Drink Champs - Episode 296 w/ Shyne

Episode Date: January 7, 2022

N.O.R.E. & DJ EFN are the Drink Champs. In this episode we chop it up with the Shyne!Shyne discusses his journey from rap to politics. Shyne shares stories of being signed to Bad Boy, spreading positivity, facing & overcoming failure and much much more! Lots of great stories that you don't want to miss!Make some noise!!! 💐💐💐🏆🏆🏆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.

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

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Why is a soap opera Western like Yellowstone so wildly successful? The American West with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th, where we'll delve into stories of the West and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today. Listen to The American West with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated.

I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Drink Champs, a production of the Black Effect and iHeartRadio. And it's Drink Champs motherfucking podcast. Make some noise! He's a legendary Queens rapper Hey, hey, Segre, this your boy N.O.R.E

He's a Miami hip-hop pioneer One of his DJ EFN Together, they drink it up with some of the biggest players You know what I mean? In the most professional, unprofessional podcast And your number one source for drunk facts It's Drink Chats motherfucking podcast Where every day is New Year's Eve

It's time for Drink Chats Drink Champs motherfucking podcast where every day is New Year's Eve. Listen, it's time for Drink Champs. Drink up, motherfuckers. What it could be, hopefully it would still be. This is your boy, N-O-R-E. What up,

it's DJ E-F-N. And this is Drink Champs, the IPL, and now we got Velvet Covers. Velvet. Make some noise! So, who got the velvet rug? Who got the velvet rug?

Yeah, this is velvet. This is nice. You're trying to throw me off like I wasn't going to peep that. First off, let me just say something. The man that's to the left of us right now, not only was a person that came up, was honorable in the streets, held it down,

came, and I believe this is the first time we heard bad boy gave a million dollar deal. And then I heard it was another million on publishing. This dude, I can't lie to you. I was there. I saw it. He had one of the biggest buzzes in New York City. And I would be wrong if I say New York City, because he had one of the biggest buzzers in New York City, and I would be wrong if I say New York City, because he had one of the biggest buzzers in the industry. People were looking for a savior after Biggie Smalls, and this was the guy people came into, invested into. He got into one of the craziest incidents in New York City's history. He held it down, held it down like a man, came home, did what he had to do,

came home, became a part of the government of Belize. Changed his whole life around, and every aspect of everything he did, he was real with it, and he's still being real with it now. In case you don't know what we're talking about, we're talking about shine. Motherfucking, no, not pose. No, excuse me.

Excuse me, excuse me. We're talking about motherfucking shine. Make some noise. You know what? I'll start with that. I'll start with that. That warm introduction. It's better than your GPS.

Yes, it's better than that. But let me ask you about that. You know, we're all from New York. We all got the story that recently Alpo passed away, right? Had his demise. What did you feel about that? Because, you know, you did name yourself after him at one point. You know, that's a very ironic situation. Because obviously I was faced with the same circumstances that he was faced with.

And I actually anticipated my circumstances if you listen to The Life on my first album. I got it, I got it. Where I said, you know, I'll be out in 10, start over again, but I couldn't do it. You wouldn't understand if you ain't been through it. There's rules to it, couldn't break them. Death before the sign until I meet Satan. So the way I got that name was a mixture of

Edgar Allan Poe, the poet. Oh wow. And Al Poe because I was dating a female that was dating him. You know, a popular female, she was an executive in the industry, and so she called me that name. Because, you know, when I was young, when I was 18 years old, I was, you know, I had a lot of energy.

It's real aggressive. I had that Brooklyn aggression. So it's strange. He's a Harlem guy. You know, but I was flashy. I think that's that Belizean in me. Us Belizeans, there's a word that you call you call it Bregan. OK, you know, we really confident. Right. And so I had that energy. You know, I had the 600. I had the, you know, the double R. You had the double R as well. Yes, yes, yes, yes.

And, you know, it was just a lot with me. It was a lot of flash, a lot of excitement. And she said, you know, I remind her of him. But thankfully, I was not like him. You know, because I stuck to my honors, and I stuck to my integrity, and you know, you're not a man, or you're not

a person of integrity until you're faced with a decision that you have to make. Where your life is on the line, where your freedom is on the line, that's when you know who you are. And I always, you know, prided myself in having the utmost integrity,

utmost character, and everything that I ever rapped about, sung about, was my gospel, it was the honest truth. And, you know, I thank God that I didn't fail myself, and I didn't fail my community in Brooklyn and Belize,

you know, when the time came for me to decide whether or not I was gonna have integrity or honor. Let's make some noise for that guy. Yes. That's a real shit. So we're gonna go through your musical history first. Alright, before I even get into this, how did you start rapping, what was it?

You know, usually I take the train And I walk I'm thankful Because you told me Fort Lauderdale was Like up the block You should have You should have hit me up I want to tell you

Listen I'm in Fort Lauderdale I didn't even leave Belize yet So I could have got a hotel Right here And then go to Fort Lauderdale Because I'm here in Florida For the Florida Trade Culture Expo. Because, you know, I'm a government official.

I'm the shadow minister of foreign affairs. Wow. Diaspora affairs. Congrats, man. Culture, youth, and sports. So that's why I'm here. Okay. And, you know, I know we spoke the last time I was here.

Yes, yes. I promised you the next time that I was here. Yes, yes. Stop by. You can't matter your word. Yeah. But let's take it from the beginning. But, yeah, so the way I started rapping, and I say all that next time I was here. Yes, please. You can't matter your word. But let's take it from the beginning. So the way I started rapping, and I say all that to say I was driving.

And so, you know, I'm listening to Barrington Levy. Wow, that's my first question. Don't rush that one. You know, and Buja Banta. Legends. But even Barrington before Buja, because Barrington is like an institution. So that's how I started rapping, the same way Kool Herc created hip-hop. Was it Chattin'? Chattin'?

Kool Herc created hip-hop. He's a Jamaican DJ that came from Jamaica to the Bronx and started spinning records. So that's how I started rapping. You know, my name used to be Shabba. Wow. That's what he used to call me. Taking from Shabba? Of course, Shabba Ray.

The Grammy kid. I got a record with Shabba. The Grammy kid. Right, right, right. I got a record with Shabba Ray. And so that was my idol. Okay. You know, and I had the same baritone, same heavy voice.

So I used to actually chat. You know, I wanted to follow in the steps of Shabba and Bush. So you were doing dancehall and all that. Yeah, Bounty Killer, Beanie. Got a record with Bounty Killer, too. You know, those were the guys. And that was right in Brooklyn, too. Those were the guys, right?

You know, I mean, in the community that I was raised, you know, they call it Little Haiti now. But that whole Flatbush Church Avenue, all the way up and down, is filled with people from the Caribbean. So initially, I wanted to chat. And then I transitioned into rap. But music saved my life Bob Marley You know, I used to you know, I got shot when I was young I was in the streets defending myself Very violent community as most inner-city communities were African Americans and Latinos And you know minorities grow up very violent, very predatory, very kill or be killed.

And so, you know, my mom was a single mother, laborer, you know, very stressed out, her only boy. So when I got shot, I said, listen, you know, mom, I promise I'm going to stay alive for you. You know, I won't get myself killed. I won't kill anyone. I'm going to stay alive for you. You know, I won't get myself killed. I won't kill anyone. I'm going to turn my life around. And so I started staying in the house and just listening to music. And Bob Marley used to calm me down. You know, when you listen to Bob Marley, and I used to say, man, you know,

this is the type of impact I want to have on the world. Was it a particular record or all Bob Marley? All Bob Marley. All of it, okay. Everything. Johnny was a good man. Everything, right? And, you know, so my passion for music was always there. But I transitioned.

Like, you know, I used to listen to guys like Terra Fabulous. You know, all the great guys. Super Cat. Super Cat. You know, Heavy D. You know, he was the first to really mix that. But Heavy D mixed that with hip-hop.

Jamaican. So it was an easy transition for me. You know who I thought was KRS-One? KRS was KRS-Two. Yeah, he did. Yeah, the bridge is over. Yeah, because he is chatting on that. Yeah, he did.

But, you know i was really just in in a in a survival mode of trying to divorce myself from the jungle because i was a lion you know and and and you know i would eat a lion i would eat a gazelle right i would do whatever i had to do to survive and I would try to divorce myself from that. And that's how music saved my life, because I would just listen to all music. Only Built for Cuban Links. That's one of the records that changed my life.

It was written on records like that. Because what Raekwon and Ghostface were saying is the same thing Bob Marley was saying. You know, it's social conscious music. Just in their dialect from Staten Island, Nas was saying the same thing just in his dialect from Queens. You know, Nas and Ray and Ghost, they were thinkers, critical thinkers. Right. And they were giving you the landscape of, you know, inner city living. Right. Ponen Noriega, too. Yes, sir.

Yeah, before you were NRA. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. So, you know, those are some of the records that had an influence on my transition from, you know, wanting to chat to getting into hip-hop. Because Bob Marley inspired me to want to impact the world. And I was a leader in my community. I was the guy on the block saying,

listen, don't kill him. Come on. Why are you treating him different than you treat me? I was always the justice guy. Why are you picking on the small guy? Pick on me. All right, you don't want to pick on me? Okay, leave him alone.

I was the guy that, you know, anybody tried to come and terrorize our block, I'd hold down the fort. But at the same time, that's how I got the name Shine, because I'd be on the block saying, listen, is this all we're going to do? I'm like Lawrence Fishburne from Boys in the Hood. Right, right, right, right, right, right. Is this what we're going to do? We're like Lawrence Fishburne from Boys in the Hood. Is this what we're going to do?

We're just going to kill each other and kill ourselves and be statistics. Let's figure it out. Oliver North created Free Ray Rick Ross, created all these guys, all the agents of destruction for our own community. All the stuff Nas was saying

is how I thought. I was a reader, critical thinker. And, you know, like I said, I listened a lot to Bob Marley. And he was a critical thinker. And he had a message. And so, you know, I was there, kill or be killed. I was there destroying, you know, being destructive. And I had enough.

And I was like, man, this can't be life. And that's when you start rhyming. Well, you know, I was immersed in music, but I made the transition, I was always a poet. You know, but again, I wasn't a rapper. Like, I wasn't out there battling. I wasn't going to cyphers, because I was busy trying to survive.

I was busy making sure that I stayed alive and trying to, you know, divorce myself from that way of life. Right. Yeah. So how does this buzz start, right? Because. So I got shot, you know, I got low because, you know, after you get shot, certain things happen and then you got to get low. Right. And I graduated high school, as I promised my mom. And, you know, when I graduated high school, I got a bike, an 18-speed bike from my cousin, Ron Duke. Pedal bike?

Yeah, pedal bike. To go deliver messages. Okay. Because I promised my mom. No, like messages. Like messages. Oh, okay, okay. Like a messenger.

Okay, okay, okay. And that's how I really... That was the first text message. That's how I got into rap. Go ahead. Like, fully. Wow. Because I believe in a divine architect,

intelligent designer. And the sacrifice that I made to not sell cocaine, to not sell crap, to divorce myself from the streets, and to just focus myself on, you know, a path that would see my mother have peace and security really allowed for me to just,

I just started coming up with rhymes. I would, like, rhymes like on another level. I would deliver packages to Sony, to Def Jam, to, you know, Vivendi, Universal. And then I would, you know, ride my bike, excuse me, over the Brooklyn Bridge. And by the time I got to the bottom of the Brooklyn Bridge, I would just come up with rhymes. But I was always a practical guy. Never one to lie to himself. Never one to, you know, fool himself.

You know, I always said, you know, I want my music to feel the way Bob Marley makes me feel. And I was always able to identify who was great. I wanted my music to feel to me the way Ray and Ghost and Nas, you know, and Jay, Reasonable Doubt. I can't forget Reasonable Doubt, Big, Ready to Die, Chronic felt to me. And that's how I started feeling about my music. I felt that, you know, I felt that power. I felt that electricity, that frequency. So I started chasing down all the street teams when I'd be delivering my packages.

I started running everybody down. I started, you know, when I would go to Sony, I'd try to make my way back to the mailroom. I'd go to lab. I'd try to get to the mailroom. And I was so convinced that what I had was powerful and it was going to change the world. One day I was getting my hair cut and I always tell the story that, you know, barbershops are the place of truth. Right. You know, wherever you are in your life, you want to know the truth. Ask your barber and ask the barber.

The motherfuckers in the barbershop. They will pull no punches and have no restraints. So I always rap for my barber. And, you know, this Friday, a gentleman was, you know, leaving the barbershop and I just, you know, ran down on him and said, listen, man, you in the music industry? This guy's name is Austin.

And he said, yeah. And I hit him with a 16 clip. And he was like, you know, hold on. Wait right here. You know, don't go anywhere. He didn't know what to do with himself. He called Don Poole. Okay, from Brooklyn. Brooklyn Chop House. Yes, sir. You know, been around forever since B.I.G., since Foxy Brown. Yes, sir. You know, been around forever since B.I.G., since Foxy Brown. Yes, sir.

And, you know, I performed in front of Don Poole, Imani Haley. You know, Imani Haley Productions, Movie God, you know, Future, Nicki Minaj. And that was it. Everybody that heard me went crazy. So this was a few months after graduating from high school, getting an 18-speed bike to go deliver packages. The girls looking at me nasty at the front desk

because I'd be walking there, you know, wet, and, you know, no raincoat, no nothing. Because I remember, like they said, is this guy Sean? Can't forget Clark Kent.

Okay, Clark Kent. Shout out to Clark Kent. Clark Kent is from Brooklyn. Okay. But I remember they is this guy Sean? Can't forget Clark Kent. Okay, Clark Kent. Shout out to Clark Kent. Clark Kent is from Brooklyn. Okay. But I remember they saying this guy Sean is the next Biggie, is the next thing that's happening. But was it a freestyle that started the buzz, or was it just like you said?

I'm telling you where it started. You biming? Because it started right there. I'll take you through it. You know, so once I got with Don Poole and Manny, you know, we just started going everywhere, moving around. You know, I rapped for Jay-Z. You know, I never forget.

You rapped for Jay-Z? Yeah. You know, because, you know, Don Poole was there. Right, right. Don Poole get money. Yes, yes, sir. So, you know, he's everywhere. You know, Manny was getting money, too. Yep, yep. So wele was there. Right, right. Don Poole get money. Yes, yes, sir. So, you know, he's everywhere. You know, Manny was getting money, too.

Yep, yep. So we'd be there. You know, I'd be there in my Iceberg fits. Right, right, of course. You know. Of course, of course. And so I remember we were at the Metronome on 21st Street, Broadway. Okay.

And, you know, I ran down on Hove, and I was like, you know, you got your ratchet on you? You know, that's what we called, you know, pistols for those who are not informed. I'm telling you, I'm the greatest thing you ever going to hear. And if I'm not, you know, you can shoot me in my foot. Oh, my God. You know, I was so confident. That's confident, though. That's confident shit right there.

So listen, so then I ran back. I ran back. Suspicious. I ran back on him. And when he was at State Street. At the office. No, he lived at 550 State Street. Okay, okay.

And I'll never forget that day. He came outside, jumped in his Rover. I told him the story the other day when I saw him at 4040. And that's what we were laughing about, if you look at those pictures. And he was like, yes, I... Oh, when you gave him your music? After that whole thing, I had to give him the tape. Then I ran back on him To get the verdict

He was like yes So you know Yeah yeah yeah So I was like alright I'm going to see you on top Tried to sign me twice after that Or three times after that You know

But what really What really changed things Is God bless the dead Chris Lighty Wow That's what transformed everything. Coach, so you could check to see if Special is outside for me, please. Yeah.

