The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: Ferg Talks ‘DAROLD,’ Therapy, Writing ‘Pool,’ KDot, Yams, Young Thug, Denzel Curry + More

Episode Date: November 12, 2024

The Breakfast Club Sits Down With Ferg To Discuss ‘DAROLD,’ Therapy, Writing ‘Pool,’ KDot, Yams, Young Thug, Denzel Curry. Listen For More!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey everyone, this is Courtney Thornsmith, Laura Layton and Daphne Zuniga. On July 8th, 1992, apartment buildings with pools were never quite the same as Melrose Place was introduced to the world. We are going to be reliving every hookup, every scandal and every single wig removal together. So listen to Still the Place on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to 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 iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Marie. And I'm Sydney. And we're… Mess. radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Hi, I'm Marie. And I'm Sydney. And we're MESS. Well, not a mess, but on our podcast called MESS, we celebrate all things messy. But the gag is, not everything is a mess. Sometimes it's just living. Yeah, things like JLo on her third divorce.

Living. Girl's trip to Miami. MESS. Breaking up with your girlfriend while on Instagram Live. divorce. Living. Girl's trip to Miami. Mess. Breaking up with your girlfriend while on Instagram Live. Living. Living. Mm, it's kind of mess. Yeah.

Well, you get it. Got it? Live, love, mess. Listen to Mess with Sydney Washington and Marie Faustin on iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. wherever you listen to podcasts.

Hey there, I'm Dr. Maya Shankar, and I'm a scientist who studies human behavior. Many of us have experienced a moment in our lives that changes everything, that instantly divides our life into a before and an after. On my podcast, A Slight Change of Plans, I talk to people about navigating these moments. Their stories are full of candor and hard-won wisdom, and you'll hear from scientists who teach us how we can be more resilient in the face of change. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Wake that ass up! It's in the morning! The Breakfast Club! Morning everybody, it's DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne the Guy, we are The Breakfast Club. We got a special guest in the building, ladies and gentlemen, Ferg! Hey! What's poppin', what's poppin' y'all?

What's up, my brother? How y'all feelin'? So no more ASAP, Ferg? It's still, ASAP is on So no more ASAP Ferg. It's still, ASAP is on my chest. ASAP is forever. I'm always striving and prospering. But Ferg is like, you know, Diddy changed his name. It's a funny name.

It's a funny title to bring up Diddy, right? Yeah. It's like, but you know. It happened. Yeah, Diddy changed his name a few times and it represented different eras of his career. And that's where I'm at with it. This your baby oil era?

Why you gotta go? Listen. Why there with it? Listen, I'm, Diddy is my family and I love his family. I don't know all of what's going on with this case and everything like that and it's a bunch of hearsay. Really it's like a thousand bottles of baby oil, what that has to do anything with him being a bad man.

So yeah. He just a rich man with a bunch of baby oil. He just a rich man with a bunch of baby oil. So you did say this is a new, I guess, new energy in your life right now to take the ASAP off. So what is the difference? Is it ASAP was crew, was it more individual? Is it?

Well, I feel like ASAP puts me in group think. You know what I'm saying? You think about the era, which is a golden era, you know what I'm saying? Like we changed the game. And it's just like for me to change the game a whole nother way and in an individual way now, like I was known for being Ferg my whole life.

I met Rocky as Ferg, I met Yams as Ferg. And then when we came together as a group effort, we all changed our name to ASAP. Ferg like how Bone Thugs got, Lazy Bone, Crazy Bone, Fleshing Bone. We just basically took our last names and put them last and put ASAP as our first. So it's just a new era.

I know earlier this year it was people from the ASAP Mob saying that you were no longer a part of ASAP Mob. Yeah, Ayls. Ayls said that, and he took that quote back. Like we talked about it and hashed it and all of that stuff. But yeah, Ayls and Bari, they said that. But my whole thing is like, you know when you doing great, they said that, but my whole thing is like, you know, when you're doing great,

that's what it comes with. You know, people, you feel some type of way, and I didn't do anything to anybody, so. Yeah. Is the mob still close as they used to be? Close as they used to be. I would say that me and Rocky, we talk every now and then, and I always check on his wellbeing,

but we so busy just doing our own thing. He got two kids and he's making music and got his career. This is exactly going the way we wanted it to go. Like, you know, I got my land over here, you got your island over here, we big pillars. And then when we come together, it's just like, it just gets crazy. So as far as like, as close as we used to be,

no, because we used to basically live with each other because we used to be on tour together. But as far as love, like I love my brother to death. Like I would, I always wanna see my brother do great and I love what he's doing. And yeah, all my brothers, you know, even Ills and Bari like with the whole thing, I just wanna see my brother do great and I love what he's doing. And yeah, all my brothers, you know, even Ills and Bari, like with the whole thing,

it just, I always say that people handle fame differently. Like Yams, he handled it the way he handled it and it cost him his life. And it's a lot of access. And you know, it makes people act different. We don't know, like, I know these people and these guys from a point. Like when I met them, they was already like teenagers

or like young adults. I don't know what happened to them in their life before that. So what shapes and molds these people when they are younger years or as young men, I don't know what it was like in their household or whatever. So when we get the fame and the fortune and all of that, everybody's gonna react different. Yeah. Where you been at though?

You've been a little quiet. Your last project was 2020. I've been cooking. Yeah? Cooking, yeah. Like, you know, we in a game where it's like everything is so quick, so quick. I never believed in rushing my process for money.

I feel like I've done that, I've hustled. I feel like after I dropped Trap Lord, my album, the time and effort it took me to create that album, which it took my whole life to create that album, which it took my whole life to create that album. Because up until that point I was just living it and I created an album. So I had mad life to talk about on that one album. After that it's just like chasing a hit.

So now you listening to the label, yo put out this, put out that because yo this works for radio, boom, boom, boom. And then it's like, I mean, I got mad hit records, not saying that that's enough, but for me it wasn't enough. Like I wanted to like really figure out what I wanted to say, because you know, when you realize you got a voice, you can really make a lot of movement

and you wanna, you know, as a 36 year old man, you wanna create purpose and have purpose driven moves yeah so that's what I wanted to figure out like all right you know I did that that shit was fun but where am I going now like how am I gonna lead the people or what am I saying to the kids so that's what I had to figure out like I wanted to grow as a person so the music could evolve yeah the name of the album is Darryl yeah now why Darryl cuz it seems like it's almost like you're going back to the the origin of yourself I feel like I was running I was running from myself for a long time Like my father was such a great man. Like I'm not sure if you heard a legend. Yeah

You know D Ferg the Ferg family like it's a whole family of us T Ferg you know, D Ferg, the Ferg family, like there's a whole family of us. T Ferg, they know him, that's my uncle that's always with me. D Ferg, my dad, you got Kim Ferg, Mama Ferg. Kim Ferg used to dance with Teddy Riley, and you know, she used to be with this crew called the Gucci Girls, with Dap it there, and did like all of their outfits and stuff.

So I come from a whole lineage of Fergs, and then now it's just going back to the basics and going back to my roots because I feel like I never gave the world that. I only gave y'all mobbing. I never gave y'all the individual. You know on the live you said, let me go to therapy and I'll be right back.

So have you really been going to therapy? Yeah, I went to therapy for three years. Like after the, it's a song I got called Pool where I talk about my hi-haters. three years, like after the, it's a song I got called Pool where I talk about my hi-haters. And I went to therapy after, no, during the Mad Men tour, that's like playing Jane is going crazy, I'm doing 150 people meet and greet, I'm changing my outfits twice a show.

I'm like just really trying to like, I'm trying to take it there and I'm taking my outfits twice a show. I'm like just really trying to like, I'm trying to take it there and I'm taking it there. Like at that time I'm the Face of Tiffany's, first black person and artist, rapper to be the Face of Tiffany's. Also had a Hennessy deal, Adida deal, Revlon deal, like it's going crazy. And I think that like, well, all of these things

that I was doing, it really just bodied me. Cause it like, it bodied me in a good way though. It broke me into a new me because I was like, damn, what am I actually trying to reach? And then when I would like look at artists that like, just keep trying to go, go, go, go, go, go, go. And I'm like, what are they trying to reach? then when I would like look at artists that like just keep trying to go go go go go go go and I'm like what are they trying to reach because like what are you trying to escape oh trying to escape and then I had to ask myself that question like what am I trying to reach like

when is when is it enough and also um I want to experience peace like I don't want to have to keep being addicted to working you know what I'm saying so um and I didn't peace. I don't wanna have to keep being addicted to working. You know what I'm saying? And I didn't know if I was addicted to working, but I just, I was in, you know, when you coming out the hood, and I'm pretty sure you guys came from a place where you had the kind of fight to get out of there.

And then it has to become a time where it's like, you realize you're not in that fight anymore. And that's what happened. I realized that I'm not like in Harlem no more, like fighting to get out of this place. So I had to like change my perspective. I had to get around other people that had things to realize like, all right,

I'm not the only one going through this. You know, it's interesting. The reason I asked you that is because, you know, a lot of times when you first start going to therapy, it's not about what you're learning about yourself, it's what you're unlearning. And in a lot of ways, that really does impact

your creativity, because you're like, well, who the hell am I? I'm trying to figure, you gotta try to figure yourself out all over again. Was that one of the reasons for the hiatus with the music, too? I think it's just growing. I think it's growing.

We call it a hi-haters, but it's like, that was normal back in the time with Biggie and Tupac. Biggie had like four years. He dropped Ready to Die, and then he came with Life After Death. And that's all we got from him after that. Lauryn Hill dropped one album, and then dropped a joint with the Fugees.

These is real writers. Kendrick took five years off to like, you know, write his album. So when you put in purpose into music, it is not just about making the world go like this. Like, I could do that all day, but like, all right, how am I gonna make the world go like this? To the BPM, but also when the motherfucker come off

the high or the liquor and they driving back home and they sober it up, how can you make it hit they soul? Still, so that's, me, I've always been a person that wanted to put the medicine in the music, because I do believe that music is a spiritual thing. Like, you know, music, we used to sing songs to like, I wanted to put the medicine in the music because I do believe that music is a spiritual thing. Like, you know, music, we used to sing songs to like, you know, in slavery, we used to sing song

to like tell you how to get out of there. Like, yo, you gotta go to the river and then you gotta get on the boat and then it, because master not picking up on the slang and the swag and all of that. So, you know, that is, that's what I do as an artist. I figure out how to communicate to my culture what we doing next. Now you were very vulnerable on this album.

Yes. Knowing you for a long time, you've been pretty quiet, like, you know, you don't really put your business out there. So how were you able to be so vulnerable and how difficult was it for you? I thought it was like cool to be vulnerable I thought it was cool to be vulnerable. You talking to the slaves? I'm talking to the ancestors right now. The ancestors came through me. Nah I thought it was cool to be vulnerable because we're in a time where being vulnerable,

if you can be vulnerable, it's cool. Because the kids, they put everything out there. And at first I thought that was kinda like crazy, but then when I like really got hip to like what's happening, it's a shift in culture where it's like, it's a lot of information being put out to us. We got Hulu, we got Netflix, we got YouTube, we got all of these outlets,

and you have to stand out some type of way. We in a time where it's like, we're battling for attention span. So it's like, the realest, like real TV changed that. You know, real TV, and you had love and hip hop, and now you have straight up Instagram stories, and reels and shit like that. So, and your music, you have to be honest

because it's like, if you're not saying some honest shit, I'm just gonna look at this dude's story and like, he's not even rapping, but this is more interesting. Did you, were you at all worried about how vulnerable you were gonna be because you opened up about some pretty tragic things that happened to you as a kid.

Yeah, so I mean, it took me eight years to write Poole. It was three songs that I had wrote to get to that point. So I wrote a song called We Don't Judge and Chance the Rappers on it. I'ma still put that out with Stacey Barth. And then I wrote another song called Innocent Child, which was like three different stories about three different, I mean, yeah,

three different stories about three different people. The last story was mine. And then I was just trying to refine, and then I linked up with my boy Kirby, who he's the designer and owner of Pure Moss. I just love his storytelling through his clothes and how he speaks to the world. He kind of grabs the bull by the horns.

And we got in the studio and he's just like, yo bro, like you itching towards it and you're scratching the surface in this song, Innocent Child, when you need to like really just dive in and just go crazy. That's why you call it The Pool? I called it The Pool because of,

so I got basically, I went to, I don't wanna tell us the whole thing. We heard it in the song. Yeah, but yeah, I want y'all to go to listen to it because that's where you'll get like the really finite detail of the song. But basically it was an incident that happened in a pool when I was a young kid.

And everybody's around and everything like that. And you know, for me it was like weird. And then I was like, and it was like one second, but I'm like, why? And it just made me ask why. And I wanted to basically create a piece of art that my kid could find, or like kids could find and listen to it, and I'm still jiggy,

I'm still this person or whatever, and let them know that like the things that happen to you really happen for you, but the things that happen to you really happen for you, but the things that happen to you it doesn't define you. It doesn't define you, yeah. Exactly, so I was like, and then also I was thinking all these rappers and people just be like, yo, we on Demon Time, we on Demon Time.

I'm like, when has that ever been cool to be on Demon Time? It's real. Like that's like not cool, like to be on Demon Time? Like we on Demon Time. People don't even know where that energy comes from. Like you just took him by it. Yo, we on Demon Time.

Yo, this is just is what it is. And I understand, cause like I got homies that's in it. Like, so sometimes you forced to be in it, but if I got homies that's in it like so sometimes you forced to be in it but if you're not forced to be in it then it's like why you wanna be on Demon Time? Like we should be like wanting to help each other. So yeah that was just what I was creating that song for and you know a lot of people say we on Demon Time and they don't talk about the demons.

Like let's open this up. Like let's dissect what the demons is. Let's sit at a table. That's what hip hop is. Hip hop is religion. Hip hop is our spirituality. Hip hop is this. When this mic, when the cameras is off

and we're going, we're giving each other files and shit like that, we're gonna talk about this conversation like that's some real shit. But why we can't talk about the real shit on camera and have these discussions? Hip hop is the thing that unites religions and kids. There's Muslims and Jewish people that's warring with each other.

I went to Jerusalem, had a show, I seen all of them turning up together. I got back home, they letting me have it on. This is how I knew it was a problem, because I'm not knowing, I'm making music, but I'm not knowing that I did something powerful, but when I get back home, I check on my DM, they're like, yo, how you gonna perform for the Muslims?

How you gonna perform for the Jews? Da da da da da. And I'm like, yo, the kids don't wanna fight. The kids wanna like unite. The kids wanna see the light. The kids are caught up in something bigger than them. Something that's been going on longer than them. Exactly, but like, who's really having that conversation?

Like, why are we not having that conversation? Like, I don't know. Was it difficult to pen, to write the words for Poole? Was that why it took eight years? Because just being, just publicly addressing, you know, what happened to you. You know, it's hard to address molestation period, but also if it's molestation from the same sex,

was it just difficult? First of all, I just had to, I was looking at the news that y'all put out the other day and I had to like research molestation. And like, molestation sounds so crazy to me. Like, it's like, oh, like, you know, it could vary like what molestation is, regardless of what it is, it can like-

How old were you? I was nine years old. How old was the person? The person was way older than me. Cause he was- You were molested. I used to think that I got molested by- I read your book. I seen that. Yeah, when I was eight. I used to look at it the same way. Like, oh, that's not molestation. Cause you think of the worst when. You were molested. I used to think that I got molested by somebody. I read your book, I seen that. Yeah, when I was eight.

I used to look at it the same way, like, oh, that's not molestation. Cause you think of the worst when you think of molesting. Like, you think of the worst. But it's still molesting. Yeah, it's like you got different levels, like, you know, I was touched, like, to be clear, like, you know, it doesn't make it no different because, you know,

everything affects, I was like groped basically and it's I just found it weird cuz it's another dude like absolutely like what the older dude yeah were you scared I was mad weird like yeah were you scared to tell your family because your family come from the street I know you said you told your cousin were you scared cuz you knew that if your family found out I told my cousin because he was my age and I didn't want to feel weird. Like I'm holding this thing to myself.

So I had to tell somebody. And then years later I told my mom after seeing the Precious movie. And then people was like standing up. We went to, I don't know, we seen like a, we went to like a premiere of the Precious movie and then people was like standing up and telling their stories after the thing.

And I told her like on the train and she was just like, what? For real, when? I'm sorry. Like she just felt like a bad mom. But like, you know, we in the hood. We going to the pool. We going to the park.

You just never know like, weirdos could just creep up in the mix. And you can't hold your kid by you 24 seven. So that's a, and then the hood, I mean and then not just in the hood, everywhere, I feel like this shit is going on and people just not gonna talk about it. And I'm like yo, what am I talking about?

Like I didn't make that happen to me. Like that shit ain't mine to to be trying to hole inside. And it's powerful that you sharing it. Absolutely. There's a lot of brothers, I think the only other person I even heard talk about that in rap was Common? No, Common and Denzel Curry.

Over there. People say that Kendrick said something about it, but I think that was about his mom. I don't remember. Yeah, he has a song on his album, The Big Steppers. Is it called The Big Steppers? Yeah, Mr. Morales. Yeah, Mr. Morales.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you and Denzel have those conversations when y'all was recording Demas? Nah, I didn't even tell him what to write about. I actually, that was the last song, because that was just me by myself at first. And then I was like, how can I turn this up but he heard the context like me and him have like a telepathy that like we don't have to talk to each other to know what it is so he got it

he understood the assignment. How did y'all end up piecing up? I know y'all had like a little beef. I never had beef with him. I'm like, I'm not the beef type person. Like I rather like, I'm not, I just don't have to talk to you. Yeah. What we beefing for. How did y'all connect with that after that though? I took Denzel on tour, on Mad Man tour was,

it was on the first wing, it was Playboy Cardi and somebody else. Oh, I wing it was Playboy Cardi and somebody else oh I think it was IDK and I had like I had came off tour during that time cuz I got I was just mentally and physically drained and then I came back on and then I think he came on for the second wing but me and Denzel always been cool like super cool we was the type of dudes talking like, I don't know what they doing, like they tripping. But yeah, that's my buddy. Like I love Denzel, he's my favorite rapper.

Yeah. Now you said- Is it hard to have these conversations? Cause I could always think about, you know, when you sharing so much of yourself and you being so vulnerable about certain things, but then you do gotta go out here and do interviews and stuff like that.

Is it hard to have those conversations? No, I just think that it could be challenging on how to, because you know you get ridiculed and all of that stuff and people love to take sound bites and take it out of term and I have to be cool with that. But I think that is really on how I convey it. Like that's what I focus on. Like I thought about this interview like months

before I got here. And I was like, yeah. I'm like, cause I'm gonna, I knew I was gonna have to talk about this stuff. So I was just like, how do I talk about it? And you know, this is not, first of all, I easy, you don't hear, this is like the first type shit. Like somebody talking about this, this open.

You get what I'm saying? I'm like leading the pack for a new way right now. Like, and it's not easy. So yeah, it's like, it's gonna come out the way it come out, but I just try to figure out like, all right, how can I best, you know, paint the picture exactly the way it is in my mind. And then coming from Harlem, which is the pause capital.

Did you even have that conversation without somebody? I'm grown. Like, yeah, like that's neither here nor there. Like, you know, and yeah, pause, like it's still pause. Like my gay friends they pause mm-hmm they gotta be from I feel like they'd probably only gay niggas that say pause yeah I was gonna ask you said that uh you feel like you should be in the conversations when it comes to Kendrick Lamar J Cole and Drake uh-huh then somebody would say but it takes you to two damn long to put out a project. Well, you can tell me that. You can tell Kendrick the same way.

Yeah, Kendrick takes how long. J. Cole the same thing. That's what we do. What was your mindset behind I Thought I Was Dead? They thought I was dead. They thought I was dead. I never thought I was dead. Okay, well tell me the mindset behind that.

The mindset behind that was the Ill's comment. You know what I'm saying? He said I was burnt down, trapped, Lord can't get it right. I remember that. I remember that so vividly. That's crazy. You the most active from ASAP.

Wow. To me, musically. Musically. Musically, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And he said that when I had a song on the billboard with Nas, the Spicy joint, and a song with Nicki Minaj. But I love else, you know, I love him even when he don't know I do or if he don't think I do but.

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Hey there, my little creeps. It's your favorite ghost host, Tereza. And guess what? Haunting is back, dropping just in time for spooky season. Now I know you've probably been wandering the mortal plane, wondering when I'd be back to fill your ears with deliciously unsettling stories. Well, wonder no more, because we've got a ghoulishly good lineup ready for you.

Let's just say things get a bit extra. We're talking spirits, demons, and the kind of supernatural chaos that'll make your spooky season complete. You know how much I love this time of year. It's the one time I'm actually on trend. So grab your pumpkin spice, dust off that Ouija board, just don't call me unless it's urgent,

and tune in for new episodes every week. Remember, the veils are thin, the stories are spooky, and your favorite ghost host is back and batter than ever. ["The Ghost of the World"] Listen to Haunting on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey everyone, this is Courtney Thorne-Smith, Laura Leighton, and Daphne Zuniga. On July 8, 1992, apartment buildings with pools were never quite the same as Melrose

Place was introduced to the world. It took drama and mayhem to an entirely new level. We are going to be reliving every hookup, every scandal, every backstab, blackmail and explosion and every single wig removal together. Secrets are revealed as we rewatch every moment with you. Special guests from back in the day will be dropping by. You know who they are. Sydney, Alison, and Joe are back together on Still the Place with a trip down memory lane

and back to Melrose Place. So listen to Still the Place on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 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 how would you feel if your doctor advised you to keep your life-altering medical procedure a secret from everyone. 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. Some of you have been with us since season one, and others are just tuning in. Whatever the case, and wherever you are, thank you for being part of our Family Secrets family,

where every week we explore the secrets that are kept from us, the secrets we keep from others, and the secrets we keep from ourselves. Listen to season 11 of Family Secrets on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Yeah, that fueled me. And I was like, you know what, this is great.

Cause for so long I felt like nobody was trying to fuck with me. I needed somebody to like poke me, like poke the beer so I could get better. Like, so I just used the fuel to just create and yeah. And then also I was looking at Deon Sanders team. They just kept losing. So I'm going to create an anthem for them. And just for any, but then it turned into for anybody who was doubted,

I wanted to create this anthem for. I feel like the album is kind of like that. Like you feel like a lot of people doubted you in this album. And it's like, this is my way of giving y'all the middle finger and telling y'all I'm back. Nah, it wasn't really, it's a few. It wasn't a lot of people doubted you in this album. It's like this is my way of giving y'all the middle finger and telling y'all I'm back. Nah, it wasn't really, it's a few. It wasn't a lot of people. Like, cause I know I'm lit.

Like, that's not a question in my mind. It's just, I'm talking to a few people. And you can hear it, like, you know, I say some names, I'm sly with some things, but you get a, I'm very transparent on this album now you said that you corrected me you you never thought she was dead, but You have a song called alive with a sad face next to it a lot of unhappy Call it a lot of happy. Okay. I just thought that'd be cool to like use a emoji

Yeah, part of the title another thing with the title number get back to what you was asking, the title reads, it's basically a summary when you read it down of what the album is about. So you can like- Light work, thought I was dead, alive, a lord, demons, messy, French tips, dead homies, cats and spells, fool, chosen, darril. Exactly, yep. So what you asked again?

I was saying- Oh, A Live Unhappy? Yeah. All right, so basically now that leads us here. Light work, because I'm a light worker. Like I sat down with these mediums and they told me I was a light worker. I come to shed light in a place of dark.

And I was like, oh. You've been doing the work work, huh, Fergie? Yes. Oh, okay. I'm not playing. We here to fix things. So light work, I come to shed light in a land of dark. But in Harlem, we be like,

oh, that shit is Light Work, that shit is easy. So I'm like, thinking like, yo, this is Light Work. And then I have my little cousin do that on a song. This is Light Work. So Light Work goes into They Thought I Was Dead. They Thought I Was Dead because I've Been gone for four years. And then you go to Alive Unhappy,

which Dapper Dan is speaking on the intro. And then Alive Unhappy is basically just saying like, no, I'm not dead, I'm alive, but I'm unhappy. And that is the why I've been gone. So Alive Unhappy, and then it goes into why the allure with me and future, the allure to gain, the money, the fame, the drugs, the booze, the everything. You know, we have five people die out of ASAP.

Yams, China, J. Scott, Pressey, and Josh. And obviously, I wouldn't be surprised if it's like somebody I'm missing. But yeah, so alive and happy, and then you go into allure and then allure. With the allure of the game comes the demons. Now we talking about the demons. Now what I said, rappers wanna talk about demons and how they on Demon Time, but they don't open it up. And I'm not coming at no rappers.

This is just a pamphlet on, or a blueprint on what we need to do. Open those demons up and let's talk about it. So I start talking about the demons. I see demons everywhere, demons from the pain, demons in my cup, demons in my brain, demons in the food, demons with the fame, demons in my brain, demons in the food, demons with the fame, demons in the sun, demons in the rain.

She on demon time, she don't need the vibe. No, I got a girl, she don't even mind. I don't got a condom, I don't need the fine demon in my mind telling me it's fine. So we going to demons and then we going to messy. Messy, because with demons, shit get messy. And then messy, it goes into French tips You know getting messy with my girl. I'm fucking up all of that shit

But like I'm also showing gratitude towards my lady and that song and then we go into Casting spells that oh dad homie. Sorry. That's enough. That's demons too. Like all my niggas is dying all of that I gotta deal with that. And then we go into cast and spells, which is like more about like manifestation, what we talking about. Power words. Power words, that's why they call it spelling,

it's like cast and spells every time you talk. So, you know, young Thug was locked up at the time and he was locked up behind bars for his bars. So I did a painting, I painted all of my cover art too. So I did a painting called Young Thug and then it has bars, like gel bars, and then it has Rico and blood behind bars. So I was like put the Rico behind bars

because we getting locked up for our bars. So yeah, so we got Cast and Spells. Then we go into Pool. This is when it like start getting real in the skin into the spirit of what this album is about. And then we go into Chosen because that is an affirmation to myself. I'm the chosen one.

And then we go on to Darryl. I arrived to myself, for myself. On Honor Live, you talk about how you only got one more album with Sony. Nah, that's on Thought I Was Dead. Oh, Thought I Was Dead, I'm sorry. Yeah, it's on Thought I Was Dead. What's important to you at this stage of your career

when it comes to just renegotiating? If you even wanna renegotiate. Just more freedom, more money. I got signed, I had three partners basically in my pocket. It looked easy and breezy. I never talk about business. I never talk about family business. I might talk a little bit about family business and songs.

Get in trouble for it sometimes. But yeah, I had three partners and I had to work through that for 10 years. So everything that you see I have, I had to work like 10 times harder to get it. So now I have one more album. I'm gonna make some more money. You know what I'm saying? Point blank period. I got things I need to do. I noticed on Allure, people were talking about Future's verse. People were assuming that he was talking about Gunna, of course. When people send you verses, do you listen or do you not care? That's their own artistic way of feeling.

Oh, I definitely listen. I'm listening and I know what people was talking about, but yeah, artistic freedom. I'm not allowing nobody to like, it's words at the end of the day, you know what I'm saying? It's words, like we see, I think Future and Drake just got linked back up and they cool again. Nah, they say that wasn't real. Nah, they said that wasn't real.

Oh, wasn't real? Oh, okay. Well, you know, I met Gunna through Thug, so I'm loyal to Thug. Whatever Thug say is good, is good. I love Thug and I've grown a love for Gunna and when I see him, it's love. But at the same time, it's like whatever Thug say.

Have you spoken to Thug since he been home? I haven't spoke to Thug when he was home, but I went to his girl's show and we had spoken on the phone. How was it working with Marjah Blythe? You got her on two tracks. Mary is the queen. She is. Yeah.

Mary is literally the best in the world. We are the same spirit, like uptown energy. Her remixing Royer's songs, I love Royer's. Yeah, it was a dream for me to work with her. She actually chose four songs to jump on. She wound up getting on two. But yeah, I'd do a whole album with her. She's amazing.

That's good. How has therapy kept you grounded? More poised. It gave me tools to work through thoughts. It's like, I look at my therapist like a life manager. Like we got managers for our money. We got managers for our work. And like we need managers for our money, we got managers for our work, and we need managers for our mind.

And you might need a spiritual guide too, to guide you through the unseen. So that's how I look at therapy, is just like a life manager. It helps me put things into perspective, like you said, unwinding things and breaking conditions and like understanding where things is rooted. So you could kind of look at it and just be like,

oh, that's popping back up. Let me dive in. And then also like meditation. I've been meditating for about five years now, like religiously. When I had like heavy anxiety, been meditating for about five years now, like religiously. When I had like heavy anxiety, I was meditating for 30 minutes in a day, soon as I wake up and then 30 minutes before I go to sleep.

And then that shit literally that and the therapy, like I used to go into the therapy office and my leg was moving like this. I used to watch my father do that all the time. And when I first walked in there, he said, you see your leg moving like that? And I was like, and then I just stopped. He was like, yeah, that's anxiety.

And anxiety also don't only have to be from trauma or whatever, it can be, you're happy, you're excited. Yeah, yeah, I just came out today. You wanna see what it's gonna do, how people react to it, yeah. Like, when I be, you're happy, you're excited. Yeah, yeah, albums came out today. You wanna see what it's gonna do, how people react to it, yeah. Like, when I walked Kendrick through Harlem, my anxiety was through the roof, because I'm like, Kendrick one of my favorite rappers,

so it's like, that right there was like, that was cool, that was some cool shit. Niggas can't do that. You know what I'm saying? And he was protected, nothing happened on my watch. That's what you was more nervous about. I wasn't even thinking about that. T Ferg really thought about that

because I just don't think shit gonna happen to me at all. Yeah, but like, yeah. Talk about that. You walking, we walking him through Harlem. So I had went to his show and he was like, yeah. Talk about that, we walking him through Harlem. So I had went to his show, and he was like, yo, I got a day off tomorrow. I'm like, are you trying to go to Harlem?

And he was like, yeah, I'm down. And then Dave Free called me, he was like, yo, this nigga really trying to pull up to Harlem. So I had to like put a whole itinerary together, and randomly wind up being Dapper Dan's birthday that day. He didn't even know I was coming to see him. And I brought Kendrick to Melba's and then we went to Dapper Dan.

I brought him to my hood. Showed him like the stoop that I used to hang out on. It was like, he's like, you know, they don't got hydrants open in LA, so he's like touching the water and shit. I was like, this a guy acting like that's holy water. Like, yeah, I just thought it was cool. And it kinda like, I seen the kid in them,

like we walked through two fifths, like, from like seventh to eighth, you know, like we walked past the Apollo, he looking at the DVDs that they got on the table. And it was early so all the kids was in school. So it wasn't like crazy mayhem. We was like low, we was like damn, where everybody at? And then I crossed the street, we went and we got like

some mangoes from the Mexican ladies, so it was cool. And is that the video where he did the pull ups? Yeah, yeah, yeah, he beat T Ferg in the pull ups. Yeah, yeah, pull ups. Is that the video where he did the pull-ups? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was the video where he beat T. Ferg in the pull-ups. Yeah, yeah, yeah, pull-ups. Yeah, they gotta do a rematch. We said we gotta go to Compton and they gotta do the rematch because we can't go out like that, East Coast, you heard?

Another thing people were talking about earlier this year, I don't know if you spoke about this anyway, but they was looking for Rocky to be on Romelo. Yeah. And then when you put it out, he wasn't on there. I think Rocky Lowkey used that verse for another song. So that's what happened, but he ain't tell me that. So you had to take him off?

I didn't take him off, the version still exists. We can still put it out. Yo, everybody, all the fans, go how Rocky to drop his version of Romelo. Cause whatever other song he dropped, we don't remember that. Go drop the Romero verse. We need that.

That back and forth is crazy on some Jada and Styles going back and forth. Crazy. People always talk about your face when they show that video of Rocky talking about fighting in jail. Yeah. Oh, that's classic.

For whatever reason, that goes super viral on TikTok all the time, and they always zoom in on your face, what were you thinking in that moment? I was just listening. I wasn't even thinking. And I didn't even realize I was doing all of that with my face until I seen that. I was like, yo, I seen a mic drop like this.

And then I'm like, and I'm like, because this is news to me. Like I never, first of all, Casanova, when he first came home, he told me he was locked up with Flaco, and I didn't know that Rocky was locked up. So that was news. And then when I think I brought it up,

or he brought it up during that interview, and then he started going to the details, this was all news to me, so I'm just reacting to the news, like, and I didn't know I was looking like that. Did y'all talk about it afterwards? Yeah, we laughed about it. Rocky likes shit like that, he's silly.

Rocky a different type of dude, he ain't tripping about none of that shit, at least to me. Do you miss that? Just having the whole gang around? No, I don't, because it was a time. It was a time when we was kids. A lot of it was fun, but a lot of it, I was just like, man, I can't wait till I have my own bus.

I can't wait till like, it's my time to like, pick out people who I wanna roll with me and do my thing. Cause I don't smoke weed. I don't do a lot of the things. Like, I mean, the girls, yeah, we was doing a lot of the things, but we, you know, it was some fun moments in that. And I like to leave it like that.

Like it's legendary. Like I wouldn't wanna, you know, if it's a thing where like any of my brothers need anything like I could pull up on 12e, work through stuff or you know. But yo, that's 11 years in front of y'all. But like, you know what I'm saying? But before that we like in Harlem doing the same thing,

but not in front of the world. So, all together it's probably like 17 years of just us. I'm ready for new things, you know what I'm saying? And like I said, if any of them need anything, I'm here. You need it when you am. I do, sorry to cut your wisdom, but I do feel like we gotta get this ASAP movie together and we gotta get the Yam stuff together

and tell a story because we are getting of age and it's that time. Yeah, I was gonna ask, do you think Yam, he felt like the heart and soul of everything. You think when he passed that changed everything, the whole dynamics of the group, or the crew? When he passed, for sure. Because Jans was fighting.

I watched Jans catching seizure at Coachella. He went to the hospital when he came back, and he's still trying to fight to everybody and talk. Well, he wasn't fighting, but he was fighting through that, having another seizure, while talking and trying to get everybody together because you got different textures and, you know, I might be like silk and like Rocky might be like hemp and like NAS might be like leather.

So you trying to mesh all of these different fabrics together and that's a tough thing to do, especially coming from Harlem. And Yams, like Yams, every time he talk, it's just like he was getting electrocuted. He just catch another, it's not funny, but like at that moment I'm like, yo bro, you're gonna die.

Like you gotta stop, you stressing yourself out way too much, and I don't miss that. I don't miss that energy and I don't miss But it was it made me into who I am and I know that that's a very real thing and that's why I also feel Like this album is important. You speak about therapy like in past tense, you know, you're not in therapy anymore Oh, no, no, no. Okay. This is my therapy now You know talking to y'all. Yeah. So whenever I need to talk to somebody, I'm going to come here.

Nice. No, you should go to your therapist. Exactly. You should definitely go to your therapist. Like you said, it's something that you keep. It's like a doctor. If I need it, I will go. But it was times where I'll just go and be like, yo,

how's the family? And then like, yo, the family is good. Yeah, so how was Thanksgiving? And we ain't got nothing to talk about because I got the tools. I get you. Yeah. Talk to us about Ferg Apparel.

You relaunching, ooh yeah, just show it. Okay. That's what's up. That was your pops line, right? Yeah. And you relaunching it. It. That's what's up. That was your pops line, right? Yeah. And you relaunching it. It's a family brand from the Ferg Empire. My father started in 1994.

Had a store in 145th between 7th and 8th. And yeah, I just thought it was time with this whole me going back to the roots. I just thought it was time with this whole me going back to the roots. I just thought it was only right. I never really put the energy into relaunching a brand. I always use the logo, but I wanted to relaunch the brand. I felt like it was a whole demographic that wasn't getting fed.

And that's the uptown energy. We don't got that. We don't got that in fashion. We don't got the stories. And nowadays kids love going shopping at vintage stores and stuff like that because those clothes hold stories in it. And they wanna be in those stories.

Now they spend like a thousand dollars on like a Selena shirt or like Tina Turner. So I just wanted to like provide the stories to them because that's important. They were like, my friend's son, we was all working out. Well, my uncle's son, he was working out yesterday and his son is 14 years, well, 17 years old. And he's just like asking me like,

yo, when you were 17, like how you was doing it? So they need the information They need the information, so I want to give it to him. I was watching a Head and gene of views I saw you on there on effective immediately. Yeah, you said you got a job at rock nation I don't have a job at rock nation. So JJ Brown is my manager. Mm-hmm and With along with Kaylee and I brought in my uncle Deion. But I had an internship at Rockefeller back in the day. Well, not Rockefeller, but Rock-A-Wear.

And yeah, so we working together and it's nice. You got you, got you, got you. My last question, man, I saw a quote where you said, it's okay to grow up, and that's what I wanna show my community on this album. So it just made me wonder, why do you think our community is the one that judges people for something as simple

as wanting to grow up or wanting to better yourself? We watch all of the great people do it. Jay-Z, Kendrick, J. Cole. I love Snoop. Snoop is my favorite rapper in the world. We got the same birthday, October 20th. Snoop is my favorite rapper because he was the first to show his kids,

like, yo, this is my family, this is my kids, and be like a gangster rapper. Like, I thought that was super dope. And he could be gangster, but also still be gangster and do a Martha Stewart show. And not look like he compromising himself. So I don't know if that's some Libra shit, but I rock with that.

Yeah. Let's get into a joint off the album. What you wanna hear? Chosen. Chosen? Yeah. All right, well we'll get into that now. The album Darryl is out right now, and we appreciate you for joining us, brother.

Yes, thank you. Ferg, it's the Breakfast Club. Good morning. Wake that ass up. Early in the morning. The Breakfast Club. Hey, everyone. This is Courtney Thorne-Smith, Laura Layton,

and Daphne Zuniga. On July 8, 1992, apartment buildings with pools were never quite the same as Melrose Place was introduced to the world. We are going to be reliving every hookup, every scandal, and every single wig removal together. So listen to Still the Place on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 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 iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Marie. And I'm Sydney. And we're M.E.S.S. Well, not a mess, but on our podcast called I'm Sydney. And we're... Mess. Well, not a mess, but on our podcast called Mess, we celebrate all things messy.

But the gag is, not everything is a mess. Sometimes it's just living. Yeah, things like JLo on her third divorce. Living. Girl's trip to Miami. Mess. Breaking up with your girlfriend while on Instagram Live. Living.

Living. It's kind of mess. Yeah. Breaking up with your girlfriend while on Instagram Live. Living. Living. It's kind of mess. Yeah. Well, you get it. Got it. Live, love, mess. Listen to Mess with Sydney Washington and Marie Faustin on iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Jenny Garth, Jana Kramer, Amy Robach, and Holmes bring you I Do Part 2, a one of a kind experiment in podcasting to help you find love again. Hey, I'm Jana Kramer. I'm Jenny Garth. Hi everyone, I'm Amy Robach. And I'm TJ Holmes and we are, well, not necessarily relationship experts. If you're ready to dive back into the dating pool and find lasting love, we want to help.

Listen to iDo Part 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hey there, I'm Dr. Maya Shankar, and I'm a scientist who studies human behavior. Many of us have experienced a moment in our lives that changes everything, that instantly divides our life into a before and an after. On my podcast, A Slight Change of Plans, I talk to people about navigating these moments. Their stories are full of candor and hard-won wisdom, and you'll hear from scientists who teach us how we can be more resilient in the face of change. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.