Quest Loft Show is a production of iHeart Radio. Yo, Yo, What's Up? What's Up? It's another classic episode of the Quest Love Supreme podcast. And these are always somewhat difficult when the guests who happens to be a great friend is no longer with us. Of course, I'm talking about
the magnetic being himself, DJ Clark Kent. He was a legend behind the turntables, behind the production board, behind the desk, behind street fashion, and back in October of twenty twenty two, we spoke to Clark on Zoom along with Team Supreme. We had no idea he transitioned two years later. Here you're gonna learn some of the things that would define
Clark's life and career. He shares how being teased as a kid for wearing glasses gave him the Clark Kent nickname led to becoming the man who helped the world discover Jay Z. Clark went deep on the science of DJing and producing from the emotional power of the Ohio players Ecstasy which he ended every set and I my witness to that and sample for the song Brooklyn's Finest,
which you'll hear. How Clark tried more than fifty scratch hook ideas for he reveals that he was Rock Kim's DJ for the very first time Rock Kim blessed the part Jim and how he almost signed nods off of Live of the Barbecue before the world got to know who he was. And this episode also covers Clark's evolution to a sneaker icon he got me in the game. All right, this is the story of God's favorite DJ and one of my favorite DJs. From the park jams
and label board rooms to the Nike kitchen and beyond. Clark, we are going to miss you, bruh. All right, here's Clark Kin's episode.
You have to understand, Like, I don't want this to be you at all, and this is like maybe probably the most important thing I want to say today is I love Quest Like I'm like, uh like beyond beyond him being my man, Like did.
We say this for the show?
Show the show, the show to it I'll start to show. Oh no, no, listen to what I'm about to say. You might you might understand. I just want to say it's truly an honor to be considered for this show because this show is so fucking good.
Wow, thank you, Mark.
I appreciate that. Thank you.
He's preventing me from giving him a proper intro. Uh, Ladies and Joe and this is Quest Love Supreme. We're here with Team Supreme Sugar Steve Fan take alow, shout out to Bill Sermons, and uh, like you, how you doing.
I'm doing good. I'm doing real good. I was just what's the.
What's I've been meaning to ask you? What's the portrait behind you?
That's my dad, says that our artist painted that of him playing the drums.
Oh that's your dad. Yeah, okay, that's what's up. No, No, every time I see I didn't know if it was a moon or whatever.
And that's a symbol. Quest Love.
That's a symbol. That's what they all know with drums they play. It comes with a drum set.
Do you know I did not know that. One day. I will take that up anyway, y'all check it. So I'm gonna say that, you know, we're nerds on this show, and we always uh sort of salivate over a specific type of industry insider, behind the scenes person, and you know, like dream Dream Future guest of the show, Like, you know, I would definitely want to get Suzanne to pass on the show. We definitely have to find the elusive John McLean as many times as he's been mentioned by like
every artist that's been on the show. But for me, I'll say that the behind the scenes person mostly like offers uh kind of like a different perspective and has way more details in a way that an artist who's in the eye of the storm can't see. I don't think he could be in it and of it at the same time. So for me, I love talking to behind the scenes people, and you know, and I'm segueing
right into our guest today, this particular gentleman. He's everything that you've heard about him, probably and more, and probably say resume is a little reductive because I don't you know, it's not like like he works for nobody. He's literally God's favorite DJ. And I stand by that another guy that he's associated with. Let's start with he is the reason why we know who jay Z is. That's that's might drop alone. But there's so much more than that
one story I'm dying to know about. Of course, during the ton Silverman episode and you know Monica Lynch episode, speaking of them developing the new music seminar, and you know, one of the most favor things about it was the the infamous battleful Ward supremacy tales that I've always heard about, especially the Craig g versus supernet. I always wanted to know about that. I mean, this is also how we know who Skills is as well. I mean, let's just
mention the classics. Brooklyn's finest guess he's backed by Rock Kim, Biggie Sky's limit on Life after Death needs you tonight anyway, man, I can go on and on not to mention this human being gave me my true intro into the world of fashion, because without him, I would have never had my own Nike imprint. Yes, this is the man that's responding, dude, I'm telling you, man, this this guy is a legend and he's on the show today. Clark Kent, thank you for finally, I won't say finally like it took you
long enough. I realized that this has almost been a year of the mak Yeah that you're right, the way falls on me. Yes, you're absolutely right. Clark Kit is probably the guest that we've had to put off the most. You know, there's always an emergency that happens on a Clark Kit episode, and then we're like, can we do this at a month or so? So after four false starts, we are finally here making it happen. How are you, sir?
I am truly blessed to be here on earth, but I'm even you know, like I'm very very honored to be a guest of yours simply because of how much I admire you, And as I was saying to your crew earlier, like almost like sometimes I parallel the way you work to the way that I work or the way that I worked. Like when I was coming up, I did everything and I just was trying to be always working, like never not working. And then you know, like the rise of It's love to me, it's like
I don't think you're understanding what he's doing. He's just not stopping. And then I think about how I came up, like I just never stopped, so even doing what I do now, like it's like I never stopped. I don't even understand stop. And I look at you and I think, Okay, I'm not crazy for being that way, and I really really really respect you.
Thank you. I gave my first speech to a bunch of high schoolers. This show is famous for putting me in a right look at life's face right now exactly. This show pretty much knows my weak points and they know that I'm a person that shoes or avoids compliments. I also avoid kids. You know, many times have been asked, hey speak at my high school, Hey talk to the kids,
and da, da da da. So I finally got over my fear and went to a Bronx high school last week from this taping, and I actually found myself saying the opposite. Yes, I take those words, and I appreciate. And this is also going to be probably the most polite quest of Supreme episode we've ever done. But I will actually say that I'm trying to what he says.
No, I was going to say that Clark is actually touching on a truly legitimate thing that you exemplify, which is work ethic and right.
But but I'm.
Actually I'm and I'm dead serious about this. I am trying to do less work. I'm literally making a living doing things that I love doing. But I know that for me and no way I'm trying to put a time on anything and not trying to be all morbid. But you know, when you're when you're north of fifty, you know, you're thinking about your your last few acts. You know, I'm in the third quarter or the fourth,
you know, halftime is over. I'm in the third quarter now, so I consider third quarter the last act of work.
That's what you think.
Yeah, And but I want to do it so that I want to be the first generation that can And I know it's weird to hear me say this, but I would like to be part of the first generation that when they say they're going to retire, they actually mean it. You know, for a lot of us, I hear like, oh, I'm gonna stop. Actually. You know, I always tease Jay about remember when Jay said he was going to retire after reasonable doubt? What you remember that?
Yeah, but I was the one who was like, no, you're not.
Pulls it right exactly. So but I would I think that, you know, we're seeing a new generation. I mean, we're gonna have the first generation of black generational wealth. And I think that we can and also have like real retirement for us where you get to relax and do what you want to do and not and live the life that you're accustomed to living, and it not affects you.
So oh well it's going to affect me. You can't work less. I get paid by the hour, so I could work out for everybody.
H Clark, I always wanted to know this. Usually in hip hop, when a person comes up with their their moniker, their non de plume, it's usually an over exaggerated position or something that's larger than life or whatever. I find it very interesting. I mean, not that you know, DJ Superman would have been a I don't know how logistic logistical that that would have been as a title, but I think it's very curious that you decided to choose the the half life version of Superman, which is Clark Kent.
What was your reasoning, you know, because we don't know any Peter Parker or I don't know the other.
There was a DJ Peter Parker in Brooklyn.
Really yeah it's a radio but yeah, that's only.
Two Okay, Well mine's is pretty simple. I wore glasses since I was five years old, and I got teased and called clock kN since I was a baby. So what when when this started to happen? When when I'm like nine and I started DJing, there was no name. But by the time I'm like, okay, I'm going to play a park. I gotta tell him something. So I told them the name that everybody teased me about, and it just never went away. I've tried other things to out.
What were your other names that you were optioning.
I used to write graffiti when I was really young, and I used to write blink, So I tried DJ Blink and I thought that shit was terrible and it didn't rhyme with anything properly when I was in rap groups, so think drink and sink just just no, it didn't. It didn't make as much sense later. But and then there was a It's funny because I don't know how just Blaze nwice. But for like, for like three weeks,
I was grand Master Blaster. And it's crazy because the guy who would be on the mic when I was when I was DJing like block Party Ship one day just went grand Master Blaster cut Faster. I was like, oh, And then after the joint, I was just like that shit is terrible, and I just went right back to it. But Clark Kent works for me because I don't believe any man is superior to the next man, so I'd rather be p persion that that is not a superman. I try to be a super DJ.
What was your first musical memory of your life.
My first musical memory, My mother was a classically trained op singer. Oh wow, Yeah, she sang in the New York full of minic. She sang in Lincoln Center like it's crazy. I did Cornegie Hall a couple of months ago with d Nice, and everybody was like yo when Carnegie Hall and Cornegie Hall. And in my mind, I'm thinking, my mother lapis play three times like this is not until I know it four times. Until I do it four times, I've done nothing.
You know what I mean?
Because I looked. I would go see my mother at Conny Yill. But again, she was a classically trained singer, so around the house she sang and played the piano since birth. And then my real real like music aha moments was when I stayed with my grandmother and that was since I was like six, and she had this record that she played like every day when she came
home for work. It was Happy Landings, and I would watch her be happy playing this song, and then I would just sit there and try to figure out how to play all the records in the house, but when she's coming home, I would put on happy landings for her to walk into the house too, And I realized, like maybe like a year later, like I am actually doing something to her emotionally by putting this record on when she walks through the door. And that made me always want to be the person in the house that
played the records. So I didn't know that at five and six and seven and eight that I'm becoming this DJ until I heard records being mixed and I was like, Yo, what the fuck has happening right now?
So I know that you are from Brooklyn, I.
Was born I was born in Panama, but raised in Brooklyn.
Okay, when did you when did you come to.
U became two months old. I was two months old.
Okay, So can you give us your your take of coming into hip hop culture because you know, for a lot of people, you know, we hear the folklore of the Bronx, the Bronx, the Bronx, the Bronx, the Bronx. But as large as New York City is, I'm certain that the same development was happening in the other boroughs.
Here's the thing. I don't look at it like a advent of this thing that that that we call hip hop I have. I just happened to be alive and cognizant of what was happening when I was really young. And the reason why is because I was being this DJ and because I knew grandm Aster Flowers, you know
what I'm saying. Because I knew Pete DJ Jones when I was like a little kid, like knowing those two guys and having the conversations about what was happening, like you know, it wasn't even like we didn't even know that it was called hip hop when we started playing the records differently and you know, like we understood, okay, that's a section of the record. But then I was also in the Bronx with my uncle and he would
introduce me to who Her. He introduced me to Bam and Breakout and Barren and j C with Kid and everybody from uptown like Charlie, Chase and Tone like I've known them since I was like twelve years old, you know what I'm saying, and did or like I was in his crib when I was like twelve or thirteen, you know, so watching it all and being able to do it all like yeah, by accident, you know what I'm saying, his brother me Jean. I was with my uncle. My uncle brings me to me Jean's crib and then
I find out Theodore as his brother. I'm like, wait a minute, what's going on here? Ain't that the dude but the zigga zigga that we all do, you know what I'm saying. But like it was then, it was like so far. It was the seventies, and I'm really like witnessing and going to eighteen Parking, seeing flashing and Casta Nova's and shit and seeing like Grandmaster cast can literally say he's know me since I was a kid.
It was because I was up there with my uncle, and my uncle was cool with all of them, so he would bring me around. Now, yes, I'm in Brooklyn, you know, trying to figure out this DJ thing. But the first set I ever played on was my uncle set and he couldn't DJ, so he couldn't even teach me anything. So like I would be in his crib trying to figure it out, like at nine.
So he had DJ equipment, but wasn't a DJ in the sense of how we DJ.
No, he didn't know how to DJ at all. He bought DJ equipment because he frequented clubs so much that he wanted to have what they had in clubs in his house. So he was a Liviticus guy. He was a Plato's Retreat guy. He was a Bonds International guy. He was a fifty four guy, you know what I'm saying. Like he was also a lawyer, so maybe not being in a pad as garage would be good for him.
But it's quite an upbringing, all right, because you are
cognizant of records in your house alone. Now, I know, in hip hop sometimes with selective memory or revision whatever, like people might mistake, you know, one of the basic ingredients of hip hop breakbeats that they discovered older making beats and all those things from like what was there in real time, but for you in real time growing up, you know, in these formative years like twelve thirteen whatever, when you're like getting into records and all those things,
like what was the record that caused absolute panic? And like when you put it on, it's like, oh Jesus Christ, like clear the floor or not clear the floor, get on the floor.
At that time, it might have been ecstasy by the Ohio players because it was literally my favor. It was literally my favorite record as soon as I heard it. To me, it's still the best song I've ever heard.
I got jokes, no, no, no, I love that song to death, but I have so many jokes with the Eye Players because they get away with so many musical crimes, right.
And and the thing is, like, the whole record is a musical crime. And the reason why I say that is because it's literally the.
End of a song like I would like. It's like they started right on the riff at the end of the song.
And there's no hook, there's no verse, there's.
No change whatever whatever he sings the first line like that's the name of the song, like that.
I love you use ecstasy Pain is just since the right exactly.
But by the time the end of the record comes, just the most perfect thing I've ever heard, because the emotion is raw, the music is beautiful, and it proves that there is no real formula to this shit. It's just when you listen, do you walk away going? That shit fucked my soul up, you know what I'm saying. And that record, since I was a kid, the first time I heard it, I was just like, oh my god, this might be the most beautiful thing I've ever heard.
And yes, I've heard tons of records, and yeah, I've heard tons of records, but that record right there, that's the reason why I sampled the records because and it took me like four years to sample it.
Yo, I'm gonna tell you something. The anger. There's nothing like the feeling of where you think the lane is clear and all you got to do is simply to put the ball in the hoop and you know it's about to happen, and then someone just smacks the ship out of the ball, Like get the fun I'm telling you now, the anger I had when I heard Brooklyn's Finest because at the time we're working on Illadelf half Life. I was like, Yo, I'm gonna.
Make some Philadelf. Half Life's a great album, I know.
But my my, my contribution to this jam was I've been working so hard, like trying to hook up some version of ecstasy to go on that, and then I heard it on a mixtape and was like, Ah, this is over.
Nope, all right, I'm gonna make this crazy for you. I sampled that record two years before on a remix for the Future Sound, but I only took one loop, and every time I listened to it, I was like, I didn't do this right. I didn't do this right. And again it was my favorite record. So every club I played, I ended the night with the record. And it became so popular that I would play this record that people would be like, I'm waiting to the end
because I could hear that fucking record. And then one day, one day, Dame and Jay just go, yo, you got you got to hook that up. So I mean, sitting there with the sample, I'm just like, there's only one way for it to feel the way it feels, and it has to be the whole five bar loop. Now, of course five bars is very unconventional, just like three bars is unconventional. But yeah, like try to call a question.
When that record was made, I like try to figure out where the fuck do I mix this record all the time, and then I figured out where I'm going to get that eight bars at and it would be weird, but it would always come off right, you know what I mean. But with Brooklyn's Finest, it's almost like I had to go, I don't care if they figure it out, because the music has to feel and and and the thing is the music feels, because what they did to was was great too. But if they didn't, if it
didn't feel, it wouldn't have gotten to there. Have you? Have you heard.
Lino Richie's version that Jimmy geometry list is line of Richie covered ecstasy not really but no, but like he didn't cover ecstasy, but jam kind of flipped it on no, no, no on loud of them were not louder than words. What's the Joe that he I gotta find the album?
It's it's a lot of Richie.
Yes, it's like one of his like I.
Could spend that ship in my set and the ship come off. It's yeah, it's the louder than words, right, Oh, I want to take you down. Look up, Lina Richie, I want to take you down. And like I was like, all right, Jimmy, Jeame, Terry Lewis, like they actually they flipped they flipped one of Junie Marson's ad libs so that it actually sounds like he said, I want to take you damn. But like it's an album cut on words like right, like he'sh no, take you, damn, take you.
I was impressed, and but the thing was, I didn't know that Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis produced it. I was just like, all right, so Lionel got some young cat to hook up a feat and this, you know, this came out in nineteen ninety six, so it's even weirder that both got album.
No No No. But Jam. I was like, I.
Know you're joking. We got jokes here, No, but literally I was like asking Jam, like, did you know Brooklyn's Finus or whatever? And He's like, nah, I didn't because I was like, it leaked a good six months before it came out, like I heard on someone's mixtape.
I think it might have been either Chubby Chubb or Clue.
It probably was maybe Clue, you know, whatever it was, it was enough to make me not like I was like, well, my dreams a shadow.
It's one of those rare records that like, no matter how many years later, if anybody play it you on the it's just automatic, like yeah.
It's because it's perfect.
Wait, all right, I always tell people this story and I'm going on the timeline, but I got I got to ask this question because I don't know we ever talked.
About Yes, Yes, it was hard to follow you at the Goal Party.
Shut up, man, No, no, no, no, I'm talking about but but.
Goal party.
Oh so you oh, y'all followed each other at I got it, Okay.
I had to get on the plane to go back to my day job.
That's the grammy partlem of the Oscar Party. I can't remember the infamous j.
We we just did it.
I did okay, we know.
No, I was gonna. I'm asking you, do you know if anyone that has documented or recorded, I believe that was you on the turntables for uh, the after party for Zebrahead the movie.
Wow, remember this. It was a good party. But I don't know anybody.
You don't even know. This the one, the one and last time I ever got on the microphone to rhyme. You were you were DJing, you going back and forth on m Vogue's hold On as an instrumental.
Yeah, like.
No, it definitely wasn't booming system. It was just going back and forth on hold on and NAS gets up to rhyme, and then it just became one of the things where like thirty mcs were on stage that I remember.
So I was rolling because Zebrahead was a was a rough House Records Association that's where I was interning at the time, and you know, we had like two bustlos going up, so it was like all the goats, Larry Larr was there, like all the all the rough House people were like there, and I don't know, it was on stage and it was like there's.
A microphone, you got the spirit a mirror? Did you get this?
And I like one? I had one verse?
I did you only got one chip?
Look at a teket.
Kick question whatever. So I was always afraid to tell that story because my fear was like someone's going to be like yeah, and I recorded it and here it is of it, like literally I remembered nas rhyme in a long time and then like then like a bunch of second tier I think Joe Fatal was there. Yeah, and then by the time it got to like the seventh or eighth MC, then it was like anybody's rhyming. And then that like I was number like twenty seven. But yeah, yeah, sorry memories anyway, No.
I'm not mad at you. I had one of those moments when I was like fifteen, and as soon as I was done, I was like never again again. I was I was I was at a park jam Oh no, I didn't rhyme again.
I just did a hook and I, well, you did the hook on Brooklyn's finus.
Yeah. Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
I just some time out. They made that song without a hook, and then you went and.
Listen. When Biggie came to do his verse, it was like the day before mastering, so it was you're gonna do You're gonna do this verse, and then I'm gonna have the song's gonna have to go get mad, I'm gonna have to mix it, and then it's going to master the next morning, so you gotta finish the song. He finishes his verses, and him and Jay in the studio, it's all revelie. I'm like, yo, I need a hook,
he says. Jay said, scratch something. Every single thing I tried to scratch on that record sounded like blasphemy because the record was so rich, right, so everything sounded terrible. Will accept Brooklyn Brooks instead of scratching. So Jay's like, y'all, I'll be back, and he disappears, and like twenty minutes later, Biggie goes, I'll be back, disappears. But I said to both of them on their disappearance, like, yo, you got
to come and give me a hook. And every time I said it to Jay, he said, yo, just scratch something. You could make it right. And like I said, everything was like disgusting. I felt so bad because all I'm thinking is.
How long did it?
Like?
How many attempts before?
Oh? No, I attempted at least fifty different things to scratch.
I just had.
I just had a crate full of records that said Brooklyn. And this wasn't even because of them. It was because that's what I'm thinking, I'm going to figure something out under their hook or maybe in a section, but in the breakdow out section in the fifth bar, I'm going to scratch something every hook right. And then so they're like, yeah, you you know you're going to scratch something. I'm like, yes, I am, and I got records and I'm going to try to figure it out. And nothing was figuring it out.
Question though, by ninety six, the term we're Booklyn at was.
It was a known thing, but it wasn't. But it wasn't a recorded thing that I could just go, I'm going to scratch and there was no store. So after a million tries and the only thing I got is Brooklyn Brooklyn. I'm just like, I'm scared to death, and I just I just kept listening to the record, and I was like, Okay, let me pull a piece from my hair, and then okay, what you're going to do after that? Because all I got is jay Z Biggie Small's nigga shit you draws, and I'm like, that's awesome.
But then I'm like, what else? And then I'm like, okay, shout out the sections and the Burroughs, shout out the most important ones, persons, Bossy, that's by, you know, like, let's get to our shit first, and then the rest of the ship. I could just roll out. So I did it, and I was in fear. But for the whole time I was there, Damon was there, but he's not paying it no attention. He's there, He's almost like, I don't know, clock's bugging cool. He doesn't even say Clock,
you'r bugging. I'm just doing this thing, and I'm bugging in my mind. So I'm telling the engineer, can you change the way my voice sounds? Can you double it? Can you triple it? Can you quadule it? Can you do all of these things? Please? Do not make it sound like me and everybody. He's like, well, what's wrong with this sounding like you? I said in our crew there is a packed Clark will never wrap like Jay
and Saw. It's just one day was in my crib and it was just like looking at me and I was and I was like, yeah, they were looking at me like clocked. You don't rap, don't ever be a rapper, Like, let us do the rapping and you make the beat. Don't do this. And I was just like, no problem because I never ever wanted to be a rapper. So at the end of everything, Dame is like, yeah, I like it, and I'm just like, okay, please, I'm like, please, do not tell them that I did it. Don't tell
whatever you do, don't tell Jade I did it. It goes to Mastering. Everybody's at Mastering. They love it, and then the record is like after master and I'm just like, yo, Jay, how you like shit is fired? Who's that? Or that's the kids I found downstairs later just so that he wouldn't be like, fuck was he doing rabbit? So later on it comes out okay, clogged it not clogged? Do that, and he was just like, yo, we told you you don't wrap right, and I was like, dog, I wasn't
trying to wrap you. Guys left me here and he goes, nah, but it's really good. And then like weeks later, weeks later, we got to show at the Apollo. What's crazy is when I say we, I mean jay Z, Junie, Myfie and Biggie. So where else are we going to perform this song? We at the Apollo. Now I'm just like, oh shit, I gotta perform so yo, this is my word. I'm all the way to the side of the stage where almost like I wanted to hide behind the speaker, but I'm like jay Z, crowd's going crazy. I start
moving closer to the front of the stage. Drawn I'm but I'm hype down because I'm talking about my city in holem you don't stop, stop, you won't stop. The clwd's going banana. Crowd's going bananas. First and last time we did finest because I was just like, I'm never going on tour with you, motherfucker. I'm never doing this ship again. And fortunately they didn't get to be like now you are going and we are doing it because my man passed.
Yeah, I was about to say you never were his official DJ.
I was in the very beginning. If you look at the first jay Z record, I can't get with that.
I can't get with that.
Right. My name is on the logo, it's jay Z Feature of DJ Clark can. That was the name of the group back then, jay Z Feature and DJ clark Can't. But I didn't necessarily care to be featured. I care to be making the music and picking the records and picking the tracks, and you know I want to do I want to do the record making.
I don't want to ask you about your time with Dana Day Dana Day fan that's the first take I ever owned, and.
Like, straight up that's dope. That's dope.
So yeah, talk about him? What was he like like back in you know those days? What was that time?
And when you're telling the story, he tells, where the hell is Herbie?
Oh?
Please?
Yeah?
How I feel like you're the person that talks to Herbie like every day in the world. Just don't know where he is.
You want to know what's crazy? I wish I could, because I literally blame him for the reason I produce. I blame Molly mal for my style, but I blame him for the actual thing happening. Because we used to be in the studio all the time and I would be looking at these drum machine going I wonder how that works. And one day he was just like, oh, you can fuck with it. And he didn't come here,
he was coming to the studio. We were all on the studio and he let me sit in the studio for like three hours before he came to fuck with the machine. And I literally got to learn how to use it. And the same. Yeah, I literally still make every single track I've ever made in my life is on SP twelve hundred.
Are you serious? Even now?
I'm dead serious. It's the center of my studio.
Have you used the updated version yet?
No? And I the reason why I won't probably is because I think he's the price is just robbery. The price is, dude, is like five thousand dollars for twelve And I'm just like dog, I did not know that. Yes, like I'm dog, it's a ST twelve hundred like it. I understand you got a couple of updates, make it twenty five hundred. You know what I'm saying?
Like, do that?
Do three thousand even if you have to for five grand? Four or five grand now and and a lot, and trust me in my heart, I'm like, I want it because it's a twelve hundred. But I got originals, so I guess I'm cool. It's just that the maintenance can be something.
But yeah, I was going to ask, how do you keep them maintained?
Because you you you take it to somebody who can clean it and make sure every button and every screen and everything works. And you know, I'd rather do the maintenance than I have to go giving somebody five grand. Respectfully, you know what I.
Just Steve, I'm surprised you don't have a DMZ little floppy disc joke. Well I guess I don't. Well wait, if you still make it, how do you are they still manufacturing floppy discs.
So when I was young and I started seeing other machines coming up, I surplus those this.
You're like Neil Neil Young. When Neil Young found out like the first round of Ampex two inch tapes were about to be out of business, he went and.
Damn near, I did that too.
I see. Wait before you answer Fante's question, wait.
Wait, hold on, I want to go back and say I wish I could speak to Herbie all the time, just so I could be like, yo, thank you. You know what I'm saying. But I don't speak to him. I wish I could. I know, I believe Dana does, but and I speak to Dana, so maybe I'll just ask him, can you get me in touch with Herbie? But like I would just love to say thank you.
And I never let it go unmentioned that he's the reason that I actually bang on a machine first, and then I would be in Mally's crib and that's when.
I was just like, oh, so you went to the Marley House of Hits.
I used to be in the projects because me and hot Day. Hot Day is from Queensbridge. We used to DJ together a lot and me, Molly and hot Day used to play the same club once a week. We used to play USA skating rink, so we knew each other. But like I'm talking, like since I was a kid, I was in Mally's prib. You know what I'm saying, Because that's the reason why when Molly did his own show,
he came and got being being peaked. He was like Pete was the young guy, but I'm the guy that he's known for forever to be his DJs know what I'm saying. So but yes, Molly is the reason I make beats the way I make them. But the reason I make beats in the first place is Herbie Low because he gave me a moment in the studio and he came and he heard shit, and he was like, nah, that's good. No, that's good. Yo, Wait a minute, that's good. Hold on, that's good, you know, saying where'd you get
that sample? You know what I'm saying. I would give them samples and shit like that. But if it wasn't for Herbie, I'm not sure I ever Well, maybe I would have, but I don't know if it would have happened then. So, like, I never got to make anything on the Dana albums, but those were the times when I was learning how to make peace.
Did you tour with him?
Oh? I was. I was Dana's toy DJ. We went on at least three tours for one two Yeah, yeah, I was solding. But yeah, it's funny because in that time, the name of the whole crew was called Idle Make because it was Kidd and Play, Kwame, Salt Pepper and Dana Dane and there was a couple of other groups.
So it would be times when I would DJ for Salt Pepper, it would be times that I would DJ for Kidding Play because we were just the crew and if we if I was there and they were there and they didn't have to and whiz wasn't it with the records on the phone because we're the crew. So but my main, my main job was was Dana Day. And I think what what made working with him so perfect was he allowed me to help him make the show. So it wasn't like all his idea dictatorship and just
play what I say. It was like what should we do? And that's that's what made me. Indeed, me and Biggie work so perfectly. He walked in, he was like, I don't know how to do this ship, tell.
Me what to do. Does that mean you never had to negotiate your rates because I was just sitting here thinking like us run in a New time in that way?
Yeah? Yeah, I mean, how do you even figure out? How you even figured that out?
And now when when Dana and I started to work together, I don't, I don't. I hope this doesn't sound a way, But I was already being DJ Clark in New York City. I was already playing all of the clubs and being one of the most work DJs. So when we got together, it was just like, oh, he can make this better. You know, when we work together, I made it better.
And to you, the music directed in in a way it's beyond right.
Like our first show together was at the rooftop, and and walking into the rooftop as many people who was going, oh Ship day to day, Like there was as many people going yo Clark Kennedy because I played the rooftop with bruceie b a bunch of times. So they were like, Oh, this nigga is about to get on the set. Not the way that you think we're gonna do this. I'm gonna be DJing for day to day. And we killed shit because his records was on fire, you know. So but the first time I ever did DJ form for
real was at Washington Irvan High School. It was at a talent contest and he was the act. And this record might have been like three weeks old. And he comes in, but the records flaming in the street, you know what I'm saying. And he comes in and he does the Ship and motherfuck first song nightmarees went crazy immediately. So three weeks later, he's the guest at Washington Irban High School. My sister was a student there, and I was just like, oh Ship. So he's just like, Yo,
can you drop this record for me? And I was like, okay, cool. I didn't think it was gonna be much, but in my mind, when I'm hearing a rap, I'm like, I'm gonna pull it out here. Let me pull it out here. He came over and then he was like, no, how did you know to do that? And I was just like, well, I just felt, you know, musically, I felt where you were going and where where the drop should be. And
he was just like okay cool. And he had a DJ, so times was coming and he got a couple of shows, and like his DJ would would not show up at certain things. So one time he just was like, Yo, would you be my DJ? And I was like, let's figure it out. And he came to my crib and we sat there for hours working on a show, and he entrusted me and to me because I care so much about the music, Like I was just like, I want this to be like an amazing show for you, so that when they walk away, they go, this was
great to see. It was entertaining in it, you know. So that's what that was the that was the mission for for Daney Dane was to make sure that his show was awesome.
And I just want to say the reason I asked that question, and I was just asking about it because it feels like this style of DJ and and all of this art that it takes is not necessarily translated into what people see these days as a DJ on stage and live performance.
So just mak Yeah, Well, the DJs on stage nowadays aren't necessarily DJing. They're they're standing up there within a a piece of a piece of performance that's happening, and they're just doing there there there look like. And if they are doing some DJ and they're basically just dropping records. They're not like switching beats in the middle of the
songs live. They're not on turntables making it work and figuring out how yo if if if the crowd doesn't go crazy, you gotta figure something else out on the fly, you know, And they're not they're not doing that. Let me just say this, there wasn't no dats when we were when we were doing it, and There wasn't no instant replace. It was you had instrumental records and you had to make it work. There was no there was no rapping to your vocals back then.
I've seen ll and Rock and few others. Well, I now know why dub mixes were always on the B side like rock King would have. I came and the team fight me fighting be like then, I was like, oh, that helps you on stage basically TV track. However, I have a question during your tenure with Data and Dame.
Which was which was has there hold on home? I didn't need to say that was some of the best times for me because I learned so many things at that time.
I have a question, is at any point was there talk of like, I don't know who the other two members of the Kangol Crew was.
Oh Lance and Omega. They were amazing, So.
Was there ever talk of them wing something together? Like I know that I still no one still answered with with gave me give me a straight answer on why it took slick Rick four years to go from Lottie Dotty to Great Adventures. But you know, at the time when Dana Dane comes out, at least in Philadelphia, a lot of us thought that was slick Rick, you know, because he had like that's that snaggle Puss flow And yeah, I knew they were in the same crew.
But okay, do you.
Remember snagger Puss.
I'm older than you dogs.
No, no, no, I don't mean the cartoon. I meant the actual.
Remember, right, everyone? He actually had bars.
Yes, he yeah, and so. But just during your period with Dana Dayane, was there ever was slick Rick? Did you have any slick excitings between nineteen eighty five? Of course in nineteen eighty like post Lottie Dottie eighty five.
Like absolutely, because like I knew slick Rick, like before the show came out, you know what I'm saying. Like me and Doug were friends since we like seventeen, so I knew. I knew Get Fresh crew, haven'ty and you if you asked Chill, will and Barry we were all teenagers when we met each other, and we were so.
No one ever had the conversation like, yo, slick Rick, Dana Dane, do we join together?
It was actually it should have been done, but Herbie was trying to get the Kano crew together. He had Lance and Omega and Dana Dane and we were trying to wrangle Slick Rick at the same time. But Rick was getting his shit together for what would be one of the greatest rap albums ever.
Adventures.
Ah, okay, all right, great event.
Great adventure is a bar, like if you tell stories, you should be trying to tell stories better than that.
It's an impossible bar, right, which is which.
Makes it amazing. So that makes it really something that sho Now.
I know in Philadelphia is you got to know somebody that has a station wagon or a van or mini van to really make it happen. But as a New Yorker, how does one be an effective DJ on the train? Yeah? Or just like walk me through, Like what year was it that you were like, okay, I'll do your black party and that's not your own neighborhood.
In nineteen seventy six, seventy yeah, six or seventy six. I was No. Seventy seven. While in the summer seventy seven I was I was eleven and I played at at a Grand Master Flowers was DJing and Lincoln Terrace Park and everybody was like, yo, you know that's the young DJ from up the street. You know that's the young boy that DJ's from up the street and they keep telling him. He's like where. He's like, come on back, come on back, and he goes, you want to play
some records? And I was like, yes, you know what I'm saying, like not a not an ounce of fair. So I just start. He's like, yo, well pick out a record you want to play. I'm in his records. I'll pick out like forty records. He's looking at me like he's looking at me like you know these. I was like absolutely, he going, I shure he give it a shot. By the end of it of like thirty five forty minutes, he was like, oh no, he's serious. And you know, he was like, yo, you did a
really good job. And everybody was like yoh yeah, and understanding when Lincoln Tervice Park is be hinndred people and usually people get dead at Lincoln Service Park. So as soon as I got off and he told me what he was saying, He's like, yo, man, you got something and you're really good, keep up, keep up at it, and you sounded very good. I was just like, okay, cool. So I left. I went home and I went right to my grandmother and I was like, I'm going to
DJ for the rest of my life. And she said, as long as you finish school, you can do it. And I was like, okay, back, I got a fit school, but I'm going DJ all the way through it. But the first time I played, I played a black a block party with I was I was on somebody else's equipment, but I was playing the block party. I think I was like twelve and it was and I put a hole in it because.
I know, what is one of the times that you bombed a party? Like what is bombing for a clock?
Can't look like it hasn't happened yet. Let me knock on some wood.
No, no, no, it's not that.
It's just that I put so much pressure on myself to make sure that it doesn't happen that it just hasn't happened. I'm not saying it can't happen.
So it's like my sixteen year old was like, hey, come play my party like you can. You can play for that crowd.
Absolutely, okay, no, no, no. I just played for the New York Giants yesterday and all of them are in their early twenties and they listened to so they listened to sixteen year old music. All of them were on on the on the on the on the field like I like drill music, I like I like these, I like I love Young Thug, I love Dirk, I love I love these.
You gotta love it to play it like that.
The difference is me. I don't love DJing. I love music music, so I can appreciate all of it. I understand why certain things won't make sense to some, but I don't look at it for that. I look at it for is the record good. It's the record good. If the record's good, I'm gonna play the records. I'm gonna play the good records. And that's all I think. I don't care what kind of music it is. If I if I can't understand the energy of it and
it doesn't get played. But when I do like, I'm going for it because I literally love the music itself. It's much much more important than DJing. But I guess that's the actual part that makes me a really, really a very good DJ.
All right, So you live in a life of yes.
So that said, a life of yes.
We did an episode with with DJ Drama where everything was a yes, yes, and a lot of those things I would say hell. No, no, no, no, no no. I don't mean yes. But just like you know, if I'm done a gig, I want to go home immediately he gets done a gig and then an unknown TI is you know, chasing him to the car. You're our rhyme. Okay, give me a number, here's my number, come to my basement.
That's what Drama was talking about.
I would have missed that.
Okay, think about this. If I don't listen, I don't hear holes. Well, I don't. If I don't listen, my cousin Foxy. If I don't listen. If I don't listen, I'm not the first person to work with Kim. If I don't listen, I don't have skills in my house before any battles. You know what I'm saying. If I don't listen, I miss it. If I don't listen, I don't know the records. If if I don't listen, I
can bomb at a club. I come from the context for the DJing, and because I come from that era, I look at every single gig like it's the last one some kid wants to spot. My question, is am I giving it to you? You're bugging you gotta take it. And if you try to come up against me in a club, you gonna lose. So if I bomb, it's going to be because no one else was there to edge me on. And I just was like, fuck it, you know what I'm saying, Like, if there's ten people,
those ten people are going to walk away going. I don't know who that DJ was, but you know what I mean. Patty Olebell went on TV talking about how Clock can't rock her at a party, but I'm sorry, that's of Bell. That's Auntie patty Leabelle like she's my mother's age like, and she was like that DJ Clock can't was incredible.
I was like, yes, and that's your rep. Now you gotta keep up that, keep going, keep going.
Imagine because when somebody said my name to recently, she was just like, oh my god, that motherfucker. And I'm just like, if I don't keep that up, it's over, it's over because the chip on my shoulder is ignorant, you know what I'm saying. So the one time I bomb, it's going to be the last night. Somebody's gonna be like never again because they want it so bad for me to.
Borrow, right, all Right, let's go to when you're fourteen fifteen, when you're like, got some years and and whatnot. So this is what I want to know. I mean, in twenty twenty two now, especially in the world of Serrado, probably the biggest problem that we have as DJs is that it's too much information, way too many options. I now.
I mean, I have a MacBook Pro that can hold about four terror bytes of music, and so for me to figure out I mean, on an average, even though I prepare for like three hundred songs, usually before a gig, I'll have the two hundred that I'm ready to rock or whatever. But back in the day when there aren't that many records left.
Before you say that, I'm gonna ask you a question and tell me if you believe this. Okay, would you believe if I told you I don't go I'm gonna prepare this?
Oh, I absolutely believe. I believe I'm only human being that Well, I'll put it this way. I'm preparing for the Gold Party next year right now, and I got maybe thirty songs that I like that I have to play and shit. But that's also like a fault of mind that I'm trying to not do something I'm trying to be not as calculating.
Well, well, you should know my creativity. There's plenty of people that do that. I just I just can't do it. No.
I mean that's I believe you. I believe that you can be in the moment and know this will work good. Next, This will work good next.
That comes from being a club DJ for my whole life. I'm a I'm a club DJ. So I don't. I don't.
I don't.
I don't call myself a show DJ. I don't call myself a radio DJ. Have I done shows? Can I do shows? Yes? Can I do radio? Yes? Can I do all of those things? Yes? I never call myself a mixta DJ. I'm a club DJ. And because I'm a club DJ, like, I really can't prepare. I gotta be Oh shit, that's what's happened. Oh let me turn this ship into some other ship.
So you work on the spot, okay, Yeah, and I see that.
I'm gonna tell you where I work from. I work from here. It's what my heart's telling me to do every time I put a record on.
Oh so you take requests?
Never, damn.
I just want to slide that in but that is guy.
Let me amend that. Okay. Person I will actually pay attention to about about a request is my wife.
Okay, but she probably don't, don't She don't.
But the other part is if she does, she's so in tune to where my mind is musically, it's almost like I can go for the suggestion that's a good one, you know what I'm saying. And it's because she's been around me for so long playing like she can damn near tell this might work for him as well work for me.
No more, rabbitble. Walk me through DJing in your formative years, Like how many records do you feel is needed for? First of all? How long are DJ gigs?
No less than six hours? Like? No less? Because I was playing a club around the corner from my crib when I was fourteen, and that's when I learned how old how long you gotta play? And that night I had like six Crates records. Every night after that I played there, I would have like twelve.
Se going through all them. Or do you have to repeat brick House four times already?
Or no? Never? That's another thing. I don't don't repeat records in a party. I can't do it. I don't even understand. It's too there's too much music in the world to do that. He said, it's too must music your quest. Here's something else. I never played slide, I never played line records.
I told you that.
Records and I play and I play.
That means you never did You never did a wedding.
No, I've done weddings. That just I just tell them I'm not doing it.
Not a no electric slide, none of that, no dance.
If you got if you got to do a record like that, that means that means you can't make them dance.
The gag gets to make them not even remember that they didn't even hit them records.
You're right, and and and it's so many records that people do the electric slide to. Why do I have to play? Right? Come on, I don't have to tell you to do the dance. If you want to do what you want to do it, you're gonna find a record to do it, and they will do it. If they want to do it, they'll do it to damn day anything.
How does the format for the originals work when the five of you, y'all have eclectic taste, but you guys are also kind of left the center of that. Yeah, I mean, how do you how do you guys decide? Because rich too, and especially in times of like when you guys do your your your gigs, like is it just like all right, you do three records, I'm gonna do three records. You do three records, I'm gonna do three. How is what's the format?
The format is set up already. It's half an hour each and we keep rotating the half hours. If it's only three, then it's just going to be an hour and a half, and then there's then I'm back for an hour and a half and I'm back hour and a half. If it's four, then it's two hours and
I'm back two hours. You know what I'm saying. So if it's all five of us throughout the night, you'll hear everybody twice because it's half hour sets, and no matter how many people is there, the idea of the Originals is five DJs who are friends, who really care about each other, who just want to have fun. So whether we're all there or not, we're just gonna make sure at the nightest one.
Y'all killed it during COVID. I appreciate that when y'all will give us the love.
I feel like a big part of your your greatness is kind of your social skills. When did you learn the power of meeting people, a kind of making connections, that sort of thing, Because I mean, you're also known as the man who knows everyone. There's literally no one I can stump you on in terms of a notable figure in history that you're not in contact with, So like, at what point are you taking an extra step to
get to know this person? Take this person's card, and what they would call making moves politic.
Literally, it's about what I respect the person that I'm being and if I do, then I feel like we can have a real conversation. And then most times I'm having a conversation on the spot, and that lets me know whether it can be something else or now whether it was yo, make sure you call me h yo. Let's let's set up me in and I let it be on them, because you know, like, I'm not I'm not pressing anybody to do things with me. I'm just like,
maybe we can do some cool shit. And if we can do some cool shit, then cool, we'll do it. But I leave it up to them and I let my track records speak for everything that I'm doing. So like when I meet somebody from a shoe company, like, I'm not going to sit there and be like, oh, I did this many projects. I'm just like, how you doing? Nice to meet you, But maybe we could figure something out and I let it move that way and let
the person decide whether they should or they shouldn't. And if they don't really know everything and they start doing the history, maybe they'll walk away going, oh, I definitely got.
To do something.
I mean and that and that. That goes across everything. It goes across music, it goes across sneakers, it goes us everything. Like like one of the first things I do when I meet a new rapper is I ask them about records. Like I'm talking like in the first three minutes, I'm like, yo, have you ever heard America's Most Wanted? If you tell if you're telling me you make an album, it's a classic to me, you have to know what classic st ACKs. So have you America's
Most Wanted? Well? Okay, cool, when you do understand what that is, how at me? But when you don't, you really can't talk to me about no rap. You can't talk to me about rap if you don't know what the greatest advents is. If you can't, if you can't tell me what it takes a nation of millions, if you can't tell me low end theory like dog, you can't Yo. There's there's so many rappers that are making records right now that think Reverend run is a freaking reverend. Yeah, and that's it.
That's all.
But I blame I blame us for that.
I am in total agreeings. We have a culture that doesn't cultivate itself facts, so so I expect these things. But when you come to me talking about you and MC and all of that, if you say you an m C and not a rapper, oh well you got to know MC ship. I'm going to ask you about MC ship. And then if you were a rapper, I'm asking about rapper ship, you know. Like, but if you can't, I'm just like, yeah, when you do, I'll mm hmm.
What was your first non DJing for notable MC figure job in the industry, like your first Clark Kent as a and R Clark Kent.
As Yeah, I was I was an r at Uh. It's funny because I was an R at Epic Records for like two days.
Oh period.
Oh my god, this is right before I went to Atlantic. So this is.
No stop that.
I didn't do that.
No, Hansole was very crucial to He paid it for it. Okay, ok, very quickly. No, but you worked at what period? Did you work at Epic?
It was eighty nine. So one day Timmy calls me. He was like, Yo, I'm about to send you to send you to Epic Record. You're gonna go work over there. And I was like what. He was like, Yeah, You're gonna go do an R And I was like, fuck is A and R?
You go?
You're gonna be looking for new artists and trying to sign new artists. I was like, oh shit, they're gonna pay you this much. I was like what. I was like, bet I gotta run the streets chasing chasing it anymore like I. And then like when I got into the first meeting, I was like, can I still DJ clubs? Is that okay? And they were like, we definitely want you to DJ. I definitely want you to stay on the radio. We definitely want you.
To definitely want you to stay on radio.
We definitely want you to have your pulse on everything. So two days go by. On the third day, Timmy calls me. He was like, okay, pack of shit, you're gonna quit. And I'm like, what what did you talking about? You just sent me here. This is your man that I'm working with, Like, what are you doing? Like, he goes, you're gonna quit, You're gonna go work with Merlin And I was like, what that? Because he's my man? And he walks me into Silvia Rohan's office and then I
met my mother in the music business. Wow, and what he uses ninety She gave me an education? What was that?
What was some of the jews she gave you?
Why?
Now?
What what she gave me was about understanding what we're trying to pick, what we're trying to do musically, and how the deals work, and how the business works, and and all of the ugliness of it. And she kept it funky boy, like this is ugly, but this is this, you know what I mean? Like, we don't have to tell an artist to go figure out your business. The artist should be trying to figure out hiss. And the reason why she said it like that was because it's
super duper clear, it's not the music. It's the music business. So just because you know the music doesn't mean you hear properly. That means you got to go figure out the business. So when you get in it, you got something with you so that you can go, I'm not taking that deal. And your lawyer is nine times out of ten a friend with the lawyer at the company, So you gotta have your lawyer working for you instead of working to make those deals happen so he can get people.
Don't you think that's a little unfair to expect that of people who have no fucking clue of any of this. Like you know, someone who can have a talent and say, okay, you're a great rapper, sing or whatever.
Guess what you're right. So you know what I did to every artist that came to the office. I told him, please learn the business. Whether I'm giving you a deal or not, please learn the business so this don't happen. Let me tell you about this.
Let me pass a passing book, or I'm just joking. It's not yourlity.
But all that I told him about I told him about those two books. Every single artist that came to me, whether I liked them or I didn't I was like, learn the business because it's gonna be terrible. That's the reason my Dame's Damon Dasher's deals were good because I'm sitting in the office going, I'm about to give you a deal, but you need to go do this so that your deal can be back. Really, you know what I'm saying. Understanding there is not an artist player for
the other team. No I played. I looked at it like I'm an artist and if I'm going to be producing some of you getting jerked up is me jerking myself up. So let me make sure you don't get jerked up. So it goes right.
Just in that period, you know, especially in nineteen ninety New York, man, it was like.
It was it was.
It was the gold Rust, the Wild West. And you know, I know that Dante is getting numbers on the boards for like the acts that he signed, But for you one, can you talk about near misses of acts that you tried to sign, that that you close put the cigar acts that you had and what is the process of you trying to get an act? Like are you the sports agent that has to go to their crib.
And like, yo, do you want the answer to that? First. The first things first, I never really had to go to an artist's crib because again I was already being DJ Clode Cancer. They were coming to my office and if I like them, I'm trying to sign them. So I had nas before anybody. Like as soon as I
heard the barbecue, I called Oconelly. I was like, bring him to my office because I was working on a deal between It was I was working on a deal for Ocinelly, where I had a bidding war with with Jimmy Ivan, and of course I'm just a director of and I'm not a vice president. Jimmy Ivan won that war easily, but Cockinelly and lost refessor on my man's I was like, who's that kid on the barbecue or that's not bring them? And I probably wasn't clear because
I was like, bring him and bring his demo. When he came out in front of me, it's me and him and Acnelli, I was like, you'll give me a demo. He's like, I don't have a demo. I was like what after that, you ain't got a demo? Like that's going through my mind and I was just like so I had to say to him. I was like, yo, I'm not a vice president, like I'm not the president. I'm a director. When I bring something, I gotta show him the music. So like you know, like Oconelly had
a bunch of songs. I was, I was walking it through to him. I was like, I gotta, I gotta play the music to get to try to get to that point. And and I said, you know, we just signed Effects. They had damn near our whole album done. Like he walks out of the meeting rightfully, so there was nothing to do. But I was just like, please, like, if you got some songs, get me the songs or whatever.
He walks out of the meeting. Years later he makes a record and then the record he goes Clark Kent wouldn't sign me because he signed Effects, And I was like, that's not what happened. I was like, you know, Weed is something. But like you know, Oconnelly, I lost Oconnelly too to Jimmy I Bean, I lost, I lost I lost my Deep to Bones Malone.
M hmm.
Yeah. When they when they were political profits. When they were they were in my office, like I was trying to sign these these little boys, and it was this chick who managed them, who was cool with Dame, so Dame was halfway managing them to so I was just like, shake the soft Family, we're gonna go. And Bones had heard them like the day before me, so he was trying to sign them and he he yeah, he was at Fourth Broadway, so like he already had something like
the day before. So it was almost like I'm going to have to fight with my man, and I was just like, no, I can't. I can't fight with Bones about this. And then the the way that they were structured with the girl, I was like, you know, what to what you want to do? But I was they would have been wherever I was at and I still got number of love for him.
Yeoh, I'm glad you mentioned this. Can you tell me how long it took for Dis Effects to create their first album? After they had the single the album, that's where it got they were just you know, the album was snaps every beat.
The album was done practically maybe one song off. When they came to the office, Wow, We're all we were all like, oh, ship, like this is it?
What member of who did the who did the production on that album? That's one thing that was never made, was it p M D Or was it.
It was that was christ Charity.
Yeah, yeah, it was them. It was solid scheme. What's crazy is I didn't even notice until later when when when the deal was done, Like they brought the whole crew to the office and I'm like, I'm looking at solid skin, like, yo, don I know y'all, and they're like, yeah, we live on the next block from you. And I was like I was looking at them, like your motherfuckers
make beats. You did all of this ship. They were like, yeah, we was doing it in the crib up the street from you, and I was just like, fuck, I know, y'all. Why didn't you I just so y'all as the kids from up the block, why didn't you say something? He said, well, you know, Paris was like he's going to bring it to where you was at. So I figured we find out. I'm like, what, like, I didn't have to do this, didn't have to go that way. It could have went
through y'all. It could have been a solid skame production and you know, yeah, but they did. They did all of it, and it was literally done before the deal was done.
Now, I mean I'm in an error where okay, if something fresh comes out everybody's biting it a second later. I mean, so common now that you know, I don't. I just think it's it's it's just the you know, the lay of the land, like some dope comes and then you got to do your version of it. But I've just never seen a domino effect or sea change effect happened so rapidly in hip hop. Then when after
dost effects came out. So could you just talk at least from the from the behind the scenes standpoint or what it was like like when you heard that song, you knew that you had lightning in a bottle?
Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I knew that. I knew that it was going to be crazy because of how funny enough at that moment, how different it was. But I didn't literally feel it was so different, because you have to remember at that time, I was trying to find jay Z and Jazz, and they were doing it in the eighties.
So they were tongue twitched it even way before that.
No, No, they were I'm talking about the eighties. The Originators came out in the eighties, Yeah, and they were doing what you heard, the riggy did dig did the sticky? All of that shit was in the Originators records, and the tripling was in the Originators records, so like they were doing it from in the eighties and I was trying to find them. But when this happened, I was like, Okay, yeah, we have to do this. This is this emergency, right,
so we do it. She goes crazy, but then yes, a ton of motherfuckers just all of a sudden, we're riggedy and sticky and and I was just like, wow, but that's happened from the beginning of time. The second song that was ever made as a sample of the first song, but did you?
I almost feel like the the this is the one the rare times where I felt like it was super effects right, but I almost felt like it it killed any momentum that they had that by the time the next album came, You know, were you involved at all in the the the A and R and the development.
Of Yes and I'm produced On that album. They didn't change a lot, but they went more to the fact that yo, we actually can wrap you know what I'm saying. And I was like, that's a cool idea. People are going to be expecting you to do one thing, so doing what you're doing might not work. Out properly, but it didn't mean that we shouldn't let them try it. And some of their like better rap record like rap Ability records, came from that second album.
I wanted to ask you, man, I was always curious about your work with Rob Kim on his album, you know, the Eighteenth Letter. What was it like, because that was at the point of his career where he was really you know, you don't call it a comeback, but that was you know, he was setting up, you know, the next chapter of his career.
That was exactly what it was.
Yeah, you know, how what was your approach as a producer saying I right, we're gonna take you. Was the goal to get him on the radio, get him in the club? Like what what was your mind as a producer?
The goal was to get him interested in rapping two Wow things that I came up with, like slick Rick two. When I worked on slick Rick's album, when he came home from jail, Like I made tracks for like two weeks and he wouldn't even come in the room. Here's something a lot of people don't know. When rock him was like eleven wine dance Day happened and there was a guy named King Charles from Queens that had a stupid sound system and he used to bring the sound
system to Wine Dance Day. He brought me with him one year and I'm djaying and this little dude is on the mic on a crate and it was rock Him. So later on, later on, when I'm when when we're sitting in the studio and now I've known rock him since the beginning of rock him, like making records, just
cool rock him, just like cool. We meet each other and your crew knows I know all these dudes in your crew, so we're just going to know each other like that, right, And we're sitting in the studio and I say, you, oh, when's the first time he wound that Wine Dance Day? He said, how you know I round that Wine Dance Day. I said, I'll tell you in a second. So when's the first time? He said? Yo, man, I think I was like eleven. I said, I believe you were eleven. He was like, how you know that?
Because I was DJing. He was like, wait a minute, clock, So you was my DJ the first time I got on a mic at a park jam And I was like, how about that?
That's crazy?
Man? Like it might not even make sense to people that I'm older than rock him doesn't, right, you know what I'm saying.
So it's like I feel like he's older than everybody.
The reason why is because at sixteen he became the most important MC period. Bro Chim is literally literally the most important MC ever.
So when y'all were making back we're making an album, how we were able to fit him into a I guess back then will be a.
Modern day contract? What was your what was your process?
I literally for almost two sessions just sat around talking to him after and are mad at me, like cluck, you're wasting money. I'm like, no, this is actually going to help you because I'm getting him into a place of he wants to really really wrap to some some ship that might not necessarily be regularly yoused. And that thing that we did for two years got him to trust me, right, But then at the at the advent of him trusting me, I was like, he can't trust
nobody else. So I would have beats from whomever at the n R would give me because it basically became I'm gonna like basically and on the album right cool, So I'm showing them beats that I'm like, he's a good, A good, he's good, and he's going yo, who did this? And when I tell him, he's going on and I'm like, so what I started doing? When I got a beat that I thought he should round two, I was like, I did it? Oh bet yo, let me go right to this. I don't give it, damn how I gotta
get get it. That's me being a recognisic, a record company got I'm gonna get this. I'm gonna geta get ship done. So I did that for producers that weren't quite more famous enough for him to the only producer that he actually was like, okay, I trust him his premier, yeah, Pete. He just didn't necessarily like say oh yeah immediately I had to be like, yo, this should fire, you know, Pete p gave's fire and then he would listen.
And socc begins.
That was my joint right, But the fact the fact that.
He ran to guess who's back was mind blowing to me. But then it gave me the ability to do something that I really didn't get to do on records, like the whole end of the record I'm scratching, which I didn't really do on records a lot, but I was like, he was like, yo, man, get to this because of the intro of the record. Once again, back is the incredible. He's like, yo, you you got to scratch that at the end of the record. And I'm just like, oh no, I don't. This record's going to have a hard end.
He was like nope, and he would challenge me by going, Okay, I'll do the scratches.
As the producer of MAFI Players Anthem, what were your thoughts on J Brews and Three Moods?
You're playing yourself?
Well, first of all, I've known Primo since he was in college, and like we're like we're really all like super old school friends. Like when I was with Dana Dane. We did a show at Priview University. He was a DJ for the night okay, and the show was in a gym and he was on the stack and I was like, Yo, nice to meet you, DJR Yo DJ Premier. There was no Game Star, it was DJ Premier. I'm like, Yo, good to meet you, man. And I was like, yo,
you you're playing ship. You know what I'm saying. You're getting it off And he was like, yo, thank you. And I get on we do the show with Dana Dane, and we instantly became cool. And I would do parties at the Rhyme Stone Wrangler in Houston, and I damned there was famous in Houston for playing at the Rhymestone
Wrangler with Off pe Cola and uh Steve Foyer. And I was super tight with James James Smith at that time, So like when the advent of Gangstar came, I was like, I know we know each other already, you know, so we're super cool. So when the record got made, I actually literally was like, did I do something wrong the print? I was like, because I was like I love that guy, like I love him and I believe he loves me too, And I was like, how did you just do that?
You know? It really was about the idea of the song. He played yourself and he was going at Biggie, so it was like he was going at Biggie on something Biggie did. So I was like, Noah, I love for man for man loves me and I think nothing of this ship, but I did. First. I was like, he murdered that ship. So the thing is, I was like, he might have made a fill beat. I just made the better song. So I was cool. I was cool
with both. You got the beat, but that's because I looked at it like a producer and not like a guy who was just listening to the song. But once I got to the song card, I was like, yeah, my song kills that, but your beat, your beat kills mine. Yo. Listen, man. One time I was in the club and all of a sudden, the DJ in the club plays you are what I'm all about and he starts manipulating the sample in Siado, so it goes boom dunk dum dumdoom, and I'm just like, fucking Quest, I'm gonna kill you. You.
It was you who did it, and I was we were as Santos and I was like, oh, Quest is wild, He's wild. So I just I just like that was that was super duper ill, And I was like, you know what, how did I ever feel bad about that? Like? Quest is the premiere is freaking amazing. Premiere to me is the best boombag producer ever, like ever ever ever? Yeah, yeah, did come.
Hey, speaking of battles. Speaking of battles, I know that you were one of the organizers of the Battle Forwards World Supremacy. Now you mentioned Merlyn Bob, which I'm gonna ask, did you do any time at a lecture whatsoever?
Well, if you worked at East West, you worked at Atlantic, East West and Electric.
So were you the one that signed uh Supernat to his deal of Electric?
No, but I was the one who got the ability to sign an artist to the deal. So basically the deal was a prize. But the deal was a prize because I walked in and was like, yo, I do this contest and da da da da da da. I need to be able to sign the artists who wins. And they were like okay, And so it was the prize. It wasn't like I'm saying I want to sign. It was like, no, this is a prize. Like and it's crazy because people didn't even know that was a surprise.
That was the prize. Like you get there and you think you're just battling for this world supremacy belt. I mean at that time I had switched it from belts to jackets that you could wear every day because you couldn't wear a belt, and a ring that you could wear every day because you couldn't wear a belt, and and you know, special things like we're gonna get you
like a little setup and shit. But once they said it'll be a deal that we give, I was like, Oh, they just gonna get a jacket the gold ring and then they're gonna get this deal and that's going to fuck them up. So when they when it was happening and the ship was over and Supernatural won and I was like, by the way, you just gotta deal that Electric Records. He was like, I got a what. I was like, yeah, he still won it, even though yeah he wanted yeah, he won the battle. The Craig G
thing wasn't a part of the battle. That was just Craig G. One night in between the two nights, he was just like he got up and was like, Yo, I kick this nigga's ass on the mic. That's the way I heard it come back. And then they battled and Craig G craig G roast. Okay, Craig G won
the battle. I'm gonna say it like that. And the reason why I'm gonna say it like that is because when the battle was about to happen the next day, I was like, yo, I'm hearing last night that there was a battle between Craig Ge and Supernatural and Supernatural, I mean and Craig g bus his ass. Those are the words I used, right, And at the same time, Supernatural had a show on ninety seven. Once a week he would be on ninety seven. He goes on the show and goes, you know, I like to shout out
to everybody who came out to the battle. You know, I won, Da da da da. But Clark cancer Snake? Oh wait what I was like Clark to Snake? How you know? So I'm a little angry and I see him, I'm like, Yo, what are you talking about? Then, instead of really trying to have a conversation with him, I went to KRS and I was like, who was managing him? I was like, Yo, talk to your man. Talk to your man, because if you don't talk to your man,
I'm gonna choke. Talk to your man. And it got to a point where I was like, dog, like, you're not talking to your man. Your man should go on the radio and apologize because just because I had I respoke about some shit that happened the day before. I'm a snake. You just won my battle. I gave you a record deal. What is you talking about? You win?
Right?
Right? You won? Like we just talking about what happened the night before before you won the battle. So I'm just like, so that makes me a snake because I mentioned what happened the night before, even though you in the same day won the battle. So some weeks went
buying any apology. He invited me up to the radio and here because some things happened in the middle, and then he invited me to the radio to apologize, and I was just like, cool, you know, I left it the way it was, but I just could not understand why you would take that route after me just repeating what I heard the night about the night before and then you won, So it was like, who cares?
What did you work on his album? And I know the album never dropped, but would you involved at all? You weren't involved.
No, I wasn't involved.
I was going to ask you got him the deal VA winning the contest, but you had nothing to do with an RN. No. I'm only asking this because the first day that he records one of his tracks is also the first day like he's in studio c at Battery Studios, and this is the first day that the Roots and Bob Power are mixing down. Uh, what will
eventually be d you want more. It's like our first day of mixing, and maybe we were in like Supernat and Tarika were really tight, so I think we spent like just two hours in his breakroom and chilling whatever. And he's like tracking the song and he's working on a song called when I was King. When I was King. When I was King, I ruled everything like it reaked of a keras one hook. But I noticed that every time he started a verse, it was a new verse and he's like, no, no, no, I don't like that.
Let's do it again. So it's like, I don't know to take two, and then he does the hook and then it was enough and I realized he was like, I'm gonna make this entire album freestyle, like I'm not gonna write anything. And I was like, yo, this is a recipe for disaster. So I always one I wanted
to know did that album ever get completed? And this also is a nice, wonderful segue into another person that attempted to do that actually made made some made some some some traction with it, which is of course I gotta ask you, what was it about jay Z that you that made you say? Because I believe your quote to me was like I knew he was the greatest the first time I heard him. Yeah, Like, normally someone builds up to that, but how did you know?
I knew because he was saying rhymes that were better than the guys that I thought were the best. But they were like so much better that I was like, Wow, these guys aren't aren't even like close. Him and Jazz to me, were like the most elite MC's I ever heard. But Jay had something else. He had the rest of the package, you understand, Like Jazz had no bars like Jazz's bars, like and sanity. He would say things that I would have to be.
Like wow, and we would be in the room like wow, did he.
Just say that? But then Jay would go in and saytion shit and we'd be like wow. But everything else was attached to it. It was like this flow, the style of cadence, the attitude. You walked away believing every single word he said, and I was just like, Yeah, that's this guy's He's going to be looked at as the greatest.
Why do you think it took so long for quote unquote heads end quote to actually give him his property?
Okay, before we do that, I'm gonna go back and I'm gonna say when you was talking about another guy who didn't who freestyled. Jay never freestyled. Everything that you hear was what he put together. So it was written. It just wasn't written down. It was written in his memory. Right. He remembered what he was saying by the rhythms that he wrote it in.
But isn't it a former freestyle?
That's different. Freestyle is like when you.
Just come in like just the right off the top of your head, like none of that over time. Yeah, he's emulating the raps.
He has supreme memory too, right, because that too has just like his.
His recall game when he was making records was insanity because I would be like, we drive him from the city to Brooklyn and a beat would be playing and he'd be like, Yo, I got it, you got what I got? I got I got this one. We're gonna go in the crib and we're gonna do this one. And we would do it and I'd be like, when did this happen?
He was like on the ride home talking about tracking it is it stands at a time? Is it like half averse?
Jay was one guy who could put it all together. He could put each first together in one shot and then go back and do the ad libs like he would do a through the adlast and then go to the next verse. But I'm just like talk like you can do.
That, man, it's a memory. It's a it's a memory exercise. I didnt like that. I did that from like oh four to like yeah when I heard because I heard that, because I heard the stories like oh Jay don't write, he does it, and I was like, all right, let me try it. And so I tried it, and I was like, okay, cool. So like everything from like four up until I built my studio up the crib at oh nine, like all of that was dope paper while you stopped.
Then just the studio changed. Like so for me, my process at the time like was just we were recording in the studios.
You just cut the beat on to fifty and just walk around and I would just kind of write it and put it together and then tell my ang there like all right, bro, let's go and I do it. When you're recording at home and you got now the right right, yeah, But now when you're recording at the crib, it's like I'm not gonna leave a beat on loop forever, you know, when my kid is trying to sleep. So that was when I went back to It became a
more of a thing. It became more of a writing and I think, just for me, my style as an MC at that time, it was really changing from I don't want to be just a great rapper. I want to be a great writer because I think if you, I think there's a longevity in it. You know, the reason why guys like a j you know what I'm saying, can still perform at a high level now is because he, in my mind, he thinks of himself as a writer, Like you can mature as a writer.
Can you mature as a rapper? Maybe?
I don't know, But if you think yourself as a writer, there's always in a storyteller, you always have room to grow and mature.
I think what's I think the right way to say it is he thinks of himself and as an MC, not a rapper. And when you and when you're an MC, what you're saying becomes more important to how you say it. You got something you want everybody to get. You want like his triple advantages is like are you getting this like there's things on the first album that people just don't get. And I'm just like, man, like this is like freaking twenty some years ago, Like why why is
this mind blowing to you right now? Like you should have got that maybe a year later, but like we're twenty five and you still don't get you know. So, But I will say the first time I started having and this is like literally the first session we do, he did that shit and I was like, Yo, what the fuck just happened? Like, dog, did you have that already? He was like nah, He's like this is what the beat said for me to do. And I was like,
how did you remember all that? And he explained. He was like, you know, just like when you learn your abcs, I took it. I took this part and I put it. I put it together based off of what he said. He was like, I remember the rhymes based off of the rhythm in which I wrote him, or if the rhyme goes that's the way he remembers the record of the rhymes is to but that he's coming up with, And I was just like, in my mind, I was like, what are you talking about? So I said, what are
you talking about? So he would go, most of my cadences come from drum rolls, and I was like, what then you would come on, let yo, let's look at this record and you hit that right there, that drummo, that's a cadence right there, And I'm just like, Yo, what the fuck are you talking about? And he would display the ship and go back, Yo, remember that drummro go listen to that ship, and I'd be like, oh, he's a wizard. Yeah.
I was just thinking, I love it when y'all make it sound like science and because it is so.
So later on in my mind, I was like, the first thing you learned to remember you learn it connected to music, so connected to a rhythm, A B C D. Yeah, like you connected to a rhythm. Like it's so much easier to remember something.
That's seven eleven twelve.
Schoolhouse Rock was the proof of that ship. Like you you can remember everything from Schoolhouse Rock if you watched it twice, face faced off of the rhythm. You know what I'm saying, it's truth. So like he explained, he explained that ship to me, and I was just like, that's masterful. And that also gave me something else in my pocket. When I would walk around and talk to people about him and like, Yo, my man, don't even write the ship down. He would be looking at me like, clock,
you're a liar. The first first person telling me I was alive with skills. So I was like, skills, come to the skills, come to the crypt. He was like, I'm not for what. I was like, Yo, my man, my man's head, and you're gonna record to to just kind of my crib. He sees Jay come in, listen to the beat for a while. He could tell you this is the truth. And he went in and got on the mic and said everything that he was mumbling in the hallway, and he was like, Yo, what the
fuck does that happen? The same way I was. He was like, I said, Dog, I told you. He don't write it down. He just thinks of it. That's it. And then he thinks of it and puts it all together and everything, like when you think of ninety nine problems and think that there's no pen attached to that, there's no pen attaches to meet the parents. I'm sorry, dog, he's a fucking wizard. Yo.
You're just reminded me. Now I wouldness that. Now I got a search for this shit, because I mean, technically he did it just so that he recorded something, just so that he could remember it specifically for a show that we were doing, but mid rehearsals for that whole reasonable Doubt thing that we did for the anniversary, he's like, you know what, He's like, I'm doing a sequel. I'm
doing forty four fours. He's like, redo, can I kick it and just lay the beat down for five minutes to like me Adam Blacks when I forget, like, who else was there? So we we we were hooking it up like we were going to do it during the show, and the whole time I thought he was I thought he was just like recapping something that he might have wrote a sequel to it or whatever. He's like, no, no, no, I'm making it up right now. It's like, just give
me a half hour. I'll get it. And I really regret this moment, but this is the exact moment where in the next room, in the in the room next door Kanye in Consequence were just working on I don't know if you remember this song on Consequences record your Girl, Your Girl, Keith, fuck yes, your Girl. It's one of the hardest beats. I really like, if you remember the yes, if you remember that beat, Like my older self's like, yo, you could have witnessed a real historical moment of watching
this motherfucker crafted. But I'm not thinking like I'm making a bait for jay Z to, you know. He's just like, I got to remember my rhyme, so just give me a half hour and I'll have it. So we're running in that room to watch old boy like put this beat together for consequence and shit. And I came back. He's like, all right, I'm done, and he laid it and it didn't hit me till like much later that he actually made that rhyme up at the moment. And mind you, there were forty four fours in there. Yeah,
so that's the part I'm still like. I was like this, he had this one in his pocket, there's no way, and he's like, no, it's like I made it up on the spot.
Twenty two Two's was a freestyle that he used to do every time we performed at Maria Davis. Well, what we call freestyle, you know, when you rhyme to a beat and you just go off like we just do that to can I kick it. This was before there was a beat to it, and then it was like, you'll make a beat to it, you'll ski come up with something to it. Like but he said twenty he said two twenty two times, and I was like wow, because because I'm he said four forty four, so trust me.
When when the first time he did it, I was like, what the And then the next time he did it, I was in the side going and then when it got to twenty two, I was just like, nah, fuck, I understand that. This is the second This is the second time he did it in front of us, you know what I'm saying. The first time we were just like, oh, that shit is crazy, y'ah. Twenty two two? Yeah, Then I was like, twenty two Wait a minute, twenty two
two's that's that means something different. Let me listen. And I was just like, he said too twenty two times. He's wizard, He's not regular man. So when forty four fours came out, I was like, I'm not even gonna te him nobody he said forty four he said four or forty four time, I'm not even gonna tell nobody because they're gonna say I'm.
Lying, right, did you were you there for the tracking of a Scot's Limit.
Yeah?
Yeah, what was that like?
It was kind of crazy because there wasn't an idea of one twelve.
It was.
It was Biggie doing the hook.
He's saying it. You have a version of him singing it.
The funny part is in the song his voice is in there. Okay, I just I just let it be real low because I appreciated the fact that he can't. Yo. Look, We're on a tour bus and Biggie says, bring me some beach for Junior Mafia, and I'm just like, who's Junior? My fia. He was like Ce's and such a name. The kids, the kids of g I'm like, they don't rap. He was like, don't worry about the clock. Just bring me something dream. I bring him some ship. First thing going to be the guys on the tape. The sky's
the limit. He was like, Yo, you gotta hold that. And I was like, nah, that that's like an ed's joint. Mhm. He's looking at me like I was like, yes, I can know. Nah, dog, you gotta hold take it back. I need that. I'm like whatever, let's keep it. Second joint on the tape is I need it? I need
you tonight. He was like, oh that, I like that too, and then he hears players anthem and like literally he's going I was like, Oh, we're gonna have something, and I'm thinking it's me and him, we're gonna make a record. In two days, we're gonna go home. We're gonna make this record. I was like, yes, we go home. He brings a little season and little Kim that I'm like, what's going on here, and then goes in the booth and does the verse. I was just like, oh, ship.
And then he does his verse and then Kim.
Talk about it.
She just like it's crazy because if I was smarter back then, I would have left the ending of the song the way she ended it, because at the end of the song, I took out the words she was saying at the end, and at the end she said Clark can't fuck and I was just like, you can't sit, you can't stay, can't to get out. And I was just like, wait a minute. That was a moment. I walked up Clark, motherfucker who and I was just like, I didn't leave that in. I was like, I'm the dumbest,
right now. But then but then the record happens, and I'm just like, yeah, that's all right. So but while we're on the tour buzz though, he goes back to the Sky's the Limit beat and he just starts singing to this ship and I'm just like, oh, he just wildly.
Like he just gets it because as we hear it, Clark like what he heard for the first time is as we hear it finished product like the beat.
Like exactly the way it happens is exactly the way I gave it to him. And like he goes back to it because he's like, yo, I need this, and you know, we're not really paying attention, but I'm hearing him going god, you know, and I was just like what, just like this, dude, But I was just like, dog, that's Acanelli's record. Yeah, But he's like so wants it so bad that I go back and I go to Acanelly. I was like, dog, you're really gonna use this record? He was like, hell, yeah, Clock, how much is it?
And I told him and he was just like yo, Clock, he trying to buy a car on me. And I was like what, Like, Dog, like you know, I made records and you know, I make records like this is like I'm and he just like he didn't really want to pay for it. So I was just like, yo, biggie ca it. He was like, yeah, you gotta hold it though, and I'm thinking hold it for what And he was like, oh, trust me, trust me, you gotta hold it. I did not know he's thinking two and a half. He is down the line it's gonna be
on your next album. I'm thinking that's somewhere on Junior Manthia's album. But he was just like, yeah, you gotta you gotta hold it. But he had the hook after like two hours. But he was singing it to himself. He wasn't necessarily saying it's going to be the hook. He was singing it like he could sing it to it. But I'm listening to it, going wow, if that's the hook,
you know. And it just went that way. And when it came time to mix that, the record came back from Bad Boys Studio and it had one twelve on it and I was like, oh, this shit is beautiful. But I respected what he did so much, and it was on the tape that I just let it be in the beat. Like if you listen to Brooklyn's fine as Biggie. Every time the record goes like on certain hooks, Biggie's doing that shit like Biggie's in the background going.
I was just like, yeah, I gotta leave it, I gotta leave it there.
It just hit me, Clark, you got to tell me. Speaking of the early days of Rockefeller, can you please share your many Dame battles, Like I know that Dame is a proud Harlem night and you are from the borough of Brooklyn. Yeah, but can you please share the story of the bet of the Freshest, which basically, you know there's there's there's a whole slew of people that know you strictly not for music before sneakers.
Oh okay, the intro.
Please share this story.
Dame does a whole one to traveling with with Jay and all of that, and you know, he comes back and he was like, Clark, I'm frsh than you. And I was like, yeah, I right, whatever, And he goes, now, wear new best niggas every day. I said, I've been doing that since you met me. Nah, I bet, I bet, he says, I bet. You can't wear brand new pist niggas every day for a year. So I was like, what do you want to bet? Because in my mind, I'm like, that's an instant loss. Right, So he was like,
I bet you. I can't even remember what the bet was for. I had to be something stupid, but I made the bet and I wore brand new pists niggas every day. The good part was it was at Rockefeller Office, so every day he got the paint and the like and we worked document this Like no, it was just a shit talking between me and him. He knew how to ring your like to twist your stomach like shit out of you, and I'd be like, come on, dang,
come on, dang. I was really one of the guys who could ignore dame that just one time it just went too far and he was like, you're scared. You scared. I'm scared. Like I've been doing this since you met me. You were eighteen nineteen when I met you, and I've been this guy, like what makes you think is going
to change now? Because you got some money and bought every sneaker you saw on the way when you was on the road, Like, I really have everything that you buy and now I have it already, or I had the original to what you like, so stop, you got to stop. But he just was talking shit and talking shit and I just was like I bet and he lost.
And you couldn't repeat a pair at all in a year's.
Time, brand new pair sneakers every day a new pair or just a fresh like brand new pair. So even if I wore white on whites four month straight, every day to white and white had to be a brand new pair. O. Wait, think about this to me, right, if you came to my crib and you saw four thousand pairs of sneakers, why would it seem like it's hard to do it? Right?
It's only three hundred and sixty five days.
Right, So if I didn't buy any sneakers, I could have done it. I could have done it for like ten years. It's been like twelve years, maybe fifteen years.
You still apply this rule.
Oh yeah, I don't win. I don't wear sneakers like I'm sorry where they go?
Yeah? What side? What size are you?
I'll take your leftovers.
I'm a thirteen, but I give him away.
Well, Steve, you're you're you're out of luck.
There's no way I'm not out of luck. Ask quest.
He knows you're a same size, yes, I take quests leftovers.
You know, you know how bad I am, Like a rare air of morek and Mendy's. I just let Steve have them.
That is fascinating.
And here's the thing. You probably let them have them because it didn't like affect you a certain way.
Well at one point, it's just ridiculous.
And you know, I was just like, okay, you.
You have a you have a pair of sneakers that you didn't wear that was given to you during the Air Force one twenty fifth anniversary, and I.
Know I will never wear those.
Oh, you got to give them to me. Oh you talk I'm talking about the crock joints, right, You're talking about the crock joints, the white with the one white and orange croc ones, their snake with a croc strike. Yeah, you have to give them to me. Oh like, like how I got you? How I got you? The Essels?
Can we talk? Are be getting to Nike?
Because I just want to know the beginning of the relationship, when the romance, when y'all fell in love with each other, and how y'all fell in love with each other?
No, Clark was like and Clark Nike and Clark.
Oh goodbye, oh yo. When you said that with the vigor of an angry black mother. If you don't get.
Because Clark said he didn't did eighty five shoes with Nike, and.
I just didn't.
You didn't differentiate the U. So I'm thinking, like, okay, you you exaggerated a lot like it, but okay, I'll go with this.
Do you know why he I do? I do want to know why he picked you as well to get with Nike. We'll get to that. I want to know that, yes, yes, yes, Well.
When the twenty fifth anniversary of Air Force one was about to happen, they had some ideas and there was this dinner and like they invited me to dinner and asked if they could borrow some of my shoes for this big exhibit. But it was going to show like maybe two thousand pair Air Force ones at a party?
When did you first know that sneaker collecting wasn't art?
It level, It wasn't an art, it was it was corny. And I got looked at like I was corny, like Damon and who I would end up battling one day. First time he came to my crib, he was like cluck, what the fuck is all these sneakers? I said, it's just the way I stay fresh. And he looked at
me like, dog, this is weird. And he would be like, girls, come to your crib with this shit here, and I was like yeah, and he was just like cluck, you got a crib full of fresh, He said, that shit because I had every Markie can and I had every North Beach leather, I had every good pad of jeans, I had every good sweatshirts and teeth like, and I would overdo everything, so he would just he came to my crib and was just like this doesn't even make sense,
like how could anyone have this much fresh? And this is when he's nineteen, so he's just like this shit is wild. I said, well, if you look at the erahere I come from, that's what we did. We stayed as fresh as possible. And he was just like, no, I get it, I said, he said, but this is ridiculous, you know. So it was the thing happened when I
was nine. My uncle gave me a pair of prokeads, and when I walked outside of the prokeads, the whole block was like, you know, you got prokeads, Like all the sixteen seventeen year olds were like, you got prokeeads And I was like, yeah, it's my first name brand sneaker. But they were like, yo, but you got them yet you're a young boy. And I felt like I had
a car. And it was addictive. So we would do odd jobs for all of the older people on the block and they would give give Like me and my cousin, Market would do these jobs and they would give us ten dollars a piece. Back then, prokeds were nine dollars at the flea market and to get to the flea market was fifty cent, So you got fifty cent out of this ten dollars, you get to the flea market, buy nine dollar there sneakers, and then that other fifty cent is you risking your life to get back with
the sneakers. So that's when it started. It started because the block was like, oh, the older guys on the block that you know, they looked out for us all the time, but now it's like I'm almost parallel to them, and I wanted to be as cool as them. So it was like, oh, well, every weekend, I'm going to either buy records, I'm going to buy sneakers, and then it became, oh, I need to have Gaberdine's, I need to have Lee's with the with the I need to have colored leaves. I need to have BBDs, I need
to have Nylons. I need to have a J Lester's. I need to have British Walkers. I need to have Playors, I need to have everything. And it became like an addiction from when I was really young because the older guys accepted me with the playboys and I mean with with with the Prokeads, and it just was like, oh, oh, I'm gonna go hard, and I went super hard. So every dollar I made, fifty cent went to records and fifty cent went to being fresh.
So then what happened with you one night.
That that Nike wasn't even the sneakers back then, like the sneakers Prokeads and Pumas and Adidas what I'm saying, like, and Clyde to us was a superhero. To have a pair of sneakers with his name on the side of gold was like, that's the ultimate sneaker back then was Clyde's you know what I'm saying. Wow, Yeah, So that's what we were doing and then when Nikes really really happened. The thing that made me go over the top for
Nike was when Air Force Ones happened. And I was playing city Wide Basketball and Elmcore Basketball, and we would our team was good, so we would get to go to other cities to play against other cities. And in Baltimore I saw air Force ones were actually in Queens. We played at Baisley Park and this Nike rep came and told us to try these shoes. So we tried
the shoes. That's what they did. They would they would go to tournaments and watch kids playing be like, hey, try these shoes, and they gave me these shoes and I just thought they were beautiful, so I just stuck them in my bag. It's the Air Force. Yeah, it's funny because now looking back at it, we would call those Air Force zeros because they didn't have no holes in the in the front of the shoes.
Yo, So you gave me are the first year Air Force zeros? He gave me a red and white first year Air Force one.
Oh okay, yeah, but they didn't have holes at the top. No, right then, Yeah, those were zeros to us, we call them zero. That was fun they were from that time. Yeah, Clark,
thank you. We were all. You know, I really had like lots of sneakers and I had everything in so when they were coming up with this Air Force twenty five, they were like, we don't have everything, so let's go to the guy who has everything and let's, you know, give them give him some money and let him curate the the amount of pairs of sneakers that we have that were going to put on this wall for this event.
So they did. They borrowed a bunch of stuff. But in the meeting, they were just like, what do you think should happened with air Force one? And I was like, y'all should make an air Force one store. And you could see the people in the in the meeting going like this because they already had an idea to do the Air Force. I said, but you need to make I D Nike ID. You need to make the ship unlimited.
And they were like what do you mean. I said, you make you need to make something called VI P I D. And they were like, okay, could you stop? And I was like okay, cool, and they were like, you have a lawyer, and I was like, of course, I have a lawyer. Can you can you get him on a phone or have him come down my lawyer, have my lawyer come down, and and and and the thing is the guy who said it was a black guy.
So it's almost like he was saying, let me protect, let me protect protect Nick right, and and he could see that. The conversation made me like yeah, because I was about to go off, and he was just like give. He just like, do you have a lawyer? And I'm like yeah. So when he came, my lawyer came. He was like, we want to make him a consultant to help us build this air Force one store. And I was like, oh ship, I didn't know what that was. And then when the deal points came through, I was like, oh,
they're dead serious. I was like and my lawyer is looking at me like do you want to do this? And I was like what. And the only thing, the only thing in my mind, I swear to God, this is gonna sound crazy. The only thing in my mind was I'm going to get to make a sneaker and shit on Barbito because Gabrido Barbido had this white pair air Force ones with a burgundy Swiss and his name was on the side and I was like how, like how and he was like he gave it to him.
So I was just like, oh, oh commercial yeah. And the thing is like I went into the meeting the first official I'm working their meeting, and like the first thing I say before the meeting, can I make a sneaker? And they're looking at me like that's not what this is for. And we get into the meeting. We keep going to the twenty minutes and can I make a sneaker? They're like, we're trying to build a store, We're trying to come up with ideas. You're doing well, going on
forty minutes. Every twenty minutes, I'm like, can I make a sneaker? Can I make a sneaker? I just want to make one sneaker, like literally saying I just want to make one sneaker. By the end of the meeting, after Chambers says, let me go sit you down with Ma Delcha and I said, with my dote, and Mandte says, what do you have in mind? And I come up with I tell him what I want the sneaker to be. But I did it in like a minute and a half and he was like, you really had this idea.
I was like, yes, I said, I only need one pair, and I need it. I just put my name on the side of shit, that's all one pair. So he's like, he's like what. I was like, yeah, only one pair. He was like, no, this is really good. And then he calls Astor, and then he calls the product line manager and the guy who was leading the team, and everybody in the room is like, no, that's really good. And they then Astor says to one of you know, air Force one's a part of the one's pack and
I was like whatever. He's like, do you like Airmax one? I said, second favorite sneaker? Wow?
Right.
He says, what would you do to air Max one? Boom boom boom am Max one is finished two minutes and they're looking at me like, oh, he's really ready. And I was like, but you got to change the color of the elephant print so it's different than the air Force one. And they were like okay, So they did. Shit looked amazing. They were like, what about a trainer one. I was like that. She was like, They're like, oh,
you don't like it. I said, it's not that I don't like it, it's just that I wouldn't necessarily be like I want to make that, but they said, but what would you do? And then I did it? And then Astor says it louder. He goes, that's a one pack and I'm like, fuck, is the one pack? He said, you remember those air Force ones that said gray ones And I was like yeah. He said, remember there was an air Force one and the Airtrainer one that looked just like it. I was like yeah. He goes, that's
a one pack. He said, this is the one pack. I was like, cool, I only want the air Force one and they're like he's saying to me, He's like Clark, he's saying it quiet. He was like, clak. Now because some friends Woul asked the chambers before night. He's like, Clark, we feel like we could put this out and you can have a shoot this out. I was like, I don't need that. I need this shit on Bobby and he's like He's like he was like, you're not understanding
that this is Stiller. Yeah. I was like no, no, but so he's going, so if you did this, what would you call it? I said, Brooklyn And they were like, Clark, could you because now I'm mad. I'm just like Brooklyn. He was like, he was like clock, and then he was like, can you can you express Brooklyn in a different way? And the first thing I thought was seven one eight, and then I was like no, because that
means Queen Staten Island. And the box gets loved and I was like, oh, every zip code in Brooklyn starts with one, one two. I said, so one one too, and they were like, that's thinking. See clock, now you're thinking. And they was like, but now we got to connect it to you. I said, it is, it's from Brooklyn. It connects to me. He was like, no, we got to make something that when we see it we can go oh, that's how it connects. So they put the one, and inside they put a big one, and inside the
one they put a telephone booth like that's where clock changes. Ah, And I was like, and they put the one because it's a ones pack. So that's that's that's where the logo that's inside the shoe comes from from. Enough of them being sick of me, and I'm like, yo, could you please come up with some ship?
So what was Bobido's response.
Barbido thought the shoe was fired especially because I give him a whole set, but I was just like, more like, this was really just a shit on you. But then he could literally go, yeah, but there's a lot of them, there's only one of these, and I was like, Okay, what the fucker. So after that, I made it my business to become friends with Tinker half Field and in the people in the kitchen so that I could do things in the kitchen that would be one of one.
So I went in the kitchen. I mean I might have about thirty one of the ones out of the kitchen, but the first one I went right to Bobby and was like and it was so crazy that he just had to be like, oh, no, that's great. You know.
What's your favorite Jordans cluck?
My favorite At the top of the chart of all Jordan's is a tie between threes and eleven.
I'm threes and fours. Those ones from me too, like threes, Yeah, yeah, you guys.
Have narrow feet. Then I'm sorry, like didn't even start thinking about what.
Actually they kind of give you a little room the war they actually do.
Yeah, the ones that funk out of the ones, Nah, but I like it, But now I can't do the ones like ones and sixes.
On the on the on the on the Jordan's scale, like Jordan one's a third. To me, what's crazy is I really have more Jordan ones than anything because they keep coming out with good ship, Like there's threes and elevens is a tie, and then it's ones, and then it's fours, and it's five. I love five. Five.
So let me ask you. This house on fire, you're saving five of them joints, five sneakers. What are you saving?
I'm only saving two because I'm getting my wife and my kids out first.
Okay, all right, all right, the wife, he kids out, and then I can run in the house and get five pairs of sneakers.
What is it. It's gonna sound weird to you, dog, but i'd be trying to get the records out.
No it don't. It don't sound d do.
Just give me the sneakers your top, all right, I'm destroying all your sneakers.
But five, I'm gonna go get the folks. I'm gonna I mean the one of ones because they were they were they were meant and given and made for me. They weren't part of this mass production of shoes. Because I can get my favorite shoes are white on my air Force one. I can buy them ships all the time. And if if Nike decided, we will make sure that you have a brand new pair for of air Force ones for the rest of your life, of brand new every day. They could take what I got. I'm gonna
admit this to you, Quests. You actually are the person that made me say, let me put a crock on my foot.
You know what, ya the show's over? Thank you very much much.
No, no, but but it wasn't a regular crock. It was a croc oh ship.
Okay, so George is fresh.
But I put it on and was like, oh, I understand. I wear him around the house.
Oh you you're gonna wear him outside of the als eventually, probably not Croc, probably Mark Clark dog.
You and I were on this journey together, brou I get it. And then one day I just got tired, like I just got tired of suffering just to be like, yo, what does he have on? I got tired, so I went to the opposite, which was what does he have on?
Yo?
These freaking fancy ass le crocs? Though, let's talk, I mean, did this ain't no regular?
I had to look it up. I was gonna act like I knew what they was talking about. I did not.
I'm kind of myth right now because I'm a product of Sean g So I I promised.
You better follow that up with something good.
Go ahead with me. No, no, no, I'm just saying that it's he is yet to steer me wrong. And he's always on me about knowing my worth and knowing my you know, my value and whatnot, because to be honest, I mean, the thing is is that Crock Ben offered me my own line. But Seawan's like, Sean's like no, dog Like, if it's not equity, I'm not talking to nobody else.
Okay, that makes sense. Yeah, this is what we're doing.
I was like, Sean, just please just let me do one. He's like no, because if I let you do one Crock, then you'll you'll give He's like, if it weren't, you would do everything for free, and business people would just take advantage, like a mirror DJ for free, a mere dinner for free. And so it's paining me right now that like the Crocks that I'm dreaming of designing, which is kind of on that level that he the lame that he's in right now. They just offer your year mold.
You get bragging rights then, and you know you probably can leverage that to another company whatever. But you know, Crocs is kind of even aroun Timberland was, or like those companies.
Okay, listen, personally, you can get I believe you can get an equity deal with Crocs.
See word, because things are happening. That's it. That's all I can say, things are happening. I don't talk about something unless it's really happening.
Okay, I believe you can. I know you can as a matter of fact, just because you know I work with the brands the way that I do. I know that let it, let it be what is gonna be. But I think it will happen for you. It will definitely happen. And that's the reason why. The reason why is because you're not the guy from the roots anymore. You're you're you're You're not like you would a guy from the roots. Until Jimmy Fallon happened, and then it was like a nah, nah, that's not the guy from Roops.
That's the guy who is the music director, that's the guy who did the Oscars that's the guy who did the Grammys. That's the guy who did MTV. That's the guy who did He was the guy who's playing on stage with Davy, Like he's that guy. You're not just the guy from the roops, like you're you're another monster. And because you do so much and never stop, the
thing would be to get you. So if you're giving it away for free, which I am begging anyone who does anything with a brand, don't give it away for free. You need to understand who you are in the game. Because if you understand who you are, then you understand that if if you walk in the door, it fixes them. All you gotta do is walk in the door because if they get a picture like it fixes them. So the idea is, let me do what I want to do. Ce Slea. He is a designer of shoes, so a
deal like that is more. It could be Cachet for him, Like he also was a designer of a sa Chi. You know what I'm saying. He designed for yeas he designed forever. He's like he's not regularly good, Like he's amazing, even though sometimes you might not get it when you see it. Like I looked at the crocs and was like like immediately was like, oh, that's his fingerprint, and people are looking at me like talking about I was like,
look at it looks like a fingerprint. Oh ship. Yeah, Like so his mind is on some other ship, like your mind is on some other ship. So if you if you want to do it, and you you know you, I'm sure you totally understand your your your cachet. And because of that, they will they will do it with you. You will get an equity deal with them.
How do you feel about the design game now, especially in light of what is going on with certain figures.
Oh god, I think first being able to dignify the word designed properly is most important. Not just I went in and I colored up some shoes or I went in and uh and uh and and I told the story on the shoe. Like that's mocking up, that's reappropriating, you know what I'm saying. But like, can you go in and design and shoot from the ground up? That's the lady, you know what I'm saying. That's different. He like what he did at Asaji is different. He made a shoe that people if they didn't like, like he
made people by Thesachi sneakers again. People weren't even thinking that, but he did something that was cool to the street, and they went on and board it again. And then he took that cashe and was like, well, let me go over here and show you some other ship. And let me go over here and you show you so much shit. Let me go over here and show you some other went to New Balance and put a fucking whistle on a sneak. He's some other ship, you know
what I'm saying. So the design thing, if you're designing, like purely you can draw the shit like that's amazing. But if you're just getting to work on some shoes and reappropriate, I personally put myself in that category, like I'm just really good at reappropriating some shoes. I'm not calling myself a designer. The word gets thrown around too much. And you know, you design music. I could say I
design music. I could say I designed soundscapes. But if I say I designed a sneaker, that means I should be able to draw a new one from the ground bag. And I'm the first one who'll be like, oh, I can't do that shit. And the only way I'd be able to get to that point is, if I gave them the ten thousand hours of trying to figure it out, you know.
A quest can make ice sculptures.
I've seen that, Steve.
So what's going on in the design game is like, well, are you really a designer or not? I believe. I believe that if quests go in, he's going to be able to look at a crow, turn it into some other ship and it'll be amazing because his mind thinks like a creator like I did.
That night he shoot that he made though first, because I'm like, wait a minute, and let's think when there was some colors and some designs on that. Remember that shoe, it was some reds and greens, different things going on.
That was my first one. There's red greens, there's the gold version that was.
Not I mean, you know it's I think he was expressing himself and I think he had a good job. And the thing is the perfect thing about that sneaker was it wasn't mass produced, so it was you really gotta like this, you know what I'm saying. You really gotta like it, and if you like it, then you get it once you see it, you know what I'm saying. So or once it's in front of you, you get it. But like because it came out in a time when
hype was was was really being some ship. Like it's people who got the shoe who didn't understand, you know what I'm saying. They might love the shoot, but they love the shoe because of the height instead of loving the shoe. For did you see what he did? Did you see he flipped the elephant print on two shoes? Like you didn't see that? You missed it.
There's a lot of nuances that sneaker heads get that regular heads or just like I missed that one. Yeah, well sometimes it was a lot of underground code to it.
Sometimes you got to explain the underground code so that the regular heads can even know that the archit I know you can't.
I feel like going sometimes like only for certain.
But I mean when I made one one two, when I did the one one too, all I ever said was it represents workland, and then I let people go try to figure it out. So now in Nike one one two is a colorway, you can't you can't use that colorway or the way the mix of materials and colorwaves that I use unless it's it's in collaboration with me.
Have you ever seen an ill subliminal on a sneaker that only like that sort of got kind of you know, uh missed under.
The radar of When air Force was turning for thirty five or no, yeah, thirty five, there was a there was a celebration called air Force one hundred and it was one hundred pairs of Air Force ones that were all white. And I got to do one. And I'm going to tell a story that is okay to tell now probably wouldn't been okay to tell. Then I got a call and it was like, yo, what you want to do. I was like, what you want to do? Like, y know, we're doing these all whites coming on and
do all white sneakers. So we's in New Orleans. We had a knee with Nike, and I was like, I want to do this, this, this, and this to the shoe and we're gonna call it. Got that white now, probably one only one person in the room understood got that white man and he and he because he's my man, He's going clock, are you sure you want to do that? And I'm like absolutely and he was so so so he was like okay, I'm I'm I'm gonna push for
this one. And it really when he showed it to who it had to be pushed to, it really didn't have to be pushed. It was like it was like, oh, that shit is beautiful, like even like Mark Parker called me, and it was like, this is one of the most beautiful air force once I've ever seen it. In my mind, I'm thinking, like, I hope he doesn't ask what does
got that white mean? So if you look at the shoe, it has three colors on it, and it's it's it's white, and then it's like this, it's like actually off, and then it's this gum bottom. Right, So it's three versions of cocaine, right, And I put it all on one shoe and I called it got that white because in the street, if you say got that white, that means you got coked, right, And then on a tongue label, I put the words stay fresh on it because that
was my thing. My thing was to stay fresh. And I was like, I need all one hundred pairs to be given to me. And my rollout was going to be I was gonna pull up in the hood of like every state and I was gonna be like senate Instagram posts out like yo, I got that white right, So a hustler would come looking for me and I would be like here, So I was gonna be serving
white across fifty states. But they but they took fifty of the pairs and brought them to Complex Con and they had this dinner and at the dinner, everybody who was part of the one hundred, a pair of sneakers got put on everybody's plate, and nobody knew what the sneakers want until they start opening them. Only one person had my sleep, and I was big because Biggs got that white right. People were like we at the tables and people are like, yo, what the fuck is that?
So everybody's like, I want that one I want, So they telling the waitresses, can you go switch this? And I get better DA data. So they're giving away all of my products.
Oh they really gave it away. They didn't just let me.
I didn't get to do the rollout properly, so it became but so I didn't really get to like it was. And the whole thing was going to be filmed, like the Feds were watching me, and then I was gonna let the fucking film come out and and so the thing is when the shoes got given away, you know some people got like Ronnie five got him. He was like clocked this on Instagram. He was like, clock, this is fucking amazing. The only thing I cared about was when I got home, I got to make sure Jay
gets pare. So I get home, I bring this nigga to Jay and I said their call got that white. He was like cow, it was so important. And he wore him shits on his birthday. Wow. And I was like, he gets it. So what I did with the shoes basically I called up the ustles that I came off up with and I was like, yeah, I got to stay this niggas for you. And they didn't look at it like it was, oh I got a fresh past nigga was look they looked at it like, oh, got
that white clock. You're crazy. But the good part is Nike didn't get it.
Well yeah, because they ain't got no because they ain't got that black in the office to tell them.
That might be you might try. That's our clip from that one.
Six years Thank you, thank you, all right, so so so to me, that's the one that got missed the most, that got missed and and you know, later on, once I explained what got that White was to a bunch of people asking and they were just like, nah, that's crazy, And I was like so then later on, I can't remember what company, it was, Diamond Supply. They got a whole bunch of Air Force ones and stamped like like like pressed into the Air Force one the word coke, but it was the coke logo. It's a coke. I
was like, coke. White's okay, I get it. But I'm like, the.
Obvious plus obvious is more creative.
Yeah, yeah, it was definitely. It was definitely more creative. And it was and the thing is once like a hustler out of here. He understood it as soon as he saw it.
He was like, Clark, so those shoes can never come out again, Like and no part Clark can Nike just go.
You know what, that was a good idea that Clark did ten years ago. Let's reissue.
Literally, I wanted a few that they seem to have some respect for.
Yeah, they they'll resell some shit.
Yeah they'll they called before the stuff like that, Like I got I got something coming later this year.
I was about to say, you still have a relationship with them. Correct.
Oh yeah, oh yes, it sounds like Clark, if you decided you didn't want to do music anymore, you would be good based off with a sneaker.
The sneaker, I'd be okay, but I probably wouldn't because I love music so much.
Right, probably be like no, I need to do that, okay, singing soul?
Yeah, as we as we close out, I do want to know, like, where's your passion lying today?
As we speak music music, Well, let me say this in this order. God family music kicks. Mm hm. My family means more to me than all of that shit. And I have a family because of God.
How old are your kids?
I have a twenty nine year old daughter and a twenty three year old son.
I know they proud.
That's dope, hope. So I'm trying not to embarrass them.
You're doing well, man, you're doing well.
I appreciate those words. But you know, yeah, they understand DJ Clark Campbell like I'm their father first. Yeah, so it's like I got it. I'm trying not to embarrass them. I'm trying to I'm trying to do things that they can look at and go My dad did some cool shit so that they can be inspired to do cool shit.
This this has been a long time coming. Thank you for having the patience for all the false starts. But you know you're you're literally you You're God's favorite DJO man.
Yeah, you want to know something that's crazy, quest is it's certain DJs that I look at and I go, I wonder if they think I'm good, you know what I'm saying, because they have their own their own thing attached to him, that that I look at them and like that he's fucking he's fucking ill. Some of the ship he does. It's crazy like I look at quests like my quest is a really good DJ, like Questions on the short list of DJs that I like, you
know what I'm saying. I look at Jeff like I like Jase Jeff, I like Scratch, I like, you know, lou Louis Vaga. You know what I'm saying. He to me, to me, he's a fucking wizard. But then I got this Questlove dude where I think is out of his mind musically, and I'm like, he thinks I'm a good DJ. Like to me, that's like my worst Moore ship. When a when a DJ, I think.
Why do you think we're all together in that in our threat?
Man?
I mean, I don't even know if.
Let's ask going about.
That exactly exactly, No, man, it's please. I've been to a gazillion of of your functions, Joe. Now you get down, man, You're you're the greatest clerk. I appreciate you.
For doing it, man, I appreciate it. And again, it's an honor to be here because when I look at some of the people you've spoken to, I'm just like, shit, he wants to talk to me. I hope I could stand up.
Dog tribe, it's all the same tribe. You definitely belong. You're talking about people that affected the culture.
Honey.
It seems like another successful conclusion of the adventures of d J, Clark, Kent, Smoking Steve, and Fanticke A Little Blue.
Can. I go on record as saying Fante is one of the best of them. Season around. He is okay, dog is wild. He's wild. Like it's funny because be honest, like when I first heard Little Brother, I was like, Oh, this dude's sitting and I took some time off because I was like, they're not doing nothing, and I didn't realize that he was dropping solo ship and then I went back and I was like, oh, fucking nuts, Like I think I tweeted that one day, like fante g is fucking amazing. Remember that.
Dog Day to Day Fame was the first tape I owned. So DJ cl can't big me up like that's just now, man, thank you so much. That means the world. I appreciate it.
Only Mavericks over here. Man. Anyway, Well we have a fran Ticolo, Sugar Steve, unpaid Bill and Laya. I'm quest Love. Thank you once again, DJ Clark Kent and this is quest Love Supreme and we'll see you on the next stor now all right, peace.
West.
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