I got my guy, the DJ guy out there. It's all good. It's all good. We got him. So Chris Lighty, how? Chris Lighty. Okay. So this is August.

I meet Don Poo, Manny. We're moving around. I think I even rapped on the phone for Puff. Because I met Mark Pitts, too. What year is this? This is 1998. Okay. Same time when you were

hitting him upside the head. Trust me. I remember it clearly. So Mark Pitts put me on the phone with Puff. And Puff is like, you know. But how'd you go from Don P to Mark Pitts? Because they're all in a circle. Okay, all right, cool, cool, cool. Don Poo used to manage Big.

Or, you know, used to help Mark Pitts with Big. Okay. And, you know, you had Foxy Brown. They were all in one circle from the Howard days. And Puff was like, you know, you had Foxy Brown. They were all in one circle from the Howard days. And Puff was like, you know, yeah, you can rap. Can you make songs? Can you make hit records? I got to teach you how to make some hit records.

And, you know, he fell back. He wasn't like, come to the office. I got to sign him, right? Right. So, you know, kept going. I was like, all right. Chris Lighty. Chris Lighty called me to the Barrack Street Death Jam office. Yeah, 170 Barrack, 160 Barrack.

To violate it. To violate it, yup. He's not out there. Can I just, you know, I got a Belizean waiting out there, man. I'm very- Yeah, yeah, we'll find him. Seriously. Just look for a Belizean guy.

Let me drink some of this Belizean beer. Let's go, let's go. You can't drink by yourself. All that bang for you, you got to drink. You want a beer? Of course. Okay, let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's Yeah, let's go. Let's go. Well, you can't drink by yourself.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. All that fame for you. You got to drink. You want a beer? Of course. OK, let's go. Let's go, baby. Let's go, baby.

But I want you to finish your story, because then I want to. Is that over? Yes, I want to explain to you in case you didn't know how hot you were. But I want you to finish, and then I want to explain. Yeah, so Chris Lighty, rest in peace Chris Lighty. Yes, absolutely.

Look ahead. Yeah, this is very interesting. Bellican Stout. Yes. Best band in Belize. Best band in the world. So, you know, I went to Chris Lighty's office

and, you know, Chris Lighty was like, you know, I just got Snoop Kid And you know Chris Lighty was like You know You know I just got This new kid You know Swiss His name is Swiss Okay

Yeah You know He just gave me his beat tape You know Okay Pop it in you know I want to hear what You know everybody talking about

Uh huh Uh huh And he popped that tape in And I went Hey What And he was like tape in, and I went, hey. What? And he was like, you know, same thing like Don Poo said. And the kid Austin said, you know, all right, hold on. Let's go to Leo's office.

Yeah, okay. We're going to sign you right now. You're not leaving Def Jam until we sign you. So I went to Leo's office, and he, you know he told me listen give him the business so I gave Leo the business Irv Gotti was sitting

right there and you're just rhyming just rhyming just rhyming there's nothing on tapes well I did the I rhymed over the beats for Chris

okay which made him go crazy uh huh he took the um the same tape the Swiss Beats tape uh huh

took it in Leo's office, rhymed over those beats. Right. And Leo was like, you know, I have to sign you now. But when you say rhymed over them, you're saying naturally. You're saying they playing the beats. They playing the beats.

Yeah, he's rhyming over the beats they're playing. Yeah, that's why. I think Bobby Smyrna, I think him and Bobby Smyrna. Right. Yeah. And that was really what set everything on fire. Right. You know, because, you know, like, Lior was serious.

Lior and Chris, they wanted to sign me right there. Right. And I think they might have even sent the paperwork, and then Puff flew me out to Beverly Hills, you know, like, maybe a few weeks later. Okay, so let me stop you right here. Let me stop you right here. Yeah, so let's drink to Chris. So you say, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm about to pop out. Hey, so hold on stop you right here. Let me stop you right here. Yeah. So let's drink to Chris Lighty.

So you say, I hear you about to pop out. So hold on, because I just want to be focused for a second. Because I was there. Like, I'm not there physically, but I was the person

that was hearing, yo, this new dude. You was there after. Sorry, that was 97. Yeah, yes. That was 97 when all of this was happening. Right.

So Chris Lighty, Don Poole, Mark Pitts That was 97 98 is when I met you When I signed the bad boy in March Even before I met you There was this big buzz in the street It was like

Everyone has to sign this guy Sean Chris Lighty, God bless his soul In my humble opinion Is the one that really, you know, set it on fire. He was the catalyst for that. Right? Because remember, I rapped for Puff.

Right. I rapped for Hov. Right. You know, Mark Pitts, Don Poole, you know, Manny, they were part of the team. Right. You know, and, you know, I think I might have even rapped for Un. Right. Okay, Unertainment. Yeah. You know and You know I think I might have even Rapped for Un Right You know Entertainment

Yeah But once I rapped For Chris Lighty Right And he went crazy Right And they was ready To cut the check

And you know Because Contracts That's when everybody Because he was on it Because there was a bidding war For you Yes but I'm just telling you

He I remember clearly We were at a point You know like I said I rapped for Puff. You know, rapped for Mark Pitts, rapped for Hove. And, you know, we were coming along. But, you know, I didn't get the deal.

I didn't get the deal. And, you know, so I might have been a little frustrated. Like, you know, what's going on? Right? And by God's grace, this was like November. Right. November, the end of November, maybe beginning of December, I went to rap for Chris. And everything changed.

Like, weeks later, I was in Los Angeles. Because Chris, I think they were ready. Like, Lior was ready. And I think when they're getting ready to do deals, they call each other and talk crazy. Yeah. Like, yeah, you think you're doing it right now? Right, right, right, yeah. Wait, do you know, well, I just signed.

I'm about to take your head off of you. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And then Puff is like, well, hold up, that's the kid that, I don't know. I don't know if it absolutely happened. No, but this is outside of looking in. One of the Illest buzzers I've ever seen

Not just New York City And at this time New York City Ran the world anyway So if it was just New York Then by God be it But this was Throughout the whole industry

They was like This dude Sean And then I'm hearing Loud Records Had a deal for you I'm hearing Def Jam

Had a deal for you That was after Chris Oh wow Once You know God bless his soul This is the word of mouth This is what I'm trying to ask you There's no Instagram There was no Twitter How the fuck does That was after Chris. Oh, wow. Once, you know, God bless his soul.

This is the word of mouth. This is what I'm trying to ask you. There's no Instagram. There's no Twitter. How the fuck does everybody want to sign you? This is crazy. Again, you know. This is crazy.

They were all kind of connected. It was like a network of people. So there was the buzz, but, you know, there was the buzz that started with Mark Pitts. Excuse me. Don Poole. You know, those are influences. Right. You know, trendsetters. Yeah. Right. You know, and there'soole, you know, those are influencers, you know, trendsetters.

Yeah, right. You know, and there's conversations happening, you know. What? Ran down on Hov. What? You know, I spit for Puff. Mm-hmm. I spit for D-Dot.

Mm-hmm. Derrick Angeletti. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, I can't forget him. Cool. Spit for Clark Kent. Cool. So there's a conversation happening.

Mm-hmm. Right? Yeah. But, you know, everybody's doing what they're doing. And so it's like, you know, But your name is ringing. There's no rush, but it's ringing. But nobody put the deal on the table

until I went to see Chris. And when I went to see Chris and Lior, and like I said, I think maybe they picked up the phone and was like, oh yeah, we got the answer. Yeah, it was wack. Let me ask you, E, did you know about how big his bus was? Yeah. Because that's what I'm saying.

As a mixtape DJ, no. Yeah, just because he was in Miami, you should have felt the same. Like, I kid you not. Like, I've never, to this day, like, seen how much, like, and you was probably just entering the games. You probably didn't really understand. You know, I was, you know. I couldn't go to no meeting and meet with no executive without them saying,

you heard a shot? And asking me about you. And I'm like, what? Who is this guy? So I always wanted to know how you started. I had almost lost my life. Yeah, I told you I got shot. That's when I tried to divorce myself from that way of life in the name of my mom.

You know, a single mother, you know, she's battling depression because, you know, she's going to lose her only son to the streets. Wow, God bless. And I think that was a blessing. You know, that was God's way of, you know, patting me on the back and telling me, keep going. And obviously, as you can see now, I always had a bigger purpose.

Because right now, you know, everything that I wanted to do as far as Bob Marley, I'm doing that in my own way from Belize. Because I'm leading the world from Belize. The way I treat my people, the way I try to uplift my people, the way I advocate for all people, for equality, for education,

for entrepreneurship, for women's rights, for healthcare, for housing, for land's rights, for health care, for housing, for land. I used to rap about the establishment and the powers that be. And now I'm the strongest voice in the House of Representatives in Belize. And remember, I have a global following. So I might not, you know, people always ask me, how do I come up with my speeches? And I'm like, there's no different than how I came up with my raps. Because my raps were not driven by a desire to be famous.

My raps was just a conversation. I was just having a conversation. And I learned to do that from Bob Marley, from Ray and Ghost, from Nas, from Jay. You know, those were the real conversationalists. You know, Big, they were having a conversation, they were talking to you, you know, Dre and Snoop. Tupac, conversations, you know, Wu-Tang, conversation. So let me ask you, right?

Yeah. Because when you first came out, it was no secret they was comparing you to Big. Now, was that because of your voice tone, or was that what they're trying to make you feel the Big shoes? No, no, no. I think, you know, I have a baritone, but

you know, it's been 23 years and I still have the same baritone. And I think whenever a new artist, you know, arrives, people have to screw it up. It's like people have been trying to find another

Michael Jordan in the NBA forever until you've got to realize that LeBron is just the first LeBron. There's never going to be another Mike. Steph Curry is the first Steph. Kevin Durant is the first Kevin. Kobe, know, Kevin Durant is the first. Kobe as well.

Kevin, you know, Kobe, Drink to Kobe. That's right. Great guy. Supposed to rap. Supposed to write a song for him on one of his albums. So did that bother you, that comparison? No, because I knew who I was. Right.

I knew I was a guy from the street. You know, I got to say, I got to give recognition to my guy, Nigel. I know you know Nigel. Yeah, yeah, of course. Of course. That's good, Nigel. Yeah. And he used to always come in the studio and like, listen, forget what they talking about.

You know who you are. Right. You from Brooklyn. You putting that work. Just have your conversation. Right. They going to see that, you know, shine is shine. Right. You know, just have your conversation. They're going to see that shine is shine. Just talk that talk. And of course, it takes a while as a new artist to feel yourself around the studio and to find your footing.

But the comparisons drove me. That's what I'm asking. Drove me to be great. To have my own greatness. Right. Because I didn't want to be Mike. I didn't want to be big. I wanted to be Sean. Because the funny thing is, we had Mike Geronimo sit here, right?

And Mike Geronimo, his whole career was compared to Nas. So in his... I don't remember that. Yeah, yeah. When Mike Geronimo first came out, him being light skinned. I'm glad you brought Nas. I to Nas. So in his... I don't remember that. Yeah, yeah. When Mike Geronimo first came out, him being light-skinned. I'm glad you brought Nas. I love Nas.

Right. That's my guy. He's a great guy, great inspiration. Always, you know, when I was incarcerated, always reached out to me. Wow. You know, if I ever needed anything, not that I ever asked anybody for anything,

but, you know, he was always there post-incarceration, always extended a hand to me. Great guy. They compared Nas to Raquel. Yeah, but what I'm saying is this. No, but I'm just saying that. I know, but there's always going to be comparisons.

But here's the point I'm trying to make, was Mike Geronimo said to us, he said he didn't like, like it made him, instead of like, you see how you just said you embraced it? No, no, well I didn't say I embraced it. I said it drove me.

It drove you, that's what I'm saying. It drove me. It's not a matter of I didn't like it. It's just a matter of, you know, I gotta be great. And you know, sooner or later, people gonna appreciate my greatness. And it's up to me to make great music. That's a million trillion percent shine And if you listen to the shine album every flow is mine. Every flow is different. All right, there's no

Big flow there's no Pop flow there's nobody flow if you go back and study my first album and on every song I have a different flow I switch flows every four bars right but that was a part of the drive you know to be a master you know wordsmith a master musician and you know I definitely got a thank puff for that because that's what he was about making great music and so it was great to have somebody like him to be like man that's trash we were putting that out wow you know that's how it wouldn't be he wouldn't soften up I don't even want to hear that you know like like records would

leak that I thought was hot and he'd be like what are you doing this is is not it. This is not, you know, greatest rapper. They think, they want you to be the greatest rapper. Yeah. So, you know, but when I did get the record, you know, I'll never forget the record. You know, he gave me the beat. To Baron Tlaiby? To Bad Boys. Oh, Bad Boys.

Yeah, we're Baron Tlaiby. You know, we skipped a whole journey of, so when I got signed, I think the comparisons came more from negative energy in the sense of I got there and I forgot why I was there. Remember, I started by saying that Bob Marley was my greatest influence. Inspiration, right. And Ray and Ghost and Nas and, you know, just that critical thinking, you know, that, you know,

analysis of our circumstances and how we can forge our way out of it. Are you saying when you got back to Babway? But when I signed and I got, you know, those M's. You got those M's.

It was about the 600. You lost this field. It was about the got, you know, those M's. You got those M's. It was about the 600. All right. You lost this field. It was about the 4, excuse me, it was about the 4.6. Right. Making sure it's not a 4.0. Right, right, yeah, because, you know, it's a big difference. J.J. made a big difference.

It turned into 40 grand. You know, it was about, it was about, it was, but, you know, J. was a hustler. That's what he did. Right. You know, I'm not J. You know, I'm Bob's what he did I'm not Jay I'm Bob I'm Nas I'm Ray and Ghost

I'm here to lift my people up But you still can't have a 4.0 though But I'm from Brooklyn too I'm a young kid I never had nothing Moms, poor, clean the people's houses Immigrants So when I

got it, you got to go up. So I got distracted because there's nothing wrong with having it. It's all about balance. But what are you here for? I was there to make great music. I was not there to just drive around in a 600. Yeah, not let that make you.

Yeah, and that's what happened. Right. So he gives you this beat. So, but hold on. That 98 year is important. Because I think that's where the negative energy came from. Wow. Because I wasn't spending the time focusing on my craft and honing my craft and developing my skill set and becoming what I was destined to become.

I was chasing skirts, chasing those R&B divas, superstars. Yeah, you was finger popping a lot of shit back then. And you know, for lack of a better word. For lack of a better word? It's definitely a lack of a better word. Look ahead, look ahead, go ahead. 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 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. 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 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 where they'll say when cave people were here. And I'll say it seems like the Ice Age people that were here didn't have a real affinity for caves. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th, where we'll delve into stories of the West and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today.

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

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

Add free at LavaForGoodPlus on Apple Podcasts. This is great beer, by the way. You want your second one? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So cheers. Cheers, cheers, cheers. DJ Effin said that's the best. Sorry, my brother. All right, so hold on, Sean.

Yeah. Because I'm going to drink some champagne. I'm going to join you up with some champagne. What color champagne should I drink? Hold on, we didn't even get to the rum yet. The rum, we're going to do that for shots. We're going to do that for shots. Right.

So there's phases. Yeah, there's phases. I didn't even get to the rum yet. The rum, we're going to do that for shots. We're going to do that for shots. Right. Okay, so there's phases. Yeah, there's phases. I'm not even going to lie to you. I get, like, glimpses of the greatness that you do. Yeah. But I'm so busy writing the translation. No problem. We got your back.

We got your back. I can't sit through all the things. Don't worry about it. I don't even know the protocol. Okay, so what you want? This is black-owned champagne. What you think I should... I'm going to go with the gold.

