The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Joe and Jada - Montell Jordan talks beating cancer TWICE, "This Is How We Do It," new children's book & Slick Rick's impact

Episode Date: September 16, 2026

Fat Joe and Jadakiss are joined by R&B legend and pastor Montell Jordan to discuss his remarkable journey from '90s hitmaker to two-time cancer survivor. Montell opens up about his current advocacy for prostate cancer awareness and is later joined by his wife, Kristen, to discuss their new co-authored children's book on overcoming fear, Shiloh and the Not-So-Scary Girl Above His Bed. The trio also dives deep into music history, with Montell sharing behind-the-scenes stories about how Slick Rick laid the foundation for the flawless hit "This Is How We Do It" and the timeless songwriting advice he once received backstage from Lionel Richie. Finally, the icons reflect on the true meaning of rare success in the music business, whether legends like Gladys Knight should still be performing in their 80s, and Fat Joe's hilarious, undying admiration for Joel Osteen. Joe and Jada is now STREAMING ON NETFLIX Merch is here: https://joeandjadashow.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Black farmers have been under attack. This is just the latest example of them just slapping DEI on anything. It's raw. And I'm sitting here going, they are playing y'all for fools. Catch Roland Martin's daily commentary on the Black Information Network. And download Roland Martin Unfiltered on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. In February of 2024, celebrated illustrator and children's book author,

Patra Mathers and her husband Michael mailed letters to dozens of friends and family members to let them know they had died by suicide. Dear honies, this is goodbye. By the time you get this letter, both Petra and I will be dead. Next stop. Wonderland. Why did they do it? And what did it do to the people they left behind?

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Listen to Big Lives on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. You might have the most perfect record in hip-hop history. I'm saying the best perfect song ever created is what I'm trying to say. You know, this is how we do it. This Friday night. And the party's on at the West Side. I let that song sit because I was like, I can't mess this up. Like I got to.

It was already, yeah. I can't mess this up. Yeah, yeah. What up, y'all? This is the most spiritual one. Joe Crack the Dog. You know who it is, your boy Jada. It's the Joe and Jada show.

Every show legendary. Every show iconic. And we've been keeping our word, bang, or crushing your legacy. You know what I mean? We ain't even going to play with it today. We're going to get right into things.

When you think of today's guests, you think about a record that changed the temperature every time it came on. From house parties to cookouts, from clubs to weddings, the minute that base, Lysline drops, everybody knows what time in is. It's way more than one of the biggest records of the 90s.

He's a singer, songwriter, performer, husband, father, author, author, entrepreneur, a man who's face down real life battles with faith and strength. a two-time cancer survivor. Still standing tall. Still giving back. And now helping put the spotlight on prostate cancer awareness. Please welcome.

Hold up. Pastor. Pastor, too. He's a pastor. Pastor. Okay, okay. Please welcome. Pastor and true R&B hitmaker and cultural staple. Montel Jordan Yo

Mama I made it Mama I made it Tell my moms I made it Get her watching right now I'm telling you I used to think Saturday night live I said I know I made it when I get to Saturday Night Live one day

I'm gonna tell you right now Real talk like this is my joint right here I've been waiting to get him on this couch I'm waiting for it I'm waiting for it Montel we've been waiting for you, man. You know, you're one of my favorite people on earth,

musically, just as a brother, every time we cross paths, it's always positivity. Yeah. And you always spreading the words, spreading the faith. I'm going to go right there. All right.

Right. So you're a man of God, you and your wife. You catch cancer. That's last time I saw you had just beat it. And then I turned on the ball alert or whatever. it's like Montel got cancer again. Yeah.

What's your conversations with God like at that second time right there? Like at that moment of truth, what are you talking to God about at that time right there? Okay, so great question. I can tell you honestly, when you beat cancer the first time,

when I did that, it was literally like, okay, God, thank you. You know, I trust you. I'm super, super grateful. You helped bring me through it. I had surgery, had my prostate removed, radical prostate activity surgery, all of that.

God restored me, restored intimacy between me and my wife. All of that, when it comes to prostate cancer, those are things that can be in the balance. And then, you know, you look eight, nine months later, and then you get a recurrence or something that was hidden or whatever. And then cancer comes back. And it's like, you know, now I've got to go through this proton therapy, radiation, all the things I didn't want to do, you know, to begin with. And so the question, of course, you want to ask God, you know, why, one,

but ultimately as a man of faith, I'm saying, God, I trust you. I don't understand this, but I trust you. I know I'm not in this by myself, but I trust you. And then I felt like the revelation that I got from that is that it's different, there's a different thing in us trusting God and God trusting us. Right? So I realize I'm in a position where I'm thinking, God, I trust you, I trust you. And God is saying, no, I trust you.

like to be a two-time cancer survivor, I can't trust everybody with that story. I can't, everybody can't handle that story. Everybody can't navigate that or tell it or be transparent or be vulnerable or be willing to share that information of how you and your wife are navigating. How you tell your 11-year-old daughter?

How do you tell your, like everybody can't be trusted with that story. And so what I felt in that moment was not just God, I trust you. In a difficult place, God, I trust you, but I felt like he was saying, Monta-tell I trust you. And so that's how I felt me and God navigating that time.

Wow. And you want to know what's crazy is I got a good friend, Pretty New Super Cancer Survivor. I've been there for his wars and all that. And when he beat it, I said, this is where the work starts. He said, what do you mean? I said, you got to go around and tell everybody

that doesn't listen, they make it. Right. What do you think God save you for? Pretty new. You got to go start. You got to go talk to the people. You got to go be out there and tell your story so they can know. And that's pretty much what you said.

You said, listen, all right, God used me as a spokesman. Yeah. That used me to bring hope, you know, to the people out there who are suffering this who feel like they're alone. Yeah. And 100, I didn't want God to use me like that. If I didn't be straight. Oh, yeah. Like, you use me in a different way, you know, Lord.

And then, you know, I truly believe that, you know, it's our biggest test. You know, they become our testimony. And that was the journey of where he's allowed me to do musical stuff. He's allowed me to do ministry stuff. He's allowed me to do marriage stuff. Now he's allowed me to speak into the medical space of what comes along with holistic and medicines, all that stuff, like it all kind of comes together. It's a balance of all of that to be able to determine how my life in being undetected,

moving forward to remain cancer-free. you know, that is where the work begins, you know? You know, I'm with God. You know what I'm saying? Every step of the way, man. I never questioned God. That's why I wanted to ask you that because I don't care.

If somebody don't believe in God, I tell them, let me ask yourself. If you got five seconds to live, what are you going to be saying to yourself with five seconds to live? Now, if you don't believe, that's on you. I know where I'm going to be the last five seconds. If I got five seconds, I'm going to get a God.

God take me. We'll be hanging. Let me in. You know what I'm saying? And it's so crazy because, you know, when you know full fact that you don't question God and you know that at the end of the day we're God's children and we go where he takes us.

Yeah. And so that at the end of the day, you know, you can never be a doubter. With me, I never doubt him. You know, I think that we are so concerned a lot of times with our existence here in this body, in this time, in this, you know, in earth. And I think that we don't think a lot of times about our soul, you know what I'm saying, and when we leave here.

And as a pastor, that concerns me. One, because you and I have bumped into each other a lot of times at funerals. Even at that, like, we've done concerts together. Yeah. But, you know, I'm saying, I eulogize, you know, DJ missed the seat. You know, these guys are dying. This is dying. You know what I mean?

Every day. We keep bumping each other at these feet. And we're not talking like 80, 90, 100-year-old men. We get the 4-MDs. They had them all up there. Mercury and all the brothers up there in memory. I use the Jesse D. Yeah.

And so in that space of doing those different things, it would be negligent of me to not know what I know about faith and what comes after this space and not say something, you know? What do you think about people playing with God? You ever looked at somebody and said, this guy's playing? You ever seen that movie, Honk if you love Jesus? Yeah.

It was hilarious. Yeah. That would hate to believe that it's real in any way. Yeah. Somebody can use God and use it as a business. Yeah. You know, that's the part that scares me where I'm like, you know, guys are out here playing.

Yeah. And I, I, I know God. Yeah. But I don't know them as much as a pastor who went to school for the Bible or nothing. You are pasting. You play with God? Yeah.

If you believe the power of God, like, you're going to play with the... Yeah. Yeah. It is scary. And I think that there are people that don't fully understand the magnitude, you know, of what it is. And I think when you lose the reverence, right, or the fear and the awe, you know, of God, then that's where it becomes a punchline,

becomes a joke, this or that. But when you realize you fully need God, you know what I mean, when you're in a position where your life is at stake or your child's life, or there's nowhere else to run. People often say, well, you wouldn't go to God unless, you know, something.

If you're doing real good, most times you're not thinking about God. You've made something else your God. Your money can be your God. Your prestige can be your God. Your fame can be your God. But when you get to the point of where, you need God to be God.

You know what I'm saying? That's when everything, you know, truly changes. And I do feel like a lot of people be playing, be playing with God, but also in those scriptures that God will not be mocked. And so, yeah, you go ahead and you play for a while and do what you do. But at some point, dude, it always comes around.

It always comes around where something is revealed, something is exposed, everything that's done in darkness, at some point it's going to, comes out. Yeah. Yeah. So for me, my goal is I love what we get to do here.

I love that we get to make records and make content and change people's lives, change their perspective, entertain. Like, we get to do all of that, right? And you know what to, we get to do all of that. But it would be, like I said, negligent for us to do all of that here and then get to the end of our lives and get to a space where, We won't get to see each other again. We won't get to hang again.

We won't be able to do any of that unless we handle business here. You know what I'm saying? You know, I got a salute and I'm going to let KISS ask you a question. I love you so much. And I just think that, you know, I'm a fan base. They get to hear about God, but not like this. So this is a beautiful time in our platform to talk his grown men about how much we love. how much God does for us.

I want to shout out Dolly Parton. Yeah. I've always loved Dolly Parton, rest and peace. But I never knew she donated a hundred million books to kids in the inner city. A hundred million

books. Some books cost a dollar. A book. Let's just say. That's a lot of... 100 million books. And there's just tons of people just keep coming out every day, talking about, yo, she took care of us, she took care of her, she took care of her, she took care of her, she did. Yeah.

While she was on here, she was doing her thing. Behind the scenes, she was putting in. Behind the scenes, all this, I never knew. A hundred years, Dolly Barton live. I never heard these stories. Once she passed, it was like, yo, this woman is donating balls. Yeah. Donating this. Donating this. I'm like, wow, she's, that's the type of people I like.

Yeah. You know, people who give back and help. For all the real ones out there, we're keeping it 1800. Take us back early childhood, L.A. days. What music was being played in the house? Okay, grew up a church kid. So, you know, six days a week. I'm in church.

So gospel definitely is the foundation of my musical upbringing, commission, Clark, sisters, whining. You know, that was like the foundation. But I, as a kid, I listened to a station out west called the Mighty 690. And the Mighty 690 was like 80s. So I also was listening to like Phil Collins. And I was listening to early, you know.

Michael McDon. Oh my goodness. God is a bell all on our own. I was listening to that. Early Madonna. Like I was really eclectic in my musical stuff. And then 1580K they came out West. And then that was my introduction to EPMD and Eric B and Rocket like so hip hop.

And then, of course, being out. and you start getting in W.A and things like that. And so I have this fused version of hip hop and R&B. You wasn't afraid to do it early. I loved it all. And so because I was in church and I wouldn't, you couldn't bring that in the church. Me and my guys would.

We would find ways to kind of sneak that into the church a little bit. A little musical riff here or there. We would, you know, and that was kind of our paying, you know, homage to what we were listening to and feel. feeling. And yeah, so that was my upbringing. So church upbringing, hip hop, R&B, pop sensibilities, all of those were the things that I initially, you know, grew up listening to and got to college. And at that time, hip hop was really, really doing this thing. I was really into listening to Luther

band, Freddie Jack, you know, all of Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, and Alexander O'Neill was the dude right there, you know. I'm a big Alex man. Alexander's a man's man. Like I could tell. All true man. He's a man's band. His music, I said, yo, this. He was, Yo, Alexander, Neil was like, Oh, no.

That guy was, he's terrible. Yo, he was not playing, bro. And so, yeah, so that's the stuff that I grew up on. That's the stuff that I loved. And then that's the stuff I started emulating, too. So me, I was trying to sound like, I didn't know who Montel Jordan sounded like. I was trying to sound like Alex.

I was trying to sound like Luther. I was trying to sound like all these other people. because I didn't know what Montel Jordan was supposed to sound like. And even on my very, very first music, when I finally get into the business, my demos and stuff like that, this was like early Kells days and stuff. Like I was like emulating all the guy type of stuff.

So I was trying to sound like Aaron Hall and all that, all that real nasally stuff. So even when you listen to like a big record like this is how we do it, people joke with that. You know, like this is hot. Like because it has a visit. But that's, That's what I was doing at that time.

I was trying to new jack and I'm trying to find out what I'm supposed to sound like. Wow. Those are all. That's crazy. Yes, accumulation of all the stuff I was listening. We create. I always say in front of you, behind your back, wherever I could say, wherever anybody can listen to me. You might have the most perfect record in hip-hop history.

I'm saying the best perfect. song ever created is what I'm trying to say. You know, this is how we do it. It's Friday night. And the party's on at the west side. And you, I,

this guy, they call them top five dead or alive. That song is big, is the most perfect song I have ever heard in my life. Like I just, and every time, I don't care if I'm in Kazakhstan. I'm in Africa.

I'm anywhere. When that joint, come on, I mean, I got to tap whoever with me. I'm like, yo, you know, this is the best one ever. This song is like, it's just, you talk about God. Man, I didn't give you a perfect song like that. Like, there's no flaws in that song.

There's nothing I can find wrong. I dissected this song. Any way you can. Like I looked at me, I said, yep, that's what I'd be doing right there. Okay, right there. Getting dressed. That's what I'd be doing. And okay.

And yes, this is around that. I see, yo, this is the most perfect song from A to Z. Can I give you two things about this is how we do it? People may or may not know. I want to know. You know, I follow y'all. I watch y'all. I know y'all might not feel the same about that song.

I understand that. I do. No, hell, that's the number one song ever. It makes you. happy. It makes you can, when that someone comes on, that whole room, that song can make

jail killers happy. Anybody, when you hear that, you've got to get in the mood of partying and feeling good. All right. All right. So, music, keep that answer, right? But music, when we're talking about the soul, I've hated guys.

I hated 50 cents when I had beef with him and he came out with the, I give money. I said, oh my gosh, 50. I run New York. I was like, oh, my God, this is incredible. There's nothing you can do. You can't deny. The music is just too powerful.

There is nothing you can do. Yeah. That's what I'm trying to tell you. Like a record like that, to Jada, to me, to everybody everywhere around the world, it's too perfect. Tell us the two things about it. So the two things about it was, first of all, it was a hit before I got to it. All right?

So with Slick Rick, who to me is a mentor, what he did, on that song to me was perfection for me. So I remember being in rooms in college and that song would come on and that was not like

a 9 o'clock record. That wasn't like a, you know, if a DJ's telling the story, that wasn't a 10 o'clock record. When children's story dropped, it was like, last call for alcohol, you got like a good solid hour

that's about to go or whatever and in the heat of a mix or whatever when he would drop that dunch, dung, that the me, like you literally could feel the room shift. And because I could feel that. Long ago, where people

and there's like, crap, I would be saying to myself, I'd goose myself. Yeah, yeah. I would be saying to myself, I would be saying, yo, if I ever get in the music business, I'm going to sing over that record. If I ever get in the business, I'm going to sing over that record right there.

And so even when I would eventually record my first record, you know, get a deal with Def Champ, I recorded all those records. I had that. rack that I put together and my boy, Oji Pierce, who's passed away now. He helped me piece all those things

together. I got my first MP 60, and I did all the programming, all the producing with that. He had elements and things like that. But I let that song sit because I was like, I can't mess this up. Like, I got to, it was already it. I can't mess this up. And especially

there were songs you're not supposed to touch. Like, facts. There's just certain loops, certain samples, things at that time. Like you just, that's off limits. And I knew that's off limits. And if I touch it, I got to do it the right way. So that's the first thing. It was already a hit.

Thank God we were able to come do the right thing on it. And now it becomes a classic. I'm friends with Slick Rick and Mandy. And we're able to, you know, we do life together outside it. So that was super cool. That's the first thing about the song. It was already, the template, the foundation, the bones of it was already there. The second thing about the song was that I got the opportunity

I don't know how he's doing right now, but I got the opportunity one time to sit down with Lano Ritchie, who to me was one of the guys that grew up listening to. Lano Ritchie pulls me and my wife into a room. I'm at Madison Square Garden, and I'm there for Phil Collins, Gloria Estefan,

and what was it? I was probably scalping the tickets outside to that event I did. Chances was, I was scoffing. It was dope, you know, and somehow I managed to get backstage, and he pulls us to side or whatever. And he shares some really, really cool stuff about songwriting with me.

Some of the things you were talking about when it comes to writing like the perfect song. And he basically tells me a bunch of different things. But he says, ultimately, when you write songs, think forever. When you write songs, think forever. He gives me that. He gave you a gem. Oh, my God. That's great. That's gold. Because there are certain things like when you talk about, when you say this is how we do it. is Friday night. There will always be Friday night.

They may not always be a painter. The world got to end for it. There's a Friday night in Afghanistan. There's a Friday night everywhere. And so when I'm writing songs and from that time, I started not just thinking about even a song, you know, even a song,

you know why I'm talking about when I'm looking at you, I keep thinking, all those different things while I'm using pages. People don't use those things. If I say spin on a record, eventually records went to CDs and CDs, a perfect

song, I got a song, girl, can you tell me what's on tonight? I'm coming to your crib of dinner by candlelight. We're going to watch some TV. We're going to play your CDs. People won't play CDs no more. Yeah. And so when I sing that song, I joke about it now because I'm like, you know, some of y'all,

a CD is a little disc. Yeah. You know, so those are the two things. One, Slick had already made it. a masterpiece. I was able to come and take that and advance it to where now we got a classic, you know, together. And then the second thing is the reason why that song works and songs like it will work is because when you think forever, that's what Stevie Wonder does. That's what Smokey Robinson does. You know what I've learned, the things that really matter, you can't rush

you fat. You can't rush the sauce. You can't rush the music. You can't rush the music. can't rush relationships, and you definitely can't rush great tequila. That's why 1800 tequila stands out. The name goes all the way back to the 1800s. When the Beckman family started making tequila, and that patience, that attention to the craft, has been passed down through more than 11 generations. That's legacy. Sometimes you just got to let something cook.

Juan Beckman Vidal aged 1800, a Neo longer than he even had. to because he knew it wasn't ready yet. I respect that. Don't put it out just because you can put it out. Put it out when it's right. That applies to a record, a conversation, move, you're making, and clearly a bottle of tequila. Once you get it right, you share it with your people.

That's always been part of the story. Good tequila, good conversation, and the people around you really appreciate both. Passion, hard work, honesty. Those words are written on every bottle of 1800. And honestly, that's the foundation for anything built to last. So take your time with what you're creating. And when the moment is right, share it with your people.

1800 tequila. Good stuff takes time. And the best stuff's meant to be shared with your people. There's no shortcut for saving time. But saving money is simple. Just combine your car and home insurance with Bel Air Direct and save. Get a quote at bellairdirect.com. Didn't catch the latest Roland Martin unfiltered podcast.

Here's what you missed. And the argument is, do you want to win? If you don't win, you have no power. It's real. Those are the very people who I always say vote against their own economic interest, and they complain about the very thing to receive. It's raw. I knew that the issue of transgender athletes was not going well with a lot of black men.

Roland Martin unfiltered. I went off, I said, this is exactly what I'm talking about. All going to scream at Chanel, but you don't want to see a black luxury company in the same vein. Catch Roland Martin's daily commentary on the Black Information Network. Twelve seats. Those are moving south. So if you Democrats, you don't wait to 2030, you better be hitting the ground going hard in the south now. And download Roland Martin Unfiltered on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts.

Wherever you get your podcasts. 30 years ago, an island off Manhattan almost brought down New York City. Who will you trust your friends and neighbors? Who will you trust the people five miles overseas? This is a story about neighbors turning on each other. And what happens when a forgotten place decides it's had enough. We reached for a feeling that exists in this city. But we're not stopping, are we?

I'm Ben Nathafafri. And for my new series on Revisionist History, I took a deep dive into Staten Island's attempt to succeed from New York City in the 1990s. And what it all has to do with the politics of resentment that dominate America today. Listen to Revisionist History, the Staten Island Problem, on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's up? I'm Tony Gonzalez. And I'm October Gonzalez. But you can call me Toby. We want you to join us on our new podcast, No Safe Words with October and Tony Gonzalez.

We get real about marriage, parenthood, sex, divorce, and all the nitty-gritty stuff we all think about, but just don't say out loud. I hate that job. You're probably just going to meet with some rich guy and he's going to whisk you away and I'll never see you again. Well, this is awkward. Would you say a D-less actor? D? I don't even know.

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part of My Culture Podcast Network, available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Yo, Kiss, how do you make a party song? Do you put yourself there? I would like to think so. So you're like at the party? So you're...

You try to put yourself in a party. Yeah. That's how I do. I wouldn't try to make a party song with everything black and... The lights off and this. Man, I ain't saying that. I'm saying, do you actually, because the way I write a party song is,

I visualize myself in the party. How about going to a party? And write it at the party? No. It's going in. Get the energy, then. That's how you would do it. You know, I think making rain, somebody going to be in the strip.

And, like, you know, I went through that whole process of, like, you know, you got to be there. That was dangerous for me. What? Doing that. Like certain songs carry certain energy. You know what I'm saying? Like when I was recording like songs like Let's Ride and stuff like that, it was a number one record. Songs like Let's Ride, it was like Strip Club Anthem.

And at that time, you know what I'm saying? I was, that was B.C. Montet, kind of before Christ. Before Christ. Because you was like the sex symbol, you came out sex symbol. And you making records, what's the matter? We talked. I just even talking about you, man. Why are you getting to?

Oh, did me. So BC Montel knew the Lord, but wasn't walking in a pastoral space. And so in dark spaces or whatever, I felt like in order for me to make a dope strip club song, I needed to put myself in that position or whatever. And so in doing that, I was compromising myself for the sake of the music,

you know, to be successful. I'm not saying that. Like if you're going to make a bank robbery story, don't go rob a bank. Yeah. Then try to make the... Well, all of this is... That's what the new guys do.

They go kill it. They didn't make the song. It's a real problem with the youth where they almost forced them to live out the records. Real, recognized real, right? So, so I... I think part of the challenge is if you find somebody to be a fraud in something, right,

dude talking about this or the other, and you're like, yo, who, this guy is a, you know, he went to prep school. Who is this guy? You know, okay, people catch fire for that, for not being authentic. So that's where you got the, I think the younger generation is like, okay. In our day, I don't care. Maybe I'm older, but I look at it at all as entertainment. Yeah.

So at the end of the day, I don't care if you went to college. I don't care if you was a gangster or this. Maybe when I was younger. Yeah. I mean, like, yo, this guy ain't been shot before. He ain't went to jump. Maybe. But now, he's just all entertainment.

So I don't care. It's entertainment now, Joe. Yes, entertainment. Like, one of my favorite rapists is Kanye West. I don't think he ever robbed the bodega in his life. Yeah. You know, but the guy, he doesn't said the wildest things in the world. I love him, though.

