The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: Malcolm Mays On Decompression From Acting, Writing Credits, 50 Cent, Luke James + More

Episode Date: June 4, 2024

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Yes, indeed. Malcolm Mays. Hey, hey. Actor Malcolm Mays. How you feeling, brother? How you doing? I'm blessed, man. I'm here with y'all, man.

Yes, sir. Yeah, actor and writer. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. Yeah. So, look. So, I'm going to jump straight into it. So, how much hate did you receive the last season of Power? Because you was acting up, Uncle Lou. Oh, your mans just pressed me in the room. Yeah, you came in the room?

Yeah, bro came in there and was like, hey, man, so, like, I fuck with you, but, like, I don't fuck with you. Yeah, like, yo, it's a role, guys. I role guys people don't see the role they just see this villain we take it seriously i mean i take it as a compliment i told him in the room i was like hey bro it just means that you really you know i'm doing my job that's what i mean is i'm doing my work so i appreciate it yeah but i'm like i don't even drink bro like what is this i'm a sober digger like what is this can i say that yeah yeah i don't be knowing what

y'all restrictions you know i are and all that do people press you though when you're out in the public like really upset with your rules don't really you know what they do press me the it's you know who pressed me not the men the women are the ones who are like yo i can't like i'm named like i can't believe you would do us like that you are embarrassing us like aunties like take it personal personal. But it's love though. I love it. I was in Leimert Park and that happened to me.

Like a woman with her baby in the stroller pulled up on me like, like pulled up on me. Like you setting a bad example for the family. What family? What are you talking about?

My mom and grandma love me. What is she talking about? Your sister, your brother, your nephew, everybody. But I realized that all the, and I think all the power universe men have to understand it's like you belong to black women

once you're in the power universe. It's just what it is. Ooh, break that down a little bit more. You know, everything in the culture to me is at root black women, honestly. Like if you just dictate, whether it's Drake, whether it's Paramore, whether it, it don't matter what it is. It don't shake unless they say it go. So like, I feel like because this show is pretty much a modernized.

Black soap opera. Uh-huh. Yeah. In all the best ways. Yeah. And that means that like we know who our main component and who our main soap opera. Uh-huh. Yeah. In all the best ways. Yeah. And that means that, like, we know who our main component and who our main advocate is.

That's real. And therefore, you gotta honor that. You know what I'm saying? Like, you gotta accept that you in a relationship that you didn't ask to be in. And you gotta be okay with that.

Right. How hard is it to get that character out of you once you not, like, taping? Decompression is necessary. I feel like, for me, I, um... You know, channeling is a thing, but you got to know who you are.

Once you know your North Star, you can always get back home. That's how I feel about it. It takes time, but you just got to... I don't get confused. Some people get confused. It's not like two pack of juice and no shit like that. I know who I am for real. What do you do to decompress? Really?

My grandma, everything, bro. I stay on it like grandma call every day every sunday we have like a prayer call me her and my best friend raven we be we be going on like we read scriptures and and then i i call my my peoples every day my homies remind me who i am every day all y'all i'm sure are the centrifugal force of your family right so you can't be forgetting who you are because they're remind you very quickly. Every time. Hey, look, we got these. We got, look,

your cousin's birthday. You gotta go to this graduation. I don't care where or who DJ Envy, Charlamagne, Jessalyn. I don't give a fuck. I'm Rashawn, sir. Rashawn.

You don't fuck with them, though. It's tough for me. You know that hood text. You know that family. Maybe this is trauma. Don't start, Charlamagne. I'm just listening. I'm listening.

But I feel like... If I get triggered, I'll let you know don't do it because whether I fuck with them or not I didn't did a whole lot of shit to my family deemed inappropriate I don't been to jail all that shot stabbed all that and they raised me pretty right so I fell victim to my environment and none of them ever abandoned me so I can't abandon him even if they being annoying or they falling short or they do something that's even egregious i can fuck with you from like not fuck with you from a distance but i still got like if you call and you need that there's friends i don't talk to but it's love so you family i don't have to like you but if you need me i'll be there we ain't gonna speak i'll beat the nigga up while i'm there and won't talk to you but you're gonna

be safe because that's duty to me that's that's what manhood is, which is probably really fucked up and toxic, but that's how I feel. But what about when you get them calls like, hey man, let me get 5,000 until next Friday.

Mind you, they ain't never made five grand in their life. Oh, worse than that. You get those 5,000, it'd be like, hey, you got 100 bands?

Yes. We on the radio, this thing going to star. They be like, yo, let me get 100 bands. Because you know the misconception is,

see, everybody forgets that y'all get bag money that's crazy, and they think that we got the money. Allegedly. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Please say allegedly. Taxes are a big thing, hunnid. Allegedly, yes.

And I listen every morning. Yes. Oh, man. Yeah, I'm gonna go out y'all. But yeah, like, they think that we rich. Like, man, we not. Most actors are actually not rich. Actually, my homeboy, Matt Hinton, who's a stylist for Rocky,

I used to have Rocky in that, and he was a really cool dude. He told me not to say nothing stupid when I got on here. But one of the things that he said to me the other day, we was shopping, and I was getting ready for Cannes, and I usually dress in slides and a T-shirt wherever I go because I don't really give a fuck. But I put that shit on because I'm going to Cannes. And he was like, hey, man, I thought you were broke.

