Questlove Supreme: Deon Cole

Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeart Radio. Eight Days of.

Lazy Jones, Eight motherfucking days.

Welcome to This is our fourth annual U Shaka Khan episode. If you're celebrating Hanakah Kwanza.

Chanaka Chaaka is smoking Robins or China.

Yeah, I'm about to say smoky Robinson pronounced it.

Kah. That's all Jams and Steve.

Who's that?

Sharon Jones, Sharon Jones and the dad Kings. Oh wow, eight days of.

That only Honakkah was actually that funky and soulful. I'd be a happy guy.

Well, you know, now's now's the now's the time to reverse that. Now that's one of my favorites. I like that record. Yeah, man, this is uh.

Oh we we should uh before we get started, give a shout out to our good friends Belviani. Got very familiar with them this year, extremely familiar. Yeah, and uh, you know it's Belviani that's handcrafted to be enjoyed responsibly, So you know, give them a shout out. But also let people know that they should drink responsibly and uh, you know, because we know that this could be you know, a celebration for some people can be uh, not too celebratory for other people. Yeah, our guest today is a

This?

This is real?

Man?

YoY yo, Like, dude, I had zero clue that you were this serious on turntables.

Yeah, welcome Dion cole course superior.

Yeah that's just sha ka Khan.

Edition.

Yeah, what's going on, man, king? What's going on? Brother? How y'all doing? Everybody doing? Everybody good?

We're good, brother, We're good.

Yeah.

I didn't think I did. I was thinking.

I was like, man, I didn't think that Dion was such a big house head. But then I realized, I'm like shitty from Chicago.

Of course he's out head. Like okay.

So that's the thing though, Like, if you are, if you're of age in Chicago, especially in the eighties and the nineties when this is blossoming, I mean, am I to assume that that's house Music's almost like a birthright, Like everyone is indulged in in house music culture if you're from Chicago.

Yeah, especially back then, Like back then, it was like everybody, everybody was engulfed in like it was it was something that was our own. It was almost like almost like a secret, like it was like our thing that we was doing. And then if you really, like like I was my age, you wasn't thinking about the world and

It was just something that was just ours and we just, I don't know, we just embraced it. But everybody was.

Everybody was into it, like everybody thugs, gangsters, pimps, everybody.

Like That's what I'm saying. I would I would have thought it was just a niche like kind of a select if you were into this as an underground. But I slowly realized how damn near every person from Chicago, even Common's knowledge of house music history ran deep.

So I didn't know that.

Yeah, cam Com always come on the page and be requested songs for me to play, like just always playing uh put.

Us under.

Take request?

Is it all over my face?

Is it all over my face?

Sometime I do, Yeah, like he'll come on there, like he'll like text me or something and be like, yo, play this, and I'd be like, all right, now, I look it up and I'll play it definitely. But yeah, like, man, our days go back, even back in the day, Common me everybody used to be at this place called the Bizmark when we used to get down the music box a kas all disco and I'm talking like vice lords,

But that's crazy because no matter how hard you was, you still dance.

To the music still. And that's and that's the point I was getting to.

You're being there with like straight thugs with guns everything jamming like jamming the house because it was a spiritual vibe. Man, it was. It was almost tribal what it was, and it was something that we all got along with. And not only gangsters. We're talking like gay people, gangsters, regular people,

Frank were you around for the were you around for like the Ron Hardy? Was that before your time?

Or was that? Okay, man, let me.

Tell you about Ron Ron? Yeah, yo, Ron.

See Frankie Knuckles was like he was the one that was like it was like sophisticated house when Frankie would do it, and there would be mostly gay too, it would be like mostly gay sophisticated scene. But when Ron, yeah, all Jamie principal, all them.

Yeah.

But then but then when but when when Ron started when when they was ending the warehouse, then the music box opened up and that's when Ron came in. And Ron took the music from being sophisticated to like taking chances with it, like you'll hear music that you ain't never really heard before, and your hear music looped in.

A way that you thought it was a whole new song that you just didn't hear.

And he had this thing where he'll play a song and then he would have a real to real, real to real, and he would blend in the real, the real from the turntable, but the real to realid be going backwards and.

He would play and he would play the song backwards on the.

Real the reel, and you will be dancing to it, going bserk that he's playing this track backwards and the track being played backwards sound.

Like a whole new track.

Then used to just like just zone out.

And the sound system was like no sound system I've ever heard still to this day.

And it came from uh, what's that place? Larry Levigne us.

Garage, the dude who did the sound system in Paradise Garage did the sound system at the warehouse at Chicago, and it.

Was yo, there it is and and never never.

Heard nothing like that. To this day, I haven't heard the sound system like that. And he used to thump like through your soul dumb. So yeah, man, that that house scene was big. And the music that Rod that Frankie and them used to play at the warehouse, you couldn't really get it nowhere.

It was exclusive. So what they would do they would make tapes and sell them.

At the Wear at this this uh at this record company in High Park and they and they used to sell like the music. The people would go there and be like, yo, let me get some of that warehouse music. Yo, let me get that warehouse music. And after while they took the musica, they took the wearoff of it. It was just like, let me get some of the house music.

Whatever.

Oh So that's that's the derivation of how uh.

Chicago get salty When other cities started calling their ship house, I.

Was gonna say, what's your relationship with Detroit? Because in Jersey, even.

In Baltimore, No, I think that they always respected that it came from Chicago. From that I know of, they always respected it, respected that, but they knew that that's what that music.

It came from Chicago, and that's what we called it, and that's just what it was.

And then they started adapting it, adapting the two which was always love like I don't want nobody in Chicago never was against Baltimore Jersey.

Or Baltimore had to respect Yeah, yeah, yeah exactly.

So it was it was it was just love like, ain't nobody I've never heard nobody in Chicago tripping over it like that, you know, But it's always been a part of our culture, man, and especially like then it was it was, it was.

It was a hybrid because hip hop was.

Like coming there raw and hard too, so it was like between.

Both of them.

It was just music heaven in Chicago at the time.

When I go to Chicago, like I always find out, like when I go to the cities and figure out, like what the national anthem of that particular club culture is. So what is the my eyes Don't Cry of Detroit? I was about to say, I know the answer is, Baby, I'm Scared of You by Woolmack and Womack. But now I'm also thinking about stepping culture, like how does stepping culture is that different than house culture as well?

Or did it?

Yeah, stepping culture is a whole other culture of Chicago. Stepping culture is also back in disco era, taking a lot of that music and and just the seventies itself. Man, it was great music. Curtis Mayfield, all of them. They have music that had this certain rhythm and there's certain this certain beat pattern that was considered like a music that you can dance to with your woman and not

And it was just it was just it just stuck around.

It just always was a thing, you know, from back in the day, like my father, my.

Mother, everybody used to step. Like to this day, people steps like championship level stepping tournaments.

Yeah, all of that, like tournaments like like practicing all year long, going from party to party, practicing and then at the end of the year you you get into a stepping tournament.

Like if you listening is the ultimate stepping teacher.

Uh me and my wife we stepped we Uh I got her into it. I've been doing it for a couple of years kind of before we got together, but then I got her into it, and.

So Tovid kind of stopped it because you.

Know, we ain't get to, you know, be doing it like we used to. But we'll still we'll be in the kitchen.

We're living.

Everybody what everybody ain't patient? You trying to.

You know because from various people, I hear that like Woo and Woo, Max Mayby, I'm scared of you.

And then the that's Jeffrey, uh making love is gonna last.

That's that's more stepping with this name Jeffrey something God his name.

But yeah, I know you're talking about.

Right, So like what what are those like Chicago only records that like of that era at least.

Well when it like anything by the moments of the shotlights like some some cools, it's like.

Yo stepping groog. But like I said, it's just a.

Temples, Nah, come on, sexy mamas, not a fast Yeah, it's that tempo if you're in that tempo, because I tell you somebody, who's who people get because we we stepped to Earth win the Fire like Earth in the Fire is like a great great group.

But I'm gonna tell you. I'm gonna tell you who people love. It's Kim like Chicago.

Yeah yeah, man.

Look.

God, no, no, no disrespecting Kim, no different, but just the way he pops up on this the way he pops up on this podcast.

I need to want to properly explain the power of Kim.

I'm gonna tell you, Kim is just cool, Yo, It's just it's just a cool.

Look.

We don't know him personally, We don't know him personally, but the music just gott a.

Groove, a sophistic like a cool pimp sophistication type thing that people love in Chicago.

Man, everybody, everybody get.

Maybe everybody I know in's Chicago. Yo, Kim you you.

Roll listen, Yo, Kim is one of them artists, bro, Like for real, Kim is one of them artists that like nobody claims to like.

But this nigga puts up numbers on the board.

So it's like, listen, some of our niggas is lying cuz these records are not buying themselves, you know what I mean.

Niggas fuck with Kim.

Do this concert and trench coats and.

