QLS Classic: Bobby Brown

From his early days with New Edition to recording countless hits as a soloist, Bobby Brown talks about life as a musical legend.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Quest Love Supreme is production of iHeartRadio. This classic episode
was produced by the team at Pandora.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Quest Love Supreme. Ma contained language that some of our
listeners may find offensive. Listener discretion is advised.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
What's up, y'all, Welcome to QLs Classic. This is Questlove.
We did the Bobby Brown episode I believe in the
summer of twenty and eighteen. This is right before his
BET two Parts special came on, way after the new
edition BT Special came on, And of course his story
alone bananas, and that's putting it lightly, especially the parts

(00:47):
about Miss Jackson.

Speaker 3 (00:49):
It was nasty anyway. For me.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
I think it was also important not to just focus
on the salacious, controversial side to mister Brown, Like there's
other sides to him that people don't know about. So
for us, it's like a way to humanize him more
than he normally is in other interviews. And I think
we did a pretty good job at covering both of them.

(01:13):
Uh So, this is the Bobby Brown QLs Classic episode.

Speaker 3 (01:17):
I hope you enjoy it.

Speaker 4 (01:22):
Suprema Son Supremo. Roll call, Suprema So Supremo. Roll call
Suprema Son Son Supremo. Roll called Suprema Son Son Suprema.

Speaker 3 (01:37):
My name is Questloud, that's what they call me.

Speaker 5 (01:41):
Yeah, Supremo, Suprema roll Suprema s Suprema roll.

Speaker 6 (01:53):
My name is Fante. Yeah, I'm getting my bread. Yeah,
because I made this money.

Speaker 4 (01:59):
Yeah, you did right there, Son Supremo roll call subpremer
Son Subpremo roll call.

Speaker 3 (02:09):
Her name is Sugar. Yeah, I'm gonna show you how. Yeah.
Just stay in this corner. Yeah and cool it now.

Speaker 4 (02:18):
Supreme roll call Subprema Son Son Subpremo roll call.

Speaker 7 (02:25):
Here's one thing. Yeah, lost Bill wants to know. Yeah,
did you ever get that proton pack?

Speaker 3 (02:31):
Yeah? For your little bro.

Speaker 4 (02:34):
Supprime up sucking Supreme roll Supreme suck something Supremo roll call.

Speaker 5 (02:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (02:43):
And Bobby so nice. Yeah, I know I'm gonna love you.
Yeah for most of the Malays.

Speaker 4 (02:50):
Supprima son Suck Supprimo roll Suprema So Supremo roll call.

Speaker 3 (02:57):
Her name is Bobby. Yeah, he's just Jess. Yeah, here
chilling with my man, Quest.

Speaker 4 (03:05):
Come on, Son Supremo, roll call, Suprema something Supremo roll call,
Suprema so so Supprima roll call Suprima Son Supremo.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
I'm up I'm up, Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another
episode of Course Love Supreme.

Speaker 3 (03:32):
I am quest Love. What's up Team Supreme?

Speaker 8 (03:36):
Some fucking awesome awesome Sorry this number.

Speaker 6 (03:40):
One like this is this is why we started this
podcast exactly for moments like this, straight up, straight up,
ladies and gentlemen, Our guest.

Speaker 3 (03:48):
Today is simply the Kang King. Hey, yeah, the King Inger.

Speaker 9 (03:53):
Stage, King of Rocksbury, Weird Kango fried Chicken. Yes, oh yeah,
got that, King of Pregatives.

Speaker 6 (04:05):
I want to thank Bobby Brown for introducing the word
prerogative to the community.

Speaker 3 (04:10):
I did not know what that word was. That word
you have to really understand something. I didn't know what
the word was at first. I even spelled the word
wrong on the record, and the dictionary corrected it in
the dictionary. Wow, So they rewrote it like I said
it and like I spelled it, So it was just

(04:34):
like it was. It was weird for me. I was
because it's prerogative. It's not perrogative. It's prerogative. That's the
that's the proper way to say. But they changed it
in the dictionary to be King of Webster's Brown. Thank

(04:56):
you for having me, brother sister. Wait a minute, So
the way I've been spelling prerogative has been wrong, has
been wrong.

Speaker 8 (05:05):
But the whole world, the whole world.

Speaker 3 (05:07):
He introduced that word to the world. Who knew what
the proprocative was? What is that?

Speaker 7 (05:14):
But you know what, it's sure as hell came in
handy when I was had to take the vocabulary test.
What's his eight year old boy know what a progative is?

Speaker 3 (05:25):
Bobby Brown? Bobby Brown, So you do. I'm wonderful, man,
I'm I'm just I'm just happy today. Last night we
had the first viewing, the first premier of the Bobby
Brown Story, and it just went over really good. The
acceptance from the people that saw it was it was

(05:45):
out of here. I'm hearing good things about it. What
McLean is He's Bobby? Is you? Yeah? Yeah, I'm I'm
gonna sit down in a little while after this tour
and just let him be Bobby at home with my
kids and my wife and let him go out on
the tours. Yeah, send my check back. What's wrong with it?

Speaker 1 (06:07):
What is the process of especially I mean this being
your second biopick, Like, is there a certain amount of
time that you have to spend with the person playing
you do you guys just talk on the phone a lot,
is it?

Speaker 3 (06:22):
Like? How long did it take him to well? With
with with me and Woody? Me and Woody got to
know each other a lot. And when he was doing
the biopick for New Edition, and after that, you know,
we knew that we couldn't find somebody else that could
play that role that well, you know, for my movie.

(06:43):
And we called him up and me and him had
been hanging and you know, just going to lunch and talking,
and he developed all of my mannerisms. He hung out
with my kids, so he knew my kids and my
young one of my daughters, she's three years old, swears
that wood he's a boyfriend. So you know, I'm just,

(07:06):
I'm just, you know, I try to keep them far
away from each other. But no, wood he's just he's
just a great kid, and he's very extremely talented. And
I just thought that, you know what, let's get this
boy another shot at it and and watch him just
saw and he's about to he's about to saw.

Speaker 2 (07:25):
Now, did you use the same younger guy from the
New Yeah?

Speaker 3 (07:30):
I had to. I had to keep it. I had
to keep it real. And Gully you know, it was
just it was just meant to be. You know, the
way they play off of each other, you know, the
way they get together and they and they talk about,
you know, the role of being Bobby and and knowing
the the person knowing me and being able to be

(07:52):
around me and see how I am as a person.
You know, I think gave them a lot of confidence
and a lot of insight on who I am and
how do you play this strange character. And they pulled
it off because.

Speaker 8 (08:10):
How does the younger how does the younger Bobby? Who
does he go to?

Speaker 3 (08:13):
He goes to me, He goes to me and my
youngest son, not my youngest son, but but to little Bobby.
You know, isn't that my man from a Stranger things? Yes? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No.
He's good. Yeah, he's really good. He's really good and
such a cool little dude. I mean, you know, I

(08:34):
saw him last night and me and him and Woody
were just sitting there and I was just congratulating, excuse me,
on the great job that they had did, because you know,
they just brought the whole they brought the whole Bobby
across so well. I mean, and I was just I
was sitting there and I was just like, I was
almost in tears and sometimes but then I was like,

(08:58):
pull it back, pull it back, you know, don't don't
cry in front of all of these people. So what angle.

Speaker 1 (09:06):
Or approach did you take to tell in your life
story that was different than the new edition biopicking because
I know when you first came it was like when
you first met Ralph or whatever like, So this deals
with your life and your household in Roxbury.

Speaker 3 (09:23):
Yes, this deals with the first time I experienced tragedy,
the first time that I lost someone in my life.
When I was young. I was just a child and
I had lost my grandmother and right after my grandmother,

(09:44):
right after a funeral, you know, and me, you know,
not feeling, not feeling anybody. My best friend Jimmy was
able to, you know, pick me up and was like,
come on, let's go have some fun because I was
just I was done, I mean done. Because she was
the one that turned me onto music.

Speaker 6 (10:04):
You know.

Speaker 3 (10:06):
She had every record, every album of every artist in
her house and she would just let me play all
of the music that I wanted to and listen to
everything that I wanted to listen to, and she would
show me different things to listen to, and then she
taught me how to play piano. And when she passed,
it was just like, now where do I now, Where

(10:27):
do I get this this music from? Where do I
get this passion that I have in my heart? And
once I once I lost her and me and Jimmy, Uh,
it's the first scene. So me and Jimmy, we steal
some bikes, you know, we go riding on the bikes

(10:50):
and we pull up to a you know, a house
party and you know, somebody messes with the bikes that
we just stole, and he got into a fight with
this spare guy and the guy, you know, Jimmy was
whooping his you know, whopping his ass, and somebody threw
the guy and threw the guy a knife, and the guy,

(11:12):
one of my boys, kicked him in the back and
he lunged towards Jimmy and and killed him, stabbed him
in his heart. And that was the second, the second
you know, tragedy, and that was the that was the point.
That was the time when I got to the point
where it wasn't about mourning or anything like that. It

(11:35):
was about getting myself out of the situation. That I
was in getting my family out of the projects, getting
my family to better, better surroundings. And that's when I
created a new addition and from that point it was
all history. So you officially created Like, were you the
the epicenter and the one that gathered them? Yes? Yes.

