Drink Champs - Episode 451 w/ 9th Wonder and Smif-N-Wessun

Episode Date: April 25, 2025

N.O.R.E. & DJ EFN are the Drink Champs. In this episode we chop it up with the legends 9th Wonder and Smif-N-Wessun!Legendary producer 9th Wonder and Brooklyn’s own Smif-N-Wessun sit down with the champs! In this deep-dive conversation, the trio reflects on their lasting impact on the culture, sharing stories from their early days to their most recent musical projects.9th Wonder breaks down his journey from Little Brother to crafting beats for Jay-Z, while offering insight into his role as a mentor and professor. Smif-N-Wessun, the rugged duo from Boot Camp Clik, recount their rise in the 90s New York scene and how their sound helped shape an era. Expect real talk, rare gems, and plenty of laughs as they toast to legacy, loyalty, and lyricism.This episode is packed with hip-hop history, brotherhood, and inspiration. Tap in—you don’t want to miss this!Make some noise for 9th Wonder and Smif-N-Wessun!! 💐💐💐🏆🏆🏆 *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/noreaga  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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. And it's Dream Chats motherfucking podcast. Make some noise! He's a legendary Queens rapper. Hey, hey, it's your boy N.O.R.E. He's a Miami hip-hop pioneer.

What up, it's DJ EFN. Together, they drink it up with some of the biggest players you know i mean in the most professional unprofessional podcast and your number one source for drunk fat it's time for drink champs drink up what it could be over this one it should be this is your boy N.O.R.E. What up it's DJ E.F.N. And this is military crazy war yappy yammer make some noise When I tell you I'm a fan of hip hop

I'm a fan of pure hip hop When I heard this album Like I was literally in the car and, you know, the saliva that comes out your mouth, like, when you hear something, like, when something is good, like, when your mom told you on Christmas Day that you're going to get that present. And then you start getting saliva. I was like, I didn't remember how much I loved hip hop. Like, and I didn't even know. I was just sitting in the car,

and I literally did not get out of this motherfucking car. And I just stepped, listening, and then I said, yo, we got to get them on. This album,

I really want to thank y'all face to face. But only us, my friends. So I could have did this, like, you know, like,

I could have called, but I want to really truly give you brothers y'all flowers, man. This was a breath of fresh air for me loving hip-hop. I'm sorry, I know this is supposed to be the intro, right? I frustrated you in the interview, but listen, but let me just get this off my chest, man, for real.

As a person that loves hip-hop and I forgot how much I love pure hip-hop, I just listened to this shit and I was just like, it was, like I said, there was tears coming out of my eyes. I was feeling like the day before Christmas when mom say, you know, we're going to put out those cookies for Santa because Santa can't do this. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. This is how dope that album is. In case you don't know who we're talking about right now, we're talking about Smith and Wesley. And they're talking about you right now. Man, I am not exaggerating. No weight, shape, form, or fashion. That shit gave me a breath of fresh fucking air.

Like, I stood there. I was so happy. I was so happy to know you, brothers. But how did y'all link up? Let's take this from... We know y'all got a history of working, but let's let the people who don't know it. I'm ready to pop some champagne and celebrate this goddamn album.

I'm sorry. Hold it up, hold it up. That's like a dead infinity, motherfucker. I'm sorry. I'm great to celebrate my peers who did a fucking excellent body of work. So listen, please, for the people who don't know, let's describe the relationship of how y'all,

let's pop off, let's pop off, yes. You want me to tell it? Yes. Yeah. You don't need no introduction. You can say it. All right, okay, so around like 2002, I was selling beats for $50.

And somehow, someway, my music, $50. Okay, all right. And my music got out, and this is like the early days of the internet, right? So my music got out, and the first person that called me out of bootcamp click was Mr. Walt. Wow.

And he called, and this is the time he called, I was staying in an apartment with six niggas, and he called a house phone, to let you know how old he is. So he called, and it was like, okay, so Evil D going to call you next. And I'm like, what?

And I'm living in, I mean, I'm from North Carolina, so I'm living in North Carolina. So Evil D called me after that, and then Drew Hart called me after that. And so he gave me some remixes. He wanted me some stuff to do remixes. I just did the remix for God's Son, God's Stepson. And so he wanted me to do some remixes for Buckshot at the time. So I did the remixes. And so after I did the remixes and I gave them to him, he was like, well, I'm going to send a whole BCC down there. I'm going to send them down.

So he sent them from North Carolina. The whole BCC that you sent? No, BCC. Oh, who can't click? Oh, who can't click? He sent them down. It was. This is pre Little Brother? This is during Little Brother, as a matter of fact Who can't click? He sent them down. It was... This is pre-Little Brother?

This is during Little Brother, as a matter of fact. Wow. And so he sent them down and they all came down. Love that, Shannon. Love that. We celebrate.

Keep it going. Keep it going. And he sent them down. It was these two guys. It was Sean Price, rest in peace, it was Buckshot. And they came down

in the dug down van. Y'all remember that? Yeah. They came down and that's down van. Y'all remember that? They came down and that's when it started, man. That was 2005 when I first met these guys. It's Sean Price's birthday today. I'm so happy to be here. I'm so happy to be here. You know, this morning and like this whole week,

I knew I had your brother's book. The one thing that I did is I went through the whole you know dug down discography right and the one thing

that I can say is you brothers never compromised at all like I'm trying to look for a commercial record like I'm trying

like I'm trying to go to the norm but you motherfuckers he need a north but you mother he need a glass too yeah yeah he need a glass to celebrate but was that something that you guys did deliberately was like she made so good like oh honestly honestly we didn't know any better we didn't we was learning how to make records when we first got with black moon with watching him and collide p studio breaking all nighters and um we always used to say yo i'm not making a song for the chicks i'm not making a club song because that was how the

labels used to say yo we need this for the club we need this for the radio we need this for the chicks so out of those three we're just like nah all we know how to do is make what we love was pure to us. So we never really got trapped in that mindset like that. And then we also had females that was like, yo, what is like a girl song? Like they dance to like a Mobb Deep song. They dance to a Capone and O'Regan song. They like the-

It was that era too. Definitely was. They know the corny, though. That's what I'm saying. They'll peep it out. If you're not made like that, you're just making something trying to cater to us. They're going to be like,

get up out of here. I'm going to involve myself in this a little bit, right? I remember me making the War Report album, and I wanted to cross over. I wanted to. When niggas was like,

don't do that. I was like, fuck no. It's crazy. That was me though. That's me, right? But I remember tragedy and I call tragedy every year about this.

And I say, thank you for not letting me make this record. I made a record called, it was, don't let it go to your head now, but originally it was, don't let it go to your head now, but originally it was, I'm leaving.

Okay. So I'm leaving, which I eventually put on the Firm album, but had Traz let that record go, I would have never been on the Firm album. So Traz looked at me like this, this was the exact words, I will never forget it.

He said, we sample like havoc. We don't sample like ditty. So I was like, hold, whole he was like this record is whack he took me my record was whack I was so happy when I put it on I'm leaving I kept calling him nigga and it wasn't right

but anyway has there ever been a time where y'all brothers cause that was a debate between me and Capone was it any time that y'all brothers you want to go a certain way and he didn't want to go that way have to have yeah we had okay it is definitely a song that was on this album that didn't make it they was like yo i'm not saying that i don't want that that's not gonna go we came back home with the record and we were like, yo, Smoke, if you want

to join on, take my verse off. I'm like, damn, we never You know what I mean? He wanted no parts in that. I said, I can't switch the words. Take my verse off. But I think it was, yeah, I mean, that's what brothers and partners do.

Because no one is the head. So when you come together as a tag team it's like son let's try this if it don't work we try that if that don't work then we revamp the whole joint right yeah now now for night for you these are two legends right is it hard for you to be in the studio with them yeah you know it's weird don't really understand. So, you know, it's weird for me because, not weird, but it's different for me

because I'm born and raised in North Carolina. Right. And I sit in a weird position. I'm their age, close to their age, but in music years, I'm not their age.

It's their fan. I'm a fan. That's still so bad, yes. While they were making records in the 90s, I was in college. I was doing this, I was doing that. So I got into the game. I got in the 90s I was in college I was doing this I was doing that

so I got into the game I got into the game when I was 28 29 years old and considering hip hop that's late right so now I'm getting in and now I have the task of

how do I keep their sound and keep their feeling but make it futuristic you see what I mean I call it futuristic nostalgia that's what I call it. To keep that feeling, that brand.

Because Smith & Wesson is a brand. It's not only a sound, it's a look, it's, you know, the Timbs, everything. So how do I keep that futuristic and modern at the same time, not lose the fans that they've had for years? I think that people mess up when they do that. They just forget the old fans.

You can't forget, that's the foundation. You can they do that. They just forget the old fans. You can't forget. That's the foundation. You can't do that. So that's my job. I have to try to find a way because me living in North Carolina, I still live around the people I went to college with. So I know what they like and I know how to make what they need. So I sit in this position of, I know how to make what I want to hear Or what a fan in me wants to hear So that's how I can tackle that That's what's so beautiful about this album

Is it sounds like 90s now Yeah, which we said that With Common and Pete Rock We were saying the same thing It doesn't sound like 90s It sounds like y'all now Which is so fucking dope, bro I'm not going to let y'all just downplay this shit.

That shit is some real fucking shit. And I'm going to go ahead, because I know it's humble. I know y'all are going to be humble. But I'm going to go ahead and call it a classic right now. I'm calling it a classic. Get in my DMs, motherfuckers. I'm ready to fight for that. I'm ready to fight for that.

I'm standing in the war tonight. I stand up with what Denzel said. That's to fight for that I'm standing on it I stand When Denzel said That's my product I'm standing on it Yeah Wallahi Knife is a Jedi man

Right of course I think the very first day We walked in We were going in I wouldn't say blindly But we didn't know What we was going to paint On this canvas

Right And when we got down here Because we traveled from We took a real trip to North Carolina and stayed down there to put this together. And as soon as we walked in, he was like, yo, we making a shining two. I don't care what you say.

And off the muscle, we like, nah, we ain't, that's definitely not what we doing right now. But the way things was coming out and coming together, the joints, and as soon as he was playing joints, he was like, yo,

that's the vibe right there. Right. And I think we walked that bitch down and that shit, this is our road to the grand. Because when was the last time y'all did a record where the all,

I'm saying, but that somebody, one entity, like the Beat Miners oversaw the whole record, right? The whole, it was the album before this.

The album before this, yeah. Me and the Soul Council, my production team, me, Crisis, Cash, E. Jones, Amp, Eric G, the great Knotts soundtrack. Knotts, that's Virginia as well.

The young one. Who did Black Eminence on this one. But yeah, it's right. I was like, we making the Shining, we're not going to call it the Shining 2, but that's what we got to make. We have to make something

that feels like that, but it's not, doesn't sound old. No, it sounds new. It sounds like right now. I think what helps is that these guys don't, the egos is not there. Right. Like, he talking about being a fan, and I think each one of these individuals bring that same energy. And you know it's competitive, but it's still healthy.

Because you can go in any door and hear somebody knocking beats. You're like, yo, who track is that? Yo, we need that over here

and bring that over here. all right, cool. You know what I mean? So it's all welcoming and it's all family vibes so it was free for us which reminded us

of the essence of being in like a D&D. So it was, all we had to do was show up. You know what I mean? Me, for me hearing it,

it sounds like y'all made all the records together. Mm-hmm. Was every record we could, because that's what, and I hate to just be like, that guy in my time, but in my time,

the records came out better because we were all in the studios together. We didn't want to send a two-inch rail to California. We wanted to bring that shit ourselves. So me hearing it,

I have no inside information, but me hearing this album, I can almost tell that y'all recorded everything together. Every day. Every day. Order food, everything.

Yeah, every day. I don't think Chef Joe, he ain't chef up on this one. Jones didn't. Yeah, every day. Right. I don't think Chef Joe, he ain't Chef up on this one. Jones didn't. Yeah, but every day we was in there. Knife is, he's a real producer. He say he's a fan. I'm definitely a fan of his work from before I even really caught on to how dope he was.

Right. And he's one of those producers that's just going to not let you go in there and talk any bullshit or go off this way he's gonna make sure you in the pocket he's gonna give his input he's gonna give you his criticism and if you don't got tough skin you think you hot shit you can't be touched

your feelings gonna be hurt but Knife is one of those producers that's hands on with it like even with this album we all help with the sequence of it. Because, you know, he DJs, so listening to a different air, we cover in different bases. Right. Right. Yeah.

But even the verses from Prodigy and Sean P sounded like they recorded with you. Oh, yeah. Obviously, they recorded that. I'm just saying, they seemed like they was meant to be on this album. They were. They were. They were. When the first time we heard the beat for the Black Eminence, he was like, you know, I could hear P on this. So we automatically, what P?

Sean P? Nah. Prodigy. So I'm like, oh, we already got a Prodigy versed up. Wow. Because we did a whole tour with Mobb Deep. Wow. And we was building our bond outside of rap.

Right. My bestie was just Tiana. passed from sickle cell so he was giving me a lot of feeding my soul with information about it and i would take it back to her and we'd chop it up with her mother and we'll just smile and laugh and be like yo so that's sort of the inspiration behind the infinity because she would speak with such passion to her mom to be like yo, I love you from infinity and beyond. So that was some of the inspiration, but not to get off track. When he spoke about the prodigy, he hear it, it automatically reconnected. And it was God's time.

And once we had the perfect backdrop for it to put on, we just picked up our brushes. And that mix, man, to make it sound... That's Jake Palumbo. Crazy, because you could get people that are alive today and recording separate students. It's not going to sound like that. That's right. And salute to Bernadette Price, too, because, you know,

we... Sean P? Correct. Yeah, indeed. She cleared... Of course. Happy birthday, Sean Price, again. I don't know if I ever said this story I think I did

but I ever told you I invited Sean Price to a barbecue and he came to the barbecue but it was on Ramadan I didn't know and he was like I'm on Ramadan

I was like you got a Gatorade in your hand he was a very unique very unique person, man. Definitely. He was one of those that speak their mind

all the time. He didn't give a fuck what you thought about it. And he was like one of those persons that's very sincere so it might be taken in the wrong way.

Right. And then at the same time, he was hilarious. Right. Yeah. Easy to love. Another moment was just recently,

you guys just had a release party and Busta Rhymes came out and gave a... Yeah, you guys just had a release party, and Busta Rhymes came out and gave a phenomenal speech. Yeah, yeah. How was that to see your elder statesman show that love and respect to you guys? I mean, that's a phenomenal thing because I think any artist, once you get into the game, that's one of your main goals besides getting money

and getting a bag is to be accepted and liked for what you do by your peers. I think that topples a lot of the accolades when it comes to awards and everything.

Like when you hear Primo say, yo, you got dope beats or you hear a super hot rapper that you like be like, yo, that shit you said, bars,

now you're like, ooh, okay. So, with that, a super hot rapper that you like be like yo that shit you said bars now you like okay so with that it is oh man it was Busta is our man

salute to Dragon him and Young Trillion they gotta join out it's rocking right now so like you said the elder statesman man when it's come from

people like that it's respected by the people that's the audience it's received well. And it ain't coming off as no dick-riding type shit. You know what I mean?

Let me add on, though, because that's important. Because you said earlier, you said it feel like 90s now, right? In the 90s, we all was fucking with each other. Yeah. Like, we all was hustling. Hustle was enough room and elbow space for us to rock. And just seeing him do that now in this current environment, it's like it's a lot of animosity in the game right now.

It's a lot of mine, mine, mine in the game right now. So to see him, because he got an album out too, the Equinox, you know what I mean? Dragon Season. So for him, he could be like, nah, I ain't even stepping out. I'm worried about my shit right now. For him to come through like that, it just shows that artists can have solidarity in this time. We can get money.

We can have fun. We can celebrate. And longevity. We all been here. We are from the 95 alumni. You know what I'm saying? Caster tried to leave us out the books and all that, but we got to maintain our mark. That's why we wear Tim's all-seasons for ass-kicking reasons.

You know what I'm saying? Goddamn it. That's so beautiful. What reasons. Goddamn it. Goddamn it. That's so beautiful. Goddamn it. Remember. So, I want to ask y'all.

We already said Mobb D. Yeah. Who was some of the two-man group you guys were one of the worst See, I'm glad you said that Because The Queens was last night Queens get the money

And Senegal Smith was like Yo, word The next thing we gotta do is They mentioned EPMD Listen Listen Wait, wait

You talking versus or nothing like that? No, no, no Absolutely not Absolutely not We talking about bucket lists Because we like, yo, what's next after this? Because ain't no way

after this. No, no, no, we saying what artists. You said duos. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I was going to say CNN first, but that was my,

you know, CNN, EPMD, you know what I'm saying? Like we got songs with Prodigy, we got a song with Prodigy, we got a song with Hat,

but not a song with Mob. You know what I mean? It's like, it's a couple out there, man. We do got the M.O.P. joint, though. We got the M.O.P. We got the M.O.P. joint. Yeah, yeah. It's a few out there, man.

Who produced the M.O.P. joint? D.R. Period? Nah, that's Beatmine. Nah, that's Beatmine. Shout out to Beatmine. Actually, Uptown USA Remix. Okay. Shout out to Beatmine.

It's Mr. Wall, E-B-B. Word up. And what's, what for you, 9th? What would be your ultimate production? And I'm going to ask you dead or alive. How about that? Yeah, let's go. Dead or alive.

Let's go. If God came to you and said, you get to produce for anybody. Anybody. Dead or alive. You can bring them out the grave. No problem. Marvin Gaye.

I knew you was going to say Marvin Gaye, bro. I was just about to say Marvin Gaye. I knew you. I don bring them out the grave. No problem. Marvin Gaye. I knew you was going to say Marvin Gaye, bro. I was just about to say Marvin Gaye. I knew you. I don't know what the fuck. Marvin Gaye. I wouldn't be on that track. Okay, now alive. Alive.

I'm running out of people, bro. That's tough. You know what? Alive. Jadakiss. Jadakiss. Right here. Wait a minute. Right here. Jadakiss. You've never worked with Jadakiss. Jadakiss. Right here. Jadakiss.

You've never worked with Jadakiss? Nah, man. He's a big basketball cat like me. And we see each other at All-Star every week, every year. We go to NBA All-Star. He's like, we're going to get up. We're going to get up. And we never do.

But Jadakiss. But his son, though, his son is nice, man. His son is nice. But Jadakiss, I would love nice, man. His son is nice. But Jadakiss, I would love to do a VHS project. I would have lost money. I would have thought that would work. Jadakiss. Jadakiss.

