Questlove Supreme: 2021 Rap Up with Mad Skillz Pt. 1

Once upon a time in late December of 2021 Quest and Team Supreme had one of the realest conversations ever with your favorite MC's favorite MC and ghostwriter. This 2 part conversation with the artist some call Skillz, now back to his original moniker Mad Skillz, touches on this intriguing hip hop journey, the mysteries behind his highly anticipated annual Rap Up's and some Hip Hop Confessions that knock Quest and Team Supreme off their feet! Put your seatbelts on!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Ladies and Gentlemen. What year is this for us? I
still feel like we're in our second year. Nah, this
is coming up on you six we're starting.

Speaker 3 (00:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
My My indication of how time is flown by is
how much uh pay Bill's darterists have grown.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
Right, You're just gonna have like twenty straight up, Like,
let's not let's not talk about that. That sounds terrible.
I can kind of keep up with them now, singing
in twee.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
Okay, they're singing, hoping and singing, Okay, following.

Speaker 4 (00:46):
In the steps of their father Fayla Kutstein.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
Yeah, man, this is this is another Wait are we
drinking this episode?

Speaker 1 (00:58):
Well, someone, let's drink to all the other episodes. Damn. See,
I got what I would I wouldn't.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
And some Yeah, I go pull some Crown apples if
I want to get it. But I got to drive
back to the farm I'm in. I'm in the apartment
right now.

Speaker 5 (01:15):
So I got an edible mir or something join us
something to get to you.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
I'm not to the place where I can drive and
do that yet, so and I wouldn't recommend that ship.

Speaker 6 (01:26):
No, no, no, wait, too way to move to the farm.
You could drive and do anything in the suburbs. I'm
going on that now it's too curvy out there, man,
I can't do that. So yeah, this is another year
has has gone by. Apparently we're going to year number six. Damn,
we're like a We're like an institution. Now, We're not
just like an up and starting podcast institution.

Speaker 5 (01:48):
We're two in iHeart years. That's what those QLs classics
are four folks, So catch up with us.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
Get it. Six years of cure lesson about to be
three years of COVID.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
That that said, thank you very much for that, For
that segue fonte. That that said, I probably have caught
up on every book, every podcast known to man, and
one of the podcasts that I familiarize myself with, even
though I first introduced myself to it as a YouTube

(02:24):
series but is definitely my favorites is Hip Hop Confessions
with our Guest Today.

Speaker 1 (02:31):
So I thought it'd be kind of.

Speaker 2 (02:32):
A cool idea if we did kind of a cross
episode where you know, I guess is the first time
where two podcasts are coming together as one per se.
So that said, I will say, uh, this this gentleman is,
in my opinion, one of the most skillful, dependable professional

(02:59):
mcs and DJs that I've known. And most importantly, he's
a music head, you know, so I know any conversation
with this gentleman is going to be highly interesting. Ladies
and gentlemen, please welcome. Okay, now here's the deal.

Speaker 1 (03:16):
Now.

Speaker 2 (03:16):
I believe that I was told to drop the mad
fifteen years ago. Lately I hear that. So you're going
back to square one. This is you're going back to
Biggie Smalls. You're going back to Diamond D. Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome to Questlove Supreme Mad Skills.

Speaker 1 (03:36):
Yes, sir, what.

Speaker 3 (03:40):
How are you?

Speaker 2 (03:43):
I know you're going to add your two cents and
it's going to be the same. We might as well
just bring it all together. Yeah, man, let's think. Are
we back at square one again?

Speaker 1 (03:54):
Y'all?

Speaker 2 (03:55):
Like, what's what's going on? Is this March sixteenth, twenty
twenty again?

Speaker 3 (04:00):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (04:01):
I look like yeah? Is yo? Man?

Speaker 2 (04:05):
Like, just in the last thirty hours, the count is
now up to seventeen I know, seventeen people that got
like hit. These aren't like people I know to go.
These are like the ones that were, you know, cool
for the last two years, Like they come out they
triple masks, like they made me seem like the devil.

(04:27):
Like these people are getting caught out there, which is
kind of wearing me a little bit.

Speaker 1 (04:32):
You know.

Speaker 3 (04:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (04:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (04:33):
All the people I know that have have caught it,
I know probably like five people that have called it,
like the last couple, like last week or so, and
they were all vaccinated, all vaccinated, and I think one.

Speaker 1 (04:43):
Of them was boosted. I know as well. So this
is crazy, bro. I'm in the house.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
I'm boosted. I got mine. I got mine two weeks ago.
I think I'm boosted. And I got my flu shot.
I never got a flu shot before, so.

Speaker 3 (04:55):
I did a shot either.

Speaker 2 (04:57):
I could triple down because I ain't messing around ship,
I'll take another shot.

Speaker 5 (05:03):
I took a pneumonia shot by accident. Took the vaccine.
My adopted was like, you know, that's sixty year olds.
I was like, that'll work, that's fine.

Speaker 1 (05:09):
Wait, pneumonia vaccine.

Speaker 5 (05:11):
A doctor mistakenly gave it to me because she was like,
you're not old enough for it. But that's fine. I
know what I want to be getting.

Speaker 1 (05:19):
Damn Okay, everything like out here triple mask, triple being up.

Speaker 2 (05:24):
So you there, you got a pneumonia shot.

Speaker 5 (05:26):
Yeah, yeah, you needed that.

Speaker 2 (05:29):
I did get pneumonia. Okay, Grace had pneumonia and I
got pneumonia from Grace, like oh wow, like two months ago.

Speaker 1 (05:39):
But ship, I was just down for like three days.
But you know I.

Speaker 2 (05:43):
Tested like seven times and they all were negative.

Speaker 5 (05:46):
After sixty pnemonia could be like COVID you can still sick.

Speaker 2 (05:51):
Wait was about to say, yeah, like this this this
battle also between this winter is going to be weird, man,
because like again, I'm seventy five degree person and she's
like a sixty seven degree person.

Speaker 5 (06:05):
Oh we would a woman of a certain age. Now
we get high after forty yeah, dog at the end
of the.

Speaker 2 (06:10):
Days crazy she wants it like freezing levels like I
don't know, you know, we have to Like she's at
the forum right now. I'm here, and you know I
got this joint on like eighty one, Like I'm in
Heaven right now. It's Africa in here, and I got
two two sweaters on. Anyway, skills, man, how goes it?

(06:32):
Where are you right now?

Speaker 7 (06:33):
I'm in Virginia right now. Yeah, it goes you know,
same shit, different air freshener, you know what I mean,
trying to get it together.

Speaker 2 (06:43):
This is weird because I know that this is a
typical episode, but I do got a billion questions for
skills about his life as a MC.

Speaker 5 (06:51):
Bring it right?

Speaker 2 (06:52):
All right, Well we can make this decision right here.
Do we just do a skills episode or do we
do our what what was twenty.

Speaker 1 (06:59):
Twelve makes up? I think mix it up? Mix it up?

Speaker 2 (07:02):
First of all, I want to know, have you, like
listened to an Outcast record in its entirety yet?

Speaker 3 (07:11):
No, I knew he was gonna ask me that, And no.

Speaker 2 (07:15):
I are you just doing it just to keep the
joke running?

Speaker 3 (07:17):
No?

Speaker 7 (07:18):
No, no, Like for me, you know, it's not really
it was never really a joke, that is, you know,
on my podcast Hip Hop Confessions, like that was my
first confession. I've never listened to an Outcast album in
its entirety. And from that time, people have given me
box sets, you know, gift rapped nicely, and you know,

(07:39):
people have tried to make it.

Speaker 1 (07:40):
Anyone from Organized Noise heard of this.

Speaker 7 (07:43):
Uh No, KP KP has and k Ple was like,
that's kind of crazy to me, Like and I was like,
he was like, it's crazy, guys, because we was in
Virginia tough like when we was first Yeah, I mean
trying to get that ship off. We was in the
Virginia the Carolina's like tough on promo, and I was like, bro,
like I was a heavily East Coast and flo Launce rapper.
So if it wasn't Jay Rule and Gang Star and

(08:05):
you know what I'm saying and big, and it wasn't,
it wasn't. It wasn't falling you know, on my radar.
So and now I'm looking at it like what I've
missed the boat Like, I'm not gonna it's not gonna
feel how it felt that y'all in ninety four.

