Dumb Blonde - Flavor Flav: Rapper To Pop Culture Icon

Episode Date: May 12, 2025

Flavor Flavvvv in the house! The rapper, reality star, OG hype man, and national treasure sits down with Bunnie to talk about everything, starting with his wild come-up in Freeport, meeting Chuck D, and what life was really like inside Public Enemy. He gets honest about blowing thousands a day on drugs, the moment he got clean, and how he’s trying to pay it forward. Flav sets the record straight on the infamous clock, breaks down his sweet and strange relationship with Brigitte Nielsen, and spills behind-the-scenes tea from Flavor of Love. He talks about cousins ODB, RZA, and GZA, his love for Taylor Swift, and his new show Old School (yes, he's actually going back to high school), plus plans for a late-night talk show.Flavor Flav: IG | XWatch Full Episodes & More:www.dumbblondeunrated.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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www.patreon.com Backslash dumb blonde podcast and sign up bunny. X. Oh Is this thing on what's up you sexy motherfuckers welcome to another episode of dumb blonde And bunny ass. Bunny ass. Bunny ass. I would miss bunny ass. Bunny ass. Bunny. Is this thing on? What's up you sexy motherfuckers? Welcome to another episode of Dumb Blonde. Today we have a legend in the house. Mr. Flava Flame.

What's up bunny? How are you baby? I'm so happy you're here. Hey like a coat in the closet. Just hanging in there baby. You know what I'm saying? I'm taking it one day at a time love. One day at a time. How you doing what I'm saying? I'm taking it one day at a time, love, one day at a time.

How you doing? I love it. I'm doing good. You want to know something that I absolutely adore about you is you, every time I see you, Flav, you are in such a good mood. Like, what is the secret sauce to always being in a good mood? Because they can't be, like, you got to have some down days,

right? Or are you just always happy? I do, I do have down days at times, you know what I'm saying? But when I wake up and open my eyes and I thank God for letting me wake up, cause there's a lot of people that went to sleep last night and didn't wake up like we did.

Amen. You know what I'm saying? But when I wake up and I open my eyes, man, and I take that first breath and I thank him for that, that's a day for being happy. That's a reason for being happy. You know what I'm saying? And the whole nine.

And one thing about me, Bunny, you know, if you realize, I love people. I love people. You know what I'm saying? And the whole nine. And my thing is this, if you love people, people will love you back. saying in the whole nine. And my thing is this, if you love people, people will love you back.

And the reason why I feel that I get so much love from people, Bunny, is because I gave it first. And whatever you give off, that's what you're gonna give back. You know what I'm saying? I mean, I'm only human, you know what I'm saying? And there are times, Bunny, when I do have dark days, you know what I'm saying? And there are times, Bunny, when I do have dark days, you know what I'm saying?

I thank God for the power of me being able to make people happy, even when I'm not. Aw, that's powerful. And he gave me the power to make people smile, even when I'm not smiling. You know what I'm saying? Because like I said, everybody has their days. You know what I'm saying? Every day ain't gonna always be the best day in the world. You know what I'm saying? But there's times, Bunny, when I come out and it's like, you know, I'm having a real dark day inside. I don't want to be bothered by nobody.

I don't want to take no pictures or nothing and everything, you know what I'm saying? And the people that come up to me to meet me, they don't know how I'm feeling inside. You know what I'm saying? They're excited to see me. You know what I'm saying? They're excited to see me. You know what I'm saying? Excited to get next to me,

excited to be able to touch me in the whole nine. You know what I'm saying? And there are some people that's been having real dark, you know, dark days inside. They come up to me and say, Flav, I was having a real fucked up day today and seeing you right now just changed it and snapped me out of it.

You know what I'm saying? And I'm like, wow, that's big hearing that, even though I'm feeling the same way. Yeah, absolutely. But they don't know that. And see, the main thing you gotta do as a celebrity bunny, no matter how you're feeling, when those people come up to you to get that handshake

or that picture or that autograph or whatever, you gotta take your feelings, set it to the side for one second, give that fan what they want. Yes. And then after you give them what they want, go back to feeling fucked up. I mean.

I always say that I think that you and my husband get along so well because you guys are both kind of like the same human. He always emits love and happiness everywhere he goes. Even when he's having a bad day, he literally will chalk it up and put on a smiley face and just make sure that everybody around him feels loved. And I feel like you're the same type of human.

Well, I just wanna say, you know, when it comes down to me and your husband, we have ways alike. That don't mean we're like each other, but we have ways alike. You know what I'm saying? Kindred souls. And yeah, and one thing about us, you know what I'm saying? Kindred souls. Yeah, and one thing about us, you know what I'm saying?

Like me, I love people. Jelly Roll, he loves people, man. You know what I'm saying? He's a gracious, kind soul, man. And that's what I am too, you know what I'm saying? Birds of a feather will flock together. You know what I'm saying? In the whole nine.

So, I mean, I thank God for even letting me be able to meet him, you know, to re-meet him. Did you know that I met your husband way back in the day when he was about maybe 15 or 16? No, tell me about this. What? I didn't know, he never told me. Are you serious?

I swear, tell me the story. Can we take a small little break for a second? I need to show you something. Sure. Right now, immediately. Yes, yes, yes. While we're on this conversation right here. Okay.

You know what I'm saying? Now check this out. This picture that I'm about to show you, Bunny. Can we put it up on the screen? Is it you and Jay? Is it a picture of you and Jay? Watch about to show you, Bunny. Can we put it up on the screen? Is it you and Jay? Is it a picture of you and Jay? Watch what I show you. Watch this, watch this.

You're gonna be like. We're gonna put it up on the screen right here. I kinda like remember taking this picture. You know what I'm saying? I'm gonna come over and show it to you, can I? We're gonna put it up on the screen right here. Okay, but I want you to pull up, put up that part right there. You see that?

That right there? I can't wait to see this. I can't believe he never told me this. What the hell, daddy? That is rude. And you know what? I forgot how I found it. But the main thing is, I don't care how I found it.

The main thing is I found it and I got it. You know what I'm saying? Oh my, okay, so it's daddy, little white. That's him. Oh, Patrick Whoohan. That's him right next to me. You see, it says Jelly Rolls, 615. Oh.

With their flavor, flavor official. Come on now. Look at, I love that. Come on now, look at your husband. Look at your fly ass husband right there, come on now. Look at, I love that. Look at your husband, look at your fly ass husband right there, come on now, bunny. No, that's what he was a baby face. You can't front on the man.

You know what I'm saying? Shout out Little White, we love you. I love Little White, that's our baby. Patrick Lulahan. And I'm gonna tell you something, man. I am so proud of this man. Yeah. Because he came a very, very long way.

Very long way. No, it's been a wild ride. You know what I'm saying? And when I met him, he was just trying to get out there. Yeah. He was just trying to get out there at the time. You know what I'm saying? That's like 10 minute freestyle jelly.

That's like 10 minute freestyle jelly. Like from back in the day, day when he first started. It's crazy that you ran into my husband when he was younger because I ran into you in Vegas all the time. And I don't think you even remember. I used to see you at the bootlegger all the time. And you know that's my spot. All the time.

I would always go up to you and be like, hey Flav and you were always so nice. You're be like, hey, Flav, and you were always so nice. You're just like, hey, how are you? And just, you know, living in your own little world. No doubt. And I've been going to the bootleggers now for about, I don't know, maybe 16 years. Yeah.

That's where I hold a lot of my meetings. I do a lot of my interviews, you know what I'm saying? And not only that, but I became, damn they're part of the bootleg family. Yeah, well it's a piece of history. They got a recording studio there too as well. You know, my boy Ron, he has the studio there. You know what I'm saying?

And a whole nine and I go and record some records there too as well. Yeah, I love it. You're always everywhere. And every time I see you, you have a smile on your face. I am everywhere, man. I love it. You're always everywhere. And every time I see you have a smile on your face. I am everywhere, man. I am everywhere. I love it. So I did a ton of research on you last night. And there is so much story behind Flava Flav.

Like there is so much. So I want to take my listeners on this wild journey that you call life. And I want to start it where you grew up in New York in a town called Freeport, correct? Right. Take me on your childhood, because I've heard some crazy stuff from your childhood. So like, how was your relationship with your family? How many brothers and sisters did you have? Well, I have five sisters and one brother.

Oh, okay. You know what I'm saying? You know, my mom, you know, and my dad, when they were married, you know, they only had three. You feel me? You know, my oldest sister, Gayle, then my sister, Pam. And then, in between me, there my other sister Renee, she came through,

you know what I'm saying, out of wedlock. You feel me? Then I came. Then after I came, then my brother Stephen came. You know what I'm saying, out of wedlock. You know what I'm saying? And then the other sisters that I have, Felicia, Tanisha, everybody else was born out of wedlock,

but my mom only had three kids and everything. You know what I'm saying? You know, and growing up, growing up, Bunny, it was very, very peer-precious. You know what I'm saying? And the whole nine. I heard that you burned your sister's bedroom, very peer-precious. You know what I'm saying in the whole nine. I heard that you burned your sister's bedroom,

set it on fire at five years old. Wow, are you serious? That, oh my God. Can we talk about this? Hey listen, oh my God, I was, I don't know, I must've been about five years old. What are you playing with fire at five years old for? I was about five years old, right?

Yes. I was under my mom's bed playing with the lighter. And the material that was under the bed caught fire. Oh no. I got scared and I ran out the room and I closed the door. I'll never forget this bunny. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God, it was crazy.

I could imagine being five years old and setting something up. The house started burning up, started getting smoky and everything. Did you tell anybody what was going on? I didn't tell nobody. I was scared. I was scared.

I was five. Was anybody home? I think my mom was home around the time and everything. But next thing you know, the room started burning up and everything, man. The fire company came. They put the fire out and everything. My sister came home.

She seen all the paint chips on the wall. Oh, so it burned her entire room. She was crying and everything. Yeah, man, you know, but. Did it only burn her room or was it the whole house? Yeah, just her room. Oh, wow. Yeah, just her room.

Wow. Just her room, you know what I'm saying? Uh-huh. You know, because both of my sisters were staying in that room at the time, you know what I'm saying, in the whole nine. I stayed in the room with my mom and my dad sleeping in the crib.

Oh, so you were still so young, like at five, you were still sleeping in your parents' room? Huh? At five? No, I was still sleeping in my parents' room around four and five. Okay. It was hard to separate from my mom,

you know what I'm saying? But eventually she ended up separating me though. Yeah. Yeah, when I started going to school, you know, elementary school and everything, yeah, that's when she separated me, man, and I was on my own. Had my own bed, the whole nine and everything.

Were you very attached to your mom? Huh? Were you very attached to your mom? Yes, I sure was. I sure was very attached to my mom, man. You know, my mom, I mean, you know, I was the baby of the family. Okay, so, yep.