Because, you know... You got to go with the gold. You just go with the gold. Let's go with the gold. Can we get a cup? Okay. And, you know? The black and gold is important because my grandmother was what you call a Garifuna.

That's an African set of people that have been persecuted for hundreds of years. They went from St. Vincent. They fought against the French. They fought against the English. With the black and gold? They exiled them, but this is the color of their flag, black and gold. And this month is their month in Belize.

We celebrate Garifuna Settlement Day. And my grandmother was from Honduras. She was born in Honduras, but because of racism, she hid the fact that she was a Garifuna until she was about to die. Yeah, so there's very important colors to me. Okay, definitely. Also Latin kings, too. Let's get the Latin kings.

What a segue. I just, like, I just, like, I'm Puerto Rican, man. I just can't let that go away. Listen, you know, when I spent my time, you know, traveling through those correctional facilities, I received love from everyone from the Latin kings from

the bloods from the quips everybody loved me your journey to the other side and we'll get there but I remember a lot of people who was in there with you and just always tell me how honorable dude you are and a man of your

word and it's like I knew that from you on the streets. Yeah. But you have a story that, you could be bitter, man. Like, hold on, let me finish. Let me finish. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, you know, for lack of a better term, like we said earlier, your charge was actually kind of defending your boss.

It was absolutely defending my brother. So in any other world... Not just my boss, my brother. Your brother. So in any other world, when you do that, you defend your brother, who is your boss, you actually get rewarded for that. There's no downfall to that when it's a real world.

But this is the industry. You had to quickly learn that. Because you really had to go from zero to a hundred real quick at that incident. You know what happened with Diddy, with Brother Love? I don't really

blame that on him now as much as I did then. Because I did go through a stage of bitterness. You're human. But in retrospect, you know, I blame it more on the lawyers that were advising him. To separate the case. Than him.

Because his lawyers were there, excuse me, to secure a not guilty verdict by any means. He's a corporation, $100 million corporation. And, you know, they look at me as the enemy. Now, you know, this is how many years ago? This is 20-something years ago. Yeah, 20-something years ago. So Puff is still young relatively.

What is it, 1999? 1999, 2000. Damn. So he's much younger then. And, you know, it's a lot of pressure. You know, he's about to lose everything. I'm about to lose everything. I'm from that, though.

Right. Right? You know, Diddy is a musician. You know, he's a great musician, great executive, you know, great entertainer. But he wasn't from that. Right. So his response shouldn't be expected to be my response. And then when your lawyers and maybe other people are misleading you and misguiding you, I think that's how everything, you know, fell apart.

And he said that to me. It's beautiful. He said, you know, man, you know, fell apart. And he said that to me. He said, you know, man, you know, I'm sorry, man. You know, I should have never listened to those lawyers. That's real. And, you know, I forgave him. That's real. But, you know, it was traumatic. Yeah, still stings.

So I will forgive him. And then, you know, you might hear me a few months later, you know, going in on him. Yeah. and me a few months later, you know, going in on him. But again, that was over a decade ago, and I was in a different space then. And, you know, today, you know, I'm all about, you know, how I'm going to impact the world, building relationships, and forgiveness is a part of that.

I can't carry 23 years ago with me in a negative way. I carried 23 years ago with me all the good from 23 years. The bad, I take the wisdom out of it. I take the lessons out of it, and I use it for the next 23 years how I'm going to master this chessboard.

That's hard. You know what I always say? Forgiveness is for you. Forgiveness is not for them. Whether I forgive them or not, forgiveness makes me a better person. That's for me. So it's like with Diddy. When Diddy, when Diddy

has supported me, he's been one of my biggest supporters. Him, Fat Joe. Those are my two guys. Like I said, Nas always reaches out. Fat Joe went to see you in jail, though. See me in jail. I don't know if he came to Belize.

Can't forget Busta Rhymes. Busta Rhymes, my brother. I was just with him he came to Belize. Can't forget Busta Rhymes. Busta Rhymes, my brother. You know, I was just with him, him and Khaled. Khaled is my guy, too. Another supporter for over a decade. You know, but Busta came to Belize when I got out. You know, embraced me.

He tried to sign you, too, though, right? I think that was a part of it. No, no, he was just a brother, you know. Okay. Gave me an Audemars Piguet. Okay, I remember you too, though, right? I think that was a part of it. No, no, he was just a brother, you know. Okay. Gave me an Audemars Piguet. Okay, I remember, yeah, yeah, yeah. When I, you know,

when he came to Belize and just been my brother through and through. And Joe, my brother. But Diddy, in the most recent years, after we reconciled, you know, once I told him

what I was doing in Belize, became one of my biggest supporters. Right. You know, whether it's telling people through his platforms what I was doing, whether it's, you know, financing what I was doing and just giving me that moral support and that acknowledgement. And then recently they had tried to, after I got elected, pass legislation to disqualify me from the House of Representatives. Why? To say that anybody that got convicted of a crime can't be in the House of Representatives. In another country?

And, you know, Diddy lost it when he heard that. And he got the revolt people. He got the publicists. He got everybody. He started talking to his legislative friends and was like, you know, we can't let this happen. You know, this young man changed his life. He's doing great things for his people. And, you know, he's black excellence.

And I can't let this happen to my brother. So he was very instrumental in, when I came here, meeting with the legislators in Georgia, recognition highest regards to Rep. Erica Thomas and the entire Georgia Entertainment Caucus, andacobs as well you know so so puff you know to me totally redeemed himself and it's my brother and i love him and so i don't need to talk to him every day i don't need a million dollars from him you know the love and the support in the time of critical need is worth more than a trillion dollars.

And that's important because when you expect money from people, when you expect material things from people, you will always be disappointed. What's it called? Entitlement? I don't know if it's entitlement in my case because, you know, after 10 10 years you know that that's debatable but what I'm saying is I prefer to say expectation right don't expect anything from anyone and appreciate everything that you know God sends your way and take it for what it is you know but just hold yourself accountable navigate your path and your journey and life will be much less complicated. So when there are no expectations, whatever someone does

or contributes, it's just, it just enhances, it's just extra. But you know, I got what I got going, going, but that's still my brother. So my love doesn't have a price tag on it. Right. So I don't love you because, you know, you sent the Maybach to Belize for me. Right.

I don't love you because, you know, you gave me a million dollars for my campaign. Right. I love you because you're my brother. Right.

And if we talk every day, if we don't, you're my brother and I love you. That's wild. That's wild. So, um, let's get into that first record, the Barrington Levy record. And we need more, by the way.

We need more black love, more brown love. Yes, we do. A lot of murders going on. I know New York City is ridiculous. When I saw Bobby Shmurda at Jay's event, at Ho's event, at the 40-40, you know, I hugged him. You know, Meek Mill, that's my little brother, too. He's another little brother that has been there, championing the shine, legacy for years. You know, but I held, you know, Bobby, and I told him, I said, man, listen, you have to learn from me.

You know, we were going back and forth. I think he did six. I did ten. So I said, listen, I'm the champion. You know, I got the back and forth. I think he did six. I did 10. So I said, listen, I'm the champion. You know, I got the belt. But I don't want you to have the belt. I don't want you to go through what I went through. I want you to be a messenger. I want you to lift these kids up. I want you to save these kids' lives. I don't want anybody else in Brooklyn or anywhere else in New York or Los Angeles or anywhere around the world or United States

to go through what we went through. We got to stop this cycle. So black love is important. We got to stop killing each other. It can't just be when, you know, they're kneeling on George Floyd's neck. You know, we get up in arms, but then when we're blowing each other's brains out,

nobody says anything, you know. So black love is important. And brown love. And, you know so So black love is important Right And brown love And you know Inner city love So So Puff brings you this record He brings you the beat So

So 98 was spent Being reckless That's how I got the name Alpo Okay Just reckless You know Parking on the sidewalk You know getting out the car

Just leaving it running Right You know Parking on the sidewalk That getting out the car, just leaving it running. That's real Brooklyn rich shit. That's Brooklyn rich shit right there. That's New York. Yeah, yeah. I got to definitely acknowledge Mike. He's one of the first icons that I ever met and hung out with. I got to acknowledge Jackie Rowe, Auntie Jackie. Auntie Jackie, that's a sister and hung out with. You know, I got to acknowledge,

you know, Jackie Rowe, Auntie Jackie. Auntie Jackie. That's a sister, right? Yeah. Yeah, and that's my aunt. So I spent the whole 98, you know, chasing all these

R&B superstars who sold millions and millions of records and rap. Female superstars who sold millions of records. But I didn't sell any records. And I wasn't making any hip records. And I'll never forget, you know, at the end of records, but I didn't sell any records. And I wasn't making any hit records. And I'll never forget, you know, at the end of 98,

I had an argument with this R&B diva, you know, who sold millions and millions and millions of records. You know, we were, you know, we had a thing, you know, a situation. Yeah, we won't say who, we had a thing, you know, a situation. Yeah, we won't say who it is. An entanglement. You don't want to talk about the entanglement? You know.

Who else? I'm going to forget. I'm a member of the House of Representatives. Okay, yeah, we ain't going to blow up. But listen. In a way, listen. Listen, yeah. Just give us three hints. Yeah. So listen, so I was, you know,

I was seeing another rap female superstar, and so they got into an argument, and so the R&B superstar, you know, called me and cursed me out, and she was like, you know, you ain't nothing. You know, you think you something, but you nothing. You ain't something. You're not talking about Shanti, are you?

Nah, she wasn't even born yet. Okay, my bad. I'm just fishing. Okay, I'm fishing. I'm bugging, I'm bugging. I'm going to get my life together. She's probably in junior high. That's my homegirl. Yes, I got that record.

I got that record. So anyway, this R&B diva superstar told me, listen, basically you're a bum. To you? Yeah, you ain't selling no records. Wow. She talking that talk.

Wow. She don't care about the 600. Wow. She don't care about the platinum rollie and the gold rollie. She don't care about the publishing deal. She don't care about the publishing. Right. Because she sold like, you know, 10 million records, number one singles, number one album

for 100 weeks on pop charts. Mm-hmm. So she's like, you're a 10 million records, number one singles, number one album for 100 weeks on pop charts. So she's like, you're a bum. You ain't sell one record. So when you sell a record, then you call me back since you want to stunt on me and have me looking crazy out here with these raps. That's some motivation.

Yeah, yeah. No, no. But again, I was driven by that. You're not talking about Mary, are you? No, she's too old. I was thinking that too. No, no, no, no, no, no. We got to get in the middle now. I mean, no, no, no, no, Mary's, no, Mary, no, Monif ain't selling type of records.

Okay, I ain't buying that. But Mary's great, but Mary's like, you know, that's like big sister. Right. You know, but like she was before my time. Right. But, so yeah. So anyway, that was like, that was like hitting me in the head with a lob. Knocked the wind out of me.

And it put me back in focus because I was like, she's right. You know, I don't want to just be driving around in nice cars. Right. And, you know, have all the iceberg sweats and have all the drip. I want to make hit records. I want to be on top of the charts for 100 weeks like her, but not just make hit records. Remember, I came here to impact the world. So I had a plan where I was going to become a little bit more conscious in my music, send different messages to uplift my people,

see if I could do a hybrid of that Nas, Ghost, Ray, Bob Marley type thing. Nas ended up doing an album with Damian Marley. So I was on the path, and it was like, so what am I doing? So that knocked the wind out of me and got me back on my path, both from an ego perspective and from a spiritual perspective, because I was like, you know, she's talking crazy. I got to show her that, you know, I could put out. That was the ego side of it.

Yeah, yeah. And so that's when I realized that the secret to success was Diddy. Listen to him. But the whole 98, I was dating his girlfriend. Can't tell you who. But that's how crazy I was. That sounds like a recipe for disaster for your career. This is what I'm trying to tell you.

He was out there mashing up the place. Sabara. Sabara. Mashing up the place. So that's how off track I was. That I was a worker, you know, trying to take the CEO's, you know, property. And, well, I shouldn't refer to women as property, but, you know, the CEO's, you know, entanglements. So I was totally distracted, totally, you know, young, dumb, and full of cum.

And so I had to get back on track. So he wasn't even messing with me. Messing with you or messing with her? With me. Okay, cool. Because he knew what you were doing? He can't be mad at that. No, he was just like, man, you

crazy, right? That's when I did the I don't know if you listened to Macy's album where I did the song Start From Scratch. And initially that was, if I could start from scratch, I'd have signed a death jam. Hustle, rustle, couple of a million

advance. But I changed it to, you know, nah, what am I saying? Puff's the best man because me and Puff, we hugged up for that. You know, we got into a little wrestling match over that. No, no, no, no, no. So that's where we were at. So 99 came about and I was like, man, listen, Puff is the holy grail. I'm not here to look cute.

I'm here to sell records. I'm here to sell records. I'm here to change the world. And, you know, that's when DMX was destroying things. You were destroying things. Jay, Hard Knock Life, destroying things. And, you know, Bad Boy was, you know, it wasn't our turn. You know, we was in the back.

Okay. And so I knew Puff was still a holy grail because that's how life is. Life is cycles. So that entire 99, you know, I parked the 600, parked the Rover, and I just went everywhere Puff went. Hopped in the back of the Silver Navigator,

and I was Puff's shadow. Wherever he went, I went. Whatever he did, I did. He brings you this beat? All in order to get the Holy Grail. So we are in... Daddy's house? Hamptons.

Okay. August. August is a special month for me. But before this, we hit the... I wouldn't say it was a home run, but it was a base hit and drove two people home.

So we scored some runs. We're sitting at home. Sitting at home remix. And you got to remember that was total. Total, that's right. You got to remember the pressure's on.

Everybody's like, who's this guy? He's not all that. He shouldn't have got a couple million dollars. And it's not a video for this? No, no, no. But what I'm saying is the record hit. They did what they needed to do.

Let it be understood. Bad Boy run this. Brooklyn the AT, they pump this. That was it. Right? Everybody was like, oh, okay. And Puff is the ultimate hater, which is great. He's the ultimate hater because he's hating for the benefit of the good.

Right. So, like, he's like, no, no, no, no. So when he says yes, when sitting at home makes it out, it's because he thought it was great. Right. And he's never wrong. So in August, we're in the Hamptons. He gives me the beat. Boom, boom. Easy LP. Shout out. He's Elvin, yeah. Boom, boom, boom, boom. Boom, boom, boom, boom. And again, the musical genius that he is, he says, this is it right here.

I'm telling you, this is it. If you could do to this what you did to send that home and take it up a notch you're gone right because you know he used to tell me listen you look better than ll you could rap like big and nas and jay you you know you you in the streets you crazy like tupac you got it all right you're the total package right if you put all that together and you put that on this Bad Boys, it wasn't called Bad Boys. They put that on this record, you gone. And then who's the guy that goes,

He's asking you that. He's asking me that. And you knew exactly who that was. Because that's a legend. Right, right, right. That's an icon in my community, right? So, again, I give credit where credit is due. He quarterbacked

that entire play. All I had to do was run, make a right, and dive for the ball. And that's how Bad Boys came about. You know, I went in, I knocked it out, and the second verse was for Puck.

I heard you wrote that for him. That was for him. Minks dragging on the floor. You know, but when Club New York happened, you know, that adjusted the plan. But August 1999 is when I wrote Bad Boys. Yeah. And it hit. Well, in June, you know, I got to recognize Funkmaster Flex as well. You know, Jabba and Bobby Condis too, they was on it.

But Flex, you know, another guy that doesn't, you know, he's not really on you unless he's on you. You know, you see him arguing with a lot of people, some icons, you know, so he's not one to really just play music just to play music. He got to love it. He got to love it. Yeah, he got to love it. And he loved that record. And that record went. That was it.

