Drink Champs - Episode 178 w/ Rap Radar (Elliot Wilson & Brian "B.Dot" Miller)

Episode Date: October 11, 2019

N.O.R.E. & DJ EFN are the Drink Champs. This week we welcome Elliot Wilson and Brian “B Dot” Miller from Rap Radar! Elliot & B.Dot share the origin story of Rap Radar. As Elliot shares stories about his days at The Source and XXL, B. Dot talks about bringing credibility back to the music, in his role as Lead Music Correspondent at MTV.We also touch on topics such as “gate keepers” in Hip-Hop, Elliot’s love for competition and the fight between Wale & B.Dot that almost happened!We also get a gem from Rap Radar as they share the story of how their JAY Z interview came to be and much much more!*Special shout out to Elliot Wilson on his new role @ TIDAL as Chief Content Officer!*BlueChew: Visit BlueChew.com and use promo code CHAMPS to get your first shipment free, just pay $5 shipping.Follow:Drink Champshttp://www.drinkchamps.comhttp://www.instagram.com/drinkchampshttp://www.twitter.com/drinkchampshttp://www.facebook.com/drinkchampsDJ EFNhttp://www.crazyhood.comhttp://www.instagram.com/whoscrazyhttp://www.twitter.com/djefnhttp://www.facebook.com/crazyhoodproductionsN.O.R.E.http://www.instagram.com/therealnoreagahttp://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.

This is an iHeart Podcast. down that day. On Medal of Honor, Stories of Courage, you'll hear about these heroes and what their stories tell us about the nature of bravery. Listen to Medal of Honor on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A lot of times big economic forces show up in our lives in small ways. Four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. Small but important ways. From tech billionaires to the bond market to, yeah, banana pudding. If it's happening in business, our new podcast is on it. I'm Max Chastin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Your gut microbiome and those healthy bacteria can actually have positive effects. Your mental health, your immunity, your risk of cancer, almost any disease under the sun. This week on Dope Labs, Titi and I dive into the world of probiotics, the hype, the science, and what your gut bacteria are really doing behind the scenes. From drinks and gummies to probiotic pillows. Yes, really, probiotic pillows. We're breaking down what's legit and what's just brilliant marketing. With expert insight from gastroenterologist Dr. Roshi Raj.

Listen to Dope Labs 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. He was out of his mind, and he wanted to bring the Catholic left to its knees. You can now binge all 10 episodes of Divine Intervention

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And it's Dream Chess motherfucking podcast. 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.

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 Champs motherfucking podcast. Where every day is New Year's Eve. Let's go. It's time for Drink Champs.

Drink up, motherfucker. Motherfucker. Would it good be, hoping it is, would it still be? This is your boy, NAOLA. What up? It's DJ EFN. And this is boy, N-A-O-L-A-N. What up, it's DJ E-F-N. And it's military crazy ball, motherfucking big caps. I don't know why I'm saying that.

That's what you said. That's what you said. That's what you said. Now, when it comes to journalists, these two brothers right here are the forefront of it. One brother is a GOAT. The other brother's on his way to be a goat. One brother has been in every magazine from Ego Trip to Vibe to XXL to The Source.

The other brother has just landed a Motu Monkeyfoot job at MTV. And he's pushing the culture. These brothers got together. They formed a website that was backed by Eminem and was one of the greatest. Then they formed

their podcast company and they brung it over with Hov. And they're backed by Tyra right now. When it comes to journalists, you come to the people that's going to put the forefront of our culture on their back, these two brothers are here. We was down with them on CBS and now we down with them on Dyke.

Yeah! In case you don't know who we talking about, we talking about motherfucking Big Down and Elliott, motherfucking Elliott. Yeah! Now, for both of you guys, yeah, thank you, thank you, thank you both. But both of you guys, this isn't, oh good, no problem. But this isn't no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I was focused, I'm scared. No, no, no, no, no. Yeah, people have been noticing that lately.

I want to do that. I've been focused lately. But now this is not an overnight thing for y'all. Like a lot of people might see you, B-Dot, on MTV or see, you know, Elliot on a Crown episode and see he pulled off a Nicki Minaj or see he pulled off a Ross. And people are thinking that this is like, you know, just some overnight thing. I want to describe it from the beginning for both of y'all, you know, whichever way y'all want to take it.

From the beginning, how did you fall in love with hip hop and get involved with journalism? You know, from Queens, right? So it's always been part of where we at, you know what I'm saying? So I just fell in love with listening to people like yourself Nah Listen to the greats and when I went to college I realized I get a check off of it So I went to Delaware State University. Okay. I remember you performed there for the homecoming. I never forget it. I was just about to say that. You was performing the homecoming in 2002. Yes, I did.

And you was like, yo, Delaware State, this hot as jail in New State. I can get it. I definitely remember that. Delaware State. I was there for that. The girls are easy out there. It's very true. Very true.

Very true. I'm married now. So how about you, Elliot? You've been a little bit more seasoned in the game. Well, same thing. Growing up in Queens, Run DMC, LL. Those were like the blueprint. Loving hip hop.

And then probably first seeing the source that you could have a magazine. Is that the first time you wanted to... Because being a fan of the culture... Because a lot of people watch basketball. There's not a lot of people who can actually cover a basketball. You know what I'm saying? No, it started with sports with me. My father wanted me to be a baseball player.

Oh, wow. His dream was to play baseball. Oh, wow. So he actually wanted to name me Roberto Clemente. Oh, shit. I could have been Roberto Clemente Wilson. Oh, that would have been hard. That would have been hard.

That would have been hard. You Puerto Rican? No, my father's black. And my mom is Ecuadorian and Greek. You just like Roberto Clemente? He said I'm Elliot Wilson Jr. Like I'm from Frank Sinatra Jr. We used to have a park right here in Wynwood.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I grew up playing sports, a lot of baseball growing up. And then by the time I got 15, 16, I was like, I'm not good enough to like go pro. Like I'm good, but I ain't outstanding and shit. Right. So I looked at sports writing. Remember like going with Warner Wolf? Let's go to the videotape and Howard Cosell.

Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay, okay. I got attracted to that. I was like, oh, maybe I could do that. I could be a sports reporter. I could be a sports writer. And then when I started losing more interest in sports, the music, and seeing that the music could be documented just excited me.

And I was like, that really was my only career goal. I tell you, my first career goal was to be music editor of Source. Wow. I wanted to get all the albums before anybody else got the albums. And I wanted to give the mics out. That's my only dream. So the Source was... I did that in 25.

So the Source was already popping prior to you... Yes. Oh, okay. I didn't know that. But I didn't realize... They weren't as big as I thought they were. But at the time... Because I had Ego Trip.

I had an independent thing going on with Sasha Jenkins. With Sasha Jenkins. Yeah. So we thought the Source, once they got national, they were so far ahead. And again, I just fell in love... I had an independent thing going on with Sasha Jenkins. Rob Markman, Yeah. Rob Markman, With Sasha Jenkins. Big him up. Rob Markman, Yeah. So we thought the source, once they got national, they were so far ahead. And again, I just fell in love, because it was the first, again, I wanted that position. I saw Reginald C. Dennis with the shades and the whole thing of getting access to the music.

That's the whole thing about the streaming era. All fans now get all this access to the music, whatever DSP they sign up to. Rob Markman, It's a good thing to be in a mixtape, DJ. We was getting the leaks and shit. Rob Markman Like Nori, I got you. Remember when you album, we was rolling out your album, your solo album, they sent like a four track sample? DJ Premieres Yep, yep. Rob Markman From N.O.R.E.

DJ Premieres Cypher Sounds and Funk Flex actually. Rob Markman I had it even before that because I was just sending it to the label. I sent it to the publicity department, sent it to the magazine. Rob Markman Right. DJ Premieres So at N.O.R.E., I think it had Body in the Trunk. Rob Markman I believe so. It had Body in the Trunk, it had Superdog. DJ Premieres Yeah. I'm like, this is fucking amazing. Rob Mark I think it had Body in the Trunk. I believe so. It had Body in the Trunk. It had Superdog.

Yeah. I'm like, this is fucking amazing. This is like Nori. So that's what you did. You got in media to be that. The thing I learned is with media, you would get the advanced cassette. The artists, before they roll out, you get on cassette. We get white labels.

Yeah, I used to lie and say I was a DJ to get the vinyl. I remember I was at a record store and I wanted to buy Day Reminisce over you. It was like 1992. Peak Rock, C.S. Smooth. Yeah. This guy was calling himself C.S. Smooth at Rock and Soul Records. Wouldn't sell me the record. And I was like, yo, I want to buy the record.

He's like, no, it's a white label. I'm like, what the fuck is a white label? Yeah. But they were saving the white label for Clark Kent, like the real DJ. So he cut my ass already. Because they were holding. You got pulled, and they were holding. Yeah, you know what the great shit? I just figured out So he come my ass. They were holding.

I just figured out where the white label is. I never knew. And the Fake and the Funk remix. So I lied and said I was a DJ. I was born in the LaGuardia community. I didn't even have one. So I used to put, and then when I went to, my thing was like, EFA, I was like,

don't send me the records, I'm going to go pick up the records. So I would go up to the labels, like, don't send it to me, I don't get my shit, people steal my mail. So I would go up to the labels. And I went to Electric Records to get the They Reminisce Over You 12-inch, and the college promo guy was a guy named Fred Jackson. And Fred Jackson had a book of all the contacts at every label. I was like, this is like a kid in a cage, so I'm going to get all these records.

I'm calling like Eric Shelton and all these guys, like all these old promo guys. So, yeah, just the love of the music. Just getting my hands on it. Getting access to the content. The labels had the power. Like, the content was there, right? The gatekeeper. They were the gatekeeper.

They controlled the content. Now the content goes direct from artist to the consumer. So how crazy is it for both of you guys, you know, it's your job to actually interview the new guys, right? I don't want to interview the new guys. Why not?

I hate them, right? We've got a whole argument about this. Yeah, yeah. We went into the whole thing about Irving. Because I just feel like they're not seasoned yet.

In order for me to speak to you, I have to be able to indulge with you. Most of these guys are on lean, they're on Xanny's, they're on, and they give you

that one word answer. I was on that side of the fence, and I know that one word answer means I might not be fucking with you. So I don't need you to sit down with me, you know what I'm saying? Which, to be fair, it's not all of them on lean. It's definitely not all of them. There's some greats out there, but I would like them to be great before they perform on my platform. But how hard is it for you guys when you sit down with a new artist and you see them come late?

Or cancel. Oh, okay, okay, okay. You got horror stories that you're willing to tell us about? You don't have to say the name of the artist. We're going right to the Drake's. Yeah, we had Drake in Canada. We didn't talk about this publicly. We actually talked about it in a private setting.

That wasn't on camera. This is on camera. Yeah, this is the first time we ever talked about it in a private setting. That wasn't on camera. Right. This is on camera. Yeah, this is the first time we ever talked about it. Last year, we had Drake booked. It was at the height of the beef. All right. And we went out to-

Or a beak. No, push a teeth. Oh, push a teeth. We didn't talk about anybody. All right, cool, cool, cool, cool. Things don't happen until they happen. Right, right. So it was Scorpion, right before Scorpion.

Right before Scorpion. Scorpion had just dropped. Oh, it just dropped. Yeah, that's true. Okay. So we went out- Don't tell me y'all flew had just dropped. Oh, it just dropped. Yeah. That's fine. Don't tell me y'all flew to Canada.

No, we went to LA. Okay. It was almost like secret mission. We didn't tell nobody. We booked the Getty Museum out in Malibu, I think it is. It's like some real fancy shit. Big check. Big retainer.

Right? We went out there. Big hole. And we were supposed to do it on a Sunday, like around five o'clock or whatever. I get an email from this guy, Elliot. It's not happening. I'm like, what the fuck you mean? Like at 4 o'clock.

I'm like, yo, Ray. Remember when we was at CBS? I had them all excited. What's my man's name? Who's the white? Brian Carson. He was like, yo, he's doing, because basically we stalked him. The first time, this is the second time we canceled him.

I'm coming to that. First time, we was at CBS. He was ready to do it. Same thing. 24 hours notice. So we had it all. First time, we was at CBS. Okay. He was ready to do it. Same thing. 24 hours notice. So we had it all planned out because he was doing SNL that Saturday. So we knew he was in New York all week. We just had to get him from fucking SNL to that CBS spot.

You know how close that shit is. So I was like, boom. We're going to make it happen. That's in New York you're talking about. Yeah. I'm still with your story at Malibu. I'm going to go there. So first, this is the first time he canceled.

Take it back. New York. Yeah. Coursing. They're ready for the late night thing. And he canceled last minute. He sent me a note that morning like I was a girl. Like, it was like, yo.

Like a breakup text. Like a breakup text. You know, like, he's like, yo, this is going to hurt you. But you know, if you think about it, it's going to be the right decision. It's going to feel comfortable doing this shit. You know, da, da, da. I was like, fuck.

Like, this guy. And I had Brian Corson and all those guys ready. We were going to tape it like at 10 p.m. at the CBS thing. So everybody's ready. So he canceled 25 hours. So when we got this one, I was like, okay. You said 25 hours or 25 minutes, Brian? No, the same day.

The day before. So now going back to Malibu, what happened is the beat I didn't know is we were dealing direct with Drake. So I was like, okay, we're going to get it behind the thing. And Future the Prince found out, his manager. So Future sits me down on some real like, and you know what's funny? I always say the new generation of managers like him and Ibrahim with J. Cole. You know, we come from that rowdy era where everybody's like gangster.

You out. He was so smooth. We were having a nice little lunch. He's talking to me. I was like, does he know I'm about to do Drake tomorrow? I can. He's talking to me about it. I was like, I'm engaging. Does he know I'm about to do Drake tomorrow? I can't get him. And then finally he's like, yeah, I got to pull Drake out of the thing.

I got to pull Drake out of the thing. And you know, the thing is with the Apple deal, which I don't think exists now, they had to do Zane Lowe. Your favorite, Zane Lowe. They had to do Zane Lowe. And you know, it was like they were going to step out and do it, but it would have pissed off the situation and fucked up their situation. So basically Drake is probably our biggest thing where he's canceled on us with 24 hours

notice twice. That's hurt a lot. That shit hurt, man. And at Getty's shit, that was like, we had the whole works and like- And you had to switch to Canada too. Because you know, we set the order. But y'all wasn't planning on going to Canada. No, because we were going back and forth with him about locations.

Miami was a location. Don't you just go to OBO Fest? Oh, he went out. Helly went out there. Oh, okay. I thought that was both for y'all. No, no, Don't you just go to OBO Fest? Rob Markman, Oh, he went out. Helly went out there. Rob Markman, Oh, okay. I thought that was both for y'all. Rob Markman, No, no, no.

Rob Markman, We didn't get the interview with that though. Rob Markman, We knew we weren't going to get it yet. Rob Markman, And then he had to do it in the shop. Rob Markman, He gave the content to the shop when he did the shop. Rob Markman, For LeBron James. Rob Markman, That was the time he talked about the Bush and B. Rob Markman, So when that came out, we were highly upset. Rob Markman, I mean, I know people that's close to him that say he's a fan of our show

and he'll never do it. Rob Markman, And you know what? That's like... Honestly, sometimes that's honestly the most... How do you call it? Sometimes it's the most complimentary because I would rather you tell me you don't want to do the show, then come do my show and then tell me, don't ask me this. That's like how Nas was when Nas finally did it, right?

Nas would have seen you with that early, right? Well, Nas, I'm going to be honest. I'm going to be honest. Well, he told us in L.A. that time. No, that was after we squashed the beef, though. But this was the first day we squashed the beef. I mean, because we had already spoke. We had never seen each other.

So when we seen each other at Club Liv... Dollopot? No, no, no. So that doesn't exist. But when I've seen him at Club Liv, I think this is when Drink Champs had just started. Right. But at the time, I was actually filming my food show. So when I said what's up to him, I was like, yeah, man, I need you on my show. And he was like, yeah, the shit, right?

And I was like, yeah, and I'm doing the food show. And I just remember him looking at me like, what the fuck is he doing? He just looked at me like, my man is out here lost. But it's OK. So then after that, that's when Drink Champs had actually got our shot. Then we went to him. And he had the opening to Sweet Chick. Right, which we went accidentally.

It was after we recorded, I think, with Onyx or something. Or Dame Dash or something. No, it was Onyx. It was Onyx. Was it back to back? No, no. No, it was Onyx. It was Onyx. Was it back-to-back? No, no, yeah, it was Onyx. It was Onyx. And then we went to Sweet Chick.

And then we went to Sweet Chick, yeah. In LA. And then he promised. He knew who the FN was. He knew who the engineer was. So once you know who the engineer was, I'm like, oh, this guy's watching. You know what I'm saying? Because you can act.

Anybody can look and say, all right, see these certain people. But the people in the background. And to tell you the truth, I don't want to say I thought he was lying. I just thought he was just giving me the industry shit until he said, yo, I know who he is. I know who it is. And I was like, damn, OK. That was genuine. It was genuine.

It's just like. Well, congrats on the last thing. Once you finally got it, you delivered, too. Yes, yes, yes. Thank you. Make some noise. Make some noise. Because if you didn't get it, you could fold a little ball.

You guys nailed it. And let me just tell you something. Let me just tell you something. Let me be honest. Let me just address a situation. Because a lot of people critique me about not asking him about J questions, right? All right. Let me just tell you guys something.

Because I don't know if the Irv Gotti episode is coming out prior to this or after this. But I just did a whole two-hour interview with Irv Gotti. Do you out prior to this or after this, but I just did a whole two hour interview with Irv Gotti. Do you know how many 50 cent questions I asked? Zero. Zero. Because it's not funny to me. Right. That time ain't funny to me.

The situation ain't funny to me. It's real. It's real shit. I don't want to throw gas on anything that's already burning. If anything, let me throw some water on it. If I can throw water on it and it's making it go more, I might even throw water on it. So you know what? I just let the shit go.

Like, Irv even tried to go there. Irv was like, because you know we're rather up. I put my head down, looked at something, and then we just turned it. Because, like, to tell you the truth, what more could you get from me from the Jay story than you could get from anybody else? Right. Like, he's told it so many times. Jay has told it so many times. Their brothers is on a great, in a great accordness with each other. Why would I even do something like that?

Why would I even- Rob Markman It's crazy because a lot of times now with Rap Beats I tell people now you look at like the Drake, Pusha, or even Drake and Meek, like somebody may lose a battle and you used to think that if you lost a battle you was done. But now we're seeing that's not the case anymore. Rob Markman That's not the case. Rob Markman People level up in different ways. Look how Meek's leveled up. I used to think that if you lost a battle, you was done. But now we're seeing that's not the case anymore. It's grown.

People level up in different ways. Look how Meeks leveled up. Drake lost the battle of Pusher, but Drake had a phenomenal year. Ran the summer. Kiki and all that shit in my feelings and all that. So who's the real winner now? I definitely didn't want to reiterate that situation with him. Also, if you ain't got new information to it, then what's the point?

Definitely. I definitely didn't and I definitely don't. And I love the fact that I was able to do business with them. That's crazy.

With them. You know what I'm saying? Is this on title? I think so. This is on title. I couldn't because we sat there and I obviously

went to a Biggs dinner. Happy birthday, Biggs. It was Biggs dinner. And I seen Puffin and Jay talking. And I was like, you know what? I'm kind of going to make these guys live out this black excellence shit.

You guys are saying black excellence, and the thing is, Tidal, for those who don't know, Jay-Z is really out here living his raps. He don't want to own your material. He's licensed it for a couple days, and then you give it back. Rob Markman, he does care about Tidal. Rob Markman, active, easily. Rob Markman, active, easily. Rob Markman, active, easily.

Rob Markman, active, easily. Rob Markman, active, easily. Rob Markman, active, easily. Rob Markman, active, easily. Rob Markman, active, easily. Rob Markman, does care about Tyra. Rob Markman That is ill. That's ill to me. Like, anybody, because, you know, a lot of people critiqued us. Like, you know, we could have went to these big companies. Shout out to Biggs for being here. Shout out to Biggs. Rob Markman Norrie told me he turned down the bag for the culture. Rob Markman Listen, listen, man. We could have went to a couple of different places.

And I said, you know what? It really is about ownership at this, especially what I've been through with the record industry. For me to go through that in a podcast, I would just be the stupidest man in the world. So I had to take it. What's wrong with Tom Silverman, man? I have no idea. Tom Silverman's from Tommy Boy? Yeah, man, because he's not giving.

The thing about it is this. I don't know their situation, but the thing about it is this. I think De La Soul will be happy splitting 50% of their royalties three different ways. Tom Silverman, you still win. Yeah. You still own the master. But for you to do that and take people's-

Yeah, they're not trying to leverage the majority. They're gonna take it in. That shit is hard. They could all win, man. So, B-Dot. Yeah. How did you land this MTV gig? I don't fucking know, man.

You lose weight, nigga. You lose weight. Come on now. Get loaded. Just don't go no drag. Don't go no drag. I call him B-Loader. B- Come on now. Get loaded. There's no good or dread. There's no good or dread. I call him B-Loader. B-Loader.

You know what, Nori? This is going to sound cliche, but I just think by doing a good job. That's dope. Just by doing the work. That's dope. Because they reached out to me, and it was like, yo, you have credibility. We've seen your work, obviously, over the course of the years. And he just wanted to bring that, establish that credibility back to MTV News.

So we had a meeting, and me in a couple of suits. And you still were epic? No, not no longer epic. Okay. They said it was a conflict. Oh, word? Allegedly. Pick MTV, man.

Because MTV is a conflict? That's what I was told. L.A.B. was out here Me Too-ing niggas. He picked MTV, man. God damn it. God damn it. God damn it. He's out here.

