Rap Radar: Steve Stoute

Steve Stoute’s been standing on business for over 25 years. This fall, the United Masters CEO held his annual SelectCon conference in New York City. Later this year, he’s honoring Scarface and Rakim at his inaugural Paid In Full ceremony in Las Vegas. Returning for a second time on the Rap Radar Podcast, Stoute speaks on his relationships with Usher, NBA Youngboy, Brent Faiyaz, Nas, 50 Cent, and JayZ. He also speaks candidly on Max Kellerman, shares a text message with Nipsey Hussle, and reacts the arrest of his former artist, Superstar Pride.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
He it was a rap raid all podcast. My name
is beat I Elio will say, feeling Elliott.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
I'm feeling good, beat Out, How you baby?

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Feeling great? Especially after this Geechee Gotti episode. Man, like
that we hit the battle raps.

Speaker 3 (00:11):
See man, what I'm saying, we battling these other podcasts
battle rap Gee.

Speaker 4 (00:16):
I love it.

Speaker 5 (00:16):
Man.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
You know, Geechee really is like the face to me
of battle rap right now. He kind of like sparked
my interest again in it.

Speaker 5 (00:23):
You know.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
I love the fact that he's unapologetic with his rams.
He saw I tickle it too in a conversation, So
it seems like a lot of people loved what we
had to say and what he had to say as well.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Did he get any backlash for his uh? What was it?
The Mount Rushmore?

Speaker 1 (00:37):
I think that Mount Rushmore was battle Rappers in their feelings,
the og battle Rappers, And I mean he cleared it
up to he was saying, like how he gives props
to this generation to also give props like the moods
and the low the luxes of the world. But you know,
I think it was pretty on point though, you know,
so shout out to Geechee Gotti.

Speaker 4 (00:52):
Another great conversation.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
Did you get get any backlash for you Drake review?

Speaker 4 (00:58):
Not actually any ovo text. Not a lot of people.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
A lot of people seem to agree with me in
my assessment of the project. You know, it's it's not
my favorite right now, but you're still sitting by Elliott
and the Boy Man the Dogs, Man for the Dogs,
maybe rough rough.

Speaker 3 (01:15):
I think Sexy Red Man, she might as little find
a spot to rapper in the podcast.

Speaker 4 (01:18):
Man, that song could be a hit beat Out. I mean,
I think it could be a hit.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
I think, like I said last week, the Miami bass
Atlanta based kind of sound is kind of dominant right now.
A lot of people love to dance, you know, like
from the Baby and the oozies of the world. So
you know, I think it's a good It's a good
joint off the album. It's a highlight for sure. Sexy
reds out here doing the thing.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
Man.

Speaker 3 (01:38):
But you know, we gotta run out of guest man.
We gotta be in this hot streak though, Man, Like
we can't miss right now, Man.

Speaker 4 (01:44):
I can't miss. We got back. Steve Stout on his.

Speaker 3 (01:46):
Program Commissioner Man The Commissioner, Steve Stout, I.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
Always wanted to know why. Jay said he wanted to
holler at him. I should have asked that, right, So
start to holler at me, man. Yeah, if my invested
me part two, I think maybe the check had to
come right. Jack ain't clear of it.

Speaker 4 (02:01):
But you're actually going to participating in his event this weekend.

Speaker 3 (02:04):
Yeah, Select Con United Masters. They've been doing it for
third or fourth year in a row. Just a great
hub of creatives. My assignment this afternoon is to talk
to our colleagues at ern Elisia Man, Rashad and Troy
doing amazing work this year. They got the investments, all
that stuff. So I'm actually in the conversation with them.
And if you and those guys bringing their story to

(02:24):
the forefront. I think Steve himself is talking to Davido
da veto de Vito and yeah, it's gonna be a
beautiful event, man. So that's why he's in town. But
you know, any chance to talk to you know, hip
hop Variety said, one of the greatest hip hop executives.

Speaker 4 (02:40):
They got it right.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
You can'tfront on Steve Stout.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
He's been in the game for a hundred years, man.
You know, he's responsible for the success of nas. You know,
he had a hand in fifty cent early on, and
you know Marry J. Blige, jay Z. Of course the
list goes on and on it. Of course he's doing
this thing United Masters. So you know, Steve has no
shortage the stories.

Speaker 3 (02:58):
Yeah, last time we spoke to him was way back
in twenty seventeen. The black and white era brought like
the bottle opens one and stuff to try to impress him.
But now we get back with him after six years.
And it's funny because he hinted at that. He said,
like when he first sat with us was the beginning
of the whole United Masters. He didn't want to brag
too much or really you know, he wanted the work
to do the talking. And now six years later he's

(03:20):
in a strong spot. You know, one great acquisition I
saw this year another eraporate our podcast.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
Alum Brent fires our helicopter.

Speaker 3 (03:27):
Buddy copters with us, right, you know, rumor fifty million
dollars deal with United Mass mister independent joint force with
the Commissioner Man.

Speaker 1 (03:36):
So we gotta know how that happened. I rolled over
United Masters. They get money, man, sit fifty million.

Speaker 4 (03:43):
Stole getting the money.

Speaker 3 (03:44):
You know, I thought it was cool too, Like membassas
we asked Steve about the whole Hippi fifty thing, and
I felt like he was playing the back seat to that.

Speaker 2 (03:50):
He had a real message behind it, right, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:52):
Absolutely, you know, he Stout does things strategically, and you
know what he talked about in the program about the
plan that he has for his own hit Pop fifty, Like,
it's really really impressive and our commended for that.

Speaker 3 (04:03):
So yeah, taking care of artists like rock Kim and
Scarfa's health issues and stuff like that.

Speaker 2 (04:08):
Beautiful to see.

Speaker 6 (04:09):
Man.

Speaker 3 (04:09):
You know, it's always a great interviewers sometimes, you know,
people wanted the execs man, they want the behind the
scenes forces of culture.

Speaker 5 (04:14):
Man.

Speaker 3 (04:14):
This is the guy that made Jay Z write the
verse for Doctor Dre still dri It's the guy who
continues to make noise. Today Met Earth Gang just signed
to you know's a shout out to those guys, you know,
just connecting the culture.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
Man.

Speaker 3 (04:24):
So it's time once again to get one of the
most important execs in our history.

Speaker 4 (04:28):
Man, Steve Stout, the commissioner.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
Yeah, on your rap rate up podcasts.

Speaker 1 (04:32):
Let's do it, yo, it's a rap rate on podcast.
My name is betr Elliott Wilson here with the commissioner.

Speaker 3 (04:39):
Yes man, one of the greatest hip hop executives of
all time, according to Variety, that's a fact.

Speaker 5 (04:44):
Steve Stout, thank you so much. Man. When that list
came out, I didn't expect.

Speaker 6 (04:50):
I didn't even expect to be on it, to be
honest with you, I didn't know that they would get
it right, get it right.

Speaker 5 (04:58):
Yeah, they got it right. It was it was.

Speaker 6 (05:00):
It was a good list of people on that and
you know, it was cool to be a part of
that historic moment of the celebration of fifty years of
hip hop and fifty executives that made an impact.

Speaker 4 (05:13):
Do you think they let anybody off?

Speaker 5 (05:14):
I can't remember. I can't remember the list.

Speaker 6 (05:17):
I remember thinking that, oh, maybe they could have put
somebody else on or whatever. You know, they got to
get it fifty. You know, it's hard, it's hard to
get it tight. But they mostly got it right. I
could say that. You know, there was no like Grave
like era mission.

Speaker 2 (05:35):
Yeah, but it's crazy about your story about like people.

Speaker 3 (05:38):
No, no, you conquered the music executive side of things,
and then now in this new era with United Masters,
you're sort of retooling challenging the whole system that you're
a major part of.

Speaker 5 (05:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (05:49):
Well, you know what's cool is that I had this
conversation with you guys last time. I was here literally
at the beginning of United Masses, and I really didn't
want to talk a lot about it because I didn't
want to come out the gate like yoa hype. And
you know, I got an announcement like all these other people,
like you know, you see it all the time. It's
an announcement, and an announcement like do to work, make

(06:14):
it important, make it impactful, and then you know it
will tell the story itself. And as I look back
on it, probably five six years, we were early, very
early on the idea, and that as a bunch of
copycatter is, which is fine. I'm used to that. I'm
used to, you know, being first in a particular field

(06:37):
and watching people come afterwards and you know.

Speaker 5 (06:41):
Do their thing, because I like the fight.

Speaker 6 (06:46):
I like there's something about me that love innovation, love
innovative ideas.

Speaker 5 (06:54):
There's value to that to me.

Speaker 6 (06:57):
It may not have monetary value, but it has there's
a lot of pride in the fact that you thought
about something and you've seen around a corner and therefore,
you know, you landed on an idea and United Masses.
It was clear when everything went to streaming that there
was no need for a record company anymore. It's almost
like a joke now as I sit here, and when

(07:19):
I said it back then, people were like, are you
going to compete.

Speaker 5 (07:21):
With Spotify or Apple? They did, or Title.

Speaker 6 (07:23):
They didn't really understand what that was. And now when
you look at it, it's obvious. You know that you know,
outside of the advance that a record company can give you,
there's nothing really they can do that you can't do.
They can make up shit, but there's nothing tangible that
they can do that you can't do. And artists are

(07:44):
proud to be independent.

Speaker 5 (07:47):
You know. I seen us here in Paris a few
weeks back and.

Speaker 6 (07:52):
He said to me, you know, Steve, although I'm not
with United Masses, I want you to know that it's
very important for you and everything that you stand for
that I'm the first independent act to play.

Speaker 5 (08:04):
The Super Bowl. This is us who's been in a
legacy artist saying this to me off top. You know,
so clearly we made.

Speaker 6 (08:12):
An impact and I'm proud of the work that we've done.
We have a long way to go. I think this
is the beginning. We're still in the second inning of
the independent becoming this idea of a major independent and
what that means going forward.

Speaker 5 (08:30):
But so I think we're early in the game.

Speaker 6 (08:31):
But I think that we are well positioned to do
what we need to get done.

Speaker 1 (08:35):
We had a conversation earlier this year with NBA young
Boy and he said that he's a part owner of
United Masters, and he.

Speaker 6 (08:42):
Say that on the camera. First of all, the congression
you guys were getting a meeting with MBA. That was
very difficult for him. He's a very special guy.

Speaker 5 (08:55):
I like him. I spent a lot of.

Speaker 2 (08:56):
Time with him, and.

Speaker 6 (09:01):
You know, there was a deal that we were going
to discuss in which, you know, we were going to
be in business together, and he was gonna you know,
we were in business together, and yes, he you know,
equity was going to be a part of compensation. I
believe wholeheartedly in equity and ownership. I think I talked

(09:21):
about that before, Like you know, when you just talk
about just so the the just the way we've been
compensated over time, you know, from the you know, indent slavery,
indented servant, to the employee to.

Speaker 5 (09:35):
The owner, right, You just like that evolution.

Speaker 6 (09:38):
So I do believe that people should get equity based
off of their contribution, and I wanted to put him
in that game, but you know, there was a lot
that happened and then he got in trouble and that
whole thing didn't work. But yeah, there was That was
definitely an in depth discussion, and I have a lot
of respect for him and his talent. Certain things that

(10:00):
we she handled differently, but you can't take away from
his talent.

Speaker 5 (10:04):
Right.

Speaker 2 (10:04):
Another gentleman we did a great interview with.

Speaker 3 (10:06):
We actually went a helicopter with him because that's what
the kind of vibe he was on is Brent Fias
and I heard you guys admitted, Yeah, we did a
little helicopter ride. You see that, you know, because he
was inspired by Jay when Jay went on Rap City
and Joe Claire did the helicopters. So you know, Tie,
everybody was like, Brent only wants to do it if
you guys get in the helicopter. So we did the
interview sitting down and then we eventually getting the helicopter.

(10:28):
We did some of the interview in the helicopter. We
had to make sure we could at least get make
sure we.

Speaker 2 (10:32):
Had to copy here. But we really actually got in
the helicopter with so man.

Speaker 6 (10:36):
Brent is amazing different. He's a different guy, and you
know it was, you know, to get him to come
to the United Masters. It was a bidding war. I
mean not a bidding war money monetarily. It was a
bidding war with what are you going to do? What

(10:57):
do you believe in?

Speaker 5 (10:58):
Values? People putting forth their values on top of money.

Speaker 6 (11:03):
And we had to beat everybody. I mean I literally
had to beat everybody, but you know.

Speaker 5 (11:14):
Everybody.

Speaker 6 (11:15):
Everybody had to beat them everywhere, every aspect of it.

Speaker 2 (11:19):
What do you see? Why did you want to beat them?
What did you see that?

Speaker 6 (11:22):
Why did you because he there's a few artists that
stand for independence like it embodies what they are, and
he's one of them. He's been doing it him in Tie,
his partner's manager, have been standing for those values from
day one. They're eloquent on the topic because they know it.
That's all they know. They don't even understand when you

(11:42):
come at them with i'll give you money and own
some of they don't even know what that means. All
they know is investing yourself and rip the reward, which
is exactly my values. And that's the time we spent together.
When I first met Tie, he said to me, Steve,
don't be honest with you, man, I read your book,

(12:05):
love you, but we're good. And it was developing a
relationship from that point for over two years. That led
to then when they were going to make a move,
and Brett wanted a partner because he had bigger creative
ambitions and the right kind of partner to invest in
those ambitions was what he needed and wanted. And you

(12:27):
know that's when you know, I came in and I
believe in him. I think he's genius level talent, and
that's the reason why we're partners.

Speaker 1 (12:36):
Yeah, can you talk about that, because when the reports
came out, it kind of was like elusive a little bit.
He said, you and Brent launched a creative agency value
that fifty million dollars.

Speaker 4 (12:44):
Can you explain more about that agency?

Speaker 5 (12:46):
Well, he he Well, the word agencies.

Speaker 6 (12:49):
First of all, I hate that word is okay, okay,
something to go to translation for a second. The agency,
we're creative solutions company. That's what we are. We use
creative solutions to solve a problem. That's what we do.

Speaker 5 (13:07):
The word agency is terrible word.

Speaker 6 (13:09):
It's too much connected with mediocrity and cost and no
return and all that kind of stuff.

Speaker 5 (13:17):
So no.

Speaker 6 (13:20):
Brand wanted to whether it be fashion, creative ideas overall,
he wanted to get funding to back a a sort
of a creative hub, a creative safe space where things

(13:40):
that came out of it may articulate itself as fashion,
and may articulate itself as visual content. It may you know,
articulate itself as podcasts. Like it was more of a
of a creative hub that you know, ideas can be
forced out of.

Speaker 5 (13:57):
That's what he wants to do. So that's the world.
That's what it is.

Speaker 6 (14:01):
It's not it's not an agency per se that's gonna
you know, work with brands and that kind of That
wasn't That wasn't the intent.

Speaker 5 (14:10):
Entirely got it.

Speaker 3 (14:11):
Also, he's empowering his team around him, so different positions. Ryeah, Yeah,
is s O supremacy. I think it's called I can't
tell you the name.

Speaker 4 (14:21):
But what can you tell us about select conn five man?
That's what you in New.

Speaker 1 (14:24):
York City for tonight? Yeah, for those nine intends can
you explain what that is.

Speaker 6 (14:29):
So we started to Select con uh three years ago, three
and a half years ago, and Select is a tier
in United Masses in which you subscribe and you put
out you know, all the any amount of music you want.

Speaker 5 (14:44):
And and when you are a subscriber to Select.

Speaker 6 (14:48):
You also get connected to the brands that we represent
at and T, the NFL, the NBA, State Farm, ESPN,
all right, so to get your music in the sync
so you can seek opportunities as well as brand and
marketing opportunities with that tier of service that we have
at United Masses Select Con, which is obviously a take

(15:13):
on that is a conference that we wanted to do
where it was really helping creators, entrepreneurs, artists, labels, whatever
it may be, provide information and intelligence that they can
take and use as they build and navigate their careers.

Speaker 5 (15:28):
We've had great speakers. We've had Russ and Chance the
Rapper and Pharrell and.

Speaker 6 (15:36):
The young Neuralisia gentlemen and others come on that stage
and talk about what they went through and the trials
and tribulations and provide advice and insights.

Speaker 5 (15:50):
And that's what this is all about.

Speaker 6 (15:51):
It's about getting the best of knowledge and having them
share it.

Speaker 5 (15:55):
It's a live masterclass, you know.

Speaker 3 (15:58):
And I'm you know, you your leisure today in Leisure today,
and that's dope.

Speaker 5 (16:06):
Man.

Speaker 3 (16:06):
Let's speak a little about those guys like to really
bring financial literacy to our culture, like it hadn't really
been done before. And it's amazing to see the work
those guys are doing right well.

Speaker 6 (16:16):
They're definitely hard workers and I love their relationship.

Speaker 5 (16:21):
I met.

Speaker 6 (16:23):
I met them about three years ago. I did an
interview and they were explaining to me. The first person
to tell me about them, honestly, was Kevin Hart. It
was Kevin Hart, and then Charlemagne within like two weeks
told me about them. They were reaching out for me
to do the interview. I did not know who they were,
so I, you know, delete.

Speaker 3 (16:46):
And that's easy to get the commissioner on the line, babe,
It's not easy.

Speaker 6 (16:50):
And then I met them, you know, after hearing about
them from Kevin and Charlemagne. And the first thing, you know,
Sean said is like, man, we're going to like rock
stars of financial literacy, Like we're going to sell concerts out.

Speaker 5 (17:06):
And when he explained the vision, it was.

Speaker 6 (17:10):
It was clear he had it like it was clear
they had a vision on what they expected and wanted
to do. And there are versions of that that exist,
but they're just not with African American in our world.

Speaker 5 (17:23):
They're not African American rooted and hip.

Speaker 6 (17:27):
Hop culture kind of of of conversation and that level
of financial literacy. And they knew there was a lane
for them, and they've stayed diligent. It's one of the
things Jimmy IV and A he said to me, stick
to your knitting and stick to your knitting comes from
the fact that like you'll go to your grandmother's house

(17:47):
and kid, you go to your grandmother's house and she'll
be knitting, so it'll be this small and then you
come back like five months later and it's a whole duvet.

Speaker 5 (17:54):
You're like, how did it? In your mind? How did
the time ellapse? How do you get that done? Because
she's stuck to her knitting.

Speaker 4 (18:00):
So slow and steady, slow and steady, And that's what
they That's what they did.

Speaker 6 (18:03):
And I'm super proud of them. And we've been partners
with them with select Con for a few years. And
however I can help them with sponsorships. I do that
for them and you know, they have been great partners
to us. We have a great relationship.

Speaker 1 (18:16):
It's dope because like you've always been a person that's
willing to give game. I saw a while ago on
Instagram you posted from nineteen ninety six. He was at
the how Can I Be Down? Conference? He survived as Chris.

Speaker 6 (18:29):
Lighty man, I was scared. I remember that. That was
the first time I spoke publicly. I was scared to death. Wow,
I was scared to death. And I was standing next
to Shat Kim and Chris Lighty. Who are you know,
Titans as far as I was concerned back then, And
God blessed Chris. Titans men that I have looked up

(18:53):
to and admired, you know what they were doing. And
I was sort of now entering that frame six yeah,
and well not no, it was even the behind the scenes.
I was now really getting no One. Track Masters had
just taken off, and now's that I was, you know,
their manager, And now I'm on stage next to these

(19:16):
great guys and I'm sitting there going, holy.

Speaker 5 (19:19):
Shit, it's on now. And and I wasn't.

Speaker 6 (19:23):
Good Like the clip. I don't know how I found
that clip. Somebody sent it to me. If you sent
it to me, then there it is. That's how I
found it. But that clip was actually decent because I
was terrible. Yeah, I'm talking about stuttering, scared, can't answer

(19:45):
a question.

Speaker 5 (19:47):
My voice was trash. The whole thing was bad.

Speaker 6 (19:50):
But I learned obviously from it that there was gonna
you know, if you're gonna do this, you gotta be
able to do that.

Speaker 5 (19:56):
But I was just more. I couldn't believe that I
was sitting next to them, you know, speaking in public
like that. I had gotten to that point.

Speaker 6 (20:08):
That was just that was a certainly for me, like
a high point in my career at that point.

Speaker 3 (20:16):
So how did you grow in that way? Up front
facing and you know, I guess writing a book that
Tanny America was a huge step, like can you speak
to sort of that transition of like putting yourself out
there more, putting.

Speaker 6 (20:26):
Myself out there more really happened when the you know,
as times changed and I was like this guy behind
the scenes, and I realized, like, I mean, you gotta
go man, like you you have a you're gonna go
int the advertising business. You've been a record executive that

(20:48):
had success. You got to tell your story and I
didn't do music videos, so it was and like that's
the way people were getting themselves out there because they
were in music videos and be like, oh shit, that's
blah blah blah.

Speaker 5 (20:59):
I didn't do that. I didn't feel like doing that.

Speaker 6 (21:03):
So I chose, you know, to be able to speak
about and articulate what I believe in. And you know,
whether it was marketing ideas for how we were rolling
out albums or.

Speaker 5 (21:15):
The key shift came in it and met in black.

Speaker 6 (21:18):
You know how I got into advertising when you know
will Smith water glasses and the glasses took off. Everyone
thought it was a phenomenon, and I thought, no, it wasn't.
This is exactly what happens when you put a package
good wrapped within a pop cultural moment. You can create
contagious behavior where somebody sees it and they want to

(21:40):
buy it as a result of that. And maybe I
should be on that side of the business. Maybe I
should understand that side of the business, which led me to
understand the advertising business. And I was ninety seven, and
because I started understanding advertising and understanding obviously knew the
music business. I I'm like, if I don't share this,

(22:03):
then I'm doing myself.

Speaker 5 (22:05):
And others of disservice.

Speaker 6 (22:06):
And that's literally what made me, you know, push forward
and start to talk and and put myself out there.

Speaker 5 (22:12):
And I'm still cut.

Speaker 6 (22:14):
There's my moments where I don't want to do it,
and you know there's moments why like there's something to
talk about, Like right now, there's something to talk about.
When there's nothing to talk about, I'm not wanting to
be running around and just talking to stay like right,
you know, relevant, relevance, you know that word that everybody's
concerned about.

Speaker 5 (22:33):
Irrelevant? Are you relevant? I'm I sure how many follows
you got? Oh? I am relevant?

Speaker 4 (22:40):
Right? Can we talk about your time with the Nicks.
Are you still working with them?

Speaker 5 (22:44):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (22:44):
Okay, work well, I work with James Dolan and Madison
square Garden.

Speaker 5 (22:50):
Uh. You know, he's he's been great.

Speaker 6 (22:52):
I love working with him and I don't give a
fuck when anybody says, you know, he he's a dreamer.
He's very very talented. He is a very specific point
of view. You know, people come down on him for
whatever reason. The Knicks aren't winning. You know New York.
You know New York fans are you know they love basketball?
So they want to see a winner. They deserve a winner.

(23:13):
And he knows that not everybody sees what he did
in this fair and that's just fucking people up.

Speaker 5 (23:19):
What he built in Vegas.

Speaker 4 (23:21):
Oh that's him. Wow, that's him.

Speaker 6 (23:25):
Two and a half billion dollars, two point three billion
dollars of vision. You walk into that place, you can't
even imagine what you're in. It's like it's the best
venue in the world. Everyone knows that. There's nothing to discuss.
You go in there. You go in there. When you
listen to the sound system, when you listen to the fact,

(23:47):
they can change the temperature, but in six seconds of
the room, they're not like change where it cools off
or heats up, like change your cold you're hot like.
And he owns all that intellectual property. He's built the
venue of the future in the spare in Vegas.

Speaker 5 (24:06):
So yes, I still work with Madison Square.

Speaker 6 (24:08):
Go out and I work with James, and I think
he's brilliant and and you know, up marketing with the
Knicks or whatever it may be. We have a great relationship.
And I'm we're right here, Madison.

Speaker 2 (24:23):
Square, right right behind it.

Speaker 5 (24:25):
So it's dope.

Speaker 1 (24:26):
Now, how did you manage like that backlash after your
moment at ESPN, How did.

Speaker 6 (24:32):
I manage that? The good news was that COVID came
right after that. COVID came right after that, and that
was good. The I regret doing it. I did it
for the wrong reasons. I learned from that doing things

(24:56):
for the wrong reasons, you know, talking because whatever, you know,
I shouldn't have done it. That other guy, the guy
up there, who was an asshole, and I'm really.

Speaker 5 (25:08):
Happy that he's he's not.

Speaker 6 (25:11):
He got fired of Max Kellerman, who's trash.

Speaker 5 (25:17):
He's an actor. I mean he used to be a
rapper and all this other shit.

Speaker 6 (25:20):
He's he's boxing analysts, he's this, he's that, he's a
fake whatever.

Speaker 5 (25:25):
He's a he's an actor.

Speaker 6 (25:28):
And you know, part of what happened in the interviews
that I went up there and as I said, I
shouldn't have.

Speaker 5 (25:37):
There was no reason for me to go up there
and do that.

Speaker 6 (25:39):
And then you have this guy who's not talented on
the other side, you know, instigating a problem, like trying
to egg me on, and it worked. I didn't have
an agenda, right, I was just up there to talk.
I had no agenda. And then after that. The next
day he went up there and started talking shit. I

(25:59):
actually ran, I want him to speak to him about that,
and like like, why would you go up there the
next day and like start talking shit. And he's like, well,
you know, I thought that you you were sent up
here to, you know, defend the Knicks and all that.
I'm like, man, Max, whatever, I don't want to talk

(26:20):
about him anymore.

Speaker 5 (26:22):
I the lesson here is if you really have nothing
to say, say.

Speaker 1 (26:28):
Nothing simple but effective. No, yeah, go back to usher you.
I had his performance in Paris. He said you were
like a big brother to him. And I know I
met him when he was twelve.

Speaker 5 (26:42):
Man.

Speaker 6 (26:42):
I was living at my mom's house and I had
a jeep Cherokee, and I had I had an air
conditioner in my window that was broken, and I had
to take it out of the window to get it serviced,
and like it was in my car for a month
because I never.

Speaker 5 (26:59):
Got around to get it. Sir.

Speaker 6 (27:00):
I remember the uh, the air conditioner being in the
trunk and it took up a lot of the back seat.
And la Read's brother was his A and R guy,
And in the beginning, you know, they were trying to
find the right sound for Usher they were looking for,
you know, they were taking him around trying to find
a producer because they knew they had the special talent.

Speaker 5 (27:18):
And he brought him to New York to go meet folks,
you know, and you know, I picked Brian up. I
knew Brian Reid.

Speaker 6 (27:26):
I picked him up at the airport and you know,
Usher Young's twelve thirteen year old kid was in the
car sitting next to the air conditioner.

Speaker 5 (27:36):
I took up a lot of the back seat, and.

Speaker 6 (27:39):
You know, I spent time with him, and you know,
you know that that whole journey, that era of that.
And then he ended up working with Puff and Puff
put him with Davonte and that's how they started getting
you know, his first album was made and a lot.
But the thing about him is he's always allowed me

(28:02):
to be honest with him. I'll tell you the thing
about whether it be you know, Beyonce or Gaga or
Usher or Hove Nas.

Speaker 5 (28:17):
Whoever. Bust.

Speaker 6 (28:18):
I can name the list of artists fifty, I can
name all of them. Any artists that I have a
thing Puff, that I have a relationship with. The thing
that they expect from me is honesty. You know, that
I speak extremely candidly to them and even if you
don't like something, even if I don't know, definitely when
you don't like something, and that candid nature, sometimes it's tough.

Speaker 5 (28:42):
It's like, one of the things.

Speaker 6 (28:43):
That I have is one of the values of my
company's challenge and respect, Like, how do you say the
most difficult thing in the most respectful way?

Speaker 5 (28:51):
And I do that.

Speaker 6 (28:52):
And I do that because I want them to have
somebody in their life that will actually look at it
objectively and.

Speaker 5 (28:59):
Be honest with them.

Speaker 6 (29:00):
And sometimes in that honesty, there's something in it that
they're like, shit, you're right, because they're just always used
to having people around them, for the most part, who
tell them everything that they say is brilliant and that
agree with everything. That's how those people that's called fucking
job security, they agree with everything. You can get fired deal,

(29:21):
you know, versus somebody who's willing to say, nah, take
that shit off, that shit is not where it's at
right now for you. You know, Andre Herral was like
that for me and for many people. Andre Hiral was
like that for all of us. And you know, another
person that I have a great deal of respect for,
and God bless and a lot of times, you know,

(29:45):
I find myself by default filling that void or that's
just who I am, Chris Rock, it could be anybody,
swear to you, man, like my relationship with great talented
people comes from a basis of honesty and tructive criticism
at times, and it always ends in respect. It's coming

(30:06):
from a good place, the best place, because I know
how special they are.

Speaker 5 (30:11):
I can be replicated, We can be replicated. They can't.

Speaker 6 (30:14):
With that voice, that sound, that look, that level of
talent that embodies that particular person cannot be replicated.

Speaker 5 (30:24):
It's far and fumed between, you know.

Speaker 6 (30:27):
So be honest with them because we're trying to preserve that,
you know, and they need that.

Speaker 5 (30:36):
That's fair.

Speaker 3 (30:37):
Do you think you provide an element that's kind of
missing though, like you said, very few willing to do that.
Most people will either on to pay roll they had
to do it, or don't even have the expertise to
kind of.

Speaker 6 (30:45):
Well, the expertise, the understanding, the pedigree, the taste level,
you name it, the honesty within themselves to understand or
even really truly get how rare and special they are.
All of them, all of them, every one of them.

Speaker 3 (31:03):
But that's the tide with usher because it seems like
you haven't really have you formally done Vennis wim or
it just seems like you're somebody who's been about to.

Speaker 6 (31:10):
Make money on it. It has nothing to do with that.
It has something to do with the fan. I have
always been somebody who cares about our culture, always, even
if it wasn't to my direct benefit.

Speaker 5 (31:23):
That's not the point. The point is it lifts the tide,
lifts all boats man like that. That's what it is.

Speaker 6 (31:30):
So it's not like I'm providing advice specifically. Only when
I get something. I speak the cam run and I
speak the cam in Mace right now on this show
whatever they were advertising.

Speaker 5 (31:41):
I speak the cam once a week, wow, once a week.
He calls me. I have nothing to do with it.
Don't do that?

Speaker 2 (31:48):
Do that?

Speaker 5 (31:49):
Fuck? Yeah?

Speaker 6 (31:50):
Perfect, this, that and the third. It doesn't even matter.
It doesn't mean and he feels welcome to call me.
No problem. That's me with people that I respect, that
have been in the culture, have moved the culture forward,

(32:11):
and that are special and unique.

Speaker 5 (32:12):
I do that.

Speaker 2 (32:13):
I thought it was interesting.

Speaker 3 (32:14):
I didn't see you really involved in any of this
hip hop fifty talk talk talk stuff going on. What
was your take on that, like even like advertising behind it,
the whole push behind it.

Speaker 6 (32:24):
And that's thank you for that for noticing that.

Speaker 5 (32:31):
Part of it was.

Speaker 6 (32:34):
I thought that, hey, there was a people were doing
a pretty good job on one and a half, like
but mass appeal has done.

Speaker 2 (32:43):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (32:45):
And then part of it was I felt like people
were doing a bunch of corny shit around it, and
I tend to walk away when there's like a bunch
of corny shit happening. It was more corny things than
it was real shit that was subsidient. But we are myself,
Ben Horowitz, Fab five, Freddy QD three Felicia Horowitz, Ben's wife.

(33:10):
We have a fun called a fun, a charity called
payton Full. On November seventeenth, we are honoring those who
have led the culture but have not received the financial
rewards that's on par with their cultural contribution. Yeah, and

(33:32):
we're giving you know, significant money, a half a million
dollars yeah, and healthcare to these people who we believe
were contributors who didn't.

Speaker 5 (33:42):
Get what they deserved. And we're honoring.

Speaker 6 (33:46):
On November seventeenth in Vegas, Scarface and Rock hemp. Oh yeah,
we sold out.

Speaker 5 (33:51):
It's at the Guggenheim in Vegas, and that's it happens
to be on Hip Hop fifty. But like that's impactful.
You know, calling.

Speaker 6 (34:01):
Scarface and say yeah, that's wants to let you know
man that I got this fee.

Speaker 5 (34:04):
He's like, what do you have to do. I'm like,
just show up man, He's like word.

Speaker 6 (34:08):
I'm like, yeah, half a mil this, that and the
third boom rock Ken and every year it's an annual thing.

Speaker 5 (34:16):
This is what we're doing. So what I want to
do is.

Speaker 6 (34:21):
All of the artists who had come early, who had
to sign bad deals or did sign bad deals or
got taken advantage of that. The least we could do
is give to them, pay that forward and give to them.
So paid in full. November seventeenth in Las Vegas. You
guys should come. A's dope like, I would love for
you to come because you're going to see something that's

(34:44):
going to be very special because no one's ever done
this before. No one's given the people who've helped move
this industry forward reparations of some sort for what they've
done but didn't get back.

Speaker 3 (34:57):
Wow, when did that come together for you? To do that, dude,
seeing a lot of the corny shit and just like
I got to figure.

Speaker 5 (35:02):
Before that, now this is good while Ben Horwitz working
with Ben you know.

Speaker 6 (35:11):
Nas work me Ben nas QD three Night Team five.
But it was like two years in the making, trying
to figure out what the right prize is and you know,
trying to go through the process and get it right.

Speaker 5 (35:23):
But two years.

Speaker 6 (35:24):
It wasn't for Hip Hop fifty. It just happens to
be that year. You know, so this year, so it's
cool to say that that's okay, that's what I did
that year, right, that's what we're gonna and that's what
we're doing going forward.

Speaker 2 (35:38):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (35:38):
You know, but why Rock Kim in Scarface as the
first recipient?

Speaker 5 (35:43):
You just go through.

Speaker 6 (35:44):
It was just a process about this a certain amount
of this conditions in which you know, you have to understand,
I don't want to just put people's personal businesses, the
conditions you got to understand. Uh, you know, Scarface had
a health scare. You know, there's there's a bunch of
things like that, and you know, when you go through
it all, you know it was that there's to be

(36:04):
others this every year. Yeah, we would have did five,
but we chose to and it'll probably it'll grow, it'll grow.
But this is this is this is gone. This is
not like a you know, announcement that's not gonna happen.
This is announced. This is happening, and this is gonna
happen every single year going forward.

Speaker 4 (36:20):
Wow, that's awesome. Another person that you have had a
hand in.

Speaker 1 (36:23):
Their success is nows as you just mentioned, Like, what
do you think of the run he's had as of late,
especially on the music to a hit Boy.

Speaker 6 (36:29):
Yeah, I just spoke about it this morning, was talking
about somebody earlier at breakfast that.

Speaker 5 (36:38):
I can't be you know, somebody.

Speaker 6 (36:40):
If somebody says to me, you know, stout after everything
you've done in your career, you know, when you look
back at it, I hope that you see that managing
NAS was one of your greatest accomplishments.

Speaker 5 (36:52):
And I never thought about that. And it's true.

Speaker 6 (36:58):
I worked with and I'm friends with one of the
greatest artists that ever walked the face of this earth.

Speaker 5 (37:04):
That's a fact.

Speaker 6 (37:06):
And what he's doing right now is having a great
time looking good.

Speaker 5 (37:13):
He's him, it's him and for real battle in the space,
like who's who's the most.

Speaker 6 (37:23):
Oh god, yeah, they're they're fucking fighting at a battlezations.

Speaker 5 (37:31):
Somebody would say pause.

Speaker 6 (37:34):
There pop crowd, But yeah, he he he's having a
great time. Uh, the music he's making, he's having fun.
The fact that he still goes on tour, the way
he goes on.

Speaker 2 (37:50):
Talk Tang of all people.

Speaker 5 (37:53):
With Mary and Lauren and Wu Tang.

Speaker 6 (37:56):
Mean, he's just I've seen him in Parisman twenty foived
have sold out, seen him again in London twenty thousand
sold out. I've seen the show three times Hollywood Bowl,
Paris and London, and I'm just proud of them.

Speaker 5 (38:12):
The fact that they go on tour together.

Speaker 6 (38:16):
And you see wherever they go around the world, the
same kind of feel when those same songs come on
and they're having a great time, and you know Nas
is putting out music on top of it, dropped an
album on his birthday. He's been saying he was gonna
do that for ten years and he finally did it.
He always says that you think I should do.

Speaker 5 (38:35):
It on my birthday. I'm like, we keep saying this
like I don't understand ask question, and he did it.

Speaker 3 (38:43):
But what do you think the drive came from this
sort of inspiration. Six albums in three years. I mean
I would have been a dream back then. I remember
the battles of as being around.

Speaker 5 (38:49):
I think, you know, inspiration and boy him inspired.

Speaker 6 (38:53):
I think being independent, having in the constraints of a
record company, you know, telling you what the jew and
is it the first single and all that other bullshit.

Speaker 5 (39:02):
I think that's that freedom.

Speaker 3 (39:04):
Yeah, they don't judge that, I was saying to Hippoy,
even theseulf they don't judge those albums by what they sold.

Speaker 2 (39:08):
They just judge it aby the quality.

Speaker 5 (39:10):
They judge it by the quality of art. And you
know the fact that NAS is just putting out music.
We like that.

Speaker 6 (39:19):
We like that and and and I tell artists that
they should they should do that.

Speaker 5 (39:24):
Man.

Speaker 6 (39:24):
I think I told Jada kissit down that at NAS's birthday,
and like, yo, put out music, man, put out music.

Speaker 5 (39:29):
Stop.

Speaker 6 (39:30):
What happens is the old legacy system and ways you
get caught up in sales first week and all that
kind of stuff, and those kind of things stay with you.

Speaker 5 (39:41):
It's almost like you get ptsdals. Oh my god, I'm.

Speaker 6 (39:45):
Concerned about market and now you're out of it. You're
playing with the house money. Put out the music. People
want to hear what you gotta say. Try things. It's
not being judged like that, like you're not no matter
what you do. It's not falling off like you don't
have to work. Yo, you only did whatever your first week,

(40:05):
you fell off Like that doesn't work that really, So
just stop put out music.

Speaker 5 (40:09):
I would tell all.

Speaker 6 (40:10):
The acts that's been in the game for some time,
like put out music. Always put out music. Don't never
let them not make you put out music. Don't keep
that shit in your drive. Put that shit out.

Speaker 1 (40:22):
I think it's dope that Nas has been able to
age gracefully in this thing, because you know, he's fifty
years old, and you have artists like jay Z and
even artists like Killer Mike. They're still performing at a
high level.

Speaker 5 (40:33):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (40:33):
Well, we all thought that it was a young man's game,
and it is a young man's game from a perspective
of attracting youth, But it's not a young man's game
when you talk about hip hop audiences and the maturity
of content and music and ideas that we've grown up with.
You know, it may not be as big as obviously

(40:56):
sixteen year olds, but it doesn't matter. You know, you
still have an opportunity to appeal to a fan base
that loves you and has grown with you, and you
should continue to talk to them.

Speaker 3 (41:06):
Why do you think DMC said they seemed like they
they've evolved. When we was coming up, it was like, oh,
the MC would fall off by the fourth album when
he turns in his forties. Like it seems like now
these guys are still growing. It's still able to contribute
great music.

Speaker 5 (41:18):
Well, I'm not sure about I'm not sure about that.

Speaker 6 (41:21):
Okay, I think the talented ones have been able to
jump the fence and continue to make great music.

Speaker 5 (41:29):
Let's pull back for a second.

Speaker 6 (41:30):
I think the one thing I do know about hip
hop and AMC is that bars really do matter. And
we sometimes I could have sat here during periods of
time with rap Radar and you would have been like, yo,
bars is not even can on more dog? And then
all of a sudden, you see like J Cole just

(41:51):
ripping down these verses and everybody gives a fun.

Speaker 5 (41:54):
You know, bars do matter. That the core of.

Speaker 6 (42:00):
Hip hop and the MC is putting that putting words together,
and yes, melodies matter, and obviously you want to dance
to it or whatever however you want to feel. And
there's periods in which bars seem to not mean anything,
and whether it was the mumble Wrap error or whatever

(42:21):
it was. But then you get back.

Speaker 5 (42:22):
To bars, and then you get back to bars, and
then you get back to.

Speaker 6 (42:27):
The Big Three, whether it's Cole, Drake and Kendrick or Nas,
Biggie and Jay or Rock Kim Cararas and Kane, whatever
you want to do, get back to bars, and we're
back to bars.

Speaker 4 (42:45):
Facts, you know not.

Speaker 1 (42:46):
I said on what this all really means Off Magic Too,
that you met Nipsey Hustle about doing a documentary on
IM being bootlegged.

Speaker 5 (42:53):
Well though, well, yes, I had spent time at Nipsey.
He very special.

Speaker 6 (43:03):
Yo, very unfortunate circumstance, and he was so supportive of
United Masters.

Speaker 5 (43:12):
From the beginning.

Speaker 6 (43:13):
I would go speak and he would be in the
front row like he he's sitting in the front row.
Was like crazy that he would do that, but he
was so keen on understanding and that was his whole thing,
knowledge of everything.

Speaker 5 (43:29):
And anyhow he sent me a text that I still have.

Speaker 2 (43:35):
Wow.

Speaker 6 (43:35):
He literally asked me, tell me about the process when
you were making it was written, and I'm like, yo,
that's so crazy you asking me that. He goes, because, well,
I'm making this second album right now, and I just
want to know how did you go through thinking through
it was written? What was the mistake you made? And
I'm like, you know, I think we rusted Doctor Dray

(43:56):
record because it was the last one NAS's coming as
his career. Idea, it could have been better this, that
and the third and the sequencing, you know, putting our
rule of the world last, because we didn't want people
to think that it was how we sequenced the album
was important. I was taking him through the whole thing,
and I'm like, man, this guy is to reach out.

(44:18):
And I showed that text and now I was like,
now just look at this.

Speaker 4 (44:20):
Wow, this guy is.

Speaker 6 (44:21):
Asking me about it was written. And he's like, man,
I mean, I can get my phone on the show
to you, but it was written. Thing was important to him.
And he started rattling off all the songs that meant
a lot to him.

Speaker 5 (44:35):
Get my phone for a second. Oh shit, look at this.
There is won See this right there? Wow, read that again?
Read it all right.

Speaker 1 (44:49):
This is March twenty six, twenty nineteen, Nipsey says, Top
of the week, hope you, hope you. Silid got a question.
I want to ask you about making my sophomore album
when y'all made it was written, Do you feel like
y'all did anything wrong?

Speaker 4 (45:01):
And you respond, you're crazy, crazy for asking that. So smart.

Speaker 1 (45:04):
The biggest mistake we made was rushing to get Doctor
Dre nis is coming. It was decent, not great. That
was Doctor Dre's first production outside of Death Row.

Speaker 4 (45:12):
Oh wow, you think about that.

Speaker 1 (45:13):
The smartest thing we did was go for the feature
out the Gate, utilizing this his incredibility from mellmatic. So
I Ruled the World made perfect sense, Nipsey responds, right
in capitol letters, If I Ruled the World was undeniable.
I was eleven or twelve, and I remember being blown
away and we was on some West Coast only shit.
Back then, that song was the only voice other than

(45:34):
Pak that spoke to us as young kids from the
street on that level. I gave you power, the message,
street dreams, affirmative action. Watch them niggas. If I Ruled
the World classics cool, Wow.

Speaker 6 (45:45):
It's press on to that. So and if you look
at the date and then when he passed. You'll see how.

Speaker 4 (45:50):
Tight it that was just a couple of days prior.

Speaker 5 (45:52):
You just understand what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (45:54):
Wow, it's a lot, It's a lot, yes man.

Speaker 3 (45:58):
Yeah, But we talked about that, you know, from the
area where that we know what to make of NADS
when he came with the lauryn Hill single, like you know,
you changed the sound, you changed the soundtrack.

Speaker 2 (46:06):
Master was a new sound. We wanted to keep him
in this illmatic bubble.

Speaker 3 (46:09):
And even you're saying it is interesting, and you said that,
even that you kind of played to it by putting
it last in the sequence of the album.

Speaker 5 (46:15):
Then I dropped the hold on. I gotta still get
over that thing. That's crazy, you said. You see what
I'm saying. I'm not even sitting there. These are real.

Speaker 6 (46:26):
Every question everything has comes with depth, and it's important
the words you say and how you speak to people
and how you treat people.

Speaker 5 (46:36):
My care and concern about the culture, I have nothing
to do with that.

Speaker 6 (46:40):
Right when we were making it was written, people told
me I was gonna kill his career.

Speaker 5 (46:52):
Q Tip told me that my face in the studio. Wow,
I was at the master.

Speaker 6 (46:57):
Room plant and Q Tip said, are you putting that out? Yeah, Yo,
you're gonna kill a kid's career. And I'm looking at
Q Tip and this is the first album I'm making
from scratch, and Noah's trusted me, and I'm thinking, like,
is he saying this because he don't like the record
or because he didn't produce on this album because he
produced on the last album and I went in a
different direction, and of course, but I'm like, man, fuck

(47:21):
this shit. You know, by the way, when that song
worked and we did everything we did around it with
the music video and starting with the message.

Speaker 2 (47:32):
And cut into that and all that, I'm like.

Speaker 5 (47:35):
I'm not listening to nobody anymore.

Speaker 6 (47:37):
Like once that worked, I guarantee you every young manager
goes through that. They go to a record company or
they go to something and there's some og or somebody
who's supposed to know shit, and then you sit there
and they tell you to do something or else, and
then you don't do it. You do the fucking you
follow your gut and the shit works, and now you
start looking at them like, Yo, you don't know fucking shit.

(48:01):
Every I guarantee you if you just do, if you
just take that idea I just said and ask every
single person tell me when that moment was when somebody
told you you looked up to or that you thought
knew more than you to do something and that was
wrong and you didn't listen to them and it shit worked.

Speaker 5 (48:17):
Tell me what that was. You were here, Wow, shit,
wow shit.

Speaker 6 (48:22):
People give just like they're like, oh, that's not gonna work. Oh,
that's not gonna work. We tell them it's not gonna worry.
It's the biggest fucking hit of my life. You don't
know shit. People just like you know, follow your good instinct.
Have enough confidence to follow your good instinct. You'll actually live.
You'll sleep at night knowing that you followed your good
instinct versus you didn't follow your good instinct and you

(48:45):
fucking did some other shit and failed. Believe me, that
ship right there. You'll never forget that for the rest
of your life. Follow your good instinct.

Speaker 3 (48:51):
Those people that like it was written more than Ellmatic,
there's a generation that doesn't even understand that.

Speaker 2 (48:56):
Yeah it was backlash time, yo.

Speaker 6 (48:59):
I've been offending it was written for so many years.

Speaker 5 (49:03):
What are you talking about? This fire? You know? Yeah, yeah,
you know.

Speaker 6 (49:09):
Coming following I had to make the album you know,
I had to make NAS's album it was written following
uh Nomatic, and then I had to make Mary's album
World My Life.

Speaker 7 (49:26):
What yeah, yo, And it was it'sra and hated you
for it, man Like back.

Speaker 5 (49:38):
Then people hated me for it or whatever they did.

Speaker 6 (49:40):
But if I gotta if I gotta work, part of
it is being honest again. You're working with an artist.
You work with Mary, you work with nas Da in
that point of their lives. And you know for a fact, Yo,
this album Pete Rock Tip Premiere. These producers, you're going
with the track masters, you're going with Doctor.

Speaker 5 (50:00):
Dre, You're going with all of this new You're not
using the same formula at work before.

Speaker 6 (50:06):
You know, my life was pop and chucky tyn thing
you and you're going to new producers and new ship.

Speaker 3 (50:13):
Why was that the right move to do you see
a sound growth, elevating their sound.

Speaker 6 (50:18):
I'm not elevating their sound. I'm not I am not
elevating the sound. I'm not saying that. I'm saying that
growth as you start, as you grow, you have to leave.

Speaker 5 (50:31):
Certain things behind. You got to move on.

Speaker 6 (50:34):
And from the distance between Illmatic and it was written
was a lot of time had passed, music was changing,
you know, and there had to be I had to
be addressed. In the case of Mary, Mary writes from

(50:54):
her heart, So this time had changed, her life had changed,
and you know where she was in my life and
you listen to it and where she wasn't sharing my world. Look,
she's coming up with the titles. You know what I'm saying.
She's giving it away. She's telling you how she feels.
She wears it on her sleeve. So when you're going

(51:17):
to go into the shareman, it's a different time, it's
a different feeling. It's just growth.

Speaker 4 (51:22):
Talking about that growth.

Speaker 1 (51:23):
Three years ago, month prior to the pandemic, there was
a picture of you Nas and fifty cent at All
Star Week in Chicago. How did you and fifty manage
to salvage your relationship?

Speaker 6 (51:33):
My mistake with fifty was when I was leaving in
the Scope, I promised him I can get him a
deal before I left. I'm like, I got you before
I leave. I took fifty to Rough Riders, I took
him to Timbland. We weren't signing things directly to in

(51:54):
the Scope like that. We were always signing them through producers.
That was Jimmy's idea. Winks out and because of the
heat around him, I couldn't. These guys wouldn't fuck with him.
That's a fact. They would not fuck with him. They
would not fuck with him. I did the deal to

(52:15):
get fifty cent off of jam massa Ja to track
Masters and Sony, the guys that Sony, who were mentally
challenged at that time, that regime dropped fifty cent after
he got shot.

Speaker 5 (52:31):
They also dropped a Lisha Keys.

Speaker 2 (52:34):
That doesn't get said enough right right there is the same.

Speaker 6 (52:37):
By the way, the same executive, the same idiot Sonyhow.

Speaker 5 (52:49):
Don't matter, It doesn't matter.

Speaker 6 (52:50):
It's like it's some white guy at the time trying
to tell young.

Speaker 5 (52:55):
Black kids what's what's hot. It's the normal dumb ship.

Speaker 6 (52:59):
So anyhow, he drops both of them, Alicia Keys one person.

Speaker 5 (53:07):
Now I'm over at. I'm not at.

Speaker 6 (53:09):
I'm not When when fifty got dropped from Sony, I
wasn't there. I had already gone the interscope.

Speaker 5 (53:16):
So when he.

Speaker 6 (53:18):
The six million dollar man, comes back, you know better
than ever, and the bullet and the mouth changed his
voice and made him gave and gave him another.

Speaker 2 (53:29):
Fucking flow pocket to get it, and he.

Speaker 5 (53:33):
Had that ship. I'm like, yo, I can get I'm
taking it to these people. I'm on my way out
to do it.

Speaker 6 (53:40):
The last thing I did I worked on the eight
Mile soundtrack and I'm out, like I'm going over the inniscope.
I go over the interscope and I start doing other shit.
I'm like, you know whatever, I'm doing it in the
scope rough riders and I'm building my my repertoire over
at Niscope. They didn't do it, and I didn't even
think to bring it to or Eminem. I didn't even

(54:01):
think to do it. I didn't even think to do it,
and that that part hurt him at that time.

Speaker 5 (54:07):
Bothered him.

Speaker 6 (54:08):
Hurt him because he because I did say I was
going to get it done, and I did not get
it done, and I was fucked up that I couldn't
get it done. I actually couldn't get it done. And
that was always the problem that I said that and
I couldn't get it done. But you know, early on,
obviously I told Drag I got him over the j
I got him over there out of his jam assj deal,

(54:28):
paid jam massa Ja whatever it was to get him out,
had him up.

Speaker 5 (54:32):
In Bearsville, New York, were recording. I put him with
shaw Money.

Speaker 6 (54:36):
Shay Money was a kid that lived behind I knew
shaw Money's older brothers, show Money had some equipment.

Speaker 5 (54:41):
I put him, which Shy Money shot money in him.

Speaker 6 (54:43):
Was like this in the beginning, making all those making
all those records, and boom that all happened. And then
the whole thing in the garden is another story, which
was but whatever. You know, he didn't like a comment
that I made, and you know, I thought I made

(55:04):
the right fair comment, like, yo, where's the music, you know?
And your technology? I don't understand why you're doing that?
Your fifty you it's your fifty, Like why And I'm
just saying that as a person who admires his talent.

Speaker 5 (55:25):
And his persona as a musician.

Speaker 6 (55:29):
And after that at Madison Square Garden where we had
the face off, it looks like Muhammad Ali and Fraser
Muhammad Ali and we uh we we meet backstage at
the garden like so that's half time, and we literally
sat there for an hour and a half like the players.

Speaker 5 (55:55):
The players left the court and we were still sitting
there talking.

Speaker 6 (55:59):
And we went from that to Chris Lightdi passing and
what that meant to him. And we spoke for a
long time, so it was honest conversation and that was
kind of an it all just caught you know. That
was the end of that sort of thing. And then
obviously there's, like I said, the respect never left and

(56:20):
you see what he's doing in film and television, which
is fire. And when I seen him, it was at
nas we were in Chicago and he's seen us. He
got out the car and man, and it was like love.
It was Queen's get the money. Yeah, that's what it
felt like. It didn't even it didn't even have a hiccup. Man,

(56:40):
he was in the car, we were walking to a car.
He got out the car was like yo, and it
was just like Queen's get the money. And then we
doing the three guys from Queens in my neighborhood.

Speaker 5 (56:52):
Man, I grew up growing up in Queens.

Speaker 6 (56:54):
Within a three mile radius is fifty cent Russell Simmons, IRV.

Speaker 5 (57:00):
Gottill.

Speaker 2 (57:03):
That's beat outside of town. Yeah, this is side of town.

Speaker 5 (57:06):
Yeah. Yeah, you from Lowton, South Jamaica. You're from South Jamaica,
so beat out.

Speaker 6 (57:15):
All right, within a three mile rady, I'm not even
joking around the kid Keith who started footbo with Damon
and for them they were all within it wild within
three miles of each other.

Speaker 5 (57:25):
Is all of that talent.

Speaker 6 (57:28):
It's just a very wild thing that you have that
much talent that comes from that one specific area of Queens.
But yeah, you know, envy clue queens get the money, Nikki.

Speaker 4 (57:43):
Of course.

Speaker 5 (57:45):
I can keep going on and.

Speaker 6 (57:46):
On, but that, like the level of talent that came
from that area is kind of fire.

Speaker 1 (57:52):
I want to speak to one of your newest talents,
one of your brightest upstarts. It was an unfortunate predicament,
super Superstar Pride. He yeah, he was signed to United
Masters and he was arrested in charge of first degree murder.
I wonder know what was your reaction when you heard
that news.

Speaker 6 (58:08):
It bothered me because the kid was he was such
a stand up guy. Like when we signed him, it
was another bidding war, and he came to Miami and
I sat with him and told him about the value
of being independence. And he comes from a small town
like twenty thousand people, and he wanted like five million

(58:29):
dollars from a label, and when they didn't give him
five million, they were offered him three. He's like, if
it ain't five, I'm not signing it. I'm like, what,
but but the values, you know, values have value, Values
have value. That's what he wanted, and if it wasn't

(58:50):
going to be that, he wasn't moving. So when you
see people like that, that's the kind of people you
want to fuck with. So when I sat down with him,
I'm like, I'm not giving you five million dollars, but
what I am going to do is allow you the
opportunity to grow your career and own something that you
can give your family and your kids, and this, that
and the third. So anyway, we cut the deal. I

(59:11):
told him there's nothing that we can't do that a
major label camp can do.

Speaker 5 (59:16):
Zero.

Speaker 6 (59:16):
We got money, they got money. We get talent. They
got talent. I'm not sure how many people in a
major label system can fuck with me from a talent perspective, period.

Speaker 5 (59:28):
So we take the thing. The record goes number one.

Speaker 6 (59:32):
I see him after that and he's like, man, missus
stout everything you said you were going to do, you
did this, that and the third. Now I'm looking at
the kid the whole time, and I can't see the
people around him. I know they get busy, but like
all solid committed people who come from the street, if
you keep your word, you have nothing to worry about.

(59:53):
All you got to do is keep your word, don't
lie to them, don't give him the fuck boy shit,
and you fine. I did everything I said I was
gonna do, but I definitely knew that whether him or
his circle was.

Speaker 5 (01:00:09):
Got busy.

Speaker 6 (01:00:12):
When that shit happened three weeks later, man, I was like,
how many times is this gonna be the same shit?
Another young kid who gets money, who has an opportunity
to change his life, gets one foot fucking pulled back
in the shit and then does something that's stupid.

Speaker 5 (01:00:26):
Not Look, I don't know.

Speaker 6 (01:00:27):
Obviously he's charged with he didn't go to trial yet,
but the fact that he was even in that circumstances
the problem.

Speaker 4 (01:00:35):
Man had a number one record painting pictures. Yeah, and then.

Speaker 1 (01:00:38):
They had the whole situation with getting it cleared, and
he eventually got cleared with Faith Evans.

Speaker 4 (01:00:43):
So unfortunate yep, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:00:46):
Earth Gang in good News, Yeah, Earth earth gang Ville.
How did you guys connect with them?

Speaker 5 (01:00:54):
Barry have to manager? They had left in this call.
Barry's a cool dude.

Speaker 6 (01:00:59):
Barry first said no, Barry, you know, and we have
a great team at at United Massage.

Speaker 5 (01:01:06):
Man, this is not like look at Toby Man this case.

Speaker 6 (01:01:10):
Fuck gone, movies gone gone gone. Not even they don't
even touch the ground anymore when you see him. In fact,
if you look closely, their feet aren't.

Speaker 5 (01:01:20):
Hitting the ground. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:01:27):
So, like, I'm just proud of these things that have
taken place for people who've been around our orbit, and
that the last time I was here it was the
beginning of something. And now I'm sitting here telling you
something that's tangible, and there's a conference and we're going
to it and all these things.

Speaker 5 (01:01:44):
So I don't sit here and you know, saying they put.

Speaker 6 (01:01:49):
Yeast in the story, tell you something that's a theory
that's not true.

Speaker 5 (01:01:53):
Actually do what I say.

Speaker 6 (01:01:55):
You know how rare is that you know that people
actually say something and do it and follow through and
stick to.

Speaker 5 (01:02:00):
The nitty stick to and that's what it's about. That's
that's what it should be.

Speaker 6 (01:02:05):
And those are the values that I learned from the
era of hip hop that I've come from that as
a hustler, as somebody who's trying to move something forward,
you keep your word and you do everything you say
that you're gonna do, or you do your.

Speaker 5 (01:02:19):
Best to do it. That's all I know, and that's
why I'm here.

Speaker 2 (01:02:24):
But you did promise to bring us the demo of
jay Z with the still d R for Doctor Drake.
Come on, man, we're gonna get a copy.

Speaker 5 (01:02:31):
Man, a couple of those demos. Man, is there's a
couple of them that you know.

Speaker 6 (01:02:36):
It's it's like big. It's Nas writing Men in Black.
It's Na's reference to Men in Black.

Speaker 5 (01:02:43):
It's jay Z's.

Speaker 6 (01:02:44):
References for Foxy's first album. It's jay Z's reference for
Still d R. It's Jadakiss doing the Benjamins m h
uh uh puffs versus the Benjamins.

Speaker 5 (01:02:59):
These are all big fun.

Speaker 2 (01:03:01):
You've heard him. You've heard him.

Speaker 4 (01:03:03):
There's another one, jay Z a freestyle to looking out
the front Door.

Speaker 1 (01:03:06):
You heard about that one. Yeah, it's a jay Z.
Jay Z has a freestyle where he's raving in the background.

Speaker 5 (01:03:15):
We're in New York City, New York. It isn't about
it like let this go, don't like edit around it.
This is it is cool.

Speaker 4 (01:03:21):
Yeah, he has a freestyle over main source looking out
the front door.

Speaker 1 (01:03:24):
And I think you heard this. Yeah, it's it's out there.
But like I think just Blazer Young grou has it
on on hard.

Speaker 5 (01:03:31):
Drive, so he's going crazy on it.

Speaker 4 (01:03:33):
I don't know, I haven't heard it, but it exists.

Speaker 5 (01:03:37):
I'm gonna find out about it.

Speaker 2 (01:03:38):
You get to the bottom.

Speaker 6 (01:03:39):
I love that song, Looking at the Front. I like
that whole first Maine Souce album, Breaking Adams, Breaking, Breaking
Adams to the Chronic.

Speaker 4 (01:03:48):
I'm not mad at that.

Speaker 5 (01:03:49):
From a production standpoint, Breaking Adams production.

Speaker 2 (01:03:52):
Is Professor Baby.

Speaker 4 (01:03:55):
That's ceased again.

Speaker 6 (01:03:56):
Yeah, that first album is that, the production at the
botto about it, the transitions, everything, you know, And I
compare production wise to the Dre album to the you Know,
to the Chronic.

Speaker 3 (01:04:08):
But was an amazing moment when Super Bowl Doctor Dre
still dr performance. I saw Jay on the big screen.
You was right next to him. Like, what was it
like witness in that moment?

Speaker 6 (01:04:19):
Well, I had just I was trying to find a
Rock Nation booth and I was listening around and I
was getting stopped because at the super Bowl for me,
it's a super Bowl of advertising everybody.

Speaker 5 (01:04:31):
So I'm trying to get to the booth.

Speaker 6 (01:04:32):
But I'm stopping by and I'm dapping up the ceover Rising,
I'm dapping up State Farm, I'm dapping up all everybody,
and shit, I gotta get to this rock Nation box.
I get in the box and as soon as I
get next to Jay still dr starts like I mean
it starts. And it was a very special moment for
him and I had to share that. We acknowledge as

(01:04:54):
a special moment because of the me how impactful that
song was first for me as a A and R
guy is, you know, working that in the scope, Like,
no matter what my title was. At the end of
the day, I'm an A and R guy. I can't
you know, make music, put people together, you know, create shit.
And Jimmy ivean legendary record executive. He's getting every single person,

(01:05:18):
I don't care if it's Gwen Stefani or doctor Dre.

Speaker 5 (01:05:21):
They'll turn in the album and he's like.

Speaker 6 (01:05:24):
Are you sure? Can you make one more? And they're
like one more? Jimmy, this is it. This is the
first single. And he's like, he's asking Dre, what does
eminem think? And I'm like, Jimmy's really He's Jimmy's just
pushing everything to see how could you are you like
one more rap? Like He's just it's basically that, it's like,

(01:05:45):
dude more and they're like, I don't want to do anymore.
Jimmy's like, well, if you make the song it doesn't
go from the song from the studio directly in the
Tower records, like I mean them come out. Well, then
it's fine. So then he pushes Drake. Now, this is
this is the chronic two thousand and one. This is
the right He pushes Dre, and Dre says him and

(01:06:08):
gives Jimmy five beats he was thinking about. I'm in
the room, I'm in the meeting, plays five beats that
he's thinking about that he would have put on the album,
I said. Jimmy says, A right, take the beats, Steve,
and I'm already gonna try to figure out what I
could do with it. Now I'm flying across America with
Doctor Dre Beats, and I can't even explain to you

(01:06:29):
how incredibly fragile I was with that CD. Having Doctor
Dre Beats in your possession back then is like having
I don't know, jay Z's versus or something. It's like
you can't like it's just so special and rare. Well,

(01:06:52):
you know whatever it's that that's special and rare. So
I come back and I play it for I played
the beats for Timberland always Timberland has a great air.
I played the beat with timbaland Timbland likes a beat.
I played a beat for a few other folks, and
then I played for jay Z with the beat that
I liked that timbling, and a bunch of other people,
like three of us said, chose out on all the beats,

(01:07:14):
and it was the still DRA played for j.

Speaker 5 (01:07:18):
Jay goes in the studio, you know, mumbles.

Speaker 6 (01:07:24):
To himself, goes out to Noble, seriously, goes to Noble
and comes back and finishes the verse.

Speaker 5 (01:07:34):
No spits the verse, just like.

Speaker 6 (01:07:36):
That starts it, leaves, comes back, spits the verse.

Speaker 5 (01:07:42):
Him and I drive to.

Speaker 6 (01:07:46):
Atlantic City to go to a show, a little a
junior Mafia show in Atlantic City in which he promised
Kim because after Big Pass that he was gonna, you know,
on stage with him. So Jay a man of his word,
as you know. So with him and I are driving
to Atlantic City. The issue is we get lost. There

(01:08:08):
was a renting tight on time, so we I try
it's probably I'm sure he'll say it was my fault,
so I'll take the blame. I like tried something like, oh,
let's go this way and we can cut off time
to get to the thing. Man, we're fucking in the wrong.
We're not even near Atlantic City. We're going like towards
fucking Syracuse and they others. So now we start heading
to the city I'm driving. Now we start driving towards.

(01:08:32):
Now we're on our way towards Atlantic City. But now
we're going through Trenton, New Jersey because we skipped this thing.

Speaker 5 (01:08:37):
Yo. This man. By the way, we're playing still d
R re on A. They're playing it over. We can't
believe it.

Speaker 6 (01:08:46):
We're just playing it over and over and over and over.
It's only that we're playing for two and a half hours,
stuck talking a little bit.

Speaker 5 (01:08:55):
Play it again.

Speaker 6 (01:08:57):
We go through Trenton and Jay starts saying, nah, go
this way, this way, that way, and I'm like, oh, ship,
he really knows Trenton.

Speaker 5 (01:09:06):
And then somebody comes.

Speaker 6 (01:09:07):
Up to the car and like, yo, Jay, what's up.
Remember you used to serve me up. There's something crazy
like that. I'm like, Ship, He goes, yeah, man, that
diner right there is to be my spot.

Speaker 5 (01:09:24):
Anyhow, that was them.

Speaker 6 (01:09:26):
There's a lot of memories obviously at that moment, and
then when we heard uh the final of it.

Speaker 5 (01:09:33):
The thing that was probably most shocking.

Speaker 6 (01:09:35):
Was that Snoop did James Park and didn't change anything,
and uh, it was dope. It was dope for New
York hip hop, it was dope for Jays a writer,
it was dope for me as an r AN executive.
And that was the first single. So there's a lot
of memories connected to that, to that moment.

Speaker 2 (01:09:53):
When he created a lot of great memories. Steve Man,
we appreciate man.

Speaker 5 (01:09:56):
Yeah, Man, well, thank you for having me.

Speaker 6 (01:09:59):
Uh and you know, hopefully the next time I come,
there'll be another chapter, a new idea, another endeavor that's
pushing culture forward.

Speaker 2 (01:10:07):
Absolutely.

Speaker 4 (01:10:09):
I got to know Steve. Who's more competitive at you? Well, Beyonce.

Speaker 6 (01:10:14):
She she does a lot of things great. The thing
is a little thing. The little thing is not Jay
is very competitive at.

Speaker 5 (01:10:27):
You know. Think I love him though.

Speaker 2 (01:10:29):
You're the best player player better than the cards.

Speaker 5 (01:10:34):
The funniest thing is with I won that day.

Speaker 6 (01:10:37):
And the thing, the funniest thing with you knows is
how people be changing the rules mid stream, like I'm like,
wait a minute, you didn't know we could stock, Like
what are you talking about? You know you just did it.
When you put your reverses around, Like what do you
think it goes?

Speaker 5 (01:10:52):
Like? Get the funk out of here.

Speaker 3 (01:10:55):
Yeah, I forgot about you and calab with the golf too, though, Man,
has you guys stop playing?

Speaker 2 (01:10:59):
Yeah, this is world War three when you guys get
on the on the green.

Speaker 6 (01:11:02):
It was world War three because I won. It was
World War three because I won. I beat him two
to one. And he didn't like that.

Speaker 2 (01:11:11):
No rematch, no rematch.

Speaker 5 (01:11:13):
Well that's what he kept on. He was.

Speaker 6 (01:11:14):
He tried to extend the trilogy. It was trilogy, and
then he tried to make it pop. I'm like, math
doesn't work that way. Unfortunately math works don't and uh,
he didn't like that. But you know he's been playing
a lot. You know, it definitely be playing out. I
would have to brush up. I definitely know. Me winning

(01:11:36):
that trilogy got his ass sharp, got him out there.
I always feel like he's every day he's just dying
to get me back out there, trying to get out
of my pockets.

Speaker 5 (01:11:46):
Gentleman a gentleman, No, I took that money and I coped.
Hey yeah that so good? All right, gentlemen, thank you. Yes.

Speaker 2 (01:11:55):
Yes.

Speaker 4 (01:11:56):
The style raperate our podcasts rap Radar is The Interval
presents original production from Hyperhouse, produced by Laura wasser Holst
and producers Elliott Wilson and Brian b.

Speaker 2 (01:12:06):
Dot Miller.

Speaker 4 (01:12:07):
Permittival presents executive producers Alan Coy and Jake Kleinberg, Executive
producer Paul Rosenberg. Editing is sound design by Dylan Alexander Freeman,
recording engineer Mike Urban, visual director Josh Perez, Operations Lead
Sarah Yu, business development Lead Cheffie Allen Swig, and marketing
lead Samara Still. Make sure to follow a rap rator

(01:12:29):
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