ZM's Fletch, Vaughan & Hayley - Friday Jams Live - The Uncut Interviews!

Episode Date: November 10, 2022

Friday Jams Live is happening this Sunday 13th November, at Western Springs Stadium!In preparation, we've compiled all of our interviews with the artists you'll see there!You'll be hearing your favourite ZM hosts chatting to TLC, Macklemore, Shaggy, Ashanti, Jay Sean, & Fatman Scoop!Text "Jams" to 9696, or head to ZMonline for more Details!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The ZM Podcast Network. ZM's Friday Jams Live, uncut. In 2019, 35,000 people invaded Western Springs Stadium for the biggest party in Aotearoa. Yes! Friday Jams! And, you know what happened in 2020. Stay at home. Stay at home.

Finally, we're ready to bring back the biggest party we've seen in three years. Pumped! There's DJs. Yeah! There's concerts. No! Then there's ZM's Friday Jams 5. Are you serious?

We are joined by TLC. Welcome to the show, T-Boz and Chili. Hi. Thank you. Hi. Yes. Wow. Actually, beside myself, I've been a long-time fan of TLC ever since the 90s,

not to make any of us feel old. That is not what we're here for. We're not old. We're not old. We're just properly seasoned. Oh, well-seasoned performers. Yeah. We love it well-seasoned.

Properly seasoned. Marinated. We've all marinated in the 90s and 2000s. Nicely marinated, nice and tender and just perfect, just ready. We're dry aged. Stop talking to me. I feel like this has just turned into a conversation with the butcher. Now, ladies, we haven't seen you for a while.

You were here in 2016. And I don't think you'd been here before that, had you, in New Zealand? Oh, New Zealand? No, that was the first time. Wow. Yeah, that was the first time, I believe. A lot has changed. Well, nothing changes in New Zealand, really, at a rapid pace.

It's still the same. Are you excited? Are you excited to come down this side of the earth? Absolutely. Yes. I think, you know what, the last time we were there, which was the first time, I remember when we left the next day, you guys had a tsunami warning or something.

Oh, yeah. We loved those. I was like, what the heck? Did you have to find a hill? Oh, you had left by then. Yeah, they were on the plane taking off and we all just got swamped. I remember it. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. TLC just left. Yeah. And so how have you guys been finding it? Because you guys were our special guests at Glastonbury. How was that? Oh, my God, it was amazing. That was absolutely amazing.

And then we found out we broke some records there. So we were like, wow. We were like, yeah. With attendance for the stage that we were on, and we found out as soon as we walked off stage. Oh, my God. And so that was awesome. It was amazing watching the footage and seeing people, you know, like watching No Scrubs

and then seeing people who definitely weren't even born when No Scrubs came out and they're singing every single word. Like a lot of your music has stood the test of time. Did you feel that? Oh yeah. We definitely felt the love. I mean, it was, everybody was singing all of our songs, you know, from the first album.

And, I mean, they were singing along with us. And, you know, and a lot of people that were there obviously have never seen us, you know, perform before. And so it was, I'm telling you, it was amazing. That crowd was crazy. Oh, my gosh. I've got a comment on the wardrobe as well. You both look incredible.

T-Boz, you've got this, like, these chains everywhere. Chili, you're rocking a cropped number. Thank you. I'm just saying, you guys, you're hot. You're keeping it hot. Oh, thank you. Thank you so much you're hot. You're keeping it hot. Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you.

When you come down to see us, obviously you're in great company with a lot of amazing artists. Are you going to be playing us all of your bangers or are there some surprises in there? Can you give us a little tease of what we can expect? Well, usually I would say a high-energy show. It'll be like we're at a backyard barbecue all together at one house party all together. You'll feel as one like I'm like we're just sharing one big stage together.

I think it's a good time. People leave and they have a good feeling when they leave our shows. You know what I mean? And I think you have a different range of emotions throughout the show. Like it's like riding a happy roller coaster. That's what I like to call it. But overall, a very good energetic time. Do you is it I mean, again, I don't want to make you feel old, but do you find it harder now than you did when you guys first formed as a band? Like, to give all of yourself and all of that energy and emotion to a huge crowd like that, do you still get that same rush of adrenaline or is it a little bit harder now? Oh, no.

I mean, the same rush of adrenaline because that's like our second home. That's where we belong. Like, that's second nature. That's like a part of us. But on the other side of things, what about like sore knees and sore backs because like yeah my knees and backs aren't what they were in the 90s you know i could sleep on the floor upside down in a pile but now it's just like a couple of loose hours on a bad pillow and i'm i'm out for a day like even our dancers they're like very young just you know dancing is is very athletic it's like being an

athlete no matter what age you are like we'll have a 19 year old a 19 year old out there living like our dance is hard so I can't really say it's age I'll just say our dances are hard wow and it's gonna feel it looks a lot easier than it is, you know, because we've had many, um, dancers, you know, along the years to tell us that. And, um, you know, I mean, obviously that's all we know, but at the end of the day, you just have to, you have to take care of yourself. And if you stop moving, you get stiff, you know? So you got to do the right things. I mean, obviously age at some point will set in, but a lot of times people don't take care of their bodies. They just don't do it.

They don't make them like they used to. I'll say it. The two guys here can't even touch their toes anymore, guys. I mean, it's not good. I just have to like bend my knees, have a sit down, and then take a few minutes stretching after. Take a deep breath and then have a nap after. A couple of pain killers.

I've had some days like that. You just got to make sure you stretch it on out. Stretch it out. Stretch it out. That's the best advice. Well, we will be in the crowd watching you absolutely singing

every single word. We are beside ourselves that you are coming to New Zealand for Friday Jams Live. Thank you so much, TLC. ZM's Friday Jams Live confirmed artist. AZM. It's Macklemore.

See the full line-up. Text JAMS to 9696 now. Macklemore, I've been waiting, and we're so excited that you're coming back to New Zealand. The last time I saw you perform, mate, I've got to bring it up with you. I was in Sydney, and you threw a donut from the stage 50 metres into the crowd where it was caught by the person you pointed out.

Mate, are you going to be doing any of that at Friday Jam's live? I'm going to have to bring that back. I haven't done that for a while. But, man, there was something about that run. My arm was just on. Oh, my God. I had an idea for you. What are your thoughts on getting –

I know you love the fruit bursts here in New Zealand. Yes, I do. You could load those into a cannon and just shoot them out of a fruit burst cannon. That's a great idea. The fruit bursts are incredible. We have starbursts here in America. Fruit bursts take it to another level, though. they're incredible they're incredibly hard i have to be honest you guys

got us on that it's been a minute since you've been in new zealand are you excited to come back always always love new zealand you got history with new zealand i don't know if you remember this but way back at the start of this crazy ride that you've been on, before Thrift Shop dropped, you were booked to play a university orientation week gig at Otago University in Dunedin. And then all of a sudden Thrift Shop drops. It blows up.

You're the biggest artist in the world. And this university goes, holy shit, we just booked this guy for our biggest artist in the world. And this university goes, holy shit, we just booked this guy for our O-Week gig. This is crazy. We've lucked out. And to your credit, you could have easily pulled out of that. You could have gone, I'm a stadium guy now. I'm an arena guy. You showed up and you did the gig. Do you remember it? Not at all, Clintinn but you know what i remember doing we that story happened the entire

spring and we we did a whole college tour for a very little amount of money um with the two biggest coming off the two biggest number number one records in the world. Yeah. And we kept the, I mean, to me, that's what's important. And yes, there were moments of like, what? I mean, it was the most insanity ever because it was routed crazy because things were getting picked up along the way.

Yeah. And that was an era of very little sleep. It will probably lead to early onset dementia as it hit later in life. I'm kidding, but not really. But it was great. Those times were amazing, and those college shows all kind of blend together.

I don't quite have the memory because of the lack of sleep. Well, please tell me we're paying you correctly for the Friday Jams show. Are you on your full rate now? I am sure that you guys are taking care of me. At least 1,000 bags of fruit bursts, I heard, is the payment. Yeah, it's $1,500 now, but, you know. That's fine.

We're fine with that. Hey, Macklemore, it's been a five-year break from you and your old mate, Ryan Lewis, but you're back together better than ever. Let's talk about this new single, Chant. You've got my fellow Aussie Tones and I on it. I'm so pumped about it. What was it like working with her? Well, Ryan does have at least one record on the new album, but Chant isn't Ryan.

So just to clear the air there, but love Ryan. Talked to him yesterday. That's my brother for life. And we actually, I think probably the, you know, second single will be the one with Ryan. Tones is just a gem of a human. I love her. She's not only a phenomenal musician, writer. She's just a great person. I think that she is hilarious. She is genuine. She is authentic. And she is my kind of person. So she came to Seattle, met her before we got in the studio, and we started making this record, and I was like,

I think the tones could kill this, and we sent it to her, and sure enough, she was down to take time out of her busy schedule to come over to my neck of the woods and got in the studio and just had a great time. I'm going to text her. She's my cousin cousin so she'll be happy to hear you talking good things about her Macklemore

Bree talks a lot to me about the impact of the performance you gave at the NRL Grand Final in 2017 when you got up there and you performed Same Love at a time in that country when things were quite crazy for the

rainbow community. Brie, have you ever had a chance to tell Macklemore what that meant to you? Look, I had it down to talk to you about today. And I just wanted to say this is my opportunity to say thank you. I was still living in Australia at the time and I was working in radio and it was a really dark time for people like me in the queer community and it was a really kind of scary time as well and I know for a fact like when you were booked for that gig and you said you were going to perform Same Love and I know there was petitions to get you banned

from doing the show I mean the Prime Minister at the time Tony Abbott jumped on it and he also wanted to have you banned from doing the show and I remember, the Prime Minister at the time, Tony Abbott, jumped on it and he also wanted to have you banned from doing the show. And I remember seeing an interview you did where you got asked about it in the States and you said, you know what, I'm going to go harder, I'm going to love. And I don't think, I think you do realise what that did for so many people, but, mate, that was a life-saving performance that you did that day and I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart thank you for letting me know that

I mean I think that um yeah it was it was a powerful moment and I think there's been a handful of times where I can think um where performing same love really felt you know and I feel it every time I perform that song. That's just one of those records that I can't do that record, just like dial, dial it in. Like, you know, it's something that evokes emotion, but that was a special one for the platform and for, like I said in that interview, it's like in the face of hate, we love harder and that's what um ties us all together and you know even a couple days ago i did a like a rodeo show um in a very uh rural part of oregon in the

northwest and i'm looking out and there's like all these people in cowboy hats and i know that uh this is not the most uh liberal uh being proud. Yeah. And I had that moment again. And those are the performances that stick with me. It's not like necessarily all the ones that are just like everyone's all on the same page. It's like this is a song of resistance. This is a song of protest in the face of hatred. So I appreciate that.

And thank you for sharing it. Oh, mate. It started a conversation between my dad and I I'm not gonna lie because we're massive rugby league fans we're Queenslanders so rugby league's huge in our family and to have you on that platform and bought into so many people's households that might not have had that conversation but you started a conversation in a lot of people's households that day. And yeah, we really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you.

I think that that's what good art does is hopefully starts a dialogue. Absolutely. We can't wait to see you here in New Zealand for Friday Gems Live, Macklemore. It's been way too long. So thank you for joining us on the show today. And we'll see you at western spring stadium on november 13th thank you guys so much i i always have nothing but love for new zealand i'm so happy

to get back and and see all the people see all the the there's just something about new zealand man it's just the fans are just incredible the energy is is unmatched so i'm i'm so pumped and i can't wait we'll have the fruit bursts ready. Bring in the truckloads of fruit bursts. Let's go. And they'll be rolling on in. ZM's Friday Jams Live confirmed artist. This is Shaggy.

See the full lineup. Text JAMS to 9696 now. He's coming to New Zealand to play ZM's Friday Jams live this November. Please welcome to the show Mr. Bombastic himself. It's Shaggy. Iconic, iconic. This is unreal to be talking to the man himself. How are you going, Shaggy?

I'm doing great, man. Thank you very much. It's a little early where I'm at, but, you know, you guys are used to this. How early? What are we talking? How early? How many coffees? You know, anything before 10 o'clock in the morning is early for me,

so it's cool. I love it. I love it. Hey, Shaggy, I know you were here quite a few years ago, not quite a few, a few years ago before COVID and you spent a bit of time in New Zealand. How excited are you to come back? I'm very excited.

It's one of my favourite places, man. I always have fun when I'm in New Zealand. It's always an exciting time. I've done quite a few reggae festivals there. Yeah. I love the people. I love the energy. And I'm really, really psyched about this.

You played Ragamuffin Reggae Festival in my hometown of Rotorua, which was a big deal. Do you have any memories of New Zealand? Does anything come into your mind when you think of this place? When I think of Rotorua, I come off and I smell that salt. I wasn't going to mention it. Farts. You smell farts.

It really does. Sticks in your brain. It is so part of the whole New Zealand vibe and experience. And just going and hanging out and going through the whole historic sites of the natives and all of that has always been great. I, you know, I've sat through the whole ceremony. Yeah. With the dance and everything. And I mean, I got my little spot down there where I go

and I get fish. They got this little spot in Rural Rural where they're, I can't forget the name of this place, but it's a fish spot. They got the biggest deep fried fish. They're going to love that shout out, Shaggy. You're making a great case for residency at the moment. We might adopt you at this rate.

Hey, dude, I wouldn't mind being adopted by that place. I've enjoyed it every single time. Yeah, well, you're going to be here. You're going to be on the big stage at Western Springs Stadium in Tamaki Makaurau, Auckland. This is big time, man. Friday Jams Live is like our thing. It's huge.

And we haven't been able to do it for, like, we couldn't do it in 2020. We couldn't do it in 2021 because of COVID. So the people are amped. Are you ready for this? I think it's going to be so amazing because the fact that it hasn't been done, people are now back outside. Yeah. And, oh, my God, they just need entertainment.

I've been doing some tours here in Europe. I've been out here since June. Oh, don't rub it in, Shaggy. Don't rub it in. We want to go to Europe. Oh, man, it's so ab. I'm just telling you what to expect from the New Zealand audience. It's going to be pandemonium.

Shaggy, the lineup is obviously massive. And, you know, we've got Macklemore. We've got TLC. Have you performed with any of these people before? Do you know any of them? I've done a couple of shows with TLC. I've done a couple of shows with TLC. I have some coming up.

I have a gig in Montreal with them, in Canada, coming up also. Akon is a really good friend. I haven't seen him in ages. It'd be great to just catch up with him. Ashante is my sister. She's been at my house for my Christmas parties. She's been amazing. Lumi D, I did a record with Lumi D.

Jay Sean, I also did a record with Jay Sean. Whoa, there's going to be a big reunion. I met Macklemore once on Europe where we were on the same gig together, but it'd be great. And Scoop is my brother. I just came off the Nelly tour right before the pandemic. The last thing I did before the pandemic

was with me and Nelly and Eve and Scoop. Fat Man Scoop is on another level, eh? I emceed the festival with him in 2019 and I just couldn't keep up with this guy. He's amazing. He's a ball of fire, man. He's always a ball of fire.

Great guy. Great guy. You dropped a new album this year where you do the music of Frank Sinatra in reggae style. It's produced by Sting.

What makes you love Sinatra so much? Well, you know what? A lot of people don't know that in Jamaica on Sundays such repertoires as Sinatra, Bing Crosby,

Matt King Cole, those are songs that were played in our house tour on Sundays in Jamaica. It kind of goes with Jamaican rice on bees. It's just like a part of it. Yeah. I love that.

That's so dumb. Chicken and rice and peas, yeah, it's part of it. You eat your chicken, your rice and peas, your family dinner, and Sinatra, our Bing Crosby, our Nat King Cole, our, you know, sometime Contribusing has been a part of the whole thing. So, you know, I was on the fjords with Sting while we were doing, we were promoting,

we were actually on tour for the 4487 album, which, you know, won a Grammy and was a good success for us. And we ended up having that day off and being on the fjords and Sting jumped in the water. And I wasn't going to do that because I'm Jamaican and that water is cold. So I just turned on some Sinatra and while I was playing Sinatra I was singing and he popped his head up and he was like, wow Shaggs, that's your key. I was like, okay, cool.

It was like, no bro, it's amazing how similar you sound to Sinatra. It's amazing. I would have never expected that from your voice. And I was like, hi, cool. And then we just started to candidly talk about doing it. Why don't we do some covers? What if we'd be great if we did them in reggae? And the idea just sat around for three years till after the pandemic.

And I was in Vegas with him and he started playing some chords on the guitar. I started to sing and he's like, yo, why don't we do it at the top of the year? He came to my house in Miami at the top of the year. We sat in my studio. And within a week, we had something that was, you know, worth pursuing. I was like, okay, let's call some musicians and let's get it going.

It's so dope. I've heard it. And you do sound like Sinatra with your own unique reggae twist on it, right? It's so dope. It's very shaggy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I think so on it, right? It's so dope. It's very shaggy. Yeah. Yeah, I think so. Got the vibes. It works so well. You know,

the right amount of jazz chords and the right amount of reggae so it doesn't sound cheesy. It sounds real authentic and raw and have that reggae feel. It's a brilliant idea. I love it. I wanted to ask you, Shaggy, because obviously you work with Sting. Where did that friendship, like how did you,

because you guys are so close and I just adore your guys' friendship. I think it's so cute. How did you guys meet? You know, Sting is the brother I never knew I needed. Oh, that's so sweet. That's nice. I, you know, I've known him, seen him and met him in passing for years

In 2004 I jumped on stage and did Roxanne with him but then his manager who was his A&R when he was at A&M was also my A&R when I was at Interscope and Martin Kersenbaum

and Martin just thought in knowing both of us that we would get along and kind of made a link on a song, Don't Make Me Wait, and said, hey, and we did that. We went to do that one song that day and ended up having more fun than work that day and chatted and laughed and we just didn't want it to stop. And now you holiday together and you hang out all the time. It's the cutest friendship ever.

Yeah. It is bad. We're still wondering why. Em and I sit down and we're like, how does this even make sense? Shaggy, I have to ask you this question, okay? It's been 22 years since that song came out and I know you know the song without me even saying it. How many times a week, 22 years later, do people still ask you if it was actually you?

I get it asked all the time. What is so funny about it was, and me is, you know, we've been on tour here for a while now in Europe. Like I said, since June. And it's so amazing how young my audience is yeah and i've been looking at the audience like whoa but this these kids weren't even born and just because it wasn't me is such a massive song on tick tock right okay i've seen it yeah absolutely it does it's massive on on tick tock TikTok. Bombastic is also massive on TikTok. And of course, we did Banana, which was a big TikTok song.

It was over 2 billion views on there. And all of that really kind of happened organically for me. So it's great. You don't have to answer this. It could be very personal. But does that sort of thing make you a lot of money? Like it's something blowing up on TikTok for an artist. Can you make good personal but does that sort of thing make you a lot of money like it's something blowing up on tiktok for an artist does that can you make good money out of that kind of thing oh yeah you know there is residuals from that yeah it all depends it

depends on how it is but um it's it's just really good to connect with such a great with a young audience and it gives them it gives the music a life. Streaming is amazing these days because you're not at the gatekeepers of radio anymore. It's really people just under, it's under the vice. Those radio people, man, they're the worst.

God, they're just life suckers. You know? Blood sucking parasites. Hey, we're so... You know what? In fairness to radio, if you want a record to become a worldwide global monster,

you still need radio. That's the one. And we didn't even pay him to say that. No, he said it on his own. We're going to host him at Friday Jams Live, and we can't wait for this. You're on the bill with Matt Clamore and TLC and Jay Sean and everybody else. Shaggy, thank you so much. We'll see you when you get to Aotearoa in November.

We love you, Shaggy. Looking forward to it. Bye. Thank you. ZDM'll see you when you get to Aotearoa in November. We love you, Shaggy. Looking forward to it. Bye. Thank you. City Am's Friday Jams Live. Confirmed artist. It's your girl, Ashanti. See the full line-up.

Text JAMS to 9696 now. Happy birthday for the other day. It sounds like you've had the most amazing couple of weeks. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Yes, I've had an amazing time celebrating my birthday with a bunch of friends and family in Antigua, which is one of my favorite islands. So it was a lot of fun.

It must just be the best feeling being on a buzz like that. I mean, I saw your post saying it's had its ups and its downs. But I mean, you've got a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame. You've celebrated 20 years of your groundbreaking album, Ashanti. Like, it must be pretty awesome all of this is happening. Then you're coming to little old New Zealand. It's a blessing, you know. Like I said, I'm excited, you know. It's just surreal to have experienced such an incredible year. You know, as I said, it comes with peaks and valleys, and I'm just really proud and happy that there are a lot more peaks

than valleys, you know what I mean? And I like to touch all parts of the world, so we're super excited to come out there to see you guys and party with you. Yeah, so it's going to be a pretty crazy time. I mean, it's been a few years since we've had a Friday Jams Live. And now that it's happening again, the whole country cannot wait for this lineup to see you for the first time for a lot of people. Like, that's massive.

What can I expect from a show from you? Oh, my gosh. It's going to be a big party on stage. That's all I can say. You're going to have the best time. You're going to be screaming out these records and dancing and partying and laughing. It's just going to be amazing. The last time that I did Australia, me and Jah were out there and we had so much fun.

The love was incredible. So I'm really excited to be back. Is there something in the Australia and New Zealand crowds that is different to the rest of the world? I think everyone has their own swag. You know what I mean? I think Australia definitely has their own swag. You know, the UK has their own swag. Obviously, the States, we have our own swag.

It's just a different vibe, but it's all like positive and fun and you know I'm I'm I'm excited to see how you guys turn up you know now we're celebrating you know being being done with COVID well not all the way done but you know in a better place you know So I think everyone now is like understanding how important life is and celebrating life and, you know, being positive because we've seen what COVID has done to us as a culture, you know? So I think everybody is in a space of let's party, let's turn up. Oh, 100%. And especially like in New Zealand, it's been a while since we've had,

I mean, we've had a couple of international artists start to drip feed in over the last couple of months, but this is going to be the first time that we've had a full, proper sort of day of it, back-to-back internationals who we've grown up with, we love, and even more so the fact that we get to celebrate 20 years of something that you have created whilst watching you on stage, potentially for the first time. Yeah, that sounds, it sounds amazing. You know, now that you put it like that, it sounds, it sounds amazing. You know, so again, I'm just excited.

I can't wait to see everyone. I can't wait for them to see our visuals and, you know, all of the stuff that we have planned and it's going to be a big party. That's it. Do you do different visuals, et cetera, for a show like this where it's got other artists around you compared to if you were doing your own show? Certain things we change up a little bit, you know what I mean? Some things we leave the same.

Some things we cater, obviously. It's a little bit different when it's just my show and it's just my audience you know like even with some of the records you know some album cuts we'll do when it's just my show you know um but when it's just everyone coming to see everyone you know we we hit them with all the hits you know and i'm just super grateful that i got a lot of hits. Heck yeah, you do. Is there a song in particular that we need to learn a dance to? Oh, absolutely.

I'm dropping new music. My new single is called Falling For You. I'm super excited about that. I'll be performing that. That's going to be the first time that I'll be performing it, I think, outside of the U.S. And then I just did a remix with Puff Daddy, Young Miami, and Bryson Tiller. That was released over my birthday weekend.

It's called Gotta Move On, which is going crazy out here in the States. You know, the video is up, so make sure you guys go watch that on YouTube right now. You go to my page. It's called Gotta Move On Remix, again featuring me, Puff Daddy, Young Miami, and Brayson Tiller. So we will definitely be hitting you guys with those two new records as well.

Oh, I can't wait for that. In fact, I was actually, I watched the music video for that. Love it. And you know what's cool about you is you've got such a significant, like as soon as I heard it, I was like, hey, that's like, that's iconic Ashanti. Like, that is you've got such a significant, like as soon as I heard it I was like, hey, that's iconic Ashanti, like that is you. Well that's very cool, thank you. This is what makes it very exciting for us to have you here is the fact that we've seen

you on our screens in movies and we're still going to be seeing you on our screens. You've done a couple of movies this year? Yeah, so I shot two movies this year. One of them is a Christmas movie that'll be out I believe end of December. Amazing. I'm sorry end of November, early

December. And then there's another one that I shot called Plus One. I think it's coming, I want to say in November also so yeah, excited about that you guys will be seeing those as well Yeah see, we cannot wait and look honestly when you're here we'll be ready to party with you

it's going to be an absolute vibe yes it's a Sunday, I've told everyone to take the day off work the next day because you've got to go hard or go home right? Absolutely Absolutely Thank you so much for catching up with me the day off work the next day because you've got to go hard or go home, right? Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you so much for catching up with me. ZM's Friday Jams Live.

Confirmed artist. Jay Sean. See the full line-up. Text JAMS to 9696 now. Jay Sean joins us. Good morning. How are you? How are you?

I'm good. How are you guys? Really good. How are you guys? Really good. We're lovely. Good, mate. Well, we're excited. We've announced Friday Jams live here in New Zealand, and I think this will be one of the biggest shows we would have all been to post-pandemic.

Pre-pandemic, to be honest. Oh, man. Yeah, exactly. Pre and post. It's going to be amazing. I can't wait. I really can't wait. It's going to be so fun.

I found a website with Jay, Sean, concert and tour history. And would this be your first tour since the pandemic? It will definitely be my first tour at that part of the world. I did do a little tour in the Middle East and in Asia, but I haven't been over to these sides, which is honestly one of my favourite tours, to be honest. I'm not just saying this, is when I hit up Australia and New Zealand. I just love that part of the world so much.

It's truly the best part of the world, I've got to say. I mean, we're biased. We are slightly biased, but New Zealand rules. Do you have fond memories of New Zealand? I do. Actually, the first time I came to New Zealand would have been, this is a while ago, man. This would have been maybe, honestly, nearly 16, 17 years ago

I did shows in New Zealand. Wow. Yeah, so it's been a long time, man, and I love flying back every single time. I think the fans and the loyalty and the excitement, it's on another level. I'm trying to think about what's changed in the last 16, 17 years in New Zealand. Not much.

No. Not much happens here. We move at a slower pace than over your ways. We've got a few new buildings. Oh, yeah, we've got a few new restaurants. Amazing. Can't wait to see. Yeah.

Lots of residential development and urban spread, if we want to talk about how cities are set out. There are a lot of cities in that time, but I'm guessing that's probably not what we're here to talk about. We're building a city rail loop as well. Oh, you're going to love it, Jack. You're going to love it. If civil engineering's your thing,

we've got a couple of projects we could show you. But that's not for everybody. That's a bit boring, really. You probably want to see Queenstown and stuff instead. But I tell you what, what we are is definitely

concert deprived. Yeah. We are so excited for summer to just have fun, fun finally just be free because yeah honestly because you you obviously going back 16 years ago you would have been touring like quite a bit but life's changed for you because you've got a family now is that is that going to be like a different kind of beast now you know it's so funny people always ask me like how did how has it changed you you, having kids and having a family and stuff.

And does it affect my songwriting? And I'm like, how could I let that affect my songwriting? I mean, if really, it would be nursery rhymes and baby stuff. And it doesn't change who you are as a person, right? Like, when I write my songs, I'm just, I'm writing it like an author of any book, right? Like, you're going into this imaginary world and you're painting this picture of some other person's life. And I think it's quite funny how a lot of people think how all songs are autobiographical. But I'm like, guys, do you know how many songs we write?

It's definitely not about ourselves. It's always about some other person in an imaginary situation. So, yeah. I feel like Jay Sean's song, Whose Towel Is This? Put Your Clothes In The Laundry And Pick Up Your Toys would be a great, you know. That's a good album song.

You know what I mean? Whose Towel Is This? Exactly. It's sure to be a number one hit on TikTok. Man, it could be easily on TikTok. I tell you what, you should bring your kids to New Zealand with you. We've got one hell of a theme park. They will love

Rainbow's End. Are you just trying to sell New Zealand and all the infrastructure? I feel like it's become... Nothing's changed there for 17 years. That's not true. We got rid of the pirate ship. That thing was about to fly off its handle. That's why.

Yeah, I would love to. Honestly, I would love to bring the kids on the tour. This time around, I'm not going to be able to. But I want to take them to see that part of the world for sure because not many people get the chance to experience that. So what I do try to do now with my tours and my kids, they're well-travelled now. They go around with me and they see different parts of the world

and they finally understand that their dad is slightly cool, which is nice. But usually it's only because they get to meet the other people on the line-up. It's not because I'm there. I think Dawn's kids are still working that out. Oh, no, my kids don't think I'm cool at all. Well, Jayshon, we're super excited.

I announced for Friday Jams Live. We look forward to seeing you in the country in November. Definitely, man. I can't wait. I can't wait to see you guys. ZM's Friday Jams Live. Confirmed artist. AZM.

It's Macklemore. See the full lineup. Text JAMS to 9696 now. Hello, how are you? I'm good. How are you doing? I am not too bad at all. I'm very excited for next Sunday, New Zealand time. You're heading across the ditch from Australia,

coming to perform for us. What is going to make this show a memorable one for you from a crowd perspective? What can we do to make it more memorable for you? You know what? That's a great question and very thoughtful. I think, you know, there's two new songs added to the set. There's Maniac and there's Chance with Tones and I.

Learn all the lyrics to both of those songs and become the most memorable crowd of all time. Hell yeah. I'm so excited that you're playing Chance. Genuinely, literally my favorite song of the year. It's such a good song. Oh, thank you. That's very sweet.

I appreciate that. And I did see on Instagram today that you were hanging out with Tones. Yes, yes. How good was it to catch up? Oh, I love Tones. She's the best. I was just talking to her about camouflage uh hunting

stores outside the green room before i hopped on with you oh my god amazing i love it and in terms of where you are in the world right now you're at in melbourne right now you're about to perform at r&b fridays which is kind of australia's equivalent to friday gems live what is the vibe there have you managed to check out any of the other artists that are performing? Yes, I've been doing some press and I've been working all day, but I did catch a little bit of Craig David. I'm trying to go see TLC.

I want to catch everybody. I missed Ashanti. I missed a bunch of people. Shaggy, I want to see. I'm going to see everybody. Tonight, I'm not going to get to all of them but I'm super humbled to be with this lineup of people

it's just an incredible iconic list of artists so I'm going to see all of them I did see an interview where you were talking about TLC and for you TLC when you were growing up was like the holy grail

how good is it being on a lineup with those guys being able to see them perform not just once but multiple times? I mean, you even just saying that, I have a big old smile on my face. It's that type of music, like TLC, Crazy Sexy Cool. I just remember being a sixth grader with my first girlfriend and listening to Digging On You from Crazy Sexy Cool for like hours on repeat and just thinking about my two week relationship. And I feel like that's the coolest thing about this festival because it doesn't matter which artists you have listened to. All of these artists come with so many memories

and so much nostalgia right completely which is so freaking dope and i also did see an interview that you did there's a little story that goes along with shaggy and shaggy being a part of your family multiplying yeah man no we were we were in a shaggy we're, we were in Shaggy. We were doing a festival with Shaggy. I believe it was in Germany. And Shaggy went on after us. And my wife and I, you know, watched a couple songs. You know, love was in the air.

We went back to the bus and conceived our first child. You were feeling the moment. With Shaggy playing in the background. I think that is the most iconic story, and I can't wait for the day that your child figures this story out. It's so good. I can't wait to tell Shaggy, possibly later tonight. Oh, my God.

Well, when you're here next week, I can't wait to hear what Shaggy's reaction was, because I feel like that's almost like the ultimate compliment, right? I mean a man I mean if someone said that to me I'd probably be weirded out but like I would still hold that in the highest regard honesty is the best policy always yes I also want to talk to you about faithful I feel like this is such an important song on so many levels you've always been super honest and open about your journey with mental health and addiction and i feel it's a conversation that we all need to talk about more and normalize those conversations because people should not be going through these experiences by themselves why for you did now feel

like the right time to release this song you know i've always talked about my struggles with with addiction with mental health um and I don't it's so tough in rolling out an album to figure out what comes next right obviously faithful is not a single or a conventional song that you would you know is gonna go viral on tiktok or any of those types of things it's a record that um you know deals with some some real life issues and and things that are very personable personal to me and to you know people that go through them i i don't know i i played the album for my wife and she gravitated towards that record amongst others, but was like, I really wanted a music video for this. And she is, you know, just a creative through and through, has always had a massive part of our music videos amongst other things.

And, you know, the fact that she wanted to kind of spearhead a video, I was just like, absolutely, let's do that. Let's put that out there. And I think that the timing is is great I think that it's it's awesome to be able to go from like Chance to Maniac to to Faithful and kind of show that that arc and that through line of what this album is going to sound like and it definitely takes you on a journey like each of these songs in their own way are such important parts of your story. And it's so cool that you get to tell that part of your story as well. Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, that's what I've always prided myself on is being able to make different types of records and not get stuck into one thing. So, you know, Faithful is definitely a departure from the first two songs but um i think that it starts to make more and more sense once you hear the rest of the album hell yeah i cannot wait to hear it and it's in collaboration with nle chopper which he adds a different perspective to the song obviously you're talking from your perspective and he's kind of like your friend and explaining that kind of perspective how How did that collab come about? You know, I've just respected him as an artist and, you know, from afar and him as a person and what I had seen online.

And he definitely seemed like he was, you know, focused on health and being a vegan and celibacy. And, you know, there's always some shit that NLE Chop was doing that always gets some headlines. But, you know, I've always thought that he was a dope rapper and it was definitely a left field collaboration. And, you know, I just love what he brought to the record. He did exactly what you said, like from a perspective of a supportive friend and i was really impressed

that he was able to kind of like put himself into my world in an authentic way totally it's yeah as i said such a beautiful song but such an important message behind the song as well which is dope for somebody who might be listening right now who is struggling with either mental health or addiction, I know it's difficult to give advice because each situation is so individual. But is there any advice you can give to someone who might be experiencing that themselves? I mean, a massive, massive part of the process of recovery for me is, is the surrender is to admit that, um, you know, for me that I was powerless, you know, over, over drugs and over alcohol and, um, the willingness to get help. And, uh, big part of my recovery is, uh, you know, a 12 step program, going to meetings, being a part of the community of other people with the same disease of addiction, and surrendering yourself with those that make you feel a part of.

I think we long for that as human beings, to feel a part of something bigger than ourselves. Without the support of my friends and my sponsor, I wouldn't be in the position that I am in now. So that's the main thing that I give advice for is that there's meetings all over the world in basements of churches or halls or anywhere else where there are people that would love to help you and would love to welcome you into the community of recovery and i think that's also one of the scariest things if you are facing something like this when you feel like you have to do it alone but as you've just said like there are people willing to help you and people that want to help you as well yeah there are people that

their recovery depends on newcomers coming in. And so they can be of service. And then when you get that service and you start to recover and your life changes, you are getting a position to give that away to somebody else. And the cycle continues of getting free. It's a beautiful thing. Absolutely. ZM's Friday Jams Live. Confirmed artist. TLC.

See the full line-up. Text JAMS to 9696 now. On Sunday, 13th of November, TLC will take the stage at Friday Jams Live, and we are joined by the one, the only, Chillie on the show right now. Are you waving? I'm waving.

We are not worthy. How are you, Chilli? It's so good to connect with you and have some time to talk to you. Yes, it is. I'm happy to be here finally. It's been a long time. It's been, what, how many years has it been? 2016 you were here last, Chilly, I believe.

Ooh. So it's been a little while and we're so excited to have you guys back. Are you pumped to get back to New Zealand? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, we're ready. What do you know about New Zealand? We're right down here at the bottom of the world. I don't think we cross people's radars too often. What do you know?

When you think about New Zealand, what do you think about? Well, when I think about New Zealand, I think about first of all it is absolutely beautiful thank you it's so pretty and i remember everything kind of shutting down like around six ish seven you know but for somebody like me you know i don't like to hang out and all that. I kept thinking about family. You know, you get to go home and eat dinner with your kids or whatever. You know what I'm saying? Before it gets all late. Yeah.

So I thought that was really cool that you guys shut down a little. Well, we've got a special curfew leave pass for Friday Jams Live. So we're allowed to stay out until midnight for that one. So we'll be there. Don't you worry about it. It's going to be a late one, midnight. Look out. Hey, I've got a question for you, and I've always wondered this.

Do you ever get sick of people tagging your music every time they visit a waterfall? No, I don't. I actually think it's it's so sweet and um it just amazes me that people will even think about us like that or just people you know you never know who knows you and and what impact you've had on them on their lives at whatever point in time and so I always love those little moments like that you know yeah it makes sense to me well it happens a lot here you have to see a waterfall then you

should start doing the dance too you know yeah yeah yeah there's a lot of waterfalls here around New Zealand so it happens uh happens a lot it's one of my life goals yeah to visit a waterfall and recreate the dance uh which I'm getting there slowly. You guys have such good dance moves that I'm struggling at the minute. It's pretty easy. It's just a shoulder bounce. Yeah, you know, just kind of like lean to the sides. I've got to learn the shoulder bounce. Hey, Chili, I saw, I mean, Halloween's just happened,

and it's massive in the States, obviously. Did you happen to see that Kim Kardashian's daughter, North West West dressed up as you guys for Halloween? Yeah, I actually posted because Kim tagged us I think she tagged Tion too and I posted

it and it was so cute and then I DM'd her we started DMing each other and then North left me this sweetest little message she wants to come to a TLC concert and she wants front row seats. Is that crazy? Is that crazy that this whole new generation, these kids, are getting the music? That's cool, right?

That's got to be awesome. Yeah, it is. I mean, I think it's such a blessing when you have a catalog that can, you know, continue to be like that. Yeah, I mean, and you don't know until years go by. Time tells you if that's going to be like that, you know? So we're very blessed. Speaking of time, it's been 20 years this year since the world lost Lisa Left Eye Lopez.

How do you guys incorporate her into your live shows? Or do you? Does she feature in tlc live performances at all well what we do we don't mute all of her raps or anything like that and the fans love that because they love to rap along with her you know and the songs and stuff so you know we definitely make sure that we keep her spirit alive. You know, like when you come to a TLC concert, it's not just T-Boz and myself.

I mean, you feel the energy of, you know, it's the three of us always. We'll always represent for our sister. Always and forever. We're the only ones that can do it. Yeah, exactly right. I love that. And I love how you guys have, yeah kind of i don't know kept her spirit alive throughout your shows you can really tell and something i wanted to ask you what do you guys

do to prepare before a show like this is there any kind of traditions that you do before you go out on the stage um not really traditions but i definitely make sure, you know, hydration is very important. It is. It's all that singing and dancing. I mean, you know, I'm always jumping around on the stage. I mean, that's just my thing. I love it. When I can't do that anymore, I'm done. I will have to retire. And, you know, just make sure we make sure we rest get enough rest but hydration is the most important thing because you have to have those cords nicely lubricated it's good for everything else water you know i i am an h2o queen i need to take some advice from you drink some more water we're talking to chili from from TLC she's coming to

be one of the headline artists at Friday Jams Live on Sunday the 13th of November I really hope I'm not overstepping the mark here

with this question but I probably won't get another chance to speak to you ever again I don't know if I'm going to get

this opportunity growing up for me one of my favourite albums not even growing up to this day one of my favorite albums, not even growing up, to this day one of my favorite albums of all time is Usher Confessions. And in preparing for this interview, I did a little bit of research. I spent my entire youth believing that that album was written about you and that Confessions, the song, was written about you

and that you are the woman that he did the dirty on in that whole album. And I've had my mind blown today where it turns out that might not be the case. So, Chili from TLC, can I please ask you straight up face to face, did Asha cheat on you? Okay, well, first of all, the album is not about me at all. When we were together and he was recording, I was with him, I would say 80% of the time when he was recording. Those experiences were about Jermaine Dupri, who actually wrote the songs with, oh my gosh, I can't think of the other writer's name. Oh, Brian, Michael B. Cox.

Right. I get Brian from him. Anyways, yeah, so Michael B. Cox. They wrote the song and Usher, you know, he sang the record. And I was there. But honestly, it's sad because the reason people think or thought that, well, still think, i'm sure somebody does that the album was about our relationship is because we had already broken up before the album had come out yeah and

we didn't break up because of any cheating anything um because i was not aware of that but i didn't take him back because I found out some things. Right. Okay. Talking about that, it was just one of those days I was, you know, on the radio station that I just felt like talking. And I remember telling him, I said, you know what? You need to either write me a check or send something because that album sold because people thought that it was about us. Where's my cut. A hundred percent. Where's my cut?

A hundred percent. It was like Shakespearean, this portrayal and the storytelling. But it was not. It was not. You know what? You've actually altered my perception of my entire youth with that information. I found that out today. I've been listening to that album since the early 2000s

I found that information out today that's unbelievable you're like today years old I'm literally today years old that's incredible well we appreciate the honesty can I just say you have such an amazing energy

and you are literally the soundtrack of my youth and I know Clint's youth and we're actually genuinely so pumped to have you here. So thank you so much for taking the time. Of course. Thank you so much. Are you guys going to be at the show?

Of course. We're going to hype you up. We're going to try and be there to bring you out on stage with Fat Man's School. Oh, that would be awesome. So we'll get to meet you. Yeah, hopefully. We would love that.

That's Chelly from TLC. Don't miss it. You need to get your tickets to be at Friday Jams Live as soon as possible. Friday Jams Live, Sunday, November 13th at Western Springs Stadium. Well, this Sunday, we're all very excited. And emceeing the whole damn thing, Fat Man Scoop. That is correct. That is correct.

How y'all doing this morning? Good. Good. Good. What a burst of energy you are. Yes, I'm here. Thank God. You must be excited. I am. I mean, you know, one of the things that

I asked Mushroom Group to do was to make sure that I come here and talk to everyone. Yeah. Because we only get to do one show here. So I want to make sure that all my Kiwis, all my people are out here in force at this thing because it's only coming around once.

And we've been waiting a long time as well. I mean, we've been locked down and no concerts, nothing fun. Two years. Yeah. Two years. You know, when someone takes something away from you for two years and then they give it back, how do you behave? So this is going to be crazy.

You say, thank you. This is going to be nutso because people, you take something away like this from people, you take their joy away, you take care of everything, it could get animalistic out there. It could be something else completely. Fat Man Scoop, it could get animalistic out there. It could be something else completely. Fat Man Scoop, I'm ready to get buck wild.

I'm going to get buck wild. Listen, you still got to come to work the next day. But be careful. It's almost like the Christmas party. Don't drink too much alcohol. Don't do too much because you still got to be in here with these guys tomorrow.

Or we could just take the day off. We could take Monday off. But listen, even if you take Monday off, don't do something crazy because you're going to have to look him in the face on Tuesday. So don't go too crazy. I reckon they've seen it all. I've got to stretch me into a face. Oh, here she is.

Head tilt, hands on hips. By the way, I want to ask you a question. Please do Because I've been asking And I need an answer Who has the contract To the Prime Minister Vaughn went to school with her

I went to school with her You did Yeah Get out of here No Bro does that go to school Where you just saw her Walking in the hallways

Or this is I was in math class We went to a small school Yeah we were on student council. So listen, bro. I need her to come and DJ for me at the show. I want her to DJ while I perform. Can you work that out?

I can put some, yeah. No, no, no, bro, bro, bro. I don't need, I need definite stuff. Like, I don't need, like, I can put some. I can ask. I need you to sort it out. I'll ask it, okay. So then who do I talk to?

Whose ass do I kiss to get this done? Kiss Vaughn's ass. No, no, no. He messages him all the time. He's got a direct line. So you're going to do this for me? Yeah. I'll ask.

Okay. I'm giving you my WhatsApp. Okay. Okay. I'm depending on you to do this. I'm going to be all over you like a polyester shirt. Okay. I can ask. You think she'll do it?

I don't know. Because since she's been Prime Minister, she's stepped away from the DJ. She hasn't DJ'd since? Maybe once? Since being Prime Minister. I don't know if she's done it at all. You typically, here's the thing. Can I, if I ask her, you think she'll do it?

Hey, we can try. We can make a video. Do you want to make a video now? Give it to me, I'll send it. Make a video now and you ask her. Okay. Hang on, I'm going to set this up. Okay Make a video now and you ask her. Hang on. I'm going to set this up.

Okay. Open up the video. G'day, mate. I've got someone here who wants to ask you a question. Hello, Miss Prime Minister. This is Fat Man Scoop, the undisputed voice of the club, the two-time Grammy Award winner. I'm the guy that says, Fat Man Scoop, Club McLean.

I know. As a DJ, Fat Man Scoop, Clark McClain. I know. As a DJ, you've heard that before. I need you to bring it on down to Fridays Live. I would like you to be my personal DJ during my performance set. Is there anything that I can do for you? Can I pet your dog? Can I walk your cat? What can I do to get this done?

I'm going to leave it in this man's hands right here who claims that he went to school with you. I don't know if that's true or not. But I really need this to happen. My WhatsApp, just in case you want to reach out to me, is

thank you in Jesus' name. Oh man, she can't say no to that. She. Oh, man. She can't say no to that. She can't say no. She can't say no. Well, yeah. Y'all not going to put my WhatsApp on the radio. I beeped it out. I beeped it out. You know, the calls I would probably get if you let that go, if you let

that fly be a bunch of people New Zealanders would be like, oh, you got any tickets, Fat Man Scoop? Oh, listen, listen. This is the time where everybody comes out. Fat Man Scoop, your energy is second to none. I cannot wait to join you at Friday Jams Live. Go crazy.

It's about the people. Thanks for joining us. No problem. And are you guys going to come out and be on stage with me? Sure. You sure? Well, Hayley will get buck wild. I don't know.

You might regret asking. I've promised getting buck wild. Okay. Well, I'm expecting you guys to be there. Thank you. Friday Jams Live Sunday, November 13th

at Western Springs Stadium.