September 28, 2022 • 55 mins
In Part 2 of the QLS interview, Steve Rifkind tells Team Supreme about giving Mobb Deep a second chance, discovering Akon, and how he has returned to the music business with the same passion.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
What if y'all it's unpaid bill Quest Love Supreme. We
are back with part two of the Quest Love Supreme
Interview with Steve Rick. You've co founded Loud Records or
put out some critible albums by Wu Tang, Ray Kwan, Mob, Deep,
and Mourn. If you haven't listened to part one, please
check it out. Steve talks about growing up in his
music industry, James Brown, coming to a bar mitzvah, his
relationship with Tupac, and putting out some hip hop classic
check it.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
I will say that my first listen to that.
Speaker 4 (00:34):
Album thirty six Cuban lens.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Oh, thirty six Chambers.
Speaker 5 (00:39):
So the day that both Marauders and and the Wu
Tank comes out, and we're driving up ninety five from
Philly listening to this, and you know, I know it's
not not since Princess fan Base with the album Dirty Mind.
If I heard what I deem like revision on an
(01:00):
opinion of the record when I first heard the Wu
Tang record, and not that I was looking from like
a commercial standpoint or an underground standpoint, but I just
never heard something so dirty in my life I don't know.
It's like this is way too underground for regular people,
and yet it almost became the pinnacle of me.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
It's weird.
Speaker 5 (01:24):
It's like they became they became the epicenter in the
mainstream of the system that they were against, which you know,
I wasn't complainings power.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Oh yeah they do.
Speaker 6 (01:37):
But I just mean they still are still they're not
they still not look at it.
Speaker 5 (01:40):
I don't mean, I don't mean, like in a four
letter word way, like they're mainstream, right, No, But I'm
just saying that I there's no way you were going
to tell me on that first listen that this group
which was.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Going to be the alpha and the mega in the
epicenter of what.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
But let me ask you a question. Sorry for cutting
you off when you heard when you heard Cream and
can it be for the first time?
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Well yeah, well yeah, well yeah, what did I remember?
Speaker 4 (02:10):
I remember hearing Cream for the first time in the
studio singles? I knew. I mean I knew actually before
because I was on the road. I moved to New York,
and I opened up the New York office, and I
opened up and I took an apartment in New York,
and now I was by Coastal. But but at the
end of the day when Cream came out and I
(02:31):
forget about the mess on dollar dollar bill and with
that meant to me or whatever. But I just knew
that this album there was something fucking special about it.
Then three months later, my office in LA was on
Melrose and King's Road where Cookies is literally the building
with Cookies is, And I'm going to the deli to
(02:52):
grab a sandwich and I see this white kid head
down to hear on a fucking skateboard with the old
Wu Tang Scully singing Wu Tank cleaning the up with
and I knew, get go. I said at my age,
now I'm sixty years old. Now, I said, when I'm
fucking sixty, they're still going to be around.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 5 (03:12):
In my mind it was just like again, I gotta
go back to the first Jungle Brothers record. Like the
Jungle Brothers first album, Straight Out the Jungle was just
like an inside secret for like real heads. Meanwhile, like
mainstream America only feels Hammer Vanilla Ice like more you.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Know, mainstream rappers.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
And one question, though, yes, Jungle Brothers was on Tommy
Boy correct.
Speaker 5 (03:39):
Uh no, no, no, that's day lot Soul. Jungle Brothers was
on Warlock and then went to Warner Brothers for the
second album. Okay, and I was just like, just to me,
I you know, once once Cream started picking them Traction,
I was like, wait a minute, this is almost like
if Straight out the Jungle by the Jungle Brothers really
(04:01):
got a chance.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Now.
Speaker 5 (04:02):
I mean, there's a lot of factors into the success
of Wu Tang Clan, but what I was basically leading
up to was upon first listen of that entire record,
you knew you had lightning in a bottle in your possession.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
Yeah, I knew we had Like Outcast was throwing a party.
When did their album came out to summer ninety four.
I know, I was at a party, an album release party.
I was with Steve Staff, okay, and I mean I
think I think Clark Hill was DJing. The HD record
came on and we're talking, and also everybody just went
(04:45):
straight to the to the dance floor and losing the
fucking mind. And that's when I knew that there was
That was like my first like I needed to see
it with my own eyes, right, And that's why I
like to be outside. So it was like at the
end of the day, like when I see something with
my eyes and that's what made me move to New
York and open up shop in New York. And then
(05:08):
you remember the new music seminar. Yes, right then said clock,
let's find the club areas. Whose area? And they let
me do a showcase with the Licks Twister and all
of New York showed up.
Speaker 5 (05:23):
Shout out to G two Wu Tang's trustee, one of
their many street team people that I've associated Wu with.
G used to be part of the Princeton hip hop
circle that you know, yeah, but you know he would
also work the Philadelphia market like it would have like
(05:46):
his side guys also or I don't know if G
was part of Rifkins street promotion team or Brizes personal people,
but that's how I got hit to them, all right,
So I have to ask you the other side of
the coin too, because a big part of my personal
success was also being the guy on standby whenever somebody
(06:12):
would mess up. I e blah blah blah, it's not
going to make it to the show. Can you guys
get here in twelve hours? Uh da da da just
dropped out, yo, Can you guys fly in next week
and literally at the beginning of Wu tank Forever, I
swear to God, at least sixty percent of my entire
(06:33):
output of doing shows were based on Wu Tang shows
not attended.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
During the during the period of ninety seven.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
You talking about the Wu Tang grade to get some machine.
Speaker 5 (06:49):
To starting then, but just basically, you know, like the
roots of mine as well have been you know, the
twelfth member of the Wu Tang clan, because literally is like, uh,
we were supposed to come or whatever designated who member
was supposed to show up, and okay, we'll get the
roots instead. So for me though in nineteen ninety seven,
(07:14):
and I have my theories about this, what are year
feelings on Wu Tang Forever.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
It's a double album?
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Right, but did you get goosebumps.
Speaker 4 (07:30):
On certain songs? All right? The album? I mean it
was a double album. So, like I said, I never
considered myself in a and I got goosebumps on Triumph,
I got goosebumps. I've got the name of the kid,
it's yours. And there was one and then and there
was one more record which I would have well, I
really got goosebumps. But at the end of the day.
(07:52):
I put that twittergether between Wu Tang and Rage right right,
and you know we first million dollar hip hop video.
Brett Rattner directed it.
Speaker 5 (08:04):
Oh yeah, look, no nothing is, but I just from
my perspective, ah that okay. So, first of all, I
feel like the strength of Triumph was that it was
the first offering. I mean, you know, it could have
been like name any other song that it could have
(08:26):
been dog shit, the song not actual dog shit. I mean,
it could have been Reunited. It could it could have
been whatever whatever. The first song from that album was
gonna come forth, was gonna be everything.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
It Reunited was a song that it's Triumph, and right,
why didn't reunite it? To me? The opening Reunited, I
mean first, you know, was ridiculous in that. I mean
they started fighting. So let me just tell you where
I am, right, right, Dicky Passes few months before that, right,
(09:02):
m H. Me and Puff had conversations before Big Pass
who's gonna come first? We were Biggie and we were
both coming with a double album. So Big was always
gonna come first, right because I didn't really we didn't.
We weren't having radio records, right, so we have bread
(09:23):
through the video and like you said, whatever the video was,
the video, the video was. But to me, they were
a rock and roll group or they were a group. Right,
So the Rage tour mm hmm was right. We sold
date Leon records on that album if they finished that tour,
(09:43):
mm hmm, right, because we already we started in Florida
and we were coming up to New York, so that
was already home base, like and sales were going up.
Now we're gonna do the bump fuck you know, like
the mid mid Indiana right the mid mid, mid, mid, Midwest,
(10:05):
and West coast. That album would have sold twenty million
records and that was always my plan if we should
have went diamond.
Speaker 5 (10:12):
So I agree with you, it should have went diamond.
I you know, I don't know the exact conditions.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
I don't you know. I know it was a fire.
I always felt like, ah, whenever whenever someone gets a.
Speaker 5 (10:28):
Good formula and they change it. I wish they didn't
make that record in California. I wish they would have stayed.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Well. The problem was, if you saw the show, Ris's
house got flooded. Everything was destroyed, right, so that he
had he had to start from scratch, anyway, and with
everybody having solo recket, I understand what you're saying. Right
with everybody, with everybody having solo records in New York,
you're being pulled ten different waves. Everybody's being pultended. Hot
(10:58):
they were one plant plass, plat plat, So it's like
they're getting so them being in one house together and
to create that unity how they had it on the
first album. Granted it wasn't hiding and it wasn't in
a basement right right, but the house got flooded and
everything was everything was destroyed.
Speaker 5 (11:19):
Can I ask though, I kind of feel like the
end of that rain kind of not the end of
that rain, but least the stronghold of that initial period
was the Hot ninety seven situation.
Speaker 4 (11:37):
Uh, with that that was a bad situation. I was
on my back.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Could you have rectified that situation?
Speaker 5 (11:44):
Or like, how do you in terms of are you
the type of CEO that has to talk to the
artists to stop them from sabotaging their progress or whatever?
Or could you explain the story that whole Hot nine
seven situation and then like Hot ninety seven not playing
Wu Tang anymore, and I.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Wasn't I was. I was on a plane. I was
it was my bachelor party, Okay, I was flying from
Dallas to Atlanta, and you know we land and by
phones blowing the fuck up. But you know, I have
all pretty much my senior executives with me. You know.
It was my brother, was a partner, my best friend,
(12:27):
my childhood best friend, Rich you know, was a partner,
Mojo who's you know, became a brother and running promotion.
You know that they were all with me. And I'm
getting just when everybody had to, you know, not even
the two ways, just a page still and like what
the fuck's happening? And I couldn't get Risen on the phone.
(12:48):
And then Tracy, who was the program there had ninety
seven yes, just called me. I'm getting married for fucking days,
like called me and said scope fuck yourself, like you know,
just like I mean, if she was a dude, who
wouldn't want to fist, right, But she.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Didn't know that, you personally like she she was venting, right.
Speaker 4 (13:12):
I don't even think she was so mad. I don't
even think she went to the wedding. And she was
invited to the wedding. Don't forget wu Tang was the
first rap record that ninety seven fucking played. They were
a dance station.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Hot ninety seven was also on that new Rap work Day, right,
more music, less rap. They were on that.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
No, they weren't a rap I mean, no said it
was a dance station like right, and then Flex was
I mean, between Flex and Angie, they're the ones that
took it to a whole different place where Flex had
to show on the weekends, you know, and then think
you know, and then thank god, you know, Puff came
a flavor in the year, and there was some you know,
and then finally you know, right, and he was making
(13:55):
those records like so thank god for him, you know,
So there was it.
Speaker 5 (14:01):
Was absolutely unrepairable. I guess for our listeners that are hearing,
you know, they're they're doing summer jam and uh, you know,
I don't know if it's ghost face or I forgot who.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
Said something out of line ninety seven. They don't play
our ship, you know.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
Listen, let's keep it one hundred. There were seventy five
thousand fucking people that right, right, they're making a fortune.
So we were we were on tour with Rage, right,
and at the end of it, we weren't getting paid
a lot of money yet right, yeah, really a rage
tour and and ghost you know, should he have said it?
Speaker 5 (14:42):
No, but I'm about to say that don't help with
your argument, which, like, just to to be clear, artists
do not get paid for doing summer else.
Speaker 4 (14:51):
No, no, but no, now they get you know, they
started getting paid a few years not a few years ago.
There's a few years after that they were getting paid
big dollars.
Speaker 6 (14:58):
I see, I see your Nicki Minaj is not getting
paid these yeah, for Hot ninety seven.
Speaker 5 (15:03):
Well no, I mean, but just black artists in general,
just you know, you just those radio step to black
radio that you yeah, I'll do it for free, you know,
as long as you keep playing my records. But so
there was literally absolutely no.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
She no. So for a whatch they even banned all
loud records.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
What yeah, this is the thing.
Speaker 6 (15:29):
But this is what was happening to, right, Steve, something wrong,
That's what I mean.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
I mean, me and Tracy were friends. Who else is
she gonna take that out of?
Speaker 6 (15:39):
But you know, amir, this happened in Philly with beans
like it I had with Foxy Brown with death Jam
when she cussed out Kobe and they said we pay
ain't playing these records for a minute like that.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
I did not know that.
Speaker 5 (15:53):
Okay, So with actually you mentioned Puff, I was gonna
ask with the with the opening sketch of side three
or side two of the Purple tape of Ray Kwan
when they kind of, you know, draw a line in
the sand with bad Boy and Wu Tang, I e
(16:16):
the I guess by that point in ninety five, Bad
Boys establishing himself as more of a mainstream.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Middle on the aisle.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
I mean no, I mean, look, we got to give credit,
what credits to I mean, Puff had everybody. I mean
he he had the palm the world in the palm
of his hands. He was coming with it hit and
you know what what ray Go said, you know, being
Puff spoke. He goes, what was that about? I said,
I don't know, you know, I have no idea, but
I go, let's just keep it. We're in two totally
(16:52):
different lanes. We're not even in the same freeway, like
you know, I'm just using New York like you know,
we're on the northern state. They're on the I E.
You know, And it's just like I'm not trying to
compete and think he's making radio radio records. We're still
making records for the street, and I'm not like I'm
trying to help Puff get as much as he possibly
(17:14):
can like so and you know, and they worked it
out a few months later.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
So I always wanted to know what the response was,
because you know, I.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
Yeah, no, wh when Shulk said fuck New York or whatever,
whatever the hell he said, it's the sorta wars right
that that that's when we all they all reunited again, right,
And that was that was like two weeks after we
came out with the album Wow.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
So were you there for hip Hop's funeral? I was there?
Speaker 4 (17:41):
No, I wasn't there with my son was just born.
So I pretty much was taking.
Speaker 6 (17:49):
Can I ask a question real quick about these records
since you have such not made for radio records, but
yet and still it seems like you got to a
stride where y'all were picking like amazing singles I had.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
I had the best an our step to this day.
That person there was a it was a team. Who
was was a guy name of Maddie who actually discobbed Bigie.
He worked at Yes Right was a guy right Scott
Free started off as my assistant and he got himself
into an r quickly stretched Armstrong who had the stretch
(18:23):
of babidosh. Yeah, and then he was he was the
first one. And then the guy named is Sean C.
Speaker 5 (18:35):
King Yes, yeah, yes, yes, speaking of Maddie C my deep,
I remember getting shook one's part one. How in the
world did you guys manage to on the second go
round again capsure lightning in the bottom like the Street Team.
Speaker 4 (18:59):
So I was saying, the streets don't lie. The record
was cool, it did what it was supposed to do,
but it wasn't a fucking smash. And we came in there,
you know, and I said, Mattie, what are we gonna do?
You know, you know, we're cool, but this is not
going to drive any anything home. And he goes, as
(19:23):
a matter of fact, Havoc just did a remix last night.
Here it is, and you heard it, and we heard it.
And I was on my way to how can I
be down? And I had a walkman, not even at
this man, I had a walk man. And I was
in a car with them stretching Barbido and I was
on my me and Barbido. I used to play basketball,
(19:43):
and there was like some type of celebrity game mhm,
and they lost their mind. And you know they were
they were the first one to play it. They played it,
we gave it the flex. This is September October. And
then when we came back after Christmas, it's the biggest
record in New York.
Speaker 5 (20:03):
So but I'm saying, in your mind, it wasn't like,
oh well that didn't make it all right? What else
you guys got? Like no, I think another an R
or CEO would have just been like, oh well that's
still born.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
So what else? What else is down the pike? But
now it's just when the data song like that.
Speaker 4 (20:25):
Well, when they when they came to the office, I
knew they were the perfect bike. Who is your first child?
And I got my first check and my first plaque
and everything else like that. But you know, when you
give a jab, you got to come with a cross
or a hook right fuck right away? Right So Who
(20:46):
definitely shook people and got everybody's attention. But when we
came with Bob, that's when everybody we knew. Everybody knew
that Lad was for real and I still had the
marketing cope. So the bigger lab got the bigger the
marketing company that the bigger the marketing company, the more
people wanted to be a lab. And we were like
we were like three for three. You know, well met
(21:09):
cap we made a little bit of money, but it
just did a little over one hundred, but you know,
lick it and go go. But the licksid three hundred thousand.
We did two million on the first record, and you know,
and Mob did you know they won't planting them on
the first alt So even with.
Speaker 5 (21:25):
You knowing, like because me, you know, I knew of
and I had the fourth and Broadway Mob d from
the back, Yeah, yeah, hit back and all that stuff like,
but in your mind you were like, yeah, these guys
are going to still be a thing.
Speaker 4 (21:42):
Yeah. I mean they came to the office they want
I don't know if they were gonna smoke a cigarette.
They were gonna smoke a blump. But they went to
the bathroom and this is in like, you know, a
corporate building, right, and they lit pro Proudigy wasn't there
because he was sick that time. It was having and
you know some of the guys twelve guys and the
(22:03):
sprinklers just went off. I said, they're a perfect follow
up to That's.
Speaker 5 (22:10):
So you there still had to be an edge or
a rot or an element of of your groups that authenticity.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
I see, I see.
Speaker 6 (22:22):
Do you mind telling us like a prodigy story just
because you know, we were one of the last shows
that he did before we lost him.
Speaker 4 (22:30):
He was like a I mean, he was a brother
to me. I mean, just like he had such a good,
good soul and you know, he just wanted to learn,
and he was like a sponge. I think his oldest
son or is my oldest son that I think they're
like four or five months apart. And he would say,
(22:52):
is your son coming to the office. I'm like, I
don't know why he was. I need to come up,
and I got my kid with me. You know, if
he was coming up, that means he must have been
going over some artwork or whatever he was going through.
So we were fortunate enough, you know, to have a nanny.
So I'm like, I'll make sure you see what time
are you going to be here? So I just had
(23:12):
to get approval for my wife and you know, and
then nanny would watch, you know, both babies, you know,
and he and he was appreciated, like and you know,
we could have arguments and say fuck you, to each other.
But at the end of the day we would both say,
(23:33):
you know, but I love you and you know, And
it wasn't like we were just fighting for what we felt.
And it was never about money. It was always about
maybe a single or a tour or something like that.
It's not like we already spent this and we're not
going It was just it was about passion and really
what was going to get to the next level.
Speaker 5 (23:53):
After the jay Z incident in two thousand and one,
did you like, how does a lead we'll CEO respond
to that to like your back just get the next
record ready?
Speaker 3 (24:07):
Actually, wait, can you explain the situation to me? You
know again, I was in.
Speaker 4 (24:13):
LA for the summer. I remember getting the call and
I wanted to call Bain. I'm like, where the fuck
did you get that picture? Like how did you get
the picture? Right?
Speaker 3 (24:22):
So, oh, we're going to get you know, want to
get on this show? Yeah? I got the t on
that join all right.
Speaker 4 (24:37):
So so so at the end, at the end of
the day, it's like, man, like, let's just get to
work and not even about this and Jay or whatever.
It's like, what's it saying? Sticks and stones may break
your bones? But names will never army. So I mean, yeah,
we got one on the chin, but you know what,
we're still standing. And it's not how many times you fall,
how many times you get up.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
Why did you decide to sell the label in ninety.
Speaker 4 (25:06):
Nine because I wanted, I you know, when I was
selling to Sony, we willing to be the third major
in the Sony system, right Columbia Epic and now it
is going to be us And and it really wasn't
about the money. It was more about my ego, which
you know, was fucked up. I was like, all right,
(25:26):
we're going to be the third major, and I'm going
to be able to have this be on the same
playing field as Jimmy as you know, as every as
everybody else, because I always felt we weren't on the
same playing field. And it ended up being the biggest
mistake of my life.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
So you left in ninety nine. So like the whole
Project Pat period, and that that whole.
Speaker 4 (25:51):
Came three six Mathia're like, we broke three six Mathild,
We broke Project Pat, we broke Flip pun Past. During
that time, we had Murder music. Divina was before Divina
was like ninety five ninety six but ninety eight, right
around the fun time, so that you know, and it
(26:12):
was just I never played a corporate game before. You know,
we went from a staff of thirty people to the coolest,
most creative company out there on both aspects, on the
marketing side of things and then on the record side
of things. You know, we did the deal and next
thing you know, I have the staff at three hundred people,
and I'm like, what the fuck is this? Like there
(26:33):
was this woman God bless us soul. Her name was
Toba Hoffman, and you know, she was in the sixties,
calling me mister rifkin I'm thirty five years old, thirty
six years old, Like please don't call me mister Rifkett,
you know, and she was just and I knew then
it was like how much how much time do we
have left in this fucking deal? And it was just
like I was stuck for three years. I started having
(26:55):
panic attacks and anxiety attacks. I was like, I just
couldn't wait to get the fuck out. And it was
the first time I didn't know which way to look
because I thought I was getting hit every which way
I got from corporate.
Speaker 5 (27:09):
Now there's another Philadelphia connection that you kind of have.
My good friend Charles Stone the third, who directed many
of Roots Video, made his debut with the Street classic
called Paid Him Full, which is I believe one of
(27:31):
your first loud film.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
Could you talk about the process of getting into the movies.
Speaker 4 (27:37):
Again, I didn't want to be in it. We were
doing all we were doing all of Mirror Max's marketing
through the marketing company. Now you know, we're branching out.
Now I have every film studio MGM, Mirror Max, Warner Brothers,
plus the records and the Street Team. Marketing went to
Corporate America and I sold twenty five percent comp me
(28:00):
to a company called in a Public at that time,
which was the largest advertising holding company in the world. Okay,
so Merri Max wants There's a guy named Scott Lambert
who was an agent William Marris, who was just a
really good good friend, a really good friend of mine.
And he says, Merri Max wants to do urban films,
like I can get you a three picture deal. And
(28:21):
I'm like, huh, you know, he's like he was a
brother to me. I'm like, got it, that's not gonna happen.
Why would they give me a three picture deal? So
he sets up a meeting. I don't want to say hard.
I think it was Bob winste but I couldn't. I
couldn't stand Bob. I already had a fight with him
once and I beat this ship out of him.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
He meantphis, Oh yeah, yeah, all right, we have those
questions too, like.
Speaker 4 (28:52):
I mean, he mean, he was just a fucking prick.
I mean, but when the big earthquake in La happened,
my office was destroyed. I had to send a reported
because I don't give a fuck who died, who did who?
Speaker 5 (29:03):
That?
Speaker 4 (29:04):
And I said this, I said, the next time I
see you, I promise you to smack the ship. And
I hung it and I hung up the phone. A
year and a half later, my son is four weeks old.
He was born in June tenth July, fourth weekend, nineteen
ninety five. I'm pulling off. I took a house in
the Hamptons, and there's a guess. I go to take
a piss and there he is here, has no idea
who the fuck I am? Steve. I smacked him in
(29:28):
the face, I said.
Speaker 5 (29:31):
And that is our promo, Ladies and gentlemen, Steve will
be on quest Lops Supreme smacking motherfuckers up.
Speaker 3 (29:38):
I likes it. I like it a lot back, not
just any kind in the hand.
Speaker 4 (29:44):
So now I got it. So now we're doing a
presentation with the Vina you mentioned. So we're coming and
my brother says, merrim Max is coming with Off. By
the time we land was it was Dimension, which was
the sister label to Merri Max. It was like the
(30:04):
Indy side said, Jonathan, you're full of ship. We land
and get to the hotel. There's a fucking contract. I
don't know if my brother fortd my fucking signature. I
don't even remember signing the deal. And next thing you know,
I have a three picture This will happen within a week,
a three picture deal. And they threw crazy fucking money
at us. And then Brett Rattener says, Dame has an
(30:26):
incredible story, right, But I go, who's gonna produced it?
I don't know nothing about I don't even have to
produce a record, like I'm going to now produce a
fucking movie. He was, No, you gotta hire this guy Ron.
We hired this guy Rock and and and the rest
is history. And they you know, I'm not gonna the
only thing that I did is we had the deal,
(30:47):
but this was I gotta give credit to day Ding
did everything he pictured. He did everything. I'm not trying
to take his thunder. I mean he did everything. And
you know, I just went for a ride. When he
asked me to take my name as executive producer, I
was taking my name off anyway. Was based on a
true story and I didn't want any fucking heads people
just coming.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
At it right, coming at you right.
Speaker 4 (31:09):
Yeah, So I was taking my name off anyway. I
was like, that's not a problem.
Speaker 5 (31:13):
We now live in a time in which the African
renaissance has truly arrived with like African music and African
artists getting mainstream success.
Speaker 3 (31:25):
But you know, I know that you.
Speaker 5 (31:30):
I mean, I won't say a risk, but you were
actually ahead of the game. And I believe you signed
a Kon?
Speaker 3 (31:36):
Is you not? What was it about Akon? And you
signed him early, like back in two thousand and four,
two thousand and five.
Speaker 4 (31:44):
I believe that he was right when I left Glad,
I started SRC Records right right, So I signed Banner.
I'm a banner A yeah, yeah, I'm a basketball guy
and I break my nose playing basketball. And the macho
guy that I am like, all I really want to
(32:05):
do is cry, but my son is watching and I
want to show him, like I have blood all over me,
and I want to show him that it's okay to
like get hit and you don't have to cry. Meanwhile,
I'm seeing three of everything. It's like, you know, if
the basket's over there, I shot the ball over there
right like then, I literally just I never felt paying
like and I just passed out. And when they were
(32:27):
taking me to the hospital, Kenny Burns with huh and Kenny,
he goes, you got to hear this, and I'm like,
what the fuck is this? And there was only one
record that I wanted to hear. And I mean, there's
only one record that I said, just keep on playing
it over and over and over again. And my philosophy
was like I never considered myself an A and R guy,
(32:48):
Like it was always about the team.
Speaker 6 (32:50):
Wait, Kenny Burns said that, No, I said.
Speaker 4 (32:54):
Kenny had the tape and then he played with me.
We were playing ball, and now I went to the
hospital to get my nose ticks.
Speaker 6 (33:02):
Okay, I'm just I'm just tripping at Undy Burns. As
a part of the Akon story, this is amazing.
Speaker 4 (33:05):
Okay, So in those days, I flew private MHM, and
I just didn't know if I was laughed to fly.
I don't know what the hell was the matter with
my nose. I could have been like a full you
know rain. Now I don't know what the fuck you know?
They said they broke my nose and I couldn't really
fly for twenty four hours for effect. So I just said,
we're going to Atlanta set of New York, and I
(33:27):
met the vine I at aicon. The rest was history,
and I pretty much did the same thing. Universal laughed
in my face. I said, this is gonna be the
biggest office in my career, and they said, oh, this
is couna be biggeran war. I'm like yeah, and they laughed,
and I got so fucking mad. I was like, you
know what, fuck you guys. And I had There's somebody
(33:49):
that was with me at LAB who started off as
an intern in the street team guy and then he
just grew and grew and grew with me, and then
when I started SC he became he was because I
gave him a piece of a company me and he
was my president. Got the name of his wife was
pregnant at the time, and I said, God, you do
the East in the South, I'll do the West in
(34:11):
the Midwest. And we didn't have a video. We didn't
have anything. He took a kN and I took a
conm boo, and I mean, we may believe whoo was
a kon and.
Speaker 5 (34:21):
We wait, wow, this is like the Little Richard James
Brown situation. We're both Little Richard and James Brown. We're
touring as Little Richard.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
I didn't okay, oh it.
Speaker 4 (34:42):
So we had no video. Nobody knew what any kind
of looked like. And at the at the end of day,
the record broke in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and so like
so like you know, I fly fly into me York
with the record club locked up with style.
Speaker 3 (35:01):
I was about to say, was locked up.
Speaker 4 (35:03):
Okay, right, I come to New York and this is
where you know Republic was known for doing their research.
I should you not. There's a fucking report like like
this must have been fifty pages on every storm in
Albuquerque and util. You wouldn't believe how many fucking stores
that were, you know, between Target and Walmart, and the
(35:25):
ship's going through the roof. So wise and We're like,
what the fuck is going on? You know, and I'm like,
I'm trying to bring it east and you know now,
you know, and we had to change out philosophy because
Republic was a radio company. They didn't understand street records.
So I had a cover like like Philly came in, Boston,
(35:50):
came in Connecticut, came in, Miami, came in you know,
New York was the last one to come in, you know.
And then who was Mother's Day? And I get a
phone call from somebody who goes, what the fuck did
you do in Brooklyn? I'm like, what are you talking about?
We're talking about Akon, you know. And the truth is
I really didn't do anything. We just we surrounded New
(36:10):
York where it would just have to leak in and
with the King's plasm mall. You know, the record was
being played every fucking call, you know. That Monday, Abro
calls me up and he says, we're adding the record,
you know. And then two weeks later, like the research
was like number one requested in like top three call out.
(36:30):
I mean, the record broke and the right it was
the first the first week, I think we scanned three
thousand records. It was the lowest sound scanning record I
ever had in my life. First week, but each week
it didn't go three thousand to fifteen hundred. They stayed
at three thousand, three thousand, two hundred, three thousand, one hundred.
(36:51):
And when that fucking thing just took off, I mean,
by by the fall, we were at sixty thousand a
week and we didn't even come up lonely yet.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
So tired of that record.
Speaker 4 (37:04):
Good God.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
I have a confessor about Lockdown. I have an professor
about Locked Up.
Speaker 5 (37:11):
And this is before the error sizam where you can't
find out who the artist is. I swear to God
for a good twenty one seconds, For good twenty.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
One seconds, I said, holy shit, roberta flex of the scene, yo.
Speaker 4 (37:39):
But yeah, but Locked Up with styles Pete was those storymix.
Speaker 3 (37:45):
I didn't hear his verse, but A Kon's voice was
so I can't describe it.
Speaker 6 (37:53):
It's such a compliment to Acon, such a compliment.
Speaker 5 (37:56):
Yeah, and I'm saying it's androgynist, but I literally it
was a woman singing, and because it was done in
such a rich alto, and I never heard this voice before.
For twenty seconds, I was like, hey, rich it could happen.
I was like, if and Aretha Franklin working together, I was, yo, shot,
(38:20):
let me find out that that's.
Speaker 3 (38:22):
ROBERTA Flag is about to come back like a motherfucker.
Speaker 5 (38:30):
Okay, wait before I let you go, there's one question
I always ask of every label CEO, Can you tell
me three x that you almost signed that were close
but no Cigars.
Speaker 7 (38:45):
Jay Z?
Speaker 3 (38:46):
You could have you could have signed jay Z.
Speaker 4 (38:49):
B mvus hated me so much and because we took
him for so much money, they didn't want to give
us any more money to sign JA. I go back
with Dane since he's fifteen sixteen years old when he
was managing Original Flavor.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
Wow, Wow, so that's dope.
Speaker 1 (39:06):
So Jay.
Speaker 4 (39:09):
He wasn't an act, but he was to me one
of the best executives, you know, IRV Gotti when he
had Mike Geronimo. We tried to get the.
Speaker 3 (39:16):
Records ship.
Speaker 4 (39:19):
And we'll tell you this, whatever reason we couldn't get
the sample cleared and then BMB is saying, you're wasting
your time. And this was literally I just signed my DAP.
They said, you're wasting your time and we're not going
to give you the money to do it find something else.
So if I didn't deal with Mike, I'm sure would
ended up being with me.
Speaker 5 (39:39):
Are you talking about Master I See or the single
that he had that was more puffy ish? No, the
first single, the first Master I See, that's a goddamn masterpiece.
Speaker 3 (39:52):
Oh wow, jay Z and then m and you got
a chance to sign him.
Speaker 1 (40:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (40:00):
But but the thing was this, if he stayed with
us and I had to do with Paul Rosenberg a
few weeks ago, he wouldn't have been Eminem four hundred
million records later, right, he would have been eminent. He
would have been Eminem fifty million records. He was an
underground rapper, you know. And you talk about Genie and
no Battle, right, so you're talking about him and Dray
(40:24):
just creating magic that that you know, he would have
been Bob Deep. He would have been Wu your pun.
We had a pop record on. I was still how
to play it, but you know he would have been
just in that length. That was the only thing we
knew how to do.
Speaker 3 (40:41):
Wow, So I know that you know what.
Speaker 5 (40:45):
The thing is also interesting about your story is the
fact that how the lineage goes down from your grandfather,
your father, you and now your your son is an MC.
Speaker 3 (40:54):
Correct.
Speaker 4 (40:55):
So my youngest both my sons played ball, you know,
one played college, another one played for a famous high
school out in LA and he didn't want to go
to college, and out of nowhere, he just started rapping
and he put out a record and shouldn't put the
record out of himself, and he did you know, a
(41:16):
few hundred thousand streams. Flex played the record on his own.
Speaker 3 (41:21):
Without knowing the connection, no knowing knowing the connection.
Speaker 4 (41:26):
But it was during the holidays, so he hit a
two week run and he was going to music school
in Florida full sale, and it was just you know,
my son, he doesn't want to read it. He needs
to see it and feel it. So he lost his
love from doing like real school work. That's not him.
(41:52):
So you know, he has twelve twelve of his friends
like his crew. They're rolling in the NBA. So he's
going to be an intern for Rich Paul starting December.
Speaker 3 (42:04):
The way you're talking about basketball, I feel like your
true passion is owning a team.
Speaker 4 (42:09):
Or now I've lost so much money in basketball. I mean,
I'll I'm just I'm just a fan now that that's
all I'm I've lost tensive millions of dollars.
Speaker 3 (42:19):
Did you try to No, never try to own a team.
Speaker 4 (42:22):
But like my philosophy in life, and this is what
I've learned from my dad. If I can help one
one person and save their life and put him in
the right direction, then I did my job on her.
No money, could you know that feeling of saving somebody?
You can't put a price on that. And you know,
so when me and my wife split, my kids are
(42:44):
into racial okay, and they all came out different complexion,
all three of them, you know, and one came out
really like skinning, like Jack the Rapper. So when we split,
she moved to Florida and there's an area called Delery
Beach and in this one area in Dowery Beach is
(43:05):
probably the most gang affected in all the flower in
a five block radius. And there was a gym there
and she threw him in there, and she goes, you
got to learn how to stand on your own. And
she wouldn't let me go to any games. And then
finally like I didn't know what au was or anything
like that, and then I don't know where I think
(43:28):
she was coming out to. I don't know where she
was going but she goes, oh, you got to pick
the ballots at two o'clock as a game at twelve,
I get there one to watch the game, and I
knew he was gifted and then, but I didn't know
that he had two of the games at night, you know,
one at six and one and nine. I was in
heaven and I just started going to the games, and
(43:50):
you know, they respected him for who he was, and
I just minded my own business. I wasn't gonna try
and buy a team. But I didn't know that he
was eleven and he was playing on a fourteen on
the team and they didn't win a game. Right but now,
and he wasn't talking to me with me and his
mom separating, but now he was back in my life.
(44:13):
And I said to the coach, I said, the season
can't be over, and he still, well, you know it's over.
I'm like, you got to find something. I go, he was, well,
there's a tournament next week for twelve and under team.
I said, well, alex is eleven. How old to say?
And like, we end up putting six guys on the team.
He goes, who will, coach? I said, I will. He says,
what do you know about basketball? I said enough, I
(44:35):
should you not? I go seventy and oh that whole
fucking song seven zero. So Florida is known for football.
I know nothing about football. Half my team of professional
football players right now. So they were just the best
athletes in the world. And I just had him pressed
and they could all shoot the shit out of the
(44:56):
ball and jump and they were how old was Alas?
He was eleven to twelve at that time, right, yeah?
And I really thought I was going to become a
professional basketball coach, like I had him traveling. We won States,
we won Nationals, we won the World Games, and I
just thought I'm taking on challenges. And then I get
a phone called to buy a tournament, which is like
(45:17):
a record convention, And just like one thing led to another,
and I mean, I lost my shirt. But at the
end of the day, that is my happiness. Music, right,
Music is the closest thing to God right right, make
your laughing and make you cry, just your memories, It
just it touches your soul. Sure, and basketball just it
(45:38):
just touches me too. Where I get fucking crazy, do you.
Speaker 3 (45:42):
Still get an itching or like just one more hit?
Metaphorically speaking as in drugs not like a hit single,
but just is I mean, are you addicted at all
to the adrenaline? Yeah, I'm finding that rare Jim.
Speaker 4 (46:00):
So I got. I got this kid right now, same
as Take forty five from San Diego, California, eighteen years old,
self contained, produces himself. He had eight monthly uses on
Spotify and now he's closing in and I want to
(46:21):
say a little under two hundred thousand. He had twenty
five who was on TikTok and we're closing in on
three hundred thousand files and all this kid is just
keep on putting out music and putting out music, and
his energy is fucking ridiculous. And people will say to me,
it's you know, it's nothing what people are used to
(46:45):
be putting out. But you know what, my old day,
one of my old day in our guys on the
West Coast brought it to me and it's it's it's different.
He's self contained. And each day we're going up slowly
and he's gonna break. I just don't know when I
don't know how to read records. Yeah, but the adrenaline
that I get every day and just seeing it if
(47:05):
we're up ten streams or a thousand streams, or getting
on a new playlist I have. I was sick for
a while. I had a mess heart attack eight years ago.
That's why you lost the weight. No, I just was
away because I don't want to get another heart attack.
Speaker 6 (47:20):
That's what That's what I'm meant, that's what I'm in.
Speaker 4 (47:24):
So yeah, I was sent three times.
Speaker 6 (47:28):
Oh man, what was that like?
Speaker 3 (47:30):
Was it just overworking? Was it stress?
Speaker 4 (47:33):
It was never going to the doctor and not taking
care of myself. If I went to a doctor and said, hey,
your blood pressure is high, you gotta do something. You
gotta lose ten times. You gotta do this, you gotta
do that. But it was I'm not blaming my x y,
I'm not blaming anybody. It was just me not taking
care of myself. You could say stress, you could say that.
You could say that, but it was just you got
(47:53):
to know your body and you got to just take
care of yourself.
Speaker 3 (47:55):
You know, you got to make yourself a priority.
Speaker 4 (47:58):
And that's what it is.
Speaker 3 (47:59):
Yeah, you know you are learning that in the pandemic.
Thank god.
Speaker 4 (48:03):
No, you can't be a victim. And you know, and
just like who wants to hear a victim story?
Speaker 5 (48:10):
At least not of your own self, so you don't
feel like a stranger in the strange land in terms
of like.
Speaker 4 (48:18):
Yeah, I do, I have no idea? What the fuck?
Speaker 3 (48:20):
Okay?
Speaker 6 (48:21):
Good?
Speaker 4 (48:21):
I mean, I have no truth. I call the Empire
distributes us guys. Who is the smartest guy in the
music business. I don't want to bother him, so I
speak to him, like what can I do today? Like
I used to make a clall shoot, right, two hundred
people be some mix guys by streeting guys.
Speaker 3 (48:40):
Right.
Speaker 4 (48:40):
I got five guys, right, and they all work with me?
Who are all at the DSPs. I mean I sit
here like just twiddling my fucking thumbs and I'll take
a nap at three o'clock.
Speaker 3 (48:52):
But I'm just saying that today, Like how is it
different now promoting? Especially with the internet at the helm
you have no word of the internet in the early nineties.
Speaker 4 (49:05):
But you have nobody promotes to Like you can't promote,
you can't promote Spotify the record. They don't want the
record on the radio yet. So my day was today.
I got him a booking agent at UTA, right, mm hmm.
And I was really excited to do your thing. So
I went to lunch, made a few calls, and just
(49:26):
thinking about the podcast all day.
Speaker 3 (49:30):
Sound like freedom to make That's a dope day.
Speaker 5 (49:34):
Wait a minute, I'm gonna get crushed if I don't
ask one to asker roth question.
Speaker 3 (49:38):
Oh all right, could you talk about your your your
work with and Scooter?
Speaker 4 (49:45):
I mean at as great as the ASHU was. I
know he's from Pennsylvania, you know, right. The guy the
name of Jerry Clark introduced me to Scooter. I was
in Atlanta and Scooter, I think was still in college
mm hm. And he just reminded me a little of myself.
I thought he was a little bit more full of shit,
but I thought he was brilliant. And I offered him
(50:06):
to become president of company with no experience huh.
Speaker 3 (50:10):
And he gave Scooter his start.
Speaker 4 (50:13):
I gave Scooter his first record.
Speaker 6 (50:14):
Yip.
Speaker 3 (50:15):
Yeah, shit.
Speaker 5 (50:18):
Now I feel like there's a question that I should
be asking that I don't know to ask, because again
you keep on pulling these historical.
Speaker 4 (50:26):
I gave so this, this is what I'm proud of.
I gave Scooter his his first record deal with I
gave guy Siri. I got him his first deal with Henji,
and evil ly with Ruber and Rodriguez at Pendelum America.
Speaker 3 (50:39):
Wait what so I just didn't start at Maverick.
Speaker 4 (50:43):
Guy was eighteen years old.
Speaker 3 (50:45):
You gave oh shit, Okay.
Speaker 4 (50:47):
No, I didn't. I didn't sign him. I made the
deal for guy.
Speaker 3 (50:50):
So guy was was managing Henji. Yeah, e belie at
the age of eighteen.
Speaker 4 (50:56):
Yeah, you're I think at the age of sixty. And
I begged him to go lists an independent record company
and he said no.
Speaker 3 (51:04):
Wow, okay, all right, gods another So it was another one.
I want one more at like, give me some more.
Start bragging. Brag on yourself. This is minory moment.
Speaker 4 (51:16):
I mean, I can't brag on myself. But you know Scooter,
I opened him to become president of s r C.
He said no. I said the guy, let's start a
record company. He said no, And I made the deal
and then on and that's you know, and then me
you know me raz and fetch up you know those
you got it them?
Speaker 6 (51:37):
Can I ask you an awkward question that probably nobody
ever asked? Was it ever awkward to have that many
five percent on the labels?
Speaker 3 (51:47):
Thank you good night, Dante? Also, I mean the black.
Speaker 6 (51:54):
Maid has got it the White Maiden's Devil.
Speaker 4 (51:56):
They were all on my wedding. I mean I never
thought about it, just now, like and it never came
to my you.
Speaker 6 (52:03):
Know, I also asked that to know. I wanted to
know at some point, where the where did they stop
because I feel like also at a certain point you're
helping to make money too, so.
Speaker 3 (52:10):
You don't how much. But that's interesting. Yeah, you never
with the bag.
Speaker 4 (52:17):
The only one that we had issues with was that press.
Speaker 3 (52:21):
Oh yeah, I forgot about the press.
Speaker 4 (52:24):
But at the end of the day, I probably handled
it wrong. It was my my ego was hurt. It
was like, how the fuck are they not trust me?
Speaker 3 (52:35):
Are you serious?
Speaker 4 (52:39):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (52:40):
I mean I mean were the first record? Were you
there for the second album?
Speaker 4 (52:44):
No?
Speaker 5 (52:45):
I can tell okay, Oh no, I wish I wish
that second that second album should have blown up, and
it didn't.
Speaker 4 (52:54):
But you know, but then you look at you know,
m p any up. You know it's just like those
are records to this day, you know that still give
me goosebumps.
Speaker 3 (53:05):
Yeah, stay around forever. No, I mean, this is the
first time I think you and I are talking, man,
But I've heard them, but stand up.
Speaker 5 (53:14):
Things about you and you know, all the respect that
you had, and this is like a long, long, long, long,
overdue conversation. Man, I thank you for coming on the show.
Speaker 4 (53:24):
You in New York? Are you? And l A?
Speaker 3 (53:26):
I'm currently in New York. The next time we got
to go to dinner, no doubt, no doubt.
Speaker 7 (53:32):
Well that's right, you got a daughter too, Right, where
do you guys want to go for dinner?
Speaker 1 (53:40):
I'll set it up and.
Speaker 3 (53:45):
Wait, So good Bill, nothing, no questions.
Speaker 7 (53:49):
Well, I just I mean, Steve, it sounds like like
you made a lot of close friends and and a
lot of people hate you, which makes you an authentic Steve.
So congratulations on that. And but what a great career
I mean, no, just just too much, too much to process.
Speaker 3 (54:07):
Incredible.
Speaker 5 (54:07):
Yeah, I really wish I was there at Radio City
for that night at uh celebration.
Speaker 4 (54:14):
That night was so fucking special. I mean it was.
I mean, I think it was Ex's last performance. It was,
and it was right before everything shut down.
Speaker 3 (54:26):
Yep, yep, it was amazing.
Speaker 4 (54:28):
I was in a radio City would never be the
same after that. They they never saw so many people
backstage and in their life.
Speaker 3 (54:37):
I also wanted to know how that was organized and
what not.
Speaker 5 (54:43):
Well on behalf of Siga, Steven and Bill and Fan
Diegelo and Laya, the Great, the Great Steve Rifkin.
Speaker 3 (54:53):
Yes, thank you, Supreme.
Speaker 4 (54:57):
This was amazing. Oh I didn't talk too much.
Speaker 3 (54:59):
No, we live for Rabbit, Holy trust?
Speaker 4 (55:02):
What is that?
Speaker 3 (55:03):
What are those works?
Speaker 2 (55:04):
They go together?
Speaker 4 (55:05):
Talk too much?
Speaker 3 (55:06):
We don't know.
Speaker 5 (55:07):
So until next time, ladies and gentlemen, and I promise
you that I will have better camera working and Steve
look professional. I'm just I feel like a drunk here.
But anyway, thank you for doing our shows.
Speaker 7 (55:29):
You're getting You're not a drunk, but you're getting high
too much.
Speaker 3 (55:36):
All right, We'll see you on the next go around.
Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 1 (55:39):
This West Love Supreme is a production of iHeart Cream.
For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
What if y'all it's unpaid bill Quest Love Supreme. We
are back with part two of the Quest Love Supreme
Interview with Steve Rick. You've co founded Loud Records or
put out some critible albums by Wu Tang, Ray Kwan, Mob, Deep,
and Mourn. If you haven't listened to part one, please
check it out. Steve talks about growing up in his
music industry, James Brown, coming to a bar mitzvah, his
relationship with Tupac, and putting out some hip hop classic
check it.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
I will say that my first listen to that.
Speaker 4 (00:34):
Album thirty six Cuban lens.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Oh, thirty six Chambers.
Speaker 5 (00:39):
So the day that both Marauders and and the Wu
Tank comes out, and we're driving up ninety five from
Philly listening to this, and you know, I know it's
not not since Princess fan Base with the album Dirty Mind.
If I heard what I deem like revision on an
(01:00):
opinion of the record when I first heard the Wu
Tang record, and not that I was looking from like
a commercial standpoint or an underground standpoint, but I just
never heard something so dirty in my life I don't know.
It's like this is way too underground for regular people,
and yet it almost became the pinnacle of me.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
It's weird.
Speaker 5 (01:24):
It's like they became they became the epicenter in the
mainstream of the system that they were against, which you know,
I wasn't complainings power.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Oh yeah they do.
Speaker 6 (01:37):
But I just mean they still are still they're not
they still not look at it.
Speaker 5 (01:40):
I don't mean, I don't mean, like in a four
letter word way, like they're mainstream, right, No, But I'm
just saying that I there's no way you were going
to tell me on that first listen that this group
which was.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Going to be the alpha and the mega in the
epicenter of what.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
But let me ask you a question. Sorry for cutting
you off when you heard when you heard Cream and
can it be for the first time?
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Well yeah, well yeah, well yeah, what did I remember?
Speaker 4 (02:10):
I remember hearing Cream for the first time in the
studio singles? I knew. I mean I knew actually before
because I was on the road. I moved to New York,
and I opened up the New York office, and I
opened up and I took an apartment in New York,
and now I was by Coastal. But but at the
end of the day when Cream came out and I
(02:31):
forget about the mess on dollar dollar bill and with
that meant to me or whatever. But I just knew
that this album there was something fucking special about it.
Then three months later, my office in LA was on
Melrose and King's Road where Cookies is literally the building
with Cookies is, And I'm going to the deli to
(02:52):
grab a sandwich and I see this white kid head
down to hear on a fucking skateboard with the old
Wu Tang Scully singing Wu Tank cleaning the up with
and I knew, get go. I said at my age,
now I'm sixty years old. Now, I said, when I'm
fucking sixty, they're still going to be around.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 5 (03:12):
In my mind it was just like again, I gotta
go back to the first Jungle Brothers record. Like the
Jungle Brothers first album, Straight Out the Jungle was just
like an inside secret for like real heads. Meanwhile, like
mainstream America only feels Hammer Vanilla Ice like more you.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Know, mainstream rappers.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
And one question, though, yes, Jungle Brothers was on Tommy
Boy correct.
Speaker 5 (03:39):
Uh no, no, no, that's day lot Soul. Jungle Brothers was
on Warlock and then went to Warner Brothers for the
second album. Okay, and I was just like, just to me,
I you know, once once Cream started picking them Traction,
I was like, wait a minute, this is almost like
if Straight out the Jungle by the Jungle Brothers really
(04:01):
got a chance.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Now.
Speaker 5 (04:02):
I mean, there's a lot of factors into the success
of Wu Tang Clan, but what I was basically leading
up to was upon first listen of that entire record,
you knew you had lightning in a bottle in your possession.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
Yeah, I knew we had Like Outcast was throwing a party.
When did their album came out to summer ninety four.
I know, I was at a party, an album release party.
I was with Steve Staff, okay, and I mean I
think I think Clark Hill was DJing. The HD record
came on and we're talking, and also everybody just went
(04:45):
straight to the to the dance floor and losing the
fucking mind. And that's when I knew that there was
That was like my first like I needed to see
it with my own eyes, right, And that's why I
like to be outside. So it was like at the
end of the day, like when I see something with
my eyes and that's what made me move to New
York and open up shop in New York. And then
(05:08):
you remember the new music seminar. Yes, right then said clock,
let's find the club areas. Whose area? And they let
me do a showcase with the Licks Twister and all
of New York showed up.
Speaker 5 (05:23):
Shout out to G two Wu Tang's trustee, one of
their many street team people that I've associated Wu with.
G used to be part of the Princeton hip hop
circle that you know, yeah, but you know he would
also work the Philadelphia market like it would have like
(05:46):
his side guys also or I don't know if G
was part of Rifkins street promotion team or Brizes personal people,
but that's how I got hit to them, all right,
So I have to ask you the other side of
the coin too, because a big part of my personal
success was also being the guy on standby whenever somebody
(06:12):
would mess up. I e blah blah blah, it's not
going to make it to the show. Can you guys
get here in twelve hours? Uh da da da just
dropped out, yo, Can you guys fly in next week
and literally at the beginning of Wu tank Forever, I
swear to God, at least sixty percent of my entire
(06:33):
output of doing shows were based on Wu Tang shows
not attended.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
During the during the period of ninety seven.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
You talking about the Wu Tang grade to get some machine.
Speaker 5 (06:49):
To starting then, but just basically, you know, like the
roots of mine as well have been you know, the
twelfth member of the Wu Tang clan, because literally is like, uh,
we were supposed to come or whatever designated who member
was supposed to show up, and okay, we'll get the
roots instead. So for me though in nineteen ninety seven,
(07:14):
and I have my theories about this, what are year
feelings on Wu Tang Forever.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
It's a double album?
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Right, but did you get goosebumps.
Speaker 4 (07:30):
On certain songs? All right? The album? I mean it
was a double album. So, like I said, I never
considered myself in a and I got goosebumps on Triumph,
I got goosebumps. I've got the name of the kid,
it's yours. And there was one and then and there
was one more record which I would have well, I
really got goosebumps. But at the end of the day.
(07:52):
I put that twittergether between Wu Tang and Rage right right,
and you know we first million dollar hip hop video.
Brett Rattner directed it.
Speaker 5 (08:04):
Oh yeah, look, no nothing is, but I just from
my perspective, ah that okay. So, first of all, I
feel like the strength of Triumph was that it was
the first offering. I mean, you know, it could have
been like name any other song that it could have
(08:26):
been dog shit, the song not actual dog shit. I mean,
it could have been Reunited. It could it could have
been whatever whatever. The first song from that album was
gonna come forth, was gonna be everything.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
It Reunited was a song that it's Triumph, and right,
why didn't reunite it? To me? The opening Reunited, I
mean first, you know, was ridiculous in that. I mean
they started fighting. So let me just tell you where
I am, right, right, Dicky Passes few months before that, right,
(09:02):
m H. Me and Puff had conversations before Big Pass
who's gonna come first? We were Biggie and we were
both coming with a double album. So Big was always
gonna come first, right because I didn't really we didn't.
We weren't having radio records, right, so we have bread
(09:23):
through the video and like you said, whatever the video was,
the video, the video was. But to me, they were
a rock and roll group or they were a group. Right,
So the Rage tour mm hmm was right. We sold
date Leon records on that album if they finished that tour,
(09:43):
mm hmm, right, because we already we started in Florida
and we were coming up to New York, so that
was already home base, like and sales were going up.
Now we're gonna do the bump fuck you know, like
the mid mid Indiana right the mid mid, mid, mid, Midwest,
(10:05):
and West coast. That album would have sold twenty million
records and that was always my plan if we should
have went diamond.
Speaker 5 (10:12):
So I agree with you, it should have went diamond.
I you know, I don't know the exact conditions.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
I don't you know. I know it was a fire.
I always felt like, ah, whenever whenever someone gets a.
Speaker 5 (10:28):
Good formula and they change it. I wish they didn't
make that record in California. I wish they would have stayed.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Well. The problem was, if you saw the show, Ris's
house got flooded. Everything was destroyed, right, so that he
had he had to start from scratch, anyway, and with
everybody having solo recket, I understand what you're saying. Right
with everybody, with everybody having solo records in New York,
you're being pulled ten different waves. Everybody's being pultended. Hot
(10:58):
they were one plant plass, plat plat, So it's like
they're getting so them being in one house together and
to create that unity how they had it on the
first album. Granted it wasn't hiding and it wasn't in
a basement right right, but the house got flooded and
everything was everything was destroyed.
Speaker 5 (11:19):
Can I ask though, I kind of feel like the
end of that rain kind of not the end of
that rain, but least the stronghold of that initial period
was the Hot ninety seven situation.
Speaker 4 (11:37):
Uh, with that that was a bad situation. I was
on my back.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Could you have rectified that situation?
Speaker 5 (11:44):
Or like, how do you in terms of are you
the type of CEO that has to talk to the
artists to stop them from sabotaging their progress or whatever?
Or could you explain the story that whole Hot nine
seven situation and then like Hot ninety seven not playing
Wu Tang anymore, and I.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Wasn't I was. I was on a plane. I was
it was my bachelor party, Okay, I was flying from
Dallas to Atlanta, and you know we land and by
phones blowing the fuck up. But you know, I have
all pretty much my senior executives with me. You know.
It was my brother, was a partner, my best friend,
(12:27):
my childhood best friend, Rich you know, was a partner,
Mojo who's you know, became a brother and running promotion.
You know that they were all with me. And I'm
getting just when everybody had to, you know, not even
the two ways, just a page still and like what
the fuck's happening? And I couldn't get Risen on the phone.
(12:48):
And then Tracy, who was the program there had ninety
seven yes, just called me. I'm getting married for fucking days,
like called me and said scope fuck yourself, like you know,
just like I mean, if she was a dude, who
wouldn't want to fist, right, But she.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Didn't know that, you personally like she she was venting, right.
Speaker 4 (13:12):
I don't even think she was so mad. I don't
even think she went to the wedding. And she was
invited to the wedding. Don't forget wu Tang was the
first rap record that ninety seven fucking played. They were
a dance station.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Hot ninety seven was also on that new Rap work Day, right,
more music, less rap. They were on that.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
No, they weren't a rap I mean, no said it
was a dance station like right, and then Flex was
I mean, between Flex and Angie, they're the ones that
took it to a whole different place where Flex had
to show on the weekends, you know, and then think
you know, and then thank god, you know, Puff came
a flavor in the year, and there was some you know,
and then finally you know, right, and he was making
(13:55):
those records like so thank god for him, you know,
So there was it.
Speaker 5 (14:01):
Was absolutely unrepairable. I guess for our listeners that are hearing,
you know, they're they're doing summer jam and uh, you know,
I don't know if it's ghost face or I forgot who.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
Said something out of line ninety seven. They don't play
our ship, you know.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
Listen, let's keep it one hundred. There were seventy five
thousand fucking people that right, right, they're making a fortune.
So we were we were on tour with Rage, right,
and at the end of it, we weren't getting paid
a lot of money yet right, yeah, really a rage
tour and and ghost you know, should he have said it?
Speaker 5 (14:42):
No, but I'm about to say that don't help with
your argument, which, like, just to to be clear, artists
do not get paid for doing summer else.
Speaker 4 (14:51):
No, no, but no, now they get you know, they
started getting paid a few years not a few years ago.
There's a few years after that they were getting paid
big dollars.
Speaker 6 (14:58):
I see, I see your Nicki Minaj is not getting
paid these yeah, for Hot ninety seven.
Speaker 5 (15:03):
Well no, I mean, but just black artists in general,
just you know, you just those radio step to black
radio that you yeah, I'll do it for free, you know,
as long as you keep playing my records. But so
there was literally absolutely no.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
She no. So for a whatch they even banned all
loud records.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
What yeah, this is the thing.
Speaker 6 (15:29):
But this is what was happening to, right, Steve, something wrong,
That's what I mean.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
I mean, me and Tracy were friends. Who else is
she gonna take that out of?
Speaker 6 (15:39):
But you know, amir, this happened in Philly with beans
like it I had with Foxy Brown with death Jam
when she cussed out Kobe and they said we pay
ain't playing these records for a minute like that.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
I did not know that.
Speaker 5 (15:53):
Okay, So with actually you mentioned Puff, I was gonna
ask with the with the opening sketch of side three
or side two of the Purple tape of Ray Kwan
when they kind of, you know, draw a line in
the sand with bad Boy and Wu Tang, I e
(16:16):
the I guess by that point in ninety five, Bad
Boys establishing himself as more of a mainstream.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Middle on the aisle.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
I mean no, I mean, look, we got to give credit,
what credits to I mean, Puff had everybody. I mean
he he had the palm the world in the palm
of his hands. He was coming with it hit and
you know what what ray Go said, you know, being
Puff spoke. He goes, what was that about? I said,
I don't know, you know, I have no idea, but
I go, let's just keep it. We're in two totally
(16:52):
different lanes. We're not even in the same freeway, like
you know, I'm just using New York like you know,
we're on the northern state. They're on the I E.
You know, And it's just like I'm not trying to
compete and think he's making radio radio records. We're still
making records for the street, and I'm not like I'm
trying to help Puff get as much as he possibly
(17:14):
can like so and you know, and they worked it
out a few months later.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
So I always wanted to know what the response was,
because you know, I.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
Yeah, no, wh when Shulk said fuck New York or whatever,
whatever the hell he said, it's the sorta wars right
that that that's when we all they all reunited again, right,
And that was that was like two weeks after we
came out with the album Wow.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
So were you there for hip Hop's funeral? I was there?
Speaker 4 (17:41):
No, I wasn't there with my son was just born.
So I pretty much was taking.
Speaker 6 (17:49):
Can I ask a question real quick about these records
since you have such not made for radio records, but
yet and still it seems like you got to a
stride where y'all were picking like amazing singles I had.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
I had the best an our step to this day.
That person there was a it was a team. Who
was was a guy name of Maddie who actually discobbed Bigie.
He worked at Yes Right was a guy right Scott
Free started off as my assistant and he got himself
into an r quickly stretched Armstrong who had the stretch
(18:23):
of babidosh. Yeah, and then he was he was the
first one. And then the guy named is Sean C.
Speaker 5 (18:35):
King Yes, yeah, yes, yes, speaking of Maddie C my deep,
I remember getting shook one's part one. How in the
world did you guys manage to on the second go
round again capsure lightning in the bottom like the Street Team.
Speaker 4 (18:59):
So I was saying, the streets don't lie. The record
was cool, it did what it was supposed to do,
but it wasn't a fucking smash. And we came in there,
you know, and I said, Mattie, what are we gonna do?
You know, you know, we're cool, but this is not
going to drive any anything home. And he goes, as
(19:23):
a matter of fact, Havoc just did a remix last night.
Here it is, and you heard it, and we heard it.
And I was on my way to how can I
be down? And I had a walkman, not even at
this man, I had a walk man. And I was
in a car with them stretching Barbido and I was
on my me and Barbido. I used to play basketball,
(19:43):
and there was like some type of celebrity game mhm,
and they lost their mind. And you know they were
they were the first one to play it. They played it,
we gave it the flex. This is September October. And
then when we came back after Christmas, it's the biggest
record in New York.
Speaker 5 (20:03):
So but I'm saying, in your mind, it wasn't like,
oh well that didn't make it all right? What else
you guys got? Like no, I think another an R
or CEO would have just been like, oh well that's
still born.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
So what else? What else is down the pike? But
now it's just when the data song like that.
Speaker 4 (20:25):
Well, when they when they came to the office, I
knew they were the perfect bike. Who is your first child?
And I got my first check and my first plaque
and everything else like that. But you know, when you
give a jab, you got to come with a cross
or a hook right fuck right away? Right So Who
(20:46):
definitely shook people and got everybody's attention. But when we
came with Bob, that's when everybody we knew. Everybody knew
that Lad was for real and I still had the
marketing cope. So the bigger lab got the bigger the
marketing company that the bigger the marketing company, the more
people wanted to be a lab. And we were like
we were like three for three. You know, well met
(21:09):
cap we made a little bit of money, but it
just did a little over one hundred, but you know,
lick it and go go. But the licksid three hundred thousand.
We did two million on the first record, and you know,
and Mob did you know they won't planting them on
the first alt So even with.
Speaker 5 (21:25):
You knowing, like because me, you know, I knew of
and I had the fourth and Broadway Mob d from
the back, Yeah, yeah, hit back and all that stuff like,
but in your mind you were like, yeah, these guys
are going to still be a thing.
Speaker 4 (21:42):
Yeah. I mean they came to the office they want
I don't know if they were gonna smoke a cigarette.
They were gonna smoke a blump. But they went to
the bathroom and this is in like, you know, a
corporate building, right, and they lit pro Proudigy wasn't there
because he was sick that time. It was having and
you know some of the guys twelve guys and the
(22:03):
sprinklers just went off. I said, they're a perfect follow
up to That's.
Speaker 5 (22:10):
So you there still had to be an edge or
a rot or an element of of your groups that authenticity.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
I see, I see.
Speaker 6 (22:22):
Do you mind telling us like a prodigy story just
because you know, we were one of the last shows
that he did before we lost him.
Speaker 4 (22:30):
He was like a I mean, he was a brother
to me. I mean, just like he had such a good,
good soul and you know, he just wanted to learn,
and he was like a sponge. I think his oldest
son or is my oldest son that I think they're
like four or five months apart. And he would say,
(22:52):
is your son coming to the office. I'm like, I
don't know why he was. I need to come up,
and I got my kid with me. You know, if
he was coming up, that means he must have been
going over some artwork or whatever he was going through.
So we were fortunate enough, you know, to have a nanny.
So I'm like, I'll make sure you see what time
are you going to be here? So I just had
(23:12):
to get approval for my wife and you know, and
then nanny would watch, you know, both babies, you know,
and he and he was appreciated, like and you know,
we could have arguments and say fuck you, to each other.
But at the end of the day we would both say,
(23:33):
you know, but I love you and you know, And
it wasn't like we were just fighting for what we felt.
And it was never about money. It was always about
maybe a single or a tour or something like that.
It's not like we already spent this and we're not
going It was just it was about passion and really
what was going to get to the next level.
Speaker 5 (23:53):
After the jay Z incident in two thousand and one,
did you like, how does a lead we'll CEO respond
to that to like your back just get the next
record ready?
Speaker 3 (24:07):
Actually, wait, can you explain the situation to me? You
know again, I was in.
Speaker 4 (24:13):
LA for the summer. I remember getting the call and
I wanted to call Bain. I'm like, where the fuck
did you get that picture? Like how did you get
the picture? Right?
Speaker 3 (24:22):
So, oh, we're going to get you know, want to
get on this show? Yeah? I got the t on
that join all right.
Speaker 4 (24:37):
So so so at the end, at the end of
the day, it's like, man, like, let's just get to
work and not even about this and Jay or whatever.
It's like, what's it saying? Sticks and stones may break
your bones? But names will never army. So I mean, yeah,
we got one on the chin, but you know what,
we're still standing. And it's not how many times you fall,
how many times you get up.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
Why did you decide to sell the label in ninety.
Speaker 4 (25:06):
Nine because I wanted, I you know, when I was
selling to Sony, we willing to be the third major
in the Sony system, right Columbia Epic and now it
is going to be us And and it really wasn't
about the money. It was more about my ego, which
you know, was fucked up. I was like, all right,
(25:26):
we're going to be the third major, and I'm going
to be able to have this be on the same
playing field as Jimmy as you know, as every as
everybody else, because I always felt we weren't on the
same playing field. And it ended up being the biggest
mistake of my life.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
So you left in ninety nine. So like the whole
Project Pat period, and that that whole.
Speaker 4 (25:51):
Came three six Mathia're like, we broke three six Mathild,
We broke Project Pat, we broke Flip pun Past. During
that time, we had Murder music. Divina was before Divina
was like ninety five ninety six but ninety eight, right
around the fun time, so that you know, and it
(26:12):
was just I never played a corporate game before. You know,
we went from a staff of thirty people to the coolest,
most creative company out there on both aspects, on the
marketing side of things and then on the record side
of things. You know, we did the deal and next
thing you know, I have the staff at three hundred people,
and I'm like, what the fuck is this? Like there
(26:33):
was this woman God bless us soul. Her name was
Toba Hoffman, and you know, she was in the sixties,
calling me mister rifkin I'm thirty five years old, thirty
six years old, Like please don't call me mister Rifkett,
you know, and she was just and I knew then
it was like how much how much time do we
have left in this fucking deal? And it was just
like I was stuck for three years. I started having
(26:55):
panic attacks and anxiety attacks. I was like, I just
couldn't wait to get the fuck out. And it was
the first time I didn't know which way to look
because I thought I was getting hit every which way
I got from corporate.
Speaker 5 (27:09):
Now there's another Philadelphia connection that you kind of have.
My good friend Charles Stone the third, who directed many
of Roots Video, made his debut with the Street classic
called Paid Him Full, which is I believe one of
(27:31):
your first loud film.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
Could you talk about the process of getting into the movies.
Speaker 4 (27:37):
Again, I didn't want to be in it. We were
doing all we were doing all of Mirror Max's marketing
through the marketing company. Now you know, we're branching out.
Now I have every film studio MGM, Mirror Max, Warner Brothers,
plus the records and the Street Team. Marketing went to
Corporate America and I sold twenty five percent comp me
(28:00):
to a company called in a Public at that time,
which was the largest advertising holding company in the world. Okay,
so Merri Max wants There's a guy named Scott Lambert
who was an agent William Marris, who was just a
really good good friend, a really good friend of mine.
And he says, Merri Max wants to do urban films,
like I can get you a three picture deal. And
(28:21):
I'm like, huh, you know, he's like he was a
brother to me. I'm like, got it, that's not gonna happen.
Why would they give me a three picture deal? So
he sets up a meeting. I don't want to say hard.
I think it was Bob winste but I couldn't. I
couldn't stand Bob. I already had a fight with him
once and I beat this ship out of him.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
He meantphis, Oh yeah, yeah, all right, we have those
questions too, like.
Speaker 4 (28:52):
I mean, he mean, he was just a fucking prick.
I mean, but when the big earthquake in La happened,
my office was destroyed. I had to send a reported
because I don't give a fuck who died, who did who?
Speaker 5 (29:03):
That?
Speaker 4 (29:04):
And I said this, I said, the next time I
see you, I promise you to smack the ship. And
I hung it and I hung up the phone. A
year and a half later, my son is four weeks old.
He was born in June tenth July, fourth weekend, nineteen
ninety five. I'm pulling off. I took a house in
the Hamptons, and there's a guess. I go to take
a piss and there he is here, has no idea
who the fuck I am? Steve. I smacked him in
(29:28):
the face, I said.
Speaker 5 (29:31):
And that is our promo, Ladies and gentlemen, Steve will
be on quest Lops Supreme smacking motherfuckers up.
Speaker 3 (29:38):
I likes it. I like it a lot back, not
just any kind in the hand.
Speaker 4 (29:44):
So now I got it. So now we're doing a
presentation with the Vina you mentioned. So we're coming and
my brother says, merrim Max is coming with Off. By
the time we land was it was Dimension, which was
the sister label to Merri Max. It was like the
(30:04):
Indy side said, Jonathan, you're full of ship. We land
and get to the hotel. There's a fucking contract. I
don't know if my brother fortd my fucking signature. I
don't even remember signing the deal. And next thing you know,
I have a three picture This will happen within a week,
a three picture deal. And they threw crazy fucking money
at us. And then Brett Rattener says, Dame has an
(30:26):
incredible story, right, But I go, who's gonna produced it?
I don't know nothing about I don't even have to
produce a record, like I'm going to now produce a
fucking movie. He was, No, you gotta hire this guy Ron.
We hired this guy Rock and and and the rest
is history. And they you know, I'm not gonna the
only thing that I did is we had the deal,
(30:47):
but this was I gotta give credit to day Ding
did everything he pictured. He did everything. I'm not trying
to take his thunder. I mean he did everything. And
you know, I just went for a ride. When he
asked me to take my name as executive producer, I
was taking my name off anyway. Was based on a
true story and I didn't want any fucking heads people
just coming.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
At it right, coming at you right.
Speaker 4 (31:09):
Yeah, So I was taking my name off anyway. I
was like, that's not a problem.
Speaker 5 (31:13):
We now live in a time in which the African
renaissance has truly arrived with like African music and African
artists getting mainstream success.
Speaker 3 (31:25):
But you know, I know that you.
Speaker 5 (31:30):
I mean, I won't say a risk, but you were
actually ahead of the game. And I believe you signed
a Kon?
Speaker 3 (31:36):
Is you not? What was it about Akon? And you
signed him early, like back in two thousand and four,
two thousand and five.
Speaker 4 (31:44):
I believe that he was right when I left Glad,
I started SRC Records right right, So I signed Banner.
I'm a banner A yeah, yeah, I'm a basketball guy
and I break my nose playing basketball. And the macho
guy that I am like, all I really want to
(32:05):
do is cry, but my son is watching and I
want to show him, like I have blood all over me,
and I want to show him that it's okay to
like get hit and you don't have to cry. Meanwhile,
I'm seeing three of everything. It's like, you know, if
the basket's over there, I shot the ball over there
right like then, I literally just I never felt paying
like and I just passed out. And when they were
(32:27):
taking me to the hospital, Kenny Burns with huh and Kenny,
he goes, you got to hear this, and I'm like,
what the fuck is this? And there was only one
record that I wanted to hear. And I mean, there's
only one record that I said, just keep on playing
it over and over and over again. And my philosophy
was like I never considered myself an A and R guy,
(32:48):
Like it was always about the team.
Speaker 6 (32:50):
Wait, Kenny Burns said that, No, I said.
Speaker 4 (32:54):
Kenny had the tape and then he played with me.
We were playing ball, and now I went to the
hospital to get my nose ticks.
Speaker 6 (33:02):
Okay, I'm just I'm just tripping at Undy Burns. As
a part of the Akon story, this is amazing.
Speaker 4 (33:05):
Okay, So in those days, I flew private MHM, and
I just didn't know if I was laughed to fly.
I don't know what the hell was the matter with
my nose. I could have been like a full you
know rain. Now I don't know what the fuck you know?
They said they broke my nose and I couldn't really
fly for twenty four hours for effect. So I just said,
we're going to Atlanta set of New York, and I
(33:27):
met the vine I at aicon. The rest was history,
and I pretty much did the same thing. Universal laughed
in my face. I said, this is gonna be the
biggest office in my career, and they said, oh, this
is couna be biggeran war. I'm like yeah, and they laughed,
and I got so fucking mad. I was like, you
know what, fuck you guys. And I had There's somebody
(33:49):
that was with me at LAB who started off as
an intern in the street team guy and then he
just grew and grew and grew with me, and then
when I started SC he became he was because I
gave him a piece of a company me and he
was my president. Got the name of his wife was
pregnant at the time, and I said, God, you do
the East in the South, I'll do the West in
(34:11):
the Midwest. And we didn't have a video. We didn't
have anything. He took a kN and I took a
conm boo, and I mean, we may believe whoo was
a kon and.
Speaker 5 (34:21):
We wait, wow, this is like the Little Richard James
Brown situation. We're both Little Richard and James Brown. We're
touring as Little Richard.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
I didn't okay, oh it.
Speaker 4 (34:42):
So we had no video. Nobody knew what any kind
of looked like. And at the at the end of day,
the record broke in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and so like
so like you know, I fly fly into me York
with the record club locked up with style.
Speaker 3 (35:01):
I was about to say, was locked up.
Speaker 4 (35:03):
Okay, right, I come to New York and this is
where you know Republic was known for doing their research.
I should you not. There's a fucking report like like
this must have been fifty pages on every storm in
Albuquerque and util. You wouldn't believe how many fucking stores
that were, you know, between Target and Walmart, and the
(35:25):
ship's going through the roof. So wise and We're like,
what the fuck is going on? You know, and I'm like,
I'm trying to bring it east and you know now,
you know, and we had to change out philosophy because
Republic was a radio company. They didn't understand street records.
So I had a cover like like Philly came in, Boston,
(35:50):
came in Connecticut, came in, Miami, came in you know,
New York was the last one to come in, you know.
And then who was Mother's Day? And I get a
phone call from somebody who goes, what the fuck did
you do in Brooklyn? I'm like, what are you talking about?
We're talking about Akon, you know. And the truth is
I really didn't do anything. We just we surrounded New
(36:10):
York where it would just have to leak in and
with the King's plasm mall. You know, the record was
being played every fucking call, you know. That Monday, Abro
calls me up and he says, we're adding the record,
you know. And then two weeks later, like the research
was like number one requested in like top three call out.
(36:30):
I mean, the record broke and the right it was
the first the first week, I think we scanned three
thousand records. It was the lowest sound scanning record I
ever had in my life. First week, but each week
it didn't go three thousand to fifteen hundred. They stayed
at three thousand, three thousand, two hundred, three thousand, one hundred.
(36:51):
And when that fucking thing just took off, I mean,
by by the fall, we were at sixty thousand a
week and we didn't even come up lonely yet.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
So tired of that record.
Speaker 4 (37:04):
Good God.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
I have a confessor about Lockdown. I have an professor
about Locked Up.
Speaker 5 (37:11):
And this is before the error sizam where you can't
find out who the artist is. I swear to God
for a good twenty one seconds, For good twenty.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
One seconds, I said, holy shit, roberta flex of the scene, yo.
Speaker 4 (37:39):
But yeah, but Locked Up with styles Pete was those storymix.
Speaker 3 (37:45):
I didn't hear his verse, but A Kon's voice was
so I can't describe it.
Speaker 6 (37:53):
It's such a compliment to Acon, such a compliment.
Speaker 5 (37:56):
Yeah, and I'm saying it's androgynist, but I literally it
was a woman singing, and because it was done in
such a rich alto, and I never heard this voice before.
For twenty seconds, I was like, hey, rich it could happen.
I was like, if and Aretha Franklin working together, I was, yo, shot,
(38:20):
let me find out that that's.
Speaker 3 (38:22):
ROBERTA Flag is about to come back like a motherfucker.
Speaker 5 (38:30):
Okay, wait before I let you go, there's one question
I always ask of every label CEO, Can you tell
me three x that you almost signed that were close
but no Cigars.
Speaker 7 (38:45):
Jay Z?
Speaker 3 (38:46):
You could have you could have signed jay Z.
Speaker 4 (38:49):
B mvus hated me so much and because we took
him for so much money, they didn't want to give
us any more money to sign JA. I go back
with Dane since he's fifteen sixteen years old when he
was managing Original Flavor.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
Wow, Wow, so that's dope.
Speaker 1 (39:06):
So Jay.
Speaker 4 (39:09):
He wasn't an act, but he was to me one
of the best executives, you know, IRV Gotti when he
had Mike Geronimo. We tried to get the.
Speaker 3 (39:16):
Records ship.
Speaker 4 (39:19):
And we'll tell you this, whatever reason we couldn't get
the sample cleared and then BMB is saying, you're wasting
your time. And this was literally I just signed my DAP.
They said, you're wasting your time and we're not going
to give you the money to do it find something else.
So if I didn't deal with Mike, I'm sure would
ended up being with me.
Speaker 5 (39:39):
Are you talking about Master I See or the single
that he had that was more puffy ish? No, the
first single, the first Master I See, that's a goddamn masterpiece.
Speaker 3 (39:52):
Oh wow, jay Z and then m and you got
a chance to sign him.
Speaker 1 (40:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (40:00):
But but the thing was this, if he stayed with
us and I had to do with Paul Rosenberg a
few weeks ago, he wouldn't have been Eminem four hundred
million records later, right, he would have been eminent. He
would have been Eminem fifty million records. He was an
underground rapper, you know. And you talk about Genie and
no Battle, right, so you're talking about him and Dray
(40:24):
just creating magic that that you know, he would have
been Bob Deep. He would have been Wu your pun.
We had a pop record on. I was still how
to play it, but you know he would have been
just in that length. That was the only thing we
knew how to do.
Speaker 3 (40:41):
Wow, So I know that you know what.
Speaker 5 (40:45):
The thing is also interesting about your story is the
fact that how the lineage goes down from your grandfather,
your father, you and now your your son is an MC.
Speaker 3 (40:54):
Correct.
Speaker 4 (40:55):
So my youngest both my sons played ball, you know,
one played college, another one played for a famous high
school out in LA and he didn't want to go
to college, and out of nowhere, he just started rapping
and he put out a record and shouldn't put the
record out of himself, and he did you know, a
(41:16):
few hundred thousand streams. Flex played the record on his own.
Speaker 3 (41:21):
Without knowing the connection, no knowing knowing the connection.
Speaker 4 (41:26):
But it was during the holidays, so he hit a
two week run and he was going to music school
in Florida full sale, and it was just you know,
my son, he doesn't want to read it. He needs
to see it and feel it. So he lost his
love from doing like real school work. That's not him.
(41:52):
So you know, he has twelve twelve of his friends
like his crew. They're rolling in the NBA. So he's
going to be an intern for Rich Paul starting December.
Speaker 3 (42:04):
The way you're talking about basketball, I feel like your
true passion is owning a team.
Speaker 4 (42:09):
Or now I've lost so much money in basketball. I mean,
I'll I'm just I'm just a fan now that that's
all I'm I've lost tensive millions of dollars.
Speaker 3 (42:19):
Did you try to No, never try to own a team.
Speaker 4 (42:22):
But like my philosophy in life, and this is what
I've learned from my dad. If I can help one
one person and save their life and put him in
the right direction, then I did my job on her.
No money, could you know that feeling of saving somebody?
You can't put a price on that. And you know,
so when me and my wife split, my kids are
(42:44):
into racial okay, and they all came out different complexion,
all three of them, you know, and one came out
really like skinning, like Jack the Rapper. So when we split,
she moved to Florida and there's an area called Delery
Beach and in this one area in Dowery Beach is
(43:05):
probably the most gang affected in all the flower in
a five block radius. And there was a gym there
and she threw him in there, and she goes, you
got to learn how to stand on your own. And
she wouldn't let me go to any games. And then
finally like I didn't know what au was or anything
like that, and then I don't know where I think
(43:28):
she was coming out to. I don't know where she
was going but she goes, oh, you got to pick
the ballots at two o'clock as a game at twelve,
I get there one to watch the game, and I
knew he was gifted and then, but I didn't know
that he had two of the games at night, you know,
one at six and one and nine. I was in
heaven and I just started going to the games, and
(43:50):
you know, they respected him for who he was, and
I just minded my own business. I wasn't gonna try
and buy a team. But I didn't know that he
was eleven and he was playing on a fourteen on
the team and they didn't win a game. Right but now,
and he wasn't talking to me with me and his
mom separating, but now he was back in my life.
(44:13):
And I said to the coach, I said, the season
can't be over, and he still, well, you know it's over.
I'm like, you got to find something. I go, he was, well,
there's a tournament next week for twelve and under team.
I said, well, alex is eleven. How old to say?
And like, we end up putting six guys on the team.
He goes, who will, coach? I said, I will. He says,
what do you know about basketball? I said enough, I
(44:35):
should you not? I go seventy and oh that whole
fucking song seven zero. So Florida is known for football.
I know nothing about football. Half my team of professional
football players right now. So they were just the best
athletes in the world. And I just had him pressed
and they could all shoot the shit out of the
(44:56):
ball and jump and they were how old was Alas?
He was eleven to twelve at that time, right, yeah?
And I really thought I was going to become a
professional basketball coach, like I had him traveling. We won States,
we won Nationals, we won the World Games, and I
just thought I'm taking on challenges. And then I get
a phone called to buy a tournament, which is like
(45:17):
a record convention, And just like one thing led to another,
and I mean, I lost my shirt. But at the
end of the day, that is my happiness. Music, right,
Music is the closest thing to God right right, make
your laughing and make you cry, just your memories, It
just it touches your soul. Sure, and basketball just it
(45:38):
just touches me too. Where I get fucking crazy, do you.
Speaker 3 (45:42):
Still get an itching or like just one more hit?
Metaphorically speaking as in drugs not like a hit single,
but just is I mean, are you addicted at all
to the adrenaline? Yeah, I'm finding that rare Jim.
Speaker 4 (46:00):
So I got. I got this kid right now, same
as Take forty five from San Diego, California, eighteen years old,
self contained, produces himself. He had eight monthly uses on
Spotify and now he's closing in and I want to
(46:21):
say a little under two hundred thousand. He had twenty
five who was on TikTok and we're closing in on
three hundred thousand files and all this kid is just
keep on putting out music and putting out music, and
his energy is fucking ridiculous. And people will say to me,
it's you know, it's nothing what people are used to
(46:45):
be putting out. But you know what, my old day,
one of my old day in our guys on the
West Coast brought it to me and it's it's it's different.
He's self contained. And each day we're going up slowly
and he's gonna break. I just don't know when I
don't know how to read records. Yeah, but the adrenaline
that I get every day and just seeing it if
(47:05):
we're up ten streams or a thousand streams, or getting
on a new playlist I have. I was sick for
a while. I had a mess heart attack eight years ago.
That's why you lost the weight. No, I just was
away because I don't want to get another heart attack.
Speaker 6 (47:20):
That's what That's what I'm meant, that's what I'm in.
Speaker 4 (47:24):
So yeah, I was sent three times.
Speaker 6 (47:28):
Oh man, what was that like?
Speaker 3 (47:30):
Was it just overworking? Was it stress?
Speaker 4 (47:33):
It was never going to the doctor and not taking
care of myself. If I went to a doctor and said, hey,
your blood pressure is high, you gotta do something. You
gotta lose ten times. You gotta do this, you gotta
do that. But it was I'm not blaming my x y,
I'm not blaming anybody. It was just me not taking
care of myself. You could say stress, you could say that.
You could say that, but it was just you got
(47:53):
to know your body and you got to just take
care of yourself.
Speaker 3 (47:55):
You know, you got to make yourself a priority.
Speaker 4 (47:58):
And that's what it is.
Speaker 3 (47:59):
Yeah, you know you are learning that in the pandemic.
Thank god.
Speaker 4 (48:03):
No, you can't be a victim. And you know, and
just like who wants to hear a victim story?
Speaker 5 (48:10):
At least not of your own self, so you don't
feel like a stranger in the strange land in terms
of like.
Speaker 4 (48:18):
Yeah, I do, I have no idea? What the fuck?
Speaker 3 (48:20):
Okay?
Speaker 6 (48:21):
Good?
Speaker 4 (48:21):
I mean, I have no truth. I call the Empire
distributes us guys. Who is the smartest guy in the
music business. I don't want to bother him, so I
speak to him, like what can I do today? Like
I used to make a clall shoot, right, two hundred
people be some mix guys by streeting guys.
Speaker 3 (48:40):
Right.
Speaker 4 (48:40):
I got five guys, right, and they all work with me?
Who are all at the DSPs. I mean I sit
here like just twiddling my fucking thumbs and I'll take
a nap at three o'clock.
Speaker 3 (48:52):
But I'm just saying that today, Like how is it
different now promoting? Especially with the internet at the helm
you have no word of the internet in the early nineties.
Speaker 4 (49:05):
But you have nobody promotes to Like you can't promote,
you can't promote Spotify the record. They don't want the
record on the radio yet. So my day was today.
I got him a booking agent at UTA, right, mm hmm.
And I was really excited to do your thing. So
I went to lunch, made a few calls, and just
(49:26):
thinking about the podcast all day.
Speaker 3 (49:30):
Sound like freedom to make That's a dope day.
Speaker 5 (49:34):
Wait a minute, I'm gonna get crushed if I don't
ask one to asker roth question.
Speaker 3 (49:38):
Oh all right, could you talk about your your your
work with and Scooter?
Speaker 4 (49:45):
I mean at as great as the ASHU was. I
know he's from Pennsylvania, you know, right. The guy the
name of Jerry Clark introduced me to Scooter. I was
in Atlanta and Scooter, I think was still in college
mm hm. And he just reminded me a little of myself.
I thought he was a little bit more full of shit,
but I thought he was brilliant. And I offered him
(50:06):
to become president of company with no experience huh.
Speaker 3 (50:10):
And he gave Scooter his start.
Speaker 4 (50:13):
I gave Scooter his first record.
Speaker 6 (50:14):
Yip.
Speaker 3 (50:15):
Yeah, shit.
Speaker 5 (50:18):
Now I feel like there's a question that I should
be asking that I don't know to ask, because again
you keep on pulling these historical.
Speaker 4 (50:26):
I gave so this, this is what I'm proud of.
I gave Scooter his his first record deal with I
gave guy Siri. I got him his first deal with Henji,
and evil ly with Ruber and Rodriguez at Pendelum America.
Speaker 3 (50:39):
Wait what so I just didn't start at Maverick.
Speaker 4 (50:43):
Guy was eighteen years old.
Speaker 3 (50:45):
You gave oh shit, Okay.
Speaker 4 (50:47):
No, I didn't. I didn't sign him. I made the
deal for guy.
Speaker 3 (50:50):
So guy was was managing Henji. Yeah, e belie at
the age of eighteen.
Speaker 4 (50:56):
Yeah, you're I think at the age of sixty. And
I begged him to go lists an independent record company
and he said no.
Speaker 3 (51:04):
Wow, okay, all right, gods another So it was another one.
I want one more at like, give me some more.
Start bragging. Brag on yourself. This is minory moment.
Speaker 4 (51:16):
I mean, I can't brag on myself. But you know Scooter,
I opened him to become president of s r C.
He said no. I said the guy, let's start a
record company. He said no, And I made the deal
and then on and that's you know, and then me
you know me raz and fetch up you know those
you got it them?
Speaker 6 (51:37):
Can I ask you an awkward question that probably nobody
ever asked? Was it ever awkward to have that many
five percent on the labels?
Speaker 3 (51:47):
Thank you good night, Dante? Also, I mean the black.
Speaker 6 (51:54):
Maid has got it the White Maiden's Devil.
Speaker 4 (51:56):
They were all on my wedding. I mean I never
thought about it, just now, like and it never came
to my you.
Speaker 6 (52:03):
Know, I also asked that to know. I wanted to
know at some point, where the where did they stop
because I feel like also at a certain point you're
helping to make money too, so.
Speaker 3 (52:10):
You don't how much. But that's interesting. Yeah, you never
with the bag.
Speaker 4 (52:17):
The only one that we had issues with was that press.
Speaker 3 (52:21):
Oh yeah, I forgot about the press.
Speaker 4 (52:24):
But at the end of the day, I probably handled
it wrong. It was my my ego was hurt. It
was like, how the fuck are they not trust me?
Speaker 3 (52:35):
Are you serious?
Speaker 4 (52:39):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (52:40):
I mean I mean were the first record? Were you
there for the second album?
Speaker 4 (52:44):
No?
Speaker 5 (52:45):
I can tell okay, Oh no, I wish I wish
that second that second album should have blown up, and
it didn't.
Speaker 4 (52:54):
But you know, but then you look at you know,
m p any up. You know it's just like those
are records to this day, you know that still give
me goosebumps.
Speaker 3 (53:05):
Yeah, stay around forever. No, I mean, this is the
first time I think you and I are talking, man,
But I've heard them, but stand up.
Speaker 5 (53:14):
Things about you and you know, all the respect that
you had, and this is like a long, long, long, long,
overdue conversation. Man, I thank you for coming on the show.
Speaker 4 (53:24):
You in New York? Are you? And l A?
Speaker 3 (53:26):
I'm currently in New York. The next time we got
to go to dinner, no doubt, no doubt.
Speaker 7 (53:32):
Well that's right, you got a daughter too, Right, where
do you guys want to go for dinner?
Speaker 1 (53:40):
I'll set it up and.
Speaker 3 (53:45):
Wait, So good Bill, nothing, no questions.
Speaker 7 (53:49):
Well, I just I mean, Steve, it sounds like like
you made a lot of close friends and and a
lot of people hate you, which makes you an authentic Steve.
So congratulations on that. And but what a great career
I mean, no, just just too much, too much to process.
Speaker 3 (54:07):
Incredible.
Speaker 5 (54:07):
Yeah, I really wish I was there at Radio City
for that night at uh celebration.
Speaker 4 (54:14):
That night was so fucking special. I mean it was.
I mean, I think it was Ex's last performance. It was,
and it was right before everything shut down.
Speaker 3 (54:26):
Yep, yep, it was amazing.
Speaker 4 (54:28):
I was in a radio City would never be the
same after that. They they never saw so many people
backstage and in their life.
Speaker 3 (54:37):
I also wanted to know how that was organized and
what not.
Speaker 5 (54:43):
Well on behalf of Siga, Steven and Bill and Fan
Diegelo and Laya, the Great, the Great Steve Rifkin.
Speaker 3 (54:53):
Yes, thank you, Supreme.
Speaker 4 (54:57):
This was amazing. Oh I didn't talk too much.
Speaker 3 (54:59):
No, we live for Rabbit, Holy trust?
Speaker 4 (55:02):
What is that?
Speaker 3 (55:03):
What are those works?
Speaker 2 (55:04):
They go together?
Speaker 4 (55:05):
Talk too much?
Speaker 3 (55:06):
We don't know.
Speaker 5 (55:07):
So until next time, ladies and gentlemen, and I promise
you that I will have better camera working and Steve
look professional. I'm just I feel like a drunk here.
But anyway, thank you for doing our shows.
Speaker 7 (55:29):
You're getting You're not a drunk, but you're getting high
too much.
Speaker 3 (55:36):
All right, We'll see you on the next go around.
Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 1 (55:39):
This West Love Supreme is a production of iHeart Cream.
For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Hosts And Creators
Laiya St. Clair
Questlove
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Bobby Bones Show
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.