January 27, 2020 • 33 mins
This is a Music Video Podcast - or should I say a Podcast about Music Video. An insiders look at how this classic song and video were conceived, filmed and delivered to MTV and the world. The Podcast talks about this version of the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUeaAOIAbXs
There is an "Int'l Version" of the video but that was severely edited and deleted a number of scenes that were in the original edit.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hello, and welcome to the commissioner.
My name is Randy Sawson.
This podcast is focused on themusic videos that I commissioned
over the 12 plus years as amusic video commissioner at
Interscope and a and M records.
The first video that 50 and Idid together was Westa, which
(00:30):
was the second single from theeight mile soundtrack.
Uh, the first song obviously waslose yourself, um, El, um, and
then the second single the, theyhad signed 50 and put that song
Winta because it was becomingsuch a big hit.
They put it on the soundtrackrecord, even though I don't
think it was, maybe it was inthe movie.
(00:51):
Maybe they use it end credits.
I don't, I don't remember.
You can check it, but I shouldprobably remember that, but I
don't, but either way it was thesecond single and it was a huge
hit, um, but more of anunderground rap world hit than a
pop hit.
And, um, I remember, uh, madethe video, Jesse Torero directed
(01:12):
that video was amazing.
We'll try and get him on seasontwo.
Um, and then the first, he, youknow, they delivered get Richard
die trying, and obviously thefirst single was in the club.
Um, and it was one of the, youknow, that record was an instant
classic.
The first time I heard the wholealbum, I was just so blown away
(01:34):
by just the amazing to how manysongs and just how deep and all
the stuff he was talking aboutand how authentic and legitimate
he was as a rapper.
Um, but, uh, we had, we had agood time making the video on
Winta.
It was a pretty straightforwardperformance video.
Um, we did shoot it in LA, buttried to make it feel like New
(01:56):
York.
Um, and then I remember 50saying to me that he wanted to
make in the club, his idea wasthat he would be the 6 million
rapper, which I knew exactlywhat he was talking about, which
was a reference to a seventiesTV's character.
Um, Steve Austin played by Leemajors in the$6 million man,
(02:17):
right.
Where like, you know, we canrebuild him.
Um, so that just kind of set usoff onto this path of, you know,
we're gonna basically fifties,like the rapper that was made at
the shady aftermath artistdevelopment center, where they,
you know, manufacture rappers,it was a amazing premise for a
(02:39):
video.
Um, and that allowed us to do alot of things for a new artist.
Um, you know, having Dre and Min the video was important, but
in such a clinical way, if youwill.
So they weren't just kind ofsitting there throwing their
hands up and doing nothing, cuzthey weren't on the track.
(03:00):
Right.
M didn't wrap on the track, Dreproduced the track.
Um, but it still wasn't, youknow, like, so this allowed us
to have them in the video in avery, um, uh, legitimate way,
you know?
Um, and so we decided to dothat.
Um, there was a lot of peopleinvolved in this video.
(03:22):
There was, you know, PaulRosenberg who managed M and M
there was M and M.
There was Dr.
Dre who has own, you know,thoughts.
There was fifties manager, Chrislady rest in peace, Chris.
Um, and obviously from our side,you know, Jimmy and a and R and
50 was involved, you know, sothere's a lot of people, but I
think we all agreed that withthe premise that we had and the
(03:43):
experience that Phil Atwell hadwith the whole team that we
would hire Phil to do the video,which was a great decision
because Phil not only kneweveryone, but he had a really
unique style, um, for buildingsets, um, so that he had
complete control over everythingwe filmed.
(04:04):
And this gave us a reallyamazing ability to have the club
that 50 was in with everybody,but also be able to, you know,
pan behind the wall where Dreand M were watching and as
doctors in their shady aftermathlab kind of critiquing what the
artist was doing and making surethat all the boxes were checked
(04:27):
on their checklist, um, which isa kind of a nice little nice
little twist, um, that made itall that more entertaining Video
(04:51):
was filmed on December 10th and11th, 2002 at Raleigh studios in
Manhattan beach, California.
Um, Manhattan beach is about, Idon't know, 30, 40 minutes south
of, uh, lax.
So it's part of Los Angeles, butit's part what what's known as
south bay.
So it's a little bit off thebeaten path.
(05:11):
Um, but it it's a, it was avery, I don't know if, even if
it's still there, it may bestill there, but it was a really
nice facility, big sound stages.
Um, like you would find atparamount studios or Warner
brother studios, but without thecost and without the union
stuff.
So we were able to, uh, haveenough parking and enough, you
(05:32):
know, uh, space to build thesebig sets.
Um, for, you know, in videosit's, you know, you can spend
750 or million dollars, but evenback then movies were 50 million
today.
Movies cost, you know, two, 300million, but even back then 50
million was a lot of money.
(05:53):
So even a million dollars whileit was a lot of money, um,
wasn't big enough, you know,wasn't comparative to the amount
of money that was spent onfilms, but we still wanted to
make it, you know, pay peoplethe right way and have the high
great DPS and gaffers and gripsand production designers and
costume designers.
And we shot the video mostly insequence.
(06:17):
Although the club segment waskind of split up, we did do
different parts and differentdays.
Um, most of it was shot on day,two day one had everybody right.
It had 50, um, and Dre, um, andwe shot all the Dre looking down
at 50 on the table and themlooking in the club and, um, all
(06:42):
that stuff.
But during the shoot on day one,um, shook night showed up.
Now we're talking about Raleighstudios in Manhattan beach,
which everyone had to be clearedto get onto site.
So our entire call sheet,everyone that was a guest of the
(07:02):
artist, anyone that was, um,making a cameo, had to be sent
to the front gate so that youcould drive on cuz there was, I
don't know, there's probably 15,20 sound stages and production
offices.
And so you can't just drive on.
It's not like you can just pullup to a, a area.
Um, so we felt like it wassecure.
You know, I thought there was,there wasn't even an issue.
(07:24):
And then about halfway throughthe day, as we were getting
ready to film, there was thispanic and people like sugar
Knight is here and it was, youknow, every, I, I don't know
what to do and I have never donea video with death row.
Um, that was before my time atInterscope, but many people had,
(07:45):
and no one was excited about it.
And obviously Dre was upsetbecause he has, you know,
chronicled history and you canwatch straight outta comp and
know what had transpired.
Um, M was upset because he just,you know, was upset in 50.
This was early in fiftiescareer.
(08:06):
So he had an entourage G unit,which included Tony AO Lloyd
banks.
This is before young buck, thegame was in the video, but he
wasn't a part of G unit, butthere was an entourage, you
know, and each, each artist ofany elk has entourage, um, in
(08:29):
the rap hip hop world, you know,it can get bigger.
Um, and there's a lot of thingsthat have to be dealt with that
are just beyond music, jewelryand extras and all that stuff.
So, um, and fifth wasn't like amassive entourage, but there was
an entourage.
(08:50):
And so when show night showedup, I immediately had to go to
the, uh, the, the Raleigh studiosecurity and tell them to ask
him to leave.
And they were like, no.
And I said, well, he wasn't on alist.
So who's taking responsibility.
And what had happened wassomebody at the front gate just
(09:12):
assume because like M and M wasthere Dre, like they don't, I
don't think a lot of peoplefollow the, the beef and the,
the drama of it.
They just assume that SHG Knight, who's a well known character
in hip hop was supposed to bethere.
And I think he just drove rightby and was like, I'm going in,
open up the gate.
Um, so he and he parked, hedidn't do anything.
He wasn't like threateninganybody.
(09:33):
He just kind of parked with someof his people and they had, you
know, they got outta the car andhe was just sitting there on the
hood of the car, smoking acigar, but it's, that's an
intimidating thing.
And so everyone was sent back totheir trailer.
We had to stop production.
Um, eventually we had to callthe police, even though it's
private property, which thepolice are like, well, what do
you want us to do?
(09:54):
I'm like, well, I just wannamake you aware that there could
be an incident at which point,like fifties guys, the entourage
were younger as he, as he, like,once this video came out and he
became 50 cent that, you know,today, this is almost before
that.
Right?
Like he was still somebody, buthe wasn't 50 cent.
Um, he had guys with guns, soguns came out, which is
(10:17):
obviously illegal, but even moreso illegal on sets of music.
And I had, I, you know, I'm nota tough guy like that, honestly,
I'm not, um, I'm a pacifist and,you know, have been to a, uh,
shooting range a couple of timesjust to get over my fear of
guns, but I'm not a big gunperson.
(10:37):
Just truth be told.
So I had to be like, everyoneput their guns away.
Everything goes, everyone, goback to your trailers, everyone
just, you know, inhale, exhale,every, let me take care of it.
I didn't know what I was gonnado.
Some people from the label whohad dealt with Jugg left because
they were, you know, fearful.
(10:58):
They had, they had had historywith him.
Um, so we had to shut down theshoot for about, I don't know,
an hour.
Um, and eventually I went to thefront gate, the police showed
up.
Um, I just asked them to driveby with their sirens on, uh, as
(11:21):
a way to just diffuse thesituation.
Cuz he, like I said, shoulddidn't threaten anybody.
He didn't do anything.
He was just there.
And I think his message was I'mhere.
Don't think, I don't think, Idon't know what you guys are
doing.
Um, and so eventually the policedrove by and he got in his car
and drove away.
And just like that, there wasthis, you know, kind of tension
(11:45):
release on the set, but we werea solid hour behind schedule.
And in the meantime, you know,Dre is a, a professional and
just went to his trailer and youknow, probably played video
games, M who was a professionalas well, but was a little more
like rambunctious back then hestarted, you know, hanging out
(12:06):
with people and drinking.
And so by the time we got tofilm to filming
second parts of the shoot with,he was, we were supposed to have
em and Dre in every scene.
We really only had him at thebeginning looking at 50.
And then at the end, when they,we pan past the club and you see
em and Dre looking at him, um,they, then they walk away and,
(12:31):
you know, but M had like beendrinking his drink of choice
back then was Bacardi Lamone.
And, uh, he, he, it was like, wecould, we could only get a, you
know, couple of shots offbecause we were 2, 3, 4 hours
behind schedule and he was notin really great shape to be
shooting.
(13:02):
Another interesting thing aboutthe video is fifties close.
So 50, um, as he got bigger andbigger, obviously had his own
clothing line G unit clothingthat was very successful and he
would only wear G unit clothes.
And most of the videos that wedid, but in this one, he, he
(13:23):
didn't really have his clothingline set.
You, if you look at the video,when he is on the treadmill, he
is wearing G unit, um,sweatpants with the 50 cent down
the side, which there was, thoseare one of a kind like they
never really came out withthose.
Um, because they were allprototypes.
He was trying to get a clothingline and trying to do things,
but this is before he was amassive hit.
(13:46):
Um, so in subsequent videos, 21questions, many men.
And by the time we did P IM Pyou know, it was all G unit
close all the time, every G unitvideo, we did every time, Yale
and banks, any time we did anyother videos of which I did over
50 videos with, um, 50 cent, youknow, between 50 and, uh, G unit
(14:12):
banks, buck, Yale, Olivia hotrod mop.
We did some videos.
I think Joe actually made avideo.
Um, so we did like 50 videostogether.
Most of those you'll notice thecloser are G unit clothing from
fifties brand.
Um, but this one, there is someG units things.
And if you see, um, there's acouple versions out there.
(14:35):
If you, if you, the main versionto watch is the MTV version, uh,
which it does have the shootingrange or the shooting, uh, range
that we had put in there becausefifties narrative was that he
was shot nine times.
And while we're not propagatingguns, we thought it was part of
his narrative.
(14:55):
And so we did have a shootingrange, so that, and so there is
the, uh, the guys in the, um, uh, Bulletproof vest and on the
back, it does say G unit in theinternational version, we had to
take that scene out.
So you'll notice it's not inthere.
Um, little funny aside aboutthis, that scene.
So we line everyone up in theshooting range and we have guns,
(15:20):
you know, we have prop masterand proper guns, but they're all
blanks, but there's still realbullets, right?
There's no, uh, nothing propelsout of the gun, but the bullets
themselves have gun powders.
So they make noise and they doshoot.
So even though we did shoot some, uh, inserts of, of bullets
hitting the, uh, target, thosewere just Squibbs no real
(15:44):
bullets were ever shot, but thefake bullets, you know, like we
had cool, really cool, slowmotion shots of the guys
shooting the guns that nevermade the video.
Um, but while they were doingit, one of the bullets CA like
ex discharged out of the top ofthe gun and hit Lloyd banks in
(16:05):
the neck, solid skin, and thengot under his Bulletproof vest.
And I don't know if, you know, Imean, I'm no expert on guns, but
bullets are hot.
Like bullets coming out of a gunare very hot and they burn skin.
And so no matter how gangsteryou are like a hot bullet on raw
skin burns.
So we had a whole, it was awhole funny thing where 50 made
(16:26):
fun of banks, you know, cuz it,he flinched, you know, it wasn't
like, uh, it wasn't, uh, thetough vernacular that, or the
tough veneer.
Sorry.
It wasn't the tough veneer thatyou normally see.
It was, uh, hot metal on rawskin.
Um, but we didn't obviously useMo much of that scene.
(16:48):
I think in general, we weretrying to avoid with MTV, just,
you know, just touching on it.
There was a little bit of aperformance in there.
Um, but if you went back to thefootage, there's some really
good footage of that and somereally good slowmo stuff of
those guys firing guns.
Um, uh, so there's that thelittle banks, there's your
(17:10):
little banks story.
So back to fifties close.
So 50 50 changed the game and Idon't know that anyone since has
done it better, um, he, he madehis deals for like for G unit
(17:33):
clothing.
He made his deal with Reebok andthen the way he made the deal,
he structured it so that he wasa part, he had a, a percentage
or stock in the company so thatwhen Reebok sold to Adidas, he
made a ton of money and contcontinued to be the brand
manager of his clothing line.
Um, he did the same thing withvitamin water.
(17:54):
Um, I think the only thing thathe didn't have, um, ownership of
that we put in videos was theiPod.
Um, I will say Steve jobs is abrilliant marketer.
And as a video commissioner,this is probably getting a
little too in the weeds.
But, uh, as a video commissionerproduct placement is, is a way
(18:16):
to help pay for videos, but it'sa real pain in the.
I'm not gonna lie.
Um, if you're doing a$500,000video and brand X is giving you
$50,000, that's, that's a 10,that's 10% of your budget, which
is good.
That's a, that's a good savingson a music video.
And as far as finance and legaland everyone's concerned,
(18:38):
they're all, you know, theyalways want to get as much money
and try and offset costs in anyway they can.
But as far as dealing with thebrand and the product and
everything, you, you know, it'sas if they're paying for the
whole thing and it becomes thiscolosal pain in the where it
doesn't look right, or they'renot holding it, or even for some
artists, you know, some videos,we would put the brand in the
(19:02):
video and then they would wantthe artist to hold it.
And I'm like, well, that's gonnaco you know, like, no, we can
have the product in the video,but if you want the artist to
hold it, that's a whole otherthing.
And that's a lot more money, youknow, like it just becomes a
very complicated mess, not withapple.
Apple basically said that, youknow, Steve jobs told Jimmy and
(19:22):
Steve Berman put the iPod in thevideo, send us a copy of the
video.
When we see it, we'll give you ahundred grand.
So obviously we put thatwe put the iPod in any video we
could cuz it didn't matter.
We put it in P I M P we put itin hated or love it.
(19:45):
Um, we, I don't know, there wasa bunch of videos that we would
just put the iPod in because itwas a hundred grand and it was
right at the beginning and itobviously it worked.
Um, and then, you know, they didtheir whole campaign with the
white thing with the whiteearphones.
And, but this was a little priorto that, but either way fifties,
(20:07):
you know, his, the way heapproached it, other than that,
everything was something thatwas his brand.
And he was really smart aboutusing it and how we used it in
the video and the way it wasused.
But in the club was one of theyou'll notice he's wearing
throwbacks.
That's not Al G unit.
Um, he, it, it it's, there's apurity to it that I really like,
(20:29):
not that I don't like the otherones, but there's something that
going back and watching it.
I was like, wow, this is sogenuine and authentic.
And, um, to, to say the leastthe song is, you know, just the
most incredible song.
It's like no video.
Sometimes you get sick of songs.
This was one of those that everytime we played it, it just, you
(20:51):
know, and even in, in the clubscene where we had extras and
people dancing, you know, likethat was all very genuine.
Like it sometimes can be hard toget a party going and we, um,
did not serve alcohol.
It looked, you know, we had abar right with all fake alcohol
and fake, you know, it lookedlike it was poor in Hennessy,
you were born this and that wasall, you know, ice teas and
(21:14):
sodas and stuff.
So because you can't drink onset, you know, there's
legalities and we don't wanna beresponsible for extras being
drunk.
Um, so, uh, but the, it feltlike when that song came on, it
just felt like a party andpeople had this genuine
(21:35):
enthusiasm and you can see it inthe club.
You know, you can see it in the,the ex because most of the time
extras are extras.
Um, and they're there to a B ina video probably meet the
artist.
Um, you know, it's not likecentral casting where you pay
them a lot of money.
There's, you know, they're notmaking a lot of money.
(21:56):
Um, so you don't always get thebest people and that's okay.
Like that's not, I'm not sayingit as a bad thing.
It's like, they're notnecessarily front to camera
people, but you need people inthe video.
So you have people.
Um, this one was just, there wasa lot of that, but the music
came on and everybody justpartied.
(22:17):
It was just a party.
It just felt like a party.
And by the way, I still likethat song comes on in a bar or a
club or anywhere people justrespond.
Everyone knows that opening, go,go, go show is birthday.
You know, like it just, it'sjust a party.
It just feels there's somethingso comforting about this song.
(22:42):
Um, that I, We shot the, everyse there was, I saw something
(23:04):
online where it said, not thatwe didn't use a scene.
I don't remember not using ascene.
Like I said, the shooting rangewas taken outta the
international version.
Um, each scene was shot producedsequentially.
Um, there was some cool cameosexhibit just was happened to be,
no, he knew people.
He knew like everyone knewexhibit.
(23:24):
He was in LA.
He knew Dre.
So he came by, he was on thesong.
So he made a cameo.
Um, the, some of the D 12 guysproof was in there.
Um, and the game makes his firstappearance in a video.
This is probably a solid yearand a half, two years before his
record dropped.
Um, and then, um, who kid was aDJ?
(23:49):
He was, he was fifties DJ in theG unit DJ for a long time.
He may still be, I don't know,but I know that's who the DJ was
in there.
Um, and we had, you know, thepolygraph test cuz we wanted
like part of it was the, youknow, making sure that his words
were legit, you know, like youwanted to, you know, the shady
(24:10):
aftermath artist developmentcenter.
Um, we had to, you know, makesure that the words that the
artist were saying were legit.
So there was that scene.
It was him recording the music.
There's the club.
There was obviously thebeginning part where they're
putting him together where he's,you know, the bionic rapper.
Um, I'm not, as I recall, um, wehad the gym set up.
(24:37):
That was the first setup that wereally did.
Um, the opening of the videowhere we pan past the thing and
you see him come down from thebar and I think, I think it was
50.
He was like, I can, you know, doa sit up and just like lean in
upside down.
Um, and I mean, you know, you,those are the kind of things
(24:57):
that happen, you know, not verymany times in your career where
you just see an artist, eventhough he had done Wata, you
know, this song and this thing,this, this album that was about
to drop.
And then, you know, the openingscene of the artist that you're
doing a video for hisperformance is like him lowering
himself down from a bar upsidedown wrapping.
(25:19):
And it was just, it was magic.
It really was like, we were onset like, yeah, this is, this is
something, this is gonna besomething.
And, uh, so yeah, so that was,that was really special.
(25:44):
So the edit was pretty, prettysolid and everyone had signed
off on it.
And the only one who had anissue was Marshall and the only
issue we had.
So at the end of the video,you'll see, we pan past the wall
to, we come out of the club andem and Dre are taking notes and
then they kind of like give eachother, they look at each other
(26:05):
thumbs up, like he's ready togo.
Like we were ready to send himout to the world.
And, um, we had this amazingwide shot of em, Andre walking
down this tunnel, right.
That was kind of like a super,the futuristic tunnels of the
shady aftermath artistdevelopment center.
And that's how we were gonnafade out.
(26:26):
You know, like with them walkingaway, like the silhouette shot
of em, Andre in white lab coats,you know, fi finishing their
notes, ready to sign off on thisartist, 50 cent coming out.
And that's how it ended.
And it was amazing.
It was so amazing.
But M because he had beendrinking all night, there's a,
(26:48):
there you can actually, and youcan, when you have the wide
shot, you can see him stumble abit.
If you really paid attention,that's all he looked at.
He's like, I looked drunk, youcan see me stumbling.
And I fought so hard to keepthat shot in.
And he was just not, he wantedto lose the whole scene.
So what we had to do was use aearlier shot of them, like a mid
(27:13):
shot of them.
And they turned and walk away,but it's not this.
And then we ended up fading on50, just like a shot of 50 in
the club.
And then we go away.
But that the original ending hadlike the silhouette shot of, you
know, the master, the doctors,the, you know, em and Dre, ready
to release it to the world.
(27:34):
So, but we did, I was like, wehave to have the shot of you
guys walking.
Like we need to reveal the, youknow, we come out of the club
and you guys are watching him.
That's the whole point of it.
So the compromise was what yousee in the video today, but the
original stuff was, mm God.
It was such a great, it was sogreat.
But you know, it didn't hurt theproject obviously.
(28:00):
Um, as it was one of the greatvideos, sometimes creative, it
can be so fun and frustratingand funny creative.
Um, alright.
The video was nominated for fiveVMAs that year.
I think it was 2002, 2003, 2003,right.
It was nominated for five VMAs,um, video of the year, which was
(28:23):
the third one in a row for me,nominated didn't win best male
video, didn't win viewer'schoice, video, didn't win best
rap video.
It did win.
And then best new artist, whichit won.
So it won two outta five, whichis about 40%.
Yeah, I think so.
Um, I think what was sofascinating was how the culture
(28:48):
shifted around 50, you know,like there was gangster rap,
right?
And there was a lot of peopledoing it.
And there was a lot ofsuccessful people doing it.
And it was a and hip hop.
It wasn't like 50 came in andchanged hip hop because hip hop
was hip hop and it was verypopular at the time, but culture
itself and the way the popculture and rap culture, it did
(29:11):
shift around 50 where he was hisnarrative of being shot nine
times.
And this, he was authentically agangster with a real genuine
articulate way of saying it withthe songs that worked and a real
sense of co of chorus and, andmusic.
(29:33):
Um, and an authenticity that,you know, you just, you can't,
you can't fake that.
You just can't, you can try.
Some people get to a certainpoint, but 50 cent was, was the
real deal is the real deal andget Richard die.
Trying is a classic for theages.
(29:54):
Um, the song today is still aclassic and the video is a
Testament to like the early twothousands, the early knots and
something that I am so proud andhonored and privileged to have
been a part of.
Um, a little closing note, uh,at the end of the video, you'll
(30:18):
know, you'll notice that we didsome cameos.
We didn't use everybody, butthere's 50, there's a game
thing.
You'll see,'em dancing with agirl.
Um, but we tried to do somecloseups on key people,
including Lloyd banks, which weused sitting next to 50.
And then we did Tony Yale.
And I remember we were filmingYale and we had a closeup right
(30:38):
on Yale and Yale kept puttinghis hands in front of his face.
And I remember like, yo man,what are you, what are you
doing?
And he's like, nothing.
Nah, that's cool.
Like, let's do it again.
And he would do it and he'd puthis hands up in front of his,
like waving it in front of hisface.
And I was like, yo, I don't, Idon't get it.
Why are you putting your handsin front?
And he's like, Randy, he's like,I, I have a warrant out for my
(31:02):
arrest.
And I'm like, what?
You know, that's these, that'sall authentic.
I, I don't know.
I'm like the commissioner of avideo.
Like, what do you put, you know,like, what is this hands in
front of your face?
And, um, I don't, he's like, Idon't want anyone to see my
face.
I'm not supposed to be here.
I don't, you know, I'm like, oh,okay, well, do you wanna send
out to you?
He's like, no, you can use it.
(31:22):
Just make sure that the hands infront of the face, that way they
can't really identify me.
Um, and in true sooth Slayer,you know, Tony ye vision, he,
um, two weeks later on a newyear's Eve party, there was an
incident with the police andthey ran his thing and they,
they did arrest him.
They did, he ended up going toRikers and, and come February
(31:45):
when M and M played theGrammy's.
Um, they all, I dunno if youremember, but like M and there's
the D 12 guys I wore the freeYale hashtag free Yale.
That became a whole thing.
Um, but that was Yale in thisvideo doing the thing to, and,
and even Kanye, it became a, itbecame a thing, right.
(32:06):
Everyone knows the Yale, evenKanye, who he said, like cameras
flash so much that I gotta dothat.
Yay dance.
So it was like, that's, this iswhere it was born, was born in
this video.
And it was done out of almost anecessity by Yayo, which, you
know, for me was so fascinating.
(32:26):
And, um, who knew that it wouldstill to this day be something
that people, people still do.
They still do the AO.
So that's it that's episode two50 cent in the club.
(32:46):
Um, I hope you enjoyed it asmuch as I did.
That was really a fun traveldown memory lane.
Um, next episode's gonna be, uh,Christine Aguilera, pink, BAA,
little Kim, Missy Elliot with,uh, the classic Mullan Rouge
soundtrack song, lady Marlo.
Um, lots of, lots of fun storiesthere.
That was a really fun shoot, um,and, uh, more episodes to follow
(33:12):
after that.
So thank you for listening.
My name is Randy Sasson, andI'll leave you with this.
Water is a beverage whose flavoris temperature.
Hello, and welcome to the commissioner.
My name is Randy Sawson.
This podcast is focused on themusic videos that I commissioned
over the 12 plus years as amusic video commissioner at
Interscope and a and M records.
The first video that 50 and Idid together was Westa, which
(00:30):
was the second single from theeight mile soundtrack.
Uh, the first song obviously waslose yourself, um, El, um, and
then the second single the, theyhad signed 50 and put that song
Winta because it was becomingsuch a big hit.
They put it on the soundtrackrecord, even though I don't
think it was, maybe it was inthe movie.
(00:51):
Maybe they use it end credits.
I don't, I don't remember.
You can check it, but I shouldprobably remember that, but I
don't, but either way it was thesecond single and it was a huge
hit, um, but more of anunderground rap world hit than a
pop hit.
And, um, I remember, uh, madethe video, Jesse Torero directed
(01:12):
that video was amazing.
We'll try and get him on seasontwo.
Um, and then the first, he, youknow, they delivered get Richard
die trying, and obviously thefirst single was in the club.
Um, and it was one of the, youknow, that record was an instant
classic.
The first time I heard the wholealbum, I was just so blown away
(01:34):
by just the amazing to how manysongs and just how deep and all
the stuff he was talking aboutand how authentic and legitimate
he was as a rapper.
Um, but, uh, we had, we had agood time making the video on
Winta.
It was a pretty straightforwardperformance video.
Um, we did shoot it in LA, buttried to make it feel like New
(01:56):
York.
Um, and then I remember 50saying to me that he wanted to
make in the club, his idea wasthat he would be the 6 million
rapper, which I knew exactlywhat he was talking about, which
was a reference to a seventiesTV's character.
Um, Steve Austin played by Leemajors in the$6 million man,
(02:17):
right.
Where like, you know, we canrebuild him.
Um, so that just kind of set usoff onto this path of, you know,
we're gonna basically fifties,like the rapper that was made at
the shady aftermath artistdevelopment center, where they,
you know, manufacture rappers,it was a amazing premise for a
(02:39):
video.
Um, and that allowed us to do alot of things for a new artist.
Um, you know, having Dre and Min the video was important, but
in such a clinical way, if youwill.
So they weren't just kind ofsitting there throwing their
hands up and doing nothing, cuzthey weren't on the track.
(03:00):
Right.
M didn't wrap on the track, Dreproduced the track.
Um, but it still wasn't, youknow, like, so this allowed us
to have them in the video in avery, um, uh, legitimate way,
you know?
Um, and so we decided to dothat.
Um, there was a lot of peopleinvolved in this video.
(03:22):
There was, you know, PaulRosenberg who managed M and M
there was M and M.
There was Dr.
Dre who has own, you know,thoughts.
There was fifties manager, Chrislady rest in peace, Chris.
Um, and obviously from our side,you know, Jimmy and a and R and
50 was involved, you know, sothere's a lot of people, but I
think we all agreed that withthe premise that we had and the
(03:43):
experience that Phil Atwell hadwith the whole team that we
would hire Phil to do the video,which was a great decision
because Phil not only kneweveryone, but he had a really
unique style, um, for buildingsets, um, so that he had
complete control over everythingwe filmed.
(04:04):
And this gave us a reallyamazing ability to have the club
that 50 was in with everybody,but also be able to, you know,
pan behind the wall where Dreand M were watching and as
doctors in their shady aftermathlab kind of critiquing what the
artist was doing and making surethat all the boxes were checked
(04:27):
on their checklist, um, which isa kind of a nice little nice
little twist, um, that made itall that more entertaining Video
(04:51):
was filmed on December 10th and11th, 2002 at Raleigh studios in
Manhattan beach, California.
Um, Manhattan beach is about, Idon't know, 30, 40 minutes south
of, uh, lax.
So it's part of Los Angeles, butit's part what what's known as
south bay.
So it's a little bit off thebeaten path.
(05:11):
Um, but it it's a, it was avery, I don't know if, even if
it's still there, it may bestill there, but it was a really
nice facility, big sound stages.
Um, like you would find atparamount studios or Warner
brother studios, but without thecost and without the union
stuff.
So we were able to, uh, haveenough parking and enough, you
(05:32):
know, uh, space to build thesebig sets.
Um, for, you know, in videosit's, you know, you can spend
750 or million dollars, but evenback then movies were 50 million
today.
Movies cost, you know, two, 300million, but even back then 50
million was a lot of money.
(05:53):
So even a million dollars whileit was a lot of money, um,
wasn't big enough, you know,wasn't comparative to the amount
of money that was spent onfilms, but we still wanted to
make it, you know, pay peoplethe right way and have the high
great DPS and gaffers and gripsand production designers and
costume designers.
And we shot the video mostly insequence.
(06:17):
Although the club segment waskind of split up, we did do
different parts and differentdays.
Um, most of it was shot on day,two day one had everybody right.
It had 50, um, and Dre, um, andwe shot all the Dre looking down
at 50 on the table and themlooking in the club and, um, all
(06:42):
that stuff.
But during the shoot on day one,um, shook night showed up.
Now we're talking about Raleighstudios in Manhattan beach,
which everyone had to be clearedto get onto site.
So our entire call sheet,everyone that was a guest of the
(07:02):
artist, anyone that was, um,making a cameo, had to be sent
to the front gate so that youcould drive on cuz there was, I
don't know, there's probably 15,20 sound stages and production
offices.
And so you can't just drive on.
It's not like you can just pullup to a, a area.
Um, so we felt like it wassecure.
You know, I thought there was,there wasn't even an issue.
(07:24):
And then about halfway throughthe day, as we were getting
ready to film, there was thispanic and people like sugar
Knight is here and it was, youknow, every, I, I don't know
what to do and I have never donea video with death row.
Um, that was before my time atInterscope, but many people had,
(07:45):
and no one was excited about it.
And obviously Dre was upsetbecause he has, you know,
chronicled history and you canwatch straight outta comp and
know what had transpired.
Um, M was upset because he just,you know, was upset in 50.
This was early in fiftiescareer.
(08:06):
So he had an entourage G unit,which included Tony AO Lloyd
banks.
This is before young buck, thegame was in the video, but he
wasn't a part of G unit, butthere was an entourage, you
know, and each, each artist ofany elk has entourage, um, in
(08:29):
the rap hip hop world, you know,it can get bigger.
Um, and there's a lot of thingsthat have to be dealt with that
are just beyond music, jewelryand extras and all that stuff.
So, um, and fifth wasn't like amassive entourage, but there was
an entourage.
(08:50):
And so when show night showedup, I immediately had to go to
the, uh, the, the Raleigh studiosecurity and tell them to ask
him to leave.
And they were like, no.
And I said, well, he wasn't on alist.
So who's taking responsibility.
And what had happened wassomebody at the front gate just
(09:12):
assume because like M and M wasthere Dre, like they don't, I
don't think a lot of peoplefollow the, the beef and the,
the drama of it.
They just assume that SHG Knight, who's a well known character
in hip hop was supposed to bethere.
And I think he just drove rightby and was like, I'm going in,
open up the gate.
Um, so he and he parked, hedidn't do anything.
He wasn't like threateninganybody.
(09:33):
He just kind of parked with someof his people and they had, you
know, they got outta the car andhe was just sitting there on the
hood of the car, smoking acigar, but it's, that's an
intimidating thing.
And so everyone was sent back totheir trailer.
We had to stop production.
Um, eventually we had to callthe police, even though it's
private property, which thepolice are like, well, what do
you want us to do?
(09:54):
I'm like, well, I just wannamake you aware that there could
be an incident at which point,like fifties guys, the entourage
were younger as he, as he, like,once this video came out and he
became 50 cent that, you know,today, this is almost before
that.
Right?
Like he was still somebody, buthe wasn't 50 cent.
Um, he had guys with guns, soguns came out, which is
(10:17):
obviously illegal, but even moreso illegal on sets of music.
And I had, I, you know, I'm nota tough guy like that, honestly,
I'm not, um, I'm a pacifist and,you know, have been to a, uh,
shooting range a couple of timesjust to get over my fear of
guns, but I'm not a big gunperson.
(10:37):
Just truth be told.
So I had to be like, everyoneput their guns away.
Everything goes, everyone, goback to your trailers, everyone
just, you know, inhale, exhale,every, let me take care of it.
I didn't know what I was gonnado.
Some people from the label whohad dealt with Jugg left because
they were, you know, fearful.
(10:58):
They had, they had had historywith him.
Um, so we had to shut down theshoot for about, I don't know,
an hour.
Um, and eventually I went to thefront gate, the police showed
up.
Um, I just asked them to driveby with their sirens on, uh, as
(11:21):
a way to just diffuse thesituation.
Cuz he, like I said, shoulddidn't threaten anybody.
He didn't do anything.
He was just there.
And I think his message was I'mhere.
Don't think, I don't think, Idon't know what you guys are
doing.
Um, and so eventually the policedrove by and he got in his car
and drove away.
And just like that, there wasthis, you know, kind of tension
(11:45):
release on the set, but we werea solid hour behind schedule.
And in the meantime, you know,Dre is a, a professional and
just went to his trailer and youknow, probably played video
games, M who was a professionalas well, but was a little more
like rambunctious back then hestarted, you know, hanging out
(12:06):
with people and drinking.
And so by the time we got tofilm
second parts of the shoot with,he was, we were supposed to have
em and Dre in every scene.
We really only had him at thebeginning looking at 50.
And then at the end, when they,we pan past the club and you see
em and Dre looking at him, um,they, then they walk away and,
(12:31):
you know, but M had like beendrinking his drink of choice
back then was Bacardi Lamone.
And, uh, he, he, it was like, wecould, we could only get a, you
know, couple of shots offbecause we were 2, 3, 4 hours
behind schedule and he was notin really great shape to be
shooting.
(13:02):
Another interesting thing aboutthe video is fifties close.
So 50, um, as he got bigger andbigger, obviously had his own
clothing line G unit clothingthat was very successful and he
would only wear G unit clothes.
And most of the videos that wedid, but in this one, he, he
(13:23):
didn't really have his clothingline set.
You, if you look at the video,when he is on the treadmill, he
is wearing G unit, um,sweatpants with the 50 cent down
the side, which there was, thoseare one of a kind like they
never really came out withthose.
Um, because they were allprototypes.
He was trying to get a clothingline and trying to do things,
but this is before he was amassive hit.
(13:46):
Um, so in subsequent videos, 21questions, many men.
And by the time we did P IM Pyou know, it was all G unit
close all the time, every G unitvideo, we did every time, Yale
and banks, any time we did anyother videos of which I did over
50 videos with, um, 50 cent, youknow, between 50 and, uh, G unit
(14:12):
banks, buck, Yale, Olivia hotrod mop.
We did some videos.
I think Joe actually made avideo.
Um, so we did like 50 videostogether.
Most of those you'll notice thecloser are G unit clothing from
fifties brand.
Um, but this one, there is someG units things.
And if you see, um, there's acouple versions out there.
(14:35):
If you, if you, the main versionto watch is the MTV version, uh,
which it does have the shootingrange or the shooting, uh, range
that we had put in there becausefifties narrative was that he
was shot nine times.
And while we're not propagatingguns, we thought it was part of
his narrative.
(14:55):
And so we did have a shootingrange, so that, and so there is
the, uh, the guys in the, um, uh, Bulletproof vest and on the
back, it does say G unit in theinternational version, we had to
take that scene out.
So you'll notice it's not inthere.
Um, little funny aside aboutthis, that scene.
So we line everyone up in theshooting range and we have guns,
(15:20):
you know, we have prop masterand proper guns, but they're all
blanks, but there's still realbullets, right?
There's no, uh, nothing propelsout of the gun, but the bullets
themselves have gun powders.
So they make noise and they doshoot.
So even though we did shoot some, uh, inserts of, of bullets
hitting the, uh, target, thosewere just Squibbs no real
(15:44):
bullets were ever shot, but thefake bullets, you know, like we
had cool, really cool, slowmotion shots of the guys
shooting the guns that nevermade the video.
Um, but while they were doingit, one of the bullets CA like
ex discharged out of the top ofthe gun and hit Lloyd banks in
(16:05):
the neck, solid skin, and thengot under his Bulletproof vest.
And I don't know if, you know, Imean, I'm no expert on guns, but
bullets are hot.
Like bullets coming out of a gunare very hot and they burn skin.
And so no matter how gangsteryou are like a hot bullet on raw
skin burns.
So we had a whole, it was awhole funny thing where 50 made
(16:26):
fun of banks, you know, cuz it,he flinched, you know, it wasn't
like, uh, it wasn't, uh, thetough vernacular that, or the
tough veneer.
Sorry.
It wasn't the tough veneer thatyou normally see.
It was, uh, hot metal on rawskin.
Um, but we didn't obviously useMo much of that scene.
(16:48):
I think in general, we weretrying to avoid with MTV, just,
you know, just touching on it.
There was a little bit of aperformance in there.
Um, but if you went back to thefootage, there's some really
good footage of that and somereally good slowmo stuff of
those guys firing guns.
Um, uh, so there's that thelittle banks, there's your
(17:10):
little banks story.
So back to fifties close.
So 50 50 changed the game and Idon't know that anyone since has
done it better, um, he, he madehis deals for like for G unit
(17:33):
clothing.
He made his deal with Reebok andthen the way he made the deal,
he structured it so that he wasa part, he had a, a percentage
or stock in the company so thatwhen Reebok sold to Adidas, he
made a ton of money and contcontinued to be the brand
manager of his clothing line.
Um, he did the same thing withvitamin water.
(17:54):
Um, I think the only thing thathe didn't have, um, ownership of
that we put in videos was theiPod.
Um, I will say Steve jobs is abrilliant marketer.
And as a video commissioner,this is probably getting a
little too in the weeds.
But, uh, as a video commissionerproduct placement is, is a way
(18:16):
to help pay for videos, but it'sa real pain in the.
I'm not gonna lie.
Um, if you're doing a$500,000video and brand X is giving you
$50,000, that's, that's a 10,that's 10% of your budget, which
is good.
That's a, that's a good savingson a music video.
And as far as finance and legaland everyone's concerned,
(18:38):
they're all, you know, theyalways want to get as much money
and try and offset costs in anyway they can.
But as far as dealing with thebrand and the product and
everything, you, you know, it'sas if they're paying for the
whole thing and it becomes thiscolosal pain in the where it
doesn't look right, or they'renot holding it, or even for some
artists, you know, some videos,we would put the brand in the
(19:02):
video and then they would wantthe artist to hold it.
And I'm like, well, that's gonnaco you know, like, no, we can
have the product in the video,but if you want the artist to
hold it, that's a whole otherthing.
And that's a lot more money, youknow, like it just becomes a
very complicated mess, not withapple.
Apple basically said that, youknow, Steve jobs told Jimmy and
(19:22):
Steve Berman put the iPod in thevideo, send us a copy of the
video.
When we see it, we'll give you ahundred grand.
So obviously we put that
could cuz it didn't matter.
We put it in P I M P we put itin hated or love it.
(19:45):
Um, we, I don't know, there wasa bunch of videos that we would
just put the iPod in because itwas a hundred grand and it was
right at the beginning and itobviously it worked.
Um, and then, you know, they didtheir whole campaign with the
white thing with the whiteearphones.
And, but this was a little priorto that, but either way fifties,
(20:07):
you know, his, the way heapproached it, other than that,
everything was something thatwas his brand.
And he was really smart aboutusing it and how we used it in
the video and the way it wasused.
But in the club was one of theyou'll notice he's wearing
throwbacks.
That's not Al G unit.
Um, he, it, it it's, there's apurity to it that I really like,
(20:29):
not that I don't like the otherones, but there's something that
going back and watching it.
I was like, wow, this is sogenuine and authentic.
And, um, to, to say the leastthe song is, you know, just the
most incredible song.
It's like no video.
Sometimes you get sick of songs.
This was one of those that everytime we played it, it just, you
(20:51):
know, and even in, in the clubscene where we had extras and
people dancing, you know, likethat was all very genuine.
Like it sometimes can be hard toget a party going and we, um,
did not serve alcohol.
It looked, you know, we had abar right with all fake alcohol
and fake, you know, it lookedlike it was poor in Hennessy,
you were born this and that wasall, you know, ice teas and
(21:14):
sodas and stuff.
So because you can't drink onset, you know, there's
legalities and we don't wanna beresponsible for extras being
drunk.
Um, so, uh, but the, it feltlike when that song came on, it
just felt like a party andpeople had this genuine
(21:35):
enthusiasm and you can see it inthe club.
You know, you can see it in the,the ex because most of the time
extras are extras.
Um, and they're there to a B ina video probably meet the
artist.
Um, you know, it's not likecentral casting where you pay
them a lot of money.
There's, you know, they're notmaking a lot of money.
(21:56):
Um, so you don't always get thebest people and that's okay.
Like that's not, I'm not sayingit as a bad thing.
It's like, they're notnecessarily front to camera
people, but you need people inthe video.
So you have people.
Um, this one was just, there wasa lot of that, but the music
came on and everybody justpartied.
(22:17):
It was just a party.
It just felt like a party.
And by the way, I still likethat song comes on in a bar or a
club or anywhere people justrespond.
Everyone knows that opening, go,go, go show is birthday.
You know, like it just, it'sjust a party.
It just feels there's somethingso comforting about this song.
(22:42):
Um, that I, We shot the, everyse there was, I saw something
(23:04):
online where it said, not thatwe didn't use a scene.
I don't remember not using ascene.
Like I said, the shooting rangewas taken outta the
international version.
Um, each scene was shot producedsequentially.
Um, there was some cool cameosexhibit just was happened to be,
no, he knew people.
He knew like everyone knewexhibit.
(23:24):
He was in LA.
He knew Dre.
So he came by, he was on thesong.
So he made a cameo.
Um, the, some of the D 12 guysproof was in there.
Um, and the game makes his firstappearance in a video.
This is probably a solid yearand a half, two years before his
record dropped.
Um, and then, um, who kid was aDJ?
(23:49):
He was, he was fifties DJ in theG unit DJ for a long time.
He may still be, I don't know,but I know that's who the DJ was
in there.
Um, and we had, you know, thepolygraph test cuz we wanted
like part of it was the, youknow, making sure that his words
were legit, you know, like youwanted to, you know, the shady
(24:10):
aftermath artist developmentcenter.
Um, we had to, you know, makesure that the words that the
artist were saying were legit.
So there was that scene.
It was him recording the music.
There's the club.
There was obviously thebeginning part where they're
putting him together where he's,you know, the bionic rapper.
Um, I'm not, as I recall, um, wehad the gym set up.
(24:37):
That was the first setup that wereally did.
Um, the opening of the videowhere we pan past the thing and
you see him come down from thebar and I think, I think it was
50.
He was like, I can, you know, doa sit up and just like lean in
upside down.
Um, and I mean, you know, you,those are the kind of things
(24:57):
that happen, you know, not verymany times in your career where
you just see an artist, eventhough he had done Wata, you
know, this song and this thing,this, this album that was about
to drop.
