Diamond D

Diamond D joins Questlove Supreme in Atlanta to discuss growing up with Hip-Hop pioneers in his literal backyard. The acclaimed producer/MC/DJ triple-threat discusses his career, from Ultimate Force and Stunts Blunts & Hip Hop, into his new album, The Rear View. QLS brings back its sample-spotting game as we sit down with the best-kept secret.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Question Love Supreme is a production of I Heart Radio.
Here we go just followers, So premo road called sub prima,
some premo roll called subma su primo roll call, so

(00:21):
premo roll. Some say I'm crazy, some say I'm ill.
Fuck you talking about yo chill, So primo roll call,
sub premo role. My name is Fonte. I ain't hard
to find and I'm not like Sally. Yeah, I got

(00:44):
a two track mine some premo roll call roll call.
His little story about Sugar Steve. She wanted Diamond, gave
her the d HRM. It's like no time to rest,

(01:14):
It's time to learn from hip hop's finest. My name
is Diamond. Yeah, my beast, the best. I'm down in
the A. Now she'll put my man quest free roll call,

(01:40):
so Fremo roll, So fremo roll call, so premo roll call.
You like that reverb. I'm learning the new button every week.
Uh yeah, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another episode of

(02:03):
Quest Love Supreme. Um, your host, question love'. You know
we're down here in the A and Atlanta doing our
first drafts of in person episodes. It's been three years
and uh you know, glad to be with the fan
spoke to unpaid Bill this morning. He's fine, children grovering

(02:24):
Oscar and then on Sesame Street, I want to Saturday.
Wait today, Saturday, right right now. When I got over
this one, I was like, oh damn, it is Saturday.
Ohays you go to work. You go to work Saturday.
Probably not when they're airing this, but yeah, I'm just
all messed up. I thought it was Thursday. Uh damn, Okay,

(02:47):
it's like that anyway. How you doing, I'm doing. Oh,
I am doing great. We're back in the A. I
barely recognize it. I ain't been here in twenty years.
I love it. I'm kind of mad because I'm here
in the A. But I've yet to go to Stroke
Chris and probably is that like a new with Strokers.
I don't even what the hell is that. I'm from
the Magic City gentlemen. You know. Okay, that's what I'm

(03:09):
learning about my Atlantic trip number one. You know, it
was sort of a topic of the past, but now
I get the feeling that people actually go to the
strip clubs here just to eat. So I heard Magic
cities just up Immediately everyone behind the cameras was like
a Magic city. I was like, nobody as the best

(03:33):
wings ever. I hear that Domond got really quiet when
we start talking. Listen, all right, guess today. I know
always said this like this is one of my favorite shows.
But any any chance that I get to nerd out
on the production techniques that really drew me to hip

(03:55):
hop and drew all of us to hip hop? No
matter who you're like, it's it's always a good episode.
And so this gentleman has been forced to record with
even before his solo career, like the work that he's done.
You know, it's this strong city. I don't a strong
city at all associated with Aaron Fuchs anytime I see

(04:16):
the words just get and I'm afraid even if I
say the label might get. So that was that was right? Okay?
All right, well yeah, the resume is scrong, like some
of my my my favorite producer moments comes from this
gentleman years. I mean, we all of his records, uh,

(04:38):
Sun Spunching, hip Hop, Hatred. I gotta ask you about
your your sofon Hatred, passionate infidelity like time, Peace, the Gotham,
and now your brand new joint the Review, which is
excellent work You've been doing quality excellent work, and sometimes
it's easy to sort of take for read it. People

(05:01):
do excellent work and they often get overlooked, and when
top five lists and top ten lists are named, and
you know, sometimes a person so effortless that you tend
to to forget their contributions. But you know, that's what
quest Left Supreme is for. So that's said, let's welcome
the one and only, finally, finally, Diamond d Well, am

(05:21):
I allowed to call you Diamond now? Number one? Can
you please? Allowed? No? No, no, But here's the deal.
I have two versions of the album. When it was
like Diamond d Stump blumps in here and then there
was Diamond Well, it was Diamond and psychockonor Rotics Diamond
Diamond Psycho ne Rotics. So what was the situation with

(05:43):
your name? It was there another Diamond d like back
in the day that I don't know what, I'm not sure,
but I think it might have been originally somebody that
was signed to Weston Records in New York. Yeah, they
did ton of Gardner Heartbeat like they you know, hot
Shot was on that table, but I think somebody had
the name. Yeah, yeah, well, you know this is my

(06:09):
favorite nerd out moment on question of supreme. So I'm
gonna start from the beginning. What was your first musical memory?
Time out? Let me go to O G Style. Where
were you born? I was born in Manhattan, New York hospital. Wow,
I never heard an get it all right raising the Bronx.

(06:31):
Your first musical memory sitting in my uncle's room and
just playing music. He he had a large vinyl collection,
So I was just sitting in his room, like eight
nine years old, just listening and play records. What was
he playing? Um? Everything, mostly mostly funk jazz, So you
know what I mean shouts out to Gary was he was?

(06:54):
He very meticulous with the collection. Like I've had an
older cousin that was that way. But you couldn't touch
the wax and you know, yeah, definitely, you know, you
know you have to hold a record like this with
both hands. He's very meticulous about his whine nos. And
then you know when I came along with the DJ
and you know we had to put our hands on

(07:14):
the record, I was gonna say, how okay. So sometimes
I try and explain to people the trouble, you know,
I mean, it's easy now that hip hop is and
it's about to be in its fifty if year for
us to also take for you know, for granted it's
development and how you know, farts come. But you know,
I try to explain to people that a lot of

(07:35):
those pioneers, you know, Flash, got so much kicked back
or pushback if you will, you know, because the general
idea is that you're going to destroy the needle or
destroy the belt driver, the turntable, like putting your fingers
on the grooves. Those are big no nos. Yeah, I

(07:56):
got punishment trying to uh, you know, like my first
introduction and scratching of course was you know, Grandmaster Flash
on the wheels of steel and you know, trying to
practice or my dad's you know, he's not looking and
see what happens and you're get in trouble. But yeah,
like how do you discover what that is in in
the bronx and where you like privy to any of

(08:17):
those like block parties or anything. Oh yeah, they were
like right outside growing up in far as projects. Um
me fat Joe law for next we would all see
DJs like you're in the same buildings in the same
same complex, but we will see God like Grant was
the theat or mainly did or Um sometime Flash. At

(08:40):
that point they will already making records, but we'll be
able to just go downstairs and just see these jams
going on in the parks. What was it? What was
it like seeing? Because I'm assuming that you're too young
for Harlem World or right, so I'm assuming that you're
eleven or twelve year away seven? So what how does
the trickle effect happen to you? Like we're tapes of

(09:01):
things instantly or how do you get the information? Um?
Just watching it firsthand? You know you've seen people out
there you know where boxes, you know, recording or whatever.
But we you know, I saw our first hand. Um.
You know when Flash made um Grandmaster Flash in the
wheels is still Um. I had already seen him do

(09:21):
some of that, you know, outside in the parks, cutting
up good times, you know, ship like that. Um. But
just being close in proximity to it, it's what drew
me and in fact quest um. When I was a
little kid, whenever I saw the DJ reach for the
damn right, I'm somebody album covering the JBS, you know,

