The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: Kadeem Hardison Talks 'The Chi' S6, A Different World, Working With Tupac, DEEMED Collection + More

Episode Date: May 3, 2024

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Download the number one rake horse betting app in America using the link down below and sign up with my promo code TBCHORSE. Yeah. Wake that ass up. Early in the morning. The Breakfast Club. Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne Tha Guy.

We are The Breakfast Club. We got a special guest in the building. The legend. Kadeem Hardison. What, what, what? Welcome back. Let's go, let's go, let's go. How you feeling's go how you feeling yeah good bro I've been running around New York promoting the shy mm-hmm about the tour talking about some glasses mm-hmm

the Wayne Wayne flip up glasses it's about time it was you why now? Because we can give back a little bit. We can put it into a scholarship fund. If we sell them, we help somebody go to school, learn. It seemed like a good idea. This guy here said, hey, you ever wanted to do a glasses line? I was like, yeah. And then we found these girls in Brooklyn mm-hmm

stand up um Vontel has a name in the company Tracy and Nancy and they make glasses and they sell glasses and we paired up with them and I told my exactly how I wanted them what I wanted them to do and they made it happen you popular popularize that style it's not even absolutely not even close yeah yeah but how can we go how can we order them first of all because i gotta order i gotta support yeah vontel.com you got some pairs over there oh let me get a pair that's what i'm talking about they only got two pairs so we're like you got your own glass company you got your own yeah but they not together no. You gotta put them together.

No, so it comes off. Yeah, yeah, it's magnetic. Okay. Word I said it, a magnetic. It knock you out like an anesthetic. Oh. You know, you just. Oh, sure.

Okay, sure. Boom. Oh, you got the nail. Boom. Okay, sure. You made me give the glasses on. Boom. I like these.

Boom. These fly. Yeah, which? They tried it. Oh, wait. Oh, maybe these pink shades are for you. Maybe these pink shades the glasses away. I like these. Boom. These fly. Yeah, where's? They tried it. Or maybe these pink shades are for you. Maybe these pink shades are for you.

No, no, keep the pink ones. You wanted them so bad. Go ahead. These pink shades are for you. When you started wearing these, were they for prescription, or you just was trying to look cool? No, the executive producer at the time, a woman named Ann Bees, who's passed away, rest in peace, she saw them in a David Bowie concert mm-hmm and she came to me two days before we taped anything because I was added to the show after about four episodes were shot okay so they had to

kind of shoot us and then edit us in she came to me two days before we shot and had these glasses and was like I saw these in a David Bowie concert is bass player somebody had him on would you like, I saw these in a David Bowie concert. His bass player, somebody had them on. Would you like to wear these? You could work them in. And I thought, at the time, I thought the character was so corny. I just wanted to hide.

Wow. This was the perfect little, boom, I could just, if I didn't think a joke would work, if I didn't like what I was doing, I could flip him down and hopefully nobody would recognize me. Yeah. And I could go on and have a career afterwards. And and look at this dope tell them again how they can get him if they want to order them on tell

calm on tell calm deemed ee em ed that's the name of the glasses okay go into the way and weighing glasses I love it I saw recently y'all did a oh it says the Wayne in the hands hilarious like Cle. Those are Dwayne's. Those are Dwayne's. The Dwayne's. Hilarious. I like Cleophas. Yeah, yeah. Oh, that's dope.

Got your name Kadeem Hardison right there. Yeah, we signed him and all that. Oh, this is fresh. A little limited edition. This is fresh. Yeah, yeah. Now, I saw y'all did a White House visit recently. Yes.

The whole cast of The Different Worlds. Yeah. Yeah. That was wild. I'm more comfortable at Comic-Con, actually. But they invited us, and Darryl Bell, who is our team leader, hooked this all up and got us in, and I was surprised at how overwhelmed I was.

Because at first I thought this is going to be high security, there's going to be robots standing everywhere, it's going to be crazy crazy and it was just people in a building, just regular people in a building going to work and then the whole fact that it's the house that slaves built and then she was so warm and and receptive. The Vice President. Yeah, Madam Vice President. Receptive to us and knew who we were. She better, she went to Howard. Yeah, but you know what I better she was the house yeah but you don't you know what i mean when you do the gig you don't really think everybody's paying attention

you hear from people and you know they're paying attention but you don't really think the whole planet is paying attention but um yeah she cleared the room and gave us a good 15 minutes and talked to us normal. Yeah, she was just dope. Like I said, man, I was like, I don't want to go to White House. What am I going to do in the White House? Let's go to Comic-Con. And how was it going on that tour? Because you've been in every HBCU, the White House, and you guys have been getting such a warm reception.

Yeah, it's amazing that the students, 18, 19 years old, they know us. They scream like I'm Usher or something when I walk in. I don't understand that part. I really thought it would have died down. Reruns, man. Nah. Yeah, but the influence that that show has had. And it's the influence.

It's the fact that we're going to those schools and we're talking to them about school and they're open they love it they scream they love to hear the stories they love to hear baby please they love all of that and and it's the retroactive love that's that's kind of overwhelming sometimes we get in there we really are not expecting or or uh yeah we're not expecting it to be like that. We're expecting it to be nice. And they go in. And they greet us like heroes or something. You guys are.

To our community. Absolutely. If you got people out there who say, hey, I went to college because of a different world, that's a different level of impact. That's me. I tell you all the time. was yeah he Dominican I'm not gonna go to HBC I'm black I was gonna ask you know you ever thought about

putting a director's hat back on and creating that again just different a new day because you go into the HBC use you see how much it's needed you see what the students like you can recreate that because you know what works it doesn't have to be called a different world it could be right we've been actively trying to do that for about 12 15 years hmm and since we don't own it and it does like you said it doesn't have to be called that but that's what everybody knows the blueprint is there and and I never thought for a long, I thought this will never happen. It's not in the cards.

It's not going to happen. We can't get the rights. They keep hemming and hawing. Now I say never say never. Because if Debbie gets excited about something, if we can get Debbie Allen excited about something, then anything is possible. And clearly that setting still works

because you're on Grown-ish now. And Grown-ish has been a long, how many seasons? Six seasons? Yeah. Something like that? Yeah. When we did it, I thought this show should never end. I thought, yes, let me out.

Let Jazz out. Let us grow on and go on and go off and do stuff. But then bring new freshmen in. Keep talking about what's going on in the world. Keep addressing the same issues. It seemed like soul training. It should have never stopped. But it did.

And now, 35 years later, it's needed. I can see that it's needed. Hey, Jazz. Hey. How you. I can see that it's needed. Hey, Jess. Hey. What's up? Yo, I just love you. I appreciate that. I'm happy to see that you're going to be on the show.

Yes. How did that happen? Were you familiar with the show before? Yeah, I watched the first season and was in love with it. And then booked some gigs and went out of the country. And next thing you know, I turn around and they five six seasons in I was like Lena don't be calling your company Hillman grad and I look out for the hell yeah I want to be on this show who's your character gonna be I play dr. Elijah

professor Elijah Gardner he is an English literary professor, and he is that favorite teacher that inspires his students to push harder. So, yeah, the strike had happened, and everybody was out of work, and she called up and was like, I got something. You want to come? I was like, yes yes not even do i want to and don't even send me a script i'm on my way yeah so yeah it was it was easy once once uh we got out of the strike and everything then it really kicked off you know we just had

kim fields up here and and you made me think of something uh when you said you just called lena because i asked her what's more important to have people, black people behind the scenes or in front of the camera? What do you think? Behind the scenes. They create the jobs. They create the opportunities. We party with the people in front of the screen. You know what I mean?

We all hang out. We know each other. There's a familiarity. There's a love, a trust. But behind the scenes is where the deals get made, but where the stuff happens. So it's good to know that she was inspired by us and named her company Hillman Grad

and shot through the ceiling with her talent and is able to say, okay, let me write something, let me create something, and let's start pulling them in. So yeah, I think it's more important to know people who write. Did you know Lena beforehand? No, no. You just reached out to her, you just loved the show,

was a fan of the show. Yeah, I was a fan of the show and a fan of hers. And just when Twitter was Twitter, I just was on the DM like yo I'm a big fan she was like you taught me how to dress Wow hmm you taught me how to my whole swag is built on you well not now what should be wearing I mean, look at my girl. I've been telling her, why you put that on her that? But yeah, yeah, how she was dressing. Yeah, because she used to wear the Jordans and the jerseys and the hats and the swag and the glasses.

She still be though. Yeah. Every now and then, yeah. But every now and then, she'd pop out. I'm like, uh-uh. You know. She be in different events and different stuff. So, you know, to the occasion, she dresses differently sometimes.

But yeah. I love Jess. Now, the shot is very heavy Chicago based right and then you being from New York did you have to like change anything you have to be more Chicago or like how did you prefer that really I just kind of you know I knew this guy he's for me an extension of Dwayne Wayne he's really like at the end of a different world Dway he was teaching. And he loved his students. And he had some run-ins with them.

Sometimes it didn't go so well, but he was learning. And I think that Professor Gardner is an extension of that or evolution of that. So, you know, I wasn't trying to do a Chicago accent. Yeah, that's not okay. No, I was just keeping it simple. And my actors, the cats i got to work with are phenomenal um and i didn't know their storylines like i watched the first season then i stopped and got busy and then went and shot it and didn't know who i was working with or that i'd just come

up to me on the street hey i'm curtis i'm like hi curtis hey oh curtis cook hey curtis cook i played on the show oh okay nice okay yeah but but then i came back after i shot and and watched them all washed up until now and uh crazy it's crazy and they're all so good i'm such fans now that i've seen them on now i know all of them but oh yeah that's duda that's hard yeah so yeah it's it's been a a fun ride on the shot do you still audition as kim this is do you still audition yes sir really auditioned uh two weeks ago yes sir the offers are nice but they're few and far between. For a long time, I was proud of the fact that I never auditioned for Spike. He just called me.

Ernest Dickerson, he just called me, sat down. We had lunch. He gave me a script and was like, I'd like you to be this guy. I was like, wow. I didn't know that's how it went when I was younger. So now that I'm older, anytime somebody offers me something, it just means they want you. They know what you can do, and they want you,

and that always feels really good. That feels way better than, well, it's nice to earn it. It's nice to go in, and they don't want you, and then you flip them. That's even better sometimes, but it really feels good when you can just like get a call and say someone wants to work with you. And they wrote something, wow, okay.

Yeah, that's dope. Yeah, yeah. When it comes to auditioning though, it's like you're a new person now though. You know, you're an OG now, like it's a different thing. Like, they probably had a certain vision of you from the Kadeem Hardison they knew then yeah you're like you're a whole different person now really we all are yeah it's it's nice to keep reinventing the wheel

you know I mean it's it gives me a chance to I always thought I was a really good actor and it wasn't until maybe seven or eight years ago that I saw something that made me re-believe it. For a while you go through a stretch where the jobs ain't happening. Plus I don't watch my stuff. I get hypercritical.

I'll leave it out there. That's for y'all. Y'all can tell me if you like it. I'll wait 10, 20 years before i go and look at something it took a long time to look at a different world i watched it we went to the premiere we had a premiere party and i watched the first episode and i never watched after that jesus that's bad i just felt that's not good this is not what i thought it was going to be yeah but that's me i see every ground ball i miss you know what i mean if it gets be yeah but that's me I see every ground ball I

miss you know I mean if it gets past me then that's an error hmm and I'm like I shoulda I shoulda I shoulda coulda why didn't I so I watch it all like that and then about eight years ago love is I watched love is just because I love the other characters and what they were doing and the other actors. And I wasn't in the way. I didn't get in the way. I was able to see it and was like, oh, that wasn't bad. And then I was like, shit, I'm getting better as an actor at 50.

So you never watched nothing? You never watched the wedding crashing scene? You never watched when you stopped the sexual assault? You never watched none of that? I watched the clips, but not when we did it I did it okay okay good experience any the experience that I had doing it talking to the actor relating and being truthful was way better than the editor and a producer and the sound man could mix and come up with hmm when I watch it from outside of my body, it's completely different.

But when I'm here, then nothing's going to ever touch that. That's why a lot of the greats go do plays because they don't never have to see it. One and done. Yeah. And every night it can be, it's your show.

The director can lead you up there and then he has to fall back in the crowd with the rest of them. And you get to go on, and I may be this tonight, or I may be that tonight. And there's no judgment. You get to live it out as fiercely as you want. So, yeah, I'm scared of plays. I've done two.

How many times did you have to jump on that car when you did the scene, when you came through the sunroof? I think twice. Twice? I think twice. Because Time-Octave pushed me off. He wasn't supposed to do that.

Really? Yeah. So when you – That was the part when you slide and you crawl back. Yeah, and I had to get back on it. That wasn't supposed to happen. Then he pulled me in, and he wasn't supposed to do that. And that's

when I started yelling run Freddy run wait Freddy wait that was improv yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah I was I was always like I learned early on maybe sometime in the first season that the audience was really paying attention to what I was doing because uh there was there was some scene I think Denise had to have a pig nose on or something like that and uh Lisa and and and I had a just a little off-cuff reaction to it something I did in the scene and I heard the audience kind of bubble from it and I was like that wasn't in the script it wasn't nothing I was like huh so then I just every time I just load up my chamber and i was like yeah i'll think of something to do just in case something don't go right and i had no idea duke was gonna i like i felt like the scene was going or the take was going bad because

when he pushed me i fell off the car and had to re-jump on it every time at rehearsal jumped up on there stayed on there did a scene blah blah um but but the one time when he pushed back and then i slid off and then had to re-jump on i was like all right this is a busted tape but that looked great yeah yeah it played so well on camera run freddie running yeah wait freddie wait was because he started to pull me into the car. And that wasn't rehearsed. Wow. So help, help, Freddie. I wanted to know, like, we look at characters that are iconic to us. And sometimes they can't get out of that character.

Like we've seen it with Steve Urkel. For some reason, he's always Steve Urkel, right? Yeah. And even to you two apart. He tried to take your glasses swag, too, at one point. Did he? A little bit, yeah. He had to flip.

He had to flip a glass for a little bit. Jalil? Yeah, Jalil White did. On, on, on. On Family Matters. Yeah, I think he did. Maybe for a couple of episodes. Yeah, he did, he did, because he would put up, did I do that?

Yeah, he did, he did. Oh, really? Yeah, he did. Nice, that's not bad. How did you get out of that so people just didn't see you as that all the time? And was that difficult? I think people still, well, the people still see you as that all the time and was that difficult i think people still well the people still see me as that that's what resonated most with them some people love

vampire in brooklyn some people always love it oh my god they do white men can't jump um but i think that the the mass they see me as that and if that never changes I'm okay the industry I couldn't get auditions for singleton movies or any of those like hood movies because they thought I was a college kid I barely finished high school that's crazy I'm not think so you tried out for boys in the hood you tried I know I didn't I couldn't get a meeting Wow it was like now we good they would cast it before I was like how these movies getting made and I'm right here I'm right here mm-hmm don't know me mm-hmm and but I was like more edge from school

days than Dwayne from a different world. You know, a mixture of the two. But I was like, I could, I'm from Brooklyn. I could do that. I could do that. But I could never get a meet. I could never get a sit down. And I'm sorry, Jalil. You did not used to have to flip up glasses.

See? He used to flip them down. Oh. And be like, did I do that? And he didn't flip them up. Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. You're right. My bad, Jalil.

My bad. My bad. Ray started right. I know, right? You better start over. I could be you. Jesus. There you go. be like you know you said earlier that Darryl Bell was your leader yes right yes so how do you even keep that band together because you know you got og R&B groups that hate each other how do y'all keep your'all band together? We grew up together. We came to the city together. We came in, you know, to L.A. together. We were all from somewhere else. And we had each other to lean on.

We needed each other. We hung out with each other. It was true love. It wasn't like fake. Shorty's the godfather of my kid. Yeah, like we are connected we stay connected so that's that was easy that wasn't mm-hmm it was never any kind of like no yeah it is interesting when you talk about the movie aspect of it cuz I'm

like damn you weren't in a lot of those 90s great movies. Not at all. You was Panther and White Men Can't Jump, School Days. But yeah. And then there was a gap. That's right. After Panther, there was a gap. But I couldn't get none of them. I had to stay on TV. I did Between Brothers and some other things.

But I couldn't get in. Because I got into this because I thought I was going to be a movie star. When I was 13, I thought I'm going to be a movie star yeah that's what I want to do and TV was kind of a also ran like it just happened mm-hmm but I really thought I'll do it just different world thing for a couple of months and it'll get canceled and then I'll go be a movie star because I knew West was coming on there was some wolves in the pack so yeah but yeah I couldn't get in I couldn't get in with those why was the transition so hard oh but I think about

somebody like Jada Pinkett Smith she made the transition yeah she might be I can't really think of nobody else honestly yeah yeah it was I don't know I think um it went from you know you're an actor you're an actor you're an actor then they was like no we'll take the comedian comedians what comedians comedians Eddie kind of started it but eddie just blew it open for anybody young and black and and sharp-witted he just made he just created that cavern for me and martin and will and everybody to run through but then after that it seemed like it shifted where they, after Cosby of course, they wanted to do comedian shows based on comedians they can write, they can be.

And then being an actor kind of took a side road or back seat to it. So yeah, it was just a tip set. Everything goes in cycles yeah so you know you wait for it to come back around and it's coming back around when glasses I used to hate those glasses hmm and it was really something that used to hide behind my mother was telling me last night yeah you used to hate them yeah I used to get the calls used to hate those glass I was like yeah but did you hate did you hide behind the glasses because you didn't like to role just because you're dealing with like

some type of imposter syndrome no no no it was i wasn't i didn't understand the role okay first season first season i just thought this is corny i don't i gotta go back to brooklyn wearing these glasses they're gonna kill me on the block yeah this is not going good this is not and then by the third season mr. Cosby said okay it's time to grow him up time to grow him up lose the glasses and then kind of with that went most of the comedy or the silliness that I was doing in the first couple of seasons which I embraced I was like okay mm-hmm cool but yeah it was it was calculated on his part to make him more of a man now like he's had those we did that we've seen him he can do that now let's see what else is in the

bag that's the other reason those characters are so beloved though because when you watch somebody go from a freshman in college to getting married you know what I mean like that's like we grew up with y'all that's right in a matter of how many, what was it, six seasons? Six seasons. That's crazy when you think about it. Yeah, yeah. You don't see it often because our streaming giants like to let shit run for one season.

That's right. And they'll be like, eh, we don't know about the numbers. That's right. And then they try something else and, eh, we don't know about the numbers, which is kind of sad, but it really takes seasons to grow with characters and learn them and it's always best when it works that way now you mentioned Wesley Snipes yes sir and I wanted to know how competitive was it back then cuz you said you just knew he

was coming so it made me think of like you know when you in the NBA mmm and then you got this college kid black oh he's coming he about to be a beast was that the same way when it came to acting? We needed him, though. Black Dark Skin Brothers needed one. Absolutely. We needed him. Absolutely. He just said that because he stabbed a light-skinned brother.

He loved it. Cheered. He cheered. Beat him up. Yeah. I'm not the most competitive. I know what's for me is for me. And you can't really have it.

But I knew the talent that was was emerging I could see it I could I could see just in a little the bad video I was like who's that okay when you think oh snap I'm i'm out in front and then all of a sudden you look and there's somebody here and oh and somebody here and then oh who how did he get up there and that was a music video yeah exactly yeah although michael jackson's um uh music videos were like movies yeah that was a music video yeah yeah yeah, yeah. So, yeah, I just knew. I knew when I saw Tupac, I thought he was probably the most dangerous of all the young actors. And he was a rapper.

Why was that? But just he could reach a depth and he got that Martin Luther King kind of energy that comes out of him. Even the way he talks is melodic. So when I see him on screen and I hear him talk, I'm like, hmm. Now I'm hearing jazz for the first time. Now I'm hearing somebody that done broke the mold and is playing a whole different style. He's probably the one guy that I was like, oh boy, if he keeps on acting i'm gonna get less and less what did you see him in was it when he did different world or something else

juice juice okay yeah it was juice but you was intimidated when he came on set no no no okay no no like i said what's mine is mine absolutely but but um but i was thrilled that I got to direct them because all you have to do is say action and then cut. Moving on. Like there was no, I'm not sure about that choice. Maybe you want to, oh, bro, this is where you get to be. I'm a great director because look what I did. I had Tupac and Jada and Bumper and all of them. So they were all so good.

It makes you look good. The best job a director can do is hire the right people. I'm sorry, go ahead. Get you a good DP, cast the right actors, or get good casting. And then the job starts to get easier, and then you can worry about the things you were worried about. So you picked Pac for that?

No. Uh-oh. No. He would have never picked park he told me he told me i wrote that i wrote that episode and and we asked jada if he would do it and she said let me ask him and um he said yeah and i couldn't believe it. I was like, oh, snap. So, yeah, yeah. You know, he was angry, you know, which was sad for me because he'd have been somebody that I would have hung out with, but I couldn't keep past how angry he was.

I was going to ask you that. What kind of person was Pac? Because I love hearing Pac stories, just because him and Big, because they're just such mythical figures. Yeah, so he was he was angry on set no no no not in the space all right in the space he was darling mm-hmm but then I was out at the Beverly Center remember the Beverly Center man Beverly Center so I was at the Beverly Center and um and he was I was a level up and he was coming with I think it was Yo-Yo and some friends.

And they were coming. It was after rehearsal one day or something like that. And I saw him. And before I could say something, somebody on the upper level said, hey, that's Tupac. That's Tupac. And he was like, it's Pac money. It's Pac money.

And they started screaming like they was going to do something. I was like, why, bro? So mad. Like, yeah, they mispronounced the name you could keep walking but he was he wanted to make it a point and i get it there's a lot of bravado that goes on in hip-hop so you gotta stand up for certain things um but i just didn't i didn't i didn't understand why he was like that frustrated with the space. And you said you directed him.

How was Cosby when y'all wanted to use pop? Because I know one time Cosby was like, I ain't messing with the rappity rap. Yeah, I never heard from him. I didn't really, like I had two brief encounters with Bill, Mr. Cosby, give him that. So yeah, he never... We got the call through Debbie

that it was time to grow me up. He showed up when Whoopi came to do the AIDS episode with Tisha Campbell. He showed up for some pictures. But he really, you know, was behind the scenes, behind the scenes. He wasn't all on.

He made sure. He shot his show in Queens. He said, you shoot your show in California. So there was no way to go, hey, man, they won't let me. They won't let me. Hey, man, they won't let me. Can you help me with? No.

Get out there, get your paddle, and get it home. Got you. I want to go back to Pac real quick. People saying you said he was always angry. Did anybody try to intervene like men? Because you know I know he was very cool with the Jada Pinkett's and the Jasmine guys but did any black men be like what's up with brother? Yeah I couldn't I didn't feel comfortable approaching them because I would have. I always think I have a you know I still want to sit down with Kanye and just.

Waste of time. I don't think so. I think, yeah, I hear you. But I always. Exorcist and a hypnosis. I think if I sat down and we just became cool and had some conversations, maybe he'd see something. Anyway, but I didn't feel comfortable enough to approach him like that. Like, he's doing his thing, and I got to get out of the way.

I can't really try to change that. That would be, let's see, he's on that path. But then you see how it ended. And that's when you feel regret. Yeah. Like, I wish I would have just said, yeah, I know you might not like me or think I'm whatever but let's sit down and talk we don't have to be

this is free and easy but I can understand the hesitation because sometimes you don't know how people will receive you exactly and especially if and you don't know what else he was going through either like mentally or behind the scenes you know else he was going through either right like mentally or

behind the scenes you know because acting was just another part of what you know he was doing like rapping and then you can even hear in his music you know like he had been troubled from you know youth and all that so yeah yeah maybe you just didn't know like i i didn't since i'm not a therapist or anything like that, I was like. And you were young, too. Yeah, yeah, exactly. We were peers. So I would have loved to, but, you know, I would have loved to have met Doom.

Like, you know, that's my favorite. Yeah, I met Doom. And then the way he did Juice, I'm like, well, I really ain't talking to you now. Did you ever warn Jasmine or Jada? Like, hey, man. No, I didn't. That was their relationship. So I was happy that he had them in his life

because I thought, well, I can't get to them. I'm not talking to them like that. So maybe this will soothe his spirit a little bit. I feel like every time I see you, you repping MF Doom in some way, shape, or form. What type of impact did his music have on you? I like stories. And forever, you talk about top fives.

I'm always going to have Slick Rick in my top fives because he took it to a place where it was, he was self-deprecating. He was funny. And he told you a story. And I thought, if you can do that, you win. Those guys, super rhymes. Those guys, to me, were the winners. And when Doom came along, it seemed like he was talking English

or speaking in English, but it was another language. And that was so attractive to me because then I had to decipher it. Same with Wu-Tang. Why, why it same with Wu Tang what are wallows I never I didn't you know since I didn't come from there I didn't know what that was and I had to listen to it and decipher it I learned the supreme alphabet when you learn the supreme alphabet you get a whole new appreciation like oh okay God cipher divine yeah so so you know as a as a teaching tool, you know what I mean? I was always eager to learn from us in the places that I couldn't, I haven't been.

And Doom, he just opened it up for me. He said, hear ye, hear ye, how dare ye go up against the king who do his thing tri-yearly. I was like, what does that mean? It could be like a tri-yearly hmm and then I looked at his catalog and in that year he dropped three albums hmm a hymn album a solo a group album and in a beat album I was like this dude is ridiculous like oh you make the beats and you write the rhymes and you say it in a way that Nobody else is saying it Still to this day. I think he's you know one of the best

Yeah, I didn't get in the dooms catalog the way that I should I'm like go space kill is my favorite rapper of all time So I got into that I'm needed together, but I know I got into like you yeah. Yeah, it's just weird And as a comic nerd and and and and that kid you know a little bit shy he spoke to me in a way that's like Rick did that super rhymes did that you know other Kendrick Lamar does hmm so who's arrested the top five come on I tried this I really tried to do my top five and then there was another five and then there was another five then it turned into my top five times five okay have a top 25 okay um and I have to get my phone but most F is there. Doom is there.

J.I.D. of the Young Cats. Dreamville. Cole is there. Kendrick is there. Kane is there. Rakim is there. Chris is there. Chris Brown?

Karis White. She's my Karis White. Okay, my bad. She's not from New York. I was talking about Chris Brown. Yes. The way he talks. Wave a lap. He's my favorite too. Okay, but no. You're not even talking about him. I'm dead. It's not from New York. I was on Chris Brown. Yes. The way he talks, wave a lap, he's my favorite too.

Okay, but no, you're not even talking about him. I'm dead. It's a different world. Yes, it's a whole different world. Knowledge reigns supreme

over nearly everyone. And I didn't do groups, so I didn't allow tip. I didn't allow dirty or meth. That's groups. I got a top seven group. But the top 25 times five, it just goes on.

No biggie? Of course. But there's Mount Rushmore, which is Big, Jay, Nas, and Kane or Chris or whoever you feeling at the time. And then I- A lot of Brooklyn bias. What? Who you mean? Nas ain't from Brooklyn.

I know what I'm saying. You had three from Brooklyn on the Mount Rushmore. A lot of Brooklyn bias. Well, that's where I'm from. That's, yeah. And then I start counting after that. Cause I know that all of us can kind of agree on, you know, seven. And then I start digging into the minutiae and start trying to find the dudes that really kind of slick Rick, of course. That really made hip-hop enjoyable for me.

Gotcha. Shoot, groups, DOS FX effects they changed the whole way of speaking souls of mischief and the far side they in la because i was really mad at the time i was in la and all i could get was i wasn't a big hot take i wasn't a snoop dogg dr dre fan really i didn't like what they were saying the content like the yeah and i was like what is gin and juice i didn't even understand what that meant so i bought the album i bought two of them because i was supporting all of us and then i didn't open it for years and then when i finally opened it and i was a little more mature i could see the fun in it. I could see this is just a different part of the culture.

It's the West Coast. And since I'm so East Coast dude, three Brooklyn cats in the top five, it took me a while to accept it. And then production-wise, it was just filthy. Phenomenal. Unbelievable. But the content, I always got to be, for me, what you're talking about. Your cadence got to be good. The tone of your voice got to be good.

Your writing has to be good. And then what are you saying? A lot of these cold bias. Jay-Z and Biggie was talking about itches and hoes too. That's true. It's true. But Biggie. Come on, though.

What are you trying to say? He was. And I didn't like that part. That was the part that missed me. Got you. But when he's kicking the door with certain things, just the way he rode a beat was just. Phenomenal.

It's another level. Yeah, I think out of everybody that we lost, I constantly think about where Biggie would have been because he was light years ahead of everybody. Way ahead of everybody. There's not too many gifted rappers. He was a gifted rapper. He was born to rap.

Yep. And even when you listen to it now, you're like, damn. There's not one Biggie song you can't turn into a movie. Yeah, exactly. Like literally. Not one. Yep. There's not one Biggie song you can't turn into a movie. Yeah, exactly. Like literally. Yep. Not one. Yep.

No, that's what I'm saying. Brooklyn bias, bro. That's why. Have you had a role that's as fulfilling as your role as Dwayne Wayne? Yeah. Okay. I've had. I mean, it's usually, for me, how much fun am I having on set?

Mm-hmm. It's usually, for me, how much fun am I having on set? And few things can top a different world because I did it for so long, and I grew up, and it was the beginning. It was really like my introduction to the world, so that's special. But I can't imagine I'll ever have as much fun as I did doing I'm gonna get you sucker Every day Keenan would come in and just be like go just let us be free and and Damon who was a huge influence on you know huge like Eddie like I

Used to follow Damon around to the comedy clubs because i thought i want to do what he does he's that good and that impression he made that kind of impression on me that i wanted i wanted i was going to do stand-up comedy and he talked me right out of it he was like bro you have a tv show this is what all comics want. This is what you have is what we're all trying to get. You don't want to be doing this in shitty little towns and staying in shitty little hotels and flying around. Damn, just shitty little place. Well, I ain't never do the shitty shit. I can't wait.

I was. Nah. Shut up, ain't playing. Nah, they don't be putting me in no shit. I'm like that. I'm new age coming. Yeah, but back then it was a grind. It was a whole bunch of that.

And getting up at midnight and going to a club and then doing four clubs. I was like, okay, yeah, I think you're right. I don't want to do all of that. But, yeah, working with him on Sucker, working with Eddie, which he was like an idol, you know what I mean? There was no bigger influence than Eddie on anything I've done. So to do Vampire in Brooklyn and to get the call from him saying, I've seen all the tapes.

You're the only one that can do this. Wow. I was like, what?'d only want to could do this Wow What Get the money, right? Yeah. Yeah, um, it was it was Incredible, you know those times that I'll never forget. I just had the most amazing time on teenage bounty hunters, you know five six years ago This little show where I was like, I'm gonna where I was like I'm gonna try something different I'm gonna try something different my voice I'm gonna

try something different with everything I'm just gonna see if I can dig deeper and they let me do it and one of the most fulfilling was playing Bowser it was hard to shake you know how how, you know, some people, they lose themselves too far. But I was talking like that dude for like two years after that. I couldn't shake it out of my voice. I got so comfortable in it

and was having such a good time with it that I was still talking like this. Yeah, I was still walking around. Hey, how you doing? Yeah, it's all right. I was still talking like this. Yeah. I was still walking around. Hey, how you doing? Yeah, it's all right. I was like. I couldn't find my register that I know that this is. And now I'm out of it.

And it sounds weird because I was so comfortable in it. But yeah, I take the jobs for the fun. The money is a bonus. Actors, I say, we do it for free. We just pay us for waiting and. The money is a bonus. Actors that say we do it for free, we just pay us for waiting and standing around. That's right. I've been waiting. Yeah.

So all of them have really been a joy because that's what I think I do best, even though I just realized it at 50. And it's the thing that gives me the most joy. And you've been in the game 35 years. You sure your career is missing anything? No, just the, you know, growth. Just still want to keep doing it.

Still want to, you know, I want to be a villain. I want to be a this. I want to do that. I'm like, it seems like we've gotten too old for the, the, the romantic leads, but I grew up in that. Like that was my thing. Boy meets girl, boy chases girl, boy meets girl. Why are you too old?

You still fucking? I don't know. What do you mean? Why are you too old? But they don't seem to make movies with older, they're not looking for that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're not actively pursuing that.

So it just seems like, oh, that might be a thing of the past. Maybe. But it could happen. Yeah, maybe. It could happen. Yeah. Maybe. So, yeah.

So I'm just, I love this, bro. It's what I do. We always appreciate you. Always. Yes. Just even to get to sit down and build with you, man. All the time. You an icon in our eyes.

That's right. That Hillman varsity is very fresh that's dope chipmunk chronicles shout out to my man all right chipmunk glasses line again yes fontel.com deemed is what they're called i love them all right thank you she got some and promo code that's right reboot now reboot now you get some you Now. You get a little bit off. Okay. And they go to a good cause. They be giving some money to some kids and hopefully get somebody into college.

There you go. Well, it's Kadeem Hardison. Yes, sir. And it's The Breakfast Club. Good morning. Wake that ass up. Early in the morning. The Breakfast Club.