The Questlove Show - QLS Classic: Steve Stoute

Episode Date: August 1, 2022

Steve Stoute joins Team Supreme for Questlove's centennial episode to discuss the world of music, commerce and if the two can coexist.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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

So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft. And we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar.

This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, for wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slical Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. When a group of women discover they've all dated

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

On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. West Love Supreme is a production of IHeart Radio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora. What up y'all? This is Unpaid Bill. For this week's classic, we're revisiting September 5th, 2018's QLS. with Steve Stout.

Steve talks about managing Nause's career to superstardom growing up around hip-hop and Will Smith's comeback. Episode 100 with the Commissioner. Enjoy.

Suprema, Suprema role call. Suprema, Srama, Srema Role call. Suprema, Sura role call. Supraima,

Sura Role Koe Lov got 19 jobs mine. Yeah. I'm on a hot streak. Yeah. Because if you don't work, Yeah. You can't eat.

Roll call. Suprema. Subrema. So, sub, sub, subprima roll call. Suprema, sub, sub, subprima roll call. My name is Fonte. Yeah. And I ain't dissing you.

Yeah. On Quest Love Supreme. Yeah. With the commissioner. Oh. So, sub, sub. I forgot about me. Roll call.

Suprema. Suprema. So, Suprema role call. I'm sugar Steve. Yeah. But there ain't no doubt. Yeah The greatest Steve

Yeah Is Urkel Roll call Supraima Supraima Roll call Supremia Superma

Superma roll call It's like I am The one that only Steve Stout Yeah I'm here for the money advice Yeah

I don't know what y'all Ro call Supremma Subima Surma Roca Call Suprema

Subima Subrima So Supremea Role call My name is Steve Yeah. And you know what I'm about? Yeah.

They call me stout. Yeah. You got to go out. Roll call. Hey. Supriva. Suprema, Superima, Superima. That was my Jordan.

Six seconds. Suprema roll call. Suprema. Supriva. Role call. Suprema. Superma role call. Sugar Steve, let it be known that that's how you're in the system again.

That's how you do it. You saw the ball tip. It was like three seconds. It was hanging on the rim. Yeah, there it goes. There it goes. Not the Tessa Thompson. You know, she still mentioned that, by the way.

They're on a long story. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another episode of Questlove Supreme, only on Pandora. I'm your host, Questlove. We're here with Tina Supreme. What's up? What up? What up? What up?

Hello, Laia. How are you? I'm good. Just Mr. Love, how are you? I love you, Laii. You know, I love you. See, this is a little. going to be we're not even a minute in it while we doing our

passive aggressive banter January 20 of stand-up yeah but see that's why I'm glad we we we have a man of business someone that can play a bridge between us oh this will be interesting yes this will be you're actually here Steve stout to to Dr. Phil to referee the doctor Phil the show exactly so there's a therapy session exactly okay ladies and gentlemen most of our episodes We sort of speak on the conflict that is art and commerce. And often the theme of it is it truly possible for both sides of that world to exist in art and commerce.

And for most hip-hop purists, usually the latter is seen as a seven, well, commerce is actually eight letters. So an eight-letter word. But I believe that our guest today can shed light. for us that one can be a creative and in business without compromising either side. He has been an artist manager for most of the 90s.

You were four years old. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. You won't. He soon rose up in the ranks as a record executive, Sonia Aniroscope,

and soon after that, used his promotional talents for the boardroom by establishing the marketing firm translation, which served as a, I'll say, a crucial bridge for companies to figure out ways to hit key demographics and market other than the tried and true face of Middle America and bring some much-needed color and diversity to the game. Yep.

And he's not done. We're not done. Hopefully, he will have established the dawning of a new era of how music gets distributed by launching United Masters

there's so much to do I can go off this whole resume but that'd be 12 hours ladies and gentlemen please welcome author speaker marketing director

CEO, philanthropist executive and still the commissioner Steve Stout to Questlove Supreme yeah so thank you for having me

Quest thank you I shouldn't know. We've been talking about this for a while. And I'm glad it worked out. I'm very honored to be a part of what you're doing. And, you know, this is, let's go there. Let's go.

Ask me any questions. I'll say the very, the very first time I met Steve Stout, I was half asleep on a couch at the Hift Factory. And I think, I think this was during the, we were working. I was working on the soundtrack to Space Jams with DeAngelo. We were trying to figure out what player. There was like the beginnings of player, back when it was on Space Jams.

And he was in the break room. And this is like right when it was written, was like maybe a month or two old. And, you know, back then when you're opinionated 20-year-old hip-hop head, you know, you're unfiltered, whatever. And his first words to me He was like, wait, you hate little black girl loss? Yeah.

I was like, yeah, it was obvious, right? And he was like, no. Like, I had no idea who Steve was or his ties to nods of the trackmasters. But it was just like, that was my introduction. Like, I'd seen. I just asked you that without even having a warm up. I just went right to his name. Yeah, like you would.

I would do that. That's the reason. I'm just, it's crazy hearing shit that I did. Back then. I was 26. But the thing was, what I did was, I went back that night

because he, he, he, I know that he's a great business man because his debate points were on point. On point. And to the point where I don't know if he's Stockholm syndrome me

into liking it eventually, but all the points he gave, then I went home to, like, I actually gave an hour to that song. Like, okay. What were, what, do you remember the points?

I remember, I remember everything around that time. Because he was supposed to do. It was initially, right? Well, the whole thing was super sensitive, making that it was written album. Essentially, you know, everyone loved Nas and obviously Illmatic is one of the greatest albums ever made. And I come in, and I'm making it was written.

And everyone wants Nas to be the guy on Elmatic. Nobody wants him to... Right. It just feels like nobody wants him to grow. They just want him stuck in that spot. They want him to be a kooji rap kind of guy. Right. And I'm sitting there going, I'm not doing that.

This is a guy. This guy could wrap his ass off, good-looking dude. Like, he can move. And like the art form is growing. Like, why can't he be a part of it? So when I was making the album, the first person that really put me in a corner, because I didn't use a lot of producers that was on the first album.

Right? was Q-Tip. And, I mean, tips my man, but, like, Kilt-Tip was, like, hated I rule the world. Like, thought I, it was blasphemous that I would have this man do that song. And I'm sitting there thinking, well, his friends, the beat, rather, his friends.

We got Lauren Hill. It's Curtisville. We got Lauren Hill singing a hook. The fuck are you talking about? Like, why are you holding him to this standard that he can't do that? And I made sure I mixed the record maybe 15 times, man, just to make sure the drums was hitting the heart

so that nobody could say it wasn't banging or whatever, and it wasn't hip hop. And then obviously the song worked. But anytime I had met anyone, anyone that understood music and was a purist, I always wanted to have that conversation with them. When I look at the album 20 years later, 25 years later, whatever it is now, people love that album. Like people talk about it.

that album as like people call it a classic I don't think it was a classic at all I think it was a great transition piece for Naz where music was going and I'm very very proud of it so not a classic but

like I think it's well it served his purpose and it was I don't think everything like I feel like the pressure of Illmatic was that like metaphorically speaking as an artist like everything had to be a Rembrandt or Picasso So, yeah, which, I mean, wasn't necessary.

I don't think anything will ever reach the heights of Illmatic was a moment in time more than anything. And that's like trying to capture lightning in a bottle. Were you with him? Damn, I hate starting the story in the middle. No, I know. Normally I started the beginning and work my way up. This is your show. All right.

We just talk about. There's no rule. It's your show. All right. So were you with him the night of the Source Awards? Sitting right next to him. Okay. I need a first person.

I can't tell you everything about that night. Wait, wait, wait. But I got to tell you when I first heard about you before we get to that night. Okay. Now, I'm almost, I remember hearing about the group. And I forgot, was the, who was the A&R? It was a woman, Wendy. Wendy Goldstein.

Wendy Goldstein talking about signing you guys, and it was way ahead of its time, live music and all that. But I remember Wendy Goldstein talking about the group, and like, it was, this live band guys from Philly. And I'm like, really? Wow, that she, because Faith Newman had signed Nas. So there was like, there were women, white women in the record business that was putting rappers on and putting hip hop on.

So I looked at Faith. And I looked at Wendy. And actually, Wendy was cool. She had really broad taste. And like, so that's when I first heard about, that's when I first heard about. The roots. Right. So that was, when you guys got signed in 90s?

93. No, no, 93. She signed us December of 93. Oh, shit. Yeah. Wow. Like that year, like, it was like eight labels and then on a fluke. We were supposed to sign to Mercury, Polygram, with Kenylla.

Lisa Cortez? Lisa was there. All right, she was mad as shit. Basically on, on a lucky fluke, which, prevented us from signing the contract for that particular day. Like the contract was messed up. We, you know, ripped it up. They were going to send a new contract on Monday.

But in that weekend, Wendy Goldstein just swooped in and offered the world. What label was she at? Electra? No, Gaffin. Gaffin. Right. And at the time, we were like, Gaffin, they don't got nobody. Like, whatever.

Like, we're not going to do it. But we did it because that whole year was about them courting us and, you know, When you're like courting an artist, you take them to the best restaurants and all this stuff. Like we came from nothing. Like an addicts, like an executive has orange juice in their office. That was like,

yo, she has a refrigerator in the office. Don't let her have a bathroom. Forget it. Right. Like, we've never seen shit like that. So all that year,

we just basically said, all right, well, we'll do it for the steak in the, in the lobster. Like, we're at least going to get a good dinner out of this. And just messing with her,

we just gave her this laundry list of shit. We, want it. And she called our bluff. The next day was like, all right, I'll give it to you. And then we were like, oh, man, we got to tell Ed X-9 that we're not going to sign a and go there. But wait, I got to ask you something. That night at the Source Awards. I'm sitting... And you must, you knew Ed's father. But you grew up in his music, so you you're definitely going to sign that. I wanted to. Yeah. So I'm sitting four rows behind Nause. All I remember was...

I remember, I didn't know it was Nas because I remember, he had a very specific Tommy Hill figure shirt on. And all I knew, Nas was my, Nas was my barometer for how that night was going. Because when he first arrived, we were in, if you notice they had us all separate. Like the underground heads were on the far right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, they set it up like that.

