The Questlove Show - QLS Classic: Al B. Sure (Part 2)

Episode Date: September 7, 2020

In part two of this special series, R&B singer Al B. Sure! reminisces with Team Supreme about working with legends like David Bowie, Diana Ross, and Al Green. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm 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 Clifers 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 Clivert 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 Slical Life 12 and TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist, they take matters into their own hands. I vowed. I will be his last target. He is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves. We always say that trust your girlfriends. Listen to the girlfriends.

Trust me, babe, on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Quest Love Supreme is a production of IHeart Radio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to QLS Classic with I'll Be Sure. So many stories about him coming up from Mount Vernon, becoming international superstar rubbing elbows with all the great Quincy Jones to

Sean Diddy Combs to Heavy D to working with Jodice and Timbal and y'all just everybody. So many crazy stories. Hope you guys enjoy Part 2 of QLS Classic with the great Albin Showah. Wrap it time. Wrap it five times.

All right. Okay. Private times in the whole nine. Yes. All right. So special. So special. I did like that one. been a single kid. Dude, okay, why wasn't it? Why wasn't, why wasn't that was a single and why did they go with misunderstanding as the uptempo rather than had enough or, uh, it was the side too. That was where to do.

Had enough. You excite me. Like those, just for the moment. Like, those were the records. Like, what, what, well, at that point, um, because of success of an effect mode, um, what happens is the building becomes really smart all of a sudden. Oh, suddenly. we have the answer.

We know. Wait, even before you give that answer? Did you have a relationship with Mo Austin at all? Yeah, actually, you know what? He's phasing out? No, no, no.

I had great relationship with Mo Austin, Lenny Warranker, and all of the executives at Warner Brothers and great guys, Michael Austin, brilliant record guys. But I don't think

they were necessarily involved with the day-to-day. I think they just kind of more looked at the budgets and so and so forth. So was Benny your wall? Benny was, yeah, Benny was my guy.

And Benny, Benny was actually, Benny's a smart record guy too. Like, Benny's an organic kind of like, he can see, he's like Nosodamus. You know, he's got the whole, he can kind of, he can see, you know, what's in front of him. And he's just always been that brilliant cat.

But in terms of, in terms of the record selection, again, almost the same concept of what happened when we all went to Motown, you had a lot of chefs on the stew and a lot of people trying to make certain decisions. like um so yeah and so what you to answer your question it was obviously i had different ideas about what i wanted to do and and what singles to release but you know you you got to kind of roll with the rec company because you know they did support you and and see again that that's the

politics of the record industry with you know with uh you know them really getting behind and pushing a record and you know you're in the in the trenches making this record so you're so close to it. So sometimes as an artist, you kind of want to step away from it, and you just have to be able to have those around you who you trust their ears. And, you know, for the most part,

you know, obviously I would trust Andre's ears, but I know that they would go back and forth as well in terms of, you know, exactly what you just said about which single should be released. Is that in the other? Because I know Andre probably wanted this record and Benny wanted this record and then the staff wanted this record.

So those things, you know, And that's the roll of the dice. You know, it's like a crapshoot. You just don't know. And in your heart, you know, you feel it. You know which joint should be out. What was your joint of the album? Like, if you could have had to pick,

like, what would you have came with first? So special. Yes. No, that was the jam. That was there. That's the one. Okay. All right.

Another ratified question. My, in my mind, the greatest contribution. Well, I just want to thank you for this record, along with you by Tevin Campbell. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Dude. Okay. Casey and Jojo, how was, because they're singing background on that, at least in the credits, it says they are. Yeah, that's all. You can hear that. You can hear it. Oh, that's all you say. Okay. Yeah.

So, talk about that session. Wow. So at the time, we were, oh, interesting story. So we were working on, I think we were doing some of the stuff, I guess, working on the Jodacy project as well. And so my demo singers, again, the reason, some of the production. production sound is so magical for specifically as, you know, whether be the usher or whether is Kevin Campbell, because those are my demo singers, it's Faith, Faith, you know, so I'm just coaching them saying, okay, we're going to sing this, these are this, the melody, they would bring

so much flavor to it. So if you listen, in fact, I'm going to give you a copy of Confused. It's supposed to bring stuff. It's all in the Dropbox. Inbox. Everything's right there. And what it is, is. is so I remember us cutting the demo. So we cut about four or five songs. We cut Confused, Goodbye. Oh, shit.

Alone with you. Alone with you. And then we did lately by Stevie Wonder. Wow. Now, mind you, Casey and Jojo had never heard this song before. Wait, what? So this is where we're going. I didn't hear it until they covered it.

What? No, me too. I'm with you. What? Wait. No, I'm with you. You know, aunties that had a holiday in July? No.

I had a holiday in July, but the only one that got played was Master Blaster. And what was the other? All I do, they ain't going to stand for it or all I do? All I do, yeah. Or happy birthday? Well, yeah, of course. That was the black happy birthday for Martin Luther King. But no, my first time hearing lately was when they did it.

Okay. So the story is, so I remember at this point, when we were cutting, I built the studio, because I was trying to hide away. So we built the studio. I bought my mother house in Dumont, New Jersey, and we had a little room set up in this little room. And we put, you know, I had an SB 12 and then all the keyboards. He set up all the keyboards and we were programming and stuff. So that particular day, we had cut all these demos, tracked everything.

And actually, it was me and Kyle and I. This is the Kyle and I record, so it wasn't me and Devonthe at that point. but Casey and Jojo singing the demos so we got to the song lately because I thought it would be a perfect remake so

we did the songs we did all the songs sent the cassette to Quincy had Tevin study everything and then we flew out to L.A. to think Larrabee or something and then because it was myself

and Prince and Narda Michael Walton and Mike Monty you know this was the collective effort of doing Tevin's record so that's how serious they were about this day debut record of his like yeah because quincy was actually like yeah yeah quincey handpicked

the cald in the cavalry yeah he killed the cavalry yeah you know baby phaids so he handpicked him so so then i remember us doing the song and then i got the news that they weren't going to use the lately song now mind you it was funny teaching them because they were singing far more frequently you're wearing piraffirphi so we got the whole thing down pat boom they were like yo this song is dope We found out that Quincy wasn't going to use lately. And I was given a few different stories, but, and it's funny, I didn't even ask them, but I kind of figured out because he didn't know in the publishing. So he did strawberry, so he did strawberry letters.

So he did strawberry letters one through here. Why have him do somebody else's a song that he doesn't know the folks? Do my shit. Quincy, Quincy is the genius publisher. You know, he is Westinghouse. And, you know, so they didn't use it. And so the song was just there. Now, mind you, I am.

somewhere, I think I'm in the house in Jersey, I'm watching television. On comes MTV Unplugged. Oh. Joe see. Oh, yeah. Body in that shit. Wait a minute. With my exact arrangement, everything.

And Devante, but obviously did it. First of all, Big Shout Out, did an incredible job. And then with them doing it live, which became one of their signature songs. Right. But that's the identical song we did. in production that we did on Tevin Campbell. Actually, a little question, the video version, because there's like a studio version that was used

for the video version. Is that the original version? No, I didn't do that. What I did was I taught them the song, we did it on Tevin Campbell, which it's in your box, you'll have it. But, yeah, but when I turned on the TV, I was, I remember, I was big old, you know, I remember they used to have big screen TVs with real fast. Yeah, yeah, yeah, back on it. And I was sitting there floor, and I was watching the MTV Unplugged.

And, oh, yeah. I was like, ain't that about it. Now, mind you, initially, I was just happy because it's like, oh, wow, it's dope. But it was the exact arrangement that we did, which neither here nor there. The point was they did a brilliant job on it,

because that's my mentality, did a brilliant job. But later on everybody was like, yeah, didn't you did do that on the 10? I said, well, now mind you, it would be great if it was an original song by me, but no, it's a remake, so I have no claims to it. But they killed.

it and they smashed it. I love the fact that they just, they really made it their own. Okay, I just thought about something. Taven and is this 90, 91? Yeah. 91, 92 actually. The first album? Yeah.

