Drink Champs - Episode 161 w/ DJ Jazzy Jeff

Episode Date: March 22, 2019

N.O.R.E & DJ EFN are the Drink Champs. On this episode the champs sit down and chop it up with Philly Legend Dj Jazzy Jeff. They talk about his early roots in Philly, the Fresh Prince, Will Smith and much more.Later in the episode are also joined by special guests A-Trak and DJ Craze for more DJ talk. Follow Drink Champs http://www.drinkchamps.com http://www.instagram.com/drinkchamps http://www.twitter.com/drinkchamps http://www.facebook.com/drinkchamps DJ EFN http://www.crazyhood.com http://www.instagram.com/whoscrazy http://www.twitter.com/djefn http://www.facebook.com/crazyhoodproductions N.O.R.E. http://www.instagram.com/therealnoreaga http://www.twitter.com/noreaga --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/drinkchamps/support Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Make some noise! He's a legendary Queens rapper. Hey, hey, it's your boy N.O.R.E. He's a Miami hip-hop pioneer. One of his DJs, EFN. Together, they drink it up with some of the biggest players. You know what I mean? In the most professional, unprofessional podcast.

And your number one source for drunk facts. It's Drink Chs motherfucking podcast where every day is New Year's Eve it's time for Drink Champs drink up motherfuckers

what it good be hopefully what it should be this your boy N.O.R.E what up it's DJ E.F.N and it's motherfucking Drink Champs yeah I'll make some noise! Now, when it comes to legends, when it comes to legendary DJs,

when it comes to people who've been down in this game forever and have maintained relevance and maintained consistency, this man picture comes up. When we Googled him, Jesus and his picture came up. The man is consistent. He's out here. He's still got love for the game. You know, so many accolades, so many different things that he's done.

And he's still out here, still working, still doing it, still out here. Still out here with Gucci hats on and nice glasses. Walking through a cameraman and doing what he got to do. In case you don't know what we're talking about, motherfucking legendary Danny Depp! Now, I honestly get stoked when I speak to people like you, people who laid down a legacy for people like me at EFN. And when I look at you guys' legacy, and, like, what time was let's take it from the beginning

let's take it from the beginning how did you even how did you get started DJing how did I get started um inspired you too well I had some older DJs in my neighborhood that would do do all of the parties. And I think what it was is I would go to these block parties. This is in Philly, right? This is in Philly. And I would go to these block parties, and these guys would, they would be on these enclosed porches, so you would never see what they look like.

And they had these massive speakers, and I always felt like they were the puppet masters because they got you to do whatever they wanted to do with the music that you played. And I wasn't the one that was at the parties or at the block parties trying to get the girls. I was looking at the indoor house trying to figure out who the wizard was

that I couldn't see his face and how he was pulling these strings and making anybody do whatever he wanted with his music. And I got to a point that I was like, I want to be that guy i want to i want to have that level of control that that he has with his music so you know it literally started from grabbing any names of some of those guys man it was uh it was a dj named disco doc in philly it was a guy disco rat um and. And this was pre-hip hop, too.

So this wasn't, you know, they was playing mass production, brass construction, funk and soul records. But it was just, you know, they had these big giant speakers. And, you know, we would just get on the bike and you would ride to, you know, you'd ride 20 blocks because you heard somebody would have a block party and you would just go and just you know watch him do the things you know a couple hundred people on the street dancing and it was just kind of like that was something that I liked I liked the effect of him playing this music and it had on people it was like yo like he was the Pied Piper like he you know I'm like you could have told us to do anything and we probably would have did it depending on how you string these records together. Now describe to us Philly back in the day because Philly had to go through so many different transitions so

describe us a bit of that because um us in hip-hop us in New York probably we knew that it came from the Bronx. It was always around. So was it like that in Philly? Was hip-hop just everywhere? No, no. Listen, we would get tapes from the Bronx

of hip-hop. Wow. Like, so, you know, everybody had a cousin that lived in New York. First of all, everybody had a cousin that was from the Bronx,

which everybody probably lied. Right, right. Cool would flash or hurt. But it was just like you would get these tapes. There would be 100 generation tapes of T-Connection and The Fever. And you would basically imagine what these parties were like. You know, to me, it was thousands of people in these parties. And there was massive sound systems. And those parties could have been in a room like this.

But it was just what you got and what you imagined. But that was it. You know, we, um, I feel like the hip-hop scene in Philly was created off of what we thought it was in New York. Because there wasn't videos, there wasn't any of that.

So you didn't really know. Cool was the brothers that got locked up on Philly that didn't come on? Kool C, Steady B and them. Now they came out before? No they was around the same time. Same time. What was it? There was a group right? What was the name of the group? C.E.B. Well C.E.B. was a group like Steady B. Cause technically they were like the first rap gangsters. Like technically. Like I mean we heard N.W.A. and all that but no one knew the jam. I was feeling like Philly started like, getting out of Philly. You know who it was?

It was Skoolie D. Skoolie D, yeah. He started all of that. Right, so he was the first rapper that was actually living his lyrics or even more. He was talking about his neighborhood. And he just described it to a T, and it was just, you know.

Right, we didn't know that at Philly at that time. No one really did that. We didn't know that there was hoods outside of New York. So when we don't know if you know just yes but this is a show where we celebrate our legends you don't say we just know where you are now the first person that we interview since we won a war Let's big up to our season three. What's the name of the award? The National Film and Television Award. National Film and Television Award. But in true Drink Champs fashion, we sent one of our friends to go pick up the award.

We don't think we're going to win, by the way. We're against Television Generous. We're against Saturday Night Live. So we didn't think we were going to win. So we sent our homie. Jimmy Kimmel. Jimmy Kimmel, who he's against. And our homie, Trevor Noah, and our homie actually goes there, gets the award, and in two drink

champs fashion, he breaks the award getting into his Uber. He goes bar hopping first, takes pictures. Wait, wait, he goes bar hopping? How can I even know that? He took pictures of the award and all these different bars. And then walking to the Uber, he dropped it. Oh, no. But make some noise for our junk family members.

I also want to big up to all of our whole staff, man. They did a wonderful event yesterday. And they all came together. They was all stressed out.

I love to see them all stressed out. But I love to see them all working. And they took care of everything. So I really want to big them up.

But now let's get back to Philly, right? Because in a lot of ways, the biggest artist to date right now is Meek Mill, right? Because in a lot of ways, the biggest artist to date right now is Meek Mill, right? For his triumph. Yeah.

But if it wasn't you guys, do you see the direct of like, he's like the new Philly King or you don't see that? Yeah, absolutely.

Absolutely. But I don't think we ever looked at ourselves as, I don't want to say Philly Kings. When we say ourselves, you mean? Like myself and Will. You know, Philly was where we were from. Right.

It was a little weird back then because there was a point in time that we didn't feel that we kind of got the love that other people got in Philly that people got in different states. Right. And I really think, looking back at hindsight, it was because a lot of that was new. You know, everybody was trying to figure out what it is we were doing. You don't know how long this is going to last. Right. So I don't think it was people just didn't show love. You know, radio stations, I think, were a little bit afraid

because they were kind of like, we don't know if this is going to be here. Speaking of rap in general. Yeah. So it's kind of like, we're not going to really lock in to this. So I think, you know, Meek coming along now, and Philly has always had champions that they really, really got behind and they wanted to kind of go beyond Philly. State property and beans and that whole

thing. Everybody was super invested. The roots. And I think, you know what? Me being the new, younger generation, but also going through what he went through and coming through the way that he came through, it's kind of like he's not only put himself in a

position that he's a champion In Philly I think that is going Way beyond too Yeah But I I just feel like The hip hop history

Is so rich And it starts from And actually History in general Philly But actually You guys are the originators Like you

You gotta claim that You have to I know you're humble I know you're humble But I'm claiming it for you We were one of them you know it was it was you know it was a time like i said we didn't know what we were doing we were we were thinking that we were imitating new york you know and philly is a very dj heavy city it was the dj was first that only happened because we thought the DJ was first in New York.

We didn't realize that the rapper took precedent and then the DJ was the person to back him up. We came with like, listen, the DJ is first and the rapper tells everybody how great the DJ was. That was me and Will's dynamic. That was Steady B and his DJ's dynamic. You know, that was, but that was what we thought. We thought that's how it was. So not realizing that you kind of created your own version, you know, your own spin on it. That, you know, it was kind of like, okay.

You know, because like I said, we didn't have videos and all the rest of that to kind of make everything seamless. You know, it was just kind of like, I got a tape. I don't know what Cowboy looked like. I don't know what Melty Mel looked like. So, you know, in my head, I'm imagining. You know, I remember seeing the first picture of, you know, Theodore and the Fantastic Five. And I'm trying to figure out who was who. Like, who?

You know, when I found out, damn. I was like that with NWA. The light-skinned dude ain't Theodore. I thought it was him. You know, so, you know, it was all of this is pre. So, you just making it up as you go along. Now, how you, like, throughout all your years, you never got in trouble. Like, at least in the public eye.

Like, you're not in scandal. Like, they skipped you. It's not Google. Yeah, it's not Google. You know what, man? Oh, it's because Instagram wasn't alive back then. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Listen, listen.

It wouldn't be hip. Come on, those tours that they went on, too, listen. It wouldn't be hip. Come on, those tours that we went on to? Listen, it wouldn't be hip-hop. It would not be hip-hop. You know, but, you know, I think just, listen, in spite of how Will and I,

the records that we made, none of us grew up in the best environment. You know, we grew up in the best environment. You know, we grew up in inner city. We grew up in Philly. You know, we had our share of shit and just, you know, and it was what it was. But it was kind of like, you know, I think our approach was we're not really telling the story of where we grew up. But that doesn't hide how we grew up.

But growing up like that, one thing that you develop is smart. That it's kind of like you don't tell your business. You don't put your business out there. And I think some of those old school lessons that I got, I just kept with me. That it's kind of like, you know, no one is squeaky clean. It just depends on who sees your dirt. Yeah, but you see how easy it is nowadays? Like these new kids, they get pain, and then the next day,

the next day they on there tomorrow sniffing cocaine off of Kimberly's ass. But see, you know what it is? We never had a 24-hour-a-day camera on you telling. And you know what's messed up about this generation? They put the camera on themselves. They big brother themselves. I tell people, I was like, let me ask you a question. If you got in trouble, would you go to Albee Square Mall

in New York in the food court and scream that I got in trouble? And everybody's like, no. And I was like, that's what you just did. That's exactly what you just did. And the people don't understand that it's kind of like, you know, you. This is how I know I come from the same era.

I just used that same reference the other day about I'll be square born. The dude had to put me to the side and say, I'll be square born. I said, I'm an old nigga, fuck it, I don't care. But, yeah, that's the crazy thing is they actually... Well, I seen a documentary one time where it was talking about you and Will on tour. And I think y'all was on Queen Latifah tour. And everybody was looking at y'all different because y'all had pop records. They was considering pop records at the time.

And y'all was going out every single night and still bossing ass on stage. Because that's what it was about. Right. I don't care what the records are. Right. You know, like, when we went to New York, when we did the whole live at Union Square and all the rest of that, we had one record. Wow. You know, we going up there to do Girls Ain't Nothin' But at Union Square and all the rest of that, we had one record. Wow.

You know, we going up there to do Girls Ain't Nothin' But Trouble, but it's kind of like, yo, okay, well, we got to do this freestyle. You got to DJ. We're going to bring out the beatbox. Like, our job is to entertain you. So it's kind of like, man, listen, the least important thing for us on the show was the record. Wow. Like, the records are given.

Anybody know the record, but we got to get them with all this other stuff. Wow. Let me ask you something. So you as a DJ, right, and when people critique records like that,

and you're out DJing, like, because I assume you was DJing, and you know the records that they're playing. Did you ever, like, come and try to persuade,

like, the group to go a different direction? Like, you know what I'm saying? Oh, okay. Like, I don't mess with

people's creative direction. You know, it's kind of direction Like you know what I'm saying Oh okay No Like I don't mess with People's creative direction You know it's kind of like You know this This is You're doing something That's inside of you And you know To me it's

You have the ability To say if you like it Or you don't I ain't really got the ability To tell nobody to change shit Right You know because that's I don't want anybody

To tell me to do the same thing You know it's all subjective You know every A want anybody to tell me to do the same thing. You know, it's all subjective. You know, every A&R that you talk to at every record company was giving you their opinion. Nobody's opinion was law. All right. How did you and Will connect? I was really big in the city. As a DJ.

And Will was in a crew. He was in a crew in a section city in Winfield. And, you know, you know of people, you know, because a lot of times we're on the same show. And it was crazy because this was pre-cell phone, pager, any of that. So when you had to get a call because he was in the house and I got a call. Like, yo, somebody wants you to do this house party on 54th and Wynwood. And I was like, cool. And I picked up the phone and called the guy that used to emcee for me. And he wasn't in the house.

I couldn't page him or nothing. So it was kind of like, listen, I'm going to go do the party. You know, I just can't get him. And when I showed up, it was two doors down from Will's house. And as soon as I showed up to set my stuff up, he came in the basement. And it was two doors down from Will's house and as soon as I showed up to set my stuff up he came in the basement and it was kind of like we knew each other dapped each other up he was like yo where's your man Ice and I was like yeah I couldn't find him and he was like yo you mind if I

rock and I was like nah and it was just a natural chemistry that we had that night that accident oh listen I kept saying if Ice would have picked up that phone, I might not be sitting here. Wow. You know. That's crazy. But it's just, you know. And that turned into,

what you doing tomorrow? What are you doing next Saturday? What are you doing? And it was probably seven months later, we had a record out. What was the moment where you was like, I made it? Was it parents just don't understand? There's a point in time that I still don't think I had that moment.

Damn. But you had to get gas. Oh, no, no. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I think? When we put out Pants, I remember we had signed to Rush. And, um. Management or what was the label?

Management. Okay, cool. And I remember when we played them, the He's the DJ I'm the Rapper album, Russell listened to it and Russell said, this is gonna be gold in four weeks. And we was just like, what? That's pre-Deaf Jam when it was Rush?

Did he do that before? He had it before, before Def Jam. Yeah. Um, and we didn't believe him. And the record actually went gold in five weeks. But what it was, we were on tour. And it was kind of like, you start the tour off and you're the third act to go on. And then a week later, you're the fourth act to go on.

And then a week later, you're the fifth act to go on. And you're not realizing why they're moving you up. And it was, we do any shows with uh run dmc and like it was a pack tour yeah and stadium tours yeah and it was kind of like every night you know will start coming to me he's like yo like is it me or is the cheers getting louder and i'm like i don't know i can't tell like you know because you know and it was one night he did parents just don't understand and he said the first verse and he told me that he was going to try something he said the first verse

and then he said in between the first and second verse he was like listen i'm going to say the first line and i want everybody to say the second line, which was really dangerous, because if nobody said shit, we would have been in his car. And he said, I remember one year my mom took me school shopping and 25,000 people answered me. And that was it. That was kind of like, because once again,

when you're on the road, you don't have any frame of reference if your record is getting big. Especially back then with no social media. So it was kind of like, yo, this is crazy. And before we ended up getting off of the tour, we were right before Randy MC. That was crazy. Now, was there ever a ruff between you and Will that once? Nah, nah. You know, I mean, trust me, you have grown pains, you know, because we started off so young.

But it was wild because one of the first times, right after we got together, I mean, we sat on the steps. And it was wild because it was me, Will, the manager, JL, and Charlie Mack. We had Charlie Mack on the show. Yeah, I saw him. And Will was like, yo, yo man I want to do movies and I was like I want to do music for the movie so people would always be like did it get strange you know did you feel like Will left me it's like nah like this was planned from day one none of this was you say when it's a music you were scoring most of the movies like I did all the music on the Freshman's of Bel-Air

I'm gonna tell you something, you know what and somebody said this to me not too long ago and and it freaked me out He came up to me. He said let me ask you a a question what is the biggest hip-hop record in the world and I started going down a list like dr. Jerry's new M&M and he was like the first Prince of Bel-Air so that is the biggest yeah in the world was in over a hundred and I never thought of it you know especially when you realize you know what's that was that just a theme for the show did you actually drop a record company put something out that I found out down we made it for the show Wow now uncle Phil passing away what you had a relationship with him? Very good.

He was like hip hop's uncle. He, you know what- Because that was like our family. The Fresh Prince of Bel- it was everybody from the projects. That's what we dreamed of doing. We have a rich family somewhere and they're going to fly us out and we're going to live in Bel Air. And Uncle Phil is going to be our uncle. And so I think hip-hop took that one. Yeah, yeah. Like hip-hop actually. I mean, he was my vacation dude.

Because in the off-season, he would just get in the car. And him and his friends would drive from cross-country. And he could tell you every great restaurant, every great beach he they were travelers so you know I would go to him he's like yo you know the best beach in the world and isn't Cancun and the best restaurant is here but he would always pull you decide drop some knowledge he was a huge music and jazz fan so I would always you know go in his room and he would slide me new cds and and stuff like that but he was he was he was cool he was really cool

uh what's your favorite era in hip-hop 90s all day 90s hold on i'll give you 10 years so what 90 to 2000. um i would almost say no not necessarily 92 000 i would say probably uh between 88 and 98. okay 88 and I just fucking phenomenal year that's a great that's a great decade so let's take 88 that's NWA for sure yeah NOS falls in there yeah rock him is in there okay our rest is in there Wu-Tang Wu-Tang will take him out 92 so Wu-Tang the discovery of Wu-Tang yeah what's something that day that shocked you in hip-hop but you sat back he was like I can't believe hip-hop went this far um cuz you come home the world yeah but you know you know what it

is it's kind of like when you come from the world's you saw how it got in more mmm no one gave a shit about hip-hop until they realized that hip-hop was making money when we boycotted the grammys it was because you wanted to put it on television or you wanted to exploit it on television but you didn't want to show the category and i'm like wait a minute hip-hop is arguably hip-hop was arguably and i want to say this might have been 88, arguably the top three music genre in the world. If you got nine country and western categories that you're televising, then you're going to televise one of these hip-hop categories. Because on a scale, it should be up there.

Every hip-hop category in should be up there based off of the level of the music and so for them to kind of disrespect it and this was at a point in time that you had radio and talk show hosts that were blatantly saying hip-hop is a fad so you're fighting for something i got together and y'all boycotted the ground we brought it down right i know damon did it after yeah but this is 88 so can you describe what we were doing? We got together Salt-N-Pepa. Everybody who was nominated. And we were just like, we're not going.

We're going to go to all of the functions. And we're going to talk about why we're not going. Because not only were we nominated, but they wanted me and Will to perform. So we were like, nah. And understand at that time saying no, you don't know if this is the kiss of death. Like, are you in a position to say no? They're just going to say, you know, but everybody kind of band together. And that's why, you know, hip hop has kind of for a while kind of gotten to be a staple in the Grammys.

But you also watched when you started, when people started making real money in hip hop and they started noticing. When it got to a point that somebody like MC Hammer sold 12 million records and now, you know, through media, you're starting to see the fruits of his labor more. Then people, then you start to realize corporate America is going to turn in. It's no different than the DJ culture. You know, I've been DJing for 30 something years. Right. So being inside the bubble before the bubble got big, you got DJs in the making $600,000 a night.

Wow. A night. A night. I'm like yo but all of that happened when corporate america realized as soon as you put calvin harris made 67 million dollars in forbes now everybody wants to be a dj because it's cutting now it's big business so you start you know i think i i think there's a level of hip-hop that does not belong to hip-hop. I believe you.

Like sub-genre type stuff? Well, just... You know what? I don't believe that... I don't believe that a lot of the commercial hip-hop that's on the radio is 100% picked by the fans.

Right. No, no, for sure. Okay. Like, trust me. Just like programming on radio. They had a formula for for this yeah yeah so it's kind of like it's almost like they're never gonna say it but we we let you hear what we want you to hear all right like that's why the underground has always been a certain level of purity right because you can't really control that like you gotta seek and look for stuff but You're saying, like, a label can pay for the ooze of next time.

Oh, all day. Yeah, all day. Which is terrible. You know, but it's just kind of like, you don't realize that you don't have that level of control, but that level of control is only because of the money. As a DJ, have you ever, has a person ever came up to you and said,

yo, I want to pay you to play my records every time you spend? No, I mean, no. And I've been fortunate enough to keep myself out of them circles. You know, that it's just kind of like. Because that's what's the new thing now. A DJ is kind of big. An artist is gold at home. Pay the DJ, give him three grand, and the DJ playing him.

And then, and he's the only DJ playing him. So it's kind of like, you know, you know you know he got hit because like no one else playing you know I'm saying so um I mean I think that lowers the integrity of a DJ how about you here friend I'm sorry how's it like so you know you use DJ in a lot of time every person came up to you was like y'all for you describe you don't have to blow my tail the artist you know don't please you're like you're give you this okay right now just run my record oh wow I'm saying that happened often oh yeah okay yeah but you know they doing that now like I think all this we're talking about

was up right yeah but it's now it's like social media is almost becoming the DJ to now they paying people also needed to do something to a record or play a record like all yes yeah I heard they I they paying people on social media to do something to a record or play a record. Oh yeah. And I heard they paying people to stream records now. So there's like companies in Japan. Yeah, and everything he's saying about how people aren't really choosing anything, algorithms is the same thing. You think you're picking something, but it's being chosen for you.

But is it our choice to turn on the radio and to know these songs? Because some of these songs I hate, but I know every word of them. Listen, you be force fed. Yeah, I'm force fed. That's what it is. That's what it is. A programmer told me that they actually have a mathematical equation that they know if they play a record a certain amount of times in the span of the day, it's going to get stuck in your head. Yep.

Have you been disgusted from hip-hop yet? Yeah. All the time. Thank you. I was about to say, Daddy kept too positive. He don't say no. No, no, no.

Too positive. Yeah, I mean, the funny thing is, I think I've been disgusted at some level of it from the beginning. Wow. Like, listen, there's always been a good side and a bad side. I said that. There's always, like, I'm like, Disgusted at some level of it from the beginning Wow like this listen

There's always been a good side and a bad side. I said that always like I'm like yo this didn't just start That it was bad hip hop was bad hip hop in the night you know, but it's just It was so much more good that you get my you almost felt like The the good outweighed the bad You know now that's why I'm a problem with saying sub genres in hip-hop I think it should just be good hip-hop and bad hip hop now you can't know because it has a bad you start making excuses for shit

you know like oh not because this is I'm this genre of hip-hop this is why do you know I can't say good and bad because just because I don't like it no it's a jam and subjects in general I'm saying it's subjective I'm not saying that it's automatic it's whatever you think is good and bad oh yeah I still I don't want to call it

bad because I don't like it like there's certain people there's certain artists that I don't like them but I get why other people like them you know what I'm saying and it's like so

I don't want I wouldn't want to call them bad but I can't I can never criticize somebody that I don't like yeah yeah because I don't want to call them bad. I can't. I can never criticize somebody that I don't like. Yeah, yeah. Because I don't eat cheese. Right.

I don't think people who eat cheese are bad. It's just something that I don't do. So it's just kind of like, you know, if it's stuff that you don't do. Now it gets a little interesting. As a DJ, you got to figure out. You got to get into this crowd. But you got to figure out. Like you're ready. Yeah. DJ, you have, you gotta figure out. You gotta get into this crowd. But you gotta figure out. Like curating.

Yeah, you know, and there's some people that won't draw the line, you know, or draw a hard line at curating. And you know, I think it's, once again, it's subjective. It's kinda like, you know, what type of DJ are you? But that's why the DJ is its own entity. It's an artist, because then people buy into what you're tasted

Yes You have a DJ And then somebody came up to you And was like Play some Tekashi 69 No Because once again If you're smart

You know how to navigate yourself That you're not putting yourself In them situations I had a Vegas residency For seven years You know Me and DJ AM You know

Had great times in vegas because we would push the album it was you know like i always had a massive level of respect for him i never forget one of the first times that i went to vegas and he was playing and i walked in and it's 2 000 people it's 1 30 at. And he was like, yo, did you hear the new Bob Deep record? And I was like, no. And he was like, yo. And I said, what the fuck are you doing? He just dropped it.

But there was a level of respect that I had for that. That he's kind of like, yo, I'm the DJ. I'm the train conductor. Everybody's on my train. They're going to go wherever I take them. And you respected that. But you also saw throughout the years Vegas change. Yes.

You know, they got a list. This is what we want you to play. Listen, I played Vegas. I was about to ask you, have you ever had to play a record that you didn't like, but you knew that this was popping for the crowd? Oh, I do that all the time. Okay. But like I said, it's, which is a whole another conversation.

Right. You got to understand the definition, the goal of the DJ or the job description of the DJ is you are a servant of the people.

You're not a servant of yourself. Right. You're a servant of the people. That your job is to play what the people. You're not a servant of yourself. You're a servant of the people. That your job is to play what the people like.

It depends on how much work, depending on how much you want to play that the people like. There are some people that draw the line. I am completely respectful

for the keep it real DJs and I only play 90s hip hop and all the rest of that. I'm 100% with that. But if there's only one 90s hip-hop party a month then you can't complain about the work you're gonna do like you can't say i want

to play 90s music but somebody doesn't book me every night like you can't have you can't have it both ways but it's kind of like you have to decipher how much of a servant of the people you're going to be you know and i may have to play that takashi 69 record you know and you know and I may have to play that Takashi 69 record you know and you know depending on how you want to walk it. Alright, alright, that's real. I downloaded this little nigga album. I'm trying to stay young. Oh, new batteries again?

Damn, what's up with my battery? What's up man? again. Damn, something about batteries. Shut up, man. You didn't give him two batteries already. Uh-uh. Yeah, great. Done? Yeah. Going hard

on high energy today. Batteries is just going right out of me. The American West with Dan Flores is the

latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network, hosted by me, writer and historian Dan Flores, and brought to you by Velvet Buck. This podcast looks at a West available nowhere else. Each episode, I'll be diving into some of the lesser-known histories of the West. I'll then be joined in conversation by guests such as Western historian Dr. Randall Williams and best-selling author and meat-eater founder Stephen Rinella.

I'll correct my kids now and then where they'll say, when cave people were here. And I'll say, it seems like the Ice Age people that were here didn't have a real affinity for caves. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th, where we'll delve into stories of the West and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today. Listen to The American West with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley, But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company

dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th.

Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Michael Kassin, founder and CEO of 3C Ventures and your guide on good company. The podcast where I sit down with the boldest innovators shaping what's next. In this episode, I'm joined by Anjali Sood, CEO of Tubi for a conversation that's anything but ordinary. We dive into the competitive world of streaming, how she's turning so-called niche

into mainstream gold, connecting audiences with stories that truly make them feel seen. What others dismiss as niche, we embrace as core. It's this idea that there's so many stories out there. And if you can find a way to curate and help the right person discover the right content, the term that we always hear from our audience is that they feel seen. Get a front row seat to where media, marketing, technology, entertainment, and sports collide. And hear how leaders like Anjali are carving out space and shaking things up a bit in the most crowded of markets. Listen to Good Company on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Brendan Patrick Hughes, host of Divine Intervention.

This is a story about radical nuns in combat boots and wild-haired priests trading blows with J. Edgar Hoover in a hell-bent effort to sabotage a war. J. Edgar Hoover was furious. Somebody violated the FBI, and he wanted to bring the Catholic left to its knees. The FBI went around to all their neighbors and said to them, do you think these people are good Americans? It's got heists, tragedy, a trial of the century, and the goddamnedest love story you've ever heard.

I picked up the phone, and my thought was, this is the most important phone call I'll ever make in my life. I couldn't believe it. I mean, Brendan, it was divine intervention. You can now binge all 10 episodes of Divine Intervention on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Man, look at this. You ready? So didn't y'all have, like, beef with MC Serpch or some shit like that? No, Serpch's my man.

Wait a minute. I don't know if I got that. You had beef with somebody. Somebody got it. We got to have some beef with somebody. You had beef with somebody, man. Come on.. We got to have beat for somebody, man. Come on. They ain't had no beat for that party, man.

You really could get through hip hop like that? Listen, it ain't over. It's true, that's true. It ain't over. That is true. That is true. So, like, you know, you speaking on when you first met Will, right? He is a lead, like, you know, of our people, right? Like, there probably won't ever be a Will Smith.

Did you see that from the beginning? All day. Get the fuck out of here. All day. All day. One of the first shows that we did, I used to play Art of Noise, Moments in Love, and he would do girls ain't

nothing but trouble over there and i remember watching 300 people stare at his mouth hanging on every word of a story because they're visualizing the story and i was like that's power wow when you can communicate like that that's's power. Wow. Like, all day. And you knew he would be this guy. Like, you know, some of the movies, because at the end of the day, he represents hip-hop, right? And, like, I love the fact, like, you know, somebody I idolize because I wanted to continue to be involved with hip-hop. I wanted to do other things. I just wanted to do it my way.

Yeah. So I'm doing it my version of it. Like an ambassador. Yeah, you know so I'm doing it my version of an ambassador yeah no I'm saying but when you look at like like some of the movies he did like when he's crying on impulse how the fuck do you do that I seen him do that with his girl back in the Let's see I see him in some trouble and he cry and I said I was like, yo, I guess Like he had it.

You see that from back there? Oh yeah, oh yeah. This is pre-record deal. I'm sorry, this 86, 87. He was crying pre-record deal? What? Oh, what is that? What is that? You know what else?

I was like, you the best that ever did it. And that is acting, that is acting is acting on impulse. That is it. That's something, I tried to do that shit, I can't, I ain't got it. Yeah, that's what, that's acting. That is, acting is acting on impulse. That is it. That's something, I tried to do that shit, I can't, I ain't got it. Yeah, that's,

that's, I ain't got, yeah, I tried to get like, man, this shit, think about like, that,

that, that shit like that, it wasn't working for me. That's all I knew, I ain't got it man, I ain't got it. But yeah, certain people could do that,

but I had just, you know, for hip hop, him, LL, Ice Cube, I'd like look at, and,

you know, a lot of times, you know, people claim them as actors, and a lot of times people claim them as actors. And I'll be wanting to stop them. Like, uh-uh. They hip-hop first. You know what I'm saying? They hip-hop. Absolutely. And to see the position that they've taken it to for us to continue to go, it's just amazing, man.

It was hard in the beginning because people fought that. Right. They fought that. For the fact that he was... Well, when he got the TV show, it was a lot of backlash because for some reason,

just the industry, hip-hop industry, you know, and a lot of... Because he was the first one on TV, right? Then LL was real for him. Like, it was selling out?

No, it wasn't even selling out. It was almost like we had this weird thing that people thought you can only do one thing. Exactly. Like it was like you're hip hop

and you're going to be hip hop until the day that you die. It's kind of like yo, I like other stuff. Right. You know, like and all of that stuff

is super accepted now. I wasn't accepted in the beginning. Like people fought and just like you trying to act like what are you doing? Because I like it was you guys Latifah Latifah was doing that too and I remember like people were saying like but they were using like

They sellouts like they were using those words because But you know what it's a lot of that I mean back in the days when they were saying sellout that meant you was getting money They were haters back in the days like if you was a son of that means you was rich. Let's make some noise for that, god damn it. Now, talking about the show, one of my favorite songs of all time is Summertime. Mm-hmm. Oh, wow.

Talk to us about the making of it. Did you guys know that record was going to be as big as it became? No, not at all. Because I remember watching the video for the first time on the show, and their intermission or something like that. Let me just tell you something. I judge people barbecues

but If they play summertime or not nigga if they don't play summertime I give food is trash Which a fool damn, I'm sorry I throw it out there. I'm sorry. I got a little patient. I wish. Go ahead. I mean, you know, it was funny. That was the first year that Will was on the show. And, you know, East Coast.

Fall, leaves turn brown, get a little chilly, throw your jacket on. Winter, snow, you got your bomber ski hat. Spring, you know, first day of spring, it's 70 degrees. We go overboard we want throw some shorts on and think think think it's hot but you see the girl that you ain't seen all summer and she got a little thick your man got a new car and he doesn't he now is shining and what happened was he was in la so it was 90 in in in the winter so i remember him calling me in the winter. So I remember him calling me in the spring, you know, the first nice day we had.

It was just like, yo, what's up? And I'm just like, yo, boy, she's stacked now. And Sunset's got a new car. And Sunset's, you know. And he was like, damn, I missed that. Like, and I never thought about that. Like, yo, you don't get the seasons changing.

So you don't have that nostalgia. It's a little bit different. It's 90, Christmas. So that was the inspiration that it was like, yo, I miss summertime in Philly. I miss these nuances. And it was crazy because not realizing that every place has their own nuance. Didn't have to be what he talked about. Yeah that's a universal record. And it was kind of like

we put the record out and you know it was everybody loved it in the summer. It was an instant hit. You know but then what happened was the next summer came and you was kind of like okay that shit is over with and then it's kind of like it's here again and then the next summer came and it was it was. And then it's kind of like, it's here again. And then the next summer came and it was here again. And it was kind of like, to me, as an artist, we dream to have something

that never dies. Yes. You dream to have that legacy record that, you know. Well, Summertime's going to be 3,000 years old. Yeah. It's going to still be popular.

And you can't plan it. We can go to Mars. That's a gift. We can go to Mars. We can't play we go to Mars that's again we go to Mars we can still you can still hear summertime all right I'm be honest I'll tell you that is a universal today's a good day ice cube yeah that's one of them whenever you have a good day whenever like shit is real but you just gotta listen to Ice Cube. But I was about, when you know that it's spring, it's like, because there's a certain smell. Spring is leaving. And when you know

summer is coming, and I just need to hear that. You gotta hear it in somebody's car. See, I'm a barbecue guy. So I got the hair in a barbecue. I'm the dog out there, man. I I got the hair of the barbecue. I'm going to throw it out there man. I'll take it personal.

So you guys, you go on tour. He does the Fresh Prince and then he starts going into movies. What was his first one, Independence Day? No, he did, his first movie was, I want to say this movie called where the day takes you and I think he played a homeless man but it was kind of like his first by trying to get and getting into it and then He did the thing with Nia and Ted dancing and whoopi Goldberg. I forgot the name of that But it was just you know, you started, you started seeing the roles come in. That's the first time hip-hop is actually entering movie world.

Yeah, to that level. Right. Because, you know, it was funny. You know, there was a bunch of people that kind of came up. Queen Latifah's doing it, but she's doing it on the other side for the females, correct? There's the four boys in the hood and all that. Yeah. Cube doing it, and Ice-T was doing some stuff tea was doing some stuff yeah ricochet came out around new jack

new jack but there's no rapping ice tea is in new jack city yeah okay okay i see what new jack city came out i mean we went to the screen in new jack city on a set of fresh prints so it was kind of like everybody was trying to get their feel you know and then it was i think what it was we were also stereotyped as rappers that is kind of like you got to play the role that i see for him in new jack city um and i think um you know will would kind of play this funny guy and you know i i remember when he did that movie, Six Degrees of Separation. And I remember him talking about like, yo, there's certain black directors and people that I want to work with that I can't seem to break through. And when he did that movie, that movie was so far left.

And he did such a great job that it separated him from everybody else that it got to the point that it's kind of like now i'm getting calls from everybody but i remember you know when when when he did that was probably one of the first times that i realized how in-depth being an actor is because that was like when he played like a gay, like something like a gay, like the white guy. It was crazy because we were going through a little bit of a friction. And the mood that he had to get in to play that role

offered a lot of compassion. And that kind of enabled us to sit down and squash whatever friction that we had but it was wild because he was like yo you know like sometimes you go these places and you you don't know how to get back you know because you know like it's the whole thing that you know like they said Denzel becomes every character he is I watched that with Will I watched the entire time that will did Ali he never spoke to me out of Ali's character and it was the weirdest shit in the world he would talk to me to the point that I had to get off the phone because he would

talk to me as Ali mannerisms and all you know and I'm like you know you laugh it off because I'm waiting for you to break. And he would never break. And I'm like, all right, I'll call you back. You know. But you realize

how deep you got to get into that. Right, yeah. That's method acting I think it's called. Yeah. I was on a set

with some dude method acting. It's not pretty, it's not that cool because like, he was a dick in the movie so he had to be a dick like,

so this dude is just walking around and your homeboy, you got to relax, man. This shit is makes that cover ready, all right? in the movies they had to be a dick like like this dude is walking around but the level that that he has helped open up the you guys because this yes y'all let me see together is that like I like I went to all of the party it was a Netflix party that he had um ready I'm gonna look the shit that the new movie had just had right yeah the brain and it was crazy and I walked in and I'm so long there was so many white people God bless there was so many white people wrong

look at all night do they know about you know yeah and I look and this is also it was real funny for me because I said what's up I said I didn't even know Nori I was like fuck I didn't think the nigga know me it was hilarious man I ain't gonna lie I love I love what you guys did for hip hop you know what I mean because you guys took chances you guys did for hip-hop, you know what I mean? Because you guys took chances. You guys took risks. You guys made global music first. You guys put it on the front that, you know, what was going on.

And you stood who you guys were to the test of time. And look at your career. Look at your legacy. You guys should be saluted every day. Every day you should say, it's me, sweet Jazzy Jeff motherfucking day. God damn it Legacy is so rich. So why do you still DJ you still love it? You still do I love it, man I I DJ more now than I ever did in my entire I work more now than I ever worked in my life Wow ever ever and and it's because this is the feeling that you're addicted to the same let me ask you a question I'm not talking the music business or any of

that are you smarter than you were when you put out your first album yeah absolutely do you think you you're more lyrical than you are when you put out your first album? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Do you think you're more lyrical than you are? Is your vocabulary grown since you put out your first album? Probably not. I'm probably a little bit. I'm different. I'm different. I'm different.

I might have got stupid. I might have got devil with my vocabulary, but everything else I got smarter. Yes, yes, yes. I mean, it's kind of like you know how to navigate it. Exactly. You know how to maneuver in it. You know what I mean, it's kind of like you know how to navigate it. Exactly. You know how to maneuver in it. You know what I mean? That it's kind of like.

See, for me, for an artist, I got tired of being on stage. See, DJ, y'all control the stage on the low. If you actually think what you said when you first said, you said it's a wizard. And that's the best way to kind of describe a DJ. You guys are in there with your wands. That's your lawn but see to for me to stay in there and just have to keep entertaining people for a certain amount of time i kind of like i'll rule that not not in a bad way because i'll still love to perform i don't ever want people to get that misconstrued but you know it's it's it gets it gets redundant you know what i'm saying because we're and a lot of times we like the entertainment it's not no it's no difference between

us and a stripper you know I'm saying like a stripper goes and dances and like I'm just saying fix the ass thank you so the stage hates the same as an artist you you before I would say I said the story before but I'm gonna tell you this is the one time this is I kind of stopped before I would say I said the story before but I'm gonna tell you this is the one time this is I kind of stopped before I have one of the most beautiful times I've ever had in Hamptons and we're sitting there smoking I smoke this is what I smoke cigarettes and the guy he paid me of course he paid me so he says hey you ready let's go whoa it was just how he's he made no harm he made no harm he made no disrespect but just yeah just just you understand what he said are you ready let's go he didn't even make contact with me yeah I don't work for

you even though I had his money in my pocket I was work for hire that day and that's when I stopped doing shows. And I smoked two more bogeys. This makes some noise for me. I couldn't let him have that. I couldn't let him have that. I said you're going to have to wait another 20 minutes. Yeah, Russia didn't do it for you when we went to Russia?

Russia, they almost killed us. Yeah, they almost killed us in Russia. I ain't going to lie, we was in a part of Russia. This is how you know. Where we at? St. Petersburg, I believe. Oh, okay. But at the time, I don't know if it was in Russia or not. I don't know. I don in Russia. I ain't gonna lie, we was in a part of Russia.

This is how you know we are. St. Petersburg, I believe. But at the time, I don't know if it changed, but at the time it was so racist that the Russians that was with us had to wear buttons that said, Russians against racism. Against racism. You know you in a racist way. Wow. People got to say, we ain't dumb.

That was terrible. We been through some shit, man. God bless you, God bless you. Yeah, but as an artist, I kind of feel like, you know, I seen, you know, I seen the, you know, what was, I don't, what, Tip Trill, and you know, all those, like the famous strippers, they always come to Miami, and people always go see them.

And I always, you know, every now and then I'll go and I see you know I'm married man so this watch you know but I'm serious but you know and then you see these strippers they'll perform and they're the happiest one that someone's throwing dollars on them and then they turn around and then they throw on this ice grill and it's similar to how a person who has to perform performs, you know, there's certain people who have to like there's certain people who like, you know, you know, you see them like this niggas this nigga, you know, but then there's people who just they love it and When you outgrow it you got it. You got it fall in love back with it. Well, you gonna be the stripper. Yeah

You gonna be the stripper that walks over and be like, man, man, these niggas keep the whole money at me. I'm sorry, man, I don't know where the fuck I went with this, man. Shit got weird, man. Let me tell you, before we drink some more champagne, I relate to strippers and shit, shit is crazy. I think the difference is what you were saying. It's the difference between wanting to do it and having to do it.

No, when you want to do something, like you were saying, you develop more love for it. You develop more skills for it. You know, I remember speaking to Busta one time. And Busta said to me, he said, I don't do no 90s parties. And I had to ask him. I said why he said because if I do a 90s party that's where they want to keep me at do you think that's do you think that's like he feels he's gonna be pigeon-held to that I mean and bust his case I'm not saying the busses case I'm saying in

your case like or and you're okay I do whatever okay like it's kind of like the thing about that if you do a 90s party, just do your 90s shit. Yeah. You don't have to do that everywhere. I think it's kind of like, I pretty much know what I'm going into to a certain degree. I know how deep I got to go. I know how much is it me doing what I do

and how much is it I have to split what I do to what you want. So you kinda know that. So knock on wood, I'm never going into something blind. Right. You talk about DJing your craft? Just completely. Like listen, I do 160, 170 dates a year.

Goddamn, you touring like a wrestler. Let's make some noise for that. That is wrestler dates, brother. Thatdamn, you're touring like a wrestler. Let's make some noise. That is wrestler dates, brother. That is getting a lot of money. We respect that. Keep it to yourself. But you know,

you understand, you know, I know what this club is going to be like to a certain degree. Like, I got a range that is going to be here

and here, you know. I know when I go overseas and I do these tours, like, this is where I'm at, you know. I know, you know, you you do the bottle service your range might have to be a little bit shifted to the left You know I go to Germany. I know my shit is shifted to the right

You know and you just and you just kind of know like that's that's your job is to kind of figure out your environment You know the thing about being a DJ is y'all niggas are geniuses y'all can actually go some of them listen my dj i'm gonna tell you i'm gonna tell you i'm gonna say i don't know i've never said this story but butch bryce to always go to my shows 30 minutes before and tell me because you know i got spanish records i got fucking you know cnn records i got nori records so my dj would go and he would study the crowd for a half an hour. But this one time, we didn't go anywhere. We went on time, and we were late.

So on time is late. And I kid you not, God bless his soul. Prodigy was out there on stage, but he had a dat. So he must have came as DJ. Him and Havoc, I think DJ, missed the flight. So I had never knew Popcorn Fly. They do popcorn. I was like, I'm not going out there.

I said, no way. If they throw popcorn at Pete, they going to destroy me. This is the God of the time! My DJ, in my mind, I don't think he did it, but in my mind, he smacked me and said, shut up! You goin' out there! And this is the first time we started with Super Thug.

Super Thug was a closer. What, what, what? And he was like, shut up! In my mind, he smacked me. I'm sure he did! I'm sure he was like, shut up. And my mind, he smacked me. I'm sure he did. I'm sure he was like, shut up. And he never gave me the list. We didn't go over no records.

He just went out there and he went to all the number one. You know the ones you save? We went through those first five. Put it in the room, the crowd started loving it. All night, the promoter was like, he was with us all night. You saved the show. The Russian guy just kept putting his hands on my head and my neck.

That's why I just saved it. Yo, my buddy, come on. But, um. That's it. That's why I love, like, a good DJ will sit there and say, yo, I know exactly what you, like sometime, one time I was in Germany, and everybody in the crowd was from Honduras.

I had no idea. From Honduras. From Honduras. I had no idea It made no sense My DJ was in the crowd and knew that and he played my Spanish records and I killed the crowd I'm sorry man, I go on, I go on. I think, if I'm not wrong, is that Craze and 8-Track back there? Yeah, yeah. Oh, let's talk! We got some of the most talented DJs in this room. Come on, man! Come on, man, for real.

8-Track, what's going on? I seen you the other day. That's right, that's right. Craze, what's going on, baby? Man, real DJ shit, man. Yeah, yeah. Real DJ shit. Real DJ shit, man. Bro, you know how much I listen to it? Every time I see you you know how much I listen to it every time I see you I tell you I listen to everything oh man oh man listen you guys got any questions for for for

come on I know he gotta be much inspiration to y'all to me to y'all you know man listen He's number one inspiration for me. Let's make some noise for that. Especially on that career path. Right, right. That's what we were saying, the longevity. Hey, you can speak into here. Somebody can give a chair. Man, I'm sorry. We aren't organized, but organized. Work with us. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

This guy's incredible, man. We'll stay. Go ahead. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, um. Diego, you coming back there? This guy's incredible, man. We salute our legends over here, and it'll be something, you know, dope. And these guys are legends in the hood. Legends too. That's what I'm saying. Exactly.

Crazy as the pride of Miami right here. That's right. Man. Listen, I didn't start as young as A-Trek, so. Wow. How young did you start, A-Trek? I started at 13. I was A-Trek. Wow. How young did you start, A-Trek? I started at 13. I was world champion at 15.

Wow. Wait a minute, world champion? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Pick that up. Whoa. Wait, wait, wait. Tell me what the fuck your world champion in at. Who was that? DJ. DJ, I was the one that...

It was the DMC World Championships. Oh. We all used to do all these battles, Jeff before us, but me and Craze won a bunch of these world titles. Wow. Yeah, how old were you at the zoo when I saw you in that first battle that you did? I was 15.

Damn. Damn. God damn it. That's some real shit. And DJs, see, a lot of rappers don't know this. DJs start out real, real, like you don't get paid good at first, you gotta be good to get paid, right? Because there's a lot of locals that don't really get paid.

Yeah. Yeah. You know what, shout out to the local DJs. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, big up to all the club DJs and the DJs that have residencies every week because they hold down their market and their job is actually tougher than ours, I think, because if they don't,

like Jeff was talking about being a servant to the crowd, at least we have the luxury to have a certain weight to our name so when we show up in a venue, we can still steer it where we want. But if you're the resident DJ at the club and you're not playing what the crowd wants, they'll just leave.

They'll leave the dance floor, the manager will take you off. So shout out to those that put their job on the line. I mean, I said something, it's like y'all are the closer DJs, right? So is there a rule, like if the opener DJ comes, is there records that he shouldn't play? It used to be ethics to them,

but that's kind of gone away. I'm old school. I'm old school. No, no, no, what I'm saying is there should be, but now you see a lot of people that don't really respect that. So if the number one record is out and the opener DJ, he can't play it and you guys won't take it? Well, I'm going to tell you what the difference is.

Especially these guys, what you do is the number one record. It's not the record. You know what I mean? There's a level that I'm coming to see crazy I'm coming to see a truck I'm not necessarily coming to see what crazy and a truck are going to play right there the entity of themselves that is kind of like when you get to that level you almost account like I'm good fuck what you play but not just that's kind of like, I've seen both of these guys play numerous times.

There's a million fucking records. I'm not going to be mad because you played one of the records. And I had that with somebody that they had a pre-something mapped out set. And I played a couple of records and it was like, you freaked out. And I was just like, fucking replace them. Like, if you play this, I'm going on stage and I'm Performing one of Jay-z's records before Jay-z Yeah, because certain DJs used to fax a list to venues. That would say, do not play.

Right, if you booked such and such in your city, as like the promoter or the club owner or whatever, you would receive a list of records to give to your opener to say, do not play the records from this list. Or you felt disrespected if the opener did play it. But that's also because before Serato and all of that, as the DJ would travel to your city with

whatever, three crates of records, and that's all he had. So DJ before played a couple of those records, you're like, yo, I don't have other stuff to play. So that's changed with the digital age. Holy moly. I love the DJ politics, by the way. I have a question for Jeff, actually,

on that topic of playing to the crowd and traveling and everything. I know one thing that I'm sure we've all noticed is in the last 10 plus years, of playing to the crowd and traveling and everything. I know one thing that I'm sure we've all noticed is in the last 10 plus years, once blogs and the internet and everything really connected the whole world and it got to a point where youth culture in North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa,

everyone has been listening to the same records at the same time through the internet. But I remember early, even my early trips to certain parts of Asia where I would start playing the crowd and being like, oh shit, I don't even know what records they know and like here. So like, for you Jeff, what was that like going to certain places?

You know what, I've always had tunnel vision. Right, wrong, and different. It's kind of like, I I am the state baked potato and salad that you get in the restaurant I'm gonna give you this shit If you book state baked potato and salad you gonna get it and it's kind of like, you know, sometimes You know there were times that it didn't You know for the most part. It's kind of like I believe that, you know, people are booking you for you.

That's right. That it's kind of like, you know, and especially you really got to stick to I'm going to do me when I don't know what this is. When you are unsure, the one thing that you are sure of is yourself. And it's kind of like I don't know what language they're speaking, but I'm gonna fucking play Biggie.

I imagine it was similar to what you were saying that you guys felt about New York. You had this perception, I'm sure when you go to these places in that era, they just had a perception, they just wanted you as a Jeff that they're playing. But let me tell you, because you guys as DJs, it's this record, I don't know who sings it, I don't know what they're saying.

I like it. I just don't know. Am I on point? It goes... Is that one of the highest records out? It probably has to be. I don't know what the... I don't know what he's saying!

I don't know what he's saying! I can't... I'm like, what is going on? I don't... I can't understand. But it says Mbamba, so it's true that those words maybe aren't English vocabulary words. If I'm not mistaken, I think the title

is after the dude that plays for the man, Orlando. That's his name. Mo Bamba. So he named it after his man who's a basketball, who's a rookie. Yeah, the homies, like Sheck and Mo Bamba, I think they went to school together. Oh, they're homies or something. So then Sheck named the record after him. Now, you some of Kanye.

What was your affiliation with Kanye? Official tour DJ for four years. Both of you guys, right? You did tour? I just did one year. Chris came in after I left. I left when I started Fool's Gold. And I told Ye, I'm not just gonna leave you high and dry, I'm gonna give you the best DJ in the world. Chris came in.

Thanks for that. He's done with it. Chris K. Manley. Yeah. Thank you for that. You're welcome. You're definitely, you're definitely. So now, how has both you guys been on tour with Kanye for our fans who probably won't know or ever get a chance to imagine that? Who's breathing that hard? You need to come. That was breathing that hard. That was breathing that hard, man.

I'm just telling you, you masturbate way too much. I'm sorry, man. I'm sorry. Go ahead. I mean, I just did one year, so like mine was In-N-Out. Oh, yeah? And like, I was like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just telling you, you masturbate way too much. I'm sorry, man.

I'm sorry. I mean, I just did one year, so mine was In-N-Out. I couldn't DJ for him anymore because I wanted to be in my world. Oh, yeah? And I feel like when you came in, some of the staging changed. I was lucky because I came in right at the start. When I got the job, College Dropout had just came out, and if you went to see a show, it was Ye, me, and John Legend on stage,

and that was it. I would play the tracks, John would play piano on top, sing, and the show was us. And it was a really cool experience because we all kind of grew together. And then when Ye decided to bring in a string section, he would have me speak to the string section

and kind of like help direct it. Sorry, was it the string section? Yeah, the orchestra. Oh, wow. Yeah. Like I had to learn how to like talk to a harpist. Oh, wow. Yeah, this is the part where you do it.

So the learning process was cool. And like we all come from a very, you know, from like an underground hip hop place where, and I think all of us started with battles also. So our first couple years, we were performing to an audience that was like sort of in on the joke, like an audience that knows everything that we know. They know the same codes. They had seen other DJs that were as technical as us. So we're sort of preaching to the choir.

This is the Pink Polo Kanye era, right? Right, right. And I'm saying like even prior to that, I was performing to crowds that already knew what I was doing on stage. Because turntablism had gotten pretty technical and advanced, but the crowd knew what I was doing. What I enjoyed with the Kanye experience

was I had to perform for crowds that had no idea what I was doing and had to figure out how to still make it work. So the growth with that was cool. Because I went from working in a sort of closed circle to then that box breaking open. You definitely saw it with all the touring with Will too. When you're in front of a crowd that's like teenage girls

that like that song from MTV and your MC is like, all right, now show them why you're the greatest DJ in the world. You've got to convince an audience that doesn't even know what you're about to do. And that forces you to learn how to adapt your craft. So that growth was cool. The American West with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network,

hosted by me, writer and historian Dan Flores, and brought to you by Velvet Buck. This podcast looks at a West available nowhere else. Each episode, I'll be diving into some of the lesser known histories of the West. I'll then be joined in conversation by guests such as Western historian, Dr. Randall Williams, and bestselling author and meat eater founder, Stephen Ranella. I'll correct my kids now and then where they'll say when cave people were here. And I'll say, it seems like the Ice Age people that were here didn't have a real affinity for caves. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th, where we'll delve into stories of the

West and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today. Listen to the American West with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future

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Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple

Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Michael Kassin, founder and CEO of 3C Ventures and your guide on good company, the podcast where I sit down with the boldest innovators shaping what's next. In this episode, I'm joined by Anjali Sood, CEO of Tubi, for a conversation that's anything but ordinary. We dive into the competitive world of streaming, how she's turning so-called niche into mainstream gold, connecting audiences with stories that truly make them feel seen. What others dismiss as niche, we embrace as core.

It's this idea that there are so many stories out there. And if you can find a way to curate and help the right person discover the right content, the term that we always hear from our audience is that they feel seen. Get a front row seat to where media, marketing, technology, entertainment, and sports collide. And hear how leaders like Anjali are carving out space and shaking things up a bit in the most crowded of markets. Listen to Good Company on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Brendan Patrick Hughes, host of Divine Intervention. This is a story about

radical nuns in combat boots and wild-haired priests trading blows with J. Edgar Hoover in a hell-bent effort to sabotage a war. J. Edgar Hoover was furious. Somebody violated the FBI and he wanted to bring the Catholic left to its knees. The FBI went around to all their neighbors and said to them, do you think these people are good Americans? It's got heists, tragedy, a trial of the century, and the goddamnedest love story you've ever heard. I picked up the phone, and my thought was, this is the most important phone call I'll ever make in my life. I couldn't believe it. I mean, Brendan, it was divine intervention.

You can now binge all 10 episodes of Divine Intervention on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you think DJs get the amount of props that they deserve? No. No? No. But you did say earlier. I think it's better now.

Like as far as financial? Yeah. Like as far as financial. Yeah, I mean but but you know and and I didn't I didn't think bad of the DJ explosion Because I think we were in the dark for so long that I accepted the explosion That was just the the counteract like, you know, I felt like the DJ was cast aside Especially in hip-hop like I really started to get angry because I'm kind of like every rock group in the world has a DJ, and every hip hop artist in the world

has a dap machine. Wow. You know, and it was just kind of like, wow. This all kind of went together. But what happened was you cast us aside, and we just kind of created a world on our own that was kind of like, well, shit, if we're the ones that play the music for people to dance because i really thought that vegas was going to be bismarcky

jay-z like i thought like okay we got sammy davis jr and all of us today right i thought that the growth of vegas was going to be the performers in hip-hop, not the DJs. But it got to the point that it was kind of like, well, shit, you got one good record, six bad records. He can play all good records. I'm going to get him to play it. I don't need to see you perform. I can have him play your record. And a lot of that was because there was no togetherness.

We were pushed to the side that we was kind of like, yo, let's start our own network and community. And it just blew up on the side. And now everybody who raps wants to be a DJ. No, everybody wants to be a DJ now. I'm not going to lie.

I thought I could DJ for a second. I ain't going to lie. I didn't try. I didn't go publicly. But every now and then, when I go on tour, I control the playlist. I do not get mad I didn't try I didn't go publicly I do not get mad at Anybody on earth who wants to try to be a DJ? I am not mad at all. So you're not mad at all I party no, let me tell you let me tell you

It's But what I'm not gonna do I am going to not play high school ball college ball semi-pro and go and try out for the sixes I think that's disrespectful it's disrespectful for all of the people that put in all of the time you can play ball but there's a different level so I'm kind of like then you just need to be prepared to somebody throw you on the floor against the Knicks. And you gotta take that action. We're not talking about the Knicks now, we're talking about John Starks, Mark Anoff,

Anthony Mason Knicks, right? We're talking about the road Knicks. Yeah, yeah, that's it. John Wilkie, yeah, okay. I know what you're talking about. Somebody who gets into it or wants to get into it or cares about getting into it you know the more the merrier but it's kind of like i've said on occasions that um i'm never worried about another dj more than i'm worried about myself right like it's it's so because the person

control the playlist don't mean you control the party Listen let me tell you something I've always said Learning to be a great DJ is not about the good nights It's about how you do the bad Of course It's about how you Listen cause we all We all have that night

That I'm like yo I'm about to buy it And it's kind of like Yo like I've looked at my watch And I'm like, yo, I'm about to buy it. And it's kind of like, yo, like I've looked at my watch and I'm like, I got to play two hours. And I got an hour and 55 minutes left. Let me tell you something. I did this guy in Canada. Voked me. He was the Soca Prince of Canada.

This motherfucker was like, I want you to play this part. I said, listen, I don't know shit about Soca. He said, it don't matter. I want you to play this part. I said, listen, I don't know shit about soccer. He said, it don't matter. I want you to do you. I stuck to my guns and was like, no, no, no, no. Fuck it. And when I tell you, I walked in and never realized that soccer was 195 BPM. And they was, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. And it was 3,000 motherfPMs, and they was

and it was 3,000 motherfuckers, names was going crazy. And they announced, so let me tell you what got me nervous. Right before I went on, he walked over, he said, feel free to drop a couple Soca records. And I said, yo, I told you. He was like, no, if he won. And I came on, and when I tell you, I will never in my life

forget the girl in the front row, because I didn't play the whole set. I played maybe like 30 minutes, but for 27 minutes, she was like this. She would not stop shaking her head. Like, they was so fucking mad at me. And then, you know, because you go through that ego, like, fuck it. Fuck y'all.

I'm going to plow through this shit. Oh, I'm in Canada. Okay, all right. I'm going to plow through it. So this is Caribbean people with attitudes. All this glitteriness, and it's cold in Canada. People are new. But you have, everybody has them nights.

And I'm like, yo, as a DJ, you learn how to get through those nights. Like, you know, it's kind of like, we all kind of know what we want to play. But we all have the ability to make a motherfucking detour in a heartbeat. Because you have to like listen i'm not gonna fit that round peg in the square move that motherfucker don't fit i'm grabbing another pig you know but you you know and i'm like a lot of these new guys know one way they don't know how to troubleshoot and it's kind of like you can see, like, you know, we had plenty of times standing on stage like, yo, he's going down in a flame.

He's going down. Like, I feel bad, you know. But that's how you figure it out. You ever take you and Will together? Like, had a bad show? We never had a bad show. But we did Apollo. You it will let no no you got next to not tell you we were on the edge it would we did Apollo theater oh but we did the Apollo Theater with Guy at the height of Guydom.

And we were headlining. And it was kind of like, yo, who the fuck made us headline with Guy in Harlem now? And y'all fucking grooved me. And we thought I could be Mike Tyson, which was already a little suspect. You know, and I'm, oh, man, that shit was hard. But the bad thing is we did two shows we did a matinee show which we got through by the skin of our teeth and then we had to do the nighttime show and both of them follow yes same day and the the waiting for that second show hands sweating because we like yo we we can't go after God like you can't go on

after Teddy Riley in heart Teddy could spit from his crib and yeah it was you know I'd never want think about them days so you want to think so you would label that your worst show but not a a bad show, but you're like You're not so great. Yeah, that was that was it. I mean, you know So we should what's your favorite show you have a man? I can't because that's that you know, I don't know if it was one of the standouts once where you you just it was like man Well, you know what's crazy? After 20 years will and I did two shows last year

We did a show in Croatia and we did a show in Blackpool in the UK. And it was just us. And it was like 30,000 people. And it was different because you don't know. It's kind of like, shit, we doing these shows. I don't know I have no idea What

My or Will's relevancy To the world is You hear it Oh I have an idea brother You almost think Everybody's lying to you So you don't know. But I mean, listen, you don't know.

And to me, it's safer me not knowing. I don't know where I'd be if I... That's humble. But it's just, you know, so going out and somebody selling a show and tickets and all the rest of this, you just kind of like damn is anybody going to show up how do you know but to watch people show up and with albums and fresh Prince of Bel-Air jerseys and jackets and just you guys you know and it was just us um and it was crazy because during the show um I had a monitor in Will's ear then I had a microphone that I could talk to him

during the show and I was like, tell everybody to put up their phone and turn their flashlights on. And when he said it, I was so overwhelmed that I couldn't pick my phone up and take a picture of it. Like I froze, because it was on a pier in England and you couldn't see how far the crowd went back. So when everybody put their light on, and you kind of saw how far 30,000 people went back,

I couldn't pick my phone up and take a picture because you were just kind of like, and listen, we ain't never going to do another show in life. I'm good. You know? God damn, respect for Louis for that guy. Now, Will did some real crazy shit. He just jumped in the Grand Canyon. What's up?

He bungee jumped. What was that? In the Grand Canyon? I was scared to death the whole time on Instagram looking at that. Were you there? No, I wasn't going to that. Did you watch it Instagram account? I was scared to death the whole time on Instagram looking at that. Were you there? No, I wasn't going to that. Did you watch it on Instagram?

Oh, yeah, I watched it. Listen, nobody close to him like that. Nobody. Like Charlie Curson on that. You know, Charlie Curson on live TV. Because, you know, he was uncomfortable. We all were uncomfortable. Yeah. Because I'm like, this isn't me. to me is that come from having too much money you just want to do whatever

the fuck you want no he's a rich guy and I just have to be a rich rich will couldn't swim and I watched will cliff dive in Jamaica he paid a guy to be in water at the bottom and he cliff dove in Jamaica in the water. Wait a second. And he couldn't swim. Hey. So understand, his thing has always been. Listen, his thing has always been, if I'm afraid of it, I'm running to it.

Now, I ain't got that. Yeah, me neither. I ain't got none of that. It takes a bigger man to swim. Listen, that's always been his thing. Listen, he was terrified of that. What? Jumping. What? He jumped in been his thing. Listen, he was terrified of that. Right. Of jumping.

What? He jumped in the Grand Canyon. Right. Grand Canyon. There ain't no black people shit. I'm just throwing it out there. There ain't no black people shit. It's rich.

There ain't no white people shit. It's so, I'm rich and I'm just, I don't think this is color at all. This has no color. Yeah. This has no color. Yeah.

So this is where I'm rich and I'm just going to live my best life for real. For real, like that's getting high. Like that's getting high. Like you know, with these kids with these percocets and this lean, that's not high. Do what the fuck with that shit. Yeah, drag on the brush from that is crazy.

It could be over in the Grand Canyon, woo, woo, woo. Yeah, I'm good. So you haven't had a bad show? I've had a lot of bad shows. Get outta here. Yeah, I'm one of those DJ haven't had a bad show? I've had a lot of bad shows. Get outta here! Yeah, I'm one of those DJs that sticks to his guns a lot. And that's a bad thing? It's a bad thing, but for me it's more of like, I just wanna do me.

So you in there playing cheap keep when niggas wanna bring it down? No, no, no. I'm playing bass at a hip hop club. You playing what? I'm playing drum and bass at a hip hop club. Oh, wow. Back when that shit was not EDM and hip hop or not. I think.

Wow. Early 2000s. So yeah. I would just go in there and be like, this is what I like. I don't give a fuck. And you would stick with it? I would stick with it. Is there a sign that you're fucking up?

He said the girl was looking at him. The crowd starts to part. You start just seeing everybody move on. But I would usually do it at the end of the night though. So I'd make sure I give them what they wanted. You know, come see me do my thing and I'm playing music you like and then I'd be like, alright, 10 minutes. You know, for me, do my thing.

You? Yeah, definitely. I think every DJ's had bad shows. What's one of your memorable moments? To me a bad show is also if you show up in some city and there's like no one there. You know what I mean? You show up and you're like, I- I had some of my best shows with like 20 people there.

That could be you. That's true. I got mad. I'm like, where the fuck are you? I ain't going to go on stage. I'm going to be performing right in front of these niggas. Like, come here, nigga. I'm bugged out.

I'm so sorry. Yeah, you're worried. But as DJs, we got to figure out a vibe. You know, sometimes a bad show could also be a full room, but you could, like, we got to, like, read the crowd, right? So we're looking, I remember, like, one show where I would look and I'd be like, all right, this area wants, like, house music. And this area wants new hip hop. This area wants old hip hop. And this area wants, hip hop this area wants old hip hop and this area wants

like EDM trap kind of stuff and I gotta like figure out a flow that makes everyone happy and sometimes you just can't

you gotta crack a code sometimes you just don't crack the code that night you're like I tried my best like yesterday we was at Don Q

Don C's thing Don C's excuse me my bad I'm bugging Don C's event and that crowd was a little different. You know what I'm trying to say. It's just all different types of people.

You got all types of industry people in there. And how did... By the way, it was like a open bar kind of event, so that draws all kinds of people. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it was like... Free alcohol. And now that I think about it, how do you attack an event like that? open bar kind of event, so that draws all kinds of people. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it was like, I- Free alcohol. And now that I think about it,

how do you attack an event like that? I mean, that one to me was, for me, was also kind of casual, because it was my friend's product launch. I wasn't even looking at it that much on some, like, yo, I gotta rock the crowd. I was just thinking, here's a bunch of influencer types that came to support an event.

Let me just play some records that they probably didn't expect to hear but that they still like. Because a lot of times, I'll go into a party and think, I don't want to just make the crowd happy, I want to leave a lasting impression. And for them to go home and tell their friends and be like, yo, A-Trak played this record last night, I never expected to hear that, but it worked.

I want to surprise people. That's the big difference between DJing and being an MC, whereas as an MC you're doing your songs, but we can play any of a bajillion songs. So it's up to us to choose stuff that will work, but hopefully that surprises people. So a thing like that, like last night, I'm just thinking like, all right,

this crowd probably has been hearing the same 10 songs three times a night this whole week during Basel. I mean, yeah. And let me play a few different things to leave an impression. You guys prefer doing tabless sets or playing full sets? I've got to be honest, as a person that's not a DJ, I don't know what the fuck you just said. Like I said, these guys are instruments, is what I'm saying.

These guys could do amazing things on the turntable and they could just do that and it'd be like a show. Or do they want to play like, you know, just like a club set? But I think the ultimate goal is to find to figure out a set that merges all of it And that's I looked up to Jeff from way early on On that tip when I would go see him spin even back when I lived in Montreal and I'd be like yo This is so ill because he's rocking the crowd But he's also doing tricks that would normally make the crowd sort of stop and watch,

they're still going with it. And finding that balance, that's like the holy grail for technical. Goddamn, let's make some noise. Goddamn. So what's your favorite part of DJing? You know what? I think,

and Crazy and A-Track can attest to this, as a DJ, there's a point when you know you got them. And I say sometimes... You got them to crown me? You got them. When you got them, sometimes you can have them as soon as you walk on.

You ain't got to play shit. It's like, yep, this is. And then sometimes it's like, oh, you're going to fight me a little bit. So it may take 15 minutes to get you. Right. I think what I like is knowing that I know what's about to happen three records from now and you don't. Like, I'm like, okay, keep that stone. Like, especially when you get the dude that's in the front,

you wanna be in the front but you wanna have a stone face. And I'm like, oh, listen, you gonna nod your head. I'm betting money that my goal is kinda like, cause you don't know and I'm watching you, I'm watching this smile come on and go off, I'm watching you ice grill, I'm watching your hands loosen up to the point that at the end of the night, you can't take it and you just say,

fuck it, I'm going to go to the back. You got to let go. But I think knowing that you know something that everybody else doesn't. Right. I know where this is going to end and I know where you're going to be when this ends. Right.

But you don't know. How do you deal with like, one of my worst shows I ever had was a guy was in a, I was performing, a guy was in the front desk, T-O-N-Y, T-O-N-Y! Yo dude, that's seven songs later, relax! And how do you deal with drunk people who just come up to you?

I don't, I don't. And they just request records. Listen, I am the master of ignoring people. Listen, I've had fist pounds in my face like this. And I'm like this. And I don't see.

You know, because you'll get the guy that's kind of like, yo, you know, somebody just want, I got to come up and shake my hand. And especially now, like my man got the cell phone So give me get getting your game Jeff. Give me a summary

Like I'm right in the middle seems like tell me what part of this did you like I saw the video that kid Capri did and I would never do it But I gave him so much props that the girl kept asking him to play something and he stopped the music completely and was like okay since you want to fuck up everybody's good time for what you want to hear i want you to tell everybody what you want and it listened she started crying but it's kind of like, yo, like. You kind of got what you asked for, type of thing. You know, so you just got to ignore them.

I mean, I've seen that. I've seen that a couple of times. So you just ignore them. Listen, everybody, you know, I mean, which is a whole other issue, but it's kind of like you wake up to the 10 songs, you go to work to the 10 songs, you listen to the 10 songs on your lunch break, you listen to them on the way home, and you go to the club, and you fucking want to ask me to play the 10 songs.

Like, just get in the car and listen to the radio. You know what I mean? Like, I believe that, especially as DJs, you have to kind of stand your ground. Like, there's a level of me that I feel like I'm standing my ground to protect the culture. Because one of my biggest fears is, I was like, I never want to feel like you can walk into a club and the DJ booth be enclosed and somebody's playing a mix and you don't know it. Like, I'll stop you for one second. I was watching something earlier, it was like Robots Kill on HBO, right? And it's basically, I'm describing this very wrong, but it's basically they're showing you how like in a couple of years you might not even need a barber

Like they're gonna have something. Yeah, that's just come You won't go It's gonna be all that you think they could ever do that with a DJ. No, I can't no Cuz they got robots right now listen You know people talk about equipment that can put things in key and put things in mix. What you can never do is find an algorithm that I can look in your eyes and tell you about. You really want to fucking hear this Mobb Deep record. Exactly.

