Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Hello, sexy people.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
It is Lala Kent and Randall and this is to
give them Lala with Randall podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
How you doing Baby, I'm good, Hunt.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
I mean, I can't complain.
Speaker 4 (00:18):
We're out here in Puerto Rico liv in a pretty
good moment.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
We're literally on a yacht right now in the bedroom
doing this podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Yeah, it's pretty unique.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
I gotta say, I didn't think I'd ever be on
a boat in the uh waters off of San Juan.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
This is why I love Randal, because it's like, yeah,
it's pretty unique. I'm like, this is pretty fucking bad
at It's pretty unique.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Guys, it's pretty dope. I gotta say.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
I I you know, I when I came up with
the idea because I knew we were like limited for time.
You're only out here visiting me for like this week.
And I was like, Okay, when can we fit this in.
I've got my kids here. Yeah, you I'm making a movie.
It's a little busy, and I was like, you know what,
let's just do it boat.
Speaker 5 (01:00):
Well.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
We had no other choice because Randall's here in Puerto
Rico making a movie until the end of March. I
am literally flying out tonight to Miami so that Randall's
mom can help me register for the wedding.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
Then you go back and after that you have to
do your bridle shower, you have to do your fitting,
you have to do your bachelor party.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
You got all the fitting of my wedding dress. Yep, yep,
you got to You got a full skill, you got
a full schedule, plus all.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
Your other business that you run with your brands and stuff.
So I'm very impressed.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
I'm overwhelmed, to say the very Let me ask you
a better.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
Question, ask me, how are you really doing? I think
because I've seen you have a few meltdowns in the
last twenty four hours.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
I'm feeling a lot of anxiety. I'm feeling like I'm
under a lot of pressure. There's just things that go
into a wedding and then maintaining your normal life like
business that you have to run.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
It's a lot.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
It's overwhelming.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
I kind of have like gone down a path where
I've immersed myself into this movie. And then I get
about four hundred a day between you, my mother, your mother,
and the wedding pointer.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
So you're on the firing line right now. So I
give you a lot.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Yeah, that's also stressful having my partner gone until literally
eighteen days before we walked down the aisle.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
If that had to rips me the fuck out.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Would I would feel that way too, But I got
to pay the bills.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Can we talk about something mindless and fun like vander
Pump Rules for tonight?
Speaker 4 (02:24):
I think I think that. I think Fander Will Tim.
Don't you think Fanner Pump Rules has some depth to it?
Speaker 2 (02:30):
I do, absolutely yes, it has depth, you know what
I mean? Just something where it's like easy and if
we talk.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Shit and okay fun.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Why don't you tell Tim?
Speaker 4 (02:38):
Tim has to seen a frigging episode, So why don't
you tell us about last Weekay? Well, let's talk about
last Weekcause Tim, you know what last week was, right?
It was a big Yeah.
Speaker 6 (02:47):
It was your premiere on the.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
Show, which which I thought after four years of never
ever thinking this is going to happen, Lalla manipulated me
at the highest level. And by the way, after seeing it,
I really do love fucking fried chicken sandwiches.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
And anybody has a problem with that.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
I don't think anyone had a problem with it.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
I love fried chicken sandwich.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
I'm glad they gave close ups I mean, if I
was making a movie, I wouldn't have focused on the
fried chicken.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
But I guess that was exciting.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Yeah, random was like they did me so dirty? Why
would they?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
They didn't show any of us ordering except Randall because
you got the stuff fried chicken.
Speaker 6 (03:22):
I mean that's pretty fucked up.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
I mean, Tim, there's a lot of other shit the
sea besides the fed. Nobody else ate, only you were
the only person that ate.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
That's my point, babe. How come what did you guys
have a Well?
Speaker 2 (03:35):
You know why they did that, right, because it stirs
up the controversy. At one point, James body shamed you,
so they zoned in on the fact that you ordered
double fried chicken.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
It's fucked up.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
But I'm gonna tell you something.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Welcome to it.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
If I ever filmed this.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
Show again, I'm gonna order six desserts because I'm just mad.
Speaker 6 (03:53):
You should just not eat one of the desserts and
just give them to everybody else, right, see it, sit
in satisfaction while everybody else enjoys the totally.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
I like that.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
I think I got screwed. I mean there were close ups.
I mean they should have just gone to slow motion.
Why don't we just go to slow motion with the
chicken going in my mouth?
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Right? Well, they couldn't do that because they had to
fit newbies in.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
Oh here we go. Here, I was about to light
it up.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
So many people have been dming me, like, how do
you feel about.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Sena bullying Dana because you were once in that spot.
I fucking wish it was Shina that was bullying me.
That's fucking child's play, Like row ro row your fucking belt.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Man, you know boy, Oh here we go.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
I'm like you guys like, yes, not cool what Shina
does to Dana. But like I had pit bulls after me,
Katie and Stossey are no joke.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Like if they were coming for Dana then I'd be like,
this is not cool. But Sheina, Like.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Okay, I just want to say she and I do
like you. I'm just gonna put it out.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
No, I'm just saying Gina's a nice person with a
kind heart. So when she tries to bully people, that's
all it is is she's trying to It doesn't really
work out that well.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Are we done with the Vanderpunt segment? You don't like
it too, But I just think.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Like I make you feel uncomfortable, yeah, very.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
But can I say what thing though? Because because people
have asked.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
Me a lot, and when I premiered that episode with you,
I just want to tell you something. I really was
so uncomfortable going into this to do this and to
show this part of our life. And I will tell
you that being with you, you're obviously very comfortable in
front of the camera, and you made me very comfortable.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
And I think that.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
It's nice that people do get to see us the
way we are, you know, a little slice, a small slice,
and I didn't mind it, and people were very kind
in the comments. I was shocked because I thought it
was just going to be a you know, a beheading.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
No. But I also think that because the podcast happened
a little bit before the episode, people really got to
see what you were like as a person, you know,
because no one knew what you were like and how
we are together until we did the podcast, and then
it kind of broke people into it prepared them.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
It prepared them.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
Okay, I dig that, and actually that's nice and I
and I think it's nice. I think I want to
tell you something now that I'm looking out the.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Hatch of this bedroom at the ocean.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
You're mad.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
No, I just think it's pretty dope, like it is
pretty cool, Like it's I think if our you know
what we should do? What we should do a giveaway
where we invite like five or ten of your fans
to a trip to Miami on the yacht where we
podcast live.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Okay, well we need to pass a background check?
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Why, Alex? Why?
Speaker 7 (06:52):
Yeah, I just.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Invite five people that we don't know to Miami.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
These are your favorite I think faith, I have faith.
I'm not afraid, Alex. Do you think, Alex, you will
need Okay, our producers are here on the boat with us.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Alex.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
Do you think we would really need to pass a
background Honestly, I.
Speaker 8 (07:08):
Think just for the sport of it all, we should
not do a background. That's saying do they giveaway on Instagram? General? All,
all people are welcome, no questions asked. Then you've got
a show and mind.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
These boys, these producer Tim and producer Alex are about
seven to ten drinks deep.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
That's not true. There twelve twelve and.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
I encourage it. Let's talk about this.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
So last week's episode, you know how we asked our
listeners to call and tell us we are taking up
the anchors, y'all.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Do you hear that the background?
Speaker 1 (07:50):
The anchors are coming up.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
It'll be up in a minute.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
So last week we asked our listeners to call in
because you and I were battling about one kid or two.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Well, the callers have voted.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Oh they have.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
They say, were you present last week for the podcast?
Speaker 3 (08:10):
I didn't think it was like you were going to
really take it to this level?
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Of course I did.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
There's some missions going on with this podcast.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
So out of all of the voicemails we got, which
were a lot, you only got five people.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Yeah, it's bullshit, what I tell you. They're all your fans.
Of course I was gonna get it.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
No, you did get Listen though, Listen to this voicemail
from one of the five, from one of the five
that had your back.
Speaker 7 (08:36):
Hey, Lala and Randall, this is Emily Friend, Kingsport, Tennessee.
I love y'all podcast. It's so interesting to just tear
your dynamic and learn more about you. But I'm calling
to vote on how many kiss you.
Speaker 9 (08:50):
Should have because you know it's completely my business.
Speaker 7 (08:53):
But La La, I want you to know I was
the kid who had the two step siblings and on Christmas,
you know, so they would leave. We would have to
split every holiday. And it's probably the selfish bitch inside me,
but I loved it when my step siblings left and
then it was just me and my mom and dad.
(09:14):
And you know it sounds bad, but I was about
that last So sorry, I'm team Randall.
Speaker 9 (09:21):
One kid. Bye, guys.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
Okay, I need a response to that, right o, Emily,
I've never even heard of Kingsport, Tennessee. But I'm gonna
tell you something great great, great town, great town, good people. Emily.
You're with me for life. I'm your biggest fan Kingsport, Tennessee.
I'm coming hot. I'm gonna come check that place out, Laala.
Emily has spoken and she is She's the boss. How
(09:45):
do you want to respond to that, Lalla?
Speaker 1 (09:46):
I'm gonna respond this way.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
If I decide I want two kids, I will be
getting two kids. So yes, I will be getting two
kids if I want two kids, Lalla.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
However many kids you want, you can have a I
love you very much.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
That is a great answer. There we go.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
Okay, So Emily from Kinnning Sport, I'm with you, but Lala,
at the end, of the day.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
She's the boss.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Yeah, he doesn't want to come home to an unhappy Lalla.
