Drink Champs - Episode 291 w/ Alicia Keys

Episode Date: December 10, 2021

N.O.R.E. & DJ EFN are the Drink Champs. In this episode we chop it up with 15 time Grammy Award-Winning, Singer, Songwriter, Musician & Producer, the legendary Alicia Keys!Lots of great stories in this episode, that you don't want to miss!Make some noise for Alicia Keys!!!💐💐💐🏆🏆🏆Listen and subscribe at http://www.drinkchamps.com Follow Drink Champs:http://www.instagram.com/drinkchampshttp://www.twitter.com/drinkchampshttp://www.facebook.com/drinkchamps DJ EFNhttp://www.crazyhood.comhttp://www.instagram.com/whoscrazyhttp://www.twitter.com/djefnhttp://www.facebook.com/crazyhoodproductions N.O.R.E.http://www.instagram.com/therealnoreagahttp://www.twitter.com/noreaga Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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. This is Military Crazy War. Yappy yawa. Dream champs.

Yappy yawa. Now, yappy, yappy, yappy. We are happy today. In case you don't know. Make some noise! Right now, I have so much joy Googling this person. He's a Googler? He's a Google master.

90 million records sold. Crazy. 15 Grammys. I've never even been nominated for a Grammy. Like, so I got personal beef with the Grammys. I feel you. But you cannot have personal beef with the Grammys. No, but I understand.

Yeah, because you got 15 of them motherfuckers. Countless movies. Countless movies, countless staying relevant, making the best music and continuing to make the best music. I'm going to tell you, I listened to the new album twice. I'm going to tell you the joints that I really, really love. One just hit me off top.

All of them, I mean, you still are fine wine. You are fine wine. You are getting better with time. You are getting better with time. You are getting better with subject matter. Everything about this. This is the, how do they say it in Spanish?

La cuina? La lena. La lena. Well, this is the la lena, whatever. This is the top of the top. We can't go no further than this.

And hopefully, this makes us be more female orientated. Because we need more females here. It's not our fault. It's not our fault. So in case you don't know who we're talking to about, we're talking about the impeccable, the remarkable Aliyah King. By the way, just so you know, we've been doing drink chats for six years. Our friend Garcia has only been here three times.

And this is the third time? Yo, when he walked in, Paul said, he didn't even come to my son's birthday. I feel the love. And my girl, and my goddaughter. So, you bring them out. So, F-Top, I want to ask. I heard there's a rumor that you... Hold on, hold on, hold on.

Okay. Drinks? You need drinks? I want to get a drink. Oh, that's what I'm saying. Okay. We found out that you like jalapeno tequila. That means you a gangster. Period.

I'm going to be honest. Okay. Let's get her a drink. Let's get her... drink let's get her but let me ask you there's a rumor that you and your homegirl tinashe is it is it tinashe the artist no no not tinashe the artist oh but it was in a group and y'all you was ray kwan tanisha tanisha you know my my vocabulary i got you i got, I got you. I got you. I got you. Okay. Yes. You know, either she was Ray and I was Ghost, or she was Ghost and I was Ray. It really depends on the day.

So y'all was in a rap group, and y'all was calling yourself Ray and Ghost. No, we was in a singing group. But y'all were rapping or no rapping? She rhymed. Okay. You know, I did a little that, that, that. Uh-huh.

And the point was, we love Wu-Tang so officially. That's real hip-hop. That Ray and Ghost, she's Ray, I'm Ghost, I'm Ghost, she's Ray. Who's ever the loudest at the time, it was usually her. It's Ray. And whoever's like the cooler one, which is usually me, is Ghost. And that's the vibe.

Wow. Yeah. And y'all would do show as Ray and Ghost or no? You know, it was just like a personal, you know, like that farmer that you put on when you need to just get your thing. Does Ray and Ghost know this? I think Ray might know it because Swizzy knows it. And for one of my birthdays, he had Ray come. And I was like big. I mean, I love, love, love Ray and Ghost and Wu.

And so he ended up coming and so I was able to kind of explain to him some of that. So he might know it. Okay. You know. Did y'all make y'all on purple tape? Nobody can make the purple tape. There's only one purple tape. Okay, that's it.

So let me ask you another question. Let me ask you a question. Why is your microphone down? Because we're scared to tell you you've got to keep yours down. Everybody does that. Mr. Lee is supposed to come over and politely help you. We're all scared to tell you that we have to keep it down. He came over and put it up. And I said, wait.

Oh, that's Mr. Lee because we're all nervous. We're all nervous, God damn it. Mr. Lee don't know what to do with himself. All right, Miss Alita. Miss Alita's speaking English now. She's crazy right now. So I got to ask you, how mad was you at Little Mama

when she fucked up your performance? Oh, shit. All right. The truth, the truth, true, true. First of all, you know, it's... Because I had to watch it again, and let me just be honest with you. As me watching it again this morning,

it seemed like you didn't even see her. The truth of all the truth. Okay. Jay seemed to he was heated. It was in his face. All I know was on that stage, Jay was here. I was here. In my head, I was such a gorilla at the time. I was, my eyes, I was like

this is what's happening is I'm going to destroy this record tonight. That's all I had in my head. Somehow, however she got over here, I didn't even bear witness to the whole show. I was ice so focused on making it amazing. I went backstage and Jay was like, so you ain't see that? And I was like, what? And he was like, no, you ain't just see what just happened?

And I was like, yeah, we killed it. That's what just happened. And he was like, no, you ain't see. And I was like, what are you talking about? The whole time, my sister was standing right there, and I had no idea that she was. I had to watch the playback myself. Wow. I believe you.

I had no idea. So honestly, that's been some time. She's super big. Loved her. She's good. She's super good. She has sent her love, apologies, the whole thing. I think she was just inspired.

You feel inspired. In my mind, I got on the stage too. Yes, you just didn't ask. In my mind. Because you know what was too. Yes, you just didn't ask. In my mind. Because you know what was funny? It's some real New York shit. She could have really started a trend. Other people would have been like, yo, maybe a fat Joe would have jumped on or somebody.

Because everyone is feeling the same New York spirit. That would have been fire. Yeah, yeah. But that's not the way it worked. Like if everybody just got on. I don't know. I don't know if Jay would have liked that. Yeah, because I looked at his face again today, and I said, that man was not happy.

He was not happy. So you go back home, and then you don't know until after. That's crazy. I was actually crying. I was cracking. To me, it was hysterical. I thought it was the most funny. I just couldn't believe that I was on that stage the entire time

and I just did not see that. That's how focused I am when I perform. You seen the meme? They put her everywhere now. They put her like... Now she... Now every single where. Did this cup right here? Is she right there? I think she created the memes.

The first meme, that was like it, right? Oh, you feel like she started the meme trend. I think she started this meme shit. Is this the motherfucker thing she gets? I think you're right. Let's make some noise for little mama. Yeah! Now that's funny, man.

I still can't get over the rain and ghost thing. I'm trying to picture you as way. But on a new album, let's start with Only You. Ooh, is that the normal? No, you know the one that really got me? I wanted to make love to my wife immediately. Okay. This is what you need to do.

My wife is right here. Sorry, babe. I got her going. But Love When You Call My Name. That one was like, I was like, the inner gangsta in me left. I was like, holy shit. This is it for me. This is it for me. This is it for me.

First of all, I want to tell you, I get massages to Sade. And I feel like this album that you got is my first time getting Sade out of my tape deck, even though it's not a tape deck. Wait, did y'all just hear that? It's massage worthy. It's massage music.

Oh, it's massage music. And you know, Sade, first of all, is one of one. I love her so much. So for you to just say, hold on, that's a very big deal. Do you know, like, you're the new version? Hold on. Yeah. Because that's my big sister in my head.

Wow. In my head, Sade is my big sister, like, for sure. Right. And did you ever make Sade? Yeah, we met. Wow. We definitely, we met. She actually performed on a show with me that was crazy. I had to, you know, fix my mouth to ask her to come out and perform

because, you know, she's like a, she's like so ethereal. She's like the prince. She just disappeared. She just like, and then she reappeared. And it's like that. It's like that. So she, I met her in London, and we connected. And at the time, I was doing my organization, Keep a Child Alive, and we did something called the Black Ball.

And so every year, we had really powerful performances. And so I asked her to be a part of it. And so she told me yes. Wow. And when I tell you I left the room, I was like, thank you, sister. You know, big love. I'm going to see you soon. I left the room I was like thank you sister you know big love I'm going to see you soon I left the room I went around the corner as fast as I could get

and then I jumped up and down like a giant like I was super and then her assistant walked by and saw me acting crazy I was like good to see y'all so let me ask you because you also met Prince and Michael, correct? I did.

How was it? First off, I've never met. We love stories from both of them. Yeah, we love stories from both of them. So, whichever way you want to start. Prince or Michael. Prince, man, you know, he... Another one.

Another one that's... He called me a lot. He would check in on me a lot. And I don't even know how he got my number. Like, he's... I don't understand. No one's going to tell you how Prince got your number. He's another mysterious man.

He's another one. He's pulled over there, and then he come back. And by the way, if you ever want to get him on the phone, it's a whole different situation. I feel like Prince was a gangster on the phone. Is that true? I'm just bugging out. This is just my imagination.

He was definitely very direct. He was very, very direct. Wow. So he would call me on the phone after he heard You Don't Know My Name, and he was like, You don't know my name. Baby, baby, baby. You keep taking it out on me, Alicia.

Keep going. Well, he called you after that? He called me and was like, I just heard your new record. And I was like, hello? Right. And you know it's him because he's the only one that sounds like that. Yeah. And so he was like, I love what you're doing.

I love that sound that you're doing. I love how you're producing all your records. Like, this is powerful. Keep doing what you're doing. So he would hit me like that and I'd say, So what did you save his name as in your phone? I swear to you, he always called me from like some old. So random try to call it back.

You can't. And I wasn't trying to be. So it wasn't really. I don't you know, if I called him, I would, you know, call through somebody. It was probably called Lake Minotaur. Definitely. It's somewhere crazy. Definitely somewhere crazy.

You don't remember what that's what Chappelle said in the skit. He's like, hang on my back. He's like, yeah, my back, hang on my back. Yeah, you don't know Chappelle for sure. Then he would pop up on my shows, and then you would just know they'd be like, Prince is here. Right. And everything turned purple. Everything turned purple, right?

Purple mists. Purple mists in the air. Is that what it was? It definitely happened. So you don't really want to know that Prince is at your show. Because there's pressure on you. Yeah. You don't want to be performing when Prince is at your show.

Right. Right? And then Prince call you later and be like, you didn't hit the high note. Like, this is crazy. Nah, he's raw. I don't know why Prince voice like that. I'm sorry. He's raw.

He will. He'll be like, your sound was fucked up this show. And I'll be like. He never told you that. No, he told me that. No. He's like, your sound wasn't right. Your sound was fucked up

And I was like So you think it was But he tried to work through it He was like I think it's a little bit Between the speakers That are happening It's a little bit

Between how the mixer Is treating it And he would actually Like big brother vibes Like a mentor Properly tell me Some truthful shit Which you really won't get

From most people You know what I mean So he's amazing. A lot of people said that he was like an artist, artist, like pro artist, everything. Okay, but how about Michael? Michael, I only met him one time. Was Bubbles there, the monkey? I didn't meet the Bubbles.

I didn't meet the monkey. I met his kids, but I was cool. And then he was just cool as hell, man. Really? He was so cool. I mean, always soft- as hell, man. Really? He was so cool. I mean, always soft-spoken, always that, you know, that energy. And always, like, so curious.

I remember it might have been March and there was still a Christmas tree up. Wow. So I remember I was like... Wait, in his house? Yeah, it was definitely not near Christmas for sure. It's damn near summertime. Look, I like Christmas trees too, so I get it.

That shit would stay all year round. You know, it's good. It's good. So, and he was... I thought that was just a Puerto Rican thing. You mean other people do that? See? Okay.

Not just you, because you never take your tree out. I don't never put it up. But holy shit. So Michael had his Christmas tree set up in March. So it had like that, you know. So anyway, everything was like kind of whimsical and kind of just like dreamy and everything. And I remember he was like giving all this information about Thriller. And he was like, had all these memories.

And that big ass plaque that had like 400,000 times platinum was on the floor. Wow. It was like on the floor in the corner. Wow. So it was, ew, it was so good. He was just so full of love. And he was super sweet floor. Wow. It was like on the floor in the corner. Wow. So it was, ew, it was so good. He was just so full of love, and he was super sweet and so loving, and who would have ever thought that was the last? Wow.

I mean, I only met him one time. Wow. But he's amazing. I love him. Who don't love Michael? Which is why you love Love When You Call My Name, because I sound like a little Michael vibe. Now, there was this one song on the album that it didn't have a feature for.

La La, produced by Mike Will. That's crazy. That record's crazy. Thank you. I love La La. Who else is on that record? Sway. Sway.

Sway is on it. It didn't say Sway? It didn't say feature in Sway. Sway Lee. Okay, yeah. It didn't say feature in Sway Lee. I don't know what type of thing you got. Yeah, they gave me the bootleg version.

Nah, I feel like you got it. They didn't trust me at all. Nah, I feel like they was like, let's get him three records for Normie and that's good. They didn't trust me at all. Let's make sure. But I ain't gonna lie.

Let me just tell you something. This is probably the most important I felt as doing an interview. When they sent me the album early, because, you know, we're really not journalists,

but we're journalists, right? We have to take that meaning. But no one's ever done that for us. No one's ever sent us the album. They never offered it? No one ever offered it. No one, like, you guys are really professional. See, because I take you seriously.

Yeah, just take you for a look. I take you serious, man. I am scared. I am scared. I am scared. And then you rolled up like the Wu-Tang Clan. It's like 55 of them right now. They just came out.

Everyone masked, professional. No one said nothing. They just walked through. Everything was focused. I like it. You see? This is not rapper. You got to keep your focus. This is not rapper shit.

Rappers? All over the place. Yeah, rappers all over the place. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is not. So do you consider yourself a soul artist? Because you're more than just R&B. I love that question.

Definitely. I mean, I feel like I'm R&B. I love that question. Definitely. I mean, I feel like I'm genre-less. I don't feel like I'm undefinable. I don't think you can define what I do. But if there was ever a definition, I think a soul artist is perfect. Because I think Wu is soul. I think Nirvana is soul.

I feel like soul is just something that hits you and moves you and you feel it in a way that you can't describe. So I like that. I'm going to go for that. But everything you do is still very hip-hop, no matter what you do. Yeah. You can't hide it. It's just in me.

It's in me. Hip-hop is soul. Hip-hop is soul. I mean, like, it's in me. New York, born and raised. You can't get it out of me. Right, right. No, don't try.

Now, I've seen two things One say that you're From Harlem But one says you was Born in Hell's Kitchen Yeah Oh okay So Hell's Kitchen one is true

So Hell's Kitchen Well I mean yeah Born in Hell's Kitchen Is right And raised in Hell's Kitchen And also Harlem Wow And Hell's Kitchen is downtown

For the people that don't know Hell's Kitchen is like LES almost right No LES is further down LES is like 20s Hell's Kitchen is like mid. LES almost, right? No, LES is further down. LES is like 20s. Hell's Kitchen is like midtown 40s to almost 60s, but west side, like where it was crazy. I don't know. You were more.

I'm from Queens. Yeah, you were more Queens. So you probably didn't even come to 42nd Street that much except to get a fake ID. No, I did. I did. You got your fake ID there? No, I used to go to peep shows there. Definitely. But how old were you, 10? I was going with the older homies. No, I did. I did. You got your fake ID there? No, I used to go to peep shows there. Definitely.

But how old were you, 10? I was going with the older homies. Like, damn, they took you to the peep show at 10? Yeah, 42nd Street, yeah. That's fucked up.

That was fucked up. I had fucked up friends. I never said I had good friends. Are they still your friends or are you all fucked up? No, they're not. Unfortunately, we separated. Go, go, go.

Alisa, we don't know if you know, but our show is about giving flowers. You know, we see so many artists go, go. Alisa, we don't know if you know, but our show is about giving flowers. You know, we see so many artists, and they want to praise them, you know, after they're gone. We wanted to change their narrative. We want to give people literally their flowers while they're alive. I love that.

So we didn't make that statement up, but we're making it famous, and we're keeping it famous. So we literally wanted to give you your flowers so you could know that. Let's make some noise for that. Yeah! Yeah, Marcus! Come on. For real, you give this to everybody that come or just me? It's a new thing, but.

You the first one with the purple. All right, this is just for me. That's an exclusive one right here. Yeah, that's exclusive. This looks special. This is golden. Yes. We got the beautiful.

They going to last 10 years. I don't know about that. No, no, they're going to last 10 years. The gold roses, yeah. Oh, the gold one? Oh, OK. Sure. The purple one. I don't know about the purple one. And the purple one, I didn't even know. But look, no. The gold roses, yeah. Oh, the gold one? Okay, sure. The purple one. I don't know about the purple one.

And the purple one, I didn't even know. But look, the purple tape. There you go. Yeah, the purple tape. And y'all know that I love purple. Yes. I love the purple tape.

This is fire. I love this. Yes, thank you so much. I love that. Thank you so much. Fire. So, okay. So, we didn't get to Only You.

Let's get to Only You on a new album. Okay, all right. What made you go mess with that one? So first of all, the album is called Keys, right? Right. And it's the double album, and it has two sides. The first is called Originals, and the other one is called Unlocked.

So Originals is like that classic AK piano songwriter, those vibes, those ones you can sing at the top of your lungs and then Unlocked, which is the other side, is the one that me and Mike Will connected and we sampled the originals and made a whole nother record out of those. So it's sick.

So Only You is one of my favorite songs but I'm trying to figure out if you got both sides because you might have just got one side. I got Best of Me, I got La La, I got Nat King Cole, Is It Insane, Come For Me with Khalil, which was I forgot how good Khalil is. You reminded

me of that. Khalid. Yeah, you know, it's me. Old Memories, Love When You Call My Name, Daffodils. Daffodils. Daffodils. What is Daffodils? You got to do the remix. Daffodils. What is daffodils? You got to do the remix. Daffodils. It's okay.

What is daffodils? I didn't want to Google it. I just wanted to ask you. See, he loves to Google. You love to Google. Yeah, is that flowers? You be, like, diagnosing yourself in Google? No, I'll be messing up when I Google.

I'll be getting confused and just give up a lot of the time. But daffodils are actually the first. This I just learned this recently. It's the first flower that a lot of the time. But daffodils are actually the first, this I just learned this recently, it's the first flower that blooms after the winter. And so the vibe is that, you know, you can come back after a dark time. You know what I mean? So that's what daffodils is about.

And it is a flower. Okay, it is a flower. See, I was on point. You know, you got this. Yeah, yeah. Flowers. So I'm bouncing all over the place. But one of my favorite joints is when you sample ODB.

That is my favorite. I sampled Brooklyn Zoo. And it was for Girlfriend. Girlfriend, yeah. Yes, exactly. So what made you go into that zone? And you actually, like, sung. Like, you know what I mean?

Like, what made you just say, you know what? Because that's like, you know it's so hard to recreate a classic, a record that's already a classic. And then so many people are going to judge it because they're going to say, well it's not as good as Brooklyn Zoo or it is as good. What made you take on that task? I just had no idea at the time.

I didn't even know people was going to give a fuck or not. Wow. To be honest, because it was my very first record. Like I said, I love Wu very much. So that piano was so dirty, but it was the piano. The drums were so heavy and so hard. And for me, it just was ill as a singer to be able to, and who played the piano, to take those two and create a song around it.

To me, that was just like some brilliant shit. So the last thing I was thinking about was whether I was messing with a classic or anything. I just didn't even know how that went yet. You know, it's like at a certain point you don't even have

any limitations. There's nothing inside your head that's telling you you can't do it. You're just going to try. You know. It was shit you just tried. You're just like,

whatever, they're going to tell me. Touch a classic, though. I'll be scared. But how'd that get in your head? Because I hate it now. Like when people do my records over, I'll be like, I don't give a fuck.

Stop it. People be sending me records and they'll be like, look, I did your record over. I'll be like, I didn't get you permission to do that. That's how it's different as an MC. As an MC, it's going to be different. I think it's different as an MC to tackle another MC's record. That's what I'm saying. That's even more harder.

There might be more creative liberty if you're singing over the joint. I wouldn't mind someone singing over my joint as opposed to rapping and trying to rap like me. I think that's probably the difference. Yeah, I think that's what it is. It's easier for that. It's just different.

So, okay, but we spoke on Empire State earlier, but we spoke about the incidental performance. How is this record even put together? Jay calls you and he goes, I got a billion dollars. Just like that? I don't know why I keep changing these voices. I'm doing a horrible job, by the way. But honestly, he called.

You kind of sounded like him a little bit. I tried to, right? I tried to. Like a little bit. I was fucking up. So how, does he have the record? Do you have the record? Are y'all in Sony? What's this going on? In this particular case, he had the record. He was reaching out for me to do the record for a minute and he was going through, you on? In this particular case, he had the record. He was reaching out for me to do the record for a minute, and he

was going through, you know, he was being respectful, going through the proper channels at the time. And for whatever reason, the people that represent me at the time did not tell me about the record. I don't know why. I don't know what, if maybe they felt another thing, or I really don't know. So finally

he called me, and he was like, man, I've been trying to get you this record. This record is special. This is called Empire State of Mind. I want you to hear it. It's about New York. And obviously nobody can do it but you. You and Mary. Like there's only two that can do it.

Wow. I didn't think of Mary. Yeah. Because Beyonce from Houston. So, yeah. Yeah, that's true. It wouldn't make sense. I was like, yeah.

I was like, what. So, yeah. Yeah, that's true. It wouldn't make sense. I was like, yeah. I was like, what? Right, exactly. So, anyway, I was like, I couldn't believe that it didn't get to me. And it definitely created a whole new thing for me to make sure that I was, like, in front of my shit. Because so many people, you know, you trust them to handle your stuff and to do their thing for you. And you don't know what's coming back to you or what's not coming back to you. And sometimes that's crazy, because could you imagine that empire never got to me?

Wow. But when you heard the record, did you know this was immediately a monster, or you was like... Because you know what it is sometimes when we make regional records, and although New York is a big market, I'm sure when people, you know,

from Ja Rule making the I Love New York record. And a lot of people get critiqued of us because they, you know, they say that we're cocky. New York is we're cocky. So was it any time when you thought like, damn, because it is a regional record, although it's a global record. But it's regional because if you're really not from New York, you're not going to have that little mama spirit to jump on the stage. You understand what I'm saying? She was correct because she felt the spirit. That's exactly what you wanted.

It's just not on the stage at that stage. You know what I'm saying? But so I'm saying, when you first heard it, did you know immediately that this is going to... Because I believe that Kane's Frank Sinatra record, they took it out, and this is the new New York City anthem. Did you know that when you heard it?

I don't think I knew all that. I didn't know all that. I definitely felt it. You could feel it. You could feel it had a spirit. You could feel the way the chorus changed. You could feel that beginning of that chorus was already kind of in the space. You could start to feel what it felt like.

So I only operate from in the space. You could start to feel what it, what it felt like. So I already, I only operate from an emotional space. I don't really know how to go from a place where I'm like, this is a smash. I don't, I don't work like that. I just don't even know how to think like that. So it was emotional for me and I felt it. It's my city. I loved it. And I, and I just felt attracted to it. So, so I went for it. I actually had to record it a couple of times. The first time I recorded it in LA and, um, the shit just didn't work i thought it worked i thought it sounded good but he called me and he was like um you think you're gonna be able to do them vocals again and i was like what which one of my vocals my vocals are fresh hold on hold on yeah i don't i don't i don't know if I would have called you.

I would have just kept it vocal. That's an awkward conversation. I'm pretty sure he didn't really want to call me. Right, right, right, right. But to be honest and to be fair, I was sick. And, you know, I was trying to turn the record around for him. He asked me for it by a certain time, so I was sick, and I went in and I did it. And you could kind of hear.

So you knew that he was right in some way. When he called me, I was like, I was mad, but I was like, what you mean? But then I agreed, I agreed. And he was like, another thing. You know how on the record you always be like, uh, yeah, uh, could you do that on there? So he had his request.

So I went back in. I did it in New York. I was feeling better. And he was in New York. The energy was right. You can't do a New York record in LA. That's just like... Yeah, that's kind of crazy. You can't be at Circle House in Miami

recording that shit. No, you can't. No. Yeah, I don't make New York records, though. So, yeah. So that was the vibe. And then I flipped it, did it again, and it was what it is right now. But now that it is literally the, not only New York record,

but I'll never forget the biggest moment for me was I was in Paris, and it was the first time I was performing a record. It was the first time that I performed a record by myself. And if you remember, I did a version of the record that was just me on piano. Because I was like, I'm not going to be able to do this J thing every time. Like, I'm never going to be able to perform it. And so I did a broken down version of it. And that's actually, when we talk about keys and we talk about original and unlocked,

we would call the broken down version of Empire my original. And we would call the original version of Empire my unlocked version. That's kind of the concept of what unlocked and keys come from. And so anyway, when I did my version, I was in Paris and I was about to perform it and I was like, I didn't know how it was gonna go over. I'm like, first of all, they speak another language. Are they even gonna understand me?

And then I'm like, New York, New York, and we're in Paris? I'm like, I don't know what's gonna happen. All I know, I went out, the entire audience, top of their lungs, every happen. All I know, I went out, the entire audience, top of their lungs. New word for word. Every word. And I just started. That's a powerful record.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So. That was one of them records that came out and I knew all the words the same day. Right. Like, I knew, like, I was like, I mean, because it was a proud, like, I felt the little mama spirit. Like, I'm not saying that, like, being funny. I'm actually. Now you felt it. Like, I was like, I little mama spirit. Like, I'm not saying that, like, being funny. I'm actually, like, I was like, I did it too.

Like, I was like, yeah. I was. You wanted to rush the stage. I did in my mind. Like I told you, I did in my mind. Yeah, it's just one of those, like, in fact, every winner, it's like my tradition.

I go back to New York, where I'm from, and I have back to New York Where I'm from And I have to hear that record I have to hear that record Going down 34th Street Like I cannot complete my winter Without riding down 34th Street For some reason

What you riding in? I'm pretty much When I'm in New York I'm pretty much incognito Oh you got a truck I'm probably in a truck I'm probably in a truck Yeah

But it reminds me of You you know, Home Alone and these Christmas spirit, you know, songs that you have to hear. Like, you know, I'm Puerto Rican. Empire remind you of Christmas? Yeah, it does. It does. Did it come out around Christmas? I don't know, but you know why? It's just that perfect snow record.

When it's snowing, I just want to hear that. Right. And you know what I Googled on you today? Right. That all of your albums, like you're really. Google needs to pay up. Google got, ooh, Obisa money. Look, but you really a big dog.

Like, you know, when I was making records, they would keep me in the summer because it's easier to push an artist in the summer. All of your albums, October, I told you, it's a record, it's a record. I told you, I'm on point, mother fucker. You're right, you're right. I'm on point.

But you really, all of your albums came out within November. It's only two of your albums that came out in the summer. The first one came out in the summer. The first one, yup. And I forget which other one. Maybe Here. Alicia came out in the summer. Oh yeah, Alicia came out in the summer. But all of the forget which other one. Maybe here. Oh, yeah, Alicia came on.

But all of the other ones. Fourth quarter. Was fourth quarter. And what I used to, what I, listen, the big CEOs used to tell me, you can't come out

fourth quarter. You are gone, dude. You're going to stay your ass in the summertime. I never got offered. And I'm looking at it, I said, damn, all of your shits

was fourth quarter. Because you know what that means? That when they drop you fourth quarter, they mean that you are the sure shot for them to make all their money back. So they push you, Jay, DMX, and all of you guys to the fourth quarter because y'all are sure shot.

Did you know that? Hey, you know, I happen to be aware of that. Of course you know that? Hey, you know, I happen to be aware of that. Yeah. Of course you know that. I love the applause. I love the applause. Yeah, man, that's a big deal. No, but honestly,

it's kind of, it's kind of wild. And I'm putting out, putting out songs that I'm A minor. That was my first record in the summer. Man, it's something

that feels so good about a summer record. You got the festivals, you got the parades, you got, I remember being in the Puerto Rican Day Parade on one of those folks. Yeah, we was claiming you for a long time. You can still claim me? We thought you was Puerto Rican.

We was claiming you for a long time. My godmother is Puerto Rican. So we riding with that, that's just it. That's going up. That's going up. We riding with that. Yeah, you got that. We good.

We all riding We got leashes Yeah, but you was performing At the Puerto Rico Day before you ended And I loved it There was something so good About the summer

You could go You know, there's a Different energy in the winter You like Trying to figure out Where you gonna perform And not freeze It's just different

Everybody's kind of Rushing to be home It's a different vibe Right I feel like, this summer. So my point is, even though maybe you wanted to be offered a fourth quarter, I think this summer was like, right. Yeah, but you was a short shot.

I don't mind either. So, moving on. 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 did 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. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding.

But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Business Week editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick.

Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business 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 bestselling 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. And it's going to take us to heal us.

It's Mental Health Awareness Month. And on a recent episode of Just Heal with Dr. J, the incomparable Taraji P. Henson stopped by to discuss how she's discovered peace on her journey. So what I'm hearing you saying is healing is a part of us also reconnecting to our childhood in some sort. You said I look how youthful I look because I never let that little girl inside of me die. I go outside and run outside with the dogs. I still play like a kid. I laugh. You know, I love jokes. I love funny. I love jokes I love funny I love laughing I laugh at myself I don't take

myself too seriously that's the stuff that keeps you young and stops you from being so hard to hear this and more things on the journey of healing you can listen to just heal with Dr. J from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio

app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts at&t connecting changes everything what was your first um active movie because like i look you have so much movies too like holy moly guacamole. Hey. Yeah, so, like, and they said you was signed at 12. You was making music at 12 and had a record deal at 15? My first record deal was, I guess it was right out of high school. I graduated high school early, so I was about 16. I had a record deal. And I did.

I had a record deal. I was signed to Columbia Records, and I was accepted to Columbia University. Wow. Wow. And I just knew that was some shit. I was like, this is going to mean something. Columbia Records and Columbia University. This means something.

I knew it means something. You ever been to Columbia? The country? That's what he wanted you to answer. I ain't been to Columbia. I ain't been to Columbia. Let's get the phone. You might owe Columbia something.

There's too much of Columbia. Yeah, got to call it recording. So, was it Tommy Matoto when you was in Columbia? At the time, it was Donny Ina. Donny Ina. I think Tommy had already maybe not, something had transitioned with Tommy. Okay, him and Mariah was going through it, Peggy? You know, at the time, I ain't no shit about any of that shit.

I was like, no, no. You know? And then you got to work with Clive Davis. And then Columbia fucked it up. And I know they killing themselves to this day. Because they did it with me, and they did it with Aretha Franklin. FYI. Damn.

I'm sorry, I didn't know what they did to Aretha. What did they do to her? They didn't know what to do with her. They didn't know how to, like, she didn't know what they did to Aretha. What did they do to her? They didn't know what to do with her. Oh. They didn't know how to, like she didn't start having her, she's had her records that didn't really blow on Columbia. And then she, you know, she went on and then she started getting those big records. So they just didn't really know what to do with a real artist and with an artist that

was different, you know, so many of these places, they just marketing and they just commercialism and they just don't know how to think of nothing new so it was a blessing for them like it was definitely nanny aina for sure did you see the um shock con versus auntie got a little lit i heard i heard auntie i heard auntie got a little lit i was like that's auntie right there. She was drinking cognac. I thought they drank Ciroc. I'm thinking of Ciroc. I thought they called it Ciroc-a-con. Oh.

They was part of it. So. But she is a legend and a genius. And her pairing with Stephanie Mills was like one of the most incredible pairings ever. And what I loved from seeing the playbacks, I loved the sisterhood. Her pairing with Stephanie Mills was like one of the most incredible pairings ever. And what I loved from seeing the playbacks, I loved the sisterhood. Like you could see how, you know, certain times now I think sometimes artists don't necessarily connect so powerfully. Although you do meet people that you do connect with, but it's so separate.

But them, like you could see her, like she was there for her. You know, she was not going to leave her out. She was going to be with her the whole time. She was going to, like, make the energy beautiful. And I just thought that sisterhood was really, really, really beautiful. And you know what? That's a big show. Like, people, you get nervous.

You know what I mean? And you definitely. You want a little bit of Sirocco. You might need to try to feel like you calmed down. But that doesn't take away from her legendary status. No, not at all. She's so crazy. I see Chaka Khan at Soho House. I was so scared to get up and say hi to her.

Right, because she is going to cut you back. Wait, here in Miami? No, in L.A. Oh. In L.A. I forgot who I was with. I was like, can you see if I could say hi to her? And by the time they came back, she had already left.

And I was like, it's Chaka Khan. I just got to take the loss. Yeah, I was like, I just got to take the loss. It's okay. What the hell? Like, you know. So, you I was like, it's Shaka Khan. I just got to take the loss. Yeah, I was like, I just got to take the loss. What the hell? Like, you know. So, you watched Versus, obviously. Definitely.

Obviously. I mean, I was there at the inception of Versus. It's a part of the family business. Yes. I was there. Okay, what was the inception of that? Let's just go there. Well, this is my version of the inception. Okay, cool.

My version of the inception was I went down to the garage, and I walked in, and he's over there on IG. And I'm like, shit, if I walk over there, he's going to make me get on the camera. So I'm like, I'm going to stay over here. So I was watching him, and he was like, da-da-da-da-da-da. I was like, I wonder what he's doing. Who's he talking to? I was like, but if I go over there, he's going to make me get on the camera. I don't want to be on the camera.

It's late. So I went upstairs. Next time I come back downstairs, he's gone. And so I was like, I wonder where he went. So I go to sleep. Three in the morning, bang. Never going to believe what happened. I'm like, what happened?

I was just on IG with Tim. Me and Tim, we went crazy. And I killed him. I'm like, what happened? I was just on IG with Tim. Me and Tim, we went crazy. And I killed them. I killed them for sure. I'm telling you. I was like, so what was happening? We was battling. He was playing a record. I was playing a record. He was playing. What? And then everybody was just coming to the spot. It was crazy.

I started to lose reception, so I had to go up the street and finish in a car. And I'm like, you finished in a car? Yeah, and I killed him in a car. I was like... I was like, okay. All right, that's fire. That sounds sick. I went to bed.

And that was literally the beginning of verses. Like, that transformed into all that. Crazy. You need a verses. Are you okay? Yeah, I'm great. I'm great. I do Okay. You need a versus. Are you okay? Yeah, I'm great. I'm great.

I do this. So you know where I'm going with this, right? You know what the next question is. You might have not Googled. Go ahead. Would you do versus? He ain't Googling. Oh, yeah, but y'all was so friendly. I wanted you to like.

You needed to be a little bit more aggressive, right? Yeah, I totally forgot about that. Although. Yeah. I wanted to... I didn't Google it. I do think that I personally need another versus. I think we got to do it.

I want you... Who would you want to battle? Who y'all think I should be when I'm... Mary Jane. Who? You said Elton John? Who? Mary Jane. Elton fucking John Ooh. You said Elton John? Ooh. Mary Jane.

Elton fucking John? He just said Elton John. Not Elton John. Who said Elton John? Elton John. She got excited. She got excited. Um, I don't know, Mary.

Actually, Elton's kind of ill on the keys. No, it definitely, but Elton John has like 60 years of music. Like 60 years. I got a lot, but like that's a lot. Wow. Sade. But Erykah Badu did Jill Scott, which was one of my favorites.

That was like one of my favorite verses. Well, if Jada Kiss could battle twice, Mariah? Mariah? Wow. Beyonce. Maya. Maya. Maya. Maya. Maya. Maya. Maya. Beyonce. Beyonce.

Mm. Beyonce. You said that, Charlie? Beyonce or Rihanna. Or Rihanna. That's hard. That's a good one. That's hard.

That's a good one. All right, I like that. Me, B, or Rih? Are y'all for Rih? Yeah. Me, B, or Rih? Yeah. Let's go.

Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. So, um, recently we had Kanye on here, right? And he does this Sunday service. Have you ever attended this Sunday service? I have been to one Sunday service

and I also have watched Sunday service. And I really love, I love his vibe with Sunday service. I think it's really, really special. And he's like the only one that could do it. Word. You know, just in the way that he does it that makes it such a visual experience and then kind of an emotional experience.

So, yeah. Okay. Love that. Alright, I'm going to name your albums, and I want you to say something about them as I name them. Okay. Tell me where you was at when you were making them or whatever. Like what I was feeling, where I about them, as I name them. Tell me where you was at when you were making them, or whatever. Like what I was feeling, where I was at,

what was happening. Whatever you. You know you jump around a lot. I love that. Yes I do. I gotta keep up with you. Yes I do. We ain't even with Quick Time with Slime yet.

We ain't even with Quick Time with Slime yet. It's gonna give me a kick. We got slime? Yeah, Quick Time. Okay. Songs in a minor. First of all, it's A minor, my G. Ooh, yes, I'm sorry, man.

I'm sorry, I'm dyslexic. That's okay. That's okay, don't worry. Bye-bye. He's going to use dyslexics here. It goes a long way here. It goes a long way. He just made me feel bad. I was like, it's my fault.

It's my fault. Songs in A minor, 135th between 5th and Lenox. One six-floor walk-up, one-bedroom apartment, no heat, blazing hot. MMG Cafe? What's the cafe that you use? Pan Pan. Pan Pan. Pan Pan.

Oh, damn, I felt this fried fish just now. Yes, so good. In the closet with a blanket over, recording vocals, listening to records for hours and hours trying to figure out how could I produce them, how could I make them sound as good as Isaac Hayes and Mary and, like, you know, Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye and, like, those joints that was timeless forever

and never went to sleep, singing at the top of my lungs. Dude on the corner called me, hit a high note every time I walked back to the spot. Hit a high note, I heard you last night That's songs in a man, okay the Diary of Alicia Keys Diary of Alicia Keys I had just moved to

Jersey I thought I was that money was coming. I was big time. I thought I was big time. I thought I could get me a little spot. I just wanted a little spot like a little house, like a little thing. All of a sudden, everything kind of turned around. I didn't really have that much money that I thought I couldn't make the rent anymore for the spot that I was renting. And I was stressed out,

but I knew that it was going to work out, and I promised I would never live in Jersey ever again, because I was that it was going to work out. And I promised I would never live in Jersey ever again because I was never going to pay to get anywhere. Don't charge me to leave or come back in. And I never, so I went somewhere. The tolls. So I went somewhere

I could get a free bridge and I ended up in Queens. Long Island? Queens! First of all, where was you at in Jersey? Do you remember? The first time, honestly, it was you at in Jersey? Do you remember? The first time, honestly, it was such a blur. It was such a bad time.

I just didn't even remember. So you don't even remember. But you remember where you was at in Queens? Rosedale. Rosedale, okay. Rosedale, my first house, Queens, Rosedale. Wow, you know where 50 Cent is from? Yeah. 50 Cent from around the corner.

But where are you from? I'm from Lephrax City. God damn it, make some noise for me. Hey! I'm proud of Lephrax. Very proud, very Hey! I'm proud of Stepfrak. Very proud. I'm very proud. Holy shit.

So... 50 from Rosedale? 50's from around there. Yeah, he's from Roxdale. Yeah, I don't think Rosedale. That don't add up. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what I get you.

Yeah, yeah. Okay, so let me finish the albums. Okay. Yeah, you took me there. I was lost. As I am. As I am. I had a major breakdown.

I didn't know how to handle all the things. I felt like I was supposed to handle everything and I was supposed to be perfect. I didn't know how to do it. I didn't know how to be it. And I felt like I was sinking. And I had to leave. I just like, I couldn't take it anymore do it. I didn't know how to be it. And I felt like I was sinking. And I had to leave. I just, like, I couldn't take it anymore.

And so I left. And it was the first time that I went on, like, a trip for myself. To Egypt? Is that when you went to Egypt? That's when I went to Egypt. Oh, actually, I went to Egypt and Italy. You know, I'm half black and half Italian. Wow.

So I didn't even realize when I picked those two, there was, like, a homecoming in a way. Like a, you know, like a trip for me that was going to mean something. And so when I came back from that, I started changing everything. I started, I had a bunch of fake friends. I had people that I just, they weren't fake, but they just wanted what they wanted. And it wasn't in line. And I had to kind of babysit everybody.

And I just cut off all the excess energy. And I remember I just decided, like, I can create what I want to create. I don't have to do anything that don't feel right for me. And it was the first time that I really, like, expressed my own individuality. And I made major changes, and it changed everything. I fired business managers, lawyers,

all these fake-ass people that want to steal from you. And it was finished. So that was a shift for you. It was a big, big shift, that record, which is fake-ass people that want to steal from you. And it was finished. So that was a shift for you. It was a big, big shift, that record, which is why it sounded like that. Okay. The Element of Freedom, which is kind of ironic because you're kind of describing that, leaving that album, so it makes sense

that you went to The Element of Freedom, but I want you to say it in your words. The Element of Freedom, yeah, I know. When I think about it, I felt so empowered naming the album element of freedom it wasn't until i looked back on it that i realized what an element don't make no damn sense this is a tiny little bit like an element is a tiny bit of freedom here i was thinking i was like having all this freedom but the words i was choosing right was small and so that's kind of, at the time, I had to break out of thinking small. I had to break out.

Although Element is where Empire was. Element is where Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart was. Element was like a big European record for me, too. Like, Europe went crazy over Element of Freedom. And it was like my coming out of, my beginning of coming out of anything that I had maybe held onto before and leaving it behind.

But I still needed a lot. I still needed a lot of transition. You know he's going to get so deep. Drink. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that brings me to Girl on Fire. Ooh, Girl on Fire, you couldn't tell me shit. I remember people was like, you got a little bit nervous

that you calling this album girl on fire i was like why i'm a fucking girl on fire and i didn't even get what they were talking about they were kind of saying like i guess they were saying if you call if you say girl on fire but if it don't end up being that hot what's gonna happen to you oh i thought they was talking about, like, the Richard Pryor type of fire. I didn't, no, I didn't mean it like that. Like I was going to get burned? Yeah, that's what I said. I thought you said. I thought you said, no, no, no.

I thought you said that's why people was, like, you was chasing yourself. Although, I did throw my brother, like, his, I got a younger brother, and I threw him, like, his 18th birthday, and it was fresh, and we went to the, um, the go-kart spot his 18th birthday and it was fresh and we went to the the go-kart spot, you know the racing spot and we were in the racing spot and I surprised him I brought like his friends from wherever the family was there. We rented it. I felt like I was doing it big

It was crazy. He was so happy. He was so excited. We were in the back with cheers brother. I love you Boom, and I went back like this and there was a candle behind my hair and then my ladies know when you put like the hairspray and all this stuff, you know, so Oh, so you was a girl And all I know is they guys Swizzy was with me. Oh, he was like baby baby And it was on fire So that was during that album and to your point. You wrote that. I should have been careful.

She had a Richard Byer moment. See? Oh my gosh. But Girl on Fire was on fire. I had my first baby. I got rid of a bunch of negative motherfuckers

that needed to be out of my life. Wow. It was about removing that toxic bullshit. Yes. And I was on fire for real.

There was none, you know, I felt myself and I was like, for real. I felt myself. And I was like, I had a space for myself and nobody could tell me some shit that wasn't right because I knew for myself. Now, you just said that title was hard, but

this title is harder to me here because it's just like, to me, that's being cocky without being cocky because you because you're saying here and most people say i'm here forever so i think i can't put those words in your mouth what were you saying by saying here i remember i was gonna name here king in new york okay i i wanted i've said i'm the king of New York. I respect that. I ain't going to say no to you.

I deserve to be considered the king, not the queen, not the princess. The king of New York. I want to make some noise for that. I want to make some noise for that. It's okay. You got 90 million records in the back. That statement up. So I started to kind of bring some of the other kings in New York in.

I was, you know, building with Nas, Q-Tip, Jay. And I was just like, you know, how you feel about this? I want to call it king of New York. People had such an adverse reaction to it. It was so interesting how that rubbed people in a certain way. Because you're acting like the other kings of New York, though. They didn't. I don't feel they.

It was more like they were kind of considering it for me, you know, like as a brother to their sister. More like that. Not like they was hating. They was, you know. You know, anyway, so I decided to call it here because I realized that that was even more powerful to what I was feeling at the time. And that record to me is one of my most undiscovered jewels. To me, that record is my purple rain. Like that one is one of my most special, important records. And it was a big transition for me.

It's my love letter to New York. You really hear it. You hear it in every skit. Our brother Pick was on that record before he passed. God bless. There is a whole energy that's in there that's so real. And so I decided to call it here because, not because I'm here,

but because I'm present. I'm here and I'm experiencing myself in this moment and I'm being honest with everything that I'm going through and feeling. So I'm here. And that's the way I looked at it. So I love that record. That's one of my favorite That's like one of my favorite records.

My baby. So then you self-titled the album Alicia. Alicia. What made you do that? Alicia came because I realized that I started to really know who I was and who I am. And Alicia is a very complicated individual. We're all complicated individuals. We all got all these different sides to us. And I remember I was having a conversation with my husband, and he was like,

you know, why don't you ever tell anybody you're Italian? And I was like, what? Why don't you ever tell anybody you're Italian? And I was like, what? Why don't you tell anybody that you're Italian? Italian? And I was like, people know that I'm Italian. What are you talking about? He was like, ask anybody, but you don't know you're Italian. And I was like, huh?

What is the point? He was like, I just feel like you like not fully sharing everything. Like there's so many ill parts to you and you don't share all of it. And that was the first time that I really thought, well, maybe there is stuff that I'm holding back that I didn't realize. And so Alicia was really about uncovering like who is Alicia on multiple levels? Who are we all on multiple levels? Like we feel like we have to be this one side or this one type or this one version. Or this person makes you happy, so I'm going to be like that. And this person makes my girls happy, so I'm going to be like that.

But, like, who are you? And that, to me, that's like. Like self-discovery? That was my stake in the ground. Like, this is who I am. All right, let's make some noise for that guy. Ay! Ay!

And then the last one, 2021, is The Keys. Keys! And it's a double album. Double album! I never did a double album before. You ever did a double album? That shit ain't no joke. I ain't got that much thought process.

Okay, it cut off. I'm an ABC dude. Dyslexic. After D, I'm fucked up. A, B, I gotta be ABC. Eight songs. Eight songs would be good. Yeah, so.

So Keys is really about like, listen, there's two sides of me, there's two sides of all of this, there's many sides to all of us. I have my original me. I have the one that you might expect me to be. I'm behind the keys. I got that music. I got that soulfulness. And I also have a whole other side of me that you probably not going to expect. And I want to blow your mind with both of them. They're going to be all about the piano. They're going to be all about the shit only I could do. This is my world. You can't do what I do. And you're going to love

it because it's this experience that's just like pure and real and honest. And you're going to feel it right here. I love that shit. Peace! I want to buy the album now. Put it on sale now.

Yes. Original AK, unlocked AK. Original Nori, hell. Yes. Original AK, unlocked AK. Original Nori, unlocked Nori. Hold up. Holy shit. You got me hyped, girl. Hold on.

All right, so look. Now we're playing Quick Time with Slime. Where's the slime? Okay. No, no, no. There's no slime. There's no slime. So why do we say slime?

Because that's a word I made up back in the day. Okay, fine. Okay, but look. This is what we do. So you can pick one or the other. One or the other, and it's nothing. But if you pick both, or you pick you want to be political, and you say neither, then you take a shot. Both of you.

Okay? Okay, wait. I pick one or the other if I want to be political. Yeah. If you want to be political. Is that the shot? Are you crazy? No, no, no.

He said for you to pour that. Okay. I didn't question you. You got it right here. Mr. Lee. No, you can pour the shot in there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you you need to pour that. Okay. I didn't question you. You got it right here. Mr. Lee. You can pour the shot in there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you.

And I'm going to drink Japanese whiskey. Holy shit. What's your drink, babe? I'm drinking Japanese whiskey. Obviously, Ace of Spades is major. Yes, we love Ace of Spades in here. I see. I don't know if you know that.

I see. We like it. This is one of the best champagnes on the planet. I don't know if you know this. No, we like Ace of Spades. And we also promote Ciroc like a motheriroc. We like Ciroc, too. We are here. Don't drink that, please.

Dominican Marijuana. What is that? He just likes to be crazy. Can I smell it? Is it going to kill you? You're not going to make any more of your interviews. Is it? Yeah, yeah.

That does be playing. Oh, wow. I just be playing. It's going to kill you. Oh, wow. It smell herbal. It is herbal. Okay. The herbal shit get you to crazy. You could do ceremonies with this. Have you ever tried gugong chew? Oh, yeah. We have that.

We retired it here. Gugong, taiga, bhaji, we do all that. So that's the latest? We ain't been getting guugong, Taiga, Bajie. We do all that. What's happening? So that's the latest? No, we ain't been getting Gugong and Bajie since COVID because it came from China. So they shut our shipment down.

And then we just never continued. Plus, we was kind of a little scared. So wait a minute. But what do you do? When do you get a shot? Oh, I'm doing it with you. No, we all drink with you. We're going to drink with you.

So if I choose the middle ground. If you're politically correct, then we drinking. Yeah. OK. And I feel like We're going to drink with you. All right, so if I choose the middle ground, if you're politically correct, then we drinking. Yeah, okay. And I feel like you're going to be politically correct. So this is unlocked AK. No, this is unlocked AK, not politically correct. Okay, cool. Because you have a lot of friends.

I do have a lot of friends. I love everybody. This is what it is. Okay. We still friends. All right, we're going to start out. We're going to start out. I don't know where you're going to go.

Does everybody have a drink, though? Yeah, everybody has a drink. All right, all right. You can do a little more. You can do a little more. Go small. It's going to start out. You're going to start out. I don't know where you're going to go. Does everybody have a drink, though? Yeah. Everybody has a drink. All right. All right. You can do a low pour. You can do a low pour. Go small. It's going to be a while. How long is this game?

Yeah. You can shorten the pour. Shorten the pour. You can shorten the pour. Yeah. Okay. Drake or Wayne? Wayne.

Scarface or Ice Cube? Face. Outkast or Mobb Deep? Out? Face. Mm. Outcast or mob deep? Outcast. Yes sir. All right. Y'all betting over there? And I know you just worked with Kanye,

because I just spoke to him. That was a hard one. I just spoke to him. That was so hard, go ahead. You was working with Kanye in New York. Yeah, yeah, yeah, big love, big love, yay. Kanye or Pharrell? Yay.

You're answering these pretty easy. Yeah, she's not drinking at all Alright Push it Tea or I got the wrong one I got the wrong one Oh shit

I'm so sorry That's not the one Yo Who was that one for Yo Who was that one for Well great Great

She didn't She didn't drink Who answered that one No Yeah First question is Aaron Aaron water

Thank you You should You should have been Stopped I'm so sorry I don't want to yell at your president Alright but wait Who were those No, yeah. First question is, air or water? Thank you. That's not. I'm so sorry. That was one of your questions. All right, but wait. Who were those for? That was for Big Sean.

Okay. Okay. Was that hard for Big Sean? These are crafted just for you. I'm ready. From these two guys, Colombian and a Dominican. Come on, Colombian and a Dominican. I'm ready.

Those two guys are, okay. This is more like Queen Latifah or MC Lyke. La. But I love them both, but La. Okay, this is more like it. Queen Latifah or MC Lyte? Lyte. But I love them both, but Lyte. All right. I said that second. Okay, Foxy or Lil' Kim? Kim.

This one, you taking a shot. You ready? Okay. Eve or Missy? Take a shot, girl. Why you want me to shoot? Let's take a shot. Take a shot.

That was too big. Okay. I'm going to go smaller next time. All right, yeah, you can go smaller. Like that. No problem. Cam or Mace? Harlem.

Taking a shot? Now, I just want to think about it for two seconds. Harlem love you too much, so it's big. I'm going to say Cam. Okay. You're funny. What? Swiss or Timberland

The fact they even put that in there You know the answer That's what's next We should drink just for that Yeah I think we should drink Just for that Okay SWB or skate S double U to the Vouble-U to the B.

S-double-U to the B. I was just talking about Coco. Okay, ODB or Biz Markie? Mmm. That is a hard one. You go poquito on your shot. I did, I did I need to major un poquito

I'm going to say Biz Because he's classic and he's That shit is hard Yeah, ODB's classic too Yeah, take a shot Take a shot, fuck it Alright, this one Wait, Paco, we're taking a shot

Oh yes, I'm in Yes, I'm in I'm sorry Shit That's big You should be careful This one right here I don't know where you're going to go with it

because it's girl power. And these are two of the most relevant female rap artists right now. Cardi B or Nicki Minaj. They both got your phone number. I see what y'all trying to do with that. I see what y'all trying to do with that. Right there. Salud. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. with? NWA or Wu-Tang? It's going to be Wu. Because I told you Wu is like my... I respect that.

Brandi or Monica? I'm going to go... I'm going to go for... I'm going to go for Monica. Okay. Whitney or Janet? What type of question is that? Yeah.

It's a drinking type. It's just two totally different... I'm going for Whitney. Okay. I'm going for Whitney. Okay. Rest in peace. Yes. What?

Biggie or Big L? Oh. Oh. I'm going to just level my shot off. Dang. That one was hard. There's no choosing between Biggie and Big L. No.

I don't think you should. Like, period. That's dangerous. Great answer. That is the right, correct answer. Mariah or Mary J? Mary. Okay.

Okay. I think I know what you're going to pick on this one. L.A. or Miami? Even though we in Miami right now. That's hard. I think I know what you're gonna pick on this one. LA or Miami, even though we in Miami right now. Yeah. That's hard. New York. I'm taking a shot for that.

I'm taking a shot for that. That's not gonna answer. That should be my answer, holy shit. That's it, I'm taking a shot. All right, go for it. Listen, how much do you drink? That was fun though. How many days per week is this show?

This is the second time someone asked that. They worried about us. They worried about us. We do balance. We do balance. You're going to be drinking green juice tomorrow? Green juice tomorrow. My wife owns a juice bar.

Okay, we good. Okay. Schneider, you got him. All right. Got you. Chris Brown or Usher? Usher. That was deep.

Trey Songz or Jeremiah? Trey. Okay, this one is very tricky. It's not fun at all. It's meant to be tricky. Okay. DMX or Tupac? Oh.

Oh. Ouch. Yeah. It's meant to be tricky. DMX or Tupac? Oh. There's no choosing between X and Pac. Period. Rest in peace to both. Yes. I definitely don't know where you're going to go with this one.

Jordan or LeBron? Jordan. Okay. Don't know where you're going to go with this one. Jordan or LeBron? Jordan. Okay. Don't know where you're going to go with this one either. This is pretty funny. Salt-N-Pepa or the City Girls? It's pretty funny. I like this one.

Salt-N-Pepa. You got to go with Salt-N-Pepa. You got to. I feel like you went to Halloween at Salt-N-Pepa once. Remember? As the whole group? Went to what? Like Halloween, you dressed Halloween at Salt-N-Pepa once. Never? As the whole group? Went to what? Like Halloween, you dressed up at Salt-N-Pepa?

I need to, though. I think next year. I need to do that. Yeah, I need that. Yeah, I never did that. I never got into Halloween like that. You never really dressed up for Halloween? I dressed up, but I don't go crazy.

Not everybody going bananas. I'm like, Jesus, it's like a major thing to keep up with. I see Nas with Scarface. Nas with Scarface? Yeah, he went into Scarface. I was, I went as a- Nas with Scarface? Yeah, he went as Scarface. I went as the dodgeball guy once. I don't know who that is. I feel like that was believable,

that I could play dodgeball. No, you didn't, did you? Yeah, I did. I went as- One year. That's what I said, one year. Your shirt wasn't on set for your video? No, I went, I wore it, I went for 30 minutes,

and I said, let's get it out. And I took it off. So I did dress up one year. I'm going to try to get into it, because even Jay-Z, and then I see fabulous dresses. I say, it's really just me. I'm the only bozo. Yeah, you need to get into it. I got to get into it. Let's get into it. Me and you. I'm going to get Halloween. You know

what it is? And nobody dresses up as Nori for Halloween. You know what? I don't like it. I don't like it. I've been looking at your pictures. Nobody wants to be me. That's true. Nobody? Not one of you motherfuckers

is going to dress like me. How could they be you? Would they hold this Habiki in their hand? And say they're dyslexic the whole time. Absolutely. Who would they say? That's all you got to do. Okay, I like that.

I like that. I like the thank you part. I think they just had to walk around. Let me Google that. I know what you're going. I think they just had to walk around. Let me Google that. I know what you're going to say for this one, but I got to ask you. All right, you don't know me. The locks or the Migos? Locks.

See, I knew you. Locks. Locks. I mean, Jada is one of the greatest of all time, period. And the story, so is chic. Okay. Even though I asked you this earlier, I'm going to reiterate it. Just make sure you're still with the same decision.

Pharrell or Kanye? Ye. You said that earlier? Ye. Okay. You went with Ye. Say Ye. What do you think?

I'm going with Pharrell. Okay. I love Kanye as a person. Okay. And I'm about to be down with Don Dust Media. All right. Good for you. I'm about to be with that.

But I can't erase my history. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Pharrell. You know what I'm saying? I can't erase my history. Super thug for real. You know what I'm saying? I can't erase my history. No, I'm super thug. Come on.

Okay. Friday or house party? Friday for life! I love Friday! Although, my love did throw me a house party. But that was after I threw him the coming to America party. Who won? Coming to America or house party?

You know I got your back. Thank you. Thank you. I want you. Okay. All right. This is getting great. 90s or 2000?

Any criteria of hip hop you want. 90s or 2000s? Music in general. 90s or 2000s? 90s or 2000s? 90s. I agree with you. Yeah, I think 90s. Okay.? 90s or 2000? 90s. I agree with you.

Yeah, I think 90s. Okay. Coming to America or Harlem Nights? Oh. That's hard. I'm going to go for Harlem Nights. Oh. Yeah.

I thought you was going to say coming to America. I'm going to go for Harlem Nights. Actually, now that I think about it, I was going with coming to America until you said that. Because you know why? Everybody's in Harlem Nights. Everybody's in Harlem Nights. The Harlem Nights is crazy. That is crazy. Crazy. Yeah. I actually America until you said that. Because you know why? Everybody's in Harlem Nights. Everybody's in Harlem Nights. Harlem Nights is crazy. That is crazy.

Crazy. Yeah, I actually agree with you. Okay. Hmm. Illmatic or ready to die? Didn't we ask you that in a different way already? Yeah. No.

Didn't you? No. We didn't say Biggie and Nas? Nope. Damn. Let me just think about this. Illmatic or Ready to Die? It's they both first two albums.

It's too classic to pick. Yeah, let's just drink. Let's just drink. Salud. Cheers to classics. Cheers to classics. Y'all really trying to do me in here, I see. We're joining you.

We're fucked too. Now, it's going to sound like the same question, but it isn't. Now, don't ask me some backwards questions. No, it's's going to sound like the same question, but it isn't. Now, don't ask me some backwards questions. No, it's going to actually sound like the same question, but it's not. Nas or Jay? Hello. Let's take another one. Oh, man.

You just got, you got. Yeah, I poured heavy this time. Yeah. I was ready. Just like Carly and Nikki. They both got your number. You got to be politically correct. You have to.

Yes, Jeff. Ooh, so hot in here. Okay. This must be over soon. Yeah. Only three clusters. Only three clusters left. Only three more pages.

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. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways.

Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda

Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The American West with Dan Flores is the latest show from the MeatEater Podcast Network. Hosted by me, writer and historian Dan Flores, and brought 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 Ranella. I'll correct my kids now and then. 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. And it's going to take us to heal us. It's Mental Health Awareness Month, and on a recent episode of Just Heal with Dr. J, the incomparable Taraji P. Henson stopped by to discuss how she's discovered peace on her journey. So what I'm hearing you saying is healing is a part of us also reconnecting to our childhood in some sort. You said I look how youthful I look because I never let that little girl inside of me die. I go outside and run outside with the dogs. I still play like a kid.

I laugh. You know, I love jokes. I love funny. I love laughing. I laugh at myself. I don't take myself too seriously. That's the stuff that keeps you young and stops you from being so hard. To hear this and more things on the journey of healing,

you can listen to Just Heal with Dr. J from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. AT&T, connecting changes everything. Kiss or push your teeth? I didn't expect that reaction. I am not drinking again currently, so I'm going for push your teeth. Okay. Roll over kiss? This is different.

I already gave kisses flowers. Okay, that's true. Oh, she's balancing it. Podcast or radio? Podcast. I already gave kisses flowers. Okay, that's true. Oh, she's balancing it. Podcast or radio? Podcast. I'm in. We're using that for a drop. Yeah.

Hey, we're putting a trick chance. Well, I love you, Steve. You're giving me that energy. Again, this is somewhat a trick question, but it's a very simple way to answer this. Loyalty or respect? I love this question. It's a highly debated question here.

Technically, you can't have loyalty without respect. So then that means it would have to be respect. Okay. Okay. Yes. it would have to be respect. Okay. Okay. Yes. All right. We love that.

We should just drink to that. Yeah, we're going to drink to that. We're going to drink to that. Y'all can drink to that shit? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. So let me ask you. I love that game. I see the slime.

Somebody might throw up. Yeah, yeah, hey, man, it happens. Is that what it is? Who threw up? Who threw up on the show? We can't blow them up. When the cameras is off.

No, we've had people throw up with the cameras on. Who threw up? Tell me't blow them up. When the cameras is off? No, we've had people throw up with the cameras on. Who threw up? Tell me. But it wasn't with QuickTime. It was just a general drink chance. Who threw up? God, you want to blow it up. They deserve to be exposed. They did it in class. They were classy about it.

Sadat X. Lamar Odom. Lamar Odom. Fair. Put it like this. Fair. Lamar, put it like this. We caught Lamar Odom after the show. He was throwing up so much that we didn't even use it. But he threw up. Did he throw up on the show? No, he finished the show.

He completed it all. Because SadatX was such a G, he threw up and then continued the interview. Okay. Yeah. Now, I do think that y'all are missing some buckets. A bucket? I feel like they need to be a bucket. No, we learned our lesson.

We know you're a gangster. We know you're a gangster. No, I'm good. Yeah, yeah. We know you're a gangster. We know you're a gangster. No, I'm good. Yeah, yeah. We know. Let's make some noise. But I really, I really just, I want to let you know, like, Swizz is my brother.

Like, me and Swizz, I've been down with Swizz since 1997. I was the first record outside of Rough Riders, you know, that he worked with. It was, you know, because all of his first early music was just with Rough Riders. And I was down with Swizz so long that they used to call Swizz D's nephew. Like, he technically didn't even have a name. Yes. Wow.

Like, that's how you knew him. Yeah, I knew him. That's what they said. They said D's nephew. That's crazy. And I remember Swizz coming to the studio and him playing band from TV. Arr! And I never let the beat drop. The beat has, you know,

so it's a loop. And we were too thirsty. Like, we were starving MCs. Arr! And it was crazy because Nature came, he laid the verse. Cameron came. No, Pun came. Pun came and laid a verse, and I went downstairs to smoke a cigarette.

And Pun just laid a verse. And I was just mad at Pun. I was just like, yo, I'm erasing that. He's like, you're going to erase that? He was not erasing Pun's verse. No, he did not. Of course not. This is the classic.

And then Cam, and then I always say this To people And I say Swiss Me and Swiss Made that in 1997 Swiss is still mad at me To this day Wow

He said every time On Drink Champs He's mentioned it And he was not happy about it You know we live And let the beat drop Because what I rhymed on Was the loop

The beat To Bear from TV Never drops So whenever I put Somebody on Or wherever I try to Like you So whenever I put somebody on or wherever I try to like, you know, put somebody on to game, I say, I'll go look at Swiss and I

show them. I say, look, this is my friend. We're really friends. And he's still mad at me. Wait, the beat never dropped for real? It never really dropped. He said the engineer looped the beginning. There's like eight bars of it. The beat really dropped. Like never, never, never? He said the engineer looped the beginning. The looped the beat, yeah.

There was like eight bars of it. Yeah. The beat never dropped. So the beat never dropped. The rest of the beat never dropped. And he's never forget, don't get it twisted, we're friends, but he will. Never, never, never the beat.

Yeah, never dropped, look, that's, yeah. The whole time. It's the whole, it's just the loop. You can hear it. It's just the loop, yeah. All that, yeah. I love how she pulled that up, she pulled my card. I love this. It's just a loop. It's just a loop, yeah. All that, yeah. I love how she blew that up.

She blew my card. I love this. This is the joint, though? Yeah. All right. These are Keyblade Man for TV, my love. Yesterday's Man for TV is not today's man from TV I'm taking a little shot But I say that to say

How passionate he is Like, you know, me and him We've moved on We have successful careers We had, you know, so much beautiful things Happening in our lives In our career And he'll still tell me

You know, I didn't like it. Imagine how that felt for him as a producer. Early on, too, that you didn't even rhyme to the beat. And he like, he knocked me off the beat. I don't like the way you just moved your face. I was like, so sorry. And I was just like, damn, why didn't, like, the face you made just now was like, holy shit, I just felt fucked up.

It's fine, man, imagine. As early as you went to his career, he's like, holy shit, I just felt fucked up. It's real, man. Imagine. As early as you was his career, and he's like, I'm going to give him an L beat. You didn't even do the beat. Do we have a version with the beat? Because the beat is crazy. I got it somewhere.

I got it somewhere. That would be the next. Listen, I also have, by the way, this was, Bantam TV was a record because I made on the Firm album. I made I'm Leaving on the Firm album I made I'm Leaving On the Firm album And that was

Nature's Session So I wanted to Repay Nature back By putting him On my record So he kept coming To the studio Swiss

And I knew Swiss was the guy I wanted to make This record So Swiss would Play a beat And Nature would Just stand there

And you know Swiss sells the shit Out of any beat Swiss can play you Mouses screaming And you will Buy the record shit out of any beat. Swiss can play you Mouses Screamin'. And you will buy the record. You will buy the record? When you like this,

you won't buy the record. Swiss be looking at it, and he won't make eye contact. He just look at you, you like this. Nah. He wills it into existence. Listen, I've done,

I've took beat tapes home. I knew this beat wasn't mine, but he just like this, Nori, you need this. And it's sweet. It's sweet. And I was going home, I'm like, I can't rhyme like Boone Thug.

I can't do it. You got me. He's like, you didn't like it. You liked it at the studio. I said, the way you bopped your head. I can't rhyme. I disagree. I have to. Now he, the way you bopped your head. I can't lie. I disagree. I had to.

Now, he does that. He's the most passionate person. He's persuasive. Yes. That's what a good word. Persuasive. Persuasive. He's a Virgo.

I'm a Virgo. Oh, are y'all a Virgo? Yes. Of course he's a Virgo. Virgo's a fight. Oh, shit. I loved how he was proud. That's right.

Virgo. That's right. I love my proud Virgos. They have every fact. No wonder y'all connect so well. That's right. Virgo. That's right. I love my proud Virgos. They have everything. No wonder y'all connect so well. That's his own. And what's your sign? Aquarius, the best sign on the world.

I ain't mad at Aquarius. Aquarius. What's Aquarius? She's an Aquarius. Your wife is an Aquarius. No, she's a Gemini. But she gets along with Aquarius. Aquamani, man.

What are you getting on? Aquamani. You Gemini? I'm a Gemini, But she gets along with Aquarius. A Krummini, man. Who you got along with? Who you got along with? You Gemini? I'm a Gemini, yeah. What happened? A Krummini. A Krummini. A Krummini?

Has anybody ever known a Gemini? No. Kanye West? Is Kanye a Gemini? Yeah, Kanye is a Gemini. He made it known. Andre's a Gemini. Andre 3000.

Andre 3000. Kendrick is a Gemini. Biggie's a Gemini. Two Pugs a Gemini. No, Biggie's not a Gemini. Andre 3000. Andre 3000. Kendrick is a Gemini. Biggie's a Gemini. Tupac's a Gemini. No, Biggie's not a Gemini. Not just Speckner, but there's a difference between June and May. June Gemini. Tupac's a June Gemini.

Tupac's for June Gemini. The June Gemini? June Gemini's a crazy out they ass. June Gemini's Tupac. You crazy. I'm a May Gemini. I'm Biggie. I'm Biggie's. Okay, May's a little different. Like a little gentler around the edges. We didn't respond to Tupac You crazy I'm a major I'm biggie I'm biggies

Okay Mays is a little different Like a little A little gentler Around the edges We didn't respond to Tupac June Go crazy

Right Crazy So let me ask Right Because And this is I just want to Keep it on

You and Swiss Beautiful relationship Thank you Thank you You have a beautiful Relationship I admire that Thank you

And you live in Tony Stark's house It's fucking fantastic. All right. Not to be confused with Ghostface. No. Right.

Not to be confused with Ghostface. So let's be clear. Like, let's just take it from that because we see Hoyt living. Oh, that was called

Architectural Digest. Excuse me. That's okay, baby. Excuse me. You're good. So that house, that house, because this is a really like a dream come true.

Honestly. I heard Swiss tell a story. I forget what interview he said. He said that he wanted this house. It became available. And this is like his dream house. This is y'all dream house as a family. And y'all live on the beach.

And it's Tony Stark. This is Iron Man. The kids always ask me, isony stark's suit in the house i was gonna ask that beautiful house listen, I grew up with my single mother who raised me, who prayed for my survival, who hoped that I wouldn't

get trapped in the streets. Right. And like we all did. Yes. And here we are today. You're giving me flowers. That's right. We having toast. We drinking Dominican herbal excellence. Yes. Yes. We are celebrating the greatness that we've created. Yes. We have are able to be in a home that really represents our wildest dreams it's beautiful to me this represents our beautiful our blackness

our excellence and what we all have we all have this endless ability to create anything that we can imagine. And so that's what I believe, and that's what that represents to me. It represents to me this possibility that all of us have. And there's nobody that can't tell us. They try. They try to make us think we can't, we won't, we shouldn't, we don't deserve. Whatever this bullshit is, that narrative is old, it's fake, it's not even real.

That's hard. Whatever we can imagine, whatever we dream, we have the capacity to create, and I feel blessed that we get to represent that love. Yup. Let's be honest here. Have you seen the picture of you when you were young in your room with all the beat machines? Yeah, with my headphones on and the Juergens lotion.

You worked for it. You worked for it. Hard. How old were you in that picture? Do you know? The one with the MPC? What's your MPC? The SP behind her?

SP. SP-1200, which I programmed personally. Wow. So you were learning how to make beats on all those machines. I think you had an ADAT machine in the kitchen. I had an ASR. We had the ADAT. Then I transferred to the MP2500.

And then I got to the 3000. I'm still on the 3000. So you did more than envision it just to think about it. You applied yourself. I worked my ass off. So there's a big difference in that. You're right. You definitely have to work for it, for sure. There's nothing

that's going to come easy for nobody. You know that. You know that. Y'all all know that. You know what I mean? But that doesn't mean that we don't have the tenacity, the genius, the brilliance, the possibility, the potential to work for what we want. And I love what you're saying because that's true. Because people do think, oh, it's just supposed to fall in my lap.

Because why? You know what I mean? So we definitely do have to work for our shit. And we work hard to this day. I work my ass off. But I believe in what I do. And I love what I do. And I love connecting with my people. And I love

being able to share. And I love being able to write songs that mean something to somebody. And 50 years down the line, that means something to somebody. That's what I'm here to somebody. And 50 years down the line, that means something to somebody. That's what I'm here to do. And I'm never going to jump out of my lane. This is my lane. And I'm going to always, you know, bring more to it.

Because that's how I believe in it. You know what I mean? So I love what you're saying. That's true passion. I love what you're saying. So Nat King Cole with Lil Wayne. The song is so crazy. Why did you want to name it Nat King Cole?

So Nat King Cole. Can you explain to people who don't know Nat King Cole? Which is so fire because like even my kids, they be like, Mommy, who's Nat King Cole? And a lot of people won't know who Nat King Cole is and obviously he's one of the greatest singers, you know, black, amazing

singers that ever existed who rivals Frank Sinatra. You know what I mean? If there was a rival to Frank Sinatra, to me, it would be Nat King Cole. And his song is called Unforgettable. One of his big, big songs. You hear it at Christmas. It's like one of your favorite songs.

You might not know you love it, but you love it. And Unforgettable is such a sophisticated, elegant song. And Unforgettable is the title of it. And the concept of Keys is that we get to be our most majestic, magnificent version of ourselves. Nobody can make us be small. Nobody can make us not be incredible. And so this idea of being unforgettable. We are unforgettable.

We're amazing. Look what we create. Look what we do. Look what we have been through. Look what we've come through. We are unforgettable. And so the hook is be unforgettable like Nat King Cole. And that's

why I call it Nat King Cole. Oh, wow. What a harmony. Yeah. It's a beautiful a homie. Yeah. It's a beautiful thing to learn about who you might not know or who you might forgot. You know, because time passes and people forget. But you got to remember. That's part of why we do Drink Champs, to be honest with you.

That's a really important thing. You know what I mean? So you've got records with Lil Wayne, Nas, Jay-Z. Is there ever somebody you tried to work with and told you no? Well, I'm pissed that I didn't get to perform with Prince. I'm pissed.

You know what I mean? I just feel like we was meant to perform together. He came to all my shows. He loved me, supported me, and I'm pissed. You think it's your fault to not invite him on stage? Maybe. I think maybe I was shy. A think it's your fault to not invite him on stage? Maybe. I think maybe I was shy.

You know, a lot of times you feel like you don't deserve. Because he's infamous for impromptu stuff. And he called me to his. So, okay, in that case, you're right, because we did have one where he asked me to be at one of his kind of after-party things. But I wanted us to have, like, a Grammys. I wanted us to have, like, a moment. Oh, you wanted to rehearse things. Like, we deserved the moment in history. You know what I mean?

But I got to say, we had an unforgettable time at one of his secret joints, which was mind-blowing. I have pictures from it. It's crazy. But that one, I still feel like me and Lauren are meant to. You know what I mean? I can't believe we haven't brought Lauren in this whole conversation. Yes, why has Lauren not come up in this combo? Because she is

greatness personified. So me and her, there's something that, there's just such an emotional energy that she brings and I feel like we could have something really, really crazy. Has anybody told me no? No. Oh!

That's fucking fantastic. We had Nas sitting at the same table, and the only person he said that did front on him was Prince, and he said it wasn't because he didn't want to do the record with him. It was because Nas didn't own his masters. Nah, he was real like that.

That was ill. The song that i had called like you'll never see me again which is one of my favorite songs it does have a progression very close to purple rain right and i had to go see him i flew out to london he was in like this hotel and i had to find it like this is never an easy thing when you're looking for friends so i had to find him i had to sit with him. And I said to him, like, I love this record. It's so powerful.

I wrote it for my grandmother. It's about, like, taking, seizing the moment and not letting it go and loving the person like you might never see them again because you know how short life is. And so he felt it. He was good. And he was like, Alicia, I'm not sending these people's children to college on my shit. This shit is deep. And he said that to me.

I was like, how could I argue? You know what I mean? Like, how could you? I was like. And so he was like, I don't know what you need to do. Flip the cords up. Change them around. Make them like close, but not quite. And I promise you, I will be fine with it., I don't know what you need to do. Flip the cords up, change them around, make them like close but not quite.

And I promise you I will be fine with it. But I can't. I can't. We have to own our shit. He was way ahead of his time. He was way ahead of his time. Like, I feel like he would have flourished now. Yeah.

Now it's his time. Absolutely. You know what I mean? Killed it right now. You know what I mean? Because he was about this forever. We finally getting around. He been time. Absolutely. You know what I mean? Killed it right now. You know what I mean? Because he was about this forever. We finally getting around. He been there.

Yep. I mean, I feel like it kind of started with Jay claiming this ownership thing. And it made us, even with us, with the Drink Champs, we love being Revolt because Revolt allows us to be who we want to be. Exactly. You understand what I'm saying? And they do it. love being a revolt because revolt allows us to be who we want to be you understand i'm saying and and they do it so um was that something that changed you hearing prince say that like you know it was big no i definitely think you know as a young artist because michael wasn't as vocal as

that michael owned the masters like i heard the story michael was buying other people's publishing he was buying catalogs of people he He had another type of vision. Eminem just said Michael would go and buy an Eminem publishing type of shit, like some type of crazy shit. But even Michael was passive, aggressive, I would say. I just feel like Michael didn't want to... Oh, maybe passive.

He didn't want to rattle the boat. But Prince was not. Prince was like, I don't care. Prince ass out and everything. He was like, fuck that. That's what I believe in. Own your master. Maybe Michael didn't care about

that portion of the business. He's like, all right, whatever, the ass out and everything was like, fuck that. That's what I believe in. On your map. Maybe Michael didn't care about that portion of the business. He's just like, alright, whatever, the record label. He was buying up Michael. He was buying up other people's publishing. So in his mind... Don't he own like Elvis Publishing? I think he bought the Beatles. The Beatles. The Beatles. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So in his mind, he's like, that's the way I'm going to take

back. Yeah, exactly. He was more of a silent activist. You know what I mean? Like a silent activist where he just moved. So let me ask you something. Where do you put Yeah, exactly. He was more of a silent activist. You know what I mean? Like a silent activist where he just moved. Right. So let me ask you something. Where do you put your Grammys at? Why was that not what I was expecting? So for the longest time, I didn't even want them.

I just, the way that I am, I'm such a real person. I don't want a bunch of fake statues to represent something that's not real. What's real is, you know, your passion. What's real is how much you put into what you do. You yourself said you haven't got a Grammy. You deserve a Grammy. I didn't even get nominated. There's so many people who deserve a Grammy.

I'm so good, I'm good in life. Because other than that, I would be a hater. Like, I would be even get nominated. There's so many people who deserve a Grammy. I'm so good I'm good in life. Because other than that, I would be a hater. Like, I would be the hater. Fuck the Grammys. It doesn't. I would be that guy. And so for me, I didn't even want them to be a value, you know, a sense of value for me. So I didn't have them for the longest time.

My manager had them all in his house. And finally, my engineer, who is amazing, she's this badass woman who's just, she runs the whole world. She's incredible. She was like, where's your Grammys? And I was like, oh, I guess they're over at that person's house.

She was like, I need you to get your Grammys. Okay, I'm saying, so you forgot where your Grammys was at? I had to. I just love that floss. I just love that floss. I did. I just love your floss.

You can send them over here. We'll put them right back there. Right. I just love that floss. I did. I just love that floss. You can send them over here. We'll put them right back down. Right. We got you. Because I seen Jay one time. He posted his Grammys on the floor. Okay. Do you ever have those type of moments

where you're just like, fuck it, I'm going to throw, I'm going to just use my shit as an ashtray? I mean, Swizzy did the dude thing where he like drank out the Grammy. You know what I mean? I was there. Kanye said he pissed on his Grammy.

He went too far. He said, Rob, good luck. Okay. Did he say he wanted to go home? Okay. Crazy ass. That's some boy shit. Boy shit. So what were you and Kanye working on in New York?

Oh man, we was working on a zone. Okay. A whole vibe. You know, I work all the time. I work to the last minute. I keep writing records regardless. The record drops December 10th. It's going to be so crazy. And even after that, you know, there's more songs that's come. I just love music.

So we were working on a vibe that may or may not make the record. We don't know. Wow. Because I'm that spontaneous. But he came through. He loved the record. Actually, that Only You record. It really touched him too. That's a special one. I told that Only You record, it really touched him, too.

That's a special one. I told you, you know I picked that out. Did he have the boots on, the rubber boots? I couldn't tell if they were rubber or leather. Are they rubber or leather? But they were high. Rubber or leather? They rub leather.

They rub leather. They rub leather. I'm going to drink to that, too. I'm going to drink to that, too. I'm going to drink to that, too. So, Alicia, because, I mean, honestly, this is probably the only question I can ask you or Busta Rhymes, like, in a real way. What do you love more, making a record or performing a record? I got to say Busta, first of all.

Yeah. Yo, can we please give him his flowers? We always give him his flowers. I mean, okay, but I just want to give him his flowers.

He's a legend of legends. That's my bro. The way that he cultivates energy is out of this world. It's very true. Out of this world. So what's my favorite is making the record

or performing the record? Dang, that's such a good question. I feel like making it, you have this personal experience with it that really feels magical because you're by yourself or you're with three or four people and there's something about it that you're like, I really feel something in this. You don't know. You don't know if you're going to like it or you're going to like it. You have no idea, but there's something magical that exists that you feel like, I feel like there's something special here. When you perform it and you get a chance

to see how people actually connect with it, it's mind-blowing because you're like, this thing was invisible six months ago. It was in the ether. You pulled it out the ether. It's almost like busting the gun that you bought because you don't really know. Is it? Is that it? Yeah, I'm kind of like,

I'm sorry. Okay. Because, you know, some people, you know, you buy a gun. How do you really know if this works? Like it may or may not shoot. So when you hit that stage and it shoot, you want to keep firing. You like that feeling.

Yeah, because that's always, I always felt, I mean. That's the best analogy I've ever heard in my life. Unlocked. I'm sorry. He's unlocked. I was trying like a motherfucker, too.

I was trying. Thank you. Thank you. That's the way. Yeah, yeah. No, but I got it. Because you know what? You're an excellent performer.

Thank you. Like, I've always watched your performance at these shows. When you come out, you got the piano on. I said piano on. You know, you're playing the piano.

Yeah, yeah. But you've never had a lame performance. That's why I prepared you to Busta Rhymes. Yeah, Busta's stupid. I've never seen Busta have a lame. Come halfway. He just performed for Dave Chappelle, and he just was there for 12 minutes.

I don't know what he did. He just, yeah, yeah, gone. Boom, I said, holy shit, Buster's crazy. That was it, fire. You know he said that he never headlined a tour? You know, and he told me he never rehearsed. Wait, but you said he never headlined a tour. Could you believe that?

That's crazy. He's a legend. He literally is the best, potentially one of the best MCs ever. Ever? Ever, ever, ever, and the fact that he still could spit just like that

right now. Because you know why? Motherfuckers are scared to go after Busta. Oh, nah, you can't go, you know what? That's it.

That's the reason why. That's exactly why. That's why he should headline the motherfucking tour. Yeah, but then everybody never want to come back on Tuesday.

He carries the torch. Y'all come under Let's go On Tuesday Everybody ain't gonna want to go Listen Let me just tell you something I did a show

I'm gonna tell you I'm gonna tell you This is funny shit I did a show This is real talk This is real real talk In San Francisco Don Omar

Came to the promoter And said If I go after Nori I'm giving the money back What What he didn't know at the time, Don Omar, was he was bigger than me in this Latino market.

But people were so scared of Oye Mi Cando. That shit was on smash and shit. So he made the promoter make me go. So you had to go after him. I had to go after him. And so would you... I couldn't come after Dolly. Was that shit he had?

Come on, Dolly. Dolly, come on, Dolly. What the fuck? I didn't want to perform after that. And it's the whole span of 40 years. He didn't have to stick you. He did. He got me.

He stuck you. He got you. He got me He stuck you He got you He got me It's okay It's okay I realize how crazy Is there anybody Who was scared

To perform after you Everybody I would imagine everybody I love Alicia's going in Alicia's going in She's silent She's going in

No And you're alive. Like, one of the things that the Lox pointed out when they bottled with Dipset was that there were certain records that they were going over. You never lip sync. Mm-mm.

That is a disrespect to your craft. I feel, you know, also, you know, I'm very, very serious about auto-tune, too. Like, I feel that a lot of, I just personally, me, I'm going to sing the record, and I'm going to sing it until it's right. And if it's not right, I'm going to keep singing it. I'm going to practice it, I'm going to fix it, and I'm going to come back and sing it. But to me, I feel like a lot of people who use auto-tune are actually thinking of an instrument called the vocoder which is which is which is where it's an instrument that you play and you sing into

the microphone for it and um i think confunction used to use it a lot like confunction was the way it goes on love train okay what was homie that did all the West Coast joints? Roger Trout. Roger Trout, period, and a story. What a genius. When you play the vocoder. We're all scared to tell you. Come on, Mr. Lee, you can come in. You're the producer, right, bro? Come on, guy.

I don't even know why I was up. That was weird. Now you're going to come? Now you're going to come. But the vocoder is like a sonic. It's a sound. So I feel like a lot of people that are using... I just want to try to...

I use the exaggerated version, which makes it that. I would like to clarify what you're trying to say. Are you trying to say that people that use oral tune really can't sing? I'm asking. That's what you're saying. That's definitely what I'm saying. What I actually am saying is that I think that people want to use, it's like a sonic. And so now there's a certain sonic that is created and it actually is mimicking an instrument called the vocoder.

And I think that's what's actually fresh. People are discovering what the original of something is. Which is like making a completely different instrument out of your voice. Exactly. But what you're saying is, and this is what it is, the original auto-tunes, you never heard auto-tunes being used.

It just, it made, yeah, it helped their vocals like match the beat or whatever. You would probably say better. You would just make you

more on pitch. On pitch. But I actually don't think people are trying to be, yes, they're trying to be on pitch to a degree, but more it's like a sonic.

It's a sound. It's part of a sound. How it's used now. It's been used for years where nobody heard it at all. Exactly. And now it's like intentional. Because it's a sonic at this point. But it really mimics the vocoder, which is the Roger Trout-like sonic, which is fire. So let me ask you, we have Trick Daddy

here. Word. And Trick Daddy said that he thinks Beyonce is a great performer but she can't sing. I disagreed with him in totality. I think he said it a little differently though. What did he actually say?

In totality, I disagree. No, he didn't say it that way. He said in comparison to the greats. I think he would say something to that degree. But what do you hear when you hear things like that and then people compare you to the greats. I think he was saying something to that degree. But what do you hear when you hear things like that and then people compare you to the greats? People say Alicia can sang, sang. You know, first of all, there's a lot.

We were talking about some of the sang and sang and sangers. We were talking about Whitney, obviously, as a destructive beast monster. You met Whitney as well? I did. She was a friend. She was a friend. She was a friend. And I really, really, really loved her.

And she really came to see me and check on me and make sure I was good and visit me. And like real shit, which is rare. So she's definitely a singer, singer fool. We were talking about SWV, Coco. I mean, I feel like Coco was singing so many people today. Under the table, quick, fast. She's amazing.

We were talking about Jasmine Sullivan. I think she's like a beast. She got those vocals that are so crazy. Fantasia. Ridiculous. You know, so there's a lot of amazing singers. I actually do feel that B is one of those singers. If she shifted all, she happens to be a show woman as well as showman,

so she does show, she's visual, so she likes to really show how she's expressing. But if she sat, or sat next to a piano, and I played, and she just sang, sang, sang, I do believe that she can absolutely hang with the greats. She has a voice that backs up everything. Like, really, if she stripped it all back, you would

really hear it. You know what I mean? So, I think she's one of the greats for sure. Big love. But is it funny when they compare you to the singer of singers? Like an Aretha, or like the

classic. Is that fresh on you? I just feel so grateful to continue on that legacy. You know, that legacy of that songwriter, that individual, unique artist. You know, like a Nina Simone. These artists that really

they had something to say. They had a perspective that they operated from. They wasn't backing down for nobody. Like they wasn't fitting in anybody's box. They wasn't trying to be commercial. It wasn't about that. It was about like, what do you want to say? Who are you and how do you express?

And so for me to be compared to artists like that means a lot. Like means a lot. And I don't take that for granted. That's something I appreciate. That's love. That's love. Now, let me ask you. Oh, I heard you so bad.

I love how he start with the scratch. You notice that? Yeah, yeah. Because it's about the awkward question. All right, I'm ready. Because you, Swiss, and Drake got this, like, kind of awkward kind of relationship. Do we? Wait, Swiss, Drake, and Drake got this kind of awkward kind of relationship. Do we? Wait, Swiss, Drake, and her?

Yes. Really? Because you did a record with Drake. She took a sip. Yeah, take a sip, take a sip. You did a record with Drake. One thing that's missing on this table is water. Yeah, I'm sorry.

Right next to you, a drink chance water. Yeah, we got a drink chance water. It's water, it's water. It's alkaline. Okay, thank you. It's alkaline. Alkaline with a shot of tequila. Okay, Right next to you A drink chance water Yeah, we got a drink chance water It's water, it's water It's just like It's alkaline Okay, thank you It's alkaline Alkaline with a shot of tequila Okay, so back to you

So, yeah, because You guys did a record The three of us? No No, I'm talking about you and You and Drake, right? Y'all did a record Yeah, we did Unthinkable

Okay, and then Swiss and Drake did a record They did You Fancy, which was out of this world. Both of those was out of this world. Yeah, both of those was out of this world.

But we have Swiss on here and this was when we This was a while ago. In New York. Yeah, this was a while ago. And he said something about Drake. We edited it out.

Okay. We didn't use it. Okay. Thanks for... Okay, so... I wasn't supposed to say that. I don't know. We edited it out. But we're going to bring it out. We didn't use it. Okay. Thanks for... Okay, so... I wasn't supposed to say that? I don't know. We edited it out.

But we're going to bring it back. No, it's because... And this is when I was learning how to be a journalist. I was learning how. So when Swiss asked me, I said, no problem. But I knew that when you put energy like that

into this world, it comes back. So what happened was he had put this energy out, and I guess he expected Drake to holler back or say something back. That never happened because we edited it. And I told Swiss, I said, Listen, I would never put you in a predicament where I would get you in trouble. So I wanted to use it.

It wasn't crazy what he said. It wasn't crazy what he said. It wasn't crazy what he said. He was actually put together. But then two months later, because he put the same energy out, he did it and then he was on the live with Busta Busta. And it was like I called him immediately. I was like,

I told you let me use this shit. You would have never said what you said on the Busta Live if you would have use this shit. You would have never said what you said on the Busta Live if you would have just let us. Because we would literally have Drake signed up for the next two weeks or something like that, or the next two months.

So we didn't let Swiss go crazy. One, because that's my brother. And two, we're protecting our own brand. Of course. So then this comes out. I see Swiss. I call him. I say, yo, bro. this was a little weird energy.

It's because you had me at it. He agreed with me. He's smart with me and him. But what I'm saying is it sent the relationship in a bad sort of energy. You're in his relationship? No, I'm talking about, okay. Okay. You're saying Swiss relationship? No, I'm talking about... Okay. Okay. You're saying Swiss and Drake's.

Okay, I was... No, no, no. I'm saying Swiss and Drake's because... Because it sent where... It made it almost look like Swiss was attacking him. And they didn't have the backstory of... Right. What happened with Fancy or what happened with...

And you felt it was more explained on Drink Champs. It was fully explained on Drink Champs. Right, right, right, right. So you salty. You basically salty. Oh, I was salty. Oh, yo, I told him. Just say how he feel about you not dropping the beat.

Did he get me back? He got you back. He got you back. He got you back. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. I accept that. I accept that.

But, you know, I don't know if you could ask Swiss. It was that morning that came out, and I said, Swiss, this is what I told that. I accept that. But, you know, I don't know if you could ask Swiss. It was that morning that came out, and I said, Swiss, this is what I told him. He said, yo, Nora, you was right. I should have just left. And I said, you know what I want you to do? Because the next morning after the Boston thing aired, what a lot of people were saying was, oh, Swiss is hating. You can't hate. You can't hate. You can't hate if you up.

Right. There's not an up hater. Right, right. There's not really sore losers. Period. There's not really sore winners. Right, sore winners. I know what you meant.

Thank you. You understand my dyslexia. I had you. You all connected with me. But there can't be really so... I said, Swiss, can you do me a favor? And he goes, what's up? I said, post your beautiful wife.

Post your beautiful cars. And post your beautiful house. And don't even fucking address this. Right. And I think he actually listened to me. But the thing was, it sent this relationship because all of y'all are three very famous people. What is your take on the Drake situation? My take on Swiss is that he is the most real human on the planet.

Ask anybody who knows him. Yes. He's on the phone with people that he loves at 3 in the morning. I'm like, babe, you're not going to come to bed? Yeah. But he's on the phone with people because they need him. Yep. Because they're going through something and they need somebody to listen.

I'm probably one of them. you are definitely one of them. I'm one of them. Buss is definitely one of them. Name him, name him, name him, name him. He shows up for everybody times a million. I never seen a loyalty or a respect, speaking of loyalty to respect, like him. That people, people love him in a way that I never experienced before. There's a

real connection. He can call you tomorrow. He can call anybody and say, my brother, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and it's a real thing. Not because it's some fake industry bullshit because it served you at the moment. He's one of the the realest person I

ever met. So my perspective on him is that he's always going to speak his truth because whatever he's saying is there's validity behind it and beside it he is absolutely the most genuine person and he's he's thorough you know he's the realest of the real he tells me the realest of the real can go out without not a dollar in their pocket and be good. And that's who he is. That's perfect. That's a beautiful thing.

So, hold up. When do we get to go to the bathroom? I'm going right now. Like, should we be wrapping this up so I can go pee? You can take a random pee break. But are you holding me hostage at this point? A little bit. A little bit. to the bathroom. I'm going right now. Like, should we be wrapping this up so I can go pee? You can take a random pee break. Are you holding me hostage at this point? A little bit. That's the way it works. So you have a few more. Oh, I got more.

I'm ready to go. Jesus, this is going to be 10 minutes. Are you really trying to get me? By the way, you showed up a little late. I was late. Let's just be clear. And you know what? You heard how you called me on that? Let me just say something. Let me just be honest with you. That's okay.

Go for it. We all sat here. We do this for every artist. He's like, And we said, Is Alicia going to be late? Every one of us said no. Said she was going to be on time

except for one person. Him right there. Boris. He was right. He said, She was going to be a little late. She was going to be a little late. I was a little late.

So he's the only one that doubted you. He was right. Everybody else believed in me. Thank you. He was great. He's the only one. Everybody that's believed in me, thank you. Yes. Thank you so much. Especially me, I was like, she's not gonna be late.

He's like, she's gonna be so on time, I'm gonna be here 30 minutes early. Yes, yes, yes, I was, no, I was here. All right, so I can go to the bathroom. We were here two hours early. You can go to the bathroom, yes, you can. Please, go to the bathroom. Let me go to the bathroom.

Let's make sure you good, get back. I'm so good. We gonna fill up your, because we realized your drink is done. So we're going to fill you up. Get you guys some jalapenos. We're going to get you some jalapenos. And we going out. so and now for my next number I'd like to return people their flowers.

So when you hear people saying giving their flowers, we made that up. We made up the statement. We made up making that famous. Because we wanted to look at brothers in their faces, tell them how great they are This is your house anytime you want to promote as a zone anytime you, you will do anything. But was this intentional for the video, you don't know my name,

when you was the waitress. Yes. And you didn't have the name tag. You see? Is that very simple shit? Really? Yeah, look, because we got the picture of it. Dang, I just didn't have a name tag?

Yeah. Is that the reason why they didn't know your name? That was obvious. You know what? Chris Robinson directed this video. Chris Robinson is my man. He directed Supergirl. I'm going to say that that's why he didn't know my name.

Like, how could he know my name if I had the answer? Done. You right. You know what? I missed that. No, he's on point. He's on point. He's on point.

You got something I missed. Let's pick up the irisicles. Iros that. No, he's on point. He's on point. He's on point. You got something I missed. Let's pick up to iRossicles. iRossicles. You know what I mean? But again, when I'm listening to the new album, as a person that's a veteran, as a person that's seasoned in this game, I sit back and I want to find Russ sometimes with people that's been in this game for so long. i want to find russ sometimes with people that's been in this

game for so long you want to find what did you say russ like i want to find some like sometimes when i look at a person that's done incredible albums back to back to back to back i want to say all right cool well look let me listen to this and let me see where you starting to fall off you don't have that How do you develop That type of I'm going to make the most incredible product Again After all these years you've been

15 Grammys 90 million records sold How do you still have that hunger How do you still have this This classic material With meat and potatoes where it's like it's it's exactly what's needed to be heard right now how do you maintain that first of all thank you thank you for recognizing that because that takes effort you know and care and and so i really appreciate you recognizing that um you know i feel like i I feel like I've always cared about the art.

You know, I've never even really been here to be... It's never been... I don't want to be famous. You know what I mean? I don't want to be like, you know, I don't want you to know me just because you can't even realize the reason why you know me. I really want people to know me. What's good?

I'm so glad. Look at you. We got Puff Daddy calling in, y'all. Yes! Big vibes. Nothing but real love. Nothing but real love. Nothing but.

Thank you, brother. Thank you so much. I'm so happy to see your face. That made me smile for real. Like, that was a real smile. I didn't expect that. That was a sweet surprise. I love it.

And they're trying to get me twisted over here, but I'm a champion. They don't know. They don't even know. I love you, brother. I'm so happy to see you. All right, bye.

Make some noise. Yay! That's fire. That's fire. You already know, you know, huh? Real quick, to piggyback off of what he's asking you right now. Yes, I knew I was going to piggyback off of you. Being a parent now.

How do you balance creativity being a parent now? You know, I, probably during the pandemic is when I really learned that, like, I needed to have, to carve out time for myself. And, you know, you get so worried about everybody else and you want everybody to be good, and the world is so strange, and we don't even know what's exactly what and what's top from bottom or what's going to happen tomorrow or whatever. And so I just realized that it's just as important for me to make sure that they're good

is as important it is for me to make sure that I'm good. Because if I'm good, then they can be great. You know what I mean? So that's something that I think for us as women especially, because we often are the caretakers and we're the ones that's really putting the most time in. And everybody, you know, creates the energy around the family. But I think that it's important for us to know that we have to make sure that we're good, too. You know what I mean? So that's something that

I learned recently and just was reminded of, especially with the pandemic and especially when the kids was out of school and you was trying to be the teacher and the mama and my kids were so mad at me. They was like, you are so mean. I was like, I'm not mean. You are trying to play me and I need you to get this done.

So the pandemic in a way was a blessing in disguise for a lot of people. I think so. I think so for sure in regards to time, in regards to appreciation, in regards to really recognizing the real. You know, we get so lost. We get so lost in the fakest shit ever. All

of this is fake. It really is. There's nothing about it that's actually real until you realize that people that actually love you and will actually, they don't have any profit that they're going to gain from you. They don't have any, you know, anything that they're going to get from you being good, you know, except that you're good. Like that's the most precious thing. So with the kids and with the family and balancing that, you know, it's hard. I leave and I feel like, and they're like, Mommy, why do you have to leave? And I'm like, I'm trying to make sure it's worth it.

Because me being without them, you know, is hard, you know, for any parent to leave their kids. You go to work, you're going to school, you're trying to put your extra work in. It's hard. But if it's worth it because you have something to say and you got something that you represent and you got something that you want them to learn and see, then it feels good. And that's what I can tell them.

I can tell them I'm going to bring this energy, you know what I mean, so people can feel it so that we can keep growing, all of us. Did you find any writer's block moments being a parent? Hell yeah. I couldn't write shit. Oh, wow. I was like, oh, wow. I got two little ones, so I'm asking for some.

Oh, my gosh. Not that I'm a writer, but, you know, in the same difference. So much. I mean, I would be on these because, you know, I put out the Alicia album during the pandemic. And at first I was like, is this right? Is this not? I put out a book, too. And I was like, is this right? I not i put out a book too and i was like

is this right i mean people can't even pay their rent like what what am i doing am i gonna ask them to buy a book but i believed in the book and i believe that it it was about finding who you are and choosing who you are especially now we got to choose who we want to be so anyway i'd be on these uh interviews and they'd be like so aren't you just so creative, Alicia? I mean, my gosh, you have all this time at home, you must be writing a song. I love this accent. What accent was that? I love this.

That's what it was. I like it. And I was like, hell no, I can't write not one song. I don't know what to say. I'm stressed out. I don't know what I feel.

This shit is crazy. I don't know what's happening. I was not feeling creative. No. Like, not even a little bit. I was grateful that I finished the record because I actually even in the littlest bit i was grateful that i finished the record because i actually just had the records already that i could you know connect with but like if i was supposed to write new records i was like i couldn't even remix and

say this diaper's on fire and that wouldn't work that's not gonna work nah, but I definitely felt, like, confused about how I was supposed to be creative and how I was supposed to find time for myself and that type of thing. Do you still feel like that, or are you feeling like you're kind of getting back on your feet? Yeah, I'm still in the mix. I have a one-year-old and a three-year-old.

Ooh. Yeah. That's just the majors. Yeah. What's harder, being an artist or being a mommy? Being a mother. Being a mother? Being a mother? Yeah.

Why? I think that, you know, like, you are creating and raising a mind, a spirit of being a person. Multiple people who have different ways of experiencing life they you know they depend on you to help them equip themselves with what it's going to take for them to survive you know what i mean and i and that's a real thing you know you know what i mean that's a it's a real thing not to be taken lightly and i feel like you know it's everything i say i'm reconsidering i'm like shit i shouldn't talk to him like that i was too hard on him. I should have, like, explained more. Dang, why am I

so upset when he's laughing, you know, and I'm pissed off because he's talking about, like, this nasty shit because he's a six-year-old boy and they talk about all types of crazy shit and I'm mad. But I shouldn't have been mad. I should have just laughed with him. Like, I should have just laughed. Who cared? You know, and sometimes there's so

much that you're thinking of, like, am I doing it right? Am I giving them. Who cared? You know, and sometimes there's so much that you're thinking of, like, yeah, like, am I doing it right? Am I giving them what they need? You know, is it right? And I think we're doing our best. We're doing our best. We don't know everything. We learn it. And young boys don't clean their room. Let's be clear. Oh, they gonna clean their room. They gonna clean them. You're not gonna beat some sloppy

ass boys not having it. Oh, so you be checking them? Yes, I'm tough. I'm tough because, you know. That's my 21-year-old son. He's still on clean as well. You still on clean as well? He's still on clean as well. He did that.

That's his fault. Yeah. Well, thank you. Exactly. Well, thank you. Oh, man. Oh, we got someone else calling in. Hold on.

Oh, we got phone calls now? Oh. Hey, Rocky. Come on. Oh. Come on, let's give it a call. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let Come on, let's give it up. Oh, look how they do it. One, two, three. Oh!

They over here. It's so good. We're having such a good time. It's amazing. You know what I mean? I'm loving it. They really trying to get me to do all these toasts and drinks. He knows.

He knows. He knows. He's been three. He said I look a little lit. And he knows you. He does know me, but you know what? I'm still elegant queen, so it doesn't even matter. Oh.

Oh, yeah. He's so sweet to call. He over here having people call. Look at his face. Yeah, you know I'm happy. You know I'm happy. He's like, oh, happy. You know I'm happy. How do they drink like this every day?

No, it's not every day. This is a lie. Should we send him to the spa? I'm going. Whatever spa y'all need. He said, whatever spa we go into, he's going. Yeah, I'm in. How you doing?

You so brilliant. You so genius. How's everything? Making me about to brilliant. You so genius. Making me about to cry. You good? Everything great? We are definitely having fun. My favorite part was all the questions he asked me. I think he

caught me out there with OutKast and Mobb Deep. That was a really hard one. You gotta go Mobb Deep. Somehow with OutKast, I don't feel like I That was a really hard one Somehow Somehow when we're outcast I don't feel like I heard him say mob deep Until after I said outcast Which is fine

They both great Yeah they both Hold on Swiss I'm telling I'm telling something She picked Pusha T over Kiss, though. But tell him how I represent Kiss already. Well, she did represent Kiss earlier, so you're going to get some phone calls.

It's going to get good. Pusha was up to something when she asked me for some Pusha T songs. Yeah. What'd you say? I knew she was up to something when she texted me. Oh, some Pusha T songs? Yeah. We need to say? I knew she was up to something when she texted me. Oh, so push your T-somes? Yeah.

Let me ask some answers. Well, she's a fan. This is dope. Thank you so much, my brother. You know I love you, man. I was telling the story of how long we know each other, how you always been my brother, but I also told the story that you never forgave me for not letting the beat drop on

the TV. Do you have the version letting the beat drop on bed for two years. Do you have the version where the beat drops? Can we find that? Nori has it, though. I got it somewhere. You have to find it. I got it somewhere.

Incredible cuts or someone. The greatest thing is I'm great with all my interviews. I never even realized that. I'm great with all. He says it perfectly. He says it perfectly. He says it perfectly. Crazy. So I want him to find the version with the beat dropping.

That would be fire. I'll sing on it. Oh, God. I'm coming out of retirement. You better find that motherfucker. I'm going to make it up. I'm going to make it up. I'm supposed to recreate that shit.

I'ma let the drink talk. He said, don't let the drink talk. He goes again. No, no, I'ma go back in the studio. All right, find that. I'ma try to get you to go back in the studio. Yo, yo, yo, thank you for everything, my brother. Thank you so much, man.

You're gonna get me back in the studio for real because I want to rest. I can't. He's your next album. Yeah, yeah, of course. And he's the executive producer of the next album. No, I swear to God, that's my... And I know Haz and Scram is here, and I want to, I can't. He's the executive producer of your next album. Yeah, yeah, of course. That's my, I don't know, Haz and Scram is here, and I love y'all, but I wanted my

last album to be produced Swiss and Pharrell. Yeah, I wanted my last, I don't know how I'm going to do it. Was it two of my two producers who curated me? I used the word curate. That shit is hard. That shit is hard. I just learned that word, by the way. I used the word curate. That shit is hard.

I just learned that word, by the way. I knew it. I knew it. I was about to ask her about the no commission. Is the no commission coming to Art Basel? Not this year. Not this year? Why? Because I didn't really know that. You know, you got to plan ahead.

Okay. You got to plan ahead so I didn't know how COVID would know you gotta plan ahead You gotta plan ahead So I didn't know how COVID would act You know what I'm saying And like to put all that work in for them to shut it down But I definitely got Like I'm in Saudi now putting up all of the All of the artwork For the different artists you know

On the F1 track and stuff like that So that's pretty big So I just was like you know Let me give it a break for this year. Let's see how the COVID play out and then we'll make sure we're going to come back strong. All right. Well, thank you so much for calling in, Switch. You know, I love you, my brother. Thank you so much. Oh my God. The queen is being the queen here and she's a gangster. I love it. All right. See you later, my brother. I'll hit you later. My bro, thank you so much. Yay!

All right. Really, truly. That was good vibes. Yes, really, truly. First of all, let me just tell you that I want to give you your flowers. Please, I like them. I really do. I don't have a box made so pretty like this.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. But I just want to tell you. This is about you today. But I want to tell you that I'm super, super proud of you. Thank you. I know you. Thank you. And I've watched you and I've rocked to your music.

I've turned it up in my 626 on the BQE. Like, it's a real thing. The first time the Super Thug dropped, I was in the damn gas station. And I'll never forget. I was like, what the fuck what what what what is this and that's how i felt what and anyway i just want to tell you i'm super super proud of you well thank you and i'm grateful for you and i see your trajectory and it's unlimited i love that word too i just love that

too super powerful you are incredible. I see what you're doing. You're consistent. And I love what you're saying about giving people their flowers while they're here. They're supposed to. Thank you so much. By the way, thank you so much. Let me just be clear. We just looked at this game as

it's terrible that people have this word washed up. If you're 10 years in this game, people will say you're washed up. Like, there's no word like that in rock and roll. Washed up. There's no word like that in jazz. Legendary. Like, what are you going to say? You're going to say

Sam Cooke is washed up? No. How can Sam Cooke be washed up? So we wanted to change it and you know, the more that you've done in this game, we want to praise it. We want to salute it. We want to do that to your face.

We don't want to do that when a person has passed away. And you're, hands down, the biggest artist, female artist that's ever stepped here. Oh. My support and love is real. Let me just say something. Although we're friends, I love your husband, all that,

this does not go without warranty. This does not mean that it means less because we're friends and we're family. This means more because you really could have did Oprah. Like, I called your husband earlier and he was like, yo, listen, you know,

my wife could have did Oprah. And I was like Yo listen you know My wife could have did Oprah And I was like I got to hang up right now Because I was like That is actually true Like I might have picked Oprah Over the yalla Like you know what I'm saying

You would have picked Oprah Over yourself I think I would have picked Oprah over me I said me Oprah or Nori Man fuck Nori man I'll come back to them later

You know what I'm saying I might have picked Oprah And this is crazy Because I have to thank artists Like later. You know what I'm saying? I might have picked Oprah. And this is crazy because I have to thank artists like you, Kanye, you know, the Nas's, and, you know, who sit around and says, you know what, I'm going to go to the hip-hop media and I'm going to visit that because, you know, in the honest way, when the interview is so great, they take our bits and pieces of the interview anyway. So you don't have to

do 15 different outlets. You can do one powerful, great interview and it brings the power to, I don't want to say black, Latino, I want to say hip-hop. Because it's bigger than a race to me. It's bigger than just claiming to be black or Latino or even

white or whatever, whatever. We're representing hip-hop. It's bigger than just claiming to be black or Latino or even white or whatever, whatever. I remember. We're representing hip-hop. It's a conversation. It's a conversation. That's a big difference. So I want to 1 million percent completely thank you. And it's so professional you did it.

Because like I said, Swiss is one of my best friends. And you could have just hit Swiss. But you did it professional. You had the management, the publicity. I felt so special. I was like, they sent me that album? Holy shit. And by the way, it took me 25

minutes to download this shit. This shit was the most complicated shit. It is very complicated. And by the way, I could not forward it to nobody. They said, welcome Nori. I said, oh shit. You said, oh my God. I said, this is mad professional. But I appreciate your team.

I appreciate. I really, you know, thank you. You know what I'm saying? Because the one thing about us is we have a great platform, but it kind of seems like a boys club. I feel you. And this is not a boys club. Right. This is as much as your show as anybody.

Yes. I mean, this is yours. It's a culture club. This is a culture as your show as anybody. I mean, this is yours for a couple of years. It's a culture club. I'm so glad that you chose us. I was so happy. I studied you so

much. I can't lie to you. I'm you right now. It's going to take me two days. I'm just Alicia.. Like, it's going to take me. Yeah, it's going to take me. He's going to go perform right now. Yeah, yeah. It's going to take me like two days. Like, I'm just Alicia. I'm like, I was calling Swiss. And Swiss was like, what kind of questions? Like, we were plotting on you.

And that's why I knew, like, I was like really in. And I was like, yeah, he's plotting with me. Right. This is good. And he called me and said, she's bringing the ice out today, Norris. And I said, oh, you came ice down. You look like you're ready to kick a sack of gold. This shit is great.

This shit is real. I really appreciate it. So let me just say something. So we got the new album. Yes. What's next after we've conquered movies? I had a friend say to me the other day, he said, yo, I conquered all my bucket lists. And it fucked me up because if you conquer your bucket list, where do you go from there?

I'm going to ask you that. Did you conquer everything on your bucket list? You know, I always feel like there's more to learn. I always feel like a student. I always feel excited about what I can bring, what new I can experience as well. There's a lot of things up my sleeve for sure. I got a lot coming and a lot of amazing ideas coming. I definitely, every day I'm learning more about myself and who I want to be in the world, you know, and it shifts and it evolves and it changes.

So I'm definitely having Conquer my bucket list. There's like a lot of dreaming left in me. So what's on your bucket list that you have in Conker? I want to do a really incredible Broadway play. Like write it and perform it? Perform, write, create. Called Alicia? I'm not gonna tell you the name yet.

That'd be ill. Actually, I'm gonna tell you the name. You're the only person that knows it. I won't tell nobody. Yeah, name yet. That'd be ill. Actually, I'm going to tell you the name. You're the only person that knows it. I won't tell nobody. I know you will. Don't worry about these people here. I know you will, but it's such a good name. It's called Hell's Kitchen.

Killed that. Nobody will ever know that. That's okay. Tell them tomorrow. It's fine. I really want to focus on generational wealth. I feel like that there's a lot to learn for all of us. You know, a lot of the times we don't have the tools or the information that allows us to really get ahead. And I really want to focus on that, like, in a major way. So I'm crafting and creating ways that that happens in everything I do,

but in everything that the people that I partner with and the ways that I think a lot of people are open to really equalizing the scales and that we understand that there's been years of incorrectly done shit and it's time to fix it. You know what I mean? So I'm really into that. So I really,

I'm learning about that and I'm figuring out how to crack that code and really make that a real thing. So that's deep. You know, I feel like there's

so much to do. I want to have a lot of fun too. I just want to, I want to live and I want to be present in my life. I want to be present

in my kids' life. I want them to know me. You know what I mean? I don't want them to be like, oh yeah, her, who is always going. You know what I mean? I really want them to know me and they do. I'm good at it. I'm really to know me. You know what I mean? I don't want them to be like, oh yeah, her, who is always going. You know what I mean?

I really want them to know me, and they do. I'm good at it. I'm really good at it. I see you doing a great job. Thank you. How about crypto? Are you into crypto?

I am. I'm just getting my wallet. That's what it's called? Yeah. The MetaMask. Yeah, because they told me to get my wallet. I'm into it. I think we just have to diversify.

I think we have to understand everything. Diversify our funds. You know? I'm into it. I think we just have to diversify. I think we have to understand everything. Diversify our phones. You know? We're about to release our cards. Yes, we are. We're about to release our culture cards. We're about to release our culture cards. Fire. So that's like

the Amex? It's going to be like trading cards. Like NFT trading cards. And you can create your virtual record label. Shout out, trading cards, like NFT trading cards. Oh. And you can create your virtual record label. Shout out to Culture Cards, and we're a part of that. It was definitely, we were talking about the meta and all this virtual shit that's happening. It's the future.

It's major. It's major. But how do you feel about it? Like, does it freak you out? Because it kind of freaks me out a little bit. I need to understand what freaks you out. I think what freaks, and maybe it's just, I just want to make sure that we keep being actually in touch with each other. We have to be freaked out. You know what I mean?

We have to be. What I'm saying is that shit actually exists, huh? The Kevin Hart movie. Oh, true story? What does that have to do with NFTs, though? What does that have to do with NFTs? I love the crazy part. You got to relax.

Oh, for you and the NFT is Netflix. Yeah, yeah. I don't get it. I love the T's. I love the T's. I love the T's. Yeah, you gotta relax. Oh, for you and the NFT is Netflix. Yeah, yeah. I don't get it. I'm lost. Dude, that was Dominican shit right there. I'm completely lost. But here's a question. Can I please taste that daggone?

Mamawana? You gonna go for it. Hold on, I'm gonna take another shot and another shot. You should take a shot of Mamawana. No, I'm never fucking with that man. Come on. Why? Why aren't you fucking with him? And then I'll tell you why I'm concerned about the metaverse. Okay.

Why won't you drink it? You're going to drink a shot. No, I don't drink it. But why? Do you remember when everyone was dying in Dominican Republic? That's because they drank this? No, don't listen to this guy. In my life, bro.

Okay, got it. Cheers to you. But I was in Dominican Republic. We're this guy. In my life, bro. Cheers to you. But I was in Dominican Republic. With the head Dominican. Wasn't we in Dominican Republic where everyone was dying? It's what you described with the tiger bone. No. It is not.

It's not bad. It is. It's very sweet. But I can tell you drink do you drink Japanese whiskey sometimes? I like whiskey. I like whiskey. I like Macallan. Macallan, that's American whiskey. Oh, that's Irish whiskey. Alright. That's what I like. That's very expensive.

That's very expensive. I think the best whiskey comes from Ireland. I like 1942. Yes, we could tell. Thank you. Don't have them give me no cheap shit. Don't have them give me no cheap shit when I get there. But you also like Deleon, too. Yep.

He's like, wait, wait. I was like. Wait, are we doing this? You also like Columbia White, right? What the fuck is going on? Listen, I said it came to Swiss. Swiss loves Columbia White. This is to Swiss. Swiss loves Columbia. This is a fact.

Swiss loves this. I bet you he does. I sent him a case. He does. Apparently he liked it. Y'all are too cute. What's this shit though? You like Michelalacanth?

Talk to me about this. We were so scared to ask you. Kanye smoked it. Would you smoke this on Dream Champs? I mean, I don't know. The question that I'm wondering is... Because they told me you a big time smoker. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Whoa. Why is there nothing real? Like I opened it and there's more. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But were you supposed to pop this with your teeth? I don't know. Don't worry, I got your back. I got your back.

You don't got to do all that. I got your back. Dale que tu puede. All right, so here's the question. Yes. What is this part? It's called... Would that be tobacco?

It's called yabacco because it's fake tobacco. No, that's vegan. That's a vegan tobacco. It's like tofu tobacco. Yeah, it's tofu. It's soy tobacco. I don't know what I'm saying, but I think it's true. And then what grade or strain?

It says it right there. It's a great Smoke Champ strain. It is called? Grown in the mountains of Austria. I would prefer Dominican Republic. Hemp rolled cannabis. Grown in the mountains of Dominican Republic. Next to the Mama Juana branches.

Now, I do appreciate the wooden filter. Yes, we would like for you to classify that because Kanye smoked the prototype. This is the actual real shit. So you will be the first one to classify that because Kanye smoked the prototype. This is the actual real shit. So you'll be the first one to ever smoke that on Smokechance. So I'm not going to be cough finish it. I don't want to be cough finish. I don't want to be cough finish. Now we edit out the cough. Yeah, we'll edit out the cough.

Whatever. Oh my god! Is it going up? It's going up! Can we play some Bob Marley right now? Yeah, I think we need some. Let's make sure I'm not gonna cough. No, you ain't gonna cough.

If I cough, don't smoke shit. No, we edit that. We edit that cough out. Don't worry, me and Swizz is editing this episode anyway. Don't worry about it. We got your back. We love you that much. I heard, I heard,

I heard you're a big time smoker. That's what they said on the floor. On the floor. On the floor. On the floor. So, this is actually an awkward question, but you tell me if it's awkward. Would you ever think about making a reggae album?

Oh my gosh, I love, I feel like I have a lot of reggae records that I've made that is natural for me. That's back to the soul vibe that we were talking about. There's such a soul there. There's such an energy there. No one had a crazy reggae remix. You don't know my name at a Crazy Roots remix.

There's so many songs that I have that I feel like that's natural. I actually think a reggae record would be like a zone for me so are you going to change your name like snoop lion what would be what the fuck's wrong but i do want to be alicia tiger i was about to ask it would be alicia panther that's fire yeah for sure i'm buying the album i already pre-ordered it you got it i already pre-ordered it. You got it. I already pre-ordered it. Panther, let's go. This is pretty smooth.

What is your ultimate? Thank you. We grew it ourselves. If you could work with anybody, dead or alive, if you could work with anybody, who would it be? Let's pick three. All right. If it was three.

Anybody, dead or alive. I feel like it would be Kurt Cobain. Ooh. I can see that. Nina Simone. Mm. Damn. Marvin Gaye.

Woo! What an amazing... Wait, wait, wait. I changed it. You can go five. We're gonna go five. Kurt Cobain. Okay. Nina Simone.

We're gonna go five? You can go five. Marvin Gaye. Uh-huh. Big L. Woo! I feel like that would be so crazy. And Nipsey.

