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Speaker 1: Here's to rap rate our podcast. My name is beat Elliot,

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Speaker 1: Willson Elliott. Today we got the hardest working man in

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Speaker 1: television in the building, Mr Media man, Stephen A. Smith

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Speaker 1: on the Hip Hop Podcast. Can't believe it. He's wrapping

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Speaker 1: at HBCU movement. He's out there as an abassador. But

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Speaker 1: you know, we gotta talk about his time at ESPN two.

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Speaker 1: It's the first taking the building and he's also a

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Speaker 1: hip hop fan too. We're gonna see men were gonna

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Speaker 1: put him to the test. Let's do it. Let's get

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Speaker 1: into a man rap rate our podcast. Stephen A. Smith.

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Speaker 1: It's a special man. You know, you got an A

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Speaker 1: level guests. You have to get the right set man right,

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Speaker 1: the most respective voice of sports media today, the one man,

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Speaker 1: Stephen A. Smith. What's going on, fellas Ueen. We're gonna

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Speaker 1: get to that putting the network on his back? A

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Speaker 1: k now. I wish, I wish it ain't no days off, man,

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Speaker 1: but that's how it goes. I mean, it's my time

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Speaker 1: and when it's there, you gotta grab it. Beside, I

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Speaker 1: can't run from work. And besides the work I see,

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Speaker 1: besides the work you do daily. If you don't give

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Speaker 1: us enough information. I see you really stepping out representing

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Speaker 1: h b c U. You know, can you explain with

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Speaker 1: your rollers. That's a couple of things. Number One, I

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Speaker 1: gotta give a lot of love and credit to my

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Speaker 1: man Rashaan McDonald. He's my business manager. Used to work

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Speaker 1: with Steve Harvey. I've known him. Me and I go

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Speaker 1: back nearly twenty years. Obviously I'm still pretty type with

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Speaker 1: Steve Harvey as well, so major props to him. But

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Speaker 1: you've got people like Earl Cooper and Ashley Christopher who

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Speaker 1: are co founders of HBCU Week is the third annual

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Speaker 1: HBCU Week being held at Delaware State University. Got a

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Speaker 1: mayor and Della of Women's in Delawares involved Mayor Persicki

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Speaker 1: and John Karney, the governor, and both US senators congressional

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Speaker 1: figures from the state of Delaware, all these people involved.

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Speaker 1: In months ago, they had me down to honor me

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Speaker 1: because obviously I'm an HBCU graft from wins the Seal

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Speaker 1: of State. And while they were honoring me for my

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Speaker 1: contribution to HBCUs, you know just you know, in terms

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Speaker 1: of my accomplishments and the fact that with a quarter

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Speaker 1: mill yeah, I didn't with the quart of ye yeah, yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 1: quarter a million dollars that I dedicated to the university

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Speaker 1: from you from a couple of years ago. So I've

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Speaker 1: been doing that like fifty every year and what have you.

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Speaker 1: You know, it's my way of giving back, as I

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Speaker 1: promised my coach the Late Clarence Big House Games that

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Speaker 1: I would always get back anytime I had something, I

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Speaker 1: was going to extend myself. And so they were honoring

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Speaker 1: me for that, and then in the process of doing so,

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Speaker 1: they asked me to be an ambassador for HBCU Week.

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Speaker 1: And obviously the goal was to address you know, for

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Speaker 1: the minority communities and showing that hbc use the value

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Speaker 1: of HBCU, hbc use not just in education, but the

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Speaker 1: relationships that you cultivate that ultimately last a lifetime, encouraging

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Speaker 1: folks UH to really zero in and lock in on

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Speaker 1: getting a higher education. Because everybody can't be an athlete,

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Speaker 1: everybody can't be a rap star, everybody can't be, you know,

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Speaker 1: an actor and actress. There's a lot of media. You know,

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Speaker 1: you might have three percent of graduates being from hbc US,

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Speaker 1: but we make up a boatload of professional positions, and

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Speaker 1: you know, in in in the world of you know,

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Speaker 1: dentistry and education and things of that nature. And so

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Speaker 1: when you look at it from that perspective and understand

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Speaker 1: that somebody in my position that's on national TV and

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Speaker 1: national radio every year, with the profile that I have

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Speaker 1: and the kind of reach that I have where I'm

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Speaker 1: reaching over fifty to seventy five million people per week

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Speaker 1: based on, you know, the kind of content that I

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Speaker 1: put forth on ESPN. They asked me to be a

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Speaker 1: part of it, and so once we became a part

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Speaker 1: of it, it just took off. Rashawn and concert with

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Speaker 1: Earl and Ashley and all of those officials that I mentioned.

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Speaker 1: They're having an HBCU fair where you know that Friday,

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Speaker 1: the same Friday because I'm taking first take my television

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Speaker 1: show on the every we thing, and I'm bringing that

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Speaker 1: down live to the event. I got Magic Johnson coming,

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Speaker 1: I got Troy Vincent, the executive VP of the NFL,

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Speaker 1: who's a brother who used to play for the Philadelphia Eagles.

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Speaker 1: He's coming on down. The list goes on and on.

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Speaker 1: Supportive of it. Oh well, ESPN is big about that.

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Speaker 1: They recognized the fact that black folks make up close

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Speaker 1: to fifty percent of the ESPNS audience, So it would

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Speaker 1: behoove the espn UH to definitely catered to that audience

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Speaker 1: to some degree. And obviously who I am, I'm incredibly

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Speaker 1: connected to the African American community because I'm not just

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Speaker 1: a black man, I'm a brother and they know what

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Speaker 1: time it is in that regard, and so if I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna be involved in it, why not be involved in

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Speaker 1: And then everybody just stepped it up. You have this

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Speaker 1: college fear. You bring your your grades along with your

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Speaker 1: S A T, A C T schools and you could

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Speaker 1: get a scholarship on the spot. You could get enrollment

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Speaker 1: in the hbc USED on the spot. You have a

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Speaker 1: you know, battle of the bands, marching bands are coming

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Speaker 1: and stuff like that. And I just want to read

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Speaker 1: off real quick. These nations schools, Albany State, these are

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Speaker 1: all schools that will be participating in HBCU Week this Friday.

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Speaker 1: That's right. Albany State University, Barber Scotia College, Benedict College,

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Speaker 1: but through Cookman College, Bouie State University, Cheney University, Clark

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Speaker 1: Atlanta University, Copton State University, Delaware State University, Hampton Hampton, Howard,

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Speaker 1: Lincoln University, all three of them, more House College, Morgan

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Speaker 1: State University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina A and T University,

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Speaker 1: North Carolina Central, Spellman, still Men, Tuskegee, University of Maryland,

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Speaker 1: Eastern Shore, Virginia State, West Virginia State, Wildie College. And

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Speaker 1: of course my alma materel Winston Salem State. So that's

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Speaker 1: I'm an alumnus of Delaware State University. Why did you

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Speaker 1: decide to go to Winston Salim State? Well basketball scholarship?

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Speaker 1: You know, I I believe it or not. I went

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Speaker 1: to F I T. Fashion Institute, the head technology at

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Speaker 1: the high school, Thomas Constallation in the house, I didn't

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Speaker 1: do that great, thank god they didn't they thank god,

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Speaker 1: and didn't burn somebody's house down. But you know, but

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Speaker 1: the thing is is that I was while I was

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Speaker 1: at Thomas Um, not at Thomas after I graduate from

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Speaker 1: Thomas Edison. Coming out of high school, I was like

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Speaker 1: five nine, a hundred and thirty pounds. Man. I was

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Speaker 1: a small our time, but I could really shoot you

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Speaker 1: to the I was getting scholarship office, obviously, but f

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Speaker 1: I T. Fascions Institute of Technology. But I used to

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Speaker 1: laugh about that. But I had two advantages. Okay, Number one,

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Speaker 1: the basketball team was really the only male population in

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Speaker 1: the school from everybody else. Everyone else was either female

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Speaker 1: or they were homosexuals not interested in the females. So

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Speaker 1: that left the females to the basketball team. So we

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Speaker 1: were very very we were in Okay, and last but

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Speaker 1: not least we were. It was junior college and we

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Speaker 1: were ranked fifteenth in the nation. And so the year

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Speaker 1: I was there, we were thirty five and four. We

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Speaker 1: were doing our thing and what have you. And then

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Speaker 1: a guy by the name of Howard funny Kit he

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Speaker 1: used to play for Winston Salem State and big house

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Speaker 1: games in the seventies. He kept a good relationship with

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Speaker 1: the coach, brought me down for a tryout. Um the

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Speaker 1: coach put me on the basketball floor against the starters.

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Speaker 1: I dropped seventeen straight three pointers and he and he

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Speaker 1: gave me a scholarship on the spot. That's how I

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Speaker 1: ended up and went to Salem State. That was that

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Speaker 1: was my brightest moment, because from that point forward, I

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Speaker 1: cracked my kneecap in half and I would never the same.

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Speaker 1: And that was that. What do you think it's gonna

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Speaker 1: take for more athletes to go to HBCUs makes it

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Speaker 1: more attractive. Well, I think that, first of all, the

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Speaker 1: big time athletes are always going to go to the

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Speaker 1: big time universities because that's where the money and the

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Speaker 1: exposure is, which facilitates, in their eyes, positioning yourself to

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Speaker 1: get paid in more more immediately down the line. But

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Speaker 1: that doesn't mean that there isn't an abundance of opportunities

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Speaker 1: for a lot of folks, particularly from our communities, to

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Speaker 1: choose to go to an HBCU and make something of

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Speaker 1: themselves and make some noise as well. And I think

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Speaker 1: that's the most important thing. I think you're gonna see

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Speaker 1: a lot of people. The more HBC user advertised, the

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Speaker 1: more the expenses of HBC used in comparison to those

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Speaker 1: bigger schools come into play. I think once those things

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Speaker 1: I highlighted, folks like myself and others help because we

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Speaker 1: show that just because you're from an hbc U doesn't

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Speaker 1: necessarily limit your opportunities. You could go out there and

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Speaker 1: Sean and corporate America just like anybody else. If you

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Speaker 1: have a degree, understand what it really really means, it

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Speaker 1: really really speaks to you have the ability to read,

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Speaker 1: to write, to comprehend. It's the internships that define your

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Speaker 1: passion and your skill set, and that doesn't have anything

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Speaker 1: necessarily to do with where you get the education from.

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Speaker 1: It has a lot more to do with the opportunity

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Speaker 1: that's given to you. So I think it's important that

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Speaker 1: people like myself and others really push Corporate America to

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Speaker 1: take a look at talent emanating from the HBCU communities

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Speaker 1: and and more importantly, to make sure that those opportunities

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Speaker 1: are highlighted, make sure that its visual is visualized and

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Speaker 1: visible to the average person out there when you talk

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Speaker 1: about where they're going to college or whatever. You if

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Speaker 1: you see a brother or a sister making good with

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Speaker 1: themselves and advertising that it's gonna take a collective effort.

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Speaker 1: You know how they talk about how it takes a

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Speaker 1: community to raise everybody. Well, if you've got essence and

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Speaker 1: you got jet and you got Ebdy and all of

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Speaker 1: this stuff, don't just put the president in the United

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Speaker 1: States on the cover when they're black or the popular

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Speaker 1: actress of somebody else. Put a star in Corporate America

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Speaker 1: from an HBCU on the cover, Put them on radio,

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Speaker 1: put them on television, when you're highlighting what cats are doing. Ultimately,

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Speaker 1: that level of exposure is what makes somebody says, hum,

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Speaker 1: I could go there and achieve just what I would

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Speaker 1: achieve if I went to an Ivy League school or

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Speaker 1: something considered a little bit less than an Ivy League school.

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Speaker 1: I'm a perfect example that I go. First take, I

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Speaker 1: used to go against my man, Skip Baylors. Skip Baylors

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Speaker 1: went went to Vanderbilt that was like the Ivy League

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Speaker 1: of the South. Max Kellerman is his replacement. He went

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Speaker 1: to Columbia. In my mind, I smoked both. So I mean,

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Speaker 1: let's since you both brothers both went to HBCUs, like,

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Speaker 1: what's the experience closely? Like? What I think for me

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Speaker 1: personally is this. I mean, I think that when we

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Speaker 1: walk outside in corporate America, when we walk out our

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Speaker 1: front doorsteps and we travel away from our neighborhoods, what

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Speaker 1: you find it's not like look and at whites, looking

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Speaker 1: at Latinos or anybody else and always feeling there against you.

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Speaker 1: That's not it. It's that the level of brotherhood and

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Speaker 1: sisterhood and family that you get from being around your

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Speaker 1: own is absent. So when you go to an h

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Speaker 1: b C. U. It's one thing to go to class

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Speaker 1: every day and learn from professors, but when you're learning

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Speaker 1: from professors that look like you, When you're going to

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Speaker 1: class with students that look like you, and there's a

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Speaker 1: certain cultural identity that you share with one another, experiences

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Speaker 1: that you can relate to with one another, you build,

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Speaker 1: you know, friendships and cultivate friendships and things of that

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Speaker 1: nature from that. And as those things grow and it elevates,

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Speaker 1: you elevate, and you elevate together and you elevate as

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Speaker 1: a group. And so this friendships that never leave you.

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Speaker 1: And you know what, you're gonna everybody's gonna fall, You're

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Speaker 1: gonna hit roadblocks, etcetera, etcetera. You might even fall to

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Speaker 1: an abyss, but you know the people around you are

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Speaker 1: not gonna allow you to fall if they can help themselves.

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Speaker 1: And more importantly, chances are even if you do fall,

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Speaker 1: this going to be somebody there to lift you up.

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Speaker 1: And that's not to say somebody from a different community

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Speaker 1: doesn't have the heart and the passion and the god

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Speaker 1: fearing mentality to do that for you as well. But

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Speaker 1: we know how it is coming from African American communities

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Speaker 1: throughout this nation. Do we believe they're gonna do that.

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Speaker 1: Hell no, we hope they will. We think it's possible

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Speaker 1: and whatever, But our belief system doesn't lend itself touch

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Speaker 1: towards us thinking they're going to look out for us

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Speaker 1: and they're going to watch our back. We not only

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Speaker 1: believe it with one another, we expected. We're genuinely hurt

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Speaker 1: when it doesn't happen, because there's a level of comfort

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Speaker 1: that we have with one another. And when you have

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Speaker 1: that on a collegiate level, when you go in the

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Speaker 1: class and you you got a job, work study or

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Speaker 1: after school job, and instead of living on campus, you

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Speaker 1: want to get your own apartment. It's usually with a

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Speaker 1: roommate in college. You're usually not living alone when you

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Speaker 1: in college. So there's a level of trust and all

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Speaker 1: of these other elements that come to it. That speaks

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Speaker 1: to family, that speaks to a brother hood and sisterhood

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Speaker 1: and things of that nature, and those are the kind

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Speaker 1: of things that you carry with you wherever you go.

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Speaker 1: I got boys that I went to college with. They're

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Speaker 1: still my boys. I've been out of college since nineteen

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Speaker 1: ninety two. Still my boys. Boris and Mark and Ski

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Speaker 1: and Spank and the crew. He's all my boys talk

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Speaker 1: all the time. And then you said my nickname in

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Speaker 1: college was Saul. That's what they called me. They don't know,

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Speaker 1: they don't. They only know stephen A because they see

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Speaker 1: me on TV. If they picked up the phone, it

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Speaker 1: would be Saul. What's up? That's what they called me.

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Speaker 1: So what was it like growing up on Hollers Queen? Saul?

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Speaker 1: It was great about it. I think that when you

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Speaker 1: think Hollis Queens, we only thought like run DMCs, like

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Speaker 1: your name is right there. Jam Master J was was

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Speaker 1: great friends with my late brother. My late brother, Bagel

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Speaker 1: died in a car accident in nineteen ninewo and El Passo, Texas.

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Speaker 1: Jam Master J lived with one hundred yards up on

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Speaker 1: to thirds between one one eleven and Hollis. I lived

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Speaker 1: on to thirds between one eleventh and one twelve, just

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Speaker 1: a block of way. So we so we grew up.

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Speaker 1: You know, I knew like even though I knew Run

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Speaker 1: because uh, you know his his lady lived right across

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Speaker 1: the street from me from me and my family. D

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Speaker 1: m C. I didn't know as well until later on,

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Speaker 1: but run DMC, you know from Hollers Queen's they was

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Speaker 1: you know jam Master J. We knew him very well.

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Speaker 1: I knew when you know, jam Master Jay called me

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Speaker 1: when my brother died. I mean I knew him very well.

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Speaker 1: So my heart was real broken when that stuff happened

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Speaker 1: to him. But you know, they represented Hollis very well.

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Speaker 1: But I got news for you, L. L. Co J.

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Speaker 1: Farmers Bullevards. Farmers Bullevards five minutes away from Hollis. You

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Speaker 1: can walk to Farmers. We never wanted to. We rode

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Speaker 1: the bike we're gonna trying to walk and blocked whatever.

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Speaker 1: But that was inspired me for growing queens because like

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Speaker 1: the first raps, they were like the first rap superstars,

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Speaker 1: and they were right from the community of queens that

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Speaker 1: like not what Well, first of all, it showed you that,

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Speaker 1: you know what I mean, like like like you know

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Speaker 1: what the saying was from Hollos to Hollywood. You know.