(11:58):
I asked Michael Bivens that he wanted to in my
group because I had been doing talent shows by myself,
so I knew all of them. We all stayed on
different sides of the projects. So I talked to Michael,
you know, asked him did he want to be in
a group with me. He said, you know, yeah, you know,
as long as it don't interfere with my basketball. But

(12:20):
it did. And then we asked Ricky and Ricky was
like he was totally down. And Ricky said, you know,
I know this kid that could really sing, that could
really sing. And I was saying to him, you know,
I'm gonna be doing most of the vocals. I'm gonna be,
you know, the singer, the lead singer. And when I
heard Ralph singing, I just lost it. I was like, okay, okay, okay,

(12:45):
all right, that's cool. Can he could do the songs?
So I eventually put myself in the background a little bit.
You know, I was okay. I was okay with it
because he sounded too much like Michael Jackson, and it
was just like, you know, this is this, this is
how we're going to get out of here. We're going

(13:06):
to get out of here by not imitating but being
the second coming of uh of the finest boy band
ever in the history, which is the Jackson's, and us
coming behind them was just everything. Then we met Ronnie
from our choreographer, Brooke Payne. How did you How did

(13:30):
you who officially met Brooke Payne? Me, Michael and Ricky. Yeah, me,
Michael and Ricky went up to him and we was like,
you know, we was like, we want you, we want
you to well. Ralph was there also. We was like,
we want you to check us out. We want you
to manage us, because he was managing so many groups
and in our neighborhood. The Untouchables transitions, you know, when

(13:53):
these boys were shop, I mean were they all singing, Yeah,
they were singing and dancing and they were just they
was a lot older than we were, real quick the transitions.

Speaker 7 (14:04):
I was reading your book and I noticed that and
I believe BIV was in that group, right, No, he
was involved with them another group called Transitions. Later on,
I was wondering if it was the same crew.

Speaker 5 (14:15):
No.

Speaker 3 (14:16):
No, me and me and BIV worked with a group.
I forget the name of him, but you know, me
and Mike danced with this group and.

Speaker 2 (14:26):
We uh.

Speaker 3 (14:28):
When we wanted to leave, they didn't. They wouldn't let
us leave. So we broke in the house and we
stole the truth. We broke in the house and stole
all the trophies that we had won because they wouldn't
let us take the trophy trophies home with us. So
we knew we were you know, the reason they want
those trophies. So they wouldn't let us get the trophies.

(14:50):
So we broke in the house and took the trophies
and Mike would let let me have it for a
week and give it to him and he'd keep it
at his house for a week. And one of them
came to you, like, someone talk about trophies. Do you
know who did it? Nope, Okay, now they didn't. They
didn't even think. They didn't even think about that.

Speaker 1 (15:09):
I hear a lot about what life was like in Roxbury,
you know, but usually it's like yo, man, I'll mess
with Roxbury.

Speaker 3 (15:17):
But what was Roxbury the toughest of the tough like?
Was that?

Speaker 1 (15:21):
What was it like growing up in a city, especially
with racial tensions were so high between black and white
people up there and badly high.

Speaker 3 (15:30):
You know, we couldn't go in their neighborhood at all.
We couldn't go in South Boston without being jumped or
bricked or you know, and we had to pass through
there to get to another project, which which was Columbia Point,
which most of our most of our people that lived
in Orchard Park had some family in Colombia Point. So

(15:51):
it was hard to get through get through South Boston
to get to Columbia Point. Columbia Point was like where
the beach was, and you know, all of that type
of stuff, the clam digging and fishing and all of that.
But yeah, it was, it was, it was. It was
just you know, it's just, I don't know, Boston is

(16:15):
so diverse, but it's it's still probably the most prejudiced city, yeah,
in this country still even still even still, but you know,
since since hip hop has come along, they basically tried
to be us. You know, and I think that's what
they was mad about before, because they wanted to be

(16:36):
us and just didn't have the color for you know,
the connection is Boston still home for you or you're
based out here now. I'm based in Los Angeles Woodland
Hills with my family, and I'm very happy I'm not
moving back to the East Coast. That cold does not
agree with me at all at all, not at all.

(16:58):
Speak on at least with Brooke Payning.

Speaker 1 (17:01):
What I always loved about you guys was that, you know,
you guys were the fine line between what the Temptations represented,
but you were also very much what hip hop.

Speaker 3 (17:14):
Was about to be.

Speaker 1 (17:16):
So it was almost like you guys were a thin
line between Temptations and what Utfo was doing with Houdini
those early days. But how how many like painstaking hours
of practice did oh man.

Speaker 3 (17:30):
That take? Oh my god, Let's see. We would get
out of school like three o'clock, have to be at
rehearsals by four. We had to go home, do our
homework and stuff and make it to rehearsals and don't
be late because you know you're doing push ups or
you're doing sit ups, or you're you know, you're running

(17:52):
around the building. You know, Yes, basically that's how it was.
But we would respected that. Yeah, I mean the group,
if you made me no, it was it was. It
was what we felt that he let us know what
was needed for us to you know, be one of
the top notch groups. Was you know, to perfect our craft.

(18:14):
If we perfected our craft, there's nobody that could stop us.
And that's how we looked at it. That you know,
all of the all of the you know, long nights
and and and long days of just dancing and dancing
and not singing. He wouldn't want you to sing yet,
but just dancing, like four hours of just straight dancing,

(18:34):
doing the steps within without the music, and then there'll
be two hours of us singing, you know, and we
would be singing, you know, just like regular R and
B songs. You know, we didn't have music, our own
music at this point, so we were singing, you know,
like holding on. Yeah, we got the INTERVIEWE. He was

(18:57):
so happy about that we were singing, that we were
singing Jackson songs. We were doing like the medley of
you know, the Jackson Medley. We would do that like
maybe four times in a row, just do that whole
thing four times in a row, and then we would
just you know, work on other songs, just any song

(19:19):
that was out there that was popular. We would make
a routine to it, you know, because we were still
doing talent shows. But we got we got kicked out
of doing talent shows because we kept winning. So we
had to stop being we had to stop being special
guests of the talent show, like it's a talent show

(19:39):
with special guests New Edition. Were there were there any
other notable.

Speaker 1 (19:46):
Uh Boston acts that eventually made it that were in
no these talent shows, like nobody from liked the Planet
Patrol or any any of those.

Speaker 3 (19:56):
Guys No Planet Patrol. They were older and all of that.
But that was Maurice's brothers. But when we when we
when we lost the competition, we lost the first the
first competition we ever lost was the Hollywood Talent Night.
And this was for a recording contract. We were going

(20:19):
to be able to go into the studio and record
a record with Marie Starr. And we lost. We lost
to these these two two goofy goofy rappers and their
name was New York Rappers. Now that that was their name.

(20:42):
There was the New York. There was the New York Rappers,
but they was from Mattapen in Boston. Neither one of
them had been out of Boston or ever been to
New York. But they just called themselves the New York Rappers.
But they beat us, and I haven't heard a peep
out of them yet. It was rigged. It was really
they they did it. They were good. No, that was

(21:07):
the whole thing. They wasn't even doing any and for
them to beat us, we were just like what. Like
Maurice came over to us and he was like, he
was like, I'm just this is just because I want
to sign y'all. I don't want this other label to
get y'all. He wanted to record and signed to his label.
So we were just like, okay, Maurice just put us

(21:30):
in the studio. Then that Marie's always dressed like that,
because I've only seen that. The Colonel Prince, how was
he he? That was him all the time, That was
him all the time.

Speaker 2 (21:40):
Wow, was he doing old to somebody or he was
just was he doing old to somebody like his grandpapa
used to dress like that or not?

Speaker 3 (21:49):
I don't know. He just was that was his foule.
You know that was just Maurice. What was what was
Michael Johnson's relation? What was this? Michael Johnson is Marie
Star's brother. Okay, so together they worked together.

Speaker 1 (22:05):
Because I got admit, when y'all gave a shout out
on the Candy Girl twelve inch, I thought it was
Michael Jackson.

Speaker 3 (22:12):
I knew it, knew Michael. I knew it.

Speaker 1 (22:17):
Hey real quick, you said you said that at one
point James Brown had pulled you up on stage.

Speaker 3 (22:22):
Yes, when I was, when I was younger, I was
I must have been like seven seven, yeah, about seven
six or seven. And my mom she knew I liked
James Brown, and she brought me to the place called
the Sugar Shack where he was he was performing. Of
course she snuck me was at your spot. Oh, I

(22:42):
founded that at the same time. She snuck me in there.
And James is on stage and he's doing his thing,
and my mother just put me on the stage and
I just started cancing. He stopped his band. He was like,
hold on, hold on, hold on, come out, let me

(23:03):
see you do that. And he did did his thing,
and I did the same thing. Right then he did
something else and I did that, and he was just
he was in all and I was just looking up
at this man like, man, I'm gonna be just like
you one day. One day I'm out. One day I'm
gonna be just like you did your pasitive across again.

(23:24):
After that, Yes, yes, a few times. We talked a
few times because we both were living in Georgia at
the time and we both did it. We did this
one concert at the at the Big Field. It's a
big field that I forget the name of it. It's
the baseball field where the Braves pay. So we did

(23:44):
a concert there. It was a big benefit concert and
I was able to, you know, sit down and talk
to talk to him at that time, and you know,
I was. He told me just go stand on the
side of stage and I was like, oh my god,
I'm standing on the side of the stage and I'm
just watching, just watching it. And I told him about

(24:06):
the time in Boston when I was younger, and I said,
do you remember me?

Speaker 10 (24:10):
He was like, I had a lot of people come
on my stage, but you know, I don't know if
I remember you, but I remember this one kid, one
kid that could do all the dance steps.

Speaker 3 (24:24):
That I was. I was like, that's me.

Speaker 2 (24:28):
So did you always have this confidence? Like you said,
seven years old, your mother said go ahead, and you
was just, oh, yeah.

Speaker 3 (24:33):
Yeah I was. I've never been shy about anything. I
just think, you know, why be shy when you can
just be yourself, you know, and just let it go.
You know, there's no reason to hold anything that God
has given you back. Yeah, we had we had a babyface.
He was on the show a while back and he
said about you specifically. He was like, man, I don't

(24:54):
seen a lot of acts and I'll produce on everybody,
and he compared you.

Speaker 6 (24:57):
He was like, man, Bobby was like a prize fighter.
He was like, he said, Bob will come out. He
was like he was relentless on stage. That was I mean,
that was him talking about you, just your your work
ethicing on stage. He said, man, Bob took no prisoners.
I don't play I don't play with that. I do
not play with that.

Speaker 3 (25:14):
When it comes to being our stage, a whole total
different person.

Speaker 2 (25:17):
That's gonna ask, So your solo career, how did that translate?
Like all that rehearsals that you used to do when
you was a little boy and whatnot. What was the
difference in the rehearsals process for you now that you
had like your own dancers and whatnot, Like were you
I haven't had.

Speaker 3 (25:32):
And your dances? What were their names? It was pop?
So what was what was always part and so and so, Yeah,
that's what was called. That was I was like, what
was the name? I didn't know? So I didn't Black
Mysteries unlocked right here Bobby's dance and so, okay, did you.

Speaker 8 (25:58):
Turn into in that way?

Speaker 3 (26:00):
Did you way with your yes and no at the
same time, because you know, I mean when we was
rehearsing with Brooke, I mean we had to rehearse in
a really hot, smoke filled room because Brooks chained smoked
Newports during our whole rehearsal. So it was just like

(26:24):
and it was like ninety degrees up in there, so
we were sweating and all we was doing was breathing
in Newports. And it's a shot that only me and
Ralph turned out to be smokers. Nobody else but me
and Ralph turned out, you know, to stop smoking after
you know, several years of just being in the room

(26:47):
like hand inhaling all of that. So you know, other
than that, you know, Brooke was always just He's a
stickler for you know, perfection. With my guys, I was
just I was the type to tell them to dance loose,
but dance but dance tight. You know, always be in

(27:10):
formation and follow me, you know, because I might do something.
I might do something slick and out of the step
of what the actual step is, and I need you
all to remember it so the next show they will
remember the slick, build on and build on and build on.

(27:32):
So it just got it just started growing, and we
got closer, and it was just we were able to
read each other when we were on stage, and that
was a good part. Then we got Mecca and the
La Connection dancers, which were you know, uh, four girls
from New York, four girls from l A and we
put them together. It was a lot of fights though,

(27:55):
it was like the Bloods and the Cribs. Yeah, Leslie
was the big less on Facebook occasion.

Speaker 2 (28:07):
Can you just tell me this is always a mystery
to me. Who was the girl who was always in
the videos with the short cut, slender brown skin. But
she was in my prerogative and she had the short hair.

Speaker 8 (28:16):
She was planked.

Speaker 3 (28:17):
Oh that's Cloudsier, Okay, because you used to see her.

Speaker 8 (28:20):
She had an error. I felt like, huh, I felt
like she had an era like she was she.

Speaker 3 (28:25):
Videos after that.

Speaker 8 (28:26):
Yeah, I'm sure she had an aura.

Speaker 11 (28:30):
But I just I was about to, you know, but
I hold it back back, you know, but you know,
you did skip a decade.

Speaker 8 (28:41):
So I'm sorry.

Speaker 2 (28:42):
I was.

Speaker 3 (28:45):
My mind fast forward. You know, it's good. It's all good.

Speaker 1 (28:54):
So for me, even even though I know what what
the initial by a pic had depicted, but how well,
what I want to do is, first of all, what
was the what's the term he used with Randy? Oh,
the click? What was the what was as far as
like your your new addition situation? Who were the clicks?

(29:20):
Like who was who was your friend in the band
that you were close to?

Speaker 3 (29:25):
We were all all clicks at certain times, you know,
at certain times of the day, I would be with
like Ronnie, you know, playing cards or something like that.
Then there was certain times that me and Ralph would
you know, be kicking it and just doing what we do,
you know, goofing off and stuff like that, going to
buy water guns and you know, spraying everybody on the tour.

(29:47):
Then it was me and Mike, who's the who's the thinker.
He's like a big think tank. So you know, I'd
like to pick his brain every now and then. You know,
and then Ricky, Ricky's just Ricky is just Ricky. You know,
you just get around Ricky and Ricky just he's quiet.
If you say something, he'll agree with you. And that's

(30:09):
just how Ricky is. Ricky agrees with, you know, most
of the things that everybody says. But he's super intelligent.
He knows what's right and what's wrong. And that's where
you that's who you go to to tell if there's
three against two and a vote, you go to Ricky,
and he's a swing vote. Yeah, he's a swing vote.

(30:30):
You know, you got to get to him. Ronnie always
seemed to just be so cool man. He's one of
the most laid back dudes in the world. I'm so
proud of him. He just had twins. Yeah, yeah, I mean,
you know, I'm just really proud of him. He knows,
he knows what he wants, and he knows how to

(30:52):
go get it. You know, he's he's bought so much
property in Detroit that is incredible.

Speaker 8 (30:59):
I mean, then he's starting Atlanta and he moves he's
now moving to.

Speaker 3 (31:02):
He started it, he started his his his business in Atlanta.
But he's yes buying, buying land in different places. And
I commend him because Detroit is about to get a
whole big facelift. You know, Japanese, Chinese or I don't know,

(31:24):
the Japanese are going into. Japanese put like ten billion
dollars into already Detroit already, and it's like build industries,
build industries, you know, the Forward Company, all of that,
all of that's being rebuilt up and there'll be more
jobs and the homes will shoot up. You know, it's

(31:45):
almost about to be. So I recommend that for most
people out there listening, go buy you some property. Go
buy you some property in Detroit and watch it and
just sit on it for a little while.

Speaker 8 (31:55):
Out rent the community, you know. You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (31:57):
About gentrification, havitable, It is coming a little at what
they're selling them houses like five thousand dollars.

Speaker 8 (32:08):
Flip those.

Speaker 3 (32:09):
It's going to be. That's the name of it. Yeah,
that's business. Let's call it Ronnie right now.

Speaker 1 (32:20):
So when when you guys first started touring and traveling, HM,
I first saw you guys at I think you're a
valid for it's music fair. Okay, you did a bunch
of like these small venues where uh, where the stage
is always in the center or whatever. I forget, Yeah,
what you're this was? I think there's like eighty three

(32:41):
eighty four. But how how did that affect you as
far as like finally making it out of out of
Boston and did you feel like, Okay, we finally made
it or yeah, probably so.

Speaker 3 (32:56):
We used to before before Candy Girl became a number
one record, we would come to New York. We would
go to New York and we would perform like five
shows a night. We would play all five bottles, and
we would start at like eleven at night and we
would just go to each We used to go to
each club or each roller skating rin and just play

(33:17):
from from eleven o'clock all the way to six that morning.
We will get in We would finally get in bed
by six that morning and get some rest and do
it again on Saturday. And then Sunday we would get
all into this station wag excuse me, the station wagon
and we would drive back to Boston. How old are

(33:38):
you at this time? Like fourteen fifteen? Couldn't even drive
it fourteen damn your homework done in the car. So
it was required, like tutors and all that stuff. Tutors
were required. My mom wasn't letting me not, you know,
get my education. She didn't play that. Yo.

Speaker 2 (33:59):
The way that they they played your moms out in
the movie amazing.

Speaker 3 (34:03):
Was this where do you see this? The same? Just
the same. Yes, Sandy McCree was Sandy McCree. And we
have T. K. Carter playing my father whow where we
bound him? But he is playing the hell out of

(34:27):
my father and he knew my father, so you know,
it was just like it was just like so great
that he came to that that try out for the movie.
And when they told us it was T. K. Carter,
I was like, that's him because I was going I
was going for a John Witherspoon or somebody like that.

(34:49):
I was going for John Witherspoon because my father was hilarious.
I mean just just hilarious. He would do the whole
coordinate thing. He loved the dress. You know, he was
just that man. He was just that man that kept
everybody laughing in the house. Everybody that met my father
called them pops. Everybody everybody in the projects just called

(35:11):
them pops.

Speaker 6 (35:12):
When you started working on your first album on King
of Stage, my man Lavel we were talking off Mike
Homie Lavell Molten, he's a basketball coach at my alma mater.
He was telling me that you used to pass out.
He was passing out tapes like back in the hood.
Like even though what was that like, man, it was
tapes in some other things. Anyway, it wasn't just tapes.

(35:40):
Probably tapes had packages in there.

Speaker 3 (35:46):
But that that was the time when you know, I
was put out a new addition, and you know, I
had one chance to you know, do it again. I
never gave up on myself, but at the same time,
the only way for me to survive at that time
was to sell drugs and do what I had to
do to you know, keep my sanity, you know, from

(36:10):
not making the little bit of money that we was
making on the tours. I had to find a way
to make money to take care of my baby boy.
I had a baby boy, so I had to you know,
have some type of income. And yeah, but when Girlfriend
hit and it was a number one record and I
was able to tour and stuff, and that just opened

(36:33):
it opened the door up for me to be able
to do another record, and then Little Solace Junr introduced
me to Kenny Babyface Edmonds in La Reid and I
just was like what. And when you see the movie
you'll know why I said what, because they were they

(36:56):
was yeah, they was just totally dress wrong, you know,
and you know the thing all right hair, they thought makeup,
and it was just like I was like, dude, I
was like, come in, guys, right, come in, man, come in,
please please tell me I don't have to work with them.

Speaker 1 (37:17):
With I know I know where you were trying to
go because when I purchased King of Stage, I knew
it's worried that even though I didn't know what a
new Jack swing was in nineteen eighty six, because technically
where they had been it yet, right, I kind of
knew what you were going for because you know, you
were like be boxing on some of the songs that
Larry Black, you know, but it was how hard I

(37:41):
can tell where you.

Speaker 3 (37:42):
Were trying to go with it.

Speaker 1 (37:44):
But either technology or maybe Teddy just had a better
vision on how to make that shit bund right. So,
especially like with the title cut, which I thought the
title cut was like, Okay, that's the closest thing to
a Houdini or a run DMC sound. Did it ever
occur to you to ask U who produced yeah, Larry Smith?

(38:06):
Did it ever occur to you to go to Larry Smith?

Speaker 3 (38:08):
Who you know?

Speaker 1 (38:10):
His work with Houdini and run DMC was like the
closest thing to an R and B hip hop mess
that there was Like, did you get a choice in
saying I want to work with them?

Speaker 3 (38:19):
Them them? Or was Lou Silace just like Nope, you
can know Black Lou Silas was like this. He was.
He was basically, if you work with these people, then
you could work with whoever you wanted to work with.
And that's what he told me about working with La
and Face. Okay, so my first my first person, I said.

(38:43):
I told him, I said, well, I gotta go fly
to New York and I got to work with Teddy Riley.
How did you know about Teddy? Because Teddy meuse he
was he was in a boys group kids kids will
work and he used to just I used to see
him all the time walking with this cassio key and
he used to always I would stop him at Raise

(39:04):
Pizza right there fifty seven just stop him and just
be listening to some of the grooves he had, and
it was just like it was just meant to be,
you know. And he was telling me he was starting
up a new group called Guy and you know, he
had just finished working with this this guy called Keith
Sweat and he played me that and I was like, okay.

(39:25):
I was like, well, I got some tracks that I
want you to hear. And I had this one baseline
that I couldn't I couldn't, couldn't do anything with and
it was Prerogatives baseline. And Teddy came with this groove man,
that was just it just it just fits so perfectly.
And then I met Aaron and me and Aaron just

(39:48):
just click like this, Yeah, Aaron Hall, we just clicked.
I went on the subway for the first time in
New York City with him to Brooklyn and we basically
wrote the lyrics to Prerogative on that subway. Yes, yes,
I didn't know, though thought y'all did.

Speaker 8 (40:09):
I don't want to seem stupid, But.

Speaker 3 (40:10):
Jene Griffin came and messed that up right. Yeah, took
all of the credit on the record. Because Teddy was
in a litigation with I guess two people who whoever
he had signed He had signed a production deal with somebody,
and Jeene Griffin put it under his name so that

(40:31):
Teddy can receive something, you know, from prerogative. And then
Teddy got his you know, publishing and all of this
stuff back. So you know, Jean did a great thing
for him. You know, he held he held him down
and he helped him, you know, you know, be the
businessman that he is. Oh. I always thought it was
a thing where he just jack Yes, No, he didn't

(40:52):
jock him. He didn't jock him. He was He was
very much taken care of Teddy as well as he
possibly could.

Speaker 1 (40:59):
I mean, knowing no one can planned for the phenomenon
that was, don't be cruel, like nobody saw it coming
thirty years ago. But did you did you really feel
as though because even in my mind, like I'm just
thinking like, okay, there's Michael, there's Prince, no one else,
and you know, I just thinking like everyone else is underly,

(41:19):
But it's suddenly like the people that you grow up
idolizing now you're pushing them to the side a little bit.

Speaker 3 (41:29):
So what was that transition? Like, Like, have you ever
personally met Michael Jackson and had interaction. What was that like?

Speaker 5 (41:36):
It was?

Speaker 3 (41:37):
It was? It was great. I met him when I
was with the new audition. He invited a new addition
to his home and we hung out with him the
whole day. I mean, it was just it was just crazy.
All the book and animals. What can you tell the
story about from the book about him chasing LaToya and
jennit around? Yeah, wait, what happened? Well, we were all
running around and we were chasing We were just running

(42:01):
around and uh, LaToya was, you know, standing somewhere and
he smacked her on her ass and all of us
was like, all of us was like, oh, I want
to smack her, but we didn't. We didn't smack her
ass like he did. But it was just Oh my god,

(42:24):
just to be and and you know, I had always
had a crush on Janet, so it was just like
just to be in the same room with her at
that time was you know, it was, oh my god,
She's standing right next to me. She feel the same
way she spoke to me. Matter like last week almost

(42:44):
passed out man. Yeah, well you'll see some scenes in
my movie about Janet. So what was doing feel different?
About it.

Speaker 6 (42:53):
Oh, no spoilers. What was you in relationship? Like in
the studio, man, Like, how did y'all vibe off each other?

Speaker 3 (43:04):
We bobbed really well off each other. You know. It
wasn't no rush thing. We knew that when we had
something hot. We knew what we had and we would
take our time and take our time and get it,
get it down, get it down perfectly, and then we
go out, you know, we'll go eat or you know,

(43:26):
just go chill out, playpool, you know. And then but
the first time, the first time with Prerogative, he was
living in the projects. So we in Harlem in the
projects on the first floor, and you know, the booth
was a bathroom, you know. So we literally did it,

(43:46):
and we did and we did. Prerogative recorded it in
the bathroom in his apartment. That's where we did the vocals.
What all of them? What did y'all what we all
recording on like a four track or was six sixteen tracks?
M yeah, I know his set up was ate that thing. Yeah, yeah,

(44:07):
in the So the vocal we hear today was the
vocal that you cut. We cut in the in the bathroom.

Speaker 1 (44:13):
So in your mind, whenever you hear those vocals from
that record you're just thinking of, like there's tooth brush, toothpaste.

Speaker 3 (44:21):
Close up, close up. They don't make close up anymore.
I don't know that hot ass just hot mouth fans
close up Dollar General.

Speaker 5 (44:42):
You know.

Speaker 3 (44:43):
The one thing I remember, you know, about recording that
song was was just just you know, the kinship you know,
between me, Aaron him, Big Bub was even there, you know.
So it was a bunch of singers and you know,
a bunch of people that love music and love being

(45:03):
a part of you know, what music was going to become,
and it was just fun to just be around it,
you know, and all of us, all of us out
there giving one hundred and ten percent, you know, trying
to make it out. I knew that Aaron was a singer,
but I read somewhere was Aaron a keyboard player as well?

(45:24):
Eric Can played the piano like yeah, like what's his name?
With all the jewry wait Erican played the piano like Liberaci,
I mean, play the piano play You were tracked? You
did you track the majority of the album in New
York City? No, the majority of the album was done

(45:45):
here in silver Lake, Okay, with La and Face and
me and Teddy did our stuff over there in New York,
and then I I did some more stuff in the
Bay Area and then you know, just mostly la though.

Speaker 7 (46:03):
You guys recorded forty songs for the album. Yeah, how
many of them? Like, did you ever revisit any of
them later on?

Speaker 3 (46:10):
Or yeah? I still have them in my garage actually, yeah,
the masters in my garage. Yes, I don't know yet.
I don't know. I think, you know, I'm let my
son listen to a bunch of them and see what
he likes and see how you know, he feels about

(46:31):
him because he's recording his album right now. So so
I'm really looking forward to, you know, helping both of
my oldest son and my middle son are both you know,
recording out us. So you know, I'm just trying to
lay back and let them do what they do. And
then when I see him, you know, going straight pull

(46:52):
a coat and you know.

Speaker 6 (46:53):
What's because I feel like most of us, like, what
was the what was the workflow, like you talk about
you and Teddy's vibe, what was the difference with Elien Face?

Speaker 3 (47:06):
What were they like in the studio, like in y'all sessions.
Because of the person that I am they have to
go with the flow. They had to go with how
I was this is Bobby Brown session. Wow, you mean
like I'll be there, you know there there three means
that I'll be there.

Speaker 8 (47:30):
Always, no matter who you was working with. They had
to adjust.

Speaker 3 (47:32):
But yeah, basically because you know, it was just sometimes
I'm late. I mean sometimes you gottes. But but but
I've learned a new way of living and being late
is not cool. You know, you need to be on
time so that you can get your work done and
be able to do Stop looking at you, stop looking

(47:56):
at question, you're a little late, looking at it in
my direction? Whatever.

Speaker 6 (48:03):
Steve once once Don't be Crewe became and the album
once it becomes that just this months everywhere?

Speaker 3 (48:13):
What how did your life change? Then? What what happens?
Oh boy? I started touring a lot more. Of course,
I was torn with heart the Heartbreak tour. I was
touring with them. I was opening up for I'll Be
Sure and then Don't Be Crew hit and Prerogative hit

(48:34):
and we have to switch. And then you know, of course,
you know, stopped having problems because you know, New Edition
was you know, kind of hating on me because of
the success of don't be Crewe, and they didn't want
me to, you know, film the Roney video on that tour.

(48:55):
So I told him, Okay, well if they if they,
if they, if they can Roney, I'll have them film
y'all show. So I paid for the cameras to film
the show. And so then I was like I talked
to Al Hayman, who was the promoter, and I was like,
that keeps coming up. I was like, dude, I need

(49:19):
my own tour. I got to go out on my
own tour. And he said okay. So we went and
got Lavert and Karen White and we went out and
just and just smashed, and we toured for over three
years with that album.

Speaker 7 (49:33):
My sister saw a heartbreak tour and Don't Be Cruel
tour without me, and I still hate them for it.

Speaker 1 (49:40):
Having technically yet to see the biopic. And you address
it in the Rooney video. But what was the situation
with my memories, Foggy? What what arena had a problem with?
Are you dancing?

Speaker 3 (49:59):
Or was Georgia Georgia. I guess they had heard about,
you know, my my stage show, but they still you know,
wanted me to come to Georgia. The police had told
me right before the concert, no sexual indoors, no getting
close to the girls. Can't bring girls up on your stage.

(50:22):
We don't want We don't want to see you pelvic
thrusting or anything. So they didn't want Bobby Brown. How
do they know it was coming? Because it's like you've yet.
They had heard the word had been spreading, you know,
throughout the country on how I performed. That's why they
called me bad boy.

Speaker 8 (50:40):
Okay, pumped really hard. I remember you remember watching like I.

Speaker 5 (50:53):
Did.

Speaker 3 (50:53):
Used to get in trouble for you know, Brown, pilvoc
thrust for me, it got me in trouble. In fourth grade.

Speaker 6 (51:04):
We were doing a talent show and I was gonna
dance and I opened up with four pervit threast.

Speaker 3 (51:10):
It was over just like down over here. It was
well fourth grade. Yeah, it was about the same for
me too. So my little nine year old is pumping down.
Is it weird for you? Stop?

Speaker 1 (51:29):
Is it weird for your kids to discover that you're
not dad? You're that guy I'm seeing on television. How
did they discover?

Speaker 3 (51:38):
No, they basically know. I try to show them as
much as possible about me. Yeah, trying to show my son,
my nine year old Cassius. He's a he's a dancer himself.
He's a ballroom he does ballroom dancing. You know, he's running. Yes,
Oh my god. You should see his little hips doing

(51:59):
the tango and doing the chi and all of this.
I mean, and he's won six competitions by him and
his little dance partner. It's just a girl. Oh my god.
I mean he has to holds the head up and

(52:21):
shoulders and the hips I mean straight. So the last
one he just ended up jumped up in the inn,
came down to full split.

Speaker 1 (52:30):
I was wow, please wait. This is the thing though,
What after you did what you did? Did they physically
come out and stop the show and the rescue.

Speaker 3 (52:42):
No, they waited for me to come off stage. Oh
so they let the show go on and then they
had to It's not depicted like that in the movie
because we didn't have time to you know, technicality checkers. Yeah,
so this is what happened. When I got off stage.
I had my brother put on my robe and they

(53:04):
followed him out at first diversion diversion, and I was
in one of the anvil cases. Oh, they was pushing
the anvil case up the up the hill and they
took the thing off of Tommy and realized that it
wasn't me. So they followed the anvolcase and soon as
soon as they opened the amvlcase, they were cops. Was
right there.

Speaker 8 (53:24):
Wow, the worst way to get caught.

Speaker 3 (53:27):
Yes, trying to evade.

Speaker 8 (53:30):
Police another charge.

Speaker 1 (53:32):
Yeah, that's weird, because that's what that's what I remember
about the show that I saw. You guys used to
enter in this like this trojan horse sort of vehicle
where they had to push y'all to the stage inside
of this wooden device. So girls would attack y'all. So, yes,
y'all are like the original kings of Anvil case.

Speaker 3 (53:52):
When we would do that, we would do that. That
was that was one of the tricks of brook Paye
and just of the trade. You know, we liked being attacked. Yeah,
we don't wrong. We were younger, but we were We
was you know, girl crazy, So we loved, you know,
being able to see all the all of the chicks,

(54:13):
all of all of the young little hobbies. You know, right,
we were cool with that. But you know now our
managers they was like, girls are only gonna get y'all
in trouble. We was like, well, that's some trouble. We
would like to give you that trouble man. Please answer
for us. Who was Jackie? Oh god, yes, who is that?

Speaker 6 (54:34):
Was that?

Speaker 3 (54:35):
Just? I love you Jackie? There was nobody. There was
no Jackie. We heard that Jackie? Or what did smooth
be of nicest move? Did he write that rhyme? Was
it him? Or did you write it? No, he didn't
write that. He didn't write that one. Okay, no he
didn't write there. He was wrong. Hey, listen, that's what

(54:55):
was just a rhyme scheme form I can see see. No,
I'm just gonna say we're not gonna do like we
did the baby Face where we just wrapped the whole thing.

Speaker 1 (55:10):
No, please, don't speaker of Smoothie. I know that your
your peers are mostly wrapped, like who who was your click?
As far as like you're you're when you were hanging
and and it was it.

Speaker 3 (55:24):
Was smooth Bie. It was you know, at times Cougie
rap at times all times, well whodini? Of course there
was a bunch. I mean I used to hang out
with with rappers a lot where in New York, In
New York, just any particular places quarters we got it.

Speaker 1 (56:02):
I've been waiting, yes, nineteen weeks to finally get a
Latin quarter story.

Speaker 3 (56:09):
Oh my god. You don't understand. It's like our first
twenty episodes.

Speaker 1 (56:14):
Everybody in their mother they retired about Latin quarter story stops.

Speaker 3 (56:20):
Finally I got a Latin quarter Tell me. I once
saw a very well known rapper, very well known, got hat.
He wears a hat all the time. Llll okay. I
saw him get his chain, snacks waters and it was

(56:41):
just it was, oh, it was bad. It was bad.
It was bad because you know, it was these Brooklyn
cats and it was just like, oh man, and they
was like they was for real about it. They was not,
you know, trying to give him his jewelry back at all.
And they just bounced with his chain and I was
like and L was like, you know, l, I didn't care,

(57:07):
and we'll have another one tomorrow. You know.

Speaker 1 (57:10):
Why, What was the allure of that place? Because all
I know is that it was dangerous and you could
get snatched. You know, you can't sign too much.

Speaker 3 (57:21):
The danger part of it was it was one way in,
one way out. There was no side doors, Latin corns
in the middle of the block, right It didn't have it, didn't.

Speaker 12 (57:34):
I mean it was next to it was a store
or this, but Latin Corters was one way in and
one way out, so and it was hot and all
of the chicks went there and we were just you know,
so it's worth risky in life to hear all the
hip hop that yes, all the hip hop you can
hear girls and all the girls and bamboo.

Speaker 3 (57:56):
Ear rings at least two pairs. He also wrote that
and that club because that's all you saw up in
that club.

Speaker 6 (58:07):
From the time that it was four years I think
it was four years from the time of Don't Be
Crewe into Bobby.

Speaker 3 (58:13):
What took so long for the follow up? Just wanting
to break because Don't Be Crewe tour was grueling, Like
I said, it was three years of touring you know,
the world, and when I decided to go back in,
I really wanted a lot more of Teddy's funkiness on
the album. You know, I was strained, strained further away

(58:37):
from the sounds of you know, La and Babyface, and
so I just took my time with this that one,
and you know, we came up with what we came
up with, and I think that's one of the most
funkiest albums.

Speaker 2 (58:52):
I know.

Speaker 3 (58:53):
It is my favorite.

Speaker 6 (58:55):
That's my favorite Bobby album. I was One More Night
and that to play the Game. Yeah, that was just
jam after jam. Yeah, like what who decided the singles?
Picking the singles? Because like humping Around, I mean, it
was a big hit. But when I heard it, I
was just like, Okay, this is kind of like my prerogative.
But then when I bought the album, my uncle he
had it and I would listen to it on his

(59:15):
big speakers, and man, you had like some sweet fucking
songs on that album.

Speaker 3 (59:20):
And I was like, man.

Speaker 6 (59:23):
Like, I was like, yo, this is like this is
it sounded to me it sounded like the next progression.
It was like, okay, don't be cruel, was bad boy
Bobby or whatever? And then but Bobby was like it
sounded like growth and it was. I love that album.

Speaker 3 (59:35):
It was. But you know, with La and Babyface becoming
such such a popular duo, with with all of the
music they was doing for everybody else, I think Little
Silas felt that it should be a Face La and
Face record that drops first, and I was moving towards

(01:00:00):
you know, get away or to complay that game was
like that's the one right there. I love that, right so,
you know, it's just creative differences, and you know, I
went with it, you know. But of course we still
sold three million copies of that, you know, and it

(01:00:20):
was like, I mean, after my first album almost going gold,
King of Stage and then for Don't Be Crude to
sell twelve million, I'm just in the States alone. I
felt that you know, Bobby album, you know, I thought
it was going to do more. But at the same time,

(01:00:41):
I appreciated who who bought it, you know, because it
was it was just it was just a project that
I was really passionate about, and I had a lot
of fun doing the tour. That tour was that tour
was mean for me. That tour was mean because I
got a chance to go back to all the different
countries and continents and all of the cities in America

(01:01:03):
and and just performed this this funky album, this funky
just funky music that that that made me feel good,
you know, and that made others feel good. And I
was just really proud of that album. No you should
be Man.

Speaker 6 (01:01:19):
For the longest time in high school, well it was yeah,
middle school, going in high school, college girl remained a staple.

Speaker 3 (01:01:28):
So thank you for that. I used to take that.

Speaker 7 (01:01:33):
You mentioned like turning all over the world. In your book,
you mentioned the Bobbyos fan group in Japan. Oh yeah,
can you tell us about that, because that seems it
seems about Bobbyos.

Speaker 3 (01:01:41):
The Bobbyos they would it was guys and girls. They
would tan their bodies to my complexion and they would
wear clothes like me and they would all have gumbies. Dog.
They found a way. There's no questions too.

Speaker 12 (01:02:04):
Man.

Speaker 3 (01:02:06):
That was weird to see, like.

Speaker 1 (01:02:10):
For Orange with these Afros, like they wouldn't pur their
they were perning their hairs, but it would currently look
like African.

Speaker 3 (01:02:16):
American and freaked the ship out. Yeah, man, built in Japan,
you never had loyal You never find more loyal fans
in the world. You have never find more loyal fans.
I mean they come and droves and they'll keep coming.
Every time you go back there they go again.

Speaker 6 (01:02:36):
What were some of the other places we were able
to hit Africa while you were doing anywhere in Africa?

Speaker 3 (01:02:41):
I played sun City at one time, and that was
you played sun City, Yes, and that was what wait,
what year? It was the year that you should have
played Some City. Yeah I should have. Yeah. Oh it
was passing the okay, okay, yeah yeah he was home. Yeah, okay.

Speaker 1 (01:03:02):
So basically in in eighty five, Sylvia and Sopranos, Stephen
Little Stephen kind of organized uh, kind of a protest record,
We Are the World Asque protest record called Sun City,
in which basically he didn't want American artists going over

(01:03:23):
there to play, to play South Africa, Yeah, to play
South Africa.

Speaker 3 (01:03:26):
The video was weird too. It's like that Miles Davis
walking Davis for Melli mel Yeah, yeah, it was. It
was great. I remember that song. It was like King yea.

Speaker 1 (01:03:36):
And but the thing was is that some artists were
sort of crossing the protest line, like I know that
that's why Mylon Williams had left the Commodores ant Thomas McCleary,
because you know, South Africa will basically offer artists like
five times the dollars to go over there to play,
and you know it's either you show solidarity not play it,

(01:03:59):
or you sell your soul, and some artists wild cross
that line. So but yeah, my time ninety two ninety three,
then it was okay to.

Speaker 3 (01:04:08):
Play some City. Oh man, we jumped a little bit.

Speaker 6 (01:04:12):
Ghostbuster, Yeah, we gotta yeah, come on Ghostbusters man, like
talk about.

Speaker 3 (01:04:17):
Doing the song and like being in the movie with Ghostbusters.
They approached me to write a song for the soundtrack
and I did, and I wrote a song called We're Back, Oh.

Speaker 5 (01:04:29):
Yeah and.

Speaker 3 (01:04:32):
Oh yeah, that's my Ship. I wrote that first, and
then I gave them that one and they was like,
we love it, we love it, We just need one more.
Can you give us one more? And I was like,
you know what, l and babyfacing right, I ain't got
no more words that I can say about ghosts, about
ghosts and evil and ship. I'm not I'm not in that.

(01:04:54):
I'm not in that frame of mind right now, you know.
But the thing was, if I wrote the song, I
told him I want to be in the movie also,
you know. So they put that in the contract and
I and then when I got on our own from
facing the House like okay, So we dropped it. When
we put the single out, we put on our Own

(01:05:17):
on the B side, and we're back on the on
the A side. But we did the video for on
our own, so as many as they sold, I still
get my publisher back because it's the A side. I
never knew that on our own was the B side. Yeah,

(01:05:39):
I know that. I always thought that was the main joining.
You also did a thin line between.

Speaker 6 (01:05:45):
Yeah, yo, we gotta talk about that and like and panther.
But he had he had He had a dope as
song on the soundtrack to So Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:05:58):
I don't know. I I love acting. I love being
a part of you know, just to hurry up and
wait situation. Yeah, you're just waiting your trailing. You go
out there, you work for four minutes and go back
in your trailing. You're in there for three hours. And
I love that, you know, and you're getting the check too.
Oh yeah, just let me chill in my trailer. Man.

(01:06:21):
How was and Martin was really cool? We had so
much fun on that set. Man, It was just like
I don't know, it was it was. It was basically
a party because he was directing, you know, he did,
and it was just a lot of fun, you know,
the whole cast. You know, we just we just joked
around all the time.

Speaker 8 (01:06:43):
That meant for you or was it?

Speaker 3 (01:06:45):
Yeah, he wrote it for me.

Speaker 6 (01:06:46):
Yeah, Lynn Whitfield because she played the hell out of
that role, and yeah, she scared me.

Speaker 3 (01:06:54):
She scared the ship out of me because she stayed
in character. Offset Yeah, y'a making jokes. She wasn't she
wasn't kept she kept that face straight like this, and
she was just walking around looking at people all weird
and ship and I was like, wrong, it's crazy, man.

Speaker 13 (01:07:15):
And then after we rapped, she was like, oh my god,
oh oh oh, I'm so glad I could come out
of that.

Speaker 3 (01:07:29):
I was like, we are too stup out here. Well,
you did a panther with Mario van Peebles. How did
that come together? That came together? I went, I met
with uh Mario at his office and he was like,
he had this thing for me. He said, I got
something for you, man, I got something that I really

(01:07:50):
think you're gonna you know, you could really come across
and really good. I'm team you up with Chris Rock
and you him we're gonna And he explained the characters
and how we were supposed to be and I was
just like, I was like, oh ship, this is this
is gonna be some funny ship. I know you're gonna

(01:08:14):
kill me. Chris Rock, Yes, yeah, I remember, I'm sorry.

Speaker 7 (01:08:24):
Hold on, So, since we're talking about acting and you
just played that I got to ask you about the
two two seven guest spot. Yes, after that, I was
sure that I'll be Good to you was gonna be
the next thing. I was waiting for that. Damn man,
I just didn't. I didn't at that point.

Speaker 3 (01:08:40):
I didn't want to do any of the you know,
other songs that everybody normally hears from me. So I figured,
you know, on on to seven, I was just like, yeah,
let me I'll do I'll do this one. And unfortunately,
fortunately that it came out really, really good. I loved.
I loved being able to perform it like like I did,

(01:09:05):
into the in the classroom and Regina jumping in and
dancing with me. That was just a lot of fun
and being on that set. Molly Gibbs is, Oh my god,
what a gym she's. She's a beautiful, beautiful, one of
the most kindest women I've ever met in my life
other than my mom. She is really kind. And I

(01:09:26):
got a story about that. She was We were all
backstage and I'm thinking, you know, I got to go
to the bathroom and I walk into the wrong room
and Mala's trying to get was asking her she had

(01:09:47):
on she had a stock and she was trying to
pull address up. She was like, boy, close that door.
I'm sorry, that's dope.

Speaker 6 (01:10:02):
When you did After, After Bobby and then Forever, it
was like five years.

Speaker 3 (01:10:08):
In between scrapped the record in between there, didn't you.
I think it was the Forever album that I had scrapped.
I didn't want to put it out because the record
was done, so I did it so early, you know,
and I like to try to space the albums out,

(01:10:29):
you know, yeah, and it creates, you know, a mystique
to to the name Bobby Brown. But with Forever, I
was truly in love, you know, and I just wrote
songs that were about, you know, love.

Speaker 6 (01:10:47):
And I loved feeling the side feeling that. Yeah, I
love that record, feeling inside.

Speaker 3 (01:10:52):
You like that. I don't don't make me feel like
I said something wrong now, No, I just couldn't. I
just couldn't stand the record. I really felt like I like,
I don't know, I just don't know. I just too
close to it. I mean, I don't know. Jeff Wait
a minute, Jeff Red you know, yeah, yeah, yeah, he

(01:11:14):
did the record, and you know, at the time, he
was a and R up at mc A, and I
was like, dude, we're not We're not dropping that first.
I don't want to drop that first. And he was like,
but he had more pull over there, and he was like, yeah,
I think we should drop this one. I was like,
because you did, you did it right.

Speaker 7 (01:11:34):
But I liked it because it was kind of a
different feel for you, Like yeah, and like the way
you're saying on that record, you hadn't really kind of
done things like that before.

Speaker 3 (01:11:42):
So I was like, yeah, I'm with this, thank you,
thank you. I appreciate it because this is there's so
many songs that I've recorded that I didn't like, like
don't be cruel, I didn't like that, I didn't like
I didn't like every little stat blasphemous.

