The Questlove Show - QLS Classic: 2016 Roots Picnic Part 2

Episode Date: June 26, 2023

Recorded from the 2016 Roots Picnic in NYC: Part II features appearances from Jungle Brothers, Emily Wells, Yuna, Daniel "Bambaata" Marley, Freeway, and E.Z.Mo Breezy from Grits & Biscuits.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-heart podcast. Guaranteed human. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits,

my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, the Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft. And we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar. This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand

the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, for wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slical Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. I'm Daniel Alarcon. And this is my friend, is much more famous than I am. I wouldn't go that far. But I'm John Green, co-hosted the podcast The Away End with my old friend Daniel. On our podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important.

Listen to The Away End with Daniel Auerkone and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Korsloves Supreme is a production of IHeart Radio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora. What up, y'all? It's Laia. And this week's QLS Classic continues from last week. Yeah, Roots Picnic. Live in New York, this aired October 26. Imagine it. Team Supreme hold up in a hotel across the street from the venue while everybody's performing. They're running across the street to talk to us, even Quest Love. So, make sure you pay attention to hear where he pops in. Featured in this episode, appearances from the Jungle Brothers, Emily Wells, Yuna, Daniel, Baner. and bought up Marley, Freeway, and Easy Mo Breezy from Grits and Biscuits. Enjoy y'all. What's up, y'all?

Welcome to a very special edition of Westlop Supreme. Once again, this is a road trip. Well, not exactly a road trip. We're kind of up the block from Bryant Park in New York City. I'll say that 20 years ago, when the roots were first formed, we made and cut our teeth on the festival circuit. And festivals are like now a thing in America, Back in the early 90s, it was like really unheard of to have different genres together under one roof, like doing a festival.

We always said that we had enough pool and, of course, enough finances. We were going to bring a festival to whatever city that we chose to do. Of course, I guess most of you guys are familiar with the Roots Picnic. That's our Philadelphia Homegrown Festival event. So this year we decided to take the Roots Picnic to Bryant Park in New York City and entertained over 20,000 people for two days. So many acts played the picnic. David Byrne, Wu-Tang Clan, DeAngelo, John Mayer, even Alicia Keys, Dave Chappelle, Common.

Of course, the Roots performed as well. We even had Now Rogers and Sheik. That's a lot of line-up. Anyway, we recorded these special episodes of Quest Love Supreme Live during the Roots Picnic. I was running around quite a bit, too. I popped up in the show occasionally when I had a minute, but it was basically rehearsing.

But don't worry. The team Supreme held it down, and they really did an amazing job running the show with my absent. That's right. We got Fonte. Boss Bill's still there. Unpaid bills there.

Sugar Steve is there. Lai is there, and a whole cast of others. And during this episode, you'll hear some great interviews with the Jungle Brothers. Union, Daniel Marley, Freeway,

the team behind Grits and Biscuits Party and Emily Wells. And I really hope you enjoy this show. This is part two of the Roos. Picnic, New York edition of Questlove Supreme. 1212, y'all. This is Quest Love Supreme, only on Pandora. It's Fonte Fonticolo, holding it down for the boss man and our cult leader, Questlove,

who is busy working today. We were broadcasting live from the Roots Picnic. In New York. In New York, New York City, the city and the state. We got lovely Laia. Nice. Unpaid Bill Sherman. My man, Sugar, Steed.

Steve, my man Scott Yeo, boss bill. You know what I'm saying? We all in here. We're having a good time. Man, I cannot say enough how much the brothers that we are honored to have in this building today. How much of an influence that they played on my life, on my musical career. Just, God, man, I don't know where to start. Straight out the jungle, the album.

Man, mess my head up. Done by the forces of nature. Mess my head up even more. Jesus Christ, man. I'm going to just let these brothers tell their story. Ladies and gentlemen, one of my biggest musical influences, the forefathers of the Native Tongue movement,

who just gave voice to so many of us. I'm talking about Mike G. Sammy B., baby, bam, ladies and gentlemen, give it up. The Jungle Brothers. Thank you. Thank you. 5,000 boom and watch.

Sound system. State of the art. Come on, man. Man, thank you. First of all, let me say, okay, me and Mike G. We have been planning to get together for like the past decade. Mike G. lives probably like 20 minutes for me. He's, we're both North Carolina residents.

I'm North Carolina born and raised. He is pretty much. I'm an implant now. He's a implant now. He's been. there and we are part of the growing community of rappers in North Carolina. I think Special Ed, I think he stood

in. Sadat is, Sadat X is in, well, I know at one point he was in Greensboro, I don't know if he's still there. I don't know. I was on his tail somewhere in Raleigh, I got a good friend down there, he says, yeah, man, I was just here. You know, his folks lived down there, Raleigh, got family down there, so. Yeah, yeah, Kane

of course. Kane is still in Durham, I believe, Durham or Raleigh, I believe. But yeah, me and Mike Gave been, yeah, let's get up, let's get dinner, let's do this. And this is the first time I think we've been in the same room. So tonight it goes down. It's funny how that works. It's funny how that works.

Yeah, I see him more on the road than I do actually in the city we live in. But now, brothers, thank y'all so much for me here, man. I cannot thank you enough. I guess let's just start with, well, let's start kind of, let's go, before we go back, let's like start with one of my favorite records from y'all,

which is fitting since the founder and our cult leader actually played on it, brain off the raw deluxe album tell us tell me about that record I remember at the time when it came out

it just sounded new it sounded like it was the Jungle Brothers that I knew in love but it just sounded like man like this is a reinvention like my boys is back you know what I mean

talk less about that record and too it came off of the first single the how you wanted which was just like some raw just straight loops I was like oh shit's fucking dope but then

but then y'all came with brain shit. I was like, oh, this is like some cool shit. Like, wow. So, let's talk about that record. Around the time y'all did it, where were you at mentally at that thing in your career? Because that was after the whole crazy wisdom masters.

Yeah, that was after crazy wisdom masters. We had got back together with John Baker at G Street, who was real instrumental in the first part of our career, off and straight out the jungle. It's funny how that all came together. But he was instrumental on the

on the Europe side for Jungle Brothers with straight out the jungle and we got together for the raw deluxe album and I want to say we were almost finished we were probably 16 some of our songs but we still needed that that one you know really to help I guess capture the soul of the new audience that was out there and somehow the link the link came and got us all in the studio you I'm saying. Quest thought they started early. By the time we got there, all it was,

do, do, and I mean, the rest is history. I mean, I think, like I said, as soon as we walked in,

it was that, and then the chorus came on, and then we just all split up, sat in the corner, started writing. That's dope. That's dope, man. To give our listeners a little backstory,

at this point in their career, well, just, and if I misspeak, please correct me. First album, straight out the jungle, hip hop classic. This was 1987, Warlock Records. 88, yeah. 88, I'm sorry, 88. So good. Worldock Records.

I was nine years old. A long time ago. But then the second album, Dunbarrefer wasn't born yet. His name is so serious. No, that's real. Hey, man. Hey, listen, brother.

The pretty eyes. second album done by the Force of Nature 91. Oh, 89. Is it 80? 89. 89? I remember I was in

fifth grade, I think, if I'm not mistaken. That record. So these were like two records that were, I mean, really just cemented these brothers as just one of the most kind of forward-thinking,

forward-moving groups in hip-hop. After the second album, there was another record called Crazy Wisdom Masters, which was a record that was never officially released. And by all accounts, by all, you know, the legend, everything, the record was incredible. I want to talk about that a little bit and talk about that record, kind of what happened to it and kind of the aftermath of that. Well, in the place of that record, the Crazy Wisdom record came.

J.B.'s with the Remedy. Yeah. That was also on Warner Brothers at the time. You know, the time period was, I think we were learning. You know, we had just, we came off of touring, done by the forces of nature. I mean, we literally, I mean, from straight out the jungle, we literally went from his graduation to touring Europe.

Wow. And then constantly touring. I mean, we literally didn't take a break for a very long time, for a really long time. So guys, you know, we're like 17, 18, 19. I mean, it's like, who does that? Who comes out of school? Get your passport.

Travel the world. The Berlin Wall was still up at the time. Wow. Wow. We're doing crazy festivals. That was really good. We're doing crazy festivals. I mean, it was nuts.

I mean, who does that? I mean, I'm hauling Brooklyn and Bronx. I mean, at that time, the 80s, late 80s. 80s, I mean, it was unheard of, you know. By the time we got back to the studio to start that third record, it was like, I mean, it was vomit. It was like, yo, look what we brought home. I mean, we got to deal with the likes of Bill Laswell, Bootsie, Mudbone, George.

I mean, it was just so much. We had so much that, I mean, it was hard to interpret. Your drama from the meters to Yeah, from the meters I mean All the cats I mean I mean

You are artists I mean Where your soul comes from I mean I have to I have to throw this back on you When that little brother album came out Oh wow

It's like It was a teary moment It was a teary moment You know what I'm saying Because you wouldn't think That that that type of soul Was in the audience Was in our

You know Amongst our peers like that Wow. But it's like we, so when we came back and we got to literally rub elbows and tour and do shows with the cast that we were sampling, that we were sitting up in the Bronx River Center listening to the beach, Jazzy and them going back and forth. And we're chilling with them in the tent, drinking beer, smoking weed and all that. And then you're going to put us in the studio right after that. Wow. Warner Bros. They couldn't understand that.

And that was for the crazy was a mass. Yeah, but it wasn't originally named. The crazy was the master. It was, I don't think we even had a name to, I don't think we had. Did he lose the originals or something like that? Yeah, you know, it was all politics. In short, we created a spaceship. We made a spaceship.

Warner Brothers, they know how to fly. They was like, now, hold up. We just need four wheels and a steering wheel. That's what they wanted. They wanted four wheels and a steering wheel. They did the oaky-doke with the mix after we master. to it. They found, you know, they pulled what they felt was, you know,

relatable to the audience. They put out on Jeebies with the Remedy. And, uh... That was the 40 Below Trooper. That was that. 40 below trooper, yeah. And I like that record. I mean, it was, it was funny because J.B.

With the Remedy was one of those records that, for me personally, had I not known the backstory, like, I would have been like, yo, this is dope. Like, had I not, I remember, like, reading, I want to say it was in the source or something with you guys where y'all were, you know, telling and talking about the process and how disappointing it was

and how the stuff y'all were going through with the label and everything. And I just remember reading, I was like, man, I had no clue. To me, it sounded like a Young Brother's record, but it was disappointing to hear that it wasn't you guys' vision, you know what I'm saying? But just for me, I mean, I remember 40 Blot Chui came out, I love that record. Oh, yeah. I mean, it was a, I think Crazy Wisdom Masters,

It held, I mean, it held the whole story. But I think it was just ahead of a lot of people's time. They just wasn't ready. Like I said, we built a spaceship, but they wasn't ready. They wouldn't even put out the test for, how do you drive a spaceship? We don't know. Just keep making cars, you know, that's what it was, you know? So, all right, so we're going to go into that.

So coming out of Crazy Wisem Masters into J.B.'s with the Remedy, this is when you left, J.B.'s with Remedy was 93, was it? Was it? Yeah, it was probably like 94. 93.94. Coming out of that record, you guys leave Warner Brothers, get with Key Street, and that brings us to the Raw Deluxe album, which brings us to Brain, which was kind of like a reintroduction to you guys.

Thank you. What year is that? That was 1996. Seven. That was 97? Man. That's 20. That was almost 20 years ago.

Yeah, because I remember that was like my senior year of high school, I want to say. And y'all about to have your 30th anniversary? Yeah, next year. I mean, that's like 30 years you guys are coming up on. What keeps you going? I mean, 30 is a long fucking time. Oh, man, just, you know, the love for the music. Definitely the love for the music.

And the chemistry. The chemistry, too. I think we friends before music. You know, we grew up together, high school, playing in the parks, going to the jams. I think that really kept us together. Because a lot of groups, money comes in between them and all that kind of stuff. And I think at this point, it really don't even matter.

I think that we still friends, and that makes a big difference. Do you guys feel like y'all were maybe more, like, better equipped to handle it now than you were when you were younger? I think so. Yeah. Yeah. We came along so early, you know, where it was. those pioneer years where you're just doing something in your circle or in your bedroom and not aware of what's out there.

And we got a chance to go out there when no one saw us coming, you know, to 52 different countries and see people experience hip-hop for the first time and still be 17, 18, 19. So we had like an early jump where, you know, you go from getting a radio in your room with a cassette, plugging turntables into it, making a little makeshift studio, and just doing it for yourself to actually being broadcasting on the radio on Red Alert show, a mix show that still was underground, to people taping you, you know, as far as Japan. and then you arrived there and they know who you are

but we still felt like we just stepped out of our bedrooms yeah when you talk about like the bedrooms you know the straight out the jungle that was one of the albums that me and the mirror talked about as being

in like and we mean this like in the best way technically it's like one of the worst mixed albums but that's what makes it well there's a story behind that like straight out the jungle I used to First of all, that whole album was made off turntables.

Wow. So that's not, there's no SB 12s, there's no Lynn Drums, there's no MPC heads, there's no laptop, of course. That was just straight off the turntables. So it's just straight raw turntables? Particularly straight out the jungle, I would come home from school. Those two records were from my dad's record collection. Okay.

And I would back, I only have. one copy of each record. So the Bill Withers break, and I would play that on one turntable and the mandrails on the other. And I only had eight bars. Wow. And I loved the way those two went together. I would just

play it over and over and over and over. Not even get a chance to write to it yet. And I just held that in my head until we finally got into a studio situation. Because we were in a couple of studio situations where the producers were throwing the drum machine beats at us and it was like, nah, that's not really the sound we want. But a lot of hip-hop records back then

was drum machine heavy. And then we got into the studio where there was turntables. And I took that same technique of straight out the breakbeat and then the groove, but now we have a tape machine. So on track one, you play those eight bars. punch in on track two, play those eight bars of Bill Withers' drums, and you keep doing that until you got five minutes. And I'm geeking off of that because I was like, okay, now I've got a track machine

instead of a cassette, you know, or even just doing it by hand. And then on track three and four, you're throwing down the mandrills for five minutes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So a lot of that stuff was just made on the fly, you know. And that was the process of the whole album, like behind the bush, you know,

We had the same process. I saw Sammy standing there with the record we used for the melody, which was a remake of Marvin Gay's What's Going On. And it was on 45, and we had to tape it to, you know, a vinyl and then blend that over the beat for five minutes, you know, and then go in the booth. And then Mike and I would be in the, another example, Jim Browski. That's what it is.

M&B was in the control room with the two turntables. Mike and I was in the booth with our rhymes already rehearsed. And he had his mic, I had my mic. Sometimes we had one mic we share together. Was I'm going to do you like that? Because that sounds like, y'all. Yeah, yeah. But you got to understand that Jim Browski,

that was all three of us, the way we're doing on stage. We did that in the studio, like a band. Like there's no, you know, sampling or putting it on tape first. There's no overdubs. There's no overdubs. It's like, okay, we're going to press record, take one, the old-fashioned way. But in the hip-hop context of like, we're going to emcee while he's DJing, you know what I mean? And then it's like, yeah, let's listen down.

Take two, you know what I do take two. And we're like, that's it. So just to give the listeners some understanding of just this process, when they say no overdubs, generally when you go into the studio, everything is. kind of pre-done. So if you're recording over a beat, the beat is already done, and it is recorded and laid down. And then the singers or rappers come in on another track, and they do, you know, they do whatever they do to that pre-recorded beat and so forth and so on.

What these brothers were doing was just everything was live in one take. So, yeah. What you see a band doing on stage? They were doing that. Put that in the studio. We were doing that. So at the end of that, Andre, the board, the engineer for Salt and Pepper's records, and you know the quality of those records,

he pulls up, and I remember this, in an Army truck with all his outboard gear, total like gearhead, he pulls up, he comes downstairs in the basement, and he looks at the board and he goes, you made a record like this, there's wires everywhere, and he's like, before I even mix this record and master it, I have to take apart the whole studio and put it back together again. Wow. Look at her face like. What? What?

So what? Yeah, no, it's typical engineer trying to make some extra money. That's what I wasn't going to say nothing, Steve. But basically, but basically, it was about, it's about a vibe.

Going back to what you, you and Questlove were saying, like, like, technically this sounds wrong, but the vibe was captured. That was the most important thing. Exactly. On Girl I house you, on straight out the jungle, on Jim Browski, all the background vocals, the woo, why, baby.

And even bells ringing on my bracelet or tapping on the window. You hit the mic by accident and the echoes, you know. All that stuff was captured live and that was the vibe. And then the engineer just had to work with it and make it sound like something. Yeah, one of the lines I want to make the listeners aware of that is probably, definitely kind of seeming at you guys in history Q-Tip from award tour

Herb Me in the 80s on the promo For those who do not Who don't know Q-tip from a tribe called Quest Was on straight out the jungle On a record that was called The promo The promo was essentially

Back in the day Like emcees would do promos for DJs And so it was essentially Just like It could be like a little, you know, it could be a minute, minute and a half thing of just you rhyming, shouting out the DJ. So, yeah, in that case it was for Red Alert. Right. But, you know,

all DJs were doing, no, Chuck Chilout had them, you know, every, all the DJs at that time. And Q-Tip was actually, you guys actually gave Q-Tip his start. Right. How did all you guys link up and what, and what was it that y'all heard in him to make you say, you know what, we'll let, you get on this? Well, we went to school together. We were a class. We were a class. We were in the same home room together, yeah. Yeah, yeah. You know, where you meet and then you go out to your classes.

We didn't have all the same classes, but we were in the same home room together. So in what year was this? This was... From 84 to 88. He would come to school with rhymes and, you know, we all had our book of rhymes and he'd come to school with rhymes and we just kind of formed like a relationship through that. Gotcha. What actually happened is Mike was, that's my dude, that's my jungle brother, but he was a grade ahead of me.

And like, what I loved about him is like, he was well known in school, but he still was to himself, stuck with himself, you know, by himself. And I was the same. I was well known in school in my grade, but I wasn't in any circles. and we met because Brother Jay from X-Klan Oh man Linked us up for a talent show. So long story short He graduated before me

And then I had one more year left So Q-Tip would be around me And it was like I don't know space Yeah For him You know what I mean?

because I wasn't around Mike as much in school, so he would be around me. On the weekends, I'm going to the studio, and then he'd hear the records on the promos we were doing. He'd hear on the radio and stuff like that, so then he'd come around and, you know, rap to me and stuff, do lyrics, and he, you know, like, complain that people was comparing him to L.L. Cool J.

And he was Jay Nice at the time. Oh, wow. That was cute. Four horse, wait. Cute tip was compared to. L.O. Cool J. Yeah, he was J. He was rapping to the ladies.

He was rapping like L.L.L. You know, the I need to beat. Not now, though. Not to I need love. No, no. Okay. Yeah, no, not the I need. No, no, no, no, no.

The I need a beat L.L. KooJ. You know, all the big words from the dictionary into a form of a battle rap where, you know, you're outwitting the person you're battling. So I was just like, well, that is the thing right now it's all good like if you're on that level

then that's cool but slowly but surely he was like embracing what was becoming jungle brothers got you slow down a little bit and slow it down a little bit and that that was the era of the boogie down productions where he was slowing it down and also Raquem where he was toning the voice down

and it wasn't all the yelling and Mike and I that's how we rapped as well. We was on some smooth MC shit. Yeah, that's what it was about. We wasn't really battling.

We wasn't battling. It was smooth. We held our home and we was trying to get girls. You know, it was the smooth Spoonie G type rap. Me and Mike loved Spoonie G. Oh, man. And one of his first rhymes was like that, you know.

Yeah. So slowly but surely, Jane Nice was coming into his own, not into his own, coming into the Jungle Brother vibe and then going away with that and developing into something that couldn't be compared to L.O.K.J.

And that's when I said, look, come down to the studio and let's do this promo joint. Wow. To know that Q-Tip was compared to LL. That's just fucking amazing. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Cliver Taylor the fourth. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes,

creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life. mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger.

So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. This week on the Sports Slice podcast,

It's all about the NFL draft, and we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East-West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar, this is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, for wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Slice of Life 12 and TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. I'm John Green. You may know me as the author of The Fault in Our Stars, and now I guess also is the co-host of The Away End, a brand new world soccer podcast. I'm Daniel Alarcon, a writer and journalist, and John and I have known each other since we were kids.

My first World Cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old. I watched every game, and I fell in love. On our new podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international. All leading up to the 2026 World Cup. For us, soccer, football, is a story we've shared for over 30 years since Daniel was the star player on our high school soccer team. Very debatable.

And I was their most loyal and sometimes only fan. I love this game. I love its history, it's hope, its heartbreak, and above all, it's beauty. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Auerkone and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Ladies and gentlemen, our cult leader is back. Questlove. He just walked in.

No, I've been here the whole time. I'm just taking the net. Quit lying. Oh, see, does that mean when I hear this episode, y'all talk to smack behind me as I go? No. No. No, not a lot. But Margaret was right.

Margaret always talking to me. Oh, my God. Don't like me. He lied. Questlove is back, ladies gentlemen. Okay, so, Girl I house you. What made y'all go? Because that was, I mean, like Amir said, that was a very bold direction.

And it was something that at that time, I didn't know of any other hip-hop artists that were doing it. It kind of kicked off the hip house movement, which. That was the first house song I ever heard. I didn't know. I was going to say the same thing. Same here. Same here. That's big.

And that really just kind of, you know, there are a lot of imitators that came in, in your wake and um but that was still the one that was like i think latifah got it right with coming to my house that shit was dope but i think was it was it top no Todd no no Todd Terry or Todd Terry yeah yeah and he did uh the house he did our house he did a house you yeah um what made you guys do that like what was that session like well obviously did some hours at the at Larry Levin's uh Paradise garage yes obviously oh yeah i mean that was i did I was I did I was I think my mother was driving cabs when the Paradise Garage was happening

and she took me there when I was 12 years old. She took me there when I was 12 years old and I got a little taste of that crowd that early. You know the common denominator is with all the guests on the show? Their parents are horrible. Talk to your parents.

My mom's was driving cabs late that night. and she was like, you're going to come with me. I want to show you this place where I get all my rides. And it was Paradise Garage. Paradise Garage for the listeners. This was Larry Levine, who was a incredible... Legend. Legendary...

Pioneer. House. Disco. All music. He played everything open format. Before there was... His best DJ gig was not playing records. He played the Wizard of Oz movie once.

And they said it was the most legendary night. I mean, he's at legendary DJ's stories, but him playing Jackson Fives, ABC, his very last gig at the Studio 54, I was defiantly playing ABC for three hours in a row in defiance. Wow. Tanya Gartor's heartbeat, he forced them, like they opposed to it. It was like too slow for them. They hated it. And he forced them.

He says, I will play this until y'all give me the respect that I deserve. And he single-handedly, like, said, you're going to dance to some down-tempo, 90 BPM shit. That's dope. Yeah, he's a monster. Wow. I'm sorry for jacking that story. Sorry.

That's a good backstory for our house story, because you said it was a bold move, but we didn't see it that way because of the environment, here in New York City, the birthplace of hip-hop, you still had a strong dance scene, right? You know, disco house, you know, and downtown punk rock scene. So a lot and a lot of things were crossing together and jumping together. Those scenes were linked together.

You know, hip hop was still young, so it didn't have what it has now, like, its own click. Boundaries. You know, and with boundaries and rigid formulae structures. It was a jam. Everything was a jam. It was just beats from everywhere. I could get away with playing The Wizard of Oz and Grandmaster Flash

you get away with playing the clash. Yeah. You know? So when it got to our house? Yeah, it was nothing. It was, that's what we were supposed to do. I mean... I was going to clubs.

I was going to clubs carrying records for Red Alert. We all was. He was playing. We all had a crate. But then I would leave that club and go to our house club like the world or... Some club with no name hole in the wall and being there until three, four in the morning were just househeads.

And at least four of the records they were playing was Todd Terry's records. And I could hear Todd Terry is a producer from Brooklyn who was making hip hop and really wasn't getting that love. And went into making house records and got a lot of love. And so I was hearing the hip hop samples in the house records he was making. I was like, he's the only guy doing this. You know, like all the house records were looping disco or having somebody preach over the record or mixing Martin Luther King or Malcolm X over the record.

But Todd Terry was actually sampling break beats from hip-hop crates and putting it into house music. From Chicago, from the Chicago breaks. Chicago scene. They was really on the forefront. The Chicago scene, Fast Freddy, Tyree Cooper, these were the guys that were really, they were setting it off because they were tired of doing house music,

so they started rapping over it. But we didn't know about them. You see what I'm saying? So one day we come in the studio at the end of straight out the jungle, we get out of school, we go to the studio, and the studio that Todd Terry worked in, and we worked in, and the engineer, Tony D. said, do you guys want to make a house rap?

He was like, yeah, sure. Didn't even think of it as a separate genre from hip-hop. He put the record on and it was Royal House Party people. Now we used to see Royal House at the house go out and do shows. Four people who were just dancers who worked on Wall Street. And we was like, y'all don't rap and you go out and do shows and you get five grand. So he put the record on and I was like, yo, I sweat to that record.

Party people by Royal House. So I said, yeah, let's do it. So we took the record, put it on the turn team. He said, I don't have instrumental. You know, ghost-faced at it. On the turntable, press record on the 8-track machine, recorded the whole record to the 8-track machine. And then in 20 minutes, I sang the hook,

Girl, I'll house you. Girl, I'll house you. You in my hut now. because at the time we were saying in hip hop we would say we were going to house you like I'll take you out and so immediately I caught

the double meaning of our house shoe and house music and so I was like buzzing off of that because I was like one side is going to hear it and go that's legit you know hip hop's going to hear and say that's legit and the other side the dance people is going to hear and go yeah house music

all like long yeah and so that set the hook on And then I just kind of freestyled in the booth, overdub the vocals. Then Mike went in. And, you know, I guess two hours later, the record was done. And then we did some cuts on it.

Yeah. And we felt like we broke it down to a hip-hop level. So we, and then I remember calling Ali Shaheed, and I was like, yo, I put the phone at the speaking. I was like, I was proud. I was like, yo, listen to what we just did. And Tip was on the phone. and was listening down,

and then I took the phone back when the record was over, and I said, you heard that? That is the jam. And Ali was like, whoa, wow. He was like, yo, that sounds like a real house record, too. That was crazy. I repeat, that sounds like a real house record, too. You know, like authentic, you know?

Yeah, yeah. And I was like, yeah. But you can hear the hip hop in it too. You know, Sammy doing the cut, then, then, then, then, Star Wars. was breakbeat. So it was just like an exciting time. Now, that record was given to the record company. They laughed at it. They said, we're not putting it on the vinyl. But we'll put it on the cassette. And what did the DJs do? From Limelight to Studio 54 to Roseland to the Palladium,

to Milky Way, to Pade Day, to Latin Corps, what did all the DJs do? They took the cassette, and at the end of the night, that was the last record they played. And they said, red. We need this record on vinyl. We're playing it on cassette. Wow. So they had to go back and remaster the album and repress. Wow. To put our house you on. This goes back to G Street because they was the first ones to actually take the song and press it on the album, original. When they heard the song, they was like, what? This is not on the album? It's like, yeah, we won't do the deal if that record's not on the album. So what was the reception like at the Latin quarter when they heard, like,

Were they open to it? Like, could they play that at the Latin Quarter? Yo. No, I think at that time, though. At Latin Quarter... It was kind of past. That was past. Yeah, Latin Quarter.

Sorry, I mentioned Latin Quarter, but that record wasn't recorded yet. During the Latin Quarter years, pardon me on that. But that audience was still in those other clubs, especially Roseland. And what was the club that closed down? It closed down a couple times that we did the final party for, and they had a freestyle night.

You think about that one while I keep talking. To answer your question, though. To answer your question, though, I just want to give him on 18th Street on the west of, rocksies. It wasn't the roxies. It was, tramps. No, no, it was the roxy. What was the next to Roxy?

18. 1018. 1018. 1018. 1018. Team work, make the dream work. Team work, make the dream work. Team work, make the dream work.

Anyway, that record went down well with hip hop and the dance audience so much so that you had dudes that was like, yo, I hated house music until I heard that record. Oh, yeah, that's true. I didn't like house music until I heard that record. But, yo, y'all got one. And then you start seeing those dudes at those clubs. You know, the hardcore dudes that would be listening to MWA, we're like, yo, Jungle Brothers is playing here tonight, 1018, we're up in here. 5,000, packed dudes in their fur coats with their bottle of MOUET.

It's like, yo, as soon as that record come on, we're going straight to the front of this. That was the one so old girls. Yeah, that's the girls were all the girls out. They caught on. They housed them. No doubt, without question. It was an anonymous. It was an anomaly, and you could see it.

You could see that people, it broke through the whole genre boundary thing because it became just music. People just danced to it and jammed to it. Whether they was like, I'm in the hip hop or I'm in the house, everybody was together. And it was a universal battle song too, like dance battle song too. I always remember seeing people in the club, and that must be crazy to see people dance battling to your song.

Like, stop at what they're doing and, like, I house you. Yeah, no doubt. Exactly. It worked on a lot of levels. Like Baltimore in places that are... There you go. There you go. Exactly.

Oh, man. And then we go overseas and we think we're going to be doing like a hip-hop tour, which we did hip-hop dates. But then we'd be in like... Raves. Raves. Oh, that's nice. Acid clubs.

They didn't even call them raves. Oh, it was ridiculous. And sometimes they just be like, guys, here's $8,000. Just do this. Just do the one song. Yeah. That's what I figured.

You literally. They were one. because I got it like that. Nah. If we did a whole show of straight out the jungle, people would be just waiting for our house. Yeah. Sometimes.

Wow. So at the same time, we had that now. At the same time we was breaking straight out the jungle and that new vibe of hip-hop, the whole Raq-Kem-esque, E-P-M-D-esque vibe of hip-hop to a new audience in Berlin with the wall still up. With the wall still up, yeah.

We were also breaking into the asset house, and we were breaking grounds with all the raveheads that are doing the big festivals. Y'all, not for nothing. You mentioned the wall coming down. I just wanted to say, y'all did a festival at Wembley for Mandela, like when he first got out? Is that true? Yeah, when he first released, yeah. Yes. No, when they released it from prison.

Yeah. Oh, nice. Thanks for that, Anwar. Oh, nice. Yeah, it was us. That's a sonic and a cherry. Yeah. Yeah.

You two. You two. That was probably the biggest date. That was the biggest ever. That was a proud for us at that time. Yeah. Wait, was I late for the recording techniques and that? Yeah, we missed the recording techniques for straight out of the jungle.

So you guys got all the stories? We got the story. All right. I have so many. Oh, you're right. No, no, no. I just want to make sure that, you know. No doubt, no doubt.

No doubt. Give me some girlfriends. Where are we right now in their journey? We talked about Raw DeLux. We went straight out the jungle. Did we talk about Crazy Wizard Masters? We talked Crazy Wizard Masters.

I mean, but I'm sure you know. We didn't talk about how they ended up at the Roos picnic, but you know. Well, because... I said that on stage, actually. But we was here. Okay. Okay, so we were in Japan

performing on state. You already know the story. He's just one person. No, no, everybody else is supposed to live. Okay, we were in Japan, performing on stage at a festival. festival. Soul camp. And Sean G.

was tour manager for Jill Scott. Yeah, and the Roots manager. And the Roots manager was in the audience. And then after the show, he told me he was texting. He showed me the show. I was watching the show 12

hours behind like four in the morning. Technology's crazy. I went into the caterer and Sean was like, yo, I was just texting Quest Love and telling him, you know, the show, you guys got to come to the picnic. And I was like, okay, you know, you'd be a lie and leap of faith because it's like that was just a week ago. Two weeks. Two weeks ago.

Yeah. You know. We moved fast, man. We were only in Japan for two shows. That MTV show. And then one of the show after that. And then I was still in Japan for two weeks after that. I just flew from Japan to Turkey to London to here.

Because you don't live in this country. No, I don't live in this country. Where are you, where you live in now? Don't ask me about politics. I won't, I was just, you know. I can ask you about the Brexit. I have no clue. I can ask you about the Brexit?

That's where you, that's where you. Oh, yeah, I'm in Brexit world. She lived in London now. Yeah, I live in London now. But I've lived in a lot of places, and I just, I've recently been in London for a year. I've lived in Panama. Good place to live. I saw you in London.

I'm running around. But, yeah, that's how we arrived here. Which, thank you, Sean, Chief. Thank you, no doubt. No doubt. Thank you for inventing the internet. Thank you, hip-hap. You're up for the jungle brus.

Thank you, Snapchat. We're going to do a longer show. A win is a win. A win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football,

or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. And the next, we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me

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And we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar, this is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider,

you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slical Life 12 and TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. I'm John Green. You may know me as the. author of The Fault and Our Stars, and now I guess also is the co-host of The Away End, a brand new

world soccer podcast. I'm Daniel Alarcon, a writer and journalist, and John and I have known each other since we were kids. My first World Cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old. I watched every game and I fell in love. On our new podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. For us, soccer, football, is a story we've shared for over 30 years since Daniel was the star player on our high school soccer team. Very debatable. And I was their most loyal and sometimes only fan. I love this game. I love its history, it's hope, it's heartbreak, and above all, it's beauty. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the away end with

Daniel Auerrecon and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right. So we're sitting here right now with really one of my one of my favorite people ever. You are a one human operating, just walking machine of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, I, I, I, I, I haven't left your side. We've been Siamese twins ever since. Welcome to the course of Supreme, ladies and gentlemen. Emily Wells, y'all. It's like the third root picnic for Emily, right?

Like, how many roots picnics? Okay. You did Philly. Yes. Yeah, she's been, in my head, like, her and she'll moody are just like the, our, our go-to, always, you know. Get them. I honestly, because. You're cool.

I feel like Barry White now. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait, wait a minute. Hang on. Yes. That was it so white of you.

Holy shit. Wait. That's the whitest thing you've ever done in the 30 years I've known you. Wait a minute. I'm insulted because when she said it, it filtered to you as a creed song. But to me, I was going to Barry White with it. Yeah, totally missed. I know.

Hey, man. It's real. We already know Fonte is the Jedi master. No, but yeah, you, well, first of all, how was your set? Yeah. Yeah. They always get it in the third or fourth minute. And that's how it was because when I, you know,

because it takes you, for those that don't know, I guess what is your go-to device that you do to loop? It's that green device. on the... It's a real. All right. It's kind of concept. It's rudimentary.

So when you do that, is there a click track inside of your ears? Because when I watch you do this, you always start off with this kind of long, ethereal note. And I'm trying to figure out if you're counting the metronome in your head because you wind up... You loop everything perfect, but it's just such a jello-like moldless form of time. but you always seem to catch it. It's a good life lesson, knowing where your one is. Where the fuck is it?

I wish someone could teach that to certain members of the roots. Oh, no, he did. Shots fired. That's good. No, well, okay, so. Oh, SPD, okay. Yeah, I think at one point, I don't know if you were playing keyboard with your right hand and the SPD drum pad with your left hand and looping.

And sing, you know, it's, you really have to see it. Like, it's, it's, it's, it's next level, uh, performance. How long did it take you to, to figure that all out? Oh, well, it took some time. I mean, it started really simple. Like, why not? I'll do it now and again, but that's not going to. And so, and strings are meant to me.

I was, you know, my first show up, I'm like, unplugging stuff on stick. Like, like, really stupid. I was about to say you're your own, uh, tech as well. Like, what if it, what if the equipment breaks down, then what? You just go. Go Acapella? Well, I mean, has it ever broken down?

I was about to say, you're one of the, should I say the Brooklyn elite that don't, usually like when those Brooklyn act, Brooklyn E acts come on our show, I'll see more MacBook pros on stage than anything else. But yeah, I was about to say that you're old school and your digital embrace.

Sure, sure. So kind of like DeAngelo with floppy disks. Oh, so many. Yeah. It's like you can't even call that analog. It's like, what did you call that? Well, it's, I don't know. Electronic, it's electronic.

It's not analog. So how do you apply this? I always wanted to know when you're recording your music in the studio. How do you apply what you do live on stage to your, because your music is more fleshed out. in the studio than it is on stage. You can layer that much?

Yes. Oh, you just, to sound fuller. Okay. That you will want to take off a... Smart. Because when I draw, I do the same thing. Make your own break.

That's dope. So what's your future? So you just released your record, what, three months ago? Yeah, it was. Yeah. You mean, what will life be like after November

of... I've seen the future and boy it's rough. It's going to be great. You know what he's going to do if he gets to. He's not going to get it though. Yeah. Well, M's, you know, once again, I thank you for doing the Roots Picnic. And anytime you do anything with us, collaborating, whatever, you know, it's a treat.

We're probably going to work on this next Roots album together because we've been. Yeah. We've been threatening to do this for three albums now, so we're going to make it happen. Emily Wells, ladies and gentlemen, I want to go to, can we play, oh, we can, no, Emily Wells, thank you. You guys should have seen the entire room like,

oh, we can clap now, okay. Shout out to Emily and her blast. Yeah. Thank you. Man, yeah, shout out for her being a trooper. She was on the couch. Oh, thank you. And bringing your blanket.

She was so happy on the couch. Are you kidding? I got to hear the street record. Yeah. That was so fascinating. And I so identified with the idea of I have this idea in my head. I will make it happy a month. It wasn't great.

That's what's up. That's good. Well, we're going to go to Passenger by Emily Wells on Quest Love Supreme, only on Pandora. We will be right back. We are live from the Roots Picnic, NYC. Support for Quest Love Supreme on Pandora is provided by Boost Mobile. Boost Mobile. Where you at?

This is Quest Love Supreme. Only on Pandora. Fonte, Fantigolo, Sugar Steve, lovely Laiaeer. Boss Bill. Scott, motherfucking,

yeah, yo. That was passenger. And lactating unpaid bill. Unpaid bill, we forgot it. Unpaid bill is paid now, but we can still call him unpaid bill.

I know what they're in there. It's called continuity. So we got to. Exactly. Exactly. We too far in the story to change it. How about underpaid bill? Okay. I've had some shitty nicknames.

My Roodoff is still talking about the radio show and she still calls you black bill and white bill. She's like, wait, wait, who's on paid bill? Like I said, I've had shudder nicknames. I'm good to go. She's like the only one that can do that because she wrecked both sides. But wait, so boss, you're back. She was the first guest on our show and she still knows. That too, but she was the first lady of.

She was the first lady of Questles of Prudson. She was the first day we ate chicken and fell. sleep for a long. I get it. She still, you know, she could play both. That's good. No iteration. I love my own dog.

I was about to give you some love, boss, because you've been busy the last few days. Hold up. Can I tell them the name of the jam, though? Yeah. Oh, I thought you did. We did? We did. Well, that was passenger by him.

Five minutes after the fact. Okay, so Laia, you were saying. No, I was just saying that I wanted, the boss is about to leave us because he got to go on stage. He got to do the main show, which is tonight DeAngelo, John Mayer. John Mayor. John Mayor. And a friend of mine from Chicago is going to come by as well. By the time everybody hears this, you know, the show will be in the past.

So you can go ahead and tell us. No, let's keep it a mystery. Al Capone. Al Capone. Michael Jordan. No, I was going to. I wish it was Kirby. Shut up, asshole.

Okay. I just wanted to say Kirby Bucket just for Steve. He's from Minneapolis, isn't he? He is Minneapolis. Steve wound up doing what, he missed the irony of you saying. Did you forget your joke from your joke? Yes.

Yes. Okay. Kirby's dead. Curbys dead. This is Quaslove Supreme. Kirby's dead. Yeah. So tonight is the roots and we got common.

We got John Mayor. And we got DeAngelo. The reason why I'm like struggling to remember things. is because, I mean, the way that I do business is I kind of, I tend to agree to things 14 months ahead of time. Like right now, we are planning the Philly Roots picnic right now. With a very monumental record that came out as of this taping, we're now talking to that particular young lady about headlining.

Yeah, you just tend to plan. things way ahead of time. And so at, I don't know, for me, once it was proposed to me that we should do a Roots picnic on steroids and instead of the Roots backing up one act, why don't we back like everybody?

Six of them. And I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, of course I'll do that. And then once Crunch Time comes, yo, man, I, just the daggers and the stairs of all the Roots family members looking at me, I feel horrible. Like,

All of them are Libras, or I guess they're still Libras, even with the addition of that unspoken astrological sign. Yeah, but all of them, all their birthdays are this week, so most of them have had to not hang with their families and rehearse and wait and rehearse and wait. Well, see, Bill went to a rehearsal and he said they looked like zombies. I did. They were kung fu zombies. It just seemed like I was in. mode. But, you know, I had a few triple espresso, so I was up like normal while everyone else was like, that's what you do, yeah. But no, I don't slave drive. It's like, no, you don't sleep.

No, I do sleep. But I'm just saying that this show is packed with a lot of cues and a lot of modulations and tricks and, you know, I'm hoping that I remember everything. It's going to be monster show, but I just hope that I remember everything. I think even if you don't remember everything, we'll be none the wiser. I think the crowd would just be happy. I know to you, you're like, fuck, I missed that

whatever, but I'm willing to let the small stuff slide, but just the kind of neurotic nature of the guests that we have, like, that are other show, you know, they're going to want it like perfect note for note for note. Yeah.

But hopefully you'll just miss it. Yeah, yeah, they're missing. Yeah, and like, get over yourself, dude. Like, I'm playing for 18 other motherfuckers. Right. You know what I mean? But they never understand. They never understand that.

They never understand that. Steve's witness to the stuff. How are rehearsals in your opinion. The first night of rehearsals with DeAngelo is probably, that was the most beautiful thing I've seen. Because, like, Common also happened to be rehearsed next door. I saw you post that on Instagram. And he had, like, his room was the epicenter collective of all, like,

neo-blackettism. We've recorded new terms here in Questlop's it. It was neo-blackettism. It was like, you know, Jamila Lemieux and Ava and like all Glassper. Yeah, Robert Glasper. Like just all the incense wine and candle set of 2015-16. And it was like, we were the Piper. We were going over

the root from voodoo and just one by one it was like all the children of voodoo just came like we looked up and then there was like at least like 20 of them like it was a closed rehearsal but Anthony Hamilton popped up they all

just came in you know and family reunion it was less a family reunion and more like and DeAngel has never seen that like it's really hard for him to even imagine the voodoo effect because he's so isolated from the world.

So he doesn't get, like he doesn't know what the dirty projectors are and how, like, their whole harmony game is based on, you know, like Dave's whole Steeze is like, yo, voodoo is how I stack my harmonies and all this stuff and, like, all these references that even I missed. So just to see, I mean, the collective story is always like, yeah, and when I was eight, my older sister got that record. and I grew up on that record. So just to watch them as full-grown adults,

watching DeAngelo do that shit, like it was some beautiful. Well, boss, speaking of DeAngelo, I just got the call from the officials at Brian Park. You got to go. Yeah, I got to go. I'm sorry. Don't be so.

You ain't sorry? Well, I'm a guest on the show. This is not the Questil of Supreme show. We're so completely happy and honored today to be joined by a young lady that I am a fan of. I'm, you know, looking at the photo right now. And she first captured my heart when she put out a record, God, I want to say, was it 2012?

Was that when Live Your Life came up? Yeah. Jesus Christ. It was four years ago. End of 2011. Yeah. Oh, my God. It was that.

Oh, man. Wow. Time keep on slipping, slipping, slipping, slipping into the future. Nah, man. Live Your Life. It was a record she put out produced by Farrell. And it was just something that was just, I was amazed just by the simplicity of it. It was something that drove.

It had a very driving beat, very mellow, you know, keyboard, you know, arrangement. And her voice, the thing I liked about it was that it just sounded really pure. It was just not a lot of vocal tricks, not a whole lot of just not a whole lot of adornment. It was just really simple and it cut through. And she just sang the song and the lyric that really spoke to me was, you know, live if you really want to. Thank you. And says that's something that, you know, living is a choice. you know, and that really spoke to me.

So, ladies and gentlemen, give a big Questlove Supreme, team Supreme round of applause for the incredibly talented, Una, ladies and gentlemen. Bang, bang, bang, bang. Thank you. Bang, bang. We're in this joint. Fresh off stage.

Fresh off stage. How was your performance? How did it go? It went really, really well. Like, you know, the crowd was amazing. And, yeah, it was just kind of like we drove. from yesterday. Oh my God. We were from Rhode Island yesterday.

Oh, wow. Providence, Rhode Island. So I'm on tour right now. You know, so yeah, we've been on the road. So, you know, coming out here is like a treat. And I've always like, I've been looking forward to perform at the Roots picnic. So, yeah, I had a lot of fun. That's dope. So your show, I was unfortunate, you know, I wasn't able to see your show because I was stuck over here doing this shit.

our cult leader of Mirra Thompson had us locked up in here like like hostages no food no food we had that we had to ask for the water we had to ask for that there's a cushy gig you know what I'm saying but um but not so I wasn't able to see your show unfortunately what is your show for people that you know haven't had the fortune of seeing it what is your show like do you of course you sing do you playing the instruments

like what is your what's your state show Oh, well, I sing mostly, you know, I used to do a lot of acoustic performances, so I used to play a lot of the acoustic guitar, and then, you know, like, I couldn't hire a guitar player, so I would play the electric guitar on my set. But now that I can finally do that, you know, like, I would love to play the guitar in my shows. It's just that I'm, I just feel like, you know, I'm not, like, exactly, like, it's a guitar, guitar player. Yeah, I'm not there yet. So I just focus on just performing and, you know, like I've been touring for four years and it's really just, I'm just growing into a real artist now. Like I never get to do that. I never got to do that back home in Malaysia, where I'm from.

So coming out here was just like going on tour and kind of like just slowly learning how to, you know, give a really good performance for the fans. So, yeah. Tell us. So Malaysia, like what is that like in this? What's the city? What's the music scene? Yeah, what's the music? The music scene, oh, it's like, it's a small country, but it's constantly growing.

Like, we went from, like, having singers, like, just doing ballads and traditional Malay music. Like, I'm Malay. So the traditional music is more kind of, like, you know, like a cross between, like, Indonesian and kind of, like, Thai. And so the Southeast Asian sound, you know, and, but now it's, like, slowly growing, like, the hip-hop scene started like, I think, like, 20 years ago or so, you know? So it was, it's pretty interesting to see, like, when I, I kind of, like, grew up just watching, like, okay, well, there's a Malaysian hip-hop artist. I'm like, oh, okay, there's a Malaysian, like, indie rock artists. And, yeah, so I kind of, like, grew up in that setting.

Have any of them crossed over as much as you have? I feel like. No, to America. No. I think you're kind of like the first out of limo. Like you're the one. You're the Charlie Mac. You're the Charlie Mac.

Yeah, you're the one that like really, you know, that kind of is putting on. Do you feel any, like in hip hop in, you know, America, there is a big, the big thing of putting on. You know what I'm saying? Like, you know, I put on for my city. Like, so wherever I come from, I'm going to put on for wherever, you know what I mean? Do you feel the need to put on for the relationship? The whole country, like I'm Yuna and I'm doing it, but everybody. I mean, you know, I started out in Malaysia.

Like, I was already doing music for three, four years back home before I moved out to Los Angeles. When did you come to L.A.? About 2011, around that time. That's awesome. The time is short. Yeah, so I started making music like 2007, 2008, pretty much.

So it's quite an interesting journey. You started making music in 2007. Yeah, that was when you really started. Writing, yeah, writing songs and just kind of like producing my own album. Like I didn't want to sign to any labels back home. I don't know, like, you know, inside.

I felt like inside, I was just like, in my heart like, okay, well, I want to be, a singer, songwriter, but I don't want to be signed. I don't want to sign with any labels because I know if I do that, I'm kind of like trapped in Malaysia for a long, long time. So I don't want to do that because I knew like, oh, I want to get out of Malaysia. I want to come out to the UK or, you know, the U.S. and really just make music out here.

So how does a person get? Because that's, I mean, that's pretty amazing. How does a person get from making music, starting off making music in 2007 to work? with Farrell Williams, who is one of the biggest producers in a three-year-sman, I mean, three-four-year-sman. How does that happen? Is it a friend of a friend? Or like...

Kind of a little bit like that. I think it's a little bit of kind of like when you work really hard and then you, you know, like just meeting the right people and I guess the mixture of both. Like I got really lucky, you know, like I was in Malaysia just doing my music thing. And then my management from Los Angeles indie pop, my manager, Ben, found me on MySpace music. Oh, wow. Yeah, that was at time. Shout out to MySpace.

Tom. Where is Tom these days? Where is Tom? I know. Our first friend. Everyone's first friend. I know. But, yeah, so I don't know, like, he hit me up and then emailed me.

I didn't, I didn't respond to his emails for a long time because I thought it was a scam. It was just like all these things. Like, I'm not going to reply to an American dude, you know. Like, just like fly out to L.A., not doing what to do. But he came out to Kuala Lumpur, the city where I'm from, met up with me. And, you know, we got to know each other, kind of like talk about our, the music career that could be, you know, like a potential music career out here.

And I was like, all for it. You know, okay, fine, let's do it. And so Ben, he's been in the music industry for a very long time. He just started a music management, like, label. And he worked in radio for, like, a long, long time. So, yeah, I mean, like, I guess, like, I got really lucky that he was kind of, like, this fun, like, nice and friendly person, you know, as a manager. Because, like, getting a good manager is hard. Yeah, so, yeah.

That's dope. So when you guys were working on the track, the work you do with Farrell, was that you guys working together in the studio or was it like he did the track and then you came in and did it? Like, how did that come together? Yeah, I was in the studio with him. Yeah, so we were. Talk about that magic.

Yeah, we, wow, I was traveling from Malaysia to Los Angeles and then I took a flight to Miami and then from Miami like took the, I remember this, like from Miami airport. We took the taxi and I didn't like shower for three days and just like went to the studio. And then I was like, okay, well, maybe I get to put some makeup on. And then nope, he comes out from his car. I'm just like, all right. Well, this is it. Hi, I'm Yuna.

Hi, Phrell. Yeah, I haven't showered in three days. But he was, he was really sweet. You know, like we got into the studio, start working. And Live Your Life was like the song that kind of just like I was kind of like, afraid of moving forward with the music because he made that beat like I remember like maybe like we've been in the studio for five days and he was like do you like this you know he was working on something and I thought I legit thought that he was doing that beat for someone else and I'm like oh no this is

dope I love it and he's like okay cool right on this I'm like wait what you know like I how do I do this but um he guided me through it you know so it was fun like it was a learning process like I've never worked with a hip hop producer before so it was it kind of like thought me to be more experimental if you can you know like or open to new genres because back then I was really just doing acoustic I was in my own bubble you know so yeah when you're doing like when your creative process when you're writing what comes first is it melody first or is it like lyrics words first how does that come together um it depends really like I can I'm pretty much you know flexible when it comes to songwriting,

because I've been doing it for a long, long time. So it's like either I'm like, I come out with lyrics, I write down some words. Are you one of these people, because I do it. Do you keep notes in your phone? Oh, yeah, definitely. You have, like, three albums of material in your phone? Yeah.

I have, like, a lot of materials in my phone. Like chapters, for example, the new album. Yeah, most of it was just like me writing. on my phone, like my notes, yeah. Farrell is like not the only like living legend that you work with. It's weird. This is a short career, but you're working with like great people. She's knocking down.

David Foster. Like David, that's my name. That's like, I feel like you talk with David Foster. You have to have like 20 years under your belt to get that one. So how did that come? How did that happen? Well, so when I first came out to L.A., obviously we went to meet up with a lot of ENR, people, you know, like a lot of labels,

like shopping for labels and we met out with um um um uh an a nr from verve and at the time that was like five years ago like the first person that i met was this this lady from from verf records and um universal and um she was she she was in love with me you know that she really believed in my career and um back then like um david foster was not in the picture yet so after a while uh you know like he joined Verf and he found out about me and then he was like, oh, you know, like, why didn't we sign this girl? Like, in the very beginning. So it was really cool to be able to, you know, come to see him and then, like, played some songs for him and, you know, like, work with him, like, for a song on this album. So, yeah, it's really special.

Did you know, were you familiar with who he was, like, before? Oh, yeah. Definitely. He's huge in Malaysia. He would come out and, like, do his own concert. Do they go crazy over you yet when you go home? Yeah. That's so good.

I'm kind of, she's very modest. He's very modest. And you must get a lot of love too because, like, you know, you haven't changed who you are. I'm sure at some point there was some resistance about you being, of course, the proud Muslim woman that you are. And how you dress the way you dress, even though you had, you funkied it up to a level that is like, whoa. But was there ever any resistance to? You just being you? Oh, no, not really.

I mean, like, I've never faced any, like, you know, anything challenging like that. You know, like labels because people always say. No, I mean, no, not at all. You know what's weird, though? I went through that back home in Malaysia because, like, yeah, like, covering out was just something, like, weird. Like, if you want to be an artist, it's not, it's something. That's another reason why I stayed independent for a very long time because, okay, well, you're not going to accept me for who I am.

I got to change, so I'm not going to change. I'm just going to do my thing. But coming out, it was surprisingly super easy. Everyone was just like, I, you know, I was with the Fader label for a while, and they were super sweet, super supportive and really believed in, like, my work and my talent. And, yeah, just like, it was just easy for me. Are you doing anything in the fashion lane? Yeah, I am.

A little bit. I feel like I really want you to. No, I will. It seemed like it would be a natural fit for you. Your newest record chapters, you were talking about how this was written, if I'm not mistaken, it was this record. It was written after the end of a relationship. Or was it? It was inspired by a breakup.

You're like, you're not sure. No, no, no, no. I just want to, I know it was a record in Spotify by Breakers. Every R&B album is inspired by Breakup. Shit, I know one of the motherfuckers. I was saying, I just want to mention you I'm representing the right record. It was chapters. And you were saying that you wanted to write a record, you know, previously you were in a relationship and you were, I guess, too dependent, co-dependent on that relationship that you're in.

And so you say, you know, I want to write a record that, you know, I was single, I'm free and I want to write something in that state of mind. Yeah. What is the difference between those two? states of mind in terms of creating from a place of I'm in this relationship and maybe I'm a little too depending on it versus I'm free and you know I'm yeah I let that go um I mean I guess like you being a singer song I do you just tend to write like obviously what you know best you know like you know what's in your heart and for me at the time I was going through like you know like a breakup and it was really hard.

you know and but now I'm kind of you know like I've moved on obviously but at the time like I was really in that moment so like what do I do like okay like I'm in that moment and then I have to write an album like duh obviously you you'll end up just writing you know what you what you're feeling and that's how it's supposed to be you know instead of just like writing happy songs or like you know faking a song and yeah I guess um It's a, it really depends. Like, for chapters, I wanted to write about, okay, like, at the time I was going through a breakup and then in the present, like, I feel kind of like in the limbo, you know, so there's

a song called Mannequin where I just kind of feel that way. And then, and the future is like best love, like the kind of love that I want for the future. What kind of love you want for the future? Best kind of love. Well, tell you know, let everyone know, because I mean, hey, this is Quest Love Supreme. And you never know your best love could be listening right now. So let the people know, you know, what does the best love look like for you? Best love.

What does it look like for you? You know, someone who's just like, who have the best intentions for you, you know, like who just wants you to be happy inside out, like without expecting anything back. Not that I'm not going to give you anything back, you know. Obviously there will be like it's a two-way thing. but someone who's just purely, like, lovely. I just want someone lovely, you know? And, yeah, yeah.

That was, that was beautiful. I might need some napkins. Some y'all cutting these onions in here, man. I swear. Well, Yudah, thank you so much for taking time. Thank you for having me. And coming through and shopping it up with us about being lovely. and stay lovely you guys and everything uh ladies

gentlemen give it up for yuna on quest left's free a win a win a win a win a win i don't care which i'm saying yep that's me clipper taylor the fourth you might have seen the skits the reactions my journey from basketball to college football or my career in sports media well somewhere along the way this platform became bigger than i ever imagined and now i'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast the clifert show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take

you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right what you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes,

follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft, and we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects.

From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest, mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar. This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice Podcast on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slice of Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. I'm John Green. You may know me as the author of The Fault and Our Stars and now I guess also as the co-host of The Away End, a brand new world soccer podcast. I'm Daniel Alarcon, a writer and journalist,

and John and I have known each other since we were kids. My first World Cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old. I watched every game, and I fell in love. On our new podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. For us, soccer, football, is a story we've shared for over 30 years since Daniel was the star player on our high school's soccer team. Very debatable. And I was their most loyal and sometimes only fan. I love this game. I love its history, it's hope, it's heartbreak, and above all, its beauty. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Alarcon and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcasts. This is Quest Love Supreme. Fon Tigolo, Lai'ia, unpaid bill, boss bill, Hello, Sugar Steve is not here. Scott Yeo in the building. It's Questlove Supreme, y'all. Team Supreme is in the building. That's how we go down. Listen, we are here today.

This is, we're live in New York City at the Roots Picnic. So if you hear any background noise or whatever, that is the noise from musicians doing what they do, getting paid. And one of the few times we do actually get goddamn paid. Really? Oh, when you're doing a show. When you're doing a show.

You know what I'm saying? But no, man. So listen, we're live here and we're here today with a young man who is by birthright music royalty. Royalty. Mm. Mm. Yeah. You know what I'm saying?

Man, I'm not. I mean, no bullshit, no overselling. I mean, this is. actual facts, bro. Ladies and gentlemen, give it up. Big Quest Love Supreme Round of applause. Mr. Daniel Marley, y'all. Give it out.

You're welcome. Thank you. Man, thank you for being here. Half human, half ninja. Ninja, full ninja. Full ninja. Okay. Half a student, full ninja.

Tell us about, because the note that we got was that, you know, you're half human, half ninja. You're saying you're full ninja. Ninja. Yeah, I mean, of course. Okay. Tell us about the life of a ninja. We live this

life, bro. Oh, I listen. We live this life, bro. Because ninja doubles for a niggins. Is that it is? It's one of those words we can, you know, when it fits. Oh, half human, oh, so ninja. But I'm not half. No, I'm ninja.

You're ninja. Okay. So it's... Oh, because it sounds nicer. No, because I'm a ninja, though. I, you know, I'm very much into Art fully, you know, grew up very into Bruce Lee, into his philosophy, you know, into everything he says, into his trainer as well. And so that culture of martial arts is a big deal to me and how they live their life. And, you know, the Shaline monks are very spiritual folks.

And that's pretty much a path that I love to take. If I had a choice, I would have been in the Shalyn Temple, like, just training. Yeah, you have a... You usually just bought a pet named Shaolin. Is that correct? I do. Like Pit Bull Labradoramix, a little baby. Whoa.

Named a picture, you know. Young Animal Ninja, you know. That's dope. Yeah, yeah. What, like the principles that they teach in that, what, if any, have you applied that to your music career? Like, how do they mirror each other in any way? Well, mainly being like water, you know, as in keeping a flow, you know.

never locking yourself into a corner like this bottle it's filled with water the water can't go anywhere else if we put a hole in here it's out and it keeps going wherever it wants to go it just you know and and always not to be never get phased by things you know and that's pretty much one of the main things where if you take that and apply it it lead you to a lot of other aspects of it as well got you at the beginning of the interview I refer to you as being, you know, royalty. And that certainly is no overstatement. He is Daniel, your dad, Ziggy,

Ziggy Marley, who is, of course, the son of legendary Bob Marley. When you talk about being like water and, you know, you're not wanting to be restricted, was there ever a point in your life where you felt like being a son of such luminaries? did you almost kind of feel like at times that like, man, I have to do music? Like, I have no other choice doing anything else? Well, I have no other choice because this is what I'm good at. Right, it's not really, you know, we tried a couple other things.

What did you have to try? We tried to go to school, you know, you know what I'm saying? Like got kicked out of that, you know? It wasn't for me, the school thing. What were you going to school for? I was going to school for music production and music orchestra, orchestrated music. I was really into classical, and I was really into classical, and I wanted to. wanted to basically just like take courses in that lane and learn how that world went.

And it just didn't work out, you know. Why didn't it work out for you? I couldn't afford the tuition, man. Financial aid. They won't give me financial aid because of what you said earlier. Right. Because a lot of people listen like, you put the money right, though. But I needed it, though.

They see that fast. Right. They're like, hey, hey, you don't need no financial. I'm like, yeah, dude. I'm trying to go to school. Yeah, but life is what it is. You know, I grew up with my mom. So.

Okay. It's a different thing. So the whole royalty side of it, you know, I look up to my granddad and my old man for what they've doing, what they do, what he's doing right now, what my granddad is done. But, like, my granddad does not, he never think of itself in that way. And that's where I take, like, when I talk about music and the whole mission, I go from his perspective. I don't really go from the perspective of after his death and what people perceive, you know, I kind of. still listen to his words and understand that it's not about that. You know, we grew up knowing it's not about that.

Some of us, me, my sister, that was the lessons we grew up with, you know. It was never a Silver Spoon thing. I grew up around studios, but they weren't, you couldn't just use the studio. You really, you had to be good. You know what I mean? Like, you had to first learn how to wrap the cables up. You know what I mean? Like, all of that.

Yeah, yeah, pretty much. Like, you couldn't use the studio just because. And so, and that was my uncle Stephen. me like that and pretty much grew around him Uncle Damien in Florida and you know it was like that so were you raised in where were you I was raised in Jamaica I moved to move to Miami when I was 15 oh okay right so I lived in Florida from 15 to like I'd say 21 then I went to L.A. so is that where you are now right now yeah yeah yeah man that's that's so dope to hear you say about how you know you know before you get in the

studio you had to wrap the cables up yeah like learning that Yeah, you really got to appreciate all parts of it in order to really be about it. And I'm very passionate about it, so I do want to know how to do it. And I do it a lot. A lot of the things I do is by myself. So I'm home, and I hook my whole plug up everything. You know, I break it down when I need to, but I record myself all instruments usually. And that's really where it came from.

That teaching of starting from the ground is really what my whole passion of my life is about like we start from zero you know we don't start from you oh he's Bob Marley's grandson we start from this is Bombata what are you going to do who are you you know what are you about um are you good enough you know what I'm saying so totally and so from there that's what it's it that's dope man thanks when you start off you know you first started making your early record well first off how old were you when you first started recording um I'd say the the first record I I was, I'd say, like, 18. Oh, okay.

Yeah. Was that the record you did with your dad? No, I did that when I first got to L.A. So I was about 21 when I did that. Okay. You know, and that happened, like, real random. You know what I'm saying? Like, I went to L.A.

He lives in L.A. Okay. I was in Miami, me and my sister for years and years. I went to L.A. I went to L.A. and he was like, oh, you want to do a song? I'm like, well, yeah, you know what I'm saying? Okay. Sure.

Why not? So then, you know, he just asked me to write. I'm down like, you know, a little 15 minute. I wrote a verse, did it, and I just went back to the crib. And that was it. That was just, wow. That's kind of awesome, man. Yeah, that's dope, man.

So, like, when you were working with your dad, you know, keeping, you know, that spirit of, you know, how you were saying, just having to kind of work your way up. What was it like for you when he, was that kind of a validation kind of, like, no. It was like, to me it was like, you know, this is a good time. Let's do this right now. It's a good time. No, I don't look for validation from family members.

I'm really looking for y'all to like my stuff, you know. They like it too, but that's my family. But really, it's about the people, you know, the people. Right, right, right. We can't hate him. Or they don't because yesterday we had smashing hearts here, and they're like the sons of Duane Wiggins, Tony, Tony, Tony. And they were saying that Raphael Sadek and Dwayne Wiggins are very hard.

on them when it comes to music. Yeah, no, it's not an easy thing when you come from a family of music. Right. The pressure is applied. You know, you really have to live up to certain things, but I don't put that pressure on myself because I don't even do the same sound.

Like, you know, I'm a different being. I have different dreams because of how I grew up. And so the things that I'm looking to do and looking for are a little bit different than that. What is it that you're looking for? Like, what are your goals? Respect in music first. This is a big deal.

I feel like a lot of people have to appreciate when someone really is doing it. We have a lot of cats that do things, but some folks are actually doing it. They live it every day. You know, they want to get better every day. There's not a day that goes by where I'm not practicing something or trying to learn something new when it comes to the guitar, drums, vocals. Just always pushing myself. It's never like, yo, I'm just going to chill and then I'm going to go to the studio today. You know what I'm saying?

Every day we're at it like, yo, we got to write a better song. Let's keep pushing. That, that, coming from the family, like that, too, is a part of that where it makes you, you know, hungry for it. Do you record with, when you say, you know, you're working every day, and it's really dope to hear that you record yourself, because that's something that I think a lot of artists, maybe a little bit more now they do it because, you know, you can actually have a studio at home and get good sound. Yeah. But it's still, you know, you don't see too, too many guys that really take the time to learn that stuff. But do you collaborate mainly with a band? Do you say you play?

Do you like guitar? So I play like our program before, before I started writing lyrics, or singing or rapping, I used to just build beats. So I would make beats using reasons and drum machine, you know? So we just made beats at first. It was just all producing stuff. So I grew up producing, playing piano a bit. I don't know it like that.

I really know the drums. I grew up playing the drums. And I picked up this. guitar like I'd say from this point four years ago three years ago because I went on a small tour I had a dream literal sleep and had a dream like you know take all the money you make from this run go buy yourself a guitar and start writing a whole bunch of different songs based on what was happening it's like I was doing a lot of hip-hop but when you put it out on the sound cloud people could take they just take you know what I had a situations where my

that my music was just being taken. And this is like full songs with vocals and everything on it. Yeah, like somebody will take the hook, you know what I mean? Wow. You know what I'm saying? Like, you know, and I mean, they'll do it on the same beat, you know, because that's what you could do. When you talk about mixtape stuff, you know.

Yeah. And then I realize, like, I have more love for this, so I have to do something that you can't just recreate. Like, you can't just take it. And so I got the guitar and I just started teaching myself how to play and just started writing different songs, songs that, you know, everything came more from inside because when you have that connection to a live instrument,

you can find more things inside of yourself, you know. It's so much more. So that helped. That's what happened. Yeah, yeah. When you, we were, I was looking online, we were like trying to find some music, and what's the status of everything?

Are you working on an album? Or you just have stuff like, SoundCloud. So right now, the album is about, I'd say, 95% finish. There's a few things I want to record while I'm out here just to seal it up. But the album is pretty much ready. It's called UNX. And the definition at this point is unknown.

That's the definition. I feel like we search for the things we don't know in life. That's what we're all, you know, that's what we do. We're like, yo, we don't know this. so we're going to learn it. We don't know this, so we're going, you know what I mean? So I call it unknown based on that, that drive of seeking. You know, why are we here?

What's my point? You know, am I doing what I'm supposed to be doing? And really being connected to yourself to know if you're on the right track, you know. So I call it the unknown. And it's basically open space of unlimited possibilities. That's what the unknown is. Was there a moment where you realize, like, or, I mean, do you maybe kind of oscillate, will you feel like, yo, I'm on the right track?

Like, I know this is where I'm posing. Yeah, I'm definitely on the right track right now. The music that's coming out, the things I'm talking about and singing are really, really powerful to me. And, you know, to the close friends around who know it, you know, they'll give you more assurance, you know, your people, you know. But definitely I'm on the right track for sure. Coming here to play this gig is the craziest thing. Yo, what was that, like, Ruth? That's your first Ruth, I mean, right?

Yeah, it's the first show like this, you know. The first festival show. Like, in terms of, in this vein, you know, in this lane, you know, in this lane of where, what I'm trying to do, you know. This is pretty much like, yo, this is what I'm trying to do. Gotcha. Yeah, I played a lot of shows. It's mainly reggae shows based on a name, you know. But this show feels like it's where you want to be.

Yeah, it's based on the music. Yeah, pretty much. It's like, this is the sound. It is a lot of different things It's not one thing There's influences of all types of music within it But it's not reggae It's not pop

It's not just hip hop It's rock, it's soul It's funk, it's R&B, it's jazz I heard, yeah, I was surprised Because I didn't, because I was walking up And I caught like maybe the last Five, ten minutes of the set Because I was, we had to come up here to set up

And so I was walking in and I saw it and I was like who's that on and so I looked at the sketch I was like oh that's like oh wow that's him and so you know I saw you I was like man like it sounded really dope from here I was up but I had to come up and you know get the work for our slave master

I appreciate your time yeah but uh I had to get up so but uh but now man it sounded dope Massa Thompson did you was I'm fixing to come upstairs

Mass That's funny because there was a master time. I'm sure there was, like in real life. Right. You're right. That's why the name thing, you know, I kind of, that's why my name's African. You know, Bambatha's an African name. You know, there's a lot of...

So you really read it to go straight Bambada, no Daniel Marley at all? Yeah. It's my sound, it's me, you know, and you know you get to know me, you know that, you know, this is him. How did you choose Bambah? That's my name, like birth name. Oh, that's my name. Oh, wow. in my middle name.

Oh, got you. See y'all like Margaret Laetia. Okay. Okay, Margaret. All right, Margaret. She's like, yeah. Another one. Okay, Margaret.

A bill collector name and one for your family. That's right. Margaret. Hi, Margaret. Margaret. One of the things I think is dope about the younger generation. You know, when you say that your music is not

just reggae, you know, it's a mixture of a lot of things. The thing about the young generation, I think, is that you guys seem to be open to a lot more... Indeed. A lot more music. And I think, you know, I have a son that's 15, and he listens to everything. And I think largely in part because that generation now, like, they can get everything for free. I mean, everything, they can just go to YouTube and look up whatever genre they want.

Did you feel any kind of pushback from anyone that, you know, you said you do the reggae festivals? but this is kind of where you want to be. Did you feel any pushback from people who felt you should be doing more traditional? Everybody, a lot of people, once they first hear about me, they think I should only play reggae. I actually don't play any at all. I have some songs that are out from before, but everything I create is just what I feel, you know,

and I can't really, I'm never going to just feel what somebody else felt and do it, you know. And so this music that's coming out of me right now is how I feel. It is what I feel. I can do a reggae song in 10 years. You know, you got people doing reggae songs right now, Drake and stuff. You know, people, it's not about, but it's how I feel. And that's my goal is to really put my feeling on wax and get it out there, you know, and try to have people, I know people feel the same way.

We're singing about real things, you know. We're singing about life. Like, there's nothing that you didn't go through that. I'm not singing about. And so, yeah. Talk to me about some of your hip-hop influences. as I was reading about you. And I was like, man, like, this kid, like, really, you know, gnaz.

And, like, you had, like, a lot of... Yeah, you know, as far as hip-hop goes, it's, like, mainly East Coast for me, you know, Big El, Guru. I usually wake up, I wake up... Yeah, I wake up. How did you... Okay, just for the list of... You're how old? How old are you?

27. You're 27. Okay, Big L. How did you... How did that happen? Yeah. Just based on... I love old school rap.

I love old school hip hop. For me, music, like Jamaica and hip hop has a great relationship based on the starting of hip hop. You know, Kuhir coming through. Right, exactly. So with that and that knowledge is the knowledge I use and apply it to my music where it's like, we can do that. It's all that.

Reggae music is influenced by everything else too. That was happening. James Brown, Beatles, you know, the rock ever. Like, it's all that. combined and then the island flavor which is you know that's the feeling of the people that's how they feel and so that's why that is a different sound but it's all music is all from it's all parts you know every genre is here for us to use and like when you were saying about your son being able to to have access to any type of music any sound he wants to to put inside his brain is really an

evolution that we're going through as people musicians you know where You can't be blocked off because the world is so much bigger for us right now. You know, it's only natural that we're going to apply. You know, it's like without internet, all right, maybe you'll do what you're, it's only happening in your community because that's what you got. That's what you know, that's where you are. But you have the whole world right now. So it's like, why stop?

Why stop? A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clever Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits. reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media.

Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations,

stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes,

follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft. And we've got a special guest, The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes

franchises make to the players flying under the radar. This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12. and TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.

I'm John Green. You may know me as the author of The Fault and Our Stars and now I guess also as the co-host of The Away End, a brand new world soccer podcast. I'm Daniel Alarcon, a writer and journalist, and John and I have known each other since we were kids. My first World Cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old.

I watched every game and I fell in love. On our new podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. For us, Soccer. Football. Is a story we've shared for over 30 years since Daniel was the star player on our high school soccer team. Very debatable.

And I was their most loyal and sometimes only fan. I love this game. I love its history, its hope, its heartbreak, and above all, it's beauty. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Auer Kohn and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple, podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from Bruce Picnic here in New York City. So if you hear any noise, it's just me and the boys getting it on.

Right now, ladies and gentlemen, I'm so happy. It's funny. Me and this brother know a lot of the same people who ran a lot of the same circles. But this is actually our first time meeting face-to-face, and it's crazy. This brother is one of the, I would say, the next school or the, you know, the, of Philly MCs, you know, when I was coming up, you know, I was listening to, you know,

just the OGs three times dope, cool, see, steady room. You know what I'm saying? Of course, schoolie D, of course. Sure. And then once, I guess, college, this was when, you know, the rock took over. And really, it was Philly that... It was on the backs of Philly.

Yeah, like, totally. State property. And, you know, and this brother was... a cat I always admired. He always had just really unconventional rhymes schemes. Kind of unconventional in the way that he would kind of wrap around his rhymes.

Like he would start with one bar and then go on that for a while, but then break off and then go back to another and kind of like a boomerang kind of thing. And I always thought that was really dope. Thank you, brother. And yeah, man. I'm such an honor to have him here

with us, ladies and gentlemen, give it up for my man's freeway on Questus. Yeah. Right on stage. How you feel, man? How did it go today? Oh man, I feel great, man.

It's a wonderful experience, man. You know, shout out Dorek, you know, for bringing me out. We was on stage. We just performed, did a legendary cipher with all legends, man. I'm still caught up in a moment right now, man. Who was it, too? It was me. It was Blackthorpe and Wesson.

Whoa. It was Big Daddy Kane. Wow. It was, oh my God, it was Royce 5'9. Oh, snap. I need to hit, wow. Farrow Munch. And we were over here.

And we were over here stuck in the fucking moon. And at the end, we did a cipher to the symphony. Oh. Oh, Fonte. To close your ear. I'm sorry. Coojee rap. Kane and Craig G kicked their original version.

Wow. Okay. I'm, I got to go. I'm here. Y'all over here. I don't know. What y'all doing over here? What y'all missed it, babe.

We're over here failing at life, apparently. We don't know what we're doing either, freeway. We don't know what we're doing either, freeway. Oh, man. Welcome to Quest Love Supreme, only on page. That's amazing, man. That's dope, man. That's really dope.

Shout, happy birthday, Black Thought, man. Yeah, this is his birthday. I got to take my hat off to him because the brother really put it together and he had the most craziest job because he did verses. Like, before we did the actual cipher, he brought each of us out and we did some of our records and he, like, actually did a couple verses to each person's record. And that's hard. You know, it's hard enough just remembering.

on your own shit. You know what I'm saying? Because then that man, hats off to that man. One of the greatest. One of the greatest, unfortunately. One thing I wanted to write you about, man, it was interesting. I was doing some work. This was a couple years back.

My man, Brother Ali, Rhomb Sayers. Yeah, yeah. Shout out Brother Ali. Yeah, man. And me and him, we actually toured together. The first little brother tour that we went on with Hieroglyphics. We toured, we did a couple of dates with Brother Ali in the atmosphere. And so he was telling me at the time, he was like, yo, man,

man, I got this new record about to come out with freeway. This shit's just going to be crazy. I was like, well, he didn't take shit. It's going to be crazy because he don't, brother Ali. Man, brother Ali is like the coolest, like most zen like dude ever. But he was like, yo, it's crazy. He's like, I got to join. I was like, cool.

And so later out, it came out. And it was the record, the truth. It was the truth record. It was, uh, talked to me about that with you and being with rhyme says. I thought it was so dope how someone like you that was on, you know, the rock and like was on like that major. major, you know, label could then fuck with someone like rhymesayers that's like, you know, for those who don't know rhyme sayers is like, Sean Ramsares, man, it was a great experience,

great experience working with them, man, you know, they really care about the music, you know, me and Jake won't put the album together and it's like a critically claim album, like everybody loved album, and, you know, when the whole rock split up came, I just went back to what I'm normally doing, that's work hard, you know what I'm saying? I was trying whatever I could do. Like before I did the project with Jake 1 and Romsairs, I did something called Month of Madness where I dropped the record every day for the whole month. Like, I just went hard.

Like, you know what I'm saying? I'm like, man, I can't go back to doing what I was doing before this, so I got to go hard. And, you know, by the grace of God, I've been able to maintain a successful career throughout the whole time I've been doing it. So what was that transition like, man, going from, you know, when you say, like, once the rock split up

and then saying, okay, well, I got to go back to doing what it is I normally do. What is that transition like going from working, like being with the major to then kind of being more independent than having to do things on your own? Was that a big transition for me? I mean, everybody can't do it. Like, you know, a lot of people. They did. A lot of people could be fucked up in the head.

But you got to understand where I'm coming from and the type of person that I am. Like in the middle of me being super successful, like in the middle of rock the mic, what we do when them junctions are getting like $5 and spins a week. I went to Mecca. I went to Saudi Arabia, made my pilgrimage. I went with like 20 other brothers. I was sleeping on the floor. I was doing everything everybody else was doing.

So just taking that trip in general, just getting there takes a lot of patience because we had to switch a couple flights. We had to wait in the airport, six, seven hours. Like, you know, so I'm used to having patience and dealing with certain situations. So when a breakup first happened, it probably took me like a couple weeks

just to get myself together and just dig what's really going on, with everything and then I just went back to what I normally do and that's work hard and grind you know so I'm still here man I'm still a lot you know yeah I wanted to speak with you I was uh this was I mean a couple I was reading on it might have been on okay player believe you not I might be an okay player um in terms of your health uh yeah yeah right now with your kidneys speak to us a little bit about that what kind of led to it and how was that changed your life well in September of 2015 I was diagnosed with in-stage renal failure that's kidney

failure. So as of right now, I got to do dialysis three times a week, four hours a day. I'm actually active on a transplant list so they could call me any time with a new kidney and I got to go to the hospital and they're going to do the operation. Just like with the rock breakup, like when it first happened, fuck me up. I got the call from my doctor. It was like, you need to get to the emergency room right now. So the first thing I did, you know, I'm a devote Muslim. So the first thing I did was I went to the masjid. I prayed I ask God to help me deal with whatever the situation is. I didn't really know to what extent it was. I did that. Went to the hospital. They diagnosed me with kidney failure. That day, they cut my chest open,

put a catheter in my chest, and the next day I was doing dialysis, and I've been doing it ever since then. The only difference is now I got a fistula in my arm, which is when they take your main vein from the bottom of your arm and bring it up to the top of your arm so they can access it and they tied the artery off and that's how they access my dialysis they put two needles in each arm each time i go one needle drains the blood out put in the machine cleans the blood cleans the blood and the other needle pumps the blood back in it's a four-hour process and everything is going good you know so but what led up to it was in uh like 2012 i was diagnosed with high blood pressure and diabetes which are two of the leading risk factors for kidney failure i actually

have three risk factors one is being afric african American, the other is high blood pressure, the other is diabetes, you know. So anybody out there to have any of those risk factors, just being black is a risk factor. That's a risk factor for a lot of shit. Yeah, sure is. You need to keep up with your routine physicals, man. Make sure you see the doctor at least once a year get checked up. And, you know, because once I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and diabetes,

I took it serious in the beginning. But just like with everything else, you know, as time passed, you tend to not pay as much attention to it. Like, I was taking my medicine, but then I remember, like, when I first got on, when I first got it, I was like, I remember one day I went to go see beans and beans. Beans, he got high blood pressure and diabetes also. He was eating a cheese steak. I'm like, what you're doing eating a cheese steak?

You know he's not supposed to be eating the cheese steak. Like, three months later, I was eating cheese steak. So, you know, it's just about being aware and staying on point and, you know, taking care of yourself and keeping up with your routine physically. So, man. In terms of, like, during, you know, because, I mean, being emcees, anyone, not just emcees, but being anyone working in the business will tell you, traveling is, like, the biggest diet killer.

Like, anything you're trying to do right, being on the road just fucks that up completely. I'm going to tell you all some real shit. Like, when we, like, with the first tour, first couple tours with Jay, Jay was eating crab cakes, fish sticks. I'm not even paying attention. I'm fucking burgers up, steaks, eating whatever I want. You're like, man, I'm telling you, better eat right. Wow.

You know, you see what happens, man. You know, it's more than just rat. You got to take care of everything. You got to make sure everything is up to par. Man, that's how it is. With you, do you have family, like kids, wife? Yeah, yep, yep, everything. Family, kids, everything, two kids.

How old are your kids? 15 and 16. Oh, wow. Yeah, you know, so they well aware of what's going on. And dope children, too, winning awards and whatnot. Yeah, yeah, you know. Winning awards. Brag on your children.

Yes, please. My daughter, you know, she, when was that? Like, last year or year before, she won her award for a poem that she made. And, like, she read the poem, like, in front of the commissioner and the mayor and a bunch of different people in the city, which was real good for me. And she gets great grades in school, like, you know, so I'm very proud of her. My son, you know, he's a little knucklehead, but he tries best. You know, he's trying to do his rap thing, too.

So, you know, I let him do his thing a little bit. Does he, like, are your kids, because, you know, we ask a lot of guests that have kids, you know. I have boys myself. My boy was a 15 and 10. Do they know, like, who their dad is, are they aware? They've been, they've been aware. In Philly, it's not a choice. You got to think about what we do.

They was on my lap in that joint. So, you know, they already was gone. Especially with my son, you can't tell him, he ain't a star. Oh, wow. So, to see, did they, like, come to you for, like, your son, you know, you say he wants to rap. Does he come to you for advice or does he look at you? He do now. Like, he tried to do his thing on his own in the beginning.

Like, you know, he was making a little, like his homies love his music and everybody, like, his little friends love his music. But, you know, I know how to do it. And I know, you know, the route that you got to take and everything you got to do. And he tried not to listen to me in the beginning. But now, you know, he on point. He learned. He learned. That's dope, man.

You know, kids think they know everything. I'm like, man, I'm a whole successful. role model. You're talking about you think you know more than me. What's wrong with you? I like that there's always one good one and one knucklehead.

It doesn't matter what. There's two. There's always... Yeah, because your daughter is like, you got one daughter that's like the cool daughter and then the other one... The knucklehead.

She's a total knucklehead. That's a great word. It's totally what she is. That's what's up, man. That's what's what's up? So in terms of right now, what are you working on? What's coming up?

Oh, right now, you know, I got a new situation on the table that I'm working out, which is going to be great for me in for hip hop. So something to look forward to. Something I'm very excited about. Oh, that's bigger than label.

You know? You know, I just, you know, since my situation, instead of, like, hiding what I'm going through, I chose to stand in front of it, you know. So I've been doing a lot of work with different kidney foundations. And March 10th of 2016, I was awarded the Patient Advocacy Award by the National Kidney Foundation, which was great for me, you know. We're at the DNC this year. Yeah, I was at the DNC this year.

Yeah, it was in Philly. Just was at the White House last week. Wow. Were you at the White House? You were at the National Museum, right? For the National African Americans? No, I was there for, they actually did a health summit. Millennium Outreach Health Summit.

It was last Tuesday, you know, so I participated in that. You know, I just was with Michelle when she came to Philly last Wednesday. That's what we doing. Excuse me, you're on first name, like, a net basis. You know. You know. You know, I was with Bill Clinton at Maine America. And I performed two days in a row at Maine in America, too,

which is a huge accomplishment for me. I actually performed. Maine America exists for five years. I performed four out of the five years. Well, you would air for the first announcement of Made in America to Philadelphia, so as it should be. Yes, sir. So, you know, I'm just trying my best to do as much as I can

and get back as much as I can, you know. So that's what I'm on. That's dope, man. That's dope. Ophrey, yo, we appreciate you. you taking this time to come through, man, after the performance. Anytime. And chop it up with us.

And I really salute you just, you know, for everything that you've done. And also just for, you know, like you said, getting in front of, you know, that health issue. You know, I've lost relatives to, you know, diabetes and high blood pressure. And we've seen, particularly in 2016, a lot of, you know, people going young. Yeah, rest in peace. Yeah, rest in peace, fight all. And, you know, man, just for you to be out there and to be an advocate for it and bring more awareness to it and just to really, you know, let brothers know, I mean, your health is something that is,

you know, that's everything. That's the basis. Yeah, you know, it's important, man, you know, because there's so many people that is just unaware, you know, and awareness is the key, man. Like, if I would have been aware of how serious it was when I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and diabetes, I couldn't avoid getting kidney failure because it was already in the works, but I could have prolonged it, you know, if I would have been more aware of what was going on in my body.

So awareness is the key, man. That's so. And just me being here, being able to perform for the people, and just them seeing me out here still going hard is motivation. I just want people to know, like, even though I have a disease, I have kidney failure, it's not a death sentence. I'm still living a productive life. I'm still doing, like I told you, I performed two days in a row of me in America.

I just shut it down at the Roos Picnic. I never told you all I was sick. Nobody would never know. That's true. And I'm about to go back to Philly, 6 o'clock tomorrow morning. back on a dialysis machine. Just take care of yourself. Because when you drop that Instagram with you in the hospital the first day, I don't

pry over Instagram, but the tears was like, oh, my God, why it's free in the hospital in the band. I know you love me, boo. I know. I'm good. I'm good. God willing, not be here for a minute. That's what's up.

Well, we love. We all love you, brother. Thank you for what you do. Pleasure me and you too, man, for sure. Yeah, for sure. And, yo, thanks for coming through. And when, you know, whenever your situation is final, you know, once it's done, you know, You got to come back and we can talk about it.

Yeah, I got you. It's no problem. Ladies and gentlemen, freeway. Cheer. Give it up. Whittling. Yes, I. So, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,

give a big Quest Love Supreme Round of applause to Easy Mo Breezy, the founders and creators of grits and biscuits. Yes. What's up, man? Hi. What's going on? A party performing at the Roots picnic? We're in this thing like a chicken wang on the string in the middle of spring.

There it is. Damn right. Listen, okay, so there are three of you in this collective. Easy Mo breezy is the name of the collective. Correct. And individually is Alzo. Yep. Erica, DJ Square Viz.

Yes, sir. Okay. Erica, I'm going to start with you because me and you have some ties in that you had the misfortune of going to North Carolina, Antistate University. Aggie Prize. which is a great online college. Oh. You know what I'm saying? Hold on.

Hold on that. I ain't even go to A&T. I went to another HBCU, but I'm going to have to the square up on you. It's okay. You ain't going to disrespect my partner like that. It's all right. You know what I appreciate it?

It's all right. Just because you got your associate's degree. Exactly. University of Phoenix online. No, no. He went to Divide. I was in North Carolina Central. Central.

North Carolina Central. Central College. Central. Yeah, I graduated from Central. I got you. I graduated from Central and she's a Aguio. I didn't even know they gave degrees there.

Yeah, yeah. Aggie pride. Our online division is stepping up tremendous. Yeah, man. But no, she's a, she's an Aggie. I'm an Eagle. So I give her a joke a little bit.

I actually grew up like right down the street from Antis. So you know. So it was too much. It was just like, dude, I'm going to school in my backyard. I can't get. I was at every homecoming up until I graduated. And you were. They were there last year too.

I was there last year. Exactly. Aggie Pride. I was, I was at Grits and Biscuits. When the last time you've been to Central. I wasn't at Homecoming. I was at Grits and Biscuits.

When the last time you've been to Central. I haven't been to Central's home in a long time. I'd be working. Because I'd be working. I'm always on tour. I'm always on tour. And so the one time I'm home. And I go, I went to Grits and Biscuits.

Let me be glad. I went to Grits and Biscuits. I wasn't at the homecoming. I don't even know who's at the game. Oh, stop. They played against Central. They did? No, I don't know.

Central only play flag football, they're in it. So, all HBCU slander aside, Erica, she is a graduate of North Carolina and T. State University, and you were, as I understand it, pretty much the kind of the creator of this party. Oh, no, it wasn't just me. It was definitely

a collective unit. So we were all three of us were living in Brooklyn, but we're all from the South, originally. And so the concept of the party really came up out of just a friendly, we were friends first, a friendly conversation about at the time, 2009. Yeah. Didn't hear a lot of Southern hip-hop music the way you do now in New York. And at the time, the majority of the parties that we, you know, you saw in New York were very different in that it was velvet rope and bottle service.

And so we decided just to come together and throw one party for friends and a party we would want to go to that was very reminiscent of the black college experience because we all went to HBCUs. Okay, so you went to Erica, you went to T. Alzo, where'd you go? Prayer View A&M University. Oh, no. PV, baby. That's where a guru went, right? That's where, that's, no, DJ Premier. Premier.

Premier. His pops was my dean of science there. Are you serious? Yeah, me and him was tight. That's dope. That's dope. Shout to DJ Premier. I'm working with him on the brakes right now.

That's dope. And where'd you go to? Fam you. When the fam, okay. Common dropped out of there. Yep. He's like, no, I'm out of here. Fam, yeah, fam, I think fam, I, that was one of my choices, actually.

I was, I was, that was, you went to Central? I went to Central. What's funny is, my high school counselor, because I went to an academic high school, but I got real bad grades. And she was like, I said, so what colleges can I get into? And she was like, have you ever heard of Prairie View? Hold up. I feel like that.

I was sorry. Slander, what is it? Man, because you were showing. This interview was a setup. Right. This is a prank show? Right, right, right. Man, what's the kitchen cameras in here, man?

No, seriously, I was looking at FM. And the reason why I wanted to go to FAM at the time, it was, it was the band. And it was Luke. Oh, yeah. I was the Luke fan. And so, kind of, Cam D. Cumming, man, come on, what? And so, yeah, so as a kind of, I guess, as a parting gift.

So I didn't go to fam, but my first year at Central, our homecoming show was Luke. He came. He closed, and then they never let him come back. Yeah, it was over. He had, like, 20 shit. Yeah, he had, like, girls dancing. They were stripping, and that was, okay, just to show you, like, how life can come with you fast, okay?

So, this was 97. Jay-Z was there. Wow. This is Jay-Z. He performed at that homecoming show, and he was just off of, in my lifetime, Volume 1. Volume 1 was out. And so, just to kind of show you how stuff was changing hip-hop, at the time, he wasn't

even the guy. He was doing his show, and it was cool. He brought out Aconelli. Aconelli shut shit down. He bodied it. He did put it in your mouth. To all of the people, too, to a... You can stick it.

To people to just those just now tuning in, to give you kind of the lineage of the southern HBCU tradition. I applied to a number of black colleges. He said apply. That is. I get into that in. But back to you can lick it, you can stick it. Yeah, yeah, this is, yeah, this is like a guy.

Priorities, priorities. Jay Z was like the guy, but he wasn't the guy just then. He was becoming the guy. So Aconelli came in on his set, who was a rapper at the time, had a big hit, put it in your mouth. And also the B-side, fuck me for free. Yes. Which is another, which is another Negro spiritual. But that's now a sample from somebody.

It's Drake, Drake and Callie. Oh, that's right. That's right. You're right. So yeah, man. But yeah, so that was at the time, my black college experience. So back to you guys with Grits and Biscuit. So you wanted to bring the black college experience to, that was where the idea came from.

Wanted to bring that kind of up here up north. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, to a certain extent, like it was, you know, to Erica's point, it was like the bougie, dress code, bottle service, sparklers, all that. And if you were there with your homeboy, you couldn't get in the club unless you had 10 seemingly good-looking girls. You know, seemingly unattractive women couldn't get in the club, you know. And then if you did get in, nobody was dancing in heels and dresses and stuff.

And then the other extreme was like the super duper bohemian house parties, which is dope. You know, they're playing Fayla, which is amazing. You know what I'm saying? And those are the folks that's in there, they, you know, they're trying to save the world and all that. But every once in a while, you need to shake your ass. We ain't going to save it tonight. We ain't going to save it tonight. No, you know what I'm saying?

It's like, there's a lot of. stress trying to save the world. So sometimes we need to take a break and get loose, you know. And so we created a party we want to go to and who knew that other folks who want to come to it too. And six years fast forward and we sitting here talking to y'all clowns.

Good audience. Congratulations. One of the thing I think is so beautiful about you guys' party, man, is that, you know, a lot of times hip-hop, it gets the rep of, you know, when you talk about the parties that were in the city and you talk about how

you know, they would be very subtly racist shit that they would do like no ball caps or no no hoodies, no hoodies, like, you know, little shit that it's like, okay, we know who the fuck y'all talking to it. But, you know what I mean? Because there's this stigma

that hip-hop creates, quote unquote, violence. I was like, I've been to three of you guys' parties and this is a, you know, southern rap part. So all the violence-inciding rap songs So like a knuck if you buck or like any, tear a club up. Those songs go off and there has never been, I've never seen any fight.

In the parties I've been through, there's never been any kind of foolishness. It's never been, just as you say, it's very much as a come as you are. I mean, it is a party you can walk up in if you just got on your jeans and a t-shirt, then you can rock like that. And the parties I've been to,

there has never been just a more, just easygoing, just, it's a very familiar atmosphere and I really appreciate you guys for doing that. When you first started off, what was it like trying to bring that here upward in New York or in the North? Was it any difficulty with that? Erica and Zoke can talk about that

because they were trying to go to the different venues and getting no love. Yeah, no, I think at first it was just people weren't, they didn't understand the concept. And then we also got the question like, are you guys party promoters in New York? No. Have you guys thrown parties in New York before?

No. So, you know, really it was just like one venue. The guy was like, oh, I like your vibe. You know, we'll give you a shot. And the first party, they asked us before the door is open. They were like, how many people are going to show up? And we were like, we hope 200. Now, the funny thing is the only thing we did to promote was we created a really fly flyer,

and we sent it out via email. And then we announced it at our Bible study. Hold on. Time out. Let's hold up. You announced the party. At our Bible study. You know how church folk get that.

No, I, no, I do. Okay, so do we need to give the list in some context? Probably, yes. Okay, all right, Bible study. Do I need to break down what Bible study? No, yeah. I think it kind of explains this. I think we're good.

Okay, so in the south, there is, you know, church folk, you know, the Saturday night is the club, and then Sunday. Sunday morning is church. Sunday morning you pray away all the sins. You pray away all the ratchets that you did the night before. And these audiences very much overlap.

So, I mean, so that's, I never would have thought of that. That's genius. That's almost like, that's almost like on Breaking Bad when Jesse went to narcotics anonymous to sell meth. Wow. That is, yo, that is, that is, that is, that is so, wait, no, that's fucking genius. Did you just compare our guests to drug dealers? Yeah. Yeah.

Hey, we ain't going to tolerate too much, both disrespect. No, the shit is genius. I never would have thought, because, because seriously, no, real bad. Most people wouldn't even say, like, I mean, people that are, like, quote-unquote church folk, they kind of keep that shit to the side.

Like, they don't say that. So, no, the shit is fucking genius. I never would have thought to do that. Don't as many people show up the Bible study as they do the actual service. So that's interesting, too, because it's like, why not just, you know, put it in any announcement.

This is what I'm curious about. No, but this is going off the rail. This is very fascinating. This is fascinating. It was a Bible study for young people. Okay. And so we announced it at the Bible study. And we also, you know, the first party, we said we'd have 200 people.

We were like, we're going to do it like old school like we did in college. We're going to have first hour $5. After that, it's $10. We were like, for fun, we made church fans because we were like, we need to have things that represent the South. Had no signage. had no website, had nothing. And this is all we did. And when they asked us how many people were going to show up,

we said hopefully 200. First people in the door. Hold on, hold on. The manager, when we told that to the manager. Yeah. And the manager was like, yo, if you get 200 people in here, that would be amazed.

And we were like, okay, hopefully. And then doors open, first people at the party, Bible study. Yeah, right, right. Wow. $5. And then by the end of the night, there were like 500 people.

Wow. The majority we did not know, and we realized that. And at the end, they were asking, well, when's the next one? When's the next one? We're like, uh. We had no idea because we only plan for one. When I used to DJ, my answer to that question was talk to the manager. Oh, see?

Well, the manager was like, can y'all come back next week? It was like, whoa, bro. Easy, tiger, easy. So are y'all somebody completely different in the daytime? Or were y'all somebody completely different? No, still. Yeah, we all have jobs. This is our side.

What are your day jobs? What are you? I work at Rock Nation. Oh, shit. Okay. I work at Viacom. Oh, shit. Oh, wow.

HBCU. These day jobs are amazing. Okay, and you as a... Don't mess it up, Alton. I'm an advertiser, photographer, and I teach philosophy. Well, damn. Wow. I teach philosophy at the College of New Rochelle of Brooklyn campus.

Oh, okay. I'm an adjunct professor. How better do it? What an essence? A marked article. Y'all be a hard article. That's dope. So, so, uh, DJ Square Biz, uh, with you as a DJ, was this your, how long,

you've been DJing and was this your, I was 15, was 16 years? Oh, wow. Yeah. To stay out of trouble. Thanks to Zoe, actually, my brother. So they're brothers. Yeah, yeah. Oh, it got like real brothers.

Yeah. Okay. So I was like messing up in school and I met one of his friends and he taught me how to DJ and I wanted turntables bad. My mom was like, if you get your grades right, if you stop acting up in school, you can get your turntables. And then my brother taught me how to DJ once I got my turntable. It was cool.

So where are you guys? Where were you raised that? Where are you all? Texas and Florida. Oh, wow. Okay. Gotcha, got you. That's dope.

So in terms of when you first start DJing, what kind of stuff were you first playing? Like, what was your first stuff? I was really in, like, early on when I was like 15, I was really into like hip hop, hip hop. Like Sugar Hill game, Grand Master Flash, run DMC. At 15. Because of my brother. Wow.

No, that's crazy. Beastie boys, like Beastie boys, Lords of the Underground. tribe, De La Soe, especially De La Soe Soe. Outcast, for sure. So, Alza, you're the older of the two? Yeah, yeah, I don't know. It's the trickle-down effect that Amir always talks to. Yeah, yeah.

It's the older sibling a lot of times will set the tone and pass the home. Because we'll tell her what Ma would be planning out. Oh, yeah, she was Luther Van Dross. So my brother was raised in Florida while I was, like until I was nine, then he moved to Texas to go to school. Okay. So from zero to nine, it was Luther Van Dross, Anita Baker, Marvin Gay, like throughout the house and then my brother was like,

yo, you should listen to this hip-hop thing. And I was like, what? He put it in. Like, he was playing Lords of the Underground, Tribe Called Quest. I was like, what is this? What is this? So, uh, from there, like, took off and then, like, Chris Cross was like my favorite.

Oh, man. Oh, man, let's not act like they weren't dope for the time. No, yo, okay. All right. In the face of Chris Cross. Chris Cross had jams. No, they did. I missed the bus.

I missed the bus. Come on. Now that's something I was never, never, never, do again. That shit was so traumatic missing the buses. Because you would miss it because it wasn't you missed the bus. It was you miss it and then you know you got to go in and tell your mom right. That was it.

Now I got to take you to. Now I got to go get dressed. Now I got to put on my house coat and take you to school. My mother wouldn't take me to school. She'd find a bus and drive around and say, look at that bus. Do they go to your school? Wow. Wow. I like your mother. That's awesome. That's the kind of parent I would be. Wait, where are you from?

North Carolina. I'm from Raleigh. She's from Raleigh. Yeah, she's a, I live in the city. We switch places. I live in the city now that she was, she's from, and she went to school where I was in Greensboro. So that's what's up.

So, this is going on six years now, six years. What keeps y'all in? This seems to be a recurring thing. Who was that? What was that? We were talking to yesterday. He was talking about how they kind of kept their day job until while they were. It was a MoMA.

It was MoMA. Yeah, it was it. moment. It was another DJ. He was saying that. So when do you guys, do you ever feel that you will one day say, okay, grits and biscuits, 100%. I'm leaving my day job. I'm leaving philosophy.

Fuck these kids. Like, I'm going to just go. Do you ever feel that one day that one day y'all would just make the full leap into doing grits and biscuits 100%. That is the question. I don't know.

That's a good job, job, guys. I know. Good job. I mean, with benefits. Oh, man. Yo, I got a cavity. I can go handle that. Vision proper.

Yeah, I think if, like, we'd expand it to something beyond grits and biscuits. Because, you know, to leave your job to just be a party promoter, that's not, that's not how we was raised. No, no, totally. No, real shit. That's real as fuck. Yeah. I was surprised, because when I found out that you, that you, that you, that you,

you still do all this and still do a job. I mean, how do y'all find time for yourself? Like, is there any personal time? Look at Eric. Right. She's like, what is that? My job is kind of cool with it. They kind of see it as like an add-on to like what I do.

Gotcha. Because it's like, you know, when we throw on parties or doing stuff, it kind of gives me a name or a leverage when I'm talking to artists. Like I know how to sell out a venue because this is what we do with grits and biscuits. I know how to put on a performance because that's what we do with Grids and Biscuits. So when I talk to artists, they kind of see me as someone who has the knowledge already to kind of tell them that thing. Like a player coach type of thing. Totally.

Totally. What about you, Erica? No, I mean, I definitely think the job I'm in now, I made it very clear from the beginning that this is what I do on the side. So they've been very understanding. I think, yeah, I mean, it hasn't been, as far as finding balance, I mean, you just have to force yourself to do it, you know? And sometimes it's not going to be able to make every show. I mean, this is kind of a new reality as we continue to grow. And it's something that we haven't talked about before. But for me, like the role I play, I'm very much behind the scenes.

And so if someone else is in my place, then I mean, that may just have how it may have to play out. And then, you know, the other times it's just like we are very deliberate in like blocking out time. Like we have a calendar. And if someone's like, I am not available for this week. and we don't schedule anything for that week because that person needs their time. We y'all might need to give some lessons to Quest Love Supreme. Because our organization, we're still. They don't have as many jobs.

Well, Amir has a lot of jobs. I wonder what my employer thinks about what I do here. Man, yeah. Bill Shaw works for Sesame Street. He does all. Oh, good. That's so nice. Yeah.

Yeah, so he goes from Elmo to put it in your mouth. Zoh, what about you? What about you? You think about leaving the, you know? Well, I don't have a full-time job. So, like, I'm a freelance photographer. I'm an adjunct professor. I just teach once a week.

Oh, okay. I hadn't really worked for anybody since I was 24. Yeah, so I realized a long time ago that I don't make a good employee. And I don't like people telling me what to do so I had to figure out on my own. And so, like, I think, you know, in terms of balance, like, these guys, like, they figured it out like how to balance and for me it's just about negotiating the relationship between all of the different things that I do you know so if I'm teaching I teach every Thursday so you know if it's a party on Thursday night we got to get to as soon as I finish class I'm on a plane and it's

interesting how like sometimes my students still think they figured out a secret like oh we know that you throw parties I'm like can we come sure you can come but just know that your paper on Emmanuel Kant will be due next Thursday morning you know what I'm saying That's what's up. That's awesome. I'm sorry. Go ahead. Go ahead.

No, but I was just going to say it's interesting because you said I hop on a plane and y'all are on another level. Y'all aren't just party promoters. Like, y'all take this around the country, right? Yeah. And so at this point, where are some of the cities did you all touch with grits and brisketeskets? L.A., Chicago, D.C., Detroit, Philly, Houston, Atlanta. We're going to the Bay Area this year or next year.

Charlotte. Charlotte, Greensboro. A movement. Have y'all done overseas yet? Have you been out of the country yet? That's the goal for next, for 2017. For 2017, yeah. Okay, okay.

Yeah, it's one of the things I think is though, when I go to the parties, I've been to, I've been looking enough to catch the party in a few different cities. And the guy was, when I was at the show Charlotte, when I saw you guys in Charlotte a couple weeks ago. And one of my homies, he was like, yo, this joint's crazy. And I was like, yo, man, this is crazy. Chicago House of Blues. Oh, my God. That's their favorite.

That is nuts. One of their favorite. And the thing about it is like I lost my mind in there once. Yeah. I literally lost, it was bad. It was, I had to be taken off the turn to. I literally lost my mind. Yeah, I turned in the big brother that moment.

Yeah, that was, time to go. Yeah, it was. That might have been the one you were there. It might have been. It might have been. No, the party was. So they did two nights at House of Blues. And I want to say maybe I was the second night or I can't remember.

You were there the second night. It was the second night. It was a pandemic. And the thing that's so interesting about it is that how when you play the records in the South, like a Charlotte, like people are having fun, but it seems like the records get an even bigger

response outside of the South because they don't hear them all the time. They don't hear them all the time and all the transplants. Yeah. Oh, right, right, right, right. Yeah, and I mean, in Chicago, was retarded. One particular joint that I want to talk about, because I feel that y'all are single

handedly responsible for reviving this song. And I want to I wonder if the people who made it, if, God, I can't remember the name, but the song, Swag Surfing. Yeah. It was the group's name. Fly. Fly. I think it's fly.

It felt why. Fly. Flat. This was a song that, it was, this was a song that came out in the height of what I would kind of call, like the ringtone era of rap. So this is like, oh my God. 2006. Yeah, 06.

Right as I dropped in the album called The Mistral Show. Perfect timing. Right. Perfect timing and terrible timing at the same time. But now, man, it was a guy like shot boys, probably like a rock star. And just like all these records that were at the time, D4L Laffy Taffy, all those records. And so these were records that were used, I mean, in a lot of ways that they sold ringtones. When ringtones were hot, I mean, that was the thing.

I remember our label's telling us, like, yo, y'all need a song we can sell some ringtones for. I remember that. But anyway, this song, Swag Surfing, y'all have, like, re-ignited that song. And so swag serving for the people who have never been to Grits and Biscuits party, that is like the come to Jesus moment of Grits and Biscuits. We all come together as a family. I want y'all to talk about it. Like, tell them, like, the essence of the swag surf. Like, take us there.

Good. No, you, yeah. And Alzo, he is throwing the mic, and this is like, he is so. Right. Right. Because I just start so much. Right. Okay, I need to know.

He makes you feel it. He make you feel like that. Wait, okay. So we all have different roles, right? And so this is how we say it. So my reason knows what to play, I know what to say, and Erica knows who to pay. That is.

And so on the parties, my brother's obviously, you know, spinning the records, and I'm on the mic just to make sure the crowd is where they need to be creating a certain energy that we like to think is hospitable. But like the swag serve is one of those things where it's the epitome of the energy of our party that we want to create and maintain, right? So we don't care, like we say,

we don't care if you bow-legged slew-footed a pigeon toe. We don't care if you tall, short, gay, straight, fat, ugly. It doesn't matter. Like if you come to have a good time, you're in the right place. And so you could be standing next to somebody you don't even know, right? And we ask you to put your arms out and you put your arms around them,

And then once my brother drops the track, we start swaying from side to side, right? We start swearing from side to side and then right before the beat drops, we just got to let everybody know to get your motherfucking hands up. That's the moment. Yes. That's the moment. And it's not a request. It's a demand. It's a demand.

Yeah. Every time, like I've seen it, you know, in a few different places, and every time the energy is just through the fucking roof. And the thing that's so dope about it, man, is like, you know, you. Well, for one thing, white people, my listeners, I need y'all to stop butchering the swag surf. Oh, my goodness. I was watching something on, it was some white university. It was a huge, they were doing it.

They tried to swag surf, and it just, there was no swag or surf at all. It was totally. Swag body board. Right, yeah. Y'all swag kayaking. What the fuck that was? But, no, it was totally bad. But now, you guys have just created a brand that is, you know,

coming from, you know, HBCU, I mean, we joke and joke, but just to see three of you guys from a fellow HBCU attendees, just the stuff that y'all are doing. I just applaud you guys, man, and just thank you all so much. Thank you so much. The party is a great time. If they're ever in your city, go.

Like, go, and I was seeing clips. We was in here working, so I couldn't even come out there to get my swag surf on. But did they, they show? They showed. I got a video. You want to see. Yeah, I saw some on IG.

I saw some of the videos. Oh shit, it was going down. Yeah, yeah. So now, man, ladies gentlemen, man. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying.

Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger

than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Cliverts Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be.

Listen to the Clivert Show on the IHeart Radio, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft. And we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl,

Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar. This is the insight you, You won't hear anywhere else.

If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice Podcasts on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, for wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slice of Life 12 and TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. I'm John Green. You may know me as the author of The Fault and Our Stars,

and now I guess also as the co-host of the Away End, a brand new world soccer podcast. I'm Daniel Alarcon, a writer and journalist, and John and I have known each other since we kids. My first World Cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old. I watched every game and I fell in love. On our new podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. For us, soccer, football, is a story we've shared for over 30 years since Daniel was the star player on our high school soccer team. Very debatable. And I was there

most loyal and sometimes only fan. I love this game. I love its history, it's hope, its heartbreak, and above all, its beauty. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Alarcon and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This has been an incredible two-day affair of Quest Love Supreme. Fonte, for myself, lovely Laia, boss bill. Unpaid Bill, Scott Yeo up in here.

And also, I must mention... That's never going to not make me laugh. Scott makes me laugh. No, Scottiello's in the building. Scottie Yeo. And also in the background, we got chilling the mother of this whole moon. We must, I mean, we must shot her out. Yes, we do.

Because she has been responsible in many ways for bringing us all together with the site okay player, Angela Nisle is in here where it? Angie. Yeah. How many E's is that? It's like six E's at the end of that? The screen night, right, yeah. She's laughing.

right now. Yeah. You knew, I knew like, okay, let me explain me. Okay, so all the people out there and listen to the world. Okay, so, so, you know, on social media now when you get, if you're on Twitter and you get like the blue check, that's like you were verified. Like, that's like, okay, you're the fucking man,

right? Before the verification, there was okay player and there was the okay that was beside your screen name. When you got the okay, like I was Tay Gravy. I'm still Tay Graveen, okay player. And like, I'm Taye Gravy, and it was like, all, whatever, I'm Tay gravy.

When I became Tay gravy okay, you made it. What? Yo. What? I still don't know the criteria for the okay. I don't. I can't speak.

You had an okay didn't you. Yeah, we can't talk about it as part of our Illamani package. But it was part, we can't speak on none of that. It was a part of our Illuminati NDA that we had to sign. But, um. Scotty, yeah, yo, okay. But, but, uh, but nah, man, shout out to Angie, uh, okay player for bringing us. all together here.

This has been an incredible weekend, fellas, ladies and gents. I start to my left with lovely Laia. Laia. What have you learned? What do we learn over this two-day period? What do we learn? The Ruth picnic is work. That's a lot of work.

That's what I have learned. I have learned that as much as I like to tease, our boss and, you know, leader, fearless leader, Questlove, that nigger works. He works. He works as he does. Yes, he does. And I don't know what kind of vitamins. Right.

You know, he takes, but it's got to be something he's keeping from us. Cocaine. It's got to be something. I wish that he took drugs. I wish. I really don't know what a drugged up cocaine would be. Superhuman. He's got to be.

That's all I'm saying. And I've learned that I can be in a room with y'all for over eight hours. And it'd be all right, especially, you know, unpaid bill. Here he come. Here you call. Shit. You liked it the whole time sitting next to me. Like, you stopped from.

I think that's, what? Well, you said you liked it the whole time that and like you were talking about being trapped in the room where I was like. Oh, man, that sounds bad. Yeah, that sounded really bad. I'm sure that was like the same thing that Rick James said to that girl. And at some way she said it was a, no, maybe. It's like an episode of breaking bad I saw one. Unpaid Bill.

What? What have you learned, brother? I don't know. I've had two really surreal fucking days, man. Yeah, okay. So your whole phase, update us. Yeah, yes, please. You got to update us on two.

Apparently something went down last night. Some went down last night. Unpaid Bill was with us. He wasn't. You or did she? You know, everything is good. That's how you're supposed to do it. That's how you're supposed to do it.

That's how you do it. Bill Sherman, don't leave me hanging over here. I'm sorry. I didn't see that. I was laughing and I closed my eyes. That's how you're supposed to do it. Bill, can you at least tell your woo story? Because it was funny.

Oh, yeah. Your woo story last night. Oh, my woo story. Okay. All right. So the Wu-Tang clan are playing at the Ruth's picnic and so I went to the rehearsal today because I had some time to kill between the end

of my whole phase in the beginning of the afternoon. Exactly. If you will, just understand time in relation to me. All right, so I got to the Wu thing and I was there and they were all there, but there's, you know, how many guys, there's nine of them or eight of them? Right. And there was like 40 people there. 40 other dudes with like Shaolin

Wu shit happening. And I fit right in as I off doing these situations. Clearly I'm a plaid. So I sat there for a while. So I was sitting there with Steve And all of a sudden They're getting the songs together So Rizzy gets up

And he starts to rap And then a few of the guys get up To do whatever song they were doing Meanwhile, two of them Are set up a chess board And just start playing chess Like that's what you do during rehearsal That's what you do during rehearsal

Absolutely Every time So and I thought like Oh man they're gonna get up And like get on the stage Because that's what you do in rehearsal But lo and behold It got to like Jizz's verse

And he was playing chess And he just rapped while he was playing chess He was like, blah-d-d-dabab. Chess moves, chest moves, brab-da-da. And I was like, that's the most surreal thing I've seen in a really long time. That didn't even have to get up.

Oh, and there was a teleprompter because, you know, they forgot all the... They thought it was the funniest thing ever. That's when you end the story. When those kind of words are written on a tell... It was very, very funny to everybody else. Shout out to the jizzle, making chess moves and rap moves at the same time.

Simultaneously. Simultaneously. Shout us to having such a big catalog. The mystery of chess rapping. It was... And then Steve tried to make a joke about Bobby Fing. Fisher, but he called him Bobby Fisherstein or something like that, until then the joke fell flat on his face.

That's the end of the story. Steve screwed up a joke? Yeah, Steve's not good with jokes, man. It's the weed. It's the weed. It's the weed. It's the weed. It is the weed.

It doesn't, it doesn't work for it. So anyway, Scottier. Scott Yeo. What did you learn? He must have learned a lot. Oh, man. I could write novels. And we're not talking about the QLS After Dark session from the conversations we had.

Which I missed. Ah, man. QLS After Dark was so real. It was so real. like that its own radio show. Yeah. QLs Hophase, QLS a show after talk.

It's like, it's, spin-offs. Yeah. Spinoffs. A couple things. One, the roots are really creative when they need to stall for time.

We can tell that story. Yes, yes. Chappelle loved that five minutes. I'm sure he did. He looked very enthusiastic to be up there that night. Don't forget about Rizel. Oh, yeah, we had Razel.

Razzel got off a noise. That was my first I've seen Razzell in a long time. Yeah. Shut up. Fuck. No, I'm just saying. I was the first time seeing him in a long time. Was he up there?

Was Rosel there? Yeah. You missed it. Yeah, Rosel showed up. We know. Oh, he was, whole phase. I know. He was whole phasing.

Catching up the crowd. But it was, he was whole phasing, but Rosel showed up and did his thing. What else? I'll say the biggest thing I learned is that I had a really good time, spending time with you guys, especially this whole weekend. And what people may or may not know is doing a radio. show is really hard and you guys make it look easy so I think you guys all deserve a lot

of problems. Thank you, thank you. Thank you. Just think. Three months ago we had no idea. Boss Bill. Okay. Fonte can dance. Oh, yeah. Oh, man. Go to Instagram. He can also teach dance. You will need to check

the QLS Instagram after the show. You were 5, 6, 7, 8, and shit. That was impressive, man. You guys will need to check the QLS Instagram to see the video of Fonter. Antigolo and Yuna Steppin in the name of Questlove. In the name of Questlove.

We don't have people filming it. We have a bunch of anger. Right. There's all kinds of commentary. Yo, on the subject of Fonte, real quick, can I just throw another thing I learned in? I learned that Fonte was in the color purple. Right.

Oh, my God. You need to tell everybody about that because that was off mic. Oh, yeah, it was off mic. Okay, so for the people who care. Everybody. Everybody cares. I was an extra in the color purple

It was a long time ago. What it was, my uncle at the time, the film was shot in North Carolina. And so my uncle at the time was working, my uncle Mike, shot at my uncle Mike. He was working at Anson Tech, which was the county, they shouted in Anson County. And so he was working at Anson Tech as like a financial aid advisor. And so that's what they were having the auditions. So he hits us, he hits my mom. He's like, hey, they're having auditions for this movie.

and at the time the movie the code name or the production name was called Moonsong and they were kind of keeping it under wraps or whatever and so they was like having audition for this movie you should come down so my mother came down she was like cool she brought me with me and it was in the summer of

85 I want to say I was six years old I was about to go to first grade I think and but anyway so we go down we auditioned and at the time and during the audition I remember specifically I had to I was going up against this girl I was six years old and the girl was nine. And the audition

was we had to pretend that we were angry and we were hungry and we wanted our mother, whoever, to make us some jam sandwiches. Make a jam sandwich. So you had to act like, I'm hungry. I want some jam. Like that was the, I remember specifically that was it. I'm hungry. I want some jam.

And so, you know, the girl was older than me and she was big and she was fucking like, I mean, she was really scary. I was scared of shit. But she was real. Like, Give me some jam. Like, she really hadn't ate. Like, maybe, like, her WIC vouchers hadn't appeared that month.

Like, she really might have been hungry. It was real. So, you know what I mean? So she did her thing or whatever. And I was just like, man, so I did mine and I was kind of shook. So I remember leaving an audition just thinking, like, man, I don't think they're going to choose me. Can you just do a line reading, like, how you did it a little bit? Give me some jam.

I'm hungry. I wouldn't have you the part. Yeah, I wouldn't, yeah. I lost it. So I figured I had fucking bombed or whatever. And so I just came home, we left. Come home one night to my grandmother's house. Phone rings and my mother answers it and I'm in the other room and I hear her just

start screaming. But it wasn't like a bad scream. It wasn't like a somebody died scream. It was like shit, we hit the lottery screen. We made it. Yeah, she was like happy and so I came out. I was like, what is it? So she was telling me she was like, yo, you got a part in the color purple.

So that was when they let her know that it was the color purple was the movie. and we went down the next day and I remember getting fitted for everything. I remember meeting Oprah and the only reason I knew she was Oprah was because at the time she used to be in the Jet magazine and like when you go to the barbershop

barbershops I always used to have a jet so I always read like the albums and then see the beauty of the week and then like a few other pages after that it was like Oprah she was on the bottom of like top 10 influential black people in the square in the black squares she was one of the black squares

She was one of the black square imploring people. And so I remember seeing her and we met at no joke, like we were at the Deli Tray. And we met at craft services. And yeah, her, I remember meeting Woopee. I remember all that stuff. And so it wasn't until afterwards when the movie came out, my mother took me to see it. And it was then I understood this, wow, we shot a fucking movie. Like, I got it.

But yeah, it was a fun experience. Steven Spielberg at the time, he was married to Amy Irving. and I remember she was breastfeeding and that was the first time I'd ever seen that stuff. Yeah, because it's just white women putting their tities out like you just don't see that shit. You know what I mean? I was like, what the fuck?

And so I remember my mom like, I was like, mom, that woman got her titty out. And she was like, boy, but you don't point it, them people. Like, it was crazy. So it was just totally different. Being like a small southern, like kid, you know, small town southern kid being around all these like L.A. people.

Like that was a mind of course. And your acting careers just jumped off since then. Yeah, I've since. been in what have I been in the breaks on VH1 I was also in the gospel production Mama please don't burn the chicken It's grown by leaps and bounds

But no man that was that was my story And I may post some picks on QLS I would really like that He's a little boy running through the sheets That hit Sealy Yeah they were yeah well they was I ran through and tumbled So you can see me but I'll post

I'll send pictures to, like, we can put it up on the QLS Instagram. That's what I'm saying. That's all I'm saying. That would be dope. Boss Bill, what did you, what have you learned, man? What have you learned this week? I learned that everybody that we talked to today was very intelligent. Everybody had their head on straight. That was refreshing.

It was very refreshing because I've talked to a lot of people, you know, in various capacities in the industry. And not everybody is all there. Yeah. But everybody we talked to this weekend, I have a film that all of them are going to do big things. And I have hope for the future. Like for all the people, like millennials, I think, get a very bad rap. And it's just, oh, millennia's this, millennial's this. But the young people that we spoke to over this past week, yeah, y'all are all right with me,

particularly like Tish, just specifically saying, like, lean is some bullshit. And, you know, to hear Bambata, to hear Dane Mali talking about, you know, I write, you know, who I am. I'm not going to try to, I'm going to work my, I'm not going to coast all my name. You know what I'm saying? Same thing with Yuna. Yeah, Yuna saying the same thing. So, yeah, the young artist, they, y'all give me hope. You know what I'm saying?

Y'all ain't just all bouncing and shooting and killing and shit. Y'all. Y'all, y'all, y'all got your head on straight. I'm hopeful. Everybody just said, thank you. Thank you. Yeah, man. Well, yo, this has been yet another fun-filled episode of Quest of Love Supreme,

and this two-day hall, good God, man, we've been, this has been nuts, but we got through it. On behalf of myself, Fantigolo, lovely Laia, boss bill, unpaid bill, Scott Yeo, Sugarstieve, and our absent cult leader, Massa Thompson. Thank you, Massa.

Thank you, Massa. I'm a slave, motisa. The motisa tribe. Motisa? It's not funny. Slavery's real. Yeah, it was real. It was funny enough.

Yeah. We're going to rename this podcast, this radio show, 12 years of Thompson. The plantation. Listen. He's going to hate this episode. Yeah, he's going to be cussing all us to fuck out, but it's all good. Listen, on behalf of all of us, Team Supreme here at Quest's Love Supreme, man. Thank all of y'all for checking us, and we'll be back next week on yet another episode of Questlove Supreme with an all new team supreme.

All new year. Yeah, this might be our last one. Guys, this has been a good run, man. Yeah, it's been real. Good job. Yeah, yeah, I'll see y'all letting the undeployment line together. Questlove Supreme, only on Pandora.

We'll see y'all next week. Peace. Of course, Love Supreme is a production of I-HeartRadio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora. For more podcasts from I-Hart Radio, visit the I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast. Network on TikTok. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft, and we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the

radar, this is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slice of Life 12 and TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. I'm Daniel Alarcon, and this is my friend. He's much more famous than I am. I wouldn't go that far. But I'm John Green, co-host of the podcast The Away End with my old friend Daniel.

On our podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 26 World Cup. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Auerkone and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.