May 28, 2025 • 42 mins
In this exclusive episode of Black in the Green Room with Keith L. Underwood, dive into the world of Godfather of Harlem with three creative powerhouses: legendary producer Swizz Beatz, award-winning actor Rome Flynn, and executive producer Markuann Smith. Hear how they’ve shaped one of the most compelling series on television—from the music to the message—and how they’re using art to drive cultural conversation. This dynamic discussion covers storytelling, representation, and the hustle behind the scenes of Hollywood.
🎤 Host: Keith L. Underwood
🎧 Guests: Swizz Beatz, Rome Flynn, Markuann Smith
📌 A must-listen for fans of film, television, music, and Black excellence.
🎤 Host: Keith L. Underwood
🎧 Guests: Swizz Beatz, Rome Flynn, Markuann Smith
📌 A must-listen for fans of film, television, music, and Black excellence.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are black in the green room with me, your
host Keith Underwood, and this is your spot for real
talk about entertainment with the entertainers, creatives, and showbiz professionals
host Keith l. Underwood. In this episode, we're breaking it
down with the stars and minds behind Godfather of Harlem
and three powerful segments that explore the artistry, impact, and
(00:23):
real stories behind the show. First up is someone who's
been instrumental in making it all happen, both on screen
and behind the scenes. Mark Kwan Smith is an executive
producer and co star of the series, and his journey
from working at BEET and MTV to creating one of
the most culturally resonance shows on TV is as compelling
(00:45):
as the show itself. Mark Kwan Smith, Welcome to the room.
Thank you, Keith, Thank you for having me. Man Ah,
you very welcome. How you doing.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
I'm great, I'm great. I'm excited that Sunday is almost
around the corner. April thirteen. MGM plus Season four feels
like yesterday. It feels like yesterday.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Yeah, yeah yeah. As I mentioned in your intro, You've
worn so many hats, actor, producer, creator, You've been in
rooms with lots of folks that we don't even sometimes
know exist. What was that moment for you when it clicked, like,
all right, this is it. I'm doing exactly what I
was meant to do.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Oh it was surreal.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
I think when Godfather of Harlemar, when we first sold
the show and it was our day one, I'm on
set and a team still walks up to me and says, hey,
can I talk to you for a minute, you know,
And I was like, sure, what's going on?
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Brother?
Speaker 2 (01:44):
He was like, thank you for never giving up. But
you never giving up allowed me to feed my family
for the next six months. That's when I realized that
this is something that I just wanted to inspire people
and tell people never give up on your dreams. You know,
your hopes are ambitions and inspirations. Just go out there
and go for yours. And that really did something to
(02:06):
me to know that I have a village of three
hundred people that's working for us on set shooting every day,
you know, from the gapes to the grips, to the
electric guys, even to the transportation to hear and makeup.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
You know.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
It was based on the dream that I dreamt about
eighteen and twenty years ago that I told my godmother
that I would go out there to make happen. So
that's something that was just amazing to me.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Yeah, that is pretty amazing. Man. I'm going to ask
you the craziest, most obvious question in the world, but
I hear that accent where you're from. What part of
New York are you from?
Speaker 2 (02:43):
I grew up in Harlem one hundred and twenty eighth
in Saint Nicholas, and then from there I moved out
to far Rockaway, Queens.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Okay, all right? What made you decide to kind of was?
Was your upbringing inspiration and doing Godfather of Harlem? And
if so, how oh Man.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Started off ATLANTICX Terrace.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
So, if you know about Lenox Terrace is on Lenox Average,
one of the most affluent apartments people wanted to move in,
from politicians to musicians, to athletes to you know, Percy
Sutton lived there. My godmother lived there. Her name is
Margaret Johnson. So Margaret and Godfather Harlem is played by
Demi Singleton, the young lady right and going up to
(03:26):
Margaret's apartment, she used to tell me these magical stories.
Every Sunday. I would go to the Delhi, get her
some rib bread, some beef tongue and mustard, and I
thought it was nasty, But she would sit and we
would just talk about Harlem.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Right.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
She used to tell me how she used to walk
out of a tenement building, smell fresh laundry hanging out
of the window. Walk past the Apollo, look up and
see James Brown's name on the Marquee, Walk past Sugar
Ray Robinson's barbershop. He may see his pink Cadillac outside here,
Sam Cook's voice coming out of a transistor. Ray Natkin
Kole waiting to get a haircut. But she also told
(04:04):
me that Harlem was one of the most tumultuous times
in American She said African Americans migrated from the South
trying to escape both Kanas Bocanna's water holeses and his dogs. Regardless,
if you want to Washington, d c Philly, of Newark,
you come up to New York, it's still racism.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
You know.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Something as simple as going to a store to purchase
a hat with the stoner may say, you know what,
you need to put a plaster bag on your scalp
because I don't want that hat to touch your scalp.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Father of five worked all week. He wants to take
his family out for steak dinner. The owner wouldn't let
him patronize with the rest of the individual that he's
allowed into his restaurants, so they give him a plate
to go. But then she also mentioned about her her grandfather.
His name is Elsroth Raymond Johnson. He's a Geechee guller
from Charleston, South Carolina. He actually came up to New
(04:56):
York not to be a gangster, because the street knowme
was Bumpy Johnson. He asked he came to York to
become an attorney like Malcolm X. So when the City
College bursa said, you know, we don't get financial aid
to people of color, he took the cards that he
was dealt with and played it the best way he could.
He was the first African American underboss that sat down
(05:17):
with the Five Families, I mean Lucky Luciano, Vito Genevie's,
Frank Costello, Bugsy Siegal, Maya Lanski. They were Jewish, but
they were part of this whole, the whole La Cosa nostra,
these roots, and he was the conduit to bringing in
the dope or the Douji into Central Harlem. But he
(05:38):
also rumors that he beat Bobby Fischer in chess Shakespeare.
He read Nietzsche, so he wasn't a gangster that just
said I just want to be against He actually was
trying to transition and change his life. And I made
a promise to her almost twenty years ago that I
would go out there and get the real story of
who her grandfather was, not the one you saw an
(05:58):
American gangster, the one you saw in Hoodlum, not the
one you saw in the Cotton Club, but as accurate
as we could portray it. And that was over twenty
years ago.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you've You've built something that's way bigger
than just the show. I mean, just listening to you
just now, I know that it's culture, it's history, and
it's your story. When people look back at your journey,
what do you hope that they take away from how
you've moved and how you made this happen.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
I want people to look at me and see that
you're looking at someone that believed in himself. You know
I said this before that the loudest blues come from
the cheapest seats, right always if you are knocking the
opportunity's door and it doesn't open for you. Go to
home depot, get some lumber, create your own door, create
your own path, create your own lane. And I want
(06:50):
people to be inspired to just get off the couch,
get out their bed, and go out there and get
this because there are more years behind us and that's
in front of us. Life is too short, Tomorrow's not promised.
And I decided to chase my passion and not my pension.
You know, people chase their pensions on all the time.
I just wanted to chase my passion. So I'm hoping
(07:10):
that when people hear my story, they're inspired to chase
theirs as well.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
Yes, dropping, I love color hoodies while I'm like soundtracks.
Speaker 5 (07:23):
Eight tracks. They getting back to Hell these that's a flashback.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
I say.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
They have fashion on the streets like Beverly Hell pass
for got everyone draping clean. That can't help but feel
the fops. It's a full of soul from these coach
where the rap beings.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Christ Joining me in the room today is the multi
talented rom Flynn, Emmy winning actors, singer and all around
creative powerhouse. You've seen him on The Bold and The beautiful,
how to get Away with Murder and now He's shaking
things up. In season four of Godfather of Harlem, streaming
(07:58):
now on mgm US, Rome takes on the role of
young Frank Lucas, right hand man to Bumpy Johnson played
by Forrest Whitaker, and trust us, he is bringing the fire. Rome,
Welcome to the room.
Speaker 6 (08:12):
What an introduction.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Appreciate it. You're welcome, man, You're welcome. So mad you know,
So when God with the Harlem came calling and asked
you to play a young Frank Lucas, what was going
through your head and how did you even begin to
tap into a character as prolific as a.
Speaker 7 (08:30):
Yeah, you know, I jumped at the opportunity to portray
I feel like the early stages of one of the
most infamous, like you said, prolific figures in American history.
Drug is American history, and so yeah, I mean it
was a dream come true. As an actor, you want
to be able to play a character with this much
(08:52):
you know, a complexity and just rich backstory and depth
and also being led by you know, Chris Broncotter who
created the show, and I had been a fan of
the show before that.
Speaker 6 (09:04):
You know, I watched the first.
Speaker 7 (09:05):
Couple of seasons and you know, working with Forrest Whittaker
was the obvious draw for me. But to be able
to step into some shoes that I haven't before, you know,
playing a young Frank Lucas. You know, a lot of
people ask me, like, what's it like playing a character
that Denzel played? And you know, to me, it's like
apples to oranges.
Speaker 6 (09:22):
It's like both fruit but different.
Speaker 7 (09:24):
You know, so we're the same but different, playing the
same character but different approach.
