Drink Champs - Episode 86 w/ John Singleton

Episode Date: June 20, 2017

N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN are the Drink Champs. In this episode the guys drink it up with legendary director John Singleton. The guys talk about John's career, the making and legacy of Boyz n the Hood, the new Tupac film and a lot more. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/drinkchamps/support Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Drink Champs Radio. He's a legendary Queens rapper. Hey, Hank Segre, this 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 in music and sports. You know what I mean? The most professional, unprofessional podcast,

and your number one source for drunk facts. This is Drinks Champ Radio, where every day is New Year's Eve. Let's go! Hey, hey, it's your boy N.O.R.E. What up, it's DJ E.F.N. And it's Drinks Champ's motherfucking podcast. Make some noise! Right now, we have the legendary.

A guy that I feel like Cinema should be handed to him Like period Like when it comes to cinema He has to be the executive producer Of the word Of the word Like when you look up cinema It gotta be

His face gotta be right there He's made legendary movies He's got to work with The legends of the legends Made the legends He Made the legends. He made the legends. Put them in their first movie. Especially hip-hop.

When it comes to hip-hop, I feel like he invented this. Created a lane. I'm going to take rappers and I'm going to make them movie stars. I feel like he's responsible for it. Give them some other jobs. Right now, we got the legendary John Singleton and that motherfucker. Make some noise. Give him some other jobs. Right now, we got the legendary John Singleton and that motherfucker. Yeah! Now, where did you get the love for developing cinema, period?

How did that even come to you? I grew up next to a drive-in theater. And I used to look out my window and I used to see, like, kung fu movies and horror movies and Michael Myers and stuff and blaxploitation movies. And I saw Pam Greer's titties. And I was like. Are you saying Pam Greer's titties is what made you who you are? Pam Greer's. It made him focus.

It made him focus. I got to get. I got to know how to do that. That's what made me do that. That's what happened. It's a true story. I'm not making it up. Now, everybody knows Baby Boy was supposed to be a role for Tupac.

Yes. How difficult was that, saying that, you know what, I wrote this originally for my friend, because you guys were friends, and he's not here. How difficult was that to pick that actor, that Tyrese actor? I put it up on the show for years after, because the last thing, the last conversation I had with Pac was at the Crenshaw Mall. He was doing this video to live and die in L.A.

And I was like, I got the movie that's going to get you an Oscar. You know, and that was it. And then, you know, a couple weeks later, he wasn't with us anymore. So, I didn't plan on doing the movie at all at all and um it just uh i know tyree since he was 16 years old and i did this movie shaft

he was supposed to tyree was supposed to be in the movie but he was too busy being an mtv vj and then i said okay i got this movie i'm going to pull it off the shelf Just like people have Stuff in files and stuff I got movies and crates And stuff that I've written And I said okay maybe this is the time to do this movie But by the way Shaft When people do remakes

It's very hard And I can't believe how you pulled off Shaft Like that It was good to be in New York. It was a crazy time to be in New York. In the Heights, too. In the Heights. We was in the Heights.

We was in Harlem. We was all over the whole city. It was, you know, you remember. Yes. When I was making that movie, we were the only movie that was shooting in the time. It was like in the daytime and in the night. I was shooting in the night. And sometimes night, I was shooting in the night, and then sometimes at night,

I was up in Cheetah, and I sent you a fly, and like, what was the first thing I said to you when I saw you? Club New York, I was like,

Club New York, I was like, I was like, I was seeing you in some club, I was like, oh my God, but I was like,

I was a wild person then, I was, I'm different now, I'm more conservative. Now, now, conservative. Conservative. When you make movies, is movies when you have to go through something? You know how sometimes comedians

will come out with things every five years because it's like they actually got to go through experiences. For me, making films is kind of an emotional experience. I put my all into it. I put my heart and soul and it's just like it takes something out of you, but it gives something back. And every time I do a movie, it's

an adventure. Lately, I've been just concentrating on television instead of movies because people are watching more TV than there are films. And there's a lot more to do. You know, like, you make a movie every two or three years, but a film, a TV show, it's like doing a movie every week. Get a chance to shoot, pull in new talent, put people in and see how they work. And then maybe if they work in the TV show, then you take them off to a movie. So that's my vibe.

And you feel the same way about writing and directing? Yeah, yeah. I mean, whatever I do, I have to write. I have to write. Because I have to put my own stink on it. Now, what made you say to Ice Cube, you said? Because I remember you saying that. You knew that. Trying to send me a stay-at-home right here. Yeah, excuse me for that, Dale Young. Thank Because I remember you saying that you knew that.

I'm trying to send it to Dale Young right here. Thank you. So, you said to Ice Cube, and just so you know, it's a plastic on it. Come on, help him out. Come on, A.F. You're closest to him. Come on, A.F. I don't care at all.

You can tear it off. It's okay. Let me show you the opening of Dale Young. I don't even know how to do it. But you said to Ice Cube that his first rhymes were movie-like. And then he went later on and created Friday. Did you ever think you should have been a part of Friday as well? Yeah, I did. Let's keep it real.

Here's the true story. So Cube, when we were doing Boys in the Hood, Let's keep it real Here's the true story Cube When we were doing Boys in the Hood He started like Looking at how Movies were made While watching a set

So then he did a video Called Dead Homies You've seen that video It's really cinematic He started like Doing slow motion shots And really cinematic stuff And you know

Even when Cube Had other people Direct the videos He would be Quasi directed So then He was like Okay I want to write movies I said well of stuff. And even when Cube had other people direct the videos, he would be quasi-directed. So then he was like, okay, I want to write movies. I said, well, okay, we've got to get a laptop. He, me, him

and his now wife, when she was his spouse. Wait, you told him back then he had to get a laptop? We went and got a laptop. His screenwriting stuff. So he started, he wrote from that, the next year and a half he wrote like three screenplays. He wrote different titles of screenplays.

And every one of them, I was like, ah, this one, ah, this one. And then he stopped showing me his screenplays. Wow. So then he wrote, because I kept shitting on him a little bit. Right. In a good way. Tough love, tough love. Because that's my brother, right?

You can do better than this, right? Mm-hmm. And then, but he was also selling them, too. You know, it didn't matter if I thought they was happening. He sold some stuff to Universal. He was selling, like, right off the box. Stuff that we know? No, not that they ever got produced. He was just

selling screenplays. And then, so then he does, we do Higher Learning together, and then he's like, I'm doing this other movie. And he's like, okay, but he started Friday out independently. He put his own money up on Friday. And then New Line was like, I'm doing this other movie. And he's like, okay. But he started Friday out independently. He put his own money up on Friday. And the new line was like, we want to help you.

And I was like, if he would have told me that, I would have thrown everything in it. Because it was like, you know, when he finally got it done, he showed it to me. I was like, it's going to be huge. And it was. You know what I mean? Are we talking about Friday? Friday. Oh, wow. Yeah, Friday.

Okay. So Friday, you know, he did that all on his own, man. You know, and look at him now, man. Yeah. So, now I'm glad you brung up Higher Learning, right? Because Higher Learning, I feel like was a socially conscious

movie. Yeah, yeah. We don't really have socially conscious movies anymore. No, we don't. Are we missing that? We're missing a lot of things. We're missing... There's an error of it, too. Salud, y'all.

This is how we do it in the drink chat. Salud. Ah-da, ah-da, ah-da, ah-da, ah-da. This is how we do it. So are we missing social conscious movies? I think we're missing movies that are about something. Mmm. I think we need that now more than

ever. Because I'm kind of proud of Jay-Z for the Rikers Island documentary. Oh, Khalif Browder, that was nice. That was good. That was beautiful. That was beautiful for him to tell that story. And now him, he's doing the Trayvon Martin story. He's doing a movie and a doc of Trayvon Martin. I think that's

really smart. And something needs to be done. Yeah, because we need that, like, for our community, because I just feel like it's balanced. I feel like level spelled backwards is level. We've got to balance it, and I feel like that's the perfect way. It's because so many of us more in our community watch more than they read.

Yeah, exactly, exactly. You know what I mean? I mean, what I do, I like to do films that are, like, make people think but also entertain. So then they have to watch it several times and be like, you know, did I really see that in there? Wait, wait, hold on. Did I see it another time? So, you know, even when I make a film that really, really has heavy issues in it, it's entertaining. You know what I'm saying?

You don't really notice. You know? Now, Poetic Justice. Roll, Ice Cube Roll was originally, excuse me, Tupac's Roll was originally Ice Cubes. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And Cubes said he didn't want to do a romance. Oh, God. Okay. Oh, God. exactly. And Cube said he didn't want to do a romance. That scared me. Oh, God. Okay.

Oh, God. Yeah. And why, okay, at the time, we see Tupac in Juice. We see Tupac everywhere else. But what makes you say, I'm going to make Tupac ride in a mail van with Janet Jackson? He killed it. Because, I mean, you know, he was, it's crazy because I didn't even give it a second thought because, you know, I realized Pocket just done juice.

It hadn't even come out yet. Oh, yeah. I heard you say you saw the movie in advance. I saw the movie in advance. I said, okay, this dude, you know, I wasn't thinking about him to be in Port of Justice. I was still thinking about Cube. I was like, we got to do something together. So we chopped it up and just like, you know, and he just got back because he had gotten to L.A.

And I was like, we got to do something together. So when Cube said what he said, I said, okay, I called up him and I said, you know, you want to do it? He said, yeah, yeah, I'll do it. Now, Boyz N The Hood. Boyz N The Hood comes out first, right? Yes. And then Ministerutes of Society Comes out

Yes I gotta ask a petty question What's the time Between them though What's the time I like big petty What's that time between them Just so

Two years Okay Dan Did you ever think Like ah They kinda ripped me off Exactly Exactly Was that the Hughes brothers

Yeah That was the Hughes brothers Alright We never heard your side Of the story Cause I kinda felt like Ah shit They just made Exactly And was that the Hughes brothers? Yeah That was the Hughes brothers Alright Yeah that was the Hughes brothers We never heard your side of the story Because I kind of felt like Oh shit They just made

There was a lot of friction With that movie too Well no They just made They made an interesting film That was more violent Than my movie My movie was

My movie was I say was more Kind of embedded in What What my personal experience was In the studio that made Menace Society, it said,

we got to have something after Du Bois. There was a lot of movies. But in retrospect, Menace Society is the best of all of those movies that came after Du Bois. Because there's a lot of movies

that they tried to copy. It was like, you know, but, you know, in fact, my favorite character in Menace Society

is Old Dog. Oh, yeah, yeah, MCA. Because he was like the most efficient. Tupac was supposed to play, right? No, Tupac was supposed to play this character, this other character that another dude that was in Boys, Vontae Sweet, played. He was the more conscious brother. Oh, that's right. The Muslim.

The Muslim. The Muslim. The father was the teacher. That was Pac's role, yeah. Right, right. And then he had Corbett with the Hughes brothers. And Tushar had the ill role, too. Tushar had a, yeah. Right, right. And then he had Corbett for the Hughes Brothers. And Tushar had the Hill World, too. Tushar had a good world, too.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what is John Singleton watching? What are you sitting back and saying that you didn't produce? I know you're doing a lot of TV. What do I watch? What do you enjoy? When I watch this stuff? Yeah.

Me? I mean, like, in terms of just life and stuff? Movies, TV. I know you're doing too much TV to watch TV. Yeah, I'm sure. It's too much TV to watch TV. I don't even get a chance to really watch my TV because I'm making TV right now. I mean, like, you know, I like movies and stuff and everything,

but the movies now are not, you know, I don't feel that they're, they don't push hard enough in terms of the culture as much as possible, you know what I'm saying? You know what I mean? Like, in terms of mainstream movies, you know, and that needs to be done, you know what I mean? Because, like, Boys in the Hood

was so much of an important message. It's just like, yo, you know, you can live the street life, but there is actually consequences. And that's what hip-hop sometimes fails to tell. We only tell you, sell the drugs. It always fails. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sell the drugs, fuck the bitches.

But don't know you're going to do nine years. You know what I'm saying? And after that, they have the end of it. Yeah, exactly. No, I'm all about the reality of it. You know what I'm saying? And was that your goal? Because I know boys... No, not at all. No. Oh, wow. My. I'm all about the reality of it. You know what I'm saying? Was that your goal? No, not at all.

My goal was just basically to tell a good story. I was just like trying to get something off my chest that an experience that I lived that I lived through and that a lot of my family and friends had lived through. So that was

all it was about. What if Ice Cube said no to playing Doughboy? Who the hell would have played that? I can't even want to go there. I can't think of nobody. Where would we be now if Ice Cube didn't play that part? I think he was robbed of an Oscar nomination. I think he should have gotten an Oscar for that.

It's one of those timeless performances that just exists. I think he should have gotten an Oscar for that. Yeah, man, he should have. It's one of those timeless performances that just exists. You know what I'm saying? And I'm going to be honest with you. When I look at, like, if I want to describe the West Coast, how I first visualized the West Coast, I would start at Boysenhut. I would start there and be like, you know, work

around it. I actually go there first and then Colors. Even though Colors was first. I can't stand Colors. You are! I cursed it when I actually go there first and then colors. Even though colors were first. I can't stand colors. You are! When I was in school, I was East Coast, so I don't know. That was real to me. I'm sorry. No, but it wasn't real. It was derivative.

It wasn't real. Because it wasn't done by black people. It was like, it was nothing about that thing that was really, truly, whatever. You know, like people were more caricatures. Yeah, they were more caricatures.

They weren't real. Right. You know, and so, you know. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg

Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Business Week editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing.

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Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This five months, we are not just celebrating. We're fighting back. I'm George M. Johnson, and my book, All Boys Aren't Blue, was just named the most banned book in America. If the culture wars have taught me anything, it's that pride is protest. And on my podcast, Fighting Words, we talk to people who use their voices to resist, disrupt, and make our community stronger. This year, we are showing up and showing out.

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Western historian Dr. Randall Williams and best-selling author and meat-eater founder Stephen Ranella. I'll correct my kids now and then. They'll say, when cave people were here, Randall Williams and bestselling author and meat eater founder, Stephen Rinella. I'll correct my kids now and then where they'll say when cave people were here. And I'll say, it seems like the ice age people that were here didn't have a real affinity for caves. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th, where we'll delve into stories of the West and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today. Listen to The American West with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So now I got to get to the million-dollar question.

What's that? Why isn't John Singleton directing this Tupac movie? Why you got to ask me that? I feel like you got to get another shot? I feel like you gotta get another shot. I feel like you gotta get another shot because we want the real answer. And I'm going to take one with you. I'm not going to busy myself on this because you're going to bring up

even more blood and fashions and everything and stuff. Because it's documented that you guys are friends. Nobody can't dispute that. Well, I'm just saying that the people that got the rights to do the movie, they had different ideas on

how to do the movie than I did. You were part of it at some point, right? Yeah, I was. In the beginning, right? Yeah, exactly. As it came in through and everything. Let them make their movie and let's see how it does. Let's see what's up. Because you're personally involved.

Does that ever mess up your creative process? No, not at all. Because I'm personally involved, that means I'm more focused. I'm more like, I'm going to get it. You know what I'm saying? That means I'm, as I said, embedded. I'm down on the ground. I'm ready to shoot.

You know what I mean? That makes it more powerful that I'm down on the ground. I'm ready to shoot. That makes it more powerful that I'm more personally involved. Do you know if Benny Boom ever even met Tupac? I don't know. Benny's my friend. Benny's my friend too, but I'm just asking. You got to ask Benny.

Every time I say something bad about Tupac Benny calls me and says, you're shitting on my movie. I don't even want to touch it right now. Let the movie come out. Y'all make your own judgment what you want to say about the movie. But if you had your choice, how would you have done it? Because I think

I don't know if you've seen, like, the Outlaw Guys he had just said something. He accused you of saying that you wanted to put a rape scene of Tupac in there. Yeah, well, there's a whole lot of things that they would not have in the movie that actually happened that they wouldn't want to have. We're not saying Tupac got raped. There's a whole lot of things that happened.

There's a whole lot of stuff. There's stuff that who actually was involved in his death. Why did he die? You know what I'm saying? Well, the lead up to his death. You know what I'm saying? So I don't know what they did with the movie. It's like I can't even speak on it because I don't know what they did with the movie. And I won't watch the movie. You know what I'm saying? So I don't know what they did with the movie. So I don't even know.

It's like I can't even speak on it because I don't know what they did with the movie. And I won't watch the movie. You know what I mean? But if you had your choice, how would you have did the movie? Huh? If you had your choice,

how would you have did the movie? How would I what? Did the movie. I'm going to say that over podcast? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going to make the right movie. You know, you got to understand. And I don't want to speak on this over and over again I come from

I come from Tupac was born in 1971 I was born in 1978 We are revolutionary babies There's a difference between being a revolutionary baby And being someone who's Just hip hop You know what I mean

We were built for the betterment of our people. We were built to bring everybody up. You know what I'm saying? And a whole lot of stuff that happened in terms of black liberation was faltered because black people were not in solidarity with each other. You know what I'm saying?

So, you know, that's what I'm saying. I don't want to be that person that keeps on having dissension or whatever. They made the movie. They stole the rights from his mother. They made the movie they want to make and hopefully one day I'll get a chance to tell that story.

Otherwise, I got all this other shit that I'm trying to do that is in line with what my principles are as a person and as a black man that I'm going to do. That's all I want to speak on. Let's make some noise for that. You would still try to make

a pod movie in the future? Yeah, of course. I think you should do a documentary or at least. No, no. It has to be a movie. It's too important not to just make a movie i mean like you know there's so many different things around why um who he was as a person you know like and why people can be inspired by it right you know no it's such it's such a great story so um when i hear like you know when people have differences with it i always listen because Because I never got to meet Tupac.

Yeah, I never got to meet Tupac. Actually, he actually hung out in my hood and I was in jail. So I actually never got to meet Tupac. So I'm always this is actually me as a fan. They just ask it. But now you also got to work with somebody who's also legendary and who also I think is innocent. OJ Simpson. You got to work with OJ.

I didn't get to work with him. I mean, I met him before. I met him before, but I did an episode of a show based on him. People vs. OJ, correct? Exactly. Now, how was that? It was good. It was interesting.

It was fun. It was good. He was interesting. It was fun. It was good. Because he changed L.A. after that. Well, he changed culture. Yeah, I mean. Yeah, I mean. He changed a lot of things, buddy. How did he change L.A.?

What do you mean he changed L.A.? I mean, what I mean is we just looked at L.A. differently after that. Oh, you mean from the East Coast? Yeah, from the East Coast point of view. We was just like, oh. Because of OJ? Yeah. That's weird. It was just weird. I mean, because

we never knew. We thought only our cops was racist. We never knew that outside of our shit, there's other people that's racist. You know what I'm saying? We didn't travel, but after OJ, it was like clear. It was just like, holy moly guacamole. This is what's going down. But I never thought OJ did it. And but after OJ, it was clear. It was like, holy moly, guacamole. This is what's going down. I never

thought OJ did it, and I met OJ as well. When we met him, that's right. You know I met him twice. You know I met him at Kendall, too. I met him at Sports Grill. He was in our neighborhood. Did he beat the man at that time?

Yeah. He was walking out the Best Buy. He said, my leg is killing me. I thought that was there. Didn't he beat the man at that time? Yeah. And he was walking out the best by, he said, my leg is killing me. And I thought that was the funniest thing in the world that he said that. I don't get it. He was limping. Something was wrong with his leg. And he goes, my leg is killing me. Just him saying killing me. He had bad legs.

Had me dying. He had bad legs. But I just, you know what it is? I hung around like real killers, right? Yeah, yeah. And it's always a certain instinct about them. Exactly. And he didn't have it.

Exactly. He did not have it. But you got to say the story about when we met him at the concert, what he said. Okay, you got to tell the story, please. Why? I feel like... But you don't co-sign? I co-sign.

That's what I feel like you want to tell me about it. So what concert? It was a radio station. You know how they do like summer jams and they do a concert. Fort Myers. So my record label would tell me, don't stand next to OJ. So OJ is at the summer jam. He's hosting it.

He's hosting it. I'm hosting it. It's the oddest thing in the world. It's me hosting it. I was called to host it. It's the oddest thing. This is crazy. So we're all backstage.

I'm with him and his boys and his crew at that time. And we're still with his boys. They're called Murder Unit Murder Unit so OJ OJ's there OJ comes back and he

and then everybody's like let's take a picture together and there's this infamous picture and when he's snapping the shot one of his boys says you're original

Murder Unit and he said yeah it was awkward it was awkward I was like I was like hell no Yeah It was an awkward moment It was an awkward moment I was like I was like

Hell no It was an awkward moment It was an awkward moment I'm not gonna lie to you So you clearly remember that I clearly remember that Because the people were thinking I'm making this up

I thought it was me who said it I thought No he said I was looking at him In this thing like Oh hell no He didn't just say it Yeah yeah

But honestly I never thought of it. Wish I had a tape of that. Yeah, yeah. And this was before Instagram. But we do got a picture of that. You have a picture. We don't have a picture of that moment. But we got a picture of that night.

No, you have a picture of when he said that. That picture? That picture is that. Right when he said that. Holy shit. You should have been told me that. Holy moly. But that was awesome working on that.

Because you from You from that time You lived through that time Exactly yeah And so Is it better for you To be passionate About the project

It's much better for me To be like Passionate about it Take it personal Like you know Just feel it in my heart You know And that's you know

That's what it's about Have you ever done Something for the money Where it was just like This is just for the money Yeah I have But it doesn't work out It doesn't work out too well

I explained that to our viewers It's just you have to Whenever you do something Artistic Whether or not Even if you're getting paid for it It's better to do it for the passion of it For the heart of it

That you really feel it That it's just in your blood Like you would do anything, you know, you'd kill somebody if they fuck with your shit. You know what I'm saying? Like, you know, that's how I am about certain things. You know what I mean? When I'm doing something. You know? And not everybody's about that.

People are just, you know, they're just going about the jobs and, you know, whatever it is. But me, I'm like, I'm like laser. I'm like, I gotta get it. You know? Right. I feel like, I gotta get it I feel like I mean I know you I know you're bad I know you're in your real drinking years

but I feel like I feel like that's what drives you it's passion first and you feel it in the work when you're watching something you feel it, you feel the passion that's why I can get people to do things that they would do with me, but they wouldn't do with other people.

You know what I'm saying? Like sex scenes and baby boy. Everything. Yeah, everything. You know what I mean? Like, it's great. All right. All right.

You already know what the Dream Champs is going to be watching Sunday, June 25th at 8 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Central. BET Awards 2017 is live, hosted by no other than comedian Leslie Jones. You know she doesn't give a damn, and once the cameras are on, she goes in. Plus Bruno Mars, Migos, Future, Trey Songz, Tamar Braxton, Chance the Rapper, and more All taking the stage Sunday, 8pm, Eastern, 7pm Central And the categories are tighter than ever this year You know Remy Ma is up against Nicki Minaj in the Best Female Hip Hop Artist category And who's going to take home the trophy for Artist of the Year? Maybe J. Cole?

But you know that boy Chance the Rapper had the best year ever And he's receiving the Humanitarian of the Year Award Shout out to him and the Legends New Edition for receiving Lif for receiving lifetime achievement award you know the tribute performance is going to be crazy all the fun starts with fashion and celebrity interviews on the red carpet during the bet awards pre-show this sunday at 6 p.m and then we go right into the awards at 8 p.m 7 p.m central start posting with the rest of the nation using the hashtag BET Awards as you watch live. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding.

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

and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration in the United States.

Recipients have done the improbable, showing immense bravery and sacrifice in the name of something much bigger than themselves. This medal is for the men who went down that day. It's for the families of those who did make it. I'm J.R. Martinez. I'm a U.S. Army veteran myself, and I'm honored to tell you the stories of these heroes on the new season of Medal of Honor Stories of Courage from Pushkin Industries and iHeart Podcast. From Robert Blake, the first Black sailor to be awarded the medal, to Daniel Daly, one of only 19 people to have received the Medal of Honor twice. These are stories about people who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor, going above and beyond the call of duty. You'll hear about what

they did, what it meant, and what their stories tell us about the nature of courage and sacrifice. Listen to Medal of Honor on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This Pride Month, we are not just celebrating. We're fighting back. I'm George M. Johnson, and my book, All Boys Aren't Blue, was just named the most banned book in America. If the culture wars have taught me anything, it's that pride is protest. And on my podcast, Fighting Words, we talk to people who use their voices to resist, disrupt, and make our community stronger.

This year, we are showing up and showing out. You need people being like, no, you're not going to tell us what to do. This regime is coming down on us. And I don't want to just survive. I want to thrive. You'll hear from trailblazers like Bob the Drag Queen. To freedom!

Angelica Ross. We ready to fight? I'm ready to fight. And Gabrielle Yoon. Hi, George. And storytellers with wisdom to spare. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The American West with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network, hosted by me, writer and historian Dan Flores, and brought to you by Velvet Buck.

This podcast looks at a West available nowhere else. Each episode, I'll be diving into some of the lesser known histories of the West. I'll then be joined in conversation by guests such as Western historian Dr. Randall Williams and bestselling author and meat eater founder Stephen 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.

Welcome to Play It, a new podcast network featuring radio and TV personalities talking business, sports, tech, entertainment, and more. Play it at play.it. We're back to Drink Champs Radio with rapper N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN. Now, what was a moment in life that you passed on, but you regretted? Like something. Didn't you pass on a wire? Yeah, I passed on a wire. You passed on a wire.

I just didn't think. Like doing the whole thing? No, no The first season I didn't know It was going to be What it was But it would

By the time It got into this Like third season I was like Wait a minute Because Corners Corners came before And Corners wasn't that great

Corners was alright But it wasn't what the wire was It wasn't what the wire was The wire was The wire was lit You know what I mean? It was lit It was so lit

It was like I really Covered all angles too. It did. Who did you get the call for? The agent called me. I was like, I'm not going to do that. I was like, damn.

Is that the only thing you ever passed on you regretted? The only thing I can remember right now. You know what I mean? Now, is there anything that like You know what I mean? You know. Now, is there anything that, like, you ever set out to do? You did it, and then you was disappointed in the outcome? No, not at all.

I mean, like, you know, I think my work stands for itself. Bad in a thousand. We know that. We know that. How about it? We're bad in a thousand. We know that. We know that.

Bad in a thousand right now. God forbid. 1,000. We know that. We know that. Back at 1,000 right now. God forbid. Right, right. You know, so, you know, I'm still hitting it really hard. You know, I'm going to do, you know, some more TV and I'm going to do some more movies. Right. But everything I do is going to be real passionate and just hitting it really, really hard. Now, what do you like better, though?

I know you're doing TV. It's the same thing. TV or? It's the same thing. It's the same thing TV It's the same thing It's the same thing to me It's the same thing to me You watch anything That I produce on TV It looks

You know like It's not any less or more work No No, no Now we got Rebel on BET Correct? Yes, exactly And you got a premiere

For Rebel tonight Yeah, another Episode today Okay, and Where is this at? So our people could know? Or this is private? What?

