The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: Common & Pete Rock On Respect For Hip Hop, LL Cool J, Kendrick, Jennifer Hudson, New Album + More

Episode Date: July 15, 2024

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey, what's up? This is Ramses Jha. And I go by the name Q Ward. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show, Civic Cipher. That's right. We discuss social issues, especially those that affect black and brown people, but in a way that informs and empowers all people. We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence, and we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace, and social circle.

We're going to learn how to become better allies to each other. So join us each Saturday for Civic Cipher on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Wake that ass up! In the morning. The Breakfast Club. Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy, just hilarious.

Charlamagne Tha Guy. We are The Breakfast Club. We got some special legends in the building. Yes, indeed. We got the brother Common and the brother Pete Rock. Welcome! Yes, yes. Peace yes yes peace peace peace how y'all feeling man man this is this breakfast here this is a beautiful day man for us to like have a new album and um just be together creating music man i ain't gonna front i was last night i was just like taking things in like man it's been some years of making music ups and downs and to be here like just releasing new music and the fact that some some people see me on the street like yo when that new

p-rock joint coming out of that i ain't had that in a long time so i ain't go front i'm feeling like just blessed and on a high, man. Just a spiritual high. You be on the street, and this is how hip-hop common is. If you try to battle common in anything on the street, it don't matter if it's dancing, if it's rapping, if it's graffiti, he is to the full. He participates. He participates, and age don't matter.

He be spinning on his back I be like I know his back hurt after that I know his back gotta hurt hey Evie yo my team be tripping cause

we was in a prison man we was you know doing some prison work and um this girl wanted to battle me in a break dancing and her girl was like yo

if she can break dance she gonna get you I was like okay so she started doing her little pop lock, and man, I went down and did some windmills. I ate up, I ate up.

They was like, you ain't gonna let the girl in prison be too mad. But I'm a competitor, man, I'm gonna win. The new album is The Auditorium, volume one, produced entirely by Pete Rop. Why is King Steeda the cover for this project? Man we wanted to once I we got the title the auditorium we wanted a dope theater, a dope auditorium. We heard about different ones and I looked at King's Theater somebody

from my team sent it to me Nicole and I was like yo that's it and I was like man are they gonna fit it within the budget? And for a second, I called my agent, Mary, who books my shows, and I was like, yo, can you help us to get King's Theater? She was like, I'm going there tomorrow. I'm gonna get it, I'm gonna get it. I talked to them, and then I went up there, yo. I went up there on my own, just went and knocked

on the door like, hey, y'all, we wanna shoot a cover, me and Pete Rock. And the dude, the security let me in and was like talking to the person like, yo, Common is right here asking me, could I get, so it ended up, yo, Charlamagne, it ended up being like, man, this was divine order because when we was taking those pictures

and it said King's Theater, I was like, this is dope. And they've had a lot of historic, it's in Brooklyn, they had a lot of historic performances and Diana Ross reopened that spot and and actually your family your wife was lived around that area so it was a lot of tie-ins and even just shooting a cover Pete and I was like man we ain't shot an album cover in a minute where you going through that experience of taking shots and just you know it was it was dope, man. So salute to the King's Theater, yeah. So how'd y'all get back together? How did y'all decide to do an album?

What was that conversation like? Where did y'all meet, your worlds meet, and say, let's do this? We been wanting to do it since, you know, we did the Ice Cube joint, and then we did Soul Survivor album for Loud when I signed to Loud, and he rapped on the joint with Nori and Pun,

but I'm skipping a whole bunch but we we met in 1990 right somewhere around the night because i ain't come out to 92 so around in the early 90s and that's when i you know start traveling moving around doing promo tours somehow we linked up when we met and i ate his mom's cooking because he brought me to his crib and you know it know, it was history from there, bro. Did you ever catch any static from producing bitching you? Not really.

Not really, but, you know. Yo, but Pete was one of the, at the time, he was really one of the only producers that was open to doing it. Even my great brother, No I.D., didn't want to get involved just because, you it just was a lot of a lot going on so man Pete was like I've been saying that rhyme out for a minute and Pete and I and I reached out to Pete and he was like he took me out to Mount Vernon you know he said it

was me and black thought he said I was heated at the time but you know but then I was I mean but I was I was in the state where I just wanted to man I was like damn man I got this like this much I was ready to get get back at it and uh get back at Q but uh you know it's all love not so I ain't dwelling too deep into it but I say that uh and he gave me that beat and I was like yo this beat this this is what I need for this song. And that was the first joint we ever did. He just went and made it in Rob O's basement, his guy's basement.

And I was like, man, this dude, Pete, came through for me. We've been brothers ever since. And this came about because, man, it was a lot. Last year, I really understood how important hip-hop is and how, like, valuable people still, like, how much people still value it. What made you get to that point? I think it was going to, like, all the hip-hop celebrations. Like, going, like, I was.

The 50th year. Yeah, the 50th. Yeah, I remember being in Yankee Stadium, and I performed at that show. It was Nas and Lauryn Hill, EPMD, Run DMC, man Mobb Deep, Fat Joe, like it was I stood in the crowd for like five hours I never did that at a show stood in the crowd and just watched and I was like man and saw like the Yankee Stadium going crazy over all these songs everybody from Ice Cube to Mobb Deep to Lil' Kim, and we all was enjoying it.

And it made me, it just, it reaffirmed that, man, this music is still valuable to people. And I was like, damn, you know, people are paying attention to the lyrics even more. Like, because I've done certain, I've done music, and people don't even know I put the music out. But when I get on to do a freestyle or something, or my homies hitting me up about, yo, you heard J. Cole on this or you heard,

you know, like, you know, of course the battle with Kendrick and Drake, they like, yo, listen to these lyrics. To me, it just felt like, it feel like hip hop is alive in a new way right now. So like, I'd always wanted to connect with Pete. I didn't know it would be a whole project. I said, yo, let's see what's up. I did. You knew, you knew. How did you know Pete? Because I was like, nah, we doing an album.

Yeah. Straight up, Bogart, Bully. Like, yo, I was on my Bully with you. Yeah, but I mean, but he delivered on the production. Your production is so stellar. Thank you, bro. It's still so stellar. And I was wondering, did you have these beats in the stash?

Or did you make these purposely for common in this i had some in the stash and maybe made some recently but they were all done and then you know i just took a whole bunch and started sending it to him well he came to the crib first yeah and then you know he sat down and i started playing beats he was like yep yep yep that one that one. He fast, too. But he also was sending me records, too, like that. And that's a process that, you know, I haven't been a part of in a minute where, like, I'm sitting down and the producer's, like, got the record and he's finding what he's about to sample. For me, Pete was sending these records, and I was like, yo, that's it right there.

You know, like loop that. And to be a part of that process is like a creative thing. I feel like that's how you can come with a sound. And it was even bigger than just us, like just making music. To be honest, as soon as I got to Pete's career, we started talking about life. And that's something that's like, in the process of being an artist and creating together, it's like, you need to be able to be connected as human beings.

And man, we was talking about therapy, life, children, and it was just like, man, I'm in the, sometimes you just know when you're in the right place. Energy. Energy, energy is like, and that God intuition is one of the the most like underrated things and i was like as soon as i was at his crib i was like okay we gonna do an album like and and i felt like we both would put our heart and souls into it and i was noticing that his sound was

fresh it wasn't like didn't sound old it didn't sound dated no no i just took what we did from back in the day and just kind of mixed it in with what's going on today. We want to rock with the youngins. I was going to ask, you know, the celebration last year, the 50th celebration, it seemed like it made people respect hip hop again. And not just the newer artists, the older artists. I'm seeing a lot of the OGs back on tour. And I'm seeing their shows sold out. Have you guys witnessed that?

Yes. Bro, I was on that LL Force Tour with The Roots for a second. And I did different cities, Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit. I'm like, yo, it's people here coming in their outfits, like celebrating this music. And LL's doing songs that ain't even hits from his album, like 1-900-LL, and people rocking to it. That shit was dope.

And all that was, I agree that we celebrated the culture. What made me feel good was we celebrated ourselves. We didn't have to wait for somebody else to determine what this was. It was like, man man we celebrating ourselves and and it just um to me we know when we was like when i first started rhyming i didn't know like damn man i could i could be rhyming i'm 52 years old you know i'm rhyming like i'm and i'm still and i still feel the love of what is that i have for this culture and i didn't know when I was 19 rapping, I'm like, I was thinking like by the time I'm 30, man,

I might not be able to do this. But we just didn't have any blueprints of people who had evolved and grown in the industry to be able to find out how to exist. And so many genres of music, they do it. Like, I mean, I'm a big jazz head and it's a jazz drummer named Roy Haynes that plays in his 90s.

I feel like we now believe that hip hop, you can be however old and just create it if the music is good, young, old, I mean just create great music. I had a discussion with LL recently and he said he had to learn how to rap again. So Common, do you ever feel like that with rap? So Common, do you ever feel like that with rap? And Pete, do you ever feel like that with production?

Yep, I feel like that. Well, I'm always at it, but there's times where I don't want to make beats. But when I do feel it, it's in my fingers and I'm ready to go. But I have that feeling. I go through that. Yeah, I definitely, I've been through it, and now, honestly, that was one of the reasons that I started getting into acting

was because I started studying acting, but the reason I pursued it even more was because I didn't want to be making music when I ain't really feeling it, and I got to find another way to, a creative outlet, but also another way to survive and get out there. So acting was one of those things. And there was times when I came back to rap,

I'm like, what do I say? I remember I was talking to Tariq, to Black Thawne, he was like, nigga, you didn't put out albums, just rap, just rap. And it kind of reminded me, man, this is MC. So gradually I started getting better and getting better at my craft and going back to MCing and hearing other MCs, that's always inspiring.

That's always been the thing. When I heard Nas come out, I was like, oh Biggie. Or you hear Ghost and these cats, you like, damn, I gotta rhyme. Andre 3000. So, I mean, but I'm saying that at that time that was always it and now I still enjoy that like when I'm hearing some Kendrick or Earl sweatshirt you know I'm like damn I want to rhyme but you know what you know the thing with LL if you really

think about LL I call him one of the founding fathers right he was there early and you would notice of course the rhyme skills and the cadence was a lot different yeah right it was more i don't want to say elementary but it was elementary sound it was versus and then it changed with ll the 90s sound is more modern to even this era yes but the 80s was so he would ll had to teach himself how to do it a different way because he would have sounded in the same skills yeah so the fact that he had to do that and had the knowledge to say look i can't go like that means a lot that is do y'all ever have to do that with the way you make beats because some of the the kicks and the snares when you hear them old records you'd be like damn that sound old like did you have to

i don't i don't like old i like vintage yeah vintage okay you know what i mean classic classic but anyway it sounds more classic to answer that um know, I keep my ears tuned to everything. Even if I don't like it, you know what I'm saying? I'm still listening. I'm like, okay, how could I incorporate what I do with this new way? You know what I'm saying? And I've been working on that, working on it, working on it. And then here we are.

You know what I'm saying? And then when I hear it, there's certain new artists that I want to hear on your production. Yeah, man. The Rhapsodies. Ty Dolla $ign, I like him. Ty's dope, the Simbas, the LaRussell, Kendrick Cole. I be like, they need that. Man, that would be like, to hear them dudes on that,

you did something for Kendrick before, right? Yeah, on Pimp a Butterfly. But man, to hear them dudes, like the Simbas, and like you saying, hit them on Peeps. Shout out to him, man. Peace Beats, man. I feel like that's the combination. But that, the one thing, what you said, Envy,

that I feel like I do hear sometimes is you can take a producer that has started in the 90s and you can hear their sound and it still sound like the 90s. The thing that peaked that I noticed was like, man, them snares and kicks feel fresh. Even, it could be a break that I've heard before, but it's something about what he doing to that break,

and what he doing to that sample. Even the scratches, I was like, man, Pete, I don't know why, but these scratches feel fresh to me. It ain't like, we've been heard scratches on records, but it was just, I guess the rhythmic of it, I don't know what you've done sonically. And sometimes, I think of DJs like J-Rock. Shout out to Beat Junkies and J-Rock and had him scratch on.

On our hour. Yeah, yeah, for sure. At the end. Now, when you heard the Drake and Kendrick beef, right, did that fuel you to be like, I want to get back into it? Because you were the type that they used to throw shots at you all the time. You would throw shots back. Hey, that's what

i do so did you feel like did it give you that that that feeling of i mean i want to jump back into this i don't think about it i want to get in the battle because i'm not there but i was i was already enthused about writing just because i've been hearing like like i said like whether it was cat sending me j cole freestyle or just or just the rhymes I was hearing. I'd be going back listening to stuff we like from Brand Newbie into Tribe. I was listening to De La La. So I was in the spirit of like, man, I'm gonna write.

And I'm gonna write, I'm referencing things in the rhymes that ain't like, I talk about stuff that some people might not know. And that's what we used to do in hip hop. So when I heard the battle, I was more like, man, enthused and kind of like, well, it was to me one of the greatest battles that ever existed. I think the greatest.

I might have to agree. I do feel like because I've been through some experiences and heard certain songs that mean so much to me that I probably feel like because I've been through some experiences and heard certain songs that mean so much to me that I probably ain't been able to give it up. It's like when people be like, LeBron or Jordan. Because I've grown up through Jordan, but I recognize that LeBron is right there. Chicagoans get mad at me for saying that, but LeBron is right there. But that being said, I would say, if I'm just being purely true,

I do think it was the best battle because of the back and forth and the way they were delivering records and how great the records were. And I want to say as an emcee, like, that was a real battle. It wasn't like just as soon as it started, somebody had won. Drake was delivering, And he was delivering. And then Kendrick just came and said, yo, I got this and delivered something. Just two of the greatest, not only this song,

songs in hip hop to me, like Meet the Grams and not like us, just classic songs. But Drake wasn't, Drake was not like just sitting down he was fighting it was a heavyweight fight and i saw something you said charlamagne it was true like it was like obviously the people that that are like ah yeah you know that ended drake that that really can't end the end of man you know like you said that was just allowed some people to maybe feel whatever they were feeling to say what they wanted to feel about him.

But that man established a lot in his career and people still gonna go out and see him. Just in this battle, Kendrick just prevailed, man. And brought the people together, so he just won. That's the part. And this might be a dumb question, but did you really have the daydream or dreams that you described on Dreamin', on the new album?

Because they sound so vivid. Well, actually, some of those dreams definitely happened, and that's one of the things that for me, like people come to me in my dreams, especially like people that have transitioned, have left and passed on. That's why I talk about my cousin, Adule, who died in a motorcycle accident in Brooklyn 2009 yeah he come

to yeah Pete Pete actually used to ride motorcycles with but but I don't God bless his soul like and all these people dr. Maya Angelo they have come to me in my dreams but but this I was like let me just be like, because I've been in the MC space, I was like, let me be clever with it and talk about Prince and talk about these things and just play with the words of it, but also keep the spirit of like what dreaming is and when people come to visit you in your dreams.

Did y'all have a discussion about that? That one inspired you? Yeah. Okay. Because I told him, Hev comes to me in my dreams. Troy comes to me in my dreams. Everyone I lost from family members to friends, you know what I'm saying? They comes to me in my dreams troy comes to me in my dreams you know everyone i lost from family members to friends you know saying they come to me wow i take that

as a sign and that they're watching me and they got eyes on me yeah i feel like you know the ancestors speak to us in different ways and and i definitely believe and even though i don't even always remember all those dreams i still still, like, remember the visits. And then, you know, for me to talk about Nelson Mandela when prison couldn't break him, and, you know, when Malcolm's talking about As-salamu alaykum, he in the window saying As-salamu alaykum, I'm thinking about that by all means necessary,

by any means necessary picture where he was in the window. Like, all those things, man, he was in the window. Like all those things man I was just I wanted to give it up for for people who've inspired me. It's almost like a tribute to to the ancestors but in a good way. And not everybody was gone either like Yassine Bae I'm talking. I have those same dreams I just wonder what are they trying to tell us? Are they just letting us know hey there's something else after this, so move accordingly? I feel like they definitely are letting us know that it's something else that exists. It's deeper than just this human level.

And my mother always be talking, man. She would say a prayer to me and be like, from the heavenly realms. So I feel like from the heavenly realms that our ancestors can come to us in our dreams. So, you know, that just may be one way to communicate. You know? Another record, okay. When you produce Troy, right? What was the mindset back then?

Because usually people didn't do records like that. It was either hard records, it was club records, it was party records, it was street records, but you did a record as a reminisce, as a dedication record. What was the mind frame and what was the label's feeling of putting that record out of all? Because that's one of the most classic records out there.

Well, I'm going to start off saying I was depressed. I was really depressed because we lost a block general, too. He was like, he taught me how to fight, taught me this, taught me that. And so when we lost him, it was like, you taught me how to fight, taught me this, taught me that. And so when we lost him, oh, so when we lost him, you know, the whole community was crazy. So I went, somehow found the strength to go dig through records, and I found this record and listened to the whole thing.

And when I listened to the whole thing, I got emotional, started crying. And I said that was a sign to say yo try to do something with this you know I'm saying and so that's what I did and I heard these elements in the song and that drove me to make the beat you know I'm saying and when I heard that sax you knew it was it that was it I was like no no nothing, just rock that horn. The CL have that, that rock. The lyrics already done. Really, he added Detroit?

All he did was like change a few things. But he, I can't, when I gave him the beat, he already had the lyrics, but he just changed some few things. To come into the concert, Detroit, wow. How did you feel when you first heard that acronym? Like that's like the reminiscing reminisce over you that was real clever of cl for um him to come up with that title you know

what i'm saying that was that was crazy to spell out my man's name and how that title is is this magic was happening for us bro you know what i'm saying like yeah everything was coming together and did the label want that record out at first did they knew what it was because it was yep because when we finished it charlie brown was in the studio a couple other homies and we listened to it and we crying in tears like this i had to leave the room bro because the music was it was it was it was that touching that song still does that to people. People remember their parents, their grandparents, their loved ones. When that song comes out,

as soon as you hear that, you're like, Jesus. Like what, 33 years old? Yeah. It's still being talked about and marveled at and I'm grateful for it. You know we don't give you credit for it too, P-Rock, man. Always putting Dark Skin Brothers in a I swing back man, ain't no problem there man.

Why we can't live man? Can we live? I'm just taking that shit through. Who instilled that in you though? Heavy D was very talented in coming up with names. He gave CL Sw smooth his name gave pete gave me well his brother my cousin floyd gave me pete rock and he would have taught me a lot about like bridges and songs you know like just how to structure a song a hit song and then it stuck with me you know what i'm

saying because he was the first one to notice my talents. He was like, yo, you got something. You need to bring that out. AP, he saying who instilled that black pride like as a chocolate brother. The confidence in you. Oh, for me? Yeah. Oh, I mean, you know what I'm saying?

Like I had the talent, you know, I thought I was decent looking as a black man. Yes, sir. That's about right. I just rolled, man. You already had it. We come from that era though. We come from the black and proud era. Yes, sir. That's a brother, all right. I just rolled, man. You already had it. We come from that era, though. We come from the black and proud era.

Yes, sir. Like even when I listen to Honor God, you say that there's a God in the spirit of you. And I was like, damn, you know, growing up we had the 5% teachings. We constantly heard that. And it felt good to hear it because we don't hear that no more.

Man, man. The more and more I understand why we greet each other as God. When we say peace, God. I first received that just through hip-hop because of the 5% Nation, and New Yorkers brought that to us. And we were just saying it, and I liked it just because it felt good. But the more I understand how much God is in us it's like it should be said and we need to acknowledge that and even you know you

can look in the Bible and it talks about you know the God that Christ being in you you know and you being Christ like or you know that we are all God so I'm like when you start putting together a lot of thoughts about spirituality almost all of them teach you that the Creator is in you too. And you're one with the Creator. So I love that I got that from hip hop and got even more of an understanding because I grew up going to church.

So got even more understanding of what it is through putting that together. And now when I'm at church or if I'm around people who are really into into just religion I still can approach them and express to them the God in them you know you got a line on that song you say my testimony came from all the testing yes I found on that a little bit man I feel like anything that I'm really can talk about from a from a pure and like a place that resonates, it's because I've experienced some things in life.

And, you know, I experience things like we all do. But that human testing, that thing of going through things is what allows us to really connect. And that's why I could tell a story. I didn't even know, like, when I first started rapping, I rapped about abortion in one of my songs early on. And this dude came up to me and was. Hey, what's up? This is Ramses Jha.

And I go by the name Q Ward. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show Civic Cipher. That's right. We're going to discuss social issues, especially those that affect black and brown people, but in a way that informs and empowers all people to hopefully create better allies. Think of it as a black show for non-black people. We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence, and we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace, and social circle. Exactly.

Whether you're black, Asian, white, Latinx, indigenous, LGBTQIA+, you name it. If you stand with us, then we stand with you. Let's discuss the stories and conduct the interviews that will help us create a more empathetic, accountable, and equitable America. You are all our brothers and sisters, and we're inviting you to join us for Civic Cipher each and every Saturday with myself, Ramses Jha, Q Ward, and some of the greatest minds in America. Listen to Civic Cipher every Saturday on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Like, man, I decided to have my child because of your song, Retrospect for Life, with Lauryn Hill. And my point is, like, I was telling, that was my testimony, and me telling what I've been through, and it affected him enough to make a decision with his wife to have a child. And I'm just saying, like, man, we got to go through things to have a testimony that really means something and resonates. I ain't saying you go out there to try to suffer, but, you know, life gives you things and it's the way we deal with it and overcome it

and move through it and what builds character that will allow us to be like, yo, when I'm sitting down with people, they listen because they know I've been through something. You know, so that's the testimony. Do y'all think people respect the legacies that you two guys have put out? Like, I look at other genres of music, right?

And they respect the elder men, right? The young to the old, right? And I'm just remembering as a, the best thing about it is I was such a young DJ that didn't know too many people. So I remember getting the Common Wax. I remember getting the record that said Remix by Pete Rock. And I remember what that feeling meant. I remember when No Disrespect to Run DMC where they fell off a little bit and then they did Down with the Kings and Pete Rock brought it back out. And I mean, I remember all, no disrespect to Run DMC, where they fell off a little bit, and then they did down with the Kings,

and P-Rock brought them back out. I remember all of that. So do you think people understand the legacy that you guys have built and put into this game? We would want them to understand, because we put a lot of hard work into, you know, because when I did Run DMC, you know what I'm saying, it was like, damn, how am I going to bring these dudes back?

They were trying to come back. Nothing was hitting for them. Yeah. And then I had to convince Russell and Lior that I could do this. I'm the man for this. And then I had Jam Master Jay with me. Came to my crib. We worked on it and got what we got.

So hopefully that's a story that they could listen to and learn from and understand the legacy of what we did to make it what it is today and so even the video everybody was in it it was the one of the most cameo videos yes sir easy easy he was in it yeah rest in peace God rest you know I'd have record work because they weren't trying to be anything except for what they were at the time which was kings of the game yes four Kings of the Game. Yes. Four Fathers of the Game.

Yes. I was in the clouds because I couldn't believe I just did this for them. Brought them back from... What was the album? Back From Hell? Was the album that... Was it Back From Hell? Might have been Back From Hell.

But they weren't messing with each other at the time. It was thinking, I just remember that. And who wrote that? Did Jay write that for Ron? Who wrote that? at the time it was it was it was thinking I just remember that and who wrote that I think the DJ write that for what for down to King yeah but as far as writing I have no idea yeah yeah I want to go back to honor God cuz you know you got Jennifer Jennifer Hudson on the record How was it asking your lady for a feature and does she charge you? Well let me say this it was definitely it kind of just came pure because I was playing the record and I had the rhyme and Peter sent me the beat and I loved this this beat and I thought it was Aretha Franklin a sample from Aretha Franklin and I asked Pete and

he's like no that ain't Aretha Franklin and Jennifer asked Pete and he's like, no, that ain't Aretha Franklin. And Jennifer heard it and was like, man, that is incredible. Like that's, out of all the beats I was playing, she's like, that's, that's my favorite right there. And it just, man, I was like, damn, this kind of give you that soul for Aretha. Jennifer played Aretha in a movie and I could tell she was inspired by it. I was like, yo, I'm gonna get her to sing on it. But at first, I thought, you know, I had the verses and the subject matter. I wanted PJ, who was an incredible artist and writer. PJ's super dope.

She, you know, yeah, she from North Carolina. She's super dope, but I had her write the hook. And then also I was like, I want Jennifer to sing kind of what the sample is doing. And I was like, what's up, you wanna do this? She was like I want Jennifer to sing kind of what the sample is doing and I was like what's up you want to do this she's like yes yes I could see what she was excited to do it and uh you know ain't no charge it'll be a fair exchange I'll do I want to ask you, how do you deal with the criticism? Like, you've dated women in the industry that were famous,

and sometimes people go at them. How do you deal with that, being their man, but you also know that this is the entertainment world? Yeah. Man, I try to do my best, do my best to, when I'm, like, in a relationship, a partnership, that is with somebody public which has happened um it's um I just try to make sure we stay as sacred as possible with us and like

I try to build make sure we build together and have our own like foundation because once people start talking it can it can distract you it can get you off it can discourage you but if you got the foundation and know what y'all purpose to do, you know, and that's, I guess, any relationship, but for me, that's what's been, like, dealing with the publicity of the stuff. And, you know, you feel something if somebody attacking somebody you care about,

you love, you gonna defend them, you wanna defend them. But, you know, I try not to get caught up too much into what people talking about the relationship, especially if it ain't true. And if it is true, that it wasn't supposed to be out there like that. So we got to resolve that within the house.

Like if somebody criticizes her show, for instance, right? And then you got to do an interview. It's like, it got her. Carmen got a great roster. I would never talk about it. Oh, right. I would never talk about it. I would never go home and have an argument. Thank you. Like, come on, man. I'm married.

Like, come on. Like, you know, so how do you deal with that? Because you might just want to say, you know what? I ain't like what he said. I'm going to talk to him later on. So how do you deal with that? But then you also know, like, this is the entertainment industry, and I got to let it go.

But people, you know, I always say, people, sometimes people think common is sweet, right? And I know common ain't sweet. And I don't let it go but people you know i always say people sometimes people think common is sweet right and i know common ain't sweet i've seen comments from somebody tell this story all the time i've seen it on stage rapping and then walked in the crowd smack somebody and did not stop freestyling I'm not gonna do that. I'm gonna be South Carolina, House of Blues. Bone eyes. Wow. Hey, that was back there. Like we said, light skin niggas ain't just go back down. So how do you deal with that part of it? Nah, but for me, man, like,

when people criticize your work, man, you can't really take that too personal. Like, I get criticized all the time. You know, I done got called out for wearing crochet. You know, like, I just, you gotta know who you are. And like, if you put out, know, I didn't get called out for wearing crochets. You know, like, I just, you gotta know who you are. And like, if you put out,

I put out music, people are like, man, what is this? Like, I can't take that personal, so I apply that with her. Like,

if somebody's talking about her show, they don't like the show, I understand, you know, that's what they feel. But if somebody get in disrespect to her space,

that's a different thing. It's different than criticizing the work we do than it is disrespecting the space of a person. So that's how I feel. But her show is doing excellent, bro. So I'm happy for her. And I'm grateful she on the album. J. Hud.

How do you feel when you look back at the Electric Circus time, because I think about like, you know, people ask the locks about the shiny suit time. Yeah, yeah. What do you look back, when you look back at Electric Circus time, what do you think?

I think Electric Circus was like, it was a big step for my career in a way that though people didn't receive it at that time, you know, as an artist, you gotta to go places just out of courage and being truthful where you are to have a career in a way. Because if I kept doing the same thing after a certain period, people are like, OK, this is the same thing. But because I've had like the ups and downs and it's not been always accepted or popular,

I think people understand that that's the ebbs and flows of life and I look at you know sometimes people come to me about that album and be like that's my favorite album you did or or they they feel they'll be like man I'm grew on me eventually I remember primo told me that like we was on tour gangsta he was like you know I ain't like that album but when you started performing it I was into. And I feel like sometimes that's what art is. Everybody ain't gonna love it at one point. I used to, didn't like Jimi Hendrix. My cousin used to play him and I'd be like,

man, why you playing this? Don't be playing that. And then eventually, I'm working at Jimi Hendrix Studio, I'm listening to Jimi Hendrix music, and I'm like, yo, this Jonah's amazing. See, he got some amazing music. So I feel like some people can grow into it. Some people will never like it.

I was, Amir Questlove hit me about a few years ago when they put it as one of the best like albums that was underrated and blah, blah, blah. Like, see, I told you. So you just gotta put music, put the music out that you truly feel. Well, I was talking more about the clothes cause you bought it through Crochet.

Oh yeah, yeah. Was it the queen, Erykah Badu, we got her on the wall Was it the queen Erica bought you? Was it her that had you dressing like that? Because I love when the internet, this new era finds old stuff and that's what they say. Well see, this is the thing. Erica is very influential but not influential enough to say, dress like this and I would do it. I'm a man like that. I'm going to put on what I like.

Everybody might ask their woman, when your lady be like, oh you look good, you feel good about that. But I am not going to my lady like, is this one right or that one? I mean, I might ask that, but nobody's gonna say, yo, wear this. Wear this.

And she, you know, that's a powerful woman. She's amazing, an incredible human being too and just man just just one of the greatest but as far as dressing me no that never happened another record i love on the new album the auditorium shy town do it wow are you talking about an actual woman or is that a love letter to the city because because in a way the whole album feels like a love letter to chicago but on that particular song is that a real woman or is that a love letter to the city? Because in a way, the whole album feels like a love letter to Chicago, but on that particular song, is that a real woman or is it Chicago? I mean, I'm actually

going between a particular woman and just rhyming, and it is love to Chicago. I kind of felt like within the writing of it, I wanted to do all those things, and I'm glad you said that because the album for me does have the love

letter to Chicago and and a love letter to hip-hop the way we love and um and with Pete being from New York me being from the shop I'm like man I gotta bring my Chicago to Brooklyn oh yeah yeah yeah on originally on that on that record he had um he assembledids saying, Brooklyn, do it, Brooklyn. Dude, I was like, Pete, I love Brooklyn. I love Brooklyn, New York. I'm from New York. I'm from Chicago, bro. I love New York. You know, I live in Brooklyn.

But no, bro, I'm representing Chicago all day. So that is a love letter to Chicago. But also, like, I'm kind of referencing a woman. Like, you know, like she knew me from the city, knew I was witty, knew I had power and maybe some sense like 50. How do you tap into that Chicago energy all these years later? You've been all over the world. How do you tap into that energy?

Man, you know, I used to go. I used to like, because when I first moved from Chicago, I moved to New York, then I would be New York, LA, go home. I used to just go home, rent cars, and just go around and be with my homies. Like just, let's sit down and watch the game. Let's go to this bar, let's do it. Like that's what I did in the early 2000s.

Now in my life, I got so many things going on there. I got a school called Art in Motion motion in Chicago which is an art school and then I also had a common ground foundation and we got something called free to dream all those things are happening but to be I'm gonna be real real with you like having a lady that's from Chicago allow me to go home and just be home like and and I hadn't did that in a while where I was just like going home and just be home. Like, and I hadn't did that in a while where I was just like going home and just being around my loved ones and didn't have no work to do.

And that, man, I ain't gonna front, that helped me with this album because just going to your roots, you gotta always recharge and replug and plug into them roots. No matter how much you've elevated, you still gotta go to them roots and just i mean to me growth is about starting and growing from the roots so me going back to chicago all these

times just for regular it just man just helped me stay rooted in what i do and who i am i'm referencing certain chicago things and i'm like that's what i used to do that's what i did on resurrection that's what i did i wasn't trying to like because I seen the world I wasn't because I seen the world I was referencing other things but to be able to go back home and reference things we used to do that a lot of hip-hop that's how I knew what Queens was about cuz what Nas was talking about I knew what what Brooklyn was about cuz what Jay and Biggie was talking about knew what Harlem was talking what was about because of yeah Dipset and all them guys so yeah so i feel like that's

what i wanted to give to chicago um again that's not that sounds like you might get married come for real like that sounds like you building a real foundation i mean listen i mean this is definitely with all due respect to all the women i've i've dated you know know, because it's all love. But this is a really healthy and beautiful relationship, bro. And, like, I'm just doing my best to keep God first and communicating, taking all the stuff I've learned as a human being, the failures I've had in relationships on my responsibility. I'm taking that, learning from that, growing from it, using all

the therapy all the all the you know understanding that man let me enjoy moments and and also this life is about trying to not trying but creating happiness and creating joy and creating love and and like embracing the grace that exists so this is somebody you know and it's something man you kind of when you with somebody who's from where you from it's a different kind of connection too um that's that's something else but i mean she's from where i'm from spiritually she's from where i'm from from like from where we geographically come from the shot and you know just from where i'm from as a person like one of the things that I felt was, before we even started was together,

we were doing this movie. And this security guard said to me, I came to the set, he was like, man, you and Jennifer Hudson, two of the coolest celebrities I ever met, man. I was like, what, for real? He's like, nah, y'all real cool. And he was like, she just bought this ice cream

for all these people here on the set. And I was like, man, I just like people to all these people here on the set. And I was like, man, I just like people to treat people good. That's part of the home too for me. So yeah,

I mean, she is, she there, bro. You seem the happiest. You're saying you want to get married. That's what it sounds like

to me. I mean, if I'm going to get married, it's to her. Wow. That's simple as that. And I see P-Rock smiling every time you talk about her. He's smiling like, he might know something that we don't know. No. That's simple as that. And I see P-Rock smiling every time you talk about her.

He's smiling like he might know something we don't know. I don't know nothing. I just like it. I like to see them together. It makes me feel good. Talk to me about the three wise men that visited you on the record, Wise Up. Who do those three wise men represent? Man, I was really, when I wrote that, I was thinking three wise men came to visit where I've been.

They brought gifts with the South Side blend. I wanted these wise men to have all the godly attributes that you would hear about. Oh, three wise men. It's menace. Yeah. It's a menace. It's a menace.

Exactly. I wanted them. I mean, I really was writing that because a lot of people that I've met that are some of the most enlightened and spiritual people are real niggas. That's right. You know, and they real people, real men, real black, real women. And I was like, man, it's depth to these human beings. So I wanted the wise men to not be perfect one of the things i feel like i'm a big i'm heavy into like new testament scriptures so like i don't read that

and just be like oh man these people weren't human beings and i wanted to bring the humanity to three wise men like these are people they be bringing me hennessy and bringing the wisdom you know and bringing the the scrolls and telling me, yo. And I said the third gave a mirror and told me to remember me. He's just telling me, yo, remember who you are. This mirror I'm giving you is so you can remember who you are. And I felt that was important. So I just made that Hennessy.

I referenced Hennessy on another one. There's a guy with like, well, can I enter the gates of heaven smelling like Hennessy? So Hennessy, Hennessy might as well sponsor me or something. Ivy, Ivy, what's up? Ivy, make that happen. Ivy Rivera. Listen, Pete, you know, this is a very vintage, you know, sounding album. Even the length of the records, right? It's the verses and the hook. Verse, hook. Did either one of you ever think, you know, maybe we should shorten the records to be like this new era? I'm glad y'all didn't,

but did that ever cross your mind in the studio? Oh, no. It's usually now, we've noticed that it's like people, when they're making records, it's really only two verses. Two minutes and 50 seconds. When it's solo artists.

Two minutes and 50 seconds records. Right, but when it's a group, you may hear more than two verses. But our thing was just two verses. And you did three on This Man's Arms? Yeah, a couple joints. A couple joints, did three. Lonesome.

But now it's like, that's what we do. We have a choice now to make two or three. I think, man, in making songs, you gotta just go with the feeling. Like James Brown was just boom. Them records was long. He was talking straight up. And then some of them super hits from the Motown Like James Brown was just boom, them records was long. Fela, Fela, Fela. And then some of them super hits from the Motown

was like two minute records. Like when I'm writing verses, I'm like, this song don't need to be that long. So I kinda, we approached it more than anything. I believe when we was making this album, we was like, let's make something that we really feel. Like man, God in this music, let's like, let's make something that we really feel. Like, man, God in this music. Let's create.

Let's just create and receive that. And then, I ain't gonna front. I was, like, thinking about albums, like, only built for Cuban links or thinking about, like, Midnight Marauders and Main Ingredient and Balloon Mindstate, Paid in Full. Like, I want albums, Illmatic obviously, albums that I was like let's make an album where people can listen to the whole album and it got a sound and we hope that it can be classified as a new classic. Well hip hop defied all rules. Absolutely.

Yes. Explain, expand on that piece. Because James Brown said like there were rules to the music business, right? Or to music or how to make music and he mentioned like beethoven and all them type of dudes and he said he defied all of that because they were following the rules he wasn't and so you know in hip-hop i feel like we're just doing what we want what feels good to us you know i'm saying whether it's two verses sometime you'll hear one long verse and the record's over you know i'm saying with a it's two verses, sometimes you'll hear one long verse and the record's over. You know what I'm saying?

With a little bit of a hook. And you know, it's free. You know, this hip hop shit is like free. I got a hip hop head record. CL Smooth and P Rock. Whatever happened to the group? Just growing pains, man. We're two different people.

Y'all cool with each other now or? I can't say that, but I wish them the best. I've never seen y'all perform together. And I always said, damn, that would be for 50 year anniversary. Everybody coming back, I was like, it would be amazing to see Troy on stage. Yeah, I feel the same way. But some things just can't happen. It is what it is.

It's just life, bro. I just got a couple more questions. You only got one rap feature on this project and that's Pause Plug One from Daylight. Why is that? Man, initially I was like, man, Peter, I don't want no features. I want to do like what Rakim did. Like I said, Illmatic had one feature.

But I was like, it didn't feel like, I feel like we had created a sound where I didn't want any features. I was like, this is a sound, let's do what we do. You could do it without anything. Yeah, but what happened is that the song that Pastor News from De La Soul is on was featuring and he blessed the verse, man.

And like, first of all, you know, Dave from Delight Soul, True Goy had passed recently. Rest in peace. Rest in peace, God bless his soul. So they were kind of hovering, like, you know, Daylight was one of the first groups that embraced me and they put me on a record called The Business

and that was like life changing for me. So that's my family. I was staying at Macy's Crib, this my fam. So when Dave died, it kind of hit me. And I was also listening to a lot of De La. And that was inspiring me too, because they just always been free with their music. But so we basically almost done with the album,

but the song that Pasta Noose is on, Peter created the beat, but at one point it was Daylight's beat. It was Daylight. They were working on an album together that Pete and Primo was producing for Daylight. Wow. Yeah.

Dang. Yeah, yeah. And Dave passed. So Pete sent me the beat, and he was like, man, this is Daylight's beat. I'm not sure. But I just ended up writing to it,

and I got the hook idea to it. But up writing to it and i had i got the hook idea to it you wrote to it he was like man i need this i need it okay come on and then so when we were about to master that i'm like pete we gotta we gotta talk to pause and yeah pause and pause is like man that's our beat man we we that's daylight beating now i was like damn i'm gonna have to get this song of people's like I'm gonna make you another one. I was like, damn, it ain't gonna be this beat. And then five minutes later, Pete hit me and said, Pies said you could have the beat.

I said, nah, let me call Pies. I called him, and he said, yo, Ross, you could have the beat, bro. And I was like, nah. He was like, if it's anybody putting that music out there, we want you out there with it. So you could have the beat. And I was like, no,'s anybody putting that music out there, we want you out there with it so you can have the beat. And I was like, no, I want you on this song. And then he was like, yo, I'm down.

I'm with this. He was actually about to leave New York to go do something. He went in the studio, wrote that night, went in the next morning, and blessed it. So it was kind of like a divine order that he was the MC that was going to be on the album, Paz, because, like I said, they influenced me a lot and influenced this album.

How far down the road did y'all get with the Daylight album? You know what I mean? Well, they had at least two beats that they were writing to. Paz would tell you, like, you know, and Dave was the one that was like, that one. You know what I'm saying? And, you know, and then picked another beat and was like that one yeah i'm saying and you know and then picked another beat and then picked that one that we have yeah yo they i think wow to be honest i think y'all

got because pos played me at least about four or five joints that y'all got this crazy i'm just remembering the the ones that they went really went crazy yeah yeah but i gave them like six seven beats see that's like one of them hip-hop what ifs you know i'm a marvel guy so i love you you know what i'm saying what if yep what if he don't pass and we get the daylight produced by premier and pete rock oh my god i was doing half he's doing another half you know him he's a big marvel dude yeah like that big time yeah i'll be seeing you absolutely i gotta put that up there about the new cap coming and Deadpool? I'm waiting for that.

Oh, I can't wait for Deadpool to win. That got me all excited. My last question, you know, we saw Mef recently. He said that he realized that the generation gap is just too wide for him. He don't want to perform at Summer Jam no more. He just felt like the crowd was too young. At certain concerts, younger concerts. At certain concerts.

Do y'all feel that way and do you feel like there's not a home for for ogs in hip-hop as far as not even just performing but radio as well i i don't feel that way i feel that like man music can prevail over any age like i was listening to michael jackson and stevie wonder a kid. I wasn't thinking about how old they were. I just loved the music. And my first concert was the Jacksons. And I was eight years old watching them. And my point is, I think if we deliver the music that can touch them,

they will respond. And I'm a believer, man. I love doing shows where people don't be really feeling me and I win them over. Man, I done seen people frowning up at me and like, man, I don't like this dude. And then I'm like, yo, let me, I'm working. I like to work the crowd, like,

and work them till they do believe. So, I mean, first of all, Meth, anybody need to respond to Meth, man. Them songs he got is just ridiculous. That's my guy, shout out to Meth. Anybody need to respond to meth, man. Them songs he got is just. Classic. Ridiculous. That's my guy, shout out to meth. New York. All I need is my wedding song.

Man. I might dance to my wedding. No doubt. All I need remix. Come on, bro. That's what I'm so, so I mean, I think the one good thing is that I feel like a lot of that music is coming around again

to the, to the young as I remember doing a thing at Prairie State in Texas and this shorty had on Low End Theory, it's a hoodie, I was like, yo. I said, what you know about that? He's like, man, it's my favorite album, Low End Theory, Child Called Quest. I said, how old are you?

He said 19. I was like, yo. He was taught. This stuff, yeah, I mean, whoever introduced him, that's his music though now. So I feel like if we deliver music that has that soul and that timelessness, young people will respond, old people will respond, people will respond. Well, if you're looking for that, the auditorium volume one is out right now.

Dominic P. Rock. Let's play a joint off of that. Which one do you want to hear? Which one do you want to hear first, bro? Let's hear Fortunate, man. I was going to say Let the Sun Shine again. Okay. Let's get into it.

We appreciate you, brothers, for joining us. No problem. No problem. Well, thank y'all for joining us. Pick up the album right now. The Auditorium Volume 1

is out right now. Common P Rock. Yes, sir. It's The Breakfast Club. Good morning. Wake that ass up in the morning. The Breakfast Club.

Hey, what's up? This is Ramses Jha. And I go by the name Q Ward. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show Civic Cipher. That's right. We discuss social issues, especially those that affect black and brown people, but in a way that informs and empowers all people. We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence,

and we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home workplace and social circle we're going to learn how to become better allies to each other so join us each saturday for civic cipher on the iheart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast