The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: Teddy Riley On His New Memoir ‘Remember The Times’, Relationship With Michael Jackson + More

Episode Date: February 10, 2026

Today on The Breakfast Club, Teddy Riley On His New Memoir ‘Remember The Times’, Relationship With Michael Jackson. Listen for More!YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BreakfastClubPower1051FMSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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The Breakfast Club. You're all finished or y'all done? Morning, everybody. It's DJ NV. Just hilarious. Salomey and the guy. We are the breakfast club. We got a special guest in the building.

Yes, indeed. An icon of a legend. Come on now. Ladies and gentlemen, Teddy Riley. Welcome back. Thank you, man. Good morning. How are you all doing?

Man, you look good, Ken? Yes, you do. Thank you, man. Vegan? Nah. But I don't eat beef or pork or chicken. Okay. I just kind of stay away from a lot of things.

I feel like when you get to a certain age, you have to tell other men what the secrets are. Oh, yeah. You got to. All the time. All right, wherever. Yeah. So yours is pescatarianism, pretty much.

Close. Hmm. You know, I don't, I just don't do a lot of stuff. I don't eat a lot of stuff. You know, I stay close to. to liquids and waters and mainly. Yeah, that. Nice.

You know, Teddy Riley has a new book coming out called Remember the Times, right? Man, you got a lot of, first of all, you have an amazing story, but I was thinking when I saw the title, you got a lot of titles you probably could choose from, right? Like songs that you could choose titles. Why Remember the Time?

Remember the Time is truly the biggest R&B record I've ever made. Really? Yeah. But it's really not about the song. It's really about people remembering where I came from. And it's, you know, you can say so many things behind that. You know, remembering when I first wanted to be in music,

when I first wanted to be a star, when I got picked up on the stage by Gladys Knight at five years old. You know, so remembering those times just made me say, it's a great title. I didn't want to call it just Teddy Rowley. you know, I feel like it's bigger than me. I mean, with this book, it's so hard to interview Teddy Riley

because there's so many different lanes, angles, ways you can go. And I know so much about them. I don't even know where to start. So I guess we start with, when did you know music was going to be your passion and it was going to be your love? When I got busted.

Talk about it. Busted where? How? Very. When I got busted by the police, I used to be a hustler verse. And, you know, I used to go to the club, Harlem World, to actually see all of my idols

and people like Dougie Fresh, who I went to school with. And I think it was around maybe a few weeks after that, I felt like the most I was like, I'm going to take you out of here. And then the crew, my crew, Shaq crew, we all here. It's about 17 of us left.

And they kicked me off the streets. It was like, no, you can't come back on. And I said, okay. But I gave them a fight. And when I did that, you know, I felt like that was the right thing for them to do. And my guys always talk about it. My guy's Supreme and Al Capone, you know, it's like, man, I wish they would have kicked us off of the block too. But, yeah, that's what made me want to be in music.

And just that was my only choice because I went back to church, played for the church, and did everything that I can. to make ends meet for my family, my mother, single parent. What was it they heard that made them kick you off the street? No, they always knew I did music because I used to carry my little cassio around while hustling. I used to carry my cassio, and they used to rap while I'm playing. Actually, Supreme is the one who's the skinny kid that was battling Biggie. He's the one who bought me to the crew.

So, yeah, we're well connected, you know, when it comes. music, all of us did music. It's just that we didn't have a way to get into it. When you moved to Virginia Beach, right? You grew up in Holland, moved to Virginia Beach. How did that shift, you know, how did that shift shape your worldview and your sound? It didn't shift. It wasn't even a shift.

I just went to Virginia. The reason why I went to Virginia, we used to go to Virginia every summer. Fourth of July, Memorial Week, the whole summer. You used to go to King's Dominion. You know So I would go there every Every summer with like My friends from school

D. Ferg Alpo Rich Porter All of us We chart a bus and We just go So one day I went Actually with the mother of

My daughter's mother I went with her and We were at the hotel Was that the holiday? It's not the holiday And it's called a holiday And I told her, I said, man, I would want to move here. And next thing you know, about two years later, I did it. What did you see special in Virginia?

The water. It was something in water. Wow. And it just made me want to be there. Coney Island wasn't it for me. No, Coney Island wasn't it. But it was something in the water of Virginia that made me just want to be there. And that's why I did the first video there where I'm shaker.

It was history, you know. Was Virginia accepting to you when you first moved in when you first went there? I didn't really know anybody. We came here. We came there just solo. We just came there and moved there. But we got a lot of people just, you know, police pulling up on us because we all had, you know, for our reason. Cars and all that stuff.

And they would just kind of pull up on us, even at my house. And then when we had the studio, that's when everything started evolving. And to us being able to do talent shows and do stuff for the community. And basically what I did for the community was kind of kept the kids off the streets. I had basketball tournaments for the bitties. I had celebrity tournaments. Alan Iverson and all those guys used to play for my team. So Virginia became just a, I mean,

When I went there, there was no music. You know that. There was Jimmy Buffett. And then after that, you know, just getting acquainted with the radio stations. I got a couple of people's jobs like with Shaggy. I got him his job at 104. 103. 103.

103 jams. But he was at Z. What's that? Yeah, yeah. The other station at 4. Yeah. So, yeah, just being able to be connected and help people just get jobs and opportunities for kids.

kids to play ball and softball. We had softball team. We just had everything going and that's what they recognized. But Virginia didn't recognize me. The people did. Do you remember meeting Farrell? The first time you met, remember meeting Farrell and Chad? What was that like the first time you met them? And did you see the greatness at that time of them? Of course. When I gave the talent show, everybody was going for the people saying, I will always love you and all of these high, long notes, songs. And I said, no, they're not the winners. They're the winners.

And they didn't even have the concept. They just went in, just freestyle. And it was Chad and, you know, switching instruments. And that really intrigued me. I was, like, very impressed with what they can do. And that was my goal, just to find more creators, you know, and just take them to the next level. So I did that for a lot of people. Rodney Jekins came down, you know.

I just built a synergy that brought everybody down. I even had executives, Russell Simmons, all of them. It came down, heavy deed. So just that's what made it big for me. It made even more attractive. Now, you brought the community, and I remember going to that studio, used to have these times where he would bring students, local people, and everybody just to come listen to projects,

just to come listen to music. And I remember seeing, first time I ever seen it in my life, and it's going to sound crazy now. I think you might have had the first plasma television in the world. And that's the year. It's like, no, you know that was a gift. From who? From Michael Jackson.

Wow. Really? He used to always. What? Come on. You're like, you see this. And back then, I think it was like 40, 50,000 for that television. Yeah, it was a lot.

But I said, I wouldn't buy it. But he just, you know, one thing I did with Michael, we built a brotherhood, you know, where this guy, anytime when I had my daughter, my second daughter, he just bought everything for. I didn't have to buy nothing. So it was like that, you know, and when his kids, my kids used to babysit his kids, you know, when he came down to Virginia, you know. Where did he stay when he was in Virginia? Did you rent him a house?

Was it at a hotel? it would have been crazy the fact that Michael Jackson was in Virginia. He tried to stay in the hotel to Marriott. And that's the reason why I don't stay in that Marriott. I stay in a new hotel down the street. But they invaded his privacy, wavy TV. And they went in his room. An employee gave a key to the television station.

They walked into this room and he was like, no, get out. He was in the room where they did? Huh? What was the security? No security. That's crazy. So I moved him out and put them in one of my places. And when I put them in so private,

because I had bought a place in like a senior citizen community. And it was over, it had a golf course and everything. And I just said, you know what, Michael, would you like to stand here? He'd say, I would love to say anywhere that's private. So I gave him a condo. It was brand new. And he bought the kids and everything. And then you mostly stay at the studio or on the bus.

So I would give him the bus, him and the kids, and, you know, while we made music. And you said no security, that was by, like, his choice, or they just wasn't there at that moment? What's that? When you said no, he said no security when he was asking. Oh, no, he had his security. But his security was just like 2 o'clock in the morning. You know? How many people play in his room at 2 o'clock in the morning?

Yeah. Did they get in trouble for that? Yes, they did. Yeah, that's not normal. We got to the bottom of it, and the person got fired. Absolutely. You should have had the right to check, too. When you did the show, you was like, what, 17, 18?

Yeah, 17. Damn. When you were, when you were, when Michael Jackson made me think about it, because when you were producing those hits as a teenager, who was protecting Teddy Riley the kid? Like, you know, people might have been celebrating your genius at the time, but they might not have realized how young you were. So who was protecting you then?

Nobody. Did you have protection? That's the reason why, you know, a lot of things back then I didn't know and I sort of didn't have a concern because I just wanted my music on the radio. I just wanted my music out there. And I blew a lot of opportunities. At the same time, a lot of my business wasn't done.

You know, example, I did the key sweat album. I've only made $1,500 from that. To this day? Jesus. But I got the publishing, but I never got my royalties. No one never looked out for me. So now we're going through different channels because you can't have a person's name on the album

and as a producer and not have a contract. Wow. You understand? So thank God I know the business now. There wasn't times though when like even Michael himself was kind of like trying to pour game into because I saw you say working with him around that time was like being in college.

Like you weren't asking him those questions. Oh yeah. I mean that's college. I learned a lot more than I'm supposed, you know, than I know. Then I learned a lot more. And he just kind of schooled me on a lot of things, like things that I should be done. And then even Farrell, you know, Farrell noticed something that, like, when we did the Essence Festival, and Farrell was like, yo, your name is on that.

You got to get paid from that. I was like, so those are things that, you know, I feel like my friends. True friends would, you know, say, yo, you got paid on that, you got paid on that. So now, today is a whole total different day. It's a beautiful day. So you never made no money off the show either because you was uncredited on that too, right? Yeah. God, damn.

I just wanted to hear my record on the radio. You know, I just had stars in my eyes and not business. You know, when I went down to Virginia, I was even a little more established. You know, I had a cool team and, you know, actually the mother of my son, was my manager, Maddie, and she helped me out a lot. So my thing is I like to be creative. And most times, you know, you don't think about the business aspect. Who's job is it to correct that, though?

Like you said, Dougie Freshfrey, y'all went to school together, y'all was cool? Well, with Dougie, that situation is a little different. And I'm cool. I'm really cool. Just my thing is, if I'm just being mentioned, I'm good. It's not about the money. It's really about, you know, your legacy. So.

That's what rich people say. Yeah. I know. You don't want to do. Was there ever a time where you lost it all? Yep. And what happened with that? And the reason I asked is I remember the studio and then I remember there was like,

Don Teddy got rid of the studio in the bus. I'm like, that's Teddy's everything. What happens? I always wanted to know what happened during that time. Around that time, I moved to California because the work wasn't common to Virginia. So when I went to California, I just kind of just built myself back, and I actually filed bankruptcy there. And when I did that, it gave me a whole new change.

And so crazy, right after filing bankruptcy, I'd say about maybe four or five months later, I just, I was back to where I was financially, business-wise. I had built a new team. And then I wound up coming back to Virginia. But I came back to Virginia to fight for my kids, get the house in order. The studio was actually stolen from me with a gentleman who was actually serving about, I think he had a 33-year sentence.

Troy Titus, the Titus family. And that happened because of Chaunty and myself. We just say, you know what, we got to do something about this. So it wound up going on American Greed And we had to testify And there were so many other people For all of them, they were involved as well He took money from a lot of people

And, you know, kind of fortunately got us all But he's serving the time for it And, you know, we're good And you had a beautiful story Incredible story, right? When you were writing a book, how did you decide what parts you wanted to put in as the what parts you didn't want to put in

because it's a lot. Well, I didn't leave that up. I left that up to my writer who wrote it with me, Jake Brown, you know, because I wanted someone outside of me to put it in perspective, you know, more or less than me saying, I like

that story, I like that one the most. Because it talks about everything, everything that I've done, my whole walk. So I think he did a pretty good job, you know. With the direction, you know, I think he did a real good job. So how does that go?

So you just go and you sit with them and you tell them everything and then they just... Yeah, but I wrote my book by myself. Yeah, because the co-writer cost too much. So I was like, nah, I could do it. You know what I mean? But I didn't realize. I totally underestimated what the process of writing your own book is. It's a huge process.

I try. Next time I'm going to go ahead and get a co-writer, you know what I mean? But is that what it was? Like you sat and you told somebody your story. just they put it together for you. Yeah. Well, what I did was I have everything on tape. I recorded my whole

life. Oh, wow. And then I wanted to find the right person. And I had actually a young lady who's like a sister to me. Courtney, we actually have an animation filmed together. And she was actually going to do it. And then she wound up getting

a job with Netflix, a huge position. So Jake came, you know, and he's the guy who wrote, I think, hip-hop evolution, and a bunch of other books. And I said, you know, this would probably be a great match. Yeah, that's pretty dope.

Why was it important for you to include a chapter from your mother's perspective? It's called A Mother's Memory. Because it's so crazy. I lost my mom. 24 February 10th, which is why the release date is tomorrow. Wow, wow.

And, you know, I always love, making my mother proud, you know. That's another thing that, you know, kind of overrides money. You know, I made it. You know, every little step that I've taken in the music industry, you know, my mother was always a part of it.

So, yeah. I was going to, I've heard you talk about, kind of, like, your mom almost is like a guiding spirit. I wonder now, like, you know, with her not being here, like, are there conversations that you have? Or things that happen where you're like, I know that was my mom.

Yeah, all the time. You know, there's been many things that have happened. I didn't even expect. And these great things, you know, I was like, yeah, I know it's her. And it's interesting, you know, when I think about, like, you even talk about not being credited for certain records, like your mother told you early on, God's going to bless you.

You just take what he gives you, and he's going to bless you much later on. So did that early lesson help you in those type of moment? Yes. And that's the one thing I always, when I make a decision, I always think about God, you know, it's like, wow, what would he do? Then I think about my mom. That's like the, you know, that would be the closer.

You know, for me, it's always about, you know, our parents. Just like, you know, if kids do not lean on their parents, they're not going to be straight. They're going to fall short. That's right. So I always mean, I know my parents, and, you know, my godparents are still here. She's still here. And I still call her.

You know, she's the one who named me Teddy instead of theater because she didn't like theater. She was like, I'm calling him Teddy. You know, O'Reilly would have been kind of fired, too, though. Yeah? Yeah. Too long. It sounds prestigious. It is.

Too long. Theodore O'Reilly. Yeah, it do give Majestic. You know, it's crazy. That's the only thing Michael called me. He never called me Teddy. He called you theater? He called me theater.

Oh, wow, and that wasn't even your name. What's that? That's not even your name. Oh, his real name is theater. My real name is theater. Oh, okay. Your godmother just was the first to call you Teddy. I got you, got you.

You ever thought about, you know, if you would have created a label so far back. Because you could have been the Deaf Jam, you could have been the Bad Boy. You could have been the Uptown records because you had all the acts. You ever wish you did that? So then you have a production company? I did do it. I dated with Jimmy. And we made great success.

I just wasn't, you know, in the gatekeepers room. What do you mean? What do I mean? Well, I wasn't part of the gatekeepers, you know. I'm just totally like outside of that. My thing was, it was about the music. And in so many aspects, I've been pipped. you know what I mean

you know from the Gene Griffiths you know to everybody who I've done music with they never got paid I think about all the artists that you got a chance to work with and you created a sound you created a project

I mean from I mean shit you did everybody from Bobby Brown to keep sweat to you know whatever I always think about if you would have ran your own label like a Uptown like a they would have all

signed to you, it would have been your sound, but you created all these sounds for all these different labels. That's very true. Was Little Man a production company? Little Man was a label. It was a label. It was a label. And in future was a label with MCA. And when I left MCA, I went to Interscope.

So before that, I was with Uptown. You know what I'm saying? So this is how the whole thing pretty much went. Andrew Hillel came to the rooftop. You guys were familiar with the roller skating ring. Well, that was a roller skating ring that we own. My partner of Robert Wells, Gusto. We built the studio up there.

We started a record label. So it's Gusto, myself. At the roller skating. Yeah. LaVeva and Greg G. And when we did that, Andre Horel came up there because he wanted me to work with a heavy D. I'll be sure, and his artist.

before he came like before he came it wasn't called uptown when he came uptown and he hung with us and he tried to I guess do a deal with my partners and I wasn't

a factor to it I was just supposed to be the producer and that's where everybody always see me as a producer instead of making me a partner but my guys didn't do it and they didn't fall for the deal because I wasn't implemented as a partner. So that's what I mean by being pimped.

So that's, you know, I wasn't fortunate or wasn't in the right room to be that uptown. But they always wanted to give me a label, which is a high, fervished, you know, production company. So. But now it's a total different story, you know, I can pretty much do. anything. In that aspect. What artists did you get a chance

to possibly sign and say, you know what, you let go or you didn't do that deal? What to say that again? Is there an artist that you had a chance to sign that you didn't? That became out to be a huge success. I had many opportunities to work with

Missy used to always come to the studio. The brat. Did you see the talent in Missy? Of course. I'm the one who basically said to Missy, be solo because she was with the group's sister. And she used to always come to the studio and she bought the group and everybody's cool. I said, you need to be solo. And she did it.

Also, who else? Kid the brat. The brat. I've known the brat since she was 14. And she used to come up with my best friend, Dawn. And I didn't know what to do with her then. but when she went with JD I was like that's the perfect combination

and sometimes you gotta you know let things be because it's going to happen the way it's supposed to you know so who else Chris Brown for real Chris Brown Allen

Timmy Allen brought Chris Brown to Virginia to the studio to Virginia Beach and then he was very very young and I didn't know what to do. I was so into Black Street, you know, and that's my group. I wasn't more like, you know, I was the creative one, working with my group, working with the groups, you know, when I had the time to work with groups outside of me,

and then work with Bobby Brown and all the different ones. So I was kind of spread thin, you know, to have a record label and then have this and sign this person. So, you know, I signed as many as I could. You know, just kept it moving. What about Timberland? Timbaland was actually already signed, working with Devante and, you know.

But we knew each other, Timberland used to always come to the studio as well. And we just built a friendship, you know, because we all from, you know, from Virginia. I moved to Virginia and, you know, became from Virginia. So it was always a networking thing and we always got, had fun together. That's crazy you didn't know what to do with Chris when you was a child protege yourself. Well, I'm different.

Me, I was more of producer. I was more of, let me work with somebody, you know. But at that point in time, I was so into, like, building Black Street. You know what I'm saying? Like, coming from Guy, I said, yeah, I got to build something else another dynasty. So I wasn't more into signing anybody at that time. So you were going for groups, like not just solo artists.

You're looking forward another group anyway. Yeah. Because I signed 9-1-1. Used to be basic black. Today, work with High 5. And I was like, I love working with groups. So underrated group, man. Oh, high-five, so underrated.

Yeah. I'm actually working with them now. Really? Wow. They got hits. You know, that's a very underrated group. Yeah. So Tristan and I, the original members,

they came back and we were coming together to do the New Jack Swing tour with Dougie. and everybody. One of my favorite performances is high five on Apollo when they did I like. And the reason I like that performance so much is the coordination. They all were dressed alike. The choreography was hitting.

You can tell that they rehearsed and practiced. You don't see that in too much of any group now. That's true. You don't see no groups. You don't see no groups. Well, that's my goal. You know, I'm looking at working with them and doing a partnership with them, guy. 2.0.

I say 2.0. I say 2.0 because I can't say guy because guy is guy. But guy 2.0 is the new guys, and I can't wait for you all to hear them. You know, all I'm doing is just keeping it consistent. Is Aaron in it? No. There's new guys.

But it's going to be some of the old members I'm assuming, no? No. No, I don't think they're ready for this. This is a whole other, whole nother, aspect of what music sound like and the consistency because people were looking for consistency. That's the reason why we don't have

groups because everybody's breaking up. And I'm really tired now of just making people wait especially to hear my music. How are you going to let a song go number one and you're not standing behind it? I like one number one. Booty cards. You know, these records

have got line dances and we're sitting just dormant. It doesn't work that way. Are you doing them a disservice? just by calling them Guy 2.0. Because I know they got you, but God damn, Teddy, let's chill. I like, prove me. That ball's, that ball's high, bro. It is, but ask them to sing it.

Do you think, you know, everybody always has the conversation to Aaron Hall and they always talk about R. Kelly taking Aaron Hall's whole thing. Do you think if... First of all, for the new people that don't know what the hell you're talking about, spell that out. That sounded crazy. Okay. Okay. People would always say that R. Kelly.

I got that easy. Stole Aaron Hall style. Stole the whole concept of the look, everything from Aaron Hall. What were your thoughts on that? No, he was inspired. You can't steal. You know what I'm saying?

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Arkelly does not sound like Arn Hall. And Aramahaw does not sound like R. Kelly. he has his own sound and he developed his signature Aaron developed his signature he lost his signature and I'm sad

to say this you know we're on tour and if you have to always do this to the crowd it is what it is and of course I mean you can say that Frankie Beverly but at least Frankie Beverly went out there

and gave it this awe. When you go out there and don't give it your all and then you're just going to pass the mic, it just doesn't work that way. People want to hear your music, and they want to hear your record. And that's what I've been really tired of, especially making the music and being an architect of my sound.

I want my sound to show, and there's so much I can't wait for you all to hear that I'm doing. I'm doing the Symphony, New Jack Swing album, with guest artists and people who come and sing my music with strings. I just have a dream of just

doing like the Carnegie Halls and something special for us as a people where we can be in tuxedos and be ghetto fabulous with this bed of music. Why? I have a question for you. I saw your interview on Sway when you were talking about

your relationship with all like original members, right? And you said when he asked you kind of what, NBID just asked you that they don't like you, that there was like, I love you, but you feel like they didn't give you the love that you gave them at one point. Has there been any conversations since that with anyone, now that they're hearing you kind of express all of this stuff? Yeah, I mean, but not with them. You know, I don't know if we'll ever get to speak again. And it's only because I've been through this so many times. And you can't just keep going. It's like being in a relationship.

and your husband is beating you. He's just beating you, but he's telling you he love you. That doesn't work. It doesn't equate. And my thing is I'm tired. I want to be around the people who have love for me. You know what I'm saying? Who have love for the music and ready to do this?

Who want it as bad as I do. Still 40 years in the business and I still love this. You know what I mean? So I want to give the people what they've been waiting. for. I want to ask you, you know, when you wrote

Remember the time, like, you know, being a child protegeant in an adult industry, did you, did you grieve anything?

Like, you feel like fame took from you too early, like while you were writing it, did you be like, damn, I feel like I missed out on that. Yeah.

I'll tell you. I was told by Michael that I was supposed to be on the bad album. Mm. And the reason why I wasn't on the bad album was because of Gene.

And he was like, well, I was making a beat. He was looking and like, wow, I wish he would have done this on a bad album. And then he popped the question. He said, are you still with that manager, that ballhead guy? I said, what are you talking about? I didn't know if he knew about him. I was like, maybe he do. He said, yeah, we were trying to work with you for the bad album.

I said, really? And what happened? He just broke it down. He said, well, this guy, Gene, he didn't want me in the same room with you. He didn't want me to talk to you. He just, whenever I talk to you, he has to be present. And we just passed on you. Wow.

Michael said this too. Yeah. So when he said that, I was like, wow. This is how people work. they work in the backgrounds, you know, against you. So that's why, you know, now it's a different day, you know. You got to be in your business. You talk about learning music before business in the book.

If the book had existed when you were younger, like, you know, in your teenage years, what chapter you think would have saved you the most pain? That one. That one right there. That actually one. It would have really enlightened me to get the right representation, get the right people to back you. and kind of keep some family around you. You know?

The ones that, you know, because you do have some family, you're like, yeah, I'm just making money off my cousin, you know, that type of stuff. But you do have family, like my daughters, you know, they're like my managers right now. I work for my children. Nope. What's so weird about what you just said about not being on a bad album, right? So that was your manager. But wouldn't that have made business?

better for him if you would have done the bad album? It would have, but at that point in time, I don't think he thought about that. You know what I'm saying? He just, he didn't want Michael Jackson, like, to steal me because he didn't really have a bona fide contract. When I left him, it was just like, yeah, I'm out. And he couldn't do anything about it because when I signed my contract, I was young.

And we knew the laws then because you had to go through Pope A court in order to be signed to any organization, you know, 16. Yeah. And that's what he was holding on to that contract. So he knew when we broke up with him, he's like, how am I going to do this? I got to try and con him into getting or taking his money. You know, I was being paid $10,000 for stuff I've done like $250,000. 200,000. He would take the money and, you know, do whatever. So it is what it is. You know, you learn from the big mistakes. How did you meet Gene? I'm just curious because if you ever Google it, it says before Shug Night, there was Gene.

Yeah, how did you meet? There's not too many good Gene stories. Godless. Well, I met Gene. The same time I met a guy who's like an uncle to me named David Hyatt. David Hyatt is the actual guy

that discovered R. Kelly when they did Star Church. And he's the one that put up the money, I think about $100,000 to kind of just really build them. And I used to go see, David hired in the same prison that R. Kelly is in right now. Before he passed, two weeks before he passed, I seen him in that same prison. And I used to see him consecutively like the last two years before that. And then my brother wound up being in that prison before he got pardoned. He was in the same

prison. So I met Gene. He used to come around the block in Harlem with his Porsche, red Porsche, and David Hyatt used to come with the blue Porsche. And, you know, Matrix, I picked the red, you know, and he used to come down and really just kind of figure out how he can get a sign.

And that's how we kind of got with him. And then when we broke up, he went to prison, and when he came out of prison, Timmy Gatlin is the cause of us being with him. And then he quits the group.

the first guy album. So, you know, that's my best friend, but I still blame him. I would have never been in this if he made the right decision. Because, you know, he said, yo, we should go. I saw a gene. He just got out of prison. You know, we should go see him. I thought I was getting away from it.

But I followed him because, you know, he's older. I said, all right, because I'm thinking, you know, he would have my back, you know. So when he quit the group, I'm looking like, and y'all see it, you know, when we're developing now the TV film. When y'all see this stuff, you know, it's going to be a lot in there that you should have saw in other movies, like the new edition film. Y'all should have seen the beef.

But I'm going to give you the beef. Did you speak to Gene before he passed? Did y'all have that hard to heart before he passed or no? Sure did. I got back with him before he passed, you know. And I actually, he was in a home because he had, allsimes. And I brought them to the rehearsal with me.

And, you know, I just kind of, you know, in my book, I have a chapter says forgiveness. And that's what it was about. I was going to ask you why. Why did you decide to forgive him after? I just felt it's right. You know, I always like to walk a straight line and put things either before me or behind. You know, so that's it. When I think about stuff like that, right, how much of your journey do you

think was destiny and how much was just lack of protection for a young black artist? I guess the music part of it was destined, you know, making good music for people. I always used to like have people come. Before that, you know, living in the projects, I lived on the first floor. So kids used to be at my window every day. When they hear the music, they would line, they would be right there just dancing to it. And that really showed me like that. My music is worthy of being on the radio or being out there.

So that was the destined part of me. The other part was really the lack of not knowing. But I feel like even that's destiny based off knowing who you are. Because I see you pour into a lot of other people. And in a lot of ways, you become that protection. You become the adult you need it as a child. That's true, and that's the Libre in me. You know, I'm always that way.

I'm that way about my children, you know, when it comes to me being in the limelight or getting bad media, you know, in Virginia. Of course, Virginia always wanted to talk about us, you know. And when that happened, I protected my children first, not me. I made sure that they didn't hear it in the schools. You know, I had a crisis, you know, PR who would just make it go away.

And it did, you know, they never got teased or anything when anything happened with me in Virginia. So, yeah. Why did the industry ever gotten better when it comes to how it treats artists, though? Like, it feels like it's always, it's the same system. You always hear about artists getting jerked. You always hear about artists getting robbed.

Like, it never changes. Well, it never changes because that's what they were like. They would either like us to be in that situation. or shooting at each other, you know, being against each other, that makes the money. You know what I'm saying? And I feel like that's changing now, you know, because people are tired of being tired, you know. So I feel like it's going to be a little different, you know. I can't really talk about much that I'm about to do because I've been, you know, sitting with some of my people who really

respect my music you know Jimmy Avine you know Dr. Dr. Drey we all hung out like two weeks ago and Larry Jackson and I just feel like there's a place for me again you know and I can't wait for you

I was kind of hear what's about to happen Are you crazy that you said a place for you again like when did you think there was no place? Are you an institution a brick in this foundation? You know y'all feel that way. For me, I'm just floating, you know,

getting where I fit in until I totally fit. Cut it out. No, very serious. Did you feel like that? I'm very serious. You know, I've been... Getting where you fit in for Teddy Riley? Yeah.

You laid foundations that people stand on, man. That is true. But I've never given the credit for it. And it's okay. Because I feel like if I'm still going, you know what I'm saying I stood the test of time I'm 40 years in this business I'm going to be 60 this year so I stood the test of time and I'm still going and I'm still able to you know a lot of people out there overexpose I can still come outside and I can still be me and that's what I love about it if I was

up there with Michael Jackson and Chris Browner they can't go outside all the time they can't speak or sit down with some kids and really like give them the road map but i can do that i can still go to my hood and hang out at the barbershop you know that type of thing and that's because i've never really like had the high horse head you know where people want to be like yo let's get him it's only because i've been that guy on the street so that's why i feel like i'm not famous yet I'm almost famous. No, you're famous. Man, you're famous.

I'm almost famous, y'all. You went into the verses feeling like that, too? Like, what the do you? I'm the underdog. Are you kidding? No, theater. Yo, no, seriously. Y'all don't understand.

Like, baby face is one of the best writers in the world. Absolutely. Okay. One of them ones, too. He's older. He's got more, you know, experience. Right. I'm little Teddy.

Like, I'm the guy that's coming up. I'm the little kid on the, what's that, the time magazine? You know, you see that big puzzle and you got to find a little man. I'm that little man. That's why I call my label Little Man Records. I disagree, but, you know, because although Babyface is a phenomenal writer and a phenomenal artist and everything that you can say, icon, legend and all that, love Babyface, but you were the one that I seen.

You were the one that those kids seen were able to touch, were able to see, and get it. give inspiration. So it's a different feeling, right? I didn't see you drive amazing cars down Virginia Beach and come on Hampton's campus. I didn't see you in Harlem. I didn't see you in Harlem riding up a 125th Street, going to Grand's Tomb and being able to talk to you. So it's a different inspiration. Some inspired by their music and some inspired by being able to see. And that was the thing with me when it came to Teddy Riley. Well, I'd say maybe to them and all of the, uh, how you say the high president, CEOs and all of that.

I don't think that they think of me as a... It's not too many people can say they created a genre of music. Yeah. Like a whole genre of music. Like, that's different. Let me say this, and I'm going to keep it 100. I created that music.

It became a genre. Everybody loved it, right? But when they can't control it, What do they do? Ah, that's not, don't, don't let them get by. That music get up there. You're going to take our job. You know, that type of thing.

You know what I mean? Y'all get where I'm coming from. So that's why I stay neutral. And that's why I can go and hang out with the Jimmy Avines. Because I'm not intimidated. I'm just little Teddy. I will say there are records that I didn't, realize you even produced or co-produced.

Like, one of my favorite songs of all time. Like, I'm literally like, probably top three, maybe number one is Mary J. Blige, we have it. I didn't know you was a co-producer on that. Nah, I did the remix. The remix? No, I'm good. I'm good, yeah.

I did the remix. Actually, Diddy was the one who wanted me to do the remix to that. And, oh, God, my love. Yeah. And it was another one. But I just kept doing remixes. I was the remix guy.

And then they would make me to co-writer, co-producer. But as far as I knew, I was just a remixer. You know, so like I said, anything that came my way, I was just touching it. What made you jump into the K-pop game so early? I went into the K-pop game because of, as the first bad media I ever gotten was, you know,

got into a situation with my daughter and it just made me say, you know what, let me go away. Go to Korea? Yeah. Yeah. And y'all will see that. And y'all will probably read it.

I think it's in the book. Rolling Stone. But I went to Korea because some guys, a company out there was stealing our publishing because we had, we've been doing the music for them. But they was taking the publishing. We ain't know that ASCAP is just for America and they had Comca and Korea.

That's their own music society company. And it's like, man, they're still in our music. So me and my boys, we were like, yo, you need to take a trip to Korea. And we took a trip. I said, man, we ain't going to Korea to fight. We're just going to find out what's really going on and say, yo, this ain't fair.

and we wind up going out there and meeting SM Entertainment and YG music and you know the movies and the shakers out there. And we met one guy, Tayson. He introduced us to everybody and he actually helped us with getting our

publishing and music lights back. And it was SM who did it. Two weeks turned into two months into two years. So you lived out there for two years? Yeah. You loved it. So much. Amazing.

Yeah. And then when, when Heavy D passed, I came back. Because I was talking to Heavy D while I was out there because he wanted to work on his new album.

And he's like, yo, you got to come back, man. We need you on this album. And I said, okay, I'll be back.

And we were talking on Skype. And the next thing you know, passed away. When people read this book, what do you hope they understand about you that they never saw, you know,

on stage, music before. Just the road map. Watch and read about my mistakes so you don't make them. And then read about the good things and try them. They'll work for you. What's your favorite song of your career?

Top three. Okay. Remember the time. No diggerty. My prerogative. No digity is my favorite. Really? No digity. No doubt. Absolutely. It's one of my favorite. And then I wouldn't say like what's your But what was the most complicated song that you worked on?

The most complicated artist that you had. Okay. I didn't really have a complicated artist, but complicated song was Remember the Time. Really? I'll tell you why. Because we spent a lot of time on that record, and Michael was just sent us back to the drawing board

when the mix wasn't right. So finally, he was like, do you think you should go back to Virginia? Virginia and mixed the song, we went back to Virginia to mix that song. Me and John Marie. And he was like, so why are you there? Mix dangerous too. Mix them all.

Because he loved the sound of Virginia. And that's everybody. Everybody would say, yo, Virginia was probably one of the best studios I've ever had. So it was remember the time because we did the first verse. Michael, after the first phrase, he felt so good. Dude just took a trip to Switzerland. He had built them all in Switzerland. And he took a trip.

Michael built them all in Switzerland? Yeah. And he had to approve the stores. So he went out there and spent two weeks and I'm like, Michael, come on, man. This is, I was tired. I said, I want to go back home to Virginia because I had just had my studio built and everything. And I'm sitting in the studio. we think he coming back in the same second verse.

He was gone. And I said, Michael, I want to see my family. He's like, bring them. Bring them to California. I said, well, I miss my friends too. He said, bring them to. So I brought Sprag, everybody. They came down.

I said, so what we're going to do for cars? He said, do whatever you need. Just tell Norma. And that's when I know. I was like, wow. This guy is. Sky's limited. What?

Yeah. What do you mean for cars? So he just got everybody cars? He got everybody cars. So y'all could transport ourselves? He switched our hotel to the NICO, which is now the SLS. Ooh. Yeah, it used to be the Nico.

And he put me in the room, the indecent proposal room where they had the piano. He put me in there. He's like, you know, your wife is coming down and your daughter's coming down. I have something special for you. And he put me in that room. all my friends and everybody, he put them in rooms in the Nico. So we all in Nico.

We had Sprinter. We had everything we wanted. And he's just like, wow. That is so far. Michael's really special, you know. When we did Joy, Joy was supposed to have been for the Michael album. And he didn't feel like he had that special person in his life. So he's like, I think I'm going to wait on this.

So I asked him, could we put it on the Black Street album? And he was like, sure. Can we use your name? Sure. Can we use your backgrounds? Of course. Do I have to give you the money back? He's like, no.

Theater. But that's how especially he was to me. He was just a great brother. And he was that mentor that showed me a lot of things. Like, I would call him about business and decisions and he would call me about females. And I could say that now, you know. The non-disclosure is over.

Did you ever feel pressure because, you know, he did all that great work with Quincy Jones? And, like, you know, now it was your turn. Did you ever feel like, oh, man, I'm competing against what Quincy did? No, because Quincy always pushed me. When you got someone that's pushing you, you don't think of them as your competition. They are the sense.

And I always say, you know, you don't override the sensei. You go with the sensei. Follow his toolage. You know, and that's what I did. I just had to give Michael, you know, what Quincy gave him, big sound. It was really about big sound because the music and the lyrics, you know, the lyrics, everything was there. You know, and I had the right people. I had Tammy Lucas.

I had Bernard Bell, who wrote, at a time with me. I had Rex and effect. I bought Rex and effect. I introduced him to heavy D. Just putting that whole thing together and he really made me a big part of that project. When the world was having all those other conversations about Michael Jackson, like the cases and all that stuff, right, you as a friend, like how did you, I guess, how was supporting him through that time because he had done, you know a whole different side of him, right? He had done so much for you. As a friend, like how was that? I was always there. Yeah, I think y'all saw that.

I went up against Oprah. I was like, yo, this is not right. You know, the whole thing about all the lies about, you know, what they think he did. And I'm so happy that the actual evidence came up. You know, it was all a plan. That's why I stay private. Michael is the one person.

You know how to end, whatever celebrities getting stuff, they'd be like, they try to tear him down, the system trying to tear him down. He was trying to buy NBC. He's the one celebrity I always say like, nah, they really was trying to get Michael. Michael had way too much power. And I really hope that in the movie,

they explore what he did on the publishing side so people know how much power he actually had. I hope so as well. I know that I have a few songs in there, but I'm hoping that, you know, they give that roadmap because most times they just make the film and make it look glorious or whatever it is.

But I think to try, truth needs to come out down. Oh, and real quick, on the back, right, I can't help but to see all these beautiful remarks people left for you, but Dr. Dre said Teddy's just dope. I could have ruled something better than that. Did you ask him to elaborate or expound on what you mean? No, I wasn't there. So, you know, what everybody wanted to say, you know, they said it and, you know,

Drey always felt that way. You're just dope, yeah. Me and him started at the same time with Jerry Curles and eight, night. He was with the wrecking crew. I was with kids at work. And we joked about it last week. You know, he was just like, hell, you know we started the same time. He was like, yeah, man.

I said, he was like, 1985. And we just bust out laughing. What about the curls? So on the West Coast, it was the real stuff, like the Perr's stuff. On the East Coast, it was the S curls with the pink juice. And we was just, you know, laughing about it. Why, why, why, why are you doing? No, no, no.

This is just, it's just, don't do that. It is. I've got two more questions, right? Okay. Are you tough on samples? Like when somebody wants to sample your music, are you tough on the artist? No, actually, I'm getting to the bottom of that

because a lot of stuff, a lot of my music have been sampled. And I think I've owned my publishing since. since 2023 or 22. Okay. And I have not gotten no clearance, nothing. And I have to speak to universal about this

because it's not cool that I own, I don't owe nobody nothing. My publishing is free and clear, but you're still clearing my songs without my permission. What's the last song that you heard that that they sampled your record? It was a piece of my love.

and it was another one in fact we're checking them on this Michael Jackson film because no one came to me about this Michael Jackson film and I got dangerous remember the time and I think jam

I didn't even find out the music was in that all nobody came to me but we found out through a friend of mine because they want me to go to the premier in Indiana and I said, I ain't going nowhere until I find out who did what. I will not support it.

I'm like Quincy. I told you. I learned from my sense. Because he did the same thing. You got to really get into your business. And I need to know why is that. There's a phenomenal artist from South Carolina named Trapp Dickie.

He sampled. Yeah. Rex and Effect. Rekin. Yeah, him and keyglock. That's your heart. Did they get that clear it? Did they get that clear through you?

Nobody came to us. Damn. So we're getting to the bottom of it. Yeah. You heard the record, though. Huh? Yep. Record, tough.

It is. It's fire. Teddy's like, we just got to get cleared to you, though. Yeah. My last question, if remember the times were required reading for the music industry, what lesson do you think executives would be most uncomfortable confronting? You know, I didn't really say much about the executive. I said more.

about the people who have taken me to the executives and basically, like, you know, tempt me. Like, yo, here, it's my, you know, it's my artist, this is my producer, you know, do whatever you want with it. Just give me the money. Damn. Yeah.

And there's no way to protect artists from that. Oh, yeah, now, of course. And that's what I want people to read. This is the way you protect yourself. This is what you need to do. You know, sometimes you're going to have to stop. Hold up because they need you. They want your sound.

But you got to get the business right. Just stop. There you have it. Make sure you pick up the book. Remember the times. February 10th, Teddy Riley. The icon of legend. Teddy, we appreciate you so much.

I appreciate y'all too. You know. I've done for this communities, this culture, this music industry. Boy, because like I said, the inspiration you gave so many kids is just the reason why a lot of kids, I'm sure, are in this music industry right now. Just seeing the kids from Harlem that was able to make it,

it means a lot to people, brother. I'm so grateful to even know that, you know. And kids come up to me. I do, like, NAM and all of the different conference and shows. And when I appear, you know, it's like a magnet and I love it, you know, to be able to talk to them. So I've never done a master class, you know,

which will be coming up soon. But all of this stuff is starting now, which I'm happy being that I know my business, I know how to do it, you know, and get the right what I'm worth, you know, because I've never gotten what I'm worth, what I'm worth. I'll let you have it, ladies and gentlemen.

It's Teddy Riley. It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning. Every day I wake up. Wake your ass up. The Breakfast Club. You're all finished or y'all done? I'm Bowen-Yen. And I'm Matt Rogers.

During this season of the Two Guys Five Rings podcast, in the lead-up to the Milan-Cortina-26 Winter Olympic Games, we've been joined by some of our friends. Hi, Bowen, hi, Elmo. Hey, Matt, hey, Bowen. Hi, Cookie. Now, the Winter Olympic Games are underway, and we are in Italy to give you experiences from our hearts to your ears. Listen to Two Guys Five Rings on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. You can scroll the headlines all day and still feel empty. I'm Ben Higgins, and if you can hear me, is where culture meets the soul.

Honest conversations about identity, loss, purpose, peace, faith, and everything in between. Celebrities, thinkers, everyday people, some have answers. Most are still figuring it out. And if you've ever felt like there has to be more to the story, this show is for you. Listen to If You Can Hear Me on my IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In the middle of the night, Saskia awoke in a haze. Her husband, Mike, was on his laptop. What was on his screen would change Saskia's life forever.

I said, I need you to tell me exactly what you're doing. And immediately, the mask came off. You're supposed to be safe. That's your home. That's your husband. Listen to Betrayal Season 5 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In 1969, Malcolm and Martin are gone. America is in crisis.

And at Morehouse College, the students make their move. These students, including a young Samuel L. Jackson, locked up the members of the board of trustees, including Martin Luther King Sr. It's the true story of protests and rebellion in black American history that you'll never forget. I'm Hans Charles. I'm in a Nicolmoo.

Listen to the A building on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.