The Breakfast Club - Ludacris Interview

Episode Date: March 27, 2015

Ludacris stops by to chat about his upcoming album, not releasing music in 5 years, finally getting married, the death of Paul Walker and Furious 7. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Real people, real celebrities, real talk talk join the breakfast club morning everybody it's dj envy angela yee charlamagne the god we are the breakfast club special guests in the building one of my favorite artists highly underrated in my opinion how the hell you underrated you sold 20 million records no you know what he sold 20 million i want to say he sold 20 million quietly there Man, shut up. I'm serious. There's no such thing. You can't say that. People don't respect his lyricism. Who say that?

Who don't say he sold 20 million? Well, give me a chance to. This sounds personal. It sounds like you don't respect it. First of all, he couldn't have sold 20 million quietly if I knew about it. Oh, yeah, I guess you're right. That's a good point right there. That's definitely a good point.

It feels good to be back. What's up, sir? It feels good to be back. You still with the same crew. I like seeing you when you come around because I always see Shaka. Yeah, absolutely. For all the money y'all made, you'd have thought y'all would have fell out by now. And by the way, we've never had a signed contract ever in our lives.

What's going on? Get out of here. Never. So I know y'all get a lot of artists in here. I'm here to let y'all know we've never signed anything. That's loyalty right there. What? That's dope.

Absolutely. No 10% Shaka? 10%? So what do you give him? Is it a standard 10%? Nah, he gets a percentage, but you know, that's what, we don't have to talk about that. He gets a percentage, but the fact of

we've never had to do any paperwork because that's how strong the bond is. So Shaka, you don't do paperwork with nobody. No, I'm playing with you. Did I mess up? I might have messed up. How do you trust somebody in the beginning? I understand, you know, in the beginning. How do you trust somebody in the beginning? I understand in the beginning, how do you trust somebody to say that? We came from the same humble beginnings.

We came from the same radio station. Man, you know what it is? It's like I literally feel like he's my family. Even though we're not blood, we are family. And I know family goes through certain things. So at the end of the day, it is what it is. But I was right. You know what I mean? We've gone this long, and we still don't need any paperwork. family goes through certain things so at the end of the day it is what it is but i i was right you

know what i mean we've gone this long and we still don't need any paperwork never fight never tussle never nothing nothing no we've never had to we've never had to we've had some extremely great conversations where we can agree to disagree on certain things but in terms of fighting nah well what shocker what shocker used to do at the station? That was one of the best things ever. That was Hot 97.9, right? Yeah, yeah. It was Hot 97.5. He was the music director. Yeah, yeah.

And this was back in the days when, you know, it was like a house. So we didn't have any money. This was right when Radio 1 started. Right. And so there was no money. And, you know, we had to kind of keep some things around us. And he used to do the 10 to 2 shift at night. So, of course, course you know it was

just like all it wasn't any rules whatsoever matter of fact we trying to bring up a movie script about that and so pretty soon we're gonna shed some light on this radio playing all them ludicrous records that was kind of payola in a way nah nah it wasn't look that was let me tell you something that was the day i know i made it because i had to fight so hard to get my records played not only on on the station because they made me work for it the day i know I made it because I had to fight so hard to get my records played, not only on the station because they made me work for it. The day I knew I made it is when they played my record on the opposing station, on the competition. So, you know, that's why I was like, B-103. B-103.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let me just say shit right here. Hey, man, we syndicated now. It's all a blur. I know, man. You're getting too much money from me right now. I don't know what's going on. But that's what makes it hard, too.

If you work at the station and you're doing music, it kind of feels like we can't just play this guy's record because then people think it's... Man, that's exactly what it was. It was the exact opposite of what people would think. It's like you would think they would support me to a degree, but they made me work for it because they didn't want anybody at the station feeling like they just playing his record

because he works here. And so, you know, that was part of the grind coming up. That probably made you a better artist, though. 100%. Anything that I go through makes me a better artist when it comes to, you know, challenging me. Now, is this your last album on Def Jam? I got one more after this, man. And you know what?

I'm going to tell you right now, I will never take five years off to drop an album ever again. I didn't realize it was five years. I didn't realize you had been in the game for 15 years. Yeah. Hey, man. I missed myself during this time. I hadn't realized it's been that long either. But, you know, of this money. By doing that, I kind of lost contact a little bit. I had to

kind of bring myself back up. We all know how the music game is right now. It's like the attention span is out of sight, out of mind. It's like, of course, people looking at me as more of a movie star than in music right now. What it was, I had to dig back in. That's why I started

putting out all these ludicrous verses. Because once you hear your favorite rapper or rapper, you can hear it in his tone and in his aggression, whether or not he's still hungry or not. So I had to start doing it. I dropped the EP

and I did that quietly on purpose because I kind of wanted to just build this foundation and build back up. So to me, this is my eighth album. However, it feels like it's my first. This is a rebirth.

And when you start listening to these records you will completely understand what the hell i'm talking about i definitely hear the hunger and call you bluff it sounds like you're talking to somebody absolutely there's no one there's no one there's no one person in particular man it just gets to a point in rap and i know you can relate to this where it's like people they talk so hard behind a microphone and i'm i'm letting everybody know i've never claimed to be the hardest artist or the hardest dude. But when it's like when you start messing with a man's family or you start messing with him, that's what I say in the record.

It's like you mess with me, you're messing with my family. And so I hate when people talk so tough on the microphone, but you see them in person. And this happens all the time. You see them in person, it's like, oh, no, I didn't mean it like that. Everything's all good. It's just all him in person, it's like, oh, no, you know, I ain't mean it like that or everything's all good. It's just all entertainment. No, it's not entertainment.

No, I just told you I'm not talking about anybody in particular. Me and Drake had our thing, though, but, you know, he came to me and apologized like a man. He said,

no, man, you God body. You God body. That was the first time I heard somebody call me God body. I was like, okay, well,

no, it's all good. No, me and Drake are me and Drake are aight, man. Drake start studying lessons. I know everybody wants to write Drake off as that dude, but we okay. We aight. How did you feel when he said your name in that How About Now when he said he was playing his music for the Chickens? Chickens was like, turn that off.

You listen to Ludacris? Yeah, you know what? I don't know. Nah, you know what's crazy is I think it's a little bit of a true story behind that. And his girl was listening to Ludacris when he was sick. And that's why he don't. His girl at the time, with all due respect, was probably doing a little bit more than that. But it's a true story. And I think that's why he said that.

And, you know, people can respect this man for being very honest on records. Yeah, he's very open. Yeah. And it was a chick in Toronto. And at the time, I didn't even know that she was, i guess i didn't i didn't know what was going on girl man my goodness it's not his fault he didn't know no absolutely i did not know that's really what it come down to all the way to the rap game you know i don't i don't know what's going on man like i said i don't know but i do remember that that time in the period of my life.

See how women just mess things up? So that was the thing. Was that the thing when you said y'all squashed y'all thing? That was the thing? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I mean, he had said some things in public, but then he apologized privately. And I was like, well, you need to apologize in public the same way you said it in public. And that was the issue that I had with him.

And I'm one of those artists that anybody that knows me, again, I don't claim to be the hardest, but it's like, I'm a man. It's about respect, man. You can't go and do something publicly and then come and quietly say, I'm sorry. You got to apologize as a man and say it. The same format you put it out on,

that's the same format you need to continue on. Or I'm going to do the same thing. I'd rather just get swung on. You want to see. Hey, I'm not mad at that either. I'm down for that too. Is that why you took it to the... Hey, look, Mr. Jim.

It ain't about the gym. I'm talking about in general. Before I apologize, I'd rather you approach me about it and then say the same thing I said and you swing on me? I'm talking about in general. Before I apologize, I'd rather you approach me about it and then say the same thing I said and you swing on me. I said, Luda swing on me. You haven't helped him this morning. There's so many people that go to the gym that'll get their ass whooped on a daily basis because muscles don't mean a damn thing.

I could walk up to you and kick you in your knee and the fight is almost over because you only have your balance, so period. See, that's the bad thing with rich guys. They've been all around the world. You might be over in China studying some old pressure points you don't know about. You know what I'm saying? No, we talked about this, man.

You over here messing with some street martial arts. You know, I'm messing with some street things too. So, you know, I respect that. Now, is that why you, in the Call You Bluff video, you took it back to the streets

of the A to let people know, like, look, I'm still right here with the goons. Man, listen, if there's anything that I love right now, it's taking it back. Like, I called it, this album is back to the basics that video. Man, listen, if there's anything that I love right now, it's taking it back. Like I called it, this album is back to the basics, 100%.

So, again, I listen to the fans when they say they want the old Luda. I get that. You know, it's like I can always do that, but at the same time, I have to be the new Luda. I have to be progressive. I have to evolve. There are new things that have happened in my life that I always have to you know i pretty much have to talk about but at the same time this album is like the old luda mixed with the new luda and merging it perfectly together can you really give them old luda though like you can't be 25 again listen different listen to the album no no i see what you're saying because there's different

things to talk about however i think what they're talking about is the aggression and kind of like the flow patterns and and doing different things so when you hear call your bluff and you hear me instantly come on there and just start going crazy and just beasting out on people that's really what it's about because i watch the show and i and i hear y'all constantly talking about how the game is forever changing and ever evolving and right now we're in an era where you can pretty much put out just content music with content and just flow and just do you you don't necessarily have to worry so much about I need a radio record or I need something that spins this much.

Dude's is back to rapping. Exactly. So that's what this album is. It's back to rapping. It's not trying to format one record to be like this or one record to be like this. This is something you can listen to from beginning to the end and it's what everybody is wanting me to do and just beast the hell out

you have a song like good loving and then you have a song like call your bluff yeah completely different see good loving was on the ep and it just carried over because of its popularity so that's about that's probably the only record on the album that i would consider you know that carried over but everything else is is that was a very reflective song for you it definitely was i think everybody can relate to that because you know know, it's being honest and men talking about their feelings in relationships because you don't hear that from a man's perspective. So I get more guys coming up to me like randomly saying, yo, I really feel that record than I do girls. And that's crazy because, like I said, you know, guys don't want to admit when they break up with somebody that look, I didn't mean to break your heart. You know what I mean? And when you in retrospect, some guys do purposely just completely mess something up.

But then there are times where you look in retrospect and you like I didn't just purposely mean to break you like that. And that's really what that record is all about. It's just basically telling you a lot of guys were different. You know, in relationships, we going through life. We living in the fast lane. And we don't really understand what we've done until years later. And we look back and like, damn, that was kind of messed up. You know what I'm saying? At least reminisce about how good the **** was.

Absolutely. Now, we're talking about making radio formatted records. It's kind of hard if you got Shaka, who's a former music director. Right. He's probably the person telling you, got to make a radio record. You got to make a radio record. Nah, man got Shaka, who's a former music director. Right. He'd probably be the person telling you, you got to make a radio record. You got to make a radio record. Nah, man, Shaka, you got to understand.

He did radio hits, too. I did, and that's the thing. That's part of the reason. Being in the game 15 years, and we coming up on the 15-year anniversary in October. Being in this game for so long, having so many radio hits, having so many Grammys, having so many awards you know, awards and just act accolades. It's like, I've,

I've done that and I don't necessarily have to do that again. I just want to give the people what it is that they're asking for, especially since I have one more album after this one on Def Jam. Now let's go. I want to go to, I want to talk Def Jam. Let's talk about Def Jam. You were talking about you behind your back.

You can't get a contract early. Let's do it. You got those millions when they're early, but they're not there anymore. So after this last hour. My contract's still the same. I know your contract is the same. But they can't wait for you to be here.

Well, go ahead. When your contract is over, does it make sense financially to keep Luda? Because they can't afford the big contract. I mean, you was grandfathered in almost. Yeah, you know what? I'm not going to give it away, but I just feel like there are so many other opportunities out there. So they would have to really entice me in order for me to continue on. And like we always talk about how the game is changing.

I just feel like it's new. There's some new things going on, and it's going to completely change the entire music industry. And I like to stay afloat of what's new, especially because the timing is coming up on me coming out of my contract has anybody disrespected you and asked you to sign a 360 deal hell no that's when we would have to swing on somebody for real don't don't ever disrespect me with the 360 luckily I came into the game and a lot of people don't talk about this I came into the music game where I feel like artists got the most

out of juicing the industry. In terms of, I came into the music game where I could sell, Def Jam forecasted me to sell half a million records on my first album back for the first time. I went on to sell three million. Second album, three million. Third album, three million.

People, of course, are not selling three million records anymore, so during this era, I could not be more blessed and more thankful that I came into the game at a time where everybody was selling records, getting money from those records, and also doing so many different things because nowadays it's not considered smart to just be a rapper. You can't do that. That's why I didn't even know that you hadn't put out music in five years because, honestly, how important is music now?

When you're doing movies, when you're doing network television shows. You got a brand. Ludacris is a brand. It is, but I do feel like music is still important because it's what got me here. You know what I'm saying? And it's what you're passionate about too. Absolutely. Extremely passionate. And I can never forget what got me here in the first place. And I'll never take four or five years to drop an album ever again.

Now it has to be difficult for you because you've been all over the blogs and the tabloids and everything. And I know you're not used to that because you are normally a pretty private person. Yeah. You know, minding your business when it comes to your personal life. So how has that been for you to have to deal with all this public, like going to court? That's a great question.

And what you just said was I'm not used to it, and I don't like being in those tabloids in that way and i think that each of us here and everybody watching for that matter no matter what you don't really like i feel like the world is going to force you to to to to deal with oh yeah you gotta address it at least once yeah no you do and i completely understand that but basically what i'm saying is I never was that person. And now this has forced me to become a person that has to kind of sit back. And I love how people hear all these different things. And some of them are true. Don't get it twisted. However, a lot of them are untrue. And so since I sit back and just watch, it allows me to have a position of people are judging me based off a lot of things that are not true.

And you know what's crazy about it? You know what? You know what's crazy about that? I absolutely love it because I know the truth. God knows the truth. And as long as as long as that's the case, then it's almost like you get to watch and let people judge you based off of things that you know are not true. Does it affect your relationship with your home life? Absolutely not. That's the best thing. Because we know the truth. Let me just say that.

Myself, my wife, and God, we all know the truth. So with that being said, it's almost entertaining. It's just as entertaining as everybody looking at me being entertained by what they are saying about me. We're just as entertained watching you judge me by listening to this false information. But sometimes it has to make you want to retaliate. Like, sometimes in your head you have to retaliate. Call your bluff.

There you go. Look, there you go. There you go. Come on, Charlamagne. Yeah. I love that. I love it. No, it comes through the music, you know.

I think we all have situations where we have to use, like, it's therapy to go do certain things. Some go to the gun range. Some go, you know, practice martial arts. And some go box. Some go running and exercise. But for me, it's... Some people jump on that private jet and just go somewhere else and get away.

Yeah, but I put it through my music, man. I put it through my music. As a man, I don't know what you did wrong. I mean, if the story is what I heard, you had a baby on a break, so what? you had a baby on a break so what you had a baby on the break let me tell you something uh i've said this before i'm not perfect and i know a lot of people out there no one is perfect however everything that i'm going through is perfect for me and it's made me a better person it's made me a better man and what's to come is going to be the absolute best thing that could ever happen and it already has happened because a blessing came out of it.

And I can't necessarily talk specifics because anything I say can and will be used against me in the court of law because there is still current litigation going on. But at the end of the day, just generally speaking, the best thing that's ever happened to me in my entire life. And you got another baby on the way. I do. I'm trying to catch up with you. This is my goal like i'm trying to catch up with envy and um that's really what it came down to man you know it's crazy because like i had an endorsement deal from this company called uh breakaway condoms and then they just they pulled out they pulled out on me at the last minute so i don't know it's just now what made the man pull out at the last moment

they pulled out on me can you believe that that's crazy can you believe it what made the man who made what's your fantasy when you talk about having sex in about a thousand different places finally lock it down and get married man you know what i always say this i think life is about timing and what i mean by that is there's a time where you could get married and it's not going to be right. And you could be the same person. And years later, you get married. And I know you know what I'm talking about. And it's going to be right.

It was just the right timing for me. So, you know. It took me 17 years. I'm the same girl 17 years. Finally did it in September. Damn. Okay, look. When I say timing, I don't mean that damn long.

No, that's ludicrous. Damn. That is 100% ludicrous. Yeah, I applaud you. But everybody always thought you were married already anyway. It was always women, oh, they already got married. And again, that's all, you know, people putting stuff out, and we never feel the need to have to always defend ourselves

because it's entertaining just watching people judge us based off of whatever. But with that being said, it's like it was that time, man. And I can honestly say that so far so good. And I hope it continues. So far so good for you or you just. I'm chilling. Yeah. All right.

You good there. Oh, you don't know yet. Oh, man, I don't know. I'm waiting to find out my damn son. Okay. Yeah. I heard you got upset at my little bro, Pete Davidson, at the Justin Bieber Comedy Central roast.

Oh, man. He made some Paul Walker jokes. Yeah, let me tell you something. And I wouldn't even repeat those jokes because of how disrespectful I feel they were. But I was definitely upset about that. And, you know, like, I was to the point where I was about to go a little crazy,

and then all of a sudden all the executives and producers started lining up, coming to me, apologizing, and assuring me that they were going to take those jokes out. Right. So, you know, I can respect that they were going to take those jokes out. Right. So, you know, I can respect that. And at the end of the day, those jokes will never see the light of day. And Tyrese said you guys had a conversation and he was like, it's a good thing I wasn't there because. Yo, Reese would, again, Reese is not that type of person.

But when it comes to Paul, with either one of us, because I don't think people know how close we really were to Paul. Right. Me and Reese started in Too Fast, Too Furious. and so this was 12 years ago that was in 2003 and I mean I always tell people you know this dude's birthday was one day after mine we were Virgos we had the most in common out of everybody me and Tyrese are close but me and Paul were extremely close and he was one of those individuals where he just wanted to be regular, even though he got these Hollywood checks, think about it. You would never really see him out and about it.

Different functions are trying to be a certain way. He just liked to be regular. He loved to have fun. He liked to surf. He had a place out in Santa Barbara away from everything. He wanted to keep away from all of the BS. Right. And so I'm the same type of way,

man. When you see this album covering, you see me driving this 93 Acura Legend and still having that plane in there. But at the end of the day, I just feel like we had so much in common. And, yeah, if Tyrese was there, it would have been a problem. But you know that's the end of it. Hold on, hold on. Can you lend Creflo Dollar your jet, man?

Oh. He's trying to buy a jet. And the jet that I want looted on got? Creflo Jet's $65 million, bro. I'm glad he said that. Because everybody messing with me about having a private plane. And I think I said this last time I was on here. I was like, sometimes we land at different private airports.

And I'm like, damn, look at how much bigger that private plane is than mine. And my chef looked at me and said, man, either you in. I don't talk about planes. Where the hell the chef come from? My pilot. You said the chef. My chef. My chef. My chef looked at me and said, man, either you in the playing game

or you not in the playing game. And I can respect that. So I understand. But, yeah, I don't know what's going on with Creflo. I think he just wants a bigger jet. He has one. I guarantee he has one. He said it was old and something happened.

The mechanic didn't mess up the fun. When it comes to the roast, you know that's the energy of a roast, though. No, I do. And I hadn't seen that many roasts before I did that one. So I'm comes to the roast you know that's the energy of a roast though no i do and i hadn't seen that many rows before i did that one so i'm gonna be honest with you it's like i checked out little little bits here and there but apart from the paul walker jokes great roast and i think it's i think it's a great thing for people to get roasted because a lot of people are scared to be made fun of and i don't take myself too seriously and i'm just gonna tell y'all like this it's definitely one of the best rows if not the best roast that Comedy Central's had because nobody was safe like

everyone was free game and we cracked on Justin Bieber for hours and hours of time this was four hours worth of material and they had to condense it down to I think two hours for television so you know once we were roasting him he got a chance at the end to go back and get everybody else. So, you know, it was some low blows. You know, they got me. I got some people.

You know, think about this. Snoop was in there. Shaq was in there. Martha Stewart was in there. Everybody was talking about how old she was and how dry her snatch was.

You know what I mean? Like, it was some low blows around this piece. Trust me. Was there ever any hesitation to jump on Bebo's record back in the day? I mean,

Lil' White Pop Singer, Baby, Baby, Baby. that's a damn good question and i'm gonna tell you why there was no hesitation is because i'm one of those artists and i'm one of those individuals that i don't care so much what people think about the decisions that i make i make decisions based off of how i feel and when I heard that record coming from radio, I knew that it was a hit record. It didn't matter to me that he was, you know, 12 or 13 years old.

It didn't matter to me that he was white boy. It didn't matter to me any of that stuff. I just listened to the music. And so all of us here, it's like, you know, it's not just limited to rap music and hip hop. You know,

we listen to all kinds of music. I listen to rock and roll. I listen to 80s hair metal sometimes. So, I mean, like, it's never about the person or how old they are. It's about the music. And let alone this song went on to make history. And with that being said, to this day, after I endorsed Justin Bieber, then everyone else started endorsing him.

You know what I mean? You got Kanye, Wu-Tang Clan. Everybody's like cool with Justin Bieber all of a sudden. You gave him that first shot. He caught it messing with Luthor. Yeah, there you have it. Was it on purpose that you decided to put out Luthor Verso the same time Fast and Furious 7? Did you say timing-wise this is a great idea?

It kind of just worked out that way because a lot of people don't understand that this movie shut down. The production shut down for like four to five months because of Paul Walker's untimely death. So if I had planned to put it out before that, but this entire four to five months of production shutting down, it just shifted my entire schedule an entire year. Because once production shut down, then we had to go back and start shooting the movie again. And that took another four to five months. So my entire life was kind of shaking. But again, everything happens for a reason and it happened for the better. And what I what I don't think people really understand also is that he was about 85 percent done shooting his parts in the film before his untimely death. And yeah, I know people have heard that his brother stepped in

and there was a lot of CGI and things that they had to do in order to finish the film. But for the most part, that's only like two scenes in the movie. So when they see this, the integrity is there. And I guarantee when you watch this movie, how we honor him and it's an entire, it's just the movie is dedicated to this man. But the way that it ends, even the gangster of all gangsters

is going to be welling up at the end of this damn movie. You're basically telling us he dies in the movie. Nah, he don't die in the movie. Okay. No, actually, I was. Look, you making me give it away right now, but he doesn't die in the movie, but that's what I'm saying. It's done in such a creative way that you still going,

you're going to feel a certain type of way about that. I did read, one critic was saying they cried several times throughout the movie. Man, I'm going to tell you straight up, I'm a grown man. Because I knew him the way that I knew him, the way that they showcased him at the end of this movie, it was over. And I took my 13-year-old daughter to see the premiere in Atlanta.

We was both in tears. Period. Does it feel real? I mean, for me, I don't deal with death well because it never feels real. I'm the same way. I don't like going to funerals and none of that because that's not the last time I want to see it. Me and you have more in common than I thought, for me, I don't deal with death well because it never feels real. I'm the same way. I don't like going to funerals and none of that because that's not the last time I want to see a person. Me and you have more in common than I thought, y'all. Does it feel real? It didn't feel real at first.

And then when we flew to L.A. and went to the crash site where I know y'all heard about fans coming out and bringing candles and all these different things. And then the family was there. That's when it hit us. And me, Tyrese, Vin, everybody breaking down. And it just, I mean, it hurt, man. It hurts to know because it just didn't feel real. And when that moment hit us, we just realized that this is, it is what it is.

And how are we going to deal with this? I asked Tyrese the same question. Is it hard to heal now because you're on the promo tour you see the commercials all the time people asking you about them it's hard to heal but the most important thing of why it's the hardest is is to see the end of this movie i don't think that you know how oh you know they say time heals all wounds i'm telling you like this if i watch this movie and watch the end of this movie no matter how many times i see it it's going to get i promise it's going to get the same emotional feeling for me. Like talking about it, I'm starting to feel a certain way.

But yeah, it's definitely hard to deal with. So I was reading also there's going to be possibly three more after this. Yeah. First of all, let me just make note, and I don't know if Tyrese said this, I'm glad that the two black men in the movie have not died yet it's not a hard yeah because let me know but think about this if you look at all the different ones everyone else has died and some of them have come back they we in there like this is a beautiful thing right now so first die in this one no we're not dead yet we keep it in alive and another thing relevant That's why I'm here. That's why I'm at the breakfast club right now.

Didn't it feel like Ludacris was ducking us for a little while? Hell nah. Hell nah. I was just being a father for him. I kept seeing Ludacris is in New York. He's here. He's there. I said, where does Ludacris come to for breakfast? I would never duck y'all, man. I come from the radio game, so I completely understand it. But nah, man. I come from the radio game, so I completely understand it. But, nah, man, like, we always let the fans dictate if there's going to be another one.

And we always listen to what they're saying. And right now, it's one of those times where you respectfully have to give kind of a moment of silence. You can't just, at the end of this movie, be like, okay, and here comes the next one. Everything just needs to, like, when you see the end of the movie, you'll understand what I'm saying. It's just like, let's just chill for a second. If there is to be another Fast and Furious, then let a little time go past before we just up and just go back and do it.

Now, let's talk sports. Floyd Mayweather. Yeah. You're betting on Floyd. Listen to me, man. How much you putting up? This is going to be a tough one. No, I do.

I love that. But I'm a little biased, and I'll tell you why. I did a video with Roger Mayweather and Floyd a way back, and I was able to train with Roger Mayweather, and I was able to go to the gym. And this was maybe about five or six years ago. So fast forward, I had a show in Vegas about three weeks ago, and I went back to the gym to go holler at everybody.

And when I went there it just so happened that Floyd was in there about to spar with somebody and I didn't know who but I see the gym filled up I know this is his second week of training camp and I'm kind of like you know this is gonna be his hardest fight so as soon as I walk in there I see Zab Judah over there to the side putting his gloves on really yeah so I'm looking and I'm like okay so that's what's going on I happen to get there right on time because as soon as i got there two minutes later they in the ring so of course you all know that uh zap judah is southpaw so we know that he's fought this man before and again this was only three rounds because they just sparring

they got the headgear on they got everything so i'm at the side of the ring and i'm just watching this fight and i'm just extremely happy that i just so happen to come on the day and the time when both of these are fighting because i just wanted to see i want to look in floyd's eyes i got a chance to say what up to him and it's like the same way i keep talking about rappers when you hear their tone and their aggression you can tell whether they hungry or not when you look in a fighter's eyes and you feel that energy you realize where he's at. Floyd has never been a punk when it comes to training camp, period. I have never in my life seen him this focused and training this hard. So let's just say if he usually runs five or six miles a day,

he's running eight or nine miles a day. If he usually is in the gym and he's sparring and he's working out and exercising for four or five hours he's doing six seven hours he knows that everything is on the line okay i'll tell you what happened i don't know if this i saw the tv camera so i don't know if i'm if i'm gonna get in trouble for telling what's happening or if it's actually gonna come on one of them 24-7 joints but um the first round floyd did like he always does, in a real fight. Took it easy, kind of studied, fill it out, see where Zab is at.

Second round, you start to see Zab Judah getting a little fatigued. And then, you know, Floyd started getting a little more aggressive and getting a little more comfortable. Third round, it's a wrap. I mean, Zab is definitely all the way fatigued. And then Floyd Mayweather is just taking advantage of him at that point. Pacquiao got fatigued by the third round. And that's what I was going to say.

I'm telling you like this. The thing about this fight is we all know that the first three rounds, Floyd Mayweather, he kind of takes it easy and he studies. But the only thing about this fight is he has to be a little more aggressive because we all know that Pacquiao is going to throw punches, and this is about points. And so if he's not going to knock this man out, then you have to get more points than him.

So Pacquiao's going to be throwing, and I feel like Floyd knows that he has to throw some stuff too. And if Pacquiao wants to knock Mayweather out, it has to happen in the first three rounds. If you're going to stagger him, if you're going to do anything that is going to completely mess up the rest of the rounds, it has to be in the first three rounds.

How much you put up though? Period. How much you put up though? How much you put up though? Hey man, I got kids to take care of. I ain't putting up no money right now. I'm good.

I ain't betting on this one. You know, I always wondered about you, Luda. Did you ever, or did you and your team ever say, let's cross over? Or did everything happen organically? I think, honestly, we never said we need to cross over.

I think everything happened organically. Like, when I got in the studio with Timbaland and did Roll Out, and that was like a crossover song. Or when I got in the studio with Kanye and I did Stand Up, and that crossed over, it was all organic in the studio. We weren't just sitting there saying we want to cross over. None of that ever happened. So I think it was just a combination of me doing a lot of feature songs and just me doing me.

That's the one thing that I can say is that we never were like, we need to do this type of record. Yeah, because none of those were traditional radio records move bitch exactly hospitality stand up those aren't sing songy hooky traditional and that's where the best music comes from when someone is not trying to make a specific type of record in my opinion and that's when people change music is when you are doing you like i feel like kendrick lamar is one of those individuals and it's like now he's got a certain amount of followers where now he can put out whatever he wants and people are pretty much going to follow it but you think about putting out albums that you can listen to from beginning

to end and putting out content that's what it's about right now so the last time you asked me kind of like what i wanted to be remembered by and you know how i want to be known and it's versatile so if times change up i can change up with the times. And when I tell you this Ludiversal album is a testament of how extremely hungry and how great I can change with the times in terms of being myself and still being fluid and beasting out, that's what this is all about. And speaking of beasting, we're talking about sports and all that. I had Marshawn Lynch.

We just shot a video to a song called Beast Mode that's on my album. And literally there's no hook. It's just all bars, bars, metaphors and everything. It's three minutes straight. So we shot a video. I met this dude for the first time. It felt like I'd known him for all of my life. So I have a new friend. We was just out in L.A. together. And this is another guy that inspires me. So the same way he's you know mowing down people on the field that's how I feel like I do in the rap game and we were shooting this video and I had to ask him I was like yo why didn't they give you the damn ball what was his first thing I

said yo Marshawn was like I don't know I don't know why they didn't give me the damn ball I was wondering the same damn thing so you know it's it's just funny man it's it's it's interesting to get perspective from so many different people and i love that i'm friends with people that i look up to and that inspire me you wrote that song directly because of marshawn lynch just he was he just inspired it and i was just like everybody say they want ludicrous to beast out and beast out so i was like let me just beast mode let me just let me just go out do you tell anybody no because i was watching yeah a lot of people i was watching because i was watching the old youtube video that old show meph and redhead yeah i was trying to explain to somebody how punk stole that idea from meph and redhead they did man thank you thank you yeah and i'm

like why luda just ain't telling the beat was whack let me tell you let me tell you why because i was this i was fresh in the game i had just got started and if there were any two individuals that i looked up to more there's nobody that i feel like like red man was my is is and was one of my favorite rappers you fruit off that tree absolutely that in common so with method man and red man together i was in i was kind of in a fan zone so i i wanted to believe that they wanted me on this record. And so this is how they premised it, and this is how they edited that particular version to make it seem, to make me believe it.

But then when you saw it on TV, it just made me look a little crazy. However, so they told me, they was like, this is for the movie How High. So everybody's smoking weed in this particular scene. So it makes sense for it to be crazy, and you hear a frog noise so this is how they premised it but then when they showed it on television they cut through all of

that stuff it was just like ludicrous rapping over a frog beat and that's what i did but they made me believe it i'm telling you i remember reading that red man was supposed to have that role you had in um in fast and furious originally oh i don't know i never heard that i don't know hey man look i'm you want to sting me if there's anything i can say is that i'm sure any actor originally. Oh, I don't know. I never heard that. I don't know. Hey man, look, I'm, I'm, you want to sting me? If there's anything I can say is that I'm sure any actor would kill to be in a franchise like this, where,

you know, you got another paycheck on the way without you really having to do anything. But is it retirement money? I mean, definitely, man. You know, it ought to be,

you know what, at the end of the day, it depends on what people do with their money. People can have millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions of dollars. It's not about how much money you make. It's about how much money you spend, man. That's the one

thing that anybody with money has to learn. And as y'all continue to get four, five, six, seven jobs a piece, I'm sure you understand what the hell I'm talking about. Them kids will take it, though. I'm telling you. They'll take it, but all them cars you got will take it, too, man. That's over there, man. If anything depreciates, it's them damn

cars when you drive them off the lot, so you need to chill out, man. I look, man. If anything depreciates, it's them damn cars when you drive them off the lot. So you need to chill out, man. Let me tell you something. I follow all of y'all on Instagram. I had to stop following Envy, and I'm just going to tell him to his face right now. I apologize to you. It's too many damn advertisements on this dude's Instagram, man. You got to pay for them cars.

I see. But you know what? With me, it's big business. Like, you know, especially with the dealerships, you know, if you're a DJ

and you have a strong following and you could promote their dealership, they might give you a car for a year. I agree. So, you know,

sometimes it's not what you think somebody's spending on is them being smart. No, and that is smart. I always think that though. That is smart.

A real man would never let a man let them have a car for a year. You need to boss up and buy a car. You know what? Hey, ludicrous know okay ludicrous ladies and gentlemen hold up hold up on that subject let me say one thing i'm just gonna i'm gonna divulge a secret to everyone in the industry about money i don't usually do this but this is the breakfast club so i feel the need to do this and i'm gonna let you in on a real secret you know people make fun of individuals in rap music for leasing cars in the music industry. If you are a rapper and you travel a lot, leasing a car is the smartest

thing that you could ever do. Let me tell you why. Because they only give you a certain amount of miles to drive and it's way lower than actually buying the car. Ludacris, I own a lot of cars. However, I lease a lot of cars, too. You know why? Because I'm on the road so much I never use the amount of miles that they want me to use because the only way they can charge you money is if you go over those miles.

Got you. And then second, in the next two years, you're going to want the new car any damn way. So what are you talking about? I agree. That's the only,

that's all I'm giving y'all right now. I lease my car for that same reason because I know I'm going to trade it. Go ahead and lease a car for two years and get the new one in two more years. Let's do what I do.

I have a 2003 Escalade or a 2002 Model. You a liar. That Escalade you had in the 30 Vols video, I have one, okay? There you have it. You have one.

Leave it at that. That place is probably still broken down on the side of the block over there. Yeah, man. You have another, you have some nice,

you have, and meanwhile, he talking about leasing cars, but he had a $12,000 bottle of liquor on Instagram. Oh, man,

that was amazing. That's a lease right there. McAllen M, man, that was amazing. That's at least right there. McAllen M., like age 50 years plus. That's my new thing, by the way. What's that? That's my vice. A $12,000 bottle of liquor? No, like the liquors that have been aged in barrels for so damn long.

I know you got the Remy V. What's the top of the line Remy that y'all get? 1738. 1738. So, look, every alcohol's the top of the line Remy that y'all get? 1738. 1738. So look, every alcohol has different top of the line joints. So while people out here

drinking. Oh, and the Louis 13th actually is the top of the line for Remy. Louis the 13th, but they have the Louis Cask which is the black bottle which is like $30,000.

That's why I'm telling you about it. That's my vice. I have to drink that. And people will call me stupid for that, but damn it, it's just, that's my vice. I remember for Shaka's birthday damn it. It's just, that's my vibe.

I remember for Shaka's birthday, we were all drinking. He had some type of bottle stashed away with the bartender that no one else was allowed to drink. He be over there because he on that tequila, man. What is it? The 1942 Don Julio. He was like, can you get me a 1942? I asked, and they were like, is this for Shaka? I was like, yes, this is for Shaka.

It's not for me. Cast a drag on it. There you go. This is a good tequila right here. This is great. Let's all have a shot for Luda. He got the movie and album coming. Let's do that.

We can do that on camera. Man, Shaka, $40 a bottle. I want to open this right now. Nah, you got to do it. Special occasions, man. At this point, listen, it's like they take

all of the impurities out of stuff. It's more like medicine. It's not even alcohol. You wake up the next day feeling better than you did if you did not drink anything. Period. Grab your cups. Alright, well let's do it. It's the Breakfast Club. It's Luna!

Had enough of this country? Ever dreamt about starting your own? I planted the flag. This is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy. 55 gallons of water, 500 pounds of concrete. Or maybe not. No country willingly gives up their territory. Oh my God.

What is that? Bullets. Listen to Escape from Zakistan. That's Escape from Z-A-Q-istan. On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show, where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more.

After those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast, Post Run High, is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. As a kid, I really do remember having these dreams and visions, but you just don't know what is going to come for you. Alicia shares her wisdom on growth, gratitude, and the power of love. I forgive myself. It's okay. Have grace for yourself. You're trying your best, and you're going to figure out the rhythm of this thing. Alicia Keys, like you've never heard her before. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the

iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And it's going to be devilishly good. We've got chills, thrills, and stories that'll make you wish the lights stayed on. So join me, won't you? Let's dive into the eerie unknown together. Sleep tight, if you can. Listen to Haunting on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's up? This is Ramses Jha. And I go by the name QWard. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show, Civic Cipher. wherever you get your podcasts. change in your home, workplace, and social circle. We're going to learn how to become better allies to each other. So join us each Saturday for Civic Cipher on the iHeartRadio app,

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