The Questlove Show - QLS Classic: Salaam Remi Pt. 1

Episode Date: February 20, 2023

In Part 1 of 2, legendary producer Salaam Remi talks about the craft of making hit songs, what it's like crate digging with Biz Markie and his part in making The Score with The Fugees. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clivert Show on the I-Hard Radio app,

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

If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice Podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slical Life 12 and TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist, they take matters into their own hands. I vowed. I will be his last target. He is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves. We always say, you know, trust your girlfriends.

Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Quest Love Supreme is a production of IHeart Radio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora. What up, y'all? It's Laia, and it's time for another Quest Love Supreme Classic. This time we take you back to 2018.

When Quest and Team Supreme set down with legendary producers Salam Remy. I mean, we talk about everything, the craft of making his songs, what is like Craig Digging with Biz Markey, and his part in making the score with the Fugis. From April 25th, 2018, Salam Remy. Part one. Or Remy, but as a toddler, my shoes was kinet. Miss Fonte, you can't believe it.

it. Shout out to Salam for the workaround remix. Oh, Kong. Sugar. Yeah.

Only work with the best. Yeah. That's how I got to work on. Yeah. Lyoness. Oh, call. Payed bill.

Yeah. And you might not be a fan of me. Yeah. But you definitely hate. Yeah. Sean Hannity. I'm sorry. Oh, Kong.

Boss Bill's my name. Yeah. Tuss out the rule book. Yeah. Hold up. Is that Lauren over there? Yeah. Oh, my.

I'm trying to pick one of my favorite songs. But you got so damn many? Son, son, sub, sub, sub, supremer roll. Salam's my name. I'm on the spot. I'm glad Supercat let me make get a red hot. Supreme. Superma, sub, sub, supremo roll call.

I really hate the fact that I establish how gallible I am. Who, child. That's like, like, I'm the kind of. I'm a person that I was told once that a gallible isn't in the dictionary. And yeah, you just did that to me. Thank you for us, Bill. I turned with the quickness. I wasn't sure if that was going to work either.

I was surprised. No, that went off. That went off like gangbuses right now. His troll mirror. I was hoping all of you would look. You knew it because your inflection went up like, made you look. Yeah, because I saw that he looked over there. I was like, yes, it landed.

Only because I was there was. wrong name to say. Ladies and gentlemen. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. This is another episode of Questlove Supreme. We have Team Supreme.

We have Von Ticlo. You know what? We haven't had brother's sister rap at the beginning of the show for a second. And a lot has happened since then. How's it going since your record? It's going good. I'm redoing my master bathroom.

First world problem. Boom. That's not a new music. World problems. Hey, wait. You're redoing your master bathroom. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So how many bathrooms do you?

Well, there's a lot of houses. Two, what, three. Ooh, you got a good at. You got like a big daddy cane house in North Carolina. Yeah, I got like two, I have two full baths and then a half bath downstairs. So it's technically three, but, you know, one is just a half. So we were doing our master bathroom. We had in the tub and redo the shower, paint.

Red did the vanity. A countertop guys coming to measure them. mall. You got marbles in the house? Nah, we don't do marble. Ranine. No black leather couches. No black leather couches.

We just did. Rules number one and two. We went with granite. And it's a, it's a light, it's a light color granite. I think the name is like black ice or something. That's a real light.

Oh, so you're keeping the walls white then. No, no, walls. Shout out to Fonte's Caritop. Oh, great is a good color. Why no black couches? There was a fontet thing for many years. It's just black leather couches. Single.

Yeah. I've never like leather, though. too hot. You go to sleep on that shit. You be sweating and shit. It doesn't matter. It's still a single man's piece of furniture. I never owned a leather couch. A single man, I never did that. House life, I'll like you. It's good. What's you up to?

I'm getting off the couch. Hey, listen. Turn up, digit. Turn up. I'm sorry. I mean, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Yes, I have recently getting off the couch in Los Angeles and I'm very excited that I... Did you get off the couch where you put off the couch? No, no, no. I can get off the couch. She wants to... No, I have a good girlfriend who wants me to stay.

Okay. Kevin got a job, y'all. Let's see y'all. I'm proud. Where are you moving? Hollywood. Yeah. Where it's good.

Yes. Okay. Scott Hall, fly one bed room. I was looking at the tourist video of it today. Had nice towel in the kitchen. I wanted Fonte approval. You got to get your work husband's approval of your place.

It was really nice. The layout was nice. It was good. It was updated. Hey, I'm proud of you. Thank you, sir. I'm feeling really good. Thank you.

Boss Bill. What? Golden, right? Who is getting angry. Angry. So much anger. Now, I'm going to try that again. I'm so happy.

You're welcome. I gave you that one. Oh, thank you. Anyway, I'm paid bill. Yeah. It's been a minute since I see you. I love that. That's the first time I heard that.

He just said what. It won the show for me. Goodbye. Oh, that was so good. I've only heard that on my phone, not in context. That was fantastic. Yeah. I'm good.

I bought a new house too. Yes. Are you like Fonte's stand? I like to think so. He do it up. He do it up high to me. I just did a bathroom. He did like a whole studio.

Yeah. The whole night. Wait, where do you live? I live in Westchester in Croton on Hudson, which sounds super white. How many bathrooms you got? I also have two and a half bathroom. Two and a half footage. I don't know, like two thousand, seven, five hundred, two hundred, something like that.

Post the three now you did it. No, I used to, no, not anymore. But I'm building a studio in the basement, and that's that. And I've been parenting for two weeks, and I'm fucking done with children. Poor daddy. I was fucking, like, uh, vojidba. I had been by myself with kids for fucking way too long. Hey, man.

Hey, man. The struggle is real. He knows what I'm talking about because we renovate bathroom. You two are basically the same person. We are. We're trying to figure out your theme song. I know. It's coming.

It's coming. where your angle is. He needs motivation and, you know. All right, Sugar, Steve, how's life now that you're your big time celebrity on the internet? Good, man, good. Yeah, I started my own talk show, my own network, and I am also redoing my master bathroom. That's just a coincidence, but that's also happening. Seriously?

Or am I gallible? Bro, I don't have like a master bathroom. Anyway, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Questlove Supreme. Only you own band doing. Only. It's been a minute since I've had an opportunity to break metaphorical bread with a favorite, you know. Not to offend any of the other guests that have been on the show. I still love you, Layla, Hathaway.

She listens and I better come correct or she'll put a hex on me. I don't know. but our guest today is one of my favorite producers. I don't know how to describe Salam Remy's production style, but it's, I guess can we use that it's beautiful production? He's a very cinematic, it's very boom-bapish, but there's always, for me, extra layers. Like he's almost like a, if hip-hop were served in a three-Michelan star,

restaurant. I feel like he would be the guy to serve. He would be the chef. Yeah. Where, you know, Primo where Primo is the local corner store dude giving you what you need then I feel that you know, salam's

he's salt bay. There you go. Welcome ladies and gentlemen, salt bay. Salam menu. Sprinkle me. It's a quest love supreme. Thank you, thank you.

Usually, when guests come on the show, ladies and gentlemen, I try to discourage small talk while we're waiting to record the show because usually the good things come out. And why he had started the small talk with Salam asking what he was doing in New York. That was the first question because you're never in New York. What are you doing here? I got scared. I thought Sean sent you up here to them.

Nah, nah. Actually, what I actually like to do is to make records. I mean, I moved to Miami in 2001, 2002. So that's been my main base. And even though I kept a place here, L.A., I looked at it like Miami is a bit of my farm where I'm really in my creative space. And then New York is my farmer's market, per se. That's where I've been at for the last month. And I have a bunch of mango trees and fruit trees.

I've been on my vegan chefing, growing trees, gardening. Oh, you mean literally? Literally. Oh, I thought you like me speaking metaphorically. And both. I've been in that place, like, kind of trying to find my baseline. So I've actually been to New York since November for one day, October for one day, and then maybe September for a few days.

I've been home for the longest I've ever been on. Really just digging into the music. But I was like, April's here. Wait a minute. We've got to put music out because I like to make music for the first day of spring, what I would call, you know, the A. Marie, rather the, all I want is you should play on A Street when House of Nulovians is open and I'm still in college age. And this is the day when it's a day when it's.

happens and it didn't happen yet. So now I was like, wait a minute, but this quarter is going, Mays come in, you know what, let me come to New York, start figuring out what I'm doing musically as far as releases for the year, visit all my business partners, figure out what I'm going to do, and that's why I'm here. That sounds like a beautiful life, man. Yeah, you sound professional.

Yeah, I mean. I don't feel professional at all. I'm late my own podcast. I'm like, well, okay. Yeah, something like that. So I'm putting on my business hat. I'm trying to step out of my creative hat for a couple of days, figure out what I'm doing with it and then dig back into the music.

So do you already have the music? I'm sorry, you said music for spring, like that first spring song. So that means you already have the music, you just... Yeah. I mean, it's funny. In 2016, I put out, like, a bunch of songs I called Do It for the Culture. And I was like, I'm going to release a bunch of music. And then the song that kind of did the best side of that,

which was Miguel, myself featured Miguel, come through and chill. Then that was December 16. He put on his album December 17 and now it's the single. The video's about to drop next week. Things to figure out with that. So I'm like, okay, oh, I guess I should put out another one now. So now I'm just figuring out, okay, I got these other songs. Let me figure out what I'm going with. How's it going? Visit streaming services of the planet. Come talk to you guys because I wanted to do this for the last eight months plus. Besides Pandora, what other streaming services are? They don't exist. Yeah, they don't exist.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Pandora is the only game in the market. So, like I said, first stop, first place. Why ask me a lot of beer. So for, are you saying Monday, are you saying that Miami is, is Miami good for, I'd never understood cats that wanted to be in that comfortable of an environment to make music? I figured that it's distracting and it's, you know.

You know what? I always thought that. Like my whole life, you know, I carry the New Yorker mentality. I understand when... Rats in the room. When you sit in New York and you watch people walking down the street, they normally walk a certain way, but I look at it like they're carrying something on their shoulders. Either I'm carrying, I'm walking real fast.

I have it. They're dragging and leaning. I always felt like New York was me. I had that mentality of, you know, I used to hang out with biz a lot. So it would always be like, all right, cool. I got on a pair of Levi's and a sweatshirt. I don't want to see any plaques. I'm going to work.

I lived in Midtown Manhattan with my dad, but I would always be in the studio mindset. I always wanted to keep it there. And had a rough year 2001. You know, the towers fell, mom, past, grandpa, pass. And I went to Miami, and I was actually as productive or more productive because I thought that the studio I had, Studio 54 space was making music.

I thought my SSL was making the sound. I thought my organs that was actually doing it. And then I was on South Beach in a little room with South Beach Studios with this artist, Ms. Dynamite. We did like 30 songs in three weeks. So I was like, oh, wait a minute, but it's hot here. And, you know, it was nice. And I realized that the New York energy that I thought was only in New York was actually in me. So between then and the year after, I made, you know, the major looks to,

whatever else. I would be even more productive because I get up and see the sun relax, but, you know, it's my bloodstream at this point. What does it say about me that I want to be in the most uncomfortable atmosphere to make music? We would need a psychiatrist to unpack that statement. Or we could just all move to Miami. Yeah. And plus, aren't you afraid of, are you there around August, September? Yeah. So any of the flood, your housing is damaged?

This last September when they act like, you know, after Houston had the big issues, I really was in New York looking there like, dag, is all my stuff going? No, my guys like, do you want me to FedEx you something? I'm like, my house, my life, my SSL, my EMT place. Like, what do you, like send me everything, all my this. But then I kind of sat here for a couple days thinking, wow, this might be it. Is your studio protected at least for floods? It is for the most part, but, you know, for anything can happen.

Anything can happen. So, I mean, realistically, everything I own, you know, at this point, I pushed all into one big house. I think actually you would like my studio house. It's all set up with every other room. Every room in the house is wired together, a record room into pocketed kits and every other room. Oh, I know. I know. You told fun stuff.

You told me. You told me. I just, man, I don't know. I just feel like it's sacrilegious to be that. You should try it. Comfortable, happy. Yeah. Complacist.

No, no, I'm looking at my house. I'm joking. No, I'm serious. I know you. Like, I'll say that an artist that I'm known working with, like his MO is like, I got to get an argument with one of my joins so I can write. And so. I hope you not make a love music.

Oh, shit. Okay, I'm not the only one in the room. Okay. So, I mean, honestly, I think that me being there, actually just been great for the life work balance. I've read, Naza put me on the Barry White's book. And he basically had one house that he lived in

and one house that he worked and across from each other. So just that was part of it. I was looking at warehouses. Okay, I build out a warehouse. I have the incredible studio. Now I have to find somebody that wants to buy a couple million dollars worth of studio and know how to sell it. Cool.

Okay, cool. I get the house on an acre and I make it into the studio. Okay, now I just take it all out. And now it becomes, you know, It was like I thought about the Rudy Van Gelda, Blue Note House or the Motown space or anything else. So I look at my space as a place to be comfortable. And then also I focus so much on lyric writing. It's like, you know, feel like you're not where you are.

And then let's go for it. So you write lyrics too? I co-write a lot of stuff. Okay. Well, I push people who are around me to write. Like, the story is more important to me than the beat 90% of the time. Because I can make the beat 90 times while they're sleeping. I can change it.

I'm a remixer from the start. So I actually push the story to be the best thing. It's kind of like getting the script and then shooting the movie. So when you create a song, what's the first thing you're thinking about? Are you thinking about what's my hook? Like even before you developed, like take us through the process that gave you, made you look, just from the beginning to, from the root or two. the tutor. Major look started with the conversation that Nas and I were having about Flav of Flav,

that when we saw Flavor Flav and I Ain't No Joke video, that we didn't know who he was, because we hadn't really seen Public Enemy perform like that before. We heard their first album, but they didn't have any videos. So when we saw I Ain't No Joke and it was a guy and just that whole energy of how that looked, the energy of how BDP looked rushing down the stairs and I guess that was Union Square possibly. The energy of Run's house, how it looked like everybody outside. Dag, those were the times that felt like it had a certain energy to it. And then I was working on a lot of Latin stuff when I first moved to Miami.

So I was working with Ricky Martin. And I wanted to use Apache for Ricky. But I always remembered last professor had the trick when he was doing stuff in the 1200, slow the sample all the way down to make sure that your shop was right on beat. So I was shopping up, you know, it was supposed to be. Ricky, Ricky. Like, that was my thought process. That's what I was going for.

And I pitched the, you know, Apache a little bit and kind of mess with it. But I was sitting there messing with it. And then I played it really slow, kind of trying to make sure that my shop was on point. And then when I played it, I just moved to Miami. So some of my guys from New York were there,

and they just bust in the room. Like, yo, what's that? And I was like, aha, this is it. But it really, it filled the spot that Nazanari already had a conversation about what that felt like. So then I just basically, took it and, you know, did the first ball, first ball, first ball,

going to the second ball loop, took the hit. Did it on 1,200? No, I did that on, um, NPC 2000. Um, so did that and then I just took the hit, filtered it, made, played the baseline on it, and then I called Nause and he didn't answer his phone. He was actually in Orlando at the time writing, and then I left it on his voicemail. Um, it was like, yo, I think, I got what we were talking about.

And then he heard it. He was like, yo, then he just hit me back on the two-way or something come through. So then I basically drove... Cassette. Basically, close to that. It was 2000, right? I had a CD burner. Who was it?

Who was the H.H.B. CD burner. So I burned it on my H.H.B. CD burner. And I took the disc and I threw a whirl or something like that in the truck I just bought. And I drove up to my... to Orlando. And when I got there...

Wait, that's not a close drive. It's like four hours. Just to play him? Not just to play him. He just, like, come through. Because he'd already been... Basically, the process was when we did... With my mom pass in May of 2001,

I was working on the Shade remix for Lover's Rock. I put Nause on that remix. He came through. He was looking at me, like, what you're doing? I was like, oh, my mom passed, I'm going to the funeral, but then I'll be back. You can finish your verse.

So he was looking at. at me like, you're an alien. What are you doing? Will you just say what's happening? But, you know, as you know, I worked through it. And then Shadee called me that day like, hey, do you want to do this remix? You got to be done on Friday. So I was like, I got to do it. That wasn't something I was giving out. Right. Every day, Shadee said remix Lovers Rock, really? That was maybe one person, I think maybe Forella had done something prior around that time. And that was it. And off the same album, I was getting my shot. So that was that. But basically, that kind of cemented our bond. And I ended up doing what goes around for Stillmatic.

So then now next year, his mom passed. But I didn't know his mom was sick when he was watching me. So he was basically like, yo, I got off tour. I'm going to Orlando with my daughter. And he stayed in Orlando in some timeshare house. Then he was like, you know what? I'm going to record here. So he had about five or six houses.

He got a large professor, Achenelli, alchemist, a few other people. So when he, by the, Chuckie Thompson, and by the time he called me like, yo, come through and come to Orlando, they were already there. Oh, so. Okay. Right. So it was already there. And we were working at Transcontinental Studios where, you know, Lou Perlman's place or whatever was. So we were doing that.

I drove up. Alchemist and I were driving to the studio. And I was like, yo, this is the track. It could be crazy. I actually had Amy talking. I had Amy Winehouse talking on the track because I was starting to work on Frank right around. And then, actually, I started in May. So, yeah, I was like, had I doing some stuff.

I wanted to put Curtis blow on it. I'd be flipping on these niggas. Like, we're mills? I had all these, uh, these ideas. And he was like, yeah, all right, cool. And I had to go to New York for a wedding and come right back. I left the track there. I came back.

And he had basically the first, first. and yeah the first verse in the chorus and basically the thing was that with that track I was busy trying to say this has a lot of energy it was like a lot of norie and I was like nah just get on the track and go for it but what he decided to do was lean back on it and rock him instead back to our original conversation if I ain't no joke

so rather than going at the track and he has the thing where he refers to ramen on the one ass mofos basically he'll skip the one, let the one go hard on the end, and then fall in the middle of it, basically. That was like something. So he thinks in that sort of mathematical

scientist. He says that. Yeah, I mean, it was also that and then also, you know, the father's being musicians like that. So he thinks like a musician. And if he plays something, he'll think about it, musically speaking, as he's writing to him. It's weird because in my head,

I thought he was trying to do a Rob-Base flow. Because Rob Bays also sort of on the and instead of fight. Yeah, yeah, sit. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay.

So, speaking of an old episode of reference of Robbiz. Exactly. His approach was straight Rock Kim. He was thinking about how Raq Kim would have sat back on, now let's get it all in perspective. Right, okay. That was a thought process. But I didn't catch it at the time.

I was like, all right, cool, this is where we going with it. And then as the song grew, we just kept adding leads. He finished the verses out through the, Brave hearts. It was a thousand people. I got to tell you something. Wait, did I tell you? I never knew y'all was saying Brave hearts.

I thought, see, I had my whole theory about made you look, and I thought that was his, him bucking a shot back at Jay-Z, which was still like up in the air. So I thought y'all were saying air ball. Oh God Air ball Air ball Wow And I was thinking like

Yo why is it so low in the mix Because that'd be so great At basketball games To you know like Ah Jay Z you miss me motherfucker Air ball Like that sort of thing

But And even when we did that Like part of my theory Was just no Being in the clubs And being in different spaces That I faded it up

Because I wanted it to play But I wanted you also to be in the club And for like The people on the other side Were doing it or whatever it was So then now Now, you start singing along with it, and by the time it creeps up. That was a play game.

But, I mean, that was the main part of it, cut the record, took it to Miami, he played around a little bit, and by his birthday, kind of played through it. And then, you know, during that time, you know, he was still going through drama with the radio and everything else. So I was like, I'm going to take impeach the president and just use it by itself. Alchemist was like, really? Alchemist was with me during those days. because he knew where the studio was from the rental houses we were staying in.

And I was like, yeah, I'm just impeach the president. I'm not having a high hat or eight or eight or nothing. Really? Go ahead and do it. So he's just sitting there looking at me like, what are you doing? And basically I just took the piano. It was a little off. And I had a story from Greg Nice where he was there when they made the bridges over.

