Club Shay Shay - Kel Mitchell With Special Performance By Tye Tribbett Part 1

Episode Date: May 15, 2024

Kel Mitchell is joined by the soul-stirring musical talents of Tye Tribbett for a first-of-its kind episode of Club Shay Shay. The show kicks off with a nostalgic sip of orange soda, setting the tone for a journey through Kel's life and career. Then, Tye Tribbett delivers the very first live performance on Club Shay Shay, sharing his journey from not being able to play the keys until speaking in tongues to collaborating with music legends like Stevie Wonder and Whitney Houston after his work on The Prince of Egypt. After the music, Kel Mitchell shares heartfelt stories, starting from his humble beginnings working at his grandma’s candy store to his breakthrough on Nickelodeon. He opens up about the tragic loss of his best friend at a young age and the challenges he faced balancing high school and his burgeoning acting career. From All That to the iconic Kenan and Kel show, Kel reminisces about the camaraderie with Kenan Thompson and memorable moments like encounters with Usher and LL Cool J. He delves into the origins of his character's famous love for orange soda and reflects on the creative energy of Chicago. As a multi-talented artist, Kel recalls his comedic parodies and ventures into musical theater, including his role in Freaknik The Musical alongside T-Pain. He shares insights into his family life and friendships in Hollywood, including his bond with Nick Cannon.  Kel's journey is also one of self-discovery and perseverance. He discusses the challenges of being a child star, seeking mentorship, and navigating creative ownership in the entertainment industry. Kel candidly opens up about his mental health struggles and finding light in the darkest times. From voicing beloved characters to finding fulfillment in his faith, Kel Mitchell's story is one of resilience and authenticity, leaving listeners inspired and uplifted. #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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We're talking sports, politics, pop culture, entertainment, and anything that catches my attention. Listen to the I Am Rapaport Stereo Podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I told the makeup artist, I said, yeah, just do full makeup. You know, just cover up. And she did the full. So, but you got to be careful how you tell. Nah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. What makeup artist you say do full. And you went through a similar thing.

Yeah, yeah, you remember that? I told them I wanted to be casket clean. They took me literally. Can they have me in the cas process. Yeah, yeah. You remember that? I told them I wanted to be casket clean. They took me literally. Can't have me in the casket. Yeah, right. All my life. Been grinding all my life. Sacrifice.

Hustle paid the price. Won a slice. Got the roll of dice. That's why. All my life. I've been grinding all my life. All my life. Been grinding all my life.

Sacrifice. Hustle paid the price. Won a slice. Got the roll of dice. That's why. All my life, been grindin' all my life Sacrifice, hustle paid the price Wanna slice, got the rollin' dice That's why, all my life, I've been grindin' all my life Hello, welcome to another episode of Club Shea Shea. I am your host, Shannon Sharp. I'm also the proprietor of Club Shea Shea. And the guy that's stopping by for conversation on the drink today

is one of Hollywood's brightest stars. A multi-talented, well-rounded performer, actor, comedian, artist, dancer, rapper, musician, screenwriter, executive producer, director, author, host, pastor, a sought-after voice actor. He's been nominated twice for an Emmy, a fan favorite, household name for kids of the 90s, a husband, a father, a Nickelodeon alum.

Who loves orange soda? Kel loves orange soda. Kel Mitchell. Oh, man, it's a pleasure. Oh, bro, I don't know if you're thinking about a club. What you got? A little orange soda, a little orange soda. You know we do it. We got to do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You know what I'm saying? You feel me? A little orange soda right there. Get that thing going. Who loves orange soda? Yeah. Oh, man, I appreciate it, man. I'm happy to be here. Man, we're happy to have you.

Man. Bro, thanks for stopping by the club. All the best. No doubt. Okay. Go ahead, man. That fruit toast. Yeah.

Shay loves orange soda, too. Kel, you're a pastor. You're a musician. So for you, for the very first time, we have a live performance. Coming to the stage today for the first time on Club Shay Shay is three-time Grammy-winning gospel artist Ty Tribbett, and he's going to sing a song, Be Alright. Be Alright.

Yeah. Yeah. yeah yeah he's gonna make everything all right whoo yeah yeah yeah check it it gets so hard just trying to figure it out fighting down trying to God, trying to watch the words in my mouth and stay on the route, trouble come and go, even on the mountain high or the valley low, but never let your faith go, yeah, never let your faith go, I've been there before, so confused, don't know which way to go, stressed out, the world's so crazy, we might as well stay in the house, fear trying to rise up. We got terrorist disguise. They look like us, but we know who we trust. Trust when I say that we gon' be alright. Tell them, tell them, tell them.

We gon' be alright. Little bit louder. Tell them, we gon' be alright. Feel real good in here. Alright. Can't hear you. Real loud say, we gon good in here. All right. All right. Can't hear you. Real loud say, say, we gon' be all right. Let's go.

We gon' be all right. No matter what you're going through. We gon' be all right. Tell her. Tell her. Tell her. Tell her. All right.

Yeah. Check it out. In these last days, evil times will come and it's here today Look at all the hate senseless crime and murder Human trafficking racism police brutality bullying rape child molestation Show the appearance of evil out there Let your kingdom come and let your will be done in the earth Let your glory rise, let your sun shine

Let it rise through the dark clouds In a little storm and a rain We will shout, cause we know after the night We gon' be alright Hey, all this work to count for the God We gon' be alright Hey, tell me, tell me, kid, he brought me out, I knew he would We gon' be alright We gon' be alright So don't you worry about it

Don't cry about it Just believe and receive every word that he promised you We gon' be alright Oh Jesus We gon' be alright We believe, yeah, we gon' be alright I will never doubt you, Lord I'll never ever doubt you

I believe and receive every word that you promise me We gon' be alright Lift your hands We gon' be alright Let's give him a worship We gon' be alright Don't worry about it Don't lose no sleep over it

He got everything under control Let's have a moment We gon' be alright Don't worry about it Don't lose no sleep over it He got everything under control That's why we're on it We gon' be alright Good God Almighty said We gon' be alright Yeah, yeah President, you say We gon' be alright

The battle is in your hands We're gonna stand still Don't fight, we're gonna We gon' be alright It's gonna be alright, it's gonna be alright now, it's gonna be alright, it's gonna be alright now It's gonna be alright, it's gonna be alright, it's gonna be alright, tell them, say, we gon' be alright Yeah, don't stop, we gotta go, y'all Last time, say, we gonna be We be made to do it for a night

Only one night, though Cry may last for a night Only one night though Crying may last for a night Only one night though Let the tears fall down from your eyes But only one night though Only one night though Don't get the devil no more We've been made to do it for a night Help me out say Only one night though Crying may last for a night Only one night though If you hurt, make sure that you hurt Only one night's gonna be alright

Only one night's gonna be alright Only one night though Joy comes in the morning I feel good y'all Joy comes in the morning Joy comes in the morning Can y'all see it? Joy comes in the morning Check it'all see it? Joy comes in the morning

Check it out I can see a brand new day I can see a brand new day I can see a brand new day Looking like a brand new day Looking like a brand new day I can feel a brand new day Gotta go

So we gon' be all right. Yeah. Come on. They did that. Come on. They did that. Yeah. Gon' be all right.

Be all right, you sing? Come on, bro. I was with y'all. I was with y'all. Come on. I was in the stool. I was like, we gon' be all right. Yeah.

We gon' be all right. Yes. Leaning up with the stool. I'm kidding. Three-time grammy winning tie tribute what's up man you did that be all right i'm listening to the words of the song and thinking about everything that's transpired over the last five years yeah how do we convince people to lean on the word of god and their spirituality and their religion that everything's going to be all right. Well, we just stay consistent, I believe. If we just stay consistent, keep encouraging people, keep speaking the word, they're going to hit a point in their life where all they have is that hope.

And all they have is that faith. They can keep fighting and trying other things and other remedies if they want. But if we just remain consistent, God is the way. Jesus is the way. He can help you. And our testimonies help people. Yo, he did it for me. It's not even about convincing people.

It's about being a witness. Like, yo, I ain't even trying to convert nobody in here. God is good to me. His way works for me. And when they hear your consistency on that Christ content, when they hit rock bottom, they're going to remember what you said, and they're going to try God, too. But he also wants you to remember that when you're doing good, just don't call. OK, yeah, because everybody want to call him.

But when things are going well, we seem to be doing it on our own. That's the thing about that's the thing about God. He's so good to all of us. The Bible says he reigns on the just as well as the unjust. It's the matter of the heart. Do you think it's you or do you know it's God? I think the wise person knows it's God. Remember when Jesus was born, a little boy, the wise men brought their gifts to Jesus. Wise men bring their gifts, their success, their everything to him.

If you're wise, you'll lean on him more. I read, I don't know if this is true or not. Hold on. Hold on, Shane. Don't turn that card off. That you could not play the key until you spoke. In other tongues. In other tongues.

Brother. Not your typical tongue. Not the typical tongue. No, yeah. I grew up Pentecostal, very legalistic. They ain't play no games. Right. No earrings, no movies.

Everything is a sin and everybody going to hell but us. So with that, but us, elitism, mindset, legalistic. So I couldn't, I was, I felt like, now I'm not going, I felt like I was the most talented person in the church that could play. Okay. But I was sitting there every Sunday like, man, let me hurry up and speak in tongues. I wasn't worried about going to heaven. I wanted to speak in tongues so I could play in the church. I worry about heaven later. I got to fix this service tonight. So 12 years old, it happened for me. And I started, you know, taking over and playing at that time. Wow.

Yeah, man. It was crazy back then, man. So, Pimple Chaucer, y'all did those chant revivals all the time? What? What are you talking about? It be hot in that church. It be hot and they got them new mosquitoes that ain't come out yet. Bugs everywhere man. We had all that in that tent revival. We was kicking it up though, praising God. I love that because it took us outside of the four walls of the church. So that was always exciting for me because I always saw that small context. So to see God bigger than that in the streets was amazing to me. Introduce you to your group. I want to know more about you. Yeah. You want to know about the group? This is Brandon right here.

Brandon. What's up, man? This is Jaleesa Faye right here. Jaleesa? This is Jocelyn right here. Jocelyn. Soprano Alto Tenor. This is Joe right here.

That's my main man, Joe. But then he holds it down to my producer, all that stuff. We do all this stuff together. This is JR on the drums right here. Okay. That's my main man, Joe. But then he holds it down to my producer, all that stuff. We do all this stuff together. This is JR on the drums right here. This is a little nephew. And I got one brother in the whole entire world. I got one brother, and that's him. That's Thaddeus right here.

That's my brother, bass player, friend, all that good stuff. So we're one big happy family here. Ty, I'm looking at some of your music collabs. Music, Soul Child, Jill Scott, The Roots, Jessica Simpson, Floetry Common, Erykah Badu, Luther Vandross, Stevie Wonder.

What were those experiences like for you? I didn't do any of that. No, I'm just like, oh. I'm like, I better eat. Come on now. You're like, what?

Oh! We did a movie called The Prince of Egypt. Okay. That was an animated story about the life of Moses. We won this gospel choir competition. They said, let's get that choir on this movie soundtrack so we started doing music for that soundtrack there we met Faith Hill Whitney Houston all these people so for the movie

premieres we would only choir so we will sing background for like all the artists and some of them just took to us and loved us so we went on tour with Faith Hill Tim McGraw we went on tour with Don Henley we did stuff with Gloria Estefan like all this stuff all these once you got in the funnel it just kind of like let's get that choir let's get the choir and then I'm from the Philly Jersey area so we did our first album in the Root Studio I'm very cool with them I knew them all we all knew each other so just being around the Root Studio. I was very cool with them. I knew them all. We all knew each other. So just being around the Root Studio, they'd be like, yo, get on this. LL's coming in town. Justin

Timberlake is coming, dude. That's why we got Crimey River and all that stuff. Yeah, I was about to get to that. Is it true? You know I'm going to go there. You know I'm going to go there. Yeah, I was doing... I got to prove it? You got to prove it. Uh-oh, uh-oh, give him the it! I don't remember how to play that. What key is that?

What key was that? He said, what key is that? They got me proving it. I ain't played that since then. Hey, play it. Oh, there it is. Hey. Something like that.

Something like that. Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Oh, there it is. Hey. Something like that. Something like that. Yeah. Oh, that was a hit song. I know they broke bread with you with that one, didn't they?

Yeah, we had dinner. Oh, come on. Hold on. Todd, that was one of his biggest songs. I didn't know the business then. I was working with Timbaland, and Timbaland is still my dude to this day so he cut me a check i took that two thousand dollars i split it up between everybody i didn't know points one two three yeah yeah so california canada i can't i didn't know the business then and you know i'm not upset about any of that. It's all good.

It's what it is. Thank you, Ty. Man, you're the man. Appreciate you, man. You'll be back later. Thank you, man. All the fun. Thank you.

Can't wait. Thank you guys so much. Can't wait. Can't wait. That was amazing. Ty Tribble, ladies and gentlemen. Yeah! Ty's going to be on tour May 16th through June 13th, coming to a city near you.

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All right, Kel. Yeah. Before we get, you got started with Nickelodeon back in 1994? Yeah. 94. 94. So was that your first gig? I mean, did you do, you're from Chicago, the in 1994? Yeah. 94. 94. So was that your first gig?

I mean, did you do, you're from Chicago, the South Side. Yeah. Did you have a job before Nickelodeon? Yeah, man. I definitely had a job. I did different things. Okay. You know what I mean?

When I got on there, I was a junior in high school. Okay. Like sophomore going over to junior. And yeah, man, I worked at my grandma's candy store. You know what I mean? She was an entrepreneur. She had the beauty salon. Did you eat more than you sell?

Yeah. Yeah, I ate some of the supplies. Yeah, definitely, definitely. Yeah, man, but definitely there. Yeah, and I did some construction work with my uncle and stuff like that. But I was still, you know, still a teen. Yeah, and that was like my first like big gig. My first one, though, I was a model first.

Okay. So I tell a lot of people that. You did the modeling thing first. Yeah, I was on the back of the Captain Crunch box. Really? Yeah, he was on the back of Crunch Berries. I had a little hot top fade holding Crunch Berries on the back of that. Early on, you had something tragic happen in your life.

Your best friend was murdered at a very young age. Yeah. What impact did that have on you, Kel? Oh, man, a very big impact. You know what I mean? This was someone that I was very close to, went to my church. I know growing up, shout out to my family. And I remember when it happened, I was on all that, actually.

I was on all that at the time. And, yeah, he was murdered. He was shot in the head in an alley in Chicago. And around that time, it was like I was still doing the show. I was shooting the show. And I really didn't have time to grieve. To love, yeah. Yeah, because, you know, you got to go right back on to being on a show.

So that was a very hard time for me. But this was someone who actually saved my life as well. I remember it was a situation where something went down in a neighborhood. Some guys, you know, did something on his side of neighborhood. We were separated through a viaduct, the two neighborhoods. And they were looking for the guys on my side of town that did it. Just so happens that I was just, you know, playing, playing you know in the school parking lot and those guys happened to be there i had no idea that they were doing that um they were coming to do a drive-by at that point and when they were driving by sam was like no no no

nah you know what i mean that kid go to my church we're gonna do it and he told me the next day while we were at boy scouts you know what i mean literally told me he was just like man don't hang with them no more you know just this is what happened this is the situation we was you know we were homies right you know what i mean so yeah definitely had an impact how did the nickelodeon how did the nickelodeon gig come about did you audition for that were there like were there people like hey we think you'd be great for this how did this come about oh man well you know i was a bit of a class clown, you know, coming up.

I enjoyed, you know, making people laugh. Right. You know, that was my thing within my family. All of us, we love doing that. And I started out in theater. You know what I mean? So I started out in theater first. And it wasn't a thing of, like, getting on television

or anything like that. That was never the thing. It was for my parents. It was having a positive outlet. You know what I what i mean so think about it is they put me in everything because they didn't want me to go into the wrong crowd so they were like hey try everything and karate you know science camp everything and what stuck was literally uh this theater yeah eta creative arts foundation shout out to them in chicago they still going right and uh i went there to this theater and i was like this is where where i belong you know what i mean i did it

as a summer thing and uh yeah i started going on auditions uh i went from eta to victory gardens theater out in chicago goodman theater started making my rounds in the theater game and uh yeah it went good man when you auditioned did you know you had got the role did you think you had knocked it out of the park um no so so yeah when i went to the audition i remember uh i was at my high school cvs shout out to cvs cavaliers okay and uh i remember i had a test that day you know i had my finals that day and so usually i don't forget my monologue but i remember when i went into the audition uh i went blank because i just had finals on the break you

know what i mean and i went in there and they were like uh you want to go out in the hallway practice it i was like cool knocked over some um camera cords when i was walking out i did it in a funny way though they started laughing i'm thinking i ruined the whole audition but they were cracking up the way i did it came back in and they wait, before you do the monologue, I want you to just do some impersonations. So I did some impersonations. I did Ed in there. Yeah.

You know what I mean? Ed was one of the characters that I did. I also did Coach Creighton in there. Right. That was based on a coach at my high school. Did all the characters that you saw and all that. I did it in a room. Weeks went by.

You know what I mean? I also killed the monologue. But weeks went by and i'm thinking like no i didn't get it and i remember it was a phone call late at night and my mom was like what what no hey thank you jesus and we went to la and when we went to la it was like the avengers of every funny kid that you could possibly think of from all over this every city uh went up against it and uh definitely got in there yeah so you get all of that so you froze the very first chance now you've got all these people watching right now okay this

is my big moment you're like yeah man yeah it was deep like i i wouldn't say froze i just i had finals on the brain and my parents are big on education okay you know what i mean they're very big on that and so uh i had finals and we were like we went we were like the last audition i was the last audition in chicago and uh and made it through but i had been doing theater and everything you know uh prior to that for years so how did you learn to develop your character because you said they asked you to do impressive impersonations yeah and impressions of some of these characters that were in the script. And just like on cue, because did you rehearse that? Did you think, well, they might ask me to do this, so let me be prepared.

And if they don't, I'm cool. But if they do, I'll be ready. No, check it out. So it wasn't scripted. This was literally like, what impersonations do you have? So most kids would probably do stuff that they've seen on television. I did stuff that I saw on the L train, seeing people, my uncles, you know, I coach people that I knew. OK. And I just gave them all original characters right there on the spot.

And that was the thing. They were like, yo, this kid came in and he did original voices, original characters. And they wrote literally to the characters that I did. You know, and that's how a lot of the characters that i did you know and that's how a lot of the characters that i had uh was so original and all that yeah well but how do you learn as a child to like play to the cameras play to the crowd because that's because you said you were class clown but so when you're in a class everybody's watching you anyway so you don't it's not like you have to play anything you just be yourself how did you learn the stage presence theater okay that's really what helped me do it you know uh shout out to ranakul jai he that was my first theater you know drama teacher and uh in

summer i remember my first time being on stage uh we did a play and he was amazing like he would write his own plays he did this thing it was kind of like the Wiz mixed with you know Beach Street and it was called Cosimo and the coconut palm and I got to play this character named rattles where I was a narrator and he taught us how to really become the character okay you know really become the character where does it pair to come from what is what is he like what he's like to eat so I was trained in knowing how to do that and then I started I went from doing the plays with the teens to also doing plays at night, too, as well, with a lot of different adults. You know what I mean?

And so I started to really understand the craft and really understand theater and didn't act up at school as much because I was having a job. You know, I had a job and I found, you know, what my talent was and I really enjoyed it. And I wanted to learn every aspect of it. You know, did you feel like you did you feel like it was acting or you were being killed? Hmm. I was being killed. You know what I mean? Because there's a thing, you know, what God anoints you with and the talent that he gives you. You know what I mean? So I was just doing that, but it was beautiful to find it. You know what I mean? It was beautiful to find, like, oh, I can do this on stage,

and this could actually be a career. And I remember one of the actors, when I was doing one of the plays, I think it was Dirt, it was this play called Dirt, and I remember one of the adult actors came up to me, and he was just like, you got to enjoy this stuff. He said, if you're going to do this for life, he was just like you got to enjoy this though he said if you're going to do this for life you you got to know you got to enjoy it because it's a lot of ups and downs and things that go on with this he told me that at a very young age at the time i didn't know what

he meant you know what i mean because i'm living with my parents right stuff like that but becoming an adult i understood what he meant right and i and i thank him for giving me that advice. Yeah. How did you you and Keenan Thompson, how do you guys hit it off so quickly? Hmm. You know, you know, being both black. That helps. You know, we had the same type of background. I'm from the south side of Chicago, Atlanta. You know what I mean? And it was just a thing. Like, I remember we introduced TLC, right? And when we introduced TLC for the pilot episode, because, you know, all that was just a pilot. It wasn't supposed to be a show that was a series.

Right. You know, so they were trying it out. Nickelodeon had never tried anything like this before with musical guests. People say it's like SNL for kids, but it's really, I felt like it was in living color for kids. You know what I mean? Just because how diverse it was and the type of musical acts we had on the show.

But yeah, we tried to, did it. And I remember Keenan and I had a sketch called Mavis and Clavis, where we played two old guys. And we were doing this characters. And I would tell Joe, he knew exactly what I was going to say. I knew exactly what he was going to say. And it just worked at that moment. And after that, everybody kind of saw wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast nfl daily with greg rosenthal five days a week you'll get all the latest news previews recaps and analysis

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Monday through Friday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. MTV's official challenge podcast is back for another season. That's right. The challenge is about to embark on its monumental 40th season, y'all, and we are coming along for the ride. Woohoo! That would be me, Devin Simone. And then there's me, Davon

Rogers. And we're here to take you behind the scenes of, drumroll please, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, the eras. Yes. Each week cast members will be joining us to spill all of the tea on the relentless challenges, heartbreaking eliminations and of course all the juicy drama. And let's not forget about the hookups. Anyway, regardless of what era you're rooting for at home, everyone is welcome here on MTV's

official challenge podcast. So join us every week as we break down episodes of the Challenge 40 Battle of the Eras. Listen to MTV's official Challenge podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Like, oh, these two work very well together, and so do we. And, yeah, it was on screen, off screen. We did the same thing.

What made them pair you guys, besides being black? What made them pair you? You think that was the only reason they put you two guys together no it was that it was that sketch okay so it was literally that mavis and clavis sketch that they saw these kids are definitely funny together and they play off each other very well they started putting us in different sketches together and it just right it worked it just worked and uh we didn't know anything about like abner costello or martin and lewis or comedic duos and uh kim fields who was one of our directors right uh she actually uh introduced us to that she was like i want you to see martin and lewis because you guys are similar to this and we looked and we're like yo this is like yeah

we're like a comedic duo this is dope yeah so when they told you guys you're gonna have your own show yeah yeah what what went through your mind immediately well we were doing on that for a few seasons right so uh and it had became popular after a while and then uh usually we would go home and go to school on hiatus right so they hit us up and was like um you guys are gonna stay here all right during this time you guys want to stay here wow um while the other kids go and we want to do your own show because we see you guys offstage too. And you guys are hilarious. So we were, we were funny offstage too. And they saw that. And so then after that, they said, you're going to have your own show. They didn't know the

name of it. I remember we had a list of names. It was like me and the homie and all this different stuff and you know, stuff that probably wouldn't have worked. And I remember somebody at a dinner was just like, yo, just call it Keenan and Kel. You know what I mean? Call it after their names. And it really worked because we loved Martin and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and all these different shows. And this would be our show.

So then simultaneously we had the sketch show. And then we also had the sitcom at the same time. Yeah, it was dope. What's some of your fondest memories of that? Fondest memories? Yeah. Oh, man, there's so many. I mean, mean like you know i was also in the hip-hop i feel like i tell people uh hip-hop and church saved my life you know what i mean so uh you know i was man you had a bunch of jobs

yeah you did some everything yeah man i was a i was a b-boy uh in the south side of chicago so i break dance i did graffiti i did the whole thing so shout out to the immortal masters of cry line that's what we were called IMK so uh but yeah man I just I loved that man and I remember I was into music and so I did a lot of music first and so I was doing hip hop and we got on the show to have TLC be you know our musical guest and do the theme song you know we had Aaliyah, we had Brandy, Usher, all of them, like, right when they were getting started. So it was awesome.

Those are the memories I remember, you know, doing Mama Jokes with LL Cool J. You know what I mean? And getting to chop it up with Busta Rhymes. And then because I rap, they would allow me to freestyle. Right. Like, all the time with a lot of different one of them. So, you know, freestyling with Coolio on stage and stuff those are cool memories yeah where did this love or this

infatuation with orange soda come from okay so the writer wrote uh you know who loves orange soda okay i don't know where his mind went with that uh i actually now being older i feel like it was a branding thing of like you know to to promote soda or something like that with Nickelodeon. But they wrote that in there and I just kind of T painted like I put like the I do, I do, I do. Oh, you know, to the point now where I go five star restaurant, wherever it may be. You know, people will still go, you know, you're going to get orange soda. You got to get that orange soda so it's crazy yeah i mean you mentioned about some of these up-and-coming uh tlc and alia and brandy and usher and uh i think britney spears uh made an appearance yeah

you're like this is pretty cool yeah when you go back home i mean what are you when you go back home what are your friends what do they think of kale now well here's the thing it was funny because uh it's not like today where like the shows come on right immediately you know what i mean so took a little bit for it to happen and uh i remember uh it was nickelodeon was more for the kids at first and so we were the ones that made it like cool for the teens to watch and the tweens to watch right uh and i was trying to stay low you know what i mean because where i grew up at when i go back to school i ain't really want everybody to know right that i was on a show you know what i mean i was just trying to skirting through

and i remember the freshmen at my high school one of them just started screaming as i was walking through the hall like hey yo and then one of my teachers ended up playing one of the episodes for my class and after that it got kind of kind of wild you know what i mean if you could go back we're gonna put you back at that age okay but in today okay okay what three musical guests would you like to have on the show for today yeah um we actually did a reboot of all that and we got to bring a lot of people uh the show back in 2019. So, Herb was on there, which was amazing. Wow. We had a lot of great guests, man, that were just amazing.

You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah. The Jonas Brothers. You know, everybody, man. We had everybody. I'm looking at this. You in music videos. You with Kanye West.

All falls down. All falls down. Druid Hills. Young and Dumb and Brutal. Yeah. Bro. Yeah. Your resume, just as a child

yeah without even talking about moving forward was so expansive yeah yeah I mean you know that's man

that's God man and a lot of that cause it's funny because okay so let's break it down so when you mention that that's two different areas of my life, right?

Yes. So with Kanye, I was an adult, you know? So it's like a thing because me and Keenan look very young. So a lot of times people are like, we still kids. Y'all growing in. Yeah. And we grown, you know what I mean? So even on the show, it was like that, too.

You know, we had to shave and, you know, still look young. Because, you know, we got on the show when we were like sophomores, juniors in high school. It went on for a few years. Yeah, man. But to be on all those platforms and have Kanye call me up and to be a baggage carrier on the show and work with Common again. And that's just that Chicago love. Right. You know, Chicago.

You know, I knew Common already. Me and Common had a freestyle battle at Metro Music. Who won? I'm going to say I won. No, I'm just playing. Yeah, Common won that. I was doing crisscross stuff. I was like, it's Kiki the Kale on the Miggity Mic,

and you know, all that stuff. So how did this come about? I understand that you say, obviously, Common's from Chicago. Yeah. So were you familiar with someone in his group? They were familiar with you? So how did this come about? Yeah, here's the thing, man.

A lot of the comedians like D know d-ray and uh common and you know the hip-hop just chicago in general we all support one another on the south side uh you gotta remember i got started in 94 right so you know a lot of people that were starting to get on around 96 97 98 they already knew about me so it's like me jason weaver uh lz Tate. All of us are from Chicago. You know what I mean? And we were already doing like they were doing in the society. He was doing the Michael Jackson story. So all these different things, man.

So shout out to the city of Chicago, man. And we all know each other, see each other around. So it's been good. Yeah. Well, I don't think there's any better person to ask about this than you. Considering your background, you're in the hip hop community, you're a musician a musician yeah what's up with you rap beef why everybody treat teaming up on drake i ain't what i didn't know they had a beef i didn't know anybody had a problem yeah man it's it's it's wild you know what i mean everybody's going at it i mean that's that's hip

hop you know what i mean and we're gonna see as long as everybody keep it peaceful, it's all good. I mean, I didn't know, I didn't know Ross was at Drake, Future and Boomin was at Drake. I mean, I'm like, what did I miss? I mean,

I know I ain't immersed in the culture as I would when I was younger, but damn, I didn't know this was an undercurrent. Did you know that?

No, I didn't know. I don't have any insight in for me. I'm just enjoying the music, man, enjoying the music. Oh, enjoying the music oh i forgot kda so let me ask you a question so is this really is this really beef i mean because you know they they chris brown going at quavo that's beef that's a diss yeah you know saying you know saying a big three is big me i don't know yeah you know because back at you know uh uh uh nas and hove go that's a diss yeah remy ma that's a diss yeah is this what what what kendrick did

to cole that i mean you know look i look at it it's different generations and how they doing it is how they doing it um you know like i said just keep it peaceful yeah you know and enjoy the music no see uh breeze ain't keep it peaceful yeah i mean he's right he's right yeah chris can rhyme yeah yeah yeah he got the flame for why he beat bird and died the city real talk oh man parody you did uh prince 50 cent michael bro when doing research on you, you are like talented beyond talent. There's not anything that you really can't do. You can sing. Like I said, obviously, you're a musician. You can do impressions.

You can do, bro. I appreciate that. You know, I really look at triple threats, and I think, you know think theater really helped me out with that. But I really like Sammy Davis Jr., Rat Pack. I'm from that. You know what I'm saying? I love that type of style of people just being a triple threat, singing, rapping, whatever it may be. And just enjoying this journey. Whatever it is, I love to try everything.

You know what I mean? And try it and see how good I could be at it. And, yeah, man, it's been good. What's your favorite parody? My favorite parody that I've done? Yes, you've done. I've got a bunch of them. I like original stuff, too, but I've got a bunch of them.

I don't know. I can't pick just one, man. I like doing 50. 50 was fun. Right. 50 was fun. When I did 50 Cent, that was pretty cool. Yeah.

What was Freak Nick the Musical? Tell us about that. What are you... What was Freak Nick the Musical? Yeah. That was... Did you ever... Did you come to Freak Nick?

No. I never went to Freak Nick. You missed it. We were... Yeah, we were on all that at the time, doing that. But yeah, let me see. Freak Nick the Music with T-Pain. Yeah.

So shout out to T-Pain. That's the homie. And I remember Carl Jones, the boondocks and all that. And they were doing, he's the ghost of Freak Nick. Okay. So this is when Freak Nick wasn't around anymore. And T-Pain became the ghost of Freak Nick. It was me, Afion Crockett.

Rick Ross is in there too, Lil Wayne. You know what I mean? I played a lot of different characters. Me and Afion did a lot of original music in it. So it was cool. Yeah. Explain to us the Lord of Squad.

I mean, Tyler the Creator. Bro, how many groups were you in? You just jumping group to group. Shout out to Tyler, man. Tyler is hilarious too. I just,

you know, I really enjoy working with different artists and comedians as well. And, you know i really enjoy uh working with different artists and comedians as well and uh you know i'm never and just like the battling with the comedians and all that stuff like that it's all love you know and and enjoying every moment and so i remember lord of squad just was they're fans of all that and uh you know they reached out to me and shout out to tyler he did great at coachella just the other night a lot of what's happened to you early. You were in high school.

Yeah. So once you got on, how different did the kids treat you? How different was your life from when all this started transpiring? You know, shout out to my parents, man. They kept me pretty grounded. You know what I mean? Their whole thing is like, yo, you you you still kill you taking out the garbage. You're doing this. You know what I'm saying? And, you know, my dad is a retired social worker, and my mom is a retired teacher. You know, so they took it real serious. And then I'm the middle child of two sisters.

Shout out to my sisters, Kiara and Kyra. So, no, I didn't really act much different. Did people treat you different? Yeah. I mean, you got to think of, think of the people that didn't know me. Now, my real homies who I know, they already knew what was going on. They was rooting for me. I even put them on the show because, remember, I told you I rap too as well.

So we got to perform on the show too as well. Yeah, but people that didn't know me, of course, they were just fans. And that's the thing where you have to navigate as a team whether um this person wants to be my friend just because i'm on the show or just because you know we can rock together yeah man so yeah you do have to navigate did you did you experience any negativity of course you know what i mean of course you you experienced that a lot of times you know uh you you experience toxic friends people and toxic relationships all those different things. Yeah.

Did you feel at that point in time, you're like, man, I'm on top of the world. It can't be. I can only go from here. Ain't no downside to this. It's only up from here. No, I never felt like top of the world. I think it was a thing where as it was happening, we were experiencing it in such a way where it was like really surreal. Like, you know, this show that we did that was supposed to only be a special.

Now it's taken off and it's taken off very fast. People are really enjoying it. And so it was like learning it along the way. Yeah. Bro, you and Kenan had your characters, your sketch, turning the characters on Good Burger. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Good Burger was one of those sketches where when I did the voice in the audition, and then they created it on the show as well and gave them a whole entire world, musical guests loved to be on the Good Burger, like, you know, sketches. Yeah.

Which were great. And even before we did the movie, we had put out a soundtrack. And I remember Immature was the, youature was the big boy group at the time. And Brian Robbins, shout out to Brian Robbins, one of our executive producers. He was like, yo, I want you. We're going to do an album and play all the musical guests that were on there. But we're going to do an original song.

And you get to rap with Immature. And I was like, oh, dope. You know what I mean? So I'm thinking I'm rapping as me because you know I rap. But he's like, no, you got to rap as Ed. And I was like, from Good Burger? I mean so I'm thinking I'm rapping as me because you know I rap but he's like no you gotta rap as Ed and I was like from Good Burger I gotta rap as Ed

so we rode away to the studio and I was like well Ed about to be spitting so I just I put it together and even to this day now it's on TikTok

and all of this like people have discovered the music video again so it's just been really cool when you do these sketches when you do these impressions do you know do you have a sense of like man i think this is gonna be really big or you just like i'm just do i'm doing the best i possibly can yeah and it's gonna grow and it's gonna do what it does

it's always been the the best that i can and and seeing it grow and being in awe of that you know what i mean uh and all the fan base and all the people just enjoying it um i never go like oh this is gonna hit because you don't know you know what I mean? You just gotta have that faith that it's gonna rock, you know And for me being in the position that I was in, you know being on this show I was thankful to be on it You know what I mean? And with this ensemble that I was on and it's just rocking and being the best that I can with an each character Yeah, good burgers become a cult classic. Yeah, I mean they love it that I was on and just rocking and being the best that I can within each character.