Get away from the Me Too movement. God damn it. Get away. Get away. Shout out to L.A.B. That's my guy. Shout out to L.A.B. That's my MTV, man. God damn it. God damn it. Get away from the Me Too movement. Get away. Shout out to L.A. Reid. That's my guy. Shout out to L.A. Reid. That's my man. But yeah, they reached out and the rest has been history. I've been there since April, so things have been good so far.

You interviewed Lil Nas X and shit? Lil Nas X. A lot of new guys. Pop X. I forgot to ask Nas about Lil Nas X. I've interviewed rock stars, pop guys, stuff like that. So it's different. I'm happy because I'm stepping outside of my comfort zone. It's the first time I'm interviewing a rock and pop guys, stuff like that. So it was different. I'm happy because I'm stepping outside of my comfort zone.

It's the first time interviewing a rock and roll guy and stuff like that. So it was fun. Hold on. I want to real quick. I'm just curious. What is the new strategy for someone like MTV nowadays? Is it digital? Yeah, it's more so digital.

It's just like knowing your demographic. So a lot of the interviews are on social media. One interview might be on YouTube or the other one might be on Twitter. So just all the- Rob Markman So they got it together now because before all these channels, they didn't know what the fuck to do. Rob Markman Right. We're trying to focus and bring credibility back to the music.

So when you used to hold that microphone that had an MTV, it used to mean something. So we're just trying to bring that kind of energy back to the game. That's where we at with it. Rob Markman Proud of my boy. Proud of my guy. Rob Markman, So we're just trying to bring that kind of energy back to the game. That's where we at with it. Rob Markman, Proud of my guy. Rob Markman, I'm proud of you too. Make some noise for that. Rob Markman, I'm proud of me too. Rob Markman, Zootop.

Rob Markman, Without the me too. Rob Markman, Zootop said I want to thank you. It might be you Norris. Make the album called I Want to Thank Me. Rob Markman, That's right. I would. Rob Markman, That's some Norris shit. Rob Markman, I would.

I would definitely do that. Rob Markman, So have you ever picked an artist, Elliot, and been wrong? Elliot Ayers, Oh, a lot of times, man. Rob Markman, Give us an example. Elliot Ayers, It's me been wrong? Oh, a lot of times, man. Give us an example. It's me and that dude, but I always talk about Chingy. Like putting him on the cover like- Who told me about Chingy?

Lee brought up Chingy today. Because the thing is, I used to be like, you know sometimes I'd be like, well, people look at magazines and be like, oh this is a really cool cover they did. But I know at the time and the era, it didn't sell. I had to sell magazines. Right, right. So I favored niggas that put numbers up, with gold and platinum. That was how it was done. That's why 50 kept getting the looks, because 50 was doing numbers.

He wasn't only just the hottest underground, he was multi-platinum. So Cheney's coming off 3 million with the Right There, the second album. I remember I heard that. So he's the biggest, whatever. I did a cover of him, and that shit just flopped. No one bought it? No one bought it. Damn. But that was the right album. I remember I heard you. He's the biggest, whatever. I did a cover of him and that shit just flopped. No one bought it? No one bought it. Damn.

But that was the right decision. At the time he was three million? He was coming off free plat. Oh, this is when he got caught with the digga thing. No, that's way down the road. That's way down the road. That's cool. That don't get you a cover.

But he got coming off the triple plat and that caught a brick. But yeah, all the time. I mean, I remember dealing with all the energy of like, no shots in him, but cannabis, right? When he was slaying the whole mixtape scene, but he put out the album of Wyclef and shit, didn't live up to it. Rob Markman, Right. Rob Markman, A lot of us in media were already hacking him up, so when we had to come back and say, nah, this ain't hitting, that caused a lot of drama with everything from Blaze

to all these different magazines. Rob Markman, Because we had Zeno on here recently, and he said his lowest selling cover was Irv Gotti. Rob Markman Oh, with the flag? Rob Markman Yeah, the flag. Rob Markman He said that was the lowest? Rob Markman Yeah, he said that. I asked him, I said, and he said at the time that he was representing for John Irv and all this crazy shit.

Rob Markman Absolutely. Rob Markman So how does that really work? Because I mean, you guys really had people's careers in your hand. Like you ever, you ever gave, you ever gave a bad, you guys were gatekeepers as well. You ever gave a bad review and was wrong about that? Uh, yeah, I'm sure. Off the head, I don't know. What did I get wrong?

The war report, you gave four and a half marks. I gave four. I needed the other half. I needed the other half. I asked you that. No, no, no. I needed the other half. Did we get four and a half?

We got four. Can we talk about how y'all screwed me on the War Report? Oh, no. Yeah, let's talk about that. I had no control over the War Report. I was actually a talent. Y'all had like Calm Down and shit. Oh, no.

I know what you had. Stuck On You. We had a record called Stuck On You. A couple records. Yeah, that we didn't use. We couldn't clear the samples. Couldn't clear the samples. That's true.

I'm going off the advanced cassette. Yes, he's right. He's actually right. The rawest, dustiest, parole-viol We couldn't clear the samples. Couldn't clear the samples. That's true. I'm going off the advanced cassette. Yes, he's right. He's actually right. The rawest, dustiest, parole-violated version of the whole thing. And all prepared. And at the time, KRS-One is God. So I got Next Album, which was not one of his best albums. So he got the lead review.

He got three and a half. And then you see the second review is like CNN, four mics, blah, blah. It's like, who the fuck is CNN? Because back then, people that didn't know thought they was like a fake mob. Yes, that's true. That was the strike. That was super underground. People that didn't know.

They didn't know the people behind it. That's very true. And they hadn't heard enough music. Us in the inside of the industry, we knew about it. We knew this shit was about to change the game. Or even in New York, per se, because maybe even people outside New York didn't know. You're right. It was in New York.

We knew at least that these niggas was about to shake it up in New York. Buses on, driver's seat, talking crazy. It has all New York's energy. So we do it, it comes out, everybody's like, how the fuck you disrespect the God and teach your carers what? Three and a half, T and F-4. And then y'all niggas pushed the album back.

Rob Markman Oh. Rob Markman Said no album. So I'm out here holding the bag, no album, four mics, I'm dangling four mics. Rob Markman No, you know what? You're absolutely right. And then y'all came back and then y'all added that R&B shit, the Closer thing. The Closer, yeah. We cleared that sample.

Sam Snead. Sam Snead. And then y'all used the four mics as the ad campaign. Gave you the campaign. Yep, very true. And then it came out later. But I had to hold the bag. But I was on it early.

T-O-N-Y. Just so you know, we couldn't clear the sample. Us back then, we didn't know that we had to clear samples. You were a penalty. Well, the whole time we was underground doing underground mixtapes, we never thought about clearing samples. So when we... Which was, I don't want to take a shot, but Traz should have knew better. You know what I'm saying?

Not to take no shot at us. But the fact that when... I thought that he thought we wasn't going to get caught, which is like a good way to think of it. But more attention was coming. When the label said, nah, motherfucker, you know, Sam Cooke and all these people that we were sampling, they're going to find out. So then we had to go in and we had to do it over. But you're absolutely right.

It was a record called Stuck On You. And it was actually dope because we had a record called Stuck On You instead of Stick You. And it was like a soft record. And you said that in the review. It was the only record that wasn't good. And I was like, you know what? Take that shit off. And we took the shit off.

So it was a cheat code. I got a War Report question I always wanted to ask you. Okay, no problem. I knew y'all was going to flip this on me. I had to. I do it all the time. But I always wanted to know, like, Busta on Drivesy, why is he like half on the song? Like, only 20 seconds in.

Is that a clearance thing? Well, to tell you the truth, Busta and Fat Joe, I do not want to say that this was a clearance thing with them. I want to say that they weren't prepared and we had to turn in the album. Fat Joe was actually on Channel 10. Oh, really? That go back to us, actually on Channel 10. Oh, really? I thought that was him. Channel 10.

No, no, no. He didn't lay his verse. He wrote his verse. And I forget what happened. And for some reason, he never laid it. Nas was on music, making Sluts calm down. Yeah. Yeah.

And it didn't clear. That's the reason why he made it up to me and did Firm album. Rob Markman, and- Rob Markman, and- Rob Markman, No re-do this, no re-do that. Rob Markman, So what was the credit for? Rob Markman, What I'm saying on Drivesy, Boss is like a- Rob Markman, Oh, so now on Drivesy, he was supposed to be on there.

He had knew who Iman Thug was. Iman Thug was this real underground- Rob Markman, Yeah, yeah. Rob Markman, Only two people who knew, not the only two people, but the two people that was big Iman Thug fans was Mase, how the fuck M.A. Dallas got to become a fan of the most grimy, burning boulevard in Queens Ridge. So it was Mase and Busta. So Busta came in. He heard the prophecy.

And he just spoke on it. He was supposed to lay a verse. But we were so underground that we took that. We just took it. We were just like, yo, fuck it. And that was that. But it's funny to We were just like, yo, fuck it. And that was that. Rob Markman, But it's funny to see how it shifted though with your solo career.

Everybody that was doubting CNN, when Nori dropped those records and the sampler came out, everybody was like, no. I was up at the sauce, Maze was like, yo, Nori. I was like, oh, I'm here. Y'all niggas was thinking they was 5, 6 months ago. And then Nori had that momentum and And then you delivered with that album. Yes, thank you. Thank you so much.

So now, okay, you guys, at some point you leave. This is more towards you, Elliot. Okay. The source is the Bible. It's the hip-hop Bible. Yes, sir. What happens for you to start thinking that you're going to leave? And you're not just leaving.

You're going to the Mets if you're the Yankees. You're going to the opposite. You're going to, you know what I'm saying, what is it? The Lakers versus Celtics. You're leaving Larry Bird as a Celtic, and you're going to Magic, Johnson, and joining the Lakers. How did you come up with that decision, and then how did you execute it? Corrupt had a song called Five Mics. The hook was like,

Five Mics, dedicated to the source. I thought you were going to say Corrupt called you. I was going to say, this is instant. You're like, Corrupt? You left off with Corrupt?

Corrupt was cool with Maze and he came off and he's playing this record, Five Mics. I'm like, oh, this is going to be some shit because this nigga, he's going to get Five Mics.

He had a song called Five Mics. When his album came out, I think it was Cor like, oh, this is going to be some shit because this nigga, he's going to get five mics. He had so-called five mics. So when his album came out, I think it was Corruption or whatever. I didn't like the album as much as, you know, I'm a fan of Corruption, but the album wasn't it. And I think that had, that review and another review, I think it was maybe Shaq or something. And the mics I had given, they went back and changed the mics and didn't tell me. Okay. So usually we would argue it out.

You gave Shaq zero mics and they gave Shaq, and they gave Shaq to my man. Who was the editor at that time doing that? Selwyn Hines. But it wasn't tell me. Okay, so usually we would argue it out. You gave Shaq zero mics and they gave Shaq and they gave Shaq Shaq's my man. Who was the editor at that time doing that? Selwyn Hines. But it wasn't his fault. Dave Mays stepped in and it was his decision.

Why? Because Shaq had business with them? I don't know. Maybe they just thought it was whatever. To be fair, it could be because

they thought the album was better, whatever. But I had never had them go over my head and change the content because I'm real meticulous. I want to sign off on every page.

That's what I think it should be. It's like rewriting lyrics. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I got the issue back and changed the content. I'm real meticulous. I want to sign off on every page. It's like rewriting lyrics. I got the issue back and they changed everything. I just called the meeting and I was like, you guys don't respect me. Who else? I was called Corruption. You gave him two mics? I was going to give him two or two and a half

and I gave him a three. Something small. Something else got knocked down to a three and a half. It was like a half mic or whatever. Like I'm young, I'm frustrated and I'm like, y'all don't respect me. You know, because my dream was like to already do it. And it was just like, I felt the weight of like what that means. Like fuck the industry shit. I was just being younger.

Integrity. I was also fuck the industry. The niggas in the barbershop know this shit is trash. I got to represent the people. Like there was no internet. Now motherfuckers will tell you in real time this shit is trash. There's no hiding it. But back then, if I don't blow the whistle and say it's trash, we're living the lie that this shit is hot. We want to see the locks in fucking spacesuits. We don't want to see that. We want them to put the

jeans suit on and get busy. So I carried that weight. I just quit on some emotion shit of just feeling like I wasn't respected. I didn't feel like I was ever fully embraced. I did what I had to do. But I didn't know I was going to XXL. I had Ego Trip, which I had on. So then we worked on that Ego Trip book of rap lists. So I jumped myself into that.

And then after doing that, putting my head down and working on that, XSL hollered at me. And I was like, you know, back then it was like the four for fifth. Like there was rap pages, there was blaze. Oh, rap pages. Yeah. They weren't even the third. They were maybe the fifth or the fourth.

Stress. Remember stress? Oh, stress. I had to come up with stress. I remember them niggas for that. So then, yeah, I wanted a chance to show I could be the editor-in-chief, that I could run the table. So that's really what I did. But that was a year later.

And that's what XXL offered you. But the thing was, when I took over XXL, I felt like my only goal was to be the best hip-hop magazine. And back then, it was very rah-rah competitive. So I knew from jump that my strategy was going to be, I was going to bully the source. I was going to just... So are you the one who broke the... Was that the freshman class? The freshman class.

No, that came later. But it started with... The year with Saigon, Lupe. All these guys that were good enough to have their own cover. But I was like, let's get them all together. But it was played off. Remember, we did that at The Source. Like, Capadonna, you big part, all those guys.

The idea is if you don't have one guy who's strong enough, get all the hot motherfuckers from one day. So that was a blueprint of that. That was a rough month. I look back at the work I did at The Source, and I'm like, that's an idea I need to flip. So you didn't have a name for that cover at The Source? No. I credit Deshaun Thomas.

Two years later, he brought that idea back. And he did it with Wale and all these rappers that sort of represented the internet blog era. So that's what gave him the name Freshman. He branded it Freshman. Because that's really the main thing that I'm not disrespecting. That's known for? No, but right now, that's when you think of XXL, they're waiting for the Freshman class. Rob Markman Yeah.

So my roots are in that, but I did it a different way, but they went back to that idea and rebuilt it and it did it dope. It was a dope idea. Rob Markman Right. So how did you guys... Alright, no, no, no, I'm rushing. Let me stop. Rob Markman We're here.

Rob Markman We're here all day. Rob Markman Yeah, yeah, yeah. Rob Markman I got my bottle, baby. Rob Markman Yeah, yeah. Rob Markman Please, please, no, no, I'm rushing. Let me stop. We here. We here all day. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got my bottle, baby. Yeah, yeah, yeah. My sweet. Please, please. Please, goddamnit.

I want to know, where do you think these magazines live today in this industry? Goddamnit, that's a good one. It's not magazines. It's about the brand. It's about your brand. It's about me and my dreams. You parted into the dot com and doing the stuff. Where do you think this all went?

Is it relevant now to even have the little brands? I think it's about having a good brand. I think whatever distribution we use, when you hear Drink Champs, you think of something. When you think of Rap Radar, it's really about branding. I think the means of distribution don't matter as much. If you look at it now, even the interview, this interview has to be videotaped. Back then when I was running WSL, we didn't videotape interviews. I was the editor. I didn't do all the interviews with the big stars. I found a writer that I thought would be the best to do those interviews.

I just think the means of distribution change, but the biggest thing is about building your brand. Building personal brands. You know what Brian B. Miller means, what L.A. Wilson means. You know what Rap Radar means. You know what EFN, you know what Nori, you know what Dream Champs. That's what it's about. And I think that some magazines have struggled with that, right?

Because you don't have the tangible anymore of that, but that model changed. Rob Markman, But is that... you think that's all the way good? That everybody has to be a brand? That the journalists aren't kind of, you know, someone you don't really know that's just the integrity of the journalist?

I think it's the evolution of it, though. No, I'm just saying, I'm asking it as a question. We fuck with Supreme. We don't know who Supreme is, but we fuck with Supreme. No, but that's a clothing brand. I think that's different

when you're talking about scrutinizing things. I think, I mean, before, like, we didn't get into this to be famous or, you know, have our faces out there, but I think it's just the evolution of the business. You know what I mean? It's like adapt or die. And if into this to be famous or have faces out there, but I think it's just the evolution of the business. It's like a dapper dive.

If you look to your left, look to your right, there's not too many people from Elliott's class, we've been here since the 92, that are still around doing it at this level. Rob Markman Right, they didn't build their brand, most likely they didn't survive the evolution of where it went. Rob Markman But there's people like, there's a guy, Yo, who works for DJ Booth, he's doing great articles. Rob Markman Oh no, DJ Booth, yeah. Rob Markman Yeah, but Yo was a writer, Yo Phillips, he's doing great articles oh no dj booth yeah he's but but yo was

a writer yo phillips he's doing great work he's dope yeah so they're not really building themselves as brands but they're doing great work so i think that's really what it's about so you can't rest on that laurels anymore of like what an old magazine brand meant in that sense you gotta do the work you gotta put the work in the medal of honor is the highest military decoration in the united states recipients have done the improb, showing immense bravery and sacrifice in the name of something much bigger than themselves. This medal is for the men who went down that day. It's for the families of those who didn't make it. I'm JR Martinez. I'm a U.S. Army veteran myself, and I'm honored to tell you the stories of these heroes

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We're not doing Tiger Bowl? I think it's Tiger Bowl time. We gotta see your screw face right now. I think it's Tiger Bowl time. Ironically, this was the place where we... No, this is not where we started. No, no. We started at the old Crazy Hood, this is not where we started. No, no. Where we started.

We started at the old Crazy Hood office. At the old Crazy Hood office. That's not where we started. We started at the old Crazy Hood office. No, that's what I'm saying. But when we got going, this was it. Yeah, right on the other side. On the other side.

On the other side. Why did y'all come up with the Elliot Wilson train? Because, you know why? Let me tell you something. It was a joke that was hilarious to us. It was a joke that was hilarious because... Oh, I hate Tiger Mall. I'm doing any other shot.

No, no, no. You gotta do one. You gotta do one. Just do one. That shit is trash. It is trash. I don't like it. Can we do tequila first, man?

No, no, no. That first one. I'm drinking tequila. Oh my goodness. Why you giving me that one? That one's good. Okay, I'll take this one. This shit look like soy sauce. Smellman, Jr.: Smell like rap.

Rob Markman, Jr.: Let me just tell y'all something. Rob Markman, Jr.: It's definitely an ancient Chinese secret. Rob Markman, Jr.: Damn, y'all definitely did give me the biggest shot. Alright, so people definitely want to tell y'all, the older that we get in this game, the more people want to kick us out. And I want to change that in hip hop. I want to, in every other genre of music, the more you're in it, the more seasoned you are, the more that they big you up. Our coach is the only one, you know they don't even have a washed up word in rock and roll.

They don't have a word for what's washed up. They don't even have, you know we the only niggas that use the word washed up and it's over for them. Like you know what I'm saying? You don't say it right now, you be like, he get locked up in there. It's over for that. We're the only culture. And I want to change that. And I want to tell y'all while y'all alive, while y'all breathing,

that what y'all doing for the culture, I've been a couple of y'all tactics. I followed y'all. And you know what? I had to because I know I'm not a journalist. But I did. I had to follow what y'all doing. Salute. And I told you.

Take it out of your face. I understand that. Ah. Salud. Salud. Take it down. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. All right, cool. I wish you.

That shit is great. I wish you. No more time. It gets worse as we keep doing it, though. Don't worry. We'll try it again. We'll try it again. Actually, it gets better.

I'm not doing that shit again. Actually, it gets better. It doesn't get better. Stop your lying, man. You're lying to people. I get a tequila shot. I get a tequila shot. Ah.

That's a custom. Ugh. So, what's an article you did? Sheesh, you got the A. You got the A. Because I imagine at first you love hip hop. Yup. You want to be a part of it. Yeah.

Then you be a part of it. Yeah. But what's that one interview or one incident that you did that you was like, what's your most proudest moment, basically? Damn. In the journalism, like magazine game? Yeah, whatever, overall. Oh man. One of your most proudest moment, basically? Damn. In the journalism, like magazine game? Yeah, whatever, overall. Oh, man.

One of your most proudest, at least. I think about that a lot. I feel like I haven't done it yet because I'm just, I don't like to celebrate yesterday's touchdowns. But I feel like one of my proudest moments is, I think what we did together was, I was really proud of. The first interview we did together on Rap Radar Podcast. We went Bible with Michael Jordan. Rob Markman Right, because that was like our first ESPN

look. Rob Markman Right, right, right. Rob Markman You know what I mean? Like real big TMZ. Rob Markman Right, right. Rob Markman That shit was crazy. Rob Markman Yeah, right. Rob Markman So I was really proud of that. Rob Markman Let me take, let me speak about that.

Rob Markman Fuck rap. Rob Markman I was, I was so, I was so on the hook. Rob Markman Why'd you go fuck rap like that? Rob Markman Because that's exactly what happened. Let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. You know, these brothers over there. Yo, it's the slowest I've fucked you up. I might forget hanging with one of these brothers one of these days. I might forget that. I'm never going to forget seeing Michael Jordan.

I'm from Black Rock City. If I see Michael Jordan, I'm going to remember him. So when they answered me, I was like, damn, they fucked up. But for two minutes, I was like, I fucked up. Because I was like, damn, there's no pictures of that shit. And then I got the fucking best fans in the world. They fucking showed me this Jay-Z picture. Because that was the truth.

He really came and just fucked with Jay and Mariah. It was a Mariah Carey party. Rob Markman, Jr.: I think it was a Christmas party. Rob Markman, Jr.: Mariah Carey Christmas party. Rob Markman, Jr.: It might have been, yeah. Rob Markman, Jr.: And the crazy shit was, we all getting money. So I'm trying to pay for 14 other tickets. They're like, no, I'm trying to pay for bottles.