And basically he said that KERS was going to play the baseline on the Juno. And he's like, yeah, what about that piano in there? They went where the musicians union is in the old A&R studios building. And basically, Karras went to the piano, even though it was off and played the Supercat Boops bass line on the piano, then SED sampled it and made the bridges over. So when I saw the piano, and they was like, it's not tune. I'm like, nah, good, leave it. So then I went to the piano. And I was like, no, why don't you feature Alicia Keys playing piano instead of singing?

I was going to say, is that her playing for Elise? That's me playing. But my thought process was to get her to play it and then feature her that way rather than making the typical R&B Alicia Keys comes out of nowhere with the hook record. That was my thought. But then she ended up producing

a warrior song for the album. And then, you know, it was like, I know I can was basically, come on, we love the kids, man. You played on the radio. We love the kids. We got to do it for the kids. I know, I can't.

That was a smart song, man. Yeah, basically. And that vocalist is actually You're trying to You're trying to battle me motherfucker on my own show? I've been waiting for a while. Okay.

There we go. Thank you. But the focus on, I know I can, is actually Angela Hunt, who is, was also in a group 7669. Oh, my God. Yeah, I remember that was like that. She's the kid. So high.

The kid voice is actually so high, exactly. So that's her voice, and she actually didn't vote Empire State of mine. Oh, she's a big. Why, she came up. She has no big soccer record. Patti done. That was big for last few years or whatever.

I always wondered what happened to them. Yeah, they had that one album. Well, damn, you out rabbit hole being. But I'm still going back to the beginning, y'all. Where is you for us alone, Remy? You waited a while to go back to the beginning. No, it's like, he, you know, he went on a tangent.

What was good? and tanges, hand in hand. 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 Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes,

follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. There's two golden rules that any man should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl. You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes.

And rule two, never mess with her friends either. We always say that trust your girlfriends. I'm Anna Sinfield. And in this new season of the girlfriends, oh my God, this is the same man. A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist.

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

Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, It's all about the NFL draft, and we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galko, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players

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

I was born Manhattan, St. Luke's Women's Hospital up in East Harlem. And then I grew up, at that time, my parents lived in Brooklyn Heights, but then I grew up in Queens, mainly. Northside, Jamaica, Queens, Cambridge, Cambridge. Holding on to that accent.

Now, who's your father is? My father, okay. It's a bit of a rabbit hole. Should I go over this? Right. Yes. That's what the show's worth. Perfect.

All right. So my dad, his name is Van Gibbs, producer, manager, musician, etc. Basically, the story, how I came about is this. My dad comes from Trinidad, 18 years old. His father already lived here in Brooklyn. He's working at someplace New York Insurance Company.

He's been getting older, so I've been asking them, re-asking them in the questions to kind of get the story. story straight, straight. Now you could tell me the grown man version of what happened. Right. So basically, he was working at a place called New York Insurance Company, and there was a guy in there named Bernard something. Bernard lived in Queens, St. Albans. He's like, hey, you know what? You play guitar? Okay, cool. My dad had acoustic guitar.

He was starting to play electric. He was like, yo, come around my way. There's some guys that do a band. So he takes him around Queens, St. Albans, 200nd Street. my uncle, Joseph Wiggins, who was my mother's brother, actually was the local musician. I had another uncle named Thomas, who played keys. Joseph played sax, guitar, whatever was. Introduces them. My uncle Joe goes, yeah, all right, but get burned all out of here,

and we can probably go start a band somewhere else. So they started a band called Stone Free, and actually Larry Smith was also rolling with them, and they made play bass with them. I'm doing different stuff. So my dad, my uncles, and Larry, and probably, I think it was somebody else named Rattie or something like that from the neighborhood. All had a band called Storm Free that they were doing stuff. And then that's where my dad cites my mom.

And then my grandfather chases him away and he still has a car. Hey, you know, I could drive you to work. Whatever is. And that's where I came from, basically. You know, from a garage around the way band in 1970, up to 70, up to, 72. Did they make albums? Never did that. They just performed. I think there was a club call.

I think there was a cheetah that used to be where SIR is on 52nd. Somewhere over there. So they performed in different places. And when I've asked other musicians of the day, they're like, oh, yeah, I remember them. They played whatever was, but they never really made records like that. And then my dad continued to

produce and stayed in the music business as one of those people who kind of stayed you know he did Broadway he did Yarmes who shot the box with God, don't bother me, I can't cope, went on the road did Jasmine Bill

he basically was the first arranger according to Kenton, Nix on Facebook but he was the person who really knew how to put records together Bert Reed from Crown He's Affair had hooked my dad up with Kenton who was his friend saying hey

maybe you can help him put together some stuff so the first time of gardener I was him work that body was my dad's pretty much production he's listed as a ranger but kenton was the producer and i guess co-writer and up to heartbeat which was actually one of the leftover tracks off the album i heard didn't happen but basically they went and redid it so when i eventually sampled it from here comes the hot supper that kicked back in you have the master rule i don't i think dope has it but you know he got all that he's Exactly. I think he has it.

But basically, just in that conversation, I was able to get a really favorable sample clearance deal. Because it was lifted from dad's original works. And, you know, still, I just feel like the legacy comes around. Pops is always, I'll say it now. He said that was this jam that he created, you know, with his band basically off of it's a shame. A shame. But it's a good at us. Oh, yeah.

Boom. to do you. It's basically who he's playing as a shame. Does your father know did he ever hear the story of Larry Levin and the four hours

of heartbeat? No, I don't know. Do you know the story? No, I don't know that story. All right. So you know Larry Levanon's, right? He would deal with Larry all the time doing stuff.

So, yeah, the legend has it. Do you know Larry Levan is? Why? If I say that, then I know. It sounds familiar. Okay.

He, to me, he's like one of my DJ idols, but he, in 77 when Studio 54 spawns off sort of rejection culture

like you can't come in but you can come in but you can't come in so all the rejects were like well fuck it we're going to start our own culture so you know three sub genres

and subcultures started so there's the punk the punk scene in the East Village the have-nots and then hip hop in the Bronx 77

also helped due to the blackout and them looting all the DJ equipment sounds very okay I'm get down okay and then and then wait a minute I know that was the wrong reference to make Bill

well yeah because Bill's face just started you know I wasn't getting crazy I didn't mean to say that the G words it just sounded familiar too I wasn't angry I was laughing I thought it was funny

yeah anyway so and then I guess you could say that I hate you in there. The underground. You got to get another bill theme that goes deeper than darker than that as Fonte.

The rising. Yeah. So, and you know, just a lot of the underground gay nightclubs and whatnot. Oh,

like what they're about the new Ryan Murphy join that's based off of, I'm sorry, I just went into a rabbit hole, but there's a Ryan Murphy in the abyss now. So the thing is, is that the most popular,

well, he also DJed at the Studio 54, but Larry Van, like, wanted to build his own spot, leave Studio 54 and build... The balls. That's what they're called. They used to host balls. Come on, y'all.

Okay, I see what you mean. But this was more, I mean, he built the ultimate warehouse with, with speakers. Like, it was probably the most, like, it's, it's a DJ's dream to spin in a spot like this. Anyway, you know, he had an amazing following. And he would do the most creative things. Like me reading about a set list is what prompts me to think that I can get away with playing like Kermit the Frog and DMX in the same setting. Like when he infamously just played the entire Wizard of Oz movie and had a light show. I heard about this.

And it was like, so I guess once he got larger than life, then he started experimenting more. and he was getting a lot of shade from his main dancers and they were like protests like we don't like this song so we're not so we're not going to dance like in protest and so he went and

I don't know did he commission heartbeat or did he produce the dancers didn't like heartbeat because it was too slow like it. Right but did he just do an edit to it or was it

did he have anything to do with the creative he did an edit as far as I know he didn't actually create it but he did the evidence you make my hard beat you made me feel it Tanja Gardner. Tanya Gardner and heartbeat.

So he, in the next week, he came back and basically played heartbeat for four hours in a row. And they relentlessly booed. It was like just a standoff. We're going to sit on the floor and protest and protest. And finally, they're like, look, let's just dance in this shit so you can play the next record. Because there ain't no other club going to let us in. So let's just, you know. So anyway, that was.

Part of culture kept going because. that record means a lot to, you know, the barbecue flex and everything else that, you know, came after it. And plus also, like, Frankie Crocker used to, you know, like, he was the type of leader that other DJs would come and watch this. Frankie Crocker would look over, you're playing that, you playing it, you playing it. And then start playing it on the radio. And that's exactly. So within that, you know, back to pops, he was, you know, producer, Ranger, doing all that stuff.

He did promotions, street promotions at Arista, worked underneath Vincent Davis, who had entertainment at the time. And then he became Northeast Regional for Arista. Like, during the time, like, he broke, like, jumped to it for Aretha and different stuff like that. And had relationships with Frankie Crocker, with, you know, go and produce stuff.

Took first person to take Dougie Fresh in the studio. For the first... Before that, there was a record called Pass the Buddha by the Buddha Blesser. crew where he got Sly and Robbie, who he had kind of helped out a lot when they first came to New York, hooked him up with Gwengue and got three, took him around to Larry Levan, all the other stuff. Oh, yeah, because, yeah, the Seventh Heaven, like that.

Right, all that type of stuff. So he basically was the person that, you know, when I talked to Sly and Robbie now, they're like, nah, your father took us around and let everybody know us and whatever else it was. So he was just basically a connector through the musician scene, the jazz mobile scene, you know, part of the Jamaica boys and all the Hinky great and Howie great and all the, those guys who are on that side were like my godfathers, he basically was just like a guy that was in the middle of everything, but he took Dougie in the studio to record a record with Spoonie G and Spivey

called Pastor Buda, which was a Pastor Dutchy rap version. They put it out, he got jerked, he put another record with Allison. Williams called The Fair. It was called Please Don't Break My Heart, which is another one of those, basically heartbeat, just that vibe, that New York energy, church chords. Just a little boogie song. Exactly. More of that stuff. And then, you know, through his connections while he was at Polygram, eventually, he brought

Gwen Guthrie in, even though he was promotion, wasn't supposed to be doing it, but in the whole there ain't nothing going on but the rent time. But he was just like connected on both sides, management and music. So was he an independent person? Because you just mentioned like a bunch of labels in a short period of time. Like, how does one go from like, I'm on polygram? I'm interested. You like James Evans. of music. He basically, I mean, he went through all the stuff. Basically, his thing was that when he made his first records, he got jerked and he wanted to learn. So he went into Arrista as an intern and then ended up being North East Regional. And then as he left there,

then he ended up going to go in a polygram. You know, his whole flow was always, I'm going to, he basically would be in the studio, but then still be doing promotion, but then still be with whatever else doing a little Broadway in between, whatever needed to happen. He always kept the I'm going to work 20 hours out of the day aspect. Who's the most popular artist that he was associated with that was sort of a no name

back then? Like, son, I want you to meet Susie Houston's 11-year-old daughter. Whitney. She's going to babysit you too, though. I can't say it. I mean, even during that time, he worked with Balafonte, so it's kind of hard for me to say. Wow. Like, even some of that time of gardener stuff, it says, if you look

at that work, the body album says, recorded by David Belafonte. Van, can you take David with you like help him he needs something to do you know David's an engineer

and actually in a lot of stuff I can't say it's kind of weird because I saw so much so young you know so that first time

Doug E was in the studio he called me in his 45 birthday yo I remember how I went to the studio and you was touching everything I just remember

you were submit to do that how you was there you was how old was you You touch everything in the studio And then you still do it No, that's still That energy

Like, you're just one of them kids Like, what does this do? What does this do? No, no. It was almost that But I remember like the first time I heard I know how to play

I should do Don't thonging dog dog don't know Buggy Oogie Yogi on a clive And I remember Burton Reed actually looking at me

And going Who told you how to do that? Like, really? So I was around Like so basically The way it worked on the daily Planet Block is that there was a planet studios in the basement, then up above that, there were a lot of

people who had studio, like, a little law spaces. So Belafonte had a lot space kind of like right on the third floor, and that's where my dad would actually be taking care of Harry Belafonte's business, but also rehearsing the band, which was like Bernard Wright was coming through at that point, you know, coming from music and art, and he'd be playing on stuff, or Crowneis of Fair had a loft down the block, so they would be coming back and forth at different points, but that's when Bert Reed is killing, you know, the must be the music's, the raw silks, everything else. So everything was kind of happening in that space. And I was living in Queens with my mom, but whenever I would be with my dad for a couple

days, I literally was seeing more than I thought more than I can put the pieces to it. I mean, I guess for me it also started because all my uncles were musicians and my father's brothers as well. So my third birthday, there used to be a drum store on 47th. and kind of like right where unique was somewhere right in that space 47th right off of Broadway it was upstairs on the second floor

and I think Philly Joe Jones' son owned the drum store and I went there and I was messing around with stuff and Elvin Jones was there and saw me messing around and actually put together a drum kit for me that was like of a floor Tom turned into

no big floor turn into a kick and basically set up a drum kit He was like, man, get him this. This is what it needs. So he put it together. My dad bought it. But that was like my third birthday. It was almost like it's ridiculous.

Where's this drum set that? I have pieces of it. I don't have the whole thing. Exactly. It was in my grandmother's church. Somebody must have got baptized in it or something. Exactly how it went. Earlier you mentioned Larry Smith's name.

And he's also like one of the great pioneers of hip-hop production. that never ever gets mentioned and the pathion of greats. Did you have any, Amron, DMC, did you have any relationship with him or have any stories of just? Not really.

I mean, the only time that I saw Larry wasn't until later, like when we had studios in the city and he kind of came by and he was just always like, man, basically the times when I saw Larry, he was talking to me about my uncles who had passed on by that.

My mother's brother, like Joe Wiggins and my uncle Thomas, just about stuffing, you know, the Hollis, St. Albion. in his neighborhood where they all were around. And then he'd be talking to my dad,

hey, man, we got to do something again. But it was kind of at a point when Larry was past his prime. It's really when I personally got to talk to him. I heard about him earlier, and I kind of saw stuff, but I didn't never, and I didn't have any of that 83 to 87 prime Larry Smith. And as you, I heard his name, but I didn't. And actually, I heard him say, yeah, you know, Larry, oh, that's Larry Smith, that's a guy, but I didn't really correlate it until later on.

So did you, is your first production black by a property demand, or was it the album before? The album before, McGilligerillo. I was going to say, did you do McGilligerilla? So I, McGilligerrilla was more of. Can I please play this song for y'all? No, sir, don't play. I don't know what it is. We're on a roll.

Let me just play. I'll say there is. No, no, no, no, no. Don't even set it up. Can, Boss Bill, do we have your permission to not, to not even backsell this thing? I just want to take a while he's stalling so he can find it.

Go ahead. This is the story all about a good. Let me tell you a little story and I hope that It's not boring.

This is the first song on my good and terrible list. A gorilla. Whoa. And his name is Magilla. Now one. That sounded kind of for realish right there.

Oh. Actually, yeah. He got fed up. What? Yeah, it does kind of sound like for real. That he does. It's like straight up. He had to go.

Now he did not. Damn, I'm just waiting to get to the chorus. I'm waiting to get to it too. This is all you, right? Just a lead to. The edges. It's not. You know.

The edges is also. He wrote this, too. Don't be embarrassed. He looks mortified right now. Y'all can see this shit. Re-speech, we go. There it is. Found it.

You're about to get a check for this. Okay. Now, you were 13 at the time? Who was the artist? 14. Oh, I'm sorry. That was Curtis Blow. Oh, it is Curtis.

That's Chris. Well, you did not know that was Curtis Blow? No. I had no heard of a song on my life. You didn't have a kingdom Blow? No. The record on the I would have been. Then.

I'm chilling. Yeah. I had back my father of the man. I remember that one. So back, I'll tell you, McGilla Gorilla was my light involvement. No. It was an artist that my dad had named Essence.

And Essence was a beatbox. And he would be down and didn't get down. He kind of took the biz thing to another level, but he'd be doing bass lines and stuff. So part of it was Essence. Part of it was my dad. My dad also produced falling in love for the fat boys. So that's their signature, their 707 drum machine, all other little pieces.

And, you know, I'm helping out on it. But that wasn't so much me personally being in the studio. Wait, so. But you get the credit over the album. I get the credit, but then also. That was them trying to, wait, Alan Smithing you? Yeah, I got put into it. And then also he was working at Polygram as a promotion person at the time.

My father was. So if you look at that record, his name. name's not on it, but mine is. Ah. It's like a Grace Cook type. Grace Cook, I'm about I'd say, yeah. Grace Cook, Eddie, Eddie Hazel. Okay, that's his mother's name.

Markell Riley. Yeah, basically. So that record was, mm. But I was doing records. What was the, I didn't know that? I didn't realize that. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. What?

Marquette Riley. Teddy was using Markelle's name. Sometimes. That too? Yeah. Sometimes. Because I know about, well. Sometimes he's doing James.

Sometimes I was using Markelle. Yeah, because Gene Griffin produced my prerogative. Right. I'm like, why? But Gene Griffin was taking everybody's credit and money. Yeah. So how did that, first of all, how old were you? I was 14.

Okay, that's highly unusual. So that means that you must have displayed an advanced level of some sort of musical wizardry that they're just like, go ahead, let's alone. Like at 14, I wasn't, I don't even think at 47, I'm thinking about it. I mean, you know, it's crazy. I actually, you know, when I was a kid, you know, when I was playing some drums, I was doing some different stuff. But then I also, see, me and A Canelli went to junior high together. So I had in junior high, which would have been 83, I was 11, I had a little, I still have a Yamaha Portal sound keyboard that I could program.

and in that I was able to program beats so I would really be on the cheesebox program and stuff and then for my birthday in 85 I got a 707 and the Yamaha DX21 and the four track. So I was actually making tracks and beats that I'll be proud to say sounded better than that.

That was just something that happened in the middle of whatever. My dad was doing, while he was doing promotion at Polygram, sometimes he had to pick up Curtis blow off the red eye. he swooped through Queens pick me up with Curtis in the car drive me to school

yo what you're doing oh dad this is sweet tea that's my beat like all the influence for the beats and the records were kind of coming from me and I was like nah this is this listen to that one I'd be giving them my pause tapes

like take it but just make a copy bring it back for me here's another one I got so I was actually somewhat in the records totally his ear to the street totally his ear to the street and just watching what I was doing

because he was still a musician but he was into hip hop you know he was helping Bella Fla they were Beach Street. He was taking Doug in the studio, so all that stuff. And with that record, it wasn't like my hands were on it

the way that I wanted to because I would have changed it. But that was part of their production. And then, you know, Curtis. And Curtis was at a different point in his career, too. He was still trying to get up with the concept. Nah, that one wasn't me.

Back by Popular Demand was my concept. But, okay, I'll get off McGillardillard. Just one more. Like, what made him, like, was there a movie picture? I wanted to ask, I thought it was already known. The guy essence had something, and he was up, um,

doing, um, and they took whatever the energy that was in, and smoothed it out of the hard. The genius studio did. That's really what, it was almost like a jingle studio version of what's something that was dope raw four track.

It just got to. You know something, it's just hard to, even if it's a nice show, like when we try to make like mock, mock TV theme like bad hip hop or whatever like there's almost

there's almost an art to that which even if intentional or trying to be funny or whatever like I kind of you know I delve into I love that type of stuff yeah yeah so I actually respect it

what was the first like drum machine that you were given that you that was your tool that was my actual I mean well that Yamaha Porter sound I was able to program on and then

7-07. I had a Yamaha 707. So you just skipped the whole Casio, SK1 discovery of sample thing? I had an SK1 more like 87-88, but before that it was kind of like here's a drum machine to figure out how to program.

So I started... You went to college first. Yeah, I actually, I programmed on, like I said, in the Yamaha Porta Sound, I was able to take that and it had like four little things where I was able, you know, boom, boom, did, do, bo, bo, pooh, and and I could record little keyboard things. So I was really doing that, 83, 84.

And then it was like, okay, well, we're going to give you the 707 now. And then I actually got on that. But then I was mad because I was like the 707 snare don't sound like Maulies. It's a demo snare. What am I doing? Like, how am I going to get this? So then I got a- You didn't get your crack at the infamous Marley Hapens real?

Nah. What I got was, what was it? It's one of those gated reverbs, at least this reverb, or something. like that. Oh, you just need reverb, man. The reverb was trying to make it. And it was still cool. I figured it out, but nah, that wasn't the case. And then eventually,

um, yeah, it was a 707, DX21, and the Lisa's drum machine eventually. I don't remember if that came before, after the 950, or 900. Probably later after the 900, because what I did was, um, I helped my dad.

He had signed MCREL and Chuck Chillout. to his label, 88, 89, late 87, and MC Rowell was from Philly. Rock him sound like. Yeah, the Rock him!

You worked on that shit? Yeah, on that album. Yo, I'm with someone my age from Tariq would lose his mind right now. Do y'all remember MC Row? No, MC Row. Dog, when...

He was like a Rockin sound like? Wait a minute, I put an MC, I put MC, I put MCRail post in the Ask Mine, Chad. You didn't say I produced this. I didn't produce all of it. I did one song. That's why I got my own.

That was actually on my dad's label, Chuck Chill Out and Coo Chip and MC Rell. What was your dad's label? It was called Palm Tree at the time. But he had Palm Tree Polygram. He basically left Polygram as a promotion person and got a label deal and put those two artists out. And MC REL's life of an entertainer. It was actually MC Rell in the House Rockers with some cast that were from, I think they were

from Columbia, South Carolina. Oh, wow. The house rockers. And then Raoul was from Philly. Where from, yeah, where from Philly was he? I can't remember. I feel like he was from West Philly. I'm not sure.

See, this really helped the root situation out. All right, wait, this is MC Rell's life of an entertainer. Face. What are you sounding? Just like Rock him. Beat. Is that you playing drums in the video? Everybody wants to rock.

rap will be a singer tired of working on that job and chat fingers the Boston bus is back but you're breaking it call out six for work in this case he had his cadence his voice didn't resign

he was more this was more a spoonageeous but there was some joints there was a commercial that used to always come on Lady B Street Beat hour on Power 99 that was M.C.

Rell and it was like straight Rakim like Philly had these two acts that it was like it did us no justice like MCREL was like our

our broke uh rock Kim and then there was a the the rhythm radicals and they were like our fake

public enemy uh okay you ever heard of the rhythm ratherals? Yeah I heard of did you produce them too? I feel like when this episode was done that you're going to

reveal like two artists that you know most likely was it that dad's label was that the same label uh the chuck the chuck cut out and cool chip album with slave to the rhythm one okay you produced that all the time no the only thing I did on that album was I'm large I went and changed the mix

they had a mix where they programmed like I was like Tommy Road that sound like MC Light turned that up and they had boy white Rob White who Rob Lewis was his name he had programmed on top of it, kind of some loud wannabe Freddy being the mic

master drums that weren't exactly it. It was just like, it sounded like they put seven and seven drums on top of Tommy Roe. And I was like, what are you doing? Take that down, turn this sample up, turn this other part up, and then Edison, my dad's partner, went and replayed the James Bond sample

and kind of put that together. So him and Charlie Drey. You remember I'm Lars when it was doing video jukebox doing that era? We didn't have video box. Yeah, I'm Lawrence was, uh, it was one of those things where at the end of the video with some to be continued shit

but then they show a commercial and then be like you know save us from help the bond from detonating detonating $1,800 $1,900 save us and I'm like

the sucker on the phone like trying to come up with the quote That was pops, he got you. Yeah. Made you look. It was good. Greg Knight still be like you'll tell you pops he'll owe me

$35 from talking the girl because they had a thing where you could dial up and talk to certain artists. Right. So Rich Knights, when he was an artist, Greg Nice, different people would come to the office and now they'd be able to, you dial a number and you for a dollar a minute,

and he's like, y'all, I'm going to give you 25 cents a minute. And so people will be over there talking to different people from all over the country. And they think, yeah, tell your pots, he'll owe me 35 hours. The first internet. Yeah. He's his first chat room.

He used that whole Northeast regional to his advantage when it came to life. Well, I mean, Pop's a hustler. still a hustler. Because I mean to have his ear especially the cities on the East Coast because he already had to do that for work and whatnot. Definitely that and then in the music space like I'm skipping

all types of stuff but just in general he was always in it always in jazz mobile and different places. So he had basically my width of music that I work on he pretty much did all of it I'm just expanding on it in different ways

and kind of going from there. So I was born into that basically when I came and graduated from high school in 89. I went from living with my mom in Queens to moving into the building where he had classic concepts, which was video music box, basically subletting one space and getting them all of the video stuff. They did the Chuck and Chill Out videos.

The BBD poison, you know, Slick Blow. That was in our studio that was underneath where classic concepts was. So that was all in our space. So that's the same studio room that I would have recorded Inie Komozian or Giggy. or whatever else it was. That was like our main studio. You did Zee?

That was you. Toss it up? Yeah. Shit. Dog, we're going to say, I know, we gotta go. Yeah. Yo, did you have anything to do with the payback mix?

The payback mix? The James Brown mega mix thing? Oh, yeah, I did that. When you do game, it's called bitch, you produced it. Where you just throw some shit at Sal Ravi. He goes, or no. I did that. That was, um, that was, um, Harry, hey,

Harry Wenger came to me at that time and was like, hey. What you were like 16? But my dad worked at Polygram branch with Harry Wenger. So I met Harry when I was 13. I don't trust a 26 year older now, let alone a 16 year old. I was in the vaults. I know you was. I was in the vaults early.

And I was in there, you know, I was sample police early. Hey, that's sample. Oh, you was? Oh, what? Oh, man. I know what it was. Get the gun while I was in there. Yeah, I was going to say, here's the.

LaRue was a fad. But I got access I was a Rick Ross fan I was helping people out A win is a win A win A win is a win I don't care what you're saying

Yep that's me Cliver Taylor the 4th You might have seen the skits The reactions My journey from basketball to college football Or my career in sports media Well somewhere along the way This platform became bigger than I ever imagined

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

this is right 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. 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. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft, and we've got a special guest.

The director of the NFL's East-West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make, to the players flying under the radar. This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice Podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slical Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Do me a very. Give us three acts. Oh, no. Give us three acts or three joints that you kind of... That you snest doing. I can't even remember right now. But were you bad? Were you like, okay, that's the funky drummer sneer.

That's ours? No, no, no, no. It was like, you know, if there were like whole records. Because basically what I was doing, like the funky people part three, I think, had the version I did of Blow Your Head without the noise on it. Yes. So that was something I went and did. So I was telling them like, look, if we have some of these records where...

You was laying traps. Because you also did that for things got to get better with Marvel Whitney. So I did that. So there were three versions of the multi. There was a James version. of him singing, things gotta get better. Right. There was a Lynn Collins version and it was a Marvel Whitney version.

So then I made a mix where I put all three of them together and I put the drum beat on the beginning. Same with unwind yourself. Unwine yourself, I did that. That was you? Yeah, so you was laying little traps. So one of the mother-ups? Yeah, but Cass was coming jacket and he'd be like, ah, he's throw our shit. So basically, do you understand what you see it as a trap?

But it was, it was. But bigger than that, I was trying to get the drums out of records that we couldn't get. I see that. I'm setting up free, yeah. But it's also a trap. Oh, I thought you were protecting. He was basically, he would take the original reels and make versions, put little drum intros on it.

And then motherfuckers like me, like, yo, you're the open drums? And start taking it. And then. Because you're thinking that he was the original source, but he just kind of. Yeah, I'm on. But no one ever really knew I did it. And then back to the James Brown Payback mix, it was like a lot of stuff that I pulled off of rails and I think at that time it was his 40th anniversary or whatever it was so I actually was

in there and I just went through and made one big mix but then I think his publishers wouldn't allow us to put it out because we were going to add it to the whatever Harry did at the time 40th anniversary box set yeah so we were going to add it to it but they said you know you got 1825 records whatever I did so we couldn't do it so I had bugsie talk on the end had flex say something on the beginning and then somehow we found this way on the vinyl I don't I don't know how. Because it was just like, where did I work on that for five days for, you know, just basically going through it? Just to sit there.

But, you know, once again, it was for the culture. That is crazy. For the culture. But I had access to James Brown stuff because my dad was at Polygram because I knew people and they, you know, asked Oscar Wong, Harry Wenger. Did you work on in the Jungle Groo? Jungle Group was out before me before I was around. But I had a copy of it early. So I had a copy of the.

do do do do do do do um what is that ago well that was mother load that was a mother load yeah yeah jungle groove actually had that's what we used for Curtis blow um for back by pop yeah yeah okay that's what it should be called damn that was you that's much better but though that stuff helped me out later when i was doing nauses get down having a nice clean exactly yeah great job that helped me when I was doing, um, where are they now? You know, clean. Tap, tamp, tap, to, boom, chat. Wait, get on up, get into it.

Is, is on, how come, how come, is it? Yeah, is there a stereo version of that? Because I only keep, I just had the clean. I had the drums. I had, I had the cleaning parts. So I was able to make the record. Okay. I see.

Into something else. Yo, man, I'm highly amazed at what he's saying. I know we're talking a mile a minute about. Yeah, because I was also thinking, I'm like, So does this mean, too, that you were, like, of the privilege you didn't have the issues that a lot of people had with the estate and whatnot? Did I go in here? Okay.

All right. So how many? No, no, he had the clear like everyone else. But he, whereas we would take it from the records, he would take it from the original session. He just went to the real. Oh, so it just sound was a whole. Now in 2018, we can get back in 1990 something to get access to the reals. That was, that was the only one at the time of your age?

Is it like an elite? No one else. No, I can get that. I was beyond. I mean, actually it was on the Ziggy album even. There was a couple things. Not on that. It's funny how I ended up doing that,

but not on that on all that glitters and gold and a couple of songs, I might have used some pieces and some cleaner pieces of different stuff. So how did you come in contact with Ziggy? Good rival hole here. So Dennis Davis, one's into my dad.

Dennis Davis is a dream. drummer who played with Royers and with Stevie. Wait, your cousin. Oh, there it goes. Wow. All right, so Dennis. Dennis playing by himself, man. Yeah, exactly.

So Dennis ran into my dad on 48th Street, man. He's somewhere, one of the record stores. He's like, hey, my stepdaughter's got this boyfriend. He can rap or whatever was. So I was like, okay. So then. I roll. Exactly.

He can rap. So then they're going to bring him by. Hey, Salam, you know, I ran to Dennis. Yeah, you know, Dennis comes by at that time. He had, like, short dreads probably up to hair. Yeah, Stevie looking. Exactly. So he was like, yeah, I'm come by and bring this kid by.

So he brings by this kid. You know, they got looking stuff. So it was actually a sound, Kenny from Ziggy. He was at the time dancing for YZ. And when he comes in, he's like, yo, you know, I can rhyme. And he starts rhyming. He's on his black power. So I'm looking at him like, I'm not giving you none of my real, real.

exclusive exclusive breaks, I'm going to see what you can do. So I gave him Samande. I had a version of Zion. I kind of chopped up with a little substitution on it. And he did something that sounded decent, you know, which actually ended up being on the album. Then he's like, well, next time can I bring my boys? Because we all rock.

We're in the whole crew. We dress this way. We dress flies, jiggie, this and that. And, you know, my other boys dance with special ed and everybody else. So can we come through? We have really a jiggy tribe. All the dancers. Wow.

So now I have, you know, half of the mom. five dances. Exactly. There was 10 probably. It was actually all of them plus aunt who had Laris's Lounge was with them. Oh, okay. Were? Aunt Marshall, so he's actually on the gigia album. Their Bredaima must have been. And everybody else. So they were all just part of the crew, but basically we had automatic, you know, the crowd tossed it up. It's like 90 people in there, but they were all Marquess from the misfits. Like their whole crew was all there. Mystides misfits? Exactly. Wow. So they were all together because I lived across at the time. My studio was on the next block from Red Zone,

so we were like in and out. But basically I was like, your own studio or just like... It was the studio that my dad had. Okay. It was directly across from Red Zone, like on 53rd between half and time. And basically,

I'm looking at them like, I'm not giving you all a real beat because Diamond Deer is like, why did you just use, like, scamp your style, substitution? All the obvious,

ultimate beats and bridge joints. You know what I'm saying? I put a little... Thet-than, cool. That was all for the James Brown. But he's like, Diamond's like,

why did you ever do that? Like I see you at the break conventions with us. Why'd you do that? And I'm like, because they had dances, you know. They need to. And Flex had the thing. We'd be like, champ me feet, you know. Happy feet, dude, sit down.

I'm about to play something else. So he'd always be going at him. So I was like, cool, I gave them that seeing what they could do. But they may toss it up. Cosman Kev played the shit out there in Philly. Where? Like, your Philly royalty checks was been high because that was like, toss it up was like the anthem there. But it's funny you said that because if you remember when Premier was on the

show and I was trying to explain to you what he said that that that that that what Lars Professor was was doing for the like why would you give him such obvious shit at all the all the drums on J. Roo's first record was catting obvious shit so I was either like either you were like no I'm not going to give you my good shit did you just get my throwaway payday money shit or I'm a challenge myself to turn all this crap into Which is something I did as an exercise anyway, but it was still like, you know. Yeah, but could you, could you really afford your reputation to be? I mean, substitution wasn't that old.

You know, this was 90 or 91? Zee was 92. It came out 92, but yeah, when that happened, it was 91. Yeah, so substitution was having a good. It was like substitution Amen, brother. Crampier style. But all those. Degger, Dengue, Degas.

It was just like all basic, obvious stuff. But then once again, it was about the song. And that's where we got together because the beat was in. Yeah. But then they all came out of nowhere. That shit was making the work. Yeah. No, the shit worked in the club.

And then also I was with Flex and Chuck Chillout all the time because basically Chuck Chilout had this group Deuce's Wow, non-Dubble-M Centipy and the Funkmaster Flex. So everywhere that Chuck went from 89 when he lived in the building in the studio with us, I was there with him. So when he got to Funkmaster Flex is on the one and two, they were using my turntables. Wait, so Flex wasn't, how about Chuck Chilat was the main DJ and Funkmaster Flex was like his record guy?

Yeah, and I was the other person with Flex. So you had to carry the crates and all that stuff? All that stuff. How many crates was Chuck Chilat using at the time? Probably about four or five. But then when Chuck was talking, he was also, when basically Chuck got fired off a kiss. When Chuck would mess up a kiss,

Flex had the DJ for him. Chuck is late. What quarters mess up? He wouldn't show up sometimes. Oh, I thought that sniff meant something. Sometimes he wouldn't show up or he'd be all over the place. But basically, when he got to BLS now, because my dad had the relationship with Frankie Crocker, and Molly was no longer on due to whatever drama within control was not there, I don't know what that that was.

Then basically, my dad was like, well, Chuck, you got to talk. So Chuck got turned to talking, and now Funkmaster Flex is on the one in two. became the phrase. And then they were using my turntables because Molly was always working on the basic, you know, pretty much mixing on the board. Right. Yeah. So now they're like, now we've got to bring some

$1,200s and so they're using my $1,200s basically. So you were there doing the whole magic of, wait, BLS or... Yeah. Yep. Wow. So basically my Fridays and Saturdays would be at the radio station all away from that BLS time, being

in the clubs with Flex and the DJ. So this explains the freaking Fuji's remix and why Flex played it so goddamn much. He actually liked it. No, no, no. I mean, it's a classic. But that relationship helped it, didn't it? No, more than the relationship. I'll tell you what happens.

From the time that Flex is in the clubs, whether it's Red Zone, Powerhouse, the Muse, Homebase, I'm there with him because he's used to having me everywhere. and I lived in midtown. So as I'm in the clubs, I'm watching the door. Yo, Buster just walked in, play the leaders. He's trying to get no leverage. He asks Jessica to manage him. You know, Jessica is doing everything else.

But then he's upstairs in the room at the red zone. Triple C and Caperi and Clark are downstairs in the red zone. He's trying to get on. So whenever he goes different places, I'm his eyes. I'm watching the room. I'm seeing what's happening. So it's almost like how reggae has a selector that's kind of picking the songs. And then the guy that's actually mixing it.

He's on the radio at BLS. I'm watching what's going on. I'm writing out the names of the songs that you're playing to give it to the guy who's going to say it, whatever it was. So when he first got the Hot 97, it's the same thing. Yo, Salam, I need you to come with me. Why? Because you know the, I'm a safety net.

Producing the show pretty much, but not really being. So like Vip, where the guys always whispering in the airs. Okay, this is the... No, yo, they just went to the commercial. Play the Raquan. Play the Wu-Tang. Like, I'm watching the room because I'm seeing what's happening. and that just gave me a sharp edge on when I'm making records

the same way that Larry LeVan would know how to make it something right for the dance floor then now my record's also sharper so really what got Nappyheads going because he wasn't the fan of the Fugees from Bufbaf. Nobody was. Lex was Jamaican be like Badoof Badoff like real Badoof Badoff, are you serious?

So he was really upset but he's like, what are you doing this week? The Fugees Poof Poff. Taish keeps bringing Poof Baf. But then I'm a lot of it. I also knew as that record starts, number one, I start a real, br-p-p-p-p-dur-da. Really quiet, your nappy heads laid some treats on us.

So I understood it's quiet and the snare comes in the war, so it turns up. Can I ask you the question? Yeah. How do you feel about that mix of nappy heads? Yes. The bass is very loud, very, very loud. The studio that I mixed it in had a really compression room.

so if you didn't catch it, the bass is super loud, but it worked. It sounded great on the radio. I was going to say, it sounds better on the radio. No song frustrates me more to spend back when I was using wax to spend in the clubs than the NAPia remix because it was so freaking silent. It was so low because the bass was so loud, right. But then you hear, like, to hear a flex mix that shit on the radio, it was something else.

It found out. I was like, yo, how come I'm not getting... I mean it comes in low? and then it goes. No, just the way that the record is, basically the room that I had at SoundWorks, and that's where I mixed that, it was a compression room.

So if I turned it up, basically, even if the bass was loud, like here comes the hot step, I had a loud bass like that. Different records I did kind of were just super bass heavy, but then the top end of it was crystal clear. So really, today we would have had a multi-brand compressor that would have just took the low end

and pulled it down 15 dB, and then everything else with the sound that it's clear, but at that time, that was just the way it went. And I got away with it. But yeah, you're right. In the age of CDJs, I definitely remember, like, having to do, I would make my own Nappyhead's EQ. Well, I do, like I said, for Kanye, like, re-EQ is it, because he uses way too much

base. Exactly. So within that, but also I knew that as a snare started, Pat, Pat, that's DJ then, Chiba, Chiba, y'all, I'm a Libra y'all. Okay, cool. You know what this one's all. Chewa Chiba y'all. I'm a Libra y'all.

You know what? It's not bad. All right, it's the Fugis. And then when he was writing his verse, I played the come clean instrumental. No, come clean, acapella, and it ain't hard to tell Acapella over the track. So then he just fit into that pocket.

So basically the record was set up in a way where the DJ's going, brim, brim, brim, d'i, da. Chiba, chiba, y'all, cheapa, cheap, cheeba, y'all. That's crazy. You got the water? Dang, boom.

We already do halfway through the first verse before you can get the next record. So that was my DJ mind. That was already knowing how to make the record that if you didn't like it, you already want to like something about it and start going. Okay, so explain your work with the Fugis

and just, what was that like? You came, you had nothing to do with one or in reality, correct? No, not at all. So you came at the tail end of, how did you manage to... To even get to them? Weasel your way in, but for you the game, their trust, because I know that

basically what ended up happening was that I'd done Megabans and the Samboy Killer Remix, which had the Barry White, you know, whatever was. Me, my name was the first out of it. We had that tape. Exactly. So I was doing from my nerve from being. You did that? Yeah.

That was goddamn. Yeah. So I did those pieces, but basically that came from being. in that BLS, Bugs is the MD, Bobby Condes is working in BLS, Bobby Condice sees me going to Howard Jackson's records,

plucking out samples, yo, I'm going to studio, can you come with me? Maybe you could program some beats from me. So now in between whatever else I'm doing, trying to make the real hip-hop, trying to keep up with the Peets and premieres and large pros,

I'm able to go with Bobby Conders and just sell him breaks that everybody used already for dance mixes, R&B mixes, reggae mixes. So he wasn't a producer per se. Bobby was a producer

but I was doing programming for him of certain things. So he'd have a keyboard dude, but just like some real hip hop beats because he saw me coming in there snatching breaks out of the library and that's what was his office. That's what he said. Yo, what you got? So cool. Now I'm going to studio making $300, $400,000,000,

just giving him breaks that everybody already used in hip hop for another purpose. But it was new and right here. I'm going to ask you something. I'm going to ask you something. Did you use a Willie Hutch sample for Bobby Conders the iced tea high roller's joint

do do do do do That's easy an end Did you use that shit for Amel Before she got signed the groove Yes and Amel was on the record That was her singing it And she couldn't finish the vocal And he actually took her lead off

So that was Amel's first recording Yeah She played me that shit And Ah! You did that shit. Yeah, yeah. That was me. So I was working with Bobby and we did Mac Daddy and we did that.

Wait, you did Mac Daddy? Yeah. I did probably most of the hip hop stuff on that album. So I did that. And which album is this? Bobby Cond is a massive sounds album. And he had a song called Mac Daddy that was like huge of Philly again. You don't remember Mac Daddy? Bobby's from Philly.

Yes. Oh, yeah. Okay, yeah. Yeah. It was in the dance hall set that got played at. So basically that dance hall set. So the dance hall set at that time from say 90, 91, 92 was a combination of me standing in the booth with Flex and then being around Bobby and saying, okay, to go from dance hall, which was heavy at the time to hip hop, how are we going to bridge this gap? So now I was taking the hip hop putting it together.

So back to the Fugees, which was your original question, they heard Jeff Burroughs was their product manager. Jeff Burroughs? Jeff Burroughs is at Columbia as their product manager. And he heard the Mega Banson mix because I've been doing all this reggae and hip hop. He's like, and he's cast a Haitian. I need something like that. That's what we need for the Fuljis to help get them off the ground. This ain't working.

So then I think he might have been roommates or live somewhere in there, Jessica, who was managing Flex at the time. Yo, this guy, Jeff, that knows Jessica wants your number. All right, cool. I go up to Columbia. I'm already in the building working on Shaba or whatever else around there at the time. Shaba, Patra. What was that?

Was you tingling? I didn't do tingling. I did original woman where I flipped the J-Roo sample. I did all the remixes. I did Patra's Think with Lynn Collins on it. I got all my Len Collins record sign. Yeah, the Worker Man Remix, I had that tape. I had that KSingle as well.

The Worker Man Remigues. I did all those pieces. I was just like in the middle of the reggae and hip-hop mix. Was that you playing keys on that remix? Yeah, on one of them, because I think one is Chris Mcado. The one I did on there was actually I think I used a little Richard drums on there or something like that.

If I remember, the real thing. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, the real thing. Well, basically, my whole MO was I was able to take these West Indian records and get them on the radio, get it going. You would have reason we were grinding the hip-hop. A win is a win.

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So how come you never work with Karras One, who's such a champion of mixing reggae and hip hop together? Because KERS One would ask me, Salam. So I'm making an album right now. Why aren't you in my face? That's the type of stuff. He left that on my voicemail one time. Yo.

Keros one. Has there ever been an artist that's been on the show that hasn't? More times, the terrorists. That just hasn't used his inflections. His impressions are great. I can't wait until he comes on this show. This is going to be. I've never met no one in hip-hop.

That can't, doesn't have a Keras in person. Yeah, like. The articulation is just. It was that. Basically, I was there when he made madism. That I'm all overplace. Wait. Every time someone talks like Keras 1, they make him sound like a James Bond villain.

James Bond villain. James Bond villain. There's like a Persian cat. Yeah. Yeah, like a Persian cat. You're right your goate away. He's basically trying to figure out how he can derail your thoughts. And I was sitting there and I've been working with Channel Live.

Dang, I'm all over the place. Basically, I've been working with Channel Live. So were you on the, well, the first one, the mad is. Station identification, yeah. So I did probably four or five songs. So basically, Tuffy. No, Carys One did it. But basically while I was at the studio, I did Bush Babies.

And Tuffy was that working at the studio's intern. So he's like, when I get my deal, I want you to work on my album. So when he got the deal eventually through KRS with Capital for station identification, he's like, yo, I want you to work on it. So I'm doing beats for them, but Karras hadn't met me in person. So the day they were doing Madism was the first day I was going to D&D and, you know, the premiere room over there. All right, cool. So I'm sitting there.

And he says, so slum, do you specialize in jazz beats? are jazz beats your specialty? And I was like, nah. I specialize in black music. And when I said them, I specialize in music. Oh, okay. Then later on, he was like, oh, yo, your boy kind of shut me up.

He said, I specialize in black music. I'm just like, I'm just saying. Yo, did you do rerun things? I'm just, it wasn't that? I did remember. You remember we read it's right. Oh, remember we? Oh, wasn't most babies rerun things too?

By that, what? Okay, so I'm coming back to Nappy Heads. Nappy Heads. So basically, Jeff Burroughs is like, you can make the Caribbean stuff work? Can you get with this group? He comes, I was like, all right, cool. At the time, they were managed by David Sonnenberg and Bernal Alexander. Yeah, they were.

So, exactly. And at that time, they had biz. Wait, let me say this. There you go. There we go. Those guys. So David, who. who was definitely a character.

Yeah. Was a fan of my personality because we had an earlier business arrangement through Iannie Camozzi. So there was a time when there was a group called Natural Selection asked me to produce them.

Natural selection. They were on A&S. East West. East West, yeah. And they basically had a record and the guy, the black guy and it was a black guy and a white guy really wanted me

to do some beats. He went to my studio. He heard you're doing these beats. So I went to meet with David. I listened to it. I was like, It's a pop record. You're wasting your money.

Keep your money. I'm good. But for me being 18 and 19 years old and not taking his money and telling them, oh, you're nice on Riverside Drive. Keep your money. I don't need your record because I always pick with records I wanted to work on and didn't just work with anybody. They were like, Renning Ten.

So now when the Fugis come up, they're managed by David. And he's like, oh, wow, Salam, I can get back to him. He'd already sent me, Iini Komosi probably around that time to start working on the demos that became. Here comes a hot step. And then also Jeff Burrough said it And I was like, oh, Columbia, all right, cool, I know what to do here. I know who I'm dealing with.

So then it was Christmas, it was right after Thanksgiving of 93. And, you know, that last check after, you know, being in the business at that time, I understood that after Thanksgiving, you couldn't get a two-signature check until probably like after the Grammys. Because the energy is closed. You're going to be stuck. And if you didn't get your check from Sony before April, you was dead. So I understood what was going on and I was like, yo, I need to get one more check.

Christmas is coming. So then Eric Sermey wanted 15 grand. I think I agreed to do it for 10 or whatever it was. Got a couple dollars. And then they came by my apartment. At that time I was living on 50th between 8th or 9th. I had part of the beat prize. It was like, yo, you know, my friend Kobe, you know, big up Kobe Brown was, you know, always talking about you at college.

Wycliffe's like, yeah, you got to meet the girl. I played them basically the loop of the drums and, you know, the, what are I using? Yeah, that was the same thing. Yeah, well, not the Bust of the Wins, but I just basically had the vibes in that. And it was the same album that Pete used for Pete's sake. I can't remember what it is the white album. But basically, I was just, like, kind of chopped that up. And then I was like, oh, we're going to studio.

So we went in the studio. and Wycleft freestyle for two full times on the rail. I have still the recordings of like 20 minutes of him just freestyling. Then I went back and took the different parts. So you just pieced it together. Well, I went back and told him, okay, we're going to keep that. Your Mona Lisa, that's the hook. You know, I'll fly away.

We're going to keep that part. You're cheap-eba-cheba. Like I basically took, he had Cheba-Ceba y'all, I'm going to leave with y'all. If that was something, I was the last breathing dinosaur. all. Like, he had all these pieces, and I just took, like, four or five pieces to what he said during that 20 minutes and said, this is your verse. Now we're going to say that with the chill out Wycleft tone rather than the loud Wycliffe tone. And basically, that's where the record started. Pre-pro-toos? Yeah. Pre-poot-tools? Yeah. But I didn't actually edit it. I actually told him, this is the part we're going to keep. This is the part we're going to keep. This is the part we're going to keep. And they cut it over again. Then he read said it in a more, because Wyclef has this mini-moni. tone, a voice that I kind of refer to where he kind of talk

raps and, you know, that other space. So that's basically how nappy heads came up. Lauren had her verse. We kind of, she was all monotone. That's Miss Hill to you. At the time as I learned as week was, before she had the miss on the hill.

Right. Basically. Oh, was that a double in times right? No, I'm playing. I'm playing. I play. Well, basically, before it was there, it was just like her priest and then Prys had his part. that session became the Napier.

Basically, and that, you know, started it going. Then I did a remix of vocab. Then they did a remix of vocab that really became the real proper one. Did you do the... Like the slow, spacing? Yeah, there was a Shelley man with a black Sabbath drums. Okay, so what...

I guess by this point, did you decide that your entry is going to be, like, hard-ass drums with this sort of psychedelic... I don't think, I don't know if I... Because I could tell Salam Remy, like there's always a beautiful flute, breezy element to your work with some hard-ass drums under it.

I think that's... There's always like, when people were asking my favorite producer back then, it was like Monk Higgins. And it was Monk Higgins because he always had all this orchestral stuff happening on the top. And then boom, boom, boom, boom.

It was like a groove that was rocking. So I still love the juxtaposition of you know, a vamped out groove that still got me there, but then I love melodies, I like that. I like Marvin Gaye for the same reason, like that I want you album. I feel like the drums, the bass and drums put me in the pocket, but then the orchestrations of the music

and the vocals kind of take me somewhere. So that's kind of like my beauty and the beast. My Jamaican engineer called it Chris and Crani. The top end Chris, but the bass crani. Like, it's always that energy that we go for that we want to have, you know, it's a pretty face and the fat ass, basically,

Both. Who was your go-to engineer back then? Or you just worked with who you were given? Or did you have a preference? Well, I had my own studios. So I was always kind of keep my people around. So at first, my father's partner, Edison, who actually produced a lot of stuff with him and was doing a lot of stuff.

But then Gary Noble started working with me in 1991. And to this day, Gary still makes a lot of my records. But, yeah, he was from 19901. He would be working at the hospital. Then he'd come see me. After in between, we'd be doing stuff, and he was pretty much the main recording and, you know,

the main recording and mix engineer, probably from 93, forward at least, something like that. Now, you mentioned biz earlier, and I know that you're good friends with biz. Yeah. Have you just ever had a normal moment where biz where it wasn't just, like,

trying to one-up you? Like, anytime I see biz, I mean, it's like 20 years ongoing. It's always a one-up game. Yeah, Quest. You got this? I got this. Come on.

I think so. Come on. All right. First of all, what is your take on? The Mardi Gras situation? It's a Mardi Gras situation. I mean, Bix's got stories, and he always would find a way to do something. I had it over here.

I put it over there. I mean, the funny part is that during that time, when I was working with him, he had a period where he would just come to my house, which was no. I had a room, basically, that had. like three crates of records and it was the room that I basically made the ghetto at Hots and everything else and I had a half broken chair like a chair where the back wasn't on it and biz would come there and sit up my house for five six seven hours a day and just be sitting there come on what you got now you got something else in here funky what else

you got and I would always be in the city going through stuff my boy Rahim that worked the downstairs records in different places would be with us so we'd always be coming through doing stuff But biz would just sit there all day, like, what else you got? That's funky. So I had different beats. And, you know, there was the time when he was doing, I guess it was the album with the one he got sample, the one he got sued for. I need a haircut. I need a haircut.

So around the time he was doing it, I need a haircut. He would always be at my crib, just going through stuff, looking for beats, looking for little pieces. Raggedy Man might show up sometimes, be writing rounds for him. You mentioned, like, those record conventions. Like for our listeners, by our listeners, I mean me. Describe, that's one thing I never got to do. Because like just the whole like where a bunch of hotel record vendors, run out of ballroom and you, like who's the first in line?

Like who's sleeping outside? Who's? Yeah, what's really happening with? What was really happening with the record conventions, it was great because we found out, you know, before that, sometimes we would get together and, you know, go shopping, go to Princeton, go to A1, you know, me and Rashad might go here,

or me and Lynn Funk was my boy, so we would always go to different places. A lot of us kind of met in downstairs at different points, and some of them actually worked there. Trouble that worked in downstairs still works for me now. It's my studio manager in Miami, like different people will be around. But with the record convention, basically, we discovered this place. I don't know who's designed.

discovered it first, but where all these people would come and sell rare records, but of course, they knew that they were rare and they were kind of playing the game. And there were certain people who would actually go to some of the vendors before the day of the record convention and tried to buy whatever the key stuff was or already have dibs on it. So T. Ray would do that with certain people. Those guy, Gary from Connecticut that would have certain records. I know Gary. So Gary would be doing stuff. There was just certain people, you know, Bob Gibson from Boston would have a lot of records so I would always be dealing with him and sometimes he would send me like a box of records and let me pick what I want and send the rest back like what yeah a trust system somewhat he probably got burned a couple times but you know things happen you know but but in general that was kind of like the energy of it but at the record convention just off the top of my head who's there like Pete rock Q-tip uh Premiere will pop up sometimes juju from beat nuts Less sometimes.

T. Ray, Prince B. Craig Coleman. Of course, Craig Coleman. Who else would be there? This break has, you know, most of Buckwild, finesse. Yeah, yeah, D.I.C. Show sometimes.

Diamond would definitely be there. Rashar to be there. When did it start to get ugly? Like, I came up in a time of which, like, you know, Pete would allegedly, and I'm winking. You know, berate certain dealers for giving records out

or, you know, I hear that biz will buy out records and... Bids will deal. I mean, sometimes because people didn't like the fact that you would go

and try to buy something that's exclusive and then you're giving it to three other people who are in the same business as you making beats. So if somebody has something and I found this thing,

I asked him to find this record for me but then he found two copies and sold to somebody else just like me. And at that time, you know, I might go there and spend $2,000 dollars on records,

$3,000. And my dad would be like, Luper Vandros, what are you doing? Lumpur Vandros. Why are you doing this? Why won't you actually play some music? And I'd be like, well, if I sell this one beat, I just made 10. So why are you complaining?

Like, I made 10 or 15. This is just part of the craft, you know. But in general, that whole space, you know, it just got ugly after a while because there was just too many people looking in the same space. So was it like, was it a breathless race to the finish if you found like a certain Moni Alexander the record or that sort of thing. It was just elbows and too many people because now you were going.

I think certain people like TIP and Premier just stopped going because they didn't want to go shopping where everybody else was and it became too much. You know, after a while it's like Christmas you felt like everybody's getting you because they know that they can get you and they want you to spend more money. And, you know, of course, yeah, Prince B would be there buying, you know, paying top top dollar coming there, walking out with three big bags before some people would even get there. And then they sort of letting some people in early and it become favorite. You know, just like a club to turn into bottle service, tables, and everything else.

Hey, what about the music? You know what I'm saying? So it just became a little bit of that. But I kind of faded off of it after a while. It was cool, but I faded off of it because I preferred to, you know, the beginning and up yet. It was a dollar bin record. Like, I'm just trying to get something that's right.

And I started playing a lot more. And that kind of switched a little bit of my perspective on it. But once again, it was a good resource and the exercise to have. because you go there and you know you see everybody on a Sunday morning some people breath was definitely humming some people had to dry spit around their mouth we know who they are

you know it was just like that type of energy but you know it was a great hip-hop space you know after we didn't have the break beats and certain things giving us a whole lot of automatic breaks it was just a great place to be in camarader you know I remember Diamond being a yo you can introduce me to the Fugis

you know Oh, wow. That's all that happened. Yeah, okay. Who's the mastermind behind the score? Like, because there was so many producers. Like, who gets the... I...

Well, basically, the Fugees as an element. I'm clear that... Lauren is soul to the max. Wyclef is eclectic. And that's what he's still... If you look at, you know, just their voices and what they do, they continue to be that. But Praves was...

the popper. If you look at the score, if you look at the score, it says executive producer prize, co-executive producers Wyclef and Lauren. Prize has the, the beats not loud enough. What's the hook? I don't get it here. You know, the staying alive was produced by Plaz. I mean, on Wycleft's Carnival, Praz did Guantanamea and Staying Alive. The rest of the album was pretty much done, but it was like, we need singles. That was Prise going, yo, I need to put something together that's actually going to stick this together. Then later on is Ghetto Superstar Records. That's him. That's his air of certain types of records in the middle.

Even though Wyclef is more hands-on talented and has other things to it, his air was the person that put it together. And then also a lot of the score was built around Fujila, which I did first. I was working on songs for Clockers. And I did a song with the Fujis that we have a song that never came out called Project Heads. And basically it was real jazz. and that type of Spike Lee in my mind zone,

but Spike didn't want to use it. Really? And then during that session, Wyclef, Lauren was like, play the Fat Joe beat. Play the Beat you did for Fat Joe because I made the Fujilat beat for Fat Joe. Fat Joe came to the crib.

He's like, you keep giving them the beats. Hey, hey, hey, it ain't them. It's the beat. It's the beat. So Fat Joe and Chris Lighty came to my apartment. I was like, all right, cool. It's Tuesday, come back on Friday. Joe comes back by himself with another dude, Chris is and with him.

He's like, I don't know it's either fat or it's not fat at all. I can't tell. Lauren comes by. I'm playing them some beats. The beat that I use for Greg Nikes says, let's take it back to the old school. Let's take it. So that actual record is what I wanted to give to Fuji. She's like, it sounds like we did it already.

It sounds kind of trippy. We did that already. That sounds like Nappy heads. So then the next beat comes on and it's Fuji line. She's like, see, that's what I'm talking about. That's disgusting. So during that session for the project head's record, she was like,

yo, play the fat Joe beat. I play it. And then, why Clef jumps up. We used to be number 10 and spits his verse. Wow. And I was just like, that was a moment. All right, cool.

So we know what we need to record that. So before they even really had the budget for the score, I had a studio. They came back and we finished recording Fujila. They got their second budget open. And then if you listen to how a cowboy sounds, which I think Forte did. Cowboys or co-producer, whatever.

A lot of the records were made to kind of fit around the eclectic sound, the eclectic sound of Fujila. What other records did you do on the score? I can't. It was just Fuji life. So, I mean, they ran out of the budget to pay me. So basically, they took their budget and got their equipment. I told them the story.

I told them the story. I went to the music store. Yo, I got this. I'm going to give you this much in this many days. We're going to get this budget. And they used it to buy the MCI board, put it in the bugger basement, did all their pieces, recorded whatever was there, hired Warren Riker to do what it

need to be, and then, you know, Sean King did how many mics and a couple beats. Jerry was, of course, getting his chops on, playing bass, putting stuff together, and then even killing me softly, which Lauren originally wanted me to do her solo record for the album. Pross called me

and said, yo, you know the record, killing me softly, and this song. He was going to do that record. How would you do that? Dude, I probably do kind of like flip, flip it like, no, beneath apple bomb. Oh, that's the same thing I was thinking.

I'll call you right back. The swing. How would you do it? Yo, I know what happens. Yo, where's that record beneath the apple bomb? I got an idea. I got an idea. I know.

He just said that. Yo, listen that. And even if you listen to killing me softly, the beat, the bass line on it is just like nappy heads. B boom. Bo boom. Boom. I never said

something. On nappy heads, the bass notes are like the boob boob the duik

the Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And Boo-Boo-Boot so it's B'b boom.

Baboon boom. If you took that and unfiltered it, you hear tip go drastic. No! No!

No. No. What? Yeah. This is super rap nerds. Oh, yo. It's just filtered like a motherfucker. Yeah, because I don't know.

Somehow, I don't know how I ended up having that, but I ended up having it in a piece, and I actually just filtered. Well, I think I might have just recorded it with just the bass up, but that is from... It gets drastic. It just took the low bass tone. the low bass toe. You bastard. So that's, killing me softly is basically a copy of that.

In hindsight. And, you know, part family member and part outsider looking and whatever. Do you think that after 18 million copies

of that album sold, did it serve them well or not? Hmm. Uh-uh. Sorry to interrupt you, but, you know, to hear Salam's answer to that question. Tune in next week for Part 2, Questlove Supreme Energy to Salam Remy. We'll also talk more about Nas, Amy Whitehouse, Cannabis, and much, much more.

All right. See you next time. Questlove Supreme is a production of I-Heart Radio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora. For more podcasts from I-Heart Radio, visit the I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me.

Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes,

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

And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist, they take matters into their own hands. I vowed. I will be his last target. He is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves. We always say that trust your girlfriends.

Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe, on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.