WEBVTT - Questlove Part 2 0:00:08.200 --> 0:00:17.040 Pushkin. Welcome back to Broken Record and part two of 0:00:17.079 --> 0:00:21.639 our interview with Questlove. I'm Malcolm Gladwow, Rick Rubin and 0:00:21.640 --> 0:00:23.960 I didn't expect to sit down with Questlove as long 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:26.400 as we did, But after he told us in part 0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:29.760 one about how he wooed DiAngelo into collaborating with him, 0:00:30.240 --> 0:00:31.800 we just had to have him to sit at the 0:00:31.840 --> 0:00:35.000 drums and show us how he did it. And then 0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:40.000 the stories kept flowing, including the best Obama story ever. 0:00:40.720 --> 0:00:46.159 Here's part two of our interview with Questlove. Just a 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:48.440 quick note here, you can listen to all of the 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:51.400 music mentioned in this episode on our playlist, which you 0:00:51.400 --> 0:00:54.320 can find a link to in the show notes for 0:00:54.400 --> 0:00:57.840 licensing reasons. Each time a song is referenced in this episode, 0:00:58.040 --> 0:01:03.720 you'll hear this sound effect. All right, enjoyed the episode? 0:01:05.480 --> 0:01:08.679 You mentioned way back when that you played D'Angelo that 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:12.080 little bit that lured him in. Can you can you 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:14.039 play that? We have a drum set over there, you 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:19.600 can you reproduce that? Sure, I'll give you an example. Okay, 0:01:23.480 --> 0:01:32.840 is there a drum though? Yes? There is? Okay. So, 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:37.840 so the thing is is that by that point in 0:01:37.920 --> 0:01:42.200 nineteen ninety six, I was very guarded of my kind 0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:48.480 of strict discipline, quantized drumming because I didn't want anyone 0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:51.240 to think of the roots as lesser than a hip 0:01:51.280 --> 0:01:55.040 hop group. So for me, I had spent five years 0:01:55.080 --> 0:02:00.440 to that point being the most disciplined, lifeless drummer, you know, 0:02:00.480 --> 0:02:02.720 Like my version of drumming was just to play the 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:07.760 most disciplined. No dynamics, no, none of those things. So 0:02:08.919 --> 0:02:13.800 the difference is in seeing DeAngelo and knowing what language 0:02:13.800 --> 0:02:17.680 he spoke. I wanted him to know I spoke that 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:21.760 language too. Previously I was speaking the language of hip hop, 0:02:21.800 --> 0:02:24.920 which was just like kind of like my version of 0:02:24.960 --> 0:02:28.800 Thelonious Monks talking about atonal like the notes in between 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:32.640 the notes, and it's like a broken drum machine. Yes, 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:36.760 And the worst I played, the more excited he got. 0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:38.560 And that's the thing, like to do this, like you 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:42.120 have to put your ego aside, because every drummer was 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:46.119 about evil Knievel Like Gospel Chops. That's the thing with drummers. 0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:48.160 If you go to gospel chops dot com, you'll see 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:51.680 some of the most amazing drum players that would put 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:53.960 Neil Pert to shame, like that sort of thing. But 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:57.360 playing with him There was a song on his first 0:02:57.400 --> 0:03:00.400 album called dream and Eyes of Mine and which the 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:04.239 time I asked his producer, Bob Power, did you guys 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:06.639 like break the drum machine or something, because the way 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:10.200 that it was programmed, this is how that song sounded, 0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:13.200 which made me knew that he spoke that drunk language 0:03:13.720 --> 0:03:19.160 his programming was like. Which once Bob convinced me like, no, 0:03:19.240 --> 0:03:23.160 we did that on purpose, then I was like, okay, 0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:26.160 I think you're just saying that. But then once I 0:03:26.200 --> 0:03:29.520 heard Wu Tang Clan and which there is this sort 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:31.320 of does that with this production, But I kind of 0:03:31.320 --> 0:03:34.560 feel like it's the accidental tourist, like, oh dog, that's 0:03:34.600 --> 0:03:36.840 hip hop, Like I just I programmed it offbeat, like 0:03:36.960 --> 0:03:39.240 you know that sort of thing. Once we got to 0:03:39.320 --> 0:03:42.640 that place in that level, then I just okay, this 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:45.480 this is the new language. I'm gonna throw away everything 0:03:45.520 --> 0:03:48.400 that my mom and dad put me in school for 0:03:49.200 --> 0:03:51.080 and I'm just gonna drum like a five year old 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:54.520 from now on. But really it's just being human. That's 0:03:54.600 --> 0:03:57.520 that's all I consider it. You know, were you when 0:03:57.520 --> 0:04:00.280 you were playing that way for D'Angelo? So you're he's 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:02.560 any audience and you're watching him while you're doing this. 