It was 91. Right. Teven's what, 13? 12, 13. So, yeah, because Tevin was 12. 14, gee? No. It tends to be all cute.

You know you got loot. No, but the thing is Is that If Jodice is demoing for Tevin Campbell Who still has a young voice Like, wouldn't you have

Either a female Or someone that's in Tevin's Alto range Well, he didn't date. Casey didn't See, yeah, but what you're saying is He's a borderline of Teter Baritone

Joe is more Yeah, but see, Tevin, his nickname which I gave him was eighth one of the world. This child can sing a parking ticket. He could sing anything. And what happened was, so as I was doing the stuff, I would have Casey and Jojo interchange. So if you listen to Tevin's verses,

you'll hear Casey and you'll hear Jojo. So they did bridge verse, half verse, and then me singing, you know, so, and me talking shit and everything is it. So, you know, the king of talk shit, like Barry what, show you're right. So. Oh my God.

I'm glad you brought up. Secret Garden. I forgot. Okay, I got to ask a question about the Soul Train Awards. But go ahead. Okay. So then, you know, for the most part, it was, I mean, I wanted to make the, again, my approach is make a movie, make a four-minute movie. How do we do this, the four-minute movie? And I wanted to make sure those records are that strong.

Now, mind you, the funny part was this. So we get in the studio, and I think like Kadada and Rashida, We're all hanging out, you know, just trying to keep him all festive and, you know, have the girls around. You know, it's nice. And the kid, you know, we put the track on and the kid gets in the booth and he sings it identical one time down. And what song is this? Which one is this?

This was alone with you. Now, mind you, just, okay, just warm up. He studied to the point where he did every. Jojo run and every Casey run. Jojo and Casey went to the pay phone. Yeah, I said it. They went to the studio payphone. Call their mama and Charlotte and Monroe, excuse me.

Mama, this little boy did all of our runs, both of them, both of us. They were so impressed by his vocal ability that, and then he was okay, what's next? What he did you do next? So obviously, you know, I made him do it again, and I'm giving different inflections, and then I wanted to comp the vocal. You know what I mean? Technically, I wanted to comp the vocal. But to get him, you know, to get the maximum performance out of him to see, you know, to make sure it was right. But the kid sang both of their parts by himself one time down and nailed every run.

Now, mind you, nobody's doing Casey and Jojo runs in 1989, 1989. Right. I don't care who. Unless you are Fred Hammond or you are, you know, you know. Donnie Hathaway or Stevie one themselves to the point where I remember watching Arsenio Hall when they went and did lately and Stevie came out and then Jojo got Stevie. I don't know if you ever noticed that. Stevie did something. Did something crazy.

Jojo. So every time I see Jojo, I said, you know that was your magical moment of the entire career. You made Stevie went go. He had eyes for his. But, you know, amazing. I mean, just an amazing time. But just to see this kid. And then basically what we did was as we gave him these demos,

you know, he would be so prepared and ready. And he would just, he would knock these vocals out. But then what happened was I didn't want to, we had such a magical, like the demos came out so magical. Then again, we riding around the hood playing these demos and this Casey and Joseph. And I mind you, the Joddice record wasn't out yet, I don't think. So it was just sounded so crazy with the harmonies and this.

And it was basically, even what we had to do with the Jodice record, it was basically it was the gospel gap band. Because the entire Jodicy record, when I would drive to the studio, to unique studios, or to Hit Factory, from Groton on the Hudson to the city, every day I was listening to a group called Commission. So all I wanted to hear, so that's, if you listen to the influence in terms of all the harmony

and the structures and the harmonization, structures and all of those progressions harmonically, that's what I was being influenced by. So all I'm listening to is the wine ends and I'm listening to commission. So that's why it sounds like a gospel. On a, man, super like nerd question. What reverbs were you using at that time? Because you always had like the biggest, brightest sounding fucking verbs

for the way y'all put on the background vocals. You made their vocal sound so big. I had the privilege of working with a jail. What happened was I called Quincy and I said, Q, I said, I got this new group and I need an engineer. Like, can we use Bruce with Dean? So he can't just laugh at me. You try to go there?

I tried to go there. Damn. Well, I didn't know. I just said, he's the best in the business stuff. That's what I need. So that's the amount of running courage shit. That's what it. So I asked, and Quincy was like, I have somebody, I hear, slow down son.

He said, I'll be, slow down. So, but what happened was, but he made a recommendation for me. And he says, I want you to, I'm, he gave me a recommendation. to an engineer and I asked him and I said well what you know what is he done he said uh he's mixed earth winning the file okay that's the one I want because because it was vocal because he doesn't know what kind of what is it is vocals I said yeah I said God it's vocal heavy it's this is harmony as this I need this I need frequencies I need 40 hertz and also I need this top end and I need the middle you know I just explain Mick Gousowski and we went out to Conway Studios in in L.A

and they just got the brand new flying faders board SSL straight from London and So it was the whole brand new thing. But long story short, it was amazing because me having the background of engineering and understanding frequencies, this was the perfect time for me because I learned so much from this guy to answer you a question. Mick Lazowski had toys like you would not believe. Like he had this reverb that would sit up. It looked like my mother's furnace radiator that were, you know,

like back in the day with real cold and you put it near the window. so the draft from the window didn't make you cold. And it was like, and then he had something underground. And there was a reverb that was underground. That would, it was, it was. So he had all these, you know, it wasn't even about rack mounts at that point outside of the SE base and whatever else we were using. But it was just more of a, just these T.

C. electronics and just all type of, look like Jurassic Park in there like electronically. you know and just and he would just create this stuff but his his arsenal was so brilliant to the point and then when i listened to it it was so clean i was like oh man so when mick would leave the studio i would go back in and i would turn up the big i would turn up there all the kick drums i would i would move it and then write it and then let it right and then so basically he mixed it sonically perfectly and then i had it together to do it up oh dress the music to yes exactly i kept Working with him for the sexy versus album?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, and I started working on him again. But let me tell you how this went about. What happened was, so the guys, so once, you know, they got signed and they started working on the album, I remember I get a call from Andre Andre, Andre, say, yo, I need to meet with you. I was like, okay. Devante was so amazing on the production. Like, you know, he, and it's funny because Jodice didn't want to be like guy. Jodice, Devante and I wanted to be like BPD. That's all they used to talk about, BPD.

But obviously, Devante had a Teddy Riley-esque style and feel to him. And I remember, I mean, they're brilliant, brilliant musician. And I remember, so Puff and Drake came to the house in Jersey. I remember sitting on the green leather couch. I think I still had the plastic on the couch. But they came over, they were like, listen, okay, listen, And the fellas, you know, came up with this stuff. And it's a little, you know, it's a little, you know, it's not there.

It's not ready yet, but all the ideas, everything's right there. He says, I need you to take this shit and do that Quincy Jones shit you do. He said, take the masters. And I want you to go to L.A. And I want you to flip this whole thing. So what I did first was I grabbed Devante, brought him to the house in Jersey, locked up everything. And we sat there and reprogram the entire album.

Did everything, you know, from scratch. I took all the everything and all the that's why if you listen there's the same sounds on the Kevin Campbell album it's the same kit that's on the jealousy thing

so I just used the same my same discs my floppy disc from the SP12 so oh you did this of my SP yeah we used the SP on most of that stuff too like come and talk to me

and all that stuff is the sample I just took the 909 kit and the 8 away kit and combined them and then made my own sounds like taking a bat like the one on right now like it's a bat

hit in the tree and then I just truncated it and see it. Wow. Wow. Yeah, so yeah, because right now and alone with you were like pretty much right.

