me.

You had a cheer for me, and so that that that carried me for a while until I learned actually how to do how to.

Do that right.

Well, we happened to have one of your tapes from your.

Oh my god, wait, do you so I know, like when you first were on the radio, would you like afford yourself.

Over over modulating smiling?

Do you remember you like, who was the first person you interviewed? I don't.

People have asked me that, and I don't remember for some reason in my mind, and I know it wasn't them, because time wise, it was like group home or someone like that. It was like, I don't know that for sure it was them, but those were the early interviews that I remember at that time.

So when do you feel like you arrived when in my bag? Like when they when they first all right, can y'all explain to me? I know there's always a morning show? And then I've learned that most in my radio experiences of meeting people, I've met more midday mommies than it's their formula.

They think they have a formula.

Right, but it's always like you know, if you.

Ask Salon Remy Salon REMI will tell you because he always says this, and I'm like Salom stops saying that Salam thinks that every like hip hop ratio station across the country hired a Latin.

Girl because because of my success on.

Hot like well, that was like they placed the Angiebartinas that like He's like.

I'm going around the country, I'm seeing the place.

It's around ninety nine. Like literally, I've met more midday mommies after your arrival that I didn't see the first rounds of us having the travel radio stations, so.

I didn't realize their way. So but she wasn't the first mid day one man.

But just that's how you feel because it's the era in the time, because I.

Think that's radio. People swear that's a whole formula.

We put the woman I've never heard of man.

But I.

Did nights, which honestly is like a you know, for a.

Girl, that's the prime spot.

They don't put women in the nights though.

It depends what you call a prime spot if you're a radio person and you're selling ads morning show and afternoon drive or the prime spot before a young girl who's in the clubs and in the streets and it's going to artists listening sessions.

You know.

Night times is when in New York at that time was it was popping, like it was popping.

So that's why I started. I started doing nights and then and.

It's right before the shows, right, so then you also got the guests because people don't realize night show n ten o'clock, so folks was coming on your show because it's like it's hit Angie before the show.

And then over the years, then they moved me to afternoon Drive.

Who do you feel is your most important interview during that time? Like I remember like a lot of your jay Z interviews.

Yeah, Jay was great for me in my career because he gave me an opportunity to kind of like have different types of conversations.

That he wouldn't have with anyone else.

He was just always so smart and he always had such like I don't know, he just always wanted to elevate the conversation.

So and he trusted me. So he wasn't doing a lot of interviews all of it.

I mean, there wasn't a lot of places to go for interviews, especially back then. I probably think I probably in New York, I had to have done this first one. I would imagine, I don't want to say that's wrong. Maybe it was stretching Bob. Probably stretching definitely stretching Bob, stretching Bob.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.

But we did a lot of them earlier on and so those were some of my favorites at the beginning. But honestly, it's hard to say, you know that, It's like, what's your favorite show?

Do you have a favorite show? Like you can't say that, yeah, you can for this show.

I feel like even though Jimmy Jammin.

No, I mean like a roots show, no, oh no, definitely really do you have a favorite roots song?

Right?

Exactly?

I mean exactly.

I don't know my favorite until I get it.

I don't know.

I can't say it.

Joe, I got a question, And have you ever worked at another radio station besides Power?

Well, when I was sixteen and I was getting I got kicked out of my high school, I got kicked out of John Doing in Brooklyn. No, No, I'm sorry, Yes, I got I was getting kicked out of John Doing Brooklyn.

I was sixteen.

My mother sent me to Florida to live with my aunt.

For two years from sixteen. Wait was it that bad?

Oh? No, I didn't go to school like a juvenile delinquent or yeah I was.

My mother was a single mom. She was she worked late. She I just was free.

I was a latch key kid. I did whatever I wanted to do, like you know everybody on the block.

Right, What was young Angie Martinez like?

She was?

She thought, I don't she had no really understanding. She loved hip hop music. All I would literally watch like Beach Street. I was like, I would see the whole watch Beach Street and Wild Style and all those movies, and and I would I would tape red Alert on the weekends, and then I'd spend all week listening to the songs so I could memorize them and all the lyrics.

I was chuck wearing like oh yeah, I was it.

I know, like lee belts and you know what I mean, pants and belts and name belts and bamboo earrings and all those things. And then my mom was working and I you know, are you start hanging out, you're playing handball, you're drinking for all English.

And we're doing this interview, so asked backwards. Right now, let me start. We're born, weren't I don't get there. No, it was literally like we normally.

Still over the place here, I mean you.

Know what tho, No, no, but like normally yes, we started the beginning and then work our way up.

Okay, there's a formula.

You're right. What was your home life? Do you have siblings?

Single mom?

What burrow?

My?

Most of my family is from Washington Heights in the Bronx. And then my mom was that she was that single mom that was like trying to change her life and it's going to self help and reading a lot. And now I'm your horring ako, and you know she's My mother.

Was always this episode right now.

She was always trying to do better. Her dad was, you know, battling alcoholism, and it was challenging for her in a lot of ways growing up, and she tried to get out. So, so my whole family's uptown in the Bronx. My mother took me. The two of us went all the way to the other side of Brooklyn, which is like a two hour train ride. So my whole family's uptown. Me and my mom is on the last stop by Corney Island in Brooklyn.

Oh really, Yeah.

So we're out there and we're in the little one bedroom apartment, me and her. My mother was so dope. We had a one bedroom apartment. She let me have the bedroom and she.

Would sleep in the living room and like this couch, just like this terrible green couch.

Have you been there lately? Yeah, so you've seen the gentrification, like.

Oh, yeah, it's crazy, it's crazy.

Yeah, there's even like luxury motels something.

Even, by the way, I told you my family's from Washington Heights. Even Washington Heights, it's a whole difference. They changed that too, one hundred percent different from when I grew up.

Yeah, for New York.

Yeah, it's crazy, so different. So yeah, but you know what, my block wasn't bad, it was very I love that I grew up in a building where my next door neighbor was from Trinidad, mother with two daughters over here, this Asian family, Korean family, so Russian family across a super diverse building. And I think that it really create created who I am. You know what I'm saying, Like, I feel like I can talk to anybody. I feel like I can people feel it from you. Yeah, I

You know, so I got I gotta get so Latin coret is an extreme no no, no no, But did you have earlier expansiones in like New York night life?

My first club was roseland Biz Marcky was performing. The first that I went to a club, I was fifteen. I snuck in with a fake ID. There was a shootout inside the club the night I went first night in the club. The crazy thing about it is that after the shooting, everybody got back to partying, like the club wasn't closed.

I will ask you. I will ask you like I ask everyone else like and maybe this is me like again like living and fear and safety or whatever, But why would you go to a spot where the likelihood of something about the pop off would happen wouldn't deterry you? It all like okay, oh yeah.