There was no, is it going to go? It went. Flex played it like 100 times, and that was it. What made you use him again? What was the other record? That was Half Pierre. You know, when they sent the record to Barrington, because Usher was supposed to be on Bonnie and Shine.

But you got on Confessions. Usher was supposed to be on Bonnie and Shine. And that's what Barrington Levy's on. Usher was supposed to be on Bonnie and Shine. I already wrote the chorus and everything. Wow. But they put one over on me, but when it came back, it was great. I can't argue with my childhood hero.

But you was on Confessions of Fire too. That happened, that was Mark Pitts and Jermaine Dupri. Because of Mark Pitts still. In 2004. I won a Grammy for that. Let's make some noise for that. I was supposed to have that in your intro. Grammy award winning.

That went over my head. Yes, yes, yes. Holy moly, guacamole. My next question was Bonnie and Sean, but I feel like we already established that, right? Alright, cool. Don't forget Can't Believe. I was nominated for a Grammy for that, too.

Carl Thomas. We've seen Carl Thomas the other day. Yeah, on Saturday. Shout out to Carl Thomas. That's a big record. Okay, we're going to come back to that. But look, the song More or Less, that's Foxy Brown on there, right? That's produced by Kanye West, who was just on your show. Yeah.

Check the credits. I did not know that. Check the credits. I did not know that. A young Kanye West. I called John Minot. Super early. You know what?

Now that I think about it, that does sound like a... It's Kanye West. I was there. I'm a visionary. And wait a minute, because this is 2000? No, this is more or less came out.

Well, you know what? More or less came out in 2004. But I recorded those records in 2001. Wow. While I was on trial. I recorded the Godfather Buried Alive album. Most of it while you was on trial? All of it while I was on trial.

Oh, because this one record. Because this is when I reached the holy grail. Like, after my first album, I reached a level where I didn't write raps anymore. What? So literally, I was going from court to the studio, and I would just listen to the beat, and I'd just go in the studio and just talk about my life.

But one record, you did it over the phone for the record? For the record and you know I want to take this opportunity to um you know we should toast to 50 Cent. Okay. You know I really appreciate all of his success. You did it on the record right? Yeah I appreciate all the success that he's having as as an African-American you know the longevity that he's having the transition that he's made you know from you know a Grammy award-winning you know, the longevity that he's having, the transition that he's made, you know, from, you know, a Grammy award winning, you know, multi-platinum selling rapper, you know, to a film producer, writer, you know, he's an entertainment mogul, you know, he's into the spirits as well, just everything that he's doing, you know, I celebrate his

success, and you know, he tried to sign me when I was away. Is that what that record was about? You say that in that record. He tried to sign me, and you know, I was his success. And, you know, he tried to sign me when I was away. Is that what that record was about? You say that in that record. He tried to sign me, and, you know, I was just in a different place. Right. I was in a place, you know, I was, you know, I was bitter. I was upset. You know, I had a lot of demons that I was fighting. And, you know,

I was just in a different space. I'm not in that space anymore. I'm in a space of healing, and I'm in a space of celebrating people. That's right, that's what this show is about. And not getting into other people's issues, because that wasn't my issue. What was that, because you was friends with Irv?

Yeah, Irv was my brother, you know. Irv came to see you or something like that? No, he's my brother. Irv is a great guy, but what I'm saying is... Well, 50 Cent Shop was because Irv came to see you and posted a picture. No, it wasn't just because Irv came to see me. It's just, you know, certain things meant something to me.

And I don't want to go down that route because, again, that's not my issue. And, you know, I don't have the details. It's just not my thing. I was just going with my brother. And Irv is still my brother, but it's time to grow up, it's time to evolve, and I want to see all my brothers together, getting money, you know, being productive,

and just having great lives, and we should live until we're 70 or 80, like the rock and roll guys do, and you know, just have success. So, so, so. I was going to say, make some noise for that. Yeah, yeah. But that, but that was. No, I need another one. Oh, you need another one.

Okay, okay. But that was... He's not ready to move me into the rug. Let's go. Let's get into that. Let's go get the shots now. But that was recorded when you was in jail? Yeah, it was.

Okay. Okay, because... All right, cool. Because I was thinking it could have been recorded while you was in jail or recorded over the phone prior to you being in jail. But now that's established. I think that's one of the reasons I failed

when I came out when I was released from incarceration. It's because it was too much negative energy. I was arguing with Puff. I was arguing with 50. I was arguing with Rick Ross. Cheers to Rick Ross as well.

He's doing great things. Entrepreneur. Mogul. He's buying a house just so he could drive by. I hope that he, you know, rents it out for Airbnb so we can generate some revenues, donate that to the police. But, you know, cheers to all, you know, the rap moguls, you know, that are enjoying success. That's what I want. You know, then I was selfish. I was thinking about me. And I was repeating something that was so destructive for hip hop, I think that's why God took my voice.

You know, because when I came out, I lost my voice, I didn't have my baritone. And it was a disaster. That's why when you did the Khaled record? Yeah. And Khaled is my guy, I love him so much. He wasn't flying private planes then, he was ready to take a boat to Belize

for me to do that record. But I wasn't ready. And I wasn't ready because again, I lost focus. Like I was in correctional facilities, you know, going through a journey, not to come out and be Tupac. And you wasn't writing rhymes in there? No, I don't write rhymes. I just create. Just give me the beat.

So I had albums in my head. But the point I'm making is, you know, I came out with the wrong energy. That destructive energy. And that had been very devastating for hip-hop. We lost two of our icons and even more people because of that destructive energy and that had been very devastating for hip-hop we lost two of our icons and even more people because of that destructive energy so for me to be a leader again to want to be a Bob Marley and to after ten years of going through all that even if it's just entertainment even if it's just me speaking my truth and giving my opinions on the rules of rap and the rules of the street, that's not the energy

that we ever need again because I'm too real and when you're too real, things end up becoming very destructive and devastating. So yeah, that energy just wasn't right and the energy that I have now is the right energy.

Where I'm celebrating everyone and, you know, wishing everybody the best. And everything's about beliefs. So when you came home, did you feel pressure to do that college verse? Did you regret it? No, I didn't feel pressure. I just explained to you. My problem is my energy was not right. Okay, yeah, yeah.

If your energy is negative, you're focused on the wrong thing. Why am I thinking about Rick Ross? Why am I thinking about Diddy? Why am I thinking about 50? I'm supposed to be thinking about myself. I'm supposed to be thinking about Belize. Real talk. I'm supposed to be thinking about how I'm going to make hits.

That was just the wrong energy. So it's like, again, instead of the R&B diva, God slapped me upside my head, took my voice away so that I could get focused on what was important. But when you came home, you didn't go straight to Belize, right? You know, what happened is... Because he was like in Paris. I was in... My guy, Stephen Victor, just hit me. Congratulations to Stephen Victor.

Yeah, he's on his way now. He's the, he's. Spotify again? He got more? No, no, no, no, no. Stephen Victor, come on, don't do that, man. He got money on Spotify? Stephen Victor probably got money on everything.

I'm talking about Stephen Victor, Pusha T. Yeah, yeah, that's what I'm talking about. He got something. So he got money and he hired money from me? That's how much money he got? But I wanted to celebrate my young brother. He's been a friend of mine since, you know, over 13 years. And so I'm so proud of him.

I'm proud of him too. He's doing great things. We all proud of him. Yeah. We gotta keep it there. Then we got, he's on his way over here too. That's cool. Cause that's my partner. Let's get the box.

We got the box? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We don't know. Okay. And we got it. But we got it. I got to also celebrate my other younger brother, Steve-O.

Okay. Steven Carlos. Okay. My man. He just became president of Warner. Oh, wow. And that's my other little brother. Okay.

Well, let's make some noise for Steve Carlos. He used to be my inside. Yeah, Sean. We don't know if you know. Our show is about giving people their flowers while they're alive. Oh wow That's my other little brother Okay well let's make some noise Steve Carlin Steve's gonna be my ensign Yes Yes Sean We don't know if you know Our show is about Giving people their flowers While they alive So many people

Want to show you love After we We didn't make up that statement But we made it famous in hip hop So we literally want to Give you your flowers While you here To your face

Face to face Man to man Tell you what you need In the community Hip hop You know what I mean Standing tall for the streets, standing tall for everything.

We respect you, we love you, we appreciate you, and want you to know that. Thank you. Shout out to What The Flower is. So then I gotta give you my gift card. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm gonna take a shot, because now we can do a quick time as well.

So this is 1981, excuse me, Belize rum from one of the institutions of rum called Travelers. This one? Yeah. This is 1981. This is Travelers. They actually have a museum in Belize. If you ever visit Belize, which I know everybody out there watching, this is where we go to Belize.

You got to break that open because we're going to drink that. Okay, all right, cool. I was trying to save it and take it home for me. No, no, I got one for you. This one is for you to Belize. You got to break that open because we're going to drink that. Okay, okay, all right, cool. I was trying to save it and take it home for me. No, no, I got one for you. This one is for you. This one is for you to take home. You see my natural drinking instinct. I'm like, hold on, nigga,

take this home, nigga. Does he know? We were ready to go to Belize and do this interview with you in Belize. Yes, yes, we were. We were ready to do that. You did tell me that.

We got your American shit back. I don't know what's it called back. I said this shit? No, no, no. What's it called? How did you get that back? What did you do? You were a hustler. I'm a government official. Yeah. I got elected know what's it called back. I said it just just yet? No, no, no. How did you get that back? I'm a government. I got elected to the House of Representatives.

Okay. No, people believe me. Yeah, yeah. Let the Dominicans know. No, no, it's not the same thing. Oh, yo, you know why? We so uneducated and so unsophisticated that I think it opens like this. Yeah, it's a little thing. You know why? We so uneducated and so unsophisticated

that I think it opens like this. Definitely Mr. Lee wouldn't figure that out either. That's expensive shit right there. Watch out with that bottle. Yeah, that's expensive shit right there. Oh, there you go, okay. He just used to open the packages of cocaine. Forgive my Dominican friend. So this is the... That shit look expensive.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay, okay, okay. Okay. I'll let you do the rest, right? Yeah, no problem, no problem. Mr. Lee, you want to keep it going? Just open it up while I set up the time.

Well, listen, we got the Caribbean rum, problem. Mr. Lee, you want to keep it going? Just open it up while I set up Quick Time Aslam. But listen, we got the Caribbean rum too. Okay. This is the 10-year-old. I'm going to sign this before I leave. Yeah, please. I'm going to put that right in my bar. Yeah. All right, cool.

Yeah, put that in your bar. So check this out. This is a game that we play on the show. It's called Quick Time Aslam, right? Now, Quick Time Aslam is very simple. You pick one or the other, or if you pick both, or if you pick neither, then you take a shot. Yeah.

But let's see how you do out. Okay. All right, cool. You ready? You got the shots ready? Yeah. All right, cool. Let me pull it up.

You can take a shot in the Caribbean. Let me try the Caribbean one. We go in and out. All right, yeah, but we're going to wait. Don't take a shot yet. No, no, what I'm saying, we're going in and out. All right, cool. You're going too fast now, God damn it.

All right, cool. What's the difference? The House do one, 19, 21. What's the difference? The House of Representatives is outside, baby. Listen, listen, this is all in the name of belief.

That's right, that's right. In the name of belief. They couldn't pay for this type of marketing promotion right here, so, you know. So you got his shot? You got his shot?

No, no, bring me a bottle. So I'm going to do one and one. Okay, yeah. Yeah, I'll do it. I did that one, right? I did that one just now, right? Yeah, I got that one. I got that Bring me a bottle. So I'm going to do one and one. Okay, yeah. Yeah, I'll do it. I did that one, right? I did that one just now, right? I got that one. Yeah, well, I'm going to do one shot, 1981, one shot, Caribbean.

All right. I got 1981. It's close to my birthday. I was up in 1977. Yeah, well, 1981 is when Belize got its independence. Oh, wow. That recent? Yeah.

Damn, in the 80s? We're 40 years old. Wow. Today's our... Independence from? From Great Britain. Wow. Damn.

That's crazy. In the 80s. In our lifetime. Speaking of Great Britain, along with the Deputy Prime Minister of Belize, Cordell Hyde, we are taking the United Kingdom to court for reparations.

Because reparations are due. I said that on my first album. They're America. I said reparations are due. Look at United Kingdom ass niggas. Yeah, no, no. Well, you know, colonialism is a curse to humanity, so they gotta pay. But, yeah, let me not digress.

Alright, so this is it. We pick one or the other. You pick both, take a shot. I think we need a little bit more than this. Get a little bit more, just in case. Yeah, just a little bit, just in case. Okay, run DMC or the locks? I'll take a shot.

Okay, all right, good. That's fair, though. That's fair. That's fair. Well, that's good. Well that's good. Yeah, that's very good. Are you supposed to drink the whole thing? I mean, it's up to you.

It's pretty much how the shot goes. You can pour the shot however you want next time. All right, this I don't know what you're going to go with. You do the next one next time? Okay, this one I don't know what you go with. I know my man, everybody back there is going to be mad at you if you answer this wrong.

I'm a member of the House of Representatives, so I got to do half a shot. Okay. I can't be walking out here. This I don't know where you'll go with this. Yeah, yeah. U.S. or Belize? Belize. Belize?

Damn, that was fast. That's not even a question. I think he's going to think about what makes him take a shot now. No, no, no, Belize. Belize, Belize, Belize. No, no, of course. We're going to ask you why makes him take a shot now. No, no, no. Belize. Belize, Belize, Belize. No, no, of course. We're going to ask you why later.

Belize over everything. Of course. Now, you've been on both. I'm going to say Bad Boy or Def Jam. Bad Boy. Come on. Damn. Okay.

So, Puff Daddy or Russ? Obviously. Diddy. Okay. All right. Cool. Mace or Jadakiss? Jadakiss.

Ready to die or me against the world? Ready to die. Damn, this was easy. Let me calm down. All right. Cool. He's doing too good, man. Hold on.

All right, cool. You got to get some more. Snoop or Busta? Oh, man. It's whatever criteria for you. Yeah, boy. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. What's the criteria?

Whatever you want. Whatever's in your mind, it's a criteria. If you feel like, let's, rawr, rawr, let's go with Busta, goddamn it. I mean, you know, Snoop is in a different space. It sounds like you about to say a shot. Yeah, I gotta take a shot. Yeah, take a shot.

Busta's my brother, so I can't, you know, I can't choose anybody over Busta. Snoop is like the most famous rapper in the world? Yeah, like Snoop is an American icon. Yeah, everybody knows Snoop. They're both icons. Oh, damn. You mixing the shots?

Yeah, yeah. Why not? It's in the name of Belize. Cheers, cheers, cheers. That's how you got to do it. I'm going Mama Juana next. I'm not going to lie. All rum has that Caribbean taste to it.

You immediately drink rum and then taste the palm tree. Yeah. Like you just like, you just look at like, oh shit. You know what I mean? But this the best rum. Yes, it's very nice.

It's good, it's good. Kendrick Lamar or J. Cole? J. Cole. All right, you ain't going to be able to answer this easy, this one. Queen Latifah or MC Lyte?

Man. You know, I wrote a record for Queen Latifah, I mean for MC Lyte on her 7th album, I think. You know, Queen Latifah is the icon. MC Lyte is

the icon. You know, Paper Thin. I got to take a shot. Okay now, are we going back to this one? This one get my chest hot. Yeah. I love it, I love it. And I shaved my chest hairs earlier, I don't know if y'all know.

I need to pace myself. Oh yeah, my bad. Yeah. I'm your guest, when you come to Belize, I'ma pour for you. Alright, salute, no problem, I got going to pour for you. All right, Salud. No problem. I got you all day.