Like, when they develop that, then I'll get a little nervous. But, you know, at the end of the day I also feel like once again I'm trying to be this conspiracy theorist I also feel like the reason why they're dumbing the music down is to make it to the point that you can do something like that to make it serviceable yeah so I'm like yo like I appreciate I mad appreciate A-Track and Craze Because when you see them They do something That no machine in this world Could ever do

And I think you have to show that I get mad at DJs with skills That get up there And just fucking play records And never show An ounce of their skills I'm like yo You are putting yourself

In this category That they're going to Enclose the DJ booth And play your fucking mixtape. You better make sure that there's not a machine on earth that can duplicate what you can do. And that's saving the culture. That was hard.

That was hard. That was hard, that was some deep shit right there. That was some deep shit right there. Because it made me think of that. Because actually as I was watching it, I was getting a haircut and I just looked at my barber. You about to be out. I was like, yo, you be coming late.

He probably changed the channel on you. I know. I just looked at him and it made me think of that just now. But what you just said just makes sense. But also, DJs are curators. So even aside from the skill aspect, to have a human being making choices, you can't replace that.

Because think about it, when Spotify first came out, and it was all the music in the world available, a lot of people would open it up. Like Grand Caviar or something like that? Before that, because what I was getting at is they had to start doing playlists to recommend certain records to people

because at first when you had that thing. Were playlists originally made by DJs or that came from the Spotify? I feel like playlists come from like the iPods era, when iTunes and Apple introduced iPod. So what I'm saying is when all the music in the world is available. iPods, Air, when iTunes and Apple introduced iPod. So I think it's when all the music in the world is involved. Like when you go to Spotify now, you can go to a playlist, you go to Tidal,

you can go to the playlist, it's curated by certain individuals. But was that initially like a DJ set? That's what a playlist is, correct? Or a little more? I think it's a way, it's sort of, it's... It's a DJ similar to my DJing. Without somebody DJing. somebody yeah because part of DJing is not just the songs you play is the energy that you bring the crazy thing with certain DJs is you could be

out hearing a DJ set someone play one record and you'll be like man this is dope what is that you find out what the record is you go back home listen to it and it doesn't hit you the same way because certain DJs the way they bring the record in the way they read the record in, the way they read the energy. The order. Yeah, and just, there's something about that energy control, it's like, you know, magicians where the record by itself isn't the same thing. So a playlist doesn't have the flow

and the energy of a DJ set. Yeah, so. Humanized. So, I just realized, I'm surrounded by DJs. I just realized that they're the only MC here. This is real. I ain't gonna lie, we could do a crazy show, by DJs. I just realized, I said, damn, I'm the only MC here. This is real. I ain't gonna lie, we could do a crazy show, four DJs. But yeah, I ain't gonna lie, I'm loving this because as an artist, I've never done a show without a DJ.

And I know that that controls the thing. So just in case anybody's ever you know we know that you guys run the show we know that you guys run the world we appreciate them you know from every artist in the world you know every fucking fan to everybody who has a ear who listens to fucking great music we want to say thank you We know that DJs run the world, and also being up to DJ enough, DJ Camilo was supposed to stop by, and that would've been dope to have all y'all DJs and shit. There would've not been enough records to break.

So let me just ask y'all something before we get up out of here. The transition from vinyl to fully digital, is it a good thing? Because the one thing I will tell you was, paying your dues as a DJ kind of felt like carrying crates. Where would it? Can we replace carrying crates with a book bag with your laptop? With weight in it? But you got to put weight in there. You gotta put a pretty big bar of weight in there. And ten book bags. I always felt like that was paying your dues as a DJ.

Like actually, me being from New York City and me being, going to the tunnel, that would be my thing. I would try to get there early and just see a DJ come out there with their crates and be like, forgetting to wear their gloves and be freezing. I'd be looking like, that's a cool DJ right there. You know what that's a grill DJ right but now these guys they don't freeze at all no but um what is what is the transition from you know like seriously from crates to this is it a plus or is it it is it it was a huge change by the way because like you know it's

almost people forget that before the digital was even the option when you made a record and you wanted to play it you had to go get a dub plate press or get acetate press or if you you know if the airline lost your luggage you could play that night off I don't miss any of the vinyl stuff. It's funny because we're all scratch DJs, so people come up to us and they're like, yeah, vinyl. I'm like, I don't miss vinyl really.

Breaking my back, having airlines lose my, I don't miss any of that. So if you lose your computer, you just. I mean, you ain't gonna lose your computer, your computer's on your back. Right, right, right. But you would check in multiple crates in the air. Oh, man, that's a nightmare.

You hold your breath every time the luggage come. Cause it's kinda like there's one, there's another. I got to London one time and the tops of my crates came. The tops of my boxes. Just cause there was a bunch of DJs that worked in the airport. And they know when you, oh London was gangsta back in the day. They knew you were coming and your luggage come, and it would be the tops. And you'd be waiting for the bottoms.

Because first of all, you know, if the bottoms, if the tops ain't on, the records are all over the place. And it would never come. That someone would take that off, put that top on, and it was somebody rocking in London. Wow. So for the record, we're saying, this is our grade. This is great. Oh, yeah. The whole digital thing makes every song available to you

and I think that's really cool too because that ended up helping break down some of the barriers between genres and everything. It just helped music evolve. In the last 10 years, DJs really played a big role in steering the direction of music in general. A lot of artists started going to DJs and being like, yo, what's the next sound?

And I think that digital transition helped in that because it brought everything together. And at the end of the day, even if, it's kind of wild to think that every DJ that plays on every stage or every club has access to all the same records, but it's kind of cool because then it puts the

force back. It's each DJ's own taste and style that'll make a difference whether they're good or not. We all have access to the same records. We have the same internet. Like right now, if we was that, you know we have a backyard right there, we could have a party,

you guys would all have the same records, but it would be all three different energies. Completely different. Completely different energies. Yeah, that's awesome. That's awesome. Do you guys get mad when you hear artists that sound the same? Is there DJs that do the same thing as another DJ? Yeah.

Oh yeah? Absolutely. Oh damn. You got designers and fuchsias too? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They both my homies, you know what I'm saying? But y'all got that in the DJ field? Come here. Come here. I didn't know that. I didn't know that.

But you know what? Again, once again, man, thank y'all for hanging out with Jazzy Jeff, man. I want to thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Listen, I was talking about the whole transition and the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Yep. I have to salute you for the transition into a different arena

I think it is very important to kind of show the hip hop generation and especially because you know we still we have some legendary stubborn brothers still doing the one thing that there are a lot of people that are talented and more than just what everybody

know them for. And you're never too old to take that jump into something else. So trust me, like, for me to be sitting on here, talking to you in a completely different light than what I know you from in the beginning, is that, that's the thing. I tell people that all the time, is that's where I took it from.

Seeing you brothers take those opportunities and take those chances. You, the LLs, the Korean Latifahs. It was like, you know, um... And it was like, you know what? If I can do it my way, then why not? You know what I'm saying? Like, why not? Like, I love to talk hip hop.

I think hip hop, this should be our first take. We should have, I believe, I don't know, I'll get out of here after this, but I believe that you shouldn't go to no other place for anything in life. Meaning, if you wanna go to a Yelp, I'm making a hip hop Yelp right now, right? So I'm making the shit that

Nori recommends wherever the fuck you eat. And I'm going to tell you, look, if you want to get shot, this is the way to go. They got the best fried chicken dough in the world. It might be worth it. You know what I'm saying? If you want to go get some... You know what I'm saying?

If you want to get some fried Oreos over here, I got... I'm going to give people like... And if you want to go to the news, I believe that... if you go to the news, I believe Jim Jones should be the weather forecaster. I believe, you know, I believe it should be Jim Jones, you know what I'm saying, in the room. I believe if you want to go sneaker shopping, I believe it's Fat Joe should be guiding you through your sneakers and saying, listen, this is a, I believe you should get every bit of information that we have in hip-hop through hip-hop you know I'm saying through hip-hop I don't believe I believe everything should come from us and because I don't believe hip-hop is even a color I believe hip-hop is as his own race we are all race you know I'm saying like you what are you I'm hip hop. I'm an old kid, I don't even know what that means. But that's exactly what it is,

because our bond, our bond, like, it doesn't matter what color a person is, he's hip hop. If you hip hop to me, I fuck with you. Like, I don't give a fuck where your background come from. And that's, it's global. Hip hop is a language, it's two things that's universal. It's food and motherfucking music.

Like, no matter where you go, I remember I was at some airport and these people were just playing music. And you just seen people just walking by. Everybody had a little box of them. I'm saying, holy shit! Everybody, even the ones that was off beat. They said, oh shit, this guy's okay. He's playing, everybody love music.

So everybody, that's true, that's like food. And I think we gotta keep spreading this. I think we gotta keep spreading the. We gotta keep spreading love. We gotta keep continuing to, you know, I love that these two, you know, DJs, these hot DJs, they came and they paid homage immediately. And that's beautiful, but we need more of that. We need more of people, of our legends,

continuing to feel like legends and continue to be out there making money. Continue to be out there making our culture look good. Cause if we ain't to big each other up, ain't nobody going to big us up, bro. And guess what? We need a little bit of bigging up. Sometimes you need that pat on your shoulder.

I ain't going to lie to you. That's why marathon runners be having them people on the side who are like, yo, you keep it going. All right, yeah, come on. 26 miles, come on, let's do it. Take care. Thank you, Jeff. Drink, man. Come on. Thank you, man.

Thank you. Yeah, man. Thank you. You're going to get drops. Come on. Thank you. Thank you, Jeff. Oh, man. Do you want to do a picture?

Yes, yes. You know, I like to picture. All right. Cool. Why is a soap opera western like Yellowstone so wildly successful? The American West with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th, where we'll delve into stories of the West and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today. Listen to The American West with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio

app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Michael Kasson, founder and CEO of 3C Ventures and your guide on good company, the podcast where I sit down with the boldest innovators shaping what's next. In this episode, I'm joined by Anjali Sood, CEO of Tubi. We dive into the competitive world of streaming. What others dismiss as niche, we embrace as core. There are so many stories out there. And if you can find a way to curate and help the right person discover the right content, the term that we always hear from our audience

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Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And it's going to take us to heal us. It's Mental Health Awareness Month, and on a recent episode of Just Heal with Dr. J, the incomparable Taraji P. Henson stopped by to discuss how she's discovered peace on her journey. I never let that little girl

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