You know what I'm saying? So I was, I kinda, you know, got everything. I was a little spoiled. What about dad? Were you close with dad? Yeah, I was close with dad too, you know what I'm saying? My pops, man, he was a street guy. He was a street guy, he was a hustler, he was a gangster.

You know what I'm saying? And he was the man of the town. You know, everybody knew my dad. Not only that, but back in the days too, they used to, you know, write the numbers. He was a bookie. You know what I'm saying? And he used to be the king of the books.

He used to be the king of gambling. He used to be the king of the corner. He used to be the, he was the man. My dad was the man. My dad was the man. You know what I'm saying? He spent a lot of, you know, a lot of my days of my life locked up too.

You know what I'm saying? In and out of jail, in and out of jail. But way back in the 60s, Bunny, that was the thing. You know what I'm saying? Because around that, you know, that time was so different, you know? And I'm saying? Because around that time was so different. You know, and I'm talking about way back. I can remember sitting watching President Kennedy's

funeral on TV after he got shot. What a wild memory. You know what I'm saying? I remember 1968 when Dr. Martin Luther King got shot. Wow. And when Dr. Martin Luther King got shot. Wow. And when Dr. Martin Luther King got shot, everything started going haywire. Everything was crazy.

Everything was crazy, racial. Oh my God, it was. Oh, I could imagine. And that's back in the days when we used to call the police pigs. Right. I mean, we still do, I think. Yeah, they were the pigs. They were the pigs. Yeah, back in the day. You know what I'm saying? In the whole night. How wild is that, that you have a memory of JFK and Martin Luther King's assassinations,

and then you're all the way here in 2025? Like, is it insane? Like, is it like a time warp for you? Yeah, a big, a very big time warp. You know what I'm saying? I really thank God for blessing me to be able to come this far. Cause there's a lot of my friends, Bunny, that I grew up with and went to school with. They're not here to talk about it today.

Yeah. You know what I'm saying? But I wanted to bless the ones to be able to sit here in front of your microphone and kick it with the great bunny, man. I'm just happy you're here, baby. But the relationship between my brothers and my sisters, we've always had a good relationship.

Good. You know what I'm saying? You know, coming up, you know what I'm saying? I used to, back in the days, the soda bottles, like 7-Up, the Coca-Cola and all of that stuff, we used to take the bottles to the store, we'd get two cents for the bottles. And stuff, you know what I'm saying?

They used to see me walking through the town with a whole big ass shopping cart full of bottles, and taking it to the store and everything, and couldn't wait to cash it in so I can get these big cookies with the pink icing on it, the yellow cookies with the icing on it. Now and laters, lifesavers, different color sodas, the fruit punch, the pineapples and the grapes

and all of that. Isn't it crazy how, cause I'm an eighties baby. So isn't it crazy how when you look back at us kids, like in that 20 year span, we were hustlers since birth. Like I was, we had a can crusher. I did the can crushing with the aluminum cans, the soda pop cans, and I would go and sell them too. And cans used to cost, used to get money for cans too.

Yes, that's what I used to do. That was like one of my first hustles as a kid at home. So to hear you say that you were selling the bottles is like, it's just crazy how kids nowadays could never. They don't even, like, if it's not a video game, they don't know what's going on. That's right. The kids nowadays, they don't know what it's like

to hustle or to even really go out and look for a job and work. You know what I'm saying? Because today's generation is a lot different from the generation bunny that I grew up in or a lot different from the generation that you grew up in. And I know my generation is between your generation, oh, there's a gap there.

Yeah. But it's still the same principles though, I feel like. I still like we still grew up as hustlers and we still had those old school, like old fashioned morals, I guess you could say, and like things that were instilled in us. LiPo used to be such a bad word, but we're all supposed to act like we love

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You know what I'm saying? Did you get jumped in? Did you get jumped in? Did I get jumped? Yeah, like jumped in, cause you know how you used to get jumped in. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I had to go through the mill. Oh. I had to go through the mill to get in my gang,

and on each side, on each side you had 10 people. They had bats, chains, everything, you know what I'm saying? And in order to get into the gang, you had to make it all the way down to the end. And you were getting hit. They had bats, they had pipes, they had bats, broomsticks, everything, all kinds of stuff,

you know what I'm saying? That could break your bones. Oh my gosh. You know what I'm saying? And it took me maybe three tries. Oh. The first try, I didn't even make it halfway through. The second try, I made it kind of halfway through.

But then the third try, I said, you know what? I'm gonna do this. And you know what? I made it. On my third try and then I ended up getting in. How do you mentally prepare to get hit in the head or body with a steel pipe? I could never.

Hey, listen, check this out. When you're a kid, you want to be the man like all the rest of the kids. You're not thinking about that. The only thing you're thinking about is becoming the talk of the town. You know what I'm saying? You want to thinking about that. The only thing you thinking about is becoming the talk of the town. You know what I'm saying? You want to become the man. You want to be the man just like everybody else is being talked about.

You know what I'm saying? That's the only thing that be on your mind. You don't think about getting hit in the head with the pipe. I mean, well, you do get think about it. You know what I'm saying? When I went through, yeah, that's right. I ran through and I covered up everything. You know what I'm saying? But I made it through, yeah, that's right. I ran through and I covered up everything. You know what I'm saying? But I made it through though.

But yeah, I got my limbs busted a lot of times though before I got into the gang, yeah. That's determination to go through that three fucking times. That's insane to me. And I didn't give up. And that's why I succeeded because I didn't give up. When you give up, you're guaranteed to fail. But if you keep trying and keep trying and keep trying,

then you're guaranteed to succeed out of anything in this world that you wanna do. Anything that you wanna do, you can do it if you keep trying at it. That's so real, yes. That's actually a gym that everybody should take through life because it's like, once you get knocked down, just get right the fuck back up. And that's why I wrote a record called K.I.M.

Keep it moving. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? K.I.M. Keep it moving. You gotta keep it moving and you just don't stop. If you stop moving, then shit don't pop. The only way to get it is to go out and get it.

And if you don't get it, then you just wasn't with it. No, I love that though, and it's so real too. So take me on this journey of you getting jumped into this gang. Did you start slinging drugs? And what was the gang life like? Yeah, well, we did all of that stuff. We sold drugs.

We drank a lot. You know what I'm saying? Smoked a lot of weed. You know what I'm saying? Because you started getting in trouble for robberies, correct? You started getting into some trouble with robberies and stuff like that? Yeah, that too.

Robberies, burglaries. Yeah. No, I did it all. Yeah. I did a lot of that. Not trying to sit here to glorify it. No, not at all, but it's a part of your story. I'm just like, you know, the things that I did, you know,

and a lot of the stuff that I did, Bunny, back in the day, I really do regret. You know what I'm saying? Because whatever you do to someone in life, later on in life, it comes back to you and it don't have to come back to you through them. Yes. You know what I'm saying?

Yes. In the whole nine. And you know, just by me, you know, being with my peers and my gangs, you know, gang brothers and all of that, yes, we did kind of hurt a lot of people. You know what I'm saying? In the whole nine.

There were times when we were getting to gang fights, you know what I'm saying? And the whole night, there were times when we were, when we were getting the gang fights, you know what I'm saying? And the whole night and, and you know, we will be busting our guns. You know what I'm saying? At the other side, you know what I'm saying? I don't know if my bullets killed anybody or whatever. All I know is I was just shooting. I was just shooting at the other side.

You know what I'm saying? Whatever my bullets hit, that's what it hit. But I think it's amazing for kids who are in gangs right now to hear this message from you because knowing that, like, hey, if Lave could have gotten, you know, jumped into a gang, done, did what he did and became who he is, I can too. So I think it's really important for them to hear, you know, like, hey, I did a lot of fucked up shit and I regret it.

Yeah. But I'm here to tell my testimony. And honestly, to tell you the truth, Bunny, yeah, I mean, you know, I've done a lot of fucked up shit. I've witnessed. I didn't really do a lot of fucked up shit. I did some fucked up shit, though, but not, you know, not to the fullest extent, but I've witnessed a lot of fucked up shit though.

Yeah. To you, you know what I'm saying? And what's something in your childhood that you've, that's affected you that you've never spoken about publicly? Is there anything that you could tell us? There was one time, there was one time when we got this reservoir, right? Out in Freeport, Long Island. And also right next to Freeport is Merrick, Long Island.

So we got the, Merrick has a reservoir, Freeport has a reservoir. So we were, me and my cousin, me and a couple of my cousins and some friends, we were swimming over at the Merrick Reservoir. I was around, I don't know, maybe seven or eight years old. I didn't really know how, I didn't know how to swim. You know what I'm saying?

And the water was like, I don't know, maybe about 24 feet deep, right? Oh wow, yeah. So my cousin, my cousin Charles, I'm gonna tell the whole world yeah it was you cuz. He came up out the water, he said hey cuz, yo help me out the water. So he reached his hand up and I went for his hand

to help him up and he pulled me in. And when he pulled me in, we both went down to the bottom. He almost drowned me, man. And when I went down below that water, like a lot of friends that I had that passed away, that drowned in the docks and everything, I started seeing their faces and I started hearing all of these voices.

And then I came back up to some air, you know what I'm saying? Went back down again, because I couldn't swim. So I was really, yeah, so I was down there drowning my cousin. So everybody else had to come in and help save us. You know what I'm saying? So I thank God that he let me live through that.

If he didn't let me live through that, I would not be on this couch talking to you today, buddy Are you still scared of water now because of man? Come on, man. Come on, man I'm the brand new Jaco store around here. What you talking about? No, I say word up man. I love water better. I love water I love all you know, I love deep sea fishing You didn't let that you didn't let that hinder you through life. Cause some people have a really real fear of drowning and to go through something like that is traumatic.

Yeah, that one kind of took me for, yeah, that kind of took me for a loop bunny. You know what I'm saying? And not only that, but we never told my moms and my pops and nobody. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? So.

Yeah, nobody wanted that ass whooping. So now, so now for the first time ever, the world gets to hear it because I'm telling this story on your podcast. I love that. You know what I'm saying? But I mean, I'm proud to be sitting here, you know, on your podcast. I came a very, very long way and I'm blessed. Yes, you are.

So I just want everybody to know how blessed I am. That's why I'm telling you these stories. Yeah. I'm not trying to, you are. So I just want everybody to know how blessed I am. That's why I'm telling you these stories. I'm not trying to tell you anything to glorify. You know what I'm saying? All of the negativity. I'm just proud that I've been blessed to get through all the negativity and now to be able to bring all of this positivity.

Absolutely. Let's talk about something else that's positive in your life that I learned about you. You play 14 instruments that you have learned by ear. Yes, I used to cut my classes in school and I used to hang out in the band room. And I'm gonna tell you like this bunny, you know, I could never really read music, you know what I'm saying? So when I was like in seventh grade playing a trombone, you know, which was my main instrument in seventh grade, I started in sixth grade, I started on drums.

I started playing the drums in sixth grade. Seventh grade, I started playing the trombone and I used to cut my classes and I used to hang out in the band room and I used to be at all of the band practices. Everything that the trombone players were playing off of the music sheet, I was playing by heart and I was hitting every single note correct. That's a talent. People don't realize how much of a talent, because I used to play piano. I can't play by ear.

I have to read music. I'm so jealous of people who can hear something and play it. That's a real talent. And let me tell you something, Bunny. While I was in there, cutting my classes, I was experimenting with all of the other instruments, the cellos, the violins. I would pay to see Flava Flav play a violin.

The clarinets. I was experimenting with all of that stuff. But I got so good with my instruments, Bunny, without playing music. You know what? And they found out, yeah, I was cutting classes. The music teacher was like, man, let him cut. Because I mean, you're doing something constructive. Oh, it's so good.

The music teacher was like, man, let the boy cut. Let him cut. I love that though. When did you realize that music was gonna be kind of your savior? Because it seems like that was the one thing in your life that you kind of leaned into because it was therapeutic for you. Yeah.

Well, you know, when I coming up from from a child, you know what I'm saying? I grew up, you know, off of, you know, Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Four Tops, Temptations, you know what I'm saying? You know, the old R&B, you know, R&B stuff, you know, but then I grew up listening to jazz, Miles Davis, Stanley Tarantino, Shirley Scott, Queen of the Organ, Miles Davis, you know? And, you know, and then coming up too also, you know,

Jimi Hendrix was the man back in my day. You know what I'm saying? Rare Earth, back in the days, you know what I'm saying, was my good band. I used to listen to the Mamas and the Papas, which was country. You know what I'm saying? In the Hall 9.

Then I got into listening to Fusion, and I got into Chick Corea, you know what I'm saying, in the whole nine. And also my boy Buddy Miles who had a group called Band of the Gypsies, you know, and before Buddy passed away, we became good friends, you know what I'm saying, and we did some projects together too as well, and along with Bo Pussy Collins, you know what I'm saying? And Funkadelic Parliament, you know, this is the era that I came up in and grew up in. So music was always just in your soul. Music was always my thing.

So I could listen to music that would make you puke up. I'll sit back and listen to some opera music. I love opera. Yeah. I do, I love it. It like gives you chills all over your body. And some classical music and the music that I used to listen to, man, you swear to God,

riding in my car, you thought you was inside the dentist's office. Or like you're on hold with a bill collector. Yeah, for real. So another fun fact that I found out about you was you did drop out of school in 11th grade, correct? 10th grade. 10th grade, okay.

But you went to a culinary school before you decided to go to college. You're like a refined gentleman. Thank you, thank you. I love that. So tell me about your love for culinary and cooking and stuff. Well, while I was in high school,

they had a program called BocesiS, you know what I'm saying? And through this program, I was able to go to culinary school. And when I went to culinary school, Bunny, I took up a thing called institutional cooking. What institutional cooking is, it's like, you know, you make pans of rice pilaf, bettuccini, alfredo, crepes, Suzettes, or whatever, for 400 people at one time. Wow. You know what I'm saying?

So I got my certificate in that. And then after I got out of school, then I started running restaurants. I started cooking at high schools. I used to cook at a place called Turtle Hook High School in Uniondale, Long Island. I was like the head chef in that school for a while. You know what I'm saying?

And then I just went on, you know, my mom and my dad ended up buying a diner and we used to call it Soul Diner in Freeport, Long Island. You know what I'm saying? And you know, I used to watch it Soul Diner in Freeport, Long Island. You know what I'm saying? And I used to watch my moms and my sisters and them cook and everything. So that's how I was able to this day to come up with my own special seasonings of FFC.

What FFC is Flavs Fried Chicken. Bunny, I fried the best fried chicken in the world. FFC is Flav's Fried Chicken. Bunny, I fried the best fried chicken in the world. Right now, if you were to take a bite of my chicken, your taste buds are gonna explode. They're gonna go crazy. You're gonna be like, yo Flav! Yeah. Have you got to have some of his fried chicken?

Is it amazing? Oh my God, I'm jealous. I need some. We're gonna have to have a cook off or something. It'll be fun. We'll get back into that, you know what I'm saying? But yeah, I did drop out though, you know, in the 10th grade.

So just to let you know, bringing you up to date right now, I'm getting ready to do a new reality TV show. And it's called Old Schooled with Flavor Flav. Yay. Flavor Flav is going back to high school to get his diploma. Let's go. I'm going back to get my diploma, Bunny, and I'm putting it on TV.

And the reason why I'm doing this is because I want to show a lot of people my age that it's never too late to go back to get your diploma. But also it's a message to the kids that are in school right now. Get that piece of paper right now while you got the chance because you're going to have a hard time going through life without it, just like I did. You know what I'm saying? You might not make it back like me going through life without it, just like I did. Yeah.

You know what I'm saying? You might not make it back like me to get it. Yeah, that's so real. And I can't wait to see this. When do you think it'll be dropping? Probably next year sometime? When do you think it will be dropping? Probably next year sometime? We're going to start shooting probably in May. Okay. Yay. Of this year. I'm excited for that. I can't wait.

It's going down for real. That's what my boy, you know, Flowrider say. I love it for that. I can't wait. It's going down for real. That's what my boy, you know, Flo Rida say. It's going down for real. So let's talk about your cousins. You have cousins that are also famous too, which would be Old Dirty Bastard, Jizza, and RZA from Wu-Tang Clan. That was a new fact that I just learned because I loved ODB. I was like a huge ODB fan growing up.

Loved him. Yeah. How was your relationship with Old Dirty Bastard? Well, Old Dirty Bastard, man, we was, you know, we was cool. You know what I'm saying? And the whole nine, Yes, that's right. And Wu-Tang Clan, yes, I have three blood family members,

O-D-B, RZA, and JZA. And, you know, matter of fact, I was with O-D-B. I was with O-D-B, I think it was, I don't know, maybe two nights before he passed away because we both had a gig up in Anchorage. You know what I'm saying? And the whole night, it's the last time I seen him, man.

You know what I'm saying? How did his death affect you? Oh man, it took me for a ride. It really took me for a ride, you know what I'm saying? When I was locked up in Rikers Island, you know what I'm saying? When I was locked up in Rikers, you know, me being a celeb around that time,

you know, I was public enemy and everything. ODB was still locked up at Rikers too. And there was a time when the CEOs, the correctional officers took me over to the four building. I was in the sixth building. They took me over to the four building where he was at and they let me visit him. You know what I'm saying?

So they let us get a jail visit in, you know what I'm saying, in the whole nine. so they let us get a jail visit in, you know what I'm saying, in the whole nine. You know, I call ODB the fourth flavor flave of the music business. You know what I'm saying? The first flavor flave, I mean, well, the first flavor flave is flave.

Me. All right? Yes. Because I originated the hype, man. You know what I'm saying? Yes. The second flavor, flavor of the business was a guy named Bushwick Bill

from a group called the Ghetto Boys. I love Bushwick. Him and I used to be friends. Bunny, everything Bill did was flay. Yeah. All the way. You know what I'm saying? What you gonna do when the world's on fire?

I'ma let us split and keep it high. This year Halloween, fellow on the weekend, me and your little boys are trick or treating. Yeah, come on now. You know what I'm saying, Bill, so he was the second flave. The third flave of the music business, Busta Rhymes from a group called Leaders of the New School. Love Buster.

You know what I'm saying? Because Buster really got large after he left Leaders of the New School. But my partner, Hank Shockley, Chuck D., Keith Shockley, myself, we put together the Leaders of the New School. Not only that, but also Busta Rhymes got his name really from Chuck. You know what I'm saying? Cause back in the days there was a football player

named Busta Rhymes. And we were trying to figure out names for everybody in the group. And back in the days we used to say, yo, yo Busta move, yo Busta this G, yo Busta that. You know what I'm saying? So Chuck started calling Busta, Busta R, G. Yo, bust that. You know what I'm saying? So Chuck started calling Busta Busta Rhymes. Oh, I never heard of that.

So that's where Busta got his name from, you know what I'm saying? And the whole nine. I was taking you on a journey I got lost just now. You're fine. You were telling me all the other flavor flavors. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. So you stopped at Busta.

Right, right. So meanwhile, back on your ranch, okay? Cause that's where we at. We on the ranch right now. I seen all the land as soon as we drove up to the house. I love it. Okay? I might end up being one of the cows on your ranch.

Crunch, we need to get a video with Crunchy and Flava Flav. No doubt. So anyway, Busta Rhymes is the third Flavor Flav of the music business. The fourth Flavor Flav of the music business was my cousin ODB, because he was more like the hype man for Wu-Tang. Yes. You know what I'm saying? And then the fifth flavor, flavor of the music business is my boy, Spliff Star from Flip Mode,

from Busta Rhymes group, Flip Mode Squad. You know what I'm saying? So I have a question. Okay, so if you consider ODB a hype man and yourself a hype man, wouldn't you guys consider yourselves rappers also though? Yes, we are. Because, oh baby, I like it.

Yes, we are rappers too. We are rappers that hype up the crowd. Okay, gotcha. So that's considered- So we got two jobs in one. Our job is rapping and hyping up the crowd. Okay, gotcha. All right, I just wanted that clarification

because I feel like you guys are so much more than hype men, you know? Yeah, no doubt. I feel like you guys are like real like lyricists. So to hear you just kind of say, oh, you know, we're hype men. No I feel like you guys are like real like lorises, so to hear you just kind of say, oh you know we're hype men, no I think you guys are like legends. So yeah, thank you Bonnie. Yeah absolutely. So definitely was affected by the ODB whenever he passed away and then you know I know the ODB passed away from his drug use. You've been very vocal about your drug use. Can we dive into that era of your

life? When did you start using drugs? I don't know. I must have been about maybe... I've been smoking weed. I started smoking weed around, I don't know, nine, 10. Wow. But I didn't start experimenting with drugs until about, I don't know, maybe 16 or 17. You know what I'm saying? And I just want to say that I feel that's one of the worstest mistakes that I ever could have made

in my life, experimenting with them. You know what I'm saying? You know, I never was really a person that was into all of the drugs. You know what I'm saying? You know, my main thing was cocaine and crack weed. You know what I'm saying? But I never did the, you know, the dope, you know,

the heroin. I never was the, you know, the dope, you know, the hair run. I never was one to do the lean thing. You know what I'm saying? That that codeine and barbiturates and way back in the day, in seventh grade, we used to take quail ludes. Yeah, that's like a seventies thing, play. Yeah, yeah. They don't even make those anymore. I had to bring up the old Quaalude, man.

Come on now. I don't think anybody even knows what a Quaalude is in this generation. Yeah, man. You know what I'm saying? The Quaalude. It's like the Matrix pill. Yeah, come on, man. That was a high school drug back in the day, but I didn't start messing with the Coke and the crack and stuff. I was about 16. When was the first time you did smoke was about 16. When was the first time you did smoke crack? When was the first time you did smoke crack?