That didn't help either. Yes, definitely. Okay. Scarface or Ice Cube? I'll take another shot. I got you. Let me do one for you first. I like how you answered like mainly how I would answer. I love that. I can tell we got to taste and hip hop. Okay, we got to take it down.

Salud. Cheers, fellas. Cheers. Thank you for being here, Sean. Definitely want you to know that. Hold on. I merely, see rum reminds me of Puerto Rico so much. So yeah, because, you know, I get dumb off of rum in Puerto Rico. We got to talk about Belize before I leave. Yeah, we got that. We got you. Okay.

Nas or Jay? I'm going to take a shot. Holy. Yeah, I'm going to do a little one. Get back in your belt. Yeah, that's how it happens. Dale que tu puedes. Dale.

Nicky or Cardi B? Nicky. Loyalty or respect? Both. Dang. That is the right answer. It's always the right answer. Yeah.

Motherfuckers get mad complicated. Yeah. It's both. Salute. Salute. Okay. Foxy Brown or Lil' Kev? Foxy Brown.

Let me get that Caribbean. Faith or Monica? Faith. Shabba or Supercat? Shabba. No, no, no. I said that too quick. I'm going to go with Shabba or Supercat? Shabba. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I said that too quick. Yeah.

I'm gonna go with, I'm gonna go with Shabba, but you know Supercat, you know, he was great. But I'm gonna go with Shabba, man. Nobody got more hits than Shabba. Shabba! Yeah, he's an icon. Pusha or Fab? Shabba. Okay. What's that? Shot. Okay. I was a little confused with that one too.

Yeah. I think somebody's gonna be confused with this after. Boojoo, okay, you gotta finish. Oh, you poured a heavy one in the name of Belize. Belize is winning this whole situation, baby. Belize, bop, bop! I don't think a Swedish did that, right?

He's a house of representatives. Belize, wagwag. I need more of this beer. They sell it out here? No? I'll get it to you, though. I'll get a case.

Yeah, that's good. Rakim? We want to distribute out here in Belize. This is amazing beer. I'm doing a Made in Belize festival all around the United States, and they're going to be one of the main sponsors.

Yeah, this is really good. Rock Kim or Kane? Oh, shit. That was your last shot. It was. Fuck, man. All right. Tengo un hueco en el estómago.

Rap City or MTV Raps? Rap City. J-Lo or Mariah? Mariah. Mariah. You almost did a bit with J-Lo, though. Mariah. You almost did a bit with J-Lo, though. Not really. I'm fucking with you.

I'm fucking with you. All right, this is the last one. Boys in the hood or juice? Shot. Shot? Okay, that's cool. That's fair. Hey, y'all are great, right?

Okay. 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,

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Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. The American West with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network, hosted by me, writer and historian Dan Flores, and brought to you by Velvet Buck. This podcast looks at a West available nowhere else. Each episode, I'll be diving into some of the lesser known histories of the West. I'll then be joined in conversation by guests such as Western historian, Dr. Randall Williams, and bestselling author and meat eater founder, Stephen Ranella. I'll correct my kids now and then where they'll say when cave people

were here. And I'll say, it seems like the Ice Age people that were here didn't have a real affinity for caves. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th, where we'll delve into stories of the West and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today. Listen to the American West with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. But you never asked my question about more or less. More or less, I've always wondered, is that Foxy on the song? But you didn't credit her for being on the song.

I did. No, it doesn't say Featured Foxy Brown. It says Featured Foxy Brown on Gangland. I think that was an oversight. Oh, yeah. I can show you it right now. My daughter's calling me right now. Okay.

I'm on, um... Let me just tell you. It's not going through for some reason. Hold on. But, uh, I don't know why that is, but, yeah. She's on Now You

Are the second rapper To ever drop an album For good Hello princess Listen I'm on Drink Champs right now I'm on the hood I'm filming right now

Okay I'm filming But I'm gonna get Your baby alive With the kitchen, with the food, and the Barbie camper, and everything, okay?

That's dope. I love you. See, we got to be pushing more of this positive energy into our community, into our atmosphere. Yeah, it's called

atfatherhoods.com. Yeah, yeah, atfatherhoods, yes. So, what was I just saying? Okay, you're the second rapper to ever go number one while incarcerated in jail. Now, I know that's not something to brag about,

but think about how many motherfucking rappers ever been to jail. No, it's certainly an accomplishment to go number one. Right. In any circumstance. Anytime. And not be able to support the record.

Yes, I mean, going number one is going number one. Right. And I've been very fortunate. Right. And that's one of the reasons why I'm grateful for this opportunity to make amends

and to put just positive energy with people who I may have contributed a lot of negative energy towards. Because I was very fortunate. Did you know your marketing campaign? You know the fandom just came out. I was a CEO. Yeah, listen, the fandom just came out. I was a CEO for real. And you had a rap fandom.

I was a CEO for real. Driving around the city. That was me. Do you know how dope that shit was? That was me CEO. Yeah, listen, the Phantom just came out. I was the CEO for real. And you had a rap Phantom. I was the CEO for real. Driving around the city. That was me. Do you know how dope that shit was? That was me. That was hard. That was hard. Listen, the Phantom just came out. It was about $420,000 at the time. That was Steve-O too. Steve Carlos. That was Steve Carlos. I thought it was Kevin Liles. No, no, no.

Maybe they're working together. Steve-O was working for me. Oh, okay. He was my intern. That's what I'm saying. You don't understand how great hip-hop is. Stephen Victor Jr. is now, you know, the biggest thing in Universal Music Group.

Stephen Carlos, president of Warner Music. And Young Sav was working with you too? Yeah, they had Best of Both Worlds. Best of Both Offices. Yeah, it was my sons.

I love how you... No, no, I'm just saying, like, my guys... I love how the Brooklyn jump out at you every now and then. You know, it's just movements. So, yeah, that was Sav and Steve-O running around the town. Yeah, in the Phantom. In the Phantom. But listen, it's a Yeah, in that Phantom. Yeah, in the Phantom. I'm not, but listen,

it's a difference, God bless me. You know, well, only other people who did that was Rockefeller. And this is when Rockefeller was the hottest in the world. They used to put the flyers on the E class.

Yeah, they had. No, no, no, that's what you had. You had your shit wrapped. No, mine was wrapped. Yours was wrapped. They had the flyers like stapled. Oh, they had the flyers. Oh, I didn't know that. That's a good point. I'm not trying to, you know. Yeah, yeah wrapped No, mine was wrapped Yours was wrapped They had the flyers Oh, they had the flyers Oh I didn't know that

That's a good point I'm not trying to, you know Yeah, yeah No, that's a good point That's a good point I didn't realize the difference You're right You're right

They did have Okay, that wasn't Official wrapped Yeah, you're the first Person I've seen A super luxury car Because The buggy I've been

Was nice I had the big Billboard at the Brooklyn Bridge That's before Dumbo was out A super luxury car because the buggy I've been was nice. Yeah had to add the big arm billboard at the Brooklyn Bridge That's what dumbo and you do was a 4k deep. Yeah, I mean you Listen I shot a video when you can damn How do you pull that off Wow, that's how I got to the House of Representatives. But listen, no, no, honestly, you know, you got your powers and the entire point of your

powers is to use them for good. Right. And, you know, I'm very, very grateful to be in a position to be a global leader and so you know hip-hop is the most dominant force in the globe but unfortunately there's a lot of celebration of destruction right and I'm not judging my brothers you know like like Meek Mill that's like that's like my little bro. Like, I love him. You know what I'm saying? He's doing his criminal justice reform thing, him and Michael Rubin. And, you know, I just want to see him be the leader.

I want to see him be Mandela. I want to see him be Malcolm X because we need that. And what I'm saying is, you know, all the gang banging, you know, all the, you know, just genocide. It has to stop. You know what I'm saying? It has to come a point where, you know, we have so much power. We got the chairman, my brother, Hakeem Jeffries. He's the chairman of the House of Representative Caucus,

the Democratic Caucus, not the black caucus, the entire caucus. We have power. We have a vice president, Kamala Harris, African-American women, Uncle Joe. You know that meme of little baby putting the chain around his neck? That's real.

Uncle Joe, you know, he might have made some mistakes 100 years ago, but I think, you know, I feel his energy. He's getting it done. The point I'm making is we have to stop relying on other communities and other people, and we have to start holding ourselves accountable. You know what I'm saying? So, yeah. Kanye said he called her Camilla.

We ain't seen her since the election, Harris. Did you hear him say that? I mean, I wouldn't touch on it, but you or you, you know. This is what he said. I discovered, I wouldn't say I discovered Ye, but I appreciated his genius way before. And, you know, I wouldn't say I discovered Ye, but I appreciated his genius way before. And, you know, I love Ye. You know, Ye,

I'll never forget, I was in Clinton-Denimora. You know, people don't understand, you know, spending 10 years of your life in a correctional facility. That's why I entitled my second album Buried Alive. Yo, that's my question.

Look, look, look. My second album is Buried Alive because I was buried alive. That's being dead. All introspective. It's only two things. Look, Sean. Look, Sean. Why did you call the album-

Is that Steven Victor? ... called Bar the Villain, Buried Alive? There's only two things that's worse. It's being in a hospital of being incarcerated, you know, being incapacitated in a hospital of being incarcerated. You know, so being incarcerated was absolutely the worst thing and that's why I called my album... Go, okay, but describe it.

Buried a lot, right. Okay, all right, cool. You know what I'm saying, because I was literally I was dead Right, but you're alive But I'm alive because I fought to be alive I fought to not be dead

I was like Michael Jackson in Thriller You know, doing the whole dance And everything after he rose from the dead So there was Rumor, and I would like you to address it, you can say no or yes, that when you was in jail, you was affiliated with the biggest blogs. I loved everybody.

I was a leader that I am today. I was a leader. I was in there stopping people from killing each other, stopping people from inflicting violence against each other. And, you know, I did what I had to do to survive. But I was a leader. I took care of everybody. I took care of everybody. It didn't matter your affiliation. You know, it didn't really matter.

You know, some people have certain type of charges that I really didn't want anything to do with. Yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah. Rape, job in a station't want anything to do with. Yeah, of course. You know, child molestation. Yeah, yeah. Rape, child molestation. But, no, no, no. I was a leader. Right. You know, I love people.

I'm a humanitarian, and that's what I was about. You know, maybe there were certain people that loved me more than other people. Right. But I was all about, you know, everyone. Just trying to guide my brothers. Just, you know, I felt so bad that I was there. And while I was there, I would have a number one album. I would have, you know, like Jay-Z would come to Rikers Island in the Maybach.

Right, to see you. To come and see me. Fat Joe would pull up. Fat Joe actually did a concert for me. For my brothers that were incarcerated. So, no, I was just, I was a devout Jew, you know, kosher. I mind my business, you know, and I try to advise everybody. I try to guide everybody. People, young kids would come in.

I had a program called YAT, Youth Apprenticeship Program. So if a young kid would come to my house and he didn't have his high school diploma, I would send him or take him upstairs to a class that I taught and made sure he would try to get his GED. Wow. You know, so I was always about positivity. That's why, like I said, when I came out and I was dealing with all that negativity, you know, that wasn't the right thing to do.

So, you know, so many people go to jail and they come back, you know, they come back blood or they come back crip or they come back Muslim or they come back Christian. Yeah. No one comes back Jewish. You know, the Israelites, the proper name for Jews are Israelites. And Israelites for people who don't know. I'm not talking about those guys on 42nd Street. That's what I was about to say.

No, no, no, no. Listen, listen. That's not the Israelites. Listen, if you're... Guys on 42nd Street with black sheets on. If you're a Christian or a Muslim,

the Koran or the King James Version of the Bible, and you read the Old Testament, they both have the the Bible, and you read the Old Testament, they both have the Old Testament, and you read, you know, it will tell you about the Israelites. Right.

And, you know, the five books of Moses is in both those scriptures. And, you know, in the five books of Moses, which is my name. You changed your name to Moses. Yeah. Levi. Well, my name is Moses Barrow.

Right. The five books of Moses documents the happenings of the Israelites. It's not in the Torah, though, as well? That's the Torah. The Torah is in the Koran. It's not in the Torah, though, as well? That's the Torah. The Torah is in the Koran. Okay, okay. So that's the first.

And in the Christian books. Got it. So the point I'm trying to make is nowhere in the Torah, the Koran, or the Christian books do they mention the word Jew. It's Israelite. You know, Jew is just a misnomer. It's just a, you know, just a suedo name, you know, just a, and if you look at the journey

of the Israelites, they were Africans. Egypt is in Africa. Right. North Africa, right. It's Africa. Right, right, right. Right? So the people in Africa got broad noses, big lips, and, you know, much darker than I am. You know, you had pharaohs that were the color of your shirt. So the point I'm making is, you know, the Israelites, most of their story was in africa so it's not like it shouldn't be a

coincidence or it shouldn't be shocking that you know an african-american african caribbean is drawn to judaism right because that's an african science. Israel is in Africa. If you look at Africa, Israel is right there attached to Sinai, which is in Africa. They're, like, connected. They call it the Middle East. I'm not going to get into that politics, but if you look at the map. Yeah, I see what you're saying. It's not far-fetched. Not even far-fetched.

It's literally far-fetched. Not even far-fetched. It's literally attached. Right. And the entire thing was going from Egypt to Israel. What I meant far-fetched is that it's the same people. It's still a part of Africa. Right. So Africa got Ethiopians. Africa got, you know,

the Igboos in Nigeria. You know, shout out to my little brother Davido. So it's not, you know, to me people associate being Jewish with being European. Right. Which is, you know, just

a myth. It's not real. You know, if you look at Moses, Moses was married to an Ethiopian. Wow. It says this Right, and it's post-World War II Israel. It says this in the Bible. But I'm not talking about Israel. I'm just talking about, you know,

so being a Jew is not synonymous with being an Israeli. Right. You know, this is something that is like five, our calendar is like 5,800 years old. So the point I'm making is being a Jew, being an Israelite is not a racial thing. You have Jews from Morocco, you know, you have Jews, Morocco, you have Jews from Iran, you have Jews from Yemen, you have Jews from Iran, you have Jews from Syria, you have Jews from Lebanon, you have Jews from Russia.

But you're naming mostly places besides Russia that's mostly known for being Muslim. No, you have Jews from Czechoslovakia, you have Jews from all over Europe. Wow. But those Jews that are in Europe came from Africa, came from Israel. They were persecuted in Jerusalem and in Israel, and they fled to Europe. Right. So the point I'm making is I don't like to racialize being a Jew. Right, right.

Being a Jew is a-racial. Being a Jew is a belief. Right. And that is, you know, to believe in one God. Right. Monotheism. Right. And I believe that there's one intelligent designer that created the universe.

And, you know, having a connection with that intelligent designer is the Holy Grail, kind of like with me and Diddy, when I realized that connecting with him would lead me to success. And that's why I chose the name Moses, because Moses was not born a Jew. He wasn't circumcised, he didn't have a brit milah, right? He didn't keep Shabbat, he didn't rap to fill in, he didn't have a Brit Milah. Right? He didn't keep Shabbat. He didn't wrap tefillin. He didn't do any of those

things. He was raised as an Egyptian. He's not the same person as Muhammad, right? No, no, no. But Moses is like the guy in Judaism. It's him and King David. But

Moses is the guy. He's the guy that got the Torah. Yeah. You know what I mean? But Moses was raised as an Egyptian, as a North African, in Pharaoh's house. But Moses became... And this is in the Torah?

It's in all the books. It's in all the books. He ain't come yet? Yeah, he's not coming. He's in the phone. Okay. Typical Stephen Vickery. Yeah, you ain't you is facts. He didn't come yet? Yeah, he's in the phone. Typical Stephen Vickery. Yeah, you didn't get that money. But listen, Moses

was raised as an Egyptian, right? But that's what I'm trying to tell you. The foundation of being a Jew and an Israelite is not a racial thing. It's an ideological thing. It's a philosophical thing, right? Let me tell you what

that ideological and that philosophical thing is. Moses grew up with Pharaoh. Moses was going to be Pharaoh. And who is Pharaoh? Pharaoh is the guy that works people to death, the guy that has no morals, no characteristics. Can we give a round of applause to Steve? Steve, that's right. We got to drink to that. He just looked like money. We got to drink to that.

You know how you know you rich? Yeah. When you wear the same hat every day. That's right. That's money right there. That's right. That's that, what's the guy's name? I mean, Warren Buffett is poor now. That's that Elon Musk. Zuckerberg does that shit. No, that's Elon Musk. That's Elon Musk right there. That's right. That's right. That's that. That's that. What's the guy's name? I mean, Warren Buffett is poor now.

That's that Elon Musk. Zuckerberg does that shit. No, that's Elon Musk. That's Elon Musk right there. That's Elon Musk. Yeah, let's make some cheers to that guy there. Salute. Yeah, so long story short, Moses grew up as an Egyptian.

And Moses one day says, you know what? Killing people, working people to death, um, you know, so that I could be rich and I could have these pyramids and I could have all this wealth. That's garbage. That's basuda. Basuda. Right. Basuda. Right. Um, like the weed my friends were smoking. Right? And that's the foundation of being an Israelite. Principles. Integrity. Right? Character. He said, you know what?

I don't want to be rich if being rich means that we're going to work these people to death. These people are going to be slaves. Man, that's garbage. And he went into the desert with nothing. Moses. Moses. In order to follow his principles and his ideals. And that's what I did. I said, listen, you know, yeah, the Rollies nice. The Bentleys nice. Ferrari. I was driving around. I had all of that while on trial but none of that was worth me being a Takashi 6ix9ine and saying you know Diddy did it right so my entire life is based on integrity and character and so like in the house of Representatives in Belize, I'm there to advocate on behalf of people.

And that's what Moses did. God, according to the five books, was going to destroy the Israelites because they were this, they were that, they did this, they did that. And Moses said, you know what? Kill me. But let the Israelites live. And that's a true leader. That's a true leader. A true leader is going to sacrifice

everything for his team. You guys are leaders of your team and I know you guys make sure that everybody's straight before you straight. Everybody goes to bed, everybody get their check before you get your check.

And so yeah, so that's my connection to being a so-called Jew. I'm not religious because my religion is humanity. My religion is being honest. My religion is being generous.

My religion is being tolerant. You know, yeah, so I'm about humanity. I'm not about any religion in particular I still practice the sciences Of you know being a Jew Being an Israelite But yeah

How was it living in Paris Before I go to my next question You see baguettes and shit everyday Baguettes To just close up that last question The point is An African being a Jew and shit every day? To just close up that last question, the point is an African being a Jew should not be surprising.

Anyone can be a Jew. Being a Jew is not restricted to a particular race. Yeah, so Paris, I was in Paris before Hovind Yeh. Just put that on the record. Before what?

Before Hovind Yeh. Oh, did you record. Before what? Before Hovigny. Oh, did you say Colvin? Yeah, I was like, Colvin was out there too? Like him. No, I'm just... Colvin was in Paris early, huh? I'm just taking my credit. Right, right, right.

I'm just taking my credit. You don't have to get us props for that. Oh, I get it now. I'm just taking my credit. He was in Paris. Now I get what you're trying to say. I get what you're saying. Before Watch the Throne, I was in Paris.

You mean in Hotel Costis? No, I was in Paris. Were they in Hotel Costis? No, I was in the La Marise for more than six days. That's when me and Stephen... Okay, Stephen was very rich. Yeah, he was rich then. Yeah, okay, okay. Him and Push. Okay, yes.

But no, no, you know, Paris is where many of the Jews in Israel who were persecuted, many of the Syrian, Moroccan, Iranian, Lebanese Jews, they went to Paris. Is that why the hash is so little, Paris? There's a big Jewish community in Paris, and there's a big African community in Paris. And Paris is so rich with culture and arts. Even though, you know, even though they did Haiti dirty,

you know, they made Haiti pay all types of hundreds of billions of dollars because of Pierre Toussaint. Am I saying it right, Steven? Pierre Toussaint. He's the first African leader in the Caribbean. Destroyed the French in what is now the Republic of Haiti.

Tell me he's from Haiti. In 1804. He's from Haiti? Africans. Africans who were... Our Haitian friend, his heart is going like this right now. You got gotta be careful He's so happy

Africans Africans who were Transported from Africa Right To build The new Americas Destroyed the French Which was the biggest military

At the time Biggest military at the time And they were so embarrassed And they had such big egos That they came back And they said Okay Yeah

You got your independence, but you owe us. And that's why Haiti is the way it is right now. Haiti's not the way it is right now because Haitians are so, you know, Mongolian or they're

Nimrods or they're so inferior. It's because the Europeans in France made them pay hundreds of billions of dollars that could have went to their development. Right. So. So, yeah. Yeah. Is that through NATO that they made them pay?

No, no, no, no, no. They made them pay for generations. OK, so I'm sure the World Bank was involved in that, too. You know, whatever. Whatever it was, you know. Yeah. They made them generations. Okay. I'm sure the World Bank was involved in that, too. You know, whatever it was, you know, yeah, they made them pay. Yeah. They made them pay. When you said Nimrod, is that the guy who, like, used to cut people's heads off? That's what they say that Christmas trees come from?

Yeah, I'm just talking about that ancient. Christmas trees come from you? Yeah, they say that Christmas ornaments is because Nimrod used to cut people's heads off and put it on trees. So the point is, we were talking about France. We were talking about France. But, you know, the French, the reason France is so rich, the reason the U.K. is so rich. Because of the colonial exploits. Is because of the extraction of wealth from the Caribbean using Africans.

So Africans, you know, what I always tell those African boys and girls in Belize and African boys and girls everywhere, you know, never feel inferior. Never feel, you know, that you're something less. You're a pharaoh. You know, you're a king. That's where you come from. You were forced into slavery.

And so the Europeans, the French, the United Kingdom, they got their wealth. They're the ultimate hustlers. The Portuguese as well. The ultimate killers and murderers and gangsters. Christopher Columbus was a part of that gang, right? Gangsters. He was a gangster. You understand what I'm saying?

And what they did to native people. They pillaged all native people. Pill was a gangster. Yeah. You understand what I'm saying? Gangsta. And what they did to native people. They pillaged all native people. Pillaged, yeah. Yeah. So, but you know, French, France, notwithstanding things that I just mentioned, you know, there's a lot of culture there, very rich, you know, a melting pot of different people, you know,

Arabs, Africans, Jews. Yeah. So I really loved it there. And where else was you living? I was in Israel. I was in Jerusalem. You know, yeah. Oh, you lived in Jerusalem?

Why didn't you go straight back to Belize and just stay there? No, I went straight back to Belize. I know, but why didn't you stay there? You know what it was? I get a lot of flack for that. Oh, okay. My bad. I ain't know. No, no, no. It's cool. It i get a lot of flack for that oh okay my bad no no no it's cool okay it's good to address the flag okay okay because people say oh you know

well number one when i was getting ready to be deported i had the most expensive lawyer and i had a whole team of people that wanted to fight for me to stay to believe i mean stay to stay to the states but my thing was know, freedom is a must. And they told you he was getting deported in jail? No, I don't want to be incarcerated. I don't want to spend a day in prison. Right. You know, the United States, I love the United States.

It's my second home. But I want to be free. Right. I want to be free, you know? So they're telling you you're going to be deported in jail? No, in the states, they're like, listen, we're going to fight. We're going to get a lawyer. We're going to make sure you stay.

But you've got to sit up for like six months, six, 12 months. Or more time. Yeah. After your bid is complete. And I'm like, no. Right. I need to be free. Right.

Real shit. Because, you know, notorious B.I.G. said smoking trees in Belize. Word up. That's what I need to be doing. I don't smoke. Yeah, but it's okay. You know, I B.I.G. says smoking trees in Belize. Word up. That's what I need to be doing. I don't smoke. Yeah, but it's okay. You know, I drink bellican beer. Okay, that's okay.

Let's take a shot to that, man. Let's take a shot to that. God damn it. You set it up. Let's take a shot to that. You drink bellican beer. You drink... And I drink Caribbean and I drink 1981.

God damn it. Not 1942. 1981. God damn it. Yeah. So when that entire process was happening, my thing was just freedom. You know, it wasn't about being in the United States.

And this is after nine years of incarceration. It was about being free. So you know what? I love Belize. Send me to my people. And by God's grace, when the time is right, I'll be back in the United States on Drink Champs. Drinking that 1981 and that Caribbean and that stout and that regular bellican. It's only two rappers that got deported that made it back.

Slick Rick and Motherfucker Sean. That's my brother too. He comes to Belize often because he does those he performs on those cruises. Highest regards to his wife Mandy. That's my sister. Slick is my brother.

Great guy. Supported me all throughout. They sent school bags to belize they send you know education scholarships to belize right you know the first time they came to belize we connected uh like that but for my my thing is to be free i didn't want to be incarcerated a day more so i went i said listen send me send me home because they said six to nine months you had to stay yeah in order to and then I would be the case but I wanted to be free so when I got to Belize you would have to stay in jail it wasn't like they said you had to stay and be in the

halfway house no you had to stay you gotta stay in Clayton Max no no no you were in like um immigration jail but I didn't want to be in any kind of jail I wanted to be free so when I got to Belize you know I, I went to Belize. You know, the first things I did, I went to education, to universities, to high schools. Brought Harvard professors, John Jay professors. I went to, when I landed in Belize, I went from the airport to the girls' and boys' home, to the home for foster care. I went to prison. The prison in Belize? In Belize, to encourage my brothers and sisters and lift everybody up.

And I donated monies. I did everything that I had to do, but I needed to be free. So I would go to Mexico City. I would go to, you know, Costa Rica, Panama, wherever there were Jewish communities to go pray on the Sabbath and, you know, go do my thing. Let me ask you, are they accepting you? Yeah, yeah, they accept me.

They accept, let me ask you, are they accepting you because Yeah, yeah, they accept me. They accept, let me ask you, are they accepting you because you shine or are they accepting you because you're a Jew? No, they accept me because when they see that tefillin and they see all the stuff that I do. Tefillin, what's that? Yeah, that's, you know, that's something that Moses did. And when they see me pray.

Kanye said, we need a kibbutz, like the Jewish community. That's a farm, where they live on the farm community Where we all You're all together Everybody They eat what they grow Is that the way you pronounce it? Kibbutz?

Kibbutz My name's N-R-E They know I pronounce shit fucked up Well we gotta fix it It's one thing they know about But listen I just wanted to be free Right

I wanted to go anywhere I wanted to go So Friday will come Book the the flight, I'm out. I come back on Monday. And then I was in Mexico City shooting a video. Shout out to my home girl and Steve-O as well, Fatima. She's like the stylist. Dance coordinator? No, no, no.

Choreography? No, she's a stylist extraordinaire. She styles Swiss beats and Metro, not Metro Boomin, sorry, the other kid, 21 Savage and all these hot kids. That was my stylist for that video. So I was shooting a video in Mexico City and it was Rosh Hashanah. That's the new year. That's the Jewish new year. And so every year when I was incarcerated for nine years, I would say, next year in Jerusalem.

And Jerusalem is the frequency center of the universe. Right. They said it'll keep popping in Jerusalem. Christians are there. Muslims are there. Jews are there. Even Buddhists are there. That's the nuclear center of the world, right? So anyway, every year I would say, next year in Jerusalem. So when I was in Mexico

City, you know, I had the paper, let's go to Jerusalem. So I was just going to go there for a couple days, maybe a week, and I just stayed there. You know, but it was about my freedom. And they got clubs in Jerusalem. Shit's poppin'.

No, that's Tel Aviv. Jerusalem is... Cool. People that's Tel Aviv. Oh, that's... I'm a little... Jerusalem is... Cool. You should lose it right now. Nah, nah, people be telling me Tel Aviv is lit. Nah, Tel Aviv is poppin'. No, no, no. Jerusalem is where Jesus is buried. That's what I'm saying.

Where Rachel... It's lit where Jesus is buried. Where Rachel... Nah, nah, it's not lit. No, it's not lit? It's Tel Aviv. Oh, Tel Aviv? Okay, it's next to it. It's Brooklyn and Queens. It's next to it. See how you tried to hit me with the Fort Lauderdale, you know, Wynwood.

Anything to say to me. Anything to say to me. Let's take a shot forale, you know, Wynwood. Ain't you the same to me. Let's take a shot for that, Sean. I'm sorry. We're in 1981. 1981 right in front of you. Oh, shit. That means you're gone. You're gone. You're gone.

I'm the drink jack. You're gone. Yo, Sean, hold on. Sean, I want you to know... I want to reiterate what I was saying earlier. 1998 was the best year of my life. And it wasn't about making... Now that I'm older,

it wasn't about making money. It wasn't about having exposure. It was about having freedom. You know, I recently watched, you know, Kanye come here. That's the biggest show, right? Yeah, it is. Yeah.

But that's not why. That's not what was biggest to me, to affect me. I recently watched this man just walk around by himself. Yeah. Like me. First of all, I didn't like that. I'm driving a hoopty, what they would call a hoopty, parked like all the way

up the block, walked with all my bags. I fly economy too. But we all wanted a hoopty in our lives. What it's called is freedom. What it's called is to do whatever the fuck you want.

Stephen Victor, he's on the PJ. Yes, yes. He's freedom as well. Yes. He's on that PJ. What I'm trying to say is, a lot of,

so in 1998, let me get back to the point I was trying to make. In 1998, it was me, DMX, Cannabis,

Camron, Capadonna, Corrupt, I said Corrupt? Cannabis was that guy. Yeah, he was. And, he was. This was, it was our year. Right? This was our year.

And then out the blue, they say, there's this guy named Sean. And we're all like, who the fuck is Sean? Why are y'all talking about him? Where's his records? Where's this thing that you guys are talking about?

So you was one of them guys that was like, why the fuck you got two of them? I kind of might have been those guys. I kind of might have. That means he definitely was one of them guys. Hold on, let's drink to that. Let's drink to that. We got to drink to that.

We got to drink to that. Let's drink to that. I don't know if you remember the first day I met you. I don't know if you remember the first day I met you. We got to drink to that. We got to drink to that. Salud. Salud.

Salud. The rumor salute. Salud. The rumor on the street was this guy. No record. That's why I kept asking. I don't know if y'all remember. Earlier, I kept asking. Where's the record? Where was the record that started your buzz? And he explained it.

It's because it was just him. But by the way, just to be clear, that was the first Instagram. His buzz and the way that it spread, it spread like something viral on Instagram. Well, that's what viral was back then. Word of mouth. And I kid you not, I'm being honest. As an outsider looking in,

I was like, who is this guy? And how does he have such a buzz? Like having a buzz in 1998 without a record was unheard of. You couldn't, you had to be on Clues tape. Starting it.

Starting it. That means that you could have been number seven on Clues tape and the motherfucker was like, that ain't it. Because it was the first five slots. And then seven, eight, nine, and 10, and 31, no thirty-one.

No one listened to those. It's the first seven spots. I'm dead serious. I'm not even playing around. I think people listen to the whole tape. But go ahead. Not if you want to be on top of the world. I understand what you're saying.

