The Questlove Show - QLS Classic: Gilles Peterson

Episode Date: July 10, 2023

Pioneering DJ and record label owner Gilles Peterson talks about the politics of early pirate radio, how he broke artists like Jamiroquai, Brand New Heavies and even The Roots, and his passion for helping the right music find the right audience. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee 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. Kirst Love 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 welcome to another QLS Classic. This episode is all about a pioneering DJ and record label owner named Jiles Peterson. He talks about the politics of early pirate radio, how he broke artists like Jemarraquah, brand new heavies, and even the Roots, and his passion for helping the right music find the right audience. He is so dope. This episode

was actually taped Brutes Picnic Weekend, June 28th in 2017. This is a Episode 38, Enjoy. Supremia. Supremal Role. Want y'all to know, Yeah. I'm being sincere. Yeah.

That without Jals Peterson, yeah. I would not be here. Roll call. That was nice. Supremia. Thank you. Who's next?

Oh. Submina. Role call. My name is Fonte. Yeah. I say it proud. Yeah. One of my favorite labels

Yeah. Yeah. Was talking loud. Supremea Subrama Roll Call Supremia Subrama Roll Call My name is Sugar

Yeah I got that style Yeah I got that smile Yeah What's up child Supraima I hate you

Rollcom Supra Supraima Sub prima Roll Call I'm Marpeed Bill Yeah Y'all don't know me Yeah

We in Philly Yeah. Hogi. Supreme. Supreme. Supreme. Subremma. Supreme.

Mark Bossbill present. Yeah. On this call of role. Yeah. Quest love Supreme? Yeah. We'll make you whole. Roll call.

Supreme. Supremia. Sog. Subrama. Subrama. Subrema. Surma role call. This lie is.

Yeah. And I'm feeling right. God damn Jowell Peterson. Yeah. Worldwide. Roll call. Suprema. Suprema.

Roe Call. Suprema. Suprema. Supremea. Role call. Jill Petersson. Yeah. I'm French.

But I come from London. Rocahn. Superma. Rocault. Ro call. Superma. Roll call. Wait.

So we, let's all admit that we, We didn't think that none of our roll call moments were going to be hot, but there was some buster rhyme stealing moments in this roll call. We had three. Rout, right. At least three of them. First time I seen Steve smiles or whatever. For real. That's amazing.

The call of roll. Well, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another episode of Quest Love Supreme. Only on Pandora. And our special guest today, I have to say, he exemplifies the role. of my favorite person of music and that's the music that's the tastemaker the tastemaker

would be the guy that was in the know of what you didn't know about music and it would spread sort of like what's a good term for virus virus is there a positive virus like a fungus

an infection yeah but all these medical terms like a thinking man mean they're like they're like negative connotations. Like it's influenced spread like a virus. Like a trend. Yeah, I mean,

because they even use the term like viral now, like viral marketing. You're right. Okay. So, yeah, Jowles is my favorite virus of all time. Yeah, I have to say that if it weren't for Jowles Peterson,

taking our organic CD and playing it in clubs in London, Way before, you know, back when it was just a demo, that really started the buzz on the roots being here today. And us wanting to move to London and kind of bringing us to where we are now. So one of my favorite people ever, literally. This is Jal's Peterson, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome. Thank you very much. Yeah, Jalz, now you're on my radio show.

Yeah. You know that you named my show worldwide, right? Yeah, thank you for that. Well, thank you. Well, thank you for, oh, God, this is going to be a whole bunch of things. Yeah, thank you guys. Tell us a story, though. Tell us a story behind that.

So, okay, so what I'll say is that, okay, as of what makes this day really truly special, even though we're not specifically getting on dates and time period, but as of this recording, this specific day that we're on, this was the Saturday, 25 years ago that when Tariq and I were watching Soul Train and saw that Spike Lee commercial of the bucket drummer, Chocolate playing on that Wevice commercial. We looked at each other and like, yo, why don't we do that?

So today as we speak is the 25th anniversary of the Roots as you know it. Not the, oh, we formed in high school and did some talent shows, but like when we got buckets, went to South Street and... Busking. Start busking. Yeah, and we

we were square roots and you know I'll say that in I guess I'll say in 12 or 13 weeks later this is when we started the process of recording the organics demo which

then really material material virus virus virus outbreak epidemic spiral up it materialized into a CD so that we could go to Europe and

sell it on some festivals that we were invited to. And somehow it made its way to Giles, who we were told, would play it in nightclubs, which was like really weird for us because I thought the nightclub was the last place that the roots whatever wind up. Dance flow killers. I used to play the session. That was like 13 minutes. I know.

I was like, see, I played over here and it clears the floor instantly. But, you know, I mean, Jiles is. his position I'll say that he was my generation's John Peel John Peel was the cat in London who you know he took a chance on

unknown groups he lets you know who this unknown name Elvis Costello was or who the clash was and Steve fricked up Steve now writes for Elvis Costello so basically I mean that that was the role and then when we met

we thought that we were going to sign to Giles's parent label Talking loud Well we signed to talking loud But we were going to sign to Polygram And then by a strange twist of fate It became Geffen But we still maintain the relationship

With Jalz Peterson to release our very first EP Like worldwide distributed EP which was from the ground up on his label. And, you know, we lived over there. So, wait, what I want to ask about is what you showed us in London during that time period that the roots, quote unquote, exiled to London was there was such a scene going on. And we basically took that scene and reproduced it in America.

We took everything that we saw you do and did it over here. So the idea of like clubs having multiple rooms of different DJs playing, you know, the jam band on the top floor and the disco floor was the third floor and the, you know, the techno music was on the second floor and the soul music was on the first floor. Like, is that still prevalent now in London as it once was? Is this still a scene or are you like one of the last Mohicans still holding up the tradition? I think that's bigger than ever. really. Really? Yeah. Because I hear some people just like, ah, it's not the same anymore. It's massive. I think it's like, I think it's just a bit more DIY. I think that sort of the super clubs came along and people sought to make something out of it bigger. And people reacted to that. And I think that nowadays, if you go anywhere from Leeds to Manchester, Bristol, London on a Saturday night, there's a lot of stuff going on, a lot of big raves parties with alternative music being played in different rooms. And also, there's actually a return to. to a live element, which did go away for a little while. And I think that certainly at the moment in London and the south of England,

there's a very strong live improv jazz scene. We can come back home now? Mate, honestly, it's very interesting at the moment. You know, I think that maybe it's more towards the jazz side of things with what Kamasi did and the fact that that sort of energy has kind of come over. And then from the UK point of view, a huge set of musicians, groups like Sons of Kemet and groups like... you know, artists like New Bayer, Moses Boy, does a lot of musicians going on, and there's a really

good community, which there hasn't been for a while. So the club culture has always been there. That's really where I come from. I'm sort of a DJ, club culture, acid house, acid jazz, raves, Germany, France, residencies all over the place, playing this kind of slightly alternative view of dance music, because, you know, when I grew up, that I'd go to, I used to go, when I was 17, 16, I'd go to sort of weekenders in horrible holiday resorts. which were empty in winter and four, five thousand people would come from all over the country to listen to groups like Royers come over or the Fat Back Band or, you know, Clear, or, you know, artists like Leroy Burgess would come to the UK and they would, and we would celebrate that music.

And there'd be a main room and they'd be playing sort of, you know, all these big tunes from summer madness by calling the gang to I found Loving by the Fat Bat Band. and then there'd be another room at the back where you'd be hearing DJs. I mean, that's the first time I heard John Coltrane, Impressions, wasn't in a jazz club. It was basically in the back of some sort of restaurant in some depleted holiday resort near Norwich

on the North Sea. And there's a DJ called Bob Jones playing impressions or maybe giant steps by John Coltrane at full volume with 20 people dancing to it, battling, like B-Boys. Like, you know, so that. And when I saw it, all that. I was like, this is what I wanted. I love this music. I was going to say, didn't you

once tell me the Fonte that the most daring thing you ever saw was a DJ who played Return to Forever in a nightclub? Was it in London or? It was. It wasn't in London. It was in Chicago and it was a guy. It was Detroit

guy. Theo Parrish? Theo Parrish. Okay. It was Theo Parrish. Because I was going to say the first time that I saw at Icini someone went back and forth on like the first 16 bars of Love Supreme

were they're really grooving and that was one of my my eye opening moments like oh like anything if it's grooveable you can play it because I would never think like it has a groove but I didn't think it was danceable and I wasn't ever going to try that

take that risk here in the United States. I mean, we had like, you know, King Brit and Dazia and those guys had a little scene in Philadelphia. But even then, there was no place for me to really test it out to see if it were worked. But once I started going to Icini and all those

like those Soul Kitchen Clubs over there and seeing you guys do that, that was, that's what told me like, oh, anything is playable if you play the right part and if you do it at the right time. So for you, when you were observing these things and going to these clubs were you was this in the revival stage

or was it in the first round like when when you were first going to clubs like how what year was it um we're talking 1980 we're talking cameo you know um so you were in the first draft not in the revival draft of like 89 90 because by that point then you would say 18 81 82 i mean there was some British groups as well. There was a very interesting jazz funk scene in the UK. So there was groups like Light of the World, High Tension, Incognito. These are the groups that kind of precursed groups like loose ends and soul to soul, which came about seven or eight years later. So there was a really strong level 42. I was a huge level 42 fan. I used to go and see them everywhere. I used to love marking who I met recently for the first time, the bass player. Yeah. And wonderful guy. Wonderful.

And what underrated vocal, underrated voice. And I used to live. And I used to live. love that. So for me there was the kind of, on one hand, there was this sort of fan of the band thing, and I'd go around like, you know, you follow your favorite band. It was also a time of punk as well. It was just post-punk, you know, so there was that thing where you kind of, were you a punk or were you a soul boy? And I'd had to make my decision about what I wore and how I dressed. I was one of only three soulboys in my school, the rest of the people in my... So was that like being an outcast? Outcast, for real. The only reason I did... So it was it only for black people and not... Yeah, it was kind of a more working class, in.

of London people, you know, like the urban, urban people would be into it. And so for me, I had an Indian friend at school and a black, African friend at school. We were the three soulboys. And the only reason I didn't get beaten up was because I was in the rugby team. And by being a sporting guy in the school, it kind of gave me certain status and swagger. That's Peter's going to bust that ass. Well, this means nothing to them over here. So who was, when you were?

were listening to radio and I know that pirate radio yeah was a big thing when did the idea of pirate radio start in London well was that always the thing like even in the 50s and no in the 60s it came from the boats

so they used to and it was on medium wave that was a movie about that there's a movie about it yeah and that was basically they'd go out and they'd sort of go in neutral waters in the North Sea where they wouldn't get busted and they'd broadcast on medium wave and they basically that was what Radio Luxem was and that radio station kind of gave the birth was the reaction to that by the BBC was to set up Radio One.