Actors are broke. I was like, nigga, what you mean? Because i'm frugal i don't have money like no i'm just responsible like yeah i'm just not out here doing shit but he thought i was broke and he's right most actors are broke like we that's why the strike was important the livable wage for acting and writing is horrendous less than one percent of us work less than one percent percent of us make more than 50 000 and you know in any place that's a port city los angeles new york anywhere where the hub is you can't live off that so i'm blessed man i'm fortunate and i've been blessed enough to be just kind of like a frugal nigga so yeah now you

said you were in cans were you on the same red carpet as that security guard uh pushing people out the way different days they better be glad i wasn't on that car yeah because like like i said i don't play behind did you see that? How disrespectful she was to celebrities just trying to take pictures? French people are rude, bro. Straight up. And I'll say it to they rude. Now, they're beautiful people. Yo, Lou, relax, relax.

Bro, no, they rude as fuck. They rude, bro. Now, I ain't saying that they bad people. Because like, hey, look, New York people are rude, but they have a big heart. They don't want to give you the directions, but they'll give you the directions. And it's going to say to me, hey, yo, you got to go up the fucking third. What the fuck? You don't know where the fuck you are? You don't know directions and it's gonna say to me hey yo you gotta go up the fucking third what the fuck you don't know what the fuck you are all right look hold them uptown you uptown mean well but they're gonna show you but they'll just say it really roughly french people are a little more insidious with a with a

discrimination and all that especially when you're black yeah i have experienced that i can't lie and look i love can i love the organization and all that, but had I been on that carpet, it would have been a little different situation, so I'm glad I wasn't there, actually. We would have been asking you other questions. Wouldn't even been no questions. Like, what are we talking about, bro? Okay.

Like, man, they did that to her, they did that to another woman of color. Like, they did... I've seen it. But they're in a tough position because they're trying to move people, and some of them don't even understand. They're not connected to the culture.

They don't know that you... Kelly is... One of us is Beyonce. They all the same, you know? Like it could have been Michelle in that motherfucker. We not playing behind him, but they don't really, they're like, but they have this weird rule

where they can't touch you, but they got to move you and Kelly's taking her pictures because she is a star and she is on the carpet and she's right. She got boundaries. Oh, so that's what it was.

They would like move. Oh, you didn't see the rest of them. Like they were rushing. Oh, it was worse. Kelly wasn't even that bad, as bad as the other one. It was not the latest. It was not the latest. They picked up her dress and she got to the point like, yo, don't touch my dress.

Don't touch my dress. Don't touch my dress. It was nasty. It was pretty bad. But it's a weird situation for everybody because what you don't, like they're under pressure from the camp people who don't give a fuck. So there's security. But at some point, just don't touch nobody, bro.

Like if somebody like, I'm not moving not moving well then you need to just you gotta take your l right take your l it's okay we can all our egos ain't in this it's just fucking pictures i want to go back from the start for people that don't know who malcolm mays is how did you get started in the entertainment industry as far as acting and writing how did how did you get started what made you start loving this game uh i think it was damn every time i feel like charlemagne is just trauma like he's just gonna trauma trigger me every time because because i talked to you know i'm here to listen um when my pops was around heavily in my life when i was younger and my moms was still like you know like it was like a family thing

like you know going to blockbuster for all those who are old enough to remember blockbuster hollywood videos going to drive-in theaters like it was communal it was familial and it's a time before everything kind of went left in my life before there was like street violence before my pops had to figure it out and did for a second before things changed um and that's the thing i think that like connected me to movies because you could go anywhere you could be with your family have a good time and you could be in the south of france watching james bond or watching you know uh you know more better blues i can experience new york in a certain time period like it was it was a beautiful place and where black men and women were kings and queens in my household on television and on film and um i don't have i didn't have that

experience where they were like we're not represented i had that shit my house was full of black art black music black yeah So it was a place of comfort. And I think I fell in love with storytelling as a means of transportation and empathy. And from that point, since I was a kid, I was like five, six. I was like, this is what I want to do. I don't know what this shit is, but I want to do it. And my mom was like, that's what we're doing. So it was dope.

Yeah. That is interesting about that era, right? Because I always say the same thing. I'm like, yo, the conversations that we have now about not having representation on tv or not having positive representation we didn't grow up with that the 90s had everything you could want black nuclear family there was lawyers there was doctors there was radio personalities like there was everything covered on college college shit bro like even the movies yeah like and it was cross like it was cross-pollination of entertainment. You could see Denzel's poster in Whitley's dorm room

on A Different World. Before he was Denzel to the world, he was always Denzel to us. And I think that kind of ethnocentrism gets lost in the conversation because we always admire in the other side. We always admire what everybody else got, which I'm not going to get on my Black Panther show. But you just said something

that we forgot about. I forgot about the importance of blockbuster right yeah cuz Friday night my parents used to get off work yeah with a blockbuster and they would let me pick a movie and they would pick a movie up and then we would watch it as a family like that was our thing and then when blockbuster got video games oh we went crazy I used to get me to get one video game for arm and that was that was the thing when your card and when your mama or your daddy forgot to pay the bill on the card, you had to start going to the library or switch and use your cousin name.

It was a whole situation. So like, man, I used to love it. And everybody would go like, what movie you watching tonight? Or like, oh man, I hope they ain't rent Men in Black 2 out or whatever. It was a beautiful thing, man. I miss community. I miss us being together. I love when we commune.