You know, it's all entertainment. Yeah. The thing is that the kids need to understand is that when we watch these gangster movies, Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, all these movies, they do these all-time legendary scarface and golf, and then they go home. Yeah. With their family and eat Sunday dinner and they don't have to be out there shooting. Nobody is selling keys and not like that.

Yeah. It's entertainment. They tell stories. Yeah, stories. I think the best storytellers are the ones who are closest, you know what I'm saying, to the content. Yeah, right? And so, like, for me, okay, so I represented South Central L.A. And I was signed the Def Jam as Russell Simmons rap singer.

As I was an R&B singer to start. I was his rap singer. You were a rap singer. I was documenting street life in Los Angeles. So I was not a Crip. I was not a blood, but I was affiliated close enough to it to where, okay, I don't know

a lot about the rolling 60s, but I'm close enough to him or whatever to know the two finger handshake or this. Like, I was just close enough so that when I'm saying stuff in my song, you know, okay, this is a guy who's not just talking about from outside of it. He knows what the sign of helicopters are like, you know, you watch TV

sitting on the floor in the living room because of the potential drive guys or forth that, like, close enough to it that I ain't never had to shoot them, I ain't never had to rob nobody, but I still can be a witness to the stuff that I saw

to be able to tell accurate stories. Those are the best poets. But that somehow matures into, well, I don't just kind of, I can't just see it. Now I have to have kind of been a part of it. And I hate that, but I think that that's what the... And then you...

It's incorrect. Yeah. It's incorrect. I agree. I believe in if you, You got something to say, you bring it, and there's everything.

We have Rhapsody City, and it's the most positive sister in the world. We appreciate her music. We appreciate everybody's music, everything they bring to the game. And it is what it is. Whatever your upgrade, I hope you didn't have to grow up

in the projects with free cheese and all that. I hope you didn't. Like, I did. You know, but I hope you didn't. Like, you know, we don't want our kids to have. None of that.

Yeah, yeah. None of that. We don't want our kids. Recipes, right? I'm going to say his name. My brother, Full Flex. Man, he had to be one of the craziest guys I have been doing in my life. This guy right here, his temper was zero to 100 too quick.

And, man, he raised his kids. He used to tell me, I want my kids to be pussy. I want him to be the nicest kids in the world. I want him to be a student. I'm looking at him, and this guy was still jumping out the van. But with his family and his kids, he wanted that as peaceful as possible because, you know, why would we want our kids to live like that?

So I don't think they should be scrutinized if you're a great artist because you didn't grow up robbing the liquor store. In Vietnam. You're crazy, man. But listen, let me ask you something, man. Shout on my brother. He said the other night, he threw the event for the Force and Deast, 40 years of Force of Beast.

I'll tell you something. This was one of the best events I ever went to in my eyes. It was, and then you popped out of Cio Montel. You had the black silk shitter. Y'all was something. And he dances I would do it. I'm like, oh, oh. I mean, yo, man, I had the best time.

Forcing these, man. 40 years. You forget, like I'm old enough, but you forget everything they brought to the game. from day one, from force MCs to force MTs. Crazy. And while they're up there, tears, tears, and in my life around. Then they got the rap joint that was so crazy.

I haven't heard that since I was maybe a teenager. And when they did it, I was like, Yeah, yes, that's Sonic come out. And they start doing that. Go, Brooklyn. Heavy Brooklyn. That's crazy. Don't front light.

Daddy. You're from the Bronx, Harlem, all of them anywhere else. Y'all. Y'all just salute. Like coming up in there, Gold Brooklyn, and when I was growing up, I know they,

they're positive brothers. But I don't know if they knew the rock as they, stuff they started with the records with that, Go Brooklyn's in the house and all that shit. I'm like, yo,

that was an amazing and Melissa Morgan. Yeah. I had never seen her live. She sounded like the record still. Ain't that? For some D's two. We body that, though.

Like body, body, body. I was like, yo, this had the best time in the world. And we got to appreciate all the legends for what they brought to the game or what they do and what they did in the game and how much happiness. Because basically at the end of the day, we supply service. Yeah. And the question was brought up to me the other day at a podcast, actually yesterday. And they were saying, what's the difference?

And then, well, Fat Joe as not just a hip-hop historian, but as a traveler of the game or whatever, the biggest thing I came up, the answer I came up to is people have to like you. And there's a reason why some people are successful, sure they're talented, but people have to like you. You know how many people I met Most beautiful women

Handsomest guy Six-packed-up Best rappers in the world And for some reason their careers never went And the girls are the same thing And sometimes I'll go to like a lounge And some random woman That come out and start killing it

Like fucking Aretha Franklin You wonder, yo, what happened? Why she ain't have a career? Yeah She's fucking special. Yeah And it's just, unfortunately, maybe it ain't, that's what they hear for because it's... I was told as a formula. I don't know if it's accurate.

I was told it was a formula. At least the formula that was em bred in me at that time period was, if you want to be successful, guys have to want to be like you and girls have to want to be with you. So from the standpoint to be a male artist, well, that's true. Successful, like, guys got to want to hang with you. Women have to want to be with you. Same thing for women artists.

Guys got to want to be with you. Girls got to want to hang with you. If you have both of those things. So if you look at an artist who may be super, super dope as a guy, but maybe you know how the right look or the right this or the right that, it's like you can reach a certain amount of success. I don't know that to be. I see some ugly guys stuck.

the face. You know, for sure. They stuck in their face. You know what stuck in your face is? It's been a minute since I brought out the stuck in the face catalog. They're motherfucked stuck in his face. He's ugly and shit. He can't go nowhere.

He's in there stuck. There's nothing we can do about it. Stuck. He's stuck in his face. Let me tell you some, one day I was on a tall. You never heard that. You never heard it. That's a bad Joe special.

Let me tell you some, one day I'm fall. way. I don't know way. I might have said. Saudi Arabia. I'm far. Beirut. I'm somewhere far. And I'm like, you know when you're traveling and you delirious, I'm like in the airport. I look up and look at this guy saying, oh my God. He's stuck in the face. This guy is stuck in their face.

I've seen guys like that be successful in the music business and women. So I don't, I understand the theory. I always believe that my whole life. But at the end of the day, there got to be something in your soul and your DNA that attracts people to like you. Because I met so many challenges.

So the ugliest people that's successful, that's like rare success. It is. It is. It is. It's a hard one. It's a hard pill to swallow, bro. That trim fire, that Sky Rizzy,

that Sky Rizzy there. Because you go, you say, this already got me in trouble in my house, right? This thing I'm about to say, it's going to double up the... I don't do it again. Because the people, man. I don't know if you know what they want.

want to know, man. Go ahead. You know, we got fans that want to know. And so I go, right, to a podcast, and I recently seen one of their birthdays, and the guy,

you know, and everybody showed their girlfriends. And boy, did they have beautiful wives and girlfriends. So I tell them, yo, that doesn't mean no disrespect whatsoever, but you guys, man, you know, you guys got beautiful wives, man, this, this, that. And then the guy was

like, all right, he gets paid this, he gets paid that, he gets paid that, he gets paid that, good it. Makes sense now. Why you have such elite women under your arm. You guys are rich like that. Of course, this makes sense right over here.

You guys, that's why you got them. They said it makes you more hassle. They've said that. Yo, Montel. You talking to the wrong. Yeah, you don't want me to go. I used to sit next to guys. You ever seen them guys that look like they put

The cigarettes out of their face. Holes in the face. You know what I'm talking about? Holes, it looked like they just, they were tortured by cigarette. You ever see these guys? Let me tell you. Astray face.

I used to see ashtray face with a bottle of my weight and the most beautiful chick in the world. And I used to sit there. Yeah, I was a fat guy, but I had green eyes. I thought I was asking. You know, what is this guy doing? The waiter comes over and says, he had tippa well. This guy, he made too much money.

