The Questlove Show - QLS Classic: Little Brother

Episode Date: April 14, 2025

This Questlove Supreme Classic episode with Little Brother aired back in May 2020. Team Supreme's Phonte Coleman is in the guest seat as he and partner Rapper Big Pooh discuss the evolution of their group, and reuniting personally and creatively for May The Lord Watch in 2019.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Cliford Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clivert Show on the I-Hard 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. In 2023, Bachelor star Clayton Eckerd was accused of fathering twins. But the pregnancy appeared to be a hoax. You doctored this particular test twice in so much, correct? I doctored the test ones. It took an army of internet detectives to uncover a disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through the same thing.

Greg Gillespie and Michael Marantini. My mind was blown. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trapped. Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences. Listen to Love Trapped podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist, they take matters into their own hands.

I vowed, I will be his last target. He is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves. We always say that trust your girlfriends. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Ikew, I'm Ego Wad.

My next guest, it's Will Ferrell. My dad gave me the best advice ever. He goes, just give it a shot. But if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there.

Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks Dad on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Questlove Supreme is a production of IHeart Radio. Ladies and gentlemen, check it out. This is a classic QLS episode featuring our fam little brother. Of course, you know, they have a really powerful documentary called May the Lord Watch.

I highly recommend you watch it. They're one of my favorite groups. They'll soon be one of your favorite groups. For all of note, they're already one of your favorite groups, all right? Questlove Supreme Classic Little Brother. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another episode of Questlove Supreme. I'm your host, Questlove. With me today is Boss Bill.

and kind of weird is Fon Ticolo on his own former podcast as a guest. Proud of the son is returned. And the one and only big poo collectively known as Durham, North Carolina's finest, little brother. I'm correct in saying Durham, correct? Yep. Yep. And you claim Durham as well, poo. Durham claims me.

that's real like who's wanting to tug a war of where the genesis of little brother actually lies it's Durham it's Durham it's Durham it all started at Central you know I mean we were students at North Carolina Central together so Durham for all intents and purposes it is the birthplace of Little Brother yeah I just I just have to make it clear that I'm from Virginia originally just what city Alexandria no all through northern Virginia but Alexandria and Fair fact, specifically. Okay. All right. So in the attempts to treat Fonte as a regular guest did not assume that everyone knows this story, I do, however, I'm not that familiar with your story, Poo. So to give us a recap or whatever, I'll start with you. What was your entry into music?

Probably the radio, but, like, more importantly, BMG, when they did the you can get like 12 CDs for dollars 12 CDs for yeah for a dollar or whatever Were you honest or were you scammer? I was scamming big time Yeah proud scammer here

Yeah I did about five different times They got five different groups of CDs But that was probably my real intro Just learning about so many different artists and I have friends from New York I mean everybody probably did at that time Back in the 90s who would come down with tapes.

Like, that's how I first heard of Big E, Nause, and just different artists from out of New York at the time. And between that and radio, because radio was real regional in the 90s. So, you, I mean, it was heavy, go-go influence, but you would get, when the artists come through, you would start getting a different artist. So that's how I got put on to, like,

when Ray Kwan, when he dropped the purple tape, he came through, did an interview. They actually debuted, incarcerated scar faces on the radio. I'd never forget it in D.C. So that was my start, man. I was actually just talking about this with my wife yesterday. Like, we didn't listen to music in the house. My mom is not a huge music fan. So I just had to get in other places because it didn't come from the crib. Yeah, I was going to ask for, and the same for you, Fonte, like, was there trickled down creativity in your life, like an older cousin?

and older like yeah for for me it absolutely was it was uh it was my mom i think it started with my mom so the thing were uh you know i have very young parents so my mother was my mother when she had me she was 15 and my dad was 17 right so i was pretty much with my mom like all the time so wherever she went i i was there so during the summer what i was during the like the weekends that was when we had to clean up we all live with my grandma So that was cleanup time. So that was when she was playing all the

you know all just you know the classic Army stuff Luther Patty you know you had Johnny Guitar Watson she used to like Love Jones by Johnny Guitar Watson and we would sing that and then during the week if she went out to like the park or whatever

that's why I heard all like the early 80s you know nucleus jam on it Shannon let the music play that was kind of where I I was hearing all that. And so between her and my uncle, but two uncles, one uncle Mike, he was a DJ, and he would get like all the promo records from the station and bring him home, and I would go through the promo records.

And then my other uncle, my uncle Bride, he was super, he was kind of a more experimental, I guess, in terms of his taste. Like he was heavy, P-Funk, heavy. He was a big dance music fan, so a lot of South Soul stuff. South Soul Orchestra Instant Funk got my mind made up He like heart I remember he had like the heart

The Dreamboat Annie album You know what I'm saying So he He went all over everywhere So he was probably You know One of my biggest musical influences In terms of no regard for genre

If it was funky to him He just fucked with it And that's what it was So with Poo For you You're not having that Like what was it just recreational or just an escape or like what was your life plan it was an escape for me

uh i can put on music had a bite walk man just ride around town endless hours just listening to music had to auto reverse so flip itself um and so you know i just i for me it was just something I just always innately enjoyed and just enjoy listening. I was always a writer, not necessarily of music, but I would write poetry. I would write short stories. So that intrigued me in music. That's why I took to Nas like I did, because his rhymes are more like stories to me. So that's why I took the prints.

His stuff was like stories. And I mean, that was pretty much it. I later learned that my dad is a big. music head and fan. But, you know, I didn't meet him until I was 19, so I would not have known that in my younger year. Now, I mean, is this the typical narrative for a young black teenager in the early 90s to go this particular route?

Because, again, I mean, you know how culturally ignorant northerners are and what our thoughts are about anybody below the Mason-Dixon line. So, I mean, just in general, because Alcat's. at this problem as well. Yeah. Like people just say, oh, Atlanta, whatever, you know, not knowing. So was there ever a, I mean, is this the typical route of a young black teenager in that time period? I definitely wouldn't say it was typical.

Just because, you know, where we grew up at, where I grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina, you know, there wasn't, there were people who made music. but there wasn't really the thought of actually making it as a musician. It was just, yo, we like music, we spend records, you know, we freestyle, whatever. But I don't think there was ever a real thought of like, yo, you could make a living doing this. The South at that time, and still in many ways, it's still very traditional in the sense of, you know, you go to school, you get a job, you get you some benefits, you know,

you bring a steady check home, you know what I'm saying? That was life. That's what it was, yeah. So in terms of just musically, though, we were always, the South was always a big kind of melting pot because, and I think a lot of things that people didn't understand the problem that cast had and also, you know, a problem that Little Brother had. You know, people didn't understand it in the South. We grew up listening to everything. Like the South was the meeting point for all kinds of music. So you had, of course, you know, where we were, and I talked about this phone on the show, where we were in Greensboro.

That was, you know, it's the south, it's east coast, but it was a lot of traffic that went through Greensboro, be it college students, be it drug dealers, be it, you know, just all kind of transplants that was bringing their music, you know, to our area. And then like Poo was saying, you had the cats coming from D.C., they brought the go-go. You know what I mean? And so we were getting, then you had Florida. That was, you know, Magic Mike, two live crew. You had the bass, you know, from Florida and Atlanta. and then, you know, the West Coast, you know, with like Chronic, of course, I mean, Chronic was kind of a bomb that went off everywhere, but we were students. And that was something that I think we always had an advantage of as Southerners because we really had to study all types of music versus New York. They kind of got caught off guard. Like the South was a sucker punch to them.

Like when they saw, you know, when Master P blew up and, you know, no limit, you know, cash money. money, they got caught off guard. It was like, what the fuck is this? But in the South, we knew that shit was coming. You know what I mean? Because we had been studying it. So, okay, when I first started coming down to North Carolina, there was a club called, is it the Cats Cradle? Cats Cradle. Yep. Okay, so, like, one of our very first gigs was at the Cats Cradle. And I mean, you know, we were the roots. So, of course, we're going to attract sort of an alternative sort of audience, whatnot. So there was

like an element of culture that I was familiar with down there that I wasn't too certain about. I don't know if you guys know Dave Tompkins. He was like a writer. Yeah, he was a writer at uh, I know of him. I don't know him personally, but I know who he is. Yeah, he wrote for like vibe and all that stuff and whatnot. So he was like showing me around North Carolina and whatnot. So I mean, was there a first draft of

a crew? Like how, how do you two meet and amalgamate into what will eventually be known as little brother. Like, what's the circle? I mean, we initially met in a dorm room. Tay came through in his ever, ever bubbly personality to spit a rhyme he wrote for English class. And that's how you met? That's how we met. That was the first time we met, straight up.

Yeah, it was R.A on the hallway. Joe, Joe Wright, I remember his last name today, Joe Wright, it was his room, and he used to just have mad people come in the room, and I was fresh on the hallway, because I actually stayed in a hotel for half of my first semester in college. But I got there, we were in the room kicking it,

and Fonte come in, and was like, yeah, I wrote this round for English class. It's called No Apologies. And he starts spitting, and I'm just like, what? You wrote that for English? class, that could be on the radio or some shit. And that's when he let everybody know he was quitting football as well.

I didn't know he played football, but he was quitting. Yeah, I got to fuck up out of that. Wait, how long did you play football for? Man, I played football. I started playing football in the sixth grade. And I played all through middle school, all through high school. And I played my first two years in college. And I played fullback.

And, you know, by the time I got to college, I realized, that it was a much more of a, it was a commitment that I just didn't have. Like, I didn't love the game. I wasn't on scholarship. I didn't care, you know, I was like, why am I out here? Fuck this.