When I did, the first time? Oh man, I think the first time I smoked it, I must've been about, honestly, maybe 25. Okay, so it was when you were older. Yeah, yeah, the first time I smoked, I was about 25. Okay, so it was when you were older. Yeah, yeah. The first time I smoked, I was about 25 or 26, right before I started getting into the public enemy. Who influenced that on you?

Was it just people around you? One of my homies that I grew up with, that I was real close with and all. So, you know, like I said, peer pressure was the thing around my town. You know what I'm saying? And the whole nine. And I feel, Bunny, that the thing around my town. You know what I'm saying? In the whole nine. And I feel, Bunny, that that's one of the worstest mistakes

that I could have ever made because I went down that, I went down that dark road for 18 years. You know what I'm saying? In the whole nine. I've been clean off of it now for close to, I don't know, maybe 22 years. Yeah. From cocaine and crack and all of that stuff.

It's been like 22 years now. Good for you. Since I've touched it, you know what I'm saying? But I walked down that, I walked down that, I've been down that road for 18 long years. You know what I'm saying? And I just wanna say that I thank God that I was strong enough to one day come out of it. So now today, I can teach about it. I can teach people about the

mistakes that I made then and hopefully they won't make them, you know? I truly feel that God puts us through things ourselves so that we can actually really reach people. Because if you've never experienced these situations, had you never smoked crack, had I never popped Xanax, had I never been addicted to drugs myself, people wouldn't listen to us. They'd be like, you've never done drugs,

why are you telling me not to do drugs? But because they hear you say, yeah, I had an 18 year problem with drugs and I'm here to live, to tell you guys not to do them, I feel like that's gonna reach so many more people. Yeah, see, I can tell you, I'm blessed to go through the experience and make it through the experience.

You know what I'm saying? And I feel that God saved me because he made Flavor Flav a mouthpiece to the world. You know what I'm saying? I'm like the new EF Hutton. When EF Hutton speaks, people listen. You know what I'm saying? I'm like the new EF Hutton. When EF Hutton speaks, people listen. You know what I'm saying? So, you know, through the power of my fan base and everything, you know what I'm saying? You know, I have the power to lead people. You feel me? And

God gave me this power to be this mouthpiece. So now there's times when I've went to schools, detention centers, cruel poems, jails, and I've taught about my experiences and I've taught about my mistakes. And for people that haven't made those mistakes ever in life, I can tell you what you're gonna feel like if you make this mistake. So please do not make this mistake because I ain't gonna lie, drugs are very easy to get on

and they're hard as hell to get off of. You know what I'm saying? And that's my message to a lot of the people, man. You know what I'm saying? That's never done drugs, you know? And I'm glad that I was able to live, to teach about my experiences. So I'm not glorifying my experiences.

I'm just letting you know that yes, I did go through these experiences. God brought me a long way to come out of it. And now today I can teach about it and I can smile about it and be happy that I'm alive today and I came a long way. Absolutely. You've also gone on record saying that for six years of your drug use that you spent like 2,400 to 2,600 a day

on drugs, so like it was a real problem for you. Yes, it was a real problem and it was a real thing. It was a very real thing, you know what I'm saying, and the whole nine. But that's, you know, I was living recklessly at the time, you know what I'm saying? And that's coming up and, you know, coming up and learning. Every day is a learning experience.

Yes. You're gonna learn something every single day, bunny, that you wake up and open your eyes. Yes. You're gonna learn something. I always say you're not living if you're not learning. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? So a lot of those days,

a lot of those days that I did that, honestly, I really think a lot of the friends that I had around me that I thought that was my friends that was stealing my shit. There's always those homies around. that I thought that was my friends that was stealing my shit. There's always those those homies around. Yeah. And the reason why I thank them for stealing my shit is because if they didn't steal my shit, maybe those could have been the hits that put me out.

Was there a certain person or situation that made you want to turn your life around? Yes, definitely. You know, I got to the I got to a point to where I wasn't, I was looking bad. I was looking like what I was doing. I was feeling bad. I was bringing embarrassment to my family, to my kids. You know what I'm saying?

In the whole nine and, and not only that, but also the main thing that I was bringing, the main person that I was really, really bringing embarrassment to, mainly was my moms, you know what I'm saying? And also, you know, I was bringing embarrassment to my group, Public Enemy and everything, you know what I'm saying? I got to the point to where I really, really wanted to turn this thing around and I wanted to get off of these drugs,

you know what I'm saying? And the whole nine, I went to Betty Ford, right? Spent 30 days there for my first time. You know what I'm saying? It was a thousand dollars a night. Spent 30,000 to Betty Ford. Came home. I came home, stayed clean for about two weeks, went and picked up again. Then I went to another rehab, did the same thing,

went to another rehab, did the same thing. Then I ended up going to a place called LICR, Long Island Center of Recovery, to where my boy Jack Hamilton, who owned the rehab, you know, we became good friends and he helped me out a lot and he kind of opened my eyes to a lot of things, you know what I'm saying? So I really, really thank, you know, Jack Hamilton today, because he put a lot in me that was, that to where I was able to help myself out

and get myself off. You know what I'm saying? Cause you could go through all of the rehabs in the world, bunny. But at the end of the day, if you're not ready, you're not gonna do it. It's up to you to be ready. You have to be sick of yourself.

Yeah, you gotta be sick of yourself and you gotta be sick and tired of what you were doing. You know what I'm saying? In the whole nine. And honestly, I was really sick and tired of it, man. And I had to change my life, man. So I forced myself to do it. You know what I'm saying?

And I'm glad that I did that because I'm sitting here on your couch talking to do it. You know what I'm saying? And I'm glad that I did that because I'm sitting here on your couch talking to you today, clean and sober baby. Yes, and I'm proud of you because sobriety, I've been sober since 2017, 2018. Sobriety is not an easy journey. Thank you, thank you. I smoked cigarettes,

I started smoking cigarettes when I was six years old. Wow. I didn't stop smoking until I was, I don't know, 50. How old was I when I stopped smoking cigarettes, 55? Yeah, I was 55 when I stopped smoking cigarettes. You know what I'm saying? You started smoking at six years old. Yes, I started smoking at six years old.

How did you know what a cigarette was? They were just- Well, my sisters got me into that. Cause my sisters were mischief kids too, you know, back in the day, you know what I'm saying? That's why, you know, they had me doing all kinds of stuff when I was little, you know what I'm saying? And the whole nine, you know, my sisters were big influences to a lot of the things

that I grew up doing, you know, cause they were older than me. And I didn't really know any better, you know what I'm saying? And the whole nine, but I don't fault them today for the past that I had, you know, I don't fault them at all. You know what I'm saying? I think that's very big of you.

I just thank God that I grew up a way better person than the mischief that I was getting in. I was getting into it all, Bunny. Oh, I could imagine. I mean, you're setting places on fire at five, so. Yeah, that too, that too. That too, not only that, but then also I'm on a, at five and six years old,

I'm on a corner with my pops and them shooting dice. Really? Yeah. What did that feel like for you at five and six? Did you think that it was like the coolest thing? No, no, better all I knew was my dad said, here son, throw the dice. I was winning him money.

I was winning him money, cause I, you know. Yeah. I was winning them money. I was winning them money. Cause I, you know. Yeah, as a kid, come on man. When I used to get a quarter, that was big. 25 cents was big way back in the day when I was like five and six years old. You know what I'm saying? A quarter would get you a bunch of things. Today, a quarter.

You can't even call anybody for a quarter anymore. Remember you used to be able to use pay phones with a quarter? A quarter's damn near like a penny. Yeah, it's just crazy how stuff has changed. I be seeing quarters and everything laying on the ground now. Nobody picks them up.

Nobody picks them up. So let's switch gears and let's get into Public Enemy. When did you meet Chuck D? I actually have done, like I said, a lot of research on you guys' relationship. And it seems like Chuck is like a protector of you, but you guys also butt heads like brothers. Is that pretty accurate or how's your guys' relationship?

Yeah, he's been my protector, but yeah, we've been bumping our heads too. And like you said, you know what I'm saying? I love Chuck, man. That's one thing that I always can say, no matter whatever we go through in life, you know what I'm saying? Because me and Chuck, we used to work together for his father, Mr. Ridenour, and we used to deliver furniture

for interior designers and decorators and stuff, you know what I'm saying? And me and Chuck used to be on that U-Haul truck every single day. And every single day that we would be doing deliveries, we would be writing, you know what I'm saying? I first really met Chuck and Hank and Keith back in the day when my boy, son of Berserk,

his name is Tony Allen, they call him T.A. the DJ. But he was also part of a group called Townhouse Three, which was one of the groups that Chuck and Hank and them had up under their belt and everything, you know what I'm saying? Chuck, Hank, and Keith, they were a mobile disc jockey group called Spectrum City. Yeah, myself. Right? they were a mobile disc jockey group called Spectrum City.

Yeah, myself. Right? So Spectrum City had these around the town rap groups up under their belt. And also they also had a radio show on coming out of Adelphi University called 90.3 WBAU. You know what I'm saying? on coming out of a Delphi University called 90.3 WBAU. You know what I'm saying? So there were times when we used to take our tapes

and all of that stuff. I mean, they used to take the tapes and everything, play all of this stuff over the radio. You know what I'm saying? In the Hall 9. So T.A. wanted me to play keyboards on his tape because he knew I play instruments. He took me up to the studio.

I played the keyboard on his tape. And back in the days, Bunny, playing the dozens was the thing. You know what I'm saying? Talking about your mom, talking about your pops, talking about your sisters, your brothers, the big hole in your roof, the big rip in your couch, you know, with the roaches coming out of it

and all of that stuff. I mean, playing the dozens was back, you know, back in the day was the thing, you know? Right. And there was a time when he took me up to the studio, Chuck, Hank and Keith started ragging on me. Your boy Flavor Flav took them all down by myself. I took them all down by myself.

And you know what? You know, that's that's that's where love happened. Right there. I started going up to the studio every day, hanging out with Chuck and Keith and Hank. Then one day I go up to the studio and I hear... I'm like, what the hell is Chuck doing in here? I opened up the studio door bunny and back in the days we had cassette tapes,

Chuck D had the cassette tape coming out of the deck, around the microphone stand, back into the cassette deck as a loop. I just want you to know, that was the first loop. Chuck D created the loop, man. I don't care what nobody say. So he was making the tape for the radio show, right? So I told him the story about this guy named Ron D. Wellie

from the Play Hard crew, wanted to battle him. He's like, yo, where's your boy Chuck at, man? Come on, he's square, he nice, man. Tell him I wanna battle him. He's like, yo, where's your boy Chuck at, man? Come on, he swear he nice, man. Tell him I wanna battle him. I said, well, yo, Chuck don't battle nobody, first of all. Second of all, we'll set you up for battles. You know what I'm saying? And I started defending Chuck and I started saying,

and Chuck, let me tell you something. He don't swear he nice. He knows he's nice. Chuck said, yo, put that story on the beginning of this tape. Put that story on the beginning of this tape. Said, okay. So I said,

hey yo Chuck, bust a move man. Now I was on my way up here to the studio and this brother stopped me and asked me, yo, what's up with that brother Chuck E.D.? He swear he nice. I said, yo, the brother don't swear he nice. He knows he's nice. You know what I'm saying?

So Chuck, I got a feeling you turning into a public enemy, man. Now remember that line you was kicking to me on the way out to LA, Laurelton, Queens, when we was in the car on our way to the shop? Well, right now, kick the bass for them brothers and let them know what goes on. Chuck said, what goes on?

Well, I'm all in, put it up on the board. Another rapper shot down from the map that run. One, two, three, down for the count to resort to my lyrics. Oh yes, slow down. I'm like, yo, yo, we gotta put this out. We gotta put this out, we gotta put this out. Had you guys already named yourselves Public Enemy? By this time you guys were still doing...

No, we were. They were still Spectrum City and I was just Flavor. Where did Flava Flav come from? Where did that name come from? Well, back in the day, back in the day, you know, my personality was crazy. You know what I'm saying? Like I told you, Chuck Hank and Keith,

they tried to rag me and I took them all down. So I was a real funny guy around the neighborhood. You know what I'm saying? Couldn't nobody take me down. You know what I'm saying? My personality was so crazy. They ended up giving me my own radio show on WBAU, And my personality was so crazy, they ended up giving me my own radio show on WBAU,

which was called the MC DJ Flavor Show, you know? Cause I was an MC and a DJ at the same time. And when my show would come on for an hour and a half, my show was beating out the mainstream radio station shows like WBLS and 98.7 Kids, Hot 97. My show was beating all of them out, you know what I'm saying, in the Hall 9. And we used to have people coming up by our radio station,

you know what I'm saying? Beastie Boys, Run DMC, we gave the Fat Boys, they first radio interview. Oh wow. Way back in the day, you know what I'm saying? LL Cool J, everybody used to come up to our station, you know what I'm saying? To hang out.

So one day, Jam Master Jay and DMC comes up to the radio station and says, yo, where's your boy Chuck at, man? We want to see Chuck. So I took them over to the studio and they were talking to Chuck and they were trying to talk Chuck and to taking that Public Enemy Number One tape that we made for the radio station. They want to talk Chuck into putting it out on Def Jam Records. You know what I'm saying? So at the time Chuck was like, nah man, I'm not doing that man. I'm having fun doing radio. And that's at the time when Dep Jam had first got started, Bunny, when the Dep Jam first got started.

So the money wasn't really all that great. You know what Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons at the time. Then when the Beastie Boys went platinum, LL Cool J went platinum, Run DMC went platinum. Now they had enough money to do the other artists, right? That comes into the, you know, up under the label. So Chuck finally said, okay, let's go, let's do it. So we went out to Def Jam, signed the contracts.

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We don't want him. And the reason why Bunny was because way back in those days, the voice texture was that bassy. Ha ha ha ha ha. It's like a jungle sometimes to make your wonder. How I keep from going no no. Ha ha ha ha ha. And Chuck's voice was very bassy.

My voice is real peaky. It was high. It was annoying. And the whole nine, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. So Chuck was like, hey, annoying, and the whole night, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. So Chuck was like, hey, listen, check this out. If he's not part of this, this ain't gonna work.

So Chuck forced me down Def Jam's throat. That was nice of Chuck to do. And ever since Chuck D forced me down Def Jam's throat, y'all public enemy, we became large, we became big. And also, your boy Flava Flav ended up becoming the most sampled voice in the history of music. Yes. Nobody's voice has been sampled more than mine.

I believe that. So where did the name Flava Flav come from though? Was it from that radio show that you had? Well, it came from a guy named Kevin Starks, right? That used to watch over me back in the day. When you say watch over you? The name that I grew up with Bunny is Rico. R-I-C-C-O.

Cause I was known as Rico Drayton. That was my name around town, Rico and everything. Kevin used to watch over me. So remember the story I was telling you about when I used to cash in those bottles, I used to always go for the lifesavers and the now and laters, the different colors, sodas, the fruit punches and the pineapples and the grapes

and the orange and all of that. Kevin used to call me a freak for flavors. So he started calling me flavor freak. Reek the flavor freak. So when MCing started getting popular, Bunny, I wanted a name that nobody had and nobody else would want, but yet it would have to mean something. So I said, let me try, let me try MC Flavor, DJ Flavor.

So back in the days, people started taking your name. Like, for instance, if I call you Bunny, your name is Bunny, you'd be Bunny Bun. Yeah, yeah. You know what I'm saying? Robert was Robbie Robb. You know what I'm saying? You know, everybody had these common names.

It was like an ad lib. Yeah, everybody had these common names. So it was Chuck D that started calling me flavor flave. It was Chuck that started calling me flavor flave. We just stuck. So let's talk about the clock because I've heard mixed stories about this. I've heard you tell one story,

but then I also saw an interview with Chuck D's dad, who said that he likes to take responsibility for you wearing the clock around your neck. I don't believe Chuck said that. Chuck's dad, his dad. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But who said his dad was responsible though? Whoever said his dad was responsible,

I don't think they said that. So can we pull up the interview? I'm gonna find it for you, but it's Chuck D's dad. He's doing an interview and he says in the interview that you guys used to work for him. Chuck D's dad did an interview? I never knew Mr. Ridenhour for doing an interview. So he said that the way that the clock came about,

he said you'll never give him credit for it, but he said you used to work for him and that you were always late and he would always have to show up on your door and be like, Flav, come on, we gotta get to work. And finally he said to you one day, Flav, why don't you just put a clock around your neck so that you're on time?

I want you to see this because I can't believe you've never seen this. I would pick him up every morning. I'm responsible for that clock that he wears on his chest because every morning he was supposed to be at our house at seven and I would be in my kitchen waiting and he wouldn't show up. So I would jump in the car and go down to this house and

His mother Mrs. Drayton would come to the door and I would say is Rico up and she would say no mister right now he He's just getting up or something like that and he would come to the door And so that would happen every day and finally one day he comes to the door and say, Oh, Mr. Riner, I'm so sorry I'm late. And so that would happen every day. And finally one day he come to the door and I said, why don't you get a clock and put it on your chest with a law and this way you'll know what time it is. So that's basically where that clock came from. So you owe some royalties basically. Yeah, he never gave me a dime.

Never gave me a dime. Mr. Rod Nower, I missed him, man. I'm so glad I could show you something that you've never seen before. I missed that man so much, man. Bunny, you don't even know, man. Just seeing that right there just really, really touched me, you know what I'm saying?

He's really taught me a lot, man, about New York City. You know, getting to and from in New York City, from uptown, downtown, east, west. Man, Mr. Ridenhour taught me all of the ropes. Oh, man, that man right there, he was one of the best, man. He's so gracious, so kind, man. You know what I'm saying? Oh man, that man right there, he was one of the best men. It's so gracious, so kind, man. You know what I'm saying?

And he was more like a leader. You know what I'm saying? I love that. So did he originate the clock? So this is how the clock originally happened, okay? There was this lady that came through my projects and me and my friends were in the hallway playing the dozens.

And I mentioned to you my boy, son of a Berserk, T.A. the DJ. So this lady came through our projects with this box of shower clocks that she stole from a place called Fortunoff, right? So around that time, Bunny, stopwatches was the fad. And everybody was wearing stopwatches. Right?

So as a joke, T.A. Berserk took one of the clocks out of the box, took the stopwatch off my neck, put the clock around my neck. When he put that clock around my neck, everybody started laughing. Ah, yeah, it was funny. Da-da-da-da-da, and the whole nine, right?

Now, back in those days, if you dared Flavor Flav to do something, Bunny, Flav would do it. Right. I don't care whatever it was, I decided to jump off the roof. Right. Flavor Flav would do it. So they dared me to wear that clock on stage for a show, during a show.

So when we went to open up for the Beastie Boys Bunny in Passaic, New Jersey, 1986, I wore that clock. I wore the shower clock around my neck. When we got the newspaper clippings back the next day, we were on the front page of the New York Times, New York Post, Daily News, and the look of the clock was dope.

So I decided to keep that. And if you look back at a lot of our early public enemy photos, y'all would see Chuck Dior o'clock too. You know what I'm saying? So after every show, Chuck would take his clock off. But before the show, he'll put it on and we would go out clocks. After the show, he would take his off. So finally, after a few years, then Hank Shockley said, yo man, you should take that clock off, man.

It's played out, man. You know what I'm saying? It's worn out, it's old. I said, I'm not taking my clock off. I'm not stop wearing my clock for nobody. I just kept on wearing it and kept on wearing it till finally it ended up becoming my signature, became a part of me.

So that's how the clock really, really started. There were a lot of times, man, when I was late getting to Mr. Ridenhouse. I used to be late because I was messing up back in those days too. You know what I'm saying? And the whole night. And I thank God for Mr. Ridenhouse giving me a job. You know what I'm saying in the whole nine and I thank God for Mr. Ridenhour giving me a job. You know what I'm saying? Because you know, it also

taught me Mr. Ridenhour, working with Mr. Ridenhour taught me how to be a better man today. You know what I'm saying in the whole night? Because like I said, Mr. Ridenhour had good leadership. You know what I'm saying? And one thing that I could say about him and Chuck, oh my God, baseball fanatics, man. They used to sit around watching baseball after baseball after baseball after baseball after baseball. You know what I'm saying?

Yeah, man. Oh, there's some pictures of Chuck wearing the clock. One day, Mr. Ridenhour says to his son, Eric, Eric, get Flavor on the phone. He said, why dad? He says, he might be our cousin. Serious business. The reason why is because my mother's last maiden name, her last name is Deleston.

And I have Deleston family members in Freeport, Long Island. Chuck D has Deleston family members in his family in the Bronx. And his The Less Than family members were keeping in contact and in touch with my The Less Than family members in Freeport. Wow. You know what I'm saying? So, were you guys?

It could be some type of relationship there with me and Chuck, man. We still never got to the bottom of it. Why don't you do an Ancestry.com with each other? Why don't you guys try to do an Ancestry.com? Hey, I don't know. It'll tell you guys if you're related. That would be amazing.

I'm calling it now. You guys need to do it. That would be crazy if me and Chuck D is cousins. Oh, you guys gotta do it. You guys have to do it. So after all the success with Public Enemy and you guys dropping your record that went on to do, just so amazing,

have you ever felt, and people are knowing who you are, they're knowing your name, have you ever felt trapped inside the image of Flava Flav like it's not you, or do you feel like Flava Flav is true to who you are as? never got I never felt like I got Trapped in the image of him at all because it's it's an image that I created and flavor Flav is a street character based off of my real street life, right? so I never

And it's and this is a character that I brought to life but I never really got trapped inside of him because And this is a character that I brought to life, but I never really got trapped inside of him because I always knew who I was deep down inside and I'm the one that created that character. Yeah, absolutely. You know? Yep.

So being in the music industry, you're around a lot of people who are shady. Have you ever encountered like some really big snakes in the music industry? And if so, can you name who they are? I've crossed some and I've seen some, but one thing about Flavor Flav, if you guys would know about me,

I never have nothing real negative to say about anyone. You know what I'm saying? I mind my business. I never have nothing real negative to say about anyone. You know what I'm saying? I mind my business. I always mind my business and everyone else minds mine. Like that. You know what I'm saying? So you'll never really hear me talking negative

about anybody or you know what I'm saying? All of the negative people that I've crossed, all of the negativity that I've ever seen and never spoke about, I always kept to myself. You know what I'm saying? In the whole 90s. It's a very G of you. And if anybody ever talked bad about me,

that was their choice, but I never talked bad about anybody. I'm not, I'm not here. Absolutely. So yeah, but I witnessed some stuff. I witnessed a lot of shady people and I've witnessed a I'm not here. So, so yeah, but I witnessed some stuff. I witnessed a lot of shady people and I've witnessed a lot of shady things. No, I have never, never, ever in my life

been to a ditty party. Okay? Never, never, never, never, never, never ever. Take Flav off the list, ladies and gentlemen. He's never been there. Yeah, if I was ever on that list, y'all better take me off of that. No, Puffy was my boy, man.

I loved him, man. What was your relationship like with Puffy? Yo, he was cool. He was cool and everything. He remade Public Enemy Number One, and he let me be his protege in the car, in the video. You know what I'm saying? Then there was a time when they had

the Puerto Rican Day Parade out in New York. And Puffy was performing the Public Enemy number one song in the Puerto Rican Day Parade. And he let me be on top of the float with him. That's about it. Yeah. I love that. I love that.

That was your experience with them. And that's all that. I did nothing else with my man. I mean, we were cool. That's about that. I did nothing else with my man. I mean, we were cool. Yeah. That's about it. Absolutely. So after Nation of Millions went crazy, berserk,

you guys shot a video where people were really getting high in the video. How did you guys manage to pull this off? Wait, which one was that? There's a video, it's in my notes, that after Nations, it's a song from Nations of Millions album that you guys shot the video and there was people that were really getting high in the video.

Oh, Night of the Living Bassheads. Yes. Yes, because back in the days when people would smoke crack, they would call that basin. Everybody was basing. Right. You know what I'm saying? So everybody that used crack and drugs was called the bass head. You know what I'm saying? So everybody that used crack and drugs

was called the basehead. You know what I'm saying? So- How did you guys manage to pull that off? So, there were people that was really actually getting high in the video. And the reason why was because we were trying to create the look of reality.

You know what I'm saying? In the whole nine. And back in those days, we could do that and get away with it. Today. Yeah, never, you could never. Public Enemy is known to be like, you know, so political and so like anti-drugs, anti a lot of things,

but you were using drugs during the height of their career. How did that affect your relationship with the members of the group? But also how do they keep it under wraps or like how did they not manage to get in, you know, get in some sort of scandal with that? Well, see, let me say this bunny. That's what made up public enemy. You know what I'm saying?

The opposite subtracting, you heard opposites attract. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I'm saying? So Chuck D, the S Yeah, yeah, yeah. Me and my husband. So Chuck D, the S1Ws, Professor Griff and all of them, they were in that political stage, you know what I'm saying? No drugs, no alcohol, no fornication and all of that stuff, supposedly, you know what I'm saying, the whole nine.

But yet, I was the only one in the group that was using drugs, you know what I'm saying? That was out there in the streets, doing street things and everything, you know? So that combination is what made up Public Enemy, you know what I'm saying? How did it affect the relationship with me and the members of my group?

It was not a good relationship at all. You know what I'm saying? Because all of them were mostly, they were against me. Did they try to help you though? Did they try to help you get help? Not at all, not at all. They didn't try to help me at all. You know what I'm saying?

We just lived going head to head against each other. You know what I'm saying? And the whole nine, even though, I just want to say, even though they did portray that type of life, you know what I'm saying? But not everyone lived it. you know what I'm saying? But not everyone lived it. You know what I'm saying?

And the whole nine like that. I'm gonna just leave it right there. But I was the street guy in the group. And that's why all the attention was focused on Flav. When you come to a show, public enemy show, yeah, you got Chuck D, the hard rhymer, but everybody was coming to see Flav. When you come to a show, public enemy show, yeah, you got Chuck D, the hard rhymer, but everybody was coming to see Flav because everybody had a relationship with the streets.

And I was the first street guy on records. The first guy from the streets to ever really put it out there. I mean, the first record that I know of with a message was called The Message by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. And it was, you know, it was a message about what was going on in the neighborhoods

and everything, you know what I'm saying? But the message that I came with was that real actual hard street core message. I put slang words out in the streets. I put dress styles out in the streets. I put dance dances out in the streets and every dance that I put out lasted at least a year and a half and better. You know what I'm saying?

So when everybody would come to these gigs, a lot of people would come and watch Flav, because that's what made Flav that guy. Because everybody at one time had a street life and they could relate to me. Yeah. So let's move on from the public enemy part of your life and let's get into the reality TV because this is where I feel like the world

really got to fall in love with you. Like they loved Flavor Flav from Public Enemy but I feel like watching you on a TV screen was where people got to really like fall in love and get to know your personality and like just get to see you in everyday life. So you started with on Surreal Life, right? You started with Surreal Life?

Honestly, I started with Steve Harvey's Big Time. That was my first TV appearance ever. When I first went to LA in 2003 to pursue a movie and television career. You know what I'm saying? It was my boy, Norris, that used to be an editor for Fox Five and he used to edit for the Steve Harvey Big Time Show.

And Steve Harvey's Big Time Show, that's when he had all kinds of different acts coming on his show and everything. And Norris was like, Flav, you gotta come with me, man. You gotta come with me to the Steve Harvey show, man. You know what I'm saying? I want to sit in the audience,

let the cameras come on you, this and that, da da da da da. I took him up on it one day, Bunny. And I went down to the big time show with Norris. Next thing you know, they sat me in the aisle seat. They gave me an aisle seat. I'll never forget this. They gave me an aisle seat.

Then the cameras came up on Flav. And the cameras, you know, was on me. Next thing you know, my phone in my pocket is blowing up and people back at home was like, yo Flav, we see you, we see you. This and that, that and this. Steve Harvey came out and he said, everybody, I see that young man right there,

if it wasn't for Flav or Flav and his group Public Enemy, I would not have a show today. You know, they're the ones that taught us to put our fists up in the air. You know, I mean, Steve Harvey gave it to him, to the crowd. He stopped the show to do that. That was my first TV appearance. So that's where it started.

How did that feel to hear Steve Harvey? Oh man, I felt, man, I was shocked to hear that coming from Steve Harvey. But that was my first TV appearance. So that's where it started. Then the second TV appearance that I was on was, God bless him, I miss this guy, man. My boy, Bernie Mac. Oh yeah, I love Bernie.

One of the funniest men in America, man. I was on a Bernie Mac show. Yep, I remember that. Which was a golfing episode, and I was on there with the great Monique. Monique? Yeah. So that was my second TV appearance.

My third TV appearance was a guy, Aries Spairs. His name was Aries Spairs, and he was on MADtv. So I did MADtv with Aries Spairs. They needed to bring that back. And Living Color, Mad TV, that whole era of TV was so classic. Yeah, that was my third TV appearance.

Then my fourth TV appearance was my boy, Damon Wayans, my wife and kids. And me and Kat Williams appeared on that show together. What's your relationship with Kat now? Are you guys still friends? I'll tell you. Okay. I got you.

I got you. Let me finish taking you through this journey. Gotcha. Right? So one day I went up into the VH1 offices and everything with my friend Sherry. And I went to everybody's cubicle, messing with everybody, putting this personality on everybody.

The word got back to Chris Brago and Mark Cronin, and a young lady named Laurie Muslow walked me into the office to have a meeting with Mark Cronin and Chris Brago. Muslow walked me into the office to have a meeting with Mark Cronin and And Kristen Brego and They talked to me and to getting on on the surreal life now I wasn't going to do the surreal life because to me bunny You know at the time surreal life was

Like for has-beens, you know what I'm saying? For people that was out there doing it big, now they're cold for a little second, you know what I'm saying? Vanilla Ice, he did the first Surreal Life. The second Surreal Life, MC Hammer did it. I wasn't gonna do it. They said, Flav, you should ask, ask Hammer how it was for him. I called MC Hammer. I said, Yo, Hammer, do you think I should do this

show, man? Flav, I think you should really do the show. It'll be good for you. And good things happen for me after I did the show, this and that. I said, okay, cool, bam. So it was MC Hammer that talked me into doing Surreal Life 3. So when I got on Surreal Life 3, you know, they said they're going to put me in a house with other celebs and they they want to see how we can live together. So when I got to the house, there was one person there. I was like the second person in the house. The first person in the house, I looked at her,

I'm like, oh my God, oh my God, I know you. I know you, I know you, I know you, oh, I love you too. But I couldn't remember her name. It was Charo. One of the sweetest ladies in this world. One of the most, man, I love, love Charo. She's funny. She was hot too, back in the day. Yeah, yeah.

Come on, where you think y'all got the name for your vaginas from, Coochie. Yeah, yes. You know what I'm saying? That came from Charo to Coochie. Coochie, Coochie, Coochie, all the way to the bank. You know what I'm saying? So anyway, so Charo was in the house.

Next thing, you know, this guy comes in the house, he has some weight on him and everything. And I'm like, you look familiar, man. He's like, yeah, I know you, you're Flavor Flav. I said, yeah. I said, well, who are you? He said, my name is Jordan Knight. I'm like, yeah, I know you, your flavor, Flav. I said, yeah. I said, well, who are you? He said, my name is Jordan Knight. I'm like, yo, New Kids on the Block.

Right? I'm like, wow, this is getting interesting. Then the next person that came in was a guy named Dave Coulier. We became good friends, you know what I'm saying? He's from a TV show called Full House. Then after Dave Coulier comes in, then this other girl comes in,

her name happened to be Ryan Starr, and she had got booted off American Idol and everything, but they put her on a show with us, you know what I'm saying? And then last but they put her on a show with us, you know what I'm saying? And then, last but not least, this big tall chick comes in the house thinking she's all that with these high heels and everything, you know what I'm saying? And I was like, I know this lady from somewhere. I know her from somewhere.

I couldn't figure it out. That was Bridget Nielsen. So they put us all in the house together. That year, Surreal Life 3 ended up being number one on VH1. ended up being number one on VH1. And that's where me and Bridget, we fell in love on Surreal Life 3. So before we get into you and Bridget, let's talk about you and Cat Williams friendship

and then we'll get into you and Bridget. So are you and Cat Williams still friends? Sure, me and Cat Williams are still friends, man. Not only that, but he was the host of my roast. Aw. And my roast was one of the most watched roasts in the history of all of the roasts. Even though Justin Bieber, he beat me out a little bit.

I mean, we're talking about the Biebs. Justin Bieber beat me out. Man, I love Justin Bieber, man. We're talking about the Biebs. Yeah, yeah, I love Justin Bieber, man. And not only that, but Justin Bieber got mad love for your boy, Flavio. Aw, I love that.

But yeah, come on, man. Cat Williams, that's my dude. That's my guy, man. We gonna always be friends. But way before I started doing reality TV, me and Cat were friends. Oh, where did you originally meet, Kat? Where did you guys originally meet? I forgot.

I forgot how that happened, bunny. You know what I'm saying? But we were real good friends, man. We ended up becoming real good friends while I was on my way into doing reality television. I love that. He seems like a sweet soul. Yeah, he is, man.

He's one of the coolest cats in the world. He's one of the realest. He's real. Cat Williams is real, yo. Can't with nobody say, Cat Williams is real and he's real funny. Yeah, I'm trying to get him on the podcast. I love Cat.

I've always been a huge fan of Cat, so yeah. Well, you know what? Try to put the word in for you. Thank you. So let's move forward to you and Bridget. I have so many questions about this relationship. Was this a real relationship or was it for the cameras? At first it was, yeah.

It was real. Yeah, yeah, it was real. Spot on. We fell in love for real on Surreal Life 3. Mm-hmm. What was it about Bridget that attracted you to her besides her beauty? Let me put it like this.

And this is where it all started. Okay, let me tell you where it started. On Real Life 3, Bridget Nielsen was the only one that would walk around the house naked. You know what I'm saying? And her hygiene wasn't all that great. She wasn't washing her hands and all of that stuff and everything. So one day, Bridget went to touching my face

and I knocked her hands down. And she said, oh, you don't want nobody touching your face. I said, I don't want nobody touching my face. She said, oh, you don't want nobody touching your face? I said, no. She said, oh, okay. Bam, I smacked the shit out of me. That's a big bitch.

Man, listen, now where I'm from in Freeport, Long Island, my parents always taught me if you get hit, you better hit right back. Because if you don't hit right back, then you'll get a beating and shit, right? So as soon as she smacked me, the first instinct, I reached way back to Australia and I came back, bow, and I smacked her in the face.

She grabbed her cheek. She looked down at me and she said, oh, I like that. I'm looking up at this lady like, Oh, it's late. If you want a TV, I said, I'm looking up at her and I'm like, Oh, flavor, if you want a TV career or whatever, you better make friends with this lady because you don't know who the fuck she is. You know, you don't know.

She beat you up, man. On reality TV right now, all of that fight to power. Yeah, boy, shit down the drain. You know what I'm saying? So- You're getting slapped around by a six foot Amazonian woman. Yes, you know what I'm saying?

So, we got the makeup and everything. And the next thing you know, we got real close. We got real close and we fell in love. You know what I'm saying? Once in real life, three. So after- Do you have OCD about people washing their hands? Huh?

Do you have OCD? Hey, listen, check this out. Honestly, you know, when people go to the bathroom and they don't wash their hands, yeah, I freak out over that shit. Don't come touching me, don't try to get a handshake. I don't even want a fist bump. Let's do the elbow, let's do the elbow thing.

I understand, I don't shake people's hands. I'll hug you before I'll touch your hands. Yeah, it bothers me, it really bothers me bad because you don't know what people are doing with their hands, man, you know what I'm saying? Scratching their nuts and picking up their nose, licking their fingers and shit, eating boogers. Ah!

Don't touch me, man. No, I don't want to shake your hand. No, fuck that. We ain't doing that. We ain't doing that. Listen, you are my soul, okay? Because I literally do not shake people's hands. I will not shake a hand.

The wetness of somebody's palm makes me want to jump out of my skin. I can't do it. I cannot do it. So take me on this whirlwind journey of love with you and Bridget. You guys ended up making amazing TV, which turned into three of your own spinoffs with each other. Right. Which was called Strange Love. Yes.

Because right after Surreal Life 3, right? After Surreal Life 3, Bunny was over. You know, we were staying over at the Mondrian, the Mondrian in LA on Sunset. And me and Bridget were the only ones that were able to go in the pool and swim around late at night, past 12. And we would be swimming in the pool by ourselves and there would be crowds of people just around watching us.

The producers got a whiff of us being at the hotel, swimming around and all of this stuff. They decided to give us our own show. And that's when Strange Love came into existence. And we did Strange Love one, that year, it was number one on VH1. Then we did Strange Love two, that year, it was number one on VH1. Then we did Strange Love 2. That year it was number one on VH1. Then we ended up doing Strange Love 3. That year was number one on VH1. Then when at all of this

time that I was doing these TV shows with Bridget, I still never knew exactly who she was and what she did. You feel me? So the love was real, you know what I'm saying? I didn't learn about Bridget until the day that she was leaving to go back to Italy, to be with her family and with her kids and stuff. We would sit in our room. That's when it was the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. We had the big suite. And we sat in front of the TV.

I started seeing all of her stuff. Red Sonja. And then next thing you know, I'm looking at Beverly Hills cop. Yo, she was a killer in these movies. I'm like, oh shit, I'm fucking with somebody like this? I'm like, damn, no wonder why I made friends with her on Surreal Life 3. Cause she was a killer in all of these movies and everything, you know what I'm saying?

So, so when she went back to Italy to be with her family Because she was a killer in all of these movies and everything, you know what I'm saying? So when she went back to Italy to be with her family and her kids and stuff, the producers asked me, well, Flav, what you gonna do for love now? Said, I don't know. They said, well, have you heard of The Bachelor? I said, I heard of The Bachelor, but I don't know, they said, well, do you watch, have you heard of The Bachelor? I said, I heard of The Bachelor, but I don't never watch it. They said, good! You don't watch it?

Listen, this is what we wanna do, Flav. We wanna take you and we wanna put you in a house with 25 girls, Flav. All you have to do is narrow it down to one. So I'm like, how the fuck am I gonna do this? I mean, how is this gonna work? You know what I'm like, how the fuck am I gonna do this? I mean, how is this gonna work? You know what I'm saying? I said, well, I think this might be kind of interesting.

Come on, let's give it a try. That's when Flavor of Love One was born. And that year, oh my God, and that was the number one show too. I watched it. And that's one that a lot of people remembers most because of New York and Punkin'. Yes. And that's the year when I picked tubes.

Yes. But that was, I mean, it was like... was, I mean, it was like, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um You know what I'm saying? Then New York came over. Yeah, did you see that too? She's gonna pull it up. Oh my God. Yeah. Yo, so check this out. So next thing you know, New York lunges that pumpkin, pushes onto the camera. Hey, I was standing there on the podium.

I was like, girls, I gotta stop this. But I was dying laughing. I know. I was dying. You, you gotta stop this. But I was dying laughing too. I know. I was dying. You know what I'm saying to the whole night? Everybody remembers that. Here it comes. Do it!

Slap me, bitch. You what? You motherfucking whore. You motherfucker. You put your motherfucking hands on me. Did you see that, bitch? Oh. Whoa.

Wow. That was it, I was dying. Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha. All right, listen, first of all, how do you have that much, how do you have? Hey yo, hey yo, I ain't gonna lie, but that's why my show was number one. It made great television, okay?

Yeah it did. That shit made the greatest TV ever. And I'm like, oh shit, this is on my show. This is on my show. So, Flav, tell me, you have 25 women in the house. When the cameras aren't off, were you allowed to talk to any of them or see any of them? Or was everything was on camera?

You're under 24 seven surveillance. Wow. So I'm saying the girls under 24 seven, I'm under 24 seven. I'm even being, I'm even being filmed while I'm asleep. Wow. You know what I'm saying? The only place that I wouldn't allow them to have a camera and it was the bathroom. Yeah, I mean, you got to have some sort of privacy.

You know what I'm saying? But other than that, nah, everything was 24 7th, 24 7th surveillance. Can we talk about your relationship with New York? Because she was seemed to have been really in love with you. Like it was crazy how in love with you she portrayed to me. Well, she probably, she probably was, but my thing was to make great television. Right. You know what I'm saying? So you weren't invested in that relationship. You know what I'm saying?

No, I wasn't in love with no one. You know, I was just there trying to make television, just trying to make great TV. That's why I ended up doing three seasons. So you never dated any of these girls after the show was done? No. Never?

None. Wow, I didn't know that. I always thought that you and New York had a relationship. I don't know why I thought that. No, never, never. But the only relationship that we had was a television relationship. Gotcha.

And that was it, you know what I'm saying? And I ain't gonna lie, but I really, you know, I'm real grateful to New York. I'm grateful to Hoops. I'm grateful to Delicious. Grateful to thing one, I mean the Thing Two, and to Pumpkin, to- Yeah, to all the girls. To all of them, you know what I'm saying?

Because all of them helped me make great television. They helped you make history. Yeah, yeah, yeah, they helped me make history, man, you know? And I couldn't have did it without those girls. They don't make TV like they did back then. Like this is like iconic that you guys even had this era of that great of television. I feel like they've been looking for that ever since that happened. And it's just never happened. It was so organic and so natural and just everybody was drawn to it. What was it like making a switch from being a rapper to a pop culture icon? Was it different for you or did you

like, did it still feel the same? I never thought about it, Bunny. All I did was just live day to day. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? In a whole nine. And even though while I was doing reality television, I was still doing public enemy shows too as well. You know what I'm saying? In a whole nine. So. Yeah, absolutely. Looking at today's music industry,

what frustrates you the most about hip hop now? Because the music has changed so much. What frustrates me the most about it hop now? Because the music has changed so much. What frustrates me the most about it, honestly? Honestly, nothing. And the reason why I'm not frustrated about anything with hip hop is because I don't let everybody else's problems be mine. Right.

You know what I'm saying? And the whole nine, you know else's problems be mine. Right. You know what I'm saying? And the whole nine, you know, I got my own. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like I said, I mind my own business and everybody else my minds. Absolutely.

You know what I'm saying? And there's a lot of frustration going on in hip hop. Believe me, but I'm just not part of the frustration. Leave me the fuck out of that. Yeah. I love it. You know what I'm saying? Word up.

Hey, check this out. I can do without the mumble rappers. Check this out. I love it. Word up. Hey, check this out. I can do without the mumble rappers. Check this out. I'm hot. You cold. I'm with my boy Jelly Roll. Ah, we stop. I love it. Do you think that hip hop has truly given you the respect you deserve? What's that again? Do you feel like hip hop has truly given you the respect that you deserve? Yeah, I've been getting my flowers from a lot. You know what I'm saying? I've been getting my flowers from a lot, but mainly a lot of the older hip hop artists.

You know what I'm saying? A lot of the younger hip hop artists, they only know me from television. They don't really know me from Public Enemy. Right. You know what I'm saying? A lot of people don't know my Public Enemy journey. You know what I'm saying?

But a lot of people today know me from my reality television journey and everything. Because you're a pop culture icon. Yeah, and now, you know, you know, the brand new... Put it this way, when it comes down to hip hop, one thing that I have advantage over most rappers in the music industry is I have kids, kids as a fan base.

Being this age, I have children as a fan base. You know what I'm saying? Kids as a fan base. So, so I think about that when I make my music, I think about that when I do things, you know what I'm saying? And the whole nine, cause I mean, the kids are the emulators, you know what I'm saying? And the whole nine, because I mean, the kids are the emulators.

You know what I'm saying? And if you want them to lead the world right, you got to do the right things in front of them. Yes. You know what I'm saying? And the whole nine plus the kids are the ones that's going to keep you in business. They're going to, you know, grow up with you. You know what I'm saying?

To keep you in business. You know what I'm saying? I'm proud of the brand new fan base that I have right now. You know what I'm saying? I'm proud of the brand new fan base that I have right now. You know what I'm saying? And mainly me getting down for Taylor Swift the way that I do. And the reason why I do is because the girl is real. You know what I'm saying? I went and listened to her lyrics and everything.

And Taylor writes about a lot of the experiences that she goes through in life, you know what I'm saying? In the whole nine. Have you ever got to meet her? Huh? Have you ever got to meet her? I sure have got to meet her, you know what I'm saying? Like I always say, my favorite record of hers is Bad Blood.

And the reason why, because you know, you got some, you know, somebody that crossed you one day, you know what I'm saying? Like me and you, we were the best of friends, man. You crossed me. Now look what you did. Now we got bad blood and we got problems, yo. And it's hard to solve them.

That's in a lot of people's lives, man. You know what I'm saying? I'm like, yo man, this fucking girl is fucking dope, yo. I love her. Taylor B spittin' that game. Taylor B spittin' that game. Yeah, so that's why I started supporting her and anybody that goes up against her, I defend her.

Good. You know what I'm saying, in the whole nine. We do in this house, I do. Her fan base, her fan base got a whiff of how Flavor Flav gets down for Taylor. And they gave me a new name. What is it? King Swiftie.

So I'm King Swiftie, I'm king of all the Swifties. You'll wear that title with pride. Which is big, and I didn't get that name from Taylor, I got it from the Swifties. And listen, if the Swifties love you, then you're in. You're in like Flynn. And I love all the Swifties. You know what I'm saying? And listen, if the Swifties love you, then you're in. You're in like Flynn. Yeah, and I love all the Swifties too, but yeah, man, come on, man.

Swifties got my back, just like I got Taylor's, you know? There was a time when somebody was saying something negative about me and all of the Swifties, they got together and was like, come on, we gotta support Flav, you know how he goes in for Taylor. So we gotta support Flav, Swifties, come on. And they get together and they support me. Yeah, I love that. You know what he goes in for Taylor. So we got to support Flaves, Swifties, come on. And they get together and they support me.

Yeah, I love that. Well, listen, if the Swifties and the Beehive have your back, you've got it made. That's right. And the Beehives, you know what I'm saying? We're the Beyonce. No. I love Beyonce.

Yeah, she's a beautiful soul. It's beautiful, beautiful soul. Yeah, man. Yeah, yeah. Yo, she's the queen of all R&B. Yes, she is. I love Beyonce. Beyonce is the queen.

And she's a Houston girl, I think. She's the queen of all R&B, period. Have you got to meet Beyonce yet? I sure have. Good. I sure got to meet Beyonce and also Jay-Z the last time. Mm-hmm. We got to see them at the Grammys.

The last, no, wait, no, not the last time, but there was a time when I was at the Bel Air Hotel, right? I was at the Bel Air Hotel on Stone Canyon Drive. And I ran across Jay-Z, long story short, and what shirt does he have on? A public enemy shirt with me and Chuck. I'm like, yo, you got me on. I was like, yo, you got me on your chest, bro.

Yo, this is an honor, man. It's an honor, man. Yeah, yeah. HOV, I love Hov, man. I love Jay-Z. I always loved him anyway, you know what I mean? In spite of all of the bullshit that they've been talking about him and all of that.

Come on, man. That's Jay-Z, man. You know what I'm saying? Word up, man. I love him, man. He came a long way too. We got to meet Jay-Z. Well, Beyonce and Jay-Z were at the Grammys

the same time that we were there. And Jay, you know, my husband is a huge Jay-Z fan. And he's like, I want to meet Jay's well Beyonce and Jay Z were at the Grammys the same time that we were there and Jay you know my husband is a huge Jay Z fan and he's like I want to meet him so bad I'm like babe you have to go meet him he's like no I'm not gonna walk over there Jay Z came over to him and was like and said hi to him and Jay's like Jay Z's walking over here he's coming over to me right now I'm like babe pull it together just together. Just shake his hand, say hi. So it was the cutest thing when he got to meet Jay-Z because that's one of his idols too, you know?

So it was the sweetest thing. My husband fangirled over Taylor Swift. He got to meet her and then fangirled over Jay-Z. So it was really cute. Yeah. That's big. Yeah, that's big, man. So Flav, what is next for you that you haven't got to-

Oh, I just wanted to say too, right? Just elaborating on the question, have I ever met Taylor? Yeah, yeah. When we did, I think it was I Heart Music Awards and I gave Jordan Chiles a clock, a bronze clock, because they tried to take a gold medal from her. You know what I'm saying? But she rightfully went out and she deserved to win that.

You know what I'm saying? And plus we also made sure she got a prize money too, as well, you know what I'm saying? But me and Jordan Childs presented an award to Taylor Swift. Oh, yay. You know what I'm saying? And she invited Post Malone to come up

on the stage with her, because I guess they got a record together. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? We love Posty too. So then when I seen her in the audience, I walked over to her and I said, Taylor, do you know you just got an award

from King Swiftie? She said, I know. Aw, so see, she gave you the honor too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Come on, man. Yeah, man, Taylor Swift is the gift, man. I love that. One of the most important artists of our time.

Yeah, she's so influential. Let me tell you something. I don't care what nobody say, I never seen anybody do what Taylor Swift did. Nope. She had a concert and the shit hit the fucking rector scale. Oh, I bet.

Come on now. I bet. Ain't nobody else doing those shit like that. No, it's insane the power that woman holds. Girl's power is one of the most important artists of the time. I'm so proud of her too. Yeah, we're all so proud.

You know what I'm saying? Her mom's and her dad got mad love for Flav too as well. So I love them too. Yay, I love that so much. Okay, now we can move on. I had to get my Taylor Swift shit out. We're gonna clip the Taylor Swift stuff. I love Taylor man, I get down for Taylor.

Everybody be asking me, yo Flav, how you doing? I'm like, yo man, I'm just trying to Taylor Swift shit out, man. You know, because I love Taylor, man. I get down for Taylor. Everybody be asking me, yo, Flav, how you doing? I'm like, yo, man, I'm just trying to be Swift like Taylor, baby. Just trying to be Swift like Taylor, baby. I love that. I'm going to use that now. So Clay in closing, is there anything that you want to accomplish

that you haven't gotten to accomplish in this lifetime? What's left for Flavava Flav to accomplish? Well, there's an accomplishment that I'm trying to accomplish right now that I haven't accomplished yet. You know what I'm saying? And it has to do with television. You know what I'm saying?

I'm seeking to do the Flavor Flav show. Yay! And when I get this show up off the ground, Bunny, yep, you definitely gotta come on and be a guest on my show too. I would love to. You know what I'm saying? J.R. Abakum.

And this show that I'm trying to create, it's a variety slash talk show. Oh, love that. You feel me? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because like, you know, on my show, you're gonna have performances and interviews, performances and interviews.

Bring it back like old school, nighttime talk show host stuff, like how the old school, like Arsenio Hall and stuff like that. Check this out. This show that I'm trying to do is a spoof of the Arsenio Hall show. I'm taking it and put my own spin to it.

Yeah. You know what I'm saying? I love that. And see, let me tell you something. You know, all of your fans would love to hear what you have to say. So my show would give you that platform to be able to speak to all your fans and also to give back to your fans as well. Yeah, absolutely. You know what I'm saying?

So that's what the Flavor Flav Show is gonna be about. We're putting it in the air. We're manifesting. Flavor, thank you so much for sitting down with me today. Bunny, thank you for even having me on your podcast. You know what your husband means to your boy, Flavor Flav. You know what I'm saying? And word up, I go all in for Jelly Roll.

Yeah. Jelly Roll is my boy. I don't care wherever he's at, whatever he's doing, I'm gonna come and I'm gonna support my boy. I had a good time too, coming out to the, to support him. In California. Giving back to the firemen,

to the first responders and all of that. You know what I'm saying? And had my partner Chuck come down and we did a performance at his thing, man. I enjoyed doing that. You know what I'm saying? But also I'm just proud of Jelly Roll, man, because of who he is and the way he carries himself. And not only that, but man, he's, yo, he lost so much weight and he looks so good. I'm so proud of him. And like I said, his name is Jelly Roll. In a minute, it's gonna be just Jelly without the roll.

Trust me. Cause he's on his way there. I think we're just gonna have to refer to him as Jason. He's gonna have to go by his first name. He doesn't get the jelly or the roll anymore. Oh, okay. Hey, well you know what, I ain't going live, but that's a personal husband and wife situation.

You're gonna leave it at that. Yeah. I love you so much, Flav. I love you so much too, Bunny. Thank you for bringing me here and everything. You know what I'm saying? And I ain't going live, but these microphones look kind of good.

You know, your girl did my mics over here. Can we shout out her business? So that we- Sure you can. Sure you can. She does my clocks. She does the clocks. All of my clocks. She did your mics.

My microphones. I mean, she is the reason why we bling. Go ahead and speak in that microphone and tell people where to find you. She won't do it. She's like, no. Here, Mimi,'t do it. She's like, no. Here, Mimi, you do it for her. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, you guys just look. Check this out. Man, Mad Shout Out goes out to Rock and Stones by Kelz. Yes, Kelz. All right. That's who be, she's the bling queen. She really is. Yeah, yeah, she's the queen of all the bling.

Yes. And everything. Everything, baby. Yeah, yeah, she's the queen of all the bling. Yes. And everything. Everything baby. You heard me? You heard. Yeah. And you can follow her at, is it rock and stones on Instagram?

Rock in stones, like in a rock, a rock in, letter in like Nancy. Rock in stones. Stones. With a Z on Instagram. We'll put it up on the screen. We'll put it in the caption too, whenever this posts, but you guys go follow her.

If you need anything blinged out, please reach out to her cause she does all my microphones for the podcast. And I'm telling you, her work is quality, baby. Bye, Flav, I'll see you later. I love you so much. I'll see you later, Bunny. Thank you for having me. God bless you with your life, your future, your goals,

your wonderful family and everything. It just, thanks for having me. God bless you with your life, your future, your goals, your wonderful family and everything. It just, thanks for having me here. Love you so much. I love you too. Thank you guys for tuning in to another episode of Dumb Blonde. I'll see you guys next week. Bye.