The Questlove Show - Questlove Supreme: Erick Sermon Part 1

Episode Date: January 1, 2025

Erick Sermon and Questlove spoke for more than three hours in the closing days of 2024. In Part 1 of this QLS season finale, E-Double recalls the early days of EPMD, breaks down how Long Island fueled a rivalry with Eric B. & Rakim, and discusses where the melodic Funk in his music comes from. This conversation touches on classic songs by Erick and his group, Redman, Stezo, and so much more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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

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

Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, all. wherever you get your podcast. What's up, everyone? I'm Ego Vodam. My next guest, it's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo.

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

Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your 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 place. 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. In 2023, Bachelor star Clayton Eckerd was accused of fathering twins. But the pregnancy appeared to be a hoax. You doctored this particular test twice, Ms. Ellen's, right? I doctored the test ones. It took an army of internet detectives to uncover a disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through the same thing.

Greg Gillespie and Michael Marantini. My mind was blown. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trapped. Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences. Listen to Love Trapped podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Quest Love Supreme is a production.

of I Heart Radio. Here we go. Here we go. Ladies and gentlemen, we are closing out. Our 20-24 season, our abundant season of Questlove Supreme. We've had some really, really amazing conversation,

especially with a lot of my hip-hop peers. This year alone, you know, talking to the beat miners and the Rizza, at Rock of the Beast. Boys, P. Rock in Common, Foreign Exchange, and Jonathan Schecter of the source, to name a few. And I will say that today is no exception in terms of us giving flowers to hip-hop royalty. What can I say? All the episodes of Questle of Supreme are long overdue, but this more than any is really, really, really overdue. I will really go out on a limb and say that, as a producer.

All right, let me put it this way. You know, like, every time I'm telling you guys in Questlove Supreme World that the pioneer always gets overlooked and it's the person that comes in second that kind of gets all the credit, I will say that our guest today is probably the first person I thought about in terms of pure production innovation

that is so excessive. and so effective that he never truly ever gets the credit that he deserves for a lot of the ideas that he first started doing in hip hop that we now just take for granted. Not to mention, as I said in the Ad Rock episode, you know, as Guru said, is mostly the voice. Our guest today has probably one of my favorite all-time voices. in a time of most people, especially in the classic hip hop era, were yelling, like run brought in the yelling era. It's something to me about monotone, sinister delivery that to me is more scarier than your hardcore delivery or you're like hyped up, loudest person in the room. Like the person that says it low key and they mean business, that person scares you.

The silent person scares you more than the person that's rah, rah, rah, right, right on you to death. There's so much we can say, but I just got to say that, you know, this is long overdue. He's a founding member of one of the best rap duos of all time, EPMD, a member of Deaf Squad. He's produced for himself. Redman, Keith Murray, L.L. Tupac, L.L., Tupac, Chris,

Black Street, and on. It's about time. We had a conversation with the, with the green, not band it. You know what I'm saying? Give it up for the one and only Eric Sermon, aka Eric Onassis.

I thought Sway had a long intro. Oh, dog, I'm the king of long intro. You just killed him. Like, to get an intro like that, it's like, yo, damn, this is crazy. Dude, there's people out there that take notice. They take notice.

Right. Look, I have so many questions that ask you. and, you know, this is one of the joys of doing one-on-one sessions that, you know, but I'm just going to kind of rapid fire all the things I ever wanted to ask you. Of course, I'll start from the beginning. Tell us where you were born, brother. I was born in Bayshore Long Island, which is the same hospital, L.O. Cooje was born in, which is Southside Hospital.

Word, okay. So you're from Long Island. Right, from Long Island. Most rappers migrated to Long Island, but you were born there. Yeah, born Long Island, yes. Just like the Methamans and the Priegis and people that don't want to kind of say, but they are Long Islanders, you know what I'm saying? I did not know that they were born in Long Island.

Yes, yes. And Todd Smith, too. He migrated two queens, but he was born in Long Island. Got it. Yeah, but we, after that, I went to a wine dance, which is where my mom and them grew up after they came from Florida, which is where Raq Kim is from. So my mother used to hang out with Raq Kim's,

older brothers and sisters. This is the crazy story. Like not knowing that pretty soon Hussein was become famous and Raqin would become famous. So then I moved from there to a town called Brentwood is where I learned all my stuff from. I learned how to rap.

I learned how to break dance. I learned how to just know what hip hop was. Graffiti. All that stuff came from a town called Brentwood, which is where pretty soon I end up meet in Parrish at. What was your first musical memory in life. Well, it got to be with my dad. My dad, like any other family, too, that played so many

records. My dad was a... I can't really call him a collector, though, too, though, Quest. It was like he just had every record. Every album was sitting in front of this, you know, and backed up against the speaker or against whatever the record player was. So all the records was out there. That was my first experience of him just playing records back to back to back to back. That's how my first introduction to getting to being so involved, knowing what music sound like. What kind of records was he playing? Oh, man. He was playing everything from Teddy Pentegras to Blue Magic

all the way down to the whispers, to the temptations, to How Melvin the Blue Knows. That was his favorite group, you know, the spinners. And then after that, he started going into Funkadelic in the Parliament, of course, and all the stuff, to Rick James. So he started, he had a bass of music, but he started with the 70s first, then it started going into, you know, the late 70s. So he was just a music lover.

He wasn't a DJ or anything. He just loved music lover. They bought albums and brought them home and played them. What did your parents do for living? What did your household look like growing up? My parents worked for the mentally challenged children for like over 25 years. Do you have siblings? Are you the only child?

No, I have two sisters, two below me. One two years below me and one four years below me. Okay. Some of my favorite talent in hip-hop came from Long Island. yet I always wondered what the other burrows were doing at the time when hip hop was developing in the Bronx. Was it as fruitful in the other boroughs like Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island? Right, right.

So what was your first hip-hop experience? I think, again, in the neighborhood, the neighborhood had house parties. And we had DJs and almost, because I looked in a town called Regis Park. So it had like, it was like a 13 block radius, but out of the six blocks, it was DJs. Out of the six blocks, it was MCs. Like I'm telling you, if people would see where I came from, if you didn't know about the Bronx, though,

you would think, yo, is this way hip hop that? Because we had everything. And when I tell you, everybody was nice, well, my eyes, because whoever I looked at, they was all nice on the set and all nice rhyming and break dancing. Because a lot of Long Island kids, too, went to go to the city to go do breakdancing contests with the big breakdancers back then.

But again, that happened to be the neighborhood. That was my first hip-hop experience, maybe at 12 years old, sneaking out the window to a house party around the corner. And there were emcees and DJs. Oh, hell yeah. Hell yeah. I mean, we had some kids, anybody don't know,

a guy named Bergamister, a kid named Frank B, a guy named A-Z, a guy named Born, you know, it was the 5th Center, born C. Asiatic was there. It was all 5% names. Okay.

Did you ever cross paths with any other notable figures of hip hop? Like, I always hear biz story or something. The first one is biz, definitely. That's, it's going to always be biz. Biz came to my junior high school in the lunchroom. Did he go to that school? No, he didn't go to school.

No. Everybody from Long Island says the same thing. Biz came to my school, but yet Biz never went to that school. Never went there. They just loved them. People might make a joke though and say, yo, is he Jesus Christ or not? Because he had no call, but he was at every function. He was at every town. He was at everything that went on. When you hear the stories that, oh, yo, L.O. would say, yeah, Biz got me in. Rock him. Oh, yeah, Biz took me so, so, so, oh, yeah, said and he said, business took me to, he was everywhere and didn't have a car. But it took the train and managed to be

everywhere. He lived in places in Long Island where I'm like, yo, business ain't from there. No, he was he stayed out here for three years. Or he was over here. I'm like, no, he's from, no, man, he was, because he lived next to my DJ, Diamond J on the same block on Noble Street. That Noble Street when you hear him on the record. Noble Street, Chief. He lived out of the block from Diamond. Okay. And Diamond Shell was his brother. So again, they lived on that block. But he also

saying that he lived in Corum. He lived in over here in Pat Charles. He lived because his funeral was in Patchaw. I mean, the wait. So I'm like, then you were in Jersey and then you were in Brooklyn. I'll be square more every day. And then you go to Baltimore to spend the rest of your life there. So, yeah, Bismarkey was the first one before I got famous.

Then, of course, Long Island, you know, Chuck D. You know, you start going. Then you start seeing EPMD, Raq Kim, and then De Lausseau and then leaves the new school. I mean, I'm not hating, but if you take Long Island out the mix, all my favorite acts come from Long Island. You don't have to tell me twice. Then you got JBC Force, Keith Murray, Kay Solo, like you got to look at. You know what I'm saying?

It's a problem. How often would you go to the city? Was there ever need to go to Manhattan or Harlem or any of those other spots? I'm talking pre-EPMD. I'm just talking about like before you even had a record deal. Was most of your life just in Long Island? Because you're the first one that ever asked that question in life. And that's a dope question.

If I never got famous, I don't know if I would have seen the city. I was already seeing Brooklyn because my family is from Pinghouses. So I was already in Pinghouses and East New York all the time. But as far as me seeing, again, when I went to the Apollo and I parked outside, I called my mother Garbus a dance in my is black people everywhere We don't have that

Long Island is diverse Puerto Rican white and black Right I pulled over and I parked And my samurai Suzuki And I just stood there like this Looking around I saw Aaron Hall

I said Aaron come in for a quick second So Aaron came over He went to another bar Of course the street from the Apollo Right and um But I saw a lot of people but I just saw so many black folks and I don't think that

I would have been able to see that because there was no need for me to go to the city being from Long Island. Long Island was his own place. What was it like? What we knew of Long Island was, of course, like Amityville Horror or like it was these suburbs. It wasn't anything close to what the Bronx

looked like in wild style or anything like. So what was a typical day like as a teenager in Long Island? Not the same. Like, it's so far as, like, you ever look at Compton and Watts and stuff with palm trees and the whole one's the same thing? So, like, Rock Kim made that line. They're from where you're from where you're at. The whole time was the fact that we still had the same drama. We still had gangs.

We still had the decontation between Puerto Ricans and blacks and whites and whites and black. We had the same thing. It was like before Kuiper Murray LOD gang came, it was Barcelona, which was Puerto Ricans. And these guys wasn't happening. This is what Brentwood was. Brentwood was Puerto Rican, black, and white. It was a mixture. So that's how we lived.

So we was all friends, too, that was in school. And me and parish, I don't know if you've ever heard this before, we had two high schools next to each other. So I went to Ross. He went to Stalin on the same property. It was kind of, it was weird, but nobody never seen two high schools next to each other. You know what I'm saying?

Got it. Got it. What was your entry into being in hip-hop? Did you start out as a day? DJ, were you trying to emce? So it's funny you say that, first of all, it came from Soul Train. Shalimar had this kid in there that was called the Pop-a-Long kid. So I took his name.

I don't know if anybody, I know people, I'm taking y'all back though, too. I know the Pop-a-L-L kid, yes. Inside Shalamar, the other member was an ill-popper. So I took his name. I began doing that. All of a sudden, my mom comes home from her job with two 12-inchers. Apache with the green label, right? Right.

And she brought home Rapids Delight. Okay. And it changed everything for me. Then my cousin down the street, since there was so many DJs, he bought turntables. So I was able to have that too. So I was, he would bring home fat boys and bring home the new Molly Mall, bring home the Fantastic Four, the Philist for. He would bring home all these new records.

And I used to just be spinning them. But while I'm spinning them, of course, the fat boys had me. Like, I was just like, these guys are just crazy. All of a sudden, when me and Paris was getting ready to get on, I did this give you the one thing. We drove to the city to go by, to go by Suck emceeds. Really? Yes.

So there was no place in Long Island to? They didn't have that record. What? Did you attend any, like, Spectrum City parties, like those parties at Hank Shockley and Chuck D and Keith Shockley used to throw in Long Island at all? I did not know about none of them until I got on tour with them. I have no clue about it. All I know is about my section. Got it.

We just fought. All right. So tell me how you met Parr Smith. Okay. Well, where I was at and we just fought, the house that we was renting had got rat infested. Like, I mean, they was coming from out of nowhere. Ah.

I mean, it was like some shit you see on Ben or the movie like that. We were like, so, and we couldn't control it. And the landlord was acting like she didn't want to fix it, right? So my mom's called her mother, and grandma was like, okay, well, y'all come over here then. So we end up stayed there while mommy stack her paper up. So at the bus stop, I saw a parish because he's on the next block. I moved to Belgrave. He's on Abingdon.

So I see him at the bus stop and he didn't know me and he snapped on me on the second day. Because I had him the Tiga on, I had the leaves on, but I had him the wrong Pumas. The Pumas was invaders and not baskets because they didn't have the holes around the logo. So you would know they were playing it was. fake because basket fulmas are the real ones with the holes around it. Mine doesn't have no holes around the logo and there wasn't baskets. So before it was one, before it was like, what are those? He did it first back then.

So he snapped on me. So I was like, oh, so I was like, oh, okay, you got jokes, you got jokes. So after that, he found out where I was from. See, where I'm from, when it comes to Long Island, people know about. about Regent Park. What was it about it? It was the culture, and it was the people over there

who got busy. Everybody in there right now have went to prison or did some time over like stick up boys or whatever. Where I'm from is no joke. So that part of town,

me coming over there made me cool. You know what I mean? Even though he knew them people because his sisters knew them and his older brothers knew who they were too. So once you knew

where I was from, it made me cool. And then I said, yo, I rap. And that was it. He's like, yo, let me hear you rap. So when you hear Jane, Jane was one of my first raps I had. I had that when I was 12 years old.

What? So I ended up taking Jane with me when I met him at 14. And I had a Bernard Get story, the one who, who, who got a train along out of him. So I had those two stories. So I rocked that story for him. All of a sudden, Paris used to have me go to his school. and rap for his boys. Like, yo, man, check out this kid.

Boom and boom. Because Parris never rhymed. Pratt was a DJ. He never rapped. What? Until he met me. Okay, so this is what I find odd. One, this is the second story

of a legendary duo whose origins start with ranking on each other. Because before Prodigy passed away, he told the story that basically that he realized havoc and his boys were about to rob him you know, on like the first week of school

or something. What? They were plotting on robbing him and then somehow like last minute like they decided not to. Like they were going to start out as enemies but then they became boys. So it's funny that that's how you two started.

I don't know where. You said that your original MC name was going to be Pop-Along kid. Explain to me the evolution of EPMD because y'all have spelled it so many crazy ways before you just finally decided on your actual name.

But what was your original name, your MC name? Yeah, but the Pop-a-Long kid was my dancing name. I didn't have an MC name yet. When E-P-M-D was getting put together, I used Eric Sermon inside my rhymes. And when I could walk with a crowd, I can see your head's turning. I hear voices saying that's every sermon.

I didn't have that. So then when you got to chill came to the E-D-E, don't know where that came from. I think it came from where the name was spelled at first. It was spelled E-P-E-M-D. Right. So it was spelled, but Paris used to be like, I'm the P-E-M-D-E.

So I must have took it from him, I'm like, okay, well, you're the P double. I'm the E double even though you weren't an E double. Even though I don't know what the E double would stand for because I don't, again, it's not, it ain't like MC Bree where he can say there's two E's and breed. So I'm the E double. I reclaim my name, even though I got on him about that too when I first met him. I'm like, what?

How did Parrish get into Rockerman if he didn't start out as an MC? Because Paris thought out. was dope. So he figured that with me, we can go to the studio and make a record. See, the way I rhymed and my list and everything like that, again, like everybody else who heard it was like, yo, it's,

it got an ill flow. But see, my DJ Diamond, when he first heard my melody, he was like, Eric, it's some dude named Rock Wind that sound like you. We didn't call him Rock Kim, it was Rock Wind. So when he came to school,

he said, yo, some kid named Rock Wind is out. Boom, boom, boom. The next day on the radio station, Mr. Red Alert, I heard it. You know, terms of the bass, take out my melody and now's de gar. I'm letting Nas be born. And my name's the R. A.k. So I'm like, yo, he rhymes slow, too, like me. Nick, nag, Paddy, Wack, Gibba, Doug a bow, and they, yo. So Paris felt too, and we heard something on Red Alert that wasn't dope. And we were like, man, the day, he's playing that. We can go in the lap. Paris comes from a group called the Rock. squad, which was him, K solo, and his brother, where Paris was the DJ.

So he kind of knew how to make a record kind of by watching his brother. So we went to the same studio, Charlie Marauder, that did his brother's group, that also did Delaware Morgan, I Do Anything for You, was done in that studio too. Oh, okay, okay, okay. Then eventually Redman, Doss effects, everything was done at Charlie's. A win is a win. A win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football,

or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations,

stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. In 2023, former bachelor star Clayton Eckerd found himself at the center of a paternity scandal. The family court hearings that followed revealed glaring inconsistencies in her story. This began a years-long court battle to prove the truth.

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

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

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

A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist. I felt like I got hit by a truck. I thought, how could this happen to me? The cops didn't seem to care. So they take matters into their own hands. I said, oh, hell no. I vowed. I will be his last target.

He's going to get what he deserves. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, everyone? I'm Ago Wodom. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell.

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

He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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

And for more, follow Timbo Slical Life 12 and TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Why did you decide to come in flat-footed in Monito? To me, which is the greatest shit ever. Yeah, I think that me and Paris, the slow flow, like rock him. I was already doing it, but when I heard Raq Kim, it made me be like, yo, we can rhyme like this.

Don't forget, you can barely understand me anyway. So if I don't talk it, it's going to be really hard to hear me. So that question is easy. I had no choice. So you had to see the employers every year, yeah, yeah, we back to work. I get time or all the rapist, because I had to, but you didn't hear the words come out without the list. See, now I didn't make my list go away when I,

I got older. I got older and this is how I started talking. So inside the rhyme, there's nothing I can do with it. I was wondering, too, why I'm not being able to list the words. Why is Mace and Biggie and them? Somebody told me that Puffy told Mace, listen, sound like Eric Sermon. And that came from mad people. And people were like, listen.

And then when I was doing Mary J. Blige upstairs at Hip Factory, I went to go see Biggie. And Biggie said, yo, take it out, sir. Yo, I want to let you know that on my new album, I'm going to be singing like you. I said, what you mean? All of a sudden, hypnotize comes out. These stories, you know what I mean? I would never cap one with nobody.

But again, when I hear these things, I'd be like, yo, so this was a method that people was trying to do. Like, you liked. You liked it, but, Quest, I didn't do it on purpose. But what I did do, knowing that you're right. Leo Cohen thought Red Man sound like me, right? And I'm like, real? He said, no, it ain't how he rhyming.

It's the tone. So me having Reggie around me, of course, it's going to affect me. Not that it had to, because when I did watch a nugget on his album, I was still me. But once Reggie started becoming Reggie, and then I did hitting switches. Right. Because Reggie came to Atlanta and said, yo, I'm not really feeling. the stuff you play me because I was on some other. I was mad, comfortable, doesn't have that,

and I didn't even have hit Swissers or stay real, none of that stuff. Right. Hostile, none of it. So now he tells me, dude. So that's what happened to me. Now you bring something up. Damn it, Reggie. Reggie was like, yo, man, you solo now.

You know, what's up? So now is Mike check. Here I go again. Check me out. But I'm over here now. And then now you have the onyx and all this stuff coming. Right. And then you got Reggie.

Oh, my God. You know, Mike Che. Yo, Redmay, get off that. Mike, shit. I can get me. So all of this is going. I'm watching the cadence. I'm watching it.

All of a sudden, Kay Solo brings me this kid up the block. Who's the, oh, yeah, yo, yo. My name is Keith Murray, boom, boom. Now I was like, Texas Bupon the play. your chest, act like arm and leg. When I come through, grab your cranium for, I'm like, so even though I might want to do this, it's got me over here.

And that's, I think, what probably happened. But just like music has summer every sermon. Yes. Yes. I will also say that, you know, it wasn't often, especially back in 88, where you would see a summit meeting of frues from opposite sides of

the coast or, you know, wherever they were from. Like normally birds of a feather flocked together. And seeing NWA in the big paypack video was like such a big deal for us.

Like, yo, EPMD knows NWA. Like, crazy. That's how me and Rick were like watching YOM TV rap. Like, You are a G-Funk pioneer that never got the credit. And you are also a Neo-Soul pioneer that never got the credit.

But do you think that because of the sort of the thick texture of your production for those first two EPMD records where like the zap claps were like, like, that spoke to the West Coast more than any, more than public enemy could have? Because it's touring. Don't forget, it's touring. You know, so, you know, that was a, LA was one of my biggest markets because the way they thought me and Pat, when you hear Snoop tell the story, Snoop said he drove to Britwood looking for me in Paris, right?

Because don't forget, there's a Britwood in California. So he's in Brittwood thinking that we're from the suburbs. Oh, okay, okay. So he told that story a couple times. But anyway, being on tour, but me and Cube was tight. Like I had a samurai Suzuki. When I went to LA, Q would pick me up. He had a samurai Suzuki.

You know, and again, at the end of the day, me and Dre was two people that was on both sides sample in Parliament. Don't forget, the E was doing it first in 87 before me and Prattie even came out. It wasn't like, okay, people credit me. Like, if you talk to Dub C, he would say, yo, I got to give the West Coast hat to Eric sermon because they showed us how to rap on this music. So while we was playing Roger, they was rhyming on Roger. While we was playing riding high, they were rapping on riding high.

So all this stuff that they hearing on, the way that me and Paris did, the funk records were different than what they was doing. So it kind of gave them a blueprint. If you hear people talk, they say, Dre enhanced the stuff I did by playing live. So if you hear woman to woman, I just sampled it. He did California love and we played so now is bigger.

And then once EPMD broke up, he was able to go to Roger too. You know, things of that nature. How are you developing your production skills and your rhyming skills in 87 in time for like your debut record because, you know, like how long did the EPMD exist before you guys actually got strictly business

to the public? One year. See, the one thing that's fast. The one thing that we didn't know, we didn't know what a producer was. We thought every record you heard was done by that person. Got it.

Isn't that crazy? So we're doing what we think we're supposed to be doing. We didn't know about we was producers. We never heard that word. We just wanted to make a record. So we took the break beats that we had that Paris had as a DJ, took records from each other

houses, the whole nine, and that's how we formulated at EPMD. You know, we made what was in front of us, not knowing what we was doing. Don't forget, we didn't know how to make a chorus. So Will Stockloff called the Autumn 2. Audio 2 came and said, let me get that seven minutes of funk record. Because we just

had the record looping. So when It's my thing. So we said, it's my thing. There's nothing there. So Teddy Ted said, give me, and he said, give me that record. So he found the, batip-p-p-p-tim-p-p-and.

And then the fan, bam, bam, bam. So they taught me how to format a chorus. I would never even know how to do a chorus or format. It was taught to me by the awesome two. So there was a version of It's My Thing that didn't have the... No, there was no version. Just before the record came out. The label was telling us,

that we need to have a chorus indent, to know the chorus get ready to come in. Got it, okay. Because all we had was it, it's my thing, louder. All we had was that. We didn't have the drum roll and the horn to be like, before it can drop down and come back to the rap. So we didn't know you had to split it up,

so there's a chorus and then there's a part you rhyme on. And once we learned that, I went nuts then, then I started doing, get down, get down. Time keeps on sleeping. So now I was just knowing what to do now. And then when what you're saying came out, I was like, what's he's saying, do, yeah, do, yeah. But now we end it now.

You know how to format a song. I get it. Right. So right before your album comes out, so let's go your back in 87. And it's my thing came out in 87, correct? 87 November, yes. So in your mind, what does hip hop success look like? Like, ah, we made it.

you want to hear yourself on the radio. And one night we hear seven minutes of funk come on, but there's no rhyme. It's just red alert spending the record. Okay. All of a sudden, the next weekend, we hear the helicopters

quest so we know it's us because the helicopters is coming on. And don't forget, they didn't have two ways back then. So every phone line is busy. That's when you know you made it when you're on the radio. That's what we wanted to be.

On the radio, we know about no money, no advances, who jerk and who, whatever. Is the record going to be on the radio? Wait, you brought up something that I got to ask you a question about. So my first rap show I ever saw was a free rap show that EPMD did in Philadelphia at Penns Landing. Oh, wait, wait, wait, hold up. Okay. Wait. I tell the story all the time.

Speaking of helicopters. Because me and Paris jump out the limo too early. And 3,000 kids chased us, we had to jump over a 12-foot gate. I felt like Michael Jackson. I put it on my mother where it was born. I've never seen that before. Billy chased us like we was Michael Jackson.

Yes. Yes, dog. I know this. My question was, do you remember that show? I didn't think you were remember it. Me and Pete told it every time because we never had that. You had experience before of people running it like that, but not like that. That thing was on someone.

You see one of them boy brain groups, man. Like, yo, we had to run. And there was thousands of kids running. Yeah. I'm a witness to that. Wait, but didn't you guys land in a helicopter? Yes. Yes.

Whose idea was that? It was because we had no other way. to get there to make it in time. So I don't know how. This is before bawling was even thought about. Like, you don't understand how impressionable. Now, here's the thing, Tarika and I didn't know each other.

You know what I mean? But we were both at that show and seeing... No way! Believe it or not, we were actually in the same high school, but two and two didn't equal four yet. You know what I'm saying? he was there and I was there

but we didn't know each other like that even though we were in school together but we talked about it later about being at Pinslandon and you don't understand like being 16 seeing you two get out of a helicopter like I thought it was this normal shit because

Hey yo nobody's going to believe it even when you tell the story people like nah the question is capping there's no dude well number one run DMC used a helicopter and it's tricky video

and then you had the helicopter sound at the beginning of it's my thing right so I just thought oh on your rider y'all got to always arrive wherever you're at in a helicopter so how did y'all wind up

on sleeping back records well again me and Paris those that demo story is true we built a 68 Camaro from scratch you know From the body, you know, took off the hard.

So was that some Long Island shit? Yeah. You live in Long Island. You do not to fix cars? We got a shop. You don't shop. But we did. Paris did too.

So we shipped the car down, took off the vinyl off the top, this and that. It was a paint shop called Earl Shives. People don't know about that. $99 for the whole car. Tape up the headlights, tape up all the door handles the whole nine. Car come out, spanking cool. We knew our engine was not that good. we took it anyway.

That's why we always said that when he says he double had to push by MD's stairs because that was happening. The car broke down. But anyway, we went shopping to three places and we got the addresses on the album covers at home and you write them down, you go to Manhattan and you go walk.

And our third place happened to be, we had the Just Ice album. I'm the Just Ice thing. So you're just Ice or Manchronic's led you all there. Right. My Chinatrice, Justice, Latoya. So, and the toy was played at the jam at the house party all the time. So we had that.

That was our last place. You got a guy named Verzo Sims. Virgil took us inside to go meet Ron Resnick, and that was it. And then all of a sudden, we got to call it back the third day. Like people talk about this. Me and Pete didn't have that type of struggle. Like I said, four, we got turned down twice. I think it was Atlantic, and I think something was probably, I don't know,

Sony or something on one of the things. And after that, the third phone call was, you know, they came and signed us. It was $1,500, though, but we got signed. After signing the sleeping bag, how do you guys, like, plan out what the album is? Like, how do you guys, who's teaching you how to produce? Like, what equipment were you using back then on the first record?

We didn't use no equipment. We didn't have no equipment. The stuff that we did was done with the engineer, Charlie Marrador. We didn't have whatever he had up there we used. Don't forget, we was. making loops with Quartermans tape and taping around the room and looping it back to half. It's like we was...

Wait, really? Yeah. Beastie Boy style. Okay, so Ad Rock talked about that, that they weren't using draw machines yet. They were just... Can you explain that process? Like, because I still don't understand

the idea of going around the room and putting pencils up to do it perfectly... Because it wasn't no programs for sampling like that, like that we knew about. You know, don't forget Hank Schock and it was probably advanced the whole nine. And whatever you heard that from Beastie Boys, this was what Charlie had. We didn't have nothing to keep doing this, and we only had eight tracks on the task game, so we had to make do of what we had.

But the looping part, there was no machine that we had that were loop. So all we had was to record to tape and then splice it and then make the loop and then record it back to tape, and then record from that. So wait, you're saying that some of the first album was done on an eight-track task game? All of the first two albums was done on task game. And the master tapes are cassettes? No, meaning that the task game board. Oh, the tag.

Okay, okay, okay. So all you heard, what the album, DOS effects, first album, all that was done on the eight-track. Not what the album. All the samples you crammed on the R? alone? On the 8-track. Dude, there's like 42 trillion samples on the R.

No, but after it went from the 8-trap, we went to PowerPlay to D-O-C, and that made some other changes, but the majority of the album, when it was done, was done on 8-track. Yikes. And don't forget,

the deranged all this stuff, when you hear the Puckit ain't that much stuff. I only use the James Bond sample. The Custom I Love, And that's it. I don't know what you're hearing. It's not a... You kind of have a bomb-squat-ish...

I do. I do. Texture. Like, even one of your favorite productions, when you did Run DMCs, can I get it, yo? Oh, yo. Hold up.

Yo, Quest, what is wrong with you? Nobody would ever mention that record. Are you crazy? Nobody knows about that record, but you. Because of the time. thing is you have like three baselines. I do. I don't. I don't. I know. I did.

My theory is that public enemy crams a bunch of mid-range and high-end samples that sounds chaotic, but you would just mix, Jesus, like four baselines, even what you did in the heist, like, with the 808s and, like, I just never. saw a person just mash up a bunch of bass lines together. It was the samples. Like, imagine, again, you know you hear something, right?

And I'm not knowing for us to take out the base of the sample on mixing. And neither, I guess, is the engineer, neither. So, Ferrell's like, Eric, whatever that W30 does for you,

it makes no sense because there's no other sound like it. Because also, too, the machine I used was awesome. It did some other things, though, quest that you would not use. It was a roll in W30. You only had 15 seconds. Oh, okay.

Don't forget, so I was doing the same stuff they were doing the SP 200. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which 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

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or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Ego Wadam. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers, Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and The Big. Big Money Players Network. It's Will Farrell. Woo.

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

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

Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks Dad on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft, and we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galko, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar, this is the insight you won't hear anywhere else.

If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slice of Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The same thing I was doing the being up fast, being down slow. So would you lay it one track at a time? Not really. No, I was doing it, but some stuff was spread up to where I can sample it because I only had 15 seconds. Got it.

Don't forget, all those beats you heard was made in the 15. second radius. Same with X-12, but mine was done with loops. And that's why when you hear Jazz-O speak about or Jay-Z speak about, I don't know how Eric had that, it's my thing going because Jazzo tried to loop it and it just didn't loop right, you know, but again, not knowing that we spliced it, had a looping around the room to take. So the splice gave the nice cut.

It wasn't a for sampler machine. Did you always stick with the Roland no matter what? That was your weapon of choice. Yeah, the Roland, the Roland stayed with me. until just like music was done on 15 seconds. What? What? Right, because all I would do is I would get what I need, whatever.

I put it back. And then then when I get more vocals, I put them back separately. So I lay the trackdown separate. But the reason why you hear that role in for music. Right. So when you hear some of the hissing that you hear in the Marvin Gay vocals, you probably can't tell. But it's not clean because it's going through that machine.

Okay. I was going to say, I try to recreate, you know, I got the Midnight Love right. Boxette, Jordan, whatever. I suppose there. Right. And I was trying to figure out. I was like, how does this version sound like it's, it's an old cassette.

Yes. The bunch of mids. And so, of course, if you sample it at a higher rate at 45 or whatever, then your bit tone's going to sound. grittier. Right. I would try recreate it. Like, the way that I work on production is, if I hear something that I like,

and Dilla taught me this shit, he does the same thing. Like, oh, okay, I like that. Let me see if I can recreate it and see if I could do it. And my version always sounded too clean and proceeding. And I was like, yo, how does this sound like? Listen, I tried to do, keep it real over, even though I did it on my new equipment. and the ribbon in the sky, the way that it comes out in Jamal's record,

does not come out the same way in any other sample machine like the W30. It made it different because when you hear it, it's different, it's clean, it don't loop the same. I don't know why it's. So when you're saying that, it's the truth. When you try to recreate something, you be like, yo, why it don't sound right?

So to this day, do you still try to collect, rolling 30s or you've moved on? I got W30s because of nostalgia. So in case, I tell you what, one day I was in the lab and I said, right, come here real quick. So I went inside my floppy disk

and I pulled out some stuff for Muddy Waters. And he was like, nah, I pulled out, so I pulled out pick it up for him. So he needed a boom, boom, boom, boom. So he is like, no. So he goes, ape shit. So I go to blackout. And I pull out the, boom, boom, boom, boom.

You know, I got the man. He's like, nah. So I pulled out the U disc. Because the U on Blackout was a W30 disc that had programmed drums on it. So I pulled out the disc that came with the rolling to make that U beat. So he was just bugged out by it. So I keep it for nostalgia. And Farrell always says, Eric, where's the W30 beats?

You know? Because don't forget, I met Farrell when I was doing Black Street. And Farrell was with a guy named Mike his singer and with Chad. But if you go on YouTube, there's two songs that I let Farrell rhyme on that got leaked back then when I was doing Black Street. And one of them is called boot-knackalization, and the other one is called, and you can hear Farrell rhyming. So Farrell was like, yo, I saw Teddy, listen, what's up with your voice?

Let them rhyme. Teddy wasn't really messing with them like that. Even though they were in the studio, he definitely wasn't letting them rhyme. So that's how the Neptunes even got left from them because Teddy had him. I let the guy rhyme. But it never happened. They happen for the best, though. I see.

All right. Wait, you brought up something and I might as well go to so what you're saying. Was there any competition either friendly or real between you guys and Rakim? I, for one, never thought that you guys sounded like him or they sounded like you. But was that the talk of New York at the time? They're talking Long Island. Don't forget, we're close.

Got it. So it was not really the artist. It was the people in the hood that was starting to beat. So, of course, if somebody seemed like, y'all were biting Rakim or like... Right. So if somebody's in your ear saying stuff, like, listen, the Nas record that Nas would have rocked him, the story came from me.

I told him that story he wrote about it. Oh, the autobiography, Rakim? Right, because what happened was the hood was saying, because Rakim had, you can get a smack for this, I ain't no joke. Me and Paris is single come out.

It's like a digam smack. You smack me and I smack you back. So the hood was like, yo, EPMD came at you. Because if you're listening, you would be like, yeah, you're right. You can get a smack for this. I ain't no joke.

you smack me and I smack you back. So no matter what, then, Raqin may follow the leader. A brother said, Dick him, I never dug him couldn't follow him until I drug him to the danger zone too. So he kept going. But was it coincidence or? No, he came for us.

Or were both of y'all like... No, no, no. The first one was coincidence. Father leader was for us. What? He said, a brother said, dig him, I never dug him. He couldn't follow him. He couldn't follow him. He didn't know enough to why drug him to the danger zone.

He kept going. So did y'all ever have a conversation? Yeah, we did. And we squashed the beat after he broke up with Eric B. But he was actually saying I was coming from your. Of course. There was no secret. But it wasn't like y'all were coming for him.

He don't know that. The hood is how the B starts. Quest. Dude, I've been in that situation where I reacted to someone instigating that blah blah blah is talking about. you and then we made it. Damn, okay. Right.

So again, it's like, again, you got to understand. There's Brentwood, Bayshore, Deer Parkton, and Wyand Dance. So three towns down, the guard lives right here. And then you got these other kids from Brentwood who not everybody's talking about, everybody's talking about EPMD and you're Raq Kim. So when Paris heard that, that's what why he said. And they can say we're signing to all.

And that music was whack. We dropped the album, Strypin, thought he was four third a day later the LP went goes to what you're saying. Parvus called his name because after he said what he said, again, you know how, we wasn't happening anyway, so it don't matter. I got it, I got it. So at least y'all squashed it. Okay.

Yeah. So were you expecting to sell 500,000 records? Like you guys for an independent label was fresh sleeping back even prepared no way. I was going to say because I'm thinking like Crush Groove for listeners out there

the story of Crush Groove that came out in 85 was kind of a situation where they got popular so fast that they didn't have enough money to press extra copies of the record and then they had to borrow

from the mob and then some shit happens and blah blah blah blah blah but like how is sleeping bag able to I mean you're amazed your act as far as I'm concerned. Right.

Were they prepared for that or were they totally caught off guard that you guys were like instantly out the box, YOM TV raps, like rap gods? They were surprised at far as the sudden, but they was prepared because they was with Universal Europe before anybody was doing the mergers like that. So they already had the back end of a big label already to be able to manufacture it. That's why EPMD was so big overseas too, because Universal was behind first records. I see. I want to talk about people in the ecosystem.

First of all, Kayla Boss was the original DJ VPMD and then Scratch comes in. So how did that transition happen? Yeah, Kayla Boss and, you know, he was, started his life a little bit and things were moving fast for him, you know? Got it. And I think that maybe it wasn't him being able to handle that because he had a new girlfriend, you know, was, I think he was getting married at a time, had a kid. coming, whatever. That's what I think. I don't really know. So how did you find Scratch? Scratch was in London.

We had a show in London. We had no DJ. So we had the tape machine, the one that played the tape. We had one of them. As a DJ, before it was, you know, that machine, before there was stuff like that, we had that. So at the end of the day, rest in peace, Jam Master Jay, said, listen, I have a DJ for you.

Scratch had this one's seminar in London. And then Jamest's Jay brought Scratch on our tour bus. And then that was history. from there. And those scratches on rampage of real, right? Yeah, yeah. So what's you saying? Don't forget, yo, we Oh shit. I forgot that part. Yes.

What's your saying is made, though, Crest? And now we have the parliament by itself, right? So it still wasn't getting us. So we sent Scratch the cassette and said, Scratch, here's the idea we got. See what you can do with that. And that's when the famous scratches

from what you're saying happened, you know, because it was plain. I only ask that because I tease bow-legged loo to this day. I don't care what he tells me. Like, there's no way he can convince me that Dr. Ice was that precise on every cut and scratch on those UTFO records. I was like, come on y'all, you know good one of you sampled leader of the pack.

Hell yeah. And, and. No, how do you know that? Dude, I'm a historian. He did, he did, he did sample. He sampled them. Before I'm in the game, I study the game. Okay.

So that's how I do it. Stizo, working here at the Tonight Show, oftentimes when Steve Martin comes on the show, we play his song for him every time. Once the press got win that the Roots custom do songs, like the walkout song was just as important as the interview. Right. And Steve Martin was one of those people that was like, always wanted to know, like,

what do the roots play when I come out? And they hear the same old Otis Redden. And I told him, I was like, yo, are you even aware that you're a part of hip hop culture? And he's like, no, what do you mean? And I was like, one of the most popular dances of our era is the Steve Martin. So number one, how is that dance to Steve Martin, and I've not seen Steve Martin? Did he do it in the jerk, and I missed it? No, no, it was just, Fizo just called the record that when he heard them,

he just made him say whatever, because he's the one that had the Steve Martin idea. He was like, called the Steve Martin. He said, trust me, because he wanted to have a dance for himself. Because after you got to chill, he wanted to, you know what I'm saying? Like, yo, people know me for this. other than I'm let me come up with something else. So he named it that, so we

wrote it. So he just named it the Steve Martin. He named it and we wrote it. Did you have anything to do with his first solo record or with it's my turn or anything? No, no. I think that him and Paris had fell

out. So, because again, don't forget, Craig Matt was supposed to be with us too. So Craig Matt's, if you know the Chris Matt. That's what they said, the Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, Zoom. No, the Craig Matt story. When EP&D broke up, that busts everything from him because there was nothing for him to attach to the dreams that he had to go with the hit squad because that's what he was doing. The funk that Craig Matt was doing was like, nah, it's Eric in them.

I wanted to be here. But since the group broke up, years went by Alvin Tony God best a day, brought him to Puffy. But as far as Fizo, he went on and did what Craig did, trying to do something. something to show us, right? But then when him and Favis fell out, I was like, okay, it's my turn. It's my thing, it's my turn. Got it. And so what you're saying,

when you hear saying, you're saying, um, some, get him, Steve, you was hired. Right. Oh. Yeah, Paris went out of him. Ah, I see. I see. Because he's the piss boy. Steve, you was hired, so you don't really hear it until I tell you now.

Got it. Okay. I didn't know that. All right. Let's get into it, man. You had too much to drink. So did y'all turn the record in? It was like, yo, tone logan is doing crazy numbers. Y'all need a pop single. You said, tone looking to do it crazy stuff.

You know something weird? I'm going to tell you something. One of the biggest responses, and this was like maybe, I know it's beyond 2010, so maybe like 2012 or whatever. Okay. I was doing a fast rap set. Okay. Shit had to be over like 118.

Beast for Men's playing a lot of hip hop house and move, jump, jack your body and all that stuff. And I saw you had too much to drink. And I was like, You better not have you better play the first. You want to know it's funny? I put it on. And in an age of irony way,

like you do understand now that whatever we consider, like, when I DJ now and I spend Ice Ice Baby, like anything that, I wouldn't normally touch back in 89, 90, 91, 92. Like, I play it now, and it's like I put Michael Jackson on. Like, people just like, I put, you had too much to drink on and motherfuckers started doing the Carlton to it.

Like, were you guys forced to do? You had to much to drink and it's time to party. No, no. It's time to party wasn't forced because I think that back then in hip hop, If you know, everybody had a dance record. Or like a hip-hop house joint. Right, it had a house joint. And even with the I'm Mad remix, I'm so mad you did that.

I didn't do that. Scratch brought that to the table with that. The Soho, hot music, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Boom, boom, boom, boom. That was Scratchez remix. When I tell you, oh, God, one of the very first roots demos was based on

Soho's pal Joey's hot music Wow and we were in a club we heard that shit and I was like ah damn

yeah y'all be this first I think Scratch knew like you knew a person who knew music new records because we didn't know what it was

but we were like yo it doesn't sound bad so we used it but as far as it's time to party you're talking about that boom

that was a huge huge record hip hop or not. So we wasn't too bad about that. But that time the party came from Russell because of Run DMC, making the rock boxes and all the Mary Marys and all that type of stuff.

I was going to say he wanted you to do a DJ Hollywood record. Exactly. That was all Russell I did. And then he had the nerve to say, yo, we're going to shoot a video. You going that far? Oh, yeah. We're going to have L.O. Cooge come down too.

That's why L.O. Kouje in the video. and then going back to Cali, all this stuff, I'm like, yo. I'm like, and listen, man, I'm glad people that listened to the record took it as a joke, kind of, because the video was funny. Right, you know, the pull out movie,

and the guy dancing. Yes, so it wasn't taking seriously. So it was like NWA doing the shit they did in their records, you know? Dude. Well, I mean, at the time, it got a lot of play on the box, All right. So our listeners out there.

Yeah, remember the box? Yeah, it got a lot of play on the box. It got, all right, so. The big payback, too. There's a moment between like 89, maybe like 94, 95. The closest thing we had to YouTube was a channel called the box, which was basically, it was a jukebox. Like you go to this channel and you call a number. Yes.

Or $1.75, they will play your video. Now you just go on YouTube and watch a video. a lot of people credit that a lot of regional rap that wasn't going to get play on BET or MTV found life here. This is why I credit the box for like the popularity of two live crew because you couldn't see their videos on MTV like that. Right. Or us really getting to know the ghetto boys or a lot of West Coast acts that we weren't up on. Oh,

the ghetto, yes. Yes. The box is what did that. But yes, someone loved you all a lot. in the Philadelphia area, I probably saw you had too much to drink probably more than I seen so what you say in video. No way. Dude, that's how I knew to ask it, yo.

Like, it just came on all the time. Wow, that's crazy. So speaking of L.L., can you explain the Rampage video? Now, L.L. claims that is him in that chair in the Rampage video in the silhouette. Yeah. but what happened in the Rampage video that L.L. just wasn't out front with the U-2?

It's so crazy because L.L. had dropped the album before that, and the album didn't pop off like that. So what happened was, I heard that Russell was like, yo, go hang with Parrish and him. So that's what he did. He befriended us. Oh, to get his street sees. Okay.

Right. So once he, you know, him and Paris was more tight than me and him, but we was all close. And we was on the L.O. Cool. tore two in 89 though too. So, you know, we was always friends. So when L.O.

got the Mali album getting ready to come, he's in his prime. You know, what is the Panther, animal that kills? I'm like a blow overshot coming out. So Break of Dorn is coming. The whole night, he's coming, right? All of a sudden, we getting ready to shoot Rampage. So he says,

yo, man, my management, my dad said, yo, I'm about to come out. I shouldn't be seen yet. So we felt like, God, damn, you didn't came in you, then, you know, did all this. This was his best verse ever. Right. So he was like, he ain't coming. So I told Russell, you know, on the strength, though, Russ, I don't know what's going on,

but I know the elder to be down here shooting this video. And people know I was mad for the whole video said. I was kind of upset, though, because I wouldn't figure it would even be a problem. Right. So he comes, he comes late. And he's like, yo. I can get in it, but I got to be in a silhouette. So now I'm really man now, like extra man.

But we had no choice. And I thought that Russell would have put their foot down, like, yo, and be like, yo, he signed to you, you know, why are we doing this? But again, everything had to go. And again, this was when, you know, Jennifer Lopez was one of the dancers in the video at the time. So. What? I did not know that.

Yeah. If you look at the videos, she has on Paris. his face and the other girl has my face on the shirt. That's J-Lo dancing. So it was a bunch of people around that was like, you know, around the set. And it was like, okay, well, this got to get done. Because again, if we don't do it, then it's going to be waste of a video. So we did what we had to do.

And that's what, but, you know, you can, if you know, L, you can see the silhouette. You can see his movement and how it is. You know what it's simple. That was not a body double. Right. So for people, too, did question, like, who is it? And that was the messed up part about it. Like, dang, man.

And then today, when people actually, what's your favorite verse? You mentioned that, you know? That's the weird part. It's crazy. That verse was one of his greatest endings ever. If there ever was the genesis of a mic drop moment after a verse, that verse was it. How long did it take were y'all to get that verse out of him? I wasn't there.

Don't forget, there's a version out there that God Mr. Dead while Mr. C is going to and Clark can't go on. But they both would play the version that the beat was different. It didn't have tramp in it yet. It had the drums from BT Express

because the drums that's over the tramp beat is what it was were the bass line. Oh, boom, boom. Yeah, yep, right. On that non-stop album. I know that's exactly. Yes. That was playing, so it was only L.L. Kouj and Parrish in the studio with different vocals.

It's out there. How do they get that version? They started with that version first. I wasn't there. How did DJs get that version if it was never printed up? Somebody leaked it and gave it to them. Somebody, they had it. They had it early.

So, and it couldn't take from anybody at Power Play. What made y'all change to the tramp loop instead? Crash. Got you. Another thing, my favorite. Pete Rock moment. I'm sorry. My second favorite Pete Rock moment of all time

because nothing will ever describe what was like hearing the shut them down remix for the first time. Of course, hell no. I didn't see that shit coming. Right. But I got to tell you, the first time I heard

Rampage in a nightclub was the P. Rock remix version. Stop lying. Dog. Boom, bum, boom, boom, boom. Oh, my God. That song does not get enough respect. I'm shocked that Def Jam let y'all get away.

Because Rampage 12 inch was a rarity in which there was like five selections on each side. Okay. So the grooves are smaller. Okay. But for me, that remix of Rampage, the P-Rock remix of Rampage is my second favorite all-time P-Rop. creations. No way. Because that was before he was, air quote, Pete Rock.

How did y'all even... Yeah, but he was still doing the remixes, though. Because, again... Was he? Because... Because, because Rampage is 91. So whatever... It was something else that Pete...

We got to look up 91 Pete Rock and see what he was doing. Because it wasn't just Pee Rock and C.O.S. move yet. That they didn't come out yet. The first time I heard of Pete Rock was the Rampage remix. I didn't even know.

that he had a group. Well, you know what? I had to find him from somewhere. We had to look it up. See what was out there. I'm looking out there. I'm looking up. And, yo, like.

1999 Pete Rock. Business as usual came out in 1990. All right. So granted, December 18th, 1990. So yes, the single came out in 1991. But the very first time I heard of Pete Rock was that remix. Because I was like, yo, I didn't even. know that Eric got down with the wrath that came drums like that.

Like, that to me was like... Okay, but listen, but it don't show nothing else of him? The creator and all that stuff will come out later. No, I'm talking about ninth when you're saying that EPMD remix. Or also I'm from Philly. How did I find them? Dude, like, I brought that... When I heard that song, I went and got the 12-inch.

It's all P-Rot hit-to-the-head hardcore remix or whatever, and that's how I got introduced to Pete Rott. Hey, you know what? It wasn't even me. it probably was a deaf sham thing because I wasn't in it like that to be going to get and find him whatever somebody at Def Jam found him

got it so how did you guys wind up leaving sleeping back to go to Def Jam? Yeah Russell did an audit on them because they knew things wasn't right you know EPMD was selling all these records we didn't have nothing

and they up there with new deaths and jeeps and sofas and shit so Russell and Russell wanted what he wanted because even with the tour, when Run said, yo, go get them new boys. Like, Run did that. Run got us out there.

And then when it was time, when they saw that how we was moving, they knew that we was the new new. So Russell was like, yo, because don't forget, we was all on rush management. That's why when you asked the question about the helicopter and all that type of stuff,

this is rush management. Ain't nobody bigger than them. So all rush acts were different. They were different with Leo and Russell. The only person I've interviewed on this platform, about his car game was biz. Biz will be like, I was the first one with the,

I was the first one, but I have to say that even though I'm not a car dude per se, that the unfinished business album cover is a rather iconic hip-hop photo for just the B-boy stance, the Nike's y'all rocking, whatever. Yeah, the bucket has all this stuff. So by that point, were you satisfied

with the way that life was going? We were still young because I'm an 18-year-old kid. So at the end of the day, I still know what's going on. I'm in there with Will Smith. Will's telling me that, you know, I'm about to be a big actor. I'm like, for real? Like, he was speaking like this in 88, but we were in the backstage.

playing basketball. So certain things that you would think that, but when the second album came and we went number one again, we still didn't really get it because we'll announce on stage. I want to congratulate. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying.

Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes,

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

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

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

Greg, a lesbian, Michael Marantini. My mind was blown. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trap. Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences. Ladies and gentlemen, breaking news at Americopa County as Laura Owens has been indicted on fraud charges. This isn't over until justice is served in Arizona.

Listen to Love Trapped podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. There's two golden rules that any man should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl. You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes. And Rule 2, never mess with her friends either. We always say that trust your girlfriends. I'm Anna Sinfield, and in this new season of the girlfriends... Oh my God, this is the same man.

A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist. I felt like I got hit by a truck. I thought, how could this happen to me? The cops didn't seem to care. So they take matters into their own hands. I said, oh, hell no. I vowed. I will be his last target.

He's going to get what he deserves. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, everyone? I'm Ego Wodom. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman,

Saturday Night Live, and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo. My dad gave me the best advice. ever. I went and had lunch with them one day and I was like, and dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings. I'm working my way up through and I know it's a place that come look for up and coming talent. He said, if it was

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

There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your 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 Slical Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. EPM D for a second number one album in a row. Like, no, whatever, whatever. We didn't even know what they was talking about. So we didn't, don't forget,

we was getting jerked the first two albums. So we didn't know we didn't have no money, but it was still, we were still happy making records and being on tour. So the tour, and then we had a guy named Bert Padel. Don't forget, Bert Padel made everything right for all his artists. He was the number one accounted for every artist in New York,

every major actor from De Niro to my dad, Madonna to everybody was all Bert Padell. So all the stuff you saw us where it was possible. The houses he got for us. The cars he got for us. So we didn't know that we didn't we wasn't getting it and we didn't have it until

Russell came and ordered it first records. What were those tours like in 88, 89? Those nitro tours were LL. I don't know if you were on the Runshaus tour. Yeah, that's the first one. 88. The first one.

that I've been on before the press pass. So tour is a different now for us. I mean, you know, we're in a position now where, you know, someone who's insist on staying at, you know, the highest level of four seasons and whatever, and you got to have a rider and your own tour bus and all those things. Right. I know things were mad different in the early dawn and other than 90s.

But were those tours genuinely fun for you? And what were other territories like? Again, you had asked some young kids. Of course, it's exciting. The Runshaus tour was very, very respectful, very neat, because it's run DMC. So it's run DMC, public enemy, EPMD, JJ, for the Fresh Prince, and sometimes Sestasonic. So again, it was run DMC, so everything was A-plus. L-L-L-O-Coo-J tour, E-PMD, L-O-Coo-J, Big Daddy Kane, Slick, of course.

It's Carl Blanc because it's still LL, but it's also rush management, you know? So all the tours was dope. The MC Hammer when we had the beef with him. Again, we started off good, MC Hammer, EPMD, but the lights opening up, started off good. You know, the DJ Quick tour was drama. Because every night, they was coming for Quick. Every gang in every city, Kansas City,

all the San Diego's, with them gang bingers is crazy. It was at Quick. So every time, EPMD, DJ Quick, Chub Rock, and Gangstar. And it was a problem almost every night. Okay, so the reason why I asked that question is because the only indication that I had about what tour life, because the thing is, the roots, had the roots come out 10 years beforehand, we would have been on this tour because our whole existence was living on the road 250 plus days. Wow. So a lot of what I learned or thought about what life was like before 95 touring was what I learned about DJ quick rhyming on just like Compton. What was a marketplace that you didn't like going to even at the height of EPD?

I tell you what, D.C. back in the early 80s, early 90s, you couldn't go to without a go-go booping in the bill. Wow. The things didn't change until. until Puffy until 93. You cannot go to D.C. and perform without having the Gogo band on your bill with you. Wow.

It was like that. They didn't have it. They had their own, their own market, the home there. I watched R. Kelly one night, nigger, come on last. Behind, what's that? What's that? The big band that was there. Rare essence, backyard?

Yeah, backyard. Junkyard. Okay. They went on, and Al-Cherly came on after him, and they was fouling out by the hundreds. It's like that. D.C. had their own culture and language. It didn't change until Bad Boy and Puffy's parties brought that to Howard.

Got it. Okay. I see. But as far as the other markets, the only market that EPMD has trouble in, and you would think that we was a brand new group, even until five years ago is New Orleans. It's a whole different thing. It's different. It's different. And thinking about, too, they're coming to you like fans. Like, yo, whatever, they love you.

But when that, in that arena, I felt like I was a new rapper. Hey, everybody. This is Sugar Steve of Questlove Supreme. Sorry to interrupt, but Eric Serman and Amir spoke for over three hours. So please come back next week or check your podcast feed for Part 2. In that episode, Eric reflects on working with Das FX, Red Man, Too Short, and more. He also speaks about sampling Roger Troutman for crossover and share some superstars that have been asking him for beats as of late.

Thanks so much. Happy New Year from Questlove Supreme. Questlove Supreme is a production of IHeart Radio. For more podcasts from IHeart Radio, visit the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying.

Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the Fourth. You might have seen the sky. 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 Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your

podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. 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. I got you, I got you. Everyone, I'm Ago Vodam. My next guest, it's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever. He goes, just give it a shot. But if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit.

If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah. It would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This 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 Podcasts on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, for wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. In 2023, Bachelor star Clayton Eckerd was accused of fathering twins.

But the pregnancy appeared to be a hoax. You doctored this particular test twice, Ms. Ellen's, correct? I doctored the test ones. It took an army of internet detectives to uncover a disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through the same thing. Greg, a lesbian. Michael Mancini. My mind was blown.

I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trapped. Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences. Listen to Love Trapped podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.