Drink Champs - Episode 448 w/ Will Smith

Episode Date: April 4, 2025

N.O.R.E. & DJ EFN are the Drink Champs. In this episode we chop it up with the icon, Will SmithWill Smith pulls up for an unfiltered, no-holds-barred conversation. From his iconic Hollywood career... to his music roots and personal journey, Will is bringing the realness like never before. Expect classic storytelling, deep reflections, and, of course, plenty of laughs with the Drink Champs crew!Will he drop exclusive gems? Will we get untold behind-the-scenes moments? One thing’s for sure—this episode is a must-watch!Grab your drinks, sit back, and tune in for a legendary night with the Fresh Prince himself. It’s history in the making!Make some noise for Will Smith!! 💐💐💐🏆🏆🏆 *Subscribe to Patreon NOW for exclusive content, discount codes, M&G’s + more: 🏆* https://www.patreon.com/drinkchamps *Listen and subscribe at https://www.drinkchamps.com Follow Drink Champs: https://www.instagram.com/drinkchamps https://www.twitter.com/drinkchamps https://www.facebook.com/drinkchamps https://www.youtube.com/drinkchamps DJ EFN https://www.crazyhood.com https://www.instagram.com/whoscrazy https://www.twitter.com/djefn https://www.facebook.com/crazyhoodproductions N.O.R.E. https://www.instagram.com/therealnoreaga https://www.twitter.com/noreagaSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:02:07 I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. and it's drink chest motherfucking podcast he's a legendary queens rapper hey hey segre this your boy n-o-r-e he's a miami hip-hop pioneer one of his dj efn together they drink it up with some of the biggest players in the most professional unprofessional podcast and your number one source for drunk fat it's time for drink champs drink up what's going on it's dj efn and it's military crazy world podcast What's up, y'all? in this game. For people who have been 10 years or more, where the person that we're about to introduce, the person that we're talking about,
Starting point is 00:03:25 not only is he seasoned, he's making it look good. He has dominated every world from when you talk about your parents not understanding to sitcoms to movies to dominating
Starting point is 00:03:41 and jumping out of a goddamn plane. Preach. This motherfucker don't gear. He is the potential. When you think of black excellence, when you think of a person who came from the hood and made it somewhere and kept going,
Starting point is 00:03:55 this is the fucking picture you should see in a dictionary. For not just black people, for all people throughout the world. For people who made it from the bottom and really, really, really
Starting point is 00:04:04 made it to the top. This man has dominated so many fields. We are proud of him. We are happy to have him on the show. In case you don't know what we're talking about, we're talking about the one, I'm about to say Fresh Prince. That's right. Because that's where I'm going with it.
Starting point is 00:04:17 Yes, we take it all the way back. But we're going to say Will Smith today, guys. Hey, but you can't forget, we're in Philly. We're in Philly. Which, by the way, let me just tell you something. I'm going to be honest with you, and I know some people from Philly are going to question this, what I'm about to say. Well, just be careful, because you're still here.
Starting point is 00:04:36 I'm scared. I am. I am. You don't know what I'm about to say. I am, because, first of all, Philly's my number one market, being from New York, and even in drink chats, I believe it's don't know what I'm about to say. I am because, first of all, Philly's my number one market from me being from New York. And even in drink chats, I believe it's always been our top five market. But this is the first time ever I flew to Philly and I seen clear blue water. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:04:57 I was like, did Will Smith buy some synthetic? Did this motherfucker just AI Philly? I saw blue water like going to Philly. I mean, I'm coming from Miami, coming to Philly. I was was like did you buy some shit out here you know because I knew y'all was coming we hit the switch when luminaries are coming you got a street named after you
Starting point is 00:05:23 congratulations man see you got a street named after you. Yeah, congratulations, man. Let's make the noise. See, our people, not only when they get a street named after them, but most of the time, it's always after they pass away. Yeah, for sure. And it's most of the time almost after,
Starting point is 00:05:37 like, they reach their glory days, and it's kind of like when they reach their death. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, you're on top. Yeah, for sure. You're not dead. Yeah. You're not dead. Yeah, for sure. You're not dead. Yeah. Not dead.
Starting point is 00:05:47 Not dead. You're not dead. You're well alive. Not dead. A couple days last year, I wish I was. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But, so how does this happen? The mayor calls you?
Starting point is 00:05:56 Yeah. And what do they say? No, so, you know, Charlie Mack is— Pick up Charlie Mack. That's my dude. And, you know, he's really connected with the city and stuff like that. So he's always pushing for stuff like that. That's my day one ride or die.
Starting point is 00:06:13 So they made contact. And it's funny. It was really strangely emotional for me. Of course. Because I won awards and stuff like that, but the, it's a, it's a street named after me in front of my high school. Right. So, and, and it hit, it hit real different. And then my mom is sitting there and the mayor presents it, you know, and it was like, and it's called Will Smith way Wow Right and it really it really hit me with the idea of like what is the Will Smith way?
Starting point is 00:06:49 The kids are gonna come out and cross a bridge and think about the Will Smith way So do you think that do you think your your neighborhood will have crime in it, or we going to put bad boys out there? Oh, no, we ending that. We ending that. We ending that. Don't crime them. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. That's right. We only elevating. We only elevating.
Starting point is 00:07:12 Yes, that's right. We learning and growing and evolving. Right, right. So I'm going to bounce around a little bit. I'm going to have a drink. You want to have a drink? Yeah, what they got? What they put in here?
Starting point is 00:07:21 Okay, I don't know. Some Will Smith juice. I'm just letting you know. I was like, you know, to do, like, drink? Yeah, what they got? What they put in here? Oh, okay. I don't know. Some Will Smith juice. I'm just letting you know. I was like, you know, to do like drink champs, I wanted to sit with y'all. But like I'm a drink chump. So we better get to listen. We're going to phrase that. I'm going to be, listen.
Starting point is 00:07:36 We're going to phrase that. Yeah, listen. We're going to phrase that. Yeah, it ain't no, I'm going to be no good one drink. Okay, one drink. Now you good, you good. And I'm going to be sweet. We have a beautiful Philly bartender here.
Starting point is 00:07:46 So would you like to serve a well-smoked drink? Yes, I made you a vodka and cranberry. Okay, okay. I keep it real simple. What's your name? Amanda. Amanda. How you doing, Amanda?
Starting point is 00:07:55 Let's make noise for Amanda. Let's do it. So we're going to, okay. All right. We're going to bounce around a little bit, right? All right. We're going to bounce around a little bit, right? All right. Do you realize, it might be my opinion, but I believe everyone else in here is probably going to say the same thing. Bad Boys franchise might be the best franchise in movie history. Okay.
Starting point is 00:08:21 I'll take that. I'll take that. That's definitely your opinion You know, some people are going to disagree Well, name somebody who would disagree We're only talking about Godfather
Starting point is 00:08:30 We only talking about Oh, the Godfather We're only talking about Godfather Godfather for sure Godfather And that's because that's all seriousness They was throwing fishes and shit
Starting point is 00:08:38 If y'all was throwing fishes and somebody You know what I mean Like, yeah, we were up there with Godfather We're going to ask some fish next time to be up there with the Godfather. But that's—okay.
Starting point is 00:08:48 It's hard to do. What we did in Bad Boys, the one thing that I'm going to give us, because, you know, I can't say it about myself. I can. I do agree with you. I do agree with you. Yes! Yeah. But, like, 27 years after Bad Boys 2.
Starting point is 00:09:02 That's what I'm saying. And it still wins. To be able to do a third one 27 years later and then be able to do a fourth movie and they all are increasing
Starting point is 00:09:14 in the box office success. That's hard to do. That's a testament to the brand. That's hard to do. That's hard to do. I realized how dope it was and I realized how good you was as an actor
Starting point is 00:09:23 when I realized you got DJ Khaled to promote Pork. He got a muscle. I'm sorry, Akeez. But it's true. It's true. You're just going at Khaled this whole time. I'm just saying.
Starting point is 00:09:35 Khaled can take it. He's a funny guy. Let me tell you, Khaled. He's very funny. So on Bad Boys 3, Khaled, you know, he was having a hard time with his lines and stuff like that. So on Bad Boys 4, he decided he was going to be perfect. So he stayed in character the whole time. Oh, so he was a chop-chop guy.
Starting point is 00:09:56 I was like, yo, Khaled. So listen, like in the parking lot coming into work, I was, yo, Khaled, what's up? What's up, mate? Yo, hey, what's up? Kyle's a nice guy. Yo, yeah, he's like, he stayed in character for like two weeks.
Starting point is 00:10:12 I didn't see him out of character. I was like, Cali, you doing a lot. It's just, it's bad boys. You don't have to do method acting for bad boys. He stayed in there hard, though. But no, he did a really, he did a good job.
Starting point is 00:10:26 Like, I've watched a movie in 10 countries. And when Khaled comes on camera around the world, audiences are like, ah! They just, he got a thing. People just love seeing him. So as my friend Capone walked in from Capone and Noriega, and I'm thinking about our legacies. What's up, brother? How you feeling, man? One of the first records on the album, by the way, you was starting on that album.
Starting point is 00:10:51 I know. Yo, yo, I ain't gonna lie. I'm feeling it. Get into it. I'm listening to the album like, yo, you trying to show you. I feel like you had something to prove. Yeah, no, I had more than something to prove. I had something to say. Right.
Starting point is 00:11:05 And, you know, I felt like the first track on the album is called Barbershop. Barbershop. Interior Barbershop Day. You was having fun on that. I was having fun. Right. So what I wanted was like, you know, let everybody know I know what y'all been saying. It was somewhat what reminded me of somewhat what Eminem did.
Starting point is 00:11:25 Yes, right. You said everything about yourself so no one can say something. Right, absolutely. You can continue. It was based on Eddie Murphy's
Starting point is 00:11:32 barbershop scene from Coming to America. Right. Right, so I played three characters on the track. Jeff played one and B. Simone played a character.
Starting point is 00:11:43 But what I wanted to do was to really to set it to rap so the people are talking, but they're talking in rhyme form lines back and forth. So I wanted it to be a really unique kind of creation where I got to just say everything that I wanted to say. It's like it's in the back of people's mind. So first track, I want to get it out so we can, you know, open up to talk about what I want to talk about.
Starting point is 00:12:09 With an intro right into the track, then he was like, Abu Dhabi. I was like, oh, he's feeling it, yo. So let me ask you, we stand in a burning forest. In a burning forest. They know where I'm going. Yeah, okay, we're in a burning forest. You're in a burning forest. You got one I'm going. Yeah, okay. We're in a burning forest. You're in a burning forest. You got one bottle of water. One bottle of water.
Starting point is 00:12:29 But this one bottle of water can save somebody. But you got two choices. You got Martin Lawrence there. Damn. And then you got Jazzy Jeff. Damn! Wow. End it out for me.
Starting point is 00:12:39 Damn. It's Martin Lawrence and Jazzy Jeff, and it's one bottle of water. Yeah. I heaved that bitch in the forest and we all died together. I was going to say about that, Capone and EFN, I did not have that answer, guys. You're drinking the water,
Starting point is 00:12:56 looking at it. I'm like, y'all fucked up, man. Yeah, ain't no way. Ain't no way. I wouldn't be able to live with myself either way. We all, we're going to all end it right now.
Starting point is 00:13:04 Okay, so let's Let's speak about Jazzy Jeff Right because that relationship To me Yeah man And we all know The industry That's a really
Starting point is 00:13:12 Really good question by the way I thought about that all night That's a really That's like That's a really good one Thank you Thank you Let's go back to that okay
Starting point is 00:13:19 But that's That's a very seldom thing In this industry right When you look at people Who had 25 yearyear relationship, right? And then, God bless me because I'm not coming at this new generation, but you see these guys, they last a year or two. They can't stick with the manager.
Starting point is 00:13:34 They can't stick with the road person. They can't stick with everybody. But you and Jazzy Jeff have like a 30-year career, but then you don't have just one. You have this Martin Lawrence same thing. And then I've read somewhere or heard somewhere where Martin Lawrence didn't even want you in Bad Boys. No, no. It was the other way.
Starting point is 00:13:51 Okay. You didn't want him? The studio didn't want me. Martin had the script. Oh, wow. Right? So the studio didn't want me, and Martin said he wouldn't do it if it wasn't with me. Oh, wow.
Starting point is 00:14:01 Right? So Martin wanted—he had the script, and, you know, he was looking at Eddie. And his sister was like, you know, I really think you need to do this. Oh, yeah, that's right. His sister was like, I really think you need to do it with Will. And he thought about it, and he called me, and we had a meeting. And then the studio was like, yeah, no, you know. It's like both of us were, we were successful on TV, but we weren't Eddie, right?
Starting point is 00:14:27 So they wanted to do it with Eddie. And Martin was like, after we met, he was like, nope, it has to be Will. Were y'all close already at that point or not yet? We weren't. We met—he called me to come to his house to pitch Bad Boys. And we met. We had a dinner at his house, and we met that night for Bad Boys. Wow, that's dope.
Starting point is 00:14:44 Yeah. dinner at his house and we met that night for bad boys yeah and then just ever since then it's it's like it's hard to have um real relationships well you know you know but like in this business it's hard to have it's hard to have real relationships right because what happens especially you know in in movies you're talking about you know know, five, ten, twenty million dollars, right? Okay, my bad. You're talking about real, you're talking about real money. It's really hard for somebody to make a decision for a relationship over a decision for money, you know? And it's like Martin is, you know,
Starting point is 00:15:29 one of those relationships. It's like one of my only, my real relationships are before movies. Like, you know, we in Philly and you looking around and like, you know, like the youngest of my squad got 20 years, you know? Yeah, I see Uncle Old here. He older than my father.
Starting point is 00:15:46 Yeah. That's my nigga. That's my nigga. You know, so it's like, you know, in this season of my life, I'm really taking notice to those things. Right. First day on the set of Bad Boys 4, you know, I'm doing it. I'm going to go on it. And Martin said, hey, hey.