And Redman. Never worked with Redman either? Mm-mm. Redman don't smoke weed no more. He different. What? It's a different man. Redman got a new album.

He's still there. Yeah. He still. He's got pictures and shit. Yeah, he's great. He's a few cats. He's got like classic plants. He's crazy. He's a few it. He's still. He pictures and shit. Yeah, he's crazy. He's got like plastic plants. He's crazy.

He's a few cats. He's a vegan or something like that. He's a totally different guy. He's doing pull-ups for no reason. He's a skydiver. He's doing skydiving. He's been skydiving. He's been doing that. We came into the game skydiving with Redman, didn't we?

But let me say something that Buster said in that speech. He said, because we excelled in life, not only in this game. Yeah. Did you realize which, one,

what you guys mean to the game, that's one. And then two, like how far you have came. We talk about it. It's not about,

I don't know, I won't say we realize it or whatever. We talk about it, we discuss it, but we face so much adversity. You know what I mean? So it's a lot. I mean, we've been paying dues for a long time and we still are. Like we out here on our own grind. It's an independent grind.

That's right. I mean, shout out to Drew Hod and James, but we out here with the Queens right now. We out here with Queens to get the money, That's right. Senegal Smith, you know what I mean? And a brother came up for this, and it's like we putting this together, and it remind us like what we was doing then. We had a little independent label paying for the overhead and the flights, but we doing this now. That's right.

You know what I mean? So it feels, although it's heavy, you know, it's like we look at it and go, we earned to own our shit. It's fulfilling. So that's what it feels like. And it's like this is what it comes with being a boss boss, not the looks and all of that. Like he said, the accolades and all that.

It's like this is what comes with being a boss, the hard work. So that part of it is like it feels great. And then to be able to sit around a table with brothers like y'all, like, yo, man, you know. So y'all fully own the masters on this? This is all y'all? This is our shit, bro. This is all us.

Goddamn, make some noise for that guy. And I think you got to get your masters back on the older stuff, right? Yeah, yeah. We got another

couple more years. Isn't it the 30th anniversary? 35 years. 35 years. We just did the Monarch in Brooklyn for the 30th anniversary of The Shining. It ain't no more Big 6 no more, and the label's got to realize we made them mad bread.

You know what I mean? Break bread. We ain't asking you to break bread. We saying break bread. We don't have to give Val an attack mode, nothing like that. It's sensible to go, all right, I had your project for 35 years. Right. Like, yeah, if you want to sell it, let the man sell it. That's what we're talking about, legacy right, I had your project for 35 years. Right. Like, yeah, let the guy,

if you want to sell it, let the man sell it. Let the guy, that's what we're talking about legacy stuff, right? Let him pass it on to his family. Your family done went

through college or for the shining. Yeah, I agree. You know what I mean? Things of that nature. So it's like, here we are, 360 degrees back home

putting out our eighth album together. We've been together the whole journey, the whole trip. No breakups. No none of that. Crazy. We want to stand on our foundation, Smith & Wesson. I own journey, the whole trip. No breakups. No none of that. Crazy.

We want to stand on our foundation, Smith & Wesson. I own this. I own that. It's not like give me my shit back. It's like, what else do you talk about, right? We created that we are the intellectual property. So as we walk around, we're sharing this with these guys. So we're helping you make money.

And it's only right to go, yo, we own that shit. Yeah. Break bread. We own that. Salute the Ducktown. You know what I mean? Salute the Bucktown USA. Yeah, the commission, baby.

Did y'all hear R. Kelly new record? Mm-mm. Oh, that remix of Chris Brown? You hear me talking about those? What is he saying? He's like, yo, where's all this money go? For 30-something years, I've been making y'all money. And it's like, yo, he said 30-something years.

Like, it reminded me, like, I was like, wait a minute. I thought he was getting his stuff. I thought he was, I thought, nigga, he got a video on everything. And he's on YouTube, podcast interviews and everything. I didn't see the video. He got a video? Yeah, he on promo tour. For the gym.

He's outside He's outside That's what my sister used to call me I've been over there I was on a prison tour But we want y'all to know our show is about giving people Their flowers where they can smell them They throw us where they can tell them They drink where they can drink them

Y'all got y'all flowers You guys are alumni Yo flowers You never got joy Shout out Flowers, of course. You guys are alumni. Say what, man? Say what? Yo, Flowers. Yo. You never got joy, so. Yo. Yo. Yo.

Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo.

Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo.

Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo.

Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo.

Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo.

Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo.

Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo.

Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo.

Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo.

Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo.

Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo, I'm going to tell you, like, when Tech screenshotted, when you hit him on the ground, I was like, wow, that's real? Nah, man, I ain't going to lie. I heard that album. I couldn't hold back. I couldn't hold back. I was like, this is my idea. I was like, I need y'all on, you know what I mean?

Because, sincerely, sorry for cutting you off. Nah, at all. But sincerely, like, not because y'all my friends not because I got a relationship with y'all but when I'm sitting there and I'm just listening and I'm like this is how if I was to come back and make music I would have to make an album that sounds like that you know what I'm saying

I would have to be in that alley because I was just like damn I really miss hip hop sound like that and I ain't heard it in so long I almost cried like I was saying And I ain't heard it in so long I almost cried I was like oh shit It's really that good It's challenging

Because you don't know How people are going to accept it Right So it's like Alright we want that to happen Because it's like We could have gave up You know what I mean

It was tough Like we was like Alright But then there's Brothers like Drew And brothers like him That have a conversation And go yo the guys is hungry.

They want to go back to work. Like, we could be looking around, fishing around, but we got guys that believe in us. So we got to be ready to work. You know what I mean? So when we put that forward, we like, all right, man, hopefully it get a little bit, y'all fall in love with this again. Because we love it. That's why we kept going. You know what I mean?

And the ladies that's pushing us, they like, yo, man, we're going to the Grammys this year. We're not even thinking about that before. We wasn't thinking about that stuff. We're just trying to get raps, get our money, keep it moving, get our little bit of things and stuff. Keep it pushing. But it's like, alright, we still here. Wow, what does that mean? So we got to make something that's substantial, bro.

And just to add on, I think that comes with a lot of artists. You do fall out of love with it because the business be so manipulated yeah sometimes you have to find other ways to do it and I think for us what really helped with this album is we left

outside of New York outside of our comfort zone and actually traveled to his home like you said it brought back the feeling of recording in D&D like you know how it would be when you come through there, B. That was one of my questions

because in my notes, that was one thing that I literally said I was jealous of y'all about because I could feel

that y'all still was loving it. Mm-hmm. And at times, if I don't love this shit, You ain't gonna do it. I ain't gonna do it. Yeah. So when I'm listening listening that's what I was listening for not the country

we was just listening to what the CNN album and we was just talking about before and he gave the perfect line like when he said yo my pops just died

I didn't want to make them yeah that's real that was real that was real that's the hell shit yeah the American West with Dan Flores Yeah, that was real. That was real. That was real. That's the hell shit, yeah. The American West with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network,

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And I listened to you guys' voice, your breathing. And I couldn't tell that y'all fell out of love. So me hearing you say that just now actually brings something warm to my heart because I know I'm not alone. Nah. So now let me ask that question straight up. Have you ever really felt out of love? Damn, Mike. More than one time.

Yeah, more than one time. All right, cool. I ain't letting him lie. More than one time. I mean, like, this is a stand in time and a testament. Like, this shit should be studied. We got 30 years in the music industry, and more than that is friendship. Wow. That's brotherhood. So you never see nothing on social media. You never see us taking no cheap shots at each other. Not only us, but of at each other. Right.

Not only us, but of any boot camp. Right. And then you see Drew, and you see how we keep pushing forth. But there's been times that came up, and you're like, man, fuck this shit. Right. You know what I mean? Especially when you see a lot of things that dangle in front of your face, and you be like, yo, if I just did this, then it can't possibly go that way. But then now I'm chucking out my morals and

principles. So now you have to find something. And I think it was more what the inspiration came and being in the joint for a numerous amount of years, it helped you find, refine the love and get it. I want to add on too, like, salute

our brothers that's here ever and Convertible Bert. Convertible Bert. When we listen to the album, like, it just speaks to our testament. Like, for 30 years, being in the streets as artists

and being next to criminals, doing crime ourselves at times and being like... Allegedly. Allegedly. You know, that's part of that is part of the unfortunately that's the part of the blueprint of most

African Americans coming up in wilderness in North America we know the lingo we know the slang we know we know the hustle talk we know all of this but some of us find a way to do something a little bit different like whether it's rap or basketball or like through rap we've created other avenues through rap so it's like we didn or like through rap we've created other avenues

through rap so it's like we didn't know that initially but we like this if this is a hustle world let's do that so we speak into our testament and through our testament we start to grow and travel and know that we got more in common with people in different places and we can we can have more brought up uh conversations and it's like all right what is our responsibility we can tell you some of the things that we messed up at. When you see some of these brothers, they can tell you some of the things where they did as hustlers in the streets in the time that they did

as opposed to listening to an artist talk about a glorifying drug dealing at this particular time at this particular age and glorifying things that just get you murdered out here or get you just gone. We want to see you live. When we talk that, that's real rap right now.

You know what I mean? I want the same thing for you that I want for me. I want a better life. Like, it's not just enough to dangle something in front of your face, because we still live out here with walls. Right. You know, so. It's real.

Yeah, I don't think you guys could make a classic album like this unless you have Those trials and tribulations To get you to this place No but the fact I couldn't I couldn't feel it Like I couldn't feel

Them falling out of love That's dope to me You know what I'm saying Like I felt like You know what I'm saying Like I felt like You never had those days We fell out of love

But we fell back in love Back in love To make it out I had to unlearn To relearn That's fine That's fine I That's fine. I'm going to come and hit you up.

I mean, for me, I've never, unfortunately for me, I've never fell out of love with it. And probably the reason why that helped me, because I lived in North Carolina and I've never lived anywhere else. And so therefore, the music that came out of New York, the music that came out of Atlanta, the music came out of L.A. or any other city that just permeated hip hop music before we started to make it ourselves. I left hip hop a fantasy for me. Like I never wanted to get too close to it because I thought if I get too close to it and I get familiar with it and I get tired of it, you know, but living where I live, it's like, nah, like.

You maintain the fan. I maintain the fan. Right. Wasn't you beefing with Q-Tip over some Grammy shit? No. Over some Grammy shit? I ain't even talking about that shit. Let me tell y'all something, man.

You in the Grammy community, you've been receiving a lot of slack from being on that Grammy. We take some more than people think. Even with that, though, no, like, you know, at one point I was on the committee, but the thing about that was I was calling people to be on it with me,

and some people said yes and some people said no. Right. And this is how that went, but nah. But explain to people to be on the voting committee for the Grammys it's an actual voting committee

it was it changed again so the rap committee I knew he was going to ask me that because he asked me this before I'm curious the rap committee was the Grammys never had a rap committee so the rap committee started in

2016-17 rap and R&B was combined at one point The Grammys never had a rap committee. They never had one. So the rap committee started in 2016, 17. Rap and R&B was combined at one point. You know where that's at, right? Exactly. So rap got its own committee in 2017. And so we were all on a committee together. That's what it was. But if you had, to clear that up, if you were on an album, had anything to do with an album,

it was like conflict of interest, so you couldn't vote. You can't vote for yourself, Sam. No, you can't vote for yourself. I wouldn't vote for myself. Absolutely. A foul nigga like that. Hopefully you can vote for yourself. Just not for yourself.

You can't vote. If albums are up, you just can't have any say in what happens. Of anything. Of any period. At that category that you're in or anything. In the year that, so Damn by Kendrick Lamar, 444 by Jay-Z, and Layla's Wisdom by Rhapsody.

You're kind of flexing right now. Yeah, I think I flexed. Yeah, I think I flexed. I think you produced Layla's Wisdom. I did Duckworth on Damn. And I was on, my label, Jamla, has a partnership with Roc nation so it's conflict all across the world there's nothing i can do but even with the tribe album at the time

you have to submit the album to what you feel like the character category needs to be in and at the time the tribe album by their label was submitted as a, not as a, it was urban contemporary. It wasn't submitted as a rap. Right. And this has happened before, even on the committee a couple of times. The Flowers album by Tyler, the creator, they tried to say that was an alternative album,

and they tried to take it away from hip hop. And I'm sitting in a room with all these people that don't know hip hop music. That's me, that's me. Right. I'm sitting in a room with all these hip hop people, all hip-hop music. Right. I'm sitting in a room with all these hip-hop people, all these non-hip-hop people telling them how hip-hop is. Like, you can't

peg it. It was like, well, it has instruments. And I said, so does Equimini, goddammit. You know what I mean? Like, what are we talking about? So you had to get them a whole lecture. They said because of instruments? Because it sounded musical. So you got to think how people look at our music outside. Boom, bap. Yeah.

Not even that Just nothing intricate and nothing genius But we need people like you And those me I don't see nothing wrong with it I only did it for two years I don't see nothing wrong with that Why were people critiquing you

And I'm an outsider looking in and an insider looking out But why were people critiquing you Because of that I don't know. I mean, but I wasn't the only one. I mean, it was some serious

hip-hop movement because I felt like if we're going to do that, Come on. If we're going to do that, it has to be, not for real, but I had some people

in the room that was some of my, I looked at as OGs. So my thinking is if we're going to have rap being judged by somebody, why not being judged

by the creators and somebody else? So, so that's what it was. And, and, and when tribe didn't make it, Q-tip got online and said,

and you know, I called him and I'm like, dog, like, what are you doing? What's happening right now? So, but I mean,

it's, that's my brother, man. Like I wouldn't be here as a producer sampling all different types. There's a kid in here that he asked me about one of the joints I sampled on, Duckworth, for Kendrick Lamar. And it's a Yugoslavian record. I'm not looking outside of jazz and soul to sample if it was not for Q-Tip.

Right? I'm not doing it. Q-Tip is the originator of looking outside of soul and jazz. But it was cool to see Q-Tip a little bit mad. That was kind of cool. Like, I was like, Q-Tip seemed like he don't sweat. You know what I'm saying? He was mad, but, you know, we talked about it.

But Q-Tip is the architect of the last, one of the architects of the last 35 years of hip-hop, man. And it's just dope to have somebody like Knife. That's what I'm saying. That has that inside info. I trust him. I'm not there. We would have never known that. You always think, yo, my work is so dope.

Why am I not getting nominated in these categories? And it changed. The category changed. And you stepped away from it as well. You know what, Knife? In recent years, a lot of people didn't know that you had to actually submit your album for it. So if you don't submit it so a lot of people thought they were snubbed when in fact a lot of us didn't know that you had to actually submit it sometimes

they were not on the label to submit it for them maybe they didn't and it's changed since then but from 2017 to 20 look at the albums that were nominated freddie gill was nominated yeah no it's kind of love j Electronica was nominated Nas was nominated you know what I mean they coming around they coming around yeah yeah yeah

Nipsey Hussle Pusha T who was Jay Electronica nominated for the album he did with Jay oh shit okay all that was nominated at that time

so even the year that Kendrick damn was nominated at 444 it was damn Rhapsody Jay Z the Migos and Tyler Crater that's all of hip hop you look at Kendrick Dam was nominated at 444 it was Dam, Rhapsody Jay-Z the Migos and Tyler Crater

that's all of hip hop you look at and that's what we wanted to do at that time so yeah that's what it was now let me ask all three of y'all something and I'll start from you do you think our generation and I'm including myself do you think our generation is and I'm clued to myself,

do you think our generation is getting the love that we deserve? Yes. Our generation. Our generation, like the mid-90s? I think it's starting to pick up. They're noticing it more. Okay. You can say from when they did the 50-year hip-hop. Oh, 50-year hip-hop.

Because they had the big shows, and you were seeing artists that you haven't seen, and you forgot about come out and touch these stages. And then once Nas did the Yankee Stadium, that bigged it up. certain artists that's getting their flowers and just getting recognized from being still in the game, making dope music, because there's still some artists that was bullshit back then that's still bullshit right now. The ones that's supposed to get noticed, I think, are getting

noticed, and there's still a couple of us that's trickling in. They're opening up the doors. Right. What you think, Knife? I think it depends on who you ask. If you ask people my age, a little bit younger, a little bit older, yes. If you ask a 14-year-old, I wouldn't expect. Of course. You know what I mean?

So I think that's what it is. Sometimes we forget to ask the cats my age. That's why I say I sit in the advantageous position. We got to make sure that we can't forget that when i was making this album sad to say i wasn't thinking about a full table you know what i mean first thing i'm thinking about is and there's no lie what is brooklyn going to think that's the number one thing i was thinking about what is brooklyn going to because i have to make brooklyn happy first. Brooklyn, we did it.

Not only Brooklyn, but the age who's living in Brooklyn. Now, the music gets passed down, cool. But I just don't think we can forget about the first generation of hip hop consumers. And that's who we are. That was deep. Yeah. I was going to ask you. I think as far as Smith & Wesson, man, I've seen a couple of things that had me upset.

I ain't going to lie. Okay. Like as far as like being left out of certain people. I've seen like hip hop history books in 95 and artists of Brooklyn. Like you can't do a book like that and not have Smith & Wesson name in it. It's based on Brooklyn and they left Smith & Wesson out I don't know if it's Specifically Brooklyn

I know it was about history During that time though Artists like Yeah like golden era artists 90s and stuff like that You know what I mean I don't even think Black Moon was in there either

Wow So like somebody from the family Gotta make it Right Yeah that's insane Skip over those Right But more importantly than that

Like just To the point of, like, what Busta did. Right. Like, we got to show that it's cool. Right. Like, we can't allow the corporations and the dollars

and what we aspire to do, like, split us apart. Right. Like, we make the bread. Right. You know what I mean? We can negotiate what we have because we can walk to the table

and be like, well, I got a song with Nori and I got a song with Lala. We did that last night. So who want to pay for that? Oh, me. You know what I'm saying? So it's like,

well, you said that, you know, bid and walk, put something on the table. So like, when we come to the offices with that, like,

we actually don't have to ask for anything. You know what I mean? It's like, we have like, we're distributed by a duck down, but we're the label. You know?

We're Smith & Wesson is free agents. Like who's running around? Like we could do anything else. Right. But because we love it and because we love the fans and we actually perform

for 14 year olds. We actually taking this album on tour. We did a 30 day tour overseas. 30 days. Like we performing for man, woman, and child.

