Drink Champs - Episode 384 w/ Lyor Cohen

Episode Date: October 13, 2023

N.O.R.E. & DJ EFN are the Drink Champs. In this episode the Champs chop it up with the legendary, Lyor Cohen! One of Hip-Hop’s most notable executives, Lyor Cohen joins us to share his story.Lyor shares stories of being Run-DMC’s road manager, and his professional growth from artist development to label executive! Lyor talks about his time at the iconic Def Jam Records, working with hip-hop’s elite artists, co-founding 300 Entertainment and much much more! Listen as we continue to celebrate 50 Years of Hip-Hop!! Make some noise for Lyor Cohen!!! 💐💐💐🏆🏆🏆See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Hear insightful, entertaining discussions on today's important health and wellness topics on the Health Discovered podcast from WebMD. Through in-depth conversations with experts, Health Discovered covers everything from tips for healthier living to the latest on therapy and mental health. My goal is to really de-stigmatize mental health treatment and looking at it from a whole health perspective. Physical health and mental health can be intertwined. Listen to WebMD Health Discovered on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

And it's Drink Chats motherfucking podcast. We'll be right back. biggest players you know what I mean in the most professional unprofessional podcast and your number one source for drunk facts it's Drink Champs motherfucking podcast where every day is New Year's Eve it's time for Drink Champs drink up

motherfuckers what it good be hoping you're doing a good job this is your boy N-O-R-E what up it's DJ E-F-N and it's Drink Champs

Yappy Hour. Make some noise! And right now, when we started this show, we said we wanted to interview legends, icons, people who's been in this game, who has changed this game. This man has not only changed the game, he's changed my life personally. He's been one of the greatest people I ever met in life, period. He's one of the best CEOs, best...

I don't even... Okay, then their view's over. He is hip-hop. He gave me some of the best stories of my life and my career involves this man right here. And all of my friends know these stories too, by the way, because it's not like I

say them once. I say them 15 million times. And he's an alumni too. But in case you don't know who we're talking about, we're talking about the one and only, motherfucking impeccable Leo, motherfucker! Leo, I don't... Thank you, Noreen. Your story is so beautiful, especially when, like our producer just said, you know, starting from road managing, run DMC. How did that come together?

Came together because I had a passport and they needed to get to London. And none of, Russell invited me to work at Rush. Management or this was the record label? No, no, this is before Def Jam. Okay. Rush Management was, started with Curtis Blow. And the office was three people. Bill Adler, Tony Rome, Heidi Smith. blow and the office was three people bill adler tony rome heidi smith and when i went to the office for the first time russell russell never told them that i was coming to work right and they were all depressed and their heads were down and, like, where's the marching band?

I came all the way. You've arrived. I've arrived from Los Angeles to come to work. And they're all depressed. And I said, what's going on? And they told me, we don't know who you are. Russell never told us that you were coming. Wow. But Run DMC is at the JFK, and their road manager, Jeff Flood, we can't find him.

Oh, my God. And no one has a passport, so we're fucked. I said, well, I got a passport, and that's how I became Run DMC's road manager. It's just simple as being in the right place at the right time. Okay. And we went for three and a half years. We never missed a gig. We were five people.

Ronnie Ray, God bless his soul. Uh-huh. Jay, Dee, Joey, and myself. Even when we sold back-to-back Joe Louis arenas, we were five people. So we never ran around with a crew. There was no excess. We grabbed the needle,

our bags, and before the curtains were up, we're on the way to the next city. God damn it. Makes a little flack out there. But wait, when you show up to the airport, what do they say? They don't know you either.

Oh, no, they knew me because they had a show with me. Before that. That's how I got to, because Joey was the one who convinced Russell, like this white kid in Los Angeles is a crazy man, and he needs to be part of our crew and you should hire him and so that's how that's how it happened

wow alright well I have a hit record that's called Nothing right and I don't know if you guys know this story

but I want to tell you how this story came about it's a famous story it's a famous story I'm sure I told it on this is famous no this is yeah

you said it on drinks as many times usually usually a CEO will say I'm going to come to the studio I'm going to told it on Dream, but this is famous. No, this is, yeah, you said it on Dream just many times. Usually, usually a CEO would say, I'm going to come to the studio, I'm going to meet you, don't have your boys there. Lior calls me and says, have all your boys there. Very weird.

I don't know if you remember this. So I'm like, okay. So Lior comes, and he has a video, I have a video where a lot of y'all don't know, is I have a video with Ja Rule called I'm Going to Live My Life. A lot of y'all don't know. I have a video with Ja Rule called I'm Going to Live My Life. A lot of y'all probably didn't see it because, let me get to the story. So, we're in Right Track Recording Studio.

Leo tells me, have all my friends there. Leo comes in the room. He plays me the video of me and Ja Rule. Of course, I love seeing myself. So, I'm like, yeah, this is great. That's the one you did here in Miami. I was upset. I was upset. I was like, yeah, this is great. That's the one you did here in Miami. I was on set. I was on set.

You was on set, yeah. I was like, you have to do that video. You're part of the fuckery. So Leo looks at the thing and he goes, so the video plays, we're all like, yo, I like it. I like it. And then Leo goes, it's popcorn. And I go, what?

It's the first time I ever knew popcorn was bad. He goes, it's popcorn. He goes, I invested. And then this is how I know Lior is the illest motherfucker in the world. So he goes, I invested in Nori. You know, the war before, I invested in that. He's like, if you cut me,

if I cut you, he said, if you cut me, if I cut you, he said, if you cut me right now, ask me what I bleed. I said, blood? He goes, no, if you cut me, ask me,

so I said, Leo, if I cut you, what would you bleed? He said, what DMC, sucker MC? Then he said to me, so Nori, I'm going to ask you again.

If I cut you, what would you bleed? And I said, super thug. He said, exactly. Pharrell's waiting for you in the studio. Listen, there were a lot of dark days for me. You know, there was a moment in time

that I felt like there was no room for me in this industry. And I remember specifically that time was when Bad Boy was dominating everything. And you have to understand that Def Jam was designed black and white and shades of gray. And we were representing like CNN of what's happening in the hood. Okay. Remember, before Run DMC, Flash and all of those crews, Cold Crush Brothers, Furious Five, all of them wore sequins and leather because it was the end of the disco era.

Right. Okay? And then Run DMC came along and looked like 40 drinking round-the-way guys. Mm-hmm. And that really took off. Right. And that was really at the core

of the architecture of Run DMC, of Def Jam. Def Jam. And so when Bad Boy, Bad Boy was about aspirations. We were about putting the camera on what's happening. Right. And they were about putting the camera on the possibilities. Right.

That's a good way of looking at it. You know what I'm saying? That's a real way to think of it. Because, and so, and the possibilities was exciting for people. You know, they don't want to hear just about

how tough it is being black in America. And so, they wanted to get a piece of the American dream and remix it and make it their own.

But it was in Technicolor and I didn't know how it was in Technicolor, and I didn't know how to play in Technicolor. And everything was colorful, and Bentleys this, private planes that, we knew about rubber bands, okay? And Seville's, Chevy's, trucks, Timberlands.

We didn't know Versace. We couldn't even spell Versace. You know what I'm saying? So I said to myself, you know, I had a great run. All good things come to a fucking end. And I was ready to go until that fucking locks video. And then they put them in Technicolor and it got me pissed off. Oh, okay. It made me so angry.

Like, that's black and white and shades of gray. You don't Technicolor that. And then I found dmx right and one of the things that i love doing is taking polaroids of new artists just taking a snapshot of polaroid and what came on that polaroid i kept in my breast pocket and I said, fuck that. There's room for aspirational technicolor shit, but there's also room for our get down and our ability to continue doing our thing. Okay, so hold on.

So I want to get to DMX first. First of all, let's salute to you. Salute to you and everything you do. So we had Warren G on here. And there's a big rumor that at one point, Warren G's record or album saved Def Jammit. Fucking ain't right. It saved Def Jammit. It's not a rumor.

It's not a rumor. There's actually, I was getting swung out of Sony, out of Columbia Records. Like, we were getting thrown out. And we really didn't have a home to go. Because that was, just so people who don't understand, I was a distributor. Yeah, they were our partners. Okay. You know. You have to understand that Def Jam, the original Def Jam deal was 16 points.

That included the artists and the label. Wow. Just as an FYI. You know what I mean? Right now, if it's 16 points, it doesn't get you out of bed. You know what I'm saying? Exactly. So for those who don't understand, 16 points, it doesn't get you out of bed. You know what I'm saying? Exactly. So for those who don't understand, 16 points, let's say off of a- 16, not 60.

No, no, 16 points off of, let's just say a $15 CD. What is that? I don't know. It's too little. So that's a lot there. It's too little. And so we weren't happy about it, obviously. When we figured things out, which didn't take a long time. Remember, there wasn't too much historical mentorship or history prior to us.

So I couldn't call, yo, what was your deal? And who's, you know, how does this work? So we're making it up on the way. And so we're getting swung out of Sony. And how did you get Wama G? Yeah. And actually, we shipped Regulate from Sony. They didn't actually, I was so scared

because the ink wasn't dry with Polygram. But I couldn't stop the record. And you know what happened with Regulate. We sold close to 6 million albums. And so just imagine if for whatever reason

that thing blew up too fast before the ink dried, they'll just rip that up and say, oh, come on back, buddy, and the whole night. But instead, we shipped it, and it was actual numbers that represented the letter of Def Jam, because I didn't want anybody to know that this was associated with Def Jam. So there are a few records out there, vinyls. So D was four. E was five. Oh, like an alphabet. Yeah, the alphabet. And so how I found Warren G was he was part of the whole G-Funk movement.

And I'm greedy. I'm looking to expand Def Jam. Def Jam didn't just represent New York City. It represented rap music. And so I was opening offices in Germany and Tokyo. Fuck it. I'm going to open up and Tokyo. Fuck it. I'm going to open up an office in Los Angeles, okay? By the way, we gave NWA their first national tour.