The Rebel premiere tonight? Oh, no, no. Oh, is this airing tonight? No, it's not airing tonight. But, you know, you say you do it every week before the joint, so we would like to give you

some of that. Oh, yeah, we just have a little thing at Zen Lounge in the Valley, in San Fernando Valley. It's like off of, it's on Lancashire. It's a little spot.

So what's the next thing for black media? Like, okay, Birth of a Nation came out. It didn't work, right? Because it felt like it was... It worked. It just got squashed. It got squashed. It got squashed.

So what's the next... That movie got squashed because they didn't want that movie to come out. You know, with the Black Lives Matter stuff and all that stuff. That movie, they squashed that movie.

You know what I mean? That's the real talk. Yeah, it's very true. That's the real talk. They squashed the movie and black people are kind of like, you know,

they were complicit in squashing that movie. But as a movie director, was the movie good period? The movie was good. It was a good movie. It was good. It was a good movie. It was good. good, period? The movie was good. It was a good movie. It was good.

It was a good movie. You see the movie? I didn't. No, you see it. You got to see the movie. You got to see the movie. I've been running around. I've been running around.

I ain't seen my own movie. I could throw out my own movie right now. I ain't even seen it. But listen, man, we need more directors like you, right? We need more people who are passionate in their work. So if a person is listening to this podcast, that's their goals. That's what they want to achieve.

How do you get started? Because now these kids can just buy the equipment. When you started, you had to be almost rich to get cameras. Yeah, but you have to look at, to do it really, really well, you have to study it. You have to study what came before and the style and tone, you know, and theme. And you have to, like, be well-read about how stories propagate universally, you know what I mean, in different languages and stuff, right? And that's what made me do what I do.

And create your own style, I would assume, too. And then you create your own style. But you went to film school, though. Yeah, but before film school, I was doing all that. And even after film school, I kept learning. I'm learning all the time, you know? So if a young director is sitting out there, and they feel like they're creative, they feel like they can write, what's the first step you suggest for them? To watch old movies and to watch movies from around the world.

How far back do you think they should watch movies? To the beginning of cinema, to the beginning of the moving picture. You have to study it. Be a student of the game. Student of the game, yeah. Now, you wrote off colors. Is American Me a real authentic? American Me is good.

No, that was a great movie. That was a good movie. I mean, I'm not saying that because I'm Latino, but it was a great movie. That movie was a good movie. How about Blood In, Blood Out? That was the colors of American Me. That was the colors of In Blood Out That was the That was the colors of American That was the colors of American

Are we doing another shot I feel like we're doing another shot Come on y'all You gotta do one more shot You're going to a party You're on your way to And you're so rich man We hear you got yachts

And all type of things We love you man We love you man And you know what You're a humble guy But I'm gonna brag for you I'm gonna brag for you I'm gonna brag for you I'm gonna brag for you And you know what? You're a humble guy, but I'm going to brag for you. Y'all turn on copies of this. I'm going to brag for you, man. God damn it.

Come on, look at me. Yeah, I'm going to brag for you, man. You know what I mean? Listen, I don't know if you know, but our show is about giving our legends flowers when they can smell them and trees when they can inhale them. Because our society so much praises a person after they die. And I feel like that is so backwards. Yeah, exactly.

I should be able to tell you how much I appreciate you right here, face-to-face, man-to-man, eye-to-eye, as opposed to waiting for you to pass away and then be like, yeah, he was a great guy. Me and him partied together

back in the day. Like, I should say that now. Like, you know what I'm saying? And I actually learned that through Dave Chappelle. You know, the way, it was Prince, and it was like,

he started praising Prince while Prince was alive. And it's like He started praising Prince While Prince was alive And it's just like That's what we gotta Continue to do And that's not just As a culture That's as people

As humans As human beings We gotta start Praising our people While they're here So with that being said How was it working With Janet Jackson

Penny You know Come on man It was beautiful I jerked off to Penny a lot I'm gonna throw that out there It was good I don't know

And was that shit with Pac That serious That whole AIDS thing No that was not serious That was a joke That we was having on the set Because The real talk is

Tupac was attracted to Janet I was attracted to Janet The world was attracted to Janet If you're not attracted to Janet We're on the set We're both trying to like you know flirt with her

and stuff and I'm like you know I don't know if I should have you kissing on my actress cause you know you've been fucking around

doing all this shit you know Pac was just coming in his own there and I was like man fuck that shit I was like hell yeah

you know what you're gonna have to do an age test before y'all do this love scene it was a joke she said that no oh you said that you know it's me gonna have to do An age test before Y'all do this love scene It was a joke She said that No me Oh you said that

You know it's Me sawing out my nigga On the set Right right right Just like you know Talking shit Talking shit And then we're like

Oh shit We should use this We should put this out And so that's what we did As a publicity thing As a publicity thing We just did that shit I thought that shit

Was mad real bad But it's just like Us talking about And we didn't have Twitter about it And everybody got mad At Janet Jackson About that shit But it was just us Talking talking We didn't have Twitter Everybody got mad At Janet Jackson About that shit

But it was just us Talking on the shit On the set And everything And this And you know It was an inside joke That's what it was

That's crazy Now not only Did you get to work With Janet Jackson But you got to work With the big man Mike Jackson Did he have a glove on

When you met him No he didn't have a glove This guy He's wearing He wore it the whole time Like I ain't gonna lie. It's crazy, because in his prime moments, you see Michael

on camera and all that stuff. He didn't talk the way that he talks. Oh, you're saying Mike was a nigga on camera? He had a different tone and everything. Come on, you gotta describe this to him. No, I'm just saying that Mike that was an expectation that he put on for the cameras.

He didn't, he wasn't talking like that. He was just a brother. He was just a different demeanor and everything. Different demeanor and everything. It's just like, you know, he's just like, hey, you know. And he was really, despite what he, you know, he ended up doing to his face and his skin got lighter and everything. He was a real brother, man. He was really about black people.

Because I heard that video that was after Magic actually announced and he wanted to do something for Magic. And Mike wanted Magic in the video. He said, call him Magic. Let's get him in the video. Remember the time?

Yeah, remember the time. I hear that shit in my head right now. Wow. Nah, I ain't gonna lie. I hear that shit in my head right now. Yeah, yeah. Wow. Nah, I ain't gonna lie. I couldn't have met Michael Jackson. I would have, like, I would have gave him a five too hard. Who gave us the crazy? Ray Kwan?

No, no, no. Naughty by Nature gave us the crazy. Oh, Naughty by Nature. Michael Jackson story. Okay, okay. Wow. So how, was he a pure genius? Like, was he everything? He was damn near a genius. So how, was he a pure genius? Like, was he everything?

He's damn near a genius. I mean, damn near a genius. I mean, like, you know, the things that he did and that he wanted to do and stuff, you know, like, unprecedented in this business. You know. He was a genius. Have you ever been starstruck? You ever been? Yeah.

Who you starstruck? I got to hear this. I mean, I've only been starstruck? Yeah. Who are you starstruck? I got to hear this. I mean, I've only been starstruck two times in my whole career. I need to hear both. Let's go for it. The first was meeting Steven Spielberg. Because it's like, you know, as a kid growing up, you know, like, he was the, you know, the young person that went on to make movies at an early age,

and I wanted to be like that. Just nervous. I saw him, and as soon as I saw him and we met, it was great. He's like the godfather in your business. Godfather of filmmaking. The second was Richard Pryor. You met Richard Pryor? Yeah, Richard Pryor. Damn, where did second was Richard Pryor You met Richard Pryor? Damn, where did you meet Richard Pryor?

I met Richard Pryor at the Comedy Store I used to hang out at the Comedy Store As soon as you said you met Richard Pryor I thought the Comedy Store And it's funny because Richard Pryor was hanging out with Al Pacino Comedy Club in Hollywood Did you hear this? Wait a minute, hold on

Did you sneak Al Pacino in this story? Richard Pryor was hanging this with Al Pacino? Wait, wait, hold on. Did you sneak Al Pacino in this story? Richard Pryor was sneaking Al Pacino. I can't even imagine that pairing. I love Al Pacino. Your life is dope. Let's throw that out there. I don't even look at Al Pacino. I'm looking at Richard Pryor.

But Richard used to have this dude that worked for him. It came over to me. And he said, you know, Richard would like to say hello to you. And I walked across the room and Richard was kind of frail. The MS was getting him, but it wasn't as bad. He wasn't wheelchair bound.

Yeah, he wasn't wheelchair bound. And he just said, are you the young man that made that movie? Boys in the Hood just came out. And I said, yes, sir, I am. And mind you, because you're like me. You listen to every Richard Pryor, Mama Had, Sis, Birth. I feel like I'm in your story right now.

I curse. Listen to Richard Pryor. He said, are you the young man that made the movie? I said, yes, sir. Yeah. And he goes and gives me a hug. Nigga, I just cried on his shoulder. I said, man.

Man. I said, because this is a man. And then after that, we became friends.ga, I just cried on his shoulder. I said, man. I said, because this is a man. And then after that, we became friends. I used to go up to his house. He'd be sitting up in the bed. He had a gun right by the side of his bed. This motherfucker had a gun right next to his bed. And every comedian,

the Wayans brothers, whoever it was. He pulled guns out on him? No, no. All these people would come through. Pay homage. They would come through every day to pay homage to Richard. And it's before he really got sick. So it's like, you know, we would just sit up. But he was on his way to being sick? That's why he was coming to pay homage?

He was sick, but he was sick. Or he was coming to pay homage just to pay homage? They didn't know they was coming to pay homage because you just want to be around Richard Pryor. If you want to be a comedian, you want to be around Richard Pryor If you want to be a comedian You want to be around Richard Pryor And so we would just sit and chop it up And he would just tell me Now how about that movie How about that movie

You should be a part of that movie I can't do them all man I can't do them all Is that something you would be passionate about I would love to Because he was the ultimate storyteller. And I still take a lot from him as a storyteller in terms of the way that he would bend stuff,

bend lines, and he would just, you know, he was the storyteller of the streets. If you think about all the stuff, the jokes that you listen to, for him, they were really sad stories, some of them. He was like the Donald Goins of some of them. He was like the Donald Goins of comedy. Exactly. He was like Donald Goins of comedy, so he knew how to

do that. So when I take a lot from him, in terms of when I tell a story, I just tell stuff that may be a little sad but funny, funny but sad, you know what I'm saying? Because that's what life is. Life is not just one thing, you know what I mean?

We go to movies and say, oh, that's just a comedy, or that movie's just a serious movie. When you watch one of my movies, it's a reflection of life. So, I mean, Richard is the ultimate storyteller to me. Will we ever have a dope

era like that again, like the 90s cinema? Would that ever return? In a different way. I think we can in a different way. I think we can in a different way. I think as long as there's been more voices that are really uncut and pure and just like, you know,

not afraid to maybe necessarily offend some people. You know what I mean? Like, you know, that's what it's about. It's not, you know, I don't think people push it as far as they can push it in terms of anything. Was Empire your first TV? That wasn't your

first TV. It was my first TV show directing on. What did you work on TV prior to Empire? I was on TV shows, but I never directed. That's the first one I worked on. But, you know, that came about because, you know, without Empire,

without me, there would be no Empire. Okay, I heard the story. Let me get real talk. Okay, hold on, hold on, hold on. Let's hear this. Because Hustle & Flow, you invested in Hustle & Flow. You paid for Hustle & Flow?

I paid for the whole movie, yeah. Wow. And that was Lee Daniels. No, Hustle & Flow was me. Oh, Hustle & Flow was you. Oh, I'm bugging. I produced Hustle & Flow. You paid for Hustle & Flow? I paid for the whole movie, yeah. Wow. So that was Lee Daniels. No. Hustle & Flow was me. Oh, Hustle & Flow was you. Oh, I'm bugging. I produced Hustle & Flow.

Oh, okay, okay, okay, okay. But where's Lee Daniels at? And you funded it from the get, the whole thing. The whole thing, yeah. So what does Lee Daniels have to do with Hustle & Flow? Nothing. He had no do. He made Empire.

Oh, okay, okay. He cast Terrence and Tarantino. You're getting your Hustle & Flow. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He got my veterans from Hustle and flow to do a TV show. Oh, that's where the relation is. But we are brothers. That's beautiful.

It's beautiful to see us win and celebrate us winning. All of us as people. It's about time. That's what this show is about, man. This show ain't about. You can go on certain internet shows and you can see negative shit. We just celebrate Our people

We drink We smoke I was about to ask you If you were going to smoke But I feel like You got sponsors No I don't have sponsors I don't feel like smoking right now

If I smoke too much I'll just I want to But I really do want to You're my friend You can take it You can take it man You can take it man Look I just want to I don't want you getting in trouble You're my friend You can take it You can take it man You can take it man

Look I just want to thank you man For being a part of this You know this is just Like I get Again we want to Continue to celebrate our culture Our lifestyle Our ways of life

And just continue to give back To the community And just have fun doing it It's so much You know dumb shit Happening in the world When people turn on the news and you get sad.

I would rather they turn on this and get happy. Happy Yom Day. You know what I'm saying? And you're going to put me in a movie or something. Can I get a role? Can I get a role?

Anything. Anything. I'm going to grab hands. I'll do whatever. I've been trying to get in with you. He's my friend. Look, we cool.

I'm like, yo, I got to get in with you. He's my friend. Look, we cool. I got you. I got you. I got you. I got to get in one. One. What's that shit called? I-M-B-M-D? What is that?

I-M-B-M-D. You know I'm a foul Hollywood. I got to get I-M-B-M-D. You don't get one? No, I need more than my list. I'm good. I want to do East Coast movies. I want to try to play a West Coast crap.

Now, did you see that horror movie on the West Coast? Oh, I did. That horrible, horrible movie. Oh, I did. I heart. Don't you ever watch this. What horror movie? It's called Seven.

Oh, did I just say that? Yeah, you might as well. And I play the black guy. I die as soon as the youth age recruits roll. That's right. I play the black guy. As soon as they're rolling, they chop my head off. I fuck and they chopped my head off

That's so black That's so black That's a horror movie We don't laugh at horror movies In real life I think I would survive A horror movie If you put me in some scary shit I'd be like you know what

I'd rather get shot at though That's a horror movie to me I'd rather get shot at, though. That's a horror movie to me. I'd rather get shot at than a snake chase me. I got no experience in the snake chase. I've got shot at before. No good behind the car. Wait. All right, get your gold.

Oh! But now, if a snake chase me, that's not my element. I'm going to just be like, wait a minute. Hold on. I'm getting bit. I'm dying. If a snake hit Like, I'm going to just be like, wait a minute. Hold on. I'm getting bit. I'm dying. If a snake hit me, I'm dying. I got no experience with that.

We got to make real reality shows. You know how they got like Fair Factor? We got to make like Hood Factor. They got one. They got Hood Factor. Do you get shot at? Some Hood Factor? It ain't good if you don't get shot at.

What is it, on the internet? I don't, it's on cable TV. Someone I don't know. It's on cable TV. Someone put me onto it. It's a little suspect. We got to hire a real gangster. Hood something where they do ghost chasing. It's a little crazy. Ghost chasing?

No, we don't got no experience. We don't have ghost TV. We don't have no experience with ghosts in the hood. We got a woman named Wanda that wakes up every day and says, Good morning, Vietnam! That shit is an experience right there. You know what I'm saying? Like, every hood got a crazy person, right?

Like, every hood has a crazy person. They're zombie. Now, is the characters that you write, is they based on real characters? They are. All the time? A lot of them are based on real characters. Especially the hood ones. Yeah, exactly.

There's so many characters in the hood. You know, you're right. There's always a neighborhood crazy person. There's so many characters in the hood. You know, you're right. There's always a neighborhood care crazy person. There's always that. And everybody deals with their crazy. Like, they be like, yeah, that's what she does. Exactly. Like, yeah, she just smokes us.

And then maybe on some days, they not crazy. And, yep. Because they don't feel like being crazy today. Like, I don't, you know. And that'd be the best advice. You don't listen to them. Exactly. They don't feel like being crazy.

Yo, John. It's clear. John, man, I can't thank you enough, man. Yo, you're such a legend, man. You did so much for this game. You did so much for hip-hop and particularly by you always incorporating the hip-hop artists. Even you got Method Man and... And Rebel.

Method Man, Method and Rebel. Method and Rebel right now. And you also got the FX. And RZA's. RZA's and Snowfall. You know, it's a whole lot of stuff you keep it hip-hop incorporated we appreciate that man because i do that's what i do you're a legend you're you're you're we're one of the best artists ever and you keep us alive

and there's nothing and you also was the first person to put a west coast guy and an east coast guy in higher learning and buster that's cute yeahusta. Busta. Yeah, I don't know if you ever peeped that. That was like the first union from the West Coast and East Coast. Because where was Higher Learning actually at? In L.A. It was in L.A., okay. See, we never knew that on the East Coast.

To us, that was neutral. It was like in the Midwest. Oh, shit, you got a West Coast nigga and an East Coast nigga. This is crazy. You already know that, right? Yeah. It's my folks.

It's just people I was knowing at the time. I was like, hey. And I also hear that that's how passionate you are. You're like the Adam Sandler. Because Adam Sandler always hires the same crew. You kind of hire the same crew. I like to put people I know and work with people I know, and we make something happen.

Is it easier that way when you work with somebody you know? Because you know you can scream on him and you're going to text later. I scream on everybody. I scream on everybody. But what I do is I make careers, though. You know what I'm saying? When people work with me, They end up doing other stuff It's not just a flash in the pan

Oh get the latest rapper In the movie For a face look Whatever No it's like People do up They end up doing other things You know what I mean

That's why I've been trying To get in something For John Singleton He won't come out Of the socks line I'ma just wear it Fuck it I'm down with John Singleton

That's my nigga High five my brother Thank you so much my brother We good? We good? Anything else? Anything you wanna cover? Eat?

We got it all man We got it all Yo man This has been an honor man Y'all first director The first for Drink Champs The first for Drink Champs You're the first director

I'll take another one, goddammit. Don't tell me to have a good time. And now you're going to premiere Rebel, also on FX. What's the name of it? Rebel is on BET. I know. Rebel is on BET. Snowfall is on FX.

Snowfall, you didn't talk about Snowfall. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Snowfall is about the beginning of the whole crack trade in L.A. It's about how cocaine changed. Is that premiering tonight too? You got two shows premiering. ABC? No, no.

Snowfall is in the summer. What you got about ABC? You got something on ABC too. No, no. This is A&E. A&E. A&E. Tonight is L.A. Burning.

L.A. Burning. Yeah, L.A. Burning. It's about the rights. Is it the anniversary? Hold on, hold on. Yeah, 25th anniversary. Do you realize how busy he is? He got another bit, man.

He confuses us. Yo, let's make some noise for him. That is busy. That is busy. That is L.A. Burnin'. L.A. Burnin'. It's about the 25th anniversary of the L.A. riots. Wow.

Damn, it's crazy it's been that long already. This is 25. That's after Rodney King? Yeah, that is Rodney King. of the LA riots. Damn, it's crazy it's been that long already. Is this 25? That's after Rodney King? Yeah, that is Rodney King. That is Rodney King. Oh, Rodney King got 25 years ago? That's rare. The verdict, yeah.

So let's break that down for the people real quick and then we get up out of here. Okay. It's just a documentary about what happened and it takes it from the street point of view of the people get up out of here. It's a documentary about what happened. It takes it from the street point of view of the people who basically from South Central

and the Korean culture and the Latin people who were really scarred by it. My grandparents were in the middle of it. When you say Korean culture, the Koreans was rioting too? No, they were defending their businesses.

They were defending their businesses from being looted. You know what I mean? It was a war. There's a war zone. You know what I mean? But we got perspectives that no one else has in this documentary. And where was the Latinos coming from?

Well, the people in the documentary, they got caught up in it. They got hurt by it. You know what I'm saying? But that's what I'm trying to tell you. My grandparents lived in Englewood. And they called me during the riots. Did they blood?

No, man. They cute. Everybody in Englewood is blood, right? That's not the truth? No, that's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. And they called me, and they were telling me, they were like, the Latinos are rioting, too.

Yeah, exactly. Because they wasn't showing it on TV. They made that riot pretty much a black riot. And they were, my grandparents called me and told me. There were more Latinos rioting than black people rioting, but they didn't want to show that. And since, I'm not going to front, since my family's Cuban, they look, they're like, we're not Mexican. So they're like, the Mexicans are rioting. The Mexicans are rioting. No, but it like, we're not Mexican. So they're like, the Mexicans are right. The Mexicans are right.

But it was like, but it was Mexicans and El Salvadorians. You know what I mean? Like people who basically are used to like war situations that were like really going at it.

It was like, it was like green light. Let's go. Anarchy. You know what I'm saying? They were used to it from their country. They were used to it from war. They was like green light. Let's go. Anarchy. Yeah, yeah. You know what I'm saying? They were used to it from their country. They were used to it

from before war. They grew up in war. So they were like, hey, you know, I'm going to get my car. I'm going to put it up at Pep Boys. I'm going to get me

some new tires. I'm going to put the transmission. People were doing transmissions and changing their cars up. You know, we didn't show this in the documentary,

but I'm saying, you know, they were doing that. You know what I mean? Like doing the riot. So, I mean, there's so many different stories to be told within that, man. So many different stories. It was a wild time.

It was a wild time. And I know you're not going to tell me this, but I feel like, what is, John, what is your next move? My next what? Are you making the Big Pun movie with me? That would be an amazing movie. Let's just say that. Oh, God. Big Pun. Let's make the Big would be an amazing movie. Let's just say that. Oh, God. Big pun.

Let's make the big pun. Wow, big pun movie. The big pun. I don't know the whole story. You know what's really funny is, because we was rolling at the same time in the 90s, pun had all the bad Puerto Rican bitches.

Let's admit to it right now. He had the finest. Yes, he did. This big motherfucker had all the finest. I was so jealous. I can admit that right now. He had the finest. Yes, he did. This big motherfucker had all the finest. I was so jealous. I can admit that right now. I was so jealous. Oh, yeah, yeah.

He had girls that liked him. And he 500. He not fat, like belly fat. He was big fat. The whole room. Yeah, yeah. And he had three or four

of them around him, right? And they were so beautiful. His wife's going to kill me, but don't worry about it. Let's keep it going, y'all They were so beautiful Like, your face would hurt When you saw them

And we would hang out At Jimmy's Bronx Yup We would hang out At Jimmy's Bronx And it would just be like It would be girls Coming from DR

And from Puerto Rico Big kids speaking English That were like models And every nigga That was in hip-hop Would be at Jimmy's Bronx. You know what I'm saying? You can tell John's a hood nigga.

We'd walk up there, man. I used to walk up there, and Joe would be there. And he'd be like, what you want to eat? It would be like, you eat all you can eat. You drink all you can eat. And then you go dance. Friday night, it was a band,

and Saturday night was a band And then Saturday night was hip hop This nigga knows exactly What I'm talking about So Yeah you know Because I went to All the grindiest spots

In New York I lived in New York I was the guy At the grindiest spots So And you know Like we would eat We would drink

And You know It was always like Saturday night Friday night was the people Who had newly immigrated to New York. The new,

because we know English. They just came from Puerto Rico. you had to know some kind of Spanish to get a bitch, right? Yeah, a little bit of Spanish. You had to have a homeboy

to be like, yeah, listen to me. But Saturday night, somebody will always get shot. Right. Outside. The hip hop night.

But when we go both nights. Yeah, that's right. Yeah that's right That's right That's right You got to You got to ignore that You ain't got nothing to do with us You ain't got nothing to do with us So

You never did a Latin movie right? Huh? You never did a whole Latin movie I did It's called Legal Tinder Oh yeah that's right Tango Calderon Tango

I put Tango Calderon In his first movie And then they took him off And put him in Fast and Furious. That's my brother. Wow. Some brother from Ponce, I think. That's right. P-E-R.

No, Tego? Tego's from? Tego from? Louisa. Louisa. Now, Louisa. Louisa, yes, Louisa. Me and you would be the most light-skinned in the game.

Yeah, exactly. Like, yeah, you'd be like, I swear to God. But I shot that down there. I produced that down there. I shot that down there. And we were just, you know, it was an Afro-Latino movie. I was there. And you had the other dude in there, the young kid with the Afro.

Rick Gonzalez. Yeah, Rick Gonzalez. That's my man. That's my man, too. Wasn't he in the basketball movie? Rick was in Bushwick. What was he in? Coach Carter.

Coach Carter, yeah. Coach Carter, yeah. Good actor. Good actor. Because I know you got to go. But how do you Actually see talent Like when people say

Like What What is it Is it Is it when you It's just my vibe It's like When I vibe with somebody

I be like okay I vibe with them And say okay If I can get their Original What's really special about them And the original vibe On camera

Out to the world Right Then the world See what I see. Right. And that's how it goes for me. I don't know. I can't. That's L.

By the way, that was L. But because I got a friend, right? Sonny. Sonny DBT. Sonny DBT is the funniest guy off camera. Off camera, he will roast you. But the minute you say action He's just frozen

And I'm like I mean he's not that bad You made him like an idiot That was totally wrong I'm so sorry But it's not the same It's not the same when it's off It's not natural

If you was to see that from an actor and you was to say, damn, I see you off camera. Off camera, you're fucking excellent. I spend time off camera pulling it out of people because I've had people like that too. They got that, but they're nervous.

It's like, get out of yourself. What helps them get out of that? What would help if you was to do that? Is it live reads? It depends on the person. It depends on the person. Are you already hiring them or sending them to a coaching class? A little bit of both.

A little bit of both. I coach them and then I have other people work with them too. Well, John, man, we robbed you for all your knowledge Thank you so much Yo we are schooled We are blessed We are honored I want to tell you

You're one of the greatest artists of all time And that's included in everything All art period You were one of the greatest artists of all time I was very honored It's good going down memory lane When my boy Trevor told me Yo John to do it I was like for real. I was very honored. It's good going down memory lane. When my boy Trevor told me, y'all want me to do it? I was like, for real?

I was so scared. I watched every interview you ever did. I Googled every... I knew you personally, but I just wanted to appreciate your art. We did it. Man, I just can't tell you how much I appreciate you.

I want you to continue to do your thing. I got to get you my Air Force. And continue to do your thing because we are proud of what you're doing in cinema. And we watch everything and we support everything. And we're going to continue to do that. Let's make some noise for motherfucking Johnson. And I'm still finishing my drink too as well. Baga la. Let's go. We'll be right back. Switch to Xfinity today and get a great offer. You'll enjoy Xfinity X1, which gives you access to your favorite streaming apps like Netflix, YouTube, and now Prime Video.

Go to Xfinity.com, call 1-800-XFINITY, or visit the store today to learn more. Restrictions apply. A lot of times, big economic forces show up in our lives in small ways. Four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. Small but important ways. From tech billionaires to the bond market to, yeah, banana pudding. If it's happening in business, our new podcast is on it.

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