It's like, it's like a renewal like a renewal it's like wow hold up like you a 30 year old came like yo this is my son he's 15 mom came he's like this is my son he's 13 and then we just start doing the knowledge like wait a minute hold up that's the parents being good parents yeah that's how hip-hop gonna be around and they don't look like the hip-hoppers like how is how hip-hop is going to be around for another 50 years. And it don't look like the hip-hoppers. Like, how is a hip-hopper supposed to look? Hip-hop is just part of a musical culture, right? It's a big whole thing.

It's part of all of this stuff. It has soul in it. It has funk in it. It has folk in it. Everything. And it's like, you know, it makes people move just like everything else. So it shouldn't be carted away and thrown away because Cats is 45 and Cats is this age. If you're giving something a substance, we should

appreciate it. You know what I'm saying? I grew up with Chuck D. I ain't know, he was my elder. I ain't know how old he was or whatever. Like, you know, like even Sugarhill Cats, but like, and that's going to like use it, uh, instruments you know, before sampling but even like

All those Sugarhill records, they, they had a band playing them. They was playing them. Right, right. For sure. But to speak to what we're talking about, that's the void that we tried to fill in terms of like, you know, shedding light on our generation. Yeah, but now clap that up.

Y'all do that. Y'all do that. We did say something. I look and listen to y'all album. I'm like, yo, this is exactly what we needed, right? I look at Busta Rhymes. I look at Cam'ron when he's doing his thing. I look at listen to your album. I'm like, yo, this is exactly what we needed, right? I look at Busta Rhymes. I look at Cam'ron when he's doing his thing. I look at Mase.

I look at everybody. And it's like, yo, you know, it's a lot more of us from this generation that's actually sustaining and living more than it is new. I can't name five new artists. And I'm not being the old nigga. I listen to the radio, too. I got Spotify. I got all that dumb shit Yeah, I got every app in the motherfucking world

You try to do the dances I'll be in the mirror I'll be dancing in the mirror But what I'm trying to say is I'm not trying to diss the generation But it's always better To have that longevity Than to have that cool, quick points

Here's the deal, right? And I want to ask all three of y'all. All right. I didn't feel like I got embraced by the elder generation. Like, my elder statesman

at one point was mean niggas. Yeah. Let's just be real. I know that was, I want to say that. And I'm sure y'all went through the same a lot because at first, and I'm going to tell you, I'm going to say, and I admit that. I don't want to say that. And I'm sure y'all went through the same a lot. Because at first, and I'm going to tell you, I'm going to say, and I admit this.

At first, when you were to meet Melly Mellon and people like that, they would, that's Lil King put his head down. He knew exactly what I meant. And this is, I pick up Melly Mellon. But, you know, like at first, you have to earn that right to get Melly Mello. True that. Like, it's been years before I gave Melly Mello. I'm still trying to get Melly Mello on this platform.

But what I'm saying is now I appreciate that. Then I didn't. You know what I mean? Like, then I didn't feel like, and I realized that a lot of the elder statesmen back then were like that. They were like, they wanted you to prove yourself. I don't feel I've ever done that to a younger generation, like made them prove themselves. But I don't be feeling obligated to talk to them how I wanted them to talk to me. Am I wrong?

Yes. I'm asking as a psychiatrist. I think that goes again, like you said, it depends on who you ask. Because I think right now, that's the disconnect between the YNs and our generation. Like these, a lot of niggas, they only respect the bag. And if you got the bag, then they gang gang. And they gang gang. And a nigga will, yes, man, you the death.

Or a big bro, you the death if you got the bag. And this nigga be 20 years older than you. Right, right. But I think that's where the disconnect from the Y-ins of today in a generation. Because we didn't, like you said, we ain't know the elders. Right, right. At one time, they was looking at us like you saying we looking at them. So we had to learn how to even maneuver to get that respect.

Right. And then to reply that expect to make them want to come aboard and be like, yo, gee, I see what you're doing. Right. Or I get it. That's why we talk to like,

what's the name of the joint? The crossroads in Brooklyn. We go into these jails. Youth. Yeah. We go into these youth prisons before they really get caught up and swept away in it and try to, I'm not saying our way is the right way or you better

do it this way or you're going to be fucked up and go to jail. I'm saying you hear now, learn from that experience and now look what we can offer you or do together to show you how to move on. We ain't got to be best friends and hang out every day, but just to show you and to be like, yo, this is how you

maneuver and you can get out and you could do other things that's where the disconnect lies for a lot of the y-ends in this generation and you gotta and just like you asked you said are you wrong like i think part of it you're not wrong but if you if you ask the question then you probably are yeah you know because you want to say something you want to say something. You want to say something, but it's like, even, you know, like I grew up,

I grew up around, you know, as a young kid, like seven, eight years old. Like I had to earn the respect of the elders. You can't just talk to me.

So you're not wrong for that. Like dudes, and like you said, the YNs, it's like they, sometimes people want to skip the line. It's like there's things

you got to do to get here. And as the elders, you're not wrong for wanting them to kind of like, yo, respect that. You can't sit here yet. You got to stay over there. Even coming up in the crib. Yeah. At the Thanksgiving table.

Not to say kids and all of that, but it's like there's things you got to learn. Even for us, like when we saw Black Moon in the studio, we wasn't like, yo, let's get in the, yo, here my 16. Like there's times when we be in the studio, things be moon in the studio we wasn't like yo let's get in the yo here my 16 like it's times when we be in the studio things be coming in the studio i'd be like yo son spit something like i don't want to hear that shit right now bro so i might seem like i might seem like wrong at the moment i'm supposed to be schooling you and in a way i am but that's not the one that's not the version you want so sometimes you got to give him that tough love we came this far right you know i mean Not to just give freebies away. Like, we chopped down all these trees to build land

on, you know, to build on this land. Not just to come have squatters here and be like, nah, oh, snap. Nah, this is your gift, thanks. So, in that response, in that regards, it's our responsibility to give you some gems because we was there when we didn't get gems.

We the reflection of that crossroads when we didn't get gems. We the reflection of that crossroads when we didn't get the gems. Everybody was like, yeah, let me see what you're going to do, little nigga. You know what I'm saying?

So we can do that or, because he's a professor, he's giving school, you know what I mean, he's schooling people on, people want that information. That's right.

Don't just put it on the social media and it gets mixed up and all construed by people who don't really know the culture. Yeah, for me, I've been a university professor for the last 20 years. Well, 19 years. Currently now at Duke University.

Duke University? I've been at Duke for the last 15 years. That's like the whitest of the whitest schools ever. My nigga, make some sense. I mean, for the record, though, I teach in the African American Studies program. You're hard. We're the number two African American Studies program in the country. Number two.

Number two. In the country. In the country. Make some noise. In the country, big dog. I think for me, man, you know, passing the torch is important. Right. How you do it is up to you.

I've never had a problem with anybody younger than me because this generation now grew up listening to my beats on YouTube. So it's different for me so for the you know although he's not young anymore for the little yachties i talked to from time to time from made in tokyo that i talked to even at one point 10 years ago kendrick you know i was a young nigga cole was a young nigga drake was a young nigga nipsey hussle rest in peace mac miller all the ones i kind of you know talked to over time and you know they're doing that thing now. I mean, I've always been a teachable type person. So I'm always gonna

talk to them about something, regardless of giving them some type of because I truly believe there's a difference between the elder and the old nigga. And we got too many old niggas. We need elders. We need elders to pass down whatever is tough love

or any kind of love because some of these kids ain't never had no love of any kind so that's that's how I look at it and I think there's generationally

there's things that could be learned both ways yeah but understanding because the newer generation it's instant gratification right older generation

the analog generation understands paying dues you got to figure out how you mesh those things there you go that's right there I understand Right. The older generation, the analog generation understands paying dues. You got to figure out how you mesh those things together. That's the crossroads right there. I don't stand to listen to have a conversation. Right. And see, here we are.

Like, this is a crossroads right here because this is the table. Like, you think we're going to come here and everything is a party party. Like what the homie Gilly said, we respected and looked up to the hustlers. That's true. Of course. Most of us knew our position. We might have dipped our toe in there and knew that first dragon snap was like, all right, let me reposition myself.

So it's the gratification. Yeah, it's not rap, though. It's not like, all right, let me rap and get the bag. And then if I got competition, let me wipe them off the planet. It could be structured in a way where we had things like Jack the Rapper and How Can I Be Down. There is no... Pat Gavis.

Yeah, and it was consistent enough for us to have these conversations and get to know who's the next artist. You physically went, you networked physically. Now you're on Instagram. Yeah, so It takes away from the feeling of it, but it's still there and it's still opportunities to have it when we have places like this. Do you think that

the whole crew are y'all the illest crew to ever do it? I mean, when you think about all the layers to the label, like, that shit is, that shit is...

The layers. I look up, I aspire, like, you know, I like the Wu, man. I like how they did it, man. Like Wu, you said?

Yeah, Wu-Tang Blueprint is incredible. I always picture y'all in verses against verses. Yeah, I mean, I've heard people ask... How would that go down? Oh, man. That'll be, that'll be one for the boss. versus versus yeah I mean I've heard people ask oh man

that'll be that'll be one for the boss that'll be y'all two against Ray and Ghost of course you already know damn I took it already

I took it already oh my god that's true you already know that and y'all love each other too y'all love each other that'll be so dope

brothers I got I got goosebumps again yeah I just don't think though and I love Wu-Tang I, that's our brothers. That would be so dope. Brothers. I got goosebumps again. Yeah, I just don't think though, and I love Wu-Tang. I think Wu-Tang is the greatest super group ever assembled. However, I don't think there's many crews out there that if you look at a Timberland, you think of them first. When I look at a Timberland shoe, shoe a boot i think of boot camp first right because it's one

thing to be a crew but it's another thing to have and and now i'm talking like the kid when i was in college let's go it's it's it's one thing to have a a group a crew but it's another thing to have a slang yes the way they spell stuff like it wasn't clappers, it was clappers you know what I mean it's one thing to have all of that even Smith and Wesson, we still fucking up the one every single day

the way y'all make it that's real everything that comes with boot camp it came with fatigue you know what I mean, just wearing fatigues like Everything that comes with boot camp, it came with fatigue. You know what I mean? Just wearing fatigues. Everything that comes with, whether they made it up as they're going along

or whatever it is, it is connected to this crew of people. There's not too many crews in hip hop that has it. I mean, that's legacy right there. Nah, we worked on that. And that day come over the night. That day come over the night. Nah, we worked on that. And that day come all the night. That day come all the night. Nah, hell nah.

Nah, we worked on that. We spent time with each other because we didn't have no elders, right? It's like Buckshot act like the old man. Salute to Buck. You know what I mean? It's like he's a visionary. He's not just a rap guy.

He sees things. He's like, I want to put this here. I want to start seeing the pieces. So it's like, all right, we knew we had meetings with like certain words we can't use. You know, when we started sounding too much like the memory, like, all right, we're going to tone that down a little bit. Certain words you can't rhyme with.

And, you know, ranks is important and rewards and penalties. All these things are important. We train each other. You got a structure. Yeah, we got a structure. And, you know, we were still and rewards and penalties. All these things are important. We train each other. You got the structure. Yeah, we got the structure. And, you know, we were still wild. We were still young and youthful. And there's a lot of things that we didn't know.

Like, you know, Drew High is great because he didn't try to rob us when it was time to get through paperwork, which is important, again, because we never signed no contracts with these guys. Like, we never signed to duck down. That's crazy. So, it's like, we've been able to. Ain't nobody this generation can say that. So, like, when you talk about the layers of it, like, I don't know nobody else's situation, but we have what we had and we built it on how we built it. And I'm grateful for that because we have that bond that you know

I guess helps us to continue because we know it's still more shit to get absolutely you know what I'm saying that's loyalty absolutely in fact there hasn't been no discrepancies and things like that that's something to be proud of

man well we're going to do quick time of slime. Let's go, man. All right, cool. Sonny, we need a designated drinker for some things. Come on, Sonny D. Oh, we're going to get a toast. 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 is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network, hosted by me, writer and historian Dan Flores, and brought to you by Velvet Buck. This podcast looks at a West available nowhere else. Each episode, I'll be diving into some of the lesser-known histories of the West. I'll then be joined in conversation by guests such as Western historian Dr. Randall Williams and best-selling author and meat-eater founder Stephen Rinella. I'll correct my kids now and then where

they'll say when cave people were here and I'll say it seems like the ice age people that were here didn't have a real affinity for caves. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th where we'll delve into stories of the West and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today. Listen to The American West with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun?

Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season One. Taser Incorporated.

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

I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves.

Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug ban is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush.

What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content,

subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Michael Kassin, founder and CEO of 3C Ventures and your guide on good company, the podcast where I sit down with the boldest innovators shaping what's next. In this episode, I'm joined by Anjali Sood, CEO of Tubi, for a conversation that's anything but ordinary. We dive into the competitive world of streaming, how she's turning so-called niche into mainstream gold, connecting audiences with stories that truly make them feel seen. What others dismiss as niche, we embrace as core. It's this idea that there are so many stories out there, and if you can find a way to curate and help the right person discover the right content, the term that we always hear from our audience is that they feel seen.

Get a front row seat to where media, marketing, technology, entertainment, and sports collide and hear how leaders like Anjali are carving out space and shaking things up a bit in the most crowded of markets. Listen to Good Company on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Go over the rules. I think you guys know the rules. We'll give you two choices. 90, listening?

Yep. Two choices. Pick one. We're not drinking. If you say both or neither, politically correct answer Then we all drinking So both or neither Did y'all switch it? No no no

You say both or neither Like if you don't answer If you don't pick We drinking That's basically what it is Right I thought the both was You didn't have to drink last time

No no Both is drinking And neither is drinking Oh okay But if you pick Okay We not drinking And really it's just about

Bringing up names Yeah yeah It's not to be foul to nobody Or nothing I get it is drinking. Oh, okay. But if you pick, we not drinking. And really, it's just about bringing up names and stories. It's not to be foul to nobody or nothing. Let's get it. I'm drinking some marijuana juice by my girl,

my sister, Jazzy. But we got Sonny D. He gonna take a couple shots on your behalf. For you, on your behalf. Cool. Yeah. All right, so.

I'm starting. He volunteered for the game. What are you shotting, though? Who you starting with, man? Get your shotgun We got vodka We got whatever you want Champaguenay

We got Here you go son Okay Yeah I'll do a Champaguenay Cause I know I know you gonna be politically correct We gonna see Take it from the bottom

Oh you know what I might have to start with Fuck Okay hold on This is for all three of y'all Fuck it Okay Fuck it Okay Fuck it

Okay Jay-Z or Big Daddy King? As far as what? Whatever Whatever the criteria in your mind Whatever criteria in your mind You could've liked the haircut You could've

Whatever Whatever it is Damn they both style niggas too man Short shots for a lot of shots Brooklyn niggas do not know how to not be loyal Yeah they both style Brooklyn niggas Brooklyn niggas do not know how to not be loyal. Brooklyn niggas, man. Brooklyn niggas don't know not how to stand up on other Brooklyn shit. I'm just being honest.

Whenever someone from Brooklyn's here, we drink a lot. All right, so let's go. You got the champagne? What are you drinking? Champagnes. Champagne? That's vodka? Okay, I'll do vodka. You have tequila? No, no, no, I'll do vodka. Champagne. That's vodka? Yes. Okay, I'll do vodka. Let's do it.

Do you have tequila? Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, no. I'll do vodka. Fuck it. We got tequila for him? Do we have tequila? Do we have tequila?

We got. We have. That ain't real tequila. I don't like it. No, it's not tequila. That's vodka. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm saying if you want that.

Fuck it. I'll do vodka. I ain't going to put you out through no trouble. Let's get it. All right, so we taking a shot already. Yeah. Yeah, let's get it. Let's get it. Salud. This ain't really. This you out through no trouble. Let's get it. All right, so we taking the shot already. Yeah, let's get it. Let's get it.

Salud. This ain't really this little shot. Salud. All right, what did we say? Both. Both. Yeah, but I ain't

going to lie to you. Every time I see Big Daddy Kane, I be telling him, you know, my bush is because I was trying to get this You said you're too

cut-shy and wild? Yeah, I was that kid. I was the kid. I cut my eye out. I hope you didn't tell him my bush, though to wild out? Yeah, I was that kid. I was the kid. I cut my eyebrows. I hope you didn't tell him my bush, though. No. Come on. I'm talking about my bushy eyebrows.

You didn't let me finish. I'm out. Here we go. Yeah, I was that kid. Thank you. And I had the flat top, too. My shit ain't kind of flat. It didn't quite flat, but it was getting there.

All right, y'all ready? Scarface or Ice Cube? That's cute. That's cute. That is cute all the way. Scarface or who? Scarface or Ice Cube? That's you. That's you. That is you all the way. Scarface or who? Ice Cube. That is you all the way.

That's easy. That's tough. He said that's easy. That shouldn't be easy, bro. Look at that. Scarface. Is there a time? Yeah.

Okay. Any reason why? Mind playing tricks on me. The greatest mental health song ever made. It is. That's great. Somebody else said that. Yes. I didn't even know that.. The greatest mental health song ever made. It is. That's great. Somebody else said that. Yes.

I didn't even know that it was a mental health song. I was about to say sports. Yeah. All right. Tupac or DMX? Who? Tupac, man. Damn.

Any stories, though, guys? Of course they got stories. Tupac and DMX got stories. I know. Boot Camp got stories. Yeah, they got stories. I mean, you know, it's no lie. It's personal. You know though, guys? Of course they got stories. Tupac and they got stories. I know Boot Camp got stories. They got stories. I mean, you know, it's the lies first of all. You know what I mean?

Like I met Tupac's mom, man, Feeney. Rest in peace to Queen. Like I see, like I feel like that's my brother. You know what I mean? Like I feel like his mom is my auntie. Like his spirit, like I could say he's a panther, but it's more than that. You know what I mean? I could see a dude that's trying to find his spirit, like, I could say he's a panther, but it's more than that. You know what I mean?

I could see a dude that's trying to find his place, going from place to place, and, like, just trying to tell people how dope they are and then being angry that motherfuckers don't want to listen to it. Like, his whole struggle, I feel that. You know what I mean? He put that out there for us in so many different ways. Like, you know, x man is x is crazy but pock is that guy man rest in peace um where do i begin do i get with the story first or pick

the who i say first i mean the story of pock i used to have when he was filming, which one was he doing? Juice, Juice, Above the Rim. When we was out there? When we was out there. I think it might have been Bullet, didn't it? Or Gang Related? Gang Related. So we would come from the studio to the movie set back and forth.

And every day, every morning, like 4.35, they would bust into my room. You'll take, here, I got this AR. Put this vest on. Let's go shoot. I'm like, yo, Pac, it's like 4.30 in the morning. What is wrong with you, Mike? Shoot. Oh, my God.