And I knew what the fuck was going on. With Run DMC? With Run DMC. Get the fuck out of here. I didn't know that. I always believed that Run DMC and all my acts needed to bring the dopest openers. The ones that were going to give the hottest run for their money. Because it was an expression of gratitude to your fans that you bring them someone that is so on fire and so important so it's part of your story but sometimes you bring someone so hot it puts heat on the the the you know headliner right

i remember busting in that door and i said run the mc we got a problem and I said, run the MC, we got a problem. And they said, what's the problem? I said, I just stopped at the merch counter and they're selling 17 t-shirts to your one t-shirt. NWA. NWA. Wow. So, you know what I'm saying? If you're curious enough, you know, you know what I'm saying? You know, if you if you're curious enough, you know how to suss out what's going on and what's happening. And so and I'm from Los Angeles. Fifteen eighty K-Day was the first all rap radio station. It was not in New York City. What? Yeah, it was fifteen eighty K-Day. Get the fuck. I don't even know that. Greg Mack, do your day. Get the fuck out. I'm learning this.

I'm learning this. Greg Mack, do your history. Uncle Jam's Army. Yeah. Please, please understand that there was some real shit going on in Los Angeles. And so I wanted a piece of LA. And so I was able to find Warren. He was kind of being neglected.

And I signed him. And Chris Lighty was incredibly important. God rest his soul. God rest his soul, yeah. And what a beautiful man. And a huge reason why I'm here today. He was a critical reason why we were successful. Fucked with you, Nori.

That's right. Okay. Might as well be my whole career. And he helped me. And, you know, Warren was being neglected by his crew. I snatched his ass up. And... Bow.

The reason why I signed them is I used to never sign an artist unless I went to their house okay because you could fake all sorts of things at a restaurant you pull up in the whip and everything is fake

you could talk that shit but you rarely can fake someone out at home. And what am I looking for when I walk into someone's house? Right. I'm looking for Ma Dukes. Right. On a picture.

Right. Smiling, because there's got to be someone that put up with that creative side. Fuel the creative side. Right. And I remember walking in Warren's house, and there was shit all over the rug. Like, literal shit. He had dogs. Okay, literal shit.

And it was, like, scary. Like, I'm not fucking with this guy. But there was his mother's picture on the wall. I said, wait a second, let me give him a chance. And then I went into his little room studio. No dog shit there. It was pristine. And on the turntable was Carole King, Tapestry, and Bob Seger.

I said, and what the fuck do you know about these artists? He goes, my grandfather played me all these records and he started playing me the parts of the records that he's going to jack.

And I said, fuck it, I'm signing you right now, okay, and wouldn't let him out the door until I pricked his finger. You know? Right. And for sure saved our career and my career. And there's a couple artists that did that. Redman, I was dead and stinking.

Muddy Waters? You remember Alphys and Max? Time for some action. Time for some action. Okay, my bad, my bad. That's such a great album. I was on the canvas, man. Like that big dude, Tyson Fury.

Remember when all of a sudden he came up? Yeah, yeah. That's exactly what happened with me. I remember the ref saying, seven. And I'm saying, I'm not getting up. Eight. And then time for some action. And I got saying, I'm not getting up. Eight. And then time for some action. And I got up and said, what?

I'm back. That type of record, too. Yeah. That record commands that energy, too. It gives you that energy. Yeah. Yeah, Reggie Noble, my boy. God.

So dope. Reggie Noble. I spoke to him on the phone because of this whole City of Hope shit. OK. And he told me he could do like 100 pull-ups. Pull-ups, yeah, yeah, yeah. And skydiving. And skydiving.

And I hear in his voice what a remarkable human being he is. And I tell him every single time I see him, you're the reason why I'm here. Right. single time I see him, you're the reason why I'm here. Okay. And so, you know, gratitude is part of living a healthy, long life. That's why. When you have gratitude. Right. And so many good things have happened to me.

Right. And two of them were Reggie Noble and Warren G. Warren G. Came at the right time. Right. So think about me getting swung and then walking into a new company and selling six million albums to write like that. What? He was looking like a big dog.

All of a sudden they're throwing all sorts of stuff. Yeah. Stuff. Oh, you know, suddenly the deals, they're explaining how sorts of stuff. Yeah, stuff. Oh, you know, suddenly the deals, they're explaining how I was getting fucked and how they're going to improve my life and the life of my clique. And it was just a beautiful, beautiful thing.

And thank you, Warren. Thank you, Redman. It was just extraordinary. I think we got a band. Now, we've been doing this for seven years, right? Going into our eighth year. Going into our eighth year. We've been interviewing artists

and we've been interviewing about people, about the best record label, right? And everyone always hands down says, they always say Def Jam, but they always say the 170 Varick slash 160 Varick. 160 Varick, my bad. So let me tell you

the crew that they named. Yeah. Obviously, Leo Combs. Obviously, Russell. Leo. Kevin Louse. Mike Kaiser.

Julie. Julie Greenwald. Fucking Greenwald. Julie Greenwald. The best executive hands down. Did I say Mike Kaiser? Mike Kaiser. Mike Kaiser.

Randy Acker. Rob Love, I believe. West Party Johnson. Rest in peace. Do you know how special that label is? I always watch Entourage and I'll watch Empire and I'm like,

if somebody actually really did a real Def Jam like the real Def Jam let me just tell you how important this label was I used to go there to get out the streets but still be in the streets because because you can roll dice there get your haircut and buy weed right there and it's safest place in the world. It was like, yo, I swear to God. I swear to God. And I was on, at this time, I was on Violator Management, which was like a part in the building. But what I'm saying, do you know how important that establishment was to hip hop? So the answer is only now.

Only now. Because one of the biggest problems that I have and the biggest regret that I have is that I was so focused on forward that I didn't recognize how good now was. You didn't live in the now. I did not take photos like I should have. I did not document.

I didn't stop and say thank you. I was just, I was fucking hungry. I was famished. And I was like focused on tomorrow. How does tomorrow work? And so I'm not making that mistake again.

I'm so grateful to be here with you right now and with your whole team that I'm not going to forget this moment. Yes. You know what they say? They say winners never enjoy the moment because they always want to go to the next win. I was listening to that this morning. A friend of mine, a Lowe's came over and we started to work out and he was, he's, he's playing the Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant trainers book. And he said, he said,

he said he, he, every time one of his clients won, he would give them a hug and just leave because he knew his clients could not enjoy the moment. They went and looked at the book and said, I had two errors, though. I had 32 points, but I had two errors. And is that how you feel? You always play life? Well, number one, I always felt my contribution to the culture was that I was going to outwork, out-hustle, out-focus, out-deliver. And also, there are a lot of mouths that depended on us winning. Right. And so I felt since I couldn't rap,

I couldn't do design, I couldn't take a photo of you. My contribution had to be as moving this thing forward. And so that's still no excuse.

If I had to do it over again I would take more photos, I would say thank you more, I would focus more on the present than I did but okay alright, now I know we mentioned him earlier and you said

that's how you should sign artists, but DMX he's another person who changed the game how do you hear about DMX, he's another person who changed the game. How do you hear about DMX? Is it Irv Gotti? Yeah, Irv brought me up to Yonkers. Right. And they were supposed to come at 11 o'clock.

By 2.30, they were scrambling. Like, you get over here and rap for him. You know, because X didn't show up. So everybody in the room had to rap for me, you know, because they're trying to, they're trying to, like, I was going like, oh my God, what's going on?

This is like... Oh, so it was other artists, it wasn't just... No, he's saying as he's waiting. As he's waiting, Juan D, D. was saying, what the fuck? This guy's going to jet in a second. You rap. I'm the cleaning man. What am I rapping for? And so.

And then X walked in. And it was like. All of them were cockroaches ran right away. Like you could feel the oxygen change in the room. And he had just had his mouth wired shut. But he was so excited to meet me that he started rapping. You could hear them breaking. Wow.

Yeah. It was a moment. It was a moment. And let me just put it to you this way. I'm not a fucking genius. My mother would have signed him. It was that obvious. Right.

Like, if my mom was at that table, come here, son. I'm going. You know? It was really, really, really obvious. And 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 multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad.

Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple 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 iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And it's going to take us to heal

us. It's Mental Health Awareness Month, and on a recent episode of Just Heal with Dr. J, the incomparable Taraji P. Henson stopped by to discuss how she's discovered peace on her journey. So what I'm hearing you saying is healing is a part of us also reconnecting to our childhood in some sort. You said I look how youthful i look because i never let that little girl inside of me die i go outside and run outside with the dogs

i still play like a kid i laugh you know i love jokes i love funny i love laughing i laugh at myself i don't take myself too seriously that's the stuff that keeps you young and stops you from being so hard. To hear this and more things on the journey of healing, you can listen to Just Heal with Dr. J from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. AT&T, connecting changes everything. That's a real tragedy that we could all learn from. Right. The people, people loved Acts so much that they didn't let Earl Simmons live.

Okay. And he didn't have the confidence in himself because he wanted to be loved. He had a really difficult childhood. And so he wanted to be loved so much that because X was so loved, he kept X in front. Earl Simmons loves to fish, be with his children quiet. But nobody fucked with Earl Simmons. They all wanted X. And he didn't know how to let Earl live.

Earl loved fishing. Like, we went up to, I don't know if to Catskills or Lake George or something. I put him up there and 5.45 in the morning, he was on the dock. I went to get some coffee and it's too fucking early for me to wake up. So I went back to sleep. 11 o'clock, he's still on the dock. He said, you catch anything? He said, no. He's just fishing. He's fishing. And I'm lucky enough to have had a relationship with Earl Simmons. And I care deeply about Earl Simmons.

You know what X is. X is a guy driving 150 in the 20 mile zone. That's what X is. And so what do you expect if X is supposed, if all you love is X, what do you expect? That doesn't end well, driving 150 in the 20-mile-an-hour zone.

That just doesn't end well. Let me ask you, because, like, to a lot of people, when they first heard DMX, he resembled Onyx, right? Like, I'm not... Da-da-da, da-da-da. So what made you, did you think that would be a problem,

or you knew the difference? Nah. Nah, it wasn't a problem. It was so fucking obvious. I never heard that. Hearing him or seeing him, I never felt that. So all Nori's referencing is, you know that wire

that's cut, and it's that water? Yeah. That's dangerous. And that's what, those two bands were disorganized danger. Right. There was no, like, everything organized. It was like, fuck it, shit could.