And that's why I kind of love Things like this And institutions like this And um Stars and the shows That I'm on And them too Because they They bring us home They bring us together To watch them

Going into something Were you ever concerned About them killing Lou off The last season Did you think that they were I don't give a fuck No I'm blessed bro

Like I won already Like I know You know it's so crazy People ask me that like Were you ever worried about dying I'm like bro I got niggas won already. I know. You know, it's so crazy. People ask me that, like, were you ever worried about dying? I'm like, bro, I got niggas dying. In real life, I don't care about no. I appreciate and love the fact that I got the ability to experience the crew I have.

Patina Miller is a genius. Yes. You know, London Brown is amazing. Makai is brilliant. Like, I love, you know, Hailey Kilgore. My whole cast and crew, Sasha Penn, the writer, Courtney for incepting it, all of it is, we have the coolest crew.

We don't have no egos. We don't have no problems. We don't argue. Ain't no mess. Y'all don't see us outside. London sometimes talks too much because he's London and he's a comedian. And I was going to say, he's staging.

He be on the comedian. He's a comedian. It's not the same thing. But other than that, we don't get in no mess. We don't be outside. We be boring. That's why people don't really, we bored as fuck. We come home, do our work and all that. So I've been blessed to have a great work environment to make a little bit of change

doing something i love and do something interesting or different if they kill me tomorrow i told sasha like bro just let me know so i can you know shake around with the mortgage and whatnot but other than that i'm good bro i had a great time it was beautiful we had a great run i involved in 50 in everything early on he was he was very much so involved and then i think later on he got you know like you set it up you set up a business and then you go do your shit you know what i mean put the paint on the walls make sure ain't nobody's stealing from you and then you're like oh no this is a good crew good workers but you know business and walk off like you know 50 50 cool you know he'd be doing his

thing i think he'd be playing favorites though do it yeah he played favorites but he don't know that man could do no wrong in my eyes i don't give a fuck what he do honestly you're saying that because you don't think you're one of his favorites is basically what you say i think that his favorites are based on like a marketing matrix that he runs in his head i don't know if it's like people he would actually hang out with in real life i don't know i can't say for that but i do know that he positions things so brilliantly you know if you're in the running it's because you're making the most money at the table or you are aligned with what he's doing so that's what's going to get his attention which makes perfect sense for marketing for your product but i know that for me um i don't care whether he there or not his presence has always felt like he

i think it changed my life i don't give a. Honestly. Yeah. So you mean like in terms of shows, like the old universe? Everything. He got a big heart. He be giving people money and shit. Like 50's actually the nicest, sweetest dude ever. And when he be talking shit on long. You're a cancer.

I don't know what that means. I'm a cancer. Right. Astrological sign. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, so both of y'all reckless? Well, no, yeah, but you know what I think, basically, the cancer's a crab,

so the exterior is hard, but the interior is soft. It's soft. People don't know that about him, though. That's kind of dope, actually. People don't know that about him, though. Like, all the stuff that he does, the money that he gives, and how he helps people, they don't know that part of 50 Cent. They only see the, across the 50 Cent, he going at you.

They only see that side of him. And it's funny, because he purposely chooses to be delusional about his own fame like he be roasting this online and people think he's like dead serious and i remember asking like bro why are you going up on people like oh you you know you realize you 50 say like i don't know why people tripping like you know we we friends we making fun of each other like what's the problem and i'm like because you're 50 cent and there's a certain level that he takes it to where people are like oh we will be people in uzbekistan right like yeah like that's crazy but he just i kind of like it though it's funny when you say that you know you're i forgot how you worded it but the most

the marketing yeah marketing matrix marketing matrix is it because like you're not in the club so you know you can't have his liquor i don't know about that what is it i just think that whoever hot and popping and whoever he's invested the most time and energy in, they gonna get to be where they at with it. And that's fine by me because that's how it should be. I also think that that doesn't really have anything

to do with who you are as a person. I think that has everything to do with what you bring to the table. Which once again, 50's very business oriented so that makes perfect sense. But of course we all wanna hang out with 50 fucking Cent. Everybody to hang out with 50 fucking Cent

yeah like everybody want to hang out with 50 50 is fun he's a fun guy he's still in the club at age whatever

and it's still lit so we all enjoy that but at the same time I don't envy or be jealous of his relationships with people them people been around

for years been with him doing all types of stuff you just be glad when he come through yeah you like hey man

I'm glad you showed up bro you don't have to even do that does it motivate you like when you're shooting like i know i think y'all in production for raising canon four now right yeah four and five y'all were four and five damn you on it yeah you know what i have damn you good yes so does it motivate you like yo i'm gonna i'm gonna keep doing my you have to come up with me fifth well my boy i wasn't talking about my personal relationship 50 didn't call me and told me hey if you stop running around with it. Excuse me. Fifth even told me, hey, look, bro, I know that you out here moving different.

I got you. You don't got to worry about that. I'll put you with people. So I can't say that me and Fifth don't have a relationship. Hold on now, because you was speaking, nigga, but then you stopped yourself mid-sentence. Yeah, he stopped. It went bad. Because I remember Matt in my head like, hey, don't say those shit that go viral.

Stop running around with that burner. That's what it sounded like. All I'm saying is'm saying stop running around the burning and get real secure all i'm saying is 50 was like i'll give you 50 was like whatever you need i'll make sure you have it brother and he called me directly and if i need him i can call him and reach out and he'll text back and all that so i can't say that i don't have a personal relationship i just know that certain people he got a lot of people to service and certain people under the umbrella of both power or music or whatever sometimes feel a little

neglected and I'm just telling them it's not personal you can't take it personal with you but my relationship's fine do you watch any other shows

Power Universe I try okay because it's a it's a bunch of damn shows yeah it's too much it's too much for me it's too much for me and It's too much for me.

