WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 1434 - Ice Cube

Episode Date: May 11, 2023

Ice Cube never stopped thinking about making music, from the moment he started writing raps in typewriting class to sitting in his recording studio today making a new album. But he never expected his life to take a parallel track when John Singleton sought him out for Boyz N The Hood. Cube and Marc talk about how his two successful careers took shape and how he’s now branching out into a third with his sports league Big3. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekly bonus material! https://plus.acast.com/s/wtf-with-marc-maron-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Lock the gates! all right let's do this how are you what the fuckers what the fuck buddies what the fuck nicks what the fucksters how's it happening how is it happening tell me how it's happening i think i meant to say how's it going i said how's it happening my manager me how it's happening. I think I meant to say, how's it going? I said, how's it happening? My manager, who's from Australia, says, how are you going? How are you going? I guess that's fine. It's odd.

Every time I hear it, it strikes me as unusual. Hey, how are you going? I don't know what that means. I'm going down like everyone else, no? I'm going crazy. I don going, I don't know. What are you, how are you going? I'm going, I guess I'm going to go straight up the one-on-one and get off at Coanga. What do you, how about you? How are you going? Where are we going exactly? Just to the end? How are you going to the end? So look, Ice Cube is on the show today. This was supposed to happen a long

time ago. It was supposed to happen back in 2017, and he had to cancel. But now it's happening. I'd like to think O'Shea Jr. had something to do with it, but when I brought it up to Cube, it didn't seem like he talked to his kid at all about it. It just was time. I, I'm not sure why, but I remember back in the original booking, I was sort of like, man, that guy's just intense. I, you know, all I know is that's, you know, like I know the music, some of it, I know some of the acting, but that scowll, that seems to have been there. It's just a cultural constant for what, 30 years now or whatever. And I remember being nervous saying like, how am I going to approach that guy? Is that guy can even have a conversation? Is he going to

just stand me down? What is going to happen with Ice Cube? I remember being nervous about it then. going to happen with Ice Cube. I remember being nervous about it then. But you know him. He's a brilliant artist. He's known for being in the legendary rap group NWA. He's got decades of solo records, performances in movies like Boys in the Hood, Friday, Three Kings, Genius, Barbershop, 21 Jump Street. He's also the co-founder of this kind of, I'm not even a sports guy, but I like the idea of this, this three-on-three basketball league, big three, which is what he's on the show for. But we did the talk, we did the thing. And I don't know, I kept trying to think, is there a way for me to kind of, you know, nicely kind of like, so, you know, the Jew thing, you know? Yeah, I'm Jew, I'm Jew, the Jew thing you know yeah i'm jew i'm jew uh the jew

thing where yeah but i i just didn't i didn't want to ruin the vibe i you know i just i was so thrilled that we were having a conversation he seemed to loosen up and uh kind of like have moments where he was remembering things i'm like you're gonna fuck this up to what? To service what? And I went with no, I'm not going to do that. I'm going to enjoy the company of one of the 20th century's major artists, Ice Cube. And that is what happened. So if you're going to get all righteous and get all weird and sit there wondering whether or not I took him to task for his past comments about the Jews. As a Jew, I did not. And as a Jew, I sat here and talked to him and had a nice conversation. So it's not that bad. But then again, I didn't open the conversation with, yeah, I'm a Jew. But I am kind of thrilled with

how the conversation went. So that's that. So here's what's happening in the house. I decided in my intense sort of weird aggravation that I don't do anything that brings me joy in a consistent way. I don't know what those things are. You know, like, what can I do that would make me happy? I decided, well, why don't you paint some of the house? Because, you know, it's pretty dinged up and it's getting to that point where I get so anxiety

ridden about my house sort of collapsing in different ways, not collapsing, collapsing, but just there being problems here and there with paint, things breaking down, things wear down, things need work. That's just the nature of being a homeowner. The last time I had, I got so stressed out by it all and doing all this stuff piecemeal, maybe not even doing quality work or having quality work done. I just sold the fucking thing. It was full of ghosts and weirdness anyways, just from the life I lived there. You know, a lot of joy, a lot of darkness, a lot of pain in that house. So this house, like these are normal things. Hey man, you need a little touch up. You need some painting done, These are normal things.

Hey, man, you need a little touch up. You need some painting done. Have the painter come over. But Jesus, man, I tell you, and the house needs to be painted. It's just been pummeled over the last however many years. It's all faded out and the rain kind of didn't number. I need the house painted. So I got an estimate on the house and on the interior stuff I wanted to get done.

I didn't want to move everything. I got three cats. I have three fucking cats. You guys know this. It's my whole life revolves around these fucking cats. I anthrop three cats. I have three fucking cats. You guys know this. It's my whole life revolves around these fucking cats. I, I anthropomorphize, I project, I I'm constantly concerned about cats. You know, what are we going to do with cats back in the day? I didn't know if I could move out of my old house because I didn't know where Boomer would go. Cause he was an outdoor cat, but I, something happened to Boomer. He disappeared. So maybe it was a sign. It was a sad sign.

But anyway, so I had the guys come over and they got to paint the house. 7 a.m. I didn't know it was going to happen so quick. I thought I had a month or two before this all started. 7 a.m. I've got to get two cats in one room, one cat in the other room, because that's just the way it plays out. It's easier.

You know, Charlie, Charlie Beans Roscoe has his own room. The other two fat Sam and a buster. They, you know, they, they got, I mean, I mean, to make comments, not that fat, it's a little pudgy, but you know, they go in my room. So I got to lock them in. Then I got to do all the, the different feeding. Everyone's got to get their different food, their medical food, the separate three separate foods. And then the guys come and they're, you know, the cats are freaked out, but they're locked up and they're in the house sanding and, you know, painting. And I, and I don't, I didn't even get a decorator involved. I didn't want to take any chances with color. So I'm just getting the same color. So three days of that, you know, just, you know, painting, you know, just doing a big

chunk of the inside downstairs, mostly the hallway, the kitchen, the molding. So I spend all this time, you know, trying to, you know, keep the cats uninvolved and so they could open the door and have free lean. It was a mess and it was making me crazy. It got me very depressed. It got me very anxious. And it was all because my baseline, you know, my, you know, the stuff, the routine that keeps me sane in my house was totally disrupted. And I knew it would be over. I, I even, I don't think I always conceive of that. Sometimes I'm like, you know, this is, it's going to be done. You know, I never think like that because of my anxiety. It's like, oh my God, it's going to be terrible, but it's going to be done three days. The guy said three days. I'm like, all right, I'll deal. I'll deal. I'll deal. So I took all this care of keeping those cats separated from the action.

And they were fine in the rooms. So they finished all the painting and I'm like, great, man, it all worked out. And I said, how long is it going to take the paint to dry? And they're like, about an hour and a half, it should be dry enough. And I'm like, great. So I waited two hours and then I fucking just let the cats out. And, you know, I go out and do a thing. I come back and I see that, that Charlie, I picked Charlie up and he's got paint all over his fucking paws. And I'm like, what the fuck is happening? And then I walk up the stairs halfway on the landing and there's a little fucking cat footprints everywhere in paint.

And I'm like, how the fuck did this happen? He found the one goddamn place in the entire goddamn house where there was a pooled up bit of wet paint on some, uh, wainscoting I think is what is what it is. Basically. It was just a little pool of white paint in the entire house.

This fucking monster finds the one spot where there's a little bit of paint, sticks his fucking paws in it, and then tracks it all over the goddamn wood floor. Livid. Now I'm worried, like, I got to get out of this pause. What if he eats paint? Is it going to come off the floor? And it was just like everything. Now, look, I'm telling you, this is not, it's not a death.

It's not, you know, a huge panic. You know, I didn't lose all my money, but Jesus Christ, I was like, after everything I did to manage this situation, to have some control, this little fuck, you know, just dips his hand in the paint for no reason, but to track it around. Charlie Beans Roscoe is the ultimate fuck kitten. He's the ultimate fucking kitten because he just, he's so kitteny. He does all the good shit and all the bad shit in equal measure. Just track that fucking paint all over the goddamn wood floor. So I just grabbed him and I got a wet paper. I got a wet

towel and I got dug into his paw, his paws. I got all the fucking paint out that I got the paint off the floor. And then I put that little fucker in his room just for a fucking timeout. And it was over. It was over. Like he's even going to register the punishment. What day is today? Thursday?

Tomorrow night I'm at Largo with the band. All right? And on, where else? I'm going to be at Dynasty Typewriter on May 16th. You can go to WTFpod.com slash tour for the ticket link. Listen, here we go. All right? Ice Cube is here

to, well, he's here to talk about Ice Cube stuff because that's what I do, but the new season of his basketball league, Big 3, tips off next month. Go to Big3, the number three, dot com for schedules and tickets. And we get into it. And I feel like it was pleasant. I feel like he kind of let his guard down and he wasn't scowling at me the whole time, which I thought was his natural position of his face. This is me talking Ice Cube. Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly, host of Under the Influence. Recently, we created an episode on cannabis marketing. With cannabis legalization, it's a brand new challenging marketing category.

And I want to let you know we've produced a special bonus podcast episode where I talk to an actual cannabis producer. I wanted to know how a producer becomes licensed, how a cannabis company competes with big corporations, how a cannabis company markets its products in such a highly regulated category, and what the term dignified consumption actually means. I think you'll find the answers interesting and surprising. Hear it now on Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly. This bonus episode is brought to you by the Ontario Cannabis Store and ACAS Creative. Are you self-employed? Don't think you need business insurance? and ACAS Creative. you. That's why you need insurance. Don't let the, I'm too small for this mindset, hold you back from protecting yourself. Zensurance provides customized business insurance policies starting at just $19

per month. Visit Zensurance today to get a free quote. Zensurance, mind your business. You can help, you know, modulate your voice better. Yeah, I mean, you know, I'm definitely familiar with that on this mic, so. Yeah. I'm going to sound good and shit. You don't want to sound. It does sound good. You know what's weird?

I was just, I don't know, you know, like I didn't know how to get into, you know, where we're going to talk about. There's a lot to talk about, but I have a copy. I'm a vinyl guy, like every other middle-aged asshole. So I have the first record. I have your first record. Yeah, which first record? My NWA or solo?

Your solo. America's Most Wanted. Yeah, and I put it on, and it's clean as fuck, and I think it's original. It's not a reissue. The production is so good. My God. You know, we had the Bomb Squad do the production,

and they've done a lot of hits, but they've done public, and all their early hits was from the Bomb Squad. But it holds up. It's crazy. It's so clean. It's so balanced. And to hear it on vinyl, I think it makes a difference. It does.

Yeah. Vinyl is a lot warmer. Yeah. You know, you can feel, you know, I heard DJ Quick talk about tape over digital. Yeah. over digital. Yeah. And he said the tape not only captures what's, you know,

being recorded, but it also captures the vibe in the room. Right. And you can't, digital doesn't capture that. Right. But the room vibe actually makes it onto the tape. Yeah, well, you know, you can definitely hear that in the music, but you can also hear it when you're talking. You can hear it. I don't know.

How many did you do on vinyl? Did you release them all on records? I think eventually they all came out on records, but when CDs came in and singles and all that crazy stuff, vinyl started to die you know i think once they made the the cd player where you can scratch on it and do all the stuff you could on vinyl then it was over it was the beginning of the end or the end of the end or something like that it was just the transition yeah from from something that was just common to now it's vintage right and also i mean it was just more convenient to cd

you know records take up a lot of space man yeah yeah but you know um so does your clothes in your house you know it's personal you know i'm saying like who gives a damn that's right like i remember record collections being as big as people's book libraries yeah i mean yeah and people loved them and they cherished it and yes i remember um hearing the story of a lady who had the you know cops was on her shit she had to up up and leave. Right. And left everything. Yeah. And she cried the most about her vinyl collection.

Oh. Not her pictures of her mom. Not, you know, just the vinyl collection. Yeah. That's all she bitched about. Did she get it back?

No. Oh. She didn't get nothing back. You know, it's probably still down with the government. This happened in the 80s. Oh, yeah.

Did you grow up with records? Yeah. Yeah? Your folks had records? Yeah. And my brothers and sisters, you know, they're a little older than me, like 8, 9, 10 years older than me. Oh, so they had the old records.

So they had everything. Yeah. Where'd you grow up with it? The Dirty Records. Yeah. Got it from them. Red Fox? You know, Red Fox, it was a rapper named Blowfly back then.

Yeah. You know, he had a song called Rap Dirty. Yeah. You know what I mean? And it was like, it blew my mind as a kid. Yeah, you weren't supposed to be listening to it. Not supposed to be listening to that. You know, Richard Pryor records.

Oh, yeah. I've got a bunch of old Red Fox records because, you know, I'm a comic, so I collect the comics. And there's a later Red Fox Records, I think it's just called You Gotta Wash Your Ass. Yeah, You Gotta Wash Your Ass. You know, it's like,

I used to love to see those old, you know, what they call blue records. The party records. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, see, I was too young to party, so they was just dirty. Right, but they were those old ones with Red Fox and like the little head and they were all like two colors and there's a series of them red fox got a great line it's like he said i smoke i drink i do everything you know where he said the worst thing to do is to die

of nothing it's like here's a man who died of nothing. Yeah. Oh, man. He was so fucking funny. Yeah. I mean, like, I never saw him, like, do live comedy. You know, there's a, you know that great story about him coming out on the stage in Vegas? It's a comedian story. No, no, I've never heard of it. Well, it's a Red Fox show, and for some reason there's, like, nine people in the audience.

There's nobody there. It's in Vegas, right? Yeah, yeah. So the announcer so the announcer goes ladies and gentlemen red fox and they play the sanford thing like that they did it but but but and he comes walking out and he goes nine people i ain't working for nine fucking people and he walks off and they hit the theme again goes off damn ain't that something it's funny i i know nine people is pretty much, it's like, man, just come to my dressing room, have a couple of drinks, you know. Let's kick it. We can talk shit.

But I like there's a moment where the band has to make a decision. I guess we better play them off anyways. Exactly. You know what I mean? I mean, we getting paid, so. Yeah, exactly. How much do you think about music now? All the time.

I'm working on an album right now called Man Down. Yeah? What's the angle? Man, men are getting it. Yeah. You know how they're saying, you know, we got a man down here, you know what I mean? Yeah. Yo.

So, yeah, that's the thing. How does it feel? It feels great. You know what I mean? It feels, you know, it got a lot of soul in it so it's great do you feel like you know because i like listening to i listened to the last record and i listened to the first record just now what do you think has changed with you i mean where what are you mostly thinking about is the themes changed has anything gotten better or different

in how you're approaching things or what you're worried about i mean i hope i've gotten better or different in how you're approaching things or what you're worried about i mean i hope i've gotten better you know what i mean but but uh you know things they just you know it's in a blender you know what i mean so you know you can you can blend things perfectly or you can blend it too much and you know i'm saying make yeah trash so sure everything is constantly moving but you know there's always something to rap about you know well yeah like what do you like what do you because i mean all the records are really political on some level right yeah and you know in the last record i guess what was that 2017 2018 yeah you know, in the last record, I guess, what was that, 2017, 2018? Yeah. You know, you took rightful, you know, justified hits at, you know, the awful president, fascism, race. But do you feel that anything is shifting?

Is there anything more concerning to you? Like, are you optimistic about anything? Of course. You know, I'm optimistic, you know, that good will prevail over evil. Yeah. You evil. I'm very optimistic of that. But there's a process to that. We're still just fighting the good fight. it's unique to be in a position of, you know, privilege in a lot of ways because of my music career and acting career. But, you know, still speaking for people that I know, people I love that still are suffering, you know, under the weight of this crazy, unfair, you know, system.

Institutionalized system. Yeah. Institutionalized racism. Without a doubt. Yeah. You know, it's institutionalized richism. You know what I'm saying? It's kind of more than racism.

Sure. It's a big issue that we all know is there. And, you know, what are we going to do about it? That's the question. the gap what we gonna do about it that's the question what are we gonna do about it um i don't know you know it's like yeah i guess you know it's really about getting people information that they don't have and yeah and letting them you know what keeps you optimistic how like um like i just talked you know titus burgess he's a you know musical guy singer i just talked to him we talked about faith for an hour i don't know how it happened but we did um i mean you know the sun coming up makes me optimistic you know i mean looking at a

blue pretty sky sure yeah yeah you know the, the things that were here before our craziness makes me optimistic. You know, that they'll be here after our craziness, and hopefully I'll be around, too. You know? Yeah. I talked to your son. Oh, yeah. O'Shea Jr. I did.

Yeah, yeah. We got some laughs. Yeah, I mean, he's a funny dude. He is funny. He's very funny. Yeah. Very energetic and entertaining. Yeah.

You proud of him? Oh, hell yeah. Yeah. You know, I mean, a father couldn't ask for a better son. You know, somebody who's just a good guy. He is a good guy. At the end of the day, that's all we want to raise is good people. Well, you did it.

Well, you know, I give credit to my wife, Kim. Yeah. You know, she was there a lot more than me. You know, she was more consistently, you know, making sure that, you know, we have good kids. Yeah, and what about your folks? My folks are great. You know, we have good kids. Yeah. And what about your folks? My folks are great. You know, they're still around.

Thank God. Does everybody live close by? My pops is still living in the house I grew up in. You know, so he don't go nowhere. My mom's is in Long Beach. You know, she went out there. I think she went out there to get closer to my sister. But they're all in the L.A. area.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, you could throw a rock in. Hit their house. So your dad's still in the house you grew up in. That's his choice. I imagine he has another choice at this point. Yes, he does. But he's like, I bought this house with my own money.

You know what I mean? Like, you know, what can you say yeah you know and also it's like the neighborhood right like he knows everybody yes right everybody knows him right i mean he's the king over there yeah so it's like why leave why why leave your kingdom you know to yeah to to be a stranger in somebody else's neighborhood yeah because i was talking to oshay jr about uh you know when he was a kid and watching you work and there's a a moment where you know you shift from offstage you to onstage you yeah and it's very specific right you drop into onstage you well yeah i think we all got our

the part of us that our kids don't see and then the part of us that you know we become dad and mom sure yeah yeah so so i i definitely think it's that times 10 right you see what i mean yeah yeah yeah so was when you started out uh rapping was there was there a sense that you were you know that on stage you was you're obviously serious and you meant business but was there a sense that there was it was a character well i don't see what i do as a character sure i see it as me you know talking about what i've seen yeah what i've done yeah what i've heard about right and putting it in a way that people can relate to it right i'm saying yeah and and also um taking on the fury that i know that's there the the the anger that's there yeah the humor

that's there yeah you know i mean the all the things that I know is bottled up within our community, I put it in music. It comes through you. Yeah. Yeah, and I guess it's a strange thing, the onstage persona, offstage persona, but there's a way we deliver the shit, you know what I mean? Yeah. I mean, I think we all bring our upbringing yeah yeah and um i think that's the reason why we're in the position that we're in it's it's uh

you know authenticity yeah to it yeah and and uh people know we know what the hell we're talking about but also there's a sense like you know i guess what i'm we're talking about. But also there was a sense like, you know, I guess what I'm getting at, because I mean everyone, most people have seen the movie of, you know, Straight Outta Compton and they know the story, but like there was this, a point, you know,

where I guess the reason I bring up character is not like I wasn't trying to be condescending or anything, but I mean you shifted into acting pretty easily. You know, like it seemed like it was in you. Well, I was discovered by John Singleton. That guy's the best, right? Yeah, I was discovered by him. But everybody knew you already, right?

Everybody knew me as a rapper. Well, I don't know if everybody knew me, but I was a part of NWA. Eazy-E was like the most famous guy. But you were still in NWA when Singleton found you? Yeah, I was just leaving the group. Okay. I was just leaving the group. Oh, so you didn't have the solo career yet.

I was actually still part of NWA when I met him. By the time we did the movie, I had went solo. Yeah. And I had met him two years before doing the movie. Uh-huh. And he just kind of popped up every now and then saying, I got this perfect movie for you. And I'm like, I'm not an actor. So I didn't really understand it.

You know, it's kind of like somebody walks up to you and be like, I got the perfect race car for you to drive. And you're like, okay, dude. You know what I mean? I don't do that. You didn't think about it at all. Not one bit. And I never thought he was going to be able to do a movie because he was still a junior at USC. Oh, is that when he started coming?

He started coming at me as a junior. I met him as an intern working on the Arsenio Hall show. Really? Yeah. I was backstage because I wanted to give Arsenio a piece of my mind. About what? He had the two live crew on, but he wouldn't have NWA on.

But he never knew this, you know, because I never got a chance to talk to him because he was from his dressing room. He went right on stage. You can do it now. He's around. It's cool now, you know, because I never got a chance to talk to him because he was from his dressing room. He went right on stage. You can do it now. He's around. It's cool now, you know. But John Singleton was there talking my ear off.

You know, he's. The intern. Yes. He's like, yo, you're Ice Cube from NWA, right? Yeah, yeah. I'm like, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So I got the perfect movie for you.

I'm like, watch out, man. You know, movie? What are you talking about? I'm trying to be the best rapper in the world. I'm here to yell at Arsenio. Yeah, I mean, you know, I'm here to be the best rapper in the world, tell Arsenio he need to have NWA on. How'd you get backstage?

How'd they let you in? I forgot who gave me some love. I got some love from somebody I knew up there at Paramount. And he just gave me love and got me backstage. Oh, it didn't happen, though. Did Arsenio know you were there? I'm glad I didn't see Arsenio. Yeah.

Because then I wouldn't have talked to John Singleton for so long. Right. And I probably wouldn't be sitting right here probably. Wow. He planted the seed anyway. He had the time to get your mind on it. Well, he had the time to make an impression. Yeah.

So the second time I seen him, I didn't forget him. Right. Where'd you see him the second time? Second time, we was at the Bonaventure Hotel and I'm walking through and he runs up and he's like yo remember me I'm like no and he's like Arsenio

backstage I got the perfect movie for you I'm a senior now and I'm like okay and didn't see him again for another, maybe another, after I broke up with the group I saw him because Public Enemy played Hollywood Palladium. Palladium? Yeah, Hollywood Palladium.

Yeah. And so he's at the show and he comes up and he's talking my ear off in the parking lot he's always talking your ear off

talking my ear off in the parking lot about the movie he's like telling me the whole movie yeah and I'm halfway listening

yeah you know and everybody leaves like it's just us two left he's still talking still talking and and his his ride leaves him yeah And everybody leaves. Like, it's just us two left. He's still talking?

Still talking. And his ride leaves him. Yeah. And he's like, can you give me a ride home to my dorm? Like, you little. Yeah. Yeah, I can't leave him out here. He's a little cool dude. It's 2 in the morning.

You know, I don't want him to get killed out here or something. I said, all right, man. I drive him home, and he's, you know. I don't see him again. For another at least nine months. Yeah. And then my manager says, drops a script in front of me. Somebody want to put you in a movie.

Yeah. Who? What? Well, throw the sides in my back pocket. Yeah. Don't read the script. Throw that in my back seat. So you're just going in to read the sides?

I'm going to read the sides. And he should give me the script on Monday. Yeah. I'll read on Thursday or something. Yeah. First time? First time ever doing something like this. Yeah.

So I go solo. Yeah. You know what I mean? I go in there, and it's his little ass sitting there like, told you? And I'm like, whoa, you, oh, this is real. Yeah. So I'm terrible. Like, my read is terrible.

Yeah. And he's like, man, you didn't read my script, did you? I'm like, no, I don't know what the hell I'm talking about. He said, I'm going to give you one more shot. Yeah. Go read my script and come back tomorrow. Yeah. I hope you better because if you're this bad tomorrow, you're done.

I got to find a real actor. Yeah. Oh, wow. After all those years of him being so sure, the pressure was on. Well, he saw a vision. You know, that's the classic tale of somebody seeing something in you that you might not even see in yourself. Sure, yeah. And I thank God for John Singleton

that he was that persistent. And he helped me through the movie. You know, he kind of helped me become good in the movie. So you went home and you read it? I read it. I was blown away. Oh, yeah. Because I was like, damn, this is my neighborhood.

Like, this is how we grew up. So you knew it. What the hell? Yeah. I was like, I could play any of these characters. hell yeah i was like i could play on any of these characters you know i mean i could play any any of these guys i know them like i grew up with them yeah and i'm like is this movie worthy like it's how we grew up that's people want to make movies about that i was i was blown away that yeah that was the subject matter i saw the title

boys in the hood but i i thought you, I don't know what I thought. Well, I mean, there hadn't been a movie like that. What the hell are you going to think? Yeah. Really? Yeah, not about South Central Los Angeles in that detail. The life. Yeah.

In an honest way. Growing up. Yeah. In all three different aspects, you know. Yeah. And you have those three different guys in the neighborhood. In every neighborhood, you have, you know, those three characters. You know, you got a sports guy, you got the banger, and you got the guy that just want to live.

Right. Don't want to do none of that. Yeah. Well, yeah, I mean, it was a masterpiece, that movie. I think he's kind of a genius, you know. It's so sad that he died so young it is you know that is sad you know i thought like i watch baby boy like once a year probably yeah it's incredible he uh he deep dives you know yeah deep dive there's stuff in that movie

in both the boys in the hood but in baby boy, that's just sort of like, fuck. It's crazy how honest it is. There's some honest emotional shit in that movie. Yeah, and that's what it's all about. Yeah. So what did you learn from him? That gave you confidence? Yeah, it definitely gave me confidence that follow your vision. follow your vision.

No matter how new you are to an industry, follow your vision. So it gave you a whole new part of your vision, though, right? You weren't anticipating any of that. No. We shot videos, and we made videos cool as we could and as movie-like as we could, and our music was cinematic you know we had special effects and all kind of yeah yeah you know sonic things going on so we were kind of prepping for it we

all had camcorders and we was right now filming different different stuff sure in our lives. We were making up skits. So it was kind of like, I don't know. What was the trip when I was in middle school? You know what I'm saying? I went to Hughes and then Hughes closed down and then Parkman. Yeah. But they put me in like a, a film,

like watch movies and critique them kind of class. And I'm like, what the hell? You know, I'm watching movies like Citizen Kane. Yeah. Great expectations. And,

you know, I'm watching these old movies. Wow. And I have to first not'm watching these old movies. Wow. And I have to first not fall asleep and pay attention. Yeah. And then I have to write down, like, what they're about and, you know, why is this movie great? Yeah. And it's kind of like, you know, between that and a typing class that I got where I learned how to rap in that class.

I mean, I started rapping in my typing class. Really? These two eyeball ass classes helped me later on in life when I started to actually write movies. I needed that typing class. And I needed to know what was a, you know a bullshit movie compared to what was a great movie with that little class. So sometimes God knows what you're going to do before you do it. So if you find yourself somewhere and you don't understand why, just fucking pay attention. You might learn something that you need later on in life.

Why did you start rapping in typing class? I was bored. I was fast, so I was good. You could do it? So I could finish fast. Yeah. And me and, it's a trip, me and this other guy, dude named Kitto. Yeah.

He was like, I think he was a little dope dilly. You know? he was like, I think he was a little dope dilly. You know, in junior high, he would come with Corvettes and, you know. Yeah, yeah. He would have all this stuff, right? So we find ourselves in this same class with all these, you know, people, I guess, that wanted to be secretaries or whatever, you know. Yeah, so I took it too. You know, I mean, it was one of those things or whatever. Yeah, so I took it too. It was one of those things you sort of had to take for whatever. It was an elective.

A skill. And I never met my counselor to get my electives, so they just gave you what was left over. Right. And so these were the classes left over. So I guess me and him were in the same boat because we never met our counselor. Anyway, we find ourselves in this class and we both good at it like we both can type you know i'm saying and uh we finish early and one day he look at me and he say hey you ever write a rap before and i'm like uh no. I like rap. I've heard rap, but this is 1983. Yeah.

And he says, you write one, I write one. And we figure out which one's the best. Yeah. So I start writing. I'm thinking of trying to rhyme in my head. Are you typing it? No, I wrote it. Okay.

I wrote it by hand. Yeah. And after class, we go in the hallway, and he spit his rap. And his was, he had bit all these different raps that I've heard before. I've heard that line on two or three records. You're stealing people's raps. And mine was original. It wasn't great, but it was original. You remember it? I remember my first line. My name is Ice Cube and I want you to know I'm not run DMC or Curtis Blow. That was my first introduction. Yeah. Yeah. So I just never stopped writing after that day. He stopped. He knew he was whack yeah but i i kept going

he liked bugging people wanting people to hear my raps nobody wanted to hear him yeah and um yeah you know it was from them two classes and i ended up you know years later needing all that defines your life yes well you know typing like that like odd as it seems, it's like one of the most, if you can do it fast, it's one of the most important skills in this world now. Because everybody has to type. It was like almost like prophetic. Back then you're thinking, what am I going to work in an office? Now everybody has to type. It was a manual typewriter.

Yeah, of course. So you had to, I mean, my fingers cramped up for the first two weeks of class because you had to hit those things so damn hard. But, yeah, you know, now I learned a skill. Who knew the computer would be so big in our life? Yeah. And type, you know, I type out all my scripts. You know, scripts that I've wrote, I've actually wrote them. Yeah.

I didn't. Are you fast? You know, I'm not as fast as I used to be. Yeah. But you know, I didn't dictate anything. Right. It's just handwritten. So... Or typed. Right. So that

first rap, though, you just, like, it was almost like addictive? Yes. Because you could see it on the paper and you could see it on phone. It was creative. Right. Yeah. And immediate.

Yes. And it was cool. Nobody really did it back then. Really? It wasn't a thing? It wasn't a thing. You know, it was like, you know, it was like playing guitar or something. Sure.

Like, only the cool kids did it. Right. You know what I'm saying? So now you got a magic skill. Yes. And we had, like, we would have these rap battles on the quad. And those were the first ones. They didn't exist before that.

No. Yeah. No, I mean, not. They became a thing. Yeah. I mean, you saw the New York battles, the old school VHS tapes of BZB versus, you know, Kumo D, whatever. But as far as rap battles, battles you know we were setting them up

we was going up to other high schools battling people hopping the fence yeah i mean like sneaking in and like you know battling on the quad and then running out for you got you know throwing out expelled yeah arrested or whatever so it was. Do you remember when it got heavy? What you mean by heavy? I mean when the subject matter shifted. Because it sounds like it was just fun. I mean, it shifted when it, you know, the message from Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Like that song, for me, that's when it switched.

It was like, oh, damn, you can actually talk about things that's real. Yeah. You know, who rocks the party, rock the party, DJ. You know, it's all that at first. But then it's like broken glass everywhere. People pissing on the stage, you know, they just don't care. You know, it's like, oh, damn, this is real. So.

And you already had the skills to rhyme, so you could just put it in, load it up. What it is is like a few different things kind of hit the, you know, hard times by Run DMC. Yeah. It was another record. Yeah. Ice-T was 6 in the morning. Yeah. So I'm like, oh, you can not only talk about what's going on in New York, but damn, we can talk about what's going on in L.A. too.

Yeah. So we started to do mixtapes where we would talk about the neighborhood. And they was just selling like hotcakes. Right. Yeah, yeah. So it was like, this is our style. Yeah. To talk about the neighborhood.

Yeah. Not try to be, you know, Rakim or try to be Karis One or somebody. Yeah. But just do what we do. Right. And we may not never get famous. See, we never thought we were going to be big. Yeah.

From doing this hardcore music yeah we thought it was gonna be where the red fox records were right eddie murphy in the blue section yeah and that was gonna be our your life but but it was cool because it was real we was we was happy to be neighborhood stars. You know, as long as we were stars in the neighborhood, the world wasn't bigger than 20 mile radius anyway. Right. So it's like your dad,

like, you know, he's still staying there. Yeah. He's still there because he's the king of the neighborhood. So, you know, we was,

we was happy with that. Yeah. And then something else happened. You know, it was an explosion. And we just, we rode a wave that I'm still riding. It's interesting the way you talk about the shift, you know, of subject matter and what inspired you. Because that's what Singleton did. Yes.

You know, and you didn't anticipate you'd anticipate it until you read the script and it's like, it's like exactly the same thing. It's like, I didn't know you're going to make a movie about this.

Exactly. And you've been talking about it for years in the music. In the music, but it was underground. Yeah. You know,

it was hardcore. Right. It was still taboo. Right. And yeah, John, to take it and make a movie,

you know, I think, do the right thing. Yeah. And yeah, John, to take it and make a movie, you know, I think Do the Right Thing and Cooley High and those movies had a profound effect on John. And he wanted to tell the L.A. story and tell it right. We had colors, but it was. Was that Dennis Hopper? Yeah. Oh, yeah. It was okay for the time, but it was still the cop's point of view.

Yeah. It was like the police point of view. It wasn't really the neighborhood point of view. Yeah. It would be the opposite point of view in a way. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. It was not necessarily a sympathetic movie within the community, I imagine.

No, no. You know, but, you know, I mean, at the time, Hollywood, we understood what it was all about. Yeah. We understood that it just needed new storytellers. I feel like that's changing you. Yeah. You know, it has ebbs and flows,

you know, it depends, you know, what, what, what sucks is if, if I got a movie coming out, it's pretty much a black movie and maybe Tyler Perry and,

or, or, or, or, you know, uh, you know, a few other,

Will Packer or somebody got a, you know, if few other, Will Packer or somebody. You know, if their movie doesn't do great, then the marketing team on my movie will start getting nervous. They panic. It's like, what the hell? Yeah. His movie is about, you know. He's wearing nine different outfits.

Yeah, yeah. And my movie is totally different subject matter. Yeah. And so, but, you know, it's wearing nine different outfits. Yeah. And my movie is totally different subject matter. Yeah. And so but, you know, it's still now the opposite happens, too. Yeah. If if, you know, the movie does great. Yeah. Then they're going to.

Oh, we're going to we're going to be. We're fine. Oh, this is great. Yeah. But but it's specific because no matter what the movie is, they associate it with a black movie. Black movie. Right. And black people, you know, y'all go see the same movies.

So if they didn't like this one, they might not like yours. And that's just, it's like utterly ridiculous. But it's still, you know, the funk that comes off of Hollywood. you know, the funk that comes off of Hollywood. But you've done, you know, you've found your zone, you know, in terms of making successful franchises and movies. What made you have the confidence to sort of write a script? Did you just look at, like, one of John's scripts?

How did you figure it out? Because it happened pretty quick, right? Yeah, I mean, it was working with John. Yeah. He gave me the confidence and he helped me yeah and i did look at boys in the hood and i was looking at it and i was like is that you know i'm looking at the structure sure i'm like okay this structure keeps repeating in terms of like that you know the you know oh just how it breaks down, how it lays out. It's action.

Interior. Exterior. It's action. Where are you? Sure. And it's character, dialogue, action, dialogue, action. Cut. Next scene.

Where are you yeah you know yeah so you just start to say okay this is the structure yeah now you know i need to see the movie and so one day i was sitting in john singleton's house and um he he asked me when was I going to write a movie. Yeah. Now, I hadn't did, like, we hadn't shot one day of Boys in the Hood yet. Oh, really? Yeah. So this is leading up to you got the role and you're hanging out.

Hanging out. Yeah. And he's showing me movies. We're watching all kind of Scorsese movies. Oh, really? That kind of stuff. Yeah. Oh, he was a movie. He showed me Clockwork Orange.

How'd that land? And Stanley Kubrick. How'd that go for you? It was dope. Yeah. Yeah, because I'm into, you know, if you can capture my mind when I'm in the movie, then I love it. And also the language of Clockwork Orange is a trip. But it's, I mean, it's dope. I mean, Stanley Kubrick is just dope.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's one of the best. So it's almost like you're back in that film class. So you already knew that you got to look at film a certain way, and now this guy's showing you. Yeah, I had seen the Adam Bomb movie that Stanley Kubrick did. Strange Love. Dr. Strange Love.

That's a good movie. It's a great movie. And so, yeah, I knew about great movies and good movies and bad movies and why. And so, yeah, he just helped me through it. And then he asked me that, and I'm like, what do you mean, when am I going to write a script? He said, if you can write records the way you write records, that vivid, you can write a script. So I went that day. Me and my wife, Kim, she's my girlfriend now.

We went to the Mac store on Santa Monica. Yeah. I bought a computer that day. That day? I bought Final Draft and I bought all this stuff he told me to get. Yeah. And I started writing that night. That night?

That night on a script called America Eats It Young. Yeah. Which is the title from a Funkadelic album. Yeah. And he helped me kind of get through it. What happened to that script? I mean, it was terrible. It was a terrible script.

I wasn't that good, but I completed it. Yeah. Then I wrote a second script that he helped me with called For Life, which was about a guy going to prison. Heavy. Yeah, it was heavy. So the third one I wrote was Friday. It was comedy. And I wrote that with, I had got my chops.

I had got pretty good at writing the script. So me and DJ Pooh wrote that. That blew up, right? Yeah, yeah. That was my first one I got actually made. That's exciting. So, like, when you first sit with him before you even do Boys in the Hood, you're in between NWA and your solo career too at that time?

No, I had left NWA by the end. Okay. So had you already had a couple records out or just one record? Just solo record was either about to come out or I forget what came out first. I think my album came out before the movie. That's sort of like it's a transition time for you, right? Yeah. You're thinking about a lot of different things,

and now you've got this whole other world. You've got film all of a sudden, and you're still killing with the records. Yeah. That begins a long run of amazing work. When I look at the stuff you do, I'm 59, you're younger than me, and I'm like, what do I do with my time?

Not much. You know, I don't know. It's like, I don't know. It seems like I feel like I have a lot of dead time. Do you? Because I'm looking at this resume, even just the recording stuff that you do with other people i'm like is every day just sort of like okay i'll come over i'll do it no not really not really it's uh um i guess i guess you know when you first get into the game and you you you love it and you're successful, you're active.

Right. You want to. Yeah. You're having all these great ideas. You have access to great producers. And you got a community of people. Yeah. And you're in the game.

Right. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so you want to, you know, you hear a record and it might inspire you to do a record. And it's like you're really playing a record company game, so to speak. You want to make hits for the people who spent this money. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you're really moving and shaking.

And I think an artist should always get to a point, and I think the ones who have longevity do, you realize at a certain point that, okay, forget playing the record company game. Forget who cares if my song is on the radio. Yep. Who cares if this and that and other. You get to that point? That's other people's radio. Yep. Who cares if this and that and other? You get to that point? That's other people's worry. Huh. You start to say, well, at least I have, and I believe a lot of artists have, that your

fan base is the most important. Like your fans. Right. important like your fans right you have to cater not not to the whole world but you have to cater to your fans right and that's when that's when you decide to take control yes and you hyper um service right the ice cube fan yeah and everybody else you got to get in where you fit in what record did you realize that at I think it was around around War and Peace maybe the

maybe the second the second album Peace oh really yeah not the Predator no the Predator you know you still want to still make it on top you want to you want your videos on your tv raps you want to you want

you want to be in the game yeah and i think at a certain point who cares about the game you just want to serve your clientele so that was second war and peace yeah okay from there on i just i don't i don't care about charts right and spins yeah and and all i care about is that my fans love the record right and and that's all that matters and that was around what the second that's around the second Friday movie. Yeah. About. Yeah.

Like around that. But, you know, with the second Friday movie, you know, we was just trying to do a lot of different things. Yeah. It was like, how do we make how do you you, first, you can't top the first one. It's just, you know, it's just impossible. Emotionally, you can't top it. And the second one, once we found out we didn't have Chris Tucker, we knew we couldn't stay on that block. Why didn't you have him?

He didn't want to do the movie. that block. Why didn't you have him? He didn't want to do the movie. At the time, he said he was becoming very religious and he didn't want to use profanity and promote marijuana. I guess

that shit's over. Pretty quick. That's right. He got pretty Christian for a while. He went that way. I guess there's two paths. Yeah. He got pretty Christian for a while. He went that way. I guess there's two paths. Yeah. I mean, you know, you got to respect a man and his God. Yeah.

You know what I mean? So, you know, we had to make the adjustment. So, okay, we need to be off the block. And I need to find, you know, you can't replace Chris, but you can find a funny cousin like sure Day Day and Mike Epps and he's just

as crazy and so that's that's the you know saga did you watch Air did you see the movie

haven't seen it yet you haven't seen it yet no do you remember that time did that time have an impact because I was wondering about that about like the time

like Air Jordans happened in like 84, 85. Yeah. And I imagine that was a shift in perceiving what one could make of their personal brand. Yes. And I think it seems to have had an effect across all mediums. Yes. Do you remember being conscious of that? Yeah, definitely. Yes. Do you remember being conscious of that? Yeah, yeah, definitely.

Yeah. You know, I definitely saw the rise, and everybody, I think, at the time wanted to understand. How to do it? Yeah, how did he make it happen like that? You know, I think what Jordan represented was an undisputed measure of excellence. You know, it's kind of like nobody, no race around the world could dispute. Right.

This was the display of excellence in one's field. Yeah. You know, he became a standard. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. And so I think that's really what helped the most, you know, as well as, you know, having some dope shoes, being very creative.

You know, the moves dope shoes, being very creative. Yeah. You know, the moves he made were calculated and smart. But it's also interesting to me, like, because in your 30 and 31, you know, the doc on the Raiders, you know, like a lot of those docs were about sports. But yours was about clothes. Yeah. Really, about brand. Yes. And that shift in thinking, because it seems to me that whether, I don't know when you became conscious of that in terms of because rap fashion, whether it originated in the neighborhood or whether people made conscious decisions about it, was dictating youth cultures' clothing choices. Always. Always.

Yeah. You know, from, from the start of C hip hop started off underground. Right. But those fashions were always, um, kind of spilling over into the underground cultures of every neighborhood.

So at a certain point, hip-hop became somewhat mainstream. Yeah. That was a good thing. Yeah. So now these fashions are impacting faster in a bigger way. But does mainstream mean white? Yeah, it does. Yeah. white um yeah it does yeah it means um you know the white power structure has control of the

airwaves yeah so when it hits mainstream and it hits white now you're on the airwaves right so now more people can see you yeah and more people can be influenced by, you know. Everything. You know, whatever they like. The music, the clothes, the style. And so what happens is Eazy-E happens. You know, Eazy-E, little dude. So his clothes would be baggy as shit. Yeah. You know what I mean? Baggy.

Everything's baggy. So he becomes one of the biggest hip-hop stars in the world did he just so everybody starts to wear baggy clothes you know after that what did he just think that was cool or was he comfortable or what both yeah comfortable cool all that. He was a character, huh? He was just a, no, he was an original. You know, he's just, I mean, I guess every neighborhood has a guy like this who just knows how to land on his feet. You know what I'm saying? He knows how to put it together.

Right. You know, no matter what his bank account look like, his flavor is on a thousand. You know what I'm account looked like, his flavor is on 1,000. You know what I'm saying? So, you know, that was easy. At what point, because I was talking to somebody about it today, that, you know, where all this stuff sort of comes together, like in the mid-'80s, like, you know, thinking about Jordan,

thinking about fashion and having an understanding of that to where you're like, all right, well, if I'm going to take control of this situation, my situation personally, and stop giving a fuck about, you know, delivering the goods for the game, then, you know, that opens up the possibilities to, you know, a type of popularity and wealth that, you know, is all you, right? Yeah. And then the goal becomes much bigger because you can do it across the board. Yeah, man. You know, it's really all about understanding where you are in people's hearts in a way. Yeah.

You know what I'm saying? Yeah. It's like if you feel like you've done some things to get deep in people's heart, then you don't have to connect to the system as much you can connect to individuals and then you've got your people to do what you want to do without you know worrying about this yes yes so i don't i don't want to not talk about three kings and we'll talk about the the basketball stuff and i'm always a lot to talk about, but Three Kings is a masterpiece. I love that fucking movie.

Do you? Yeah, I do. David O. Russell, this was a movie that he, I think it might have been his second movie. I think so. And it was so big compared to his first movie. Oh, Spankin' the Monkey.

Yeah, it was a big undertaking. Did he do Flirtin' with Disaster? Was that before or after? Maybe. Maybe before. Yeah. And so I did the movie, most of the movie. I was a little confused.

Yeah. I'm like, why are we in milk? I'm like, I thought I was doing a war movie. Right. I thought we was going to be shooting. I'm in milk. You know what I'm saying? i'm saying like what the hell one milk scene yeah the first scene you shot one of the first scenes uh you know we're like milk

we're throwing footballs around yeah you know and so to see how he was he was very meticulous and he was saying that in war movies all you hear is all this shooting and shooting and shooting. He said, in this movie, every bullet is going to count. Yeah. And I think that was a different kind of war movie. Totally. You know, when you see, you know, that shot where he says, you know, the bullet goes in here and does all this crazy stuff. That's crazy.

I don't know if people ever knew, you know, what a bullet does when it goes inside of you on that level. That was crazy. That cut. Yeah. So that kind of stuff, you know, made the movie more than just a war movie. It was like you really cared about anybody that was going to take a bullet in that movie. And also like what modern war looked like. There's only a couple movies that really kind of reinterpreted it.

Black Hawk Down and Three Kings. Yeah. It's a different game. Yeah. And that you got a lot of youngsters out there that are hella confused on what's going on. Yeah, because they don't know. They don't know what's going on. That was how the movie, that was what the movie opened.

Are we shooting? Yeah, just some. Just a guy over there was gaffing him, I think. Are we shooting? Yep. That's wild. Genius. The whole movie.

Yeah. He was, you know, I learned from David that you don't move that camera until you get what you want. I don't care who's yelling, who's screaming, what the AD producers are yelling. You don't move that damn camera until you get what you want because you've set up this whole thing. You took a year out your life to set up this shot yeah and you gotta get it yeah you it's no you can't move right we haven't gotten the shot right

so that's a great lesson for a filmmaker yeah to because when you if you're just moving because you run out of time the AD is saying okay you gotta move the camera okay we gotta keep schedule blah blah blah you're just getting

whatever you know you're not you're not getting the goods and you gotta get the goods before you move

the camera was that the first time you met Wahlberg no I had met him um you know i think i met him a few times yeah just doing the hip-hop stuff he was doing the funky bunch thing the marky mark stuff so yeah yeah we had ran into each other a few times was there respect there yeah yeah i respected him because you know hey he's a kid you know, hey, he's a kid, you know, from Boston. Mm-hmm.

He's not a pushover. Mm-hmm. I knew, you know. Yeah. And, you know, he's a cool dude. You get a chance to talk to him. You know, it's hard not to like Mark. Yeah.

He's good. You guys are both good. You're good. And he's like the two of you. You can do comedy or serious. Very easily transition between the two. Yeah. You know, and he's one of those guys. He can be pretty funny. Yeah. two. He's one of those guys.

He can be pretty funny. Yeah. He's an odd little guy. He was a terror on that movie, though. Oh, yeah. Him and George, they love the practical jokes. Oh, they do? Joking each other.

Yeah, yeah. Pulling pranks and shit. What about Spike? Spike was cool. You know, he's like a little genius. Yeah. You know? Yeah.

And he, it's a trip. You know, he took the role just like he played it in the movie. He was like that the whole time. Yeah. Oh, really? You know, I'm like, this dude. And then I heard he's doing these amazing videos and movies. Yeah.

I'm like, damn. Yeah. Spike's, I mean, he seemed like, you know. amazing videos and movies. Yeah. I'm like, damn. Yeah. Spikes. I mean, he seemed like, you know. Just a goofy guy. Yeah, just a goofy follower. Yeah. You know what I'm saying?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so just to realize how brilliant he is. I just watched one of his movies the other night. It was like next level, the stuff that he was doing. Oh, yeah. Yeah, nothing like it. I watched Adaptation, I think, the other night. I mean, some of his videos are crazy.

They're crazy. Yeah. He got a video he did with Christopher Walken, like, dancing. Yeah. Well, that guy's a dancer. Yeah. Yeah. So he got him to dance.

I mean, who can get Christopher Walken to damn dance? I don't know. I bet it might be easier than we think. Maybe. Probably just got to ask. Exactly. Give me a cigarette. Yeah, yeah't know. Yeah. I bet you we might, it might be easier than we think. Maybe. Probably just got to ask. Exactly. Give me a cigarette. Yeah.

Yeah. Right. So how's it going with this? The big three thing. Is it like, are you still at odds with the NBA ESPN? Uh, they're at odds with me.

Yeah. I love the NBA. Sure. Of course. ESPN. Yeah. And they just want, well, ESPN,

to me, is just, you know, they broadcast the NBA. It's ABC. Sure. ESPN is basically ABC Sports. Okay.

And they have a deal with the NBA. And the NBA and the NBA For some reason is threatened by you had a big three now you created this thing. Yes me and Jeff Quantin's who's been my Partner we we've been working together for almost 30 years now. What really on in sports and everything Oh really my whole career. Yeah, okay much was he he's just a Sports? And everything. Oh, really? My whole career, yeah.

Oh, okay. Pretty much. Was he just a creative partner or was he a manager? I mean, he was a manager. Oh, okay. He used to manage the firm. You know, they had everybody. He was one of the biggest managers.

Oh, yeah. I remember that, yeah. Everywhere. So he just kind of broke it on down and started working with me. Just you? Because, yeah, I was his best. Client. Yeah.

And smartest. Yeah. Oh, good. Yeah, just you. Because yeah, I was his best client. Yeah. So. And smartest. Yeah. Oh, good. Yeah, of course. So, but the conception of this, it seems pretty exciting. What made you like, you know, think about just getting three professional basketball players to be a team? Well, first as a fan.

Yeah. I wanted to see it. Yeah. You know, I, I, I'm a guy who hibernates in the summer cause sports is so bad. Yeah. I wanted to see it. Yeah. You know, I'm a guy who hibernates in the summer because sports is so bad. Yeah. Like,

when basketball season is over, don't wake me up till the start of the NFL season. Everything in between, I could, I could, you know,

I love baseball, but mid-season baseball, you know, golf, all these,, golf, all the sports that play in the summer are boring. So I was like, well, it must be a bunch of people out there just like me that need a real league in the summer. And I had been thinking about three-on-three. I played a lot of three-on- been thinking about three on three. You know, I played a lot

of three on three. More three on three than five on five. Yeah. I think most of us who play hoops end up playing more three on three

than five on five. And I was like, why hasn't it been elevated to the professional level? It's great. Yeah. And it's personal

and you can't hide. You can't be a defensive specialist on three on three. You can't be like a three point shot guy. Yeah, yeah. You can't be a defensive specialist on three-on-three. You can't be like a three-point shot guy. Either you got game or you're going to get embarrassed. Right.

Either you can dribble, pass, shoot, defend, or you're going to be mopped off the court. And it's exciting. It's personal. It's exciting. So we just was like, yo, what would a league look like? And we spent a year just arguing about rules and what if this and what if that and we should do this. Why is FIBA three-on-three so boring?

How can we make ours more exciting? So we implemented the four-point shot and one-shot free throws. And what's that fourth quarter rule? Well, it's first to 50, win. Okay. It's two halves. Yeah. First to 25, it's halftime.

Yeah, yeah. First to 50, win. Yeah, yeah. So we got 14 seconds on the shot clock, so you got to play fast. And, you know, it's just great. And we got a rule called bring the fire. So if you don't like a foul, your coach don't like the foul, the two players can go one-on-one for that.

You know, see if it was really a foul. If you make it, you know, bust it. This is like gladiator basketball. It's so fun. And they can trash talk. It's not like, you know, they can trash talk yeah it's not like you know they hand check so you can play real defense so the reason the nba is threatened by this is because it's exciting and it's not stiff yes and and our games last an hour so you could play three big three

games same amount of time you could play one nba game And, you know, people want things by size. They want things faster. So it's more, you know, it was a sport made for this millennium. Yeah. Yeah. And not for the last. And people love it? They love it.

You know, our ratings are better than NHL, MLS, XFL. You know, give me a break. You know what I mean? It's like, you know, we're getting almost 700,000 people watching. That's great. Yes. And this is the sixth season? Sixth season, yeah.

And now all these players, you know, people know already too, most of them, right? Most of them, yeah. You know, we use players that some have kind of washed out the NBA. But some of them never made it. So they're showcasing their talent, you know, from 22 years and up. Yeah. If you can make it, you can show. How many teams are there?

12 teams. And are you finding that there's team allegiance among the fans? Yes, definitely. Yeah. And what's cool is we're starting to sell teams now to owners. So teams are going to represent cities. Really? So that's going to be a real cool aspect of it.

This is great because you have a little beef, or the NBA has a little beef with you, and it puts a little fire, right? Yeah. And you, you're like, fuck them. Let's go. I mean, at the end of the day, we would love to work with them. I think we got a complimentary league.

Yeah. But we're getting to a point where we won't need them. Yeah. They're going to come asking one day, and we're going to probably say, thank you, but no thank you. Well, that's the same place you got with the music where you're in the game and then you're like, you are the game. Yes. Right? So this has kind of repeated itself.

Now in sports. Now you're a sports manager, producer. Yeah. You didn't see that coming, did you? Not at all. And I'm having the time of my life because I've always had the table set for me. Here's the stage yeah the set is ready yeah now i'm setting the table for for my favorite people you know yeah yeah it's like

yo i set the court yeah yeah get a chance to watch them go do their thing right right yeah well that's exciting it is it's fun man yeah you know to be at this point in my life and to be able to take on something that's much bigger than me. And also something you grew up loving and never ever saw yourself. How would you be part of that? Exactly. You know? It's crazy. Yeah.

It must just be like there must be part of you as like a kid. You're just like watching this. Yeah. And then you have to grow up because you have to really actually make it work. There must be parties like a kid. You're just like watching this. Yeah. And then you have to grow up because you have to really actually make it work. Yeah. So we still got a lot of work to do. Sure. But we're still having fun.

But it's new work and it's fun. Yeah. Now you're a grandfather? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a whole other thing. I mean, that's great. Sorry. That's great.

You know, having my granddaughter Jordan. Yeah. She's's great. Sorry. That's great. You know, having my granddaughter, Jordan. Yeah. You know, she's five now. Yeah. So, yeah, it's just, it reminds you of why you're doing it, what you need to do. Yeah. And what kind of legacy you need to leave. How is it different having a grandfather than a father?

You can send them home. You can send them home. You can send them home. Yeah, yeah. You can just be the best. Have the best time. And then, you know. All the fun. Yeah.

You know. And you can spoil them. Yeah. You can do all that stuff. Yeah. Yep. And then somebody else has to. Deal with the tough stuff.

Yeah, deal with getting them back. Yeah. You know, focused. Yeah. Well, it was great talking to you, man. You too. Thanks for coming. Appreciate it. Alright, there you go. Big 3 starts up in June. Go to

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And start customizing your furniture. Last week on The Full Marin, we posted my reaction immediately after the Ice Cube talk. That episode is called Ice Cube Just Left. Go check it out with a Full Marin subscription. This week, we posted another Ask Mark Anything episode where I got into your questions. Which non-comedian guest on the show was truly and unexpectedly hilarious? Oh, well, just in recent memory,

Hugh Grant. Totally surprised me and was very funny. There's been a lot of funny people. I think I remember Josh Brolin being pretty funny, but Hugh Grant was like a total curveball to me.

Hilarious. For all the full Marin bonus content, plus every episode of WTF ad-free, go to the link in the episode description to sign up or go to WTFpod.com and click on WTF Plus. Next week, I talk to Paul Schrader on Monday.

And then on Thursday, I talk to music biographer and critic and a musician in his own right, Warren Zanes, about his new book about the creation of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska. All right, let's play some guitar now. guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo Thank you. guitar solo boomer lives monkey and lafonda cat angels are everywhere