The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: Tank Talks 'Hells Kitchen' On Broadway With Alicia Keys, R&B Awards, Jamie Foxx, Babyface, +More

Episode Date: March 14, 2025

The Breakfast Club Sits Down With Tank To Discuss 'Hells Kitchen' On Broadway With Alicia Keys, R&B Awards, Jamie Foxx, Babyface. Listen For More!YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BreakfastClubPower1051FMSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Hunter, host of Hunting for Answers on the Black Effect Podcast Network. Join me every weekday as I share bite-sized stories of missing and murdered black women and girls in America. Stories like Erika Hunt. A young mother vanished without a trace after a family gathering on 4th of July weekend 2016. No goodbyes. No clues. Just gone. Listen to Hunting for Answers every weekday on the Black Effect Podcast Network. No goodbyes, no clues, just gone. Listen to Hunting for Answers every weekday on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Are you hungry? Colleen Whit here and Eating While Broke is back for season four every Thursday on the Black Effect Podcast Network. This season, we've got a legendary lineup serving of prof dishes and even better stories. On the menu, we have Tony Baker, Nick Cannon, Melissa Ford,

October London, and Carrie Harper Howie turning Big Macs into big moves. Catch Eating While Broke every Thursday on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, wherever you get your favorite shows, come hungry for season four. Do you remember what you said the first night I came over here?

Ow, goes lower? From Blumhouse TV, iHeart Podcasts, and Ember 20 comes an all new fictional comedy podcast series. Join the flighty Damien Hirst as he unravels the mystery of his vanished boyfriend. I've been spending all my time looking for answers about what happened to Santi. And what's the way to find a missing person?

Sleep with everyone he knew, obviously. Listen to The Hook Up on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Dressing, dressing. Oh, French dressing. Exactly. Ha ha, oh, that's good.

I'm AJ Jacobs and my current obsession is puzzles. And that has given birth to my podcast, The Puzzler. Something about Mary Poppins? Exactly. This is fun. You can get your daily puzzle nuggets delivered straight to your ears. Listen to The Puzzler every day on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Wake that ass up!

Early in the morning. The Breakfast Club. Morning everybody, it's DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne the Guy, we are the Breakfast Club. Lauren LaRosa filling in for Jess. We got a special guest in the building. Yes indeed. Seems like he's trying to take our job doing all these interviews and stuff. Ladies and gentlemen, we have R&B singer Tank. Tank.

I'm not trying to take your job. You're doing a phenomenal job with the R&B Money Podcast. Yes, you are. I am just catering to my people. OK. I'm making sure that my community has a place to go, that the conversation is bridged from the old to the new. I love it.

You know what I love about the R&B Money podcast? There's always so many hip hop podcasts and you know the rappers got a place to go, the OG rappers got a place to go. R&B Money has created that space for the R&B world. I love it. And now, you know, not too much disclosure, but now the R&B Music Awards.

Oh, I didn't know about that. Tell us about it. You guys have a dedicated, hip hop, not you, hip hop has a dedicated award show, right? Whereas the R&B dedicated award show so that we can cover the entire gambit of R&B. R&B is so many things, it's so vast. You can't cover it in two to three categories

at some award show and think that that's going to do it all justice. Oh, I want to hear about this now. So what might that be coming out? Are you creating this? I want to know the categories. As an R&B icon like you are, what are the categories of R&B? Because all we think is R&B. Well, I mean, let's do this, right? Let's go soul, right? Let's go progressive.

Do you do ballads? Huh? Ballads? What do you mean ballads? Slow. I mean, what do you mean? Make a category? Slow and ballads, slow music, yeah, categories. Do you do R&B ballads? No, I don't think you do ballads, but I think you get into the songwriter aspect of it, the producer aspect of it, even the performance aspect of it. All of these things are so different. Like a Jill Scott is way different from... Summer Walker. From a Summer Walker, you know what I mean?

It's way different. Calvin Richardson is way different from Chris Brown. you know what I mean? It's way different. A Calvin Richardson is way different from Chris Brown. You know what I mean? And so how do we create these tiers and levels to where all of the nuances of R&B can be recognized? Give me an example of Progressive. Oh, CB is Progressive. Okay, okay. Completely.

He's the current state of R&B music. You know what I mean? Even if we want to say what Drake and Pardi just did, you know what I mean? That's very progressive R&B. You know what I mean? If you want to say what is more traditional, I'm more in the middle of a traditional progressive R&B artist.

Because I can do a record with Chris Brown, but I can also do a record with God rest his soul, Angie Stone. See, I like the traditional. And I said that when the Party and Drake album dropped. I was like, that ain't for me. And they was like, well, it's for the ladies because it's R&B.

I'm like, no, guys like R&B. I just don't like that type of R&B. Exactly. Exactly. There's a difference. And so we have not had the conversation about all of these things together. We just say, best R&B album.

And then you got Chris Brown in a same category with Robert Glasper. It's like, how do you do that? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We're not all just one thing. So when are you doing this? Is it thought out to that, where it's gonna happen? It's been great conversations. you know what I mean?