How did you do that? And then if you think about it, the Usher record too. In many ways? In many ways. Oh, the minute. So, so now what happened was so when Puff and Dre came over, they said, listen, you know, take this stuff

and then, you know, do that Quincy Jones thing to it and, you know, went down, you know, like I said, printed, you know, did all the stuff like that, took it to Hit Factory Times Square, printed everything, May Show was, you know, this was my thriller. I took this so seriously because this was my thriller. This was my opportunity to show myself as a producer. And I wasn't necessarily thinking like that. Then it was just more of this project is so important to me because I want to make them into a mega group, you know.

And we did it. Then they said, okay, then they shipped me out because they didn't want nobody to support. So they told me to go to L.A. So, you know, the guys are mad at me. They hated some Elvis short because they were mad because I went out and it was so funny because outside. It was like a celebrity tournament because every day in the studio, you know, I'd be in there mixing and then outside in Congo. You know, they got the little basketball court outside. So it was Mike Tyson and Martin Lawrence and Chris Rock.

And, you know, it was just like the whole family, Christopher Way. Everybody was just hanging out, playing basketball, coming in and out, Jamie Fox. And it was just fun. It was just a great time. But it was so important people don't realize. Put yourself in that. the right environment when you're doing a record like don't put don't isolate yourself because your record's going to sound isolated like keep yourself in your your environment okay so i have a

question that sort of leaves back to tevin and actually connects to you and while i'm at it i'll throw prints in there as well um what i mean as as as as diplomatic or as explicit or truthful you want to be with it what was going on with warner between 92 to 95 that I feel like the expectations that were there for Tevin Campbell to be the next God. I mean, everyone basically just said like, okay. Very specifically because he came from Quincy. Right.

This is our new Michael Jackson. So even though, yes, he had hits and made classics and all that stuff, I felt like the expectations for him to be God. whatever exaggerated thing that, I mean, I guess the perception and I don't know if Warner dropped the ball to push it further, but

on the second album or? Well, just, I mean, in general. Because 92, that was, yeah, that was yeah, that was after graffiti britt. Yeah, but even with Prince complaining about Warner Brothers, like, what was happening with Warner at the time

that a lot of black artists on that label between the first half of the 90s were sort of like kind of like we learned excellent question we learned what an urban budget is and a pop budget is

oh black time right black music department part time right so the black music department was an incredible department and we were pretty much we were paying the rent as well and we were doing it um but the budgets were just a little different than madonna and you know so as a

So even, and my only, honestly, my, I enjoyed working with Benny so much because we rocked together in terms of just, you know, we were traditionally 90% on the same page in terms of musically and things we wanted to do. But the, probably the only complaint that I would have, even as the artist who was, all the attention was paid to, you know, very specifically because of the success of the first album, organically. And I don't even think they knew what they had outside of that. they didn't really, even with my records, they didn't push them pop. Just like, you know, I wasn't in that right space for the pop records. Because night and day did it on its own,

but just even like right now, there's no reason why night and day off on your own girl, whether it's not an AT&T, Verizon commercial right now, you know what I'm saying? So. Maximize on a moment. On the moment. I remember I used to sit in it and I would go in the sales meeting

and I would say, hey, listen, you know, I saw there was a new commercial out and it was for deodorant. And I would say, well, you know, products and music should go hand in hand in fashion. Because you remember, we came from a school of Puffy. So everything was, you know, how do you put this song with this sneaker and this, you know, it was a branding thing. But we were always thinking that anyway.

So I wanted to. Raise your hand if you're sure. Raise your hand. Now you got it. So I was like, now, now mind you, if you notice in the opening of the video of rescue me and when the two guitar plays beside me and we were rocking. do you want to do you? Boom.

And right in the beginning of video, the first thing I had them do as like, ow. So we did this. Raise the hands, yeah. Me thinking that they're going to see this. That's when we run DMC, Detus, movies.

There you go. Raise your hand if you're sure. You should, I'll be sure. You should just do that song in the shower. It was either going to be his, my Adidas moment or his L.O. Cool J. Unplugged moment. With the balls up in the what?

Wow. Okay, wait, real quick, I got to know. When you guys are performing the Secret Garden at the Soul Train Awards, what was going on between Barry White and El DeBarge? Do you know, can you divulge? You look like you're smiling. Yo, you're looking, yo, something. All right, here's the deal.

I don't know what was going on between Barry White and El DeBarge. But this was back of the day when I used to videotape everything. and watch it like 10 or 12, 11 times. If I were a betting man, I would say that something tense was happening between those two because there's a look that Barry White gives L. DeBarch that I'm like, I thought maybe I'm reading into something. Was something, or just the answer, yes or no.

Was something happening between them two that I don't know about? Well, I can't just not know. Well, I can't say too much because Uncle Barry's not here to verify. So I was on to something. But I would think very specifically, like any great superstar, don't sing over me. Yo! I swear to your mystery song. Dude.

If you were to look for the list. Quest, Quest, you're brilliant. Dude, if you were to look at the VHS tape I have, like the, you know, you know, on the lines where you had lines. The porno lines. You got to go to the tracking. The tracking. Whoa.

That's a problem. There's just a three second moment where I saw a look of frustration. The only person I knew that could even lead to that was at the time, like Alan Leeds was tour managing Barry White, but he couldn't. He's like, yo, it could have happened, but he couldn't verify. But I knew something was up with that. performance. That didn't sit right with me. But I remember, first of all, that was probably

for me, again, one of the scariest times on planet Earth very specifically because, now mind you, he's from Compton. Yeah, oh, absolutely. And, hold of, and Uncle Barry was gangster. You, y'all think Uncle Jim, too, Jim Brown

and Barry White, those two, and Dick Griffey. Wow. Wow. Those are my uncles, big, big brothers' uncles' godfather. You have always been safe. You have Dick Griffey's stories? Dick Griffey, first of all, his widow is like my other mother.

She lives in Vegas. And Carolyn Griffey as well, who's like my sister. She's in London right now. So I'm very close with family. And I have the last and only interview of Dick Griffey when I was doing Secret Garden over at the other, you know, the other. Yo, seriously? Yeah.

And I got all the drops. We have so many Dick Griffey stories of all the artists that have been on. this late on this uh on the show i'm really trying to convince a smith to do a dick griffy unsung or a solar unsung because that's one again that's another one of the stories that it's untold like enough town there wasn't a solar oh no yeah the closest they got was shallomar hey so yeah but but again that was his that was his baby and and uh something that dick griffy lived by it was a documentary on a VHS that he just created on his own called slave ship to ownership. And this was that entire. This is what I was telling people about

doing that Arnold Palmer type of business as opposed to just being the face of something, you know, have an equity stake, have, you know, be a part of the exa strategy of whatever that thing you're endorsing, that product you're endorsing so that, you know, you, it's worth your while. Come on, Michael Jordan, Nike. You know, it is what it is. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm 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 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 Galko, 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. There's two golden rules that any man should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl. You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes. And rule two, never mess with her friends either.

We always say that trust your girlfriends. I'm Anna Sinfield. And in this new season of The Girlfriends, Oh my God, this is the same man. A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist. I felt like I got hit by a truck. I thought, how could this happen to me? The cops didn't seem to care.

So they take matters into their own hands. I said, oh, hell no. I vowed. I will be his last target. He's going to get what he deserves. Listen to the Girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcast. Okay, I got a question. La Day, party tonight. Shit. Where are they now and how did you discover them? They were actually, again, Little Tone and Brian and all the guys.

They were in the mix already. They were kind of, but they were working with my cousin, Jojo Brim and Jimmy Manus, who now manages Salt and Pepper. So I was brought, they were brought to light by Jimmy Remainess and Jojo and that camp.

And then I had an opportunity when I just got a deal at Motown to bring them in and be able to do that whole, you know, put their project together. That project, if you ever have an opportunity, listen, that project was my second, my second coming of Jodice. And this is probably the most thing I can say about it is it was so well crafted in terms of because I had practice doing Jodacy, figured out, you know, vocalist that way. I mean, and after I said, working with Dave Hollister. and faith. So when I took those

young men and put that project together, and again, it was so many chefs in the stew at Motown that we didn't even get a chance to release it properly because that, they would have been the next Joe to see, for a lack of better terms. They were their own Yeah, I got a copy of that CD somewhere. I got it when I was working at Universal

and there's a big stirk on that says, archive copy, do not remove from office. And now it's in my house. Archive there. Yeah, ripped that, John. News at 11. Okay, so we talked a little bit about, you know, you're doing the voiceovers for Unsung. But I learned something today

that I didn't know you did a TV pilot. Yeah, we, private times in the whole nine, which was produced by the late George Jackson. And also, Dougman Henry, George Jackson, and also Eric Van Lowe, who was, you know, producer of the Cosby show. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He was the Cosby show as well.

But just it was an amazing time. It was myself, Chabrock, Martin Lawrence, Michael Michelle, Michael Wright. So it was a nice ensemble. It was my debut screen test for Warner Brothers. What was the premise of the show? Two kids trying to make it out of the hood, following their fathers, their uncle's footsteps,

and there was a club like the Cotton Club downtown in Harlem, and we just wanted to get a chance, because if you get a chance to play there, you made it. And we were just on a hustle and grind and written by Barry Michael Cooper. Oh, wow. There's that name again. This is a small world because now Michael, Michael, I say Michael Michelle.

Is Michael Michelle, Michelle? Michael Michelle. She's in the show with Quincy on Star. On Empire. She's actually on Empire, yeah. Oh, no, really? Mm-hmm. Washington.

Yeah. I mean, same creator. Yeah, same Lee Daniels situation. The genius Lee Daniels. I have a I have sort of an off-the-wall question doesn't have anything to do with you but it has to do with Quincy and you mentioned how he was sort of a publishing

icon yeah okay I guess that's that's one way of putting I think part of what you were saying so well we interviewed him for this show about a year ago or something but um and I'm like a humongous fan of the We Are the World Project right So what I noticed about the 45 of that is that the B-side is a song called Grace,

and it's written by Quincy Jones. And I know that everybody on the project for the Out, for the We of the World album, donated a song for the record and donated the proceeds. I don't, I want, did they donate the publishing? Because here's my question. That's a great question. Because if Quincy, Quincy puts his own song, like he did with strawberry

strawberry letter instead of Stevie Wonder he puts grace on the back of a 45 that he knows for sure is going to sell a gazillion copies so now unless he donated not only the song

but the publishing to USA for Africa then he's kind of pulling a fast one there Wow so I'm this we find USA for Africa was damn

Damn, was that the first text 501 to Yale? I'd like to call it, I'd like to call it innovative business. Let's call it, fix it, fix it. Please fix this because, you know, I love Quincy, and I'm not trying to think poorly of them. Oh, no, but think about it. No, listen, it's the same concept as the Godfather. Who put this together? Me.

Who do I trust? Me. Who wrote the song? Me. The bag sold in the park, I won't end. No, but it's just, you know, it's a smart move because what happens is very specifically, as you know, with, you know, the B-side and wherever that travels,

the B-side must go. Well, he could have put the instrumental where the world, or he could have, you know, and Grace is not on the record, on the full record with all the other songs. It's only on the B-side of the 45. So then it becomes a commodity. Look, I don't know what it is.

I'm trying to figure out what's going on. You know, like, because he should, you know. No, I don't have the minor idea. No, I mean, it just, I'm just curious from a publishing standpoint, what do you do? Well, from a publishing standpoint, it's a smart move because let's just say that from the standpoint of it not being released as a single per se, it probably made a shitload of money anyway. So it becomes a valuable aspect. Like any of that intellectual properties, this becomes valuable through the roof.

So just like with the Tevin Campbell situation with him doing strawberry letters. which is his composition. It's just a smart move. And knowing now what I know, I wish I would have taken the bull by the horns even more so because there's so many songs and so much production that I've assisted in that I didn't take credit for because,

and I'm not mad, I'm not the angry rapper right now where I'm, you know, I should have, so I got it and I understand it. I have enough publishing to the point where I'm happy and I'm elated. but not understanding how important that intellectual property is at this moment, you know, back then. Yeah. Okay, but USA for Africa was a charitable organization.

Can I share something with you about the United Nations? Okay, so do you realize that there are certain organizations that everyone eats and gets paid before the starving people who are supposed to get the stuff? you know so there's certain organizations that operate in that capacity and that's you know that's a travesty to me but I don't necessarily think I think that um Quincy's philanthropic footprint is so tremendous globally I'll let it go you don't know the answer I don't want to know the answer you know that's something I just don't want to know you can't talk about Quincy around you yo I had a question regards to like because after sexy versus sexy versus was like 92.

And then after that, you didn't come back again until 2008 or nine. It was 2009. 2009. 2009. So how did you support yourself financially through those years? You know what I'm saying? Like, what do you? Because I admire like cats that can do that.

Publish you walk away from the game and just be like, you know what? I need some time for whatever. And, you know, you still can eat and feed your family. Yeah. Well, you know what? I am the king. of believing in Ansulae revenue streams. So, so besides doing, right, besides doing people,

and people trying to figure out why are you doing radio? Well, let me share something with you. I'll just give you a small example. Let's say Tom Joyner, right? And I'm being facetious, obviously, Tom Joyner, you know, what maybe he was netting $10 million a year, sitting in his bedroom doing a morning show, you know. So I learned the syndicated radio game,

In addition to I probably made one of the most lucrative deals at Motown with my attorney then, Mr. Lundell. I had five deals at Motown. I had an executive deal, an artist deal, a production deal, a label deal, a label deal, and a publishing deal. And so love me long time. So the Motown deal, that was during the Andre Hirel years? Yes. Okay. Yeah.

And for the most part, I mean, I think it was a great opportunity. The kind and generous heart that Andre Harell has, and that's why you can never say anything bad about Andrea Terrell to me. I mean, he made sure that everyone ate. Everyone eats at the table. And, you know, now, the only issue I think I had with the entire Motown circumstance and opportunity is that because of that, there were too many. chefs in the kitchen in terms of there was a hundred A&Rs and it was a hundred you know so and so but again it was Andre's kind heart making sure that all of his folks everybody ate everybody was in the kitchen everybody you know so but it was just so many opinions and so many that it just

became a little bit convoluted and um to the point where after a while you know I know record record companies people have this veil and they really feel like it's just a record company and some vinyl but their shareholders to answer to as it relates to budgets and things that nature so you know after a while the numbers when they don't start to balance out and you can't you know you don't have an answer for you know we spent close to 80 million i think 80 million dollars without a release wow oh my goodness so i think it was prior to any releases or any any official record releases in terms of the marketing and the chair and the sweatshirts and yeah and cigar and so

So we, you know, I believe, but don't quote me, but I think quote me, but I think it was somewhere in the realm of $80 million that relates to, you know, just the overall. Yeah, so much he had the ad in the source where he was in the chair and like, you know, the cigar and shit, but no records ever came out. When did you know that radio was an option for you? It was second nature, I believe, only because any time I'd go and do radio, So it was always a joke where people would come to me and say, how the hell do you sing so damn high?

It is fascinating. And you sound like Barry White's DNA. And I said, I don't know. I said the only reason I sing hi is because I was just emulating Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gay. So I would practice and like the stylistics and stuff. I would practice those songs. And I learned to develop a falsetto. I just had a great conversation.

with Maxwell and I was so surprised when I'm surprised to hear when I hear these things when I speak to artists who I truly admire and I look up to

and I, you know, he was telling me about how, you know, how much of an influence I was on him and I think Maxwell's falsetto was just genius. I mean, this cat

is just brilliant. See, that's what I figured a few falsetto folks that must have reached out to you at some point. There's so many derivatives from Adam, to Justin. I mean, of course, Michael, too.

Well, well, with Adam Levine, come on, man. I'm just saying. All right. The others. Whatever. Well, probably the most impressive story for me, because obviously anyone who knows me or anything close to my circle that I'm the biggest Michael Jackson appreciator on planet Earth, because it's not about just being a fan. I'm a fan, you know, obviously, but the appreciator of his craft and his technique. and his recording technique. And then the way Quincy would, you know,

it's just this, there's a certain, just organic nature to what he did. So Teddy was working on Michael and I get a call from Teddy one day and Teddy's saying, yo, you're not gonna believe this. And I'm like, what?

And he says, yo. So we're in a studio and Michael says to him. Can we have, like, you know, one of those Albee Shore type song? Now, you know, I didn't pass out. I said, Teddy, stop lying. He says, yo, I swear.

He said, he wants to, you know, like that night, you know, and he started singing it. And I was, so, oh, boy, good boy. So, you know, so then I'm good. I can just put beyond, you just, Nova cane, whatever. But, yeah, just, you know, but stuff like that. I mean, because with me, I've always maintained a,

this side of the fence, viewers. of what music is in terms of being able to appreciate it, because I'm a fan of the craft, first and foremost, and I'm a fan of the music, and then innovative music even more so. So, you know, I've, like, one of my favorite artists on planet Earth is Sting, you know, including the police as well. But just, you know, his work there, you know, Greg Filling games, you know, there's certain cats who are just, who are cats,

that's what we call them, they're just cats who are just, Rochelle Farrell, you know, obviously, Layla, Lela Hathaway, you know, who sings harmony with herself, you know. Right. You know, there's certain exception of letesy, you know, like there's certain, the vocalists that are, you know, just, oh, have that thing, that special, you know, faith, obviously, you know, just, like, when I tried to bring, it was so funny because when I was working, Faith, and this is, I can share this because this is in her book, and then at that point, I think Faith was on Section 8, she was going to, she was going to, and this is, I can share this is in her book, and then at that point, I think Faith was on Section 8, she was going to go. She was going to church in Jersey, so and so forth. And I used to have her come down. I used to pay her every day to put some money in the pocket

and come sing demos for me. And she's probably one of the few artists who never forgets it. I mean, when she saw I was in the hospital, boom, her and Stevie J, they busy running around, TMZ chasing around whatever. And they call me at home. Hey, you're all right, big bro, everything good.

I saw you in the hospital, everything. It's like, but she always, she's always been that, the most wonderful, most talented artists that I've been around like she was my Whitney Houston for a lack of better terms and she's strictly my sister like you know she's unsung as far as vocalist I feel like I love like there's a special spiritual love affair between myself and faith Evans like meaning we in the mutual admiration club meaning like I love that woman as a person China I'm the god I'm a godfather you know like just you know her daughter

china so I just think but she's just such a talented and cool from the bricks you know just just organic and just she's a prodigy and she's so humble with it like she just, and her nickname, if you ever see Faith Evans just call her doctor and she's like, where's Al B? Yeah, so is that why she was on all the

backgrounds for Usher's album? That's still my favorite Usher album. Thank you. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. And I enjoyed working love was here. Love was here. And that's same thing we did with, you know, and again, But that was the whole purpose, the reason I got that called,

because Puff would call me to do all of the, you know, like, so I did 112's first record and I did Usher's first. So those are Puffy projects, so Puff, you know, for the bad boy. Yeah, because you, 112, you did, this is your day. This is your day. I love that song. Yep, and we did some other, and then I have a duet with Faith in 112, too, that was never released.

I said, I'll put that in that. Dropbox. Just remember those, so I have Tony put him in the drop box. Write it down, like. Yeah, we need that. And then we did it, we did a song called, make you sweat with Tony Thompson. So it's a...

It was on the Sex Age. It was on his solo album. Right, right. That was the last song we recorded, yeah. And God rest of soul. What a talent. You talk about it, vocalist, too. That was another one.

That kid right there, who... When you got signed, how did the deal come about with Hidden Beach? How did you sign with that? Well, actually, before you get to that, was there anything after sexy verses? Like, was there... Like, I remember, I feel like I had seen

something on a release schedule at some point in like maybe 95? Yeah, you know what? What happened was after sexy verses, Warner's did a major shift in executive change. And I didn't have what's called a key man clause in my contract. One guy left. Right, like if the head executive, you know, who signed you leaves, you can go with him.

So there was nothing like that, but I really enjoyed working with Benny Medina. And just his professionalism and his understanding of what entity. is obviously now as you see with Joe Lowe's whole career like what what this man can do as it relates to sculpting and crafting taking a budding diamond and shine it and just creating something creating a miracle and he so at that point I think they they just started moving stuff around executives and Benny was was going at that time and they hired a lawyer to be the A&R person and so I got dropped like Hot potato. Because what happens is, as you know, when new executives come, they bring along their own John.

Yeah. And I wasn't a part of that. So I literally was like, you know, when we were getting ready to start the new album, I couldn't get anybody on the phone. I was like, wow. I said, I generated close to a quarter of a billion dollars with, you know, my production and my record sales and all, you know, just one of my guys of Wall Street kind of an analysis with me just in terms of you know all this stuff collectively but but mind you

I sold a significant amount of units for for Warner Brothers at that point and you know you you look at it now and you you know like I said I'm never going to be the the bitter artists or anything else like that because you know I do I do okay I'm okay and very okay but but at the end of the day what has happened is you know when you realize as an artist how much revenue you generate. I mean, that's why, you know, people to understand with these 360 deals because basically it's just an insurance policy.

If I'm investing you, I need to be a part of merchandise, social media, you know. And if you're in a position, like with Quincy, when he was working on, when he first started to do his deal for television stuff, there was a no involved

because he wasn't, he's not in a position to have to give up all this music. rights and his publishing because you know they want to own everything and he don't have to do that so thank you for coming out god bless good nice let's let's let's make a nothing then he when he was he's very patient there's no nepotism involved he consults with me and sean and you know his his surrounding team um but you know he's a very smart businessman um and it's it's it's significant to uh to to to watch the the navigation that he's kind of creating on his own as well i

obviously. Yeah, around the time, because you got, when you left, like, after sexy verses, there was a period of time where Warner, they just didn't get black music. Like, they was, like, they was just putting out bullshit. And they had that rep where it's just like, if you saw Warner Brothers record, if you were like a head and you saw Warner Brothers logo, like, you just knew it was going to be whack. Like, that was kind of the thing.

Again, that's the switch. So when, you know, Benny and that whole regime left, you know, we were, we were, we were that glue and that melting pot that created. Because remember we had Club Nouveau. We had, you know, Tavin, myself. Prince. Yeah. I was about to say, is this post-slave time?

Or is this like, this is like, this is like, right? This is like right when it's about to start. But do you know the real story of what the entire thing with Prince was? Because what people have a little bit of a misconception. The only way, the reason that came about is because of, again, and I don't want to go to business. but intellectual property is everything. And if you're an attorney or you're a lawyer, you understand that. So Warner Brothers basically felt as though they put a tremendous amount of money behind Roger.

They put, you know, they put all this money behind Prince and made him who he was. Now, they didn't give him credit that he made him who he was. Right, right. He did the work. But it's almost kind of, is he even like how the Disney machine. works and so and so forth. You know, when I was doing radio for many, many years, I started a show called Secret Garden.

And I waited nine months to get paid because of the negotiation because they wanted to own Secret Garden. And I was like, you can't own Secret Garden. Radio, they're really going to try to fuck you. No, no, no, but no, not even that. It's just more it would have to do with these are airwaves. It's the most valuable thing. So this is our product.

And, you know, I had to tell them, no, that's not how this particular works because if you look, this is a brand that we built, you know, Quincy and, you know. So, but going back to it, um, related to Prince, because Warner Brothers felt as though that they made Prince into who he was, we've invested, we made this investment. You can't just walk away with our investment. So you can leave, but just leave the name. Yeah.