I don't think anybody does, including myself. You have to
live with yourself, which is even more tortuous answer. You know,
we had an exciting guest today.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
So what makes today amazing is that my friend of
like fifteen years, Jesse Terrero, who is an incredible filmmaker,
one of the biggest music video directors in the business,
directed a movie. And here's what's cool, Tim, producer. Tim
was producer's assistant on the movie that jessere Jesse directed.
Speaker 6 (10:50):
The second one he directed, the second one he directed
ten years ago.
Speaker 4 (10:53):
Tim was my assistant and now Tim's producer Tim both
on movies and on the podcast. So we are both
excited because it's like memory late. So, Jesse Guerrero, I.
Speaker 6 (11:01):
Was fired on his movie.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
I did fire.
Speaker 6 (11:04):
I was fired on Jesse's Here.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
We Go and then brought back because.
Speaker 6 (11:07):
The next day I was rehired and promoted. But I
was I was fired for real.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
No, I sent us home. I said, you're fired, it's
over because he was a horrible You were horrible.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
Where was this?
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Where was this?
Speaker 3 (11:17):
We were well new Orleans, New Orleans. We were filming,
but in LA I sent him home. He goes back
to LA.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
He's fired, and then I wake up and I'm like,
you know what, the guy is so good with script
and he's so good. It's like, you know, a really
good material driven guy. He's very good with writers. And
I was like, you know what, I'm gonna promote him.
I fired him so I could promote him. Can I
promoted him to develop executive?
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Wow.
Speaker 6 (11:38):
I mean it was bittersweet because when I was fired,
I was like, oh yeah, really, Oh, I was so relieved.
But then, you know, my ultimate goal obviously was to
grow in the industry, so you know, I didn't even
have to think about it, and I promoted.
Speaker 4 (11:53):
I said, Tim, you know, I know your strengths are
with script and I really need somebody that knows script
in and out.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
And I promoted him.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
Twelve years later, now he's producing the movie I'm directing
out here in Puerto Rico.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Is that amazing? Which is an honor?
Speaker 1 (12:05):
By the way, Yeah, that movie was it that Jesse
Treir was.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
Jesse directed a very small budgeted film that we had starring.
Speaker 6 (12:14):
Fifty Val Kilmer. Val Kilmer's the first one, yeah, right,
and then Freelancers, which was De Niro.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
Yeah, we had Robert de Niro fifty cent it was
it was actually a great film and it was a
great experience.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
And that was one of the first times we have
to work with ni Forest Whitaker and Forrest Whitaker.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Oh wow.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
Yeah, so Justin directed two good movies for us. Jeff
and I'm gonna say something. Jesse has become, like you know,
he is incredibly influential in the music scene. He'll he'll
get into his resume with us and how he started.
But I just want people to know, like when on
this podcast, that we're also going to have people behind
the scenes like myself. I think it's really exciting and
interesting to hear. And Jesse's a big personality and a
(12:53):
great guy, so I think we should we should bring
him out here.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Let's bring him out.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
We'll bring him down to the Let's bring him.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Down to this tiny ass yacht bedroom.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
All right, we are back, law. Are you ready for Jesse?
Speaker 1 (13:22):
I'm ready for Jesse.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
All right, Let's welcome my buddy and an incredible filmmaker,
Jesse Crrero.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Welcome, buddy.
Speaker 5 (13:30):
What's up? What's up? What's going on.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
So here's the crazy thing, Jess, I invited you on
a yacht today to come chill with us, and I'm like, oh,
you also got to be on our podcast.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Oh yeah, we hustled out of here.
Speaker 5 (13:44):
This is the best invitation to a podcast. Every think
anybody got the yacht invitation to record?
Speaker 4 (13:51):
All right, So Jess, tell fans like they don't know, like,
you know, your history, how you started came up with
music videos and et cetera. Why don't you just tell them,
like you know, how you just start directing and kind
of you know, ledg.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
You to where you are today.
Speaker 5 (14:04):
Yeah, I mean for me, it sort of happened by accident,
because you know, I grew up in the neighborhood where
we didn't dream about being filmmakers. And my mother worked
that night, my father worked in the day, and there
was a gap of time where nobody was home. So
my mother bought a camera and she said, while she's
on her way from work and my father's on the
way to work, nobody could go into the streets. And
(14:24):
we were like thirteen twelve, eleven ten, and we started
making movies in those two hours. Wow, as my parents
are coming home, and my father actually worked in the
mainenance department in CBS, so you know, my father came
from the Dominican Republic. My mom as well, didn't speak
the language, and my father got a maintenance job, but
he would get things and he would bring home, like
(14:45):
soundtracks from like movies and TV shows, and we started
using that in these little urban movies we were doing.
And my brother Ulysses personality is much bigger than mine,
so he always wanted to start in the movies, so
it forced me to have to. So every movie had
like his title, like Julie on Elm Street Super and
(15:06):
then you know, somebody had to manage the camera. So
you know, I was always like the you know, the
guy that got killed quick. But I learned how to.
You know, we started making movies young, and.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
That how you transition into the know.
Speaker 5 (15:19):
We used to watch this video program called Video Music
Box and it was like the first channel that showed
music videos. And one day they made an announcement that
they were casting a film. Now, all we had was
our ghetto acting that we did at the house, so
we thought it was a good idea. Maybe there'll be
a lot of hot girls there. So we went to
the casting and a lot of Latin kids didn't show
(15:40):
up to the casting, so the casting director was like, look,
we're looking for kids your type. And the movie was
called Juice with Tupac Shakur, so we were part of
the Latin gang that had beef for Tupac in the movie.
And that was the first time I really stepped on
the movie set.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
I didn't even know.
Speaker 5 (15:56):
Yeah, it was me and my brother Vincent Aureska played
like the lead.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
I loved Eddie because a place.
Speaker 5 (16:03):
Poker and that I signed up any videws. I loved
it in together. And after that, I saw like a
bunch of people that you know, I thought were cool,
that looked like me working on film, and I was like, wow,
you know, some people can really do this. And when
I met Vinnie and those guys, they all went to
the school of Performing arts. Like in my neighborhood, I
grew up with Jamaica queens. Like people weren't going to
the performing arts school. So I was like, wow, this,
(16:26):
you know this, you know, I didn't know anybody like that.
And then I, you know, switched my major in college
and started studying theater and then you know, directing and
shot a short film my junior year in school, and
because the people I met on Juice, they offered me
an internship on the Columbia Pictures project. In the third
year in college, I dropped out to do that and
then I never stopped working.
Speaker 4 (16:44):
Wow, okay, what was the first because was it music videos,
TV or features?
Speaker 3 (16:50):
When you first started?
Speaker 5 (16:50):
When I worked on features? So you know, so I
interned and I did everything. I ran around, getting people coffee,
picking up the direct everything that that I needed to
to sort of and be on set and soak up
a bunch of things. And then the music video thing
started to happen in New York, and because we interned
on the film, we would get jobs and opportunities. And
(17:12):
now look, Tupac, who was a good friend of minees
became a huge star.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
Oh Tupac was your friend.
Speaker 5 (17:16):
Yeah, so I still run around with Pac and you know,
and then Tretch from Naughty by Nature was one of
his best friends, and he's an extra and Juice too.
He was part of the gang with us. So all
of a sudden, by the time Juice is getting ready
to come out, you know, Pok didn't have no music out.
He had one little song when we did Juice, so
by the time the movie came out a year later,
all of a sudden, you know, this kid becomes the
biggest artist in the world. And then Tretch invites us
(17:39):
to a music video. Never heard the kid rap, and
we show up to his music video as a song
called opp Then and this kid becomes like gigantic, and
then you know, now I'm like seeing the music video
thing happen. I'm around it. It's like, you know, an
incredible experience, is surreal, you know, wow. And I met
some directors along the way, and we started getting working
(18:01):
behind the scenes on some music videos and.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Who gives you your first break.
Speaker 5 (18:05):
What I didn't though, is I didn't know that some
directors didn't write their concepts. So I was around this
one director and I heard her complaining that Puffy didn't
like the concept from Hype Williams or this director, Dan
Marteau and a bunch of people, and I saw that
when I heard the conversation, I knew what Puffy probably meant.
So you know, I made a comment. I was like,
I think I know what he wants. And then she
(18:25):
was like, oh, you're so smart. When did you write
the concept? So I did and she got the job.
So then she was like, Okay, maybe he does know
what's going on. So for the next couple of years,
I was behind a lot of concepts and music videos,
so everybody knew me as a creative guy, and even
artists will send me their songs and I would write
the concept I just didn't get credit for doing it.
I would get five hundred bucks and the directors. These
(18:47):
were million dollar videos. So at some point I was like,
the math didn't that up. I was like, and the
one director I worked with it she told me, she goes, look, man,
you write great ideas, but you don't write them well,
like you need to learn how to write the treatments.
And then she showed me a bunch of better creatives
and I learned how to write the treatments better. And
then I sort of took off in that space. And
(19:07):
then there was a Chris Robinson who was a young
black director coming out as one of those bags. He
was coming up and his reps found out that I
was writing for Dan Martell, and they said, hey, why
don't you start being on Chris's team? And when I
met Chris, he was doing one hundred and fifty thousand videos,
and we used to sit in a room together and
just christ yeah yeah, and then we just his career
(19:28):
started taking off. I was part of that wave. Chris
showed me a lot. I was part of his creative team,
and then ultimately he signed me.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
As a director, and that's how it happened. That's how it happened.
What's the first video you do?
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Well?
Speaker 5 (19:39):
I started doing some small videos in Canada. First, these
Canadian artists. Canada gives you like free money to make videos.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Budgets were good.