And then, you know, the openingscene of the artist that you're
doing a video for hisperformance is like him lowering
himself down from a bar upsidedown wrapping.
(25:19):
And it was just, it was magic.
It really was like, we were onset like, yeah, this is, this is
something, this is gonna besomething.
And, uh, so yeah, so that was,that was really special.
(25:44):
So the edit was pretty, prettysolid and everyone had signed
off on it.
And the only one who had anissue was Marshall and the only
issue we had.
So at the end of the video,you'll see, we pan past the wall
to, we come out of the club andem and Dre are taking notes and
then they kind of like give eachother, they look at each other
(26:05):
thumbs up, like he's ready togo.
Like we were ready to send himout to the world.
And, um, we had this amazingwide shot of em, Andre walking
down this tunnel, right.
That was kind of like a super,the futuristic tunnels of the
shady aftermath artistdevelopment center.
And that's how we were gonnafade out.
(26:26):
You know, like with them walkingaway, like the silhouette shot
of em, Andre in white lab coats,you know, fi finishing their
notes, ready to sign off on thisartist, 50 cent coming out.
And that's how it ended.
And it was amazing.
It was so amazing.
But M because he had beendrinking all night, there's a,
(26:48):
there you can actually, and youcan, when you have the wide
shot, you can see him stumble abit.
If you really paid attention,that's all he looked at.
He's like, I looked drunk, youcan see me stumbling.
And I fought so hard to keepthat shot in.
And he was just not, he wantedto lose the whole scene.
So what we had to do was use aearlier shot of them, like a mid
(27:13):
shot of them.
And they turned and walk away,but it's not this.
And then we ended up fading on50, just like a shot of 50 in
the club.
And then we go away.
But that the original ending hadlike the silhouette shot of, you
know, the master, the doctors,the, you know, em and Dre, ready
to release it to the world.
(27:34):
So, but we did, I was like, wehave to have the shot of you
guys walking.
Like we need to reveal the, youknow, we come out of the club
and you guys are watching him.
That's the whole point of it.
So the compromise was what yousee in the video today, but the
original stuff was, mm God.
It was such a great, it was sogreat.
But you know, it didn't hurt theproject obviously.
(28:00):
Um, as it was one of the greatvideos, sometimes creative, it
can be so fun and frustratingand funny creative.
Um, alright.
The video was nominated for fiveVMAs that year.
I think it was 2002, 2003, 2003,right.
It was nominated for five VMAs,um, video of the year, which was
(28:23):
the third one in a row for me,nominated didn't win best male
video, didn't win viewer'schoice, video, didn't win best
rap video.
It did win.
And then best new artist, whichit won.
So it won two outta five, whichis about 40%.
Yeah, I think so.
Um, I think what was sofascinating was how the culture
(28:48):
shifted around 50, you know,like there was gangster rap,
right?
And there was a lot of peopledoing it.
And there was a lot ofsuccessful people doing it.
And it was a and hip hop.
It wasn't like 50 came in andchanged hip hop because hip hop
was hip hop and it was verypopular at the time, but culture
itself and the way the popculture and rap culture, it did
(29:11):
shift around 50 where he was hisnarrative of being shot nine
times.
And this, he was authentically agangster with a real genuine
articulate way of saying it withthe songs that worked and a real
sense of co of chorus and, andmusic.
(29:33):
Um, and an authenticity that,you know, you just, you can't,
you can't fake that.
You just can't, you can try.
Some people get to a certainpoint, but 50 cent was, was the
real deal is the real deal andget Richard die.
Trying is a classic for theages.
(29:54):
Um, the song today is still aclassic and the video is a
Testament to like the early twothousands, the early knots and
something that I am so proud andhonored and privileged to have
been a part of.
Um, a little closing note, uh,at the end of the video, you'll
(30:18):
know, you'll notice that we didsome cameos.
We didn't use everybody, butthere's 50, there's a game
thing.
You'll see,'em dancing with agirl.
Um, but we tried to do somecloseups on key people,
including Lloyd banks, which weused sitting next to 50.
And then we did Tony Yale.
And I remember we were filmingYale and we had a closeup right
(30:38):
on Yale and Yale kept puttinghis hands in front of his face.
And I remember like, yo man,what are you, what are you
doing?
And he's like, nothing.
Nah, that's cool.
Like, let's do it again.
And he would do it and he'd puthis hands up in front of his,
like waving it in front of hisface.
And I was like, yo, I don't, Idon't get it.
Why are you putting your handsin front?
And he's like, Randy, he's like,I, I have a warrant out for my
(31:02):
arrest.
And I'm like, what?
You know, that's these, that'sall authentic.
I, I don't know.
I'm like the commissioner of avideo.
Like, what do you put, you know,like, what is this hands in
front of your face?
And, um, I don't, he's like, Idon't want anyone to see my
face.
I'm not supposed to be here.
I don't, you know, I'm like, oh,okay, well, do you wanna send
out to you?
He's like, no, you can use it.
(31:22):
Just make sure that the hands infront of the face, that way they
can't really identify me.
Um, and in true sooth Slayer,you know, Tony ye vision, he,
um, two weeks later on a newyear's Eve party, there was an
incident with the police andthey ran his thing and they,
they did arrest him.
They did, he ended up going toRikers and, and come February
(31:45):
when M and M played theGrammy's.
Um, they all, I dunno if youremember, but like M and there's
the D 12 guys I wore the freeYale hashtag free Yale.
That became a whole thing.
Um, but that was Yale in thisvideo doing the thing to, and,
and even Kanye, it became a, itbecame a thing, right.
(32:06):
Everyone knows the Yale, evenKanye, who he said, like cameras
flash so much that I gotta dothat.
Yay dance.
So it was like, that's, this iswhere it was born, was born in
this video.
And it was done out of almost anecessity by Yayo, which, you
know, for me was so fascinating.
(32:26):
And, um, who knew that it wouldstill to this day be something
that people, people still do.
They still do the AO.
So that's it that's episode two50 cent in the club.
(32:46):
Um, I hope you enjoyed it asmuch as I did.
That was really a fun traveldown memory lane.
Um, next episode's gonna be, uh,Christine Aguilera, pink, BAA,
little Kim, Missy Elliot with,uh, the classic Mullan Rouge
soundtrack song, lady Marlo.
Um, lots of, lots of fun storiesthere.
That was a really fun shoot, um,and, uh, more episodes to follow
(33:12):
after that.
So thank you for listening.
My name is Randy Sasson, andI'll leave you with this.
Water is a beverage whose flavoris temperature.
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