Ah, yeah. And people don't understand. So, so I got it conceptually. But it made no sense because just like any trademark, you can say, you don't, you can't say, just like in Vegas right now, you have all these Michael Jackson shows, right? The tribute to Michael Jackson, you can use that because it's not Michael Jackson. Right. The tribute to Michael Jackson presents, you know, you can, 10 derivatives of it. But at the end of the day, the intellectual property and what, you know, what they own is Michael Jackson.

So again, Prince was allowed to leave. That was his sacrifice. Okay, I'm going to leave Warner Brothers, but I can't take my name with me. Okay, so I'm the artist formerly known as Prince. Isn't that crazy? Conceptually, it's funny because if I'm an attorney, yeah, it works. If I'm a human, buying records, you know, just to.

How long it take for him to get his name back? He had to wait until his publishing deal with Warner expired in 99. But again, you know, it's not like you don't recognize it when you see him. Right. I was tired of that symbol though, but yeah. All right. And to be honest with you, it was just a part of the mystique of Prince. And, you know, I mean, he's a genius as it is.

So, I mean, you know, there's certain artists you just can't hold back that, you know, they're going to be who they are. I guess the misconception, though, is that, at least for me as a fan, I thought Prince had made that, like, a creative decision. like I'm gonna stop using it. But that was like the public explanation for it. Right, which is, which is great because, you know, every, it's just like anything with art, we all see it differently. So it's just like, okay, yeah, this is what happened.

Then the room was starting, you know. Yeah, so how did you, so, and I didn't know if it was anything you want to ask, but I was gonna get to the hitting beach. So yeah, how did that deal come about? So after the, you know, the three albums with Warner Brothers and doing the executive thing at Motown and so on so forth, and that kind of ended around 96. I remember working with my, I call him a brother, David Minran, Savage Records.

That's how I started working with David Bowie. And I just wanted to go to another level and really just take this. Obviously, my core and my sweet spot as it relates to my, I call it friend base, and I don't like to use the word fan. So my friend base and those who are supporting me or now in social media, my followers, or my Al-B's. Big shout out to all of my Al-Bs.

I got nothing but love for you, baby. You know, so what happens is it was, you know, quite a step away from my core audience as it relates to, you know, because that's all I've ever wanted to do. I wanted, as much as I was, I'm a straight hip-hop head from Mount Vernon, all I wanted to do was work with Diane. and Al Green and Smokey Robinson, like,

that was what I grew up with and Stevie Wonder. So you and Al Green, y'all got up. Yeah. Which record did you? As long as we're together. And then, oh, I love you. Because I thought it was, could this be the love? As long as we're together.

And what I did was, and what I did was, I remade, um, spending my day, you know, for the, I'm still loved you. I'm still loved you. Now, now what's, what's, what's, crazy is that, so I've read in so many different places that I was nominated for three Grammys. It's actually four, and I won a Grammy because that's a duet I did with Al Green. Again, I just never said anything. It's a duet with he and I, and it's not, it's not cataloged

that way. So I got a Grammy for producing the gospel record, which is as long as we're together, and I was nominated for the others. So it's actually four. Word up. Yeah, what was working with Diana Ross like? Like, were you guys in the same studio? Oh, absolutely. I have an affinity to fabulous. I have an affinity to class to mature women.

Oh, yeah, but got to be there. Yeah. No matter what you do. I was thinking about some other women. But you see, you know. And so, but very specifically, Diana Ross was just everything to me. I mean, just growing up.

So the first opportunity that I had to work with her. I can't even look at you right now. Reach out and touch. Make us proud of that place. No, just, you know what it? it is when you grow up and let's just say this as much as I loved Michael Jackson I love Diana Ross so it was just you know all jokes aside it was just such an honor and a privilege like just to and then what was really cool was Diana Ross was so cool that I remember I'm

I remember I think we're maybe in Hit Factory or maybe yeah and I remember excuse me miss Ross coming in the door and guess what I'm just what she had on. The denim and the holes in the jeans. She was looking like the working overtime. No, she was looking like the working overtime. Oh, she had the night and day outfit on. But yeah, just, I mean, just an incredible, incredible talent.

And just she represents so much as it relates to just music. And people don't realize how important Diana Ross is like to the whole. frame of, you know, like, to be honest with you, love me some Beyonce. I was just about to say they say she used to love me some Rihanna. But they wouldn't exist. Right. But those artists, you know, they would exist, but they just, but there's a certain, well, you know what, just like anything else, we learn from our predecessors, you know, the art

before us, you know, we're influenced. And it's just like the closest thing to bad and class and fly, but still. gutter is B. Because B keeps it one, 2018, you know, but she's so incredibly classy and she's got the whole package and the whole thing and her and Jay's movement and navigation is just crazy. So you just like to see it.

It's like the king and the queen, you know. You tell me Diana had a gutter side to her. Miss Ross. You've seen that picture walking with the rib, right? No, but I'm talking about, because what happens, I'm talking about just like just the homie like she's cool like just like you like really like was there a moment you had with Diana Ross you were like I'm really this we're talking about this I'm doing this with her mm-hmm well okay let me rephrase this

reach out and touch a conversation never mind I you know what no let me tell you know first well just I mean she's just one of the classiest like just beautiful classy and just I love hearing her voice when she talks She's just got this. You know, you can't even call her an artist. She's more of an icon and just there's no title for her. You can't. She's the blueprint for all of the girls following. Especially branding.

Yeah, just all of them. I mean, I don't, and take nothing away from, you know, Ritha Franklin, Garretta, Soursel, take nothing away from the other iconic female artists. But Diana Ross just exuded. I'm going to make up my own word. Exudable, just, she was just exudable. Just, you know, she just had that every, she had everything. She had the grace, the style, the class, you know.

Her exudability was off the charts. Stop playing. Absolutely. And, you know, and it is what it is. So, so again, my dream and my goal was to work with the greats. And a lot of times, you know, my peer group would not. understand that. My period was like,

yo, why are you working when this? This person. And I'm like, no, you just don't get it. I said,

these are my dreams. I'm going to, I got to dream it to fruition. So who, who proposed the collaboration with David Bowie

on black, Thai, white noise? Actually, the president of Savage Records, Mr. David Memran, very prominent businessman, and my big

brother, like a big brother to me. That's the first time I learned that their private jets came in the size of 747s. You know, I mean, just phenomenal, but the most kind and humble, you know, just knowledgeable, you know, just knowledgeable, just, I mean, just amazing. And gave me such an opportunity because he saw it. And then this is the gentleman who also was someone who was someone who was concerned. about me because what he did was he looked at he took the time to get all of my contracts

and was looking through all of the stuff and said no this is you know he speaks friends this is not right this is none of the publishing do to do and then he went and tried to help me fix all of that stuff from the past so that I would have something in the future so I attribute a lot of the that you know being able to maintain you know just my publishing and there's all this stuff to to uh to him and just and then he just gave me an opportunity because I I guess he saw as well that I was positioning myself as a citizen of the world. So he would give me opportunities to work with Richie Sambora and with, you know, Taylor Dane, just the artist that would just just just. So we had a nice staple of artists that just, you know, it was amazing.

And then spending that much time. And then I moved to Switzerland and Lidgen-Stad. and, you know, and just working with David and then, and people don't realize, you know who produced that record, who produced Black-Tie White Noise. There's a gentleman who plays guitar in her song called Good Times.

Oh, Nile Rodgers. Yeah, it's not Roger. Noges. That's a bad man. We got to get in him. He's so bad. He's the only one that we, yeah, we haven't been to interview. Yeah, we had him, we interviewed him like,

it's been a minute ago. We just started. We didn't finish it. But, yeah, so, you know, Nile Rogers and, you know, and it was just great because spending, it was more of an experience like we did the record together, and I did, it's funny because, okay, so we got to get the remixes. So, Kyle and I did the R&B remixes to the record.

In addition to, we had so much more fun because David and Imand taught me to ski. Oh, shit. Like stuff like that. We'd be out on the slopes in Switzerland and just, you know, And it was funny because every moment, I'm always thinking if Mount Vernon could see me now. Does that make sense? Yeah, it makes a hundred percent sense. Everywhere I'd go, I'd be somewhere on the planet.

And I would find myself with the king of so-and-so or some foreign country, like, and, you know, just with severe wealth. And this is what made me understand because. The way to achieve anything of that nature is to see it and to be around it. And then I started to understand it. Man, every time there's a level, there's another level. There's LeBron James. And then there's the guy that pays LeBron James. You know, like, meaning, like, I'm so proud when I see LeBron James, like, just that guy, that brand, he's about his business, his family.

his family, like, that's, that makes me so, like, happy to see that existing in this day and time with all the, the demise and separation and all of the chaos and turmoil going on in the world with, you know, with politics and things that at nature intend to see this young man from very humble beginnings thriving at the highest level with no BS. Giving back. What? And not just, he's worried. walking the walk. He's running the walk. He's marathon in the walk. So kudos to Mr. James and his

family. It's a blessing that he's able to do this. And he's doing it at the highest level. So, are you one of these rare individuals that technically you have created with all of whom you consider great, great, like mostly? Is no one, is anyone left? Yeah, I do so many that I want, I mean, I want to work with, you know, it's so funny because even with my new album, I want to and I told Mr. Quest I said, we need some of his rhythm

breaking what's the president I voted for Shirley Chisham I need, you know, like this is going to be the album show, Kyle West, you know, chaos.

Oh, chaos, you're going to bring him. Pete Rock. What I'm doing, I'm doing an EP with maybe six, you know, six songs, the most, six,

seven, maybe eight songs. Maybe that's whole album, I guess. But I just want to do, you know, an EP and just make six movies. meaning, you know, I want to do like a joint with Quest.

I want to do a joint with Pete Rock. I'm going to do a joint with Kyle West, Dave Hall, you know, just easy Mo B. Like all the cats I've ever worked with. And it's not about features and having every rapper, none of that. Just I want to do an organic record, but with my journeymen who are from the beginning and iconic. And this is what I told them all. I said, listen, what I need from you. don't try to make anything new.

Yes, please. I want you to go into your archives and find that one record that you said, you know, this is my, I'll be sure, shit. And take that particular song and let's develop from there. Don't try to create anything new. I don't even want you to think about it. There's a joint you got on your debt somewhere on a cassette. Have they been receptive to that?

Oh, absolutely. Yeah. So, you know, I'm looking forward to that. And then slowly I'm collecting, you know, stuff. And I've been talking to Pete. So I told Pete, I just want to straight give me some horns, but give me that gruel so I could just make that, you know. And yeah, and then the exciting part,

especially working with Kyle West again, because he is breaking it down. Man, just, you know. Him and Devante, always breaking it down. Man, listen. For real. A win is a win. 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 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 Galko, 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. There's two golden rules that any man should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl. You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes. And rule two, never mess with her friends either. We always say that trust your girlfriends. I'm Anna Sinfield. And in this new season of The Girlfriends,

Oh my God, this is the same man. A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist. I felt like I got hit by a truck. I thought, how could this happen to me? The cops didn't seem to care. So they take matters into their own hands. I said, oh, hell no. I vowed. I will be his last target.

He's going to get what he deserves. Listen to the Girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Speaking of Devante, the first time I ever heard Devante was on private times in the whole night

with Touch You. So how did they, were they already signed to Uptown when that happened? Yeah, so like I said, after the, any heartbreak tour experience and them going to Uptown and getting signed

and, you know, started doing some work in production. Now, mind you, people, you know, obviously this group here knows, but Devante came with a plethora of organic musicians and artists. You know, every, the reason the labels were so producer intense for a time period is because what happened was this is where the A&R became obsolete because the producer, let's say is Jermaine Dupree or let's say it's, you know, Devante Swing or Al B.

B. Shore, you know, what happens is the producer who's creating the music, finding the artist bringing the entire package we become the ANR so what happens is we're now you know so Devante in the camp Missy Elliott

Timberlin Timberlin Elgin I mean genuine static and the player smoky you know yeah black and everything so so what happens is you know the ANR position became obsolete because

Because boom, you give Teddy Riley a label. Teddy's going to have the artist. All the artists want to work with Teddy. He'll find the best of the group. You know, so it'll be, you know, and then, you know, obviously you dress them and you do the whole thing. And you do you. So it became very significant that the artist became.

And that's when the whole artist executive came out. That's where Puff thrived so well because, you know, Puff was an artist himself, you know, period. it and but he just his grind was like none other I mean as it relates to his navigation he was going to figure it out he was going to figure it out regardless I don't care what else was going on

he was going to make it happen so who found Jodicey was it was it Devon or Andre that found him? No no I will they came in audition for me okay because then I have to give you the credit for this you changed the like the state of black music because

as we've noted you know it was it was you and then you found Devante and then Devante had Tim and Missy Well they had they had they already had a group there was the Haley brothers Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah they put the Joseph see again they put them together in the Carolinas I just happened to come about them because they came in audition and then I made the call and so I wanted them to go see Andre But so it was you did this you know that I just have such I you know I have just you know maybe it's just me I just have such a problem saying I discovered anything Oh I understand I understand that I don't have to figure this out for the book though I understand.

I just understand that. Yeah, I'm going to let Barry Michael Cooper say it. Yeah. But, like, if you trace it back, it goes back to you. And, like, everything that's happening now is a direct response. But also, but I have to say Teddy Riley, too, because. Yes. So, so it takes a village. I'll just say that.

Yeah. So this is, like, our own version of 23 and me. Yeah. So can I just as a 2018 question, though, because I want to, I think I Madden after you just in private, but it was a moment for some of us who were watching Pose when we watched that episode. Oh, yeah. And it was all about these guys auditioning for this Al Bys Schumer video. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I just want it. And that quote, you got to get the quote. Well, the Marvin Gay? Yeah. The Marvin Gay? The Marvin Gay. I'll be sure is Marvin Gay of our generation. Yes.

You see? I didn't even put the, oh, that's crazy. But this is what, and again, this is where I'm far beyond honored to even. hear something like that, but it's been happening so much to the point where I'm humbled by the association, but now that, like I said, you know, I've been doing this whole mind, body, and spirit thing, I would love to interpolate his story on the big screen to be able to do that. And because I think I'm prepared enough to do that. And I'm the biggest Marvin Gay appreciator out there.

I mean, he's one of the outside of Michael Jackson, Marvin Gay is the, you know, But what did it feel like watching that episode and seeing it being celebrated in that way? Well, what's funny is Quincy sent it to me on my WhatsApp. He says, yo, Bobbs, they're talking about you again. So, and it's like four or five different things. So it's either, it's funny

because we'll have Tony send you also. So the clips, everywhere, there's always a reference, whether it's like, skin and curly hair, you know, have the show looking, they get there, or something related to, you know, it's like, I'm watching ESPN and

they're referencing they call them Steph Curry or that's the Albee Show of the NBA or this whole Drake situation which I'm the major major Drake fan and they were you know I see it all over you know no no just

talking about he's the Albi Show remix but I don't you know I don't look at it like that I look like you know that's that cat is incredible and he keeps coming with the heat like I just you know but But again, you know, just because of the generations and the whole ice skin thing. But, you know, like, I'm a big of, I'm a fan of the music. Like, I'm a fan of the work. I'm a fan of, you know, so, you know, I don't get caught up.

I don't get caught up in all the stuff I read and stuff like that. But I just think is, I am on, and I have to give you this too, I am on 80-something hip-hop records, Tribe Call Quest. Oh, Reference. The Roots, Tribe Call Quest. Raqim, who you had on your record. Yeah. Yeah.

Oh, man, just what an honor. Again, like I said, the great, I just wanted to be around and just work with. I got a couple final questions for me. Let's take it back to sexy verses real quick. The song Die for You. She's not credited in the line of notes. Who was singing with you on that song? Tabitha Brace.

Okay. Thank you. answering that. I've been trying to figure that out for 26 years now. Tabitha Brace, and she's also in the group, Key West. Yes, yes, yes. So actually, we talked about this a little bit earlier. Oh, off mic. But yeah, was Key West, like, were they supposed to have an album? Yeah, they had an amazing, amazing project. In fact, it would be interesting if you talk to Kyle, because Kyle's another one who just, he's the, I call him the silent assassin. He doesn't like all the fan face. He loves it. He loves it.

He's like, I love doing what I do. And he doesn't want to be famous. He doesn't want to be any of that. He just loves us creating. He just loves being creative. I mean, does he know how much people are willing to pay for the girls album on CD? No, no. Oh, no, trust me.

I saw a copy on eBay. It was like $435 or something. Like, I'm holding on my tape tight. Like, that shit is never going to leave. It's crazy. Yeah. But, okay, the last question I have is it's a true or false question. Okay.

Did you date Omarosa? Is that real? Are we about to do these questions after that? What we're doing? Is that real? I know one of your sons was on one of the shows, a reality show that she hosted. Now it was me. That was you?

Oh, you did the single, wait. Is that the single? Wait, what you are? Donald Trump's ultimate merger on TV one. It was a derivative of, ah, got it, okay. So what happened was he put together 12. moves and shakers from different entities you know commodities broke a lawyer singer NFL baseball player and he wanted to create this ultimate merger and then they bring in

amorosa and then it was almost like you know looking for you know just looking for you know someone to uh you know is there anyone that she actually you know really likes and that she would want to court and to date and so and so so both it was it was it was actually a fun show to do um because I've said no to every reality show that, you know, they've called or just, it's not my thing. But I thought it was a great, it was a great format only from the standpoint that I was able to show the OG side of how to handle things because, you know, you had some cats who want to jump in the hot tub and get naked and all this. And, you know, I'm the OG cat. Oh, you know, I just laid, lay in the cut and just kind of, you know, I handle it differently.

Everybody's, you know, hunting and, you know, that's like it. So it's just nice to see just all. the different, and in fact, that was probably the highest way to show on the network that year, and they tried to do it again, and it failed miserably. But, but, well, no, no, I mean, because it went into what is called soft scripted in terms of just setting up, setting up the scenarios, but the dialogue. The dialogue was natural, like the exchange, the courtroom scenes, all the other stuff. And it was interesting.

It was very interesting show to. to do. Did I have a date, Amarosa? No. We've actually been friends for a very, very long time, and that's why it was a little strange when we were, you know, when the show was brought to my attention to do it, as though, you know, we were going to be together. And, yeah, so it's very interesting.

What's it been like, just like seeing her in the news lately with all this Trump shit? Should we let her back in? Okay, hold on. Let me tell you something. Let's have this conversation. Yeah. So just recently I've been contacted by a number of news outlets and to talk about this thing because they know that I've did the show with her and, you know, I went to the end and so on so forth. And I've known Mr. Trump since I was a kid many, many years ago when he was just doing real estate in New York. None of this was going on. Did he let you rent or? The word is that?

Well, you know what? I'm telling you, like I said, I didn't know this side of any of it. All I knew was that he was a cool cat, you know, if I needed some advice on something like there was a time I think my oldest was acting out, you know, in school. And I gave him a call and I asked him. I said, what is that school, you know? And he suggested King's Academy. So I put my kid in King's Academy. So that type of stuff.

So it was just more of a, and I think I did my 21st birthday party on his yacht back then. So he is, so he's acting. I was supposed to say, yeah. I don't, I'm just, because you know, I don't know, you know, you know, the only thing that I can say about this entire situation is this. I don't get involved with the politics of, of any of it. But what I will say is because, you know, I've been, there's been several requests for me to speak on this. and my concern is my five-year-old grandson. Word.

I don't have an opinion either way as it relates to who I like or who I don't like, but I love my grandson. And what I don't want my grandson is to live in fear. I don't want my grandson to see turmoil, distress, separation. I don't want to see those things. I don't want that to be the example, division. You know, so whatever is transpiring right now, I'm not happy with my grandson, and hopefully he's filtered and sheltered from seeing the divisiveness of all of it as a whole, because it's got to be scary for someone not to know what their future is or what's coming next. So that's my opinion about it, but my opinion is just directed to my.

my grandson and what he's seeing and feeling and kut-pop because he's a little prodigy, but he's also very intelligent. And I don't think that, I don't think necessarily that children are ignorant. They're very smart. And I don't want, ever, I never want him to feel like he doesn't know what's going on tomorrow or he's in fear of not knowing his future. I want him to feel very solid within his future and what's going on with him moving forward. and I trust that this will come to fruition

when it needs to come to fruition. Don't tell him about the Quincy Jones B side. That's bad news. That's real bad news. I love Steve. Anyway, Al, I want to thank you for coming on the show. This has been an eye-opening experience and a dream of ours. Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up.

Yes, but I'll be sure. Yes. Our dreams are to come true. Light skin, emperor. God of the light skins. Very, very humble. Thank you. Second king of falsetto.

Yes. Yes, indeed. You know what I would like to do, though? I mean, to end it off the right way, being that I'm now in shape, body, mind, and spirit and in sync, I would love to play Marvin Gay in the movie. What is that? No, tango, I mean, no idea.

they have what I'm telling you it's me who put this together me who do I trust me yeah I'm waiting for a minute didn't you already didn't it's been in development hell like forever I've seen the previews to it

but that was like eight years ago yeah I mean you know Motown Ambia estate and that's what happens when you have like 12 estates yeah so because there's another one there's another script that focuses just on his time in Belgium

right with him living with the nuns yeah just the Columbia stuff. I think that would be interesting, though. Just him singing to them none. Yeah, which air are you going to do? You know, it's interesting.

It's a lot of layers to that story. It really is. And what's great is his sister, Zola, is a dear friend of mine who lives in Las Vegas as well. So I see her weekly. You know, anytime I come off the road on a weekend, I go listen to go to a little jazz spot out in Tivoli Village. And she's always there.

And it's nice. I just love it. And the reason I was saying that is because for some reason, season in the last few years I've seen very significant references to Benny said it also to I think on the unsung and then I think Andre and said that I left a signature a signature that it marked time very specifically like what a Marvin gay would leave and when I heard that I was very touched because obviously I don't put myself on that level or that skill set at all but my passion is in that skill set and that level. So that's something I think that I would do justice to in terms of being a true fan and appreciating someone who's actually that I mimicked and had to copy because it was between Smokey and Marvin and all, you know, any of that falsetto was like, yeah. Speaking of that, speaking of mimicking, have any of these young falsetto brothers and others

had any moments with you where they reach out to you in a way? I hear, let me tell you something that the greatest thing is just hearing, you know, you know, the references to the Bruno Mars and, and, you know, just artists of that nature or just how that influence. Like every, even if it wasn't just about the Al B. Sure campaign, even when I was doing the Jodacy campaign,

every record company wanted a Jodacy. So it said something, it said something in terms of we're in the right path, we're in the right, you know, so we're being, we didn't know we were trendsetting at the time, but now you look at it, we're trailblazing at that moment. But it was just this organic feeling of just, you know, let's make something new. Let's make something different or let's interpolate this from the history of what we've learned. Well, from your mouth to the Gagiaras, I hope that happens.

Anyway, thank you, Al for doing the show. I appreciate it. Thank you so much. On the app of Team Supreme, we have Partigolo, Laia, unpaid bill, boss bill. And Sugar Steve, CEO and founder of the Sugar Network. I'm everything to that network. Yes, you are. You are everything.

This is Questlove. This is Quest Love Supreme. Only on Pandora. We'll see you on the next round, ladies and gentlemen. Quest Love Supreme is a production of I Heart Radio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora. For more podcasts from IHeart Radio, visit the IHeart 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 I'm 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, for wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slice of Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist,

they take matters into their own hands. I vowed. I will be his last target. He is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves. We always say that trust your girlfriends. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast,

or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.