Right. You go to an Onyx show and fucking. To this day. You know. Yeah know it's a problem Samash pick yeah I told them in Russia before you

it was pretty crazy you went to Russia before that yeah I wasn't Russian you told me that was the first time you went no

it was another place it was former Soviet it was Kazakhstan yeah yeah yeah wow cause that Russia thing was different.

Talk to me. Shout out to Tuma, who's here, by the way, and he threw some tidbits at me, telling me, I didn't know that you managed De La. Yes. And I hit pause immediately, and he hit me back with a bunch of voice messages, which I

appreciate him for doing, and he was just breaking down how you and Russell were involved and them and Tribe. I didn't realize. I didn't know that much about it and about the tour. They were on that tour that you mentioned, the NWA one. You stopped Maceo from joining the military.

We just saw each other recently in London. They did something for me in Google and YouTube at a conference. And I hadn't seen them in 15 years. And it was really like an extraordinary feeling. There's a lot of stories that people tell me about, like they were telling me in the crowd about how I got them out of high school and college,

but insisted on them finishing their degree. So beautiful things about me that I don't remember. I have an excuse. Right. But they're very, very important. Very important. Like that live wire and that little water on the ground. Right.

They weren't that. They were represented optimism and joy and a different, you know, for me, like I have all the illest rappers, that was a juke move. When I represented Tribe and De La, I just juked everybody. Like they thought I was just one way, like, rhyming. Like, did you know that he represented De La? That's crazy. That was under Rush. Yeah.

Okay, okay, okay. Like, like. Stetsasonic. Right. EPMD. Yeah, pause, and then pause telling me some stuff, and then just thinking about all the groups and artists that Rush and Def Jam collectively that you were involved in and got to see develop,

that's extraordinary in terms of hip-hop. Lucky motherfucker. Lucky motherfucker. I've touched more rappers than everybody else combined. Okay? Period. Okay? Big Daddy Kane, shout out to him. Rakim joined me. I haven't seen him, must have been two decades. He joined me two days ago at the Secretary of State's house where we did rekindling a new initiative around music diplomacy.

So Dave Grohl, Bono, and I brought Rakim, and Rakim... That's dope. And did you know the Secretary of State of the United States is a musician, guitarist, and he played Muddy Waters on stage? It was the most ridiculous thing. And so I saw that we had opera singers. We had Dave Grohl, Bono. We didn't have any rappers.

So we got a few late additions that was great. And one of them was Rakim. And when he got on stage, he shut that place so down. And it's all, you know, guitarists and symphony people and everything like that. It brought shivers to me.

Because, I mean, if you think about those lyrics and that man, and just to see him and the life that he's created for himself, man, big shout out to Rakim. Yeah, his legacy. My goodness. Solid. My goodness.

Let's make noise for Rakim. Let's make noise for music diplomacy. American music. Let's not only send guns around the world. Let's send our culture. You know, by being in Kazakhstan, you know, Kazakhstan knows more about America through the movies and the music than they do by the guns.

They can't even name the gun, but they can name you. They can book you. Or Disney. But we book you or Disney. But we're losing that influence. We've lost that. I've been traveling, and they've been telling us. And specific to hip-hop, they said hip-hop, and everybody can take it how they want. They said hip-hop is a business for you guys.

You guys lost touch with what it really is. And so now they're looking to their regional peers. Like like i was in vietnam they're looking to china and korea yeah i was in colombia and they're looking to the countries around them and of course and it's sad to see because i like to think of it and i think it's true that hip-hop is probably one of the biggest uh cultural exports that we we put out there that's impacted so important so important that we you know culturally make people understand what an incredible country we have feel proud of what are what we've accomplished and everything and and make the world a better place through music okay i can tell you something this This world is in a really,

really difficult place. Okay? This thing could go real wrong real fast. But music is a connector. It reminds us that we have more in common than what separates us. And so I want to do everything in my power to promote that.

I'm glad that the American government, Anthony Blinken, big shout out to Anthony Blinken, okay? Our Secretary of State promoting and funding bipartisan support on funding American soft power around the world. So, you know, one of the most important moments of my life was when we were opening up YouTube music in India. And I was in Mumbai, and the biggest slum in Mumbai, in Asia, is in Mumbai called Davari. It's where Slumdog Millionaire is from. In the middle of this slum is an after-school program that's dedicated to hip-hop, rap music.

These kids are breakdancing. They were wearing hip-hop. They're wearing Kangol. It's like a time warp. It's late 80s. Yeah. The little kids with Kangols. They're breaking. They're like a time warp. It's late 80s. The little kids with Kangols. They're breaking. They're doing

graffiti. Everything. Battles. In these the biggest slum in the world. And it's rap music that's keeping them learning, living off the streets. It's just such a powerful and important

moment for me it was amazing it's amazing i get this well our show is about giving people their flowers so we want to give you your flowers face to face man to man tell you how great you are you know what i mean tell you tell you how much you mean to the culture. Wow, thank you. Thank you. This is really meaningful to me. I'm grateful. I'm grateful to this. I'm grateful to, you know.

You're the man, Leo. You're the man. You're the man. Let's make some noise for that. Thank you. Very kind of you. You want to do quick time with slime? You got something?

Okay, yeah. We have Sunny going to this place? Okay. He can just sip the champagne. Okay, he can sip the champagne. champagne you want to explain the rules we're going to give you two choices uh you pick one nobody drinks but if you say both or neither which would be the political correct answer we're all drinking right but you don't have to take shots you can take sips of the champagne or if you want to designate a hit up my friend right there baby baby shot all right so right, so you're going to ask me? We're going to give you two choices.

Right. But if I answer the question, then you guys are drinking. No, no, no. If you don't answer, like if you say both, you don't want to pick. Say both or neither of them. We're all drinking. We're all going to have a drink. If I say one of them.

Nobody drinks. Nobody drinks. Nobody drinks. Okay. I think I'm going to do Habiki for this. You can tell her because she don't know. She don't know about how to do the Habiki shots. Okay.

All right, cool. You ready? You go do the first one. All right. Rick Rubin or Kanye West? Fucking Rick Rubin. Yes. Fucking Rick Rubin. Jay-Z or Dame Dash? Jay-Z all day.

Meth or red? We're drinking. Okay. I like how he understands the game. He understands. Woo. Okay. I like how he understand the game. He understands. Okay Wu-Tang Clan or Public Enemy? Public Enemy. Okay, I like that. DMX or Tupac? DMX. Got it? Yeah. Kiss or fab? Kiss.

Okay. Analog or digital? Analog. That's a good one. I always go analog. 80s or 90s hip hop? Oh, you skipped. Oh, my bad. No, I got to go back to that.

80s or 90s hip hop? I don't give a fuck. Right now. Okay. Nas album, Illmatic, or Biggie album, Ready to Die? Biggie album. Okay. Run DMC or Beastie Boys?

Run DMC. Primo or Pete Rock? Primo. Woo. Rihanna or Mariah? We're drinking. No, no. Yeah, we're drinking.

Okay. I thought we were going to drink with Yeah, we're drinking. Okay. I thought we were going to drink with Primo and P-Rock. Okay, go ahead. Dr. Dre or Puff? We're drinking. Oh, right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let me get it ready.

Got it? Oh, that should have been you again. Mm-mm. Scarface or Ice Cube? Scarface. Scarface was on Def Jam. Come on. The Fix.

Come on. Don't fuck with me. Don't fuck with me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Crush Group or B Street? Crush Group. Podcast or... You see I wear my colors, right?

Yes, yes. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Podcast or radio? Podcast. Okay colors right Yes Yeah yeah Absolutely Podcast or radio Podcast Okay Good good good God I love this game It's dark

It's dark And hell is high Or flesh of my flesh We gotta put you up against yourself You know Yeah Fuck it We're drinking got to put you up against yourself, you know? Fuck it with drinking.

I'm going Japanese De Leon. You don't have to say it anymore like that. Yeah. Okay. Do you guys have to work after this? No. Something like that. I got to go be a father after this.

Okay, this is a good one. Russell Simmons or Kevin Lyles? We're drinking. Okay. All right. Okay. Okay. LL Cool J or Snoop Dogg? LL Cool J is hard as hell.

Battle anybody, I don't care if you tell. I won't tell. They ain't sell. Oh, my God. Hold on. Oh, okay. EPMD or Mobb Deep? EPMD all day. All? EPMD all day.

All day. It's my thing. Go ahead. Yeah, you gots to chill. Midnight Marauders or Low End Theory? We're drinking. Okay. Jeezy or Rick Ross?

Rick Ross. Kid Capri or Funkmaster Flex Funk Flex Red Alert or Grandmaster Flash Red Alert Rough Riders or Rockefeller

Drinking Slick Rick or Rock Him Drinking Oh damnick Rick or Rakim Drinking Oh damn come on Catch up Oof Reason moved out

Or in my lifetime Volume 2 In my lifetime Loyalty or respect Loyalty or respect? Loyalty or respect? That was disrespectful. Respect.

It could be both. So the problem is a lot of people have fake loyalty. But if you have respect, then you have real loyalty. You understand what I'm saying? My whole team had to fight. They can't, I can't be loyal to you if you're not going to, you know, make that happen. Right. Right?

You made the decision. I didn't make the decision. Okay? So, but you could only get respect if you're ready to do the work. Right. So, if you do the work, then I'm loyal to you. Got it. Do you understand what I'm saying?

Steve. I'm just thinking of the people that earn respect through fear. And that's not, that's not going to get loyalty. No, that's not respect. Power is not taken. It's given. People give you power.

You don't take power. Right. And that, my friends, is Quick Time Is Live. That was a pretty quick, that's one of the quickest. You went through those answers pretty quickly. So, was I supposed to go slow? No, no, no. Some people, they just say both.