(09:42):
I would lose my mind because I knew he was
gonna play blow your Head and that sticks like even
even now as an adult, that always sticks out to me.
A lot of time people ask me, you know, what's
the first song to draw you in the hip hop? Um,
I mentioned blow your Head. It's it's not a rap record,
it's just a a break beat that was real popular.
And as little kids, we've been lose our mom when

(10:04):
that she came in. So all right, So Chuck d
wants to explain to me the effect of that, because
I asked, like, why would you like, why was that
the first record that introduced the world to publican to me?
And he explained to me that, you know, because okay,
I grew up with an old like a father, and
older uncles and older cousins, and so they came more

(10:28):
or less from the I mean, I'm not saying like
I inherited the critical thinking, but the way that you know,
I'm sure a classic album comes out. We all get
together and discussed that ship critically. That's how they were,
you know, because my dad was a musician and all
that stuff. So my household, James Brown was kind of

(10:48):
over by seventy three. Like my I distinctly remember the
very first album my dad panned like this is trash.
He didn't like the payback. I don't think he liked
idea of paying fifteen nineties. So typically, I guess back
in the seventy three seventy four an album would run

(11:09):
three nine a single albums like three nine, maybe four
ninety nine. So when you're paying eleven twelve ninety nine
for a double album, the first thing, and you know,
I'm three years old, but my dad's like, wait a minute,
there's only eight songs on this record, and it's a
double record, and each song is like a meandering I
never knew what meandering was. But like by the time

(11:30):
you get to the like side three times running out
fast or whatever, like twelve minutes, you know, he just
took it off and he's like, I don't like this.
And so in my mind, James Brown was over in
seventy four, but Chuck details me. He's like James Brown
commercially might have had his last heyday of string, you
know after problem don't taking the mess. But he's like

(11:51):
in the hood, we never stopped playing good Foot, and
you know, if anything like we brought those singles back,
but it was just hood stuff. But for some reason,
me myself, I never liked blow your Head because in
my mind I imagined James Browns like, okay, so Stevie
Wonder gott a mood and made miracles of it with him.

(12:15):
It was almost like I could see I can see
like the bubble rap on the floor and him just
And this is the thing. Even James Brown's musicians himself
will say like he was the worst soloist of all time,
but one of those guys where even if he's wrong,
he's right. So for him to do like all this
like crazy solar and and whatnot. I just never understood
why y'all gravitated to that record. It's just just to

(12:37):
have an instrumental that was fast to let b boys
go off for Yeah, that that's all it was. You know, Um,
I'm a little kiss so I'm not really thinking about
the musicality of it, but just the effect that Ricket
had when he was played that party, like you know,
people would lose their fucking lines, you know that little
one part um. To touch on what you're saying, I

(12:59):
did read with read Wesley said that m James wouldn't
there behind their backs and he put that move sound
over and up. Yeah right, he said it wasn't knowingly
at first, but the irony is that that's what drove it.
By the time these young black and brown kids were
listening to it, you know, seventy eight and seventy nine

(13:19):
at these parties. Yeah, I was gonna say, we um,
we're now in uh an I heart affiliate and so
we're like limited on the times that we could play songs.
But just for that, you people know what we're talking about.
This is blow your head. Oh, thank y'all. So y'all
talking about that public enemy. Okay, okay, now we're here,

(13:46):
were here, Yeah, so you know, but this is also
what I want to know. Do you have any memories
because this is kind of the one thing that hip
hop pioneers really don't talk about. But I mean, I
can only put two and two together that if it
weren't for the Blackout of seventy seven, we might not

(14:06):
have had hip hop culture because I'm just assuming that
because of the of the looting, I'm a little kid
doing the blackout, But no, no, no, I'm not saying.
But I have heard stories about a lot of equipment
came into possession doing the blackout, so you know, it

(14:27):
might it definitely pushed it along a little bit, right,
But I mean it was dead before that. But what
I want to know is how, because I'm also aware
that as the years and decades go by, maybe revisionist
history sets in and stories get exaggerated. But how officially
loud were these speakers at these block parties? Were they

(14:50):
like concert level size? Where you gotting satisfied with loud
enough when you can hear them three blocks away? How
do you get power? Electricity and a park? Lamp posts?
So someone had to risk their life climb up the
lamp post or a lot of them knew about no equipment,

(15:12):
so they would, um bring it to a lamp post. Um,
get the polons and do some ship in the next thing. Now,
I wish we had Kuami's dad here, Kwamie U. Kwamie's
dad used to tell like, for the longest Kwami's father,
we're still the neighbors gas Like he knew how to

(15:33):
run a line inside of their inside of their basement
or whatever and just people exactly if nothing else. Um,
So how old were you when you officially when you
consider yourself, like, all right, I'm gonna getting into this
music ship, Like how old were you? I would say

(15:53):
about twelve. About twelve when I asked, my mom bought
me some turntables. Yeah, did you want a DJ? Just yeah, no,
I was. I wanted to be a DJ. I don't
care about Roman. I just you know, I was. My
whole focus was the beats, the break beats. I would
just go to these these jams to stand by the
ropes and try to see album covers. You know, just

(16:16):
how are they finding little parts with the drums. That's
where really like intrigue me. You know, all of these
records with these little drum parts. So I was just
drum crazy. When you were a kid, what was the
record story? That was like the go to the Whiz
Whiz and there was another store on third half and
I remember the name. But the first break I bought

(16:37):
was um Shangla Yeah okay, but we called the Paradise
is very nice and EARV got it. He mentioned it
in the documentary. He said he used to cut that
as a kid, and I was like, oh, ship, that's crazy.
Um but yeah, that was the first jointal butt my
own money. So yeah. So the slick no, no, that's

(17:02):
just that's Frisco disco. But day las so sampled this
on something? Ain't that? So in your mind, what was
it about it? Because in your mind, wasn't that disco?
Wasn't disco off limits? Or no, no, no, A lot
of brakes was disco? Know that super Sperm was disco,

(17:23):
Frisco disco. The Mexican is just begun. So whatever kept
people dancing long? That was good? You mean, you know, yeah,
as long as the break was there, all I needed
you tonight by Arthur Price sock Yo A lot of
disco joints. Serone was a disco record. Rocket in the
pocket disco record if okay, wait a minute, all right,

(17:47):
So we're you spend it on thirty three or forty five? Well,
I meant if you want to rhyme to it, but
on thirty three it speeds up right, Okay, So disco
record Serone is a disco artist. I didn't know that
rocket spread. I'm okay, so one of those people, at
least with the basic breaks, especially with the stuff that's
more disco fied, Like I mean, there's two ways to

(18:07):
listen to it, and I'm yeah, like the first maybe
twenty years of my life, I'm very guilty of needle dropping.
There's a drupp and then but then you know those
that are really into it, they studied the song to
figure it. So, like, what is your process of how
much patience do you have? So when you go and
you bench shop and you get come on with four

(18:31):
joints or whatever, then is it like wine? Do you
just let it sit there until you get to it
or it all depends on how do you have to Like, no,
they're not gonna sit there too long, but in your mind,
is there always a part that's usable and you figure out?