Speaker 3 (08:23):
So it's like, what what the fuck is the boy?

Speaker 5 (08:26):
You know?

Speaker 1 (08:27):
You know what, there's still some great music on.

Speaker 7 (08:29):
I was gonna say, no, no, no, if they have a video,
if they had a video for and it was a single.

Speaker 3 (08:36):
I heard, if you know, if it was just kind.

Speaker 2 (08:40):
Of knowing t I for me or knowing Nelly for me,
like I don't know the filler, but I know.

Speaker 3 (08:45):
Like you the song on fucking Country Grammar Nigga.

Speaker 2 (08:49):
Right, So you could go to outcast content and pretty
much do what they're gonna do because all the singles.

Speaker 7 (08:54):
Yeah, but you know all of the other ones that
people swear by, like skills, you ain't like.

Speaker 2 (09:00):
So when I say to you, you don't know you.

Speaker 1 (09:08):
Friday, I don't know is that true?

Speaker 3 (09:15):
What is that true?

Speaker 1 (09:19):
See?

Speaker 2 (09:19):
But that's the thing though, because you're telling you're not.

Speaker 1 (09:23):
A deep cuts guy. But you know who troops mama.

Speaker 2 (09:32):
You know what, I can actually match you in that
sort of I could sort of match you in that.
If I were on your show, my hip hop confession
would have been, I've never seen a Kanye West video.

Speaker 3 (09:44):
Wow. Wow, I mean you on my show right now?

Speaker 2 (09:46):
So okay, I've never seen a Kanye West video. But
you know something, though, I discovered something this week that
has totally this This might break me down and make
me publicly admit that I am an First of all,
I'm not a I'm not omitting that I'm not a
Kanye West fan. I am obviously a Kanye West fan.

(10:09):
I DJ's music, I have his records. There's been there's
been some weird water under the bridge that we're just
no no, no, no, no. We In the last weird enough.
It's from the project that me and Skills work on,
the jay Z thing like weird enough, Me and Kanye
finally had like our first conversations due to the many

(10:30):
times that he stood me up for that project. I
won't go into that, but I just found out that
he goes produced one of my all time favorite joints.

Speaker 1 (10:38):
And now.

Speaker 2 (10:41):
It's which one. It's a deep cut joint. Man, I
don't know what it is.

Speaker 5 (10:46):
Ready, come on, let's go.

Speaker 2 (10:48):
It's a deep cut joint that even though I know
the Mad Rapper album was was sort of aimed at
underground rappers, you know, kind of the middle, you know,
the the The Mad Rapper was born out of kind
of biggie busting shots to rappers, making fun of like

(11:09):
poor dusty rappers like us whatever, even though I think
Kicking the Door was mainly made for nas. But you know,
I definitely know that he one of his last words
was about like fucking up the roots when he's seen us.
But there's a song on the Mad Rapper record that
I might like. This is in my top ten joints,

(11:32):
a joint called I'm Ghetto with Rakwan, and I just
found out that Kanye was produced at jaint like back
when he was an apprentice to.

Speaker 1 (11:45):
Who's the mad Rapper?

Speaker 7 (11:46):
Yeah, ANGELETTI. Now for me, my you know, you know,
if you know my history, a lot of people will
tell you, you know, they might see something on him.

Speaker 1 (11:58):
I don't.

Speaker 7 (11:58):
I have his name blocked on like all social media,
so I don't see his name at all. So sometimes
people will be like, damn skills, like you go so
hard on dude, bro like god, damn bro like damn
he and I catch like ah this, that and the third.
I'm like, man, that niggain't no fucking genius, Like he's
a he's a better Pete Rock at best nigga.

Speaker 3 (12:17):
I'm not calling him the genius.

Speaker 7 (12:18):
I never am say that. So for me, I'm a
here's my hip hop. Here's here's a hip hop confession
for you. I'm mirror. I'm I'm we're gonna backtrack all
the way to my disdain for that that nigga, so
and and and here's here's here's the thing, and this
is this is probably gonna hit you in a in
a weird way. I don't fuck with dude because of

(12:42):
what he said about Reeq on Wendy Williams show.

Speaker 3 (12:46):
And I don't know what year that was.

Speaker 7 (12:49):
I don't know what year it was, but I remember
listening to the radio in New York City and this
was at the Rockefeller bubble up of Kanye West, and
he was on Wendy and she was like, Yo, you
you're such a good dress rapper, Like you dressed very well.
And he's like, He's like, yeah, thank you know. She's like,
but you know what, you know who my all time
favorite well dressed rapper is? And he said, oh, and

(13:12):
she was like that guy Black Thought from the roots.
Every time I see him, he is dressed to the
nines and that nigga. Kanye said, Man, that nigga get
all his shit at the good Will store.

Speaker 1 (13:24):
Yo.

Speaker 6 (13:25):
And I was like, I'm in the car, real, I'm
in the car like nigga, fuck you.

Speaker 5 (13:32):
You know what I mean?

Speaker 3 (13:33):
Like, and I fuck with Kanye sense.

Speaker 1 (13:36):
There's water under that bridge.

Speaker 2 (13:37):
Let the record show that the first person to take
Kanye to Barney's was to Rek Trotter. Me and t
Ric are the polar opposites of each other. Tik, even
in COVID, I guarantee you Tarik's outfit is worth like
twenty thousand dollars.

Speaker 5 (13:54):
Yeah, me hands them fashion icon.

Speaker 2 (13:57):
And this my quest love Christmas sweater from you know,
from work.

Speaker 7 (14:01):
Bro from being on tour with y'all. I didn't know
like black label like I did.

Speaker 3 (14:07):
I did.

Speaker 7 (14:07):
It's certain things I didn't know we could be, like Yo,
just roll with me. Like was the first thing that
got seen with like prod of sneakers. He was the
first nigga to walk on stage with a fur on
like so when so when so when Yay said that ship,
I was like, that's my man, like so so.

Speaker 2 (14:23):
He literally he literally took like when when they were
working on the Gun whatever, the song on Qualley's record
that he produced with pharaohmontch and.

Speaker 4 (14:33):
Yeah, the Gun music something Yeah yeah.

Speaker 2 (14:37):
That session, like k took Kanye and Quality to Barney's
for the very first time.

Speaker 5 (14:45):
Like but that's why this is a level of penniness
that has not been seen before, because even Reek has
gotten over this by now skills. So they share stage
together and everything.

Speaker 1 (14:55):
The real story And.

Speaker 2 (14:59):
I know how you writ this story before, right, what's
the Pixtar the Pixar movie The Incredibles. You remember how
like the sidekick always wanted to hang with the whatever? Yeah,
way before the days of like way before the Blueprint
and all that stuff, Like you know, he used to
come around like I don't remember him. I kind of

(15:20):
remember him, but you know, like apparently like he was
he was, you know, back when we was coming. I'm
just saying that, Yeah, there was there was a moment
that happened where the downfall of that that freestyle video

(15:46):
that has went super viral of like Tarik Rowman on
the Street is that, you know, it tells every other
MC like he's the guy to beat or he's the
guy that you know, you want to get in the
cipher with Tarik's day of like just ciphering and all
that shit. Is that kind of I think once Illadelf
Half Life came out, he was like, nah, man, I

(16:07):
gotta I want to write some shit, not just freestyle
some shit. And it was just one day where he
just caught beat Reek on a bad day where he
like Reek was like changing his clothes in the men's
room and old boy just shot a shot like all right,
I gotta do this, and he went in the men's
room like while Threek's changing it just started putting a
lyrical clinic on and.

Speaker 7 (16:29):
I'm pointing to freestyle for you, why you changing your clothes? Yeah,
that is a rappers worst nightment.

Speaker 1 (16:34):
But I mean we know.

Speaker 2 (16:35):
I mean, the thing is is that we know that's him.
We've seen him get on tables before, perform his entire
album and all that stuff.

Speaker 1 (16:42):
So yes, he's but.

Speaker 2 (16:43):
That's enabling though, Yeah, but that's bullshit. Like look but
back in two thousand now, back in nineteen ninety nine,
two thousand before that, like it was just who's this dude?

Speaker 1 (16:55):
Get him out of And you know.