They want to give it explanation. And the reason why we do that is not to single people out. We want to mention these names to have them in the conversation. Yeah, for sure. Thank you. There's been a rumor at one point too, right, that Suge Knight tried to

bully Ja Rule off of the record label? Oh, no, no. Off the record label? I have no idea about that. I do know there was a moment in L.A. I was at the Palace on Vine Street. It must be a different place. And Chris Lighty comes up to me and pulls out a gun and says, come this way. Wow.

I said, what do you mean? He says, look over there. And it was Shogun and his crew coming after me. Really? And this was after I signed Warren G. And he was very upset. Oh, okay, okay, okay. And Chris has me go through the kitchen.

Like, wow. That was, did that really happen? And, you know, finally got to the Four Seasons. They were waiting for me. Took me through the kitchen to my room. Wow. Yeah, it was a thing. And that's my Suge Knight story.

You never had a face-to-face with Suge? Yeah, I had many face-to-face. I saw him in jail and the whole nine. Visited him and all that. Oh. Yeah. That's crazy. Yeah.

I wasn't ready for that. But when you saw him in jail, it was after that incident? Yeah. Yeah, I mean... So you guys reconciled in a sense? No, there's no reconcile. Okay. Okay, just so you're clear um um there was no apologies

for what i did like um i used to say to my artists the same answer i'm giving you right now is the same answer when you fling me out the window and i'm about to hit the concrete i'm giving you the same fucking answer the window and I'm about to hit the concrete and giving you the same fucking answer the only difference is you're going to jail right so you threatening me and scaring me and I'm giving you the same answer okay so once you take the fear out once they realize there's no change what he must be crazy how you know He's not going to change. Once they realize there's no change, then it's a different relationship. Does that make sense?

Yeah, I feel like that creates the respect. Creates respect, but I think it's respect because I have a point of view. There was nothing wrong with me signing Warren G he had all the opportunity to he neglected it the whole night I didn't do anything disrespectful

or you know wrong I just signed an artist gave him an opportunity and that's it kept it moving now how hard was it for you right gave him an opportunity, and that's it. Kept him moving. Now, how hard was it for you, right? Def Jam was everything.

I remember, like, you know, it was everything, but you get this offer from Atlantic, right? And Atlantic is, I don't know how this Atlantic deal was structured, but I know that at first it was just you who went. And then those who could, but how hard was that to not, to hold that in? The Atlantic stuff happened six years later. It was really, when I sold Def Jam, I was 38 years old. And part of the deal was you either work for them or you go for five years on what they call garden leave, where you cannot go back in the industry that you love.

I'm 38 years old. I didn't work for the paper. I worked for the journey. I was on the journey. And that would have been a death sentence for me to get this money. From Def Jam, from selling it, but not be able to work. But not being able to work unless I worked for them. And that's why I created the Island Def Jam Music Group. Okay. Okay? Now, what happened, why I left the Island Def Jam music group for the Warner music group is Edgar Brofman that owned Universal. They bought Polygram. Okay. They bought a lot of things.

$11.9 billion. Okay. And Island Def Jam was part of that group. Okay. And he went off to buy Warner Music Group from AOL Time Warner. Wow. And because he saw my work at Island Def Jam, he asked me to come along and own a piece of this new company.

And it was one, an opportunity for me. And we talk about the Warner. Warner Music Group. I was hired as the chief creative officer. Right. But the real reason, and it's going to be the first time I've ever said it, is Universal

did something really, really bad to me. Now, things were going really great for me. Ja Rule was exploding. Jay-Z was exploding. DMX was exploding. Jay-Z was exploding. DMX was exploding. You know, it was all incredible. And I

broke the killers. I transformed myself from the rap guy to all of a sudden to other types of music, the entrepreneurialism of rap music. I introduced to the rest of the, the entrepreneurialism of rap music. I introduced to the rest of the, suddenly we went from the last place to the number one record company in the country, and I was good money.

But I got harpooned because two of Ja Rule's original members went to jail. Oh, yeah, because you saw in Cast Money Click, right? And then they came back. And they were on TBT Records. And so you know when... What was his name, Steve Blunt? Steve Gottlieb. Gottlieb, Gottlieb, Gottlieb.

So this is a really, really tough story for me. Yeah, TVT, yeah. Okay? So these two guys come back from jail and say to Ja Rule, yo, let's do a Cash Money. And in the vault of TVT was a Cash Money album. Yeah. And so Irv and

Ja really didn't want to do that. Their career is going like crazy. Boom, boom, boom, boom. So they made me tell Steve Gottlieb that I'm not actually going to do this. Now,

all of a sudden I get a lawsuit, personal lawsuit, that I led him on to believe that Ja Rule can do cash money and accused me of fraud. So I said, get the fuck out of here. I didn't do anything wrong. I have Ja Rule's multi-platinum, and you're trying to rekindle cash money. It doesn't make any sense. No.

The courts didn't believe me. And I lost $135 million judgment. Okay? $135 million judgment. Now think about it. So I was indemnified by Universal. I'm an employee at this point of

Universal. Can you imagine if I gave Ja Rule go ahead to another independent company, multi-platinum Ja Rule, go ahead and do this cash money side project, I'd be fired. So I thought I did the right

thing for the company, for the artist, everything. The American West with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network. Hosted by me, writer and historian Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network, hosted by me, writer and historian Dan Flores, and brought to you by Velvet Buck. This podcast looks at a West available nowhere else. Each episode, I'll be diving into some of the lesser known histories

of the West. I'll then be joined in conversation by guests such as Western historian Dr. Randall Williams and best-selling author and Meat Eater founder Stephen 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 multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really,

really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. And it's going to take us to heal us. It's Mental Health Awareness Month, and on a recent episode of Just Heal with Dr. J, the incomparable Taraji P. Henson stopped by to discuss

how she's discovered peace on her journey. So what I'm hearing you saying is healing is a part of us also reconnecting to our childhood in some sort. You said I look how youthful I look because I never let that little girl inside of me die. I go outside and run outside with the dogs. I still play like a kid. I laugh. You know, I love jokes. I love funny. I love laughing. I laugh at myself. I don't take myself too seriously. That's the stuff that keeps you young and stops you from being so hard. To hear this and more things on the journey of healing, you can listen to Just Heal with Dr. J from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

AT&T. Connecting changes everything. So I went, now I'm embarrassed. Imagine, they called me a fraudster. I'm in the paper, the whole nine. Lost $135 million. Now, in order to get a retrial, you have to post a bond for $60 million. So I went to Universal and said, you know, you're on the hook for $135 million. Let's post a bond and get a retrial because this went off the rails. And they balked. The people I gave my company to, the blood, sweat, and tears that I gave that company, they balked on the 60 million bond that would allow them to retry

the case that they were on the hook for $135 million. At that moment, I realized these people got me out here like crazy. Now, put up the 60 milli. Went to retrial. Threw the case out. Finally, they said, this is absolutely crazy. Steve Gottlieb already spent tens and tens of millions of those dollars. And court got thrown out. Completely reversed. I was clear. Universal saved $135 million, but I could never forgive them.

Right. And that's why I left my company. In fact, I actually turned down Edgar. And on January 6th, right after I got back from Barbados, I walked in the morning because I was under a lot of stress. They were telling me this new Warner Music Group is going to be so valuable, hundreds of billions of dollars, millions, and you're going to do great and the whole nine. And what Universal did to me, and I was struggling, but I didn't want to leave the company. So I turned the Warner down.

I went that morning to the office, never had a key. And it was the first time that I couldn't get in the office. I said, this is a sign that I fucked up. I walked back home. I told my wife, well, what happened? She says, you're an idiot. You just went too early. Go back to the office. There's this sign bullshit. Just as I was leaving, Edgar Broffin called again and said, are you sure you don't want to roll with us? And at that moment, I said, I'm coming. And never returned back to Def Jam.

And that's how. That's crazy. Yeah. That was the first time that that story ever been heard. Okay. So you get to Warner. I was about heard. Okay, so you get to Warner. I was about to say Atlantic, but you get to Warner. Yeah. It's a rumor, not you, but every CEO kind of gets to a new company

and kind of fires everybody and brings in their own crew. Was that your plan? I don't believe in that. I don't fire everybody and bring in my own crew. Was that your plan? I don't believe in that. I don't fire everybody and bring in my own crew. Everybody has a chance to win that job. This is

nothing personal. This is not a game. This is people's lives. We have a fiduciary responsibility to the artists and the songwriters. I was going to get the best click, period. And that didn't mean my click.

Right. Okay? I like this. I like this song. I like when you say click. I like this song. But your click winded up over there. So what you're saying is.

Because they were the best. They were the best. Just so you know. You played Tug of War best. They were the best. Just so you know. You played tug of war. Your team won. Just so you know. I love it. That's really not accurate.

Okay, cool. Because many of the MyClick made it. The ones that you know about, historical people in this industry, many of them didn't make it. Yeah. Wow. Okay? It's simple as that. in this industry. Many of them didn't make it. Wow. Okay? It's simple as that.

So, like I said, I believe that we need, to win, you need the best team. I believe that too. It's simple as that. God damn it.

God damn it. God damn it. Let me ask you, before you worked with Run DMC, would you have considered yourself a hip-hop head, a B-boy, like before you got into the industry side of it? I was a curious person. And I was raised by two incredible parents that made sure that I did everything in my power to avoid work. Now, that's very strange. Think about Jewish parents. Usually, man, you go to school,

become a doctor, a lawyer, that's your gig. My parents said, this is a very new concept to have a career. You see, a couple generations ago, people didn't have a career. They went to work. And they said, because we're successful, we could afford you the opportunity to find your passion. Because if you find your passion, you'll be a very wealthy person. And they weren't meaning money. Right. They're meaning, and by the way, I'm on the verge of being 64 years old. I've been in this game for 40 years. I do not know where the time went.

It's weird. So they were right. Found my passion. I've enjoyed almost every day. I work really hard. But I work in the space that I feel incredibly passionate about. The reason why I ask that is, were you passionate about hip-hop prior to that? Or were you passionate about just the entertainment industry?