Okay. And that was how Radio One became a non-sort talk station because up until that point the BBC was controlling radio and it was very classical opera, old school. That's what I was about to ask you, is terrestrial radio different over there than here because by now you know differences in commercial radio. Well, FM radio started kicking off in the 70s because all these radio stations in the beginning were on medium wave. and that's where the pirate stations that really interested me, they were on FM. There was only a few stations locally, so like here you'll have, I don't know, maybe in Philly, how many would there be 20? Well, like urban, like we have Barb and hip-hop stations, so let's say we have two.

Okay, but if you include all the other types of denominations, like 20 stations. So in London, they'd have been, back in the 70s, there'd have been maybe two commercial radio stations on FM. And so maybe three, with the BBC, we're playing a little bit, maybe we'll be sort of doubling up on FM and on medium wave. the point was there was a need for music to be heard and so they weren't giving licenses out so these people at a time when CB radio was quite popular remember that that was kind of

it was illegal in the UK CB radio wasn't over here because of your long distance lowry drivers but over there is illegal and you get you see if you knew a bloca could build you a CB rig they could also build you an FM rig and so what happened was we started finding out that these guys could build us FM transmitters and then the station started popping up in the 70s

of which there was one soul jazz funk station called Radio and Victor 92.4 that used to broadcast every Sunday for midday until 6. Is that where 279 started or DJ's 279? No, no, this is way before that. Okay, this is way before that. And that was the first station that I would listen to. I would listen to it in the bathroom of my house because that was the only place in the house that I could pick up the signal.

And sometimes it would go on and suddenly at 4.30 in the afternoon it would get busted and it would be off and it would be off for two weeks and you'd be waiting. every week for it to come back on because it was the only place you could hear jazz funk music. The other place was there was a disco show on a Friday night called The Best Disco in Town presented by Greg Edwards, live from the Lyceum. And then the other show was on a Saturday afternoon for mid-eight or two presented by Robbie Vincent, who did a pro, and the section that I loved from his show was the Jazz Funk 40, and he used to play Japanese jazz funk records.

And he'd play things like, you know, the other musical orchestra. Open and Fire. But the, that's when I felt, first time I, ever heard the Jones girls, Nights over Egypt was on Robbie Vincent and it was Christmas, whatever, 1982 or three, whatever that were, yeah, I'll never forget it and he played it

twice on the same show. It was that good a tune. And I'll never forget. In fact, when I played at the Roots Picnic the other day when I was over here, I played that track as a memory to him. The connection between Philly and my pirate radio routes. But anyway, basically at that time, it was just

literally FM radio stations of which some were pirates and you would get busted every couple of weeks. So two questions. How much would it cost you start a pirate radio station? Well, I started my own pirate radio station. Oh, it was that DIY? It was that easy. Oh, you don't need a boat?

No, no, this is FM because by then it's FM. Sorry, I didn't explain that. So when it was medium wave, it was on a boat. And then in the 70s, all you needed was you needed an aerial, a transmitter, a car battery, a cassette player, and a high point. Right. And if you were, if you were smart in London, you had the keys. There was four keys that opened up every council block, right? Every like, block in London, right?

Free, you know, cheap accommodation block in London. So any high spot, if you had those four keys, you could get on every rooftop. So I had the full keys. Really? I had the keys. So that's how I got to know London. That's how I got to know London. Because I started off by, I finally got my show myself, because I sat up my little pirate

station. Cost me 50 pounds to get a rig. My dad used to take me to up the road to Epson where they have the horse racing, which is a high point in South London, and he basically helped me put the aerial up on a tree, connect the aerial to the transmitter, transmitted to the car battery, car battery transmitter also to a cassette player that would play a C-90, and the 45 minutes side A was my show, which I recorded in my garden shed, and I wanted to be a guy called Robbie Vincent, who I mentioned before. And the other 45 was my next-door neighbor called Ross Tinsley, but otherwise known Ross Trouvone. That was his radio name

and he wanted to be John Peel. And basically that was the hour and half that we'd broadcast from a tree. And then we'd leave a phone number on the cassette of the recording which was the phone box by the tree.

And so we'd press play, go off in the phone box, all three of us with my dad. And then we'd get one phone call. That was the request. One phone call. But that was enough. So you were pre-recorded your show.

But yeah. And then go to the... Okay. Did all private DJs record their shows? No, unless you're on Ray Der & Victor,

because Radio and Victor was one of the well-known ones and the only Soul Station, the one that inspired me to get my rig, and they got busted

one week by the home office. Now, that was my second question. How do you get busted? Well, they used to go around of a little team of guys with special equipment and they'd literally find the studio or they'd find the aerial

and they'd come up there, you know, and they're sort of, you know, imagine sort of, you know, 60s-looking policeman, you know, working for the DTI,

you know, the government. What was a punishment? You'd get fined and no one got a sent to prison. See you next week. Yeah. It was a small, you know, they didn't have a lot of budget for the DTI for this particular sort of department. So there's only one guy who's called Eric.

Eric Gott's was the main guy because he became legendary, this, the guy who'd bust all the stations, especially as Pirate Radio became bigger and bigger. Because this is kind of the early days, the late 70s. It was still quite naive and sweet and lovely. But then by the mid-80s, started becoming a little bit cleverer and people started becoming 24 hours and advertisers started coming into it

and then you were more likely to get busted by another pirate than by Eric. Because of course they wanted to get it. That's when I got out of the game right? Because then you had to carry stuff. Yeah it got a little bit dangerous at that point but it was quite an interesting time and very exciting

time for me but initially I got onto Radio and Victor because they got busted and they I said and that my guy built my equipment built their equipment so I said to my guy they can have my equipment as long as they give me a show and they said we'll give you a show but first of all you've got to spend the next six months putting air was up for us so that's how I kind of went up the pirate radio status list and uh and you know that was that a win a win a win a win a win I don't care what 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 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, 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 iHeartman. Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

So compared to what we have now, the United States, which is total corporate radio. And I mean, even being on Pandora is kind of my version of the middle finger pirate radio thing, where we get to determine the type of music we want to play in the guests we have. You know, since 1997, business corporations have totally taken over radio. and but I look at how London is operated and now you're legit, you're on BBC

a government station um is it still half a dozen six eggs and half a dozen and the other like to you what is I know

I totally yeah we need a sound of for cliche busters what I'm saying is for government radio. Like, I look at you guys over the pond, and I'm like, well, government control

radio is better because, you know, it's required that you play a variety of things. You know, the idea of one artist getting 40 spends a day, like corporate radio, doesn't exist, everyone gets their fair share. But look at our government, though.

But then if you get our government, then you really fuck out. That kind of negates everything. Right. Is Paul Ted Nugent Nugent Kid, 25 hours a deal on some far. So that said

Cat scratch fever. Like do you... That's the beauty of the BBC in a way and the fact that the BBC's always having to struggle to be a kind of neutral yet creative body at a time when they have to give equal fairness

to commercial stations. So the beautiful thing about the UK I think in terms of broadcasting and the BBC is that, you know, you can get the arty left field really creative weird shit on the BBC. But the BBC also has its kind of commercial end. So, because it knows it has to compete with the commercial stations. I don't know if I'm making myself particularly clear, but that balance between the BBC maintaining a presence,

yet also constantly being progressive with the art of radio. And for me, one of the people that was an incredible inspiration to me, as you mentioned earlier on, of course, was John Peel. And John Peel changed the way radio was because he was on the BBC. And up until that point, it was still very old-fashioned guys on the radio broadcasting in that kind of way that you could imagine, you know. He had to wear a suit. Winston Churchill, kind of the war type stuff, you know.

And up until then, it was still, you know, even up until the Beatles, it was still kind of very conservative. But when John Peel came along, of course there had been a few people before him and some pirates and stuff on the boat stations, but basically John Peel was, he changed the rules of broadcasting. And he said, you can play, you know, television, this new group from New York next to Sly and the Family Stone, next to a punk record that someone just sent me. Do you know what I mean? He basically, and the way he presented radio, he basically said, you don't have to do it that way. You can do it a different way. And he had a huge influence, which remains

an important part of why the BBC has a certain standard that he, that he said, needs to be kept up. Did commercial radio take heed? Because I know you said in the beginning, it was only four, you know, but now, present day, have they taken heed from the BBC and what is it like now? Like, is there a few sole stations on the commercial radio side? There's dance stations. Okay. And if you want to go more specialist, really specialist, I mean, there's, you know, there's the jazz station that's quite conservative straight up. Not bad, you know, but I mean, there's nothing, if you want anything edgy, anything that really the kids are into, the commercial station is never going to be able to react to trend fast enough.

So that's why the pirates are always coming along, because there's always going to be a new type of music or culture to represent. Because the mainstream stations try and keep up. You know, I mean, the BBC has its own R&B network called One Extra. I'm on a station called BBC Six Music, which is kind of for the over 30-year-olds, which is kind of cool. When did that happen? I'm like, what?

Yeah, but in a way, I was quite lucky to find myself on there, because it's a cross between sort of what I'm about and what someone like John Peel's about. So they kind of, it's quite progressive, experimental, interesting music. I'm not experimental. It's just like it's the most out there.

It's where you could hear the Roots Records being played every day, more likely than on a pop station or on a commercial station. So for you, is it more important to be the first to bring you Kenji Lamar, the first,

the first to bring you a new singer from America Lauren Hill or is it like what are your goals because of that well I know I can't like I want your exclusive

come in I know but a guy like Fresh of the week Fresh of the week Fresh of the week what their frontmaster flex Oh

Tim Westwood Westwood Now no Westwood has his sets on being the frontmaster flex It's nostalgia though People like Westwood have nostalgia They're not in the now

Well that's crazy No but see that's weird because The Westwood I'm referring to Was the Ninety-six, 97 Okay I know I'm hearing myself speaking Know that's 20 years ago But back then

He was the You know Playing the news Today hip hop the street hip hop And kind of Take an indifferent stance on underground or stuff that he would deem to old school, even though he came up in that era.

But my whole point was that I saw him more as a fumpmaster flex guy who, you know, where he's the celebrity. He, you know, it's about him. Whereas I see you as wanting to still be a tastemaker and put people on to stuff that they don't know about. Like, you know, I think when you first played a, I think I heard you on the air when you first introduced

UFO on, on, you know, when they first debut, like this is back in like 94. The Japanese UFO. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so, it's like, to me, I feel, I'm asking, do you feel better as a taste maker?

Or do you feel you'll get more done if you were the celebrity DJ? It's interesting. It's a bit. of a combination of all elements in a way. I mean, my role is to, on one hand, fundamentally excite myself. You know, I don't really care about my audience in that sense.

I mean, in the sense that... Yeah. Don't tell you. Yeah. Please, Jow. Don't know. No, no. No, no, John.

