The Questlove Show - Thundercat

Episode Date: June 22, 2026

Thundercat joins Questlove for a wide-ranging, deeply personal conversation that traces his journey from Compton and church gigs to global stages with Flying Lotus, Mac Miller, and beyond. He breaks down the spiritual impact of MF DOOM, how mentors like Dazz Band affiliate Reggie Andrews and his musician parents shaped his ear. Thundercat reflects on surviving LA’s realities, finding creative family with Kamasi Washington and crew, and the role comics, anime, and Disneyland played in building his singular universe. He and Questlove compare Jazz upbringings, talk bass gods (Stanley vs. Jaco), grief and growth after losing collaborators, and the daily work of staying present in a chaotic world. Thundercat's newest album, Distracted, is out now.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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turn down the gas on your Bunsen burner, and slip into your most comfortable lab coat and listen to the stuff you should know doing science playlist on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. He left Nigeria, he conquered Hollywood, and he never forgot where he came from.

David Ayelho is one of the most powerful storytell. of his generation. On this episode of 154, we go deep. Nigeria, identity, navigating Hollywood at the highest level and the responsibility that comes with using your platform to change the world. This is 154, new episode streaming now. Don't miss it. Listen to this episode of 154, available now on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast,

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The Questlove show is a production of I. Heart Radio. You do what you want. Make more sense, right? Because we're going to talk. We're going to talk. We're talking about it. Yes.

We're going to play in our eyespot on 80. My man. A year tonight. Am I here tonight? I'm leaving. I'm leaving. Okay. Where are you next?

The thing next is Australia, New Zealand, and Tokyo. In Japan. I'm doing the Ronnie Foster. I'm leaving on a midnight plane. Ah, okay. Wait, are we on? Oh, I'm sorry. All right.

God, I did that like Walter Crunk. Good evening. All right, so once again, ladies and gentlemen, you are tuned into the platform that apparently is a haven for bass players. Yes, we've had, so far, James Alexander, we have Flea, who had none but kind words for our guest today.

Of course, the Mono Neon episode, which we guys were highly happy with. Today is no exception. I got to get a drummer on here eventually. It's probably reductive to just refer to our guests as a bass player or a Grammy-winning bass player. I really don't know the proper superlative that could accurately describe our guest today.

He's definitely one of the quirkiest. I mean, of course, these are things you've heard about him. Quirky, genius, very distinctive, very original. I love his work because it's full of truth and humor. It scares me to hear his music because these are often the thoughts that are in my head. Oh, man. Yeah. So as we celebrate Black Music Month, we at QLS here are happy to welcome the one and

the only Thundercat to the show. Thank you, my man. Thank you, thank you, thank you. All right, number one. You got to show me this chain, man. Oh, man. Okay. What's the doom?

I wore these because I wanted to get a chance to talk to you about them. This is a very, very special story. He can hold it up to our... Yeah. Wow. If you look on the inside, there's an inscription to. Wow. These were created by Han Cholo, who was the person who created.

The actual Doom mask. Yeah. And on the inside, it says, here lies Victor von Doom, aka Daniel Dumil, RIP, 1971, 2020. There's a long story behind them. What's the story? Okay, so there's a little bit of a history between me Flying Lotus, Doom, you know, working on a couple of things together. This specific moment where these come about or these take effect,

they were like some things I think that were released for Adult Swim. And it was like one song was called Between Friends and Between Villains. And it was kind of like Captain Murphy Flying Lotus. So it's like it's kind of like, you know, him, you know, spitting. And like, it's one of those moments where from that, fast forward, there's so many, you know, like the legendary stories of how he really was the villain slash, you know, you'd be doing all kind of stuff. Like, man, wait a minute, is that him? You know, no, these two take place after he's moved back to London. And I think they're, oh yeah, I'm forgetting one of the songs that was also leading to this.

There's a song called Lunch Break on Grand Theft Auto 5 where this was a moment of doom also, like kind of, you know, getting back into doing stuff. So it was kind of like the idea or notion of getting a chance to work more with them was like really, oh my, oh my God, you know, it's exciting. You know, and how many songs were completed at all? I mean, I feel like flying Lotus would know more, you know, but I know that there was a couple, you know. And but nonetheless, I, me, again, I'm like, I have a doom tattoo. You know what I mean? Like, again, and coming to the knowledge of doom is such like a spiritual experience. You know what I mean?

It's like for anybody. And I think that's kind of why the mass kind of even just resonates with people. Well, I sort of experienced this firsthand when Cool Keith, you know, he came to me as, you know, one-fourth of the Ultraman that he can seize. Yeah. And then he had this whole other afterlife. Now, doomed to me, like, because of my age, I guess, or my experience, you know, and, you know, on third base in the gas face, like, he's always been Zev Love X to me.

and I had to get accustomed to Doom because they're so radically different than just your traditional breakbees or stuff. But I would like to ask people that worship at the altar of Doom, like, is there ever any curiosity into his past, his Clark Kent period? Absolutely. Absolutely. And for me, it's kind of like I would have to go backwards because it's like removed by about 10, 12, 15 years.

Okay. And I will come to discover that stuff later on, after. Okay, that's why I want to know. It's a reverse osmosis thing for me. I got it. And again, I come from a history with the dudes at Saurah where it was like, do your history, go backwards

and know where things came from. And leading to these chains being made, there's like this, him expressing don't want to work more. But I would have to go meet him in London because, you know, he wasn't allowed back. Right. You know, good Lord, that did not age well, right?

No. But we were like, nah, whatever it takes, it don't matter. I'm pulling up. I was like, I saw the goal. I saw the, you know, I didn't know where we were going. And what could have been? Man. Oh, my God, what could, now I'm thinking about it.

Like, ah, what could have been? Flying Lotus and, you know, it's, we were building the nuke, you know what I'm saying? I always, at least in my head, and this is weird for me to ask the question. question because like I know now I'm playing the role of journalists and you're the artist, but I also forget that in my day job, I'm one of you. However, when you have an entire ecosystem, and I mean this in the most lovingest way ever, when I say batch it crazy, I just meant like eccentric. Oh yeah, no, we got it. Like someone has to play the straight person. Do they not or like.

Look, there's the years of. Who winds up being the alpha? in a room, like in this situation, if it is Lotus, who's the alpha and who's someone has to be 51, 49, do they not? Or? Speaking of it in that terminology, I think in a way, there's a place that exists in the heart of knowing that the value of it is worth its ability to figure it out. So it's almost as if it's- Just being the president.

And if it works, it works. Exactly. So like even when me and Lotus would look at each other, it would be like, this. It was like Star Trek. It was like, make it so. It was like, here we go. All right. See, this is why I have this platform, I think because of my drill sergeant, dad, like, has made me to such a control freak that I'm almost afraid to have that level. I mean, I guess he can say I might have had it with DeAngelo, but even with him by like month one, I think I was, operating in fear because label people would drop by.

Right. And, you know, mind you, this is 96, 97, so everything's, like, sexy and shiny. Yeah. You know, they're thinking he's going to come up with, like, 112's only you. Right, right. And... Chabot jeans with a big belt buckle and... Right.

And, you know, by, like, the first year, I was like, oh, God, they're going to blame me. they're going to blame me for this, blame me for this. So I just was never in that place. That's awesome. I would try to reel it backwards, like the crazier they got. Right, right. Okay. But I always wanted to know that.

What is your first musical memory in life? Ooh, there's something that did pop in my mind, and I vaguely remember it. I don't know if this was like, you know, this is from a different era of like, I don't even know. I'm remembering it wrong, I'm sure. But I remember, I think this was in Detroit with my mom. Where were you born? I was born here in L.A. Okay.

Raised in Compton for maybe the first 10-some-odd years of my life. 84 and 94? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I'm from Compton. Like, my dad's really from Compton. Like, my dad is like Compton, Compton, went to like Centennial. And then when the family, my dad married my mom, and she was from Inkster, Michigan.

And she moved to L.A. to be with my dad. And we, in that first few years of life, I would, I think they were maybe trying to figure out where we were going to go. And I remember, my mom always always make sure to try to remind me of things like, you know, growing up at church out there or like, I don't remember anything. I remember McDonald's. I remember, you know, like drawing the Ninja Turtles and getting in trouble and falling off a swing.

I think I got in trouble for flashing my neighbor. Right. I don't know. I remember it snowing a lot. I think I got, I remember a cat poop. In Compton? No, no, this is in Detroit. Oh, Detroit.

Okay. No, not snowing in Compton. Okay, I was like, wait a minute. From what I can remember growing up in Compton, I just remember my grandma's back door that led to the kitchen. I think I got in trouble there a lot. You got in trouble a lot, did you? I would imagine, I think there's a couple moments that I can see in my brain.

Like, I think there was a garage. And I think there was like this. brick wall around our house that was blocking us off from the main road and the freeway and everything, but it was like concrete. I think I remember standing face in the corner with like a voice changing helmet and my like my toy guitar that was like, but it wasn't like because I was in trouble. I just think I liked the corner and I like how it was like it made my voice sound. So I would like face the corner and like play with the toy. I don't know. Maybe that sounds weird. I'm pretty sure it does. But yeah, no, but it was lived between Compton and for a small stint of time, Inkster, Michigan.

Okay. And my first memory would be singing this song. I don't know, it was for church or something with my brother where it was like, I remember, take my life and let it be consecrated. And I don't remember what it was for. I feel like there was a video. And that was the only time I can remember wearing a suit. I think I hated it. ever in life?

Yeah. Oh. I feel like I remember it was like my mom had us in, it was like Christmas suits. I had like a green suit with a bolo tie. It was like a sear sucker. And I think that was my, that was like never again. And you stuck to that. Yeah.

Okay. So when you said you're from Compton, and I'm certain that that's maybe 90% of your reactions, but I also realize that my reactions are based on what I hear from the news. Yeah. Yeah. And because we live where we live. Yeah. I'm now questioning everything I hear.

So I will ask you, what do we get wrong about Compton? And was that just marketing to sell some records? Because the thing is, is that my mother's side of the family left Pittsburgh, half of them moved to Altadena. And I think my grandmother got a house in Compton. So apparently I lived in Compton in like for one year in 1970. while my parents went to make a record. Right.

And, you know, I have slight memories of childhood. But it wouldn't act. It wouldn't that thing. Yeah. So, I mean, was it just the marketing? Like, what was your Compton neighborhood like? Or more specifically, if you were this quirky, eccentric kid or this person that you are now, how do you navigate that in your childhood?

because I was that person in my neighborhood. And by the age of five, my parents were wise enough to be like, We got to move. No, you're staying in the house. Oh, yeah, yeah, okay. They wouldn't let me go outside because they just thought, like, you're way too vulnerable. You'll get beat up every day.

And so I just lived in the house with records. I hear you. There's a lot of intersectional points academically to socially that existed for the places that we were growing up and stuff like that. and I got two versions of the story for what this is because there is the person that's got their head in the clouds, so to speak, that has to be kind of like,

all right, Stephen, you know, and that takes place a little bit later in life, like from maybe 13 up, and that was on meeting Reggie Andrews. That's the name I always hear the most. Yeah,

he is, is Reggie Andrews specifically responsible for every musician? Yes, and I say that with full confidence. Because I hear the name. Reggie Andrews, of course, of the Daz band. Yeah. It's almost like a sitcom because, like, for me, he's just the teacher, Mr. Andrew, you know,

he's like, you know, his bald, big mustache, you know, and like that old, like, it's almost like a vignet in a TV show. It's like, you and me and my heyday. And then when I only saw a video him in the Daz Band on the funeral and my jaw was on the floor, I was like. So you didn't know let it whip or let it all blow or joystick or. No, I knew all the songs. No, them joys.

I knew all the songs. I knew everything. but again, aesthetically or seeing it in action, I didn't know what that was. I always would hear, like, Mr. Andrews was like, oh, Earth went in fire level. I would be like, I mean the guy that wears the cardigan? I'm like, nah, I just don't see it.

And then I saw it. And I was like, if that's what he was instilling in me, oh, yeah, I'm, there it is. How long did he teach at the school? Since it was built from the ground up, there's a picture of him at the beginning of the school getting built. Yeah, with a silver shovel. Who else of note went there?

Because literally, you've got to be the 20th person. I know that's named drop. Oh, man. The Far Side, Patrice, Teres Martin. Okay. I mean, off the top, that's just the first thing. There's a lot. What we teach you guys?

The Earthland and Fire Horn section. Yeah. Of Gerald Albright. Good Lord. What was he teaching us? Yes. Good Lord. What didn't he teach us?

He taught us how to be men. We used to have a program called Men of Lock Delegation. Mm-hmm. Tyrese Gibson, too, you know, my brother, my older brother, Ronald. Good Lord. But it's like he taught us how to survive, like for real, for real. Like, he taught us how to survive. Like, our school was central to multiple gang territories.

How do you avoid that? Mr. Andrews will whoop your ass. Like, he was that teacher. He'd be like, don't come in here with that. And he would drop kick you in the hallway. For me and my brother, he was like a second father. My dad had known Reggie maybe since high school to college. And so it was one of those things where, like, Mr. Andrews was like, when they are of age,

you know where to send them because he started teaching early on, I think. But in the bigger scheme of the experience of growing up, we grew up on the line of the line between Compton and Watts, which was separated by the 105 freeway. Okay. So it's like, I don't know, like we kind of slowly migrated further north, like landing in, like, West Adams by the time I was about 13, 14, which is where this all kind of meets in a different place. Okay.

Me in middle school, I would get picked up. We were going to go to Locke High School. I wanted to go to Fairfax for illustration. Okay. Like, you know, I was like, I knew Todd McFarlane went there. I was like, I want to be an illustrator. Okay. And my dad was like, absolutely not.

Why? Why? Because I don't know if there's like an undertone of like, you know, nah, you will. you'll definitely be broke for the rest of your life. I don't know what that was, but it was also like the wanting to be the illustrator versus Mr. Andrews being at the helm. I think it was my dad knew the importance

of us being with Reggie Andrews. Is this him? No, that's Don Cornelius. No, come on now. I know what Don Cornelius is. Oh, no, that ain't him. No, that ain't him. Okay.

I'm on an old episode of Soul Train. He played keyboard, so. If he's on Soul Train, you're going to blow my mind, too. No, he's definitely on. I mean, the Dasman's on Soul Train. That looked like, no way, no, that's not him? No. I may not, see, man, I can't, I see a, like, I know I can recognize people's faces, but Mr. Andrews with a Jerry Curl is, is that him right there on the far left?

That's him on the far left? Is that right there that just pointed to the drummer? Yes. Wait, no, that can't be Reggie Andrews. No, hold on. It's a whole lot of members. Hold on. Well, they've had members throughout the,

yeah, like, throughout the. That looked a little bit like near to me. I'm like, they had the softness of the face. I was like, wait a minute. I definitely know one of these cats is Reggie Andrews. Yeah, because I'm saying, I was like, wait a minute. All I see is a handlebar mustache. I can't, I don't know how long he's had the handle.

Now I feel like there should be a documentary short on him. On his mustache. Or just, yes, on the mustache. Yeah. What did your parents do? I know your dad was a musician? Yeah, mom and dad, both musicians. My mom used to play in the Philharmonic.

What did she play? Flute, floutist, and a bit of percussion. And she, again, also grew up playing at Crenshaw Christian Center and all that. And then my dad was more of a road-traveled musician who worked with many people, like Jody Watley. Okay. Again, as I get older, I just, you know, sometimes I don't remember every last thing. But I know my dad was a very working musician. Okay.

And then also kind of has been working at Disneyland for the majority of my life, yeah. Pops is a real, he's a G, man. Really? He is a G. I'll never forget the day he got the job working at Disneyland. That was a, as a kid, it's like, I don't have too many core memories because it's all washed over and all the things we're talking about. Right. But I do remember seeing my dad in a grass skirt playing in the Lion King Parade.

Word? It was one of the, it was like, it's a core memory. Yeah. Yeah, it was a big deal. I remember he was blushing, he was trying to play, and he was playing, he was playing Jim Bay. Really? Yeah, yeah, he was playing Jim Bay. And he was walking down and he was like, you saw us like waving and stuff.

And he's like, oh, okay. Okay. Yeah, I'll never forget it. Saved our lives, you know? So would you often go to Disneyland like routinely? Yeah, like, this explains everything. Yeah, like, I used to hang out. If I had access to Disneyland this much, then that means.

I would hang out in tomorrow land. I would hang out in Tomorrowland and play video games and go see Captain E.O. Like, I would just, I don't. Routinely? There was a small window because. Because right as a kid, that's when all this stuff started happening. Right. Which we, you know, here we go.

You know, God bless his heart. Got you. But I remember. I remember just going and being like, oh, I want to get on any ride. I'm going to just go hang out in the arcade. It was like Beavis and Budhead. You know, like Zach and Cody, but not no camera. What's the age difference between you and your brother?

Two years. Okay. The older brother. And then there's 10 is 10 the other way. So, Jamil is 10 years younger. And Ronald is two years older. Ronald, of course, is Monster Drummer. And your young brother, what does he play?

Pianist, keyboards and piano. He used to play accordion. Yeah, my little brother used to play accordion. Oh, so he's instantly going to, like, how come this hasn't happened yet? I don't know. Maybe it's my fault. I need to go ahead and get him that accordion. I'm like, bro, there's not too many black dudes that play accordion, bro.

You need to lock in. Oh, my God. To do that. One of my most treasured moments at the Tonight Show is us teaching, speaking of which, I think when Doom passed, or I'm forgetting when we did this, but we made Weird Al Yankovic learn accordion. Yeah. And we did it on the Tonight Show.

It's for the culture, bro. Like, it's Jamil, I'm saying, bro, like, pick the accordion back there, bro. Yeah, dude. Oh, my God. I will use them instantly. Look, look. In Brazilian music, Savuka is a monster. According player.

Like, imagine. like keeping that thing on you. You'd be like, oh, what's pop it? Oh, nothing, hold on, let me just pull out my. Dude. Are y'all jamming right now? Hold on. And coming from you guys' lineage, that would make absolute sense to me. Yeah. Pride Month Toronto. Pride is an opportunity for you to create your own space to celebrate your existence. Iheart Radio is proud to be an official sponsor of Pride Toronto Festival and we won't stop. Celebrate Pride. Turn up the love and listen to IHeart.

Pride Canada, your 24-7 radio stream and the only playlist you need for your Toronto Pride celebrations. Pride is so great because it gives a whole bunch of people this visibility that they've never had before. We have a ton to celebrate Toronto. Happy Pride. Iheart Radio. I love the sounds. The buzzing from the stadium, the chanting from the fans, the announcers calling the place soccer, football, at home. Why do I watch the Walk Up? That's like asking me, why do I breathe? I inherited that fandom from my mom. I like watching it with my dad. It's a connecting force.

From Futuro Studios, I'm Fernanda Chavari, and this is American Football, a show about soccer culture in the U.S. and its underdog roots. We go beyond the game to the people and the stories that make it great. A soccer game is a festival. It's not just a game. It's your culture. I took an elbow to my head, which cracked my skull.

It is an American game. The Brazilians don't like hearing that, though. Are they the only ones that don't like that? Actually, nobody likes that. As we get ready for the Men's World Cup this summer, listen to American Football as part of the My Coutura Podcast Network, available on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Hoda Kotby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby.

Together, we're going to have meaningful conversations with the world's most fascinating people, Like when actress Olivia Munn shared how she overcame fierce health challenges. I've gone through breast cancer and then helped my mother through breast cancer. And that was more difficult. There's a lot of people who understand postpartner depression. I was not prepared for postpartum anxiety. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Chuck from Stuff You Should Know, and we're submitting our most sciencey episodes for your peer review with our new stuff you should know doing science playlists.

list. Out now. You want to know about Occam's Razor? Simplest explanation is usually the right one? We got you covered. Wondered what chaos theory is ever since the first time you saw Jurassic Park. Well, come on down. So distill a nice pot of tea, everybody, turn down the gas on your Bunsen burner, and slip into your most comfortable lab coat and listen to the stuff you should know doing science playlist on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano and our podcast, point game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed.

And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup,

he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Rand. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick.

Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember your first concert ever? Yes, I do. I think I do. Who was it? It was Chuck E Booker and Janet Jackson on the Rhythm Nation tour, and I wore a Ghostbusters outfit,

and I remember Janet rubbing her booty and my mom trying to cover my eyes. What? I never forgot that. And that was the day I fell in love with the tune turned away, too. That's still my jam to this day. To this day, that's the one. That does inform, yes.

The main bit of the bass flame. If you were born 20 years earlier, I can see those are your chord structures. Jimmy Jam, Chuckie. See, the novice would just say like, oh, George Duke. George Duke's app all day. Now I see. It's deep in the DNA. You know, it's just.

When's the first time that you got on a stage to perform for an audience? Your first audience, your first performance. First performance. That's a good question because there's, again, I don't know if it's, you know, when you growing up in church, I don't know if I would consider that performing for me because it's like I always like to consider the first performance, the first time somebody paid me.

Because everything else is just like, everything else is like, what's your backup plan? Well, I mean, like, okay, so I don't count church either. And I don't count playing with my dad either. That's what I'm saying, because it's like it's part of the enrichment. So the first non-family lineage, non-ststranded, spiritual community gathering, something that you yourself created or you got hired for, like there were no bands in this school that Mr. Andrews organized you guys at?

Yes, there was. And again, I really think about this. I know Fernando Pullam, who was also another one of the music educators in Los Angeles, that is of great importance that, you know, with the programming and stuff like that for kids and music. But at the time that we grew up to me, the terraces, the Ronalds, the Camassi's, We had a lot of like care or a lot of like like the like Nissan and the Thelonious Monk Institute. Right. They would come together the Playboy Jazz Institution.

They would come together and find things and have like this. Mr. Andrews had a band called multi-school jazz band. And it was like if you could play, it's not about how well it's like if you can play, bring your kids here to Locke High School. You had to drive the Lock High School, which was definitely like a challenge. if you come come through if you dare after school you know hey man it's it's but at the same time driving down say street uh again those friendships and the people that we met there are still our lifetime here we go you know okay so the musicians that i grew up with and here's the thing that most people can't not fathom or whatever but i mean there's a period where i will say if you are

a teenager or in your mid-20s, especially in the 60s, and then you had this debauchous hedonism, 70s sort of pushback existence, like everything that all the ideas of the 60s just sort of whittled away and then people just went bat shit crazy in the 70s. I love that. So, but here's the thing, though. You know, starting with like Ronald Reagan's America. Like the original 1.0 version of Make America Great Again Suddenly turned this crazy deluge of jest

Conservatism. So I kind of grew up, like my parents were super hip. Yeah. But then around 81, suddenly we're a Christian household. Yeah. And you can't listen to secular music. Yeah. I have Prince Punishments all the time.

Ooh, Prince Punishment. That's crazy. So, I mean, he wasn't his draws, though. Yeah, but I was like the, the, Education was worth getting my ass worth. The enrichment, yeah, exactly. However, I will say that a lot of my, I will say 95% of my music community suddenly had no references. Like, I defiantly listen to Prince so I can get that musical education.

Yeah. Whereas the closest, they might listen to Stevie Wonder, but most of the time they're listening to commissioned. Yeah. And transfer commission. Yeah, like, but. Amy Grant. Right. Yeah.

UV no. Look, knowing. So my whole point is because I grew up in a household, knowing what bands were and who to idolize, that stuff just whittled out in the 80s. And by the 90s, it's almost like non-existent. If he's preparing you to be musicians, who are you guys looking up to when all that's left is Tony, Tony, Tony, and men condition By the time I got a record deal there was like seven bands left

Right So who are you idolizing like I see myself in that Or is this how you wind up In suicidal tendencies This is man Oh I'm sorry That no that moment

That what you're saying right now That's a real thing I felt like in a way We had to feed off of each other Got you So growing up and realizing like I mean it was almost like The movie kids

It was kind of like We made our own rules. God damn. Yeah, we would be outside. Don't scare me like this. Me, Kamasi, Austin, Peralta, like Zane Musa, like Ryan Porter, Ronald. We would just be, we would be doing whatever felt right to us. There's that.

And then the reality of there's this big gap in bridge that doesn't exist that you're talking about. That nobody walked us across, but like growing up with Reggie Andrews and my father and my mom, who it wasn't all just like Christian music growing up it was like we were listening to Tony Williams and Stanley Clark and George Duke and Billy Clark. I forgot about jazz. I'm sorry. No, but that's what we were listening to. Right, okay.

There was no mistaking where to go. So like I would be surprised growing up even as we're talking about this gap between like the bands and all these things like this and then what the 80s were into the 90s. There was like I would be surprised because even for me like growing up with the house hold full of drummers.

The stuff, like, just using, like, using Tony Williams as an example, the amount of my friends that didn't know who Tony Williams was growing up, it was almost like me and my brother, or my brothers were speaking like an alien language a lot of time. And it's like, if growing up with Miles and Tony in John McLaughlin and Alan Holsworth as preference, that wasn't, it was mostly a lot of gospel musicians that were like inspiring more musicians growing up, again, which is where a lot of it will. come out of, but we were like, we knew everything from the Manhattan transfer to John McLaughlin.

Right. There was no. And then you got Reggie Andrews being like, it's what you make it. Mr. Andrews taught us it's what you make it. So we would be outside. We would like, Kamasi got a, a, um, Kamasi got a Mustang. Like it was like a, not a good one. Like one of the ones that had to break down.

Just enough to get you from here to there. If we would have hit a, even getting rear end it, we all would have been buried in the car. Right. Like we had the drums and then the upright bass and then Kamasi with his saxophones. I'd be in the back fit like a jenga piece. Because Ronald always had the front seat. So I'd be wrapped around the bass drum in the bass. And we would get to the gig.

They'd be like, man, they're going to pay us. And we also can't eat. And they'd be like, man, this was one of the joys of growing up because, you know, people would hire us to do stuff. And it'd be funny as hell because we get to somebody's saying, you know, people do the thing where they hold the phone up and request something from the DJ. And you'd be like, man, shut your ass. People will walk up and be like, hey, man, can y'all play some, uh, yeah, man, can y'all play some, I don't know, it's like, you know, play some viby music. And Kamasi, be like, yeah, yeah.

And then you turn to us and be like, you're going to take, play the message next step, giant steps. Right. And what did you say, you wanted to hear some prints? Okay. Hold on. Someday Marks. Yeah, like I'll be right back.

One, two, one, two, three, four. It just full of tilt. Were you proficient in the fake book? Oh, yeah. That's what we lived. lives by growing up. I think I explained this on previous episodes. If you're learning to play jazz, we refer to the fake book is basically the Wikipedia of probably the 500 jazz standards that you have to know. You just got to know. Autumn leaves. It's just chords. And if you don't,

this is the book. This is the, you make it easy for you. This is the Bible for every jazz song you need to know before you even call yourself a jazz musician. You call it a fake book. Which was the opposite of, I guess there's a real book counterpart, but there was better songs in the fake book, correct? Yeah. Yeah. I got that. Wait, first of all, how did the bass call you? Why did you choose the bass?

Because the bass gets no attention. It's not supposed to or something, right? But yet, I mean, unless you're Charles Mingus and you punch somebody and, you know, I don't know. You got, you got, like, there's a slippery slope for said bass players. Besides Larry Graham, like, I really don't know. I mean, maybe Raphael, but even that. Yeah. Raphael's usually one-third of another entity.

Like, you don't see, you know, the saxophone is supposed to be the... Yeah. Or the guitar. I always said the horn player line is funny for me because it's like you got two modes with horn player. It's like if you knock, it's like, this is, I mean, no offense to anybody, but I always said it's the line between Kenny G and Kenny Garrett. Do you know what his email is? What's his email? Oh, I can't say it on here.

Yeah, yeah. I don't want to docks you. Well, I guess old people are embarrassed and having a certain three letters after. Yeah. But his is... No, no, no, no. You see it. You see it.

Yes. But, yeah, he used to love letting me know. Yeah, like, you know, like Tim Capello, the guy from the Lost Boys movie where he had his shirt off with the saxophone, that used to, like, that haunted me. The sax, yes. I mean, again, I love the Lost Boys. I love the song. But I remember I was being like, man, playing.

saxophone with your shirt off is crazy work. And then I got Kamasi, and we were on the other side listening to Ormet Coleman and, you know what I'm saying, like in Coltrane and all this, and Sonny Rollins and like, you know, and I'm sitting here like a... So kids into free jazz. Oh, we were going turbo as kids. Me, oh my God, seriously. Like, Farrell Sanders, we were on the other side of the spectrum. And literally and figuratively.

Kamasi, we would just, he would do, he would be a school in an afternoon. Afterwards, we play a little bit of PlayStation, but the rest of the night, we were running the streets playing these standards and playing original tunes. And again, I'm so grateful for the years that we spent doing that. You know, like the part where we got to grow together because I'm looking at the landscape of things. Everything, it doesn't go anywhere. It just changes shape. Sometimes I look at it and I look at the type of men that we've become and I go, wow, and I look to the generations underneath us. And it feels like they were just thrown off a cliff when it comes.

of stuff and there. But then at the same time, I go, as it should be, because you have to make it yours. Whatever it is, if you, that's what it is for the next generation. You just make it yours. Because we had no rules to how we would show up. All right. So, you know, I went to school with McBride, Christian McBride, and Kurt Rosenwinkel. Yeah. And that was my bloods and crips. Hey. Because in order to get Christians respect, you had to know straight jazz. Yeah. But then Rosen Winkle is also feeding you Captain Beefheart and Montevichy Orchestra and stuff. And then on that, I'm cheating on both of them with Tariq. Yeah.

And but the thing was, it's just that I never could find cats that look like me that were really into free jazz. Like I entered Miles Davis via Bitches Brew. Right. And then went backwards because I belong to Columbia House and I'm really dating myself with all these references. but, you know, getting this entire disc thing, but I just never had cats to play free jazz with them. Because the thing was like, well, you learn the basics and the foundation first.

Yeah. Then you go to free jazz. Right. But I never had that. It shows up how it shows up. We would be outside. I just wish, you know, I wish I had that experience with that. Like, who are your three bass gods?

Base gods? Stanley, Jocko, and if I, uh, and Anthony Jackson. Of course. Okay, the legendary Anthony Jackson. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Straight up. So what is your morning routine?

What is the first thing you do in the first half hour of your day? I try not to cry. And then I try to like not pick my, I mean, I try not to pick my phone up. And then the first half hour is like, it's really jolting for me because it almost feels like somebody threw cold water on me. So in that 30 minutes, if I'm not careful, How long does it take you to not grab the phone? Because the thing is, I wake up feeling great. Yeah.

And then the second, I want to feel like it's 2026. Yeah. I pick the phone up. Sometimes the evidence sort. Yeah. Oh, we're living in hell right now. Yeah. Out the gate.

And the guilt that I feel with letting, like, letting two hours go by. Yeah. And bliss is, like, I'm doing it as a daily practice. Like, do not pick your phone up until 10. But, of course, like. Yeah. But for you, though, like, for you, though, like, for me like for me i i have my little routine i love to go get my little coffee and read some comics

you know i train boxing okay as often as possible so everything is always me it's kind of leading up to that for me until there's after so there's before and then there's after of working out for me and it's like i don't know i feel like again i didn't realize we were crazy in l.a. until maybe just the last couple years somebody had to bring it to my attention she was like you you do know you're crazy right and i was like Is this why you ended? All right, one of the greatest song endings of all time. Okay.

Initially, I gave this award to Prince's Dinner with Dolores because I love the line, no more, that's the end and the song to stops. But when you said, you know, I'm from Los Angeles, right? It's one thing if it just cut off there, I would have been like, oh, that's clever. It had been another thing if the laugh that ensued afterwards was like in studio banter.

But the fact that you mixed it and, you know, put the effect on the laugh, that made me listen to that song like 10 times over just to analyze everything about it. How self-aware of you, and I'm assuming that all of your therapy talk in your records, is real life experiences. I do need another therapist, to be honest. Hey, dog, I have three of them right now at the moment. So there's no, what I'm saying, I'm going full in on therapy. I have three.

Man. So. I'm about to, I'm about to be right behind you. Help. Help. Help. Please help. When did you become self-aware that you need to live your authentic life?

Because I was told to hide this. I think I look at you kind of with envy. Because the answer for me was like, hide. Don't go outside because you'll get picked on. You'll get bullied. And then. We were getting. shot at for sure.

Even staying inside. You would get shot at even if he was inside in L.A. That's one of the reasons why we moved from Compton, though. Okay. You know, like my dad. So the Compton thing was real? It's like, yeah. Can I ask, what was the straw that broke the camel's back that was like we were out of there?

It was definitely somebody shooting at my dad on the porch from across the street, eight? Just for fun or? Probably high off a shirm or something. Oh, God. And my dad tells me because it's like, you know, again, growing up in that area, you would, you could fall victim to it no matter at any point. If you asked Ben Staples, he would tell you the same thing.

Growing up in L.A. in this certain area, it doesn't mean that you, it's always adjacent. It's right here. It's right here. It doesn't mean you got to get touched by it, but it's still right here. It can hit you in any way. Yeah. And my dad tells me, because I was probably a baby when it happened. But he was, I was like, I didn't understand why we moved so much.

you know, younger. He told me, and it stuck, maybe 20 years later or so, where he was like, yeah, man, I was on the porch. And all I saw was like dust, you know, like a dust, and you see dust. And my dad said he could see it. He could see a dude in the distance by the grocery store just like aiming at him on the porch. And I think that that was the straw that literally and figuratively broke the camel's back. So yeah, like growing up in that area was, but at the same time, my high school homecomings and all our games used to get shot up so it just was not weird to me I never thought I see the day where most of the humor I have is there's at least 20 tragic stories that would have paralyzed any other human being yeah but now if I were seeing a comic

like I'd be the king of comedy the line that you're talking about that existed where it was like how did I know to just be if you if I showed you a picture of my mom You know, like I'm starting to realize more and more, no matter what the case is. My mom was like, my mom was like, it don't matter. Be who you are. And I see it. And I'm like, you know, you have the years with your mom will whoop your ass and you be like, you did this to me.

And it's like, no, I did this to myself after this. After you can acknowledge that you, then it's your turn to realize that it's you doing this to yourself at this point. You know, so I'm looking at my mom and me in my older age. And I look at her and I'm like, my mom is maybe the coolest person. And I'm like, I see why my dad married her. Like my mom, I get everything from my mom. I get my sense of style from my mom.

I get my inability to see my ability to see. I get all of it from my mom. And even when it comes to the part where, like, I make the joke about that's the last time I wore a suit. My mom believed who I was the whole time. She would see me drawing. She didn't question it. So when you said, I never want to wear a suit again, that was.

My mom, she was like, well, do what you got to do? now, ah, damn. This is the generational thing, man, because you were given agency. Yeah, Mr. Andrews and my parents were like... You were respected. Like, what do you think? Oh, I wasn't respected.

Well, I still got shot at. That's what I'm saying. Like, I was the... Asked Masey, he'd be like, Steve, they thought they used to call me Snoopy because it was like, I couldn't... It was almost very... I used to look like a girl when I was a kid.

I used to get, like, mistaken for a girl when I was a kid. Those used to be absolute horror stories in, like, trauma. It would be like, even the way I dress Mr. Andrews, the way I would get picked on all the time. I just didn't care. It was like some Pootie Tang level. Like, I was crashed out on arrival. So there's a part where you could do your worst.

I'd be like, I do not care, bro. We're going to die. I'm like, you probably be for me because I got, at least I got on Mickey Mouse here. So they won't shoot the mouse. Oh, my God. Pride is like love. You feel a little. in your heart.

IR. Radio, Canada's number one streaming app for radio and podcasts, including IHart Pride Canada, your favorite hits and must-have party bangers, plus personalized and curated playlists, like back in the day pride. Come together, celebrate love. Take pride with you anytime, anywhere. Just ask your smart speaker to play IHartPride, Canada. Stream us on your phone or listen now at iHeartRadio.ca. I love the sounds.

The buzzing from the stadium, the chanting from the fans, the announcers calling the place, soccer, football, it's home. Why do I watch the World Cup? That's like asking me, why do I breed? I inherited that fandom from my mom. I like watching it with my dad. It's a connecting force. From Futuro Studios, I'm Fernanda Chavari, and this is American Football, a show about soccer culture in the U.S. and its underdog root. We go beyond the game to the people and the stories that make it great.

A soccer game is a festival. It's not just a game. It's your culture. I took an elbow to my head which cracked my skull. It is an American game. The Brazilians don't like hearing that, though. Are they the only ones that don't like that? Nobody likes that.

As we get ready for the Men's World Cup this summer, listen to American Football as part of the My Coutura podcast network, available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Hoda Kotby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby. Together, we're going to have meaningful conversations with the world's most fascinating people, like when actress Olivia Munn shared how she overcame fierce health challenges. I've gone through breast cancer and then helped my mother through breast cancer, and that was more difficult.

There's a lot of people who understand postpartner depression. I was not prepared for postpartum anxiety. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Chuck from Stuff You Should Know, and we're submitting our most sciencey episodes for your peer review with our new stuff you should know doing science playlist. Out now. You want to know about Occam's Razor? Simplest explanation is usually the right one? We got you covered.

Wondered what chaos theory is ever since the first time you saw Jurassic Park. Well, come on down. So distill a nice pot of tea, everybody. turn down the gas on your bunsen burner and slip into your most comfortable lab coat and listen to the stuff you should know doing science playlist on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before.

And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us

on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the fly. He running up the court, licking his fingers Why he got the ball, like, after you go through a training camp with that,

Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Have you ever met the Cats from Fishbone? Yeah. And I believe they weren't at your high school,

but there's almost like the same existence. Angelou, they're family. Seven weirdos like Oh yeah Made a pack to Oh yeah Stick together Wow you impact so much with that

That's real It's my parents I had to process that Yeah that's real My brother used to get bullied All the time Older brother He would get picked on

People would steal his stick bag Yeah like people would take his hats That's blasphemous There's a I was that little brother Like get your hands off my brother And just jump on you and kill you I was definitely that kid You'd have to pull me

If I saw you touch my brother I would you'd have to pull me off of you with a spatula. I would be on you like a badger. But it's also because I knew where I subconsciously, I think that somewhere between, it was almost like growing up, if I had to describe what it felt like

when I can think about it cinematically, somewhere between Hollywood Shuffle, don't be a menace to South Central and literally menace to society for me. That's what I, my memory of said things of this nature were somewhere in between because I could see the line.

I think the Wayans brothers made it, clear to be able to see it. So I saw the joke, when I saw that, when I saw Robert Townsend, when I saw the Wayans brothers, I was like, oh yeah, this is a stick. I was like, oh, yeah, you're going to, it was like, okay, I would be, you know, it would exist.

You'd be like, where are you from? Homely, they'd be like this. Go ahead and kill me, bro. I don't even know. I was like, do you know where you're from? That would be in the back of my mind. I wouldn't ask that. Oh, I was like, and you lift?

Yeah, no. But if walking up on me and talking to me, I would imagine you couldn't tell what was going. I would be talking about screwdrivers and hammers and like PlayStation. And so you would try to be banging on me and I would be sitting there looking off in the space. And I'd be like, I wouldn't, I don't know, I probably sounded like Snoopy. That's what I was told when I was younger. So my thing is I had to get out hook or crook.

And I don't know how I wield myself out of West Philly. I heard stories too. Yeah, it's, it's, I wield myself out of it. But I mean, and I will admit, like, when we finally moved to Europe, that was the first time where I could, like, wow. Like, I made it. And then the fear of I got to do what I got to do to never go back to West Philly, which is why this is one of 10 jobs.

Like, I'm never going back to West Philly. But in my mind, it's always like, okay, I'll take this job and I'll write this book and I'll do this thing. Gonna, go, going to, for you, though, did you ever have a moment where, Well, it almost sounds like you had no fear of whatever it was going to happen to you. Or was just so normal that it was like, hey, it is what it is. But, I mean, did you ever have a moment where you actually felt like, okay, that chapter of my life is now two blocks behind me in the rear view mirror? I think that there was so many things to focus on that there's a part of me that I couldn't, I could.

even think for the most part. Like, I mean, jokingly, it was kind of like, so I got to learn to read music, then I got to wear a suit, then I got to show up, and then I got to like keep my art book with me, and then I got to go to church after, and then I got to go on tour with, you know, and like, it was part of me where I was like, I don't think at any point I could ever see. I was like, I didn't even know what death was. I was just kind of like, all right, I guess I wasn't thinking so much. I think there was a part where I was like, I wasn't aware of the fear.

That's a better way to put it. So, like, I think I was just more so just kind of like observant of things. All right. So I pay thousands of dollars to learn how to live in the present. And, you know, and I maintain the gift of the first pandemic. Yeah. This is the second pandemic, by the way. Yeah, we fool in it.

Right. So the first pandemic, the gift was, okay, I got to get some therapy. I got a bunch of issues I've been holding on to. I can't get a proper relationship or a relationship with myself or anything's out. And so I had to do a lot of cleanup for three years during the pandemic. Now I figured out the only way I'm really going to survive this period that we're in with my brain intact is literally this day. This day, great day. All right, tomorrow, I'm going to say the same thing.

This day. Yeah. I almost feel like you're, I think your parents instilled in you, the idea of living in the present. I'm actually going to, this may trip you out of it. It was actually Erica. That's, yeah. I can see that. That was Erica that taught me that.

You're right. I can see that. The younger me was just like, my art book was like another world for me. You know, playing with my friends was like the best thing ever. But it was on meeting Erica. that for me was like right here. This is where you're at. This is, this is, you can always do this.

But it was her that taught me right here. Wow. Yeah. Okay, Erica. Badua. Yeah. Have you ever had a regular job? Uh, no.

I think working at a comic store is considered regular either. I was like, are you big, you're a big, I'm a comic nerd. So do you like, No, like how bad is your collection? It's crash out worthy. It's worth somebody being like, you need help. But what's your most valuable one? Most valuable comic?

Like are you a, I got to get addition one of. Yeah, I'm definitely that guy. Okay. For me, at this moment in life, again, you know, like, you know, I was, I look at Marvel and DC like it's like Bloods and Crips. There's a part where my dad. What side are you on? I am through and through Marvel kid. Let's be clear about that one.

The bullpen crash out level insanity from the 40s, I go, let's go. You know why Batman sticks around too? Because that's like crash out level like depression. Like if you ever watch those early Batman's and you go like, what was Batman? It was like that was full blown autism. Like that was. Yes. And you just go, he's still here of mine.

Yeah. It's like, oh, they made him rich way later. But it was like, bro was in soup lines with a sock on his head, like helping the cops. Like there's no such thing. And so, like, that's why Batman will always stick to me. But, like, that's, like, real. Like, there's some realness to Batman. But Marvel?

Marvel, for me as a child, was everything, and it still is. Because it even informed the next generation of comics, where we have the Image Comics and all this stuff like that. It was Marvel that did that. Like, if Marvel didn't, if Marvel didn't pay Todd McFarland absolute shite to do everything, if he didn't stand up and go, who's coming with me and leave to make image, we wouldn't have this generational, like, like we wouldn't have this fandom like we do

from the 60s, the Silver Age from the 60s into where Todd McFarland shows up and leaves and creates image and all the things that have from the newer writers like Tradmore to Donnie Cates or Ryan Stegman like yeah no I'm a real nerd with this stuff and you know what I mean like it's we wouldn't have that so it's a I'm sorry I'm about to start crashing out

I probably should take some of the money I want to know this you know first I felt insecure because I do not hide it at all one of my biggest shames in the world is because people think that I'm that level of nerd around like maybe seven years ago it started being a man I know you have every record that ever existed but I got some of you don't got

and then they'll pull out this thing and instantly I got to get performative like no oh yo no I'm when I tell you I know I own 18 of like the most like maybe the first words that got himself printed on paper as a cartoon

or some sort of right and again people are like what does he want for his birthday well he has every record he has all the soul dreams right yeah is he in the comics and my assistants don't know yeah and so I can say that I have an immaculate like ace comic collection

I have no clue what the hell I have but I do know based on the You know what this is, right? Dog, come on, man. What's my name? Of course I know what it is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so that's, I wasn't allowed,

and that's what I want to talk to you about, especially with your love of anime. Yeah. A big part of my turnaround was me to, all right, so the first time I did psychedelics, I watched Fantasia. Wow. And that's the right way to do it, actually.

That's the only, way to do it. Like, for real, because there's inspiration, like for a person that's trying to channel his higher consciousness and all that stuff, like that is... And for me, you know, after watching it 17 times, I'm like, what else is out there? And people are like, dude, how are you not on

anime? Your boy watches that. Talk about just your obsession and entry into cartoons, anime, comics. What is it? What is it? This is your Soul Train. What's mean, this is, what is it?

It just depends on where you're starting from because there's a part where I'm genuinely like, you know, there's different errors of it again when it comes from the 60s to the 70s to the 80s again with the coming out of World War II where it's like, you know, Betty, Boupe at the time was kind of like more influential character in comics and cartoons. And so they were kind of following suit and trying to like, you know, appeal to the American audience, you know, which created like Ouiebu culture or like Japanophile level otaku kind of stuff like that, but there's a part where it's also kind of like, somewhere along the lines of between working at a comic store and then growing up with

Kamasi, we were really into that. So there's a part where it was kind of like, my first experience with anime was like, and maybe, I don't even know what to call it at this point. I would say this is the silver age, the 80s and to the 90s was like the silver age, because now we're kind of living in a post of it. And a lot of the time, the things that people get excited about about it is really like, not worth his weight in gold. I'm just to just be honest, because reality is the level of manic depressive that it would create with the art, if the artist, I'm like, if they're not depressed, this is just not going to be good. I'm sorry, it's just what it is. Just like music.

But it's the part where I'm just like, it just depends on where you're asking that from, and for me, where it starts is the realization that everything we watched in the 80s was Japanese animation. Okay. So, once a year, I'll allow myself to watch Tariq's Hot 97 freestyle. Yeah. Because, especially in the age of the podcast, bro. Yeah, I probably need some like, some magnesium. I'm right on the edge of crashing out and running into the, like, the, no,

no, no, but here's the thing. I never thought I get the ideal intellectual explanation of comic history than what you just gave me. I never need some, like, camomile tea because I'm like a, here's the thing, man.

It's like I started boxing. Is it, ah, okay, I'm going to go slightly rogue. I'm going to have another Jamie Lee Curtis moment where I'm going to do this. I owe you an apology. No, I owe you an apology. Okay, so before, you know, the 2020 thing was me dealing with a lot of issues. But I was so socially avoiding and had anxiety about just people in general.

The way that you were like, yo, man, like, let's hang out, let's jam, this. And the way I would try to make the Matrix bullet-dyeye. because, I mean, there was a whole other It was you, Glassburg, Chris Dave, oh, man, let's say how. Let's do, do, do, do. And I would have so much, literally, like, anxiety, like, we were crazy.

No, but the thing was, I think I was, too, and I saw that you guys were my squad. Yeah, man. But I just saw y'all is so technically advanced past me. Nah, man. That I think subconsciously, I thought, nah man I'm gonna get

I'm gonna get caught like they'll they'll find me out like everyone always lives in this whole like I'm gonna be found out as a broad thing and I know a lot of failed marriages

a lot of failed marriages based on find out about me they found out no but is that way with Kamasi I know Lotus has to be filling some sort of way

we have not spoken we might have said one sentence to each other and I'm a massive Lotus fan Yeah. He's like Batman. He's like Batman. But I'm regretting now.

Like I'm, and now in my head, I'm just thinking like, man, like all the enlightenment I could have had in 2010 on, if I just texted this motherfucker back when he texted. Like, I'm now regretting the friendship we should have had in the last 15 years just based on this. Oh, man. This is like, this is our first real conversation, even though we see each other all the time. And, all right, so this is Evolved Mir talk. I'm not trying to carjack the, or so James looking at me like, this is about the turn to open my eagle thing. All right. Who are the five creatives that are your North Star?

Five creatives that are my North Star? Yes. Any area. It doesn't have to be musicians. Okay. Definitely Stanley Clark. Definitely Stanley Clark All right, because I'm from Philly

I can't believe I'm saying this Like what era of Stanley Clark is yours Because Wait Speaking of which Are you team school days or teen town Teen Town? Ooh

And is Teen Town? I know what you mean Is Teen Town The solo that you have to Memorize in order to get respect I think that Any transcribing of Jocco's said knowledge or solos, it's in the transcribing the solos, it's, there's a path to understanding

to get better, which is why it's so key. You know what I mean? Like in specifically with Jockos, Jocko reminds me of Charlie Parker because of the part where it's like the phrasing and the types of things that he would do, it's a vast comprehension of the cordial structures of things to where it's like, it doesn't have to start in the same place. It doesn't have to start. All these things, these tropes that we've come to, even if, you know, like, even where Frank Zappa said, you know, there's no such thing. You're not improvising.

You know, it's like, it's, okay, Frank, Beethoven. Like, all right, all right, we all suck. Thank you. But there's a part where it's like, like, Jocco's, like, one of my favorite solos other than Teen Town actually is on Ursula Dudziak's album, where him and Michael Urbaniac, who's married to Michael Urbaniac, I'm pretty sure they're still married. It's his solo in the beginning of Rocksiexiexiex's,

for me. It's not, Teen Town was just iconic. But his solo in the beginning of Roxana on, on, on, on, um, I gotta go back to this. Okay. It's this moment. And there's a story. I think there was always even the story of him like the way he would read and how he would turn papers upside down and read the stuff. He was just like, you know, this is one of those moments. And it's like, I never knew you could do that. Yeah, Jocko was full tilt. But if you're saying, if you're asking me like teen town versus school days. Stanley, to me, in all his knowledge and everything that he was bringing into his own music is unmatched. It's unmatched. It's, again, from the Farrell Sanders years to the return for ever years, this man is carrying the legacy of jazz on his back with Tony Williams and, you know what saying? And spearheading it. Yes. Alongside the other ones that we love. But the reality is, Stanley, to me, Jocko's first thing. album for me, it has an air of this. If you're putting it against those two, which are kind of like

they're two different eras of their creative process and who they are, school days for me versus weather reports teen town to me, oh my God, I'm Stanley all day. And there's a, the reason why is because everything from the personnel to how Stanley presented himself in this moment, there was no guessing what type of artist Stanley was. You know, like the part where Jocko ended his solo album and him playing piano, you were left to be like, what the hell? What is this?

What is this? And it's like it gave way to so many other things. But Stanley, Stanley was like, I think that life is just a game changed my life. Like, there's me before hearing life is just a game. There's me, my mom paying me $20 to learn Stanley. Clark solo. Really?

And then there's me realizing it's him singing what he's saying. And like the whole span of the album, him doing this concerto at the end of the album, Life is Just a Game, it just, it still haunts me to this day. That helicopter sound at the end of the song, it's like I can see myself. I almost like it's a straight line to my, my, I don't have, my memory is really blurry and fuzzy. You were totally making me recontextualized like every. Yeah.

Stanley is the man. He is the man. You end up how with weekend gold tickets to Lasso Montreal. Thomas Rhett. Mumford and Sons. Well, here's my pride and here's my shame. John Party, Old Dominion, Carly Pierce, and more. And the prize gets even sweeter.

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Why do I watch the World Cup? That's like asking me, why do I breed? I inherited that fandom from my mom. I like watching it with my dad. It's a connecting force. From Futuro Studios, I'm Fernanda Chavari, and this is American. A show about soccer culture in the U.S. and its underdog roots. We go beyond the game to the people and the stories that make it great. A soccer game is a festival. It's not just a game. It's your culture.

I took an elbow to my head, which cracked my skull. It is an American game. The Brazilians don't like hearing that, though. Are they the only ones that don't like that? Nobody likes that. As we get ready for the Men's World Cup this summer, listen to American. American Football as part of the My Coutura Podcast Network, available on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Hoda Kotby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby. Together, we're going to have meaningful conversations with the world's most fascinating people.

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Simplest explanation is usually the right one? We got you covered. Wondered what chaos theory is ever since the first time you saw Jurassic Park. Well, come on down. So distill a nice pot of tea, everybody, turn down the gas on your bunsen burner, and slip into your most comfortable lab coat, and listen to the stuff you should know doing science playlist on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed.

And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup,

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One of the coolest moments I ever saw, Prince was in concert, and I believe Stanley was in the audience. That had to be funny. He got on base and they did school days verbatim. I think I saw footage of this. Did you post that?

I might have, but he did it verbatim and that's the first time I said, oh, so Prince does know ventral quism because there's a thing where I'd ask him, like he would do a cover song

but then like not learn the lyrics. Yeah. And I think that was just an exercise for him to not be too derivative of someone's thing, but just let it inspire enough to get into it and then I do my own thing. But when he did it, note for note, I was like, oh, okay, so you can show me that you've

proven, okay, I got that. Wait, speaking of bass, the last time we played, you grabbed a four string. And I'd never, you know, I'm thinking, oh, any bass player can get on, any ax and bring the magic up. what is the muscle memory like when you don't have the two extra strings on the berserker to go to? Well, it... Because that's all you literally thinking. Yeah.

We're trying to go back to... Well, in a way, it's like, again, this is all... It's a matter of knowing the neck to a major degree. So there's a part of it where I'm just kind of like... I think, knowing the neck in this manner, it's just... It's almost... I literally, it's like, you don't ever not know those four strings. You know, so even knowing the different places that the octaves...

exist to where, you know, it's like, but it's always about, a lot of the time, those two other strings just offer a different type of facility that's a bit more stated than just a simple line, simple baseline. So a lot of the time, it's more so, like, it's pretty fun for me. Like, because I already know somebody's usually like, oh, yeah, here's a real challenge of four string. And it's like, oh, there's a real challenge of four string. You know, it's like, it's like, it's a part of me that's like, however, whatever, whatever works, buddy, you know what I mean? Like, because it's like going into the years of the records of me playing on four string. I don't even have to, you know, it's like I can...

Right. Is there a smaller bodied axe that can accommodate a six string or do you... I would never wish that on anybody. That would be like... But how's your upper strength? Because, like, I know now Bootsie Collins doesn't play his base for that very reason. He's just like, my back is killing me. And I never knew that you guys have to deal with.

I'm going to, I'm like, I'm going out on the... I'm dying on this hill. Let it disintegrate my back, bro. I'm ready. For me, I just knew, like, it doesn't matter. I'm going to do that. I will do that till my dying day. You know, like in the manner in which I saw,

you know, like when we watched Ozzy in this final performance where he's like, you're going to have to prime me from this. I don't care. It's like the reality is a lot of the time, it's about what it is to you. And it's like, it's like some Bruce Lee stuff. It's like it is what you say it is. I don't go around telling people I've been in pain the whole time.

My hands hurt. That's just what comes with it. And it only hurts when you stop. When you lose. a trusted collaborator. Yeah. How do you cope through that? Because I happen to see you like the night before that I knew DeAngel was going to, you know.

So I was like really in my feelings. And I know that you, you went on a record a lot talking about like Max Pass and how that affect your life and everything. And like, again, I so wanted to come up to you to be like, how do you cope with the shit? Because I didn't want to get. to a place where I like start. And I don't mean self-harming, like whatever. I mean, like me, I could binge eat or whatever, like anything that puts me in danger.

How did, like, how did you allow yourself to have that grief as far as like not affecting your creativity or did it affect your creativity? Yeah. Oh, man. Ooh. Yeah. Losing Mac was very complicated. Very complicated to navigate.

Thank God I had Flying Lotus there with me. in that moment because it's like he kept me moving forward until we both until we both till fail. It was like we were working on the, again, this was, it was very weirdly like, it became this dark pit of a hole in my life that was like, it was just like, it felt like, I've had a few moments with, you know, like from Austin to Meg to, you know,

Zane to my, I have a few friends that were like that crossed over in this manner. But this moment was so deafening. And it wasn't just because like it was, there was my Mac that was dying. And then it was the world's Mac that was dying. And I mean, and there's a part where I,

for a long time, if I had to compare it to something, it was like somebody threw a grenade next to me. And I couldn't see straight for years. I still, I'm still, you know, you go, it goes in waves. How hard was it to release this song into the world

and not hang on to it like yourself? The reason why this felt like such a right thing to do with this is because of what it did for me when I would hear it. I think that in so many places that the trauma could like rest, which it does, there's a part where when I heard this song, it's like the thing where we were talking about, Stanley Clark with Life is just a game. When I hear this song,

I can only see the good that we did. I can only see the person he really was. I would never cry hearing this. That song to me is the Mac that I knew. Speaking of she knows too much. Yeah, like that was like, I see that and the everything from his whimsical silliness and even the message of it and like knowing the things around and what this was for us

for us and like I'd see it and I would see the one time I would wear a suit. We always joked about the video. We would always be like, man, how are we going to shoot this video? And I was like, you know, we get some, get some ultra-Goliath glasses with like some tuxedos with the frilly shirts and you do the guitar and I got the base. And, you know, we just, you know, being like, you know, somewhere between David Ruffin and the temptation and just like, you know, it was really like this thing where we were like, Oh, man, this is like, this was like, this Mac, again, I've compared him to like a one-man rat pack.

You know what I mean? Like he was the embodiment of cool with this stuff. So even in those, in this moment for me, I only saw me and him in the suits with the glasses with the bass and the guitar. Just talking shit, you know what I mean? Well, I thank you and I apologize for this long overdue conversation. No, man. I'm a massive, massive, massive, massive fan of your work. So, Quest, I've been just.

My whole life I've been a fan of your work. Well, I thank you for that, man. And hopefully this will be the first of many conversations that we have. My man, my man, my man. Thundercat, thank you. This was The Questlove show, Thundercat, our guest. And we'll see you on the next go-round, all right? See you.

The Questlove show is hosted by me, Amir Questlove Thompson. The executive producers are Sean G, Brian Cowoon, and me. Produced by Brittany Benjamin and Jake Payne Produced for IHeart by Noel Brown edited by Alex Conroy IHart video support by Mark

Canton Logos, graphics and animation by Nick Paloi Additional support by Lance Coleman Special thanks to Kathy Worme Special thanks to Sugar Steve Mandel Please subscribe, rate, review, and share the Questlove show wherever you stream your podcast. Make sure you follow us on socials.

That's at QLS. Check out hundreds and hundreds of QLS episodes, including the Questlove Supreme shows in our podcast archives. Questlove shows a production of IHeart Radio. It's that time to put on your jersey and wave your flag, whoever you root for. I watch the Walk Up. That's like asking me, why do I breed? And it's beautiful.

The guys are young and cute and fit. It's not just a game. It's your culture. I like watching it with my dad. It's a connecting force. From Futuro Studios, I'm Fernanda Chavari, and this is American Football, a show about soccer culture in the U.S. and its underdog roots. Listen to American Football on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

Joy is essential and it's also elusive, but now there's a new and exciting way to start your journey toward a more joyful existence. Joy 101. It's a new podcast hosted by me, Hoda Kotby. If you're craving inspiration to maximize your joy, tune into these candid, uplifting, and moving on air chats. Listen to Joy 101 on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby is presented. by CVS. Hey, this is Chuck from Stuff You Should Know, and we're submitting our most sciencey episodes for your peer review with our new stuff you should know doing science playlist. Out now. You want to know about Occam's Razor?

Simplest explanation is usually the right one? We got you covered. Wondered what chaos theory is ever since the first time you saw Jurassic Park. Well, come on down. So distill a nice pot of tea, everybody. Turn down the gas on your Bunsen burner and slip into your most comfortable lab coat

and listen to the stuff you should know doing science playlist on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. He left Nigeria, he conquered Hollywood, and he never forgot where he came from. David Ayelho is one of the most powerful storytellers of his generation. On this episode of 154, we go deep. Nigeria, identity, navigating Hollywood at the highest level, and the responsibility that comes with using your platform to change the world. This is 154.

New episode streaming now. Don't miss it. Listen to this episode of 154, available now, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or whatever you get your podcast. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life?

That is not the look of an innocent man. Is everyone lying to me about who they are? I felt such desperate. I felt it was what I had to do. Listen to deep cover the family man on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.