I was not passionate about hip-hop until I came to New York. Okay? I came in New York during the fever period. Encore. It's pretty early on. You know, the Red Parrot, where Fat Cat used to post up. The Roxy, Dan Ceteria. This was a moment before AIDS before crack this was a moment where New York was just on the verge of bankruptcy just survived bankruptcy this was a moment where the exclusivity of Studio 54 gave into the inclusivity of the fever.

This was a moment in time where at any given party, you could bump into Jean-Michel Basquiat, Madonna, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, you know, Flash, Melly Mel, KG. You know, it was a melting pot because New York, because of the financial troubles, had affordable housing. So painters and the arts and people were drawn there. And so it was this melting pot. I don't know what the fuck question you asked me. I was asking you how much of a hip-hop head were you attracted to this place

as a hip-hop head or just to the industry as a whole? I'm pre-Sucker MC, bro. Be clear. So there weren't that many hip-hop heads prior to me. But the first time that I met the beat, my brother was a woodshop teacher at Vermonday in South Central LA. And he used to bring me, Vermonday had the national champion high school basketball team. And he used to take me to the games. And every break, a guy with a bass and some drums would run up with some girls doing those moves. And I was like eight years old. And I said, oh my God, I can't believe what I just heard.

And they would race back and then every break or halftime. Fast forward to listening to 1580 K-Day and going to see an Uncle Jam's Army event. I recognized that beat. That beat was familiar to me and I liked it. You know what I'm saying? It was like that shit that I liked. It was familiar to me and I wanted more of it. But this is the reason why I was saying all of this, because you became the archetype of the hip hop executive. Like it or not, you became that person.

And I feel like you come prior to the industry of hip hop. That's why I was asking you, leading you into that question. And now people look at hip hop. The industry extracted the music and monetized the music. But we both know and we talked about internationally the culture lives all these elements how do you feel the the rest of like hip-hop as a multi-dimensional culture how can it thrive further going into the future i don't know i'm not a it was funny one day i was invited to the global management meeting of Polygram in Seville, Spain.

And I sat next to the head lawyer of Polygram. And he said, so Lior, what's after rap music? What's the future of rap music? And I turned to him and I said, I don't know. And was like really put off. English dot. He said, so what't know. And was like really put off, English dot. He said, so what do we pay you millions of dollars for? I said, I don't know.

I hope you don't pay me millions of dollars to predict the future. I hope you pay me millions of dollars to create an environment, a safe space, a creative space where artists in that garage with the snot running down their nose that are going to change the future want to be with us. I never wanted to predict the future. That's corny to me. Right. That's like, what? I want to create a safe environment for that future to be what it is. Well, that is predicting the future too,

because you're creating the future, a foundation for a future. I don't know. I never weathervane this thing. I can't tell you. I can't tell you. I can tell you the thing that lives inside of me. Think about this.

The center of the music industry is in New York City in 1983. All the record companies were here. They weren't in LA, they weren't in Atlanta, Miami. They were all, every decision maker, every single person. The record label industry or? The entire record label industry. Industry, I tell you that all the time. Was in New York City. Now, how far is Midtown from the Bronx?

40, 50, 60, 70, 80 blocks. All right. So think about that a kid like me, Russell, Rick, no money, no clout, no knowledge. I got high. All those four things alone is a reason why I couldn't be successful. But it was

because of the arrogance of these labels that didn't drive up to the Bronx and realize to get into the fever, there was more demand than supply. Right. And it was the arrogance of them not getting in a car for 10.

It wasn't in Poughkeepsie or Memphis. It was in the Bronx, Queens. All they had to do was go there. So because of the arrogance of the industry, we were able to incubate. And then five, six years later, when they realized, oh, shit, this is not noise that's going away or fad, suddenly we had money. We had clout. We had knowledge. Getting high wasn't a thing no more.

Okay? And suddenly we were beasts. And they thought that they could get in just by money. Remember how they came in? Fuck it, we'll just buy the shit up. Right. And yeah, so I think that to me is, so if you told me, you know,

you know about the motherfuckers jumping on one leg, singing in the north of the DR in Puerto Plata? That shit is big. You know what I do? I get on a fucking plane and go just touch the baggie. I want to see it. I don't want to ever say, that ain't possible.

That's just noise. That's a fad. I need to go to ever say that ain't possible. That's just noise. That's a fad. I need to go. I understand that. Actually, because I remember what I did to them. The only reason why I'm here is because they wouldn't get in a fucking car. And drive some blocks down. Some blocks down.

That's insane. Insane. This is a Drink Champs PSA. What it good be, homies? What it should be? This is your boy N-O-R-E. What up, it's DJ E-F-N. And this is not Drink Champs Happy Hour.

I mean, we're still drinking something. It's Drink Champs Happy. Without the hour. Healthy Hour. Healthy Hour. Drink Champs Healthy Hour. Thank you. hour I don't think I've ever interviewed a doctor the closest doctor we got to is Dr. Dre yeah yeah yeah so explain explain exactly what you do doc so I'm a

cardiologist but I am and then it works a long time and issues are on health and health care and a YouTube We've been really trying to build out the platform around how we get health and messages out to people Right, oh we let people understand how to both take care of themselves in a preventative way But just in general just how we improve the health of the community. Mmm. So how did you link up with Leo? So there is my guy. Okay. Lior. Y'all was in San Jose, right?

That's all I know. Is this all through City of Hope? No, no, no, no, no. This has nothing to do with City of Hope. This has to do with that we're colleagues. 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 multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season One. Taser Incorporated.

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

Ad-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 best-selling author and meat-eater founder Stephen Ranella. I'll correct my kids now and then. They'll say, when cave people were here. And I'll say, it seems like the Ice Age people that were here

didn't have a real affinity for caves. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th, where we'll delve into stories of the West and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today. Listen to The American West with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And it's going to take us to heal us.

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

To hear this and more things on the journey of healing, you can listen to Just Heal with Dr. J from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. AT&T. Connecting changes everything. We work at the largest global platform in the world. You know, two point plus billion daily active users. Insane. From the corners of Indonesia to Nigeria, back to Chile, back to South Central LA, and back to New York. We're global. And Dr. Garth leads all the health initiatives that YouTube does. And so YouTube is not just about cat videos and music. And smart too.

You said that earlier. And smart. We see a lot of that on YouTube. No, no. No, we haven't. Had to do that shot back. What the leadership is attempting to do is use the power

of the platform. And Dr. Garth, you know, we like Alton Ellis. You know who Alton Ellis is? He was before Bob Marley. And Bob Marley really fell in love with

Alton Ellis. Let's hear it for Alton Ellis. Okay. Different part of the Caribbean than you are from, Nori. Right, right. Okay. Where are you from? Because I see a real hair accent.

So I'm originally from Jamaica. Okay. Yeah, yeah. What? Yeah, look. Yeah, that's right. That's right. That's right.

That's right. That's right. That's right. But actually, part of my education here and then went off to other places, medical school and everything. So I think of myself as Jamaican, little Floridian, and then all over the place. So what made you want to be a doctor and not like Dr. Dre? Oh, you know, if I was going to be honest,

there are a lot of things affecting our community, black and brown people. If you think even about the health of the community right around here in Overtown, if you think about Brooklyn, the Bronx, if you think about all of these communities across the world, our communities bear the disproportionate impact of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and we're dying at a higher rate. So my goal in my life and all of our goals is I think to figure out how we can help the community get healthier.

And, you know, YouTube is a way we can do that. Yeah, but he wants to know why you chose to become a doctor. How did that even happen? Like, instead of being a DJ. I mean, he might be a DJ. We don't know. You look like you're trying to be Buju Bonta at this point. Shout out to Buju, though. Shout out to Buju.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Buju's still, you know, he's still. Buju's a legend. A legend in Jamaica. You know, that's still, he's still. Butcher's a legend. A legend in Jamaica, you know. Butcher and Shabba and all of those people are still legends. You know, I saw my mom

do a lot of things in Jamaica helping people. She was a nurse and she would really take care of people. And that just inspired me to be on the same journey that I was just describing.

So she was a nurse in Jamaica? She was a nurse in Jamaica and a nurse here. Wow, wow, wow. You know what's crazy things? In New York City, one of the first times we got encountered with health used to be these juice bars, right? Yeah.

And we used to go there and there used to be juice bars. But a lot of times we used to go there, we used to go there because they were selling weed, right? Yeah. But by the time we were selling, buying the weed, we were buying the juice bars. Like the roster man would come And he was mostly Caribbean people. Yeah, yeah. And they would tell us, okay, here, take a shot of ginger.

You know, take a shot of wheatgrass. And we're really there just for the reefer. Take a bag. Yeah, pick up a bag. And Caribbean, why does it seem like Caribbean people are more healthy? And holistic as well. That's very true. I mean, you know, putting the weed conversation part aside

in a Rastafarian region, a lot of it is about healthy eating. A lot of it is about how you eat food that's grown from the earth. And so that's a big part of Caribbean culture. Puerto Rican culture, that's a big part of Cuban culture. I'm Puerto Rican, he's Cuban. That's right, Puerto Rican culture.

It's a big part of all our cultures. It's healthy eating. Yeah. Yeah, well, in our communities, it's very healthy. It's very popular to the fried foods. Yeah. Why are we prone to liking fried foods? You know, I think that's a flavor.

That's one conceptual flavor that we kind of learn and understand earlier on. But it also doesn't mean that we don't like stuff that's healthy and green like what you're drinking now. I mean, I watch you all the time when you're out there running on the beach and then pulling your kids along at the same time. That's a part of our culture too. And even if you think of just all the different kinds of foods we eat that's grown from the earth.

So again, healthy living, I think, is a part of just a broader Caribbean culture. And we need to think about how we get that message out more and more and more. Is it safe to say that, like a lot of us that have our parents, we were first-generation Americans, that it was healthier eating, more organic eating in the home countries, and then we're here, and it's just a fast-paced living, and that's the food that's affecting our health? You see generational changes.

You see particularly even in Cuban and Mexican communities where women have lower birth rates of things like infant mortality, but the longer they stay here, the more the culture and the stress and all of the things that make life unhealthy starts to impact our health. So yeah, you definitely start to see a lot of that generational dynamic develop, you know, as more and more and more as we get accustomed to a lot of unhealthier activities. I would say that it was also, you know, to be an immigrant, very stressful. And then you have a predatory, you know, fast food. Commercial food industry

that wasn't regulated properly didn't give information about what people were eating and the consequences of what they ate I mean there's a disproportionate share of fast food

fried stuff in black communities than there are in white communities so i think um that uh aided that issue as well and the symbolism behind it because growing up to us mcdonald's was like luxury food like it's a big deal to go to mcdonald's you know yeah and what and it plays out right so So we see life expectancy in communities like right around here, much lower than if you were to drive 10 minutes into Miami Beach or where people have other healthy options. So this isn't just about where we are now.

It's about where we have been for a long time. Let me put something in your mind. For every dollar that America earns, we pay 20 to 23 cents to healthcare. That's crazy. We are so out of whack to the rest of the world. I just want to put it in perspective. And it's all reactive medicine. Most of it is all reactive.

They're waiting for people to get fat, ignore their health, get sick, and then they go and it taxes the economy you know, economy. Imagine if we could lower that down to 10%. Where does that 13% go? Education. You know, communities. Maybe we could have music back in public education or the arts and stuff like that so when the money is going in the disproportionate way to you know health care I think

it's just insane that we don't tackle it and that has nothing to do with how disproportionate all the effects of these diseases are in the black community. And so that's, I think, a real, that should highlight some of the big issues. But doesn't it seem like an uphill battle to dislodge the politics of it and all the money in politics that comes from pharmaceutical industries and all these different industries? And that's why we want to go bottom up. Right. And every single one of your viewers and your listeners are important. Because if we could get them more focused on health care and living healthy, it will de-burden the institution.

And I think it would change a lot of people's lives and change society's life, too. We need more education. We need higher-paid teachers. We need music and the arts back in these schools. And we need to just get this under control. Let's make some noise for that. Yeah. Let me ask you, right?

One of these famous diets right now is this keto diet, right? So everyone is keto, keto, keto, keto, keto. And I recently been going to Europe this whole year, right? Eating that pasta. Nobody's on keto in Europe. But then nobody's overweight. It's like, I'm looking like, how does this work?

Yeah, yeah. So what I tell my patients is stay away from fad diets. You know, the thing about dieting is try to be consistent over time. What you see in a lot of different communities, again, in Cuban communities, in Puerto Rican communities, in Cuban communities, you see healthy eating as a part of the culture and stays that way over time. And that's the problem with whatever diet of the month it is or the diet of the week, is that people get on it,

they go up and down, they lose weight, gain weight, lose weight, gain weight, and so those are the kinds of challenges. So the concept is how do you have a culture of healthy eating that lasts for the rest of your lifetime? And you pass pass on to your kids right as well right because i guess my question is how come in america that's our way is like the no bread but in europe that's like their first thing like i like they they serve it to you

first and they serve it to you religion and nobody's big out there are they making europeans different than the portion control is a big part of all of this. What did you say? Portion control. Portion control. We're very good in this. It's not sometimes about what you eat. It's sometimes about how much of what you eat. And so if you eat a lot of carbohydrates, that has one particular impact. But it's not that everything

all food is evil. A lot of times it's the quantity as well as the quality of the food that you eat. Nori, you know I live in Europe, right? Yes, I know. You didn't invite me to your spot. Yes, I was. I heard you were posted up.

Quiet, quiet. Some lake. Some lake you're posted up in the street. That's my first time there. That's my first time there. It's pretty good. So I was in Sardinia, an island in Italy. Okay.

I wanted to go and visit one of the blue zones. Okay. And the blue zone, there's five blue zones in the world. Okay. One in Japan, one in this place in the mountains of Sardinia, one in California. I don't know where the, Central America. What is a blue zone? A blue zone is a community that lives healthy

into their hundreds so it's just not a one off it's a community of people that for some reason are living into their hundreds not in a hospital bed but like playing poker

in the afternoon going to strip clubs so I visited there are hundreds. Not in a hospital bed, but like playing poker in the afternoon. Going to strip clubs. Yeah. So I visited this community up in the mountains of Sardinia, and I can tell you what my observation was. Community,

it's pretty simple. Love, companionship, but they're eating a cheesy yogurt that is a probiotic that this is the reason why um this community and a certain type of wine that is very pro something about probiotic and the gut and i think, and so when I did some discovery on the other blue zones, you know when you get paper, for some reason you're

interested in all this shit, right? You want to live longer. So, what I realized, and I'd love for you to confirm or not, it's something about the gut is something super powerful. They call it the second brain, right? Yeah, that's true. Second call it the second brain, right? Yeah.

The second brain? I didn't know that. Yeah. I mean, it helps to drive a lot of your metabolism. And so that's why a lot of these behaviors end up making you healthier overall. I've seen a study that Tupac Chopra was talking about. Tupac? No.

I feel like everybody knew about it. I feel like everybody knew about it. No, I don't remember. Tupac Chopra, right? And he said that they put rabbits in a cage and they fed them all poison. But one set of rabbits, they massaged and they played music to and were nice to. And even though he fed them all poison, those set of rabbits that they were nice to took their poison and actually it became healthy. Is that something that we're supposed to be doing as we're eating?

Are we supposed to be thinking positive and feeling good about ourselves? That's stress, too. Yeah, exactly. That part of it around stress is important. Listen, we have a challenge many times talking about mental health, stress, and those kinds of things in our community, particularly even as black and brown men. To the point of even understanding that we have to normalize talking about hard days, good days, bad days, stressful days, depression, you know, all of those things. So, again, understanding how we normalize discussions about stress

and how we attack it and deal with it is a part of even that conversation. And go back to what Leroy said earlier. He said, you know, you get some paper, you start to think about these things. A lot of the communities that are suffering from a lot of disease, you know, they're in this economic struggle there. You know what I'm saying? But once you come out of that struggle, you're like, oh, you have something to live for. You want your family to live longer. You know, you start to think about creating generational wealth.

It's a whole different ballgame. Yeah. Yeah. And I also say, let's think about creating generational health along with it. Generational health. Is that right? That's right. That's right.

And that's why we decided, you know, I don't like celebrating myself, Nori. I like being behind the scenes and just watching this beautiful culture, you know, grow up. To see you choosing between Lake Como or Capri. Yes, I did both. It's just, it's wonderful. Yes, yes, I did. It's wonderful. It's wonderful to see this culture grow up and be so successful.

Right. culture grow up and and um be so successful right but i realized that there's you know i used to never know anybody who died when i was you know growing up first person that died was jam master jay wow wow first person that you know people used to say, oh, I lost so-and-so. I didn't even understand that feeling. But as you get older, you start losing people, people that you care so deeply about that you take for granted. You know, everybody wants to go to a funeral and celebrate someone's life. And while they're alive, they didn't, you know, they didn't take the time. And so the City of Hope asked me to do this numerous times, and I really didn't want to do this. In fact, I didn't even know that the City of Hope, this event, was something for many, many years because I never got an invite, okay?

Until, you know, rap music kicked down that fucking door. All of a sudden, I started getting the invite and I started recognizing, like, wow, there's these events and these hospitals and these, you know, the access to things. I had no idea, and believe believe me I was a decade successful right so I felt the kind of sort of way like what you know like Groucho Marx says I won't belong to a club that would take me as a member and so I said to myself why why do I why am I going to do this

I don't want to celebrate myself. And then all these people started getting sick. And I really, really wanted, started to try to understand this whole cancer thing. What is it? What is it about? How's people getting affected? affected and then I saw the statistics about how the percentage of black people that get sick versus white people since my career has been based on black music I felt like wow this is interesting let me talk to the hospital and discuss with them if they could do something to fund this inequity in cancer. And they were incredible. Like this hospital,

which is the world's most famous hospital in cancer, cancer research, cancer treatment, the way they treat patients, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, they understood the inequity that was happening and they want to close the gap. And so the moment they said that they're ready to put money to mobile vans that would go inside communities, black communities, to get early detection, I said, shit, but get over my fear and let's make this happen. God damn, he said that.

I know I'm bouncing around a little bit, but let me ask. At one point, my friend Rasta, he's a vegan, right? He's also Jamaican, right? But I don't know if Phil need to say that. You called him Rasta from the beginning. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, but at one point-

He knows you out in LA. Yeah, yeah, yeah. At one point, I was a vegan, right? And the reason why I kind At one point I was a vegan right And I The reason why I kind of got off of being a vegan I swear to God I had no animal instincts Like I swear to God People were stepping on my shoes and I was like are you okay

Like I was just like I was just too soft like I was just like wait a minute You thought that the meat helped you Listen listen I kind of felt like You only have animal instincts If you put animals in you. Now, was I bugging? Or, I don't know. Yeah, I don't think there's any data around that fact.

Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because this is just me. This is my personal experience. Right, right. But what I say to people and my patients often is, choose a diet that works for you that you can be on for a long time. Not just something that feels good or somebody else is doing

or is engaging just for this week or this moment because these are lifestyle decisions. And that's why I have to say, and shout out to folks like you and others who have been really talking about lifestyle. You know, how do you wake up in the morning and exercise, think about these things. So this is about creating a healthier lifestyle,

not just about one diet. If a vegan diet works for you, then that works. But if it doesn't work for you, then you need to find something that does work. Something that works for you. That's exactly right. Exactly right. You look pescatarian. I'm a pescatarian.

You've been eating fish. For like 15 years. You need fish to be vegan? That's what I'm saying. Yeah, I need fish to swim with. I'm Cuban. Holy moly guacamole. What's next?

Well, I want to dive deeper into the cancer research and everything going on because it's Holy moly guacamole What's next? Well I want to dive deeper into the cancer research And everything going on Because obviously we know that A lot of people in different communities feel that There's a lot of conspiracy around That they feel that these treatments are there That the cures are there And they're just not giving access

What's the truth? What's really going on? Truth be told, the distrust between our black and brown communities and the healthcare system has a lot of history. They think that it's a ski experiment. All kinds of things happen that really have turned our communities off. And so we, in healthcare, need to make a proactive effort

to engage people and bring them in. And when we think about things like cancer, we have really effective screening for cancer. For colon cancer, especially for those who are getting up in their 40s, you know, you know, think about colon cancer screening, especially for women as they get into their 40s, think about breast cancer screening. And colon cancer is really impacting our black community. Breast cancer is taking away a lot of our queens, I mean, the black and brown communities. And so we have to really get out the message about how we start to pull people in.

And listen, we've lost a lot of our soldiers to cancer, Guru from Ultima Alam, a lot of people who we all love and has contributed to our culture. So we have to think about how we start to again, really get this message out of our own health and start to talk to our communities more about it. You're powerful guys. you're you're your voice is powerful yeah is it you you're planning on having it on the front page of youtube or something like that or yeah we are trying to recruit people like

you okay yeah no we want yeah no problem we want is we want we want influential voices to try to help us communicate to the community you know i, I mean, you have a lot of, particularly a lot of folks in the hip-hop community who have been talking a lot about health. You know, if you look at style. Style, speed. You know, styles. I mean, I love some of the stuff styles are saying. Yeah, yeah.

And all of that stuff is ingredients about health. And then how do we... Pat Jones. Yeah, Pat Jones. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So how do we connect all of those voices around some of the evidence and help to communicate to our community?

And that's why I think it's just an evolution and a revolution that we're starting to see really really around how we get the messages around on healthcare so we want to start partnering more with artists and other people who have voices have the um community have the engagement um around you know again how we educate our community around a lot of these health messages yeah nah that's that's that's that's that's deep, man. It's deep. It's very deep. What else we got in there? The American West with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network, hosted by me, writer and historian Dan Flores, and brought to you by Velvet Buck. This podcast looks at a West available nowhere else. Each episode, I'll be diving into some of the lesser-known histories of the West.

I'll then be joined in conversation by guests such as Western historian Dr. Randall Williams and best-selling author and meat-eater founder Stephen Rinella. I'll correct my kids now and then where they'll say, when cave people were here. And I'll say, it seems like the Ice Age people that were here didn't have a real affinity for caves. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th, where we'll delve into stories of the West and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today. Listen to the American West with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future where the

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It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. And it's going to take us to heal us. It's Mental Health Awareness Month, and on a recent episode of Just Heal with Dr. J, the incomparable Taraji P. Henson stopped by to discuss how she's discovered peace on her journey. So what I'm hearing you saying is healing is a part of us also reconnecting to our childhood in some sort. You said I look how youthful I look because I never let that little girl inside of me die.

I go outside and run outside with the dogs. I still play like a kid. I laugh. You know, I love jokes. I love funny. I love laughing. I laugh at myself. I don't take myself too seriously.

That's the stuff that keeps you young and stops you from being so hard. To hear this and more things on the journey of healing, you can listen to Just Heal with Dr. J from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. AT&T, connecting changes everything. Come on, let's get to some points. Well, no, I still want to talk about the cancer thing. I'm interested because, like I said, a lot of conspiracies around cancer research and whether or not there's specific cures. People feel that there's cures and they're just being held back purposely. Yeah. So, I mean, truthfully, we have a lot of effective cures for cancer. We need to do a better job of how we bring in

and get those cures to the black and brown community. I mean, we need to make sure that we're getting more folks into not just clinical trials, but treatment and education and all of those kinds of things. So I would say that the healthcare system needs to do a better job, but we do have a lot of effective cures. Cancer has come a long way, DJ, from where it used to be,

especially when you think about pediatric cancer and all of these kinds of things. Screening and how we can detect a polyp earlier before it becomes colon cancer. How you can detect breast malignancy earlier. So all of these kinds of things, we're seeing advances. But the skepticism I would say that we see in our community, there's a history of where that came into being and we need to respect that history. But we need to also do a better job of educating people and bringing them in. Doctor, could cancer be cured? You know, cancer is a big thing, right? There's a whole

bunch of different kinds of cancers. There are some cancers that we have better treatment for than others, but we have a lot of really good treatment. One thing I will say, Laird, that we have on cancer is a lot of cancers that we can find early and do something about. Like I said, colon cancer being one of them and a lot of others. So the concept around early detection is important, especially in our communities where we see less of those kinds of screenings. What percentage?

I mean, when you find out that you have cancer, early versus late, what's the percentage opportunity of surviving that? Big difference. Big difference. I mean, that's why the concept of early is a game changer, right? You know, if you can bring people early, if you can find something at stage one before it becomes stage four, you know, those things make a difference.

And this is what's really hurting our community. When you look at those numbers around what's happening in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, when you look at what's happening in LA and all the South Central, what's killing our community are these diseases. So we really have to do a really better job of kind of bringing in early detection and everything on those sides.

What I think ends up going back to economics because it sounds like screening is the big thing. Like if you can catch it early. But I think a part of the issue is people not having insurance or even if they do have insurance. I'll tell you, even for myself, I have to do the screening. I'm at the age where I have to do. And me trying to figure out, okay, I have to go to the gastrologist and then you have to book this, the date for the appointments, months out. It seems confusing. It seems difficult. And that's me with someone with insurance. Imagine the person that

first of all, they have to get insurance. Then you have to navigate insurance. It seems like it's something complicated, which shouldn't be complicated. You're totally right. We have to do a better job. Although, shout out to you for getting your colon cancer screening. It's on the books.

It's on the books. But shout out for even planning to get it done. So that's actually a big thing right- It's on the books. It's on the books. But some of it we've been planning, planning to get it done. So that's actually a big thing right there. But you're right. We have to do a better job of simplifying the process and again, demystifying the process because it does take lives. Can we have that on YouTube?

We do. Can you go to YouTube and actually go through- You do. We do. We have a lot of information about- How do they access that information? Yeah, you just have to put in colon cancer. Okay.

You know, colon cancer screening. Wow. And what about the insurance side of it? Yeah, I know the insurance side of it, that's where things always get a little bit more complicated and that's where, to your point that you just alluded to, you know, there are ways in which we need to build a better infrastructure to take care of our communities.

And you're right, the maze of going through appointments and scheduling can be a challenge. But at the end of it is your life. Right. You know, and it doesn't matter how much money you have if you don't live long or you don't live to enjoy it. So I would just say, you know, we do a lot of things. You know, if we're buying a house, we go through a lot of challenges to get the mortgage, to get the house. Yeah. So think about that when you go through all the challenges.

And there are challenges, and we need to do better. But think about the end goal of what you're trying to get to. And it really is about saving your life. But imagine those struggling families where both parents are working full days. To even have the time to sit there. Like I told you, I'm going through the process, and I'm like, this is crazy. This is taking me forever. I've got my primary then they gotta refer me yeah i got to give me a couple referrals in case the first one takes too long yeah and it's just i'm already

like i can't i need an assistant yeah like imagine the regular you know kids in the household working two jobs like it's wild yeah yeah i mean you're right i mean that's where we have challenges with the system and um ways in which we need to work on making things better. But you're exactly right, especially for our communities. We have a disproportionate burden of those challenges. Right. I was watching an episode of Seinfeld the other day, right? Sorry, the simple ass shit, right?

But I was watching an episode of Seinfeld, and George Costanza is in the hospital, and they come in to take his tonsils out. Oh, I love that episode. And then Kramer says to him, man, I know somebody that would do it cheaper. Right? So then he goes to the person and it's a holistic doctor. That's right.

It's a holistic doctor. But I didn't realize that back then holistic doctors was looked at as the cheaper route to go. But there's a lot of people who believe in holistic healing. Yeah. Is that something that- You know, I think there's a role as all is a role for both holistic

complementary healing, the concept of spirituality and how all of that plays in. These are not either or. They can work together. You know, you can get your screenings and pray. You know, you can engage in this thing and that thing. So again, what you find with a lot of this is that bringing these things together

to now holistic you know, someone who's not trained taking out your tonsils, that's probably. Yeah, I don't think that was a good idea. That's right. Everything else in terms of like in the complementary holistic healing. I think as you having that as a part of of how we take care of patients is just how we take care of people. How about supplementation? What's your. Yeah, you know, it depends. Certainly, I think if you're deficient in a vitamin, taking supplement,

there's some supplements that are helpful. So I think the other thing that I find about supplementation sometimes is it allows you to engage in this conversation about healthy eating overall. Because DJ, the real crux of all of this is maintaining a healthy, balanced lifestyle over time. If you just do it for a month and it's fun, that doesn't really get you the effect. So the thing is, how do you choose and engage and start running with your kids and doing things and walking and talking with your friends about all these things? And that's the kind of stuff that pays off over time. What about artificial intelligence? Yeah.

How is that going to play into feeding cancer and making it easy for these communities to get access? Yeah, you know, AI potentially has a role. We're learning a lot about AI and health right now. And if you can simplify your appointment process and get the message out faster, then that's a good thing. So anything that can simplify that back end, get the message out faster, then that's a good thing. So anything that can simplify that back end, I think is going to be important. So I think we're going to learn more about that later as the healthcare and AI start

to evolve. But I think anything that can make it easier for our people to get the things that they need will be important. How much do we need the government involved in this, if at all? I think the government's essential in this. But the government, I think, they can't supplement what we need to do, and that is get the word out that we should be more careful, caring of ourselves prior to getting sick. The whole medical industry is based on once you get sick, and I think there should be significantly more funding from the government, education to prevent sickness, to lower the 22, 23% of our GDP down to normal levels so we could reinvest in the communities, in education,

music, the arts, just make our societies a more healthy place. Which should be bipartisan, but unfortunately someone will hijack one way or the other. Yeah, it should be bipartisan. Right. And I hope you guys show up on October 18th to my event. We're honoring you, right? Yeah, not only, you know,

I'm not going to say they're honoring me. I think they're going to honor, you know, I'm not going to say they're honoring me. I think they're going to honor, you know, 50 years of hip-hop. Many of my artists are coming out. Nori. That's right. Okay. Are coming out to... New York City, right?