And then you're not only doing that show, you're doing other things as well. But I ask that because a lot of times I see people saying, Monet Tejada or Raquel. Who is the more of a badass? Who would you pick? Your sister or Monet Tejada? That's not fair because, first of all, you're not going to let me do what 50 be doing.

I'm not doing that. You're not letting me put two black women against each other. What I will say is I'm a person who grew up in a very, what do they call it, tribalist environment. So, you know, I'm rocking with gang and can't nobody fuck with Patina on television. Not just against power and this and that like no i don't care if it was uh what's that white boy show that's really good jason bateman show was it ozark oh damn just as good ozarks i don't give a fuck if it's ozark i don't care if it's martin scorsese's movie ain't nobody even though lily gladstone is amazing patina

miller is top tier period don. Don't matter. She her. And she needs to be acknowledged for it with awards and all the things. She deserves it. So does everybody else on the cast. So, yeah, you're not going to get me like that. Look, love Mary. Love Auntie. I got you.

Love Auntie, but we not playing behind the scenes. Why don't they be fronting on the star shows, though, when it comes to, like, the awards and the nominations and stuff like that? What is it? I plead the fifth. I'm just here so I don't get fined. Is it is it? I plead the fifth. I'm just here so I don't get fined. Is it the network? I plead the fifth.

I'm just here so I don't get fined. Damn. Damn. And I say it like that. Love stars. Love everything they've done for me. I can't speak on anything that ain't in my purview. I'm learning to shut the fuck up sometimes.

Yeah, it's wild. Because stars has some of the best programming on television. I don't even like to call it my program is some of the best program Outlander was one of my favorite show yeah oh god that's your yeah American God American Gods was amazing I read the book before I saw the show Neil Gaiman yeah well I was a fan of that book because I don't know why I guess it was the title and then when I you know just looked at it and I was like oh new God versus old God I just ended up reading it I I'm like, oh, this is dope.

I mean, Neil Gaiman been putting it down. He's been one of my favorite writers for all time. So like, yeah, when they adapted that pretty well, even, what's his name? You remember Double Take or whatever, what it was? It was the Eddie Griffin movie with Malcolm, not Malcolm, but the other dude. He's like really funny. Malcolm Jamal Warner. No.

Malcolm Jamal Warner. Eddie Griffin. Eddie Griffin had a movie where it was like called double take or some shit and it was with this one dude who's a really good actor but we never remember his name it's fucked up because he's really great and he had a scene in american gods where he went crazy but he was talking like to the slaves on a boat oh orlando orlando that nigga's amazing orlando hey you a legend bro hey Hey bro, you be stepping on shit. You probably say I need to learn my name. He deserves it.

I know he's, I executive produced a movie that he started. Really, what was it? It's called 88. That's actually on Starz. That's hard. Hey Orlando, you hard. That scene he did in American Gods where he went crazy talking to the slaves and all that

and was discussing all the, oh yeah man, that boy good. But yeah, Starz produces great programming. I can't speak towards their campaigns with our culture or the awards with Emmys and NAACP. I don't know. All I know is I wish that whatever needs, God, whatever's broken, let him fix it.

That's all I can say, because I ain't gonna talk too much about that. Do you talk to the writing team about where you want the character Lou to go? Or you just take it to the game? I think you want the character Lou to go? Or are you just... We let... You know, I think Sasha's good about letting us have input, but you let that man cook. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Yeah. We let that man cook, and he just basically... Because you think I would have chose to be an alcoholic? Yeah, and then just start snitching and doing weird shit. And feeling bad out of nowhere. I'm like, damn, man. But, you know, people take that shit serious, and I got to go home. And that's the problem.

I keep hearing that from actors and actresses nowadays, and it's bugging me out. The first person I ever heard say that was Megan Good a couple years ago. And she was saying how she got to watch the role she play now because people think that's actually you. That's insanity. Well, there's two things. We know how human beings are, bro. Like, it's all marketing, even in your personal life. You know, if you dress nice at school, you become the person who's the nigga to dress nice at school.

And now you got to keep that up. Like if you're a nigga to dress bummy and you dress nice once, everybody gonna be like, oh shit. Like people's perceptions are manipulated and marketing is a big deal. So like if you want to be seen as a leader, you can't keep playing somebody that's not.

You know, people really don't look at Don Cheadle and Jeffrey Wright and Giancarlo Esposito like they're leading men. But they have all of the same tool sets that God, that Denzel has. I always say, man, what's his name? Pregnancy brain, pregnancy brain. What is his name? What movie?

What's Love Got to Do With It? Ike Turner. Oh, Lawrence Fishburne. I didn't like Lawrence Fishburne until he was Morpheus. Then I was like, okay, now he's rubbing me up the right way. Because you hated him as Ike. Yeah, but he did so, that's how great he did. And we was kids and we hated him.

And I was scared of him. I was like, why is he beating her up like that? You know? You didn't like him in Boys in the Hood? Yeah, I guess I seen that later. You was stuck on that? I was stuck on was love got to do with it, yo. Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. Him and Angela Bassett were parents, again, in Boys in the Hood, because he was the mom, he was the dad. But, yeah, you're right. It's very influential, and marketing can be a bitch, man. It is, because my girl Raven was like, hey, I seen him as Ike at 10. I ain't stop hating that man. Is your country falling apart? Feeling tired, depressed, a little bit revolutionary? Consider this. Start your own country.

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Bullets. Bullets. We need help! We need help! We still have the off-road portion to go. Listen to Escape from Zakistan. And we're losing daylight fast. That's Escape from Z-A-Q-istan on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show, where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more. After those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast, Post Run High, is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts

that arise once we've hit the pavement together. You know that rush of endorphins you feel after a great workout? Well, that's when the real magic happens. So if you love hearing real, inspiring stories from the people you know, follow, and admire, join me every week for Post Run High. It's where we take the conversation beyond the run and get into the heart of it all. It's lighthearted, pretty crazy, and very fun. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Dani Shapiro, host of the hit podcast, Family Secrets. How would you feel if when you met your biological father for the first time, he didn't even say hello?

And 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 1, 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. 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. Girls trip to Miami. Mess. Ozempic. Messy, skinny living. Restaurant stealing a birthday cake. Mess. Wait, what flavor was the cake, though? Okay, that's a good question. Hooking up with someone in accounting and then getting a promotion. Living.

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

Hey, what's up? This is Ramses Jha. And I go by the name Q Ward. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show Civic Cipher. That's right. We're going to discuss social issues, especially those that affect black and brown people, but in a way that informs and empowers all people to hopefully create better allies. Think of it as a black show for non-black people. We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence. And we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace, and social circle. Exactly. Whether you're Black, Asian, White, Latinx, Indigenous, LGBTQIA+, you name it. If you stand with us, then we stand with you. Let's

discuss the stories and conduct the interviews that will help us create a more empathetic, accountable, and equitable America. You are all our brothers and sisters, and we're inviting you to join us for Civic Cipher each and every Saturday saturday with myself ramses jaw q ward and some of the greatest minds in america listen to civic cypher every saturday on the iheart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast and i was like that man done been in apocalypse now at 17 years old with francis for coppola all so that you can sit here and not want to go watch him because he played the role too good. And once I seen that, I was like, oh, you got to position yourself. You got to make sure you're doing certain things.

And so next time y'all see me, I'll probably have on a suit and I ain't going to be selling no drugs. I tell you like that. Rob Markman So psychologically, how do you check yourself if you just out and about? Somebody be like, hey, you drunk rat. T.J. Oh, my ego not in it.

I'm not fucking, my ego ain't in this. My ego not in this, I live the real life where real shit happen, where niggas getting convicted and bail and J-Dots, I'm assuming Green Dots and J-Pays and real life shit. So like, I just be happy people are excited about the show. As long as you don't touch me or disrespect somebody I'm with, we all good.

Live out your fantasy bro, just don't touch nobody. I'm Kelly Rowland. Don't touch me. Don't touch me. I got boundaries. But other than that, my nigga do your shit. Cause it's just love. You just confused a little bit. Like your life probably way harder than mine right now.

Like I know how it goes. This is what you got. We here. Matter of fact, I might laugh with you. Like, Hey man, it was tough. Like I ain't choose this. It chose, you know. A lot of people relate to that character though Like that's

The character Lou That's some real shit Like So a lot of people Do relate to it And you play it so well Another show I'm a fan of Is them

Both season one and two Now you play in one As Calvin Yeah Yeah I love that A lot of people Didn't catch that

Yeah But I caught it And I And I just love Like you know How you can switch Cause you obviously have range. Thank you.

And then season two came out. I thought you were so creative as a writer for that. It was so many pieces on them to the scare. How did you tap into that? Well, first of all, it's a team of six people in one room coming up with one idea, so that helps. So I'm not going to act like I'm just, you know. And Little Marvin being the head of the ship. Shout out to Little marvin is amazing yeah um and i say that to say and i'm like you know and i'm going to keep doing this with luke because i'm one of them people that when

i'm wrong i'm wrong just as loud as i was when i was right yeah and i got to be honest if i up i did not believe in luke in this role i did not i did not believe in that man i argued with tony saltzman who's the second in the room, and Little Marvin about like, that's the choice we going? Because the character description looked nothing like him. The character description looked more like a young Forest Whitaker, literally. It had nothing, and Luke is handsome.

He got abs. What the fuck he gonna do? You know what I mean? So you was in there like, Kendrick, I hate the way that he talk. I hate the way that he trap. Well, not him as a person. I hate his abs cause you know Luke was in an R&B group when we was kids when we was teenagers

and he was singing his ass off so like I've always been a fan of Luke's but I just never was like you know I'm like I don't think he can do this

and so I fought like a little bit I was bumping up against shit when they was like we're not shooting in LA we're shooting in Atlanta I'm like oh this is bullshit then they're like

also we're casting Luke James I'm like y'all got me fucked who y'all after all this work we done put in to build this story and it's like you know how intricate it was so good because if somebody one actor can ruin all of the story it don't matter how good it is y'all got to get up there and say the word so i was i am humbled and appreciative to be wrong being wrong is a fun thing sometimes absolutely that shit beautiful as fuck because i was so wrong

that man is was he did his stuff he put his foot in it he stepped all over it and i'm so glad that fun things sometimes. Absolutely. That shit beautiful as fuck because I was so wrong. That man was, he did his stuff. He put his foot in it. He stepped all over it and I'm so glad that we had people like little Marvin with Vision and Tony Saltzman with Vision and the casting directors

and a team of writers who were able to, you know, we can disagree, have a difference of opinion and still get a great product. Yeah. I respect that

because that's not hate. That's not ego driven. That's man, like we've created this great product. I want it to continue to be good. I don't think that's great product. I wanted to continue to be good I don't think that's the person for it, but you you want to be wrong

I want to be you want to be wrong and I was and it was nice today Did you speak to Luke about it? No, I haven't had a chance to oh, I've seen him No, this is gonna be the first time he sees in bro you that nigga You him at the yeah, Luke him at the James chapter three and five that's you um and i because you got to give people like flowers we don't see each other we don't run into each other and then i went back and looked at some of the stuff he did on the shot because i don't watch the show yeah and i was like oh this last season he was really sensitive and really vulnerable and playing some weird like doing some things that i i appreciate as an artist because me i talk but not about

the person just like when you said somebody come up to me be like your role and like i can't believe you did a b and c i don't take things personal so i so when i critique something it's literally because i'm worried about the story the art giving our people quality so that they can empathize with situations they never would have empathized with so they can go places they never would otherwise win because you got to dispute like filmmaking and storytelling is meant for one thing it's it's an empathy machine it's supposed to make it so that you dispel disbelief so that you can really believe what's happening so you can have a real human experience and expand your mind your spiritual heart so i take this shit for real because it saved my fucking life just like kanye west first album saved my life just like watching malcolm x

saved my fucking life just like why certain things change your life the um the unexplainable lightness of being like these movies and so when somebody say an actor i don't i yeah there's personalities they're people who are fun that we like to watch they're great to watch their entertainment but then there's niggas that make you feel your soul yeah and i don't play with that so it wasn't because i didn't think luke was a good actor or talented it's because bro this is precious i need you to care take and guide this for real and he did that shit and that was a very complex role I mean like when I first when I when I seen him too and then I was like how the fuck is Luke James gonna be right Mr. Gaines like what you know he made himself ugly

I don't know how he did that I don't either to this day and it was amazing because in the in the show I don't want to ruin it totally but he couldn't remember he was trying to be an actor and and it the way it unfolded was he really couldn't get the hood thing down but he was trying like when he spooked the girl she was great she was crazy yeah the stocking and all that yeah shout out to the team bro shout out to the whole game yeah they went crazy I love them mm-hmm they are we all deserve our flowers yeah yeah and even what you said, going back to when you said one character can, like, mess up the story. I ain't gonna lie. And this is my brother, man.

When I first saw Iman, I said, what the fuck is he doing playing with my father? He felt like somebody's daddy, too. Right, you know. But as I'm watching, I'm like, oh, shit. Like, this is a star-studded cast for this. And shout out to Debra. Debra A. Arenda. She is amazing.

Season one and season two. I didn't know how y'all was going to do it. No, she did it. But I ain't even going to tell you. Don't even tell her. You have to watch season one and season two. Your penmanship is amazing. I just wanted to give you that.

I was glad to be a part of the team. It's number two on Amazon. So, like, we up and doing our thing. So, shout out to the gang. Shout out to Deb. Deb, another unhyped. I don't know how that woman does what she does and don't nobody say nothing. It's crazy to me.

I'll be like, what? Are you right, dude? Yeah. Yeah, I wrote a movie recently that I'm trying to get made right now. Is that Covers? Oh, no. Covers, that was a kid. That was like the short version of a larger film that I did that got into the camp.

Okay. Out of competition. Okay, good. Which was a blessing. You know, the next one gonna go crazy it's called program I'm doing meetings on it right now raising money it's gonna be so me think I'm a direct this or any nice lucrative but acting or writing depends now it's now mmm it's almost equivalent but like cuz my quotes pretty high as a writer

because I wrote oh I'm on your ass. I'm on your ass. I'm comfortable with my masculinity. Where's your book at? Get honest, Adaline. Hey, anybody know this, know how I get down. Shout out to everybody else's preferences. First time we came on, and you remember,

I came on, I was like, where's Charlemagne at? I was on bumpers, because I lost my Godfather at the time. I was pissed, because you had made me ducky of the motherfucking day for new jack city 2 yep and you thought it was a reboot because everybody was saying it was a reboot so you made it donkey of the day but i was trying to tell everybody it's not a fucking reboot it was a sequel it was a sequel yes not a reboot it was a sequel what was the premise okay so well i ain't gonna i'm gonna look fuck

it warner brothers ain't you know but my quote was really high for that that was the point but New Jack City 2 was basically like um years later what happened with the people who were still alive how about that and I wanted Zendaya in it and I wanted David Washington in it and you could imagine who those characters would be playing yeah these sons or daughters of and they were supposed to be on some like you know on some like uh uh what's that movie with Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon and all them people where they was like going at it. Oh, and Jack Nicholson was in it as well.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The Departed. It was supposed to be more like that, you know, because that's what I wanted it to be. So it was more like that. But like, when you gave me Dunkier today, bro, I was so pissed because I was like, nigga, it's not even true.

Like it's a sequel. It's not a reboot. I don't even remember that. I do remember now the story. I remember one of y'all saying, that dude michael manning's up here hot because like you know your word really matter like you say shit people really be taking that man but yeah my quote got really high after writing that movie and so now my quote's pretty good um but you know it's not like it's not like you take that home you keep most of it you split

that shit up your manager your artist your artist, your taxes, all that. It gets chopped down pretty heavy. And acting in two different states, I get heavy with the taxes too. So it's not what it look like, but I've been blessed enough to put it all together and it look good. What happened to that script? Man, somebody got to make it. Yeah, because you don't throw scripts away. They still have it.

They still have the IP. I hope they choose the direction I went in. I mean, it's tough because you go in with an idea and you got to listen to everybody and shift it and shape it that's the thing about writing on assignment rather than writing on spec when you write on spec you know your own boss you're just creating but when you write on assignment you listen to somebody else and build an a-house and i had a good time with sheila walcott who's now vp at warner brothers she's amazing um and then uh you know it was it was dope it was really dope and Nija Kui-Kendall who now is at Netflix as a head those people like I said black women gave me my

first real shot I was 23 they gave me my shot at writing a studio movie about Mike Brown that wasn't the first one and then I did New Jack City 2 and those quotes got it high so I can't say that one's more lucrative than the other because if I write a tv show with Terrell McCraney which I'm doing right now um that's going that's a lot of money if I'm just if but if I write a TV show with Terrell McCraney, which I'm doing right now, that's going to that's a lot of money. But if I book the lead of a movie or a show after this, it's going to be pretty nice

because my quote's pretty high. It can be very lucrative. Now I understand the slides everywhere. Basketball shorts. That's writer-a-time. Writers don't have time for nothing else. They be locked away. Writing. They That's writing. That's writer-a-time. Writers don't have time for nothing else. Writers, they be locked away

writing. They be comfortable writing. They come out for coffee. But also, I'm from LA. I'm from South Central. So like, you know,

if I could, I'll wear Dickies and a t-shirt everywhere. I really don't give a fuck. I just really love fashion. I love when people put threads together and how it look.

I enjoy it. But to put that shit on is like a costume every day. I'm like, every day is so much work. I know, huh? You look at the new balance and you got everything. You know what. But to put that shit on is like a costume every day. I'm like... Every day is so much work. I know, huh? You looking at a new balance and you got everything.

You know what I'm saying? Just started the show dressing to the T every day. And Charlamagne and I said it's gonna last about a month. No, we said three months. It lasted 30 days.

And then she came in here sweats. Thank you. And then I'm also pregnant too, yo. Like, you know, because as soon as I drop this little baby, I'm like... You're gonna be in the same sweats. I like to be cute, but after at the while you wake up you'll be like i don't got time i gotta do radio

at six i gotta get up at four every morning that's not you know that's not really like that's black people we done did that to ourselves you know we be on each other so bad you can't wear you feel like you can't get caught in the same outfit the same day yeah i'm feeling bad for the kids they be coming up pulling up in roseroy's trucks for prom i'm like what in the same outfit the same day. I be feeling bad for the kids. They be coming up, pulling up in Rolls Royce trucks for prom. I'm like, what in the fuck have we done? I will say, I feel like the kids, at least my daughter's school, she's in high school, the kids be comfortable.

They be wearing the slides, the arms, the pajama pants. My kids love pajama pants. I remember even saying to her, y'all ain't like how we grew up. Every day was a fashion show. But I like the fact that they're not, that they're not superficial. Hey, look, I was poor as fuck. I went to public L.A. USD school, and I wore the same black Allen Iversons every day,

and I had to learn how to fight. That's how it was. And then when that's, you know, so it's, but it's funny because now I'm a grown man, and I still kind of feel that, like, I got to put it on. The pressure. And it's kind of like I got to liberate myself from that, like, free the guys. You know, my boy on TikTok says that a lot. Yeah. i gotta liberate myself from that like free the guys you know my boy um on tiktok says that a lot yeah and he's like you gotta free the guys and it's funny because i really feel that when i'm like if i want to put it on i'm gonna put it on if i feel

like not i feel like not because it's like it's in you not on you like i'm me i'm gonna win regardless yeah and show them man he went that's his what third time wearing a t-shirt and then he just put a jacket on yesterday too this is the No, no. He had the jacket on yesterday, too. This is the second time. Okay, yeah. Oh, it's the green one that you wore two days in a row, and then the black one. Now, he wore the outfit two days in a row,

so he's like, if I like it and it's comfortable, I'm putting it on. He be going to different interviews. I'm like, damn, you're going to be in that picture. You know you're going to be in this outfit for, like, all over the place. I don't care. I'm me.

It's like being athletes. Like, we all know you have money. We saw the contract. I don't know about all that. But it's like, at least we over the place. I don't care. I'm me. It's like being athletes. Like we all know you have money. We saw the contract. I don't know about all that. But it's like at least we saw the contract. We saw the contract. But it's like at least

we saw it. It was public. You publicized it. Y'all like talking about your money. I have no idea why. I've never done that. I've never talked about my money. No.

Ever. Other people talk about it for you. I don't know what they're talking about. They be lying. They be lying. They be playing. I don't know what you're talking about. I ain't got no money, baby. I'm broke, They be lying. Yeah, yeah. Even playing. I don't know what you're talking about. I ain't got no money, baby.

I'm broke, baby. I'm broke, baby. But the last question I have for you is, do you still do music? Because I know you put out Street Journal Volume 1 last year, but. Yeah, and I wrote on Brent's album. I wrote on Joey's album. I work with my friends. I got some music coming right now.

Some music with Joey. Some music with my nigga Wally the Sensei. Oh, my nonprofit. I want to mention that. Oh, yeah, I got a nonprofit called Ciola Marie Foundation. We doing a give back to my neighborhood, in the same neighborhood I told you about when I first came here, in the jungles. We doing that in late August for the kids.

That's not no play, play, play to come out of, brother. No, not at all. Jungle is no joke. You know everything about LA. It's home. It's home for me, so I just want to give back to them. So, like, yeah, so the music has helped me with that. Cause the music is kind of connected

to my neighborhood a lot. So now music coming, I'm gonna go crazy when it's time, but I like to give everybody things and pieces. Yeah. Correct me if I'm wrong. The jungle is where Denzel went and trained today. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Wow. And that's really like that. Yeah. It's even more interesting now i miss home you know but it's funny because gentrification is such a weird thing because now we got like white girls white people on the block yeah like white girls jogging through the

hood in the jungle bruh and the homies we'd be at the park we was at the park which i shouldn't be at but i was at the park with the homies and they was like and i was like who's running there that's sarah she go to usc blood i'm, what do you mean she go to USC? You don't see what's happening. Rob her. I'm just kidding. Rob her. What's wrong with you?

I need your help. Hey, CK, I'm back. Nigga, what? Oh, my God. What's happening? The only reason I don't like it is because they're going to be displaced to the Inland Empire. Yeah. And they're not going to have,, like the resources don't change.

We just get bought out. We get changed. It's happening to, you know, the people I care about in England. Everybody. And I hate seeing it. I'm not, you know, I don't really hate white people like that. I just don't like when they do shit like that. Because you know what happens to us.

Yes, right. When that happens. When it happens to us, we get pushed out. Hell yeah. Yeah. We don't have no job skill set training. Like, you know, they take all that shit out to school. They don't teach us.

They don't update me like, hey, look, the new blue collar working trade skills is AI. Like, they don't switch it out. Everything's so late. So we're not going to be able to sustain anyway. And then, of course, you know, the gap between the minimum wage and to be able to afford the American dream now is more gilded than it's been since the 20s and 30s. Which, by the way, my grandma grew up in. So she's able to tell me like this crazy and i just really it breaks my heart and um i like if i had made like i mean if i like winning if i get to like the level of kendrick and drake and these words all that money i would have bought my block easy and i'll make sure people have some sustainable like teachings to grow so that they can pay back

the interest and have a percent ownership of what we have yeah i feel like equity is a big deal and we just don't care we just be getting pushed out and be leaving and i get it because we be killing our own people yeah it's a it's a it's a up world because like look what happened to nip when he tried to stay i'm sure you know yeah like it's it's always that you know and i just i want so much more for us absolutely i really do man it really be breaking my heart so i stand inside yeah you know what speaking of heart I have to ask you this before you go I know I said

that was the last question I know I have to this is Malcolm I gotta ask him okay so what's going on with you and Gayle Bean that's my heart man I love her

that's my love but I don't talk about my personal life I know you don't yeah like I ain't gonna like our business our business but I love her

I'm gonna always love her like that's my love she's wonderful that's all you guys we I'm gonna always love her Like that's my dog She's wonderful That's all you guys We're gonna do a rom-com together That's dope Yeah that's what we gonna do That's what's gonna be next

That's super dope So shout out to Gail Bean and Malcolm Hayes There you go That's my dog man Yeah Love her to life Alright well we appreciate you joining

I was surprised you being from Cali That you went with Drake over Kendrick But you know I didn't say that You did Don't ever play with my top like that I'm about to say it I don't know We were talking about the level of

success and by the way there's only one right answer to that situation the right things are subjective that ain't one of the right answer is this Aubrey's done great for music Kendrick is for the people culture yeah when the last time Aubrey was standing for Mike Brown and all them people I love him he does great for us he all that but like it's K-Dot nigga it's gang gang

yeah I'm mad at y'all I hope y'all figure it out that ain't my business but if I have to like if you force me on a side I don't have a choice yeah

I'd look odd riding with Canada it just don't make no sense it stayed on records though it stayed on records and I don't think we'll go past that I think they're smart enough

to I pray. Well, you know, people's egos get into it. I just pray that everybody figure that shit out, be cool, my nigga. Yeah. It's all weird. Like, because Kendrick went crazy on Marvin's Room. Like, he went on that first tour.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He did the heart and all that. That shit was beautiful and dope. Like, y'all cut that shit out. We damn near 40. Y'all niggas tripping. Love y'all. And if it's like that, then handle y'all niggas tripping love y'all and if it's like that then but you know it gave the west coast it gave the west coast an anthem it hasn't had in a long

long time a super slapper i was in i was in can going up to that shit that shit was cool girl we was hey y'all hey shout out to that man shout out to that man. Shout out to that man. It was aggressive. I love it. Malcolm Mays. West Coast makes the best diss records. It's a fact.

Hands down. No, it's not even close. The best diss records ever of all time come out of the West Coast. Hands down. Pac, hit him up. No Vaseline. It's the energy. It's the passion.

We really disrespectful. We don't like you niggas. Respectfully, we just don't. Everybody else is communal. Everybody wants to hang out. Kendrick don't hang out niggas Respectfully We just don't Everybody else is communal Everybody wants to hang out Kid you don't hang out With nobody He just pushups in the park

Why you playing with a man That just pushups in the park Leave that nigga alone Leave me alone Leave anybody from South Central or LA alone Leave us alone Yeah

Just be nice And leave us alone Just please Thank you guys for having me It's Malcolm Mace It's The Breakfast Club Good morning Wake that ass up

In the morning hey guys i'm kate max you might know me from my popular online series the running interview show where i run with celebrities athletes entrepreneurs and more. After those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast, Post Run High, is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together.

Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Had enough of this country? Ever dreamt about starting your own? I planted the flag. This is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy.

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Hey, everyone. This is Courtney Thorne-Smith, 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 iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, what's up? This is Ramses Jha. And I go by the name QWAR. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show, Civic Cipher. you get your podcasts. your home workplace and social circle we're going to learn how to become better allies to each other so join us each saturday for civic cypher on the iheart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast