The Questlove Show - QLS Classic: MC Serch

Episode Date: December 30, 2024

Latin Quarter staple, hip hop icon and founding member of 3rd Bass, MC Serch, shares stories from back in the day, including how he got his Mom into the rap game and how his beef with MC Hammer almost got him killed. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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

So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist, they take matters into their own hands. I bowed. I will be his last target. He is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves. We always say that trust your girlfriends.

Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe, on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I got you, everyone, I'm Ago Vodam. My next guest, it's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo. 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. 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.

This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Questlove and you're listening to QLS Classic. all of our archived episodes. This is probably one of the most requested ones. And yeah, it's a wonder why. MC Search of Third Base is one of the best storytellers in hip-hop. I mean, he's the king of I was there. This happened to me.

So many stories, man. So many stories. Yes, including the infamous Hammer. I'm not even going to spoil it. Yo, from February 15th, 2017, this is the world famous long-awaited return of the MC-surge episode of Questlove Supreme Classic. Hope you enjoy. Wait, wait, stop, stop, stop, stop. Stop, stop.

Do, does everyone get traumatized with every here the organ at the top of the song? Like, where's the one? There's no one. There's never a one. We've never done that one. Relax. I don't, all right. All right.

Yoga, let's do it. All right. Suprema Role sub Supremma Rocahn It's Questlove Yop Yeah They were rather spit

Yeah But I'm the shit Motherfucker Oh shit My name is Fonte Yeah I don't rock no perm Yeah

Don't drink the milk Yeah Because it's sperm Oh Oh Oh Supreme Supreme

Supreme is Sugar Yeah I got the blues Yeah But not tonight Yeah So many Jews Rho

Supremia Subrima Roca Supreme Surma Valentine's Day Yeah I hope that you

Yeah Got fucking late Procars Suprema Subrima Roe call Suprema Subrama

Subrima Roca Yeah Search is here. Who gonna get the gas face? Roll call. Supriva. Your delivery's getting better. Thank you.

Rob call. Subrema, Subrema, Roca. My name is Search. That big MC? Yeah. Fuck third base two. Fuck vanilla ice too. Yeah.

Exclusive. Supraima. Supreme Role Call. Exclusive. Sub. Suprava Roecom. Supriva. Supriva.

Ladies and gentlemen, if you have ever said to yourself, I wish a mirror would get to the point. I'm not even talking to this, but people out there, people that know me. For people that know, look at the room, just smiling like a motherfucker. I'm going to tell you, verbose. I'm going to tell you, for every long-winded, epic story I've ever typed, Instagrams would be 25 gazillion paragraphs, True indeed.

You not having the heart to be like, all right, B, wrap it up. I get it. You don't have to paint the picture. I got that from one person. That's a lie. One of you the greatest? It's a bald-faced line. Like, I'm saying, search, you are like my slick Rick.

Your stories and your war stories and your experiences in hip-hop culture are one of my favorite recollected stories. Ever. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome. MC Search. Thank you. Thank you. Shout out to all the Jews in the building.

Finally, a Jew on the show. We almost got a minion in here. Fonter's in here. Shalom al-Hem. Shalom alejum. That's right. Mashal-Mech. We're outnumbered.

I'm so happy. No, I did the math. It's a tie, right? It's a tie time. You did the math? Yeah. He did the math. He's a fair fight.

It's a fair fight. That's good. That's good. Which makes it sound like prior it wasn't. It sounds like you got jumped like you did back in Brooklyn. You don't get jumped. We just get ignored. They go to us for the white commentary.

Steve is on. White guy. Already. We're going in already. How are you doing, man? I'm great. First of all, it's great to be here. It's great to be.

And it was great to see you in Orlando tear down the building once again. Thank you. For you guys who don't know, I've had the pleasure. of knowing this brother for a very long time. And there's a funny family storyline that goes with it because the first time Third Base reunited and went back out on Tua, Quest was playing drums for DeAngelo

and Third Base was opening for DeAngelo. Oh, wow. I took my daughter to this European, she was six years old, and she would fall asleep behind a stage and, you know, like, just Amir would be like next to her all the time. So I was like, oh, let's get a picture.

So I got a picture, Quest, my daughter, Myana. And then, like, every 10 years, like, my daughter and... It's like the evolution chart. Yeah, it's like the evolution chart. It's exactly right. So we have these, like, pictures, and we just took one in Orlando a couple of weeks going to Routaer Tore in there.

My daughter's now 22 years old. I'll be 96 when she's, like, 40. All right. So, search, not wanting to waste a millisecond of your life on the show. You started in Far Rockaway Queens. Yes. Shout out to Far Rockaway. Shout out to Hamel Projects, Redfern, aka Wave Cress, aka B-17, Seeger Boulevard.

Oh, wow. A lot of A.K.A. Mont Avenue. Search is so black. Now, wait, which? AKA. He sound like Kevin Hart. I'm on Road, aka Reeds Lane.

All right, so. Two pillars. Which? One pillow case. By myself. What? What part of Queens is that that you're from that they rap about? So Far Rockaway is right on the border of Long Island.

So Far Rockaway, my block, Queens was on this side. And literally one block over was Long Island on the other side. And it was so funny because literally the prices and houses, like my parents' house in 1967 was like $40,000. Right. And the house up the block, literally around the corner was like $200,000. Oh, wow. Like just because of Long Island, because just the...

So Long Island was considered the nice part of town. Oh, so nice. So nice. Now, what part of Long Island? The... Five towns. The public enemy... No, that's a little...

That's a little... That's a little south. Now you're going east and south. I'm more like Inwood, Ulet, Cedarhurst, five towns, like around that area. So that's real Jew area,

real Italian area, Columbo Crime Family, Aisha Cohen. All the good shit. All the good shit. All the dudes that got laid up, like Gotti. All those dudes, they were all in my neighborhood.

Oh, wow. Really? Yeah. They would move people from Howard Beach into like inwood and run like gambling spots and like pokered parties and all sorts of crazy. Oh, way. Oh, way. Yeah. Okay.

Yeah. Yeah. Fucking what you're doing. What are you doing that? I see. Come on. What are you doing over here? Fucking doing.

So being like one, as a new resident of New York City, I'm slowly discovering that all the five boroughs are major cities within the. themselves. Like, coming from an outside perspective, you know, when I come here to record records, you know, I just go straight to the hotel, go to studio, really not do that much exploring around New York. But now that I've been here for a couple of years, now I'm slowly realizing that, oh, what makes New York, New York is the fact that all the burrows are like major cities within themselves. So being as though you're all the way up there, every story I've ever heard about you was Manhattan stories. And so it's like, how do you come from all the way out there?

How do you even infiltrate your way into New York culture, at least the one that embraced you and took you in? When I was in middle school, there were schools in New York called Public Privates. Where did you go to middle school? I went to IS 53, Brian Piccolo. Why did I always named after numbers, though? Yeah, I never knew that. PS2.

P.S. whatever. after Brian Piccolo, a Chicago bear player, which still... Yeah, Brian's song. Right, Brian Song. We had to watch that every year, and we were forced to cry at the end when Gail Sayers pledged his allegiance and long-term friendship to a dying Brian Piccolo.

So anyway, so... Was that the movie? It was Billy DeLy Williams? I'm going to say O.J. by accident. And James Con. James Con. So there were these public privates, and I did not want to go to Far Rock High School. Like, there was nowhere I was going. Was that the local? High School? That was the local high school. The neighborhood high school.

Famous for Jonah Salk, who invented penicillin, as you know. Oh, wow. So Jonah Salk went there. Wow. Phil Oaks. Full of information, too. Yeah, I'm just a wealth of worthless information about my house. You're like, Bates in heaven right now. I know about my Fonte both.

Bills in heaven right now. I love useless information. I love that. So I did not want to go and my mother, may she rest in peace, went to Music in Art High School in Harlem. So she said you should just try out. So in eighth grade, I went and I tried out, and I got in, and it turned out like,

even my guidance counselor was like, really, Michael, you're gonna try out? Like, only two students in the history of our whole school got into music and art. Like, I was like, well, you know, I'm gonna be the third. And I went in, I sang a traditional Hebrew song in Hebrew. Yes, you fucking did.

Yo, bring it, bring it, bring it right now. You know you know it. You're Shalai'am Shelds a ha. Sing that shit right now. Oh, chef, Shaloh, al-ahos, my life is complete. Bill is about to explode right now.

Oh, shall I am shall ha'am shall ha'i al-hosh. Yo. That's the same voice. I'm in a poem brother's movie right now. No, I had a mad alto voice, like alto soprano. Oh, where they dropped. Yeah, before it dropped. So I get early Michael Jackson before.

Enjoy yourself, Michael Jackson. Right, like up there. So I get into the school. amazing. And the commute from Far Rockaway to Harlem was two hours and 12 minutes. So the A train, the last stop on the A train is Mada Avenue Far Rockaway. So you'd have to take the A train through Queens, through Brooklyn, through Manhattan to go to 125th Street, change for the one to go to 135th Street, Convent Avenue, and then walk up to Hill, St. Nicholas Hill. And they called it a castle on the hill because music and art looked like a castle. So how that kind of

transcended New York was I just knew the subways. I learned the subways from our early age. But when I went to music and art, the very first day I was there, they had freshman orientation, and we got hooked up with a senior, and he was like, yo, you want to come into the lunchroom? Like,

you know, that's where everything is popping off. So it's like 9 o'clock in the morning, and I hear these guys beating on tables, and I hear these dudes doing, they're ramen. And I'm like, I got some good Hebrew that could go along with that. I'm like, yeah, like, I could drop, yeah, I could drop some, like, and I'm hearing this skit, and I'm like, that sounds like Hillbilly girl from, like, the Canco crew.

I'm like, nah, they're just biting. And there's this whole cipher going on, and guys bouncing on a table. And I get, like, on a table, and I'm looking down, and it's Lance Omega, Dana Dane and Ricky D. Wow. And they are, the kangaroo high school with a Kangol crew? Yeah, and J. Cool from the Fresh 3 MCs and Lord Turu from the Eternal Force. Exclusive so much. Oh my God.

So I'm watching them do Hillbilly Girl and I'm like and we had like third, fourth generation cassette tapes of what they used to do in the parks. Me and my man Greg and my man Tommy, like we like listen to that. So I'm like, are you kidding me? Like these guys go to my

high school. It's crazy. So they never had a record deal as the K-Go crew? No, no, never. Who about the two members besides Dan and Dane and Slick? Lance and Omega. Lance, DJ Lance, right? No, not Lance Romance, not DJ Lance, no. So there was just two of their homeboys from Piceville.

Did they all rhyme alike? Yes. Did they all have like? Yes. Yes. Yes. Like that snagled too? Yeah.

No, definitely. Definitely. And it was definitely, and Rick, because he had only come from London like five years prior, like he had a thick, thick British accent. And the girls just, it was moisture in that building. It was straight moisture in the building. Then all of a sudden, like this dude starts beatboxing who doesn't go to my school.

And they're like, oh, yo, Dougie, you got to get out of here. Like, just drop this beat real quick and then you can leave. So he's just like, so it's Dougie fresh. He starts beatboxing. And then in 1980. He's in the high school and he doesn't even go there? No, he's just chilling in the lunchroom. And I just hear Ricky go, lauddy, dadi, lauddy, d'adi.

Wow. And I'm like, so he does the whole. verse and for the whole year I mean the whole year from September to June when we had our ciphers in a lunchroom he would do that little skit called he called Lottie Dottie. Right. And they would beat on tables. Let me tell you

something. I bit that shit so fast. I went back to my hood and I was like you'll check out this rhyme I wrote. Lottie Dottie. I was getting chicks moist. Moisture. So they come out.

Record blows up. I'm at hot skates and Lynn Brooke, chilling with my boys. Records on Kiss FM at like midnight. You know, somebody's playing it. I walk into McDonald's. I'm already MC Search, but I'm not like putting out records yet. Right.

I go into McDonald's, this girl I was kicking it with from Hempstead goes, oh, look, it's Ricky D. Oh. And I turn around and I go, yeah. And she's like, you, I just heard your record on Kiss. You're Ricky D. And this big-ass dude, he's like, I fucking want him.

white boy ain't slick, Rick. I was so mesmerized by what they did in school. And again, Jay Kool was my locker mate. And then, like, just before he graduates high school, he puts out, F-R-E-S-H, fresh, fresh, fresh, yo, that is rhyming in reverse. And Pumpkin and the All-Stars comes out, and he's on that. And I'm like, wait, he was part of that crew to him?

Yeah, yeah, he was on that record. Yeah, Pumpkin, most. Oh, shit! Yeah, Jay-Coole's on. on that, yeah, all of that. So I'm like, so I'm like, no wonder you have so much flavor. Yeah, so I'm like, all of a sudden, I'm like, okay,

I know what I'm going to do in my life. I'm going to be a rapper. Like, that's, it's really that simple. And where did a name search come from? How did you get that? So when I was in middle school, like literally one day, like my friend Bill comes into school is Bill, and the next day he's Lord June the qua mathematics,

understanding the law, law, cycle. You know what I'm like, yo. And I'm like, what? and he's like, yo, I became a 5% of God. Like, I can't even speak to you. You're a devil now and like yada-da-da-da-da-da. I'm like, why am I a devil? Like, you're a white man, you know, you da-da-da-da-da.

And you don't know the discomforts of planet Earth. And you don't know da-da-da-da-da-da. And you don't have the ones. So I was asking all these questions. And they were like, yo, why you keep searching for the answers, man? Why you keep searching for the answers? Devil? Why you keep searching for the answers?

You kept knocking on the door. Right. So that's where they called me search. Oh, wow. So now I'm tagging search. S-E-R-C-H. Like, that was my name, right? Is that also that, is that a myth?

That's funny, because I heard that you were like a 5% of it. I practiced, I practiced the one to tens. Like, I knew my 1-0-0-0. He's trying to avoid the universal. You are blacker than the blackest black man. Yeah, like I had a standard 360. Like, yo, like, yo, like, yo. Knowledge-born-born.

Every white man in his room just put his head down. Like, I don't even know what the fuck is going on. This is like a whole other, yes. This is the original world. This is the original state woke. Right. Oh boy. Dang, search, I love you.

And you're wearing red back and green right now. It was so woke. So, yeah, it was really woke. So anyway, so on my 16th birthday, my home, my best friend, Kevin Amoy, he got me a nameplate belt buckle. And the thing was, the name played belt buckle. No, no, no, no. The five letter nameplay belt buckle was like $35, right?

Yo. But the sixth letter one was like $50. plus the letters were $5 each. So he got the five one, but he tried to squeeze in the A because he tried to save himself $20 for my 16th birthday. What was your friend's name? Kevin, I'm Moore. Okay.

Kev Love. Yeah, love. Kev Love. And it popped out, so I just said, you know what, fuck it. I'm just going to keep it, S-E-R-C-H, and that's how I spelled the name. Did I disappoint you, ladies and gentlemen? Oh, no. No, no, man.

Search, man. Wait, I'm just mind-blown. I am the most blessed white Jewish man in the history of hip hop. Let's be very clear. Let's be very clear. Like, I tell the people all the time, like, when people even meet me, like, my partner Matthew is behind me, and we're doing an app called a do together. Like, I tell Matthew all the time, I'm like, you don't understand.

Like, I would not be standing next to you, Matthew. We wouldn't be doing a do if hip hop didn't save my life. Like, I would be selling shoes at fucking Macy's. Like, I would, I'd be shoveling dirt. Like, everything I learned, business. vacuum, marketing, promotion, music, love of culture, like everything came from hip hop. You know, I mean, I loved being a Jew, and I loved my culture, but there was no way being a Jew was going to get me to make rap records, you know, and go onto a public enemy. It just

wasn't going to happen. So, like, it gave me my life. So, like, everything that I surround myself with, even now, is based on hip-hop principles. How old were you when you were just telling that story in 1979 or 80. No, no. By Lottie Dottie, that was like 85. Well, yeah, but I heard Lottie in the Lottie in 80. In the lunchroom in 1980. How old were you?

I was 14. That was just the routine they did. Right, there was one of the Cango crew routines. So that crime was like four years old before he even got out. Yeah. So, Search, like being a white dude in a culture, which, I mean, with the exception of Arthur Baker, I mean, when I

I first heard the Beasties in 85 with this party's getting rough. There was no question that they were right. We all thought they were Puerto Rican? Oh, you all thought they were Puerto Rican? Don, forget the inside sleeve of license to ill. Back when they did parties getting rough in the Beastie groove. Yeah, yeah. Like, you're just fessing, man.

You're just fessing, yeah. Like, I thought they were Puerto Rican. Oh, wow. Because it just never occurred to me that white dudes could have flavor. So, you know what I mean? Flavored the swag of my generation. So that said, I mean, were you a walking novelty to every black person you met? Because even Q-Tip, when he described how he first met you with Greg Nice, he was like,

yo, I never seen no bug shit like this in my life. Like he described, he just had watermelon at the Latin Quarter search. He described the moment where he first heard Big Daddy Kane's Raw, where like, it was you, Greg Nice, De Nice, and him, and Kane pulls up in a limo and plays Raw and like, but he was just like when he met you for the first time he's like the most incredible thing like he just never saw a white dude with flavor right and so like how did you navigate not being a caricatured so to speak like seppel always says like always be scared of the white guy yeah in the black group yeah because ain't no telling what he did to get their respect so what was it like just between 81 and 86 so really really between 81 and 85, I was really very quiet and very shy because with the exception of a white rapper, the first white rapper named Vanilla B, aka Lord Scotch, AKA Keough, Blake Latham, there were no white rappers. And Blake had the most flavor I'd ever seen in my life. Like,

he was wearing creased leaves with, like, dark black wallabies and had a lusite cane with a letigra and, like, gazelles. And, like, he was from Brooklyn. And I was, like, Like, whatever you're doing, I want to match what you're doing. Like, because I don't have that flavor in Far Rockaway. I was real humble. Like, I was just writing to myself. You know what I'm saying? And, like, I would, like, go in the lunchroom and I would, like, I would see a cipher go on.

And I'd be like, you know. Oh, you never rhymed in those? Nah, never. Never. Never. Never rhymed at school ever. Wow. They didn't know?

No. Yeah, because I was wondering how long it took you to actually make, get into the circle up at the lunchroom. Like, how long did it take it an inch of. into the circle. I never, never had the balls to step into that circle. Like, never was going to happen. Like, I was way overclass. Shout out to teenagers with no balls, man. Okay, a.k.a. the Jewish brother. Right. Hashtack lunchroom, aka lunchroom, aka small testicles. So that was never going to happen. So I figured, like, okay, so I've absorbed all of these MCs that are in my school. So, like, when I leave school,

like I can really like step up and do some damage because I've learned from all these emcees that are around me. So I had gone to music and art on a voice, on voice. I was singing in Italian opera and like my thought was I would go to school because I couldn't afford to go to yeshiva and I would be either a rabbi or a canter and I would learn how to sing in music and art and then I would go to yeshiva and get a scholarship.