No, L.A. L.A., okay. Los Angeles. Let me get my suit ready. It's a black tie. We're sold out. We've raised millions and millions and millions of dollars. And so we're going to have a great party. We're going to celebrate hip hop. We're going to do some good work. Listen, I was in Israel recently with my mother.

She's 93 years old. She had her four boys. Yeah. She had her four boys, 16 grandchildren. Wow. And she's traveling all over the world by herself she's fully engaged in life and i turned to her and i said you know you're very lucky and she says i know how lucky i am i said why are you so lucky and without hesitation she said the more you give the more you receive. That's it. And then, like, it's the mic drop.

And so, you know, this is the reason why I'm doing this, is just to give. And I love the fact that we have a lot of influence, a lot of power, a lot of reach. And so every once in a while doing some good things is a very powerful and important thing for us to do. You think hip-hop should have its own health insurance? I think the answer is emphatically yes. Right. I don't want any of the artists to not be able to, after, I mean, this is a very short career. Right. You know, not everybody could reinvent themselves.

Right. musical people that are, you know, in a different planet. They're the vulnerable parts of our society. Just because they're talented and were successful and well-known and made some money doesn't mean that they were able to keep that money flowing. And they should not be without an insurance card and something to fall back on. I'm wondering if the Grammys has a program of that or Music Cares or I'm not sure. Or SAGAS. Yeah, Chuck D and I think. And now Chuck D, I believe.

Well, Chuck D is like a beacon of good shit. Curtis Lowe is also involved in that. You know what I'm saying? He just keeps trying to push the envelope, do the right thing. Yeah, he's amazing. And the whole nine. So, yeah, I would like to see that. I would like to see this community grow old gracefully.

Thank you. I'm going to tell you another. We'll go to the bathroom. Great meeting. I'm with you, and you offered me a great deal. But I was like, Leo, I'm hot. These people offer me more. And he's like, yo, you said to me, you looked at me like a man, and you said,

if it's all about money, then take the deal. But if it's about your career, then you the deal. But if it's about your career, then you're at the right place. Thank you. And guess what? And guess what? I stayed. And by the way,

you got to understand how hard that is for a person to calculate that and say, you know what? Because what he's saying is righteous. He's saying like, yo, bro, these guys are just investing because you're hot. For now, I'm going to show you a career and you show me a career. Thank you. You know what I mean? You show me a career.

I'm going to show you. I'm going to also tell you. I remember you telling me, you and Kev, it's like, yo, we're going to have you on tour. And for the rest of the duration. And boy did I do tours from Survival of the Fittest to all of these tours. And it was like

I just knew that I made the right decision, man. So I always wanted you to know that face-to-face. Talk about you like Jesus when you're not around. I got to say it in your face. Thank you. I prefer Moses, but I'll take Jesus when you're not around. I got to say it in your face. You know what I mean? Thank you. I prefer Moses, but I'll take Jesus.

Okay, my bad, my bad. No, no. Okay, leave it. Yo, I need to get to London. Who? Yeah, I need to get to London. I haven't been to London this year. No, I need to get to London.

Oh, okay, I got you. No, no, we see the warning. Okay, we got you. So here's my question because, I mean, I'm a veteran of drink tramps. Yes, yes, yes, yes. And I want to come back and do it again because I'm not finished. Okay, but hold on. We got two more.

We got two more. Okay, okay. Okay. 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 call this taser the revolution.

But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that 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 multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission this is absolute season one taser incorporated I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-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. And it's going to take us to heal us. It's Mental Health Awareness Month. And on a recent episode of Just Heal with Dr. J, the incomparable Taraji P. Henson stopped by to discuss how she's discovered peace on her journey. So what I'm hearing you saying is healing is a part of us also reconnecting to our childhood

in some sort. You said I look how youthful I look because I never let that little girl inside of me die. I go outside and run outside with the dogs. I still play like a kid. I laugh. You know, I love jokes. I love funny. I love laughing. I laugh at myself. I don't take myself too seriously. That's the stuff that keeps you young and stops

you from being so hard. To hear this and more things on the journey of healing, you can listen to Just Heal with Dr. J from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. AT&T, connecting changes everything. One is, this is a lifelong question. Not lifelong question, but for hip-hop people, it always pops up did leo is leo the reason jay-z and dame dash is not together absolutely not okay let's just um like if leo was the reason

then they never were together in the first place. Okay, right? Mic drop. Yeah. Oh, my God. So, okay. And then, okay, this is the last one. So now, you do, you dominate. From Atlantic, I mean, excuse me, from Warner, you start 300.

What makes you go from 300? And you sign all these new artists. You do it again. Like, no one says you could do it again. They were laughing at me, Nori. Yeah. They were laughing at me when I started 300. What did you say?

We create? We create yourself. Yeah. Reinventing. They were laughing at me they're saying having these realized that the music industry is fucked and what does he know and shouldn't he just retire the whole nine and all i could say to you is i don't pay attention to what people have to say about me right you give me the inspiration when I see you and the people who know me understand what I'm all about.

And that's good enough for me. I don't really care. I'm not tethered to social media. I'm focused on waking up every day and trying to contribute and do something good. So 300, I knew that there was going to be a bounce in the business. Anybody who would bet against music always loses. So it was so obvious to me, everybody's going shorting music, I would take that bet any day. Nine years later, I sell the

company for $440 million. How dope is it you sell 300 for 400? Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. I'm so grateful for the artists that believed in me and companies that believed in me.

And it's just, it's really great. Well, we, on behalf of all the artists who you've changed their life, we're happy that you believed in us. Thank you. You understand what I'm saying? We're grateful and we thank you. Be that you believed in us. Thank you. You understand what I'm saying? We're grateful and we thank you. Be a faith man to man. Thank you. What's the last question?

So how do you transition from the guy that is now, I don't know how you kind of put that, you know, but it's like the guy who's putting out the music as opposed to the guy that's creating the music and manufacturing it this is the YouTube so YouTube is a very

important platform it helps with the global culture it helps for artists to cut through the clutter. It allows them to be heard and connect with their fans.

We build products to make it easier for their fans to discover new music. We give everybody a voice and show them the world. And it was a toll that I was willing to play because I get to play with a platform that has two plus billion daily active users. So I want to make a difference. I want to make a big impact. And I wanted the music industry to understand that YouTube was their friend, not their foe. You know that UGC used to be a four-letter word. They hated UGC, user-generated content.

So Napstar, though, right? No, no, no, user-generated meaning that you create the content. When a kid uses your song for their video, to me, I think that's a much bigger expression of care for your music than a passive listen. And so 30% of the revenue, and we sent over $6 billion in the last 12 months growing rapidly to the music industry. And 30% of that is from UGC, user-generated content, because we invested in content ID. Which pays the licenses. That we can detect, the computer can detect when a creator or user uses your music and

you get paid for it. And to me, that's a huge investment that we're the only ones that made. It's a huge campus in Zurich and Switzerland. So about you two. You two. So it's the respect for creation.

It's the respect for creation. But think about when UGC was a four-letter word, but now it's core to the industry. And I think the same thing is going to happen with AI and gen AI. Gen AI is going to come in. There's a huge opportunity. What's gen AI? I'm sorry.

Generative AI, where the computers learn from the computers. So there's no fear from your side of anything that could go wrong with AI? Of course there is. Of course there is. There is a lot of focus. We've created principles and have guidelines, and we're working with the industry to create a framework that is healthy. It creates a healthy framework of control, monetization, and attribution.

And once we have that framework in place, I think that you're going to experience a new era, an amazing new era. What's your take on the AI-generated voices and basically redoing artists' voices? Everybody tries to do a Leroy Collins impression. Yeah. That's going to become a problem probably. I think that's just a fad.

I think there's just so much. For example, think about if you have writer's block and AI could help you. I want this to be a tool for creativity. I want this to be a jet pack for human creativity, not a replacement. And so this is a brand new world that we're on the verge of. Guys, be clear. This is coming so much faster

than you could ever imagine. You co-signing AI, basically. I'm co-signing bold and responsible AI that we work together in shaping the future. That's what I co-sign. Responsible is the main word. Bold and responsible because we can't put our head in the sand

and think that this is not going to happen like we did with Napster. Oh, no, exactly, exactly. We've got to be on our front foot. We've got to be offensive, and we've got to make things happen. Most definitely. Okay, entrepreneur, hip-hop style.

You know what I'm saying? How we are the first adopters of new technology, new ideas. We're open minded to win. So let's shape the future together and let's clap. Very last question. Very last question. Very last question. I'm sorry.

Did you think that Jay-Z would be hip-hop's first billionaire? I don't give a fuck about this billionaire bullshit. I think it's a bunch of bullshit. Okay. I think... I wasn't expecting that. I think what I'm proud of is Jay-Z as a father, as a businessman, as pushing the boundaries of the possibilities. All this billionaire bullshit is like a marketing tool. It's like hip hop 50th.

It's a marketing tool. I celebrate hip hop every single day. I don't need 50 years anniversary. I couldn't think of a better way to end that. I ain't going to lie. Mic drop. Mic drop. I'm going to take a picture and then be done.

Drink Champs is a Drink Champs LLC production in association with Interval Presents. Hosts and executive producers NORE and DJ EFN. From Interval Presents, executive producers, Alan Coy and Jake Kleinberg. Listen to Drink Champs on Apple Podcasts,

Amazon Music, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for joining us for another episode of Drink Champs, hosted by yours truly, DJ EFN and NORE. Please make sure to follow us on all our socials. That's at Drink Champs across all platforms. At TheRealNoriega on IG. At Noriega on Twitter. Mine is at Who's Crazy on IG.

At DJ EFN on Twitter. And most importantly, stay up to date with the latest releases, news, and merch by going to drinkchamps.com. from WebMD. Through in-depth conversations with experts, Health Discovered covers everything from tips for healthier living to the latest on therapy and mental health. My goal is to really de-stigmatize mental health treatment and looking at it from a whole health perspective. Physical health and mental health can be intertwined. Listen to WebMD Health Discovered on the iHeart Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart Podcast.