Midwest. They're editing crews and they move Southern rappers over here. The whole thing was set up like that. So the New York underground rap side was our side. And, you know, Wu, Teng, everyone's bigging up Nause and everything. Like, yeah, yeah, he came in. You know, and then as each award that Biggie won, I just watched Nause's body language.

Like, we'll, like, just get smaller and smaller. Inside that shirt. Do you remember the crowd getting upset? Yeah, we was mad as shit. The crowd was upset that Naz didn't win. Like a lyricist in the air or something like that. Yes. And everybody was like, what?

The fix is on. So I told Tariq, we were looking at him the whole time, and I told Tariq, I see he's never going to be the same after this night. I don't know what it is, but to watch, and I never like read a person's body language, but he came in like, like, like, came in like a king. And when I watched his body wilt as each award was won by Biggie, I was just like, yo, this.

something, something's about to happen to him that, can I, I want to tell you. So I want you to tell me, take me to do that day. Well, it was my whole thing with Nas the entire time was,

I'm not going to be surprised about any of this stuff because we have to fuck these guys. Fuck all these guys. Like we're going to build our own shit and not let, um,

the industry. sort of dictate the rules. So going there and watching that happen, it was like, yeah, his body language was fucked up, but he was in bad spirits that day because the record company, like, didn't, like, he wanted money to go, like, get fresh for the thing, to get fresh for the show.

And, like, the record company didn't want to give him any money, didn't want to give him, like, anything to help him. There was no, like, artist development thing. Like, he's going to go, he may win awards. He have to go on stuff. like there's not a stylus involved there's not like any they didn't give a shit about the source awards or really about him at that time to to put money behind him who's at the helm was it germane's well germane's dad was that was later yeah forget that part um so so donnie and

it was donnie and who didn't know but like remember during that time it was all about like Mariah Carey, Michael Bolton, and all that stuff. That's what it was about. Those things were selling a lot of records. And I'matic hadn't gone gold at that time. It wasn't a big money maker. So they weren't really about putting money into him and all that. So that was one reason that he was walking in and people were dapping him up,

but he wasn't feeling good because he wanted a whole other look. I'm being really intricate here. And then when the whole thing happened with Big and him not winning the award, I was just charged up like, oh, we're gonna go, we're gonna make records, bro. We're gonna do this thing big. Like, I got it.

They're doing their thing. But what was the conversation at when y'all left? No, oh, the conversation when we left, well, the conversation when we left, we went to the tunnel after that. We thought someone was gonna die. I mean, we, we, you gotta remember when, Shug went up on stage, right?

Yeah. The only thing that mattered at that point was not awards anymore. So let's say our first thing was then. You can't believe Biggie won. I think Carus One got jerked at night too. Yeah, best live. Best live performance.

Biggie won that. Biggie won that. Oh, wow. Yeah. Well, we were there too because that was our nomination, but I was like, even I was like, oh, Karras won't got that one. Yeah, exactly.

But Biggie actually said, yo, man, like, he bigged up everyone else. He's like, I don't need to deserve So, Karras won, that's a good recall. So Karras won got jerked. So it was the whole thing, when's that happened? Everybody was like, oh, this is not a real thing. It's like the, when you look at the Grammys

and you're like, this ain't the real thing, that's how we felt about the Source Awards when they gave Lurisna at a year, whatever, like live performance. I mean, Karris I was been ripping down every stage. So anyhow, but by the time she got on stage, it didn't matter anymore. because it was the conversation,

what we were holding on to, was now, like, you know, somebody's going to get shot, somebody's going to die. And Nas had, you know, Queensbridge was out, was ready. And, you know, Wu-Tang was ready. And, like, the whole thing was, of course, Dre and those guys, obviously they didn't come out to New York, unprepared.

And it was, remember that night, the production. like they had better production. Like Biggie and like Puffy performed and it was like cool. But when they came out, I think they had like, it opened up and they had jail. They came up.

Death Row had all the deal. Jails. It was like, man, these guys got money in production and this is fantastic. And then after that, they're talking shit? Yeah. But the truth in the matter that nobody would. I ran out after Drey,

when Snoop did that whole diatribe about Yeah, but Snoop. I ran. I was out of the door. I tell you one thing, Snoop actually saved that night from going crazy. Yeah. Because he pushed it, but he didn't go so far. Like, New York ain't got love for Snoop Dogging Dr. Dre.

And, like, everybody was kind of giving it up. But, like, it was dominated with industry people, so they weren't going to give it up. But some of the fans started to give it up a bit. And, like, he could have said, we're going to fuck you out. Right. That's what it felt like he was going to do. We know where we are. We know who yet.

He's coasting him up for the house. It wasn't yays. It was like a... So when he didn't do that, he kind of calmed it back down. Which is the only reason why it wasn't like people got trampled and shots went off and all that. It could have been that. By the way, it was the most dangerous thing. Room I've been in.

I consider that hip-hop's funeral. No, no, no, no. You've been in some room. You've been in some rooms. No, you don't know. You don't understand how that fact. I've said that's hip-hop's funeral. Like, no, you don't understand with that.

From a dangerous, like you're sitting in the room and all you know there's guns and there's bad intentions and everything looks like it's about to happen. And when he went up on stage, once he shitted on Puff and then Snoop started talking like it was about to happen. Like it was, and it felt like, in fact, the fact that it didn't happen is amazing. It's a miracle. I ran.

Met DiAngelo, got that, got the brown sugar cassette, and that was it, I ran. Like, soon as that shit happened. Right, because crews don't go through metal detectors. Yeah, I'd ran. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Cliver Taylor, the front. 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, for wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. So, Steve, I want to know, where were you born?

I was born in New York. New York. What part? You represent Brooklyn? No, no, I was born in Manhattan. But my whole life, I was born in Manhattan. But I spent my life in Queens, in Queens Village right off of Jamaica, in Jamaica, Queens. Okay.

And my parents are from Trinidad. Oh, okay, okay, okay. So your earliest hip-hop experience, what do you? Oh, it was great. I have an older brother. He passed away. But he got hit by a car going to the... There's so much about this story.

So my brother got hit by a car, and he was going to a show of the Superfest. By the Superfest? It was at Belmont Racetrack, which we could walk to from our house. So he's on his way there, and like the Pointer Sisters and Luther Vandros. It was that kind of...

Right. The kind of early 80s. Early 80s show. And he's on his way to get, he gets hit by a car, so hit and run. A year later, he just gets of age and he gets the check, the insurance check. Right. Like 30 grand or something like that. It felt like 30 grand.

Right. And he takes the money, and he buys all of this equipment. And this is 82. Okay. coffin, techniques, all kind of reverbs, everything. Like a DJ set, right? So he could roll up, do block parties, whatever. And it was that, it was, when he did that is when I first got into,

really into the music because guys would come over and DJ, he was all right, but his friends would come over and DJ, but it was like, oh, Mickey, you're so fine, you're so fine, you put my mind on me. It was like that. It was Don't Stop the music. It was like every breakbeat. It was all of that kind of stuff. And that's when I first got interested in the art form.

And I started to love it. So I grew up from 12 years old, from 1982, I've been in hip-hop music. Did you ever have rap aspirations or DJs? Oh, yeah. I thought I was a rapper. I thought I was Steve Ski. I had Steve Skiy. I was doing the whole thing.

Yeah, of course. What else the name was there? Or like Rock Ski is a song. something like that. Yeah, with Steve Ski. I already had my where I was going to tag. I used to write my little graffiti, write my name, practice how I was going to do it. I was spitting rhymes. Um, everything. So was management your first foray into the business or like, oh yeah, my first. Were you roadie first? Were you carrying records? Were you promoting? Yeah, I was a roadie. I was a roadie, then a road manager and then a manager. Who were your first clients? My first client. I was kid

in play. Oh, okay. Oh, yeah, we're kidding play early on. But I had, the truth of the matter is I was selling real estate. So I had money. Okay. Like, I already had money. Like, more money than, than I needed.

So by the time I was a roadie, it was really me learning the business. I wasn't doing it for money. Okay. But the first thing I did, I, during that process, I found this guy. His name is Steve Kit. And he's a Jehovah's Witness. And he was producing for Herbie, Herbie Azov, Herbie Loved Herbie. Yeah, okay.

Right. And Herbie was doing the typical thing, like taking credit for everything, buying guys out. Oh, wait, please don't tell me that. Yeah. Herbie wasn't doing, he was sort of the figurehead for. He may have produced some records. He was a conceptual guy. Right. Like, he definitely was a concept guy.

He was the puff to his hitman. No, no, no, no. He knew, like, what Salt and Pepper should look like, and he knew, like, what Kid and Play should be. Like, he had that kind of... I'm a guy who produced it. But it was a bunch of guys making the records. I think they had a name.

It was like the hitman type of dudes. They had a name. Oh, Herbie. Yeah, you're right. The Invincibles. The Invincibles, right. Man. Right.

We're good. Right? So he had the dudes. So guys wanted to be down with the Invincibles, and all that. But they weren't getting their credit and all that other kind of stuff for getting jerked up.

And there was a guy named Steve Kit. He was a Joe over witness as I said. So he didn't mind not getting the credit because he didn't even want to like... His name out there. The name was associated with curse words and all that. Right.

But the first thing I did was I got him and I was doing Rody work. Martin Lawrence used to open up for Kid and Play. Right. And so I got to know Martin, and then Martin got his TV show, Martin gave me the opportunity to make the theme song. So the first work I've ever published or been a part of doing was the theme song to the Martin Lawrence show.

Yeah, we took that from Capri. No, that's the second one. Yeah, they changed it up on us. I like the second one. I like the second one. The first one was way better. The first one was way better. Martin took the second one because somebody in his camp must have said,

you know, you can make money or, this. So all of a sudden, we probably had a four or five year run. You did. Yeah. And people still refer to it. That's the one. That's the one. That's the one. The other one was stupid. Wait, so you said, and you always credit Wiz with a lot of like your beginnings, your trajectory and being. Yeah, Wiz. Wiz, DJ Wiz, Mark Eastman was the one who put me on. He seemed a little forward anyway, because I remember like, I feel like it was a decade ago. He was the first one that started doing the video DJing and whatnot. Was he always that dude? Yeah, Wiz Entertainment was always like. Yeah. Yeah.

So you helped Helmed him to? Yeah, we signed a kid. By the way, we did, I got the kid. The first dude I got a record deal for was the kid from Philly Shardacious. I'm going to put my thing down. I'm going to put my thing down. Wait, time out. Time out.

That's right. It's Wizards artist. All right, here's the buddy. Yeah, is that RCA. So in 92, 93, it's such a Philly title. I'm going to put my thing down. Like it was making a lot of local noise. It was an independent record.

It was making noise. And I remember. All right, so here's the funny shit, which leads back to the Wendy Goldstein situation, which is me not knowing the business. Like when word got out, yo, Shaday's just signed RCA Records. Peepin for 14 album deal. We're thinking like, yo, he's going to make records until 2007. Like this is back in 1992.

Right. I didn't know about the whole like option deal where they can drop you, but you can't leave, like that sort of thing. So in my mind, there were two artists that were always referenced to and Roots kept until my manager and lawyer were like, no, that's not the right precedent to set. It was audacious. And then it was Helmut, the Seattle Grunge Band. Yeah, the Grunge Band. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because they got signed for a million dollars.

So we were like, yo, helmet. We pulled a helmet on Wendy Goldstein by saying. Yeah, we want two land cruises, an apartment, a studio, da-da-da-da-da. And then, he was like, okay. But back then, it was just like, yo, man, I just want a saddacious. I want a 14, a 14-hour. I don't know where you guys get the 14 album deal from. Well, maybe, you know, people always fabricate this story.

Because they make it sound like he probably was putting it out there to make it seem like he was getting more money. Yes. Yeah. Because, to my mind, I was like, you know. Yeah, but it wasn't. Yeah. It wasn't that. And then like.

I'm not saying it was a great deal. We signed them to RCA, the standard, probably seven hours. That was a big deal for Philadelphia. Oh, yeah. Where is Shadacious? If you happen to know. I don't know, but I have no idea. But the video, Boys to Men was in the video.

Yeah. I think Randall Cunningham may have been in the video. He was Philly's hope. Like, Shadatatia is going to put Philly on the map, boy. Damn. Shadacious. You don't know the record. Damn.

Was that when y'all was in high school? So this Boys and Men in high school? No, this is like, this is neck and neck and neck. with organics. Oh, okay. Like, he was, like, the street, the thing was, like, he would go on, we do these shows with Shadesis and...

And he had a cruel dudes around him that was rapping. Yes. They were, like, the street, Wu-Tang element. They were, like, on that shit. And then here we come in with our Birkenstocks and Ashkosh. Like, arrested development.

But the thing was, it was, like, they underestimated us so much that then, like, when you underestimate somebody, and then they rise to the occasion, it's like, oh, shit, they don't. So it kind of helped open it for Shaddaish's. Anyway, all right, so back to WIS Entertainment. So that's how, and you were managing him at the time, managing Shaddaic.

That's how you got him. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Oh, I was. Well, he managed Kid and Play in Whiz. I was, no, in fact, Wiz had his thing. Right. Whiz attainment. And I did, me and Kidd had a thing called,

uh, kid entertainment, actually. Okay. Yeah. So, yeah, different. entities for. Yeah, and it was me and kid partner, and then I had gotten a production deal with RCA.

Okay. So, Wiz had the guy already signed Shadace's, and the record was bubbling. So we signed the record, we signed him to our deal that we had at RCA, and I became an A&R guy at RCA shortly after that. Wow, okay. So this is also

doing the time when the other Steve with Louton. Yeah, Rift wasn't I was there before RIF. So what was the difference between like RCA proper like I know SWV and all that stuff?

Yeah, they didn't have no rappers, no rap suit. You know, on this show, you could talk about all of this type of stuff. Yeah, yeah. And like you don't care, like it don't have to be like the audience is into all of this? Oh, we are the, the black NPR nerd. Like NPR.

We're the black NPR. Yes, we have Terry Gross. Oh, that's awesome. We could just, oh, I love this. And then we throw some shit, we throw some fucks and, you know, what the fucks do that? No, I wasn't even a curse. It wasn't even about the curse. It's just like staying long on the subject matter.

Oh, yeah, that's awesome. No, yeah, that's what we do. Our audience gets off on the nerd shit. Awesome. So, yeah, I was at RCA at the time. And the kid, after we put the Shadace's record out, it didn't work. Like, we thought it was going to work. We picked up the record and it was about to go.

And then. for some strange reason, it converted, and I became an A&R guy. And as an A&R guy, I was there, and Klu was my assistant. Okay. And I knew him, because I grew, in Queens, where I grew up at the area, they went from, like, to Shadyville, is what they call the area. Okay. And, like, Klu was out there making those mixtapes. His shit was going.

And then I brought Klu, and I'm like, if he's making mixtapes, He's probably a good A&R guy. So I made him my assistant, whatever. So we started, whatever, we started, you know, finding music. And my younger brother was his manager, was Clue's manager. So I signed Clue. I mean, he was my assistant. And the guy named the big dude at the time was his guy named Kenny Ortiz.

Kenny Ortiz. Kenny signed SWV. And, like, All-Star used to come around. And that's when I first met Farrell. Farrell came around Farrell did work on SWV Yeah Ferrell's been around

Use your heart Yeah Yeah So Farrell came around I met him And I also met Dave Matthews Oh they were signed He was awesome

Yeah Yeah He was super cool Yeah Like very very Very very cool But like I knew that back then As an A&R guy

And then I was got I was really close With all the dudes From Wu Tang Because they got signed And I was there In the office

And they would come around and walk around the building. In fact, they shot Cream in the RCA building. They seen, when they were at a conference table, yeah. And I was cool with Power, Ray, Ghost, Riza. Okay. Like, you know, and I had known, I didn't know Rizza. I knew that he was on Tommy Boy when he had the other, when he put out the solo joint. And then like, so I, like, I knew those guys. As an A&R, most A&Rs that we get on the show. show they give us their three like ones that almost got away yeah who who are your three could have had them could have signed could have had them and missed oh easy um alicia keys for sure

i'd always have the caveat because she didn't play the piano and then when she did get signed when they signed to the sony and then they obviously they dropped her at sony but when they signed her, they didn't drop Hertz on it. They didn't want to deal with her manager and they just discarded the situation. Nobody questioned her unbelievable talent. But when they signed her, initially, she had played the piano.

When I had gotten to see her, we had just started. It was 96, 97. I had an office of four people and that same manager brought her in and she sang and she could sing. But like, I didn't see the piano thing and the truth of the matter is,

I didn't see the potential. I didn't see the potential. The truth of the matter is, I was in the hip-hop shit at the time. I probably was too short-sighted. I definitely was too short-sighted to even think, like, maybe there could be a piano involved and what that would be. So I would say that who got away. I signed 50 cent. Originally, I signed 50 cent.

Columbia. Oh, that power. How to rob. Power. I did all that. But I could have re-signed them again at Inescope. And in fact, I should have re-signed the beginning endoscope. And a lot of the reasons why, like, him and I have had this not good relationship

is because I told him I would sign him at Interscope, and I thought I could get him signed. Even to this day? Oh, yeah. I've known the guy. I bought him. He wasn't a deal with Jammaster Jay. I bought him out the deal with Jambs to do. The deal.

To sign him. Okay. He was with the onyx and all life. I sign him. Boom. He was working at Nas. We went up to Beds. up to Woodstock and did all those joints,

made power to dollar, I put him with Shaw Money. Shaw Money was another kid in my neighborhood. So it was Clue, Shaw Money. I started putting these guys on. They grew up in my neighborhood. They were friends with my younger brother. They were talented, obviously. And I should have re-signed him.

And I'm like, okay, I went to Timberlin. I went to the Rough Riders. I went to everybody like, okay, this guy, sign him. but at inner school we was signing everybody under labels. We were basically given producers had labels and everybody would sign up to that. So I asked everyone would they, did they want them?

And when they didn't want them, for whatever the reasons were, I couldn't deliver all my work. I said I was going to sign them. Even with the heat with all the mixtapes that he was... Wankster had just started bubbling No, they didn't, you know what it was, it was like, it was obviously got shot at, so there was problems.

Right, yeah. Right. So it was a bit of, do we want to deal with these problems? Right. Do we want to get in the middle of all this shit? But the only person, obviously, that wasn't aware and didn't give a fuck was Dre. Right. That's not about to ask you, like, was Eminem and Dre to differ? They didn't get, I mean, you're talking about.

They just went on the heat of the mixtapes. Everybody else, yeah, they were dealing with the music. Right. Everybody else was dealing with the super shit. Life, yeah. And for that, he's, you know, I didn't do. So that got away. But I tell you, probably those two things.

There's some songs that got away, some songs I wanted Butterfly. I wanted for a group. I had a song Butterfly before they gave it to Michael Jackson. I had the song, 702 where my girls had. I had that for a group. And then shit from Missy and Mona gave it to somebody else. But the thing that got away from me that I signed, And the guys around them fucked it up badly was Bala.

What? Yo, for half a second, I was like, wait, I know that name. Oh, shit. You know that name very well. Yeah, break that down, they signed him badly. Yeah, it was on interscope. Yeah, he was on Enescope. Yeah, he was on Enosk.

Fast lane was not the, mm-mm. No, no, hold on. Awful singles? Well, I say Fast Lane was just not the single. As a radio person at the time on the radio, it was like. Okay, it was, the first song was, Soul sister. Soul sister.

Soul sister was dope. Soul sister was dope. That's great. The video was dope. The video was dope. Yeah, yeah. Like it was, that was crazy. And remember, he had these guys around them.

I can't remember. It was, uh, I remember two-may. Yeah. Yeah. And they was so not wanting to hear anything that I would say. You weren't alone. They would not even listen at all. And then they, and then they did the dumb shit, which is go around me thinking they were

going to go to gym. and like they were going to get a different outcome. And no, that didn't work. And it was fucked up because that guy, I mean, it was so crazy. Like I had signed him and I'm like, man, this guy's going to go. Prince came to his show to see him because they were like, this is the next guy, the next prodigy of music. And I was ready for that moment.

ready for that moment for him. And then after all the shit ended, I remember, like, I gave Maxwell fortunate. I got the R. Kelly's song. And then, like, what the M2Mai guy? What's his name? Five Moor Fah. It was like, why didn't you give Bilal or so?

I'm like, y'all don't even listen. Y'all had records. It's funny because at the time I was doing Radio Black Reddy and I used to call a mirror all the time and be like, but sometimes it's just so dope. Why are we skipping sometimes? I don't understand. It's easy.

But it didn't fit on the radio. That was a nine minutes on. It was, but it was a way to edit and it was a way to make it. By the way, sometimes it's great right now. Well, Fastlane was Dre and Jada Kiss. Yeah. That's what they kept saying, like on name strength alone. It wasn't.

We were trying to do something. Yeah. Look, it was one of those things that I, that's why I said almost. Because that guy should have been. A contender. Way more than a contender. Yeah. Yeah, I would have been curious to hear how you would have, it was written, Balau.

Like what would a, it was written album. I wanted to do that. Yeah, I would have, I would have, like, you knew what DeAngelo was doing, so that was super clear. And he, like, he definitely wanted to do, like, jazz. He wanted to feel jazz around it. But I think that there was a way that you could have found, the guy, the other kid that came out of Philly.

Music. Music. Like there was a way to split the gap where he could have ran and that was available and I mean, Erica Bardue when she first came out. Like that was there

and he was the better singer out of everybody by far. Performer too? Performer, good looking kid. Like it was, that was the thing. But we couldn't even experiment with all that because they already had some producers in their back pocket.

They just wanted the money, take the money, let them, come back and say, This is it? No, but why don't we try this? Nope, why don't you shut the fuck up? And then let's go back and do some more shit. Yeah.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way,

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

So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple 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. 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 iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Slice of Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. In an atmosphere like Interscope, which had easily 15 to 16 multi-platinum artists, like how are you able to get a seat at the table to get Jimmy? I mean, especially with everyone else that's fighting for, like how are you able to, unless it's a clear-cut winner? Like, how are you able to develop something from, like, you were part of the City High Helming, correct? Yeah, yeah. I didn't sign City High.

I made the record that I think we made. Oh, the remix. The City High Remix. Yeah. And put Eve on it. That record went. Yes. That shit went crazy.

That was my second gold record. Really? You produced that record? They sample, it was based on a root song. The original caramel was based on our song, Silent Treatment. So I have a history of collecting golden platinum records that weren't mine. Yeah, shit you weren't all. Until five years into my career.

So, yeah, they're like, here, man. I was like, how is that? Oh, great. It's still hanging up there. Yeah, so I hanging on. the city high. I was the president, I was running all the black music

at Interscope. And then I, I was Jimmy's right hand. So all the music that I was dealing with had a seat at the table, to be honest with you. As it relates to Bilal, Jimmy looked at Bilal like a rock star. Jimmy thought that Bilal was going to go like all the way.

Jimmy didn't like that type of music, but he thought that kid had something. To be like, I don't want to say anybody's name because if I say, like, if you connect them to anybody who's great and people don't even know who Bilal is

or may not know, it just sounds crazy. But Jimmy thought that Bilal could have been one of the great artists of the time. Yeah. Forget hip-hop, R&B, whatever. That kid could be anything. He's special.

And that obviously didn't happen as a recording artist on Interscope. So it was easy to get a seat at the table for him. Like Maya and City High and all the other things, I think Jimmy was like, Steve, go do your thing. And so I was over there doing my thing. But is there really a black music department, at Interscope? Because to me, Interscope is like a label was like you're either winning

or you didn't get there yet. No, it wasn't the black department. Remember early, they signed Aconelli. That was the guy who got the big deal. Akinelli got $400,000 in like 91. It was like fucking huge. Oconelly's first album was signed to coming off a live at the barbecue. He got paid and went to Interscope.

They signed him. They signed Mark. Marky in the funky butt. They had good vibrations. They signed Gerado. So they were signing, it didn't make a difference. Like there was no black music department. You're right, at Interscope.

Jimmy was just trying to really, what did he felt mattered culturally? And like we should be in business with those people. Wow. Were you, okay, were you there for the hot crawl period? It was hot call. Maybe not. What's that?

Okay, so, damn, now I've got to look up his name. I can't remember his real name. Jimmy, Dolan. Don't get me a lie. He was a white rapper. He signed an Inoscope around, oh, about one, two, something like that. No, I wasn't involved. I don't know about that.

2001, yeah, I mean, he was like, could have been a contender. And he has a book out now called. Oh, Jensen Karp. Okay. Jensen Karp. What's his name? Jensen Karp. Yes.

Yeah. Yeah, Jensen Carver is now the showrunner of Drop the Mic, and he occasionally writes for, my wife, Showtime. Who's America? Oh, Sasha Baron-Coh. Yeah, he writes for Who's America as well. But he was a battle rapper that was on the Baker Boy show that he had like a two-year streak. And Jimmy signed him for a million. And in his book, his book is entitled Kanye West O's Me 300.

and it's a memoir of his life between 95 and 2005 like this 10 year period but it's he cut it's awesome to write that book that's a lot like that no it's it's one of the most

I couldn't put it down I've finished it in like two days but he insinuated without being specific my guess is that uh Paul Rosenberg really wasn't keen

on Jimmy, you know, promoting both. They can only be one. Yeah. Well, the truth that I was going to say, knowing Jimmy, like, it sounds like M&M, but just like battle rapper, Baker Boys, that's exactly how Jimmy found. Yeah. It wasn't Baker Boys. It was the same, but the same structure, same circumstances.

Well, initially in the book, he was saying that, you know, Jimmy was like, look, I have different rock acts. Like, why can I have the same, you know, hip-hop acts? Yeah. But then something happened and then, like. So I. I was there at that time, but it went away so fast. Wow.

Because I didn't even have no recall. That's what I'm saying. Everything at Interscope was such a highlight that how does one even navigate? Usually a label is lucky enough to have like two or three. Laws? They didn't have a lull at all? You're saying? For a minute, not for a minute.

Interscope was rats. It's got to be a law. It's, it's. I mean, they did, but I'm saying, before a minute. There were lows and not long laws. I mean, because you had an M&M album that you could put out and it was just clean everything up. And it was always a moment.

And then, like, Dre came and then, like, there was a moment. And then so there was always moments. But, like, there was a moment between, this is how I came over there. When Death Row was essentially leaving an aftermath record started, that's the reason why the firm was on aftermath. That was the, that was Dre's. first thing he did when he left.

Because he did the, he did the job. And Dr. So what are you, you understand what I'm saying? So yeah, that was a lot because, because Teddy Riley basically they had Teddy's thing and he had Queen Pin and then like kind of thing stopped working. And then it was like, it was that and then death row and then those were the production deals he had. So then we, when I came, it was always like finding new things.

I was finding new things or getting new. new opportunities for us and it was like, okay, so I signed, I signed. Yeah, well, I signed. The Rough Riders and then we did R. Kelly's deal. Rockland. No, we had Rockland, so we had Sparkle, right? Then we had Robin Thick. We did Farrell's deal.

And we did Timberland's. Beat Club. Beat Club. We had Bubba Sparks. Man, that was great. The deliverance album. Where is he? Let me tell you something.

Well, you got to read his book because you read. Bubba Spock has a book too? Well, Jackson's book. Basically, I can I stop calling him Hot Carl. Jensen's, yeah. Jensen basically states, like him and Bubba's book a lot about the situation. I'm like, wait a minute. They cried on each other's shoulder.

Yeah, pretty much. Like they cried on each other's shoulder. That can only be one white. Yeah. Meanwhile, Paul Wall, like, I don't know what y'all talking about. He was on asylum. He was on. I want to go to something there.

Bubba Sparks, because we're going to skip over this. Because I learned something and it helped me write the tanning of America. So I go down to Atlanta and I'm going to go meet Timberin wants to sign this artist, Bubba Sparks, and I want to go meet him. Like, what is Timblin signing? So I go on there and usually you go to Atlanta. I went in Atlanta. I'd stay in Atlanta.

I could drive 50 minutes out from Atlanta. 50 minutes out from Atlanta, bro. You are in fucking trailer park. Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding. Beverly Hills Billy. Dukeson has it. You know, I just realized the other day that Dukes has it on the side of that car is the Confederate flag.

I just realized it's just crazy. We grew up watching that shit. We grew up watching that shit. Paed no attention. Didn't even know what was going on. So anyhow, go out there and they're obviously poor and poor. And this guy tells me, I think, who's your favorite artist, man? I love Andre 300, and I love Garth Brooks.

Wow. Wow. I was like, oh, shit. This is a real, real thing. That you can do the both at the same time? It was a real thing. And then there was a fader cover or whatever magazine was not complex. I forget what it was.

Beckin. No, it wasn't Beckin. No, it was ludicrous and Dale Earnhardt on a cover. And I remember thinking, I know what this is. But nobody would believe me. So I'd go speak to... Complex. You found it?

Yeah, it's a complex cover. Yeah. Wow. Loued in Dale Earnhardt. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And I remember telling everybody that's where the world is going.

And nobody... I was telling it to advertising companies, anybody that can find, like, this is crazy. And this guy just told me, like, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and fucking Goth... I mean, Garth Brooks in Andre 3,000. Then when we shoot the video, if you remember the video,

Timberlin and Missy are racing in tractor trailers. And they're, and they do a fight, a mud fight in a Walmart, parked with pigs in the mud. But this is not even them making this up. That's their life.

This is like, if, like, we get money and like, black guys will get money at the time, it's like, buy the car, you want to shoot the video, make it look like, more of what you already are,

more of what you already are, More of what he already was was fucking mud wrestling fight. The guy who he fought in it was like starting offensive lineman for the Denver Broncos. Wow. He was into it. Wow. But that's why we fucked with Bubba Sparks because he seemed like he was being his authentic self. He was being his authentic self.

And that was some new shit, bro. Like when I seen that, Bubba Sparks taught me so much about where the world was going. He was ahead of his time. I listened to him. I listened to him. That record was too early. He was way ahead of his time. Where is?

So what did Jensen say? What did he say where he is? I don't know where Bubba is right now. But yeah, he definitely had, he fell to depression when the second album was. And that was the one. That was the third album that was called The Charm. That was the Miss New Booty record.

Deliverance was the second one. We're like, which to me is still one of Timbley. Yeah, I did. Which is funny because most was also on Interscope. Like, it was a period where it was like, Moz, right? It was Moses, right? No, wait. We signed.

It was Taliban. No. No. It's funny. We were all in MCA. Rokas was on MCA. Rokas. They were signed in Raucus.

It's funny. Raucus, the lead investor in Raucus is, was James Murdoch. Yeah. Murdoch. Son. Yeah. Didn't know. Yeah.

I forgot that. Yeah. Maybe you wanted to forget that. Right. Right. That's just a real. Another story. But you know, wait.

Wait. Wait. Because you mentioned something critical. The firm album. Yeah. Which should have, on paper. On paper it was, but not. It should have been easy as a field goal kicked on the 20-yard line.

Why? Why didn't it work? Why was the ball dropped on that? I'd tell you. Or was the ball dropped on it? Yeah. It was. Yeah.

Did you hear that shit? No. I'm here. No, that firm wasn't a one. So what happened was, you just said it earlier. Like when people, when the expectation, they don't expect much from you and then you. When you underestimate something.

What we was trying to do, it was Dr. Dre, producing half, track masters doing half. Okay. It was, who? Who was in the firm, was it Cormega or Nature and this and that? And egos with the artist. And just like, I wish I could take that one back because outside a phone tap, that was it. And we could have over-delivered it.

I mean, there's obviously some good rhymes on it, but it's not. that's all it was like good rhymes and I'm proud of it because for me to get Nas on Sony and AZ on EMI and Foxy on Def Jam

to record an album for Interscope Wait how did you pull that off Leior was having that? That's why they call me the commissioner, bro. I'm not even joking around. I feel you. That's what I do. I feel you can tell me the Brooklyn Bridge right now.

That's what I do. Did the moniker come from that move, though? The commissioner moniker? Now I started calling them. Now I called me the commissioner. Commissioner Steve Stout. On the Street Dreams remix. The R. Kelly Reivings.

Because I went to the R. Kelly, that was a whole other thing. I got the R. Kelly thing done. Like, my whole thing was we're going to get the R. Kelly thing done before Biggie puts out his R. Kelly record. Fucking you tonight. Yeah. I want to get this one out first. So I went in and got the remix done.

We went, like, I was just always on it like that. Because at that time back then, everybody was like, who can get the R&B singer first? Like, you didn't want to be second, right? So we had Lauren Hill first. You know what I mean? Biggie was gonna get R. Kelly first. It was like, nah, forget that.

But we can't wait for our next album because Biggie's album will be out, oh, we're gonna do it a remix. And it was like, oh shit. Oh. Okay, so it was that type of energy. How, how good. That's how I got the, so it was that

and plus all of the things was doing where the Monica came from and then obviously doing the firm mob and all that stuff was on an average yeah your daily life how many fires do you have to put out before 3 p.m. Like to you as a good day where it's just like I don't got to worry about and I know your life is different now back then I'm talking about back then and when you were knee deep in the music Like the idea of like, oh shit, big and Kel is about to do some shit together. We got to do it first before they do it. Yeah, I was always, well, I was looking for fires and probably creating some fires too.

We want all to smoke. Right? So it wasn't, my job was to make Nas the biggest rap star in the world. So I didn't give a fuck about like Biggie or Jay-Z or Tupac or this. Like, I was just going very single-minded focused on that thing. And that's what it was. And the track masses, I was like, we have to have a number one record, like, once a month. Like, because that's what we need to do.

And, like, fuck the hitman and all those guys. We're making joints. And was it just tone and poke? It was just, no, it was tone and poke. Or did they, was it a crew? No, it was like, A live musician, Spanador. Yeah, who was playing like on Fiesta.

Wait, Spanador from Lisa Lisa, Colton. Yeah. Yeah. What? Spanador. Yeah. Wait, how do you know it?

How did you know that? I read it in something. Yo, I'm not the nerd. He is, for real? Yeah. Yeah, Spanador. So Spanador was, you know, Spanador was playing Lisa Lisa, Colton.

Yep. And he was on like, that's when, and you could listen to this city high, remix here. That Spanador. See, I thought that was Clef. That's funny.

That's funny. Shit, I was about to say they're the ones that brought my snare. Yeah, they brought, yeah, you have trackmaster's fake for the chicken grease snare and Spanish guitar era.

I feel like I'm an official trackmaster. Yeah, Fiesta. That was good. Yeah, yeah. Was that Spanador playing on Fiesta, too? Wow. Yeah, man. Nice.

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

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

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and 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 proliferation. 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 Slica Life 12. and TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. When did you make the decision,

or when did you finally realize that the music executive platform was not as sturdy a platform as it should be and that you should sort of finagle your way into the business room and the board room? When did you have a... enough of music like well no it I say this a lot but I was I did the soundtrack

for men in black and Will Smith just the backstory on the nerd shit had gotten dropped from Jive Jive right yeah and I had known Will Smith from the kid in play days because they were

the light skin rappers you know so and they were always doing uh they were they were a and they would mostly do things together or they'd be either one. Like, Tuesday could have got,

House Party could have gone to Will Smith. It was supposed to be. Yeah, it's all that kind of stuff, right? So I had known Will and James Lasseter and Charlie Mack and I'd gone to, um, so they brought, I was at Sony at the time, Columbia, but when we get the soundtrack, the shit does what it's supposed to do.

Will walked in with that sample. that sample. Right. It wasn't like that. It was like they had a thing going. The men and black song. I think Omar, I think Omar was involved. Omar Edwards?

No, no, no. Will's Omar, his former dancer that later became an overbrook. Oh, yeah. Omar was cool as shit. And like they had the skeleton of it. And of course, that's right up track Masters Alley. So we did that. And this is the men in black music.

Yeah. Yeah. So we signed the soundtrack. Boom. Wilk walks in with that joint, track masters, boom. We get SWV. Will Smith is so cold at the time that SWV don't even want to be in the video. They sang the song and didn't even want to be in the video.

So that's SWV singing the hook on Minigua? Yeah. It's Coco. I was wondering why are they not in the video? I thought you guys were like, eh, SWVV. No, you kidding me? We wanted them in the video. They didn't want to do it.

Yeah. A blockbuster move? And they had no... Because he wasn't proven. It wasn't Will Smith. I just got dropped. Right. As a music as a rock.

They thought like, oh, it was the Wu-Tang, Biggie, Nas era. Nobody, it wasn't that time. And Will Smith changed the music. Definitely Will Smith the whole shit. And like, boom. 10 million hours later. But the glasses was selling like crazy. And the company.

that did the product placement to get those ray bands on in the movie and on Will, I'm like, how did he get making all this money? And like, we have nothing to do to it, but we're the ones driving into sales. And literally, I left Sony,

I went to Inescope, and I decided it was a lot of dumb shit in the music business at that time. It was street shit. And the business didn't know the difference between good and great. And when an industry doesn't know the difference between good and great, that industry's in

trouble. And I can show you many examples of that. When an industry can't tell the difference between good and great, when you don't know, like, you don't know why it's working or why it's not working, but it's just working for reasons that no one understands, that industry is in trouble because that is not a real metric for success. You know, you know, you. You know, you know, You're supposed to understand it. It was just like, it's rap, it's selling. It's rap, it's selling. And no one really understood what.

And they would hire these guys. But do artists really know the science behind? I'm talking about the executives that were getting jobs. Oh, there you go. No-moy. They were bums getting jobs. Right. And making $750,000 a year because no one knew they were bums.

Because it was like, oh, it's rap. It's selling. Give him hire him. They must be good. Nepotism. No, it wasn't even nepotism. They were high in, it would be executive at a company finding some guy who was standing next to a hot group, a manager, some guy who didn't know to run a record company or run a division, but he would get a job and get paid $750,000 a million. And the guy literally wasn't talented at all.

He was just a guy who was around something that was hot. And he'd get this job and he'd be responsible for a bunch of shit. And I'm sitting there saying, that's my peer. You fucking crazy. Okay. You know, it's that kind of thing. It's hard. I was speaking to Jay-Z about this recently,

about how hard it must have been for him to go through a period of time writing those rhymes and doing all that work. And like, Ludacris and Nellie and all these guys are selling three times more records than him and getting much more accolades than him. and yet you still got to keep doing that every single day. That's a hard thing to do.

And as a true artist, that's your North Star, the art. But if you're in the business and the business doesn't realize how to appreciate your art, I'm sure it's difficult. It's like the root story, right? Yeah, very simple. That's why they like. It's the black thought story. That's why Quest and Jay and all the real guys know who the real guys are

because they went through that. The Fonte story. My favorite rapper is Fonte. They went through that period of time. I forgot what we was just saying, what made me go to that. What made you know when to get out? So when I was like, I'm not doing this anymore. In fact, if I know that the music business can actually drive sales of things around

the music business, like more efficiently, then I'll actually be down with the glasses. So you figuring out that Ray Band made a grip of money off of something that you created a platform for. Yeah. You wanted to know how to get involved in that. And I actually went to that advertising. Did you go to business school or like?

No. So how did you? I knew that I met the company, the guy who did the product placement because I was that close to the movie and to the soundtrack. And then that's the only person I knew in advertising. I ended up leaving to go be a partner in that company. Like, it was the only company I knew. And I became a partner in that company.

And then I did, it was the first thing I did. JZ. Reeboks. Perfect. That was you? Yeah. All of the sneaked, all of the sneaker shit, I've seen that shit. I started that shit.

Period. So what was the difference in the S.D.D. versus what was going, well, shit. I guess you're going to say it wasn't no deal. There was no deal. Did you get 50 his deal or did you? Yes. So.

No, vitamin water. The disgust on his face. No, no, no. No, no. No, no, his sneaker deal. No. And Farrell. Farrell had a sneaker?

Yes. Ice creams. Yes. Oh, okay. Damn. I forgot about them. Yeah. It had diamonds on.

Yeah. I remember. I just forgot. Yeah. You still fucking ice cream, Steve. Sugar Steve is like, represented those are my sneakers. I bought me some.

from China. Yeah, the ice creams. Then we did 50G units. And then we had S. Carter's. You remember that commercial with Jay-Z? Yeah, when they was both around together. Yeah, I did. That was me.

I was doing all that. That's why you're here to tell us that. Yeah. I was, so I was trying to figure out. And that connects to why United Masters and why I'm back in the music business. So it's just like, oh, okay. The S. Carter's with my version

of the Will Smith glasses. The G units was the Will Smith. Smith glasses. I just kept on trying to make glasses again. You were not involved in the Funk Flex lugs, were you? No. Okay. Those are all the Funkman, the Funk Man, you said that no, a little too slow for me, pal. I'm sorry. Because, you know, I was going to say the Funk Flex Lugs actually sold. No, they did, they did.

Which I was in horrible. Get out of here. They were poor. That's not the reason why. And then, by the way, you got to remember. In the Birdman, love. I was going to say the Birdman came right. after that. The Birdman came right behind that. Then there was a couple of other stupid shit that just this was terrible. But like, you know, it's a Me Too business. So where people

copy what they've seen before. The original Me Too. I know, right? It took me a second. Okay. Yeah. So, but I was always, I was thinking, we launched it, the Escarc. I put the Reebok store in South Street. Dude. I copped about eight. They were a comfortable, like, I know fashion rule, whatever. Those were some comfortable ones. They were the original Yeezys. The sisters were like slippers. Yes.

They were a little narrow if you got wide feet. Right. They're a little narrow. But I mean, we copied the Gucci shoe from back. I mean, we should have been locked up. That's what everybody said. Colors and everything. Yeah, but it's comfortable with shit.

I've missed that sneaker. I got like, I'm waiting for like the turnaround to happen for them to come back. No, but Gucci put them, their, Gucci put their copy of the Escorters out. I know. It's like a meta. A joke of a jack. A meta.

So fast forward to your relationship with Gucci then, right? Because the deal is done with that ber-Den, right? Yeah. Right. So how did that relationship grow? Did it start at that moment with that? That was your brainchild? Yeah.

What? Steve Stout. So. You just got to see. You just literally, I know. He'd be so. disgusted when you ask questions. Because I needed this platform to find out who's behind who.

And real business people, real business people, like, people that yell from the rafters and with their megaphones, like, the loudest person is always the lowest to-t. It's the quiet people that make moves and... But Steve ain't quiet, though. No, but, you've never been out there like that. Like you, I mean, a lot of this stuff, I mean, I'm just found out you were the guy behind. I mean, I was aware of all of it, but, and I'm sure a lot of the listeners. I know that you're everywhere.

And you're, and everywhere I see you. You know what it is? I don't know how to comfortably do my job and then stand there loudly and take credit for it. Like, I could, like, like, this is the forum to have that conversation. But what I don't do? Stand in front of Dapper Dan and say, it's me. But fucking Dapper Dane, bro. It's J-Z.

It's Ferole. But Dapper Dan knows, though, anyway. Okay, can you just give me a laundry list of deals that you brokered that I might have known about? I don't know. I know about Amhaw's your voice of Jay Z. Yes, you do. Yes, you do. But, wait, wait, hold on, stop.

That's what we got, we got thrown off. So my brother gets hit by the car. Going to the bubble. You're not listening. Okay, I'm listening. And he was going where? To the Bow-Wise Super Bowl. And that's where I copied Made in America from.

What? Because I, and all you kept on here, remember hearing was it's an Al Heyman production. That deserves a sign-up. That deserves a siren. That deserves a siren. Go ahead, go ahead. And I was like, yo, Jay, remember the Budweiser made in America, the SuperFest shit? He's just like us.

Like, he remembers the whole shit. I'm like, yo, I just won Budweiser. I'm gonna go pitch them. We're gonna do that today. And Made in America was a, that's a whole other, how we even got to the Made in America thing. But it was like they had, they own the trademark Made in America, Budwads. Oh, wow.

Aha. Aha. So it was like, oh, this is perfect. Made in America, boom. That's a Superfest. We're going to do it. Remember, and then we're going to put all these acts on the same way Al Heyman did when we grew up. So.

It never even hit me. Right. No, I wouldn't have thought that. So first made in America, did you shed a little gangster tear? Because it was all full circle between the Budwads and Superface, your brother. You know what it is? I haven't taken the time and I don't take enough time and the people who are close to me and love and care about me want me to reflect more and that kind of stuff. Don't celebrate. I want to do it.

Yeah, I don't celebrate enough. Commemorate? I was there. I looked at it. like, this is as big as shit. This is important. Got Ron Howard to do the documentary. Yes, I remember he was around that year.

You know, Jay, all the stuff that Jay and I have done together, specifically has been easy to do because, like, once we say we're going to do it, there's a very shared vision, and it gets executed really well. He has a great team around him. I have a great team around me. It gets executed well. But from day one,

um, we, we, we, we, we, we, we wanted to be two steps ahead.

And we were, um, in front of everybody, including J.Z. Blue, which was like, if I, that was the most brilliant thing

that I've ever had, thought. What was J.Z Blue? J.Z. Blue was, like, we wanted to authenticate things but not have him in it all the time.

Like, so what you do to get somebody to go, oh, that's cool is you stand next to it and through some proximity, you say it's cool, right? And then, because Jay-Z said so, whatever, whatever. But how could you do it like the good housekeeping seal? You know the good housekeeping seal? He used to do that in the 50s

so that moms knew to buy stuff for their kids that was childproof. If you were to copy that idea, how do you make something so that every, Everybody knows it has the cool thing on it. So if we made a color, and if it only, if things that came in that color, so I'm like, okay, I gave this color, I gave the idea to this guy who used to take like, a Motorola two-way pages and shit like that and like could make special versions of them by painting them or whatever, but he was really like a mixologist with paint.

And I said, make a unique blue, paralyze it. And I kept on showing Jay-Z different versions of this that was coming back. And we finally found a color. Then I went and found the Pantone family who makes all the paint chips, the Pantone charts. They're like the Encyclopedia of Color and got it so that they were going to put it and run it as a color option. So now we're basically inside the Encyclopedia of Color. So you can own hues. Yes

What the fuck Steve Stout I did not know you can own a hue Nobody knew this I'm Googling right now This is an actual hue Yeah so I'm looking at JZ blue

See this explains All right The favorite hue is JZ Blue But so now All right go ahead Then we went And I sold that To GM

Yes he did I'm sorry I just saw the picture of the truck in JZ Blue Pantone says Jay Z Blue is real blue Not fucking around man You are not This explains, all right, time out.

Can you how poor people make some money? This explains, all right, now that you explain that. Just. All right, real quick. I did a Coke commercial like, uh, 2000. The one where he was in the booth with the window. No, no, that was the phone thing. Oh, even before that.

And I met a woman on set and her job was strictly to see what color the Coke was. was in the light. And I was like, that's a weird job. He's like, no, you don't get it. See, we own brown number 19 to Brown 47, but Pepsi owns Brown 47 to Brown da-da-da-da. And if someone's at home watching and guaranteed they will, they'll compare hues, then they can sue us for,

and I was like, well, it's not like I buy the can of Coke and then look inside and see like, this is Pepsi's color. So literally, I thought it was the silliest shit I ever heard of people fighting over hue colors and didn't realize that this is a multi-million dollar business. That's fucking crazy. How? I have a question. Yes.

All right. For the people listening on the show, you keep mentioning throughout the show that you did a deal with this person, you got the deal done with that person. deals, deals, deals, deals, deals. But then you don't mention all the work that goes into negotiating those deals. So to me, that seems like the tricky part. I mean, I could cut deals all day long.

On the city network. You know, for, you know, because I mean, we all want to cut more deals, don't we? Yeah. So how is, like, you know, do you just come up with the concept, cut the deal, you know, with a handshake and then leave all the other things

to lawyers and things like that to actually get a deal done? Usually, you got to know sort of what your intentions are. What do you want out the deal? What, what, not money. What do you want out to deal?

Like, if this deal, start backwards, if this deal is successful, this is what it looks like to me, right? And if you start thinking about it that way, then you'll know sort of the, general architecture of what you want to deal to get to look like, and then you give that to the lawyer, right? That's the way I do it. I would basically lay out the bullet points of what I know needs to be done, and then let the lawyers deal with it, but then manage it, but make

sure these things are non-negotiable, like whether it's equity or the amount of money or whatever it is. You sort of lay out the non-negotiable things because those are the only reasons why you're doing it. Okay. Thank you. Does that make sense? It does. Okay.

Yes. Can I ask you since we mentioned Made in America? We got to, I got to ask you the moment that Mayor Kenny made that announcement. Of course, by now everything has been cleared, Made in America will stay in Philadelphia. But the moment that that dropped, what was the process of, from your, y'all thoughts to Jay-Z's response in the paper? Like, what was the, I don't even want to say emotional because I know y'all are businessmen, so y'all don't get emotional.

but how did the thought change and evolved? By the way, I do get emotional and that's probably what I shouldn't do. Yeah, I was like, is that wise for a business person? Yeah. I'm glad you admitted that. Well, I don't know if it's wise. I don't, it works.

It'll take me as far as it'll take me. Okay. So then did you get emotional when? Well, no. And in the fact, Jay and the team at Rock Nation, they handle it. I had nothing to do with, yeah, I set the whole thing up

and they run the show. The other mayor, Mayan Nutter, he was the one who did it originally, and he was a big fan of bringing that show to Philly. And I figure a new mayor came in and between noise complaints and he didn't invent the idea, didn't do the shit. Yeah, that's the latter.

I was going to say, we have that same problem with him. We do two festivals in Philly. And his first thing to his staff was like, well, you know, that's Nutter's era. Like, I want to start my own era. So. Well, he need to get rid of the bicycles and everything else. Good. And it came up in that.

He's just, he's petty. Like, it's almost like Trump. Like, he wants to erase the entire plane to build his own thing. Instead of just moving forward, what was already established and working and lucrative. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So, well, I'm glad you guys sold that shit because. How did you do that?

at the time when I think the first time I've met you, it was like super quick. It was in baseline. And this was, I mean, this was like back in 2005, I want to say when a little brother, we would mix the Dimitial Show with Guru. And no, no, no, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

It was before that. This was when 9th, it got threat on Black album. And we, nineth it came, he brought us the baseline. He was like, yo, y'all gonna meet Jay, whatever. And like, we set up. But you were in there. And I was like, oh shit, Steve's in here.

so we dabbed each other up real quick. That's about the fault. But how did you position yourself and what were your thoughts at the time when Jay and Nas were going through their shit? Because you were friends and had relationships with both of them. I never thought to ask that question.

How did you do that? How did you parlay that? I knew that there was the underlying way I dealt with it, that I always kept there, was that I know the amount of mutual respect they have for each other because of me being close with both of them. They have ultimate admiration for each other.

And it was never, they would never have let it turn into anything street. So I knew those two things like, A, there's mutual admiration, and then I can let this thing get out of hand. So you never felt you had to pick a side? No, I always felt like I had to try to fix it. and I could never fix it, but I could be a voice of reason. And I tried to be, and I believe I was,

a voice of reason for many years, with both of them. And it was, I think it was stupid, but necessary at the time. I mean, there was a lot of things that was stupid and necessary at the time, East Coast versus West Coast, and this versus that and the competition

and nobody knew how big the whole thing was going to be so everybody was fighting for what they thought the pie really was. I got you. Right? No one knew how big, like,

the truth of the matter is that Nas and Jay-Z's conflict or the East Coast, West Coast conflict or whatever it was, everybody was fighting to be the best. And this thing that was small when really everyone could have won outside of that.

Because the- Nobody saw the bigger picture. No one saw the bigger picture. But I do believe that these stories actually help create or part of creating the bigger picture. The interest in it, the global interests in it,

the narratives of it all are the things that anywhere you go around the world there's interest in. You know, and it's fucked up. It's like the unintended effect of something. Like, you know, Biggie and Tupac's thing, there's a lot of people who've made a lot of money and built careers benefiting because of that.

And you see it when you go around the world. It's like you go around the world, you see graffiti everywhere. Right. Right? Why? And that's a Bronx thing. Like, what, it's just, you know,

it's like conflict and all of the stories. stories that we went through, the art form has gone through, has helped grow the art form worldwide and created these opportunities. It's not like you think you want that to be the case, but those are the unintended effects of what took place as a result of that taking place. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Clever Taylor the fourth. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

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

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. 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 Podcasts 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. What was the story?

Jim Jones, the flower, what was the flower pot story? Is that involve you? It was something you got hit with a. Jim Jones. It was, I don't want to make sure I'm not mixing something. Were you, you were hit, was you that got hit with a, that was you? Yeah. So over the Hate Me Now video.

Oh, okay. It was Hate Me Now. All right. Yeah. I got jumped. Puffy came in my office with three other guys and I got jumped. Okay. And because it was puffy and they,

they just became, like I hit in the head with a champagne bottle, but, and that's not the, you don't get hitting it. Like, I'd have, I wouldn't have a ball head of it. You get cut up and all that shit. No, that wasn't the case. I did get jumped, that was the case. That was fucked up, that was the case.

It was hard to deal with. What was the, what was the beef? There was a scene in the video where they were on crosses. And, you know, know, Puffy shot it and didn't want his, his, his, his, um, passer decided like two, three days before he didn't want to him on the cross. It was, the video was a million dollars. And, you know, the record company, Donnie Einner and those guys was like,

we're not taking those scenes out. That's the reason why we paid a million dollars. And, you know. But they ain't jumped Donnie, though. Which I never understood that. I understand. Yes, you did. Yes, you did.

That's like, you know. Come on, that's the, any way, ain't he? No, no, no. The reason why I'm saying I don't understand is because if the video is a million dollars, you know, it's not. It's my personal million dollars. Right, right. You're the only one that they can touch and not getting real trouble.

And not really get fucked up all over. Yeah, yeah. But fast forward, now y'all are friends. So y'all must have made a lot of money together to get over it, right? No, no. I think that I hope that we all grow over time. Believe me, it was embarrassing. It was fucked up.

The first thing I asked him to do was speak to my mom. My mother was very, like, her son's out there in the Wild Wild West of the music business and shit. And that's, it was hard for like three or four years. But it certainly made me know I was not going to be known as the guy. That guy jumped. or got hitting the head with a champagne bottle. I could tell you that for sure.

That's the one thing that kept on thinking, like, oh, I'm going to run so far from this. This can't define me. I remember I used to look at the beginning of Google and see how far away it was. Because I was just, oh, yeah, because I was just, I was just going to do all kinds of crazy shit like you guys are hearing now.

I'm only giving you pieces of it. Like, there's so much things that I've done to contribute to help. hip hop and contribute to culture to move it forward. But, like, I was always saying, fuck this shit. It ain't going to be that. It's going to be all of this great work that I've done. And that's, so it was, it was certainly something to motivate me to do great shit

because I didn't want to be known as that. Can I actually something speaking to a lot? No, no, no, no. You ever had a fili cheese stick in your hand and somebody just slapped that shit on the floor? Never. It'll be going by the time they start. Just call it a cheese steak because you know. I just, a Philly, what do you call it?

A cheese steak. Okay, okay. Do we call a Philly cheese because of New York? I just did that to somebody the other day. It was hilarious. No. Just slap a cheesecake? No, slap a sandwich out of the hand.

First bite, first bite? No, it was just, they got it close to the mouth. Never. That shit is funny as hell. That's the cousin's thing. It's still works. Cruel hands, niggas. It's not cruel.

I want to know with the, the, this arrival of Nas as a businessman. Yeah. Like what are your opinions of he's now becoming like to me the definition of I never knew that lightning could

strike four times in a row. Like his, well, I don't know the team he rolls with now, but every month and a half I'm hearing you know, Nas brokered a $60 million deal here and this pharmaceutical company there like what are you

what are your opinions on that are you surprised that? Well a couple things so Nas and I are really really close and I hope that you know all the years he's seen me push him and watch my career grow even outside of him

that that was part of inspired his thoughts. Nas hired a manager, the kid Anthony Saleh. Anthony's really smart young guy. I work closely with him. But I have nothing to do with Nas doing those deals. I'm just saying we're very close as far as what we talk about and the relationships that we've built.

And Nas is a great person. Like, at the end of the day, he really is a great person. He always means well. And he may take his time to do what he got to do. And we all have our Nas stories of waiting for shit. But he's a great artist with a beautiful soul and great intentions. And the fact now that he's... using that energy and applying it to business in a very bespoke way.

He's not running around, let's get a deal, let's get a deal. He's not doing that type of shit. He's picking and choosing his spots. He put a good team around them, and it's working. Amen. All right, before we close, I do want to talk about United Masters. United Masters. Let's talk about it.

So. Well, can you explain to our listeners what United Masters? is, yeah. So how I got to the idea was, I'm like, we need to be able to build a distribution service for artists so that they can not only distribute their music in circumventor record company. But if you build a really smart distribution system, then because music is all digital now, you'd be able to find who are the people who are listening to your songs. So if you're an artist and like you put your music up and it's on Spotify and this, that, and the third, you'd like to know who's the person who's listening to it the most so you can target that person to sell them tickets.

Because they're a fan of you. But like the way these services work now... So there's no algorithm with Spotify or any of the... No, no. No, no. You can't now. There's an algorithm for a lot. You're distributing the distribution service.

is the person who feeds the music to Pandora, Spotify, Apple. They're just an aggregator. Right? But if you built a smart aggregator, a smart that was able to take the feedback that came back from those platforms and then turn that information into a way that the artist can find their own fans, then now the artists are empowered to build businesses on their own.

So whether you have 5 million fans or 100,000 fans, the fact of the matter is that you can build a business because you know who those people are. And you can sell directly to them. And that's, the record companies never wanted the artists to know who their fans were. Because if the artists knew who their fans were,

they wouldn't need a record company. So I wanted to build my intention and what we are building with United Masters is a way so that artists can get their music and all these streaming services, and then in turn, not only do they get paid and they own their rights, but in the background, we're building a data capturing, engineering, a team of engineers that's getting that data and then turning it into CRM systems. And CRM systems is basically customer relationship management, but it's knowing who the people are that are listening or engage with your content.

The way they use it now, it's like when you go on Amazon and you buy, you go, no, you go, you listen to Q-Tip. And it says people who like Q-Tip also like Faro. That's not what Q-Tip wants. Q-Tip wants people who like Q-Tip also wants to buy tribe tickets, also wants to buy tribe shirts. He's a one, but they're using the data in service of them. But no one's using the data in service of the artist. And none of the artists managers are. anybody has the money or spent the time to build an engineering infrastructure to be able to do that

on their own. That all makes sense? It makes sense. So how do you, in your opinion, when do you think the old system of the labels will be done with? Well, I think. Done with 360 deals and done with. I think, yeah, I think the labels, look, Farrell said it to me a while ago, like,

you got to be rights protectors, not rights holders. So don't sign artists and take their rights. You should partner with artists and protect their rights. So United Masters is about rights protection, not rights holding. And I think artists are now, you're seeing it every day. The value of a major label is diminishing quickly. There was a report that came out a time back. Citibank put out this report.

basically that 12% of this $43 billion created in music in 2017 and the artist received 12% of that. I mean, this is a problem. So you're creating the work but not getting paid for it. And all of the work that the record companies

used to do historically, print it, ship it, set it up. They ain't got to do that no more. They don't have to do that no more, but yet the economics are not shifting back And I thought that's what technology is supposed to do. Redistribute value, the value chain to who provides the most value. And the consumer gets the best price.

The consumer is getting the best price, but the value chain is still on the record company side. And that's not, that's, we're solving that. And United States is dangerous for you to. Dangerous like how? I mean, you're kind of doing the Samson scene. the pillars and destroying the building. Charlie Chapman, that's where United, he did that with United Artists.

United Artists was that. Yeah, it was the same idea. The movie studios locked all the talent up to seven picture deals and you had to go through, if you assigned the Paramount, you did seven movies with Paramount and your movies only were distributed in Paramount theaters. And that whole got broken up. But Charlie Chapman was the driver of that by creating a studio in which the artist made movies that they wanted and they were not beholden to these major studios.

And the United Masters is basically a derivative of that idea or those values of like, man, you should be independent. You made it. You should own it. We should get paid a small fee to be your distributor. If you want other services, those are things that we can barter and engage on. But, like, you don't need us to distribute your music. And, like, the way it works today, Instagram is MTV and radio. Right?

And Pandora, Spotify, title, those are the record stores. Right. Okay? Like, that's where the commerce takes place. And Instagram is the way radio, discovery, and MTV. what that takes place. You don't need a record company for those two things. But if there's a distribution service in the middle,

that's really smart, that's intelligent, that's going to give you not just data. People throw that word around all the time, data, data. So they give you a fucking dashboard that says, 50% percent, hey, Chris, hey, goes a big idea. 62% of your fans are in Philadelphia. Who fucking cares? I see.

I want to know who are. the people that are listening to my album, my songs the most. Because those are the people that are super fans of me. And I can then, if I can find them, I can actually do business and conduct business with them. Because what Instagram and all that stuff does, just like it's even long-witted, like saying like, that doesn't mean you're a fan.

Like, Nikki Minaj has 90 million people following it. That has nothing to do with how many, people are going to buy her album. Which is why that album to get pushing back, keep pushing back. Yeah. So the 90 million. Spectators versus actual.

I'm not talking about that. Who's figured it out is the video game business. Yes. You play video games? They know exactly who you are? And you know what they're doing? They upsell you right there.

The virtual jacket, the virtual list. Yeah, my son plays Fortnite. And he's getting... The game ain't even... I think he's still... I think he's still playing like the demo of the game. Yeah. But it's all the end game purchases.

All that shit. But, and it's all the game. The in-game purchases are bespoke to your son. Not in-game. Certain in-game purchases are based of his playing behavior. It'd be like in the middle of Big Pimping, if the song plays and right before the hook comes, it stops and goes, yo, I'm going to be touring in your city

sometime soon. You want to buy a ticket right now? And then like, yes or no, big pimp. Right. And the hook starts. You can't do that in music, but they do that in video games. they get you right at the hot state and they upsell you.

In music, if Kanye West knows who listen, if you listen specifically, Steve, to father stretch my hand 70 times. That didn't. That's a great quote. But yeah. Right.

He could then sell you to Yeezys directly because he knows how highly engaged you are in him as an artist. At least you're a, whether or not you want to buy the easy, or not, he's not fishing in the right water.

But the way it is right now, it's random as fuck. Guys don't know where to tour. They're waiting for a promoter to call. They don't know who their fans are. They're running around looking for them. Like, that's not the way the business should be. That's supposed to be the pros of digital. You make less money.

Transparency. But there's much more efficiency in your marketing. That's what Amazon does. They know you're going to buy Tide as soon as you get on the shit. There's Tide there. You're an artist. You put out a record.

You put out music. You're supposed to know who the people are. You're making the music for. You can't. And when you say know the people, so United Masters, you say know the people, I mean you know them first and last name or you just know. Well, you know. Yeah, because, yeah, I'm like, I'm thinking of data.

Like, I'm like, that sounds kind of scary. No. How does, how personal? How much of the person do you know? I mean, it's as personal as you can get without violating the law. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it is personal enough to know

this is the device that's been streaming it. Ah, okay, okay, gotcha. Okay. Okay. Well, now we know. We got to wrap up the show. I had a good time with you guys. I'm super sorry.

You're cut off. That's like slopping a sandwich out of your hand. You ain't, and y'all had your conversation from earlier. Remember when we was outside? Did you ever have finished that conversation? We didn't finish. Me and Steve were having a little brother conversation. And he was like, yo, man, this mad niggas jacked your shit.

And I was like, yeah. Like, these niggas is my son. Who do you think jacked your shit? Well, listen. We all know Drake. Drake, I mean, and this is, but Drake admitted it. No, that, yeah, all these guys, that's why for me

it's never known, because all these dudes told me. So, Drake, uh, Cole. No, shit, they told you. I can't. I mean, when I say told me, they were like, like, yo, we came up listening to you be fans, they acknowledged. They acknowledge that little brother. Like, Kendra Lama, he opened for us like, like 2010,

like him J. Rock and all them. Like, I mean, this is, he was, you know, just coming up. But yeah, yeah, all those dudes, man, all them cats. I got love for all of them. The production, the album's tight. Thank you, brother. I was always like a New York hardcore hip-hop fan.

It's the stuff I listen to. And then I was never a big De La Sol fan, for instance. Like I just didn't, I respected what they were doing. I just wasn't a fan of it. I wouldn't listen to it. Were you a tribe fan? Low-in theory. That was it.

I wasn't a fan. Like, I wasn't like, every time of a tribe album came out. I was on it like that. But like, Jay-Z, Nas, G.R. It's so funny, Mike. Ice Cube. Yo, now that you're saying this, it's so funny that you say you won a Dayla Soul fan because me and my homies always, we specifically mark the day that it was written and

stakes is high dropped on the same day. Yep. That literally. That was the Beatles, Beatles, Rolling Stone Battle. Yeah, that was straight, like, hip-hop kind of apartheid. Like that was when, I mean, it was. Like, that was the start of it. Like, because it was written and I agree with you.

I personally didn't like the record when it dropped, but I, two things. It grew on me. And two, I understand that Nas would not be where he is now, if not for that record. He, if he would have, there's no way he could have out, undergrounded Illmatic. So him trying to do that record again, I mean, he just would have been, it would have been over. I didn't even realize how big, the art, talking about, how big the art form was, that there was all these different artists that had different experiences so their opinions

and the way they made music was different. I just thought they couldn't make what Rock Kim made. What I was doing. Like you can't rap like Rock Kim, so you did that. You can't rap like, so you did. And then I realized that's just another way of expressing your urban, you know, the urban experience as told through. As told through New Orleans,

through Atlanta, through, yeah. Yeah, I didn't even. I wasn't thinking about it like that at the time. Yeah, so it's funny you said, because for me, both those records dropped on the same day. And I remember listening to Nines, and I was like, I like, I like the message, I like shootouts. I like, I like the hard shit.

I like the street shit. But Stakes-is-high was the one where I was like, okay, this is where I want to be. And that just kind of, that led me in the dealer and all that shit. So it's odd that you say you weren't a fan because that literally was it. I didn't know the stakes-as-high dropped the same day.

Did not know that. Yeah. You ain't here? You won. Right? I mean, yeah. I want to ask you, man, about the stash real quick.

He's trying to go, man. Yeah, we about to wrap. Stashed real quick. What's going on? My buddy, Kazim, he was over there for a while. And he, yeah, it was his company.

We did an interview, me, Primo, and Royce. We did an interview over there. For the magazine. For the mag. And, and, and, and Kazim, he orchestrated it. And we were sitting there and he was,

this was before, you know, this was like a couple years ago. go. And I said, man, so Steve, I said, I've never, like, had a lot of dealings with him. I said, but he just lets you just do this? He was like, yo, man, he came to me and was like, yo, if I don't get a fuck with the interview since 20 minutes, if the shit is dope, we'll throw it up. I was like, word. And so, so what happened was, I admired that. Yeah, that was dope. But thank you. I wanted, because he,

Kazim had the idea, he had a small team. We were going to build some, a magazine, a website, you know, and just tell great stories. And after some time, he left to go take a job at like some place, bleach the report or whatever. And I think the team got kind of mismanaged and then he left or whatever. I always like the name. And I'm like, if I was, if the content thing was to keep going, what would I do as an extension of it?

I'm like, man, you can build a great retail store. And so I just felt like My entire company With Translation and United Masses Is the convergence of technology Culture and Storytelling And I believe that those three things coming together Is what's going to disrupt

The incumbents All the companies that are sitting there now Are Slow That if you can build nimble companies That have those three elements Baked inside of each person You have to have two or three of those things inside of you

You have to be a storyteller and a person in culture. You have to be a technologist that understands culture or story. Like you need two or three of those things to work at my company. And so in San Francisco, where all the engineers are who are doing all the data shit for United Masters, I put, it was an art gallery in the space. And I said, I'm going to put the sneakers store stash right there. So while the engineers are coding, there's a line of 200 kids trying to buy Yeezys. So like that, I stand outside the place and I look at it and there's guys up there,

headphones on, building some dope shit, love culture, and they are engineers. Some of the best engineers in technology, guys from Dropbox, Facebook, Pandora, like great talented engineers. And there's these 200 kids down there lined up to buy off white, human made, Yeezys, Nikes, whatever. And to me, that's where the industry. is going. When you could put culture and technology together in the same proximity. So I thought that name Stash is work.

Put that together. Signing out. That's where it is. Thank you so much for having me sir. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. Thanks for saving me on the ground. We didn't even talk about the tanning of America. We didn't even get to the book. We got a lot. There's not leaving earth. We can do another interview. And we got to make, we got to make that yes, the Steve's style. Yes has to be like from now. I don't ask me a bit.

It's got to be a sound bite. When did I see? We'll take it. Yes. Like, it's just the look of disgust when niggas ask you about shit. Yes. When you, yes, I did.

Yes. That shit is funny. Thank you, man. Thank you. All right. So, we have a team Supreme. This is Questlove. Thank you, Steve Stout once again.

And we will see you on the next full round of Quest Love Supreme. See you. Thanks. Questlove Supreme is a production of IHeart Radio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora. For more podcasts from My Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver 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 Cliver 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. to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft. And we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players who 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,

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