It all makes sense. It all makes sense. So, yes, it's rare success. It's all the way across the board. It's rare success. Yeah. But I agree with you. But with me, the smartest thing I can say is they got to like you.

Yeah. And so you know, that's the way that thing works. We're entering prostate awareness month, September. What you got going on? You got any seminars or are you doing any? I'm just on the front line for prostate cancer awareness. Early detection, it helps save lives. I know that one in every eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer.

I know one in every six men will look like us. and men that look like us are twice as likely to die from prostate cancer if not caught. To Maria Davis, I pulled the bus up in my hood and got free testing for people that look like. Yeah, man. I appreciate that. Your life matters, bro.

And I think some guys, you know, they don't trust the medical profession. Some guys that just don't want to know. No, it killed me. It was mad dudes that stood right there and didn't do it. Didn't do it. It's free. Yeah.

And, yeah, man, people are scared of the truth when it comes to Canada. You're going to be scared of other. You ever took an AIDS text back in the days? I take one off. I like to think I ain't got no AIDS. I like, I mean, I took it one time. Holy. Shit.

Whoa. Holy colors. kilometers. Wow. The high blood pressure was on 10,000. You thought you was about to get. Remember a need of a beast from back in the day? You're like, yo, surely there's a trace of it in the system.

Surely you got that shit. You said, remember a needed a beast? Oh, my. A need of the beast is a sick with you. This guy's crazy. No, that's shit. Real, man, you got to test yourself. You got to do everything you want to.

I just feel like we're never healthy enough, right? Yeah. With prostate cancer, there's been a taboo. You know what I'm saying? A lot of guys in, it is the most treatable form of cancer. Prostate cancer. 99% treatable when caught early. And then the taboo in different communities

because for a period of time, it was an anal check, a rectal check. that, you know, I'm not going, anybody. Okay, now it's a, it is a blood test. Now it is a, you don't have to go up in you no more. They don't have to go in your butt no more. No more. That's archaic.

That's, you just want it that way, if that's the case. They don't do that no more. You don't have to, can I explain? If they ain't got a blood test, dear, that's the time. If they ain't got the blood. This is how we doing. If they got a blood test, you volunteer for a mud test.

That's a flag. That's a flag. And they tell her you can draw blood. You're telling them, man. I want to all. Ah, dog. It's a blood test. Yeah.

Take the blood test. Take the blood test. The bumba-clot blood test. The bumba-clot blood test. The bumbac-clot blood test. Blood test, you know. Blood test. Y'all need the money waters.

Money waters, your bumble, fly. Y'all, let me tell you. It's a blood test, guys. It's a blood test. Now, when you go for your normal physicals, you just have to tell them, I want to be tested for PSA. PSA is prostate-specific antigen test.

If you go to a normal physical and get your normal check, they will not give it to you unless you ask for it. I'm going to ask my doctor next time. I just took blood last week. You got to ask for it. If they took your blood last week, they will not take a PSA unless you ask for.

Listen, I have the best doctor in the world. Dr. Gene Neiman, he's also a liar. He has to be. He's the greatest, smartest doctor saved my life where he lies to me. Look at me. I look good. I'm too 38. I don't even eat a car about this.

He's a joke. We got to work on his diet. we got a distance. I said, now, Doc, you bullshit me. Like,

you got to stop. Like, but he'd be like, he won't, he won't amp it up. I'm 238. I was 500 pounds. I can't believe it.

I go up and down there, Doc. What are you talking about? Need to tweak some things, Joe. I'm like, damn, the doc is crazy, bro.

I feel like it's nowhere. I walk in there, like, I'm in Miami on vacation. Joe, it's time. I'm on vacation. Yeah. Joe, it's time. Be there in them all. Doc,

how fast? Don't work. Like, surely, I have the best numbers in the universe. Yeah. You know, when you rush, you're talking about the guys scared. They scared because they think they're unhealthy. Yeah. Me, I run, because I know I'm doing the right thing. That's right. Then he gives me my

result back, Joe, we've got to take more vitamins and to add charcoal to the time. I'm like, yo, Doc, you got it. Like, what do you want to be? A human medicine? Yeah. And what you're doing?

You know, you're taking so much medicine. I don't, you know, you take vitamins every day. You know how many of them shit is this big every day? Now we're down. Sure. Let's take what you need. I'm just taking what he gives me. He gave me a lot of shit, man.

I mean, thank God I'm healthy, you know. Your life matters, man. Your legacy matters. You know what I'm saying? Dope wife, kids, all of that. Little Joe, like, your life matter. So you got to want to know. You know what's going on.

I got kids. You got to want to be it. You know, I got five grandkids. You don't want to know. You don't want to be it. You know. Yeah. And you work for the whole entire family,

grandkids, everything. Like, I mean, you know, what I'm leading to is this guy works hard. He works like us. I see him in the world all the time, working hard and nonstop. Right. And then we see somebody like a living legend, like Gladys Knight was on stage, 80-something years old, and it looked like she got some cognitive,

like she forgot she was on stage. And when she's 82, what happened, kids? So I figure out where you, I'm trying to figure out how you put him with Gladys. No, no, because what I'm saying is this man performs, like you perform, and I perform. and we perform that we got to keep paying

these bills. That's how I perform. We do. I don't know when he's going. Like when does it stop? Like Gladys Knight is 82 still performing and they're saying she's starting to forget stuff on stage. Is that a necessity?

Yeah, you think Gladys Knight is broke. Tracy? I don't think that. Right? He's like to perform. But it was a discussion. When I brought it up, somebody said, you know, back in the days

they used to rob the artist this. I said, come on, Gladys Knight. Like, so. I believe she caught all the... Are we going to be performing at 82 and all right? No. We're not, right? No, we're not going to.

Not 82. We've gone too far. We've got to be wise, bro. 82 is praise. We've got to be wise. If you still got to... Gladys Knight is performing at 80s. Only one Gladys Night.

Did you ever hear of Gladys Day? It's only one, man. She might be the standard thing that say don't perform at 82. I can't do lean back at 82, but people are going to fall down and break a head. They go back to her. They're already going to be lean to the back. Leans front when you get 80. Sometimes I'm like, you see that crowd that I performed that other thing?

Crazy. About a hundred thousand and all that. You seen that right? That was Romanian. That's that joke. doubt that job. That was Romania. Be clear about that. Romania, $100,000 or something like that.

Man, I'm leaning medium. I don't lean back. You know, I used to lean back? No, I'm like, shit is lean medium. Need a little massage as soon as I get back.

That shit is not. Life on the road, that man, Rich came back with a transfusion or something. Like, you went to the chiropractor so fast. Like sitting in that chair for 14 hours? How do you do that at 80-something years old? I don't know, guys. I keep saying.

You don't. For one, think the most hard times change. The finances change. If she was getting Romania money at that age, she definitely wouldn't probably be up. But she probably still just doing it out of passion. I don't know, man. I don't think she needs it.

I don't know. I don't know. I think that there are certain artists to get to a space of where their royalties, their finances, like they're good, and they can perform because they want to, as opposed to because they have to or they need to. And that's the space, you know, if you're doing wise with your money, your resource, your investment, your trust,

all those different things that you want to be at a space that, you know, you want to go to a little man, you want to watch Steve Harvey on TV. I don't know TV. I don't get to watch Jeopardy and Steve Harvey and like I don't know what's coming on Monday night General Hospital or nothing like that I ain't got no life like that

I want to know right like what's up there's some people you people admire us but you don't know we jealousy you you get to watch the 5 o'clock news

you get to see you bro they're there with their kids they're eating dinner with their kids You watch the 5 o'clock news on your phone. I ain't, yeah, okay. You can watch everything on your phone. On your phone?

Yeah, that's what the world switched to. How about I don't know how to do shit on my phone? About that. I call a man, I couldn't turn on no TV. I couldn't turn on none of the apps in my TV. I called my man Josh, Jersey. He sent his man over there. It was like, Joe, the button.

Really? No, I'm saying this shit. Really not working. Yo, I take a bunch of it. Upstance, this shit, really not working. Don't tell me it's like, come to my room. The other night I just, uh, but Joe this button right here, you know, all the apps just,

surely the movie's getting. I'm going to press me. I'm the dumbest. I get this shit. I feel so stupid. I almost got so mad at him. I ain't want to give him a tip on the way out. I was going to fuck at it with your smart ass.

You know this shit Nah man Hit the button Joe Yo It's so Yeah yeah You feel so dumb When they come over

Joe What's the problem Everything's okay Yeah you know this shit I'm like that No Netflix son I got to watch Joe and Jay And no Netflix

He's like here Right here Huh Why you do that? He's like that's the button Man, I'm trying to adapt to the times. Montel, I'm going to give you a prophecy. You got the new children's book, man.

Let's hear about the book. I'm going to give you a prophecy. Okay? I'm going to give you a prophecy. And your wife is here so she knows I'm not bullshit. All right. I think you're going to be huge. You start a podcast about religion and your fight

and you struggle and it's going to be the biggest. I think that's where you need to go with it. And this is how we don't perform at 82 years old. I'm saying? And I think you got something to say. There's something about you that's always so peaceful every time I see you.

People need that. You know who's my favorite pastor? You're all going to laugh. Joe Lostey. They all laugh at me when I say, you know, it ain't TJ? It ain't this. You know, the guy makes me feel nice.

I watch him. Joe, if you missed the parking spot, it wasn't for you. Go to the next park. He's like, yeah, yeah, sure, these guys, if they did this to you, Joe, this, I'm like, man, this guy. This thing of beauty, this guy, Joe Losed it. Why? Because he's peaceful like you.

You're peaceful. I think you can do a peaceful thing where you make people feel good. People are tired of all that. They want to feel good. make him feel good. He's going to do it. Why, you can't do it? I said a prophecy.

I said a prophecy. This is the first time you heard me talking like that. It could be prophetic or pathetic. It could be prophetic. Or prosthetic. I say, prophetic. I said prophetic or pathetic. Or prosthetic.

You know my legs. That's the rapper in you. I got that. I got the weev wabbled to Jerry Lewis. You know what I mean? But they weren't. This guy's crazy. They work.

But, yeah, I think you need to do that. And, you know, take, you're going to be big on that. Will you help executive produce that? I'm going to do it. This whole time I've been looking at you. I've been thinking dollar signs, a Lord with the Lord. Along with the Lord, I've been thinking dollar signs this whole time. Don't mind me.

Don't mind me. I'm thinking the whole time. I'm thinking the whole time. Oh, my God, this guy here, we got to do something. Yeah. This guy, oh, he got that. Joel Osteen in him. Yeah.

He said he's just, he's crazy. I've seen the fish. Joe Losses is the best. No, no. I didn't say nothing about Joe. Last time I said that you killed me. You was like they do start,

you named like 10 passes. You don't watch Michael Jell ground. You know what? I said, listen, the man is peaceful. I watch him. He makes me feel peaceful. He sits down and he might have stopped me from getting of 20 jail cases.

Guy cut me on in the parking, I'd be like, Joe Ooste, we want to go on there. The Lord said it wasn't for me. Yo, we want Joe Ooste. I go around the car and put Joe Osteen on this couch. That's going to be an awkward.

We got to get me up on the past. You know, I got to connect to get them. You know, I met Joel Osteen before. Who? Joel Osteen. Who? Joel Osteen. Him and his wife.

We know all about him His father was the past I'm a big Joe Lohsteen Get him up here What makes you think I can get Joel Olstein up here? You back on your phone I get him

You could get him Can you please get him I would love for Joe to come on the show No Joe's my guy Like I'm telling you Then why you can't get him You can't get him

Listen we go over this thing Y'all We got a new podcast I'm like, yeah, fabulous. Jim Joe Dissie's like, Beyonce, Gangam Up style. The Dalai Lama, the Gangam Up style. Called you Bajami MC. I was like, you're my man.

What, what do you think you get this? What's wrong with you? You think I can get Joe Losey? It sounds like he's your man. No. Sound like he's your guy. I'm just a fan. bro.

I'm just the fed. But let's work on that, Montel. We're going to get Joe Lowe's Steve. That would be legendary. I mean, and guys, if y'all don't know Joe Lohstein, he's coming with a suit him? One million per se he's coming

with a suit. He's going to come with him. Me? No, I ain't coming to me. I'm the can't be judged. God don't judge nobody. You're walking in, you come, how you come, and you bring what you bring to the table. I think everybody, we don't want to get into that. I think everybody has their relationship and their position with God.

Obviously, if there's a holy wall of morn, God appears, I'm on the front line with a bazooka. Because I go. He know I go. So he's going to be like, yo, on my shooters. Come on out if you love the Lord and I'm on the front line, brother. I'm on that front line. Like he's a different, everybody got a different position with the Lord.

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Get a quote at bellair direct.com. Didn't catch the latest Roland Martin unfiltered podcast? Here's what you missed. And the argument is, do you want to win? If you don't win, you have no power. It's real. Those are the very people who I always say vote against their own economic interest and they complain about the very thing to receive.

It's raw. I knew that the issue of transgender athletes was not, going well with a lot of black men. Roland Martin unfiltered. I went off, I said, this is exactly what I'm talking about. Y'all going to scream at Chanel, but you don't want to see a black luxury company in the same vein. Catch Roland Martin's daily commentary on the Black Information Network.

Twelve seats, those are moving south. So if you Democrats, you don't wait to 2030, you better be hitting the ground going hard in the South now. And download Roland Martin unfiltered on the IHart radio app, Apple Podcasts. Or wherever you get your podcasts. 30 years ago, an island off Manhattan almost brought down New York City. Who will you trust your friends and neighbors? Who will you trust the people five miles overseas?

This is a story about neighbors turning on each other. And what happens when a forgotten place decides it's had enough. We reached for a feeling that. that exists in this city. But we're not stopping, are we? I'm Ben Nathafafafri. And for my new series on revisionist history, I took a deep dive into Staten Island's attempt

to secede from New York City in the 1990s. And what it all has to do with the politics of resentment that dominate America today. Listen to revisionist history, the Staten Island Problem, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, what's up? I'm Tony Gonzalez. And I'm October Gonzalez. But you can call me Toby. We want you to join us on our new podcast, No Safe Words with October and Tony Gonzalez. We get real about marriage, parenthood, sex, divorce, and all the nitty-gritty stuff we all think about,

but just don't say out loud. I hate that job. You're probably just going to meet with some rich guy and he's going to whisk you away, and I'll never see you again. Would you say a D-less actor? D? I don't even know there's such thing as

No, no, no, no. I mean, like... Can't even get on the C-list? Like, I'm not even average. I'm not even passing. I'm failing. Listen to No Safe Words with October and Tony Gonzalez, part of My Culture Podcast Network. Available on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

The Chil's book, man. We're going to bring on Montel's wife, Kristen. They wrote a book together. They wrote a book. Wow. Give it up. Give it up, everybody. Come on now. The man. Come here. The man.

Come here. Yeah, Montel. Yo, this woman held you down, man. Yeah, man. Man, through thick and things. You tell me I see change your life. You know, by the way, let me tell you something. I love your husband.

I like to think we're very good friends. When we have shows together, we talk. I always try to find them. I was mad. I ain't see you. I went over there looking for you. I was gone. But I went and I always talked to him.

And the man, not every man. although every man gotta love their wife, right? But not every man talks about their wife so passionately and so beautifully like this man does.

So it's an honor and feel like I know you even though I don't think we met before like that but I feel like I know you because of how he speaks about you when you're not around. So welcome to the show.

Tell us what's going on, what we're working on. First of all, it's an honor. Y'all are legends. We love you. We've been in the game for a long time. And we was at the 160 Barrett and did all I managed him. Original.

Original build. Man, it's a whole thing. So I've been in the game a long time. But you are legit, the same person here that you are everywhere. And that's one of the things I love it. And the reason why you can recognize that is because when I see you with your wife, you revere her and honor her. good way. She's a good woman.

Thank you. Oh, my God. She's dope and she's beautiful. You're married up. You married up. You did good. I did good in the crib, Joe. You think I'm good in the crib. Are you off that right now? I told her today I walked out the crib and said, high blood pressure.

High blood pressure, you're giving me high blood pressure. I got to get out of here. I ran about the crib. Oh, my God. But you know, on behalf of my wife, we're sending two planes from, Friday to Columbia filled with food with his hygiene,

waters, because they had the earthquake. She's Colombian. Yeah. So, you know, we got to do that. You know, she was like, She was like, you know,

what about my people? I said, you know what? We're going to put that thing in the, we're going to make it happen with the people, the Queens, borough president, Ruben Diaz,

a bunch of people came together. They collected all these food. They had no way, you know, when, when, disasters happen, people, they do what they can,

but they can't pay for the plane. To get it there. The plane is the real deal. That 7-7-7 is like, and so it seems like all the disasters, they tap me and be like, yo, we need a plane. I'm like, Jesus Christ, I think fat joke,

but we do. We make it happen. You know, it's a big thing for me to give back to the people, help the people. But that's why God bless you. All the time. And that's what you. you need to know is that because

of the way that you pour out and you put in, that's why God never leaves and always has favor in your life because of the things that you do for the community and the things that you do. Not everybody does. They have it, but not everybody does that. So I recognize.

I'm a terrible liar. And so, you know, if I give you my word or if I tell you I'm going to do something, I got to see it. Sometimes it's uncomfortable, but sometimes I got to see it through it. So my thing is, God, look out for me.

I promise you, God, when you look out for me, I'm going to take care of the people. I'm going to share with the people. I'm going to look out for the people. I'm going to this, this, that. Then the man starts blessing you. Yes, it's it. He says, he can get it through you.

You know what? We got to help the people all the time. You know, I'll tell you something quick. And I really want you to talk about the book and everything. But, you know, one day, I'm driving through the Bronx by myself. I'm in my Rose Roy. He said, I'll stop at the gas station. And I go get me a dying Pepsi.

When I come out as a homeless man, not regular homeless. This guy got all you all over. He's not a regular one. He's like, Supreme Being homeless. He's not just a new guy that lost his job. This guy is like, forget about it.

I sit there. I'm like, yo, yo, yo. He's like, yo, Joe, I don't want to. I don't want nothing. I said, well, you be the first. You don't want nothing? I don't want nothing. I just want you to know I'm here.

I'm out here in these streets. We know what you do for us. We know how you took care of the Muslim people in the fire. We know this. He started telling me, but he says, we know, we're out here. We see what you're doing. And that's better than any, you know,

Grammy, any BET Award, anything in the world. When you got the most, the guy who's in the biggest struggle ever, he's homeless or you want him and all. I said, I don't need. I know that. I know what you're doing. He said, we know. And we don't, you know, a lot of people don't see those people.

Absolutely. You know what I'm saying? So when you do see them, you know, and they say stuff like, oh, no, we see you. That's it. Yeah. It's a big deal. Sometimes you're entertaining angels. When you do that, you don't understand.

You ever thought that? I do. I do. Listen, sometimes he subs them in because he's testing you. He's trying to test your heart to see if you're the same here and the same there. I could tell you two weird things that happen to me. A lot of weird things have happened. Like two times in my life.

One time in Miami, I went through something where they was about to kill me or something. And some random man got me out of there. He put, you, you jump in the car. Right? I jump in the car, I get out of there. We in Vegas. We're going to Vegas for a show. It's about 100 degrees.

It's a wildfire. The bus breaks down. The bucks breaks down. In the middle of the thing, a guy pulls up in the band, like a 16-passage guy. It's the same man who took me from Miami. You remember me?

I said, Yo, yo, I was like, yo, he was like, the guy from Miami that time. We jumped in his van. That's crazy. That was crazy. That's crazy. That's amazing.

But that's how it happens. And that's the thing. Same guy would keep sweat. I can't believe it. I went to the Key Sweat show and he was behind stage. Yeah. With Keith Sweat, the same guy.

And I was like, yo, I never tell that one because some of my stories is too much. too much. That really happened in real life. The same guy in the middle of the desert, in Miami, that's when I get to thinking like, this guy, angel or something, because this guy, he come up and assigned to your life.

Years later. Well, that's why. So when he talked about prostate cancer, and he was talking about he trusts you. The thing is, is that the reason why he bless you is because he trusts you. And sometimes it's a test. Sometimes it's a, I get it to you

to see if I can get it. through you. Talk slow. So it's a big thing. And the thing is, is that you, because you're real and because you're a real one and you're going to do what you're going to say and say what you're going to do, that's why God can trust you with those kind of things. And that's why he keeps blessing.

He can't trust everybody. He cannot. He can't trust everybody. That's great. Dude, you've been a, I've got to gash you up. Like, you're all a legend. For me, like literally, I got kids that, know, they know y'all by voice.

Yeah. Yeah, that's crazy. They don't, they don't even have to see you. I can put on something, and if your voice comes on it, they know it immediately. And that's one, that's the difference between a lot of music today or whatever. Like, it's music now, it was artistry during our time period. Individuals.

I mean, I can tell you, how about that? You know, I was, yeah, we was like, We knew. We knew. You know, I was in the, I was going to tell it, but you caught goosebumps right there, so I just let you finish because, you know, I'm infamous for cutting people off. But when I left my mother's house, I was 14, I fought with my father, and I said, I'm going to the streets. But I'm only 14.

Yeah. Think about your kids now. Yeah. Not even chance. We were already met. Yeah. Right? I'm 14.

I'm terrified. And I'm sleeping in a crackhead hotel. They're busing people's heads open. The cop cars is all over. They shooting heroin in the AIDS epidemic, right outside the door. You open the door? A lady's shooting heroin in the door. The only thing they got me through that was listening to Slick Rick.

All night long on repeat, I had a walkman. I needed to walk me in the sleep. All right, lardy, doughty, all that. Just slick Rick, slick Rick, slick Rick. every day. I know every ad lib, every word, every, everything to every slick Rick. So when you're explaining it to me, I'm saying to myself, wow,

because I could, I could single-handed. I love everybody for everything in hip-hop, but I could singly single-handedly say that time of my life where I needed the most courage, it was slick Rick, it was getting me through the night. That's dope.

That's nuts. That's dope. You know? So you guys got a book? That's it. Courage. It's a good Segway. It's called courage? No, but that's what it's all about. I'm going to tell you what it's about. It's Shiloh and the not-so-scary girl above his bed.

And it's about a monster who lives under the bed, and he's afraid of the little girl that lives upstairs. And what it is is, it's a flip-on-fear. That's it. It's a flip-on fear. My son, when he was three years old, was afraid of the monster that lived under his bed. And every night he'd be in my room trying to sleep in our bedroom.

I was like, yo, he got to go back to his bedroom. This is not going to work. This is married folks stuff. We can't do this. But for me, I had this idea when I went to go put him to bed and I said, buddy, what if the monster under your bed is more afraid of you than you are of him? And what if he wants to be your friend? Because he's afraid that you live upstairs. And he was like, huh.

And it made his mind start to process that, wait a minute. And I said, you're bigger than him. He's afraid of you. You don't have to ever be afraid of him. And kids are afraid of the unknown. They're afraid of what they don't understand and what they don't know. And so we want to make sure for us that it, that was what sparked the idea to make sure that kids know how to be brave and to be courageous. Because it's not that it's not scary.

It's that do it afraid. Fear is going to come. That's it. You can't stop fear from coming. There's a lot to be afraid of in the world. Right now, especially. here. But from the standpoint of this, we're able to equip a kid that even in the face of fear, you can still be brave. You can still take a courageous step. You can still do it, you know,

afraid. And so, I mean, for me, you know, that Shiloh, you know, has a little girl, he's afraid of above the bed or whatever. For me, it's cancer. You know what I'm saying? That's a monster. You know what I mean? And so from that standpoint, when you are faced, you know, with a diagnosis or something like that, the same way that we're trying to help equip kids to be able to deal with fear. We're not just, this is just a book of kids. It's for the adults that are imparting that into, making that investment into their kids because there's a lot of adults that's afraid of stuff to this day because unattended fear in childhood becomes, you know what I'm saying, trauma and anxiety in adulthood.

And so literally those are the spaces. We're trying to help our kids right now, our grandkids now. We're trying to equip them. to even though fear will be present, you can still be courageous and take the next ball step. At the end of the day, it's all about courage.

And every time you face fear, every time, you know, you just got to stand up. Yep. Yeah. I wrote a book about my life, and if I had to break it down, it just be courage.

You know, so many times it looked like the whole world was falling on you, and you got to come outside. You got to face the fear. You got to have courage. Yeah. You know what I mean?

It's a sick world out here. It is. But you know what's funny is that you were talking about Joel Olstein earlier. And it's one of the things that for us, it's teaching kids how to speak over their own life. Like one of the things that we do with him is he has a brave stance so that even when he feels afraid, he'll look in the mirror and say, I am brave. I am courageous. I'm loved. The thing is, is that when we speak those words of life, which is what are you.

love Joel Osteen, is that he speaks life. It's the life that he speaks over you that is what you is attractive to you. And that's the part that you're like, okay, it makes me feel good because that's how God designed us. We speak life and life happens. We speak death. It also happens because we have that power. But that's one of the things. If we can empower our kids to do that, then for us as counselors, as marriage counselors,

we sit across from people all the time, afraid to stay, afraid to go. afraid to make a decision. I'm like, dear God, what are we doing? But what it is is they never address these things as kids. And so now they're afraid of everything. And so now we need to double back. Let's empower our kids. Nobody could pick their childhood.

No, not at all. Whatever trauma they went through or whatever the case may be, you just got to fight through it. Because, you know, the type of stuff I went through, I thought everybody went through it. I've been telling people's stories of when I was a kid and they looked at me like I got seven, heads. They're like, huh?

Yeah, every night, every day that happened, every single day. Really? This, this, that I think about, I got bullied every day for two years in junior high school. I got beat up by 20 guys every day. And my mother wouldn't allow me

to quit school. So I had to fight these guys every day. They beat me up every day. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I'm telling you. But I had to go to school every day. And I'm a happy I did. You know what I'm saying?

I met this guy one time. This guy says, my man Torn R&S brings his man to the studio. I'm already the dawn now. Now I've got all my guys around where he's voice outside, this, this, that. So he comes and he says, yo, this is my man. You know, his wife went to junior high with you. Immediately, I like shrunk. I said, oh, God, he knows.

This guy knows. So I said, your wife went to junior eye with me. It was like, yeah, she went to junior eye with you. I said, but she told you I got beat up every day. He said, nah, she seemed different. She said, you had enough heart to fight 20 guys every day out there. That hard. Perspective.

And it's a fresh cup of perspective. But kids need to know that they have the power to stand up for that kind of stuff. See, in this day and age, like, there's so many things that are scary. Like, for me, one of the things for us in Atlanta, there's a lot of stuff going on with ICE. And a lot of kids got a lot of things to be afraid of that are real things. We're not talking about, like, little stuff.

We're talking about, like, I don't know if my parent is coming home. Like, so we want to be able to empower kids. Let me tell you what ICE is doing now. It's a new ice. Remember they came out and it was like in the middle. No, kids. I'm trying to, y'all don't want to hear it? Yeah, we do.

I talked to my wife about this shit first thing in this month. morning. It's a new ice. They got a new style. They ain't just killing people in the middle of the street coming out with the vest like that. They're walking up to people's jobs nicely. This guy, I'm doing my house, my apartment over in Miami. This guy came, measured my whole apartment, nice man from Venezuela. Yeah. The next day they contacted him. See, hey, we got work for you to do. He went over there thinking of those work. He was like, my friend, to Venezuela go. walking up the people in the supermarket. They're not coming in ice like this no more.

They're walking up. Oh, signora, your Papele sweets in the supermarket. Why you're shopping? Oh, you got to go. Come on. Let's go. They're doing it quiet now. They say the new name is nice.

Nice. The new name is nice. The new name is that. I, I, I, I, go. Yo kiss. No. Yon kiss. No.

New ice is nice. I'm playing my words with this guy. No, sir. It's terrifying. Man, thank you guys. I love you guys. I'm getting farther the year for this. Huh?

I'm getting farther to year for this. I'm telling you, my kids, my kids, they love y'all. They be on this couch. They're like, yo, my dad is actually somebody. You know what this is Arsenio Hall, 2020? I love that. They got a step here. They got a step into the circle, man.

Yeah, yeah. And, uh, but we love you, man. How do I move from, I don't know where I'm in. I know Osteen is number one. I got, I'm clear. Old C's the man. I get that. I'm trying to figure out.

I don't know where I'm at on that pastoral list with you. I'm someone, I'm just one A. I don't know if I'm top five or whatever. No, one A. You got one A. I got you above Joe. You got a, he got Joe Lishie. I'm trying to get you up.

See, you don't like my God. That's the. I didn't say I don't like him. I just said I got him. I'm scared to even say that's my guy. Because when I say it's my guy, you don't like Bishop Jordan. You don't like the Bishop Williams.

You don't like Bishop Taylor. Why are you like Joe Austin? Nobody never said that. The nicest guy. The man comes on. Hey, everybody. Look at Joe Losey. Where can they get the books? Yeah.

Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, books a million. Shiloh thebraves.com. It's a great, great children's book. You're going to love it for your family. This is a modern-day Dr. Su's Peanuts. It's like, this kid, this monster has a whole world that's about to be open. My wife would give gay birth to this

for our new space in the world. I've done music. I see a cartoon happening. Yes, sir. It's all there. I see everything. It's helping the people. Whenever you do something,

were you helping the people? it always wins because you're helping the people, you're giving the kids courage. This ain't that? That ain't this. Cracking kiss, baby. One love, makes some noise for our guests,

my challenge. This is how to do it is Friday night and it's right. Parties down at the west side. Y'all, don't play best song ever. Didn't catch the latest Roland Martin unfiltered podcast?

Here's what you meant. There should not be a single law enforcement agency. It does not have body cameras. It's real. Black farmers have been under attack. This is just the latest example of them just slapping DEI on anything. It's raw. And I'm sitting here going, they are playing y'all for fools.

Catch Roland Martin's daily commentary on the Black Information Network. And download Roland Martin unfiltered on the IHart radio app, Apple Podcast. Or wherever you get your podcasts. The countdown is on to the most talked about music festival on the Planet. Let's go crazy. Our I Heart Radio Music Festival. Presented by Capital One.

September 18th and 19th at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas. 15 artists. Two nights, one stage. Listen on I-Hart Radio stations across the country and stream it live on Disney Plus and Hulu. BTS. Cardi B. Sierra. Gougu Doll.

Penny Chesby. Ariel. Lany Wilson. La CeraFim. Major Laser. News. Snoop Dog The Smashing pumpkins

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Are you ready? Buy your tickets now at AXS.com On big lives, we take a single cultural icon People like Jane Fonda, George Michael, Little Richard. And we pull apart the story behind the image. Discovering forgotten interviews that change exactly how we see these giants of our culture. We're here for the messy, the brilliant, the human version of our heroes. I'm Emmanuel Jochi.

I'm Kai Wright. And this is Big Lives. Listen to Big Lives on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. In February of 2024, celebrated illustrator and children's book author, Patra Mathers and her husband Michael mailed letters to dozens of friends and family members to let them know they had died by suicide. Dear honies, this is goodbye. By the time you get this letter, both Petra and I will be dead.

Next stop, Wonderland. Why did they do it? And what did it do to the people they left behind? Listen to Death of an Artist on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.