Starting point is 00:16:03 What do you say? You know, I'm doing it. I'm going to go on it. And Martin said, hey, hey. He said, man, we made three of these, and we don't really remember a lot. He was like, we're going to pay attention for this one. Okay, when he said we remember a lot, what did he mean? What did he mean? Because we just, like, we were running, running, running, not paying attention. He was like, no, no, no, no. It was day one. He was like, no, slow down.
Starting point is 00:16:23 And it's like, we're going to take in. Like live in the experience. We're going to live in the experience. You know, and it was really good. And we kind of settled down. He was like, we're going to make the movie. It's going to be good or it's going to not be good. He was like, but what we have is our attention.
Starting point is 00:16:39 That's dope. And I was like, got it. And we just really just settled down. And it's like, you know, that's my dude right there, man. Like, he is as authentic a person as you will ever meet. Martin. Martin. Why?
Starting point is 00:16:53 Was it a culture shock going from the music side to the Hollywood side? It was, yeah, it was really, it was different in the sense that, so music is really current, right? So you're making this stuff, you're in it, and it's really current. Right. And then what happens when you, into television, it slows down a little bit. It's like five-month delay. You make something, and then it's five months before it comes out. Then when you get in a movie, it could be two years before it comes out.
Starting point is 00:17:24 And it just loses the immediacy of it. So for me, that was... The biggest difference? The biggest difference in the expression of it. It's like you don't get to create and get it out in a timely fashion where you're checking in to see how people feel. You're getting the feedback.
Starting point is 00:17:47 You're getting the feedback, right? So it's harder to stay current with movies and television than it is with music. What about the environment, though, in terms of that? In terms of the people? Yeah. You know, I've been blessed, man. You know, immediately on the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, I was with Quincy Jones. Right. You know, I've been blessed, man. You know, immediately on the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, I was with Quincy Jones. Right.
Starting point is 00:18:08 You know. That was his idea, right? Yeah. So Quincy Jones. It was about him, correct? No, Benny Medina. Benny Medina. Was with Quincy Jones.
Starting point is 00:18:16 Benny Medina was an A&R exec at Warner Brothers Records. Who wanted to be a J-Lo manager. He was J-Lo's manager. And he had an idea. It was based on his life. So he went from Watts to Beverly Hills. And Quincy changed it, you know. From West Philadelphia.
Starting point is 00:18:35 He changed it to Philly. He was like, what's your rap name? I was like, Fresh Prince. He said, okay, that's the character's name, Fresh Prince. Where are you from? Philly. I said, oh, I'm from Philly. He said, oh, man, I got some stories about Philly.
Starting point is 00:18:47 We're not going to talk about it. But Quincy changed it to Philly. And then he said, Benny grew up in Beverly Hills, and we were at Quincy's house. And he was like, this is Bel-Air. He said, you like this house? I said, I like this. Yeah, he said, yeah, Bel-Air make Beverly Hills look like public housing. He was like, you know, fuck Beverly Hills. It's Bel-Air make Beverly Hills look like public housing. Right? He was like, you know, fuck Beverly Hills.
Starting point is 00:19:06 It's Bel-Air. So Quincy changed it. Like, literally in one night, he changed it to Philadelphia, to Bel-Air, and named the show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Yeah. Before even preaching, though, right? Yeah, before I even auditioned. What a night. The rest of the piece to Quincy Jones.
Starting point is 00:19:21 Now, at that time, were you the first rapper doing a sitcom? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, Fresh you the first rapper doing a sitcom? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, fresh, the... Now, I got to ask. Hold on, before you go. Because at that time,
Starting point is 00:19:31 doing anything commercial... Yeah, it was all bad. It was frowned upon. Yeah. But you making this money... Frowned upon. That's a lightweight... That's a lightweight...
Starting point is 00:19:38 It was frowned upon. It was like you was doing foul shit. Yeah, it was foul. That shit was whack. People were getting heart distanced about that. That shit was whack. That shit was whack. People were getting heart disorders about that. That shit was whack.
Starting point is 00:19:46 That shit was corny. And Will Smith ain't shit. But you're making the money. You got the Hollywood license. You're going from Philly to actual real Hollywood. How was that experience? You know, it was more than Philly Hollywood that was hard. It was the Philly LA that.A. that was hard.
Starting point is 00:20:05 Okay. Like, they got different rules in L.A., and it's like, you know, you learn the hard way walking around in L.A. with your red Phillies baseball cap on. Oh, yeah, because that's Pyrus. Oh, shit, I didn't even realize that. Yeah, I was like, we was learning the hard way out there. It's like, they just got this. It's different rules. Right.
Starting point is 00:20:27 You know, so the first thing was like trying to just get the transition for me was more about acting. The difficulty was about acting versus rapping. It's a whole different thing to like be looking in somebody's eyes and say a line. So you're saying from the sitcom to the movies? Well, no, no, from music to the sitcom. Oh, from music to the sitcom. It wasn't like a music video. Yeah, it's not.
Starting point is 00:21:11 It was like a really different thing that was hard for me, and I was like mouthing people's lines and stuff like that. Yeah, I've read that story. Yeah, it was terrible. It was terrible. The big transition was like Quincy never asked if I could act. He saw my music video, so he assumed that I could act. So I was on the set of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and never had really done anything. That's incredible.
Starting point is 00:21:34 You know, so it was like that. But, you know, Quincy had the power to do that. What was your first serious role? Because, you know, at the end of the day, they all thought, you know, rappers are fads, right? Yeah, yeah. And then, you know, you're on Fresh Prince and it's working, but then it's like, you know, I know Jamie Foxx was like the Ray character, right? What was your first serious role besides Muhammad Ali?
Starting point is 00:21:55 I did a movie, I think, second season of Fresh Prince called Six Degrees of Separation. Oh, Separation. Yes, okay, okay, okay. Six Degrees of Separation. Six Degrees of Separation. So that was my first attempt at dramatic acting. But on the Fresh Prince, really the father scene
Starting point is 00:22:16 with Uncle Phil was like that first attempt at a real dramatic... No hood nigga want to watch that scene. No hood nigga. That make every hood nigga saw. Don't you put that scene on. They're going to be like,
Starting point is 00:22:28 the toughest dude in the world. They're going to be like, oh. How come he don't want me, man? It's like, woo. That's damn. I just did it to myself. But yeah, that scene was like the first time where I was like looking to expand and be able to, you know, hold a dramatic scene.
Starting point is 00:22:54 And, you know, everybody on that show was like stage trained veterans. Thespians. Thespians, yeah. Joe Marcel was from the Royal British Academy. Janet Hubert, Witten, was a triple Broadway threat, singing, dancing, acting. So everybody had— That must have been intimidating for you. It was really intimidating, but it was love. Everybody wanted me to win. In the beginning, it was a little bit, I know, wanted me to win.
Starting point is 00:23:25 In the beginning, it was a little bit, I think, because rappers was taking actors' jobs. So that wasn't a good look for them. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like right now, the English people are taking American jobs. Yes, yes, absolutely. They don't like it. Yeah, they don't like that. Yeah, it's like, you know, they are well-trained, though, you know, and that's a thing, especially with, like, with black actors in America because the opportunities aren't the same.
Starting point is 00:23:51 We're not, it's like we don't get a much more, from the muscle, natural space. And our training is actually on the job. Right. You know, whereas, you know, British actors. They can watch the wire. Yeah. And learn it. And learn it.
Starting point is 00:24:15 Like, yes. I mean, they did. They did. They did. Listen, they doing the damn thing. Thank you. So, we have a game on our shows called Quick Time with Slam, right? Where we take, we ask ask questions and we take shots.
Starting point is 00:24:27 If you don't want to take shots, you can have somebody from Philly who represents you come in place and take your shots. Or maybe you have one or two shots. Yeah. Yeah, you let us know. Damn. You can take a shot. You can take a shot. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:24:37 Baka or Habiki. You want Japanese whiskey? You look like a Japanese whiskey type of guy. Yeah, yeah. All right, let's go. Hey, man, listen. Yo, don't let them watch. It's whatever, man.ana. Let's go. Hey, man, listen. Don't let the white Philadelphia come out.
Starting point is 00:24:50 Just give me the bottle. Give me the bottle. Okay, hold on. So you got to get her ready. You got to get her ready, Mr. Lee, because this first question is mine.
Starting point is 00:24:58 Please, everybody, back up. Everybody, back up. This is not even on the list. Oh, it is on the list. What is that? Hold on, hold on, hold on. This is Dominican Mamoana. I do not recommend that.
Starting point is 00:25:10 Yeah. Homemade. I do not recommend that. Homemade brew. We go soon. I know you a fly motherfucker. I got Japanese whiskey, just in case you want, from the Alps of Tokyo. From the Alps of Tokyo.
Starting point is 00:25:22 I don't know why I said Alps. I don't know why I said Alps. I don't know why. French Alps of Tokyo? He said from the Alps of Tokyo. I don't know why I said Alps. I don't know why I said Alps. I don't know why. Now I'm not going to sit up. He said from the Alps of Tokyo. I was trying to make it sound, I was trying to make it sound sexy. You're going to have me messed up.
Starting point is 00:25:31 Yes, yes, okay. He said from the Alps of Tokyo. All right, this is a question from the best Prince world of the universe. And if I get it right. Now we got to remember. Oh yeah, tell them the rules.
Starting point is 00:25:42 No, you got to tell them the rules. You explain it. We suck at telling these rules. No, you're doing the these rules because y'all making this shit up as you go you know so we got this from the house of choki all right and then what we do what we do is that we ask a japanese question you know we're gonna give you two choices yes You pick one we're not drinking. Yes. But if you don't pick, we're drinking.
Starting point is 00:26:07 Okay. So you can say both or neither and we're drinking. Both or neither. We're drinking. Okay. All right. But we want stories. This is all to bring up stories.
Starting point is 00:26:14 All right. This is a lifelong French question. See? That's exactly right. French quench? No, that's what you're trying to mean like that. I tweeted. He already played the that. He already played the game. He already played the game.
Starting point is 00:26:27 I Instagrammed this morning. You was practicing. You was practicing ahead of the show. And I said, does anybody have questions for Will? And this question popped up so much, so many times, and so fast. Because everyone knows about this game. It's called Quick Time of Slime. You give the sonori.
Starting point is 00:26:43 No, no, no. It's called Quick Time of Slime. You give the Sonori. No, no, no. It's called Quick Time with Slime. So everyone knows this. So as soon as we, I texted, I texted the picture with me, you, and Charlie Mack. And this is the first one.
Starting point is 00:26:53 And this is a very important one. So remember, this or that. This or that. This or that. The offense said neither. Yeah, yeah. Don't listen to him.
Starting point is 00:27:03 Stay right here. He speaks Nori. He speaks Nori. He speaks Nori. He speaks Norish. He speaks Norish. I speak Norish. I speak Norish. Vivian one.
Starting point is 00:27:16 He can't get it out. Because I wanted to say it politically correct. Vivian one or Art Viv one or Art Viv two. I was trying to say it, but I'll say it. I'm doing this another way. I'll eat that bottle. Eat that bottle. It I was trying to say it, but I'll say it. I'm doing this another way. I'm eating that bottle. Eating that bottle.
Starting point is 00:27:27 It's in the forest. Oh, so then we drink it. All right. Oh, damn. Salud. Salud. Salud. Salud.
Starting point is 00:27:37 How many times in your life it has people ask you? So it doesn't burn when you drink it. Oh, it burns. I'm just trying to act hard in front of you. You Will Smith. That definitely burns. All right. It's good.
Starting point is 00:27:51 That's tasty, though. Oh, yeah. I like it. It's from the Alps of Japan. It's a very special place. Come on, man. I'm enjoying myself. That's the full setup.
Starting point is 00:28:03 That's the full setup. He researched the Alps in Japan. How many times have you been asked that question? Oh, my God. Yeah. Yeah, no, you know, it is, it was one of the most, like, difficult times in my life. Right. You know.
Starting point is 00:28:21 Because you don't understand this is a job. You have a relationship with them. Yeah, it's like, you know because you don't understand this is a job you have a relationship with them yeah it's like you know what on those kind of sets you take on the relationships of your character wow
Starting point is 00:28:31 it's like your set parents yeah right so it's like it's real that's real relationships you go you know it's like you know
Starting point is 00:28:38 and this is your first relationship outside of hip hop yeah and it's like that that loss that's I'm not a man that's prone to much regret,
Starting point is 00:28:48 you know, because I believe things happen and they, you know, if you're happy today, you got to, you know, accept that it's because of the things that went right and wrong. Right, right, right. You know, but that was a, you know, Janet and I are magnificent friends now. But that was a very, very, very hard time for me.
Starting point is 00:29:09 And it was like, I didn't see. When you said Janet, you talking about Aunt Viv. Janet first. Ah, yeah, because we don't want to lose people. People are going to be like, Janet Jackson was on First Amphib. I'm just talking about my parents. These motherfuckers are crazy. They're going to say some shit like that.
Starting point is 00:29:27 First ampere, yeah, the first ampere, Janet Hubert. And she was, she's magnificent, right? And, you know, my young arrogant eyes couldn't see that, you know, and it's like just the depth and the power that she brought to the show. I just, I was missing it. I just, I couldn't, you know, when I look back, it's like, duh, it's really, you know, it was obvious what she was bringing. But Daphne, you know, Maxwell Reed, you know, cultivated a beautiful relationship, you know, with her, but it was a really, Janet is a special kind of, you know, beautiful, talented, powerful, you know, she was holding it down. And I certainly wasn't seeing how powerful and important she was to the show. Now, there's always these rumors that Michael Jackson is like a gangster on the side, right?
Starting point is 00:30:34 Is Carlton Banks gangbanging on him? I mean, just let us know. No, let me tell you, that is one of the most committed comedic actors I have ever met. Nobody commits. Like he hasn't broke character. Yeah, he did the method acting. When he, listen, when he goes part one, you know, I really learned my comedic acting on the set of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Oh, wow. And the thing that Alfonso does is, like, even when he doesn't like something,
Starting point is 00:31:09 you know, he always gives it 100%. His thing was, like, let the writers see if you tank the joke and you don't give it all, they're going to think that it didn't work because you sabotaged it. And he really taught me, like, you know, with that Carlton dance and stuff, like when he goes, he goes. And it's like you can feel the power and the fun of his commitment. It's funny because he commits so hard to the joke. Yeah, he's a unique breed.