Speaker 6 (09:29):
And you know, I'm playing in ten years before that.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
We actually meet him almost like a prequel character exactly,
you know, yeah, something like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, So
you mentioned forced Whitaker just a moment ago. What's it like,
man to go toe to toe with him and what
are you learning from him? Yeah?
Speaker 6 (09:51):
It's a gift honestly.
Speaker 7 (09:53):
You know, I've been forwarded opportunity to work with some
really really talented actors.
Speaker 6 (09:58):
You know, obviously Viola Davis being one of those.
Speaker 7 (10:00):
I put her in a category with you know, forcing
a category. Yeah, I mean just being able to work
opposite with them, work opposite with him, learning how he
approaches the craft, you know, and just learning along the way,
trying to just take what I can from how he
approaches things.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Really, Yeah, was it intimidating the first time on set
with him?
Speaker 7 (10:26):
No, it wasn't intimidating because you know, early on, I
realized in this business that we're not curing cancer and
I'm not I'm not walking into brain surgery, and so
I have to keep that level of understanding.
Speaker 6 (10:42):
Now, don't get me wrong.
Speaker 7 (10:43):
There's there is a heavy respect and like responsibility.
Speaker 6 (10:47):
That I know comes along with working alongside.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
These incredible actors.
Speaker 6 (10:51):
But I just trust my preparation, you know, I trust
how much I.
Speaker 7 (10:54):
Work and what I do, and uh, I just yeah,
I mean, I dedicate the last ten years of my
life to this. So it's like, you know, it's like
going to the free throw line. You've hit a million
free throws, but you just got to focus.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
To hit that one right, right, right.
Speaker 6 (11:10):
And work opposite of these incredible actions.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Yeah yeah, yeah. So you've done daytime soaps, you've done
legal thrillers, and now this very gritty drama period piece.
How do you switch it up so smoothly? And is
it a different vibe for each role?
Speaker 7 (11:27):
Yes, different approach, different vibe also different creative process too,
you know, with both and beautiful that being the daytime,
you know, soap, it was the amount of work was heavy.
Speaker 6 (11:40):
You know, we filmed a lot.
Speaker 7 (11:41):
It was like a nine to five, but we filmed
a lot and it was every day, you know, And
so the attention to detail for me was really important
because I had so many scripts and so many changes day,
and so I had to figure out how to deal
with that on the fly and then working obviously going
to be a procedural, you know, I was doing Chicago Fire,
(12:02):
which is a whole different approach. Understanding the psyche and
the mindset of a blue collar person, you know, working
in the in the in the in the field that
they work in as a firefighter, like understanding that mindset
and also just putting all the gear on. You know,
I'm doing all of the the necessary things because the
(12:23):
attention to detail and the credibility of the show is
relying on me to know all of these things.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Yeah, did you watch any old news reel for Frank?
What was it? Did you watch any old like news
footage or anything like that?
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Yes?
Speaker 5 (12:40):
I did.
Speaker 7 (12:40):
I mean I watched everything I could on him. I
read everything I could on him, But mainly I did
my due diligence and trying to get to know him
as much as I could. But my my job here
it wasn't to imitate him, Like I'm not here to
I'm portraying who Frank could have been. Right, But the
(13:01):
essence of his character really isn't about those things we
know already. It's like, I can tell the story from
the beginning. So who is he at the beginning? He
could have been anyone. He could have been me, he
could have been you. And so who is this kid
coming from the from the South and making his way
to Harlem? Like that's the more of the story, the
meat of the bones for me, And he finds his
(13:22):
way to navigate the politics of Harlem along the way.
And so that's the story I'm telling, you know, obviously,
that's I feel like that's the story we need to
see because we've seen the ending result, we've seen what
ends up happening, So let's tell the story on how
he got there.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Yeah, studying that that early journey of his, did you
learn anything interesting or surprising? Yeah?
Speaker 7 (13:47):
I mean everything I kind of already knew. But he
has a big family, you know, he and I realized
that there's a lot of people in his life that
view him differently. You know, obviously the public based on
the things we know about him now, but like his
family members, somebody's father, somebody's uncle, so their perception to
(14:08):
him was a lot.
Speaker 6 (14:09):
Different when I did my research.
Speaker 7 (14:11):
You know, which helped me ground him in a way
and approach it in a more humanistic approach, you know,
as far as you know, stepping into his.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Shoes, his strength.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Yeah, well, what's your personal opinion is he? Is he
a villain or is he a hero? What are what
are your thoughts? And I think, and I think the
way that you touched on the complexities of the character
by talking about talking to his family, most family members
are not going to see family members as as villains.
They're going to see them as family. So that even
(14:41):
makes the character more complex when you're bringing it to life.
Speaker 7 (14:45):
Yeah, I mean for me, you know, I don't I
don't judge any character I play. I think that morality
lies with your perspective, you know, morality is based on
how you see things, and so I I always try
to step into the shoes of characters from their perspective,
not my own, And so I think that he's a
(15:07):
hero in my mind. You know, I think he's been
dealt a certain hand, and what I know now about
his life, who's to say if I was put in
that situation, I wouldn't end up in the same way. Now,
I do feel we all have a moral obligation to
make the.
Speaker 6 (15:22):
Right and wrongs right.
Speaker 7 (15:24):
But sometimes right and wrong isn't so black and white,
and that gray area lives pretty deep among especially culturally,
and that that thing, you know, like what's right and
what's wrong is up to the person's perspective.
Speaker 6 (15:41):
And so.
Speaker 7 (15:43):
Playing him, I learned that he had to adapt, and
adapting sometimes means that doing things that maybe feel like
you shouldn't do them. It's like, man, it's it's survival,
survival instinct for him. And my thing was that the
why trying to figure out what drove him to become
(16:04):
who he ended up becoming, because you don't become that
on accident, Like what is that driving force?
Speaker 6 (16:09):
You know?
Speaker 7 (16:09):
And and I think all these things accumulate over his
life drove him to the point where he just was
really driven by doing everything the best way and out
smarting people and making the money that he made and
coming from nothing and having everything. I mean, it's so complex,
you know, and so you.
Speaker 6 (16:28):
Can't really judge that. For me, I can't judge it.
Speaker 7 (16:30):
Because there's so many nuances to him and just two
people like him that I've been able to find some
redeeming qualities.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Yeah, you know, with all of the roles that you
played and with all of the fantastic, you know, performance
that you've been able to work with. I was really
surprised to be just looking at YouTube one day and
there this brother was singing. Man, you know, how long
has music been a part of your life? Was it
a first love? And then how is it now balancing
(17:03):
singing and acting?
Speaker 7 (17:06):
Yeah, music has always been My first love was basketball.
That's why I learned the synchronicities of the how life
mirrors sports and mirrors like any kind of organizational games,
Like how you conduct yourself in those areas is normally
how you conduct yourself in the world, you know.
Speaker 6 (17:28):
And so that was the first love for me.
Speaker 7 (17:29):
But music was definitely a close second because I didn't
grow up being an actor. I didn't grow up studying
drama school like you know. I was a late bloomer
in that aspect, Like I had a multitude of you know,
relatively normal jobs in my early adult life, and so
you're doing this. It feels like, you know, all those
(17:49):
things kind of led me to this point, but music
being put of the foundation for me because it actually
sparked my creativity, it sparked my perspective, and also early
on I realized how music was just so universal, Like
you would listen to a song that isn't in your
language and still feel the vibe of it, and I
(18:10):
think that's unique. There's not many things you can say
in our life that that had that kind of you know, similarity.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
Yeah, yeah, what what have you What have you learned
about yourself over the course of your career?
Speaker 7 (18:28):
I think on the outside looking in for me, sometimes
it's hard to do that, but I feel like I'm
very resilient.
Speaker 6 (18:36):
I think I'm just I have such a deep well
of determination and like an unwavering spirit too to do
the work and to be great.
Speaker 7 (18:49):
And I'm not scared of trying to be great, you know,
I'm not scared of a feeling. It's like, I feel
like I have a good perspective on my life and
my career and separating those things now and how it
can get consuming in life, where your career becomes who
you are, and so I think it's important to kind
of create a divide so that you have a private life,
(19:10):
you have things that feel protective to you. And I've learned,
I've just been learning throughout the decade i've been doing
this on how to navigate that because this business is tough,
you know, it's very difficult to break into and I
don't take it for granted.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Yeah, you know, one of the things that's just so
wild to me is a whole colorism, you know, issue
that was surrounding your casting as this character. What are
your thoughts on that?
Speaker 3 (19:39):
Man?
Speaker 7 (19:40):
Yeah, I think that the interesting thing to me is
just that there's always going to be discourse, you know,
and I think that the discourse happens, it allows room
for growth. Like hopefully we learn from these moments where
people challenge whether or not my casting was correct based
on my skin color.
Speaker 6 (20:00):
You know, I'm an actor, you know. I have made
a career.