Me and my brother, Jay Valentine, we've actually had this conversation with Jesse Collins. And so, you know, all of this, what I'm doing right now is just kind of creating the anticipation and the desire and hopefully enough comments will come and people will see the value, because that's where it starts. People have to see the value in what we do in order to create this next level platform.

Well, don't leave Black Effect and I Hard out the conversation. I Hard is known to put together a good award show. Well, what do you want to do? I want to help with the Harvey Money Award Show. That would be fantastic. There you go. Done. See how that works?

We can exclusively announce the categories and nominations right now. Absolutely. See how that works? We can exclusively announce the categories and nominations right now. Alright, hold them down. Like we need a babyface award, right? Lifetime achievement award. Which is the songwriter and producer. Wow.

You need a Michael Jackson award? Right, we need a Michael Jackson award. Chris Brown do the tribute. The ultimate performance. We need a Smokey Robinson award, which is just the writer, right? We need a, I can't take writer out of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, because they write it too, but right?

You need a standalone producer award, right? All of these things are so different, and we don't get an opportunity to highlight them, but all of these awards need names from our our legends yeah you know I'm saying the R&B label award the Motown award where who's who's the dedicated R&B label that's R&B money that's what we're doing right so it's all of these things that we need to now highlight now that R&B is having this big big conversation right I want to know how is it for you right knowing all these R&B stories having this big, big conversation, right? I wanna know, how is it for you, right,

knowing all these R&B stories, right? And I'm watching your podcast, and I know you know the answers, but some of these times it hasn't been put out there, and you're just feeding the person, right? Like I look at Stephen Hill, with the Chris Brown situation. Yeah. You're leading him because you knew what happened,

but making him explain the story was amazing. I didn't know what happened. Really? I didn't even know he was part of it. I knew from Chris's side that they had, they got him all the way to the point of where It was about to happen. It was about to happen and then pulled the rug out from under him.

I didn't know the intimate details and who all was involved. And hearing Steve, like, Stephen is like, you know, he loves, he loves that. He loves it. He felt like he was getting ready to create one of the most iconic moments of all time. And he was. Looking for that rehearsal? Jesus.

He was. He was. And it hurt him that now he, you know, has to go back and tell CB that it's not happening. You know what I mean? Like that crushed him more than anything. And he was like, man, if you could ever talk to him, just let him know I love him.

I wanted that for him. I just, they pulled it from me. Nothing I could do. I was gonna ask did you put them on the phone after that? Cause he said in your interview that they hadn't, he hadn't gotten, well he wanted to see him in person to apologize and stuff like that. So did they figure that out? No, we hadn't gotten, well he wanted to see him in person to apologize and stuff like that so. Did they figure that out?

No, we didn't get a chance to make that happen. No, but I'd love to make that happen for him. Another one of my favorite R&B Money podcasts recently was the LA Reid episode. Woo hoo! Like he really sparked a real conversation and it just had me thinking about, yes you need black boutique everything.

You need that. We need to be able to operate the way we operate. Just let us do what we do. Like even with what you guys do. You guys do what you do, which is why it is what it is. There's nobody micromanaging or policing you. You get your paycheck, whatever that is, but it's because of how you do your thing.

Nobody's interrupting that, which is why it's what? How many years in the making? 15. 15, is it? Jesus Christ. Imagine if you had no control of that, you know what I mean? Imagine you being subject to somebody else's ideas, somebody else's, and then you lose with that.

That hurts worse than anything. I lost listening to you. No, no, I'm gonna go down with that. That hurts worse than anything. I lost listening to you. No, no, I'm gonna go down with me. Word. I'm gonna go down with me, and that's what we've lost. We've lost the people that have done it from here. I just believe, like think about D'Angelo's untitled. If somebody just doesn't say,

ah, I just feel like this is is different they never get to the third single Which is a life-changing record Don't have that no more analytics say I were losing here. We're done. We're gonna move on right How does it feel with a new third single was it how does it feel with the third single? The butt naked video was his third single Wow, I didn't I know that how do we not get to that? Would be greatest song of all time. I did not know that Wow, you know what I mean Genuine so anxious if Joe Moore didn't say we got to get to this one. We got to get to this one

This one right here is gonna change it, trust me. Maybe I Deserve was my second single. If we were just going off of first singles, I'm not even gonna name the first song I had out there. I was dancing and shit and flipping and blowing up. You flipping? Yeah. We'll think for a second.

Why did you? I remember, because I remember Maybe I Deserve. I shouldn't have brought that up. When you said it, I just heard the song. Ricky? No, Maybe I Deserved. Oh it, I just heard the song. Freaky? No, maybe I deserved. Oh shit, I said it out loud. Yeah, maybe I deserved.

You were at, wait. Okay. My first single was called Freaky. Oh, okay. And it almost destroyed my career before it even started. Who picked that single? The label? The label picked it, but I was very excited about it as well.

When I Googled it, it said, A song many have missed in his actual first single, Freaky, which came out first and has pretty much become obscure today. God damn. When's the last time you performed that, Neva? I was performing the song, I was on promo tour, Fort Valley State, Homecoming.

And I'm coming out, I got my freaky interlude, they wanna get freaky. And then the song starts. And right in the middle of the first hook, these two little cute girls in the first row was like, whack, I was like. And this was in the dat tape era. So I couldn't stop it.

You had to let it go all the way through. I had to do the whole song. Then I sweated the rest of the song. And I never sang that song again. Damn. I said don't put it on the album, erase it, get rid of this song. And we did a hard turn, cut the single, went to Maybe I Deserve, thank God. Wow.

The rest is history. The rest is history. Yo, that's very interesting because I don't know whether, I think it's the labels not doing their jobs. Like, you know, I don't think they give a, they don't care about the music like they used to. I don't think labels care about music like they used to. Their jobs have changed though.

Like what was your first budget for your first album? Like it was a thing to be, to get signed to a record deal? I'll tell you like this, there was a budget, there was a number in the contract, but again, I'm boutique. So they're like, well, let's just keep going till we get it because we can't lose. Yeah. Like, you know, at that time in terms of earners,

you know, it was Aaliyah, God rest her soul. She was making the bank for all of us, right? In order for us to have budgets, Aaliyah was, she was funding us. So, you know, we were in a position where we couldn't lose. So, very, you know, very one gonna let me lose. Nah, let's go to the next one. Let's spend, I spent 400,000 on my first,

400 or 500,000 on my first video. Then I spent another 700 on the next one. Like, this is what was happening we blew up an actual building like we're running out of building and slowly the building blew up behind us we had to dive onto a mattress don't turn your phones on because you might kill the artist that that's what's missing but you see the difference in between the people that are still doing that, you still see Chris Brown spending real money to make real videos.

Still see Beyonce spending real money to make real videos. You still see Drake spending real money to make real videos. That's the difference. That's why they're in arenas. That's why they're in stadiums, all of these things. So we just need that level of belief and that level of investment

in order to get it back to where it's supposed to be. Like look at movies. How much money they spend on promo? Yeah. They put it on TV. They put it, they're doing it before other movies are coming on. They're out on the streets, on the buses.

Like we've lost all of that, but they still want the same result. That's not how that works. Absolutely. You're so right. I mean, I'm learning that too, just dibbling and dabbling in the movie world, but you're right.

It's like, yo, if they'll spend money to promote a film, these labels would just be like, put it online. Literally, just throw it online. You can't tell a movie, you can't tell the people that are putting out the Wolverine You know I'm saying it's no theaters. No. Yeah We're gonna just use our socials. Yeah, we're gonna use our socials and hopefully go viral and See what happens now. What are we spent? No, you're right. Yeah, we're trying to guarantee ourself a return right low visibility

Low visibility is gonna get you low results. Just is what it is. Does that ever change though? Again, we gotta get back to this boutique space where we're allowed at the budgets and the freedom to do it the way we know how to do it. We come from the street team era. We come from passing out 10,000 flyers.

You know what I'm saying? Bus stops, buses. You know what I mean? Commercials. We used to run commercials on BET. Actual commercials. Where's all that? It's gone, but you still want the same results. There are outliers where those things can happen, but R&B is not a, it's not a, it's not completely a viral genre. Now the residuals challenge, I mean, you know, that's a thing. But that's just fun though. It starts out fun, but then you,

then you tap into what's really out there, right? And so now what we're able to see is, oh shit, look at how many R&B singers, songwriters and producers are just waiting in the wings for an opportunity that are really, really dope. Did you feel any guilt enjoying R. Kelly's residual? Did I feel guilt in enjoying it? I mean, everybody knows me, knows that I've always been an R. Kelly fan.

They know I've always, you know, as I was raised and trying to be R&B coming out of my gospel space, Babyface, R. Kelly, Brian McKnight, like those were my study guys. So no, I didn't feel a way enjoying it. I couldn't, you know. He's talented. He's talented. I couldn't grab it and post it on my page. It's like New York, I said. I couldn't do that, you know what I mean?

I got a, I got Hell's Kitchen to promote, you know what I mean? And man, I think it's tough because, you know, a lot of people have been in my comments saying why you ain't post the R. Kelly thing? And I'm like, guys, why do I have to insert myself into that back and forth? You know what I thought, listening to R. Kelly,

he still sounds good as shit, right? He can still write. I wonder why, and I don't even know if he could, why people wouldn't tap into his writing behind the bars, because he can still write amazingly, and I'm sure he could still put numbers on the board. You don't have to say it's R. Kelly. I wonder why that wasn't a thing and why people don't go to him for that. Same reason why you know the younger cats don't go to

Babyface. Same reason why the younger cats don't go to Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Same reason why I can go on and on. Why? We have a thing with us where if it just seems or sounds old, we don't tap into it. You think that with R. Kelly though? He did sound old on that. I think he did sound old. Really?

He's an older artist. He's done it. He's had his time. And to us, the fad chasers, our culture, the what's next or what's now culture is what we are. We don't maintain a tradition. Like, there's no way that New Edition or any of our elder statesmen

shouldn't have sold out arena tours. Easily. Rolling Stones can come back anytime they feel like it. Do a sold out tour. Queen, anytime they feel like it. Sold out tour. Paul McCartney can say, I'm going out! Sold out.

Sold out. We are the only people that separate ourselves from our foundational and our traditional moments and cast it away. It's old. No. And that's us. That's what we, so when you say why not,

like me, I'm like, I gotta get a, Babyface came to the opening, my opening on Hell's Kitchen. And as I'm looking at it, I'm like, Babyface really pulled up to my opening. Like, I got one of the greatest singer-songwriter producers of all times sitting right here as a friend of mine, and I don't have a record from him.

That can't happen again. I can't know him and that not happen. And I don't understand why you look at Quincy Jones. I wanna say something. That's why you gotta give people credit like SZA. Babyface produced Snooze. Yeah, absolutely. And you see how big Snooze is.

Absolutely. So when you get an OG like that, who gets with a super talented youngin', you see what can come about. There was other results. I think that the artist, cause SZA is like, I'm not surprised that SZA, she understands in her,

you know what I mean? Like there's certain artists who- But it wasn't on purpose either, so there's that. What do you mean? What were they from beyond? They were in a room making something and she heard, and you know, it was a thing where it was just people in the right place in the right time.

She didn't reach out, she just happened to be here. Okay, because I was gonna say, I think sometimes too, it's about like who the artist is, because there are some artists who like understand, you know what I mean, like baby face, and like the moment you had that are younger but then other artists are chasing who the producers that are making things that go viral on the TikToks or the reels are created to because their labels back to you saying that they're not doing their jobs their jobs have shifted where

that's all you're looking at so if you don't have those metrics you're not doing your job but you might be the artists like your babyface needs to be in this studio. There's no reason why I don't have songs with Babyface. It's the truth. And I was saying, like, if you look at Quincy Jones, what age was Quincy Jones when he was doing all that stuff with Michael?

He was 50. He was older. He was 50. Yeah, yeah. But that's my point. The greatest album of all time. He was 50. When he produced Thriller, he was 50.

And that's my point. Imagine the information he was able to impart to Michael Jackson because of everything that he had done and everything that he had seen, you know what I'm saying? Like Michael, this is great, but if we just take two moments and just move these things right over here, you'll trust me. I'm Hunter, host of Hunting for Answers

on the Black Effect Podcast Network. Join me every weekday as I share bite-sized stories of missing and murdered black women and girls in America. There are several ways we can all do better at protecting black women. My contribution is shining a light on our missing sisters and amplifying their disregarded stories. Stories like Tamika Anderson.

As she drove toward Galvez, she was in contact with several people, talking on the phone as she made her way to what should have been a routine transaction. But Tamika never bought the car and she never returned home that day. One podcast, one mission save our girls. Join the search as we explore the chilling cases of missing and murdered black women and girls Listen to hunting for answers every weekday on the black effect podcast network. I heart radio app Apple podcast or Wherever you get your podcast

Do you remember what you said the first night I came over here How goes lower from Blumhouse TV I I Heart Podcasts, and Ember 20, comes an all new fictional comedy podcast series. Join the flighty Damien Hirst as he unravels the mystery of his vanished boyfriend. And Santi was gone. I've been spending all my time looking for answers about what happened to Santi.

And what's the way to find a missing person? Sleep with everyone he knew, obviously. Hmm, pillow talk. The most unwelcome window into the human psyche. And what's the way to find a missing person? Sleep with everyone he knew, obviously. Hmm, pillow talk. The most unwelcome window into the human psyche. Follow our out of his element hero as he engages in a series of ill-conceived, investigative hookups.

Mama always used to say, God gave me gumption in place of a gag reflex. And as I was about to learn, no amount of showering can wash your hands of a bad hookup. Now, take a big whiff, my bra. Listen to the hookup on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

I started to live a double life when I was a teenager, responsible and driven and wild and out of control. My head is pounding. I'm confused. I don't know why I'm in jail. It's hard to understand what hope is when you're trapped in a cycle of addiction. Addiction took me to the darkest places. I had an AK-47 pointed at my head. But one night, a new door opened, and I made it into the rooms of recovery. The path would have roadblocks and detours, stalls, and relapses. But when I was feeling the most lost, I found hope with community, and I made my way back.

This season, join me on my journey through addiction and recovery. A story told in 12 steps. Listen to Krems as part of the Michael Luta Podcast Network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Pod of Rebellion, our new Star Wars Rebels Rewatch Podcast. I'm Vanessa Marshall. Hi, I'm Tia Sircar. I'm Taylor Gray. And I'm John Lee Brody.

But you may also know us as Harrison Dula, Spectre 2. Tabin Wren, Spectre 5. And Ezra Bridger, Spectre 6 from Star Wars Rebels. Wait, I wasn't on Star Wars Rebels. Am I in the right place? Absolutely. Each week, we're going to rewatch and discuss an episode from the series.

And share some fun behind the scenes stories. Sometimes we'll be visited by special guests like Steve Blum, voices Zabarelio, Spectre 4, or Dante Bosco, voice of Jaiquel, and many others. Sometimes we'll even have a live way debate. And we'll have plenty of other fun surprises and trivia too. Oh, and me? Well, I'm the lucky ghost crew Stowaway,

who gets to help moderate and guide the discussion each week. Kind of like how Kanan guided Ezra in the ways of the Force. You see what I did there? Nicely done, Jon. Thanks, Tia. So, hang on, because it's gonna be a fun ride. Cue the music! Listen to Potter Rebellion on the iHeart radioio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcasts. I mean, you're gonna love it. Like when you talked about the intro. We can't kill that, Michael. That's just a call out. Michael wanted to kill it. What do we do as soon as it comes on? Oh, shit.

That's Quincy Jones. And so in my mind, I'm looking at babyface like, my Quincy Jones, how do I not tap into that? How do I not ensure this level of greatness somehow pours over into what I'm doing? I would have loved to have heard Quincy on R&B Money podcast. Hey man, Clarence, they want, by the way, but yeah. Man, it's that information that we need

that needs to continue to pass down. And that's our job. We're the bridge. We wanna be the bridge. Like we tell all the young cats all the time, hey, we rocking with you, whatever you need from us. And then we tell the older cats, like when we had Smokey Robinson, we was like,

you know we're coming to your house, we're coming over. We wanna talk to you. Like, you did it. Like you talk about building something. Yeah. Build an entire franchise on his back, writing and producing. Yeah. So we got the R&B awards, which Charlamagne and I Heart.

Black Effect and I Heart, we doing it. Black Effect and I Heart have committed to, now we're going somewhere. So what were your thoughts when you seen how, I will say, he was disrespected at the award show when he was doing an interview and he was like okay this next AP News moment oh with with babyface babyface when he was on on a carpet you know I definitely thought it was dish I thought it was disrespectful but I don't think it was consciously

disrespectful I think that no one's teaching people how to do things anymore. They're just throwing them out there, right? Because if you're on that red carpet, there you have to know who, right? Who's, well, you have to know who people are, right? In this music, in this music business, right? But then two, you also have to know who people are, right, in this music business, right? But then two, you also have to know how to conduct yourself.

Right? These are the things you do, these are the things you don't do. And that was just a thing, that was just kind of like host 101. You don't do that. You're not ever talking to somebody. Yeah, and so how do you fit, one second. Can you? Nobody's teaching her. Nobody taught her. It's not her fault, I'm sure she didn't get fired. She didn't know.

Well, somebody, production told me to. So it's a disconnect. You know what I mean? We aren't having those hard lessons in those classes. Like I went to, I went to media training. We from the school of hard knocks, so we get it. Not media training. So I know both sides of it.

I know being on this side, I know being on your side. And these people aren't being trained, man. And they're getting thrown out there and putting these positions to where they look bad. I don't think she meant to do anything on purpose. Once again, you talking about a budget. You said media training, they don't give an artist, they're not spending no money on media training nowadays. Anybody, like if you're bringing somebody in

to represent your brand, Black Effect, like you wanna know two things. First, okay, what do you do, how do you do it, okay, and then are you trained to do it? Because there are things that are going to arise that you have to be prepared for, there are moments that are going to arise that you have to be prepared for. There are moments that are gonna have, what would you do in this situation?

Let's have some scenario training. Let's have somebody get really boisterous in the room and see how you handle it. So Tank, remember when you was on the breakfast club and you talked about getting your ass eaten about 10 years ago? I don't mind putting my legs up, you know what I'm saying? Like that's okay.

You don't mind tongue action, is what you're saying? I don't mind. I don't mind getting your ass eaten. Not at all. Are you kidding me? Like that's okay. You know what I'm saying? You don't mind tongue action is what you're saying? I don't mind. You don't mind getting your ass eaten? Not at all. Man. Are you kidding me? Come on man. Come on man.

My brothers in here keeping it 100. Put it in here. You think? We ain't got a seat, Teg. We ain't got a seat. Put your legs down. Put your legs up. Teg, I try to tell him all the time,

if a girl eats your ass, she never talks bad about you. You gotta have your hands free just in case she get tricky. Get your fingers out the way. There you go. If somebody brings that up now in 2025 and they say, Tank, do you enjoy getting your ass eating?

How do you respond? I would say that was the old me. You know? You know, when I was younger, you know, I enjoy things and said how I enjoy things a little bit too out loud. Okay. You know what I mean? Some of those things should have been a lot more quiet.

But you know, I think I was baited. I think Charlamagne baited me. He was very, he baited me into that. I think he baited you. You should give a little fake chuckle after the question is asked. After the question is asked, let's do a little fake chuckle, then give the answer.

He'll give the answer. Ha ha, they old me. I was so wild back then. That's media training. That is. Because people still bring that up, but I think you handle it. So there will be a follow up question probably from the co-host. Yeah.

Okay, so they're not going to just let it go. Here's the other thing too is that, you know, anything that has been put out there, anything that I've put out there, I'm able to stand on it. Period. You find your tribe. You find a tribe. I have lived and I have lived in front of the world for all of them to see. So I don't really have any secrets.