Speaker 5 (19:46):
No, no, no, they weren't good. They were like ten grand.
But you know, they would get the money for free,
like they would get these grants from the government. So
these kids would make me write these treatments for them
because they knew I wrote treatments, But then nobody understood
them because they were like Wu tang idea is. But
Canada was not hard then, so they were like, whoa, no,
but it's more urban now. You know, I'm not knocking Canada.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
You know that's pretty hard.
Speaker 5 (20:10):
But you know, back then, the you know, I was
writing stuff that felt like Wu tangle mob deep and
some of the directors there didn't understand it at the time.
So the kids were like, hey, why don't you direct it?
And that sort of becan how it became. And then
you know, I did a ten thousand dollars video that
got nominated for Much Music Video of the Year.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Come on.
Speaker 5 (20:25):
And then after that huge and after that, I was
because I'm king hot in Canada. But and I was
sent an assistant in the US.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
Oh wow.
Speaker 5 (20:33):
So I would drive nine hours by myself because you know,
most of my friends didn't believe in the directing thing.
Popping no, those pills, driving myself to Canada. You know, Fuck,
this is you know, hustling.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
You know what was the first big video job you
got that really you knew when you showed up? Like
I remember my first movie I produced.
Speaker 5 (20:50):
You know, the first when I signed with Chris Robinson.
He brought me an artist by the name of Jill Scott.
And Jill Scott at the time, you know, she she
she wrote a song with the that the roots in Erkabo.
Dude recorded that one and won a Grammy. They took
her off the song because she wasn't popular and the
record lay would put eric about Duke because they were like,
(21:11):
who is Joe Scott? Like, they took her right off
her record, you know, but she won the Grammy. When
I went to meet in Philadelphia, her album was titled
who Is Joe Scott? And she was like, Yo, this year,
I'm gonna crush it, and so she wanted to do
something different. I wrote two videos. We did them back
to back and got caught a nomination Ride Out the
Gay f M TV, and then I started yeah. And
(21:34):
then then then, you know, because Jill Scott was so
pro black and the female and my Jesse's written with
a y, I guess they thought I was a female.
And from that point I was Jill Scott, Kelly Price,
Angie Stone. I was doing all the girls, and I
was like, yo, I'm a hip hop guy, you know,
I want to get back to hip hop, and.
Speaker 7 (21:53):
You know, and.
Speaker 5 (21:57):
You'll said, they were like, okay, this is not what
we expected. So so now you run through that thing.
So when when I was, you know, writing treatments, it
was a pretty girl that moved in next door to
me and my and my little, you know, shitty apartment
in Hollywood, and uh she you know, she had this
(22:17):
boyfriend that was like a thug. So this was my
first introduction to gang bang life, right, so she would
go to work and then he would hang around the building.
So sometimes I would see him and he'll throw up
a side like what up, cuz, and I'm like, whoa,
you know, I don't really know what that was about.
And then he was and then his name was Little
Half Dead, right, so I'm like this guy, this guy
(22:39):
became my friend. Right, so now he's telling me, you know,
crib Long Beach. So so Little Half Dad becames my friends.
So he comes over every day because he does have
a job, comes over. He's like on tour, supposed he
was Snoop and Nate and all these guys. So we're
rocking with him. When my cruising down Melrose, some guys
look over. He's throwing crip signs. I'm like, yo, Dug,
I just moved to This is not how in New York.
(23:02):
Is not like this. But one day he brought he said, Yo,
I'm gonna bring some of my friends over. And he
brings Snoop Dogg and the dog to my crib. I
got my television on the milk crk and he brings
Snoop Dogg to my house and all Snoop Dogg walks
in talks mad Ship we played PlayStation, smokes a lot
of weed, beats me and fucking because he kills in
(23:23):
all those games, Snoop. And then my whole building's in my lobby,
I mean in the hallway. And then he leaves. This
is this is like right after the chronicle.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
Oh my god, this is as big as it cats.
I mean.
Speaker 5 (23:37):
Yeah. Then he leaves and I never see him again, Snoop.
And then Little Half dead ends up going to prison.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
Right.
Speaker 5 (23:44):
So I see Snoop at the MTV Awards when I
get the nomination, and he sees him, goes, yo, chess,
little Half that always ask about you, man, blah blah blah.
And I tell Snoop, I said, man, I need to
get on this urban thing again these videos. He goes,
call me tomorrow, I got a video for one hundred
and fifty grand. Let's go now, and he put me
right into that's it.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (24:04):
And then right after what song was that?
Speaker 3 (24:05):
What song was that?
Speaker 5 (24:06):
It was a song that MTV ended up like banning
the video that I did it because you know how
they put the black lines. I put like the crip
band Dan.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
It's hardcore.
Speaker 5 (24:15):
It was super against you know. It was my party shot.
I went super d Okay, show them you know, wait,
let me ask it.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
So Jesse just cut cup fast forward. Give us some
of the artists, especially the fans. Tell us some of
the artists that you have done videos for it, because
I know you've worked with everybody.
Speaker 5 (24:36):
Yeah, so you know I worked with you know, Cameron
or styles p or h. Fifty was my biggest client, right.
I did twenty five videos with fifty right from the beginning.
So he grew up in my neighbors so I always
heard his music. That's how that happened when so he
was always hot in the neighborhood. And then he got
shot and everybody kind of knew the stories. And then
(24:57):
when he signed to Interscope, I told Jimmy Ivan's nephew DJ,
I said, hey, I want to do fifty cent when
the project comes around, and he was like, yeah, it's
probably gonna come around in like a year, and I
was like, yeah, but I want to do it as
he's from my neighborhood. And then a year later he
kept his word, and during that time I was already
excelling now doing videos that were like four hundred and
five were so for me at that time, nobody the
(25:19):
big directors want to get to touch a video for
new artists like that, So it kind of gave me
a path into fifty. Wangster was already out for like
a year and a half.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
It was already first ring tone on the first phone
I ever got.
Speaker 5 (25:30):
So I did that video, and because of the violence
around fifty, we couldn't get permits to shoot in New
York City. So I wrote a concept and fifty was like,
whoever wrote this concept had to be from the neighborhood
because the way the intricacies.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
The way he knew that you knew the same thing.
Speaker 5 (25:46):
And then I was like, look, I can make LA,
because they were concerned to do his first video in LA,
and I said, I can make it look like New York.
Don't worry. I know this one block and as long
as I shoot the right angles, it's gonna feel like
we're in New York City. And we shot Wangster in LA.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Such a fucking bad ass.
Speaker 4 (26:01):
Yeah, I think I want to be you, But I'll
tell you I made two movies with Jesse on very
limited budgets, and I will tell you Jesse is a
creative motherfucker. He made the ship work. He does a
complain he does a bitch. He just he's like, yo,
we'll find a path forward. And that's what makes you
a great director, is that you're one of those guys
that can, you know, overcome really tough circumstances on a budget.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
So I'll give you a lot of props.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
I want to hear more. Let's take a short break.
I just want to pick your brain all day, Jess.
All right, we are back with the epic Jesse Cuerrero's.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
Let's keep it.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
Mind is blown.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
No, it's so funny because I made two movies with Jess.
I forget how how awesome you are because I'm your boy.
But then you know, I hear you talk, you know,
from this, I forget the history you have, you know,
in music.
Speaker 4 (26:53):
So what I want to know, and I think Lon
are both a little oblivious to this, is that the
Latin culture right now, the Hispanic music scene is what
hip hop and pop music was over the last twenty years,
Latin music today.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
These artists are the stars.
Speaker 5 (27:10):
Of worldwide, gigantic gigant So how's that?
Speaker 3 (27:14):
Because I know you know all of them. I know
you do videos, I know you produce them.
Speaker 5 (27:17):
Yeah, you know for me, for me being Dominican, it
was always part of my culture, you know. And when
I started doing music videos, I used to complain all
the time because the Land videos, I felt were just
looked weak and they look cheap, you know, and it
used to bother me that they didn't look like the
general market videos. And then when MTV did me TRL,
which was their Spanish version, they started putting like en
(27:39):
sync videos next to like countdowns with Aventuda or the
Land groups. We see the indel against like a Destiny's child,
and then you're like, whoa. You can see sort of
the difference in the level of the videos. So I
was telling a friend of minees complaining, and he said,
you know what, you can continue to complain and you
could be part of the change, but you got to
make that decision. So I was like, man, I'm about
(28:00):
to take a Picatla my mother and Mercedes in a
bowl on it and I inside my rims with twenty six.
I was killing the gang. I was like, time to
bring the chains back. But I did. I. You know,
(28:21):
I took a step back and I said, you know what,
I felt that they weren't getting the respect and and
the sort of the at least the visuals that they
deserved because they were superstars in my eyes. So I
sort of ingratiated myself in the Latin culture. When Daddy
Yankee got signed to Interscope, he was the first artist
I have a general, a general market record deal. Someone
that Interscope said, hey, you know, Jesse's Dominican, and they
(28:43):
put me on the phone with Yankee, and then I
did two videos for him, a song called Gangsters on
with Snoop and then the song called Rompe, which was
one of his like big songs that broke into the
American market. And then from that on that moment, a
lot of the Latin artists started knowing that I was Dominicans,
so they were calling me like, hey, I'm Dominican too,
can you do me this solid and blah blah blah.
And then I started just you know what, I figured
(29:04):
out a way for a lesser budget to create a
bigger a big image, and then I just focused on
my energy and that and as I saw the decline
in music videos on the American side, I saw that
on the land side they were going up little by little,
and I was like, you know what, most these kids
live in countries where the record sales are not really
(29:24):
being counted or they're selling out arenas, like but you know,
it's like they live in poor countries where their bootlegging
your song, so nobody's going to the store and buying
your song. The tours, but the tours are gigantic, right,
you know.
Speaker 3 (29:35):
Fifty thousand seas you told me the other day.
Speaker 5 (29:38):
I did a movie on Ken named Maluma for YouTube,
and we shot the main concert of his tour in
Israel in Tel Aviv, thirty thousand people himself, not another acts.
It was no, like fifty guys hit by himself, thirty
thousand people in singing Spanish songs.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
That's that's unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
It is a beautiful mind that and that's how it
is all over.
Speaker 4 (30:00):
I mean, I mean these artists, I mean are opening
in the US too. I mean, I mean that crushed
the New Year's Eve. Lalla and I a year ago,
we're in Miami at at the Fountain, Blue Daga, Grutman, had.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
Jave, Elvin, Jay Belden.
Speaker 4 (30:14):
Right, I mean, it's it's a phenomenon, and I think
it's just amazing that you're on the forefront of them.
Speaker 5 (30:19):
Yeah, it's interesting because I think what happened a streamers
have connected everyone is so because it's streaming and because
of YouTube and things like that, now everybody is able
to view the same thing. So the Spanish prob was
always there, except I was the guy going telling people like, yo,
these kids are big, or telling fifty yo, these kids
are big. You should do a song with them. They
sold that Madison Square Garden and he'd be like, didn't
sell out the garden. Then ten minutes later he'd like, Yo,
(30:41):
they sold that Man Guarden. I'm like, yes they did.
And four Knights at Staples and Miami Arena and they're
crushing it, Like I just went and did the Forum.
Four nights at the Forum. Nobody knows about it because
it's like their call audience is wait, who was it?
A group called?
Speaker 7 (30:55):
You know how?
Speaker 3 (30:55):
I know that because Frankie del got on my buddy.
Speaker 5 (30:58):
Yes, yeah, I saw him.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
And I'm like, if I miss a concert.
Speaker 4 (31:02):
Like I love, I love to go and hang out
and learn, right, And you're a laws always like you
know knows what's up with music.
Speaker 3 (31:08):
I'm a little older, so it takes.
Speaker 5 (31:10):
Me a little longer. Male, who's my friend? Who's ahead
of that? Group. It's like he returned to go back
on tour with his group, but he did a solo show.
Like he's like the Justin bieber I mean, not the
Justin Timberlake of like the insane of that group.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
Okay, right, so he just.
Speaker 5 (31:22):
Did MetLife seventy thousand people.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
That is insane to me.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
Seventy thousand people, this is insane.
Speaker 5 (31:30):
He did two nights at Yankee Stadium a couple of years.
I'm on by himself. So what I'm saying is that
the tour potential of the artist. So since I came
up in the world where Tupac and I saw those
guys become movie stars, and I saw the music matched
the content, I decided to focus on my energy because
I'm like, the music was getting so big. In the Landmark,
they have no content, No one movie, not one TV show,
(31:51):
nothing that goes against the level.
Speaker 4 (31:53):
You were really there at the beginning. And that's why here,
because I see you all over the world. I see
you on jets Jesse, I see you falling out with
all the artists.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
I see a backstage with thirty like what is going on?
Speaker 4 (32:05):
So now that's interesting, I mean because I always see
you at the forefront of music and film and television.
Speaker 3 (32:11):
I think it's really interesting.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
Right now we have him today with his daughter and
he's playing dad and all that stuff kind of goes
out the window and you're just focused on taking care
of the baby.
Speaker 5 (32:20):
Yes, that's the most important thing to me right now.
Speaker 4 (32:22):
I give a lot of respect because being you know,
because you know you're you're you're a single dad, you know,
and we're girl dads, girl dads.
Speaker 3 (32:29):
That's a Jesse and I girl dad.
Speaker 5 (32:31):
Yeah, yeah, I love that.
Speaker 3 (32:32):
Yeah, we're like, we're both we like we act like
we try to act like we're a little hard.
Speaker 4 (32:35):
It's tough in our business. And then our girls come
around and it's like we we I see us.
Speaker 3 (32:40):
We're both like butter. We melt like butter.
Speaker 4 (32:43):
Yeah, we're woz is when it comes to our children.
So Tim's a girl dad too.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
Tell us about your part on Soul Plane.
Speaker 5 (32:51):
Yeah, so soul Playing. Soul Playing happened because I shot.
I got into this program my Fox Searchlight called a
search Lab, and they take twenty direct and everybody wrote
and directed a short film. Out of the twenty directors,
the three of us made Sundance and I made Sundance
and was like an urban Latin comedy that I shot
in my neighborhood about a young kid who like you know,
(33:13):
sleeps with a girl and then catches something and it's
like it's trip to the clinic. It was super crazy
and funny because they used to be this clinic in
my neighbor and we used to just make fun of
who came in and out of it. So so anyway, yeah,
so so basically when I did that, you know, they
my agents, Charles King and the people Willie Morris started
(33:33):
understanding that I was like good at comedy. I had
an idea that was about like an urban airline, and
then they told me, hey, there's a script at MGM
called soul Plane. You should probably go take a meeting
on it. I took a meeting on it. During that time,
I flew to Brazil with Snoop to do a video
called Beautiful that Chris Robinson director. So we all went
(33:54):
to Beauty onto Brazil together, Me, Snoop, Farrell, Chris Robinson
and when we were there and like you know, weed session,
Snoop said, he turned to me and goes, yo, I
want to fly the plane.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
Man. Stop.
Speaker 5 (34:06):
He was like I want to fly the plane that story.
I was like, Steve, you know you don't really fly
the plane though, but he was like, yo, man, I
want to fly the plane. And when I went back
to the studio was ready for older guy. They were like, oh,
we don't know if he can be funny. I'm like, yes,
Snoop is the fun that's Amazing'll show you picture from
him online when he looks like like super hard and
I'm like, yeah, Snooper is a thug, but he's also
funny onniest guy. So I brought the studio execus to
(34:29):
Snoop's house to meet him and then that was it
to the church now his house and his family. He
has another place to callse the church, so they got
there's like twenty crips in there. They searched him on
the way and they thought it was the coolest shit ever.
Gym was the coolest. Is amazing was Snoop? After that
they were like, he could be the pilot. Sorry, hold
on and soul Plane. You had a little actor in
(34:51):
that movie. It became somewhat of a superstar named Kevin Hart.
Kevin Hart, and you put Kevin Hart in this movie.
Speaker 3 (34:58):
How Big is his role.
Speaker 5 (34:59):
He was the star of the Oh, he was a star.
Kevin was the star of the movie. Yeah, it's his movie.
He's a star, he's the lead.
Speaker 3 (35:06):
So Jesse, you were in there early.
Speaker 5 (35:08):
Yeah, so faverite goddess.
Speaker 3 (35:10):
First start, you had everybody.
Speaker 1 (35:12):
I wrote it.
Speaker 5 (35:13):
I wrote it. You know, I wrote a Spanish I
needed to write some Spanish characters because I felt there
were no lanin characters. So I wrote a couple of
characters in the studio only liked, of course, the Spanish
girl and she and she had one line and when
they were doing the casting, they said, what are you thinking?
And I knew her from Latin America, so I said,
you know, I want like a Sophia guy of type.
And then she walked in the room and I was like, Sophia,
(35:34):
it's one line. I said, you want to do this movie,
I'll write you in the whole thing. And I just
kept rewriting. Wow, became one of the stars.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
All right, So hold on, I just want to say something.
Speaker 4 (35:43):
First of all, not only have you discovered some of
the biggest artists, some of the biggest musicians, and then
you've made your movie with Kevin Hart and Sofia Vigaro, which,
by the way, what what a visionary for casting and
to be your friend and made movies with you.
Speaker 3 (35:57):
I'm very honored to have had you on this podcast
and long it doesn't really know you now you do?
Speaker 2 (36:02):
No now, my little starstruck I all that stuff before
you see this is you know, Timbo.
Speaker 1 (36:09):
Good job on slacking with the bio.
Speaker 3 (36:13):
Tim has become like a real producer backyard. I want
to say this is probably the first.
Speaker 4 (36:18):
This is probably one of the first podcasts in the
history of podcast that's been done on a yacht, and
I think it's the.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
Best one because.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Yeah, we're talking about like his days with Tupac and
like how you put Kevin Hart.
Speaker 3 (36:30):
We could go on for like three hours so much.
Speaker 5 (36:32):
I appreciate you guys having on the podcast and the yacht.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
But hi there, Lala and Randall.
Speaker 9 (36:47):
I wanted to say your podcast is a highlight of
the podcast that I listened to weekly, and I think
the dynamics between the two of you is extremely genuine
and endearing.
Speaker 10 (37:03):
The best part.
Speaker 9 (37:05):
About the podcast is giving us insight into what I.
Speaker 10 (37:11):
Think is the best part of your relationship, and you
two seem to be genuine fans of each other. You
really are fans of each other, and you're really friends,
and being friends to root for each other who also
love one another is really the best way to go
in this world, I think, with your partners. So all
(37:32):
the very best, all love, thanks.
Speaker 1 (37:35):
So much, thank you, my loves. To everyone who has
already left us epic messages.
Speaker 3 (37:40):
And keep them coming because we love hearing from you.
Speaker 4 (37:43):
Guys.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
Call us anytime at eight sixty six La La pod.
That's eight sixty six La La pade yes, thank you
for listening.