Speaker 7 (20:05):
Off conforming, you know, and so sometimes I get to
play characters that closely are closely to me, and sometimes
I don't, and sometimes I want to ship further. That
is for me, you know, when people ask like, what
is the meaning of like acting all of these things,
Like it's a reflection of life, right, So this is
my interpretation of who this who this character is, and
(20:31):
I'm up for the challenge.
Speaker 6 (20:32):
I always just like urge people to give it a chance.
Speaker 7 (20:34):
You know, just watch and I get this is in
our culture, in our in our like domain. Like it's
very common to box like people like me in you know,
so no, you got to stay in that lane. But
I'm always trying to break the mold, you know, whether
good or bad. I'm up for the challenge always because
I'm gonna do the work and work normally you see
(20:55):
the you see the you should have reaped the benefits
of your your labor.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Yes, yeah, Rome, Where where can everybody find you on
social media to keep up with what's going on with
you and then also what might be happening in front
of or behind the scenes on Godfather of Harlem?
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (21:12):
Everyone can follow me on Instagram, uh Ron Flynn YouTube
won't plan, I mean that's pretty much it. I ain't
really active on X like that, but I do have one,
you know.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Yeah, all right, Rome Flynn, thank you so much for
your time, man. I appreciate you joining me.
Speaker 5 (21:35):
Dropping.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
I love color hoodies while I'm like soundtracks, eight tracks,
they get it back to health. These that's a flashback.
I lay they have fashion on the streets like Beverly
Hell pass for got everyone trapping Queen that can't help
but feel the fops. It's a full of soul from
these coach where the rap things christ.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
And joining me in the room now is none other
than Swizz Beats. Grammy winning producer, rapper, entrepreneur, and art collector.
He's a mastermind behind some of hip hop's greatest anthems,
and he's also the executive music producer for Godfather of Harlem,
the hit series now streaming being on MGM Plus. Swiss
(22:17):
brings a sound to that show that's as raw and
powerful as the story itself. Let's get into a Swizz
Welcome to the room.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
That's a hell of arow. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
You know, we try to do a little something to something. Man,
How you been all good? All good, good good?
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Stay and busy super busy.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Yeah, I'm sure, man, I'm sure. So with Godfather of Harlem,
you're mixing past and present. How do you make something
from the sixties still relevant today?
Speaker 3 (22:50):
Man?
Speaker 8 (22:50):
You know I must say thank you to my team
to let me have to create a freedom to work
on the show and create new sounds that can be
for any time, you know. And I think that going
with the sound of the era was very predictable, and
so I said, you know, let's challenge that and let's
(23:13):
give them something up today and be able to break
new artists and be able to just have fun and
score their music to the characters, you know, instead of
just placing songs that's from an era, like, let's think
about let's make this the voice of Bumpy Johnson was
in his head. Let's make this the voice of what's
in you know, Joe Columbo's head, and things like that.
(23:35):
And so that's was the method that I came up
with in season two after doing season one. I was like,
you know what, I want to switch away that I'm
doing the music a little different and it worked.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Yeah. Yeah, man, what was that process like being very
specific to character and giving them kind of their whole
life music.
Speaker 8 (23:56):
Yeah, it was like when I was watching the playbacks,
I'm like, man, you know what if I was the
voice in Bumpy Johnson's head, what would that sound like?
What would that song sound like, what would you know
all of the main characters you know when you see Stella? Okay,
what is what does when you see Stella? What's the
mood of her music? And which artists match her energy?
(24:19):
And it was appairing like that.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Yeah yeah yeah. And did did collaborating with other artists
help with that process?
Speaker 3 (24:27):
Yeah?
Speaker 8 (24:27):
Because you know, you didn't have to be an artist
that had a major hit song out for us to
want to work with you. It's like, wow, this person's
tone right here actually fit the energy so so wet.
Nobody really knows them yet, but they'll get to know
them during through the show. And I love mixing known
(24:48):
artists with unknown artists because it just give you the
freedom to just do the best job possible.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Yeah. And what I love about that is is that
it gives you an opportunity to work with some established people,
probably most likely with you that you know, but then
also you know, reach back and bring you know, in
some up and coming artists as well.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
Definitely, definitely that's the gumboat right there.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
Yeah yeah, yeah, Why was that important to you? Man?
Speaker 8 (25:15):
It was important to me because you know, the show
is is a new show, although this is our fourth
season and we've got Emmys and all of the great
things that come with a great show. I always love
to have an opportunity to give up and kind of
artists a chance to be on the big stage. And
the Godfather Harlem allows that for musicians and songwriters and
(25:37):
what have you. And so to me it was it
was definitely checking the box of doing amazing things.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Yeah, man, and you are you've got an eye for
art and an ear for hits. How do you know
when something's gonna last, when it's going to have that
staying power?
Speaker 3 (25:55):
Oh?
Speaker 8 (25:56):
Man, is really intuition, you know, it's it's really intuition.
But it's also a trained eye from you know, being
into art for over twenty something years, a trained air
for being in music, you know, the same amount of time,
maybe more. And it's just studying the grades and just
knowing what feels good to you. Actually, it's like, okay,
(26:17):
this feels good to me, Okay, this.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
Speaks to me.
Speaker 8 (26:20):
You know, you start to really listen to your body
and listen to listen to your your your heart of
what feels great. And so like when I see artist,
I'm like, oh, that's a superstar. I know in two
seconds just from you know, being a DJ first and
playing so many hit records. You know, I started as
a DJ, so like that kind of trade trained my
(26:42):
air what people like, because when you're a DJ, you
have to make sure the crowd can respond.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
You have to tell what the mood is.
Speaker 8 (26:48):
You have to you know, tell all these different things,
and so you know, that's that's kind of like how
I trained my air was through DJing and going to
the galleries when I was young.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
Can you see me going to the gallerries?
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Oh yeah, we're good, man.
Speaker 8 (27:02):
Okay, going to the galleries when I was younger helped
train my eye for art and always just I just
stuck with it.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, man. Speaking of DJing, if Bumpy Johnson,
if he had a playlist, what would it be.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
Bumpy would have a gangster.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Playlist East Coast and West coast.
Speaker 8 (27:24):
Come on, now, just all I mean Bumpy was international,
Bumpy was I remember, Bumpy was doing business all the
way out the country, right right right, Yeah, So so
it'd have a little bit of everything. And I have
a little bit of jazz, and I have a little
bit of Latin, and I have a little bit of
hip hop and have a little bit of R and
B just depends on his mood.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
You know.
Speaker 8 (27:47):
The song that comes to my mind is is Scarface
never seen a man cry? So I see a man die? Wow,
It's like Bumpy's energy right there.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Yeah, go into that a little bit swiss. Why why
is that his energy?
Speaker 8 (28:00):
Because you know, when Scarface wrote that song, it was
it was super deep, and you know, we look for
songs like that speak to the character. And Bumpy Johnson
is put so much pressure, you know, and what he
had to do and how he had to maintain his
strength and so it's just like these guys are acting
tough until they.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
Got put under pressure.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:23):
So that's why that song comes to me.
Speaker 8 (28:28):
And even even the even the Pot and Scarface song
smile right because he does have like monumental moments of victory,
you know, although they're short lived most of the time
because it's a back and forth battle with him and
the Italians, he does have smiling moments where it's like
(28:50):
you feel happy for him because he thought he didn't
fold and he was doing a lot of things for
the community, not only the negative things that he got
the biggest name for, you know, like he was he
was definitely building the community for sure, on the other
side of the gangster stuff.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Yeah, yeah, man, it's so strange because you know, I'm
in LA and of course I have lived in South
Central for most of my life. Mine, how do you
think that you think it's some type of penance man
with gangsters too, you know there of course they've got
their hustle, but then they're also trying to work and
get back to their communities.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (29:29):
I mean, nobody really wanted to do gangster things. It's
just the climate of the environment that forced you to
have only one way out in most circumstances and situations,
which is bumpies.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
Right.
Speaker 8 (29:45):
You know, you're not able to get the proper education,
you're not able to get to apply for the proper jobs.
So you know, you're seeing your family starff. So you're
back against the walls. Then you got to go do
the unthinkables, and so you know that's what p Johnson
and many people from the streets had to deal with.
You know, I grew up in the South Bronx. I've
(30:07):
seen it every day.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You've been deep in music film art.
What's one behind the scenes moment maybe on Godfather of
Harlem or in the studio. That really shifted how you
see things.
Speaker 8 (30:22):
The way that we did our studio sessions was like
a party. You know, you have Forrest Whitaker in there.
We always have the cast members come to the session.
We have the producers come to the sessions. We have
the directors. We have an open door policy. It's the
way that it feels like one family, not silos or oh,
this is that department, that's this department. Everybody on Godfather Donald,
(30:45):
we all meet at the studio. I always play the tracks.
Then you have artists coming in doing their versus. Like
I remember when DMX and Forrest was in the studio
was far as one of Far's best moments and one
of DMX's best moments. He was a super fan of Forrest,
and so I remember seeing that and just seeing everybody
(31:05):
just in their own world and happy for each other
for the success that they've done. And so we always
try to keep it like a family orientated thing.
Speaker 3 (31:18):
In the studio.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
Yeah, why is that important to you supposed to have
that type of environment, I mean, because you could just
be like, you know, I'm gonna produce some music, I'm
gonna meet with the artists and be done with it.
But why was it important for you to create that atmosphere.
Speaker 8 (31:32):
Because you don't really see it that much, you know,
you don't really see communities coming together like that. You know,
especially in the corporate world. Everybody have their straight positions.
I'm in this lane, I'm staying this lane. You guys
do that, and this person is not supposed to do that,
and this person's don't supposed to talk, and it's like no,
like we we're trying to get to the victory together.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
And music.
Speaker 8 (31:55):
Music is so exciting, like you know, like when you
come to the studio and you feel the energy and
you know, and maybe have some wine or something or
or just be a fly on the wall and just
see how the creation is is done. And a lot
of people learned a lot in those sessions and they
have more have high respect for that process that we
(32:15):
make look easy, you know, and they say, wow, like
I just didn't even write on no paper.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
He just went in there and did that.
Speaker 8 (32:21):
Well, Chris just seeing this particular scene and went in
and in and did this, and it just shows you
the end of work and it keeps us tight as
a union as well.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
Yeah, I love that man.
Speaker 5 (32:36):
Dropping the love color hoodies fly like soundtracks.
Speaker 4 (32:40):
Eight tracks, they get it back to health these that's
a flashback, I lay they held fashion on the streets
like Beverly Hell pass for got everyone, trapic queen that
can't help but feel the fops just a full of
salt from these cold where the rat things grease?
Speaker 3 (32:57):
Swiss fucking black, Yes, sir, yes, sir, Thank you for
having me.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
Oh absolutely, thank you for being here.
Speaker 4 (33:04):
Man.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
When it's all said and done, Swiss, What do you
want people to feel when they hear the names with speeds?
Speaker 8 (33:14):
I want them to feel the sky's not the limits
is just a view. You know, there's footprints on the moon.
Why should the skies be our limits? Keep going, keep going,
way beyond your imagination because, like I said, growing up
in the South Bronx, I didn't really big dreams and
goals like that because they weren't in front of me.
Speaker 3 (33:36):
All I wanted was an MPV in the apartment.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
Right right, the basics, right.
Speaker 8 (33:41):
Yeah, you just want the basics. I didn't even we
didn't even know we was poor in the hood because
everybody else was on the same level. And it wasn't
even about money at that time, right, it wasn't well.
Speaker 3 (33:54):
You knew people were struggling.
Speaker 8 (33:55):
You knew people was going through something, but you know,
nobody really knew they was pouring the hood like that.
Like you know, although our grandparents and parents were working
super hard to provide ands meet for us, like I
was packing bags at six years old, you know, and
see town figuring.
Speaker 1 (34:15):
It out right right right right.
Speaker 8 (34:17):
So you know, and then went into cutting hair and
they went into making mix tape like I always had
a hustle. I always wanted to work. You know, my
whole bloodline, my family, they work. You know, it's not
too much complaining. It's not too much waiting around for
other people to fix the problems because they never they
(34:37):
were never was gonna time. You know, you're waiting on
people that's not coming right right now, get up and
get out and get it instead of complaining about it,
you know, be about it. And that's that was that
That feel the energy even still to this day.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Yeah, what what do you welcome to feel about the scene?
Speaker 8 (35:00):
Just you know, just positive energy, you know, positive energy,
because it's a lot of negative energy out there that's
really attractive. It's like negative energy just for some reason,
seems very attractive, but the positive energy to be more
attractive than the negative energy. Right, So you'll see something
negative in the news going very far, then you see
(35:24):
like me graduating from Harvard going very short, right, Like
if I did something, or somebody just says something that's
going to go way far around the world, or you know,
for me having a bronch charter school, nobody want to
talk about it. Right, So this is why I said,
we need to double down on the positivity.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
Yeah, yeah, you know matter it's funny that you say
that because you know our platform here at Black and
the Groom is all about positivity. It's all about showcasing,
you know, positive energy and positive inspiration and men. But
I find I find it common and what you just
said that people are usually drawn to the negative, especially
(36:05):
sometimes us. Why do you think that is?
Speaker 8 (36:08):
I think it's the easy way, the easiest way for
people to escape their problems, right, so real talk, people
use it as a cure, but it's a double it's
a double downer at that point, you know, like for
you to take something somebody is going through to make
yourself feel better that what does that tell you about you?
(36:28):
That you that you need to do better. If that's
news that's terrible makes you feel good, you should question
who you are. When I see things happening to people,
I don't like it. You know, I wish I wish
them the best, I wish I wish them luck, I
wish them everything that that's in a positive way. Like
I'm not sitting there laughing and joking about it, because
(36:49):
that's somebody's real Like you know, that's somebody's real parent
or real brother, a real son or daughter.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
Right, So.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's real talk.
Speaker 4 (37:07):
Dropping a love color hoodies while I'm like soundtracks.
Speaker 5 (37:11):
Eight tracks, they get it back to health. These that's
a flashback.
Speaker 4 (37:14):
I lay they have fashion on the streets like Beverly
Hill Pass for got everyone dripping clean. That can't help
but feel the fox. It's a full of soul from these.
Speaker 5 (37:23):
Coach sweat the rap beings, christ.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Be Mark Wan welcome Black, thank you, thank you for
having me. You're very welcome, man, and you're very welcome.
One of the things you do well is bring the
right people into the room, whether it's Swiss speeds Uh
setting the tone musically, or now Ron Flynn joining the
cast this season, What do you look for when you're
choosing who to build with, and how do you know
(37:52):
when someone just fits right.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
Well, you're talking with someone that played basketball at one time.
So we all teams play. You know, the point guard
needs to shooting guard, the shooting guard needs a small
forward the power for it, and the center. So I
was always the type of person to always play offense.
You know, we play defense a lot, but I wanted
to play offense and making sure that these characters that
we bring they can evolve into something bigger than they are.
(38:19):
For example, with Forrest Whitaker, he at first didn't want
to he didn't commit to playing Bumpy. He committed to
producing it. Right, my mom, I'm saying, we had to
get a great writer. So I got spects scripts from
all over the place from Uta, Cia w and me.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
And one day I was.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
Just looking at IMDb pro and I looked and found
Chris Broncado and Paul Extein, Paul Extin rp rest In Peace.
Chris Broncado created the TV series Marcos, and Paul flew
out in New York to meet me. And he's a big,
spoiling guy. Man missed him so much, and he said,
(38:59):
you know, what what Bumpy put my grandmother through secretarial college.
We did, Hudler, I want to make this happen with you.
Chris at the time couldn't commit to it because he
was working on some other projects. He was working on
the El Chappo series. He was working on this project
called I SA that was going to be on CBS,
a pilot that didn't get picked up. And six months
(39:20):
later Chris said, you know what, I want to get
this done with you. But we got to tell the
perspective of Bumpy coming home from jail in nineteen sixty three,
So that was one one part was that we made happen.
And then bringing in Bumpy at the last hour, Forrest said,
you know what, I want to play Bumpy Johnson. You
(39:43):
know it was just it was just like magic being
so surreal. You know, it's so happening so much. You know,
I couldn't ask for the cards to align any better
than the.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
Dead Yeah, yeah, yeah. How much how much confidence did
it give you in the work that you knew that
you were creating, when you were able to assemble all
these people?
Speaker 2 (40:03):
The confidence was was was always good for me. But
you know, I'm not gonna lie to you that I
didn't didn't feel defeated a couple of times because Forrest
is actually in a room pitching it, pitching it with me.
You know, we had President of the ABC Pat Moran,
Tracy Underwood, Forrest Whitaker, Nina Yang Bon Jovie, my partner,
Jim Atchison, the Great Professor James Smalls was actually out
(40:27):
there as well too, and we were getting those No
one believed in this dream that we had, you know,
they were like, Okay, that's cool, but we just we're
going to pass. We got actually got passed twice by Stars.
Aria Emmanuel, the head of W and ME, walked us
into Chris Albert at Stars and he said he didn't
see it. But Michael Wright, who came from a company
(40:50):
called Ambulin Entertainment, Steven Spielberg's company, and it was over
at TNT. He saw the script. He was like, you guys,
we need to meet. They went there. I got depressed.
I'm not gonna lie to you, Keith. I went back
to New York City. I was trying to figure out
what am I gonna do? Man, Like, this is this
had to work for me. I didn't have a plan B.
(41:10):
I only had a plan a. Furis called me. He said,
you know we're gonna go take this meeting with Michael.
I put my phone on, turned my phone off because
I was waiting for another another letdown. Forrest called me
seven times right, not picking up your phone, and I said,
what's up? He said, Yo, We sold it in a
room and then and then the journey began, The real
(41:33):
journey began.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
Yes, and congratulations to you mine. Where can everybody watch
Godfather of Harlem and where can they find you on
social media? Oh?
Speaker 2 (41:43):
You can watch Godfather Harlem Sunday MGM plus April thirteenth,
season four. It's about to go down hell.
Speaker 3 (41:53):
Up in Harlem.
Speaker 2 (41:54):
And you can follow me at Mark kwan A's m
A r k u a n N on Instagram, Markwan
Smith on Facebook.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
All right, Markkwan Swift Smith, thank you so much. Be
sure to follow me Keith Underwood at mister Keith l
Underwood on ig You can also follow me on FB
at Keith l Underwood. And you know you gotta follow
Black in the green Room at Black in the green
Room across all platforms until next time. This has been
(42:26):
Black in the green Room
You are black in the green room with me, your
host Keith Underwood, and this is your spot for real
talk about entertainment with the entertainers, creatives, and showbiz professionals
host Keith l. Underwood. In this episode, we're breaking it
down with the stars and minds behind Godfather of Harlem
and three powerful segments that explore the artistry, impact, and
(00:23):
real stories behind the show. First up is someone who's
been instrumental in making it all happen, both on screen
and behind the scenes. Mark Kwan Smith is an executive
producer and co star of the series, and his journey
from working at BEET and MTV to creating one of
the most culturally resonance shows on TV is as compelling
(00:45):
as the show itself. Mark Kwan Smith, Welcome to the room.
Thank you, Keith, Thank you for having me. Man Ah,
you very welcome. How you doing.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
I'm great, I'm great. I'm excited that Sunday is almost
around the corner. April thirteen. MGM plus Season four feels
like yesterday. It feels like yesterday.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Yeah, yeah yeah. As I mentioned in your intro, You've
worn so many hats, actor, producer, creator, You've been in
rooms with lots of folks that we don't even sometimes
know exist. What was that moment for you when it clicked, like,
all right, this is it. I'm doing exactly what I
was meant to do.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Oh it was surreal.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
I think when Godfather of Harlemar, when we first sold
the show and it was our day one, I'm on
set and a team still walks up to me and says, hey,
can I talk to you for a minute, you know,
And I was like, sure, what's going on?
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Brother?
Speaker 2 (01:44):
He was like, thank you for never giving up. But
you never giving up allowed me to feed my family
for the next six months. That's when I realized that
this is something that I just wanted to inspire people
and tell people never give up on your dreams. You know,
your hopes are ambitions and inspirations. Just go out there
and go for yours. And that really did something to
(02:06):
me to know that I have a village of three
hundred people that's working for us on set shooting every day,
you know, from the gapes to the grips, to the
electric guys, even to the transportation to hear and makeup.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
You know.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
It was based on the dream that I dreamt about
eighteen and twenty years ago that I told my godmother
that I would go out there to make happen. So
that's something that was just amazing to me.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Yeah, that is pretty amazing. Man. I'm going to ask
you the craziest, most obvious question in the world, but
I hear that accent where you're from. What part of
New York are you from?
Speaker 2 (02:43):
I grew up in Harlem one hundred and twenty eighth
in Saint Nicholas, and then from there I moved out
to far Rockaway, Queens.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Okay, all right? What made you decide to kind of was?
Was your upbringing inspiration and doing Godfather of Harlem? And
if so, how oh Man.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Started off ATLANTICX Terrace.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
So, if you know about Lenox Terrace is on Lenox Average,
one of the most affluent apartments people wanted to move in,
from politicians to musicians, to athletes to you know, Percy
Sutton lived there. My godmother lived there. Her name is
Margaret Johnson. So Margaret and Godfather Harlem is played by
Demi Singleton, the young lady right and going up to
(03:26):
Margaret's apartment, she used to tell me these magical stories.
Every Sunday. I would go to the Delhi, get her
some rib bread, some beef tongue and mustard, and I
thought it was nasty, But she would sit and we
would just talk about Harlem.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Right.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
She used to tell me how she used to walk
out of a tenement building, smell fresh laundry hanging out
of the window. Walk past the Apollo, look up and
see James Brown's name on the Marquee, Walk past Sugar
Ray Robinson's barbershop. He may see his pink Cadillac outside here,
Sam Cook's voice coming out of a transistor. Ray Natkin
Kole waiting to get a haircut. But she also told
(04:04):
me that Harlem was one of the most tumultuous times
in American She said African Americans migrated from the South
trying to escape both Kanas Bocanna's water holeses and his dogs. Regardless,
if you want to Washington, d c Philly, of Newark,
you come up to New York, it's still racism.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
You know.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Something as simple as going to a store to purchase
a hat with the stoner may say, you know what,
you need to put a plaster bag on your scalp
because I don't want that hat to touch your scalp.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Father of five worked all week. He wants to take
his family out for steak dinner. The owner wouldn't let
him patronize with the rest of the individual that he's
allowed into his restaurants, so they give him a plate
to go. But then she also mentioned about her her grandfather.
His name is Elsroth Raymond Johnson. He's a Geechee guller
from Charleston, South Carolina. He actually came up to New
(04:56):
York not to be a gangster, because the street knowme
was Bumpy Johnson. He asked he came to York to
become an attorney like Malcolm X. So when the City
College bursa said, you know, we don't get financial aid
to people of color, he took the cards that he
was dealt with and played it the best way he could.
He was the first African American underboss that sat down
(05:17):
with the Five Families, I mean Lucky Luciano, Vito Genevie's,
Frank Costello, Bugsy Siegal, Maya Lanski. They were Jewish, but
they were part of this whole, the whole La Cosa nostra,
these roots, and he was the conduit to bringing in
the dope or the Douji into Central Harlem. But he
(05:38):
also rumors that he beat Bobby Fischer in chess Shakespeare.
He read Nietzsche, so he wasn't a gangster that just
said I just want to be against He actually was
trying to transition and change his life. And I made
a promise to her almost twenty years ago that I
would go out there and get the real story of
who her grandfather was, not the one you saw an
(05:58):
American gangster, the one you saw in Hoodlum, not the
one you saw in the Cotton Club, but as accurate
as we could portray it. And that was over twenty
years ago.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you've You've built something that's way bigger
than just the show. I mean, just listening to you
just now, I know that it's culture, it's history, and
it's your story. When people look back at your journey,
what do you hope that they take away from how
you've moved and how you made this happen.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
I want people to look at me and see that
you're looking at someone that believed in himself. You know
I said this before that the loudest blues come from
the cheapest seats, right always if you are knocking the
opportunity's door and it doesn't open for you. Go to
home depot, get some lumber, create your own door, create
your own path, create your own lane. And I want
(06:50):
people to be inspired to just get off the couch,
get out their bed, and go out there and get
this because there are more years behind us and that's
in front of us. Life is too short, Tomorrow's not promised.
And I decided to chase my passion and not my pension.
You know, people chase their pensions on all the time.
I just wanted to chase my passion. So I'm hoping
(07:10):
that when people hear my story, they're inspired to chase
theirs as well.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
Yes, dropping, I love color hoodies while I'm like soundtracks.
Speaker 5 (07:23):
Eight tracks. They getting back to Hell these that's a flashback.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
I say.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
They have fashion on the streets like Beverly Hell pass
for got everyone draping clean. That can't help but feel
the fops. It's a full of soul from these coach
where the rap beings.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Christ Joining me in the room today is the multi
talented rom Flynn, Emmy winning actors, singer and all around
creative powerhouse. You've seen him on The Bold and The beautiful,
how to get Away with Murder and now He's shaking
things up. In season four of Godfather of Harlem, streaming
(07:58):
now on mgm US, Rome takes on the role of
young Frank Lucas, right hand man to Bumpy Johnson played
by Forrest Whitaker, and trust us, he is bringing the fire. Rome,
Welcome to the room.
Speaker 6 (08:12):
What an introduction.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Appreciate it. You're welcome, man, You're welcome. So mad you know,
So when God with the Harlem came calling and asked
you to play a young Frank Lucas, what was going
through your head and how did you even begin to
tap into a character as prolific as a.
Speaker 7 (08:30):
Yeah, you know, I jumped at the opportunity to portray
I feel like the early stages of one of the
most infamous, like you said, prolific figures in American history.
Drug is American history, and so yeah, I mean it
was a dream come true. As an actor, you want
to be able to play a character with this much
(08:52):
you know, a complexity and just rich backstory and depth
and also being led by you know, Chris Broncotter who
created the show, and I had been a fan of
the show before that.
Speaker 6 (09:04):
You know, I watched the first.
Speaker 7 (09:05):
Couple of seasons and you know, working with Forrest Whittaker
was the obvious draw for me. But to be able
to step into some shoes that I haven't before, you know,
playing a young Frank Lucas. You know, a lot of
people ask me, like, what's it like playing a character
that Denzel played? And you know, to me, it's like
apples to oranges.
Speaker 6 (09:22):
It's like both fruit but different.
Speaker 7 (09:24):
You know, so we're the same but different, playing the
same character but different approach.
Speaker 6 (09:29):
And you know, I'm playing in ten years before that.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
We actually meet him almost like a prequel character exactly,
you know, yeah, something like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, So
you mentioned forced Whitaker just a moment ago. What's it like,
man to go toe to toe with him and what
are you learning from him? Yeah?
Speaker 6 (09:51):
It's a gift honestly.
Speaker 7 (09:53):
You know, I've been forwarded opportunity to work with some
really really talented actors.
Speaker 6 (09:58):
You know, obviously Viola Davis being one of those.
Speaker 7 (10:00):
I put her in a category with you know, forcing
a category. Yeah, I mean just being able to work
opposite with them, work opposite with him, learning how he
approaches the craft, you know, and just learning along the way,
trying to just take what I can from how he
approaches things.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Really, Yeah, was it intimidating the first time on set
with him?
Speaker 7 (10:26):
No, it wasn't intimidating because you know, early on, I
realized in this business that we're not curing cancer and
I'm not I'm not walking into brain surgery, and so
I have to keep that level of understanding.
Speaker 6 (10:42):
Now, don't get me wrong.
Speaker 7 (10:43):
There's there is a heavy respect and like responsibility.
Speaker 6 (10:47):
That I know comes along with working alongside.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
These incredible actors.
Speaker 6 (10:51):
But I just trust my preparation, you know, I trust
how much I.
Speaker 7 (10:54):
Work and what I do, and uh, I just yeah,
I mean, I dedicate the last ten years of my
life to this. So it's like, you know, it's like
going to the free throw line. You've hit a million
free throws, but you just got to focus.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
To hit that one right, right, right.
Speaker 6 (11:10):
And work opposite of these incredible actions.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Yeah yeah, yeah. So you've done daytime soaps, you've done
legal thrillers, and now this very gritty drama period piece.
How do you switch it up so smoothly? And is
it a different vibe for each role?
Speaker 7 (11:27):
Yes, different approach, different vibe also different creative process too,
you know, with both and beautiful that being the daytime,
you know, soap, it was the amount of work was heavy.
Speaker 6 (11:40):
You know, we filmed a lot.
Speaker 7 (11:41):
It was like a nine to five, but we filmed
a lot and it was every day, you know, And
so the attention to detail for me was really important
because I had so many scripts and so many changes day,
and so I had to figure out how to deal
with that on the fly and then working obviously going
to be a procedural, you know, I was doing Chicago Fire,
(12:02):
which is a whole different approach. Understanding the psyche and
the mindset of a blue collar person, you know, working
in the in the in the in the field that
they work in as a firefighter, like understanding that mindset
and also just putting all the gear on. You know,
I'm doing all of the the necessary things because the
(12:23):
attention to detail and the credibility of the show is
relying on me to know all of these things.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Yeah, did you watch any old news reel for Frank?
What was it? Did you watch any old like news
footage or anything like that?
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Yes?
Speaker 5 (12:40):
I did.
Speaker 7 (12:40):
I mean I watched everything I could on him. I
read everything I could on him, But mainly I did
my due diligence and trying to get to know him
as much as I could. But my my job here
it wasn't to imitate him, Like I'm not here to
I'm portraying who Frank could have been. Right, But the
(13:01):
essence of his character really isn't about those things we
know already. It's like, I can tell the story from
the beginning. So who is he at the beginning? He
could have been anyone. He could have been me, he
could have been you. And so who is this kid
coming from the from the South and making his way
to Harlem? Like that's the more of the story, the
meat of the bones for me, And he finds his
(13:22):
way to navigate the politics of Harlem along the way.
And so that's the story I'm telling, you know, obviously,
that's I feel like that's the story we need to
see because we've seen the ending result, we've seen what
ends up happening, So let's tell the story on how
he got there.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Yeah, studying that that early journey of his, did you
learn anything interesting or surprising? Yeah?
Speaker 7 (13:47):
I mean everything I kind of already knew. But he
has a big family, you know, he and I realized
that there's a lot of people in his life that
view him differently. You know, obviously the public based on
the things we know about him now, but like his
family members, somebody's father, somebody's uncle, so their perception to
(14:08):
him was a lot.
Speaker 6 (14:09):
Different when I did my research.
Speaker 7 (14:11):
You know, which helped me ground him in a way
and approach it in a more humanistic approach, you know,
as far as you know, stepping into his.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Shoes, his strength.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Yeah, well, what's your personal opinion is he? Is he
a villain or is he a hero? What are what
are your thoughts? And I think, and I think the
way that you touched on the complexities of the character
by talking about talking to his family, most family members
are not going to see family members as as villains.
They're going to see them as family. So that even
(14:41):
makes the character more complex when you're bringing it to life.
Speaker 7 (14:45):
Yeah, I mean for me, you know, I don't I
don't judge any character I play. I think that morality
lies with your perspective, you know, morality is based on
how you see things, and so I I always try
to step into the shoes of characters from their perspective,
not my own, And so I think that he's a
(15:07):
hero in my mind. You know, I think he's been
dealt a certain hand, and what I know now about
his life, who's to say if I was put in
that situation, I wouldn't end up in the same way. Now,
I do feel we all have a moral obligation to
make the.
Speaker 6 (15:22):
Right and wrongs right.
Speaker 7 (15:24):
But sometimes right and wrong isn't so black and white,
and that gray area lives pretty deep among especially culturally,
and that that thing, you know, like what's right and
what's wrong is up to the person's perspective.
Speaker 6 (15:41):
And so.
Speaker 7 (15:43):
Playing him, I learned that he had to adapt, and
adapting sometimes means that doing things that maybe feel like
you shouldn't do them. It's like, man, it's it's survival,
survival instinct for him. And my thing was that the
why trying to figure out what drove him to become
(16:04):
who he ended up becoming, because you don't become that
on accident, Like what is that driving force?
Speaker 6 (16:09):
You know?
Speaker 7 (16:09):
And and I think all these things accumulate over his
life drove him to the point where he just was
really driven by doing everything the best way and out
smarting people and making the money that he made and
coming from nothing and having everything. I mean, it's so complex,
you know, and so you.
Speaker 6 (16:28):
Can't really judge that. For me, I can't judge it.
Speaker 7 (16:30):
Because there's so many nuances to him and just two
people like him that I've been able to find some
redeeming qualities.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Yeah, you know, with all of the roles that you
played and with all of the fantastic, you know, performance
that you've been able to work with. I was really
surprised to be just looking at YouTube one day and
there this brother was singing. Man, you know, how long
has music been a part of your life? Was it
a first love? And then how is it now balancing
(17:03):
singing and acting?
Speaker 7 (17:06):
Yeah, music has always been My first love was basketball.
That's why I learned the synchronicities of the how life
mirrors sports and mirrors like any kind of organizational games,
Like how you conduct yourself in those areas is normally
how you conduct yourself in the world, you know.
Speaker 6 (17:28):
And so that was the first love for me.
Speaker 7 (17:29):
But music was definitely a close second because I didn't
grow up being an actor. I didn't grow up studying
drama school like you know. I was a late bloomer
in that aspect, Like I had a multitude of you know,
relatively normal jobs in my early adult life, and so
you're doing this. It feels like, you know, all those
(17:49):
things kind of led me to this point, but music
being put of the foundation for me because it actually
sparked my creativity, it sparked my perspective, and also early
on I realized how music was just so universal, Like
you would listen to a song that isn't in your
language and still feel the vibe of it, and I
(18:10):
think that's unique. There's not many things you can say
in our life that that had that kind of you know, similarity.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
Yeah, yeah, what what have you What have you learned
about yourself over the course of your career?
Speaker 7 (18:28):
I think on the outside looking in for me, sometimes
it's hard to do that, but I feel like I'm
very resilient.
Speaker 6 (18:36):
I think I'm just I have such a deep well
of determination and like an unwavering spirit too to do
the work and to be great.
Speaker 7 (18:49):
And I'm not scared of trying to be great, you know,
I'm not scared of a feeling. It's like, I feel
like I have a good perspective on my life and
my career and separating those things now and how it
can get consuming in life, where your career becomes who
you are, and so I think it's important to kind
of create a divide so that you have a private life,
(19:10):
you have things that feel protective to you. And I've learned,
I've just been learning throughout the decade i've been doing
this on how to navigate that because this business is tough,
you know, it's very difficult to break into and I
don't take it for granted.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Yeah, you know, one of the things that's just so
wild to me is a whole colorism, you know, issue
that was surrounding your casting as this character. What are
your thoughts on that?
Speaker 3 (19:39):
Man?
Speaker 7 (19:40):
Yeah, I think that the interesting thing to me is
just that there's always going to be discourse, you know,
and I think that the discourse happens, it allows room
for growth. Like hopefully we learn from these moments where
people challenge whether or not my casting was correct based
on my skin color.
Speaker 6 (20:00):
You know, I'm an actor, you know. I have made
a career.
Speaker 7 (20:05):
Off conforming, you know, and so sometimes I get to
play characters that closely are closely to me, and sometimes
I don't, and sometimes I want to ship further. That
is for me, you know, when people ask like, what
is the meaning of like acting all of these things,
Like it's a reflection of life, right, So this is
my interpretation of who this who this character is, and
(20:31):
I'm up for the challenge.
Speaker 6 (20:32):
I always just like urge people to give it a chance.
