Drink Champs - Episode 215 "Quarantine Champs Ep.6" w/ D-Nice & Gillie Da Kid

Episode Date: June 12, 2020

N.O.R.E. & DJ EFN are the Drink Champs. In this episode the #QuarantineChamps chop it up with D-Nice and Gillie Da Kid.Drink Champs Alumni Gillie Da Kid joins The Champs for some drinks as he talks Major Figgas, shares his favorite MC's coming out of Philly right now and shares the story of battling Mysonne in front of JAY Z.Gillie also shares how he created his own podcast "Million Dollaz Worth of Game" and how it landed him a deal with Barstool Sports and more.The Champs enter Club Quarantine and join D-Nice as he shares his origin story, producing early on for BDP (Boogie Down Productions) and how his friendship with Chris Lighty changed his life. D-Nice shares how he reinvented his career, expanding his brand and creating a photography and web development company.D-Nice also shares stories of DJing at President Obama's Inaugural Ball and how he created the popular Club Quarantine and the pressures that come with it.Lots of great stories from Gillie Da Kid and D-Nice that you don't want to miss!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. Why is a soap opera Western like Yellowstone so wildly successful? The American West with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th, where we'll delve into stories of the West and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today. Listen to The American West with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. And it's going to take us to heal us. It's Mental Health Awareness Month,

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Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. AT&T, connecting changes everything. 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 drink chest motherfucking podcast he's a legendary queens rapper hey hey segway that's your boy n-o-r-e he's a miami hip-hop pioneer one of his dj efn together they drink it up with some of the biggest players in the most professional, unprofessional podcast, and your number one source for drunk facts. This is Drink Champs motherfucking podcast, where every day is New Year's

Eve. It's time for Drink Champs. Drink up, motherfuckers. What it good be? Hopefully it's what it should be. This is your boy N-O-R-E. What up? It's DJ E-F-N. And this is Drink Champs motherfucking podcast.

Make some noise! Quarantine champs. Quarantine champs. Right now, I knew this guy right now 20 years, man. I couldn't be prouder of what he doing, what he accomplished in him. I believe it's his cousin, Wallo. You know what I mean? Representing for Philadelphia. It's about time Philadelphia got on the map.

It's like only at one time, something from Philly could be happening. It's like, you know, you got the BD wave, you got the state property wave, and then, you know, and then you hit the meal waves, and now you got the motherfucking million dollar podcast. Motherfucking way.

Make some noise. Hey, Noy, first of all, man, I want to tell you thank you, man. You was the first person to put me on your podcast. I didn't even know what a podcast was. I was like, just come up. We're going to talk some shit. Right. You know?

So, really, I mean, I commend y'all, man, for showing us the way, man, that, you know, you can really get some money out of this shit because we didn't really truly understand it. But now we just understand that y'all was really ahead of the curve, man, years in advance, man. And we was out here slipping and shit. So what was the decision for you to even start it? You know what i'm saying like um well you know since i since i started giving out me and oscar for game back in 2012 and shit right people always even before wallow came home people always used to be like you need a podcast gilly you need a podcast you

need a podcast all the time but i didn't know what that shit was. And I did yours, but I still didn't understand how you get money from this shit. You know what I'm saying? And then a post came across my page that said, Spotify allocates $421 million towards podcasts

last year. And I was like, nigga, what? That's all you needed to see. That's all I needed to break them fucking mics out. Let's get this shit popping. And 10 months,

we had a deal. For people that, because I know that Joe, he has spoken on this a little bit. Me and you spoke on it off the air. I believe there was somebody that started the podcast with y'all. What happened? Just so our viewers can know and no one can have a discrepancy of what's going on.

What happened was me and Waldo decided to start a podcast, right? So this guy had a facility that he shot podcasts out like a podcast studio studio so it was like okay so we came in you know basically how much you want a month to shoot your pocket to shoot the podcast here gave us a number okay we pay. He was doing our sound. If you go to the first episodes, he wasn't on the episodes. He was a he was a he was he record our sound. You feel what I'm saying? Engineer. Yeah. And then after after the show, he put a little mix on it and then he sent it to somebody that's going to upload it to Buzzsprout for us. Right. the buzzsprout for us. You feel what I'm saying? And about episode five, maybe, the cameraman came in

and set a microphone in front of him. Me and Wallo looked at each other, but from time to time, we might say, yes or no, Dev. He'd be like, I gotta agree with Gilly. But he'd be off camera. You feel what I'm saying?

But this time, he put a camera in front of him like he wanted to be a part of the show. But he'd be off camera. You feel what I'm saying? But this time he put a camera in front of him like he wanted to be a part of it. He had a mic on him. Yeah, he put a camera in front of him. Oh, he put a camera too in front of him? No, the cameraman. He wasn't the cameraman. The camera guy came in and put a camera in front of him. Oh, shit. Okay. Me and Wildo looked.

You know, and then we let it live. So it went from you not really talking at first you just saying yeah i believe yeah i feel like wild low till you started talking more then you started talking more and then when we did the bar the deal with barstool we went to them we offered them a certain amount of money like here you go bro you work 96 hours a week here go x amount of money for the year you feel what I'm saying? This still don't come in between what you got

Going on, because it's only 96 Hours out of the week, one hour you Talking for an hour, and then you mixing Shit down for 20 minutes, and then you sending It over And for some reason he Thought he deserved 15% of my company And I was like, what?

Wow So, you know, that's how that And I was like, what? Wow. So, you know, that's how they went. Because I can explain to people, like, you know, because a lot of people don't understand that you guys can start something, you know, grassroots where it's just everybody that's down for it and then a situation like this could occur. How can people avoid that in future references?

Well, at the end of the day, at the end of the day, when everything, everybody else that we had on the team is happy. You feel what I'm saying? So it's just that a lot of times you cannot let people that's around you get in your fucking head. You feel what I'm saying? And get in your mind. And because one of the comments and motherfucker made was in order for me to know how much I'm supposed to make, I need to know how much you make it.

Wow. Oh, wow. That don't even sound right in any kind of way. And my response was, okay, when you came on board, you had 6,000 followers. Right. I had 1 million followers. So do me a favor, can you divide 6,000 into 1 million?

And what's that, about 80-something? That's how much more I make it than your goofy ass. 80-something times more than your goofy ass. That's what I'm talking about. Right. But did you see this coming? But wait, Nori, just to be clear, because I think that sometimes when you're saying the follower thing, someone might get confused and say, oh, maybe this person, they think they're a celebrity, this, that. i think it's just easy like this is your podcast you started the podcast right he was hired

help like you you you was renting studio like if it's like if a studio you go to says oh i own your music now nah i rented the studio and you got an engineer and that's what it is you know absolutely then then then anytime we got did live shows he got paid for live shit right right you feel what i'm saying so for us it was like this is this is not even something to think about like you feel what i'm saying like this is not this is this is easy mathematics bro like but he didn't see it that way you So it was like, okay, cool. People get fired every day. It ain't no harsh feelings or nothing.

You know what I'm saying? That's just a part of life. See, what people don't understand is, well, our podcast is not just driven off our podcast. It's driven off our social media and all that we do on social media as well. Because me and Dalai Lama had his own following.

He has his own following. And even what you're saying right now, right, right. I know motherfuckers that never met you before and they liked and they'd be like, right. And I'd just be looking at them like, yeah, it was your personality already on social media doing it before you was doing a podcast. Absolutely. So me and Dalai Lama

podcast is just a spinoff from me giving out game on my Instagram. That's why it took off so fast because it wasn't something that needed to be built up. You had to get used to the name. You've seen it every day. Right. Every day you woke up, I was giving you some game. And the people was demanding it. We need a podcast.

So the spin-off from it was so easy. It was easy to adapt. Right. Now, have y'all during quarantine, I see y'all recording. Y'all still recording, right? Y'all in face with it. Y'all ain't do this Zoom shit we doing, right? No, we ain't doing no Zoom. Hey, hey, hey.

Don't joke. Hey, we told motherfuckers you better stay away from motherfuckers. Right, right. Yo, so because Philly, Philly, did y'all get hit with it hard or not, the Corona thing? Yeah, really Jersey, though. Okay, Jersey, yeah. Yeah. Philly got hit with it, too, but Jersey really got hit with it.

Right. Now, who's the dude that you had on the podcast the other day that Meek Mill knocked his bitch down? Oh, that was Tony, ex-NFL player. Used to play for the Seattle Seahawks. He from Philadelphia. And, you know, man, niggas, bitches get fucked every day. Yo, Meek almost tried to deny it, though. I don't know if you've seen Meek tweet.

Meek was like, who boy, girl? I ain't trying to deny it, though. I don't know if you've seen Meek tweet. Meek was like, who boy girl? I ain't trying to deny it almost. Hey, well, he definitely know Meek's slam dances, bitch. You know that for sure. I respect the fact that he still listen to Meek. You know, he ain't

hold it to heart like that. Now, one guy I seen you kicking it, I couldn't tell where it was going I couldn't tell what was happening And I believe that's Young Chop Yeah Now what is your relationship with Young Chop

I seen y'all kicking it And I seen it go far Is that for real Or is this an internet thing Because you know I'm 40 I'm a little different I don't be knowing You know what I mean? I'm a little different. I don't be knowing.

You know what? Like, actually, I met Young Chop a few times. And, you know, he always been cool. He always been, you know, just a laid back type of nigga, just cool as shit. And you didn't see him on my page and just said, let me tell you, let me holler at Chop, man, real quick. What's up, nigga? I ain't had no idea he was going to do that shit. You know what I'm saying?

So then they started talking, you know, about Meek Mill, Soft, and you know, French Montana, and I'm like, that shit threw me off for a minute. I had to say, come on, Chop, I got to get you off here, man. You're talking crazy. Now, ask

him, because you know, you're fairly, you're fairly what? Six months, eight months into the podcast? How long? We're a year in. Oh, a year in? Okay.

Congrats. Congrats. Let's make some noise for that, man. Add the sound to it. So look, have you ever, what's your biggest discrepancies so far? Like, you ever gotten to drama so far? Anybody ever got mad at you? Anybody? You know what I mean? No, I ain't really never had

nobody I don't think get mad at me. They might not like something I say, but other than that, I don't really think I don't get people mad at me. That's not my objective. I don't really talk about people like that. I just more give out me. That's not my objective. I don't really talk about people like that. I just more give out game. That's God's attention, motivation, and education. You feel what I'm saying? They will get mad at you.

Don't worry. Don't worry. Yeah, yeah. He definitely put me up on that. No, I thought it was dope. I thought it was dope that Joe even commented on you guys, right? And I thought that it was ill that you responded back, but I wanted you to know that

you're supposed to be talked about. When you live in this world, honestly, if a person's not talking about you, and it's dope that it's Joe. It's dope that he got a big platform as well. You know what I mean? Absolutely. But it's enough for all of us to have. You know what it is? I know that it's enough for all of us to have. You know what it is? I know that

Joe's a sneaky, tricky type motherfucker. And you know, I just was on live with Joe and we busting it up. You know, one thing about me, Nori, I don't have no problem with

salute the motherfucker, man. You know what I mean? I want to salute you. I don't want motherfucker, man. You know what I mean? I want to salute you. I don't want to shoot you. You feel what I'm saying? I want to eat with you. I ain't trying to compete with you. You feel what I'm saying?

Everybody got their own lane. You got your lane. He got his lane. I got my lane. You know, everybody got their own lane, man. For me, it's like I didn't send joe a message through through instagram yo i preach no we was on live we was in front of my followers we was in front of his followers and i told him i salute you man i salute nori man i salute tax to him y'all showed me the way yeah y'all showed

me that damn you can get some money out of this shit because I didn't see it. So I'm the type of nigga that salutes you and then you turn around and it's like, and the thing that was most really hurtful is that nothing y'all saying is real. So it's like, Joe, like, yeah, the first 86 episodes, the dev was on. I'm like, bro, we only on episode 60. So let me ask you, because I really wasn't following. Was Dev doing interviews with other niggas saying this, though? No. Uh-uh.

Because we couldn't have been on episode 86 or 89. No, I'm saying, was Dev doing interviews and just speaking about y'all's situation? Yeah, he did an interview speaking about our situation. But at the end of the day, what they were saying wasn't what not even what Dev was saying.

You know what I'm saying? A lot of this shit was just out of left field. So I'm like, damn, if you're going to talk about a person's situation, at least try to get some facts. And Rory started it off like, if I'm saying something wrong, well, if you're saying something wrong, then you're not supposed to be saying nothing at all

because you don't know. You feel what I'm saying? I talked to Maul. I talked to Rory. Shout out to both of them. I respect the fact that they both reached out to me like men because at the end of the day, we grown men. If somebody feels some type of way, respect the fact that they both reached out to me like men, because at the end of the day, we grown men. If

somebody feels some type of way with me, I'm going to reach out to them. If they feel disrespected and I see where they're coming from, I have no problem with saying, you know what, I see where you're coming from, bro. I apologize to you for taking it that way. I could see how you took it that way, but I didn't feel that way.

That's not how I was saying it. I could respect that. And we're going to see another day. You feel me? Yo, listen, real quick. Just based off of you saying that you didn't really first see the podcast movement and we started doing it. And then you kind of saw it when you saw the Spotify deal. I'm trying, like, I'm analyzing this new Joe Rogan deal.

Are you guys paying attention to this Joe Rogan deal? What they said, 100 million, 100 million. But that's not the hundred million is not what you need to pay attention to. Do you know what Spotify made 48 hours after announcing that deal? Five billion, five billion dollars. It's a game changer And I think all of us need to take note Of what that means

For all of us in this space Just give me 35 That's what I'm saying We don't need 100 million We need to understand what that means for our value Based on what we're doing Just give me 29 a year But talk about your barstool. This gives me $20 a year. But talk about your barstool sports.

What is it, barstool? Barstool, absolutely. Those are some big dudes. How did these guys even approach you? What was going on? Well, a lot of companies was approaching us. You know what I'm saying? Pardon me for cutting you off.

Y'all was independent at first? Yeah. 100%. 100%. Wow. Go ahead. That's dope. 100%.

So we had all the numbers. You feel what I'm saying? We charted every week. You feel what I'm saying? On Apple, we got the numbers as far as YouTube. So people was coming in

with barstool. And shout out to Dave and Erica, man, because since we've been there, it ain't been nothing but good to us, man. So shout out to Dave and Erica. You know, they came, and we sat down, and we made it happen. It was really quick.

It didn't take a lot. You know what I'm saying? And they've been treating us good ever since. Now, the crazy thing is, you come from, you know, Philly. You know what I'm saying? And they've been treating us good ever since. Now, the crazy thing is, you come from, you know, Philly. You know what I'm saying? You know, from back in the days. Man, you had label discrepancies and things like that.

What do you like more? Do you like rapping more? Or do you like what you're doing right now? This shit right now. See, I love rapping. All right. But this shit right here. Okay, I love rapping. Alright. But this shit right here... Okay, I'm going to let you finish.

I mean, it's kind of like rapping. Be real. Let him finish. Oh, man. This is a lot less strenuous. I'm going to say that.

I'm going to say that. I'm going to say that. I really enjoy doing this shit. And you can get your point across a little easier. See, rapping, you can say something, and the person can still misunderstand you. Right. This nigga make misunderstanding me, nigga. I don't like you. If I say it, I don't like you, nigga.

That's it. I don't got to like you. And it's a cappella. You don't need a producer. Yeah, yeah. I don't need a nigga hitting the buttons, none of that. Just fuck it. I don't need it edited up.

Just chop and screw it and then be good. The dirty version. The dirty version. Yeah. But, you know, I can't even say I miss the touring aspect because we do live shows with this shit, too. Right. I miss the recording of that hot record when you're done and you're listening to that motherfucker and you know that bitch fire.

Yeah, I miss that aspect of it. All right. All right. And that's the only thing on hip hop you miss? to that motherfucker and you know that bitch fire, yeah, I miss that aspect of it. And that's the only thing on hip-hop you miss? Like, I mean, making music? Or being a part of music gang? Yeah, because you can't say this is not hip-hop, too. Yeah, that's what I said. Well, you know, I still be in the studio with

a lot of the young'uns, so I still hear a lot of the young'uns' shit still keep me up on, you know what I'm saying? So I'm always around that, but just the recording and the getting the fans' reaction when you drop that hot shit.

Yeah, because that's what I do for the fans anyway. You think Philly ever really gets this recognition? No. Man. I thought you were saying you're on our way. Yeah, we are on our way. You know what I mean?

A lot of artists did a lot as far as like... Not even just music in general. Philly, so much history. Ain't Jill Scott from Philly? Jill Scott, Jasmine Sullivan, Music's old child. The Roots. The Roots. Nas Storch, Will Smith. Nas Storch, Will Smith, Teddy, Soul Child. The Roots. The Roots.

Ty Storch, Will Smith. Ty Storch, Will Smith, Teddy Pendergraft, Patti LaBelle, Eve. Woo! I think I said Teddy Pendergraft. Goddamn. He said Patti LaBelle. Yeah, I mean, I know my history a little bit. There's a lot more, Some upcoming ones, too.

There's Pop and PNB Rock. PNB Rock's with the homie. Uzi. I've seen him freestyle at a gas station. I was very impressed. I was very impressed. I like that. Absolutely. Memphis Bleak is from Philly. He got a relax. Who said that, Sonny?

Come on, Sonny. Who said Mr. Lee's from Philly. He got a relax. Who said that, Sonny? Come on, Sonny. Who said Mr. Lee's from Philly? So, but, now, it was like the two parts of the city, right? When Bleak, I mean, Meek, and this nigga over here fucking me up.

When Meek and Beans got into that. Now, you, I remember my first couple of times coming to Philly, you was in the Cyphers that we was rhyming with. You know what I'm saying? So, look, you see me from when the Super Thug was nothing, the Super Thug came back. And did you think that that was a point that divided the city to a certain extent or the city was kind of like already divided? I don't really think it divided the city.

You know what I mean? Because really the people in Philly just going to rock with who they rock with. You know what I mean? I think it just was a, I just think it was a, if you was from the outside looking in, you would have looked at it as a bad look for Philly.

You know what I mean? Right. But if you was around and you know a little bit more, then you just take it for what it is. You know what I'm saying?

So it's like Philly niggas don't get along. That's what it looks like. Well, with me, I get along with everybody, man. You know what I'm

saying? I get along. I got a beautiful relationship with everybody from me, the Beans, to Cassidy. You know what I'm saying? Cassidy just be on and off sometimes.

But that's my brother. You know what I'm saying? I don't know what you mean by that, but your laugh is sound crazy. No, Cassidy's being me. Cassidy say something crazy and then we'll talk and we all good. But everybody, man, even A.R. Ab and them and he cast to say something crazy and then we would talk and then we all good. So,

but everybody, man, even A.R. Ab and them that's locked up, you know, I was cool with them. You know what I'm saying? So, I ain't really got a problem

with nobody, man. I'm good with everybody. There's a lot of artists too. I can't name all of them, but I'm good with everybody, man. Any new artists on the horizon that we haven't heard of from Philly? He do the new artists of the week.

What you do? Yeah, give us a couple of them. Yep. Shout them out. Sim Santana. Is this from Philly or this is from all over? No, this is from Philly. Alright, let's go stick with Philly because I know you be posting niggas from all over. I'll be watching. Yeah. Sim Santana. It's a girl named Rocky.

It's a kid named Zig Moneyana it's a girl named rocky it's a kid named zig money it's a kid named uh what you have for me a little milk uh mac and cheese um man we got a lot of young artists leaf ward we got a shout out homie rocking the Drink Champs shirt, K. Walker. K. Walker? Yeah, I know K. Walker. Yeah. Absolutely. There's a lot, man. I might have missed a few.

But we got a lot of up-and-coming youngins, man. So we check. We'll be watching for them, North. And you got the mac and cheese clothing line. Absolutely. They my sons. Okay. That's your real sons?

Yeah. Oh, okay. I thought that was you and Wildo's shit. No, that's my sons. That's your real sons? Yeah. I thought that was you and Wildo's shit. No, that's my son. Let's promote that then, brother. That's their name, Mac and Cheese. Oh. Yeah, absolutely. A lot of people think they got a single about to come out in a week called Ignore.

Wow. A lot of people don't know that like, you know, Gilly a hood nigga, Gilly street street, but Gilly also went to college. Absolutely. Tell niggas that, bro. Tell people. I played ball in college, you know what I'm saying? Was pretty nice with it. And then, unfortunately, I got caught up in some street shit and got kicked out. But that's when I started rapping. And I seen you hitting the punching bag, too.

You thought you was nice with your shit, too? Yeah, I was definitely nice with my shit. I see you getting dead serious. Definitely was nice with my shit. You used to box? A little something. You know, I trained my son and shit, both of my sons. They don't never got a box, but they got to learn how to fight. You know what I'm saying?

Okay. Because I noticed that kids get a different type of confidence when they know how to throw the man. They get it next. Absolutely. You remember me and Mike Lighting the first time you were in Philly? Absolutely.

At Susquehanna Day, man. Absolutely, man. Wait, what'd you say? What'd you say? It was called Susquehanna Day. It was a concert down there called Susquehanna Day, yep. And everybody was rapping

and then I walked up and started spitting for y'all. Absolutely. Shut the whole shit down. Like, I ain't going to lie. Like, all right, so back then, New York, we was the spitters. But we didn't spit all day. Like, we didn't just rhyme all day.

Like, Billy must have wanted to out. I guess they wanted to outdo us. Like, every time I would rap y'all. Yeah, I mean, I don't know if it was just me or every New York artist. I just me or every New York artist. I believe it was every New York artist. Every New York artist that came there, Philly nigga wanted to get in the cypher with you and they wasn't

a battle, but they were trying to burn everything down. And I remember Gilly just walking in the cypher and just, I kid you not, his wordplay, he tore like, and we didn't hear shit like that. We didn't hear like a bar come from here and then you wait,

you wait, you wait, you wait, and then you match that bar that was just the first bar that matched it with the six. We was like, oh! Like, we was fucked up. We got back in the van, headed back home, was like, yo, sign this nigga immediately. Right. Mike Lighty got on the phone with Chris Lighty, and they was, I

remember this was the whole thing they wanted to do You know what I mean Because you tore that motherfucking site You remember that right Yeah absolutely man And then Mike called me up to Def Jam That's when I battled my son in Def Jam

I mean tell me if this analogy is wrong for Philly rappers I feel like it always sounds like the MC is a boxer Throwing punches That's the way the rhymes sound coming out of I feel like it always sounds like the MC is a boxer throwing punches. That's the way the rhymes sound coming out of it. You just named an artist named Rocky. Ain't Rocky Balboa from Philly? Yeah. I didn't even think about that part of it.

That's a made-up fucking movie, but yeah. He was from real. He'd be from Philly. Okay. But what were you saying before that? What were you saying? About Mike Lighty. Oh, yeah, yeah. Mike's on. The Mike's on

battle. Yeah. Tell us what happened there. Motherfucker. So, so, uh, they called me up to Def Jam. I get in there, and Mike is like, it's Fendi in there.

And it's Franchise. This one, it was a group. Red Cafe. That was up. Red Cafe, Gravy. And Q. Q, Q. Right.

So Fendi was like, let me hear something. So I start spitting. So Fendi looking at me crazy. He say, let me hear something else. I start spitting. So Fendi looking at me crazy. He say, let me hear something else. So I spit again. So he like, let me hear something

else. Yo, was there a nigga named Daquan in the building with Fendi at that time? No. Because Daquan and Fendi, the two most corrupt niggas in New York City at the time. Let me tell you it you by yourself? No, it was me and just one of my homies.

As I'm in the middle of rapping, I think his name was Black. They used to be with my sound manager back in the day. You remember Black? I think so. I think so. He's walking by the door. Fendi shut me up. And screamed out,

best of money today. So Black like, what? Fendi like, best of money today. I got my man right here. So Black like, alright, it's whatever. So my son walked up. So Black's like, all right, it's whatever. So my son walked up. So Black's like, he want to bet some money on my man right here.

So my son look at me. He say some slick shit. I say some slick shit back. Well, you got me fucked up or something like that, right? They like, okay. As we go into the conference room, Jay and Dame get off the elevator. They crazy. Oh, y' and Dame get off the elevator. They're crazy. Oh, y'all got to be the judges.

We go in this room. It's crazy. We battle. It's the best three rounds out of five. And Jay and Dame came in the room too? Yes. They're the judges now. Right.

Okay. I had a red iceberg sweat on. My sign go, then I go, Fendi say, that's one and nothing. My son go, I go, Fendi say, that's two to nothing. My son go,

I go, Fendi say, give me my money. Give me my money. He say, it's the best three out of five. He say, he just won three in a row. Give me my money. They look at JJ say, yeah, money in the red sweater. He definitely won

all three rounds and that's how it went. Wow. Thank you, North. That's right. And my son, my man, but I cooked his ass that day. Shout to my son. Let me defend my son while you're not here.

I didn't see that battle, but I did see a battle when Shine first got signed. We were all in Justin's. I remember Justin was on 23rd Street. I forget what avenue it was on, but it was across the street from Cheetah's. And I remember Sean walked in and it was like everyone wanted to meet Sean because this nigga just got this million dollar deal

and a million dollar publishing deal. So we walked over there and I was a little saucy and I started to rhyme and then Sean started to rhyme and it wasn't a battle, but then my son walked over there and my son just gave me the hood look like, nigga, you already gnarly. Nigga, relax. Let me take care

of this. My son won. Yo, he, listen, trust me. I was there. Trust me. I was in the middle. Hey, listen. That was the rap. Yeah, trust me. Sean, yeah, he just, that was the rap. Yup, yup. Trust me. I was there. Billy said that's what he was going up against. Right, yeah. Oh, that's hard. That's yep. Trust me, I was dead. Billy said that's what he was going up against.

Right, yeah. Oh, that's hard. That's hard. I came out on duty, but I came right after Sean battle. Yeah, because that's all he was saying. He just beat Sean. Listen. Walk out the house.

Six figures or major figures? Nigga said six. Major figures. You've been fucking up all day. Who said six figures over there? I was waiting for or major figures? Major figures. Who said six figures over there? I was waiting for the major figures shit later, my nigga. You had to relax. This nigga said six figures. This nigga's name in Memphis,

man. I'm from Philly. My bad. My Dominican nigga out here out of control. It's all good. Yeah, but let's take it back to the major figure days. How was that? A lot of, you know, it was good in the beginning when you didn't get no money. As soon as you get some money, you know, it's seven motherfuckers.

It's seven egos, man. Who you had? Ad-Live. Ad-Live, Rolex. Okay. Bump, Spade. Philly Wu-Tang Clan. And Dutch and myself. Dutch and of Rolex. Okay. Both of them. Spade. Philly Wu-Tang Clan. In Dutch.

And myself. Dutch and Spade. Wow. Spade home? Yes, sir. Okay. Pick up the Spade. Pick up the Dutch, man.

Absolutely. Ja Rule came on the show and said that he had battled Dutch and Spade and he cooked them. I can't lie to you. That nigga Dutch. Which one was home? Dutch? He went crazy, my nigga. But Ja Rule said he beat me in a battle.

And you know, Ja was just talking shit. I can't lie to you. This nigga was on Twitter for six months straight. Going in. Yo, tell Ja I won it. Tell Ja I won it. I'm like, yo, this is just... Because this is the time when people

didn't understand what podcast was. So they thought... When Ja was just talking, he thought that Ja was disrespecting him. When Ja was just... He was saying how he saw the story. His perspective. Boy was Dutch. He did not understand that.

He was on the internet going crazy. That's my nigga. Six months, huh? Six months, he was going crazy, though. It's my turn to do it because everyone thought we was filming in New York at first. You know what I mean? They still think that sometimes.

Most of the time, we travel, but then right after that, we just stuck in Miami. So I was telling him to come to Miami, and he just wasn't getting it at the time. But big up to Dutch. Big up to Spade. Them dudes. Big up to Charlie Baltimore as well.

Isn't that another Philly people? Absolutely. Yeah, she's Philly as well. Yeah, Philly. Philly, y'all got some people now. Absolutely. You know what it is? What trumps it all, no pun intended, is the Will Smith nigga.

It's like, nobody going to catch that nigga. Right. Like, nobody going to catch that nigga. Nobody. Like, what? Nobody. For real, right? Somebody, but it's nobody. Jesse Jeff still reps. Yeah, he's still there.

And Will, he gave up his property. What is it? Northside of Philly, born and raised? Or is it westside? Westside. He ain't got no property out there no more, right? Philly's not a place that you get up and be like, I'm going to go back. You leave it. It's gone forever.

You're going to fuck forever. You get the fuck out of there, joint. Anytime a motherfucker move and then move back to Philly, you know they busted in the sky. There's no debate in here. I don't even want to hear your story, dog.

You're fucked up. If we don't get an apartment on South Street, you know it's over. 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. 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 J.R. Martinez. I'm a U.S. Army veteran myself, and I'm honored to tell you the stories of these heroes on the new season of Medal of Honor, Stories of Courage from Pushkin Industries and iHeart Podcast. From Robert Blake, the first black sailor to be awarded the medal, to Daniel Daly, one of only 19 people to have received the Medal of Honor twice. These are stories about people who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor, going above and beyond the call of duty.

You'll hear about what they did, what it meant, and what their stories tell us about the nature of courage and sacrifice. Listen to Medal of Honor on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The American West with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network, hosted by me, writer and historian Dan Flores, and brought to you by Velvet Buck. This podcast looks at a West available nowhere else. Each episode, I'll be diving into some of the lesser-known histories of the West. I'll then be joined in conversation by guests such as Western historian Dr. Randall Williams and best-selling author and meat-eater founder Stephen Rinella.

I'll correct my kids now and then where they'll say, when cave people were here. And I'll say, it seems like the Ice Age people that were here didn't have a real affinity for caves. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th, where we'll delve into stories of the West and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today. Listen to the American West with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution.

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Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way.

Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown.

We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. It really does.

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Oh, you got to be living like downtown Center City. Like, you know, they high rises might cost $3,500 or something. Right.

We seen some nice shit when we was at the Ruth's picnic. If he got a apartment around the corner from Eskimo Bibbles, it's over? Yeah, but listen, you be living in, this shit be damn near a million dollars, but it be in the hood. Like, you motherfuckers get shot at the corner. Nah, yeah. Like, that's the type of shit they building up, these luxurious and glorious fucking cribs. But a block down, a motherfucker gets shot till he caught on fire. You know what the funniest shit about Philly and South Jersey niggas?

Philly and South Jersey niggas would get on the run and switch towns. Like they're getting low. And it's still a heat up. A Philly nigga would get me on the run in South Jersey. That's terrible. A Philly nigga would be on the run in South Jersey. That's terrible. A South Jersey nigga will be on the run in Philly. And they get low. And I'll be like, my nigga's on the run.

And them niggas 25 minutes away. It's where you heard. It's where you heard. Real tough. Man, I just want to congratulate you, though, my brother. You know what I mean? I hate you, man. Man, y'all guys are doing a wonderful job.

Man, um, shit. I don't even know, man. I just want to just keep bigging y'all up, man, because like I said, man, it's more than enough money for everybody to be out here. Absolutely. When I say this a couple of times, when I was on the block, you know, there's people that have, you know, better clientele

than me. There's people that had better work than know, there's people that have, you know, you know, better clientele than me. There's people that had better, you know, work than me. There's people that, you know, had a lot of other things that's better than me, but people ain't going to stay outside

as long as me. As long as my packs get off, I don't give a fuck what anybody do down the block, up the block, up the river, upstairs, downstairs,

in between the stairs, or under the stairs. It doesn't matter to me. You know what I'm saying? Absolutely. Absolutely. So, what I'm saying? Absolutely. So what are you smoking right now? That look like a backwood. You get a lot of money.

You smoking a backwood. Okay. I see your medical shit because I got a medical card too. Yeah, I'm smoking medical shit. It's definitely a backwood. Yeah, it's a backwood. What kind of butt is that? This is... It look like CBD right now No this is Cherry diesel What?

Dairy diesel Cherry diesel That's hard Cherry he said Cherry man I thought you said cherry. I thought you had milk in it. I said, this nigga got milk in his weed.

That's terrible. This nigga's been written. This nigga's got milk in his weed. Dairy weed would be terrible. This nigga said. What he said? Hey, listen, though. No, I smoke that shit, bro. Smoke that shit.

Get your eyes a miniskirt, you hear me? For real. You ever thought that the most success you got out of this would be through just talking? No. That's crazy, right? That's un-fucking-believable, man.

It's like, to me, it's like I got a platform where I can say whatever the fuck I want speak your mind I can just speak my mind with no restrictions this is beautiful man

that's like the real American dream that's the real American dream man when was the moment because you know what we all all do respect to everybody out there. There's so many people. Like when me and EFN started to do this and we was doing an interview on people. There's other people that I believe Joe started before us. I believe Ice-T even started before us.

Ice-T is one of the original. Ice-T is the first one to do it, a rapper to do it. The first rapper to ever have a podcast First rapper First podcast ever Hip-hop podcast Is Peter Rosenberg and Cypher South And Chuck D

We can't discount him Because he had Internet Radio Which is the Precursor I don't want to count Internet Radio I don't want to count Nah, it's a precursor to podcasts I give you a precursor

But not podcast But the first podcast Were Cypher and Rosenberg Hip-hop podcast 1UP, yeah Then the first artist R cypher and rosenberg um hip-hop podcast one up yeah yeah then the first artist rapper artist to have a podcast was ice t then i believe joe joe button and then i believe combat jack combat jack no but he went into hitting the rapper that's what i'm saying no no yeah i'm saying hip-hop related but hip-hop you're correct you are totally correct and there's also like um I think it's The Real.

It's The Real. Let's big up. What's the other? The Combat Jacks boy. I forgot his name. Premium Pete? Premium Pete, yeah, because Premium Pete would be mad as shit at me. But big up Tac Stone. Absolutely. Absolutely Tac Stone. So I forgot the point I was trying to make. But what I was...

Damn, what was the point I was trying to make? What? What? What? Yes. Goddamn. I'm high. I'm high. I'm high.

I'm high. I'm high. I was trying to make a great point, but I totally forgot. It's crazy that I'm not drinking. When I'm drinking, I go,

huh? Yeah. Yeah. So, so, we're not real. I'm trying to freestyle, let me just see if I can Go for it, go for it Or don't

Yeah, but just talking Yeah, that's where I was at Thank you, Lee So when was the moment That you actually think That you actually knew you had something Because this is the point I was trying to make after we were after we did it and we had a couple we had success with it a lot of people don't know we had did it for like eight months for free we did it no no and remember

no and you discounted what we was doing on sirius xm too yeah that's that's a totally different i don't think that's different man i'm keeping it just podcast i'm just gonna just podcast it's tight in bro yeah right, all right, cool. When was the moment, Gilly, for you when you... What episode? Was it an episode or was it while you recording it or was it the reaction that you said, yo, I got something and I'm going to stick with it?

Well, I kind of knew that it was going to transform over from my Instagram because of the hits that I get when I do my Million Dollars Worth of Games shit. Right. But when we dropped the first episode and that motherfucker went up to number two in the world behind Joe Rogan shit. That's huge.

I was like, oh shit. Right. Like Like what the fuck Like god Damn we number two In the fucking world right now behind Joe Rogan and you know At the time you don't even I don't even really know what the fuck

On Apple podcast On Apple podcast I don't really even Know what that mean but I'm like God damn don't really even know what that means, but I'm like, God damn, though, we number two. Like, shit. You know, I don't even know how powerful Joe Rogan is. You feel now, crazy.

Right. You feel what I'm saying? So, right then and there, I felt like, okay, we got something. You know what I mean? And then the numbers that we will put out the audio

and the video the same day and still be still be charting. You know what I'm saying? So for us, it was like

then we had sponsors and shit. You know what I'm saying? As an independent, we had sponsors because we was able to take our numbers and say, look how many downloads. You're showing the data. Look how many. Your Barstool deal is audio and video?

Well, our Barstool deal is a partnership. Is it audio and video? Yeah. Okay. Absolutely. Now, let me ask you something. Now that you know, because like you said, before you didn't really know, you was giving it away for free on Instagram. Now that you know, are you trying to pay attention to the landscape of the business to know what you're worth? Because it's constantly changing what we're all worth.

Absolutely. Every fucking day, it just changes. That's what I'm saying. Like, this Joe Rogan deal, I want everybody to understand, like, it changes everything for all of us. Everything. You know, but at the end of the day, man, I want to shout out Erica, man, and Dave over at Barstool, man. Because they got behind y'all. Well, it was a lot of companies that was trying to get behind us, but

the way that they came was different, you know what I mean? And we really appreciated them for that. They wasn't trying to change content, wasn't, you know what I'm saying, wasn't really just trying to just come and take over some shit

that we built from the ground up. They understood our views, man. So for any young podcasters out there who need a platform and you're doing your thing, man, make sure you look at Barstool, man. Okay, absolutely.

Well, we ain't know all that. Well, now we know, motherfucker. So what's next? What's next? You trying to get into acting? What you doing? Well, you know, I got a movie coming out, a comedy and shit, in September called Grey's Ave. But we about to start shooting a TV show.

You know what I'm saying? So that's going to be super crazy. What's Grey's Ave? That's about a place in Philadelphia? Yeah, it's a street in Philly. Okay. It's always sunny in Philadelphia is filmed at? No, I don't think it was filmed.

I fuck with that show. That show was never filmed in Philadelphia though, right? No, I don't think so. Yeah, I can tell. I can tell. Danny DeVito, you ever watch that show? I know what you're talking about, but I ain't no big fan of this. That's just kind of funny, man.

Yeah, yeah. I fuck with it. I fuck with it. But it wasn't in Philly. What, you nice as hell? Yeah, he is. Yeah, all right. So, yeah, we can put him in.

What up, Nori? What's up? What's up, D? What's going on? What up, man? I feel like I'm gifted. I'm in club quarantine right now. Club quarantine just came to us.

We honored right now. I'm honored we're in club quarantine, bro. I feel cheated right now. I don't get the full-on drink champ experience. No, no. First of all, D. I told you, this is not official. This is just a prelude to a real drink champ. And you too, Gilly.

We're going to get y'all in real time. What's up, legend? What's up, man? Let me just say something nice. Me and Fat Joe was having a talk off air and we were saying if there's any DJ that we wanted to make a million dollars

one show, like a million dollars just every time he comes out one show. And we was like, if there's one person that deserves that, that's motherfucking D, motherfucking nice, man. I'll take that. I'll take that. The numbers did go up, though. I'm not even going to lie.

Cheers. Goddamn it. I see you bossed by Coca-Cola and Budweiser the same day. I respect that, goddamn it. So, a lot of people don't know, right, D? Let's take it from the beginning. One of my favorite records in hip-hop,

I know you're probably tired of this goddamn story every time I tell you this, every time I see you, but did you produce My Name Is D-Nice? Was you... You produced that? Produced it and he rhymed on it. That's crazy.

So, so let's take it from there to self-destruction, right? Just being a part of that movement from then. What was it like? Well, I produced that record too. That's my- You produced self-destruction? Yeah, I produced self-destruction when I was 18. So yeah. Holy, I didn't record too. You produced Self Destruction? Yeah, I produced Self Destruction when I was 18.

I didn't know that. That's one of my favorite records too. That's how I ended up rapping on the song. That's the first record I knew all the lyrics because it was on the back of the vinyl. Yep, yep, yep. I wasn't supposed to produce that record.

It happened because really, I was the young kid. You know what I mean? The Bomb Squad. Even though Dougie's my man, Dougie's my bro for life, but they really wanted the Bomb Squad to produce it. KRS and a woman named Ann Carley, who worked at Jive Records,

was like, no, the whole point of this is to have the young. The Bomb Squad is the people who produce Ice Cube. That's Public Enemy. Yeah, Public Enemy. That's Public Enemy's team, yeah. Cool, go ahead, continue. I'm sorry.

Yeah, so, yeah, but they trusted me with that. So even on the chorus, like, that's me and, like, two of my friends, these two young ladies from back in the day. You know, I did the track. It was my whole concept to, like, I arranged everything. Yo, that's crazy, man.

Yeah, I was 18, man. Wow. Yo, that's crazy, man. Yeah, I was 18, man. Wow. Yeah, I was a young kid, a young kid doing it. How did you, as an 18-year-old, you was already BDP from before that. Yes. How old did you get into BDP? At 15.

Wow. And you was DJing for Chris? No, no, no, no, no I didn't even have a role So here's the story There's Kenny Parker Yeah, tell us everything I didn't meet Kenny until years later Kenny wasn't initially in the group

Kenny was in the group He was more like the BDP crew Not part of like Boogie Down Productions Boogie Down Productions And me, Karis, Juan, and Scott LaRock Really, Scott LaRock, Karis,One, and myself. So they had it before I was involved. And KRS lived in the men's shelter in the

Bronx, and Scott worked there. And my cousin was a security guard. So I brought my cousin some food, and then he was like, yo, I want to introduce you to somebody. And then he took me into Scott's office, introduced me to Scott, and Scott eventually introduced me to KRS, who lived there. And that's, you know, in that moment that's how i got down with the group

like there was no i didn't do all of the battle shit the krs was doing like nothing scott just looked at me it was like yo i want you to be down with my group literally like that and you a kid because they were already older they They were like 23, 24. Yeah, so, but yeah, no, it was, you know, Dave, the funny thing is I was telling Chappelle this story, and he was like. Hold on, hold on, hold on. He just stunned out of us. I'm like, hey, just pause. Yo, I just told Chappelle this story.

I can't continue. Continue. Nah, it's just I wanted to share the way his mind works, right? So I was like, yeah, Dave, you know, he asked me how to meet Scott and Chris. I told him, I was like, yo, I cooked my cousin some food, and I walked because the shelter was on the east side. I lived on the west side of the Bronx, and, you know, there were no Ubers

and shit like that back then, and, you know, I was mad broke. Was it OJs back then? Yeah, OJs, but I didn't have OJ money, though. Now you can get an OJ now, though. So, yo, so I walked, like, three miles, and then Dave stopped me. He was like, yo, you walked three miles

from your house with food to feed your future. Like, that's some deep shit. Because that's literally what happened. I wasn't, you know what I'm saying? Like, you grew up rhyming and all of that shit. I wasn't rhyming. I walked into the situation where it was like, yo, I want you to be a part of this. So yeah, that's, that's a have a similar story, meaning, you know, we both started out rapping and then, you know, we wound up doing this other career. You got like three or four like the like I think you came. We started out producing, started you rapping or you was rapping and producing pretty much the same time. Then you had this whole photography. You got this whole. Yeah. Like world renowned photography.

I know I'm skipping. I'm skipping and I'm bouncing around. But I remember at one point, like, I wanted you to film my album cover. Like, you know what I'm saying? You were one of the first dudes, though. That's the funny part. What? I got to, okay, so here's the thing about photography. So before photography, I've always loved photography, but I wasn't photographing anyone.

I just had a love of photography because I met Gordon Parks and he photographed me. They did this whole break there in Harlem with all of the old school hip hop dudes for XXL Magazine. Me watching him was like watching this older man at the time he was probably in his late 70s still passionate

about what he was doing. His hands were shaking but he was still shooting. Somebody was loading the film back. I was like, you know, his hands were shaking, but he was still shooting. Somebody was loading the film. I was like, damn, I want that kind of life though. You know, like when I'm older, I can still do what I love. And so, but before photography,

I started a web development company. That's how I actually met you. I was doing, I built the Violator website. Wow. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I built the Violator website. Chris was always like, because I still wanted to rap but chris was like yo bro you're you're better than that like yo

you know you don't really need to shop demos you're a smart dude like you can figure this out so chris levy was like always supporting me with all of these other new ventures that i was getting into so when i started building websites he was like like, yo, build a violence site for me. Then he would, you know, he had me doing like the online marketing for the G issue. Then I shot a 50s, one of his Reebok campaigns.

And that came about because I went to Chris's wedding when he got married, when he was married to Vizcaya. I was there and I really didn't have a like, you know, I wasn't making paper like that. So instead of like buying a gift, because this nigga was like registered at like ABC Carpets,

previously priced. I walked in there, all that was left on the registry was like, this is $9,000. I'm like, oh, hell no. D, real quick though, because I want to catch something real quick like a gem in this is that you was you was already emceeing he was already producing he was down with the legendary crew bdp down with violator most like i think like was it hard for you to to

to go and like venture off and do like web design this and that because i think most people that that are that already were rapping they're celebrities they're mcs they don't see themselves doing these different things like that that are behind the scenes like was it was it difficult for you or was it like nah this is natural to me what what what the best the best part of the story that i left out is that I was considered old school. When you were young still. You know what I mean? Like I was considered an old school rapper and they weren't,

they didn't have any old school shows back then. So it wasn't like, like now you can do the masters of the mic or any of that kind of shit, you know, but then it's just like, let me stop. D let me stop you for one second. I'm considered an old school rapper. Right.

And Kanye West and Rick Ross and Pusha T is all older than me. How about that? How do you like those apples? That's crazy. How do you like those apples? Because Jay is older than me. They're all older than me,

but I'm considered the old school guy. You know, Jay is older than me. Pop is older than me. And I'm like, these niggas are still doing it. But I'm old school. I've been old school since I was 42. You know, that was some I was 42. That was some

rough shit, though, man. To be considered old school when this shit stopped and nobody was clapping, it was like, yo, how do you move on with your life? Obviously, we weren't papered up like the way you make money down. You know what I'm saying? Back in 92,

my Max Joes, I was like five grand a night you know what i'm saying like and you know i mean you do the math on that that shit ain't gonna last that long um so for like seven years i really didn't have nothing no money nothing you know thank god my my you know then wife at the time you know she worked and i was still able to not have the passion leave you know like i knew i was going to be on to something. But, you know, it takes a strong partner to be with you to understand that. You know, so for, like, seven years, I had nothing, bro. You know what I'm saying?

Like, trying to figure it out. I fell into web development because I just love some fucking crazy shit. So when I wasn't rapping and I was trying to figure out life, I would always be on my computer building like bulletin boards when they just had AOL. So I was young just taking the computer apart, building it. And so I always had like, you know, this passion for like anything creative. So, you know, years later, you know, like fast forward to like 1998, my old manager started a web development company

but he couldn't get work i was connected because i had records out you know what i mean and like cool like all right let me try to help you guys get some work but i want a piece of the company and they didn't want to give me a piece of the company like and i was i mean i pulled in alia's site like we were just building these sites for, like, a quarter of a million dollars. And every month I was making, like, you know, $750 a month. You know what I'm saying? Like, while the company is generating all this money. But the thing that I did was I used to just sit over the shoulders of, like, some of the programmers and just watch.

And I decided to just leave and start my own company. So that's how Chris and I became super cool. Because when I started making money, you know, I was i was building these websites hundred thousand dollars a site at the time you know i wanted to revisit my rap career and chris was like yo you got something good going on you know what i mean like and the the story is i really wasn't trying to hear chris telling me that so i bought a car drove to to North Carolina to see my grandmother. But I deep-dored. And you went to see Big Daddy Kane?

Yes, I went to see Big Daddy Kane. You know what I'm saying? And that shit was the funniest shit ever. Nothing Chris said to me resonated. It was what Kane said to me. Kane was like, you know, I stopped by his house and I was like, yo, I haven't seen Kane in like, damn near a decade.

Like, yo, B, like, yo, I want to make music again. And Kane looked at me, he was like, yo, I haven't seen Kane in like, damn near a decade. Like, yo, B, like, you know, I want to make music again. And Kane looked at me. He's like, yo, look at you, man. You're doing well. He was like, me? All I can do is rap. He was like, I can't get a job at McDonald's and have some little kid rolling up on me like, yo, let me get a burger and some fries. And no half stepping with that.

R-A-W. R-A-W. Make sure it's not r-a-w that was like the realest shit that anyone has ever said to me and i was like you know what bro let me just live in this moment that i have right now you know i got something cool happening and then i just got deeper into it and like chris was always there bro and you know not to make the conversation about Chris but like it's all good it was it was like those important moments in my career that happened where it wasn't just about me like you know where I got like in terms of like DJing online like that shit was 35 years of like history to get to that point right actually this it wasn't gonna just happen for anybody people were DJing online anyway but It wasn't going to just happen for anybody. People were DJing on the line anyway.

But it wasn't going to happen for anyone the way it happened for me that night. Hold on, because I don't want to get there yet. I want to know some more. I could talk all day about this shit. Now, Gilly, when you started doing the podcast thing, did you feel like that too?

Was it something that you wanted to hold on to, like the rapping part of you? And did you feel like this, you know what I mean? I mean, sometimes you say, you know, because you know, now we got a marketing platform. You feel what

I'm saying? I got the podcast. I got over a million plus followers. So a part of you say, let me cook something up and throw it out. But then, you know, another part of you enjoy what you do as a podcaster. Did you have somebody tell you how Kane told him to chill on the rapping? Has anybody ever told you that yet? No, because, see, I just went up on Sway.

He put me on Front Street, and you know. Oh, you smoked it there? About 1,400 people reposted that motherfucker. Okay. And let me know I'm still talking what they want to hear. Okay, okay. Okay, okay. So now, D-Nice.

Last time I seen you, I believe it was in Malibu. Nobu. Nobu. And with our brother, Shaqem. Yep, yep. Now, what's your relationship with Shaqem? So Shaqem and I, and Dana, Queen Latifah, we've been friends.

Well, you know, Shaqem and Dana are obviously a family and friends. You know, they've been together. You gotta call her Queen Latifah for our fans. Alright, so Queen Latifah and Shaqem. Everybody not obviously a family and friends. They've been together for a long time. You got to call him Queen Latifah for our fans. All right, so Queen Latifah and Shaquem. Everybody's not rich like that, man. Everybody don't know Queen Latifah and Dana. I've been friends with them since roughly around 1987, 88. Around 88.

When I got my first real crib in Jersey, me, Sha, Dana, I'm sorry, me, Sha, and Queen Latifah lived in the same building in Jersey City. Wow. Like, yo, if one of us were, like, out doing shows, you know, the other person would pay, like, the other person's rent and just give it back. And we see, like, so, you know, my old, like, when I started my management company back when I was still rapping, like, my offices were in the flavor unit offices. So, now Kim is just my guy, you know? Like, we talking three decades of friendship and never had an argument. You know what I mean?

Like, he's like some real, yeah, yeah. He's a solid dude. And so is Dana, man. Or Latifah, yes. Wow, wow. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, people be like, when they talk about LL, they be like, Todd. I be like, yo, man, I could never call LL Todd.

Like, listen, I'm from Queens. I'm born and raised. That man is LL, they be like, Todd. I be like, yo, man, I could never call LL Todd. Like, listen, I'm from Queens. Born and raised. That man is LL Cool J. Yo, he can tell me his name is Todd. He can tell me his name is James and tell me, call that. And I'm like, yo, LL, my Queensness will not let me call you anything other than He said, yo, I'm still calling him LL.

I'm sorry. He been trying to, like, personalize our relationship. I said, I'm sorry, L, I'm still calling him LL. I'm sorry. He's been trying to personalize our relationship. I said, I'm sorry, L. I got to keep addressing you as LL. Motherfucking cool, J. I love L, man. He's a solid dude, bro. Solid dude, man.

And I'm not from Queens, man. I just love L. I'm a BX dude. We know you're a BX. We know. All right. Boom. Quarantine happens, right?

Everyone, you know, us as black people, we all laughed at first when the coronavirus hit. Everyone had, I drink Corona. You know what I'm saying? Everyone was like, I don't know. People, I'm from Corona. People that's from Corona was like, I'm from Corona. I can't get Corona. And then this pandemic, the pandemic happens.

Boom. And everybody starts seeing these bodies drop. And people are taking it serious. Everybody is actually home. What makes you say, what makes you say, yo, listen, I'm going to start playing this music and I'm going to play it for the world? Because I believe

the first night you did, it was like 250 people, right? It was a little under 200, yes. Like 200 people. And then the second night was like 20,000. Something like that? No, no.

The second night, it was like 2,000. The third day, yeah, yeah. The third day, it hit like 8,000. Then that Friday, the Friday, it hit like 25,000 people in there. And then it was that Saturday when it went crazy.

You know, even though it showed like 100,000 people consistently in there, as you know, like no one is holding their phone for hours like that. So when they did the numbers, it was like millions of people that were in there. Wow. During that entire time. And that, you know, that was like the first time that anything like that has ever happened. I mean, people are like, everyone's using IG Live now,

so those numbers are like kind of small now. You think like 100,000 is small compared to like what Versus is doing or Tory Lanez, but it just felt good to be like the first person to do something like that. It's the first person to crack it open. It's that one night, right?

Everything was building up. And I'm talking about, I kid you not, my text messages, my Twitter, everybody was like, yo, yo, you're going to the D-Nights party? And it was just hilarious because everyone was like, everyone was really like, but then it's that one night. I think it's the one night where Oprah was there. Joe Biden was there. The Obamas was there.

Like, first of all, how does it feel? Like, because that's like packing four football stadiums, right? Having 100,000 people there. And they're really there, like, just for that. Like, even with Versus, all due respect, Versus is about competition. Even Tory Lanez. Tory Lanez is, you know, he's being funny,

he's being great, but it's still sexual. So some people are there to see that type of... People are just there to see D-Nice change his hat and play music and change his glasses here and there. You got to change it right now. You got to change it. You got to change it. What up?

Come on, man. As you were saying. As you were saying. I can't get them out of the way. Goddamn. I can't get them out of the way. I can't get them out of the way.

Goddamn. Yo, what's crazy about it to me, man, is that, yo, for all the years of DJing, it was about serving other people. I was DJing your party. I was DJing, you know, the Obama's inaugural ball. I would fly to their house and play an event for them.

Say that again, man, because you can't say that lightly. You was DJing Obama's inaugural ball. Yes, I DJed the inaugural ball. That went right over my head. That went right over my head. So, you know, that's why I said, like, what happened that day could not, it couldn't have been anyone else, man, because it was years of service of, like, that's what I do. Like, I never, you don't, I don't knock what anyone's doing, man. Like, I've always just been the low-key dude.

I don't like red carpets. I go to do my job and then I'm good. Oh, I hate red carpets. I hate red carpets. I'm with you. And D, real quick, again, I just feel like the humility and what you've been doing forever,

which a lot of DJs do as well, and I've seen you over the years. You've done stuff for big brands and you've done all these like, like different things. I feel like it was a lead up because you've been doing L private parties, L exclusive things, L brand parties.

And that's what like the lead up was to like consolidating all that stuff you've been doing. Yes. And what I thought was super dope is that I felt like it represented the role that DJs have kind of, not lost for ourselves, but that the culture kind of hasn't seen us in that role. And you exemplified that role for us as DJs. Especially as hip-hop DJs, you know what I mean? Because even DJs have been getting it, you know. Oh, yeah, yeah.

No, hip-hop dj specifically hip-hop djs and just imagining yourself being great like you know like all the lessons that's the funny part all the lessons that i learned along the way that i thought was like irritating to me like you know like i mean this is no disrespect and this is not about any one particular dj but there are like iconic djs that when I returned to the scene where I wanted to open up for them, like New York DJs and their team was like, nah, you old school. So I had to go, I had to go the straight white guy route. I mean, like, because my hip hop DJs weren't really like rocking with me. Like I went to like small spots in New York and I was getting like $150 a night to rock for six hours.

And I didn't care because I was like, yo, I was doing my web development shit and I just wanted an opportunity to play music. And when they embraced me in that, on that side, I was like, Oh,

this is a music that I actually grew up playing anyway. Like if you were watching videos in the eighties waiting for Run DMC or Michael Jackson Or anything urban You had to watch all that shit You was a DJ back then Or a BDP? Not a party DJ, no, I was KRS's DJ But never a party DJ

I was never doing what I do now The shit that I do now I learned how to do it Around 2003 2005 Is really when learned how to do it around 2003. 2005 is really when I found my footing. Around 2003, I started to study DJs. I knew I was never going to be

the ill turntablist. That wasn't me. I'm an uptown dude. I'm from Harlem. I was born in Harlem Hospital. I lived my formative years in the Bronx when they started making music. I'm a Harlem dude. I'm a Harlem. I was born in Harlem Hospital. I lived my formative years in the Bronx when they started making music, but I'm a Harlem dude. I'm a Harlem uptown. Everybody's fly. You want to just play the

fly shit? I wanted that. I wanted to play Rising to the Top and Mix It and Brucey Bean and all of that. So I didn't want to be like Scratch or Clark Kent. Actually, Clark gets busy. I mean, they all get busy anyway, but Clark blends a lot. Scratch blends a lot too, but I didn't want to be the turntables dudes. I mean, they all get busy anyway, but Clark blends a lot. Scratch blends a lot, too.

But I didn't want to be the turntable's dude. I just wanted to be playing that sexy shit. You know, so. You want some smooth ass. You just want a smooth set. Yes. And I started studying house music DJs. I would go to a little Louis Vegas party at Seattle everynesday and just sit there and watch him and watch i would

just watch the crowd you know i'm not a dancer i would just go play the wall watch and i'm like holy shit okay i see it and that's how i really got my whole my whole thing going is that and you know and then it and then it kind of circled back to like hip-hop but literally for me man i was able to like i broke through all of this shit that people are having a hard time breaking through in terms of like private events because I'd already established myself in that world. You know, I already established myself in that world because I was doing those events that like most most hip hop DJs didn't want to do. They didn't understand the music. They didn't understand. Like one of the things that happened that night was remember Kenny Rogers had passed that week. Wow. I started blending Kenny Rogers records

you know what I'm saying because I had the choice it's like this is what we grew up listening to crazy crazy you know like and that was people wrote about that like yo he played everything and it feels you can tell that I love the music by the way that I play it it all feels natural it's not it's not I mean you DJ bro it's not even based on Like any specific genre It's like a feeling that you Evoke when you blend these records so It's just beautiful to see that During this crazy time EFN only plays

What he wants I don't know if he caters to the crowd at all You gotta relax I got my Vinyl right over here. Look, he got his vinyl. Look, yo, but he caters to himself, which is dope, though. That's originally what DJs used to do, too.

But then you had that. So let me ask you something. Is there pressure? Like, when you knowing that these people are not only in the room, they're commenting, you know, from the Joe Bidens to the Michelle Obamas. Is this something that you, like, when you know somebody walks in the building, are you saying, you know, from the Joe Bidens to the Michelle Obamas. Is this something that you, like when you know somebody walks in the building, are you saying to myself, let me play, let me play this for Michelle. XYZ to get

them hyped. Because I played them before or Oprah's in here. Like, Oprah, you have, listen, let me just explain something to you. You have Oprah, N-O-R-E, Joe Biden, and the same, I will never be in a party with Yolo Bob. I will never be in a party.

I will never be in the same party. The thugs and the politicians were all in the party. I'm smoking. I'm feeling great. Is it a certain pressure that you got when you know certain people was in the building or it's just like it fuels you up? No, it fuels me up.

If you ever watch people DJ dj on ig like even like right now they don't engage with like the people that are in the room they're usually just playing music they're not really paying attention sometimes they'll look at the comments but then they just go back to playing my thing was i wanted the average person that's listening to feel just as important as Michelle Obama. Because that's the only chance that you're probably going to get to really, not you, but the average person is going to really get to be

like, yo, I was in the same party as this person. And that's what they're saying. Yeah. And so it was like, I just started doing these shout-outs. I've never talked this much. First of all, I don't even like talking on the mic. In my regular parties, no, it was about the music. But I started talking.

You know what it reminded me of? The old-school Harlem parties, the paid-and-for parties, like when somebody walked in the building, and when you said their name, people were getting Texas. People were like, like, that's what it reminded me of. Sorry, because you're old. And that's actually how people feel about that shit, too. Exactly.

Like, they come in there, I'll there. I'll just shout them out. And then it's like, they end up staying. You know, and I see the same names every day. Like, bro, when I sign online, not about the celebrities. Like, I do see a lot of celebs. Like, Mariah's in there almost every day. And, like, Bobby Flay. Like, it'd be, like, the most random.

I did a set earlier. It was, like, Thalia was in there. Donnie Wahlberg. You got be like the most random. I did a set earlier. It was like Dahlia was in there. Donnie Wahlberg. You got an eclectic crew. Stephanie Mills. It's just like all over the place, man. Ari Lennox. Yeah, you know, but it's just dope to be... First of all, I turn 50 next

month, right? You know what I'm saying? God bless. Make some noise for that. Make some noise for that. Cheers to that. Because that shit was looking scary. That shit was looking scary. I was like, I don that. Yeah, man. Cheers to that. Because that shit was looking scary. That shit was looking scary. I was like, I don't want to be in the club at 50. Hey, but you're making the club at 50. Let's do it.

I'm making the club at 50. Hold on one second. Go ahead. Y'all keep going. Let me wash my hands. Yo, let me ask you something, D. Like, this is something that we really, me and my boys were talking about. And I want you to be honest about this. Right when it really took off, the club quarantine stuff,

it felt like there was almost a pressure for you to continue it. And the subsequent days that you started doing... Yo, yo. Can you hear me? Yeah, like we were worried about your health. You cut out for a minute. What did you say? What was the question? Like we were saying, we was worried about your health. We thought that maybe there was a pressure for you to continually do this every night.

And me and my peoples, we were talking about like, yo, man, I hope D doesn't feel like he has to do this. You know, like it might be too much, you know? Yeah, it wasn't about the people, though. That's what i want to say i want to remind people that going on every day it ended up becoming about people about like knowing that the music is healing and in particular like in that my ig live for some reason the conversation is just different and it's full of love so yes i enjoy it but in the beginning dude the way people felt and the way they enjoyed the music was the same way that I felt when I played the music.

It felt like it was healing me because I've been here by myself. You know what I mean? Like, I'm home alone. I don't have any family in L.A. I mean, I have close friends here, but, like, my kids are in Michigan and my oldest daughter is in Penn State Law School. And, you know, my mom is in New York. You know, I'm single. Like, yo,

I'm home with nothing and all that shit was like, yo, the music and going on was saving me from, you know, I don't want to say depression just, you know,

out of respect for people that actually battle with depression, but like, yeah, like, the shit was heavy though. You know, it was a minor version of depression

happening. Yeah. You know, like, it's, just imagine this, bro. Like, okay, you guys have, you got the show, you got the podcast, you got, you know what I'm saying? You got the TV show. You got all this stuff going on, right?

But for, like, a DJ, all you have, your show is still going on right now. But for a DJ, you know, you have no shows. There's no income coming. They lost everything. Lost everything. So I'm sitting here like, yeah, I did very well. I don't know I did very well where I invested, but all my investments were going down, which they'll probably bounce back, but the market was bad. It's scary times.

Yeah. All of the festivals were being canceled. So I had Miami Music Week. I had Ultra. I mean, not Ultra. South by Southwest. I had ACL, Essence Festival playing the main stage. Everything.

BET Awards. Every gig was just being canceled left and right. So then I wasn't with my family. So just imagine, you know, I did 400,000 flight miles last year. I was on the plane like every other day, either going to see my kids or going to a gig. And I did a lot of gigs last year.

Now I'm stuck at home and I don't even recognize home because I never really made it home because I was always gone. So I didn't make my place home. I'm not with my kids. I'm single. My gigs are being canceled. I don't know when we home I'm not with my kids I'm single my gigs are being cancelled

I don't know when we're going to go back to work I did well but not well enough to be sitting and like paying bills for a year and a half you know what I'm saying like this was like some crazy and then I was turning 50 I'm like yo I don't want to be 50 my investments are bad right now

all of the gigs are canceled. That's why I sat in this very spot where I'm sitting right now. This is where it all began, right here. I was in the room. I was in my bedroom, and I was frustrated. I was like, yo. Oh, and on top of it, I was being fucking audited for some dumb shit. You know what I'm saying?

So it was like the pressure of all of that and and in one moment i felt like like the universe was just saying like be still like i literally heard yo you just need to be still and to dj that's what they said pull out your equipment and no i just it just it said to be still that was it and I got up and I sat right here. Still, like, right? I wasn't even trying to DJ online. The funny thing is, I didn't even want to DJ. I sat here

just because I wanted to sign into IG Live and play a couple of songs, and I wanted to interview. I really wanted to do what you guys are doing. I wanted to interview artists. I had this interview series back in the day called True Hip Hop Stories. Yeah, I remember those. Yeah, I was telling my buddies in the cigar bar on the night of the quarantine.

I was like, you know what? We're all trying to figure out what the plan was. Like, how are we going to spend what we thought was going to be two weeks? I was like, you know what? I think I'm just going to go into this IG Live section of Instagram and invite my friends in and interview them. That's all I wanted to do. So I was just playing songs and just telling stories about

y'all remember being in a party and Brucie B played this. That's all I was doing. Nothing hooked up. No turntables. I didn't even have turntables here. I mean, I have them in my closet, but they weren't hooked up. My mixer's old. SM57, doesn't work with the new software. You know, I never had that shit hooked up at all.

I seen the picture you posted of behind the scenes showing the rig the way you had set it up. Yeah, and I still have it all crazy looking, too. I refuse to, like, change anything because I like the story aspect of it. Like, I putting this shit together with everything that's around here, like my favorite books. Will Smith sent me water the first night. I used the water.

Give him some water, too. Hold on. You got some water, too? Will, what's going on? Hold on. Let them shine. Black Enterprise God damn it

I use all those boxes to elevate my speakers I'm like yo I keep my Real simple bro But you know like sitting here It was therapeutic though man Playing music You know who told me That actually DJ was Clark Kent

Because I called Clark. Clark was in there every day. Black Thought was in there every day. You know, like Bum B was in there every day. You know, in the beginning, before it became a thing. And I called Clark and I was like, yo, I don't know what this is, bro, but this shit feels good. He was like, yo, you know what you need to do? I was like, what?

He was like, you should actually start DJing. But what I didn't know was you weren't supposed to DJ. I mean, actually, I knew it, but I didn't think they were need to do? I was like, what? He was like, you should actually start DJing. But what I didn't know was you weren't supposed to DJ. I mean, actually, I knew it, but I didn't think they were going to let me play music like that. And, you know, by the grace of God. He was just playing records? I was just playing songs,

but they weren't flagging me, so. Right. This is where you're messing me up now. So, playing songs isn't the same thing as DJing? No. All right, damn. This is where you're messing me up now. Playing songs isn't the same thing as DJing. No. I was playing songs from my computer from iTunes.

Yeah, he was just playing them. When I play songs on my iTunes, I'm not a DJ at all. That's what you're telling me. When I just do that, I'm not a DJ. No, he just wasn't mixing. He was just playing records. Yeah, I wasn't mixing. Okay.

All right. I wasn't mixing at all. So you weren't mixing? I was just playing songs. And then the funny thing, man, that day when the quarantine, when they was going on full lockdown, I was just like, yo, I tried using my turntables. The mixer didn't work. And then Clark was like, yo yo my guy will just send you

whatever you need for free but i was like yo i don't think i'm just gonna go buy something because there was no telling how long it was gonna take and i had the spirit of like i really need to dj right now and i just you had a sense of urgency at that point yeah i was like i don't know yo it just felt right and that was that night that was the first big night that's when that friday night when it was like 20 it was like 25 000 people in there i'm like what the fuck what is this becoming like drake popped in i didn't even know he was following me j-lo everybody just kept popping in there and then that next day that's when that shit was like that shit was magical bro like i was literally calling people. I was calling everyone.

Joe Biden's campaign manager. D, do you think you underestimated your legend, bro? I don't think I ever looked at myself that way. I guess I did underestimate. Because we all look at you that way. I never looked at it

that way. I always looked at it like, you know, what we do... Look, man, the legend in my crew, just imagine this. I had to live in the shadow of one of the greatest MPs ever. KRS? Chris? Yeah. I had to live

in the shadow of KRS my entire career. That's real. So I never looked at it more than what it was for me at the time, of this constant struggle my entire career. That's real. So I never looked at it more than like, yo, then what it was for me at the time of like this constant struggle to not ever be looked at as just the dude that was in the shadow of KRS. So I never allowed myself to get comfortable with anything. It was just like, no,

I got to keep going. I got to keep doing like, now I know I'm in the shadow of no one. Like, I know that for sure. Like, and that's probably the best feeling that i have of all of this that one i hope like my crew and me you know in particular bdp crew like everyone i

mean i still i still talk to chris every now and then not not on the occasional side but like like i hope they feel a sense of like pride when it comes to this like yeah no they sure they do man they do you know i mean? We're all from... The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration in the United States. Recipients have done the improbable, showing immense bravery and sacrifice

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subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Me knowing you, I felt a sense of pride. I remember the first couple of days where it first started happening, and I started tuning in. And, you know, my wife, her friends started hitting her and telling her, Jill, are you watching what D-Nice is doing?

And it just was a triple effect. I mean, as an outsider looking in, it was just like, it was literally like going to a club. I was so happy when you named it Club Quarantine because it was the first time I could be in a club with a person in Minnesota at

the same exact time. Same time. I could be in a club with a person in Minnesota at the same exact time. Same time. Same time. Like, I could be on Eastern time. This person could be on whatever. But we were all in the same situation. And you can tell from the comments because that's what I started to do. Like, what I started to do was when I would check a text message, it would log me out.

So what I would do is I would go on text message, it would log me out. So, what I would do is, I would go on for my son's iPad and I would go on for my son's iPad, but I would comment for my phone. So, it would look like I never left. But you know what I'm saying? But what I'm trying to tell you is, people were like,

this was something very, very important. And it was a way you brought the whole world together. A person told me, it's two things you can bring the world together. Food and music. I had saw little examples of it through music, but the first real live example

I've ever really seen music bring the world together was here, brother. Wow, that's awesome. Love quarantine, brother. And it that's awesome. Love quarantine, brother. Love quarantine. And it's culture shifting. First of all, I was in a party

where I know they would kick me out in real life. In real life, I know they would kick me out if Joe Biden walked up in the joint. You know what's been a great experience with it

is that so that Friday could have been, it could have shifted in a different direction. And I'm going to tell you why. Because everyone was trying to figure out how to still make money. So Thursday, when it started to pop, this was like day three, I started getting calls from record companies and from other clients. It's like, yo, can you name this?

I don't want to say the label, like wow my record's friday and i you know they had a bag for me they were gonna have two of their top artists and you know all hip-hop artists come in and you know they they have like tens of millions of followers and i was like yo you know what yo that actually give me like some you know some credibility maybe they'll because i was struggling under 200,000 followers. I was like, yo, maybe some of these people still follow me. And I woke up that morning, that Friday morning, I swear to you, bro. Once again, I sat on the edge of the bed and they were expecting me to do this at noon, 3 p.m. Eastern time. And I was sitting on the bed and I was like, yo, this doesn't feel right.

Like this doesn't, this is the one chance that I have to just be me, to play what I love. And here I am about to turn it into a record company's Friday night party and not follow my instincts. So I never called them. I never, I never called, never logged in with anyone. I just signed on and started playing the shit that I love again. Soul records, R&B joints. Mixing all of that up. Throughout this entire process,

I never sacrificed my integrity at all for a check. Those first three weeks, I just got on because it was therapeutic. I knew it was healing the world. I was just like, I just wanted to do more. I never sacrificed my integrity. That's the beauty of this whole thing is I feel like the music is shifting now.

Like, like we should be able to play these records in a club. I know I'm going to because there's nothing you're not going to tell. If you're hiring me, you're hiring me for me. Like, period. You know what I mean? You hire Steve Aoki for what he does. You hire Mustard for what he does. You hire me because this is what I do

And that's in my rider now I won't even approve anything All the shit that I've been doing, I'm like, nah, B I'm not doing that, I'm not shouting this out If you want me That's how EFN is If somebody gets requested to EFN He'll just

Listen, this is my opinion The best open format DJs are hip hop DJs. True. Because then it's not open format anymore. It becomes hip hop. Right. Like even when they're not playing hip hop. How annoying would that ever be to be nice to you at Puff's party or somebody?

I remember one time I think Puff was mad at you at one of his parties. I think last New Year's or something like, you know, like people like, if anybody ever like, like try to give you a request and you're just like, this is not the mood of the party and you know where it's going.

Oh, you know what? Puff wasn't mad. Puff, he wanted me to play like, like some demos. Yes. Like, like new tracks?

Yeah. Like, you know, you know, like, you know, from his kids, you know what I'm saying? Oh yeah, that's right. That's right. That's right. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. And? Yeah, like, you know, from his kids. You know what I'm saying?

Oh, yeah, that's right. That's right. That's right. That's right. Yeah, yeah. And I was like, yo. You right. You right.

I can't do it. You straight up said no? Yeah. I said no. I just wanted to finish my set. That's so good. But, you know, I was like, yo, to be honest, i didn't have the music you know what i mean like and i don't i don't let anybody put their drives on my computer like i don't you know i'm saying

like i don't i just don't do that i don't even start it like that and there's no disrespect to puff or anybody because i love puff it's my guy but i you know actually he never even came over to me it was more like his people like yo puff needs you to go nobody's picking up anything this beautiful house in miami yeah this doesn't belong to me right this does and i'm trying to get this house with this right yeah i just never you know i'm saying like well puff usually he doesn't bother you know man puff loves when i play the classic shit man you know like so and puff has actually been one of my he's at you know that night that that saturday night when that shit went crazy two o'clock in the morning the call came from puff and he didn't ask for anything he didn't say yo i want to manage you he said yo i just want you to just take a break and take all

of this in you changed the world you did you did that did. You did. That's what I was trying to tell you earlier. That's how we all felt for you. Yeah. I still didn't listen to him, though. I'm still going. Yeah, but you know what? You should. You should because you know why? It's like I said, man,

I'm 42 years old. You know what I mean? I like to think that I've been around the world. I like to think that, you know what I'm saying? But I got so much other accolades and so much other things to do. And that's, like I said, like I said, like music coming together and bringing everything together,

that's one of the, like, the top moments, if not the moment in my life where I see everyone really, like, I made a record back in the days called Music Make These Thugs Calm Down, and it meant nothing. I did it with Nas. I see you got an interview with Nas on live as well. But that meant nothing to

this night. You really made the world just come together just, you know, in celebration. And I can, I swear to God, I was getting texts of people really saying, yo, you going to club quarantine tonight? And I really thought we were leaving.

I was like, all right, cool. I was going from one room of my house to the other room of my house and I even had my balcony set up. We had lights out there and it was just me and my wife and we just partied away. By the way, I told her,

you DJing my wedding. Even though I didn't hit you, I didn't text you, but in my mind, you DJing my wedding. Even though I didn't hit you, I didn't text you. But in my mind, you DJing my wedding. It's happening. We're going to make it work. Anything for you, bro. I mean that.

I mean that. Like, nah. Here's to that, bro. Nah, but it couldn't have. Hold on, hold on. I cheered without sipping. That doesn't count. Yeah, yeah.

I need to pour some more of this. No, we got it. What are you doing? Hold on, hold on, hold on. That's cognac? That's cognac? That's cognac? You got thatac? What's that, cognac? You got that Hennessy?

Oh, shit. That's Hennessy. Woo, shout out to Nas and them over there, baby. We got to tell D-Nice how he, how actually he's a part of the Dream Champs history. And, Noor, you can refute this. Maybe, maybe. I don't know.

This is my opinion of the history. I did. My name is. Hold on, hold on, man. You're ruining my Maybe, maybe. I don't know. This is my opinion of the history. I did. My name is... Hold up, hold up, man. You're ruining my story, bro. Sorry, sorry, sorry. So Nori moves down to Miami. He's working out of my studio,

Crazy Old Productions. And he's like, yo, E, let's just do some hip-hop shit. Let's just get... He's coming off of the reggaeton stuff. And then both him and I, it's like we both had the same favorite record. My Name Is D-Nice. Oh, you did that during Pinori?

Yeah. Yeah, we both had the same favorite record. I was like, yo, let's sample this and let's create another record out of this. This is one of my favorite records. That's one of my favorite records, too. Let's do it. I'm going to play that record tonight during my set when I get off. My name is Eno.

So let me tell you, that studio came after that is the prelude to, like, that's where Dream Chance was born out of those studio sessions. That same studio. Yeah, yeah. Out of those studio sessions. Yeah. So you have a piece of Dream Chance. i love please please don't claim it but how is that like you know budweiser i see budweiser calling i see you actually flew out

here for a social distance party yes the drive-by joint yeah yeah um the drive-by joint for that i've seen that thank you man how how how is that like you know um just people just embracing and and the best thing about it is you're being you it's not like you're being somebody else and getting love for being somebody else you're getting exactly who you are that's been like the best that's been one of the best feelings man is that like i said man i've been authentic to myself bro and like seeing all of these things happen and uh for one it wasn't really about the accolades because obviously you know i've been i've worked with hennessy for years i've worked with bud you know like i've worked with all these clients um but this was something different you know like this was like

people really came through for me so if i I ever had a question about my own legacy, that shit was answered two months ago. You know what I mean? If I ever questioned it, like, yo, I don't know where I am. The answers came two months ago where I was like, I felt the love. And the answer comes every single night.

I go on the IG Lives and I see, it'll be like, hot DJ with 500 people in there another DJ with 600, 700 I never see DJs with like more than like 2,000 people but I'll go on and it'll be 15,000

20,000, 25,000. Don't let it be like the versus night. Everybody immediately knows to go to my joint. But the first... I was like, man, the ring of the Boozoo joint?

Beanie and Bounty Killer. That was epic, man. It was crazy in there. As soon as I logged on, it was like 10 seconds, 15,000 people in there. I was like, Jesus Christ, this is crazy. But I love it because that means people trust me, man.

You know what I mean? The first time you went, you went so paused. You went like six, seven hours, right? And I remember just looking at the comments and people were like, yo, can we send you Uber Eats? They wanted to

feed you. People were like, yo, can we bump up something? You did not stop. And then you went off for a second. You went off. You didn't say nothing. And then we didn't know what was happening. I'm not sure if this was the first hat change. And you came back with a hat change.

And he was like, oh, shit. And we was all hoping, yo, he must have ate a grilled cheese or something. Yo, I ain't going to lie. We were like, yo, come on, man. He got to be eating something. I always eat. So I just don't talk about it because it should be seeming kind of flossy. But I'm a private chef.

You know what I'm saying? Cue me, cue me, cue me. You know what I mean? So every time I would do shit right now, I still eat while I'm DJing, but I'll dance and be like, oh, this is my shit, and just slide off. Slide off to the private chef?

I'm coming back with food and shit. I'm like, that's crazy. Yo, you know what I'm saying? So I eat. I would just nibble on the shit while I was DJing. Or if I'm eating, like last night I was eating while I was DJing, but I kept my back turned pretending to pour more wine as I was chewing my food.

Just to keep the energy going. You know what I mean? That's actually the funny shit, though. It started that way because there was a chicken company, no disrespect to the chicken company, I'll leave the name out, that week was trying to get me to show some chicken on the screen. And I'm like. Promote chicken?

They wanted you to promote chicken? Yo, because, you know, people couldn't figure out how to market this shit. It's like, oh, that's nice. You can promote some chicken. Yo, in that bag. That's when you know you people couldn't figure out how to market this shit. It's like, oh, that's nice. You can promote some chicken. Yo, that's when you know you blew up, bro. You know you blew up when they want you to promote chicken. This was before that night, but the bag was looking nice. But I was like, yo, I'm black, yo.

I can't be eating chicken on Instagram in front of all these people. I'm like, I'm good, man. I'm good. You know what I'm saying? But, like, that's why I, I'm good, man. I'm good. You know what I'm saying? But, like, that's why I love where I am, man. I never, I swear to you, yo, E, yo, you know, I never sacrificed my integrity, bro. That's the fucking best part about this shit is that I did not stray away from being who I am, man. That's the best example.

See again? That's the best example that you've given everybody. That's the best gift you've given all of us that's gift man is that i did not sacrifice my integrity at all i didn't accept any money those deals were coming that monday trust me millions in deals that monday they were all coming at me and like my friends thought i was crazy i was like yo i don't even want to talk about this because why i did it was for people it was self-serving the very first day it was about me I just wanted to play music but then I was addicted to it because I

was reading the comments and people like yo this feels like a club like just imagine one of my friends is you know you guys all know him Will Packard a movie producer right so well that Thursday will call me he was like no everybody keeps calling me about your club. Like, I think I'm going to pop in your club tonight. And I was like, man, this shit is like a real thing. Like, people really want to be in there. And that shit, it's just like the fact that people gravitate towards people like us.

Like, I've been waiting to do this. You know what I'm saying? Like, I've been waiting to just talk to you guys. And you're not doing it yet Remember this is not A replacement for the Live drink champs No

But we couldn't wait no longer We have to big you up Our show is about Bigging up people Who you know You know D-Nice When you got 10 years In this game

They want to say you washed up And they want to say Me and EFN We thought that that was wrong For everybody in our culture. We thought that if for 10 years in this game, you are seasoned, and we should be bigging you up. And that goes for everybody.

That's why we talked about the hip-hop union. Like, we talked about all this. We did this four years ago. We realized there's nobody in our culture that's bigging up our culture. That's what me and my partner EFN got together and did it, and we've been successful at it. You've been top on the list. You're not only one of my favorite rappers,

you have one of my favorite songs. Now, you produced another one of my favorite songs, Self-Destruction. Oh my God, man. I know I'm bouncing around a little bit. Do you think that's something that we need right now? You know, We Are The World. Self-Ddestruction was

or we are the world to me yeah that was modern day self-destruction like like like if i had to choose between we are the world and self-destruction self-destruction meant more to me you know what i'm saying because i couldn't identify with everybody on we are the world no disrespect to that but i knew who stephan sonic was i knew who KRS was and so on and so forth. I didn't know everybody on We Are The World. Is self-destruction something that we need nowadays? I mean, the record, the actual record. And they tried to do them

over and over a couple times, but it just hadn't had the same effect. Yeah, I don't want to be involved because it's usually always the same dudes trying to do it. The guys that did the original. Now we want to come back. Now we need nigos and little yeah we need we need it to be modernized like it needs to be modernized you don't need it from my generation because it's talking down on people you know what i mean like like when we first came out melly mel hated us like he didn't he didn't

rock with us at all with who with bdpDP or Self-Destruction as a track? BDP. Melly Mel hated us. That's the first verse of poetry. K.R.S.'s poetry. That was actually a rhyme he wrote. He did that on stage in front of Melly Mel. That's crucial

that you're saying this. It is crucial. Because that means that shit ain't changed. A lot of the elder statements Seem to be a little bit mad At people who made more money than them Is that accurate? That is accurate

I see that now With a lot of DJs One of my favorite DJs Hit me up Sent me a text last night When did you start playing slow songs on a Sunday night? Or, you know, come on. Or, you know, like

people always do things like that, you know what I'm saying? Like, when did you start doing this? Or, like, when did you start? I'm like, yo, bro, it's just music, you know? Like, this is what we do. This is what we all do. I'm never going to limit myself to anything, you know, but like, yeah gonna limit myself to anything you know

but like yeah a lot of times you know our generation is like we all we don't really show each other

the same amount of love that we should you know like that's why when I see Bun B in there if I see Nori

you know when I see Nori when I see Nori's name pop in there this shit means so much to me because of the Violator days. You know what I mean?

Same here, brother. Yeah, it's like I can't think about my life in music without thinking of Chris Lighty. That's true. This is real shit to me because that man told me that, yo, you're better than just you're better than what you used to do.

No disrespect to what you used to do, but you can figure this out. So me doing multiple things actually happened because he challenged me. It wasn't because I saw myself doing these things. It was because that man challenged me. You know what I mean? Like there was a day in the studio when I was building the Violator site that, yo, I followed you around. You had a whole crew in the studio. Mad dudes, you know what I'm saying?

Dude, I was in the studio and D-Nice showed up one time at Thug Nights Studios. Oh, yo, shit. Yeah, you were there. Yeah, I was there. I was there. And I was like, wait, this is D-Nice. Oh, shit. And I was there to take pictures, though.

That's what I'm saying. Yo, I was kind of fucked up by it, though, originally. I was like, holy shit, D-Nice is a photographer right now. I have to adjust. I have to adjust. You know why you thought that? But when I looked at D-Nice, D-Nice is always Devin Nair. He's always, like, fly. You know what you thought that? But when I looked at D-Nike, D-Nike is always definitely in. He's always, like, fly.

You know what I'm saying? So you know he's a different guy. Like, he's a smooth character. But what I think is dope about that point is that you were already ahead of the curve, D. Like, you understood that to survive, the thing is we we all look at the 1% of entertainers that make a living off of what they do, the one thing they do. And they make millions of dollars. Most entertainers and hip-hop artists or anybody that, whatever, any of us that are creators, that is not the reality for all of us. No.

We have to have different lanes. We have to be able to to do different things to do the one thing we love yes and and you know i was young when at that time when i was in the studio and i saw you i was like oh shit dean eyes is off the top but i get it now like i i got it a little bit after that because i started doing the same thing listen you're deep deep when i started doing reggaeton, EFN didn't even speak to me. I don't know. I still don't speak to you.

Fad Joe. Oh, Fad Joe. When I did, yo, listen. No disrespect to reggaeton. Respect to you. Fad Joe. Two of my closest friends, you know. Two of my closest friends, you nice.

Two of my closest friends. They said, what are you doing? I said, reggaeton. They said, click, click. I don't know why,

in my mind, both of their numbers magically changed. Right there. So, so, so trust me, like,

like when you transition, sometimes people just don't understand. Nah, they don't understand. They didn't, but me, like, when you transition, sometimes people just don't understand. Nah, they don't understand. They didn't. But you got to let, the only thing that will stop you is your ego. You know what I'm saying? Like, it's just your ego that will stop you from, like, doing that shit to be able to, like, pivot. So, I, you know, there was part of it that felt a little uncomfortable.

But the part that made me feel comfortable was that, wait a minute, I work for myself. I'm only here to pay pictures of Nori because I want to populate the Violator site with content. Right. That's the only reason why I went. I was, it was,

I was building a Violator site. So I wanted to have like, I wanted to be able to, what we do on Instagram was what I was trying to do with Violator. Wow. You know, to just be able to to put up new images and tell stories like, oh, this person was doing this.

It didn't matter to me to go and walk around with my camera. Shit, my cameras are expensive. This is fucking $22,000. You know what I'm saying? Where's Drain Flix? Drain Flix, show yourself, Drain Flix.

We got my homie, Drain Flix. He's one of our producers. He was an MC, and now he's a photographer for them. I was there that night when you had the camera in the studio. Oh, you were there? Oh, I know you. What's up, man? You made me a drink, dog.

That's my brother right there. Much respect, brother. Now he's an illest photographer, too. Which camera do you have with you? I got the Sony. Oh, nice. He's an illest photographer, too. Which camera do you have with you? I got the Sony. That's dope. I just got a Fuji X100V. The new one, too.

Thank you. I'm speaking Chinese. This is the Leica Monochrome. The new one. Check it out. I got the iPhone. I got the iPhone. I got the iPhone. Nah, man. That's love, though, man. I'm happy to be here with you

guys, though, bro. I've been waiting for this. How about your relationship with KRS? I know we spoke on it a little bit lightly earlier. Nah, we're good. We're good. We don't really see each other that often, though, you know? Chris never really Had a cell phone

Like he doesn't Do the cell phone thing I'm not gonna lie I wanted to talk to you About that Um About the cell phone You gotta stop

He still gets on a boat And shit like that Last time I seen him He took my Bro you saw what happened When he did Dream Champs Everybody knows this

Or no Nobody knows this story He did Dream Champs There was a controversy That happened When he did Dream Champs. Everybody knows this or no? Nobody knows this story? He did Drink Champs. There was a controversy that happened when he did Drink Champs. He went on a boat. A long boat ride. So he didn't see the controversy. He couldn't react to it until like a week later because of the boat ride.

Two weeks later. Two weeks later. It was like two, three weeks later. Yeah, man. Yeah. later. Two weeks later. Two, three weeks later. Yeah, man. Yeah, he's like... I think somebody got to tell him planes are safer than they used to be. Than they used to be?

Since Pan Am Flight 103. Joe didn't used to take planes either, though. Joe would not get on a plane. He's left and right now. He's left and right on the planes. Yeah, I'm good, bro. Nah, but Karis,

I'm, you know, look, like I said earlier, I hope he's proud of like what happened, man. Like I am a product of BEP. You know what I mean? Yeah, you're their prodigy for sure.

So what happened, this happened for my crew. You know, like this is some dope shit. When you really look back at the history of it, I started with them. It started there. That's insane, man. And that same dude, that same dude that started with them ended up playing in the White House.

You know what I mean? Like like this is just a dope story, man. It's a dope story. Yeah, I can't wait to like properly tell my story one day, you know, like people should know the ups and downs. Like that's where the inspiration comes from. The inspiration comes from never giving up and always believing in yourself. Not to sound all preachy and shit, but that's really what it is. That's the story right there. That's the story right there. Are you thinking that, the book and the documentary? It sounds like it already. I've already had book deal offers, but this was before COVID.

I never took the deals because I didn't feel like my story was there yet this is what I'm saying like knowing yourself bro I just felt like nah okay yeah I'm gonna do from the Bronx and you know you know I made a lot of records and sold records and I you know I lost everything and then I came back as a web developer and photographer and a DJ and then I DJ in the White House and all of this shit I still didn't feel like the story was there because it wasn't those weren't my things the only thing that was mine were my records other than that I was building shit for other people it

wasn't until this hit where it was like my story is here now because what I did fucking like really did contribute to inspiring the world so like now I feel now my story is there like now I'm excited to tell a story like right and what's what's ill about the IG stuff is that it's self-produced true like nobody produced it for you no no club promoter promoted it no it's a self-produced, and that's what's so dope about it. I didn't even think about it from that perspective, but you're right. Yeah, you got to give your daughter the producer credit, right? Because I think she was the one

telling you who was doing it. My daughter was, because I don't know why I didn't think of this early on. I would stream from my iPhone. So if you have your phone, I'm 49, so clearly

my vision isn't the same. I'm blind, don't worry. I'm turning 45 on Thursday. You turn how old? 45. I couldn't see the comments. I couldn't see anything.

So my daughter would text me to my iPadad like dad so nori's in there and then oh this person is in there like she would just tell me all the people and then i had to tell i was like babe tell me some regular names too like because i want everybody to feel good so my daughter you want your tom and john yeah she would just shoot me over names. But now, yeah, my shit is all... I use the iPad. You know what I'm saying? You got movie lights in that motherfucker. Old school movie lights.

Oh, I mean, that's my C-lamp. That's my C-lamp. Oh, you got the lights from Casablanca. You know, that shit was for offense. More decorative. That's decorative, baby. You know, when you get fun. It's more decorative. That's decorative, baby. You know, when you get a little bit of money, you buy dumb shit.

It's not even functional. Oh, man. Nah, this is fun, man. I appreciate you guys, bro. Nah, man. Nah, we appreciate you, bro. I can't even talk. I appreciate you, bro. Nah, man. Really, we appreciate you, bro. I can't even talk. I appreciate you, bro.

Nah, man. Really, really, really bottom of my heart, man. Like, it couldn't have happened to any better person. Absolutely. You are absolutely, hands down, one of the most genuine, humble. You taught me so much because I watched you transition from a career to a career and to a different thing, maintain exactly who you are, maintain the integrity. And I admire that and I look up to that. You know what I mean? That's why I see when I see you and Shah in, what was

it? Noble. Noble. By the way, that's one of my favorite restaurants in the whole planet, Noble. And I see you there and I was like, man, I want the whole planet, Noble. And I seen y'all there. And I was like, man, I want you on Drink Champs. We was like, no, no, no. And we was kicking it. But, you know, getting back to the matter at hand, when I seen the explosion and I seen everything that happened, I couldn't. Everyone from EFN, everyone, we were just texting each other and just was just so happy. We're just happy, man.

And I'm old enough, I'm 42. I'm old enough to remember when it was Eric V and Rakim. I'm old enough to remember where the DJ actually came before the artist. And it was because of that very moment. It reminded me of that. You know what? Artists can go up for about a half an hour, 45 minutes, and

just rock their own records. After that, they got to say goodbye. You was out there six, seven hours. Nine hours. Damn, dude. Half a day. I was nine hours just playing music. I'm like, yo, this is crazy. Jesus, Christmas. You know we don't play nine hours, man. I'm like yo this is crazy Jesus Christmas

You know we don't play nine hours man Nah that's not normal That's how you get the hunchback I got my hunchback from DJing in the club back in the days I'm over here struggling right now I'm like the entire time we're talking I got my eye on this joint right here I'm like yo

I'm about to put this on Oh I got one of those too. You got this? Yeah. That's a massager. That's a massager joint. I'm sitting there looking at y'all like, yo, what is this? I got this damn shit at the crib, yo. Yo, I'm like, there's

something like, ah. I can't wait. As soon as we're done, I'm plugging this in. But yo, let me tell you, what's dope about everything you've done and everything that's come with it is that you didn't keep it to yourself. You put on the ladies that deserve it.

You put on your crew, the originals. The originals I respected, that's Tresha Armstrong. So dope, man. Clark Kent, Tony Touch. Tony Touch Fresh Armstrong Rich Medina The thing you know like look man

I just wanted to be that person That I wish someone else was for me Back in the day not to say that they weren't Cause KRS and Scott like you know Those guys took a kid That really didn't know anything about music And gave me a career gave me a life you know, those guys took a kid that really didn't know anything about music and gave me a career, gave me a life. You know, like, so, like,

yo, I get on, like, yeah, you're supposed to look out for your boys. Like, now we got a platform. You know, before we had, you know, under 200,000 people, now it's, like, 2.4 million people. Like, why not put your crew on? Like, yo, like, let them know who this person is. Or, you know,

somebody was like, yo, you should do one for all ladies. i was like yo you know what that's actually a dope idea dope do it then i was talking to my boy we worked together with with chappelle i was like yo you know what why don't you why don't you play big jazz on my joint like use the full band because he was getting like 45 people in his in his ig live and i'm like yo you get a cut at least a couple of thousand if you come on this joint yeah like it's consistent you have like 8 000 people in there just listening to play jazz and i'm like you know what that's all i'm doing is like programming the station now you know like that's how i'm kind of treated like you know i like to play my music but like well there's

a future in that right there i know right, right? You know, like, hey, listen. It's going to be a new business. Cheers to that. I'm about to pivot again. Hold up, hold up. Cheers to the pivot. Yeah, cheers to the pivot. The constant pivot.

Cheers to Chris Lighty, too, man. I miss him. I mean, I miss him so much, man. Are you under management now? Is there anybody? You know what? I seen you in the Rock Nation. Not Rock Nation.

What was it the other day? It was Tata's. Oh, yeah. Tata's, yes. Tata's birthday. No, no, no. I'm self-managed. I've always been managed by my company, Brand Nice.

I have two assistants that work with me. I'm never going to be managed by anyone. I have no to do that i have the desire to build my business like you know when you're i'll be 50 i can't i can't be the dude be like yo what do you think about this deal right like you already know what you want a deal yeah i already know like right yeah i know what i want so if that's not if i'm not going to get what i want or close to it then i shouldn't do the deal like you can't convince me to do that you know like and and no manager and first of all a manager would have told me to stop djing online to just you know get the check i've been like yo you don't need to do it anymore you're gonna be oversaturated yo you know what ended up happening? I ended up with another million followers. You know what I mean? So that automatically

changes all the rates anyway. And I never charged anyone for anything. I just did what I loved and I followed my instincts. You know, like, look, when quarantine is over, the silver lining is that I know that I'll be remembered for doing something good for people.

And I know that I can walk away from this knowing that I did this shit for my heart. You know what I mean? Like, I know that. Like, there's nothing. I just smile when this is all over. Like, and, yo, people, you know, I read comments that people post. And, like, you know, a lot of people post some slick stuff. And I'm like, yo, I'm going to walk away from this feeling like I'm extremely proud that I did not sacrifice myself.

I didn't shit on anyone. I don't speak badly about anyone. And, you know what I mean? I don't go into other people's IGs. I'll leave a comment just because I know people will say something like, yo, D-Nice is here. You know what I'm saying? Like, I'll put other D-Gays into my joint. I do all of that.

I'll afford people. Like, yo, I'm done for the day. Like, today, I did a quick set earlier. Soon as I was done, I knew Maceo was in there. I'm like, yo, Maceo, you rocking? Like, yo, so everybody, yo, you should go and support Maceo. Shout out De La Soul. Maceo, yeah. So it's like, yo, that's...

I like that. You know what I'm saying? Like, I like knowing when this is all over, like, yo, I did what i could for my for my hip-hop people and just for people in general to keep people inspired and i'm i'm grateful i'm grateful to have the opportunity to do so yo salute salute i salute that man i salute that man thank you guys man thank you so much and once again this is not like the official one. This is, you know, just... Nah, you have to join us. Don't play with us, man.

Come to Miami when it's all over and join us. I hit you. I was like, yo, wait. I was like, wait, I'm supposed to hit up EFN. Like, hold on, hold on. Then I was like, yo, why? I was like, why are we DMing, bro? Just join us.

Like, what are we doing? I wish I knew when you came out here because we could have did a great social distance with mass and still did it in person but don't worry no no no we're gonna do a legit drink chance you're gonna get shit faced you're gonna get shit faced on drink chance and we want to tell you we want to tell you sorry but that shit though i'm still over here so hold on here give me give me one. I got to take another pee-pee. Okay, so look. Now that you said that you produced self-destruction,

give us a story from that whole recording session. Damn. Anything interesting with self-destruction. I mean, were you there during the whole recording of that? The only thing I wasn't there for was for Public Enemy.

They sent the two- I was about to ask you about Public Enemy specifically. How about Heavy D? Yeah, I was there for Heavy. I was there, like, the first day was everyone was in there, though. You know, the first day, like, LL- Wait, everybody came to that session? Yeah, when we first started

working on it like we were at chunking studios you know like ll was there because ll was writing lights part you know what i mean like it was just we have to be doing wait but why wasn't l on it i don't know i mean he wrote he wrote it. He wrote... Lights rhyme. Yeah, he wrote... Hold on, my back is bobbing. Girl, I need to get comfortable with shit. Listen, this is DJ Life, bro. Yeah, listen, I got it at the crib. I was struggling.

What is that? What is y'all Rich Dudes? Both of y'all identify with that. That's not Rich Dudes shit. You can buy that shit for $49.99 on Amazon right now. It don't look $49.99. You need this, man. Yeah, man.

That shit, if you can't go to Masseuse, that shit got you. I got some other shit that goes... The roller thing? That's the rich dude shit you got right there. That's $49.99. Yeah, that's $49.99. Yeah, that's $49.99. Wow. Yo, so Nori, listen.

He said that self-destruction, almost all of it was one session. That's crazy. Damn. Not all of it. No, like 60% of it started in like one session. That's fucking banana. Just to think about all those. I mean, I know that right now it's difficult to think about all

artists in a studio together, but to think about those iconic legendary artists all in that studio doing that record is crazy, man. Yeah, but we weren't iconic then, though, you know? I don't care. Don't ruin my

vision of this right now. Yeah, you know, we weren't iconic then. Yo, this really feels like I got some like... It looks like you got a boa constrictor around your neck right now. I feel like I'm like a Diddy's Mansion. I got somebody handling this while I'm

trying to pour a drink. That was my other question. What's your most awkwardest party? Like a party that was just awkward. You went to DJ and the shit was just probably just... Shit, I forgot.

I don't even have one. Honestly. Yeah, I don't even know of any awkward parties, man. I forget. I had a party one time. I forget what it was. One of these guys that hosts, I think it was Johnny Carson or one of them guys' sons.

And it was just crazy. It was a balloon party. So we went in. It was just a balloon. I mean... I had never experienced some shit like that. I'm drinking Cristal and it just balloons everywhere.

That was a little awkward for me. Yeah, yeah. That sounds crazy. Nah, I've never had one of those experiences. A balloon party with Johnny Carson. I think it's Johnny Carson's son. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. Nah, nah, nah. Damn.

Yeah, I've never had anything weird, man I'm really Listen, I don't My DJ career has been Outstanding, bro And you like festivals? The South by Southwesters? You like that?

My sneakers always get messed up Every time I go to it Like, that's why I do like the festivals I just like watching people dance, man You know, like Watching people have a good time And really, like And just celebrate music You know, like watching people have a good time and really like just celebrate music.

You know, I can't wait for this to be over because I want to hit the stage. You know, like my goal, Maury, man, is like my goal is to play the Hollywood Bowl because it's an outdoor space. And I feel like during this time of COVID, people have gotten closer to their families. Like people listen to my music with their families. People put on the systems, play the same music with their kids. And they'll send me images and videos dancing with their kids. So it's like I need to be that type of person that will be playing amphitheaters. You know what I'm saying?

Like, instead of, like, worried about, like, nightclubs, I'm playing amphitheaters, and people are coming out with their families, you know? And, like, so as soon as I said that, like, you know, Nile Rodgers from Chic hit me, like, yo, you really want to do Hollywood Bowl? I was like, yeah, I want Hollywood Bowl. I want you.

I want Chic. I was like, yo, I just want that Hollywood Bowl. I forget, didn't Mervs or somebody throw a festival at Hollywood Bowl? Oh, I want chic. I was like, yo, I just want that Hollywood ball. I forget, didn't Mervs or somebody throw a festival at Hollywood ball? Oh, I don't know. I think so. I'm not sure. But yeah, it's like outdoors. People come with their wine. That's the kind of vibe.

I see you drinking your wine like, yo, I'm about to crack. Tonight I'm on Ace of Spades. Where the Ace of Spades at? Oh, you got the Ace with you. Oh, okay. Tonight I'm on Ace of Spades. Where the Ace of Spades at? Oh, you got the Ace with you. Oh, okay. Tonight I'm on Ace of Spades. You know what I'm saying? Hopefully, Ho watching this.

You know what I'm saying? We keeping it. We keeping it. We keeping it. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. And just in case, you know, we know Diddy watching, too. You know what I'm saying?

Yeah, yeah. I'll keep it. The Colombians are watching, too. I'm keeping it in-house. Oh, look. Look. Okay, look, look. We got Duse, too. I'm keeping it in-house. Oh, look. Look. Okay, look, look. We got Duse, too.

Goddamn. Goddamn. Goddamn. I was trying not to mix, man. You know, I started drinking dark. Yeah, I've been drinking water. That's why I've been drinking water all goddamn day. But when we said we got you on here, I said, man, we got Deleon, too, just in case, Diddy.

Look, Jesus Christ. Look, look. Diddy, I got Deleon over here, too, dog. I got Deleon. Okay, okay, okay. Deleon, too, just in case, Diddy. Look, Jesus Christ. Look, look, Diddy, I got Deleon over here, too. I got Deleon, okay, okay, okay. Deleon. Hold on. So, life as the new D-Nice. Is there, because there's people who only know me from being a podcaster, right?

There's people that only, like, I remember I had a show in San Francisco, and I'm walking to the stage, and a kid looks at me like, what are you doing? Why are you going to the stage? And I'm like, I'm going to perform. He's like, you're doing a podcast right now. And I'm like, no, I'm going to perform. And the kid had no idea I was, you know, R.E., the actual artist. And then I perform and he's like, those are your songs. Like, those are your songs like those are your song i'm like i'm like yeah they're like he's like oh shit there's people who just know is there people who just know you from like a certain part of your your life yeah so the funny thing is uh um one of the clients uh agency uh

she she called me one day and she was like yo yo, Heineken wants to work with you. Oh no, Heineken keeps calling about the rapper D-Nice. But I keep telling him, we only know the DJ D-Nice. And I just fell out laughing. I was like, same person. You should charge two different rates.

You should be like, yo, I could book you the rapper and the DJ. What? Get paid twice twice it's their fault not yours i was like babe i am the rapper d nice i just dj now i used to rap back in the day she looked at me she was like you're i can't even see it you're a rapper oh man no it's just there's a lot of people just like there are a lot of people that rediscovered me you look to get a million followers in a day is insane i don't have a record out i don't have a record out at all and in one day a million followers is absolutely the most insane thing they were like like, we've never seen numbers like, bro, like that. You know you could be crazy

if you put out a record now. It'd be crazy. Oh, yeah, no. The DJ Project is coming. I'm about to be DJ Khaled. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's something, Chris Lighty. That's something. Another one. Another one. Another one.

Oh, no. And you know what the goal would be, me looking from the outside in, is to keep that same energy. And the thing about it is, right, sorry to be like to break down, but I'm going to tell you how, just how I look at it. To me, DJ Camilla was probably one of the best international club DJs. When every international was in there, I think DJ Camilla was one of the best international club DJs. When every international is in there, I think DJ Camilla was one of the best.

I think just on a party tip, Kickin' Pree is, there's nobody messing with Kickin' Pree. On the radio, I don't think there's nobody messing with Funk Flex. In the morning time, there's nobody messing with DJ Envy. When it comes to global music,

there's nobody that can mess with D-Nice. Like I, like there's anybody that can mess with D-Nice. Like, there's anybody that I could walk into the party, you're going to please them. Because you have a certain niche. You're playing a type of music that the hardcore dude is going to like, the soft person in the room is going to like, and, like, you know, the medium person is going to like. Yep. How did you develop that because of that story that i shared earlier when the hip-hop all i wanted to do is play hip-hop records and hip-hop dudes wouldn't let me in but like you know the other route you know what i'm saying like the only person even listen this is not no disrespect to the originals because Clark Kent and all those guys

are like my best friends. We talk every day. But the first person that ever looked out for me as a DJ was DJ Scratch. DJ Scratch was like, yo, when I called him, I was like, yo. PPMD, Busta Rhymes DJ, just for anybody who doesn't know him. Crash Basie. Yes, yes.

So he was the first person that was like, when I called him, I was like, yo, I'm coming back on the scene DJing. I got a little party I'm doing on Wednesdays. That's when, you know, back in the day, you had to like name your shit after like candy bars and all that shit. Good and Plenty Fridays and Juicy Fruit Tuesdays

and all that shit. So I was like... All the joy Sunday. Yeah, exactly. I named my shit Superfly Wednesdays you know what I'm saying I photoshopped my face on like

Superfly like yo thought I was cool shit I was like oh the Superfly Wednesdays so Scratch Scratch was the first person

to man and that $150 that they gave me I was like yo that's all I offered to him he was like nah I'm good I don't need that bro I'm good I just wanted to yo, that's all I offered him. He was like, no, I'm good. I don't need that, bro.

I'm good. I just wanted to rock with you. And like he came, it was 10 people in there. It was 10 people in there, bro. And I will never forget this. There was a woman that came every week to my party with her husband. It was 10 to 20 people every single week. And that woman said to me, she's a professor at NYU.

Her husband's a firefighter. And she said to me one day, she was like, you know why we come? Because no matter how many people are here, you still look like you're having fun. You look like you're having fun, and your energy is infectious. And I never, ever forgot that. So

even when I'm tired, there are nights when I'm dead tired, I don't even want to DJ. Like, I didn't even want to play last night i got on at like midnight out here because one of my friends she's super dope she's been guiding me through this whole process of like you know social media and handling you know and she was just like she brought up like chico debarge and i was like damn i've never even played a chico debarge record i think i want to do right now yes do you do yeah yeah on 1998 my nre

album oh i gotta go i gotta revisit that i signed online just to play chico debarge with like 8 000 people in there i'm like damn you know i'm getting on in a minute as soon as we're done with this, I'm doing the after party.

Shit, Dream Chance after party with D-Nice? We in! We in! And the words of the guy, I forget the guy's, but you got the juice now, buddy. You know what I'm saying? If you ain't never known.

Yeah, man. Yo, man. Yeah, man. I couldn't be, like I said, you know, like I started this interview off with Sam, with me and Fat Joe, Sam on the side. And we was like, like, you know, when we just built, like, you know what I mean?

It was like, yo, if there's any DJ that can be able to get like a million dollars each show, like just one show, a million, we pray and hope that it's you. You know what I'm saying? I hope it's you. Goddamn. He's getting it. He's getting it. He's getting it.

Nah, it's you. Nah, don't even. No hope. It's you. It's you. And like I said, man, we could go on and on for hours and days and days. I just want to thank you, man, for taking your time. Thank you, brother.

Appreciate you, man. And staying who you are and holding down our culture. And, you know, besides, you know, me as Nori, the artist, and EFN, the artist You know, as a person I was, I lived To these moments And you getting on there and just jamming You know what I mean We were really stuck in, we were taking this serious

As every other American should As well, and we were taking this very, very serious And You kept us alive Man, you sincerely us alive, man. You sincerely did, man. And through the music and you just... You healed the country, bro. That's basically

what you've been doing. Like I heard a person you know when a person say such and such is in the house and then they be like, such and such is in the building and such and such, I never heard somebody say, such and such is in the building. And then such and such, I never heard somebody say, such and such is in the planet. Like, you were in the planet, my dude.

Like, I knew I was partying. I knew I was partying. I knew I was partying next to a nigga in Moscow. Like, what the fuck? I was smelling people under arms. I knew they wasn't from America. Like, I knew where they were from. Because it was your party, brother.

You know what? We appreciate you. We love you, man. Love you, man. We look forward to you being here with us in person. Yeah, in person. Love you guys. EFN, man. Brother, man, seriously, thank you for following up, bro. I'm so happy to be here.

Cheers, fellas. Appreciate you. Peace. Peace. Peace. I killed that with the underarms, right? The underarms. That's true. That's it, man. Good job, man. Look at you, bud. You already took it. You're not

my dad. You're not my freaking dad. Okay, man. Are you talking to me like that, bro? Who are you? All right. yo, yo. Okay, we're going to recap. Yeah, let's do it. Yo, what's going on, man?

That was a great one, bro. Yo, we had fucking, we had Gilly the Kid. Gilly the Kid. Yo, Kate, let me just point it out. It came through at the last minute. We were supposed to have a different guest. We're not going to say that. A huge guest.

Huge guest. And it doesn't diminish his hugeness. It doesn't diminish it because, you know, Gilly is right there, out there, busting ass, doing his goddamn thing. Pause. Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean. Pause for pause. And we had the legendary DJ D-Nice, man.

Legendary rapper. Bro, you know I got hyped already. I was extremely hyped. You know, so much history there, man. From BDP to wherever you want to go with it. Guys crazy. Bro, he told us that he produced... Self-Destruct.

That was crazy. I feel like I'm not hip-hop. I didn't know that. No, I didn't know that. I didn't know that. I didn't know that. I, I didn't know that. I didn't know that. I didn't know that. I still feel hip-hop, but I didn't know that. My hip-hop card, and I gave it back to myself.

I took it away and gave it right back to myself. Give it back to yourself in the morning. Give it back to yourself. Take it in the night. Put it where the tooth fairy be at, and then you're going to be back in the morning. No, it was epic, man. It was epic. The nicest is, like, what. D-Nice is, like,

what people don't understand is, like, he is, he's out of here. You know what? Let's just say this. Both of those brothers, man, you know, Gilly and D-Nice, two humble brothers that has had a chance

to come to the fore. Transcend. You know, Gilly, you know, you know, was out there being a rapper, and then, you know, had a little dry spell, and then, look, Fl spell. And then look,

Flores to the front. D-Nice told you about his little dry spell. Look at it. Flores to the front. And we happy to support them in the beginning, in the middle, and in running We'll never stop supporting. We'll never stop supporting. That's the thing.

That's exactly what we do, man. So EFN, god damn it, man. So EFN. God damn it, man. I'm going to finish this, and then I'm going to spray all my crib down and open the windows. Yeah, I got Boris. He's dirty, man. Boris is dirty right now. Jesus, man.

Salud. Salud, man. Another great show, man. Cheers. Quarantine champs. Yo, I'm expecting, bro. What are you expecting, bro? Twins? It's man. Cheers. Quarantine champs. I'm expecting, bro. What are you expecting, bro? Twins? It's over.

Leave me alone. I think it's three of them. Get out of my face. Love you, Sonny. Thanks, man. Thanks for joining us for another episode of Drink Champs, hosted by yours truly, DJ EFN and NORE. Please make sure to follow us on all our socials.

That's at Drink Champs across all platforms, at TheRealNoriega on IG, at Noriega on Twitter. Mine is at Who's Crazy on IG, at DJ EFN on Twitter. And most importantly, stay up to date with the latest releases news and merch by going to drinkchamps.com. Why is a soap opera Western like Yellowstone so wildly successful?

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