Yeah. Good Burger has become a cult classic. Yeah. I mean, they love it. Yeah. How does that make you feel knowing that something you created such a long time ago has stood the test of time? It's a blessing, man. I mean, to have a character that put a smile on people's faces, you know, hearing the stories of people, you know, saying the first time they saw Good Burger

or the sketches that they enjoy. I had one person come up to me and say, man, I was in the hospital and Good Burger came on and it just made me laugh and it helped with my healing process. And hearing stories like that is what's beautiful to me. You know what I mean? And then to be blessed to come back

and do Good Burger 2 after so many years and have young kids that are five years old it wasn't boring when the first one came out um doing good burger you know parties and birthday parties and themed parties uh it's been awesome man yeah with all the success obviously the money's involved yeah so how did that change your life i mean did you yeah did y'all do the jefferson's move's move on up or did you stay at the location where you were, when you and your family? Yeah, man. So here's the thing. Like, um, we started the show in Florida. Okay. Right. And like I said, like I was in high school and then I graduated and then it was time for college. So all of us had to kind of like figure

that out. So we all started staying in own places okay at that point and navigating being an adult and so now it was adulting you know with this and all of that so yeah we have some we have some fun so did you yeah so what did you do I mean obviously you're making making great money you're making more than the the average is 15 16 17 year old did you but were you reckless would you spend it I don't know if I was reckless with my spending. I wasn't reckless. It was definitely a learning curve as far as like learning, but shout out to my parents for helping me within that.

Right. But yeah, access to certain things that I wouldn't have before was definitely there. Yeah. I read that Nick Cannon was in the audience. You and Nick became very good friends and he's in the audience when all that. So talk to us about the relationship that you developed with Nick over the years yeah that was like little bro I remember he was doing stand-up and he actually got on there and I remember him being on there and he was super funny uh warming up the audience okay yeah so that was pretty cool right so he would warm up the audience make Okay. Yeah, so that was pretty cool. Right. So he would warm up the audience, make everybody laugh,

and they asked us, the producers asked, yo, do y'all want him to be on the show to do a sketch? And we're like, yeah, like, of course, dude, it's funny. Right. And he killed it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that was the start. Did you know of Nick prior to him coming and being on the show?

Not prior to him coming on and being a warm-up guy, because we always had warm-up guys that would do it and this was a team that was actually the warm-up guy right for the show to make everybody laugh in between sets because they're there for like you know three four hours an audience and he would make them laugh in between scenes and yeah super talented man great family too I read you inspired Nick on naming of some of his kids yeah I mean yeah there's only so many names he got a bunch of kids yeah so explain I mean how do you I mean when you talk to Nick and you guys your relationship do y'all like are you serious or do y'all

joke a lot with each other I mean yeah so here's the dynamic all of us are you know we're grown-ups now you know what i mean we're dads you know what i mean but before uh it was like big brother okay you know what i'm saying i was i'm his big brother he's a little bro uh and he's learning the ropes learning you know hollywood learning all these different things and i would definitely looked out for him uh same with me and kenan we were just like big bros yeah bro you own everything you on everything. You on Sister, Sister. You on Steve Harvey Show. Bro, you got a lot of credits. Thank you.

I appreciate it. I mean, you done graduated college by 7, 8 times with all the credits you got. I appreciate that. I mean, why did you, I guess, I mean, I shouldn't say why, but how were you able to get on so many sitcoms? Huh. So many sitcoms. Well, OK. So Sister Sister happened because when we were on that show on Keenan and Kel and we were doing that, I wanted to be on other shows as well.

You know, and the guy that actually created Keenan and Kel, he also created a Sister Sister show, too. OK. You know what I mean? So it was cool to have that same transition Yeah, natural transition. But my thing was I started going when we came to LA I started like sitting down in the audience at other shows Yeah, I was sitting down in other shows and just kind of rub shoulders and they're like, you know, I need to be on one of the episodes Let's get it and Akinaina and I, they put us on Sister Sister,

which was awesome. Then we got on the Steve Harvey show as well. We might as well have become regulars on the Steve Harvey show. We did so many episodes

over there. Did you get an opportunity to meet, to mingle and hang with Steve? Of course. Yeah, Steve gave me a lot of great advice.

Everybody, everybody says that. I've talked to, had a lot of comedians that had a lot of people come on the show, and they say Steve is great. Man, bro, Steve's that dude, man. He gave me a lot of great advice. He told me, he was just like, are you going to still be able to do that character with a beard? When you get a mustache, do you still want to do this?

And so you got to start thinking of what's your transition of graduating to different roles. And I thought about that a lot, you know what I i mean within him giving me that advice and it was great advice to have how much are they gonna pay me to shave that should have been the question at the time at the time we were you know we were definitely shaving and all that stuff yeah i'll continue to shave yeah yeah i got laser hair removal how about they paying me you was on the parkers yeah yeah monique yeah shout out to monique man also amazing uh had a great time How about they paying me? You was on the Parkers. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Monique. Yeah, shout out to Monique, man.

Also amazing. Had a great time. Countess Vaughn. Yes. Monique is amazing. Me and Monique also worked with Spike Lee as well. Did a Pepsi commercial, Super Bowl commercial. So, yeah, I mean, we've known each other, like I said, man. We've been at it since 94, so.

Bro, I mean, half and half, one-on-one, the game, Serena the Teenage Witch, Cousin Skeeter. Yeah. Bro, you got like, no, I don't know if any kid has been on more, anybody's been on more. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news, previews, recaps, and analysis delivered straight to your podcast feed by the time you get your coffee. No dumb hot takes here, just smart hot takes. We'll talk every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone, so I'm bringing in the big guns from NFL media. That's Patrick Claibon, Steve Weiss, Nick Shook,

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From game plan analysis and player interviews, we've got you covered for all things football. Hey, you want to know the secret ingredient that makes Patrick Mahomes unstoppable? Or maybe which reality show best describes the Jets season? Look no further. We bring you everything, all the games, all the matchup previews, our impeccable predictions. Get your football fix right here on the GMFB podcast.

We've got recaps, retweets, and reactions to all the wild moments you might have missed both on and off the field. We bring it like nobody else, straight from the stores. Whether you're a football fanatic or you just enjoy a good laugh, make sure to listen to the Good Morning Football podcast Monday through Friday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

wherever you get your podcasts. MTV's official challenge podcast is back for another season. That's right. The Challenge is about to embark on its monumental 40th season, y'all, and we are coming along for the ride. Woo-hoo! That would be me, Devin Simone.

And then there's me, Davon Rogers. And we're here to take you behind the scenes of, drumroll please. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. The Challenge 40, Battle of the Eras. Yes. Each week, cast members will be joining us to spill all of the tea on the relentless challenges, heartbreaking eliminations, and of course, all the juicy drama. And let's not forget about the hookups.

Anyway, regardless of what era you're rooting for at home, everyone is welcome here on MTV's official challenge podcast. So join us every week as we break down episodes of the Challenge 40 Battle of the Eras. Listen to MTV's official challenge podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

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I mean, because you're a musician, you rap, you've been in sitcom, you've done sketch comedy, you've done, I mean, you're a minister. So what's the what what gives Kel the most fulfillment? Being being me and doing what what God wants me to do. You know what I mean? I really feel like enjoying a journey. It's been it's been a journey. Like, you know, hearing you talk about uh all those different resumes and the things i did but what i remember is the things that i was going through throughout the entire process of every time and every moment of the journey within

learning this journey and so for me that's what it's about um you know you get one life here then you live again in heaven but it's just having this one life you know what i mean and where it can take you know those different steps and learning from everything uh that's that's been the beauty in it you know what i mean i'm looking at some of your voiceover work clifford the big red dog proud family curious george robot chicken veggie tail sponge bob squirt yeah so i mean i've done uh i did one voice so i did one voiceover. I was actually myself, I think it was American Dad. And I really liked it. And you see a lot of big time celebs are doing voiceovers. Did you really, did you like it? up to was john ritter right uh john ritter was amazing when i was a kid i used to have this little tv you know with the little buttons right so i used to turn that on turn it down very low so my parents can hear it and watch it under my blanket and watch three's company right and uh

his comedic physical physicality as far as a physical comedian yeah yeah he followed him and uh he was clifford on clifford the big red dog and so uh that was like my first introduction to doing voiceover work and working with Cree Summers, who is just an amazing voiceover actress. And I just learned it. And I love doing voiceover work. I mean, and you can do it in your pajamas if you want to. But you really got it. It's an art to doing it.

It is. Yeah. If a kid actor. Yeah. What advice would you give kids that want to go the route that you did what some of the advice you would give them oh man um have a good uh sense of self and who you are you know you go through a lot uh within this business and uh ups and downs and things that you go through right and it's finding don't lose sight of yourself, you know, throughout the process.

When we brought all that back in 2019, it was very important to me that I spoke to the kids. And I remember when I saw all of them for the first time, it was a whole new cast. I remember going in there and I said, yo, the Lord told me, tell all of them something that you wish somebody told you. And I told them, like, this is not the thing that makes you um important or this is not the thing that makes you like oh I can do this this is one stepping stone of your life that you're going to be in and so you were made special when you were needed in the womb when you were born so don't competition with one another have fun while you're doing this but understand this this is a job. Understand that this is a job and it's going to be other jobs, too, as well. And seeing them grow now with them being on other different shows now and they really understood that. And then I flew my parents out, too. I flew my parents out because a lot of parents are green within it, too, when it's just starting.

Yes. And I wanted my parents to give that perspective to their parents. too when it's just starting yes and i wanted my parents to give that perspective to their parents and it was a beautiful moment a lot of the parents were crying within that moment when my they heard my parents talking to them as well and it was just a great moment and i i asked nickelodeon to be able to do that because i feel like it's very important as athletes you know a lot of you guys uh you get other older athletes that you know pull back just kind of tell you advice about what to expect as actors we just get thrown into it you know what i mean and so we got to look back and kind of tell you advice about what to expect as actors we just get thrown into it you know what i mean and so we got to look back as you know veteran actors and actually sit down and have real conversations with the younger ones to let them know what to expect and how to navigate

through it too as well how difficult was it navigating yeah those early years because like you said you didn't have what you could give someone now because i don't like the mentorship like if somebody could but there was no one that you could possibly ask about what you were going through facts facts um it was coming fast so here's the thing so i'll explain it this way because a lot of people um like i said they don't know the timeline okay because i've been in this business for so long, I don't really understand the timeline. Yeah, over 30 years, man. So when you look at it, I remember what got me through was definitely the Lord. That's what got me through.

And then what got me through, is you know stay in the course but how it started was was that I remember when I was doing a show 94 you know having fun doing working on the show but then around like when we started to come to LA right when we started coming to LA and we did the show I want to say that was 98 I believe so I had to be like 19 or 20 years old. Like not 19, 19 years old. Okay, so at this point, this is where I really understood branding and you and ownership. I love my characters that were on the show.

Because remember now, I was creating these characters even within auditions. You know what I mean? So I love these characters. But I had to realize that I don't own these characters. I don't own the show. You know what i mean so i love these characters and but i had to realize is that but i don't own these characters oh i don't own the show you know what i mean these are people that work within the business you know what i mean and so i remember there was a point where one of the uh execs um and one of the head writers uh the show started to change a little bit you know the writing of the show started to change and i didn't You know, the writing of the show started to change. And I didn't like the direction it was going in.

You know what I mean? And I was just like, okay. And so we started butting heads a little bit, you know, within that. And this was the point where I remember he got upset. Wow. In front of everybody. Took me, you know, took me to a room. You know what I mean?

And he was just like, it's just some real derogatory things, you know, and went off. You know what I mean? And me being from the south side of Chicago, in that thought process, it was like, okay, either I could put hands on him. Right. Or we could go argue. This is not going anywhere. Do you know what I mean?

And with him doing that, I mean, I am an adult, but I also 19. Right. You know what I mean? And the things that he said was crazy. And in that moment, I'm not the man I am today standing here. So my thought process was, all right, bet. Well, I'm going to leave set and we're not going to film today. Do you know what I mean?

So I walked off set. Now knowing now, being a producer, money. You got to pay cameramen. You got to pay all these different things. That could start a, you know, that could be a train wreck. That could be a tornado right but at that moment i felt disrespected about what was said and how it was said um and when he said that within that moment uh it became real where it was like oh okay this is this is really a job

and this has really changed everything of how you think about it right and it wasn't as fun anymore when that was happening at the same time I was also in a relationship as well and when I was in that relationship when this happened to I had gotten a you know a girl pregnant this is my ex-wife she was pregnant at the time so all this was going on at the same time And so this frustration and the reason I'm explaining this to you is because I want people to understand The mindset of you know, what might happen to young actors and the things that they're going through, you know We see it all the time with the suicide raid With actors and what goes on and I was friends with a lot of the actors that are not here anymore

And so just the process of the things that you deal with, right? So, you know, button heads with this producer. Says this thing. At the same time, my ex-wife is pregnant. We're dating at this time. And also, too, as I'm going through all of this at the same time and dealing with this whole process, I'm upset about it. I call my pops and I'm just like, when that happened with the producer, I'm upset. And he was just like, hey, yo, you know, did he

disrespect you as a man? How do you feel? The man I am today, I should have told my dad. Yeah, come on out. Because he said, yo, I want to come out, be there with you. But I said, no, it's all good. I handle it. It's all good. And what I did was I just said, you know what? All right, I'm going to just do my job. And I'm going to do the best of what I can do. But as far as everybody else, you know what I mean? It's just me right now. And I'm just going to make this show happen the way that I do.

And because at that point, it was a thing of I ended up going from here to here, being a kid, and then now being an adult. My mom was my manager at that time. And with my mom being my manager at the time, I didn't want to tell her I got a girl pregnant. You see what I'm saying? Yeah. So if it was someone that was a manager and I could have just told them. You could have used a handler. Yeah, but I couldn't tell them at that time.

So it was like, oh, shoot, I can't tell them this. You know what I mean? And so I'm dealing with that. Because, you know, I'm dealing with that the whole time. She's, you know, barely starting to show. We trying to hide it. Right. You know, type of thing. She's just eating a, barely starting to show. We trying to hide it. Right. You know, type of thing.

She's just eating a little more than what she's chewing. Yeah, right. Right. And I'm having this frustration, you know, with this writer as well, too. And that's going on. And then I remember she ended up, she was just like, yo, I want to have an abortion. Right. And dealing with that, too, as well.

With no one knowing. No one knowing. So no one knowing we're doing that. And I'm still, hey, as well with no one knowing, no one knowing. So no one knowing we're doing that. And I'm still, hey, welcome to Good Burger. You know, doing all these shows, making people laugh and all these different things, because I've been on, you know, Good Morning America, all these different, you know, interviews and shows and telling people about suicidal thoughts and emotions that you might go through. And I never really pointed pinpointed who the person was or who it is, you know, or the things that were going on. And this is what is going on. So that's from sharing it with you. And so, uh, within that process of going on with that, um, it's emotional rollercoaster that was going on at that point. And so that happens. And then what I ended up doing, uh, right you know, end up getting pregnant again, you know, throughout that process, even after we have the abortion and then ended up getting married.

Right. As well. And so while that's going on with Nickelodeon, I'm sort of like about to be on my way out i became this um i want to i don't want to say um where what's the word it's more of like one lady one lady ended up saying it like this what she called me the tupac of nickelodeon you know what i mean so one of the people that we work with right i wouldn't say that but this was what said about me and so uh because of the point where i just was kind of like hey man this is to be my show. I'm going to do it this way. Right. And I didn't agree and I didn't tell anybody what that, you know, producer had said to me at that time and what was going on, you know, and what was said.

And even what I was going through personally within my life, what I was going through, I wasn't sharing that with anybody. And that's a lot of a problem when you isolate that. And within that process, you can go through a lot. You know what I mean? And holding all that frustration inside, right? But I still was able to have an outlet through the show, you know, through the show and doing that process. And I remember Mystery Man had came along.

There was this movie called Mystery Man. I did with Ben Stiller and Janine Garofalo. And so to me so to me it was like well i'm on my way out of nickelodeon it's all good you know what i mean and a lot of people talk about um you know keenan and i as far as like the split between the keenan and kale show this is where it started and i think that uh even keenan didn't really know either what was going on because I didn't share what was going on with me in the head writer of the show when that happened and what was going on. And I didn't trust anybody at that moment either. Yeah. You speak about these thoughts that you were having.

Yeah. And I think it was around what 2004 yeah that you said you that you was at your lowest yeah and you contemplated taking your own life yeah uh you didn't talk you didn't have a therapist you didn't have anybody that you felt comfortable enough with to go sit down and have a conversation with even if it's not a therapist maybe a pastor maybe a closest friend, you held that, you bottled that up inside and dealt with it on your own? So this is what I mean about the understanding of the timeline. Okay. So, cause that's a big speed up. You know what I mean? So the start of that from where the suicide is, where I was just

talking about. So there was a start of that, which was, like I said, 99, 98, 99, you know what I mean? Around that time. And so, when that was going on,

all this process of me not sharing what was happening and holding all of that and dealing with that, that's what led to that part. Okay.

So in the beginning of that, with me holding all those, that information, then, Mystery Man came along, you know, that point. So in the beginning of that, with me holding all that information, then Mystery Man came along, you know, that show. And I remember I'm out in Nickelodeon. I'm like, I'm all good. And I remember the head writer,

who's Dan Schneider, that's who I was talking about, who wrote on the show at that time. He was also doing a movie. I believe it was Liar Liar. Okay, yeah. With a movie. I believe it was a liar liar Okay, yeah, what a matter not like a liar. It was um, oh man. I'm trying to remember the name of it What's the liar liar? But it was a man. The bodies were supposed to okay. I was in the movie. Yes Yeah, and it was about a kid the lies and all that

But they wanted me to actually be in that movie at first, you know And I was like, oh we should put Keenan in it That would be dope to pick Keenan in and we both do that because we had a three-pitcher deal at Paramount when we're doing that but they decided that You know, they didn't want didn't do the other movies We just did good burger and but that but I was doing mystery man So they were like, yo, you should be on that and I was like, oh, yeah, but let's put Keenan in there We're like nah, I think this is just be with you and i'm like no but i i feel like you know

we got the show let's do it and also to the writers the same right i had to fallen out with you know what i mean that's in the room and so i'm just like all right you know i mean i want to do that right and i remember i left out of the room uh and you know all these producers excited about doing this movie right and i remember i left out of that room, that situation, and then I saw Kenan and then I saw Nick and they were like, yeah, we heard about that meeting. They just started laughing. Right.

And for me, I felt like, yo, y'all was in there fighting for you. You know what I mean? And that kind of hurt at that moment. The thing about me was that I didn't, relationship is very important. And you need to let people know how you feel. At that time, I really wasn't doing that.

There was a trust thing. You know what I mean? I had already been through death, you know, within my family in Chicago. And all these things were going on at this point. Both of my uncles were murdered. I had a friend that was murdered that we talked about. All this happened around the same time. And so there wasn't any, uh, no, I wasn't seeing any therapist or anything of that nature.

I was just working constantly with working on the show. Um, and within doing that. And then at that time too, I ended up, uh, marrying, uh, my ex-wife, you know, uh, because we had another baby, we had the baby, right. We had the you know, because we had another baby. We had the baby, right? We had the abortion, but then we had a baby. And she ended up telling me that the baby that was aborted wasn't mine. And so within that process, you are immediately married within a lie already.

Yeah. You know what I'm saying? So the marriage was never the same after that, it no it was a this is this is at the beginning you know what i'm saying this is right at the beginning and so within that process she probably should have kept that to herself and well you know i'm glad she didn't and so within that process with that being known it was like yo and now i'm on tv all this see i'm still on tv all this thing and i don't have time to really process that and she almost you know with even in being you know the pregnancy uh she almost died within the pregnancy so that was a hard time too right and i remember the uh

some of the writers coming to the set uh to the hospital and they were like bringing presents and i'm thinking like oh yeah cool thank you and then they were like yo when your presents. And I'm thinking like, oh, yeah, cool. Thank you. And then they were like, yo, when can you be back on set? And it was just like, yeah. You see what I'm dealing with? Yeah, we'll see what I'm dealing with. But, you know, no shout out to, you know, no shade to them. They were just, they were doing what they were told as far as a job to see if Kel can be back on set. And I was the one that, you know, ended up getting someone pregnant, you know, around that time.

you know, ended up getting someone pregnant, you know, around that time. But, uh, I'm just setting up. So you understand what was really going on. Right.

When we get to 2004, you know what I mean? And that, and that process. So, uh, and now knowing that this, you know,

the kid isn't, you know, is mine. And, and then now, uh, leaving the show, you know,

on Nickelodeon. And then, uh, I had Mr. Man, this big show. And I'm thinking like oh yeah that's gonna be it you know what I mean and learning within that process too where it was

like hey well no I don't want to renew on all that Kenan and Kel I'm good you know what I'm saying and I already know what's going on as far as what's happening within this realm of what's going on with the show behind the scenes and what's going on with me and uh i was just like yo i'm ready to leave anyway and then mystery man didn't do as well as we thought as we thought it was going to do uh within that process and then just navigating uh through that now being a father and here's the thing about it is that the reason i didn't have anybody relate to because i was the first one out of the entire cast to be married to have a house uh you know have kids and keenan nick none of them could relate to that they were still being kids and also too there was this process of i got it all together i already know what i'm doing you know

what i mean and that's what i was doing you know what i mean to me it was like i got it i got i can handle this i can handle it no you couldn't no you you you can't handle this within the start because you're really going through something that is really deep and you need to let people know and let people know how you feel and let people know what's on your heart what's really going on but I kept it in it was like I can handle this yeah this concludes the first half of my conversation part two is also posted and you can access it to whichever podcast platform you just listened to part one on. Just simply go back to club Shea Shea profile and I'll see you there.

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