Well, Pete. When you overthink it, it's right. Me. You can't overthink it. Me. Prepare for a 15-minute drum solo. Yeah, but if it feels right, do it. You know, the thing is, for me,

it's always interesting because I think that people get off on your energy and your energy is your authentic feeling and as a broadcaster I buzz on new music, I buzz on discovering old music that I'd never heard before

where there's an incredible story I buzz on playing some classics because I like a bit of nostalgia but fundamentally it's that mixture of all those elements with entertainment as part of it. So someone like Westwood, incredible broadcaster, changed the generation. People grew up on him and his radio show. And he brought a certain aesthetic of hip hop to a UK audience. And he did it incredibly well.

On the other hand, you could say, well, where's your legacy? What did you break? What did you do for UK hip-hop? Why were you so influenced by American music? Why is it taken 20 years for Grime to finally come through and for UK hip-hop fundamentally to actually finally have its name out there and to be doing something? French hip hop was way ahead, different language. I mean, as you know, it took a long time. So I think there was certain powers that held it back, and I think that's a shame. And my viewpoint, as somebody who's also been very much part of the music industry,

as you know, because we work together and all that sort of stuff, I feel that, you know, Britain has a lot to shout about musically. The UK is a unique place. You know, from going back to the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, through punk music, through all the different. elements of dance music from dubstep to drum and bass to broken beat. And I think that it's this unique mixture of people and the club culture that makes sure the music is constantly reinventing itself and there's always something new coming up. And that's why for me being

on the radio, it's easy. You know, it's easy because at the end of the day, there'll be a James Blake. You know, James Blake will come along or Mount Kimby will come along. There'll always be something happening. You're not, you know, there's never a time when you're like going, oh God, there's not been anything interesting for two or three years. So for me, as a tastemaker, that makes it easy for me to be a tastemaker because there's so much great stuff to be able to shout about. So do you feel, okay, I'm thinking of like Benji,

like who do you feel if you were to stop right now? And I don't mean morbidly, like death or whatever. If you decide, I've had enough, I've done it, my work is. done. How many disciples of yours do you fully trust will carry on the tradition that you have? And in spreading tomorrow's music, supporting Britain's scene, keeping us educated on the past? Because you've got to do like three to four different things to keep the train running. Do you feel as though there are enough people that have the education? and the will and the drive to be the person that that meets you at the gate, the greeter, the tastemaker, like.

I think there's a, they're all my children in the UK, for sure, in the sense that, you know. Dan Diggs, I listen to him. He reminds me a lot of you. In L.A.? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, I mean, I think Soul Action do some really great stuff. I think Deviation do really great stuff. I think boiler room, you know, again, the guy who sat up boiler room, Tristan, he was working with me, you know, for eight years.

And then he was like, oh, I'm going to go and film us doing a gig down the road in Dahlston. And that was boiler room. I think NTS, another really interesting digital radio station. Again, it was very much. So if you ask me who's coming through, there's a whole load of people with that certain attitude. Where on one hand, they'll be playing an Omar Suleiman record or some abstract sort of record from the Congo released on Analog Africa. And on the other hand, they're going to be releasing playing some sort of, you know, crazy Mickey Miller, you know, whatever. which I heard you chatting about last week.

So that way of approach to music, I think, is really normal now. I think that when there was a time when you played sort of this music in a mix, it was a little bit abnormal. Today, it's almost expected. If you look at even, you know, you read Pitchfork or Resident Advisor, all these really important influential websites and new school writers of the culture, it's about the eclecticism. You know, it's about having Rufus Harley on a route.

record. I mean, you were doing this years ago, you know, and throwing it all together. And for me, my big thing now at the age of 52 is it's about heritage and it's about the people that really took us here. It's about Philip Co-ran in Chicago. It's about Sunrah. It's about Jimmy Merritt here in Philadelphia, the bass player who wrote Nomo and played with Max Roach. For me, it's about putting a light on these people. Because without those guys, We wouldn't be here. And they put in so much work. And some of them are still alive, you know.

And of course, people like Royez still around. I mean, my God, those guys, they did so many gigs. And we're kind of, I don't know, for me personally, it's kind of like, it's payback time to those guys. And we've got to make sure that we use the power that we have and the means of influence that we have to shine a light on those people. three people that I met when I was 22 years old I'd just been picked up by Radio London because I was a young guy and I was playing jazz records in clubs and I met three people in the space of one week or two weeks

Wayne Schalter Jalal from the last poets and the jazz singer Mark Murphy and those three guys in the space of two weeks they taught a young boy from South London who didn't know much about American culture they taught me about the different elements of music within jazz

whether it was spirituality whether it was more of a bohemian attitude, whether it was the civil rights, I got lessons from these three people at a very early age, and that had a huge impact on me, and I want to be able to do the same thing for another generation of people

to bring them closer to the roots of the music and away from the superficiality of big commercial corporations. Do you remember the first record you ever brought? the very first record you purchased i purchased yeah um i remember um picking up a records um i remember buying blondie denie by blondie i loved that that was um electric light orchestra mr blue sky okay i was a bit prog rocky at around 12 13 you know um caravan in the land of gray and pink brilliant record. First sort of

record I bought, I mean I was very thankful for my library in London where I lived in Sutton. They just had a new library and that's where you could sort of take home records. I don't know if they did that here in the States where you could borrow records. We do. You still do that. Half of those. Oh yeah.

Never mind. That was a good place. Anyway. So that's where I kind of heard a lot of, you know, I bought Herbie Hancock. You know, really important record to me. Actually, Herbie Hancock, Mr. Hans, 1980. Huge records.

Whoa. Yeah, huge records. You're trying to bust me now? Right, right, right. So, wait, who was? I mean, I know I say, if John Peel, and I'm using American sports terms, you know, for every Michael Jordan, there's...

Pivot. Oh, yeah, there's definitely 10. 10 or 15 unsung heroes that will never get their props that were just as important or vital to the movement. But, I mean, who was your John Peel when you were coming up? Like, who was the person that truly introduced you to music? Was it a school friend or whatever? Who started your obsession with collecting records?

Yeah. Because you have, like, what's your collection up to now? I don't know. I don't count. You stop counting. It's a lot. It's three houses. Yeah.

Yeah. All three properties. Yeah. Yeah. I keep getting pushed out by my wife. But, yeah, no, for me, it was my friend, Andrew Crossley's sister, 14 years old. I went to his house and she had a copy of Mays live in New Orleans. She had a copy of Bobby Caldwell, What You Won't Do for Love, the album.

I swear when I first heard, Earth, Win and Fire, all in all, I think it was around then that I'd hear Brazilian rhyme and fantasy, all those songs. that blew my mind. I hadn't heard that on the radio in the UK, the most amazing music ever. Mays was big for me. I remember going to see Mays all the time. They used to come to London play at the Hammersmith Ode. Yeah, who would come to, who from the States would come? The bands. When you were, when you were. I'll never forget seeing cameo. Camio, disappointingly, because they were doing their rock thing at the time and I really wanted them to do this sort of slap bass thing at that time. But still, I mean, yeah, they were all coming. A lot of those groups were coming.

And, you know, a lot of the jazz funk bands, you know, people like Lonely List and Smith would come, you know, this sort of slightly offbeat, less, there was a Motown scene for the more traditional stuff. That wasn't really what I was into. I was more into the jazz funk thing. So you weren't into the North. What, can you explain to me Northern Soul? Oh my gosh.

Northern Soul is, okay, well, I mean. It's like all the field. Everything, man. Daylight. Day break. Day break. Yeah, tune-wise. I mean, it's really sort of, um,

the UK was very into Motown and Seoul you know all of that Marvin Gay Smokey Robinson the 60s stuff that was big and that was big and that got playing the road down there were clubs and you know there was there was stuff going on and they come over to the UK the DJ club scene started happening in the 60s and 70s in the north as well as it was in the south but in the north of England they basically had a slightly different taste

and they didn't want to play the obvious Motown records they went and found records that sounded like Motown records, but were hard to find. And that's really what Northern Soul was. And it's a certain tempo. It's quite high tempo. There's some amazing songs. It's basically, you know, it's discogs 40 years ago. You know, they were pulling out the rarest local songs.

They'd just guys who'd come and they'd realize that the music from America was local. You know, so there were the major labels that would release all the big records. but if you went to St. Louis or you went to Dallas and you just went to the local record shops, they'd hear local music where there was maybe a thousand copies ever pressed just for the local market. And that's really what Northern Soul kind of was.

It was about going in. Like Numero Group, for example, labels like that. It's just going in that much deeper. And some of the music, of course, there's so much music. That's the other thing that, just to answer you from earlier on about what drives me. How much music is there? I thought 10 years ago I was like, yeah, I've got most

of it. Even now as you speak, there's stuff that you still... I'm spending so much music on records at the moment. Like old record, not because I'm earning more, but because I'm just... I'm excited.

And there's so many more record shops and really great experts now. You can go anywhere in the world and you'll find a place where there's going to be someone who's going to invite you to their house. Maybe it's not in a shop anymore. Now it's a more bespoke record.

dealer that exists, right? Yeah, where you go to their crib and, yeah, there's a lot of those cats. But they're good, man, because they do all the work for you. I mean, I don't have time. But they see me coming, like, I know they're overcharging me for some shit. No, no, you've got to accept that. It's going to be 25% over for you. But you will get some good stories.

And those guys, for their role as great bespoke records sort of finders, if they're really good at their job, they'll tell you the story. For example, recently there's a guy called Victor Kisswell in Paris. I think you might well have been to his house. I know Victor Kiswell. And he gave me a record the other day. And it was in Russian, right? And it was all in Russian.

And it was from the Ukraine, from the 70s. And it was a Ukrainian big band version of a Felakuti song. What? What? Right. Exactly. And you don't know. Time out.

Okay, go ahead. Right. And he had gone to the point of translating Russian to find out more about the record. Then you realize it was Felakut. and stuff, and then you kind of listen to the track and halfway through this little riff that comes in, and it's Chikara, by Ukrainian big band in the mid-70s.

Wow. That's what we want. Wow. That's what we need. That's what you need. That's your food. That's your food. It is. It is. See, I... Yo, right in this room, that guy used to come up here.

Yeah, he was like a fucking drug deal. He'd send me down. Can you let this dude in the front door? I'd go down there. Amir's going to buy some drugs. He's talking about Gene Brown. Oh, I'm at the Gene. So the dude would come up here and they go back there and whispering,

the guys are showing them all different kinds of weed. You know, he's like showing me, I got these records from here. This one's 25. This one's 30. I'll take it. I'll take it. I'll take it. It's real shady shit, man.

The best deal is they do the records and the drugs. No, to this day, Gene Brown is my professional shopper. See, that, okay, that's the thing. It's like I still feel like you're actively getting your hands dirty. You're using elbow grease to search for the song that you don't got. You still actively dig. Like I almost feel even as I'm asking you about the comparisons between a Westwood and a peel, I almost feel like I have to make myself personally a corporation or a Westwood

so that I can have peel moments. Like, in order for this show to even happen, like, I have to be Questlove. Like, I have to have a corporate day job life that's the total opposite of not what I stand for, but it's just like, you know, 25 years ago, do you think I would be like... On late night?

Yeah, on late night. Yeah, the fact that you went from buskin on the corner to late night. That's pretty fucking amazing. Yeah, I mean... That's my point. Like I feel I almost have to Robin Hood my way to keep culture alive. I mean, if I really had the monetary rolling in, the money rolling into do even bigger things, quote, for the culture, I mean, I would, but it's like slow coming.

But it's like I feel that you still, you know, you'll dig on websites and look up. playlist and like how active are you still i mean it was a point where before boss bill was my ears like he would search for records for me and that's sort because there's not enough hours in the day you know for you you're a drummer so your chops is like you know you're playing you're practicing you're a musician right you're going out there right i'm a dj but i'm 19 other things too so it's that's that's your prime your prime role and and and uh i mean you you You just got to do your thing the way you do. You do such an amazing job of bringing culture to people to a new generation.

I mean, you're the Quincy Jones of this generation. Don't say that. No, but in a way you are because I think that you're the... Oh, man. Because... I think you probably have a comparable roller decks. So many ways. You got to do your back on the block, man.

You got to do that. You're going to do that. You're saying that is super snarky. No, I'm saying. You got to do your back. You call Melly Mellup. With his take time off. No, I, you know, I think at the end of the day,

people listen to you. At the end of the day, I saw what you did in London and said, by any means, which even the Roots Picnic is still an extension of, like, those places that we used to play in, uh, uh, uh, uh, outside. out of London. Brighton. Thank you for saying that. To me, that's the important thing.

Like, I don't know why I think that way either. Like, okay, instead of like living the moment, I'm trying to think of what mark I can leave here when I die. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm 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 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 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 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 Slical Life 12 and TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. I'm John Green.

Me is 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, 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 Auerkone and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So besides DJ, I mean, you developed probably one of the most important dance labels ever, which was Talking Loud. Could you talk about your, like, when did you develop it and what means you want to? Well, I first started off as a pirate DJ and a club DJ from the age of 1718 by doing compilation albums. So my first thing was like the mixtape, but I used to do license tracks and compile them. So the first series I did was jazz juice. In fact, I think I am the world record holder of compilation, official compilations.

Yes, you are. So I always wanted to be close to our playkeeper from a DJ point of view and releases. So I managed to do that. And then I set up a pirate station. I started up my first record label, which was a label called Acid Jazz. And that label was Brand New Heavis, Galliano, Jamiroquay, and all of that stuff. Whoever they are. Yeah.

That was the beginning then. But we got to remember at that time, everyone used to go work. It was like it wasn't, you know, there was no scene. There was no business, really. I mean, there was a scene, but there was no way of monetizing it. And this music was super underground. And, you know, you'd sell a few hundred, a couple of thousand records. So all the artists were basically, you know, going to work during the week.

And, you know, as you were doing the old days of the routes. And so. You see him at JK of Jamaica once had a day job. No, he never had a day job. All the brand new heavies did, you know, and all of Galliano did. and those early groups. And from my point of view, where I was at, being the champion of this new scene going on in the UK,

I knew that I needed to take it to another level, and I couldn't do it independently. So I got an offer from Phonogram Records, which was Polygram, which is now universal, and they said to me, Giles, why don't you do this little thing that you're doing with acid jazz and do it for us? So that's when I sat up talking loud,

because at that time there were no boutique record labels. You know, I didn't have anybody to go, oh, yeah, let's do, you know, what did you do? What kind of deal do you do? So I ended up just being brought in by them as an A&R guy with my own label. And that's why I set up talking out, because I knew that Talking Loud needed to happen to break the bands to be able to break the movement.

So I needed a major label. So that's when I set up Talking Loud. And so at the beginning of Talking Out, it was groups like Incognito and Galliano and Omar and Young Disciples, which is the best record I think we ever put out. I put out anyway, a very underrated soul hip-hop records, which had Master Race on there. It had, I think, Johnny Light.

all the vibes player on it. And then that was that time and that was the sort of period of soul to soul and that kind of London sound happening. But I wanted talking allowed to be more than just a soul, funk, acid jazz label. I wanted it to represent UK club culture and all the elements, directions it was going in,

from the massive attack to what became the drum and bass and all those groups. So people like Four Hero, people like Ronnie Seiz represent, they were natural artists to come through the label, Carl Craig. We did him, who was, of course, the Detroit sound. The best record I think I put out, apart from your EP, was the new Reconsult record with Louis Vagra and Kenny Doe.

And that was a full-on A&R experience because they'd released a little 12-inch called The Nervous Track on Nervous Records, and I was playing that at Bar Rumba my Monday Night session, and they heard about it, and I was a fan of Louis and Kenny. And I said to the guys, I called him up, I said, listen, guys, you know, this is a really big record for me because the house kids weren't playing that record because they were house producers

but they weren't on it because it was a little bit offbeat but it was perfect for people like me so I then said to Louis let's develop this into an album project so that's when the new Reconsohn thing happened and then it just opened up because Louis's got his nephew's his uncle's Hector LeVoe so the whole of Latin music was in it

then Kenny had the connections with Jazzy Jeff and Royez and then we had George Benson on it and then Tito Puente turned up that was the best ever album launch Supper Club New Recon Salpa in New York they were all there Is that where all the pictures from the inside game from Was it the really?

There's a very bad quality video of the day of it which is up online such a shame because it's like they were all The La India, they were all there so that was my official most fantastic kind of experience question. The term, Barumba, you talk about Barumba.

the song by Incognito Barumba Is it about that club? Yes, a combination of a tribute to Luis Esa, who's the Brazilian composer who wrote a song called Barumba. Okay. And Barumbra, because Bluie used to come down every Monday to Barumbar. So I introduced him to the music of the timbre trio for whom Luis Esser wrote.

So that was kind of, yeah, very nice. You know the maddest thing for me? You know the maddest thing for me was when I ran talking ad records, of course, it was a huge. UK and European thing. But I was trying to break this music in the States. So you're talking about FM radio here and stuff. So I had to, the first time I came to America with music in my hand to sell to the A&R guys

of the department at Mercury Records, it was Ed Eckstein and Lisa Cortez who were running at them. And I went in there with my young disciples and my Omar. And they were like, we love this music. This is amazing. We're going to try and, you know, make it for you, make it happen. but it was so hard to get that music on the radio over here. But it was very interesting sort of learning process for me

to kind of see how the industry worked here and working with those people. What was it like for you? Because one of the moments that I saw as kind of a breakout moment for talking loud was when for a hero, two pages, got the lead review and vibe. It was the first review of the...

I don't even know if you remember this, but... Hell yeah, I remember that shit. I mean, if he was... Jiles remember. But yeah, that record got the first, it got the lead review. And I actually went and checked it out on the string for that. And that made me like a lifetime. Me and Mark, we've done, you know, work.

But, man, that was, what was, how did you and Four Hero? Well, Mark and Four Hero was, I mean, remarkable because they are Mark and Digo. They're another kind of super combination like Louis Vega and Kenny Dope and two very different characters and personalities who make magical music based from a community in West London. and they really just developed their sound, which is a combination of kind of stringy, jazzy stuff with, you know, UK underground bass music and drum and bass music.

So to work with them was unique and fantastic. But the break record, the one that really broke talking loud in America, and this is a mad experience for me, was I suddenly got cool that Deep Waters by Incognito, featuring Mesa Leake, was a big record in Detroit. And Blue said, yeah, come over and see us playing in Detroit. And I literally got on a fly, it went to Detroit, and they were playing in a stadium.

and it was a completely black audience. And that's when I started realizing, you know, the power of a city or a few radio stations, how they can break an artist. And thankfully, they broke incognito because they kind of went a bit bigger from there, sold me a million records,

which went back into my coffers, which allowed me to record Four Hero and Ronnie Sise and all the other groups, MJ Cole and people like that. So can you speak about the drum and bass movement because the first

This is the whole British underground history The first night Andorra I still feel like It is yet To find its moment Its true moment

And I feel like Now that Now that tempos Are sort of slowing down At least from Where it was I'll say like the tempo of

2006 to 2013 Was just straight up Boots and Cats like straight 130 so now that stuff is slowing down a little bit

down tempo well still 116 is fast I mean if you're a public enemy that's fastest shit for hip-hop but for dance music it's rather slow but it's slow enough

for drum and bass to really find a lane now and the first night you ever took us to bar rumba speaking of Monday night watching you spend this is like our first

our first week in London and the guy whoever was spending before you his last record was Anita Baker's sweet love

and I was like me and Tarique started looking at like what the fuck so the intro to sweet love comes on right in a bad way in a bad way

I'm like wait why are they playing a slow song at a London nightclub. And when the intro came on, bink, bha, the whole audience started losing his mind, right? And we just looked at each other like,

oh, God, this is going to be our life in London. Because you got to understand, we exiled. Like, we straight up, took our budget, and left. All right, we love y'all. We out. So we're here, and so the first verse comes on, with all my heart, and people are just, like,

preparing, like, some riots about to happen. The second, the chorus came, And it went to double time. And then we just like, we never seen madness moshing like that in our lives. And I just remember I asked you. I was like, what the hell is that? And you're like, it's strumming bass. And, you know, eventually I met Deco and those guys and knew what it was.

But the religious power that music had that I saw that night. and subsequent nights and months and whatever I feel like it really didn't cross over to the world as it should but it's still waiting for its moment

like what do you feel about that whole movement because you signed Ronnie Size and I think that movement was interesting and we won the Mercury Prize with Ronnie Size so the movement is pretty big then and at the time

96 97 and B. I thought the movement had some good leaders. I thought people like Goldie, L.T.J. Bookham, Ronnie Seitz. Any movement needs a Questlove.

It needs somebody who can basically, you know, plant the flag and shout about it. Right? And I thought the drum and bass had a good movement. I think that Broken Beat had a bad, sorry, had a bad leaders. They didn't have leadership. For me, the music was the leader? Was it? It was IG culture.

Yeah, bugs. Was bugs, bad. IG culture and Digo. really were the leaders. And that music form still resonates today. You play broken beats now and they're big to the kids. That's the music I think is going to be coming

through more than drum and bass. Because I think drum and bass is already in, it's in our DNA. It's there and it's just morphing into different things. Or certainly in Europe. It is, but I feel like it should have made it more of an impact in the States. But at that time...

Yeah. But what's with that? Like, why are we slower? I know that Alcass was doing. Why is America slow? That's what I was thinking this whole time. Like, why is America feel like it's so slow? I don't know if we're slow.

