The Breakfast Club - Emory Jones Speaks On Puma Mixtape, Brand Evolution, Nipsey Hussle, Jay-Z Legacy + More

Episode Date: July 19, 2023

Emory Jones Speaks On Puma Mixtape, Brand Evolution, Nipsey Hussle, Jay-Z Legacy + MoreSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Had enough of this country? Ever dreamt about starting your own? I planted the flag. This is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy. 55 gallons of water, 500 pounds of concrete. Or maybe not. No country willingly gives up their territory. Oh my God.

What is that? Bullets. Listen to Escape from Zakistan. We need help! That's Escape from Z-A-Q-istan on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show, where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more. After those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast

Post Run High is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. As a kid, I really do remember having these dreams and visions, but you just don't know what is going to come for you. Alicia shares her wisdom on growth, gratitude, and the power of love. I forgive myself. It's okay.

Have grace with yourself. You're trying your best. And you're going to figure out the rhythm of this thing. Alicia Keys, like you've never heard her before. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Dani Shapiro, host of the hit podcast, Family Secrets. How would you feel if when you met your biological father for the first time, he didn't even say hello? And what if your past itself was a secret and the time had suddenly come to share that past with your child? These are just a few of the powerful and profound questions we'll be asking on our 11th season of Family Secrets.

Listen to season 11 of Family Secrets on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, my undeadly darlings. It's Teresa, your resident ghost host. And do I have a treat for you. Haunting is crawling out from the shadows, and it's going to be devilishly good. We've got chills, thrills, and stories that'll make you wish the lights stayed on. So join me, won't you? Let's dive into the eerie unknown together. Sleep tight, if you can. Listen to Haunting on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy, Charlamagne Tha Guy. We are The Breakfast Club. We got a special guest in the building, Emery Jones. Emery, welcome back. What up, dog? How's it feeling? I feel good. I see these beautiful chairs y'all got. Different studio, different energy, a little bigger. Getting a little more money. Trying. We trying to keep up with y'all.

We trying. It shows the chair show. I asked you the other night, man, because you had celebrating the 50 years of hip-hop, so there's a lot going on. You got the Humble Souls mixtape, the Book of Hove that they got at the Brooklyn Public Library. And I asked you the other night when I saw you after that premiere, did you see all of this for you and your team? Absolutely not.

I mean, you see winning. Of course, you get into it and you wake up every day like, I'm going to win. You know what I mean? That's the mentality, like win. But there's no way in the world you've seen this. When you seen the play set up from early on, what was the finish line at that point? When y'all were having initial conversations, what was the finish line?

What did success look like? What was success at that time? I think it was different finish lines, right? The first finish line was like, how do you get out the projects and make it to 560 State Street, right? That was a win, right? To get out of, you know, down the block, but you breathe in room, right?

And then, you know, from there, it's like when you watch NASascar i'm looking at the car right it's a season so you got to get by race by race and at the end of the day if i if i continue to stay on the podium throughout the year my chances of winning are great i don't mean i gotta win every race but if i'm on the podium there's only three spots on the podium my point's going to continue to put me in a position to win right and i think that's how i looked at it if we stay on the podium even through them years was though you know no albums ain't no boom you stay on the podium my chance our chances of winning and and having a dynasty that a dynasty the way we have is greater.

You know what I mean? So I think we just looked at it as chapters. Always, like I said, that point system. Were you ever the hustler that was like, man, we ain't doing no rap. There's too much money in these streets. We staying in rap. I mean, in the beginning, because, you know, for me, a kid, I don't understand that, right? I don't see it, and I'm like, you know for me you a kid I don't understand that right I

don't I don't see it and I'm like you know what we doing but then it came a point where as though I'm like okay let's go but then you're not seeing the results so if you come from eating you're like wait a minute what we do like it ain't adding up you know so it's like you had to get past that stage of just like it's supposed to be instant gratification, right? It's a process like everything else and once I realized that it was like it was a little too late by the time I realized That cuz I had to go, you know sit down Vacation now me I was gonna ask when did you get to a place in your life where you could let your guard down? right because

Do the whole time in the streets your guard was up when he was locked up guards was up I'm sure when you came home at first guards was up But when did you finally get to a place where you could put your guards down? Honestly for me to be to this point You guards up, but you got you know, you jabbing So when you jab and you got one guard up and you you're jabbing that's the only way to survive right you gotta deal with people and be in places that you know you ain't gotta be in but you gotta deal with it so to put yourself in them situations you gotta

put your guard down so like just to walk into that situation so i've always done that to get to this point but i think in the last couple years it's been that time where you let it all go. You let it all go and be like, you know what, I can let go of all that, you know what I mean? Like, I don't even like talking about the old war stories. Past, yeah, of course. You know what I mean, because it's like, one of my friends hit me one day and was like,

yo, you know it's such and such year anniversary you came home. And I was like, yo, I forgot that date a long time ago. Like, I forgot that date. Because I don't want that to be such a significant part of my history. You know what I'm saying? Like, don't get me wrong, it's a part of it. And, you know, I embrace it. I'm not, you know what I'm saying? Like, don't get me wrong, it's a part of it. And, you know, I embrace it. I'm not, you know, I don't turn from it,

but it's like I'm not going to let that be something I'm going to celebrate for the rest of my life, like when I came home. It's not too many people who can come home and make the transition that you did, though. Like, I almost feel like it should be like a case study on how to do your bit, come home, and then, and then like you know really reacclimate yourself to society it's a difficult situation man it's not it's not simple right and and don't get me wrong i got a support

system but so other people have support systems too and it's just not as simple as people think just to adjust right or just to you know you, walk through and find that next thing, right? Because when you're in, you're so in the streets that you don't even give yourself a chance to separate. Because when you're bidding, you still got to be in tune with the world. And most people want to be too in tune. It's like being in the system, we can wake up

and know what happened in the hood before people in the hood know. Wow. That's how people are tuned. That's how you function because at the end of the day, the system, if you're in the real world, the system is a part of the real world, especially when you're doing dirt.

You know what I'm saying? When you're in the world. So it really goes hand in hand. So you really don't have a chance to move forward. Because the world is still happening. Situations that left the streets are still coming up.

Life is still going on. Family is always something going on. So a lot of times you don't even get a chance to shake it and understand what's my next move. And then you get back here, regardless of how much time you done done, you haven't had time to shake it, and then you come jump right in the fire. It's not a simple situation.

I was going to ask, you know, we're dealing with Jay. How much pressure do you have on you, right? And the reason I ask, right, you know, when we listen to Hov Records and he says, Emory done lapsed y'all niggas, and Emory done got the cocaine on, and, you know, talking about just so much pressure because of what you've done when you came home

and how you were able to create this empire for yourself. Is that pressure on you at all? No, I think he says it in a way words though to those who you know always look at things for a angle you make it a thing i think for him it's more of an inspiring the next person to be like yo that's my guy i'm gonna speak on my guy but it's really telling the guys like yo you can you know? There's a lot of opportunity in there for you to do that, right? So I don't look at it as pressure. I don't take it as pressure because I feel like, you know,

when somebody see me doing it, regardless what, regardless how it's delivered, that means they can sit back and say, I have a chance to do it. Gotcha. You know what I mean? Like, when you know you have a chance and you give yourself a thought to say you have a chance, anything's possible.

That's what you represent to me. You represent hope in a real way. I was even watching the interview you did with Clue. And I think your mindset is a mindset a lot of people don't have when you said, you knew what you were doing in the street and you said there's only three ways up. There's jail, death,

or that small possibility you might make it. So you said that helped you do your bit. I mean, think about it because, you know, we look at, you know, what's going on in the world and we always analyze everybody. We always opinionate it. We always, you know what I mean? It's like one thing about the game, first thing you have to understand and lock in your mind from day one,

it's only them three options. You have to be clear with yourself, right? A lot of times people don't be clear with that, right? And I understand because, you know, we say we're getting into it, you know, to change, you know, family's life and, you know, get out the hood. And it's like when you think about it, most of that is false because as soon as you get a chance and, you know, you make that first, say you make $20,000, right? That's $20,000 of that is false. Because soon as you get a chance and you make that first,

say you make 20,000, right? That's 20,000 you ain't have. So imagine if you do something with that 20,000 that you never had. You could stop right there. Then you take it further. Okay, you get past the 20, some make 100. Some make 200.

Okay, you make 200, that's 200,000 you never had and you got a chance to do something with it. But guess what? We don't look at that. We want some more, right? And then, you know, when everything gets thrown at us, the first thing we do is blame the system, right? At the end of the day, you know, when you choose to step in that world,

I chose to step into that world, so I got to deal with the consequences and hold that. So that's why I said them three, you know, them three things of, you know, it's only death, jail, and it's only a slim chance to get through. And that's something that everybody should look at regardless what, and guess what? I'm never going to tell somebody

what he should do or not do. Because at that moment, you can't tell me. And right now, tomorrow, if things get a little twisted, you can't tell me what I should do or what I should do or don't do. I'm going to do what I have to, so I'm never going to say it from a lens of which of my should do. It's just the reality is it's only them three things. What do you think morals change for both the streets and the industry, right?

You look at a lot of the things that you've been through and you can see people change, right? Now, at one time it was, let's say somebody hustled or somebody was in the industry, they did it for a reason. They did it to get out the hood. They did it to make money. But now it seems like it's almost, it's a change for clout where it's,

people's morals have changed for social media. I think we using, I think we putting too much blame on social media. I think sometimes that's just who we are. All these people cut like that? I mean, social media helps, amplifies it, right? Social media help us look at it, and then for those who not strong enough to understand it can adjust to it

but I think a lot of it comes from who you are already right it was who you was before you got here it's just you know different levels to it you feel what I mean it's different levels to it I think you know the reality is sometimes we forget to use social media to work for us you know what I mean

that's it I mean? That's it. I mean, it's a gift and a curse at the same time. But if you use it correctly, it can really benefit you in some ways. If you don't, it can really, you know, not benefit you, but still benefit you, right? Like, there's a lot of people winning. I can't knock them for, you know, I'd rather for some to do that than go do some other dumps.

A lot of other foolishness somebody can do. Let me ask you, if social media was around back in the day, when you guys first started out, do you think that you could be where you're at now? Or do you think social media would have tarnished that a little bit? Because some of what made, I think, not only Rockefeller, but you and Jay and Ty and Biggs and Dane was a little bit of the not knowing.

The mystique. The mystique, you know what I mean? Like, you know, I would go to the office all the time and it was that mystique. You just didn't see it, but now it's kind of like, if y'all go, we can tell where you're at

before you tell somebody, right? Because, you know what I mean? You'd be like, oh, there's Emery in France. You know what I mean? Right. I tell people all the time. It's like, especially, you know, when you get people and they take a picture, right? And the first thing they want to do is go throw the picture up because you want to be in real time.

And it's like, if the picture means something, it means something today, next year, or the year after. That's right. It's how you use the picture, right? It don't have to be in real time i think even the time when social media started still takes you social media been around how long 20 plus years about 20 years 20 plus years and jay have made it his business be like i'm not messing with that. That's his choice, right? So even at that moment, it's here and it's here and it's big. And it's like you say, you can amplify whatever you're doing with it

if you use it correctly. It's just still having that moment of saying, you know, I'm doing it or not doing it. Like for me, you know, I love the fact that, you know, social media give people a chance to just, you know, be whatever they choose to be at that moment. It's up to you if you want to take it in and believe it, don't believe it, how serious you want to do it. You know, it's life. You know what I mean?

It's really what we see every day. So we can't blame it on social media. You go back to the neighborhood, it's the same energy and the same different things happening all day long. Well, you've been getting fresh for a long time, so it makes sense that you the head of lifestyle of Rock Nation and the co-founder of Paper Planes. But how did you show off the fits back in the day with no social media? I mean, it was, like you said, it's like,

first, if your crew respect it, it goes there. It's like, you know, if your crew respect it, it goes there. It's like, you know, if your crew respect it, it goes there. And then if you're traveling around, like I said, I look at the world as three universal languages, right? Regardless of where you're from, who you are, what you're doing. Like, I'm going to always say this, music, sports, and fashion, right? That's that universal language, right? For me, I've always used fashion to be that, put your guard down.

Because you walk in the room before you know who we are and talk, right? What's the first thing we do as humans? Sight. So if I give you that, you know, fresh, you walk into the room, you're like, even if you don't come say nothing to me mentally, you're like, man, he did that. You know what I mean? So you already done put that guard down, right? So I done got past one hurdle already, right? And I just think, you know,

the expression of fashion is just, it's not, think about it, it's not the clothes. You still got to get in them. Right. So it's like the human, the human, you still, we buy the same clothes. It's just the human side, it really expresses you in different ways.

And it's always been me. Because being a so-called, to my brothers, a country boy, I got the strike against me already. They're like, you know, we don't have the top stores in the boom, so you're not expecting you to be as fresh. So now when I come in and use that as my muse, I'm fresh. So it's like, oh, okay. So it's just one of them things.

I understand why up north people act like they're not as country as us down south. They match everything. They do the same thing, the wild colors. I don't know. We do it with a pair of Air Force Ones. That's why. Y'all do it with everything. Air Force Ones, Tims.