And I didn't. I wound up getting a scholarship to the St. Louis School of Music at George Washington. University for your scholarship free ride. And I had to make a decision, signing day, right? And the weekend before, I tell my mom, like, yeah, I'm not going to San Luis. I ain't shit for me in St. Louis. I want to be a rapper.

And she said, what do you mean? You're going to rap gifts at Sears? Like, what's a rapper? I'll appreciate this. She said, Vashnist a rapper. Like Vashnish, I'm like, Mom, there's this culture called hip-hop, and, you know, there's a music called rap, and the guys who do it are emcees, and I want to be a rap. She says, so what's your plan?

And I said, I just told you my plan. I'm going to be a rapper. She said, no, no, no, no. If you're going to give away four years of college, I need you to have a plan. Like, I need you to figure it out. Like, you can't just say you're going to be a rapper. And the thing that I had going for me is my mother was a child star in the Borsh Belt back in the 30s and 35. And she had to leave that to when the Depression happened to, like, become a dental technician to help put food on the table.

So she always felt like she couldn't fulfill her career. What's the Borsh Belt for? Oh, I'm sorry. The Chiltern Circuit for Jews. Right, that's exactly right. There's a chilling circuit? For Jews. It's called the Gordaels.

So it's Couther's, it's all in the Catskills. So Coutcher's, Brown, like it was all these different hotels in the Catskills. Wait a minute. And that was called the Borschbel. This is the craziest thing because my dad did up in the Catskills doing all those hotels around. Monticello, Muncie. Yeah. Yeah.

So that was called the Borsh Belt. So young, like, Jewish artists would go perform and they would do like Baudville and they would sing. And my mom was one of those. She was saying your mother was a singer. Singer. She had an amazing voice. And she's like, you know, put a plan together. And let me see the plan.

But you have to tell St. Louis School of Music on Monday that you're going to college. And if you're not, I want to know the plan. So I spent all Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, like writing this plan. Like, well, I got to find a producer and I got to find a manager and I got to make a demo and I got to get in the studio. And I got to. And so I'm going through this whole list all weekend. I didn't leave my basement like all week. I'm just going through this list.

Hold this list. I gotta hit the clubs and da-da-da-da-da-da. And she wanted to know how much time it was going to take me to do this. And I said, three and a half years. In three and a half years, I'm going to have a record contract. And she said, I'll tell you what, I'll support you. Keep a part-time job, pay for the insurance and the gas in your car, but keep at least a part-time job or a job.

I'll pay for your demo. I'll pay for your stage clothes. I'll pay for, I'll support you. But you have two choices at the end of three and a half years. You go back to school and get out. my house or you get a job and get out my house but either way you get out my house right

wait a minute yeah it was different wait can we just it was different wait welcome to what is the search his mother if you're just doing this oh man the search is both my rhyme right now

on your rhyme and your mind one time for your mom one time yo dude because my dad was the opposite I put it I didn't tell my Dad, dad didn't find out about the roots until the second album. Second album. Y'all had a deal.

Like, it took a record review of Do You Want More to be like, someone showed me this today. You want to explain what's going on? Yeah, dad, I got a record deal. Signed to Geffen Records and Wendy Goldstein is my NR. He didn't believe me or approved until the things fall apart. That was when he finally got it. Wait, you see, let you. have an option and you have to sneak.

A full ride. Full ride to a $40,000 a year school. George Washington University and their St. Louis School of Music, their specialty program for voice instrumental. Was it just you and your mom? Was your father around? No, my father was around. So my father was the kind of guy like I would go to him and go, dad, man, I'm, you know,

I don't know if I should do this. And he go, so don't do it. But like, dad, like, I really want to do it. So do it. I'm like, I don't know. Well, don't ask me then. Either do it or don't do it. Yes, no, I don't know.

There's your three answers. What do you want for me? So my dad really was involved in like, you know, this career thing. He was just like, so do it. I'm still mind-blum. Well, my mom, I think, would help. Well, your dad was a musician as well. When you gave her this plan, she gave her this three-page plan.

And after three-and-a-half years, you either go back to school and get out my house. Or you get a job and get out my house. But either way, you get out my house. on my birthday, 21, May 6th, I signed my deal with a deaf jam. Wow. Three years.

Three years. Three years. And the funny thing was, the car that lasted me that whole time. And I'll tell you about that car between me and Pete because we wrote most of the cactus album

in that car. Because it was called the Think Tank because it had no radio. All you could do is think in it. So we would just literally write rhymes. Not even a cassette player to play instrumentals? No, shit was dead.

Just dead. We were just Think. We called it the Think Tank. Like, we drove it all over the place. It was in 1974 Valéry and was just like a think tank. So I signed Def Jam. I get a $15,000 advance to sign the Def Jam. I go to my mom, I show the contract. Yes, it was like that back then.

Right. I'm like that back then. And we had to beg for that money. We had to beg for it. We had to beg for it. So my mom gives me two letters. Yes. One letter says how proud she is of me and that I won't really realize what I just accomplished until I have children of my own. And that the real work and the real testament as to how long I ran no streets, because I ran them streets.

For three years, I treated my house. I know, we'll go to that. But for three years, I treated my house like a hotel. Like, I literally was there to shit shower and shave, and I was in the street six days a week. Every club, Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, Staten Island, anywhere there was a cipher. I was

there. I was there. Like, it was not even a question. I was everywhere. I was every. Like my friends like to call me the far as gump of hip hop because from 1985 to 1989, anything that happened in the five boroughs that was historic, I was there. It's period. Period. I was just there. Let's go through it. And we will.

But I just want to just tell you this once quick story because the Jews in the room will appreciate it. Yes, my mother gives me this letter telling me how proud she is of me, but that the real work starts when I sign the contract. Like all the work was nothing. Now that I really have to do the work. Now you've got to keep it. Right. You've got to maintain it. And the second letter was a bill. Electric, rent, clothing, demo. Sherley sees her no charge.

For the nine months, how carries you? $17,936 in 436. Wow. You and dead. And she wanted to know how I was going to pay it. Yeah. And that was for the three years. For the three years. Wow. So I said, Mom, I said, I only got 15,000. I'll give you

$5,000 now. And the rest of it, I'll give you my ass cap royalties, which for all those who don't know, is when your record plays on the radio, you make money. So for about 10 years after, I would get phone calls at home and go, Michael, did you know your record? Step into the AM played in Israel four times this month? You made $1.31. And in Germany, you're right. And did you know that if your record plays on W&W, you make more money than if it plays on KISSFM?

So anyway, 10 years later in 1997, or 1998, she sent me a letter that said paid in full that, like, my ass caparazzi. that covered the debt. Damn. So people always say one or two things. Either laugh at that or go, damn, your mom is fucked up. No, no, she's real. She's real.

She's like a would you rather. I don't feel bad now because my dad did the same shit to me. Really? He kind of, yeah, he was like, I didn't tell him about Arvance. So one day I just came on with all these new clothes,

like we went overboard. Like we pollowed ourselves. I was the death. Like, we just came with all these new clothes. He was like, where do you get all these new clothes from? And I was like, oh, uh, I, you know, well, yeah, we got a record deal. And, uh, huh, what was that? And then he was just like, all right, I want 10.

Wow. 10,000. 10,000. Wow. Two Rex. I gave him 10 wrecks like that. Just. Must be a nice advance.

It is what it is. I wouldn't want them $15,000 advances. It was a little different at Geffen. Okay. So anyway. So basically, after I left high school, I basically became a beast. Like, I basically became a beast. So what happened was I just focused, focus, focused on getting a record deal.

See, that's weird. Now that I know the backstory, I guess in your mind, there's a backwards clock. Yes. With I can't be home. That's exactly right. No, the Doomsday Clock, that's exactly right. Now, I'm just thinking like, wow, because every, the thing is, you are the common denominator to every hip-hop folklore story I've ever heard of classic New York.

clubs oh yeah i remember search or or a concert or yeah i remember uh search yeah cool white boy but in my head i was just like oh well search was just like you know socialite search like he's just everywhere but now i know

you are hustling to get your deal no it's definitely it was definitely the clock was ticking and so that weekend what do you like the day she hands you right the what happens tell my um my guidance counselor I go back to school Monday and say you know

I'm not going to school. And he's like, whatever, B. And then, you know, and I graduate. And I just become a beast. And I have a meeting. Like a meeting gets set up for me

at Profile Records with their head of marketing named Steve Plotnicki. And Steve Plotnicki, his fame, that's a real name? Yes. His claim to fame

was he created the Adidas deal with Leor for Run DMC. Like, he was a big marketing guy. Okay. And he did, retail and marketing for profile. And I got a meeting with him. And I thought, this is it. Like one meeting, I'm signed, done.

And he tells me I need to make a demo. And I said, great. And he said, bring it back when you make a demo. Great. And I left that place. I left profile, which was on Broadway, across from NYU. And I literally called my mom collect and said, oh, I just got a deal. I'm on signed the profile records. And I get on the Long Island Railroad, and there's these bad chicks from Valley Stream that I've been kicking it to for a

minute and they're all like in the train and they're coming from the city and they're all giggly and I'm like I'm feeling myself because I'm like yo I just got a deal of profile records I met Steve Plotnicki I'm in and they're like we didn't even know you rhyme so I start rhyming off the time I head about all these bad chicks and what they look like and what they got on and I'm talking about the conductor gets my ticket and I'm beefing about why the LIR is always late and and all these people start coming around me because I'm rhyming real loud because I'm feeling myself I'm like yo, you know. And this bad Dominican

shit comes up to me. She goes, can I talk to you a second? I was like, you can talk to me as long as you want, as long as you want. She's like, you know, my name is Lourdes and my boyfriend is Grand Wizard Tony D from the bad boys. And they had the biggest, right?

Inspector Gadget. Right. That was the record. Yes. And forget about that. Ovaramica was even bigger. Oh, Romerica. Oh, Tony D.

Right. Oh. Tony D. Yes. Tony Dick. Okay. Right. So I'm like,

you, set up a meeting. She's like, yeah, but I got to be your manager. I'm like, whatever, B, like, it's all good. So she gives me his card and she goes, you know, give me your phone number. I'll call you in a couple of weeks and I'll set up a meeting. She scratches out his number. But his name is there on the card.

Right. Anthony Dick and an address. So I'm like, I ain't waiting two weeks for this bitch. Like, what are you talking about? I go home, I call 4111. I said, hey, can I get the number for Anthony Dick on Seacrest Boulevard in Brooklyn, New York? And they're like, yes, 718, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. call me.

Hello? Grand Wizard Tony D. Does MC Search. I just met Lordess. She told me, you can sign me. He's like, man, I'm, look, man, I can't really talk right now. We're going to, like, Toronto for two weeks on tour. Call me in two weeks.

I'm like, okay, click. Next day, next day, next day, next. I'm, like, two weeks to the day. Ring. Oh, how was Toronto? Tony, your search again. You know, when can I come? Oh, man, we're going on tour.

Like, yo, I'm going for, like, a month. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. 30 days later. Tony, what up, man? search. I did this for six months. For six months, he would tell me not to call. Wait a month. I would wait a month. I'd call. Finally, it's April. It's April in 1986. It's pouring rain. It's the middle of the night. I'm like, you know what? It's 9.30 at night. You know, whatever. I'm just going to try him. Call him. Hello. Tony, man. It's search. He's like, you know what, man? Just come over.

I'm like, what? He's like, I got some people over, but just come over. And my car was acting funny, and I didn't think I would get it all the way out there. So I called my best friend. Where are you driving back then? I was driving to Valori. So I called my man. I'm like, Billy, you got to take me out to Seagate. He's like, yo, it's pouring rain. I'm like, bro, this is my shot.

Like, you got to take me out to Seagate. Like, I got to go. He drives me out. And where he was in Coney Island, if people know Seagate, if you don't, there's basically it's like the end of Coney Island is a dead end. And then there's these fences that are like 10 feet high, these fences where like all the Italian mafioso stay over there. And Tony was in his brownstone right across.

from the projects. And there's these bad cars. Like in his parking lot is an 85 Jaguar XJ sitting on Dayton's. And there's like a 98 Osmobile like crispy and there's a Cadillac. And I'm like, so I'm telling my man, Billy, like, yo, let's go inside.

And he's like, I ain't going in there. Man, you can go in there by yourself. I'm like, word, you ain't going to come in with me? He's like, nah, you go in. Go in, knock on the door. Tony opens the door. Yeah, I'm search. Whatever.

I'm like, no, no, no. It's me. I'm search. He's like, all, come on in. So it was this really thin hallway, and it was dark, and it opened up to this living room, and sitting on the couch was Lord Turu from the Eternal Force, who I knew from high school,

right, Grandmaster D from Houdini, right, Jam Master J. Right. And they're just sitting there looking at me, and Tony goes, let's go in the basement. And it's this dark, like, musty basement. And I'm going down these steps, and I'm like, oh, my God, like three of the biggest DJs in the world

are about to jump me. is awesome. This is fucking jump. Like, you know, like, rocks. So, so we go down into this, this musty, damp basement, and he clicks this light, and it's this little lamp, and it's a little makeshift studio within a Kai and a little studio right there. And he sits me down.

Tony sits over me, and literally, it was like Jamester J.D. Taru. And he says, rap. And I went, so you think you rock well, got a snowball chance in hell to cast a MC Surge, because I will ring your bell, and soon you will tell that my record's going to sell, because when I finish rapping home boys are going to yell. You will be so excited that my fire's been ignited,

and all the hardy people have now been sighted. Say, if you're in my sight, keep rocking all night and let the power of the party go far and bright. My name is MC, and I ron my ass off for like two minutes, straight, spitting, bye. And I said, ugh. And there's dead silence. Dead silence.

I'm like, I'm just dead silence. And Jamestor Jay leans back, and he crosses his arms, and he puts his hands over his mouth. And he goes, fuck. If white boys start rhyming like this, we're over. Yo, I need you to come on tour with me with Davey DMX, and I need you to open with Davey DMX and me in Albany.

And Grand Master D is like, no, no, no, no. I need you to write for Houdini. We got this new album coming out. We need you to write. And Tony D. He's like, nah, it's my artist. It's my artist. You got to talk to me. And I had no paperwork.

none so I'm like so like I'm like I made it and Tony hands me a contract and I signed it wow way power of attorney power of signature all of my royalties all of my publishing everything I signed everything over because I was just open you how old it is open 18 I signed everything I'm I tell my mom I got a fair deal like she's like we should have a lawyer look at it I'm like no he would never jerk me like took everything and I'm I'm just open. Like, I'm in the house with the bad boys. They're talking about doing a new record.

I'm helping writing for the glamour girls who had the answer record to O'Veronica. Right. And I'm meeting Sweet Tea. And I'm meeting this one and that one. And I'm going into the studio with Houdini and I'm writing Be Yourself. And I'm writing all these other records. You ghost wrote Be Yourself? Yep.

You might find yourself by yourself. Mother. Yeah. With Millie Jackson. The Millie Jackson. Yeah. Wow. So I'm doing all this.

And I'm like, and I'm not making a penny. I'm just excited. Like, I'm just excited. I'm going on tour and I'm doing shows. Wait, he had a contract just there? Yeah, just there. That was kissing around. Yeah, just a straight baller plate joint.

Just exactly right. It's exactly right. So I signed over everything. And I'm doing 86. Okay. So we signed a warlock. I put out Melissa, which was a terrible record, which is my first single. I cannot find.

I've scoured the earth. I'll give you one. I'll give you one. Thank you. You're welcome. That's fine. I don't want you to hear it or ever play it, but I'll give you one. It's terrible. I sound like Slick Rick's bald cousin, I'm fucking horrendous.

Because that's what I was around for four years, so I'm thinking, I got to arrive with an ass. And it was terrible. It was terrible record. And I'll tell you how terrible. Was it an A emcee search? MC search. Was it you in Great Nice or? No, it was just me.

It was Warlock Records. Okay. I was signed to Adam Levy and Morris Levy. Oh, wait. Wow. Yeah. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clever Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that. excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes,

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

iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. 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's, 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. Gregalespian 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 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 podcast. So I'm not making a lot of money, you know, with my record deal and I'm doing like little shows. But I'm making a lot of...

And this is your deal with Warlock? What was your, like, did you get in advance or anything? No, nothing. It all went to Tony D. So how are you living? So I'm basically, I'm working... I'm working to... two jobs. I'm driving

Yeshiva kids from Queens to Far Rockaway to go to Yashiva. Bill just lit up. I bet they were paying. That was Sugar Steve saying that. I'm just saying. It sounds like

chess records in reverse what happened to him. Oh, I almost framed it. I laugh so on that. Yo, yeah, so yeah, I was getting paid decent money. And I was delivering pizza and chicken. So, like, that's what I was doing when I was. Wait, well, I go, okay.

It wasn't fried, wasn't it? Yeah, it was fried chicken? Come on. Wait, wait, wait. Yeah, you know what I did. Chicken? Delivered fried chicken and driving around your Shiva kids? I didn't know.

The best two jobs the person could ever have, ever. Or baked chicken and, come on, lie you. I didn't know. But where I was really making money is my man, understanding from Redfern projects, he was seeing that I was like rhyming, but like he hated my record. Like I got to tell you this story. This is, and I know a certain DJ is going to hate me for this, but I love him and he's an OG, but it is what it is. So

nobody would play the record except for Bill Blass and Van DC. They would play the record and the awesome two would play the record. Okay. But I was like, yo, we got to get this record on Kiss FM. And they got to get it on Kiss FM. And Red Alert had a theory. It was very simple. If he liked record he would play it if it's not he'd say that's not hot and he wouldn't play it so my record was not hot he was not playing it but i heard we could get to chuck chill out if we paid him so we go to see chuck before he goes on the air and i'm in awe because it's chuck chill out and it's kiss fm and i see tony hand him the melissa record with two hundred dollars attached to

the record instead of seeing the logo i see the bills and chuck looks down at me he says the only reason I'm playing this piece of shit is because you paid me. And I said, thank you. I stuck my hand out. I shook his hand and I said, thank you. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. He played that record for 36 seconds and took the shit off. Wow.

Not even the first verse. Was it that bad? He just didn't pay enough. It was horrific. No, it wasn't no. The record was horrific. Oh, damn. You tried to find that. You're trying to find that. Yeah, you know, I'm fine. No, please don't. I'll leave the show right now. Please don't play. God, the search, please.

Please don't play the record. No, you gotta play it. 36. 30. I never knew it. I never knew this record. Go ahead, played a record. This is only because I love you and you've done so much for my family.

Now we're even. Well, look, I mean, dog, it's, this song is 31 years old. This is education. It's just, it's my age. We promise not to laugh. No, no, if you don't laugh, I'll be, I'll be pissed. This is laugh worthy. Because you think, it's terrible.

It's that terrible. See, I'm one of them Silver Lining motherfuckers be like, well, I like the breakbeat. So, right. All right, ladies and gentlemen, this is Melissa on Warlock Records, MC Search, Grand Wizard Tony D.

Yeah, right here on Quest Love Supreme. I cannot wait. Oh, fuck. That's the B-side. Oh. But that's the B-side. I know, I know. I'm gonna let it play.

And that's you? That's your rammed? I can. Kind of fuck with this. No, that's part for the course for 86. Yeah. No. That was not the one.

So the B-side wasn't winning again? No, not, no. It did, but here's the thing. Yes, it did. But because I had made such a stench in the city off Melissa. Right. Only a few people looked at the B-side. And one of the people that did was a guy named Daddy-Yo from Stets of Sign.

So what Dadio would do is say, yo, search, I want you to come on tour with us with Stett. And then Stett would do a little bit of their show and a little bit of their performance. And Daddy-O would come out. He goes, yo. I brought my son with me. He's going to come out and perform. And they would throw on a record, and I would come out due to running man. The crowd would go crazy.

Oh, my God. He's white. Like crazy, right? So that helped, like, build my rep to get to my second single. But between 85 and, like, 87, what really kind of got my rep out is that my man understanding from Redfern knew that I was dope off the top of my head, like, and I would battle anybody. So what he would do is he would set up these battles in the five boroughs.

like Van Damir projects in Brooklyn and he would set up something in Eastgate and like all of this and he'd be like, yo my man search won a battle and they'd be like, yo, put up a hundred and you know these drug dealers be like beth you know, fuck it, my man is dope like yeah, my man, whatever is dope

like he's dope in the project. Right. He's like, yeah, my man will crush him. And then they would see me come off the subway like, yeah, that's search. And I'm having the glasses and the mullet and they're like, oh shit, 200. Two 50. White men can't jump. Two 50, white man can jump.

And I would get in these ciphers and somebody would beatbox and I would always let the dude go first. And now I would pick apart his verse in front of him and spit his rhymes back at him and tell him how wacky was because he said something and he really should have said this when he meant this and da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Bake him. And then everyone, ooh, oh! So one time in the Bronx, I'm at this battle and my man's DJ in. And it was like some serious money, I think it was like 275 or something this dude was putting up. So we're battling and I'm like, it's this Latin kid. Like he's half Latin half black and I'm like, I just went in.

I don't know why. I think I was like smoking weed. Like I just went in and like I started talking about how it's fucking his sister. And like and I just remember. And this is the one thing I know. And then this is the one thing I said. I remember this and I said, just realize a blonkito just smoked you. Don't say a word.

Diette la boca. Oh! This motherfucker is looking at you. me like, man, I'll fucking kill you. I don't even know what that mean, but it's now hard. Shut your mouth. Shut your mouth. So at the end of the party, my man is asking me to break down his set.

I got this giant amp in my hand, you know, like from 85. They were like the size of car trunks. I hair pop, and I see the amp, and the amp cracks in half. And I look up, and it's the Puerto Rican kid, and he's aiming a 38 at me. Oh. So I'm like, oh, Brooklyn dip. Drop the shit. He takes two more shots.

I dip out. run through the subway. It's just the word spread, like, the social network news that, like, you can't battle this kid because you're going to want to kill him. No more project battles. No more project battles after that. Well, first of all, okay.

That's how I was making my money. Like, I would make, like, two, three hundred a weekend because my man would split. And there was nothing to you to just show up at Marcy Project. Nothing. It was nothing. Nothing. And it never turned into, you never had to put your hands on anybody.

No, even as gentrified as Brooklyn is now now. Now, I don't even go into a bodega without clearing it first through the security. You know what? Look, I have some friends who are real deep. And it's funny because even like in the Latin quarter, like 50s, the original 50 cent and A rock and the decepticons and the vice, they always looked out for me. Like I could go to Gates and Green and like have no problems because they'd be like, you know, no, don't fuck with search. That's 50s men. Like, don't fuck with them.

Don't fuck with them. And in Queens, like Tommy Mickens and like all. all those kids, fat cat, like, all those dudes that got locked up for like a hundred years for like, those were my boys. Like, those were like just my dudes. And they'd be like, yo, search, come over here. Kick a little rhyme about this kid over here. So freestyling was your redemption after Melissa?

Not only my redemption, but it's how I got my deal at Def Jam. Wow. Because Dave Funkin'Klaim, May He Rest in Peace, used to run the Battle for World Supremacy for a new music seminar. And I had a second single that came out on a labor. that my mother started with Tony D called Eidler's Records. Wait, your mom owns Eidler's? Well, she didn't own it.

She put up the money for the first single, which was Hey Boy. Your mother went from not knowing what rap was to investing in a... Wait a minute. Based on the all-night long thing? Yeah. Hey, boy.

Hey, boy. That was you? Yeah, that was me. Yo, Lady B played that so much of Billy. Yeah. That was you? That was me. And you know why she played it?

I love that shit. You know why she played it? Why? We did a party for her at a high school in Philly. Me and Tony D went up there, and the crowd started booing me the second they saw me. I mean, I'm not talking about little booze. It's Philly. It's Philly.

It's Philly. Right. Right? And I go to Tony, I'll go, why are they booing me? And we already had this plan because it happened before. So you always went into this situation being underestimated. Always. And you know who has the tape of this is DJ Cash Money?

Either Tata cash money. One of them have the tape of this. Oh, man. They have the tape of it. So I said, yo, why are they booing me? And he said, it's because you're white.

And I went, get the fuck out of here. If any of y'all see a white boy on stage, somebody say, white motherfucker. White motherfucker! Say white motherfucker. I'll show you.

Wait a little. Can I play Hey Boy? Yes, absolutely. Yo, I love that record. Yo! Yo! I've never heard this. This is the first time.

Dog, this is my high school experience. It's like listening Lady B Street Beat at like 1130 at night on Power 99, and they used to always run this joint. Yo, this emce search, Hey Boy. Iler's record, I cannot believe that. And the second record we put out was Jim Browski, the Jungle Brothers. That's why I know Idlers. Yes, that's what I'm saying. I was like, that's, okay.

I'm mind-blown right now. All right, all right. This is Questlove Supreme. This is Hey Boy, MC Search. Me and me at a party. It's Stone Cold Ellen. Oh, go in my hand, man. You know that I was chilling.

Bouncing off the wall. Just having a ball. Went out of nowhere. I hear this call. It goes up. Hey, boy. Hey, boy. Hey, boy.

Hey, boy. Hey, boy. Hey, boy. Hey, boy. Well, it all started out at this one's show. Now these words follow me. Wherever I go from front and behind It blows my mind

Whoever this girl is man She's being unkind In the USA Or even oversees the damn girl It's from the ocean Just to follow me She horns she turns Like a witch or a ghost

And all that I can do about it Is this way to pulse I'm paranoid to turn around And faces voice cold Invisible, Unstoppable Unable to hold No search I know the school Why don't you try to recruit

I can't Tony Dish She got me not for Who Dude like this There's no feel Like, you know the feeling, the feeling that I'll have when we finally discover that ECM sample of Crooklyn? Crooklyn, yeah, yeah. Like, the relief of like, I finally found out what this sample was.

There's like six what I thought were Philly records that I've been surging for. I never knew that was Emory Search. I loved that record, man. It was, it was like the WOP classic. It was. The Wap Classic. It absolutely was. That's exactly what I was thinking about when I was.

I made the record was like I wanted to do a record that I could Wap to you. How old were you when you made that? I was 20, 1920. Okay. So that was 87 87 87. And mind you, like we had sold like 75,000 copies of that single. I never saw a penny. You know, because Tony D. owned everything. So I go to Funkin Klein. He'd seen me in the Latin Quarter and he says, yo, you know, you should be a part of this battle. I know you rhyme off top of your head and I'm like, yeah, cool. Like I'll show up. Yeah, no

problem. You know, there was a battle. There was like 64 MC's. It was crazy. And a battle just do Ronin Row from BMOC. Yeah, Ronan Row. He used to the source. Yes, he was the MC first. Yeah. He was assigned to select records on a record. He was a group called Big Men on Campus, BMOC, that was signed by Faith Newman, who started her career. Did they have a single out? Yes. What year was it? Do you know? 87. I think I have one of those records. So anyway, I slayed him. Like, it was embarrassing. Like, I slayed them.

Like, I just talked trash about it. Now, what were battles? Okay, now. So battles at New Music Seminar were really cool because they threw on beats that producers made. So all these producers would just throw on beats or what we would rom to, like, records that were hot. And we were just, and it was a countdown clock to 90 seconds, and then you did what you did and you were done. So it was a two-day battle. Now, were you doing real-time battles, or was it like stuff in your head?

No, real-time. Like, I was off the top of the head. off the head. So everything was off the head. That was important back then. For me it was. I mean, the dudes I was battling wrote, and that was my claim to fame,

was that whatever they wrote, I'd be like, oh, why'd you say that? When you should have said it like this and da, da, da, da, da. Now you're getting me pissed because blah, blah, blah, and you should have da da da da. So you don't say, oh, I would rip people apart. So the finals were the next day at Webster Hall.

It's top 16. And the first battle I have is with this guy, Raven T from the Mighty Discmasters. Oh, part-time hustling. Love that record. Love that record. And he's baking people with mama jokes. Like, he's doing, like, hip-hop mama jokes.

Right. So this is the only time I wrote in that whole battle, I'm like, I got to come up with some mama jokes, like, to, like, slam. And I said a couple of them in rhyme form, and they were terrible, and I lost my flow, and I froze. And the crowd starts booing me, and I'm getting nervous. And then out of his pocket, he pulls out a piece of paper to get ready. and I went, oh, and I started pointing at the paper.

I'm like, yo, that's how you say your rhymes off a piece of paper. You know, somebody out the crowd, come get me a waiter so I could serve him a whole new plate of rhymes before he's done. Three, two, one, my job's done. Oh! Slate him, slayed him. Oh, man, now you can't pull out the paper. I have no idea.

You are naming, well, wait, wasn't Craig G down with the crew that did a Veronica? No. You sure? You're talking about Craig G. from dropping science, Craig G? Yes. No. From the bad boys? Like, Inspector Gadget Badger? I thought, okay. I thought he was on that.

Okay, okay. It was Mr. Mac. I can't remember, but no, it wasn't Craig G. Okay, you're just naming like a slew of, like, New York emcees and crews that were on local labels that were just killing it. Had impact for, like, one single would never got to the promise. Never got to promise. Like, Dismaster's small-time husband. Like, if we were... If the Roots ever do their eventual cover album one day of, like, obscure shit, like, that will be my solo join.

I think small-time hustle is like the last rhyme. I'm a bite because I know no one don't know this shit. Right. Like, it was just such a humorous, hilarious song. And what happened? I don't know. And the rhythm radicals? Like, after I beat them, I never saw him again.

So I come off stage and Mr. Magic is behind me, and he's skied up. And he's like, yo, white boy, give me the mic. I'm like, nah, I'm about to go on. He's like, motherfucker, don't you know who I am? I'm Mr. Magic. I'm like, I don't give a fuck who you are right now. I'm about to go on stage. And they call me, and a dude douses me with a thing of water.

So it was, Red Alert was a judge. It was the dude from UTF, who I'm also OD, who went to rehab. Not a... Gango... No, not... Oh, educated rapper. Educated rapper. And somebody, George Hinojosa from rap syndicate.

Oh, wow. So they were the judges. And I was battling this dude, Bango, who was signed to rap syndicate. Okay. And I'm like, you know what? I'm not even going to worry about this dude. I said, yo, put the beat on. I got to tell you all the story.

And then I went on a diatribe about how Mr. Magic was really Mr. Tragic. And WBLS was really WBL Fest, because you couldn't get records played unless you put money on the table and a dude snorts coke and I'm going on and I'm like you know I would never go to BLFest I'd rather listen to Red Alert all day

just going yeah and I'm talking And you didn't feel no sort of Because back then Wouldn't you get bum rushed for some shit? No not because I had all my people with me Wow

So again and I'm like educated a rap I'm glad you're feeling better And like you know like Just pointing to everybody Real time rap Real time rap Crowd goes crazy Bango does this whole other verse

about saving South Africa as some shit A M-R-I-C-A Angola, Suaito, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique and Basque Water So let us speak about the motherland

So walkness to the hundredth So he does that thing So then I just take my name off the There was this big thing It was Delco and I said my name is search I'm about unity Not black or white I want to have a hip-hop community

and I'm just like going off the top of my head and like in the crowd goes crazy, crazy. And I go backstage and they're about to do the voting and I feel somebody rubbing my shoulders and I turn around, it's Russell. And he says, if anybody asks you, tell him you sign the Def Jam. Wow.

And my mother and my father win the audience. Wait, what club? It was the Webster Hall, New Music Seminoff. I said, you're going to last on. No, no, no. I'm like, wait a minute. for the new music seminar battle.

So they came with me and I said, Mom, I think I just got a record deal. Like yada-da-da-da-da-da. But there were two problems to that. Problem number one was Tony D. Problem number two was coordinating everything with Pete and getting that together because he thought I was a soloist.

Right. So now I have a real attorney go through the Tony D contract. And there's a bubble already in the street, like, oh, search is signed in the Def Jam. Search is signed in a Def Jam. So in the Com. My lawyer finds a clause that says, if you want release at the fourth year of the contract, you can at 30 days send a letter of release to a PO box office in Brooklyn that I knew Tony never checked because that's why he sent all his bills.

It was a really weird clause. Yeah. It was an escape clause. Why would he? I have no idea. Like I said, I think it was a boilerplate contract and he didn't even really read it. So before I started negotiating with Russell, we sent them the exit clause. I had to wait six months, and I sent him the exit clause, and I sent it to that PO box office.

And I sent it, and I was out of the contract. But when I did that, I also released- Did Tony know that you did that? No. But when I did that, I also relinquished all the rights to Jimbrowski, all the rights to Hayboy. And that next month, Red Alert, did that $900,000 deal with the Jungle Brothers to Warner Brothers. So I lost all that money. to that deal because I was a partner in idler

so I had to give I had a walk away from that so they it was 875,000 so um wow I'm sorry you know I'm saying by that for done by the forces well that yeah yeah done by the forces in nature so did you always think you were going to get the money and the first deal? No I knew my lawyer told me if he

if they ever went and sold the masters that I would never get the money because this basically relinquished me from all rights so I knew it was just like it was a rat's a wash yeah it was a wash so I was like freedom him for a wash. You know, I looked in my career the first half of my career as these are the dues I will pay to get to blank. You know, I always thought that in the 20s, you learn.

At the 30s, you churn. So you sift out, and then the 40s you earn. Okay, yay. And then the 50s. Oh, I'm looking forward. And then the 50s on, you return. So you pay back. Okay.

So that's how, like, I kind of. kind of always looked at my life. And I always kind of, because of that plan, I always said, okay, I'm going to be here when I'm 30, I'm going to be here when I'm 40, I'm going to be here when I'm 50. Like, I always kind of try to map out my life and try to follow it. And of course, it didn't go as I thought it would, but it was close. Like I said, okay, I'm going to be an executive producer of a record in 94. And then, you know, Nas came out. And I'm going to sign a production deal with Warner Brothers in 96. And then I did nonfiction. So repeat this mantra one more time. In the 20s you learn in the 30.

you churn. So you sift out, 40s you earn, and the 50s you return, get back. I was just making sure no one burned or anything. Right. No, no, no. Learning, learning is, there's burning and learning. Like, you have to sometimes give up things to learn things. You also have to lose to learn. Those are the valuable lessons. Like, look, when the roots got signed, you were like, it was a demo of you guys playing overseas. Like, it was like, you know what I'm saying? Like, when you did you deal with Wendy Goldstein, there was no even. knowledge of the roots in the U.S.

Right. You know what I'm saying? So like, whatever deal you made, that was your learning period. That was your learning curve. It was. And if it wasn't for those records, if it wasn't for those first two albums, you would not have established yourself the way you did. And then the rest of it was churning,

so sifting through people and thank goodness you found Richard in your life, may you rest in peace, and then you had all of that. And now is your earning period. And you deserve that. And then you will return that. And you know, so I'm saying, like, that's, I'm not returning no money to you It's not about me

He just means return to the world To the universe Why do you look at me like where my money Because I wanted to make sure you heard search When he said but then you will return it We talk about this a lot on this show So I just we have a lot of people You being here is returning

So anyway But to get back So the Def Jam deal kind of comes through And Leor Who's now managing Rush Things still thinks I'm a soloist So I'm doing records on the side with Sam Sever. I'm doing a demo as a soloist because that's, you know,

Dante Ross is now involved because he's, you know, my boy signed a rush. And like, you know, it's a whole different paradigm shift of who I'm dealing with. Like, Leor knew me because he'd seen me perform with Jam Master Jay and Jam Master Jay. And Jamest J introduced me to, you know, it was just like this whole connection of this insulated people that I grew up around over the last three years in hip hop. I want to ask you about Sam, man. Talk about him. because he was just a guy I always thought never got the credit. You're absolutely right.

You're absolutely right. Sam started his career doing beats with Mantronics. Ah. All the early sleeping bag stuff, even like Hungry for Your Love. Hanson and Davis? Hanson and Davis. Hungry for your love. That was Sam 7?

He did the percussion. He did the beats. So, wait, what was he doing for Mantronics? He was doing the beats. Mantronics is the crew. Oh, my God. So, yeah, so him and, him and, wait, I need a new one now.

Wait, why don't come back against the next? Wait a minute. That's a good one. So, Sam started his career. For beats was Sam? Sam and Mantronics together. Yeah. So all of that stuff.

Hungry for your love, Joyce Sims, Colonel Abrams. And Colonel Abrams. All of that. And then he did the beats for tougher than leather. And that's how he got connected into Rush and Def Jam and all of that. Really?

Yeah. So Dante and Sam were best friends. They used to do graffiti together. Sam used to write Sever, and Dante Ross used to write system. So they used to do graffiti all the time. And Dante was like, yo, you got to hook up a man, Sam. Sam will work on your demo for Def Jam. Right?

So I'm doing these records, and I'm going to keep it 100 with you. Like, I was happy with them because I would love being in Chunking, and I love being in the studio with Sam, and we would go to Sam. I mean, he lived right around the course. corner in Canal Street. Like we would be in his apartment. He'd have his SP, he'd have his Akai. We would demo, demo, demo, and then we'd go in a studio and then spend 12, 14, 15 hours in a studio, like, sandwich just smoke weed and stay up all night and, like, be in a studio. And Kevin Reynolds, who was our engineer at the time, like, it was just fun. But there was

something that was, like, missing for me. Like, and I know you feel this and fine, I know you can relate to this. The Jews can't. But I know you can't. You know when you make a record and there's that thing in the back of your neck. this like not right. Mm, suspect. Like, loved it when I said it,

played it back, mm, skeptical suspect. But maybe I'll slide under the rug. Right, right, and nobody'll notice, but they always do. They always notice. Like, that's how I felt about my demo.

I'm like, uh, skeptical, little suspect topic, but maybe I'm just being overcritical. And sure enough, Leorne Russell decide that

the guy who created their deal at Def Jam at Columbia, a guy named Steve Robowski, who went to A&M and was the president at A&M, he was looking for two soloists. There was a kid in Houston named Rahim, and there was a kid in New York named MC Search. And he was going to sign one of us. So Steve Robowski is being lined up, like, Lear's like, you've got to sign this kid, search. He's incredible. So he's flying out to see me. And that same night, Dante calls Sam and says, yo, there's this dude, a friend of him. of mine who I play ball with, he's stuck in the studio. Clark Kent was supposed to meet him.

He fronted on him. He's got all this money lined into doing this demo. Like, Sam, can you go over there and help him? And Sam goes to Chunking and it turned out to be this kid named Pete Nice. And Pete Nice was working on this record that he had this sample from some alternative band. Okay. And the next day in the morning, Sam calls me, he's like, yo, dude, you need to come meet this dude. I'm like, who? He's like, Pete nice. I'm like, I know Pete. Like, he's managed by Lumumba Carson.

Like, I know Pete. Lombo, no, no. X, Klan? Yeah. Wow. So I go to Sam's house and there's Pete. And they're like, yo, I got this sample. It's from this band, Depeche Mode.

Sam's like, yo, I freak the sample. I added the drums and I hear, bam, bam, bam, boom, bam, boom, bam, bam, bam, bam. Bam, bam, down. Right. Right. Right. Hard is hard as,

Chinese arithmetic, avant gada, not a heretic, stick out of right round, picking it in my cranium, Pete, nice elementary like uranium. And I'm just like, oh shit! I'm like, yo, I got a verse. We go back to the lab. So where's the wisdom of remix?

No, original. We go back to the lab. We go to Chunk King. I drop my verse literally in three takes. Then Pete does another verse, and I do another verse. And in the same breath, we do triple stage darkness, and we do one other record, like in a matter

of hours. It's like an arranged marriage. Like, no, no, no. It's kind of you know each other's last names? No, we did. We did know. We know each look, I'm gonna keep it like 100. Like I used to like laugh at Pete when he used to try to get in the Latin quarter. Like, he'd be like, oh sir, he hooked me up and I'm like,

okay, pal. And I just keep it moving. And now here he is. And he's like, kind of a competitor of mine on Rush. And I'm like, you know, and I'm like, all right, let's just form a group. And Sam's like, I'm going to be the DJ and we'll be three to Hardway. So prior to the recording, you and Pete, y'all knew of each other but didn't know each other. Didn't know each other.

Oh, wow. So wait, can I ask something? Sure. You remember the first time you ever heard Terminator X-Beak? Yeah. Yeah, and it's like total. And you realize he was right. Because of Pete's tough exterior.

Like, was he really a dweeve and a geek? No. It wasn't that. He just had a lot of, like, because he played ball. He's very Sean Pinnish. He's very Sean Pinnish. That's a very good way to say. He had a lot of swag with him.

Yeah, he had a lot of swag with him. Okay. Or a lot of flavor. Okay. A lot of flavor with him. Spunky. Well, I felt you had the flavor and he was this really tough. A straight man.

What transpired was I was like the street kid and he was like cleaned up and he had like the esoteric verses. But I always connected to the street dudes. Okay. You know what I'm saying? And that's kind of how we were always perceived. Like he was in a suit and high and in a cane. And I was always like...

P. Pint minister Pied. Nice. Right. Yeah. Yeah. So Steve Robowski comes to Chunk King. And me, Sam, and Peter sitting there. And this other dude that used to do A&R who wound up doing stuff for, like, Slayer, a guy named Scott Koneg, is with Steve.

And he's like, oh, so search, tell me about yourself. And I'm like, yeah, but it's not search anymore. It's this group called Three to Hardway. Check it out. And we play him Words of Wisdom. Thump it. Play him triple stage darkness. Dumpin.

Play him, Proct, Environment. Dump him. He's like, eh, I don't get the group thing. It's too much like the Beasties. And I'm like, wait,

Beasties, like I said, we got credibility in the street. He's like, eh, let me think about it. So I'm like, okay,

well, you know, go think about it. An hour later, we're in the studio. An hour later, John King, who owns Chung King,

goes, uh, Leor just cut all your funding. You're all fucking kicked out of the session. Oh, shit. You're all done. Get out.

Get out now. I go to Rush. Leor is fuming. Like, yo, you had a fucking deal. You fucking cock sucker. You had a fucking deal. I gave you a fucking deal. You fucked up the deal with these two fuckards.

I don't even know who the fuck they are. And I'm like, wait, he's not signed a rush. Fuck no. I don't know him. You fucking asshole. Wait, what? Right? Because Dante and Sam had made it seem like Pete was also signed a rush.

He wasn't. He wasn't. He wasn't signed a rush. He wasn't. I'm sorry. So I'll never forget. My mom was like, well,

I heard about this thing called Hytman. Can Pete be your hype man? And you'll be an MC search and it'll be featuring Pete Nice. And you'll be your hype. And I'm like, nah, you know,

we're a group. It's just the way it is. And basically they kicked us to the curb. And it wasn't until that battle that Russell came back and was like, yo, if anybody asks, you sign the Def Jam.

And that's how the circle kind of developed itself. So, yeah. So when Russ came back, that was after they had kicked y'all out of Shunking and everything. Oh, wow. If you're just joining us, we're chatting with MC Search and his many, many, many, many, tales, the great adventures of MC Search. Man, listen.

This shit needed to be a Netflix series. We didn't even get on the road yet. We didn't even get to the first single. All right, search. Yes, sir. You kind of passed a period that every guest that's been on this show. has gone through. You got to give us a Latin quarter story.

I have thousands. Don't, dun, don't, give us your best three. Best three? Number one for me of all time was Scott LaRockney, rest in peace, KRS,

and Melly Mell. Yes. So, have you heard this story? The push-ups. Coutip has told the story that he was there. Okay, all right. That's a legendary one we've heard.

What was Mell's role in the Latin quarter. Mel's role was he was like the heckler who let go? No, not a heckler. He was like... Waldorf and... Yeah, no, he was the elder statesman. You know, there was this this strange paradigm

around 86, 87 that was more like there was the old guard so you had fearless forward problems of the world today and you had Mel and Grand Master Flash and then you had you had Tila Rock

And you had all these great and, you know, treacherous three, and you had all of that. And then... So they were still coming to the Latin Quarter? Yeah, they were all like Busy B for sure. Busy Bee would do his routines. Abom de Bommed it, bommed. So was Latin Quarter the first hip-hop club to come to Manhattan? Yes.

And was that a big deal? Yes. It was a huge deal. It started with Celebrity Tuesdays. The awesome two would have a showcase called Celebrity Tuesdays. They had the real, like, their show was like a big show in New York, their radio show. Okay. So they would have, like, Celebrity Tuesdays.

come out and then Paradise and Lumumba got together and started promoting Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at the Latin Quarter. And basically what would happen is all the Yardis would come out, like they would do an after-hour party, I mean, an after-work party, and then we would go in. You know what I mean? So the Yardis, like Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and then Fat Raoul would be DJ-R-R-O would be the house DJ, and then we would come in, and then it would be the hip-hop night. You know what I mean? Now, how were the owners with this, or was it just like? The owners were... It was like Timberland.

Like, ah, okay, black's here, so we might as well just... Just fucking accept it, right? Yeah. Yeah, no, Mike Goldberg, it was weird because Mike Goldberg, who is still alive and still lives in the city and own the Latin Quarter from the 30s. And it's funny, you want to hear some crazy? My mother performed at the Latin Quarter. Crazy.

1938. Nice. So he always knew that there was this vibe and this energy around this music. And his only concern was to keep people safe. and to make money. Like that's all he cared about. Like he didn't want anybody getting hurt and he just wanted to get paid.

But every night. But every night, like somebody got hurt. Like every night it was like ridiculous. So you would go there knowing, because the thing I can't understand is the fact that everyone that gives a Latin court a story really is sort of bypassing the risk factor involved. It was incredible risk.

So but you didn't really... So you still felt like... Oh, the energy was incredible. The energy was incredible. and, yo, there were so many great records, so many artists like Fresh Force. Like, they had a great record. She's a skeezer.

And then all of a sudden, they become kid in play. And I'm like, wow, that's, like, I remember Fresh Force. And then I would see this group that did a crazy-ass record corny called I like cherries, because cherries taste better and grapes are sour. And then a year letter, they're the audio too, and they do, you know, top villain. And, you know, supernatural MCs,

all of a sudden they become salt and, Pepper. Like, it was all of this amalgamated. Like, I saw Public Enemy perform to their first show and get booed the fuck off state. Yeah, can you describe that? Because no one has the definitive... Okay, so they, Def Jam booked like an

album release party. For public enemy. Or a yo bummer or so? Yes. Okay. It was a Thursday night. Right? Kind of half-empty. A lot of industry types, whatever. A lot of magazine people checking them out. And then the typical crowd that was in there, like, you know, 50

and Decepticons and violators and like all the, you know, five borough kids. And they come on with my 98 Oldsmobile and all you hear is like, boo! And Flavis dancing around and they, oh, boo! I mean, it was horrific. Really? It sounded terrible.

And they did, you're going to get yours? Yeah. And it didn't go over a while. No. And literally Russell was like pulling them off stage. And what people don't realize is the Latin quarter stage, even though it was 10 feet high, was maybe only six. feet wide. So you really didn't have a lot

of movement. So the S-1s are trying to move around. And it was just, it was just, it was not good. And then a year later, so they, really, and it became literally like, that became the song. Like, what was the song that you had to run for cover? The rhythm of the rebel, without a pause. I'm going to Pimp, Pimp, Pip, Pip, Pip.

That was to the club up. That was the one. Tuck your chain, Pee. For about three months, that record came on and you just danced your ass off. And tucked your chaining? No, you just danced your ass off. And that record became the biggest record in New York and the hypest record in New York. And month four, it was tuck your chain and get off the fucking dance floor.

And the kids who were new jacks to the Latin quarter, they got robbed. Because all the other kids, I owe you dances and all that. We were already on the side. We were just watching the girls violated. They would just be like, PIP! Bad boy earrings off. Chains off. PIP, pip, yeah, I will say.

That became the record that, like, you just, that, you knew there was also ultramagnetic. MC's ultra, oh, here we go. Eagle trip. Off the floor. Off the floor. Really? Pip, pip, pip. Pipp.

So when you hear these gunshots, not gunshots, that's people getting punched in the face. Yeah. Gun shots are blocker, blocker, blocker. Bip, pip. Oh my gosh. Sirs, you got so many this nigger moments. Lord Heaven. See, in my mind, Rebel Without a Pause was like,

like you were too young. How were you in 1987? Eight. So, I mean, you might, did you have older, did you trickle-down economics? Yeah, I had, I had bone rush a show my aunt at the time. I guess she was like dating the guy. No, no, no, no, it wasn't her.

My aunt was straight, like, black, yuppie. Okay. Phyllis-Timeon, like, Ray Parker, Jr., oh, she was straight on me. Oh, man. Straight on me. Straight bowhuggins, baby So, yeah, she was that

But my aunt, she had, I guess it was a guy She was dating at the time, he had The Public Enemy tape, and she had it in her, she had a little box she would take the teacher, she was a school teacher. Right. And so she had a little radio that she would take to school with her, and I'm she had it in her trunk, and there was a copy of Nation of Millions in the radio,

and I just played it, and I was like, what the fuck is this? And I just played it over and over and over. Dude, Nation of Millions was really a year after, like, you know, from Russia's show, but people did a rewind because as soon as rebel came out and nations came out all of a sudden yo comes out and i mean they come back to it and it's like oh it's genius right right right right this is crap right this is how did we sleep on this so it was really one of these things where the latin quarter was really about the true energy of new york so it was about music getting broke

it was literally the information super highway because the five boroughs were in that building even Connecticut, even some kids from like Rhode Island every once in a while, kids from Philly and D.C. Like, you know what I mean? Like it was, so if you ripped on that state, within two days, everybody knew. You would get a call from like your auntie and like Allentown and like my aunt Carol will call me and go, I heard you had a good show at the Latin Quarter the other night. My student, Blaisee Sple. I mean, it was like the information super highway. So it was really like the center, the nucleus of New York music for four years. years was the Latin quarter.

And there were offshoot. Like, you know, you had the rooftop on 155th. Like, that was cool. And you had Union Square and that was cool. You know, and you had little things like that. Like, Union Square was a club? Yep. Union Square was a club on 14th Street. No, Union Square. Yeah, Union Square had a

really cool vibe. Clark Kent was the DJ. The first Fresh Prince Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince show was that. Yeah, that was... The first time, I ever saw Jaze Jeff do the bluebird scratch. Right. Was that at Union Square.

Wow. In fact, I have a signed Fresh Prince Jazzy Jeff record from pop art. Wow, man. Really? Yeah. Jesus. Before they signed to Jive and all of that.

So there were definitely pockets, but then there were underground pockets. So you had the world downtown and like Ice Tea and Rom Syndicate. Like, that's where Ice Tea got to start in New York with six in the morning. Like that popped off in the world. world.

Like that was, and Russell would be at the world. And then you'd go at 4 o'clock in the morning to save the robot across the street. And then Save the Robot was like underground reggae and like really dark, deep dark, like rap records like JVC4, Strong Island. Like you would hear it there. Like, you know what I mean? Or you would go uptown to the S&S on 145th in Lennox and Star Child would be in there and he'd be playing like unreleased shit.

You know what I mean? And you'd be eating breakfast at like 11 o'clock in the morning after partying all night and dude shooting dice and like. You'd leave it like 12 noon. You know what I'm saying? And that was the rotation. That was the rotation for years. Like that was the rotation.

11 to or 10 to 1 at the Latin quarter. 1 to 2 at Union Square, 2 to 3.30 at the rooftop, 3.30 to 8.30 in the morning at S&S. You go get breakfast and then you'd head home. Okay. So I'm going to take this time. I see how cocaine got popular. Yeah, right? I'm tired. Listen.

I'm going to take this time to segue into what I feel is your greatest story of all time. Because I was shocked that he gave a performance at the Latin Quarter. But now that I think about it, or at least according to Dante, now, am I to believe that Hammer performed at the Latin? quarter and it wasn't to Norville or I get the film that Hammer did the new music seminar and it didn't

go over well. That's correct. But it wasn't a Latin quarter. No, it wasn't Latin quarter. It was, um, I don't remember, I don't remember, but it wasn't a Latin quarter. But here's the thing with Hammer. So, and I'll get to that too. Okay. So I used to go on the road. I was basically Houdini's valet. I used to like iron their clothes and like,

I used to have like a list of girls that like in San Francisco, this girl can't meet this girl and grandma He has to be, has this girl over here and ecstasy and, you know, like I used to, you know, all of that. Wow. So they take me out to a celebrity basketball game and there's this new rapper in Oakland named Hammer who's doing this thing, right? And all my boys are telling me, yo, you should battle him. He thinks he can dance.

Like, you should battle him. You should battle him. Right. So he pulls up in this white Cadillac and I'm like, yo, man, let's battle. He's like, who the fuck are you? That's how you say hello? Yeah. That's exactly how, like, I'm just ballsy New Yorker, like, fuck you.

I don't care where you from. I'm from New York and what. So I'm like, yo, I heard you can dance. Let's battle. And he's like, fuck you. I'm like, fuck me. B, come on, come out the call. Let's battle.

Right? He takes off. I'm like, ah, that kid's a pussy. Like, whatever. Right. So we segue into like the new music seminar. He gets booed. Like, it's not going to happen for him.

Yada da da da. And then he does that whole, yo, you're not hitting in New York. Right. And then that's a disc to run the end. which you just don't do. It's sacrilegious. It's just, you don't. Especially because the beginning of, the beginning of turn this mother out?

No, they didn't diss him. New York just thought New York was. Yeah, New York wasn't trying to hear him. Okay. And that was a particular diss to run DMC. Well, that's, that's what we all felt. Okay. We all felt that way.

Whether that's true or not. Because in the videos, like the extras that he's dissing. Right. Are dressed like one DMC. Exactly right. It's right. It's right. But they didn't diss him per se.

No, they didn't say, he never said F run DMC. and FM Master Jay. It just happened to be that they were in Adidas suits with hats on looking real run-d-MCs. Side new. So on a quiminized chunky fire, when they played that source clip at the end with, you know, we just want to say the South got something to say.

I kind of got Big Boy to admit a little bit that they felt some sort of way about all East Coast rappers because we really weren't jelling with outcasts all that much in the beginning. Yeah. No, I mean, we're cool to shit now. But in the beginning, they had a chip on their shoulders because they just assumed that anyone who was at the Source Awards booing them as they got Best New Artist was like a part of it.

So obviously, y'all were there. So, you know, like, you know, like, this is like a general blanket thing. So now I see. And for me, for Jammaster Jay to be the one in that room in that basement in Seagate in 1985 to co-sign me and tell me like, yo, meet us at the bus outside of Hollis Ave. get on the bus with Ronnie Ray and all of us and open with Davey DMX and do what you do and him giving me like great advice on how to rhyme and Ron flow and and hanging out with Joey and DMC and just and being a part of that like my biggest mistake is I loved hip hop so much

I felt I had to protect it at all costs like I really thought it was my job savior no not the same cap the same culture I felt like I was the night at the roundtable who was the defender of the culture. Because it had given me so much. Like it had given me, the streets had given me so much. The quarter gave me so much. Like there were so many times that 50 was like, your search back out. We were about to stick this whole place up, like get out. Like these dudes were looking out for me. So it's like, this motherfucker from Oakland, what the fuck you doing? You're whack. Your shit is whack. Period. It wasn't like, you know, F you as a human being. But it was like you're a whack MC. You're whack. I think you're the first person I ever heard call out someone's credibility.

I mean, not in terms of like L.L and Cuomo D going at each other. Or even all, no, no, no. But just straight up saying, you whack. Like you. Yeah. Like to me, yeah. And like when I saw the gas face video, I was like, wow, they're really defending hard. Yeah, it was Austin Jam Master Jay with the hammer.

And we had the two big MC look alike. Grab the hammer and we kick him in his ass. And like, you know. So the real, the beef really came about. line on cactus. Yes. The cactus turned Hammer's mother out. But here's the thing. And again, like people who knew us,

we would never diss somebody's mom. It was wordplay. Yeah. Because our album was much better than turn his mother out. Cactus turned Hammers' mother out is like a that's a known fact. Like your shit is whack compared to the cactus. Nobody's checking for your shit 25 years later.

My shit is still bumping. And that's unfortunately, but that's how I feel today as a almost a 50 year old man like I'm still like yo your shit is whack you know I mean so I took it on my shoulder like I was like I have to protect this like I have to so we're getting ready to come out to L.A and um we're doing a whole week of promotion like the cactus is doing real well we're doing a property environment Jeep giveaway a K day you like there's all this cool shit I'd never been to L.A. before so I got Shantelle with me Pete got his girl Roxanne. Daddy Rich got his girl Monet We're like, we're all excited.

We're getting to JFK. We're getting ready to go on a plane. And there's a call that comes into Carmen Ashurst Watson, who is then the president of DeafJamp. And we believe it was Lewis Burrell, Hammers' brother. And he says, yo, is third base still coming to L.A.? And she goes, yeah, why? He goes, good, they're dead and hangs up the phone.

So she's like, hmm, that's kind of weird. So she calls Russell. And like, Russell, I think there might be a problem with third base. Like, I think they might be indebted. danger. So Russell does what he does. He reaches out to the person who's closest to the street, which is Eric B. And he calls Eric

Barrier and he's like, yo, Eric, can you find out if there's something going on about third base in L.A.? Within 20 minutes. He calls Russell back. He's like, yeah, there's a hit. There's a hit out on third base. So Russell says to Eric, like,

you know, Eric, well, Eric B is always connected. Like Eric B's always been connected. So me and Eric with tight. And then something happened. I don't know. Oh, no, I know it happened. Let me tell the story real quick.

I'm signed a rush. Third bass album is about to come out. We got about three or four songs to do. Leor calls me out of the blue and says, hey, we got a problem with Rakim. He's got writers block. I need you to write a song for Rakim. And I'm like, and just so you know,

Rakim's my favorite emcee of all time. And I ain't no joke, to me, bar none is the perfect rap record ever made. Just period. So I was like honored. I was like flattered. Like you're going to ask me like a white devil to ask the God. I'm going to write the God MC a verse.

Yeah, I'm going to write him a verse. I'm going to write a beast. So me and Pete come to my parents' house and we're like, what would he say? So I get into Raqin mode. I'm thinking about like, you know, paid and full. And I'm thinking about all of this. And all of a sudden I write ready in the intro. Cube the searchlight.

Eric's to the center stage. I grab the first mic, projecting the voice with this mic, then I'm cuffing. You ain't my knuckle, suck on snuffing. The word of Rock Kim stands truce and no panicking. Man verse man, you freeze up like a mannequin. That could be a rock. Whoa.

That's all you let go. Was that? Yeah, the internal rhymes is. To dwell upon the stepping on the trigger has a tune smack. That could be a rockin verse. B gave me the cue, so I'm gonna put up a shut up until my jam is through. So now I want to freak him.

And that's how I'm hearing Rock Kim's voice in my head. And I'm hearing him saying, now I'm to freak them. So I'll embarked, sparking mission posse, the way past dark on parked there's no standing. I'll play the five-bow, you don't stop moving until Rakim say so to keep the tribe hoping, shooting out to play him. Me and Eric Bia keep you stepping

to the a.m. Write the whole shit in 15 minutes. So I write the whole record in 30 minutes. I go next day to Leor. He's like, yo, I'm going to call Eric. And I'm amped. I'm excited. And when Eric picks up the phone and Leor

goes, Eric, I had search writer verse for Rakim. I hear silence. And I get shook. And then I go, so, Eric, this is the record I wrote called Stepping to the A.m. Click. And then Denise at the front desk goes, Leorre, Eric B's on line too. He wants to talk to you by yourself. So I'm shook.

Now I'm really shook. Like I don't know what I just did. Like I don't know what I just did. All I was trying to do is help. Like, no, it's all I was trying to do is help. Because they called you. Right. Yeah.

So I'm told by Simone, who at the time was the assistant for Russell and Leior, Leorre doesn't want you to move until he tells you. Stay here and wait. That's all I get a message for. and I sat in that office for five hours at 6.30, Leor called me upstairs and he goes, why didn't you tell me you had beef with Eric B?

I said, I said, Leor, I don't have beef with Eric B. He's like, Eric hates you. He doesn't know why you would think about writing a record for Rakim. He's fucking furious. I almost lost him as a client, he's going off on me. And I'm like, yo, I said, Leor, I had no idea.

Like, I didn't know. Like I started telling him the wine dance store He's like Search Fix yourself Get the fuck out my office So fast forward Eric B finds out there's this hit on third base

Russell says Wait wait Wait What was the beef? No I don't know what the beef to this day I still don't know what the beef is I don't know what to be But all I know is

Eric's reaction And telling Rakim that Rakem that Rakem took two weeks to finish follow the leader. So I don't know if there's a connection there, but whatever, like, whatever happened between Eric and Ra, like, Ra either got over his, and I'm not saying I had anything to do with it. I'm just saying, like, whatever happened with Eric and his conversation with Raq Kim, Rakim was motivated to finish follow the leader. So Eric never stepped to me, like, we never had a

problem, but I will tell you that I had a problem with Rakim the same week with Hammer, and I'll tell that story, too. So, um, Eric, finds out there's a hit and Russell says to him well yo can you do something about it and Eric says nah let it happen and hangs up the phone right now let it happen so Russell calls him back this and again I'm hearing this second hand from Russell and Carmen right you know but they call them back and they say well can you tell us who we need to talk to and Eric says yeah this guy my conception so they call my conception and they say Mike we hear there's a problem you know with third base. He goes, yeah, you know,

we got to take care of those kids. I'm sorry. It's just, it's the way it is. And Russell's like, I can't, that can't happen. He's like, well, I'll tell you what. Because you're Russell Simmons, we'll just hurt them from the waist down so they can still do television. What does that even mean? It means that he was going to put us in power lights and put us in chairs. So Russell's like, that can't happen either. How do we stop this whole thing?

And Mike Inception says, okay, there's two ways that we can stop it. He goes, because, you know, there's like 50,000 members of the Crips that all already know about the hit and yada da da da da da he's like so there's two ways that this can happen he said i'm having a hard time getting a distribution deal for a record that i'm trying to do about peace gang piece called we're on the same gang he's like if you can help me get distribution irony right right if you can help me get distribution that would be a and b tomorrow night's the american music awards i want to sit next to michael jackson tomorrow night so this is literally have 24 hours to make this happen right so they called donnie einer and Tommy motola

And they basically say, yo, Don't ask me why. This is some street shit. I need your tickets. And Donnie's like, I'm sitting next to Michael Jackson. Like he's about to be the most celebrated artist of the decade. He's like, you don't understand. We got a guy in a wheelchair who's going to need to sit next to Michael Jackson. And sure enough, 1990, American Music Awards.

I watched it last night. He's sitting right next to Michael Jackson. So we're in the air like, L.A. Not knowing Not knowing shit Not knowing shit With your women And we touched down

And I got my girl and I'm hugging up on shit Oh my God we're in L.A. It's going to be great We come out the gate and this is not back This is pre-9-11 You're smoking cigarettes in the front In the gate like you know Nothing We come out the gate

It's all of us stocked together All of a sudden Ten dudes Put a black tarp over our head No, no. And they go, move, move, move, everybody out of the way. Move, move, move.

Put your head down. Third base, put your head down. Everybody put your head down. Move, move, move. And I'm bent over, and I can see Pete next to me bent over. And I look over to him, and I go, oh, my God,

we're bigger than the Beatles. I thought it was a good thing. And they move us into this armor-plated van. Keep your heads down. Keep your heads down. And I'm like, oh, my God. We're killing it. We're killing it.

We're about to be killing it. We are huge. Like, I didn't know we were this huge. We're fucking huge. And they pull up into the Hollywood Hyatt. You know, like, was he all impressed and everything? Yeah, we were all kind of where. They had to explain to you?

No, nobody explained shit. Did you go to baggage claim or anything? No, they picked up all of shit. They had a guy pick it up. Oh, God. We go to the Hollywood Hyatt. They take us to the top floor. I mean, top floor where Little Richard had his condo.

Right. Right. And the whole floor is blocked off. Like, no one can go into the room, except for Little Richard. Every other condo is locked off. Everybody's locked off. We have security at the front at the elevators. Everybody's being checked.

There's a list of people that are only allowed on the floor. That's it. And I'm like, fuck the Beatles. I'm bigger than the fucking beat. And this is, the album is out. How long has the cat has been out at this? Two weeks. Two weeks.

Two weeks. Oh my God. This is the impact I had on music culture. Oh, my God. Two weeks. Two weeks I'm bigger than the Beatles. This is the only way I would be treated like this. Either on Beatles or the menudo.

Manudo, right, right. So I'm able to sneak by security. I don't know how I did it, but I get downstairs. And outside the hotel is Raqim and Supreme. Mm-hmm. And I'm like, oh my God, Raqam. Supreme, like. Yeah, Supreme.

Yeah, Supreme. So I go up to Raqam and I said, Ra, are you here to see me? And he said, yeah. I said, I said, what can, he's like, yo, I'm going to take you around this hotel. I'm going to beat your ass real quick. Wait, what? Wait, what? And I said, what?

And I said, what? And I said, what? He said, yeah, man, you know, that's seeking a s'clock. settlement, stunt seeking a settlement, I know that was about me, man. Eric told me that shit was about me on that seven to the AM joint. So I'm going to come beat your ass real quick. I said, Rakim, and my voice got real high. I was like, I'm a diso.

Are you crazy? Like, that's crazy. I was talking about some bitches. I la, la, la, la. Supreme's looking at me, like, stone face. Like, and Supreme had looked out for me like a million times. And, like, all of a sudden he's, like, on the other side. Man, Uncle Mel, my security guy, he grabs me.

He's like, get inside. Get inside right now. I'm like, whatever. He takes me upstairs. He takes me to my room. He explains the whole situation. That there's this hit and all of this. And there's a lieutenant coming to stay with us named Pookie.

And I was like, this is some bullshit. Not an officer, lieutenant. No. This guy, a lieutenant. And I'm like, this is bullshit. I'm like, yo, man, I heard about the Beverly Center. Like, I want to take my girl to Beverly Center. Can we get the fuck out of here?

Like, this is bullshit. And they're like, are you fucking kidding me? Like, do you think this is bullshit? All of this is, I'm like, yeah, this is some bullshit. This is not real. I fix all of this. This is not real. So Pookie comes in, and Pookie is like the 6-3 skinny dude, and he got little welts, like, all on his arms.

Right. And I'm like, yo, it's up with the mumps. He's like, ain't mumps, motherfucker. He's a bullets. And I'm like, okay. I was like, well, then, yo, take me to the Beverly Center then. You're supposed to hold me down, hold me down. Take me to the Beverly Center.

And Uncle Mel's like, yo, and Pookie's like, no, no, no, no. Little homie wants to go to the Beverly Center? We'll tell you to the Beverly Center. No problem. Let's get an event. So just to ask you. Yeah. You didn't think, after hearing that story, you still didn't think it can't be that series.

No, no. New York attitude. I mean, even color's been out like you. Fuck that. You didn't want to rent that. This isn't real. No, shit ain't real. That's some New York shit, yeah.

I'm on my New York shit, for real. Like, fuck you, I'm from New York. And everything else is bullshit. I'm from New York. But you understand my mentality. I do understand it, and it wasn't real. It had to be hyped. It had to be exaggerated.

This was bullshit. It couldn't be real. There's no way this is real. I'm taking, my girl, Chantel is with me now. You're embarrassing me in front of wisdom. I want to go to the Beverly Center. My wisdom, my earth is with me.

My earth is with me. You are embarrassing in front of my earth. Like, I want to go to the Beverly Center. You are embarrassing me in front of my earth, God. So Pookie's like, no, no, no, no. A little homie want to go. Technically, Beverly Center, no problem. So Uncle Mel and Pookie and me and Chantel, we go.

I asked Pete, yo, Pete, you want to go? He's like, uh-uh. I'm good here. Yeah, I'm about to say. I'm like, I'm like, you pussy. You're a pussy. This ain't real. So we go to Beverly Center.

And for those who are listening to Beverly Center, had this big circular area like an elevate escalators that go down and it had this like balcony that goes all the way around. So we came up to the balcony area and there's this escalator that goes down and at the time there was like a foot locker

and a little hangout area. And Pookie's like, oh, you know, some people just noticed you. Why don't you go down there? I'm like, well, fucking right, I'm going to go down and see my fans. I'm fucking Elvis in this bitch. So you look like MC Search.

Yeah, high top fade. The whole shit, third base cutting the back. Surrog did it crispy, too, for the album release party? Crispy, crispy, crispy. Go down, little Mexican chicks. Oh, my God, MC Search, I love you, blah, blah, blah, blah. I'm signing some autographs. I'm feeling good about myself.

I'm waving to Wi-Fi. Yada-da-da-da-da. See some guys coming this way. I'm like, ah-huh, ha. Guys over here coming this way. I'm signing an autograph. All of a sudden, a dude that's coming this way. He pulls the bandana up across his mouth.

Goes to get the ratchet. And then I hear this whistle, loudest, loudest, loud whistle. And they all look up and Pookie does some gang signs. I don't know what he was doing. He does this. And the dude comes right into my face. He pulls down the mask and goes, man, I love y'all motherfuckin'all fucking third base. I was fin of smoke you.

But, you know, I love y'all motherfuckers. Yo. Yo. And I'll tell you right there, it was the only time as a grown man, I almost peed on myself. and the other two dudes behind him and like, yo, we good? I'm like, yeah, he's like, yeah, this shit is over.

This shit is good, it's good. And I was like, get me to the fucking hotel right now. Wait, can I ask? The fucking hotel right now. I was so scared I don't even remember the ride out of the Beverly Center back to the higher. What was the, do you know what the value was? $50,000.

Yo. 50 Gs. back in 1989 50 G's 5,000 out of here Wow For both of y'all Just one

No for both of us Anybody who got to us It had to be both of us Dead Not injured dead Dead So we go back to the hotel I now tell Pete shit is real

And Pete's like Yeah motherfucker I Yeah you didn't notice All of this shit You know But I was slow I'm Polish Jew Slow

And so now we have to figure out all this strategic movement because Def Jam had put so much into this next three days like we're giving away Jeep on K day we have this album release party Fox 5 is doing a special on us you know we have all these moving parts

that we can't just cancel like God forbid Russell and Leor should cancel something right right like you know we have to do all of this and Pookie assured everybody that nothing would happen to us as long as Pookie's with us on our side if anybody saw them and he did this the gang sign we

good. So we did not move out of the hotel. We didn't move. Right. The next morning, we had to do the Mac attack. Greg Mack had the morning show on K-Day. Lisa Canning was his newsperson. It was like the only 24-hour rap show in the country. It was the AM station.

It was on this little dirt mountain with an antenna. Like, it was in the middle of nowhere, and a little said K-day. And we went in, and it was the night after the American Music Awards. And I didn't know anything about the American Music Award. I just, I didn't know anything about the deal. I didn't know anything. Right. We just went to Greg Matt, you know, to do the morning show and give away this Jeep.

And so we sit down and Greg Max, hey, what up, third base? How are you guys doing? I'm like, oh, it's cool. I'm cool. Yeah, you know, y'allad, da, da, da, da. Okay, good, good. You know, it's great to have you on. You know, this is Lisa Cannon.

Oh, Lisa, what I? Cracks the mic. Oh, you know, we got third base in the house. the environment Jeep, we're going to give it away. But first, we got a special guest on the line. No. Live from the American Music Awards, winning five awards last night, including album of the year, MC Hammer, Hammer, what's up?

Say hello to third base. I didn't know this part. And I look at Pete and I said, this motherfucker just set us up. He set your up. And Hammer goes, hey, Greg, you know, hey, Hammer, how are you, brother? Nice to, you know, hey, congratulations. What do you got to say, third base? Yeah, man, you know, I just, you know.

I don't understand why you know you had to diss my mom on that record. And I'm like, I'm heated. I'm heated. I was like, yo, I ain't nobody diss your matriarchal, your idiot. Like, nobody diss that, you know. And it's like, and you know what you did. Why don't you come get this ass whooping, you punk? You're a bitch.

Hey, watch your language. No, and you're a bitch too, Greg Mac. You're a punk bitch. Why don't you go to the line? You said that the Greg Mac? Yeah. I said, why don't you go to the phone, see who L.A. likes better. Third base of hammer, that punk bitch.

He's like, hey, watch your mouth. This live radio. I was like, yo, I'll say a whole lot worse, you bitch. All right, we're going to go to the lines. Right? Gonna go to the lines. First caller. Oh, I love third base.

I love the hammer's whack. Hammer gets the ass face. Next caller. Oh, I love Hammer. Third base is whack. Those wannabes da da da da, da, da. They're whack. Next caller.

Oh, I love Hammer. Hammer's dope. Third base is whack. Bye, blah, blah. Next caller. I love third base. You know, search is dope. Pete is dope.

Hammer's whack. I don't know this whole thing about this. and that yada da da da da da da we're gonna take more calls after this and you know right so then he starts taking more calls and i'm telling mel i'm like yo mel if you want to fucking smoke this motherfucker go ahead man i'll give you 10 000 you put a bullet in this motherfucker's head and like legendary great yeah and he's like yo you need to fucking calm down and i'm like you just set us up our first time in radio like this is some good radio to you ps it was good radio yeah right yeah but i'm like you know but i'm insulted and i'm young and i'm dumb and

I'm full of cum, and I'm like, yo, I'm going to fucking smack somebody. So he goes to the callers. He tapes two or three calls. It's between hammering yada, da, da, da. And then he takes a live call. Colo, who's this? Rolling 60 crib, we come before you. Time to go.

Next to that. Everybody out. There's a dad. There we go. Mack didn't know what was going on. He had no idea. We get in a van. We start going down the dirt road.

There's these two 64s that come. come this way. Oh, Lord. Six dudes come out with a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ratchets and, like, and Pookie jumps out, whistles, does this, some wild sign. Like, steal third base if he bunts. All right, he just gave the catcher's, he gave some signs. And those dudes get back in the car and they just back out. Wow. So now the real problem is, oh, my God, man. That night, we have to go to the palace and perform. And it's like everybody. I tell the entire audience.

No, no, no. There's no way to stop it. There's no way to stop it. There's like 3,000 people in the palace. And they've been there since like 6 o'clock in the afternoon. So this is a logistical nightmare, as they say, in the tour business, right? There are blue cars circling the palace, all on Hollywood and vinyl. Just blue cars.

Tons of blue costs. Tons of blue costs. And we can't figure this out. Chantella's crying. Our girls are crying. Like, oh, my God, you're going to die. Not one person said, hey, let's cancel Lily. No, definitely not.

There was no way to, like, Russell and Leor put our lives in jeopardy. They were not canceling nothing. Because Pookie, short, and he got him the seats, and yada, da, da. So what Leor and Russell did was send their guy Big D, who used to be the tour manager. Run DMC. He sent... How do you know that? From the...

It was one of these documentaries I watched. Have you met Fonte? Yeah, I was about just say. All right, good. So Big D comes in, and his job is to stay next to Mike Conception the whole time. Like, his job is to act like my conception security. Right. Because he wants to make sure that Mike's going to keep his word of the, his bond.

The next day, he's doing the final recording. The same day we're doing the palace, Hammer is recording his verse for rural and the same gang and Mike Conception is there and Big D is there. Hammer before he goes into the and I got this from D

before he goes in he says to Mike hey can I talk to you a second in private? He's like yeah but my security guy come with me. He's like yeah that's fine. They go into a room and D literally said Hammer turned to Mike and said why ain't they dead yet?

And Mike said yeah that's not going to happen. but I'll tell you what if anything does happen to third base I'll kill your brother your mother your father your sister your cousins

I'll come to Oakland and wipe your whole fucking family out now get in the fucking booth and do your verse what and to this day me and my conception are like this to this day

so Hammer Goes does his verse and we're like how are we going to get into our own party and Uncle Mel says I got it we're going to dress them as security guard Wait, wait. There's no way this is true. It's absolutely true.

Absolutely true. Right? So he says, we're going to dress you up as security guard. So we put on the CSC security jackets, Kevlar. I cover in my high top fade with a scully. Pete's guy. And we got dark glasses and my girl's crying and like it's all upsetting and everybody's upset. And we sneak into the venue and like they make a comment.

like everybody who's wearing blue, blue jeans, you gotta get out. And Pookie has now like 10 dudes with them and they're like checking the audience. And we're backstage for like two hours. And Pookie's like, yeah, venue's clean. Nobody's here, yada, da, da, da. Can I ask something?

Sure. How come Pookie just didn't come out on stage first and then gave the baseball signal? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Oh, my God. Pookie's like the original Twitter.

Yeah, right. Pookie is Twitter. So we find out it's all clear. It's all good. But girls come in. NWA is there. I take a picture. I gave NWA.

I gave Easy. My third base gives them the gas face hat. I wore the Oakland Raider hat. We're taking pictures with Dre and DOC and De La Sol is there. L.L. jumps on stage. There's a freestyle. Like, have a great night. Great night.

Everything's peace. All done. And that's the MC Hammer story. Wow. And Mike Conception, he's still alive. Still a lot. lives in Malibu. Oh, wow.

He lives in Malibu. He's still paralyzed, but, you know, he lives in Malibu and still involved in the music business. And if you and M.C. Hammer are in the same room today. So let me tell y'all a story that you don't know that I saved just for Amir. I didn't even know the part two. You've been blowing his mind the entire evening. So, like, the first time I heard this story, it stopped at my conception on sitting in the audience. I didn't know about great bag.

Okay. So I saved this just for you. So about two years ago, I get a call from a producer friend of mine who did a movie called Black Dynamite. My man Scott Sanders. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Scott says, yo, I just heard you in Moshe Kashar on The Champs. We want to do a movie on The Hammer Story. The only problem is we got to get Hammer to say okay to it.

And I'm like, okay. I said, cool. You know, he's like, are you going to be okay with that? And I said, let's take it one step at the time because I don't think Hamill will ever say it's okay to make this story. And, you know, because basically, and I didn't know this, but I found out later, that even the idea, and I forget what it's called, but even to commit murder, the, um, oh, yeah, it's conspiracy. There's no statute of limitations. You go to jail for any, conspiracy to murder is a 25 year sentence, regardless of it happened in 89. 96 or yesterday.

So it takes about a year and they finally sit down with Hammer and his two agents from CAA. Right. And I get a call from Scott and, you know, this is a process that's been taking a year. So I get a call from Scott. He goes, yo, you're sitting down? I said, yeah, what's up? He's like, I met with Hammer.

And I said, really? I said, he said, yeah, Hammer wants to do the movie. Oh my God. I will be in the front row with popcorn. Hammer has one request. Uh-oh. That at the end of the movie, he's the hero that his mom said he shouldn't do the hit and he didn't do the hit. And he's the hero of the movie.

Oh, no, no, no, no. And I said, you know what? Fuck it. It's Hollywood. It's all good. He's like, but would you do press with him? I was like, hell, no, I'm not doing press with him. I don't want to be five feet near him.

He's like, wait a minute, you know, the red carpet. I said, fuck all that. I said, yo, if I give him this credit. So you've not seen him? Never seen him face to face. And I'll tell you about the OMTV rewaps, the last one. I'll tell you that story, too. So never, never, right?

So we start going through the negotiations. We start talking to, and the first person we go to is Seth Rogan. And he's like, yo, I want to fucking do this movie. Like, I want to fucking do it. Like, no doubt, I want to do it. But Hammer didn't know I was still telling the story. Right. And it gets back to him, I did the champs.

Right? And he hears the story and he's like, oh, fuck, sir. He can't let that shit go fuck him. And the movie was dead. So the closest I ever got to hammer was the final, yo, MTV Raps. I'm now senior VP. The big giant cypher. Yeah.

I'm senior VP of Wild Pitch. I get a call from Ted Demi, may he rest in peace. Like, yo, we're doing the final, yo, come through. Come through. And I was just in some work shit. Like, I wasn't even like stage dressed or nothing like that. And I got like 10 goons with me. Like, I'm already.

with nonfiction, so they're just a bunch of goons. And we come in, and for whatever reason, there was no metal detector, and like, three of my boys got their ratchets with them. And like, we're just, you know, but we're not thinking anything bad. We're just like, you know, just coming from the street, my boys were from Brooklyn, whatever.

We do the cipher, I do my little verse. Everybody does their little verse. Ed Lover comes over and he goes, come on, man, it's the last show, and they're taping this. He goes, yo, it's the last show. Hammers back there. Like, come on, let's make peace, man. Let's just, the last YOM TV wraps.

And I said, Hammers here? I was like, all my boys pulled out the ratchets, started going through the crowd like looking for hammer. Hammer ditched. He went down into his car and took off.

What? The very last episode? Yep. Is that on air when Ed said that? No. No. They never aired it. They never aired it.

That didn't make the cut. Oh, God. That's the closest I've ever been to face to face with Hamel. Well, I guess if somebody threatens your life and your family, you really, it's kind of hard. Yeah. You know, it's funny.

So I've been in recovery for five years. like 11-11 is my anniversary. I've been in recovery, and I'm at the step. Recovery, drinking or drugs? Drugs. Yeah, marijuana. Oh, wow. Specifically, I was, it was bad.

And a lot of it was to numb a lot of pain that I was dealing with that I just didn't want to face. And I'm coming up to the eighth step, which is amends. And my sponsor doesn't really understand my career. Like, you know, he doesn't care about it. But I told them I have this amends I have to make with someone who really wanted to do bodily harm. to me and he said the eighth step talks about making amends with people unless it will cause injury to them or others he's like so technically if you don't want to make amends you don't have to you don't really have to it's really up to you if you think it'll do damage to that person and i was

like i don't think it'll damage that person but if he says something smart i'm going to definitely knock him to fuck out you know what i'm saying like so it's like it's one of these things that I battle with as a grown-ass man, even to this day, like, I'm 49 years old, like, let it go. You know what I mean? But then I think about that day. I think about the black tarp. I think about the guys with the masks. I think about going into my own party as security.

I think about Greg Mack. And it's all like yesterday. No, that's trauma. That's trauma. You know, it's all like yesterday. And it's a part of me that's like, fuck, I got to let it go sometime. Like, when am I going to let it go? Like, when am I just going to let it go?

So everything happens for a reason, right? So this year we were doing a TV show called They Call Me Search. We're in the process of shooting the pilot and getting the sizzled and getting ready to shop it. And that's where I'm going to make peace with it. That's what's up. That's what I'm going to do an episode where I make peace with it. Just about your life, the show? And the show is about my life.

And this is you and hammer. Y'all want to do it? No, no, no. It's ain't got nothing to do with him. This is all my stories. Oh, okay. In a series. A docu-series.

Not even a docus series. Okay. No. 30-minute dramedy. Whoa. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying.

Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement

to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Cliverts show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be.

Listen to The 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 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 America Copa 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 did. serves. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe.

On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. If you're just joining us, you are breathing a sigh of relief. All right, it's Questlove Supreme. We're here with MC Search. About the search. Oh, what were you saying? I was asking about the CACCES album. We didn't even really get to talk about the album.

We went straight to the damn streets, to the shootout. We were on Latin core to the ham. Yeah, so How long did y'all spend on working that record, man? Recording it. So the record took us a year to record and it sat on the shelf for two and a half years.

Are you serious? Wait, 87? Yep, we worked on it in 87 and it didn't come out until November of 1989. So from the time, when you all were at, when you did the battle,

rush comes as like, hey, tell them you're on Dev Jam. We signed six months later then we worked on the album. So a year and a half. And y'all signed as a duo. Where was it, Guadne? When was it finished?

End of 1987, early 1988. And Russell, what the problem was, Russell and Leor didn't think we had a hit on the album. That was Russell's real big deal. It was like, we didn't have a hit. So when I wrote Step Into the AM for Eric B and Raq Kim, I was like, fuck it. This shit is dope. If he's not going to use it, me and Peter are going to use it. So I called, I called Dante.

I was like, yo, Dante, can you hook us up with like Eric Viannodd-Sadler and Keith Shockley and those guys. Like, I want to go out to Hempstead. I want to demo this song. And we did it in about a day or two. We did it with them out there, Vietnam, Keith, Hank. Did you watch them work? Yeah, of course.

Can you please describe to me, like watching the bomb squad? So Keith was really, like I like to call Keith the instigator, Keith would find the samples. Like, Keith was the guy who would, like, dig through the samples. And he was really the instigator. He'd be like, yo, say that rhyme again. Like, say that. So you say the rhyme first.

Yeah, say the rhyme again. Right. And then they would, and Vietnam would start putting the beats down, right? And then he'd be like, oh, I got the sample. And they had that back wall with like $50,000. Right. It's like a whole bag of wall. He was like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And then Keith would be like, oh, wait, wait, wait, I got this. I got this for that. I got this for that. Da-da-da-da-da-da-da. And then they would lay it down. They'd be like, all right, going to the, Go into the booth. Pete, you start. Do your verse first. Search, you come in. Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. And then we go back and forth.

And then we were like, nah, no, nah. Let us do our verse like that. Oh, okay, okay. Okay. We're going to lay the beat down over here. You guys go figure out your verses. And it was really like Vietnam was the instigator. And then Keith was the agitator. He'd be like, yo, that shit, nah, da-da-da. And then we'd go back and forth. And Hank would literally was the one who came in and did the final mixes. So Hank would come in. He would tune everything. He would, hear everything. He'd listen to both speakers. He'd nod, yes, and then he was out. You know what I'm saying? Like, he was like the orchestrator. Hank was like Puffy.

No, no. I wouldn't say, well, I don't, I've never seen Puffy in the studio in all due respect. No, no, no, he's, like, I know that he gets a, oh, he, you don't do no real, like, he doesn't do the work per se. Like, I felt that Eric, Eric was the technology guy. And he was. And then Keith had the, the information of the records he used. Right. And Chuck did all the voices stuff. Right. And then Hank would kind of tune everything.

And Hank was the guy who would sit with the mix engineer and make sure the mix was tight and everything was dope. Well, I mean, for seven. And it's funny. And the funny thing, I just got to tell you this side joke because you know my family. So one night we're in the studio and we're going to take a break. So we go to Irving Plaza. Me, Keith, Vietnam, Pete, Daddy Rich. We go to Irving Plaza.

And at the time, Keith was kicking some shorty, right? and he's going up the stairs in front of us and I go and I go to give somebody a pound behind me and all of a sudden I hear oh oh stop bitch stop and I go upstairs and Keith is getting pounded like to the midsection by this little 5-2 shorthy

she's just pounding him and he's doing the right thing he ain't hitting her but he finally like gets her off of him and yada da da da da and I look and it's Chantelle that's how you met Chantelle No, it's not how I met Chantelle. So we became friends, like, just through the club scene, and I always kind of, I called her Lefty.

I was like, yo, what up, Lefty? Because she had that wicked left. And she would always see me, like, coming to clubs with all different chicks and, like, yada, da, da, da. And her favorite record was Superho by BDP. So she would always call me the Superho. She was like, oh, there goes Mr. Superho. So me and Pete used to host a party at Irving.

Plaza on Wednesday nights and she used to come and check us out and yada da da da and she always thought I was kind of whack as an emcee she didn't really like me so we had recorded we had recorded seven to the a.m. and we were just finishing up the album and I get an invitation through Russell to Spike Lee's do the right thing after party right right so I get a pass and it's for two people and um and it's the date was march uh was like march 18th okay and um i call bobido i call my man i call cool bob love i'm like bob come with me he's like bet he's like i'll meet you down there i was like i you know doors open at six what time you're going to meet me he's like i meet you he's like i meet you there like seven so i get down there like 530 like a little early right and the crowd is like

so so on hip-hop of you no it's so on the hip-hop but it was an early party was it It was a rap party. It wasn't like a hip-hop party. It was Spike throwing a party. Oh, a real party. Like, Red Alert was DJing. And at the time, Red Alert was dating a girl named Darlene. And then there was another girl that was Sabrina, who was literally the first superhead of hip-hop.

Like, she was like, she was like, that was, that was. That was a claim to fame. It was a claim to fame. And I went to high school with us. So, like, I kind of knew, like, that was her shit. And then there was another girl. And there was another girl. And there was Chantelle.

And what was happening is my man. man, big Darrell was doing the door, and he was just taking the girls in one at a time because they didn't have passes. But he was like hooking them up and letting them in. And I was like, cool, you know, I'll just hang out and kick it with y'all. And I had my walkman and my cassette of my demo and the whole thing. And then I didn't see Bobito. So I went to the pay phone. He's like, yeah, man, I ain't coming. I'm not, you know, I'm not going to be there. So I come back out. And I was like, you know what? You guys go in. And when whoever's last, I can take them in with me because I got a plus one. So they all go in.

And Chantel's the last one. And I'm like, oh, you want to hear my demo? She's like, cool. And, like, she was always cool with, like, Q-Tip and Fife. And she was always cool with everybody in the native tongue. So she had a really good ear. So I was like, damn, if Chantel likes this, like, so she listens to her. And she goes, it's cool.

And I'm like, oh, whatever, B. Like, whatever. This is absolutely going nowhere. So we walk in, and Big Darrell says to me, yo, who's Shorty? And I'm like, oh, that's my wife. And she goes, yeah, right. And keeps it moving.

And keeps it moving. So I go one way, she goes the other. We're chilling. It's getting like late. The think tank could die on me. I don't have the think tank anymore. I'm living in my parents' house. And the Long Island Railroad that took me to my house

because you didn't take the, I was done with the A train. The Long Island Railroad, which was close to my parents' house, if you didn't get on like the 157 or the midnight train, the next train was like 6 o'clock in the morning. With some dumb shit. So I'm like looking at my watch and I'm like, okay, I got a time this right. I got a time this right. You know, da, da, da, da.

I'm hanging out. I'm hanging out with Red, yada, da, da, I'm bumping into Chantel. We're making fun of people. I'm like, oh, that's kind of funny. Yada, da, da. Red goes into his reggae session, you know, Barrington Levy and like Bougar Bontan and all that. I'm like, oh, this is my shit. You could do that?

Oh, I can bogle like a motherfucker. Don't get it twisted. Don't get it fucked up. So I see Chantel and I'm like, oh, you want to dance? She's like, yeah, so we're dancing. I'm like, damn, she kind of, she's short, but she looked good. Like, you know, like, she looked really good. So I'm like, all right, let's go kick it over here.

And I'm like, looking at the time, I'm like, you know, I only got a little bit of time to kick it with her because I got to go. And I'm like, you know, we're talking. And she's telling me she's kind of kicking it with K Rock, MC Lights, DJ, and they're like kind of friends and yada, da, da, da. And I said it with like, look, I'm going to go. You mind if I give you a kiss good night? And she was like, yeah, mind if you give me your.

Because I don't even know you. I'm like, okay. Like, all good. So we're talking a little more, talking a little more. I'm looking at my watch. I'm like, yo, I really got to go. I'm like, all right. I said, look, I really had a good time.

It was great talking to you. You know, is it okay if I give you a kiss good night? And she was like, yeah, okay. And I kissed her, and it was just fireworks. Like, I never felt like that from a kiss before. So there were these big, big, fucking weather balloons attached to cinder blocks some real cool, like rap party shit, right? Like, corny.

And I drag one over. She's like, what the fuck are you doing? And I said, this is what you're going to tell our grandchildren I gave you as my first gift. And I said, I got to go. And she's like, no, you don't have to go. Why don't you just stay at our apartment? And she was like, I was like, work? She's like, relax.

We got a sofa. So I stayed. And the next day, March 19th was my dad's birthday. So I had to run back home And I celebrated my dad real quick And then I went back And we have been together ever since 28 years And that was, what year was that?

That was 80? 89. Yeah. And this is before the record. Oh yeah, even before. Feels like our first Quest Love Supreme Love story. We don't really tell those two off the around here. The day after Valentine's Day where we just talked about breakups for a good half and a half.

You know what? I will say as a liner note junkie no I mean I remember I'm one of them dudes that remembers great liner notes from albums but I don't know why

this is I got the Cactus CD I got it the day before by this point I was working at an insurance agent like I was yeah yeah oh we skipping love okay I see what we're going back to cactus okay no no no Hang on, hang on.

Okay, okay. But, you know, it took me like an hour to get from my insurance job back to West Philadelphia. So, you know, I get done work at 11 p.m. So I remember, like, you know, I'd listen to these CDs in my disc man. And I remember reading the liner notes to the cactus CD. Which was like 15 pages long. Like, we picked everybody in their mother. Exactly.

Because I was literally our last album. Like, I literally looked at it. like this will never sell. We'll do a thousand units. I'll be cool in Brooklyn and we'll be dumped. I mean, I'd never thought we would ever have a career. Why did it sit for so long? Why did it sit for two years?

Because he didn't think we had a hit. And when I did step into the AM, right after we did step into the a and we played it for Russell, he was like, okay, we're going to put the record out. And then two days later we got with Prince Paul and then we did Brooklyn Queens and gas face. I see. Okay. Wait, wait, wait, we're going to love. I don't get my point.

Fuck love. Oh, see. That's the problem. You see search. We're getting to the harder things here. All right, but go ahead. I just want to get my point out was that I was really seeing Chantel, I'll make an honest woman out of you yet on. On the liner notes.

Like, I was like, yo, that's some real shit. Like, I don't know why that's always stuck with me. No, most people don't do that. That's some real vulnerable shit to put out there. Yeah, I mean. Yeah, I mean, my wife and I left all the time. We've been together 28 years, three of them good. And, I mean, just, I mean, with all, you know, listen, being married to a.

artist is tough. I was going to say how it's tough. It's apropos that he's on our Valentine special. So it really is. Yeah, you have probably one of the only successful marriages. Because as a cat has just had a break up. What do you mean you just had a break up? You just got with your girl. Hey,

ho, hey, hey, ho. It's a long story. I mean, because the thing is, is that to have true love, like the love you talking about, or to really grab the brass ring. I feel like you can only worship one God. Yeah, he only thinks that he doesn't

think it's possible to like have a functional love life and I guess be a good artist. See, the thing is maybe I'm not being honest about what my goals are. And what is a good woman to you? Just things we need to think about. What do you want to know that for? Anyway, I'm just saying here's the short of it. The long and short of it. Thank you.

Teach us. There's nothing to teach. Because the truth of the matter is I was a fuck up for most of my marriage. I was a young, I was young, dumb, I was running around, I was flirting with chicks in front of my girl, like I was being mad, disrespectful. But I thought that, hey, if I just come home, I make money, that should be enough. And when I thought it wasn't enough, I was like, okay, we'll have kids, and that'll be enough. But that wasn't enough. The one thing I have to say, in all honesty, is that the only reason I know unconditional love is because of Shantelle. Because I know I didn't give her unconditional love for most of our marriage.

I sat my girl down when we first moved into our apartment and I said to her, to her face, you are second to my music. And if you can't live with that, there's the door. I've heard that. I've said that. Yes, I've been on the other end. You said second. I'm like six.

And she looked at me and she said, I'll give you two and a half years of my life. And if you don't wife me, I'm out the door. And I said, fair enough. At what point in the relationship? I'm sorry, was this one year? I'm just curious. We moved in June of 1989.

I married her in November 1991. Made it right under this? Similar to that mama contract. Yeah, I know. Totally. It's very true. It's absolutely true. And I knew, like, there was a lot of turmoil in my life in 91.

The band was breaking up. Like, I was really like, There was a lot of ugliness in my life And she was the one light That I was like, yo, I gotta do right by her Like that's the one thing I gotta do Like I gotta do right But I didn't even

Even though I was raised in a family An insulated family mother and father They were neurotic Jews from New York Like they talked by yelling at each other Like you know what I'm saying You say that like it's a bad thing You know what I'm saying So like when we would have loving conversations

I'm like no this shit is wrong Like, I got to go fuck up so that we can start yelling at each other and have a normal relationship. That's what you see. You know what I'm saying? Like, you know, and we got to a point where she was like, I want to know everything. This was about six months ago. She said, I want to know everything. She goes, I need to know everything.

Everything means everything happened in the past? Does she want to know? Does she really, do they really want to know? She really wanted to know. I mean, 28 years later. So I wrote it down. I wrote it down in a letter. Everything.

How long was that letter? I ain't lying. You're some letter, right, right? Nine pages. I'm about to say, boy, that's, yeah. Nine pages. That's one hell but note.

It was tough. And to watch the pain in a face to see the shit was tough. And yet and still, she said, okay, okay. I love you unconditionally,

richer or poor, sickness and in health to death to his part. I will work on this. with you. We will work on this together. We will build, we will rebuild what you destroyed. And if we can't rebuild it, I'm out.

You know? And this was six months ago. This was, wow. Yeah. That's amazing. What led to that point? Was that a part of your recovery? Something you had to do? No, it wasn't really just about my recovery. It was just, I just needed a clean slate. It's funny because Matthew's here and I'm like

damn Matthew should have left a long time ago, right? I told Matthew And it was like, damn, I just got to grow the fuck up. Like, I'm 49 years old. I got to grow the fuck up. Like, this is, this is like the woman I've been with, like, forever. And she put up with me forever. And she gave me three amazing kids.

And she, like, sacrificed and, like, and I got to make the next 50 years as good as, you know, I got to make it right. Because music ain't going to wipe your ass. No. Music ain't going to feed you. No, you're damn sure right. Music ain't going to help you when you're in a hospital, none of that stuff. No, no. But music got me the life that we had.

True. Music got, you know, music took us around the world. Music got my kids into private university. Music got my kids to go on vacations. Music got me to build Echo Unlimited Clothing. Music got me to be the head of promotions at Def Jam. Music got me the morning show at JLB. Music got me the white rapper show.

Music got me Miss Rap Supreme. Music got me to go. Damn. You know, all of the things, all the blessings that I have is because of hip hop. And she is the biggest blessing, and I took advantage of that for most of our marriage. And now it's about time to give back. See, I think if I were a cat that, you know, because again, I'm in the being in it, we're all in the industry. Right.

And you know the challenges and the, in the obstacles and all that stuff. I don't, I couldn't do that with, not a, not a straight face. Like, what, just to confess all you're saying, just letting it on. Well, no, no, no. I meant just doing dirt and, you know, covering my tracks and. No, that shit's going through emails. It's like, it's a lot. It's a double life shit.

But then on the other side, it's like, does that make me a self-sabotor when I know, like, all right, well, you know, I know that, one, I'm more committed to my career than I am a real, sustainable relationship and I'm more you know I know that I might get bored or might fuck up or like I'd rather dead it and not fuck up or be the bad guy than to waste somebody's time well I don't well I don't think that you know what I'm saying I don't think that

it's necessarily wrong to be you know to say okay you know my career comes first and you know say I don't think there's anything wrong with that I think it's kind of necessary like with music And I can say this, and I know Fonts going to appreciate this. When you make a great song, the only joy I've ever had greater than making great song is watching my children come into this work.

That, I mean, and I hate to say that. Like, I love my wife. I've had amazing moments with my wife. We've been to amazing places. But when I laid the verse for GasFace, it took one take. Like, I've had moments where that song, has like transformed people's lives.

I had a kid. I was in D.C. I was at the children's hospital for kids with terminally ill children. And Cactus album just came out and we went to make a visit. We were with a station there called PGC. And we made a visit. And this kid came up to me and he said, Black had his bad luck.

Bad guys wear black. Must have been a white guy. It started all that. And I looked up and there's about 10 nurses behind him and his mother and they're bawling. And I just, and he huddled. me and I hugged him and I'm like, yo, you spit some good rhyme, Shorty. And he went, and he went back

and they came over to me and they said, that's the first words he ever said in his life. Whoa. Whoa. Wow. And then I started Pauling. You know what I mean? Like, I've had moments where, like, we went to London and did gas face at a time where there was a British, literally

almost an overthrow called the poll tax. That was, Parliament was trying to make a tax where they said that every member in a household had a pay a tax. So it really affected poor people because they had large, like, especially in Brixton and Brighton in the hood,

you'd have 10 or 12 people living under a roof and it would literally be like a year's salary just in tax. And there was graffiti everywhere. And I mean, I'm talking about like burning streets and people walking and we're on tour with PE and we do a show

in Brixton and we're opening and we're about to do gas face and shut it down. And I turned, I told rich cut the music and I went black cat is bad luck bad guys wear black must have been the same queen that set up the pole tax play started going crazy people ran into the street the show was over the next day the daily like third base sets riots in briskston and yada and we're like in bbc and like tell us how you and i mean oh shit but the only moments that i can equate to that is watching my like my children and come into this world,

like watching my wife give birth to our kids. Like music, there's something so powerful about music that defines and goes, especially for a musician. I'm not talking about music lovers. There are certain levels of music lovers. But creative people that have this gift from the most high that they can take something transcribed and then record it and then spend the hours in the studio to mix it and get it right

and master it and then have it touch somebody six months later and then a year later and then five years later and then 10 years later and 20 years later i mean that's like that's like giving that's like raising a child you know what i'm saying and it's and again it's like one of the things that like really i'm passionate about more than anything is this what i like to call a social music commune about people that speak the language of music. Not different languages or not different creeds or races or just who all speak the language of music that have a mutual love of music. And about two years ago, my daughter came to me and she said, Dad, you know, when I meet

people, whether it's on Tinder or Facebook or, you know, whatever, everybody always asked me like, what kind of music I listen to? What's the first album I bought? Where did I, you know, what show did I go to? And that's the connector. the connector and she said, is there, is there an app out there that connects people on their mutual love of music? And I was like, huh, wait, huh. So I called my partner, Ben, who is in Silicon Valley, and we spent six months. And there was a couple of iterations. People tried it and they failed.

And I met Matthew, my partner. And we built an app called a do. And a do is literally a social music commune that we're getting ready to put into beta that literally connects people on a mutual love of music. So whatever music you have in your mobile device, the app will suck it in and break it down into genres, BPMs, the music that you listen to the most, the algorithm will literally feed that. And then we put out what's called a tuner in a thousand mile radius and somebody else you can connect with. And you can get, we say you can get in tune with them. You can tune in. You can tune in. You can tune or tune out. So when you tune in, it'll say, oh shit, Fonk got these songs. This is what we have in common, but this is what we don't have in common. Like, I got like a J. Cole, like,

um, Lights, please, unreleased joint that you might not even know about. And you'll see it on your device because this is the music that we don't share. And you'll send me a share button. I'll show you the app when we leave. You'll send me a share and I can send you that song. And we can build and then have a whole chat about it. We can build and break break. just on music. Wow. And we're doing the beta. We're doing the beta now.

Like we're setting the beta. And if you want to get on the beta, go to beta at get ado, adu.com. But it's that language that we all speak. It's the language you've spoken since you're eight years old, bro. It's that language of music. And now I feel like I've made that connection. If I've had to join who loves son of berserks change the style one and I do. Yeah, my wife right there.

I'm married her. Wait. Let me her. Like he is just scratching. Yeah, no. It sounded good, though. That was nice. Yeah.

Shut up, like you. No, no, that's real. Because music, I think the music you're into, I mean, I think that's... It's such a big part of who you see the world. It's such a big part of who you are. And especially for us who are old enough to say, okay, we knew Ohio players, but we also knew talking heads and we also knew rapture, but we also knew parliament funkadelic, and we watch it develop into...

the last poets or the last poets developed into Lord Tim, and Lord Tim developed into Sugar Hill, and Sugar Hill developed. And we were privileged enough to be a part of that, to be a part of that language that we all got to speak. That's amazing, man. You know what I'm saying? But it's interesting, no, because let me ask the search,

because you're a big businessman, of course, publishing a music industry. So how do you do this, how do you do this app? And with the whole royalty thing and sharing, Does that come into place? No, so just so we're clear, we're not a streaming service. Okay. That's a four-letter word for me.

Like, I'm not going to stream music. Like, I'm not getting into that shit. The basis is very simple. You already own the music that's on your playlist. Okay. You already own the music that's in your library. Not a playlist, your catalog. You already own that.

So when you share it with me, I can listen to it or I can buy it myself. Oh, okay. I don't just have to keep it when you play it for me. I'll get a chance to listen to it, And I say, damn, I like that. And then I can press another button in my tuner, and I can buy the record. But we won't be a streaming service. That's not what we're about.

We're about people connecting on music. So another thing we have is called the in sync option, where Sam might be walking by me and he'd be listening to Masters of Ceremony, right? And then I happen to listen to the same thing and we'll get a ping and be like, oh, shit, Sam's listening to the same song you're listening to you. You care to tune in? And we can tune in. And then boom.

his entire library, he gets my entire library. And I say, hey, what's up, man? I'm Michael. Oh, what's up? I'm saying. Like, yo, you got that Bisi boy cookie push shit? Oh, can you share that with me? And then he can share it with me in a matter of seconds.

And then I can either buy it or I can go to you and say, damn. Yo, Amir, you remember this cookie push shit? And I can share it with you. You know what I mean? And it's that language of music. That's a positive thing of 2017 that, you know, that's one good positive thing. Yeah. 2017 that's happened

But sirs you just named like about 5,000 businesses that you did like it was from the TV shows because this is what I know of you Your finger is always on the precipice of greatness Before we know it Because you know even what you introduced me personally The Nouveau before it was the big thing Why what is it? How do you know?

I just been I've you know It's funny I've really been blessed in my life To be around Trailblazers And I've really watched them really really closely I watched Russell and Leor build Def Jam Brick Brick Brick. I watched Mark Echo, Build, Echo, Unlimited, Brick by Brick. I watched Russell take Def Jam from its depths and bring it back brick by brick.

I watched, you know, so I've been able to like learn, churn, and earn based on all the knowledge I got. I've been so blessed to be around these people. I ask a lot of questions. That's why my boys call me search, because I'm always. looking for the answer. I'm always asking questions. I'm always trying to figure out what the next thing is, what the next thing is. And for me,

when my daughter, you know, and again, my mother said it to me, she goes, you really won't understand what you created until you have your own children. And she said in a letter, and my daughter, Mayanna, created a do. What? That was her idea. Yeah, that was her idea. It was her idea. She asked him

about it. She was a senior, she was going to be a senior at University of Miami. Oh, when she asked In the beginning, like how come we do. Shout out to the canes. So it's all of that playing itself. It's that born-to-born. You know what I'm saying? It's that recycle.

And I'm going to say something that might offend you, Amir, but I think the greatest tragedy in your life right now is that you don't have children. And I think that to me, but the child that you're going to create is going to be so impassioned by so many things. that develop who you are as a human being. And it's why I've had a friendship with you for so long

because you are a true, passionate artist. I assure you kids are coming, ladies and gentlemen. I hope so. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clever Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions,

my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes,

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

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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 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 disinfectant. 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 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. They 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. Search. We haven't even got the derelicts of dialogue. I was about to get him. We got a half hour left. I know.

Okay. Now it's going to be like a normal ass interview. Matt, so you were talking about that dark, period. And I wanted to ask you about that. I know. I know. All right.

Rapid fire question. Rapid fire. Okay. So Darlic's Dialect. That was an album that I, admittedly, I was disappointed in. Okay. And it was just, to me, it just, and let me tell you why. I mean, look and listen to it now.

It's like, oh, this shit was dope. But at the time, it just felt really dark. Like, it just felt, and I don't know. No, I think you nailed. It just felt like some of the humor was there. It just felt like, man, like, this is a dark fucking record. Well, I think Derellix of Dialect was, I think if you think about Problem Child, if you think about Darylux of Dialect, yo, it was a dark period for us. I mean, and the album cover of us as homeless old men, like, yeah, it was really dark.

I remember, the funny thing is I remember the head of retail at Sony at the time. We just turned into Sony. Guy said to me, he goes, yo, we can't, this can't be the album cover. It's going to turn off Impulse Buyers. I'm like, what? He's like, yeah, this is too dark. He's like, you got a record called Pop Goes Bios. the weasel and you pop in the weasels

and all of that and it's this dark shit that record went golden 15 days on the 16th day I was like yo what's going on with those impulse buyers cocks sucker it's called fans bitch looking into it but it was a dark and I was in a dark place and Pete

we were in a dark place in our partnership and I'm just going to keep it 100 Pete and I just like you said we were just like we were put together yeah we were arranged marriage and by the 7th second album, what we wanted

was different. Significantly different. And what did he want? So for me, I wanted, I wanted a New York street record. Like, I was already, like, fucking with Nause and fucking with O.C. And, like, I wanted, like, I wanted to do that, like, Mike Techniques. And, like,

that was the album I wanted to make. Ladies gentlemen. Right. The next song. It's a singer. Right. You know, and Alzé, B.C. And, like, that was like, I love that shit. Yeah. Me. Me. That was my shit too.

And even Daddy Rich in the land of 1210. Yes. You know what I'm saying? Like, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. But Pete really was like making these dark, archaic, like alternative samples and like because I was already with my wife. So he was problem child?

He was the problem child. See, because I, dog, Godzilla's my shit. Yeah. Like. Burn him. Burn him. That was my. That was, why was that not a single?

I'll tell you why. I felt like y'all could have got white rat finish. No, because we fell apart. Because we fell apart. When we went out with Pop Goes to Weasel, when we went out with that tour, I know, we got 30 minutes. And please tell me how y'all got, what's his name of the video, to play Vanilla Ice. Oh, Rollins, Henry Rollins?

How did you get Henry Rollins to play? Jesse Himmelman, aka Jesse Dillon, was best friends. Jesse Dillon directed that video? Oh, that's it. Yeah, okay. That's crazy. So, um. Bob Dylan son.

Right. But he wasn't going by Dylan. He was going by Jesse Himmelman. Right. So he didn't want... Right. Right. Right.

So, but he directed the video. So I was in a very different place in 1991. I didn't want to be the kid who is freestiling with Shockjee and Tupac in the lobby until 4 o'clock in the morning. Like, I didn't want to be the one who was running around being a clown in his underwear, you know, laughing, you know, and all of that shit. Like, I wanted to have my wife on the road. Like, I had promised her, like, I would take her to see the world. So I was like, We all made decisions, like, who you want to have on the road.

So, Pete was like, yo, I want my man Shamique. And Rich said, I want this person. I said, yo, I want Chantelle. And they were like, huh, huh. Fun Crusher. Wife's on the road. Fun crusher. Yeah, yeah.

But Chantel, like, you got to, she's a fucking G. Like, she told all of them to their face, like, I don't give a fuck about your girls. Fuck who you want to fuck. As long as my man is straight, I'm good. She would, like, set up towels and water for us on the side. the stage. She didn't have to do that shit. She would do it. She made friendship bracelets with the girls and like she just did her shit. Like she wasn't getting in anybody's way. And Pete was doing his dirt and like we weren't getting in the way. And then one night in

St. Louis like he decides that he wants to just come fuck some chicks in the back of the bus. And we're like, okay, whatever. But the bus drivers can only drive for a certain amount of time of night before they have to pull over. And we had a place. We had some place to go. And where we did the show in St. Louis was an hour away from the venue, so it had taken us, and he wanted to take them back because their car was back at the venue. I was like, oh, get them tricks off the fucking bus, man.

