The Questlove Show - Questlove Supreme: LL Cool J Part 2

Episode Date: November 29, 2023

Part 2 of LL COOL J's Questlove Supreme interview is epic. From far-reaching questions about lyrics, acting roles, and chapstick, this is one of the best QLS conversations ever. LL COOL J holds court with charisma, passion, and incredible stories about his past, present, and future.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. 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. 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. Owens, correct? I doctored the test ones. It took an army of internet detectives to uncover a disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through the same thing.

Greg Gillespie and Michael Ranchini. My mind was blown. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trapped. Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences. Listen to Love Trapped podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When a group of women discover they've all day to do.

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. What's up, everyone? I'm Ego Wood. My next guest, it's Will Farrell. 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.

Questlove Supreme is a production of IHeart Radio. What up, y'all? Welcome back to Questlove Supreme. So last week, we gave you part one of our conversation with L.L. Hooget taped in IHeart Studios, Hollywood. Make sure you check that out, because we asked L.L. about his earliest days rapping, people doubting, I need love, new producers, and some of those rap-a-hole questions. We always wanted to know.

Yeah, we only made it to talking about 1990. So, yeah, here's part two, where we talk about everything else. Enjoy y'all. So also early with Wildcats and with toys or whatever, you're one of the first people in the hip-hop lane to start pivoting to other mediums, acting. How easy or hard was it to convince you? because I've literally met nobody in our industry that it wasn't a struggle.

Me too. I had to be talked in almost at gunpoint to direct this film. I don't want to do it. Right. How easy was it for you to get into that lane? I had no problems with it. You know, as long as it didn't do anything

that was going to undermine what I was doing, you know, in music. You know what I'm saying? As long as it didn't undermine that, I was cool. You know, I always believed, like, my mother used to always tell me you could do anything you put your mind to, you know what I'm saying? So it's like, for me,

and I used to, you know, watch Bruce Lee and dream about having movies. And me and my man Pierre would have the, he'd have the, what was it, the 34 millimeter or the 60-millimeter cameras, the 16-millimeter cameras, and we'd be making kung fu movies and all that. So I was with it. I wanted to smoke.

I wanted all to smoke. I want to make movies. I want to do it all. How easy was the transition to do? though. Did you have to get an acting coach? I definitely studied. I definitely have to have many acting coaches. I went to the Spies Academy. You know, I work with a lot of acting coaches. Greta C-Cat, Winnie, Winnie Hiller, my current coach. You know, I trained and studied, you know,

Stanislavski and, you know, and Udahagen and, you know, oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Of course. Shopping your tools, because that's what you do. You have to. You have to, and you have to respect the craft, right? Like, people assume that I just kind of bounce into things. But, you know, I watch, I study everything. You know what I'm saying? And I pay attention to the craft.

Was there a role that you passed up that was sort of like, damn? I had first dibs on, blah, blah, blah. A role I passed up was the Allen Payne role in New Jack City. I passed that up. Oh, really? Yeah. You want to be G money? Yeah, I passed on that.

And I wanted to do it. My father didn't want me to play a drug dealer. Ah, man. But then you did it didn't deep. No. The tongue scene. Think about her. Yeah.

That's my decision, that. I had to, you know, let me do this. Love it. That's a call classes. No creative curfews. You ain't the cop, Jay Reid. Yeah. For real.

For real. Yo, that product is my favorite movie, yours. That's my favorite role. Thank you. Thank you. That's for that one scene, the pool tape. The guess. Yeah.

Yeah. Oh, boy. We have a bit on this show every time every once in a while where we talked to people about the Latin quarters in New York. And nine out of ten times, everybody's story starts with, one time I was there and L.L. Cool J did this. I'm not even making this up. Like, every story there, like you were there.

Yeah, I was at Latin Quarter. I feel like you were, lo, do you have your favorite Latin Quarter story? Before we do it. I know, I heard it. It's fucking good every time. Very offensive. The most racist theme of all time. Not racist.

I sound like, I sound like, I'll say it's not racist. It's not racist. It's just like, I sound like a chihuahua. You can't say what country. You didn't say what country, right?

It's just Latin quarter. Right, I got you. It's just Latin. It's just, I totally forgot you are a hip-hop legend that was of age of the Latin corner. The only reason why I'm obsessed with the Latin quarter is because to hear everyone tell the story,

everyone tells of the best time they've ever musically had in their lives, like listening to hip hop. But it always comes on the B side of like... The fight, the fight, the fight. A fight and a break it out. I'm like, why would you go to a place where something could possibly happen to you

just to hear what top billing sounds like on a speaker's system? Did you ever frequent Latin quarter or whatever? Yeah. What was it like in your... Like, what's your take on the Latin quarter? I mean, it was... Dangerous, be. Dangerous, man.

Like, you know, I had a dude one time, man, like, you know, he's saying something crazy to me. I'm like, what's up? He's like, what's up? I'm like, what's up? I looked down to his hand, he got a razor blade in his hand. I'm like, oh, okay, okay, that's what's what I. That's what's what I was.

You know, I just walked away. That's what's what I'm saying. So it's like, it was that kind of a spot, but then you'd hear, like, amazing dancing, and, like, you know, it was like a badge of honor to be able to walk around in there with jewelry on, you know? I'm saying it was, uh... So for you, it was never the thing of a vulnerability, like, yo, man, I can't go there

because, like, my... No, no, no, no, no, no. You gotta remember, like... Look where you hanged in the home. Like, wasn't it in Harlem? Everybody, I ran with it, this... Yo, no, no, no, no, no. Yeah, yeah.

Oh, you were good. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no. That wasn't my issue. You know, I'm not saying this impossible. I'm saying, but that wasn't my issue. I was good. I was good in New York.

So you weren't a role with your soul? self-person. You were a... Not when I went to certain clubs. Nah, when I went to the... I would do that sometimes. But really, honestly, I would go downtown with some of them clubs by myself. Like, I might go to CBGBs or something. And, you know, Fishbone is performing, or I'm down there, like, you know, standing there and they got some punk rock dudes on there. I don't know if it's a sex pistol or who it might be.

And they'd be in there performing at CBGBs. I might go there by myself. But when I went to the Latin quarters, I usually took a couple of dudes with me, you know, depending on... who it was, you know what I'm saying? And we was moving around. It was good. Plus, like I said, you know, I was, I was really friendly with all of the guys in the town that were really, I had very few real problems, you know, with guys, because I knew

how to not be tough, you know what I'm saying, like how to not, and not be a punk either. I got you. You know what I'm saying? So I didn't have, like, a lot of them problems. I got you. Like, you know, I just didn't, you know what I'm saying? Can you tell us the story of how you and Marley Mall connected. And what is the feeling of the perception of being underestimated by that point in your career?

So first, the underestimated piece. The underestimated piece is kind of like, listen, I love a challenge, man. And, you know, I welcome those moments when people think that I'm not going to be able to do something. It's actually, it inspires me. I secretly relish the opportunity to prove that I'm more than what you think I am. You know what I'm saying? And so that part for me is like, you know, being down in the fourth quarter is like, I just want the ball. Like, I love that.

I live for it. You know what I'm saying? That's why it's 30 small years later and I'm still out here. You know, we're still doing arenas. You know what I'm saying? Because I just relished that, you know? In terms of me, Molly, it was like, I used to go up to BLS at the time and do interviews. Okay.

And one day I was up there and we was doing something. And Molly was like, yo, what's up, man? I'm like, yo, and he, you know, he always had the great stuff. And he had kind of, the juice crew stuff had just cooled off just enough. So he was kind of like in a little bit of an in-between phase. Right. And I was coming off a Panther. And so obviously, you know, I had got booed at the Yousef Hawkins thing and all that down in New York.

Because remember. That I don't know. So what happened? You got to remember. So when I came out with Walking with a Panther, the real issue with Walking with a Panther wasn't, yeah, there's some songs on there. People don't like, whatever. The real issue was the imagery. Yeah.

So at that time, it was about you had public enemy, you had X-Klan, you had care arrest, everybody was on that. And I'm running around with diamonds flooded, minks, champagne, you know, models on the back, cell phones, briefcases, cash. I'm going to Cali, getting 560 benzos getting convertible, tops cutting. You know, so they're looking at me like that was foul, you know, and see, you fast forward 10 years. Now, and everybody was, you know, when you fast-a-blown. So when you fast forward to 97, 98, 99, it was different, right? But at that time, I was the first guy who really did that. So it was frowned upon, right?

So that was really the energy. So it felt like I wanted to show them, but there was more to it than just the trappings. Does that make sense? I wanted to show them there was more to it than the trappings. Like I really, because I really loved this. I didn't do it for the trappings. The trappings came, but I did it for the love. And so I got with Molly.

Molly was like, yo, what's up, man? Let me get a remix or something. I'm like, let's do it. So we- Is that casual? Yep. Okay. Like, yo, let's do a remix.

Let me get a remix of something. I said, let's get it to it. So I gave him jingling baby. Okay. And when I gave him jingling baby, you know, I had been playing with it already, so I had that baseline on there. You know what I'm saying? Because I used to make a lot of my beats.

Okay. You know what I'm saying? I made type of guy. I mean, I made a lot of my beats. You know what I'm saying? People don't realize that. So I had already had put that baseline on there. I sent it to him and he was like, yo.

And when I came in, when I walked in the studio, he had the baseline playing. I was like, oh, word. He's like, yo, how do you got this on here? You ain't? So he, like, chopped it and put some stuff to it. Then he put that walking on sunshine in it. And, you know, he said, yo, I want you to read through the vocals, though. You know what I'm saying?

I want you, because you're always yelling on your jaw. I want you to do it more mellow. I'm like, all right. You know what leads to booming system. All right. Now, this is, all right, this is something. So every night. every night I would go to Z-trip, right?

And I would say to him, I was like, yo, are you guys, is this all Pro Tools? He's like, what do you mean? And I was like, is L.L. doing this live or is that Pro Tools? He's like, no, he's live. And I was like, all right, you're protecting. So about maybe six shows later, I went to the Pro Tools guy, right? And I said, let me see all the tracks real quick, because this is something. Now, as far as I know, so the thing is.

So the thing is, is that in my mind, Tarek's greatest gift as an MC is his breath control. And when you watch the Hot 97 freestyle, like, you rarely hear, whatever. So, like, Tariq's, you know, he's a communications major in college, so he does his whole circular breath thing. But I never heard a rapper ever use intonation in concert just like their record. Like Rakeem, who's the king of monotone.

and all this stuff. Thinking of a master plan. Like he goes loud. And I was like, wait a minute. L.L. would match note for note, like his vocals on each song. And it was blowing my mind that he wasn't yelling and he was talking monotone and still projecting.

So I never, like that to me, you never get enough credit for that. And, you know, I don't even know if that's a thing to celebrate. Like, wow, you sound just like your records. But I've never seen a human person. being never out of breath, matching their vocals. Like, that's hard. No, a record, not, a record like booming system where you kind of are more lowered to do

that in an arena. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's tough, like to keep it low, like, because you're, you naturally as an MC, I mean, you're excited. You naturally want to go big. Yeah. But what makes boomer system cool is the coolness of it. Right.

You know what's cool. You know, you hear boxes say keep your composure. Yeah. You've got to keep your composure. You got to trust it. You know what I'm saying? The audience know what it is. How do you know that and apply that,

especially when you live a life and walk a path in which you almost got to justify every step that you're taken and not performatively prove yourself every time? But literally, like since Panther, every LL record has been an event to me because I always been like, all right, I want to see. Like for me, Panther, I was like, I wonder what LL sounds like over sample production. You know what I mean? Next record was like, oh, I wonder what I?

what LL sounds like in 90s production? Like, you know, are they topping the beat? So it's almost like, even from your biggest supporters, it's like, can he do it again? Can you do it? I get it. So I'll tell you, like, even this new record I just finished, right? I just finished this record with Q-tip.

Right. And, um... Really? Yeah, yeah. Just imagine something thicker. Yeah, no, no, that's too, that's too fancy. I need, I need some, nah, I need some cheap stuff. I need something I can get right to it.

I'm going to get right to it. There are a million people in the world that want to know just what happened. That's a big deal. That's not a big deal. Yeah, why do you never do a chapstick? Or did they ever reach out? Because what if people don't mess with you do? That's why I'm looking at him like.

That was a revelatory moment. Everybody's- All that aqua-stick for and all that running around with the shiny lips like I'm, you know, like I kissed the chicken grease or something. Like I took the chicken grease with it. But you gotta apply it over 20 seconds. Like I've been kissing a pot of chicken grease. I ain't doing that.

You gotta apply that John like every 20 seconds. I'm like, I've been here a while. That's my first application. That's my first application. You know what I mean? I'm very sorry. Like, chapstick, I never, maybe it's the X-M-all-in-law-law-l-all. I didn't want that for years.

Like, my whole life. Anyway, sorry. That was a moment. Nobody ever hit you about doing that, like getting your own. That's a no-brain. Somebody better. You heard of your merch game, I swear to God, that shit would sell out.

Holy shit. You've been looking at your lips for free for too damn long. Lip-ron. Yes. I'm sorry, we broke your whole with us. That's all good. Damn, I got my question. Oh, oh.

Doesn't matter. Voice point. No, it doesn't. No, with your intonations and whatnot. Like, with how, how do you know, like, screaming when someone applies force and when something is, just listen to it. I just listen to it. And I really, I really listen. I really make, do the song.

just do the song what's all the just do the song it's just that you must meditate though because I think what Amir too is asking it's like and even what Ponte said about

just being national on a stage and being excited you have to have a certain still level of control from based on what I'm saying you gotta pace yourself well you have to be first of all

you know in terms of cardiovascular you got to be in shape you know what I'm saying because a lot of times a lot of the yelling and a lot of that can be attributed to people just being out of

breath. You're not in shape. But I was going to ask, what fans of youth have you drank from? Because you don't seem to age, sir. Like, you look the same as you do from Helen and I know. Your mouth, God's here. A little melanin. A little melanin on her, bro. No, but I wouldn't know. You know, you got

a cousin like, yo, this is my cousin. He's 61. He's like, yeah, what happened, baby? Was good. What's good? Let him cook. You know, yeah. Can we get the funky, though? Like, you don't do, okay, I'm just going to start asking. Vitamins, Lions, Maine, Changa,

Rishi, like, vitamin D. Fonté space right now is... Those are your mushrooms, your healthy mushrooms. You know that right, Fonter. I've never heard of it. No one knows what I've talked about. You know what I'm talking about.

I take... I don't know what Chonga and Lions main is. Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, in the rhythm to the boogie to B. That's because these fellas no magic mushroom. I'm telling you healthy mushrooms for your... Anyway, what is the health situation here?

Are you vegetarian? No. Like, it's, I eat meat. Yeah, I eat meat. 64 ounces of war. I got to have me a porterhouse or something. Wait. I got to have it.

Wait a minute. I'm sorry. I'm an animal, beat. This one is my mind. I love everybody. I want you to be a vegetarian. I want you to do that. I want you to be a pescatarian.

I want you to have herbs and spice. Like, I got to have burgers. But people should know he gets the best cuts though. But he gets the best cuts. Sorry, man. Best cuts of meat. Yeah, well, it's meat. This reminds me of the very first time I went on my health journey.

Yes. Courtesy of Mark Jenkins, right? Yes, remember. So the second time I met L.L., and I know you don't remember this. This is like right when the tipping point was out. So it was like 2004. So Jenkins was in L.A. working out, training me. And of course, lobby call and you were passing Gower Street in L.A., so it's like,

I got to go to Rosco's. So, fair, right, exactly. I cheat on my trainer. So I went in, right? Now, you worked out with Mark Jenkins before. 100%. Right. So I walked in, I know Jenkins was in LA working with me, him, and maybe like two others

celebrity clientele. And Mark Jenkins is the guy who his business, when his stock went up when he built DiAngelo for the entitled video. Yeah. So, you know, I'm in Rosco's. And picture, the Pink Panthers theme Turn and left and right Right

And literally at the reveal Like, L.L. walks in. L.L. walks in. And I jump. Right. And so. I can eat this. You can't. Now the thing is, this is the sec.

I've not met L.L. So I don't know if he knows what a Questlove is or who a Questlove is, whatever. So. Right now I'm panicking because I'm like, oh, damn. He's going to tell you. He's probably going to tell. So I like gave my pound.

I said, well, just coming from a fan standpoint, like, yo, man, I'm in my music. I said, by the way, I said, you know, I'm a client of Mark Jenkins as well. So just, you know, this small T-K is. And he said, don't worry about it. You see you're safe with me. It's just, worry about it. Be you, secret safe with me. Oh, dude, the first time I met him, wait, I at least at five, but the first time I met him,

it was the NAACP Awards. We were, I think we were doing something for Bono, like a church. You know, Bono just started the Red Company for Africa or whatever, so they gave an award. So there's, like, backstage, there's like a two-second quick-change booth. There's two of them. Prince is in one of them booths, so it's like, you can't get in there, whatever. So they're like, I thought there was a boogie in my nose or maybe a Zit. I don't know, like I saw something there.

So I, like, ran in the room. Now, LL's seat is positioned right in front of the mirror. I'm trying to, like, you know, I just want a good, I want a good 10 seconds, yes, to make sure that everything's straight, but really to see if I got a boogie or whatever. But LL's not budgety, you just sitting there. And I want to be like, sir, you know, that's hilarious. Can I get some privacy to start and pick up my nose?

And he was like, You say B, your secret save of me. Don't worry, you look marvelous of B. You got to do you want to avoid it. No, he's just like, you just look at me like, don't worry, you look marvelous beat. I went on stairs to get that sick on my nose. I just wanted like a second to pop that joy. Yeah, hilarious.

Oh, Jesus. 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 skit. 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. 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 Twitter,

and 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 Sinnfield, 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 Stepbrothers, Anchorman, Saturday Night Live and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell. Woo, 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 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 yeah listen to thanks dad on the iHeart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast 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 much, 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 Maricopa County as Laura Owens has been indicted on fraud charges. This isn't over until justice is served in Arizona. Listen to Love Trapped Podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I wanted to ask you about Chris Lighty. Because I had a chance sat down a meeting, talk with him before he passed. And he talked about specifically the Mr. Smith album. And for him, how that really kind of set him up at Dev Jam. And, like, really, people saw him as, you know, an executive and, you know,

put him on another level. What was that Mr. Smith album for you and working with him, what was that experience like? Because that was almost like another comeback, quote unquote. Every album, for me, most of the time takes on that type of energy. You know, it's because I

take so long between records and because I make so few albums that every time it's like, okay, well, what's it going to be? But that one was an amazing experience working with Chris. I trusted them completely in terms of his creative, his ear.

what actually happened was I made a whole album called Mr. Smith. I made a whole album I didn't like it. So then I threw it away. You know, I do that a lot. Yeah, we're going to talk about that too. Yeah, so I did this album. I did an original Mr. Smith album with a whole bunch of other songs. It was called Mr. Smith.

But I didn't love the album. So I was like, eh, I kept that one song with Shy Skills that Mr. Smith, you got, but the rest of it, I didn't like. So I kept that. I was shot skills on there, rest of peace. Yeah. Yeah. I, may he rest in peace.

So me and Chris, we just started working. started finding tracks, finding beats. And I ended up getting with trackmasters and then getting with Rashad. And, you know, it just came together. It came together. And, you know, working with them was, you know, he was a good do, man. And, you know, I remember Chris, you know, when he first started, we always got along. Because, you know, Chris used to be security at the tunnel.

You know what I'm saying? So when he was like working the door at the tunnel, he always gave me love. And we always got along very, very well. And, you know, I wish you were still here. Yeah, man. One of my favorite records on that, when you were talking about, I need a beat and how you pretty much played it live and then wrapped over it. It made me think of no airplay.

No airplay. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We just go straight to that? All right, let's do it. Was that real? Did y'all really do that? Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah. I think my man, I think Chad might have did that. Dr. Seuss? I think so. I think so. I think Chad did that. I think. I think.

Not Chad and crew. No, no, no. Chad Elliott. Chad Elliott. Okay. They used to work with, Jodacy and all them a little bit and all that. Okay.

You know what I'm saying? Oh, I was on the impression that the track masters did the entire record. No, they didn't do everything. Rashad did doing it. Right, okay. You know, there was a few other producers, but they finished it.

What happened was we actually worked on the album and I was doing songs and then track masters came in kind of midway and finished the album. So we didn't start the album together. We finished the album. So they actually, made it a cohesive body of work.

I have to give Stout some credit and give Tone and Polk credit and give Chris Lighty credit because they came in and helped me kind of finish the project and make it a cohesive. What we felt was at that time a cohesive body of work.

You know what I'm saying? Nah, that's one of like that record, man. Because I mean, the singles or the singles were like no airplay, Hollister Hollywood. Yeah, that was fun. That was fun. Yo, you know, that's why, you know,

I'm really excited to, like, for people to hear this record I did with Tip because this is going to be, I think... How many songs is... Which tip? Q-Tip. Thank God. Yeah, Q-Tip. He produced it. He did everything. He did all the beats.

He did everything. Oh, that sounds... Oh, yes. Yeah, he did everything. Yeah, I've heard it from... I've heard it from good authority, then. I think it's 14 songs, 14. I'm here for this. Yeah, it's 14. And it's all like a whole new thing. So that's going to be a lot of fun, you know.

I was just going to ask about another person since we're talking about having a happy, sad moment with Chris Lighty, I was going to say the last time I was in the room with you. I was fortunate to be in the room with you, Biz and Greg Nice, as y'all were tap in an episode for Sirius. And so I wanted you to talk about, give us a fun biz story, but also talk about why you

even tap Biz to be on your radio station, Rock DeVille. So, Biz, I've known Biz forever, you know, before we made records. And then before Biz made records, he used to just come to my house all the time, coming to basement. I'd be down there, writing

Rines. He'd be sitting there, yo, he used to just make me laugh. just the funniest dude in the world of me. I love that dude. You know what I'm saying? I love biz, man. Like, Biz is my man. You know what I'm saying? And, you know, we knew each other from Long Island. I would see him. He, I would see him. There. We'd come to Queens. He would come to the house. So in terms of tapping them to be on Salute the Sample and Rock the Bells, I started Rock the Bells because I felt like the artist that I love. Like, when I look at the way Bob Dylan is treated and held in high regard and Mick Jagger's held in high regard.

and, you know, these various artists, Paul McCartney is held in high regard. I felt like, you know, the Bismarcks and the Big Daddy Cains and the Raqims and the public enemies and all of them deserve that kind of treatment as well. And I felt like they weren't getting it. And I felt like, you know, MC Light wasn't getting it. Queen Latifah wasn't getting it. When I look at, and then when I would listen to the channel, you know, which was backspin at the time, it was like a glorified jukebox. You know what I'm saying? But it wasn't really about the culture and it wasn't really about us.

We shouldn't have to make excuses for having long story careers with a lot of success. You should be celebrated for that, not persecuted and penalized for it. And I felt like the industry was turning hip hop into, it was commoditizing hip hop and turning everybody into cardboard boxes. In other words, if it was an old box or older box, you just throw it away. You just kind of, like, they weren't treating the culture the way it needed to be treated. And I wanted to, so what I said, I said, you know what? what I'm going to do is I'm going to do for hip hop culture what I did for me in my own career.

So all I did was I said, so the mindset that I apply to me that helped me be here by the great cigar for so many years and be successful. I said, I'm going to do that for the whole culture. And so I took biz and put them on the channel and Chante and all of these artists and got them all, you know, Grandmaster Kaz and all of them. And now, you know, I watched this whole renaissance of hip hop happened. You know what I'm saying? when we did Rock the Bell's festival and the cruises and Rock the Bell's resorts and all of this stuff.

Congratulations for getting out on MTV as well. Thank you. Yeah, we streamed it. The thing about it is that I wanted to do what I did for me for the entire culture because it can't be about you forever. It has to be more in your life in terms of your journey. You have to want to see others succeed. That's why even when we did the Force tour, I didn't do the normal headlining thing and like snatch all of the production and make them kind of rapping, give them 10 feet of stage. And no, no, you have the same sound,

you have the same lighting package, you have the same opportunities to rock the stage that I do because I want us all to succeed. And I want to see us treat it that way. I want the same way they treat Bono, I want them to treat DMC. I don't want to see a difference. No, man, I think it was one of the biggest things I saw

when I went to the tour. I always admire how just the professionalism, first and foremost. And, you know, I really think it's something that every young artist, like every young MCs, I really think it's something that they should really see because it very rarely, not hearing your story, you know, you were first in like everything.

So there was no blueprint to follow, but now we're thankful enough that we have a blueprint. And I'm like, yo, go see L, go see Rob, go see the roots. This is what it looks like to be 50 years old and still killing it. Like there's still a blueprint in LA. Right, right. And not on some like, okay, but like no,

still vibrant, like still jamming. Yeah, well, that's because hip hop, you know, it was being served in a greasy brown paper bag unless you had a new hit out. And I wanted it served on the silver platter regardless. You know, Raq Kim deserves to have the biggest stage and the biggest platform regardless. When we do the Grammy special,

we're putting you on the biggest stage regardless. I don't need to, there's no reason why they should be treated otherwise. We live in, it's a strange world, right? Because, like, I have, I literally have millions and millions of fans all over the world. But because not, the majority of them aren't 14, that doesn't make them less valuable. Right.

So you're like, my fans just had birthdays with me. They didn't disappear. Right, right. You know what I mean? You know, you know? So, like, we got to kind of get out of this, kind of this state of mind of like, if you're not, you know, if it's not the brand new thing and you've been out three years, it doesn't count. That's not how it works.

Like, I don't know Roland Stone's discography front to back, but when they come in town to do a show, I go. I don't know U-2's Discog back-to-back, but when they come in town, I go to the show, I love the show. What I'm saying is, yo, people want to see L.O. Cool J, and they want to see the Beasties, and they want to see Run the MC, they want to see public enemy,

they want to see ICE T. You just got to put them in a position to be seen. You know what I'm saying? And stop trying to pretend that they don't want to be seen, because that's all, that's just a game. It's not real, because the reality is the fans love it. They want to buy the music. They want to come to the show.

And we saw those arenas, and we saw those crowds. Yeah. And so they're there. And guess what? If we went a second time now, it'd be even bigger. You know what I'm saying? It would be even bigger. And we did very well, but it would be even bigger.

Because people now see that, yo, now they know. Now they know it's real and like, oh, word. Oh, man. And the regional aspect that y'all add to when you know, like, you're going to be in a certain region and they might bring out so and so and so and so. I can't wait for y'all to come back to L.A. Because I'm like, shoot, it's about two most people. Right, right, right. Absolutely.

Yeah, I was really pretty. Y'all brought out Pedy and, uh, in Raleigh. I brought our Pee. Absolutely. That's who they brought on in Carolina. Peeley and, uh, David Banner. No doubt. No doubt.

David, like, ran in the third tier. Yeah, he ran through the crowd and shit. David Biddy and David tore it up. I love it. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So I'll be remiss if I don't ask this question.

Okay. And I'm certain that you've spoken about it before and I might have missed the story. But just as a lover of emcees, the 4-3-2-1 situation Mm-hmm Wait, don't do a cynical giggle yet Like, let me ask the question

I'm ready, let's go Take it back, let's go Like, I'm under the impression that cannabis was paying tribute to your arm or whatever Like I never knew the story behind that I didn't even know it was a diss

Like, sorry for making rehearses again No, no, no, no, no. Look, you know, cannabis really He didn't do nothing wrong, man. I just, you know, cannabis just touched the third rail. Oh, Lord. Shit, shit. No, he didn't do nothing wrong.

Okay. He didn't do nothing wrong. Free Street, I know. You know what I got you? I got the reference. That was a scary moment. Yeah, you know what I mean? He touched the third rail.

He sent, because we had met downstairs earlier and, you know, he said, yo, yo, yo, L, man, like you tell him, get a tattoo just like yours. And instead of me saying, all, man, do your thing. I'm like, nah, I get your own. I'm like territory and all that on the bike on the bike on the And so, and I had just said that to him. And then when I played, when I heard him on the record, because I said, all right, he's going to go do his vocal.

I'm like, yeah, do your thing. When I heard him on the record, he's like, is that a mic on your arm? Let me bar that. I'm like, oh, you just had this conversation. I get it. I understand the first part. That was the original. Yeah, yeah.

Right. And so actually, it was really more about me being a little bit more oversensitive. I think, you know what I'm saying? I think it was more about that. You know, that being said, look, what I try to do with him, I say, look, you know, after it happened, I thought about it. I'm like, yo, you know what? I don't know.

Say something on a record or something. Nobody will know what I'm talking about. Just, you know, just flip it and do something else. And he didn't want to, you know, go with that. And then he made the record and, you know. But I tried to embrace him later. Like, I did shows with him at Barclays. And, you know, I did a show with him.

I brought him out. Barclays, I brought him out different concerts. I try to give him love because I want him and his fans to know that, you know, I got love for him. Okay. You know what I'm saying? It just, you know, it was just hip hop. It was just an MC hip hop thing.

You know, I didn't really wish him any real ill will. You know what I'm saying? How was the, with the, you spoke earlier about working with track masters, I want to ask you about the Phenomena album. Yeah. What was that like? And did y'all, has your relationship changed coming off, either, for better or for worse, coming off of Mr. Smith going into Phenomenon.

You know, Phenomenon, like, the Phenomenon album was one of those things where I just wanted to experiment. So I went in the studio with Puff and messing around with the phenomenon song. And, you know, me and Steve, you know, had a conversation about it recently because I think now in hindsight, they probably looked at it like I was just kind of bailing on them a little bit. But in reality, I was trying to just be creative and do different things and just work with different people and experiment. Because I like working with different producers.

I like hearing different things. I like to, I like that. I enjoy it because I do this for fun, too. I don't do this just. for a chart position or money, I do it because I love it. So part of that love is working with different artists and different producers and being creative.

So the phenomenon was fun. You know what I'm saying? Like, you know, it was great, you know, Sally Richardson on the record, something like a thing. Wow. You know what I'm saying? She'll be here in like an hour.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. She was, oh, Mr. Smith. Oh, wow. That's a good. I love that. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, she's cool. Wow.

Man, you had, I was going to ask, you had a record that dropped. This has been some years ago. It was called Take It. Oh, yeah. Joke. Yeah. What happened? What happened?

It was, it was a record that I did on a, I did it on a little independent label. I did the album. And I did quite a few songs with track masters on there. Okay. And I just, it didn't have distribution. And it was right around the time when I started my TV show. Oh, okay. NCIS Los Angeles at the time.

And I just didn't have, I didn't miss. I didn't make the time to promote it and really go after it and perform it and get it out there. It was on authentic. It was on authentic. You could come out with it? Yeah, it was on authentic.

And authentic as an album was just kind of created in a little bit of a vacuum. Okay. And, you know, I was on a TV set. You know, I just was experimented. The accidental races jam. Right, right.

Let's talk about it. So, you know, what I was trying to say with that song, at least what I thought I was on, articulating because nobody absolutely agreed that's pretty clear that's pretty obvious what I was trying to say is that you keep your shit to yourself I'll keep mind to myself

how about that let's start there you know what I'm saying like like we just not going you know you keep your symbolism over there and I keep my symbolism over here that's what I was trying to say but there is a level of false equivalence there it's hard to really connect the dots on that because you can't compare, you know, honestly, you know, what a Confederate flag stands for to what somebody may perceive an outfit to me.

You just can't really, you can't really connect those. You know what I mean? You can't really connect that. So what I was trying to say, what I was looking to say is that if we could get a little bit less judgment, maybe it would help us function. You know, if we focused more on what works and less on what doesn't work, maybe it'll help us function better. That's what I was trying to say,

but I just didn't, you know, I just didn't get there. You know, I just missed the jump shot. You know what I'm saying? Like, it is what it is. It just, that shit bounced off the back of the rim crazy. It exploded. The backboard fell down. The scoreboard fell down.

My shorts ripped, my sneaker fell off. The thing was that record, the thing I remember about that record specifically, it came out around the time when, this was Twitter. Can I be real foul about? Go in. Shit went gold on. Are you serious? You're saying?

It went gold, it might be platinum now. That's even worse. It might be for the conservative. That might be even worse. It's for the conservatives. This is when they started making the basketball place where suits. Wow, I did not know that.

Yeah, it went gold, man. I forgot about that. Yeah, I got a black off that joint. Wow. That was thinking of the music. Yo, Ilbaum. Yeah. Talk about that one.

Yeah. Elbaum, now, that one, a lot of fun. That was like, you know, running around. in the city, running around in Queens, me and Bim, and, you know, just run around in the city. And, you know, Flex asked me if I wanted to do something, scratch made the beat. I just went in the studio. And everything I was saying on the record was kind of like what we was living. We had the strove lights flashing on the trucks and all that.

It was all, you know, it was real. It was very real. It was very real. I was going to say also, what's my joint on Exit 13? You better watch me. Oh, yeah. Okay, so here's the thing. So I don't know if you know

Chris... You better watch me. No, Chris Rock's nickname is... So, what... Guy O'Siri dubs Chris Rock, he always calls him track 9

because Chris is the type of music fan that, like, doesn't go for the hit. He goes for the filler. You know, he'll go for Stevie Wonder's... Maybe a baby. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, the filler cut

that lets you know he's a deep music fan. And when it came out, he was just like, this is the one. How come I wish, like, why was it more made of you better watch me? But, like, that to me... You know what's funny, man? I'll tell you, man. That shit was such a winner. I think one of the things that happens, you know, and this happens with labels, this happens with artists,

you get so, so spoiled by instantaneous reactions that when you have records that kind of hit a different part of your audience, that is not as reactive, you just don't know how to gauge it. You know what I'm saying? Like I've had a lot of songs like that. Like the doo-op was a song that people like back in the days really, really liked. But I didn't know back then how to react to that,

how to react to it. You know what I'm saying? I was going to ask you if we could do that on tour, but... I would. You know what I mean? After, like, we, I mean, we kept Mr. Gubbar, but then there's like some other, and you just kept cutting them on.

I was like, ah, I'll never get. Yeah, nah, well, you did nitro. When you dropped it did nitro, I was like, oh, my God. Oh, boy. Yeah. Oh, boy. Oh, boy. That's an 18-wheeler right there.

Yes. Good God. What was it like working with the bomb squad? Excellent. Eric, yo, Eric Sadler, Keith and Hank Shockley, the way they worked on them, the way they put the beats together. Did they build the beats in front of you? Yes.

Oh, wow. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. They built them in front of me. Yeah. Yeah, it was crazy.

Nitro was crazy and it gets no rougher. 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,

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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 IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 and 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. always saying 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. 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. My dad gave me the best advice ever. I went and had lunch with them one day, and I was like, and Dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings.

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

of, you know, the cat just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. 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 much. 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, a lesbian, Michael Marantini.

My mind was blown. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trap. Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues, news, 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. You mentioned earlier that you have absolutely no qualms whatsoever about scrapping an entire record. Right. So, just based on your history, right. How much is in the L.L. Cool J. Cannon from radio down to the force album? And will we ever see any of it? Will you ever release any of it? I'll never put any of it out. I probably have, um,

you at least won't put nothing in your will. Like, this can't come out posthumously or anything. No, I'm not going to do that. Thank you. Okay. I'm not going to do that. But you, we got to see who lives, you know, we don't know how to get. We don't know. There's no telling how that's going to play. I'll give my hell for it. I'm getting my health on. I'm going to say to general.

I'm not saying in general. We don't know how that's going to play. We know you might live longer than the rest of us. Hey, listen, I'm not talking tough in that one. I don't know. I'm just, I mean, hey. So can you reveal what you revealed to me? Yeah, I probably have you made with you know who?

Oh, so. Let's start there. Oh, so with Dre, me or Dre probably have about 40 songs. Wow. Yeah. Did we? Dr. Dre. Yeah.

Y'all had Zoom. That was on the Bullworth. Right, right, right. But we had, you know, but we got a lot of songs in the can. Like, I had a lot, like, I'll tell you a record that was mine that, he obviously took my vocals off because he ended up doing it because I was all over the place. But that, you know, that song.

Exposive. Yeah, that was my. That was one of my drinks. Exposive was yours? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, me and Dre had did that first. Yeah. Oh, whoa.

Chewy's back. I hear you over there. Everything happens for a reason. Yeah, yeah, that one, yeah, it was crazy. Quite a few. It's been a lot of them. Had a lot of them. Another emcee needed that beat, and he did real well.

Oh, you killed it. It was dope. It was dope. Love you better, man. I wasn't talking about that working with the Neptunes. What was that? Man, it was amazing working with Farrell and with Chad. And that's when they worked together still, too.

And it was like, I mean, it was dope. I just, you know, the one thing, You know what's crazy? I was so focused on working out and getting ready for the video. This is going to sound really crazy. I forgot to ask Varel to be in the video. Wow.

I literally forgot. Yeah, because he's on the song. Yo, bro, I forgot. Yeah. Like, like, I forgot to ask him to be in you guys. I wanted, because I wanted Farrell to sing on the hook. Ferrell did the intro. Yeah, I was like, why didn't he sing the hook?

And he was like, no, I don't want to do it. I want to put my men on blah, blah, blah. I'm like, okay. And so once he put Mark on the hook, Then I forgot that he, yeah, to ask Farrell to be in the video. And I seen him one day, like, you know, you asked me to be in the video. I'm like, I just felt crazy. But that's when you got that knife shelf down there on your V.

So it was worth it for all of us who was watching the video. I remember when you put your arms up, he was like, hey, hey, hey. All right, hey, hey, hey. Now I just want to know the things that we don't know that's equivalent to chunking studios. For instance, do you know who's singing on around the way, girl? It's the Flex, right? That's like Chris, not Chris, but it was the Light Street. It was Black Street.

That was Black Street? Yeah, before they were Black Street. So Lighty, Darren Lighty and all of, yeah, it was dumb guys. Yeah, it was the Black Street guys. It was great as the Flex and the job remember that, wow. Like David Hollister? Yeah, I don't know. No, it was Lighty and the other one and Eric.

Ballhead. What's Eric? What's Eric's name? Eric. Eric, his name is Eric. Yeah. Yep, Black Street. Tito, Marlin.

Yeah, Black Street. Okay, all right, oh, yes, since we rapify it, what is the meaning, I've always wanted to ask you this, what is the meaning of bloatious? Steve! Yo, you got to give it. I mean, it's just bloatious. Like, you know what I mean? Like, you know, me and my man Ty fight, yo, Ty. And, you know, you're hilarious with this, man.

Like, me and Todd were seeing each other in the studio, I'd be like, heesh! Blotitious. And then I just put it on a record. And everybody said, yo, he's talking about, you know, Is he talking about trends? What's he talking about? Is he going left? Like, no, it's just, he's shit.

Bloticious. And then, what's that? Stevie. Delicious. Stevie. Steveevee. Delicious. Give me cooce.

Love me good. God damn. Hollis to Hollywood. But is it good? A guest like the James. Wait, we're not going to do this again. We got mere minutes. All right.

So that was, so that was a vibe on that. You know what I'm saying? It's hot in here, too, Amir. I actually had another verse. on the Flavoring Your Ear remix. And then I changed it to that one. Papa Love it, that record, the one off the show sounds like that. Yeah, yeah.

I love that. Yeah, that was a cool one, too. That was fun. Damn, you know some of them joints. This is the part of the show where he does this. Yeah. But, okay, so speaking of flavoring your ear, was there a rumor, I don't know who told me.

Maybe Zee's Jibber told me. Was that verse at all connected? I heard that that was maybe directed to Biggie or something like that with the... Why would I do that? But then the who shot, then the I shot you. I was in the studio with Big when he did. Who shot you? I was literally in the studio with.

This is someone trying to make some of a bugging out. Look at all in his room. Yeah, let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. That's why I'm asking. Some of my, no, no, no, it's all good. My record, like, these songs, like, sometimes, like, it's just like head sprung, right? Sometimes I just do comedy on them joints.

Sometimes I just do shit that's stupid. Like, sometimes I'm conscious. doing like big Ellie a bit silly big money big really really with an R I didn't say big Willie and Big Billy and all these those you know big really so so between that like saying that or doing his shit bloated it just sounded good to me I will say that yes you are your your your level of humor on record and people ask me on your Cizzer world I'm like oh god I don't they don't use this because you know everyone's like give you your favorite LL record and I was like yo I'm sorry but

You can't dance is my favorite song of all time. Oh, wow. Wow. You look like a mora. Yo, that's my favorite shit of all time, yo. And then he put a patchy on it? Yes, that's what I'm saying. Like, for me, your level of humor, your evil laughter,

that's my favorite shit of all time. I really love the force, the new song. Oh, thank you. So you still get the same rush from writing a song that you did when you made, I need a beat. 100%. I love it. I mean, you know, like, I love the fact that the way people address the idea of me having an album is going to be very different after I put this record out.

Because right now it's kind of like a warm and fuzzy, cute, all that's cute, and let's talk about what you've done. Because that's just the nature of our game, right? Because when you do something a long time, the bar goes up and the expectations go down. Right? So my bar is up here. and the expectations for what I'm going to deliver is down here. And so you have to be self-aware with that, right? So I love it.

You know, I love making songs and I love the challenge of showing people what's possible in hip-hop. We haven't had an artist that's been out multiple decades to put records out that really have impact. We've had quotables. We've had critical acclaim. You know, we've had everything kind of in between there. but we haven't had anybody really smash them. Yeah. That's no change.

When we were at the Force Tour, I was just sitting there and I'm watching it. And like, you know, this is, you know, Rock Kim. This is everybody. Daylight, everybody. Some of my favorite rap roots all time. But I was just really watching your performance and it really reminded me of something like Amir, you would say,

like what you were saying, like kind of like the curse of the straight-A student, so to speak. Like no one, you have so much longevity and so much consistency. He's so good we take it for granted. You took it for granted, 100%. And I'm just watching it. and I'm like, I'm watching it, but I'm like, yo, I know these songs. And I don't think people really give you that credit as an MC.

They give you the credit as, you know, breaking, being a pioneer and all that. But I'm just like, yo, fuck all that. If we're just talking raps, dog, like, LL is probably the most quotable rapper ever. Like, I knew all the songs. I think that's, I think that's probably, you know, look, that's all subjective, right? Like, I don't really concern myself with that part of it. What I will tell you is this. Obviously, I'm good enough to still be here.

So, that's a start. That's the start and the end. Mind-dry. No, seriously, I mean, because you were telling you a story, and I'm like, you started at 84. I'm like, God damn. And when the album comes, a lot of them going to listen. They're going to listen.

Wait, tell us what the key. They're going to listen. Can you tell us? Like, you told us it was you and tip. That's really kind of all you told us was you. Right, yeah, no. I'll make leave it to that. Don't you know what season is it coming?

What season? Will it be cold outside? Soon come. How did you, regaining your master's back from dad, how did you do that? It just, it just worked out.

I mean, you know, people. Wait, you own your master's? Yeah. As he should. You fucking should. You open that place. Crazy.

Yeah. By the way, there's a song, so when I was teaching at NYU, there's a song, I don't know how it wants, well, now that POS explained to me the whole,

like, how two inch tapes are, whatever, a rare commodity. There's an actual LL song on one of the nation of millions reels that I'd never heard before. It was like one verse.

Probably. Because that's probably Rick. Rick probably because of raving shit. Yeah, probably. That makes a lot of sense. Because, you know, it's funny. Like a lot of the original public enemy songs at the time, Rick came to me

and he was like, yo, he wanted me to record Uzi weighs a ton. And I was like, And I was like, he was like, do you want to record it? I'm like, well, what do you mean? He's like, well, you just do the song. I said, no, I write my own rhymes, though, Rick. He's like, oh, okay, okay, okay.

So then he did, he ended up doing Public Enemy. You know what I'm saying? So, you know, so he brought me Uzi Ways a ton. He brought me, like, he wanted me to record a lot of those PE songs. You know what I'm saying? Oh, you had a record on the street fighter soundtrack, the light. Oh, scandalous, yeah, yeah, yeah. What was, I was just, I was just.

Just wilding, man, like, just having fun. Like, a lot of the songs have, like, become, like, jam sessions, just vibing, and then say, yo, I keep that. I like it. You know what I'm saying? I don't... Like, for me, to be honest with you, you know, and this goes back to the MC comment that you kind of, that you were talking about.

Like, the difference between me and a lot of the other guys is that for a lot of them, they're always focused on being as descriptive and as creative and as clever as they possibly can lyrically on every song. I don't do that. I go for the feeling of the song. Whatever the song requires to feel good, that's what I do. I'm not, so what does, but what that does is,

you get in situations where you only need 12 points to win. Sometimes you need 45, sometimes you need 7, sometimes you need 19, as opposed to a guy who's always out there trying to go for 30, 40 every night. That's the, so creatively, that's why I probably am not in a lot of those conversations because that's not my focus. I look at guys like Michael Jackson.

I look at Rick James. I look at, you know, James Brown. I look at, you know, these artists, Marvin Gaye. I look at these different artists. And the thing that they all have in common is the feeling. It wasn't about just the lyric. Technicality, yeah. Right.

The technical lyric was not what made you feel good. You know what I mean? No, I mean, because we sang the whole flavor in your universe and blow titches ain't even the real word. But it just felt good. It just felt good. You know what I mean? But I bet you, you know, if in a certain scenario, if you said blow tits, you'd be like, blow titschis, you know what I mean?

Like, it's just a vibe. So that was, you understand what I'm saying? No, 100%. That's why, like, my catalog is the way it is. Because part of being able to run fast is being confident enough to run slow. Damn. You know? You know, you know.

You know what I mean? That's part of it. I ain't got to show off all the time. You know, because, you know, you see Hussein Bolt jogging. You're like, oh, he ain't really fast. It's like, shit. It's like, okay. He's jogging.

Okay. You know, you understand what I'm saying? 100%. So that's kind of part of, but I think that I have to stick with that. I have to be myself. I don't want to be fighting for my lyrical life on every song. That's not what it's about.

Because people don't need that for me, from me. What they need is to be touched in their souls. So whatever the song requires, that's what I'm going to do. You already do that, Fonte. Now I have 1.5 questions because you already mentioned his name and I forgot. What was it like, can you tell the process of making serious effect with Michael Jackson? Mike is hilarious, man. So like, first of all, you're walking to students. I'm sorry, I'm late. It was traffic. I'm like, yo, Mike's in traffic. It's hilarious. But we had a good job, man. You know, we had so much fun, man.

what year was that made? Like I found this around the demo on the internet. Around the bad, around the bad, a little bit after the bad area. Okay. Like,

his bad, not your bad. Yeah, his, no, my bad, they both came out at the same time. Oh, there was a bad battle. Yeah,

yeah. On radio school. Yeah. Oh, yeah, they came out at the same time. On radio school. My came out first. The battle of the bad albums.

That ain't even fair. Right. Yeah, yo, no, it definitely ain't. And so I was like, yo, you know, just working with

Mike was just, it was just a lot of fun. You know what I'm saying? We had a good time in the studio. We hung out. You know what I'm saying? We were always cool. It was great. Plus, you know, I spent so much time with Quincy Jones.

You know, he taught me a lot about career. Okay. Between him and Lano, Richie. So, no, it was amazing. It was amazing. Okay, so my final question is when we first started rehearsing, we, of course, had to put it off a few days because you just became a granddad.

three times over. Yeah. Which made me think, like, how, what advice could you give us, those who are in budding relationships, those who are newly married and whatever, how to maintain your sanity and your family and also be a career? Because I think it's rather, like, notable and applauseworthy that, you know, you and Simone have made it through the storm. You have kids and all that stuff.

She has a successful business too. I would love some earrings. Right. We can work that out. I think, look, man, I think what I've learned, man, is, where I'm starting is I ain't playing detective. Okay? Ain't going to be no detective work involved.

I'm not doing that. Okay? There's no detective work. So it's going to be what it's going to be. All right. I'm starting there. No, let's go. Because I need sanity and I need to be calm and relaxed and that's it.

So I'm not doing no detective work. I ain't cuffing nothing and I ain't playing detective. So I'm out that game. Okay. So now you just take it off about 50% of your drama in everything, right? With that with that. Just like, okay, no detective work. That's first thing.

Second thing is I'm going to try to help facilitate your dreams. Make your dreams come true, right? Help you with your dream. Make sure you write. And then the third thing is I'm going to always go after my dreams and my purpose wholeheartedly. You know what I'm saying? And the better I take care of me,

the better I can take care of you. You know what I'm saying? And then, you know, then there's little things, you know? You can't be afraid of silence, man. You know what I'm saying? Like, we ain't got to be talking, man. It's all right.

When I tell you, when I tell you, there was one point by day four where the Rootwood was taking a daily tab on LL, Idiy. These are good. I'm wondering. That are way past, like, wake up and smell the coffee.

I'm not playing the tech. I'm not playing the tech. He's literally the uncle I missed out a while. Oh, my God. All right. Oh, yeah. In the house, we have real quick in our house. Yeah, the one, the pants leg, how did that, was that just something?

Yeah, I did it. Listen, the bike messages in New York did it. I liked it. I think they put them out. Because they used to do it so the oil wouldn't get on their chain. The chain wouldn't get on their... So I'm like, yo, I'm rolling my joint up, man. I just started wearing it like that.

Wow. And it took on the life of his own. That's dope credit. My favorite thing about that is that's my son on the theme song. In the house. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wow. In the house.

Wow. Yeah, I put them on there. Debbie did a sitcom too. Yeah, I did the sitcom with Debbie Allen. Last time she acted in a sitcom, I thought. It was amazing. Working with Debbie was great. She's amazing.

Okay, last question. No more films. Because you've been on N-CIS for a minute. Well, we just, we just rap N-CIS. We did 14 seasons. Okay. Now I have a, um, well, I guess I could talk about a little bit with the tentative deal. I got a recurrent role on NCIS Hawaii.

And then, um, I got some films that, that I'm looking at. Yeah, I got some films. I got some films I've been looking at. For sure. I think we've asked absolutely everything. Cool. James Todd Smith, man. No, for real.

I, I know every time we like, thank you, whatever and, like, give you the presidential, but for real, when I say thank you. I'm happy to be here, man. You are literally one of my favorite creative human beings ever. And the thing is, is that, as we said before, you make it look so effort. Like, literally it's like Steph Curry. Like, after a while, you're just like, all right, great. It's going on the, like, big deal.

All right. He's 30 feet away. But, yeah, and I think now, especially in light of the onslaught of death that hip hopics experience, a lot of premature careers cut. And frankly, also seeing a lot of brothers just self-sabotized their things. Like, that's why I'm watching people. And, like, you're really exemplary of human beings that aren't afraid. Even if you make a misstep, like, it's like, okay, well, that didn't work.

What else is there? It comes to the territory, right? And I would say this. I would say in terms of the self-sabotage, just to put some words out there in the universe of people. you don't limit yourself. Right. You know what I'm saying? You don't limit yourself.

You have to be comfortable with, we're seeing something bigger for your life. And you have to be comfortable with that idea. A lot of people think they're comfortable with it, but the reality is when they, every time they say that they self-talked to themselves about doing something big, there's a little voice that jumps in there and says it's not possible.

Because it's going to require you to change. It's going to require you to change. And a lot of it is also just fear, and kind of feeling like, a lot of people feel like success is like hitting the lotto, and it's not. You know what I'm saying? It's, it's, the effect is like hitting the lotto.

Yeah, yeah. But the journey isn't it. You know what I'm saying? 100%. So, so, so you got to be willing to believe in yourself in that aspect of yourself, and you got to really believe, you got to believe, man. You can't be limited.

You've got to believe in yourself and believe in the power inside of you to do something greater with your life, you know what I'm saying, and that really is something that, you know, when you drifting off to sleep at night, you have to envision something greater for your life. You have to make a conscious effort to control your thoughts on a daily basis so that you've seen yourself go to the heights you want to go to. You can't just be, your mind shouldn't be like a cork just thrown in the ocean, just randomly

bouncing around. You should be very intentional about what you want out of life. I need you to gather everyone in hip-hop and just lock them in camp and just talk to me. Real. That's a whole retreat. Oh, Fubu and Gap. We got the Fubu in the Gap. Yeah.

I just told me that was a moment. That was definitely a moment. How did you pull that off? Because they, you know, they were, oh, you can't do it. I own this. Okay. So they knew? No.

They know I owned it. But you used to buy us on the lower. I get it. You know what the car inside? They know it was your car. Right. I got to ride outside. All right.

On behalf of Foncigolo and Sugar Steve and Unpaid Bill and Laia, man. I'm not, man, you're one of the reasons why I do what I do, brother. Thank you. Great James Tile Smith has finally come on to Quest. We don't need no more episodes. We good. Go get your Uber X. Thank you so much.

We appreciate it. Until the next time, y'all. Thanks a lot. Thank you, bro. Thank you. Thank you for listening to Questlove Supreme. This podcast is hosted by Amir Questlove Thompson, Laia, St. Clair, Fonte Coleman, Sugar Steve Mandel, and myself, unpaid Bill Sherman.

The executive producers are Amir. Just walked into the goddamn room, Thompson, Sean G., and Brian Calhoun. Produced by Brittany Benjamin, Jake Payne, and Aeas Sinclair. Edited by Alex Conroy. I know Alex Conroy. Produced for IHeart by Noel Brown and Mike John. Auto engineering by Graham Gibson at IHeart's L.A. Studio. Thank you very much.

Westlove Supreme is a production of IHeart Radio. For more podcasts from IHeartRadio, visit the IHartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media.

Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, 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's podcast network on TikTok.

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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 Slica Life 12

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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.

When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist, they take matters into their own hands. I vowed, I will be his last target. He is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves. We always say that trust your girlfriends. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe, on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What's up, everyone? I'm Ego Wodom. 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 is an IHeart podcast.

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