Not if you want to be top top. I understand what you're saying. You listen to that whole clue tape though. Yeah, no. It was the first ten songs. Maybe ten. I'll tell you it was the first seven. I'm telling you,

that meant something to the world. Hot 97 were literally, because there wasn't no Power 105 back then, they were looking to the, listen to the first 10 Clue songs or the first seven Clue songs and those songs would be added to rotation. That's literally how the world was at one point.

Right. So, I say that to say, this is all bigging you up, just let's roll with this. I say that to say this is all bigging you up just let's roll with this i said to say you had none of that and you had the world saying i'm giving him a one million def jam tomorrow i'm giving him 1.2 uh um electric sylvia roan come on let's talk about that all the labels jimmy iv jesus and it. You know, Jimmy Iovine is so important because right now, Stephen Victor

He got the Jimmy Iovine money too. No, but Stephen Victor don't just talk fly. He gives back. He's given like, you know, $100,000 to Belize in education funds. He's given money.

That's the most Stephen Victor. He's giving money. Do we make some noise to Stephen Victor? Yeah, yeah. That makes sense. He's giving me money to sign artists. In Belize? In Belize. He ain't giving me my money yet because my money

is like millions of dollars. So we not there yet. But as far as the charity money, he's making sure the charity money is there. But Jimmy Iovine, you know,

Stephen Victor reminds me of a young Jimmy Iovine and I told him that. He'll tell you. That's beautiful. He's making sure the charity money is there. That's beautiful. Yeah. But Jimmy Iovine, you know, Stephen Victor reminds me of a young Jimmy Iovine, and I told him that. He'll tell you. Oh, that's beautiful. No, he'll tell you. I told him this 13 years ago. I said, listen, I told him. You got a house in Malibu? That's all you gotta do, and you're gonna be the black Jimmy Iovine. No, no, no. He got a house. House in Malibu. He got a house. He got a house. He got a house. But anyway. You want a shot

for that? I feel like that's a shot. That's a shot. Only Caribbean shots. Only Caribbean. Oh no, 1981. 1981, I'm doing the Caribbean. Look,

all y'all drinking 1942, it's all Belize. I know this F and F. I went to Dominican Republic. Sorry guys. Listen,

but let me call in this episode all Belize. All Belize. All Belize. Except my mama. I take it to people. I take it to people.

Yeah. But Jimmy Iovine, Jimmy Iovine told me, you know, when I went to sign with him, when he interviewed me. Look at the Dominicans. The Dominicans, they always want to charm in. His entire thing was, you know, you got to be self-contained. I don't want to sign nobody that I got to manage and I got to, you know, micromanage. And, you know, that's why I said, you know, I give a round of applause to Steve and Victor because that's what I'm telling my artists right now in Belize. I can't make them

a hit. I can't wave a magic wand and they'll be famous tomorrow. But if they work hard, if they're determined, if they're willing to run through the brick wall the way I was, if they're willing to jump into Miami Beach Sea and swim to Cuba, to Belize, to Jamaica, they'll get there. But I'm not going to wave a wand for them to get there. Or give them the Holy Grail. They got to find the Holy Grail, like you found the Holy Grail. Yeah, yeah.

That's beautiful. So you once said, hip-hop is not the cause for violence in America. No, no. Hip-hop ain't responsible for violence in America. America is responsible for the violence in America. That's a very deep statement, sir. You know, but I want to, we got to drink to Uncle Joe.

I don't like calling him Uncle Joe. Yeah, no, no, I call him Uncle Joe. That's my guy. Don't get between me and Uncle Joe. We got a thing. I'm an independent. We got a thing. You could go your Kanye route.

No, I'm not calling him Uncle Joe. I'm not exactly Uncle Joe. What's his name? Candace Owens, what's his name? No, I'm definitely not Candace Owens. No, no, no. No, I'm not calling. Listen, Candace Owens was her name? No, I'm definitely not Candace Owens. No, no, no, no. I'm Uncle Joe. Uncle Joe.

Candace Owens or Uncle Joe? Excuse me. Candace Owens or Joe? No, she's with the other guy. I'm not even going to say his name. Yeah. That's a bad omen. No, listen, listen.

No, no, President Biden. What I like about President Biden Is the fact that I love how we're talking politics for the first time Is the fact that He said he was going to do 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 And he's doing that So like

What you voted Listen I love Kanye I love Ye So all I got is Ye on my mind That's him I love Kanye I love I love Gay I'm just coming over This episode Listen So all I got is Gay On my mind

That's him And Jay said This is not true Listen Part of Part of I'm not political Part of the brotherhood

I gotta listen to you No but listen Kanye Ain't get elected I got elected Right He got a Ten billion

Right Right He got that over me Right But he didn't get elected I got elected He failed on that one. So I got him out on it.

But that's still my brother. So we could trade notes. This is a strawberry Swiss I'll do that. But the point I'm making is you know, President Biden he said infrastructure. He said he was going you know, do this, do that.

Black agenda. He addressed the black agenda We getting there See, that's why I don't like this No, no, no, but you can't We need that first, Sean It's only been a year But he was Barack Obama right here, man He supposed to come out and bust his shit

No, it's only been a year It's only been a year And I'm telling you I'm telling you right here on Drink Champs I'm going to meet with President Biden. OK. And, you know, I've discussed. I like that agenda. But you got here. But Obama didn't have a black agenda. But I'm not. He had he had he had an American agenda.

We can't do that. We can't. And what I'm telling you, I'm telling you, Rep. Beatty, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries. Hold on, hold on, hold on, Rep. You've been clocked, but hold on. I'm telling you all, the Congressional Black Caucus, they all standing up, clapping right now, because they brought this infrastructure bill, bipartisan bill, to pass.

And that's the Congressional Black Caucus. So obviously this infrastructure bill is affecting black people, and it's benefiting black people. I'm telling you, the head of the Congressional Black Caucus, you go to her page, she's like, oh yeah, we just passed this bill and the congressional black caucus is responsible for so what i'm saying is president biden he's delivering and i'm telling you he's delivering i'm not gonna disagree we can't we can't making that we can't eat we can't eat we listen we can't

eat you are checking me we can't do everything in one day. Okay, yes, all right. But I'm telling you, he's delivering. You know, I'm happy that he's making moves, and I wish that in Belize, you know, the government would do what they said they was going to do. Because they're not doing what they said they was going to do. Joe said infrastructure. And Joe just delivered infrastructure with the Republicans supporting. Because I'm not a Democrat. I'm not a Republican.

I'm a moderate. I'm in the middle. I'm for whatever's best for people. I understand what Republicans say. I understand what Democrats say. And I'm for what's best for Belize and what's best for people. Yeah.

Jesus. I give Uncle Joe the chain. He's not going to change my mind. Kanye's still my man, but Uncle Joe get the chain. Drink to that. Uncle Joe. I got more music questions because shit got real.

All right. How was it working with Nate Dogg? Because, you know, there's so many people that won't get a chance because of his demise. I'm trying to remember who hit me with that song.

Behind the Wall. Yep. I got the call. And did you realize Nate Dogg was a real gangster? I got the call. But listen, I got the call. He's a real one. Like a real gangster.

Did you know that? I'm not even going to hold you. That's Victor's term. He's not going to hold you. I'm not even going to hold you. I was not in the studio with Nate Dogg. Oh, so you never met him? Or did you meet him?

You met him? I'm not sure if I met him, but I was in the studio with him for that song. Right. I was driving around New York City in that Bentley and Nosh. God damn it, you're small, son. I like that.

I had that... The 600, the Bentley, and the Range Rover. I don't even remember the name of that watch you got on, right? You got to remind me. This is the masterpiece. This is what I got on. It's the masterpiece. I had the platinum masterpiece.

Okay, yeah, I had the platinum masterpiece, too. You got the gold joint on. Yeah, I got gold down. Yeah, people don't even know what that is, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I had the platinum man. Okay. Yeah, I had to buy the masterpiece You know, you got the gold you know, yeah got gold to that. Yeah, you don't even know what that is I had the plan to master 2001, but I had it in 1998 Outside oh damn my shop is much bigger than yours. Hold on, hold on, but continue, continue. I love what you do. You need to relax.

I know, I gotta relax. You need to relax, buddy. He got me hype right now. No, no, no, you need to relax. Anyway, I was driving around New York City in that Bentley and Norge, and that platinum masterpiece. And I got the call, it was like, yo, corrupt. You know what I mean? I had that platinum masterpiece.

And I got the call, it was like, yo, Corrupt, you know what I mean? They want you to hit that remix. You know, Corrupt is that guy. Supertalent. That whole crew. Dads, Nate Dogg, yeah. The whole dog crowd. You know what I'm saying?

So for me, it was like an honor. I got the call from them. I want to give Swiss Beats his flowers as well. Absolutely. He was one of the first guys to hit me when the album dropped. And that's how we ended up doing Shine, which was on his album. I forgot the name of his album. Swiss?

His first album. I'm on that joint, too. You talking about the compilation? Compilation. Yeah. Come on, Haz, where you at, man? He called me for that record. That was one of the best records I ever did.

Again, pulled up in the Nage. You know, because Bentley's was, that was like the thing back then. Again, to my young African American brothers, Latin American brothers, don't spend what you don't have. Save your money. Invest.

Grow your money. You know, don't spend what you don't have. But anyway, back then, spending what you don't have, that was a part of the culture. Let's make some noise for Spinner. We're not making noise, we're just... Every now and then I like to do it, man. Fuck it.

I just live on the edge. Nah, don't do it, don't do it, don't do it. So anyway, I was driving around the town, and yeah, Swiss called me. He made that beat. Boom, boom, boom, boom. Can we play that? Do we got a music guy?

Hold on, you got my man already Googling the other shit? You got to do this, Kashyna. We could definitely pull it up. I don't think we got enough Wi-Fi. No, but that beat is crazy. Da, da, da, da. No, what was the shit you was Googling? For my Martin Maple, women just shine.

You forgot we was Googling? Anyway, anyway, Swiss called me. Oh, Swiss, Swiss, Swiss album. Yeah, what's the name of the album? Oh, Swiss, Swiss album, yeah, yeah, yeah. What's the album? Anyway, Swiss called me. Swiss first album. Yeah, what's the name of the album? Oh, Swiss first album, yeah, yeah, yeah. What's it called? No, but it's on the Godfather. No, that's the song, he had a compilation before that.

Nah, nah, he had an album, hold on. Yeah. But listen, anyway. Just put some beats and look at his catalog on Wikipedia. Go ahead, go ahead. But yeah, so this the record right here. Okay. Yeah, I thought that was on the Godfather. Yeah, I thought that was a golf ball.

Yeah, yeah, but that was on Swiss Albums. Oh, it started on Swiss Albums. Listen, I did not write this verse. What? I did not write this verse. Freestyle. Swiss was on 45th Street between, right, the next street after Daddy's house. That's Silent Sound Studios.

I went to the studio. I had the Long Johns. Same thing that I said in the rap. I had the Long John fitted, Tupac Timberlands, Arnaz Bentley. Went up in the joint, and he made this beat.

And I listened to the beat for like 10 minutes, 15 minutes. Then you freestyled the rap. And then I made this rap. You say you didn't write it. I made that rap. You freestyled it. I made that rap. I had a conversation.

But you freestyled it. No one wrote it for you. Did you freestyle it or you wrote it in your mind? It's the way you did it. Our fans are fucking vicious. So I had to make sure you established. There's a difference between freestyling and writing it in your mind. It's the way you did it. Our fans are fucking vicious. So I had to make sure you established. No, but there's a difference between freestyling and writing it in your mind. No, no, no.

I did it in my mind. That's what I'm saying. Yeah. Like Big and Jade. No, no, no. So you're trying to say you did this before Jay? No, no, no. I did it after Jay.

Jay was doing it before me. Because you heard Jay be doing it. And Big was doing it too. No, no, I didn't hear it. Listen, when you love music so much and that's all you do, which was I thank God for getting to that phase where all I ever thought about, all I ever wanted to do was make music. So it's like I was going to court. I was facing 25 years, you know, incarcerated, I'd put on my thermo, my fitted, my Tupac boots, and I'd get in my car, drive around, and I'd go to the studio,

and I'd just have conversations on beats. With all the big references that people give you, you don't ever see all the parallels in your guys' lives with the single mother, the Caribbean, the street stuff, the rides around your mind. The only thing we have in common is we did two classic albums, and then that was it. You don't think everything else is relatable? Yeah, Caribbean, I guess, Brooklyn, I guess.

The mom, there's a big part of that. When he went to heaven, you know, rest his memory forever. He went to purgatory. And I went to correctional facilities, you know, because it was the same thing. Like, you know, yeah, I was buried alive, you know. But there's so many African-Americans and Latino- Americans and minorities that face that struggle. You know what I'm saying? So, yeah, that was a real struggle.

So, I'll tell you what. Not only was I excited. You're my friend. I knew you for 20 years. I knew you. We were going to talk about this battle, too, that you had with Mike Song. Mike Song, that's my guy. Yeah, we were talking about that.

Tamika Hall. Tamika. Am I ready to bring that back up? Tamika Mallory. Yes, yes, yes. That's my sister. Mike Song, that's my guy. Yeah, yeah, we talked about that. Tamika, Tamika. Am I ready to bring that back up? Tamika Mallory. Yes, yes, yes. That's my sister. That's my sister's sister. So, I went through your whole discography, right?

And, because I'm excited, you know, just because you're my friend doesn't mean I'm going to slack on my job, right? This is my job, I got to do it. The only thing... Hold on, hold on, we got to take a shot to you. Okay, but hold on, hold on. Because you're doing an incredible job. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hold on, hold on. Yeah got to take a shot to you. Okay, but hold on, hold on.

Because you're doing an incredible job. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hold on, hold on. Yeah, thank you, but this is about you right now. You're doing an incredible job though. Okay, okay. I like you becoming a drink champ. I like that.

The transition- I like that. Hold on, the transition- What? Listen, the transition that you've made from a rap, platinum artist, making great records- Thank you. Reinventing yourself-ing yourself, and being a bridge, being a platform for hip-hop. Thank you, my brother.

You know what I'm saying? It's incredible. But the only record, when I went through your whole discography, I really, really did, and the only record that even similarly reminded me of Big, because now I can distinguish your voice. Back then I didn't understand. I was like, all right, cool. Some people say I sound slick Rick. I got that nasal flow. Damn, that's kind of ill. I didn't think it was like that. But the only record I could see that sounded remotely a little like Big was the record called The Hit. Nah. Because it reminded

me of Gloria from Astoria. Like, that type of... No, I mean, I was telling the story. Yeah. I was telling the story. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? But if you... That's the only record.

But if you listen to that story, that story's crazy. No, it is. It's fucking insane, yeah. Yeah. But that story was from hanging with guys like Zip. Vaughn Zip, we're talking about. Vaughn Zip. Rest in peace.

Rest in peace, yes. Hanging with, you in peace. Vonn Zip, rest in peace. Hanging with guys on the West Coast. Mm-hmm. You know, guys in Baltimore, guys in Atlanta, that were really living that life. You know, rest in peace to Anthony Wolf Jones. God bless him. My brother.

That's the homie. That's my brother. That's the homie. That's my brother. That's the homie. All the information that they were giving me, that's what was really happening. And again, that goes back to Oliver North. Goes back to Ronald Reagan. Iran-Contra.

Iran-Contra. Noriega was made by made by the CIA assets. Powers that be. So, yeah, all that information, yeah. You know, Big Meech. Big Meech, he's old and in dirt. You know what I mean? He's been around.