You know what I mean? So those things don't scare me. I'm not rattled by those things. You know what I mean? So, those things don't scare me. I'm not rattled by those things, you know what I mean? So there's that part of it. But I do know how to divert if need be. I was bringing, I said that because I was gonna big you up for, when it was brought up not too long ago, you used it as a moment to talk about homophobia

in the black community and that created a powerful conversation. And I was like, I don't know if he did it on purpose. Oh, it really did come back? It did come back up. No, I was talking to you. Who were you talking to? We talked about it in here.

We did it in Jess with the Mess. You were talking to the holding court. Big court. The holding court. Yeah, big court, my bad, big court. With the court. But the conversation that it created, I don't know if you saw the conversation,

I know you'd be online though, like you'd be seeing some things. It had people really having a conversation about men being able to be vulnerable and just have conversations anywhere they want to, and black men specifically. And I was like, okay, was that the media training? Was that like?

No, that was just real. I mean, that's just what I believe, but I also believe that you can't really have intelligent conversations online. 100%. You know what I mean? So as he and I were having that you can't really have intelligent conversations online. 100%. You know what I mean? So as he and I were having that conversation, like we were having a real conversation. But in terms of going back and forth online trying to get something very thought provoking

across, it never works. It don't. You'll never win that. Also, I think people forget the comedian Tank era. Yes. When Tank was on stage doing actual comedy. So a lot of that was jokes. I don't know that.

When you was cocking your legs up in the chair, you was just joking. What, you going back to it again? No, because you know what I mean. Everybody's so serious. It's not that serious, man. Have some fun, man. Relax.

You see me. Every time you see me, I got a smile on my face and I'm having a good time because I don't take this stuff too seriously, man. What I take seriously is when I get in that studio, when I get on that stage. That's when I'm serious. Outside of that, I'm having the time of my life.

Why Broadway right now? Because you are featured in Alicia Keys' Hell's Kitchen. And it's timing, bro. Because for me, 2025 was the hard pivot into acting. The music thing has been so much of my bread and butter and so much of my focus for so long. I was like, I got to get to the other thing that I love. And Charlie Mack had always been telling me,

bro, you're going to have to make a hard pivot in order to really do it the right way. And I was like, okay, I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it. And with 2025 coming in the way that it did and having a free moment and opportunity, I'd always heard horror stories about Broadway. You know what I mean? Just in terms of the workload.

Yeah, and the pay. And the pay, the facility, all of that. And I was like, yeah, I probably never do Broadway. And then I get, you know, we get this call from Alicia, like, hey, Alicia's looking for you to do Hell's Kitchen. I'm like, what? And I'm like, you know, the name Alicia Keys is already like, that's interesting.

Gotta at least see what that's about, right? And so, he sent some papers over for me to look at and I'm like, okay, I'm looking at it. I'm like, all right, I'll go see, you know what I mean? Just out of respect for that name itself. So you went to go watch the play before you? Absolutely. Okay, so you saw when Brandon V. Dixon was playing? Well, he wasn't there. All right, all right. His sub was in. Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. Who's dope as well. And I watched the play and I fell in love with it. And the next day was actually my walk-in audition. And so I kind of knew where I needed to be. And at that point it was just like, I think it's time. I think it has answered

the question for me. you know what I mean? Me and Lulu, my manager Lulu was talking to me, he's like, it just does something different for you, brother. It just does something really different. And in deliberating, I was just deliberating, like is this the time to just take a hard left and out of nowhere, Charlie Mack calls me, hadn't talked to in a minute.

And he's like, what's going on, bro? I'm like, nothing, just chilling. He wanted to come to my Atlantic City show. I'm like, oh, I got you. Look, he said, I said, imagine question. I got this on the table right now. And he said, what the fuck are we talking about? I said, well, I'm asking you, you don't need my opinion.

You know what you're supposed to do. There was that, and here I am. And so, you know, when I sat with Alicia the other day, her and Adam Blackstone, and she was like, Tank, I just felt like it was you. She's like, I didn't know why. She's like, it was, it just, to me, it just felt like it was you.

And she's like, I didn't even know if you could act. And I was like, wow, you ain't seen me on Lifetime or BET, you know what I'm saying, or TV One? I'm the Denzel of that space, you know what I'm saying? I'm the Denzel of that space. You ain't seen none of that? But she had never seen me act and she was like, and then when I saw you in the audition,

she was like, I was just blown away. And I was like, no, that's what I do. Singing is, that's whatever. And so she and I went back and forth singing back and forth, her singing her amazing catalog. And I debuted on Tuesday. And so now it's like, now it's real. How tough is it to rehearsals?

And do you have to shut everything else off? And do you get time for yourself now? Because it just seems like a, does it stop? I'm a machine. So I'm a routine guy. You know what I mean? So I'm a get up, help get the kids to school, do cardio, eat, go to the gym, do the second lift,

go to the studio, either work on music or do pod, get back, eat dinner with the family, get some wife time in, and the next day do the same thing. I'm a machine, I'm built like that. So Broadway schedule works perfect for who I am. Now eight shows a week. Crazy. That's where it get different.

Because, you know, they call it, you know, you have a A show, a B show, and a C show in terms of how you perform. I've never been able to do a B show and feel good about it. Because all of those people, whether it's a Wednesday or a Saturday, they spent their money to see something great. They spent their money to see somebody go all out.

So I'm doing A shows from Tuesday to Sunday. And we got one day off, that's Monday. And right back to it. What's your rest day like on a Monday? Like are you vocal testing? Oh you don't? We haven't done it yet. I just debuted.

Oh yeah you just started Tuesday. So I'm gonna have my first Monday, next Monday. What's your plans? Nothing. Go to the gym, you know what I'm gonna have my first Monday next next Monday. What's your plans? Nothing go to the gym You know Sam eat some eat some cool food somewhere You know, maybe keep with Charlamagne and not hurt and talk about this Awards, you know, what about the family like family was just here. They came for the For the for the debut. My mom them came up wife

Family was just here, they came for the debut. My mom came up, wife, Zoe and Zion came up and it was really, really cool, man. 13 weeks is a long time to be away from the family. Especially if you got a routine like you say you got. It's tougher for them than it is for me. Because for me, I'm hyper focused, I'm in it. And I have something to do every day, something to look forward to.

And so, the wife is at home doing the kid thing and all that but that's why you know, that's what it's a team It's marriage. She holds that down. I'm gonna hold this down But this to me is like was the opportunity for people in that space to understand that I'm serious About going here, you know, Kevin was in town other day So I went in, you know saw him and chopped it up with him And he was like, I'm really, really proud of you for making this move. This says a lot about the next level

of where you can go and who you can be. And so that's what I'm looking forward to. I'm loving, like all the horror stories that they told me about Broadway, they lied to me. They were trying to keep me out of here. They didn't want me in this space. What stories did you hear? What are the horrors?

Just, you know, the pay, the facility, the workload and all these things. Oh yeah, Tate, you know, that's not for you. You're not gonna be. Oh, man. I think it's a different day and age as far as like work rules and stuff, but also too, you're, like you're,

I don't know if this is true, but I would feel like because you're a Tink, you're coming into it a little bit differently, where like they can't really play around with certain people too much, no? Well, I Don't know of course, this is my first time doing it and I think you know, yeah as tank I'm always gonna be received differently, but I

Haven't desired I haven't asked to be treated differently, you know The where they would maybe try to make concessions for me this and certain things like no, I don't want that I don't want to feel like that. I don't wanna feel like that, I don't wanna do that. As soon as I walked in, I'm like, hey guys, coach me hard, don't handle me with kid gloves. Like I'm an athlete first, you know what I'm saying? Like let's cuss, let's really get into the shit of how this shit works, you know what I'm saying?

And let's really grind it out, like don't treat me like, don't do that. And so once we establish that, we got to work. I don't want none of that preferential treatment. I'm new to Broadway, so I'm here to learn your ways, not vice versa. And so that's how I kind of introduce myself into the situation, and once you do that,

everybody, they can be and do what they're supposed to do to get me where I need to be to be part of something great. Now this is interesting, because I remember on R&B Money Podcast one time, you said Jamie Foxx had to keep you from quitting music. Yeah. And the way you in here talking about acting right now, you sound like you got a new boo.

Got it. In love, cuddling. In cuddling. Cuddling, feet to feet. So music gotta go to the side or like, you don't love music no more, do you, Tank? I absolutely love music. You don't love the music business?

For me, the music business is amazing. Okay, okay. But it's not all that I do. Gotcha. You know what I mean? And so, you know, the thing about me, like, you know, even retiring at one point was just, I couldn't find, you know, in losing my hearing and getting vertigo, I felt like I was running out of time. And there was so many other things I wanted to do,

so many other things that I loved that I wanted to get to. And then I was just blessed with the, you know, the age old concept of time management. Simple, it sounds simple, but it's not. You know what I mean? And so it's like, okay cool, for these three months, this is all I'll be doing. Will I be leaving a lot of money on the table?

Absolutely. But will I be growing? Absolutely fucking. And positioning yourself very well. I think, I haven't seen it, but I can imagine you on Broadway, but just because of how your voice is. When are you guys coming?

I love Broadway. I'm coming in the next week or so. Well, I have eight shows a week. I'm only off on Monday, so. Me and my wife are meeting. Whenever you guys wanna come, we'll set it up for you. The last Broadway I saw was,

Stephanie Mills was on Broadway. She was on, hey, I forgot what the show was called. play I saw was, Stephanie Mills was on Broadway. She was on, hey, I forgot what the show was called. I remember. When I saw Stephanie Mills on Broadway. Yeah. She was amazing. You're gonna love it.

Bring your kids. Yeah, okay. Say no more. I take my kids all through. Lion's King, the Michael Jackson, whatever the kid-friendly Broadway plays, I'd bring the whole family. Michael Jackson was incredible.

My 17-year-old daughter and my 10-year-old son had the time of their lives. In this play, Alicia is 17. So it's really like, it really meets these kids where they are. I love it. It's incredible. My daughter was crying and I was like, it was a thing.

And you know, coming out afterwards and seeing so many kids and signing autographs for kids. You know what I mean? One of our stars in the play, Keisha, she had an acting school, these kids, these students that she works with that came up from New Mexico. And they're just kids. And there's kids.

And they loved every minute of it. Like, you know, for me, I'm like, any high school in this New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, in this area, they should be having a field trip to see Hell's Kitchen. To me, it is that impactful of a moment for young kids to see that are aspiring to do anything. That's what it is that impactful of a moment for young kids to see that are aspiring to do anything. That's what it is. So you got shows tonight?

Yeah. Oh shit, we gotta get Tank out of here. Yeah, I'm being nice. Check out Tank at Hell's Kitchen. We appreciate you join us tonight. Hold on, one more thing too. Saturday, April 26th is the third annual Black Effect Podcast Festival.

Yeah. Can you make it? Can you make it? Huh? Can you make it? Yeah, it's a Saturday. Tankin J. Valentine is going to be there. He's got... I'll be there.

I got one day off. That's right. Oh, that's okay. I'll just make it sure. One day. Have y'all thought about what that's going to look like live, R&B Money podcast on stage? Nope. Nope.

We're thinking about it though. Yeah. Because it's got to be sexy. You know what I'm saying? You know. Y'all going to be singing? Because I've been hearing rumors of who the guest stars are, cuz it's gotta be sexy. You know I'm saying um, you know Yeah, I'm gonna be singing cuz I'm hearing rumors of who the guest are I've seen you in person. How come we can't do the pod? How come I gotta sing? You said it's gonna be sexy so I just was wondering cuz I've seen you and when you came back after you said you were retiring You did something to the peppermint club and Jamie Foxx was there. That's my album release. Yeah Yeah, I was there with the label. And it was my first time seeing you.

I was like, oh. Oh, OK, you were there? Yeah, I was there with Fairlie. OK, OK. Yeah, yeah. So y'all going to be singing? Why you got to sing? You don't have to.

I just want to know. We're doing a podcast, ma'am. He sings on a podcast. He sings a lot on a podcast. If the spirit moves him. If the, if, you know, if it moves me, then I promise you, we will tap in. Yeah, we got to figure out what that's going to be. Because this will be our first time doing it.

Like we do it. Oh, this is your first time doing it live? Well, we've done R&B Live, R&B Money Live, the event, where it's been strictly catered, where it's band, DJ, karaoke vibes, like really, really dope. We've done that up in Phoenix, that stadium where one of my guys, Two Spot. So we've done that.

But this is for people who like the podcast and enjoy the conversation. Exactly, so this is pod and conversation. So in terms of trying to figure out what makes ours a little different, you know what I mean? We're still formulating that. Well, Saturday, April 26, third annual Black Effect podcast festival.

Go get your tickets, blackeffect.com slash podcast festival. Make sure you check out Tank in Hell's Kitchen with Alicia Keys on Broadway right now. We appreciate you, brother. I'm reporting on y'all, man, if y'all don't show up. I put it on Broadway all the time. That's one of my, I enjoy Broadway. Absolutely.

Okay, and when I'm not here, you know what I'm saying, I still want to hear somebody say, have you seen Hell's Kitchen? Did you go? Did you? You know? Don't make me tell Alicia in Swiss. We'll meet there. Good job.

And make sure you subscribe to the R&B Money podcast on the Black Effect iHeart Radio podcast network. That's right. It's Tank, ladies and gentlemen. It's The Breakfast Club. Good morning. Wake that ass up. Early in the morning. The Breakfast Club. I'm Hunter, host of Hunting for Answers on the Black Effect podcast network.

Join me every weekday as I share bite-sized stories of missing and murdered black women and girls in America. Stories like Erika Hunt. A young mother vanished without a trace after a family gathering on 4th of July weekend, 2016. No goodbyes, no clues, just gone. Listen to Hunting for Answers every weekday on the Black Effect Podcast Network,

iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Are you hungry? Colleen Witt here and Eating While Broke is back for season four every Thursday on the Black Effect Podcast Network. This season, we've got a legendary lineup serving up broke dishes and even better stories.

On the menu, we have Tony Baker, Nick Cannon, Melissa Ford, October London, and Carrie Harper Howie turning Big Macs into big moves. Catch Eating While Broke every Thursday on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, wherever you get your favorite shows. Come hungry for season four. Do you remember what you said the first night I came over here? How goes lower? From Blumhouse TV, iHeart Podcasts, and Ember 20 comes an all new fictional comedy podcast series.

Join the flighty Damien Hirst as he unravels the mystery of his vanished boyfriend. I've been spending all my time looking for answers about what happened to Santi. And what's the way to find a missing person? Sleep with everyone he knew, obviously. Listen to The Hook Up on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Dressing. Dressing. Oh, French dressing.

Exactly. I'm AJ Jacobs and my current obsession is puzzles. And that has given birth to my podcast, The Puzzler. Something about Mary Poppins? Exactly. This is fun. You can get your daily puzzle nuggets delivered straight to your ears. Listen to The Puzzler every day on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts.