Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh - Jelly Roll on Adopting a Midget, Making Save Me, and why Taylor Swift is the GOAT

Episode Date: August 15, 2023

What’s good people! Today we have long time friend friend Jelly Roll. He explains how he got Little Ron, what lead him to his biggest song ever “Save Me”, and why Taylor Swift is the Michael Ja...ckson of country. INDULGE! 00:00 Flagrant nearly ended Jelly Roll + “Open Er’ up” 04:49 Publicist quit after 72 hours 07:34 Jelly Roll = C0v1d’s dream + Mask Politics 08:34 Trajectory’s been insane + dealing with success 12:36 Jelly Roll’s criminal past 17:49 Trying to buy childhood home 18:55 Mom was special but troubled + power of music 20:43 Importance of the Rose 23:18 “Save Me” 32:25 Our favourite country singer = Lainey Wilson 35:18 Moment it took off 36:49 Success exposes you to yourself 37:56 Chase the cool not money 39:48 Bunnie Xo is a G + meeting for 1st time 50:35 Marrying Bunnie brought BENEFITS 55:52 Be fully open and honest about everything 59:11 Women know what they’re doing + fugged up credit 01:01:19 Taking everything seriously 01:06:27 Lil Ron adoption + lil people MEAT 01:16:56 Hard to fire people + Bunnie has her own bus 01:18:52 Scary Larry 01:21:25 Letting go creatively, insane venues & production 01:24:40 Taylor Swift is genuinely brilliant 01:31:46 Curating a Churchlike experience 01:33:58 Real connection with fans 01:37:22 Being lucky + dreaming BIG 01:40:51 Dreaming unrealistically 01:45:01 Dream collaborations + That Mexican OT 01:49:31 The Weeknd & maintaining mystery 01:53:25 Travis Scott + Lil Yachty are elite 01:57:37 Shrooms to create + constantly uncomfortable 02:00:55 Feeling like you’ve said everything 02:04:54 Time to decompress properly + cycle writing 02:09:41 Jelly Roll able to vocalise what we feel 02:10:14 Genius of Willie Nelson + creating authentically 02:14:05 Being rich makes you political 02:16:33 Jelly’s relationship with God & Church 02:22:16 The Church will die by weaponising Jesus 02:26:49 The feeling that DMX created 02:28:58 Abusing power + bringing people to God 02:34:47 All boats are floating 02:35:53 RAPID CITY BUY DEM TICKETS

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 What's up everybody, welcome to Flagrant. Today, this episode is long overdue. This guest is one of, I would say, the show's favorite people on the planet. We almost ruined his career by doing a fun little song in Miami. We feel absolutely horrible about it. We started culture with this man. We changed the name of Giant Titties to the Heavies with this man. We got Jelly Roll and the motherfucking Bills.
Starting point is 00:00:22 Let's go, Jelly! Yeah. Jelly, tell us how we almost, I mean, you were on this, like, superstar trajectory that, yes, you have gotten to now, but it almost came to a screeching halt after one day with us. Tell us how it happened. This is a true story. I almost got canceled before I popped because just being your fucking friend, really. Just fucking riding with the homies, just like whatever.
Starting point is 00:00:44 You know what I'm saying? And the sad part is instead of getting canceled, I feel like we should have got an award. We kind of single-handedly opened the country up. I think so. Like, literally. I think so. In the middle of time where people were spraying Lysol with boxes, we were having pool parties and bragging about it on TV and trying to convince people it was the way to go.
Starting point is 00:01:02 That's it. Simple as that. Looking back, that was wild. It was because we were in Florida, and no one in Florida took it seriously. So we're like, all right, let's just write a country song about life here. And I remember having even family from New York call me. They're like, what's going on? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:01:20 Like, what is happening? Is everything okay? Are you not taking this serious? And for everybody that's watching right now, we wrote this song. I think we were in Nashville. I was doing shows in Nashville. Yeah. And you were in town and we had been, you know, DMing.
Starting point is 00:01:32 And I was like, yo, can we pull up on you? Can we just hang? And I'm like, what if we write a fucking country song? Yeah. And you organized like some legit country brilliant singers and composers. Oh yeah. And we sat down in your studio, which was in this like. In the middle of Music Row, by the way,
Starting point is 00:01:52 in a house on Music Row, right in the middle of, right next to Warner Brothers. Yeah, that's right. That's where we were that day. Yeah, and we wrote Open Her Up. Yeah. And by we, I mean you guys wrote Open Her Up. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:02:06 And we took all the credit. We wrote it with your punchlines. We wrote it with y'all's punchlines. Some prominent people that we can't even say. I told a story last night to some country radio guys backstage, and I can't say his name. I wish I could. But a multi-platinum guy was telling this same story because I was talking about doing this today, and the radio dude was a big fan of the show. And I was like, you know Bubba Longstroke
Starting point is 00:02:25 that wrote that song is such and such? And he was like, you're shitting me. I was like, yeah, dude, we drug that dude out of the house that day. And by the end of the song, he was like, I can't have my name on this. And then I fucked up, because I love y'all so much, I doubled down and put a rap verse on it.
Starting point is 00:02:40 Fire, fire verse. I should have known something was up when the other country dude in the room was like, yo, I can't even have my name on the writer's sheet. And I was like, let's shoot a video. When a country artist is like, yo, you're not taking COVID seriously enough, that's crazy.
Starting point is 00:02:55 That's crazy. Bubba Longstroke. Bubba Longstroke. Can we say who did it? Garth Brooks. Yeah. Garth did it, man. Shout out to Garth Brooks. Yeah. Garth did it, man.
Starting point is 00:03:06 Shout out to Garth, bro. No, it is an incredibly successful country artist that shared his time with us. He did. In between pig hunts. He came in like full pig hunting. He showed up with blood on his shoes. It was fucking. That he just was like threw on the ground like that. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:03:21 It was like a real experience. And then we wrote this and then you came down to Miami to film it. Yeah, that's where I met you. Yes, and we partied. Bro, and I remember we were in the, we were at the house. My house had a pool in it. And this was so funny.
Starting point is 00:03:37 Do you remember? And then we had the two girls that are now the heavy queens, right? And we got you in a boat in the middle of the pool. And then you were like, you were like. I don't think we ever got me in the boat. No, we did. We got you in the boat.
Starting point is 00:03:51 I remember I ate shit. It was a tough time. It was a tough time. But we did it. I ate shit. So many times for us to get in that boat, man. Yeah, we had a couple of the Jaws lines. Like, we're going to need a bigger boat.
Starting point is 00:04:02 Look at them. But you got in the boat. And this was the funniest thing. And you just go at one point there you go at one point you just go uh all right all right i'm in the boat where the bitch is at the bitch is ready to go he said it even more casual he's like i'll be here you put the two bitches right here these are the directions my favorite part of that is I remember when I said it, I looked, everybody else looked kind of like, what? And the two girls were like, yeah, well, just sit right here.
Starting point is 00:04:30 And I was like, fucking. You're like, bitches are here. I said it in the most endearing way, though. Like, you know, I say it, I fucking grew up in the 90s and I talk like it, you know what I'm saying? I was like, fuck. And that wasn't what got me canceled. So what happens?
Starting point is 00:04:47 Song comes out and then what happens? I had a publicist for no shit, like 72 hours. I'm not bullshitting. I sent them the money and they were, I've never said the name. Can I? I think you have. I'll say the fucking name. You won't get in trouble.
Starting point is 00:05:01 So it was IDPR. Yeah, you have said the name. Which is like one of the biggest PR companies. They represent Kevin Spacey, by the way. Yeah, fucking wow. I don't want to say that. I've represented Kevin Spacey through the whole thing. I want to put that out now for what you're about to say.
Starting point is 00:05:15 Go on. You might need a publicist for that, by the way. We sent them the money. It's the first publicist I ever had, by the way. So I'm all excited. It's crazy expensive. And we sent them the way. So I'm all excited that it's crazy expensive. And we sent them the money, and three days later, they were like,
Starting point is 00:05:28 they sent an email over to Go's, we need to speak about this Andrew Schultz song. And I was like, oh, fuck. And the way it said, at first, I kind of read it the other way, like, we need to speak about this Andrew Schultz song. See what I'm saying?
Starting point is 00:05:43 I was like, we're getting traction, baby what I'm saying? I was like, we're getting traction and baby, it's happening. I was like, this is it. So funny. So you call it up
Starting point is 00:05:54 jolly. It was good. We did it. We opened it up. I was like, you got morning TV or something? I was thinking,
Starting point is 00:06:02 this is it, dude. And they were like, we've turned around. They literally sent me my money back, dropped me as a client that day. They sent me my money back. That's the best thing that ever happened. You know how offended somebody has to be to give you your money back? You know what I'm saying?
Starting point is 00:06:19 To say my money wasn't green? God. And they kept Kevin Spacey as a client. And I know that because an agent called me. He goes, I can't fucking believe this. He goes, one of my friends is a girl who works over there. And she's rolling her eyes at this shit because they kept on Kevin Spacey while people were saying that he was murdering his rape accusers. So not only did he have accusers, they were just dying randomly. And IDP was like, I think we can work this out.
Starting point is 00:06:43 COVID doesn't even hurt kids. That's it. Kids are completely safe with COVID. lying randomly and IDP was like, I think we can work this out. And COVID doesn't even hurt kids. You know what I mean? That's it. Kids are completely safe with COVID. Look, I think it would have been one thing if I would have like done it with Bubba Longstroke. That'd be crazy. But like I did it with a comic. I did it with a comedian and wrote it with a bunch of comedians and had a bunch of fucking
Starting point is 00:07:04 comedians in the video bunch of fucking comedians in the video. It was clearly in satire. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? But also 100% how we feel. As comedy should be. It's the way I prefer my comedy.
Starting point is 00:07:12 But it's like, and we ended up being right. It's the wildest part. That is the kind of- We stood the test of time through all this shit. You know what I mean? If my fat ass was down there, not worried about it, I feel like that should have been a beacon of hope through all this shit. You know what I mean? If my fat ass was down there not worried about it, I feel like that should have been a beacon of hope for the whole country. That's a good-ass point.
Starting point is 00:07:30 You're putting your life on the line. I'm like, yo, fucking let's go. You know what I'm saying? I'm COVID's dream. You know what I mean? I'm a honeypot. I'm like, God, this is him. He's on the way.
Starting point is 00:07:44 I can't believe we made him come to Miami. Everything is open. We loved it. We went bar hopping. But I remember you said, this is when I realized how divided the country is. You were talking about being in Nashville, and you were like, yo, if you wear a mask in Nashville, people are going to think you have COVID and be more scared of you than someone who's not wearing a mask. That's true. Whereas in New York, dude, people would get off elevators.
Starting point is 00:08:03 It was crazy. Yeah, well, if you wore a mask in Nashville during that time, we just assumed you were really sick. You know what I mean? Yeah. And it wasn't even a, like I was telling somebody about it.
Starting point is 00:08:12 It wasn't a political thing for me. It was like just what I seen. Yeah. When I went to Boston that year and they were like, I got in trouble for walking down the sidewalk without a mask by a police officer.
Starting point is 00:08:23 That's crazy. I was like, whoa, this is like a way different thing up here than it was down there. You know what I mean? Like it was, it never got presented to us like it was bad. Okay, so I remember when we were last, when we last connected in Nashville, well, I guess that's even before the video, but we connected in Nashville, you were kind of like breaking down, you were bringing down the biz to me and how you managed to maintain your independence
Starting point is 00:08:46 and then you had these songs fucking explode and then because of that, there was all this success and you were really breaking down music industry stuff. From then,
Starting point is 00:08:54 it feels like you've 10X'd or something like that. It's crazy, right? Dude, I was telling them and I had to quit talking to them about it because I wanted to make sure we were all here on the pod.
Starting point is 00:09:04 I think that's the kinship we all feel with each other, too. I think that's why y'all love me so much and I love y'all so much is that it's been the most unique thing to watch two groups of people that do totally different things that have somehow met three, four years ago and went on the exact same parallel trajectory. Yeah. on the exact same parallel trajectory. Like I'm looking last night as I'm coming off stage in an amphitheater to see that you just sold one out in fucking Australia. You know what I'm saying? It's like immediately I'm like how awesome is this?
Starting point is 00:09:34 You know what I'm saying? To see this fucking like, and it happened to like good people that really worked and figured it out and kind of did it however the fuck they wanted to do. So before you pile the praises on me, which I want to hear for sure. I'm here for them. Don't worry. I just want to say that I think it's been a mutual thing to watch.
Starting point is 00:09:51 That is the exciting thing. It's another thing. There's Israel's stylebender Adesanya, the UFC fighter. And he's another guy that he came on flagrant early when we were in a tiny little recording studio with a TV propped up at the back. And then we've seen him go on to become UFC champion and kind of felt both of ourselves kind of rising at the same time. And I wonder if the kinship has developed not only mutual respect, but mutual experience. You know that that person is also experiencing these weird things that you're experiencing that you can't really communicate to everybody at the same time. I wonder if that, as you've gotten to this level of superstardom, have you dealt with, I don't even know how to phrase it.
Starting point is 00:10:40 I was feeling it last night where it was just like, you ever see the venues perform and you just laugh? Yeah. You're like, what the fuck is going on? Like, how did you process that? How do you process the ridiculousness of thousands of people just watching you do? I can't.
Starting point is 00:10:58 I'm still so like, it's like I feel comfortable here because we're friends. Yeah. But to know that I'm coming here leaving Fox and Friends in the middle of a sold-out fucking amphitheater tour. Like, I was just telling Dove, I don't know how to say this without it sounding like I'm bragging. But, you know, does that make sense to you? That's a new thing in life for me, too. Your normal life feels like you're bragging.
Starting point is 00:11:19 That's why you don't want to tell anybody about it. For sure. It's like, you just keep, you're just like, I want to tell everybody. That's why rich people just hang out with rich people. They get the country club so they can talk about their problems. They seem like bragging everybody else. For sure. It's like you just keep, you're just like, I want to tell everybody. That's why rich people just hang out with rich people. They get the country clubs so they can talk about their problems. They seem like bragging everybody else.
Starting point is 00:11:29 Yeah, for sure. Like you can't say I lost a million to your friend who works at UPS. Yeah, for sure. 100 if I hadn't bought him a couple cars at the first time. I think about,
Starting point is 00:11:39 we're going to play Pittsburgh. I want to play it right before this airs. And we'll do 23,000 people on a Tuesday in Pittsburgh. Holy shit. 23. Holy shit, dude. On a Tuesday, dude, in fucking Pittsburgh.
Starting point is 00:11:55 And it's not like that's the only market play. We're playing Detroit three hours up the street. We just played Virginia. I mean, we're within the market space of it. We're playing two spots in Ohio, Cleveland. You know what I mean? It's not like I had to get an entire region of the country to come to Pittsburgh. And that's what's even crazier because that's the real inside baseball that we can talk about.
Starting point is 00:12:13 You can't talk about with most people, right? It's like, you know, sometimes you'll have a show do really good because you strategically placed it in a place where you're like, I think I can get this city to make the drive, this city to make the drive and I can make one big effort. So you really pull three different cities into one place. For sure. But this tour- I'm hitting them all, dude. I'm going about every 220 miles, dude. We're stopping that fucking bus and playing the show, man.
Starting point is 00:12:35 So for the people that don't know you now that are listening to the pod for the first time, I want them to get an understanding of kind of where you came from and why this is so insane. Because what is it, like 14 to 25 you're in jail? Yes, sir. Okay, first time you go to jail for? First time was like,
Starting point is 00:12:55 I was probably like 13 and it was like weed or something. I think I stole something. Okay. And then at 14, I caught a robbery case. And that's where it went down. Robbed, that's the big poor weed. Yeah, it was a drug
Starting point is 00:13:04 deal gone bad. It was a drug deal gone bad. It was a drug deal gone bad. Wait, for the person you robbed? For them, for sure. Yeah, yeah. It ended up going. What a great way to describe a robbing drug dealer. Drug deal gone great, actually.
Starting point is 00:13:16 So you planned to rob them? Yeah, it went good for me until I got arrested. We all got screwed in the end, you know? Well, how do you get, how do you get arrested for robbing a drug dealer?
Starting point is 00:13:26 Because they can't go to the cops. Well, they went to the cops for what they could. It's like if Alex sticks me up right now and he takes my watch and my weed and my cocaine. And then I'm just like, he took my watch. You know what I'm saying? You know what I mean? Yeah. And that's what happened.
Starting point is 00:13:42 That watch is nice. Yeah, for sure. I think I'm proud of it. Tour announcement. Australia, thank you. Thank you, you crazy motherfuckers. That was insane. We got to add some shows.
Starting point is 00:13:54 Perth, we're adding another show. That's going to be Monday the 13th, okay? Sydney, we are adding another show. This is going to be Friday the 17th. Both of those are on sale right now. You can go get tickets to those. Thank you guys so much for blowing out this pre-sale. This is unbelievable.
Starting point is 00:14:12 We're also gonna be in Adelaide, Melbourne, and Brisbane. If there are any tickets left to those shows, go now, get them. Again, thank you so much. This has been unbelievable. Also, Canada. We're coming to Niagara Falls on the 22nd, and then we're coming to Windsor, Ontario on the 23rd. If you couldn't get tickets to the Toronto shows at Scotiabank Arena, I would recommend getting tickets to both of those places.
Starting point is 00:14:36 And no, we are not leaving you out Alberta. Mark and I are gonna be coming to do the great outdoors fest, okay? That's gonna be August 27th in Calgary, Calgary, Calgary. Okay, pull up on us there. And also Dublin, the Three Arena, absolutely magnificent venue. Very excited to start out the European tour with you
Starting point is 00:14:58 freckled fucking gremlins. I'm just joking. I love you all. I love you all Irish people. Let's go Ireland. I'm just joking. I love you all. I love you all, Irish people. Let's go, Ireland. I'm a quarter Irish. Don't do that, huh? No, I have an Irish friend.
Starting point is 00:15:11 Don't make that, come on. Hey, I have an Irish friend. You said what you said. What, I did? Yeah, dude. But I'm Irish. I'm a little Irish, so I can say what they look like. You're not Irish.
Starting point is 00:15:20 No? No. Are you sure? Yes. All right, damn. You fucking spotted banana-looking motherfuckers. Can we just? Okay, I'm blocking. No? No. Are you sure? Yes. All right, damn. You fucking spotted banana looking motherfuckers. Can we just? Okay, I'm walking.
Starting point is 00:15:29 I'm walking. Listen, I love the Irish. Look at all the art that came out of Ireland. Okay. Look at the poetry, the writing. Brave? Brave is Scottish, you fucking racist. Damn it.
Starting point is 00:15:40 I'm tired. I'm sorry. I'm fucking tired. Ireland, I'm so sorry. I am tired of Americans mixing up white people from up there from white people places
Starting point is 00:15:50 it's disgusting to me so I apologize on behalf of them but Ireland we're coming and we're gonna look right into your fucking bloodshot skin what? what? what? we love you
Starting point is 00:16:04 we're gonna see you soon. Okay? Peace. Now, are you like, you have a gun at the time? Like, how are you robbing these people? Yeah, we was arm robbing. That's what made it. And I never, you know, I never shy away from like, because I talk about it so lightheartedly.
Starting point is 00:16:22 For one reason, it was 20-something years ago, right? Yeah. But two, I never want to take away from it, Schultz. It was bad. It was wrong. As an adult male, I look back and I've had guns in my face now. That was never the right way to approach people. Even when I became a hustler later in life and quit robbing, I had more respect for the hustlers and the robbers. You know what I mean? That's just not an avenue. There's no glory in that. But yeah, it was an armed robbery case. And the part of the story that we don't tell publicly, but I'll tell on y'all shit is that I caught another armed robbery case when I was 15. So I went and did like 16,
Starting point is 00:16:55 18 months and came home and got another robbery case. Oh, shit. Same thing, drug deal gone right? For sure. Same exact thing. Did you ever get in touch with the guy that you robbed dude i thought about reaching out to this guy recently just because you know my spirit has changed so much and i was like i'm afraid this dude would shake me down right like i hate to say it but i thought to myself like i like i go you know i'm surprised this dude hadn't sued me anyways like i'm just waiting on his lawsuit to come in yeah because i'm sure if he still hates me and doesn't want to accept my apology,
Starting point is 00:17:26 he's like, this fat fuck is profiting from my pain. You know what I mean? It's like, don't give him no ideas right now. It's like,
Starting point is 00:17:31 you know what, that's my nightmare. I mean, the guy was a drug dealer, so if you're going to talk about profiting off a pain, you don't have a lot of room. We was all,
Starting point is 00:17:40 you know, my dad used to say it this way, like, never be a snake unless you're in a snake pit. You know what I mean? And that's how I felt about the streets.