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Speaker 1: So it's like if you you know, if they can

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Speaker 1: make it. They gave you the inspiration to believe that

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Speaker 1: you can make it. Um. You know, we were surrounding

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Speaker 1: a lot of people believe because they ain't the projects,

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Speaker 1: per say, you got single homes, single family homes, things

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Speaker 1: of that nature. But the streets of Holland Queens as

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Speaker 1: you well know, it's Violet. You know I grew up

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Speaker 1: with drug dealers. I grew up, you know, with a

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Speaker 1: lot of violence. Some of like a couple of my

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Speaker 1: cats are crippled to this very day. They caught a

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Speaker 1: couple of bullets, a couple of cats to dad. They

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Speaker 1: you know, they got taken out the wrong way. They

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Speaker 1: were involved in that life. The reason why I never

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Speaker 1: speak ill of it and my relationship is different is

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Speaker 1: because I was an up and coming do trying to

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Speaker 1: play ball and trying to make it and the drug

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Speaker 1: dealers would the one who saved my life because they

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Speaker 1: kept me away from the game. They were like, you

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Speaker 1: go ball like we would be. I would. I would

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Speaker 1: always practice the rims of one ninety two one too,

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Speaker 1: because everybody like Mark Jackson and the corner they were

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Speaker 1: had a Conno park and you have some cats like

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Speaker 1: Seth and them. They were at Jamaica and then me

300
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Speaker 1: Seth and Seth and his brother was really good ball.

301
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Speaker 1: But they end up having the one eye injury. One

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Speaker 1: of his eyes was really bad or whatever. But he

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00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:10,880
Speaker 1: went to Fresno State. He was something special. Lloyd sweet

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Speaker 1: Pete Daniels from that neighborhood. Remember where the star he was.

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Speaker 1: They were talking about this brother was the second coming.

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Speaker 1: We all grew up together. We used to go over

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Speaker 1: there play at I S eight Hillside Avenue and all

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Speaker 1: the time. I mean, this is this you bring that,

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Speaker 1: bringing us, bringing us, you bringing back a lot of memories.

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Speaker 1: But I'm just saying that, you know, back then, you

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Speaker 1: know we were in Hollis and what have you in

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Speaker 1: you just had cats that I was at one ninety

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Speaker 1: two and it was no full court, it was just

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Speaker 1: the full course was at the Connor Park in Jamaica.

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Speaker 1: The half courts three on three games was really at

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Speaker 1: PS one ninety two Junior High School and the drug

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Speaker 1: dealers all over Hollis and all they had was one

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Speaker 1: street light. That was the light at night that you

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Speaker 1: had to look at to shoot jump shots. And that's

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Speaker 1: how my jump shot improved because the only light was

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Speaker 1: across the street. So I was basically shooting in the

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Speaker 1: dog with a little light coming in. And I remember

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Speaker 1: didn't have any nets. He knows, I know what I'm

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00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:07,840
Speaker 1: talking about. The don't have any nets at all, So

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Speaker 1: it was just the rim and all you could see

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Speaker 1: was the round the rim So shooting in broad daylight

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Speaker 1: was like butter to me because it was like, wait

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Speaker 1: a dog, and now it's broad daylight lights everywhere. Oh

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Speaker 1: I got this. They don't even know, so it was

330
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Speaker 1: like that, but they could have. And you know, sometimes

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Speaker 1: it was shooting sometimes cats and get taken out. All

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Speaker 1: this kind of stuff was going on, and literally four

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Speaker 1: or five nights a week, you had some of the

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Speaker 1: big time drug dealers in the neighborhood that literally had

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Speaker 1: a two hour radios where they would not let anybody

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Speaker 1: come in the park and bother me because they said

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00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:45,760
Speaker 1: he trying to do something. Let that man shoot the

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Speaker 1: jump shots. And then when it was time to do business,

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00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:50,800
Speaker 1: they would say, Yo, you gotta go, you gotta go

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Speaker 1: right now. But they would always give me like two

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Speaker 1: hours a night, like five nights a week. So that's

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Speaker 1: the world that I come from when I speak about

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Speaker 1: the streets and things of that nature. Everybody act like

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Speaker 1: his son New. You got young knuckleheads out here acting

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00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:04,800
Speaker 1: like his son New. It ain't new. We've been to

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00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:06,639
Speaker 1: this game, We've seen this game. We know what this

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00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:09,399
Speaker 1: game is about. We just grew up and at at

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00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:11,520
Speaker 1: some point in time you're gonna get older and you're

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Speaker 1: gonna grow up. So it kind of hit home when

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Speaker 1: you did that story in Carlton Hines when he when

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00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:18,840
Speaker 1: he passed away, it was familiar to you. Well, the

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00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:21,440
Speaker 1: Carlton Hans story for those that don't know, I was

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Speaker 1: a high school riter for the New York Daily News

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Speaker 1: and Carlton Hans was a star basketball player in New

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Speaker 1: York City and he was murdered. He was gunned down

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Speaker 1: in broad daylight. Brother rolled up on him two o'clock

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Speaker 1: in the afternoon in the bronx, blew his head off,

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Speaker 1: right in broad daylight, front of everybody. Wasn't even hot,

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Speaker 1: and didn't even run away, blew his head off and

360
00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:42,680
Speaker 1: walked away. He didn't give a damn. And so I

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00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:45,920
Speaker 1: did the story where I interviewed his mother and interviewed

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Speaker 1: his family and what have you. And they gave me

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Speaker 1: pictures of him in the casket. They gave me pictures

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Speaker 1: of his funeral and all of this other stuff. So

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Speaker 1: the New York Daily News turned it into this big, big,

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Speaker 1: huge end zone piece, and that was a big story

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Speaker 1: that helped propel my career be as they was wondering,

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Speaker 1: how did I get a story like that. Well, it

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00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:05,879
Speaker 1: was very very simple. I'm from these streets, so it

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Speaker 1: was nothing for me to go and talk to them

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Speaker 1: and let them know this is who I am, this

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Speaker 1: is the story that I'm trying to tell, And no

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Speaker 1: way am I trying to compromise you anyway like that.

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Speaker 1: But I am a journalist. I have to do my job,

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Speaker 1: and this is what they're saying. The hard part of

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00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:23,760
Speaker 1: that particular story. Even though everybody the neighborhood knew that

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00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:27,600
Speaker 1: he was somewhat involved in the drug game, probably against

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00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:30,360
Speaker 1: his will because he was he had star power as

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00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:34,240
Speaker 1: a basketball player, you know, his mother didn't know, and

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Speaker 1: more importantly, she refused to believe it. She was truly

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Speaker 1: a mother that loved her child, loved him, you know, tremendously,

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Speaker 1: and just couldn't stomach and absorb the thought of him

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Speaker 1: being involved in that game. And I was like, this

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Speaker 1: is what it is. This is what the police is

385
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Speaker 1: telling me. And not only that, you're from the streets

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00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:01,320
Speaker 1: where you're gonna get your sources. Like, it's nothing for

387
00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:03,800
Speaker 1: me to go into the streets and talk to a cat,

388
00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:05,760
Speaker 1: you know how they roll. They're like, just don't say

389
00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:09,440
Speaker 1: my name. You ain't here from me. But and I'm like,

390
00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:12,119
Speaker 1: I can't tell you where I got this from. But

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00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:15,200
Speaker 1: I had numerous sources that said, yo, we dealt with him,

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00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:17,600
Speaker 1: we know this is what it was just and they

393
00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:19,119
Speaker 1: you know, they let me know. You know, now you

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00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:21,880
Speaker 1: know they're representing right, you know, don't you can tell

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Speaker 1: the truth. But don't miss disrespect himself. Of course not,

396
00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:27,000
Speaker 1: of course not because I ain't trying to violate anybody.

397
00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:28,920
Speaker 1: So that's really what happened. And that's the story he

398
00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:30,960
Speaker 1: was alluded to it. So growing up in Queens, you know,

399
00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:33,199
Speaker 1: you're exposed to run D n C l O's right

400
00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:35,280
Speaker 1: down the block. What early records were you impressed by

401
00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:37,200
Speaker 1: on the hip hop Sucker m C S Was it

402
00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:42,600
Speaker 1: the ain't no questions that that changed the game idea?

403
00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:45,119
Speaker 1: Of course, you know all of that stuff. Walked this

404
00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:47,600
Speaker 1: way when they collaborate and walked this way was really

405
00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:50,960
Speaker 1: really big because you on the song with white boys

406
00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:56,879
Speaker 1: when nobody trying to hear that. Nobody's trying to hear that.

407
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Speaker 1: After me, what the hell is that? Time? Like this,

408
00:20:01,119 --> 00:20:05,080
Speaker 1: He's like, this ship is kind of fly, you know

409
00:20:05,119 --> 00:20:08,480
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. It was like when you first because

410
00:20:08,520 --> 00:20:11,159
Speaker 1: if you if you saw it, you wasn't trying to

411
00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:13,200
Speaker 1: feel it, you know, and you saw him standing there

412
00:20:13,280 --> 00:20:15,919
Speaker 1: hard and all of us because I got my tour rotating,

413
00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:17,520
Speaker 1: I ain't doing it right. But you know, it was

414
00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:19,920
Speaker 1: like it was like, you know, they just then You're like,

415
00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:22,480
Speaker 1: what the hell is this? But then you listen and

416
00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:26,399
Speaker 1: and and and then you're like, this is gonna you know,

417
00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:29,000
Speaker 1: I gotta I gotta admit that. And so all of

418
00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:31,440
Speaker 1: a sudden, that changed the game because it opened the

419
00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:35,320
Speaker 1: floodgates to the amalgamations that that people were putting forth,

420
00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:38,000
Speaker 1: like even though it wasn't this was black on black

421
00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:41,920
Speaker 1: when l L you know, did hey level were boys

422
00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:45,159
Speaker 1: two men mercy? I mean, it's it's like it was

423
00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:49,920
Speaker 1: special exactly. I see. For me, I went to Thomas Edison,

424
00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:53,800
Speaker 1: My sister Abigail went to Van Buren, All my other

425
00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:57,240
Speaker 1: sisters went to Jackson, All my other sisters went to Jackson,

426
00:20:57,320 --> 00:20:59,920
Speaker 1: my cousins went to Jackson, my boys went to jack

427
00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:02,720
Speaker 1: Jackson was like jail in the nineties and eighties. Exactly.

428
00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:06,200
Speaker 1: It was wild. I mean, you talk about Trevor port

429
00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:08,760
Speaker 1: Wand and all those boys playing back the basketball team,

430
00:21:09,119 --> 00:21:11,640
Speaker 1: you know. I mean it was it was big time,

431
00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:14,520
Speaker 1: no question, but there was nothing else that Jackson. For you,

432
00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:16,399
Speaker 1: you was just a hard cat that had to deal

433
00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:18,440
Speaker 1: with that kind of life. If you was gonna you're

434
00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:20,240
Speaker 1: gonna go to Jackson, your brother, you definitely get in

435
00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:22,399
Speaker 1: a fight. Your sister, You're probably gonna get in a

436
00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:25,439
Speaker 1: fight too. That's the way Jackson was. You know, Edison

437
00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:27,480
Speaker 1: was a bit more structured than whatever, but it was

438
00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:29,960
Speaker 1: like that, and so you know, for me it was

439
00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:32,879
Speaker 1: but to get back to your point about run DMC

440
00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:35,800
Speaker 1: and the records that really resonated k R S one

441
00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:38,040
Speaker 1: I love, I had love for him. I didn't like

442
00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:40,560
Speaker 1: when he came out and admitted that, you know, rock

443
00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:44,440
Speaker 1: Cam had been writing lyrics. And that's a problem because we,

444
00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:46,240
Speaker 1: you know, we thought it was We thought it was

445
00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:48,640
Speaker 1: more authentic than anything else. You know, am I lying?

446
00:21:49,119 --> 00:21:51,040
Speaker 1: We thought so when he came out and admitted that,

447
00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:53,480
Speaker 1: somebody else correct me if I'm wrong. I think it

448
00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:56,760
Speaker 1: was rock him. I'm not sure, but what I'm saying KRS.

449
00:21:56,800 --> 00:21:58,680
Speaker 1: When he came out, I wasn't talking about any particular song.

450
00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:02,440
Speaker 1: It's just that he was so brilliant with his delivery.

451
00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:05,320
Speaker 1: We all thought it was him, and when he acknowledged

452
00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:08,399
Speaker 1: it was somebody else that was helping them, it wouldn't

453
00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:10,600
Speaker 1: have been bad if he had admitted that from day one.

454
00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:13,359
Speaker 1: It's no big deal. It's a collaboration. But when you

455
00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:18,280
Speaker 1: acknowledge that suddenly that somebody had been helping you all along,

456
00:22:18,359 --> 00:22:22,639
Speaker 1: we were us. It's not so much that it's The

457
00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:25,440
Speaker 1: rule is just be a front about it. There's nothing

458
00:22:25,480 --> 00:22:27,760
Speaker 1: wrong with it, nothing wrong with it whatsoever. You want

459
00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:31,080
Speaker 1: to collaborate with genius, that's cool, but you had to

460
00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:33,600
Speaker 1: you know, there were people that were accusing him. If

461
00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:36,240
Speaker 1: I remember correctly, If my memories have been staying, I

462
00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:38,520
Speaker 1: apologize because I have been thinking about this in years.

463
00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:41,080
Speaker 1: This is new to me. But I was like, you

464
00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:44,800
Speaker 1: can't be acting like you the genius, accepting all that

465
00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:48,560
Speaker 1: praise about being the genius for somebody else's work. That's

466
00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:51,359
Speaker 1: how people interpreted it. But I'm no expert in that,

467
00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:54,119
Speaker 1: so I could be wrong about how and interpreting that.

468
00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:56,119
Speaker 1: But that's what I remember. But you love hip hop

469
00:22:56,240 --> 00:23:00,320
Speaker 1: and soil, I mean I was hip. I here to

470
00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:05,760
Speaker 1: say definitely hip hop, heavy D and the boys, black coffee,

471
00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:08,440
Speaker 1: no sugar, no crap. I got a girl in knee

472
00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:11,639
Speaker 1: down with my thing. I mean, come on now, I mean,

473
00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:14,120
Speaker 1: that's the world I come from. That that's the world

474
00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:16,720
Speaker 1: that I come from. And you know, and and for me,

475
00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:20,760
Speaker 1: it kind of helped formulate I don't want to say

476
00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:23,200
Speaker 1: my business acumen, because I don't consider myself to be

477
00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:26,359
Speaker 1: the greatest entrepreneur in the world at least yet, but

478
00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:29,399
Speaker 1: I do think that it helped phrase and shape and

479
00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:33,760
Speaker 1: formulate my business thinking. From the standpoint, I appreciated the

480
00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:38,280
Speaker 1: fact that we have brothers making an honest, legitimate living,

481
00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:42,800
Speaker 1: creating and all that. I mean, I find I'm like,

482
00:23:43,359 --> 00:23:46,679
Speaker 1: is it legit? You know, when people talked about lyrics

483
00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:48,320
Speaker 1: and stuff like that, well, first of all, you didn't

484
00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:50,480
Speaker 1: want to give hip hop love when they weren't even

485
00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:53,320
Speaker 1: using curse words. Then when they were using curse words,

486
00:23:53,359 --> 00:23:55,720
Speaker 1: you were sweating. You were sweating that. Then when they

487
00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:58,399
Speaker 1: engaged in what you called gangster wrap, you had a

488
00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:01,840
Speaker 1: problem with that. When Marlon Manson and that was raving

489
00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:05,800
Speaker 1: about worshiping the devil, you damn thing. So I'm like,

490
00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:08,920
Speaker 1: you know, it ain't consistent, you see what I'm saying.

491
00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:11,000
Speaker 1: And I looked at it from that perspective, and it

492
00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:14,200
Speaker 1: was like something's missing here. So I always appreciate it,

493
00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:18,000
Speaker 1: and I still appreciate to this very day the fact

494
00:24:18,119 --> 00:24:24,320
Speaker 1: that brothers Insists continuously find ways to survive and ultimately

495
00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:29,760
Speaker 1: prosper unlike any any culture, any race of people that

496
00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:32,280
Speaker 1: has ever existed on this planet. And I'm proud of it.

497
00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:35,199
Speaker 1: Of course, you think people need to modify themselves sometime,

498
00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:37,840
Speaker 1: not be so extreme. Make sure that you dance the

499
00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:40,119
Speaker 1: dance that you got to, because it's not just about you.

500
00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:43,800
Speaker 1: You might make it, but thousands, if not millions upon

501
00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:46,399
Speaker 1: others who following your footsteps may not do it if

502
00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:48,440
Speaker 1: they conduct yourself and when you conduct yourself, so you

503
00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:51,280
Speaker 1: need to be careful about that. But I still respect

504
00:24:51,359 --> 00:24:53,840
Speaker 1: the game, and I respect the hustle, and I think

505
00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:55,840
Speaker 1: all of us should because the heat. When you said

506
00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:58,080
Speaker 1: people can't you can't necessarily be a jay Z or

507
00:24:58,119 --> 00:24:59,879
Speaker 1: a Shack or a Kobe, but you could be stephen A,

508
00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:03,320
Speaker 1: I didn't recall catching any heat for that. To be

509
00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:05,560
Speaker 1: got honest with you, I thought people appreciate it. Where

510
00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:08,480
Speaker 1: I was coming from. Jay Z is a one in

511
00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:12,000
Speaker 1: a billion dude. Chances are you are not going to

512
00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:13,960
Speaker 1: be close to being a billion You damn you aren't

513
00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:19,239
Speaker 1: gonna get a Beyonce that that that that these are

514
00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:24,240
Speaker 1: dreams and fantasies reached by the very very few on

515
00:25:24,359 --> 00:25:27,359
Speaker 1: the planet Earth. Okay, and he's one of those dudes

516
00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:30,399
Speaker 1: that's just that lucky, that fortunate, and more importantly, that

517
00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:33,320
Speaker 1: blessed because he's earned a lot of what he has had.