Starting point is 00:31:42 Okay. Okay. 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 where they'll say when cave people were here. And I'll say, it seems like the Ice Age
Starting point is 00:32:22 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. Hello, hello, Malcolm Gladwell here. On this season of Revisionist History, we're going where no podcast has ever gone before. In combination with my three-year-old, we defend the show that everyone else hates. I'm talking, of course, about Paw Patrol. There's some things that really piss me off when it comes to Paw Patrol. It's pretty simple. It sucks.
Starting point is 00:33:09 My son watches Paw Patrol. I hate it. Everyone hates it, except for me. Plus, we investigate everything from why American sirens are so unbearably loud, to the impact of face blindness on social connection, to the secret behind Thomas' English muffins, perfect nooks and crannies. And also, we go after Joe Rogan. Are you ready, Joe?
Starting point is 00:33:33 I'm coming for you. You won't want to miss it. Listen to Revisionist History on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Brendan Patrick Hughes, host of Divine Intervention. This is a story about radical nuns in combat boots and wild-haired priests trading blows with J. Edgar Hoover
Starting point is 00:33:53 in a hell-bent effort to sabotage a war. J. Edgar Hoover was furious. Somebody violated the FBI and he wanted to bring the Catholic left to its knees. The FBI went around to all their neighbors and said to them, do you think these people are good Americans? It's got heists, tragedy, a trial of the century, and the goddamnedest love story you've ever heard.
Starting point is 00:34:18 I picked up the phone, and my thought was, this is the most important phone call I'll ever make in my life. I couldn't believe it. I mean, Brendan, it was divine intervention. You can now binge all 10 episodes of Divine Intervention 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.
Starting point is 00:34:52 But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multibillion-dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated.
Starting point is 00:35:23 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 six on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.
Starting point is 00:35:52 I'm going to take another shot. You in or you calling me out? Without anything? I got it, I got it. You're going to take another one? Let me give you a question. Wait, you're just going to take a shot? Don't take the shot.
Starting point is 00:36:04 Don't follow this. Don't follow this. I got a good question. You got a question. This question is for me. This shot is you a question. I got one more. I got one more question. Wait, you just going to take a shot? Don't take the shot. Don't follow this. Don't follow this. I got a good question. This question is for me. The shot is after the question. You're going to ask this one? All right, look, I like you know the rules. You're not following the rules.
Starting point is 00:36:12 I like you know the rules. Okay, let me just say this. He's like winning Philly. Winning Philly, yeah. You can take a shot before the question. Okay, hold on, hold on. You know what? I'm going to go to the next one.
Starting point is 00:36:21 You know what? You're correct. Why the next one? Yeah, go to the next one. Rapping or acting? Rapping. Oh, man. So here's the thing.
Starting point is 00:36:28 I think I am more naturally an actor. Really? Right? I think that what my mind most naturally falls into as far as entertainment. I saw you reach for it and then you pulled back. You can go ahead, Jake. No, no, no.
Starting point is 00:36:49 You just want a drink. You just want a drink. He said, I'm in, I'm in. I'm not letting you go by yourself. He was breaking it down so good. I was like,
Starting point is 00:36:58 the feeling came out of me. By the way, your sister has such a beautiful soul. Oh my God, that one right there. Let's take a shot, your sister has such a beautiful soul. Oh, my God. That one right there? Let's take a shot for her. Let's take a shot for her. Let's take a shot for her.
Starting point is 00:37:09 Come on. Let's take a shot for her, man. Let's take a shot. I did already. No, take another one, man. I got you. It's not that type of show, all right? Go ahead with what you said.
Starting point is 00:37:18 No, so I'm more naturally an actor, right? But my love is hip-hop, right? But my love is hip-hop, right? And it's like, you know, acting is, when it comes out of me, like, when I can go into a character, like, I can transform my mind and my eyes
Starting point is 00:37:38 when I look at somebody and fall into a character. It's like, really, it's natural for me. You may relax. and fall into a character, it's like really, it's natural for me. You're scaring me, man. Relax. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm like, what character is he right now? What character is he right now? Is he a good guy or a bad guy? Yeah, right.
Starting point is 00:37:59 You saw that, right? Yeah. Right. Yo, and it's like moving your energy and attention around inside your body, right? So I can like fall into, you know, what did that motherfucker say? I didn't hear you, brother. Say it again. That was him right there. My chest is on fire right now.
Starting point is 00:38:30 Right? So that, like, and I've always been able to do that, to, I got older, I could like fall into the emotion of it, where it changes the look on your face. It changes your, it changes your eyes. It changes your body language and just, you know, so I've always been able to do that naturally. You learned that with time or you, did you ever have to take classes? So I never, so I naturally could mimic. I would look at how somebody walked or I would listen to somebody's
Starting point is 00:39:10 voice and I could copy. As I got older, copying is shallow. But then where does the emotion come from and being able to find the deeper place and layers?
Starting point is 00:39:25 As I got to know myself better, actors call it a toolbox, where you have a toolbox. So, for example, the Fresh Prince scene you were talking about, the father scene, I use the father scene to find sadness. So I'll use that for King Richard, for example. Great movie. There was the scene. About Venus and Serena. About Venus and Serena, yeah. For that, there was a scene where at the net with Venus before he lets her go and play,
Starting point is 00:39:57 I watched the Fresh Prince scene before that. To prep. Right? So I prepped to, like, get. So you watched yourself to prep for yourself. Yeah, see... That's him! That's him!
Starting point is 00:40:09 He practiced on himself! He did some training, too! I respect that. You know, but the music, there is nothing like being on stage and 50,000 people hear
Starting point is 00:40:20 drums, please! You know, and it's like that moment when people realize you about to do the song they've been waiting for that's the type of entertainment that is the top when they hear that first couple clicks of the record that's the one they wanted to hear there's nothing there's nothing like that in entertainment so that's that's my it's my my love versus what i'm actually best at. Right.
Starting point is 00:40:46 But you, hold up, but what's dope about you that I've noticed throughout your career, no matter how Hollywood you went, you were always hip hop. Yeah. You always found a way to use hip hop in there. Even with Men in Black, when you brung Bismarck. Bismarck, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then I was watching the scene today, and it was like, yeah, I didn't even talk. It was beatbox.
Starting point is 00:41:04 Beatbox. and then I was watching the scene today and it was like y'all didn't even talk it was beatbox and I'm like I remember actually being in the movie theater and God bless me white people but they didn't know what the communication was they were just like
Starting point is 00:41:14 they thought that that was alien talk and I'm like yo no I wanted to be I was throwing popcorn at the beatbox adventure you know what I'm saying
Starting point is 00:41:21 but that you always keep how do you do that? So what it is is it's the thing that's unique about what I bring, right? So it's like being born and raised in Philly and in hip-hop, it's the thing that's uniquely me, right? Like at your core. At my core. So when I bring that, you know, 90% of the character can be comprehensible to, you know, general audiences.
Starting point is 00:41:58 But then you add that little sauce that is the unique, special sauce. So for me, in terms of hip-hop, like, you'll never see in any movie ever where they beatbox as an alien language. Right? Like, that's, like, I love that. It's like, only I can do that. Right. Like I said, I was so mad in the movie theater
Starting point is 00:42:23 when people didn't get it. I was like, y'all pick up! But even to call Biz to do it. To know that I want Biz to do that piece. And it's like, RIP Biz.
Starting point is 00:42:36 RIP. Goddamn, I didn't even have to ask. Look, you're playing again. Alright, now. Now, you're playing again. All right, P-Biz. All right, P-Biz. All right, now. Let's get the first one. Now, hold on. I got this, another one. Okay, go.
Starting point is 00:42:48 This is also off the menu. Off the menu. Off the menu. Jay-Z or Nas? Think about it. Both of them got your number. I know. That's important.
Starting point is 00:43:03 Damn. That's a hard one, too. That's a hard one, too. That's a hard one, too. Think about who's more petty. No, I'm just playing. I'm just playing. I'm just playing because they're both petty. No, I have more of an interaction with Jay-Z.
Starting point is 00:43:17 All right. But I think that for... I'm going to go Nas on that one. I'm going to go Nas. I'm going to go Nas. You took us here, and then you said no. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I have more of a relationship with Jay.
Starting point is 00:43:45 But I think Nas has made me study rapping more. when I hear Nas I'm like damn I'm way off the fucking mark I gotta get to work you know so yeah Nas pushes me into study more not because you nervous from Queens? no
Starting point is 00:43:59 yeah exactly there you go I wasn't even thinking about that so you have to answer not a lifelong Relax, man. Yeah, exactly. There you go. I wasn't even thinking about that. So you have to answer. Yeah. Not a lifelong, but a very long time in Queens. The rumor is that Nas helped you with Jiggy with it. Right.
Starting point is 00:44:20 So we, not Jiggy with it. Was it Miami? The Miami track? During the time that I was working on Jiggy, Nas did Just Cruisin'. It was a record called Just Cruisin', right? So me and Nas wrote Just Cruisin' together. Okay. And I let Nas listen to the album. And he was like, yes, no, yes, no, yes, no.
Starting point is 00:44:41 Okay. And I was like, so we didn't do any writing together other than the Just Cruisin' track. Okay. But, you know. Like an executive producer almost. Yeah, he was, well, he was not really
Starting point is 00:44:51 an executive producer. He was there, and I was like, yo, will you listen to this and tell me what you think, you know? And, you know, he was honest.
Starting point is 00:44:59 He was really honest. And then we wrote one together. We wrote Just Cruisin'. It was like a B-side of Men in Black or something like that. Because he's never confirmed or denied. People come up to him like, we know you, Jicky Woody. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:45:13 He just laughs. I don't know if he laughs. I feel like he just never really answers. He's never answered. We definitely worked in the studio together. I think we might have messed around with two or three other songs, but Just Cruisin' is the only one that ever was released. Okay.
Starting point is 00:45:32 So let me ask you, because listening to this album, first off, I was very, very impressed. One, I'm not impressed because of what you did. I'm impressed because I was trying to figure out where's this hunger, right? Because all of us, to make music, we have to have hunger, right? And then when you're not hungry no more, it's harder to make music. It's harder, yeah, for sure. So I'm sitting here, this is what I'm trying to tell you.
Starting point is 00:45:58 I was, you know, first off, your people who sent the album, Big Up to Lex and them, this will never be bootlegged. Right. Oh, by the way, it took my face scanner. Yo, it took my face scanner. It made me download. I downloaded like 30 years worth of shit. I was just like, yo, I said, whoever your team is, it's so official. Listen to me.
Starting point is 00:46:23 They can send this shit to the bootlegging place in Kenya. And they still wouldn't be. With Okachobi running miles and they still can't bootleg this shit. I'm just being honest. It took three of us
Starting point is 00:46:33 in one car to go through the whole album. But here's what I was saying. I kept listening and I kept saying, I kept saying, where's he going to slack at? Where's he going to say,
Starting point is 00:46:44 you know what, I'm this, you know, movie star. I'm this guy that reached all the accolades. I'm so crazy now that I do white boy sports and you know what I'm saying? But I'm still black, but I'm still black. And then, but then you come in this album and I'm trying to find but I was so jealous because I couldn't find you not being hungry I still felt that hunger I still heard Fresh Prince and I'm jealous of that because you know if me and Capone right now
Starting point is 00:47:14 going and making a war report I don't think I can have that same attitude I'm not speaking for him I'm speaking for myself and so I was jealous because it took me a whole day to download it. So when I finally, because, you know, I'm not that smart. But then I had two smart people, and it got them.
Starting point is 00:47:32 So I was like, it's not just me. But going through it, and then I went back through it, and I was just like, I can't see how you locked in. Did you go to, like, Bali or somewhere? Like, how could you lock in and block the world out and focus on this? Because one, it sounds like you're super focused. Yeah, for sure. Two, it sounds like you still love the game.
Starting point is 00:47:53 Love it. That's the problem. That's the part that I'm mad. Because I'm like, damn, how could he do way more than me? Obviously have more accolades and wins and things like that. But how does he still have that hunger yeah that's that's that's a that's a question for me personally and not even for the world like i felt that hunger in you so what what happened i'm a light of blood i ain't got a blunt that's that's how good that question was my bad no what happened what happened with me man is you know in the in the last couple of years, like, I really just shut it down, you know.
Starting point is 00:48:29 And, you know, really, after the Oscars, I just shut it down and I did a real deep dive. Like, I looked at myself as honestly as I could. And I looked at all of the parts of myself that I always thought of as not for public consumption. So there was a Will Smith, and there was an image, and there was an identity of Will Smith, but that was only my good qualities. It was only the best of me. Are you saying Will Smith to the public?
Starting point is 00:49:08 Like an Instagram profile. Yes, right. The Will Smith to the public was only the best of me. Will Smith wasn't allowed to be upset. I remember that beautiful post that you posted, and you posted what you were on the island, and then you showed that there was blue behind you. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:49:22 So you're saying something like that? That was a fun way to do it. But the idea that you never saw me not smiling. Right. Right. Right. But you could probably imagine there were some times when I wouldn't be smiling.
Starting point is 00:49:38 It's just that wasn't for public consumption. Right. You know, so, you know, there was, it was just the best qualities of me. So then, you know, I was forced into a situation where I had to be honest that I don't just have good qualities. I have some things that I have pushed down. I have, you know, fear.
Starting point is 00:50:01 I have confusion. I have anger. I have anger. I have sadness. Oh, you're human. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Right. Exactly.
Starting point is 00:50:11 You know, that's probably the most beautiful thing. And I know you spoke about it, but I won't. But what I'm saying is the most beautiful thing about you is you own your humanness. Yes. And, you know, I'm going to be honest. I'm bouncing around, but I always related to the 5% nation or like the Muslims a little bit more than the preachers because the preachers showed me that they didn't have mistakes. But when I seen, you know, the 5% or I seen the FOI handing
Starting point is 00:50:36 out the newspaper, I seen that brother messing up before. So it made me relate to him more. So that's what I, you know what I'm saying? So that's what I feel like with you. But my thing is you've never lost a step. And if you did, I guess you was just admitting that. But you didn't show it to the world. How can you do that? So for me now, about this time, this phase of my career and really this phase of my life is as I looked into myself in that way, and I like really confronted those parts of myself, that my humanity, not just a straight
Starting point is 00:51:15 Superman winning all the time, the happy Superman winner, right? When I started confronting those other parts of myself, something really magical happened. The best way I can describe it is imagine I pushed my anger down and I held it and then it popped. And then I was like, okay, I'm not going to pretend like you're not there. Let's talk. And I really confronted it. And then it's almost like there was a hole under my anger that my anger was plugging. But inside the hole was great shit. It was great creativity and great power and new ideas.
Starting point is 00:51:59 And it was like by not accepting that part of myself, I was cutting off the good that it could offer me. It's like there's no bad qualities. There's no bad qualities in you. There are things that are neglected that will be a superpower if you befriend your anger, if you befriend your sadness. Not try to get rid of it, befriend it. Befriend the fact that you're scared. Like, be okay that you're scared. You still got to do this shit.
Starting point is 00:52:33 Right. But don't pretend like you're not scared. Like, be scared, but still do it. Like, when you befriend those energies versus, like, fighting them, they become superpowers. They become your army. So like you have this army of energies and that's the place where I am right now. Like the good qualities that I thought were the strongest Will Smith, that's not. It's like now those qualities are backed up by all of these other energies that are like having been cleansed. Like not, you don't want them to drunk drive through your life, but now they've been like
Starting point is 00:53:12 cleansed and now they're giving me gifts. They're giving me poetry. They're giving me power. They're giving me patience. They're giving me certainty, you know? So to me, that's a long way to answer the question. The hunger comes from, like, I got cheat codes, right? I got cheat codes. I want to like, I want to share my cheat codes. I want to hear them. Yeah. I want to cheat.
Starting point is 00:53:40 I never thought I needed therapy to do that. Like, the way you broke it, you need to be a therapist. Or, like, sell somebody your therapy. Because I was so in, like, how much I owe. I was about to be like, you know how they click it when it's over? I'm like, yo, that was so in. No, that was so dope, man. That's so dope.
Starting point is 00:54:05 And I know this is a cliche question, and I'm going to get back to Quick Time of Slime. Can we tell you that? No, that was so dope, man. That's so dope. Oh, man. And I know this is a cliche question, and I'm going to get back to Quick Time of Slime. But did you ever think that you would make it this far? Man, I've been beyond my dreams for like 20 years. I've been beyond anything. Yeah. Yeah. Like, you know, now it's like I'm in unknown territory right now. I have no idea where this is going.
Starting point is 00:54:29 I have no idea, you know, what's happening. But, you know, if you think of it as a wave, right, I know I can surf. Right? So I'm like, you know, life, bring it. Black niggas can surf, tell them. Right, yeah. I don't know, like things are, so when I was saying cheat codes, right? I need a cheat code. So one of the first things, there's a song on the album called You Can Make It. You Can Make It, it's the Monday one. Right. Yeah. So one of the cheat codes around you can make it.
Starting point is 00:55:05 Right. So as I sit in this room right now, right, a bunch of black men, you know, and, you know, we would never admit we're having a hard time. Right. But you don't have to tell me. I know you are. I know you are. I know you are. And I can be here and I can make it harder for you
Starting point is 00:55:33 or I can be here to have you be stronger when I leave. Right? But what I used to think that, you know, you know, I got to defend myself. I don't have to defend myself from you.
Starting point is 00:55:51 We both having an equal hard time. If I don't aggress upon you, you're not going to, right? It's like if you know that I know that you're having a hard time and that I don't want to be any part of why it's more difficult for y'all, right? And it's like, that's a cheat code. Like that's a real cheat code. People see it in your eyes when you know they're having a hard time
Starting point is 00:56:18 and you don't want to make it harder. They also see when you don't give a fuck. If they see you don't give a fuck, not a part of them that don't give a fuck. Right, right. You know what I mean? Yeah, so it's like, to me, it's like part of that cheat code of entering rooms and interacting with people, it's like I don't know what it is, but I know every single person in here is struggling. With something. With something.
Starting point is 00:56:47 Yes. Right? And there's different levels, you know. Somebody's going through a breakup and somebody lost some money that they really needed. Somebody that got a loved one that just died. Somebody's family is fighting over something. We're all lifing. Everybody's lifing.
Starting point is 00:57:08 Right, right. So it's a cheat code to don't get lost on the person in front of you, even if they're aggressing. They're aggressing because life is fucking them up. It's not you. It's what they're doing. It's not you. Life is hurting them. Right.
Starting point is 00:57:21 And they even may perceive that you're aggressing just how you walk it don't even have to be you they could they're perceiving that you're aggressing and they're prepared to hurt you right right but it's like the the cheat code is just know that don't even don't even go into that energy space with them you know and you know that song, You Can Make It, it was like, that was part of the discovery. Don't get distracted from the fact of every step you take is affecting people's lives as you move. So that was part of the idea of You Can Make It. It's like, I'm keeping in my mind when I'm looking at people, I'm saying you can make it. I don't know what it is, brother, but I know you got it. You got it. You know, and it's like holding that energy is a real cheat code because then people want to help you when they feel like you're open to want to help them, they want to help you.
Starting point is 00:58:25 But it takes vulnerability to open that men don't, we don't do that with each other. Right? So for me, when I come downstairs, brothers, it's welcome to Philly. Yes. I love that. Like, I want you to enjoy it and have fun with you in Philly. You know? And it's like, I want you to feel safe and have a good time.
Starting point is 00:58:47 I got cheesesteaks for you. That's right. I got cheesesteaks. That's right. You know? And it's like that energy is an energy of abundance. You build things. You make friends.
Starting point is 00:59:02 You build things. You make friends. You build relationships. You create a safe space around you when you start from that mindset that the person is going through something. It's like you're trying to reverse the idea of hurt people, hurt people. Yes, absolutely. You're trying to reverse that. Absolutely. But I want to say something because the rollout that your family, the people that work with you, we've seen you on Million Dollars, Work for Games. We've seen you on, what's the guy's name that tells everybody to stop smoking in his Airbnb?
Starting point is 00:59:35 Playboy Max. Playboy Max. You did Playboy Max. This way. This way. And you did Drink Chance. And when you're looking at that, you're sitting back saying, damn, your team knows what they're doing. They're shiffing with the time. A lot of people would have went to the new Raiders
Starting point is 00:59:49 thing, which you're dropping an album. So obviously you want the Raiders plays. But right now, black, young, unscripted media is running the world. So the fact that your team knew that, like I watched it and I'm sitting back and I'm like, whoever's on your team, they know exactly what they're doing. So here's my question. You knowing that now that Black Young Media is running the thing, where is Overbrook's podcast company?
Starting point is 01:00:16 Where's Overbrook's production company for these young directors? For the young next Will Smith, for the young next Kevin Hart that's here eating at Iskabill was like me. And, you know what I'm saying, eating cheese whiz, because I know you brought cheese steaks, and trust me, I'm going to be judgmental.
Starting point is 01:00:32 Homie came over and said, I forgot the cheese whiz. I said, I'm judging you off top. I'm here for Philly. But that's, you know, it's something that I learned and I had to learn going through it
Starting point is 01:00:46 because I had to go through it. Nas, who we spoke about earlier, Nas could have had Capone and Noriega signed. He could have had Mobb Deep signed. He could have had
Starting point is 01:00:55 AZ signed. He could have had Foxy Brown signed. But he chose to kind of be our friends, right? When we wanted, we might have wanted our leader at that time.
Starting point is 01:01:04 Yeah, yeah, yeah. So if you look at Nas, and that's my brother, you know what I'm saying? I called him before I got here. But then you look at Jay. Jay didn't really care about him being your leader or not. He wanted to make good business. Yeah. So if you look at that, but then if you look at them both, that's what you are.
Starting point is 01:01:21 You know what I'm saying? You're a person who has the movies. You're a person who has the music. You're a person who has the music. And obviously, podcasts is this new thing. And I'm sitting back like, why isn't Overbrook that version of iHeart? You know how iHeart has all these things? And then you got Netflix. And God bless us, right?
Starting point is 01:01:38 We made Netflix and chill. That was a dude that was born during COVID and said Netflix and chill. And the whole shit. This is our people. When is our people who are at that top going to invest into people whether it's at that bottom or whatever? And I'm not just saying overbook. It's just like I kind of feel like black
Starting point is 01:01:57 folks or hip hop folks could invest in hip hop now. So here's so. Was that a good question? That was a really good question. You felt good about it. Can you make some noise for me? I'm sorry. I like you there. It was sharp.
Starting point is 01:02:13 It was pointy. It was pointy. I want you to answer the question. We need blacks to invest in blacks. Cheers. Yes. That won cheers. Yes. That one hit me. That's what they were laughing at.
Starting point is 01:02:30 You got a woman here. No, so first of all, it's always been the case. Right. Right? That my manager, Miguel, he's still in here. He would always say, he's still in here, he would always say, what's urban is suburban, right? So our community has always led, right?
Starting point is 01:02:57 So- Led, you said. Led. Okay, yes. Always led, right? So it was, you know, brands, you know, before Run DMC were always looking at what was happening. Stan Smith. Yes, absolutely.
Starting point is 01:03:10 They were always looking at what happened in the inner city. And then once Run-DMC really, they broke the barrier. They didn't have a deal with Adidas. They were wearing Adidas before they had a deal with Adidas. And then Adidas went to the concert and they saw that. And then they were like, oh, got it. Right. So Adidas didn't even know their sales were spiking because Run DMC was wearing Adidas.
Starting point is 01:03:36 Right. The inner cities and urban communities leading in, you know, fashion and branding as we've always been that. So in terms of, you know, the question of why we don't do that. So we do do it. It's bandwidth is an issue. right only do so much so you know i know kevin hart's company you know by the way heartbeat overbrook i'll pick y'all up man both of philly yes yes yeah i'll pick y'all up yes definitely you know but when you get to 15 projects, you're at your whole company's bandwidth. But there's 4,000, you know, people who deserve a look, right? But it's like, you know, you got one executive that's working 10 projects that they believe in that one is going to go right right
Starting point is 01:04:46 so you look at a company after four years and it's like you know so for us with um our company with like bel-air okay right so we got you know black staff and you know black and brown writing and staff and all of that, but it takes everything our TV division has to keep that show up and relevant and going. And then you just don't have the bandwidth to have a second one going. It's like all hands on deck to make sure, to make sure the show wins. Cause when you get the shot, you have to win too.
Starting point is 01:05:26 Right? You know, so, you know, we have that. We set it up. And then, you know, things happen. So you start building it out, right? So you'll start building out your divisions and you get going. And then there's a strike. Oh, yeah, the writer's strike.
Starting point is 01:05:40 Now there's a writer's strike and you have to, like, you survive because you can't work and you can't hold 100 percent staff. So you got to scale down to 20 percent staff until the strike is over. Now you lose all of these great people. You lose all of these great projects. And now you're starting up all over again. Right. So there are business considerations like Tyler Perry has Perry has, like, the most, like, stable foundation of being able to make things and churn them out. But, you know, it's bandwidth also. Tyler's writing and directing, you know, all of this stuff, too, right? So it's really, it is the the idea is simple to say. But when you look at staffing, the reality of the reality of it is if you have a staff of 40, you could get to bandwidth on a staff of 40 people with two projects.
Starting point is 01:06:39 You could be like you get two big things going and what it takes to keep it going, it's really hard. Then what happens is then you have to let other people be in charge. So when I'm looking over a project, I'm the taste. So I have other people that are really good taste, but as you get broader, you lose the taste. And then you start making things that aren't good, and that's not helpful either. So it is a complex
Starting point is 01:07:13 problem. And more complex in today's media landscape where everything is 24-7. Everything is turning over so fast. You've got to be on top of it 24-7. Yeah, 10 years ago, you could take a big bet and be pretty sure you're going to make it. It's limited box office and limited TV or whatever. Right.
Starting point is 01:07:30 You know, so it is difficult. And people now are thinking of it as disposable. Right. Right. So movies? Yeah. Disposable? Well, entertainment in general.
Starting point is 01:07:42 Content, yeah, it's free. Content is disposable. It seems free to everybody. So you can't even, like, you know, make a $2 million bet on something because people might decide that that's not. This government is doing all the AI. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, it is a difficult issue. And I'm in a lot of those rooms.
Starting point is 01:07:59 It is not because people are not trying. Are not trying to make it, yeah. It is not because people are not trying. That's great. That makes sense. That's great. So they always say that being the first person is beautiful, but you get frowned upon, right? I'm using that lightly again.
Starting point is 01:08:15 You were the first person to win a Grammy, first rapper. First rapper to ever win a Grammy. For the boycott, right? We boycotted. Oh, you boycotted and won? And won, yeah. And you still accepted your shit? That's gangster, right? We didn't accept We boycotted. Oh, you boycotted and won? And won, yeah. And you still accepted your shit? That's gangster, right?
Starting point is 01:08:27 We didn't accept it. Take a shot. Take a shot. Take a shot. There you go. There you go. All right. You boycotted.
Starting point is 01:08:34 You wanted an egg one. Yeah, yeah. By the way, just look into my eyes. We're making a statue for you. We're making a statue. Okay. So describe us this year. Were you guys solely boycotting on your own, or it felt like it was a hip-hop boycott?
Starting point is 01:08:50 It was a hip-hop boycott. Okay. So what happened, it was the first year ever that hip-hop got acknowledged by the Grammys. Right. So they acknowledged that they had the category, but they said they weren't going to televise the hip hop category. They weren't going to televise it. So we were like, well, wait, we sold more records than everybody.
Starting point is 01:09:15 Like, why is our stuff not being televised? Right. So Russell Simmons and Lee Orr Cohen and MTV organized a boycott. Okay, and you're not on Def Jam. I'm not on Def Jam, but Rush is management. Rush is management. Okay, makes sense. Okay, I just wanted to make it sense.
Starting point is 01:09:34 Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm getting hyped. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. So they organized a boycott. They said nobody's going. So MTV has a counter show that's going to boycott the Grammys. So we go, and two days before the Grammys,
Starting point is 01:09:55 we find out that Kool Moe D has agreed to appear on the Grammys. Damn. With the big glasses and all that. Yeah, yeah. All right, Kool Moe. Yeah, yeah. Okay. All right, cool. Yeah, so Kumo D, and it's so crazy because it seems so little and silly now, but it was like the biggest thing in the world.
Starting point is 01:10:15 So everyone looked at Kumo D as the betrayer. Yeah, like Kumo D went, and me and Mo were like great friends. We still are. But it was like huge that he crossed the line, and he went and did an intro. Wow. To the Grammys? To the Grammys.
Starting point is 01:10:30 Oh, wow. Right? He had leather. He did the whole joint. Hey, man, Kumo D's a legend. He's known for having leather, though. It was just, it's so funny, because it was like the biggest,
Starting point is 01:10:42 like our lives depended on this, and it was like the worst shit that ever happened. Me and Mo laugh about this now. But so we're there and it's us and Salt-N-Pepa and LL and Stetsasonic. So it's like 50 rappers. And we're standing and we're watching and they're doing the show.
Starting point is 01:11:04 And then they do the earlier tonight awards were given in the rap category. And we're standing with all the rappers, and me and Jeff were standing. We're looking at the TV, and we were nominated against. It was OPP. It was. Was it still a rap and R&B? No, no, it was just rap. It was the first time that it was just rap.
Starting point is 01:11:29 So it was like Us, LL, Salt-N-Pepa. Who else was nominated? Super Sonic. Oh, that's right. Yeah, yeah. J.J. Phat. J.J. Phat. One, two, three, four.
Starting point is 01:11:40 I'm missing a fifth line. Run D.O.C. was in there? All right. So everybody was nominated. So we're standing there, and we're watching the TV, and they say, and earlier this afternoon, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince were awarded best rep. And we're standing there with everybody, and I was like. You're going to boycott.
Starting point is 01:12:02 Oh, yeah. You didn't know you were going to win. I didn't know you were going to win. I didn't know we were going to win. Oh, you were. Oh, y'all can't.
Starting point is 01:12:09 You were kind of like, I didn't know we were going to win. I was like, man, me and Jeff went in the other room and it was like,
Starting point is 01:12:17 yo, the first Grammy ever given to a rapper. And it was like, we never, we never really, you know, had the chance to fully celebrate. But it was, it was a rapper. And it was like, we never really, you know, had the chance to fully celebrate.
Starting point is 01:12:27 But it was really giant hearing that we won the first ever. Yeah. Yeah. 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 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.
Starting point is 01:12:59 I'll then be joined in conversation by guests such as Western historian Dr. Randall Williams and bestselling author and Meat Eeater 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. Hello, hello, Malcolm Gladwell here. On this season of Revisionist History, we're going
Starting point is 01:13:42 where no podcast has ever gone before. In combination with my three-year-old, we defend the show that everyone else hates. I'm talking, of course, about Paw Patrol. There's some things that really piss me off when it comes to Paw Patrol. It's pretty simple. It sucks. My son watches Paw Patrol. I hate it.
Starting point is 01:14:04 Everyone hates it, except for me. Plus, we investigate everything from why American sirens are so unbearably loud, to the impact of face blindness on social connection, to the secret behind Thomas's English muffins, perfect nooks and crannies. And also, we go after Joe Rogan. Are you ready, Joe? I'm coming for you. You won't want to miss it. Listen to Revisionist History on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Brendan Patrick Hughes, host of Divine Intervention.
Starting point is 01:14:38 This is a story about radical nuns in combat boots and wild-haired priests trading blows with J. Edgar Hoover in a hell-bent effort to sabotage a war. J. Edgar Hoover was furious. Somebody violated the FBI, and he wanted to bring the Catholic left to its knees. The FBI went around to all their neighbors and said to them, Do you think these people are good Americans? It's got heists,
Starting point is 01:15:10 tragedy, a trial of the century, and the goddamnedest love story you've ever heard. I picked up the phone and my thought was, this is the most important phone call I'll ever make in my life. I couldn't believe it. I mean, Brendan, it was divine intervention. You can now binge all 10 episodes of Divine Intervention 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.
Starting point is 01:15:45 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.
Starting point is 01:16:13 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.
Starting point is 01:16:45 Now, hip-hop could be, you know, critical until they actually make that position, right? Like, it's like a person seeing the first person doing the alley-oop. They're like, man, that shit look crazy. And then you learn how to do the alley-oop. And this shit's legit. You know what I'm saying? So, after winning the Grammys, when did it become cool to actually win Grammys? Yeah.
Starting point is 01:17:08 Because I'm sure you got chastised. Yeah, yeah, for sure. No, and it was like, you know, well, they only won because white people like their music. But that's cool. They won because it's soft, you know. That's cool. Their music was palatable for other audiences. And that critique is still going on to this day when it comes to the category.
Starting point is 01:17:28 Yeah, for sure. You know, I think it was probably like three Grammys later where it was like cool to win the Grammy. It was like that next year still wasn't cool, but they televised it. So it was like good that they televised it. They were respecting the genre. But it was definitely like three years later that it was like a real prestige thing to win a Grammy. Yeah, because now everybody bragging about it. But back then, they were like, I pissed on the Grammy.
Starting point is 01:18:04 Yeah, yeah. I think Hov actually did piss on the Grammy. Right. Yeah, because now everybody's bragging about it. But back then, they'd be like, I pissed on the Grammy. Yeah, yeah. I think Hov actually did piss on the Grammy. Or Kanye, one of them did that shit. They said they did. No, it's an honor anytime anybody will say, we appreciate what you do. I think there's a lot of silliness that goes into that. Right. It's not about the award. It's just your work that you've put into it.
Starting point is 01:18:29 Yeah. Somebody is saying, hey, I appreciate what you do and how your gifts are being received by humanity. That's a real thing. Is there any aspirations to have an EGOT to all of them? Because you're close. You're close. You know, I'm past awards in my mindset. You know, there's a thing. I think that everybody, I wish that everybody could have everything they dream to realize
Starting point is 01:19:07 that that's not it right you know I've said before like there's a there people talk about rock bottom that when you hit rock bottom is when you'll make a change to my drugs yeah like drugs people say drugs in rock bottom. In life, you're rock bottom in life. Yeah, but yeah, it is like people say it in AA, talking about rock bottom. But there's a corresponding place that I call cliff top, right?
Starting point is 01:19:40 You could be too high? Where you get so high that you realize literally none of this stuff can make you happy. Right. Right? After you get, you can get to the end of the material world. You get to the end of money. You get to the end of sex. You know, you get to the end of fame. You have so much and you get and then you like go off of a cliff into the same kind of abyss that you'd be scared of slipping into at rock bottom.
Starting point is 01:20:14 Right. Where life loses all of its ability to sustain and please you. Right. ability to sustain and please you. And then the only thing that's left, the same thing at rock bottom, the only thing that's left at cliff top is you have to find what you're actually looking for and what you're actually looking for is you. You're looking for you. You're running around, right? When you like a woman and you like being with a woman, it's because you like how you feel. You like what's happening inside of you.
Starting point is 01:20:54 When you have money, it's like, yeah, it's cool to buy things, but it's not the money. You like how you feel inside. It's unleashing a feeling inside. And at rock bottom and at cliff top, what you have to learn how to do is generate that feeling without anything external. You have to learn how to like you so much that you like being alive so much that you bring positive energy that's not generated by stuff, right? Because stuff is coming and going. Like people are coming and going. Everything you have and everybody you love
Starting point is 01:21:36 is going to rise and fall in your life. The place that we have to find is a spiritual place where we are good with us. We trust us. I trust myself. I trust God. And I trust life that whatever happens, I'm going to make happy out of it. I don't need specific things to happen. And I think also the important thing is we forget that that journey is really, the middle part is really the best part of it. Yes, exactly.
Starting point is 01:22:09 It's like being able to be right here, right now with whatever arises and not need a specific thing to happen. Right. And it's like, you know, part of the beauty of these moments for me and these interactions for me is I don't need a specific thing to happen with us now. I'm open and I'm excited. What's going to evolve from this moment? And as soon as I have a specific thing that I want to happen that I want from you, now it throws off the energy of our experience, you know. So I'm just learning to accept life as it comes. Just relax. You know, some shit's going to come that you don't like.
Starting point is 01:22:53 Some shit's going to come that you do like. that is able to accept and add love to any circumstance that arises. A lot of letting go. Oh, a lot of letting go. You set up that shot. It's not even me. Let me go, yeah. No, no, no. This is the wrong one.
Starting point is 01:23:17 I got to do that. That's the wrong one. I'm watching you. I'm watching you. All right. Hold on. Let me join you properly. Cheers.
Starting point is 01:23:25 So. Look. So. Look at me. Look at me right here. So, I want to speak about. No quick time with slime. We just. No, no, no. I want to say something about Philadelphia.
Starting point is 01:23:38 Nory don't care nothing about the rules. Like, he's like. The rules is for the rest of us. He make rules for the rest of us, but he going to do what he wants. I like your style. The out of Japan guy. But Philly has made such a dramatic mark in hip hop. Yeah, for sure.
Starting point is 01:23:57 Since after you. Like, prior to you, we had Schoolie D. Schoolie D was first, yeah. Then we had you. And like you said, like so many many people there's a lot of firsts from philly and hip-hop going way back yeah but what i'm saying is from him but so many people didn't understand because you were making clean rap right yeah for lack of a better term right you were making clean rap a lot of people didn't know what rest philadelphia was a lot of people
Starting point is 01:24:20 didn't know what philadelphia was a lot of people didn't know that philadelphia you're gonna get kilfed out there you're gonna get a cheesecake and you're going to get shot. It's serious. You're going to get shot and they might stay there, too. So a lot of people didn't know that because New York was so much of a drama. But now, Philly has kind of like took its own mark. Yeah. Like, I mean, through hip-hop, through so many different things, through comedy, you and Kev.
Starting point is 01:24:47 How did you, did you see that Philly would be prominent like that? Because it's damn near next to New York at this point. You know, what's interesting, like Philly was all I knew, right? So to me, the hip hop culture and the creative culture in Philly. Even before that, when I was growing up, Joe Frazier was Philly. Oh, the boxer. It's a historic city.
Starting point is 01:25:13 Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, there has been a long history of Wilt Chamberlain went to the high school. He fucked every bitch. That's right. I mean, that's what he was going with.
Starting point is 01:25:29 He's famous for other things. 100 points. He was shooting good. He was shooting good. He was shooting literally. A couple of times. You know, there's a rich history. There's a rich history of talent and successful people.
Starting point is 01:25:44 Julius Irving, you know, when I was growing up. So, you know, for me, it was always, I knew that I was going to do my best to be a part of a rich history. I didn't feel like I was starting anything. Right. So I felt like I was being, you know, gambling huff. And, you know, I felt like I was being a part of a history. Contributing. Contributing to something that was already alive and well.
Starting point is 01:26:12 Listening to this album, I felt like you called everyone and everyone said yes. But I'm wondering if I'm wrong. Was there anybody that you called for this album and they were like, I'm busy or I'm in Costa Rica? No, you know. Costa Rica. Yeah, no, there were a couple people who weren't sure about working with me.
Starting point is 01:26:43 Really? Yeah, there were definitely a couple people. Why, they thought you was the hot water? Yeah, yeah. So they was like, we'll wait for the second round, Will. You were on time now or something? Yeah, no. Wait for the boiling eggs, baking.
Starting point is 01:26:59 Yeah, yeah. We'll see. But it was, actually, that was new for me, too. That was a little sad. Is that humbling? No, that was real humbling. I was used to when Big Willie called. But were they that honest to you?
Starting point is 01:27:15 Yeah, yeah. I mean. That's real. I was like. I was like. Big Willie called. But were they being that honest to you about it? No, no, people weren't being honest You know, they weren't being honest
Starting point is 01:27:30 But I knew that's what it was I knew that's what it was Please do not forget But the other day, Nelly called me Nelly called me and was like, yo Can you meet me at Club 11? And I was like, yeah, of course That's how you said it 11? And I was like, yeah, of course.
Starting point is 01:27:46 That's how you said it? He knew I was lying. Because I'm too old. I'm married. I don't want to do none of this shit. But I don't want to tell him no. So I was like, yeah, okay. And then he— He knew it.
Starting point is 01:28:01 He heard it. He freezes. He's like, damn, nigga. You could just say— I was like, damn, nigga. You could just say. I was like, yo, I'm older now. I have a grandson. I have a grandson. You have a grandson.
Starting point is 01:28:10 Yeah, I have a grandson. You want to shout out my grandson? Yeah, shout out your grandson's name. Nazeha. Nazeha. Nazeha. Congratulations. So I don't go out.
Starting point is 01:28:20 So I don't go. He says, I don't go out. No, but I feel different now. Yeah. Are you different? Yeah. No, I'm definitely. Because you're different because how people treat it for an incident that happened?
Starting point is 01:28:33 No, you know. You get to see how these motherfuckers are. No, no. I don't have. So first of all, I didn't look at anything that anybody said. Right. So, like, I literally shut it down. I was like, I don't want to know nothing that nobody
Starting point is 01:28:52 said. Turn your notifications off? Yeah, to all the... You protected your space. I might have had five months where I didn't even look at, you know, Instagram or nothing like that. We all need to do that shit. I need to do it. I'm addicted. Yeah, you know.
