Questlove Supreme: LL Cool J Part 2

Part 2 of LL COOL J's Questlove Supreme interview is epic. From far-reaching questions about lyrics, acting roles, and chapstick, this is one of the best QLS conversations ever. LL COOL J holds court with charisma, passion, and incredible stories about his past, present, and future.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

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

Speaker 2 (00:05):
What up, y'all?

Speaker 3 (00:06):
Welcome back to Quest Love Supreme. So last week we
gave you part one of our conversations with L, who
Jack tapeed the iHeart Studios Hollywood. Make sure you check
that out because we asked L about as early as days,
rapping people, doubting I need love, new producers, and some
of those rabbit hole questions we always wanted to know.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Yeah, we only made it to talking about nineteen ninety.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
So yeah, here's part two where we talk about everything else.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
Enjoy y'all.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
So, also early with Wildcats with Toys or whatever, you're
one of the first people in the hip hop lane
to start pivoting to other mediums acting. Yeah, how easy
or hard was it to convince you? Because I've literally
met nobody in our industry that it wasn't a struggle.

(01:09):
Me too, I had to be talked and almost by
at gunpoint to direct this film I want to do it.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
How easy was it for you to get into that lane?
I had no no problems with it, you know, as
long as as long as it didn't do anything that
was gonna undermine what I was doing, you know, in music,
you know what I'm saying, as long as it didn't
undermine that I was cool. You know. I always believed,
like my mother used to always tell me, you could

(01:37):
do anything you put your mind to, you know what
I'm saying. So it's like for me and I used to,
you know, watch Bruce Lee and dream about having movies
and me and my man Pierre would have the he'd
have the was it the thirty four millimeter or the
sixteen minute? The cameras the sixteen milimeter cameras and we'd
be making kung ful movies and all that. So I
was with it. I was I wanted to smoke. I
wanted all to smoke. I want to make movies, want

(02:00):
to do it all.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
How easy was the transition to do though? Did you
have to get an acting coach?

Speaker 2 (02:04):
I definitely study. I definitely have had many acting coaches.
I went to the Spies Academy. Uh. You know, I
work with a lot of acting coaches, Greta Secat, Winnie
Winnie Hill and my current coach. You know, I trained
and studied, you know read, you know Stanislavsky, and you
know and Uda Hagen and you know yo, yeah, oh yeah,
that technique. Oh yeahechnique. Oh yeah, oh yeah, of course

(02:27):
hundred percent. Like I listen, you have to you have
to and you have to respect the craft, right Like
people assume that I just kind of bounce into things,
but I you know, I watched I study everything, you
know what I'm saying, and I pay attention to the craft.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
Was there a role that you passed up that was
sort of like, damn, I had first DIBs on blah
blah blah.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
A role I passed up was the the Alan Payne
role in New Jack City. I passed that up. Oh really? Yeah, yeah,
I passed on and I wanted to do it. My
father didn't want me to play a drug dealer, but
then you did. That's my decision, dad, you know, let

(03:14):
me do this. That's a call classes, no creative curfews.
You for real, for real, straight up.

Speaker 4 (03:22):
That probably is my favorite Movie's my favorite Thank you?

Speaker 2 (03:26):
Thank you guess yeah, oh boy.

Speaker 5 (03:30):
We haven't been on this show every time. Every once
in a while where we talk to people about the
Latin quarters, and nine of the ten times, everybody's story
starts with one time I was there and ll cool
J did this, and I'm not even I'm not even
making this up.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Like every story, they're like, we're there, yeah, I was that.
I feel like you were.

Speaker 5 (03:49):
I feel do you have your favorite Latin Quarter story or.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
We do it every time?

Speaker 5 (04:00):
Very offensive, the.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
Racist. It's just like if you sound like as a Mexican.

Speaker 1 (04:14):
Country Latin, I totally forgot you are a hip hop
legend that was of age of the Latin corner. The
only reason why I'm obsessed with the Latin Quarter is
because to hear everyone tell the story, everyone tells of
the best time they've ever musically had in their lives,

(04:38):
like listening to hip hop, but it always comes on
the b side of like fighting and break it. I'm like,
why would you go to a place where something could
possibly happen to you just to hear what top billing
sounds like on the speaker system? Did you ever frequent
Latin Quarter or whatever? What is it like in your
like what's your take on the Latin Quarter?

Speaker 2 (04:58):
I mean it was dangerous, dangerous, Like you know I
had to do it one time. Man, Like you know,
he's saying something crazy to me. I'm like, what's up.
He's like, what's up? What's up? Like, what's up. I
look down at his hand. He got to raise a
blade in his hand. I'm like, okay, that's what you know,

(05:19):
that's what you know what I'm saying. So it's like
it was that kind of a spot. But then you
hear like amazing dancing and and like you know, it
was like a badge of honor to be able to
walk around in there with jewelry on. You know what
I'm saying. It was so for you.

Speaker 1 (05:33):
Never think of a vulnerability like, yo, man that I
can't go there because like.

Speaker 2 (05:38):
I start with you, no no, no, no, you gotta remember
like everybody, I ran with it, yo. No no no
no no no no no no no no. That wasn't
a problem. That wasn't my issue. You know. I'm not
saying this impossible. I'm saying, but that wasn't my issue.
I was good. I was good. So you weren't a

(06:00):
roll with yourself person. You were a not in those
not when I went to certain clubs. Now, when I
went to the I would do that sometimes, but really honestly,
I would go downtown with some of them clubs by myself.
Like I might go to CBGB's or something, and you know,
fish Bone and falling or I'm down there, like you know,
standing there and the like they got some punk rock
dudes on there. I don't know if it's a sex

(06:22):
pistol or who it might be, and they be in
there performing at CBGB's. I might go there by myself,
but when I went to the Latin quarters, I usually
took a couple of dudes with me, you know, depending
on who it was, you know what I'm saying. And
we was moving around, it was we was good. Plus
like I said, you know, I was I was really
friendly with all of the guys in the town that
were really I had very few real problems, you know

(06:44):
with guys because I knew how to not be tough,
you know what I'm saying, like how to not and
not be a punk either, you know what I'm saying.
So I didn't have like a lot of them problems
like you know, I just didn't you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (06:57):
Can you tell us the story of how you and
Arli Maum connected And yeah, what is the feeling of
the perception of being underestimated by that point in your career?

Speaker 2 (07:09):
So first, the underestimated piece. The underestimated piece is kind
of like listen. I love a challenge, man, and you know,
I welcome those moments when people think that I'm not
gonna be able to do something. It's actually it inspires me.
I secretly relish the opportunity to prove that I'm more
than what you think I am, you know what I'm saying.

(07:31):
And so that part for me is like, you know,
being down in the fourth quarter is like I just
want the ball, like I love that. I live for it,
you know what I'm saying. That's why it's thirty some
odd years later and I'm still out here. You know,
we're still doing arenas. You know what I'm saying, because
I just relished that. You know. In terms of me Molly,
it was like I used to go up to BLS

(07:53):
at the time and do interviews, and one day I
was up there and we was doing something and Mally
was like, yeah, what's something, And I'm like yo, and he,
you know, he always had the great stuff, and he
had kind of the Juice Crew stuff had just cooled
off just enough, so he was kind of like in
a little bit of an in between phase. And I
was coming off a panther and so obviously, you know,
I had got booed at the use of Hawkins thing

(08:15):
and all that down down in New York because remember,
so said, I don't know so what happened. You gotta remember.
So when I came out with that walking with a panther,
the real issue with walking with a Panther wasn't yeah,
there's some songs on there people don't like whatever. The
real issue was the imagery. Imagery. So at that time,
it was about you had public enemy, you had ex clan,
you had care rests that everybody was on the area,

(08:36):
and I'm running around with diamonds flooded Minx, champagne, you know,
models on the back and cell phones, briefcases, cash I'm
going to CALLI getting five sixty benches, getting convertible tops, cutting,
you know. So they're looking at me like that was foul,
you know. And see fast forward ten years now and

(08:58):
everybody was you know, when you asked for it to
ninety seven, ninety eight, ninety nine, it was different, right,
But at that time I was the first guy who
really did that, so it was looked, it was frowned upon, right,
So that was really the energy. So it felt like
I wanted to show that number. There was more to
it than just the trappings. Does that make sense? I

(09:18):
only show them there was more to it than the trappings,
like I really because I really loved this. I didn't
do it for the trappings. The trappings came, but I
did it for the for the love. And so I
got with Mally. Mally was like, Yo, what something, man,
Let me get a remix or something. I'm like, let's
do it. So that casual yep. Okay, like Yo, let's
do a remix. Let me get a remix. Someone said,

(09:39):
let's get it, so I said. He said, we'll send
me the toys. So I gave Jingling Baby. Okay. And
when I gave Jingling Baby, you know, I had been
playing with it already, so I had that baseline on there.
You know what I'm saying, because I used to make
a lot of my beats. Okay, you know what I'm saying.
Like you know I'm a type of guy. I mean,
I made a lot of my beats. You know what
I'm saying. People don't realize that. So so I had
already had put that base on it. So I sent

(10:01):
it to him and he was like, yo. And when
that came in, when I walked in the studio he
had the baseline planing. I was like, oh word, He's like, yo,
how you got this on here? You ain't? So he
like chopped it in and put some stuff to it.
Then he put that walking on Sunshine in it, and
you know, he said, yo, I want you to readrough
the vocals though you know what I'm saying. I want
you because you always yelling on your Joe. I want
you to do it more mellow. I'm like, all right,

(10:24):
you know leads to booming.

Speaker 1 (10:26):
All right, now, this is all right. This is something.
So every night, every night I would go to z
Trip right and I would say to him. I was like, yo,
are you guys? Is this all pro tools? He's like
what do you mean? I was like, is Yello doing
this live or is that pro tools? He's like, no,
he's live. I was like, all right, you're protecting him.

Speaker 2 (10:49):
So about maybe six years later, I went to the
pro tools guy right, and I.

Speaker 1 (10:54):
Said, let me see, let me see all the tracks
real quick, because this is something now as far as
I know. So the thing is is that in my mind,
Tarik's greatest gift as an MC is his breath control.
And when you watch the Hot ninety seven free style,
like you rarely hear whatever. So like Teriq's you know,
he is a communications major in college and so he

(11:15):
does his whole circular breath thing. But I never heard
a rapper ever use intonation and concert just like their
record like rock Kim, who's the king of monotone and
all this stuff, figure of a marital plant, Like he
goes loud and I was like, wait a minute, ll
would match note for note like his vocals on each song,

(11:40):
and it was blowing my mind that he wasn't yelling
and he was talking monotone and still projecting. So I
never like that to me, you never get enough credit
for that, And you know, I don't even know if
that's a thing to celebrate, Like, wow, you sound just
like your records, But I've never seen a human being,

(12:01):
never out of breath matching their vocals, and like that's hard.

Speaker 4 (12:05):
Now a record, a record like Booming System, where you
kind of are more lowered to do that in an arena, Yeah, yeah, yeah,
that's like to keep it low like because yeah, but
you naturally as an MC, I mean, you're excited, you
naturally want.

Speaker 1 (12:17):
To go being Yeah, but what makes Booming system is
the coolness of it, right, you know you know.

Speaker 2 (12:23):
You hear boxes say keep your composure. You got to
keep keep your composure. You gotta you gotta trust it.
You know what I'm saying. The audience know what it is?

Speaker 1 (12:31):
How do you know that and apply that, especially when
you live a life and walk a path in which
you almost got to justify every step that you're taking
and not performatively prove yourself every time. But literally, like
since Panther, every LL record's been an event to me
because I always been like, all right, I want to

(12:52):
see Like for me Panther, I was like, I wonder
what LL sounds like over.

Speaker 2 (12:55):
Sample production, you know what I mean?

Speaker 1 (12:58):
Next record is like I wonder what LL sound was
like in nineties production, like you know, topping the beat.

Speaker 2 (13:03):
So it's almost like even from your biggest supporters, it's
like can he do it again? Can you do it?
I tell you, Like, like even this this new record
I just finished, right, I just finished this record with
Q tip and yeah, yeah, yeah something. No, No, that's
too that's too fancy. I need I need, I need

(13:25):
some cheaps. I need something I can get get right
to it, get right to the world. What I write,
Just what happened? Why never doing chapstick? And did they each? Yeah? Yeah,
everybody shastick for years my whole life. Yea, all that

(13:46):
aqua fall and all that run around with the shiny
lips like you know, like like I kissed the chicken
grease or something like I took the chicken. Yeah, like
like I've been like I've been kissing a pot of
chicken grease, knowing that you got up like everything I'm like,
I mean, be a while. It is my first application.
That's my first application, you know what I mean? For years,

(14:14):
like my whole life.

Speaker 4 (14:15):
Sorry, nobody ever hear you about doing that?

Speaker 2 (14:20):
Like getting your that's you your merch game. I swear
to God that it would sell out too damn long. Yes,
I'm sorry, broke, that's a good damn got.

Speaker 1 (14:36):
My question doesn't matter, you know, it doesn't you know,
with your intonations and whatnot, like with how how do
you know like screaming when some of it applies for
us and when something.

Speaker 2 (14:50):
Is just listen to it. I just listened to it,
not really really listen. I really make do the song.
Just do the song? What do you? What's all the
Just do the.

Speaker 3 (15:02):
It's just that I think, right, you must meditate though,
because I think what a mirror two is asking is
like and even what Ponte said about just being nastural
on a stage and being excited, Yeah, you have to
have a certain still level of control from based on
what I'm sick.

Speaker 2 (15:14):
Well, you have pat yourself. You have to well, you
have to be first of all, you know, in terms
of cardiovascular you gotta be in shape. You know what
I'm saying, because a lot of times, a lot of
the yelling and a lot of that can be attributed
to people just being out of breath. You're not in shape.

Speaker 5 (15:29):
But I was going to ask what famly of youth
have you drank from? Because you don't seem to age
like you know, if you look the same as you
do from Helen your mouth?

Speaker 2 (15:37):
God, little melon, little melanin on herb. Bro, no me game.
You know you got a cousin like, Yo, this is
my cousin. He's sixty one. He's like, yeah, what happening baby?
It was good? It's good.

Speaker 3 (15:49):
Cook like you don't do Okay, I'm just gonna start
asking vitamins. Lion's main changa rachi like write him in deep.

Speaker 2 (16:01):
Fronte's face right now?

Speaker 5 (16:03):
Is that.

Speaker 2 (16:04):
I was your mushrooms? You're healthy mushroom. I did not.
I've never heard of No one knows what I'm talking about.
I don't know what is. Yeah, I don't know. Yeah,
the rhythm to the boogey to be.

Speaker 3 (16:17):
That's because spells no magic. I'm telling you healthy mushrooms
for you anyway?

Speaker 2 (16:21):
What is?

Speaker 3 (16:22):
What is the health situation?

Speaker 2 (16:24):
Here? Are you vegetarian? Pest? Like I meet, I meet,
I got it, I got I got to have me
a porterhouse or something. Wait, i't to have it. Wait
a minute, I'm sorry, I'm an animal. This don't got
to have it. I love everybody. I want you to
be a vegetarian. I want you to do that. I
want you to be a pescatarian. I want you to
have herbs and spike like I gotta have the best.

(16:48):
He gets the best coming. Sorry, man, eat.

Speaker 1 (16:51):
This reminds me of the very first time I went
on my health journey. Courtesy of Mark Jenkins, Right, yes,
remember so the second time I met ll and I
know you don't remember this.

Speaker 2 (17:01):
This is like right when.

Speaker 1 (17:04):
The tipping point was out, So it's like two thousand
and four. So Jenkins was in LA working out training
me and of course lobby call and you were passing
the Gower Street in La. So it's like, dog, I
gotta go to Roscoe's so fair right exactly, I cheat.

Speaker 2 (17:26):
On my trainer. So I went in right now. You
worked out with Mark Jenkins before, So I walked in.

Speaker 1 (17:34):
I know Jenkins was in LA working with me, him
and maybe like two others celebrity clientele. And Mark Jenkins
is the guy who his business one his stock went
up when he built then for the entitled video. So
you know I'm in roscos and pictures the Pink Panthers.

Speaker 2 (17:55):
Theme, turn right right and and LL so you can't now.

Speaker 1 (18:12):
The thing is, this is the second I've not met LL.
So I don't know if he knows what a quest
love is or who a quest love is whatever. So
right now I'm panicking because I'm like, oh damn, he
gonna tell. You're probably gonna tell. So I like gave
him pan I said, well, just coming from a fan
standpoints like yo, man, I said, by the way, I said,

(18:35):
you know, I'm a client of Mark Jenks as well,
so just you know small, he said, don't worry about it.
Your secret safe with me, worry about it secret safe.

Speaker 2 (18:57):
The first time I met him, wait, at least that five.

Speaker 1 (19:00):
But the first time I met him it was the
NAACP Awards. We were I think we were doing something
for for Bono, like a truth. You know, Bono just
started the Red Company for Africa or whatever, so they
gave him an award. So there's there's like.

Speaker 2 (19:14):
Backstage, there's like a two second quick change booth. There's
two of them. Princess in one of them booths, so
it's like you can't get in there. Whatever.

Speaker 1 (19:21):
So they're like, I thought there was a booge in
my nose or maybe a ZiT. I don't know, like
I saw something there, so I like ran in the room.
Now LLC is positioned right in front of the mirror.
I'm trying to like, you know, I just want a
good I want a good ten seconds, yes, to make
sure that everything's straight, but really see if I got

(19:42):
a bully or whatever.

Speaker 2 (19:43):
But llll's not budget. You're just sitting there and I
don't want to be like yo. And he was like,
you say, your secret safe door.

Speaker 1 (19:55):
You looked marvelous, you know, you just look at me like,
don't worry you Marvel's be like the second pop that Jordan.

Speaker 2 (20:14):
Jesus.

Speaker 4 (20:19):
I wanted to ask you about Chris Lighty because we
I had a chance sat down to you know, meet
and talk with him before he you know, before he passed,
and he talked about specifically the Mister Smith album and
for him how that really kind of set him up
at def Jam and like really people saw him as
you know, an executive and it you know, put him
on another level.

Speaker 2 (20:40):
What was that Mister Smith album for you and working
with him? What was that experience like? Because that was
almost like another comeback. Every album is for me most
of the time takes on that type of energy. You know.
It's because I take so long between records and because
I make so few albums that every time it's like, okay,

(21:00):
well what's it gonna be? But that one was an
amazing experience working with Chris. I trusted him completely in
terms of his creative, his ear. What actually happened was
I made a whole album called Mister Smith. I made
a whole album. I didn't like it, so then I
threw it away. You know, I do that a lot. Yeah,

(21:21):
we're gonna talk about that too. Yeah, So I did
this album. I did an original a mister Smith album
with a whole bunch of other songs. It was called
Mister Smith. But I didn't love the album. So I
was like, eh, I kept that one song with shot
skills of mister Smith, but the rest of it I
didn't like. I kept that yeahs re peace. So me
and Chris we just started working. He started finding tracks,

(21:42):
finding beats, and I ended up getting with track masters
and then getting with Rashad and you know, it just
came together. It came together, and you know, working with
them was you know, he was a good dude, man.
And you know, I remember Chris, you know, when he
first started, we all got along because you know, Chris
used to be security at the tunnel, you know what

(22:04):
I'm saying. So when he was when he was like
working the door at the tunnel, he always gave me
love and we always got along very very well. And
you know, well she was still here. Yeah, man, I
was one of my favorite records on that.

Speaker 4 (22:16):
When you were talking about I Need a Beat and
how you pretty much played it live and then right
over it made me think of.

Speaker 2 (22:21):
No, are oh yeah, let's do that? Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
that was I think, my man, I think Chad might
have did that. Doctor, I think so. I think I
think so. I think Chad did that. That's my think.
Favorite Cha No, No, No, Chad Elliott. Chad Elliott. Yeah,

(22:42):
they used to work with Jodasi and all of them
and all that. Okay, you know what I'm saying. I
was only impression that the track masters of the entire
record didn't they know, they didn't do everything Rashard did
doing it. You know, there was a few other few
other producers, but they finished it. What happened was we
actually work on the album and I was doing songs,
and then track messages came in kind of midway and

(23:04):
finished the album. So we didn't start the album together.
We finished the album. So they they actually made it
a cohesive body of work. I have to give Stout
some credit, and give Tone and Polk credit, and give
Chris Lighty credit because they came in and helped me
kind of finish the project and make it a cohesive
what we felt was at that time a cohesive body

(23:25):
of work. You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 4 (23:26):
Nah, that's one of like that record mad because I
mean the singles or the singles were like no airplay,
Hollis the Hollywood like.

Speaker 2 (23:32):
Yeah, that was fun. That was fun, yo, you know.
I mean that's why, you know, I'm really excited to
like for people to hear this record I do with Tip,
because this is gonna be I think how many songs
which Tip so you did? He produced it, He did everything,
he did all the beats, he did everything sound. Yes,
he did everything. I think it's fourteen songs, fourteen here

(23:57):
for this, Yeah, it's fourteen and it's all like like
a whole new thing. So that's gonna be a lot
of fun. You know.

Speaker 3 (24:03):
I was just gonna ask about another person, since we're
talking about having a happy sad moment with Chris Lighty,
I was gonna say, the last time I was in
a room with you, I was fortunate to be in
a room with you, Biz and Greg nice As y'all
were taping an episode for Serious and so I wanted
you to talk about give us a fun Biz story,
but also talk about why you even tap Biz to
be on your radio station.

Speaker 2 (24:24):
Rock the Bell. So so, Biz, I've known Biz forever,
you know, before we made records, and then before Biz
made records, he used to just come to my house
all the time, coming to the basement. I'd be down
there right in rhymes. He'd be sitting there. Yo. He
used to just make me laugh. He was just the
funniest dude in the world. And me, I love that dude.
You know what I'm saying. I love biz man like business,
my man, you know what I'm saying. And you know,

(24:46):
we knew each other from Long Island. I would see him, he,
I would see him, Nona. He we'd come to Queens,
he would come to the house. So so in terms
of the tapping them to be on salute the sample
on Rock the Bells, I started Rock the Bells because
I felt like the artist that I love, Like when
I look at the way Bob Dylan is treated and
held in high regard, and Mick Jaggers held in high regard,

(25:09):
and you know these various artists, Paul McCartney is held
in high regard, I felt like, you know, the Bismarcks
and the Big Daddy Kanes and the rock hymns and
the public enemies and all of them deserved that kind
of treatment as well, and I felt like they weren't
getting it. And I felt like, you know, mc light
wasn't getting it. Queen Latifa wasn't getting it when I
look at and then when I would listen to the channel,

(25:31):
you know, which was Backspin at the time, it was
like a glorified jukebox, you know what I'm saying. But
it wasn't really about the coach and it wasn't really
about us. We shouldn't have to make excuses for having
long story careers with a lot of success. You should
be celebrated for that, not persecuted and penalized for it.
And I felt like I felt like the industry was
turning hip hop into it was commoditizing hip hop and

(25:52):
turning everybody into cardboard boxes. In other words, if you
know it it's an old box or older box, you
just throw it away and you just kind of they
weren't treating the culture the way it needed to be treated,
and I wanted to. So what I said, I said,
you know what what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna
do for hip hop culture what I did for me
in my own career. So all I did was I said,
so the mindset that I applied to me that helped

(26:15):
me be here, by the grace of God, for so
many years and be successful. I said, I'm gonna do
that for the whole culture. And so I took BIS
and put them on the channel in Shante and all
of these artists and got them all, you know, Grand
Master Kaz and and all of them. And now you know,
I watched this whole renaissance of hip hop happen. You
know what I'm saying. When we did Rock the Bell's
Festival and the Cruisers and Rock the Bell's Resorts and

(26:38):
all of this stuff, getting that on MTV, thank you,
thank you. Yeah, we streamed it. The thing the thing
about it is that is that I wanted to do
what I did for me for the entire culture because
it can't be about you forever. It has to There
has to be more in your life in terms of
your journey. You have to want to see others succeed.
That's why even when we did the Force Tour, I

(26:59):
didn't do the normal headlining thing and like snatch all
of the production and make them kind of rap and
give them ten feet of stage and no, no, you
have the same sound, you have the same lighting package,
you have the same opportunities to rock the stage that
I do. Because I want us all to succeed, and
I want to see us treat it that way. I
want them the same way they treat Bono. I want

(27:20):
them to treat DMC. I don't want to see a difference.

Speaker 4 (27:23):
No, man, I don't get it was one of the
biggest things I saw when I went to the tour.
I always admire how just the professionalism first and foremost.
And you know, I really think it's something that every
young artist, like every young MC's I really think there's
something that they should really see because it very rarely
hearing your story. You know, you were first in like everything,

(27:45):
so there was no blueprint to follow. But now we're
thankful enough that we have a blueprint. And I'm like, yo,
go Seel go see Rod, go see the roots. This
is what it looks like to be fifty years old
and still killing it like they're still a late right right,
not on some like oh okay, but like no, still vibrant,
like still jamming.

Speaker 2 (28:05):
Yeah. Well that's because hip hop. You know, it was
being served in a greasy brown paper bag unless you
had a new hit out, and I wanted it served
on the silver platter regardless. You know, Rock Kim deserves
to have the biggest stage and the biggest platform, regardless.
When we do the Grammy special, we're putting you on
the biggest stage regardless. I don't need to. There's no
reason why they should be treated otherwise. We live in.

(28:28):
It's a strange world, right because like I have, I
literally have millions and millions of fans all over the world.
But because not the majority of them aren't fourteen, that
doesn't make them last valuable. Right, So you're like, my
fans just had birthdays with me. They didn't disappear, you
know what I mean? You know, you know, so like
we got to kind of get out of this kind

(28:48):
of this this state of mind of like if you're
not you know, if it's not the brand new thing
and you've been out three years, it doesn't count. It's
not how it works. Like I don't know, rolland Stone
was discography front the back, but when they come in
town to do a show, I go, I don't know,
you two's discard back to back. But when they come
in town, I go to the show. I love the show.
What I'm saying is, yo, people want to see Elo

(29:12):
cool J, and they want to see the Beasties, and
they want to see run the EMC. They want to
see public enemy, they want to see ice T. You
just got to put them in a position to be seen,
you know what I'm saying. And stop trying to pretend
that it's not they don't want to be seen, because
that's all. That's just a game. It's not real. Because
the reality is the fans love it. They want to

(29:33):
buy the music, they want to come to the show.
And we saw those arenas and we saw those crowds
and so they're there. And guess what if we went
a second time now, it'd be even bigger, you know
what I'm saying. It would be even bigger. And we
did very well, but it would be even bigger because
it because people now see that Yo. Now they know
it's real and like a word, ah man.

Speaker 3 (29:53):
And the regional aspect that y'all add too, when you know,
like you go a certain region and they might bring
out so and so and so and so I can't
wait for ought to come back to LA because shoot.

Speaker 2 (30:01):
It's about absolutely.

Speaker 4 (30:04):
I really brought up p D and uh yeah, and
by I brought up Pea absolutely, David Banner, no.

Speaker 1 (30:12):
Doubt, like ran in the third tier, Beady and David
tod Up, I love it. Yeah, okay, so I'll be
remiss if I don't ask this question. And I'm certain
that you've spoken about it before, and I might have
missed the story. But just as a lover of them
sees the four three two one situation, Wait, don't do

(30:40):
the cynical giggle.

Speaker 2 (30:41):
Yeah, let me ask the question. Ready, let's go take
it back, let's go.

Speaker 1 (30:45):
Like, I'm under the impression that Cannabis was paying tribute
to your arm or whatever. Like I never knew the
story behind that. I didn't even know it was a
this like, sorry for making rehab on.

Speaker 2 (31:00):
Look, you know, cannabis really ain't do nothing wrong, man,
I just you know, cannabis just touched the third rail.
Oh lord, No, he didn't do nothing street, He didn't
do nothing room street. You know what I'm saying. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
you know what I mean. He touched the third rail.
He and said because we had met downstairs earlier, and

(31:22):
you know, he said, yo, yo, hell man, like you
tell him get a tattooed just like yours. And instead
of me saying all right, man, do you think, I'm like, nah,
I get your own, I'm like territory and all that
on the microe and so, and I just said that
to him. And then when I played it when I
heard him on the record, because I said, all right,
he's gonna go thro his vocal, I'm like, yeah, do
you think when I heard him on the record, He's like,
is that a mic on your arm? Let me bo?

(31:43):
I'm like, oh, we just had this conversation a so
that and that was the original. Yeah, yeah right, and
so he actually it was really more about me being
a little bit more oversensitive. I think, you know what
I'm saying. I think it was more about that, you know,
that being said, Look what I try to do with him?
I say, look, you know, after it happened, I thought

(32:05):
about it. I'm like, yo, you know what, I don't know,
say something on the record or something. Nobody'll know what
I'm talking about. Just you know, just flip it and
do something else or you know. And he didn't want to,
you know, go with that. And then he made the record,
and you know, but I tried to embrace him later,
like I did shows with him at Barclays and you know,
I did a show with him. I brought him out Barclays.

(32:25):
I brought him out different concerts. I try to give
him love because I want him and his fans to
know that, you know, I got love for him, you
know what I'm saying. It just you know, it was
just hip hop. It was just an MC hip hop thing.
You know. I didn't really wish him any real ill
will you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 4 (32:42):
How was the with the You spoke earlier about working
with track masters? I want to ask you about the
Phenomenon album?

Speaker 2 (32:48):
Yeah, what was what was that like?

Speaker 4 (32:50):
And did y'all had yall relationship changed coming off either
for better for words, coming off of mister Smith going
in the Phenomenon, you.

Speaker 2 (32:57):
Know, Phenomenon like like the Phenomenon album was one of
those things where I just wanted to experiment. So I
went in the studio with Puff and messing around with
the Phenomenon song, and you know, me and Steve, you know,
had a conversation about it recently because I think now
in hindsight, they probably looked at it like I was
just kind of baling on them a little bit, But
in reality, I was trying to just be creative and

(33:19):
do different things and just work with different people in
experiment because I like working with different producers. I like
hearing different things. I like to I like that. I
enjoy it because I do this for fun too. I
don't do this just for a chart position or money.
I do it because I love it. So part of
that love is working with different artists and different producers

(33:41):
and being creative. So the phenomenon was fun, you know
what I'm saying, Like, you know, it was great. You
know Sally Richison on the records, I'm you know what
I'm saying, like an hour yeah, yeah, yeah, she was ooh,
mister Smith, Yeah yeah, yeah, she's cool. Wow, man, you

(34:03):
had I was gonna ask you had a record that drop?
It was. This has been some years ago. It was
called Take It. Oh yeah, Joe, Yeah, what happened? What happened?
It was? It wasn't It was a record that I
did on a I did it on a little independent label.
I did the album and I did a few, quite
a few songs with track masters on there, and I
just it didn't have distribution. And it was right around

(34:25):
the time when I started my TV show and see
I asked Los Angeles at the time, and I just
didn't have I didn't make the time to promote it
and really go after it and perform it and get
it out there. It was, it was it was on authentic.
It was yeah, it was on authentic and authentic as
an album was just kind of created in a little

(34:45):
bit of a vacuum. And you know, I was on
a TV set, you know, I just was experimented the
accidental racist. Damn right, let's talk about it. So you
know what I was trying to say with that song,
At least I thought I was articulating, because nobody absolutely agreed.
That's pretty clear, that's pretty obvious. What I was trying

(35:09):
to say is that you keep your shit to yourself.
I'll keep minding myself. How about that. Let's start there.
You know what I'm saying, like like we just knock going.
You know, you know, you keep your symbolism over there,
and I'll keep my symbolism over it. That's what I
was trying to say. But there is a level of
false equivalence there. It's hard to really connect the dots

(35:30):
on that because you can't compare you know, honestly, you
know what a Confederate flag stands for to what somebody
may perceive an outfit. To me, you just can't really
you can't really connect those you know what I mean,
I can't really connect that. So what I was trying
to say, what I was looking to say, is that
if we could get a little bit less judgment, maybe

(35:52):
it would help us function. You know, if we focused
more on what works and less on what doesn't work,
maybe it'll help us function better. That's what I was
trying to say. But I just didn't you know, I
just didn't get there. You know, I just missed the
jump shot. You know what I'm saying, Like it is
what it is. It's just that that ship bounced off
the back of the rim, crazy exploded, the backboard fell down,

(36:13):
the scoreboard fell down, My shorts ripped fell off that record.
The thing I remember about that record specifically, it came
out around the time when it was Twitter. It was
like Twitter was all about going ship with gold on
top of that ship went gold. It might be platting.

(36:34):
That's even even worse, you know what I mean, when
they started making the basketball player. So yeah, I did
not know that. Yeah, yeah it would go, but I
forgot about I got a back off that joint. Wow,
that was I'm just thinking that one back, yo, ill Bomb. Yeah,
that one, like Bill Bomb Now, that one a lot

(36:57):
of fun. That was like, you know, running around down
in the city, run around at queens, me and Bem
and you know, just run around in the city. And
you know, Flex asked me if I wanted to do something.
Scratch made the beat. I just went went in the
studio and everything I was saying on the record was
kind of like what we was living. We had the
strobe lights flashing on the trucks and all that. It
was all, you know, it was real. It was very real.

(37:19):
It was very real.

Speaker 1 (37:20):
I was gonna say, also, what's my joint on exits thirteen?

Speaker 2 (37:25):
You better watch me? Oh yeah, okay, So here's the thing.

Speaker 1 (37:28):
So I don't know if you know christ Chris Rocks
nickname is so what Guile Siri dubs Chris Rock. He
always calls him track nine because Chris is the type
of music fan that like doesn't go for the hit.

(37:48):
He goes for the filler. You know, He'll go for
Stevie Wonder's Yeah, like the filler cut that lets you
know he's a deep music fan. And when it came out,
he was just like, this is the one. How come
I wish like why was it more made of you?
Better watch me like that to me?

Speaker 2 (38:07):
You know, you know what's funny, man, I'll tell you
that it was like a winner. I think one of
the things that that happens, you know, and this happens
with labels, this happens with artists. You get so so
spoiled by instantaneous reactions that when you have records that
kind of hit a different part of your audience that

(38:27):
is not as reactive, you just don't know, you know,
don't know how to gauge it, you know what I'm saying.
Like I've had a lot of songs like that, Like
the dou Wop was a song that people like back
in the days, really really like. But I didn't know
back then how to react to that, how to react

(38:47):
to it, you know what I'm saying. I was gonna
ask you.

Speaker 1 (38:49):
If we could do that on tour, but I would
you know what after like we I mean, we kept
mister goodbar, but then there's like some other you just
kept cutting them off.

Speaker 2 (38:58):
Was like, ah, I don't never get Yeah, no, we did, Nitro,
he dropped it. Nitro. I was like, oh my god,
like oh boy, yeah, oh boy, oh boy, that's an
at wheeler right there? Good God? What was it life
working with the Bomb Squad? Excellent? Eric Yoor, Eric Sadler,
Keith and Hanks, Shockley, the way they worked on them,

(39:19):
the way they could. They built the beat in front
of you or is it wow? Yes, they built them
in front of me. Yeah. Yeah. It was crazy. Nitro
was crazy and it gets no rougher.

Speaker 1 (39:33):
You mentioned earlier that you have absolutely no qualms whatsoever
about scrapping an entire record, So just based on your history,
how much is in the ll cool J Cannon vault
from radio down to the Forest album?

Speaker 2 (39:54):
And will we ever see any of it? Will you
ever released of it? I'll never put any of it out.
I probably have you at least won't put none, and
you will like this can't come out possumously or I'm
not gonna do that. Not gonna do that. But we
got to see who lives? You know, we don't you
know no telling how that's gonna play. Give my help, Gerald, No, no,

(40:17):
I'm saying that, Gerald, We don't know no player. But
hey listen, I'm not talking tough in that one. I
don't know. I'm just so can you reveal? Can you
reveal what you revealed to me. Yeah, probably songs if
you made with you know who, oh to start there.
Oh so with Dre, me and Dre probably have about
forty songs. Yeah, did we doctor Dre? Yeah we had

(40:40):
we got we had Zoom that was on the bulwark
right right right, but we had you know, but we
got a lot of songs in the can, Like I
had a lot, Like I'll tell you a record that
was mine that he obviously he took my vocals off
because he ended up doing it because I was all
over the place. But that you know, that song I
was that was one of my points that yeah. Yeah, yeah,

(41:04):
me and Dre had did that first. Yeah, yeah, that
that one. Yeah, it was crazy. Quite a few of them,
it's been a lot of them, had a.

Speaker 3 (41:15):
Lot of damned that be he did real well, Oh
it killed it.

Speaker 2 (41:20):
It was dope. It was dope. I love you better man. Yeah,
I wasn't talking about that. Working with the Neptunes, what
was man, It was amazing working with Pharrell and and
with Chad and uh that's when they worked together still too,
and it was like, I mean it was dope. I
just you know, the one thing you know, what's crazy.
I was so focused on working out and getting ready

(41:42):
for the video. This is gonna sound really crazy. I
forgot to ask Pharrell to be in the video. I
literally forgot because I forgot, like like like, I forgot
to ask you. I wanted because I wanted. I wanted
for Rell to sing on the hook for Real did
the intro? Why didn't he sing that? He was like, no,

(42:03):
I don't want to do it. I want to I
want to put my man on. I'm like okay. And
so once he put Mark on the hook, then I
forgot that. He yeah to ask for Real to be
in the video, and I seen them one day, like
you asked me to black. I just felt crazy.

Speaker 3 (42:18):
But that's when you got that knife shelf down there
on your b So it was worth it for all
of us who was watching the.

Speaker 2 (42:22):
Video up all right now.

Speaker 1 (42:29):
I just want to know the things that we don't
know that's equivalent to chunking studios. For instance, do you
know who's singing on around the Way, girl?

Speaker 2 (42:37):
Uh, it's the Flex right, that's like Chris, not Chris.
But it was the Black Street. It was black before
they were black streets. So Lighty, Darren, Lighty, and all
of Yeah, it was them guys. Yeah it was great.
Is the flex and the driver remember yeah, yeah, yeah,
I don't know it was No, it was Lighty and
the other one. And Eric's Eric Eric. His name is Erica. Okay,

(43:06):
all right? Oh, yes, as we rapidfire? What is the
meaning I've always want to ask you this, What is
the meaning of blow titious? Yo? Yo? I mean it's
just blowtitious? Like you know what I mean? Like yo,
you know, me and my man Tie fight, yo, Tie,
and you know, you hilarious with this man like me
and me and Tod were seeing each other in the

(43:28):
swept like blow ticious. And then I just put it
on the record. Now everybody said, yo, he's talking about
you know, is he talking about trans he? Was he
talking about? Is he going left?

Speaker 1 (43:41):
Like?

Speaker 2 (43:41):
It's just blow titious? Stevie Delicious, skeeee Stevie Delicious, Give
me coops coops love me? Good God, damn hollis the Hollywood? Yes,
like this again we got alright, So that was so
that on that you know what I'm saying. And I

(44:05):
actually had another verse on on on the Flavoring your
Ear remix, and then I changed it to that one,
Papa love it that that record, the one, Yeah, Yeah,
I love that. Yeah. That was a cool one too.
That was fun. Damn. You know some some of them joints.
This is the part of the show where he does
yeah but okay.

Speaker 1 (44:21):
So, speaking of flavoring your ear, was there a rumor
I don't know who told me, maybe Zezriver told me.
Was that verse at all connected? I heard that that
was maybe he directed the Biggie or something like that
with why would I do that?

Speaker 2 (44:37):
But then the who shot then the I shot you.
I was in the studio with Big when he did
shot you. I was literally, this is someone trying to
make something bugging out. Yet, let me tell you something,
let me say something. That's why I'm asking some of
my no, no, no, it's all good. My record, Like
these songs were like sometimes I like it's just like
head sprung right. Sometimes I just do comedy on them joints.

(45:01):
Sometimes I just do shit that's stupid. Like sometimes I'm
consciously doing like Big Ellie a bit silly, big Money,
big really really with an R. I didn't say Big
Willie and Big Billy and all these you know. So
so between that, like saying that or doing his ship low.

(45:21):
It just sounded good to me.

Speaker 1 (45:23):
I will say that, Yes, you are your your level
of humor on record, and people ask me on your
scissor World, I'm like, oh, God, home and use this
because you know, everyone was like, give you your favorite
l record and I was like, Yo, I'm sorry, but
you can't dance.

Speaker 2 (45:37):
It's my favorite song of all time. You look like
a moro. Yo. That's my favorite shit of all time. Yo.
They put a patch on it.

Speaker 1 (45:47):
Yes, that's what I'm saying, Like for me, can you
your your level of humor? Your evil laughter?

Speaker 2 (45:53):
All? That's my favorite shit of all time. I really
love the force the new song Oh thank You? So
you still get the same rush from writing a song
that you did when you made I Need to Beat
one hundred percent. I love it. I mean, you know, like,
I love the fact that the way people address the
idea of me having an album is going to be

(46:15):
very different after I put this record out, because right
now it's kind of like a warm and fuzzy cute.
All that's cute, and let's talk about what you've done,
because that's just the nature of our game, right Because
when you do something a long time the bar goes
up and the expectations go down. Right, So my bar
is up here and the expectations for what I'm going

(46:37):
to deliver is down here, and so we you know,
you have to be self aware with that, right. So
I love it, you know, I love you know, making songs,
and I love the challenge of showing people what's possible
in hip hop. We haven't had an artist that's been
out multiple decades to put records out that really have impact.

(46:58):
We've had quotables, we've had critical acclaim, you know, we've
had everything kind of in between there, but we haven't
heard anybody really smash them. Yeah, nah, man, it's change.
I was when we were at the four Stour.

Speaker 4 (47:11):
I was just sitting there and I'm watching it and like,
you know, this is you know, rock Cam, this is everybody, Daylight,
everybody some of my favorite rap routs all time. But
I was just really watching your performance and it really
reminded me of something like a mirror you would say,
like how what you're saying like kind of like the
curse of the straight A students, so to speak, Like
no one you have so much longevity.

Speaker 2 (47:29):
And so much consistently so good. We take it for granted, Taking.

Speaker 4 (47:32):
For granted, And I'm just watching thefore and I'm like,
I'm watching it, but I'm like, yo, I know these
songs like and I don't think people really give you
that credit as an MC. They give you the credit
as you know, breaking being a pioneer and all that,
but I'm just like, yo, funck all that.

Speaker 2 (47:46):
If we just talking RAPSG like ll is probably the
most quotable rapper ever, Like I knew all the songs.
I think that's I think that's I think that's probably
you know, Look, that's all subjective, right, Like, I don't
really concern myself with that part of it. What I
will tell you is this, obviously I'm good enough to
still be here. So that's a start. I mean, because

(48:16):
you were telling your story and I'm like, it's not
an eighty damn bro. And when the album comes a
lot of them gonna listen, They're gonna listen. Can you
tell us like you told us it was you and Tip.
That's really kind of all you told us.

Speaker 1 (48:27):
Was you?

Speaker 2 (48:28):
Right? Yeah? You know, I'll just just driving on what
season is it coming? What season is to be cold outside? Soon? Come?
How do you I'm regaining your masters back from that. Ye,
how did you do that? It just it just worked out.
I mean, you know people you own your masters? Yeah,
he should? Should you open that place? Crazy? By the way,

(48:52):
there's a song. So when I'm was teaching the n
y U there's a song.

Speaker 1 (48:56):
I don't know how well now that poss explain to
me a whole like how two inch tapes are whatever
a rare commodity. There's an actual LL song on one
of the Nation a millions reels that I never heard before.
It was just like one verse, probably because that's probably

(49:18):
Rick Rick probably just like a raven shit And yeah,
probably that makes.

Speaker 2 (49:21):
A lot of sense because you know, it's funny, like
a lot of the original Public Enemy songs. At the time,
Rick came to me and he was like, yo, he
wanted me to record Uzie ways a ton wow. And
I was like and I was like yeah, he was like,
do you want to record it? I'm like, well, what
do you mean. He's like, well, you just do the song.
I said no, I write my own rhymes though. Rick,
He's like, oh, okay, okay, okay, So then he did.

(49:44):
He ended up doing Public Enemy. You know what I'm saying, so,
you know, so he brought me UZI ways a ton.
He brought me like he wanted me to record a
lot of those PE songs. You know what I'm saying,
Oh my god, you had a reck I'm on the
Street Fight the soundtrack the Light, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah?
What was I was just wilding, man like, just having fun.

(50:05):
Like a lot of the songs are like become like
jam sessions, just vibing and then say, yo, I keep that.
I like it. You know what I'm saying. I don't
like for me to be honest with you, you know.
And this goes back to the MC comment that you
kind of that you were talking about. Like the difference
between me and a lot of the other guys is
that for a lot of them, they're always focused on

(50:26):
being as descriptive and as creative and as clever as
they possibly can lyrically on every song. I don't do that.
I go for the feeling of the song, whatever the
song requires to feel good. That's what I do. It
is I'm not so so what does But what that
does is you get in situations where you only need
twelve points to win, sometimes you need forty five. Sometimes

(50:49):
you need seven. Sometimes you need nineteen as opposed to
a guy who's always out there trying to go to
thirty forty every night. That's the so creatively, that's why
I probably am not in a lot of those conversations
because that's not my focus. I look at guards like
Michael Jackson. I look at Rick James, I look at

(51:10):
you know, James Brown. I look at you know, these artists,
Marvin Gay. I look at these different artists and the
thing that they all have in common is the feeling.
It wasn't about just the lyrics, right, the technical lyric
was not what made you feel good? You know what
I mean?

Speaker 4 (51:28):
Nah, I mean because we sang the whole flavor in
ear verse and blow t is ain't even real word,
but it just it's so good, you know what I mean.

Speaker 2 (51:36):
But I bet you you know if if in a
certain scenario, if you said you're like blow you know
what I mean, like you just it's just a vibe,
So that was you don't say I'm saying no. That's why,
like my catalog is the way it is, because part
of being able to run fast is being confident enough

(51:56):
to run slow. Damn you know, you know, you know,
being it, you know what I mean, that's part of it.
I ain't all the time, you know, because you know
you see Hussein boat jogging, You're like, oh, he ain't
really fast. It's like he's jogging. Okay, you know you
understand I'm saying. So that's kind of part of But

(52:18):
I think that I have to stick with that. I
have to be myself. I don't want to be fighting
for my lyrical life on every song. That's not what
it's about because people don't need that for me. For me,
what they need is to be touched in their souls.
So whatever the song requires, that's what I'm gonna do.
You already do that for now.

Speaker 1 (52:39):
I have one point five questions because you already mentioned
his name and I forgot what was it like? Cay
telling the process of making serious effect with Michael Jackson.

Speaker 2 (52:48):
Mike is hilarious man. So like, first of all, you
walk in the studios a ladies traffic, I'm like, yo,
Mike's in traffic is hilaric. Like, but we had a
good job, man, Yeah, we had sobody, you know, we
had so much fun. And just what year was that made?
Like I found this around on around the I'm bad
around the bad a little bit after the bad area, like, no,

(53:11):
my bad, there's a bad battle, yeah, Radio Lee Bay.
Oh yeah, they came out on Radio School. I came
out first, the Battle the bad albums. It's going to
be right here, Yo, No, it definitely ain't. And so
I was like, yo, you know, just working with Mike
was just it was just a lot of fun, you

(53:32):
know what I'm saying. We had a good time in
the studio. We hung out, you know what I'm saying.
We were always cool. It was great. Plus, you know,
I spent so much much time with Quincy Jones. You know,
he taught me a lot about career between him and
Lino Richie. So now it was amazing. It was amazing.

Speaker 1 (53:48):
Okay, So my my final question is when when we
first started rehearsing, we of course had to put off
a few days because you just became a yeah yeah
three times over, which made me think, like, how what
advice could you give us those who are in budding relationships,

(54:10):
dice who are newly married and whatever, how to maintain uh,
your sanity and your family and also career be a
career because I think I think it's rather like notable
and applause worthy that you know, you and Simone have
made it through the storm.

Speaker 2 (54:29):
You have kids and and all that successful business too.
I would love some ear rings. We could work that out.
I think. I think, Look, man, I think what I
what I've learned, man, is where I'm starting as I
ain't playing detective. Okay, it ain't gonna be no detective
work involved. I'm not doing that. Okay, it's no detective work.

(54:50):
So it's gonna be what it's gonna be. All right,
I'm starting it. Let's go because I need sanity and
I need to be calm and relaxed, and that's it.
So I'm not doing no detective work. Okay, I ain't
coughing nothing, and I ain't playing detective. So I'm out
that game. Okay, So now you just take it off
about fifty percent of your drama everything, right. I put

(55:11):
that with that, just like, Okay, no detective work. That's
first thing. Second thing is I'm gonna try to help
facilitate your dreams, make your dreams come true, right, help
you with your dream make sure you write. And then
the third thing is I'm gonna always go after my
dreams and my purpose wholeheartedly you know what I'm saying.

(55:32):
And the better I take care of me, the better
I can take care of you. You know what I'm saying.
And then you know, then there's little things. You know,
you can't be afraid of silence, man, you know what
I'm saying, Like, we ain't got to be talking. Man,
It's all right.

Speaker 1 (55:49):
When I tell you, when I tell you, there's one
point by day for where the roof a daily tab
on ll idioms her way past, like wake up and
smell the coffee. I'm not playing literally, I'm going I
missed out.

Speaker 2 (56:11):
Oh all right? In the house, yeah yeah, the one
the pants leg? How did that? Was that? Just something? Yeah?
I did it? Listen the bike messages in New York
did it? I liked it because they used to do
it for that episode of Oil. Wouldn't get on their chain,
the chain, so I'm like, yo, I'm rolling my joint up.

Speaker 3 (56:31):
Man.

Speaker 2 (56:31):
I just started wearing it like that and it took
on the life of his own. But my favorite thing
about that is that's my son on the theme song
in the house. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, wow, last
yeah I put them on there. Debbie did a sitcom too, Yeah,
I did the sitcom with Debbie Allen the last time
she acted in the sitcom. It was amazing. Working with
Debbie was great. She's she's amazing.

Speaker 3 (56:51):
Okay, last last question, No more films, because you've been
asked for a minute.

Speaker 2 (56:55):
Well, I just we just wrapped and c I asked,
we did fourteenth seasons.

Speaker 3 (57:00):
I have a.

Speaker 2 (57:02):
Well, I guess I could talk about a little bit
with the tentative deal. I got to reoccur role on
n CIS Hawaii, and then I got some films that
that I'm looking at. Yeah, I got some films. I
got some films I'm looking at for sure.

Speaker 1 (57:14):
I think we've asked absolutely everything. Cool, James Todd smith Man, No,
for real. I I know every time we like thank
you whatever and like give you the presidential but for real,
when I say thank.

Speaker 2 (57:28):
You, I'm happy to be here. Man.

Speaker 1 (57:30):
You're literally one of my favorite creative human beings ever.
And the thing is is that, as we said before,
you make it look so effort like literally it's like
Steph Curry, Like after a while you're.

Speaker 2 (57:43):
Just like, all right, great, it's going in like a
big deal.

Speaker 1 (57:46):
All right. But yeah, and I think now, especially in
light of the onslaught of death that hip hopics experience
a lot of premature careers. Cut and Frank also seeing
a lot of brothers just self sabotage their things, like
that's why I'm watching people, and like you're you're a

(58:08):
really exemplary of human beings that aren't afraid even if
you make.

Speaker 2 (58:12):
A misstep, like it's like, okay, well that didn't work.
What else is there in the territory? Right? And I
would say this, I would say in terms of the
self sabotage, just to just to put some words out
there in the universe for people. You don't limit yourself, right,
you know what I'm saying, You don't limit yourself. You
have to be comfortable with them. We're seeing something bigger

(58:34):
for your life, and you have to be comfortable with
that idea. A lot of people think they're comfortable with it,
but the reality is when they every time they say
that they self talk to themselves about doing something big,
there's a little voice that jumps in there and says
it's not possible because it's gonna require you to change.
It's gonna require you to change, And a lot of
it is also just fear based and kind of feeling

(58:57):
like everybody, a lot of people feel success is like
hitting a lot of and it's not. You know what
I'm saying, it's it's the effect is like hitting the
lot of But the journey isn't, you know what I'm saying.
So so, so, you gotta be willing to believe in
yourself and that aspect of yourself, and you gotta really believe.

(59:18):
You gotta believe, man, you can't be limited. You gotta
believe in yourself and believe in the power inside of
you to do something greater with your life. You know
what I'm saying. And that really is something that you
know when you when you're drifting off to sleep at night.
You have to envision something greater for your life. You
have to take make a conscious effort to control your
thoughts on a daily basis so that you're seeing yourself

(59:40):
go to the to the height you want to go to.
You can't just be your Your mind shouldn't be like
a cork just thrown in the ocean, just randomly bouncing around.
You should be very intentional about what you want out
of life. I need you to gather everyone in hip
hop and just lock them in camp and just op. Yeah.

(01:00:00):
I just yeah, that was a moment that was definitely
put that off because they you know, they was, you
can't do it. They can't I own this, Okay, so
they knew no owned it, but ing below, I get it.

(01:00:21):
I was the car side, didn't know what's your car?
All right, I'm gonna be.

Speaker 1 (01:00:30):
Having Fan Tigelow and Sugar, Steve Man, unpaid Bill and
Light yea man, I mean you don't want to rate?
Why do what I do?

Speaker 2 (01:00:38):
Thank you great James Stott Smith has finally come on
this question. We don't need no more. Episodes were good.
Thank you so much. We appreciate it.

Speaker 5 (01:00:46):
Till on, loan bro, thank you, thank you for listening
to The Quest Love Supreme. This podcast is hosted by
a mere quest Love Thompson like Saint Claire, Vante Coleman, Sugar,
Steve Mandell, and myself.

Speaker 2 (01:01:00):
Unpaid Bill Sherman.

Speaker 5 (01:01:01):
The executive producers are Mer just walked into the goddamn
room Thompson, Sean g and Brian Calhoun. Produced by Britney Benjamin,
Jake Pain and Ia Sinclair. Edited by Alex Conroy I
know Alex Conroy. Produced for iHeart by Noel Brown and
Mike Johns. Auto engineering by Graham Gibson at Iheart's La Studio.
Thank You very Much.

Speaker 1 (01:01:21):
West Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (01:01:27):
For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.