He looked young, but he was there back in the 80s, the early 80s. Crack cocaine era. Wow. So we spoke about Nate earlier, right? Yeah. But you also got a record called That's Gangsta. You know, I'm going to tell a secret right now. And I'm going to give flowers.

You sampled the D.D. Doc. I'm going to give flowers, but not just Doc. Not just the D just the DOC who was a hero and I picked every beat for the Shine album I'm really the executive producer of Shine album

but I got that from Nas the album I Am with the Pharoah. With the Pharoah, the Egyptian Pharoah shit. And he still had

Queensbridge in the back. And he hit that That Ain't Gangsta. I don't remember what song it was. Not Fake Dogs. I don't remember what song it was.

That Ain't Gangsta. But he had a rap that said That Ain't Gangsta. Right. And so I took that and I said, that ain't gangster. Right. And so I took that and I said, you know what? That's gangster. Putting commissary in your homies.

That's gangster. That's gangster. What made you pick the rest? Flooded with rocks. That's gangster. So I got that from Knox. That's a plain chain. You ain't flood that.

No, I'm a member of the house. You're a gold man now. God damn it. Okay. That's gangsta So I got that from Nas That's the plain chain You ain't flood that No I'm You're a gold man now God damn it That's his factory Let's take a shot for that Humility Humility Keep it factory I take the train

I fly economy Settle We got another episode buddy Relax You got another episode today No way That's all good Oh wow

That's all good So So when you came home You also named the record label Gangland Records. Now the record label is Omni Belize Records. Everything Belize. Omni means everything. You knew I was going to ask what Omni means. All Belize.

It's everything. Omni is everything. And are you interested, let's just be clear, in doing another Shine album? You know, Stephen, Victor, and I, you know, we're partners. We're doing a documentary. We're doing a... About? Let me rephrase that.

We're doing a bio-documentary. Like biopic slash documentary. No, no, no. We're doing a bio-documentary. I don't know what that means. It's a biography documentary. That means a documentary about my life. Okay, yeah. We're doing a bio movie. It means a movie about my life.

Okay, that's like NWA. That'll be scripted. We're doing a TV series about my life. Yeah. So, all of those three assets will be accompanied with albums inspired by those assets. Wow. So the TV series, we hope that'll be a couple years.

Because in Belize, Belize is a narco-trafficking hub of Central America. Definitely, you know, that's where we go. All of the cocaine and heroin comes from Venezuela, Colombia, stops in Belize, goes to Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua,

unfortunately. So there's a lot of stories to tell. Wow. A lot of stories to tell. I definitely didn't know that. Yeah. So you're getting your cocaine from Belize? Belize Narcos.

You didn't know that? Bel. So you getting your cocaine from Belize? Belize Narcos. You don't know that? Belize Narcos, yeah. He's glowy. He's glowy. Belize Narcos is real. There's a lot of stories to tell. They got a Belize Narcos?

I didn't see that. Belize was in Narcos. Whoa. Well, we got the Belize Narcos. But again, Belize is not going to be known for that. Belize is going to be known- Right, right. Let's just be clear.

Belize is going to be known for the first rap prime minister. Right. Putting that out there. You know to be known for the first rap prime minister. Right. Putting that out there. You know, I'll be the first rap prime minister. When is the time to vote for that? You know, that could happen

in a couple years. You know, we don't know. Okay. And weed is legal in Belize, right? We don't know. You took that weed

don't know and you transitioned that into weed. You're a real rapper you have not changed any bit but yeah you know I'm a member of the House of Representatives National

Security Committee and we just legalized weed so I gotta take this opportunity to acknowledge you know my friend man So, you know, I got to take this opportunity to acknowledge, you know, my friend. Man, you're going to make me forget her name with all these shots.

Gloria from Washington, D.C. They say Gloria from Washington Heights. I say I know her, too. No, not Gloria from Astoria. Okay, I know her, too. Gloria and my guy Cal from Washington, D.C. We're doing the, we're doing the Cannifest. They're going to do a cannabis festival in Belize. We need smoke champs there.

So let me ask you. We're going to fly you out. We're going to flude you out. Because, um, you had the biggest boss There was We gotta talk about This House of Representatives Thing though man Okay let's come back to that

I promise We still talking about Bad boy No no no I just gotta establish This one thing right And then we go to The Mike Sondbriar

And then we go to The House of Representatives I promise Yeah alright yeah But The House of Representatives Thing was I got you

Hard That was difficult But You in You locked up. You are, for lack of a better term, like we established earlier, the New York Tupac, the industry Tupac, and the world's Tupac. Inspired so many people.

You know, cheers to my little brother, Game. Are we taking another one? I'm in. Yeah, cheers to my little brother, Game, who never shied away from talking about how much I inspired him and and how much you know She's better. I contributed to his rap career. I inspired so many people so that the Number is again. He was the first person that depth jam gave two million dollars in jail Was that something am I way off much more than two million much more cut them especially You know chairs the la re la re Am I way off? They owe me much more than $2 million. Much more? God damn, let's pay some more. And then they gave me... Yeah, yeah. Come on, let's pay some more. Yeah, yeah.

You know, cheers to L.A. Reid. L.A. Reid? Yeah. Okay, it was them? Yeah, L.A. Reid. All right, L.A. Reid. Kevin Lyles, 300. Mm-hmm.

Yeah. And, um... But you in jail. How does this work? Do they put that in your commissary? Not at all. I'm fucking with you. That would be a crazy commissary.

I know that's not how it works. I'm just fucking with you. They gave it to Mama Love. Okay, Mama Love. Mama Love. So Mama Love, get the check. Mama Love is different. Cheers to my mother.

Cheers to Mama Love. Mama Love different. Mama Love ain't got first. Who did Mama Love do? Mama Love got the first. That's what's up. That's what's up. That's what's up.

Pick up every black mama out there Did your mom go to Belize with you? Does she live in Belize as well now? She was born in Belize No she's still in the States But for all the time that I was incarcerated She never worked Wow

Today she doesn't work That's amazing I gave her all my royalties All my assets Beautiful And music And you know take care of her Beautiful

But you know she's been of her. Beautiful. But, you know, she's been through a lot. Right. Your only child. Just seeing your baby, her baby being locked up. Your only child. You put her through a lot, bro.

I was her only child. Yeah, yeah. So everything that I give to her, she deserves. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. It was funny that you brought up 41st Street, right?

Because 41st Street, I don't know if you know, when you said that, that was a studio called Sound on Sound. That's where we did all. No, I don't know if you know, when you said that, that was a studio called Sound on Sound. That's where we did all. No, that's where I was. Yeah, we did all our.

That's where I did the first song to my album. Yeah. That's where I always used to see Big, by the way. Only the strong survive. Weak people bleed and get found

with their face waist down. Everyone used to be like, Big was being in Daddy's house but on the low when he was wanting to be like, think big was being in daddy's house, but on the low when he was wanting to be away from everyone, he would turn around, of course, and go. But there was one day on Silent Sound, we were sitting there,

we just heard shots just pass out. And then later on we find out it was like a Junior Mafia shine incident that was on 44th Street, which was the very next block, which I did not realize that. And you know, you know, C's is my guy.

Right. All these years. All these years. He's like one of my biggest supporters. Right. You know, you go on his page, you can see. Right.

You know, I remember when we had the Bad Boy reunion. He was one of the first people, like, yo, because I performed at the Bad Boy reunion. He was like, this is history. This is incredible moments of hip hop.

D-Rock, BK Rude, Rude, all my guys. But things happen. Things happen, but those are all my guys And I think You know a part of It's just like You know with me now In Belize In the House of Representatives

You know I'm paying my dues You know I'm paying my debt And you know That's the reason I bring Caribbean rum But we like it I bring Belican I bring 1981

I didn't even give you All the All the shirts Oh yeah Everything Everything that I got for you. We're going to wear it on other shows and everything. I'm just telling you, you know what I'm saying? This is the reason because I pay my dues.

I don't know who. You know what I'm saying? I don't know who's that, who's the, but I pay my dues. So it's like even with those guys, you know, sometimes, you know, you don't know. you don't know what's going on. You're like, yo, I heard this I heard that This is joint right here It's all you and this DJ EFN Let's go baby begin But yeah, so like with that, you know,

this for me, I'm gonna take this one. No problem. What if we wanted that one? No problem, no problem. I'm saying, you want it, we'll negotiate. No problem. Oh yeah, no, those are my guys though. Junior Mafia, D-Rock, you know, BK Rude.

What was the discrepancy? Was there a discrepancy, like? Well, I think, you know, it was just miscommunication. Right. I bought two, so one for you, one for me. No problem, man, I'll take mine immediately. I've bought two. So one for you. No problem. I'll take mine immediately. Put it on right now.

Yeah, I'm putting it on. Because I'm into the interview. I can't really move. So I'm going to put it on my head. You can't really move. Put it on my hat. Yeah. I'm going to put it on my head.

I got a hat. I haven't worn a hat. Okay. You look like the Green Bay Packers out here. No, but hold on. Let's do it. Let's do it. You get one, yeah.

All right. I'm in. Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Let's do it. Let's do it. You get one, yeah. Alright, I'm in. Oh shit, oh shit, go on, yo. Nale cabron, Iron Man. Boys, boys, boys, oh Eddie, throw that on. Throw it on, Eddie, let me see. So, was that? Yeah, no, no, that was just, I think, you know,

just miscommunication, I think, you know. Just not knowing, you know, not understanding, you know. You know, just, you know. But those are my guys. Right. Like, D-Rock is my man. There was shots flying. We was locked up together.

Really? I mean, at the same time. Right. Maybe not in the same facility. Right. And it's always been love. Right. Because as you got the reports.

Right. Right. They got the reports. Right. That Shine, as we used to say back in that time, is official tissue. Right. Yeah. God bless, God damn it.

Yes, it was my God bless. God bless, God damn it. All right. She's Louise. Hold on, let me see. Belize, we got to do Belize. Yeah, let's talk about it. Let's go.

Oh, yeah, let's talk about Belize. So everybody got to go to Belize. You say you want to talk about Belize? New Year's. Hold on, hold on. Let me ask you something. No, I just want everybody to visit Belize. Before you even proceed, let me ask you something.

I don't know who's going to get the sweatshirt. Who has... I'm in. Who has better waters? Who has better waters? Turks and Caicos? So you're going to get... Yeah.

Turks and Caicos or Belize? Better waters. Let's be clear. Belize has better everything. Really? The slogan is everything is better in Belize. That's the slogan. That's be clear. Belize has better everything. Really? The slogan is, everything is better in Belize. That's the slogan. That's the slogan.

That's the slogan that I made up. All right, cool. Niggas just throwing your shit away like it's spotless. It's all good. In a good way. Mr. Lee wants a shirt to wear right now. It is a little cold in here. So, bottom line, this is where we're leaving with this, right, Sean?

Belize is the best place in the world. On the planet. Definitely the best place to me? Belize is the best place in the world. On the planet. Definitely the best place to me, but one of the best places in the world. I encourage everybody to visit, please. And your goal is to be prime minister. What do we do? Do me, Puff, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Nas, I have to take a boat down there and we got a campaign? It's all about the bag.

What do we got to do? No, it's about the bag. Right. We got to do? No, it's about the bag. Right. You got to change people's lives. We got to change people's lives. Stephen Victor, you know, that's... He got the bag. No, I'm just saying, no, he don't got the bag.

He's giving the bag. He's getting on a PJ, and he's flying to Belize on Garifuna Settlement Day, and he's giving away like $100,000. We got to go. We got to go. We got to go, man. He's not giving away. He's not making a range. He's giving away for scholarships for primary school,

scholarships for junior high, scholarships for university. He's calling it Stephen Victor Scholarship Fund. That's dope. And then you'll have different scholarships. I'm going to be honest. We got the same initials. V-S-S-S-V. So, like,

whatever his donation is, it's a little bit fine. That's what I'm explaining. That's what I'm explaining. So, I was playing around earlier, but now I'm serious. Is the goal to make you the prime minister, for real?

Would this ever be that, like, you know what I mean? Like, for real. Like, can we go? And what does the prime minister mean? The prime minister is the president? No, you know. For lack of a better term. It's Joe Biden.

Yeah, it's Joe. So all the things that, you know, I compliment President Biden for doing, I'd like to do for my people. I'd like to provide free education for my people where they don't have to go to a politician. But it's a part of the systematic operations. Health care, you know, health care is still a problem. Access to health care is still a problem access to healthcare is still a problem minimum wage

you know the type of money yeah we gotta raise the minimum wage you know access to housing affordable housing is a problem

access to funding to start your own business you know because if you're a poor person you don't got no credit you don't got no credit. You don't got no savings. You ain't got nothing.

But we as a government have to customize financing for people like that. Land is very important. The kibbutz that Ye talked about. We got to teach our people to grow what they eat. We've got to teach our people to be self-reliant. Even if it's animals. I mean, whatever it is. Grow that thing and kill them yourself, right?

Whatever it is. I mean, grow the little chickens. You've got to be self-reliant. So we've got to give our people land. You know, part of reparations. 40 acres and a mule. And a mule? And a mule? And a mule.

When emancipation happened, the Africans throughout the Caribbean were given nothing. They weren't given any land. They weren't given any money. They weren't given any housing. They weren't given anything. Right? So part of farming is, you know, we used to pick cotton for a slave master. We used to farm

for a slave master. We need to have our own land and farm for ourselves. Grow our own cotton. Do our own thing. Be self-sustained. And that's something that I want to teach the inner city. So these are all the things that I bring to the table

when it comes to leading a country. But it's not about being the prime minister. It's about Belize. Even if I'm not the prime minister, it's about Belize. And whatever I can do to Belize, whatever I can do for Belize, I'm going to do

for Belize. I love that, man. Sean, man, you got anything? I think you covered it all. You got anything else you wanna say? Belize, Belize, Belize. I'll see you guys in Belize for New Year's. I'll see you in 2020. We gotta be there, man.

At least I'm gonna be there for post-New Year's. Best bid. I'll do a coming home in Belize. Oh, that's fine. My documentary series. I'll cover you with that. Yeah. He got a series where he go anywhere.

Not anywhere, guy. I go to different countries. The way you say it sounds terrible, bro. I go to different countries, but I want to go to Belize, yeah. He go to a lot of unsafe shit. No, man. I don't be wanting to go. Belize is good.

I go to Belize. You know, our children, our people in Belize, they just need opportunity. Absolutely. They just need hope. And for the last 40 years, we've had politicians that are only concerned with themselves. And, you know, once you have that, then, you know, the people, it becomes cannibalism, you know. Right. Who else is from Belize?

You know, my young guy, he left. His name is Cosa. He was Victor? No, no, no, no. Cosa was there. Yeah. This kid Cosa, he produces with Russian. Russian is the kid that produces for Vibes Cartel

and Chensia and a bunch of the big Jamaican artists bumbleclock You know because there's a Belizean kid grew up in Belize when I first went back to Belize one of the things that I did was I had a listening session every week with a Studio called heights of vibes, you know my brethren called father Lee Father Lee not father Lee, not Father Lee. Father Lee. And this kid, Cosa, was a part of that system.

You know what I'm saying? He produced records for Kevin Gates, Bad Bunny, you know, Jay Bavlin, all these guys. You know what I'm saying? So we got, you know, man, Busta's guy, O.T. Genesis. He's from Belize. He's a garrifuna. Man What's this guy Um OT Genesis Yeah He's from Belize

He's a Garifuna Oh He's a Garifuna Just like me You know what I mean So you know We got some Some Belizean stuff

God damn it man Let's make some noise for Belize We're gonna take a picture And do a couple of drops And that's it Yeah yeah yeah Yeah man Yo thank you

Thank you Sean 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,

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