Speaker 7 (20:34):
You know, just watch and I get this is in
our culture, in our in our like domain. Like it's
very common to box like people like me in you know,
so no, you got to stay in that lane. But
I'm always trying to break the mold, you know, whether
good or bad. I'm up for the challenge always because
I'm gonna do the work and work normally you see
(20:55):
the you see the you should have reaped the benefits
of your your labor.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Yes, yeah, Rome, Where where can everybody find you on
social media to keep up with what's going on with
you and then also what might be happening in front
of or behind the scenes on Godfather of Harlem?
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (21:12):
Everyone can follow me on Instagram, uh Ron Flynn YouTube
won't plan, I mean that's pretty much it. I ain't
really active on X like that, but I do have one,
you know.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Yeah, all right, Rome Flynn, thank you so much for
your time, man. I appreciate you joining me.
Speaker 5 (21:35):
Dropping.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
I love color hoodies while I'm like soundtracks, eight tracks,
they get it back to health. These that's a flashback.
I lay they have fashion on the streets like Beverly
Hell pass for got everyone trapping Queen that can't help
but feel the fops. It's a full of soul from
these coach where the rap things christ.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
And joining me in the room now is none other
than Swizz Beats. Grammy winning producer, rapper, entrepreneur, and art collector.
He's a mastermind behind some of hip hop's greatest anthems,
and he's also the executive music producer for Godfather of Harlem,
the hit series now streaming being on MGM Plus. Swiss
(22:17):
brings a sound to that show that's as raw and
powerful as the story itself. Let's get into a Swizz
Welcome to the room.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
That's a hell of arow. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
You know, we try to do a little something to something. Man,
How you been all good? All good, good good?
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Stay and busy super busy.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Yeah, I'm sure, man, I'm sure. So with Godfather of Harlem,
you're mixing past and present. How do you make something
from the sixties still relevant today?
Speaker 3 (22:50):
Man?
Speaker 8 (22:50):
You know I must say thank you to my team
to let me have to create a freedom to work
on the show and create new sounds that can be
for any time, you know. And I think that going
with the sound of the era was very predictable, and
so I said, you know, let's challenge that and let's
(23:13):
give them something up today and be able to break
new artists and be able to just have fun and
score their music to the characters, you know, instead of
just placing songs that's from an era, like, let's think
about let's make this the voice of Bumpy Johnson was
in his head. Let's make this the voice of what's
in you know, Joe Columbo's head, and things like that.
(23:35):
And so that's was the method that I came up
with in season two after doing season one. I was like,
you know what, I want to switch away that I'm
doing the music a little different and it worked.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Yeah. Yeah, man, what was that process like being very
specific to character and giving them kind of their whole
life music.
Speaker 8 (23:56):
Yeah, it was like when I was watching the playbacks,
I'm like, man, you know what if I was the
voice in Bumpy Johnson's head, what would that sound like?
What would that song sound like, what would you know
all of the main characters you know when you see Stella? Okay,
what is what does when you see Stella? What's the
mood of her music? And which artists match her energy?
(24:19):
And it was appairing like that.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Yeah yeah yeah. And did did collaborating with other artists
help with that process?
Speaker 3 (24:27):
Yeah?
Speaker 8 (24:27):
Because you know, you didn't have to be an artist
that had a major hit song out for us to
want to work with you. It's like, wow, this person's
tone right here actually fit the energy so so wet.
Nobody really knows them yet, but they'll get to know
them during through the show. And I love mixing known
(24:48):
artists with unknown artists because it just give you the
freedom to just do the best job possible.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Yeah. And what I love about that is is that
it gives you an opportunity to work with some established people,
probably most likely with you that you know, but then
also you know, reach back and bring you know, in
some up and coming artists as well.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
Definitely, definitely that's the gumboat right there.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
Yeah yeah, yeah, Why was that important to you? Man?
Speaker 8 (25:15):
It was important to me because you know, the show
is is a new show, although this is our fourth
season and we've got Emmys and all of the great
things that come with a great show. I always love
to have an opportunity to give up and kind of
artists a chance to be on the big stage. And
the Godfather Harlem allows that for musicians and songwriters and
(25:37):
what have you. And so to me it was it
was definitely checking the box of doing amazing things.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Yeah, man, and you are you've got an eye for
art and an ear for hits. How do you know
when something's gonna last, when it's going to have that
staying power?
Speaker 3 (25:55):
Oh?
Speaker 8 (25:56):
Man, is really intuition, you know, it's it's really intuition.
But it's also a trained eye from you know, being
into art for over twenty something years, a trained air
for being in music, you know, the same amount of time,
maybe more. And it's just studying the grades and just
knowing what feels good to you. Actually, it's like, okay,
(26:17):
this feels good to me, Okay, this.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
Speaks to me.
Speaker 8 (26:20):
You know, you start to really listen to your body
and listen to listen to your your your heart of
what feels great. And so like when I see artist,
I'm like, oh, that's a superstar. I know in two
seconds just from you know, being a DJ first and
playing so many hit records. You know, I started as
a DJ, so like that kind of trade trained my
(26:42):
air what people like, because when you're a DJ, you
have to make sure the crowd can respond.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
You have to tell what the mood is.
Speaker 8 (26:48):
You have to you know, tell all these different things,
and so you know, that's that's kind of like how
I trained my air was through DJing and going to
the galleries when I was young.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
Can you see me going to the gallerries?
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Oh yeah, we're good, man.
Speaker 8 (27:02):
Okay, going to the galleries when I was younger helped
train my eye for art and always just I just
stuck with it.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, man. Speaking of DJing, if Bumpy Johnson,
if he had a playlist, what would it be.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
Bumpy would have a gangster.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Playlist East Coast and West coast.
Speaker 8 (27:24):
Come on, now, just all I mean Bumpy was international,
Bumpy was I remember, Bumpy was doing business all the
way out the country, right right right, Yeah, So so
it'd have a little bit of everything. And I have
a little bit of jazz, and I have a little
bit of Latin, and I have a little bit of
hip hop and have a little bit of R and
B just depends on his mood.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
You know.
Speaker 8 (27:47):
The song that comes to my mind is is Scarface
never seen a man cry? So I see a man die? Wow,
It's like Bumpy's energy right there.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Yeah, go into that a little bit swiss. Why why
is that his energy?
Speaker 8 (28:00):
Because you know, when Scarface wrote that song, it was
it was super deep, and you know, we look for
songs like that speak to the character. And Bumpy Johnson
is put so much pressure, you know, and what he
had to do and how he had to maintain his
strength and so it's just like these guys are acting
tough until they.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
Got put under pressure.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:23):
So that's why that song comes to me.
Speaker 8 (28:28):
And even even the even the Pot and Scarface song
smile right because he does have like monumental moments of victory,
you know, although they're short lived most of the time
because it's a back and forth battle with him and
the Italians, he does have smiling moments where it's like
(28:50):
you feel happy for him because he thought he didn't
fold and he was doing a lot of things for
the community, not only the negative things that he got
the biggest name for, you know, like he was he
was definitely building the community for sure, on the other
side of the gangster stuff.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Yeah, yeah, man, it's so strange because you know, I'm
in LA and of course I have lived in South
Central for most of my life. Mine, how do you
think that you think it's some type of penance man
with gangsters too, you know there of course they've got
their hustle, but then they're also trying to work and
get back to their communities.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (29:29):
I mean, nobody really wanted to do gangster things. It's
just the climate of the environment that forced you to
have only one way out in most circumstances and situations,
which is bumpies.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
Right.
Speaker 8 (29:45):
You know, you're not able to get the proper education,
you're not able to get to apply for the proper jobs.
So you know, you're seeing your family starff. So you're
back against the walls. Then you got to go do
the unthinkables, and so you know that's what p Johnson
and many people from the streets had to deal with.
You know, I grew up in the South Bronx. I've
(30:07):
seen it every day.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You've been deep in music film art.
What's one behind the scenes moment maybe on Godfather of
Harlem or in the studio. That really shifted how you
see things.
Speaker 8 (30:22):
The way that we did our studio sessions was like
a party. You know, you have Forrest Whitaker in there.
We always have the cast members come to the session.
We have the producers come to the sessions. We have
the directors. We have an open door policy. It's the
way that it feels like one family, not silos or oh,
this is that department, that's this department. Everybody on Godfather Donald,
(30:45):
we all meet at the studio. I always play the tracks.
Then you have artists coming in doing their versus. Like
I remember when DMX and Forrest was in the studio
was far as one of Far's best moments and one
of DMX's best moments. He was a super fan of Forrest,
and so I remember seeing that and just seeing everybody
(31:05):
just in their own world and happy for each other
for the success that they've done. And so we always
try to keep it like a family orientated thing.
Speaker 3 (31:18):
In the studio.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
Yeah, why is that important to you supposed to have
that type of environment, I mean, because you could just
be like, you know, I'm gonna produce some music, I'm
gonna meet with the artists and be done with it.
But why was it important for you to create that atmosphere.
Speaker 8 (31:32):
Because you don't really see it that much, you know,
you don't really see communities coming together like that. You know,
especially in the corporate world. Everybody have their straight positions.