I'm like, yo, Pac, what? I'm not putting on a vest standing nowhere. We're not shooting nothing at 4.30 in the morning. He wants you to put on a vest and go shoot a gun. No, he had a vest. I had a vest. I'm like, nah, we can't do this.

And I think I had him stop smoking cigarettes for like a week. Newports, he was heavy. He was heavy. I had him stopping for like a week. But,

X is a different animal too, man. I think I would, I think I would go with X. Wow. You got a drink just because y'all disagree. They canceled each other out? Yeah, they canceled each other out. Wow. You got to drink just because y'all disagree. They cancel each other out? Yeah, they cancel each other out.

I ain't got no kids. Cheers to the legend. Oh, wait. If you disagree, it's a... No, we just made that rule up. We just made it up. We just tried to set it up.

You decided to do it. You're talented. I love it. Drink Champ is a common well spot. X is my saddest brother too, man. All right. Yeah, he... Mobb Deep or M.O.P.? Oh, no. Y'all can't do it. Y'all can't do it. I love drink. Mom deep Or M.O.P.

Oh nah y'all can't do it Y'all can't do it Just drink Just drink Just drink I can't Yeah you can't I'll drink but

Can I Of course Mom deep Over M.O.P. I'ma say this And people get mad When I say this And there's no

There's nobody at this table Okay This is how I feel This is my Opinion The Infamous is the Greatest New York Rap album ever made

God Right here Right here Because I agree And disagree Let me take a shot For that Yeah

Let me take a shot But you agree And disagree Yes because me take a shot for that. Yeah, yeah. Let me take a shot. But you agree and disagree? Yes, because in a lot of ways... That's why it makes no sense, man. Yeah, that's why I said... It does make sense. Actually, it does. It does make sense.

I understand where you're coming from. But for me... Illmatic is up there. Personally, it's Illmatic, right? It's up there. Right. But for me, when it comes to the group effort, if there's no infamous there is no

no yeah so I agree with that you got me tongue tied fucked up if anybody outside of New York if you ask them one of the beats

or a beat that represents or a song that is shook once and Prodigy I've always said that Prodigy has the greatest opening lines

of hip hop I can't unhear that Project Stove now. Yeah, you can't un-hear that. Yeah, salute to his daughter, too, by the way. Yeah, Santana Fox. Salute to Prodigy's daughter. Oh, yeah.

Santana Fox out there. Mom D. So, are we taking shots? I think we'll show. I think we'll show. I believe so. Yes, okay. All right.

Next one. Rakim Akair, that's one. Woo! I take seven MCs. I feel like I did this same question on the last one. You're good. I think it could rhyme. Let's match it up.

Want me to answer? Yeah, go ahead. I take seven MCs. They up at the same time. Easy does it. Rakim. Easy. Rakim.

Rakim. Anybody else want to answer? It got to be the R. Okay. Rakim. He changed rhyme flow. Rak the oh okay all right can we change rhyme flow and he didn't curse and he didn't curse i think for once see we found out he cursed on one track i don't even think i really you got a big he's a rosetta stone bro he's a rosetta stone yeah and he's still rocking right now Just seen him with the All black Nah the t-shirt is

Both of them are Yeah This is Yeah Yeah for sure I go lots you know K-Rest is the only Motherfucker I ever went

To his concert And I left Knowing more than I knew Before This motherfucker Took me a lesson. I didn't even want to know. I was just like, oh, and I stood there listening to it. I'm going to start doing that from now on.

It gave me information I didn't even know how to need. That's right. He was winning the verses, though. I swear to God. He was the one winning the verses. His stage performance is like no other. And his catalog is insane. He's amazing. Yeah. Okay, I like this. This is like no other. And his catalog is insane. He's amazing.

Okay, I like this. This is directly for you. Go ahead. Do it. We're going to start with you first. Primo or Pete Rock? I knew you was going to ask me that. I do it too.

Let's get to it. Let's see how honest you are. This is fucking you up. Okay. As it pertains to me, as for me, not accolades, not anything, not catalog, for me it's P-Rock. Okay. Because to me, he has the greatest ear hip hop has ever seen. Sample choices?

Right. Because he can take, Pete Rock can take five records from different genres and make a beat out of it. Not too many people can do that. And I just have never seen, if you look at, if you played a sample, you played what he did to it, Pete Rock is the greatest manipulator of samples to me. And I know people watch this say Dilla.

They'll say Dilla. Rest in peace, J. Dilla. But me, Madlib, J. Dilla, Just Blaze, Kanye West, all of us learned how to manipulate samples from P-Rock. P-Rock. That's ill.

Primo. Primo Primo P-Rock P-Rock Do y'all follow him on Instagram? See how funny P-Rock is on Instagram He's hilarious He's hilarious Yo he's funny

And he like Jamaican comedy too He is heavy on Rasta Comedy. Rasta Comedy? Yeah, man. I've been getting Rasta Comedy since Bob Costello. Since Buju. Since Buju Walker. Buju Bustas.

I love his poster. He better be Jamaican. He's Jamaican. I'll be in any. He's Jamaican. He's Jamaican. Yeah. I'll be Jamaican. Exactly. Yeah, Jamaican. All right. Queen Latifah or MC Lyte?

Anybody. Ooh. Oh, man. Shit, that guy, for me, is light as a rock. That was my traveling to high school music. Light, light, yeah. And then she had to join the 5K. Neither one of them wrote their own lyrics, though, right? Does that matter the Paz K. They wrote their own lyrics though, right?

You said neither of them wrote their own lyrics? I'm asking. Big, you done started something. Queen Latifah. I know they had, probably some of their stuff was written by other people, but I know Tretch wrote some stuff for Queen. Real D for that. But that's late. I don't know,

that's a tough one, man, because MC Light, man, yeah, that light is a rock. He just loaded me up over here, man. Yeah, we're going to have to take shots on that. He don't drink that.

There you go. What's that? Sorry, brother. No, he don't drink. The what? The record. The record? Oh, he got mad shots on top.

That's why I don't like it over there. Oh. I don't like it. I told you, you gave me the booju vibe. The booju vibe, yeah. You gave on top. That's why I don't like it over there. Get to it, man. I don't like it. I told you, you gave me the boujee vibe. The boujee vibe, yeah. You gave me the boujee vibe. Salud.

What are we drinking to? He just want to drink. I'm drinking. Salud. Cheers. So did we pick who? Y'all picked? Oh, no.

I said Queen. MC Lyte, MC Lyte. I'm drinking. Slime over there talking about they ain't writing their rhymes. I was trying to get out of here. I'm going to have to research that a little bit more. I don't want no emails on it. I ain't touch that.

I was asking. I'm going to research that. We'll get back to it. I want this for you. Reason moved out or ready to die? Ooh. Yeah, it's that Brooklyn shit. Ooh.

You ready to die? You ready to die? Yeah. Ready to die, baby, baby. Better established than the loudest one. No, but curious. Okay. Reason moved out.

I felt like he was going to say that. He had to know. Reason moved out. Yeah. Three primo Bs. The Great Clark Kent was on there say that. Reasonable doubt. Yeah. Three primo B's. The Great Clark Kent was on there. Ski was on there. Peace Clark. Great album.

No, great album. That's another Saj brother. You asked this one. The Beat Miners or Soul Council? Soul Council. That's cold. That's cold. My team first. We wasn't asking you the question. He talked on that one.

He jumped out the window. Take a shot. Just for saying that. You got to take that. Fair enough, man. You know who's on Oprah's magazine cover every month? Oprah. You got who's on Oprah's magazine cover every month? Oprah. You got that every month.

In November, you know who's on the cover? Oprah. You know who's on the April Fool's Day? Oprah. You know who's on it single day of my own? Oprah. So you better big yourself up. That's a fact.

Go research that, Jack. I will say this, though. I will say this about Evil D and Mr. Wall. You know, they talked about when Drake first dropped, you know, they talked about 40 when he filtered beats and Drake sounded like he was rapping on something that sounded underwater. Like, that's a beat miners thing.

Just, you know, like all of that. Like everything. I heard the word filter. The filter. You just brought that in. I heard the beginning of Buck Em Down. Anything that had a, they put a filter on

and then just took the filter off, that's a beat miners thing. And did the filter automatically make a bass line almost? Yes. Yes.

And that was the beauty about beat miners. Like, to have that, they did it on a lot of records, man. Did the filter automatically make a baseline almost? Yes. Yes. And that was the beauty about Beat Miners. Like, to have that. They did it on a lot of records, man. So I don't think we'll be doing that if it wasn't for Beat Miners. Yeah. And this is not because they're my team. Like, I'm going to go with the Beat Miners.

As tough as it is, it's easy for me because, like, they gave us a sound. You know what I mean because like now the Illmatic album is dope because he got different producers doing different things so we love all of these songs and we knew these producers for that but mr. Walt sat with us you know he cultivated us and put us with certain things and that's part of why we ain't never do that crossover type of vibe too. So we try to grow into what we was, whatever we was to be. So them brothers helped

us a great deal with that. Made y'all unique. I'm shaking just to say beat minus. You're just making new rules at this point. He just killed them. I'm going to take a shot. Salute to Mama Dugard.

I'm watching you take a shot. Salute to Mama Dugard. Oh, you're saying that? Take a shot. I'm watching you. We celebrating today, you got that. No, no, I don't want to do that. I just want to hear you.

Because I don't even know the pronunciation. And I just, before we go, because I got to say, you know, salute to the queens, Latifah and MC Lyte.

Because you ain't going to, you ain't going to leave on that. You can't leave on that you know what I'm saying I love them both that's a fact you know what I mean

that's to be clear yeah nah it's a fact no question and handball they call it a windmill when you come back I used to play handball

I used to play handball in the high school I played handball too I used to play handball in the high school a couple I'm from Oregon. Nah, nah, I play some handball, too. Yeah, I did. I played handball. I played handball. I played handball. I played handball. I played handball.

I played handball. I played handball. I played handball. I grew up in Puerto Rico. My nickname is Tony, man. Come on, man. You're a hell skinned man. All right, all right.

Cool. Absolutely. Here's the ultimate question. Did you have a glove on or no glove? No glove. No glove? No glove. No glove.

Yeah, Norrie had a special glove. You was playing hard, hard. That's right. Nah. They call it the honky check. You was uptown. Okay, FL Studio

or MPC 2000 XL. FL Studio. I made a revolution. I was a culture with that. God damn.

God damn. Wait a minute. God damn. Talk, man. Wait a minute. God damn. You don't know? Yeah. I made, you know, I made Jay-Z Threat on the FL Studio 25 minutes. Threat. I made Girl for Destiny's Child on FL Studio.

I made Good Woman Down for Mary J. Blige, Honey by Erykah Badu, all of this on FL Studio. So, you know, at a time where they used to laugh at me for making beats on computer, now everybody make beats on computer. So, FL Studio. I want to ask you just real quick, because you just feel like

you got this. Do you have Erykah Badu incense? Yes. Because I don't even try to get it. I can't even say something in a stereo. You're lying. You're lying. We got Erykah Badu incense.

I want to say it. We want to have it right here. No, I don't know. We going to get some Erykah Badu incense. You got to get it from Erykah Badu. Get it from Erykah Badu. Get it from Erykah Badu. Get it from Erykah Badu. Get it from Erykah Badu. No, we got to support without no. We can't find it.

It was sold out. I don't know. You look like you had a box. It's sold out. He said, I got it. I'm just said, I want to see it. I got to see it. I'm just playing.

I'm just playing. Okay. Okay. Rhapsody or Nicki Minaj? Rhapsody. Yeah, come on. And of course, people are going to watch this and thinking about, you know, accolades or whatever, man.

But Rhapsody's pen. Like, if you look at the people who she rapped with, like she purposely wanted to rap with a Black Thought, a Busta Rhymes, a Ab Soul, a Kendrick Lamar just to prove that her pen is as vicious as anybody else's. Yeah, right. She's really coming to her own recently. I feel like she's really like. Yeah. And she writes all this. Who writes that stuff?

Who don't? Okay, cool. Right. Rapsy writes all of her rap. Rap's pen is dangerous. She's a phenomenal artist. And dude, he's scared to rap with her, so. She's supposed to be on Dream Champ soon.

Yeah, and salute on that Grammy, too, man. Yeah, salute to the Grammy, too. Ocean Drive. Yeah, 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 is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network, hosted by me, writer and historian Dan Flores, and brought to you by Velvet Buck. This podcast looks at a West available nowhere else.

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

Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that Taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multibillion-dollar company

dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, 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. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way.

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

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

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Michael Kassin, founder and CEO of 3C Ventures and your guide on Good Company, the podcast where I sit down with the boldest innovators shaping what's next. In this episode, I'm joined by Anjali Sood, CEO of Tubi, for a conversation that's anything

but ordinary. We dive into the competitive world of streaming, how she's turning so-called niche into mainstream gold, connecting audiences with stories that truly make them feel seen. What others dismiss as niche, we embrace as core. It's this idea that there are so many stories out there, and if you can find a way to curate and help the right person discover the right content, the term that we always hear from our audience is that they feel seen. Get a front row seat to where media, marketing, technology, entertainment, and sports collide. And hear how leaders like Anjali are carving out space and shaking things up a bit in the most crowded of markets. Listen to Good Company on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Gangstar or EPMD? God, he is tripping. Damn. Cold, man. Just for the shrimp of... I gotta say both, but... Okay, I'm in. But for me, coming from the EPMD camp,

Das FX was like some of the first rappers that I personally visualized pulling up Big Benz's inside of the park on the curb with 40 Below Tim's on. And Dredd too, right? And Dredd. And each New York.

And Dredd. And little short niggas like our height. And Dazzafix is hell, man. Yeah, they are super favorite. I don't think they get enough credit that they deserve to be my favorite. We need to pay Dazzafix.

They proud. Goddamn, make some noise for Dazzafix. And they ain't even reporting this question. That's how they're looking. What do you mean? But you said Gangstar though. Yeah, no, no. reporting this question. That's not how it is here. What do you mean? But you said gangsta, though. Yeah, no, no.

He said both. Oh, he said both. Okay. He said both. Y'all want to answer this? You don't know if you're saying both. I mean, he was saying like...

You were like, you were about to say something. EPMD. EPMD. EPMD, man. Strictly business. Unfinished business. Business as usual.

Business never personal. It is hard, and that's in order. It's hard to have four great albums back to back, bro. They're a blooper. And they're saying business.

Can't keep the names business. And Eric Sherman as a producer. There you go. I told Eric Sherman, I said, man like I said man I miss the version we used to get high he's like he's my friend

go smoke a blunt Eric Sherman I'm sorry what did Norwich just say he's supposed to have an album dropping out with all duos you see me like Tom Beats and Scare the Life Out of Me but I will with all duos on it too. You want to see it? You want to see it? You did it? You see me like Tom Higgins in Scare the Life Out of Me.

I will. I will. You said not yet. No, I'm a part of the duo. I'm a part of the duo. I love a duo. Okay, but we need to break the ice with you. Gangstar or APM?

That same one? I thought we drank over it. Oh, no. We did. I mean, we drank. We drank, yeah. With you. Nah, you raised a good point with that.

The fact that they got them albums like that. And Gangsta got them, too. Yeah. And Boone was the producer himself with Jazzimataz. Jazzimataz was good. Can't forget about that. And when you say, okay, Gangsta, I'm thinking about... And they rep Brooklyn, too, from the East.

And both of them introduced a lot of other artists. No, they, from the East. And both of them introduced a lot of other artists. No, they did. Both of them. EPMD, man. Who sent that in? Who sent that question in? These guys over here.

Has? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, the Colombians. I don't know if EPMD has ever made an album better than Moment of Truth. That's the only thing. Okay.

Now, which leads me to my next question. A tribe called Quest or De La Soul? Tribe. Tribe. He said that quickly. Tell me how you really feel. Why'd you say it so quickly?

De La Soul was more... You know what I'm saying? De La was was you can say I don't know I don't want to fuck up your yeah De La was more innovative very innovative

very experimental three feet high and rising I don't think we'll ever get another album like that Tribe mastered the art of making big records

Check the Rhyme was a big record Check the Rhyme y'all War Tall was a big record War Tall with Muhammad Electro Relax we are still chasing the feeling of Electro Relaxation Rhyme was a big record. Check the rhyme, y'all. War Tour was a big record. War Tour with Muhammad. Electric Relax.

We are still chasing the feeling of Electric Relaxation. To this day. And I just figured out where El Segundo was. I was like, oh, shit. This is a real place. It's a real place. Oh, shit. This motherfucker, I thought he made that up.

He left his wallet on El Segundo. I thought he made that up. I was like, what the fuck? El Segundo. And the movement that was ushered by Tribe. Even though the Daylok came before Tribe. But still, what the fuck? It's a movement that was ushered by Tribe. Even though the Daylight came before Tribe. But still, Tribe led that. That's what I was. That's what I was.

That's what makes it so tricky. You know, Tribe was the head of that. Like, we know Jungle Brother started it, but Tribe led it, it felt like. I mean, and although, like, Black Sheep was the one that had the biggest, Trois-Royces was the biggest record they ever had. But Tribe, you got to think, Tribe had Scenario, Scenario ushered in Busta Rhymes, all those releases of the new. That's what that was.

But Tribe is, we still chasing. Native Tongue. Native Tongue. That's it. All of us, Slum Village, Erykah Badu, The Roots. Craziest collectors ever. All attribute their Feeling to Tribe

And it helped hip hop Become eclectic And be okay With going in different directions And trying to pass the tribe Tribe Tribe The Tribe is coming from

The whole That whole Three feet high and rising They all part of That's like saying The same family Yeah Native tongue

And then Q- native tongue was on my beef style about two three times yeah he did it on the drink with a pain you know there's there's an original temperature's rising didn't get cleared. No, that version didn't get cleared. That was on vinyl. That's the original. And it didn't get cleared and had to go back in and do a whole different version.

The version that you actually hear on the album is not the actual version. I thought it was just a remix. This was out, you know, this was back then where you give your boys the copies of it. I had a white label. That's kind of crazy because

working with Buckshot, like when it was time to make a radio edit or a radio version that they used to call for, like Buck would just go in the studio and write a whole nother song. And the remix, the clean version, was sometimes better than the original version.

It was. He did it twice. He did, yeah. He did it twice. He in out the park with them joints. So we picked up the work ethic where everybody was running around reversing curse letters.

You had to go in there and actually put your pen to work and Buck was the master of that shit. Yeah. I got you open. I got you open. I got you open. I got you open. Buck him down. Y'all got some more?

Oh, we got a lot more. Wu-Tang or NWA? God damn. Wu-Tang or NWA? I mean, that's a trick question to me. Damn. If you want to just take a shot, I'm in. Yeah, let's take a shot.

Yeah, I'm in. Wait, no, I feel like... Now you're thinking about it. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Now you're thinking about this. We taking a hold on this. Yeah, we taking a hold on this. It's for infinity, man.

It's for infinity. Culturally, it's Wu-Tang. Accolades, everything. Like, what was spawned out of N.W.A. was insane. Like Beast's headphones, Ice Cube's acting career, Ice Cube's solo career.

I mean, the tree is crazy. The tree is the D.O.C. I don't like it generationally. I think it's the wrong generation. Because Snoop, Kendrick, Corrupted Dad, 50 Cent,

Eminem, the Wu-Tang, I mean, the N.W. Tooop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop.

Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop.

Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop.

Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop.

Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop. Snoop.

Snoop. Snoop. Wu-Tang is, will be a nightmare. Wu-Tang to me is a whole different thing. Because you got meth doing this thing. We got a drink on that. That's not a drink. We're going to have to drink on that. That's void now. I would say both. I think it's the wrong pair up, but I'd say both.

I don't like the pair up. I don't like the pair up. I think it's a thank you question, though. But I think generationally it doesn't match. Yeah, okay. And W-A starts first, so it doesn't match. Right. Yeah, okay. And then it starts first so it goes first. And not really religion, right?

Because for the ones that went outside, like, you know, moms and them, we had Bibles with the cartoons but then we went outside and we saw the brothers

building in the circle. That's what I'm talking about. We sat there. We wanted, you know, right? And that's another one as far as respect and respecting the elders like we could sit on the bench we couldn't get into the cypher with them when he was building we get a little air right but like living in north carolina like you know it's jesus jesus jesus right

the bible belt it's the bible belt but not until i started listening to likeim and Brand Nubian and Wu-Tang that I started learning about Islam. I learned the most from them. I'm going to love you. Beautiful you learned. Wu-Tang is the first comic book rap group, bro. You can put them in comic books. The names that they had, Peter Parker, Tony Stark, it was a reason.

They stood out as superheroes already. Oh, man, they were superheroes, right. That's crazy. Well, I ain't going to lie. Don't lie. Not comparing them to NWA. Why are my cats getting bigger and bigger? I was literally scared of NWA. I find this, it's true, though.

I was like, that music scared me. Like, I was like, what the fuck? First of all, I thought Compton was a jail. The way they said straight out of Compton, I said, I didn't want to go there. Like, that is just, hold up. Hold up. I told you that. Yo, he started the album that way.

Straight out of Compton. Crazy motherfucking name. Ice Cube. Yeah. I didn't know. I didn't know. I was just like, yo. I felt, honestly, in hip hop, they were the first group to evoke that emotion. Right. I don't know. I didn't know. I was just like, yo. I felt, honestly, in hip-hop, they were the first group to evoke that emotion.

Right. I don't know. I don't know. See, you got to remember, I'm coming from X-Clan. I'm coming from a band from X-Clan. Think about it. They're coming out in the 80s. But that's coming from a different coast.

For me, that was my mob style from Harlem that was coming. I understand. Okay, I get that. I get that. Mind you, I'm in Miami. I'm in Miami. come from me okay that was that was my mob style from Harlem it was two groups it was public enemy that evoked this emotion over here right and NWA right to me there were the same groups in different sides of the spectrum I never felt that kind of emotion from rap music. Not the first song being straight up.

Well, you're like, God damn. This is fucked up. I don't know about Have you ever heard Monkstyle? Right. But that's what it is.

A.C. tone with what? Yeah. See? They still undergrading. I'm understanding what you on the global term. I understand

what he's saying. I can understand that Because N.W.A. was still That was almost like A high introduction to games We didn't know that Mob style was really Just a New York shit

Right For real though When I went out of town And people didn't know Who Mob style was I was so mad It was her right You don't know who Mob style

No People were looking like Don't take 7th Take 8th Avenue But you gotta remember You gotta remember Q went to fuck with Chuck later. To me, that was the best thing in the world.

It was like perfect. When I got that cassette tape, by accident, because you don't even know, it was before internet, when the magazines were late to get to you, you find America's Most Wanted, you open it, and you see the bomb squad. I was like, And Cube was like... I introduced... Well, N.W.A. was like really opening our eyes to gang shit,

gang wars in L.A. We was wearing Raiders culture. Why did you give it to Ice-T? Yeah, he was, but Niz wasn't really jacking Ice-T at first.

No, no, no. Six in the morning? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And Apple covers it. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. But N.W.A. If you listen to N.W.A.'s first album, they're not even talking about colors.

But Ice Cube. Right. But he came from the movie. I love this conversation, by the way. I love hip-hop conversations. He doesn't do 6 in the Morning if he didn't hear P.S.K. first. Absolutely.

Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Wait, P.S.K.? So N.W.A. People always saying, what the hell is that? N.W.A. bought that just to call it P.S.K.

Just like N.W.A. say a lot of the New.A. bought that just like N.W.A. say a lot of the New York rappers but that's why they even decided to do certain things. We're not going to talk about that.

We're doing our style. So we can't leave out Tim Dogg then? No, you can't. You cannot leave out the Dogg. That's what the hip hop do, right?

It's supposed to, I mean, not politicize, but that's what we politic, you know? They told us the politics are confident because you thought it was one thing. You know, we went there. We looking out.

We looking for the colors. That's all we, same thing. Right. So it's like, damn, we got this information from the hip hop. That was the beauty of that era, too, because everybody had regional sounds, lingo. Right, right, right. The Bay Area is a whole different beast. Without traveling there. Salute to the Bay. had regional sounds, lingo. You could learn about every region without traveling there. Salute to the Bay.

And you knew who it was when they was dropping. Like Mr. Lee say it all the time. He say he learned English through music. But he learned the wrong English.

He learned the wrong English. He said he learned English through music. He learned it. Hey, hey. He about did a fucked up job

turning to him and his English. But that's how it be. But nonetheless, d turning into him. But that's how it be. But nonetheless, they told him English. Why am I taking a shot already? But that's how it be for Cs also.

It be different countries that you go to and they don't speak. Yeah. You feel me, dog? Yeah, come on. Let me help you out. Solo.

Oh, man. It be, they don't even understand the language, but they know the lyrics word for word. There's the positive and negative to that. I've traveled

to some countries where they've adopted the gang culture, not understanding where it takes them. And then I've seen the positive side, which to me outweighs the negative side. That's a fact. I heard you saying earlier that you guys went

to Europe, right? 30 days, yeah. I hate to say this sometimes, but I have to say it. I feel like sometimes hip-hop lives more in Europe. It does. That's a fact. Like, you know, when I have shows in Europe,

they're there at 6 o'clock in the afternoon. And it's like, why are you there? The club doesn't open till 9. But they want to smell me walk in. They want to see me write in. They want to see me write graffiti. They think I'm going to write graffiti.

It's a novelty. And he does. He actually does. Me too. I do. They have the boxes out. I got my breakdance suit on right now.

They think that. It really lives there. I'm talking about their essence. They're allowing themselves to live history. The essence of hip hop still lives there.

Those five elements, those six elements that they retain. This is how I feel and I heard you say that earlier when you were saying like y'all just did that. Is that how y'all feel too? Yeah, for sure.

That's the first thing I was taught. I was taught that your last 15 minutes in the United States is your last lifetime in Europe and Africa

and South America. Man, that's tough. The whole world and just the whole outside of outside of united states you get about five maybe six years of this pure on fire shots are the ones that's done longer than that but overseas it's non-stop and they don't want to hear you do if you got great new records fine right they want to hear the classics. And that's not only for hip hop, that's for R&B, that's for anybody. All genres really. I see it.

But they hone in. If they're into hip hop, they're into hip hop. I see it. Jayme Rourke was the element of hip hop. I see Jayme Rourke the damage out there. This motherfucking passport was this thick. Jayme Rourke the damage. Jayme Rourke the damage.

He was like, you know what, let me never come home. I was like, aw shit, I wouldn't either. Fucking Jayme Rourke's thing. He was like, I'll do a show every night, Noreen. Jayme Rourke rocked the club. Jayme Rourke won the championship. Jayme Rourke rocked the club. Jayme Rourke rocked the club. Jayme Rourke rocked the club. Jayme Rourke rocked the club. Jayme Rourke rocked the club. I was like, oh shit, I wouldn't either. Yo, he was like, I'll do a show every night, Lord. One night he's a promoter.

One night he's the cameraman. One night he's a DJ. One night he's your hype man. Like, J. Rool, he lives over there. Where is he at, Belgium? Germany. I saw him in Germany. We saw him in Barcelona.

Everywhere. But to answer that question, let me see. I don't think I wouldn't, I'm kind of caught between it, living over there because I think, you know, being over here in the States, you get spoiled. You have so much accessibility to a Nori, a Knife, a Smith & Wesson, and a Finn, where over there you only see that person or your group who you want to see when the promoters is booking them.

So it's dope to be over there, but at the same time, if they don't respect what it is, then they're not going to come out like that. But I think being in your hometown is where you receive the most love of anything. But you know, like one of her favorite clubs for me in New York City that's holding it down still is Webster Hall and SOB. Oh, I heard that. SOB, right? But what I realized is that Webster Hall and SOB

is every... Every broad cloud. Like, I can't lie to you. The last 10 events I've been to And SOB's Bigged Them Up That is where real hip hop still lives Definitely And then Webster Hall

Webster Hall's been doing a great job Holding these hip hop events I want to say the Hammerstein Ballroom Hammerstein, you're rocking And Monarch in Brooklyn We kind of put that in We lived at a time when It was a lot of, we lived at a time when it was a lot of different clubs

to go to. So that's a great point that you pointed out as far as in Europe. Because I didn't, you know, just keep it 100. Like, I think that,

I don't know about you, but for me, I might have been like reluctant to even say that. But that might be a true fact that over there, it lives there. You know, it's like,

that makes sense because if you think about hip-hop as the stone, right? And you throw the stone in the river and it causes a ripple and it just continues to affect them.

We never thought about that initially, obviously, right? We just want to do our thing. But then when we go over there and we see the ripple effect that we have caused, we're like, wow, this is incredible. And we take things for granted here because it's so close i went i was in vietnam they were telling me be like there's a lot of dancing you know the break dancing is big

in in asia so these dancers were telling us about some pioneer pop blocker from the i never heard of this person but they showed me videos that prove that this guy is a pioneer he's like this is the guy that we've been following for 50 years and I'm like god it's just ill-helped because they they just from a distance they appreciate everything more we're just too close to it yeah well it makes sense man because it's like it's great you know it's like we're doing it at such a rate like our intentions have's great you know it's like we're doing it at such a rate like our intentions have changed

at some point it's like we're doing it to now pay the rent money and to do these things and they still doing it just to listen yeah

that's a hobby just to what you're saying I went to Haiti and we met up with this artist they consider him like the Tupac of Haiti right

and when I went I don't know now it's because it's gotten really bad out there right now. This has happened in every country I've gone to. I've gone to a bunch of countries. He told me, you guys don't do hip-hop in the United States. You guys do business. That's all.

That's heavy. That's been something consistent that's been told to me in Peru in Cuba Haiti Vietnam Colombia South Africa I've gone to all as many continents as I can

it's not like it's one continent saying this they're all saying it yeah yeah you guys do hip hop you guys do business so basically they say we've left the art form

we're here for monetary reasons yeah you know in the 80s and 90s we were we weren't making much money off of it. Hip-hop wasn't that... And we was killing it. And it was all about

the props and about whatever we wanted out of it. That's real. To be on the other side of that, look how hip-hop has evolved. If we wasn't doing business, we wouldn't be able to have shows like this. Absolutely. We wouldn't be able to have shows like this. Absolutely.

We wouldn't be able to open other doors to feed our family. And hip-hop has come so long that it's opened multiple doors. You go into film from hip-hop. You go into anything you really want to do. Like, just even working with Afrobeat artists, it would be something like,

yo, if it's presented, then yeah, let's go. These artists might not even be talking about hip hop to debate it. Right, right. If there wasn't the monetary on this side. Absolutely. Right. Yeah. All right, hold on.

So we're going to get back into the Quick Time of Slime. Finish it up. Outkast. Outkast or UGK? Did you jump? No, no, no. Yeah. No, then.

No, you go. You go. Oh, man. That's good, too, man. Outcast or UGK? That's good. Damn. Bun is my brother.

Mine, too. Outcast is them guys, too, though, man. They got the style, the grace of everything. They beat us at the 9-5 Source Awards, too. They won that award. So that's still like... That was the infamous ones where he said, you got something to say? Yeah.

I gotta say both, man. They both though. Rest in peace, Pimp C. Innovators. Innovators. Take a drinky drink. All right. Busta or Eminem? Busta Rhymes Busta Rhymes the mighty infamous

I think Eminem would say Busta Rhymes yeah I did yeah that's the thing that's why I did yeah of course respectfully you know that

you know what I mean yeah next one oof Pharoah Munch or royce the five nine pharaoh luther royce man pharaoh the royce the royce fried nine but fair much he was in his organized confusion organized confusion and the record you guys got with it And he got the verse on Medina right now I'm saying Medina's Hold up

But keep it real Not because that verse though Bro got asthma No I'm not saying because of the verse He got asthma You would think somebody who's breathing like that I believe But anyway

I'm just saying You would think that Somebody like that That's conscious of their breath Would not put so many words In a rap You know what I'm saying Now his flow is

It's unmatched It's unmatched man But he is so Like the way he break down And he studies Like what he's gonna say If it's particular To the concept

And like his tone The way he goes with the tone Is ew Yeah nah He's incredible And then you're going back to organized confusion. Right.

Come on, man. Farrow March. Farrow March. Farrow! Okay, you want the next one too? Farrow! Biggie or Big L? Biggie.

Biggie. Biggie. Biggie. Ray and Ghost or Styles P and Kiss God now y'all y'all cheated

y'all took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove

now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove

now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove

now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove

now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove

now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove

now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove now you took the glove

now you took the glove We ain't no Grammys. Y'all no Grammys. We ain't no beautiful trips. Oh, man. Shout out to Chicluge, man. Shout out to the Gorilla Man. This is to infinity, too. Look, Red Ghost. Are you picking? Yeah, I'm picking. We can drink, but Red Ghost.

You picking the purple tape? I'm picking the purple tape with Ray Angle being on the cover of that. I'm picking Iron Man with Ray Angle being on the cover of that. I'm going to cover that. Money, power, respect album? Yeah, but if I'm picking

Verbal Intercourse, Ice Cream, Verbal Intercourse, Daytona 500. Kame. I mean, you can stop at verbal intercourse. Winter Wars. Yeah, it ain't. All right. Michael Jackson or Prince?

God! Did you say hee-hee? Hee-haw! Oh, man. Biggs, you're gone too far. You're gone too far now, Biggs. Does anybody have an MJ or Prince story nah

I do not nah only the first time I remember meeting Prince one time you met Prince yeah that's the story let's go to it

remember we went to the after party we met Prince the time we was yeah when we was in what do you call it Minneapolis yeah Minneapolis oh yeah I went to the after party We met Prince the time we was Yeah when we was in Minneapolis Oh yeah I went to Lake Minnetonka That's what it's called

Minnetonka We didn't purify We didn't purify We didn't purify Not me You sure you wasn't going to get on the remix of Soundboy Barrier? We would have been talking magic.

But we did. We wasn't, like, we was in Munich. But he was moving, like Charlie said, like, you want to play some basketball? We went to Munich, Germany. Yeah, Germany. They have, like, this monument for Michael Jackson. It's, like, in the middle of the square and it's like people come there.

We put some like, you know, people put like things that's personal to them on the monument. It reminded me of New York City, like 42nd Street. Like if people were respected

and not just violated. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's like, it was very touching to see like, you know, of course people love Mike all over the world, but I ain't see a Prince one

like that. And you know, you know. No, no, no, no, no. I'm drinking. I'm drinking on that. But I'm just saying like, just to,

you said anybody got a story, but that's as close as I could get. And then Mike, didn't he do a song with Big? I think so. Oh, yes. Come on, man. That's crazy, man. Come on. Was it, Mike, didn't he do a song with Big? I think so, yes. Come on, man. That's crazy, man. Come on. Was it Butterflies? Where was it?

I don't know. I'm not sure if that was official. Google it. No, no, no. Butterflies remake? I'm not even bugging right now. Sorry, bud. It might have been AI back then. I think it was Butterflies. They had AI back then, too. I'll just let you know.

Use ChatGPT if it's quicker for you, man. ChatGPT, Jesus. Fuck it. Right. What's my bad name? I don't trust

his Googling skills. The fact that it takes him that long to go bump up, bump up, bump up. He just come up with the tough-ass slime time questions. Does.

He definitely does. Yeah. Would you say Metro PCS. I got to check that one out. Michael Jackson and Prince versus Prince of Scots. This time around.

It's crazy. This time around is a joint. New Jack City or King of New York? New Jack City. Man, he said that joint. New Jack City or King of New York? New Jack City. Man, he said that quickly too much. New Jack City. Frank White? Frank White.

New Jack City. See, but because you guys are from New York, that's why. That's probably what it is. That's why. For me, it's New Jack. I would say New Jack City, too. New Jack City is Nino Brown. It's Nino Brown.

New Jack City. And King of New York? Nino Brown. It's Frank City is Nino Brown. It's Nino Brown. New Jack City. And King of New York. That Nino Brown. Yeah, Frank White. Nino Brown. I say New Jack City because of the movie. I say it because I'm adding the soundtrack. I'm adding the soundtrack, too.

To me, it's the music. What was it? Color Me Bad? That's right. Color Me Bad off the chain. Girl, I want to sex you up. New Jack City. New Jack Hustler? Like, come on. New Jack New Jack City. New Jack Hustler?

Like, come on. New Jack Hustler. It has the most classic one-liners. I never liked you anyway. St. Chris Rock? You know what I think it is? You know what I think it is? I think because I recently watched King of New York over in my older age

than when I was watching the New Jack City. They all better now. Really? They all better now. My wife, she can't watch a repeat of nothing. I'm like, how you don't watch a movie more than once? She knows, she loves it, and that's it.

Me, I'm like three, four times. Yeah, that's how my wife is. Yeah, I'm three or four times too. Yeah. I don't know. New Jack City or... New Jack City. You just said New Jack City.

I would have to do New Jack City though. I think the soundtrack added to it is what makes it better. You just said New Jack City versus Juice, we'd have a problem. Oh, yeah, yeah. No, Juice would have won. Yeah. For me, Juice would have won.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think the thing about this game is for it to be fucking difficult, right? And it's for your personal impact. We got to be brave enough to make a choice. You can't be just like, yo. You got to be honest about how it impacted you. People be thinking about what other people are thinking.

Everyone is going to be both. Everyone you ask, there's no way that every, you know, every one of those was both. Every question. But if I had to pick, I'm going every one of those was both. Every question. Right. But if I had to pick, I'm going to say New Jack City. New Jack City.

Nino. Yeah, Nino Brown. Nino Brown and Joe Faisal, man. Are you picking between Nas and LL? Between Nas and LL? Yeah. Yeah, that's what we're asking. That's the next question?

That's the next question. You know what? I would say LL, man. Radio. Nah, just because it's pioneer shit. Just for like, of course Nas, big respect to Nas, man. When we grew up over that guy going box. Once we saw that, that was a game changer for me.

He's 16, kicking in the door. So you saying LL? You saying? Yeah, I'm going to say LL. I'm going to say LL Cool James, man. It is hard in this game to find solo artists with four or more classics. Right? Facts, yeah.

The run that LL have from radio to Mr. Smith is insane. Not to mention to today with the bells. But just from radio, that's radio. That's Bigger Than Death. That's Walking With A Panther. That's one of the greatest albums of all time. Mama Said Knock You Out. Crazy.

14 Shots and Mr. Smith. That's a lot of... If he do a Versus, he can just use those records and do a Versus. That's... LL Cool J is... And he coming out with Leather Pants on, yeah. LL Cool J is, and he coming out with Leather Pants on too. Nah,

and he dropped a new album. I'm feeling his new album too. Lay your ass in Leather Pants. That's right. LL Cool J,

man, is, mama said, knock you out, bro. Is Versus ever coming back? My God. I don't know,

but we act like it's coming back. We act like Versus never left. We bring it up like it's still happening. We in the universe. Versus still happening. We in the verse. Verse is still happening.

But let me say this. Manifest. Let me say this, though. Project Windows. I don't know any. Illmatic will probably go down as the most critically acclaimed rap album ever. I believe so. The most studied.

The most books. The most everything. Illmatic, the most books, the most everything. Illmatic, whether you liked it or not, it is the kind of blue of hip hop. Miles Davis'

kind of blue. I believe that. That's what it is. I agree with you. I think I would say Nas though because that was more in the climate

when I was coming up. I wasn't, I mean, L was there, but yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, definitely.

I would definitely say Nas. Yeah. Okay. Red Man or Method Man? Ah, you can't ask that question. We just did. That's the Rock Wilder. You can't.

Red Man. You guys put the Rock Wilder. You guys take a verse. I'm trying to. Albums. Nah, that's even better. It was Red. I mean, it's what the album, There's a Dark Side, Muddy Waters.

It's Redman. It's Redman. So you got to hang with guys like this who don't sugarcoat no shit. Fuck how you feel. They got to tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. Yeah, Red, Red, man. But,

oh, man, Drake, the both, man. Yeah, I don't know. There you go. That's more like it. He there. He's on. Cheers.

You have, um... Great. The month of the man. Y'all remember that tour? Yep, I do. Month of the man. I worked that. I be? Yep, I do. Month of the man. I worked that. I be trying to study this.

No, you, yeah. Yeah, I'm studying it. Are you with me? No, I got it. Oh, you got it? Doggy style or me against the world? Huh? Doggy style or me against the world?

Snoop Dogg's doggy style. I guess Tuba? Snoop Dogg's Doggy Style. I'm just going to answer everything head on right now. Amy against the world, the double album? Oh no, that's all out on me.

Okay, okay. It might be different. Snoop Dogg's Doggy Style. Doggy Style is the better album. Doggy Style changed a lot. Yeah, it changed the whole game. Doggy Style changed. The music is samples in it. Doggy Style put Br lot. Yeah, it changed the whole game. Doggy style changed. The music gets samples in it.

Doggy style put Branson on the map. Well, I ain't going to say that, but that's when Drone was out. You have Snoop Dogg, Pump Pump, and songs like that, and an East Coast movie like Above the Rim is nuts. Above the Rim was comprised mostly of West Coast artists. Filmed on the East Coast. Right. Wow.

Doggy style, dog. Doggy style. Yeah. I mean, that was the... You're right, man. That was an interesting era. What he said with cheese on it. That was well done.

That was well done, yeah. Fat Boys or Beastie Boys? Fat Boys. Fat Boys. Fat Boys or beastie boys fat boys fat boys or beastie boys fat boys he has to everything politically he thinks about

I love it he puts on his professor hat every time if I'm going to teach this to the class let me tell you how it's going to go he's like I'm not lowering my standards to resource room ass motherfucker. You guys are drinking weed. Being dope artists.

I'll tell you how it is. I say five boys, man. I think. Yeah, five boys. I'm going to say Beastie Boys because... You just want to be politically... So Beastie Boys, like I first be So Beastie Boys

Like I first heard The Beastie Boys I had older cousins So dope And they were playing Paul Like Paul Revere Paul Revere was

Of course Like That shit was hard Paul Revere is a Drug dealer Car In 1986 So

Old ride Fat boys I heard fat boys In a party But I ain't hear a lot of Fat Boys in my big cousin's car. I heard Paul Revere. No, sleep to Brooklyn.

Not that song. I heard Paul Revere. And I heard Hold It Down. Hit it. And I heard the new style. Especially the breakdown in the new style. Yo, Beastie Boys. Paul Revere was the gangster joint. That wasie Boys. Paul Revere was the gangster joint.

That was a gangster. Yeah, that was the gangster joint. Lights is the ill. We're going to put Lights is the ill against the fat boys. It's the Beastie Boys. Even with Disorder.

Disorder's just a movie. They probably hear the movie real for hip hop. That's the movie. Nah, but they because they kept it organic, you know what I mean? Salute to Brooklyn.

No, and shout out to the Fat Boys, man. You know what I mean? And it's like, they was dope artists, right? And you're talking about, you're talking about a time, you're talking about not only a time, you're talking about a culture

that says you have to look a certain way. You know what I mean? They broke all of that. They was like, yeah, prior to all that. They was like, all right, we're going to run with this and we're going to, yeah. One of like, all right, we're going to run with this.

And we're going to, yeah. One of them Diesel now. And they're from Brooklyn. And we need to get him on the show. Yeah. All right. Brooklyn. All right.

Outlaws or Dog Pound? Cool, man. Dog Pound. Corrupt is one of the greatest rappers to ever live I agree with that that's a fact I gotta say both

include Tupac I gotta say both Corrupt is a I gotta say both Outlaws is family that's personal no no shout out to Outlaws big up to the Outlaws

please salute to the Outlaws man young noble EDI yeah big up to the Outlaws but what he says about Corruptpp, true, Wink. One of the greatest rappers I believe, bro.

Doc Pond came out in Krupp. By way of Philly, right? Yeah, by way of Philly. And Rage was smashing shit for Krupp. Krupp be rhyming a lot off the dome, too. Yeah. He be like, Krupp. He rhyme when he talk, Krupp.

Krupp, yo. His verbiage was so crazy. I was drinking tequila with him at 10 o'clock in the morning. He was rhyming. And his shit was effing. Yeah, yeah. No, it was like, yeah. He was just like.

Yeah. His shit was like. He was just talking, but. The gangster. Yeah, you see. He was just so effing. It was water. Yeah.

Salute to the big. Yeah, salute to the rock, man. Dazz, man. Y'all are killing us. The source or XXL? The source. Okay. The original source. I love'all are killing us. The Source or XXL? The Source. Okay. The original Source.

I love you. I love you. And you didn't take a shot at the killer yet. Why? The Source didn't want to kill him. Take one. For North Carolina, y'all invented this shit. The Source.

Come on, liquor. Y'all invented this shit in North Carolina. My mama watching this, y'all. My mama. I told my mama I was coming on Drink Champ. She said, y'all going to be drinking? I said, mama drink champagne. That'sall. My mama, I told my mama I was coming on drink champ. She said, y'all going to be drinking? I said, mama drinks champagne. That's it.

She said, okay. So I ain't drinking. Well, shout out to your mama. This nigga's a mama. This nigga's a mama. This nigga can't even go without that. Like, all right, cool. But nah, nah, man.

Nah, for real. But what were we talking about? We were talking about the source. Source. Source. The mic rating. That's what I'm saying. The original source is the mic rating. Yeah's what I'm saying. The original Source

is the mic rating. Yeah, the original Source created the XXL. to me was like, it totally was both. The original Source created the XXL. Totally.

I mean, because that's what it was, right? It was leftover Source staff members who went and created Double X. Right, right, right. I don't want to say it like that.

Did Elliot Wilson come on the Source? Elliot Wilson was one of them. He was originally on the Source, yes. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Yeah, so. And then it was. Yeah, right, Double. No, he was originally on the source. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Yeah, so. Dane Twan is over there, right?

Double X. And then they went to the Vibe. This was Quincy Jones' magazine. Look at Jay Barrow. Did Jay Barrow work for the source? Yeah, Jerry Barrow. I think Dane Twan was over there, too. Yeah, yeah.

What's on there? But the original source was the only source. That was the only magazine. That you went to, right? Three and a half to four mics in a source, you would automatically go hands down. That magazine was so credible. It was the only beacon of hip-hop.

And I see Zenobia over there, and I remember us, Polo Noriega, we got four mics, and that was equivalent to us going platinum. Like, when we got that, and that was equivalent to us going platinum. Like when we got that and by the way that was like our dummy album. Like it wasn't even a real one. We went back in and made it better.

Like the demo basically. Yeah it was the demo but they still gave us four. But from that we were pre-ordered gold I believe. Remember how they pre-ordered you and they didn't care if you actually sold the records or not. If you was pre-ordered you and they didn't care if you actually sold the records or not. If you was pre-ordered within 70 days. People got deals off the

mic system. People got sold records off the mic system. So we're all saying the source They had that new artist section. That's right. I was fishing on fat tape. I loved it. No, man. It was a lot there. So we're all saying the source.

And they had the dope, even the collection of pictures that used to be in the back. It'd be like one. From the parties and all that. And they curated the magazine as real hip-hop heads. I mean, it changed over time,

but the original source, you felt like this is the real hip-hop right here. I want to take a moment right now. I want to big up my friend Benzino. Of course. And Dave Mays. And Dave Mays as well.

Because I've seen recently, he's been going through um you know certain things on the internet uh about the source where he's saying that you know certain things well look we all just said by the source and pretty much was all positive so i want to big up it was the hip-hop you know and dave mays you know i mean I mean, I know things have changed now, but back then, that was like, that was... They were huge. They were chessboard pieces.

The source mix. Definitely. All right, you want to go to the next one? I like this game. That's right, yeah. And then we're going to go back into the...

You tough, man. Yeah, I love it. Ralph McDaniels or Fab Five Freddy? Ooh. Shit. See, just when you... See?

Ooh, shit. I ain't got nothing to do with this shit. So we we basically saying Video music box Versus MTV Raps Video music box Versus MTV Raps That's a different question

That is a Oh okay You can do the individual Or you can do the Do the individual Yeah If you live in New York Fat Five Freddy is

Video music Uber legend In hip hop Besides Yonzi Rap Fat Five Freddy is a Walking wood Is that true For me down here

It was Yonzi Rap Yeah Cause we didn't have Video music Exactly Video music besides your empty rap Fat Five is a walking wood is that true for me down here it was your empty rap cause we didn't have video music exactly video music battle cause video music you was running home from school

to catch those videos and the shout outs was everything I saw Fat Five Freddy in Wild Style before even that and see Fat Five Freddy 2 was in New York

but then he'll be in Oakland with Too Short and then he'll be in Oakland with Too Short, and then he'll be in L.A. with N.W.A. That's what we're talking about. Let's keep it real. Fab Five Freddy brought the white girls

to hip-hop. Yeah. I salute the Fab Five, but I'm going to go with Uncle Ralph. Hey, man. He was already ahead of the time.

He was like, yeah, it's going to Europe. He's walking village. He was the village walker. He was with the artist. What was his homie's name? The white dude that he was hanging out with? The artist?

The big artist. That's right. The soup can. The soup can dude. What's his name? Andy Warhol. Yeah, he was rolling with all these crazy dudes. He said the soup can dude.

He had the sniffle. Hey, man. I didn't know what it was. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. That's not my era. I just got the soup can dude with the best of them. Hey, man. I didn't own it, bro. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. That's not my error. I just got the soup can. The soup can, dude.

Uncle Ralph is the guy, man. Like, he, like, his, you know, not to take anything at all from the big homie. But Uncle Ralph, man, he's still out here in the streets. Now, we had him on Dream Champs. We celebrated. Yeah. I mean, salute to the Senator. Ralph is incredible. You know, Jessica Ramos out there doing the good work, trying to get in that office. streets yeah now we had him on dream champs we celebrated yeah i mean so so lucid assent

jessica ramos out there doing the good work trying to make up get in that office um so like uncle ralph is is connected with the people all the people not just the popular ones like he's out there in the streets no he was definitely outside so i'm gonna move off yeah yeah i'm definitely I'm going to do the last one. Is this the last one? Unless you want to add something to it. Oh, shit. I didn't pee pee. Okay. This is my favorite one.

I'm not going to lead the witness. I'm going to take a shot already. Loyalty or respect? He made it a harder question. Look at him. Is this the last question you said? No, no, not the last question. No, this is the last question.

I knew this one was coming. That's why I took my shade to look into the eyes of my brothers and men. Right, right. Without loyalty, there would be no... That's what I was going to say,

but that's my answer every time. That's not your answer every time. What the fuck? What the fuck? Who are you? Take that shit back. You gave me the knife, take your gift back.

This guy made me... Take your head away from the knife. This guy did that every time. Take that back, please. No, I meant both. Yeah, both guy did that every time. Get that back, please. No, I meant both. That's what I meant. Yeah, both of our answers every time. The way he answered it, let me ride with it.

I mean, I can't. It's on video. Everybody sees your answer every time. I meant his vote. Go ahead. You can't have a lawyer. So which means both. Come on.

Yeah, that means both. Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. 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 people that were here didn't have a real affinity for caves. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th, where we'll delve into stories of the West and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today. Listen to The American West with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future

where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st

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

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Listen to Good Company on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You gonna break it down, Professor Style. I respect it. Let's go. God. For me, it's loyalty. Period. You got to be clear with this crew.

Yeah, it's loyalty, man. Because sometimes people earn respect in the wrong ways. And so loyalty is something totally different. Loyalty means family to me. Respect doesn't always mean family to me. Right. But loyalty means family no matter what. Remain loyal to family.

Because respect can be looked at different by different ways, different people. People sometimes look at respect as killing somebody. You know what I mean? For whatever reason. Right. Respect can be a negative thing. It can be a negative thing. Loyal loyalty is something

totally different it automatically says family to me so I said loyalty see again the game is rigged you feel me because both of them

is the same thing loyalty can be taken differently too right this is the fact loyalty you can be loyalty to a fault you can be loyalty

to a fault some people think they're loyal right now but they totally not you know what I mean some people think they're loyal right now, but they're totally not. You know what I mean? Some people think they're respectful right now, and they're not. You know, tech said it the best way.

Like, that's true in that regard. I think that's a study right there. That's not even a question. You got to bring all kind of like... Well, we brought the professor. We wanted him to help us study this. Nah, but he opened up another point. Another point, right, right, right.

For sure. It's a balance, you know what I mean? Like, there's no wrong answer. That's the bridge right there. None of these are wrong answers. It's going to lead you to the other one. One's going to lead you to the other one. What do you respect? You respect something, like,

if you respect your family, like, we raised a certain way to respect our parents you know he wasn't loyal i don't know maybe we was loyal to them because we was born from them right but the respect in them and fear in them told us something else told us family values and then which we already took those family values without even like like organically taking those family values we took those to the streets where do we learn loyalty from like who we got that from like our father did our mother tell us we be loyal boy

stick over here it's never implied so we navigate respect your elders that's definitely implied it's like a silent thing that's automatic in family right but respect is told.

Or when you find your tribe in the streets and you moving around. You want... I mean, we're fucking up this... They're just saying something right now. No. The true story is that I put this on without knowing it. Oh, to show off, right?

He peaked at just that. I'm like, wait, are you in Infinity? Yo, I got an Infinity joint, I'm saying. No, I put on the shirt without knowing it was something. And it's his birthday. Yeah, I put it on without knowing that. I just got freaked out for a second, I'm saying. No, I put on the shirt without knowing it was Sean Price. And it's his birthday. Yeah, I put it on without knowing that. I just got freaked out for a second. I'm sorry.

That's why I'm saying he here. Yeah, no, he here. He here. Yeah, man. Definitely. With the price, yeah. Let's make some noise for Sean Price. Absolutely.

What you running to? Sonny, I got to go to the bathroom, bro. So if there's... He said no. No more locked doors. If there's anything you can... You can do over, right? Yeah.

Do over. The whole group, whole industry, everything. If there's one thing you could do over, what would you do? If there's one thing I could do over as far as you do? If there's one thing I could do over as far as the industry, I think it would be to learn the business better. In the beginning? The insides, the outsides, learn to be able to read and understand contracts.

Because that's where a lot get lost in the finer lines of contracts. And that's where we got to take them to attorneys and be like, yo, what'd that mean right there, what he said? I think if I would be able to do anything, that would be able to that would definitely be it, to be able to understand

the business more and to apply it more to where we can open more doors for those. Nothing. Nothing? You know what I'm saying? And the reason why I say nothing is because the decisions I made, the mistakes I made led me here.

I wouldn't be sitting here with you and you if I didn't make this turn or make this turn or make this turn to make this turn to make this turn so wrong right I am wrong or right I ended up here right and so I wouldn't change the thing if I if I if I did something the right way then I want to be able to work with these guys maybe someone to lead me this way and then I wouldn't cross that path but something it took me to go to school drop out of school find somebody with a computer to learn fruity loose do this do that to leave me to them if i have a 20-year relationship for

us to do two albums to leave me here so nothing that looks so hard wow the past is crooked Pass to the top and crook him. Right. How about you? Yeah, I wish I had answered that other question better that Queen Latifah and NC Lane would have. Oh, no. Yeah, yeah. Nah, but I know

that's going to be a, I know they're going, I know the trolls are going to let it. We could have edited until you kept talking about it, though. Nah, nah, nah.