Mustache, Like, yeah, I learned I learned the power of Kim on a drive to New Orleans. I was driving while I was riding with my aunts from New Orleans to well, from Atlanta, New Orleans. We're going New Orleans from Mardi Gras and Nigga. When I tell you, it was a chemthon for six hours. That was when I got school. I was like, Okay, I get it. He he is the Auntie Whisperer Frankie.

For real.

Wait, wait, I gotta I gotta clear something else because I ain't trying to get a little showing.

No more.

Yeah, no disrespect, disrespect to Kim. I just simply I'm not that familiar with Kim's discography. But again, I recognize he puts numbers on the boards open up shows for him in stadiums at like.

Eighteen thousand Cedar.

He Jill Scott opening for Kim, you know, damn near sixteen thousand Cedar in Philadelphia, Like he does the numbers. I just I've never studied him. And yes, as a casual listener, you might dismissively say, oh, okay, that's just algio whatever, But now I get so, Yeah, that was it.

See the whole thing about Kim from I don't. I don't know his history and none of that need.

All I knew was it was homeless.

He got a deal and he blew up and it made people go wow, look at look at that and look at this guy's.

Voice is amazing. He was homeless. Yo, we rock His story is crazy. Yeah, we rocking with We rock away.

So that's okay, let's get Kim on the show.

We gotta do al black first. But as soon as you get.

A black first, No, but you're some stepping on, some stepping you throw some kim on. You could be in the middle of a fight you throw some Kimo. Mother's gonna be like, I better not see your ass around here.

No more.

Man, So, how how long have you been DJing? Just all your life? For a new pandemic skill? Like?

Just no?

Really, I was just talking about this the other day. I sung to a friend and I said.

Can you believe I have not DJ a year yet?

What I'm not so congression.

I don't even know how to DJ on on CDJ.

Wait, you saw the writing on the wall, got you some DJ equipment in March and then.

DJ. No.

No, I've had the equipment for three years and I had it sitting there.

I was living in another house.

I had it sitting there and I tried to use it, and I didn't have the time to practice.

I had a catalog of music.

I always had a catalog music because I just love collective music and especially disco music.

That's my thing. So I always had music.

But I had the equipment, and I never had time to do it. At the time I was filming Blackish, Grownish, Angi Tribeca man Conan, I was. I had no time, and so it just sat there, dusty everything, and I just never did nothing with it. Moved to my new place and still never did nothing with it. It was just sitting up in the box. And when the pandemic and I saw D Nice. I saw d Nice and I was like, and I was on d nice page.

This one.

D Nice had like one hundred and twelve people listening to him. So we was over there, you know, just just checking them out, and I just just like, man, it ain't nothing to do.

I was like, man, I should I should.

Pull out my equipment and just see if I can just try try to do it. And I just did it and was playing around and people was like, don't quit your day job, and you're horrible and stick.

To comedy and where's the joke? Said? They just kept doing it.

And I was joking with him too, because I was like, yeah, I am horrible. Definitely, my blends are horrible and all of that. But I remember Ron Hardy in Chicago. Ron Hardy wasn't no great blend dude.

What he what?

It's what he played that was amazing.

He was a selector.

Yeah, So I just always had that in mind, and I was like, you know what, but I got some music people don't know about.

Like, I got some music, and so I just was like, let me just try it.

And then I started thinking, you know what, it'd be hilarious if I learned how to DJ right in front of everybody's face, and I just I just didn't care and just did it and see to see what happened, and and plus let this music out that I got that people don't know about, that people don't know about.

I'm going to tell.

You if you you've been like Emir, yeah, man, I've been doing this for about seventeen years.

Eighteen I do a world class digit.

You now have.

You?

You you have an amazing toofer where now like I expect you to be your own after party DJ, after your comments.

Two chicks, that's what that's that's what I want to do.

Sing.

Yeah, that's why I want.

That's why I wouldn't call myself and I still don't. I don't be calling myself the DJ because I just don't. I feel like I feel like that's what I do, That's what i'd be doing. But I don't feel like I went through the trenches to call myself a DJ like that. Like I don't even I bag off of anybody even saying that. Sometimes I just be like, I don't think. I think I'm not, but I just think I play music that.

But you have got requests for gigs.

I bet man.

I did the Chosen Few, which is crazy.

I did Chosen Few this year. I did Rock the Vote.

I did Rock the Vote with Louis Vega and DJ Spinner, and I did uh uh souling the horn.

I just did that. That sounds like.

Forget from one imposter syndrome to an other.

Just accept it. Like we think you're a DJ, you're a DJ. Trust me on this one.

When you're sweating while you're DJing, is that still nerves or is it hot in there.

Man, I got air condition, I got I got I got air condition. No, I just be I just be kind of like losing it.

This is what I do when I put a playlist together. I don't listen to it loud. I listened to it. It was very low speakers, and I just I just listened to the blends of it. I don't even really listen to the whole song because I know the song, or if it's a new song that I hear, I listen to it, but I won't listen to it loud.

And I listened to it a couple of times.

But the experience is when I'm playing it loud for the first time, everybody listening to it, and.

I'm on, I'm on these, I'm on, I'm on these boys right here, these speakers, these and.

Loud you last your music, Yo, I blast.

Look at this. This is.

Off my speaker, the size of.

No, I be rattling, rattling, this whole joint be rap.

You feel it through the screen when you're watching them.

That's why I asked, oh yeah, and that joint too up there, like I be radling, rattling, and.

So yo, I be feeling it.

Man, I just be like, I feel music, man, I feel it. Like I always was saying to myself too, I was like, if I wasn't a comedian, I'll.

Probably be an A and R somewhere. Man, Like, I just love music. And maybe I'm just maybe I don't know the ends and out of an R, but I just thought that. But I just love music, man, I just love feeling. Now.

I think that's what comes through in your sets because you know the records. And that's the thing now with when I tell when I talk, the cats coming up, whatever, it's like with DJing like a mirror can give you his hard drive right and just you know twenty thousand songs. But if you don't know the songs, if you don't know, okay, this is the part, that's the break to play do with these into this. Yeah, if you don't know what to do with it, that shit is just files on the laptop.

It means nothing.

But if you know the records, that's what makes you good DJ because you know how to play them right.

Like like even like request.

The thing the thing that like like request is that certain like you can hear DJs play music and that's cool, But then you got DJs who play music where you want to know the origin of this music.

You want to know who made it. You want to know who's selling. You want to know.

You you want to know history of music just from the way somebody play it.

You know what I mean?

And Man, as many times many nights haven't been on your page.

Listen to you. Man, I've sat there.

Like with another computer, Man, just like yo, what is it?

But that's why I do it. I do it so cats can exam it and learn it.

But that's what I'm saying, Like what you're doing and with your nariety and your popularity, Like even I have a deeper respect for disco culture and house music culture that I thought I had. But with you, I see that almost as an education. Like that definitely keep Sunday Service even when we quote stop wearing our masks and get out.

Into the water.

Nah, we need to make Sunday service a thing, Sunday afternoon service, you know, from wherever you are in LA or that sort of thing.

Thank you, man.

And that's the goal, Man, to keep rocking with it, going from some different cities, man and coming through and get down and get down.

With some other great cats. Man and we just have a night of it. Man. It just just make it happen.

Man, it just just played good music man, and and uh, you know, excite each other, you know, because that's what it is. Man, that's exciting each other too. And uh, you know, just shining shining light on something because it it'd be so many people that come to my page and they'd be like, I love this and never heard.

It, never heard life. They'd be like like, where did this come from?

Existed?

Never even knew it existed, and be like what is this music? It's called black white and they and they, and more importantly, they'd be like, I remember this woman was like, I don't know why I feel I feel this way.

She said, I feel stupid sometimes like feeling good about this. She was like it's weird. And I was like, wow, that was important. When she said that, I was like, man, that's good.

And that just drives you to just keep searching for music and pulling up music and all.

People ain't used to music just moving their bodies before it even hit their minds.

Yeah, that's true and a big you know, and a big part of it is also, you know, now's the time for taste makers to sort of grab the brass ring again because you know, previously those who are leading in DJs were just.

Basically doing this pump shit yeah, for the sake of, you know, their own popularity and their own but not music. They feel like all the times DJs tell me like, yo, man I just I wish I could do what you do. Like you just do what you want to do. You can make.

You know, so hopefully now somebody told me that they was like, man, I wish I could play play the music like you play. And I was like, why can't you because, like you know, you just got to play with the people.

And I'm like, I don't agree.

With that because they they they only get It's to me, it's kind of odd for you to get out the car, listen to the radio, going to a party and then hear what you heard on the radio, right, you know what.

I could have kept my ass in the car.

I could have got my ass in the car. I could have got my ass to the car.

So no, it's for you to like break new music. And yeah, I definitely understand you got to get to people what they want. They love to sing some stuff, but it's just it's just a mixture. Man, it's just a mixture of of new, old and old that's new to you. You know, if you ain't never heard it, it's new.

Yeah.

Okay, you think you with with you doing the like your DJ sets, you say you pretty much were learning how to DJ live like in front of an audience. Do you think was that same kind of mentality as that what led you to do your comedy, Like when you put out your like I think the one hour set you put out of just you working stuff out.

Yeah, we're working it out. It's it's yeah, it's like it's taking chances, man, that's all it is. And it's like, you know, you had these thoughts in your head of what you think and you don't know until you know. You know, Hell, I could probably be the best astronaut in the world. I don't know because I ain't never go up. But if you send me to the movie, I'm like, I might do some cool shit up there. I just don't know, you know, until I know.

And shit, you know. So that's that's how I feel like.

I was like, man with my with my my working it out comedy special thing, I was like, man, it'd be cool if I gave people material that I was not throwing away but wasn't used, and make a special out of material that I wasn't using. Because if people like this, wait till they see what I kept.

So you're seeing your your Stevie Wonders story is a throwaway story.

It was.

It was a story that I told before, but I didn't but I didn't use, but I didn't use in.

My stand up like that.

It'd be a story that I would just tell if people were talking about stories, I tell the story now I had as I had it as a joke before, and I did it as a joke before, but I think people. The funny thing was people wouldn't believe me, and so they thought that it was just fake, and so.

I instantly believed that.

Stevie a forty nine paragraph text.

Anybody watching this right now, if you don't have a text from Quest love you, you don't know what texting is.

Here. It's not about technical use. Quest text got fade in in the corners. Like I laughed.

I've never laughed so hard a routine in my life, because yeah, I know that no one wants to believe you.

And so so I quit doing it.

But people was legendary.

People were kind.

Of like, man, don't talk about Stevie like that. And so I did the joke and then I just let it die down. And then when I was doing my special, I was like, I should bring this back up. And then I was like, you know what, I ain't gonna bring it back up, but I'm gonna tell people the story to fill time in the room because I couldn't think of no more new material I wanted to work on, so I just told the story at the same time.

So when I was editing the special, I was like, I should.

Throw this story in that, and I just was like, let me throw it in there.

And give it to the people.

And man, on I think Facebook alone, that story alone, just that story alone, that like one point eight million views.

That's crazy.

Have you heard anything recently since it's been out, since the special has been up?

Oh no, I've heard nothing from his camp. Like there's this one girl from his camp. She used to always be like, take that down, don't do this, but she'd be cool though it wasn't no dish, she would be cool, she would be cool about it.

But now I haven't heard nothing else from from them at all. But I see Stevie.

Every now and then in La like I'll pop up somewhere and I'll be somewhere like that's what happened before. I was at this bar chilling and his boy came over and tapped me on the shoulder and was like, hey, Stevie in the corner, like, come on, you want to talk to you.

And I was like, I ain't going over there.

This boy.

Come see what Stevie want.

I'm like, no, man, I ain't going over there, Like dude, get over here.

Man.

I won't get into the specifics, but I got one time.

I got what was.

It called when you when you're left holding the bag? I got scapegoated into having.

To be a bad guy about a musical decision that impacted him and.

He was kind of left with the impression that that was a mirror's call or mir's fault that that happened. And this was at another event and I came to work to the Tonight Show the next week, the next Monday, and he was the guest on the show and instantly like to know my production manager, Keith, Like he, Keith, you got that one person in your life.

That lives for telling you bad news.

You know, like the day I got in trouble with Michelle Bachman, it was like, you're wanted in Lauren Lauren Michael's office, like which is basically you're about to get fired right now, like that sort of like he lives with that.

She's like, it's important, Stevie Wonder wants to talk to you right now.

And I'm like, wait, why you know I guess about last Friday, And I was like, that wasn't my fault.

Well, he won't talk to you, just like he lives for that.

And the whole thing was it was it was like somehow the Godfather where The thing I was amazed that was that he was sitting at a table and I guess he was warming up his voice because we were about to sound check, and he had these two scalding hot like crafts of tea, but they were sitting on the edge of the table.

And it's only me and him in the group, me and him in the room.

And on top of that, he has like a bag of muffins and butter and different jams and jelly, and I'm watching him just navigate like it's normal.

But he's also like reaching his arm over ever so.

Slightly to that hot craft of hot Tea and I'm on the receiving end, so it's like you could almost like like that sort of thing. And at one point he reached out too, like he was reaching for like more butter, and reached his arm out and I grabbed the craft.

He said, no, no, no, no, I know where it is.

I got it.

I got it. Oh do you know what I'm doing right now? But the whole people knowing, man, yo, man, he knows.

And the whole time he was like, yeah, so uh Friday, uh, And I'm like, I try to play it off like yeah, man, it was so much fun, Like I really try to. She's no man's you know. I just want to make sure we cool, you know.

And then I just had to play dumb like I didn't know what happened, like I had to cut this song short or some ship you know that sort of thing and get him off the stage or whatever.

Yeah, you know, you know, like when you're doing that high Boys ship.

Problem. But I knew.

I was like, Yo, he's going to he's going to spell this call and hot Tea on your lap. He's well, I guess at some point we should say since this is the Christmas episode Happy Holidays.

I was like, I'm happy. I'm celebrating my holiday.

What you're doing for ally Bro? What you're doing.

Thaniel? Nothing?

I know, Like, is it really Christmas?

Is this is?

I'm so happy to not have the pressure or the just the stress of traveling.

Nigga.

You got kids, and I'm certain they want a p S five.

No.

Yeah, with my son, he want the Xbox.

And what's the difference because I'm talking to a bunch of kids that are like, I want an Xbox?

Like what, so what is it like? It's like smartphone versus Apple, like versus It's not necessarily that. It's more sort thing of like with a particularly my son. So the way games are now, like gaming is basically just a whole another social network. And so if you're if you have an Xbox, then you know you can chop it up with aut your homies on Xbox.

If you got PS five, then you know you can do it as well.

And so for my son, he's fifteen, I listen, keep on slipping.

Yeah, so he's fifteen nine.

So a lot of his homies they like be running two K and his kind of social network is all on the Xbox.

So it's really a social thing for them.

So to me, I'm a PS five guy, but I'm not a social gamer. Like my game is just solo. I'm not you know, talking to people online. I'm just playing. But for the younger kids, it's a social aspects O Xbox. From what I see, that seems to be where most of the youngest that's what they that's where they get it in.

At God got it? God?

Is there a world for me, like, you know, a world where I can fit in and just play like my regular two D games and whatnot, or I think you could if you come from the PS five. They got games that like you could it's like a yeah, ship you might get a man. Well, they do got all those simulators. So now they got all the simulators. You can get the Nintendo simulators, you can get them. And they got like all the game some games and yeah.

What's a good what's a good virtual game?

That's a good question like that that they have.

Yeah, the VR, I mean that's not really something I get into, but they but all the systems have them. I was running and U I was running Resident Evil seven I think like like two years ago, and it's like a survival horror joint.

Oh I used all the time, nigga.

And with the virtue Nigga. That ship is a whole nother spirit. I was like, no, I don't want this smoke.

Blowing my mind right now.

You're saying that they got it for virtual Uh yeah, yeah, you can.

Get the like that this headset or whatever like I speak, but Resident Evil seven bro, you can have that joint.

I was like, man, right there, yeah, it's really like, oh no, I gotta do that.

I gotta watch that. I gotta get that. I used to always play that.

Well.

I don't know, man, it doesn't not that it doesn't feel like Christmas, but I don't know it is not.

It is the most Christmas I feel.

I've been bought no gifts for nobody.

I've been bought nothing for nobody, even myself whole entire year, like nothing.

Like on a birthday, not a not a nothing, nothing not.

I just I bartered DJ gigs. I'll be like, yeah, DJ, you're party for an hour.

So that's.

Because I think the thing is I think just this year, like it really just causts us to slow down and stop. And you know, it's like you would give people gifts for them to use, you know, outside of their homes, Like Yo, I'm gonna sing you on a trip somewhere. I'm an and it's just like Nigga, we all in the house, Like so I.

Go to Jordans. I can't do massages.

And days at the spa ship like that. I would give my wife to the spa all the time.

But that's why Amazon is killing the game.

I thought, yeah, I mean they killing the game.

But you know, you buy a gift for somebody, it's the wrong size, Like it ain't even worth it. It's like, everybody just chill this whole year. When next year come around, we're gonna make up for all of this. We're gonna make up for all our birthday, all our birthday parties.

We're gonna make birthday. I know I'm gonna have a.

Birthday party twice next year. Rt, I'm having two birthday parties. I'm going hard. I'm gonna double up on everything. But right now, we just gotta chill.

It's like everybody, it ain't not next year, babe, twenty two.

Twenty twenty two, twenty twenty two, so we gotta triple up.

Then let's see.

July and August of twenty twenty one.

No, bab, I think it's gonna take at least a year for the vaccine everybody to kind of make the round take it to.

Because we gotta find We gotta find out how long it lasts. Don't nobody know that. We don't know if it's forever or if it's for a year.

I think it's for you'll there, to be honest, they haven't. They haven't decided yet. If it's gonna better, you got to keep taking They haven't decided yet. It's just like take it and we figure it out. Right now, you are on your face, like, my man, you know what I'm saying.

Figure out? Ball player dude.

Yeah, he fell on his face because he had COVID months before. My doctor, my doctor friend was just breaking it down to me because he was like with people, I think it's yes.

People don't understand that.

Like once you have covidus with your heart and the shape of your heart.

And it changes the shape of your heart, you.

Said, like, yeah, it has something to do with this SI.

It does.

After it's over and out of your body, it does. It fucks with your heart.

Yeah, man, Wow, that's my man, Terry Hannah DJ Terry Hannah, he got Yeah, that's the home.

Yeah, Yeah, Terry got it. Terry got it. Wow, Terry got it.

And Deebo when Deebo rest in piece to Deebo, Deebo had he had it before he got over COVID.

That's the ended up catching it again.

Same thing with the young Wow he had.

It a minute ago, app and he caught it again and that's how Debo died.

Wow.

So I didn't know that was his cause of death.

Of Even so, even so everybody talking about they catching it and they cool after they catch.

It or they are mun Now I ain't.

I am legend.

We still don't know the long term We still don't know the long term effects of I think they're gonna be studying this ship for the next decade. Man, Like, we still don't know. Even if you quote unquote get over it, we still don't know what getting over it completely looks like.

Yeah.

What we do know is by by the fall of twenty twenty one will probably if we're lucky, we're fifty masks, but we're not maskless until twenty twenty two.

Fall twenty twenty one, people gonna we're gonna have We're gonna be able to be like, Okay, we can see how long this is going to affect people.

They're gonna know more about it.

If we should take a shot of the year nah, because they they tested people months earlier prior to this. So around the fall, that's gonna let us know if it wear off, if it doesn't or whatever.

Dey'all was lucky that y'all got to get blackish out a little bit.

Most people know they getting shut down.

Hey, we're still shooting and it is I'm gonna tell you something, man.

So yeah, what's the protocol of shooting a television show now during this period?

Like what's take me through your day? Like how early do you have to get up? And what's testing?

Like? Yo, let me tell you.

So I get tested every day even if I'm not filming, because if if they have to they want to know. Also if they have to move a scene around, I'll be ready. So they make sure they make sure that you test like every day our day.

Now it's way longer.

So if it take us if it take us six hours to shoot the scene, now it take us like nine, well eight, After every scene we got to leave out, They got to disinfect, then we come back in and they got to move the cameras around. Everybody got to leave out. It's like a whole whole process, man.

So question all right, because I don't know how what child labor laws are or whatever, and plus children now they're teenagers.

Yeah, but does that does that also change? In Hollywood? The uh?

I know that there's a four to five hour limit for like actors under I think fourteen or fifteen or whatever.

Does that also change? Does this also change that rule as well?

I'm not I'm not sure, but I do know this. They get those kids in and out. They get them, They get them in and out, like definitely, Like like if you got a scene with one of the kids, you it's gonna move a little bit. It's still longer, but it's gonna move a little bit more faster because they're gonna get them in and out. So they do everything that they possibly can do in order to make sure everybody's cool or whatever. But but it's totally it's totally different now.

Man.

You you have to mask everywhere where everybody in the individual trailers, and it's just nerve wracking because you got so many people. Because another thing too, when you do makeup, you can't put.

A mask on.

You got to put one of the plastic things on your face, and hopefully nobody's in six feet there.

You you stay away.

From them because if you put a mask on, it's gonna mess your makeup up.

And uh so you.

Gotta just stay away from everybody as much as possible.

Man, And you know it.

And does that give does that give enough time for I mean, I don't know what the protocol is, but I assume that, like you guys have to like rehearse lines and rehearse the rhythm.

And so we come in and we rehearse and then we go back and we change and then we come back and we shoot it.

But we rehearse with our mask on. Yeah, we do that.

But uh yeah, it's it's it's it's it's so it's very tedious.

It's very tedious. But we at the.

Same token were working, and uh a lot of people wish they could be working, and.

A lot of people losing their homes, you know.

With l a right because it's such it's the industry.

So y'all know, I mean, I don't know if everybody knows this but like a lot of these sets and stuff, these are essential services, Like the state has now said that, like movie sets are essential because this town will die.

It will die, manole. It was and it was doing that.

People were losing their ship left and right, and they still are and they.

Still are, Like Hollywood is like, wow, right now you are.

Tom Cruise.

I was gonna ask you and when to cruise?

Ran taking y'all, y'all on my mama. I felt that, y'all in real life, in real life.

I was like, Yo, it's Tom, Like, dude, do you know how many people shut.

The fuck down and y'all got the opportunity to make it work.

Y'all sitting around here bullshitting and walking around and whispering to each other.

And ship already got shut down.

Yeah, Like, man, what are you doing whispering to a motherfucker?

Like the worst way to communicate with a nigga during the during.

The pandemic, right, I snacked out of here, you whispering through a sound like.

Just text tomorrow?

Yo.

Tom was mad, like I'm a producer, like.

I thought I thought.

I heard him say nigga a few times.

Around with you.

Niggas, y'all, better.

Tom, Yeah, Tom, Tom, Tom letting it out the way that it was.

Supposed to be let out. Man, But it is, it's it's uh, it's it's tedious stuff.

So like when y'all shoot, like, I guess I'm not a love scene, but like, is it no physical like if if Anthony has the kiss Tracy or something like, is it none of that?

You know, none of.

That if you if you look at this season of Blackish, we are especially the office scenes that we do, where we we nine times out of ten we are not in the office no more. We in a breakroom, but we can like spread out and we don't have to.

Sit right next to each other.

So we got a couple episodes where we're in the breakroom, but the majority of the season we we I mean, I mean a couple episodes where were in the office together, but the majority of season we're in the breakroom where we can stretch.

Out out or whatever.

But yeah, everybody kind of spaced out, definitely, definitely mentally.

So how does that affect when you plan the scene? You know, when you know you're in a scene where you have to you know, ostensibly assumed it or portrayed it. Everything is fine or we're joking, we're laughing, but in your mind, you know, like nigga, it's a whole lass plague we try not to catch. How do you disassociate from that?

I take a deep breath before I say my lines and then.

Hold your breath.

Ship.

I was like, and if you're talking to Laurence Fishburn and Jennifer like you really.

Yeah want boy, I'll be hold my breathna be your Navy seal right now, dude, way I know my breath.

I turn on, I turn around, do my lines, and somewhere in the quarner.

Man I thought I was the only one that did that. Serious.

Lauren's up in the bubble wrap. Y'all make sure.

They're good, lad, Lawrence, don't be playing Lawrence. Jennifer, both of them, they boy, they serious. They they will get on your ass. Laurence fish Burnt laws be like it in that calm voice. Mun't be like you must do what you're supposed to do in order for everyone to get through this. You want to stand, you'd be like this, yes, sir, I just stopped just talking my shirt saying for no reason.

Yeah, I don't think you have to tell older black people.

No oh no, no, no, no, no.

You younger people that.

Are like feel invincible and ship.

Yeah they yeah, they killing us, young people killing us. Man, I like to shorten it. That's what it is, young people.

Niggas crackers.

Uh tips.

No, it's saying, oh the tip board, the tips is tipping the tips, the tips is they did you.

Here today's black contract speech? There was?

Yeah? Yeah, Q made a speech?

Oh man, yeah what was?

What was?

What was in today's more black? I mean, like, Biden's not in office yet, like you can't.

He's he's demanding, he's giving his demand.

Yeah, and I'm like, let him get on.

It's okay, Biden said, let people demand from him that feel like they have added to, you know, bringing him to that place.

Biden's okay, don't worry about it.

A mirror, He's I know, not for that.

Look.

I love Cube, man, that's my guy. We all do.

Man, Like.

I don't know, I just just just generally from anybody like that wants to give a hot take.

I need them. I need to feel like they really know what the political process is first, where you just walk in the door.

My whole thing is this though, I'm like this regardless if he knows, if he doesn't know, at least at least he's doing something like I don't see nobody else doing ship and so and and this is what I'm saying, Like I'd rather take something I believe the right place than nothing. Yes, I rather got something to nothing, nothing.

Reading the wrong.

Thing, something right right? I ran nothing again, Cubert, it's like Judo, all your work. Oh you talking about the game, Cuba. I was thinking about the actual Cubert. Djqban got the all the way funk out of.

Here, Cuban watching me again. I just I just I don't know. I just respect what Cue did. Man, And I'm like.

Just making I acknowledge his heart was in the right place.

Yes he if he was gonna do that ship to me, you should have did that ship in twenty six like because it's you know what I'm saying, because it's one thing to say, Hey, listen, I didn't vote for this motherfucker, but listen, this is what we got.

Let's try to work with what we got.

You say that in twenty sixteen, top of twenty seventeen, nobody's mad.

It's like, all right, well, let's let's see.

But pulling this ship down, you know them three weeks, three weeks primary.

It's like like, nigga, come on, but look, let me ask you this though, Like if he if he came to the table with no agenda as far as I mean, I ain't saying no agenda, but if he came to the table and he wasn't biased, and he wasn't towards being a Democrat, he wasn't a Republican. He just came to the plan going, who's gonna help up black people with this? And the Republicans go, man, we want to do it or we want to see it, and he go all I find cool?

Like, Like though, is.

That if I'm paying attention and a leopard, don't change the stripes like that.

And they gonna change that ship three weeks for y'all niggas get ready to go vote.

And the thing is is that I would have already known coming in from the door that this this is more about a photo opportunity or bragging right opportunity for Trump than it is about helping.

You're not you should negotiate with a fucking scammer dog right right?

I mean, the contract it's very long. I'm curious if niggas.

I haven't said much because I ain't read the contract to comment.

I do, but I'm just curious.

That I did. I went through I went through this and so what it was.

I read a little bit of it.

Absolutely not not enough to not enough to say like it's horrible or it's not, but I read.

I read through a little bit of it. But like I said, I've always just gave.

Him credit for at least bringing the idea up because prior to him doing that, I can't recollec I can't recall anybody talking about them helping out black areas and black people and ship like that.

I just black lives matter, but not like a celebrity.

Yes, I always gave you love for that.

I think it's celebrities.

You have to use your voice, like if you're want to, you know, if you want to, you know, use your.

Voice and commit.

I would say, use your voice to like amplify the people that actually do the work in the community, you know what I'm saying, People that know policy, people that like put your money behind that they actually do the work right into the political processing.

But what are those people doing?

Yeah, but moving with progress? I mean in comparison.

There are people doing it, but you got to be actively you have to be actively active. I'm sorry, you have to be actively informed or who's doing the work. There are people on the ground doing the work. Of course, all news Georgia, the Stacy Abrams or whatever. But it's just like, you know, I'm not saying that, I'm not saying that Cubans trying to be performed.

No, no, no, listen.

And you know he clapped back at me on one post. I'm not thinking that Cubans trying to be performative. I believe that his heart is in the right place. But last I checked, absolutely, this entire administration is not.

About the advancement of black people at all.

A matter at all and just by even you taking that cont like because the thing is, because here's the thing. Let me just be a humpre sent clear, Like we love c Cuba's hip hop, Like say what you want about this shit he doing now, but Nigga Cube was one of my favorite like ever, you know what I'm saying.

Deaf certificate is one of it.

But the thing about it, you know that people that we were trying to understand is like listen, we're not ashamed or disappointed in Cube that he tried. We're disappointed that he didn't see the fucking game to begin with.

You know what I'm saying.

It's like, nigga, you you got fucking scam, bro, you know what I mean. Like they were never gonna give you a real shot. You were never gonna have a real conversation with Trump or any of them niggas.

They were just he was above that.

He might have thought he was the one, just like Steve Harvey thought he was the one, Like you know, it's a certain level of.

But that that's the thing, like the thing that I knew that it's exhausting. And I brought this up before with people like, ah, man, I can't, I can't watch the news.

I can't. And even this year, I stopped watching the.

News as obsessive as obsessively as I used to. But it's like since twenty sixteen, Since January twenty twenty sixteen, I've never I've not shut my eyes once. I mean sure, I was abreast on everything that was happening. And that's forward too. We don't have that luxury no more.

Yah, Yeah, that's that's definitely true. Man, Like I said, Man, we don't. We don't know the blueprint to none of this shit. We we sitting up trying to figure this out as it goes along, and nobody got the answers to nothing. So the way I feel is, if anybody come with anything, I'm going that's cool. I'll let you know how I feel about it. But I'm glad you did something. Now let's keep it moving. Now what we're gonna do?

Okay, So that was so this is what they tried to do. Okay, Now just look at the let's look at.

The black contract, and let's see how we really can all come behind this and make it happen and come together. But we need we need a place to come together. We ain't ain't got no place to come together. But we ain't got nobody to talk to. We ain't got nobody to power with. Because he get if we if we had that kind of organization and that type of togetherness.

Then he could have could have came to the to the.

Table with a group of people that's over our kind or whatever, you know, just like when when Nick Cannon, when Nick Cannon did that ship, they had Nick Cannon talk to like the head of the Jewish community.

Who they talked to. For we ain't got man, We ain't got a We ain't got a nigga to talk to.

Not one had they had, They had talk to Charlamagne, you know what I know.

And that's crazy, but that's what I'm saying, Like we we gotta come together and we all gotta stand out something and have a place to go to, have a place to talk type, a place to pow wow, and we and we don't even have that.

So if he got something and he like, man, let me just bring it up.

Honestly, I think I agree with just Indyan. I just think that we have to have those conversations. I think we just have to have those conversations privately. Think a big problem like social media like Twitter, Instagram, white people have never had unfettered access to the thoughts of niggas, and that is not necessarily always a good thing, you know what I mean, Like they.

Know too much. Like when you see all these you know, all these damn you know.

People that got caught blackfishing, like the chick from the chick that was at that school and Rachel Docal and yeah, all the yeah, all the all the all them white women that was pretending to be.

And that was like.

Jessica whatever, the chick, the Jewish chick that was pretending to be black, Like I think much of that.

Yeah, yeah, man, yeah, the bitch of scamming like a motherfucker.

But like, yeah, so I just think like we're seeing they're they're able to like put on that costume so readily easily, because never before in the history of this fucking country have you been able to see like our language, like our inside jokes, like what they call aa ve e whatever, like all the just.

Our cultural shorthand that we have.

Nigga, they see that shit, right, they can pick it up and you know, learn it and apply it.

But how but how can they when we don't know what we want? We gotta know what we want.

As much as a cliche it is.

You know, when I first heard this term on like news programs, news pundits saying.

We are not a mon oflift. We're not a mon oflift.

I believe that now more than ever because I didn't realize one how conservative a lot of us are. I didn't realize how, you know, like there's like six to seven.

We got apartments.

Yeah, the thoughts of black people that aren't as unified as I thought.

We were not at all, bro y'all.

We're so not unified that that contract that ice Cube put out.

I briefly ran through it, y'all. Black Lives.

Matter manifesto from five years ago. And if the nigga would have read that ship and God would him sorry, no shade, but nigga would attitude that ship, maybe we could get at least get together on that.

But that's what I'm saying. We gotta know what we want.

Black people don't come together as many shades as it is. Of us as it is, there's been many different kind.

Of different ideologies, ya, So we.

We gotta come together. We gotta come together on what we want to be called. We gotta be we gotta come together.

We don't we some niggas, some niggas school would be a nigga some nigga school would be.

We gotta come together on what we're gonna be called.

We gotta come together on what we're gonna take a stand on. We can't just be taking the stand on some ship for a hot man and then that's out. I remember everybody was like fuck Starbucks. Three months later, niggas was whipped cream the fuck out around us.

Oh, everybody was muffing latte. They up the ass, that's what they was. Mother fucking Gucci. Fuck Gucci. Next thing, you know, Wonder War Show. Later, niggas was geez the fuck up. We got to know what we want. I'm telling you, look, look.

We we We was with Gucci for a second.

Yeah, look we so we so fucked up in the head.

YO.

As far as black people, that's why we don't have no long term black designers. You know why because black people. Because black people don't want to support ship. They think everything played the fuck out. They don't want to come together and be like, this is the brand that we're gonna have and now we're gonna rock. Fuck how you think it's played out and not we need. That's why we don't have long term black designers.

We don't got no no motherfucking.

Perry Yellois, no mother Ralph Lauren because niggas feel like it's played out and don't want to wear it. Instead of instead of motherfucking respecting ship and representing ship like like we should, we don't come together on that ship.

I think I think that ideology is changing.

I'm supporting like all gear, I'm rock and now and that's love.

And always don't just wear it for the moment.

Not just February.

Always wear it because that's what why folks do. White folks when they when they when they fuck with Michael Cores, motherfucker, they gonna they're gonna wear that ship.

They're gonna wear that.

Michael.

Black people. Black people be like, yeah, Cross Colors was cool. We out that ship, fucked us ship.

Because it didn't keep Yeah, you're gonna go buy some footboom right now.

They have to evolve too, I guess. I guess they have to evolve too. You know what I give you that they gotta evolve too. But it's up for us to let them know that as well.

Like Yo, but we gotta stick with these companies. We gotta some of them try to us. Some I'm gonna try to evolve, but people just don't fuck with them no more.

People be like But I think.

I think a lot of that has to do with I mean, I think what there's some truth what you're saying. I think that's kind of just the gift in the curse of black people is that we because we are the most creative, the most kind of forward thinking in terms.

Of just the stuff we create. We're always thinking forward.

And so if you even look at music, right, if you look at every every art form of music, like every class of music black people we have, they have the same pattern. We create it, we'll nurture it, we elevate it, and then we abandon it. Yeah, gospel, blue's jazz, like I mean hip hop to some degree, you know what I mean. And so I think that's just kind of who we are. It's like we just make these things that we think are fantastic and the great, and then we're like, all right, I made that, Okay, onto

They realize how much they sell it back to us. I get it, Like how they niggas selling that ship back to us.

Let's give light to uh limblin, Let's give shots to uh.

I mean, is is fifty dollars on or off?

Like?

Are we still on Virgil Virgin Virgil? Is he back in the house or not? Is Virgil back in the house off?

White Virgil was kicked out the house for a seconded him out the house for there's I'm Preston uh Victor LeMond.

I think shout out, shout.

Out to my man, a collective thoughts in Chicago. Also my man, uh dirty.

Milk, my man, Daniel Daniel, he got dirty milk and uh we Yeah, those are some great brands, right, Definitely Gucci.

All right, there's celebrities. She's coming up in the world and Romeo Hunt. So there's But I think.

I think the gold is not just to wear this stuff, but rock with them as long as you can and hold them accountable, to evolved and rock with them and let these people be the voice.

Let let them speak.

For us as long as other clothing designers come along, man, because right.

Now it's just sad to me that we don't have no long term black clothes and designer take.

Doesn't even think of none. I felt bad.

A lot.

You No, no, no, you're not old school. No no, no, I'm thinking of all the ones that passed like that was another one.

I was thinking of college.

All of that, you know.

Not but it's another tracy yeah yeah, no, like no, and if it is one, I don't know about it, and I should.

I don't even think we make a good shoe ship.

Nothing because because like you know what you remember, you remember when Timberland.

Timberland was like, we don't make our shoes from folks.

Everybody went crazy, like, fuck Timberland, I ain't wearing that ship.

I was personally, yeah, niggas.

Like I told you before about the Starbucks, niggas be like, yeah.

Fuck that ship, but then they go right back to it.

But at the same token, when Timberland said that not hid the same thing, and I mean low key, I was like, I kid.

It because I kind of get it. Because you don't want niggas.

Coming through rock of your ship saying this played out and then the case because when niggas say it's played out, it's played out.

Just as just as I'm not Dutch and true religion.

Okay, so I'm not.

I'm not I'm not too hip to the shoe game as I am the fashion game. But definitely there's there's some designers to look out for. J. J. Gray Uh.

Okay, yev Rauh.

There's a brother of Ellis and these are like high end.

Uh.

There's one l F l S like father like sons shoes, uh Keanna Barnes, Stella Hughes and these are like high.

No, man, there's there's I'm telling you this.

This could be the paradigm shift where you know, I'm definitely more uh you know, aware of black businesses then I was not previously or using my dollar for that.

So that's what everybody's doing for the holiday season too. If you notice, it's been a lot of promotion about around small businesses, black business, like make sure you you know so.

Ets he got a black business store.

Everybody, I mean even Steve got a black business Christmas sweatshirt on with What.

About my man, my man, my man Rich Fresh too.

Rich Fresh Trush in the list we should actually you know.

Rich Rush, he do clothes for everybody. Man do it for like black design? A cool dude.

You do a lot of stuff for Layla Way that stuff she bear with the spring with the strike with like the yellow and black stripe, that's that's yeah, that's Rich Fresh Rich Fresh black design. And he called too, you do the only way uh everybody? Man, So yeah, shut out to.

Rich definitely shut up. Wait a minute, this is weird.

This is the the one episode where I had so many craft questions about your comedy that we didn't talk anything about your comedy setup. All right, so wait before we wrap, I do want to know how does one stay sharp when you don't have an audience to sort of work this on.

So, like Dave Chappelle and a couple other comments, they've been doing shows, they've been going on, they've been doing show. Yeah, yeah, they've been doing that, and that's cool. You know you feel comfortable enough to do that, and that's love. Me personally, I'm not sharp. I have not performed since February, and that is like a no no. I am terrified to get on stay to a lot of people don't know that. I am terrified to even perform right now. I've been

About me getting back on stage. And I have it because I know I'm not sharp, no more.

So pre pre March twenty twenty.

What not?

What was your regiment? Okay?

I know about the AVI spots like going to uh not comedy seller, the comedy store, But where's where's like a secret spot where you work shit out? Like is the Comedy Act theater still the thing like where Robin Harris and all those guys used to work out.

Like noah, nah, it's not a thing.

No more, Comedy Act used to be real dope. Shout out to Mike Williams on that. But uh, me personally, I would perform at the improv called the Lab and the lab room only seats forty people.

That's where I got.

The material from to put together for working it out. Okay, forty people in this room and work out there.

That's it. That's that was my ideal spot to do. That.

Do some open mics every now and then, pop in places, but that would be it for me personally because a lot of times when you perform in LA it's so Hollywood and the ain't no telling who in the audience, And when you get on stage, your mind is set to do one thing, but then it changes up because you're about to go and stay, and right before you go on, they go, oh, Ray Ramino is gonna do five in front of you, and then you gotta wait,

I don't want them to see me until I'll work it out.

Has it been easier or harder to write the funny in these this year?

You know what's odd?

It's still comedy, right, I mean yeah, but when it comes to writing, you don't want to write with everybody else writing that's me, And I think of a joke that's too that I'd be like, I know everybody gonna do a joke about COVID and mask and this and that, and then I try to think about how can I say it this different? And then I go, well, I don't know, I think somebody gonna think like that.

And sometimes I overthink myself. But I was talking to.

I was talking to Chris Rock one day, and Chris Rock was like, don't underestimate yourself on how quick you write a joke. It was like, because Prince, it took Prince three months to write a song and then someday it took him an hour to come up with a hit. It was like, so if something come to you that easy, don't dismiss it like it's just maybe it just came to you easy that way, right, And so I'm learning to do that because I've thrown away so much material.

Good Karen jokes that you were like everyone's telling the Karen jokes.

When when nobody thought of it the way that I did, but I thought, but I thought that they did. And so I keep forgetting that I'm different, and.

People do that. People think like, you keep forgetting that you're something else.

This is something you're the difference. It's not the joke that's you.

You that people need.

To say, it's so busy, you're so busy trying to write the joke, you leave you out of it. And by you leaving you out of it, you dismissed the joke because it's.

Kills the joke. Yeah, so that's what I've been learning.

I've been learning to just go to trust myself and stockpile as much as possible, and then when it's time for me to finally get on stage and go rock, go rock, and just go do it. But I can't wait till that day man where I can get on stage and I can just stretch you out and just I know wherever I'm going, I'm going somewhere where I could do two hours straight no interruption.

Just do you do you stockpile by like post it or just your phone, my phone.

I voice record or just jotted down or whatever. And uh yeah, I just stockpil put it all together and put it all together.

And it's no order, there's no nothing. I just got it all written down. So yeah, I can't wait to get up to finally go do it, though, But as of right now, somebody called me recently was like, Yo, we're doing the show.

It's gonna be a virtual thing. It's gonna be forty thousand people.

I was like, nope, really, somebody offered me some big money and I said, nope.

Really you didn't want to take the risk on.

I haven't tried it. I have to go buy it.

Okay, I have This might put you on the spot. But I always wanted to know, only because Gerrod produced this special and I never got to ask or gage a comedian what they thought of Drew Michael's audience list comedy show at his joint.

Yeah, we had Michelle wolf on. She hated it. She hated it.

She was like Michelle wolf I asked Michelle about that about it was Drew Michael.

Drew Michael did an HBO special where he did a comedy show with no audience and you know, you're right, Michelle. And I asked Dave about it as well, and you know, he said, yeah. The first thing I said to him was like, I hated it. But it was almost like it was almost like watching somebody that grew up on like East Coast Illmatic and.

You know, like try call quests.

It's like asking them what they think of the new like Migos or Little Baby album.

You know, where.

You know it's it was definitely weird to watch, like to watch somebody do comedy with no audience whatsoever, But.

Clearly that shit predict itself.

Yeah, but clearly I think you know, the sign of true art is when something that you're not supposed to do becomes the norm.

Yeah.

So, but I mean, would you I've never I've went online and done jokes with no audience just to camera. They're like fifteen minutes. I've done that before, but just trying out new material stuff.

But to go up and to film a.

Special with no audience, to me personally, I get it. You want to you want to flip the script, do something different, see push if it sticks or whatever.

I get.

I commend them on that. I haven't seen it. I didn't even know what it was. I haven't seen it, but I commend him for trying something. But me personally, man, that's like, that's like, that's like masturbation.

It's like.

It was like he masturbated, you know.

Like.

Everybody you need, you need, you need an audience.

Yeah, I think because I think specifically for stand up.

Woman need a man.

A man need a woman in order to make this thing happen to do that, but for stand up, if you out there by yourself and no audience. Me personally, I thrive off of that. I thrive off of hearing an audience. That's why I'd rather a person boo rather than don't say nothing at all, because that quietness kills me.

I can't. I can't take the quiet like that. I rether.

I gotta have some noise or something. But I can play off of that or something. I can play off of it something. I mean, I don't want to be booed at all. Yeah, because the thing is with silence.

But silence I think for like a for a comedian like I would compare it as an EMC is like silence is like a three mic rating in the source, like when the source us the source right, It's like three mics.

Is like idio.

It's kind of inn and like I'd rather either if niggas ain't just laughing, you know, out their seats, which would be like a five mic, or if they booing you, which is a one mic like you kind of I enjoy being on those ends because at least that no you would listen, you listen to a real reaction, just.

That middle of the road ship. She ain't doing nothing.

I'll tell you this though to Steve Harvey taught me this as well. Though it all depends on how you play siting. Silence can work good too, like if you can make a whole room, if you can make a whole room silent, that's just as good as a laugh too, because they engaged.

So it it all depends on how you play with that silence. And I just thought about that too, Like if.

I can go into a room full of people and I can go you know what, I do that on purpose to lie, just to I act like I'm thinking, but I'm actually listening to see how quiet it is, to see if I got everybody, and then I go into a joke or whatever. It's a control the time of life like that, like a timment. But like I do that a lot, just to kind of test the room or whatever, just to see who's engaged and who

But if I do three jokes in the role and they not working, and you.

Silent, like I'm gonna need somebody to go bring your nigga something somebody else.

Nobody got going I want.

My money back or something money something, tell me something, niggas.

That's pressure though, Like right now, right now, at the tonight show, we're allowed by the state to have ten people in the audience.

Yes, So it's like.

Uh, the thing is I liked I liked.

Doing the show when it was just us with ourselves. It felt like a public access show. It's like Wayne's World, and when jokes didn't work, then we just laugh at each other and it was actually funnier than if the joke work. But it's a different thing when you have ten people in the audience because it's like we're kind of using the old model of what the show used to be, but only for ten people. And like if something doesn't work and it's a slow laugh, then it's like it's just harder to navigate.

When you post that way. Employees like Wendy do we do.

Like we oh, it's it's half employees.

Well, I mean because thirty Rocks is such a big building that you know, there's other shows, so like like today, uh, Lawrence Scalliot who does traffic in the morning on NBC, like she was part of the audience, so like people will come in on their lunch break from like MSNBC, c NBC like those.

Those they're not worried about losing their jobs. You need people's staff.

Like.

They get it up.

Acting.

I see what you mean.

Now, yes it is.

I have a question. No it's Steve.

Yeah, Steve, you're no Hanigha stories.

Yeah.

We ain't talked about the holidays, clear Stee. I'm sorry.

So with regards to this like stockpile of jokes that you've been writing, presumably since February or March and haven't been able to are you worried about any of it, like being dated by the time you get to tell it on stage, or like you know, or or you specifically like trying to write stuff that will still make sense, you know, whenever you get to go back on stage.

Oh well that's that's that's that's the beauty of how long it takes me to write. I don't you know, I can't just write some ship like that, Like I was just telling you, like, if I think a joke too simple, I ain't fucking with it, like I just I just if I feel like I think people thinking like that that they're gonna come up with something like that. I'm just I'm just not gonna fuck with it. So what I write is evergreen, sure, and I make sure I try to make sure everything I write is ever green.

My shit be.

Simple, my should be like, my shit be My shit is like I was talking to Jamie Fox one time and Jamie told me he was going to do a special, but after seeing my special, he was like.

I threw my shit away. He was like, because damn I don't.

He said, I don't want to be Jamie Fox, the celebrity. He said, I want to be the motherfucker that's relatable. And he was like, and that's what cole harted was to me, it was relatable and I was like, I was like, yeah, like.

My shit, I was talking about, man, you ever get god glory for a parking space?

Like like you know what I mean?

Like my shit is like simplistic, like where everybody can get.

It wasn't no celebrity shit, but none of it.

It was like parking space, do you ever motherfucker don't want to pay the bill? Like it was like like very simple ship that that everybody can relate to. And that was a lane that I knewdn't didn't.

Really didn't exist. So that's how I write, and I write like that to this day. Simplicity is key with me, you know.

So as far as writing all this COVID shit and Black Lives Matter shit, do I have that?

I got? I do have some of that.

But my job and what I'm going to do is when I do hit the stage, I'm gonna spend every bit of fucking seven minutes on that ship and I'm off of it.

And it's the same way I look at the same way with being an MC.

It's like, if you're writing rhymes, yeah, you could go on Twitter and look at the trending topics or whatever and just make that shit rhyme and it'll be hot today, you know what I'm saying. But after that, like, yeah, you have to write stuff this ever green.

Yeah, you don't want to do that.

So the stuff that I write, man, and that's why I take me so so loan to write. It's like the stuff that I'm doing is like like I got a new bit that I'm working on now about women's needs and ship you know, just how they how I'm quite sure they miss him, But.

I ain't gonna go no, first he's okay, yes, like like.

D s no, older women needs just that. But but yeah, like I said, topics like.

That, I ever agree, a women's need is gonna go out all the time and there's gonna be something that you can always use at all time. I talk about classic bags when when they throw the motherfuckers away?

How big you got a closet full of the motherfuckers when you're gonna throw them away? Or how to use them?

So it's so so y never right, So no, all right where it's ever green, you know, and it'll be and it'll be around for a while. So yeah, I'm not worried about I'm not worried about that at all.

You know, I didn't think you're worried. I just wanted to ask you. Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, not at all. I kid. I'm just saying, yeah, I don't.

Anytime I think it's something that's funny, that's like in the moment, I probably try to make a video for the text it, tweet it out or whatever and put it out like that. But as far as materials concerned, I got a few of them jokes that I'm going to do definitely, But After seven minutes of that, I'm off of it. How do you like even with my special, even when my comedy is special, I ain't talk about no politics, I ain't talk about none of that ship.

I ain't talking about none, none of it.

My ship is like on the whole, it's everything is just really simple, simple and basic. I ain't say one thing about no organizations, no politics.

Ain't contracts, no food, no.

Nothing.

So how do you are you?

How leary are you in going to these spots, especially in Hollywood, where I'm almost certain that it's easy for someone like is biting?

Still?

Is that a thing that comedians have to worry? Indeed?

Man, it is.

That's that's just so, that's just so terrible in the game, man, they bite that ship.

So people are like intentionally biting and joking like.

Absolutely, And let me say this too, because I don't want to be missical, screwed or whatever. Those that do do current events stuff like that, man, and the ones that do it great man, love to them, and they do it amazing.

I'm not saying that that is the wrong way to do it at all.

I'm just saying the way that I write, like I I can't write like that, But I don't, yeah, because it's great, like ship Dave Chappelle. Dave Chappelle should be like top of cool as hell, and that motherfucker be crushing that ship the way that he put it out there, you know. But it's for the moment, it's for the time, and and but you can listen to it forever.

That's that's the genius. That's the genius about there.

You can listen to that ship forever and remember that moment in time.

So I'm never knocking that on people who do that. You know.

It's comics that do a lot of ship that I can't do. Corey holcom is one of the most ignorant, ignorant motherfuckers you ever go see do it, but.

As hell more ignorant than neighbors.

Or I don't know about them.

But Cory Cory a wild boy, who's this Cory CORYL Cory holkme.

Is the most clever, funny motherfucker you. I can't do what Corey do. Well.

Corey had a joke, he had it on his special. He opened up this guy. It wasn't even a joke, it was just he just opened up and his first thing got his mouth. Shout out all the fat bitches riding dick with T shirts like I was like, Yo.

Cory, Cory be ignorantly dope, clever, fucking funny ship y'all.

I can't do that, but man, what he could do that ship wear with his eyes closed.

And that's why he one of the fucking goats in this game.

Man. Shout out to Corey too, got a special.

Now called COVID. I got one day ago. What the fu? Yeah, my boy?

We saw Hookham at at Charlie Good Nights, this club down out here Raley last ye year for the last.

Week and Corey started together in Chicago. Shout out to.

Is there a way? Not for nothing? Since we talked about this and it is COVID. It's interesting.

Everybody ain't at Dion's dad is like, how are the comedians doing as used to? Like touring, and like, how do you support your favorite comedian in these times?

Like, man, it's hard, man, it's hard on everybody. Man, it's hard. I don't I don't understand really how it's working for a lot of people. Man, you know I think about that a lot too. I'll be thinking like, man.

It ain't no music matters for comedians.

It ain't no like what is no R and B foundation like residuals.

You ain't been in nothing, you know what I'm saying.

The red states that are open though, like Florida is open for business, Atlanta is open.

Yeah, in a.

Club with people laughing and your face, risk your.

Life life like, but what do you to do though? Too? You know you got to make a living. You gotta make money. It's like, you know, you gotta do what you got to do whatever.

And now I don't knock nobody doing what they got to do in order to get.

It, but it is hard out here.

It's hard, man, because I'm quite sure if they had other options they were using, you know, so you know, shut out to all the comics that still grinding and stay safe, man, stay safe.

Do you do you miss late night life at all?

Or was that just a nice experience you had? You was talking about late late nights as far as writing for television, writing for Cony.

You know what, there's moments when I'm missing in this moments that I don't me being the only black writer for Coning and probably the fourth black writer in the history of late night That shit was like, that was the part that I.

Really I wasn't. I wasn't feeling that shit at all, you know.

But my story was so crazy because those that kind of shitted on me, they ended up happening to write for me.

So I flipped that.

I flipped the game on them, Like I went from trying to write like them to them writing for me for Coning, and so that's what I was saying, for like Coning and shit like they had to write bits for me and shit, you know, and they had to write it in my voice, which is the same voice that I was trying to write. And the get go that they was shitting on me about when I was trying to get it to Coning.

So I don't miss that kind of shit, you know.

But I do miss I do miss the excitement of having a great show and certain guests come through. You'd be excited to see him and hang out and shit like that.

Shit was cool too, you know.

But Late Night was rigorous, man as far as coming up with material. Every night, new material, and then it was almost like a competition with other writers. You had to see if your shit get on TV and come up with a bit that was repetitious enough for him to use it every every week, every month or whatever. Yeah,

For eight years. So yeah, uh, it definitely sharpened my sword.

I wanted to ask you to man.

You you produced the one woman show for my Girlftari. Yeah, yeah, man maor we work on the Sherman showcase together and we worked and all that.

Yeah.

Man, So I was curious, though, is that something you look to do more of, maybe like producing more.

Artists.

Well, I am switching gears and I would definitely come back on here and talk to y'all. And I hate I hate niggas. That'd be like, I tell you what it is.

Listen, you walk up your bang, do not up the bat big ship like that.

That's what it's real.

Bad.

Yeah I'm doing man, I just dove into something. I just produced this film. Executive produced this film and my partner Kelly Kelly Kelly, who's a fantastic director, director, and writer. We collabed on a couple of scripts that we're doing. Man, and uh, it's been amazing journey. Uh we got a lot of good stuff coming out. And uh man, that's all I can say about that.

That's all you need to say. Bro, say no.

I ran. I ran into Marlon Wayne's in the club Man, and he changed my whole.

Thought process as far as like writing content, because people too, is he complaining about what they not getting?

But you're not writing.

Nothing for yourself. You're not even writing nothing for for who you are. Like, you gotta at least write something and show people what you what you what you buy. I don't care if it's a TV show, talk show, movie, whatever it is. If you can't just sit back going, I hope they give me something. You gotta show them what they gotta give you. So therefore, if you write that down and you give it to them, then yo, it's gonna be our love.

I'm in New York.

I'm at this club right and I'm doing a movie for Netflix, this Christmas movie, and I'm out there in the club Marlon Wayne's walking crew.

They all sitting up in this section. I see Marlin. I go over there.

I'm like, Marlon, we hugging it out and all this shit Marlin like, yo, what you're doing it?

And why?

I'm like, man, doing this movie. And he was like, oh, man, congratulations, man your movie. And I said no, no, I'm just doing this movie for Netflix. And he was like, okay, you produced it. I was like, nah, no, I'm just I'm just you know, I'm just starting it. He was like, oh you started. It's all you starting.

And he was like, but you showed it to him, right, And I'm like, no, nigga.

No, I'm just the movie.

He was like this, Oh okay, he said, but it ain't shrure us.

I'm like, I'm like na. He was like why. He was like, so he said, he said, so you just gonna keep doing movies for everybody. You're gonna keep being funny for everybody and and not and not for you.

And so I was like, I mean, ship man, I mean I hear what you're saying. But he was like, no, I don't think you do. He was like, dude, you one of the funniest motherfuckers.

In the game. And he was like, are you still making other people funny?

It was like he was like, dude, if you don't write you a movie or a show or something for yourself. Man, and he was like, they don't know. You said, they can say whatever they want to say about me. He was like, they just say my movie is horrible.

They great.

He was like, as long as they my movie, I rolled on. I produced them a hard that. He was like, they mind And he was like, and my budget steadily going up constant and I just froze and he was like, but yo, man, next time I see you.

Man.

He was like, man, I hope I hope you write you something. And I said, man, thank you very much. Left left his section, went back over to the to the to the chicks and and my boy, and was like, I'll talk to y'all. Letter hopped in the cab, went to my hotel room and just laid there and stared at the wall. Yo, and was just like andbarrassed. I was a barrassed. I just I didn't even want to be out no more. I was embarrassed because motivated what from that day I've been writing And.

So you did that right in this moment, in this moment, I mean it for me, but I don't matter.

But I'm just I don't say that.

I'm telling you like like when Marlin hit me with that Marlon He couldn't.

He couldn't even fathom. He just kept going, it's yours, right, I'm like, no, oh, so you wrote it? No, okay, so you produced it. I'm like no, motherfucking no. He like like what do you mean? Like what do you mean?

And some ship and you don't.

And when and when and when I left Marlin.

From that day on, I've been right and write write these scripts and like right now, we just finished one of the movies that we wrote, wet.

We wrote another one. We got another one on the way that we write and get it and we just shot one of the movies. We just finished it.

And that's why I was looking at your page too, and I want to congratulate you on your film opening up Sundance boy, y'all that's how you got.

Thanks class, yo, that's how that's how you got to do that, dude.

I'm telling you, Like, when I seen your page, I was like, I'm right behind man, I'm right behind you.

Quest like you got to do it, and you got to do it from your point of view and how you want to do that? Ship done? You know what I mean? Yo?

Man, this is the greatest subconscious masterclass that I've ever been apart.

I was going to say, like with the way that Kenya's popping off all these issues, like surely there's has the conversation ever happened with you having your own vehicle for a show, So no, no, no, I'm just saying that I feel like you're the next You're the fourth issue that should be coming.

So so so Lawrence and Jennifer. They have their spin off, Grownish that they shooting right now. Oldest old I'm sorry, Oldest Grownish.

They had me.

We agreed that I would go to Grownish and we kicked the show off and like work with them until the show kicked off and then you know, we go from there.

So I was great.

I was you know, it was great for me to work on that show for like three years. But then when they hit the fourth year, the kids was graduate, so they're not going to be.

In the school. Me being a dean at the school, wasn't that makes sense too much? Some more like that.

So then I was like, you know what, you know, we we I'm an exit or whatever and we're still cool or whatever. But as far as my own show with Kenya producing, it never never, it never was brought up Damn.

I feel like that's the's a layup.

Yeah, yeah, no, it was never never brought up.

It was it was just always like I said, he sent me over the Growners to kick Growner shop, and then when Gronish stopped flourishing with the kids, was getting down on the own, then I departed from there. And then yeah, I just all right, well then.

Interesting because you popped off grown Its like there was a reason that Charlie needed to be on campus.

Yeah, it was a reason why I had to be there, you know, so so so it was all good.

But then once once the chemistry and the kids.

It's amazing, they got it. Think, yeah, it was you know, it was time for me to step off. But uh, it was great. It was a great opportunity and all of that. And as far as like yeah, but as far as like him coming to me going, yo, you a spin off show, we never had that conversation.

All right, well, I'm putting out there he needs his own.

Marlon, his own don't want to come back here.

We doing it.

Yeah, but thank you, Dion, thank you so much. Man. This this is his EPISO Educate Edumacational.

Questions, Episode A mirror. He's family.

Second, go round and remember.

And not but nothing.

I'm trying to remember, but it was nothing one that helped us book Dion on the first episode in l.

A she might have been.

I think she might have been nothing monster to people don't know about.

Thank you for doing the show. Uh. Oh by the way, Uh, this will be on for the holidays. Correct, Yes, the holidays show. It's just okay.

It's the most on holiday holiday show. Send yeah.

Speaking of holidays, let me remind people that I'm actually involved with three movies with the title Soul in it and one opens on Christmas Disney plus Soul. I am a Pixar character, a real Pixar character, Jamie Fox and Tina Fey and dav Diggs and Angela Bassett and Felicia Sad.

It's it's amazing. I hope you guys enjoyed this show.

I'm sorry, Go ahead, I'm sorry.

Yeah.

And and also shout out to Belvini for a for our spirits.

I drink half of you tonight and I know Steve did.

Thank you.

PS big up to Dion who does not who does drink responsibly and does not drink. I just wanted to pick you up at that funny because there's some little spirits.

And sober no.

But you know, let's have a prosperous uh twenty one and uh you know and and put we're gonna will Dion's empire.

To the universe appreciate exactly. All right, thank you all many. Hey, this is Sugar Steve. Make sure you keep up with us on Instagram.

At q l s.

Let us know what you think. Who should be next to sit down with us? Don't forget to subscribe to our podcast.

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