I'm in this lane, I'm staying this lane. You guys
do that, and this person is not supposed to do that,
and this person's don't supposed to talk, and it's like no,
like we we're trying to get to the victory together.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
And music.
Speaker 8 (31:55):
Music is so exciting, like you know, like when you
come to the studio and you feel the energy and
you know, and maybe have some wine or something or
or just be a fly on the wall and just
see how the creation is is done. And a lot
of people learned a lot in those sessions and they
have more have high respect for that process that we
(32:15):
make look easy, you know, and they say, wow, like
I just didn't even write on no paper.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
He just went in there and did that.
Speaker 8 (32:21):
Well, Chris just seeing this particular scene and went in
and in and did this, and it just shows you
the end of work and it keeps us tight as
a union as well.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
Yeah, I love that man.
Speaker 5 (32:36):
Dropping the love color hoodies fly like soundtracks.
Speaker 4 (32:40):
Eight tracks, they get it back to health these that's
a flashback, I lay they held fashion on the streets
like Beverly Hell pass for got everyone, trapic queen that
can't help but feel the fops just a full of
salt from these cold where the rat things grease?
Speaker 3 (32:57):
Swiss fucking black, Yes, sir, yes, sir, Thank you for
having me.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
Oh absolutely, thank you for being here.
Speaker 4 (33:04):
Man.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
When it's all said and done, Swiss, What do you
want people to feel when they hear the names with speeds?
Speaker 8 (33:14):
I want them to feel the sky's not the limits
is just a view. You know, there's footprints on the moon.
Why should the skies be our limits? Keep going, keep going,
way beyond your imagination because, like I said, growing up
in the South Bronx, I didn't really big dreams and
goals like that because they weren't in front of me.
Speaker 3 (33:36):
All I wanted was an MPV in the apartment.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
Right right, the basics, right.
Speaker 8 (33:41):
Yeah, you just want the basics. I didn't even we
didn't even know we was poor in the hood because
everybody else was on the same level. And it wasn't
even about money at that time, right, it wasn't well.
Speaker 3 (33:54):
You knew people were struggling.
Speaker 8 (33:55):
You knew people was going through something, but you know,
nobody really knew they was pouring the hood like that.
Like you know, although our grandparents and parents were working
super hard to provide ands meet for us, like I
was packing bags at six years old, you know, and
see town figuring.
Speaker 1 (34:15):
It out right right right right.
Speaker 8 (34:17):
So you know, and then went into cutting hair and
they went into making mix tape like I always had
a hustle. I always wanted to work. You know, my
whole bloodline, my family, they work. You know, it's not
too much complaining. It's not too much waiting around for
other people to fix the problems because they never they
(34:37):
were never was gonna time. You know, you're waiting on
people that's not coming right right now, get up and
get out and get it instead of complaining about it,
you know, be about it. And that's that was that
That feel the energy even still to this day.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Yeah, what what do you welcome to feel about the scene?
Speaker 8 (35:00):
Just you know, just positive energy, you know, positive energy,
because it's a lot of negative energy out there that's
really attractive. It's like negative energy just for some reason,
seems very attractive, but the positive energy to be more
attractive than the negative energy. Right, So you'll see something
negative in the news going very far, then you see
(35:24):
like me graduating from Harvard going very short, right, Like
if I did something, or somebody just says something that's
going to go way far around the world, or you know,
for me having a bronch charter school, nobody want to
talk about it. Right, So this is why I said,
we need to double down on the positivity.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
Yeah, yeah, you know matter it's funny that you say
that because you know our platform here at Black and
the Groom is all about positivity. It's all about showcasing,
you know, positive energy and positive inspiration and men. But
I find I find it common and what you just
said that people are usually drawn to the negative, especially
(36:05):
sometimes us. Why do you think that is?
Speaker 8 (36:08):
I think it's the easy way, the easiest way for
people to escape their problems, right, so real talk, people
use it as a cure, but it's a double it's
a double downer at that point, you know, like for
you to take something somebody is going through to make
yourself feel better that what does that tell you about you?
(36:28):
That you that you need to do better. If that's
news that's terrible makes you feel good, you should question
who you are. When I see things happening to people,
I don't like it. You know, I wish I wish
them the best, I wish I wish them luck, I
wish them everything that that's in a positive way. Like
I'm not sitting there laughing and joking about it, because
(36:49):
that's somebody's real Like you know, that's somebody's real parent
or real brother, a real son or daughter.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
Right, So.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's real talk.
Speaker 4 (37:07):
Dropping a love color hoodies while I'm like soundtracks.
Speaker 5 (37:11):
Eight tracks, they get it back to health. These that's
a flashback.
Speaker 4 (37:14):
I lay they have fashion on the streets like Beverly
Hill Pass for got everyone dripping clean. That can't help
but feel the fox. It's a full of soul from these.
Speaker 5 (37:23):
Coach sweat the rap beings, christ.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Be Mark Wan welcome Black, thank you, thank you for
having me. You're very welcome, man, and you're very welcome.
One of the things you do well is bring the
right people into the room, whether it's Swiss speeds Uh
setting the tone musically, or now Ron Flynn joining the
cast this season, What do you look for when you're
choosing who to build with, and how do you know
(37:52):
when someone just fits right.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
Well, you're talking with someone that played basketball at one time.
So we all teams play. You know, the point guard
needs to shooting guard, the shooting guard needs a small
forward the power for it, and the center. So I
was always the type of person to always play offense.
You know, we play defense a lot, but I wanted
to play offense and making sure that these characters that
we bring they can evolve into something bigger than they are.
(38:19):
For example, with Forrest Whitaker, he at first didn't want
to he didn't commit to playing Bumpy. He committed to
producing it. Right, my mom, I'm saying, we had to
get a great writer. So I got spects scripts from
all over the place from Uta, Cia w and me.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
And one day I was.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
Just looking at IMDb pro and I looked and found
Chris Broncado and Paul Extein, Paul Extin rp rest In Peace.
Chris Broncado created the TV series Marcos, and Paul flew
out in New York to meet me. And he's a big,
spoiling guy. Man missed him so much, and he said,
(38:59):
you know, what what Bumpy put my grandmother through secretarial college.
We did, Hudler, I want to make this happen with you.
Chris at the time couldn't commit to it because he
was working on some other projects. He was working on
the El Chappo series. He was working on this project
called I SA that was going to be on CBS,
a pilot that didn't get picked up. And six months
(39:20):
later Chris said, you know what, I want to get
this done with you. But we got to tell the
perspective of Bumpy coming home from jail in nineteen sixty three,
So that was one one part was that we made happen.
And then bringing in Bumpy at the last hour, Forrest said,
you know what, I want to play Bumpy Johnson. You
(39:43):
know it was just it was just like magic being
so surreal. You know, it's so happening so much. You know,
I couldn't ask for the cards to align any better
than the.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
Dead Yeah, yeah, yeah. How much how much confidence did
it give you in the work that you knew that
you were creating, when you were able to assemble all
these people?
Speaker 2 (40:03):
The confidence was was was always good for me. But
you know, I'm not gonna lie to you that I
didn't didn't feel defeated a couple of times because Forrest
is actually in a room pitching it, pitching it with me.
You know, we had President of the ABC Pat Moran,
Tracy Underwood, Forrest Whitaker, Nina Yang Bon Jovie, my partner,
Jim Atchison, the Great Professor James Smalls was actually out
(40:27):
there as well too, and we were getting those No
one believed in this dream that we had, you know,
they were like, Okay, that's cool, but we just we're
going to pass. We got actually got passed twice by Stars.
Aria Emmanuel, the head of W and ME, walked us
into Chris Albert at Stars and he said he didn't
see it. But Michael Wright, who came from a company
(40:50):
called Ambulin Entertainment, Steven Spielberg's company, and it was over
at TNT. He saw the script. He was like, you guys,
we need to meet. They went there. I got depressed.
I'm not gonna lie to you, Keith. I went back
to New York City. I was trying to figure out
what am I gonna do? Man, Like, this is this
had to work for me. I didn't have a plan B.
(41:10):
I only had a plan a. Furis called me. He said,
you know we're gonna go take this meeting with Michael.
I put my phone on, turned my phone off because
I was waiting for another another letdown. Forrest called me
seven times right, not picking up your phone, and I said,
what's up? He said, Yo, We sold it in a
room and then and then the journey began, The real
(41:33):
journey began.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
Yes, and congratulations to you mine. Where can everybody watch
Godfather of Harlem and where can they find you on
social media? Oh?
Speaker 2 (41:43):
You can watch Godfather Harlem Sunday MGM plus April thirteenth,
season four. It's about to go down hell.
Speaker 3 (41:53):
Up in Harlem.
Speaker 2 (41:54):
And you can follow me at Mark kwan A's m
A r k u a n N on Instagram, Markwan
Smith on Facebook.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
All right, Markkwan Swift Smith, thank you so much. Be
sure to follow me Keith Underwood at mister Keith l
Underwood on ig You can also follow me on FB
at Keith l Underwood. And you know you gotta follow
Black in the green Room at Black in the green
Room across all platforms until next time. This has been
(42:26):
Black in the green Room
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