They're like, no, it was all free. So, you know, I wanted to stay at the party. They're getting free Cristals, and Cristal wasn't racist and shit. So, you know, like, remember, once they got racist, we said, fuck that. Yeah, right. You know what I'm saying? Whole switch to Ace. We going with Ace.

But, so, yeah, so that was like our first viral moment. Yeah. That. That's when you hadn't launched the podcast yet, right? I hadn't launched the podcast. That and then Tax Stone. Yeah. When Jay hit me.

And I was like, this podcast shit. He had been telling me about podcasts. For years. For years. And when he said that, I said, and when that happened, I remember my publicist said, because I was on the radio. Nakia Hicks. Oh, Nakia.

Nakia Hicks. Oh, Nakia. So at this time, after that shit came out, she said, there's no other interview in the world that we can do after this that they're not going to ask you about Michael Jordan. Right. She's right. She said, you can either continue to do your press one or take two weeks off and let that shit die down. I said, I'm taking two weeks off. Who's so ill is that you got Michael Jordan to respond to that?

That's crazy. Listen, for two minutes, I was sweating like I've never sweated before. Because I was like, damn, Michael Jordan just called me a liar. That's kind of dumb, though. You got to realize what he said. He said, there's three things he said. He said, one, Michael Jordan loves all music, which means he hates hip hop. Which means he don't like hip hop.

Because any nigga that loves hip hop say, what? I love hip hop. I breathe hip hop. I brush my teeth to shit. So if you just say, I love all music, nigga, you don't love anybody. Then he said, he was never at that party. No, no, no. He said, he loves all music. party. No, no, no. He said, no, no, no.

He said, he loves all music. Michael does not know who Nori is. Very low blow. I said, I get it though, Mike. You'll take it. I might not know who I am if I'm Michael Jordan. I'm okay. And then he said, Michael Jordan was not at that party.

That part right there. And then it proved he was at that party. I said, mm-mm. They don't let that rock. I said, mm-mm. They don't let that rock. I said, mm-mm. And two minutes later, my fans was like,

yeah? Really? And I told them my whole timeline on Twitter was just filled with that shit. And then Jalen Rose picked it up. Yeah.

He was like, Nori put Jordan on the summer grand scheme. And I remember that's my first time learning. Like learning, like to win and don't spike the ball.

Yeah. Like, I could not spike the ball. I was just like, you know what? Touchdown, go home. Right. Like, I never bragged about this shit. I never really, like, rubbed it in his face. Because I still want Jordans.

Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, on the real. Why are Jordans now? I didn't try to say you're a bad person. I said you had a bad night, nigga. Like, you had a... Nigga, that night was fucked up. It was like fucked up I swear to God it was like hearing somebody say nigga like sitting here with a white friend like one of your good close white friends that you cool with

be like what the fuck you nigga he's like whoa Jerry what are you doing Jerry you know it's like that that's how I felt I'm so sorry I had a moment y'all I had a moment so um okay yeah that's when I realized. I'm so sorry. I had a moment, y'all. I had a moment. Oh, man. Okay, yeah. That's when I realized that. Those were prime moments. Podcast. You know, they just did a survey that podcast is going to be a $600 million business. Crazy. Shit.

You got 500 of them. No, no. Shit. I wish. I wish. But when I thought of that, I said, you know what's crazy? Eventually. I told this to Ray Kwan two years ago.

He thought I was crazy. I think he thinks something. I said, eventually, we'll all have podcasts, right? And eventually, why drop your shit with iTunes or drop your shit, just drop it on your goddamn podcast. Just think about, think about like, big up to our comrade Joe Buttons. Joe Button has built his YouTube. Joe Button, yeah.

I'm dyslexic. I'm dyslexic. It's a couple of them. Joe Button has built his YouTube up, right, so tremendously. Why would you take a piece of art and give it to a label to talk to your audience that you already have? Right. It's direct-to-consumer. Just think about it.

I'm just thinking about it. When we get wise enough to know that, this is it. This is what we work for. We came from Hand to Hand, off the street, if you're a drug dealer, and now we're eventually going back to Hand to Hand

because essentially, we won't need a record label for nothing. No disrespect to everybody, the higher ups. There's always going to be them Kevin Louses. There's always going to be the Leo Cones and the Jimmy Iovines who figure out a way to make it work. Right. Yeah.

But there's not always going to be these guys. Why do you think you guys have adapted to media? Does that surprise you in the back of your mind? Actually, I knew he was going to ask me that question. I had no idea. I'm going to be honest with you. But you always have respect for me. Of course.

I always have respect. I actually went to college. It was in jail. But I went to college and I couldn't fill out for the credits. So I randomly, I don't know if I randomly or if I had love for journalism. I picked journalism. But I was in love with social studies and I was in love with journalism. But what I knew how to do was talk.

Journalism taught me how to talk. Because I was always this linguistic. And journalism was in the, hey, how you doing? Yes. Okay. So when did the thing, because we would do practice shit. Whole conversation. You know what I'm saying?

And that's where I developed it. Now, the first hip-hop podcast, I have to give it to Cypher Sound. Tito Rosenberg. That was the first hip-hop podcast. The first artist,

rapper artist with a podcast is... Who, Joe? Joe Whatty? No. Nori? Ice-T. Oh, Ice-T. That's true.

Ice-T is the first. Final level. Chuck D was doing stuff too. He wouldn't call it a podcast. Well, because they were calling it Internet Radio, which is actually the beginning of the podcast. Chuck D had that as well for way longer. Iron is Internet Radio.

Ice-T as well. You're right. You're right. Yeah there right now. Ice-T as well. You're right. Yeah, but Ice-T was You get credit for the first hip-hop artist. First hip-hop artist, I believe. It's Ice-T. Joe Bunn, definitely. I don't know. Did Joe start before? Nah, nah. I believe Joe had his

I believe. Trying to Google it. Nah, Joe had it first, man. Joe had it first. Nah, Joe had it first. Chance is not first, man. If Joe wasn't there. Yeah, fact check. Yeah, fact check. No, Joe had it first. Joe had it first. Joe had it first, guys. Yeah, OK. Yeah, he had it first.

OK. Let's make some noise for Joe. Yeah, make some noise for Joe. Yeah. Yeah. But wait, we can't negate that we were doing SiriusXM together, which predates Drink Chance. It was Drink Chance before Drink Chance.

It was been the same thing for three years. And we did that for three was Drink Champs before Drink Champs. It was Mid-September 3 years. And we've been there for 3 years. 5 years before Drink Champs. On XM, before Sirius XM, then Sirius XM. Yeah we had Tiger Ball, we had Eddie the Ass. Yeah it was the same shit. We had Sonny Drinking. All of that. So what is the most thrilling part about doing media?

Like for me, I'm a fan first, right? So even right now, I'm talking to Noriega. I keep telling you all the time, I had a CNN poster on my wall. Good looking though, brother. So you don't like Boris and Twitter? Yeah, I do. I'm talking to niggas, B-Dot. It's okay, go ahead.

The funny thing is, I'm talking to superheroes. I look at you as a superhero, like Wolverine or something like that. Rob Markman, the only reason I'm talking to superheroes, I look like a superhero, like Wolverine or something like that. Rob Markman, the only reason I'm talking to superheroes, I look like a superhero, like Wolverine or something like that. Rob Markman, the only reason I'm talking to superheroes, I look like a superhero, like Wolverine or something like that.

Rob Markman, the only reason I'm talking to superheroes, I look like a superhero, like Wolverine or something like that. Rob Markman, the only reason I'm talking to superheroes, I look like a superhero, like Wolverine or something like that. Rob Markman, the only reason I'm talking to superheroes, I look like a superhero, like Wolverine or something like that. Rob Markman, the only reason I'm talking to superheroes, I look like a superhero, like Wolverine or something like that.

Rob Markman, the only reason I'm talking to superheroes, I look like a superhero, like Wolverine or something like that. Rob Markman, the only reason I'm talking to superheroes, I look like a superhero, like Wolverine or something like that. Rob Markman, the only reason I'm talking to superheroes, I look like a superhero, like Wolverine or something like that. Rob Markman, the only reason I Was that a Twitter? Fuck that Kumbaya shit. Let me tell you something. You was really mad at him.

No, this is something that he doesn't notice. But you said something to me that day that really changed me. You said, the difference between us is we're really fans. And that statement was so true to me because I sat back and I said, he's right.

There's no way I could really be a fan of these other brothers because I was busy having my own shit. So what I had to do was I had to turn back to being a fan. I stopped doing shows. I stopped going to the studio. And I started actually taking this shit. I started having notes. Yeah. Because the thing about it was I didn't take it as serious as that.

And like we were playing around. We're from Queens. We're supposed to do that. But when you said that, you said the difference is, and you wasn't even saying it to me. You were saying it to a fan. And he was like, the difference is we're really fans. And I was like, you know what? That's absolutely true.

Even if we were playing around. When the truth is the truth, I got to pick it up and I got to eat it, whether it's a rock or Skittles. You know what I'm saying? So I picked it up and I ate it and I said, the truth don the truth, I got to pick it up and I got to eat it, whether it's a rock or Skittles. You know what I'm saying? So I picked it up and I ate it and I said, the truth don't taste bad. I said, you know what? I'm going to go back into being a fan. That's why if you look at the Nas interview, that wasn't Noriega at all.

Yeah. That was Poppy. Right. That was the actual. And the thing about it is, not just Nas, because I'll interview people who has never done any, have any success like me, and I'll treat people who has never done any, have any success like me and I'll treat them the same way. Rob Markman Right, yeah.

Rob Markman Because to me, as you said, we're superheroes. The shit that we have to endure to be into this industry, like this shit is horrible sometimes. Rob Markman But it's also the OG factor of why we do mostly OGs, because genuinely we're fans of these people we grew up with or he's peers with. Rob Markman Right. Rob Markman So that's genuine. More genuine than if we had someone newer, then it's not a genuine conversation.

Rob Markman I hate the one word answers. Rob Markman I know someone who's not a fan of you though, Norrie. I don't want to get to this. I know we're going to go double round. Norrie Slaughter Go, go, go. Rob Markman You said on Twitter that Stephen A. Smith dished you when you met him. And you didn't explain why.

What happened when y'all met? Nor you didn't explain why. He did. What happened when y'all met? You know what? I definitely worded it wrong. He fanned me out. What you mean? I didn't realize when I was walking up to him, I was in front of a whole line of people that was waiting to talk to him.

So this is in New York? No, this is in Kenny Smith Party. Okay. So as we were walking through, he just gave me one of these. And then moved it back. I said, we were walking through, he just gave me one of these. And then moved around. I said, yo, my nigga, say hi to me. Like, I'm a legend out here, too. Like, yo, I might have been out before you, Stephen A.

Like, come on the hell, Queensdale. And he just gave me one of them. Boom, and then went to the next person. And I was like, oh, shit. You know, I got sons. I got sons. But I posted the picture. Okay.

They posted the picture. I understand. You know, sometimes. Have you I got sons. But I posted the picture. Okay. They posted the picture. I understand. But, you know, sometimes. Have you ever met somebody you was disappointed in? All the time. All the time? Who's this? That's why I stopped meeting niggas.

I swear to God. I don't want to. I said this to me to meet them. I don't want to ask niggas. Yo, let me tell you something. First off, it took Ove. Stop meeting niggas. It took Ove to literally call me.

I don't want Superstar's number. I don't want Wayne's number. Wayne had to grab my phone, here take it. I was like, because I don't want to, I'm so bad at getting rejected, and I just reject myself. Like my nigga, he dissed me. My nigga, give me your hand. So, I want to give you Leon Cohen's number.

Yo, that's how, listen, Elliot, I realize- Yo, you dissed me. I think he's giving you his hand. So I want to give you Leon Cohen's number. Yeah, look, that's how I was. Listen, Ali, I realized. Yo, you dissed Barney up. Barney up. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, look at that. Look at that. Look at that. Look at that. Look at that. Look at that. Oh, and oh. You dissed Ali.

Oh, and oh. Yo. He dissed you. No, this is what happened. Let me tell you something. I'm going to be honest. I actually got to be honest. That shit got me excited. Leo Combs. Let me tell you what happened. Combs is plural too.

Combs and buddies. That was fucked up earlier. Leo Combs was my... Combs is because it's like checks. Let me tell you why I took that personally. Because Leo's really, really my guy. But I had took time in my life... No, we gotta love you.

I fucking love you. But let me hit this real quick. I had took time in my life. No, we love you. I fucking love you. But let me just explain. I had took time in my life, like three years, where I didn't speak to no higher ups. I didn't speak to nobody. I just was like, I just wanted to deal with what I was dealing with. And I had lost complete contact with Leo. So I watched the episode, and I didn't ask for his phone number. I just said, yo, Elliot, can you give me his email?

And Elliot said, why? And I said, oh, this is bad. This is bad. Because first off, I'm not trying to hit him. I'm not in competition. I don't want to be in competition. I'm actually hitting him like as a life coach. I'm all right in life.

You know what I'm saying? And the way you took it like that, I said, yo, listen, I thought I was bad in battling. I thought I was bad with competition. I'm worse? No, you're worse. Oh, listen. And listen, I wake up in the morning and I beat my son to the bathroom. Oh, man.

Just to piss on the toilet. It's before him. So if he sit down, look, nigga, that's why you wipe the toilet. That's why you look around for him. That's why you look around for him. That's why you look around for him. Who pays the bills? That's who competitive right here. But when I see how competitive you were, I said, damn, Elliott has a problem.

And it was, I changed, Nori. Okay, but you changed. But was it when we came to CBS? Nah. No, I just feel like, you know what it is. Was there any other? There was no other rap hip hop podcast. Nah, there was no.

One is a natural Queens thing. Was there? One, Queens, we naturally compete, right? We naturally compete. But then two, that's also, it's in you. You want to win, win. I noticed when I did your podcast, this was something you taught me, and you kept hitting me saying, yo, post it, post it, post it. And I didn't know what it meant at the time.

Yeah, yeah. So when I got back later, I said, this motherfucker loved it. Like, you love competition. I love the game. You love the game. I respect it. I love the hustle. I love the hustle beat.

I love the hustle beat. Yeah, no, no, no. But I do think that, I like to think I've grown. Yeah. Right. And I think in this era, it's not about that, like, overly competitive. Like, nobody has, like,

the thing about the whole XXL Source battle was I felt like the Source had exactly what I wanted. So the only way to get that was to get it from them. You know, what you're doing, what I'm doing,

what Joe Budden's doing, like, what B.Dot does, like, everybody really is running their own race. And it's like, it's not anymore about, like, we're all fighting for this one thing.

We're all redefining what it means to have a brand, a podcast, and our growth and what we've done. To be an artist, a journalist, a DJ. We redefine all of that. So to be rah-rah competitive anymore, that style is played out. That style will not work in 2019. And I was wrong to move that way back then. And I coach it because Kendrick, man.

Listen, I said it before, but I know Power 105 ain't owned by one of us, but the Breakfast Club is a part of our coaching. Absolutely. If you don't come see us, and again, I want to make it. That's actually our Drake story is the Kendrick kind of thing. Yeah, we had your Kendrick. Even though I don't think Kendrick knew, it was Interscope that was reaching out to book Kendrick.

I don't think you guys know who's that Kendrick. We were ready to do it. Let's do it. He was coming for Rolling Loud. And then that day, I think they said, oh, he flies in at a certain time. He can't do it like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So let me get back to Kendrick.

Like, Kendrick, the Drake's... Cole. The Cole's... I know y'all did Cole's, but Kendrick's, Drake's, the Cole's. You know, all of you guys that are special in your own special way, you guys are the Jupiter of the planet system and the galaxy. It's important to come and support your culture. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Like, it says a statement when Jay-Z does 444 album, and he books one interview, and it's with Rap Raider. Yeah. It says a statement. It says a statement when Nas does two interviews and both of those interviews happen to be land on title. Woo! Only two interviews for the whole fucking thing.

It says a statement that hip hop is supporting hip hop. So young fellas, who are the youngins, support this because at the end of the day- You're supporting yourself. In some which way, form or fashion, if it wasn't for people like us, there might not be people like you. Right. And be inspired. You know what I'm saying? There might not be people like you.

If you're a new artist. And you're not going to escape age. Go see Brad Gray. We got to understand. So you're going to be an old nigga. It's going to happen to you. If you're lucky, you'll be an old nigga. You got to a certain age.

You was over. You fell off. You were old. Yes. Bo Watt's a super fest. Yes. Yes. He was Bo Watt's a super fest.

It happens. It happens. It Yes, yes. You was bow-wiser superfest. Yes, yes. It happens. It happens. It happens, man. Like I said on your podcast, sometimes it's hard to wake up and not be the man on Wednesday when you was the man on Monday.

Yeah. That's fascinating. But some of you people, some of these artists actually have to go and look at that interview because the thing about it is be humble on your way in because you will be humble on your way out. Rob Markman, It will humble you. This shit will humble you. Rob Markman, This shit will humble you if it ain't, if it ain't me, if it ain't, somebody will come and humble you.

Rob Markman, Life. Life is going to humble you. Rob Markman, Because you know what I noticed? No matter how much a gangster I was, there was always one nigga that was more gangster than me. Rob Markman, A super thug. Rob Markman, No matter how much pussy I got, there was always one nigga that was more gangsta than me. No matter how much pussy I got there was always one nigga

who had more pussy than me. No matter how much money I get there's always 300 niggas that's looking at me like I'm broke. So motherfuckers be humble on your way in because you gotta be humble on your way out. That's every fellow artist that that's gonna on you while they was hot, and then they dropped,

and then they tried to come back, and then they tried to come back when they had nothing going on. Rob Markman That's the cycle. That's the cycle. Rob Markman No, we just don't do it. We got to do what makes sense. Rob Markman The problem with you getting a certain status, it's like we say no more than we say yes, and I'd rather that give you the no answer than say no.

I don't even give you a no. It's just like, we're not moving. Because the thing is also timing too. We're not ready to move a certain way. So we're blessed to be in a position that we're very selective about, like you guys, who we want to talk to and when we want to talk to them. Rob Markman Right now, Pop Smoke, with y'all under the roof, that's my favorite new artist.

Rob Markman I like his voice. I like his voice. Rob Markman I like his voice. I like Baratun Rodgers. Rob Markman And you know what? You know. I like his voice. I like his voice. I like his voice. I like his voice. I like his voice. I like his voice. I like his voice. I like his voice.

I like his voice. I like his voice. I like his voice. I like his voice. I like his voice. I like his voice. I like his voice. I like his voice.

I like his voice. I like his voice. I like his voice. I like his voice. I like his voice. I like his voice. I like his voice. I like his voice. I like his voice. I like his voice. I like his voice. I like his voice. Yeah, we did 45 minutes with Megan, which is a really good interview. But that's a long time. That's probably the longest she could go.

Like you said, I love Lil Baby, I love Gunna, but they might not be ready for a whole hour of conversation. They may give you a good half hour, 20 minutes to a half hour. So there was definitely pressure in the podcast that we got to have a whole hour of content. So a lot of these new artists may pop up, but they don't fit that paradigm. You said it that way. So that's why I came up with Car Test, because I felt like if we're running around and we have the set place for the interview and they're playing their music, it's like I could get a good five to 15 minutes and do great content that way.

So everybody doesn't fit the long form podcast model, but it doesn't mean that they're not relevant. Pop Smoke is dope, but he's not ready yet to do like an hour thing. Rob Markman, I don't think so. I don't think there's enough hour to talk about as far as musicals. Rob Markman, And that's how B.I. is big about that too. Rob Markman He had the remix with YG and Nicki Minaj. Rob Markman It's almost like building up a cache of stuff

to talk about. My song is cool, but I can't get you so far. Rob Markman Exactly. Because I remember you guys critiqued Wale. Rob Markman And Wale, he's not- Rob Markman He almost got to a fight. Rob Markman Him and Wale almost got to a fight. Rob Markman At the Rick Ross house. Rob Markman At the Rick Ross house. Rob Markman At the Rick Ross pool party. Rob name Wally almost got to a fight. Physically, y'all was going to a fight?

Yeah, Rick Ross' pool party. Coming to America is getting shot. At the Rick Ross pool party. At the Rick Ross pool party. You going to ruin the pool party though? That's why I was like, yo, what are we doing, man? And this was after y'all actually interviewed him? Yeah.

So what did you say to him in the interview that he wants to fight you at Rick Ross' house? No, I don't know. It was post interview and I guess, you know, as a fan, you know, people can treat people as- Twitter shit. Twitter shit. You said, I still don't like his album, but he's a cool person. Yeah, he's a cool person.

He's a cool person. He's a cool person. He's a cool person. He's a cool person. He's a cool person. He's a cool person. He's a cool person. He must have punched you at Rick Ross. Rob Markman No, I don't know. It was post-interview and I guess as a fan, people can treat people- Rob Markman Twitter shit. Twitter shit. Rob Markman Like you said, I still don't like his album, but he's a cool person.

Rob Markman You know what's about his flow? Something about his flow- Rob Markman I basically said that for me, I'm a very to the point guy. I felt like Wiley's music was too abstract. I would lose my train of thought with his rhymes. Someone might say that about Ghostface or Ray Kwan. That style, I just couldn't really identify with it.

And that was the reason I really wasn't a fan of his. I think that stung with him. And it sat with him for a while. You said that on Twitter, I guess, right? He didn't say nothing in the moment, but that was his... But I think after the interview, I kind of expressed that a little bit more on Twitter, you know, whatever, whatever. So when he was at the pool party, he was like, yo, have a conversation.

I ain't seen him. There's nothing but bitches around. Yeah, party. He was like yo have a conversation. I seen him In Georgia and he was like, try to corner him. Pull him. He was like, was a little bit of Molly involved? I feel like it's Joe. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I feel like it's Joe. Nah, I don't know. I don't know. Yeah, he throw Molly in the battle.

We're a drug free America. I love Wale. So they've come to a better space. Yeah, we're in a great space. So he's like, yo, come up. So I go up. And he's like, yo, man, like, I don't remember exactly what he said verbatim.

He was like, yo, what stuff you saying, man? I'm like, yo, what the fuck are you talking about? And there's bodyguards surrounding me. It's cruel as shit. I'm like, I don't know. Then I was irritated with him. It was just whack. Ellie was there too, but Ellie was somewhere else.

I didn't see it at first, but then it was somewhere else. And I was like, yo, I'm not doing this here with you, Wale. And then he was like, come over this side then. I was like, all right, let's go this here with you, Wale. And then he was like, come over this side. And I was like, let's go this side, right? So he's in my face doing this. And we're going back and forth. And I'm like, you know what? I'm just going to leave.

Like, this is stupid. I'm going to fight you at a pool party. Next thing, we're going to be world starred. You know what I mean? World star. That was my world star. World star. Right on. And I just love Q. I love Q.

Let me ask you real quick. Do you think, and maybe this is more for Elliott, did you do print as well before? Yeah. I used to work at XXL. Okay, so do you think that there's more beef or less beef in this age versus the print age with journalism and the artists? Oh, there's less beef because somebody on Twitter's telling you your headline and they're giving you the real. So you feel because the public is telling them.

You can't beat everybody up. You can't beat everybody up. You can't block everybody. Oh, that's true. You can't shut the lights out. Like, if they're saying, you know, Nori interrupts his guests. If Valentine's whatever the journalist is saying. You know what I'm saying?

You know what I'm saying? There's too many voices. You can't shoot everybody. Like, you can't. Like, back then. Well, don't say that because we're in a crazy age right now. That's true. That's true.

No, but I'm saying, I think that more, the regular voice gets in. That chatter. Right. Like, the majority. You know what it is. You drop an album. Right. You know, you by the weekend know how motherfuckers is feeling.

Right. It could be DOA. It could be Dead on Arrival or, like, motherfuckers is fucking with it. Like, so you get that instant feedback that we don't control that narrative anymore. The people do because of social media, because of Twitter, because of Instagram. They're going to emoji you out. They're going to say what it is. It's all there.

So everything's in your face. You got to deal with it. Rob Markman So it was a big, one of the biggest moments for you guys, my proudest moment for you guys was when you landed at the Jay-Z. Rob Markman I still can't believe that happened. So first off, that's dope. Oh, wait. That was the Jay-Z!

Let's play. Pay homage. Oh, man, that was a short trigger. That's because I'm here. That was an accele. I landed. So how does this happen? You guys call the Soho house, or is there a what?

What'd you say? We call the Soho house. We got to call the Soho house, and. You didn't know it was Soho house. Everybody thinks it's his house. They think it's actually his house. Oh, no, I know it was Soho house. Now because you're a Soho house Malibu member.

Oh, do you like to see the Soho house? You're a Soho's Malibu? Yeah, I'm Soho. And regular. And regular. And regular. I need Malibu. OK. Yo, I can't get Malibu? Yeah, I'm showing hoes Malibu. And regular. And regular. I need Malibu. OK, I know.

Yo, I can't get Malibu. Let me show you my Malibu, baby. Oh! Let me show you a little of my Malibu. Come on, come on. This is Malibu. I got a Metro card. I got an Emerald card.

Emerald card. And I got my regular solo. And I know. So how can I get a Malibu, man? He got me a hold til October. Damn. What's wrong with that? They said they're gonna do a verdict on October. A verdict? Man, what the fuck? What, what's wrong? I ain't gonna lie. They said they're gonna do a verdict on October.

A verdict? Man, what the fuck? He's a Trojan? I ain't gonna lie. They said, yo, why we got you in October? Like, I ain't gonna lie. I ain't gonna lie. You're the holding pattern right now.

The reason why I got in so fast, I was actually there. Like they supposed to give you like, oh, you know how the regular so-called- I'm pulling up. I gotta pull up. Yeah, you gotta pull up. And you gotta say to people, yo, open the room. And then they'll do it within that week. I fucking made that back room fucking infamous. Infamous.

Right? Okay, but hold on, hold on. Okay, so you guys, Ho finally agrees. Because I know, even if he wanted to agree, he's gonna take some time to agree. Because he's that time. Or did he just say yes? That was the second time. We had a Jay-Z interview prior.

First time? But it was a pump fate. I was driving, too. He was like, yo, I remember, what was the message? Like it was a pump fake. I was driving too. He was like, yo, I remember, what was the message? Like turn the mics on, ready to talk. I almost crashed my car. I was like, oh shit, this is happening. But it didn't happen.

Because he was like, all right, we're trying to get the details. Rob Markman This is in New York now? Jay-Z Yeah. Rob Markman Okay. Jay-Z It's pump fake. What is this? Explain this. Rob Markman He doesn't know basketball.

Jay-Z No, no, I get that. I thought it was a show. You said turn the mics on. Was he there like, hey. No, no, I get that. I thought we were getting a show. He said turn the mics on. Was he there? No, no. Remember pushing T with J? Drug dealer's anonymous. Yeah.

And he samples the white girl that used to be on Fox. Oh, yeah. Jay-Z. Jay-Z. 16-year drug dealer. 18-year drug dealer. That shit pissed him off. OK.

So when that shit came out, he next day emailed me and beat out, I'm ready. Like we've been trying forever. Tommy Durant. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Pull up, come to LA, I'm ready. Let's go time. He got you high for nothing. Turn the mics up.

Then he, the more he stopped hitting us. Silence. He's like, oh fuck. Then that Friday, I see Tax Stone in his office. And he's like, hey sexy, is that Jay Leno? So I'm like, fuck, Texto's getting the interview. I heard you went crazy. That's why I went back.

But going back to that, yeah, so that was the original Pompeii. Because that bothered him so much. He ended up cutting that record. So that represented his thing. But that had triggered him. So that was the first time he pulled out. But then the second time was after 444. So 444 has been out for months.

No, not months. It was like a couple weeks. OK Markman So the second time. Rob Markman So 444 has been out for months. Rob Markman No, not months. It was like a couple weeks. Rob Markman A month or so? Rob Markman Yeah. Rob Markman Okay. Rob Markman And it was just random. Rob Markman So he says, I'm coming to LA? Rob Markman No, it was like, yo, let's talk.

It was something like, it was cryptic. Rob Markman No, it's a big history. Rob Markman So whose idea was the Soho house? That's what I'm trying to get to. Was it his? Rob Markman Go get there. Rob Markman Okay, cool, cool. Rob Markman So if you know Jay, he's cryptic.

He doesn't say too many words. He talks like in riddles. Rob Markman Yeah, he does. He talks like Jesus. Par too many words he talks like in riddles. Yeah, he does he told like Jesus When Jay contacts you is just very cryptic like you gotta like decipher the shit, so it's like I we're ready Let's talk so I'm like this shit. So, it's like, all right, we're ready, let's talk. So, I'm like, oh shit, this is really happening. And so, we in LA, we like scramble, we go to LA, right? We land in LA.

I'm not hitting them until we land. Because we don't believe things are real until they're real. Y'all already entitled at this point? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just started title. That's a couple months in. So, we get to LA and we're like, okay, what do we do now?

And we hit Jay like, yo, we're here. What's the next step? He's like, get a crew. Rob Markman, No, no, because I was like, are we doing, I didn't know if he was going to do video. So I was like, you know, are we filming? I haven't even called the video crew yet. We don't have nothing.

We're just there. Rob Markman, He's like, it's Hollywood, man. Get a crew. Rob Markman, Get a crew. Rob Markman, But we're like, but you got to understand, like, if you do production, it's not easy just to find a crew. Yeah, we did that all the time. You don't want to find Joe Snow, man. Yeah.

He there scratching his nuts. Something with a... I can hold for a selfie. No, no. Get something with a fucking iPhone. No, we got to get a crew. It's production. Yeah, yeah.

So we're like, okay, and this is maybe 11 o'clock, 12 o'clock in the afternoon. Is that why it was black and white or no? It's black and white, but we didn't know what we were going to do. Okay. No, back then we did them all in black and white. We all did them black and white. Because that was supposed to be like the rebirth for the CBS era. Okay, okay.

So like, let's do some different shit. I didn't look classic, dude. But then with Will Smith, the color looks too ill, so then we're back to color. Will Smith got us out of that shit. So we're at the airport. We're scrambling to try to find a crew, but then we're like, where are we going to do this at, right? And we said Roc Nation office in LA, and then he said So House.

But when he said So House, I thought he meant the So House in Hollywood. In Hollywood, yeah. Yeah. So I'm like, oh. So House is downtown, too. But you thought the whole So House was Hollywood. That's very hard to believe. They're about to move to downtown, yeah.

Yeah, no, it's still. But then I didn't know about Malibu. Okay. Malibu, fuck. That's why, like, the moment I was like, B-Dot, we got to get in the car, because it's just like an hour or so away. That was my first time there. Like, Elliot-Dot, we gotta get in the car because it's just like an hour or so away. Rob Markman That was my first time there. Like, Elliott don't drive, right?

So I'm driving to Malibu and I'm like, being there crashing because the drive is beautiful. It's one of my favorite breaks of the week. Rob Markman It's fascinating. Look at him move. It's like Serena. Rob Markman The bottom floor, of course, the beat kick. You're going to fly off the cliff and shit. Rob Markman Yo, so I'm driving and I'm like, yo, look at that Malibu.

No shit. Rob Markman Y'all almost make the JZ. Right, so y'all get to the mouth. I want to do a tequila shot. Tequila shot. I'm in. I'm in. I'm going to do a Tiger Bone, though.

A Tiger Bone? But I won't join you. I'll do tequila. I'll do tequila. I got no Tiger Bone left for you. Shout out George Clooney. Can you give me Tiger Bone, please, sir? He got me at a high.

He was on the highway. That's going to be the most. Just give me Tiger Bone so he ain't annoyed by himself. Aw, thank you, partner. I appreciate it. I hate Tiger Bone, though, by the way. All right, I hate it, too. I'm sorry to be in our- Just give me Tiger Bull so he can ignore it by himself. Aw, thank you, partner. I appreciate it. I hate Tiger Bull, though, by the way. I hate it, too. I'm sorry to drink all your shit.

I don't give a fuck. So this is all the same day. Keep in mind. So you're driving to Malibu. So I'm driving to Malibu. Malibu. Almost crashing. To Malibu.

To Malibu and Rathway. Yeah! Wow. Three chins. So you're driving to Malibu. So I'm driving to Malibu, almost crashing, and we get there. Oh, sorry. He's a drunk uncle. No problem. So we get there, and I'm like, oh, this is really nice.

Beautiful. And what was so ill was because I'm looking around, I'm like, it's like a Wednesday, right? Middle of the day. You see all these white people on their laptops. Life is great. Right. Like, everyone's just chilling, smiles on their face. Tata's a member there.

The publishing guy that you interviewed. Oh, but John Platt. He's a member there. I always see them there. It looks like a dope ass apartment somewhere, like in the city. The room that you're actually interviewing them in, I call it the Kendrick Lamar room. Every time I go there, I smoke weed upstairs. Kendrick Lamar at TDEs downstairs.

I'm sorry I cut you off. Oh wow. Continue. Damn. That's a good one. Continue. Yes, continue. How we making Malibu happen for you?

I got it. I got it. I got it. I'm going to show you a bit of power being my friend. Go ahead. You know what you should say? Why? Why?

I don't know what you got. It's okay. We go in the room and food is coming out. We ain't even far though. How do you even convince them? I don't even know who convinced the Soho House. Soho House is a non-filming place. Right, you can't film in there.

Malibu is even more stricter than that because that's a private within a private. So how did you convince the... I was Sean Jay-Z. He was Jay-Z. Oh, so that's what... That was a Jay-Z. He was like, yo, you go to the front.

No, but it's almost like we had to make it happen, but then it's like you say it's over. You know the funniest thing? I'm going to tell you the funniest thing of it. You know when you first come in, there's like a girl like saying... Right in the front. Right in the front. She had built up the... I'm not trying to get in nobody's trouble, but the sister that was running around, she had hooked up the PA, she was in the feed, she was saying

the thing, she heard the whole interview. Yeah. She was listening to that shit like it was a live podcast. Wait, is this the sister with the bald head? Did she have a brain? Nah, nah, nah, she had brains. Okay. But she was listening to the whole interview all the time.

Okay, so that's how I was cousin. So I just think they got excited. Really? Yeah, they got excited. There's only black sisters. There's only two, there's two, one. There's one that's brown skinned and there's one that That's Allen's cousin. So I just think they got excited. Yeah, they got excited. It's only two ones. There's one that's brown skinned and there's one that's real, real dark. Okay, one of them, all love, was listening to the whole interview.

Yeah, that's Allen's cousin. So I just think, we didn't know the weight of the whole thing because we had never been there. Like, look back on it, it makes sense, but that's just the power of saying, Hov's ready to go. But none of that was planned. It's not like we booked in advance, like one week from now we're going to do whatever. I was determined with telling B. Dot, I'm scared the nigga's going to change his mind.

He's done it before. We ain't hitting him until we touch down. Like, we just landed. What's good? What are we doing? You ain't hitting him, you said. Yeah, until we landed. And that's what we did.

We landed, got in the rental car. B-Dot's driving. I'm like, let's hit him. Let's see what we're doing. Like, let's try to see. I'm going to just get the clearance to pull up to his crib and get it done. And then he wanted a location. So we're scrambling Roc Nation in Malibu.

And Malibu Soul Outs may happen. And then the whole thing is we were setting up and they had the door open with the ocean and the breeze and the shit popping. And it was so dope and lush. And it was like, nah, but when we start filming, you know how production people are. We got to close the door because the noise is going to really... Yeah, that's the ocean. So when he came in though, niggas got so soft truck, they forgot to close the door. Hov's over got you.

So I was like, yo, run the camera. We run the camera. But the thing that's great about it is that what's great about Hov is that, you know, we both have a great relationship with him. We've had our ups and downs. He's a real nigga. We can really battle with him about certain things. But he didn't set parameters.

He was like, yo, I'm going to submit to the process. He had the power that you may never see it. He's in control ultimately, but he gave into the situation and kept it 100. So it wasn't like, oh, you can't ask me about Solange or L.A. So B. Dots the shooter. He's going to go for it. He's going to do it. Rob Markman, So he got all that stuff.

And it's just like, and then when I sent it to him because I had a sense of approval, he had no changes. He didn't touch it. He looked at it. So that's the hard thing about it. He's bad about 92 bricks. Rob Markman, Changes. Rob Markman, Outside of that, it was all out there.

Rob Markman, I asked Jay-Z, the infamous 92 bricks and had a fallback. He said, I'll never change. I asked, yo, what's the story behind that? And he really gave the story. And I was like, yo, this is great. This is internet gold. We made it. So when the interview came out, and that part wasn't there, I said, what the fuck is going on?

And I'm like, I hit Jeff. I was like, yo, the 92 Bricks, you wanted to fall back? He was like, nah, that was all Elliot. Well, you took it out? I took it out. two bricks, he wanted to fall back, he was like, nah, that was all Elliott. Well, you took it out? I took it out. I was like, I'm reading like, nah, Elliott, but he made the right decision. You got impressions? The fix, who knows how he made the right decision?

No. I was like, why would you do that, Elliott? That was so bad. But why would you do that, Elliott? Yeah, why the fuck would you do that? It didn't fit the whole 444 shit. It wasn't like track 70, talking about 92 bricks. The funny thing is that after we did that, the nigga's rhyming about the bricks all over again.

Right? Every other verse is like talking about the 92. He's talking about the bricks all over again. What made it even worse, what really pissed me off was that Elliot didn't tell me ahead of time. That was wrong. I apologize to you and I'm not gonna do it again. Yeah, we're cool now. So now we're not.

No, we're not. No, we're not. We're cool about that. I'll take a little shot, Tyga. But I see them loading up. I see them loading up, man. You can see them loading up. No, but at that point, I definitely had conversations with you before I would make a decision like

that. No, it was a great interview, man. It was a learning experience. Thank you, brother. To tell you the truth. That was funny. I still can't believe we did that. That shit is like...

No, it was dope. You know what I mean? I've been doing this for a minute. Hold on, hold on. The fact that you know how hard it is to pull out a fucking camera... First off, that side of the room... Remember, you've got to walk in and go to the right.

So that side of the room is only where they even allow cameras. But it's like this. You gotta go like this. So when I really realized that first time I was there- Rob Markman Are you more impressed of that? Yeah! Yeah!

There you go! Rob Markman I'm there because I get it. You don't get prosed with that. Rob Markman Listen, listen. You know why? You know why? You know why? I believed that we were trying to be black and excellent.

So getting home is one thing, but getting him in that location meant so much more to me because I had just became a member and I was like, damn! They told me not to feel shit! Yeah, they already sent a photo with the... What was the thing about his hair? We took a photograph after and in the picture there's like this... Eclipse? A picture of an eclipse.

It looks like some Illuminati shit. And then Jace said... I told him after we took the picture, it looks like you're... You gotta set that up. It's like you're like a halo. He's like, of an eclipse. It looks like some Illuminati shit. And then Jay said, and I told him, after we took the pictures, he goes, look, it's like you're like a halo. He's like, hi,

yeah. Yeah. I watched it. I watched it. All right. I watched it two or three times. I didn't know it was Malibu. Yeah. Everybody knows it's his house.

But there's something about the pictures. I said, there's something, there's something that's ringing to me. And then I'm going through Malibu, but there's something about the pictures that said, there's something that's ringing to me. And then I'm going to Malibu and I'm walking through, and I walk through, because I called the Kendrick Lamar room, and I'm like, these motherfuckers. Rob Markman So can't I really be in a scene? Rob Markman So I went in there and I was like, these motherfuckers

doing the right thing. I was like, look at this fucking shit. I said, yo, pull up they bitches. They're filling up. I was like, yeah! Rob Markman And you don't hit me. You don't hit me. You're like, I at this fucking shit. I said, yo, pull up they bitches. And they filled it up. I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And you already hit me. You already hit me, too. Like, I see you, motherfucker. It's still that much. You're like, I'm in the scene right now, motherfucker. And the thing is, to hear y'all say this story is amazing even more to me. Yeah. Because I'm thinking you planned that in months in advance.

You said that's the same day. It was like maybe 24 hours. Jay didn't know what he was walking into. Wow. Jay said, just do it there. Wow. But he didn't use that room, set it up that way, have the food, the whole thing. He didn't know.

Okay, now Will Smith, you guys fooled him. Fooled him past. He stunted on us earlier when he dropped the Will Smith video. No, that was fun. That was fun. No, but yeah, because we looked at the thing. I was determined to make the whole title run different than the CBS run. Rob Markman Right, right, right.

Rob Markman So let's just do black and white, because it feels classic, it's a way to reinvent. But with the title one, they had set it up, the Will Smith one and Budapest, they had picked this location, and the blue, all my production crew was like, the colors are amazing. I was like, yo, but we're black and white. I would be dead in a long time. Now fuck that, we're black and white. But they was like, no, the colors, so they showed me the picture of it, I was like- Rob Markman So you guys had a clip of Budapest? Rob Markman Fuck it, the colors are amazing. I was like, yo, but we're black and white. I would be dead in a little time. Now fuck that, we're black and white. But they was like, no, the colors.

So they showed me the picture of it. I was like, fuck it, we gotta do color. Rob Markman, So you guys had a coupe of Budapest? Yeah. Rob Markman, A coupe. We flew out. Rob Markman, What's that story? Rob Markman, So Will Smith's shooting a movie, right?

And he's gonna be in Budapest for like a month or two. Rob Markman, This is the Genie movie? Rob Markman, Nah, it was something else. Rob Markman, So not Aladdin. Rob Markman, The shit where he trying to kill himself? Rob Markman, Something coming out soon. I think they're using, not Aladdin. The shit where he trying to kill himself. It's something coming out soon. I think they're using that technology where he's like, looks really young or whatever. Okay.

Yeah, that's the shit. He trying to kill himself. So, that's that movie. So, he's out there filming and we were actually trying to get him for like a year. Like, he's just new to Instagram and social media. Then it was finally like, he's going to be in Budapest shooting this movie. He's stuck here. Like, he's stuck here for...

Because he travels a lot. That nigga's like, always like... He living in Budapest shooting this movie. He's stuck here. He's stuck here for him. Because he travels a lot. That nigga's always like... He living his best life for real. Exactly. But he got a film for these three to six weeks. He's locked in Budapest. Can you pick these weekends? You can't pick this Memorial Day weekend or whatever. So I picked the weekend. That was planned

out a little bit more. We was like, finally got unless... If we're willing to take the flight and go out there and get it done, let's go get it done. So we went all the way to Hungary. I never came. It was like a finally got him. If we're willing to take the flight and go out there and get it done, let's go get it done. So we went all the way to Hungary. I never came. It was like a 10-hour flight? What was it?

No, about eight, nine hours. Yeah. And we did that at his hotel. That was at the Four Seasons. But he was impressed. When he came out, the way we had it set up, that's like the lobby

or like a secret room in that hotel he was staying at. So his hotel was, you know, more six-star like some other shit. But we turned that whole setup, the production crew crew so if you see it like this thing you know that is important you know like the whole presentation of the whole thing you know the medal of honor is the highest military decoration in the united states recipients have done the improbable showing immense bravery and sacrifice in the name of something much bigger than themselves.

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Listen to The American West with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You got another shot? You got another shot? Yeah. You saw him at the Nickelodeon Awards, right? I've seen him at the Nickelodeon Awards, and I've seen him at the shit that he had on Netflix. Oh, yeah, the premiere for the alien movie.

The alien, the zombie movie and shit. And that shit blew me away because, you know, I'm from Left Brack City. Bright, yeah. You're bright. I'm from Left Brack City, Section 2. I really don't never think I'm famous. I never thought I was famous at all. And so,

that's why it's easy for me to do drink champs. It's easy for me to give people props than to set props. Yeah. Like, I don't like to be bigged up.

Pause. Like, I like, I'm better at bigging somebody else up. So, I see Will and he had to break for me. He's like, you don't know me,

what's up? And I was like, oh shit, Will Smith, you don't know me. Like, it was shocking because I thought somebody whispered to his ear and said, yo, that's Nori right there. But he turned and he said, yo, Nori, what's up? So I'm looking for the person who whispered in his ear. I'm like, Will, you don't know who I am.

He's like, yo, what's up, nigga? And I don't know if he said nigga, but in my mind, it sounds really Nori. Yo, what's up, nigga? I gave him a five and shit, and I forgot what he said to me. But anyway, moving on. Rob Markman, I'm in LA. Rob Markman, I'm in LA. But you said that Will Smith. Rob Markman, Oh yeah, hold on, hold on, because I got another part to that.

Rob Markman, Okay. Rob Markman, You just shot though. Rob Markman, Shot, shot, beat. Rob Markman, Oh, you're doing shots? Rob Markman, Yeah, yeah. Rob Markman, Oh, I got something in here. Rob Markman, So, the other part of this is, I'm in LA. I don't, I hate to wear carpets. Rob Markman, I don't know if you guys have ever peepA. I don't, I hate red carpets.

I don't know if you guys have ever peeped in. And red carpets. Yeah, yeah. There's probably five pictures of my 20, 21, 22. I'm about to find all the nori red carpets out. 22 careers. There's probably like five, maybe seven of me walking a red carpet. And I guarantee you it was the time where I had no control over my career.

Okay. It's Chris Naibani. Seriously, right there. Like, keep walking, nigga. red carpets and I guarantee you it was the time where I had no control of my career. Okay. It was Chris Naeib Bobby. Seriously, right there, like, keep walking, nigga. Come on, B. Like, I be going to Scott or somebody, like, going like that. Right. Because I just hate red carpets.

I never understood the position of it. Like, you know, just standing there, yo, yo, hey, Nori, look here. Hey, Nori, look here. Right. Hey, Nori, look here. Like, why can't I look one place? Everybody take the one fucking picture and let me keep it moving. So, I never understood that shit.

So I go through the thing. They bring me these passes for the Nickelodeon shit. So when they go through the thing, they're like, yo, can you go to the red carpet? So it's just me, my wife, and my son. And I literally had a panic attack right then and there. I was like, what? Red carpet? Hell no.

And the lady looked at me like, okay. I just flipped. I was like, I don't do nothing to red carpet. So as I was saying, let me walk the other way. So as I walked the other way, the first person I see is Will Smith. He goes to me again. What's up Nori? I said, nah.

I was like, nah. Look at you all over the right. Nori? He gave me a five. I said, nah, nigga. I was like, nah, nigga, y'all know me. You right. They were like, ignore him. They gave me a five. And then this is the crazy shit. Also, I also don't think none of these young niggas know me.

So Migos walked right behind me. And I swear to God, I don't even say what's up to the OGs. If you don't say what's up to me, I literally don't give a fuck. You don't say what's up to me back. Even like P and Coach K and whatever. Coach K and P came up to me and said what's up, but I wasn't gonna say nothing to the Migos. You ain't forcing it, you ain't forcing it.

I don't want them niggas to know I'm not Joe Button, you know, I ain't hatin', you know what I mean? Right, right, right, right. I'm an idol in here, y'all know. Yeah, we said Joe Button that time, not Joe Buttons. So, and then, what's Cardi B, man? Offset. Offset came straight up to me.

Offset. Offset came up to me and said, what's up, Nori? Offset said it? He said, what's up, Nori? And I looked at the nigga, because he was too far for me to reach out to get a vibe. And then my son was like, then he turned around. My son was like, what's up, Nori?

Yeah! Super dad. Super dad. Offset was like he's supposed to I liked it that though awesome awesome I'm real because he didn't have to do that he looked at me, Offset. That's awesome. Offset, you know why? Offset real. Because he didn't have to do that. He looked at me and he could have easily turned around and been like, whatever, you know what I'm saying? Offset can do drink champs. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

We actually, they tried to pick us for the whole crew. But what I want to say is, the reason why most OGs don't give the youngins their respect is because we don't think that we have their respect. So I would rather not, I would rather not, because I would love to school you, but if I feel like you're going to school me, you think that you got a bigger chain on than me, because you might, some of these guys might even have more money than me,

well you have the longevity. You know what I'm saying? You might have better work than me, you might have better clientele than me, but are you going to stay outside as long as me? Woo! I'm staying outside all day, y'all. Yeah!

I ain't going inside. When it rain, I'm putting outside all day. Yeah. I ain't going inside. Yes, sir. When it rain, I'm putting on rain skins. All right. When it thunderstorms, I'm getting under a thunderstorm. You're getting under a thunderstorm? Yeah, I'm getting under it. When it's hot out, I'm playing Skelly. I'm doing everything.

Does it make you sad when you see cats? I always say some people aren't built for it. You know what I mean? Wait, what you mean? Does it make you sad when you see certain people? I know exactly what you mean, but I would like you to break it down. I know exactly what you mean, but I would like you to break it down because there's so many talented brothers that don't take their talent as serious.

Yeah. The thing is, I know this is a cliche to say, but talent outbeats the people who's busy workers. Work ethic. Work ethic. It's going to outwork the people with the most skills. Getting up 5, 6, 7 a.m. You know what I'm saying?

I know he does. I love it. I love to, you know, just wake up in the morning and just think about more. Every great idea I ever had, I co-signed it in the morning. I co-signed it at 5. Like this guy. Freshest thoughts. This guy was telling me to do a podcast for so long.

I know that, right? And I couldn't see his vision until I woke up in the morning. I probably hit him, like, 4.30 in the morning. He's probably like, what the fuck is his problem? Every morning when I wake up, I put my shit on airplane mode. I turn it on, I know it's going to be Nori text. Nori text. I say, am I ready for Nori text? Nori text.

Nori text. Nori text. Nori text. Salute to Rap Radar, man. Thank you, brothers, for coming out. We all call it. Before we get out of here, why don't we do this? Why don't we get a nigga like you to do the national anthem at night? Yeah, I can imagine, man.

Salute. I do want to know that. Yo, you know what? That'd be fun. I'm next to you, man. I'm next to you, man. I'm next to you, man. I'm next to you, man.

I'm next to you, man. I'm next to you, man. I'm next to you, man. I'm next to you, man. I'm next to you, man. I'm next to you, man. I'm next to you, man. I'm next to you, man. I'm next to know that. Yo, you know what? That'd be funny. I'm next to you, Finn.

You want to go first? Pause. Go for it. You go. Go ahead. You know hip hop. Uh-oh, boy. Why was you on Raw Flush album two times?

What a shame. And Ice Down Medallions. Truth be told, Royal Flush, Ron Artest, and Capone are all fucking related. Wait, wait, slow down. I can't. Yeah, Royal Flush, Capone, and Ron Artest are all fucking related. So you'll go to like a Capone. Yo, that's an insane bloodline. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's wild niggas. So Capone was supposed to be on a Roy Flush album. Yeah. I did Iced Out Medallions. I did that. That was my hook. That was my hook. Well, when you did What a Shame, I'm like, this thing is really going in.

Yeah. And you got to remember, that was an EZLP beat. EZLP did Mozart. Yeah. He did. Bloody Money, he did. I forget how much shit he did. I'm sorry.

I'll go back to being interviewed and shit. I'm sorry. No, no. It's okay. That was actually supposed to be Capone. Okay. And I was the next best person to go to with Roy Flush. And what a lot of people didn't know about Roy Flush at the time was he was a real street

dude. Yes sir. He was the guy backing Mike Geronimo. Mike Geronimo was, a lot of people don't know, a lot of people overlook Mike Geronimo. I was in Mike Geronimo yesterday. Shit is real. It was Nas and it was Mike right here, bro. He's nipping at him, right?

It was real. Listen, listen. Mike right here, bro. He's nipping at him, right? It was real. Listen, listen. It was like, listen. But you remember when Big L was bigger than Nas at the time? When he signed Columbia? Like in that building? At that time. If you want the Columbia records?

No. If you want the Columbia records. At that time. They signed Big L direct. Right. And they got Nas through Ruff House. Ruff House. He's correct.

So they didn't know the vision yet. So that was all about Big L. The Big L was. It's not a label. Oh, I was saying Big L direct right and they got nice to our house he's correct so they didn't know the vision yet but we go about big L the big label oh I'm saying video was no no no I'm saying the is no he was the guy the reason was great about Nas's ascension before the Illmatic I agree with more even more than he's agreeing with it when you're the guy at the label and the label is the label yeah because Oh, it was Big L. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, because Columbia... Before it mattered. Half-time era. Okay, okay, okay. Because Columbia was a force to be reckoned with. So when Big L signed, that was big. Yes, yes. So they was about Big L. Nas was the side, rough ass.

There were certain labels at that time that you knew you go there, you blow. Def Jam has always been that label. Yeah. They're just now losing that steam. Just now. No disrespect to them. I love them.

Right. But they're just now losing that steam. Interscope has always been that label, but they always had 16 artists that year that didn't work as well. They had six that fucking went through the fucking roof so much, but them other 16, you just forgot about these people. Some balance, yeah. They was.

But now, moving on, let me change the subject. Yeah, please. You guys start Rap Radar, and you guys are backed by Paul Rosenberg. Yeah. And Eminem. How the fuck do... Not Eminem, technically. I don't know.

But, you know... And the site, to be specific, because people... Only time I see Eminem, he had brown hair and he was a little more hefty. Yeah, it's okay, but this is Eminem's money somehow. Somehow. How do you guys even get that... Or adjacent. How do you guys even get that meeting?

How does that even set up to- Rob Markman, I think that's an Elliot question. Rob Markman, because- Rob Markman, well the turning point was when we did the, and this is a website, it's not a magazine. Rob Markman, it's not a hard copy. Shout out 50. Rob Markman, so we started supporting 50 when 50 was running the underground, the mixtape

shit was phenomenal. Rob Markman, that run he went on before he signed the shady aftermath. Rob Markman, the site supporting 50 you're saying? Rob Markman, the mixtape shit was phenomenal. That run he went on before he signed the Shady Aftermath. The site supporting 50, you're saying? The site? When you're saying, when you're supporting 50- No, XXL as a brand. Oh, okay, okay. The site, magazine, whatever.

Like everything. No, no, I thought you meant Rap Radar already. No, no, I'm giving you the whole lineage of how it gets to Paul Rosenberg. So it really started with 50. I credit 50. Like documenting 50's rise underground, dominating the game. Come back after getting shot, dominating the underground, running the game, and then he signs with Shady Aftermath.

So it's like, damn, we had a good rapport with him. We was putting it in the magazine every month. I was like, he's probably not going to fuck with us because at the time, XXL had a beef with Eminem before I got there, and I wasn't able to squash it. So he was pro us because at the time, XXL had a beef with Eminem before I got there and I wasn't able to squash it. So he was pro-source at that time. So I was like Eminem, Eminem. Rob Markman, The Aftermath.

Rob Markman, The Aftermath. Shady Aftermath, Finanscope. Rob Markman, Who would've thunk it? Rob Markman, 50, yeah. Rob Markman, Who would've thunk it? Rob Markman, Yeah. So I was like 50's blowing up but he's going to say he can't fuck with us once he signs with them, because they don't fuck with us.

But when he popped off, Noah Callahan-Bever, who's at Def Jam now too, he sat at the meeting with me and Paul Rosenberg. That's the first time I met Paul Rosenberg, and it was like, he wanted you to cover. He was at Complex at the time, Noah. No, he was freelancing. He wrote the cover story. Oh, wow. That whole 50 Cent, Eminem, Dr. Dre cover, XXL, he wrote the cover story. You know, I wow. Rob Markman That whole 50 Cent, Eminem, Dr. Dre cover XXL, he wrote the cover story.

Rob Markman You know I just found out Noah was a journalist. I always thought he was like a blogger from Complex. I had no idea he was the guy. But I'll continue. Rob Markman Yeah so like he did a cover and like that was the beginning of me and Paul Rosenberg having a sit down where it was like I was only trying to get a 50 Cent cover. He's like how you want Eminem, 50 Cent and Dr. Dre?

I'm like let's go. So the thing is when I got fired from XXL, Paul hit me up, Paul Rosen you want Eminem, 50 Cent, and Dr. Dre? I'm like, let's go. Wow. The thing is, when I got fired from XXL, Paul hit me up, Paul Rosenberg, Eminem's partner, hit me up and said, your voice is missing from the culture. What's your next step? What are we going to do? At the time, Perez Hilton represented the whole gossip shit. But you know he had a beef with Eminem.

Before TMZ. Before TMZ. So he's like, that could be you. You could be the Elliot Wilson. You're the voice of hip hop. Your voice, everybody used to read your editorials. Your voice is missing. You could be the gatekeeper of hip hop and you could be like, what's your voice?

That's how we came up with Rap Radar. That's how it began. And I reached out to BDOT. We met at, what's that diner in Queens? Georgia Diner, Queens Boulevard. Oh, that's my city. I used to shoot niggas and go there. We have the same.

I'm the turkey burger. Say it again. Say it again. I used to shoot niggas and go there. We have to stay. I'm a turkey burger. Say it again. Say it again. Turkey burger. Queens Boulevard. Queens Boulevard. Right now, it used to be A&S.

A&S? It's supposed to be A&S. Yeah. The movie theater right there. That's where I call my case. That's where I call my case. Sizzler's down the block, all you can eat. Yep.

God damn it. Come on. Case is closed. Satchel of invitation. Georgia Diner, he's like, hey, I want to start a website. You know it's weird because this is like 2008. There is no Instagram, right? Twitter is in its infancy. And the source had just lost tons of money on a website.

The recession was about to hit. It was a lot of things going on. Yeah, because there was the dot-com. Yeah. Dot-com. Remember, they were the first people that. That's a fact. The source.com was the first one.

The bubble. The bubble that you take. Everything burst. And, you know, we come from a journalist background. And journalists at the time used to look down on websites and the internet. And essentially say, go from journalist to a blogger. Yeah, and I was like, a website? We didn't even have a name.

But, you know, it was like, all right, I trust you. We're going to make this happen. You heard what Jay just told Mev Bleak about? He said he thought he was going to be a blogger. He's going to be a blogger. That's horrible. He told Mev that? Jay, that's a whole other story. It's a whole other story. But anyway. We're going to play that right now. He was going to be a blogger. That's horrible. I'm rap right now. He told me that? That's horrible.

That's a whole other story. It's a whole other story. But anyway. We're going to play that right now. Forget it. I got it. So a week later, we had a meeting with Paul. He was like, I got the name of the website.

Call it Rap Radar. Paul thought of the name. Yeah. It was a whole bunch of other names. Shout out Paul D. And I was like, Rap Radar. I never thought that. Did he give you a reason for the name?

It was a bunch of names, like a list. It was one of like a generic-y kind of like, we wanted a name that sounded like it already had been out. Like it wasn't like a new shit. That's true. We said Rap Radar. You said with authority, it's like it already existed. We just started it.

It's true. It fucked you. It was like, oh shit. So you guys have these websites, y'all look cool, your blog, your shit is popping, but here's Rap Radar. It's changed. Game has changed. Rob Markman, It's like a tagline, quick.

Rob Markman, It's the movie's household. Rob Markman, We can't have that aggression. Rob Markman, We've settled on a date to launch at March 9th, which was Biggie's, the passing of BIG. The rest is history. We've been at it ever since. Rob Markman, 10 years. Rob Markman, Rap Radar, 10 years.

Rob Markman, God damn it. God damn it. Rob Markman, Wait years. Rob Markman, 10 years. Rob Markman, 10 years. God damn it. God damn it. What does that backing look like? You don't have to give me very much specifics. Rob Markman, 10 years. 2008.

It's like, it's Miami Pop with a budget. You know what I'm saying? We had a space out in Soho. It was really nice. We was there for like six years, and then I guess the rent got too damn high. We went to another location. But was it, like, from Paul's side, I'm saying, was it him literally investing in it? Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah it was really nice. We was there for like six years. And then I guess the rent got too damn high. We went to another location.

But was it like from Paul's side? I'm saying, was it him like literally investing in it? Yeah, it was like. Yeah, he was. That's what I mean. I don't need to know what the finances is. But he's like, yo, I'm backing this. And then you guys are discussing what it takes to make it work.

Absolutely. Absolutely. A real partner in that sense. And I appreciate that. Like, he took a chance. He took his losses, took his chances, like 100% in it, man. And you guys would be pioneers in that world. Is he involved with Rap Radar Podcast?

Yeah, because I wanted to be a big business. Or just Rap Radar? It's a passive partner. I mean, everything Rap Radar is still a partnership with me and him. Okay. The brand is still a partnership? Yeah. That's dope.

That's dope. I appreciate that. I respect that. He's respectful. The thing that's great about Rap Radar is it's become the podcast. And you know, I credit B-D That's dope. That's dope. I appreciate it. I respect that. He's respectful. The thing that's great about Rap Radar is it's become the podcast.

And you know, I credit B-Dot's vision. B-Dot saw the vision before me about doing a Rap Radar podcast. He on his EFN shit. I was on some Nori shit.

He was EFN. I'm like, I don't see it because like, you know, RIP Combat Jack. I was like, I don't want to look

like I'm trying to like, like, want to set the bar in the beginning and then Combat was doing his thing, RIP to him. I was like, I don't want to just jump in and look like I'm all greedy trying to do a podcast. But B. Dot was smart. He was like, yo, there's a lane for that. And now when you think of Rap Radar, it's about the podcast.

So I credit B. Dot for making that happen. And when you think about it, back in the days, the behind the scenes dudes was just the behind the scenes dudes. Rob Markman Nowadays the behind the scenes dudes have their own fucking legacy. Rob Markman You know when, my motherfuckers wanted to hurt me in XXL they didn't know what I looked like. They didn't know what I looked like. It was a wonderful time.

Rob Markman But why didn't they want to hurt you? You was doing fucked up 50 Cent reviews? Rob Markman No. Rob Markman Because when we brought up 50 to you he was like, he did not like you. Rob Markman I don't like him. Rob Markman I don't he was like, he did not like it. I don't like it. I don't like it.

I don't like it. I don't like it. I don't like it. I don't like it. I don't like it. I don't like it. I don't like it. I don't like it.

I don't like it. I don't like it. I don't like it. I don't like it. I don't like it. I don't like it. I don't like it. I don't like it.

I don't like it. I don't like it. I don't like it. I don't like it. I don't like it. I wasn't just that. Rob Markman Blackhead Chaz? Rob Markman Yeah, Blackhead Chaz. Rob Markman Here's the thing. Rob Markman Here's the thing that's funny when people talk about rappers. Someone so doesn't like you. Rappers don't like media. Rob Markman That's true. Rob Markman So it's like, the thing about him, Fifth, we didn't have that rapport. Everything went through Vanessa, it was all good.

But I got no problem. I have respect for him. He set the whole shit off. We made history together. That run is phenomenal. I'm blessed and honored to be able to document that whole situation. But let me get straight to the point. Yeah, of course.

Let me just. All right. Do it, NL. Do it. As a journalist. Yes, sir. You're obligated to your. Don't choke, NL.

No, don't. You're obligated to your audience. It's smoke Champs. So if 50 called you and asked you not to interview a certain person, and you felt obligated to your fans. Only because it was a response to something he already had said. That's why they got the interview. Okay, so can you explain what you mean?

It means at the time he did something that had pissed off that crew and then gave them the phone to respond to the situation. Because the thing was the same with Tupac. Tupac used vibe. Tupac used vibe to be his voice, magnify his voice about his issues, about his conflict with Biggie, the whole thing. So it's like, do you blame the magazine or do you blame the people?

You mean the infamous why everybody blames Vibe for creating the West Coast thing? The same way getting in business with 50 meant that we became 50's platform. So when 50 had a problem with somebody,

it got magnified because XXL would be behind it. So I have to catch all that heat that comes with that. Right. See, the thing about it is that's the reason why

I don't want to claim myself as a journalist, is because I want to give people a- But the basic journalist thing is to cover both sides. All right, that's the reason why I'm not a journalist. So if your side's all the way up- We're not journalism at all. That's the reason why I'm not a journalist.

You guys are all journalists. And that's what's crazy about it, because even when I did M-Dre, Ray and 50, right? Everybody's like, oh, he did M-Dre. Two months later, I did Murder, Inc. Because Murder, Inc. had got raided by the feds and went to Universal. That's a story. So I did the whole

bullseye, the public enemy logo. Irv loves that to this day. If you ask Irv, Irv loves that. I always got along with Irv. I got along with Cass.

So it's like, everybody said, oh, y'all on Endless Cove's dick. Y'all work for Jimmy Iovine. Y'all favorite 50 Cent. And then three months later, after that infamous cover, we covered the other side, which is

the Murder, Inc. side of the story. So that's what I always tried to do. But I always favored Fifth because Fifth was dominant of the culture. Like, he was- The magazines. Yeah. So even after that conflict, he did the Curtis, what was it, Curtis album? Curtis album.

You was at that one. That's a beat I don't know. That's when I first saw it. So he's on his F. Elliot Wilson shit, but he still did the cover and it was all cool. Oh yeah, he hated you there at that shoot. Hold on. Stay right there. Because I heard you say one time, you said it was hard for you to cover Jay knowing that

you and Jay had became friends at one point. Well, that wasn't in the magazine at that time. No, but what I'm trying to say is how hard is that? Because the thing about it is, right? I just watched Love & Hip Hop, not comparing you to Jason Lee in no way, shape, or form or fashion, but Jason Lee is sitting there and he's telling A1, he's like, yo, I got a report that I found out you fucking some other bitch, right? So now with me, I... That day Nas, we interviewed Nas, Nas could have had his face in a stripper's pussy that morning.

Right. And my artist in me would have not asked him that question. Right. That's what distinguishingly makes me not a journalist. Because I would rather protect my artist. But as a journalist, that makes me suck. No, but you got to show discretion. There's always a balance.

There's always a balance. There's always a balance. There's always a balance. There's always a balance. But what I'm trying to say to you is, like, because I remember you saying that about Jay. You saying, yo, it was kind of hard to cover him at times. Well, to accept that, like, I got to accept that we're growing closer and I do consider him a friend. But the good thing about him is that there's thick skin. So it's like, if you think something's whack, he wants to have that debate with you. It's like, you can't, like, just be.

We're not here to be yes men, carry ourselves a certain way. But that works for Jay. Yes. It didn't work for 50. Well, we never had that rapport. That's what the twisted part about that is, is that he never liked me. We just did great minutes together. He never liked me.

We did minutes through Vanessa, and it was great. And I appreciate that. I didn't know he'd never like you. He didn't. Ask him. Did you ever like Elliot? But here's the thing, though. Rappers didn't like, why would he like me?

I'm fucking media. Rappers don't like media? Yo, yo. It's true. Shout out to my journalist, my nigga. Like, why do rappers don't like journalists? No, it's true. But to a certain extent, when people give you fair articles, you start to build a rapport

with them. No, but that was all... I sincerely believe that's your rapport with Jay. I believe that. Yeah. But one thing I can tell you sincerely, I know you believe that Jay is the best artist in the world. I know you sincerely believe that.

I think that if you don't think Jay's the greatest of all time, you're just telling me who your favorite is of all time. Like all that 50 MC shit, that shit is depressing to me. Because it's like, you're just, like you have such a war view of hip hop of like, when you talk about the greatest, it comes down to stats. It comes down to catalog, It comes down to platinum records. It doesn't come down to like lyrical, miracle, spiritual. It comes down to stats. Like we're basically saying the best artists. And that's subjective at a certain point, but it's like you can't deny that.

It's time for Lil Wayne to win the Grammy because it's the card of free time. We're all going to clap whether we like him or not because it's Lil Wayne's time. He won the thing. I think that this is like this idea of what is your personal favorite and what is the greatest. We don't control what the greatest is. Stats are stats. You know what I'm saying? Some people are on their favorite list.

What does greatest mean though is another thing. That's subjective as well. You're going to make something personally great to you. It doesn't mean it's great. Can it be more than one? For Jay-Z to be whatever on a bigger scale, you know? I think so too.

There's multiple GOATs, but I just think Jay-Z's a GOAT. And there's generational GOATs. But I also think Jordan's a GOAT. I also think Bird is a GOAT. Am I wrong? Magic is a GOAT. Yeah, but there's always

one valedictorian at the end of the day. It's a lot of smart kids. But isn't that opinionated though? But it's generational again. I mean, he's saying stats, and that's true. And that's true. But at the end of the day, isn't it opinionated, though? But it's generational. I mean, he's saying stats, and that's true. Even for valedictorians. Yeah, but... And that's true, but at the end of the day, isn't it what you prefer?

I think it's all about what you prefer, yes, but also take yourself out the picture and look at the larger picture as a whole, right? I agree. Like, I go to Jay-Z shows and they're packed. Like, the B-Side show, for instance, you know, those tickets were cheap. Right. And there was people from 8 to 80 there reciting the words. And I always look at, like, you don't have to be a Jay-Z fan to know Jay-Z music.

Almost like with Drake. And his music has lasted a test of time and its impact is phenomenal. But you could be in the Bay Area and E-40 could do the same thing? Here in New York? I think E-40 is a legend. But I think it's very regional, his appeal. But it could be equally on that side as well. They might say the same thing.

I'm just saying, regionally we got to understand that everybody has different perspectives regionally. Rob Markman For what they think hip hop, whatever we want to add to these lists is regional. Rob Markman But no disrespect to E-40, but I would use Jay-Z's approach and his music has penetrated the culture more on a national scale, more on a global scale than E-40, no disrespect. Rob Markman No disrespect, yeah, of course.

Rob Markman So I think that's the reason why I would put him at number one as well. Right. Who would you put at number one? I got Nas at number one. Nas at number one? And I want to be very, very, very, very careful at this because it's not because he's my friend. A lot of people, Illmatic meant more to me, I swear to God, I think it meant more to me than it meant to him.

Because at the time, I was living the gangster life. I can't describe anybody else or what anybody else was doing. I could only say what I was doing. And I got caught up in the system. And when I got caught up in the system, it hurt me to actually walk through. People be like, Queens. And I really had to fight for that shit. Man, you was the man.

K-R-S-1 really put us in a bad position. I love that song, but I hate it. I love it and hate it too. Listen, me and Nas talk about it, but you say, yo, we listen to that shit in the bridge. It's true, but... Illmatic. When I listened to Illmatic, it was Biggie Smalls, it was Buckshot Shorty, it was all these dudes.

But when Illmatic dropped, it was Buckshot Shorty, it was all these dudes. But when Illmatic dropped, it was something that it did to me. I seen Steinway Street, I saw a story. Rob Markman, Jr.: Steinway Street. Rob Markman, Jr.: I saw Woodside, I saw those Basely projects, I saw Southside, I saw 107 Gabriel. I saw this. I visually, I would read books not because I liked the reading, I wanted to get out of jail. So when I would read a book, I would read Donald Gor because I liked it reading. I wanted to get out of jail. So when I would read a book,

I would read Donald Gorman's Whore Son. I would be in Detroit or wherever the fuck Donald Gorman's wrote. I don't like reading. Actually, the name of my book is called Reading is Overrated. That's a dope-ass book. That's a dope title. 14 pages.

Is that an excursion? 14 pages. That's a menu. Hurry up, wake up. So what happened was, I would read these books like Dope Fiend and all this shit, and when Illmatic came, it was the first time I visually saw an album ever. I visually described... And a lot of people would say, well you know what, that's because you're from Queens. But I wasn't in Queensbridge every day.

I wasn't on Steinway Street every day. I wasn't in Ravenswood Projects. I wasn't in Woodside Projects every day. Woodside Projects? I wasn't in Woodside. That's where you're from, man. I went to IS-125 in Woodside, 46 in Bliss on the 7th train. I went to that school.

Queen shit. Queen shit. When Nas actually did that, I saw it. But even if I wasn't from that place, the fact that he described Queensbridge that dope. To me, when you say the greatest of all times, and if you say that Jay-Z is the greatest artist of all times when it comes to rap, I have to agree with that. That's it. So we agree. But when you say the greatest lyricist-

No, because what he's saying is- I'm not saying lyricist. I'm not saying lyricist. Those words are interchanging with me. Everybody changed same thing. No, because what he's saying is... We're not saying lyricists. Nobody said lyricists. Those words are interchanging for me. Everybody changed same thing. No artists. You know why?

You know why? I think this is why it's such a tricky thing to say in your attention. Nobody said lyricists. Right, but this is black thought. Nobody said lyricists.

This is how we... No one's right or wrong. How we distinguish GOATs, I believe, is versus artists. Like, this is when we have those discussions. I say artists

versus rappers, right? We all want the same thing. Rob Markman, We all want the same thing. There's good rappers and there's bad rappers. There's good artists and there's bad artists. Artists to me are how you construct an album, your songs, your verses, your choruses. That's a good artist. Rob Markman And the sales, the economics of it as well.

Rob Markman No, this is just artistry. Rob Markman But I mean, Elliot kind of alluded to that as well. Elliot Kaye, But this is rappers. Rob Markman I can't disagree with him when it comes to stats. Nobody's turning that down is all I'm trying to say. So I think when we have those discussions it's more so about artistry. And the thing about it is it's more of a... You're in the bathroom?

Yes, sir. It's a cup, nigga. No, no, no. I'm next too. But it's more of what you prefer. To tell you the truth, I'm probably going to get so much slack for this. I didn't like Reasonable Doubt. Really? Why? Because I

was broke. But it was an incredible holler. Yeah. I just was broke. You couldn't relate to it? I could not relate to it. That's some honest ass shit though. It's for real. To this day, when he came out with niggas in Paris, I went to a club and one

of my homies borrowed 50 bucks from me. And then he go in the club and he said, what's 50 grand to a nigga like me? Could you please survive me? And I'm looking like, nigga, you just borrowed 50 dollars. The fuck is you doing singing that line? But at that point, I was an ounce nigga. I was a quarter ounce nigga. I was a quarter key.

I was an A for key dude. Most I ever had was a key. When you talk about these bricks and all that, I'm like, Jesus. I'm thinking he lying. I'm not thinking this is real. You didn't look at it as aspirational maybe? Rob Markman No, I didn't look at it like that. I looked at it like he was flossing on me.

What's the next album after that? Rob Markman Volume 1. Rob Markman Okay, that's not the one where he had the merry-go-round where he went- Rob Markman The merry-go-round? Yeah. Rob Markman Sunshine? Rob Markman Sunshine?

Is that it? Rob Markman Yeah, yeah, Babyface. Rob Markman After Sunshine? That was my nigga. Rob Markman So Volume 2? Rob Markman That's Volume 2. Rob Markman Yeah, yeah, yeah, babyface. Or after Sunshine, that was my nigga. So volume two. That's volume two. Yeah, yeah, hardback life. So I'm like, did I take a long time?

Did I take a long time? Did y'all get cool at that point? Is that why? Listen, my very first shows was with Jay-Z. Ain't no nigga in LA. LA came out the same time, nigga. I hooked him up with the light-skinned bitches from my hood. Come on, come on.

Come on. Come on, he been like the light-skinned bitches. Come on, come on, goddamn., he been like the light-skinned bitches. Come on, come on, goddamn it. So let me say that correct, because I didn't want to seem like, yeah, yeah, yeah, but no, no. But after volume two, then I had recognized, because maybe I started getting money. Okay. And that's real shit. That's the most honest answer. You said that it was the most honest. Like, if you're not making money and a dude is talking about making way more money than

you, he's not talking about making $100 more than you. He's talking about way making. Listen, I had a five. I had a five, Benz. Rob Markman, Jr.: So it was relatable. That's why I love the 444 album. I feel like that album should come with a W-2. Rob Markman, Jr.: No, that album is the-

Rob Markman, Jr.: That should come with a W-2. Rob Markman, The Grammies. Rob Markman, I'm still mad about the Grammys. Rob Markman, Because it feels so grown. Rob Markman, You know what I mean? Rob Markman, That's like my number two Jay-Z album ever. Rob Markman, And the Grammys laid out because the thing about Grammys, what'd you say? Say it again? Rob Markman, That's my number two Jay-Z album ever. Rob Markman, Really?

Number two? Rob Markman, Yes sir. Rob Markman, Yeah, it's number two. Rob Markman, The thing about the Grammys, if you look at the tradition of the Grammys, they always like favorited artists a little past past their prime, creating a great body of work that meant a certain thing. I'm just trying. What's going on?

I'm sorry. That shit didn't relate to hip hop when we're trying to give J.D. things. Give everything to Kendrick. Why? Because you gave it to Macklemore before. It was lame to me. You got him in front row. J.D. could deserve one of those.

Yeah, absolutely. He should have got that one. I'm high as fuck, by the way. Listen. Smoke champs. Take this right here. Smoke champs. Come on.

Be that. Smoke champs. OMTV don't do fucking drug testing. Give us the advertisement right now. Is it smoke? Open it up. Open it up. Show it to the camera.

Yo. Show it to the camera. Smoke champs? Yo. Pull it out. Smoke champs? What the fuck is this? Is this shit legal? Open it up!

Open it up! Yo, what the fuck? Take it out, man! Don't be scared of it! Training day, what is that? Yo, what the fuck? This shit's a twig with fucking frosting on it. What is that?

Spark it up! What we was talking about? B-Dot said he's high. I'm trying to get a smoke champs advertisement, but he won't even take it out. Smoke champs? Smoke? Smoke champs? Smoke champs?

Smoke champs? Smoke champs? Smoke champs? Smoke champs? Smoke champs? Smoke champs? Smoke champs? Frosty Yo see isn't drink chefs have become smoke champs, yes He bought the name early I'm not going to lie. DJ LLc. DJ LLc. DJ LLc. Let's go, Ano. Let's go. Let's go, Ano. What you got, Ano?

What's the shit that makes you wake up in the morning to be thrilled? Like, you know what? You know what the crazy shit is? You know what the crazy shit is? When we started this podcast, we wanted to just deliver information. And what happened was... Yo, it's the smoke, right? Smoke chips. People wanted us to get some water. It's all good. It's all good. You know who you signed up for. It's all right. Yeah. People wanted us to deliver...

I don't think you should pour some more of that, man. I'm trying to protect you right now. Hydrate, man. Hydrate. Why do you think this is nasty? Got water with a little bit. Not because Mr. Lee drank a little bit, but it's all good. It's all good, man.

This shit is off the yelza ball. Off the yelza ball. So what is the thing? What is it? When you sit down with an artist and you get... For me, right? I'm sorry to relate it to me.

But for me to see Nas talking about Prince and see Nas talking about Biggie so lucidly and he wasn't giving me one word answers. To me, that's a thrill. To break somebody out they shell. What is y'all thrill when you do an interview?

Like I said, just being a fan, right? So I'm talking to a superhero. So the fact that I'm getting... But what happens if you're not a fan of this person? I'm a fan of the music. I'm a fan of the culture. I just want to do a good job. You never interviewed nobody you wasn't a fan of? Yeah, of course. Okay, please. Let's talk about it. You could be a fan of the music you know so I'm a fan of the culture I just want to do a good job interview nobody he wasn't a fan of yeah of course okay

please I can't think about who we've interviewed so many people that wasn't like necessarily a fan of but you but I love the music. G-Eazy? Gee, I fucked with G-Eazy, but I'm not a G-Eazy active listener. But look, I want to say something about what he said. We keep talking about the Nas episode we did. That was not legitimately a real Drink Champs environment episode. It was actually his album release. And we have our story with that as well that we don't have to get into. It's a little long story, but we were supposed to do it here in Miami. He came here.

And then we went and did it at his album release party. It would have been a totally different interview. Of course. It still counts. But you know what it is? When we do it, because it was a live audience, so we had to cater to the audience. Of course. And we only had 45 minutes. Yeah, yeah.

The thing is, I'm a natural performer. Right. So when I'm a natural performer, I'm going to naturally perform towards the crowd. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? So, I mean, it was good, but the thing is,

one, I'm going to be honest. I'm not asking him about his Khalees questions. I'm not doing that. But talking to someone like, nah, I'm talking to you. Because I'm a fucking baby father, and I'm a fucking artist,

and I don't want niggas asking me about my baby mom. Right. I don't want you asking me about mine either. I got like five or six. I don't even know how and I'm a fucking artist and I don't want niggas asking me about my baby mom. Right. I don't want you asking me about my mom either. I got like five or six. I don't even know how many I got. You know, I had some time back in the days.

So I don't want that. So why would I do something to somebody? And not only that, we're not only back, we've repaired our relationship. This motherfucker is hitting me. Why would I bring him up here? But we don't do that on Big Cat. You don't want to set him up. Yeah But we don't do that on Dreamcast. I just said to you, I did a two hour interview with Irv Gotti.

He sat right here, he smoked weed, he drank all the Tiger Ball, he did whatever, and I never broke up 56. And that's what's good. Not because that's not a hot topic of the conversation. It's not our platform. But it's not our platform. We don't want to continue the gossip. Not only that, the first time we had Benzino on here, we was warring with y'all or whatever. So we let Benzino say whatever.

He was warring with us? He was not warring with us. But you know, we had our odds. So we let Benzino say what's up. We also have a Benzino interview, two hours. Not one Elliott Wilson slander at all. Oh, wow. Shout out to Ray.

Shout out to Ray. In fact, he was positive to you. Shout out to Benzino. He was positive to you. Yes. He was positive to you. I was going to say. He was positive to Ray. Shout out to Ray. In fact, he was positive to you. Shout out to him. He was positive to you. Yes. He was positive to you. I was going to say. He was positive to us.

The fuck them shit is that me and Ray always got along. Yeah. It was just it got to the point where the yellow guy was running reckless. We need a picture. He had to G-check me. You know what I'm saying? I promise you. I promise you.

I sat there. Shout out Ray. Shout out Ray. I brung up you. Raymond Scott. Shout out. He brung up you. He said you. I sat there and I... Shout out Ray. Shout out Ray. And I brung up you. Raymond Scott. No, he brung up you. He said, he said, nah. And that's when Elliot and me came on.

And Elliot just took over this. And I'm sitting there. He didn't say nothing crazy. And I swear to God. Respect. He swear to God. Because he knows what it is. He was always 100.

Yeah. To get to that point, you know, that we had to do. But we always 100, man. Respect for him. And that's what hip hop has to go into. But to answer your question, I just love doing a good job. What gets me up in the morning, I love the fact if we do a good interview or do a good content, someone responds.

The crazy thing is, B-Dot gives his opinion about hip-hop on Twitter. It shuts the game down. That bugs me out. I ain't bothering you. What is that? What did you say? You said Styles P wasn't top five? Oh!

See, I said Styles P wasn't top five? Oh! Oh! I said Styles P wasn't a top five bad boy artist. Me and Charlotte were going back and forth. Yeah, you and Charlotte. And I said number one was Biggie, of course. Number two was Jadakiss or I think Mase or Jadakiss. Three was one of those and Black Rob and I think maybe Styles was number five or six. Right?

Yo! On Bad Boy? On Bad Boy. That's the minute that you gave him five. I like Black Rob, but I think maybe like Styles was like number five or six. Oh, hell no. Right? Yo, yo, yo. On bad boy? On bad boy. That limited and you gave him five or six? So, Charlotte Mae was like, yo, what are you talking about? Styles is better than Mace. I'm like, what are you talking about?

Are you on drugs? Because if you remember back in that time, Mace was the nigga. Now, are you going back to when Elliott said stats? Yeah, that's it. Because literally, literally Styles wins. No, not literally literally, Styles wins. No, not literally. There was a moment Mace was that guy.

Lyrically, lyrically. I got to look at you in your face and say, I remember that. No. I remember that. That's what I'm saying. Mace was that. I remember Mace was that. Wait, Mace Murda?

He dressed up. Murda Mace. Murda Mace was that guy, but that nigga, he told him I wasn't Murda. He was regular. Mace. Mace. Mace. Mace. Mace. Mace. Mace. Mace. Mace. Mace. Mace. Mace. Mace. Mace. Mace. Mace. Mace. Mace. Mace. Mace. Mace. M no, no. Murder Mace was that guy, but that nigga, he told him I wasn't murder. He was regular. Listen, ha ha, Mace. Nah, I'm not saying that. I mean, pre-Holland World, maybe post-Holland World. Oh, you talking about Murder Mace then?

Murder Mace? You talking about the corn Mace? I'm talking about. I thought you were talking about Holland World Mace. I'm talking about. Holland World Mace is still. That nigga was that nigga. He was still that guy.

The nigga that did come to camera on video. I'm going to say, yes. That nigga that did host the cameras. Before Double Up, Mace was that guy. You tell that guy. The nigga that didn't come to camera on video. I'm gonna say, yes. That nigga. Before Double Up, Mase was that guy. Popularity-wise and lyrically. Lyrically.

Mase was that guy. What was the zone of nor you know this, nor you know that? I gotta... Alright, let me tell you what happened. Fuck that.

That's my interview. Alright, cool. No problem. I'm gonna tell you exactly what happened. Wait, sit down here, Ellie Wilson train. What happened was... No train. I'm going to tell you exactly what happened. Wait, sit down here, L.A. Wilson train. What happened was-

There's no train. No train. You're drunk. Polo had got sentenced. Right. Well, Polo had, what's that shit? Got indicted and then you get sentenced. So he got indicted.

We knew he was going to get sentenced. Woo. Polo, he wasn't married this time, so Pone was running around fucking everything. God bless him. I would have been fucking everything, too. Okay. But, is that the train coming, too? Yeah.

Every time it's a good part. I think that's a serious guy here. So, Pone fucking everything. Me, I'm so happy to be at a left-track city, 97-3057 Avenue, apartment 5E, Corona, New York, 11368. Who's in that building right now? I don't know, but I'm about to to be at a left rack city 97-3057 Avenue apartment 5E Corona, New York 11368. Who's in that building right now? I don't know about the body apartment. So I'm so happy to be out the hood that I'm the first one there. When the studio is nine o'clock, I'm there at 730.

I'm so happy and I got so many rhymes that I wrote in jail. I got so many. So one of the rhymes was, Bo know this and Bo know that. Bo don't know Jack. Why? Because Bo can't rap. What do you know? What do you know? You know, Chalk on Crest is one of my favorite groups. So I'm sitting there writing a rhyme and I wrote that up in jail. Nori know this and Nori know that. So I had this shit and I had laid it in Unique Studios. I'll never forget it. I had laid

this shit in Unique Studios and Capone came up. This is when I knew Queensbridge niggas is Queensbridge niggas. I got to relax, I'm from left rack. So, Pone walks in the studio and Pone like, yo, this shit is hot. I laid this shit, know we know this. I laid it off of Brand Newbie and Don't Let It Go to your head. This was before Brand Newbie and I was at my grandmother crib and she played this record. She played this record, don't let it go to your head. So I went to EZ LP. I said EZ LP, I don't know this record because I ain't heard of Sam. There was no internet back then.

So I said, yo, he knew exactly the record. He said, what? Boom. Laced this shit up, boom. So I went in there. So now listen to that rhyme and think of that beat. Wow. Norbido this.

And Norbido, I'm leaving. I'm leaving. That hook fits better with don't let it go to your head now. So Pone walks in. He hears the shit. And he's like, this is it. Let me get my verse ready. So I'm like, all right, cool.

So this is like my first production. Like, I actually produced this. I told them to sample this record. And then the homie Trash walked in. 12 minutes later, he was like, what the fuck is this? And I looked, because I swore I had a hit. I looked, and he said, we don't sample like Puff Daddy.

Wow. That was a joint? We sample like Havoc. Wow. So they scrapped my record. It's the worst day of my life. This is the worst day of my life. I know this is a hit, bro. I know it. So hold on. Hold on. Chill, chill, chill.

Wow. I knew that part of it. I know this is So how did you double down and give it to him? Chill, chill, chill. Wow. I knew that start, but I didn't know that part of it. I know this is a hit, but I'm outvoted. The Queensbridge niggas win. But you held on to it. You held on to it.

Yeah, that's just true. So Nas is supposed to be on the album. He's on his record called Music. Make this. My brother, E-Money Bags, is from my building, 97-3057 Avenue, apartment 14B.

Or maybe 14K. I forget which way. So, me, E-Money Bags, and Nas had this record called Music.

Make this stuff calm down. I don't remember if... How this happened, but Traz replaced E-Money Bags' verse and he laid the verse I don't know If that's the reason

Why Nas didn't clear it Or Or I never got the full story Yeah So later on They're saying Yo we're gonna make it up to you

For not being on the War Report album That's two That's two big stars we missed That's Busta And Nas bro So we look like We the dudes But we look like The dudes that's the dudes That's two big stars we missed. That's Busta and Nas, bro. So we look like we the dudes, but we look like the dudes that's the dudes is not really fucking with us.

You know what I'm saying? Yes, sir. Like, they're with us? Yes, sir. They're adjacent. They're on the corner with us. I don't know if they're coming in the house. Yeah. They're in VIP and you stay in the club, chilling.

So, I walk, they invite me to Miami ironically. Woo! And they say, yo, we want you to come on the Firm album. This is before they announced the Firm, what the Firm was. Yeah. So I'm like, yeah, I'll be there. They said, coming to Miami. I said, no problem.

I'm waiting for them to give me my flight info. Flight info never came. Oh my gosh. Look at that flight, yo. So then, no, no, no. They never even told me. They would have said it would come up. I would have wall-marted it for somebody. I was broke at the time.

And this is after the war report. This is a fact. I'm still broke. So, I'm keeping it real. No lies. Malibu membership. No, no, no. No Malibu, nigga.

I don't even got war balance membership, nigga. I don't even got C-Town membership. You said war balance. So, these niggas hit me and they fly me to L.A. Rob Markman, the town. Rob Markman, the town. You said Wollhouse. Rob Markman, the town. You said Wollhouse. Rob Markman, the town. So, these niggas hit me and they fly me to LA. And when they fly me to LA, I walk in. The first session.

This is the reason why I'm still cool with Nature and I will always be indebted to him. This is the reason why I put him on Banff and TV first. I walked in the session. It was Nature's session. And Nature is a brilliant writer, but he just takes three days to write 16. But his 16, he's going to take three days. It's going to be precise. It's going to be crazy. Slav is going in. He's got 57 16s in his head. So I walks in and Dr. Dre is on the fucking engineer.

Yeah. So Dre is waiting for nature and you can tell he's restless. Yeah. So he's like, this is the reason why I always fuck with nature. So he's restless. He's like, yo, you ready, Nate? And so he's like, I'm going to switch the beat. And he just switches the beat.

And I'm just going like this. Oh, wow. And he switches another beat. He goes, boom. And the other beat and I'm just going like this. Oh wow. And he just, he switches another beat. He goes boom. And the other beat I go, oh. But I'm not doing it to show off. I'm in the corner. I'm like, yo, who's in the room?

And Dre's like, yo, homie. Yo, Nori, right? I'm like, yes, nigga. I'm sorry. They didn't introduce us. What's up, nigga? How you doing? Yes, I am, Nori.

Let's get Dre. Oh shit, what's going on? Get Dre. So I said, yes, I'm Nori. He says, you got something for this? I said, yeah, I am, Dorey. Let's get trap. Oh shit, what's going on? Get trap. So I said, yes, I'm Dorey. He says, you got something for this? And I'm looking at Nate, and Nate looking at me, and I'm looking at Nate, and I'm like,

yes, I have something. You're like, all right, what you want? I'm going to give it to you. You don't want to fucking dead your homie. Because I knew what I was going to do. I ain't going to lie to you. You don't even know what you're going to say to that? I ain't write that down.

I'm going to give it to you. I'm going to give it to you. I'm going to give it to you. I'm going to give it to you. I'm going to give it to you. I'm going to give it to you. I'm going to give it to you. I'm going to give it to. Because I knew what I was going to do. I ain't going to lie to you. You didn't know you were going to start that? I ain't write that down. I had that.

No, I said, why did you know that would work with that? No, because once I heard the beat. It was the, not the helicopter. It was the, I need you to. That was the first one. So when it came to that shit, I said. And that shit came on and this is the craziest shit. This is why I knew I was like really thirsty.

Because I laid this shit perfect. Dr. Dre don't tell nobody it was good. Yeah? So we still do it over and over. So the nigga, I laid this shit and he's like. Come on, you. And I came out. This was before I knew who Dre, how perfectionist he was. He said, yo listen, no one lays it once. And I didn't know what I was supposed to say.

No. Yeah, I did. I hated it. So I said, word? He said, just do it again for argument's sakes. Wow. So I went back in and I laid it again. And then he made me lay it one more time.

And he told me, see you later. Wow. And then pulled up Blood Money. He was like, I'm leaving, for real. No, he pulled up Blood Money part two beat. Wow. So, again, I don't remember if that was Trackmaster's beat. Or if that was his beat and he gave Trackmaster's the credit, or if that was Trackmaster's beat and he pulled it up and that's how we

got Blood Money Part II. Remember Blood Money Part II with me, Nas, and Nature? That was done during the Firm album, during Nature's session. Rob Markman, Wow. Rob Markman, If I was Nature, I would've hated on me. I would've been like, why is this left-back nigga all in my shit? This nigga's been recording two records

in my session? Like, just think about what we were talking about. He doesn't even know me. Wow. I'm there as Nas and Jungle Guess. Yes.

But y'all think it's Magic and Bird? Y'all think he's made a lot of records. No, no, no, but this is prior to that. This is prior to that. You gotta remember,

I, after the, first off, this is in between them switching members. That was big. So they switched. Niggas don't know what that is. Mega.

They switched. Mega. And just expected us to just move on. Yeah, yeah. Like, we were supposed to act like this is mega. We were supposed to just act like this is awkward. Nature. Nature.

Like, you know, like, we had just. We love nature, but nature walked into some shit with that. But he didn't know at the time. I didn't know at the time. Nobody knew at the time. Nigga was hanging out at the core of Mega. So the crazy shit is, nature- They did that with the Foxy joint, the La Familia.

They switched the verse. Yeah, but that verse, that's what fucked niggas up. Then it came out. So when I did that- Mega's out, nature's in. Mind you, I'm thinking I'm going back home. No one's never going to hear these records. And guess what? No one's never going to believe me.

I never really told people that Dr. Dre engineered me. Because I was like, who the fuck is going to believe me? I went straight back to Left Frack. It wasn't like I went back and I had a mansion and shit at the room with Dr. Dre and the firm. I went straight back to Left Frack. And I did not think I was getting paid. So they gave me 15 bands.

Rob Markman, Wow. Rob Markman, At that time, I was lit. Straight to Branson. So the record implored it for me. And that's initially how me and Traj caught beef. Because the same record, he told me it was wack. And then he told my friend, Left, who is the man right now to the left, what's going on. He told Left, why would he take a CNN record and give it to them niggas that didn't even

want to be on CNN's first album? He had a point, but he was wrong. Let's not forget, you told me this record was whack. You shut it down. You shut it down. God bless trash.

I don't want to seem like I'm, because I'm not bad at it at all. In no way, shape, fashion, form or fashion. But also, I'm telling my side of the story. This is how I saw the side of the story. At the time. And that record I'm leaving is what made Nori. So I was asking you a question. The thing was, I was a big Phife Dawg fan.

One of the biggest Phife Dawg fans. And when I met Phife Dawg, he was a little nasty to me. But pause. He was attractive to me. but pause, it was attractive to me. He was like, yo, I think you're kind of nice, so I'm not really trying to be your friend friend. Because I didn't know that's how rappers think like boxers.

Boxers don't want to be your friend. Boxers meet another boxer, be like, what's up nigga? Yeah, good. Nice to watch. I might have to fuck you up one day. Can't go too far. Yeah, yeah. So when Phyfe did that to me, I was like, oh, okay, this was dope.

So that's how I eventually... And if it wasn't for that record, I told that to Nas, and a lot of people thought I was just... What was it like when you nailed it in front of Dre? Did you know you had nailed it in front of him? Hell no. I didn't know. I didn't know until I seen the documentary on Defiant Ones, and people telling me how difficult Dr. Dre is, and I'm

like, nigga, I nailed the first one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But then I also remembered, I was hungry. Like, I was starving. But, Enno, did you feel like when that firm comes out, that's the track that you were going to be like, became that? No, I did not. Actually, you know what track I thought was going to be it?

Yeah. You Came Up. That was a good song. But if it wasn't for the firm, You Came Up wouldn to be it? You Came Up. That was a good song. But if it wasn't for The Firm, You Came Up wouldn't have worked. You Came Up. Ah, I came after, yeah. Hit me out. And I'm going to switch it back to y'all because I don't want this to be my interview.

Yeah, of course. But the Hit Me Out. I like that. He's focused. Be there. The thing was, The Firm has so much looking on them, not because of The Firm, but because of that was Dr. Dre's next project after the aftermath.

After the death row. After the death row. So it was so much that was on them. Whatever he does is there. Yeah, so whatever it was on. And me, you got to realize, this is some Queen's secret shit. Nas and Jungle is giving me love because they felt like they wronged me on the war report. And they felt like they missed the opportunity. They couldn't come back and say, here goes this record.

Those ideas wasn't invented. Like now you can get a new record and make the album new. That's gonna start charting again. Back then, no one thought of that. So they was just trying to right that wrong. But if it wasn't for that record, that record opened up everybody. Rob Markman That's awesome. Rob Markman Everybody.

Rob Markman I remember that. Rob Markman And then, but, but, but, actually, recorded, you came up first. Rob Markman Wow. Rob Markman What pun? Rob Markman Wow. Rob Markman What pun first? And it's the first time I ever seen-

Rob Markman Best in peace pun. Absolutely. Rob Markman Like, like, like niggas had a full budget. Rob Markman Like, I didn't know that. Rob Markman Like, I didn't know, like he came in with a full budget. Like, I didn't know that. Like, I didn't know. Like, he came in with a full budget. That's crazy. Like, he would order 25 pizzas, and I'm like, yo, puns.

It's four of us. What kind of nigga you think we are? So, all right. This industry. Yeah. Woo. It's so much ups and downs in between

sideways when you interview an artist and think you did a great job yeah but you gave

your honest opinion and these artists are not satisfied yeah how do you how do you remedy that? Time.

It's almost like if you're all in with your girl, you know what I'm saying? You don't give her some space, and eventually they'll come back around. I mean, that's all you can do. At the end of the day, we're all grown men, man, and women. We're adults.

So it's like, you'll get over it. We'll come back to you eventually. I think that's the best. But you absolutely. Just stay hot. Stay hot without them. You don't need it. You ever wished you said something that you didn't wish you said?

Nah, what happened, it's actually the opposite. There's things that after the interview, you'd be like, damn, I forgot to say this. Yeah, that's the truth with me. You know what I'm saying? So that happens a lot. That's the truth. It's an ask, right? The biggest question I've missed to ask Nas was, how do you feel about Lil Nas X?

I didn't care about the Khalid's question. I didn't care about- That's over all that shit. The turn pole, yeah. When I finished, I was like, damn, because I had the shit wrote down. Yeah. But yeah, yeah. We always do that.

We do the most great interview. We're like, damn, we didn't ask that. Fuck, that was the one we missed. That's the thing. That's the biggest thing. God damn it. God damn it, man. I'm so happy to have you.

I'm happy to have you too, man. I'm so happy to have y'all. I'm happy to have you, too, man. I'm so happy. Oh, shit. Come on. I think. I'm so happy to have y'all. I love you, though. Yeah, I love you, too, man.

It's crazy, man. Let me tell you something. Y'all taught me. I mean, well, Elliot, you taught me competition. And the thing about it. No, I'm being honest. I don't do competition now, though. Now, no.

But you know what? I still take that. I still take it in a he heed because the thing about it is wanting to be great has to do with wanting to be your greatest self. Not who you're battling. Because if I'm sitting here trying to be better than you,

then what happens if my true self is better than that? So I might as well just be a better version of me. It doesn't matter who I am. So that's the reason why I love that we're all in our own, I believe you said it one time, I think you said it on Twitter, you said, we're like the 60 Minutes and Drink Champs is like the Howard Stern.

Rob Markman Yeah, so yeah. Rob Markman That's an accurate portrayal. Rob Markman It's different experiences, you know what I'm saying? Like celebrity on celebrity. I want to see Nori and Nas have a conversation. I'm a fan. You kidding me?

I want to be a fly on the wall. Rob Markman Appreciate that. Rob Markman Like I always say, I had both of y'all pictures on my wall. So it's a different approach. I'm more so as a fan, a different perspective of a fan than you are. Rob Markman Right, right. Rob Markman Talking to some of my favorite rappers.

Rob Markman But you know what? You taught me that, brother. I'm just saying that. Yeah, so I'm good. When you said that to me, and I know we were Twitter arguing. We both had Twitter fingers that day. What was that, y'all? It was the stupidest shit.

No, it's just competitive nature, man. Yeah, no, he's a shooter. But when he said... No, but listen, listen. He said... You bring your poppy out. He said the difference is we're really fans

and I couldn't argue with that. Oh, so he said that... No, he said that... That was the battle. Yeah, he said the battle. He said the difference is we're really fans and I couldn't argue with that. Oh, so he said that. No, he said that. That was the battle. Yeah, he said the battle. He said the difference is we're really fans. And the thing was I had to stop and I had to think. You know when somebody hits you with truth, as I said earlier, like it almost tastes wrong.

But when you put it in your mouth, Paul, and it tastes good, it says, you know what? This might be the truth. Yeah. This might be the truth. So. This might be the truth. So you know what I had to do? I swear to God, I had stopped. I had stopped doing shows. I went, you know what?

Because you feel like if this pop in, it could go back to the career. Yeah, I had to look at the finances and say, well, what am I doing? All right, if I don't need it, then focus on what is working. Because I was going to be seven niggas at once. I was going to be the rapper. I was going to be seven niggas at once. I was going to be the rapper. But then I said, you know what? But then I said, and I was trying to cater towards

Yacht Style or cater towards Sway or Rob Marksman or Mikey Fresh or Blockzilla or a wall. Mikey Fresh. I said Mikey Fresh. A Charlemagne.

And I said, you know what? The crazy shit about all you dudes is I'm glad I can't do your job. Because you're good at your job and you're exactly what. The thing is, I have to emphasize on being an entertainer. Right. Not a journalist. Journalist comes with me being an entertainer. Yeah. Enter a journalist. Journalist comes with me being an entertainer, entertaining you guys

and having certain notes. And certain times, I don't even have to look at the notes because I just would rather be organic with you guys. But that's where I knew I messed up.

When I was trying to entertain with you, I said, I mean, I was trying to be a journalist with you guys. That's not where we are. He's a DJ.

I'm a rapper. Right. So we should always keep it from a DJ and a rapper and that's when I said you know what everybody can eat

their own fruit everyone's eating no one needs to I don't need to you want to slip up and always like no we're moving this way I don't need

I don't I didn't at first because I'm being honest with y'all, especially in front of y'all face. At one point, I was trying to cater towards y'all style. I said, you know what? Let me try to cater towards their style. Then I looked at Charlamagne, and I said, ooh, you know what?

That's not going to work for me. Because the way Charlamagne, how he acts it, he's not going to work for me. That's my boy. That's not going to work for me. Then I looked at Joe Button, and see see Joe Button style is more or less talking about you when you're not around. Yeah. That's not my job.

My job is to talk about you when you are around. So I couldn't use his neither. I'm searching for the dudes. I'm looking at Sausage Jenkins, old interview. I'm trying to really get good. I'm trying to find your voice. I'm trying to really get good. And what I realized, my voice was already my voice.

Don't try to be a second coming of nobody. Be a second coming of N.R.R.E. Be N.R.R.E. as a motherfucking media guy. And I felt my voice. Goddamn. That was hard. So, now working for MTV. All right, now. Okay. Now, Jay-Z drops was hard. Yes. So, now working for MTV. All right, now.

Yeah. Now, Jay-Z drops an album tomorrow. Yeah. It's trash. Okay. Impossible. Look at that. That's the other biggest Jay-Z fan in the world.

You know, I always have arguments with him just to get pissed off about Jay-Z. The Jay-Z album's trash. But let's post. Let's post. Tomorrow. You know, Jay, he's with him just to get pissed off about Jay Z. The Jay Z album's trash. But let's post, let's post. Tomorrow, you know Jay, he's growing on his bricks. Yeah. His bricks. He wants to do a reggae album. Ty Ty's not talking him out of it.

Chaka's not talking him out of it. OG Wong. Desiree, no. This nigga goes out, does a reggae album, he get gold fronts from Johnny Dang and reggae colors. This nigga's, I'm whole for y'all say about my class. Do you tell whole this is trash? Do you let it come out?

Please tell him, V-Dot. Please tell him. He's going to go with that because he's going to feel it. But I'm going to be the bad cop. So he's going to play it for you prior to it coming out? Yeah. Okay. And now this is Bob McCloud.

Remember, mind you, he got Bob Marley. He halfway Bob Marley right now. So this is in the Rap Radar mansion now. Yeah, yeah. Let's just stay in Malibu. Okay, we stay in Mal the Rap Radar Mansion. Yeah, yeah. Oh, let's just, let's just stay in Malibu. Okay, we stay in Malibu.

We in Malibu still. You in Malibu, Rap Radar Mansion, the new Rap Radar Mansion in Malibu. Yeah. Paul comes in and you know from his swag,

he just left Kingston. Okay. Because he, he walked, it's a certain walk. Jigga Lion? Yeah. Certain walk.

So he comes in. Okay. Jigga Lion? I don't know why certain one. So he comes in. Okay. J. Lion? I don't know why he has a tape cassette, but he has a tape cassette. Okay. And he puts it in. Tape cassette. And you guys are listening.

Uh-huh. Jigga Lion? This is the greatest rapper of all time now. He's going to start bowling. He's also a guy who cuts the checks. Right. How do you tell the y'all that this not it? I told Jay, you gotta relax.

You gotta relax. You can tell him this shit. The thing that's great about Jay is you can tell him, he'll be like, fuck you, you don't know what you're talking about. Hit you back with some real shit. So it's not about nobody can tell him it's not the right thing, but I had that with Snoop when Snoop did the whole Snoop Lion shit. I didn't connect to that.

You wasn't feeling the reincarnation. I wasn't feeling Snoop Lion. Documentary helped a little bit. And the thing is, when Snoop did Snoop Lion, the guy who helped a little bit. Rob Markman, the guy who helped a little bit. Rob Markman, the guy who helped a little bit. Rob Markman, the guy who helped a little bit. Rob Markman, the guy who helped a little bit. Rob Markman, the guy who helped a little bit. Rob Markman, the guy who helped a little bit. Rob Markman, the guy who helped a little bit.

Rob Markman, the guy who helped a little bit. Rob Markman, the guy who helped a little bit. Rob Markman, the guy who helped a little bit. Rob Markman, the guy who helped a little bit. Rob Markman, the guy who helped a little bit. Rob Markman, the guy who helped a little bit. Rob Markman, the guy who helped a little bit. Rob Markman, the guy who helped a little bit.

Rob Markman, the guy who helped a little bit. Rob Markman, the guy who helped a little bit. Rob Markman, the guy who helped a little bit. Rob Markman, the guy who helped a little bit. Rob Markman, the guy who helped a little bit. Rob Markman, the guy who helped a little bit. Rob Markman, the guy who helped a little bit. Rob Markman, the guy who helped a little bit. Rob Markman, the guy who helped a little bit. Rob Markman, the guy who helped a little bit. Rob Markman, the guy who helped a little bit. Ooh, Jasmine Town? Yeah, that's a classic. I'm surprised you brought that up, but that's a classic.

That was his first. That was my reggaeton when I started doing reggaeton. Like, I've been so far to the gangsta, I don't get their props. But we can talk about reggaeton, though. I always get mad because people get at you because knowing your reggaeton. It wasn't bad.

And now look at everybody doing reggaeton now. Everybody wants Jay Howman. Everybody wants Jay Howman. Holy fuck. Those niggas. Give me the alley-oop. Throw me the alley-oop. Throw me the alley-oop. Boom wants Jay Howard. Holy fuck. Don't stick it. Get me out of here. Don't be out of here. Don't be out of here.

Boom! Boom! Look, look. Now everybody listen, listen, listen. I lost my whole career at one point. When I fucking did Oye Mi Caldo, listen, my friend. I told you, I didn't like it. Hold on, get you next.

I'll get you next. One of my best friends, Fat Joe, called me and said, stop it. Really? Stop it right now. Wow. Fuck these guys. Do not continue with this. My other friend to the left of me walked in the room and said, I don't fuck with that shit.

No, that's not the way it happened. In my mind, it did. No, I went to Hood Lab in New York. I was hanging out. Oh, this is in New York. Hood, that's not the way it happened. In my mind it did. Nah, I went to a hood lab in New York. Circular? I was hanging out. Oh, this was in New York. No, hood lab in New York. I was filming.

We was always filming. And then you did a verse and it sounded. I said, this guy, drunk. He's taking it. He's taking it. And when I turned the camera, I said, nah, it's my next album. I was like, oh.

Do you think it was just a product of bad timing? Definitely. Okay. You know what? You know what? It's so bad to pat myself on the back. Yeah. But I was ahead of my time.

You weren't ready for it. The thing was, I went... We was banned from Hot 97. Right. CNN. CNN was banned from Hot 97. I went clacker clacker in front of the building. Who shoots out a radio station?

I was not there by the way. Where were you? I was on the Suressa Highway. Okay. But we were banned from Hot 97. Now you got me one there. I was definitely there. Thank God for traffic.

Yeah, thank God for traffic. So I was banned from Hot 97 and the only way they could reintroduce us was through this reggae thing. So we did a reggae with Rain Wonder and Lexus. Girl, you wanna take my life? Look at Jamaica, look at you, look at you. So that was how they started to reintroduce us. So I knew when I got to Jamaica, I loved this island.

It was just one problem. This just isn't my island. I love the island life. Jamaica taught me the island life. I just knew that a part of me belonged somewhere else. The island life period, Jamaica taught me it. Like that was the first time I said, you know what? I'm going to fall in love with the island.

But I just knew it wasn't mine. So I had to go to mine. And I winded up in Puerto Rico. And when I winded up in Puerto Rico, I found this amazing music that no one fucked with in America. So I got back to... and I couldn't believe DJ Enough and Camilo and these guys wasn't playing it. Rob Markman, That's crazy. Rob Markman, But I looked like a hit to them when I'm saying that. I'm like, yo, you got to play Daddy Yankee. They're like, who? Daddy Yankee. This is it.

Yo, this guy, they go, God, they're rolling. It's the shit. They're like, who? There you go. And then, all no more. They're like, yo, these names are wild. Yeah, yeah. And at that time, the names sound wild to me.

Absolutely. But you know why? But you had seen it. You know why? I saw it with Pharrell. And I'm going to be honest with you. I brung Pharrell to Jay. I brung Pharrell to Nas.

And they both had this similar story. One asked why his shirt was so tight, and the other asked why his choker was so tight. You're right. A lot of tightness. Forget which one was which, but then two years later after Oh No, because remember, Perot didn't just blow up

after Superdog. A lot of people think that what came out and he went home. People thought we were both lucky. People didn't rush towards him at first.

People were just like, oh, okay. And then Oh No came out and that's when Mystical came with. Back your ass. Yeah, right. So Mystical No came out, then that's when Mystical came with. Back your ass! Yeah, right. So Mystical was the first one,

and then the big dogs came. But I'm all over the place right now. I want to say something having to do with reggaeton, because I went to Puerto Rico years before it popped off here. Latin rap? Yeah.

This is my perspective on it. Being Latino. Here, when I was doing my stuff, everybody's like, oh, you don't do no Latin rap. Nah, I speak English. I was born in America. I don't speak fucking Spanish. But then I went to Puerto Rico and they was doing straight up hip hop in Spanish. And my boy, Echo, shout out to producer, big reggaeton producer as well, he took me to

a spot and it was reggaeton. And all I could see was Murder, She Wrote looped. That's it. That's it. No, he played Spanish speaking patois. That's all I saw. It's Murder, She Wrote and Flex.

Flex. Flex. I said, this is wack. This is wack as fuck, but everybody's dancing, but I said, this is wack. And then my boy tells me, this is going to take over the United States. I said, bro, they don't speak Spanish in the United States like that, bro. If it wasn't for hip-hop, there wouldn't be no reggae. If it wasn't for reggae, there wouldn't be no reggaeton.

Absolutely. If it wasn't for no reggaeton, you won't have Joanna. Joanna. You won't have none of that. You won't have island music. Now, but real quick, this is my opinion on reggaeton for all Latinos. It became an economic thing. Yeah.

Because all the big reggaetoneros in the beginning, Daddy Yankee, Tego Calderon, they are ill lyricists in Spanish. Mm. Doing boom bap in Spanish.

Well, when he was, in the beginning, his name wasn't Daddy Yankee, his name was Winchester. And he was, and that's when he was, and fuck him with

Tony Touch mixtape. Yeah, that's when he was a spender. So what I'm trying to say is this. Daddy Yankee's his reggaeton. What started happening, that's his two chains. The tourist side of the island or the country, wherever they went in Latin America, they

wanted to hear regga. That's the dance. You need dance music. Yeah, right. And they was like, oh shit. It started in Puerto Rico and then it started to spread. It became an economic thing. So when I travel to these different countries, there's a battle in Latin America versus hip

hop and reggaeton and now the trap music, which is kind of like the reggaeton mimicking. Absolutely. A different thing. And it's an economic thing versus art form and it's like a battle versus what we talk about all day, every day. Hip hop, boom bap versus new this and that. That's what's going on.

That's the beauty of that, Nor being a pioneer. Oye Mekanto's playing somewhere right now. It's like I Love Lucy. It's playing somewhere in the world right now. I need to brag. Okay. It's a fact. Let me just tell you something, man.

You made careers. You made careers. Let me just tell you something, man. You made a sky. Shout out to Skrulls. You got to tell the Tego guys their own story with Oye Mi Canto. What? Because I don't think you've ever really told it.

That it was a mixtape version. Let's go, E-Phil. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're going to save it for a Latin version. He's not going really told it. That it was a mixtape version. Let's go, Ethan. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're going to save it for a Latin version. He's not going to say it. He's not going to say it. A Latin version. We're going to keep it here. We're going to keep it here.

We're going to keep it here. We're going to keep it here. This contact is for you. So you guys. Smoke champs. Yeah, yes. That's what it is. That's what you call the show.

It ain't the liquor. It's the smoke. You guys leave. It depends on the day. You guys' contract is going up with day. Nah, I'm talking. You guys, contract is going up with CBS. Yeah, we out. CBS, you guys' contract is going up with CBS.

I like knowing he's focused. Switch it up. How do we figure out we're going to keep it cultural and stay with the culture? Because you guys blew up. You just had the Jay-Z interview. You just had the Will Smith interview. Technically, just over those two interviews alone, and countless of other classic interviews, but those two interviews alone, anybody will come and say, I would like to buy this content.

I would like to... How do you choose title? Those episodes were on title. And our CBS contract was coming to a close, whatever the terms were. And Elliot was just like, he just felt different. The money was just too inconsistent. Rob Markman, Jr.: CBS wanted 50% or something like that. Rob Markman, Jr.: It was a whole bunch of money.

Rob Markman, Jr.: They got to relax. Rob Markman, Jr.: And at the time, I'm thankful, right? Rob Markman, Jr.: They didn't take 50% from us though. Rob Markman, Jr.: No, they wanted it though. Remember when we kept going? Rob Markman, Jr.: Wow. Whatever money we were getting, I was happy. If you give me a nickel, I got a fucking nickel.

But Elliott saw a dollar, and I was like, yo, let's cool this nickel. But I guess Tidal, he had a new situation over there and he was like, I think I'm going to bring it over there. Rob Markman, It took a while to bring over Tidal. It made sense. Rob Markman, Because we got to blow Tidal up. Because the thing about it is we all have Apple. We all have Apple.

And I said this before, I don't want people to think this is a racial thing when I say this. Rob Markman, No, we love all the DSPs. Because, you know, I love Larry Jackson over at Apple. Good dude. Good dude. Shout out to Larry Jackson. Shout out to Larry. Good dude.

Carl Cherry. Love Carl. Shout out to Carl. Love. Tuma over at YouTube. These are all my people. Good people. The thing is, when I say this, I'm not saying it's dissing their positions or dissing the companies they work for.

But I like the fact that I can hit ho. I like the fact. You did records with this guy, though. I did one record with him. It was an R. Kelly record. I'm not proud of it. We ride. We ride.

We ride. I like, you know, I like, you know, I was about to say, I like R. Kelly. You got me fucked up. You're big up to Sean Papers. We've been smoking a blunt all night. Speak up to my people, 20, 20 and I. Smokechamps.com. You know, Sean Papers, you know, we doing it.

And what the fuck else we on? My full title. And Smokechamps, make sure you, what was I talking about? Come on, I was into that. I said Jay-Z and. I like the fact that I could call my CEO. That right. Cameron actually said that one time.

Cameron, someone critiqued Cameron after he had left, what is it, Epic or was it... Entertainment. Entertainment. Sony. Sony. Sony. And he had signed to Jay-Z. And I remember Cameron saying something and it hit me for pause.

It hit me in a way I had never been hit prior to that. Pause again? Hit in a pause. Hit in a pause. I mean. I mean, if you're in that pause mode. I'm not saying hit. I'm not saying hit.

That's a pause. But I'm saying hit. I never thought you got hit before. So the way it hit me, he said, I like the fact that he can call his CEO. And when he said that, I said, oh shit. And here's the thing. Drink Champs had became a thing that people talked about, didn't understand. Anybody who critiqued our Nas interview, that was the 169th episode.

You never seen 168. Because we big up our artists. We didn't do nothing abnormal. We've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've

seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've seen, we've We're certain companies, because there was one subscription company who came at us. Rob Markman, Relax. Rob Markman, A subscription company. Rob Markman, Yeah. Rob Markman, And when a subscription company came out and they offered me- Rob Markman, You can edit it. You're on the screen. Rob Markman, No, no, no. We don't want it.

We don't want it. Rob Markman, We don't like it. Rob Markman, So when they came, I said, I paused. I said, hmm, what would be the difference if we do it there and if we do it here? So I called Charlamagne one day. Title was not in the equation. This was just their situation and the Massapil. And I said, yo, what would you think?

And he said, you know, sometimes when the culture blow up, the culture always get outside the culture. I'm not mad if the culture keep it culture. And it was the most simplest thing for me to do in the world. And the thing was, I liked the fact that our bosses look like us. If they were, I don't mind calling them a boss. I don't give a fuck. I told that Dame Dash.

I don't give a fuck. Wait, wait, what? Wait, what? You happy? Dash said, who's your boss? What you want? What? Oh my God, you guys are- Right, right.

What did the J say? What's your employer name? What's the hair piece? Yeah, the hair piece. I like the fact that the guy who I'm working with looks like me. I like the fact the guy that I do business with to get my thing on television looks like me. He dances as well. He wears shiny suits.

Shiny suits. I like the fact that when you hear us, it comes from a guy that if it wasn't for his career, I might not even be here anyway. Right. That's crazy. I wasn't rhyming like that before Illmatic. I had to change my whole shit up.

I think we all had to change our shit up after L-matic. I think even Jay would say that. I think Jay did say that. Did he say that on the record? He said, I thought we was all done. All I had, yeah, was on Blueprint 3. So I like the fact, and there's certain people who will come and say, well that's Illuminati. That's retarded.

What do you say to people like that? You know, they say like Jay-Z, Illuminati. Rob Markman, they say that because you on- I'm not that rich yet. Rob Markman, because you on MTV and you on Tidal. Nah, this is the first. They know why I'm saying Illuminati. Rob Markman, you're kidding me.

Yeah, man. Rob Markman, but what was the ritual you did? Rob Markman, the ritual you did for Illuminati. What is the ritual? Come on, this show. Yeah, man. But what was the ritual you did? The ritual you did for the Illuminati. The ritual? Come on, this show. Yo, you fucked me up.

What? That's not a ritual. Do you believe there's something called blackballing? Like, I asked Nas this. Blackballing? Yeah, I asked Nas this. But think about it when you say it. OK, hold on. I asked Nas there's something called blackballing? Like I asked Nas this. Blackball? Yeah. I asked Nas this. But think about it when he said it. OK, hold on.

I asked Nas this, something called blackballing. And I think he gave the most best answer. I'll take another shot at the tag ball. The most best answer. I won't. Yeah, don't have to. You can take it one more time. I'll pass.

The most, I'll wait for Elliott. Oh my god. Oh, no, it's not even. OK. He gave the most best answer. He said, if there's such thing as blackballing, would you let them blackball you? Now he flipped it though. But that's not true.

In 2019, if you got wifi, you can't be blackballed, man. You can't be blackballed. I don't believe so neither. If you got a Twitter account, an Instagram, you can't be blackballed, man. So unless those companies blackball you. It's hard for them to blackball you, man. Right. So, unless those companies blackball you. It's hard. It's hard for you to blackball you in this era.

Yeah. Because, again, you have a certain direct line to the consumer. Right. Back then, we had to go through direct companies.

There was no SoundCloud. Like, Freddie Gibbs left GZ and did well off for himself. Like, a lot of times back in the days, you leave this company and they'll

quote-unquote blackball you. Everybody gets blackballed means it's going to make it hard for you 50 had to go through that and he overcame it so but this is what i think it is and you correct me if you think it is right if i say if i say i don't fuck with elliot right that's not the moment all right so that right so it's not that i'm calling him saying don't fuck with elliot yeah i'm saying it publicly i don't fuck with elliot that's saying it publicly, I don't fuck with Elliot. That's the climate. He has to make his choice.

The climate is harder than fucking with Elliot. It's not that I'm calling him or calling B.Dot and saying, yo, B.Dot, if you stand next to Elliot, it means you got beef. I'm not doing that. The thing is, you're standing next to him and you know that that's your choice you made. You created a climate. Yeah, because I'm trying to tell somebody. I'm trying to tell an individual. They're just like, yo, because I know niggas don I'm trying to tell an individual. They're just like, yo,

I know niggas don't want me on a drink chat. I'm like, stop it, man. Listen, man. You got to stop. I've never had a conversation with Jay about you. I've never had a conversation with Puff about you. I've never had a conversation with him. I'm just starting to do business with these people.

But the thing is, you think I'm getting in a room with a billionaire and I'm talking about you? I gotta figure out who this rapper is, right? No, it's not a rapper. Let's leave it alone. The thing about it is,

so many people who lose in life, and I'm not calling this person a loser, but so many people who lose in life, that's what they blame it on. They say that the reason why B-Dot is winning or the reason why B-Dot is on MTV is because he's a part of Illuminati. That makes me feel successful, man.

For you to even say that, that makes me feel successful. I'm in Illuminati? You even think that? I can't even get verified on Twitter. You're signing to Jay-Z, brother. Yes, yes. They, I'm in Illuminati. You would think that? I can't even get verified on Twitter. You're signed to Jay-Z, brother. Like, yes, yes. They think you're in Illuminati. Yes.

This is the first time you heard that? Yes. All right. I'm bringing it to your forefront, brother. This is the... Yeah. Yeah. And look, they say it about me.

And at first, I used to be flattered. Wow. Because I used to be like, all right, that means I'm up. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. But now that I'm actually up and they keep going with it, I don't like up. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. But now that I'm actually up and they see Cohen with it, I don't like it. Wow.

Because I feel like they're taking away from my success. I feel like what you're saying, I ain't work hard. We got 160 fucking episodes for a reason. You know, we out here, I'm out here with five fucking gold fucking platinum albums for a reason. This man has been DJing for fucking 25 years and won't even touch a fucking crate unless it's vinyl because he's fucking for real for a reason. You don't do vinyls. Like, yeah, this nigga's

a stubborn guy. So you're like going to the club with Chris? No, you're not. I just say that. I believe it though. You know what I'm saying? I'm keeping it real. Like, we here. Like, this is what I'm saying. It's like, um, and when they say that, in the man. Rob Markman, the man. Rob Markman, the man. Rob Markman, the man.

Rob Markman, the man. Rob Markman, the man. Rob Markman, the man. Rob Markman, the man. Rob Markman, the man. Rob Markman, the man. Rob Markman, the man. Rob Markman, the man.

Rob Markman, the man. Rob Markman, the man. Rob Markman, the man. Rob Markman, the man. Rob Markman, the man. Rob Markman, the man. Rob Markman, the man. Rob Markman, the man.

Rob Markman, the man. Rob Markman, the man. Rob Markman, the man. Rob Markman, the man. Rob Markman, the man. Rob Markman, the man. Rob Markman, the man. Rob Markman, the man. We happen to do business with all three because the business made sense, not because we're down with anything. And these niggas have no control over our shit. That's one of the things that we said. We're not changing a damn thing.

We're still going to smoke weed. We're still going to smoke the 2020 smoke camps with the white shit around it that looks like cocaine. That's not cocaine. It's not a product of its own. It's CBD. And we're smoking it out of shine papers. Pick up the shine papers. And we're going to be smoking Blaze. We're going to be smoking 2029 Loss. We're going to be drinking Ciroc. We're going to be drinking

Ace of Spades. We usually have Ace of Spades. Sorry, Hove, today. How you still going to do cocaine? No, listen. Listen, you know that's going to take a week to come here. I can't buy it. But I couldn't. Listen, Ace is serious, man. I'm being honest. I need to have a conversation with Juan and Desiree. And Lil J.

And Lil J. And Lil J. And Lil J. And Lil J. And Lil J. And Lil J. And Lil J. And Lil J.

And Lil J. And Lil J. And Lil J. And Lil J. And Lil J. And Lil J. And Lil J. And Lil J. And Lil J. And Lil J. And Lil J. Yeah, we got to do something. You just say so yourself. Because we want this shit to be a rap you. Rabu.

Eh? What the fuck? He's speaking in tongues. Rappers for us, by us, nigga. Rabu. Rabu. Rabu. We want to be Rabu, man.

And we want y'all to know, brothers, you know, I thank y'all. I'm so glad that you brothers came and sat down with us because a lot of people thought that this was a competition or beef and things like that. And the thing is, I welcomed it because I needed it. I needed it to be put in my place. I needed to be put it on my toes. Pause.

I needed to... No, because... Where are your toes going to pause, bro? Yeah, because the thing about it is... The thing about it is... If anything comes easy to me in life, I don't want it. Like, I don't know how to roll a blunt because it's not easy. Like, I want't know how to roll a blunt because it's not easy. Like, I want, you know, I want to work for it.

And the thing was, you guys was rap radar. You guys was establishing what was going on. It was the biggest thing. And then we came to CBS, and it probably felt a little crazy. It felt crazy. It did? It did. Shout out to God for giving it to us.

And let me tell you what what was the first thing was the time when we interviewed tax stone and we interviewed cedar god we had rolled weed and the guy and then the next day they said champagne yeah yeah yeah i had proper cardio yeah and it was like the rap radar guy said you guys can't be rolling weed in here that wasn't even true yeah they did brian didn't tell us that's a lie that wasn't even true that wasn't even true. Yeah, they did. Brian did tell us that. That's a lie. That wasn't even true. That wasn't true. He said y'all was highly upset with us. They was highly upset. I just was like, yo, niggas in the building.

They can smoke all the weed you want. Yo, but let me tell you something. B.Dot, Brian, B.Dot Miller, Elliot Wilson, I want to thank you guys. I want to thank you guys for coming through here. Thank you. I want to thank you guys for doing what you do in hip hop. I want to thank you guys for I want to thank you guys for coming through here. I want to thank you guys for doing what you do in hip-hop. I want to thank you guys for holding down what you do in hip-hop. I want to thank you guys for doing reporting journalism the way it's supposed to be.

I want to thank you guys for motherfucking monkey-footing this game and not stopping. I want to thank you guys for upping the game and going out there and getting the Jay-Z and getting the Will Smith and getting the fuck you got to do and making sure your interview is on point to make sure that my shit is on point because I watch every one of your motherfucking shit to make sure that I can step it up. And I want to thank you in your face, not behind your back, to tell you we appreciate what you do for the culture. We appreciate what you do for the podcast game and we appreciate what you're doing for

Tidal because we're going to make this shit the new Apple. Hold on. Last shot. Last shot. I got a shot. what you're doing for a title, because we're going to make this shit the new Apple. Hold on, last shot, last shot. I got a shot, y'all have to take a shot. Do Casamigos. Come on, EFN, do Casamigos, EFN. Nah, I'm not doing fucking title right now. Y'all better take those big ass shots, though.

I've been noticing. Y'all niggas been going crazy. I'm in, Salo. Yo, Salo, Thank you so much. Man, that was like a four-hour conversation. The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration in the United States. Recipients have done the improbable, the unexpected, showing immense bravery and sacrifice in the name of

something much bigger than themselves. This medal is for the men who went down that day. On Medal of Honor, Stories of Courage, you'll hear about these heroes and what their stories tell us about the nature of bravery. Listen to Medal of Honor on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A lot of times, big economic forces show up in our lives in small ways. Four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. Small but important ways. From tech billionaires to the bond market to, yeah, banana pudding.

If it's happening in business, our new podcast is on it. I'm Max Chastain. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Your gut microbiome and those healthy bacteria can actually have positive effects, your mental health, your immunity, your risk of cancer, almost any disease under the sun. This week on Dope Labs, Titi and I dive into the world of probiotics, the hype, the science, and what your gut bacteria are really doing behind the scenes. From drinks and gummies to probiotic pillows. Yes, really, probiotic pillows. We're breaking

down what's legit and what's just brilliant marketing. With expert insight from gastroenterologist Dr. Roshi Raj. Listen to Dope Labs 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. He was out of his mind,

and he wanted to bring the Catholic left to its knees. You can now binge all 10 episodes of Divine Intervention on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart Podcast.