Speaker 1 (01:12:01):
Yeah, why do I feel that even thirty years after
the fact, still you're still lukewarm on your working relationship
with La and Face, Like, no, no, we're good, We're good.
Me and Me and Face are really good. First of all,
can you settle this whole that was really Ralph singing
on every little stuff? Whatever started that rumor or.

Speaker 3 (01:12:26):
I don't know who started that, but that is definitely
a lie. Okay, So what did you not like?

Speaker 8 (01:12:31):
Please don't be cruel.

Speaker 3 (01:12:34):
I just thought it was too slow. Oh man, I
thought it was too slow. It's like that's how dam
Then I started thinking, you know that it sounded like Casanova.
I can't see that, I can see, but you see

(01:12:55):
the jam people the damn too.

Speaker 6 (01:12:57):
You got it because I was yeah, because that was like,
well that was eighty eight, so that was like I
was like third grade, so we would have our dance.

Speaker 3 (01:13:04):
You know.

Speaker 1 (01:13:04):
I was always a man of husk. So it's the
heavy d That was the Yo, the big man. What
was like eighty seven, that was the Calaway Brothers.

Speaker 8 (01:13:16):
Yeah, that one you would have made that you on
a house record.

Speaker 3 (01:13:20):
I put a little bit more funk on it. But
as I as it started to grow on me when
I was on tour, it was just it just grew
on me, you know, especially when we put the rap
in it, because first we dropped it, and we had
to drop it without the rap because radio would not
play rap at the time, really, no wrap, no version

(01:13:43):
without the rep. We put it out the first time
without the rap, and then the radio was playing it,
but it wasn't it wasn't really going nowhere. So we
took we stopped that. We brought that one back and
put out my prerogative, Like we pulled the pulled Domp
crew and put out my prerogative and boom, we hit him.

(01:14:06):
We got pop radio. We you know, we got started
getting all the ads and then we put the rap
on them Won't Be Crew and put it back out
right after prerogative. So it was like it was like
a switcher through And what.

Speaker 8 (01:14:19):
Was the effects of that when you put the rap
back on?

Speaker 3 (01:14:21):
What did you what did you say? Number one? That
was the Yeah, that's the part everyone. That's when they
started really really playing rap music on the pop radio stations,
because it was like they had to. I'm really shocked
that you're this would be cool man? If you didn't
like it? Did you? Were you hesitant to name the
title after the record?

Speaker 5 (01:14:42):
No?

Speaker 3 (01:14:42):
No, I thought I thought, I'm I'm a big Elvis
Presley fan. It was like that, I'm gonna take Yeah.

Speaker 8 (01:14:52):
So then every little step, what is the problem?

Speaker 6 (01:14:55):
Like that?

Speaker 3 (01:14:58):
Was it the same verse, the same verse? Yeah, it
took parts of that, parts of that, and then I
just thought it was bubble gummish. Wait why was it
just why was it one verse sung twice the same? Now?
Now I'm doing. Wait, didn't Face already revealed that to us?
Or am I just discovering that right now? I can't remember?

(01:15:19):
So it was.

Speaker 1 (01:15:21):
No, No, it was the same verse. It was the
same thing verse. It was just sung sung differently. On Saturday.

Speaker 3 (01:15:29):
Lewis did the same thing Saturday Love. Yeah. Man, So
did you like Ronie because that's like I love okay
all the balance Here.

Speaker 7 (01:15:42):
Here's a random ass question that probably I'm the only
one that's interested in. How involved were you with the
Dance You Note remix album?

Speaker 3 (01:15:48):
Yes, A very yeah, because I felt, you know, if
I wasn't going to drop an album right right away,
that the best thing to do is remix and re
sell the same songs that we just sold. It was
it was that was the remixes in the Key of B.
Was it that?

Speaker 6 (01:16:08):
No, There was Dance You Note for the Don't Be
Cruel out and remixes for the Bobby Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:16:12):
I had mixed drop it on more. Where is the
b Brown posse? Everywhere? Everywhere? We're starting to rebuild right now.
We are definitely starting to rebuild with my sons. And
I have this other artist. His name is Damn. Did
I just forget his name's an artist named Frank Stickham's

(01:16:35):
and got a guy named Tim Campbell and then we
still have Styles. Styles are still out there. Yeah, yeah,
I'll keep it going.

Speaker 7 (01:16:49):
In your book, you were talking about, you know, you
guys recorded a lot of stuff for the for your
label that you had. Is any do you ever think
any of that stuff is going to come out?

Speaker 3 (01:16:58):
Never know? You know, I just gotta go and and
I gotta I mean, my my garage is stacked, which
just just reels and reels and reels, and I just
gotta find time to you know, go through them. And
I mean, if you need somebody to help you, volunteer, Yeah,
I volunteers. Tribute. Yeah, I'd like to know what was the.

Speaker 1 (01:17:22):
The process of reuniting the group back together for the
Home the Home Again album? Like, I know it's an
extension of the Get Back the Remix of Words, but
how how is that.

Speaker 3 (01:17:38):
I organized? I just missed my I just missed my crew,
you know, I missed all the guys. I missed the
camaraderie that we have. I missed just my friends just
being out on the road with them. And I was like, man,
it's time. I think it's time, you know, we get
together and we do something. What went wrong with it?

(01:18:00):
We were all crazy. We were all crazy.

Speaker 1 (01:18:05):
But did it last at least the full tour? That's
the only time I didn't get to see I didn't.

Speaker 3 (01:18:09):
I didn't get to see him that year either. I
didn't get to see you guys, I still have. I
don't know if it lasted the whole tour. I don't know.
I don't even know that because I mean, at that time,
I was in a funk. I was in a real
bad way, you know, with using drugs and things like that,
and it was just it was just not a good
time for me in my life. And I was still rolling,

(01:18:31):
you know, I was still on the road and not
taking care of myself, and it was just it was
just a bad time, and you know, we ended up.
I ended up losing my damn mind and you'll see
it in my film. And I just I snapped, you know,
and just went crazy for a little while and had

(01:18:54):
to come up tour and you know, get some help.
And I'm grateful that I did.

Speaker 8 (01:19:00):
Is it always all good?

Speaker 2 (01:19:01):
With with the introduction of Johnny and I was like
that if it was, it was great, But I always
a the fan.

Speaker 3 (01:19:07):
I was like, was that that easy? Well, me and
Johnny have never have had a problem since I since
I found out that he wasn't there to replace me,
you know, he was there to replace Ralph because Ralph
was going to go solo. So I was just like, oh, okay, well,
I mean you got no problems then, because you know
I was I was Eddie Kane Jr. At that time.

Speaker 8 (01:19:33):
Well, how long did it take you to get that
information that looks this.

Speaker 3 (01:19:36):
Is what it is? Actually? No, they told me Mike
and Mike, Ricky and Ronnie and and and then told me.
And then, you know, me being close to Ralph, Ralph
was telling he had been playing me his his album,
you know, because me and Ralph was.

Speaker 5 (01:19:49):
Like this and.

Speaker 3 (01:19:52):
He had been playing me his music and stuff. And
I was like, yeah, that's you about to blow more sensitivity. Yeah. Yeah,
he had a bomb album that he did with who
was he working with, you know, the producers just a
guy named Dwayne, Dwayne in Boston, I forget his name,

(01:20:13):
but yeah, they had some hot stuff, man. And I
was just like, yeah, that's that's what's gonna get. That's
it's gonna care. They hinted at that in the in
the New Addition movie. Were they actually using the music
that Roth had recorded for that record, because they were
playing some songs? I don't think so.

Speaker 2 (01:20:28):
Did you treat the relations Did y'all treat the relationship
with new kids on the block the same way as Johnny?

Speaker 3 (01:20:35):
In that way?

Speaker 2 (01:20:36):
Like? Well, I guess I should say that it was
their hostility more toward Maurice in that way then?

Speaker 3 (01:20:41):
No, no, we we we we really didn't care. We
was just we were mad that they they cornered the merchant.
They made more money with their merchandise than the records
than their records. It was couldn't go to class without
seeing like eighteen girls and new kids on the block.

Speaker 6 (01:21:03):
Yeah, the sweat shirts, sweatshirt traffic keepers, traffic keepers, Yeah
yeah yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:21:11):
Traficet pillows, all kinds of ship wait side questions.

Speaker 1 (01:21:16):
I'm about to derel into a rabbit hole. But your dad,
it's almost back to school time.

Speaker 3 (01:21:21):
Oh yeah, it's already bad.

Speaker 1 (01:21:22):
I haven't already got all the school and I'm not
a dad, so I got to know the books anymore.
They don't use traffic keepers anyway, like the traffic keepers done.
They do have notebooks but what's fly now is that
they have companies now, uh that you can prepay for
your your back to school supplies.

Speaker 3 (01:21:40):
Yeah and l and when your kids get the school,
the box to just be there, but they name on it.
So that's what I do. Like I bought, I buy
like Amazon, your son the school Man.

Speaker 6 (01:21:49):
Amazon Prime that niggas apply. I'm not going to target
and spending all that time and there that's so fun.
I get them and you send him and he gets
to school the first day, his name is on the
box and he good.

Speaker 3 (01:22:03):
To go, all right.

Speaker 7 (01:22:04):
So I hate to keep referencing things in your book,
but your book is really good, and I hope people
can keep it. Like from me asking to tell these stories,
We'll go out and buy it. There's a story about
Mike Tyson in the book.

Speaker 3 (01:22:15):
Is this in the movie? Do you know where I'm going?
Can you? Can you tell the story about the night
partying with Mike Tyson and what happened the day after? Well,
it was we was in Japan and we hooked up
in Japan. Is this when he lost to Buster Douglas? Yes,
spoiling the story for us, Well, but you didn't know

(01:22:41):
that's what where this was going, I'll take the editor out. Listen.
We basically stayed up all night partying okay, with like
maybe twelve Japanese girls and just me and Mike. And
it was just the funniest night ever. We had a ball,

(01:23:01):
but it was just the funniest night ever. I kept
telling them. I kept telling them, and I kept telling them.
I was like, Mike, you need to go get some sleep.
You gotta fight tomorrow. He's like, Bobby, listen, buster douggat is.
He's an amateur, he said, he said I could. I

(01:23:22):
could beat him if I didn't sleep for five weeks,
he said. He said, watch watch how quick this fight ends.
This is gonna be one of my quickest fights. And
I was like, Mike, all right. He was like, don't worry, man,
you worry so much. I was like, all right, Pride
Goes before the Fall and what on behold? I had

(01:23:44):
to go to Osaka and I couldn't go to the fight.
I had to go to Osaka and I'm sitting there
at this this Empress place and he has it on
this big screen and I'm like, we're watching it and
looking at Mike and I'm seeing the fatigue in him.
And I was just like, oh ship, and then them

(01:24:07):
punches came boom boom boom, boom boom, and I just
started crying, like yo, baby, listen cried so bad. You
don't understand. I was grade Man. Wasn't that She's like
watching Superman like that. It was hurt. Yeah, that hurt.
I mean, it hurt me to my core. I was

(01:24:29):
just like I couldn't. I couldn't breathe, and I had
to go on stage. So I was just like I
think that's when I started having panic attacks, you know,
and just like I was like, oh my god, he's
gonna kill me. He's gonna, he's gonna, he's just gonna
he's just gonna destroy me when he sees me. And

(01:24:49):
I was like, I was like yo. But then I
started thinking about it. I kept telling this, why would
he be mad at me? What? What was it like?
At the after after he after the fight, he called
me on the phone. He said, Bob, he was right.
He said, you was so like he said, I was

(01:25:11):
so sleepy in there, my legs, with my legs with
mushing there. He said, that's why, he said, that's why
coustry model told me don't have sex for a fight again,
you had a lot of sex. You had a lot
of it was it wasn't just one person. You have
a lot of oh god, drinking a dragging alkaline alkaline water. Yeah.

(01:25:47):
So like what's your life like now? Like on the
day to day, Like what you my life? What you do?
My life now was beautiful, I think. I mean, I'm
living my best days coming back for I love shoulders. No,
I'm I'm I'm so happy as y'all know. I'm I'm married.

(01:26:11):
I've been married to my wife, Alicia for for the
last six years. We've been together for about ten and
then we have three kids, a two year old, a
three year old, and a nine year old. And I
just love you just six six six six, all right.

Speaker 1 (01:26:35):
I know I have it on good authority as a foodie. Uhh,
that you're fried chicken? Game is bart nine hands down.

Speaker 3 (01:26:45):
Look at.

Speaker 1 (01:26:49):
I saw someone another room like look like I told you,
And this is not the cocaine chicken.

Speaker 3 (01:26:55):
This is not the cocaine. Is that really better to
make you addicted like coke?

Speaker 6 (01:27:02):
No?

Speaker 3 (01:27:03):
I have you know we have a food line, I know,
Bobby Brownfoods dot com and we make barbecue sauces, all natural,
gluten free kosha, you know, all all of the all
of the natural ingredients that we put in there afresh,
and we we basically make it and bottle it while

(01:27:24):
it's hot, so that you know it's it's the real
it's the real deal, you know. Then we have the
fried chicken mix which you can cook pork, chicken fish with.
The fried chicken mixes called brown bagging it we give you,
give you a bag. You get it comes in a

(01:27:45):
bag and you can use that bag to shake it,
shake your stuff up. The Boston band Boston Boston blenn
is like a rub or you know, just like an
everyday pepper, which is which is also all natural.

Speaker 8 (01:28:01):
Recipes.

Speaker 6 (01:28:01):
Yes, Bobby's barbecue salmon, yes, yes, vegetarians right.

Speaker 3 (01:28:07):
Speaking of seafood in the everyday seasoning is also it's
like a it's like Lowry's, but it's a lot a
lot less salt, and it's it's it's also you know,
gluten free and all natural. We're gonna cops, I'm a
cop some of that. Speaking of seafood, I understand you
you're big into sushi, is that right? I am? I am?

(01:28:28):
Have you ever been to Gero's in Japan.

Speaker 1 (01:28:31):
That you're right Gero's, Yes, I don't think so he's
the god of sushi. Oh yeah, since he he's like
eighty eighty nine years old.

Speaker 3 (01:28:40):
But you have to check him out. You got to
see his on a Netflix.

Speaker 1 (01:28:44):
You gotta see his documentary, Gerald Dreams of Sushi and
like it's it's a pilgrimage, Like his meals are like.

Speaker 3 (01:28:52):
Six seven hundred dollars.

Speaker 1 (01:28:53):
But it's people. People make pilgrimages over there. It's almost
like going to confessional just him. Yeah, like it's just
you and him alone in the room, and he feeds you,
you know, the best sushi you've ever had in your life.

Speaker 3 (01:29:06):
Wow. I remember, I remember going when I first ate sushi.
I ate sushi in Japan at the Empress Palace. He
invited us over, Me and my whole crew. We had
just finished doing Tokyo dum for the seventh night and
he invited us over, and I mean the palace was

(01:29:28):
so beautiful and he just we were like skeptical of
trying sushi, but it was like this was so long ago,
this was before all of these sushi restaurants started popping
up here, and man I swear on my life this
this food was so good. It was oh my god.

(01:29:48):
And they had temporas and all of that. They had
these little white fish that the tempora and I mean, oh,
I can still taste it right now, that's how good
it was. And then I tried all of the other
you know, you know, raw fish and things like that,

(01:30:10):
and got my kids into it, you know, my older kids,
and then I started telling them that the you know,
the wasabi was dessert and that was the ice cream.
That's nice. I did it to my brother first, and
he took a scoop and put it all the way

(01:30:32):
in his love and he was and he doesn't like
anything hot, and his snow started running. I started tearing up.

Speaker 6 (01:30:43):
I was like, before I forget talk to us about
how you had Bosstown in Atlanta and then how it
became thinkni you okay in outcast in that connection, I forgot.

Speaker 3 (01:30:55):
Well. Bosstown was a place where we did all of
the recordings for you know, most of my stuff that
I did with b Brown Posse, and we would rent
it out, you know track. We would do lots of tracks.
We had three studios. But I just got I just

(01:31:15):
got tired of Atlanta. You know, when I was getting
ready to get married to Whitney, I was just tired
of Atlanta. I was tired of being there and tired
of the whole Atlanta scene. You know, because what years
were you there from? Ooh, I want to say eighty eight,
eighty seven.

Speaker 6 (01:31:36):
To ninety eighty seven, ninety okay, eighty seven to ninety two.
So that was was Freaknick still run Nick was yeah.
They canceled Freak Nick back in ninety ninety, yeah, around
ninety because.

Speaker 3 (01:31:55):
It was it was wild. It was wild. I have
never seen so many strip I was on in my life.
I mean, strip club on every corner, every corner. I
was like, isn't this the Bible Belt state? Apparently not.

Speaker 6 (01:32:13):
Yeah, Atlanta is just I mean when you know, like
Atlanta is just like one spec of black people, but
Georgia like as a whole. Oh yeah, it's yeah, it's real.
I'm from I'm born and raised North Carolina. So like
my buddies, my homies were drive down to Freaknick, but
I never got a chance to go.

Speaker 3 (01:32:27):
I was too young. But Freaknick was wow. So you
had the studio there, you had boss Town, I had Bosstown,
there and I guess you know, I was told to
La that I wanted to sell it, and he said, well,
I got some guys that might want to buy it
off you and go we hold it was outcasts, you know,

(01:32:48):
the Dungeon Crew, and I sold it to them and
moved on, you know, didn't look back. He well, you know,
brother Brown, We thank you. Thank you. Yell y'all, bro
like for real, like you are a surviving Yeah, thank you.
I appreciate straight up.

Speaker 7 (01:33:07):
And I want to thank you for all the sacrifices
that you and the guys in New Addition made because
you guys basically gave up your childhood just to entertain us.

Speaker 3 (01:33:14):
I want to thank you for that. Thank you. You
made a lot of people very happy. Thanks y'all made
us got be I mean, y'all didn't have to listen,
but you did listen. We have what else am I
going to put on my cake?

Speaker 4 (01:33:32):
Oh?

Speaker 6 (01:33:32):
God?

Speaker 3 (01:33:32):
All right on? Behalf of team Supreme? Uh you fan
take a little and Sugar Steve you cool Yeah, I'm
cooling it now and then cool.

Speaker 1 (01:33:42):
Boston on pay Bill quest love. Thank you Bobby once again,
Thank you, thank you so much.

Speaker 3 (01:33:46):
You got it. This is quest Love Supreme only on Pandora.
We'll see you on the next go around, y'all.

Speaker 1 (01:34:04):
Court Love Supremest production of iHeartRadio. This classic episode was
produced by the team at Pandora. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.