Speaker 7 (16:57):
I think I've never I've never, I've never I liked
his first three albums when he started wilding out. I
never brought into the you know, he don't have all
his marbles. Something's wrong with him. I always feel like
he used that ship as a crutch and it's just
I can't co sign with the genius.

Speaker 3 (17:15):
You know, he's a genius.

Speaker 7 (17:16):
And I'm like, I'd be like, yeah, nah, he ain't
like he's a child of YouTube. You know what I'm saying,
he's he's not a genius, Like.

Speaker 5 (17:23):
Yah officially gave him too much time to.

Speaker 7 (17:26):
Right, So let's just keep it moving because I'd rather
talk about Reek than that nigga, so about that ship so.

Speaker 2 (17:33):
That I've never seen the video, but you know what,
you ain't missing ship. I do want to see flashing
lights though.

Speaker 3 (17:44):
It was it was cool.

Speaker 4 (17:46):
Nah, yeah, the flash and that's like my favorite. Damn
the video was whatever though yeah the video is run away.
I've not seen flashing light. I'm just you know, it's
not even like I just never seen a Kanye West.
But it's not like I was trying to purposely avoid
it because I don't watch MTV and BT, like, I
didn't watch one or six in park.

Speaker 1 (18:07):
So I've just never seen a video.

Speaker 3 (18:09):
But BBI right.

Speaker 5 (18:10):
To circle this back to it. Will Kanye's name be
mentioned in the twenty twenty one rap up?

Speaker 1 (18:16):
Because there is no twenty twenty one wrap up?

Speaker 5 (18:18):
Yes there is.

Speaker 3 (18:19):
You didn't hear no no me.

Speaker 4 (18:21):
You mean like our show the wrap up or the
song the the skills wrap up?

Speaker 3 (18:25):
What you're talking about, like, come on, skills, stop pleasing
what you're.

Speaker 1 (18:28):
Talking about, skills, what you're doing.

Speaker 5 (18:31):
So just for the record, let me just say something
for the record, for the last ten dare I say,
I don't know, fifteen years however long you've been doing this. However,
long I've been on the radio. I call Skills and
I say, Skills, is there a wrap up? Why are
you not doing that shit? It's always a wrap up?
I asked him this last time. I said, Skills, you're
not gonna do it this time? Huh, Well, like I
don't know, so skills.

Speaker 7 (18:53):
First of all, here, uh, I have never I've never
pub looked. I only publicly came out once in the
song and said I ain't doing another one, and that
was twenty ten. So I never publicly said public I
ain't doing it, so for me, but you got the plug.
So for me, this, uh, this one will probably this

(19:16):
is the twentieth one, so it'll probably be the last one.

Speaker 1 (19:21):
That sounds good.

Speaker 2 (19:22):
Okay, all right, yeah, at least say goodbye. Don't don't
go out for cigarettes and just leave us.

Speaker 3 (19:27):
No no, no no.

Speaker 7 (19:28):
But as soon as you hear it, as soon as
it comes on, you will under you will already know.

Speaker 3 (19:33):
Okay, this is it.

Speaker 1 (19:34):
So the shortest one. It might be just a six
second wrap up.

Speaker 3 (19:39):
Listen, didn't the year ago by fast?

Speaker 5 (19:42):
It?

Speaker 1 (19:42):
Really did?

Speaker 5 (19:43):
It?

Speaker 1 (19:43):
Really did?

Speaker 3 (19:44):
Hey?

Speaker 7 (19:44):
I ain't take you tay. The music reflects the time,
So niggas gonna hit the end of that song.

Speaker 1 (19:49):
By God, damn it over there already. Listen.

Speaker 5 (19:52):
I'm just saying, y'all say it went by fast, but
this is the year that started on January.

Speaker 1 (19:56):
Are you going to burn a bridge or something?

Speaker 7 (19:58):
No, no, no, I'm not gonna burn no bridges. I'm
just gonna I'm a blow wild gracefully on a on
a on an even number.

Speaker 4 (20:05):
So you said you said it started like on January sixth.
You think this one started saying.

Speaker 5 (20:09):
It Sometimes this year it feels like it was short,
but it's.

Speaker 1 (20:11):
Been released on January sixth.

Speaker 3 (20:14):
My point was she talking about the insurrection.

Speaker 5 (20:16):
This year started with a whole insurrection that felt like
that was whatever ago. This year started out with President Trump.
This year it feels like Biden's been president for like
three years already. I'm just saying, sometimes it feels short,
but sometimes it feels fucking long.

Speaker 3 (20:30):
Yeah, I feel you. I feel you.

Speaker 7 (20:33):
See, I've been I've been, uh you know, I've been
toying around with the with some some different uh pockets,
and I'm gonna give it a value effort.

Speaker 3 (20:41):
I'm gonna sit down Kobe this year, knock it down.
That was last year.

Speaker 2 (20:47):
Oh ship Kobe, do you know the year that took
you the longest to come up with a wrap up?

Speaker 3 (21:00):
Like?

Speaker 1 (21:00):
What year? Was like a particular nightmare for you to
craft it together?

Speaker 7 (21:04):
Should last year? Because there was nothing entertaining about last year.

Speaker 1 (21:09):
Throwing in the trash. That was the throwing in the
trash here right.

Speaker 7 (21:11):
Yes, So for me to try to make that entertaining,
there was sitting down looking at a blank piece of
paper saying, how can I make somebody chuckle? How can
I make them get a quick laugh? How can I
get a punchline?

Speaker 5 (21:22):
There?

Speaker 3 (21:23):
Want none of that shit last year? Last year? I
want nothing funny about last year.

Speaker 1 (21:28):
How do you source for information? Like?

Speaker 2 (21:30):
Do you by the year? Do you just keep a
memo of things worth noting? So then once you get
to November you start sourcing?

Speaker 1 (21:39):
Right? This is important, This is important. This you know.

Speaker 7 (21:41):
I don't even think about the song till Black Friday
because otherwise I don't think about the song until Black Friday.
That's my ritual. On Black Friday, I go, Okay, what
beat you gonna rap over? Are you're gonna get a
beat made? You're gonna rap over something else that was
hot this year?

Speaker 3 (21:58):
What you're gonna do. And then maybe like that Monday.

Speaker 7 (22:02):
After December first, December second, third, I might start writing
down what I can remember from memory, like oh, okay, insurrection.
I don't have to fucking I don't need to know
when that happened. I remember that. I might have to
go back and remember, oh, when did so and so
and so and so break up?

Speaker 3 (22:20):
What month was that like? But other than that, I.

Speaker 7 (22:23):
Write down, write, I write down everything that I can
remember from memory, and then I write down. Then I
you know, I go to the Internet and write down
everything else, and then I put it all in order.
This happened in January, Okay, this happened in February. Okay,
Tom Brady and the Bucks one this time. And then
I sit there and look at it, and I might

(22:47):
try to write something.

Speaker 3 (22:48):
I might not.

Speaker 7 (22:48):
But the funny thing about it is what I tell
people is music don't.

Speaker 3 (22:53):
Give a fuck about pressure.

Speaker 7 (22:55):
That's why I have to start it when I started,
because I can't just go on the day after Christmas,
all Right, I'm gonna do this shit, and it's gonna
be done by thirsty shit. Music would be like not bitch,
you know what I mean? So some days I could
sit down there and look at a blank piece of
paper on December seventh and I don't write nothing, and
maybe on December twelfth, I sit down and I.

Speaker 3 (23:17):
Might write It's a flood at eighty bars and they all.

Speaker 2 (23:22):
Catch you about twenty twenty some days to craft it.

Speaker 7 (23:27):
To get it together, yes, to write it. You know,
it doesn't take long. But it's just like pacing it.
Like it's almost like a DJ said, like valleys and peaks,
like I'm gonna start here, I'm gonna take them up
and bring them back down.

Speaker 3 (23:41):
It's like that.

Speaker 5 (23:42):
How you make sure that you don't have not too
much information? Because I'm thinking, if you go on monthly,
do you stop yourself at a certain point being like
all right, let's like two paragraphs and shit.

Speaker 7 (23:50):
That's mean I might get to like summer and be like, okay,
how long is this song?

Speaker 3 (23:56):
You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 7 (23:56):
If I'm like, man, we have three minutes at July,
like okay, nigga, you really need wrap this ship up right.