Nipsey. She's going above and beyond. She's killing it. That's because I was late. It's fine. You got me. So, holy shit. That is a great fucking... That's a good holy shit that is a great Fucking

That's a good list How about Bob Marley And you know I was going to say Bob Marley but I feel like it was obvious It was obvious because you're Reagan But I feel like Bob Bob is so special Like how can How can one person be so prolific

And like so willing to share The truth You know what I mean And the thing about it is I relate it to you Because like it's certain records That you can drop at any Moment like you don't know my name Can drop right now

And it would be the same Like you make timeless music Like it transcends time Like when I listen to you and i really did a study because like i said jimmy cross swiss is your husband and he's my friend i didn't want to do my i wanted to do my due diligence and i wanted to go and i'm asking him questions that's how i got the um the the you would break on being that's me i'm going in I'm googling and I'm going in But it's like Like you

Really make timeless Music so as I'm going through We had the Alisa Keys Essentials So this is the list of just Your hits And it's like when we listen to it Because that's what we do before artists Walk in and we sit there

And we're sitting here and we're sitting here, and we're all listening to it, because we all set up at 3 o'clock. So we all set up here. We were here at 3 o'clock. Yeah, we were here at 3 o'clock. We just started. But it was like, damn, your music is really timeless. Like, you could have,

there's certain of your albums you could drop right now, and it's still relevant. Like, how the fuck do you do that? That's amazing. And are you doing it on purpose, or? I just, like, kind of, we kind of left off on this, what you asked me. And I think, you know, I'm not chasing anything.

I'm not chasing a trend. I'm not chasing a sound. I'm not chasing anything. I'm chasing the truth, you know? I'm chasing my truth. I'm chasing my honesty. And just following that. So I think that that's what allows it to just be honest.

When someone's honest, you can feel it forever. You know, it's like it don't matter. It's just like that was that person's feelings in that moment. So I feel like that's what it is. But I appreciate you saying that because that's actually a really big accomplishment. I didn't know that then. I realize that now like when people can actually be six years old 20 years old 35 years old 65 years old and they can all relate to the same music that's like that's something so i don't take that for

granted and let me just tell you something. Your fans are very nice people. Your fans are mean? He surveys them. No, my fans are assholes. Yes, but I was so open when... On Twitter? Yes, I was open on Twitter and

here's the deal. Twitter is the most evilest people in the world. I don't know if you know that So I go on Twitter And I say We got Alicia Motherfuckers

No You're the only person That's why I say Your fans hold you down Oh really You're the only person With no negative comments No

People were first off Telling me I was lying Like you ain't got Alicia Whatever And there was a leak. You have a fan page on Twitter. It's like Alicia fans. And then they said, it's rumored that she's going to be on Drink Champs.

And everybody's like, yeah, yes. Yo, listen, your fans. See, this is how I know. They are the realest. No, no, they are real. Listen, I'm going to tell you who else. It's Kanye and Lil Wayne. Lil Wayne has nice fans, too. Wow. Yeah, I'm going to tell you who else. It's Kanye and Lil Wayne. Lil Wayne has nice fans, too.

Wow. Yeah, they ask for permission. That's great. What do you mean they ask for permission? They'll ask. They'll be like, yo, so when's the next part of it dropping? Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm like, oh, okay.

Your fans. Polite fans. No, no, no. Your fans, when I pop the bottle of Ace of Spades, and I said, we prepping for Alicia, and I'm playing your music in the background. And they just hit me on the DM like, yo, y'all. Her fans?

Yes. They on me. They said, yo, y'all of us? I mean, in my mind. Just let me rhyme my story. Y'all of us. Sorry. That's what I said.

No, no. They were just like, yo, that's crazy that you got. And again, it's just like I want to reiterate what your husband said. It's just like you're really that status where you can go do Gayle King.

You can go do Ellen DeGeneres. You can go do whoever the hell you want, but you pick Drink Chance. Come on, Drink Chance. Our shit is hot! Yeah! Let's go!

Let's go! I believe, let me tell you something. I'm going to say something. This is going to sound weird, but just rob me of the story. Because my moms, my moms had never asked me to ever meet anybody in this game.

And my moms asked me to meet Big Pun, and I told her, I said, Ma, Dad will always be around, and I never did it. And I never got a chance to beat my moms to Big Pun. But it's another thing. My wife never asked me to meet any artist ever, and she asked me to meet Alicia.

I like this. I like this. And I never got a chance. Look, she asked me to meet Alicia. I like this. I like this. And I never got a chance. Look, she's blushing over there. I never got a chance. I went to your... It was an Art Basel show. I know I pronounce Art Basel wrong.

No, you said it right. And you had just performed, and you was in the back, and I didn't get a chance to do that. So today is my day... I love that....of my wife asking. And my girl came, too, and she had to leave to go... If you're a girl, I'm about to say, get a chance to do that. So today is my day of my wife asking. And my girl came too.

My baby's six. She left. But she was here and I gave her a hard time too. Our roster girl came out. Let me do a video about her. All the females. I love it. This is really...

And my goddaughter. Shout out to my goddaughter Dee. Yes, yes. It's real. Randy Acker came out and he was managing. Randy Acker. And by the way, he was managing Little Mama at that time. He was managing Little Mama. I called him so much, y'all niggas is wild. What's going on?

Love you, Little Mama. But I called him and Ali 50 50 million times with mad jokes. I sent him every meme that ever was sent to me. I was like, look. This and this. Yeah, yeah. Not this, but look. Like, honestly, I'm going to be honest.

Yes, please. I have done those shows. What? Multiple times. I just have to say, this is like, this is the vibe. This is the energy. This is the truth.

This is that zone. It's a real thing. I'm going to take a shot to that. You got to take a shot. I'm going to take a shot. I'm going to take a shot. That's a yes. But Alicia,

let us say something one more time. I really appreciate you showing us this love because, again, it's bigger than a race thing or something like that. It's hip-hop. Hip-hop is, to me,

its own race. You're right. I actually want to get a job. I don't need a job, but I want to get a job and they be like, what race? Chill, relax. This is my career. Relax. I'm going to get a job. I don't need a job, but I want to get a job. And they'd be like, what race? Chill, relax. This is my career, nigga, relax. I'm going to get a job.

And when they ask for the box to check, I want to check hip-hop. Or write it in. Like, how do you identify? Yeah. Like, how do you identify, whatever? I identify because there's certain people. We should start just doing that. That's right.

And we should push that. There's certain people that may be white. There's certain people. We should start just doing that. That's right. And we should push that. There's certain people that may be white. There's certain people that... But they're just as hip-hop as me. But you know what? When Malcolm X would say, so-called, so-called, so-called white man, so-called black man, so-called,

I really... That means something to me because it is a so-called. That's a name. That's names we've been given by whoever. Didn't care anything about us. Any of us. Whichever so-called, that's a name, that's names we've been given by whoever didn't care anything about us. Any of us. Whichever so-called we became.

We're just not so-called human. Come on, let's just go back to the basics. That's for sure. I love that. Let's go. Cheers, let's go. What kind of shot is it? Is that Mama Juana's? No, no, I actually went back to this one just for safety.

Mama Juana will take care of you. Trust me. No, I got to ask. It tastes delicious. I just went for safety because the mixing is tricky. You're right. You're right. Because I got to ask.

Tell me. I can't drink tequila. I love tequila. It's just so smooth. Especially when you get the right one. That's a good tequila though. If you're drinking the wrong tequila, then you need to stop. Okay.

Tell me an example of a wrong tequila. Don Julio? No. No, that's a good tequila, though. If you're drinking the wrong tequila, then you need to stop. Okay, tell me an example of a wrong tequila. Don Julio? No. No, that's a good one. No, Don Julio's great. I like Don Julio. I like Casamigos. I like Casamigos, and I like 1942.

I'm getting a little nervous at Casamigos because every hood person I know has a bottle. They're not your amigo? The worst people in the world I know is working around with your amigos? As a bottle. They're not your amigos? The worst people in the world I know is walking around with a bottle of Casamigos. It immediately makes me not want to drink that.

Now you ain't. Listen, you really smiled on this one. It definitely has, you know, it's become universal. Yes, yes. In many ways. And look, congratulations to them. Yes, because a lot of people are getting money. And they are.

So you recommend no Casamigos. No, that's not what I said. That's what you said. She likes Casamigos. Don't do that shit. I'm fishing. I see what you did. This is why we have to wrap this shit up.

What are we doing, brand wars? I'm not sure what he's doing. But nonetheless, that's the tequila that I like. When it's high quality, it's smooth, and it can't feel like it burns you and hurts you. If it hurts you and burns you, it's the tequila that I like it when it's, you know, when it's high quality, it's smooth, and it doesn't, it can't feel like it burns you and hurts you. If it hurts you and burns you, it's the wrong kind. Okay. And have you ever mixed your tequila? I'll do soda, but I don't like to mix it with like a bunch of fruity juices and shit.

Because we noticed you put jalapeno. You like a spiced margarita. Margarita has too much sugar for me, but the jalapenos with the tequila, you need to try it. You should try it right now. And it slowly gets more spicy. I'm going to take a little bit more habibi.

I'm going to take a little habibi before you end the show. Yes. I'll wait for you when you come back. He just takes random peas. He just does that. Like, dang. He just does that. Like, dang. He just does that. He loves it. He drinks blonde ale, beer. That's the thing about guys.

Yes, yes. Y'all got to pee more often. Yes, they got to pee more often. It is what it is. Okay. But I like that you invited the ladies into the zone. I like that I'm able to represent ladies in the zone. I love that we can talk about different space.

You see it's like A protected safe space You're treating me Super queenly Kingly And you know Let me just tell you something I was going to have Two females

Throw roses At your feet When you walked out You were? You're not coming to America me? I was trying to do The coming to America thing That would have been

You should have done that Right? You should have done that And at the last end, they was like, but that might be too much showing favoritism to the woman. No, fuck that. I fucked up? Yes.

I should have done it? How dare you follow your instinct. Okay, I was with it. I was going with it. Thank you. But then they was like. All right, they wanted you to tone it down. But how I see it, it's never too much.

That's never too much. Live boldly, bravely. And shower people. Shower their ass. Be boldly, bravely. And shower people. B.B. boldly, bravely. B.B. It's okay. I appreciate the thought. I swear to God.

You told him not to do it? No. I was here. Yeah. He told him. Who told you? By the way, Kanye gave him his glasses, and he ain't been in the same sense.

Kanye took him shopping. Ha ha! He took him shopping. He ain't been in the same sense. Stupid! I know. Who told you not to do it? Who told you? I want to know.

No, it... Go ahead. It's okay. It's okay. Just tell me. No one told me not to do it. It just was... You self-doubted. No, I just was like, yo, you sure? And then people was like, you know what? Maybe it's too much.

I think it's too much because, yeah. And that's the reason why. So, but. It's okay. You know why? Because we really, and you really said the president's. I know I said that word a little wrong. I like that. No, that was a good one. But you said the president's. Ha, ha, ha. I said that word a little wrong. I like that. No, that was a good one. But you said that president.

You know what I mean? Your ass is finished. Quick, we got to stop the show. We know he's finished. Because we want more female orientation. We understand that we have a lot of men. It's because, you know, I'm a loyal man and I don't have female numbers. And that's good.

That's a natural thing. But it doesn't mean we don't have female numbers. It's just a natural thing. But it doesn't mean we don't want females to participate. We want females to participate and you set the motherfucking mark. Let me be the example. Let me be the example. Yes, you are.

And I was so open. I'm still open. I'm still excited. Like I said, we have people that's our family that never come out. I love it. And they came out just for you. It feels like family in here today. Yes.

Like, it feels like the realest of the real is in this building. Oh, you are real. You are really family. Do you take it on the shot? You got marijuana left over? I did. I'm in. All right.

Hold up. Is this our cheers to a This is the cheers Classic show Yes Cause you gave us Everything we needed We definitely Yes

Take pictures And promo Alright And that's it Because Why do you have people Do promo when they drunk That's

That's fucked up That's the show I like it But by the way You're fucked up I'm not Yeah I'm actually okay

I'm gonna go out And get some dinner or some shit. Definitely. I can't wait to eat. But Alicia, I'm so thankful. I'm so grateful. Same. You know, I'm thinking of this Jay-Z Biggie small skit where they said,

You could have been anywhere in the world. But you chose to be here tonight. Word. No! That's it right there! Cheers, we're here. I know how it is. We'll never forget this moment. Like I said, my wife is so, you know...

Don't worry. She's so not industry. She's so the opposite opposite that says so much about you she sold that industry and like you're literally the only person

to say I gotta meet and it's like I remember when I messed up with my mother my mother asked to meet Big Punk

and I will never make that mistake again I love it you know what I'm saying just because I'm close to someone doesn't mean I shouldn't, you know, answer to the duties of the duties

being done. Exactly. And tonight I would like to introduce you to my wife. Let's go. Let's go and let's take some pictures too. But before that, I would like to thank you face to face. I know how important you are. I know how big you are in this industry.

Thank you. I know how you can change a person's life. And you sitting down with us. And we had to be worthy to a certain extent. But the fact is you chose us. And we really respect that. We really love that. We want to tell you to your face. And you're making us

worthy because, like I said, at any time you ever want to promote anything, if you want to promote your little toe pink, you want to promote that? He'll paint it for you. Don't worry about it. We'll paint it for you and we'll promote the shit out of this motherfucker. We're going to sell little pink toen're promoting The shit out of this Motherfucker We're gonna sell

Little pink toenails It's okay That's an NFT That's an NFT We're gonna NFT That motherfucker Let's go We really thank you

We really Because You empowering us And that's what The culture needs to do Is you know We're a part of the culture This is a DJ

This is not You know A lot of people Who don't understand that his name is DJ EFN. And people misunderstand the DJ part. This is a real DJ. This motherfucker will take... He doesn't DJ because he loves vinyl. He's really...

He's stuck in the ways. Don't make my white beard relevant. And that's a beautiful way because that's real hip-hop. Like, I know for a fact that if I ask him to DJ my birthday party, he's coming with vinyl. You know what? And I love that.

That's a real thing. And I love that. I love his integrity and it's where really the new Eric B and Rakim and we're trying to... I love that! Oh. Oh, my gosh! Yes, yes, yes. You want to make some noise for us? Yes!

Okay, let's make some noise for us. Oh, you want this one? Let's go. Let's go, let's go. So, I just... No, you can have it now. So, I really want to thank you. I really want you to know how much you mean to us.

And, like we said, we're learning on the job. We're not journalists. This is a DJ. We have no idea what we're doing. We have no idea, but we know what we're doing. We have no idea, but we know what we're doing. And when we have opportunities like this, we ain't never going to go this unguarded, unloved,

you know what I mean? We want you to know that we really appreciate you. And we're going to go hard with this. We're going to go hard. That's why I hit the chairman. You know what I mean? We want you to know that we really appreciate this. We're unappreciated, right. And we're going to go hard with this. Come on. We're going to go hard. That's why I hit the chairman. You know, I hit Puff Daddy and I said,

Let's go. And I said, Yo, listen, this is the biggest female artist we ever had. This is one of the biggest artists we ever had. Artists.

Not just female. This is one of the biggest artists we ever had. Thank you. And he said, and he FaceTimed me immediately. He said, Do you know that's my sister?

That's it. Do you know? Relax, brother. He turned it about him. He turned it about him. He was like, you motherfucker,

I don't like the way you just talked to me. And I was like, what? He's like, what did he say? He's like, that's my sister. You don't think,

I said, geez, Louise, right? I want that, chico. But that's how important you are to the country, to the culture.

I said to the country, but yes. And the country. And the country. Okay. And the world. I'm with that. Because you did get political one time. You were like Hillary's hitman.

A little bit. He's doing a Cuban goodbye on you right now. That was a tad bit of a stretch, but you know what I'm the people's hit man Period That got even better Period

That was real That was real So That's all I really Thank you Thank you We really appreciate it

This was so fun You made my whole crew Are you kidding me You made my whole crew happy We've been doing this for almost six years. I've never seen this crew smile. We killed it. This is a vibe.

It's only positive vibes. They're smiling. Everyone's smelling good. They got the good perfume on today. You know what I'm saying? Everybody got their hair done. Cute, cute. You know what I'm saying?

Cute, cute, cute. Y'all cute too. Yes, yes, yes. Everybody. So, we got... I'm going to take one more shot. I'm sorry. Let's do it.

Let's do it. You ain't got to. Don't worry. We're going to take it for you. Y'all do that shit. We're going to take it for you. She's over your Cuban goodbye, but let's do it.

No, that was a very, very beautiful goodbye. Yes, yes. But where are we going to take these pictures? Yo, congratulate. Right here. Yo, EFN, congratulations.

I love you, dog. To us. I love you too, dog. Congratulations, congratulations to us. I love you, dog. I love you, too, dog. For us delivering the biggest... How many of them? Oh, damn, you got a gumbo now. Oh!

Salud. Mmm. That's it. Yay! Killed it! Mmm. Got it. Let's go. Let's go. 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 djefn on twitter and most importantly stay up to date with the latest releases news and merch by going to drinkchamps.com for more podcasts from iheart radio visit the iheart Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. A lot of times, big economic forces show up in our lives in small ways. Four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one.

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in the name of something much bigger than themselves. This medal is for the men who went down that day. On Medal of Honor, stories of courage, you'll hear about these heroes and what their stories tell us about the nature of bravery. Listen to Medal of Honor on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. And it's gonna take us to heal us. It's Mental Health Awareness Month, and on a recent episode of Just Heal with Dr. J, Get your podcasts. And it's going to take us to heal us. It's Mental Health Awareness Month. And on a recent episode of Just Heal with Dr. J, the incomparable Taraji P. Henson stopped by to discuss how she's discovered peace on her journey.

I never let that little girl inside of me die. the journey of healing, you can listen to Just Heal with Dr. J from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. AT&T, connecting changes everything. This is an iHeart Podcast.