Was it a Friday night lights culture for football down there? Um, with high school football and college? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It kind of was. I mean, it was a big, um, so the school I played for a high school, uh, page high school, um,

we used to whip ass. was the truth. And so my senior, my junior, senior year, my senior year, we got to the semifinals. And we almost took state, but we lost in the semifinals. But we always had a good program. And so it was something, I think for me, it was just something that was more social in high school. It was just, you know, I was a big kid. I had decent size, you know, decent speed. And, you know, I like the hit motherfucker. So I was like, I, fuck it. I play football. But once I got the college, That's when I was like, yo, this shit is a business. Like, you really got to be committed.

And I just didn't have the love for it. And I was like, man, why am I out here? I love doing music. So let me go do music. And that was around the time. That was when me and Poo met. That's when we met. I mean, it morphed into different variations of what it ultimately became.

It was a big-ass group of us at one time called the organization. Then that whittled down to Gimme. How many? How many people were in that organization? I don't know. Nah, so it was, okay, the organization, it was me, you. I guess 9th was in it by default, I think. I don't even think he was in the organization.

Was he in it? It was people, I can't even remember their names. It was this organization. It was this organization. So I know it definitely was me, you, Joe. God, who, you remember Rosie? Rosie. Rosie.

Yeah. It was a girl we used to run with named Rosie, who was emcee. She was, dope. Medina, of course, she was in that. Yes, yes, she was. Medina was there. Medina was in the house.

What was the joke behind Medina? Medina was, she was another girl, she was an emcee. And Medina was dope. And Medina and Sean Don, they had a whirlwind romance. Tumultuous. Tumultuous.

Relationship. And it was the original, Chris Brown and Rihanna. Man, oh man. No. Man, oh man. Listen. Okay.

We'll be that man to tell his own, his own war stories. Those stories are not ours to tell. But we were a collective of just emcees. And then we had Aziz, your Aziz Collins. Aziz Collis. He was our R&B singer. Yeah. Aziz keep him holland Collins.

Right. We had like somebody else that rapped. I can't remember that. I can't remember who it was. But it was just a very loose. And I used that term loosely. It was a very loose collective of people who went to school together. And we would just...

We just go to each other rooms, freestyle and then that was it. And then it whittled down to G-M-E, which is M-T-Han D. G-M-M-E. Yep. Yeah, E, yep. That was a dope name. Wait, that wasn't an acronym, was it? Of course it was an acronym.

Of course it was a acronym. Of course. Come on, now. Come on. What happened? Would it give a sham? God, I murdered many MCs. That was one of them.

Yeah, we had a couple of them. That was the main one. That was the main one. God, I murdered many MCs. It was so many bad, we had so many bad, like, meanings for the acronym, but that was it. I want a group to come out name acronym in the acronym stand. It is an acronym. Accomplished character, resilient.

like, nigger I don't get their shit way to fuck up out of here yeah but it I mean it transformed to many different

took many different shapes and I still remember this is always be funny to me I mean this is the moment that changed my rap career but it's still funny because it's ironic

how it ended up Sean Don didn't come back to school one semester so that was the end of gimmie right and Fonte was in my dorm room He was like, yo man, we got to talk. He went to New York.

He went back to New York. Yeah, Sean, I went back to New York. So I was like, what's good, man? He's like, yeah, man, I don't see us being no duo. So, you know, you got to do some more work. But if you need me for something, just holl at me. Oh, he's trying to fleece you. That conversation changed my, it changed my rap career, man.

It made me work hard as shit. Like, I never worked so hard in my life at something. But it's ironic. because that's, we ended up a duo anyway. During that period, I mean, how much would you say you were committing to your craft as opposed to like surviving, going your job and I'll write a rhyme maybe? I was surviving, man. Yeah, yeah.

It wasn't, it wasn't serious for me. I still didn't, I still didn't believe that it could be more than just something we were doing in school at the time. because I never saw this as a career for me. It was just something I loved to do. And that moment let me know like, hey man, you got to step your shit up or you better start really going to class. It was one of those moments. Yeah, that was the thing.

I didn't choose class. Yeah, that was the thing. I mean, I remember at that time because we were kind of, it was a pivotal moment for all of us, because at that time, Sean Donnell went back to New York and Poole was still, me and you,

we were only ones, I think, still in Durham and you were about to go home that summer. We were all about to just go home for that summer. We used this. This is 98, 99? No, this was probably two. Was it 2000?

It had to be the 2000. It was 2001. Because that's the summer. Wait a minute. You know what? It was 2001. It was spring. It was spring 2001.

I went to Charlotte for the summer, and I was taking the train back to Durham because that's when the Justice League started. Yeah. That's when Little Brother became Little Brother, like that end of that summer. And that was in the end of the summer. That was like, Dylan was born.

My oldest son was born, he was born December 2000. So, yeah, around 2001 spring, oh, nigger, my head was in a whole other place. I was like, yo. If you ain't real about this shit, nigga, you better find something else because, nigga, I got a kid. Yeah, I was going to say, when you have a kid and when you have real life situations, then how much pressure to pursue your craft?

Like, what's the ratio balance? Man, I was scared of shit. I was scared as hell. You know, my son was born the end of December. He was Christmas, he was Christmas Eve, 2000. and so I ended up finishing my degree in that following semester of like May 2001 his mother ended up coming back I think that next the semester after that and she finished her degree like in December so we were young parents and we had no fucking idea what we were

going to do you know I had no clue you know what what it was going to be and me and Poo we we started kind of making records we made a couple records it's getting me and you know I felt like we had something it was dope but uh you know Sean Don went back to New York um me and Poo were just you know kind of here he was going back home for the summer and he was going back home to Charlotte and we had that conversation I was like yo man I don't really see us being a duo but that summer I remember Poo went home and that was um it was this event used to call called Fat City that a buddy of ours was having uh it's cat DJDR and it was like an open mic kind of freestyle thing

And pool, he put in work and he came back that next semester. And his rhymes was just different. He was rhymed. And I was like, nigger, you, this shit sound good. You know what I mean? And I could just see he had really put that work in. I mean, and we all had kind of been putting it in. But I really just saw in him.

I was like, yeah, like, he really, he really about it now. And, you know, we all, you know, we took him seriously at that point. Okay. So where does knife come into the, equation of Ninth originally was man ninth was I met ninth in 98 it was 98 it was 98

yeah so 98 we were moving into the dorm this is like the day when everybody moves into the dorm I was playing football so I had already been there earlier to report for camp so we had been in there all the football players but this is when the civilians we used to call them you know the

civilians had first moved in. So all the niggins didn't ball. Like, it's like, aye, hi, it's the civilians about to move in. The civilians coming. And so, nine, he was. So sports at first, and then the civilians come. Yeah, that's when the civilians come after that. Because we had to report early, you know, for two of days,

well, three of days, really. And so, um, so, man, so I'm, I'm in the joint. I walk into the dorm and it's like the lobby kind of commons area. And I see this dude holding a source magazine. And I was like, yo, man, let, let me see that. Let me see that source. And at that time. this was again this is like 98 so this is master P you know bad boy I mean this is kind of like the

peak of of that era you know right approaching that era so to see somebody with a source magazine that shit was like nigger that's like manner from heaven you know I mean it's like oh my god you you know about this too what the fuck you know and so um he was like yeah man so we me and him started going through the source together and it was an ad for most deaf's black on black size and I think either me or him was like yo man I'm waiting on this shit

and I was like nigga you know about that like what you were you up almost and from that point on me and ninth like we were like that was it you know I mean it was like you know I have found kind of another Jedi so that was 98 can I ask

can I something sure well when I met culturally have to code switch musically to fit in whatever social circle you were in so say if like someone's not into most that is in your parameter in

college like who else are you listening to at that time no limit they ran shit because I could no fucking no limit ran shit bro like that was for me it was different because so I didn't get

no limit until I got to college because at the time, that was when we was playing football. And so all the football players, like all in the locker room, that was what we was bumping. Bout it, about it, the true album, No Limit Soldiers. Like, you know, before we went to the wait room, like, we bumped that shit. So that was when no limit clicked for me. So I was like, okay, this is what the music is used for.

It wasn't necessarily nothing I was riding around in my car playing. So at no point where you guys like, hey, there's this thing called, the love movement. I mean, I want to play a song called get a hold, like drifting back, you know. I was still in high school, but I mean, for us, it wasn't, it was just like you like what you like and you learned from other people about other, you know, other shit. So I learned from other people about no limit. I learned because I was listening to New York stuff personally.

So I learned from other people about. no limit. I learned from other people about the West Coast. I had a homeboy who was from Oakland originally. So he put me on to Drew Down and Too Short and all the guys from Oakland. And so that's how I started just taking everything in. But it wasn't like a few coming to the circle and you be like, yo man, I listen to, you know, the Jungle Brothers. And somebody was like, man, I'm listening to fucking NWA, man. Like it wasn't a thing like they looked down on it. It was just like, oh, well, let me see what that. talking about and you it was like a sharing oh okay it was a way yeah a lot more sharing way more

communal experience we we got the no limit but it was more like with binoculars let's see what they're doing yeah let's see what they doing I mean when the movie came out we had it on the tour bus but it's more like look at those guys yeah but we I didn't realize that that shit was a culture it's it was a that shit yeah man Yeah, it wasn't a movement, nigga. It was definitely a culture. Like,

you saw that no limit tank. Yeah, no limit is an army. Get the fuck out the way. And yes, the thing that's curious to me is that you guys still decided to

go to another pasture that not traveled before down there where it could have been easy for you guys to just go that route. I just think that wasn't who we were,

you know? because I've been asked that question a lot about, you know, why we chose the route that we did. And, you know, for me, I think it was just an extension of who we were. You know what I mean? I mean, the no limit stuff and like a lot of the South stuff that was popping at that time, you know, I enjoyed those records and, you know, they certainly had a place in my life.

But I knew I couldn't live that. You know what I mean? And so I was like, well, the stuff that is more, connected to me in terms of, you know, just who I am as a person and kind of way I want to live my life, it was tribe, it was calm and the roots and, you know, it was all the stuff from that kind of native tongue tree. And that was what felt right to us in terms of making records. Now, I'll say what attracted me to you guys when I first heard of you guys was the fact that, well, first, I mean, our listeners need to know exactly.

how ahead of your time you guys were as far as I mean what people are doing now as far as like do it yourself making records making final product in your houses in your apartment that sort of thing which I mean it's practically unheard of I mean for all the folklore of Riza yeah making the Wu-Tang stuff in his apartment

he still brought those ADATs to a real studio to polish them and all those things so the first you know when you guys told me that all this stuff was made in your dorm room and on fruity loops and on computers and all that stuff. Like, that was like talking Greek to me. I, how did you guys even know, I mean, how are you guys even pioneers of just new ways

of recording and whatnot? Shit, that's all we had. We black folk, man. You know what I'm saying? Working with you got. Like, straight up. We didn't have no studios. We didn't have no, you know,

No, Nike didn't have no beat machine. Like, I mean, at no point was it like, because even with us, it was like, okay, well, we got to get to a real studio one day. So, like, we pony up our money and just went to a real studio. At no point was there like. We heard what we had and what we were doing. It was like, fuck that studio. Like, this is our studio.

We good. And then, too, on top of that, on top of that, you remember we heard, so we heard the stuff that we were making in our studio. and then we also heard the stuff that was coming out of the big studios at that time. Right. And that shit was garbage. And so I think that kind of gave

us even more confidence because we was like, yo, if we doing this shit and I fucking, in my homie's apartment and y'all niggas is going to ease, you know, it was mixed on this 24 track or whatever and the music still ain't good. So I think for me that was a big, that was a big factor too.

That's when I realized it was the man not the machine. that's that's that's that's what that taught me um what were the alternative group names besides little i mean was it little brother just an automatic like that's what we are did you have other that was the first name yeah i think another one the only one i can remember was round midnight i mean we had that was one which thing that was one we had one that we just all knew it couldn't be used for a rap group flea market mannequins I remember that.

That was one. I'm still using that shit for something. Why is Flea Market Bid? I have no idea where that came from. I remember that name, but I don't know what the thought of it was. I think maybe I was like, I was listening to like Goo Goo Goo Dolls and like Food Fighters.

I was into that shit. So I was trying to think of a name that sounded something like that. An alternative name that could get you all booked at a club. Right. Wait a minute. What? Right. A lot of pissed off people.

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

or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw,

unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrate. 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. In 2023, former bachelor star Clayton Eckerd found himself at the center of a paternity scandal. The family court hearings that followed revealed glaring inconsistencies in her story.

This began a years-long court battle to prove the truth. You doctored this particular test twice in someone, correct? I doctored the test ones. It took an army of internet detectives to crack the case. I wanted people to be able to see what their tax dollars were being used for. Sunlight's the greatest disinfected. They would uncover a disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through the same thing.

Greg Alespian and Michael Marantini. My mind was blown. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trap. Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences. Ladies and gentlemen, breaking news at Maricopa County as Laura Owens has been indicted on fraud charges.

This isn't over until justice is served in Arizona. Listen to Love Trapped podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. There's two golden rules that any man should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl.

You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes. And rule two, never mess with her friends either. We always say that trust your girlfriends. I'm Anna Sinfield, and in this new season of The Girlfriends, Oh my God, this is the same man. A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist. I felt like I got hit by a truck. I thought, how could this happen to me?

The cops didn't seem to care. So they take matters into their own hands. I said, oh, hell no. I vowed I will be his last target. He's going to get what he deserves. Listen to the Girlfriends. Trust me, babe. on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

What's up, everyone? I'm Ago Wodom. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell. My dad gave me the best advice ever. I went and had lunch with them one day, and I was like, and Dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings.

I'm working my way up through and I know it's a place that come look for up and coming talent. He said, if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet. Yeah. He goes, but there's so much luck involved. And he's like, just give it a shot. He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know,

the cat just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. So what was the genesis of what we now know as the listening in the beginning of it? Man, the listening was, yeah, by this time, this is around 2001.

It's 01. It's 01, yeah. I graduated school in May, and 9th, he was by this time, he was fully fledged, like, making beats. So the thing with 9th was that, you know, we met in 98. I didn't hear a beat from him until, like, a year later. I didn't even know he made beats. He came to my room. We met in 98.

He came to my room one day, and he had, he's like, yo, man, I got something I want to play for you. He's like, yo, I got the Black Star bootleg. I was like, word, you got that. She was like, hell yeah. And so we played the Black Star album. We was listening to the Black Star record. And I was like, man, do we say, this shit crazy as hell. This shit dope.

And so then I didn't see Knife again for like months at a time because he was in school, but I don't think he was really in school. But he wasn't in school. Yeah, he was a career student. Like, how do y'all do that? It's the Southman. You know, if you can, if you hang around the dorms, if you can get, if you can get, you know, if you're good with somebody in the calf, you can eat.

So if you ain't, even if you ain't got no meal plan, you know, you can get in the calf on, especially on like chicken day, nigger, come on. Yeah, that shit was a food for. Yeah, chicken day is like the club. I was going to say at Taree's school, they did not allow any Reynolds rap or foil inside their cafeteria for fear that, you know, the students would steal the food and take it back to their dorm. Man, listen,

man, niggas took all kind of shit back from the dorm. What? We was taking silverware and everything. I mean, we had a takeout line

in the calf so you can come and get your food and leave, like get it to go and leave. Straight up. Straight up. So yeah,

so around that time, you know, 99 poop, 9th wasn't on campus like that. I'll just kind of see him sporadically. But 98, he brought the Black Star album

to my room. We listened to it. And then in 99, he shows back up. And by this time, we were in a new dorm, we were in the new residence. And so we had moved, and we had like this little suite or whatever.

And so he come and he's like, yo, man, I got some joints. I want to play for you. And I was like, and I was thinking he had like another unreleased album. And he plays, he puts the tape in and plays it. And I'm like, yo, this shit dope.

Who is this? He's like, yo, this is me. I said, where? I said, these, like, you made these beats? He was like, yeah, these joints. I said, what you make them on? He said, man, I just make them on fruity loops. Well, no, no, no.

I'm sorry, it wasn't fruit loops at the time. This is even before fruit loops. He was using a program called... Tunei Asset. Nah, this was even before Acid. It was called... It was a program called B-Box. And he was using B-Box and Cool-Ed it to make tracks.

And I mean, again, it was unheard of me. I was like, nigga, what the fuck? Like, really on a computer? And so, but he had some joints. And so one record he had, it was one beat he had. I said, man, let me rap over this. He was like, all right, cool. He said, you really want to rap?

I said, yeah, let me wrap over this joint. And I did a record called Paper Lines, and that was like 99. That was like the first song me and him ever did together. And I remember doing it. I played it for Poo, played it for just Cats and our crew. They really, they really fucked with it. And that was kind of when it all first started. So around the time, by the time, 01 rolled around,

that was when the league had all, we was just recording so much shit together. and it was still just kind of loose. But by this time, we would start at work on a song, it was called Speed. And originally it was supposed to be me and Median. Median never shows up to the studio. And so Poo was there.

I can't remember if you would roll with me to the studio that night or. Yeah, I think I came up on the train and I wrote with you. Yeah, we came to the studio together. And I was like, I was like, well, shit, Poo here. Like, you want to rock it? He was like, yeah, I had that. rock it. And so we did that song together and that was it. That was just like, yo, we got something. I know that was our first joint together. That was the very first song we ever put together.

Wow. Oh, shit. Okay. Okay. So also explain to me who is in the Justice League. Okay. All right. I'm sorry. Should I say justice league? No, no. That that side was to remember the names. Right. It's 15 of them. And also, how do you, how do you, how do you, how do you, wrestle with that Justice League and have y'all ever had a meeting, a collective meeting? Like what the fuck? I talked to Rook I haven't talked to Rook in some time

Rook from the Justice League but it was always love Yeah it was love. Yeah at one point me and Rook was talking this was years ago. He was like, yo man we need to do a Justice League meets Justice League like let's collab, let's do some shit and we were talking about

doing it but I know it just never happened but it was never no smoking night. was first. I think we were first. I think we were first. I think. Okay. All right.

All right. So, Justice League members. Okay. So let's, we're going to do this the easy way. Yeah. Start with the niggas on the phone.

Yeah. Me and Tay. Then you have nine. Then you have Sean Donn. You have Sean Bull. Crisis. Uh, Egg Island.

A guy named Caesar, right? That's Cesar Camachie. Yeah, yeah. 8. Flash. Accentric. Accentric.

Wow. Accentric. Mike Burr. It's a dude named Big Doe. Legacy. Big Doe. Legacy. Legacy.

Legacy. I said crisis. I said crisis. You got crisis? I say crisis. And you shout out Edgar Allan Poe and Edgar Allan Poe or. Yeah, Edgar Allan Poe. I say, Egg Allen Flo.

Egg Allen Flo. I said Poe. Yeah, Egg Island Flo. The Raven. Nick, I think that's it. Now, we're forgetting. So it's 15. Who we're forgetting?

We got Mike Burb, we got eccentric, we got Son of Yarel. We got some of your rail. We got Burr. Got Burr. Sezor. We got Boog. Sezor. Flores.

Crisis. Legg. Crisis. I think. Wait, what about the U. You said the U.A. That's Christenburg. Yeah.

It's Christenboog. I think we got everybody. Medium. Medium. Damn. Median. Median. Yeah.

Yeah. Another dude that showed up intermittently. He would just vanished for. like months at a time and then just pop back up that was that's that's been meeting zemo since i known him everybody needs a malik be in their life just shows up in blammo here he is that was him that was him so with with speed like when is it the official like okay are we a group or was it just like okay what what is this i mean is it like a relationship where you're like you know You know, like after the third date, then she's like, okay, so what are we?

We are farmers. For that, I think, like, a day or two later, like, we all just kept listening to the song and noticed the chemistry and said, hey, this sound good. Let's make a few more and see how I come out. And a few more turned into a whole last hour. Okay, now I really want to, now that I've established the story for those that not familiar, Now I want to get to my real first question. Okay.

Because even more than the roots, like, okay, no, okay, granted, it's like 11 of us, but really the roots are two people. And it comes down to me and Tariq. And 50-50 is a little bit more easier than 33 and 33. And third, yeah. So in the beginning, are you guys ever, like, Like, what is the democratic process of how decisions are made? Man, at that time, I mean, it was, we had, I think, I thought was a fairly, a good system that got kind of, you know, corroded over time.

But originally, you know, it was the three of us. It was me pulling knife. And Doe was our manager. So pretty much, whenever it came down to do something. something, me pulling knife would discuss it internally and there's three of us. So automatically somebody's going to lose. You know what I mean? Sometimes I lose, sometimes I lose, sometimes pull, lose, knife, lose, whatever. But whatever it was that we voted on, we would then go to our manager and be like, look, this is what we agreed on. This is what we're going to do. And that

was it. Once ninth left the group, that was when things changed and we no longer had that kind of third swing vote, so to speak. So that was when, for me, I think just the group became very taxing because it was just me and Pooh talking. Yeah, it was, but yeah, particularly, and harder is a toosome at that point because at that point in time, me and Poo hadn't really, I don't think me and you had really talked like that about what we wanted and about kind of at all. We didn't have none of them conversations.

So we were just making a lot of them decisions on the fly. And, you know, when you don't have a third person there to kind of help smooth things over in some ways, it made it really hard. But in the beginning, that's what it was. It was the three of us, we make a decision, and then just kind of told our manager what we wanted to do with it. So what were your initial goals for the listening? Was it like, okay, we'll have these collection of songs. We'll try to get a major deal. You think it too much.

Knock it around. It was, let's do these songs. sell them ourselves and see what happens yeah originally we was gonna do we was gonna do put it out ourselves because I was on I think I had like a credit card that time

I had my little Discover card and I was we was on disc makers and I was just running numbers I'm like yo so how much if we just press this shit ourselves and we moved out the trunk like I was you know doing it just in my mind and I was talking the ninth about it because I remember we were in

we were in the computer lab at at at at at c state so another fun fact about this time which i'm just now remembering even though the listening was recorded on a computer none of us had personal computers at that time at all like none of us had personal computers i didn't know it's the bill gate story yo bro for real like i didn't have a computer ninth ain't had one ninth was using um he was according we was according to caesar comanche's crib and he had a compact presario so that was the computer so whenever I wanted to, whenever I wanted to get on, like, okay player and shit, nigger, that was all computer lab.

So, uh, my homie, median, he was a student at NC State, but like, not really a student, but he had an ID. And so, you know, he was there, you know. We used his, we use, uh, your rails. Yeah, Leroy. Uh, we used his, Leroy's roommate. Yeah, uh, Lewis Jerome. Louis Jerome, like.

He was the, you know, he was the, you. He was the caper, nigga. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty loose. And we used his joint. And then, like, when I was at Central, like, that, that, that, my last year, that was when I was on, I was on the newspaper. I was an editor. I was the arts and entertainment editor on our newspaper.

And so I would be in the computer lab all the time, you know, that's when I would get all my okay player post off. But after that, I mean, I was going home. Like, nigger, we ain't no computers at the crib. No smartphone. Shit, Tate didn't even have a cell phone at that time. Yeah, I don't think I got my first cell phones. Probably like, oh, what, four?

Something like that? Some shit like that? Yeah. Three, four? Yeah. Hey, boss, Bill, correct me if I'm wrong. Yeah. No, this is literally the Bill Gates story.

Bill Gates' story had a faulty ID that let him stay in the computer lab like 15 hours a time. To be in the computer lab during Bill Gates' day was like a taxing like $40 an hour thing. But he'd never got charged for it. So then he was like, all right. I'm going to stay in this motherfucker for 15 hours a day. Get his COVID out. And figure out how to turn this big-ass room into a laptop. So basically sneaking in computer labs, borrowing other people's ID and whatnot.

This is the Bill Gates story. That's, well, I wish we made Bill Gates money. But, uh, really not. But, you know, fate didn't have it that way. But, uh, but, uh, but that was it. We was just doing those records. So at that time, yeah, the thought. wasn't, you know, at least for me, the thought, it was just, okay, we made this record,

let's just get it out so people can hear it. And, you know, it was just, like, I don't think no one had a thought of where it was going to go. I knew my life was going to change. Like, I can specifically remember the night when we finished everything and, like, we had the final mix down and sequence of the album, and I just sat outside my apartment in the car, just listened to the record. And I just, I knew things were going to change. I just felt that we had something special. It wasn't like, you know, yo, we're going to be rich or we going to be whatever. But I was specifically remember having the feeling of just like, yo, like something is around the corner. I don't know what it is, but I know something's coming. And at that time,

we just wanted people to hear it. That was the only, that was the only, uh, MO. What was the first sign of that, of that assurance? Was it like your first out, out of state show? was it like a mention in the source or like what was that moment where it's like oh shit this is about to happen i think for me it was when uh when benny b got in touch with us um just to have somebody benny b from ab b records okay um so that was not your label no no not at all not at all not at all so i always thought that abb was your okay not ab b was b uh from the bay area they um They had put out like a lot of dilated people's 12-inch. That was kind of their claim to fame.

Dalaied People's The Far Eye. They had put out like just a lot of stuff and they were known for just moving vinyl. Yeah. And that was how a buddy of ours, a promoter out this way, Blumrush, DJ Blumrush, he had a connected ABB in Davis, Calam, ID. And ID heard our stuff on the net from all of us. We had posted it on OK player and all that shit. And we had to look at.

little site. That was when Boss Bill had to join. He had the, he had his site here, posts up to join stuff on there. So it was just kind of spreading. And so I, I, ID from ABB caught wind of it and reached out the bum rush and was like, yo, you got a line on these little brother dudes. And ID called my crib, you know what I'm saying, one day. And that's how we started talking. And that was how the ABB relationship, that was how we came to sign with them. So Bill, were you the OK player that officially introduced OK player? to introduce Little Brother to Okay Player?

I guess, but I mean, I got it through Von P. from currently at Tanya Morgan and like Vaughn hooked me up with Eccentric and eccentric sent me like the Beats for Love Joint revisited and like so I was a ninth Wonder fan first and then I didn't even know about these two until later like I think

I heard speed and away from me like maybe not maybe like a week or two after that. And then I was like, damn, what is this shit? Slot Funk Dust too. He was another one. He was the one. He was the one that really, because again, we had no computers, let alone a way to build a website or none of that shit. So Slop was the one that had, he had built like a little site for us. And he was like, yo, I can put some joints up for y'all.

I was like, cool. And I was working at Blue Cross Blue Shield at the time. And he would call me, you know, we would, he would, well, he would DM me or PM me as we would call it back then. And he was like, yo, man, like, y'all joints just crashed my server. I got a, like, everybody had been coming to shit. I was like word for real and we just had like three four songs up there so slop it was a big a big part of that where was it you in ninth or you and poo or were you alone would you I don't think I was that I went to the greensboro show I didn't go to that

okay all I remember was that we were doing a show and it was about to rain and and said we should cancel the show because it's electric and whatever and I'm like do you wear Timberlands like no one's you ain't getting electrician and he like protested I think he didn't play this show or like walked off stage earlier

something shit and I felt bad and I did some very uncharacteristic like I'm never the guy that like goes in the audience and like hey how you doing thanks for it you know but some said to say all right go out there and shake hands for the first time in your whole career

And I did it and you put it in my hand You reminded me That this was the little brother I read about Okay player Oh wow wow okay And normally You know normally Anybody hands me

Disc is instant You know coffee table Coaster for me We plate Frisbee I'm about to break up my drawer on your CD nigger I just throw it in the trash.

Right. No, I can't do that. I just leave it backstage. I don't know. Like, I'm kind of proud of my track record. Like, something, I was going to leave it backstage, and I looked at it, and I don't know if it was the fact that your handwriting, like, the, the, the, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, yeah, something spoke to me. I'm like, yo, he really put some effort into this homemade, uh, this artwork. I was like and I went back picked it up and listened to it and I was like holy shit like

I'm poor long jealous of this like this shit thank you man and and like I'll say that I've only you know Jill Blau slum village um Cody chestnut and you guys um I'm sure I'm missing somebody else but like something told me to listen to that shit and that shit like that changed my life man thank you man because I personally didn't think I would at that time I was concerned because there was the idea of a group existing was becoming endangered and in danger and listen

and endangered species and I was like yo a real group not not a bunch of soloists and you know from there then I just saw the the words spread and spread and spread. So when it like, what was the decision to not go the slow and steady route and like, let's get a real, let's get a deal through Atlantic and poverty. So as your own record label. All right.

So what is it back then? What was, what were the, the, the, the roadblocks in the potholes in being your own record label? Oh, shit. Distribution. Yeah, distribution. you didn't have direct the consumer back then. But I think for, I can speak for me on this,

my decision, I think if ABB, if that experience would have been a better experience for us, it wouldn't have been a thing of, well, man, let's go get this deal. Straight up and down. It would have been more like,

shit, we're good where we get. But the experience wasn't good. Because we didn't get paid. So, yeah, that makes the experience terrible. We still haven't gotten paid. So can I ask?

Let me ask. Let me ask. All right. So that came out, what, 2002, 2003? Yeah. 2003. Okay. So had technology, as we know now in 2020, been available in 2002, 2003. Would this have been a different outcome?

Very different. Very different. I wouldn't have fucked. Personally, I wouldn't have fucked with no label. had we had it you know had we back then you know we already had the means of our own production so we owned our means of production we could make it ourselves you know if we had a straight pipeline that we could get it directly to our fans and see the money back man fuck a label straight up but that was but pooh but you made a great point you know when you you know you ask about what made us make that jump

you know i i really think and agree 100% that had if our indie experience would have been been better and we would have actually been like paid fairly and you know according to our contract if we would have actually been compensated for our work on an indie label um i think we would have been much more hesitant about signing to a major but at that time you know we we put out the records and you know you're hearing all this buzz and you know everybody's saying oh man y'all about to blow up y'all do this whatever so then Atlantic comes knocking and it was a bunch of labels that wanted to sign us at that time. Who at Atlantic reached out?

Well, Mike Karen reached out first, but we were told we got the word not to deal with him. So, like, we ended up, we met with Warner. We met with Jive. And then. No, no, we didn't know. No, no, it was Warner. It was Warner. And then it was Warner because it was Tom Wiley.

That was when we met Tom Wally. Tom Wally. We met with Rest of Peace. Chris Lighty and Peter Thiel at Jive. Lighty tried to throw something that y'all? Yeah, yeah.

Chris Lighty, man. He came to the... Dave Lighty took me and Taye out to the club. Took us to the crab house and to the club. Chris Lighty? Yeah, man. Chris Lighty, bro.

So the thing was, man, I'll never forget this shit, man. I remember being in there and, um, because this is around the time of Chris Lighty, like, G-unit, holling on records, Chris Lighty, right?

Right, right. So the thing was, man so we went into the meeting we had a meeting at jive and you know chris lighty comes in and we're all sitting there at the table it's chris lighty it's uh it's me pool do our manager at the time and uh wayne williams d j wayne williams out of chicago they're we're all sitting in there yeah Wayne williams from R. Kelly yes yes yes yes yes yeah R Kelly right chosen few DJs Wayne Williams you know I'm saying so he's in there and so man so we we we talking this stuff and I remember Chris saying he was like,

you know, man, I listen to y'all album, and he's like, yo, it tells a whole story. He's like, it's not just singles. He's like, you know, it tells a whole story. And, you know, I really think I love what you guys are doing. I think, you know, we can push it. And I was just sitting there. I was like, wow.

And he was like, you know, man, I remember he was like, he was talking about 50. And he was like, you know, the whole thing with 50 was, get ready to root for the bad guy. That was our whole marketing scheme. And I was like, yeah, it's like, the movie Payback. And he was like, yo, I like this guy. I like this guy. You know, like it was funny. He was like, yo, I like this guy. And I say, yeah, it was like that. He was like, yeah,

he's like, you know, that was my whole thing with 50. And he said, but I really like y'all. He said, y'all are like different from everything else's out and y'all really cut through the clutter. And he was talk, he started talking about his time at Def Jam. I never get this shit. He was like, yo, he said, man, you know, when I was at Def Jam, he said, you know, I was fresh off the Mr. Smith album. So I was the Prince of Death Jam. He was like, I could do whatever I wanted. He said, and so the next record I signed was this, this record called Crew. Now, me, you know, hip-hop fucking rap nerd, I'm like, nigger, crew.

I'm like, yeah, dirty-thirty. I love that fucking album. And he again, he was like, yeah, I like this guy. I never get him saying to you. I like this guy. I said, no, man, dirty-thirty, that was the shit. And he said something. He's like, I never forget it.

He said, yeah, he said, man, I love that record too. But just because you love something, don't mean it's going to sell. and I was like, damn, that's the fucking truth. But yeah, man, he was, I, you know, that was just my only encounter with Chris. But I really liked him, man. I fuck with Chris. He was a straight shooter. You know, he, you know, he's what we wanted to go.

We wanted, that's where we wanted to go for real. The problem was, you remember, Joe was like they wanted to just re-release the listening first. And that was the problem. They wanted to read. Because they, them re-release in the listening means they, they now. take some ownership, if not all ownership of the album. And Benny B for M.A.B. wasn't giving that album up. He wasn't giving that album up.

Oh, okay, I'm sorry. Yeah, we don't own the listing. I get it now. We had to go. We essentially had to go where he was comfortable going. That's how we ended up at Atlantic. Or we would have never went to Atlantic. And the only reason, I think, well, I won't say the only reason, I know a big reason why he

chose Atlantic was because Atlantic let him keep his vinyl rights. So Atlantic let him continue to press all the LB vinyl, but they retained the rights for everything else. And so that was how we ended up at Atlantic. That's almost unprecedented. I never heard of that. Did he press anything up for the second album other than 11 at 12 inch? There was a minstrel show vinyl, I think.

There was a mystery show vinyl, and I think it was another single. I got to look through my record. I think it was another single. shit. It was said again. Say it again. Say it again. I think it was sad again.

Yeah. And then he reissued the listening and the mystery show. A couple of years ago. It's like a year to ago. He reissued. Yeah. Didn't he had a courtesy

to send us any of this fabulous reissued vinyl? Like, damn, you already ain't paying this playboy. You least could have some vinyl. Shit. That gold vinyl looked good. It looks snazy. You know?

Wait, I got, I have ask you a question which is like like I know as not not trite but as you know as it not meaning something today as it once meant back in the 90s

but did it mean anything to you to see those four and a half mics in the source? Hell yeah yes yes it meant everything yeah I think yeah seeing the four and a half seeing, you know, we got four on the listening.

Because again, this was something that, you know, this is pre, like, you know, social media, you know, where you- Before the blogs took over. Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, we were literally hearing about this. So it would be like, yo, your word is that y'all got four in the source. Like, what, nigga, what? And then you see it.

I remember, like, going to the, you know, grocery store and buying the source. And you see it, and it's like, holy shit. Like, this is really, it's a real thing. and I got like the hip hop quotable and that to me was like holy shit because I grew up Wait a minute, what did you get it quotable for? I got it twice.

I got it one, the first time I got was for the yo-yo and then the second time I got it was for my verse song to offer you off a mystery show and that to me was just like man, holy shit you know, that was a moment. So yeah, that shit meant a lot back then. That shit meant a whole lot. Yeah, I try to act like four and a half

mics don't mean nothing like fuck this. But you know, it's still, it's still hanging on my wall. No, four and a half is the real five. I mean, me and you talk about this a lot, but four and a half is the real five. It is, it is, absolutely. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clever Taylor the 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. In 2023, former bachelor star Clayton Eckerd found himself at the center of a paternity scandal. The family court hearings that followed revealed glaring inconsistencies in her story. This began a years-long court battle to prove the truth.

You doctored this particular test twice in so-ins, correct? I doctored the test once. It took an army of internet detectives to crack the case. I wanted people to be able to see what their tax dollars were being used for. Sunlight's the greatest disinfectant. They would uncover a disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through the same thing. Greg, a lesbian, Michael Marantini.

My mind was blown. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trap. Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences. Ladies and gentlemen, breaking news at Americopa County as Laura Owens has been indicted on fraud charges. This isn't over until justice is served in Arizona. Listen to Love Trapped podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

There's two golden rules that any man should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl. You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes. And rule two, never mess with her friends either. We always say that trust your girlfriends. I'm Anna Sinfield, and in this new season of the girlfriends, Oh my God, this is the same man. A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist.

I felt like I got hit by a truck. I thought, how could this happen to me? The cops didn't seem to care. So they take matters into their own hands. I said, oh, hell no. I vowed I will be his last target. He's going to get what he deserves. Listen to the girlfriends.

Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Ego Wodom. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell.

Woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever. I went and had lunch with him one day, and I was like, and dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings. I'm working my way up through, and I know it's a place that come look for up and coming talent. He said, if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet. Yeah.

He goes, but there's so much luck involved. And he's like, just give it a shot. He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that.

There's a lot of luck. Listen to thanks dad on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. So with in hindsight, how was the, the minstrel show experience? Because there was so much expectations and so much was happening. I meant like, Hove was co-signing you guys. Like everybody was like, all the stars were aligned. Like, at the end of the day, what happened? Man.

So have you been watching? watching the The Last Dance Bulls documentary? I just got done watching it. Okay. So I watched it at 8 o'clock this morning. Okay. So the thing about it is like at the time, we only knew what we saw. So it was just like you just see the, you know, them going for the, you know, the third

championship in a row for the second time. But you don't see all of the underlying stuff that's going on during that time. just like, yo, the concentration the motherfuckers had was amazing. And I look at the mystery show, it wasn't that dramatic, but it was dramatic enough for us. You know, I was 24, 25 years old at the time, hadn't really experienced a lot. And we're trying to record this album, major label, trying to keep, maintain our sound, dealing with our own shit as a group at the time, because that was when the group really started. the splinter during that time

and so you got all that happening and then you have this album that people at the label say they excited for but you know there's some trepidation because of the title and nobody

all the white people they don't want to deal with this shit now you know that? Oh let me ask okay so is this Craig Kelman or or Julie? What era of Atlantic is this? Craig and Julie

when Def Jam took over Atlanta. Is Leor there? Yes. And Leor is there? Leor, Kevin. It's right. It's at the takeover. It's at the Def Jam takeover Warner. So, so the real problem started before the ink was dry on our contract with Atlantic,

Robert Reef Tulo was getting... I, Reeve. Wait, if you say his whole name, then this might not be good. He was going to say, was Reef there? Because he would seem like your biggest man. Well, he was.

He started there. And then when we went into his office after the deal was done, we saw all the boxes in there. And he was on the way out. But it was, it was nothing more telling than we pulled up for a meeting one time. And we, we walking into the building in New York, we walking to the building. And Rief is coming in at the same time. And he waiting at the desk. We're about to go upstairs.

We're like, yo, what you doing? He's like, man, I got to wait to get let up. Our A&R. Right. Because he was no longer, they let him get A&R of the album, but he wasn't no longer employed. Mans was not an employee of Atlantic Reds. He was not an employee.

Yeah, he was a consultant. And this is how you find it now? Yes. We found out, we found out Reif was fired when we came, just like Boozette, we came to the building and, you know, we realized that he had to get buzzed in, just like we had to get buzzed in. We like, what the fuck? So then we get up to his office and we see all the boxes. And we like, big, you're like, you really fired out this bitch.

And, you know, and he was, I mean, I actually, funny thing, we actually saw Reef in New York like last year we was kind of doing our press run. And, I mean, it's all love. I mean, it's, you know, it was, you know, I mean, everybody had to do it. had to do it that time. So it was no like hate or nothing like that. It was all love. But yeah, Reef bounced. That was when he bounced. I think he

went to shady, right? Pooh, he went to, or he was doing. I think he, I know he ended up over at Shady, Shade 4-5, but it was just one of them things where we're in the building, we're new, they don't know what to do with us, really. Um,

because we're unlike what they have or what they, what they had. And we don't have an ANR. our marketing guy James Lopez, who now runs the Will Packer productions. So James Lopez was marketing. He ended up being our marketing, our A&R, our cheerleader.

He was all we had. Him and Ronnie Johnson. Rodney Johnson, rest of peace to Ronnie Johnson. Wait, can I ask, was Rick Morales there yet? Or was this before he came to it? Riggs was came later. He was like a year. Jay Brown ended up.

being there right before we left because Jay Brown was Lupe's A&R. This is like the Hollywood shuffle of music. Like literally Def Jam and Shady are just... That's all it was. Switching characters. Yeah. So yeah. Shout out to Julie too, man.

Julie always was in our corner and she was with whatever. Like as long as we came in and show her that we was passionate about what we wanted to do, she was with it. So, shout out to Julie Greenwald. Okay, so I love the title of The Minstrel Show, but humor me. Why did you decide to go with the minstrel show? Because we couldn't call it nigger music. Real shit.

No, that was real shit. You wanted to call that? We wanted to call it. We was Steve's like, man, what we call this shit, nigger music? And that was like the run. We were with it. I think that might have lasted for like three weeks. And then we realized, okay, we can't call it out of that.

They're not going to let us do that. We didn't even think they won't let us do mystery. show. But we had nigger music in the pocket. It's like, well, you know we did want to call it niggle music. It's like to make the minstrel. Oh, this is better. Wait, was there any reflex?

Like, wait a minute. I don't know because oftentimes I'll have to explain to white people what menstrual see is. And they never know what it is. And then like they're already in the middle of, you know, the swamp. So like, what were people thinking at the time? Man, at the time, I think they were, I mean, the one thing I got to give Atlantic credit for, you know, they let us do us. And so my main thought in going into the minstrel show, particularly once we, you know, signed to Atlantic, my whole thing was we got to show our fans that we can still do us on a major label.

Because around that time, you know, signing to a major label, in a lot of ways, it was kind of the kiss of death. You know what I mean? if you heard that your favorite band signed to a big label, the first thing as a music fan is your mind is like, oh, man, Atlanta's about the fuck they shit up. Atlantic about the fuck they shit up, you know what I'm saying? So our whole thing was,

well, man, first and foremost, we got to show our fans and we can still be us, you know, unapologetically us on a major label. And so Atlantic, they stood behind that. You know, it was a gamble. And, you know, and they let us, the record that y'all hear, that is the exact record that we took out of our computer in Durham and put out to the world.

And, you know, from the stories I've heard, just from so many cats on, you know, labels, that is something that rarely happened. Certainly didn't, wasn't happening back then, you know what I'm saying? And we learned. Was it I using real facilities this time around? No, this was the same thing. It was the same. We still recorded that one.

I think by this time we weren't recording in Comanche. crib no more. We had the chop shop by that point. Yeah, we actually had an office space that we dubbed the studio and that's what we recorded. But it was the same shit. It was a computer. Same setup.

Just a communal space and not someone's apartment. Yeah, but it was the exact same set up. We had a computer. We had a mic. We used the... We had monitors. We had monitors. We had like real monitors.

The The same mic that I have in my setup right now is the mic we recorded, the mystery show, get back, all that on. But mix-wise, Guru mixed it at a real, at baseline. He mixed in the baseline. He mixed at baseline. Okay. That was probably like the only kind of upgrade, I guess. You know what I mean?

Just that, you know, Gu, he mixed at baseline. But everything else, man, that shit was straight out of our computers. And, you know, that was what it was. And I think we learned a valuable lesson, too, you know, when you ask about, you know, what was the climate like in terms of us calling it, the minstrel show or whatever. I don't even know if the people around, if, you know, the, you know, the Julie and Craig and all them, I don't even think they got too much into the politics of it. I think they were just like, yo, this is something new. These guys are buzzing. Let's just throw it out and see what happens.

And one of the things that we learned that, you know, me and Poo learned and Poo was even, doing now, like in his career as a manager, you know, we, we were very self-contained. So we came to a label and in our mind, we thinking like, yo, we got our artwork done, we got our music done. We know who we want to master. Like, we came in with all that shit already. And in our minds, it's like, yo, we're making the job of the label easier. But what really happens is that you don't have anyone to root for you because they don't have,

no one can lay a claim to your success. Like no one can say They're not personally invested in it They got no investment They got no skin in the game So you know That's one of the things that For us it was like

Hell yeah But it ended up being a liability When trying to come into the measure label system Because everybody is trying to look for a leg up Every ANR nigga want to be VP Every mailroom nigga want to be an R So everybody's looking for that thing

To hold on to That's going to be the star to take them somewhere else. And if they can't hitch their wagon to your star, then they don't give a fuck. Man, I still remember we gave Sycamore so much. We gave him the petty that Babyface gave Teddy Riley the other night. Like.

Sycamore down with Sycamore's. The DJ Sycamore. Okay. He was with Clue? What would he run with? Was it Clue? I don't remember. he ran, but I just know he was fresh.

He was fresh A&R over there. And because the crazy thing is, hip hop wanted to be out A&R. But Craig Coleman wouldn't let us go over with Hock, because Hopping G had the office over there. And Hott was like,

yo, give me them, give me Saigon, and it was somebody else, and Craig Calman wouldn't do it. So he ended up giving us to Sycamore, and I remember us going to New York. We was working on I think we were getting get back Yeah it became get back And we went up there

And we just had We was just so off putting in the sick of more man Like man We know what the fuck we're doing man I don't even know why we up here with you dog Taking us all around all these producers and shit Nika we don't need these things like I know who we want That we had man and I was like

Just like like he said Just thinking back on it As a manager now With an artist that signed to Dreamville Interscope And another one on indie label mellow music I just I understand now

how off-putting we were and we didn't even allow them to treat us like stars like that was a big thing I noticed as well because we were so self-contained we didn't allow them to pamper us if you will and that

it's very off-putting to to label folk I have learned because the thing is man like and another thing too like I just kind of saw is like how much the record industry at that time and I mean even certainly now how much it perpetuates dysfunction and how much it requires that shit in order to remain a business model because you know like we were saying earlier you know what made a sign the deal nigger was poverty like niggas was broke and shit so like when I saw you know you know a couple

weeks ago months ago whatever when um when meg was going through that shit with her label and and all that shit came out and they were talking about Meg the Stahlia and her deal and everybody was just, oh, well, you know, why don't you just get a lawyer and why don't you just get this? Like his 80s? Yeah, and it's like, nigga, you don't understand the consequences

that the artists are living in when they sign these fucking contracts. You know what I mean? It's hard to think two, three years down the line when, nigga, rent is about to be due on the first. So, you know what I mean? So you can't, you know, the circumstances under which you sign this shit,

you know, the record industry, the shit is, the shit is pretty much a goddamn glorified payday loan. You know what I mean? It's more predatory lending than anything else. You know what I mean? So poverty and dysfunction, that shit is baked into their business model.