(18:52):
Because maybe with Dila, So Dila told me he Dyla
never made a beat on a Sunday, okay, And he
would house clean and do chores or whatever and just
have records on and he said, you do about three
or four hours or whatever. You know, sometimes he'll report
some ship and just listen to So yeah, Like, are

(19:15):
you one of those people that, like you'll listen to
something over and over again until it hits you or
you just know, I just go through it when I'm near,
But when i'm near, I'm focused. How did you make
the transition from you know, DJ and two then making
tracks producing? Well, most most producers started off as DJ's

(19:39):
but to answer you a question, I would say, like
around when me and Premier Um did law from this
first album Fun Technician. Well before that, it was uh,
master Rob, I'm not playing well. I didn't produce that,
but I bought the record. Okay. I didn't know how
to program jazzy j program. I said, your j up,

(20:01):
clean this back for the hook, No, put these guitars
in the in the chorus. I didn't know how to
work it. So I got to ask you this question.
And you know I'm about to ask you, okay. So
for me, you know, and outside of New York, you know,
I grew up in a three thousand record household, of

(20:25):
which you know, truthfully, maybe only ten maybe appealed to me,
and the rest was just my dad's boring stuff, like
I'm not listening to Arthur Price Outkin, the Beatles and
all this other stuff. But of course, you know, once
I hear Nation of Millions and suddenly like I'm like, oh,

(20:45):
that's that stuff, that's that stuff. That's now it's like
I gotta go through all them records. And then I
discovered like, oh god, this is how they make hip hop.
So here's the deal. Um. So I became a Bomb
Squad junkie, me too, And I mean for me, there's
nine seminal even though they've done more. But to me,
they've done nine important documents as far as like they're

(21:08):
their cannon and really like sampling laws kind of killed
them off. And you know, there's other inter issues in
the group, but for real, it's like for me, it
was always you know, Baron Rush Nation, Black Planet I
do count because they did a majority of it Poison
by BBD. Even the nine Bomb Squad sounds songs sounded
like them. Of course, America's most wanted and for me

(21:33):
just yeah, and I now consider um, you know, Terminator's
first joint. Yeah, but the last two records in their
in their cannon that I consider part of that document,
of course was young Black Teenagers and Son of Berserk. Now,
when I heard are You with Me? I thought that

(21:55):
was like just one of the most craziest things I've
ever heard in my life, but didn't realized that they
just put the need on our record you can you
can sample. It's so meta, like they sampled a sample
of you. I didn't understand that. So when you heard
it work, I flipped the funk out. But you know

(22:16):
it wasn't an honor like, oh my god, it was
mixed fields honestly. But I turned to Jazzy J and
I said, Yo, these dudes just basically just rhymed over
the instrumental, so you know, but listen, UM, Strong City
was distributed by Uni, right, son of Berserk was Sandy Uni.

(22:36):
But still that's the that's the master how the publishing
get worked out. Let me all right, so let me
play the ten seconds I can play. That's my fucking
lucky man. Meanwhile, I'm dreaming, like, damn, I wonder what
part Eric sad like because I see the bomb squad

(22:58):
just as on some synesthesia, like the way that the
guitar and stems. And then I heard what you did,
and I was like, oh damn, they just took the
diamonds join and looted. So what happened when you heard that?
I went to jazz J. I pointed it out to him,
because you know, he had invested interest in it, and

(23:18):
it never went further than that. I don't know what happened.
I don't know what happened with that. Um I don't
even know if I know if he were credited on
the publishing side. I just never looked back. What was
um at that time? I've read you did an interview,
this was years ago. You talked a little bit about
Wild Pitch and um Stu fine at the time. What

(23:38):
was he like as a businessman? How was how did
the Wild Pitch business structure work? Well, you know, Stu Fun.
I'm gonna give Stewart props. You know, he signed Gang Star,
he signed law Finesse, he signed Lord Professing, main Sauce,
Chill rob g. You know Stu Farn and his wife
Amy Farn, they had a good if they had they

(23:59):
had that, they had a good ear for good hip hop.
Um student never really did anything personally towards me, but
being around my man Lord for nets and listening to
his grumblings. You know if your man grumbling about grumble too,
you know what I mean. So you know, yeah, I
took that shot out. I made that one line at him.

(24:21):
He didn't really do anything to me, but just listening
to um Lord Fesse grumble all the time, you know,
man but shouts out the stud Fun. You know he
actually Um, he threw me a pass later on in
life on his l L track that I that I

(24:42):
that I did anyway, he's still alive, she's I believe
he is. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. But while
picture has a legacy, straight up, you know I'm leaving.
I'm leaving off some artists too. But um yeah, well no, no, no,
I mean he he did Gang Stars, um, Buster Buster

(25:03):
Move boy. You know what Stu gave me two ment
back when Search was working at Wild Pitch. Um. Yeah,
Search was like, briefly, I guess he's signed an OC too,
Wild Pitch correct correct, that's like, yeah, and were a
great artists, a lot of great artists. We're shooting Solid

(25:24):
Treatment on my birthday and Search hit me off with
two mint copies of Buster to Move for But I
let them sits on a radiator, so it's work. Shut up, Steve.
You gotta take care of your records, damn. So um
it was interesting in permierly wasn't producing yet. Yeah, the

(25:48):
pre the Premier, but I was the forty five King fans,
So you know he's one of my mentors. Mentors too,
that's my joint. Um, okay, before I get you know,
I became aware of you even though I knew of you,
didn't know of you because cassettes they really weren't putting
on credits and all those things. And you know I

(26:10):
primarily brought my joints on cassettes, but it was on
the radiator too, Yes I did. Uh but can you
tell me about the environment of like the record conventions
and you know, friendly competition. Okay, just take me when

(26:35):
you just hypothetically walked me through. Ya were talking about
like vinyl conventions. So they were they were set up
record conventions and like hotels like Hotel Pennsylvania and the
Roosevelt also. So okay, so you find out a record
convention is coming, what time do you want to get there?
And who's waiting in line already? Before you get there,

(26:58):
I mean, you're livele to see anybody. You know, we
did seven am Kid pre Buck wild Law fromness uh
Rashawn Smith, Jerold b Q TWI. You know Diller was
there a few times. Pete rock Um your man, Prince B.
I heard I heard Prince B. Yeah, you know Prince By.

(27:22):
You know why he was winning because he didn't he
didn't he didn't negotiate, he didn't haggle. We are negotiating
with deals, Prince B. Oh eight honey, all right, you
know so they loved him and they loved him. Everybody
else was like yo yo eight how about seven yea?