Starting point is 01:29:07 I know there's people that went hard, but I literally don't know. I don't know who went hard. Me and Charlie was out the other night. Charlie Mack. Me and Charlie, yeah.
Starting point is 01:29:20 And somebody walked in that had gone hard. And I was like, hey. Y'all be like, nope, nope, nope. Nope. Nope, nope. Nope, don't say that. He's like, nope, not that one.
Starting point is 01:29:34 Not that one. Right? You know. I'm like, I ain't going to say nobody's name. I ain't going to say nobody's name. We're going to figure it out. Yeah, yeah. They know right now.
Starting point is 01:29:42 I was like, nope, we're not speaking to him. We're not speaking to him. We're not speaking to him. Right? Yeah. You know, but for me, it's like, I just, I knew it would poison my heart. Right. And I was like, I just don't want that, man. I just don't want to know what none of them niggas said.
Starting point is 01:29:57 Nah. So when I see them, hey, man, Charlie can just grab my hand. I love that. Don't do it. Don't do it. Good man, Charlie. I love that. Don't do it. Don't do it. Good man, Charlie. I love that, by the way. But that was an eye.
Starting point is 01:30:10 Now I'm going to give you one of mine. I did an interview. It was my second interview with this brother. Our first interview was so beautiful. I mean, our second interview was beautiful. It had parts in there that. Oh, I already know. Oh, yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 01:30:26 And I remember we dropping the interview. And sorry for anybody who's looking at me, but, you know, Puff Daddy called me and said, man, you sure you want to drop this? And I said, yeah. I'm artistic. I'm standing by my artistic artistry I'm standing by my Japanese Alpian artistry and I make it up as I go
Starting point is 01:30:54 well boy did I regret that and he did not say I told you so did he? no he never told me I told you so so I gotta give him credit for that but he told me and we dropped this Kanye interview. He's like, not say name,
Starting point is 01:31:09 the name. I said I wasn't going to say the name. No, no, no, you just didn't say the name. The views expressed by Nori and EFN are not necessarily the views of Will Smith or Oprah Winfrey
Starting point is 01:31:17 or Westport Entertainment. Yes, please, we're going to note that. But what I'm saying is, it may cause itching, and just, it surprised me with the people that called me. The people that called me wasn't the quintessential people that I thought they were called.
Starting point is 01:31:32 Like, Shaq called me. Wow. Pharrell called me. And it was just—for me, it was just like—I made a mistake. And when I say I made a mistake, I never said nothing. Yep, yep. But, uh... It was our platform.
Starting point is 01:31:48 We did not say nothing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Got it. So now I understand that this is my responsibility. If a person is on my platform, regardless of what, if Will Smith gets on my platform
Starting point is 01:31:59 and says, let's say Monster Energy, we get money with them. We get money with them. We get money with them. Don't talk about my moana, bro. Let's say black box. No, excuse me. Brown little squares is a piece of shit.
Starting point is 01:32:17 Yeah. Brown little squares not only is mad at you, but they're mad at me. They thought that I edited it. They thought that I edited it. They thought that I went over it, and they thought that I deliberately said, I want you to do this. When it's really just your views. So,
Starting point is 01:32:33 my question is saying, that was one of my, in front of the industry, most downest moments. And the people who called me was people that I did not. And one of your downest moments, whichever one it is, who was the person who called you who you didn't think? Floyd Mayweather.
Starting point is 01:32:51 Floyd. Floyd. I love Floyd. Yeah. Yeah, Floyd called me every day for a month after the office. Oh. Wow. One, two, three.
Starting point is 01:33:02 Oh. Oh. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. You know, that's three. Aww. Aww. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. You know, I love that. I want to back up on this a little bit because you touched on a good point. All right, so, you know, you get this interview, you have it, you put it out. Here's the cheat code.
Starting point is 01:33:25 Yeah. So people said to me, Will, you sure you wanted to do drink champs? Really? Do you want to like... You're saying for real? I'm saying for real.
Starting point is 01:33:38 Like, Will, are you sure you want to put yourself in that position? Right? What is that position? Right? What in that position? Right? Yeah, right? We don't even know.
Starting point is 01:33:50 Right? So it's like, well, you're going to take drinks, right? And then who knows what the fuck you might say. Right? Right? And they were like, you know, Nori's good at getting you to say some shit you might not he might have you in the Japanese eye yeah
Starting point is 01:34:09 right so I said oh because I love y'all right so I sat on it for a minute that's my first time I met you we met you at the Bright no no no that with Nickelodeon.
Starting point is 01:34:25 Nickelodeon. Nickelodeon. What's up, man? Continue. Continue. Right? So, but I really had to sit with that. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:34:31 Right? So, the cheat code is what's your intention? Mm-hmm. Right? So, when you're in those situations, it's like, what is your intention? What was your intention? In that moment. In that moment.
Starting point is 01:34:48 What's your intention putting out the interview? Right? So for me, when you're trying to put in the world god damn we want to show you our attention because our attention is about giving people their flowers smell them they throw us where they can tell them and Will that's crazy let me just tell you something every rapper
Starting point is 01:35:27 in this world that ever tried to act that ever wanted to go into another field we all owe you
Starting point is 01:35:36 we all owe you we all have to tip our hats off to you we gotta rub our Beijing in we gotta do
Starting point is 01:35:42 whatever speak for yourself I'm obviously not doing it. We know. But every rapper who has ventured out, you know, I mean, even did, you know, what do we call it? You know, other business ventures. Because prior to you, all rappers did was rap. And then when they didn't have them pensions and them W-9s and the 401ks, then they started to complain.
Starting point is 01:36:10 But you gave the blueprint. You said, you know what? I could rap. I could dominate rap. And I could dominate another field. Absolutely. And then I could come back and I could dominate another field. And I could keep dominating another field.
Starting point is 01:36:19 I could keep going. I could get so bored. I could do shit that y'all don't even like it. And guess what? And then you had the TikTok phenomenon. I be following you on TikTok. I don't know what the fuck you be doing. I be like, fuck it. Will Smith do it? I got to do it.
Starting point is 01:36:31 So we want you to know how important how much you chip that other world. And right now, we probably don't understand because that other world has just been chipped. Yeah, for sure.
Starting point is 01:36:47 That's pioneering. That's what pioneering is. That's why I said earlier, I was like, yo, you know, you was the first person to run a Grammy. I'm sure. I was the first person to do reggaeton. People laughed at me. I almost had to wear a pamper because I felt like everyone was shitting on me. But guess what?
Starting point is 01:37:03 You can't turn on the radio without saying, but you be trying to be Spanish too. I mean, I be watching you. We not calling you Papi, Will. I'm just letting you know, like you be having Spanish, girl. Yo, yo, yo, listen, listen. It's muy importante, I mean, you know. Us in the Latino community,
Starting point is 01:37:20 we be contemplating on how we can kick you out, Will. Like, this nigga want to be called Papi and shit? This is where we draw the line, man. Man, let me tell you. You had the Blue Haria girl and the Blue Haria witch. Let me tell you something. It's nothing like Friday night in Columbia, you know. I'm telling you, it's a lot of places.
Starting point is 01:37:44 It's a lot of places that It's a lot of places. There's too many people that were happy about it. Yeah. Yeah. What the fuck are you doing? They had some more of that. The whole, this side of the room, everybody, hey. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:38:01 Everybody related to Will. Dude, it's beautiful though. I've always loved Latin music and Latin food and the fire of Latin women and dance and all of that. It's all connected too. All of our Latin music comes from Africa as well. Yes, absolutely. I'm just trying to audition for Bad Boy 5.
Starting point is 01:38:22 That's all you can say. I'm just trying to teach you how Boy 5. That's all. I'm trying to. I'm just trying to teach you how to play a good whistle. You know what I mean? I'm supposed to be people. Yo, Will, let me just tell you something, man. We were so excited. I worked out for about.
Starting point is 01:38:42 He was so excited. You've been doing the running. Go there, Will. You know we're doing the Rocky Steps tomorrow. Yeah, I heard. I could have hit your team. Your team was so official. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:38:54 I was like, you know, I couldn't bother them. Yeah. Because they were like, everybody was—and I couldn't download the album. Yeah. I asked them about 17 times about the album. Then everything—everything, yeah, it was so official. But we're doing the Rocky Steps tomorrow because that's my dream. Yeah. To run the Rocky Steps.
Starting point is 01:39:06 So now, it's going to be mostly Instagram. Yeah. Meaning, I'm going to act like I'm running very fast. Yes, got it. And then I'm going to go up the hill.
Starting point is 01:39:14 Yeah, And then I'm going to be like, yo. Yo. And you go, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 01:39:19 You do that, yeah, yeah. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just to get that shit.
Starting point is 01:39:23 Just to get that. Yeah. Is that how you train for Ali? Yeah. Oh, no, Ali was, I fucked you up with that? Yeah, no, no, no, that was a good, yeah, let know what I'm saying? Just to get that. Yeah. Is that how you train for Ali? Oh, no. Ali was a... I fucked you up with that? No, no, no. That was a good interview.
Starting point is 01:39:29 Let's get back to the interview. You trained with a real trainer. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.
Starting point is 01:39:31 I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.
Starting point is 01:39:33 I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.
Starting point is 01:39:34 I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.
Starting point is 01:39:34 I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.
Starting point is 01:39:35 I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.
Starting point is 01:39:35 I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. But you trained with Ali's real trainers, right? Yeah, no, it was real, yeah. Okay, because I was in the boxing classes in South Beach. Yes, right. And you walked in, actually.
Starting point is 01:39:57 I don't know if it was before or after. No, the trainer was still working at that gym. Yeah, so was your method active as Ali? Yeah, we did a real fight camp. So it was, you know, real fighters, Michael Bent, Charles Schufer, James Toney. And, you know, it was, they wanted me to train and to, you know, have a sense of the experience of what it was like to train for a real fight. So we went real, real. And Michael, Michael Bent was like, you know, mentoring me.
Starting point is 01:40:31 And James Toney was the one that he was like, I don't work with no fucking actors. So James Toney would hit me for real. He would hit you for real? James Toney would hit me for real. Yeah. And I was like, hey, Toney, seriously. You ain't like this. I'm going to give you the act.
Starting point is 01:40:43 He would scream, he would scream, bite your mouthpiece when he was throwing a punch. He would say, bite your mouthpiece, boom. I'm thinking you're playing. No, James, I was like, James, seriously, come on, man. Come on. I got to, I don't work with no fucking actors. We fighters in here. Bite your mouth, bitch! Bang!
Starting point is 01:41:10 If Jake Paul challenged you to a fight, would you take it? Man, I'm too old for that. Yeah, good. That joke is strong. He is. You know, he's not working his way to being a professional fighter, right? But he was a champion wrestler before he started fighter. Right, right. Right, but, you know, he was a champion wrestler
Starting point is 01:41:25 before he started that. Yeah, yeah, no, he's real, you know. Maybe not on the professional level yet, but, you know, as a fighter, he can fight for real. Yeah. I'm going to be honest with you. I know people are like, hmm.
Starting point is 01:41:40 No, no, no, you can say he has an affinity for the sport. He's for real. He's for real, But it's okay. I'll be honest with you. Not since my father's older friends, I've heard somebody use the word joker. Joker.
Starting point is 01:41:58 Every time you use it, I cringe. Joker. No, bring it on back, man. Bring those old school joints back. If you don't know that East Coast, when an East Coast nigga say, man, that's Joker. That's a noun. It's a person, place, or thing.
Starting point is 01:42:12 And I'm looking at Will, and you use it in your rhymes, too. Every time you use it, I say, that's the only critique I had on that. So Joker is... That's just your generation, Will. It's to not say nigga, though. But let me just say something.
Starting point is 01:42:23 So you say Joker, you know. We got a lot cooler shit. We got slime. We got so much cooler shit. But you stepped on your generation. It's to not say nigga, though. Yeah. But let me just say something. So you say Joker, you know. We got a lot cooler shit. Yeah. We got slime. We got so much cooler shit. But you stepped on your eyes. Give me something. Give me something.
Starting point is 01:42:31 But Joker, like, we say Joker, this Joker, all the time. He's like, oh, that Joker must be out of his mind. He be like, that Yala. That Yala. That Yala. Yeah. That Yala, yeah. That Yala.
Starting point is 01:42:39 That Yala. The Yande. You know what I mean? That joint. That joint. You gon' feel it. That joint. That joint.
Starting point is 01:42:44 I don't know. Because Joker just make me say, damn, this grandfather shit right here. Yeah. I'm here now. But you're a grandfather, bro. That's what I'm saying. It makes me accept. It makes me accept.
Starting point is 01:42:53 I don't want to accept it. Accept it, man. Accept it. I use Beijing. I use Rewind time. You use Rewind time? Oh, no, no. Mine is just like this all the time.
Starting point is 01:43:00 It's natural? You got a little bit in there. Well, come on, stop it. I put a little bit in there. A little bit. I don't. Put a little bit. I don't. I put a little bit in there. Well, come on, stop. I put a little bit in there. A little bit. I know. A little bit. I know.
Starting point is 01:43:07 We know, man. Yo, my shit would probably look like that if I did. Yeah, for sure. I'm on the verge. The American West with Dan Flores is the latest show
Starting point is 01:43:23 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 bestselling author and meat eater founder Stephen Rinella. I'll correct my kids now and then where they'll say when cave people were here. And I'll say it seems like the Ice Age people to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today.
Starting point is 01:44:11 Listen to The American West with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, hello, Malcolm Gladwell here. On this season of Revisionist History, we're going where no podcast has ever gone before. In combination with my three-year-old, we defend the show that everyone else hates. I'm talking, of course, about Paw Patrol. There's some things that really piss me off when it comes to Paw Patrol.
Starting point is 01:44:40 It's pretty simple. It sucks. My son watches Paw Patrol. I hate it. Everyone hates pretty simple. It sucks. My son watches Paw Patrol. I hate it. Everyone hates it. Except for me. Plus, we investigate everything from why American sirens are so unbearably loud, to the impact of face blindness on social connection,
Starting point is 01:44:55 to the secret behind Thomas's English muffins, perfect nooks and crannies. And also, we go after Joe Rogan. Are you ready, Joe? I'm coming for you. You won't want to miss it. Listen to Revisionist History on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Brendan Patrick Hughes, host of Divine Intervention. This is a story about radical nuns in combat boots and wild-haired priests trading blows with J. Edgar Hoover in a hell-bent effort to sabotage a war. J. Edgar Hoover was furious. Somebody violated the FBI, and he wanted to bring the Catholic left to its knees.
Starting point is 01:45:39 The FBI went around to all their neighbors and said to them, do you think these people are good Americans? It's got heists, tragedy, a trial of the century, and the goddamnedest love story you've ever heard. I picked up the phone, and my thought was, this is the most important phone call I'll ever make in my life. I couldn't believe it. I mean, Brendan, it was divine intervention. You can now binge all 10 episodes of Divine Intervention
Starting point is 01:46:07 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multibillion-dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission.
Starting point is 01:46:52 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.
Starting point is 01:47:30 If you had one thing to do all over in this industry, and that's anything, what would you do? One thing to do all over again. You know, it's funny, like, once you're past things, right, there are very few, you know, there's a song on the album called Beautiful Scars. I got it in my notes. Right? So, the idea is you don't like shit while you're going through it, right? But once you learn the lesson, you'd never want to give it back.
Starting point is 01:48:08 Right. It's like you suffered it. You survived. You took a lesson from it. Now it's like the things that you have suffered are in your eyes when you talk to your son. Right? If you ain't been there, you can't help him. Right? So to me, it's like, you know, I wouldn't, you know, when I look back, there's like, there's not things, I mean, of course there's things I think about, but I would,
Starting point is 01:48:37 from this side of it, I would never give them scars back. Because you're looking at it like, whatever you've been through, it's the reason why you're here now. It makes you the man that you are. It makes you who you are, right? It's like, you can't be more valuable
Starting point is 01:48:54 than your suffering. And that's a hard idea. You learn in this world by getting smashed. That's how life teaches. That's when you learn the most. That's a shout to me.
Starting point is 01:49:08 That's a shout to you. He said smashed. Yeah. He said smashed. Well, like most stuff is sounding like a shout to you. I'm just being honest. I'm just being honest. Can we really, I'm sorry, because you were so deep, but I really want to open up Will Smith therapy.
Starting point is 01:49:23 Will Smith? No, no, no. I'll be a therapist too. You'll be a therapist? Yes. Hold up, bro. You're going to be the therapist? I can be. I don't know, man. You got to get trained. Yeah. Come on, man.
Starting point is 01:49:36 You can't go to everything, bro. We can get down. Somebody can throw out a problem. Have somebody throw out a problem. Somebody throw out something that they struggle with. Something they a problem. Somebody throw out something that they struggle with. Come on, come on, come on. Something they struggle with. Somebody throw out something that they struggle with.
Starting point is 01:49:49 All right, you know, not you. All right, cool. We got something. All right, cool. Oh, nobody's struggling. All right. Everybody got perfect lines. All right.
Starting point is 01:49:54 Never have no... Yeah, yeah, yeah. Come on, step up, Con. Come on, come on. Come on, take off your hat, too. We need real struggle. We seen it. We seen it.
Starting point is 01:50:01 We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. We seen it.
Starting point is 01:50:02 We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. We seen it.
Starting point is 01:50:03 We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. We seen it.
Starting point is 01:50:03 We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. We seen it.
Starting point is 01:50:03 We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. We seen it.
Starting point is 01:50:03 We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. We seen it. Ball this and miss one thing. Don't give us my chicken nuggets weren't that good. We're going to see them. Let's go. Cut. You got to step back like Shark Tank. Shark Tank? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 01:50:10 You too far. You messed your therapy up already. Somebody coming up with a problem. He's like, yo, back up, son. Yo, back up. He's being aggressive.
Starting point is 01:50:18 Yo, what the fuck, man? And you got a big shirt. You ready for this. Yeah, come on, man. He's struggling. He's still. That's what I'm saying. On ready for this. Yeah, come on, man. Struggle it. He's still. That shirt, man. On the way here, on the ride here, I lost a friend that I spoke to on Sunday.
Starting point is 01:50:32 Damn, sorry to hear that, man. In the last three months, I lost five people. Damn. It's been funeral after funeral after funeral. As you get older, the doors close in and you get to look around like, damn, friend. Family. Right, yep. How do you deal with that? Probably a little older than me, so you get to look around like that. Friend. Friend. How do you deal with that? Probably a little older than me, so you
Starting point is 01:50:47 probably have more experience with that. Absolutely. He got deep. I wasn't ready. It's all you. It's all you, Derek. I'm an assistant. I'm the assistant. Grand opening. Grand closing. The Norian Will Smith
Starting point is 01:51:04 Celebrity Therapy Center. No, he's like, take a shot. Grand opening, grand closing. Go to the Alps of Japan is what we'll say. I'm still your assistant. You need water? You need water? Yes.
Starting point is 01:51:18 So it's funny because I talked to Quincy Jones about this. You know, he said that exact same thing, probably 18 months ago, I was talking to him. And he was like, man, I've been at funeral every week. You know, and you just, you know, you just get to that point where that's what it is, you know? And he was like, I'm the last one, you know? And so part of the idea, so death, everybody in here is going to die.
Starting point is 01:51:54 And before that, we're going to experience a series of our loved ones departing, right? So reconciling death is the highest human difficulty. As soon as you can be with, so for example, my sister was with my father in the room in the moment that he died. My sister did the makeup on my grandmother in the casket, right? But because of that, she's gangster, right? She can be with life and all that it has to offer. Right. So I would say to you, don't shy away from their families. Go sit with them. Like, look with them, like be with what that loss actually means inside of a human heart. Like be with it. it, and you will break your heart in that. I used to do the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and it would be dying children who their last wish is they wanted to see me. That's crazy.
Starting point is 01:53:18 Right? To be with death is the final human reconcile. When you can sit and look. I was talking to Gilly, right? And I made a confession to Gilly the other day. I was like, yo, when your son died. God bless. Yes, I've reached for my phone multiple times, and I didn't have the courage to call you.
Starting point is 01:53:47 Right? It's like death is the hardest there is. Like, don't run. Stand up to it. Stand up. Like, be with the people that are hurting. Be with the people who are suffering. You can't fix it.
Starting point is 01:54:04 Just be able to be with people in that level of pain. Right? And it's all you can do. It's like we're not in charge of that part, but what we can do is love each other through it. That's all we can do is be with each other. For sure. That's what we've got.
Starting point is 01:54:23 That's what we're going to say, man. No, no, no. each other because no no I say something because again like us I witness you downstairs I see you get out the car and I've seen the security guard the same security guard that said hi to me she said hi to you and you just you just stood there and you just open your arms and you just accept what life brings you. Yeah. I'm also jealous of that. It's because I automatically, if someone says something to me, I'm like, I don't immediately put up. But you brought your hug out.
Starting point is 01:54:59 Excuse me, you brought your arms out. Yeah. For a hug. And I was like, what the fuck? And I can't think like that sometimes, especially if I'm in a foreign place. I mean, obviously it's not a foreign place to you, but when I jump out and the person says to me, yo, what's up? I'm like, what's up?
Starting point is 01:55:15 It's like, even when I jog, like if a person say what's up, you got to like actually give me out. And I'm like, what up, yo? You know what I mean? But you, all the accolades, all the places you've been, as soon as you jumped out of the car, and I do this for the past nine years, I analyze everybody as they get out of the car,
Starting point is 01:55:32 analyze who they talk to, I analyze. If they speak to the regular individuals, if they speak to the, or if they want to come in and get this interview over and done, because we're not a promotional people. We don't care about interviewing people. We care about interviewing legends and icons
Starting point is 01:55:45 and making sure they're iconic, legendary status. It continues and continues to grow. But something that was so genuine about you is when you jumped in the car, you see me, I saw you. I was like, damn, this nigga, he look like the Wild Wild West right now. It's crazy. It's crazy.
Starting point is 01:56:02 I was like, this nigga is real. He's real. And then the security guard said hi will and she had just did the same exact thing to me and we spoke and i you know i gave her the hug but your hug was way more genuine than mine right you're like no no no no it was real like like because i was like all right cool this the lady I got to talk to to get upstairs, and maybe I should. So I did, and I did it. But your hug was like, okay, I ain't see you in a while. And I was like, I don't know if you said, I ain't see you in a while.
Starting point is 01:56:34 Your hug said, you ain't see you in a while. And then I recollect to which you said to us, welcome to Philly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's not normal shit. Yeah. It's new for me.
Starting point is 01:56:54 I've always been open in that way. I'm just letting y'all know, for 25 years, we didn't see y'all brotherly love. Yeah. I saw brotherly love this morning. I was like, oh, this is where this shit been at. Charlie Madden and fucking Will Smith been hiding this brotherly love for fucking 25 years. They bring it out now.
Starting point is 01:57:14 They're brotherly, man. They're brotherly, man. Yeah, my bad. My bad. I'm sorry. So what I thought, you know, is, you know, I saw y'all, you know, so, you know, I greeted everybody. Yes. And I saw her off on the side.
Starting point is 01:57:31 The security guard was like, oh, you know, because kind of they know each other. They're doing a thing she didn't want to, like, impose. So I was like, no, no, no, you safe here, sister. Come on in. So I was like, I wanted her. I, you safe here, sister. Come on in. So I was like, I wanted her. I could tell it's the end of her workday, work shift. She's going home.
Starting point is 01:57:57 So in my mind, I saw her go, like, that to me is the highest. She like, she saw. So I wanted to fan the flames of that energy. You know how hard that is to understand human behavior within that 15 seconds? Yeah. Back in the days, we could sit there and you could be like, I know this guy. And somebody's going to say, yo, that's Ramos from the South Bronx. He's such and such.
Starting point is 01:58:23 But now we have 15 seconds to see if this person is worthy of our time or not. Right. But you did it in fucking three. Well, because everybody's worthy of my time or not. Right. But you did it in fucking three. Well, because everybody's worthy of my time. Right, he wasn't judging it either way. Like, there's nobody who's not worthy of my time. That is some niggas ain't worthy of my time. You're a much better person than me. I ain't going to lie.
Starting point is 01:58:38 You know who you are. Some of you niggas ain't worth it. I skip your call on purpose. Yes. I see you. He listed his honor. He listed his honor. This is me.
Starting point is 01:58:51 I'm sorry, Will. I'm sorry, Will. Let me take a shot. Let me calm down. That's hilarious. Oh, man. We're taking shots now? Take a sip.
Starting point is 01:59:00 Fuck it. Let's go. But everybody's working for your time. That's such a beautiful thing, man. I promise you, I'm going to try to live. But I'm not going to live. Like, I'm not going to sit here and lie to you. You know what I'm saying? But I'm going to try my best to really feel like everyone deserves my time.
Starting point is 01:59:15 Because there's certain people that, like, that'll call me and ask me, are you having another monster energy event? Asshole, you don't follow me on Instagram? Like, why are you asking me this crazy thing? But you think that everybody, not everyone, most people, like when you go to Target, you speak to people? So, first of all, if you don't know who the person is, you can't really—how would you know they're not worth your time? Right. You can't judge that.
Starting point is 01:59:51 Yeah. You don't know. And then if you're going to mess around and look at somebody based on how they dressed or something like that, you're going to make a lot of mistakes. You know, and, you know, so part of the revelation that I've had in these past couple of years is everything is God, right? So everything is one thing, right? So the idea of something being higher and lower, something being good and bad, that's a false perception of reality. Right? That's not a real, because you can't know what something's going to lead to.
Starting point is 02:00:35 So even something you don't want, even something you don't like, just because you don't like it doesn't make it wrong. And just because you like it doesn't make it wrong. And just because you like it doesn't make it right. Right? So you actually, you can't know. You literally can't know what the future is. You can't know if we're going to go downstairs after that and you're going to be lunching and walk out in the street and that girl grabs you. Better not be my wife right there. Right there. Right there.
Starting point is 02:01:07 You know, but it's like, you know. Don't get me in trouble. No, no, no. My wife there, that girl, if I'm walking down the street, that girl need to let me get hit by a truck. Don't put your hands on me, lady. You know, but you can't, we don't, you don't know what's going to happen. Right?
Starting point is 02:01:30 You can't, you can't know what, when you're going to cross somebody's path again or something. My grandmother said something to me when we first got on the tour bus. Me and Jeff were leaving. This is your first tour? First tour. Period. Yes. Like, you know, 1988 or something like that.
Starting point is 02:01:47 First time getting on a tour bus. And my grandmother said, we're getting on. She's like, bye, baby. She said, okay, baby, just remember, everywhere you go, one day you're going to have to go there again. This is your grandmother that was sitting next to you during the... No, that was my mother. Oh, that was your mother? That was my mother, yeah.
Starting point is 02:02:07 My grandmother, she passed away. Was that the grandmother that found the curse words? Found the curse words, yeah. And that's why you don't really curse that much. Yeah, so yeah, she found... You let other people curse on this album. I know, yeah. You think I ain't peeped at it?
Starting point is 02:02:20 You ain't cursed, but you let the bitches be like, nigga, all right, all right, all right. Okay, he's smart. Cursed in character. Cursed in character. It's another person. It's acting, so it's different. Damn, I got to learn this acting shit.
Starting point is 02:02:36 That's my goal right now. I'm going to Will Smith acting class. I'm going to Will Smith therapy, but me and you are the partners. We're partners in both. Will S.N. Will S.N., yes. Will Smith Network, but it's really Nori. Nori.
Starting point is 02:02:50 Don't let nobody know that. Yes. You're a silent partner. You're a silent partner. Y'all sworn to secrecy. Will, let me just tell you something, man. I really respect you. I really want you to understand that
Starting point is 02:03:05 you laid the blueprint for every rapper who wanted to be something more than a rapper. Because rapping was the quintessential level of to where we wanted to get at at one point. Let me take off my glasses like a Mac and Macs. But then you hugged Uncle Phil.
Starting point is 02:03:24 And then you brung Uncle Phil. Yeah. And then you brung gangsters, regular people, street people, people who pack bags and wallbounds, people who deliver food for six brothers. You brung them all together because everyone had that little missing part of their heart. Whether they had a father or they didn't have a father, they had something that was missing in their heart. They did that. Then you went on and then you conquered. One of my favorite movies of all time is Enemy of the State. You know where Enemy of the State is? You remember that?
Starting point is 02:03:55 Yeah, I remember that one. I was in that one. He's like, I was there. That was me. Look at me. Look at me. It didn't look like you were in it. It was me. That was me. Look at me. Look at me. Look at me. It didn't look like you. It was me. That was me.
Starting point is 02:04:07 Because I asked you earlier. It was the Filipino version of you? No, because I asked you earlier what was your most serious role. And to me, it was Independence Day. You and Vivica together. That was true. Like the black actors. They put y'all together. And Independence Day. Yeah together that was like y'all was two like the black actors and they put y'all together and
Starting point is 02:04:26 Independence Day yeah that was crazy July 4th was different yes yes that's Big Willie Weekend that's Big Willie Weekend okay
Starting point is 02:04:34 oh yeah that's what it was oh I didn't know I wasn't around back then yeah yeah that's the boss you wasn't around back then I mean like what year was that
Starting point is 02:04:43 96 96 what year he's born not the like, what year was that? 96? 96? What year? He was born. I'm a newborn. I can explain. What year was that? 96?
Starting point is 02:04:49 I can explain. No, he said, I can explain. It's called DFY. Yes. It's called jail. Yes. Yes.
Starting point is 02:04:57 Yes. So, he did explain. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's it. But, now, listen,
Starting point is 02:05:06 I told you I'm bouncing around. Yes. Now I realize that you and Michael B. Jordan is out of line. Out of line, you said? They're out of line. Out of line. Out of line. They're out of line.
Starting point is 02:05:16 He's going to explain in a second. Everybody in I Am Legend died. Yeah. How the fuck is there a part two? All right, Cole, so hold on. By the way, I want in. I can explain. Let me be a wolf or something. Alright, so there was an
Starting point is 02:05:31 alternate ending that came out on the DVD. I got the DVD. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So watch the alternate ending, my character lives. Lives, yep. You're cheating right now, but I respect it. Listen, oh yeah, and I had him bring this.
Starting point is 02:05:48 I wanted you to see this. Oh, I believe you with that? No, you can't have it. You can't have it, but I just wanted you to, because we were talking about it. Let me take a picture with you. Well, let's take a picture with him when we play. I want one by myself.
Starting point is 02:06:03 Okay, bro, get it. I'm sorry, I just wanted to do that yeah, yeah, yeah. I want one by myself. Okay, go get it, bro. Go get it. I'm sorry. I just wanted to do that. But go ahead. Continue. So, I am legend. So, you're all... I am legend.
Starting point is 02:06:09 Yeah, so... No, no, no. You see how he was with it? Yeah, yeah. I can imagine him keeping up. Just in case. Just in case. Yo, listen.
Starting point is 02:06:14 When EFN, he has, like, little tapes. Yeah, right here. Yeah, those are friends. Don't get my shit. By the way, if you touch his tape, even though this is your tape... Yeah. No, it's mine. I bought this shit.
Starting point is 02:06:24 Or stole it. Even though it's your music, get it. Pause. Touch it too much, watch how he be like. He's going to throw away the Will Smith. He'll be like, wait a minute. This is all mine. Boutou was throwing that shit around.
Starting point is 02:06:36 He was like, I don't like it. I don't like it. Boutou went like this. And he started going like this. And EFN was like, calm down, God. But I am a legend. I'm going to be honest with you. Yes.
Starting point is 02:06:46 I watched all of your movies, Bad Boys, everything. I did watch that alternate ending. Yeah. But I also realized that I was making up a bag. Like, let's get another bag. No, no, you misread it.
Starting point is 02:06:59 You misread it. It was me? Let me tell you the truth. Let's go. So here's the truth of what happened. All right. The alternate ending, see what had happened was of what happened. All right. The alternate ending. See, what had happened was.
Starting point is 02:07:06 What had happened. So the alternate ending was the first ending. The original. It was the original ending. It was the original script. And it was based on the original novel. We tested it. And it was the only movie I've ever had that the audience booed.
Starting point is 02:07:22 At the end? At the end. Because of that part? At that ending. Well, when the that the audience booed. At the end? At that ending. So in the final scene where they come in and they're around me in the alternate ending and the
Starting point is 02:07:33 dark seeker, what we realize in the alternate ending is that he realizes the one that I was keeping in the room was his woman. And I realized it was his woman. And he was like, you know, the meaning of the ending was, oh, shit, I'm the monster. They think of me as the monster.
Starting point is 02:07:56 Right? And we looked up at the wall and we do the shot up at the wall. And you see how many of them I killed. And he looks at them and looks at them and he looks at me and then he goes in, gets his woman and leaves. Right. So that was the alternate ending. We tested it. And the only, so, so how they do these things is they put it in front of an audience, you know, you get a couple hundred people, they fill it out, and you fill out, you know, there's five boxes, and you say either excellent, very good, good, poor, very poor.
Starting point is 02:08:31 And what they do is they take the top two boxes, and if you score, you know, 90% in the top two boxes, excellent and very good, you're pretty sure you have a good movie. It was the lowest scoring movie I've ever had. Ending or period? So they scored the whole movie, but it was because of the ending. Ending, okay.
Starting point is 02:08:53 And it scored 51 in the top two boxes. And we were like, what? So then they fill out the thing and it was like, across the board, it was like the ending is bullshit. That's bullshit. He's not the monster. They're dark seekers.
Starting point is 02:09:07 They've been chasing him. And there was something that was just horrific. They couldn't accept it. They could. They was like, no, you're not the monster. We didn't watch this whole movie to figure out that you're the monster. No, they're the monsters. So they felt cheated.
Starting point is 02:09:20 Right. So six weeks before the movie comes out, we had to reshoot the ending that was actually in the movies where my character died. And that's in New York City where you walked out? Yeah, right. So where my character dies in the end actually is the alternate ending, right? So it's the alternate ending, but we were faithful to the novel in the previous one. So when we did the new ending, it scored 91 in the top two boxes. And it was like, it's just one of them weird things that happens. It was like.
Starting point is 02:09:55 How much does that say about us as humans watching that? But it was like a major save. We saved it because the audiences hated it, right? But it was what we originally wanted to do. So we were like, well, we shot, you know, it was probably an $8 million ending that got scrapped. Wow. Right? Because there was special effects and all of that stuff in it.
Starting point is 02:10:21 So we ultimately, we were like, well, we got to use it. We got to use it somewhere. So we put it on the DVD and Blu-ray. So people saw it. So it popped up online and all of that. And then later, the writer, Akiva Goldsman, he's the Academy Award-winning writer of A Beautiful Mind. And so he's like, hey, what if we made another one?
Starting point is 02:10:45 What we were going to do is the prequel. So we were going to do the prequel for what happened before. So we were going to go back and do the prequel. And he was like, but wait, what if we make a new version from the alternate ending where your character is still alive? And, you know, Michael B. Jordan's character currently is the head of a new settlement. So he's not your son? He's not my son. No, no, no.
Starting point is 02:11:11 Not my son. Not my son. My dark seeker son. But he's your evil rival? No, so, well, no, I can't tell you the movie. No, give me like a lot of songs. I'm already watching this shit. It's only us in here. It's only us'm already watching this shit. It's only us in here.
Starting point is 02:11:27 It's only us. It's only us. It's only us. So right now. Just for the people that, I am legend fans like me. And I love the fact that we're doing a number two. Yeah. But I kept watching.
Starting point is 02:11:41 He said we. We doing a number two. I love that we doing another one, Will. You know. You said, we doing another one, too. I love that we doing another one, Will. You know. You said, we here. You said, we doing another one. Yeah, because you know, we doing another one. You know, we do, Will.
Starting point is 02:11:53 But I love the fact that you do. But I wanted it. So for people that's fans like me, make it make sense for them. Tell them that we had DNA left over. Michael B. Jordan is coming out. DNA left over? You just making up shit. I told you that.
Starting point is 02:12:07 Yeah, no. I thought you established that. I said it was that. You're right, you're right. But there's not DNA left over. So how does Michael B. Jordan come to existence? Does a dog eat him? No, no.
Starting point is 02:12:17 Does a dog eat him? What the fuck? Does a dog pregnant? I'm so confused now. Remember, when he was jogging and I am less, all the other people was dogs. There's a dog pregnant. I'm so confused now. Remember, when he was jogging and I am less, all the other people was dogs. You're not doing a good job selling this movie right now. No, no, I am. I'm not selling Michael B. Jordan's movie.
Starting point is 02:12:33 No, this is the new social media. You got to get him over here. You got to get him over here. No, no, no. It's really, it's a cool concept. So currently Michael B.'s character is the head of a settlement. So there's a settlement in Connecticut, right? I'm going to be honest, Will.
Starting point is 02:12:52 How is there a settlement? There's no judges. There's nobody in the earth, apparently. So you're not going to watch it or you're just going to watch it and see the story? No, I'm just saying everybody's dead. Everybody's not dead. We were just seeing him in real life. There was other people. You saw the girl and the little boy. I were just seeing him being alive. But there was other people.
Starting point is 02:13:05 You saw the girl and the little boy. I'm fucking with you. Take a little shot. Last shot. This one. Last shot. We're going to give you your flowers. We're getting you your flowers.
Starting point is 02:13:16 Here you go. Thank you, Will. I know you got shit to do. Here we go. Here we go. It's slow time with no slime. Yo, thank you, man. Hey.
Starting point is 02:13:26 Yo, listen, man. Thank you, man. This was fantastic. Please have, listen, man, come have fun with us anytime you are. In Miami, please. In Miami. In Miami, please, please. In Miami, for sure.
Starting point is 02:13:35 You know that's my town. Yeah, come hang out with us. It was beautiful for us to come hang out with you in Philadelphia. It was a pleasure. Because one, Philadelphia is a town. As soon as I landed, I thought of trading places immediately. in Philadelphia. It was a pleasure. Because one, Philadelphia is a town. I couldn't, as soon as I landed, I thought of trading places
Starting point is 02:13:47 immediately. Yeah. And I couldn't realize why and then I realized that actually trading places happen here. But let me get back to the point.
Starting point is 02:13:56 Well, big up to my man Lex, man. You know what I mean? Big up to your whole team. Yeah, your whole team's amazing. I mean, they were so official. Yeah.
Starting point is 02:14:03 And so efficient. I don't even know if I'm making sense. But it's fucking great. We get it. And they were so official so efficient I don't even know if I'm making sense but it's fucking great and they were so great and I just want to thank you so much because
Starting point is 02:14:10 so many great people like you have a terrible team and there's so many people who have a a great team and then they're terrible people
Starting point is 02:14:20 oh wow you actually got your shit worked out like I mean for nine years of me dealing with every artist from 50 Cent to you name them. I don't want to keep
Starting point is 02:14:31 name dropping. I'm telling you, this is purely a pleasure for me. Your album is fucking awesome. Thank you, brother. I ain't gonna lie. I'm sorry. I'm sorry to say this, but I was listening to it like there's no way he could still be this hungry. So I was actually listening to it for a floor, and I't fly on one thank you and the thing about it is I want to salute you for that I want you to know that you appreciate it I want you to know everything
Starting point is 02:14:54 that you did because in a certain way had you not wrapped and went to sitcom, from sitcom to movies, and then dominated all these worlds, we wouldn't have had to, from us, he's a DJ, me a rapper, us to go to podcasts. So in a lot of ways, you might own Drink Champs, but we could do a deal for Old Brook, you know what I'm saying? You're part of our trajectory, brother. We love you, we thank you, man. I appreciate you, man, for taking your time out. And I just want to say something before this is all up.
Starting point is 02:15:26 He didn't ask me to say this. Lex didn't ask me to say this. No one asked me to say this. This might be one of his best albums. I love that. No, no, no, no, no. I'm not... What did y'all say? I'm not glazing. It's no cap.
Starting point is 02:15:41 No cap. No cap. No glazing listen listen to that shit and I'm gonna tell you this just in case and by the way he did not tell me this
Starting point is 02:15:51 listen to the first two tracks if you're not intrigued adapted and want to continue for the first two tracks um
Starting point is 02:16:02 the first two tracks excuse me you're not human. That's it. And you can be an I Am Legend too. Because you're not human. And I'm an I Am Legend too! With the dogs for myself. Yeah!
Starting point is 02:16:20 Drink Champs is a Drink Champs LLC production, hosts and executive producers, NORE and DJ EFN. 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. It's at Drink Champs across all platforms, at TheRealNoriega on IG, at Noriega on Twitter. Mine is at Who's Crazy on IG,
Starting point is 02:16:53 at DJ EFN on Twitter. And most importantly, stay up to date with the latest releases, news and merch by going to drinkchamps.com. Why is a soap opera Western like Yellowstone so wildly successful? The American West with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th,
Starting point is 02:17:19 where we'll delve into stories of the West and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today. Listen to the American West with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Your gut microbiome and those healthy bacteria can actually have positive effects, your mental health, your immunity, your risk of cancer, almost any disease under the sun. This week on Dope Labs, Titi and I dive into the world of probiotics,
Starting point is 02:17:50 the hype, the science, and what your gut bacteria are really doing behind the scenes. From drinks and gummies to probiotic pillows. Yes, really, probiotic pillows. We're breaking down what's legit and what's just brilliant marketing with expert insight from gastroenterologist dr roshi raj listen to dope labs on the 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 healed with dr j the incomparable taraji p. Henson stopped by to discuss how she's discovered peace on her journey. I never let that little girl inside of me die.
Starting point is 02:18:32 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. I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.
Starting point is 02:19:04 This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart Podcast.

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