As long as we match it with a pair of Air Force Ones or Tims, we kind of. That's the balance, right? That's the balance. That's the balance, right? That's the balance. That's the balance. Us, you know, somewhere else, they going to make sure, you know, the night he got the four colors in it, you know what I'm saying?

The four colors in the joint. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was going to ask, you know what? How difficult was it to turn Puma into a company that the culture really loves, right? Because growing up, you know, of course we were into, you know, Nikes and Jordans because of Jordan. Of course, Adidas because of Run DMC at times. But Pumas, we weren't really into Pumas

because I don't think we ever seen any of our favorite people wearing Pumas. So there was the Puma, I call them the classic, right? That's like the Air Force Ones, there's the shell tops, and then there's that, I don't even know what they're called. Clyde. The Clyde, right? The Clyuma, I call them the classic, right? That's like the Air Force Ones, there's the shell tops, and then there's that, I don't even know what they're called. Clyde. The Clyde, right? The Clyde. But that's the point, right? I think that was the part for me was having the real conversation

about Puma. For us, even though it's a German company, for us, the reason why we know Puma is because of a black man. Clyde Frazier. Clyde Frazier, of course. Clyde, like like so i just had to tap back in the under you know letting the world dig back to understand that part right and then you walk it down from there right like we should be in it should be in the conversation

because it's been there you think about it clive was the first ever to have his own sneaker as an athlete right and then like i say when you look at puma for us you think about clive first you don't think about nothing else you think about clive then you know you go back to that moment when tommy smith at the olympics that's right messed up like it's so many iconic moments from pele you know i'm saying like there's so many iconic moments that it was like let me go tap back into that and walk that process down. Because if you wake up, I remember when I used to have a small foot and I couldn't wait till my foot grows so I can get the big boy shoes. You know, when you got a small foot, if they got a bubble, you ain't got the bubble in your shoe.

You know what I'm saying? It was always something missing from the little kid's shoe. And I got my first pair of suede Pumas right I remember that because it was like regardless that it wasn't as high as a pair of Jordans or whatever the case may be it was the luxury of suede like to put on a suede shoe that like where you? You just don't wake up and know what Sway is. I'm damn near the dad. You know what I'm saying? So it was like having that moment with an iconic brand.

I know what to talk. I know what that, because that's why I could walk in the room and say, what was your first prayer? Puma's everybody going to be like, yo, I had a prayer. Sway's, they're going to tell you when they got them, where they got them from, what was going on. So I just used that thinking to walk it down. The thought was for a company like puma

they think if we make product for the new generation that that's the thing and it's like nah they got too much they got too much mental you they mental is already talking up nike and jordan them got that already you can't win that mental space right so i gotta dig in and go back to history and heritage and let product design catch up later and it was a process you gotta figure it's 12 years for me what's the most difficult part of it because i also seen a couple of artists that you know were signed to puma and then you know i guess they didn't wear it all the time like when they're doing shows you you still see them with Jordans or no, you still see them with UC. Let's be clear though, Emery made

Puma popular. Yeah, absolutely. Emery Jones made Puma popular without even spitting the ball. Yeah, and that's the thing, right? I think when you look at it, I don't expect them to wear Puma every day, right? Think about that time when Jay had S.Dot Carter.

The sneaker was booming, right? And it was a moment where as though he was sitting courtside or somewhere, and he's Whitfield Knight, but then he's wearing Ditas at that moment because that's what we are as culture, right? You can't put somebody in a box and say, you know, if you do that, then it's not real. We wear what's fly, right? It's not real.

Like, you need somebody to express themselves. It's like, today I feel like this. So this is the reason why I'm throwing on my Nikes today. Or this is the reason why I'm throwing on my Ditas today. Because like you said, them Ditas going to take you back to the run DMC days or the such and such days as a moment. So for me,

I don't like when somebody say they have to be that regardless what don't get me wrong i wish you would wear it more you know i mean when you when you when you define yourself in it but i don't i don't expect them to be that because i feel like now it's not gonna feel real it's not gonna come off right when it comes to fashion do you feel like uh hip-hop is doing a good job of you know uh highlighting it during this 50th year of hip-hop because i feel like hip-hop is doing a good job of, you know, highlighting it during this 50th year of hip-hop? Because I feel like it's been just about the music, but I feel like fashion is just as important. I mean, I think with the music, fashion is there, right?

I think, you know, there'll be times where it's though, right now you hear about the music because it started with the music, right? But I think, you know, you're going to see moments where it's though fashion is going to play a part. You can't have the music without the fashion and the fashion without the music. So I think we just got to let the time go. Because really, what, next month is when it really hits in 50. I think it's August, like August 10th, 11th, somewhere around there.

It's really that date. Let me look it up because they're going to be bad. We ain't know this, man. Yeah, so I think you know you're gonna see the moments and i think you don't have to force the moment of fashion and music i think it all lives together and i think you know us paying homage to just 50 years it is it's there it's like we all we all here you see you know me it's it's it's all there one thing i would say that that I thought that you did that was very smart was, like you said, it's all about how we dress, right?

So people were more connected to Nike or more connected to Adidas because it was a tracksuit, right? We could wear everything, head to toe, all the way down, and it matched. Puma didn't have that at first that I seen, or the stores weren't selling it until you started making those tracksuits. Now if I want to wear Pumas, I can wear a whole set. Because I don't want to be the dude that wears the Adidas track suit

and have some Pumas on. It just didn't feel right. But that's, you know, I'm going to be political correct right now. When you look at a Puma T7 track suit, that's like from 69. But we couldn't find it. And that's the thing. So at the moment as a brand,

you know, we're trying to get in the mix of get back's the thing so at the moment as a brand you know we're trying to get in the mix of get back in the the the you know the the realm of culture conversation but we don't have the product in place to do that at that moment right and i was having this conversation in germany one time and i'm sitting there telling the ceo like yo we we hot right now but you can't go to the store and get a Puma track suit. And then there's somebody else in the room who's another big shot in the room, like, yes, you can. And I'm like, you can't.

You know what I mean? Just understanding that we're bringing all this heat and getting that traction, but you ain't got nothing for the guy for what they want because guess what? You're so busy trying to chase that next thing. And I'm like, nah, man. You're dealing with kids. You see the kids now.

They're going to put on a Puma tracksuit but still put their Air Force Ones on. Right? You got to understand that. That's blasphemy. My God. You should be arrested for that. That's it, man. I mean, I know some of the most fashionable guys love to cross brands.

That's just what they do. Yeah. Like, for me, it's not for me, but I know a lot of people that do that. So I think when you look at it, the T7 tracksuit was the fit. It was just the fit of it what made the kid like, oh, I like this fit, and I love the thing. And, you know, I ain't getting away from my Air Force One. I'm okay with that.

Was it difficult to get in some of these stores? Yes, because you got to figure if you ain't been around, you know what I mean, it's hard to come get some space. Like, you got to earn that space again. Just because you put whatever, I mean, they're supposed to just open the door. So it's still an everyday process now, you know what I mean? Like, we there, but I don't think our presence is what it should be but i

think it goes back it gives you the opportunity of how to make your own store presence what it is your own online what it is because if i base what i'm doing off a wholesale that means another store can never show the world completely what puma is as a brand. You don't have enough space. Right. You know, everybody looks at Nipsey, the good brother Nipsey, you look at him as the icon he is right now. But you did a Puma deal with him a few years ago. Yes. How many, like four or five years ago, right? It was a while.

And it was funny, I'm glad you said that, because when I did this mixtape shoe the idea came to do some technology with it and i'm not a tech guy but my partner is and i was like okay but the reason why it i really wanted to do it because the first time i seen that tech was at nip store back to back to 90 right no No, at the Christian, the Marathon store. Like, the whole store was set up virtual. Like, you walk in, and you could take your phone and scan the wall, and video and content would come up.

You take the tag and the shirt and scan it, and I was like, what the? We talking about a kid from Crenshaw, man. I'm like, I'm in there blown away. I'm like, what the heck is this, right? So to even pay homage that way now, to keep that even going, is a salute to him because I felt like then when we talked about Puma,

he was like, there's no way in the world they're going to get a skinny tattoo gangbanger a deal. And I was like, man, I don't care what they think. You're an icon at that moment. Like, I'm like you. How did you know back then? It's the human side. It's back to the human side.

When you're in front of a special human, you know the feeling of that. You know people that you really call close friends or people that not even close friends but when you do get to see him and they special humans and you you know that that time when you get to see him he just was just a special that glow yeah he was just a special special human being and and and when you've seen that to deal with and be involved in all that and grow up in that but then when you get to meet him and his spirit and his tone and his genius, it's like, then I was like, oh. It's like, it goes back to, yeah, you from L.A., but we no different.

It's like, you was an icon at that moment. And from there, it was like, I visioned him in a T7 tracksuit at that moment. And from the time he wore that T7, I've never seen nobody wear it. Rock it like him. Now you're right. I've never seen nobody rock that. It was like meant for him. I even tried to do my socks like it.

I can't do it. I can't do it the way he did it. I can't do it. It was just meant for him so you know when something is meant I was like man it's like it was just an honor like for me and and the beautiful thing about that was at that moment it wouldn't the craziest amount of money or whatever him and his team understood the value of partnership like when I seen that and and P seen that, that made you be like, oh, I want to be in partners with him forever.

Because he understood partnership. He understood the value of, I tell people all the time, you're going to Puma and everybody wants deals and want to make money. And I'm like, they're going to pay you whatever. But I'm like, the best way to get the best out of a Puma partnership is to realize how to make them work for you. Give them what they want, but make the machine work for you. And you can get way more.

On top of they're going to pay you whatever, but you're going to get way more out of it because it's such a broad machine. And they're good people like you don't get in this world and find too many good people in spaces right you know no one's perfect but they're coming in with good intentions so if you got that and you know how to make the machine work for you i was gonna ask who was the first person you gave a deal to in the industry, whether it was athlete, actor, artist? Well, I didn't personally give it to them, but the first one that I can say that I was a part of, like,

we should do this was Solange. When we did Solange Puma deal way before. She did the table? When she did the thing and she came in creative brought a team in and it was it's probably you know it's still iconic one of the best you know collabs partnerships we did then you know and like I said as this was this was during a period was though she was finding her greatness even more so it was like it's the same thing. It was before that. And I remember, like, no one really know that till I spoke on it.

You know what I mean? It was like, because I was just sitting at the table and I'm seeing who everybody wants to run for. And I was like, I think you should go Solange route. And they're like, Solange? And I'm like, think about it. She's the one at that moment that the people you're chasing are paying attention to.

And I just looked at it through that lens and they trust me on that and it worked so that helped you know me for me to be able to say let's go this route and go that route what made y'all go to Puma or met Puma coming to y'all what made that partnership happen because we you know we've known of course Hove had sneakers with Nike he's had sneakers with Reebok. He's had sneakers with all these different sneaker brands. So what was it about Puma that said this could work? I think at that moment for me, I took on the challenge

because it was at a time where the artists wanted to be in the sneaker, wanted to tap in that space. So at that moment, Meek was really one of the first ones with Puma. And for me, it was like our artists wanted to be in that space so at that moment meek was you know really one of the first ones puma and for me it was like our artists want to be in that world so i gotta go over here but for me i looked at it through that lens of i'm watching at that time my son was young and kids thinking that the only way they was gonna be cool was wearing jordan nikes and. And it was alienating everyday kids. And I'm like, you can't do that. You know what I'm saying? You can't alienate the everyday kid thinking, you know,

putting them in that, if you're not a cool kid, you can't do that. You know, especially right now when we realize about mental health and everything else, like, that's not helping the process there. Right? And I intentionally did not wear Nikes or Jordan for a while. mental health and everything else like that's not helping the process then right and and i intentionally did not wear nikes or jordan for a while i was like i'm gonna wear every other brand just to show him and his friends that you don't need that so it was just a mental thing to show you know and then i i like to walk into the events we was having and and we say with sneaker heads

you just can't come in with a jordan nike or some Yeezy and say you're sneakerhead. You got to go and dig up some things. Patrick Ewing. Yeah, go dig up some things because it's like, remember, sneakers was the thing was though the culture turned them into icons. Not taking nothing away from the Jordans of the world and all that.

You got to figure when Jordan 1 first came out, you know, no one, you could barely give them away. Nobody rocked with Jordan 1 for a while. For a while. So then when the culture embraced it, that's the beauty of who we are. That's the beauty of why y'all got these beautiful chairs. Wasn't the DMV big on New Balance at one point?

DMV is New Balance kings. Huge. It ain't no question, no knock, and all due respect to whoever that, you know, wear New Balance. But D.C. and Baltimore has been New Balance forever. Just like you talk about Uptown's Air Force One, great New Balance has been that for D.C. and Baltimore forever. They making a resurgence all of a sudden.

No, they winning right now. I mean, I think when you look at a brand who's made in the U.S., this U.S. brand is a family-owned brand, and they stuck to their guns. And right now, it's in a place where as though you get to drive the car you want to drive, and I think that's culture for you, right?

It's a returning door I remember when I first came home and you know new balance was my thing you know everybody everybody was like that ain't it ain't it because you got to think about it you know but it's beautiful to see because I think that's the that's the beauty of sneaker culture that's the beauty of fashion that's the beauty of just culture in that's the beauty of fashion that's the beauty of just culture in general right it's like when we when we really put our grips in something they got a new designer to ever do a new balance now in the last three years they got a i don't know who it is but that is the kid i think it's the kid from queens i'm not sure yeah but that's

the creative director is it's dope like he's putting out designs that's dope, and it doesn't matter. He's just putting out dope designs. I know they must be having a hard time because I never see New Balance in the sneaker stores. And if I do, it's not the ones that I see with the big N and the dope colors and the dope designs. So they're doing... So let's talk about this mixtape now.

Hold on real quick. I want to stay in the fashion just for one second. I want to pivot still in fashion, but just to paper playing. Yes. How did you stay in the fashion just for one second. I want to pivot still in fashion, but just to paper planes. Yes. How did you come up with the idea for paper planes? Remember, it was 12, 13 years ago. It was rocker wear still.

I think, you know what it was? It was just going through that phase of rocker wear. When I came home, rocker wear was still around. And, you know, Jay was like, you know, what you want to do in this fashion, my thing. So it was like I took on the challenge to say, let go and show the building that raga whereas not dead is this the fact it's just brand fatigue everybody moved on it he's not the brand as you know how we are we're brands we move on ain't got nothing to do with the designs it's just we move on the brands we do that quick right that's just the world so i took that challenge on just to show that part because

at that moment it was still like a men's side was still like a 50 million dollar brand even in the point when everybody was like i'm not messing with that and it's there but it came a time it's like what was next and um we had this young uh young designer and we bought a dowee in public school dowee was a creative director and and you know he's going back and forth with this idea and then this and all of a sudden came up with this plane it was like oh that's it and then once you took it you just take a life of how do you build the narrative and the story around it you know me and it just continued to add to it and my mission

and our mission has always been how and just continue to add to it and my mission and our mission has always been how can we continue to inspire and help people imagine so that's what that plane that plane took on a life because it's not about the clothes we're not selling clothes you know me you're selling your feeling and want you to feel like you can be something else and i think that's more to me why it's a brand today. You know what I mean? Like I said, I'm not going to go back. No one's reinventing the wheel.

We're not going to design something no different than somebody else designed. I just think the meaning and the feeling of it, which gives us life because when you look at it, you fast forward, it's the face of our whole company now. But you mentioned brand fatigue, right? Why don't we see brand fatigue in a lot of these white brands? You look at whether it's Gucci, Fendi, Louis Vuitton, you could say Steve Madden, you could say Gap,

you could say whatever. You see brand fatigue. But they're still successful people wearing them. I feel like with our coach a lot of times, it's like I feel like people not only slow down wearing it, it's almost like they shit on it. That's what we do. Which is crazy, but we don't do it for

the other brands. Alexander McQueen. You don't see it. You might see it go up and down, but it's still steady. Nobody shits on it. Our brands are just whether it's Fubu or Rockaway or Fat Farm or sean or what's diddy shit like yeah it's like i feel like we turn our back to it like we shit on it yeah i don't think it's because it's fast i just think that's who we are we wake up we deal with a thing

was that we wake up every day looking for what's next that's what we didn't create it with this new it's like you wake up every single day, what's next because think about it. Being in New York, right? You've got the different boroughs, right? The reason, the thing that separated Harlem, right? Because Harlem was always coming in what was next. It's like, you gotta, what's the next thing? It's like during the summertime

when the record game's going on, it's like, it's not even just clothes, cars. Everybody's coming in, what's the new spaceship? Right? It's like that's the, and it ain't got to be the expensive car. It's like one year is the Honda station wagon, right? You're going to see a few guys who are going to come through, colored up their way, rimmed up their way.

Next year is the coupe, such and such. It's the three series. Yeah, it's just, we just, we always that way. And I think when you look at brands like Gucci and all them, before we came in the fold to say, you know, we messing with them brands, look what they have been through to solidify themselves, to be in a position for us to say, okay, let's go do that.

Right? It's a lot of history. It's a lot of history. You know what I mean? It it's a lot of history there's a lot of history you know means like a lot of history there i think with us you see it in the hood right you see it where we from we we quick to you know it's a restaurant right on the corner it's black owned but guess what you go to the chinese spot yeah yeah yeah yeah you know. Yeah. You know, it's just, you know, I think how we wired. You think white ice is colder sometimes.

Yeah, but I think you see it now as though you have to say that you see the world. We're embracing us more and more. Absolutely. And you can respect that because you see it. And it's a great thing. You know what I mean? It's a great thing to see. We can talk about what happened before it is what it is but i think it didn't help us get to a point was though people

are waking up right now and like i'm embracing us our brands what we're doing i'm talking about really supporting it and really going for it and that's a beautiful thing it's like a growth thing right it's a growth thing i remember watching you in the Roc Nation office about a decade ago. You was walking around the office throwing the paper plane around. I was like, why are you throwing this paper plane around? I remember asking you that, and you was like, that's what's next. That's all you said was that's what's next. I mean, that's the beauty of it, right?

Because when I can have this conversation and I can have somebody talk about that moment of there, then it's bigger than the clothes. And that's what I'm saying. It's like when you look at y'all, right, when y'all started this Breakfast Club, right, this is bigger than just being on the radio. You know what I mean?

This is culture in its own way. So when I walk in here, I don't look at y'all as just from the radio. I don't look at the program, right? And I think that's what the plane represents. It's's what the plane represent it's like you know what we flying around that program because even though being here is a program right beautiful big program but it's still a box it's a program that plane represent culture we've never been programmed that's why we 50 years hip hop right now right because you can't program it you can't like if we'd have let the world program hip-hop then we wouldn't be here now and that's the beauty of

being in this moment right even to be a part of it even all of us because we all apart we all grew up off of it we all got some dna of that that's what pushes us to say i can be the real estate guy i can be you know the entrepreneur over here i can be that this hip-hop culture thing gave us that lens that we can do that absolutely that's real now we where did the name humble souls come from when i hear the name of course i can see how it's spelled, it's shoes, but that's what I think of when I think of Emory Jones, a humble soul. And I think the artist that's a part of this, you know, when they brought him into the office,

I think Sherry and Omar at Roc Nation, they did a great job of just who they tapping into as far as talent, you know what I'm saying? It's like, you gotta find what makes sense for you, right? And I think they tapping in, and not just some talent individuals. They good kids. They good humans, right? And I think when they brought them into me before any of this,

and I'm like, well, you ain't got a record. You ain't got nothing, but you're good. So you know me, y'all know me. I'm like, whatever I can do, I'm in. Absolutely. I'm in. I'm not going to wait for you to get a hit, and then it's like show up and be like, I'm in I'm in I'm not gonna wait for you get a hit and then it's like show up and be like I'm in

right so over the years when you when you when you build these relationships and bonds and I had a chance to do this I was like you know what this is the perfect time to do this because I feel like in the world at this moment with so much going on right humbly like you need some of that to get through like don't get me wrong I stand up every day and I'm proud of everything I do and you know I'm a you know put that foot forward and salute myself and love that I get saluted but I think the humbleness of me getting here and being able to come back here like I remember you know it at a time when some people here, you know, y'all opened the door with open arms,

and we came and had a real conversation. I don't think I had a real conversation till now having it again, but from that moment, right? Because, you know, you felt the humbleness in it. Yes, you see what I was doing, but, you know, the humble side of it, so when these guys, I felt like that's what they was, and I just flipped the souls, because we was doing sneakers, and it's all,

just you know, that's hip hop, right? Double entendres, right? So it was like, it flipped the souls, but I think they just good people. Ruben Vincent, man. Fire, phenomenal. Phenomenal. Yeah, I mean, think about it.

You got to take Reuben. Look who he's under. He's under a real humble camp. 9th Wonder. 9th Wonder, yeah, Guru. Guru, Rhapsody. Rhapsody, yeah. That right there.

So you take that and you get to get that season every day and that toolish every day. It's like it could only get you. And then, look, man, his parents are African, man. So you got to figure they came from Africa, and he's like that first generation here. So you take all that going on, and then you give him some opportunity to help change his family life.

Hey, it's the perfect thing. I just thought the name was just perfect. What made you reach out to Kluwe and get him back in his mixtape bag? Man, listen, when we did it, think about it. We brought all these artists together, four days to L.A. They have never been in the studio together. Four days? Four days.

Never been in the studio together, never hung out. Most of them meeting each other at that moment in real time. And we got 80% of this project done in four days. So it was just the energy, the synergy, right? So when we was done, it was raw. The team was sitting back like, yo, if we're going to do a mixtape, we got to reach back and figure out who's going to host this. And we got this poster in the wall in the office in my office

about we did a board and everybody wrote in there we put it this survey the best mixtapes ever mm-hmm you know everybody's you know they young so they talking you know all the things that I really you know I know about but mixtapes to me was different growing up mixtapes was a pot of gumbo mm-hmm it wouldn't they wouldn't album albums they was a pot of gumbo. They wouldn't album albums. They was a pot of gumbo and you know, that's what I grew up on. That was my internet and social media to the world

before it was social media because I could find an artist from North Carolina, Texas, boom on a mixtape. And they came and they had the board and out of all that new generation stuff, it was two names on the board that was from before. DJ Clue, and then they had Flex on there, right? And my team, Cheyenne, I got to give her credit. She kept saying Clue.

Her thing was Clue. Like, she was adamant clue and i was like you know okay you know me i don't like asking people you know i don't want to feel like um but then i thought about it and i was like you know what clue for me clue family without even being family i was gone doing all that but when you know, he's a part of the dynasty, a part of, you know, what helped me be me, right? And helped me get through. So I look at it as family.

I don't look at it no more, no less, right? We ain't never got hang. I look at his family. So we reached out and I had a conversation with him and I just broke it down to him, what was really going on and why I was doing it. And the reason why I was doing it, he was so into that. Like giving the artists a platform again without being programmed

and doing this and then taking a sneaker was, I didn't need a mixtape to sell a sneaker, but taking the platform of Puma and Foot Locker and saying, okay, I'm going to do this mixtape and we merge them together but let these artists have a runway from that. And then they can drive off and drive their own car to wherever. We don't own the music. I don't get nothing off of this.

You know what I'm saying? Like, yes, Roc Nation is putting it together, but the artists own their own songs. So it's like you get to drive off and do what you want. He was like, I'm in'm in right without even hearing the music right I was like nah let me I got on the plane came to New York and and um played it for him like and I'm like I had to play it for him cuz I'm like this is the time I need you to wrap your arms around it mm-hmm you know mold it and make sure

it's that and that's what clue can do right and and i was like here so it ain't like i'm coming this is my pride this is our project this is us like you know like i tell the artists this ain't my sneaker no more this is our sneaker like so he came and wrapped his arm around and i got to go in the studio with him and Doro, and I was like, come on, man, I'm like a kid. It's a clue tape. I'm like a kid watching, you know, I got Doro outside, like, mixing it, and I'm like, so I'm having a moment myself,

and it's like, oh, we get to add a page to this 50-year hip-hop. Not this year, but that whole book. We get to add a page into that book. I'm like, man, you can't go wrong. And then first thing when you heard, we got in there and he started hitting with the, you hear his voice off the top, you like, ah.

Put you back into that moment. You like, ah. And then you take that, and to be honest, music is good. Very good. Like, and that's the, you take that on top of the music being good, and like I said, I think it's just

setting the tone of that next chapter, not just for the artist, whatever that is for Clue, whatever that is for me, whatever that is for Puma, whatever that is for Full Life, whatever that, whoever's involved, I think this is bringing the best out of all of us right and i think that's when you make something great when you can set back and we we take everybody to boston we just i take them to puma and let them but then the people who's doing b-roll from puma come back and show me something they shot behind the scenes like you see when you bring that energy in the room, it just brings the best out of everybody.

And I think Clue just helped to bring the best out of them. And I think for Clue, for me, we talked about it. I think Clue has so much to offer to the world. Like, I'm ready to sit back and champion and root for him on just being able to give that knowledge and show the world of what he done in this 50 years of hip-hop what his you know contributions have been like the world needs that that's right i told him yesterday he got to use this tape to step back into his legacy the world needs that you know me and it's hard because, you know, when you're in your comfort zone and you don't want to, but I just think this is that time was, though,

the world needs that. Like, there's so much going on. There's so much good, bad, and ugly going on. Like, we always can take that. Clue is history, man. Absolutely. Clue, clue, clue, you know, clue is one of the ones when you talk about mixtape, you got to put him put his name at the top of the list about

what mixtape became. 100%. It's needed. And how can people get this mixtape? So right now, the way you get it, we dropped the single. Got the single out. We got some content out right now. It's only on the sneaker.

What? I didn't know that. It's only on the sneaker. What? I didn't know that. It's only on the sneaker right now. You get the sneaker and you gotta do the cue alcohol? This one got headphones on. So. So when you get the sneaker, we got a chip in the sneaker. So that means we can always change out content, content oh man so you go and you you you

download the content and the music on this nigga so right now it's just to keep that energy we're going to all dsp but it's just right now we're just having fun because i like i said i think for me i didn't want to get into the program thing because once you start the program thing we take away from why we did it we take away the human side of the artist like you got to get into the program thing. Because once you start the program thing, we take away from why we did it. We take away the human side of the artist. It's like, you got to fit into this box of what's going on. And I want people to see this process. Like, we got all the content of us making this. Like, in the studio, making it.

You're seeing it in real time. You're seeing this camaraderie come together of just young talent. Like, in the world was they say we can't get along come together from everywhere from chicago brooklyn you know new orleans is compton it's like all this synergy going so you know from from now you get it all that's dope of the phone that's crazy that's dope so when the sneakers come out then sneakers came out on the 14th okay oh they're out now okay 14 14 uh puma.com or footlogger.com you know it's a footlocker this style is a footlocker exclusive but i felt like at this moment that's a beautiful thing because we

we're going to utilize that platform to tell our 50 year you know and all that and make it make sense. So this is the original. So this is the cassette tape. So it's the evolution of music. You go from the cassette tape to the CD player, Sony Walkman, MP3. So it's just the evolution of music. You know what I'm saying? Just paying homage to the evolution of music and just showing my respect to what helped me be who i am hip-hop culture

helped me become emery jones vegas jones whatever you want to call it is a big part of who i am why i'm here and why i do what i do so it's just a uh homage back to them and i go to tell everybody my favorite part of the sneakers look at the shoestring tips what'd you say auxiliary plug for your headphones oh my god it's just it's just the moments right just just to be able to play the moments and think about this from remember the old tdk yep so it's like just paying just paying homage, to why we're here. You feel what I'm saying? What size is that?

My size, nigga. I got y'all's size here. Few of them, they get to the office today, but it's good because I get to get the team size and we can come back and make sure. Well, that's why you asked me my size. Yeah. I had to ask you.

Yeah, yeah. This guy's crazy. Charlotte made me at the blue, like, yo, what's why you asked me about size. Yeah. I had to ask you. Yeah, yeah. This guy's crazy. Charlotte made me at the blue, like, yo, what's your shoe size? I'm like, what? Yeah, yeah, that was me. That was me. I said, yo, you flirting with me in the middle of the day? No, it was me checking in.

I was like. No, I appreciate you, bro. Oh, I got a few more questions. Yes, sir. You know, it's Emory here. It's 50 years of hip hop. You don't get to talk to Emory too often. The other day, you said it was hard for you to even stay in the museum yeah it's heavy it's heavy in a great way and i'm you know all my friends know me i'm

emotional you know i've been through a lot and i'm not i'm not afraid to be emotional i'm not afraid you know me that's just joy it's like you know and it's's heavy. It's heavy when you sit back and, you know, see what, you know, you've been a part of. Like you've actually been a part of. You actually have added some value to what you're seeing, right? And just to, you know, look at my big brother and just, you know, to watch his accomplishments and still look at him as, you know, not Jay-Z, not, you know, Hov, not, you know, all that,

but see Sean Carter, the human, right? And such good human being he is, right? So to watch all that and take that in is like, and to be in Brooklyn, like to be able to bring that back and give Brooklyn that, you know what I'm saying? Not just Brooklyn, New like, and to be in Brooklyn, like to be able to bring that back and give Brooklyn that, you know what I'm saying? Not just Brooklyn, New York, but then, you know, being in Brooklyn to give that at that moment, it's a lot.

It's a lot. With a police escort. Yeah, it's a lot. It's a lot. It's a lot. It's beautiful. It's touching. But it's heavy to digest because, like you said,

you got to pinch yourself every day. Like, it's just really real. Was you also emotional because a lot of that you might have missed? No, no, no. I didn't miss it because it helped me get through, to be able to be mentally strong and prepared for my opportunities that was in front of me. So I didn't let that time going by and missing that be

a downer it was an upper so i really didn't miss it because if they win and i'm winning gotcha i said i looked at i'm like i can i can get up and go to sleep and deal with that madness i'm dealing with and be like nah like and i i know them they i know them i know how good they are i know who they are and they winning so it's like for me to witness that it never gave me that part absolutely never it never it was like i'm saluting i'm i'm i'm that thing about i went through through that phone i got some of my closest friends from the system and the streets from Queens. You got to figure I'm in Fort Dix doing, you know, the rap battles and the vibe, but it was never a thing amongst us. We never, you know, we have fun about it.

It's like, you can come in and brag about it and be like, yo, I got one up on you and you, but it was never, I never looked at it. No, no difference. I never looked at it, you know, from a, from a thing. Cause I looked at it as, yo, never looked at it you know from a from a thing i because i looked at it as yo we have an opportunity to win not just them the door gonna open up for everybody to win even if you ain't got to deal with music it was just opening up the door right for us to win so for me we can always grow to get out of that small thinking become bigger i always looked at the

bigger picture like we got a chance to win, man. This is something that's, you know, you watch what the OGs did to open up the door for when them 90s came in. And you gotta be honest, the 90s ran with it in a way where it opened up the door for us to be respected in a different way to now. And then you, like you say, now,

it's like everybody like, well, I don't like what's going on. It's always been some good, bad, and ugly. Day one. It's always been that. There's no difference. It might be a little more, you know, advanced and broadcasted more, but there's no difference. You know what I'm saying? It's the world.

It's like, we can't put it on music. You know, the world is the world. So, you know, we're dealing with shit different ways, you know what i'm saying it's the world it's like we can't put it on music you know the world is the world so you know always dealing with different ways you know do you believe it was divine order for you to get locked up and the reason i say that because you know i think jay was in london right when you and your crew got arrested but jay was always with you so if he was here he might have been with you during that thing i mean think about it it was everything is ordained that's that's the way it is you know what i mean it's ordained at that moment that was something that you know allah wanted me to go

through you know i mean that was something that i had to deal with right and and and i look at it as you know i wouldn't change it for nothing in the world because, you know, if I change that, that means you're changing some other things in life. It was it. I think it was just ordained. It was just ordained the way it was going to be, right? And I think for me, I went through that time. It's a lot of people went through worse situations during my period of time gone than I did during the time.

That's real. You know what I mean? Yeah, that's real. I was thankful to not lose, you know, my mom or nothing during that period. You know what I'm saying? Like, don't get me wrong, I was missing it, I'm hurting and all that, but there's a lot of things that happen to people every single day that was in the world. Right.

It changed their life forever. Absolutely. That's right. They ain't still, you know what I mean? So for me, I take it in that that that grain and it was ordained I got two more questions you and Jade a whole rock nation y'all constantly pour back into the community what's the secret to mastering elevating out the hood without leaving it behind I think

people do it in different ways sometimes Sometimes, you know, it's money. Sometimes it's presence. Sometimes it's just, you know, education, right? Because if, you know, we just had the 20-year, you know, gala, right, for S. Doc Carter, and they hear the stories of people getting up there, and it's like, you know, I didn't get into college, and, you know, blah, blah, blah, and I kept going, but now I get my PhD, and it's like, you know,

someone that look like you. So it's different ways, I think. For me, I think the human side of you see all the success, even at my level. People see the success, and it's like you don't even think that's attainable. But when you get a chance for me to really be hands-on and understand that it is and you can touch it, i think that's the biggest give back for me like to continue to do that in different ways and i think as collectively we all find ways to continue to just you know understand the human side of it and being connected because

guess what you can't you can't go and be in the hood like you want to no more just that's that's that's not even right with or without it it's just not it's just you know it's just not happening you know me but for me i i take time out to make sure that i i you know i'm touchable and in the human side of you know getting to where i got to is like it starts with you first absolutely you know my last question what's your favorite emory jones whole reference in a rap record uh can i live without saying the name you know me viva las vegas me be the crap table the one that starts the g up you know frost willie gambling they re up that's a real that's that's a real time before it was a Rockefeller Records.

You know what I'm saying? Like, that's a real moment. Like, I acted like I owned in Vegas at that moment, and they gave me that name, Vegas Jones. From that record, like, we was in Vegas without no deal, running around doing Mike Tyson fight, but we knew that the next chapter was that. So, you know, that to me is my all-time favorite of all time.

That's why you rocked the Reasonable Doubt and everything? Absolutely. Wow. Absolutely, because think about it. This Reasonable Doubt was just not Jay's album. It was all of our albums, right? It's life, right? It's that.

You know what i mean is is it means so much more than you know just the music just is means so much more it's just even for us to be able to take that next step that means you grew up some in life you know what i mean like you say that go through that moment of saying am i going to do this or am I not going to do that, right? To take that step and get that done and that process, that means you etched on the board that you grew up some. You took a step forward. Without that step forward, we might not be in this position right now.

We needed that. That's why it's so important. That step right there gave us room. Not saying we got it right. Not saying we perfected. Not saying we did some things that was good. But that first step helped us be in this position today. He probably didn't mention the name on purpose back then.

He couldn't. So fast forward, Grammys, you on one side, OG and Aunt Juan on the other side. He was down 10 for this. We just got his 10 back and went back like where the interest is. M light up to 03. How did that feel?

I think he tricked us on that. Me and Juan still talking about that. We show up and we see everything going on and we see this big table. Me and Juan still talking about that. We show up and we see everything going on and we see this big table. Me and Juan and you know Juan is... He never on camera.

He's like, and Jay's like, table, man. I'm like, yo, we ain't getting no contracts for this. We joking, right? So me and Lil Wayne, we laughing and we laughing about it and then Lil Wayne says something that was the butt of the joke the rest of night he said yo he got y'all doing pro bono work that was our joke the whole night but it was it you know it's

just like at that moment you don't know and that's your brother you know cuz helmet means so much just to him first, right? And to be able to help accommodate that and that moment and all that is like, it's so real. It's like, come on, man. Like, you know, to watch my guy at that moment and, you know, his Grammys, his LA, you know, and the thing, and it's like, whoa, like,

you know what? I'll go back to it. It's ordained. We supposed to have been there. That's right. Regardless what, right? We supposed to have been there. That's right. Regardless what, right? We supposed to have been there, right? It's a moment in life and it's a moment in chapter.

It's that chapter. We supposed to be there. And it goes back to say, without reasonable doubt, that chapter might not never happen. That's right. Man, y'all, legends ain't even a strong enough word, man. Straight up from what y'all have brought to the culture man

we appreciate you joining us make sure you pick up the Pumas, the mixtape I think this might have been the longest interview we've done this year well it was the most fulfilling that's absolutely what it was for me thoroughly enjoyed this conversation Emery Jones we thank you for joining us and appreciate you and thank you for the kicks too

amazing my pleasure monogram out there too Marie Jones, we thank you for joining us. Appreciate you. And thank you for the kicks, too. Amazing. Absolutely. My pleasure. Sound love to the whole rock nation. Monogram out there, too. Huh? You said what? That monogram out there, too.

When you listen to the mixtape, they tell you go get that monogram. That's right. You know, it's the same thing as everything else. In a couple spaces. Just take your time. That's right. Take your time. Ain't no rush.

You take your time, man. Ain't in no rush. Take your time, man. It's like everything else. Take my time. Take our time. Nah, just for real, thank you for everything that y'all do for the coaching, man. Ain't in no rush. Take your time, man. It's like everything else. Take my time. Take our time. Nah, just for real, thank you for everything

that y'all do for the coaching, man. Absolutely. You know, even for me, just being the source and just being able to pick up the phone sometime and get some game. Absolutely.

You know, Emery is a person that's always sharing their resources. Like, the Black Effect logo is because I reached out to Emery because I wanted to create something like Paper Plays. He was like,

he plugged me right into who does what, you know, even with the hats, Mitchell and Ness, all of that. So thank you, brother. I mean, that's what we do, right? That's what we're supposed to do. That's right. Emory Jones. It's the Breakfast Club.

Good morning. Had enough of this country? Ever dreamt about starting your own? I planted the flag. This is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy. 55 gallons of water, 500 pounds of concrete.

Or maybe not. No country willingly gives up their territory. Oh my God. What is that? Bullets. Listen to Escape from Zaka-stan. That's Escape from Z-A-Q-a-stan. On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast Post Run High is all about. It's

a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. As a kid, I really do remember having these dreams and visions, but you just don't know what is going to come for you. Alicia shares her wisdom on growth, gratitude, and the power of love. I forgive myself. It's okay. Have grace with yourself.

You're trying your best. And you're going to figure out the rhythm of this thing. Alicia Keys, like you've never heard her before. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Dani Shapiro, host of the hit podcast, Family Secrets.

How would you feel if when you met your biological father for the first time, he didn't even say hello? And what if your past itself was the secret and the time had suddenly come to share that past with your child? These are just a few of the powerful and profound questions we'll be asking on our 11th season of Family Secrets. Listen to season 11 of Family Secrets on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, my undeadly darlings. It's Teresa, your resident ghost host.

And do I have a treat for you. Haunting is crawling out from the shadows, and it's going to be devilishly good. We've got chills, thrills, and stories that'll make you wish the lights stayed on. So join me, won't you? Let's dive into the eerie unknown together. Sleep tight, if you can. Listen to Haunting on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.