(27:43):
You know, we aren't there trying to cut deals. But
Prince b I get him Mr Proms without you money.
He was good. Okay, So it's it's it's it's friendly competition,
but still the wild West, and you guys are paying
for gold and your mind? Do you already know the
dealer you want to go to? Like? How do you

(28:05):
without the aid of yeah, well you know computer and
all that stuff, how do you a through going a
few times? You you pretty much know what dealers you
really wanna, really want to rock with. Um My man
John eight eight keys, he used to be up on
the John all the time. Um, I forgot my man.
What's my man's name? Bleaker Street, Bob black Dude, I

(28:28):
remember him. I remember, um my man Bob from Boston,
Me and kick a Prey. We like Barb from Boston.
Bob had you had the officially. I don't know where
he was getting these drinks from, you know. Um, but
a lot of good memories. I remember when the powers
Zeus was out and um, everybody was on the prowd
for that. But I remember one year when it first

(28:51):
came to our attention. It might have been like twenty
copies then, and you know, we all, you know, everybody
that was in the know, we all got one. And um,
those are good memories. You know, I don't remember them
days forever. I was gonna say without you know, like
I'll say the generation after you, which I guess that's
where I come to play or whatever. But you know,

(29:13):
we were always going on these wild goose chases because
of the whole biz. Uh I don't even have to
say it, but you know, searching for these Bella's. Uh, Um,
what was a real record that was just like you

(29:33):
heard about? And I'm you know, I don't mean like
the fake bella is Monty grosge ship, but like, what
was a real like record that y'all were like you
heard about or that sort of thing that you just
had to get um ivary from digger to digger. But
for me, it was The Whipper Jenny. The Whipper Jenny
album by Dave Matthews. Dave Matthews was not Dave Matthews band,

(30:00):
but James Brown, James Brown's musical Yeah. He was also
attached to the De Police Trio in some way shape
or for him, but he put out an album on
People Records. It's the only psychedelic funk album that was
on People People Records, So that was like always on

(30:23):
my list. Besides the show's funky down here record. Yeah yeah, okay,
but that was James Brown, but this was like offshoot,
which made it even more rare. See that's that's another
one my my Alright. So Christian McBride jazz guy basis,
his uncle was also James Brown freaking worked at the

(30:45):
jazz station and we were in high school together, so
we always had Chris had Whipper Jenny and had shows
funky down here albums. We put them George Arms like
this is hard. And that's the thing. We were never
in the mind space of something's on here that we

(31:05):
can loop and make it work. And only when I
became older, I was like, so many drawings on here.
But yeah, can I ask a really maybe dumb, fundamental
create digging question, okay, because I always I could never
understood how you set the price point and how you know?
I mean, I know rare issues are rare issues, but
how you know that this record is worth this? Yes?

(31:29):
How do you know? And especially when you're just starting out,
how do you and it is a learning process. Um,
it comes with years of digging. You know, you just
you know albums you see often compared to the ones
you don't. But it's also he's okay, so there's maybe
I should explain it to the top of the show

(31:49):
that what makes Diaming unique is so the first generation
of sampling. Of course, you know you gotta This is
why I always shot out. Break Be Lou. Break be
Lou basically took the fundamentals, like the easy stuff drummer
and piece the president, like beats that you've always heard
all all your you know life on those early records,

(32:12):
like up until the Marley Marl Rick Ruban period, so
like up from up until eight six eight seven. So
I'll say, like the what we call the classic period
of hip hop between eighties seven, kind of ninety squad. Right.
What what Break b Loew would do was basically just
make these compilation records, put seven songs on each record,

(32:33):
and then you buy that record and then you sample.
It made it easy for dweeps like me, so I
didn't have to go spend hours in in uh in
a good will could I could just cheat and get
the Wikipedia version of So then you know, Diamonds part
of what I call the first wave of Renaissance beat makers,

(32:53):
in which it's almost equivalent to So basically there's a
collective producers that are like, yo, we ain't gonna do
the Captain Obvious Ship and sample James Brown and Funky Drummer.
We're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna do the hard Ship
and go on our parents record collection and get this old,
you know, Gaut mcdermock record. And so they made art

(33:16):
out of we were taking the chitlands, like the part
of the carts that you know. So y'all also made
those prices go up to as the years went by.
But that's but the thing is is that I want
to know now, once y'all for me, uh, once they
use some ship. Now I'm the next generation after him.

(33:39):
So when I got to a sound library, like like, yeah,
Monnie Alexander's Love and Half Happenes, that's a great example.
So after the beating Nuts used that, suddenly that Monte
Alexander records seventy bucks. And even before that, when tip

(33:59):
you it on Gangster Bit, yeah, yeah, it was on
the radar. So for those who know what. But what
she she set me up for a good value though,
So what I'm asking is, we're records super expensive if
it hadn't been utilized, used there all. So say like
there's a time before let's say an eighty nine Eugene McDaniels,

(34:19):
where no one has sampled that record yet before Tribe?
Are you still paying a hundred and fifty dollars for work?
Because after Tribe used it, this is a hundred fifty
bucks to a jazz collector. Yes, if I'm a jack collector,
I'm not concerned with hip hop is doing. It's it's uh,
it's still it's still a good body of work. It's
vinyl Um Eugene McDaniels. He only made a handful of albums,

(34:43):
so you know it would still be worth money. It
all depends on the individual. What's the most you spent
on a on a record? Used for giving your top
five most expensive joints? Man, I don't even know quest
uh with the Jinny that was one of them because
I was looking I was looking for that. I don't know.

(35:07):
I just have no clue what the most expensive? I'm like,
how far can it go? Dollars? I mean look on discocs. Yeah,
you know, I think you have to be a break beat.
It could just be something that's act this item. Yeah,
I'll say, uh, well definitely. You know, like quality records

(35:27):
are like seventy I'm trying. Maybe there was one. There's
one ridiculous, Like normally if it's a mint condition then
it's whatever. Like someone tried to get me and you know,
like maybe two hundred for back before they reissued the
Sweet Charles okay and you one of the first ones, right,

(35:47):
you want the first that was a break for all
were talking to you about that? No, not yet, oh man,
like for him to shut the funk up interlude was
his favorite joint on Stunton blunts. So him making UM

(36:08):
dropped down and get on the follow up to Hot
in Here Nelly's joint, Like he was like, that was
me trying to do my diamond g jo. That was
like his his He always showed me love, but he
never told me that story yet. How did you get signed?
Get your deal as an m C, you know, to
make your first record? I was actually doing UM a

(36:28):
demo deal for an artists. They wanted to sign an
artist name with Joe Control so yeah, I was just
just making the beast for him, like a two demo
deal and I ROMed on one of them. So what
were you making your tracks on that that time? What
were you making your tracks on at that time? Um?
I had a CODE nine hundred just the sample everyone

(36:52):
has it, and had an HR sixteen eleases. Wow, but
the eleases it has sixteen pass on it, No. Eight eight,
So I had sixteen triggers on the sample. It's on
the sampler. How many seconds? Plenty? No, I you know
I did my eyebum on that. I may flow jow

(37:12):
on that. I'm um the score punks trip up to
get beat down anything between ninety two and nineties six.
I was still using that. Wait a minute, you gotta
answer this question now, I know, like, well, first I
want to know it's a safe to say that you
were Jazzy Jay's apprentice, like his PROTEGECT no doubt your

(37:34):
first generation zoo that said, please tell me what is
the drum machine that he used on suicide for busy
be that was the SP twelve. No, that's not. I
stopped you on you try and tell me that's the
stock SP twelve, not the twelve hundred, the twelve with
the floppy just like a like a seven inch dog.

(37:58):
I sat there, I watched Jay take funky drama one
two three four link link think think Think I lost
my mom. Yoah, I lost my mom and I just
gave it away. But right, so your first deal, how

(38:19):
you signed, how you were doing a demo deal for okay,
for stunts, blunts or a strong city. Well, yeah, I
gets stop with the strong city for a strong city.
The m C in the group, his name was Rob.
Rob chaining my house and say, yo, I've seen jazz
J and the projects. I said, no, you're lying. He said, nah,

(38:43):
right over there now, so I go down stairs. Sure enough,
Jay had on the first generation death Jam jackets the
Satin Joints or purple, and we met him. You know
this is this is around the time when I'm this
is a little but after jazz J had a song
called on Cold Chilling right with cold rock stuff. Yes, yes,

(39:09):
uh yeah, yeah, he just talked right, so you know
he helped. He helped. He actually helped put death Jam
on the map along with It's yours and um, I
believe he did. I believe he did. Yeah, I need
to beat you know, but anyway, we go over there
and we meet him to come to find out, um,

(39:31):
he's friends. He's friends with a female in the projects,
and he gave us his number and we we went
to see him a few weeks later and just developed
a relationship and then he eventually signed us. Yeah, but
that's how it happened. You know, my man saw him
in the jecks. That was around what year? Oh that
was like, um okay eight definitely. And then from there,

(39:55):
how did from that situation, how did you make it
to you know, Mercury to being you know, doing okay?
So after the Ultimate Force came out, didn't really blow up,
but you know, we made some noise. Reasonally, man, they
used to play that record in North Carolina, Yeah, like
it was. It was a show they used to have

(40:15):
on nor kind of ant was the Black college in
Greensboro where I grew up, called the full Moon Block
Party and they would play I'm Not Playing And I
didn't find out it was, you know you till like
years later. I was like, what the funk? But I
used to love that recommend I was like nine, Yeah,
you know, that's the first records incorporate the blues. You
know what I mean, And I used to cut doubles

(40:37):
of that the beginning Albi king Um. I finally going
through my grandfather's records. He had one just like maybe
like eighty four, so um, my first year of high school.
But I'm at this point, I'm still I'm looking. I'm
actively looking for beats. And I said, oh ship, this

(40:58):
is nice. And then maybe a year later another one.
But I used to cut it. So when we got
through J d J, I said, Yo, we're gonna we're
gonna flip this right here, because you know, nobody really
working with the blues and get you know, it's it's
a it's a funky beat. But that's how I got
signed the Strong City. Um how I got signed to
UM for the stunts blunts I was doing. I was

(41:19):
doing a demo for somebody. I rom doing it. M hmm.
So by the month later they call us down there,
so I'm like, okay, I'm about to get a check
with these motherfucking beats. So I go down there like
all right, yeah, what's sucked? You know that. They're like, yo,
we want to sign you. I was like me, that's
what's up? All right? You know, let's do it. I

(41:40):
wasn't even really looking for the deal. But who who
was the R at the time. Shin, Yeah he was.
He was a big shout over that priority he signed
special aid. Um, all those groups over there, um, Briant
Schin Um. I thought it was a little harsh to

(42:00):
the MC that I was doing the demo for, but
I think they might have just broken up with some
money or something. But um, yeah, that actually deal just
kind of fell in my lap. But Brian ch he
liked the music and he liked what I was rhyming,
and you know what I was lambing, so and you
really didn't have any intentions of right like being an
m C now. It was just something I did. But

(42:20):
on this time, I'm around law from Nest almost every day.
I'm around Grand Pupa Maxwell because he was signed a
Strong City also in the group called the Masses of Ceremonies.
So that's great sexy cracked out. Yeah, so I'm I'm
around these dudes, and you know, it's just running off

(42:43):
for me, even though my thing is DJ and is
still making beats. But I knew how to rhyme and um.
One of the first demos I recorded was Best Kept
Secret and then when they heard that, they said, Okay,
we're gonna do an album on you. How long did
it take for you to make uh that record? How
don't stuff blunts? Uh? About eight months? Yeah? About eight months?

(43:07):
And at that time were they with samples and stuff?
Was it? Was it just you know why why West
Ship just whatever? Or how did y'all handle it? It's
just a collection of records that in terms of clearances,
like clearance samples was there? Well, I didn't care about that.
That was a label's job. You know that that you
know back then you just turned turn it in, give
them the names, you know, the names you want to

(43:29):
give them. But what I want to know is were
you conscious at least to avoid ultimate beats and breaks
or definitely because what the party didn't get out was
you know again, like the reason why you're part of

(43:51):
the way and the renaissance guys is you know there's
Premier yourself bars professor, that's after stuff bluntsli and Tip
after stuff blunt. Right. But I just meant when we're
talking about the what I considered the people that went
outside the circle, what I call the Ivy League circle
sampling where you guys are now acquiring records that aren't

(44:14):
easily available. That's what saying you guys apart. But back then,
was it just a general rule like no, no more
ultimate beats and breaks, no easy James Brown ship like,
I gotta find some ship that no one has and
make some ship out that. I don't know if it
was general, but amongst that core group of diggers, we

(44:36):
we had already progressed. And you know, me living in
the Bronx a lot, like you said, a lot of
the beats that Lou was putting on them records we
already knew about. You know what I mean? So funk
what you heard? I said? People always say, hey, like
the way you make beats, he doesn't beat. That wasn't
a jab at lout. That was just me being honest. No,

(45:00):
but but it pushed, it pushed the envelope further. Correct,
So in your mind, who of the initial renaissance crew,
and I'm talking Pete, I'm talking Premier, Tipping Ali, large,

(45:22):
professor um, like, who did you consider like real nice
with their is? Like I gotta well, like, did anyone
ever question? Well, I gotta start with Prince Paul for
his work on Daylight. So the first album, which really

(45:44):
showed me because at that point it was a lot
of James Brown as you know quest, but that day
Live on eight nine, it opened. It opened the doors
for me. Like you know, there's so much other stuff
out here that I knew about. It really wasn't on
my radar, So I gotta shout out Prince Paul of course,

(46:04):
Trial Request, their first albums, The Jungle Brothers. All these
albums influenced me. Are the members you just named. Obviously
Pete Rock's first album, you know what I mean, and um,
the work that me and Schobiz was doing. So you know,
you just take all of that in and then has

(46:27):
there ever been a moment where and again, like you know,
I'm I'm listening to it, like I don't. I don't
have a deal yet, so anything you guys are doing
are like, oh, man, this manner from heaven. But I
know that there comes a time where like, man, I
had that record, I should have used it first or whatever,
Like has there ever been that moment of like, ah,

(46:50):
they got to it before I did, or yes, it's
been something like that record. I've used joints that people
ran behind me and used bigger than when I did
it New York ship Buster. Yeah, yeah, that's one example.
That's one example. But I consider that and Amage joint,

(47:10):
like if if he told me that's what it was,
just the two of us rub Rock. Yeah. DJ Scratch
said when he when he did that, he had never
heard I went from mine before what he said he
was on the road Dejane from the hit squad Nino
and Stunts Blunts wasn't on his radar. I couldn't call

(47:33):
I couldn't call dude a liar, you know, um Trump
Trump Rock. He used the Alby King joint afternoons. That's affects.
They want affects. I used that for law from Nest first.
I mean I can go on the norm. I forgot
about that one. Yeah. I think, in general, a lot

(47:53):
of a lot of people when they create, Like I
think there are people that are creators and then people
are listeners. Like I'm a listener, so I'll absorb it.
But yeah, often times I'll meet creators that aren't hip too.
But that's in all parts of music, you know. Uh,
you know, I would ask the revolution, like was Prince

(48:16):
sitting around like damn, I gotta be thriller and like
that sort of thing like was he And I think
Lisa told me, like Prince, listen to Thriller, like for
the first time, it's completion, Like I think when they
aren't when the last tour, like the Parade tour in
eight six. But for the most part they had to

(48:37):
put him on this ship. My joint off the record,
my favorite joint all Stars Blunts was check one too.
That was like, that's my favorite joint to just the
feel of it. Yeah, And like I always the thing
always like about you, because you know, I think with producers,
I think there's something about producers that rhyme that y'all
have an understanding of just really use in your voices

(49:00):
as an instrument and like complimenting a beat rather than
just I'm gonna bar you to funk up, you know
what I mean, like you Pete Dealer, resting people like
you know, y'all at the thing. And so I wanted
to ask you about one of my favorite verses of yours,
like every wasn't on your album the way you started
off Runaway Slave, still dig going back on the block

(49:21):
with my name ain't Quinny. What do you remember about
that session or if they didn't making of the album,
because that's like in terms of y'all's crew, like that album.
Those were good times. Yeah, we all we were all
in the studio together. Um I wrote it on the spot,
you know, and um Quincy had that album out back
on the block, you know. So it was a cultural reference,
you know, a pop cultural reference. Um yeah, I mean

(49:46):
ship it's crazy, do dorote a lot of good memories.
You know back when we all we we were just
all forming. We already we already we we had already
known each other for years, we all grew up with
each other. But around that time he was like, yo,
you know we can know all coming to have a
try to form, you know, and make a statement, you know.
And I would definitely say D I t C definitely

(50:09):
pushed the culture forward as far as you know, trying
to dig for music that wasn't touched already, just trying
to stand apart. I will say the first time I
was really aware of your existence like for real. Of
course is and a lot of us it was show

(50:30):
business on the low ing theory. How did that come?
How did that crazy? You know? I went there to
play beats for Tip had shopped just to play. Yeah,
I went you know, I went there. I chopped to
Jimi Hendricks joining he was really feeling it and he
knew I had a deal and poo Bah Pooba was

(50:53):
on the track originally, and the label felt he said
some things he shouldn't have said, and Tips say, yo,
pool you know I really want you on here, but
the label wants you to, you know, change it, okay,
And you know, Pooled was like, I ain't changed. She
couldn't tell him anything, right, you know what I mean?

(51:15):
Not the guards. It's a doctor to Jamal, they like ship.
We want to be on this fucking record. You know,
we love trial. So while I'm near Tippers like, you
know you want to be on the joint, I'm like,
oh yeah, you know what I mean. And um, I
wrote it over a spot. That's a that's a notable.
I mean, even though it's not a debut, but for

(51:36):
a lot of us, we feel like that was like
he seated my album right, So it was like an
Ali open. It's a great set up. It was a
great set You know what, kids, uncle, it's time for
the return of I don't yes, you thought I was
gonna have You thought we're just gonna have him on
this show and and not do around a bit. You

(51:59):
guessed it it, It's been a minute, all right. So
I do this to every beat maker that I respect
and which you know again I'm adhering to the rules. Good,
I'm just I know it's like I feel like there's
like warriors in the already clear to with Jake. He

(52:20):
knows what time it is. We're good, all right. So one,
I'm gonna upgrade the game because Fonte always insist on playing,
even though I'm gonna let you win this too, because
I've up the game. This is what happens when you're
when you're on in Quarantine and COVID, you think of
new ways to do so I'm the bit you can't

(52:41):
guess it? Here? Is that the idea all of you
in all right. So what I'm gonna do is, I'm
going to play a list of Captain Obvious songs of
which I have isolated a specific part to see if
you can identify the sample. I think I think you're
up for this. This one's very easy, and I'm allowed.

(53:06):
I will allow two clues because you know, yeah, I
need it, all right. Sample number one? What is this sample?
And I've de tuned it to throw you off. Let
me know when you need a clue. I don't even

(53:31):
know what de tune it means. So, oh that's uh,
it's a it's I don't want to I know, I
don't want to say it. If you know, I know
what it is, it's a. It's a. It's uh, it's
walking by right, Yeah? What nice? Nice? Nice? Here we

(53:52):
go de tuned number two. Oh, I got that. I
was used one say, if you know what's it? I'm
not right, I'm not right. I was like, it's a
ball involved. Okay, it sounds like B. I don't know
what I thought that song. I don't know what that is. Okay, okay,

(54:16):
let me do it, umka, okay, fresh constructions the Messenger
used on in w ways. Ain't all right that that
was a little advanced. I'm sorry. Number three not from

(54:42):
the piece. I don't know what that is. Oh that's
a that's a M. It's Scarface used it for money
in the Power. I don't I don't know the original
break Yeah, I love serenade, Barry Damn. Maybe I made

(55:02):
this a little too it man, Yeah, yeah, you see,
I gotta throw off the smell first, man. I want
to come out like, all right, here we go. Number
four is that? Um? Uh I hear the end of

(55:28):
that snare. It's a good old time. Yeah, yeah, don't
say nothing. That's the funking del um. Yes, good old music,
good old music music. Yes, you're correct, tones first right
by the Magic Tones. All right, Yes, you're right. I

(55:49):
just found that. I was like both on westbounds, right,
and that's even better. Yes, that is even better. And
I gotta talk to you about your forty five game.
All right. This is number five? That Jak Brown. No,

(56:17):
um oh that's a Bill Withers. Uh oh no, it's
a Harlem close. Yeah, use me, I don't all right,
let me not de tune it through. You can everybody

(56:44):
get a fair chance something, all right, you know, I
mean you know, of course. I just okay, I think
you could. Number six. I don't know this, um that

(57:17):
it's not um Steve, you don't know this. Oh it's jazz, okay,
it's not. I have no idea. Maybe step crazy Eddie Kendricks. Yeah,

(57:41):
the little snippets like, yeah, that's why he won't he
won't play two seconds. Well I'm only allowed to play
two seconds, So that's that's like half of a second.
I alright, see now I feel bad for this next
one because it's only the reverb, but all right, I
won't tune this one. Don't see every song I hear

(58:07):
is I think it's Brenda Russell. Don Oh that ain't no.
I have no idea. This is I don't know differing. Really,

(58:31):
I don't know that one's the first one to do that.
That shout out to Slim Robbie, right, so the Kings.
I would say that when Miles Davis his ex wife
Betty Davis, she signed an Island Records in seventy seven

(58:51):
to make a fourth record that was supposed to make
care Of Star Of because she's so headstrong and producing
and right in her own joints, he dropped her and
then um uh Chris Black World and then um, you know,
she just faded into obscurity. But basically, um, Slim Robbie
had brought Grace to his attention and instead he signed

(59:15):
Grace Jones to Island Records and was supposed to Betty
Davis's record. I mean not, I don't know for I mean,
Chris definitely had visions on what he wanted her to do,
but like part of her story was like I write
and I control. She got the Commodore as the record,
like I didn't realize, Like it was her songs for
the Commodos that got them to deal with Motown. They

(59:36):
offered her deal and she's like, own my publishing and
they're like, nope. She wrote that Harlem song that I
used for the Chambers Brothers, and like she wrote a
whole bunch of songs. But then they'd be like, you know,
you want to deal and she's like, if only I
own my music. So because she was so headstrong on
the joint, they just kind of got black. Paul, all right,
these are my last two and I won't detune it.

(59:59):
Numbers teams freaking me out. There's two events. Let's go,
let's let's see. Oh that's that's that's you Jim McDaniel's
Freedom and Death Dance. All right, this is one that
all of you should know. And I am de tuning

(01:00:19):
because I feel like it's Captain obviously Slidestone close, but
now I'm out the airport. Oh um? Is that once? This? Yeah? Yeah,

(01:00:52):
I can tell in your eyes like that you kind
of knew where it was. All Right, I will go
home and retool my game. Dammit. No, it was funny.
Anybody won this outside of Fonte, any of our guests.
Fronte always beat Tomorrow. Just I think Jess Blades was
the closest and Pete. Pete was pretty good. He wasn't well.
I was unfair to Pete. I was doing like high

(01:01:13):
hats with people before he knew that was crazy. I
was gonna ask you, um about your second album because
that was the one for me, Like, I mean that
was like my abbit was you know, I was I
think like sixth Teams that came out and by of
all your singles, man, the hiatus bro like talk about

(01:01:35):
putting out that album at the time. This is not
the seven So this is like the head this is
like bad Boy, you know, like all the radio was
So how did you figure out kind of your lane
in the midst of all that. Well, the plan wasn't
just you know, still still do Diamond D. But um,

(01:01:56):
I just you know, to have have a little more
radio accessible joints compens um starts blusting hip hop. Um
so uh, I did the drink with uh with Veronica
Cream and Sunshine. She was signing Mercury Records at the time. Um,
but yeah, good memories the hiatus. A lot of people
thought that that that I sample Swahili Land for that, bro,

(01:02:21):
It's not that. You know, um, hey, me and Diller,
we both we both influenced each other. You know. Dealer
went on Dila has going on a record to say, um,
I was one of its influences. You know, the same
with Pete, the same with Premier. You know, we all
influenced each other. But that was not Swaheli Land. And
you know those who know where the sample came from, yeah, no, um,

(01:02:46):
but yeah, and you know the album. What I learned
was in the process of recording that album was um,
you know, we all, we all want to be signed
directly to a major label. But in heinz s I
should have stayed with the label that signed me, which
was Chemmimistry. I should have stayed with them because they

(01:03:07):
were the cheerleaders and when I was on Mercury, I
was just another artist. They were excited about me, but
they weren't as excited as the people that Chemistry Records
were Chemistry, they were your translators for Mercury, right. Well,
I was signing Chemistry first. You know, Brian Chinn was
over there, so he was the one fighting for me.
Once I'm with the Mercury. You know, um Hansen is

(01:03:30):
over there. I think they had I think the only
they had it was scratched over there at that time. Yeah,
you know what I mean. Really we remember I told

(01:03:51):
you that we got the contract and Mercury. So yeah,
Brian and Kenyada we signed. We even went to the
Jingle Jangle, right, we went to the legal Jangle video
shoot that Friday. They took us out to dinner and
we're like, Yo, we're gonna be down with black seat

(01:04:11):
and everything. And this is the first time I'm hearing
Jingle Jangle and that the way the piano just dropped
down the ship. He's like, yo, we made it. We
made it, and we get to we get the contract.
And because they misspelled me and took and Malik's names.
Uh that clerical era, right, but crucial era, because I

(01:04:31):
guess when three or more people in the party are misspelled,
they have to give you a new contract. Uh. Kenyada's
assistant forgot to FedEx Us Thursday to Friday the new contracts.
So they were like, all right, look we'll sit it
Saturday delivery. You'll get it Monday, you'll be cool. And
they gave Wendy Goldstein enough time to land a plane

(01:04:51):
and we horse and Ponies show we do think we're
gonna sign to the ship. So we just asked for
the world and she gave it to us and we
were like, okay, we're going and literally that's what happened.
I got that that might have been the better move
anyway in hunts like I'm still here. I want to

(01:05:12):
ask you two specific records to your favorite and your
kind of love for me? Um farrell much uh seine
uh right right right, people don't people don't mention that record.
They mentioned the Light More Oh well yeah, I mean
well Light but yeah, like Shine, that was the one.
Yeah Yo, Monts like, yo, you got you got something

(01:05:35):
for me? D I was like yeah, So you know,
I sent them like two joints and I was one
of them. I didn't really make it necessarily with him
in mind, but I knew something like that that's bouncy,
the way the baseline bounces off the keys and his xylophones,
that he might like it, you know, And um, that's
that's one of my favorite joints that they ever produced.
No that I love that record, that one, and also

(01:05:58):
as well, um, oh my god, the score, but it's
a reason one. It's magic Evan uh right, it sounds
like Nautilust, but it's not. Yes, ye talk about that
over man. Was that just you just sent it to him?
Like how did that come up? Come together? Yeah? I

(01:06:18):
just you know, I just sent them to joint and
you know the step brothers. That was Alchemists and um
Evidence and they were like yo, we we we we
want we want to touch this one up and um.
Once once they laid the vocals, I added the you know,
the man, what's the name of that group? It's Magic

(01:06:43):
right right right, Well, what's the name of that what's
the name of the group? But I knew, but that's
when it came together, dude, Yeah, that's crazy. We gotta
talk to Score though, I mean we got like, I gotta,
I gotta kind of mentioned something. Even though there was

(01:07:06):
like a little friend there was a little occasional friendly
jabbing between the two groups groups the roots of the fujis.
But you know, it's weird because in this age, in
this age of misinformation, you know, you hear something and
you think and you act on things without verifying first,

(01:07:27):
like mad people getting our ears like, yo, man I
heard the Fuji says, but everybody was in our ears
the day that the score came out. And at the
very beginning, White Cliff says, you rocket lie, but you
ain't saying nothing. Dodd and Yo that Like if I
could just go back and tell twenty four year old

(01:07:48):
Emir and Tuik like, dog, verify some ship first before
you bust a shot out. But in our minds, like
we were always here, we were already hearing ship. I
mean again, we personally we no, no, we toured together,
we were friends, but it was definitely like, oh, they
they're going to blow up for real, for real. And

(01:08:09):
when we heard that, we're like, yo, you think that.
We had like conversations like, yo, are they talking about us?
You rocket live, but you ain't saying nothing. Whatever. Oh
that's that's from one of the earlier records. I know,
So shout out to Salim Remy for putting me on heat.
But it was after the fact, and so we might

(01:08:29):
have made a song called what they Do, So that's
I never knew. And ironically, they is the anniversary of
Philadelph Halflin to remind me, Yeah, dude, Yeah, but talk
about where. When has have you ever played a beat
for an artist that they fronted on that you had

(01:08:51):
to give another artist everything? Yeah? Hell yeah, like who
should have gotten what? I'm not gonna name name, but yeah, no, no, no,
but it happens. You know, somebody passed on something to somebody.
You know. It's just like it's just like women, right,
was one man's trash the next man's treasure? Right? I
mean definitely that too, downtown dud. Before we wrap, I

(01:09:23):
got to talk dude for me. Let's do it for me. Man.
First of all, can you on on streaming? I can't
find grown Man talk nowhere? Uh yeah, it's not on there,
and that to me, I got to put it on there.
You must yeah yeah yeah. And I feel always like
fifty ways no time will heal you like that? No? No, no, no,

(01:09:46):
just the whole joint, like us right right right right
hit like just that whole joint because it came to
mixtape but it was so unexpected and I wasn't expecting it.
And but for you, why do you because even with
the review, like you're still after a while, like after
album number five and number six, most cats might just

(01:10:06):
hone it in and be like, all right, you'll give
me seven for a quickie record here whatever. But when
I still hear your stuff, it's like you still care, right,
and but for you, like what keeps you motivated? Like
in your mind? Are you like, yo, I'm gonna sux
somebody up with this flied like even the way you
did the joint with on review with the Flying High commodorees, right,

(01:10:30):
that killed me, man, because I didn't even think about
that ship, but like how long have you had that
in your pocket? Flying High? Yes? Wow, it's always been
back here. I just never really got to it. And
then when I when I when I approached pause, he said, yo,
send me a joint. I said, you know what, I'm
gonna flip that. I'm gonna flip something that I can

(01:10:52):
hear dayline soul on. And that's definitely I can hear
daylight on. And you know, as soon as he heard it,
he sent me the first back, maybe like forty eight later.
Just like once a year somebody will loop something that's
just like it's not a loop, it's just different parts.
But that's just like, why not think about that ship? Oh? Man?

(01:11:13):
I wouldn't I gotta ask you. Ed O G busted
alcoholics the next level. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, basically base
what I forgot about that, But somebody brought that up
to my attention not too long ago, I guess because
ed o G's version didn't really do what it's supposed
to do. Um. I changed the drums up, right, I

(01:11:37):
changed the drums up and the licks picked it up
from there. You know, I'm I'm gonna tell you something
else that that y'all might not know. Here's a song.
There's a song Bydex called Petty People. Okay, I know
that song. It's on a Wild Cowboys album. I got
it pulled up real quick play, quick second. I made

(01:11:59):
two beats when It's day that was one of them,
and the score was the other. Wow. Yes, okay, and
I cut the same drums. And this is for my
people in the rule right Oh yeah that is. But

(01:12:22):
also speaking of veto G man, that's the streets of
the ghetto geor man. Oh that was crazy. But this
is this is what I want to ask you, because
that specifically, how are you, like, what is your micro
chopping game into because there will be some joints that

(01:12:45):
will fluctuate. Uh, speed wise, And as far as looping,
I happen to know that the source of that sample
is one of them things where I can't loop bit
perfect and my chopping game wasn't good enough for that.
You know. It wasn't like we had ableton to just
stretch it you on or whatever. But like, how aggressive

(01:13:08):
are you to force something to work? Because that's definitely
one of them joints because it wasn't the looping part.
This is the fact when you gotta add drums and
everything on top of it, then you realize that my
ship might be off or whatever, and that's that particular
loop on the streets of the ghetto. That and I'll
play a little bit right right even then I hear

(01:13:35):
a little gap there where. But for you, like, how
determined are you to make some ship work? Like as
far as you're chopping game, and and I mean if
I can loop, if I can loop it, well, if
I can create a loop, I'll be able to put
the drums under it. You know. Um, that's that's the

(01:13:56):
easy part. It sounds easy to just the regular the
ear but knowing the frustration of there's some records in
which you might find that magic bar for bar loop,
and then they might fluctuate or whatever, and unless you're
good at micro chopping, you might be asked out that
that loop right there, that was just a two bar loop,

(01:14:19):
and the drummer was pretty on point for that. But
they are the awesome they're awesome joints where the drums
a little off and you have to really like go
in between, you know, and do what you do. Yeah,
you came to Atlanta. You know, there's a slew of
New Yorkers that have migrated down south, a lot of
them in North Carolina and whatnot? What is it like?

(01:14:43):
What is it about this city that attracted you to
come here? And I didn't come here for the music.
I came here because, you know, I looked at what
three hundred thousands would get you in New York, and
I looked at with three hundred thousand will get you
down here. I didn't come down here everybody's first motivation

(01:15:06):
for I didn't come down here for the music. I
was already coming down here doing a lot of work
with Dallas, Austin Joy, Shades of Lingo, Illegal Me and
Eric Sermon, so I would know I was already down here.
But um, the house crumb snatches, right, crumb snatches. Um,
I had had a nice house and I'm not far

(01:15:28):
from Livingston, New Jersey, nice spot. My soul lad came
down here right, No, and just just um what she was,
what you were able to get for your money back then,
is what really led me to come down here. How
long have you been down here? Um? Since two thousand nine.
She's been down for a minute. So do you feel

(01:15:50):
like a stranger in a strange land? Based on know
what you do for a living? And well, you know what?
All right? They don't you know, boom back did not
thrive down here? There was a boom but is there
so when you do your forty five sets and all
that stuff, I don't really I don't really do him here.
I travel and do him, you know. Um I have

(01:16:10):
done forty five sets here obviously, but just as far
as being an artist, no, you know, I'm still basically,
you know, a boom bap artist for lack of better words. Um,
so you know, if you're a boom bap artist, you
know you live on serious XM. You gotta just be
comfortable with that, you know what I mean? You know,

(01:16:31):
it's just it's just real talk. And it doesn't matter
if you're living in Atlanta or any other southern city
or West coast platform. Right, it's just the music that
I do. Is it hard to not get influenced by
the culture. Like we've spoken to DJ Drama, who was like, Yo,
I'm straight backpack moved down here. It's like, okay, well,
I gotta just yeah, well yeah, he did what he

(01:16:52):
had to do, and you see where he's at now,
shouts out to Drama. Um but yeah, you know, hey,
well you know Drama when he came down there, he
was a DJ. I'm gonna produce it, so it's a
little different. Um, but um, definitely, you know, it rubs off,
it rubs off on you. You realize that mm hmm.

(01:17:16):
Cad sary to what people believe. There are people down
here who are who can't spit right, you know, Um,
whether you know it's trapped or drill or boom back whatever,
you know, just you know, stereotypes are just that. Um.
But you know, it's a good balance for me to
be down here because I know I'm up in New

(01:17:36):
York almost every month anyway, I know for the past
ten years, brother man, Yo, thank you, we we finally
made this Joant happened, and you know, I'm just I'm
happy we finally got to come and give your flowers
a nerd out on on on your history and your catalog. Man,
I appreciate diamond deal ladies and gentlemen. Question of Supreme Alright,

(01:18:01):
so I gonna be half of Sugar Steve like yeah,
Fontagelo and unpaid Bill. This is quest Love and see
I Mortal Diamond d We'll see you on the next
go around with the Quest Love of Supreme piece m
quest Love Supreme is a production of I Heart Radio.

(01:18:25):
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