Sure as a sensible adult, but as a fifteen year old who can't believe that business marketing, it's in like the touch, like distance, like he's right there and he's performing in the DJ and the scene and I can't believe I'm in a club and the music is crazy.

I just was happy to be like I was. It was. It's crazy I hit the clubs when you were under age.

It wasn't until I got older and I actually started getting to like a fear. It's crazy because my whole career I had to go to clubs.

I was gonna say, you, but I have to go to the tunnel.

But I, oh, it was at the tunnel regularly.

What was the tunnel? Even though we I think we performed at the at the end of like the era of the tunnel. They finally like when the roots get invited to the tunnel, then you know, it's over. There was always it was like the roots in Eminem. Oh wow wow, back when Eminem was exactly.

You were never like in the trenches of the tunnel at the Big.

No Not Shook Ones era, this.

Urban legend of tunnel.

I definitely saw mob deep and all those were my favorite, like boot Camp, the tunnel was like all of those were crazy.

Like Flex started being nice to us like ninety nine before. It's like, yeah, I don't know if I feel him yet. You know, it sounds like Flex, right, I don't know if I feel him yet. But you know, when he wanted us to do the tunnel and I was scared, I was like, we don't want to do the tunnel, like we no, And it actually wound up being.

The crazy thing is Flex was when I think about him now, I was so in awe of how he seemed to be like one of those people that we were talking about, that he had this confidence about what he was doing. He came there, he was like, we're gonna make this station, We're gonna get this is what we're gonna do.

He'd be in the.

Tunnel, he like, I don't know, he just had this. He made merch, he made fun.

Flex jackets, and we all wore the leather jackets when.

We went by the way, we would go to the in matching nothing but flavor folk Master flex jackets. And I thought it was I wasn't. I was so in awe that he even had this type of vision and confidence. And I always, you know, I always felt a little unsafe, but not enough that I would want.

To leave, like what would have happened, what was a typical night at the say Latin Quarter at the tunnel at the.

Tunnel, well for me already, because I was already running around with flex so I was I'd be by.

The booth or I'd be like, you have the safety of the booth.

Somewhat, yeah, somewhat, because I did start to develop over the years, I did start to develop a little bit of phobia of crowds. I started to feel a little like I would get a little anxiety when I when I couldn't move and I would get stuff.

And so that became a thing for me.

So save an unknown ill out scratch is waiting like I'm certain that when you're going in and out of hot ninety seven happened to me, like you know, you can you can feel in your peripheral that like, yeah, five people over there waiting like for the moment to double dutch their way to like, yo, here's our new joint whatever, like have you.

Had most of the time.

And I've really been lucky in the streets of New York, Like and I used to run around by myself, like and even when I was young and like going to spots, I had no business by myself pulling up in the car by like.

I willinez of course.

And I had this like I don't know, I had this like false sense of security in this city. And honestly, people made me feel that way.

They made me feel that way.

Like one time I got.

My car stolen. My car was stolen. I got on the radio and I was like, Yo, somebody stole my car.

You know that.

Somebody called the radio station was like, ang, we got you. I know what it is.

It'll be downstairs by the time you get out of work. And they returned my stolen car. This is how the city made me feel, like treated me like, I don't know, that's a that's beautiful. That's beautiful. Isn't that amazing? So I would walk around the streets and I felt a sense of like love. Yeah, I would feel love. I'm not stupid, like I wouldn't put myself in bad situations. But I did feel maybe a little bit of a full beautiful always like safe, and.

I don't it's amazing because I don't know if I would admit that my car, like because I don't want the world to know, like, oh, you can easily get got quest love like that sort of thing. But but.

What are you talking about. Anybody in the planet could get your car to get stolen. I don't think they stole the car because they.

Knew it was mine. It was just randomly stolen.

But I'm just saying Varner Building they liked that, where like nah, like fuck it, I'm not gonna let nobody know I got got that sort of thing.

Honestly, I had a couple of times I would leave this and where the way High nine seven used to be. It was like in the garment district. It was dark over there. It was like nobody was there at night, and I would leave by myself. I'd be like, it wasn't no security, it was just me. I'd get on the train two am, take the train like I was I was crazy.

Like oh yes, Andrew Martinez.

You know, yes, absolutely.

That's why I asked you earlier about like that being your only station, because that kind of love is hard to leave, right. And I know people tried to get you because you you had the mold, you had the model of what to do. I know people tried to get you to come to other cities many and many and many a times. But like, I don't know, you've never gotten going really from other stations.

I have to think about it. But nothing that like out the gate. I mean when Power first came in, there was definitely feelers out for me at the beginning of that.

Not even the beat in l A like I just imagine like LA call like such a New York girl's you know what I'm saying.

I didn't even want to be syndicated because I didn't want to have to like compromise.

At what point were you guys being syndicated?

No, I didn't. When people would say, are you interested in that?

I don't like what Time Joiner does.

Yeah, I wasn't interested because I know what that means.

It's this you have to kind of chair more localization, you have to Yeah, And I just wasn't.

I was like Yeah, I'm good.

I'm amazing. You see that as an opportunity, not for me, because I got to change who I am.

And that's no judgment.

Some people can do it, Like if you look at the Breakfast Club does if they were only on in New York, they'd be the same show that they are all the way. But how I and how I deliver I think works for New York.

So you're saying, all right, who who were those two the two guys that were on Hot ninety seven that were like they were the originals? Yes, I was the original Jesus and Mirror. Right, So you're saying to me that as a New Yorker, you could have been like crazy or whatever your personality was, But if you're syndicated, then you really have to dial that back.

And also I didn't have that crazy. I was never the Hey. First of all, I didn't do a lot of gossip. I didn't do I wasn't a shock jock. I wasn't I didn't have this crazy, over the top personality. What I had was a knowledge in my city, an authentic perspective about the music. People trusted me, and people feel like they know me, And I felt like I just didn't want to compromise any of that I wanted to.

I didn't want to. I didn't want to shift that to like do a radio show that was like, oh, you know, you got to talk to the.

Specifically to New York anymore the other opportunities. And then once the internet opened up, then why would I ever do that when people could watch my interviews on YouTube and I could do it the way I do it without.

Having to kind of compromise.

Was there ever pressure at any point, or in a professional or even in a toxic way to.

Do more?

That's something out of your zone all the time.

I mean, you know how all the time and every turn sometimes. I mean, I'm sure there were points in my life or my career where you try because you want to win, and you try to figure out a way you could do a certain thing, especially when people start looking at numbers.

And all that stuff. But I don't think at any.

Point are you numbers good?

I mean most of the time, not always.

I all know you are, so I would tell you something.

Though my whole career, people would tell me, oh, you're the number one, or you have this many. I never look at ratings. I don't look at numbers. I don't look at ratings because I never wanted it to make I didn't. I didn't want it to affect how I show up right.

Right, But they let you They let you know that well for ignorance.

No, they were if we were in trouble, they'd say, hey, maybe we need to tighten up on this, and I say, okay, well, but the up and down of radio ratings is so crazy that I didn't I never wanted to, like fall victim to like watching that, and then also FLEX watched it so hard I felt like I didn't have to.

Okay, I was going to lead back to him. I'm not using him specifically as an example, but I guess I could use him as an example of which, you know, I've heard a few times where people like, yo, man, why don't you, you know, give up the keys of the kingdom to let someone else younger? And whatever? But is there like how I'm not saying doggy dog? Is it like how often do you have to look in the rear view mirror to figure out like.

Who's on my neck?

Yeah? And what is that?

Anybody on your neck?

Someone new comes in, I have to wonder, like, oh, do they want my spot or like.

Do you get I think probably a younger me was a little bit more aware of that than me. Now.

Me now is just like I'm supposed to be where I'm supposed to.

This is no, it's not that I mean I welcome I'm always trying to get them to I don't know.

I welcome new energy, young energy, like around. So I don't know.

I don't really think about that, but I think at some points I probably did. But but for short periods of time, you can't let yourself. But you know, whenever you're looking over there, it just alters your delivery, alters your state of mind, your old and I always is aware of that. So even if I look over there for a second, I'm right back here.

Okay, So the world that Steve and I belong to, which is at thirty Rock University. Yeah, the sign of uh oh is when as as a not a staff person, but as a a union guy, like the guy that does a camera, a guy that does the light, like a crew guy. The sign of oh is when they tell you you got to go to the Today Show. So, because because of the way that New York has, like union rules and all those things, you can't like fire someone or as you just put them on the ship job, right,

Cool for radiople.

I'm right. So when you work at thirty, like if you get in on my you're golden, and people fight for the job because it's like you dental, like you get insurance and all that stuff. I didn't that, so, but the thing is is that I don't believe that what you.

Know I come from, Like, if you're not if you don't want to be here, or you're not delivering or this is not a good fit, then let's all let's keep it moving, right.

But what I'm saying with him is that the thing is like you gotta go to the Today Show, which means like a damn, I got it. Well, it's because they can't fire you. Being on the Today Show is so inconvenient because now you got to wake up at two in the morning to work at three and all that stuff. I guess they could do that you quit.

Yeah, they'll put you on Sundays at two am.

Oh yes, out the passion that's not.

Radio though, but if it's over, it's over. Well now, I mean now I'm at iHeart. That's a difference a similar type of machine. It's like a big company. So there's a lot more rules, and over the.

Years there's more. So what's the undesirable hour?

Like, what's the undesirable the undesirable hour?

Yeah, I would imagine it's like overnights, even though I had a good time doing overnights, but I would imagine who I don't know, I don't know.

I don't think that's a thing. Now, I don't think that's a thing.

I don't know. So all times are good times.

And no window is just so different.

It's just so different asking these questions as the person that clearly doesn't listen to great like this.

It's not even like a date. Everybody has a day part with a rule. Never perse.

Somebody came to me and they were like, hey, Andrew, were thinking maybe you should do Sundays at midnight. Now that would be great, right. I'd be like, yeah, no, thank you, though this has been good times. We can we can easily just we could just go our ways. Now that that wouldn't work for me. But luckily I'm in a position in life where I can do other things and and I'd be fine.

So so for you, what was your wildest like historical moment that you felt was that Hot ninety seven at its peak?

Oh jeez, you just reworded the question I didn't want to answer before, which was what was.

Your favorite What was your biggest interview?

You read?

That's what you're not. That's what an interviewer does. They go, they bring it back around if you don't answer it the first way. That's what a good interviewer does.

Well, I would figure that you would have like one I caught this freestyle, or I met at Kenchrick Lamar for the first time, or.

So many But do you have do you have any idea that this was my life for so many years that I did this every day, that every day it was highlight And I'm in New York City at a point where it's Woo Tang and jay Z.

And Nas and mob Deep and uh you know what I mean.

Just an endless stream artists every single night, coming every day.

Assuming that you were at Years Hot, assuming that you were at Summer Jam during the Yes takeover period, like it wasn't weird to see like Michael Jackson just backstage at Hot ninety seven, like, oh.

Yeah, that was pretty great. That was pretty great. You just got a remind her because I see that so much.

That was that was pretty great. Okay, let me think a good one for you.

Want to I want to campfire story. Damn it, damn you. I'm a nerd. You know I love that about you. It's good.

I mean, you know, you know there's you know, you know the Na's battle happened on my show, right? Did you know that that we played records and the whole city voted and that was the moment when that was a huge moment.

So what was that? What? No, this is what the two.

Records it was, which I thought was unfair, but it was really super ugly. Oh okay, it was super ugly versus ether and what happened.

Yes, we were Wait wait, do you remember.

How I was saying earlier, like when there was no competition, you could do whatever you want. You want to do a twenty minute talk break. Good, where's everybody gonna where's everybody gonna go? They're not gonna go anywhere you can talk for twenty minutes. Now competition has come, right, now there's two hip hop radio stations in the market, so now you have to be a little more careful and tighter otherwise you're giving it. So in the middle of this nas J thing, I don't I'm scared. I don't

Do you want that to have?

Like you know, Flex is a beast, right, So he says, we're gonna do this. I'm gonna start it on my show. We're going to play the two records. People are going to vote all the way. We finish the voting your show in the afternoon tomorrow.

Brilliant, brilliant.

It actually is kind of brilliant. I was resisting it because I didn't want to get in the middle of that because it's you know, it's NOTS and it's.

J, and I don't want to. I don't want to be in that Switzerland. But you know I was.

I was kind of thrown in it, and so it was huge. It was I hadn't nobody could anticipate how big.

I mean, I don't.

Evening we sat there, We sat there, and it was like, honestly, there was a lot of people in the room case a rest and peace, God bless.

He was in the room, The interns were in the room.

There was like anybody who was The other DJs were hanging around because this was just a huge thing.

So people from the.

Sales department like were like popping in to see and so we're sitting there answer in the in.

The board ups like with a tally with like one line two like we're doing this the two phones we're taking votes on.

Come on, I mean this story.

I believe one either one. The crazy thing is Ether one. And Jay was on his way to the station to do an interview with me because coincidentally or just what had happened was super ugly.

People didn't like.

Super ugly. Why did he go against super ugly and not think about the current?

Got so all this time had passed that the takeover dropped Ether and then all of a sudden it was super ugly and everybody was like, oh God, which one of these diss records is better?

I like the beat to I never liked Yeah, I didn't either. Well, it's like I need to like you need to dance to And I was like, this is one of the things where I got to listen to it and I couldn't humme it now to save my life, Like I feel you, Yeah, I definitely remember that anyway.

So as I'm announcing and the winner is, I could see my peripheral in the window. I could see Jay walking in. The winner is Nas, and then Jacks.

In the room.

As I'm saying it live, I could as I'm saying the winner is, and I see j walking in from the peripheral.

My god, he said, door J. And so it was.

I hated the I hated the whole moment. I hated is so uncomfortable. And then because I felt so uncomfortable, then you know, Nas took it wrong that I was being so like j.

He was like, well what about me?

So then there was all this weirdness that happened. Luckily, after years, you know, all the years later, we all are everybody anybody's great and I love to see either one of them anywhere, and you know, but in that moment, it was, you know, when you're in it and you're younger and you don't really have a perspective of where it's gonna land, it all.

Seems so heavy and serious in the moment. Now, we can laughing, is it? But in the moment it felt heavy, man.

Because the streets are listening, the streets are listening, and I'm thinking, oh my god, did.

I just help ruin Jay's career?

Did I was I part of this? Is this going to ruin him? Because in the moment, in the moment, that's the biggest thing in everybody. You don't know in the.

Moment, you think this could be the death of his career. You know, it sounds ridiculous now, but in the moment, you don't know that. And I and it was.

It was bad from what I recall, I think like he came on fine, obviously.

But then he come on the air and he apologized. Yeah, I was about to say like it was a humbler, like okay, I've least I'm sorry. And you know, I think he got a lot.

Of calls, including from his mother who said that he had crossed the and he so he just wanted to be like, yeah, I cross that right there, and is what it is.

And he tried to say his stay.

It just was an awkward time. His timing was the whole thing was just nuts, all right. And then I got mad and me after because because he felt it wasn't fair.

What do you mean it was a fair you won?

But I understand from his perspective also him sitting home and be like, hey, you should be happier for me, Like what's going on here now? In retrospect, I can understand his feelings anyway, So you know, it's all growing pains.

It's all like growing pains.

Did Flex apologize to you for putting you in that situation?

Well, he was like, this was great. We killed it. You killed it, But you know it's history.

You haven't feel the pressure in that way because you had these beautiful relationships and long lasting relationships that when you are in your job asking questions, have you had a moment where they might look at you like why are you asking me that?

You know, like, do you ever have those that kind of I.

Think a younger me, a younger me, a younger because I feel like I've changed a lot. But I think a younger me maybe fell victim to that a couple of times where I'd press because I'm like, the audience

What, I think. I just remembered that. Actually, I think your best interviews were with fifty in which even I hate to be this person that's like, but when I first heard my first fifty cent interview, I was like, oh yo, he's.

He's the best, the best interview.

I hate that. I hate well, I hate he's smart, and I hate that when people like you see so well whatever. Yeah, but I no.

No, no, no, there is a there is a moment where you realize this is a this is not he's not just wild.

He's he's playing a character.

No, he's brilliant, Yeah, yeah he's and he's a marketer and he's a marketing kind of genius and he also charming and yeah, all of those things. But I will tell you because I didn't always love some of the things fifty fifty did, right, So I but I love that I could have interviews with him and like push him a little bit.

And so you're allowed to challenge if you don't if he disagreed without.

Feeling yeah, I mean, if it's an honest conversation, I'm not here to hurt anybody. But if I'm like, hey, a lot of people feel like this, I kind of feel like this too, what do you think about that?

And it's nice to get it be able to have an open conversation like that.

But he has said to me over the years a couple of times, He's like, I definitely left your show bleeding a few times.

I love your show.

I was bloody a few times, and I was like, oh but please, just let's be friends.

Though Okay, I never wanted to be feeling hard.

That's the beautiful party, you know, great it because I also had respect for him, so.

He knows that. So how hard was it to transition to being an artist? Oh?

That was tough?

Really? Like how so speaking of the whole imposter syndrome thing or whatever.

Like, yeah, we talked about that was the prime of it for me.

So how did you get talked into?

Like?

Where is this idea? Come up? Does electric come to you?

No?

No, no. I'm at a club.

I'm hosting a party as the host and I'm talking on the mic and doing a look you know one two one two and karas One is there and Karras One comes up to me after the party and.

Says, right, you're what I got next?

And he said, have you ever been on a record?

And you should? You know you got? You got in the mic?

You sound good. I bet you could kill it. I was like, now you're crazy.

First of all, it is Karas One. He's one of my role models. And then he invites me to the studio and I do Heartbeat and we do Heartbeat with Redman.

So I'm in.

So it's imagine. It's like you're I always say like, imagine you're like a little league baseball player. And Derek Jeter says, come on down and hit a few balls with us at Yankee Stadium and You're like, fuck, So you this was me. I'm in the studio with Karas One and Redman and we do this song and then from there it was like a roller coaster. Then Ladies Night happened, and then the labels start called, and I'm like, what do you mean you want.

To do a whole album? This is lazy. I have for them things?

Yeah right, because them things, And if I could go, and all those records were from the album that came because I did the Kerason and then the Ladies names and they came up.

Was just single because that.

And also if I could go, which more people would know if it wasn't stuck in streaming hiding away.

From it, was like I can't we can't find it.

I know.

We just literally about a week ago finally got it cleared. It'll go out.

More, it'll go a little stream soon. We just literally like a week ago, just finally clear.

You gotta do a whole marketing blitz for that now, like you gotta know no come, I still oh my god, please no.

No.

My not tune set is. It's so funny, it's so weird. It's such a weird thing for me.

Did that give you I was gonna ask that being ours? Did it give you a new respect for artists?

This?

I told you.

I was like a rap nerd, like I would recite lyrics were for I could like recite like rock sand Chantey lyrics, MC light lyrics not just them ll cool J lyrics to the t. And so when that happened, Uh, it was so much fun. It was like, oh shoot, I love this, like I really loved it. But then there was a lot of criticism because people knew me from the radio, and I think I let that get in my head and it made me scared.

And so because a conflict.

No, no, no, just like.

Who do you think like imposta syndrome? Why do you think you should be allowed to do that?

Are you allowed to spend your own records?

I didn't, I know, I didn't. I mean you could. I guess I could. I mean lots of DJs do.

Wait, mistake a lot of spins. So it was I mean, I don't know. Lady Night was definitely a hit.

No, if I could go, it was a Lady's Night was a hip for sure, and if I could go, it was the top ten record also. But you know what would happened if I could go? I mean some of those songs Ladies' Night, like they'd play it on the pop stations with ZE one hundred be playing Ladies Night, and they would cut my verse out.

Really what I was going to ask.

Other radio stations, even across the country, if they were deemed the competitive market, they would cut out the first.

Because it's because it's promo. You can't promo.

Yeah, who is Like if you're a radio one with Helen, what's heard, it.

Doesn't matter if we're talking about the internets. Yeah, they they they would cut me, cut me out. So there was like some weirdness, but that wasn't the thing. It was me would imposter syndrome.

And it was honestly, I feel like I stunted my own growth because yeah, you didn't. I didn't get I was just starting to, like sometimes I see things and I was like, oh you was about to get better right there, and you and I stunted my own growth because I felt like like imposter a little bit and I didn't, And it was just easier for me to be on the radio.

So I just kind of leaned into that take.

Your own was awesome my joint too, huh yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.

And it was always so.

Let me tell you something, It was always so because I was always so insecure about it that whenever I would see somebody that I'll never forget I was with. I was in LA promote and I was very insecure about it and I saw most most Death at the time, and I saw him from the hotel.

He was like, Yo, you killed that.

I really And I was like, so anytime an artist, somebody that I really respected would say something to like that, it really like it meant a lot to me, and you too, And then I live one time I saw somewhere he had something nice to say.

It meant a lot because I was so insecure, and you.

Did something I don't think any other radio host has done like you made history.

Yeah. Yeah, how I feel to be nominated for Grammy and imposter syndrome totally?

Why am I here? Who put me here? How is this possible? And it was so quick. I went from never doing a song too, I'm on the second song, I'm ever on and I'm at the Grand I'm at the MTV Awards.

Say where did you guys? Performed it once? Somewhere? Yeah, so what was that recording session? Like, like, did you It was a lot of.

It was peacemeal. My first time was by myself. Was there already laid, was already there.

And I came in and I didn't even honestly, I was so I was so green that I didn't. I wasn't sure, like where the eight bars was supposed to end, Like my bars weren't. I wasn't even counting bars properly, Like I came there with a whole book of rhymes because I didn't know how much I was gonna need.

So when you're in the studio, is it like everyone get out the studio like, no, no, are you the person? Are you kidding me?

It was my second time ever doing it in a room, but it's no. And then so but then they had me come back to do ad libs. And when I was there left, I was there with me. Yeah she was, and she was so she was like, oh you like she was just so encouraging, so sweet, and she had already she was left out from TLC, like she was already you know, traveled the World International Group and so that was that was encouraging.

And you know, it was eight bars. It wasn't like it was I felt like, Okay, I'm quick in and out. This was good.

I did it. I just want to know.

Every single girl said, I'm like, what are Kim saying? When she heard it? Was she like, damn girl.

I don't remember what Kim said, but she made me feel so because you know, we all did the video together.

The video, we were all there together.

We weren't there for the song altogether, but the video we were all there together, and everybody was dope.

Everybody.

It was such a beautiful experience. I always say that, It's like, I'm really lucky to have had that experience because you know, you're in a room and Mary J. Blige and Queen Latifa and Little Kim and the Brat and Missy could you imagine like this?

A lot of people there.

Told me the TLC is there all in one room video and most of our minds.

Y'all was already friends anyway, So yes, I mean, I.

Know a lot of them, but not we hadn't really I definitely never worked with any of them.

I started rapping.

It was my second song.

I was ever run Wait, did.

You well, Angie? We have a special surprise tape start.

You have the seventy two bars to make the song.

I don't know the circumstances when you left the station, but even past radio, like, at what point did you ever feel at any point like okay, I'm I did this, or yeah, just like you know the artists or we're younger than or that sort of thing, like I don't understand this music or that sort of thing. How do you wrestle with because even as a DJ now struggle

And then they were looking at you like wow, was you playing?

No? Well? When I tell you I played litl uzi Vert's joint like I made a fifteen minute mix I've never seen. I'm so mad that shit's just an interlude. You know, that song's only one minute, That song's only one minute and twenty song Because even when we got in for SNL. I'm like, yo, y'all realize that this is just a minute in twenty five seconds, like it's

I had to pivot a little bit because when I say, I started and I was old all about I was a rap nerd, like I knew everybody's lyrics, I knew everybody's album cut, I knew, I knew you know what I mean? At some point I had to I pivoted a little bit because I could not keep up.

No.

So, but what you can do is that everybody's human. Everybody's having an experience of creating and sharing and being vulnerable. And so I started talking to people a little maybe less about their craft.

And on who they are more. And that to me is timeless.

Right.

You know, you can talk to you can talk to people about who they are and what they're creating forever.

Okay, so you're a hardcore New Yorker, so I gotta ask you this question. Yeah, So I think in ninety seven is the first time that I heard ha by Juvenile on Hot ninety seven, which to me was like a pivotal That was a moment. Even when I heard the radio, I was like, whoa like?

And then we played there them We had to hit the remix this right?

Well, David, of course, you know, David was like on top of it. But when I heard it, I remember having it. We had a conversation. I feel like we only played the remix. I'll be honest, No, you played the original version first?

And are you sure?

Oh, I'm definitely. I remember us having a conversation. I was like, wait, what girls he from? Because in my mind it's like New York and I don't know if his tip if somebody played, uh somebody played for me? Uh Notori stugs by Big And you know I has a notoriously long intro, right, it was like they wanted to test my face, like yo, listen to this, and they put it on and I was like, what was this? Like boone Fuck's army whatever, And so a minute goes in,

But I think I don't know if that moment was the moment, because then it was it was still niche.

It was still like I don't remember any down South song before.

I mean, I'm just saying it didn't.

That we have to This was like a one, It's a it's a splash of it.

It was just a little splash.

We we weren't fully immersed in opening up to everything. And when I say we, I'm just saying New York because I didn't. I was never want to pick the music.

But I think that was it was, you know, that was the one record that was kind of cool and it was great and it.

But eventually there had to be a memo.

Where it at one point the floodgates open, right.

And it's funny because I was on aternity leave, I had just had my son, and I was out from and I came back to the radio. And by the way I came back to the radio, my first big interview was Jay Z R. Kelly after the concert.

Yes, and I remember that.

Get back to that.

But we did get back to that.

I remember I listened to the interview and it's like it was funny.

Thoughts asked me a question, trying to answer the question now about the answer. No, No, I came back from maternity and we're playing now this is how this is like we're playing laughy taffy that we were playing. I wish I had a list of all the songs that were out at that time, because I feel like.

There was like seventh how I was saying, like I was out.

It was dope.

We liked it, but it was just the one song.

But when I came back from attorney leave, it was like I came back to a different land and it was cool, but it.

Felt I felt out. I was like, wait, what's happening?

All of these was the two thousands, five six, There was two thousand, two thousand and one.

Yeah, my son was born in two thousand and one.

Oh, she said, she said, laughy Tavvy. That was only because Lavy Taffy was like, oh five, I.

Feel like, yeah, I don't think that's right.

Around that time, I could.

Be you couldn't get their play because they were playing Laffy Taffy and you couldn't get the airplace, so you wouldn't.

By the way, I could be crediting them for a moment that it wasn't that song.

Now I got that in my head though, y'alls thank you. I believe it was that song. I don't know why. I'm going to look it up right now.

Daffy was two thousand and five? Really was five?

Okay, so then it must not have been laughing Tabby? What was two thousand and one too?

I mean southern song. It was a bunch of oh maybe was it? Like emotion was starting to become a thing, a juvenile slow motion was a thing.

Definitely played. I was thinking about it.

Was about it in ice cream about it? That was nice. I mean, back that ass up. I mean, yeah, you know, but you know that I remember, yo, they did. This was such a genius move where I remember once the Spice Girl's label just purchased commercial time on Hot ninety seven to play wanna be like they purchased dude. It was the most shocking thing ever. Like you ever read a magazine Sometimes you're like, wait, what the hell is

Was the smart tactic at the time.

It was, but at the time where I thought it was like them playing it for real and then but I always wanted to know just how did you guys feel about that paradigm shift of south friend of shit? Not only that, but now you got to bring them on the air and talk to them, and some of them have chips on their shoulders and some.

Of them did.

But I always look at like when I when I was saying how I make a pivot to like really talking about people who they are and where they're from. To me, that opens up a I don't know, that's what you love about hip hop? Right even when we start, even when the West Coast was first happened, it was the first time I learned about West Coast living was

Lifestyle of it.

So when those artists started flooding in and maybe I wasn't as familiar with them.

You're a better person than I was, exactly. I'm I'm minded because I feel.

Like I felt a little disconnected because I didn't know the roots of maybe where some of them came from, which all the New York artists, I knew the roots of that. So I felt a little disconnected in that sense.

But as you get to talk to people.

People are people, right, everybody has a story to tell, and so I kind of just looked at it like that, like an opportunity. I was never somebody who felt like, oh, why is I mean to me? That's why to me, we're always evolving. We should always be evolving. I was always open minded to that, and some of the records was fired, like so I don't.

Know, well in retrospect now, like I then, well I'll be revisioned. It's like, yeah, I always played this, but you know.

I could maybe I could be Maybe that's grown up me talking.

And if you if you were to rewind the time machine, maybe there was a guess what?

All right? So where was the story you had about that interview? It was, yeah, it was the night it was after it was after the night with jay Z. R Kelly. It was the last night that he was on. He felt like somebody was trying assassinate it.

Were you at the concert?

I was at my house in North Carolina, account never in R Kelly's presence ever interview. I think I heard the interview.

Fascinating I heard the interview.

I remember because first it was like jay Z was on, but then like I think R Kelly came. I forgot the order, but anyway, but R Kelly he was talking about the night and he was on stage, and it was just oh my god, it was it was it.

Was just YouTube and I hear this in the depths of like the internet, all these tapes.

Just digitized them a couple of years because you know eventually you're gonna have to have like Congress, you want to direct my documentary, I'm done.

I heard we were listening to it on the and it was yeah, you know, I came on stage and I'm just I saw a guy.

I'm not saying appreciation woke up like it was him.

It was like talking about he came on stay. I guess he said it was like whatever.

I can't remember. He was talking about how he got sprayed with Mason ship Mason I was on tour O and okay, I mean on the reason because yeah, hey, I was.

Actually I was just it was my I mean, I've been on stage I rock, you know for so many years.

I you know, in my Lightning.

Man, and I was like my light my lightning and I was like, oh, he's saying lighting man, but like it sounded like but dude, it was just it was.

It sounded like he sounded bad, shipp insane. It was crazy. It was the crazy.

It wasn't even my shift.

I was.

I went to the radio station from the show because I was at the show when the whole thing unraveled.

Yeah.

And then I was getting my parking lot get in my car and Mike Michael Kais had called me.

It was like Jay wants to get.

On the radio.

I was like, okay, well he can come by my show tomorrow afternoon. He was like, no, no, no, he wants to go on.

The radio right now and we'll only talk to you, and he wants to.

Talk to you.

So I had to call the program take off. I think it was Big Dennis was on at that time. I remember who was on.

But they had to get off so I could get on because.

Like people do some sort of way like he will only talk to else.

Yeah, And so I went up there and I was like, Okay. The funny thing is I was at the parking lot, but right outside of Manster Square Garden. It was like I was waiting in line because I didn't want to be like a jerk and like run to the front. So I'm like waiting in line for my car. But then when I got the call from Kaias, I was like, jay Z wants to get on the radio. They were like, let her go, let her go, because only in the line had just come out the concert.

They knew what happened. Jay Z's about to get on the radio.

Let edg you get her car.

So they let me go. What happened and don't know like, oh, well, a concert went down, both worlds.

In the best of both worlds.

And then the lights go out.

Have it consued?

Allegedly, Peppers break R Kelly backstage and then and then R. Kelly left and Jay Jay had to finish the rest of the show at Madison Square Garden by himself, and he called.

On people quickly to take Mary.

Mary came out, Usher came out. People kind of came to rescue Jay.

Lenny told me, okay, so Lenny rescue Jay. You know what I mean.

He needed a show.

I remember Kodak. Lenny actually said that he had to run up and down the aisles and see like people, Yeah, literally, you know, come up and do your joint or whatever.

Yeah, to pack us.

He was playing Usher songs from his phone and then Usher came and performed, and because peck Us worked at Arista at the time, right or right?

Yeah? Is that right Arista?

Yeah, I'm so bad at like those little and you're telling me that, like, so the whole So everybody in the concert knew what was happening. So then when we left, we were like, yo, that was crazy.

What happened? We don't know.

And then from there it was Jay wants to go on the radio and talk about it. So now anybody who was at the concert is listening. And then I don't know how everybody would hear it because everybody.

A somebody posted at the time. Honestly, I feel like somebody posted it okay player, right no, no, no, no, no, so yeah, somebody.

From I never knew how everybody heard it.

Yeah, somebody up in New York.

And I can't remember what who it was or you know what the okay player was, but somebody in New York. It might have been a thirty thirty but I can't remember it. Take somehow had taken the stream or had recorded you on the radio, and then like they posted a link for us to check on okay player, and so that was how we heard the interview.

So Jay cames up to tell his what happened.

He was so frustrated and he was like, look, you know this guy, we've had problems.

We called it. This guy like discussed. He was very.

Frustrated, and then he was We got a call from from Tracy was programm director at the time. She was like, listen, we have to be fair. R Kelly called he wants to come up and tell his side of the story too.

The middle of the night.

So I say, I tell Jay R Kelly wants to come up, because like, that's fine, you could talk to him.

I'm almost done anyway, I'm about to leave. Jay leaves.

R Kelly shows up five ten minutes later, I could be it could have been twenty.

I don't know.

It was a few minutes later. It's all live on the radio.

A moment in my show and his eyes I say, calling Tyrone and the audience say, but but you wouldn't know that you're not a fan.

This is on the air, like we'll listen, yo yo bro right. In fact, it was I remember this now. It was I was over.

I went to ninth brid ninth. I feel like I don't know what's christis with maybe a homie Mike.

Bird was with it. But anyway, crib and we're listening.

I had no idea, like like what I don't.

I do know that after that, people will come up to me from different places and tell me. And I don't always curious how did everybody because it wasn't that.

Wasn't like you know what I mean.

So player was the social media. It was like we we are definitely black Twitter, yeah for sure, like we started black Twitter. Yeah.

So then so then that happened and R Kelly showed up and his eyes were all red from the pepper sprays.

Still it just come from.

Yeah, I think he I don't I could be wrong, but I think he went to the hospital first for them to like look at his eyes, and then he came to the station.

And so this was the middle of the night. Now I'm interview and R Kelly in the middle of the night. It was it was nuts and remind us I'm sorry because mirror wasn't there.

He doesn't know what what R Kelly said.

He I mean, listen, I just remember he was. R Kelly was very he.

Said somebody was in the crowd who had a gun.

I will say, Angie, you were always professional, but like you handled that interview really well because we were literally on the other side listens like yo, this nigga pre Gail King like yo, We were like, yo, he sounds crazy, but yeah he was somebody you talked about.

You saw some with a gun and yeah it was was.

J side of the story was he was uncomfortable because Jay was killing it every night and R Kelly was in his feeling, so he wanted to leave.

He just wanted to leave. He didn't want to finish. That was Jay's story.

R Kelly's story was he wanted to leave because it felt he was threatened because somebody was in the audience with a gun and he saw it from the stage and he wanted to leave.

But he said it like R Kelly, not out there, okay, freaking I saw. I'm not saying what it was like.

I was like, Yo, you saw somebody and you asked you was like, so he had a gun. I'm not saying what he had or what he didn't have. I'm saying I saw a guy. I saw a guy.

It was. It was very much like the the to like when you say teenage how we talk.

It was the precursor to that like it was you know what I mean. But yeah, but he saw a guy.

The wild thing is, I would love to know put this in the air. Somebody was in the room with R. Kelly that night, and and this is early. I didn't use the video tape my interviews back then, never so, but.

Somebody was with R. Kelly who had like a big old camcorder.

I'm not surprised.

Somewhere.

Wow, hey guys, thanks for having me. It's really fun to be here on the podcast. My point is that there's a video probably somewhere that interview. Yeah, somewhere, somebody has it. Somewhere in somebody's basement. There's a video of that interview.

It was great. Yeah, thanks, That's probably most legendary interview.

There's other ones.

Was smoking and no one.

I'm smoking and saying that wasn't her. It's been so many I'm with her.

I'm just I'm just saying it just for me. That was the one for me because you.

Have how about the locks and the locks fighting for.

The publishing that happened on my show.

And then puff the next day with receipts and you.

Still understand this was very much.

I mean, I signed like before we like our little brothers start going and stuff. So I would just be like hot ninety seven and all that. That would just be our window into kind of what New York was, and we was just I remember me just being at home in the South, just looking like yo, all these niggas are crazy, Like, no, I don't need to do this.

So I was just come when I came to New York.

I just come to New York, do my shows whatever, like see my people whatever, get my money, and I leave because I'm just like, dude, this I listened to I list.

None of these niggas sound happy.

So you have I was waiting for your No.

No, I have a question about since we're talking about your archives and you said your digitized them, do you of any kind of plan of how to release those somehow.

I'm trying to figure that out. I have I have so many that I don't really know.

I feel like it's damn. It's also like, no, it's not about waiting for the offer. I really because I need a lot of money on the table. My whole career, I've left a lot of money on the table. I really operate from a place where I want to until I can figure out a way to do it. That is, it honors it and it's interesting and it's different. It's dope like I do it doesn't need to I don't need to do something just to do it.

I assure you as as a person that works in that world. To you now, it's just like, yeah, I got my radio shows, and ten years it'll be like oh back in the day, I got no no no. But I swear to God, like your Oscar future lot like forty years from now, like when you when you're seventy seventy five whatever, that will be like a piece of history that if told right, where did that come from?

Man?

I got to pass the rasp on.

Totally clips of the heart.

No, if if told correctly, like please, I beg of you, because even now I will at what point were you fine with your radio journey? And how hard was it to pivot into TV personality and more specifically with up closing person like with.

I think that's the thing that's kept me in radio so long is that I always, at different points in my career, played around something else just to keep the creative juices going, whether it was music or whether it was you know, little cameos and movies or you know, I wrote a book.

I am.

I think I always the radio became almost like just part of who I was, and it was just not easy, but it's just it's just a fabric of what I do.

But I needed to stay.

Creatively, you know, challenged, and so that's kind of why I would venture off and do different things here and there.

And in your vision board or just in your life, do you ever foresee you becoming the station owner or he always wants to do that.

I don't. I don't have any desire to.

It's not my heart.

It's not where my heart is. My heart is in storytelling.

My heart is not running a business to help a media company, like it's not where my heart is. My heart is in storytelling. And so whether it be during an interview on the radio or just getting on the radio and talking.

About something that I feel like is storytelling or.

Creating or writing or like writing is something writing for me is probably like what like for you, like how you kind of finally.

Have got com about it?

You know, I wrote that book, and I always looked for other people to help me because I thought I wasn't a writer enough. And then as I would go try to hire people, I realized, actually I could. I'm better at this part of the story than me.

And so what was the hardest part about writing the book for you?

Well, all of it, because writing all of those pages, and it took me like years to do that. And I did have some help, you know, they brought I learned a lot about storytelling from this woman named mem Reavis. But she also taught me that I was actually a great writer. She gave me that confidence. So my book was pretty much done.

See, it's crazy that you didn't realize that you're the combination. It's different. It's different.

And thinking you could write a few bars versus writing a story and writing like or.