Let that breathe. Let that breathe, man. Whatever. Do what you do. But, um, I think that, you know, like for me, I'm just, just to take responsibility, no, no. Let that breathe. Let that breathe, man. Whatever. Do what you do. But I think that, you know, like for me, I'm just to take responsibility. Like it's so much because I'm a person who, even though I have patience, I'm impatient. You know what I mean?

And I answer fast. And I'll be ready to go fast. And I'm always ready to go. And I'm always ready to go. So sometimes I'll get a chance to do things like relax, celebrate, rest, reboot and I might miss a lot. Even though I get a lot of, I cover a lot of land, but I miss a lot.

So it's like, alright, I wish I could slow down a bit. See things a little bit from a perspective. Even from the success and failures, the strength, because sometimes you harp on the failures. You know, and then you miss out the successes sometimes you see the successes you'll be blinded by the light it's like the final balance just to slow down a bit and go all right wow and

look at everything because when like right now we have the capability to do that now in hindsight right with with looking at the album and seeing how people enjoy Infinity. And it's like, that feels good. But it took your growth to understand that. Yeah, man. Because before that, we was like, yo, let's do another album. Let's do another album. Yo, we got to go on the road. We got to go on tour.

Like you say, a business. So that hits. But when you're in the mix like that, it's hard to feel it because you're there. Enjoy it. And it's like, fuck enjoying it. Like, you can't, you feel guilty almost. Like, you can't blame yourself,

but you can. What is that, like survivor's remorse? It's like that. That's that vibe right there. So it's like, man, you can, and then you start watching

what's given to us. So you're talking about rapid refund or like instant gratification. Like, you can't blame that. That's what Mr. Niggas did. Because people be, you know,

in a place where we still struggling and then you're seeing people eating and you're seeing like, wow, look like over there, dudes is getting it. And dudes are getting it, you know, but you got to talk about how dudes are getting it. Dudes are getting it in the capacity where they putting that work in. What does that work? Well, here is the forum where we talk about what that is.

If you slow down a little bit, you know what I mean? Like, you see the picture a little bit differently, I think. You know, me and Tech jumped in the game. We was hungry. It was like, yo, we hungry. We knew the contract was a little bit. How old were you guys when you first put out the record, the first record? We was just fresh, like, we was like a couple of years out of high school.

Yeah, I be messing up the years. I'm going to say a couple of years. I mean, roughly, roughly. I mean, roughly years. I always, I got left back. 19, 20? Yeah, around that area, yeah. I mean, you guys were young, man.

Yeah, around there, around there. I don't think I turned 20 yet. No, We knew nothing Like we didn't have somebody He said what year were you born I'm from the capital I had it up I had it up

I don't age man I'm limitless Infinity There you go Okay cool There you go. Okay, cool. There you go. We have no knowledge of contracts. So it was like, all right, we believe that we can get to the exposure and we can learn.

So our intent was a little bit different than just saying, yo, we want to be popular, be known, and the glamour and go on. I don't think dudes still, I don't know if that's a Brooklyn twist or whatever. Like, dudes wasn't so. You know what I think? I think everybody that had a little bit of hood or just from the hood all knew that we were getting jerked on our first deal. That's real. And we agreed to it. We agreed to it, and we said, you know what? I'm going to do better on our next deal. Right. I'm not agreed to it. We agreed to it and we said, you know what?

I'm going to do better on our next deal. I'm not going to lie. That's what I feel like you're saying. That's what I said. I knew I was getting not the best deal in the world. To be in the game so bad. But I said, I knew I was a hustler.

I just said, just put my one foot in that motherfucking door. Yeah. You know, like, put the tip of my shoelace in that door. Yeah. And then I'm going to kick the motherfucking rest of my foot in that motherfucker. Right, right, right. Let's go.

But I cannot lie and act like I did not know that my contract wasn't the best. Right. Like, it was something about how I signed. I got $5,000 in cash. I knew this wasn't right. I felt like I was still drug dealing. What the fuck?

Brown paper bag money. Why are you signing for nothing? Where's my check? Oh, shit. I knew I was... Did y'all know? Like, y'all first joined? I'm not going to say we didn't know.

I don't think we cared. I didn't care. Because we was, I'll be honest. Yeah, I don't think we cared. We seen Black Moon get on and at that time it was, I think we was pretty gung-ho

about what we wanted to do, the direction we wanted to go. Yeah. And like you said, the industry is only but that big. Once people start telling you, you can be cool for your second album, that's for more money. You hold out. So now, once you start hearing this in your ear from your peers, you're like, well, all right, so we in. Like you said, once I get that foot in, niggas,

I'm going to 10 boots the doors off the hinges. And I think that's how we pretty much carried it out. Like you said, it was never really no contracts. Everything was a word of mouth and a handshake that we've been rocking with Duck Dale, and we're doing this again on our own, 360. And that's for us. It was easy for us to be loyal to these brothers because we didn't know Drew, Buckshot, build a relationship with him.

So how did y'all meet Buckshot? Y'all was all in the same high school? Nah, nah, nah. Through his sister, Tracy. Big up to Tracy Allen. Like, she met her in high school. She was a dancer for us, and then she introduced us to Buck, who was dancing at the time

with his partner, I seen. And yeah, from there, we clicked up. Excuse me. But this is like, for us to be with them,

respecting their grind, just seeing how, not only the love for it, but but the respect for the business and also Knowing that is grimy. You know me so it's like we felt kind of safe with them with these guys. Oh bless We just go blood in a minute, huh? Yeah No, you can only earlier did bring your lungs back to the 90s. Your blungs back to the 90s. Bring your blungs back. She's bringing it right to the tunnel right now. Go ahead.

I think, yeah. Nah, it's cool. Like, we not know anything just coming right off the curb. You know what I'm saying? Plus, we coming off the D-7. Salute the D-7. Salute my bro, you know, Unicron.

Happy birthday. Just coming off of that scroll, like, me and these brothers, Buckshot, we seen his grind. Drew High, we seen his grind and looking how his love for Buck, like, how these guys is friends, you know what I mean?

And then, like, we didn't know the lawyers. The lawyer for the label was the lawyer for us. Our lawyer was the label's lawyer. Like you said, we knew stuff was wrong. I caught a charge in

Maryland and he was my lawyer for that. It's not like we had a multitasking lawyer where he was criminal. He was good though. Entertainment. Holy shit. You're a lawyer multitasking. where he was criminal where he was good though he was entertaining entertaining holy shit yo kind of loyalistic

multitasking a brother too I would put like you know about like what we speak about on infinity not being preachy

just telling you listen you can't be stuck in that rut yes you have to at some point

you have to grow if you're going to advance what have we learned people you have to, at some point, you have to grow if you're going to advance. What have we learned, people? That Smith & Wesson's going to be here for infinity. And I'm taking a shot at that. You been driving it up.

I've been driving it up. And you know what's crazy? Me and you are Tiger Bone, bro. By the way, me and this motherfucker, he used to drink Tiger Bowl. I don't know if y'all know. That is the worst shit you could ever drink.

We retired to get a drink chance. I remember with Law. You retired to Tiger Bowl. Before they moved from 125th Street. Yeah, 124th and Madison. And Madison. Madison, okay. And we was in there

Tiger Bonin' crazy. That doesn't even sound right they break dancing it sounds crazy that's crazy tiger bone sounds crazy salute my man BG

I got my man BG from Memphis hooked on tiger bone they love it back in the day, New York City, right? This is real talk. That sounds great. Not Fruits of Life, but back in before that. Fruits of Life.

Juices for Life. Yeah, Juices of Life, but it was on the other corner. They used to have a gala. You know when fruit punches, when you go to a pizzeria to have fruit punch? Back then, they used to have tiger bone. In the thing? In the punch thing? In the punch thing, yeah. That's wild and disrespectful.

Yo, by the way, what's a tiger's bone in it? This is how I got going to tiger bone, right? This was your Newport piece. No, this is before that. This is way before that. So let me tell you how I didn't know what Tiger Bone was.

So it was a weed spot. I used to go there to get weed. But I came out the weed spot one day, and the police pulled me over. The police was like, yo, what you went in there to get? So I didn't know if Tiger Bone was illegal at the time. Endangered species. So I was like, yo, I went in there to get Tiger Bone. They't know if Tiger Ball was illegal at the time. Endangered species. So I was like, I'm in there to get Tiger Ball. They was like,

oh, all right. They cool. They went right into the weed spot, right? I went home. I didn't think nothing of it. The next day, I go to the weed spot.

I'm like, yo, what happened yesterday, man? I seen the police. Says, man, some dickhead told these motherfuckers to stop at Tiger Ball. I said, what?

That was me. You just told them right now. I didn't know. I told them. I didn't know Tiger Ball was illegal. So they're like, what? They're killing tigers to make this. The original.

Not the one we were drinking. Not the one that we got. We got the manufactured one. No, no. We have the vegan version. Yeah, the vegan post-COVID one. But the original one, they used to actuallyVID one. It's good. But the original one, they used to actually no more.

That's crazy. That is crazy. Yeah, Donald Trump shut us down. Oh, yeah. Donald Trump sent us a letter. I think a bottle of Tiger is like, what, $80, $100 now for a bottle? No, it's like $300. It was like $300 during COVID. Oh, yeah.

During COVID. And now it's like $80. Original, original. I don't even think the shit he was drinking was Tiger Bone. No, back then. But back then.

It was the original 10-10-10. I wouldn't even advertise that right now, guys. You're like... You're correct. You're going to two-way this argument.

I'm not going to say Tiger Bone. He's correct. He's correct. He's correct. Hold on. I want to go back to the album, guys Oh yeah, please This is one thing that I really loved about the album that I didn't expect I would like How y'all went to the R&B and soulful part

Yeah That reminded me of what I loved as a DJ Of hip-hop R&B Yeah When you guys did the joint with Mary J. Blige Yeah It's like you encapsulated that and put it in this album. Yeah.

Where did that come from? I mean, from a production standpoint, I think for a long time, and I can be wrong, but I think for a long time, women has been, they've been removed from-hop because they stopped liking the way it felt right and so the thing about the 90s what made the 90s and 90s is we were sampling old 70s feel good records right and that's what the vibes from their records, that's what made women love those records. That's what made the women, right. Exactly. And we kind of got away from that. Even if it was a street record, it still had that vibe in it.

Right. So how can we keep them as street as they can? Like with the Shine record and the Joint My Man sweater on it. The Shine is my joint. Yeah, it's like. The Jointy Joint. Namaste. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, it's like. The joint is the joint. Namaste. That's what I'm saying.

Yeah, they all great. Like, namaste, right. How can we keep that feeling and still have some knock behind it? And that's what it was. So that's when I approached. I'm thinking of the Mary J. Blige the whole time. Yeah. Because.

How street that was. How street that was, but also how sexy that was at the same time the ladies it was for both men and women at the same time and sometimes

hip hop now doesn't have that duality to it and so for me I'm thinking yeah we gotta have that feel good type

but still got some knock to it and so that's where Shine and Namaste came in so let me ask y'all because I mean this is a rumor we keep hearing it did y'all, because, I mean, this is a rumor.

We keep hearing it. Did y'all actually make that Marriage Ape Lies record because y'all bumped into Puffy by mistake? And he was like, I want y'all to do. We talked about this before. I know we said that, but I want to reiterate that. No, we actually, we came from a video shoot with Black Moon. I think it was the Fuck Em Down remix from Prospect Park. Okay.

And, like, I just told this story on another podcast. It's like, when you think about it, Big was the glue to that because we came. Y'all was going to see Big? No, we was going. It was a performance on the Intrepid. Ooh. What's that? Yeah.

Okay. Good thing. We was performing there. And Junior Mafia was performing. Because people don't know what you're talking about. Yeah, Intrepid is like a museum. It's a bad shit. It's a bad shit. I think I was not from New York. People don't know what you're talking about. Intrepid is a real... They do parties there. They do all kinds of shit. It might be a museum now. It was a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a

It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a

It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a

It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a

It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a It's a flashlights, the helmets, everything. So, you know, I see my Gemini brother big.

He's like, you know, whatever. And we start talking. It's all Junior Mafia and boot camp and them puffers. Like, who is that, baby? You know them? He's like, yeah, that's my nigga Tech. That's the best guy. We from Brooklyn.

He's like, yo, I want to, you know. This when the Mary J was just happening, the queen of hip hop and R&B. He was like, yo, I got some things I want y'all to get on come to the studio cause I heard that he said that he wanted y'all to do the back and forth yeah he was like yo when we got that's when we got this like yo I want y'all to do that Smith and Wesson shit

it wasn't even back and forth like yo I want that Smith and Wesson shit I said nigga we want 90,000 he said what I said we want 90, want $90,000. He said, what? I said, we want $90,000. He said, come on, playboy. I call so-and-so, I get them $2,500. He said, ah, you know what? Fuck it.

We're going to do it. Fuck it. Let's get it. Wait, you asked for $90,000? Yeah. I'm like, nigga, Mary J. We like, come on. We see what's going on. Now we moving around. We got some motion in the industry I'm like oh this nigga got some

bread over here let's get bad boy high come on playboy 90 grand that was a little nigga shit you know what I'm saying

like we we walked into the office and the bad boys office and looked at the shit and the walls looked like they was made of steel

and shit everything looked so the perception was crazy it was in the studio we went to the office before we went to negotiate like what we wanted and all that we we just didn't know what to ask for right you know i mean that's the whole like just keeping it a hundred like we went in there he gave us the opportunity to go what do y'all want you know i'm saying like who does that like that's just some g shit you know i mean but we just was young and uneducated in that on some real shit.

Like, Drew was there. Even Drew, like, he walked us through. He didn't know how to go there. Oh, he didn't know how to go there. But he was young, too. Doubling back to learning the business. On a job training.

On some real shit. Like, just be on some humble shit. And he was like, yo, bro, I just want y'all involved in this project that I'm doing. So it's like, it's not even that type of...

That's tough telling you guys that. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's like, it's not even that type of... That's tough telling you guys that. Yeah. Right, what you're saying. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's like, that's what artists come to the thing and they like, yo, we want to get this big bag of money.

Like, we was guilty of that shit too. All right. You know what I mean? So it's like, we grateful for that opportunity because it's like, you overlooking the fact that this is a song

with Mary J. Blige and boom, you're not thinking that's going to be one of your biggest songs for the rest of your fucking life and then we got the chance

to perform it with her and the Bawk Ladies on the Brooklyn stage for the first time which was which was recent yeah which is crazy

that's the first time y'all performed it first time awesome man kidding me classic record yes hugely classic

but by the way I'm just being honest if I judge a DJ if I'm in a party and they don't play that. Oh, yeah. You don't hear those pianos? It's just not rocking. They have to play that. 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 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

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I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man.

We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote.

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In this episode, I'm joined by Anjali Sood, CEO of Tubi, for a conversation that's anything but ordinary. We dive into the competitive world of streaming, how she's turning so-called niche into mainstream gold, connecting audiences with stories that truly make them feel seen. What others dismiss as niche, we embrace as core.

It's this idea that there are so many stories out there, and if you can find a way to curate and help the right person discover the right content, the term that we always hear from our audience is that they feel seen. Get a front row seat to where media, marketing, technology, entertainment, and sports collide and hear how leaders like Anjali are carving out space and shaking things up a bit in the most crowded of markets. Listen to Good Company on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I can dig that.

I can dig that. It's not the same thing. You shut up. It's not the same thing. I woke up to the DJ I complained afterwards. Speaking of DJing, we went to D.C. and we saw

Can't reach over there, brother. DJing at the party. And I think it was his birthday that day. Yeah, 50th birthday. And I think it was his birthday that day yeah 50th birthday and I think it was like a snowstorm or something

yeah it was crazy it was Pat 400 people right and it was like and I'm watching him in a zone like he was there

but not you know what I mean I'm like wow we wanted to go over there and take a picture he's like yo there's no way he started playing

some song he's like there's no way we're going to get over there he had Wapolay performing at his job just to be like and you was in the music and you was enjoying it you knew and everybody was vibing everybody was dancing i'm like yo does new york still do that like do they still love the music they listen to not just

all the popular music but like you because you know d. got the go-go too. So when that dropped, everybody like, boom, boom. So you had a healthy version, diverse version of just music. You know what I mean? Which I don't know. That's another thing going back to the culture of depreciation or just going to a club and hearing shit that you can enjoy. You know? So hopefully we can get the DJs out there. Salute to the DJ that still be spinning, man.

Like, I'm not going to lie. Last time I saw that was at y'all release party. And I wasn't there. I was not. But I followed

every single body on Instagram. And I felt like I was there. And that's all I heard. That's enough. Yeah, like, I swear to God.

Salute to the followers. Salute to the people that's reposting because that's important. Like Salute to the people That's reposting Cause that's important Like sometimes People be charging people For reposting Like we not even doing that

Like if you love something You feel something Spread the gospel Let's be real Like why we Don't cover it We spread the infinity Over here

Oh nice And it's no bullshit This is No bullshit A great fucking record Thank you One thing that me and him share We're the same and different people

But we share that hip hop We didn't have to even talk about this I got a time of slime for y'all That's what it's called Quick time of slime Infinity or The Shining I'm always going to say The First The Shining is going to be...

I'm just going to say it. You can't get here without The First. Okay. Okay, politically correct. No, I want to be different. The reason why I'm going to say Infinity is because this is making me so hype right now. Like, this shit is making me...

Like, I haven't really said, I want to really get back in the studio until I just really, like, heard that. And I'm I want to really get back in the studio until I just really like that. Or that. And I'm just like, you know what? Y'all inspired me. That might be me being selfish, though. Like, I answered it different.

I'm telling your fans or non-fans, go to the catalog. Listen to how we got here. Listen to why we are here and see how dope this is these are artists that have been they stand the test of time another conversation we just had right sometimes the fans

don't want to go back to that catalog they want what they hear now and be like yo where am I going next fuck with because that might not be my cup of tea right now. Right. But I know what I hear right now. I want this and more of this.

What can I find? This, that. But this is a different album. I'm going to tell you why this is a different album. Because usually you hear artists that you follow since the 90s, right? If you're our generation. Right. And you're disappointed time and time again

because the production is all over the place there's no it's not all consolidated people keep trying to whip it and snap it they forgot the key this is an old album this album is

I'm telling you right now when I listen to it I was like they they got it. Thank God. This is, like, it is 90s now. Like, I don't know a better way that we can explain it. We said it with Common and P-Rock. We're saying it again right now. 90s now.

90s now. It's perfect. That's crazy. I mean, like, you know, big respect to this brother right here for welcoming us into his home, man. Because it's like, you know, the energy that we had experienced there recording, I believe it might have been a healing energy for both of us. And living in New York amongst that hustle and bustle, you might not be aware that you need that. You know what I'm saying? Especially.

I'm trying to get away. Yeah. Everybody now, like right now, we up front with mental illness, PTSD and need that. You know what I'm saying? Especially in this. I'm trying to get away. Yeah, everybody now, like right now, we up front with mental illness, PTSD and all that. Who don't have that living in New York City? Yeah, not back then.

You know what I mean? So that's why you talk about the music and being able to watch it from that perspective. So for us to go to that perspective and as soon as we get in the car,

he pick us up from the airport. He's like, we talking about Deshaun. You know what I mean? We talking about the foundation. He on like, we talking about the shining. You know what I mean? We talking about the foundation. He on the phone with Evil D, Mr. Wall. We talking about, you know, Pete Rock and all that. Of course, we talking about all the things that we've done.

But yeah, we want to upgrade that and who you are now without compromise and just being transparent. So he gave us that platform to do that and guided us even further. Like, I want to hear this. I want to hear you come like that. we want to like some artists that you just into yourself so much you can't take criticism or you can't take input like we built together he gave us guidance like this is a real heartfelt project that we worked on right so what were there times you guys bumped heads? Just off the one record He didn't want to do

He was like nah I don't want to say I don't want to say that blah blah blah And it was me and him was like nah It's crazy like man nah I'm not saying that I'm not doing it and the beat was dope It was just but not often man They They trusted me

Just like Buckshot trusted me Just like Sean Price rest in peace trusted me you know what i mean to do to do my job and so that's that's what it was and and for this album i'm thinking okay i'm always thinking okay we did the all we got to beat the all and for for a long time i was telling like no no we was five songs and i said this is better than all they were like you think i'm like yeah i'm i'm telling you it's better than all man and so and that was my thing five of those songs when you were saying i'd even made the album i don't think they are yeah they didn't even make it like we got a couple of joints like that was it's crazy they didn't make it for whatever reason but i'm i'm i'm again i'm i look at it from two sides yeah i executive

producer yeah i got my soul council brothers together shouts to them but i'm a fan i put all that away when i play it in my car yeah i don't listen to it from like this is what i did i'm listening to it from this is what i just bought and do i like it and some people can't look at things from both sides like that. Well, I hope this gets a Grammy nod. Yeah. Me too. Not yet.

No bullshit, man. No bullshit, no bullshit. Yeah, no bullshit, man. I want to thank all of you for taking your time out, for letting us salute you. Come on, man. Because it's very important to see people continue to do it, continue to make great music, continue to hold down they stance in hip hop the way you brothers are doing.

I want to salute you. I want to give you your flowers. I wanted to just let you know how proud I am of you guys, and I wanted to let you know how much you inspired me. Man. Like, I had to sit back and be like, you know, because, you know, I still think I'm nice. You know what I'm saying? You know what I mean?

Crazy. But what I'm saying is that's me being, you know, I'm saying how many other people in this world that got to do the same thing too. When a person pops in, I'm about to say pop in that CD, but they hit that link because that's where we're at, right? When they hit that link and they hear what I heard, this is an undeniable,

undoubtable album. Give thanks. I one million percent appreciate what y'all did. Like I said, I stood there, I held my breath, I caught goosebumps. I didn't leave the car., I stood there, I held my breath. I caught goosebumps. I didn't leave the car. I just stood there and I was just like,

by myself, I was good with that. Can I cut you for one second? Yeah, you can do that. Let me tell you something real quick. We don't, rarely on Drink Champs do we talk about

a current album so much. That's a testament to how we think. And we didn't talk about this prior. Me and him didn't discuss this. He heard it on his own. I heard it on my own. That's beautiful. Let me get my flowers for a minute, man. Go ahead.

I remember when I bought N.O.R.E. I don't want my flowers. No, no, no. You're crazy. You're nuts. You're crazy. Clapping up everybody. I remember when I bought N.O. No, no, no, no, you crazy. You're nuts. You're crazy. Clapping up everybody. I love your minute. I love your minute. I remember when I bought N.O.R.E. Thank you, thank you.

And you know, it used to be a time where hip hop was judged by the album of the summer. That was the album of the summer. God damn it. When it dropped. And as far as solo albums in hip hop, from a solo artist by himself, from leaving a group,

doing it by himself, one of the greatest albums of all time, bro. Yeah, man. Man from TV. Man from TV. Let me switch it back. And Swizz said, that beat is not done.

Oh my God. I have to change my life. You know how I fucking found? Y'all know that story, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Swiss said that that was just a loop that ended the rap on. The beat was not done. Nah, man. I found that version.

But again, guys, man, I want to thank y'all from the fan perspective of hip-hop. I want to thank y'all because anybody who really loves hip-hop and understand how dope you guys been from back then to now and continue to make relevant music now, that shit is just remarkable. I've never seen

anything like this. This is not normal. It's not. Just being honest. Y'all niggas, this is on rap steroids. I don't know what kind. Y'all on rap, on Zipik,

on whatever the fuck this shit is. Whatever the fuck they fucking with now. You're a loser. You made it. Steroids is much better. Steroids is better

than Zipik. Whatever y'all on, that shit is hard. This might sound like a political pitch or something, but we talking about hope, things like hope. You know what I mean? Simple things like hope and faith.

People get scared of words like that because they think you got to go to church, and you can. You can go to church. You can go to the mosque. You can do that. It's all about disciplining yourself. We love this thing so much that we almost ruin it.

But like some things we got to be proud of that we did survive some things, right? We survived some things and we lost some really good people. You know what I mean? So it's like, yo, last time, like, yo, last time we came to Drink Chance, people say, yo, you shouldn't go now

cause you ain't got nothing. You know what I'm saying? We was like, yo, we got to go. We're not here for that. And then y'all kept it a buck. When we had something, you invited us back. That's what it said. Let's celebrate that.

Let's celebrate that. By the way, by the way, I'm sincerely proud. I'm proud because y'all making us proud. Y'all making us say that we can still be and making dope music. That's right. That's what it all is.

It makes our platform relevant because this is why we're doing it. This is our generation. Let's keep doing what we're doing. It is why we're doing it. This is what our generation is about. This is our generation. Let's keep doing what we're doing. It's that we're not over. Like, you know, any other genre of music, when you make 10 years, you're fucking seasoned. Don't try to lie. Right here, they say you washed up.

Fuck no! We ain't washed up. We going to take that word out of our community. That's a fact. Yo, washed up? You going to leave that shit in the laundry bag. Let's cancel that shit. Let's cancel that shit.

I want to salute you, too. I got to take the word out. I want to salute you, too, because, you know, you putting in that good work. You're looking great right now. Yes, thank you, my brother. Thank you. And it's inspiring to see hip-hop go through these famous... Cheers.

Cheers. Cheers. Cheers, fellas. Because we watched crack destroy a lot of people. Yes, that's very true. So we like, what we want to see,

the rap's supposed to be about the crack era or which is now the fentanyl era or whatever it is. Maybe you want to rap about these type of things. Like, we want to do other stuff

people do other stuff, we have people that like to listen to stuff but they have sectionalized it where it's like yo I don't listen to rap because rap only does this that's not true it does different things it's different elements of this thing just like it's different elements of different type of music

so now we get to see some of the guys who used to go do some of the craziest, wildest shit in front of us go like that. Now they talking about mental wellness and all that. The last time I was on Drink Champs, I was drinking, right? I'm sober now. I was just going to bring it up.

Congratulations. You're so strong. Right. You're so strong. Congratulations. Yeah. Now we've seen guys die in front of us. We've watched them live. We've seen guys die in front of us. We've watched them live.

We've seen them die. And we can say it's attributed to this profession. Whatever it is, whether it's stress you to death, you know what I'm saying? Which, like, me personally, I feel like Sean Price gave his life for hip-hop. You know what I'm saying? He died for this. Fat Man Scoop died doing what he do. You know what I'm saying? Irv Gotti died doing what he do. You know what I mean? A lot died for this. Fat Man Scoop died doing what he do. Absolutely. Irv Gotti. You know what I'm saying?

Irv Gotti died doing what he do. You know what I mean? A lot of these guys was really pushing that issue. So we got to go, that's important. And don't die for the clout, though. What is that part? You know what I mean? We remember them for what they did.

You know what I'm saying? We love Nipsey for what he did, what he tried to do for his community. So we want to give something back to this thing right here. Don't die for the culture, live for it. This is a symbiotic relationship where we can give something to you, and you give something back to us. You're not just buying our record, man. This is a love relationship right here.

But that's the funny part about kind of like all of our relationship is I met y'all through there. I met y'all through there. I met y'all through there. But the funny part is that juice bar kind of played a role with us. Absolutely. Absolutely. We all kind of met at a juice bar. It's a healthy connection.

It's a healthy fucking connection. Absolutely. Like this is not no noise action. By the way, y'all from Brooklyn. It's a healthy fucking connection. Absolutely. Like, this is not no noise at you. And by the way, y'all from Brooklyn. I'm from Queens. Right. Brooklyn and Queens niggas not supposed to hang in there all the time. Yeah.

And Lil' C's was there. Abzag. Man, who wasn't there? Jadakiss, Styles. And we like all kind of hung out. Yeah. Pick up, man, like Nige. We would pick a 40- like Nige, man.

The 12. The 4. The old gold. Definitely. Yes, yes. It's cool. Now, we have come a long way and I think we've been through a lot and we still here standing. I mean, even just like the people we came with, our brothers Ever, our brother Con convertible. And I think this album, it helped me open up to what I was going through, just losing a lot of individuals back to back to back to back.

Because when you grieve or people don't really tell you how to grieve or you don't know how to grieve. And when they hit back to back, you don't have time to really grieve one because the next one is coming. And I think the inspiration behind that, my brothers, my father, Bestie, Tiana, it really helped us get this off of the ground, right? Yeah. And I think behind that, we still here to infinity and beyond. Never doubt.

That's what it is. Never doubt. You know, with that being said, what you just said, I want to ask, like, one of the lifelong questions is sometimes they say Mary makes her best music if she goes through the drama. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Right? Maybe that's why I'm not making music. Mm-hmm. Mm. Maybe I'm not going through the drama

that I once visualized. Right. But it is when y'all make music, do you have to go through something? I mean, yeah, finish. No, that was it.

Is that something that applies to y'all as well? You have to go through drama to make something so classic as what y'all just made? Or is it, you know? Well, me personally, I think going through something can be a good or a bad. It's dependent on how you decide to go through it. You fall nine times, you get up ten, and it's about how you take that next step to continue.

It don't have to be death. It don't have to be losses to go through. You came up and you have a great, you're doing the runs. You're going through something so joyous that can be your inspiration to grab from something joyous. It don't have to be, it's still pain because just pain is just weakness leaving the body. So it can still be of some pain and it can be joyous to where you're speaking on that. And once you start, I think sitting down with me, because I got a book that I'm coming out of writing with, it's just the memoirs and some of the best lyrics of vocals.

And I think once you start really talking about it, that's what helps navigate you through it to get through it. Because that's the goal. The goal is to get through it. No matter how you get around it, the goal is to get through it because that's the goal. The goal is to get through it. No matter how you get around it, the goal is to get through it. And once you start speaking and hearing your own voice and you got a good team behind you, I think once you start talking, that's going to help your pen even flow even more. So to lose it and come back.

Yeah. I forgot we was on the show. We on the boat to go through it and come back from it that's the most blessings that you can receive he didn't bring us

this far just to come this far I mean as long as I can remember the black experience in music has always been connected to life. So, Curtis Mayfield doesn't make Superfly. If drugs wasn't, and what was going on in the 70s wasn't a thing, Mary J. wouldn't have played May a lot in my life. I mean, if we go down just, the OJs wouldn't make Cry Together. The struggle's a part of it.

Lenny Williams wouldn't have made Cause I Love You. You know what I mean? But every struggle is not a bad struggle. No, it's not. No, it's not. No, it's not at all. But life, life has to happen. Life is a struggle.

Life is life. Life has to happen. Right. And if life is going to accent on art, then there it is. Right. Period. There's things that you just did. Excuse me.

There's a lot of things that you could talk about but you gotta wanna talk about it and then I guess because the game will do shit to you it's like do I wanna even share this

with you cats? You know what I mean? So some people can use it for purpose just for outlet like the PNC was talking about.

Now I don't think that you would lack stuff because you have wild experiences. Congratulations on your granddaughter and all that. Exactly. Blessings. I'm blessings. You can rap about running healthy. We have a song on The Shining called Home Sweet Home where I rap about an incident where my uncle got locked up

and Rula, you know, and I'm like, at the end, I'm like, I can't wait for him to come home because, you know, we're going to get it popping when he come home. Like, Rula did like 27 years. He home now, you know what I'm saying? So it's like, I can rhyme about that.

Like, what does that feel like what is that like and maybe even get some some information from him where I could go like what was that like where he his experience because he had to watch our whole journey from behind the wall you know what I mean so it's like

this is why we always like salute the guys behind the wall because they inspire us to stay the fuck up out of there. You know what I mean? Like, don't act like you got to follow everything. Like, we put it in the form of a rap, so we always got something to talk about. You know, it's not just our experience.

We are the poets of our community and our environment, so we kind of, like, it's an outlet. You got to feel that. You got mad shit to say, beloved. to feel that you got it you got smashed it to say beloved i know that's so and if you ever need us we here i love this rumor right people think that i got my hair done i uh i am this is my mother we got your hairstyles right here whatever right there's no way i could've went to Turkey and not been filmed anywhere

we have the footage so no this is my what I'm trying to tell you is that's the fucking era that we live in this is real here this is the era that we

fucking live in you can't do shit right if you could go outside and take a piss you a lucky motherfucker that's a fact cause there's somebody

named Charles that was just filming Phish and you just walked in there and you took a piss and he's gay. And he happened to have it. And this nigga gonna stalk your ass. He gonna text you and be like,

hey man, I got you. That hair shit is so crazy. I remember when Kiss started growing his hair. The kids been hating on me. I'm gonna keep it on. Did we talk about rewind time on camera? Yeah, this is rewind time. Y'all got the green Nori?

The green Nori. Yo, when I picked this up, I said, what the fuck is this? This real? White people, listen. You could be green Nori too. He's a green Nori. This is, this is. You could be, you could be green Norian too. He's a green Norian. This is a replica. I never, I never thought.

Is this the camera I'm looking at? That hip hop will take it this far? I would never thought. Oh, shit. Like, you know, in the late 80s, early 90s, we had a, we had a, we had a box of stuff called Duke. The little Duke. Oh, it's so glow.

It's so glow, nigga. And I never thought. And the ladies had dark and lovely stuff like that. I never thought I would know somebody on the cover. Who was on the box? On the box. Hey, man. I don't know.

He's a reptilian. And I'm glad I saw his. While we walked into, like, the beauty supply store and saw him. I'd be like, yo. That's right, guys. Don't worry. Hey, man Is this real? We cut it

We want you Can we get the updated box, though? No, I ain't gonna lie I got the bootleg box And my old shit This will make me A Harvard person You're great, bro

This is crazy Oh, it's old Because it's St. Patrick's Day Yeah, that's right I ain't gonna hold you Thank you I ain't gonna hold you I tried to You tried to I tried to Men's for men Oh, because it's St. Patrick's Day. I ain't going to hold you. Thank you. I ain't going to hold you.

I tried to. I tried to one time. Men's for men. No, I was using Beijing to say that you got no diet. You don't use the Americans. I tried that shit and I woke up with my whole beard on. That's what Chinese people do. Yeah, my shit was looking like itch walking around. Yo, you got Jet Black.

You got Jet Black. My shit is Jet Nor, Jet Black. Not like itch walking around. Yo, Norah, you got Jet Black? You got Jet Black? My shit is Jet Norah. Jet Black. Not Jet Black. Jet Norah. It's Jet Slime. It's Jet Yande. So this is on the stands now?

It will be. Yeah, and you get it. Very soon. And you put it in your beard, you get your hair cut. The hair grows the same way. This shit Dr. Shane shit's off the chain. It's new technology. Elon Musk is behind it, bro.

I guarantee. This shit is off the chain. Let's take a shot for that. Yeah, for sure. I know somebody on the cover of that one. Thank you, guys. I'm glad I saw this here. I'm glad I saw it here I'm glad I saw it here

Yes please I'm glad I saw the abuse That my brother walked by It's gonna be in CBS It's gonna be in CBS Yo I know this night It's gonna be in CBS

It's gonna be in CBS The first birthday you called I'm on fire I'm on fire Shout out to Norbert It's gonna be in CBS That is major league, man. But listen, man.

Yeah, we got a little picture and some drops. Let's do it. Thank you, brothers, man. Thank you. Sincerely, man, because this is a work of art. It's a masterpiece. It's a masterpiece. It's a classic. I'm truly not saying that because I have relationships with y'all.

I'm saying that because this is really what it is. And that's hands down. I was very, very proud to listen to hip hop in its entirety like that. To listen to hip-hop and be like, damn, we can still make that? Make albums. Make albums.

Not singles. Make albums. I almost didn't know that that still existed. It does. I was just like. Y'all can still rock an album. Yeah, yeah. Nah, that's a Jedi right here, man.

So I just want to say thank y'all. Thank you. We're going to take some pictures. Take a look. Yeah. Drink Champs is a Drink Champs LLC production, hosts and executive producers, N-O-R-E and DJ E-F-N.

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

Mine is at Who's Crazy on IG, at DJEFN on Twitter. And most importantly, stay up to date with the latest releases, news, and merch by going to drinkchamps.com. I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated.

I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Why is a soap opera Western like Yellowstone so wildly successful? The American West with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th, where we'll delve into stories of the West and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today. Listen to The American West with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Your gut microbiome and those healthy bacteria can actually have positive effects,

your mental health, your immunity, your risk of cancer, almost any disease under the sun. This week on Dope Labs, Titi and I dive into the world of probiotics, the hype, the science, and what your gut bacteria are really doing behind the scenes. From drinks and gummies to probiotic pillows. Yes, really, probiotic pillows. We're breaking down what's legit and what's just brilliant marketing. With expert insight from gastroenterologist Dr. Roshi Raj. Listen to Dope Labs on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And it's going to take us to heal us. It's Mental Health Awareness Month, and on a recent episode of Just Heal with Dr. J,

the incomparable Taraji P. Henson stopped by to discuss how she's discovered peace on her journey. I never let that little girl inside of me die. 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.

This is an iHeart Podcast.