Get them a care affair, right? Like, get them to, get these holes off the bus, man. It's time to go. And I went into my bunk, and what happened was Pete got off the bus, and he flew back to New York. In the middle, it's in the middle of the tour. Right, in the middle of the tour. Wow. So we pull into South Carolina.

Who's your tour manager? A guy named Mark Pearson. So he goes back to New York. I don't notice. We're going over Friday's receipts. And I see that he took three days of predium when he wasn't on the road. And typically what we would do is we would give that to the dances, you know, or give it to our crew. Like, you know what I'm saying?

Like, whatever. So I said to Mark, I said, Mark, you know, why did you give him the per diem? He goes, yo, just go talk to Pete. He's on some shit. So I go to the room and I see my two dancers who are my boys. Like grew up with me and GYP with like subrock and KMD, like my man. I'm at an odis like my people. They're sitting around Pete.

And I'm like, Pete, why'd you take Pidium for three days on the road? You know, you know we give that to the dances. And he's on the phone. And he goes, well, if your bitch wasn't on the road, I wouldn't have to go home. Ah. Oh, no. And I said, what did you just say? He said, you heard me if your bitch wasn't on. I said, yeah, you need to come

out here and catch this ass whooping real quick. He's like, what are you going to do, slap me? I said, no, you look like a a grown-ass man. I'm going to beat your fucking ass. Right? Damn. So he's not coming out. And what happens is he's on the phone with Leor. And Leorre, and they're hearing this.

So I called Leor. And at the time, our booking agent, Lee Stolman, was working at Russia. And I said, look, how many weeks we got in deposits on the tour? He said, another two weeks. And we had taken Cyprus on the road. Cyprus was our opening act. Ah, wow. So I said to Lee, I said, look, we got to come off the road and regroup.

don't take any more deposits on this tour. And right now, like, Pop Goes Wheels is number two in the country. It's like number two pop wreck in the country. Like, we're selling out like 10,000, 12,000 seat arenas. Like, we're doing our thing. I'm like, look, we need to regroup. We need to come off this tour.

We need to come off this road and regroup. So the tour was going towards New York. We landed in Philly. It's the last night of what I think is the last show. I've been traveling behind the tour bus in a car, in a rental car with my girl, not even going near them at the Philly show

Pete's girlfriend Daddy Rich's girlfriend Those guys told Their girlfriends that my girl was Fucking up the relationship in the group They try to jump my wife I'm behind on the side of the stage Wait what?

Yeah Pete's girl and this girl Monet Who's rich's girl They try to jump my girl Like I'm like watching this from the side of Like I'm like so I'm not even like I'll do my verse and get off stage and like protect my girl like that was it

I'm on my way home I'm on my way home I'm on my way home and I said yo I said this shit is crazy I'm on I'm literally on the phone and I'm saying to Leor like Leorah this shit is crazy like they just try to jump my girl

and yada da da da da and he goes we booked another three weeks and I said you just killed the group I said you just killed the group because at the end of these three weeks I'm done so those three weeks I would literally get on stage and dispeed in front of our crowds.

Like instead of Pete, tell him manifest this, like in Words of Wisdom, I'd say, yo, bitch, tell him. Oh, wow. And I would come off stage when he would rhyme and when he was finished, I'd come on stage and do my verse and then leave the stage.

And the audience was done the wiser. No, no, no. They were, oh, they were. MTV was Kurt Loder, yo, problems with third base. Got the number one record in the country and the great group is falling apart. And I basically told,

I told, um, I told Leon Russell like I'm done And my wife is like you know Is this really what you want? And I said yeah and I said in fact I said let's go get married Let's go get married Fuck them let's get married

Like I'm ready And she's like well I've been ready So we got our blood work we got our blood work the one day We went to Queens County We went to Queens County Caught got married And I headed out to L.A. to live with my man Epic from Wolf and Epic

Oh, Wolf and Epic. Right. Belved. Yeah. Here it comes. Yeah. That's exactly right. That's how.

Right. I have so many questions about return of the product. Yeah. So I go to live with them. I start recording return of the product. I'm with Wolf and Epic. We're doing hard but true. Here it comes.

Like all of that shit. I'm in L.A. Just like chilling. Like I'm chilling. Like me and my wife, we're just chilling. I don't even want to go back to New York. I got a house there. I'm not even in there.

Like I'm paying bills like cross country. Yadada-da-da. Russell says, yo, you got to come home. This is enough. It's enough. You got to come home. I come home.

I go to see him. He had that apartment. Shares old apartment on West 4th Street. I go upstairs. He's trying to yell at me. I'm like, I grab the tat player. I put in his dad machine.

I play, here it comes. He starts hearing here it comes and he starts bouncing on his bed like this. Oh my God. We got a hit. We got to hit. We got it. Okay. You could do the solo record.

And that's how the solo record happened. Wow. And the thing was, here it comes. But that was the dark place. And it started with the darkness of the recording of the album. It started with, you know, Pete being, like, disillusioned and me being disillusioned with the partnership. It started with a lot of that. And really, the relationship started with he challenged me.

I didn't really feel like I was making great records as a solo artist when I was with Sam Severe. Like, as soon as I heard words of wisdom, I was like, oh, I got to set my fucking game up. Hard is, hard as Chinese arithmetic. I wasn't thinking no shit like that I got to step my game up you know I mean like and that's what I did like he challenged me I wasn't challenged on derelict on derelict

yeah it just didn't sound like it sounded like whatever fun or passion it was gone yeah you're absolutely right I was like man this is something I feel like I was missing yo and it's it sucked the life that album sucked the life out of me and more ways than one and also there was a transition in our audience that sucked the life out of me

that was my next question because I'm like if y'all are number two of Pop Goes the Weasel, is that audience... What's the audience looking like? Yeah, like, what are... I saw y'all on, like, Club MTV and... Yo, and you know what's funny about Club MTV? I wouldn't say anything to Julie Brown

because I didn't respect her, so she would put the mic in front of me, and I just kept my mouth closed. And then she would go to Pete, and Pete would talk, and then she'd ask me a question, and I kept my mouth closed. I didn't want to be there. Like, I literally... Yeah, go ahead.

Because the thing is, there's something happening with the transition of hip-hop. between 89 and 94. And what it is is, like, by the time we arrive in 94, it's cool to embrace your alternative audience. Absolutely. And the new face of what hip-hop's going to be for the next gazillion year.

But there was also a big... But there was so much slack that, you know, the source was given Cypress Hill for, like, who are these white boys in the audience are attracted? And, like, even the source didn't understand what was going on. So you guys were part of you're seeing the audience literally changed

and it doesn't look like the Latin quarter no more. No, not even it doesn't look like the Latin quarter. I mean, we went from having like literally on Pop Goes O'weasel, we would have like shows at the Palladium in L.A. where it's like all black crowds to doing Roanoke, Virginia and college kids jumping on our stage and hugging our dancers and flying into the audience

and like surfing. I'll never forget the first. first time that happened, our dancer Ahmed thought somebody was rushing him and like body slammed to do to the ground. And he was like, and did I just and just stage dived? And we're like, what the fuck is going on? Like, we're going to

like pop stations and we're telling pop stations like, you realize we're dissing you on this record. Like, you do realize we're dissing Cap Radio because you're not playing De La Sol. You're not playing a tribe called Quest. You're playing Hammer and Vanilla Wafer. Like, you're playing bullshit. Like, you should be playing Big Daddy Kane. You should

be playing Queen Latifah. You should be playing Tribe. You should be playing P.E. Like, that's real hip hop. And they're like, ha ha ha ha ha ha. Now CC music factory. Like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, fuck. Like, who am I talking to? Like, I don't even know these people. And again,

going back to the whole thing, I have to protect hip hop. But I'm at a point where I don't even know what hip hop is when I'm looking at these dudes. I don't even know what I'm. Who produced Pop Goes a Weasel? SD50s. Yeah, stimulate dummies. So. Like at the time we, is this like almost like a fight for your right thing where it's like, okay, so.

No, I always thought that shit was dope. Like I thought that sample was dope. No, it is dope. But you didn't realize that it might come to bite you in the ass. No, not at all. And turn you into the very thing that you were right. No, no, not at all. What we say, hip hop got turned into hip hop.

The second of record was number one on the pop charts. But don't skid on the heart that got to start in the ghetto let no one forget about the hard part. Now in 91 we got a new book. band, the new brand, looking like the same old clan, same old thieves, the skis, so we got to make sure that real rappers got to endure. And I'm looking at these white boys that are like, yeah! And I'm like, you don't even

know who the fuck I'm talking about. Same thing with Public Enemy, too. You know what I'm saying? But at least public enemy, they were smart enough to educate the people. Like, Chuck would look at these people and say, you are not my enemy, but here's why you were my enemy. You know, he would have that conversation.

Like, we weren't having a conversation. We were like, you guys looked like dicks. Like we don't look nothing like you. Like we are nothing like you. So you hated the frat boy service. I hated those kids. And you know what? A lot of those guys now that come up to me and they're like CEOs of companies and like dude we used to rock

you and you know the frat and I'm like yes. Yes. Let's do business. I'm sorry. It's really funny. Like now I'm glad you respect me like I need money for a due. We're doing this VC fund and like we need to raise money. Here's my man Matthew like yo let's let's raise this capital because you were a frat boy who like

you know pop goes the weasel. So like You know what I'm saying? That pop goes a weasel crowd when y'all did, what would the response be like when y'all did like a Brooklyn Queens or like they loved it. They loved it. They loved it. Yeah, they would fuck with it. But for me, like, as soon as shit was done, like the greatest thing that happened to me was my solo album because Nas came into my life. You know what I mean?

And O.C. was already in my life. And like, that brought me back home. Like even in L.A., I was twisted. Like in L.A., I'm making these happy, hard but true. I'm talking about Nora, you know, Zora Neal. And I'm talking about, like, how hard. it is to be truthful to who you are. And I'm like, and I'm letting my man

reef and I'm letting my man Maddie see here and they're like, yo, but you got to get back to the street. Like, here's some peace. Like, go go listen. And like, that's when I made, you know, back to the grill. Who were who's back to the grill? T. Ray. Ah, T. Ray, for double Xpricze. Right. Trey. Okay. Okay. So,

so, um, so yeah. So, and then, you know, and then that brought me back, like in meeting Naz and doing all of that, that brought me back. How did you know that? T. Ray? Oh, I had the double X posseye album. I had that I'm not going to be able to do it. Can you do it? I thought I was knocking on the edge of the door

when I first thing. I'm just glad you're at the door. Can't do it? Can't do it? So go ahead. No, no, no. So, I mean, so that was what really brought me back is like when Nas came into the studio,

a reef and stretch and was like, yo, I need help. Like, I was like, this is Hashem. This is the most high, like bringing me back to where I need to be, helping a Queen's MC and, like, doing what I should be doing, which is protecting artists. You know what I mean?

So the baseball car stuff, what was that with Pete? So the other thing, well, so Pete has been in some interesting situations post third base. One of the things, first was his solo album, but it was a kick, was Bobo, Dust to Dust. Right. I remember dust to Dust. I remember that was the first time. I remember reading an exec actually say that they were worried about how a record was going to sell. And that, I was like, damn, they just, Russell, he was like, yeah, we don't know how this is going to do.

I'm like, well, damn, so much for confidence. 14 shots of the dome? Right, right, right, right. But at least 14 shots went platinum. I mean, it's still, you know, you know. But, yeah, Pete sold 14,000 records on that. Damn. I sold 450,000.

Like, I think right now return the products at like 750,000. And Pete's at like 14,000. Damn. So, I was two of them. Good for you. you. I'm glad. I'm glad for you. Because I don't have to. I'm loyal. Anyway. No, no, no. But anyway, but, but so Pete was always in love with baseball. He would always, like, go hunting for, like, rare artifacts of baseball, baseball artifacts, cards, gloves.

Like, that's been his passion for a long time. I guess what I had heard, and if you really want to see the whole thing, you have to Google Peter Nash. There's a 5,000 word essay that Sports Illustrated did on it. So, supposedly, from what I understand is that Pete got involved in some counterfeit signatures and counterfeit baseball card collecting and he basically sold them to a very high and well-known like the Jay Z of collecting this guy Barry Lifson and he gave him loans of up to $875,000 against this phoney cards and then he told Pete that he had like a certain amount of time to pay Pete wouldn't pay

and then he had the stuff like insured or tried to you know and then they found out it was worthless so Pete damn I think I think Pete has a warrant I don't know what's going I think there's some warrants for Jersey

in New York that is he still on the run I know he doesn't have a cell phone like I know I know that to get in touch with him there's one number that you can call on like a Wednesday and it's somebody's

I don't want to know I don't know I don't know Yeah it's it's something But I mean Pete is definitely Trying to Fix it Like he's trying to like point out other scams

Like I think he's trying His Twitter thing is holes of shame Like he's trying to like Point out other counterfeiters now So that people don't fall into the same trap He's claiming that he didn't know Okay But I've heard that that's not accurate

Yeah That's not accurate And Daddy Rigg Which, look, the bottom line is this. I will never go on stage with third base ever again. It's just done. I tried in 2013 as a favor to a friend. We did a show at SRB in Brooklyn.

Okay. As a favor. And we got on stage and I had a good time, but I was so, I already have a tremor as it is from like medication that I take, but I was on stage literally like this. Like couldn't control it. And it was nervous energy and it was excitement. it was a lot of different things that my father's watching and I'm like I'm just like shaking and um

but whatever for whatever reason we got a whole bunch of dates after that oh wow so then we do another date and um a festival in indiana and my wife is looking at me like oh god like I don't really want this life again like and I don't want this so she says to me she you know she finally said because I said to her I was like look they're putting together are you European tour, like 30 dates. She's like, look, if you do that, like, you might as well just divorce me. I don't want that life. So I said to our road manager at the time, my man Mikey Palms, I was like, yo, you know,

I'm sorry, I'm not doing any more dates. And he said, what do you mean? I said, what do you mean? What do I mean? I just told you. He goes, I just advanced Pete 10 shows because he told me you were doing the shows. And I said, yo, I beat. I said, first of all, I never said I was doing those shows as A.

and B, I feel bad for those promoters, but I ain't got nothing to do with that. My name is Paul. That's between y'all. Like, I ain't got nothing to do with it. And moreover, don't ever call me about that again. Don't ever call me about a show again. So this past New Year's, we got an offer for $100,000 to do one night in Pittsburgh for New Year's Eve. And I said, no, it's not going to happen.

Just not going to happen. And Daddy Rich, with his 60 followers, went on a diatribe talking about how I try to fuck his girl, how I used to fuck prostitutes on the road that I gave my wife an STD This is on Twitter? On Twitter See, you wouldn't even know if you wouldn't have repeated this.

Petty levels. Yeah. Petty levels. So I just literally just said, I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors, never talk to me again, never see me again. So that dude is literally dead to me.

Dead to you. Damn, man. He's dead to me. Well, search, I'm giving you. I'm very blessed. We're doing our wrap up with you. Normally we do it once our guest is out.

Fonte, what did you learn, man? Man, man, I learned that, yeah, God, this has been like fucking hip-hop nerd trivia. No, man, I learned that Search is very much still, you know, in tune, you know, to the music, to the culture. He is very much, I didn't know that you had. records prior to the cactus. That was my first time hearing those records. You know, it's funny, we have a

connection, Dan Charnas. Of course. He, I do all the rhymes for the break. And there's a line, there's, I play a character, I play like this military. Yeah, and you did the third baseline. And so he said, man, I got to call search about this. And I was like, where, because I mean, this is our first

I meet and I was like, man. And so he hit me back. He was like, your search was super cool about it. He was. Oh, so, I was like, because I'm such a big fan of yours. That first album, brother, and just everything you've done. I mean, I'm just a huge fan. Thank you so much, man. Thank you what you've done to contribute to hip hop and the culture and just amazing.

I grew up listening to you. Like I said, I was 10 when cactus dropped. I was 11 when Darlex drop. So I grew up on it. It's just great to sit here and just break bread with you, brother. Thank you for all this, as you've done, man. Unpaid Bill. Did you learn anything?

Man, why Jews and hip-hop, man? You ain't even do the pound. You know those answers. Most of this show is like Black History Month. It's like Black NPR. And then it's like, Bill, what's the white perspective? Which I enjoy giving and I'm happy to do so. However, I feel like today, maybe the tables return a little bit.

And I fucking thank you for that. It's balanced. Bill, you are more than welcome, Bill. Thank you very much. It is balanced. Suggesti. Did you? Baruchata.

Yeah. The chanting was gold. That's the whole part too with you is going to be all chanting three hours of chanting. You can do my Torah portion right now? I can knock that shit out, brother that's shit out, brother. Anoshima, you metoray. All right, now he's scatom.

That was my Hot Torah portion, too. Metora. Dude. That's crazy, right? Part two in Orlando. See you there. I think you're out Jewishing, Bill and Steve. It's weird.

I know. He's pretty good. Y'all have to start freestyling it or nothing. Anyway. For Laia. I learned that search should write two books. One, of course, on business and how to

diversify. And the other on, I don't know, I just feel like I never knew Searcher's story about how you became engulfed in the culture. And it was such an education and a long education. I know every white person can't do this. But maybe we just put it in a book and consolidate. Then we can just, it would be a different world.

I'll tell you, we're going to have a great TV show, hopefully coming out soon. And that will tell a lot of great stories. Okay. They call me search coming soon. And the app, the app, though. We got to A doo. And if you want to be part of the beta, go to get, go to beta at get adieu, G-E-A-D-U-E-E-D-U-E-E-D-U-E-D-U-E-D-UE-E-R-A-R-N.

Oh. Yeah, yo. Did you learn anything? Yeah, yo! Oh, I just want to say one more thing. Beside every strong Jewish man is a strong black woman. That's exactly. Absolutely right.

I used to end my show. Every radio show. Bill and Stephen look at each other. That's okay. I'm going to go. I said the strong ones, Bill. Well, hey. Oh!

Pipp-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p! That's the sound of getting punched, and that's the sound of getting shot. That's what I learned to me. Yo, come on. You got anything? Well, search, I thank you very much. And this is Questlove Supreme.

Questlove Supreme is a production of I-Heart Radio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora. podcast from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but see. celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the I Heart 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.

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 girlfriend. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe, on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, everyone? I'm Ago Vodam.

My next guest, it's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo. 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.