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April 23, 2024 • 55 mins
Exclusive Interview with an Iconic Rapper, Actor, and Business Man. XZIBIT speaks candidly about the Music, Movie and Cannabis Industry. You will enjoy this interview as Dub C and CJ Mac kick off their third season. Have fun, like and subscribe.
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(00:00):
Welcome to another pop pack episode ofthe dub C and c J Mac Show.
I am c J Max and I'mstill dub C. What's having bro?
Brother? Man? Man? Manthat man, you had a good
time Canada. You had a goodtime in Canada. Fun Huh, it
was fun. Cool. I likethis shirt, man, that sweater,

(00:21):
Yeah, it was cool. Iain't never seen you in red like that.
Yeah. You do a whole lotof things. Brother, You ain't
ever seen me do. Man.I'm a grown man. Brother. I
do what I want to do.Man, It's been like that around my
way. Man, that's been keythe rock man. So why you scored?
First of all? Why you scored? Y'all? See nobody asking me.

(00:42):
He's square, He's squared up atme like you see, nobody asked
me. I know what what whatI got on? Bro? You know
you know I'm your brother, man. So it ain't the first time you
got sweatd for wearing red, right, you work? I wear what I
want to wear, a brother.I saw that. Hey, everybody out
there, look, just get itunderstood that these these sweat shirts were available

(01:04):
on dumb See and c J maxdot com. When I color blind?
What what's up, bro, wegot very special guests here again once again.
Yeah, he was on tour withU too. Man, he was
in Canada killing it. I getto go next time, next time.
Okay, So who we got Xto the mother. Thank you, appreciate

(01:29):
you in your time, man,thank you, Thank you guys. I
love this show. I love whatyou guys are doing. So you got
you was in Canada? Yeah,I did. I did some Marina shows
with dub Q and it was freezing. It was, yeah, but all
fun. Yeah no, no,it was. It's always fun. I
mean it was part of the job. He's sweating you now. Thank you.

(02:02):
You heard y'all told stuff down outthere. Actually I got a chance
to see it on Instagram. Yes, yes, yeah, I got but
thank you, thank you for havingme. Man. I've been trying to
get it for a minutes. SoI'm really glad that you guys got me
on man yesterday. Yes, andship appreciate it. So what's what's what's

(02:23):
what's what's the new man? What'sthe latest? Man? Well, you
know you finishing the record. Igot a new record coming out. I
know I got to play some ofthat for you off today and uh and
then you know there's a lot goingon. Man, I'm just gonna chop
it up. I know, Iwant to get back to the record later,
but I do want to say this. It's an experience. We said

(02:45):
that when you we went from trackone to track seventeen and not a skip
nothing. Bro. Wow, Ithink it's uh what did sh evolve into?
Say from that? Yeah? Yeah, it's crazy. It's crazy a

(03:07):
little bit. But you know,you know, you know all bullshitt the
time. Man. You know,I played it for you to get your
opinion because I respect what what youguys have to say about the music and
and and the people that are involvedin this have been doing it for a
long time, so you know,you've seen the progression or the digression of
some of our favorites, you knowwhat I'm saying. So so being able

(03:29):
to come and play that for y'allmeets a lot to me. I want
to go back to, uh,you know, like when I first met
you, man, youngster an heretrying to get it in man and doing
your your your music and stuff.Man. So you're not actually from Los
Angeles, right, No? No, no, I was born in Detroit.

(03:49):
Uh yeah yeah, and uh,you know my mom passed when I
was nine. My dad got remarried, and then we moved out to New
Mexico for like seven years I wasthere, you know. But what's interesting
is this, I started getting introuble and started being in the street and
doing what I was doing. Andthere was guys that was from California that

(04:11):
would come out there at work.You know what I'm saying. I heard
that, Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's just fall out this god.
Yeah yeah yeah, and so youknow, so so yeah, so the

(04:32):
people that I was starting to mingleand corral with were in that life.
So you know what I'm saying.When I was able to actually come here
and live, you know what I'msaying, it was a lot going on
in my life. I was inthe street, so had I didn't come
like I came like right like ninetytwo, you know what I'm saying,

(04:55):
or no, before that was likenineteen ninety you know what I'm saying.
And the first people I got tohook up with was like key T and
Broadway, and you know what I'msaying, like, yeah, and I
got down with you know, Imoved in with you know, like Venice

(05:16):
Beach as well. I first,like landed, you know what I'm saying.
And I got my first little spot, and you know, the people
that I was associated with never oncelet me come here and get involved in
the same shit I was doing.They always wanted me to push me to
do music. It was never like, all right, we're gonna do this

(05:40):
on the side while you're working onthis. It was just like, you
do that and we over here.You know what I'm saying. And when
you say that people, are youstill in contact with some of the Absolutely?
Absolutely? You know what I'm saying, big mudog, you know what
I'm saying, rested piece of chicken, still his family, you know what
I'm saying. Like, you know, like I still got people that have

(06:00):
been with me through this whole entirejourney. And it's been a while one.
You know what I'm saying. It'sa blessing of a real friend in
this. Absolutely. So they satthe challenge, They shot the challenge you
had and didn't want the norm.Yeah, it was. It was.
It was crazy because you know whenI was when I was coming here,
I just made a vow to myselfand and and the man upstairs. I

(06:24):
was like, yo, you know, because I was just some ship,
and I was like, you know, if I get out here, I'm
not gonna do the same thing.No matter what, I'm not gonna do
the same thing I was doing.I'm gonna come out here and whatever it
takes to get where I need togo, just I'll do that. So
you know, really I was nevertempted to get into it. I wanted
to Purdue something else. So hey, yeah, I never went back.