Starting point is 00:17:48 Like Omar shit. Yeah. And what led you to the streets? What's happening at home? So, you know, just middle, lower class. You know, I try to buy my old childhood house
Starting point is 00:17:58 like every rapper on earth. You know what I'm saying? Right? It's like... You think a chain is a bad investment. That is what every person said. Behind your trauma cabin.
Starting point is 00:18:10 The best part is they turned down my offer, and I offered insane money for what this fucking shack was worth. And they turned down my money, and my manager was finally like, what was you going to do? I was like, I don't know, go in there and cry, I guess. Have a therapy session. Go there and fucking play basketball by myself or something. I don't know. You know what I'm thinking through. But I went to the house and it's like, it's so funny because I guess we grew
Starting point is 00:18:36 up poor, but I didn't feel like it because I never wanted. My father was a hustler. He booked bets on the side. So if I want to choose, you know, it wasn't that thing. But then I go back to the house that I grew up in that I felt like was a pretty big middle-class house. I was like, oh no, this is like my garage. You know what I'm saying? It was insane. I was like, this motherfucker is small. You know what I'm saying?
Starting point is 00:18:55 And my mother was a woman who dealt with mental health and drug addiction. What was the drug? She started with pills. Just big pharma, you know, they'll give them to you so easy. And she just, you know, she would, but she was like very reclusive. She never left her room, like ever. But when she would, I would watch the temperature of the house change.
Starting point is 00:19:14 In what way? Like, oh, it would come alive. Dude, when my mama came down them steps and sat at that table, she'd turn a record on and light a cigarette. And I'm not shitting you, dude. I would watch neighbors flood into the house and she would hold fucking court. She would light cigarettes up and she'd tell these old fucking wild stories and play these records and like just fucking, she would create such a cool atmosphere. But this was something that would happen. I'm not shitting you twice a
Starting point is 00:19:42 year. You know what I mean? Like I can't remember a time I seen my mother outside of a room. I didn't see my mother outside of a nightgown until I went to court when I was getting tried as an adult when I was 17. And she showed up to the court in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. I've never seen her not in a nightgown in my life.
Starting point is 00:20:00 So she was afraid to leave the house? Yeah. Agoraflora? And I was like, fancy, fancy. I was like, yo, this bitch dressed up. Put of her. Yeah. And I was like, fancy, fancy. I was like, yo, this bitch dressed up. Put her nice sweatpants on. You know what I'm saying? I was like, yo, I might get out. I was like, fucking somebody cares about me.
Starting point is 00:20:12 You know what I'm saying? I was like, yeah. She got her sweatpants on? Yeah. Her Vols sweatpants? Let's go. I was like, she's wearing house slippers still? I was like, yo, we're in the money.
Starting point is 00:20:21 I didn't expect her to have two. This was a step. You remember the Might Be a Redneck books? Yes. You remember the lady in the muumuu with the cigarette? Yeah, yo, we're in the money. I didn't expect her to have a cigarette. This was a step. You remember the Might Be a Redneck books? Yes. You remember the lady in the muumuu with the cigarette? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've spent years of my life thinking about calling Jeff Foxworthy and just going, where the fuck did you dream this bitch up? Because I grew up with her.
Starting point is 00:20:38 You know what I'm saying? I know exactly what that woman looks like. It's my mom. You know what I mean? But I think that's where my love of music came from. Because what happened? It lit her up a bit? Dude, man, she looks like. It's my mom. You know what I mean? But I think that's where my love of music came from. Because what happened? It lit her up a bit? Dude, man, she was like,
Starting point is 00:20:49 oh, and like, she'd light up and dance or she'd cry. She'd play Bette Midler, The Rose. And dude, I'd watch the whole house cry. And we're all like,
Starting point is 00:20:57 in hindsight, it's like kind of funny, but it's like, you know, we're all grouped around like huddling around a radio like it's fucking 1962 or something. You know what I mean? And we're all crying together listening touddling around a radio like it's fucking 1962 or something. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:21:06 And we're all crying together listening to the Rose for the hundredth time. Dude, it's weird when you're young and you have this like protective instinct over your parents because, you know, the roles are completely reversed. But I remember as a kid, you know, my dad would deal with like depression a lot, you know, and he was kind of like open with it. He'd be like, yeah, I'm just feeling a little depressed or whatever. And I thought the way to fix him was making him laugh. Wow. So when I saw him like watch or listen to Eddie Murphy's delirious for the first time, I saw him laughing uncontrollably.
Starting point is 00:21:36 I was like, oh, that's it. That's the fix. And I guarantee my appreciation of comedy, love of comedy probably comes from that, that feeling of, wow, maybe I could control this thing that my hero is dealing with. I used to bring him to the comedy cellar when I was a teenager when he would tell me he was depressed. I'd be like, well, let's go to a comedy show, Dad. That'll make you feel better. And I wonder if that's like, you saw the way that music affected your mom. It's making me tear up thinking hearing you tell that story. Yeah. God, it's wild.
Starting point is 00:22:10 I think it's like probably the most similar story I've ever heard to mine. Yeah. Because I would come down with like raps because I didn't know I could sing, right? Because like our family, when we sang as a group, had a real big white trash family. We're like, where's white trash you expect us to be? You would never be let down if you met my family. You'd instantly be like, that's what I thought it was going to be, you know? But I would come down
Starting point is 00:22:29 with these raps because we'd all sing as a family and we all sounded like a bunch of drunk alley cats. So I just assumed I fucking sucked like the rest of the family. But I could understand hip hop
Starting point is 00:22:37 and it was the language of the neighborhood too. You know what I'm saying? It was our culture. So I would come down with like raps or poems or something. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:22:44 Because I would translate that the music was like, and that's crazy. I'm not even crying about my shit. I cry about my shit all the time. It's just crazy how similar that is for you that like, that you can even pinpoint. It was the rose for me. And I think that's why I write sad songs. It was the what for you? It was the rose.
Starting point is 00:22:58 It was Bette Miller's The Rose. Like delirious for you, right? Yep, yep. It was the rose for me. Because you saw her lit them up. Is that why you have the rose? That's why I got the rose on my head too yep that's why in the song same asshole i said a couple of crosses and a black rose yeah so it's crazy but that was the song so it's like for you it was delirious for me it was like i've just to this day i tell people i'm
Starting point is 00:23:18 spent my whole life trying to write the rose and fire and. What's the closest you've gotten? Save Me. Yeah, I fucking... Yeah. So I hadn't heard your music when we met. I played that. No, actually, he played the opener before we met. And then on the way home, I played Save Me. There's not many songs I remember like a flashbulb memory. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:23:37 Like, people remember exactly where they were in 9-11. I remember exactly what I was doing when I heard Save Me. Oh, wow. That shit, I listened to it again on the way here. I listened to your new album, Amazing. And then I was going through old shit, and I got emotional listening to Save Me. Yeah. What made you write that song? Where'd it come from?
Starting point is 00:23:53 Dude, you know what's funny, man, is that I think, as fucked up as it sounds, probably just like a lifetime of pain. You know what I mean? And being not even just mine, like, I'm empathic by nature, so. So like what I felt from where I grew up, like it wasn't until I was in my twenties that I realized that drug addiction was like, not normal. Wow. You know what I mean? Does that make sense? Like, you know, like I literally was in my twenties before I was like, hold on, people know people that aren't on drugs. Like that's a concept in life that like, that blew my fucking mind that there was an entire, you know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:24:27 I never seen nobody not do drugs. I mean, I knew from a young, I mean, even- Do you remember the moment? Yeah, well, sort of. I was in a program in jail and this lady was explaining, like they kept hammering that kind of into us in the program of like, hey, there's a whole nother life out here
Starting point is 00:24:42 that y'all aren't even familiar with. And I'm like, and I still didn't believe the concept. I'm like, Lainey, rich people do cocaine. That's how we thought, because I sold rich people cocaine. You know what I mean? Because I sold a bunch of rich people cocaine. So I was like, I know rich people do drugs. I sell it to them all the time. I got to the point where later in my drug career, I targeted them. I went to the hill and sent out the bar. Way safer. Way like you waiting to rob you. They never had a scale to check and see if you were trying to get over. They were happy with whatever you gave them.
Starting point is 00:25:10 You know what I'm saying? It was fucking awesome. You know, and she was, and I just, but it was like that concept and that program started to stick to me. And I was like, damn. And then you start meeting people and you like go to therapy and you start getting real things in your life. You're like, oh yeah, no, this was kind of different. You know what I mean? Like, though extremely normal for us,
Starting point is 00:25:29 it was like extremely, extremely, I don't know if that makes any sense, but I don't think it even. When you were younger, did you have animosity towards rich people? Did they frustrate you? Were you angry about them? No, no, because I had,
Starting point is 00:25:40 I was like one of them guys that had a richer side of the family. And I never, and yeah, and some of my family members were a little more, but I never felt that way about them. Plus, I never really realized how much, like, I'm trying to, my dad booked bets. He was a hustler hustler. So, like, he never didn't have a pocket full of money. Like, you know what I mean? Like, we lived a poor life, but ultimately, there wasn't one person in that house.
Starting point is 00:26:04 If they wanted a pair of Jordans, dude, figure it out. So even your rich side of the family was doing drugs, doing whatever. Yeah, I had a cousin over there that was a drug addict, too. You know what I mean? So even my best case, but the difference now that I look back at it is, that side of the family had one drug addict.
Starting point is 00:26:20 We had 12. You know what I mean? You feel me? And that was the thing, but it's like I just never even, you know, I just didn't process it. But equally, we're doing this amphitheater tour right now. I didn't realize you could see a concert indoors until I was 20. We had an amphitheater right by my house, dude. And we fucking get lawn tickets for like $12, $7. I seen Lollapalooza 97 for like $8.
Starting point is 00:26:43 You know what I mean? For real. Tool. Snoop Dogg. Fucking know what I mean? For real. Tool, Snoop Dogg, fucking Korn, Damian Marley, Prada. Do you remember that? Freed the press job. I'll never forget that, dude. I'm like 14 on the line. It cost us like eight bucks.
Starting point is 00:26:57 And in my 20s, my dad was like, we should go see Elton John. He's playing in the arena. And I was like, they do concerts at the arena? You know what I'm saying? I was like, whoa do concerts at the arena? You know what I'm saying? I was like, whoa, this is crazy. You know, I just thought you only did concerts fucking outdoors during three months a year, you know? Fuck.
Starting point is 00:27:13 Interesting. Yeah, because we go to all the concerts and shit. Y'all ever go to like amphitheater shows? Like, I've seen. Sit up on the lawn and party and fucking slide down the hill when the rain was there. It was called Starwood Amphitheater. My dream, listen y'all, this is my camera dove. My dream is for somebody at Live Nation to see this podcast and help me reopen Starwood for two nights next year.
Starting point is 00:27:41 What's Starwood? It's the amphitheater I went to as a child. They closed it down, but the ground is still there. The grounds are there. It's just overgrown. And I'm like, I'm willing to lose the money if they'll let me clean it out and throw up a 750 stage for a fucking weekend and do the jelly fest there. That'd be great. Dude, it'd be like the greatest thing ever.
Starting point is 00:27:59 The only thing better than that for me would be playing Nissan Stadium where the Titans play. You know what I mean? Holy shit. Is that the other dream? Oh, the Titans play. You know what I mean? Holy shit. Is that the other dream? Oh, you know it. You know what I'm doing so bad. If I don't never play another stadium on earth,
Starting point is 00:28:11 if I could just squeak one out in the hometown. Yeah, that'd be crazy. And you know, we're getting that new stadium in 25. But you want to get there before you would rather do it.
Starting point is 00:28:18 Yeah, because they were like, would you rather be the last person? It was like a hypothetical thing, but they were like, would you rather be the last person to play Nissan Stadium
Starting point is 00:28:24 or would you rather be the first person to play the new stadium? I was like, that new stadium is gonna be there for 100 years. At old stadiums- About 20. Yeah, is that the turnaround on these things? Seems like it, yeah. Okay, take me back to Save Me real quick. What is it about, there's something so special about music, right? It's like one song can catapult someone to superstardom. They might have all the talent in the world. They might've written a hundred songs before that, might write 200 after that, but there's something that happens where it's magic, right? And some people have one
Starting point is 00:28:53 hit. Some people have, you have many, you know, there's some people that can recreate it, but that was a magical moment that touched people. Sometimes it's honestly hard for me to listen to. Like when I turn it on, I have to be prepared for it. I can't do it before going to the club. Yeah. Because I won't. I'll just sit back at home and I'll watch fucking Chef's Table. Yeah, for sure.
Starting point is 00:29:14 That song brings me to tears every time. Bro, exactly. So what is it? It brings out my hair. What is it? And do you ever find yourself trying to recreate it? Yeah. Thank you, by the way, brother.
Starting point is 00:29:26 That means a lot coming from the homies. I don't know. I can't even describe. That sounds really poetic, and I'm not an artsy-fartsy guy, but I do love the art. Yeah. But it's like I dreamed of the melody of somebody save me. Yeah. Every now and then
Starting point is 00:29:45 I get a melody stuck in my head, but it was so stuck in my head that I went to, you know how you can hum in your Shazam now? To try to make sure, like am I tripping? There's no way God
Starting point is 00:29:54 just dropped one of these off on me. Oh, you thought that it existed already? Yeah, you know, in my mind I'm like, because you know like, nothing news under the sun. We're all doing
Starting point is 00:30:02 a different version of something. You know what I mean? So it was like, for me it was just like, let me just make sure I'm not jazzing this. So when I called my homie, I'm like,
Starting point is 00:30:09 this is all I got. He's like, I think that's all we need. You know, and it's like, I'll never forget. When he said that, I said,
Starting point is 00:30:14 we're on to something. I played it back that night. I sent it to my wife. She hit me back and said, biggest song of your life. There's a comment on the video. If you look at the YouTube, the top comment is from you. And it says, hey guys, trying's a comment on the video, if you look at the YouTube, the top comment is from
Starting point is 00:30:25 you, and it says, hey guys, trying something a little different, let me know if you think we should put it on the album or not. What? Just look at the top comment. That's crazy. How insane. The biggest song of your career so far. Wait, which one, the music video?
Starting point is 00:30:42 The music video. I was that insecure about that I warned my crowd. Like, hey, different content alert. You know what I'm saying? That's crazy. I forgot that, dude. Right there. Hey, I know this is a little different for me, but I'm wondering if this should make the album or not.
Starting point is 00:30:58 Y'all let me know below. 160 million views later. Put it on the fucking album, Jelly. It's going on the second album it's been on. It's crazy. Yeah, comment, no. Wasn't feeling it, man. I'm curious about the take.
Starting point is 00:31:16 When you actually recorded this, was it just one take? Did it feel special? Did you do it a few times? Yeah, it felt special. Inside baseball, we did a few takes of it until we found the one we liked to pick a take from. But we knew it, man. My wife is like my biggest critic because she's not into my kind of shit. She's like a rock and roll bitch, so she is just not into the fucking, you know, the old jelly roll shit.
Starting point is 00:31:39 And she hit me back and was like, this song is going to change your life forever. Wow. That's amazing. Like, I'll never forget that text right then. She hit me back and was like, this song's going to change your life forever. Wow. That's amazing. Like, I'll never forget that text right then. And I played it for some dudes that worked on my car the next day.
Starting point is 00:31:48 Because I'm like, I'm still like nerdy. Y'all know this. I played y'all songs. Like, I'm still a high school kid. Like, if you give me an auxiliary cable or a Bluetooth, I guess now, and fucking, I will immediately be like, can I play you something? I'm that guy, you know? Yeah. And the way they reacted was like, I'll never forget. I seen the dude getting choked up, and he said, play it one more time.
Starting point is 00:32:08 Whoa. And I was like. Yeah, and I was like, that's my core. Like, that's who I know I'm writing songs for. Anybody else I get is a bonus. Like, I have this picture of people I'm writing towards. You know what I mean? And it's like, when he heard it, I was like, man, this is fixing to be special.
Starting point is 00:32:23 But, dude, I mean, this song is, it's my next, it's going to officially be my next single for country radio. I put Laney Wilson on it. This song, it did it for me,
Starting point is 00:32:30 man. It turned everybody around. That's Dump Truck. Yeah, yeah. That's the country artist with the ass. That's the,
Starting point is 00:32:35 yeah. She had the fucking wagon, bro. It was crazy, man. Yeah, she went viral for that. Listen,
Starting point is 00:32:41 Blackfield found out about her. They're like, yo, let's check out this country shit. My favorite comment ever. Black people forgave Morgan Whalen after that. My favorite comment. That's why he said the N-word.
Starting point is 00:32:52 He looked at Laney like. My favorite comment under that stuff when she first started going viral for it was when somebody said, I didn't know country music was coming like that. Yeah. Oh, my God. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a great feature. Started going viral for it was when somebody said I didn't know country music was coming like yeah She got the mrs. Incredible I hear the music through the screen right now. Oh, that's fucking great man. My first time you ever see me get shy on here boy That's my friend. I'm just watching. You can't comment. I'm my homie. You can't comment. Somebody needs to see me from there.
Starting point is 00:33:30 All right, get it out. I'm about to get diabetes. She's the best sport about it, too. Like, for that, like, she took it in stride and ran with it. Like, her message is so pure. She didn't run with it. She's like, she's so country. She's so country.
Starting point is 00:33:49 She said, Jelly, if my big old butt got them to hear the music, I'm okay with that. Whatever gets you there. Yeah, for sure. And she's got the songs, too, so all she needed was somebody to look at them or hear them after they looked at hers. In that order, it worked out for her. She's on clean fucking fire now. Now, she's great on Sammy, too. out for her, dude. She's on clean fucking fire now. Now she's great on Save Me, too. She's great on Save Me.
Starting point is 00:34:06 Yeah, she's special. She'd come on, she'd do, y'all need Ben. Yeah, we need to get Lenny, man. For real, Lenny'd come up here and she's a hoot, dude. She is a Louisiana firecracker.
Starting point is 00:34:14 She's country, it's called Slaw, dog. Listen, she is a different kind of country, dude. Really? Hell yeah, dude. And her story's so amazing.
Starting point is 00:34:22 She lived in a camper and wrote songs in Nashville for like seven years, like a KOA or some shit. Like just, they called her Camper Girl. They'd be like, you writing with Camper Girl today and shit like that? And she's literally, you know, probably like the sixth or seventh arena act in country music women's history. Wow. What is she, deadlift? She squats at least 600.
Starting point is 00:34:46 I fucking hate y'all. Activate that. Blues, lady, we love you. We need you on the pod. Okay, so what is it like? What is it like? Fucking hate you. Hold on.
Starting point is 00:34:55 I need to know. It was a mistake. We love you, lady. We love you. Trust me. Everybody's going to the Instagram page. Okay. Boston always says, looking going to the Instagram page. Okay. Boston always says, looking for the fats, not the flats.
Starting point is 00:35:10 Looking for the fats, not the flats. That's fat. Yeah, it's his slogan on tour. Yeah, man. Okay, so what is it like? Do you remember the moment where you felt like the song was out of here? Oh, fuck, immediately. Escape velocity, right?
Starting point is 00:35:26 Where do you put that? Is it on YouTube, is it on the radio? Like at what point? YouTube, YouTube's where I started. So you gotta think, before I signed my record deal, I'd already had a billion views on the channel. Yeah. Right? You know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:35:38 I'd already built a channel. YouTube was my first love by a landslide. YouTube was, hot take, the first place for an artist to have music streamed, maybe besides Pandora, anywhere. Like a place where you could independently go hit the upload button
Starting point is 00:35:56 with just a fucking picture or something and I could get my music to people outside of like my space. You know what I mean? So it was, we started on YouTube early and YouTube took it and just, man, it went. And it's kind of one of those things people outside of like my space. You know what I mean? So it was, we started on YouTube early and YouTube took it and just, man, it went. And it's kind of one of those things that was scary
Starting point is 00:36:10 because I felt like, how do you top this? And that's why you were talking about that. I try to write another one. I immediately was like, get away. I didn't try to write another acoustic song. I was immediately like, go the complete other direction. And then Son of a Sinner ended up being a big hit for me and went number one at country radio and all that stuff happened. And then Son of a Sinner ended up being a big hit for me and went number one at Country Radio.
Starting point is 00:36:25 Yeah, yeah, yeah. All that stuff happened. And then even then, I was like, you know, what do you do? Because you got to find, you can't go back
Starting point is 00:36:31 to the same well. Yep. And then Drop Need a Favor is my first mid-tempo record of my career. And it's, believe it or not,
Starting point is 00:36:39 probably the biggest hit of my career right now. Love. Every night, it's the moment in the set where the crowd comes. Really? Yeah, it's fucking it. Really? It's it, dude. It's the climax of the set. now. Love. Every night, it's the moment in the set where the crowd comes. Really? Yeah, it's fucking it.
Starting point is 00:36:46 It's it, dude. It's the climax of the set. It's insane. There's a, yeah, I think there's a thing that I think you find out if you're more of an artist or more of a attention whore
Starting point is 00:36:59 when you get success and you either chase the thing that got you the success or you chase the art. Yes. And it's really difficult. I think a lot of times people end up doing this impression of themselves and it's across all our forms. It can be in comedy, it can be music, whatever. They're like, oh, this thing works. I'm going to keep replicating it. But sometimes the truest thing is to continue to like challenge yourself, do something different, like find out what inside is compelling you to continue to create.
Starting point is 00:37:25 And that's a tough decision because a lot of people don't have to make it because they never got successful. But it's hard when you buy a fucking $10 million house. You know what I mean? And you've got a fucking mortgage on it. And it's like, oh, shit, that thing works. Yeah. We know what works.
Starting point is 00:37:40 It's so easy to try to go back to it. Yeah, that's why I think it's great that you never do it. Still to this day, something I learned even from working with y'all years back was y'all always adopted the philosophy I did because we worked together on that song. So we got to see how each other do business, which was really cool for me. And it's always chase the look, chase cool, chase culture, fuck money. Fuck it. Money will follow that eventually. We probably still owe you money.
Starting point is 00:38:05 Yeah, no. No, no, no. No, no, no. Y'all did. Those three hours are not free. No, no, no. Y'all did incredible business. Y'all were fun, fun to work with.
Starting point is 00:38:14 It's like, even then, it was like little decisions were made on that video set that was like, do we spend the extra bread and make it look cool or not? And everybody was like, make it look cool. Yeah. You don't worry about ROI. You just worry about fucking like this. Like, I remember how big of a stretch it was was like, make it look cool. Yeah. You don't worry about ROI. You just worry about fucking like this. Like, I know how,
Starting point is 00:38:26 I remember how big of a stretch it was when y'all built this place. Yeah. I'll never forget you sitting on the couch telling everybody you went broke and your wife hated you. You know what I'm saying?
Starting point is 00:38:33 You were like fucking, you know what I mean? It's like, you know. But chase the art, man. Chase the art. Push the art. Y'all deserve something that looked fucking cool.
Starting point is 00:38:41 You know, it's like, even with the show we're doing now, man, I mean, you know, we still got a couple tickets available. Jellyroll615.com for any Jellyroll needs you have. Yo, get out to the show. Get out to the show.
Starting point is 00:38:51 But the whole tour itself is like 90-something percent sold. Wow. And it's like, so I'm not even saying this to try to sell tickets, but I'd appreciate it if you bought some. But I brought the production shows. I did it fucking right. You have to. You know what I mean? Like, i did it fucking right you have to you know what i mean like i did it the way you're supposed to do it like you know i did it like when y'all first went played them big rooms and you were like fucking blow it out dog like
Starting point is 00:39:12 i went and had a moment where i was like man how much shit can we fit on that stage yeah yeah you know what i mean like i want to bring an arena show to these amphitheaters yeah you know what i mean like that's the vibe I want to get off. You were telling us before the pod, you're performing four to five times a week on this tour. I'm doing crazy. Yep, four to five times a week. Technically, four and a half.
Starting point is 00:39:34 I think it's 54 cities in 11 weeks. Now, I know you work really hard on maintaining your voice. With that many shows, what do you have to do in between to rest, recover, all that? Thursday's a day off for me. Today was a day off, but I'll sleep the rest of the day, and then Thursday I won't talk at all. I won't say anything Thursday.
Starting point is 00:39:51 I'll just sleep, warm water, rest the vocals. I know your wife loves Thursdays. Yeah, yeah, it's fucking the day, son. She just unloads. Listen, I know. Oh, bro, while I got you, motherfucker. Oh, shit. Nah, I got you, motherfucker. Oh, shit.
Starting point is 00:40:08 Nah, Bunny's cool, man. She don't give a fuck about nothing, dude. I got the coolest girl on earth. Yo, you give her so much love, man. It's great seeing all these, like, there's so many, like, podcasts that you've been doing recently that have been going, these little moments going viral. Obviously, the Rogan experience was great for you. Oh, man. But, you know, getting back into that relationship, I don't know. It's something I
Starting point is 00:40:25 can also relate to. It's like getting somebody that is your partner and someone that you want to build something with. I don't think it's a coincidence that my career has taken off. I mean, obviously, there's a lot of other parts and these people deserve credit too, all you guys. But having that person that's sturdy for you allows you to really focus. Oh, for sure. And also just quitting chasing tail. Like just when you focus on one chick, like my phone freed up so much space.
Starting point is 00:40:51 You know what I mean? Of like all these little unnecessary, just trying to drag along shits. You know what I mean? It's like, and man, to have somebody that just really stands behind you. Like Bunny is all about, she gets it. Like, I sat down with her 18 months ago, and I'm like, look, there's a chance that if we do this right,
Starting point is 00:41:11 three years from now, we can look back and we can pave our own future forever. But you just got to be patient with me and know that I'm fitting to be in the wind. And, like, no hesitation. She was like, I could have told her I was going to fucking Iraq. And she'd have been like, like fucking see you when you get back I trust it like trust like she's just like
Starting point is 00:41:27 that kind of support that unwavering moment where you're like look you don't get to do this you only get to do this the first time one time that's it
Starting point is 00:41:34 if we come back around God willing I hope I come back around but I'll be old news we'll talk about current events next time I'm on this podcast not the jelly roll story
Starting point is 00:41:43 right did you did you drop like a pickup line on her when you first met her? Do you remember the first thing you said? No, I was an asshole, man. I looked at her and immediately assessed that it was fucking a problem. You know what I'm saying? I was just like, she had a dude at the time, and he was like super aggressive.
Starting point is 00:42:01 And just like it was a lot. It was a lot of energy coming from that whole scenario. This is, you met her in- We met at a bar, dude, like fucking 1972. It was awesome. Old school, just at a bar. I'm doing a soft ticket show on Fremont Street. Nobody's there to see me.
Starting point is 00:42:16 I'm on stage with people. People got their back turned to me having conversations. It's one of those shows, right? Fremont is downtown. Old Vegas, yeah, downtown Vegas. Old Vegas. Yeah, old Vegas. And I just immediately was attracted to her. Was she coming to see you or was she just going to the bar? They were just at the bar. Yeah. Yeah, it was a total, it was just like, I guess, maybe her dude at the time knew a dude that worked for me or something, but it wasn't like a,
Starting point is 00:42:39 we're coming to see Jelly Roll thing. It was like, yo, the homie's in town at a bar kind of thing. And that dude ended up going to jail. And when he did, she kind of reached out. And I thought she was just being cool. Just in general. I was like, there's no way she's... And then one night, she shot her shot. And what'd she say?
Starting point is 00:42:59 She came into the room we were all in and just sat on my lap. And we've been friends for like a year. And I was like, yo, and you know Bunny's got that goddamn thing on her son. Bubba, Bunny's got that thing on her. So Bunny sits down and I'm like, oh no, this ain't straight.
Starting point is 00:43:16 You know what I'm saying? I'm instantly like... Did you get bricked? Well, she wouldn't have felt it anyways. I'm so fat, I could be fully erect and standing up and nobody knows. But she sat down and I was just like, man, there's no way this is happening. I was like, this might be something. And then we ended up at the little bar that night and had a couple of drinks and she kissed me.
Starting point is 00:43:41 And we went back to the house and, man, she tried to fuck me. And I was like, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. I need to know what you're trying to do with your life before I let you put that pussy on me and fuck my life up. What are you doing? What are you? You're the prize, Joe.
Starting point is 00:43:54 What are you trying to do? Weren't you like homeless at the time? Why are you judging, bro? You homeless telling her? Yes, and she picks on me about it to this day. She said I asked her for her five-year plan. I may have. I was just like, I was intimidated, too.
Starting point is 00:44:09 Dude, this girl, like. The balls on you. This man living in a van. The balls on you. Living in a 96. What do you want to do with your life? I'm living in a van. How dare you?
Starting point is 00:44:17 You got her resume? Yo. Where'd you graduate? Were you at her house? Yeah. Well, I was sleeping on the couch. And then I graduated to the bedroom. In her house? Yeah, in her house. sleeping on the couch, and then I graduated to the bedroom. In her house?
Starting point is 00:44:26 Yeah, in her house. So the first time she brings you— She had a condom. I'm extremely homeless, by the way. Yeah, I understand. If I couldn't sleep on her couch, I'd have slept in my van outside of her house. And she had money money at this time, right? She had real money, too.
Starting point is 00:44:40 I was intimidated, too. I think maybe there was a side of me—it's embarrassing to admit this. She's going to sit here and pick on me forever. I was intimidated, too. I think maybe there was a side of me that's embarrassing to admit that she's going to see this thing on me forever. Maybe a side of me just stalled because she just walked in and I was like, this is wild. You know what I mean? I mean, like.
Starting point is 00:44:54 She was in lingerie or something? No, she was completely naked. She came out of the shower. But just a woman that beautiful being into you. Just that beautiful. Well, I've done okay for a big time. God damn. I have done. That's how I fell on my wife.
Starting point is 00:45:03 That's what I did. Don't put your shit on me. He's a rock star. He's a good have done. That's how I fell on my wife. That's what I did. Don't put your shit on him. He's a rock star. He's a good pussy, bro. So what? He sleeps on wheels. Tell me I'm wrong. Why'd he just did that?
Starting point is 00:45:11 Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me I'm wrong. You're wrong. You're the fucking bitch. Thank you. I'm right-ish. I will not let you take away from, I will not be projected as the average fat person.
Starting point is 00:45:21 You was knocking him down, bro. That was, oh, for sure. You know what I'm saying? My wife will tell you this. Come on, man. My wife will tell you this. I on, man. My wife will tell you this. I was not hurting in the, you know, I've done relatively well for myself
Starting point is 00:45:29 for what I have to offer. In the pussy department. For sure. I believe that. I've done extremely well in every department, kind of. I mean, you know, fuck, I've done a lot with a lot, maybe.
Starting point is 00:45:38 In this weird way. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah. I've done a lot with a lot holding me back. There you go. You know, but she just, it was something about her, too too that was like, man, I didn't, I knew immediately as corny as it sounds that I didn't want to play that game.
Starting point is 00:45:51 Hold on. So she comes in butt naked. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And kind of crawls up on me and I'm like, hold on now. Regroup. Timeout.
Starting point is 00:46:01 Timeout. You know what I'm saying? I'm like, let's chat about this. I didn't see this escalate so quickly. you know what i'm saying i'm like let's let's chat about this i didn't see this escalating so quickly we kind of went zero to a hundred okay i'm definitely a grower not a shower second here to figure out what's happening i've been doing cocaine i'm fucking been drinking it's like fucking let me give me a second here to figure this out okay what are we doing right now she's probably never been rejected by a man ever in her life.
Starting point is 00:46:27 Yeah, for sure. So what is going through her head in this moment? What the fuck is wrong with you? And she says that just like that. And I'm like, what the fuck is wrong? I'm just like, yo, like, are we just like fucking or what are we doing? She was like, I really like you. I was like, then cool.
Starting point is 00:46:40 What are we doing? Like, what are you doing? You know what I mean? Like, what's our plan here? Because, you know, don't, don't. I could tell this was entrapment. You know what are we doing? What are you doing? You know what I mean? What's our plan here? Because I could tell this was entrapment. You know what I'm saying? I was like, this is something different happening right here. You thought she was a fed or something?
Starting point is 00:46:51 No, I just thought like, yo, don't have me out here looking silly. You know what I mean? Because we've been friends. We were homies. It was like- You think she was going to try to steal your van? Yeah. She's going to, let's talk about
Starting point is 00:47:24 He's happy to be on my couch. I'm just instantly getting snobby. Like, hold on. You fucking drink whole milk. Okay, so you don't have sex that night? No, we do. Oh, you do? Yeah, about 7 in the morning.
Starting point is 00:47:43 We talked for a while. It kind of turned out being, she don't want to admit this part, but it turned out kind of romantic, like in a really cool, like we leveled with each other in a real way, and it was just like, yo, I'm cool with us, just whatever, but let's just not wake up tomorrow and have to deal with this. What's up? We've been friends a long time.
Starting point is 00:48:02 At this point, she's already helped me pick out a bed for my daughter, and I'm trying to get custody of the kids. She knows all these other factors. She knows she's still in. And I'm like, where are we? You know where I'm at. This ain't a serious thing. That's cool, too.
Starting point is 00:48:16 Just where is this happening from? You know what I mean? Because you had feelings already. I knew that I loved that girl. I knew I loved her the night I met her at the bar. Be real. Were you stalling for the whiskey dick to wear? For sure.
Starting point is 00:48:25 There was a lot of that. There was a lot of that. 59 AM. He's like, oh yeah. Showtime. For sure. I'm like, yo. I just need a minute to breathe. You've been feeding me alcohol and cocaine for seven hours.
Starting point is 00:48:41 You know what I'm saying? It's like, golly. Bum-ass city cities tour still going strong, but first, we do have tickets left for one special taping in Houston at White Oak Music Hall
Starting point is 00:48:50 September 1st. Hurry up and buy those tickets before they sell out. But bum-ass cities, back to you. Indianapolis, I think it's called Nap Town. I don't really know
Starting point is 00:48:59 to be honest with you. I'm just trying to act like I know things. August 23rd, I'm going to be there. Louisville, Kentucky, probably the only Indian there, August 24th.
Starting point is 00:49:06 And then Poughkeepsie, P-O-U-G-H-K-E-E-P-S-I-E. I'm going to be there August 25th and 26th. Those dates and more. Oh, also Stress Factory, India. When I say that, I mean New Jersey. I need to see y'all at the Stress Factory. I'm going to be there September 15th and 16th.
Starting point is 00:49:24 Get your tickets at akashsingh.com. Now let's get back to the show. Or maybe Mark's got some announcements. Sorry. Just got off a call with Hollywood. Turns out we have a show in Virginia Beach. That's right. This Thursday, August 17th, Virginia Beach, Virginia. Schultz's show is sold out. You know whose show isn't sold out? Me and Derek Derek Post And that's where we're going to be Virginia Beach, August 17th And then in September September 7th We're at Vulcan Gas Company in Austin, Texas
Starting point is 00:49:53 Schultz, we're going down there Guys, you know what you can do Suck his penis after the show Please don't It's always an option When we were in Brea, a lot of people tried to suck my penis You're welcome I didn't like that one bit, all right? I didn't enjoy it. But if you want to come out and maybe shake my hand or just say hello, Virginia Beach,
Starting point is 00:50:12 this Thursday, August 17th, and then Vulcan Gas Company, September 7th, Austin, Texas. I cannot wait to see you guys. We're going to say hi to everyone afterwards. We're going to do a meet and greet. I'm giving everyone a big hug. We're taking pictures with every single person that comes out. Okay, this is inappropriate. We can edit that part out. I'll see you guys later. You don't have to, though. This is, my mom watches this.
Starting point is 00:50:34 Let's get back to the show. The single best decision I've made in my whole life, second to probably getting custody of Bailey, is Mary and Bunny. And I always say Mary and Bunny was probably the biggest decision I ever made because I don't think I'd have got custody of my daughter without her. And were you intimidated initially by her? She's successful. You know what I mean? Also, like the line of work she's in initially is like, were you scared by that? Were you scared that you were going to get like jealous? Were you scared that you were going to get your heart broken? Like, no, whenever I was young. So when I made, I came out on bond at 17 where I got charged
Starting point is 00:51:08 in the door for the second robbery case. And I immediately found a home in the local strip club. And I had a couple ladies in there that I fancied and they fancied me. So I kind of at early age age kind of just didn't care. Like I understood the concept of these girls dance all night and then we go to fucking eat steak and shake and go home. You know what I mean? So like I always kind of separated that. You were dating two girls at the same time from the same strip club?
Starting point is 00:51:39 Yeah. It was a unique thing. That was their name. That was their name. This motherfucker over here. Yeah, this is a true story. Unique thing, bro. Yeah, for sure. That was a unique thing. That was their name. That was their name. This motherfucker over here. Yeah, this is a true story. Unique thing, bro. Yeah, for sure.
Starting point is 00:51:49 That was her name? No, no, no, no, no. Fetish and Cristal was their names. Fetish? That was their stage names. I won't put their real names out there, but they know who they are. So both of them, were they friends with each other?
Starting point is 00:52:00 Yeah, they were-ish. They kind of played, they played well together. It wasn't like a, you know, I was messing with one girl and she knew I kind of messed with the other girl. And the other girl worked multiple strip clubs. But it was a, but. Everybody was cool with it. Yeah, the parallel was kind of, yeah. Would you all kind of hook up together?
Starting point is 00:52:16 No, no, I never got that luxury at that moment. Whose luxury is the third stripper? No, Bunny brought the luxury, dude. Bunny brought, the first two years me and Bunny were together, man, she brought so many women home. It was unreal. Let's stop for a second. Could you imagine? No, I'm imagining.
Starting point is 00:52:34 I'm imagining. I want you to imagine there is a skinny dude watching this right now with a six-pack that has worked out every day of his life. He has taken dating classes. He's watched Hancock, or which one was the Will Smith movie about the dating thing?
Starting point is 00:52:48 He's watched Hitched a thousand times. Yeah, he's Hancock. And he's got to watch this podcast and hear my fat ass talk about it three times. You're like anti-Andrew Tate. Yes! Andrew Tate, you're, okay, so she starts bringing girls in.
Starting point is 00:53:03 Does she tell you she's bringing girls home? First thing, she was like, I knew that was something she was with for sure. And then I didn't know how fast she would act on it. First time, what happened? Oh, Jesus. You get the phone call or just she brings the pussy home? No, we're just out with one of her friends. And she just tells her friends, she's like, you should just come home with us.
Starting point is 00:53:21 It was crazy. It was wild. And I was like, at that moment, I was like, this could be my new normal. And we did that for years. Did you get up immediately or did you have to start a fucking seven? No, I didn't care about the other girl's five-year plan. What's your five-minute plan? Our five-year plan involved this being a very short-term thing. Now, did she have to like teach you how to have a threesome? Yeah, sort of.
Starting point is 00:53:53 Bunny had to teach me a lot of stuff because I thought I was like, I'm still not, I'm still green as a pool table twice the square when it comes to sex in comparison to her. Right. You know what I mean? Because the business she comes from, and that's something else that still intimidates me about Bunny, dude. It's like, Bunny is like, you know, like, you ever heard of a such and such? And I'll be like, never. And she's like, it's a do-do-do, do-do-do. And I'm like, it's the nastiest thing I've ever heard in my life.
Starting point is 00:54:09 You know, I'm like nothing. I can't believe that arouses men. You know, like she comes from that place. You know, her story is the best story on earth. She says the day that she got realized that it was different was this. She was working at a strip club. And I hope I tell the story right, Mama Bear. She said that the girl came and the dude came and said, I'll give you $1,000 to kick me in the nuts right now.
Starting point is 00:54:27 Wow. And she was like, absolutely not. So she goes and tells her homegirl, that's fucking pervert back here offering me $1,000 to kick him in the nuts. Her homegirl goes,
Starting point is 00:54:35 follow me. Walks over there and goes, is this him? He says, yes. She walks up, she goes, give me the money. The dude hands the money and the girl just kicks him
Starting point is 00:54:40 right in the nuts, right? And then she looks at Bunny and goes, you better take that money next time, girl. And Bunny was like right then. Do you know what I mean? She's like fucking from,
Starting point is 00:54:48 I had some strip club stories, but not that. You know what I'm saying? For sure. Holy shit. Dude, we need to get Bunny on Flagrant. Bunny's got the wildest stories on earth. It is insane. And you guys will talk about them?
Starting point is 00:55:00 You feel comfortable? You're never like jealous that she's telling old stories from the strip clubs? Yeah, no, I'm not. Jealousy is not a trait of mine. How do you compartmentalize that? Because that's the woman you love. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:55:11 And then she's talking about other guys. Well, let me give you this perspective, man, was we're all homies here, right? Yeah. And I've watched y'all laugh and talk about Lainey, right?
Starting point is 00:55:22 Like what dudes do as a natural thing is like we do dude stuff. Then we'll call our wife our best friend. We'll say none of that to her. That's true. You know what I'm saying? So it's like-
Starting point is 00:55:33 I'll say it to her. Yeah. You got a fucking wagon. Yeah, for sure. But it's like where Bunny was like, that was part of us being best friends was, I think that's the charming part of our relationship is that I can be like, yo, such and such is fucking fire.
Starting point is 00:55:48 Like, yo, I like I'll send Bunny Instagrams like, yo, you seen this girl? You know what I mean? Like Bunny's like it's never like an awkward thing with Bunny about stuff like that. And I don't. So in return. And the problem is most dudes that have that relationship with their girl. It's not the other way. Like, but God forbid their girl
Starting point is 00:56:06 likes a dude's picture with his shirt off or something and this same dude that gets possessive. You're comfortable with that? I'm super cool with that. Really? That don't bother me. None of that stuff. But man, that's my best friend, dude.
Starting point is 00:56:16 So if she was- If Bunny really wanted to go fuck a dude, it would be just like me and you being friends and me being like, yo, man, I kind of want to go fuck this girl. Bunny would sit me down, look me in the eye and go, yo, I like really am attracted to this for whatever reason. Like that's a big part of like we're best. Like we're really we carry each other like this.
Starting point is 00:56:36 What do you mean? And can I ask you if she's ever said that? Has she ever been like I'm into she's ever said that? Has she ever been like, I'm into something? She's never actually, we had one time where me and her were in a rough patch and she was just like, yo, if we don't figure this out, human nature is going to take over. You know what I mean? And I respected that. You know what I mean? And I respected that, you know, that that was cool. And that's just a part of our dynamic. I think it's what makes it, you know, communication, man, just talking, being honest. This way we don't ever have to feel awkward. I never have to feel like I get caught on Instagram when she's looking over my shoulder.
Starting point is 00:57:07 Also, there's no pretending with you guys because she's seen you at your absolute lowest. And I might have seen her with money, but I've seen her at her lowest too. Because that's something else, you know what I mean? When like Bunny don't do no drugs now, Bunny don't drink, I don't do cocaine no more. Like we're relatively, you know.
Starting point is 00:57:24 I noticed your list is a lot less restrictive than hers. It's observation. I definitely do more drugs than her. It's like Bunny just... We met each other in that dark place and we would sit out and talk about that five-year plan, dog.
Starting point is 00:57:40 I don't want to get emotional talking about it, but like... Get emotional. We would dream of this shit, bro. We would be like, she's like, I'm going to start a podcast and I'm going to do this and this is how I'm going to get out of this and I'm going to do this and like I'm going to do this and I'd be like, cool, and I'm going to do this and I'm going to do this and I'm going to do this. And then we like fucking figured that shit out together. You know what I'm saying? Like it's fucking kind of the greatest American story ever told is how I feel about it. You know what I mean? One of the best things to do, I think, with your partner is plan a future.
Starting point is 00:58:12 Dreamcast? Dream. What do you want to do? What do you want to make? Where do you want to go? I don't care if it's a vacation. I don't care if it's a house. What would you want your house to look like?
Starting point is 00:58:22 And just set that vision. And I think it's really, one, it's really comforting to know that that other person is like, hey, we're working towards this. But two, it's like, yeah, my life is with you in the future. When I think about the future, it's with both of us. For sure. Yeah. Yeah. It's awesome. I don't think you should ever stop doing it. No. I don't, if you're 70 years old, hey, where do you want to go on vacation next summer? Where do you want to go on vacation when we're 80? Where do you want to retire? That's it, dude.
Starting point is 00:58:45 As long as you're planning ahead. That's it, dude, and that's what we're doing. That's the shit we're talking about. It's like, and that's the shit we talked about from day one. She jokes that first night that I asked for a five-year plan, that next morning we really did make a five-year plan and knocked that motherfucker out the park. Wow.
Starting point is 00:59:00 You know what I mean? Like, we sat down, every year now, we have a joke that every year we look at each other and go, we still into this? And this year was the first year that she looked at me and was like, we still into this? And I was like, buddy, I'm going to tell you the truth. I'm making forever plans for us now. Like, I'm not even in five years no more. Like, the decisions I'm making for our family right now, where I'm putting my money and the investments I'm making on behalf of our family, even outside of the investments you're making, I'm planning on us doing this forever.
Starting point is 00:59:26 I'm thinking about Bailey's kids. You know what I mean? Like, that's where my thoughts are. Like, I couldn't imagine being with nobody else but my wife. Yeah. You know? And you could if you wanted to. Yeah, for sure.
Starting point is 00:59:37 Yeah, I mean, we're both on fire now. Is that how they take it away from you a little bit? Do like, they throw a bunch of pussy at you in the beginning, and then you go, I don't really need all that. Yeah. And now you're fucking faithful for the rest of your life. It's kind of a genius plan. It's really brilliant for both parties. It works out really well. You know what they're doing, these women, man. No, they're fucking smart.
Starting point is 00:59:56 They know what they're doing. They're definitely smarter than us. Bunny still carries, I'd say, our whole you know, I mean, even down to like the whole house, dude. Like, I don't know what's happening
Starting point is 01:00:08 with that house. You know, same. How great is that? Yeah, it's fucking the best feeling on earth. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:00:12 It's like, I'm so disconnected from it. I know in 30 years, me and you will both be living in a van while our wives have houses. But for now,
Starting point is 01:00:19 it's just awesome to know that they're figuring things out. 100%. They're just texting each other behind their back like, these idiots don't even have it in their name. I haven't had a phone in my name in seven years.
Starting point is 01:00:32 My phone's still in my mom's name. My mom fucked my credit up putting my phone in her name, Bell South, when I was seven or something. I have a restaurant that failed in my name. Did you? Yeah. We out here, yo. We out here, bro. What's up?
Starting point is 01:00:48 Rebuild that credit score. You got it. I'll never forget the first time I looked into my credit score and they were like, I guess you owe Bell South, which was, I guess 18. That's how long ago it was, Bell South. They said, which ended up getting picked up by a collection agency for like 18 grand. I was like,
Starting point is 01:01:04 what year was this? It was like 97. I was like, what year was this? It was like 97. I was like, I was 12. You know what I'm saying? I was like, what the fuck is happening here? Yeah, she burned all kind of stuff down to my credit. Fuck. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:01:15 That's crazy. Yeah, white trashery at its finest. I tell you what, man. White trashery. Was cutting out cocaine really difficult? It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be because I had a buddy get a pack with some fentanyl in it and kill him. Oh, fuck. Shit.
Starting point is 01:01:30 Yeah, Cushy, he died earlier this year. And I'd already quit doing it a lot, but I'd still, like, if I got really drunk, I'd follow my nose. You know what I mean? Yeah. But the way I described it was there's probably four or five people on earth that I trust enough that they could open up a bag of cocaine and I wouldn't think twice. And he was one of those five people. And it got him.
Starting point is 01:01:49 That's all it took for me to be like, man, this is, and we got tester strips and stuff. Like, you know, we try to do as much as we can to be smart about it anyways. But I just, right then, I was like,
Starting point is 01:01:58 I'll never touch that shit again. Y'all are going to be proud of me, dude. I'm only drinking like maybe three days a month now. What? Three days a month. God bless, dude. That's amazing.
Starting point is 01:02:07 Man, I'm taking this so serious, Schultz. As much as we sit around and fuck around, dog, one thing I know about y'all and y'all know about me is like, man, when it's time not to— I take it like— Dog, I'm taking days of vocal rest. I'm doing 30, 45-minute vocal warm-ups night. Vocal cool-downs after the show. I brought a nutritionist on tour. I've lost 20-something pounds. Let's go.
Starting point is 01:02:29 I got a dude that worked with all the UFC guys. He's one of George Lockhart's guys. Ian Larios. He just did the Jamal Hill when he fought for the 205 title last year. He does all the weight cuts and stuff. We're down like 20-something pounds working out every day. I'm taking this shit like... Is this the most sober you've ever been? Yeah, it's definitely the most clear-headed
Starting point is 01:02:45 I've ever been. Oh, wow. And how does it feel? Do you feel better day to day? Is reality weighing on you? How does it feel to feel? It feels good. It feels good.
Starting point is 01:02:53 I'm still smoking a lot of reefer. And I'll still... It'd be probably three days a month I'll tie it on the way I tie it on. When I drink, I still drink the way I drink. You know what I'm saying? What y'all seen.
Starting point is 01:03:03 Save one of those three days for us the next time. It's a guarantee. It's a fucking fix in stone. It's a drunk I've been looking forward to forever. Last time y'all took me out to get drunk, it was at a gay chicken shack. Nobody ever told us that was a gay bar. You know what I'm saying?
Starting point is 01:03:20 Which it didn't bother me. That night it was. That night it was a gay bar. The squat and gobble is a gay bar? Dude, what the fuck? Why did we take you there, dude night it was a gay bar. The squat and gobble's a gay bar? Dude, what the fuck? Why did we take you there, dude? It was awesome, though. The squat and gobble.
Starting point is 01:03:29 That chicken was fire. It was in Wynwood. I don't actually remember the name of it. Yeah. The chicken was fire, though. The chicken was fire. You know, it's funny that you say that you stopped drinking. I was telling Mark even this weekend, I was like, I think I might quit drinking.
Starting point is 01:03:44 And he's like, why? And I was like, I've just seen people that get to the position where I wanna get and they're either sober or alcoholics. There's very few that are in the middle. And I think the way that you cope is you either completely detach yourself and that's just go crazy with the alcohol or
Starting point is 01:04:06 get to know your fucking self and handle that shit. So I think it's really smart, man, to get ahead of it because sometimes the pressure is going to be there and the only way to handle it is just to get a little fucking breath of fresh air. It's not even you love the alcohol, it's just you like to detach for a second. Yeah. Yeah, what a smart idea to get ahead of it. Yeah, I'm doing it like roadie Fridays, is what they call it on the road. So all the roadies, like the guys who like load stuff.
Starting point is 01:04:32 And you know, 61 people on this tour. We're eight, nine buses, 10 trucks. I mean, it's a big tour, you know? And those dudes will only drink if we have the next day off. And we're doing five shows a week. So what I'll do is about every other roadie Friday, I'll be like, all right, we got a next day off. And we're doing five shows a week, so what I'll do is about every other roadie Friday, I'll be like, all right, we got a day clean off tomorrow. I can get an IPB
Starting point is 01:04:50 and really relax, and I'll go for it. Like the other night, we played Bridgeport, Connecticut, right up the street, and I came out and I got smacked. Smeigh was so awesome. It was the first time on the whole tour that I got drunk. Well, the tour that I got drunk well the first time
Starting point is 01:05:05 I got drunk on the tour was the night before tour started we had all our stuff set up at the first show so we're like I go to see the show which was really cool for me
Starting point is 01:05:15 because I've been a lifelong Jelly Roll fan but never seen his show so I got to go sit I got to go sit out in the front of house and they did all the lights and the band ran
Starting point is 01:05:23 the show through so we're making our final final notes and I'm getting to see it in the amphitheater, not like a closed space. Yeah. So I'm getting to really see what it is, and I was so excited by how the show looked that I came backstage with the band. I was like, we should have a drink. And in true Jelly fashion, at like 8 o'clock that next morning, my wife texts me and goes, you need to go to the bus. I was sitting in the parking lot just getting smacked.
Starting point is 01:05:47 Just sitting in the parking lot of this amphitheater in Memphis. It's fucking scorching hot. And I'm just sitting out there cranking. I guess we ended up breaking a bunch of bottles on a trailer truck or something. It was like we're just old, drunk, you know, white, just rednecks really. You know what I'm saying? It was awesome. I got another question.
Starting point is 01:06:04 I'm so sad. I almost thought at least one of y'all would have a cross on your face today. When I watched it, listen, y'all blew it. When I seen the J. Dionne, and everybody had the do-rags, I see y'all do it. I thought y'all were going to wear cowboy hats for that Mexican OT. But I was like, we need one of them to come in with a cross on their face. Can you tell me about Little Ron? Yes.
Starting point is 01:06:32 Oh, dude, the midget we adopted. This was so awesome, dude. You never heard this story, Solstice? No. Oh, it's the best story ever. So we're in West Virginia, Charleston, West Virginia, of all places. And we're at a casino on a day off. So we're in West Virginia, Charleston, West Virginia, of all places.
Starting point is 01:06:44 We're at a casino on a day off. And I get the casino to take the shuttle bus down to where this hibachi spot was in a strip mall connected to a Walmart. That's where we are in America. And I'm like next to the Walmart hibachi spot smoke store. It's all like 25 of me and the crew. I took us all out to eat. We're coming out. We've been joking for years that if we ever found a midget or a little person,
Starting point is 01:07:14 that we were going to hire him on the spot and make him our tour manager's assistant. His name's Ron. And we were going to call the midget Little Ron. That was our plan, right? We joked about this on the bus, smoking weed, eating edibles for years. And Scary Larry, one of my friends since we were in Juvenile Hall together, who's on this tour with me right now, walks over to the smoke shop and he comes out smiling. He goes, he's fucking
Starting point is 01:07:31 in there. He's in there. He's in there. And I go, what? He said, one of them is in there right now. And I go, one of what? And I look in and I go, holy shit, it's Little Ron. And I come back to the dudes and I'm like, yo, Little Ron is in here, y'all. I was like, little Ron is in here, right? So little Ron comes out of the smoke shop right then.
Starting point is 01:07:50 25 of us erupt. We cheered, right? And at that moment, it's kind of make or break, right? He's either going to flip us off or just kind of walk off. He throws his hands up. He embraces it, right? And then we start chanting, little Ron, little Ron, little Ron. He gets all excited.
Starting point is 01:08:08 He comes over to us like a little puppy, just all tail wagging, just fucking, he's all fired up. He's like, oh my God, dude, tail wagging. He walks, he looks up at us, and I'm like, do you want to go on tour? And he's like, yeah. No hesitation, Alex. No hesitation, dog. He goes, yeah. And I go, like right now, he's like, yeah.
Starting point is 01:08:40 He's wearing a Burger King shirt, and I was like, I'll pay you whatever Burger King pays you. I'll pay you more than whatever Burger King pays you, and I'll give you a living, and when we're not on tour, I'll get you a Burger King shirt. And I was like, I'll pay you whatever Burger King pays you. I'll pay you more than whatever Burger King pays you and I'll give you a living. And when we're not on tour, I'll get you a place in Nashville. And he's like, yeah. And I was like, do you need anything? Do you want me to send you an OOP,
Starting point is 01:08:54 get you a car service to take you home to get your stuff? He goes, no, I'm ready to go. This is crazy. This is crazy. This is the truest story I've ever did. He gets on the shuttle bus. We go straight to the casino. I give him $500 in chips to gamble with.
Starting point is 01:09:10 Take him straight to the crap table because I thought that's where I'd get the best bang for my buck because I got to watch him go. Through the sky. He looked like he was throwing grenades. It was just... We're having a ball and he gets on the bus that night to go to the next city with us and for a year,
Starting point is 01:09:36 little Ron works for me on tour. We carried little Ron with us for a calendar year, dude. He turned out to be the tour manager's assistant. I didn't know his real name until he quit. What was his real name? Chris.
Starting point is 01:09:46 So now we call him Big Chris. Yeah. That's the truth. He worked with us for a whole year. He went back to Nashville. We got him outfits and stuff, bought him a bunch of Titan gear. Why'd he quit? Did he have to make toys for Santa? He had a girl that he was fancying up
Starting point is 01:10:03 and some ex-girlfriend came back in the picture, and I think they ended up having a kid. Oh, beautiful. So I know he's got like three, four kids now. I don't know about that. I should ask. I will say this. He always, there was this one girl that knew him that came to his show one night. I'm haunted by this memory.
Starting point is 01:10:18 And you know how certain things happen. You watch it, and you're like, I'll never forget that, and that sucks. And this is it. He goes, walks over to the girl, and she goes, and she's like, he's like, it's my ex-girlfriend. He's drunk, by the way. Lil Ron was a raging alcoholic. And Lil Ron goes. Just takes a shot.
Starting point is 01:10:35 And we'd make him carry the handles of liquor. I love it. I love it. He looks at this girl, and he goes, am I still the biggest you ever had? And she goes, yeah. And I was like, are you telling me little dude got a dick on him? I was like, is that what I'm hearing?
Starting point is 01:10:53 Are their dicks regular size, like their heads? Listen, I'm telling you, man. He talked about it. Because some of their body is regular, like their heads are normal size, but their dicks might also be normal size, right? Right? That's possible.
Starting point is 01:11:06 Listen, I know he talked about it like he was working with something. That's for sure, dude. He brought it up all the time. Black midget, white midget. He was a little white guy. Damn, Alex. Damn, bro. You didn't actually see it? No. Y'all didn't look at his dick, bro? I'm sure somebody seen it, but I've been to jail, man.
Starting point is 01:11:22 I'm not big on pecker peepin'. Ain't no fucking way. Ain't no fucking way. seen it, but I've been to jail, man. I'm not big on pecker peepers. Ain't no fucking way. Ain't no fucking way. That shit comes out of a submarine, bro. There's no way that that is an actual... So that's crazy. Jesus fucking Christ. That's.5.
Starting point is 01:11:38 Oh, dude. Is that you, Mark? Come on, man. I'm not going to bother you. That's not me, bro. That's Mark. That's Mark? No. Look at the bottom. You don't see the bottom. It's not me, bro. That's Mark. That's Mark. Oh, my God, Mark. I did.
Starting point is 01:11:52 Take this off the screen. You pack it, bro. Take it off the screen. Guys, it is. Come on, man. Christ, man. Who's in charge of this? Who's in charge of this?
Starting point is 01:11:59 Are you pulling this shit out? Wait, I guess it is. Oh, my God, dog. Wow. I never thought I'd come on the Flager broadcast and see a midget cock. I can't believe that you didn't look at, or at least try to see. I'm disappointed.
Starting point is 01:12:11 Pecker peeping his frown down in jail, so I stay away from the pecker peepers. Alright, fair enough. I want to hear the story from his side when he's like, yeah, these guys just kidnapped me from my Burger King job. We were going to go for a year. Can we call Little Rock? I wish I had his number.
Starting point is 01:12:27 I'd call him right now. I tried to start a campaign in the group chat for tour the other day to bring him back. The night I got drunk in Bridgeport, I was like,
Starting point is 01:12:33 I miss Little Rock. Was he good at his job? I gotta pee. They said he wasn't. They said he wasn't. They said he wasn't good at his job. I like that it's a conspiracy.
Starting point is 01:12:40 He's like, they, those other people. I knew he was good. Yeah, I thought he was great. But I can't judge people too much on their job because the guy he worked for was not impressed. Does that make sense?
Starting point is 01:12:52 Yeah. But I thought he was killing it. Every time I needed something from him, fucking it was awesome. He was the best energy. He was never sad. You know what I'm saying? He never made me sad. I'm telling you, it was like a puppy.
Starting point is 01:13:02 It was like having a dog on tour. Every time you see him, you just instantly smile. You're like, this is so cool. It's the best decision we've ever made. Would you call him? What would you?
Starting point is 01:13:12 I brought him on stage to take shots all the time. He was great. Really? Dude, he partied, man. He was a lot of fun. And I use the word midget endearingly because,
Starting point is 01:13:20 like I use the word bitch endearingly. Yeah. Because he said it. He called himself a midget. He used to joke about it to people. He'd be like, don't call me no fucking little person. Don't belittle me like that.
Starting point is 01:13:28 I'm a fucking midget. He was like, I swear that's what he said. He said, don't belittle me like that. He said, I'm a fucking midget. You ever heard that story about Daniel Tosh? When he went into a meeting with Comedy Central, he was like, can I bring my security? And they were like, yeah, that's fine. And he walked in with two security guards,
Starting point is 01:13:43 sunglasses, suits, and they were both dwarves. Oh, that's fucking awesome. And they just stood behind him the whole time and he never said anything about it. Fuck. So he sat there in the meeting and the two midges were just behind him. And he was like, just in case anything is out of control,
Starting point is 01:13:55 you know, I got my guy. And they did the whole thing. Straight face. Straight face. Unbelievable. That's what you need, bro. You need dwarf security. Listen, I would hire another dwarf today
Starting point is 01:14:04 just to have him on tour. That's so funny. God forbid we find one that knows about road work and can actually do something, because you could almost get hired just having that disability. You know what I'm saying? Because he was more getting by on his midgetness
Starting point is 01:14:15 than he was his skill set. For sure, and his energy. And his energy. What would they be good at on tour? Scurrying, they're really good scurrying. Do you need that? Did you see them rush to go get something? They get it quick. What they try to do to this guy, and it was so petty, What would be the tour? Scurrying. They're really good scurrying. Do you need that? Did you see them rush to go get something?
Starting point is 01:14:25 They get it quick. What they tried to do to this guy, and it was so petty, the tour manager would make him carry the soundboard case every day. Wow. And it was like watching this poor guy drag a dead deer carcass. It was like the soundboard was like he'd have to hold it. It was so bad. And I was like, y'all are evil, man.
Starting point is 01:14:44 One time they put a ladder. They gave him the top buck one night, and they put a little ladder. They were fucked up kind of when I think about it. Damn, I would have thrown him out every night to fucking crowd surf. Toss him from the fucking stage. Just midget toss him. Like Wolf of Wall Street. That would have been so great. Is it hard to-
Starting point is 01:15:07 All right, guys, we're gonna take a break for a second because you need a better for you adult beverage, okay? Not some can of beer filled with a bunch of bullshit ingredients that you've never heard of, or some cheap vodka that's gonna
Starting point is 01:15:19 make your hangover crazy. That's why you need Juneshine, okay? They have tons of easy-to-drink to-go adult beverage options, all right? They got the margaritas, the vodka sodas, and rum cocktails made with premium ingredients, and they have no added sugar, okay? Unlike traditional canned cocktails, they can have 20-plus grams of sugar. That hangover is going to be absolutely brutal with those. This is a perfect beverage for taking to the beach. A fourth of July barbecue is already passed, but Labor Day is coming up.
Starting point is 01:15:52 So you will have something to drink on that very special holiday. They got the flavors like passion fruit, vodka soda, and the Mai Tai rum. And best of all, it doesn't leave you with that. I just drank a lot of sugar feeling. Juneshine gives you a lighter, brighter buzz, okay? It can be found in over 10,000 stores across the country. It's available at all retailers. You're already visiting for groceries and alcohol like Whole Foods, Target, Rouse, Vons, Albertsons, Kroger, Wegmans, Total Wine, BevMo, Safeway, and more. But we've worked out a special offer for our listeners. At any store, you can buy one June Shine package and get the second for only a
Starting point is 01:16:32 penny. Think about that. That's $12 to $20 in value. Now, I recommend trying one of their best-selling variety packs. It's a great way to try all their delicious flavors. Go to juneshine.com slash flagrant. Text them a photo of your receipt and they will Venmo you immediately. It's that easy. That is J-U-N-E-S-H-I-N-E.com slash flagrant. Now let's get back to the show. Is it hard to fire people? Your crew feels so tight knit, but then there are people who are going to not do their job. Is that hard for you? Man, it was, but I got out of the hiring and firing business last year. So you have someone and then that's their job.
Starting point is 01:17:10 I have a manager now that I just completely just like, yo, man, I don't even. So you get to be family with everybody. And then if someone fucks up, the manager gets to handle that. 100%. Yeah. And it's like, cause I don't hire them either. So it's like, that's what I learned with like the little Ron stuff is like, when you get like, when the tour is that big, I'm disconnected from who is and isn't hire them either. So it's like, that's what I learned with like the little Ron stuff is like when you get, like when the tour is that big, I'm disconnected from who is and isn't doing their job.
Starting point is 01:17:28 So I just have to trust the tour management when they go, hey man, our production assistant's not working, he's got to go. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 01:17:34 Because I might love the guy, dude, we might smoke a joint every night after the show. I think the dude's the sweetest dude on earth, but I don't know that he's not carrying
Starting point is 01:17:40 his weight on that side. I just got to trust him. My bus is my bus. That's most of my guys I've been with forever. Y'all remember my big Samoan guy? Yeah. Like, my crew is still my crew. Boston, all of them except for Don, who had a baby.
Starting point is 01:17:53 I remember I got a new camera guy because Don went on to get married and have a kid. But, like, same crew. So my bus is different. I hire my bus. But my bus is the homie bus. Yeah. And the wife has her own bus. Oh, really?
Starting point is 01:18:03 Yeah, she brought her own bus out, dude. Bunny is a boss bitch, dude. She is different. She is just different, dude. She's just like, I love you. Who's in her bus? Her crew. Her little squad. Wow. Yeah, she's got her own little crew. Does she do the pod from the bus? Yeah, yeah. She does the pod on the bus now, and she's doing
Starting point is 01:18:19 a genius, and she's doing a, you know, she's a TikTok monster. So Bunny's like, you know, she follows the algorithm. She does like five uploads a day from three to four pages. She really, she's building something over there. Oh, wow. Yeah, I'm famous on TikTok and I don't know.
Starting point is 01:18:36 All the time, people are like, I've seen your margarita thing. I was like, she posted that? You know. What's the margarita thing? Give me one margarita, I'm gonna open my legs. You heard that shit? Give me two margaritas. That would be as many. I came in drunk dancing one night doing it. Of the homie bus,
Starting point is 01:18:54 which one of the homies is the biggest liability? All of them. Shit, there's so many of them. Probably, fuck. That's a far, I hate y'all. These are all the get you in trouble questions probably maybe scary Larry
Starting point is 01:19:11 probably just cause you know he's in charge of the miscellaneous nefarious stuff so by default he's the backpack
Starting point is 01:19:20 I wouldn't want to get searched you know what I'm saying if that makes sense you know so go go I just want to know more about him what what I'm saying? If that makes sense, you know? Go, go. I just want to know more about him. What's his backstory?
Starting point is 01:19:28 We met each other in Juvenile Hall. What was he in there for? I forgot what he was even in there for back then, but he was a white dude that had dreadlocks, and he was like a juggalo, and I loved all the juggalos. You know what I'm saying? I'll never forget, we almost got in a fight because I was beating on my
Starting point is 01:19:43 cell door rapping, and one night he was like, just shut the fuck up. And I was like, fuck that guy in cell 223 trying to talk shit to me. You know what I'm saying? It was like, just talking shit. And the next day we became homies. Oh wow. And why is he called Scary Larry?
Starting point is 01:19:56 Because he's ugly as a motherfucker. Scary Larry is so ugly, dude. He's the ugliest friend I have by a lot. But listen. By a lot is unnecessary listen. By a lot. It's not necessary. It's not necessary. Bring up Scary Larry right now.
Starting point is 01:20:12 God damn. You're not going to get no satisfaction because you got to see the new Scary Larry with the skullet. The skullet? Yeah, I talked him into getting a skullet. What is that? That's Scary Larry. Oh, I remember him.
Starting point is 01:20:24 Yeah. Scary's been around, dude. Yeah, Scary Larry was hanging with us at the gay chicken spot. Yeah, Scary Larry's the guy, dude. Yeah, Scary Larry's the homie. But now, you know, he's bald on top. I talked him into growing in the skullet. And it's fire.
Starting point is 01:20:38 The skullet's kind of fire, dude. What do you mean, a skullet? Yeah, what's that? Yeah, it's like a mullet. It's like if you just started growing your hair out and just the back fell. You know what I'm saying? Like if were balled up here but you know you know they have like the mullet with nothing on top it's the reverse it's the complete it's the polar opposite of yeah fucking assaults wow that's amazing yep scary larry's been with us forever
Starting point is 01:21:00 the boston i mean they're all we're all still there. Yeah? Yeah. Still fucking, same old shit, dog. I just don't know the other 52 people off the board. You know what I'm saying? Well, I know them, but I don't know them.
Starting point is 01:21:11 You know what I mean? That's crazy. That's the hardest thing for me, letting go of creative control. And you do that a little bit when you have 60 people that are all putting together
Starting point is 01:21:22 that show. Yeah, for sure. That's tough. Yeah, 100%. It's also like, but I'll always be jealous of y'all, though, because you don't, none of that shit matters in your world. Like, y'all motherfuckers flying with five of the homies
Starting point is 01:21:33 and fucking go, y'all don't even do a mic check. You just trust that whoever's out there has got it under control. Nah, bro, now we gotta do that. You're going to do a line check at least? Oh, yeah. And you're playing in places now that are so big, even the line check's scary because you're just hearing the reverberation of your voice. That's our favorite part of the tour, when we go in and there's an echo.
Starting point is 01:21:53 And every single time the sound guy goes, when the people come in here, there won't be any echo. Yeah, they always tell you, they're like, you put some, I love when the sound, the old roadies use the word blood bags. They're called blood bags. It's like you put a few thousand blood bags in here, it's going to sound great. And I'm like, these are fucking people. These are my fans.
Starting point is 01:22:13 It's like a blood bag. I think that's been a big part of our success, though, man. We have a firm belief that it's not a ticket stub, it's a story. And when I started really looking at it that way, like this isn't a stub, because y'all know how the business is. Sometimes you get so caught up looking at the numbers that you got to step back and go, man, that's 23,000 spirits. That was the moment I had yesterday. I even posted on the story, and I genuinely was not trying to brag. I just couldn't believe that we were playing a venue where the Australian Open is.
Starting point is 01:22:47 And I was just sitting there laughing to myself. My wife was even like, what are you laughing about? And I was like, I don't even know. Like, I was trying to find wording for it to explain it. I still can't. And this is in a different fucking country, dude. The Top Open. It's fucking, you're going.
Starting point is 01:23:02 The top of the venue goes like that. This is Australia, right? Yeah. This is Australia. I's fucking, you're going. The top of the venue goes like that. And there's no sky. This is Australia though, right? Yeah. This is Australia. I'm like, what is going on? So I'm just dying laughing at myself. What an absurd, like it's absurd.
Starting point is 01:23:14 Especially, I couldn't even wrap my, I feel that way when it happens in Tennessee. Yeah. I couldn't imagine how you feel knowing that it's like 20 fucking hours by plane from right here. Yeah. I can drive to Los Angeles before you're going to get to fucking Australia. You know what I'm saying? Think about that. If I got in the fucking Tahoe today and you got on a plane to fucking Australia,
Starting point is 01:23:38 we would get there close to the same fucking time. You know what I'm saying? That's insane. Yeah. You know, it's like that many motherfuckers are buying a ticket to come here. You just talk shit about their country. You just sit there and shit all over their country, man. You sit there and you just go, what is going on right now?
Starting point is 01:23:55 Right? I don't even know how to explain it even right now. And then the logistics. Y'all are taking production. It's too big not to, right? Yeah. So you're having to outsource not to, right? Yeah, so we do the production. So you're having to outsource the production over there?
Starting point is 01:24:10 Yeah, and then you have to buy all the things to make the space. Because I want this to be the best show they've ever seen. 100%. And I think it's important when you, and you get this, you were explaining it earlier. But when you go to a bigger venue, the show has to be bigger. 100%. And they deserve it. Because they're fucking spending their hard-earned money to come out to the show. So they deserve a show that fits that space. So getting into the creative with that and hopefully finding
Starting point is 01:24:32 the people that are just as passionate as I am about comedy, about production for a show. I saw a Taylor Swift show when I was out in LA with my wife. You went to one of the SoFi shows? You went to one of the SoFi shows? I went to one of the SoFi shows. And I apologized to her live during the show. I was like, I am sorry I have been so hacky in hating you. It is hack to hate her without experiencing what she does. And I get it.
Starting point is 01:25:07 You only see her at an award show or something like that, like accept an award, and you're like, oh, this might feel inauthentic, whatever. But then you go watch her command 100,000 people masterfully, and you realize that not only is she incredible at what she's writing the fucking songs. That's another
Starting point is 01:25:23 thing. It's not like there's this team of 100 people. She's written fucking hundreds of songs by herself. Every song she's ever sang almost. So it's like, and you're going, oh, wow. And she has the songs that we all know as comedians, there's a joke you have where it's like, it doesn't matter what the audience, it could be the worst audience
Starting point is 01:25:41 in the world, but you know you go to it, and everybody's like, oh oh shit, it's on. She just has a hundred of those. And I'm watching this and I'm like, it's not only is she great, everybody else on the team is the Taylor Swift of lighting or video or whatever. And it was one of those moments where I'm sitting back and I'm like, oh, that's what we need to do. We need to find the person that's that dedicated to the fucking stage design. Yes. That's that dedicated to the video, the lighting, the video production.
Starting point is 01:26:11 And you're just watching it live. It was really inspiring. And I felt I felt bad. I was like, I can't believe that I didn't give this brilliant talent a shot because she's brilliant. Undeniable. Even if you don't know if you find her personality, whatever, which I do. You can't deny greatness. And it's just flat out greatness.
Starting point is 01:26:31 So many songs slapped that you're like, oh, I love it. She's one of those artists that you think you know three songs. Then halfway through your set, you're like, I know every song she's ever wrote. You know what I mean? It's like that kind of a moment. We did that exact thing last week, I think, on this podcast. Yeah. So it was just really inspiring. And it makes you go, okay, wow. When you get this big, that's what it needs to be. For sure. And she's also set a bar. People like her and Beyonce have adopted the
Starting point is 01:26:55 stadium era in a way that it's made, even Ed's new tour, Ed Sheeran's tour. You could tell that he ramped up too. He was like, oh no, we're playing big league ball over there. You know what I mean? It was like, it's just, you feel the difference in all of it. And I think that's also why more shows are selling more tickets now than ever. And people are like, well, I think it's still some of the pandemic stuff. I'm like, man, we're years removed from that. I think that people have finally adopted the right philosophy in these venues.
Starting point is 01:27:24 And they're putting on the right shows. Make your show fit the venue you're in. Exactly. You can't take your theater show and then put it in a stadium and expect them to feel the same intimacy. Right. You have to curate that fucking intimacy. 100%. And that's smart that you're going about it that way. And that's probably why you have 23,000 fucking people that are going to come out in Pittsburgh. Or it's they know, and I assume they know and feel appreciative of the effort that went into it. I'm at this Taylor show, and I'm not even a fan.
Starting point is 01:27:52 And I'm seeing these women give everything to her. They're so excited to see her up there. And I'm so engaged by the show, and I felt grateful. It was one of those things I was like, wow, like the effort that must have gone into this. And, yeah, it just made me feel like you've got to reinvest in the show and I felt grateful. It was one of the things I was like, wow, like the effort that must have gone into this. And yeah, it just made me feel like you got to reinvest in the show. You have to, they deserve it. Yeah. Especially those, those kids, man, they're like, good point with that. Given all that to Taylor is like, because Taylor's not singing her song, she's singing their song. Well, she's superwoman to them. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:28:26 In the moment I got it, I was like, she is the confidence that they all wish they had. She is the kindness that they wish they had. Bro, I don't even care if she's doing this in the show as a PR stunt. I don't even care. I don't think it is, but even if it wasn't fine, she's making moments to give it up for the crew, give it up for new musicians that are on the tour they're like giving the spotlight yeah and like even if she's doing that to like look nice she's still fucking doing it right for sure and it feels authentic in in the moment and i was just like wow like
Starting point is 01:29:01 and you see these girls that are like she is what i I want to be. She says the things to her exes I wish I said to mine. She leaves the guys that weren't good for her, and I wish I had the confidence to do that. And they get to show up there, and they get to almost like live vicariously through that, the music. And yeah, it was really impressive to see. It's special, man, it's spiritual.
Starting point is 01:29:24 It's a trip, it's also. I'm just kidding, I ain really impressive to see. It's special, man. It's spiritual. It's a trip. It's also... I'm just kidding. I ain't going, bro. No, there's no way. There's no way. You did not talk that ass, Willie, about Taylor Swift on a fucking fake... I ain't going to that shit, bro.
Starting point is 01:29:39 Kanye for life. I haven't seen the tour, but I felt like I have on TikTok. I don't think there's much on the story. I've never seen something go viral like a concert, like her fucking. But, dude, we're in the golden era of this, right? Like, we're all going to look back at this moment, not of just our careers, and go, what a cool moment to have exploded. There's more arena acts in comedy than there's ever been by a fucking country mile right
Starting point is 01:30:06 100 there's more stadium acts and music than there's ever been there's more arena acts and music than there's ever been you're talking about how god bless me dude i came into country music right on the tip of country music becoming the coolest genre on earth for the first time since 92 yeah you know what i mean? Like 30 fucking years have passed where country music has been treated like Nickelback. You know what I mean? Growing up, in New York
Starting point is 01:30:34 or LA, you would have people say I like every music except country. That was a common thing that people would say. And now I think that's done. I think for a while there were people in New in New York and California that were like low-key country fans. And now nobody's afraid to admit it. Right.
Starting point is 01:30:52 It's almost like a badge of honor. It's almost like now you're like being rebellious by being a coastal elite country fan. Yeah. Yeah. It's crazy, dude. We were talking about country bars. Who was it that was just out here talking about? Was it Dove? Dove. Dove was just talking about country bars. Who was it that was just out here talking about? Was it Dove?
Starting point is 01:31:05 Dove was just talking about you went somewhere the other day. I was in Toronto and L.A. in the same week in both cities. The hottest new bar is a country bar. Yeah. I'm telling you. But it's everyone. It's everyone that would have been at a hip-hop bar or a house bar. It's live music, country, and that's the theme of the bar.
Starting point is 01:31:22 Yeah. Yeah, but you're talking talking about being in that era. Like, I just came in right there on the front side of country music exploding into pop culture. You know what I mean? Like, fucking hell. We gotta make sure we thank our sponsors, Morgan & Morgan, the best injury law firm in the game, because they are sending
Starting point is 01:31:38 two listeners to the UFC event in Boston this week. So, thank you, Morgan & Morgan. We appreciate what you do. You know what to do if you get injured. For your shows, do you feel a sense of community at the live show?
Starting point is 01:31:53 Dude, it's church. So that's something I noticed also at Taylor, I'm curious, how do you curate that? Is that something that happens authentically? You hear about these iconic bands like Phish or- Grateful Dead.
Starting point is 01:32:07 Grateful Dead. That every show is like Burning Man. Every show is this communal retreat where everybody gets to be this version of themselves they might not get to be in the real world. And I feel like that's how you create that impactful live experience where people need to come back, where they're accessing something that they don't really get to access normally. So are you seeing that at the shows? Oh, God, dude.
Starting point is 01:32:30 This is like what we do is special in this way. It's like a Sunday service in the South, right? If you've never been to an old back row Baptist church, I hate to be judgy here, but don't look like any of y'all have, right? You know what I'm saying? Have you been to an old back row Baptist church? But yeah. Yeah. A black Baptist church? Yeah. what I'm saying? Have you been to an old back row Baptist church? But yeah. A black Baptist church? Yeah. We went to the best one you could have went to.
Starting point is 01:32:49 You know what I mean? For sure. It's like, am I still good on sound? I just fucking touched my microphone. Okay. We fucking... It's this thing they do, Schultz, right? Where they... Like, the message on them old back roads are like, they sing this music to kind of get you into it, right?
Starting point is 01:33:08 And then he goes into this sermon and it's like hellfire and brimstone, but with jokes and there's laughs here and there. And then it's scary at moments and then it's like tearful, like emotional. And then at the end of it, it's like you hear that organ hit a major chord, right? And it's like, man, but there's hope. And I was like, that's what I want my show to feel like. You know what I mean? I want to create that experience. I want us to laugh.
Starting point is 01:33:33 I want us to dance. I want us to cry. And at the end of this thing, I want us to feel a little cleansed. You know what I mean? Like I want it to be like a little bit of a baptism. I called this tour the Back Row Baptism Tour because it's like I wanted this to feel like. So it's very leaned into like a churchy theme
Starting point is 01:33:49 as far as like how we presented and the banter between the songs. That's emotionally nutritious. Yeah. You know? It's good for the spirit, man.
Starting point is 01:33:58 Have you had moments with fans? Because like your music connects so deeply on like a real primal level. Have you had moments with fans either this tour or tours previously like real stories where people have touched you or that you've had connection with people you're like, I didn't even know I could have this kind of moment with a stranger?
Starting point is 01:34:12 Dude, there was every night. I'm not even making that up. I'll give you the most recent one. That's how often it happens. Virginia Beach, there was a woman who her and her husband had bought tickets to my show and then he had overdosed like six weeks ago and died. And she kept hitting me. Like, I don't know what to do. I'm feeling like led to go
Starting point is 01:34:38 for him. You know, it's like, man, I'm sorry. I'm not always this emotional. It's just fucking my life's changing in weird ways., it's like, man, I'm sorry. I'm not always this emotional. It's just fucking my life's changing in weird ways. But it's like, so I'm finally like, yo, I got to meet you. You know what I mean? Like, watch her come back and like tell me this story. And like, her, his family's there.
Starting point is 01:34:57 So his mother's with her and the brother-in-law and like all these people that are, you know, that were really there for him. Like the amount of like rest in peace shirts. It's crazy, dude. I had a dude holding a sign on the same show that said, you helped me on life support when I overdosed. So I brought him backstage and hear his story. And his wife's like, yo, this dude was like, I just played Save Me and Son of a Sinner
Starting point is 01:35:20 just on a looping repeat the entire time. He was on literally intubated you know what i mean this guy's like you can see the scar on his neck like his voice is raspy like it's just crazy and that's every single and that what you know what hurts the most is i only get to hear a few of those every night yeah there's 23 000 of them every night you know what i mean like you know what i mean like this is i tell all the time, you didn't end up here because it's culturally cool. That's not what a Jelly Roll show is. It's not like, oh, the hip
Starting point is 01:35:50 thing to do is go to a Jelly Roll show. These people know they're coming to purge. We know that. It's a fair exchange between each other. We know what's happening tonight, y'all. We're purging. Does it ever get heavy for you, though, because it being an empath? Man, a little bit, but I found more purpose in it.
Starting point is 01:36:06 So it's like as soon as it gets heavy, it's like I feel better because I'm like, man, what a gift that I'm making millions of fucking dollars. Like a poor, poor kid making millions of dollars in and out of jail his whole life. And I'm doing it by helping people, like in a real way, like I'm really like connecting and like making a difference in their life. Like I do this for fucking free. I tell people all the time, man,
Starting point is 01:36:35 you can have this one. I'll give this one to you. My guitar player's mother gave it to me. You don't pay me for that hour I'm on stage. That's on the house, baby. I'll do that for you the rest of my life. Yep.'t pay me for that hour I'm on stage. That's on the house, baby. I'll do that for the rest of my life. You pay me for the 30 years it took to get to the stage, and for the 23 hours today I wasn't on it.
Starting point is 01:36:52 But that hour I'm on that stage, that's on the crib, baby. I'll do that free forever. I'll never want to feel like I'm charging you for that hour. I'm charging you because this venue made you open the door. I have a rule in the music business. If everybody agrees to do it for free, I'll do it for free. I'll be one of the few artists that's in. You'll watch a lot of people hightail and hit and all the suits are leaving. But if the suits and the artists all agree, we're going to do this for free. I'm in. I'm still putting, I'm putting out an album next year for sure. I'm touring for sure. You know?
Starting point is 01:37:21 So it's like, but then on top of that, like God puts you in a situation to change your life, defy all these odds, make all this fucking money, and fucking people are crying, like thanking me, and I'm crying back to them, thanking them. It's like, you know what I mean? I mean, imagine how cathartic that is for somebody who is relating to that song specifically so much, and then being around 20,000 other people that are feeling the same way.
Starting point is 01:37:51 Like you've listened to it by yourself and cried. And now you're surrounded by all these people and you're looking to your right and they're crying. And you're looking to your left and they're crying. And you're like, one, you go, wow, I'm not alone, which is a really fucking amazing feeling to have when you're thinking of maybe leaving this world, right? It's, yeah, it's beautiful. Yeah, my mom would always say how lucky her and my dad were that they made a living.
Starting point is 01:38:18 They would teach dance classes. But it was like, we're really lucky that we make a living doing something that makes people feel good. We're like so lucky. She's like, you really lucky that we make a living doing something that makes people feel good. Right. We're so lucky. She's like, some people make a living telling people that they can't get any insurance money after their house burned down. That's their job.
Starting point is 01:38:36 And we make a living where this person might not have had the confidence to talk to another human being all day. And now he's dancing with somebody else, or she's dancing with somebody else, and it makes you feel really good, fills you up. I never forgot that with stand-up. I was like, how fucking lucky that for a living we get to go out there, or even doing podcasts, we get to just make people laugh, make people think, give somebody an emotionally nourishing experience. It's like, you should be crying. You should be crying every day for how lucky. Right. So you should be crying. Yeah. Should be crying every day.
Starting point is 01:39:06 Yeah, I do. For how lucky. It's unreal. We all should be. Yeah. Imagine we went through our whole lives, we never sat and reflected about how lucky we were. What a waste to give us
Starting point is 01:39:14 this opportunity. You know something I learned from y'all just last, a couple podcasts ago, I guess, was the attitude of gratitude of like, I'm grateful that I'm able to work this hard. Yeah. Like, y'all, I don't that I'm able to work this hard. Yeah. Like, y'all, I don't remember what pod y'all said that on, but it's like, that shit stuck with me like deeply.
Starting point is 01:39:31 Like, I'd never heard it put that way. And I was like, because sometimes you work hard and like any other job, you know, full disclosure. Everybody works hard, though. Like, yo, man, this is fucking a little bit of a bit. And then you're like, man, how awesome is it, though, that I'm in a situation that I can work this hard, though? Yeah. That I enjoy it to put this time in. Because there's people working just as hard as us at a job they hate. They hate.
Starting point is 01:39:51 And I'm loving it. My dad, you know, the famous quote my daddy always said, everybody's daddy said is, do what you love for a living, you'll never work a day of your life. Yeah. You know, and that's why I still say that. That hour and a half's free, man. You think that makes it easier to not drink? Because I think for me, I remember I worked a job I hated as a comic, and I was like, oh, if I did this every day,
Starting point is 01:40:08 I'd be drunk Friday, Saturday, for sure. Fucking question. But I don't feel the need to decompress as much. Do you feel the same now that you're climbing? Yeah, for sure. And also, just, man, my consciousness is just like, man, I don't want to blow it. It's like what he said about, like, I've seen so many
Starting point is 01:40:24 dudes get where I'm at and blow it. I know so many dudes that had the summer I'm fixing to have and end up doing bad in life in 10 years where they wasn't financially responsible or they went down the path of the bottle. It's like, I want to make sure that Caleb Plant, my homie from Nashville, the boxer, always says that the dream wasn't to get money.
Starting point is 01:40:43 The dream was to keep it. You know what I mean? And when he says that, dream was to keep it. You know what I mean? And when he says that, it tickles my soul. You know what I mean? I'm like, yeah, that's kind of it. Like getting money was, you know, it's also like through all this, I've been able to dream bigger now. Like I don't know about y'all, but I didn't like dream. Like I know your story, dude.
Starting point is 01:40:59 You were a fucking cop, right? It's like your dream, I don't know if your dream was ever this big, but I would assume not. You know what I mean? Like my dream, what people like, are you living your dream? I'm like, you think I was that confident to dream this would happen? You are, you have really mistaken who you're talking to. You're like, there's no way I thought this was good. Like when I was a 13 year old kid watching Lollapalooza at Starwood Amphitheater, sitting up on the hill, right? You could have never told me I was going to tour and headline those venues five nights a week. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 01:41:30 Even dreaming big takes confidence. Takes confidence. It's really crazy. You've always had that. I feel like, yeah, that's not natural for a lot of people. I'm having to dream bigger now. Now I'm like, oh no, now I'm starting to dream like, I'm trying to dream unrealistically. That's where I'm at now. But that's what a dream is. Yeah, exactly.
Starting point is 01:41:44 It's not realistic. If your dreams are realistic, you're not dreaming big enough. What's your most unrealistic dream you have? Right now? Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. I can't share it because then I will reveal it.
Starting point is 01:42:05 So it's possible then. Yeah. So that's not your biggest one. What's your biggest wildest one? I don't think in ways it's not possible. Really? Yeah. That's awesome.
Starting point is 01:42:16 But I always think it's like, now, it's hard work and it's luck. But yeah, but the biggest dream, for sure, for sure. I mean, there's a couple. Some have nothing to do with entertainment at all. The biggest ones have nothing to do with that. But as far as entertainment goes, yeah, there's something that I'm cooking up, but I can't share it just yet.
Starting point is 01:42:42 People got to see it. You know what I mean? I love it. I'm thinking the same way, dude. I was thinking about it. What's the biggest one? Can you share it? I don't share it just yet. People got to see it. You know what I mean? I love it. I'm thinking the same way, dude. I'm thinking about it. What's the biggest one? Can you share it? I've been dreaming, though. Man, I'm dreaming, dude.
Starting point is 01:42:50 I just, I've turned into a real dreamer, man. Good. I thought I was a dreamer, but I wasn't. I'm a dreamer now. I just sit in the back of the bus and just think about that shit, man. You know what I mean? I think we could take this motherfucker to the moon. We weren't supposed to make it this far.
Starting point is 01:43:04 What's the quote? I didn't come this far to come this fucking far. Where else we gonna go with this? It's like, what are you talking about? Also, I always reference my father because he gave me all these cool little one-liners in life, but you can always go back. You can't always go forward. Yeah. Just like
Starting point is 01:43:19 as a life philosophy, it's like, man, we're in a chance right now. I'm going forward as long as I can. I know I can go back. I know I can go back. I know I can go back to playing theaters. I know that. You know what I mean? Forward is the next thing up. My hope for next year is to do an,
Starting point is 01:43:33 I wanna do an NBA arena tour, like a proper like. Yeah, I've never, you know, it's like the next step, right? You know what I mean? It's like, that's the dream. Yeah, that's the immediate mountain in front of me is like, you know, I'm also still in that weird space where I'm like, before this all ends, we should try to knock as much stuff off. Just in case the Flavoring 2 podcast gets damaged. Again.
Starting point is 01:43:56 All right, guys, we're going to take a break for a second. You already see the lighting. You already know what time it is. Back's getting blown out. Blue chew, blue chew, blue chew. Back's getting blown out, okay? Every blue chew, blue chew. Back's getting blown out, okay? Every woman in your life deserves it, okay? Your mom deserves it. Not from you, but from your dad. But he already knows what time it is. He's probably already chewing it up and chewing it out. But you could also give that as a nice gift to your mom for Mother's Day or your
Starting point is 01:44:20 dad for Father's Day. You really could do that. If you were a great son or daughter, you could. You could give your mom the gift that keeps on giving. Give your dad the gift that keeps on giving. I don't even care if they're divorced. Come back, run it back one more time. You know what I'm saying? If they bring back the cast of friends, they could bring back your mom and dad. Blast off, motel room, headboard smacking into the wall, right? Motel six inches in your mom. My point is- Hell yeah. Bluechew.com, you're gonna get the first month free. All you gotta do is pay $5 shipping. Bluechew.com, use the promo code flagrant right now. Do it for your mom. Now let's get back to
Starting point is 01:45:01 the show. Who are some of your dream collabs? It's crazy, man. I think in the country world, I obviously want to work with Morgan Wallen. He's a real good friend of mine, too. I think it's inevitable that we will. But, you know, legacy acts, man, I'd love to do something like Seeger or James Taylor, man. You know what I mean? That's like the dream for me is those like because in this weird way you talk about dreaming,
Starting point is 01:45:26 it's like, I think anybody who's around my generation right now, I think that if I keep working hard and God's in my favor, that I'll get to work with them anyways. So my dreams are like, who are the legends that I don't have a lot of time to do that with? It's like Seeger, Taylor, Stevie Nicks.
Starting point is 01:45:43 These are like the unrealistic dream collabs for me. You know what I mean? Because like he said, some other stuff I could name I think is realistic. It might sound crazy, but I think it will pull it off eventually. On the hip-hop side, I want to work with Drizzy. We had a Mexican OT on the pod yesterday.
Starting point is 01:45:59 Not yesterday, last week. He's fantastic too. Who was it that said, was it you? Yeah, I clock y'all as like soul friends. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yes. Miles called you a real American OT.
Starting point is 01:46:12 Yeah. American out of Tennessee. That's right. No, dude, I feel that way too. That's the first time you gave Miles credit for a joke. It was actually my joke. I was afraid he was going actually my joke. I was afraid he was going to get mad.
Starting point is 01:46:27 I was afraid he was going to get mad and I wouldn't want him to take it out on me. So I was trying to get it off. But yeah, you guys are very soulful. Very authentic. Pure authenticity. Troubled lives gave you all these feelings and emotions that you can tap into
Starting point is 01:46:44 that are deeper than the average person. Not box into one genre. And all, yeah, I don't know, and you're so musical, both of you. You can tell from a young age that music seeped into your pores. It's not something you learned when you're older. And yeah, it was so interesting that you thought of that. I was thinking of you as well during the interview in a lot of ways. I don't know, that's a weird thing.
Starting point is 01:47:04 I wonder if that's annoying, almost like some girl going up to a DJ, say, play, pour some sugar on me. When outsiders request collabs, is that annoying? No, I love it. No, I love it. I'd love to work with him too, man.
Starting point is 01:47:17 He had a record on the tape he just dropped. I can't remember the name of the record right now. Cowboy Killer? Yeah, yeah. Had a singing chorus, and I was like, I wish I'd have did that. Yeah. I wish I'd have known him then.
Starting point is 01:47:27 He came to Nashville and did a show, but I was out of town. Yeah. But it's like, I've just, everything about watching his interviews has been my favorite part. Yeah. I love it when an artist gets in that position and they can back up the other side of it. Yeah. Like, that's my favorite. And to like, be themselves.
Starting point is 01:47:43 Like, a lot of artists won't come sit on this couch because it's risky. Yeah. Right? When I go on a Fox today, there's a publicist standing beside the dude, watching him and going, this is what we're not willing to talk about. You know what I mean? It's like when we come sitting here, my publicist is going to shit herself until this comes out next week. And it takes some strength of personality to be able to hang. Not a lot of people who are just musicians can do that.
Starting point is 01:48:07 Also, you can't fake the funk for two hours. For five minutes, you can pretend to be the person that maybe record labels have built you up to be, but two hours on a podcast is going to expose who you really are. We were talking about this over the weekend, but Rihanna is a superstar in her personality as much as she is in music, right? Where it's just like, she's not pretending to be a version of herself.
Starting point is 01:48:39 Right. That's who she is. Right. You see her on the street, it's gonna be Rihanna, right? And I think that we gravitate towards that. is. Right. Like you see her on the street and it's gonna be Rihanna. Yeah. Right? And I think that we gravitate towards that. And then I think there are certain artists who are kind of playing a character, but the music might be fantastic and other things might work out. And it kind of can almost trick the public, but you never see long interviews with them.
Starting point is 01:48:58 Yeah. You never see, I mean- For sure. And I think at the end of the day, there is a different connectivity between those. Yeah, 100%. And admittedly, there's a need for both of them, right? So it's like, because I love the mystery behind The Weeknd, especially his first tapes. Yeah, dude. The fact that I didn't hear that dude's voice until his fourth album. Fifth album was like, I thought the sickest shit ever.
Starting point is 01:49:21 But equally, I love the Mexican OT, who I can't quit watching his interviews. I watched y'all's pod with him last week. I watched him on bootleg cam the other day. I just can't get old enough of this guy. That's a great point, man, about the weekend is that he has maintained mystery at a time where everyone has access to every famous person. For sure. Yeah, it's a rare thing. It's rare, man. I think it's special. It's almost like Daft Punk-esque.
Starting point is 01:49:49 Exactly. That's exactly what it is. He is arguably, I think right now his tour, maybe him and Taylor, are like the biggest tour in the world right now. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:49:59 And, yeah, it's fucking crazy. We don't know really anything about it. It's crazy. I've only heard his voice maybe three times, four times ever. That know really anything about it. It's crazy. I've only heard his voice maybe three times, four times ever. That's like a throwback.
Starting point is 01:50:08 That's like a Marlon Brando old school Hollywood. Like Hollywood back in the day where these famous people, you would see them in movies and outside of that, they were hanging on some fucking island or it was in the South Pacific and you're like, what is going on in their lives? What's happening? So there is that curiosity, but the curiosity is backed by an unfucking real voice. Unreal. The music's just so, the music was sculpted around the mystery, right?
Starting point is 01:50:31 So it all, but I think it's like, we needed a hymn for the me's, right? Like they're like, that's just the balance of, and I know I always joke about you because I know this is how you feel and I'm the opposite. I love comparing two things that aren't the same to each other where you're like, don't compare music to comedy. And I'm the polar opposite of that. I think it's the greatest analogies ever. But it's like comedy needs Andrew Schultz. And because they need an Andrew Schultz so bad, Dave Attell is necessary. Oh, 100%. Right. You know what I mean? It's necessary to kind of have this
Starting point is 01:51:05 fucking dude with a flip phone that everybody's like real comedy fans shit themselves if they think he's going to be somewhere. Genius, genius. Because you know what I mean?
Starting point is 01:51:12 It's like, that's the comparison to me. It's like, that's me being, I'm Schultz and he's the weekend's fucking Attell. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:51:20 Right? You know what I mean? It's like, and there's such a need for both of them. You know what I mean? It is true. And they compliment each other in the best fucking way you know which is
Starting point is 01:51:28 why i think bumping mics did so well yeah right because it's like you have ross who's just like always out there the roast guy and everybody's face and a tail it's just like damn i would have never you know what i mean yeah yeah the weekend needs to to like come out and speak in his real accent and have it be like, Asian. Hi, everyone. My name is Abel. Like a Frenchman? Super Canadian? Abel.
Starting point is 01:51:58 Did you like my album, eh? I think he's, I think, remember the first interview you ever seen of his? The first time I ever listened to him speak. This is like some hip hop shit. This is cool. It was Zane Lowe. Oh, yeah. The first time I heard anything, I heard his voice was when he did the Kiss Land promo,
Starting point is 01:52:17 a 30-second promo talking about the album. But then he did the article with Rolling Stone when he took the cover, when I Can't Feel Your Face and fucking the hills were taken over earth. Yeah. And then he did the Zane Lowe interview. And I'll never forget, I've watched every Zane Lowe interview ever, just like I've watched every Breakfast Club interview ever. Like I obsess, like as a student, a lover of hip hop.
Starting point is 01:52:37 These are like things you have to watch. And I'll never forget they were in a studio and the lights were dark. And it was just, it was so, the weekend made Zane Lowe meet the weekend, at the weekend. Yeah. So like even when he's finally doing an interview, he completely controlled everything
Starting point is 01:52:55 from the lighting to the way it was presented and projected. You know what I mean? It was just so like, I was like, this fucking guy's gonna be the biggest thing on earth. He's gonna be our fucking prince. You know what I mean? Interesting.
Starting point is 01:53:06 Travis Scott's another one. Yeah. Travis Scott's another one that keeps that mystery. But Travis Scott's kind of got that jelly roll thing going where, like, I mean, I'm like, most of my friends are comedians. So by default, I end up on all these wild things talking about wild shit. But I don't do social media great. But Bunny does. It's kind of easy for Travis not to have to do a lot
Starting point is 01:53:28 of social media when your chick, your baby mother is one of the biggest influencers on earth. You know what I'm saying? You don't really have to do a lot of kicking and screaming to get attention. You know what I mean? She posts you in her story one time and fucking that song's going. You know what I mean? It's a totally different machine.
Starting point is 01:53:43 I also like, we were joking around this weekend, but I like how he kind of does virgin rap. Yeah. Like, he don't really get laid in his music. Yeah. You know, like, if you really listen to the songs, like he goes,
Starting point is 01:53:56 I got two twin bitches on a jet ski. It's like, well, are you fucking them? They're like, no, they're just jet skiing. Very safe. Yeah, everything. It's all a safe flirt. So it's kind of relatable, I think, to a lot of people without even realizing it.
Starting point is 01:54:09 They're like, oh, that's kind of my life. I saw two girls on a jet-ski. What did y'all think about Utopia? I loved it. I really liked it. The first time I listened to it, I was like, I don't know. And then after like third or fourth time, we were playing it the whole weekend. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:54:20 Yeah, it was crazy. Felt the same way? I think he makes great. I didn't hear it. Oh, you didn't hear it. No, I think he's fantastic at making music. Like, he's crazy. I love it. I felt the same way. I think he makes great— I didn't hear it. Oh, you didn't hear it. No, I think he's fantastic at making music. Like, he's just great at it. Yeah, I think so, too.
Starting point is 01:54:30 Yeah. I feel the way they felt. It was—it reminded me of Don FM from the weekend. Like, the first time I heard it, I was like, I don't know, this is a little spacey. And then you keep letting it go. And then I was like, now let's rip that motherfucker one more time. And then I was like, it's growing on me. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:54:43 And then, you know, by the end of the weekend i was like no this is fucking fucks this dude took a risk and did something totally different and it's fucking fire you gotta do it i mean yeah gotta do it once again it's like you said it was the reach he chased the art he could have came back out with another birds and uh birds in the trap scene mcknight right but it's like instead he was like no this is like you know his last because his last three or four hits were in that vein, right? Goosebumps, highest in the room, right? Like his last few hits were all in that same kind of Travis Scott vibe that he knew that it was like, where do I go from here? Dude, I saw him.
Starting point is 01:55:16 I was hanging out at Wiling Out after I wasn't on the show. I just went to go say what's up to everybody. We were both in LA. And this was before he really cracked off. And he was a guest. But then he started doing soundcheck leading into his performance. Soundcheck was like a show in and of itself. He's just like kind of singing in the microphone. And then I remember I had somewhere to be, so I had to leave early. But as I'm leaving, I feel the entire building
Starting point is 01:55:37 where they're filming shaking from everybody jumping up and I've seen everybody perform on that, on that show. Nobody said it off like Travis. It was fucking crazy. He's special. That's how I felt about Yachty's album. Did you listen to his most recent one? What was the name of it? Lil Yachty's, I actually can't remember the name of it. Came this year, though, right?
Starting point is 01:55:55 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Super experimental, but awesome. It's like Pink Floyd meets rap. There are tracks on there that are unbelievable. Yeah, no, I love the rock element in it too. He, he's a great writer. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:56:08 That's his real skill set, right? It's like, I don't know like how much Yachty music, his voice is very particular. Yeah. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 01:56:15 But like, I think that dude, I think he's already wrote a couple of big hits, but I got a feeling that dude will write number ones for other people as long as he wants to.
Starting point is 01:56:23 Oh yeah. As long as he feels like showing up to write songs for motherfuckers, I think he's just going to keep shitting hits. It's really cool. And again, I'm watching music from a distance. It feels like now that I'm getting older. But I remember him being a punchline early on. And I think it's so fucking cool that now people are like, oh, shit.
Starting point is 01:56:38 I don't know if they'll acknowledge how wrong they were. But now he's like an artist. And I think that's so cool. But isn't that how artists stand the test of time? You look at any of the bands that have been around for 20 years and they're constantly evolving. I think about Queen. And I love Queen.
Starting point is 01:56:53 And I put on a This Is Queen playlist sometimes when I run on Spotify. And the songs are so fucking different. There's like a country song out of nowhere. This thing, it's like, what are these British guys know about country music? There's all these random things happening. And I think that the audience, once they know that your music is pure or whatever
Starting point is 01:57:20 your art is, is pure. They'll let you flow. They'll let you go. I never felt Michael Jackson was out of pocket with a single song. Every song felt like a Michael Jackson song, even though they were way different genres because it's pure. So I love to see that. I love to see people pushing it, man. Yeah. Are you still doing mushrooms? Oh, as much as possible. Really? I got a big bag I'm on the bus. You need some?
Starting point is 01:57:44 I think I do, yo. I'm serious, bro. Do you have as much as to write or to produce or anything like that? Yeah, for sure. I'll take like a gram if I'm in the writer's room. But normally if I'm really like taking a deep write, I normally drink instead. Oh, really? Did shrooms help you?
Starting point is 01:57:59 Because I know you said you had a hard time loving yourself. I don't remember what pot it was. Sun pot. Did shrooms help you with that? Yeah, for sure. They kind of helped me understand, you know, understand me. That's something I've been working on the most
Starting point is 01:58:09 in therapy though, man, is like trying to figure out, because I thought that it was like when the jelly roll thing, if it ever worked, that the Jason thing would just like correct itself right then. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 01:58:23 And then the jelly roll thing worked and it's like i don't know i'm still fucking feel like shit about myself like this isn't you know what i mean like you know so it's like but i'm working through it man i feel good i think i'm taking the right steps and uh i think i think that's the uh somehow i think that's why a lot of times people who achieve success especially in the arts that have that line of thinking, get more depressed with their success. Because they're like, once I'm on top of the world, I'll feel good. I'll love myself. I'll be happy.
Starting point is 01:58:53 And then you're on top of the world. You have everything you dreamed of and you don't. And you're like, fuck, what's going to change it? And then you go to alcohol, you go to drugs or whatever. I think that's why a lot of musicians are killing themselves. They're like, I have it. I'm touring around the world. I have everything that should make me happy.
Starting point is 01:59:09 But the only thing that's going to do it is doing that work, man. And you've got to do that work, man. And I've been doing that work. And I'm also like a doomsday guy. I just assume. I got the number one song right now on country radio. While I'm sitting on this couch, I got the number one song on country radio right this and it's like well, I am petrified of next week's chart Wait, why?
Starting point is 01:59:31 Might be number one. I won't be number one next week and it's like can I do it again? Do I have another one of those like, you know the critic? Yeah, the instant doomsday guy starts getting inside of me you know what I mean, like It's just like it's so crazy because i described to people it's like the greatest feeling on earth is having a song work and the worst feeling on earth is watching the song run its course yeah because then you're like and you know i thought about this i can always go back and sing save me the rest of my life and once again the comparison but just hear me out yeah you got to come up with something fresh every fucking year. Yep. And so when I start to get really scared, I think of you.
Starting point is 02:00:09 I think of my friends that are like Theo, like my comedian friends that are like comedian comedians. And I'm like, damn, this has got to be how they feel the day their special comes out. Like there has to be this moment of like, you're watching the numbers. You're like, we fucking did it. The fucking special worked.
Starting point is 02:00:24 You know what I'm saying? It's fucking rolling. God damn it, you're all high-fiving. There's got to be a moment where you sit in a room by yourself shortly after that and go, how do I do it again? Oh, fuck, I got to figure that out again. I feel that. I'm filming my special in three weeks and already in the back of my mind, it's like, yo, let's say this goes amazingly like I put
Starting point is 02:00:40 in the work for it to do. Am I out of material? What's going to happen? What am I going to do? I think I'm fresh out. So we'll see. Where are you filming it at? Houston. Houston. I'm running it tonight. If you're not busy, come through. Dope. I'm running it tonight in New York. Yeah. I remember after the last special, I took a bunch of time off. I was like, I don't want to rush this. I just want to come back to it naturally when I have something to say. I told the agents and of course they're like, Hey, we just had time to book some shows. And I'm just like, we'll do it when it's ready.
Starting point is 02:01:15 And my first few times on stage, I got off stage and I was like, I think I've already said everything. I don't have anything else to say. It was the weirdest feeling. And I was terrified. I was like, holy shit. Cause I probably took maybe six months off from standup. I didn't take six months off from standups for 17 years or 15 years, however long I've been doing standup. I was like, fuck, if I said everything and I kept going up and then it was like my brain reorganized itself back into standup. Wow. It's like six months.
Starting point is 02:01:50 It's almost like not working a muscle for, for, uh, six months. It's going to start to atrophy a little bit. Right. But then you get up there, start working. And like my brain just started making these comedy connections again. Like it started working in terms of bits and then life presented itself and, you know, inspiration came and then, yeah. What a way to say that life presented itself. Yeah. Cause I was avoiding it. Like I was avoiding it, like looking at it in terms of standup. I was
Starting point is 02:02:17 looking at it in terms of podcasting and that kind of stuff, but I was avoiding like just kind of what is frustrating you? What is, you know, I know, I was avoiding using standup for what I've always used it as, right? This like my most expressive outlet, right? Like the thing that I care about the most in terms of art, you know? And then things started happening. It started coming together and it started coming alive. And I started to get really excited about it. And it was an awesome experience.
Starting point is 02:02:44 And I, but I didn't book a single show. And I knew if I booked a show, I would chase what worked. And I was like, I need months without a single fucking show to chase the art. Right. And what I want to do that's new and what I want to do is different. What is that in your world? What is chasing the art in that place mean? Are you like- What I often don't really care about. Say what? Are you popping up at clubs at that time then if you're not booking shows? I'm popping up at clubs. And then once I felt like I had enough time, I would like, okay, maybe I'll do like a club weekend. And it was just like slowly, but I'd get up at the New York
Starting point is 02:03:21 Comedy Club, I'd get up at the Comedy Cellar, and I'd try to get up 16 times a week. And I'm like, what is there? What am I focusing on? What do I care about? And not what will make me money. If you have a podcast that you can live off of, and you aren't being as pure and authentic with your comedy as you can, you're wasting your time. Because you can pay the bills here. Right.
Starting point is 02:03:46 So this can be real. Right. You know what I mean? Right. I understand if you make your living on stand-up only, and you've got houses, and you've got your kids, and private schools and stuff, and it's like, okay, you've got to get that new hour ready, and this is how you pay the bills, and do what works, and have as much fun as you possibly can in it. we're fucking so lucky right that we get to explore
Starting point is 02:04:10 and experiment and fail until we find something that is uniquely ours and uh i feel like i'd be wasting the opportunity if i didn't do it but then coming together and like finding it like working on it yeah it's just the best that is one thing i think that sometimes i get upset when i see there's certain creators that i think that are like really artistic doesn't have to be even stand-up i feel like they're artists and i think sometimes the the attention addiction gets a hold of them. And I think they sometimes give up the art for that attention thing. And I wonder if they will regret that later on. I tell you what, man, I think it's a battle I'm having now with management where I'm like, yo, when I come off the road in the middle of October, I was like, I need six weeks of my life. Because since I got shot out of the cannon two years ago, I haven't had six weeks of life where I felt I had any autonomy.
Starting point is 02:05:11 And I was like, you got to let me have it. And it's not that I need a break. I do need a break. Yeah. But it's that I know my personality. When you give me some downtime on day three, after I played Call of Duty for three days straight for 18 hours a day. Yeah. I'm going to wake up on day four and go, three days straight for 18 hours a day. Yeah. I'm going to wake up on day four and go, I'm going to pick up the guitar.
Starting point is 02:05:28 Yeah. You know what I mean? I know me. You know what I mean? And I'm going to be like, and it's going to be like a kid again, like, ooh, I can write songs. Yeah. I can write songs. That's great.
Starting point is 02:05:37 You know, and it's like, and I'm like you. I mean, I'm like how you were with the six months in general. I cycle write. Yeah. So like a lot of songwriters write year round and I cycle write. When I put an album out, I finished the album in January.
Starting point is 02:05:51 I didn't write again until the end of July. Wow. I just took seven months. Because you needed it. I needed it. It's like I needed to just, man, I wrote everything my soul felt for that album because you see the 13 songs that are on the album,
Starting point is 02:06:04 much like we see the hour that's on the special. You know what I mean? What we don't see is the 12 hours of shit that sucked. You know what I mean? You don't see the 20 songs
Starting point is 02:06:13 that didn't make these 13. Like, I'm tired. Yeah. You know what I mean? And I'm not going to hear write no puppy mill song so it's like, I just need some time
Starting point is 02:06:21 to just rethink and think about what the fuck I want to do. Yeah. I just had the most success I've ever had in my life. You know what I mean? Like, I need to sit on that for a second and- Reflect on it.
Starting point is 02:06:29 Yeah, and reflect on it. That's what you're going to talk about next. Yeah, and think about these people, like the story from Virginia Beach. Virginia Beach was literally two nights ago. Think about that story and think, who is that person and what do they need? Right? Because like, now I'm not even writing for me no more. I've told the Jelly Roll story a bunch.
Starting point is 02:06:44 It's like, what do you need? Like, because I know now why you come to see me. You know what I mean? It's like, you know what I mean? Like, I know why you're in my office. You know what I'm saying? It's like, what can I do for you? Is where I'm at as a songwriter,
Starting point is 02:06:57 which is the coolest place on earth to be, you know? Sometimes what you do for them is you're able to explain feelings that they can't articulate. It's like the big part of doing the work in therapy is when they make you say something, what are you thinking about that? Well, articulate it. And they say that really you need to hear it. Like even though you hear it, you need to say it. And it's like it's kind of that same concept of like we'll all heal together. The show too for me is about live shows,
Starting point is 02:07:26 and I don't know if y'all feel this way, but there's some situations where you go, man, I gotta take it to the room, right? Like you just assess it and go, I'm finna take it to the room. What is taking it to the room? Like just fucking balls to wall. Like fucking I'm taking it to you.
Starting point is 02:07:41 Not aggressive, but I'm taking it to you. And then there's moments where you need to bring the room to you. You know what I'm saying? Where you. Yeah. Not aggressive, but I'm taking it to you. And then there's moments where you need to bring the room to you. You know what I'm saying? Where you need to take a step back and you need to bring the room to you. And a good show, they'll do one of the two good. A great show, they'll do both good.
Starting point is 02:07:56 Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. It's like, and like Taylor's an example of a girl who like, there was moments in her set when she gets on the piano where you watch 70,000 people feel as if they're sitting Indian style around that piano together. You know what I'm saying? Like they're looking up to their big sister and it's fitting to just like whatever
Starting point is 02:08:15 big sister does, it's fitting to go. You know what I mean? Like it's Christmas day at the house. Like that's such a skill set that few, like that is such a thing in our business of like knowing the difference between when you take it to the room and when you bring the room to you. And like a funny, we joked about them earlier, but Garth Brooks taught me that like watching Garth Brooks live is of, it's insane. I've went to see him 10, 12, 13 times. And I've sat everywhere from section 304 up there by Jesus with my back to the roof. And I've sat down on the floor. And every time there was so many moments in his set
Starting point is 02:08:51 where I felt like I was in his living room. You know what I mean? And then there was moments in his set where I felt like I was at a fucking gym where he was working us out. You know what I mean? Like that's another big part of it. Like there's moments in the set where it's like, we're all going to blow our, like, I strategically put songs in places to know that we're going to need a break after these two songs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, all of us as a group.
Starting point is 02:09:13 You know what I'm saying? Like, we don't need to scream and put our hands up for a song. Yeah. Like, all that's the fucking, that's the art stuff that I get, like, I stay up at night and obsess about and romanticize with the set.
Starting point is 02:09:24 You know what I mean? It's like, how do I create this Sunday service in the South? Like, how do I bring you to, I want you to feel like you were in a hundred person Baptist church on a Sunday. That's how I want you to feel when you leave my show. I want you to feel like that's what you just experienced, you know? And that's a big part of the heart.
Starting point is 02:09:42 Sorry. You said something that made me realize why I think music transcends specifically your music. You were talking about therapy. I remember a therapist telling me one time, all therapy is is just trying to figure out how to take your feelings and put them into words. What am I actually feeling and express them? Your music does that for millions of people.
Starting point is 02:10:00 They have these deep, maybe dark, whatever feelings. You put them so beautifully into words. I think that's why people attach themselves to you and your music so strongly. Thank you. Like these things I feel that I can't express, this guy expresses them so profoundly. And it's the Willie Nelson thing, right? Y'all know much about Willie? No Willie fans here?
Starting point is 02:10:18 I respect him. I'll educate you on the God. So Willie has this really cool thing where like, you know, if nothing else, you know the prestige of Willie. Like, you think of Willie right now, you think bandana. Do you know anything about Willie Alex? No, I don't. I can tell you were the only one that was
Starting point is 02:10:35 genuinely looking at me like, I really don't know what I'm talking about. He's got braids. I was like, yeah, we know who Willie is. Legend, legend. Yeah, it's like, he wears his bandana. He has two long braids. He's 90 years old now. I just did a show with him. Still doing shows. Wow. Legend, legend. Yeah, it's like he wears his bandana. He has two long braids. He's 90 years old now. I just did a show with him. Still doing shows.
Starting point is 02:10:48 Wow. Still doing shows. Let me tell you about that, too. But his persona through the media all the years and all his Johnny Carson appearances was he's a very jovial guy, very funny. He was like the most famous weed smoker in country music for fucking 50 years. Like just stoner Texas dude, just always high. They just joked on him. He was Snoop Dogg of country music in every way he could be.
Starting point is 02:11:11 Except when he picked his guitar up and all of a sudden the saddest song on earth would come out. Like he would pick this guitar up. Even he'd be on the Johnny Carson show and they'd be laughing and telling jokes and he picked that guitar up and just instantly, you know, my heroes have always been cowboys and they still are today. Like it was just like, he had songs, blue eyes crying in the rain. And my heroes are like these just dauntingly sad songs. You know what I mean? And they were like
Starting point is 02:11:41 his big hit records, but it was kind of like to another degree, like the Robin Williams thing. You know what I mean? And I took so much of that from Willie because I used to feel like, because I was a jovial person, even though I know I had mental health issues, that I would try to write songs like from that perspective. And I was like, but that's not what's really in me. You know what I mean? And then I made the mistake of writing the songs that were in me, but dressing them up jovial. Ah, yeah. And I went through that phase
Starting point is 02:12:11 where I couldn't figure out what the disconnect was because I'm a relatively frumpy fellow. You know what I mean? I'm kind of a happy-go-lucky guy. And so I'd put these weird artworks that looked real light-colored and stuff. I love talking to y'all because this is so inside fucking baseball shit. It's like I would have these songs that were just like
Starting point is 02:12:30 Save Me-ish, but with an album cover that was like a fucking joke cartoon with a title that was a joke, like The Biggest Loser or something. You know what I mean? Because that's the defense mechanism, right? That's the defense mechanism. Personality is, hey, I'm going to be jovial because inside- I'm fucking dying. Exactly. Yeah. It's like, and then I was like, man, I should just start dressing the music up the way it sounds. You know what I mean? And then just be who I really am in every situation and let that figure itself out. You know what I mean? Just, and that was when shit started shifting for me dramatically. You know what I mean? You were creating authentically, man. Yeah. That's it. It takes
Starting point is 02:13:03 time to do that, man. Cause you got to develop the skills to do it. We probably, in our everyday lives, develop skills to cope with that fucked up shit inside us. So we're almost more fluent in the character that we develop than we are in who we are. So training yourself to not do the character that works effectively. It's hard to walk into a deli and be sad. Yeah, yeah. To walk into a deli and you're just like, hey, what's up? Blah, blah, blah.
Starting point is 02:13:32 You're doing a thing. That's great for everybody. So, yeah, like leaning into that. And then doing that with the skill of music, which you have to develop over fucking decades. Right. Yeah, eventually those kind of met. Yeah. And wow. Yeah, that's why I was the Van Wilder of music, which you have to develop over fucking decades. Right. Yeah, eventually those kind of met. Yeah. Wow.
Starting point is 02:13:47 Yeah, that's why I was the Van Wilder of music. I'm fucking almost 40, dog. You know what I mean? Like, as a point of perspective, like this shit, you know, I didn't have money worth, I just, we were joking about it outside of there. I just figured, you know,
Starting point is 02:13:58 I didn't pay taxes until fucking 2020. Fire. You know what I'm saying? Like, you know what I mean? I didn't make enough money to pay taxes. You didn't make enough to pay taxes. I ended up owing them
Starting point is 02:14:08 some money afterwards and now I know about taxes. He was joking about like some other government's French taxes or what was he talking about? European taxes. And I was like,
Starting point is 02:14:15 well, I know about American taxes. Yeah. They're brutal. You know what I'm saying? It's a robbery, dog. It's a complete heist. It's the biggest criminal organization I've ever seen.
Starting point is 02:14:25 And it's funny, man, because I never understood politics. But I understand them now. And I'll tell you what I understand about them is when I found out I got to give you all this money and then I don't even get a vote where it goes. You know what I'm saying? It's like, whoa. Hold on now. Man, I want at least a—that's a lot of fucking bread. You know what I'm saying?
Starting point is 02:14:47 What are we doing with this? If you could vote, would you? Yeah, no, fuck no. I don't think our vote counts. That shit's a hock of crap, man. They're fucking greatest scam in American history. When they made a two-party system, we should have known they were fucking us. Yeah, that's just—I mean, it's automatically.
Starting point is 02:15:03 How many times—that's how fights start. You put one guy against another guy. You know what I'm saying? It's like fucking that's just, I mean, it's automatically. How many times, that's how fights start. You put one guy against another guy. You know what I'm saying? It's like fucking, you know what I mean? That was fucking a no-brainer. You know what I'm saying?
Starting point is 02:15:12 As soon as they started labeling themselves something, I was like, oh, this is a gang. They gave them colors. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, they gave them colors. They gave them logos.
Starting point is 02:15:18 They fucking have signs. You know what I'm saying? It's wild. It's fucking insane. I was like, yeah, this is a party destined for failure. This is never going to work. They're going to fight amongst themselves,
Starting point is 02:15:29 and we're going to take 50% of their money every single year no matter what. Yeah, they're going to stick us up, fight amongst themselves, kill each other. Yeah, for sure. And all the tax problems everybody talks about never affects anybody. You know what I mean? Except for fucking, yeah, I mean, it just, nobody's ever like, we're getting a tax cut. I was like, I didn't fucking notice. You know what I'm saying? I don't know, but goddamn, how bad were they? You know what I mean? Except for fucking, yeah, I mean, it just, nobody's ever like, we're getting a tax cut. I was like, I didn't fucking notice.
Starting point is 02:15:46 You know what I'm saying? I don't know, but goddamn, how bad were they? You know what I'm saying? That's kind of where I'm at. Like, if this is the cut, we're fucked. You know what I'm saying? It's like, Jesus Christ. Somebody's like, this country's going to end up being communist.
Starting point is 02:15:58 I was like, they're 50% away from being it anyway. You know what I'm saying? We halfway live. What are you talking about? You know what I'm saying? Y' live. What are you talking about? You know what I'm saying? Y'all are fighting the fucking inevitable, dude. I bet taxes used to be 10%.
Starting point is 02:16:10 I bet there's some old dude right now that if you told him we're paying 43% or whatever the fuck we're paying, he'd be like, there's no fucking way. Why'd we fight the Germans? Apparently they used to be
Starting point is 02:16:20 dumb high during wartime. They were like 70% or some crazy shit like that. I think that was during Roosevelt, Teddy Roosevelt, something like that. For the super rich, he had some crazy tax rate. Can I transition?
Starting point is 02:16:34 I want to ask you about the new album, which you said is a reconciliation of your relationship with the church. Yes. What was it before? What is it after? I'm very interested in your view on God and spirituality and faith. Yeah, man. That's why I hate this podcast.
Starting point is 02:16:52 It's like, we'll laugh. Tell us something about God. It's like, that's a good subject to get me in trouble. Dude, it's like, when I was 14, I have time to tell this full story because I want to share it in its detail. Hell yeah. My daughter is just turned 15. Okay. Last year, she started going to this little church back in this little country road, a little bitty church.
Starting point is 02:17:15 In fact, it's a church that takes place in a school auditorium, and the school is kindergarten through 12th grade. Right? Little bitty church, little country church. 20 of the hundred members are kids from her high school. And I was like, this is last summer. And I'm like, when I was 14, the summer of that summer was the last year that I ever attended a church. I got baptized that same summer and caught my first robbery case that same summer. So all these feelings are coming back up
Starting point is 02:17:50 in me as she's like pounding me because you know what people do when they find a church. You know, gotta come. You gotta come. It's like what they do and I think that's cool. So I was like, I should go. So I go because I'm a father. You know what I mean? You support your kid. And like I tell people, if the kid wanted to play fucking cricket, gotta learn about cricket. You know what I mean? Like I'm in. You know what I mean? You support your kid. And like I tell people, if the kid wanted to play fucking cricket, got to learn about cricket. You know what I mean? Like I'm in, like, you know
Starting point is 02:18:08 what I mean? Like I would have read a book on soccer, soccer for dummies if the kid wanted to play soccer. So I'm like, I'm going to church. And when I show up, I'm like, it was the first time in a long time that I didn't, I wasn't mad at the church, you know, because like, there's so much, like, there's just so much room for error and that whole belief system. I don't want to get too deep into that because I'll get in trouble, but it's just, it's just weird. And I was just in there like, and I grew up a Christian kid. I got a cross on my face. You know what I mean? And, but I was like, I started looking at it from the people, not the preacher. And I was like, why are they here? And that changed my perspective of the church that afternoon. I was like, man, these people's intention is pure, at least in this little building. They're coming in here
Starting point is 02:18:48 trying to cleanse something. They're trying to be better people. They're trying to set an example for their children, core principles of life, moral compasses. They're not in here to create. This is truly a safe space for these people. And it made me think about why did I go to church when I was that age? What drew me to the church? And it was all my friends went. Why did I get baptized? And what led me to... And then, of course, I spent 10 years after that in jail reading nothing but religious material. I mean, I read about everything you can... I didn't get my GED till I was in my mid-20s in jail. I'm a completely uneducated man. If you had to ask me what grade I completed, I'd say like
Starting point is 02:19:25 seventh, I think was the last grade I actually graduated to the next grade. You know what I mean? So I'm talking to Bailey about all this stuff. And when we leave that church that next day, I'm like, yo, you won't believe this kid, but I used to go to a little church like this. And I got baptized when I was your age. And I had a bunch of homies. And I went on. I could have went one of two ways in life. And I went the wild route. And she kind of didn't believe me. And I was like, no, I'm telling you, dude.
Starting point is 02:19:52 It's like the same church. It was called Whitsitt Chapel Baptist Church. It was on this little country road in the back ass between Antioch and Donaldson. Sat across from the lake. Finally, one day, I take her. I'm like, I bet the building's still there. But I pulled up. The building hasn't changed at all.
Starting point is 02:20:07 I think they added a carport that I didn't put on the album cover. Literally, a carport for some sweet old lady. It's a 100-person church. When I left there, I had wrote probably 100 songs at that point towards my debut country album. wrote probably a hundred songs at that point towards my debut country album. And I realized that I wasn't writing in the spirit that I like to write in. I was looking for a hit. I just came off a couple of hits, like real hits, like life-changing hits. And I was like, I was looking for a hit. And when I was driving that day, I was kind of praying because I'm a man of prayer. And I was like, I called my producer and I was like I called my producer
Starting point is 02:20:45 and I was like I want to start from scratch on this album and I had a song called Going to Church and a song called Hungover in a Church that I wrote
Starting point is 02:20:52 through all those songs and I was like what if we make that the first song and the last song and we tell a story book open book close
Starting point is 02:20:59 and we tell the story of this album and we call it Going to Church and he was like what's the name of that church you went to? I was like, Whitsitt Chapel. He said, we need to call it Whitsitt Chapel, and you need to write that album.
Starting point is 02:21:10 And I wrote a concept album. I scrapped all these songs. The record label's called Mad at first. They're like, yo, we'd already picked out singles. We'd sent this to radio. You got some hits. And I was like, give them to whoever wants them, man. I can't sing them with conviction.
Starting point is 02:21:25 You know what I mean? I was like, this is the whoever wants them, man. I can't sing them with conviction. You know what I mean? I was like, this is the album. And I'm in creative control, and they love me. And they were like, we trust you. Sight unheard. I just turned the album in, and they listened. And the head of the label, Jonathan Loeb, who changed my whole life, I love you, Loeb, calls me, and he's in tears. He's like, yo, this is like, I'll never forget him saying this, because I hope he's right.
Starting point is 02:21:43 He said, you're going to get nominated for a Grammy for this album. He was like, this is special. This is like the he's like, I'll never forget him saying this because I hope he's right. He said, you're going to get nominated for a Grammy for this album. Wow. He was like, this is special. This is like the president of BMG. He's like, this is so the right thing to do. And nobody questioned it. And it was like, my reconciliation came from like, I still think what the church is doing, to answer your question directly, I still think what they're doing is wrong. But I think that the spirit of which people go to these churches
Starting point is 02:22:06 is more, and I try to judge things based on intent. And I never seen the intent like I did watching my daughter and them go to that church. Can I ask, you don't have to put it in, what do you think is wrong about the church?
Starting point is 02:22:19 You can put this in. I just think that they're, you know, I think that you can't pander to people that think that we're all stupid enough not to be free thinkers. And I hate that this like Jesus and the church is going to die again. Jesus is going to die all over again if they don't find a way to portray him the way he was historically known to be. Not the version of which y'all let Constantine and all these people come together and figure
Starting point is 02:22:45 this out under the Constantine. I read the Constantine sword book about how this all came together. It's like, when you look at that stuff, it's like, if you look at the history facts of Jesus, which I think favor Christianity in this weird way, when you look at those, that dude is not the dude y'all have turned him into. Like y'all have Americanized Jesus and used him as a way of not only propaganda, but you've weaponized God. You have weaponized God. You know what I mean? It's like, that was the opposite of who Jesus was. The same people that you were, you were like criticizing and going against are the only people that Jesus had a relationship with in the Bible.
Starting point is 02:23:26 You know what the first miracle was in the Bible? Pop quiz. The first miracle talked about in the whole Bible. He turned water into wine for his mother at a wedding reception. If we judge that alone, regardless of how you feel about Jesus, if you believe in it or not, That alone, regardless of how you feel about Jesus, if you believe in it or not, to the side. His mother comes up to him. So she knows he can do crazy shit, right? Because she walks up like, yo, I need a favor. Right?
Starting point is 02:23:54 Imagine this, right? You know, and Jesus is like, and he calls her woman. He goes, what? Woman in the Bible. Shows me he's a little bit sassy. Yeah. Right? You know what I mean?
Starting point is 02:24:07 And she goes, in so many words, can we, I need a party trick here. Yeah. Like fucking, this is like a really whack party. She only talks to God when she needs a favor. Yeah, she only talks to God when she needs a favor. Yeah. Right? She's like, yo, can you like do something about this?
Starting point is 02:24:19 He says, it's not my time. Which leads me to believe that she's probably seen him resurrect a squirrel or something. I don't know. You know what I mean? She knows he can do something. And she hits him with the please. And just like any other good son who loves his mom, she turns water into wine.
Starting point is 02:24:36 You're telling me this dude gives a fuck about gay people? Like, you're telling me that's what his focus was in life at that era? Like, that's something he'd be concerned with in this era of life? This dude fucking, first thing he did was a party favor. And then if you look at his history, he did nothing but protect town whores, prostitutes, people in jail, like the famous story of the throwing stones, let he who without sin cast his first stone. He was protecting a prostitute. Pharisees come into the temple at one point and they ask him about an adulterer, dude having an affair, right? And that's when he does the, he says, he said in so many words, and I always, the Christians get so mad when I
Starting point is 02:25:19 fuck y'all anyways. And he's like, you know, he's like so many words words. He's like, hey, man, you know, what about this girl over here? She's cheating on her husband. He goes, y'all ain't never fucked around on your girl? Literally, that's what he says in the Jesus way. He's like, you ain't never cheated on your bitch ever? And these dudes are like, well, he's like, then shut the fuck up. He never looked up from the dirt. It says in the scripture that he was drawing in the dirt.
Starting point is 02:25:44 Doodling is what that relays down to. He was just fucking around in the dirt with a stick. Never even looked up from the dirt. It says in the scripture that he was drawing in the dirt. Doodling is what it relays down to. He was just fucking around in the dirt with a stick. Never even looked up at the Pharisees. He was just like, you motherfuckers, come on, dude. You're cheating on your girl too. Leave that girl alone. It's crazy. But then somebody like my wife's the first person I watch Christian women,
Starting point is 02:25:59 Christian, those kind of Christian women persecute. It's like, man, that's the opposite of what that dude was doing. So that's my problem with the church. It's like, even if we just go by the four books that y'all call the only four accounts of him, this dude ran around with 12 thugs. If he was here today, he'd be on a fucking Harley. He'd be going to a bar.
Starting point is 02:26:18 You know what I'm saying? It's like, I'll give you another one. You ready for this? He flipped a table over in the temple. You remember this story? And he said, don't make a merchant of my father's house. Yet every mega church in America sells CDs and books and fucking coffee. There's Starbucks in these places. It's like, they're so picky and choosy. The church is so like, well, hold on. It fits our agenda to really nail in on this one
Starting point is 02:26:41 thing that was said in Leviticus, right. But we're going to, you know, it's like, I thought we were focused on Jesus anyways. That's like the focal point here. I'm sorry. No, the reason I was asking you is if there's a, this is a weird comparison,
Starting point is 02:26:53 but it feels like when you talk to God in your songs, it reminds me of DMX when DMX would talk to God and his songs. Right. And maybe this is me projecting, but there's like, um, like, uh,
Starting point is 02:27:04 I don't know if I'm worthy. Like feeling I get from listening to it. Maybe that is me projecting, but there's like a, I don't know if I'm worthy feeling I get from listening to it. Maybe that's me, again, projecting my own shit. But I was curious listening to this and listening to Save Me and Only Talk to God When I Need a Favor. Like, what is your relationship with God? And I don't know if that's why it affects me so deeply. Maybe I feel that deep down. But I've listened to DMX as a kid. Same thing I feel now.
Starting point is 02:27:24 I feel moved. Like, man, I feel that deep down, but I've listened to DMX as a kid. Same thing I feel now. I feel moved. Man, I feel that way. Yeah. To me, I call it a sinner's prayer is what I'm doing. My music has just come into terms with, as a part of my recovery from the stuff that was killing me, which I don't talk about my recovery much because the recovering purists would say that I'm not sober and I shouldn't talk about it. And I respect those people so much. The people that really almost like they can't live that way.
Starting point is 02:27:49 But it's like for me, how I had to get off the codeine that was going to kill me, like codeine was going to kill me for sure. It took like me understanding the need for a higher power. Like for me personally, and I know it's not for everybody, but I needed to believe that there was something because Jason if he's solely in charge I'm fucked
Starting point is 02:28:08 I'm in a lot of trouble here Jason's he's in a dark spot up here man that dude that dude get really really sad but it's like believing in that
Starting point is 02:28:15 you know what I mean and then looking at these people and being like yo do we not like if what y'all are saying is God what I'm reading feels a little different than like my prayer to God
Starting point is 02:28:23 is like yo if you're who they say you are is there a spot for motherfuckers like us with you or no? Because these people are sure making me feel like we're not, you know what I mean? You felt rejected by it. Yeah. Yeah. It's like, you know, so it's like, talk to me, God. Like, are we cool? Yeah. You know what's up with me. Like, you know my heart, but also the Bible also says that there'll be plenty of people that he'll tell them, you think you know me, but you don't.
Starting point is 02:28:45 And there'll be people that, you know what I mean? It's like, so I always joke that a lot of these pastors going to end up in hell and I'm going to have a big old mansion with a smoking section up there. You know what I'm saying? I'll be the one with an open bar in that motherfucker. You know what I'm saying? I think God going to do something big for me. I think that humans have a notoriously horrible relationship with power. And when you put people in power, usually shitty things happen or the worst part of them comes out. And I would think that a lot of times,
Starting point is 02:29:15 religion is used for nefarious intent. And that doesn't mean that the ideals behind it or the intent that you were talking about, what those people are seeking in it, that salvation, that humility, that inspiration, like, wow, what if I could be just 10% more like that Jesus guy? What if I could be 15% more?
Starting point is 02:29:38 I don't gotta be him, but if I could just increase my kindness a little bit, if I could judge my neighbor a little bit less. And I think every time I've been in a church and I've felt that from the people in there, it was beautiful. It oftentimes wasn't necessarily what the pastor was saying, but it was the people submitting themselves that I found so profound. And I find that even when I go to concerts, as silly as that is, like seeing someone submit themselves to someone else who makes them feel fantastic or feel sad or feel anything. So I understand your feeling about it. And maybe if you had to talk with a pastor, he might be like, yo, you're onto something, bro. Yeah, a few of them.
Starting point is 02:30:20 They might be frustrated with the same things you're frustrated with. I'm telling you, I've had more pastors reach out since Witson Chapel and just speak out and go, hey, man, you might not. Some of these Christian people might be against your message right now, but I think more people are hearing about God through your music than people have heard about God in a long time. He's like, and I think you're talking to people about God who otherwise would have never heard about him at all. So them hearing about him in any way is kind of. Because they might feel immediately rejected, kind of like how you felt. For sure. You just automatically feel like, yeah, I don't fit that mold for that particular thing, you know?
Starting point is 02:30:52 And the problem I do have, as you say that, is that the people that are like, Jesus is the only way. I get that. Like, he's the way, the light. I understand the scripture. But, like, you just can't take away my free thought here. Like, you just can't lead me to believe. Like, Jesus is a piece of this puzzle. I had a lot of work I need thought here. You just can't lead me to believe. Jesus is a piece of this puzzle.
Starting point is 02:31:07 I had a lot of work I need to do. You know what I mean? It's just irrational at times. I always think about it as like a, it's almost like a life hack. Where it's just like, hey, if you kind of do the things that that guy did, maybe you're experiencing heaven here. Like if you're helping your neighbor,
Starting point is 02:31:27 you actually feel good. Yeah. And they probably figured that out over a few thousand years. Yeah. And anytime you're either helping somebody, anytime you're lending a hand or just lending an ear, just listening,
Starting point is 02:31:39 lack of judgment. Like I feel better when somebody opens up to me. I feel better. Oh, yeah. I don't know why the fuck that is. Yeah maybe the best way to communicate that to the people back in the day was, hey, there's this guy and he lived this exact life and you should try to live a life like that because he's the son of God. And all the while they're going, man, these people are going to really
Starting point is 02:32:00 feel better about themselves once they start living this life. So who knows what it is, people are going to really feel better about themselves once they start living this life. Yes. So who knows what it is. Right. But yeah, I kind of look at it as life hacks for humanity. There's very few things that I see, and I'm talking about like the old school things. I'm not talking about every single thing in the Bible. I haven't read the Bible, so I can't tell you.
Starting point is 02:32:18 But in terms of like living a life like Jesus would live or Muhammad would live, right? Or I don't know about Abraham, bro. Right. You know. Look how dicey they are. Some of the old school characters, it gets crazy. All that shit.
Starting point is 02:32:32 That's another thing though, is that like, I could bore you with this shit, but like a lot of that shit that's in the Old Testament, how it even made it. Yeah. When I started getting into that,
Starting point is 02:32:40 I was like, yo, this is weird. Like I'm uncomfortable. Shit was weird back then. Yeah, it was weird, dude. It's crazy, kind of. But shit was weird. That's what I'm trying to say. If you look at 3,500 years ago, shit was weird.
Starting point is 02:32:54 And we're really just guessing. Shit was weird 80 years ago. We used to put four-year-olds in a chimney. Do you know what I mean? There was a four-year-old walking down the street in blackface because he had soot all over him from just going up and down the chimney. That was a normal fucking thing. My mom used to smoke cigarettes with the windows up in the car.
Starting point is 02:33:14 I think about that now. You know what I'm saying? 20 years ago, yeah. That gave you your raspy voice. That was like crazy normal. You know what I mean? Like, I think about that now all the time when I'm like, I have a song called I Hope Heaven Has
Starting point is 02:33:25 a Smoking Section and I realize the older I get, the more disconnected that song's gonna become to this generation because it meant a lot to me because I remember when Shoney's had
Starting point is 02:33:34 a smoking section. Why don't they just vape in heaven? It's like, what? People smoke? But it's just, yeah, fucking awesome, dude.
Starting point is 02:33:43 Brother, thank you so much for being here, man. It's awesome to see what's happening with you. It's awesome to see your success. It's awesome to see you thriving in success. Not everybody is built for success. And it looks like you built for it, man.
Starting point is 02:33:54 It's so cool to see you taking your life seriously, your health seriously, and really pushing. You're not wasting this opportunity that you've earned. But also, I'm sure a humble guy like yourself would feel like you've been given it. You know, so there's luck that goes into this shit as well. So it's really awesome to see everything working out. I can't wait to see you play where the Titans play, my boy. We'll be at that one. I love y'all boys.
Starting point is 02:34:20 Y'all got to come. Yo, my dream in life was the we we both played our first amphitheater, Sheddish venue at the same time down in Dallas, Texas, right? Oh, that's right. The Toyota Center. You remember that? The Toyota Center, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 02:34:33 Y'all played it like a week before me and sold it out. It was such a big, huge deal. It was the first time I played one that big, too. And I remember I came and y'all left a bottle of tequila with me. The promoter was like, yo, you know Schultz's team? I'm like, yeah. He's like, yo, Schultz and them left you this tequila. And my dream for all of us is in the next two years that we're on NBA arena tours.
Starting point is 02:34:52 Let's do it. We're doing that for each other every fucking night. Hell yeah. You know what I mean? Every night we're just grabbing the promoter like, yo, I see Jelly will be through here in like 30 days. We got to leave pranks, bro. Put this on. He's got to fuck with you.
Starting point is 02:35:02 We'll just make a whole fucking thing about it. I love y'all, man. I don't want to get off this pod without telling you how proud of y'all I am. It's been cool. You too, yeah. He's got a fucking thing. We'll just make a whole fucking thing about it. I love y'all, man. I don't want to get off this pod without telling you how proud of y'all I am. It's been cool. You too, baby. I've been seeing you do your thing thing. I'm watching all y'all. I almost caught the homie down in Nashville.
Starting point is 02:35:13 I miss him. I tried to drag him to a Blink-182 show. Did he tell you? No, Blink-182. I tried to take him to a Blink-182 show. If I didn't have to come back for this, I would have been there with you. Yeah, I hit him that Sunday. I hate I missed the show last night.
Starting point is 02:35:22 I was like, but I got us backstage at Blink-182. I'm coming to get you. He's like, I just fucking laughed. Yeah. But, man, I just love y' show last night. I was like, but I got us backstage at Blink-182. I'm coming to get you. He's like, I just fucking laughed. But, man, I just love y'all, man. I've been watching from afar, dude. It's just like fucking, you know, I stay in touch anyways. But it's just all bows float, baby. We're coming out, man.
Starting point is 02:35:35 We're coming out to a show. We love you, dog. Everybody go check out Jelly Live. Go watch all his stuff on YouTube. Listen to it everywhere. Jellyroll615.com. I think it's just Jellyroll on YouTube or the real Jellyroll. I'm pretty much found, man.
Starting point is 02:35:47 You'll see me. Look me up, baby. Jellyroll615.com. That's where the tickets are. Get it. Listen, if you fucking live in near Rapid City, South Dakota, this one show... I'm sorry, y'all. Y'all shit is big. Y'all shit is real big.
Starting point is 02:36:03 This is a big deal. If you live in Rapid City, South Dakota, I am pleading with you to not let this be the only show on this tour that don't sell out. Please, y'all. I'm begging. I'm almost to the point of willing to import people to South Dakota. Because it's like I'm going to sell out 43 cities in Rapid City, South Dakota. You're fucking the whole fuck's way up in this store. I need like 3,500 of you motherfuckers to go buy a ticket like today.
Starting point is 02:36:30 When's the show? It's in like a month and a half. It's like September or something. They got plenty of time. Like late September. Like please, y'all. Rapid City, South Dakota. Especially. Go buy a ticket to anywhere, but I think we're gonna be okay in most of these markets, but Rapid City, every time I check the ticket count, I'm just like,
Starting point is 02:36:45 I know where I'm retiring. You know what I'm saying? Rapid City, get out there. Jelly Roll, we love you, my brother. God bless y'all.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.