So in a lot of ways, again, it becomes a liability if you're an artist that is self-contained, know what you want, show up on time, do your job, just do it whatever because at that point they have nothing they can't control you with nothing and we were those dudes like we just didn't give a fuck we was just like yo we make the music we want to

make if we don't get this look or that look or that look who fucking cares but so when you're a part of that bureaucracy you can't be like that so let me ask if if say the outcome of the minstrel show turned out to be more rosier than what happened. Would you guys have delved into your next step, which was like, I mean, for Poo was like the Sleepers Project? Fonte, you're making foreign exchange with Nicolet. Like, you're doing these side projects. Still committed to the, well, I mean, then there's ninth departure.

so his leaving to do more production and whatnot. Like your next step was splintering up and taking a break for a while. But had the outcome been different, would you guys have even charted off into that territory? The outcome, the funny thing is the outcome of the mystery show didn't even weigh in because the first foreign exchange and my album, my Sleepers album were done. They was already done. Yeah, that was done before that.

Okay, I thought Minstrel was 2000. It was five, 2005. Four, 2005. Okay, okay. Yeah, my son. Sleepers came out in February of 05. I forgot when that first 4 exchange. Connected came out in 0-4.

It was like, fall, 0-04, I want to say. Yeah, and we were working on those records, like, with each other. So it was never a thing of like, you know, if Poo's like, I'm working on a record, I need a verse for it. All right, cool, I jump on it. He jumped on, you know, foreign exchange record. So there was always, you know, me just kind of being a student of the game, I always saw the groups that allowed themselves to kind of do their own thing. They seem to work a lot better, you know what I mean?

Like, even with like Gangstar was kind of my example where Prime was doing remixes for everybody, but Guru had. Jasmine Tass. That was his own thing that he did. And then they came together and do Gangstar. And so that was always my thought. So when it came for us doing side projects and solo stuff, even with 9th, with all the stuff he was doing, we were all very

much a part of that. And we champion that. Okay. So without making this you guys' audio obituir so then you All right. So I actually want to cut in Tarantino this, skipping the future.

Because I don't know the story of after me begging and begging and publicly begging, we've talked about this story before on the Solange episode of me trying to wheel a little brother reunion into existence. But what was the straw that at least that unbrook, the camel's back for you to be like, okay. Like, what do you, you down? You down? Um, what was, I think it was just us becoming friends. Like, we, we just had to take time to, after we didn't speak for a while,

we just had to take time to just become friends. And, um, that just really, and honestly, like for almost two years, we didn't discuss making no music together. We didn't discuss. It was more like, yo, how are you doing in life? Like, what's going on in your life? And then eventually, once we did that show, the next day, it was just, it was unspoken. Like, I went to Tate House to pick my money up.

And he was like, yo, I'm cooking. He said, I'm cooking. I said, I'll stay. You know what I'm saying? I'm not going to turn down to free meal. And we just was talking before everybody else pulled up. And it was just one of those things It was like man how you feel?

I was like shit I feel good how you feel Okay so now I want to go back a little How hard is it to walk away? Because for me I know for me and Tariq Like yes we were Birds of a Feather Best friends in high school

Spitting night each other's couches You know whatever Do everything together And then we start a business with each other And we're just slowly now we're just slowly now now that we're inching to 50 we're slowly now inching back to where we were when we were 14 and 15 but there was a period between ages 23 to 47 in which we were very committed business partners and it was like no matter what this group is not dying

which doesn't make for good chemistry if you're, you know, if you're making creative products. So it's like... Staying together for the kids. Yeah. Is, is... Did you feel like a sense of defeat?

Did you feel a sense of like a dream deferred once it was like, okay, this group is officially a rap, and just put it on the shelf, and you'll go that way, and I'll go this way? Um, I'll let you go, pooh. Uh, uh, uh, I think for me, that didn't hit till later. At the time when we stopped speaking, I think I was just, I was so pissed, and I think we were so just frustrated at just a bunch of things and turn each other.

That it was more like, well, fuck that shit. I'm going to show this, nigga. And later on, it started to really sink in like, yo, who I think we fucked up. but it's too late to turn back now. Yeah, it was right. We down this path. Yeah, it was, I didn't realize that I think, you know, at the time when we, you know, just said, fuck it, I was just tired. You know what I mean?

And I just, you know, we had spent so many years just kind of in a pressure cooker together, just album, mixtape tour, mixtape album tour. And I was just fucking exhausted, man. And so at the time when we. said, you know, it was over, I was like, okay, well, you know, we hadn't really been, you know, because a lot of people ask, well, if the record, if you think if the record would have sold better, y'all would have stayed together. The thing about it at the time when we broke up in 0, well, 9th left of 07 and then we improved. 2011, 2011, like 2010. At that time, that was when we were seeing some of our best shows. So, you know,

after get back, that was when we got a really big black audience. So our shows were still going up. Like, you know, we were doing really good business on the road. And, you know, we could have kept, you know, going out there and getting that money. But I think it was a combination of just exhaustion and then just it wasn't fun. Like, we just weren't enjoying each other. We weren't enjoying the experience. We were literally just coming on stage, just rap, rap.

we would go off in two separate directions. And for me, you know, I mean, you know, you got to make money. Money is important. But the minute this shit start feeling like a job, nigga, I'm gone. I didn't get in this shit because I wanted to work a job. I could have kept my job. You know, I got in this to, you know, make a living and be around people I love and us build something together.

Once the shit became work, it was like, man, fuck this. And for me, it was, like I said, it was just, I think for me it was just hard, just looking at the. the scene at the time and it was like yo this shit is wide open this is what we fought all them fucking years for is to get to this point and we got here we're the man in the cave that all we had to do was hit that take that pitchfork and hit that dirt one more time and the diamond we did all the diamond yeah but we turned around and walked away we're that we're that guy like that's that's how i felt just just just how everything turned around and i was just like damn

we we missed an opportunity there um But like you said, man, we just exhausted, man. Just with each other, with the situation, with just everything. It was just like, man, I just need time to go be free over here by myself or doing some other shit. And for me, get back. That was our last album. We owe ABB. And after that, that was like freedom.

I felt freedom in a way that I hadn't felt in a long time. And that was when I made, I was like, nigga, I fuck a label. Like, fuck. we out this deal, we free of Atlanta ABB, man, fuck this shit and that was when me and Nick for him, uh, every music after that. Okay. All right.

So everyone that listens to the show knows Fonte's disdain for me holding on tightly to politically correct non-gotcha questions. Uh-oh. Go in, son. We can talk about whatever.

We're in the age of the roaming, Nick. The age of the Roman. So, should I will publicly into the future a reunion of the original unit of this group? Well, I can tell you this. Damn, you already start. You can, you can, you can say out loud and put into the air as much as you want, brother, Amir. I can tell you what ain't going to happen. But listen, listen, listen, listen, listen.

But wait, just hear me out. I listen, hear me out. I listen. I listen. I know my answer already, but I listen. Because I believe, okay, for those that never heard the Salonj episode, I went on Twitter. I think in, I was Lisa at Fallon at the time. It's like 2010.

12, 13. It, nah, this was later than that. This was, uh, This is about 20. This was when you and Salon's got a tool, this is when you and Salon's got a deal. That was about 12, 13-ish. I decided, you know what?

I'm going to will. I'm a publicly will a little brother reunion for the greater good. You know, the rope to hell is paid with great intentions. Facts. I put a tweet out there. I was like, I want little,

I forget the exact wording, but it's like, I'm willing a little. brother reunion because damn it, I need it. And, you know, Fonte kind of did the, you remember when Chappelle just, I tried to walk away, man. I was like, nah, man, chill, don't do that, chill. I tried, I tried to defuse the bomb.

And you did it like, yo, man, my wife and my wife was here. Like, like, like, what are you doing? Like, that sort of thing. Right, right, right. Right. he gave an example of like you know man this is like me putting out there like you and salons and da da da da da da and then salons our name says wait wait me in the mirror what and then it calls what a time i saw all that that's all the fireworked pal pal pal yeah yeah who weren't even

talking at that time we are we weren't talking at that time but that shit went off that were crazy. My whole point was that this still happened and you said it would never happen. So that's it. So if it never happened, is it a possibility? What were you saying, Poo?

Oh, back to my answer. That was a nice story. Like, this is the thing, man. This is the baby face shade. Yeah, this is the thing. When we came back this time,

We realized the fundamental differences as men. And you can't get past that. Facts. Like, he is who he is. We are who we are. And we see things differently than the way he does. And the clarity is there. And that's just it.

Because for me, the thing I always said about Little Brother, even when we weren't talking, when we weren't making music, the magic in the music was that it was our relationship it wasn't the fact that Tay dope I'm dope night beats were dope it's our relationship

it's the way we approach records the way we made records you can hear the joy in the records in our later records you can start to not hear that joy yeah little by little by little it was gone and so when we came back to do

which ended up being made a little watch Me and Tate had a talk. And it basically was like, listen, man, we're here to do this for each other. We here to have fun doing this shit. And nigger, anything more than that, we ain't, it's whatever. Like, we ain't here for it. And we realized very quickly that we saw things that way. He did not.

And so it's just like, yo, we're good. Like, we're good. We're good. When's the last time you guys have spoken to 9th? 2018. The 20, for me it was... I talked to more than you. Yeah, bro, it was 2018.

You was 2018. For me, it was 2019. It was March 2019. Yeah, because it was right time Nip died. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, March 2019. Yeah, for me, yeah, for me, yeah, 2018.

The last time we actually saw each other, like, saw, saw each other, was when we did. before. Yeah. At the comeback game. At the Art of Cool Festival. Yeah. So August 2018, that was the last time we saw each other. And that performance was just someone saying, hey, who was missing?

Who was supposed to Royce? Yeah, Royce. And who was the person that was the point person who reached out to who? It was, so my man Suleiman, Mawesi, he's a promoter. And he runs, now he owns the Art of Cool. festival, which is a music festival that goes on down here in Durham. And Roy Smith's flight. And me and Suleiman, you know, we had a working relationship.

He had booked for an exchange a bunch of times. So we knew each other just, you know, over the years. And so he reached out to me and was like, yo, man, Roy Smith's flight, do you want to do a solo set? And I'm literally at home in, you know, a t-shirt and my boxer is just like doing nothing. And I said, well, let me check and see if it's even possible. So I ended up making the calls I called reached out to Flash

He was my tour DJ first He didn't get an answer for him So then I reached out to 9th And me and 9th had been hanging In Durham that previous night So I hit him I was like hey man Suleiman hit me about wanting to do this This show you know would you

Would you DJ for me? He was like yeah I'll DJ for you And I said man you know it would be crazy Man what if we get Poo involved in this shit And he was like oh hell I mean he was he was super reluctant about it But, you know, I, you know, kind of twisted his arm. And he was like, all right, cool.

You know, I'll do it. And I called Poole and hit Suleiman back. And we got everything sorted out. And so that all came together within a matter of three, four hours. I mean, it was super, super fast. And that was it. I mean, that was kind of what started it. And that was the last time.

And at the end, it wasn't like, yeah, I enjoyed that. It was awesome. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, I mean, the funny, the funny part about it was foreshadowing in life. I didn't see him when it was over. Me and Tay, no, no lie, no bullshit. Like, me and Tay walked back up to the RVs, which were our trailers, and he didn't, because he went down there to the stage before we did, and he didn't go back up when we went

up. And I ain't seen him since we walked off that stage. We took, like, two pictures together. and then I was like man fuck this I ain't got to stay down here taking all these pictures we're going going upstairs to get drunk like and

Tate was like Nick I'm going upstairs too and we went upstairs and I haven't seen them since like no lie no cap as the young people say no cap not a cap not a cap at all no cap no fedora no none of that shit because he's all right man

2020 I'm getting y'all life coach we don't need one man we good not for this I mean, if you want to have a life coach, just talk about childhood trauma and shit like that. We can talk about that. That's something totally different. We're good on this.

Yeah, this is we don't work this out. We don't go all the way out. Okay. All right. Good try, though, man. I feel you, man. You know, hey. Wishful thinking.

Hey, you know. No, no, no. I'll take, look. This is an official little brother of a union. I'll take it. The album is banging. I'm happy to have been a part of it. Thank you.

So what happens? Okay, so obviously we're in the age of the rona now where all the breaks have suddenly halted on our professional lives. And, you know, what happens now? Is this time for a new album? Is it... We're making it through the rona, man.

That's all you can do right now. One day at a time. Yeah, yeah. You know, people always ask us about another album, man. It's wonderful, for us, is just one of the things where it's like... Let's be like, you're lucky you got the one you got. Not only that.

But, like, we both have just a lot of other things that we have going on. And, you know, like, I manage full time. So luckily, Big Doe, my partner, so he was able to pick up a lot of that slack. And what is that into now, Poo, being a manager, being a soup? Listen, man, let me tell you something, bro. This shit is, this shit will, you can't see him in the camera, but I got a lot of grades down here now, man. Got a lot of grades, man. It's, you know, it's for me, it's just one of them things, man.

I just love music and I love the guys that I have and I believe in them full force. And I just want to see them accomplish some of the things that they want to accomplish, if not everything. So I'm here. I'm ride or die. That's why I don't have a lot of clients, man. Like, I got to feel goosebumps when I hear you for the first time. all these guys, I had that feeling, but it's hard, man. It's stressful.

It's three different people, three different personalities, three different levels in their careers right now. But you're using, you're using the wisdom. All the wisdom. All the wisdom. Right. Everything that you have. But this is the thing. How old are they?

How old are they? Um, 30, 30, 31 and 24. Young and yeah and this is this is the thing I tell people I'll just oh I have a I have a lot of wisdom right I have a lot of wisdom but this is their careers so I don't I don't rule with the iron fist I'm more of a let's have a conversation about whatever the situation is let's wait a pros the cons I'll give you my advice I'll give you some you know some anecdotes if I have any but at the end of the day you have to make a choice for for you because it's your career.

And I'm going to ride whatever that choice is, whether I agree or not. But it has to be your choice because you got to go out here and sell this shit. Exactly. Yeah, we were always kind of on some, when it came to us dealing with other acts, whatever, we were always kind of on some tagos to the runner shit, just in the sense of, you know, like he said,

I can have my thoughts about it. But if it's a song you believe in, you're the one that's got to walk out here on this shit. Not me. It's your name that's attached to it. So I could hate the fucking song. But if you love it and it's what you believe in, then I stand behind you on it

because it's you the one that's got to sell it. And it's going to follow you around for the rest of your life. It's going to follow you right. I think the best thing for me, the best thing for me of my position is I have a legacy that's cemented. Whether I stop today and just go back to being Thomas Jones and go work at the airport or some shit,

like my legacy is submitted already. So I don't have that. fear of the fuck up. And it's just like, yo, let's let's go. Let's go fast. Let's go hard. And if we fuck up along the way, it's going happen. Mistakes

going to hunt it and mistakes go on 10. There's two different type of mistakes. Let's go hunting. And that's what we do. Yeah. Yeah, I was thinking we had Jimmy Jam on, you know, the other day and, you know, he was talking about how his wife, you know, how he

got involved in the Grammys and stuff. and it was his wife that was telling him like, yo, this is what you're supposed to be doing now. You know what I mean? And that really resonated with me because it kind of reminded me, I think that was a lot of what me and Poo would have conversations with about Made a Lord Watch.

One of the earliest conversations we had after we finished the record, the first thing we thought about was, okay, who can we help? Like, now that we've done this, how can we use this new platform we have to, you know, jump somebody else for us or help, you know,

someone else and um so when it comes to you asked about doing another album um for me you know that record just took a lot like it took everything out of me because it was so much we knew we had to get right and i mean you know and you always you know it's not to say that it's ever been you know records that we have stepped on or like purposely just did some bullshit or whatever i mean we always put our best foot forward but uh what made a little watch that was just a draining process because We did everything ourselves. You know, I mean, we cleared our samples. We were budget, label, studio, the whole nine.

You know what I'm saying? So it just took so much out of us both. And I think in terms of us doing another record, for me, it really just came down to, I just wanted us to do something so where now the air is out of the room. So now if I just want to jump on a song for his album, or he's on some of my album, them, we can just do a fucking song and that be the end of it. There's no more discussion of, oh, well, what does this

mean? And niggas just mean we did the song together, you know what I mean? So we have the freedom to do that now. And if another record comes, if we feel like we got something else to say, you know, we can do that. But as of right now, speaking from me, I'm just kind of

enjoying the piece of having, you know, my brother back in my life again and us being able to use our influence to help other people. Like, that's the most, that's the most joy. The joyous part of it for me.

And we still got cities. We ain't touched yet because of the Rona, man. Straight up. We ain't been to New York, Houston, Detroit, Toronto, Boston. We ain't been to show at the crib since the festival. Like, man, y'all ain't getting no album to that half. 20, 2025.

Hey, man. Look, a bird in the hand. A bird in the hand. and B's 2 in the Bush. I mean, I wanted a new little brother record. And you got it. I got a Christmas gift. I'm not being greedy.

Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you for listening, man. Yeah, man. And I always wanted to thank you, Amir, for, I don't know if you remember, but we did a show at the TLA. This is around, this is the listening time. And you came to the show. And I know exactly what you're talking about.

I remember this. You said, yo, I want to buy some CDs from y'all. And we said, okay, how many you want? You pay for 30 CDs. You left them CDs there. I did. So we were able to resell them CDs with your money in hand. And we needed that money.

So I never got to thank you for that. Wow. I think I did that on purpose. That's a very amear thing to do. But I think I also did it on person. $7 got niggas back down 95. Show did. Show did.

All right. Well, look, I'm wrapping up the show, man. Yo, I want to thank you all for doing this show. Under these circumstances, I never thought I'd get the Little Brother episode. But you know what, though, man, on some written, this is just my mind working post-edible. How poetic is it that we all met on the Internet, and now we're doing our show on the Internet? Don't you tell me what, my God. can't do.

Won't he do it? It's the only right. Well, on behalf of Big Pooh, Fon Ticolo, Boss Bill, the rest of Team Supreme, Laiia, Shurkis, Steve, unpaid Bill, and Fontyk, oh my God, I was about to see you out getting cigarettes.

Anyway. I'm back now. Oh, you good. All right, this is Questlove, and thank you for tuning in, and we will see you on the next go-round of Quest Love Supreme. Thanks.

Thanks. What's Love Supreme is a production of IHeart Radio. For more podcasts from IHart Radio, visit the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying.

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What's up, everyone? I'm Ego Wode. My next guest, it's Will Ferrell. My dad gave me the best advice ever. He goes, just give it a shot. But if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat.

Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to thanks dad on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast. or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.