The Breakfast Club - Best of full interview: Chris Gotti Talks Irv, Jay-Z, Ashanti, Fat Joe, Diddy, Hip-Hop Now Vs.Then, 'Clash Pro League' +More

Episode Date: January 2, 2026

Best of 2025- Best Interviews - Chris Gotti Talks Irv, Jay-Z, Ashanti, Fat Joe, Diddy, Hip-Hop Now Vs.Then, 'Clash Pro League'. Recorded 2025. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BreakfastClubPower1051FMSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Have you ever listened to those true crime shows and found yourself with more questions than answers? Who catfishes a city? Is it even safe to snort human remains? Is that the plot of Footloose? I'm comedian Rory Scoville,

and I'm here to tell you, Josh Dean and I have a new podcast that celebrates the amazing creativity of the world's dumbest criminals. It's called Crimeless, a true crime comedy podcast. Listen on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm investigative journalist Melissa Jeltson. My new podcast, What Happened in Nashville, tells the story of an IVF clinic's catastrophic collapse

and the patients who banded together in the chaos that followed. It doesn't matter how much I fight. It doesn't matter how much I cry over all of this. It doesn't matter how much justice we get. None of it's going to get me pregnant. Listen to what happened in. Nashville on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Who would you call if the unthinkable happened?

My sister was y'all 22 times. A police officer, right? But what do you do when the monster is the man in blue? This dude is the devil. He'll hurt you. This is the story of a detective who thought he was above the law until we came together to take him down. I said, you're going to see my face till the day that you die.

I got you, I got you, I got you. Listen to the girlfriends, Untouchable, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, everybody, it's Michelle Williams, host of checking in on the Black Effect Podcast Network. You know, we always say New Year, New Me, but real change starts on the inside. It starts with giving your mind and your spirit the same attention you give your goals. And on my podcast, we talk mental health, healing, growth, and everything you need to step into your next season, whole and empowered. New Year, Real You. Listen to checking in with Michelle Williams from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

I know he has a reputation, but it's going to catch up to him. Gabe Ortiz is a cop. His brother Larry, a mystery Gabe didn't want to solve until it was. was too late. He was the head of this gang. You're going to push that line for the cause. Took us under his wing and showed us the game as they call it. When Larry's

killed, Game Must Untangle the Dangerous Passed, one that could destroy everything he thought he knew. Listen to the brothers Ortiz on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. She said Johnny, the kids didn't come home last night. Along the Central

Texas Plains, teens are dying. Suicide. that don't make sense. Strange accidents and brutal murders. In what seems to be, a plot ripped straight out of Breaking Bad. Drugs, alcohol, trafficking of people. There are people out there

that absolutely know what happened. Listen to paper ghosts, the Texas teen murders, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Every day I wake up. Like your ass. The Breakfast Club.

You're all finished or y'all's done? Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy just hilarious. Charlemagne de Guy. We are the Breakfast Club. Lawlerosa is here as well. We got a special guest in the building. Yes, indeed.

We got a Chris Gotti. Welcome to me, man. Thank you. Good morning. Thank you for having me, man. Thank you. How you doing, brother? How's everything, man?

I'm blessed, you know, just taking it one day at the time from everything, you know. But everything's going great. Got a lot of positive stuff happening, and that's why I'm here. All right. If you don't mind, I want to go back a little bit for people. that don't know who Chris Gotti is. Of course, Irv Gotti's brother. Yes.

Irv Gotti's big brother. Yes. For Queens, New York, Highless. And you guys, have been in the industry for a while, and you guys, both of y'all, founded Murder Inc. Yeah, yeah. Most people only hear Irv when thinking about Murder, Inc., but you were kind of the silent guy behind everything.

So talk about how Murder Ink or the Ink was founded. It's Murder Inc. We hated that we had to change that name. That was Russell Simmons and Lee or that came to us and Ben Chavis. to say, put murder to bed because we was down with the feds and everything. Murder Inc. was founded because Irv wanted to be the biggest producer in the world.

I helped make them that. Finding producers. And we built out his production company called Top Dog Productions, and we just started making hit after hit after hit for multiple artists. Irv didn't say I'm going to start Murder Inc. See, this is the misconception of most people don't realize that they thought Irv came up.

We're like, I'm going to start a record label. He didn't start a label. He just wanted to be the biggest producer in the game. And that's what happened. And because that happened, Tom Metola, Dave McPherson, and over his Sony said, we want to give you a record deal. They told us they wanted to buy four beats. At the time, we're selling beats for $250,000 of tracks.

So that's a million dollars. I'm like, let's go get that. We met up at Justin's, the restaurant, you know, Diddy's restaurant. You know, and we go to Justin's and meet Dave McPhiz. and then we talk and he's like you know Tommy wants to give you a deal not he don't want to buy beats and to our surprise he pulls a contract out and look at it or looked at it and he threw it right back at him so you're serious sent it to our lawyer so that's really the bird for murder ink and we didn't have a name um we just came up with a bunch of things uh DJ Clues doing the

mixtape jazz doing a feature and inside of that feature we had a bunch of names we had thought of like lockdown records he says it in the in the um his verses on the features on the on the mixtape and that's kind of uh where we was at and then err was watching arts and entertainment one day he's gangster week and he sees murder ink on the screen and it's the notorious murder ink which was the the tying guys that was actually making hits yeah that was doing hits on people in brooklyn yeah it's luckily chiano outfit anesthesia and those guys and the the narrator of that show It was like the notorious murder rink, and they made hits. Irwin, crazy.

He went crazy. He called everybody. I got the name. But that's why, when you ask that question, how did you start? And if the co-founders, that's the co-founder. I helped make all the music with them, with all the producers. And I just took care of the business, and I took care of my little brother. And Jai was always the first artist of Mernick.

Another misconception. Jaya was already signed a death jam. So his first album, Vinna Ventevici, it's on Dev Jam. We just get the deal, but he already signed his deal. Oh, wow, wow, wow. Yeah, people don't know that. So we had to go basically back to Leor and say, that's our artists. And then we had to pay for it to get them back to Murder, Inc.

How much did you have to pay? A couple million dollars. Damn! Okay, that was after the first album. After Vinna Vennivita Vichita Vichita. And then they took some extra points on his next two. But a couple million dollars. Look, we had to pay for Ashanti.

signed the A.J.M. Records, which is a shout-out Mario Biasa. Mario's like an uncle. And he has Ashanti. He wanted us to do records for Ashanti on his label. He had a little independent label. And Ashanti was there with him and Irv didn't really think about doing anything. Erd would hit me with the tunnel vision. Like, stay focused, yo. We get money with John Role. I'm like, yo, she could write. She's dope. And we'll break that. We'll broke That ice was Fat Joe. He called me up because he's doing a big pun album. And he says, I need that pun.

I need an artist to, an R&B artist on the hook. I said, I got one. He said, you do? I was like, yeah. I called her up. She drove right to the studio, pinned it. Joe's like, yo, she's dope. I said, I tell Irv.

And I said, I went down. And he told Irv, and Irv said, what artist? And he called me up right after. Irves, like, what artist you're talking about? Like my R&B artist, and it was Ashanti. He was like, what artist? And Irv called me right after that. He said, bring it to, bring her back up.

I would bring it to the office, and Irv wouldn't even want to talk. Like, he's so focused. Irv is tunnel focused. Like, when he's locked in, he's no, I don't see no one like this, dude, man. And he would be there, and he wouldn't even, I would have to force him to just say hi and lie to them. Like, yeah, I listen to your music. Yeah, yeah, I'll get back to you.

So he'll walk in, say what's up, and right back. in his office and they were like, did he like my music? I was saying, oh yeah, he loved it. You know what I'm saying? And that's really how we got Ashanti, but Joe, the co-signed, like Irv is an artist. It's very difficult to make artists

listen to you if they don't. Erv was my little brother, I raised him. He listened to me up to a certain point. After that point, I had to get someone else so I would send messages through all types of people to tell them do something to get it. done it. That's what Joe did for me.

How do you balance family and business in moments like that, though? Like you said, especially when y'all got disagreement, so he don't want to listen to you no more. I never had a disagreement with my brother. I never put my hands on my little brother. You know, big brothers, they always talk about that. He was different. I always seen something in Irv from little.

He was just different in a different way. And again, when you talk music, it's like Irv did anything I did. He followed anything. I would never tell him anything. bad I was doing because I didn't want them to do it but the reality is

Erd was playing basketball I used to play basketball then Erf started really playing basketball and was really good and he had dreams of going somewhere for a split second BJ Carter from Hillcris High School was so fast

Irves quit after that he was like if I can't keep up with him I can't that's what kind of ruined his hoop dream but I was DJing and people don't know that I started DJing because I had got some equipment. I won't say how I got it, but I got some equipment. And next thing you know, Irv started DJing.

And he got really good. And that's what started the music. And then I was managing him in a group called a D.F group, which is Romeo and Rosel. Shut out, Rosel. You know what I'm saying? The Godfather noise. He's a beatbox.

Oh, yeah, he's built the roots. Yeah, he was the roots. We had him early days. He was from Hollis, 199 in Hollis, so he was right there. I didn't know that. I don't know why I thought Rosel was from Philly with. Not. Not.

No. I do want to ask, you talk about he doesn't listen. When he got to his later life, they said he was having health problems. Yeah. They said nobody could talk to Irv about eating health care. I talked to him constantly. They said he wouldn't change his diet. He wouldn't change his thing.

And they said nobody could get through to him. Why do you think that that was for her? Partially because my pops was hardheaded. He got it for my dad. So same exact thing going through diabetes health problems. And my dad was like, you can't tell me God didn't make this orange. and I can't eat it. You can't, you know,

this was really our problem and it's the ignorance of just health. And, um, Erd was the same. He would be like, there's no way you could tell me I can't eat this food. It's good.

And he would tell you it was healthy and it was trash. You know, and it was just hard-headed. Now, when he had his first stroke, he had two strokes. The first stroke, basically he was, Man, I didn't think he was going to be here after that one. I went to the hospital.

As soon as I heard, I flew right to L.A. Shout out BJ. BJ found him. You know, BJ called him. Picked him up, got him to the hospital. When he came around, he was like, I don't want to go to the hospital. Don't take me to the hospital. I'm going to take my meds now.

Again, it's probably just how we are, I believe. We're very hard-headed. I got a little bit of that, too. So I'm not acting like I don't. And BJ was like, no, he said, so stand up and he couldn't, he stood up and fell back down and he said, no, you're going to the hospital. Took him to the hospital.

I didn't know where he's going to get past that one. When I flew out there, he was there for, I was there for a month and a half in the hospital, staying with him when he took about two weeks before he actually came back and was conscious. But those first two weeks, I don't think he was going to make it. And I always credit it. B.J. gave us another year basically before the next one, you know, so.

Yep. Somebody told me, I'm sorry, but somebody told me there was a sense of acceptance that he had. And he would say, he would say things like, I'm going to see poppy. I'm going to be a poppy. Yeah, yeah. He wrote, if you've seen his gram, and I would always, when I've seen it, I would call him. Like, stop talking like that. I don't believe in calling on for death like that, unless you really have a deaf wish.

And I was like, you'll stop talking. You'll see him when it's your time. You know, Erv is very, you know, success. I pretty much see this in every successful person. They're very particular in how they take information from people, which one or who, you know, and Irv is no different. There's no exception to the rule. He's right there.

You know, so with success and money, and you damn, they'd probably feel invincible. I used to say Irv used to feel like he's God probably at one point when we was at the height of murdering he probably felt like he was the alpha and omega at one point and you think he knew when he sold part of his catalog right yeah no he sold it all well he earned on 50 percent of the masses we had a 50 50 so we had 50 he sold it it it was a 300 million dollar deal a hundred in cash 200 for um movies and tv products projects you think he knew at that time to set his kids up to be like if something does happen every kid to have that do you think that was the mentality

Irv is a hundred percent family. So, yeah, that's definitely part of it. And it's also part of health. And just not, you know, just want to make sure, like you said, things is there for somebody no matter what. Because Irv accepted death. He would always accept death if that was the consequence, whatever it is.

We both do. Like, I don't ever look at the consequence of whatever it is, right? The preciousness of life. Think about that. We're here for such a short amount of time. But we never thought or thought about anything like that. Herve's no different. And that's why when he got sick, and he would tell me, like,

if this is what it is, this is what it is. But he didn't try to prevent it. And that first stroke he did for his kids because he fought back. His left side was paralyzed. He got it all back. And I would be right there. You could get it all back. I did it with my dad at 82.

I made him a vegan. he no longer was diabetic but what took my dad was cancer the causes of that sugar creates the cancer in your body and he died from lung cancer he beat cancer in his thigh shoulder spine but didn't beat the lung cancer he finished he passed at 86 but look I'll sign off right now if someone said 86 that's your date done I'm 58 let's go it's just the reality of life like we all know this is you know this is you You know, no one talks mortality, especially when you're young, but it's coming. And we don't know when.

That's the reality, too. We don't have a, no one knows that expiration date. Well, how is your health? You said you, earlier, you're hardheaded as well. Yeah, no, I fast now. I've been doing this for years. I credit Phil Ivy. I don't know if you guys know who Phil Ivy is, the poker player.

I manage Phil Ivy 24 years now, still currently. Oh, and know that? Yeah. Wow. Yeah. I think he's been up at one. I think Phil, was he up here? I don't think so.

Maybe. He might have been early on. Early. Yeah. You know, shout out Phil. He's having another baby, man. And that's something I fought with him to have, you know, some kids. Got to keep him going, man.

Yeah. But, yeah, Phil changed my life since COVID. I'm going to go back to COVID. I mean, I was out in Vegas. I ran a record label called Supernova for him. You know, he had some incredible artists, man. It was crazy. he's not the best of understanding of how to not give these artists everything they want.

He gave them too much and when you didn't succeed yet, that's not a good formula for success. Got to have that hunger. I saw that you and Jarlal are figuring out some sort of organization to help educate people and using, so you're leaning into holistic medicine. Yeah, I've been holistic. For years, the only thing I would go to a doctor for today, would be like a broken bone or something.

Holistically, I fix everything. Any, any ills. But, you know, if you take care of yourself, those will be very far and few between. I really believe that. You know, I was looking, reading something with a Farrakhan or the honorable Lajie Muhammad. How to eat.

And he said, if you don't eat, if you eat one meal a day, he said, you might not get sick for every three years. If you don't eat in three days, you know, a fast in a three-day time, he said you probably would get sick once every 10 years. And, you know, if you go longer in a fast, it's like you won't even get sick. The food is what kills us. It's just the reality. The body God designed is perfect.

Think about it like that, and then you understand. The only thing impure is what you're putting inside your body. If you don't understand that, that concept will flow, then it's what it is. But I do, you deal with a holistic doctor, Sandy. That's my girl. She's amazing. I want to go back to the murder in the days for a second. What do you think the culture underestimates about that era?

The culture in that era, again, when I, I love these kids today, I promise you, but the business is all messed up because of the internet. I have a distribution company called Advantage music. I am fully engulfed inside of music from the house. to help or empower independent artists. But today versus then, it's, again, the competition today is, again, it's a needle in a haystack, for real today. Like, you could be the dopest artist and no one could even hear you. I always talked about this years ago, like, how can we don't have another Whitney Houston?

How can we don't have another Luther Vangel's? These are, like, iconic, you know, classical, you know, Anita Baker. It's because it's too hard to find them. And then the labels, when they stop pumping the money and to actually create that star and market that artist, there's no way, there's not a chance in hell. Today, the artist, that's the challenge. You have to actually become that on your own,

and that is a huge challenge. And they're doing great jobs as far as the marketing and building social media and all that influence. But there's so much options. You know, let's use food. We just talking food. I always talk to artists like it's food. If you're artists delivering music,

your feeding your fan stop putting out music and the fan is going to eat somewhere else they're not waiting on you today where they would wait on man that next Jaru album that next DMX album that next JZ album

they was waiting on that like I don't see that anticipation for the most artists there's still some legacy artists that are still today a Drake I'll use him or Kendrick they have that power a future you know

they still have that power but I promise you they better they better keep it going. The longer they go dorm it, the heart it is to get that audience back. So what's the biggest mistake you see labels making the day? The biggest mistake for labels is not investing in artists. We have to find a way to invest in the artists. You know, expect the artist to walk in the door and be a star.

It's like, that's not real. It's ridiculous. That's not real. Michael Jackson was five years old, groomed to be the king of pop for all those years. It's a reason. It's not just by chance. And, of course, quality music and talent. It has to be there.

So, again, it's what it is. You've got a groomed. You've got to groom and you've got an understanding. There's so many outlets now that reach so many people. It's not just here, right? There's so many different places. So that makes marketing easier for the artist, and they still can't hone in on it.

The artists don't even like the market. They don't even like to do the press, you know, the press no more. The amount of time an artist has with a hit record today is another problem. in our day three we make an album we knew we had three, four singles we knew we dominated for a year like we locked in we have this year

this is our year not a month this is our year because we knew we had the first single the second single to third we locked and that's how we built out our business

you can't do that today you'll be dead you have to you have to feed them you know think about how much music like a Drake puts out It's a massive number and all the content he does and all the, man, it's night and day. I always want to know, how did you navigate where Irv having problems with all of your friends?

Like, one time Irv was not messed with Hove, then it was Fat Joe, then it was DMX, then it was Nas. Like, how did you navigate that part of it? Family's fight. If we're not close in the beginning, then it doesn't matter then. You know, it's really like whatever then. but it's not and that's just the facts um and you make mistakes irv made a ton of mistakes if he was here like here or not i'm going to always speak the reality of what it was irv made a lot of mistakes for instance with j z naz naz they beefing irv made super ugly you know he produced

that record correct to go after that and talk to j z and say i'm yo i'm going to sign naz what you think was you here for that combo of course we're in baseline studios what did hove say before irv spoke i said i'll give you the pg version but i told him whatever you want to do i'm with you and then irv's like

yo it's good business and he's telling them it's like yo are you crazy you can't tell your man you want to work with his enemy like that like and irv's like nah it's just on jay was like you know he was asking him, does he have real beef with him? He said, nah, it's just like music.