Speaker 2 (24:04):
Wait, wasn't wasn't uh uh games three hundred bars? Wasn't
that twenty? Was that like seventeen or twenty minutes?

Speaker 7 (24:13):
We might want to ask a rap nerd, I don't.
I don't listen to niggas wrapped that long.

Speaker 2 (24:18):
See, yeah, I ain't got it in me now on
that light year where you get selected, that is.

Speaker 5 (24:22):
Fonte the rap rap niggas don't be rapping yet.

Speaker 1 (24:25):
That's not me, that's yeah. No, No, I ain't got
time for that.

Speaker 3 (24:28):
Man, I don't. I really don't, in a real way.

Speaker 7 (24:32):
Like I'm listen, we forty plus man, you know what
else I could do at that time?

Speaker 1 (24:38):
Man? Listen, man, that's an episode of the TV anything.

Speaker 2 (24:42):
See this is to two brothers living below the Mason
Dixon line talk right now exactly.

Speaker 7 (24:49):
This is this is called read this as Fonte coined
the phrase, this is called rap. After forty you Virginia,
do you know Kwanza?

Speaker 5 (24:59):
I just because find so?

Speaker 4 (25:02):
Okay, before we got I can say so. Before we
got on, we was talking. I was telling her like,
I don't, we don't. I don't know anyone who celebrates quasa.
She was saying, that's a Southern thing. So do you
skills being from Virginia, do you know anyone who celebrates quasas?

Speaker 1 (25:20):
No, who is celebrating quanta?

Speaker 5 (25:22):
So everybody, indeed, affluent.

Speaker 1 (25:29):
African roots, it might be.

Speaker 5 (25:30):
Mean and Bill's daughter and Bill's daughter.

Speaker 1 (25:33):
Wait, y'all celebrating? Wait what? Yeah, no, no, you missed the
which was my daughter came home singing Quansa carols, Carols
songs or something, Quanta songs, Quanta jams, whatever. The she
came home and it was hilarious and here we are.

Speaker 3 (25:55):
Qua.

Speaker 1 (25:59):
So that's that happen And so there you go.

Speaker 5 (26:03):
No, but you said, you know it's more Bill, because
she sang the song. I was like, what is the song?
Because I did not. I was not even aware that
there were Kwansa songs and er and you celebrated and
you didn't even know some Quanta celebrations. Yes I have, Yes,
I have.

Speaker 1 (26:22):
You wait, talk about it like you're in it way
deeper than that.

Speaker 4 (26:25):
You talk about it like you got the Quanta.

Speaker 7 (26:31):
Bops tasting, you got quantsam prime.

Speaker 5 (26:36):
I don't think that a young You know what I'm saying,
It started sixty. I'm just saying, maybe progressing with the music.
I'm not aware, but it doesn't mean it's not happening.
I don't know.

Speaker 7 (26:47):
You can't say don't feel like yeah, I feel like
I should be mill in tune with it and you
should be.

Speaker 5 (26:52):
And we make jokes on the show sing this show
and it' shoptin't funny because black people and that they
don't want the holidays, and when we make our only
made jokes because all know how to do is at
our ship.

Speaker 2 (27:03):
I'm gonna be I'm gonna be real you once once
the farm, once the farm gets settled. I think Grace
might be forced me to celebrate Quanta.

Speaker 5 (27:13):
The principle you don't even know why you're giving gifts.
You don't know what Santa has to do with Jesus.
You just follow a tradition like a fucking robot. Stop.

Speaker 1 (27:23):
But I've been stopped. I've been killed Santa Claus.

Speaker 2 (27:25):
I killed him early, like so that I'm not working
and giving the credit to a white man out of here.

Speaker 1 (27:31):
So now that's over.

Speaker 4 (27:32):
In terms of the given gifts, I mean, yeah, like
I give gifts like I give gifts cause niggas be
needing ship.

Speaker 5 (27:38):
But niggas be needing ship more days than just.

Speaker 1 (27:40):
That one day out of the year, and I give
more days of the year.

Speaker 4 (27:44):
I'm not really I'm not really a holidays. I'm sorry, celebrator.
You know what I mean, I just I try to
do good year round.

Speaker 7 (27:52):
When I grew up, Christmas was Salvation Army knocking in
my door with a pair.

Speaker 3 (27:56):
Of pants and some jocks. So I didn't have the
same Christmas. A lot of niggas say.

Speaker 7 (28:02):
From North Carolina, nigga, he was knocking on the door,
like here go your g I Joe, nigga Bye, that.

Speaker 3 (28:08):
Was my Christmas.

Speaker 1 (28:09):
Uh so Honakah was earlier this year? Correct? Yep, Steve,
how was it? How was whatnka honkah? We canceled it.

Speaker 8 (28:21):
It was supposed to be on Sunday this past Sunday,
and my.

Speaker 3 (28:24):
My sister got COVID uh week ago.

Speaker 1 (28:27):
So she's doing good, she's fine.

Speaker 8 (28:29):
But but yeah, we had to cancel all that. So, uh,
we're gonna be like drive We're gonna do like present
drive bys. We're gonna drive by and just like throw
the presidents out the window.

Speaker 2 (28:39):
Like this is the first year you didn't get the
Oh no, the.

Speaker 1 (28:43):
Check, the check is gonna it's on.

Speaker 3 (28:47):
Baby.

Speaker 2 (28:48):
You gotta understand long Steve twenty five years man, Yeah,
no is the happiest day of his life. Boy he
gets quote the check. I never even I don't even
know how much the check is worth. But Steven satisfied
with hashtag the check.

Speaker 1 (29:05):
Yeah check, like in a way.

Speaker 2 (29:08):
That that Clarence what's his name says the ship and
uh tells.

Speaker 3 (29:12):
From cl Wiams the third Ye yes, oh.

Speaker 2 (29:16):
The ship one of the list, one of them, Stevens
the check.

Speaker 7 (29:23):
One of the funniest cinematic moments is when they slapped
him with the gun and he just started and.

Speaker 1 (29:28):
Said, hey, look, bro, you scored.

Speaker 2 (29:32):
You t off on the nigga He do that Andy, Yo, bro,
you got it.

Speaker 1 (29:36):
I'm good. Whatever problem we had it ended right there.

Speaker 4 (29:39):
I want that boat.

Speaker 3 (29:41):
Was man, enough of the talk, old man, where's the ship?
He said?

Speaker 1 (29:50):
Feoderal home?

Speaker 5 (29:52):
This to hell.

Speaker 6 (29:59):
We went script a little bit, but hey, this.

Speaker 1 (30:03):
Is how this.

Speaker 5 (30:06):
But wait, skills, you mentioned something I just wanted to
touch on it real quick. It sounded as sentimental. You
mentioned about your Christmases and this is you know, a
fifty to fifty. We want to know more about skills
and you know about the about growing up in Fayetteville
and what your life was like and you know, sorry.

Speaker 7 (30:23):
I was born in I was born in Detroit, Michigan,
but I don't remember being there. I think I left
when I was around two. Most of the yeah, yeah,
I did not know that now sign hospital. Some my
first earliest of my childhood memories are probably being in Faytville,
riding bikes all that type, ship, playing ball. I grew up.

(30:49):
My mom was my mom, my sister, and uh yeah,
I was running through Faveville, you know, just being a
kid and tell us.

Speaker 5 (30:58):
Where sakwan comes from. I was always curious.

Speaker 3 (31:01):
That's that's later. Okay, that's later.

Speaker 7 (31:04):
But uh, one thing, No, I got an older I
have an older I got an older sister and younger brother,
and then my dad had some kids, so those are
I got four siblings on that side.

Speaker 3 (31:20):
But uh, I knew.

Speaker 7 (31:21):
Early on that this was wasn't a place to stay at.
And there's no disrespect to Fanville, but it was my
mom used to tell me, you know, uh, you know,
we used to see the commercials for the Army be
all you can be and ship, and then like right
after that commercial, it would be a you know, a
commercial for say some cars or TV or furniture set,

(31:42):
and they would be like, you know, calling all so
and so et one and up and up like so
it was like they were almost advertising if you're in
the military, you can come and get this stuff, you know,
and we'll only.

Speaker 3 (31:55):
Charge you this. So I was already like, damn, like.

Speaker 4 (31:59):
I got right here totally. I'm thinking you right by
Brag for right by.

Speaker 7 (32:04):
Fore Brag I lived, Yeah, O god, I lived in
the trailer park right next to for Brag. So I
had J Cole's mindset before J Cole was even worm, like,
I gotta get the funk out of here.

Speaker 3 (32:19):
Wow.

Speaker 4 (32:19):
And I never and just hearing you say that, man,
it's so crazy because I never thought that people or
you know, companies will advertise differently, you know, in the
military town. Yeah, you know what I'm saying, Like, I
never I never thought about that wall.

Speaker 1 (32:32):
That's crazy.

Speaker 3 (32:33):
Yeah, right, you.

Speaker 7 (32:36):
Come get a car, come get some furniture, come get
you know, a television color TV. But but if you
are in the military, always we know you're gonna get
a check. So if you are this status and up,
then you could come down here right now. We're basically
give you this ship. You can put a dollar down,
you can get this ship. Right So, right after Soul Train,

(32:58):
you know, that was the commercials he saw. So I
remember thinking to myself like, I got to get the
fuck out of here at an early age. I might
have been thirteen twelve, Like, I got it. I can't
stay here. I didn't know where I was gonna go,
but yeah, I had to get the hell up out
of there, and uh I did at about fifteen, and
I came to Virginia. When I came to Virginia, my

(33:22):
mom changed religious. She met a Muslim man and she
adapted to Islam. And she told us that, you know,
me and my little brother, if we wanted to change
our names, we could. So when I went to the
new town, which was Richmond, Virginia, and I started school,
I told everybody my name was Chaquan and it's been

(33:43):
Chequan ever since.

Speaker 2 (33:45):
Wow, when you were in Faytteville, what did you start
high school in Faville?

Speaker 1 (33:49):
Who?

Speaker 3 (33:51):
I damn ty? I went to every fucking school in Fae.
I went first.

Speaker 7 (33:56):
I went to set Me first. I went to Westwood,
I mean Westwood. I went to Taford I lived.

Speaker 1 (34:03):
Wait.

Speaker 2 (34:03):
What kind of student were you that you went to
My mom?

Speaker 7 (34:08):
My mom was all over the town. That you gotta understand.
My mom was was on heroin. So I was all
over the place. So I had a mom that was
on drugs. Drugs were super rampant at that time, and
no father. It's just me and my mom and my
little brother and we all over like we might have

(34:29):
moved every three four months. And I never lived in
the house. It was always a trailer, like I didn't
even know. I didn't even know houses existed till I
was like ten. I thought everybody lived in the trailer.
And if you had a double wive, shit, I mean,
like you was bothered if you had a double wife.
You know what I mean.

Speaker 2 (34:48):
You don't hear you had a Marshall Madison going on?

Speaker 7 (34:51):
Yeah, without without Dre, even though I did work with
Dre but late.

Speaker 4 (35:00):
But your pops? Did y'all have any connection at all?

Speaker 7 (35:03):
My pop died when I was My pop died when
I was about I want to say, eight or nine
years old, and I never.

Speaker 3 (35:11):
Really knew him.

Speaker 7 (35:13):
And then in the fast four years later when he
passed away at eight, and then my mom passed away
when I was around in like ninety eight, and so
that my mom and my dad ended up dying from
the same drug thirty years apart. Wow, And I didn't
make the connection that my father was the person who

(35:33):
turned my mother on heroin until American Gangster came up.

Speaker 1 (35:40):
Yeah that's crazy.

Speaker 7 (35:42):
Yeah, so you know, all my adolescent years, first time
hearing it was just this guy named Don Reed.

Speaker 3 (35:48):
He used to be on the radio.

Speaker 7 (35:50):
First time here in hip hop was on a radio
station in North Carolina. I think I might have heard
hard Times first.

Speaker 1 (35:58):
Wait, where year were you born?

Speaker 3 (36:00):
Was one? In seventy one?

Speaker 2 (36:02):
Hard Times by Run And that's the first rap.

Speaker 3 (36:06):
Song you heard on the radio.

Speaker 1 (36:09):
So you never had a rappers.

Speaker 3 (36:10):
The light I heard rappers the light in people's houses was.

Speaker 2 (36:14):
Not in seventy nine when it was get Hell, so
it didn't hit. So there wasn't a I mean, I'm
from the Northeast, so in Philadelphia, New York, there's like
a you know, a Frankie Crocker sort of figure that
plays stuff in real time.

Speaker 1 (36:29):
But there wasn't that person.

Speaker 7 (36:30):
And it was a guy named Don Reid. He was
probably playing that stuff. But the first time I remember
laying in the bed cutting on the radio and I
heard that, And once I heard that, motherfucking.

Speaker 3 (36:47):
That was it. I was done.

Speaker 7 (36:49):
And that's that's probably why the Run DMC shit was
so stellar. To me because when I ended up meeting
them in Fayville in front of Off the Murk, like
it was I tookture and that was That's happened means
everything to you.

Speaker 3 (37:07):
It was my introduction.

Speaker 2 (37:13):
You just totally now I get it because even like
knowing the story, your Run DMC story, like I was
kind of wondering, like, wait, why does run dem C
mean that much to you?

Speaker 4 (37:26):
I think it's something too and skills, you know, correct
me if if I'm wrong on this. There was something
just as guys in the South, like Run DMC just
represented something different like it wasn't. I don't know. Maybe
it's because they had the hats like you know, our
granddaddys were wear or whatever, but yeah, you know what
I mean. But it was just something different about you didn't.
I mean, you know, we loved ll I mean, we

(37:47):
love all that stuff, but it was something about Run
DMC like they were just superheroes, you know what I mean.

Speaker 1 (37:52):
Like that ship was so yes, it was.

Speaker 3 (37:55):
They could fly, bro, they could fly, They could do
no wrong.

Speaker 7 (37:58):
And anybody that came up after them or anybody you
saw after them, even if they dropped before Curtis blows
and you know, like you said, flash and all of them,
they just didn't have the same appeal that them three
niggas had because when you looked at them, if you
didn't see yourself and one of them, you could automatically go, man,
he looked like my cousin. He looked like he looked

(38:20):
like Cam, and we could go out and be a
little run DMC. You automatically thought of two friends when
you saw the right straight right.

Speaker 4 (38:28):
My first rap group, it was three of us. It
was one that wreasses.

Speaker 7 (38:32):
Yes, listen, I was I was run. That was that
was run the sideburns. I was him skinny lanky like.
So yeah, that's that was when I fell in love
with it.

Speaker 2 (38:49):
Wait, I highly recommend our listeners. You just released the story.
I think last was last year? When or was it
this year that you released the story about your run
DMC story, which, oh.

Speaker 7 (39:02):
It was that was that was that came out of
on on the other podcast earlier this year.

Speaker 2 (39:08):
Okay, yeah, I highly recommend our listeners to. I don't
want to spoiler alert it now it's too epic to tell,
but yeah, just if you like skilled, it's on it's
on my I G two. So Okay, yes, I highly
recommend that because I was there and even I didn't
know that was happening. That's strange, man, I didn't know

(39:33):
that story. Yo, dog, I didn't even know about the
slick Rick. Were you there for the slick Rick situation?

Speaker 7 (39:37):
Oh yeah when Yeah, it was, slick Rick said some
I'm crazy to get to me.

Speaker 1 (39:44):
I didn't even realize.

Speaker 2 (39:45):
Well, because the thing is is that when I'm doing shows,
I don't I never have the vocalist. I have the
music in my my in ears, so you know I
have I have reaked down very low, like just so
I know where he is in the verse and whatnot.
And apparently, you know, we were sound checking and I
didn't even realize that, like slick Rick was kind of

(40:08):
talking slick to me in a way that was very offensive. Wow,
and what does that mean?

Speaker 3 (40:17):
I'll you, I was there, Come on.

Speaker 2 (40:20):
My version was that I just saw Tarik like the
music's loud, not to see Toik like something like, wow,
Toik's really happy to see slick Rick. I didn't realize
that Tarik was getting serious. And then I took my
head off. I was like, come on, what's going on?
And I found out twenty minutes after the fact that
it already happened, and shit, so I just started was

(40:42):
having a regular sound check.

Speaker 7 (40:43):
So they're doing their sound checking and I think they
was doing, uh, what's this. I can't remember the song
per se, but it's the one that starts with out.

Speaker 3 (40:53):
Enough were Mona Lisa?

Speaker 7 (40:56):
Right? So they starting Mona Lisa over and Rick is,
you know, coming in with his verse and it was
one of those days.

Speaker 3 (41:02):
Not much.

Speaker 7 (41:04):
Stopped it, Yo, starting over, speed it up. He's like, like,
speed it up. So everybody like, okay, what tu you know?
Start over?

Speaker 3 (41:12):
Did it again?

Speaker 7 (41:13):
He like, yo, speed it up? So everybody's like, then
how fast you want this ship?

Speaker 3 (41:18):
Bro?

Speaker 7 (41:18):
Like they playing it? He stops again reek reeks still
doing that. Not much to do, yeah, living with him slick.
Rick goes, yo, come on, speed that ship up, bitch,
and Tarik goes, who the fuck are you talking to?

Speaker 5 (41:36):
That's what.

Speaker 3 (41:38):
He said, Yo, who who the are you talking to?

Speaker 7 (41:41):
Doug like Rick like, yo, man, I'm just saying mine,
speed it up, man, like yo, and Rick like Ric like, yo,
if you if you want it faster and say faster.
But what you ain't about to do is called nobody
up here. I'll they motherfucking name, bro, like fuck wrong
with you? So then like they having words and I'm
just like, oh God.

Speaker 1 (42:02):
Like to me, it's looking like to.

Speaker 2 (42:06):
You remember I put up I put up an Instagram
where you take Teddy Pendergrass volume off and looks like
he's doing stand up comedy.

Speaker 4 (42:13):
Yeah right right.

Speaker 2 (42:16):
Sound So in my mind, I'm like, man, Twek's action
super extra getting happy seeing slick Rick because it looked
like like my version of it was like, yo, man,
I'm doing more the least what you meant I always
wanted to do, like, you know, like it was exaggerating.

Speaker 6 (42:32):
Audio was, Yo, what the fuck?

Speaker 3 (42:36):
Bro?

Speaker 7 (42:37):
Like, who the fuck you think you're talking to dog?
Like we all grown men up here. I don't know
what you think this is. Like that's how it wasn't
real life. And they, you know, they squashed it real quick,
and you know, Rick was like, Yo, I'm sorry, man,
just just having a rough day, man, And I know
you just throwing.

Speaker 5 (42:53):
A huge point none of us your fucking funck with
Kanye after fucking Greek stands.

Speaker 1 (42:57):
Up you know what, don't play that ship.

Speaker 3 (43:00):
I'm not like that happened.

Speaker 2 (43:01):
It was like a plane where like someone I don't know,
maybe I was storing in first class. I don't know
what it was, but whatever the case was, like I
have my headphones on and again Treek's like and I'm like, wait,
what's going on in Trek was like defending like something
happened with me with dude. I was sitting next to you,
and Rek just was ready to you know about that

(43:24):
action exactly, yeah.

Speaker 7 (43:27):
About that actually, so that's what happened, and uh, you know,
but I was there. I was saying, this almost happened
again for me and we're so crazy. Is when it
happened for me.

Speaker 6 (43:37):
Reek was like, yeah, now you got to go to
the back, and I'm like, god, god, nigga, like Tina took.

Speaker 3 (43:42):
Me to the back, like Tina had security stay with me.

Speaker 1 (43:45):
I was like, damn nigga, Like was that serious?

Speaker 3 (43:48):
Yes, yes, I'm here?

Speaker 2 (43:50):
Oh wow, man, how did I not? I don't know,
maybe my version of roads colored glasses just some other
ship like that.

Speaker 3 (43:58):
Ship you got on the Ones.

Speaker 1 (44:02):
I did not know none of that.

Speaker 2 (44:04):
Was happening, because the thing was I was just laughing
at them like they was bickering like an old couple
all night No, I meant run DMC were bickering like
an old couple all night.

Speaker 3 (44:18):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. They they couldn't stand each other
at that point.

Speaker 2 (44:20):
And I'm like, damn just for like, y'all can't get
it together. And you know, I've spoke to them separately,
like I've offered to get them a life coach, because literally,
I think run DMC is probably the only act that
could do that Rolling Stones action right now if they
would just drop their ego and and and this is

(44:47):
now the time for them to really cebmit their legacy
and important.

Speaker 1 (44:53):
They just cannot.

Speaker 4 (44:55):
Well, I think they started having problems back on the
Crown Royal album.

Speaker 2 (44:58):
I remember hearing it way back then. I mean that
was you know, god, that was almost twenty years ago.

Speaker 1 (45:02):
So well that's because he had no voice. But these
voice is back now. Yeah.

Speaker 7 (45:07):
Sometimes I'm not even you could fix it, and you know, good,
you better.

Speaker 5 (45:13):
Be a good radio hosting transitions.

Speaker 2 (45:14):
But you know, they they were both willing to meet
at the middle.

Speaker 1 (45:19):
I'm gonna make this ship happen.

Speaker 2 (45:20):
God damn it, Like I don't seventy years.

Speaker 3 (45:23):
Old, Yeah, leave alone.

Speaker 6 (45:25):
You can't fix six A mender of Bridges goddamn all this.

Speaker 5 (45:31):
Year was a good year. Quest love turn fifty.

Speaker 1 (45:37):
Talking about that was terrible. I don't you know.

Speaker 2 (45:43):
His age is a mystery. We'll say that for the
we'll say that for the sides.

Speaker 5 (45:51):
I will take that because I might be one.

Speaker 1 (45:53):
Year older than I might be two years older than ship.
I just discovered.

Speaker 2 (45:58):
I just went to my dad's like old papers, realized
that he didn't even know his true birthday. Like I
found his old birth certificate and him and his sister
been celebrating each other's birthdays all their lives. Like shit,
wow was June third and she was June second, but
we all their lives.

Speaker 3 (46:17):
Damn, my birthday is June second.

Speaker 1 (46:20):
Wow, you're a Gemini, yes.

Speaker 3 (46:23):
But both but both of me are very nice people.

Speaker 2 (46:29):
You are the nicest Gemini. I know everyone, not so much.

Speaker 3 (46:32):
You know you. You listen. Listen one thing.

Speaker 7 (46:35):
If it was one thing that that Reek and our
mere knew about me, that when I hit them up
and say yo, I'm pulling up, they was like all right, cool.
I always came dolo. I never had no extra niggas
with me. It was only one past. It was no
drama because I took my access to being able to

(46:58):
rock with the roots, very serious facts. So I was like,
I was like, I'm never gonna let nobody fuck I'm
on the bus if I needed to go to the
next city.

Speaker 3 (47:09):
I got a ride.

Speaker 7 (47:10):
Like I never wanted to fuck up that relationship. So
I've always anytime it didn't matter what they could be,
like yo exkills, way, yeah, I'm back them outside yo
yo mini yo yo go, somebody go grab skills. Yeah,
And it was just like, damn, that's his skills. It's
just you, Sean. Everybody knew that. It was always just me.
We always appreciate me, We appreciate that, always just me.

Speaker 2 (47:38):
Okay, So twenty twenty one, what part two? What's what's
what's our what's our rating for twenty twenty one?

Speaker 5 (47:46):
Better than twenty Where was it better?

Speaker 3 (47:48):
So it's better than last year for sure?

Speaker 5 (47:51):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (47:51):
Yeah, but I give it like a C plus Yeah,
I mean maybe I give it a B definite.

Speaker 1 (47:59):
Ain't getting a my collegiate average C plus.

Speaker 2 (48:07):
Well, you've been doing a lot unpaid bill and we
don't even get into like what what was the highlight
of your year?

Speaker 1 (48:14):
A question watching Summer of Soul? No, uh, I don't know.

Speaker 3 (48:21):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (48:21):
It was just such a fucking weird year. I've worked
a lot. I made two movies which are cool and
that's exciting, and uh, I don't know, it's it was.
You know, it's hard. It's in my opinion, it's hard
to gauge anything right now. Right It's like you have
highs and lows, but everything's sort of like evens out
in the middle way you weren't there. Did your song

(48:43):
make it at all? I didn't.

Speaker 2 (48:44):
I didn't see the rest of the nominations. Uh, your score,
your song?

Speaker 1 (48:48):
Like are you I'm not nominated. We're not going to
share in the Oscar Fund, my friend, we will share
at the Grammy Fund.

Speaker 2 (48:55):
I voted for you though. It's weird. Well, the thing
is is that I I'm only allowed to voice my
opinion in the music categories, so I couldn't touch the dot.
I couldn't even vote in my own category to get
nominated because I'm not in the dock branch. They're very
different than music. Like with music, they let you choose

(49:18):
where you want to place your votes, whereas in the
academy you have to stay in you is. They're definitely
about staying in your lane. So I got to vote
on score and song. But until someone brings me into
the doc, I think they want to see, like if
I do two or three of these things, then they'll
be like, all right, then we'll let you in the

(49:38):
dock branch.

Speaker 1 (49:39):
But that's why I was a little bit not shocked.

Speaker 2 (49:42):
But I would think strategically, like I wouldn't try to
vote for the person that is most likely to win.
If you're being strategic, you know the other dock branch people,
some of them are in the branch. I wouldn't vote
for my movie because then that would lessen their chances
of what you know what I mean, sure, sure, you know.

Speaker 1 (50:01):
How about twenty twenty one is the year you became
a director, like a film director. For those who do
not know, very Summer of Soul. Summer Soul was shortlisted
for an Oscar. That's not like a like a a
minor award. That's like a major award, and it's very exciting.
You need some flowers and some ship right now. I

(50:21):
get a lot of award flowers, but you need to
shut the fuck up in your Christmas sweater and just
take it. In a moment, I was.

Speaker 2 (50:27):
Great, man, You guys wore me down. I'm not deflecting.
I'm not deflecting any praise or any of those things.
I gladly accept.

Speaker 1 (50:35):
It if we have accomplished anything in the five years
coming on six. On quest of supreme is that Amir
doesn't get superbly awkward when we say congratulations. It's fucking fantastic.
That's true, that's true. No, man, you made a beautiful film. Man,
I know you made a beautiful film.

Speaker 5 (50:51):
I'll take it thanks that white people love that ship.
And so that's how I know it.

Speaker 1 (50:56):
White people love, which is.

Speaker 5 (51:02):
Our opinions don't matter. We started the hush for white
people to be like what they talking about? You know
what I'm saying. But and yes, my mother saw it
five times, so yes, you won. However, I'm just saying
that every white person wants to make it known to
me and booking this show that their white client love
Summer Soul.

Speaker 3 (51:18):
You.

Speaker 7 (51:18):
You definitely, Amir, You definitely came out of the gate
with something special.

Speaker 3 (51:23):
Man, and as your friend, I was.

Speaker 7 (51:25):
Super proud of you watching it because standing back, I
was like, damn, you know, I was like, well, you know, damn,
my nigga made a movie. I was like, at least
he ain't coming to America too shots.

Speaker 4 (51:40):
Let's talk about it. Let's talk about it. Look, I
was not coming to America too, like I didn't. It
had to happen exactly is before you watched it?

Speaker 1 (51:50):
Right, I knew all I knew. It was just a
nostalgia play.

Speaker 4 (51:53):
I just wanted fan service and it was just like
watching a family reunion and I got to see all
my people and.

Speaker 3 (52:00):
That was it.

Speaker 1 (52:00):
National lampood people. Go ahead.

Speaker 7 (52:03):
I just got one question for everybody. Did you watch
it more than once?

Speaker 1 (52:09):
Absolutely not, but.

Speaker 5 (52:15):
Let's be twice. That's the sad part.

Speaker 1 (52:17):
So I was gonna say, so, let's be fair.

Speaker 2 (52:19):
So in twenty twenty one, in the era of just
never ending content, is there anything that we're watching more
than once?

Speaker 3 (52:26):
I watched Someone Sold more than once.

Speaker 7 (52:28):
Yeah, I watched Video Music Box documentary more than once.

Speaker 3 (52:34):
Like it's it's.

Speaker 7 (52:35):
Some good content out there, and I'm like, I'm gonna
pull this up even if I just got it off
for background noise and I don't.

Speaker 3 (52:41):
I'm paying attention to it, but I'm kind of not.

Speaker 7 (52:43):
I will never in my life look at coming to
America too again.

Speaker 5 (52:48):
Ever, I watched I WT you three times.

Speaker 4 (52:52):
You saw Dolomite, and I did like Dolomite. Dolamite was great.

Speaker 5 (52:55):
I like, And I rewind true Story a few times.

Speaker 4 (52:58):
So the best thing that is the best true story
is the best thing Kevin Hard has ever done.

Speaker 5 (53:05):
It is acting.

Speaker 7 (53:08):
It is okay. And he shot it in Philly. I mean,
you should see it. He shot it in Philly and I.

Speaker 1 (53:14):
Won't watch it.

Speaker 5 (53:15):
And he shot it in Philly. And for the first
time a whole TV show licensed the whole catalog to.

Speaker 4 (53:20):
Gambling gambling huff all over this.

Speaker 5 (53:23):
Year the fiftieth anniversary of Gamble uf until in Nashville.
So it's really dope.

Speaker 3 (53:27):
Yeah, you you should watch it. You would have. You
would enjoy it. I mean.

Speaker 1 (53:33):
The Power of the Dog. Did you watch The Power
of the Dog? You know what was that?

Speaker 2 (53:36):
The one with Benedict coming back? Yeah, it's called broke
I didn't like. I went to sleep on it.

Speaker 1 (53:42):
I was. I tried. It's like broke Back Hill. It's
anyway broke Back Hill. No, you know what broke back
I started when when you're an Academy member, not only
do they send us, are you going to start sat
like that?

Speaker 3 (53:59):
That's two like five minutes.

Speaker 1 (54:01):
Just showing you how it is.

Speaker 5 (54:03):
No.

Speaker 2 (54:03):
But the thing is also they keep they keep tabs
on how active you are as an Academy member.

Speaker 1 (54:11):
Uh huh, Like because.

Speaker 2 (54:13):
I wasn't, you know. I mean I see movies on
my own, which is what I did before, Like I
never like looked at they used to send DVDs or whatever.
But now they have like their own streaming service. So
there's like one hundred and sixty four films you're supposed
to go through. I don't know if I'm gonna watch
all one hundred and sixty four. I watched Denzel in Macbeth.

Speaker 1 (54:35):
Macbeth. Yeah, I got to check.

Speaker 2 (54:37):
It only because, like you know, I mean I've read
it so much in school and whatnot, Like I'm curious
to Macbeth.

Speaker 1 (54:47):
Zel do I saw did he play? Did he play himself?
In training day? In Macbeth? There was in my head
like ha ha.

Speaker 2 (54:56):
Like I thought, that's what I'm tired of people.

Speaker 5 (55:01):
There are too many actors who play themselves that I'm
noticed in these days, and I'm like, everybody playing because.

Speaker 3 (55:08):
Himself.

Speaker 2 (55:10):
Yeah, let's talk about it. They're talking Elizabethan. It shot
beautifully I don't know if it's it's gonna be very
interesting to see, Like I know the tracks is going
to be like Denzel Is Macbeth.

Speaker 1 (55:23):
But as an Academy member. As an Academy member, how
do you what is your favorite film of the year.
I just saw a Pig, which.

Speaker 2 (55:39):
Basically Nicholas Cage was like once like a James Beard
micheline chef that went off the grid and his his
beloved pet pig gets kidnapped. His his his pig is
like the best truffle pig there is. You know, you

(56:00):
need pigs to search for truffles and then you sell
those truffles for gazillions of dollars and you know, so
it's basically a story of a kidnapped truffle pig that
Nicholas Cage spends the entire movie looking for. But it's
it's it's intensive ship. It's definitely going to be like

(56:22):
one of the one of the sounds.

Speaker 7 (56:24):
Like one of the joints sounds like pigs. Do it
sounds like a pig came to America?

Speaker 2 (56:34):
No, I'm just what do you call it? Also, Drive
My Car. I believe Drive My Car is probably the
film that's going to be uh, this year's Oscar winner?

Speaker 1 (56:46):
What is this about?

Speaker 3 (56:47):
West Side? Dollars?

Speaker 1 (56:54):
Like he's a tick tick move forty dollars?

Speaker 5 (56:57):
Bill?

Speaker 3 (56:59):
Laugh at that west Side story made forty eight dollars?
Stop it did?

Speaker 1 (57:03):
Why is that a joke?

Speaker 3 (57:05):
No, it's not.

Speaker 5 (57:06):
That's you know the rest of the Bill's joke. I'm saying, wait,
because he made though he made those other two movies,
so he.

Speaker 1 (57:13):
Can't be Musicals don't make movies. Let's get it to it.

Speaker 5 (57:17):
Well, I mean.

Speaker 1 (57:19):
Music, musicals don't make money, is what I was trying
to take this much? Are you guys more gun shy? Now?

Speaker 2 (57:25):
Well, since you kind of did Hamilton already, is there
a need to do Hamilton the movie? Or do you
guys consider what you guys did on.

Speaker 1 (57:37):
Right?

Speaker 2 (57:37):
But that's the performance? But will there be a movie
sized version of Hamilton?

Speaker 1 (57:44):
Of course you'd be a dumb ass not to make it.
Does anybody gonna see it? I don't know, but they'll
make it?

Speaker 2 (57:49):
So wait, is it true that west Side? Even though
it's getting crazy acclaim?

Speaker 5 (57:55):
What the claim gives people don't see?

Speaker 3 (57:58):
Here's the thing, people that.

Speaker 1 (58:01):
Three hundred million dollars this past weekend, and and West
Side Story made about ten.

Speaker 3 (58:07):
Yeah, so here's the thing.

Speaker 7 (58:10):
Here's the thing, because this I saw La Yeah, I
saw Layah's frustration when I'm mere says this, and this is.

Speaker 1 (58:15):
A always frustration.

Speaker 7 (58:18):
This is an issue that I've always had with a
Mirror from the day I met him.

Speaker 3 (58:21):
Like, it's like it's.

Speaker 7 (58:24):
The it's the acclaim a mirror with Like we would
be talking and you know, I'm miror with you know,
because he obsesses over right, We'll be looking at We'll
be looking at the source and have a fucking on
the back of the bus and have a four hour
conversation about how somebody saw fit to only get these
niggas three mics like and I'll be like, I mean,

(58:44):
why do you care so much? Just a UGK album?
Why the fuck you care? And He'll be like, nah, bro,
you don't understand skills. It deserves more than that, and
I'm like so so later on in life, you know,
when the Roots would drop albums, I only paid attention
to those reviews. I didn't look at nobody else's They
could rate a jay Z album. I wouldn't give a

(59:05):
fuck when they put a roots album in a in
a in a publication. I would automatically go look at
the reviews, like Snap they only gave, They only gave Phynology,
you know, is no Snap. So it was always a
thing with me and our mirror about he cares so
much and I just didn't, I guess because I never

(59:28):
put out those I ain't never put out that many albums.

Speaker 1 (59:30):
So there's too much.

Speaker 5 (59:35):
It's a whole nother thing, and I'm like, there's.

Speaker 2 (59:37):
Too much for me to take in. And my thing
is that I at least want to see what the
aggregate is as far as the general opinion of critics
that I like what they think about something before I say, Okay,
I'm gonna take two hours too, what about?

Speaker 3 (59:53):
What do you what about?

Speaker 5 (59:53):
When the people say that they like it or they
don't like, what about? Regular people gather and it's a
whole bunch of them and they like it and they say.

Speaker 1 (01:00:00):
It's good regular people. While I'm an industry person, he's
an Academy member.

Speaker 5 (01:00:05):
There are different kind of combinations that you can do
with that.

Speaker 7 (01:00:08):
All I remember being in the studio with it, like God,
bless God, blessed Rich. I would be in the studio
with Rich and Dice. You know what I mean, Like
these motherfuckers they on the road like it's just me,
Dice and Rich just working on hooks and shit, and
then like it like Dice might say some shit. I
might say some shit and Dice will go lay it down,
and then fucking Rich will come in and Rich will

(01:00:28):
be like, yeah, Nah, the fucking Ye're not a publication,
They're not gonna like this shit. I'm like Rich, like,
are we writing for pumplications?

Speaker 1 (01:00:37):
Rich?

Speaker 2 (01:00:39):
He's thinking to Rich, freak out. The barbershops lockdown. Back then,
I used to care what I didn't care what Pitchfork thought,
but I did care the fact that there's a point
in two thousand and four where your average local publication,

(01:00:59):
like you're whatever, the San Francisco or the Oklahoma or
the Saint Louis version of the Village Voice, I would
notice that, like, Wow, they're just going to see what
Pitchwork says and then plagiarize the same.

Speaker 1 (01:01:13):
Thing for their own review.

Speaker 2 (01:01:15):
Like there's a point where after the arts, where after
two thousand, where I believe critics stopped like listening to
a record informing their own opinion, and they decided that
like a great example is I got to bring it
back to old boy beautiful, dark, twisted fantasy, where no, no, no,

(01:01:36):
we could take that away, we could look at hell
haf no fury clips. Now, that particular review in Pitchfork
always bothered me because of the way that it was
like such a I mean, they were salivating. It was like,
to me the highest form of like white fetishism of

(01:01:56):
like cocaine street black life, to the point where I
found it offensive. But everyone, every little blog and critics
sort of made that their north star because it was
like it was basically like the writers at ESNL just
like salivating over like what real street life is like,
like snowing the bluff, but a more successful version of like, hey,

(01:02:20):
let's visit the hood and see what it's like and
woa So reading like, did I agree that that album
was incredible?

Speaker 1 (01:02:29):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (01:02:30):
Did I have a problem with the writers at Pitchfork
salivating over it in some sort of black fetish way. Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (01:02:37):
So it's not like I ride with it, but I'm
just very.

Speaker 5 (01:02:40):
Much a will to validate what writers at Pitchfork say
when you didn't appreciate them salivating over that shit and
being like the white people that they are the thing.

Speaker 2 (01:02:49):
Is is that at the time Critical Claim is all
the roots had to justify their existence on a label
that they weren't making money. We weren't DMX selling four million.

Speaker 1 (01:03:02):
You got you?

Speaker 4 (01:03:03):
Yeah, Critical Critical Love, that was all that was your
lifeline that I.

Speaker 7 (01:03:07):
Needed to hear that I needed. I needed to hear that.
I mean, that's what I.

Speaker 3 (01:03:11):
Needed to hear.

Speaker 1 (01:03:11):
That's why Critical Claims album.

Speaker 5 (01:03:13):
Why I continue it because at a certain point it
sounds like you care about about three or four white
people say, because the critics who really matter are usually
non non black people anyway, So when you say you
don't care about what regular people say because you're an
industry person, it.

Speaker 1 (01:03:25):
Sounds okay, well you gotta speak loud.

Speaker 5 (01:03:30):
Like I said, it sounds a little out of touch
to some That's what I was saying. That's all I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (01:03:35):
Yeah, I appreciate the four.

Speaker 2 (01:03:37):
Platforms, Like I think now I think, I think I
get what you're saying, Like I think what it is
what I'm hearing you say mere is like when he
says he's an industry person, I don't think it's necessarily
like you're.

Speaker 4 (01:03:48):
Looking at it like I need these people to validate me.
It's just more so I need to know who with
me so I can leverage them for other opportunities.

Speaker 1 (01:03:55):
You know, you know what I mean.

Speaker 4 (01:03:57):
It's not about whether.

Speaker 5 (01:03:58):
You you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 7 (01:04:00):
It's like we're not selling We ain't selling Hello copies.
But if fucking Rolling Stone give us a good review,
I should have made sense to these motherfucking suits.

Speaker 5 (01:04:08):
I get it, Thank you, And that's a lesson for
all of us. Everybody didn't understand.

Speaker 7 (01:04:13):
Me, but me and Ameya used to go back and
forth over the show. I used to it used to
grind my motherfucking gears. But now I understand.

Speaker 3 (01:04:21):
I'm glad.

Speaker 7 (01:04:21):
I'm glad after all these years, I finally got we
haven't understanding.

Speaker 5 (01:04:26):
Hold up all right, y'all. So that was part one
of this week's episode. Stay tuned because next week, next Wednesday,
Part two, and you don't want to miss it.

Speaker 1 (01:04:42):
There's Some Supreme is a production of Ihearty Radio.

Speaker 2 (01:04:50):
For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.