I think we're arrogant. That might be it. Are we just too damn picky? I don't think it's picking us. I think it's arrogance. Really? Yeah, it's just outsiders. Because there's something about the way that...

But I feel this generation will pick up. I don't know. I feel like the generation will pick up on it. I think now, yeah, yeah. I think, but previous generations, I think it was a problem because people are just too arrogant. This isn't American music. They don't sound like me.

I think it's the EDM question we're talking about a little bit. Definitely with it. It's the EDM thing as well. It's like, in a way, EDM was a good thing. I mean, I don't like the music particularly, right? But what EDM did is it kind of put dance music into the head of radio programmers,

into the head of people who might want to be produced or remixed by David Getter, major artists. And it slowly was the doorway into a sound that America wasn't used to. and eventually the drips will get you to drum and bass. It's kind of the door. The backwards way.

It's the doorway. Because up until then, dance music and everything that came out of dance music, it was a little bit, you know, it was like, is it gay? Is it, you know, is it right? You know, so you'd have to go to Miami, winter music conference, and that was like where we'd all meet. But it was underground in America, a little bit, in fact, in a way, it's probably 20 or 30 years behind. When I was going to my weekenders, when I was 16, it was almost like going to Miami Winter Music Conference 30 years later. And, you know, yeah, that's probably,

but I think it's getting there. Radio's changing. I think that people are slipping it in and producers are more prepared to cross-reference. I don't know. I mean, like, the new Drake record. You know, there's that song which is kind of the house record. Yeah, are you shocked at how...

I love that. I'm glad he did it because for me, like I didn't think that quote real house the first person I thought about was like King Brit I thought about you know because if anyone he's been trying to hold this tradition up in Philadelphia for so long that it dwindled it a little bit where you know it's falling on deaf ears only certain people would would gravitate towards it and it's almost to the point where like we've now throw Sunday afternoon parties so instead of Thursday nights, you know, from nine until three in the morning.

Now it's like Sunday afternoon in the park at 1 p.m. with you and your kids and your grandkids. And it's, it's, that's the moment. But now that Drake has, has, you know, leaned heavily on the South African house culture and really open the door, do you feel as though that's a good thing or a bad thing? That's a good thing. I mean, there's nothing wrong with any of that, especially that he's got Moody Man on his record.

Yeah. Moody Man. I'm so jealous he put that. I love that. I used to just play that sample alone with the Saps. Which Drake song y'all talking about? Superman is the one he redid. That's a black coffee.

But Moody Man joint is. I come up in the name of that song. Where the guys is talking. It's got the big intro. I'll put this record on again. He's like talking. There's a recording of a guy, Moody Man, who's this. It's a recording of.

him DJ. Yeah, no, I know the Moodyman record. I didn't know the Drake record. Which one he, I didn't. Yeah, it's on the album. I can't remember what it's called on the album. I'll look it up. But it's quite interesting. It's interesting that that's happening. But I think it's in all of it it's just, it's just in, you know, and at the moment, the music that I'm finding really brilliant and I love it as the sort of subculture is all that stuff from Chicago, all the footwork stuff. For me, the 160 BPM stuff is really exciting. And I drop that, wherever I drop that, That's like my biggest music. If I'm sort of, you know, at a festival, the moment I need to kind of bring them all in, I'll play some footwork.

So like another level of Chicago House? Sorry, just asking. Another level of Chicago House? Like juke and stuff like that. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, it's super fast. Okay.

They'll take like the Pac-Man theme. Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-dha. See, that's where it gets confusing because that sounds like Baltimore House. It's Baltimore House on steroids. Yeah. It is. So many genres. Think of like move jump, Jack, your body.

Now, play that on 45. Oh, shoot. But dance to it on 13. It's kids a day. So, Jals, you've seen a lot of historical magic moments in your career. Throwing shows, having people come by to record on your show. half of the show that we did with Farrell at the Roots Picnic last month

was based on the performance that NERD did on the World Wide Show. So that was like, that was inspiration, like taking all of his music and then filtering it. I can't wait. It's awesome. It was amazing. Thank you.

Nice play there, John. So, like, what, what, uh, What was some of the magic moments that you saw? Like some of the firsts? Mate, I mean, talking... Not us at the jazz cafe. No, but talking of Farrell, actually, there was a week, and Winter Music Conference,

there was a week before Winter Music Conference where I got the Duolet demos from DILA, the DILA DEMOS with, yeah, RISE with too high on it, two fly on it and all that stuff. And the same week as that, I got the NERD album, the first one, the one before they went because they re-recorded the digital

version which is always better. Thank you. Shut up. Thank you. Thank you. No. Can I get a br-br-br-br-br-v-r-r? Can I give you gunshots?

Yes, thank you, John-Shide. Yes, thank you, Dow. No. For years. We were arguing that in rehearsal, like, to stick true to the synthetic N-R-D or the live N-R-D. And then I realized,

It was my band, so I got the last say. But why do you feel Neptune's NERD for a set record is... Because that's what it was. It was when they tried to, when they redid it and did it with the live interest, it felt to me like they were trying to make it go to a bigger audience, quote, unquote. But it was never going to be that record. It was always, the Neptune's aesthetic was always... I'm sorry.

Up until that point, it was always just chip sounds. The digital version just sounds anemic after hearing the live version. But that's how all their stuff sounded, though. But that was part of the draw. I think the songs benefit better from the live arrangements. I don't think the song. I think the songs, the songs were like kind of not cheesy songs, but they were like cheap and plastic like the production.

Like brain, I mean, do I really need to call in a fucking band to sing about getting some head? Like, nigga, really? Martin G. I mean, he had no choice. No, I, okay, so Fonte, I give Fonte's point that I feel like the wonder that is Feral, is sort of like when you're singing in the bathroom mirror with a brush it's it's cheap plastic sounding music that's made legit

yeah because it's about the emotion behind it and it nails the performance you know what I mean so it makes you feel inclusive because it's like oh I can do this too it's not like super intellectual but then it's intellectual I'm like I can do this too y'all make it sound so easy it's Ferrell but what is Ferrell singing I have to do with the instrumentation I mean just in terms of the songs I mean just the songs when I sent just

his lyrics also his lyrics also compliment his musical level of music snobbery is on an all-time high I like the disparity though the the juxtapidition of the opposites the juvenile lyrics and Lai just think Farrell's cute

and let's just go with that we go down rabbit hall I'm a fan of the music I just don't have those words and I just say again that the album was dope and I don't need a lot of you Wouldn't know why it works and why it doesn't work? It worked for me as a listener, though. What worked about it for you?

What was it about the record? Talk about... About run to the sun? What about brain? Talk about the song. What is it in the song? Truth of there, like that, man. I was moved.

Like, for me, I'm a listener, so I'm not a musician, so I won't go. You know, the strings weren't right here. He was flat here. It's more about I was moved. Like, run to the sun was something I never... That whole album was something I never heard before. Yeah, and then once you realize this about his grandma and everybody, us has a moment of, yeah, like, it's different.

You spoke to you on that level. I'm a listener. I don't make it. I listen to it, and I get more. I don't make it either. I think you analyze stuff too, like, yeah. Don't try to act like you're just the common. The common.

You've been, if anyone, of all of us, you've been on commercial radio more than anything. You're the system. Right. I am. I have you here because you're the system. Like, you're not the listener on, you were the radio. Right.

And I was the one that was saying, and it's funny, that's why I was speaking about the differences between excepting music in Europe and in in in here is we had to tell people to listen to NERD we couldn't play it so I had to constantly be like this is the shit y'all need to listen to you have to tell your program department people like no I told my listeners oh like like you guys weren't playing the records you were just but you were still telling them to go check it out of yeah yeah yeah NERD yeah that stuff didn't get no no play like that I mean there was some commercial records that we had to say like why aren't you we playing video india ira dance was getting played on uh on bt and cut

Yes, it was. That was about it. I forgot about that. That was it. And all the girls, well, that's a whole other album. Standing in the line for the bathroom. Oh, that was there.

So anyway, Giles Peters. Hey, Giles. Thank you. We're co-signing me on the electronic nerd album. We will have to agree to this is a really validated. I feel like, I feel like people that co-signed the first NERD record are also the same people that say like, well, I like off the wall better than Thriller.

Because you're supposed to. No. I mean, I'm not with you there. I like off the wall better than Thriller, but not for that reason. Jiles off the wall. Yeah. Hines down. Yeah, especially as you get older, too.

Always. Thriller had Thriller had. Thriller was more consistent because I still don't listen. You don't see it as equally as great? Well, because I don't listen to, I skip, she's out of my life, and I skip, it's the falling in love. And on Thriller, I don't skip. And I don't skip girlfriend. I skip girlfriend.

I skip beat it every time I play Thriller. Like, half a Thriller I can't listen to because Thriller is not a record. It's not a record The thrill is a social event It's not an album 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 Conversation 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 Clivert 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 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 player. 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 Podcasts 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 Fultonar Stars, and now I guess also is the co-host of the away end, a brand new world soccer podcast. I'm Daniel Alarcon, 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 that. I love the star player. 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 Alarcon and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So anyway, Jowell. Besides to L.A., what else? Wait, did I just

knew y'all in a rabbit hones that are the way around? The sixth is truly Well done. Wow. We are. Great moments. One of the early great moments that I remember very clearly right now was a weekend that I organized. And I remember we put on Tribe Call Quest in the UK first show ever.

And it was in one of those holiday resorts in the middle of nowhere again because they were we could hire these places for cheap. And it was Tribe Call Quest, Pharaoh Sanders on the same bill. Brand new heavies Galliano Jamiroquai So it was like the acid jazz meets American hip hop

meets the sort of spiritual jazz godfathers So that was that was a big one That's an amazing show I remember that very well That was a great night Yeah it was good night See?

America would never get that You see what I'm saying? Okay can I say now Are your listeners Still your listeners from 20 years before Or do you have a generation of listeners that are open to new music because I'll say the one thing

that I find kind of impenetrable in DJ now as opposed to back then is the boldness of playing the unknown without repercussions

it's like I borderline have to trick them to listening to something dope because I had to disguise it with you know three songs that they know.

Then I'm going to hit you with, you know, the shit that I like. And then right before the dance work clears, you know, it's like a system that you have to have. Do you find it harder now facing audiences of unknown music than before? I need more time. So if people book me now, I say five, six hours, you need me to play that long because the problem is... So you redeem yourself in case it... Well, that's the generations I've got. You know, I've got the people who come and listen to me and they're like, oh, I really.

really like that record you made in Cuba, or I love the Brazilian stuff you do, or I love that kind of new bass music you're playing from South London. So at the end of the day, all these different people are coming for different bits of me. So I need to say, look, I'll do the whole thing, the full journey, but I need five to six hours on a great sound system. That's why I love playing at output or places like, you know, like that way you can, but it's more work, but that's the only way I can kind of give them. I feel better at the end of the night. There's nothing was you are literally the only person I know besides myself I love marathon gigs

love them you're the only person like next week I'm gonna do an eight hour gig it's and promoters are always scratch head scratching because most DJs how that's the normal no I said wow that's long oh no that's normal I mean you think I get long winded answers

you see my DJ sets I used to I used to be up doing those Show you all the line that one Those 10 to 4 a.m. gigs were my favorite Yeah, I'm just saying that It's not you've got to have

I mean the thing is on When I played an output the other day in Brooklyn I played the full 16 minute version At peak time Of I thought it was you By Hopiiiiiog The Directors Japanese version

Yeah yeah right That one right Which is the best version Of I thought it was you All 16 minutes I think is 16 and a half minutes long But if I hadn't been playing for five hours, that would have been a quarter of my one hour set, you know.

So the fact, but to be able to play that and for people to, because then people get, because at the beginning of people are looking at you, especially when you come to America for me, they come and they're looking at you going, give me a show. I'm like, no, I'm a DJ, right? Dance and let me get into my zone because I'm not a performer in that way. Yeah, I want to ask about that. Like, because every time, like, when I go out, I see people like now DJ culture is,

they watch, they don't dance to it. And it's like, you're, you're, doing it wrong. Like how have you adapt it to that? Like how does the audience adapt to you being a pure DJ in that way? Well you just have to keep doing it. I think that and you've got to accept that you know there'll be people taking five to cross with you

and that even though they're not dancing they are into it because I think initially I was like oh no they don't like it but they haven't left. That's when you came here right? You hadn't experienced that. A little bit of that I mean the first time I ever went to Japan I remember thinking my gosh Japan is like that yeah

there's no emotion it's no yeah you think you're bombing but after the show they love it yeah they give you an uncle but it's kind of it's that's a weird thing but um no i think it's it's i think people are getting down i think people are beginning to understand the etiquette of going out to hear a DJ now I think a few years ago it was like there was especially in the States because there was like unless you were going to the proper real clubs um and you're going to like a festival I remember playing at Coachella and uh six years ago and I was like am I really is this terrible you know but it was just the way because there was no, you know, there was no festival culture for DJs like me. You know, there was festival culture for techno DJs like, you know, cult. But for people like me who went through it, it was a little bit odd, but it's getting there.

Karen P sends her love, by the way. Love her. She said, what's up? Do you want me to ask you about the time you came to Philly and went to James Poezer's dad's church? Oh, wow. Yeah, that's right.

That's right, yeah. Why? Yes. Thank you, me. Jordan's question. It was what we live in Philly, Doc, right? Yeah.

Oh, God. I have to say, the first person I really fell in love with, apart from Erica Badu whilst interviewing her, was, and I probably, in fact, more so than Erica, was Jill Scott. Yeah.

I remember interviewing her when she just released her first record, who is Jill Scott, and I was so in, like, when I met her, I just absolutely fell apart and really, really, really liked her a lot. And obviously, that's all that was. but it made me want to come to Philly. Can we call her?

We have it called Jill Scott on the phone. We always call Jill to Scott. It's actually a segment on the show. She's very much in all kinds of ways, even when she's not trying. You never fell in love with James Poyser, though, right? I thought that where he was going. That's so funny. Why I was waiting for the James snart?

Hey, Jill's on the phone. Yep. It's Amir Thompson. I know. Yes. Hot-low. She got called on. And about, uh.

Seven other four. You remember I used to always call you during my radio show when someone mentions your name? Yes. Okay, so I have Jalz Peterson here, and he just wanted to let you know that you're really, really cool. Hi, baby. How you did? How are you doing? We're kind of janky with the communication here, so.

He's right now. I know you're not going to hug Jiles for me, but try. I will hug Jiles just for you. No, I'll hug Jowles. Yeah. Yeah, I'll get you be the process. Yeah, yeah. I got half it with Jill got it.

Hey, boo. Are you in Atlanta right now? I am. How do you know everything? I know everything you do, Jill, Scott. How do you know everything? It's weird. He's got JPS.

Jill Scott's positioning. Jill positioning Scott. I ask about you often, Jill. I ask about you often, Jill. Oh, you can always just call me, sucker. Oh, damn. Anyway, Joe, thank you very much. I will talk to you.

Next time someone mentions your name on the radio, so thank you. Love you, babe. Bye. Bye. So I had a question about celebrity DJs. Is that a thing in Europe as much as it is here? Well, it is a thing because DJ culture is just so normalized now in a way. So you're going to get that side of it.

But on the other hand, you're still going to get... You know, the funny thing is, in the UK at the moment, if you were like a celebrity DJ and you were to, I mean, you'll probably, you know, play to big audiences and stuff, but people like Fortette,

who's a sort of left field techno DJ, they're the guys who are getting the biggest numbers and the biggest audiences. It's not the kind of celebrity DJs in that sense, or maybe that is happening, but the left field, more progressive underground, that's what the kids are really looking for.

I don't know if that's answering the question. So no one from like, take that or Robbie Like we've got Idriselba Like you're not DJing And stuff like that

Doing That's not DJing He is Yeah That was like a couple years Yeah That was like a couple years ago Idriselba

He opened Oh yeah I forgot I used to do a few gigs with him But That's not DJing He doesn't hear

In the state to what It's a bit like I don't know It's like I mean I think Woody Allen takes his music seriously

But I see it as like It's like You know They're like Amateur musicians You know But they're not The real thing

I mean a real DJ, and I really believe in DJ culture and the art of DJing and the heritage of DJing. You know, thank you, sort of David Mancuzo and all the guys who set it up for us. But there's an art to it. And that celebrity scene is just

a little bit of, you know, bubble gum somewhere. But there's a word that I'm looking for. I think it might be integrity. Okay. That's what you guys have. We don't have no more in the United States.

from the White House on death it's different like the fact that you would still what you said was correct but because I'm immersed and living in this new alternative reality that we're in right now where you're competing with like the Paris Hilton's

and yeah where you know I've there's a few DJ gigs where I mean I I have an agent that has a few actors or whoever and their money is like crazy it's like 300,000 like and I'm just mind blown but that's just for the name I mean you're just like that's just how it is yeah I mean you either accept it or you fight it and I guess maybe in my older age I'm not

trying to fight it like there's other fights I can have out there besides why is this DJ giving $400,000 and not me You know, that sort of thing. Wow. Yeah, DJ culture is becoming... I'm into that celebrity DJ thing. How do I do it? No, well, see, if you were to move to the States, here's the funny thing.

What's weird about American culture is that we are so obsessed with getting in the king's throne, like with hip-hop, with DJing, with anything. Like, everyone wants to be the top person, and they're fighting for it. No other scraps will do that there's a whole middle level that's absolutely empty. It's not being served, yeah. And thus, I've made a home in the middle level. Like, I would never want to fight for Jayce's throne or Drake's throne or, I mean, in the DJ world right now. Pretty lights makes the most.

Calvin Harris, who, shockingly, in my conversations with him, is almost like talking to you, like he, thinks like you and aesthetically has you and probably Fonte and Bill's education and knowledge of music, but he knows where his bread and butter comes from. Right. So it's like everyone's fighting for that position. So they'll scoff at, like a cat like Diplo would laugh at $150,000, you know, Christmas party carper DJ gig for Viacom. They would laugh at that shit because they're now playing Madison Square Garden for $2, $3 million.

Jesus. So it's like there's a middle ground that, you know, underground is like you're fighting with everyone else to get underground gigs. But if you managed to make a name, like a person like you could come to the States right now and do these middle ground gigs and chiching, like that's where it is. And I absolutely just gave me answer. K, will you get W? Everyone. Give it out the secret. Everyone unheard what I just said to you.

Man. So what, not like, what's the future for Dallas Peterson? Like, is this to you? Is this a good end game for you? Is this what you always want it? Yeah, this is the best. I'm having the best fun of my life. I really am.

I've been DJing for 30 years. I travel around the world. I'm still passionate about music. I connect with people. I communicate through the music. I mentor artists. I bring it through. I don't think it's a better game, really.

There's more. There isn't, you know, I mean, I keep saying I'm going to give up DJing. I was going to give up at 40. It didn't happen, you know. And I'm actually, I'm actually. What made you want to give it up? Well, I just thought it was a bad DJ. Have you ever had a bad DJ?

Yeah, loads. But the thing is, you have to have your bad gigs to enjoy the good ones, obviously. But the thing is with, I thought 40 was. too old to be a DJ. You know, when I was 30, I thought, yeah, old DJ, yeah. But actually, no, I mean, the funny thing is, I'm better.

I'm the best I've ever been. So I want people to hear me being good. Do you have more experience? It took me 30 years to be able to mix two house records together. So, you know, yeah, I want to enjoy it. What's your Brownswood Bubblers comps that you do? How much of those, do you actually handpick all those songs? Yeah.

Oh, that's still you going through all that stuff? Yeah, yeah. Because, I mean, in a way, the radio show that I do every week on the BBC and I do a digital radio station called World FM, but the BBC show that I do is just three hours every week. That's like my homework. So every week, that's my Euvre d'Arre. That's like my painting.

So that is the buildup of listening to 500 songs that week and building a show. So that's, I have to listen to all that music. Yeah, I was glad to see you use Good Night by Philip Oosoo on that. Incredible track. I'm still waiting for that album to drop. It never came out? Nope.

Oh, damn. How long has it been? That's three, four years. Easy. What is the process of you auditioning songs that you feel are worthy to be on your radio show? What is it about a song? I know you have to take in a lot of music and a lot of blogs and a lot of recommendations. So just personally, you're not overloaded.

Like, I'm personally overloaded and not quite numb yet, but it's a process. Like, I choose Sundays as the days to keep a certain station on, you know, listen five to six hours, and then Shazam what I like, mark down what I like. And then maybe I'll have 17 songs I've never heard of now in my vocabulary. but what's their process for you? I mean, I never force myself to listen to music, so I just come to it. If there's a week that I'm not in the mood to feel like I need to do

all this research for A&R reasons, for record company reasons, I just go through my old records, and I'll put on a classic record to remind me, and maybe on the radio I'll just play a lot of old music, for example, right? If ever I get to the point where I'm a little bit sort of just like not really inspired, But to be honest with you, with the amount of music that I listen to, whether it's the sort of new DJ music, whether it's sort of hip-hop, I mean, there's a new track, that buddy track, you know, I mean, all the stuff that's been coming out of LA has been incredible, right? I mean, you know, from sort of all that Kendrick Lamar and Beyond stuff, all the stuff that Flying Lotus is responsible for Thundercat.

I mean, my God, there's just so much good stuff. and for example when I played I don't know like when Take the Box was since to me I mean take the box by Amy Winehouse it's a good example of a tune that my friend was trying to sign it Max Lusada Atlantic Warner's at the time before it went to Ireland and he just sent me

the demo he said what do you think of this Charles and I was like immediately take the box and I started playing it as a demo on the radio then because it just had those little things just like when you're talking about NERD run to the sun you hear that and it's just an immediate tune, right? Or Good Night by Philippa Rusu, these songs. And that's what I'm searching for.

But I'm also searching for raw dance music that I've never heard before, the way they've arranged the bass in this. You can tell because it's a bit like we're chefs. You know, we're tasting those ingredients all the time. So when there's a certain type of onion that comes in, it's got the right edge, we know it. We've got, you know, I'm rubbish at wine, I'm rub it,

I've got a terrible palate. But when it comes to music, Me too. But when it comes to music, I'm not even very good at music, but because I've just constantly listened to it, I've got a good memory of music. So when something fresh does come,

I know it's new. I can feel it quicker than others, I think. Well, what I mean is that I feel like there's an expectation for you to always have that shit I never heard before or this version of that song I never heard. heard before or that sort of thing. So I know that you have to put

a lot of research. Like what keeps you from repetition? Like, okay, your go-to. Okay, I'm always going to play Love Will Bringing This Back Together by Roy Ayers. Like, what keeps you from saying stuck in those same 50

songs that you know work like gangbusters every time? And what, like, you're still going to have to discover tomorrow's music first before the next younger guy gets to it. So that's what I meant like as far as your research process. Like what do you do? Good network. Great people who know what I like. Lots of exchanges. I'm over all of the music from the new electronic stuff to the hip hop to the jazz to the old stuff to some new soul that might be coming out to the rock and the alternative. There's some great music coming out of

that area as well as we all know. And I'm just listening to all of it and within all of that music. I mean, a lot of it. Obviously, there's millions of songs being made every week, but amongst my network of friends who we know each other's taste, we're coming from different parts of the world, we are able to satisfy each other with music, and then I take that onto the radio.

And to be honest with you, I don't even think about it that much. I've never really felt like... I was thinking the other day, I didn't listen to the whole Salon's record, things like that. Those sort of things that bother me a little bit. So I was like, oh yeah, I just went through it and something else happened the week after

and I like, you know, yeah, yeah, but I listened to it this week. Then it hit you later. Yeah, and I was like, I need to listen to that record because there's a different way of listening because I listen to music as in a curative way and sometimes I want to listen to music in an entertainment for myself way, emotional way.

So sometimes I make sure that I just hide myself at home and put a record on from the beginning to the end. Very important to find the time for that. I put a good sound system specifically for that. Is it a McIntosh? No. Oh, okay.

No. But, you know, I bought a vintage thing and all the stuff and it just makes music sounds remarkable about as it should be. So, I don't know. I don't overthink it, you know, just enjoy it. You never get overwhelmed by the abundance of music on the daily. Never. Even in my record room, like, I'm pretty sure I only listen to 10% of it.

That's for your retirement. I mean, my record collection, that's the way I look at it, is this, that's for when I'm retiring. You know most people, I feel like most people who listen and feel like y'all have listened to every single record in your record collection. Because Amir, I would have guessed that your record room, you've listened to all those records. No, the thing is, is that I've absorbed it. So, it's a thing of, it's a thing of, you know, I'll skim through it. And because I'm in hip-hop, it's about samples more than anything. So, I mean, there's two ways to listen to their records. You either, you go record digging and then you cue records and then, you know, it doesn't hit you.

You put it away. But I'm going to sit and actually listen to it. That's what I do on Sundays. I don't skim through it. I listen to it. So seriously, that's 10% in your record room right now are those records that you had a chance to listen to. I mean, it's physically impossible. And that's just my record room.

I have. Hard drives and. I mean, right. I just had to buy. I had to acquire a new spot. I'm trying to say it so I don't sound like a daddy. I'm not going to, you know, I'm a rich judgeer. I'm a judgeer, but I ain't going to judge you for your next statement.

I ain't going to do it. No, well, okay, would you like me to take care of the things that I acquire? I do. I would like that. Okay, well, then there's about maybe 100,000 other records that could get damaged in the current state that they're in in my storage unit. So I had to purchase a building with cool with the right air

and all that stuff You had to Like the thing is that Bizmarker's you know Businesses Is that a New York or Philly Because I need a temporary storage spot Wait

I'm gonna tell you what I did I'm gonna tell you what I did I had to let go of two houses Because again I'm a sentimental pat rat And you know In my mind I'm thinking I'm going to give these clothes to, you know, to the Smithsonian Museum to Timothy N or something.

You know, like maybe, I saw my you got me clothes in case, you know. From the video. Yeah. It was a black t-shirt, wasn't it? Yeah. But is it goals? It's like you want to get back down to that size. I want to get back.

Is that what it was? I was up, man. I was like 400 plus back in. Oh, yeah. You got me. Yeah. Stop playing. I'd never want to go back there.

Jesus Christ, you scared the shit out. No, I'm just saying that I purposely silently judging. There's a picture in the studio. We won't even say it. That was the fastest reaction to that shit ever. Whoa, that's crazy. Look, there's some things that happen on this show. Put it away, Bill.

We're in a mere studio, you guys. It's personal studio. There are things in here. There's things in here. There's personal... That are triggering. Yeah. Not only records.

Records and other stuff, too. I'm just saying that... Can I have this A-track? Steve used to sleep on the floor here. Yes, it's yours, Steve. You can have my CTI A-TRAC. It's actually part of a two-pack with another Freddie Hubbard A-track.

Yeah, go ahead. Take all the CDI A-T-T-Rex. Soon you be here on the microphone, Steve. Steve is like going through my records right now. Wait, so, Giles, do you have homes for your albums as well? He said. He said that. Oh, do, can people, are y'all really saying, like, can a person live in this place with your records?

No. Is it just? It's just for story. Here's the deal. Okay. This is a weird kind of name drop tacky thing I'm about to do, but I'm, you know, always got to preface the tacky shit. Yes. Okay, so.

Yeah, wait, can I have this diodado record? John Tropia. John Tropia. Come on, man. Okay, initially when I first moved to New York, there was a chance that I was going to acquire, or at least couch crash, the Destiny's Child apartment that Beyonce had,

I guess that was their crash spot whenever they were in New York. I didn't have a house yet. Where? The one by Bloomingdale's? They have a lot of property. Or the one by a Holland town. Oh, Lord, y'all. There's a lot of their property.

One of them. Wait, why do you know why? I asked the question. Just feels poorer and poorer. Thank you, my. Why do I know this? I used to work in the Nolz Empire. That's right.

You did. Music world. What? Damn, I'm interviewing you next week on. Anyway, my point was that she was trying to make the decision on whether or not she was going to let me have the spot or not because she hasn't been in that apartment.

and forever. But she realized that a lot of her clothes were getting damaged in the storage units that they had. So she decided that it's probably better off instead of month after month after month for storage unit to just buy a house and put your stuff in there and care for it there. So I can live there though. The Destiny Child apartment now houses all of Beyonce's shoes that she's ever had and doesn't wear any while. Wow. Wow. Damn. Anyway, yeah, so there's houses.

So the spot that I have in Philly, I made sure it was outside of Philly, sort of, and that's where my records. And I also have, like, 61 drum sets. Jesus. It's like a battle. Jal's Amir said he has 100,000 records. What you got?

Oh, he has way more than that shit. I don't think I've got that many of the next. You and Claude of, of, uh, Claude from a Montereo Jazz Festival. Claude Knobes? Yeah, you guys have the largest. Where does Craig Coleman fit in that? 100,000 is a lot, though.

Craig doesn't count. That's a lot. Are you counting 45s in that? That is a record, isn't it? Yeah, I don't even count my 45s. I have a lot now, but... Do you go to... 100,000 physical pieces of...

I have 100,000 physical pieces of vinyl. Probably have maybe 120 now. Okay. But, I mean, as far as the 40s... Like right now, there's a lot of people down south that don't know that 45 culture is coming back. So what I'm running into is there's a lot of widows of, say, like, one-stop shop, Jew boxes. Jukeboxes used to be a thing in those liquor houses and everything. So once people stop using jukeboxes in their nightclubs and their bars or whatever, especially down south, they had to go somewhere.

So you have a lot of widows or a lot of daughters that have inherited stuff. I don't know what to do with this stuff, all these records. And so that's where Gene Brown comes in. And he'll just say, all right, I got a collection of 40,000-45s. You want them? Okay, I'll take them. And then I take them and then don't listen to them. Right now in that room, I have Levi Stubbs' record collections.

And in it is a lot of white. label, Motown stuff that will never see the light of day. Like, just so there's a lot that I haven't listened to. So yes, to get back to the beginning, 10%.

Someone's going to, all right, Eli is judging me, but let me just tell you. That when you get in my field of business, you've got to get into something. No, I understand. So I'd rather this than cocaine. I'm about to say, yeah. Wow. No, for real. You're going to get into something. Or bitches, you know what I'm saying?

Yeah, you're going to get into something. You're going to inject it, listen to it, sniff it, taste it. Or it's going to kill you. You got to get into something. You have more physical records in your collection than I sold a peninsula show. 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 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 what you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart 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 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 Slica 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 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, 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 Auerkone and John Green

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We're getting ahead of our tradition First of all, let's think Jiles Peter for this. Yes. Thank you, Jiles. It's an honor. So before we end, Bill, unpaid Bill.

Yeah. What did you learn today, man? Man, tastemakers. I like the idea of people being tastemakers. I think he's right. I think you're a tastemaker, and I like the idea of people listen to you. I struck off titles, man. I know you don't like titles, you don't like people talking about you. Complementing you. You're not good at that.

That's fine. This is all therapy here. I hate compliments, too. Dig it. I just like the fact that the idea that people listen, and I think that you have the platform to do that. Yeah, you are. Open up people's minds that wouldn't necessarily listen to this kind of music. In music, I'm a taste maker.

In Trader Joe's, I'm going to taste test. Steve, besides my records you just stole, what else did you learn today? I want to see Giles' record collection go through the jazz section. He's going to steal all your CTI records. Take care of your stuff like, unlike others. You were the person supposed to take care of this shit. He said I've been here in a year.

More than that. Like nine years. Yeah, shit. I haven't been in this. I probably only been in this room maybe nine times in the last seven years. Anyway. Can I have a job, Charles Peters? No, yeah.

Sounds like you got a nice collection, I would assume. But I also think thriller is better than off the wall. Oh, God. Well, it's not a fair question. Off the wall's better, but Thriller is the greatest album. It's not an album to me. Well, it's an album to me. It was an album to epic record.

It was nice to meet you, though. Really? Man, yeah, it's good to finally meet jobs. We did just show Little Brother in Four and Exchange. We did just show like, God, this is 0, 5, 6, something. But I think you weren't there. I think you were out sick or something. Something happened.

I can't remember, but we taped it anyway. You did it with Benji or? No, no, it was. Oh, you just taped your portion? We just taped a live. It was just a live in session joint that we did. But no, man, it's good to finally reconnect, to meet you finally in person and just, you know,

to say thanks for the music that you've brought forth and just continuing to shine a light on those cats that are coming up. You know, we were certainly one of the groups that benefited from, you know, showing us love and everything. And, yeah, just thank you for all you've done, man. Bill, what did you learn today, man? Pirate radio stuff was quite interesting I've always been very intrigued

by that whole concept Like one of my favorite movies as a kid was Chris Lageriegel called Pop Up the Volume It was basically about a kid that had a pirate radio station in his basement So Captain Phillips is good too Check out that movie So

It was good to learn about You know good to get some of some good insight On the whole pirate I also had a question that wanted to ask I just had to Go ahead As someone who's been like a lifelong long fan of music. In recent years

I've had a very hard time staying passionate about new music. How are you able to do it? Well, I think probably because it's my role to get people, I don't know, I think the fact that I'm sort of

on a mission probably more so than you are. You have more of an audience, yeah, certainly. I get a lot of pleasure out of seeing out of seeing small acorns grow and seeing the journey of the artists

from receiving a cassette tape by Jose James of him doing versions of John Coltrane songs to him sign into Blue Note. Those things give me a lot of pleasure and there's enough music for me to be passionate about. I've never felt more passionate about music.

Of all sides, all countries. It's never been more worldwide. There's less... No, it's true. There's never been, there were less... Have there been any movements that you've just kind of been very unsure about that they took off anyway? And you just kind of had to play catch-up? EDM?

No, no, not necessarily... No, boy. So you're a better man than I am, all right? We knew that going in. Oh, shut up. Steve. You know what I learned today? I learned that Grove Washington, Jr. comes from Philadelphia. Yeah.

He does. He's right here. Yes, he does. Yes, he does. That was so loaded. That was an awesome. Meta joke. Wow. Wow.

Who told him to do that? Who told him to do that? I'm taking this hole, by the way. He looks like Grover Washington, Jr. No, I don't. I don't. I don't look like Grover Washington Jr. Okay. Just his album covers, but not him.

And Wyatt C.Net. Can you play Hydra? Can you play Hydra from that, from the album? Yes, we will. We will play it on the show. Let's play high time. What did you learn today? Oh, I learned a lot.

I want to thank you first because when I was sitting at my desk at RICO desk for eight hours and going to my commercial radio job, hip-hop and R&B, I used you to learn my new music because I didn't want my brain to be clouded by what I was about to do. So I want to thank you for that. And I just learned your journey and I've always been a big fan. And I think much like Bill, sometimes you fight with America. I just think America's different in their acceptance of music, especially your soul music. So I'm just going to open my mind

and diving into some more Jowles Peterson because there's always some to find. You know one of the thing that I love about America because I love about playing here, when people go out in America, they make the most of it. They make the most of it. And I feel that sometimes in Europe,

people are a little bit spoiled and they're a little bit here. Really? I do when they go out. I honestly feel when you come out, it's like Japan, people go out. If they've paid their,

their money to go into that club, they're going to have a good time. In Europe, they might be hating quicker. Really? I think so. It's like Philly. Really? Yeah, Philly town, because they're used to so much dope town. Well, I just thought you guys were polite. So when they weren't clapping, they weren't satisfied.

Damn, we got to change our show. When they weren't clapping. No, we're actually coming back. You'll be happy to hear this, Giles. I can't wait. Initially, there was supposed to be a tribe roots summer tour. Believe it or not, we want to play the O2 Arena. We had four O2 Arena dates set up.

But tribe is tribe. Anyway, so what was this? This was like this? It was going to be the summer of 2017. Wow. We had three weeks with a tribe doing stadiums. But for the, since we booked a lot of other stuff with the Usher project that we're doing, we decided to, instead of taking days off in London, we are going to go back to the Jazz Cafe.

Oh, dear. A very small spot. Yeah, it's going to be a nightmare. That's about as big as this room. I'm about to ask you how big that was. It's like 300, I mean, 3, 400. If that. And I'm going to DJ.

Like, I, we just. We just want to go back to the scene of the crime. You're going to go back to South Street? I was going to say you should do that too. There's plans for that too. That would be fucking bad. Anyway, so, Giles, before, now, we normally don't ask the guests what did they learn from themselves today?

Besides Grover Washington being in our... But there is a game I want to play. Oh, no. No, no, we're not playing that game. Oh, okay, okay. Damn, we should have played that game. We should have played that game. But what I want to know is,

if you were in solitary confinement, I don't know what crime that you would commit that would actually have you put away in a room. Pirate radio. Okay, yeah. Let's say you finally, you get a judge over there. Well, you guys are Brexit anyway, so anything can happen over there.

So if you're in solitary confinement, realistically, let's say three years. So that means no outside world for 900 plus days. Yeah. But you are allowed. five albums to keep you sane. So this isn't for the rest of your life, just for three years. This is like the black version of Desert Island discs,

you're in solitary confinement. Yeah, because all we know is jail, right? We, like, what's the best thing you've ever said? We wind up in an exotic island. Yeah, that's not. Sorry, go ahead. We in jail. Anyway, so solitary, no less.

What are those five records? Well, if I'm going to be. there for that long. I think, I have thought about this sort of question before and I've had thought that I don't know if I could handle vocals. So one of the beautiful things about jazz and instrumental music is that you can kind of go different places within it. So I think that to hear Al Green or Smokey Robinson, it would, it was all Stevie Wonder even. Over and over and over. I don't think I could, I think, you know, crazy. Yeah, I think that I'd go crazy. So I'd go probably more avant-garde, because that's where I think free jazz and sort of improv music will make the

most sense because it'll always sound different. It's more to discover. You'll find something different within it at most times. Interesting. You're my guy, man. Right. I would, see, I wouldn't choose my favorite records because it would drive you crazy after you'd be your 12. You'd be your favorite.

After the three years was up, every time you would listen to it, you would automatically be taken right back to that. Yeah, you would think of it. So you would choose She still didn't, maybe. So what are those five records? Well, I'd probably go for the history of Sunrah. Can it be one record?

Can it be his? It can't be a greatest hits. It can't be a greatest hits. Okay. I mean, I'd probably go for a... Well, if there was one vocal record, I'd go with Terry Callier's What Color Is Love album.

With Charles Stetney Strings. That's a great record. I'd definitely get tired of that. I'd go for some... Which Coltrane? I mean, maybe a love supreme. Maybe that will drive me mad. It probably will actually, because I've heard that too many times already.

Wow, that's hard, man. Do one each. So I've done Terry and then you do one. Wow. Yeah, because that's not fair. So we all get one. All right. Mine would be.

No, one each, so we do five, but you do one, I do one. We all. If I were to choose a cold stream record. Actually, I would have chose Faris Sanders Train of Thought record One of my favorite Diller records are

On there Which is escaping me right now But there's a Farisanders' Training A Thought record I like My favorite Cold Train that I'd never tire of ever is Coltrane plays the blues, which is actually one of his more normal

straight-ahead records. And have to complete it. See, Miles's Nefertiti record, to him, that was his middle finger record to the label brass and him not taking solos on it, just repeating the same line over and over again. But I don't know.

It's just the most hilarious comical jazz record ever. Even though it's absolutely a work of art, but just the fact that he's that mad to repeat the same line over and over and over and over again for without soloing. I think that's a stroke of genius. So I'd add three of those records. Anyway.

So. You lost the game because y'all said he'd do one, you do one. But I wasn't going to tell you. But it's fine. You're supposed to go back and forth. You're going to be ping pong. It's qualified. But it's cool.

Well, you did three. You did three. One for you. One for you. All right, so we're already fighting in solidation. One, two, for me. I chose three and left you with one more. Pick the final record, Jalz.

Let's give it to, I want to go with something new. I think let's just give it to Kamasi. And this is the epic. That's three. That's three out of records. That's a good one. I haven't yet listened to it from beginning to end, so I've got time to do that.

As much as I love it. It's epic. It's epic. It is epic. One last question. Yes. As a man who owns a shit ton of records, what's your Holy Grail that you haven't been able to find? That I haven't been able to find.

Actually, well, it's little obscure ones. I got this record on eBay last week. Actually, I don't do eBay very much, but someone said to me there's this record I'm looking for. I think it's from Kansas. And it's a seven-inch by a group called Kalima. And it's basically a record that sounds... K-U-L-M-A-M-A-L-M-A. And there was a group called K-L-L-I-M-M-A.

and there was a group called Kalima in Manchester, but this is the different one. And this song, I heard a DJ called Motor City Drum Ensemble play on a mixtape a couple of years ago, and it sounds like the ultimate Royez ballad that Royers never wrote at his peak time of when he was working with people like Ethel Beatty and D.D. Bridgewater, that kind of, yeah, searching type of period.

And it's by Google Kalima. And I put a bid in for it, and I've never gone more than 200 quits, £200 a sterling And unfortunately it went for like $1,500 last minute

Some bloke found I don't know It just really annoyed me Because no one knows this record But they must So 200's the most you've ever paid for a record No I've paid 2,000 records For pounds for a record

For Brazilian records by Jose Prattis called Tam Tam Tam which is a It's the basis to Georges Ben's Mashkanada record that we all know and love and everyone thought that Georges Ben wrote it back. Jose Pretti's wrote it.

But Georgia Ben got the benefit. Damn. I have a question. Sorry to be so boring. No. I sound boring. Right? No, no.

No, you don't know. Just right second. Do you have Stonebone, the CTI? It was a Japanese only. It's like the hardest CTI. to find it's JJ Johnson. That's what he really wanted to ask you

at the beginning. That sounds amazing though. It's JJ Johnson and Kai winding you know, Jay and K. And is there strings and stuff or is it quite a straightforward recording? I don't know.

It's from 1970. I don't, I've never heard it. You can't hear it online or anything. CTI. Creed Taylor, you need to get him on here. Yeah,

but he's like in his 90s though, so. Yeah, might. Yeah. Yeah. Wait, I have one more question. This has been the longest reflection. Do you know the Brooklyn example?

No, Jalz, I thank you very much for coming on the show. All right, so on behalf of Questlove Supreme with Laia and Boss Bill and I'm Payne Bill and Farnitkelo and Sugar Steve and Unpaid Bill, which I said already. This is Questlove and Charles Peterson. We thank you.

Questlove Supreme is a production of I-HeartRadio. This classic episode, was produced by the team at Pandora. For more podcasts from IHeartRadio, visit the IHeartRadio 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 Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations fleets, 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 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 Slica 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 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 Auer Kohn and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.