But Jay's keeping it cordial, like to see where Irv's going with it. Or Jay plays chess. He's not playing, like he wants to see what you're going to say. And Irv, as soon as Jay said, it's not beef like that, he turned to me. He said, I told you, I told you. And Jay looking at me like, yo, is he serious? And I was like, wow, he's crazy. But again, when you asked so early, you asked about, like,

I was always in a bank. Irv, this is all about Irv. Business is our business, right? The way we conduct our business, that's our business. But it was all about Earth. I never wanted to be in front of the camera, behind the money. Never. I was forced into that.

Everyone, you know, everybody. I was forced into it. But that's the reality with Murder Ring. I was always, my job from Irv was, what do you need? keep everyone away from him so he could stay focused only you know what I mean because I mean the amount of orangutans I had to deal with is unreal and not just New York every city we went into they all wanted in that's the error we were saying they all wanted a piece of the goose that laid the golden egg and I had to deal with them and keep them away and now that was signed

with murder angle fish now Steve stout and oh Steve stout shout out Steve man but the commitment missionism he's he's in that day he was a real hands-on guy and he's the one that brought the deal to us and er was like you serious we could get gnaz like we didn't think we could get that and he was like yeah we made the record the pledge yeah nage pledging allegiance to murdering think about that he's on the record pledging allegiance to murdering and then stout seeing the future in my And again, to his credit, again, I'm not knocking out. This dude is brilliant. In the book of hip-hop, he has to be one of the most iconic people in that book.

You know what I'm saying? Shut out, Steve again. The end of the day, he's seen the future. What's the future? Come on, murdering. We're murdering. What's the future? It's 50 cents.

He's saying it. He knew it. He knew it. Jai had a sneaker deal with Steve Reebok. We're on a private plane flying. They're designing everything in the, you know, in the plane and then he seen the future and pulled everything and switched it now jr only got a sneaker deal jZ got his sneaker deal you understand with rebecca and again uh he knew he

he he seen something and understood and made to pivot as a businessman i respected a question why did why was j as a friend it's a little questionable i get that that's what i'm saying why was jay upset with erv but not steve and steve presented the deal But Steve was also, remember, Steve was also part of a lot of, that's why Damon always has her beef with Steve is because of that. Steve was funneling a lot of deals with Jay and then seeing Jay getting pulled that. I'm investigative journalist Melissa Jeltson. My new podcast, What Happened in Nashville,

tells the story of an IVF clinic's catastrophic collapse and the patients who banded together in the chaos that followed. We have some breaking news to tell you about. Tennessee's Attorney General is suing a Nashville doctor. In April 2024, a fertility clinic in Nashville shut down overnight and trapped behind locked doors were more than a thousand frozen embryos. I was terrified. Out of all of our journey, that was the worst moment ever. At that point, it didn't occur to me what fight was going to come to follow. But this story isn't just about a few families' futures. It's about whether the promise of modern fertility care can be trusted at all.

It doesn't matter how much I fight, doesn't matter how much I cry over all of this. It doesn't matter how much justice we get. None of it's going to get me pregnant. Listen to what happened in Nashville on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know, we always say New Year, New Me, but real change starts on the inside. It starts with giving your mind and your spirit the same attention you give your goals. Hey, everybody, it's Michelle Williams, host of Checking, in on the Black Effect Podcast Network.

And on my podcast, we talk mental health, healing, growth, and everything you need to step into your next season, whole and empowered. New Year, Real You. Listen to checking in with Michelle Williams from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Have you ever listened to those true crime shows and found yourself with more questions than answers? And what is this? How is that not a story we all know?

What's this? Where is that? Why is it wet? Boy, do we have a show for you? From smartless media, Campside Media, and Big Money Players comes crimeless. Join me, Josh Dean,

investigative journalists. And me, Roy Scoval, comedian, as we celebrate the amazing creativity of the world's dumbest criminals. We'll look into some of the silliest ways folks have broken the laws. Honestly, it feels more

like a high level prank than a crime. Who catfish is a city? And meets some memorable anti-heroes. There are thousands of angry, horny monkeys. Clap if you think, she's a witch. And it freaks you out. He has x-ray vision. How could I not follow him?

Honestly, I got to follow him. He can see right through me. Listen to Crimless on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Dad had a strong belief. the devil was attacking us. Two brothers, one devout household,

two radically different paths. Gabe Ortiz became one of the highest-ranking law enforcement officers in Texas. 32 years, total law enforcement experience. But his brother Larry, he stayed behind and built an entirely different legacy. He was the head of this gang and nobody was going to tell him what to do.

You're going to push that line for the cause. Took us under his wing and showed us the game, as they call it. When Larry is murdered, Gabe is forced to confront the past he tried to leave behind and uncover secrets he never saw coming. My dad had a whole other life that we never knew about. Like my mom started screaming my dad's name and I just heard one gunshot.

The Brothers Ortiz is a gripping true story about faith, family, and how two lives can drift so far apart and collide in the most devastating way. Listen to the Brothers Ortiz on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Who would you call if the unthinkable happened? I just fell and started screaming. If you lost someone you loved in the most horrific way.

I said through you got 22 times. The police, right? But what if the person you're supposed to go to for help is the one you're the most afraid of? This dude is the devil. He's a snake. He'll hurt you. I got you. I got you. I got you. I'm Nikki Rick. And this is The Girlfriends Untouchable. Detective Roger Goloopsky spent decades intimidating and sexually abusing black women across

Kansas City, using his police badge to scare them into silence. This is the story of a detective who seemed above the law until we came together to take him down. I told Roger Goloopsky, I said, you're going to see my face till the day that you die. Listen to the Girlfriends Untouchable on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hi, I'm Danny Shapiro, host of the hit podcast Family Secrets. We were in the car, like a Rolling Stone came on, and he said, there's a line in there about your mother. And I said, what? What I would do if I didn't feel like I was being accepted is choose an identity that other people can't have.

I knew something had happened to me in the middle of the night, but I couldn't hold on to what had happened. These are just a few of the moving and important stories I'll be holding space for on my upcoming 13th season of Family Secrets. Whether you've been on this journey with me from season one or just joining the Family Secrets family, we're so happy to have you with us. I'll dive deep into the incredible power of secrets,

the ones that shape our identities, test our relationships, and ultimately reveal who we truly are. Listen to Family Secrets on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Instead of going through Damon and dealing with that side of it, I understand that. I understand why he's upset about that. As a, you know, Irv, I use Phil. I'm going to use Phil, Ivy, for this story.

Because Phil had a deal. I brought him this lawyer. I won't say his name but I brought him a lawyer and he didn't know who Phil was and I brought him a lawyer they ended up doing some business and the lawyer didn't tell me

and I didn't get mad at the lawyer I got mad at Phil said you can't do something and then expect me to not you didn't let me know about it that's on you bro that's not on me and that's the same way I look at with Jay and Steve

that you know what I'm saying if he don't go back to Dame if he doesn't go back to Dame name and say something. I feel you had to come and talk to me. I'm here to protect you. That's how Dane felt. And I get it. Like as a partner, as a,

Dane would have took a bullet for Jay. You kidding me? In that day, you're kidding me? It's not even close. It's not, it's that's, that's, that's what makes me mad with that situation. I was going to say, how do you feel about that situation? I spoke to, I spoke to Jay about that before. One time I told me, I just left alone after that. How do you

feel when you see it play out? Because you see how close they were. You were on tours. You were in studio. There's a lot of stuff that's personal, again, inside of a family that we wouldn't know that I don't know. You know, I'll leave it there. And then you've got to let families be what they are because of what it is. I respect both of them to the highest level, you know? At the end of the day, I leave it alone. And didn't Jay get back?

Didn't, I think I heard you tell a story about how when Jay used Irv's same line again? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, the same line. Because Irv was like when Jay told him that. It wasn't really more, it wasn't like physical beef. It was more lyrical and Irv went crazy. Like, I told you, but Jay's looking and I'm like, you my man, you can't be like serious. Like, but left it alone.

Chess, he's playing chess. I mean, right after that, Jay went and did a tour with 50 cent. They got the G-unit, a sneaker. He has his, remember, he had his, like, Gucci. Yeah, that's the car collection. And they went out on the tour. And then Irv, you know, Erv sat there and he's like, yeah, I just went out. He said, yeah, it was good business.

Because Irv told Jay, it would be good business to do this. It's going to be good business. I'm not not. But what he's not realizing, and Irv knew it after the fact. You know, hindsight is 2020. He realized that was one of his biggest mistakes with Jay. It took a lot to fix that. But they finally did fix it.

Oh, yeah, we had multiple conversations. But, you know, it was never the same, right? It was never the same. Like, what's that record? And Jay says, got to consult Earth. We've got it, y'all. He's got to roll. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Right? That's a fact. Jay took that off every forward record. Think about how serious that is that he said, no, I don't want to hear that no more. You can't get that unless you have the old original. It's bleated out. It's bleaked out. It is.

I didn't know that. It's called remastering, baby. Oh, so they're remastering. It's got to roll. I didn't know that. Yeah, gone. Does not exist. Go get that record and see if you could hear it.

Go to Apple Music. you can see if you hear it. I'm bad with titles. As much as I'm terrible with titles and names and stuff, I don't remember the title I break. It's on streets. It's on streets. You're watching, but it's only a customer.

It's on a customer. Jay used to sit in my office literally to wait to talk to Irv. That's how deep that was. You know, again, he's at the heights of unbelievable heights. People may not like to hear that, but if it's true, it's true. you know what I'm saying and it's not one time it's multiple times

yo is Irv coming I was like yo you understand my office go ahead I locked the door whatever he's like nah it's all good he just sit there and just be waiting and Erd when he come in they're going to but Erd would help him with all types of business ideas thoughts everything he respected Irv's brain

I'll leave it there now the fat Joe thing you can never I'm sorry the fat Joe thing y'all could because Fat Joe and Irv was like we fixed that yeah fixed that with Joe and Irv again never the same it was at my man jr's funeral and you know i told joe again i'm my brother's keeper i told joe you messed up bro and i went at joe and told him and he's like he understood we was at say less actually and uh i was having a meeting with my niece and um saint from um

interscope records and i didn't want to go and deal with this right now and my other dude big Joe kept coming say yo that Joe's over come on come on I said I don't want to talk right now he forced me to talk so I said all right let me go to him when I went to back days with Rich of course shout Rich and Joe and and Uncle Dan the usual suspects and I told him I said you can't shout out my brother's a sucker and then whisper I'm sorry that's a sucker move and I told him that's a sucker play you can't do that we're especially if we're like this you can't yell it at the top of the mountain and then come down here and say I'm sorry I shouldn't it did you know I asked them all

kind of crazy questions because that's just me it's like was you messing with Ashanti is that your girl you found her because of us what are you doing interfering they had a relationship what are you doing like I said and listen to I promise you go listen to anything or Earl did was yell how much he loved her in the way he's talking about every you could tell as a man he loved that woman he was heartbroken but i said how do you tell me you love this girl and you out with everybody else that don't make no sense he kept getting caught with like yo what are you doing bro but that's her that is her he wanted his cake and eat it too again you know him that's who he is and that's the reality of that whole thing but it's crazy like every time i says it just listen everyone

and talks all crazy. Just listen to what he's saying. Listen to the words. Don't just hear. He's speaking loud. We're Lorenzo's. We speak loud. That's what we do. That's what we do. But at the end of the day, you listen to what he's really saying, and Irv is not a liar. He is telling you the truth about her, about him. I was their counsel, meaning when they would fight, I'm over the four seasons with Irv, and I'm at the Ritz Carlton with Ash. Talk him, what did he say?

What did she say? Trying to keep him cool and keep him. the business you know what I'm saying keeping the business where you gotta be that's the that's the facts a shot you wanted me to play a part in one of her videos again I wish I remember the name of this video oh man where she's singing and she killed she's she's got the dude her her boyfriend in the tub she wanted me to play that part because she wouldn't yeah I'm not doing that she was gonna kill you yeah yeah but I'm really supposed to be herb right again it's like crazy and I told her I said the only thing I won't do is lie but I never took her I never took her side while Irv was here never so I all I said is I'm not going to lie now I'm not going to talk

about nothing but I'm not going to lie either like you can't ask me to do that he's not here no more he can't even say if I hear something wrong I will correct but that's it that's just for respect for my brother but I never erv hated that I never took his side with it hated it like that was something I had to deal with him. And I'm like, yo, that's your relationship, you know. That's your business. This is over here. He was like, she didn't come to the trial.

I said she was at the tribe. Yeah, because Darcel called her. I said, I called her. I called and said, you should be there. And she showed up. What more do you want? You guys are fighting. And what else I always say is I say, let me talk to your ex. And let me see what she's

going to say. Let me talk. You know what I'm saying? That's just what it is. That's the fact. Have you and Ashanti been able to talk since everything? Because I saw that you were upset with her when she sat down with Angie Martinez and she said that. I was upset because we haven't spoke in person after Irv's passing. Imagine that. And I promise you, I'm the reason she was murdering.

Irv made the records. But Erv would have never got to that point if I don't do what I did. I used to fly up to Jersey giving a music to make record after record. record if I don't put it on the point it never happens and I did that she knows it for her not to call me after her was passing she texts me that that don't feel right her mother Tina that don't feel right you understand like I did everything for them never did I did it one thing in return don't count tickets because I could get that myself you know saying to a show That's just the facts.

I'm not going to sit here and sugarcoat nothing. And that's why I felt the way. And then when I see it, I'm like, no, that's not cool. But again, I think in career, but she's a legacy artist. She has no new music. Her career is solidified. She's fine. Stay in shape.

This is the reality. And to live with them, you'll be able to do that until you're gone and make a living. She's fine. that's what we did we gave him him hit records that's the reality jai rules the same gave him him gave him him hit right

and jai again he's amazing and yes it's a marriage when I say we gave him it's a marriage um lyric and beat and I know there was a point she was like she wants her message and that's why erva's like

I'm not like leo meaning leo wasn't in the studio making those records with you meaning when you wrote those songs and I corrected it I'm part of that too when I put that record out and I did the beat

and then I have to go market promote it physically to get it off the ground you know there's so much details of the murder ring history that we don't know or the public doesn't know Ashanti

we didn't have her signed and we put foolish out oh wow yeah number one record in the country and she's not signed you know how much it costs us to get her from that little AJM records

five million dollars out of our part five because we got a hit record. We got a hit record on her. So now he's the numbers up. Five million. What made you all put the record out before she was from? Erv.

Irv moves with his heart. Leo said, I'm not going to pay for nothing. Irv's like, we're going. It's timing. You know, success is, number one reason for success is timing. Number one reason for all success,

any business, whatever it is, is the timing. Irv understood timing. the highest level we have to go now he knew what the world was looking for that's why she's still who that that's all it is it's the timing and she put boom it worked but now we got to pay and he did she knows we had to pay that money but look irv said loyalty he figured that's what heard him see this is the plot that heard him he's thinking i'm she's gonna be loyal with me on just business things and stuff and again then it turned into relationship to because in that moment he wasn't messing with her yet he just seen a talented young

girl and that's it and that's what she was that's what she is like she's she's amazing writers she's incredible artists and she always wanted to sing she could sing pitch perfect people don't know about it if you think about her career they always like she can't really sing but that's what irv created she hated she wasn't singing but remember she had three deals before her So she lost three times. Fourth time was the charm. So when you think about it from a business standpoint, I'm a business guy when I think the business of it,

that's what happened. You know what I'm saying? She was with Noonee and those guys in noontime and all of that. No records. But you're singing, you're making a record that no one wants to hear because the timing is not right. Not saying they weren't good records. It's the timing of it.

It's the error's changing. The culture. Irv is part of the culture. That's he created this culture, this sound that was coming out of us. and all these other artists, he put his hands on pause. Y'all probably didn't make a lot of money, y'all fools, either because that was a bad boy, said, wasn't that a sample?

No, yeah. Yes, it's a sample wasn't bad. We didn't give it to Puff. Irv kind of, he went to him and told him, I'm using Biggie, but I ain't using your Biggie. Puffy wanted him to use that, so he could get it. He went to the original. Thanks to Ozzie, brothers.

Yeah, yeah, I think so. When Irv sold the catalog for his part of the catalog, was Ashanti's Masters, a part of that? Yeah, every song he made. Got you. Every song he made. Every song he produced everything. Because when you sell the masses, it's not just mass, it's publishing goes along with it.

Because whoever's paying that kind of money, they don't want to go fight for the now with the publisher and say, you can't use it. They want it all. And, you know, I had to get a, you know, then that's what they did. They did that with Universal. So in our contract, we have full control of the master 100%, but we had to share 50-50. So basically, wherever that music was going to get put in. anywhere we could say yes or no to does that make sense yes okay so that's how we had to set up so when

he sold it they inherited that right so universal can't stop uh iconoclass or who has the masters now i was asking because right when he sold uh something previously like uh with jarul didn't give jarro a cut yeah he gave job but you know again that's family business got you so there's nothing like that but that was going down with ashanti's situation for the part that he's old job job was supposed to be it's a different business i was going to ask was job an owner of that's what Jai was supposed to be officially never happened

never happened why not just timing Erv was going to sign to Jaru's label as the first artist for Jai I heard that before that was like that's a hip-hop urban legend let me tell you something I have the

napkin I wrote the contract on and they both signed it I have it somewhere but that's what the contract was because Irv was like if okay we would be in the studio and Irv would re-wrap

everyone's song for them to show them how to deliver the song not so much Jai but like the other artists and then he Irv understood how to deliver as a producer he understood how to deliver vocals on music you know what I'm saying and that is what man

when Jai said nah you can't go out like that and he was like he's gonna write his song because Erv wasn't a writer John was like, I'll write all your music you're going to be my artist on my label and they signed the deal it just never came to fruition just like Jaws getting his piece of murdering

so that was his piece when he sold the thing that was his piece for it got you One question about fools It was a debarge sample right It did have Biggie's voice than foolish It was another one That was a remix The remix we did the remix

But we didn't know Oh got you got you The original doesn't have it The original doesn't have it What was the most underrated part of your role in build the murdering? I don't, I don't, you know, I'm very humble. Like I said, I did everything I had to do for my brother. I'm my brother's keeper.

That's the crazy, but everything I had to do on anything you could think that needs to be done, I did it. I faced 20 years, it's something that wasn't for me. That's the ultimate. If you understand the truth of the everything, Irv, and again, shout up, Go see the Supreme The Supreme Truth He got a documentary out just for crazy But Irv and Prine forged relations

I'm from Hollis-Quins I'll give you that dynamic Because Hollis and Southside don't work Prim is the king of Southside You're Queens You understand that You understand? King of Southside

My whole out of less than years All I did was fight dudes from Southside Shout on Monkey Dave He's someone that I fought all the time He don't know me But now we're just kind of going to connect on some good stuff now so shout out Monkey Dave

Monkey Dave used to be there waiting for anyone going to Hollis with like 20, 30 dudes every day at the Q2 the only bus that runs through Hollywood so but Irv again with all of this he was just

different man I can't explain he was different I seen something in my job aside from my mom and my dad always telling me take care of your brother make sure he's good you know and i had to take care of my brother so it never stopped i only got in of argument

with erv uh during the trial one time because he acted like he didn't remember and anything i did the reason i'm sitting is because i my counting was i got a great-a bill of health from the feds but a accounting of murdering we gambled a ton they had me gambling at 1.8 a week and that's not just me It was me, John Irv, all gambling with a bookie. And I had a book who keeps track of their, I do. Because I want to see profit and loss. And we could claim profit and loss in business. But I had every check I signed unless it was to me.

So anything we did to anybody, if I had to pay envy of a check, Irv, I'm going to sign this for envy. Anything outside of payroll. right that which i'm signing but anything outside of payroll irv i got to give charlemagne you know just i got to give just everybody he's seen it and it's okay to and i go so i never made one check without doing that see yeah again everyone say families don't can't do business give i'm showing you how you have to do it as family if you don't do it this way you will have problems so he can never look at anything and say a word but when we're in the trial and they say

you know what's this talking my checks and he's saying as Chris I'm like who like man nigger you told me to pay this dude you told me to pay this dude you told like don't get amnesia now and I like the lawyers had kind of got us separated I wasn't playing with him and then I said you better start remembering now and he did he started Irv didn't do the trial I always say this to everybody Irv didn't do the trial I did the trial I did every motion hearing

you know motion hearings you usually don't go it's just your lawyers and they're prosecutor and they're deciding on what evidence gets submitted into the trial that's where you win and lose cases my judge the first day said why we hear

we know these guys are guilty my judge I couldn't believe it. I turn to Shaguel, which is my lawyer. He's not here no more. It's Jerry Shaguel, best lawyer in the game. And I turn to Shaguel, and I'm looking at him, and I just start staring at the lawyer, and I write down, it's this grounds for an appeal. And I slide to Shiguel. Shaguel says, we'll talk after him. So we go in the hallway. And the judge sees me staring at him, and he realizes I'm not like a

paralegal. Oh, this is really the client. This is it. Because they never show clients never go to motion hearings. So they're like, oh man he oh and he changes everything up after it's all over the prosecutor smirking and laughing like yeah got him we got this one right yeah so we go out in the hallway and he said Chris I know the judge we went to school together he says he's probably going to be most furious judge you're going to get in the southern district I said what I said what he said I proud he said I wouldn't we could make a motion to changed because of what he said he said but i wouldn't do that i'm going to tell you trust me and i say oh my god i was like this is who you want the judge to be for my case and i'll keep it

on it you know when we first thought we had like 24 charges it wasn't just too they put everything on it on it just through everything anything preem was dealing with they threw on us and we get we get to the next day for the motion hearing And that judge blocked everything. Because he knew he messed up the day before. I really believed that. He blocked everything. I mean, I keep it 100.

I had a lot of guns and things. And I never sold drugs in my life. I might have robbed the drug dealer. I never sold the drugs, except for when I sold what I robbed. That's different. That's a different sale. That's a different sale. He said it to customers.

He sold the other drug dealer. That's what he said. Yes, yes, at a discount, too. They love me, these guys. So at the end of the day, end of the day, I feel that guilt he had, that next day, he blocked everything. And that is the defining moments of why.

There's no way those jurors, 12 jurors of not your peers. That are not your peers is going to find you innocent with 24 charges. And you understand? There's no way. you know, the most chilling moment for me. Again, I was very ignorant to a lot of this stuff

was the first day of court. You get in an all-rise judge. And they read Christopher Lorenzo versus the United States of America. I'm like, what did I do to the government? What did I do to this country? That I'm fighting them. Like, that was the surreal moment.

Even though you see it in the doc. But when they read it, I was like, oh, man. It was crazy. But I didn't do, like, everything, money laundered cases, or hers money. It's not my money. Why am I sitting here? But I signed every check and that's my partner and be there, my brother, and that's it. You all heard it down, though.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I did want to ask you about the funeral, because the hole came to the funeral. Yes. Didn't, I thought Ashanti came to the funeral, too? She did not. She sent some flowers. Okay. What about Joe?

Said Joe did not. His father, I'm, um, his father passed at the same time. Okay, got you, got you, got you. Joe came late. Actually, Joe was there late. got you got he left his fathers and got to us late i i seen him after at the end when it was almost over he did get there sorry joe yeah he wasn't in the beginning though you got you yeah i was going to ask you uh he mentioned the flowers and i know she uh shanty i posted a statement

online did that i know you said that you want to talk in person but like did that provide any sort of comfort for you guys in that moment just having things show up there from her to answer that really it's like it's a teller it's a terrible it's my dad was the words and irv passed that you know the connection between a sibling and the way me and irv grew up i mean i raised her that's not my father my you know my mother see my dad my dad was alcoholic my had a lesson years he's he's crazy you know what i'm saying but then he's he When he got older, I understood why he was drunk every day. He had eight kids with no money.

You know what I'm saying? I understand as a man, he never left. Stayed with mom. And I asked him that question, why didn't you leave? I could never do that to y'all. I heard you. You know what I'm saying? He's my hero.

But my brother, I had to explain this to his kids. I said, I know that's your dad. I know what it is to lose the dad. I said, you'll feel that the day you have to lose your brother whenever that day comes, and it's different. To this day, I can't, I mean, I got sick over Irv, man. I got sick physically after he, literally in the hospital. And they, what is it, it's stress?

What's the stress? It's my brother. He's here right now. But I got through it. I have to, like I said, so when you say that with the flowers, it's a good gesture. it's a good gesture I won't go further than that

and I don't want to be disrespectful to her because she probably thinks it's good but she should know better that she had to talk to me physically actually she should come see me physically I love Ashanti you know what I'm saying

that's like little sis for real for real we took care of her in every sense of the imagination she confessed me one day afterwards and she thanked me for everything we did for her

because now she's out there by herself and she's getting all type of indecent proposals let's leave it in that right because that's what this industry is let's not make any sugar coating about it it's an attractive young lady she wants to make music what could you do with this you want that beat

okay let's go over here and she told me she told me and she was like thank you she thanked me for always taking care of it on verses you know When she's with Nelly, shout out Nellie. I have no problem with these. Nothing. I fuck with Nellie.

But on Versus, the day of verses, he pulls up and I said, what do you want to do? Ask her, like, she come up and you ask her, what do you want to do? I'll roll this off the stage. She said, no, I'll give you the sign if there's a problem. But that's the day they got back together. That's why you don't get in the middle of relationships. It's different. That's why I never got in.

when her were together. I never did. I just tried to keep it cool with them and keep the business move. I could have swore it was reported that she went to the funeral. Okay, so she just didn't show her time. No.

Yeah, they lied. They did put a report that she was there. They lied. Again, she probably got a good publicist or something. I want to ask you, you know, you know, she should have came and say to my mother. Yeah.

That's the part that's deeper than just what it is. She knows that. She knows Nini. Come on. This is, All bets is off when it's death. It's over. Nothing Earth could say nothing no more.

It's over. Why can't you? And again, if it's because of your husband, you could come see me and talk to me. I could see you at a show. What's the difference? That's how I look at it, me personally. She had said that she tried to,

there was an olive branch or whatever that. She tried to extend or was extended, but it wasn't received well. So you think that that's why she kind of back there? She texts me. I wasn't in the move for texting. You understand? She got to understand that too.

You can't only have your view. It's two sides. She texts me, and she didn't text me. If I show you the date, she texts me. It's late. You understand? He's gone already.

So just put this in the, without me going deep. He's gone, and then I get a text after he's gone a couple days. I'm investigative journalist Melissa Jeltson. My new podcast, What Happened in Nashville, tells the story of an IVF clinic's catastrophic collapse and the patients who banded together in the chaos that followed. We have some breaking news to tell you about. Tennessee's attorney general is suing a Nashville doctor.

In April 2024, a fertility clinic in Nashville shut down overnight and trapped behind locked doors were more than a thousand frozen embryos. I was terrified. Out of all of our journey, that was the worst moment ever. At that point, it didn't occur to me what fight was going to come to follow. But this story isn't just about a few families' futures. It's about whether the promise of modern fertility care can be trusted at all. It doesn't matter how much I fight. Doesn't matter how much I cry over all of this. It doesn't matter how much justice we get. None of it's going to get me pregnant. Listen to what happened in Nashville on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

You know, we always say New Year, New Me, but real change starts on the inside. It starts with giving your mind and your spirit the same attention you give your goals. Hey, everybody, it's Michelle Williams, host of checking in on the Black Effect Podcast Network. And on my podcast, we talk mental health, healing, growth, and everything you need to step into your next season, whole and empowered. New Year, Real You. Listen to Checking Game with Michelle Williams from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Have you ever listened to those true crime shows and found yourself with more questions than answers? And what is this?

How is that not a story we all know? What's this? Where is that? Why is it wet? Boy, do we have a show for you? From Smartless Media, Campside Media, and News. big money players comes crimeless. Join me, Josh Dean,

investigative journalists. And me, Roy Scoval, comedian, as we celebrate the amazing creativity of the world's dumbest criminals. We'll look into some of the silliest ways

folks have broken the laws. Honestly, it feels more like a high-level prank than a crime. Who catfishes a city? And meets a memorable anti-heroes. There are thousands of

angry, horny monkeys. Clap, if you think, she's a witch. And it freaks. you out. He has x-rayed vision. How could I not follow him? Honestly, I got to follow him. He can see right through me. Listen to

Crimeless on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Dad had the strong belief that the devil was attacking us. Two brothers, one devout household, two radically different paths.

Gabe Ortiz became one of the highest-ranking law enforcement officers in Texas. 32 years. Total law enforcement experience. But his brother Larry, he stayed behind and built an entirely different legacy. He was the head of this gang, and nobody was going to tell him what to do. You're going to push that line for the calls. Took us under his wing and showed us the game, as they call it.

When Larry is murdered, Gabe is forced to confront the past he tried to leave behind and uncover secrets he never saw coming. My dad had a whole other life that we never knew about. Like, my mom started screaming my dad's name, and I just heard, One gunshot. The Brothers Ortiz is a gripping true story about faith, family, and how two lives can drift so far apart and collide in the most devastating way. Listen to the Brothers Ortiz on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Who would you call if the unthinkable happened? I just fell and started screaming. If you lost someone you loved in the most horrific way. I said through y'all 22 times. The police, right? But what if the person you're supposed to go to for help is the one you're the most afraid of? This dude is the devil.

He's a snake. He'll hurt you. I got you. I got you. I got you. I'm Nikki Richardson, and this is The Girlfriends, Untouchable. Detective Roger Golubski spent decades intimidating and sexually abusing black women across Kansas City, using his police badge to scare them into silence. This is the story of a detective who seemed above the law

until we came together to take him down. I told Roger Golusky, I said, you're going to see my face till the day that you die. Listen to the girlfriends, Untouchable, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome to Decoding Women's Health. I'm Dr. Elizabeth Pointer, chair of Women's Health and Gynecology at the Adria Health Institute in New York City.

On this show, I'll be talking to top researchers and top clinicians, asking them your burning questions and bringing that information about women's health and midlife directly to you. A hundred percent of women go through menopause. It can be such a struggle for our quality of life, but even if it's now, why should we suffer through it? The types of symptoms that people talk about is forgetting everything, I never used to forget things. They're concerned that, one, they have dementia, and the other one is, do I have ADHD? There is unprecedented promise with regard to cannabis and cannabinoids,

to sleep better, to have less pain, to have better mood, and also to have better day-to-day life. Listen to Decoding Women's Health with Dr. Elizabeth Pointer on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you're listening now. no nothing else she got my number she could like i would appreciate her to call i would appreciate you to visit yeah i get what you saying i understand like i said we did a lot you know and she could say whatever she wants about a relationship she's she whatever but she can't lie about her career who can who can sit there and say she did something more than what

what it is like yeah she wrote the records with him she hated every hit record How about that? So what if we listen to her? Does she become Ashanti? That's the facts. Baby, baby, baby. She hated that. Why, I was too many babies.

It's one of my favorite records. Irv went in the booth and told her, you gotta sing like this. He said, you gotta feel like you high. You don't get high, that's why you don't know what it is. That's what he told her. And he said, you gotta be strung out on a man that way. And he's so, I don't wanna hear it pitch perfect. I sound stupid, Gotti.

Sing it like that. And she did. See, I give credit for the listening. A producer has to be able to produce or else you're just a beatmaker. Right? And you're leaving it in the hands of an artist. And then that's the reality. If you trust that producer, which they trusted her, they was able to get through and make those changes. She compromised her own belief for his.

which is to her credit, you know? And that's the reality. Jai, the favorite time with Jai was holla, holla. I get that beat, I run to the studio, Erv puts it up, Jai said, Jai did two hooks, Ers said, write the hook first. We playing cards in the other room, he comes out with a hook, that's not it.

Go write another hook. What if Jail said, nah, Irv, that's it. That's what these artists do today. It's like they can't be wrong. No, that's not, that's it. Erf said, no, that's not it. Came out with another one, that's not it. The third one, yo, I'm gonna double it up.

I'm gonna do with the beat. Holla, hollah, hollah. Room go crazy. Go write it. He wrote the hook. And the verses was, it's like they was written already. That's how fast it was. And we're talking about 16 bars three times, three 16 bars.

It was like, as soon as he got the hook, the verses was like, done, hit record. But that's the beauty of a producer. And that's to me, Irv is a producer. For real, for real. And then when I look in the industry, Dr. Dre, who is Irv's idol, he idolized. Like, he's the best. I don't even know how he made this or how he did that.

But Dr. Dre is a real producer. No, and you have a lot of them. You know, I remember Tim and Irv, you know, they used to have little competitions, you know. And he would tell, because Tim's on huge records. And Irv would say, did you tell them what to do? he said how come you didn't make magua hit you know this is this was irving tim's conversations but when you think about it it's real i get it i'm just in the back

listening you know i'm that and i'm like man that's real stuff though how many people did you have to fight for irv because irv had a crazy mouth falls i mean erv would go out i would get the call over and over that's like a constant all of his friends everyone will tell you like they would call me

and they would be like yo your brother's here but you know I really don't fuck with him I said well then don't call me you can't not fuck with my brother and tell me you fuck with me

that's impossible nah you know what I mean Chris you know what I mean I wouldn't make sure he's good and that's what would happen so I didn't really fight a lot I'm blessed I was blessed in a sense of

I got a lot of respect you know um the people i fought wasn't really for irv i fought a lot but it wasn't for irv there was a respect and when i everyone knew if you didn't mess with irv you can't fuck with me don't come over here you know i'll give you to jimmy hinchman shout out jimmy again but this is how we actually got cool he kept coming and meet me at different clubs you all want to talk to your brother i said okay what you want to talk about jimmy talked to me I said, I want to talk to your brother. I said, Jimmy, I'm telling you, I'm going to get it to.

Like, I don't lie. If you're going to tell me, I'm going to get it to Irving. Just talk to me. And then he said it again, and I said, I am, Irv, what's up? And then, oh, yeah. And then it was tension. A lot of tension with Jimmy. Now, we didn't get into any conflict.

We resolved it. But when you deal with predators, and I dealt with a lot of predators, you have to deal with them. They only respect power. So if I didn't show Jimmy's strength, it would have been probably a whole other situation. Do you think the industry is messed up because, and this is going to sound crazy. Back in the day when hip hop was prevalent

and everybody was running, there were predators or there were street guys. Was it worse then than today? It seems like it's not as bad. It seems like people are just doing whatever they want to do. I think it's a thousand times worse back in our era versus today. But you think there was more control? There was somebody on the West.

There was somebody in Houston. There was somebody in Brooklyn. There was somebody in Queens. There was somebody in Bronx that kept the artist being artists. And the street guys were the ones. There was a cold. It doesn't seem like that code is there now. It is, let's say, lawless.

But the code back then, most people didn't have the right person they was dealing with. I mean, I don't want to, but I had tons of people's jury in my hand that I shouldn't have. in my hand. And I'm like, and the reason they come to me, they was coming to me, these guys was, they would tell me, do you know them? I'll get it back to them. But then they want me to pay for them or want them to pay for it. And I'm like, nah, I don't want to get into the middle of that business. Now, if you was my man and it was that, I'd call you up. And I would ask you, hey, something happened? I wouldn't say anything. I would ask you, you're good. And I want them to confess. And they would 99 times out of 100, they did not confess. They would act like

it was cool. Like, nah, no one wants to act like they got robbed or anything. They want to always act like, okay. If you don't, you said nothing, cool. You know? I saw that, I started to cut you off. Just speaking of this, made me think of it. They're doing the Supreme team of a docket series or documentary.

Well, the docus series is a documentary on Supreme is called the Supreme Truth. And, yeah, shout out Luke. He made an incredible film, him and Michael J. Payton. And it's, again, just backed on with facts. Like, it was fact check. There was no, this is my opinion. You know, that's one of the things premium insisted on.

He wanted to get all of the facts where people lied or this is impossible because this is what it is. Because the reality is he's in on the wrong charges. And I'll leave it at that. What he's convicted of is not what he did. but when you go in front of 12 people with a history like he has oh man good luck in getting them to say not guilty

and that's just the facts because I was there for that whole trial and it's all it's all lies based on lies, it's all snitches but the 12 were going to believe that because you have a history they're not going to sit there and say

oh he couldn't have done that that part of your brain is not happening it's not happening The Diddy trial must have drove you crazy. You know, the Diddy trial, I was just with Christian out in L.A. not too long ago. Shout out Christian and the whole family, you know, Justin, and I'm. Because I can't imagine what they're dealing with. My biggest problem with the trial was when it first started, you know, the way they promoted,

I thought something was going to come out of, like, some real, we're going to hear about all types of crazy shit, you know. You don't hear nothing. We heard the girl. Yeah, he enjoyed having a freak off. you know, dudes with large members, pause. At the end of the day, and she was paying them. My biggest problem is this.

He's a, if he's not a billionaire, he's right there. Let's call him a billionaire. How does this black billionaire with this lack of evidence, the prosecutor had to remove charges in the middle of the trial, said, oh, we're not going to go after these, we're taking these off, because they didn't have no evidence for it, not get home, not be able to fight this from home. That's all I'm saying.

Nothing else. Why couldn't he fight this from home? You know, the Abercrombie and Fitch people, they, five million dollar bail in their home, and they got all the boys. They was messing with them little boys and girls. Like, come on. Enough is enough, man.

But as people, if we don't get together, we will never get anywhere. And that's the biggest problem. They know we can never get together. You think he's going to get to come home and get the time served on the prosecution? He's definitely getting time served. And it's just a question of,

what they charge him with how much is the judge going to give him how much amount of time i'm i'm afraid for him really yeah only because they didn't let him go he should have been home he should not he's almost in a year we all watch the case he's longer than the year hasn't it even october it's only been like 13 14 months yeah that's a little longer than a year yes so When you say more than a year, I'm thinking like you're hitting at like two years plus. We got you. But he's, for being in that long, it's crazy. For the charges that, I mean, for the case that I heard, it's not a domestic violence case.

I don't condone. I'm a protector of women. So at the end of the day, if I see a female in duress, I would be in the middle of that problem. Now, if it's a relationship, like I said, I don't do that. I got five sisters, I got a mother, I got a ton of nieces, I got a daughter. You're not playing with no women as a man. So when I heard the domestic violence, I don't condone that, but that's not a domestic violence case in the feds.

He's an MDC right now. That's a real place. No, that's not cool, man. And I was early on it because I was waiting to hear something, and a prosecutor will always come out with the smoking gun. The first thing, they're going to talk about it. And I didn't hear nothing. And right after that, I was like, leave, let Diddy

go, man, this is terrible. You know, hold your head, bro. And again, you're, whether, someone's sexual preferences is nothing. If he involved kids, then that would have been a problem. I'm again,

women, kids, you can't play with that shit. Not around me, no. Now, Abercombeer, a first thing was interesting, too, because it was always saying that he got a bell because of his age. Yeah. And then they said he was unfit to stand trial because he had dementia. Yeah.

Yeah. I don't know. Puff, you got to go crazy too. You should have make me crazy. I want to ask you something else about, you know, Dame Dash is doing the Supreme Team TV series. Yeah, yeah, Kyle, shout out Kyle, Prime's son. He got Dame and he's talking to Prince and in, uh, Prame. We was on the phone.

Dope. Yeah, we was on the phone. Like, the reality is someone. Anyone could tell Prince's story from the 80s. Once you get into the 90s, and that's murdering. He's attached to the hip. I went through the whole trial for it. That's really what the public wants to hear about.

Wasn't Irv doing a Supreme Team TV show? Yes, he was. We had, man, Jamie Fox, Michael J. Michael J. Michael, B. Jordan. Michael B. Jordan. Michael B. Jordan to play Prince, his nephew, and Jamie Fox was.

going to play pram we had was talking to leonardo decapio for for the detective like the lead detective role wow no it's powerhouse was it gonna be a movie or tv show it was a movie wow but here's what happened here's what happened irv earth earth happened we was irved he he cursed out the president of beatty or told him he's like not black he didn't really curse him out he's not black so scott mills or yeah yeah i didn't want to say say his name, but yeah, Scott, I'm trying to do business over there, Scott, you heard me? We'll get on to that next. But he tells him he's not black, he don't know his culture, all types of stuff like that.

Irv was very close with Bob Backish. Bob Backish was the CEO of Viacom who owns, on Controls, BT, Paramount Films. So we was getting a deal with Paramount for this movie, the praying team, through Bob. And Bob, Irv thought he was going to protect him with Sky. And then Irv went there and said, Irv, I hired him. I can't do that. And then Irv ended up losing tails.

We were the number one slot, TV slot on BT for our time slot for tails, and we lose it. Again, we got Irv. And he lost it because Scott took the stand. I can't work with him. And that was the end of tails. Why do you end up calling Scott?

Why do he call Scott? Because Irv, okay, Irv is a visionary. again and he had ideas about tales in different genres of music and he wanted to I'm going to give Mona Scott this credit shout out Mona

he wanted to love and hip hop what do I mean by loving hip hop love and hip hop New York loving hip hop Atlanta loving hip hip hip up Miami love and hip hop LA no but it's from his programming see we're talking programming now so

loving hip hop never stops it's everyday 365 when you do TV shows, you got your hiatus. You're shooting this little bit of time, 10, 10 episodes, and you're off. Then you come back. No, now if I do that, I never stop working.

But then, you know, that's a lot of money, too. Irving was getting $25 million for 10 episodes. So 2.5 of Epp. So if you did that, times four, you're talking about $100 million deal. And that's why he's, you might call someone out of their name for $100 million. And if they don't see the vision, we got a show that's working, we already proved it out.

Let's do R&B now. Let's do rock and roll. Let's do country. Let's do Latin. You know, the concept is there. So it's like, but, you know, Mona Scott, she did that with it. She did that with a hip-hop. Shout out Mona again.

Now, the reason you hear, the Clash Pro League. Yes. What is the Clash Pro League? Man, the Clash Pro League is, again, I'm four decades. Inside the Street basketball. You know, I did so many things in my career. When I look back, I'm like, man, I did all of this. I can't believe it.

But, yeah, four decades inside the street. I helped Greg Marius, who ran Rucker Park, helped do deals with him and build Rucker Park to the height. EBC, right? That's what they call it. EBC now. Yeah, entertainment. Entertainers basketball classic.

That's what it's called now. But, yeah, I did that. And then all these years in the middle of that, I would always think of, I dealt with, I also have a managing a sports business so I manage athletes. I have NBA players that I was managing,

football players managing or co-agiening. Managing or co-aging, I will get an agent and be his partner, bring them the athlete. And through all of that is what made me start the league because I understood the, again, business principle number one,

supply and demand. The supply of athletes that are not getting jobs that are really talented play D1 but have nowhere to go they play in the streetball and they some of them do get to go overseas but when you think are overseas it's only two jobs an american can get on each team overseas the rest has to be from the country that you're playing it so most of those jobs are taken just like the NBA NBA is a 450 players in the NBA and guess what most of them are not

leaving and then you get a new recruit two drafts uh two rounds every year that's only 32 teams 64 players. Think of March. Think of March Madness and you understand supply. Every year, all them teams, D-1, talented players, but can't get a job.

And I was like, we need a team in a league in New York. Just started. I want to start it in New York, but I want to franchise leagues in every city, you know, and they really have a stronghold on that.

So that's what I did last year. It went incredible. We sold out every week, short season. for the attention span of these Zs. Right? So I did a short season, only a seven-game season. Again, with money, I'm paying all the players.

They all get paid. The coaches, everybody's getting paid. So it's a real league. I based it on leagues like Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico. And if you look at Puerto Rico League, like Bad Bunny owns a team over there. Like they're pumping now the influence of a big star and money into these teams. Puerto Rico will end up having a very,

big league. The problem is they need to accept more American players. They have to make an adjustment from their own business because only having two, Puerto Rico's not big enough to have really that good of players everywhere. It's just what it is. You need more from outside to make the league more dynamic. But that's where they're right. And then I looked at all this. I studied this and I said, let's start a league. And I did it at a very cost-efficient manner. I based the pay off of those games. And we only have a seven-game series. It's eight teams. eight teams they all play each other once once that's over playoffs championship

we're done I did a full combine we had over 500 players show up and you had to fill out a questionnaire to make sure that you know I know how to play ball you have a career somewhere I'm not just taking someone off the street there's oh I'm nice I killed the YMCA yesterday no no you have to be a real athlete so all of these are real athletes that played somewhere

and man it was a huge success My next goal is now Season 2 We're starting in March This year I moved the date I don't want to do it in the summer Which is probably in New York

Is the ideal time Because I don't want to cannibalize the streetball I also help build like a Dykeman park Like me and Ken Stevens Shout out Ken Stevens man I helped build out Dykman And now you know I helped them out with that

And Dykman's at his height So I understand but I get all the players From the high school up So I have the farming system Basically everything right in my finger tips with clash and then that's what the league's about and then it really is about expanding i have had meetings just now shout out j will um you know kevin durand carmello anthony you know uh kendrick perkins fat joe you know and then i got french montana i'm using influences

now for each team smart you know you guys could come in whenever you want just let me no no seriously like this is business and when i show you the business and when i show you the business business side of it this is multi billions of dollars once I expand into multiple cities the real part of it will be marketing because I'm using these social media influencers or celebrities you know I'm talking to NLE chopper uh Chris Brown Jay Cole Chris Brown that's what's that yeah because these I want I want something with a basketball affinity and he got it I know to this day I used to come to New York and play with me I used to get a basketball city and he would come that's how I know Chris Brown before he got big I was

was playing basketball. He would come to, I would play at night with all my guys and Chris Brown. A guy named 10 would bring him with me and we'd go play ball everywhere. Same. That's how we meant to way back before he. You don't play no goddamn basketball.

He used to play with my cousins. No, but he could play ball. So someone like him, so CB, if you listen and you see what he'm doing, like come holl at me because it's a huge potential. We'll own all of this. I mean. Gilly too.

Gilly can bowl. I know. Look, Gilly and Wallow. I'm trying to get these guys to come up they were supposed to come last year but now I want to talk to him about being owners of teams and then I can show on the business side of that

and how will they get the money and I'm not asking for a dollar right I'm giving the teams I'm picking the right influences to make my league you know I'm a shout out Robin from ball alert shout out Robin that's my girl she's gonna be one of my influencers

yeah so it doesn't have to be an artist it could be an influencer as well I reached out to Kassanad, all of them, Druski. I reached out to everyone to see. Yeah, the stream is. But, you know, sometimes you got to show them. Got to show them before what happens, yeah. No, but when you see what I did last year, I mean, the gym, we're in a small gym.

It's in Harlem, 119th Street in Manhattan, half. It's a small gym because I want it like the street. Like, you know, you go to the diamond, everyone's on top. I want my gym. So when I get to where I need to, because this is first round, I'm raising three more million dollars. And it's, you know, it's safe. So people don't know what's safe So I'm like, man, it's the best thing for an investor

So if the evaluation comes in Higher or lower, that safe adjust for you So you never get a chance That's what all of the hedge from Silicon Valley guys, they use Safe Nose When they raise money for that reason Because you don't know, I'm starting to tech companies Worth for $100 billion

You know What happens he comes in is only worth for a million dollars It adjust So your money is more valuable Than it'll adjust for you So that's the reason we did the safe. But $3 million, my first round, the first year it was just our money. Me and a couple investors, we paid it.

But this next one, $3 million, and then right after that, that'll cover me for two years. I'll kill this New York area. And then I look to go into Baltimore, Chicago, Atlanta, with different leagues and raise another $50 to $100 million. Well, congratulations on your league. I think that's dope. Thank you.

Well, thank you for joining us this morning. Yeah, man. Great conversation, ma'am. That's right. I got to talk about one more thing before we get a. I got a movie. I'm a filmmaker now. Okay. Nice. Ballin. I got Lance Stevenson is my lead. Safari, Trey Cheney. Shout out to Trey Cheney. Yeah, shout out to Tray Cheney.

Land Stevenson, the basketball player? He's the lead. Oh wow, wow, wow, wow. He's the lead. Not only is he lead, but he made an incredible soundtrack. Lance Stevens is the Black Drake. Oh, wow. He's the Black Drake, I promise you. He's singing and rapping on the songs, and I couldn't believe. I was going to just make one or two songs for the movie. Why not Safari, though? Why wouldn't you get Safari to do this soundtrack? Again, I asked, but you got to come in, right?

I thought you said he was in the movie. He's in the movie. Okay. But he didn't come to the studio. Got you, got you. You got to come. That was probably for the best. Shut up, man.

And you know, I'm going to send you said, shout out Safari. Safari is not like you might think as a person if you get to know him. His perception of him is really different than what he really really. the years. No, he's very good. He's very cool, dude. You know what I'm saying? But yeah, we did well. We was number one, five weeks in a row on Tubi. Go shit, go watch it. It's out on TV. Oh, it's already out. Yeah. Okay, what is it called? Ballin. Ballin. Okay, on TV. No, it's a, it's based off of an Alfred Hitchcock movie called Dial In for Murder. The way the plot twist is, we just put the culture for today. Nice. With people like us.

All right. You know what I'm saying? So, real quick, are you all related to Simba? No, Simback. You know how many people tell me it's Simbad that look like me? Yeah, yeah. I used to get that younger. I used to get it younger. I don't get as much now. And we just finished shooting another movie. So Arc Films with, I got two partners, Andy and Trouder. Shout out Andy, man. And Dwight, Rich Black Walker, you know, who wrote it with me there. And, man, we just moving in with Arc Films. I got so many films. Next year, I'll have at least seven movies out. Damn, that's dope. Yes.

2026. Yeah, not me. I'm not going to have seven movies out. No, I'm saying. Why aren't even having to be in none? Oh, are you casting? Always. We got a movie.

We got one of the, but we already cast it right now called Raffle. Okay. We're shooting in Miami. That's going to be fired to. Crazy. Great cast of people already. And then Ever the director, I mean, Boy Wonder, you know, the producer, Boy Wonder. Yeah.

He's part of the, part of that movie as well. I'm always down to audition, man. So, Chris, you got something to me. Okay, I'll get your number for sure. Yeah, for sure. Thank you. We have a lot of stuff coming out, you know. And we're doing it for the black and brown.

So I'm not Latin, but I do Latin with my partner, Don De Niro. Man, we just finished Spanish Fly, a crazy movie, a comedy. You know what I'm saying? So we got, we got it all. I'm not Spanish, man. He's not either. He said he not, but he works. You know, he's a partner.

I'm not Spanish. I got a partner that's Cuban. Oh, okay, okay. And he's my partner. He does all the Latin side. for me, but I, you know, support him with everything he's doing. You know, it's funny because on my Wikipedia, someone put down there, because people

could add stuff. I never did my Wikipedia. Oh, yeah, he does mine, too, all the time. He called me a gardener. He started to start with a gardener. Oh, they put on mine, and I'm Dominican. So, I'm an honorary Dominican, too. They said, Kehl okay. It's Chris Gotti. It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning. Have you ever listened to those true crime shows and found yourself with more questions than answers?

Who catfishes a city? Is it even safe to snort human remains? Is that the plot of footloos? I'm comedian Rory Scoville, and I'm here to tell you, Josh Dean and I have a new podcast that celebrates the amazing creativity of the world's dumbest criminals. It's called Crimeless, a true crime comedy podcast. Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm investigative journalist Melissa Jeltson. My new podcast, What Happened in Nashville,

tells the story of an IVF clinic's catastrophic collapse and the patients who banded together in the chaos that followed. It doesn't matter how much I fight. Doesn't matter how much I cry over all of this. It doesn't matter how much justice we get. None of it's going to get me pregnant. Listen to what happened in Nashville on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Who would you call if the unthinkable happened? My sister was shot 22 times. A police officer, right? But what do you do when the monster is the man in blue? This dude is the devil. He'll hurt you. This is the story of a detective who thought he was above the law until we came together to take him down.

I said, you're going to see my face till the day that you die. Listen to the girlfriends, untouched. on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I got you. Hey, everybody. It's Michelle Williams, host of checking in on the Black Effect Podcast Network. You know, we always say New Year, New Me, but real change starts on the inside. It starts with giving your mind and your spirit the same attention you give your goals. And on my podcast, we talk mental health, healing, growth, and everything you need to step

into your next season, Whole and Empowered. New Year, Real You. Listen to checking in with Michelle Williams from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know he has a reputation, but it's going to catch up to him. Gabe Ortiz is a cop. His brother Larry, a mystery Gabe didn't want to solve until it was too late. He was the head of this gang. You're going to push that line for the calls. Took us under his wing and showed us the game, as they call it.

When Larry's killed, Gabe Must Untangle the Dangerous Past, one that could destroy everything he thought he knew. Listen to the brothers Ortiz on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And she said, Johnny, the kids didn't come home last night. Along the Central Texas Plains, teens are dying, suicides that don't make sense, strange accidents, and brutal. murders in what seems to be a plot ripped straight out of breaking bad drugs alcohol trafficking of people there are people out there that absolutely know what happened listen to paper ghosts the texas teen murders on the iHeart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts this is an iHeart podcast guaranteed human