The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: Paul Wall Talks New Music, New Grills, Conspiracy Theories, Swishahouse Music + More

Episode Date: December 17, 2024

The Breakfast Club Sits Down With Paul Wall To Discuss New Music, New Grills, Conspiracy Theories, Swishahouse Music. Listen For More!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey everyone, it's John also known as Dr. John Paul and I'm Jordan or Joe Ho and we are the Black Fat Film Podcast, a podcast where all the intersections of identity are celebrated. This year we have had some of our favorite people on including Kid Fury, T.S. Madison, Amber Ruffin from the Amber and Lacey Show, Angelica Ross, and more. Make sure you listen to the Black Fat Fam podcast on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or whatever you get your podcast, girl. Ooh, I know that's right. Hey, y'all. Nimmini here. I'm the host of a brand new history

podcast for kids and families called Historical Records. Executive produced by Questlove, The Story Pirates, brand new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records. Executive produced by Questlove, the Story Pirates, and John Glickman, Historical Records brings history to life through hip hop. Flash slam, another one gone. Fast bam, another one gone. The cracker, the bat, and another one gone.

A tip, but a cap, cause another one gone. Each episode is about a different, inspiring figure from history. Like episode is about a different inspiring figure from history, like this one about Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it.

And it began with me. Did you know, did you know? I wouldn't give up my seat. Nine months before Rosa, it was Claudette Colvin. Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to Historical Records on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The forces shaping markets and the economy are often hiding behind a blur of numbers.

So that's why we created The Big Take from Bloomberg podcasts to give you the context you need to make sense of it all. Every day in just 15 minutes, we dive into one global business story that matters. You'll hear from Bloomberg journalists like Matt Levine. A lot of this meme stock stuff is I think embarrassing to the SEC. Follow the Big Take podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen. People, my people, what's up? This is Questlove. Man, I cannot believe we're already wrapping up another season of Questlove Supreme. We're already wrapping up another season of Questlove Supreme. Man, we've got some amazing guests lined up to close out the season, but I don't want

any of you guys to miss all the incredible conversations we've had so far. I mean, we talked to A. Marie, Johnny Marr, Eve, Jonathan Schechter, Billy Porter, and so many more. Look, if you haven't heard these episodes yet, hey, now's your chance. You got to check them out. Listen to Questlove Supreme on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Yo, what up? It's your girl Jess Hilarious, and I think it's time to acknowledge that I'm not just a comedian.

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["Wake That Ass Up!" by The Breakfast Club plays.] Wake that ass up. In the morning. The Breakfast Club. Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne the Guy. We are The Breakfast Club. We got a special guest in the morning. The Breakfast Club. Morning everybody, it's DJ Envy Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne the guy, we are The Breakfast Club, we got a special guest in the building.

Yes indeed. We got Paul Wall. What it do? What's up brother, how you feeling? I'm feeling great man, happy to be back with my dogs man. Been a long time. Yeah, I feel like the last time I only see you on Instagram.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You ain't been here in a decade right? Nah, it ain't been quite that long, but you know what I'm saying? It might be a decade, you know, but I don't been quite that long, but you know what I'm saying? It might be a decade, you know, but I don't know, man. I remember I was looking at the video the last time. I remember me and Slim Thug came up here.

We were talking about B King. It was before he kind of blew up, you know what I'm saying? And then when he blew up, that video kind of started going viral because we were talking about him. And of course, he passed away recently, rest in peace, B King. But it made me think, y'all always'all always showin' love to people, y'all always givin' people that platform

to show love to other people, you know what I'm sayin'? So I just wanna tell y'all thank y'all, man, for real. Thank you, bro. Yeah, and you look good. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Yeah, yep. The greys get grailed, but the players still playin'. You know what I'm sayin'?

Wasn't they callin' him a zaddy, on the line? Yeah, yeah, yeah, he definitely a zaddy. They callin' him the 2023 Houston zaddy. Yeah. That's what they voted me, you know what I'm sayin'? And I like that. You know, cause you know how y'all age sometimes. Yeah, yes, yeah, he definitely a zaddy. They call me the 2023 Houston zaddy. That's what they voted me. And I like that, you know, cause you know how y'all age sometimes. You know, not like bananas. Jesus, don't look too close,

cause the wrinkles is wrinkly. Don't look too close. I look good with the filters, but yeah. I bet your wife says, sit your ass down. Hey man. Get off that damn Instagram. You know, she, the funny thing, she's the main one been telling me,

hey, don't dye your hair, let it be gray, let your song be, don't quit cutting the bald fade. You know, I'm south side bald fade, but you know, after a while, you know what I'm saying, when it start growing back, it don't grow back right. So she said, let me, you need to grow your hair out. I thought she was just hating on me. I thought she was just hating on me,

but she was setting me up, she was setting me up to shine. It's not the crisp ball. I wanna ask you about B King since you brought him up. What was that loss to Houston? Man, he had such a hell of a club run where his name was Club God. That was the perfect name for him. I'm talking about B King is somebody

who could have done a show for an hour straight and I'm talking about nothing but club bangers back to back to back to back to back. And when you go to the club, especially anywhere in Texas, that's what you would hear is B King all day long as an artist, you know, a homeboy, a fellow artist. You know, if I'm trying to do a club song, he's somebody I would call either to do the beat because he makes beats as well or to come do the hook or whatever. You know, he always would say some, you know, funny stuff, this topical, whatever's topical.

You know when the elevator incident happened at the Met Gala, you know what I'm saying? He had a whole freestyle about that. Anything that's going on, he's got like a topical freestyle he'll do. But man, I'm talking about man, his club, boy I'm talking about club, God, man B King, that was a perfect name for him, man.

He rocked the club, man. Rest in peace to B King. Absolutely. And I didn't know you had surgery? Yeah. Oh, you talking about my weight loss surgery? Yeah, that was a long time ago. Yeah, man, yeah.

When was that? That same night, that was about 2009, New Year's Eve. Yeah, I had the gastric sleeve. That's when your boy was at 350. You was 350? I never seen you know 350. Oh yeah, I hit it well. That's Paul House. That was a bad thing. That was amazing.

That was the tall T era. So we could hide it well. You know what I'm saying? I could hide it well. What got you to that weight? Was it always eating? Was you using drugs? What got you there?

Man, I think some of it was lifestyle. Some of it was a rolleraster of trying to lose weight, taking diet pills, sipping syrup, maybe drinking alcohol, all the other stuff too. It definitely messed up my metabolism. So it was something where I would be on a full-fledged, like hard, tough, strict diet, strict regimen of training, working out,

and six months go by, you lose, you know, four pounds. So it's very, like, deflating and just, it's not motivating, whatever the opposite of motivating is. But one of my homeboys, man, one of the biggest gangsters I know, he was like, man, I wanna go get lap band. And I was like, man, lap band? What you, that's, you know, I don't know, man.

To me, that wasn't something that gangsters did or players did, you know? And he was like, man, nah, forget that, man. It's gonna save my life, you know, I don't know, man. To me, that wasn't something that gangsters did or players did, you know, and he was like, man, nah, forget that, man, it's gonna save my life. You know, you wanna die, you know, cause he was going through some of the same thing. He sipped a lot of syrup too. He was taking diet pills, all of that, and it was just a roller coaster

messing up his metabolism. And when he went, he was like, say, man, I want you to come, I don't know if he really wanted to get it, or he was just trying to convince me to kinda get it, because he ended up not getting anything. Because you was the guinea pig. He was like, you go first, let's see how it works out. Man, that's funny as shit.

It definitely worked. It saved my life, man. My only regret is I didn't do it sooner because man, if I knew I could have been skinny like this and I ain't got to work out or nothing, I don't got to do nothing. But do you wish you would have waited now that the old Zempig is real heavy in campaigns?

I do see that, and I'm like, damn, maybe that's all I would've had to do. And I could've been a spokesman, you know? I'm trying to be the spokesman for the sleeve, but I ain't no doctor trying to pay me. How does it affect your eating? So you just not hungry or just? I'm just not hungry.

You just get full real quick, real quick. Man, so like for instance, last night, I had something to eat, like a little gyro and I had two bites and that was it. I was full. Damn. All these years later, it still has that effect? Yeah, it still works. Wow.

And I was gonna get the lap band, but the lap band, I know people who had it and it either stretches or slips, so they gotta get it removed, they gain their weight back. And I just, you know, I actually went to get it and the doctor was like, man, look, the doctor who did it was one of the first doctors that ever did the lap band or sleep any day. He actually trained other doctors and he was like, look, I done did over a thousand of

these, man, you know, it ain't, it ain't what you want. You want to do this one. And I was like, all right, same cost. It really wasn't too much different. It just, the lap band, they put a little band around your stomach. The sleeve, they put a whole sleeve around your stomach and they remove part of your stomach that produce the hormone that makes you hungry. So I don't get it.

Like, all they got is that I wasn't hungry. I was just saying. Is that healthy though? Yeah, I was gonna say, is there anything that you can't do or certain things that you have to be careful about because of the sleeve? For sure, you gotta make sure you're eating your protein, your nutrients, so your vitamins,

cause I don't eat that much. So, and if I don't eat, I will get a little tired, you know what I'm saying, lack of energy, just because I gotta remind myself to eat, or else I'll get a headache. I won't get hungry, but I'll get a little grumpy. You know, and then Google will be like, hey man, you need to eat today?

Yeah, you need your stickers, man. But other than that, man, I can eat anything, drink anything, it's not like restricted where you can't drink coffee or soda or whatever. But I will say this though, spicy food definitely gives me a lot more heartburn than it used to. And you know, wifey like to cook, so it's like, man, that's the only tough thing is now I can't really eat.

I used to enjoy eating. I was gonna ask you that. Now it's more for eating for fuel. You don't eat to enjoy. Yeah, exactly, now I gotta eat to live. I was eating for fun that. Now it's more for eating for fuel. You don't eat to enjoy. Yeah, exactly. Now I gotta eat to live. I was eating for fun. I don't like heartburn at our age.

Cause heartburn at our age, you don't know if you're having a heart attack at night. You know what I'm saying? I don't like that shit. Yeah, it's a little scary. Now we haven't heard from you in a while, your fans, like musically. So describe the energy of this album now.

Like what you on now. It's called Once Upon a Grind, produced by my boy DJ Fresh, and also G-Luck Beat On from Houston, my boy Beans and Cornbread. My boy DJ Fresh did most of the production, he's from the West Coast. He's real musical, he does a lot of anything,

keys or keyboards or synth or guitars, he plays every instrument, but it's a real musical, like just in the production. It's real motivating, once upon a grind. It's all about just putting your best foot forward, being your best self, you know, giving your all in everything, you know what I'm saying? And just trying to progress, you know,

even if it's little by little, just making progress in your life, you know, whatever you're setting goals and just trying to accomplish them. So that's just what the whole album is about. It's just what I'm trying to convey with the message, you know what I'm saying with it? Once Upon a Grind. You ever thought about going back

and doing like a whole project with Swisher House artists, like Mike Jones, of course, Stugger Thugger, or Chameleon Air, you ever thought about that? No, you still in contact with those artists? Man, I be on them to do this all the time, man. First of all, let me start off with the boss, Slim Thug. Slim Thug is the most, like, he is the biggest boss, but when it come to rapping, he's like, you know, like we'll be like in New York, and be like, hey, let's go to the studio. He be like, man, go to the studio, let he is the biggest boss, but when it come to rapping, he's like,

we'll be like in New York and be like, hey, let's go to the studio. He be like, man, go to the studio, let's go to the club. He like the party, my boy like the party. He be like, man, studio, we can go to the studio anytime he got a studio in his house. So for instance, like he's on my new album, hey, I need you on my album, bet,

send him a song, he do it in 15 minutes. So we're in a situation where it's like, I'm a little different, like I'm like, hey, we in New York, let's capture the moment. Let's go in the studio, let's capture this energy and do something. But Slim is like, man, we can go to the studio anytime, man. There's no difference if we go to the studio now or tomorrow.

So that's Slim. So Slim is not like really motivated to get in there and knock it out. You know what I'm saying? That's what I'm saying. Slim Thug said, I'm going to party. Yes. Now, if we tell him, hey, we got a deal

or we need to do this or whatever, yeah, for sure, he motivated in. Like anytime we got a deadline or something, but I done did that with Slim when we do a whole entire mix tape in a day. You know, I've done that with him. You know, I've seen him do that plenty of times. So he's not really like pressured to let's get it going.

Okay, now Mike Jones, Mike Jones all over the place. He kind of making a comeback with his music. He kinda was, you know, out of the scene for a while. You know, in terms of shows, like me and Slim, we tour all the time. We on the road every single weekend. Mike Jones kinda took a break for a while. Now he's coming back out.

He's got new music coming out. He's definitely on the road again. You got a new number? But he does have the same number. I think it's the same number. Well, actually, you know what? I think he's trying to get it again. You got a new number? But he does have the same number, I think. I think he has the same number. Actually, you know what? I think he's trying to get it back. I think they lost it.

People still calling it. And then he's trying to get it back for some reason. But because the phone number gets so many calls, it's not like a normal bill. It's like an inflated bill. So like, I know he'll get like a $10,000 phone bill. It's like, it's crazy, but. Jeez. And you said he was, what was he doing during that time? Because he was get like a $10,000 phone bill. It's crazy, but. Jeez.

And you said he was with, what was he doing during that time? Because he was missing for a minute. I think he was just enjoying life. I know. Because we would see him every now and then in his shows and every time we see him, he looking good. He's still rocking, he's still killing it,

but we wouldn't really see him in the studio too much or dropping too much music, but now I know he's dropping some music. Now, if we were to all do a project like that, I'm pretty sure Mike Jones would probably be involved with that. He probably would be down. But I think right now he's kind of more focused on getting his own solo stuff going, you know what I'm saying?

But I think he probably would be down. A millionaire. A millionaire. Tech rich. Man, he ain't trying to do no music, man. He got so much money right now. Whatever tech money he got, whatever investments, the crypto he got, he, look, let me tell

you, I talk to him about this all the time because the way the music industry has evolved, you know, he's not, he's, he's always been this way where he, he's not trying to give nothing away. He, he really, he really appreciates the value of his music, you know, and he's, he's not giving it away. He's not signing a deal where he's getting screwed over just because it's a good look.

No, he's not about none of that. He's straight business, and he really values his art that he creates. So, you know what I'm saying? With that, it takes a certain type of label to sign him who has the same vision as him, where they're not just all about the dollars and cents. They're not just all about the dollars and cents,

they're not just all about just, you know, whatever is gonna make a splash or go viral, you know, he needs the right type of partner. Y'all wouldn't be signing with nobody at this point though. Yeah, I mean, this is why I tell them, look, you ain't got it, you don't, as an artist, you don't even have to put your music on Spotify. You don't have to put it on any of these streams

where it's free, you don't have to do that. You can put it only for sale. You can make it, we can release the album right now and drop it on CD. I don't know who got a CD player, but you know what I'm saying? You can drop it on CD. Yeah, you can create a website and do it only on your website.

Only on the website. Well, we only sell it. We sell everything. I tell them, say, man, let's drop an album. Well, we don't drop it till we got 100,000 pre-sales. You know what I'm saying? Why not? Then we don't even have to drop an album

that way, you know, we don't get it. You know what I'm saying? Well, it don't have to be to drop out of hell when we don't get it, you know what I'm saying? But it don't have to be like just how the trends are. We don't have to do that. And if you're not cool with giving your music away, or whatever, then we don't have to. But I think he's trying to navigate, because he still has a passion for the music.

So every now and then somebody will ask him, Toby Nguigwe got him on a song with 2 Chainz last year. Every now and then, anytime I've ever asked him to do a song, he'll do it. You know, same with Slim with any of us. We ask Bumby, ask him, he's gonna do it. But he's not like, hey, I need to do an album. Hey, I wanna do this, you know?

And also he's like, you know, just the way the way, it's like a microwave generation or just not even generation. It's a microwave era we're in where it comes like this and it goes like that. So you put your all into something, you put all this creativity and thoughts and ideas you've had for years that you finally put into fruition

and put it on an album and it comes out and then the next week no one cares because they're on to the next artist album dropping. He's just like, man, he's not really pressed to just drop nothing like that. But again, if it was like something where it was like all four of us or something, I think he probably would do that, you know what I'm saying?

Now, I will say this too, somebody who's been in a group with Kamei in there where you split it 50-50, Kamei in there is a guy where it's like, hey look, if it's four of us, and we split it 25, 25, 25, 25, you know what I'm saying? He's more like say, man, look, why don't we just drop solo albums and we get on?

Yeah, so he's like, say man, look, why don't we just drop solo albums and we get on. Yeah, so he's like, you know, but it would take a special moment or a special situation or something like that. I tell him all the time, say man, we need to do an album or we need to just make some music just so it's there. So that if something happens or something or whatever, that it's just there.

In the archive. Yeah, in the archive. And also I know, you know, when you stop and you try to come back later, you gotta get back in shape. But if you never stop working out, you never gotta train. If you're training for the Super Bowl, yeah of course you're gonna train a little harder,

or you know what I'm saying, but I'm just saying, that's why I keep putting out music. I've been putting out music nonstop, but it's more like underground or under the radar. Not a whole lot of marketing behind it. But for me, on my music, it's more like I'm just trying to focus on the music of it, the music aspect of it.

And also I don't wanna get lost in the shuffle of I ain't dropped the album five years, six years, or whatever, and then when you finally drop that album, the expectations be so high that it's like, man, if you don't meet the expectations, it's a complete flop or failure. Where I'm just like, man, I'm doing what I love to do. I'm making music with the people I enjoy making music with.

I'm still touring on the road, just enjoying my life, making good money with it. So I mean, I don't know, you put that out there, so I might have to rally the troops, you know what I'm saying? Are you the glue behind everybody, or are you the glue that talks to everybody, or are you the main person that talks to everybody? I don't know.

I would maybe say Slim Thug might be the glue. You know, Slim Thug is maybe the more of the glue, I would say. But I mean, I don't know. I don't have any problems with any of them. None of us have any problems with each other, you know what I'm saying? But we're all brothers, so we support each other

to the fullest, whatever each one of us is doing, we definitely support. But yeah, I would say Slim Thug might keep in contact with all of us a little bit more than I do, maybe. But we're all boys. What do you think led to Swisher House not having the impact they once had? Because the thing about,

you just named three powerhouses, right? Well, I'm gonna tell you this. I've been, you know, salute to the DJs out there. Michael Watts and OG Ron C, they're two DJs that discovered myself, Comedian Air, Mike Jones, Slim Thug, four platinum artists. They discovered us when we were at our very beginning. You know, they didn't sign us after we already established,

after we already had a household name. They signed us and built us up from scratch and turned us into platinum artists. And that's very rare when someone could do that to four artists. So big salute to OG Ron C, Michael 5000, Watts, and all the DJs who helped us, but specifically them two. Now with Swisher House, I can say what happened is

the same thing that happened to any other record label that ever existed. They never last forever, you know what I'm saying? Every record label eventually, sometimes they reinvent themselves with new artists, new sounds, new CEOs, new directions, but no record label lasts forever, especially like if it's in the,

same thing that happened to Rockefeller, Murder Inc. Cash Money's like the only one that's still going, you know what I'm saying? Well, they still going hard, but you know what I mean? But that's because they had to reinvent themselves as new artists. Exactly. Or with Young Money, or things like that. But I mean, we had a great run,

so it lasted a great time. I wish it could continue just because I know the impact that the Swisher House had for me and my career, and I, you know, I wish that that impact could be made for another artist because I just know what it did for me, you know what I'm saying, but I mean, it just, it is what it is, you know,

it's just how the times go. I know Michael Watt's still doing stuff. He got a, I think he got an app right now where you got, you know, it's just how the times go. I know Michael Watt's still doing stuff. He got a, I think he got an app right now where he got, you know, the chopped up music on there. I know OG Ron C still chopping stuff up, still doing music. But in terms of both of them, like discovering and developing new talent,

I don't think it's really come to that quite yet. But I think it might be getting there just cause you could see, you know what I'm saying? Like, you know, just that style of freestyling over other people beats and just bringing some, you know, your see, you know what I'm saying? Like, you know, just that style of freestyling over other people's beats and just bringing some, you know, your own little flavor to somebody else's song. You know, there's just so much talent out there that all they need is an avenue to show it.

You know, you get the right artist on that avenue and the same thing gonna happen to us is gonna happen to them, so. I saw an interview where you had said, growing up you didn't realize you was white? I didn't know I was white. The white people told me I was white. Oh, the white people came back to recruit you. Yeah, they was like, you white.

Why are you talking that like that? You white. And I'm like, what do you mean? Where was this? In Houston? When was some, where were you? What was that exactly? The moment I discovered I was white.

Yes, where is that? I don't know. Definitely in school, elementary school maybe or middle school, I remember that. But I mean, all my friends were black or Mexican or Asian. I lived in a very diverse neighborhood. There was, you know, it was, there were white people there but it was, you know, Mexican, black, Vietnamese, Indian.

It's mixed up. All kind of, a lot of everything, you know. Even, you know, it was like, you know, FBA, you know, black, but it was also like a lot of immigrants, black, like, Kamini, he's Nigerian. You know, there were other, you know, immigrants, they were black as well.

But so we got a great mixture of, you know, growing up in America, I guess. And when they told you you was white, you was like, damn, man, what you, how did you? Did you cry? He sure! He was you, how did you? Did you cry? He sure. He said, did you cry? Did you cry?

I would've cried if I wouldn't cry in the car. Mom, you ain't tell her I was white. But my mama did take a DNA test, she 3%. Ah, 3% white, black, okay. So I mean, I know she can't say the N word, that ain't enough for her to say the N word. No, no. 3%. You ever took a test? No, no, no. Okay, okay. Not that my mama would ever wanna say the N word, that ain't enough for her to say the N word. No, no. Not a point percent.

You ever took a nap? No, no, no. Okay, okay. Not that my mama would ever wanna say the N word, by the way, you know, she ain't never said that in her life. Why you scared to tell? You scared to tell because you might be too white? Nah.

Might be like 67%. No. Then I'm gonna really cry like, damn! No, I don't know, I really want to, but I'm just, you know, it's the conspiracy theorist in me that's like, I don't know if they're gonna use my data and they're gonna say, oh, he's this and this and this, so that means he's more susceptible to these diseases,

and they're gonna use it to, you know, I don't know, I know it might sound crazy, but it's just the conspiracy theorist in me that's like, I really wanna get it though, but I'm like, man, I don't know, man. Paul is a real conspiracy, but you don't you don't even believe in dinosaurs. Yeah. Oh, no. Why I just always thought they was fake I don't know. It just I just I never believed that they existed I mean, I don't know and kind of once you realize that Santa Claus ain't real, you know saying the Easter Bunny not real You know what I'm saying? The Easter Bunny not real.

Then it's like, well, what else he outlining? Yeah, yeah. I don't know, I just always thought the dinosaurs were fake. I remember, you know, my mom, she talk, we talk about this because ever since I ever heard of, you know, kindergarten or whatever, and it's like, man, I don't know, that's make believe, you know? But I just always just thought they were fake.

And every now and then I'll come across certain other people like Marcellus Wiley, I remember Derrick Bell, he played for the Astros. I remember it was they were fake. And every now and then I'll come across certain other people like Marcellus Wiley. I remember Derrick Bell, he played for the Astros. I remember it was a fun fact. He didn't believe in dinosaurs either. So every now and then I'll come across other people who they're in on the hoax with me. You know what I'm saying?

But I don't know. But when you think about stuff like whales, elephants, alligators, like these big magnificent creatures, it's not far fetched. I definitely think there's stuff in the ocean too that we don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know.

I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know.

I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know.

I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. or how we look at them as being like lizards and reptiles. They say they're more like, they were like, they had feathers and they had other, I don't know. I don't know, I just feel like, man,

I just don't believe it, you know, I just, I never believed it. Believe it or not, in South Carolina and North Carolina, in like the late 80s, early 90s, people used to still see pterodactyls. For real. Stop playing, yo. I'm not even joking.

Anybody out there can listen to me right now, Google it. They still were seeing pterodactyls in the late 80s, early 90s. And I remember being a kid, and it was live five news, and live five news, somebody had captured one on video. And then they told us it was like a kite, a robot or some shit. This was the 80s. I'm like, get the fuck out of here. Oh my God.

Was that when you was on drugs? Or what? I was a kid. I'm like, hey. I'm a hypocritical conspiracy theorist, because I don't believe in dinosaurs, or what. I'm a kid, I'm like, eat. I'm a hypocritical conspiracy theorist because I don't believe in dinosaurs, but I 100% believe that. So you know what I'm saying?

It's like, okay, I do believe like when we go to certain places, like I go travel like Mexico or somewhere and they're like, oh, they still say there's this and that. I believe that, but I just don't believe in the- Oh, you mean the Chicopra? What's the good thing called? Chupacabra.

Chupacabra, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I don't believe in the Loch Ness Monster because it's been debunked. But you know what I'm saying? Trouble in beliefs. The debunkedness also could be fraud. I'm open minded about this. You know what I'm saying?

Why you don't believe in the Loch Ness Monster, though? Because what if dinosaurs went underwater? I believe there are things underwater. I just don't believe it's dinosaurs. I don't know. I just don't believe it. I don't don't know, I just don't believe it. I don't know what it is. I'm open to the idea that they could exist.

I just, I don't know, I just. I believe in aliens, I'm sure. I believe in aliens, for sure. Have you ever seen one? That's what I'm saying. I'm here for critical conspiracy theories. Have you ever seen one? I don't know.

I mean, not like Little Green Man or something, but you know, like I said, I watch a lot of ancient aliens, so they say the aliens is among us, we wouldn't even know, you know what I'm saying? They say they humanoid and this and that. So I mean, I don't know, I know I sound crazy, man. I know you sound crazy.

I know they go even. But you know, I wanna go, how did you meet Johnny Dang? How did you get to start selling grills? Speaking of aliens. Speaking of aliens, yeah. Speaking of aliens. The reason I ask, cause you know, a lot of people, you get to start selling grills? Speaking of aliens. Speaking of aliens, yeah. The reason I ask is because a lot of people, the first time they seen grills or people making grills

was from you and Johnny. I mean, I think you made a set of grills when we first started the breakfast club. Me, Charlamagne, and you at that one point. It's time to come back, I need to make y'all fresh eggs. Yeah, I don't have none. Seriously, I don't need no more than that. What's up?

That's right. Man, Johnny, man, I started off, actually I was actually selling grills before I met Johnny. And you know, I stopped to really kind of pursue my music a little bit more, but my boy who I was selling grills for, he also was doing some music and he was like, say look, I need you to do some promotion for me.

And if you do promotion for me, for my album, I'm gonna take you and introduce you to the plug so you don't gotta go through me. You can have your own grill set up, everything. My boy Crym and he told me, I did a promotion for him, I was like bet, this is a win for me. So I did it from, I passed out his flyers for his album, he brought me to Johnny and then me and Johnny,

at the time I was just another wholesale client. I wasn't famous or nothing like that. Even I was trying to rap, but I wasn't like established and then I was even before Switcher House days really. So, you know, when he brought me to Johnny, I'm just a wholesale client. Now, as I start, you know, rapping in the Switcher House, you know, this pre-internet, you know what I'm saying? Nobody know what anybody look like.

They just kind of hear the voice and it slowed down so you don't really hear exactly how I sound, which you might hear. And I used to always say my, this is why I used to always say my name at the start of every what it do is powwow. Cause there's no, you don't know who I am, but you're gonna hear that.

At least you're gonna know my name. So one time, you know, I be in Johnny's all the time. We on the Southwest side of Houston where, okay, the Southwest side of Houston is very, very, very immigrant. Like what you call it, it's congested, it's a lot of immigrants. And that's our town, so you got a lot of different accents. And it's all English, but it's just different accents.

Then also it's the hood, so you got a Mexican hood accent, you got a black hood accent, you got the Asian hood accents. You also got people from Louisiana coming in with their Louisiana accent. So, you know, and all of that and Johnny being a Vietnamese immigrant himself who speaks English, but is difficult to understand. He needs closed captions, you know?

He needs closed captions sometimes. He worked on it a lot, but some of it still, you know, it's, man, he definitely got his own, you know, accent. But he, you know, it's, man, he definitely got his own, you know, accent, but he, you know, it's funny too because at one point, you know, as, you know, I would get record deals and stuff, somebody gave me a little CD, How to Lose Your Accent. Like this kind of, I guess, for immigrants trying to lose their accent,

but it was so that I would sound more white so that I could be more appealing in movies. And I'm like, man, I don't want to sound like this. You know what I mean? So, man, I don't wanna sound like this. You know what I mean? So man, I don't even wanna say he's gangsta. I guess they did it in good means, but I was slightly offended by it. But it's funny, because Johnny had the same exact disc.

You know what I'm saying? Hallelujah. None of y'all, both didn't use it. Because I posted it, and Johnny was like, bro, I got the same diss. Man, it's crazy. He didn't sound that clear. He didn't sound that clear.

He didn't sound that clear. He might need volume two. He got the first one, edition. But now, I would be in there and everybody would be in there arguing with Johnny just because it would be broken English to broken English to hood accents, you know what I'm saying? And I would just be translating English to English. And eventually one time somebody was in there

and matter of fact they was from Louisiana and they was like, man you sound familiar, what's your name? I was like, my name's Paul Wall. And they was like, from the Switch House. And this is when I first started, a couple of mix tapes here and there. And it was like, yeah.

And then Johnny was like, damn, you famous? And I'm like, well not really, you know what I'm saying? But I mean, whatever. But that kinda like, I was kinda like Johnny's, not really, you know what I'm saying? But I mean, whatever, but that kind of like, I was kind of like Johnny's first celebrity, kind of, you know what I'm saying? Even though I was, my celebrity growth was at the same time, you know, as the jury growth, but you know, I just,

it was a hell of a hustle for me. Me and Johnny clicked up. So y'all were in business together. Business together with great friends, family, you know, he's just a great guy too, man. He's a great guy to know. But definitely, man, that's my dog, man. He changed my life.

Do people in Houston ever outgrow grills? Well, you know, grill, let me tell you this. When grill, when we, around the mid 2000s, you know what I'm saying, there was a time where the fad or trend of grills was dying down, especially as it became like, you know, mainstream. Yeah, you know, but you know, the next generation picked it back up.

And that, when the next generation picked it up, it was a, that made it a forever cycle now. If the next generation wouldn't have picked it up, then it would have been like, okay, maybe we gotta wait 20 years or something, 10 years, like any other like bell bottoms or something, you know what I'm saying? I don't know. But when the next generation picked it up,

that kicked off the cycle of, this is the cycle of, you might as a individual outgrow grills because of your age, but it's all in my frame. I mean, Reggie Jackson got grill. I made Reggie Jackson some grills. You know, I think, and we were talking about that, I think he might be the most, I don't wanna say older, he might be the most seniorest don't wanna say older, he might be the most senior-est person

that we made grills for. Definitely, man, triple OG Reggie Jackson. I was gonna ask you, who's the oldest person you know that got grilled? But definitely Reggie Jackson that I know of. But I mean, in terms of, well, he was in Houston at the time when we did him. But I mean, in terms of Houstonians,

I don't know, once you get to your 50s, you know what I'm saying, some people kinda like, but at the same time, there are people who come in, they're like,ians, I don't know, once you get to your 50s, you know what I'm saying, some people kinda like, but at the same time, there are people who come in, they're like, man, I just turned 50, I don't care, I got my money right now, I don't want my grill now, I don't care. Like I said, some of it's a mind frame, because maybe you get into, you have your jobs,

or you have different priorities, where you're like, I ain't worried about these grills, I'm trying to get a new kitchen, you know what I'm saying? And grills are expensive, especially the ones that you be having. Oh yeah. Did you have any influence on Megan's latest grills? The one that she had in Bigger In Texas video? Man, big shout out to Megan.

Hey. Good shout out to Megan. Matter of fact, we got these same grills. They're called a honeymoon set. Johnny, we made them of course, you know what I'm saying? But yeah, we call it the honeymoon set because there's at least a carrot on each tooth. So every tooth is a wedding ring.

You know, but she got the. So every tooth is a wedding ring. But she got the- That shit is hard. Thank you, thank you, thank you. How much would they cost? Well, it depends on if you get, if they're on the size of the big stone. So, you know, these could be, you know, 70, 80,000, maybe 100,000.

You know, I've seen people say all kinds of outlandish numbers, but you know, I mean, if you want to tell, I mean, I could charge you anything. You know, I could say this right now for a million dollars. It ain't worth a million dollars. But I can sell it to you for a million dollars. So, you know, I could sell you a grill for, you know, 20 million dollars,

but it ain't even worth it. How many grills have you thrown away, or chewed up, or messed up? I don't want to think about it, bro. I just found the ones you made for me. I still got them. I still got my grill. Hey, let me know where we make them.

You know what I'm saying? I know they might not fit as time goes on. Hey, I got veneers now. I don't know how that works. Yeah, we work on veneers, but I fit. You only got them for the time. You might not want them. You might be like, nah, I ain't playing no games with these veneers. Yeah, I don't want to mess with the veneers.

I just found a set of grills I lost, though. These were my favorite grills. Man, I used to, man, I just found them. I got my car painted. And when I got them, I was like, I'm going to go get them. What's up, y'all? This is Questlove, and I'm here to tell you about a new podcast

I've been working on with the Story Pirates and John Glickman called Historical Records. It's a family-friendly podcast. Yeah, you heard that right. A podcast for all ages. One you can listen to and enjoy with your kids starting on September 27th. I'm going to toss it over to the host of Historical Records, Nimini, to tell you all about it. Make sure you check it out.

Hey, y'all. Nimini here. I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records. Historical Records brings history to life through hip hop. Flash slam, another one gone. Bash bam, another one gone. The cracker to bat and another one gone. The tipper to cap, there's another one gone. Each episode is about a different inspiring figure from history, like this one about Claudette Colvin,

a 15-year-old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it. And if you began with me. Did you know, did you know? I wouldn't give up my seat. Nine months before Rosa, he was Claudette Goldman.

Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records. Because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to Historical Records on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey everyone, it's John, also known as Dr. John Paul. And I'm Jordan, or Joe Ho.

And we are the BlackFatFilm Podcast. A podcast where all the intersections of identity are celebrated. Ooh, chat! This year we have had some of our favorite people on including Kid Fury, T.S. Madison, Amber Ruffin from the Amber and Lacey Show, Angelica Ross, and more. Make sure you listen to the BlackFatFem Podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or whatever you get your podcast, girl. Ooh, I know that's right.

The forces shaping markets and the economy are often hiding behind a blur of numbers. So that's why we created the big take from Bloomberg podcasts to give you the context you need to make sense of it all. Every day in just 15 minutes, we dive into one global business story that matters. You'll hear from Bloomberg journalists like Matt Levine. A lot of this boomstock stuff is I think embarrassing to the SEC. Amanda Moll, who writes our Business Week buying power column. Very few companies who go viral are like totally prepared for what that means. And Zoe Tillman, senior legal reporter. Courts are not supposed to decide elections. Courts are not really supposed to play a big role in choosing our elected leaders.

That's for the voters to decide. Follow The Big Take podcast on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen. Y'all, what up? It's your girl Jess Hilarious, and I think it's time to acknowledge that I'm not just a comedian. It's time to add uncertified therapists to my credentials,

because each and every Wednesday, I'm fixing your mess on carefully reckless on the Black Effect Podcast Network. Got problems in your relationship? Come to me. Your best friend acting shady? Come to me. Thinking about cursing that one stank auntie out

at the next family gathering? Do it. But come to me before you do, because I cussed all mine out before. You wanna fight your coworkers? Come to me. Baby daddy mad because you got a boyfriend? Come to me.

Thought you was the father, but you not? Come to me. I can't promise I won't judge you, but I can guarantee that I will help you. As a daughter, a sister, a mother, and an entrepreneur, I've learned a lot in life. So I'm using my own perspective and experiences to help you fix your mess.

Send me your situation and let's fix it as a family. Listen to Carefully Reckless on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. AT&T. Connecting changes everything. Good people, what's up? It's Cuesto, Questlove, everything. Good people. What's up? It's Quest-O, Questlove. And Team Supreme and I have been working hard to bring you some incredible episodes of Questlove Supreme

with gifts you definitely don't want to miss. Now, one of the things I love about this Questlove Supreme podcast is we got something for everybody, every type of musical ever. We enjoy speaking to the people who are the face of some movements, some people you've seen on stage or TV or magazine covers, but we also love speaking to the folks who are making it happen behind the scenes and they paved the way for those that followed, you know, keystones to the culture.

This season, we've had some amazing one-on-one conversations, like on PayPal, chatting up with hip maker Sam Holland, shook Steve Chad with the legend Nick Lowe, and I've had pleasures of doing one-on-one conversations with Willow, Sonata Matreah, Kathleen Hanna, and The RZA. These are conversations you won't hear anywhere else, so make sure you go back and you check those episodes out, all right?

Listen to Quest Love Supreme on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When I got my car back, my boy was like, hey, these grills were under the seat. And I was like, huh? I've been looking for them grills for like 10 years. I just found them, so man, there's still hope for the other ones I lost,

but I definitely lost quite a few sets. You take them out when you're eating. This other thing too, if I leave them in at all times, when I'm smoking, when I'm eating, just imagine, okay, I gotta watch. Imagine I dip my watch in a latte and then I dip my watch in some lasagna and then I dip my watch in a whole thing

of chewing tobacco or something. I don't chew tobacco, but I'm just saying it's just for smoking. So even if you get it cleaned, it's going to tarnish and you just don't want to do that. It's not good practice. But Johnny is always on me about, man, say, man, take your grills out when you smoke. Take your grills out when you eat them. You leave your grills in all the time? Well, a lot of it be because we out in public,

you know, I don't want to take them out, you know, like whatever. It's just a habit. You've been doing this for a while. It's just, yeah, just leave them in, or, you know, I mean, even when I met my wife, I didn't take my grills out like for the first like six months, she thought they was, I sleep with them,

cause this is how I would live. They weren't permanent, but I would sleep with them. I would, you know, I'd take them out to brush my teeth and put them right back in. Is this true? I was gonna say, I don't come with a smell? They don't come with a smell? They don't come with a smell. Well, as long as you take care of your hygiene, they don't.

Okay. Six months. Yes. I would clean them with hydrogen peroxide or baking soda or regular toothpaste. And like I said, I would clean my... I never had a cavity in my life until I started drinking energy drinks. And then I got cavities outside of my grills. Wherever my grills are not, that's where I got cavities.

But before that I never had a cavity in my life. So I always had to do oral hygiene. White privilege. Oh yeah, I don't get cavities or nothing. Hey, my mama 3%. My mama 3%. Is it true that guys from Houston propose with grills and not rings?

It does happen that way. There has been a few. And sometimes the bride is not as happy. She's like, I don't want this grill, I want delivery. But other times they're excited, you know? So we do that sometimes. We do his and hers, you know, for couples, you know? A lot of times it'll accompany the wedding rings,

you know what I'm saying? So basically it'll be like, you spend enough money on the wedding ring and we can hook you up on the grill. You know what I'm saying? Do you ever get upset that your name's not included? Like they'll say, Megan Thee Stallion got a grill from Johnny Dang or Sauce Walker got a new half million

dollar chain from Johnny Dang. Never. I think about that sometimes. I mean sometimes people will say, hey why they ain't saying that? I mean never, never, never. You know, I mean the goal, the mission is accomplished. The mission was never for me to be famous or any of that.

Even the first time I sold grills, you know, even up till now, it's not to make money, it's to hook my homeboys up. You know what I'm saying? When I first got my first set of grills, I went back to the block, they like, damn, when you get those,

and we came with something new, where it was like, okay, I couldn't afford something I wanted nice. So, you know, I couldn't afford diamonds or nothing like this. I just wanted the gold, I wanted yellow gold, and give me like a white gold strip on the tip

with a little diamond cut so it'll make you think I got diamonds, but I don't. I went back to the block and they like, damn, okay, everybody want one. So I'm like, okay, how can I get all my 20 homeboys and my cousins, this, that, you know, how can I get everybody grills, you know, for the same price I paid or for a discount?

I'm not trying to make money off of them. I'm trying to hook them up so that they shining, so that when we all pull up, we all like, damn, y'all must be from Gulf Bank, because all y'all on Gulf Bank shine like that. So that's what it was all about, was just about hooking my friends up, and then eventually that turned into,

my friend has a friend that want a grill, all right, well let me sell it to him, make a little money. And Johnny started off as a wholesaler. So even him, you know, when you wholesale, it's a different price than when you sell at retail. So the retail markup on jewelry, especially grills, used to be 300%. So, you know, Johnny would mark it up 200%. He's still making a lot of money

because he's wholesaling it and marking it up 200%. Yeah. You know, so, but of course, all the other jewelers hate us. They especially hate Johnny. All the jewelers hate Johnny because he, you know, I mean, he's a top dog, but when my name not included, I don't even care about none of that, honestly, because you know what I mean? You know, I did my part. I put my boy on, you know, he's the man. If people want grills, they come to him. And honestly, it'd be a huge headache for me. They come to me, they want free grills.

You know what I'm saying? They don't have it like, damn Johnny, this ain't no Johnny, look, I'm just saying it with you because they know they gonna pay with you, but with me, they think they get free grills. So it's like, okay, look, some people with free grills, but I mean a honeymoon set, I don't know if you're getting a honeymoon set for me.

Megan might be a little different, of course you're gonna hook Megan up, but you know what I'm saying? Yeah, I ain't know you getting a honeymoon set for me. Megan might be a little different, of course you go with Megan, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, I ain't never worried about that, man. Salute to my boy Johnny Dane. What's your team look like under that? Yeah, I'm not gonna take my own. They survive. I'm not gonna take my own.

I'm not gonna take my own. I've been taking my boy Johnny advice, so I do take my grills out, you know what I'm saying when I smoke but I got a little coffee stains in there and that ain't too bad. I take them off off camera so you can see and then you can tell. You go through the dentist though right? Yeah yeah yeah. So you know for instance like you know if I knew you was gonna ask me that I probably

wanted to clean them and you know he buff them quick, 10 minutes, they look brand new. But it's been maybe a month, so you know what I'm saying? I got a month worth of smoking stains and coffee stains. I don't know, I'll have to show you off the camera. I wanna ask you about the Houston music scene, right? When you think of Megan, Travis Scott, Don Toliver, do you think Houston artists have to have a Houston sound? Sauce Walker too, yeah.

Yeah, for sure. What's off got to Houston sound? I mean, you know, be salute to all of the fresh, new artists that are holding it down for Houston and for Texas. I mean, the Houston style is so diverse. You know, I mean, we do have a core sound or like a core slang, a little accent,

but I don't think so. You got Toby Nguigwe where he's doing his own style. You definitely hear the Houston in him though. Sauce Walker, he brought something completely new to the table to represent. He birthed a whole new branch of the hip hop tree in Houston with his style. He created a new Houston style with it.

But even in that, you hear the Houston, sometimes he got some screw and chop here and there, hooks, or he makes some references, or he got this and that, whatever slabs, he definitely got some Houston influence in there, but he does it his own way. Same with Megan, she do it 100% her own way. Don Toliver, you know what I'm saying?

Travis Scott, they for sure represent Houston, they got that Houston style, but they do it their own way. And they birthed new versions of the Houston style, the same way like the ghetto boys were Houston. But the Screwed Up Click was a different kind of form of the Houston style. And the Switch House was a product of that. Of course, me being a screw head growing up,

influenced by the Screwed Up Click. And then so the people influenced by us who came after us, they gonna be, definitely man. But I don't think they have to, it's not like a monolithic type of style where it used to be like when we came up, if you didn't sound like this, you not making it. You not making it.

But there's a lot of artists in Houston that they come with something different, but you still hear the Houston in them, but it's just something different. And I salute them for just doing their thing, whatever it is. You gotta follow your path. And I'm happy to see how it's grown.

You know what I'm saying? The hip hop tree is definitely flourishing in Houston. I was gonna ask, I can't think of another market, maybe Atlanta a little bit, but there's no market that I see like Houston where so many artists F with each other and y'all all come out and y'all all support each other. Like I go to Houston a lot and I'll see you,

I'll see Thug, I'll see Kiki, I'll see Zero, I'll see all you guys out together. And why is that there? Cause you don't see that in New York, you don't see that in Memphis, you don't see that. You see it in Atlanta very little, but you see it in Houston all the time, like you guys don't leave Houston.

We definitely understand the importance of the camaraderie and the unity. One B too, of course. For sure. And we definitely, we understand that, so I think that's some of it. There is a little competition, you know what I'm saying, and the pie is only so big, so everybody knew to get added, everybody knew to get added to the pie everybody else a slice get a little bit smaller

You know, but I mean that's just part of it at the same time Some people kind of get phased out because they move on to other things or they stop making music or they stop performing or just Whatever, you know Sam, but you know, the funny thing is Anytime we would go to New York, you know, Miami, anywhere in Florida, we go to Atlanta, we go anywhere. Anytime we go anywhere, the local rap scene will always tell us,

man, it's crabs in a bucket out here, man, we need to stick together like y'all do in Houston. They always would tell us that. But then when we come back to Houston, everybody in Houston say, man, we gotta come together like they do in Atlanta. We gotta come together like they do in Florida. And I'm like, man, what are we doing?

I mean, I think some of it is, there's a big entitlement of people expecting other people to do for them, especially when it comes to artists. Say, man, look, I'm not a CEO, I'm not an A&R, I'm not trying to sign nobody and put nobody out. My strong suit is being an artist. I'm not a good CEO, you do not wanna sign to me.

You know what I'm saying? But for some reason in hip hop we think, you know, another rapper gotta put us on. I'ma be the first one to tell you, man it was two DJs to put me on. So if you looking for a deal, go find a DJ, not a rapper. I mean, look, when you've signed to a rapper, there are a few rappers who can become moguls

or be moguls or whatever and spot talent and sign talent. But I mean, a lot of the smoke and mirrors of the music industry is somebody already signed, they already got a marketing campaign behind them and they just quote unquote signed to this artist to make it look good, you know? But really they already signed, the label, they signed artist A, already signed artist B,

and they just trying to put you together to just build it up so they can get a co-sign, you know? All the artists got a top notch executive with them. Like for example, Wayne always had a test. Yes. You know what I mean? Yes, you got somebody who's an A&RR or somebody who can like help put your stuff together like and really see the bigger picture where they can just you can just do your talent. Now so that's what I'm saying

when there's a lot of you know expectations and maybe entitlement of up-and-coming artists especially when they dope. The doper they are the more entitlement it seems like they got you know I'm saying where they just expect the world to know who they are and love them. But I don't know that route. I don't know the route where the rapper sign you. I don't know the route where you dope and all of a sudden you snap a finger and you popping.

The route I know is you work hard, you get told no, you keep working hard, you get told no, you keep working hard, and eventually you find a way. That's the route I know. So anybody asking for advice, I could give you some great advice on that. Now if you want advice on signing to a rapper,

you a rapper and you wanna sign to another artist, I don't know that right. All I know is horror stories from people who signed to other rappers, who little bro-ed them their whole life, took advantage of them their whole life because they was established. And when you first signed that deal,

you signing over all your rights, all your publishing, and you know, whatever. So I mean, I would advise against signing to another rapper, but I mean, that's just what we feel like we gotta do. So that's how they judge your legacy now too as a rapper. Oh, well, his legacy isn't that great because he never put nobody on.

And I'm like, there's plenty of people that, me, Slim Thug, Kameena, there's plenty of people, Mike Jones, there's plenty of people that me, Slim Thug, Comedian, there's plenty of people we, Mike Jones, there's plenty of people we put on. They just didn't, they didn't make it. And that's not our fault, that's just how the nature of the industry goes. Even for us to make it is damn near like a lottery ticket, you know what I'm saying?

And, cause it's more than a one in a million. Man, there's so many rappers out there these days that do not make it. So for somebody to make it, man, it's, it, it, I don, man, I don't know what it takes, that's what I'm saying. But all I'm saying is, yeah, definitely it's weird when a lot of people in Houston think that, you know, we gotta be like the other cities and the other cities think we gotta be like Houston.

And all we really gotta do is just keep grinding to find a way. I got another Houston question. We had Sauce walk up here and he said that artists, he was talking about Drake, use Houston for personal gain. Not talking about Drake specifically, but do you think that's valid

that a lot of artists use Houston for personal gain, but don't really pull back into the city? Oh, for sure. I mean, I think back to when DJ Screw died. And that might've been the first time I really realized it. And you go to concerts and an artist comes in from another city. It could be any city.

And this will be a regular thing. Every artist comes in, they city, it could be any city, and this will be a regular thing. Every artist comes in, they go on stage and they would say, hey, rest in peace DJ Screw, just to get the crowd hype and make the crowd love him. Of course they say that, we love him, but then you talk to him or you hear him in an interview or whatever, and you realize, they don't even know who DJ Screw is,

they can't stand the music, they don't like the culture, they just really doing that to try to like win over the crowd. And it's like damn, okay, well if you really got love for this artist, that artist, why you ain't got no songs with them? Why you ain't never brought them on stage? Why you ain't never hung out with them, took no pictures with them?

How come when the artists come to your city, you got love for them when you come to their city, but when they come to your city, you ain't answering the phone? But definitely, I mean, it's not just the Houston thing. I think there's just, it's just, you know, a lot of cities do that, you know, because it's just, you trying to get on.

You wanna get love in that city, so it's like, okay, who's the poppin' artist that I can shout out? Or what song is poppin' right now that I can play? You know, I mean, I think with social media, a lot of the songs that are poppin' here are poppin' everywhere, you know. Everybody's your neighbor now. I mean, I think with social media, a lot of the songs that are popping here are popping everywhere. Everybody's your neighbor now. There's not a lot of localness going on

because of social media, but for sure, the artists do it. Some of the bigger artists, some are more strategic in how they do it. Some can hide their ulterior motives a little more than others. I'm like, I don't split down the middle on it because part of me, I just appreciate that we don't get looked down on like we used to,

you know, the Houston culture, you know what I'm saying? So even if someone's faking it, I just appreciate that they showing us love, you know? But then there's the flip side of, well, if you really got love for us, why you ain't got no songs with no Houston artists? Then the other flip side is this, some of these artists who they say they don't have,

oh this person don't have no songs, well they do have songs with Houston artists, it's just not, I don't know, because I'm one of those people where they used to always get on Travis Scott. I'm on a Travis Scott song, so every time someone say, man how come Travis Scott ain't never

put nobody from Houston on his album? I be like, well damn, what about me? You know what I'm on a Travis Scott song. So every time someone say, man, how come Travis Scott ain't never put nobody from Houston on his album? I be like, well damn, what about me? You know what I'm saying? Yeah, so I mean. Megan just bought you out too recently. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean, the other side too is that, when it comes to this,

some of these artists be on a come up and I might've had an opportunity to do something with this artist when they on a come up. But for whatever reason reason I don't. Well, now the artist blows up. They remember that. Yeah, remember that. I lost my opportunity.

That was my chance. There's a window opportunity, I lost it. I mean, it is what it is. It's all good. And that's not just with me. That's with anybody that is on and somebody trying to come up under you. But you can't put everybody on though.

So no, it's just, yeah. And like I said, you can try your hardest to put somebody on and they still don't get on. We can't choose what the people gonna like. Yeah, yeah. Now you've dealt with a lot of traumas in your life. And I was watching a podcast where you sat down with Quincy and Fuzzy

and you opened up about your biological dad, who was, you said, a serial child molester. Yes. What effect did that have on you? That had a huge effect on me. One, growing up with a single mother, having a very small family, it made us, you know, tighten it, it made me appreciate family,

it made me always want family. It made me aware, I was hyper aware of, you know, like the molestation type of stuff. And it also made me become an advocate as I got older in life. I teamed up with my girl, Miss Parker, from Parents Against Predators. We do a lot in the community just in regards to that.

But just personally, what it did to me was from, as long as I can remember, it instilled something into me to say, I'm gonna be a good father. No matter what, I'm gonna be a good father. I'm not gonna let anything come between me and my kids. I hope one, I used to pray for one day to have kids. Like I literally, I tell my kids this all the time

on their birthdays, like, man, I used to pray for you. You know, so it always would make me like, wanna be a good father. Make me wanna be the best father I could be. Also meant that interview to. Yeah. After that interview came out, I found out I got a cousin. If somebody seen it and it was like, hey, we saw you. You thought you had a cousin.

We got a cousin. Wow. So, you know, I'm real grateful for that. I got a, you know, my cut shot to my cousin, Gina, her whole family of kids, all of them, man. But yeah, it definitely was something that was heavy on me my whole life. Also, it makes you realize that some people are walking around with trauma and you don't know it. So it makes you, just because somebody has a smile

doesn't mean they're happy. Just because somebody has a frown or a mean look doesn't mean they're mad at you. They could be going through something. So, you know, it just, it did definitely taught me a lot. Yeah, your mom was a strong woman. You said your mom had y'all so scared that your dad would come and kidnap you.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, because he had kidnapped the woman and married her. Yeah, yeah, he kidnapped a woman. A girl, I'm sorry, a girl. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, and married her. Man, this girl was 12 years old, and he kidnapped her when she was 15,

and I don't know, man, he got some type of judge to sign off on the marriage, took her to Canada, then next thing you know, something happened, they came back. You know, it's a tragic story. She ended up committing suicide when she came back, and you know, it's sad. The crazy thing about that is that at that time,

you know, we would see my father on the weekend, my biological father on the weekends, or every other weekend. So sometimes we'd go over there and it'd be like, oh, there's new girlfriends over there. And I'm, you know, four years old, I don't know. But it's a 12 year old in a wig with makeup. You know, we know that now,

but at the time we don't know that. I'm just thinking, oh, that's my dad's girlfriend or something, and it's so crazy to think like that damn, you that close to, you know that, but you're four years old, what do you do, you don't even know what's wrong, what's going on, but it's tragic. Of course, that was my biological father,

so it was hard for me, but I mean, of course it's worse for the girl, you know what I'm saying, or whoever he did something to. So I never look at myself like I was like a victim or like even the trauma I experienced, I kinda like put it under the rug. I feel more for the victims that he hurt, you know what I'm saying, like damn, like what about them?

I mean, I don't really look at like my own, but for sure my mom, she's the, we used to walk around with an air horn, like tied around my neck. So then, if you can, man, this is when kindergarten cop came out too, and he get to go on sports today. Man, so I was for sure terrified

that I was gonna get kidnapped. And I remember one time, ooh, one time me and my sister were at home, it was like during the summer, or it was like something when my mom was doing something and we just at home and I remember my biological dad came to the door, knocked on the door and I went and looked at the people

and I remember being so scared I could not move. I'm just sitting there just like, oh, what do I do? I couldn't move and I'm scared to move, he gonna see me or whatever. Man, I'll never forget that, but yeah, my mama definitely, she had us prepared. She had us prepared. Wow. That's amazing.

The album. Yeah, back to the album now. Comes out this Friday. And what is it still tipping to or dropping? I mean, it's still tipping to or came and went. Y'all only did like one show, right? We didn't do nothing. Well, I mean, we did one show.

Yeah, you, Mike Jones, slimped up. I mean, it started off, we did the Texans halftime show. And I kind of said it, yeah. I kind of said it like, almost like as a joke, like, hey, we're doing a stuff-tipin' tour. But when we said that, our phone started blowing up. We had people live, all kinds of people, boy, AD, everybody just hitting us trying to,

hey, I want to book 20 shows right now. How much? I want to book 10 shows, this and that, but it couldn't get together, man. I wish we could, but want to book 20 shows right now. How much? I want to book 10 shows, this and that, but that didn't happen together. It didn't, we couldn't get it together, man. I wish we could, but we couldn't get it together. That's what happened. You spoke too early about it. You just kind of planned, see, I did something like that

before I got this job, right? Oh really? I went and said I'm partying. I was like, yo, I'm the host of the breakfast up. They ain't even picked me yet. You know what I'm saying? And then I thought I didn't get the job, because I'm like, damn, maybe I shouldn't have done it.

I'm here today so shit, maybe we might get some still time to tour. You never know. We coming to the Ravens Club, Paul Wile Mike Jones, Slim Thug. We coming. Hold on, I do have one more question from Hip Hop shit, this is my last question.

Yes sir. Little flip, I mean when T.I. did his little flip, he mentioned your name in there, right? I always felt like conflicted about that. Exactly, I wanted to add that, because that's what kind of blew you up, and everybody was like, damn, Paul Wall, get a grip on Paul Wall.

Paul Wall, maybe the hardest grill ever bought, son. Yeah, man, I remember being at Bayou Classic in New Orleans, and people being like, passing out flyers, and somebody saying, hey, Swishy House, I might have been passing out my own, you know, my album or, you know, buy some grills or something. I remember people being like, pow wow,

hey, you doing with TI? Like, and then being like, damn, okay, my boy got some reach, you know, this is when he was, this before he blew up, of course he got reach, now he just reaches the world. But he dissing Lil Flip, Houston legend. That was the hard part because me and Flip being friends too as well, it was like, damn,

of course Flip gonna feel a certain way. He gonna be like, damn, he rocking with him? That's how it is? And of course he gonna feel that way. There's no way he couldn't. And I could be like, well, yeah, we friends, but I'm not choosing a side. I mean, I don't know what to do, you know what I'm saying?

It just put me in a tough situation. I mean, the way I dealt with it is I just laid low. You know what I'm saying? Tried to stay out of it. I really tried not to do too much explaining publicly because a lot of times it just make it worse. But it definitely put me in a hard spot. You know what I'm saying?

It was good for business though. It was good for business. Definitely. TI definitely gave me that shot. Pow wow, turn the bling down in your mouth. Oh yeah, definitely was good for business. But I mean, at the same time, Lil Flip probably was like, man, I ain't never get no grip from pow wow.

Did he? Did he stop shopping with you? Well, I mean, even then he wasn't getting them from me. Johnny was still kind of making them, but he was getting them from other people or whatever. How's Flip doing? I definitely would make him a grip, Flip want a grip, I got you, bro.

I got you. Just to speak? Yeah, for sure, matter of fact, one of the songs on the album, Swang Down with Zero, we recorded that song on Zero's birthday of this year, his birthday is like January 20th, January 21st, I think it was the 21st, and we recorded it at Zero's house. Zero said, say man, my birthday come to the house,

we drank in the evening, come through. I said, came through, and you know, I had the song, he's like, hey listen, I got this song. A little Flip actually was his engineer that recorded it. I see Flip all the time for sure, man. Flip, boy, he's still my big bro. Of course, we the same age, but he came out before me. He definitely put on for Houston a lot.

You know what I'm saying? But even still, when I see him, I'm like, damn, I hope he ain't holding over my head. But if he do, I mean, I can't blame him, because I get it, you know what I'm saying? But, you know, that's definitely my boy, man. You know, it ain't no hard feelings on my side. Of course, if he want a grill, I got him.

I got you flipped, what's up, man? But yeah, it's definitely made it a little weird, you know what I'm saying? Well, let's get into it, Joe and Off-Dow, what you want to hear? Let's play that swing down. Me and Zero, Powerwall and Zero, we flipped that SWV rain. My boys Beans and Cornbread, they produced it.

You know, got my boys Zero on there with me. Crywall and Big Tunker. Yeah, let's go. Let's get into it right now. It's Paul Waller, album's out this Friday. It's The Breakfast Club, good morning. Wake that ass up. Early in the morning.

The Breakfast Club. Hey everyone, it's John also known as Dr. John Paul and I'm Jordan or Joe Ho and we are the BlackFatFilm Podcast. A podcast where all the intersections of identity are celebrated. Oh, chat! This year we have had some of our favorite people on including Kid Fury, T.S. Madison, Amber Ruffin from the Amber and Lacey Show, Angelica Ross and more. Make sure you listen to the Black Fat Fam podcast on the iHeart Radio app, Alpha Podcast or whatever you get your podcast girl.

Oh, I know that's right. Hey y'all, Nimini here. I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records. Executive produced by Questlove, The Story Pirates, and John Glickman, Historical Records brings history to life through hip hop. -♪ Flash slam, another one gone, bash bam, another one gone, the cracker to bat and another one gone,

the tip of the cap, there's another one gone, bash bam. Another one gone, the cracker to bat. And another one gone, a tip but a cap. Cause another one gone. Each episode is about a different inspiring figure from history. Like this one about Claudette Colvin, a 15 year old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus. Nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing.

Check it. And it began with me. Did you know, did you know? I wouldn't give up my seat. Now I'm up before Rosa. It was Claudette, all my... Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records,

because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to Historical Records on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The forces shaping markets and the economy are often hiding behind a blur of numbers. So that's why we created The Big Take from Bloomberg podcasts,

to give you the context you need to make sense of it all. Every day in just 15 minutes, we dive into one global business story that matters. You'll hear from Bloomberg journalists like Matt Levine. A lot of this meme-stack stuff is I think embarrassing to the SEC. Follow The Big Take podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. People, my people, what's up? This is Questlove.

Man, I cannot believe we're already wrapping up another season of Quetzalove Supreme. Man, we've got some amazing guests lined up to close out the season, but I don't want any of you guys to miss all the incredible conversations we've had so far. I mean, we talked to A. Marie, Johnny Marr, E. Jonathanecter, Billy Porter, and so many more. Look, if you haven't heard these episodes yet, hey, now's your chance. You got to check them out. Listen to Questlove Supreme on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Yo, what up?

It's your girl Jess Hilarious, and I think it's time to acknowledge that I'm not just a comedian. It's time to add uncertified therapists to my credentials because each and every Wednesday I'm fixing your mess on carefully reckless on the Black Effect Podcast Network. Got problems in your relationship? Come to me, your best friend acting shady. Come to me. Thought you was the father but you not? Come to me. I can't promise I won't judge me, thought you was the father, but you're not. Come to me.

I can't promise I won't judge you, but I can guarantee that I will help you. Listen to Can't Flee Reckless on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. AT&T. Connecting changes everything.