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November 1, 2023 46 mins

Hannibal Buress and Questlove Supreme get together in Hollywood for a two-part episode that's honest, hilarious, and historic. In Part 1, Hannibal recalls his early days of comedy, his passion for rapping, and his formative years in Chicago.

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

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Yeah, oh oh man. I think at one point in
twenty twenty, I just went through a bunch of episodes
and only listened to roll calls. I'm likes. So let
me see how he did. Okay, let me see they're good.
Bring there, you know, bring everybody together at at the beginning.

Speaker 1 (00:27):
Not yet, not yet yet, not yet yeah yet, okay,
now yet.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
Supremo, Sun Supremo, Roll, Supreamo, Supremo, rout.

Speaker 4 (00:52):
Will Supremo Annibal Bee.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
Yeah, what's love Supreme? Yeah with a nice Kienni.

Speaker 5 (01:07):
Yeah, what's up? My name is Fante, Yeah, and I'm
feeling free. Yeah, rap for fourteen minutes. Yeah, kept about three.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
Supremo, Rome, Suprema Supremo. My name is Sugar. Yeah and
on we go.

Speaker 4 (01:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:38):
I'm from New York. Yeah, where they filmed the Cosmic Show. Sure,
hey Bill, Yeah, but I think it's clear. Yeah, I'm
gonna ditch this life for a rap career.

Speaker 6 (01:57):
Whoa Supremo roll call Supremo Supremo roll It's lucky.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
Yeah that's Hannimal Birds Yeah, right in front of him. Yeah,
got me Storores.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
Supreme Supremo Supremo roll.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
My name is Hannibal. Yeah, don't call me lecta when
I make music, you call me as.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
Supremo, Supremo roll.

Speaker 7 (02:36):
Supria.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
You didn't know this, motherfucker. Yeah, Harmonica, so oh my god, Yo,

(03:03):
that's the first of the gate.

Speaker 8 (03:05):
That's the first between Q tips, head Libs, Charlie Wilson.

Speaker 3 (03:10):
This this might have.

Speaker 1 (03:14):
Happened to be in his pocket, you know, travels home.

Speaker 8 (03:17):
God you ship. There is another episode? What it's another
episode of Question of Supreme Team Supreme? Hello, we are
we are in Los Angeles having Uh that's not when
I say Los Angeles is Oh.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
Yeah, now that's the end of living single.

Speaker 6 (03:41):
Oh oh, you're talking about the production. You are such
a deep dive. Anyway, he's talking about after the.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
Production. Anyway, I will implement uh the sound anymore claps
or whatever. Anyway, Supremes. How's life going out here? Good man?
We were trying to make this one happened for a
long time.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
Oh yeah, this.

Speaker 8 (04:08):
Is his first episode and my mind, Hannibal was like
a repeat on the books before.

Speaker 6 (04:14):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
Well yeah, I just never wanted to do the Zone
one and yes, and then we were supposed to.

Speaker 6 (04:21):
Picnic and stuff, but this is it happens when it's
supposed to.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
Okay, that's what's up.

Speaker 8 (04:25):
Well, you know, it's kind of weird because I really,
unlike our other guests, I truly, truly, truly know our
guest today. Of course, I guess I first met you
walking in the hallways of thirty Rock. Yeah, and I
believe I saw your first ever late night stand up.

Speaker 2 (04:42):
You're talking about the Yes, I had done a couple
before then, but that was the one of the most
impactful ones because it led to me getting Saturday Y
Live from there.

Speaker 8 (04:53):
Yeah, I was gonna say that was you know, I
know many of stars born movements when it comes to
the music acts on the show that were like, you know,
on Grande's first time or whatever, like people that are
going to be like impactful. But I definitely remember in
the comedy world, if you make Higgins excited, which Higgins
runs SNL like, that's the first time I heard him

(05:16):
like give feedback on a comedian. So I was like, oh, wow,
that's important. But you know, I will say that that's
how I first met you. But of course you was
listening out there. You're familiar with our guests of course,
as be it on the Eric Andre Show, or or
on broad City or any of the Spider Man franchise movies.

Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yes, I love it.

Speaker 8 (05:42):
Is unhealthy the amount of times I've committed to watching tag, Like,
if it's on, you watch it anyway. Yeah, that's for
some reason. I want to ask you about that because
my fear is running well, especially I want to know
what the audition was like. But not to mention you know,
of all the pivots that we talked about on the show,

(06:04):
he's had the most interesting pivot as an MC lord knows.
I did not see that coming in the beginning, and
first I thought you were trying to troll this, but
then I realized, like, you are dead serious about this
new craft of m seeing which I wasn't familiar with before,
and we're going to get into that. Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome Hannibal Birds to.

Speaker 1 (06:26):
Man rapping because I'm rapping. I love it.

Speaker 2 (06:32):
Man, excited to be here with y'all.

Speaker 6 (06:34):
Man.

Speaker 8 (06:34):
Yeah, I was about to say this is this is
a new glowing Hannibal that I see, and I want
to figure out the secrets, like I guess, I want
to start even before your life. I want to know
what did you do in the pandemic that made you
almost this new enlightened Hannibal two point zero.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
It was just I think it was what I wasn't
able to do because stuff being shut down. So stand
up was shut down outside of the terrible drive intur
that I did, and so acting was was weird. During
the time when projects did start up. You had to
get COVID tested in multiple times. Oh you yeah, we

(07:17):
were about to film, but you staying in this hotel
and and all of this, And so I had to
decide do I want to do that to go not
be myself?

Speaker 4 (07:27):
Do I?

Speaker 2 (07:28):
And so a lot of times the answer was no.
But the studio process and that energy you could still
get that no matter what was going on. So I
just kind of enjoyed recording a lot and had a
lot of fun just being in the in the studio,
Like it would be like three.

Speaker 1 (07:44):
In the morning, Hey man, I did this check this out? Yeah?

Speaker 8 (07:48):
That's what I want to know, Like, were you and
was I relate to train Like were people aware of
this other talent of yours or was it just like
something in the pandemic where you're just like all right,
rhymed a little bit but let me.

Speaker 2 (08:02):
Yeah, it was just where I was able to do
it and focus on it and having a lot of
having a lot of fun and then also just send
it to people because people were bored and available. So
I remember when I did and when I recorded the
first version of Kept about three, it was really fourteen
minutes long, and I was I was so hyped about
a couple of moments of it, and I sent it

(08:23):
to so many people. So I wouldn't do now, I
wouldn't send a rough like that, but at the moment,
I was really really proud of it, and uh, the
the world. Yeah, And so I've been dabbling. I started
out actually I did music before I ever did any
stand up comedy. I recorded some songs with my homie Dave,

(08:44):
uh video Dave. No no homie Dave that I grew
up on my on my block in Chicago. We recorded
some some songs, probably in two thousand and one or so.
I started comedy in two thousand and two, and then
I was always adjacent to music. I even battle rap
in college just to get stage time because battle rappers
about getting reaction from the from the crowd and everything,

(09:07):
and uh, yeah, it was doing you know, hosting hip
hop events and you know a lot of my early
stuff references uh references music. So it was I was
always around it, but just you know, started doing stand up.
Less friction in stand up with that because you just
show up and do stand up too, you know what
I mean. You ain't gotta go to the studio and

(09:28):
all this is. You go to open mic, you sign up, boom,
you're doing stand up.

Speaker 1 (09:32):
What's more challenging for you?

Speaker 2 (09:34):
Stand up is more is more challenging. Yeah, stand up
is is a little more. Is more challenging, but easier
to execute because you just show But so yeah, stand
up as a performance is more more challenging. And then
creative music is really fun because you don't have to

(09:54):
do it in front of the crowd. There you can
kind of create to your taste and tweak and and
and and make it in this bubble. But then performing
stand up is tough. For performing music with the band,
I really enjoy it because you can kind of take
breaks and be a fan of music while you while
you performing music. So you know what I mean, you

(10:16):
let the solo go off and you can just kind
of vibe like and sometimes when I'm up there with
the band and I'm like, you hear something like damn
what what? Like that's who rocking with me right now?
What do you just do? Like?

Speaker 1 (10:28):
Whoa?

Speaker 2 (10:29):
And so those moments is really cool because you don't
have to be on every every single second and uh,
just you know, figuring it out man and figuring out
the just getting the show better. I think you can
make jumps in the music performance. As far as making
your show better, you can. You can make big jumps

(10:50):
a short short amount of time. I feel like as
a comedian you can make jump but they take a while.
But as far as music, you can kind of you
can do your show and then you go watch a
few folks that's really doing that shit. You're like, Okay,
we need to rehearse more.

Speaker 1 (11:09):
We got our visuals right.

Speaker 2 (11:10):
We need to bring our own sound guy. We need
to bring our own monitor guy. We need to get
the visuals on point. We need to all wear the
same ship. We need to do to that. I need
to work with a movement coach.

Speaker 8 (11:18):
I need to you're more advanced than me, because I'll
be honest with you. After enrolling in Camp Cool Jay
for seven weeks, I've realized that we have yet to
even scratch the surface of what our potential is because
LLL is just such a forceful being on stage. It

(11:42):
was almost like the equivalent of someone waking us up
from a crimea. I realized, like I've never like, you know,
you see rock drummers doing like smells like teen spirit
like that, Like I've never done that in my f
Like I craft roots music so I could just chill,
eat a peanut butter sandwich and all that, and suddenly
like I became like this drummer. Yeah, and I didn't

(12:04):
realize like how much he attacks the stage, and it's weird,
like you know, maybe the first week and a half,
like we got jokes and that stuff, but then it
becomes like osmosis where suddenly like what we were once mocking,
now we're doing. And so yeah, I mean the fact
that you have the wherewithal because for me, it was

(12:27):
just like getting through a show without getting booed was
my goal, which is why like every Root show that
like we've never I.

Speaker 1 (12:36):
Don't have an ending for any Root song whatsoever.

Speaker 8 (12:39):
Like literally I attached songs and just because I never
wanted to end the song here, like everybody, right, melon man,
you know, so I mean the fact that you at
least start watching the playback or not watching the playback,
like looking at the highlight reel to see how it

(13:00):
can prove, like that's how the Great Prince recorded every show,
and then we'll make the revolutions sit in his room
watch the show that night, like that.

Speaker 1 (13:07):
Three hours show they just did, be like all right,
see here you almost fell off stage. That's fifty bucks.
And you know so I think that's awesome.

Speaker 4 (13:15):
Man.

Speaker 6 (13:16):
You just started combining the two right, because you weren't
always doing them together.

Speaker 2 (13:20):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (13:20):
I just started a subscriber on your page asking us.

Speaker 2 (13:24):
Yeah, last year I was in my stubborn music mode
where I was I'm only doing music, and I'm only
doing people will coming to me for with comedy gigs
are like past. Yeah, and now it's just like, okay,
I gotta be more practical about this, and you know,
I can't. I can't just quit like that. And it's
been fun to just really give that full show like

(13:45):
that while I'm doing the comedy set and then doing
the doing the music after.

Speaker 8 (13:52):
How do you sort of present that to promoters that
want Hannibal to come to this particular venue and then
You're like, yeah, I.

Speaker 2 (14:02):
Think it's just if I'm doing I'm giving them what
they know. That's the thing is that they hannibal sales
tickets and it's I'm also doing this, so it's not
people still getting the hour fifteen hour thirty of stand
up and then I'm doing our music afterwards. So it's
a full it's a full show. It's the first time

(14:23):
where I'm after I'm really just really tired. Like man,
I really did it. Before doing stand up, I wouldn't
be maybe if you did two or three, I'll be like,
oh man, but now it's I really feel feel spent
after the show. So it's been it's been dope. Man.

Speaker 6 (14:40):
It's not a lot of people. I was trying to
think outside of you, but in my lifetime, I'm like you,
Jamie Fox. I remember when Jamie Fox did a whole
tour like.

Speaker 8 (14:47):
This, Edward Reagan Murphy the last last because I don't
know if you guys remember there was when that What's
Up with You album that the Motown record Loves all
Right record right. He did some spot dates like at stadiums,

(15:08):
like his very last run of doing like stand up comedy.
But yeah, he would open his own shows and like
Larry's Yeah, like even to this day, like I've gotten
calls to like, you know, come drum on this thing,
Like he'll employ the best musicians to come.

Speaker 1 (15:28):
I mean he did that song with snoop line that
was all.

Speaker 2 (15:30):
Right, and that was all right, that was all right.

Speaker 6 (15:32):
That was really kind of suspisingly right, suspisingly despisingly.

Speaker 1 (15:37):
Yes, no, it goes right there in the blow titshes.

Speaker 8 (15:42):
But yeah, like Eddie would do a half hour with
Larry Graham as his band leader, and then he would
do some stand.

Speaker 2 (15:52):
Up Gambino his twenty eleven tour that I Am Donald,
he opened with stand up in it and music.

Speaker 8 (16:01):
Believe it or not, Like I'm actually glad you're doing this.
Because the thing was when Dante y seen thank You,
I was I was about to say yeah, but I
didn't even know you was a why word like wait wait,
wait wait you said when y'all seen first came on
the scene as most deaf, that was the first time

(16:23):
that I saw an MC really have communication skills to
that of a stand up comedian.

Speaker 1 (16:32):
Like he was literally like working in this crowd.

Speaker 8 (16:34):
I mean he was doing crowd work and like to
watch him in from ninety six till about ninety eight
was like just a thing to behold, and then he
kind of morphed and sort of lost the you know,
and I don't notice the thing that rappers go through
where it's like I gotta lose this happy, go lucky

(16:55):
perception of me, and then I gotta be serious serious,
and then then I'm angry, then I'm hardcore, and then
I don't change my name or whatever.

Speaker 1 (17:02):
So I mean, it happens.

Speaker 8 (17:04):
But even with Tarik, like Tarik Got really made a
mark in at performing arts for his ability to play
the dozens in freestyle.

Speaker 1 (17:16):
So you know, as long as there's.

Speaker 8 (17:18):
Somebody choose to talk about or a hole in their
you know, jeans or whatever, that enabled me to be
cool because I was this guy, yeah, while he was
just freestyle and talk about people's like you know. So
I think that actually those two things go hand in
hand with each other. Are you from Chicago? Yeah, okay,

(17:40):
Can you explain something to me. Why is Chicago the
epicenter of American comedy.

Speaker 1 (17:50):
For such a place that is also.

Speaker 8 (17:55):
Perceived as one of the most dangerous cities in which
I don't even know if that's t were not either.

Speaker 2 (18:00):
Degregated as fuck. Why is Chicago It's I don't know, man,
the city itself is the organization of the City of Chicago.
In my experience, it's just a petty place that's always
taken from you, so it gives you an edge earlier

(18:21):
take it from you in what way. It's just you know,
through ticketing, through all these different taxes. And I'm still
scarred because they took my car because I had parking
tickets and then they booted it, and then they just
took it, and then it was just and then I
still owed the parking tickets, but they had sold the car.
But it's just the cars. They sold the car, they

(18:44):
disappeared my car, man, and so I still had to
pay it to get my license right. So it's just,
you know, there is every a lot of aspects every
might be I think what happened to me?

Speaker 6 (19:03):
Yeah, if you just like build up a lot of tickets, yeah.

Speaker 2 (19:06):
But I feel like you're just going how you go.
There's the logic owner, and you know I used that
to go get the money right, right right, So now
you make it real tough for everybody. Now I gotta
have a hole. Now I gotta go. I gotta get
l Four years later, they're gonna fix all this.

Speaker 1 (19:28):
First of all, where did you grow up in Chicago?

Speaker 2 (19:30):
The West side of Chicago, North Boston, finally not the
South A lot of south Side.

Speaker 8 (19:34):
Yeah, so I feel like Chicago, and some of these
Chicago luminars have been on the show might be slightly exactly.
I'm not looking at you, Sally Richards. I definitely believe
you from the South side of Chicago.

Speaker 1 (19:48):
You show me that ship, you cleared that up right.

Speaker 8 (19:52):
However, similar to Detroit, like sometimes you know, every Detroit
claims the east Side and then a friend of mine, like,
everyone's going to clean the east side because that's where
like the realness is from, but no one wants to
emit that they're from the west side of you know,
where Barry Gordy lives, Like a nice part of Detroit.
Is Chicago, like is the south side supposedly like across

(20:14):
the tracks where you're not supposed to go.

Speaker 2 (20:16):
Or the south Side is a is a big place.
So there's there's hood neighborhoods in on the south Side,
and then there's also Bronzeville and Hyde Park, which is
where Obama's house is that's kind of the the Harlem

(20:37):
of Chicago, where you know, you got nice houses and stuff.
So the South Side is just is a it's pretty
much a city in itself with other areas. And you
got white neighborhoods on the south side, you got Latino neighborhoods,
you got you know, so it has. Yeah, it's it's
some tough spots on the South Side, and there's some
some nice ones too, but they kind of bore, you know,

(20:58):
and that can change into black. You're like, whoa, it's
nice over here. Whoa, Okay, I'm not safe.

Speaker 8 (21:05):
In the beginning, like I uh well, you know, uh
big George right, uh George record the record, George's music,
George Music. Oom right, George Daniels, George, Okay, say big
George George Daniels. Like when in the beginning when you
would have to like do in store appearances and whatnot,

(21:26):
and he would take us around to these various record spots,
like literally he'll be like, oh, yeah, there's a Oprah's
condos over there, and then literally we'll be like cabried
and green like in mere seconds, like yeah, the projects
and the condominiums are were in proximity.

Speaker 1 (21:43):
Yeah, three ninety six.

Speaker 2 (21:44):
Yeah, Cobrina Green was really close, is really close, was
really close to downtown in a few minutes, super close.

Speaker 1 (21:50):
Yeah, So we're like, what is the west Side like
for you?

Speaker 2 (21:54):
My area on the west side is North Avenue on Austin,
so it borders Oak Park, which is a suburb, but
it's a a suburb that's there's suburbs. That's outer suburbs
where you gotta get on the highway and drive twenty
thirty minutes, and then there's suburbs whereas it's like this
side of the street is Chicago, this side of the

(22:14):
street is Oak Park. So my area had Chicago, but
it also had part suburban field because it was adjacent
to that. So that's where I was at. So North
Avenue that was like middle class family. Yeah, but it
still had its It had still had bullshit going on occasionally,
but it wasn't You didn't feel unsafe all the time.
It's just like watch yourself fold. My dad worked at

(22:39):
the railroad at Union Pacific Railroad, and then my mom
worked at mental hospital for a while and then worked
at my old school, Saint Paul Lutheran School as a
as a teacher's assistant.

Speaker 1 (22:50):
Oh god, so you had to go to school while
your mom was there?

Speaker 2 (22:53):
She wasn't she worked there after I left.

Speaker 1 (22:55):
Actually I left that school because that's that's too much.

Speaker 2 (22:58):
Yeah, it would have been, it would have been not
way too much.

Speaker 8 (23:01):
Pressure, uh during that time period, like were you Chicago
has so many luminaries from the past, president future, Like
were you in proximity of anyone that was Chicago based
and socially? Socially, Hey, in my high school, there's common word, you.

Speaker 2 (23:18):
Know in my sh No, well, fifth and sixth grade,
we played against we played basketball against this kid. It
was a kid Amari Sawyer that ended up going to
the pall and he he cooked us man. He cooked
the hell out of us man. You know, because it's

(23:40):
fifty sixth grade basketball. There's no there's no scouting report.
You just find out on the court. There's no like, yeah,
we gotta watch make sure that if you just get
out there and he's like, what was that?

Speaker 1 (23:53):
And he starts hearing for his science what that?

Speaker 2 (23:55):
What was that? And it was a play. It was
a play where the ball was going out of bounds
off of him. He saved the ball, jumped mid air,
threw it off of me.

Speaker 1 (24:08):
Out of bound.

Speaker 2 (24:11):
But that was not a fifth and sixth grade play.
I just confused. I remember, give him a tech right now,
get him out of here. He's a grown man. Let
us kids enjoy ourselves. Get him about here. So that
was an early encounter with greatness in fifth and sixth grade. Well,
he's seeing somebody really different from us.

Speaker 8 (24:33):
So in general, did you what were your aspirations as
a kid, Like it's hard to figure out where Comedy
interested in his life. If you had another talent or
if you had another dream for being an electrician or.

Speaker 2 (24:48):
Yeah, I didn't have any specific goals. Man. I was
a smart kid, you know, tested well, and so I
think even going into college, I played you know, I
played football in high school. I was okay, I was
on the debate team. I enjoyed that.

Speaker 1 (25:06):
Your only child or.

Speaker 2 (25:09):
Not the only child, and I'm the youngest with a
with a decent gap, So maybe I think, yeah, next
sibling is ten years older.

Speaker 1 (25:17):
Is anyone sinking the temptations right now?

Speaker 2 (25:24):
I just think it was spoiling.

Speaker 1 (25:25):
Okay, So you're the baby.

Speaker 8 (25:27):
And your siblings are decades older than you, so it
was kind of like you were the only kids.

Speaker 2 (25:32):
Yeah, and I mean my I guess my sister kind
of took on more of a motherly role before she
went to college and everything, you know.

Speaker 4 (25:41):
Like.

Speaker 1 (25:43):
Anyway exactly, I love you doing getting the time machine.

Speaker 2 (25:51):
Yeah, but going to college, I think I just went
just because that was what you were supposed to do.
It wasn't. It wasn't with a real vision. It was
just kind of supposed to go to college.

Speaker 1 (26:00):
And where did you go again?

Speaker 2 (26:02):
Southern Illinois University. Major A changed. My first major was
business and then I failed finite math twice, and I said,
I guess business not for me. At least their idea
of business ain't for me. Then I changed the education
for a little bit.

Speaker 8 (26:18):
Actually many a business major, but literally doesn't know what
what that entails in college?

Speaker 1 (26:24):
Like, so what classes are they?

Speaker 2 (26:26):
I didn't make it until where you took the actual classes.
I was still in the you know, yeah, in the
in the freshman levels, so they had general a general.
I didn't get into that. Yeah, So it wasn't. I wasn't.
I wasn't there yet. You didn't stay but for how
long in college? Oh no, I stayed there the amount
of time four years, but I didn't. Well, I decided I.

Speaker 1 (26:48):
Was finished.

Speaker 2 (26:52):
Years of your money and then yeah, I mean it is,
you know, state school, so it wasn't super.

Speaker 6 (27:00):
I started out in state school a mir if you
go to your state school, that's for instance. I went
to Morgan State for two years. My tuition was like
fifteen hundred. It's aemester. I'm stupidly transferred to Atlanta. Now
one hundred thousand dollars on thirty thousand.

Speaker 1 (27:13):
That's what still you're paying off.

Speaker 6 (27:16):
Now one hundred and fifty five thirty thousand student loans.
Oh wow, all that money and people be like, you
got your degree?

Speaker 2 (27:27):
Yeah I did.

Speaker 1 (27:28):
I don't know where it is, okay, Yeah, where did
you graduate?

Speaker 2 (27:33):
Like, I'm sorry, ninety nine is supposed to be ninety eight.

Speaker 1 (27:38):
Okay, Clark Atlanta University.

Speaker 6 (27:40):
I'm sorry.

Speaker 8 (27:41):
I know you went to college, but for some reason,
most black people go to college. Like this is like
then I dropped out my junior year whatever I didn't.

Speaker 1 (27:49):
Jesus, Yeah I finished. No one I came. Yeah, two
degrees and there yeah what I mean three d well
are a given?

Speaker 6 (28:00):
Right?

Speaker 7 (28:00):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (28:02):
Wait, that's just what happened.

Speaker 8 (28:04):
Wait, everyone in the squad, I'm the only one that's
not edumacated the richest.

Speaker 1 (28:09):
Yeah we didn't have a record. Yeah yeah, no.

Speaker 4 (28:16):
Not really.

Speaker 1 (28:17):
I feel horrible.

Speaker 2 (28:18):
No, you should be proud, like you know, unless you
just wanting to buy.

Speaker 1 (28:24):
Oh yeah, you get in the shop.

Speaker 2 (28:26):
Five shout out to Joe Biden.

Speaker 1 (28:28):
I'm waiting.

Speaker 8 (28:29):
Well, there was a second when Swizz. When Swizz went
to Harvard, there was a brief moment where you could
take like Harvard, yeah, business things, but that I couldn't
do it. But I want to do it before I'm seventy.
So I was telling you to go to Harvard.

Speaker 1 (28:48):
Yeah, I mean, yeah you can. You can go to
the Bronc, you know what I mean. There's a lot
of Phoenix yeah.

Speaker 2 (28:57):
Phi, Yeah you jumping? Yeah, all right, somebody five hundred
dollars to film the classes.

Speaker 6 (29:05):
You know what.

Speaker 8 (29:06):
You know what during during the Black Album period, there
was a moment where I think I had him on
the fence where I was like, yo, you know, be dope,
because this is the point where I realized that Jay
had put the Mitchell Nessa out of business when he
started like, hey I'm wearing Buttimore.

Speaker 1 (29:23):
Yeah I did, right.

Speaker 8 (29:25):
So when we were rehearsing just before that album came out.
Before that album came out, do you know a boy
who h was like the yes, thank god you because
I literally and she went to college.

Speaker 1 (29:39):
Sorry, Big all right, you get that one. Finally we've
been here for two days.

Speaker 4 (29:57):
I got my.

Speaker 6 (30:01):
A. Yeah.

Speaker 8 (30:12):
So the whole point was that I was like, whoa,
if you're this powerful, if you're this because Big Rube
actually hit them up and said, hey, help, like, can
you let me know the exact date this.

Speaker 1 (30:25):
Album's coming out?

Speaker 8 (30:26):
Because I feel like that's going to be another four
point six situation where you shut They had a history
of shutting businesses down, and they were like, yes, that
album comes out, and da da da da, and they
just had like a yes. They literally had a fire sale,
and then of course the shirts went down for a

(30:46):
spell and then everyone's buying button ups. I was like, wow,
if you have the power to do that, I say,
if you went to college, everybody would follow suit and
go to college.

Speaker 2 (30:55):
So I was like, I thought he was gonna get
him to teach a class. He needs to teach motherfucker
he did.

Speaker 1 (31:00):
I mean, yeah, but you know I was I had
hope for us, so.

Speaker 2 (31:07):
A shirt is he just left.

Speaker 7 (31:12):
College?

Speaker 2 (31:13):
Shirt boom go to Rosses twenty bucks? I got a shirt.
I'm jay Z.

Speaker 1 (31:21):
Right, you tell me I got to fill out a fast.

Speaker 2 (31:25):
Doing what I gotta stay in the room with a stranger.

Speaker 1 (31:29):
I don't know.

Speaker 4 (31:30):
Hope.

Speaker 1 (31:30):
I still got hope, man, I still got hope. Do
you remember your first like the first time you got
on stage and did comedy?

Speaker 2 (31:37):
Like, yeah, the first time?

Speaker 1 (31:38):
Where was it was?

Speaker 2 (31:39):
It was s I U in the student center the
it's called the Big Muddy Room. They had open mics.

Speaker 1 (31:47):
Uh did you put that? Was that footage of that
at the end? I feel like I saw you put.

Speaker 2 (31:53):
It online or something at the beginning of Miami.

Speaker 1 (31:55):
That's what.

Speaker 2 (31:56):
Yeah, I was like, I feel like, so that was
the performance that wasn't it. That was something that was
something in the first year or so. But that wasn't
the first one. That was the same place. Okay, Actually
that show it was an open mic and I went
the month before my homeboy Cheety was performing at the
same open mic, and I just kind of I was
watching folks and it just kind of it demystified stand

(32:17):
up for me because before that I was seeing everything
televised with people's polished killing it. And so then that
showed me that, oh I could try this, and it's
low stakes. If it goes cool, it goes cool. If
it don't, it don't. And so then I wrote some
stuff and went back the next month and tried it,
and it went all right, but it was enough to
kind of, you know, to keep me going. I remember

(32:38):
my legs just shaking afterwards, like.

Speaker 8 (32:39):
Oh shit, were you generally known as the funny guy
in the crew or were you the class clown or like,
were you generally known it's funny or were you just
observation on humor guy?

Speaker 2 (32:51):
It depends sometimes I will, you know, in the right group,
I would be funny and over the top or roasting
and what. But some people, if you asked me, oh no,
he quiet, he seemed. I know, I thought he was
quiet because we probably weren't that cool. But but the
folks that knew, you know, thought I thought I was funny,

(33:11):
and uh. But yeah, after that I caught the bug
and was just really locked in. Just appreciated that feeling
and being on campus too. That was the cool thing
about doing it in the college setting was that there
was this bubble on his own so you know, after
my first show, or it was another show that I
did on campus. Actually Little Reil was on that show

(33:33):
and Wildcat, UH two Face and Shady. It was you know,
they were bringing down comics from UH Comicsview, and I, Uh,
Kevin from Triple Team Promotions let me get a spot
even though I only had my only experience was one
open mic before that, and so I did my set,
walked out to actually All I Need by Jay Z

(33:54):
and UH and it went cool. And then the next
day after that, because it's a college campus, you run
into folks like, yeah, you did stand up, and so
it was cool to do it in that that setting.
And it also was easy to relate because you can
do oh, well, the launch, the cafeteria, food, campus security,

(34:14):
what's up? What you know? You had all these this
stuff because you talking to other eighteen to twenty two
year olds that's living in the same place. So I
think it was a it was a benefit.

Speaker 1 (34:24):
To Was this a time when you and open my
Eagle because you were his like Ari, he.

Speaker 2 (34:29):
Was my Alrady?

Speaker 1 (34:30):
Oh he was your Ari.

Speaker 2 (34:30):
He was my Alra. Yeah yeah, yeah, Mike was my Ra.
He actually put me on to UH once I. I
showed him it was I went up to this place,
Jukebox Comedy Club. I drove up there to do a
guest spot and perform, and I had a VHS tape
of my set and I was hyped about it. And

(34:51):
then I went up to his room and showed him
the tape and that was back. It's VHS. So you
it wasn't just you sent a lincs. It's like I
did this, Let's watch it, Let's go together, let's watch
the ship.

Speaker 1 (35:04):
I did.

Speaker 2 (35:06):
You just look and so uh he from there he
sent me some the audio from Dave Chappelle killing him softly,
just the audio from it. Some hadburg stuff, but the
killing him softly. That's when I heard. When he did
the the from Dave, I'm going to raise some that bit. Uh.

(35:30):
I knew it was a bad idea, but I was high.
I tried to tell him it was a bad idea,
but all it came out was ship. Sometimes you gotta race, nigga.
I don't know. And that it was a revound I rewound.
I just thought it was the timing and delivery on
that was so crazy. I rewound that so many times.

Speaker 8 (35:44):
Okay, when crafting well wait when I come back, I
want to talk about the crafting of the show. Yeah,
but we're going to take a break for the you know,
for the costs. All right, So we're back with our guests,
Hannibal Bird. Yes, I'm being professionals. We're taking it's called
commercial taking overheard a conversation. We take commercial breaks.

Speaker 1 (36:09):
Now. Well, you know, we got Bill, so it's best
to be you know, professional.

Speaker 8 (36:17):
It only took us six years, right, So Yeah, when
I first got my drum machine, the first thing I
did was like, well, when I got Seve hundred.

Speaker 1 (36:32):
I would I remade the entire low in theory.

Speaker 8 (36:36):
I challenged myself to make at least side one of
Nation and millions, like you got to practice other people's beats.
And then Dylan would do the same, all those people
I can interlude. He would redo them ships and then
try to figure out how to do it his version.
So for comedian though, like I know, like you know,
Eddie Murphy would say like, yeah, I just take Richard

(37:00):
record and remix his things were people that didn't hear
it in my school or whatever.

Speaker 1 (37:05):
But for you, how does that work? Like what are
the ingredients that you're taken.

Speaker 8 (37:12):
From so you're saying that killed me Softly from Chappelle
was a seminal moment for you where you just studied.

Speaker 2 (37:18):
The just that bit. I like that just as a
as a fan. As far as creating my stuff, I
don't know. I just watched a lot of folks. I
didn't early on a lot of folks. You you sort
of like Mitch Hebburg. But Mike played me miss Hebburg,
based on what I had just played him from that

(37:39):
from that show, and he put me on to Mitch Hebburg.
So maybe absorbed. I'm sure you know, just through osmosis,
you might sound like folks sometimes and you just try to,
you know, find your own and be be as true
to your your shit as you can.

Speaker 1 (37:54):
But you know, we what does we feel like?

Speaker 8 (37:57):
Hepburg's observation rude that has been long vacant and you
know somebody has to walk that path. Is that all
comedians look at things like, okay, well this guy is
the singing comedian, and this guy is the you know,
the family storyteller, and this person's the you know, lane

(38:18):
the street community like is that?

Speaker 1 (38:22):
Are they compartmentalized like that?

Speaker 2 (38:23):
Or it wasn't it wasn't that calculated at that time.
It was just really just trying to get better, just
try to you know, just have your your not bomb.
Really that was the thing, is not just how to
do it.

Speaker 6 (38:37):
Do you remember what was the first the first joke
that you wrote that hit, the first.

Speaker 2 (38:41):
One that I that uh that hit. It was one
I talked about how people just have just all these
different ways to call you dark skin like, damn you
black as hell, you so black if you you lay
on if you stand by the wall, it's a cave,

(39:04):
if you lay on the ground, it's a whole You're
so black and purple African like. It was just kind
of a run of just all these.

Speaker 8 (39:10):
Is that everyone's entry in the comedy world, because even
Chris Rock said he had a good three minutes about
Miles Davis being black and that's what that's what made
Eddie Murphy invited him to you know, Beverly Hills.

Speaker 1 (39:23):
It's almost like that's an entry point.

Speaker 2 (39:25):
Yeah, it was just you just think about I mean, yeah,
you just you know, repeating things that people said to
you that you didn't understand why they said.

Speaker 1 (39:33):
It, Like blackness is the birth place of what?

Speaker 2 (39:37):
Why am I an African booty scratch, right, man, I'm
just existing African booties gratch what I'm ten.

Speaker 8 (39:54):
So okay, when you're crafting, don't speak from your professional
mind now. But back then, when you're crafting like pre roots,
you know, there's a point where your eyes are open.
You suddenly realize, like what a hook is? You know,
what makes what makes things work on an audience. Unfortunately,
it took me to the pandemic to really learn how

(40:16):
to make a song.

Speaker 1 (40:18):
Really, yes, because in Fumish college, so what do you expect.

Speaker 2 (40:30):
We've had records, We've gotten lucky.

Speaker 8 (40:33):
But I never knew the science of songwriting or what
makes a song work, like what makes it affect and
what makes it non effective. And it wasn't until the pandemic,
in which I'm literally stuck five hours every day going
through every song to know, oh, okay, this is why this.
I don't know why I just never studied the science
of You knew it, you just no, I didn't. Because

(40:56):
the thing is is like we would never write songs.
We've never demo song. We just jamming sound check. Oh
that sounds dope, you know, like next move was made
like in a sound check in Hawaii. It's like, oh,
recording the table quick, and we did it for like
two minutes and then came back and did that jam.
But I didn't realize it got me with scientific that's

(41:18):
because Scott Storch, not Black Roads, you got me. No,
I'm just saying that, you know, all right, when when
I'm when the motor role of two two way pages
came out, that's when I realized, like in programming on
a two way that that's that's a hit, Like yeah,
because you need a part the whistle, Like all right,

(41:39):
Prince is delirious.

Speaker 1 (41:40):
You know, we never had a what's the of the
next movement? There's that's background vocals. See that's for me.

Speaker 8 (41:53):
But I feel what you're saying, like Prince is the
master of He'll do the intricate ship that interests like
all the music nerds, but it'll have the thing, right,
I don't want to say the idiot factor or whatever,
like the common man's thing that attracts them to it. Yeah,
pop songs there, you gotta have that sticky part that
people remember and then you win to a dress.

Speaker 2 (42:15):
It with did you know this?

Speaker 6 (42:17):
With a mirror speaker?

Speaker 2 (42:18):
I get what he's talking about. I'm just shocked to
hear that.

Speaker 8 (42:21):
He Yeah, I didn't know how to format songs or
any of that stuff until two years ago. For you, though,
did you know the science of comedy or was it
just like I'm gonna go out here and just say
what I feel and then.

Speaker 1 (42:37):
Or do you learn when you bomb? Like when's the
first time you bombed?

Speaker 2 (42:41):
First time really bombed? There was a show in Carbondale
that it was a It was an Apollo style show
with multiple discipline soul music, dance, poetry, comedy, and it

(43:02):
wasn't produced well. There was no microphone, and so I
was kind of just up there talking no stage. A
friend of mine at the time was actually the so
called Samman, and I was trying to I was somebody
interrupted me and I didn't know how to handle that
at the time or control of the room and I'm
up there with no mic and then so then he

(43:22):
starts vamping towards the stage and so then they started
getting more hyped. Yeah, and then they booing and then
he just you know, Samman traditionally dances you off stage.
For some reason, he picked me up and threw me
over his shoulder. And your friend, your friend, Yeah, we

(43:44):
were in the same performance. Yeah, and so then and
I actually had somebody I got the footage of it.
I'm like looking into the camera like stop the tag,
stop the tag. But that one, that one was that
was a rougherence right there for the Yeah, it's I

(44:05):
think I learned. You just it's trial and error and
you see kind of what people connect with more So,
I think the first two bits that were really that
kind of really connected with people in a in a
in a different way than the others were talking about
kicking pigeons and flicking pickle juice with the one, and

(44:27):
I think that's also this premise choice too.

Speaker 1 (44:29):
It's just you know, speaking of comedians something.

Speaker 6 (44:34):
That's hilarious.

Speaker 1 (44:40):
Don't worry about So how are you aybody see I
heard it's not going.

Speaker 2 (44:52):
Just figured it out, you know.

Speaker 1 (44:54):
Yeah, wait, when's the last time this happened? When uh
No walked in? Yeah, maybe you want to take one
of your famous commercial breaks.

Speaker 5 (45:05):
Now, Man.

Speaker 6 (45:08):
Farrell is so hot and tall and now get me
out here, Give me out of here, please.

Speaker 7 (45:14):
And that's where we're gonna end Part one. This is
unpaid bill for the Team Supreme. We had such a
good time with Hannibal Burrus in Hollywood. I mean, come on,
who brings a harmonica to the gig? Felt so good
to be back in the studio with my QLs family,
and it will be so good when we give you
the rest of this interview next week. In the meantime,
Hannibal's playing his biggest hometown show in Chicago and November
two at the Chicago Theater. If you're anywhere nearby, please

(45:36):
check it out.

Speaker 1 (45:38):
Thank you for listening to Quest Love Supreme.

Speaker 5 (45:40):
This podcast is hosted by a mere Quest Love Thompson,
The Boss Man, Like Here, Saint Clair, So Black and
the Black Myself, Fon, Tigelow, Fonte Coleman, The Sugar Steed Mandel.

Speaker 1 (45:52):
And Unpaid Bill Sherman.

Speaker 5 (45:54):
The executive producers are mere Quest Love Thompson, Sean g
and the Unbothered Brian Calhoun. Produced by Brittany Benjamin, My
Dog Cousin, Jake Payne, My Motherfucking Man, and like Ia
Saint Clairs My work Wife. Edited by Alex Conroy. Produced
for iHeart by Noel Brown and Mike Johns. Audio engineering

(46:16):
by Graham Gibson aka DOUBLEG at Iheart's La Studio.

Speaker 1 (46:21):
Thank you for tuning in check us out next week.
Must Loop Supreme is a production of iHeart Radio. For

(46:42):
more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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