(06:46):
But most of the people that theygot caught up really didn't want to get
in. California's tricky, man.Yeah, you get caught up. Man,
just kidding it and hanging absolutely,you know, it's a question where
you're from. And then were tellingyou don't bang, what's the next course,
William, your Grandmama's say. I'mjust saying, let's see what the
story. No, no, no, no, don't get it twisted.

(07:13):
And you know, like, youknow, I just think it's interesting because
if you look at you know,you look at all some of our greats.
You know what I'm saying that camehere from other places, right,
you know what I'm saying, Likelike Tupaca was born in New York.
You know what I'm saying, Likeyou know, they dog from Mississippi.
You know what I'm saying, Likesome of our greats have come out from

(07:35):
different places. You know what I'msaying. Corrupt from Philly, you know
what I'm saying, Like so sothere was, but they were raised out
here and they wpped that west ofthe absolutely absolutely did keep it real.
Bro, We're all one generation awayfrom Louisiana. Takes absolutely but I get

(07:56):
it. I get it. Iget it, and and and I think
the conversation that has not been had. It's like I think that people people
have been trying really hard and havea really embraced love for the culture here
that has been built. And likepeople that went to high school together out

(08:16):
of here, seen lost, hadtragedy together, trauma. You know what
I'm saying, been there firsthand,So that belongs to them. You know
what I'm saying. Nobody's trying totake anything from them or make light of
what that happened. When you comein from out of place, you know
what I'm saying, out of adifferent place. I have respect for my

(08:39):
struggle, your struggle, everybody's struggle. I wanted to be part of that
music, that creative sound culture backwas so prominent in beat, me coming
up and me understanding where my musicaljourney was gonna go, right, you
know what I'm saying. So onceI was accepted in that, you know,
I it's not my fault that Iexcelled at Like I didn't come here

(09:05):
to suck, you know what I'msaying, Like like I mean, it's
like it only that only started matteringwhen I became successful, exactly. You
know what I'm saying. I askedhim the question based on musical influence and
where he was and what was themusic that was pumping in his area.
That's the reason, because I wantedto know how the West Coast sound you

(09:30):
come from Detroit, how you endedup being with this sound, although I
know Detroit roll with us too,so that's what I was getting. I
can tell you, I can tellyou completely. It's it's ice Cube,
it is the d O C.It is it is uh coming out here

(09:52):
and listening to King T Alcoholics vibingwith that, along with listening to DJ
Magic Mic from Florida, listening toto Live Proof with all and all these
other things that were happening, youknow, mc hammer, You know what
I'm saying. The first Green Tablelike front was the ship. You know

(10:13):
what I'm saying, I want todo on Capitol Records and trying to sm
you know what I'm saying. ButI was listening to a lot of ship
and so when I actually got here, I was just battle rapping. I
didn't have songs, songwriting, structureskills, you know what I'm saying.

(10:37):
I was just battling. I wasjust rapping for you know, bars,
bars nigga until the other niggas saidI stop. You know what I'm saying
too much? Right and so andso once once I started being around,
like key T was the first heJames Broadway, I got to be sitting
in three sixty studios, you know, I slept in that motherfucker and and

(11:01):
you know, just learning. Andkey T was the first rapper I met
with a record deal. You knowwhat I'm saying. Yeah and deal,
yeah, yeah yeah. And Ijust learned from there and then I cut
my teeth there and then just startedjust like growing and growing. And then
you know, there was no internet, so you had to really do it
break by break well, speaking ofno Internet back then, me and my

(11:24):
brother Tunes Rest in Peace, wefirst heard of you wake Up show,
killing it. That's it. Thatwas Yeah, that was that was where
that was not the that was likethe Colisseum, that was the that was
the that was the doctor God before. Yeah, we lived for that moment,

(11:46):
like going up there and getting theopen mic and then just just trying
to beat beat. But yeah,that was Gladiator School and that's where you
know, a lot of us were. It was that. And then when
we perform at Unity, you know, so you got to remember it was
a time where you know, deathRow full blown. You know what I'm

(12:09):
saying, everything was happening to gFunks. Sound had created mega superstars,
right, and so it was justlike it goes back to the influences.
We were considered backpack you know,back backpack rappers. You know what I'm
saying. What changed it is whatwe came in. It was like,
okay, we're gonna put what thetraditional West Coast and then put our lyricism

(12:33):
with it. So there's only afew of us that came out at the
time. I consider like rass Cast, Crooked Eye myself, you know what
I'm saying, Like we weren't kindof you know, even where I am
was in our graduating class. Youknow what I'm saying, like we we
couldn't sound like y'all. We couldn'tsound like Snoop. We couldn't sound like
like in Wa. We couldn't soundlike Q. We had to come up.

(12:56):
But we also was in that battlerap scene, so how do well
together? And that's where the recordscame out. That's where Papa Rotzi came
from. That's where you know whatI'm saying like, Yeah, motherfuckers is
like, where's he from? Youknow what I'm saying like because it sounded
like I was rapping from New York. But it had this fucking heavy ass
subbing right be you know what I'msaying, with violins in it. But
it was a total left from whateverything else that was happening. Okay,

(13:20):
stopping right there. You didn't getYou might not have got the notoriety from
the so called quote unquote gangster rapcrowd, but did you see the love
that you was getting from the backpackedcrowd. Absolutely, you know those who
we call hip hop heads. Absolutelyday absolutely was doing something. See that's
I hate that they try to bottleus up and they say, you know,

(13:41):
this is just West Coast rap whenthere was somebody you jus always getting
mad. We used to be shoppingfor beats, said we want some beats
and they got it. Ain't justbe with their typical When I say day,
I'm talking about producers who wasn't fromhere. The beats that they were
give us always what they thought wasthe West Coast, you know, but

(14:03):
we had depth and we never gota chance really to display that till later
down the line, you know.So you know, I'm just happy that
you continue to be yourself and thatyou was proud of who you were and
where you were from, and youwere you know, you were your badge
of honor, you know, theright way. So let's go from the

(14:24):
the wake Up Show. From thewake Up Show and being with telling them,
how did you first get on likefall wise is, you know,
coming up with a record deal andgetting out there. I never made a
demo. I never made like amixtape. I never did none of that.
I was on King T. KingT put me on a song called
Freestyle Ghetto. It's his fourth album, seventh song, and that was the

(14:48):
first thing I ever done, Andthat was the first time I heard myself
back on the radio, like outsideof me plans myself on a cassette and
it was it was, it wasamazing, you know what I'm saying.
I was excited. And from thereSteve Rifkin came and offered me a deal

(15:09):
on loud records. That was thefirst thing. That was the first deal
ever I had. And then yeah, that's how that's how it got started.
Shut to teelor yeah k t.He brought me in, he brought
me on. You know, itwas one I was thinking. I was
trying to think back and I waslike, wait a minute, he's before

(15:30):
the alcoholic no movement, no alcoholicswas was started off. We were started
first. Yeah, yeah, youknow why I keep thinking that, like
Paparassi and all that was farther back. And then another thing I want to
say about that me personally, Ididn't look at him. There's no backpack
wrapper. This wag was streaked tome. I didn't. I didn't look
at it like that. I didn'tlook at it the same way as like

(15:54):
rass casts down. But it wasjust like he could just be busting.
I never looked at you. Inever looked at it like that, right,
But that was that was the graduatingclass that I was in you know
what I'm saying. Everybody had theirown little thing, like like ras Cast
refused, like he's gonna probably killme for this, but we had our
own ideologies that was gonna happen.Like Sferis from the Bay he was like,

(16:18):
he was like, Yo, I'mI'm hard on the bitch. You
know what I'm saying. Like Iwas like, Yo, I'm fucking I'm
gonna wear khakis. You know whatI'm saying, like like this like this
is this is I'm stilling with whereI'm at. Raf was like, Yo,
fuck you niggas is crazy. I'mnot wearing the West Coast uniform.
I'm not wearing cakies. I'm slick, I'm cool, I'm yeah, yeah,

(16:40):
yeah, I got two picks.I got my hand wave and wave
cap. Fuck you niggas. Andso we all would like we always like
writing from our own perspective. Weall fuck with each other, but we
all had our own little way.Even where I AM was was was will
one X. He was actually signedthe Ruthless Records. First, yeah,
I know, he was in agroup called That's Dope. And then the

(17:04):
same guys that are with him now, they would start dance circles in unity
and then that there's now the BlackEyed ps. You know that's due,
you know. So so we waswe was like like all trying to make
it all, trying to figure itout, you know what I'm saying.
And when when when Restless was theone that you know I had done Bitch

(17:26):
please, I had worked with Snoop. You know what I'm saying. I
had did Now was on a twothousand and one album, went out on
the Upper Smoke tour. Hold onbefore we get there, We're gonna we're
gonna come back and talk about that, but before we go go to a
break. That video, Yeah,that classic video what you se for those
who were Sleeping under the Rock exhibitgot one of one of the best videos

(17:51):
ever that came up, especially backthen when MTV was playing. That was
crazy videos and stuff for you tocome out and to be from the West
Coast yes, quote unquote coming outthere that we was loving. It came
that idea, that was my idea. Yeah. Yeah. I tried to
explain that idea to all the hotdirectors at the time and they said it

(18:15):
was like, it can't be done. You know, it's gonna cost it's
gonna cost too much. We needthis to equipment. It's gonna be a
million dollar video. I shot thatvideo with a porn director named Gregory Dark.
Gregory Dark, Yeah, Gregory Dark. At the time, he had
only been doing porn videos, okay, and so when I explained it to

(18:40):
him, he said, yeah,we'll figure it out. So how we
actually did it is thirteen shots andthere's only there's there's five or six wipes
that we that we tread. Whatwe actually staged it to work in three
or four scenes at a time,and then spliced it together with the wipes.

(19:06):
So what the wipe is is whereit can't when something moves past camera
and then it can transfers to anotherscene. But it makes it seem seamless,
right, And so yeah, man, it was really dope to put
that together and kind of bring lifeto that song. What you see is
what you get. At the timewhen I was when I was trying to

(19:29):
come up with these ideas, Iwas really excited about where we were in
music, you know what I'm saying. I didn't know it was gonna be
that impactful. You know. Itwas just like simple ideas executed really well.
That's what makes my shit click,you know what I'm saying. I
like to write from an abstract eventhough it's gangster rap, even though it's

(19:52):
like instilling what this a. Itry to still write abstract and I think
abstract when I'm looking for the visuals. So once I find somebody that could
bring into life, nobody wants tosee it except this guy who had never
done music videos before. But hewas hot. He was fucking hot for
us. He was hot, hewas the way he wanted it bad too,
and he got a lot of workafter that video too. He was

(20:15):
like, he was like, youknow, so I did this for you
X. So I'm gonna show upin the valley. We be right back
then, we right back to mC CJ bex show. I am CJ
Max and I am both saying,and we're sitting here with X. The

(20:38):
super Bowl brings that significant economic impactto any city that it comes to,
certainly Las Vegas, where it wasjust held. Blacks and Latinos make up
forty six percent of the population ofthe city of Las Vegas. Did we
get forty six percent of the benefit. It's estimated that five hundred million dollars
was generated, and that's not takeit into consideration the casino revenue. I

(21:03):
think it's time we dig a littledeeper. The key area of impact is
hospitality, with hotels and restaurants rakingin the majority of those dollars, with
people from all backgrounds flocking to thecity to enjoy the festivities, the parties,
the good food, the overall goodvibe associated with the Super Bowl.
That means people with jobs got morehours and made a little bit more money.

(21:26):
But who are the owners? Minoritiesare underrepresented when it comes to ownership
with the NFL. There are nomajority minority owned teams in the NFL,
and that lack of diversity reflects poorlyon all the ownership opportunities associated with the
success of this league. It's upto us to ensure we're maximizing opportunities with

(21:47):
respect to the NFL. It's nolonger okay for us to root for the
teams, go to the games,and spend our money and not participate financially
in an equitable way. Hustle,Young World. We got a hustle,
new job, new job. Wegot hoodies like this, come shot,

(22:12):
come cop, new drop. Wegot brand new ts, new jot new
Drop, Come cop new drop.You allays take your ship too far?
Right? All right? All rightonly at Dove C and cjmac dot com.

(22:37):
What up, y'all. This isDove CNE Welcome back to the Dove
C. C J. Mac Shawand I am CJ. Max Still and
we're back with the on Way exhibit. Excell X checked us out. So
we was talking about you coming outhere getting on doing your thing, displaying
your talent, but you really didn'tget that worldwide, notoraty until you hooked
up with Snoop Dogg and Doctor Rightright, Why did you come about hooking

(23:02):
up with them? Man? Youknow, I got a call from Dog
and he was like, you know, I like what you're doing. You
know, I want you to geton the song with me. He was
working on the No Limit Top Dogalbum, and you know he said that
you know Dre's gonna do the beatwent over there. It's like fifteen minutes.

(23:27):
You know what I'm saying. Hehad bench Please up, I wrote
mine. I thanked him for theopportunity and took off. Now here we
go, going back earlier too,when you said that you know you wanted
to do you you want to doyou everybody The sound that was around was
quote unquote gangster rap, and youwant to do you do you see now

(23:48):
how people that appreciate real music,how their fans of you just being you?
Everybody out there, do you don'tbe scared to do you? Don't
be scared to be? You calledyou up. They said he was a
thing you mustely and he wanted youto be on the record. There was
just a lot of movement around whatwe were doing at the time, and
then once that record came out,Bitch Please changed everything. It changed the

(24:11):
whole climate. It changed all therooms, you know. And that was
the first time I got like majorrotation on like MTV and just like radio
rotation ever and it just it justenergized this whole other thing. And then
I was I was still signed toSony and Columbia at the time because Loud

(24:33):
had been taken over by them,and so I was. I was then
coming off of what you See iswhat you get off that album. They
didn't want to shoot a second single. One of those I was really upset.
One of those. I was reallyupset. I was told to go

(24:56):
make another album after the success ofthat video and it just to push the
record. So I got really upset, and so I had basically like revolted
and I wasn't recording any music formy own I was just working with Snoop
and Dre. Sounds similar to somebodysitting over here right now wearing this grey

(25:18):
and blue sweater. Yeah. Yeah, you know, when I started working
doing the West Side connecting, youknow, conversation change, you know from
your original deal. But it's allgood, let's proceed. Yeah, but
that was it, you know,they were just just really not being good
partners. Let me put it likethat. And so once I started,

(25:41):
once Bitch police came out, phonesstarted ringing, I'm not ready to talk
yet. I'm not ready to talkyet. Then two thousand and one came
out. Still don't want to talk, you know what I'm saying, like,
I'm good, Fuck you guys.And so then then we went out
of Up and Smoke Tour. Thatwas it, Smoke Tour, you know.
Yeah. We had fun on thattour, absolutely, Yeah, that

(26:03):
was crazy. That was the firsttime that I truly got a check because
we all was on stage getting down. It was the first time I got
a chance to truly see how ourmusic just wasn't We knew that it was
people of different different, different racesby on our records, but to see
them in the crowd so thick,so deep everywhere we went, and a

(26:29):
lot of people will say it's becauseEminem was there, but they was fucking
with our music. It was fromfrom the time the first light came on
and the first music you hit,all the way to the end of the
show. There was no gap orlaps in entertainment like they knew they they
knew every word for word, topto bottom and never lost to beat the

(26:52):
whole show. Wow, it wascrazy. It was crazy. But from
working with Snoop Dogg and then beingon the Doctor Dre Doctor Chronic album,
how did you pick up with Drayto do your album? There was there
was there was talk of me comingover to be on Aftermath and I guess

(27:15):
they talked. It didn't happen.But Dre is solid. I'm the only
artist that he's produced for that hasn'tbeen signed to him like that producing whole
albums right, So he did thatlike he he he, He went against

(27:37):
the grain and was able to comeand executive produce my records, be involved
with the production of Restless, youknow what I'm saying, and a couple
other things too, like man versusMachine. You know, it was it
was, it was, it was, it was. It was a testament
to how you know, the bigthat machine that he's part of. For

(27:57):
him to be able to work insteadof listen, this is my guy.
It just it just showed some loyaltyand some kind of you know, like
wow, it was really dope.You know what I'm saying. Dre is
a fan of hip hop as well, so I'm quite sure he appreciated what
you was delivering. I wasn't workingwith Doctor Drane City. We had so
many different stories of boot camping.Yeah, it's we call it the recording

(28:19):
school of Doctor Dre. You knowwhat I'm saying. It's like it's like
yeah, yeah, yeah, It'slike it's like Professor X's like going to
the X Man's school, you knowwhat I'm saying, Like, yeah,
you have a certain talent, butlet me show you how to hone it
in, you know, Professor X. Shit. So you know, I've

(28:40):
been part of, you know,like rooms where people have been receptive to
what he's trying to do. AndI've been in rooms where people have been
tried, not receptive to what he'strying to do. Yeah, it doesn't
work out well, you know whatI'm saying. And it don't work out
well, it's a whole other thing. But you see what he's been able
to do, you know what I'msaying with it, you know, and

(29:02):
it ain't out till us out?So why not experiment? Why not?
Why not push yourself? Trust theprocess, Trust the process. So you
know, I want to ask youabout the movies. Yeah, man,
I think and I don't know ifthis is your first film or not.
Man, you got cracking in thegrid Iron, cracking in that bro.
I gave you real, real,real respect on that Actordent. I'm gonna

(29:26):
tell I'm gonna take I'm gonna takeyou to tell you some truth right now.
That was grid Iron Gang came outafter I had done a few okay,
right, put some respect on thisname. Pained. The first movie
I ever did was with dem C. It was called The Breaks. The
Break. I don't even know whatthat is. Man, Are you hiding

(29:49):
that with her? You know whatI'm saying. That's what I'm saying.
To tell you the truth. Thevery first time I did anything. I
feel. I don't recommend it.I hope it's hard to find. But
there's gonna be people too. Iwasn't starting in the moment, and so

(30:14):
check this out. And so Iwatched it back and I was like,
oh man, I'm really bad.Ah man, I'm really bad. Yeah,
oh man, it was really bad. You know how he you know
how I felt. Look, solook, so look that was the first
experience, right, But the firstmovie I ever did, it was an

(30:37):
experience. The cameras are pointed.That mean, I got love certain point
of that, but I'm not sureif I'm doing what I'm doing is called
acting. Yeah. They just wantto they just want to faces on the
screen. So but listen, listen, so listen. The first movie I
ever did was with ice Cube.It was Triple X. That was the

(30:59):
first time I was like, andit was an offer, right. I
didn't have to really audition for it. It was an offer, right.
It was just like, like,here's this guy, you jacking tanks,
You're doing all this stuff action film. I was like, fuck ice Cube,
Fuck yeah, let's doing this ship. And so then so I get
on set, right, and I'mI'm you know, I'm excited to be

(31:22):
there. You know, it's forone of the first shots of the Cube
in the truck, right and soso action. So I'm you know what
I'm saying, I'm bang, I'mhitting the corners. And so then okay,
cut cut cut, So me andCube said, everybody's just he don't
get out the truck. He justsitting there. He's like, so,
uh, you really driving like that? Hey, that was quiet for a

(31:52):
long time. And he's just likeany real he's startcasting. He's sarcastic,
fun with it. He said,no, no, look, he said,
you really drive like that. Iwas like, He's like, show
me how you really drive like likeyou like, we just about to hit
the corner. I was like,I was like, oh, it's just

(32:12):
you know, just holding the handand like yeah, He's like yeah,
yeah. He's like less, it'smore. He said, you got some
Batman ship going up? You gotsome Batman ship going on yo, And
then and then and then it waslike, oh, oh, yeah,

(32:35):
you know what I'm saying. Sothen I knew. I knew. I
was like, oh, I waslike, I'm gonna kill it, kill
it. I watched it back.Now. The difference between when you on
TV, it's like you're in somebody'sliving room. You kind of life size
at the at the most, youknow, you're not bigger than the people
walking around unless you got a bigscreen TV. But when you in the

(32:55):
movies, your face is as bigas a building. Your face is like
an apartment building and you and whenyou can't control that, motherfucker, you
can tell mother man, you knowwhat I'm saying, Like this nigga ain't
in the moment now, I getit, you know what I'm saying.
I was like, Oh, thisis really bad. I really got to
take this shit serious. So Igot an acting coach. I started going

(33:20):
doing plays, I started doing likeI started like doing like like like like
like auditions with you know what I'msaying with in rooms full of people casting
like. I never wanted to offeragain. I wanted to go and do
the work and like figure it outfrom the ground up. I still hate
auditions. I still feel like it'syou know what I'm saying, Like either
you know I'm good for this oryou don't you know what I'm saying.

(33:44):
I still I think nobody is goodat being judged. Nobody was like,
oh, I'm a professional you know, fucker, the greats even have problems
auditioning. But I know, inorder to get those rooms and earn that
role and earn that shit, that'show I did for grid Iron Gang.
I earned it, you know whatI'm saying, And the same thing for
X Files. Like I love acting, but I feel like music is the

(34:06):
catalyst what makes everything work. Ifeel like I have to work it acting,
but I could do music in mysleep. Well, a lot of
actors get mad at the artists becausethe artist's names put ascids in seats,
you know, and a lot oftimes a lot of the artists don't.
A lot of the artists don't takeacting serious. They don't take it seriously.
They was like, you know,I'm just about to get in there.

(34:28):
I ain't got no weapon. Butthe artists that do take it serious,
that's when you know, you startnoticing the longevity, like with the
ice Cubes. You know, yourself, the Will Smiths, the Queen Latifa's
on down the line. So it'sgood that you when did that, you
know. And I got a chancefrom working on Snowfall to watch the actors,

(34:50):
the actors, the actors, andto watch the cats that come in
who think that they could act andwatch circles get ran around them humbled me
very quickly, and and so thenfrom you know, like then I started
taking things very seriously. I've donemovies with Clive Owen, Jennifer Anderson just
like like really like. And thenit got to a point where, Okay,

(35:12):
cool, I don't want to acceptanything that's gonna pigeonhole me or put
me into this thing that I've alreadyplayed unless there's a dynamic or change to
the character that I really like digBut I'm not gonna do like gangster number
one or motherfucking hood guy numbers.That's what kind of like, Yeah,
I'm not gonna get pigeonholed in thatout either. So that's why I was

(35:35):
like, football coach is good,you know what I'm saying. FBI agent
is good, Marine recruiter is good. You know what I'm saying. Man.
But now now it's like as Iturn, as I turned back into
going what I want to do withmusic and these other things, these other
ventures that I'm doing on I neverwant to do things for money. I
never want to you know what I'msaying. I feel like, oh,

(35:57):
I'm just doing it for a check, like I want to have an investment,
an emotional investment, of creative investment, a time investment into what I'm
doing. So music was important rightnow. I wanted to get that out,
you know what I'm saying. Yeah, I wanted to get that out
of my system because nobody told mewhen to start. So nobody's gonna tell
me when to go, you know. But but I feel like this is

(36:20):
going to be like my last soloproject, you know what I'm saying.
You know what, man, notfrom what I just heard, brother,
don't stop. But before we butbefore we moved to the solo project,
let's talk about what a lot ofpeople know. You're from me. And
you used to always chop it upback in the gap, especially with my

(36:42):
brother Toumb's recipes when he came upthere that set experience, and you used
to always tell me it's cool,man, I love it. I mean,
I like getting down, like doingwhat I'm doing. But you know,
it's a gift and the curse,you know, used to always say,
Man, I really sometimes people thinkI'm just laughy laughing when it's not
just it's just not all that youknow. And I know with the Pitma

(37:04):
Rod being MTV friendly, you hadto be you know, you had to
be out there entertaining as well.To me, honestly, I was happy
to see you out there and doingit because it got a chance to You
got a chance to get inside someliving rooms that otherwise they wouldn't have known
about who you were, and notjust you, the culture of the exhibit.

(37:29):
And then they go in and thenthey find out, oh damn,
you know, he comes from theserecords right here, and then they started
looking at all of us. Iwas experienced time and perspective changes everything right
when I was when I was firststarted, I was coming off of a
really hot rud with records, andso nobody was doing reality TV shows at

(37:52):
the time, so it was itwas I was too close to it to
understand the gravity of what was happening. I wanted to be known for a
certain thing. I didn't realize thepower of television around global reach. So
I wanted motherfuckers to respect my motherfuckerlike I wanted niggas to respect my skill.

(38:17):
And you know what I'm saying.I didn't understand that people were falling
in love with my character and fallingin love with my personality. I was
talking to the I was talking tothe camera and making dad jokes like I
was talking to my kids or myfamily at Thanksgiving, like that's how I
am in the house. So itwas just like I felt like it was

(38:40):
conflicting with what my records, theseriousness of my records, because yes,
I'm multi dimensional, right, Ihave a serious side. I have things,
I have issues, problems like everybodyelse. But then I also have
a humor. You know what I'msaying. I have a sense of humor

(39:00):
that is very unique to me.You know what I'm saying, and and
and and now I don't want thatto get louder than what I'm trying to
what I what I was sitting hereto do. You know what I'm saying,
what I feel like I was sittinghere to do. And so that's
what the conflict at the time.Now, as I look back at it,
I think being one of the firstones to actually do it, it

(39:23):
fucking it was amazing. It wasamazing. It opened so many doors.
It led so many other people todifferent aspects of what I was able to
do. Now I can walk easilythrough doors and in different genres and it
not look weird, you know whatI'm saying, Like I can go do

(39:43):
a record and and yes I havea lot of work to do, but
it's still it's not weird in thatspace, and that I could go tomorrow
and get on the TV show andit not looks strange. You know what
I'm saying. Like that, that'sthat's where I am. Now. I
see it for what it is,you know what I'm saying. I think
it was dope. I think itwas dope because you was being yourself,

(40:05):
laughing, you was clowning, andanybody who know exhibit you know, I
mean, there's a serious side,but also to here funny, here funny.
So people got a chance to seethat. I think it was great.
And like you said, you gotto be in so many, so
many more households because of that show. You know what I mean. My
kids used to be like that,don't you know? Dude, Man,
let me fix this thing up.Man, let's go for a quick break.

(40:30):
You can't come back and talk abouta couple more things. We know
you gotta run, so we beright back after this message. I'm CJ
Mack and you're still tuning into theC and CJ. Max show with X
we got new merch, y'd Cand CJ Mac Show and brand new hoodies
only at dB cncjmac dot com.If you don't have to tag on it

(40:52):
inside it ain't us. Don't copfrom anywhere else except dub C and cjmac
dot com. Yeah, welcome backto the f C c G Max Show.
I am f C and I'm stillCJ Max. Yes, Yes,

(41:13):
thanks to great conversation, sir,Yes, sir, So man, you
don't want to talk about I'm dyingto talking about this record, but I
want to talk about the marijuana game. You blew up, brother, It's
called cannabis for my bad. I'mbeen trying to get in it anybody really,
So I'm gonna keep calling with that. Somebody. I take that back,

(41:36):
he bad bad, it's cannabis this. Yeah. Yeah, for additional
purposes, yes, absolutely, well, I mean you have recreational now,
so that that that that was whenthey first started, the whole getting the
light, getting the license card andall that stuff. I don't really need
that now. But you know,I've been in it for quite some time,

(41:58):
and you know, built a fewbrands, been through a lot of
different things. But I think mymy. My most recent endeavor is I
have a store opening up in belAir. It's called x w C C
Exhibits West Coast Cannabis. No no, no, no. It's everything culture
cannabis. It has. It hasa lot of influence of course from you

(42:21):
know, the industries that we've beeninvolved in, but it's really a celebration
of everything West Coast, you knowwhat I'm saying. And that goes for
you know, like you know,the rock that's coming out of here,
you know, the bands that havebeen out here, the you know,
the different genres of sports, andyou know, like a celebration of all
of our ship including the West Coasthip hop that we that we are part

(42:44):
of. You know. So it'sreally a dope representation of us. And
it's a really dope store. We'regonna do. We're gonna do a few
of them, but the flagship storesin bel Air, and you know,
my house brand is in there,Napalm is in there. You know a
lot of people want to get inthere, but there's a lot of work
that goes into it, you knowwhat I'm saying, So you got to

(43:05):
be prepared. You know, Ithought hip hop music was dangerous. But
you know what I'm saying, ButI mean cannabis motherfuckers. They'll do some
some scaling ship. Wow, it'sall that money, man, all that
money floating around. Man, meget that paper man, it's gonna get
little at the end of the day. Yes, all this nice conversation was
in there talking about using them,you know, with the with the proper

(43:29):
language, cannabis. And at theend of the day, this bad boy
pay better than a lot of Yeah, absolutely, absolutely, yeah, you
deal with it. I mean that, you know, before before regulations came
down, it was like the wildwild West, so there was a lot
of things that were happening, anda lot of like lucrative brands. But
now that the you know, it'sright now in twenty twenty four, it's

(43:54):
overregulated, it's overtaxed, and theymake it so difficult for you to actually
turn a profit. There's no writeoffs, there's no nothing that you can
really like stand on like other businessesdo. It's tax even hiring an alcohol
and cigarette. So you know,until they work those things out, I

(44:14):
always tell people, you know,branding is our thing, you know,
and nobody owns the plant, sohow can you create an experience for someone
that's different than anything else. It'sjust like you know when somebody make like
how many different brands and tortilla chipsare there, you know, but everybody
has a different way that they goit, and you go to one over

(44:34):
the other because of something. That'swhat cannabis is, you know what I'm
saying, Like, yeah, theyget people are like, oh I got
the fire, I grow the bestfire, and okay, yeah, you
and seventy other motherfuckers who have thesame clone. You know what I'm saying,
Like everybody got their own little recipe, but still it's still fucking macaroni
and cheese, you know what I'msaying. So how can you market and
how can you bring an experience topeople that is different than and unique than

(45:00):
over everyone else? And I thinkthat's what my specialty has come to be
able to create these things because I'vebeen doing it so long in music,
you know, like it's easy forme to come into cannabis and create these
brands that people gravitate to. BrassKnuckles was one of the first brands I
created with two other people, andthen you know, Napalm is something that
is a project that you know,you associate the word and the name and

(45:23):
bring it to life and your thoughtsand how you want people to perceive it.
And then some stuff works, somestuff doesn't. But that's why you
work on it. You know,still create. Yeah, right, but
but you know, celebrity brands don'twork, you know what I'm saying.
You have to make it about thefucking plant, you know. You know
you have different celebrities try to comein and put their name in weed,

(45:45):
and I've never done that. Itdoesn't you know, I want my brands
at least you don't know I'm associatedwith it until you know, you know
what I'm saying, Like, likeI love to put it out there so
that people can get the could getwhat they need from it. It's different
that, you know, when celebritiesput their name on alcohol or clothing or

(46:06):
something like that. When you havecannabis. People come to cannabis for it
to work, you know what I'msaying, Like they they like, they
don't they don't give a fuck aboutthe fucking you know shit on the cover.
They wanted to work. What's insideof it is important and when people
lose sight of that, then yougot you know, commercial weed there's gonna
be a bunch of bullshit that's comingin like in the next few years,

(46:28):
because you know, they still haven'tfederally recognized it. You know, there's
it's it's redd and rampant across theyou know, the US people are just
opened up dispensaries. The taxation isn'tright, but in California they really doing
it backwards, right, you knowwhat I'm saying. So hopefully that could
get worked out. But the peoplethat are that I've already left the station

(46:49):
with this this thing, like I'mtoo far in to go back, you
know what I'm saying. So nowit's just about partnering with the good people,
finding those people that you you know, you can add something to what
they already got going, and justbuilding with them because the more the more
people that fail this businesses, Cannabisbusinesses are failing every day in California.
People think you could just open upa shop and you know, get a

(47:12):
license and then you're gonna be rich. It doesn't work that way. You
know. There's so many things thatyou got to be involved there. So
me being doing this retail shop,it's just another piece of the puzzle that
I needed in this journey to actuallycomplete where I'm trying to go. At
the end of the day, man, I'll talk to anybody about cannabis and
whether they should step in. Andyou know, I got a lot of

(47:32):
people to call me that have beentalked into doing investments in certain things,
and I've been down that road before. I tell them the honest truth and
that they can take and do whatthey want with that information. But I
talk to anybody from that look likeus and feel like us, that feel

(47:52):
like they want to get in.There's a lot of equity licenses that people
don't understand the gravity of what theyhave, and or working with a different
group. There's all kinds of stuffthat can happen with cannabis. It's very
dope for us. We went tojail for the most We've been incarcerated at
a rate and been used and youknow by this plant. You know what

(48:14):
I'm saying, like like to beyou know, enforced with laws and rules
and things that have taken broken familiesapart. You know, give people thousands
of years in jail. We shouldbe the ones to get licensed first and
come out here and make this industrywhat it's supposed to be there's us a
long way uphill. But you know, I think you know there's not many

(48:35):
of us either. You know,there's there's Al Harrington myself. I'm talking
about black ownership in cannabis. Everybodyelse, you know, like you know,
it's too scared of it to comein until it's federally legal. But
by that time comes in, it'sgonna be big pharmaceutical money. It's gonna
be it's gonna be hedge fund cats, it's gonna be law lawmakers and legislators

(48:58):
that are coming in and set itup for us to kind of get crushed
and they can buy us out onyou know, pennies on the dollar.
Wow. So so yeah, Ialways encourage people of color to get into
cannabis. It is not an easything to do, but as talented as
we are, we can come inhere and put a foothold on what we
need and once you know what you'redealing with, because you sound very knowledgeable,

(49:22):
love it of course because you've beenthrough it. The payoff is big,
absolut fucking Louis Yeah, fucking right, Yeah, all talented. So
finally, this record we just heard, we started, this is absolutely amazing.

(49:42):
I am a borderline hater. SoI would not sit up here and
say that this record was fire.If you know, I wouldn't that this
record is fire if it was notfired. You record is fire. It
is exactly what I think hip hopshiit evolved to grown man hip hop.

(50:06):
It's just West Coast no hip hop, bro. We should evolve to the
things that you're saying. Man.You you you're talking about things and you're
bringing back a filling man of someof the gil scott Herons and guys to
try to teach us in the Saturnsbro about things. But you but you're
doing it in a way that's today. It doesn't sound like an old it
doesn't sound it sounds like a newnot that the beats are the same beats

(50:31):
that you know. Hey man,the song with Red Man like seventeen is
banging. King Maker. You gotto go and get King Maker DM the
show and tell me what you're thinking. It's hot? What made you come

(50:52):
up with the title it's it's,it's it's it's because it has nothing to
do with me sitting on the throneor having royalty or having some kind of
dominance over anyone. This is abouta transfer of information. This is about

(51:12):
things that have made me successful.Ideologies, you know, uh, consistent
thought patterns, things that you know, habits that have made me successful.
So nobody likes to get preached to, especially from you know, the way
that music is perceived now, Butyou can drop things that make people think.

(51:35):
And I think that's what I striveto do on this record. Talk
from a place of power, Talkfrom a place of experience and maturity,
you know, yeah, in confidence. You know I've done to shoot them
up bang bang records. I've donethe fucking I'll kill you a thousand different
way records. I've done the wholebravado. I've holed this. I got
it, you know, Haha,it's not time for that. I wanted

(52:00):
to come up with something that Icould, you know, be happy with.
I feel like this is my firstThis is my last solo record,
my last solo record meaning that,yeah, I'll still be involved in music,
but as far as like building anexhibit body of work, I think
I said what I need to sayon this. You know what I'm saying.

(52:20):
You said a whole lot, andI love it. I love it.
Song with your son, Yeah,and he got his own twins.
I got, I got some,I got some. I got some bucket
list moments on this record that Iwanted that I've wanted to do for a
long time. Working with Buster Rhymesit was a big deal. Was Working

(52:43):
with Red Man was a big deal. Working with Dad four thousand, I
got. I got like cats onthere that I got a lot of respect
for Man. I love, Ilove focused them joints. Yeah, problem
got on it. That was probablygoing about a different name now, Jason
Martin, that's real name. Shoutout. You got cranking. The album

(53:07):
was banging. I appreciate you.We appreciate you for what you've done.
Thank you the music, not justin the music, but also to you.
Continue to be yourself. You knowyou continue to be yourself. You
know you didn't come up here.You didn't wear no khaki suit and all
hanging down and you know, tryingto give the people what you think they

(53:28):
want. You know, you uphere being yourself. Limo had to be
a Ben, just had to bea Mayby at the bid Hell nah No,
I love, I love love thefact that you continue to be yourself.
From day one when I met you, you're still the same exhibit.

(53:51):
You know you just just mature ona whole other level. And I appreciate
it. Man. It shows growthand everybody out there, I want you
to continue to support I just UC C J Mex. But also to
go grab that album king Maker,King Maker. You will not be this
no and everything zip it got goingon. Man. So we're gonna see
you back again on the road andsee I see that May Yeah, straight

(54:14):
into Canada. We're gonna knock therest of the second leg of that tour
out. Won't be there you cometo see Jo. We're gonna bring you.
You know what's crazy though, ifyou bring me and they stopped in
the border. Got gotta gotta go. Thank you, thank you man,

(54:40):
you man, you man talent anduh I learned a lot today from you
being on the show. Bro Anduh yeah, I'm gonna be with the
people talk to you about the stuff, but about business right But no,
Man, thank you so much forcoming. Man. You had a an
excellent career. Man, Thank youYou've done so many different things. Man
and your talented brother. Man,I just we appreciate you. Brother.

(55:04):
Yeah. Likewise, you gotta goback to the show man, come back.
I will let's do it everybody can'tsit on the seat. Thank y'all
for tuning in to another episode ofthe dub C and c J Mac.
Sure we have been blessed a thisgentleman here today ex to the Z I
Am c J Max And I'm stilldumb, say piece ound? What's the

(55:30):
new word? I don't even knowstanding on business
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