518
00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:35,880
Speaker 1: But but but you look at guys, and you don't

519
00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:38,480
Speaker 1: have to be a jay Z to be successful. But

520
00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:41,040
Speaker 1: this dude is off the charts, the Kobe's, the Shacks

521
00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:44,000
Speaker 1: of the world, they off the charts, etcetera, etcetera. They

522
00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:47,920
Speaker 1: are extremely gifted individuals that was able to take what

523
00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:51,960
Speaker 1: they what their gifts are, and materialize that into something

524
00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:55,480
Speaker 1: far more profound. And you could make the argument that

525
00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:58,840
Speaker 1: I've done the same thing in my respective genre. But

526
00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:01,920
Speaker 1: my response to that is all I did was bust

527
00:26:01,960 --> 00:26:06,080
Speaker 1: my ass, work hard, Okay, pound the pavement grind. I

528
00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:08,560
Speaker 1: got left back in the fourth grade, man, because I

529
00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:12,640
Speaker 1: had a first grade reading level. I graduated from college

530
00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:16,440
Speaker 1: with a mass communications degree. I went from not being

531
00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:20,879
Speaker 1: able to read and write, meaning not comprehend what I'm reading, okay,

532
00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:24,880
Speaker 1: to being a professional journalist. Okay, so I'm like, wait

533
00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:27,879
Speaker 1: a minute, you can do that? You can do that?

534
00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:31,520
Speaker 1: You know you can't. You can't be the genius that

535
00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:34,280
Speaker 1: Jay Z is as a rap artist. You can't be

536
00:26:35,119 --> 00:26:38,800
Speaker 1: the ultra talented dude that Kobe Bryant was as a

537
00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:43,080
Speaker 1: basketball player. Michael Jordan's Michael Jordan's shack. You can't be

538
00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:46,440
Speaker 1: seven one, three fifty. And the most dominant force of

539
00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:50,000
Speaker 1: this error is Shaquille O'Neil. But can you be Stephen A. Smith?

540
00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:52,240
Speaker 1: Can you go to an hbc U? Can you get

541
00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:55,719
Speaker 1: can you graduate with honors? Can you pound the pavement

542
00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:59,160
Speaker 1: and work your way from being a high school journalist

543
00:26:59,359 --> 00:27:02,720
Speaker 1: to a colle as journalists to a pro sports journalist

544
00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:06,720
Speaker 1: to an NBA columnist to a general sports columnist to

545
00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:11,600
Speaker 1: a radio and can you can you do that? Yes?

546
00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:13,640
Speaker 1: You can? And you I don't know if you can

547
00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:16,840
Speaker 1: ever find another one of those dudes that I mentioned,

548
00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:19,480
Speaker 1: but you can find a thousand Stephen A. Smith's in

549
00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:22,240
Speaker 1: my estimation, you can do that. But you've risen to

550
00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:23,639
Speaker 1: the top. Man, Like when you look at it now,

551
00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:25,080
Speaker 1: like what how do you what do you think the

552
00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:27,040
Speaker 1: key has been? And what is it like to be

553
00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:28,639
Speaker 1: in a position because I saw you had a quote,

554
00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:31,240
Speaker 1: because actually, Michael Cane of you, you said, no one

555
00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:33,640
Speaker 1: commensurre to level of my hunger. I wake up every

556
00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:36,320
Speaker 1: day like I'm starving. I'm on a mission to be

557
00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:38,840
Speaker 1: cemented as the greatest of what I do. I'm incredibly hungry.

558
00:27:39,119 --> 00:27:40,920
Speaker 1: Those who stand in my way. I feel bad for

559
00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:46,240
Speaker 1: them already. You know, well, first I meant every word

560
00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:50,080
Speaker 1: I said. I really did. Um, I think I am

561
00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:53,840
Speaker 1: the best, but it's because I know I'm not. That's

562
00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:58,040
Speaker 1: my advantage. UM, So many people arrive. You know, I'm

563
00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:02,760
Speaker 1: a journalist. I started off making fifty two thousand a year,

564
00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:07,800
Speaker 1: and now I'm making millions. So clearly I've been blessed,

565
00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:13,080
Speaker 1: and I understand that. But I truly, truly believe the

566
00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:17,560
Speaker 1: reason for my success is because I never take it

567
00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:21,879
Speaker 1: for granted. I never ever assume I arrived. I know

568
00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:24,200
Speaker 1: that I say what I say to y'all, and it's

569
00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:26,640
Speaker 1: not that I don't mean it. I'm saying I don't

570
00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:29,640
Speaker 1: wake up thinking like that. Every morning. I don't wake

571
00:28:29,760 --> 00:28:33,320
Speaker 1: up saying I've arrived. I wake up saying, oh, I

572
00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:35,879
Speaker 1: got stuff to handle, I got stuff to prove. I

573
00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:39,160
Speaker 1: got stuff to validate. I got stuff that I'm interested

574
00:28:39,280 --> 00:28:42,160
Speaker 1: in ascending too. This is what I do. I mean,

575
00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:44,440
Speaker 1: I'm looking at myself right now. I started off as

576
00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:49,160
Speaker 1: a newspaper journalists. I advanced to a television personality. I

577
00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:52,440
Speaker 1: went from that to a television host and a columnist.

578
00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:55,600
Speaker 1: I went from that to a television host and columnist

579
00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:59,280
Speaker 1: to a radio host. Now I'm hosting my television show

580
00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:03,480
Speaker 1: when number one in every major demographic from ten am

581
00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:07,160
Speaker 1: to noon in all of television, cable or broadcast. My

582
00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:12,240
Speaker 1: radio show has blown up, podcast, YouTube, social media connections

583
00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:14,200
Speaker 1: blowing up. So what am I doing. I'm in a

584
00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:17,080
Speaker 1: process of starting to write my book. I'm getting ready

585
00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:19,920
Speaker 1: to jump start my own production company. It took a

586
00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:23,640
Speaker 1: while because I had to travel a different road than most,

587
00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:28,680
Speaker 1: you know, going through the terrains of corporate America, being restricted,

588
00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:32,600
Speaker 1: held back, denied the opportunity to spread my wings and fly.

589
00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:35,240
Speaker 1: Which is why I have so much respect for some

590
00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:37,760
Speaker 1: of these young cats out here who are doing their thing,

591
00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:39,760
Speaker 1: because the one thing that I don't think enough young

592
00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:43,640
Speaker 1: cats get credit for is this willingness to bet on themselves.

593
00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:47,120
Speaker 1: I'm always the safe, cautious dude. You know I got

594
00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:50,160
Speaker 1: two daughters. What's my attitude. I live by one mantra

595
00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:53,719
Speaker 1: when it comes to them. If they're broke, if they're hungry,

596
00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:57,640
Speaker 1: rather it's because I'm starving. I don't eat until they eat.

597
00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:01,080
Speaker 1: I'm not comfortable until they're comfortable. I'm not secure until

598
00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:05,840
Speaker 1: they're secure. Everything is about them. First. If I got

599
00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:08,880
Speaker 1: a ride, I bought a new car, it was after

600
00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:12,920
Speaker 1: I made sure their mom had a new car. Saying

601
00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:15,800
Speaker 1: I got my house, that was after I made sure

602
00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:18,959
Speaker 1: that their mama and them had what didn't need, they

603
00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:21,800
Speaker 1: needed they needed to have. That is I don't play

604
00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:26,000
Speaker 1: because I was raised in an environment by my mother

605
00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:29,480
Speaker 1: and my four older sisters where I saw my mother

606
00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:33,680
Speaker 1: struggle in a fashion where I'm just so old school

607
00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:37,200
Speaker 1: in certain ways, I don't mind an independent woman. For example,

608
00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:39,600
Speaker 1: I want you to get yours, have your job, have

609
00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:41,959
Speaker 1: your career, whatever the case may be. But if you're

610
00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:44,360
Speaker 1: a woman in my life, I'm paying the bills. I'm

611
00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:46,360
Speaker 1: paying the bills. I got you. If you're gonna be

612
00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:50,160
Speaker 1: with me, I got you because I want you to

613
00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:53,040
Speaker 1: know that you have the freedom to go out there

614
00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:55,320
Speaker 1: and to be all you can be. You see what

615
00:30:55,360 --> 00:30:58,640
Speaker 1: I'm saying without having to worry about things I believe

616
00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:01,160
Speaker 1: as a man's responsibility. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm

617
00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:03,000
Speaker 1: not telling you that you gotta go out there and

618
00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:05,040
Speaker 1: do for a woman and do stuff for her that

619
00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:07,360
Speaker 1: you can't do. That's not what I mean. What I'm

620
00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:10,480
Speaker 1: saying is, if you're making a million and she making

621
00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:14,520
Speaker 1: a hundred thousand dollars, why is she paying bills and

622
00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:17,040
Speaker 1: she in your house. I'm not talking about shopping and

623
00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:24,280
Speaker 1: stuff like i'm talking about talking about. I'm talking about necessity,

624
00:31:24,880 --> 00:31:27,959
Speaker 1: relieving a woman of the peace of mind. Where does

625
00:31:28,040 --> 00:31:29,880
Speaker 1: that come from? It comes from the fact that my

626
00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:32,960
Speaker 1: mother never had it. My mother never had it, and

627
00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:36,840
Speaker 1: so because mom never had it until two thousand and five,

628
00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:39,680
Speaker 1: when they gave me my television show. To this day,

629
00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:41,680
Speaker 1: it was the proudest moment that I've ever had in

630
00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:44,080
Speaker 1: my life. They signed me to a contract to do

631
00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:47,160
Speaker 1: the show. Quite frankly, that was on ESPN two from

632
00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:50,040
Speaker 1: August of two thousand and five to Janior of two

633
00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:53,280
Speaker 1: thousand and seven. I signed that contract at the ABC

634
00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:57,160
Speaker 1: building on sixty six Street in New York and I

635
00:31:57,240 --> 00:31:59,880
Speaker 1: signed it like at three o'clock in the afternoon and

636
00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:03,040
Speaker 1: they were like, where you going. It took me two hours.

637
00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:07,160
Speaker 1: I was heading the Queens. My mother was a nurse,

638
00:32:07,320 --> 00:32:09,920
Speaker 1: registered nurse for twenty five years and she worked at

639
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:12,920
Speaker 1: Queens General Hospital, and she was living off her pension,

640
00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:16,720
Speaker 1: but she would work there at the PL Center part

641
00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:19,000
Speaker 1: time just to have pocket change, because she liked to

642
00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:21,640
Speaker 1: go to Gain with Atlantic City and play the slot machine,

643
00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:23,640
Speaker 1: or she liked to slave a little bit of money

644
00:32:23,720 --> 00:32:25,680
Speaker 1: and go on to cruise or whatever the case may be.

645
00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:28,360
Speaker 1: And my proudest moment. I've been on this earth for

646
00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:30,760
Speaker 1: fifty one years. I've accomplished a lot of things, but

647
00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:33,280
Speaker 1: the greatest accomplishment that I've ever achieved in my life

648
00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:36,640
Speaker 1: was that day in April of two thousand and five

649
00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:38,520
Speaker 1: when I had signed a contract to do to fright

650
00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:42,080
Speaker 1: quite frankly, that August, and the minute I signed that contract,

651
00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:43,760
Speaker 1: the first thing that I did was got in my

652
00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:46,800
Speaker 1: car and I drove to Queens and I drove to

653
00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:50,440
Speaker 1: the PL Center on two hundred on two two D

654
00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:54,640
Speaker 1: Street in one twelve PL Center, and I walked by everybody,

655
00:32:54,720 --> 00:32:57,440
Speaker 1: and I walked downstairs and my mother was behind the counter,

656
00:32:57,520 --> 00:32:59,880
Speaker 1: and I said, let's go. You ain't waker no more.

657
00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:02,840
Speaker 1: It's over. I said, I looked at the balls and says,

658
00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:06,040
Speaker 1: she ain't him on let's come. Your vacations are on me.

659
00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:08,880
Speaker 1: First take. You know, has been very hip hop friendly.

660
00:33:09,040 --> 00:33:12,400
Speaker 1: You know, through the success the theme song incorporated a

661
00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:16,600
Speaker 1: lot of rappers like was espn uh welcoming to the

662
00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:18,760
Speaker 1: idea of incorporating more hip hop into the show. They

663
00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:21,720
Speaker 1: were a bit reluctant initially, but they knew what our

664
00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:25,400
Speaker 1: audience was. You know, again, you had an abundance of

665
00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:27,960
Speaker 1: people who would watch it, no question about it. But

666
00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:31,200
Speaker 1: you know, at least fifty then was black and clearly

667
00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:34,800
Speaker 1: the younger demographic, particularly when Skipp and I were together.

668
00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:38,480
Speaker 1: They gravitated to our show. And so for me personally,

669
00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:40,800
Speaker 1: even though Skit was always receptive to it and you

670
00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:42,960
Speaker 1: had rappers and others that would come on the show

671
00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:45,920
Speaker 1: at that particular moment in time, it really elevated once

672
00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:48,840
Speaker 1: I Rock and it was a sticking point for me

673
00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:51,240
Speaker 1: for a reason. It wasn't just the hip hop community.

674
00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:54,480
Speaker 1: It was blacks folk. It was black folks period. I

675
00:33:54,640 --> 00:33:56,960
Speaker 1: had said to them, I'm I'm very particular, and I'm

676
00:33:57,000 --> 00:33:59,400
Speaker 1: glad you asked that question. See we're sitting there his

677
00:33:59,520 --> 00:34:02,959
Speaker 1: brothers to right now. I'm very, very big on speech.

678
00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:06,640
Speaker 1: I can't stand when a brother opens his mouth and says,

679
00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:09,120
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying before he says something. Know

680
00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:12,520
Speaker 1: the hell I don't. You didn't say anything yet, speak,

681
00:34:12,600 --> 00:34:16,120
Speaker 1: influence sentences, act like you have some semblance of a

682
00:34:16,200 --> 00:34:19,200
Speaker 1: command for the English language. Because I'm not into all

683
00:34:19,239 --> 00:34:21,680
Speaker 1: of that. Because why in corporate America, when you're going

684
00:34:21,680 --> 00:34:23,239
Speaker 1: out there to get a job or whatever the case

685
00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:26,239
Speaker 1: may be, these are casts that you're communicating with. You know,

686
00:34:26,360 --> 00:34:30,640
Speaker 1: you got sensational hip hop artists, actors and actresses and

687
00:34:30,760 --> 00:34:33,480
Speaker 1: people in the entertainment industry that might be able to

688
00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:36,280
Speaker 1: get away with being challenged in that department to some degree,

689
00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:39,719
Speaker 1: or the athletic world, but their gifts speak for them.

690
00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:44,960
Speaker 1: Nine of us have to present ourselves in a certain

691
00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:49,960
Speaker 1: fashion first before we have the opportunity to showcase our talents.

692
00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:53,280
Speaker 1: And so because of that, understand that you're cutting yourself

693
00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:56,200
Speaker 1: off with the needs the second that you don't focus

694
00:34:56,320 --> 00:34:59,880
Speaker 1: on presentation, how you look, how you speak, how you

695
00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:03,600
Speaker 1: present and carry yourself. We're sitting there talking about HBCUs.

696
00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:06,279
Speaker 1: That's one of the things that hbc US breach. My

697
00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:08,759
Speaker 1: professors at went to Salem State. We're stickless for that.

698
00:35:09,120 --> 00:35:12,560
Speaker 1: If I spoke grammatically incorrect, that corrected me. If I

699
00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:14,480
Speaker 1: sat up there and said, you know what I'm saying, No,

700
00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:17,279
Speaker 1: we don't, you didn't say anything. They did all of

701
00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:19,400
Speaker 1: these things. And so I carry on to each one,

702
00:35:19,480 --> 00:35:21,920
Speaker 1: teach one to who much is given, much is required.

703
00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:24,719
Speaker 1: You take those things into consideration, because what you're doing

704
00:35:25,239 --> 00:35:28,520
Speaker 1: is training somebody mentally to be prepared for the world

705
00:35:28,600 --> 00:35:30,640
Speaker 1: that awaits. And I don't think that we do that

706
00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:33,640
Speaker 1: nearly as much as we should. So when ESPN would

707
00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:36,319
Speaker 1: bring on these artists, the first thing I was looking

708
00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:39,960
Speaker 1: at is who can talk see what people get lost?

709
00:35:40,239 --> 00:35:42,840
Speaker 1: Snoop Dog. They talk about Snoop Dog and how he

710
00:35:42,960 --> 00:35:46,759
Speaker 1: gives new meaning the green room, because we have you

711
00:35:46,840 --> 00:35:50,040
Speaker 1: ever talked to Snoop dogs? You have any idea how

712
00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:53,920
Speaker 1: intelligent this brother is? You got fifty cent Oh he

713
00:35:54,040 --> 00:35:56,960
Speaker 1: got shot nine times? Have you ever sat down and

714
00:35:57,080 --> 00:35:59,760
Speaker 1: talked to fifty cents? You have any idea how brilliant

715
00:35:59,800 --> 00:36:02,840
Speaker 1: does brother is? Of course you see stuff like that.

716
00:36:03,160 --> 00:36:05,120
Speaker 1: And then all of a sudden, I said, why are

717
00:36:05,160 --> 00:36:06,920
Speaker 1: we stopping there at the hip hop in street. I

718
00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:10,520
Speaker 1: know Morris Chestnut, you know, I know Omar Epps, I

719
00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:14,319
Speaker 1: know Michael Eagerly, I know Jason Williams. I know these cats.

720
00:36:14,360 --> 00:36:17,600
Speaker 1: I say, I'm like, you see, you know Boris kjoe A,

721
00:36:17,760 --> 00:36:20,800
Speaker 1: Marii Hardwick and the sensational job he's doing with Power

722
00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:23,239
Speaker 1: and Star. That's my brother. I mean, you see all

723
00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:26,320
Speaker 1: of these cats. You know, they take care of themselves,

724
00:36:26,680 --> 00:36:30,600
Speaker 1: their business minded, their business savvy, they're brilliant at what

725
00:36:30,840 --> 00:36:35,439
Speaker 1: they do, and they're cognizant of imagery. We see that there.

726
00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:37,560
Speaker 1: I'll go back to Snoop Dogg. Let me tell you

727
00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:39,520
Speaker 1: how much love I got for a Snoop dog A

728
00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:43,000
Speaker 1: doctor Dre for example, billionaire in the hip hop industry

729
00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:46,000
Speaker 1: now courtesy Apple Beats and all of that stuff. You understand,

730
00:36:46,160 --> 00:36:48,320
Speaker 1: never of get the fact that the brothers a brilliant musician,

731
00:36:48,680 --> 00:36:51,960
Speaker 1: I think the greatest. Okay, this brother is a businessman.

732
00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:54,399
Speaker 1: You understand. He ain't trying to be out there front

733
00:36:54,440 --> 00:36:57,640
Speaker 1: and center, but he don't hide his brilliance as a businessman.

734
00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:00,320
Speaker 1: And folks who pay attention to the world to business

735
00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:02,719
Speaker 1: in the entertainment industry have no choice but to take

736
00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:04,920
Speaker 1: notice of him. We got a guy like Snoop and

737
00:37:04,960 --> 00:37:07,440
Speaker 1: people want to judge, all right, he's smoking weed because Stephen,

738
00:37:07,480 --> 00:37:10,279
Speaker 1: they constantly speaks about staying off the weeds. I ain't

739
00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:12,440
Speaker 1: say nothing about him. I'm talking about the athletes that

740
00:37:12,520 --> 00:37:15,680
Speaker 1: lose money because of it. I'm not talking about anybody else.

741
00:37:15,840 --> 00:37:17,879
Speaker 1: So I bring him on to talk about it because

742
00:37:17,920 --> 00:37:21,440
Speaker 1: I want people to understand. Listen to this brother elocute

743
00:37:21,520 --> 00:37:25,080
Speaker 1: and articulate his points of view. Listen to him and

744
00:37:25,239 --> 00:37:28,799
Speaker 1: understand how brilliant he is. He went from doing lord

745
00:37:28,920 --> 00:37:33,120
Speaker 1: knows what in Compton and Long Beach to being on

746
00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:37,239
Speaker 1: a show with Martha Stewart. This is Snoop though, So

747
00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:40,239
Speaker 1: I'm just saying but, but, but understand the brilliance that

748
00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:43,400
Speaker 1: comes along with it. He sees the forest from the trees,

749
00:37:43,880 --> 00:37:46,520
Speaker 1: and this brother ain't hesitant to reach back and to

750
00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:49,600
Speaker 1: try to get you to see the forest from the trees.

751
00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:52,080
Speaker 1: And So when I look at stuff like that, and

752
00:37:52,239 --> 00:37:54,279
Speaker 1: I look at the brilliance of a cat like jay

753
00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:58,040
Speaker 1: Z and so many others, I'm thankful and I'm grateful

754
00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:01,080
Speaker 1: for the relationships that I have with them because I

755
00:38:01,239 --> 00:38:03,719
Speaker 1: bring them on first take. It's not for me I'm

756
00:38:03,760 --> 00:38:06,120
Speaker 1: getting ratings without them. I ain't had them on in

757
00:38:06,160 --> 00:38:08,640
Speaker 1: a while. It didn't stop my show from being number one,

758
00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:10,960
Speaker 1: it didn't stop me from winning, it didn't stop me

759
00:38:11,040 --> 00:38:13,719
Speaker 1: from getting my paper. But I bring but I bring

760
00:38:13,840 --> 00:38:18,040
Speaker 1: them on because any chance that I get, because I

761
00:38:18,200 --> 00:38:21,880
Speaker 1: want people to see the potpourri of people from the

762
00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:26,960
Speaker 1: African American community that come on center stage on national

763
00:38:27,080 --> 00:38:32,000
Speaker 1: television live and can articulate and talk about anything. Had

764
00:38:32,080 --> 00:38:35,120
Speaker 1: to change on a few months ago, the brother was

765
00:38:35,200 --> 00:38:40,920
Speaker 1: an a student graduated in three years ball to at

766
00:38:40,960 --> 00:38:44,800
Speaker 1: Alabama State. All anybody want to talk about, it's to change.

767
00:38:45,360 --> 00:38:47,640
Speaker 1: You know who this brother is. You know who this

768
00:38:47,719 --> 00:38:50,960
Speaker 1: brother is. So it's like it's to bring cats on

769
00:38:51,600 --> 00:38:54,880
Speaker 1: and my and they all and I my love and

770
00:38:54,960 --> 00:38:58,120
Speaker 1: appreciation for all of these dudes. I cannot put it

771
00:38:58,200 --> 00:39:00,920
Speaker 1: in the words because every single one of them has

772
00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:03,600
Speaker 1: heard the same message that I'm telling you guys, and

773
00:39:03,680 --> 00:39:06,600
Speaker 1: they all signed on your steven A. We know exactly

774
00:39:06,640 --> 00:39:08,719
Speaker 1: what you're trying to do. I what you need, and

775
00:39:08,800 --> 00:39:11,040
Speaker 1: I'm like this what I need because I need this

776
00:39:11,280 --> 00:39:14,200
Speaker 1: projected and they will all in and motors. I didn't

777
00:39:14,239 --> 00:39:18,880
Speaker 1: just say hip hop artists. I said hip hop, artists, actors, actresses, athletes.

778
00:39:19,239 --> 00:39:24,320
Speaker 1: They come on to help me deliver and disseminate a

779
00:39:24,560 --> 00:39:29,719
Speaker 1: message that HBC used and anybody associated or willing to

780
00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:34,319
Speaker 1: help the African American community and impoverished communities throughout our nation.

781
00:39:34,840 --> 00:39:38,520
Speaker 1: These brothers have assists, have all aligned and to come

782
00:39:38,600 --> 00:39:41,560
Speaker 1: together in their own way to help us disseminate that

783
00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:43,960
Speaker 1: message to the masters. And I can't thank them enough.

784
00:39:44,040 --> 00:39:46,200
Speaker 1: And I will always be grateful. And as long any

785
00:39:46,239 --> 00:39:48,160
Speaker 1: show that I'm on first take on anything else that

786
00:39:48,200 --> 00:39:50,560
Speaker 1: I'm doing, they will always have a place as long

787
00:39:50,600 --> 00:39:52,280
Speaker 1: as I have a place. Do you remember a conversation

788
00:39:52,320 --> 00:39:54,200
Speaker 1: with Drake at Game one of the NBA Finals because

789
00:39:54,200 --> 00:39:57,080
Speaker 1: he seems like y'all was caught. Yeah, yeah, we were talking.

790
00:39:57,320 --> 00:39:59,399
Speaker 1: He was he was planning on coming on. He didn't

791
00:39:59,440 --> 00:40:01,399
Speaker 1: want to come on because I was doing those NBA

792
00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:04,120
Speaker 1: specials regame. Remember that he didn't want to come on

793
00:40:04,200 --> 00:40:05,719
Speaker 1: because they were like they wanted them to come on

794
00:40:05,800 --> 00:40:08,279
Speaker 1: and he wouldn't return their calls or whatever. I'm like, well,

795
00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:11,319
Speaker 1: that's your problem. I'm just gonna walk over and Breake

796
00:40:11,440 --> 00:40:13,440
Speaker 1: knows me. So I rolled over on him and he

797
00:40:13,600 --> 00:40:15,880
Speaker 1: was like for you sure, But He didn't want to

798
00:40:15,960 --> 00:40:19,640
Speaker 1: come on until the finals was over because he didn't

799
00:40:19,640 --> 00:40:22,800
Speaker 1: want to do anything that jinks the Raptors because Katie

800
00:40:22,880 --> 00:40:25,399
Speaker 1: was talking about coming back. Clay Thompson on one leg

801
00:40:25,520 --> 00:40:27,840
Speaker 1: was dropping twenty eight, you know, stuff like that. He

802
00:40:27,880 --> 00:40:29,879
Speaker 1: didn't want the jinks. I said, no, you gotta rush.

803
00:40:30,040 --> 00:40:31,640
Speaker 1: You come on when you want to come on. As

804
00:40:31,640 --> 00:40:33,279
Speaker 1: long as you're gonna come on before the series, by

805
00:40:33,360 --> 00:40:35,840
Speaker 1: the series over, I'm cool with it. The problem was

806
00:40:35,960 --> 00:40:38,800
Speaker 1: the series was over in Golden State and he didn't

807
00:40:38,840 --> 00:40:41,640
Speaker 1: travel with the Raptors. He was only at home games.

808
00:40:41,880 --> 00:40:44,400
Speaker 1: He never came on the road. Otherwise I would have

809
00:40:44,440 --> 00:40:47,040
Speaker 1: had them are just so recently squashed. Be for Katie.

810
00:40:48,480 --> 00:40:52,000
Speaker 1: You know what, you don't want those problems. He didn't.

811
00:40:52,040 --> 00:40:54,759
Speaker 1: He didn't. But but but but the thing about it

812
00:40:54,960 --> 00:40:58,360
Speaker 1: is is that that that kind of guy, Mr Construe.

813
00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:02,040
Speaker 1: What happened was is that k D and y'all should

814
00:41:02,080 --> 00:41:05,640
Speaker 1: watch it when we're on the boardroom together. You but

815
00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:07,480
Speaker 1: what happens all you need to know and give you

816
00:41:07,520 --> 00:41:09,640
Speaker 1: a little taste of it. You know. Jay Williams was

817
00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:11,719
Speaker 1: to moderate and Jay Williams like, you went there, man.

818
00:41:11,800 --> 00:41:13,799
Speaker 1: You called this move the weakest move you had ever

819
00:41:13,880 --> 00:41:17,440
Speaker 1: seen by a superstar in sports history. When he and

820
00:41:17,480 --> 00:41:20,879
Speaker 1: I was like, yeah, I said it, and I meant

821
00:41:20,920 --> 00:41:23,480
Speaker 1: it with him sit right across from me, I'm like,

822
00:41:23,480 --> 00:41:25,719
Speaker 1: I'm not backing up. I know what I said. But

823
00:41:25,960 --> 00:41:28,880
Speaker 1: what people didn't realize, and even k D at the

824
00:41:28,920 --> 00:41:32,160
Speaker 1: time didn't realize, is that I wasn't knocking him like

825
00:41:32,320 --> 00:41:35,480
Speaker 1: he's weak, he can't play. I was saying, you are

826
00:41:35,600 --> 00:41:38,160
Speaker 1: so great. How could you do this to the game.

827
00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:43,080
Speaker 1: There's no competition. There's no competition. There's no competition. This

828
00:41:43,560 --> 00:41:46,000
Speaker 1: Kade co walk around average thirty. I think Kad average

829
00:41:46,040 --> 00:41:50,560
Speaker 1: thirty on one leg, I really do. He's six and

830
00:41:50,560 --> 00:41:53,440
Speaker 1: eleven with a seven six wingspan. Who's a sniper. What

831
00:41:53,560 --> 00:41:55,719
Speaker 1: you're gonna do with him? What you're gonna do? So

832
00:41:55,840 --> 00:41:57,359
Speaker 1: I look at it that way. But where the beef

833
00:41:57,480 --> 00:42:01,200
Speaker 1: came in was because he was doing a commercial in

834
00:42:01,400 --> 00:42:07,719
Speaker 1: l A and he told catch he won out right,

835
00:42:08,120 --> 00:42:11,480
Speaker 1: So I said he wanted out of Okay, see right,

836
00:42:13,320 --> 00:42:16,800
Speaker 1: I went too far by saying it might be l A.

837
00:42:17,160 --> 00:42:19,120
Speaker 1: I never said he was going to l A. I

838
00:42:19,280 --> 00:42:22,160
Speaker 1: said I think he might go to the Lakers because

839
00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:24,080
Speaker 1: I knew he had a house in l A. And

840
00:42:24,200 --> 00:42:26,279
Speaker 1: I'm thinking, there's no way he can end up on

841
00:42:26,360 --> 00:42:31,560
Speaker 1: Golden State. Who would do that? They already loaded. So

842
00:42:32,719 --> 00:42:35,279
Speaker 1: he sat up there and said, I don't talk to him,

843
00:42:35,320 --> 00:42:37,839
Speaker 1: my family don't talk to him, blah blah blah blah. Well,

844
00:42:37,880 --> 00:42:39,360
Speaker 1: first of all, now you went to Dann far. I

845
00:42:39,400 --> 00:42:42,200
Speaker 1: don't appreciate that disrespect. Now you're going too far. First

846
00:42:42,239 --> 00:42:44,400
Speaker 1: of all, you're speaking out of pocket because you're inaccurate.

847
00:42:44,760 --> 00:42:47,239
Speaker 1: I was just with you at forty forty two months ago,

848
00:42:48,719 --> 00:42:50,480
Speaker 1: jay Z and all of them, we were all together.

849
00:42:50,719 --> 00:42:54,359
Speaker 1: What you mean we don't talk. Secondly, your mother has

850
00:42:54,440 --> 00:42:58,040
Speaker 1: been on my show three times. Thirdly, your brother wanted

851
00:42:58,080 --> 00:43:02,040
Speaker 1: a tour. I mean yes, in talking about we mean

852
00:43:02,120 --> 00:43:04,200
Speaker 1: you don't talk to me. So don't don't disrespect me

853
00:43:04,360 --> 00:43:06,840
Speaker 1: like that. And if you if you don't want to

854
00:43:07,040 --> 00:43:09,680
Speaker 1: do stuff out, don't put it out. But damn you

855
00:43:09,719 --> 00:43:12,000
Speaker 1: didn't have to go there. And so when he came

856
00:43:12,080 --> 00:43:15,040
Speaker 1: at it like that, what I was saying, when everybody

857
00:43:15,160 --> 00:43:16,960
Speaker 1: was like, you don't want to mess with me or whatever,

858
00:43:17,440 --> 00:43:21,439
Speaker 1: what I was saying is you're reacting the words. Well

859
00:43:21,800 --> 00:43:24,560
Speaker 1: I have the words and the platform to disseminate it.

860
00:43:24,680 --> 00:43:27,640
Speaker 1: All day. You don't want no piece it is. That's

861
00:43:27,680 --> 00:43:30,200
Speaker 1: what I was saying. Wow, I wasn't talking like I'm

862
00:43:30,239 --> 00:43:34,360
Speaker 1: gonna fight him. I'm saying. I'm saying, you are reacting

863
00:43:34,480 --> 00:43:37,960
Speaker 1: towards This is my domain. This is what I do.

864
00:43:38,560 --> 00:43:39,880
Speaker 1: You see what I'm saying. And I got a two

865
00:43:39,960 --> 00:43:44,400
Speaker 1: hour platform on radio and television for two hours each day,

866
00:43:44,640 --> 00:43:47,640
Speaker 1: that's twenty live hours a week. I get to talk

867
00:43:47,680 --> 00:43:50,319
Speaker 1: about you. You really want some of this? If you're

868
00:43:50,360 --> 00:43:53,160
Speaker 1: gonna react to these words, what do you want? And

869
00:43:53,480 --> 00:43:56,160
Speaker 1: you got idiot trolls out there that we're trying to

870
00:43:56,239 --> 00:43:59,080
Speaker 1: interpret it like I'm talking about fighting. So I'm about

871
00:43:59,200 --> 00:44:01,600
Speaker 1: nine inches your it. You understand I'm saying, Yeah, I

872
00:44:01,640 --> 00:44:04,560
Speaker 1: know he can skinny, but damnity, he's none. He's none.

873
00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:10,960
Speaker 1: I don't think I could be Katie. But it's just

874
00:44:11,080 --> 00:44:13,399
Speaker 1: like it's just that kind of nonsense. And then you've

875
00:44:13,400 --> 00:44:15,239
Speaker 1: got a lot of cats that are just looking for

876
00:44:15,320 --> 00:44:18,600
Speaker 1: an excuse to come at me. And it's like, I'm

877
00:44:18,640 --> 00:44:21,880
Speaker 1: a grown man and I ain't trying to fight, and

878
00:44:22,600 --> 00:44:25,640
Speaker 1: I ain't no punk. You know where I'm from, where

879
00:44:25,680 --> 00:44:28,000
Speaker 1: we from, You know, somebody kind of catch you. It's

880
00:44:28,040 --> 00:44:31,360
Speaker 1: not about whether or not you can beat somebody or not.

881
00:44:31,760 --> 00:44:33,520
Speaker 1: It's what you're willing to take an ass whippon for.

882
00:44:34,160 --> 00:44:37,239
Speaker 1: It's about principle. You think you're gonna just you're gonna

883
00:44:37,239 --> 00:44:39,920
Speaker 1: just punk me. That ain't gonna happen. I know that

884
00:44:40,000 --> 00:44:41,919
Speaker 1: I'm not getting personal. I'm not talking about your mama,

885
00:44:41,920 --> 00:44:43,560
Speaker 1: I ain't talking about your family, and I talk about

886
00:44:43,560 --> 00:44:46,719
Speaker 1: your personal but I'm talking about basketball. This is my job.

887
00:44:46,960 --> 00:44:49,080
Speaker 1: You ain't had no problem when that show said something,

888
00:44:49,120 --> 00:44:52,600
Speaker 1: when that show said something, when that shows something, that podcast,

889
00:44:52,760 --> 00:44:57,359
Speaker 1: that radio show that you know what I'm saying, that's

890
00:44:57,360 --> 00:44:59,640
Speaker 1: a personal problem. You can't. If you're gonna have a

891
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:04,400
Speaker 1: problem with somebody's principal position, then have a problem with it.

892
00:45:04,640 --> 00:45:06,279
Speaker 1: Don't have a problem with it just because they got

893
00:45:06,320 --> 00:45:08,960
Speaker 1: the platform. If two people say something about me, and

894
00:45:09,080 --> 00:45:11,759
Speaker 1: one person got a million audience of a million, and

895
00:45:11,840 --> 00:45:14,160
Speaker 1: another person has an audience of fifty thousand, I'm a

896
00:45:14,239 --> 00:45:17,040
Speaker 1: fairly exact same way about both. I'm not gonna let

897
00:45:17,120 --> 00:45:19,239
Speaker 1: one off the hook because they only got fifty people.

898
00:45:20,000 --> 00:45:22,080
Speaker 1: If you have a problem with a principal position, then

899
00:45:22,160 --> 00:45:24,000
Speaker 1: have a problem with it. And a lot of times

900
00:45:24,080 --> 00:45:29,359
Speaker 1: in today's generation of athletes. Yo. Man, these brothers are

901
00:45:29,520 --> 00:45:34,000
Speaker 1: so sensitive, and I mean everything is about brand and

902
00:45:34,320 --> 00:45:38,080
Speaker 1: everything is about you know, how you look. And then

903
00:45:38,600 --> 00:45:40,839
Speaker 1: you got the nerve to come at casts like you're

904
00:45:40,880 --> 00:45:43,360
Speaker 1: the only person connected to the streets, like you're the

905
00:45:43,480 --> 00:45:46,760
Speaker 1: only person that could do something. I'm not about the violence.

906
00:45:46,800 --> 00:45:49,800
Speaker 1: I'm not about doing I'm not I'm a law bidy citizen,

907
00:45:50,719 --> 00:45:53,480
Speaker 1: but I am from Hollers I am from the streets

908
00:45:53,520 --> 00:45:55,719
Speaker 1: in New York. I do know an awful lot of

909
00:45:55,880 --> 00:45:59,680
Speaker 1: people throughout this nation. And so if anybody thinks that

910
00:45:59,719 --> 00:46:02,240
Speaker 1: they is gonna hurt me because you got a problem

911
00:46:02,280 --> 00:46:06,520
Speaker 1: with what I said about basketball or football, and you

912
00:46:06,680 --> 00:46:10,600
Speaker 1: think that you're gonna get away with that, be my guest.

913
00:46:11,360 --> 00:46:13,360
Speaker 1: Be my guest. And I hope it never comes to

914
00:46:13,440 --> 00:46:15,600
Speaker 1: that because I'm not a violent person and I'm never

915
00:46:15,680 --> 00:46:18,040
Speaker 1: trying to be that way. But I'm certainly not gonna

916
00:46:18,080 --> 00:46:21,319
Speaker 1: be a punky that I'm a reporter by trade, I'm

917
00:46:21,400 --> 00:46:25,200
Speaker 1: a my virtue of my job. I'm a commentator. I'm

918
00:46:25,239 --> 00:46:28,359
Speaker 1: a punditt. I have a license to speak on these

919
00:46:28,440 --> 00:46:33,480
Speaker 1: things they literally pay me to talk about, literally pay

920
00:46:33,600 --> 00:46:36,920
Speaker 1: me for it. Don't think for one second that you're

921
00:46:36,920 --> 00:46:40,240
Speaker 1: gonna stop me from doing my job. It's not gonna happen.

922
00:46:40,600 --> 00:46:42,520
Speaker 1: What was the transition like for you from like when

923
00:46:42,560 --> 00:46:44,680
Speaker 1: you reporter earlier, you behind the scenes more right now

924
00:46:44,800 --> 00:46:46,959
Speaker 1: in this age where even your radio show you gotta

925
00:46:47,040 --> 00:46:50,400
Speaker 1: videotape everything, everything is on camera. What's what's that transition

926
00:46:50,440 --> 00:46:52,640
Speaker 1: been like for you? The biggest transition for me has

927
00:46:52,680 --> 00:46:56,000
Speaker 1: been the celebrity that I've captured. It was never my intent.

928
00:46:56,280 --> 00:46:58,960
Speaker 1: I'm not that dude. I'm the guy who once went

929
00:46:59,000 --> 00:47:01,920
Speaker 1: through the to the White House correspondence, then through the

930
00:47:01,960 --> 00:47:05,920
Speaker 1: back door to avoid the red carpet. My lawyer jumped

931
00:47:05,960 --> 00:47:08,520
Speaker 1: all over me. Her name is John nine Bonds because

932
00:47:08,680 --> 00:47:11,120
Speaker 1: partner based out of d C. She jumped all over me.

933
00:47:11,239 --> 00:47:14,440
Speaker 1: She was so furious. Um, I just didn't want to

934
00:47:14,480 --> 00:47:16,400
Speaker 1: do that. And she was like, it's a different world.

935
00:47:16,719 --> 00:47:20,000
Speaker 1: She said, you're bigger than some of these marquee athletes

936
00:47:20,080 --> 00:47:22,920
Speaker 1: you cover. She was like, it's just that simple. The

937
00:47:23,040 --> 00:47:26,320
Speaker 1: world has changed. You cannot run from this stuff because,

938
00:47:26,520 --> 00:47:29,759
Speaker 1: believe it or not, I am a relatively private dude. Um.

939
00:47:29,840 --> 00:47:31,440
Speaker 1: I like to do my job. I like to talk

940
00:47:31,440 --> 00:47:33,080
Speaker 1: about the game. I don't like to get in people's

941
00:47:33,120 --> 00:47:36,200
Speaker 1: personal business. I'm not gonna tolerate anybody being in mind.

942
00:47:36,680 --> 00:47:38,920
Speaker 1: I do my job, I go home, live with my

943
00:47:39,040 --> 00:47:42,799
Speaker 1: family and friends and and my inner circle and leave

944
00:47:42,840 --> 00:47:45,400
Speaker 1: it at that. And you know, for me, I'm not

945
00:47:45,520 --> 00:47:48,840
Speaker 1: about that kind of sizzle. But life has changed. And

946
00:47:48,920 --> 00:47:52,799
Speaker 1: in the world that we're living in, podcasts, bloggers, uh,

947
00:47:53,160 --> 00:47:59,840
Speaker 1: social media, plus radio, television and beyond um does stuff

948
00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:02,799
Speaker 1: has gotten so large. It's unbelievable to me. I never

949
00:48:02,920 --> 00:48:05,480
Speaker 1: expected that to happen. You know. I was told that,

950
00:48:05,960 --> 00:48:08,800
Speaker 1: you know, take away the top five athletes in the world,

951
00:48:09,360 --> 00:48:12,239
Speaker 1: and I'm the most popular dude in China. You know,

952
00:48:12,400 --> 00:48:16,760
Speaker 1: I've gotten calls from Africa and New Zealand and Australia

953
00:48:16,920 --> 00:48:20,640
Speaker 1: and you know, uh, Indonesia. It's all over the place.

954
00:48:21,080 --> 00:48:23,319
Speaker 1: And I never expected this kind of thing to happen.

955
00:48:23,400 --> 00:48:26,360
Speaker 1: And then you've got people they want autographs and pictures

956
00:48:26,880 --> 00:48:29,239
Speaker 1: from other people. They want those things from me too,

957
00:48:29,560 --> 00:48:32,120
Speaker 1: but also with me, they want to debate. They don't

958
00:48:32,160 --> 00:48:34,719
Speaker 1: want to just and that's where that's where I could

959
00:48:34,719 --> 00:48:36,480
Speaker 1: come across as a bit of loof or put off,

960
00:48:36,480 --> 00:48:38,279
Speaker 1: as if you like you cat, you don't you try

961
00:48:38,320 --> 00:48:40,200
Speaker 1: to get at me in the streets. I keep it moving.

962
00:48:40,239 --> 00:48:42,480
Speaker 1: I don't want to have a conversation with you because

963
00:48:42,560 --> 00:48:46,239
Speaker 1: I'm not trying to debate. I'm not going check me

964
00:48:46,360 --> 00:48:49,920
Speaker 1: out on TV or radio. That's one of the reasons

965
00:48:50,000 --> 00:48:52,359
Speaker 1: I accept callers all the time, because I don't mind

966
00:48:52,440 --> 00:48:54,640
Speaker 1: you calling me when I'm on the job. Don't bother

967
00:48:54,800 --> 00:48:57,480
Speaker 1: me when I'm in public, don't bother me when I'm

968
00:48:57,520 --> 00:48:59,640
Speaker 1: out with my lady, don't bother me when I'm doing

969
00:48:59,680 --> 00:49:02,200
Speaker 1: anything like that, hide and by or a picture. I

970
00:49:02,320 --> 00:49:05,760
Speaker 1: get it. It's the conversation that I want to avoid

971
00:49:06,000 --> 00:49:07,960
Speaker 1: because I'm trying to get away from all of that

972
00:49:08,320 --> 00:49:11,080
Speaker 1: to conserve my energy, my focus, and to make sure

973
00:49:11,360 --> 00:49:14,399
Speaker 1: that I'm inspired about doing my job done next day

974
00:49:14,719 --> 00:49:17,279
Speaker 1: if I gotta work when I'm off from work, that

975
00:49:17,400 --> 00:49:19,640
Speaker 1: I'm coming in to work the next day. Fatigued, how

976
00:49:19,680 --> 00:49:21,759
Speaker 1: do you feel about the memes when you're constantly being

977
00:49:23,040 --> 00:49:26,000
Speaker 1: I paid no attention to it of the time. I

978
00:49:26,080 --> 00:49:28,040
Speaker 1: don't even know what memes are out there about me

979
00:49:28,120 --> 00:49:33,759
Speaker 1: until somebody shows it in the social media. Accept I accepted.

980
00:49:33,840 --> 00:49:35,200
Speaker 1: I mean, I know they did the baby me and

981
00:49:35,239 --> 00:49:37,520
Speaker 1: the baby stephen A. I thought that was people. You

982
00:49:37,680 --> 00:49:40,480
Speaker 1: Sometimes your clips like the one uh we don't care,

983
00:49:41,000 --> 00:49:43,440
Speaker 1: you know, I mean, it doesn't bother me. It doesn't listen. Man,

984
00:49:43,560 --> 00:49:46,919
Speaker 1: from the moment Jay Farrell imitated me on Saturday Night Live,

985
00:49:47,239 --> 00:49:49,360
Speaker 1: I knew it was over. I knew I was fresh

986
00:49:49,440 --> 00:49:52,879
Speaker 1: meat for everybody out there. And it's like Jamie Fox

987
00:49:53,120 --> 00:49:56,040
Speaker 1: with Cleveland A Smith and all of this stuff, this

988
00:49:56,239 --> 00:49:58,960
Speaker 1: crazy self, but I knew I was in for. But

989
00:49:59,040 --> 00:50:01,000
Speaker 1: that's what comes with the tell ratory. Man, you can't

990
00:50:01,040 --> 00:50:04,759
Speaker 1: sit in my position, and certainly not in judgment of

991
00:50:04,800 --> 00:50:07,600
Speaker 1: who people are, but clearly in judgment of what people do.

992
00:50:08,160 --> 00:50:10,880
Speaker 1: You can't sit in my position every day and then

993
00:50:11,000 --> 00:50:14,240
Speaker 1: be ultra sensitive to people coming at YouTube. You gotta

994
00:50:14,360 --> 00:50:18,400
Speaker 1: accept that, and I accept that with relative ease. When

995
00:50:18,480 --> 00:50:20,720
Speaker 1: you first take in your mind start to become bigger

996
00:50:20,719 --> 00:50:23,360
Speaker 1: than just a sports debase show, like a cultural phenomenon.

997
00:50:23,520 --> 00:50:26,360
Speaker 1: Like you went into it first year skipping, I did it.

998
00:50:26,480 --> 00:50:29,879
Speaker 1: First year skipping, I did it when skipping O two,

999
00:50:30,880 --> 00:50:32,920
Speaker 1: I will always be the number two. I would always

1000
00:50:32,960 --> 00:50:34,839
Speaker 1: be the number two to Skip Baylors. And the reason

1001
00:50:34,920 --> 00:50:36,520
Speaker 1: why I say that is because I would not have

1002
00:50:36,600 --> 00:50:38,120
Speaker 1: been on first take if it were not for him.

1003
00:50:38,960 --> 00:50:41,160
Speaker 1: ESPN and I had a contract disputed in two thousand

1004
00:50:41,239 --> 00:50:43,480
Speaker 1: and eight, two thousand and nine, they let me go.

1005
00:50:44,040 --> 00:50:46,439
Speaker 1: I was unemployed for a full year. Nobody would touch

1006
00:50:46,480 --> 00:50:48,880
Speaker 1: me for two full years. I was kept off television,

1007
00:50:49,440 --> 00:50:52,920
Speaker 1: and it was Skip Baylor's who fought to get me

1008
00:50:53,080 --> 00:50:56,680
Speaker 1: back on television. And when he and when ESPN opened

1009
00:50:56,719 --> 00:50:59,040
Speaker 1: the doors to bring me back to ESPN, because my

1010
00:50:59,120 --> 00:51:01,960
Speaker 1: man Dave Roberts, who's actually my boss on First Take Now,

1011
00:51:02,040 --> 00:51:04,960
Speaker 1: he's a brother by the way from Detroit. He's the

1012
00:51:05,040 --> 00:51:07,759
Speaker 1: boss the First Take, the six o'clock Sports center and

1013
00:51:07,920 --> 00:51:11,839
Speaker 1: all daytime programmer for ESPN Now. But he was over

1014
00:51:12,239 --> 00:51:14,759
Speaker 1: ESPN Radio in New York at the time, and so

1015
00:51:15,120 --> 00:51:19,480
Speaker 1: he pointed out how stephen A leaves of our audience

1016
00:51:19,560 --> 00:51:23,440
Speaker 1: left with him, stephen A returns of our audience returned.

1017
00:51:23,800 --> 00:51:25,960
Speaker 1: So this brother got his own audience. We need to

1018
00:51:26,040 --> 00:51:29,080
Speaker 1: have in me, etcetera, etcetera. They brought me back. And

1019
00:51:29,200 --> 00:51:31,239
Speaker 1: the second that they opened the door to bring me

1020
00:51:31,360 --> 00:51:35,040
Speaker 1: back to ESPN, they still kept me off television for

1021
00:51:35,200 --> 00:51:38,920
Speaker 1: almost a year. And it was Skip Baylis in concert

1022
00:51:39,000 --> 00:51:41,359
Speaker 1: with Jamie Harwitz, the guy who used to run First Take,

1023
00:51:41,360 --> 00:51:44,480
Speaker 1: then left for NBC Today Show, then ultimately left for

1024
00:51:44,800 --> 00:51:49,080
Speaker 1: Fox Sports One. Now he's at the zone. Those two

1025
00:51:49,960 --> 00:51:53,960
Speaker 1: along with my man Galen Gordon, who's a producer, uh

1026
00:51:54,120 --> 00:51:56,320
Speaker 1: you know, he's a talent executive rather at the NFL

1027
00:51:56,400 --> 00:52:00,360
Speaker 1: network as we speak, those three separately, not collaborate actively,

1028
00:52:00,480 --> 00:52:04,840
Speaker 1: but separately four to have me on First Take permanently.

1029
00:52:05,200 --> 00:52:10,439
Speaker 1: And so my my debt of gratitude always points to them,

1030
00:52:10,880 --> 00:52:13,359
Speaker 1: but especially the Skip Baylors because none of that has

1031
00:52:13,400 --> 00:52:16,000
Speaker 1: happened and if Skip Baylors didn't want it, and Skip

1032
00:52:16,040 --> 00:52:18,879
Speaker 1: Baylor's always says, look, man, he said, you can give

1033
00:52:18,920 --> 00:52:20,680
Speaker 1: me all the credit you want to, he said, but

1034
00:52:20,800 --> 00:52:22,520
Speaker 1: this show wouldn't be on the air if it wasn't

1035
00:52:22,560 --> 00:52:24,800
Speaker 1: for you. He came to me and he said, I

1036
00:52:24,920 --> 00:52:27,040
Speaker 1: know you want to do other things, but I need you.

1037
00:52:27,400 --> 00:52:29,520
Speaker 1: Could you give me three years? Three years is all

1038
00:52:29,560 --> 00:52:33,759
Speaker 1: I need, he said, when you will skyrocket? He said,

1039
00:52:33,800 --> 00:52:35,680
Speaker 1: you're the only person that can do this with me.

1040
00:52:35,760 --> 00:52:38,279
Speaker 1: Would you please do it? And that's the reason I

1041
00:52:38,400 --> 00:52:41,160
Speaker 1: did First Take. And so anything any kind of success

1042
00:52:41,200 --> 00:52:43,520
Speaker 1: that I've had, any kind of money that I've been

1043
00:52:43,520 --> 00:52:46,560
Speaker 1: blessed and fortunate enough to make since that time, um,

1044
00:52:46,800 --> 00:52:53,200
Speaker 1: it's because of Skip Baylor's season. Well, the first sort

1045
00:52:53,200 --> 00:52:54,960
Speaker 1: of I had to get him off that Tebow tip.

1046
00:52:55,040 --> 00:52:58,920
Speaker 1: That Tim Tebow. He loved, he loved himself some Tim Tebow.

1047
00:52:59,280 --> 00:53:01,120
Speaker 1: And I was like, we heavy doing that every day

1048
00:53:02,280 --> 00:53:04,440
Speaker 1: and I remember what you know, he would fight me

1049
00:53:04,520 --> 00:53:06,480
Speaker 1: on that and fight me on that because Tim Tebow

1050
00:53:06,560 --> 00:53:09,120
Speaker 1: was the ratings bonanza for first dake without me, but

1051
00:53:09,200 --> 00:53:11,440
Speaker 1: that was the only thing that really really rated. And

1052
00:53:11,520 --> 00:53:15,200
Speaker 1: I said to skip, I said, less than number one,

1053
00:53:15,320 --> 00:53:18,719
Speaker 1: if I may say so. I said, we don't just

1054
00:53:18,880 --> 00:53:23,319
Speaker 1: report the news. We make news. We decide what we're

1055
00:53:23,360 --> 00:53:27,839
Speaker 1: going to do, and our audience will follow us. That's

1056
00:53:27,920 --> 00:53:30,040
Speaker 1: what we need to do. And I said, so we

1057
00:53:30,160 --> 00:53:32,640
Speaker 1: need to gravitate to the multitude of stories that are

1058
00:53:32,680 --> 00:53:35,600
Speaker 1: out there and touch on everything. And instead of being

1059
00:53:35,920 --> 00:53:38,239
Speaker 1: Team Tebow centric, because I ain't signed off for that,

1060
00:53:38,800 --> 00:53:41,600
Speaker 1: I said, let's be sports centric and let's be about

1061
00:53:41,680 --> 00:53:44,680
Speaker 1: the business of every single day. Nobody knows what the

1062
00:53:44,760 --> 00:53:47,360
Speaker 1: hell we're gonna say. We're gonna bring the rain, and

1063
00:53:47,480 --> 00:53:50,200
Speaker 1: I said, and everybody gonna click on with the number

1064
00:53:50,239 --> 00:53:52,719
Speaker 1: one purpose. We want people to click on for what

1065
00:53:52,960 --> 00:53:56,080
Speaker 1: the hell of these dudes gonna say next? And I said,

1066
00:53:56,280 --> 00:53:59,160
Speaker 1: that is what will make a successful show. And to

1067
00:53:59,360 --> 00:54:01,880
Speaker 1: his credit, he followed me, but I let him know

1068
00:54:02,360 --> 00:54:04,520
Speaker 1: you can follow me all you want to. You are

1069
00:54:04,600 --> 00:54:07,919
Speaker 1: the patriarch of this show. First Take was being held

1070
00:54:07,960 --> 00:54:11,279
Speaker 1: down for nine years before I ever arrived because of you.

1071
00:54:11,719 --> 00:54:13,840
Speaker 1: And I don't give a damn what they say about me.

1072
00:54:14,360 --> 00:54:18,040
Speaker 1: My impact would I bring to the table. You are

1073
00:54:18,200 --> 00:54:23,239
Speaker 1: first take first, then me, and it will always be

1074
00:54:23,360 --> 00:54:26,000
Speaker 1: that way. Skip is that Fox. Now Skip could one

1075
00:54:26,080 --> 00:54:28,680
Speaker 1: day end up back at first Take. If he came

1076
00:54:28,760 --> 00:54:30,680
Speaker 1: back at first Take, no matter what kind of star

1077
00:54:30,840 --> 00:54:33,440
Speaker 1: I am, I would move right aside and make room

1078
00:54:33,520 --> 00:54:36,400
Speaker 1: for him to be that dude, because I wouldn't be

1079
00:54:36,520 --> 00:54:38,279
Speaker 1: there if it wasn't for him. I got a lot

1080
00:54:38,320 --> 00:54:42,040
Speaker 1: of left for Max. Max is brilliant, Max is smart. Um.

1081
00:54:42,120 --> 00:54:44,160
Speaker 1: I think if you asked Max, Max would rather work

1082
00:54:44,200 --> 00:54:46,600
Speaker 1: with Marcella's Wily than me because that's his brother. No

1083
00:54:46,719 --> 00:54:51,400
Speaker 1: offense take it whatsoever, because we cool. Um. But I

1084
00:54:51,600 --> 00:54:55,080
Speaker 1: did for Max what Skip did for me, and so

1085
00:54:55,320 --> 00:54:57,279
Speaker 1: as a result of that, when I look at Skip,

1086
00:54:57,719 --> 00:54:59,879
Speaker 1: there is always a level of homage that I'm going

1087
00:55:00,000 --> 00:55:02,560
Speaker 1: to pay to him, and I would never ever ever

1088
00:55:03,000 --> 00:55:07,200
Speaker 1: for that show anything else. That's different. Sports Center, NBA,

1089
00:55:07,320 --> 00:55:10,200
Speaker 1: Now that's me. But when it comes to first take,

1090
00:55:10,880 --> 00:55:14,200
Speaker 1: it will always always always be him first. You think,

1091
00:55:14,280 --> 00:55:16,080
Speaker 1: do you think of hip hop debate show could work

1092
00:55:17,840 --> 00:55:20,960
Speaker 1: depends on what you're debating about. I don't think that

1093
00:55:21,200 --> 00:55:27,240
Speaker 1: debating just about hip hop um is enough because seeing

1094
00:55:27,280 --> 00:55:29,719
Speaker 1: the world of sports, at the end of the day,

1095
00:55:29,800 --> 00:55:37,360
Speaker 1: there's a finish line, touchdowns, wins, losses, playoffs, finals, championships,

1096
00:55:37,360 --> 00:55:40,680
Speaker 1: super Bowls, etcetera, etcetera. There's no such thing in hip

1097
00:55:40,760 --> 00:55:44,280
Speaker 1: hop you can I think that jay Z is probably

1098
00:55:44,360 --> 00:55:47,839
Speaker 1: the greatest. Some would say Biggie, some would say Tupacs,

1099
00:55:47,920 --> 00:55:50,080
Speaker 1: some would say others. You see what I'm saying. And

1100
00:55:50,239 --> 00:55:55,040
Speaker 1: because of that, it's this never ending discussion which takes

1101
00:55:55,080 --> 00:55:58,120
Speaker 1: away the form of a debate. A debate has to

1102
00:55:58,239 --> 00:56:02,280
Speaker 1: have closure at some point. Hip hop doesn't provide closure.

1103
00:56:02,680 --> 00:56:06,600
Speaker 1: It's an on It's a never ending discussion, and with

1104
00:56:06,800 --> 00:56:10,399
Speaker 1: a debate format, there must be closure at some point.

1105
00:56:10,840 --> 00:56:13,520
Speaker 1: It doesn't have to be this day, but there must

1106
00:56:13,600 --> 00:56:16,680
Speaker 1: be a point where you're able to say, Okay, we're

1107
00:56:16,760 --> 00:56:19,680
Speaker 1: gonna see I'm telling you that Dallas calgarys an't winning.

1108
00:56:19,680 --> 00:56:24,759
Speaker 1: No damn okay, but guess but guess what con February

1109
00:56:24,920 --> 00:56:28,759
Speaker 1: will know whether I'm right or wrong. Hip hop speaks

1110
00:56:28,760 --> 00:56:30,759
Speaker 1: about how he hates that it's not like not like

1111
00:56:31,200 --> 00:56:33,560
Speaker 1: where you can really look at his accolades and measure it,

1112
00:56:33,600 --> 00:56:36,040
Speaker 1: and hip hop will never do it. Now, I can

1113
00:56:36,080 --> 00:56:39,640
Speaker 1: tell you what could potentially work what eminem did with

1114
00:56:39,800 --> 00:56:42,799
Speaker 1: eight Mom. You know, with the movie, how they had

1115
00:56:42,920 --> 00:56:46,800
Speaker 1: those debates, how they had those battles on stage, or

1116
00:56:46,840 --> 00:56:50,279
Speaker 1: when you were watching Empire and Free to Gats was

1117
00:56:50,360 --> 00:56:53,320
Speaker 1: battling Key. You know, if you've got something like that

1118
00:56:53,520 --> 00:56:56,960
Speaker 1: going on, then that's something that would because what happens

1119
00:56:57,000 --> 00:56:59,440
Speaker 1: is there's a winner or a loser. But with a

1120
00:56:59,560 --> 00:57:03,240
Speaker 1: debate per se, there's no definitive winner or a loser,

1121
00:57:03,400 --> 00:57:06,000
Speaker 1: and without that you cannot have a debate. I feel

1122
00:57:06,000 --> 00:57:07,920
Speaker 1: like ice c was a winner right now because he

1123
00:57:08,000 --> 00:57:09,760
Speaker 1: has his foot in the hip hop world and also

1124
00:57:09,840 --> 00:57:11,520
Speaker 1: with the Big Three. What are your what's your take

1125
00:57:11,600 --> 00:57:14,320
Speaker 1: on his venture into the sport? Well, I'm not objective

1126
00:57:14,360 --> 00:57:16,440
Speaker 1: about him because that's my brother. I mean, he and

1127
00:57:16,520 --> 00:57:19,160
Speaker 1: I are pretty tight, and um I root for him.

1128
00:57:19,200 --> 00:57:22,600
Speaker 1: Me and LLL collaborate a lot talking about ice Cube

1129
00:57:22,640 --> 00:57:24,560
Speaker 1: in the Big Three and how we wish that he

1130
00:57:24,680 --> 00:57:28,920
Speaker 1: had more support. Unfortunately he doesn't get the support that

1131
00:57:29,040 --> 00:57:31,160
Speaker 1: he deserved. I think that you've got a myriad of

1132
00:57:31,200 --> 00:57:34,000
Speaker 1: the basketball leagues that are being financed or whether it

1133
00:57:34,080 --> 00:57:36,760
Speaker 1: be by the NBA or leagues associated with the NBA,

1134
00:57:36,840 --> 00:57:40,360
Speaker 1: the G League's college basketball, NC Double A, you know

1135
00:57:40,600 --> 00:57:43,120
Speaker 1: other leagues that are out there. I think you have

1136
00:57:43,280 --> 00:57:45,920
Speaker 1: too many people trying to do the same things. And

1137
00:57:46,040 --> 00:57:48,400
Speaker 1: as a result of that, it's a challenge for him

1138
00:57:48,440 --> 00:57:51,400
Speaker 1: because you've got to get networks to buy in. And

1139
00:57:51,640 --> 00:57:54,120
Speaker 1: when it comes to a sport like basketball, if you

1140
00:57:54,200 --> 00:57:58,960
Speaker 1: don't have if you don't have ESPN, Slash, ABC and

1141
00:57:59,120 --> 00:58:03,400
Speaker 1: TNT ball it in, you're fighting the help battle because

1142
00:58:03,400 --> 00:58:05,480
Speaker 1: even though you got Fox Sports one and what have you,

1143
00:58:05,880 --> 00:58:08,439
Speaker 1: that's not what people are looking at Fox Sports one four.

1144
00:58:08,680 --> 00:58:10,560
Speaker 1: They're looking at it the Skip show, They're looking at

1145
00:58:10,600 --> 00:58:12,760
Speaker 1: it from my brother Chris Carter show, First things first

1146
00:58:12,800 --> 00:58:14,600
Speaker 1: in the morning. They're looking at it for things of

1147
00:58:14,680 --> 00:58:18,080
Speaker 1: that nature. They're not looking at it for necessarily the programming.

1148
00:58:18,240 --> 00:58:20,840
Speaker 1: Because ESPN is perceived to be the monoliths we are.

1149
00:58:20,920 --> 00:58:23,920
Speaker 1: The modelis actually that has the program and we got baseball,

1150
00:58:24,000 --> 00:58:27,000
Speaker 1: we got football, we got basketball, we got pros and

1151
00:58:27,160 --> 00:58:30,240
Speaker 1: college plus we're the worldwide leader and so you buy

1152
00:58:30,320 --> 00:58:32,720
Speaker 1: these contracts and what have you with these leagues, you

1153
00:58:32,880 --> 00:58:35,600
Speaker 1: have consistent and constant program I mean, my god, we

1154
00:58:35,760 --> 00:58:38,360
Speaker 1: aired women's softball for crime. You know same. I'm saying,

1155
00:58:38,360 --> 00:58:39,960
Speaker 1: we got everything. And so when you look at it

1156
00:58:40,040 --> 00:58:43,360
Speaker 1: from that perspective, we epitomize what the world wide leader

1157
00:58:43,560 --> 00:58:46,600
Speaker 1: is and your default position when it comes to watching

1158
00:58:46,680 --> 00:58:49,160
Speaker 1: live programming is going to be to go to the

1159
00:58:49,280 --> 00:58:53,800
Speaker 1: direction of ESPN. That's why you had the UFC on Fox.

1160
00:58:54,240 --> 00:58:57,680
Speaker 1: Now it's on ESPN and ESPN Plus and it's a

1161
00:58:57,840 --> 00:59:00,880
Speaker 1: monster's ballooning more and more on the Ain't a White Why?

1162
00:59:00,920 --> 00:59:03,320
Speaker 1: Because they connected with the world Wide Leader. When you

1163
00:59:03,440 --> 00:59:06,120
Speaker 1: have that kind of cash at you understand, if you're

1164
00:59:06,160 --> 00:59:08,640
Speaker 1: the Big three, it would behoove you to get something

1165
00:59:08,760 --> 00:59:12,000
Speaker 1: like that as an arm to disseminate your product. That's

1166
00:59:12,040 --> 00:59:14,240
Speaker 1: not what happened, and I think that's ultimately what's working

1167
00:59:14,280 --> 00:59:18,760
Speaker 1: against ice Q. Is it unfair that we measure like

1168
00:59:18,840 --> 00:59:20,320
Speaker 1: it seems like the greatness of talk about who's the

1169
00:59:20,320 --> 00:59:23,040
Speaker 1: greatest player? We measure MJ with the six rings and

1170
00:59:23,080 --> 00:59:25,400
Speaker 1: being undefeating the finals. It's kind of set the new standards.

1171
00:59:25,400 --> 00:59:27,880
Speaker 1: Do you think that that's how that's a fair measurement

1172
00:59:27,920 --> 00:59:29,240
Speaker 1: to say this. I don't have a problem with it

1173
00:59:29,280 --> 00:59:31,560
Speaker 1: because he's MJ. And what I mean by that is

1174
00:59:31,640 --> 00:59:34,040
Speaker 1: that he ain't somebody that lucked up and captured six

1175
00:59:34,160 --> 00:59:37,960
Speaker 1: rings by coincidence. He was the dominant presence. He was

1176
00:59:38,040 --> 00:59:41,560
Speaker 1: the guy being targeted. And he didn't just beat competition,

1177
00:59:41,680 --> 00:59:45,920
Speaker 1: He annihilated. He stole hearts, He ruined franchises. You got

1178
00:59:46,040 --> 00:59:48,800
Speaker 1: to remember something. MJ is a guy that won six rings.

1179
00:59:49,200 --> 00:59:53,600
Speaker 1: He was the NBA Finals MVP all six times. He

1180
00:59:53,840 --> 00:59:59,360
Speaker 1: never wants allowed a game seven in the process of

1181
00:59:59,480 --> 01:00:02,439
Speaker 1: doing all of that. Here are the franchises that would

1182
01:00:02,480 --> 01:00:05,240
Speaker 1: have a championship if it were not for him. The

1183
01:00:05,360 --> 01:00:09,400
Speaker 1: Cleveland Cavaliers. They had Mark Price, Larry Nance, Matt Dhardy,

1184
01:00:09,520 --> 01:00:12,560
Speaker 1: Greg Yelo, and those boys ruined their championship. That's why

1185
01:00:12,600 --> 01:00:14,400
Speaker 1: I took fifty two years with him to capture one.

1186
01:00:14,400 --> 01:00:17,760
Speaker 1: With Lebron finally ended that curse. Okay, we got the

1187
01:00:17,840 --> 01:00:21,720
Speaker 1: New York next op he wings all of these boys.

1188
01:00:21,880 --> 01:00:23,680
Speaker 1: Now I know they lost to Houston when a Kimo

1189
01:00:23,720 --> 01:00:25,919
Speaker 1: Lodjan did it to them, and for some reason, Stark

1190
01:00:26,000 --> 01:00:29,000
Speaker 1: shot to an eighteen and one of eleven from three

1191
01:00:29,040 --> 01:00:32,160
Speaker 1: point range. But pat Riley should have played Derek Harper.

1192
01:00:32,440 --> 01:00:35,200
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, Rolando Blackman. I apologize because you brought him

1193
01:00:35,200 --> 01:00:36,920
Speaker 1: there to be a three point shooter. He shouldn't have

1194
01:00:36,960 --> 01:00:38,400
Speaker 1: been on the bench. You should have played them in

1195
01:00:38,480 --> 01:00:40,840
Speaker 1: that game seven. Okay. But he was riding the wave

1196
01:00:40,920 --> 01:00:43,640
Speaker 1: that John Starks had produced in a game six loss,

1197
01:00:43,680 --> 01:00:45,600
Speaker 1: thinking he could do the same thing in game seven.

1198
01:00:45,640 --> 01:00:47,880
Speaker 1: That was a mistake on pat Riley's part. You have

1199
01:00:48,120 --> 01:00:52,440
Speaker 1: that going on Indiana, Reggie Miller, Rick Smiths, you know

1200
01:00:52,720 --> 01:00:54,920
Speaker 1: the the you know the big the Dale Davis and

1201
01:00:55,040 --> 01:00:58,800
Speaker 1: tod An, Tony O'Davis, you know, Reggie Miller, Mark Jackson

1202
01:00:58,880 --> 01:01:01,080
Speaker 1: and these boys. They as mulling them. They had had

1203
01:01:01,120 --> 01:01:04,280
Speaker 1: a championship if it wasn't for Jordan's. So that's the

1204
01:01:04,400 --> 01:01:09,720
Speaker 1: Eastern Conference alright. West Utah were stocked in them alone.

1205
01:01:10,200 --> 01:01:13,560
Speaker 1: Phoenix were Barkley, Kevin Johnson, Dan Marley and those boys.

1206
01:01:13,920 --> 01:01:18,080
Speaker 1: Seattle super so with Shawn, Gary Payton and Shawan Camp

1207
01:01:18,200 --> 01:01:22,560
Speaker 1: before he became Sewan Clump. Okay, So you got so disrespectful,

1208
01:01:22,720 --> 01:01:25,600
Speaker 1: just the truth. Just a big boy. That's a big boy, right.

1209
01:01:25,640 --> 01:01:27,240
Speaker 1: So you've got all of that going. I was saying

1210
01:01:27,280 --> 01:01:29,880
Speaker 1: because Clint KMP was a monster, he was something special.

1211
01:01:30,320 --> 01:01:32,240
Speaker 1: But you, but you had all of that going on,

1212
01:01:32,680 --> 01:01:35,919
Speaker 1: and so I just gave you in the Portland Trailblazers

1213
01:01:36,120 --> 01:01:40,400
Speaker 1: with Clyde Drexler, Jerome Kirsey, Terry Porter, Kevin Duxworth and

1214
01:01:40,400 --> 01:01:44,120
Speaker 1: those boards, I just gave you seven. I just gave

1215
01:01:44,200 --> 01:01:49,840
Speaker 1: you seven franchises that would have had an NBA championship

1216
01:01:50,080 --> 01:01:53,560
Speaker 1: at least one if it were not for one man.

1217
01:01:53,960 --> 01:01:59,160
Speaker 1: I didn't say a team. I said one man, Michael Jordan's.

1218
01:01:59,440 --> 01:02:03,720
Speaker 1: If Mike good Jordan's wasn't with the Bulls, every single

1219
01:02:03,840 --> 01:02:06,280
Speaker 1: one of those teams would have won at least one title,

1220
01:02:07,080 --> 01:02:11,600
Speaker 1: at least one. Kobe and Lebron, well, I think here's

1221
01:02:11,640 --> 01:02:14,960
Speaker 1: my here's my answer to that. You can't teach. You

1222
01:02:15,080 --> 01:02:19,000
Speaker 1: can't teach six eight to sixty. Lebron is something special.

1223
01:02:19,360 --> 01:02:22,680
Speaker 1: Lebron is all world belongs on the Mount Rushmore. But

1224
01:02:22,800 --> 01:02:26,200
Speaker 1: I would take Kobe in the last two minutes. Kobe

1225
01:02:26,320 --> 01:02:29,400
Speaker 1: was a killer. See here's what I hold against Lebron.

1226
01:02:29,480 --> 01:02:31,400
Speaker 1: And he's sensitive to that. That's why we don't really

1227
01:02:31,520 --> 01:02:33,960
Speaker 1: vibe because he too damn sensitive to stuff like this.

1228
01:02:34,080 --> 01:02:36,880
Speaker 1: I mean, you call him arguably the second greatest player

1229
01:02:36,880 --> 01:02:39,160
Speaker 1: of all time into him, that's an insult. I don't

1230
01:02:39,200 --> 01:02:41,880
Speaker 1: have time for that, baby and nonsense. But here's the deal.

1231
01:02:42,600 --> 01:02:47,040
Speaker 1: When you look at Lebron, the thing that I religiously

1232
01:02:47,120 --> 01:02:51,000
Speaker 1: hold against him is that it took him years to

1233
01:02:51,160 --> 01:02:55,920
Speaker 1: develop what Kobe and Jordan naturally had, and that was

1234
01:02:56,040 --> 01:02:59,200
Speaker 1: the killer instant. And the proof was in the pudding.

1235
01:02:59,520 --> 01:03:01,440
Speaker 1: He had a aready, been in the league eight years,

1236
01:03:01,920 --> 01:03:03,960
Speaker 1: he had lost the title seven or eight years. He

1237
01:03:04,000 --> 01:03:07,720
Speaker 1: had lost the title to the Dallas Mavericks. If you recall,

1238
01:03:09,040 --> 01:03:12,480
Speaker 1: it was an All Star game, and in the All

1239
01:03:12,560 --> 01:03:17,120
Speaker 1: Star Game, an exhibition game doesn't count against anybody. Lebron

1240
01:03:17,280 --> 01:03:21,440
Speaker 1: James had the ball and Kobe was like, let's go.

1241
01:03:22,000 --> 01:03:26,640
Speaker 1: Spread his arms and defended them. Let's go. And Lebron

1242
01:03:27,240 --> 01:03:32,040
Speaker 1: threw the ball away, trying to throw it to Carmelo

1243
01:03:32,200 --> 01:03:36,240
Speaker 1: Anthony in the corner in the left corner of the

1244
01:03:36,320 --> 01:03:40,200
Speaker 1: All Star Game in the closing minutes, and you saw Kobe,

1245
01:03:41,520 --> 01:03:46,640
Speaker 1: d Wade, Mellow, all of them descend on Lebron, what

1246
01:03:46,800 --> 01:03:50,520
Speaker 1: you're doing. Take the rock, shoot the rock, whatever. Whatever.

1247
01:03:51,240 --> 01:03:55,360
Speaker 1: He was scared of the moment. He didn't want it.

1248
01:03:56,200 --> 01:03:59,400
Speaker 1: He didn't have that killer in him. Now what he

1249
01:03:59,560 --> 01:04:02,880
Speaker 1: has now, he's a killer. He ain't scared of nothing.

1250
01:04:03,120 --> 01:04:06,400
Speaker 1: He's a three time champion, He's been the nine NBA Finals.

1251
01:04:06,760 --> 01:04:10,240
Speaker 1: He clearly belongs on the Mount Rushmore of basketball annals.

1252
01:04:10,480 --> 01:04:13,160
Speaker 1: There is no question before Kobe does, even though he

1253
01:04:13,160 --> 01:04:16,000
Speaker 1: doesn't have as many rigs as Kobe's. Because Kobe's problem

1254
01:04:16,080 --> 01:04:18,960
Speaker 1: is that Kobe's compared to m J. Because Kobe was MJ.

1255
01:04:20,360 --> 01:04:24,000
Speaker 1: He was the games, but he's just a lesser version,

1256
01:04:24,120 --> 01:04:27,720
Speaker 1: slightly lesser version than m J. Lebron ain't either of them.

1257
01:04:27,880 --> 01:04:30,560
Speaker 1: Lebron plays a different position. Lebron is the greatest small

1258
01:04:30,640 --> 01:04:33,400
Speaker 1: forward to ever played basketball. He wasn't a shooting guard.

1259
01:04:33,720 --> 01:04:37,120
Speaker 1: So it's hard to put Kobe ahead of him because

1260
01:04:37,160 --> 01:04:40,880
Speaker 1: we already have Kobe and m J. Just an elevated level.

1261
01:04:41,240 --> 01:04:44,520
Speaker 1: But the reason why I always hesitate to give Lebron

1262
01:04:45,280 --> 01:04:50,760
Speaker 1: extreme credit is because Kobe shot four air balls and

1263
01:04:53,000 --> 01:04:56,640
Speaker 1: layoff game. But he shot him. Remember he kept he

1264
01:04:56,760 --> 01:05:01,240
Speaker 1: fairy Fairy failed. Michael Jordan's kept going forward, kept going

1265
01:05:01,360 --> 01:05:05,120
Speaker 1: forward at the sixty three at Boston Garden against Bird

1266
01:05:05,160 --> 01:05:08,360
Speaker 1: and then when Bird called them god in a basketball jersey.

1267
01:05:08,400 --> 01:05:12,680
Speaker 1: You see what I'm saying kind of Neither of them

1268
01:05:12,840 --> 01:05:16,120
Speaker 1: had to get beat up and abused the way that

1269
01:05:16,280 --> 01:05:20,040
Speaker 1: Lebron did and then ultimately helped by the big brother

1270
01:05:20,120 --> 01:05:22,880
Speaker 1: that was the Wayne Wade and the father type figure

1271
01:05:22,960 --> 01:05:26,760
Speaker 1: over a basketball franchise that was pat Riley in order

1272
01:05:26,880 --> 01:05:30,720
Speaker 1: to get to that point. And that is what I

1273
01:05:30,920 --> 01:05:34,520
Speaker 1: take away from Lebron and give to the MJ's and

1274
01:05:34,560 --> 01:05:38,120
Speaker 1: the Kobe's of the world. He had to go through

1275
01:05:38,200 --> 01:05:43,520
Speaker 1: it before he became that man as an elite basketball

1276
01:05:43,600 --> 01:05:48,040
Speaker 1: player and champion. Kobe and MJ walked into the league

1277
01:05:48,720 --> 01:05:52,360
Speaker 1: with that killer in them. That is why I don't

1278
01:05:52,400 --> 01:05:55,400
Speaker 1: give it to Lebron over MJ. Now Jay Z compares

1279
01:05:55,440 --> 01:05:59,920
Speaker 1: himself to Michael Jordan's right, and you said, kills himself

1280
01:06:00,040 --> 01:06:02,320
Speaker 1: like the you know, the goat of hip hop. Yeah,

1281
01:06:02,480 --> 01:06:05,640
Speaker 1: Who's who's your number two? Who's the Lebron right now?

1282
01:06:06,440 --> 01:06:10,200
Speaker 1: Biggie was son special man. Biggie was Son special. I

1283
01:06:10,280 --> 01:06:12,080
Speaker 1: mean when I listened to the music today and I

1284
01:06:12,200 --> 01:06:17,800
Speaker 1: imagine what Biggie would have done if he were alive.

1285
01:06:18,760 --> 01:06:20,880
Speaker 1: But then I listened to some of Tupac stuff and

1286
01:06:21,720 --> 01:06:25,920
Speaker 1: the times that we're living in the social consciousness elevating

1287
01:06:26,000 --> 01:06:29,920
Speaker 1: the way that it has the modern day athlete assisting

1288
01:06:30,040 --> 01:06:32,520
Speaker 1: in things the way that they do, they the way

1289
01:06:32,600 --> 01:06:36,360
Speaker 1: they would have gravitated to a Tupac because Tupac the

1290
01:06:36,480 --> 01:06:40,320
Speaker 1: activists never left him. See, Biggie was a hip hop artist.

1291
01:06:41,200 --> 01:06:43,560
Speaker 1: Jay Z is a hip hop artist that will venture

1292
01:06:43,640 --> 01:06:47,479
Speaker 1: into other things because he's a businessman. But when it comes,

1293
01:06:47,840 --> 01:06:53,320
Speaker 1: but when it comes to Tupac, the activist was always, always,

1294
01:06:53,480 --> 01:06:57,600
Speaker 1: always a part of him. And because of that, I

1295
01:06:57,800 --> 01:07:02,400
Speaker 1: do find myself thinking if he were alive, he would

1296
01:07:02,440 --> 01:07:07,080
Speaker 1: be he would be you know, and see the thing.

1297
01:07:07,560 --> 01:07:11,280
Speaker 1: Listen Eminem winning on Trump too spectacularly, I might add,

1298
01:07:12,000 --> 01:07:14,840
Speaker 1: but I think something's taken away from it because he's white.

1299
01:07:14,920 --> 01:07:17,040
Speaker 1: It's not to say that his authenticity should be questioning.

1300
01:07:17,040 --> 01:07:18,880
Speaker 1: I got a number love for Eminem. That's not to

1301
01:07:18,920 --> 01:07:22,080
Speaker 1: be questioned at all. What I'm saying is the masses

1302
01:07:22,720 --> 01:07:25,920
Speaker 1: appreciated where he was coming from. But they would have

1303
01:07:26,040 --> 01:07:28,040
Speaker 1: loved it more if that were brother that was doing

1304
01:07:28,080 --> 01:07:30,320
Speaker 1: the same thing, Which is why I bring up Tupac.

1305
01:07:30,560 --> 01:07:33,320
Speaker 1: If Tupac were alive and it'd done what Eminem did

1306
01:07:33,640 --> 01:07:38,200
Speaker 1: to undress Trump the way that that Eminem did. Oh

1307
01:07:38,360 --> 01:07:41,880
Speaker 1: it would it would be butter, you know. And before

1308
01:07:41,920 --> 01:07:44,680
Speaker 1: we go, you got said though before he was president,

1309
01:07:44,760 --> 01:07:47,200
Speaker 1: Trump had gave you some really good career advice. Yeah,

1310
01:07:47,200 --> 01:07:52,600
Speaker 1: he showed up on quite frankly in two thousand and six. Um,

1311
01:07:53,040 --> 01:07:55,600
Speaker 1: I believe it was two thousand and six when he

1312
01:07:55,680 --> 01:07:58,440
Speaker 1: showed up on quite frankly and he sat in the

1313
01:07:58,520 --> 01:08:00,680
Speaker 1: chair for an hour. Let me touch said it proved

1314
01:08:00,720 --> 01:08:03,600
Speaker 1: that it wasn't that it wasn't a tooth pay you know.

1315
01:08:04,000 --> 01:08:07,080
Speaker 1: And you know, but we were in the green room

1316
01:08:08,320 --> 01:08:09,760
Speaker 1: and when we were in the green room and we

1317
01:08:09,840 --> 01:08:14,479
Speaker 1: were talking, Trump sat up there and he said little

1318
01:08:14,520 --> 01:08:19,519
Speaker 1: piece of advice. Well it was actually him and Kobe,

1319
01:08:19,640 --> 01:08:23,720
Speaker 1: because Kobe had spoken to me. Um. After that, it

1320
01:08:23,840 --> 01:08:27,000
Speaker 1: came after Trump, but everybody was talking about, man, you're

1321
01:08:27,000 --> 01:08:29,000
Speaker 1: a great interview of blah blah blah. You're gonna be

1322
01:08:29,040 --> 01:08:32,240
Speaker 1: the next opera. And Kobe said, f all that oprah

1323
01:08:32,280 --> 01:08:37,559
Speaker 1: bleet harp o. Mhm, that's how I want you thinking.

1324
01:08:37,840 --> 01:08:40,760
Speaker 1: This is Kobe Bryant, and Kobe just a brilliant, brilliant dude,

1325
01:08:40,800 --> 01:08:44,240
Speaker 1: don't matter how younger he is. The brother's sensational speaks

1326
01:08:44,479 --> 01:08:47,320
Speaker 1: three different languages fluently. One of the all time greats

1327
01:08:47,360 --> 01:08:50,120
Speaker 1: as a player and Oscar winners. I mean, I mean

1328
01:08:50,200 --> 01:08:52,920
Speaker 1: Kobe special man. But that's what he said, and so

1329
01:08:53,040 --> 01:08:55,320
Speaker 1: I remember that. But to get to your point about Trump,

1330
01:08:56,000 --> 01:08:59,560
Speaker 1: what Trump said at the time was, he said, I

1331
01:08:59,680 --> 01:09:02,160
Speaker 1: never want you to forget this, he said, and I

1332
01:09:02,240 --> 01:09:04,519
Speaker 1: want you to hold onto this mentality for as long

1333
01:09:04,560 --> 01:09:07,520
Speaker 1: as you possibly can, because it will always be applicable

1334
01:09:07,600 --> 01:09:10,679
Speaker 1: in the world of business. I said, I'm listening. He said.

1335
01:09:10,720 --> 01:09:13,040
Speaker 1: When you go to a bank and you borrow three

1336
01:09:13,080 --> 01:09:16,559
Speaker 1: million dollars and you can't pay it back, you got

1337
01:09:16,640 --> 01:09:19,080
Speaker 1: a problem, he said. But if you go to a

1338
01:09:19,160 --> 01:09:22,680
Speaker 1: bank and you borrow three hundred million dollars and you

1339
01:09:22,840 --> 01:09:27,639
Speaker 1: can't pay it back, We've got a problem. He said.

1340
01:09:27,680 --> 01:09:30,880
Speaker 1: The moral of the story is the more you get

1341
01:09:31,400 --> 01:09:35,920
Speaker 1: people to invest in you, the more diligently they must

1342
01:09:36,040 --> 01:09:41,160
Speaker 1: work to ensure your success. And so that is incredibly

1343
01:09:41,200 --> 01:09:45,640
Speaker 1: aproposed to me, because ever since that time, once I

1344
01:09:45,760 --> 01:09:48,679
Speaker 1: got back from that two year high aightus away from ESPN,

1345
01:09:49,439 --> 01:09:52,799
Speaker 1: I'm meticulously one about the business of plotting my career.

1346
01:09:53,840 --> 01:09:56,680
Speaker 1: And I'm not somebody that's the type of person that's

1347
01:09:56,720 --> 01:10:00,080
Speaker 1: gonna find that's gonna fight over every penny. Understand that

1348
01:10:00,160 --> 01:10:05,479
Speaker 1: when you're negotiating against conglomerates, they must win. I don't

1349
01:10:05,520 --> 01:10:07,599
Speaker 1: give a damn if it's a cup of coffee. They

1350
01:10:07,680 --> 01:10:11,519
Speaker 1: gotta win. They gotta have something that says, Okay, we

1351
01:10:11,760 --> 01:10:15,080
Speaker 1: want this, because if they don't, then they resent you

1352
01:10:15,240 --> 01:10:18,200
Speaker 1: for it, and they can make your life difficult once

1353
01:10:18,240 --> 01:10:21,800
Speaker 1: you sign the paper to commit yourself to them, which

1354
01:10:21,880 --> 01:10:24,200
Speaker 1: is never a good position to be absolute. But in

1355
01:10:24,320 --> 01:10:27,280
Speaker 1: the process of saying all of that, please understand that

1356
01:10:27,400 --> 01:10:33,040
Speaker 1: it's perfectly all right and within your right to get yours,

1357
01:10:33,360 --> 01:10:36,679
Speaker 1: to get what you have earned. And so it's about

1358
01:10:36,920 --> 01:10:40,040
Speaker 1: knowing your value. It's about understand when I talk about

1359
01:10:40,080 --> 01:10:42,479
Speaker 1: first take, I didn't sit up there and say to

1360
01:10:42,520 --> 01:10:45,880
Speaker 1: you I'm near something. Now. I said to you, I'm

1361
01:10:45,960 --> 01:10:49,439
Speaker 1: number one. We rate number one from ten a m.

1362
01:10:49,479 --> 01:10:52,519
Speaker 1: To noon, and every major demographic you can find in

1363
01:10:52,720 --> 01:10:56,000
Speaker 1: all of television, broadcasting and cable. My radio show has

1364
01:10:56,040 --> 01:10:58,439
Speaker 1: blown up, my social media stuff is blown up, my

1365
01:10:58,600 --> 01:11:02,599
Speaker 1: YouTube numbers off the chart, blah blah blah. So knowing

1366
01:11:02,760 --> 01:11:06,320
Speaker 1: that and knowing how they monetize it, I'm able to

1367
01:11:06,479 --> 01:11:11,320
Speaker 1: gauge what I'm worth in the ballpark. So once you're

1368
01:11:11,439 --> 01:11:14,360
Speaker 1: able to do that, then you go about the business

1369
01:11:14,400 --> 01:11:17,639
Speaker 1: of fighting for it. Why because if I don't fight

1370
01:11:17,760 --> 01:11:22,280
Speaker 1: for it, then I'm diminishing my own value. And then

1371
01:11:22,320 --> 01:11:25,320
Speaker 1: I'm giving you the license to diminish my own value

1372
01:11:25,680 --> 01:11:29,000
Speaker 1: because I didn't make you value me. But if I

1373
01:11:29,120 --> 01:11:31,759
Speaker 1: sit up there and I fight on behalf of myself,

1374
01:11:32,360 --> 01:11:36,840
Speaker 1: making sure to illuminate my significance and my value to

1375
01:11:37,120 --> 01:11:41,599
Speaker 1: you and bringing validation to the table to authenticate that value,

1376
01:11:42,280 --> 01:11:45,160
Speaker 1: now you have to take me seriously. And when you

1377
01:11:45,320 --> 01:11:49,320
Speaker 1: cut in that check and it's significant, particularly compared to

1378
01:11:49,439 --> 01:11:52,960
Speaker 1: those who have inferior numbers revenue ratings wise and what

1379
01:11:53,120 --> 01:11:56,560
Speaker 1: have you, it automatically gone as a level of respect

1380
01:11:57,120 --> 01:11:59,760
Speaker 1: that you're going to have to pay attention to in

1381
01:12:00,080 --> 01:12:03,720
Speaker 1: dealing with me, because you know that I've earned it,

1382
01:12:03,880 --> 01:12:06,600
Speaker 1: that I have a right to it. Then you validated it.

1383
01:12:06,960 --> 01:12:09,840
Speaker 1: So it's now in your best interests to support me

1384
01:12:10,240 --> 01:12:13,920
Speaker 1: because it validates the investment you made in me. Why

1385
01:12:13,960 --> 01:12:17,920
Speaker 1: would you devalue the very investment you made. All of

1386
01:12:18,000 --> 01:12:21,120
Speaker 1: these things are what I peeled from that one statement

1387
01:12:21,720 --> 01:12:25,519
Speaker 1: from the now President of the United States of America,

1388
01:12:25,760 --> 01:12:28,120
Speaker 1: and he told me that we got in on a

1389
01:12:28,200 --> 01:12:33,600
Speaker 1: hip hop note favorite hip hop album I I don't know,

1390
01:12:33,720 --> 01:12:36,240
Speaker 1: because you know what I'm not good with. I'm not good.

1391
01:12:36,320 --> 01:12:41,000
Speaker 1: I mean when I think about jay z Blueprint, I

1392
01:12:41,080 --> 01:12:43,360
Speaker 1: mean that that that's up there, that's up there. I

1393
01:12:43,400 --> 01:12:47,200
Speaker 1: think about Run DMC's first album, that's up there. Um

1394
01:12:48,240 --> 01:12:51,680
Speaker 1: heavy Day, That that that that's really weird is for me.

1395
01:12:52,280 --> 01:12:55,759
Speaker 1: That's really weird is for me. A couple of fifty

1396
01:12:55,800 --> 01:12:59,040
Speaker 1: cents and you got a couple of nice ones, two parts.

1397
01:12:59,080 --> 01:13:01,400
Speaker 1: Got enough of nice on? You know? For some reason,

1398
01:13:01,439 --> 01:13:04,000
Speaker 1: I find myself listening to The Unconditional Love by Tupac

1399
01:13:04,080 --> 01:13:06,160
Speaker 1: these days. I don't know why the hell I'm listening

1400
01:13:06,200 --> 01:13:10,360
Speaker 1: to that, that temptation. Um. You listen to stuff to motivate,

1401
01:13:10,400 --> 01:13:13,160
Speaker 1: you inspire you, Like, do you know what the thing

1402
01:13:13,320 --> 01:13:15,840
Speaker 1: I was telling P did he this one time? UM

1403
01:13:16,600 --> 01:13:21,800
Speaker 1: hate me? Now? I listened to that at least once

1404
01:13:21,880 --> 01:13:25,759
Speaker 1: a day. And my favorite and and my favorite verses,

1405
01:13:25,960 --> 01:13:28,479
Speaker 1: you know, he says you can't hate me nah, and

1406
01:13:28,560 --> 01:13:33,120
Speaker 1: he's like, I like this. I like I like the

1407
01:13:33,200 --> 01:13:36,800
Speaker 1: way this feels, you know, because it's exactly what I'm thinking.

1408
01:13:36,840 --> 01:13:39,080
Speaker 1: It's like they hating on me. Like my assistance to

1409
01:13:39,160 --> 01:13:41,720
Speaker 1: Matra be around me and others and it's like they're

1410
01:13:41,720 --> 01:13:44,760
Speaker 1: sitting there and people hating on me, and I'm like, yeah,

1411
01:13:45,080 --> 01:13:48,040
Speaker 1: like that because they think that they actually, for some reason,

1412
01:13:48,120 --> 01:13:51,560
Speaker 1: they actually think that I'm gonna fold. And it's like

1413
01:13:52,120 --> 01:13:54,880
Speaker 1: it's like pop Eye with the spinach. You know. It's

1414
01:13:54,920 --> 01:13:58,200
Speaker 1: like all you did was you know you, you got you.

1415
01:13:58,560 --> 01:14:03,040
Speaker 1: I appreciate you getting me alert. I mean, I was

1416
01:14:03,080 --> 01:14:06,360
Speaker 1: a little tired this morning, but you don't hate me. Good.

1417
01:14:07,080 --> 01:14:09,599
Speaker 1: Oh I needed that. And that's why I said, you're

1418
01:14:09,640 --> 01:14:12,280
Speaker 1: listening to You're listening to you know Nas and Nas

1419
01:14:12,400 --> 01:14:14,559
Speaker 1: is brilliant to gotta give him some love, but I'm

1420
01:14:14,600 --> 01:14:17,280
Speaker 1: just saying with him and and P did he puffy?

1421
01:14:17,320 --> 01:14:19,439
Speaker 1: It was like when they said hate me now and

1422
01:14:19,520 --> 01:14:21,720
Speaker 1: he was like and and P did he stop? He's like,

1423
01:14:21,800 --> 01:14:24,519
Speaker 1: I like this. I like the way this feels. I

1424
01:14:24,640 --> 01:14:27,360
Speaker 1: was like, yeah, that that that's me. It's like that's

1425
01:14:27,360 --> 01:14:31,000
Speaker 1: what it's all about. Everybody has to find that little

1426
01:14:31,120 --> 01:14:35,560
Speaker 1: something for themselves that inspires them and elevates them to

1427
01:14:36,200 --> 01:14:40,360
Speaker 1: two different heights. When you are grinding, even while you're

1428
01:14:40,400 --> 01:14:43,599
Speaker 1: in the midst of that grind, you feel achievements coming

1429
01:14:43,680 --> 01:14:47,360
Speaker 1: your way and you can get slacked. But when you

1430
01:14:47,600 --> 01:14:52,519
Speaker 1: are surrounded by little nuggets of things that motivate you,

1431
01:14:54,000 --> 01:14:56,240
Speaker 1: it's I don't know how to explain it. Sometimes it

1432
01:14:56,360 --> 01:14:59,360
Speaker 1: keeps me up at night in a good way. Sometimes,

1433
01:14:59,680 --> 01:15:01,240
Speaker 1: you know, I go to sleep and I wake up

1434
01:15:01,320 --> 01:15:03,760
Speaker 1: on fire and it's like, what's wrong with him? And

1435
01:15:03,800 --> 01:15:07,000
Speaker 1: I'm like, let's go, you know, and it's it's stuff

1436
01:15:07,080 --> 01:15:10,080
Speaker 1: like that that just it just does it for me

1437
01:15:10,240 --> 01:15:14,560
Speaker 1: because I look, I look for little motivational tactics and

1438
01:15:14,640 --> 01:15:18,000
Speaker 1: stuff like that, and hate is one of the things

1439
01:15:18,120 --> 01:15:22,679
Speaker 1: that makes me feel good. I mean Cat Williams, Cat Williams.

1440
01:15:22,720 --> 01:15:25,600
Speaker 1: Cat Williams said it best best. You know, you you

1441
01:15:26,120 --> 01:15:29,240
Speaker 1: you got fifteen people hating, or you find a sixteen

1442
01:15:29,640 --> 01:15:31,720
Speaker 1: you know, let's get it on, you know, because I'm

1443
01:15:31,760 --> 01:15:33,679
Speaker 1: gonna get love. I'm gonna get love, and I'm gonna

1444
01:15:33,680 --> 01:15:37,479
Speaker 1: do what I do. But it's incredibly, incredibly important to

1445
01:15:37,600 --> 01:15:42,320
Speaker 1: me that I'm always on constant alert recognizing that you're

1446
01:15:42,320 --> 01:15:47,719
Speaker 1: gonna come for me. I'm never ever, ever complacent, ever,

1447
01:15:48,400 --> 01:15:51,759
Speaker 1: because I know better. I know that the second people

1448
01:15:51,840 --> 01:15:54,400
Speaker 1: get an opportunity to they will want it. They don't

1449
01:15:54,439 --> 01:15:56,360
Speaker 1: want to take me down, they want to take me out.

1450
01:15:57,080 --> 01:16:00,520
Speaker 1: You understand, and that goes for you, you and anybody

1451
01:16:00,560 --> 01:16:03,800
Speaker 1: who's successful, because most people in this world are not,

1452
01:16:04,520 --> 01:16:08,840
Speaker 1: and their definition of success is keeping somebody on their

1453
01:16:08,960 --> 01:16:13,439
Speaker 1: level and denying ones elevation. And you can't let that happen.

1454
01:16:13,760 --> 01:16:16,000
Speaker 1: You gotta be inspired by it. I know. I am

1455
01:16:17,000 --> 01:16:25,240
Speaker 1: Van Stephen hbc U HBCU Week. Please at HBCU Week

1456
01:16:25,400 --> 01:16:29,360
Speaker 1: or week dot org. Go to both places. Find out

1457
01:16:29,400 --> 01:16:33,439
Speaker 1: about this. Twenty five different HBCUs and the House marching bands,

1458
01:16:33,479 --> 01:16:35,000
Speaker 1: all of that stuff. First take would be live in

1459
01:16:35,040 --> 01:16:37,879
Speaker 1: the House. Delaware State seventy six is Field House. Saturday

1460
01:16:37,960 --> 01:16:45,040
Speaker 1: ten am, Magic Johnson's and Oiles Great vacation was j

1461
01:16:45,240 --> 01:16:51,599
Speaker 1: sixty tell us about it was spectacular Friday. By the way,

1462
01:16:51,680 --> 01:16:55,160
Speaker 1: my sisters in my Friday Friday, HBCU week got the

1463
01:16:55,280 --> 01:16:58,560
Speaker 1: fair Friday where you can bring your grades S A

1464
01:16:58,680 --> 01:17:00,680
Speaker 1: T A C T score you at a scholarship on

1465
01:17:00,720 --> 01:17:03,200
Speaker 1: the spot, or at least enrollment into an HBCU. So

1466
01:17:03,560 --> 01:17:05,120
Speaker 1: make sure I do all of that. But let me

1467
01:17:05,200 --> 01:17:10,160
Speaker 1: get back to Magic Johnson's part. It was spectacular. It's

1468
01:17:10,160 --> 01:17:13,120
Speaker 1: the greatest vacation. What Sam was you touching man Sandro

1469
01:17:13,240 --> 01:17:18,439
Speaker 1: pay friends sounds expensive? It was it was it was.

1470
01:17:18,640 --> 01:17:20,600
Speaker 1: It was worth it, though, Bro, it was worth it.

1471
01:17:20,720 --> 01:17:23,720
Speaker 1: I mean, magic did it up, man, Magic did it up.

1472
01:17:23,760 --> 01:17:26,320
Speaker 1: It was something special, you know it. What happened in

1473
01:17:26,439 --> 01:17:29,559
Speaker 1: Sandro Pay stays in sand. So I'm not gonna say

1474
01:17:29,600 --> 01:17:31,400
Speaker 1: who all sort of picture stuff like that you saw

1475
01:17:31,439 --> 01:17:33,519
Speaker 1: who was there, But y'all, y'all, I don't need to

1476
01:17:33,560 --> 01:17:35,720
Speaker 1: be spreading that business. But I would tell you my man,

1477
01:17:35,840 --> 01:17:42,120
Speaker 1: Magic comforty of greatness. Man, he is magic. Bro. That

1478
01:17:42,280 --> 01:17:44,720
Speaker 1: that that that that that that was the three it

1479
01:17:44,880 --> 01:17:47,720
Speaker 1: was four days. I could only stay three, but the

1480
01:17:47,880 --> 01:17:51,559
Speaker 1: three days of parties I was subjected to. He don't

1481
01:17:51,600 --> 01:17:53,559
Speaker 1: ever have to worry about wondering whether or not I'm

1482
01:17:53,600 --> 01:17:56,760
Speaker 1: coming back again. You don't ever have to worry about

1483
01:17:56,800 --> 01:17:59,400
Speaker 1: that and that that that that that that that is

1484
01:17:59,439 --> 01:18:02,040
Speaker 1: going to be. He said, Listen, they're gonna have to

1485
01:18:02,080 --> 01:18:05,680
Speaker 1: come up with some pretty important stuff to keep me

1486
01:18:06,479 --> 01:18:11,000
Speaker 1: from going to a Magic Johnson vacation. It was. It

1487
01:18:11,160 --> 01:18:13,920
Speaker 1: was about it was about to fifty three hundred of

1488
01:18:14,040 --> 01:18:18,000
Speaker 1: us that was dead black Hollywood and affect the whole nine.

1489
01:18:18,160 --> 01:18:21,680
Speaker 1: It was. It's the greatest vacation I ever had. Bring

1490
01:18:21,720 --> 01:18:27,200
Speaker 1: me next year, all right, No rap, no no, I

1491
01:18:27,200 --> 01:18:32,559
Speaker 1: ain't bring it, I ain't bring nobody there. I'm good, especial, especial,

1492
01:18:34,280 --> 01:18:37,600
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, my man right On podcast