Being a storyteller. Is what I'm saying, is saying that you are a storyteller. And I think, isn't that. So here's two examples. So number one, the book I tried to get all these writers, I didn't like it. I do it myself, but I had I still didn't have I still didn't feel it books Best New York Times be so I still feel it was.

Yeah, you're okay, thank you, Oh thank you?

Something? Can I get that something?

Oh?

Jeez, No, but then I probably felt like you after you ask, I still don't feel like a real writer.

I feel like, oh, that was my memoir. Of course, that was easy.

And then I say, I have this other idea, and I'm trying to get a script done, and I go to mad people and I go to stuff and I and so I start writing it by myself during COVID because I'm home, and why not, who cares?

I wrote like two scripts while I started.

During COVID, and so now I'm well, both of them are done. One of them needs a little tweaking. Well, it's not about me, no, but it is from my lens. Anything I do is gonna be from my lens because it is what it is, right. But you know, I'm starting to feel I'm starting to get in my bag with it. I'm starting to feel like confident about my storytelling ability as a writer and also as a creator. And so I think it's gonna be interesting to see

Through my whole career.

When I was asking about the hard parts of writing the book, I meant more so emotionally, like were there any parts of your life that were hard.

Yeah's scary to tell your whole story.

Scary to say your father was on drugs and you ain't seen him since you're ten, or you dated this person and that was terrible for you and your heart broke. It's scary to tell family things and personal things.

But I did.

I wrote everything down, and I told myself when it's over, I'll take out.

Anything that I don't want to share. But once you get it all out, you realize it's just my story. It's okay.

It's so scary to share, you know what I mean. But then once this hour, you feel good. I don't know, it's just you could be yourself more in a weird way.

Does your son see you as like mom? Or does he like know the lineage of the nah? He does?

He respects it. He definitely respects it. I think he likes to.

See the way people kind of react entertainment. No, my son plays ball, he plays. He wants to be in sports business. He's studying sports management, sports business.

He's a good kid.

I have.

He's about to be twenty and June he'll be twenty. Yeah, he's he's a big boy. Remember is like, yeah, that's what made me think of that.

Now I'm like, I knew you when you're playing chess at the age of six, and now you might be managing me and like a couple.

We remember when Angel's pregnant.

That's why I'm like, so I have him, So he's twenty and then I have a bonus, my bonus son who lives with me. He's seventeen Christian. He's doing amazing too. And I don't know they. I think that they like, I think that they respect my history and my career, but I don't think neither one of them are like really they don't care about celebrity doesn't really impress them much.

I love that about gen Z.

They're not like, yeah, they like people who they just like people, but they're not really you know, like, hey, you want to go over to such and such a self man, No, I'm okay, rather be over here doing this.

So and you're sure that you don't want to just own the radio station?

Why would I want to do that in twenty twenty three? Like what why would I want to?

Wait?

Wait, wait, thank you people, that's.

A listen to me.

How many summers do we have left?

Right?

Right?

The sky's the limit.

No, no, you're not. Most people don't live to two hundred, right, so you have a limited amount of summers left here.

Okay, and this.

Life and this body stress and is being a radio station owner? How I want to live out the next twenty thirty, forty whatever.

I'm lucky enough to.

Get the radio station owner. But I would think that.

You can't do that part time. That's your life, that becomes your life. Then that's not I'm not willing to do that with my life.

I'm trying to figure out a way to rubbert, like to stop micromanaging. Like I'm in the game now where like establishing like a production breaking mortar thing, and.

I haven't learned how to do that.

Eventually I'll get to a place where I can rubber stamp ship and micro Now. Yeah, Tika and I are like micromanaging everything. But one day I can build an empire and let it run by itself, and then I could truly do nothing. When is that gonna happen? Right? It's not like literally.

Far I don't know that.

It's your fifties, trust me, I got this. What do you think? I'm just talking in circles on the show.

But don't you think it's you that has the gift? That's that is the nuances of that, isn't it you?

I don't want to walk away. So what I'm trying to do is figure out a way to keep this running and I don't have to be here. Luck with that.

I hope you do. I wish you well.

I just don't mother other once family, and to be president.

You might have to let go of some things to have that balance.

There is an exit plan because you cannot survive in the level of stress that I'm living in now. I'm I'm taking this on now so that when I am sixties seventy eighty ninety, I don't have to do this anymore.

And there's an operation running. Yeah.

Yes, I'm determined to be the first black professional that actually retired. You remember, like Jay was like, yeah, you know, I'm retired after my second album or whatever, like the don't entire me. I mean, I'm not gonna retire.

Killing it over here, y'all.

I thank you, Thank you, guys.

This is fun.

This is our first real real conversation as you're a coerson. I mean, I mean we've had niceties and pleasantry. I've been on your show. But it's also like to promote my product. But I feel like I got.

To know you bro, your team of Supreme over here is comatose.

And I get invited to a game night because you invited me one time and I couldn't go. And I feel like because I couldn't go that one time, I have never been invited again.

Yes, I will invite you the game night.

So I'm a little aggressive. But I've gotten better as I've gotten older. I know how to I know how to behave well.

I also I don't play the game anymore because I had to host it.

Oh that's fun.

Yeah, it's more fun because if I'm in the game games you play? Sorry, what do we play? Well, A lot of people in their their pandemic pivot haven't been a game. So I have like just a room full of like unused games that they want my opinion, like questions. Can I.

You know I have on my bucket list in life? What is to host the game show?

That? Really? I feel you do you know how much fun?

Because that to me will be so much fun every.

To be like I got you you got one for me? Did you did you watch?

First of all, I'm offended that was.

A bold ask questions as that game show, but you know, I mean that show has been on.

Yes, she said, you don't know what motherfucker y. Yes, I want from Popeye exactly, come on exactly, buddy. Yeah, and I thank you so much for going on the show on behalf of Sugar Steve and PEPERI. Did he go out for more cigarettes? No, no, he'll come back.

No?

He's unpaid. How can you how could you ask for why?

Three? Frantico and uh yeah, yeah, yeah, yes.

All right, I apologize, yes as a fellow, like hearing did you talk about the way you move and the way you choose, like it really resonates with me so like much expecting love just for what you do, for the way you're doing, like staying true to yourself and me, and like, nah, I don't want to do that. That ain't for you know, you said, I turned down a lot of money in.

This game to say, but also proud to say, all right, we're.

Gonna end the way that we started, and we're all gonna all live in our integrity. We're not gonna self sabotage, We're not gonna dismiss our dreams. How are we gonna breathe?

How are we gonna end breathing?

Or we've been breathing. Actually, I'm cold as ship. I gotta get out of this room myself. Yes, thank you, and uh Supreme, We'll see all next week. Thank you.

We's love.

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