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:06.200 He stood up and pointed. Either he pointed or gave 0:04:06.240 --> 0:04:11.400 me like the black power fists sign like yo. The 0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:17.000 sentence was, Yo, that's my drummer or that's my brother, 0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:20.800 Like I just I had to let him know I 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:25.039 get you, I underestimated you. I'm sorry, I'm trying to 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:29.720 be down. I speak the same language too, and he 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:32.480 got it. He got it in that moment. Yeah, I 0:04:32.520 --> 0:04:35.880 love that so much. I think if you, if you 0:04:36.040 --> 0:04:40.800 didn't have the training that he had in the precision before, 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:44.080 you couldn't do the drunk stylist as well as you do. 0:04:44.120 --> 0:04:46.840 You're right. I don't think I don't recommend people. And 0:04:46.920 --> 0:04:48.800 you know that's kind of crazy you say that, because 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:53.640 even now, young drummers are on YouTube going to the 0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:56.800 top of Mount Fuji to learn the fancies thing, and 0:04:56.920 --> 0:04:58.920 I tell them all the time, like you gotta go 0:04:58.960 --> 0:05:02.880 to first grade first. You don't start off getting your doctorate. 0:05:03.600 --> 0:05:09.240 My dad was a notorious he loved that whole James Brown, 0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:13.279 I'm finding you five ten dollars for that role. You know, 0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:15.919 my dad's doing oldie stuff. So basically all this stuff 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:18.919 is all the same, like like he will not My 0:05:19.080 --> 0:05:22.760 father did not hesitate ever to just he wouldn't even 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:24.599 look at me. You just look at his right hand 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:28.080 and if he flashed the five, five, ten, fifteen twenty, 0:05:29.400 --> 0:05:33.240 that's where I really got my disciplined chops from not 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:38.040 wanting to have my salary at the end of the night. 0:05:38.320 --> 0:05:43.760 Thank God for your dad. Yeah. After the break, Questlove 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:46.400 talks about his tenure at the Tonight Show and how 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:54.480 it's improved The Roots as a band. We're back with 0:05:54.600 --> 0:05:57.880 more Questlove. I was talking about playing drums. Can you 0:05:57.920 --> 0:06:04.479 practice too much to know something? Here's the thing. I 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:08.920 don't practice enough. When the Roots first got the Tonight Show, 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:12.120 Like the first day where we had to sit in 0:06:12.120 --> 0:06:14.920 front of each other and rehearse, that was one of 0:06:14.960 --> 0:06:18.520 the hardest musical moments of my life. Like I actually 0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:22.560 stopped rehearsal after like three minutes and called my manager like, Yo, 0:06:24.000 --> 0:06:25.880 it's kind of weird, man, what do we do Because 0:06:26.000 --> 0:06:29.680 literally we've had a relationship as a group for eighteen 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:33.120 years where it's just like sound check, three hour show. 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:39.720 We never rehearsed, so to be facing each other and 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:41.880 trying to figure out how to be creative was so 0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:45.240 hard for Like the first two weeks and then we 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:49.240 got over that quickly, and then notice like, oh, we're 0:06:49.279 --> 0:06:52.400 really good songwriters together because previously we were doing the 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:55.720 white album thing like Okay, here's my song and let 0:06:55.720 --> 0:06:57.560 me hear your song. Yeah, I got a bridge for 0:06:57.600 --> 0:06:59.440 that when you hear my song. So now like we're 0:06:59.440 --> 0:07:04.280 writing songs together, but then it's also being in those 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:10.960 close quarters enabled us to actually be friends again. One 0:07:11.000 --> 0:07:13.240 of the weirdest things I saw we opened up for 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:16.680 the Chili Peppers in Italy at a soccer stadium for 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:20.040 the ninety thousand people, and there was a part after 0:07:20.080 --> 0:07:23.600 the third song on the show, those four got a 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:27.440 magic circle, like Chack came from behind a drum set 0:07:27.720 --> 0:07:29.760 and they all came in a magic circle. And I 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:34.080 was like, Okay, the audience is cheering and it's like 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:37.160 three minutes and then go back. By the fourth night, 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:39.480 I was like, why don't they just have a set list? 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:42.160 So I went to Flea and I was like, Yo, 0:07:42.240 --> 0:07:44.120 what do y'all talk about when y'all get in that circle. 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:48.480 He's like, oh, man, we're just like grateful. Man. I 0:07:48.520 --> 0:07:50.800 was like, what do you mean. It's like, dog, we're 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:53.480 just a la Ben. You know, in front of a 0:07:53.720 --> 0:07:57.640 soccer stadium of one hundred thousand people. Man, I said, oh, 0:07:57.680 --> 0:07:59.640 you're not talking about the show or anything. He says, Nah, Man, 0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:03.280 we're talking about like dinner that night, and remember that 0:08:03.360 --> 0:08:05.880 riff we did in rehearsal, Like we just take three 0:08:05.880 --> 0:08:09.600 minutes out to be grateful for this moment. So then 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:11.080 I went back to my manager. I was like, Yo, 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:14.560 they're not even talking about anything deep. They're just talking 0:08:14.560 --> 0:08:16.840 about that and he's like, oh, that makes sense. I 0:08:16.880 --> 0:08:19.800 was like, that's not silly to you. He's like, well, yeah, 0:08:19.840 --> 0:08:21.800 they like each other. You guys don't like each other, 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:25.080 And that hurt me so bad. I'm like, we like 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:27.960 each other. It's like, dude, you have a slither in 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:31.120 a griffin door bus. You guys traveled separately. You don't 0:08:31.120 --> 0:08:33.280 talk to each other. Da da dah. You got to 0:08:33.320 --> 0:08:36.880 be friends in order to get that sort of magic back. 0:08:36.920 --> 0:08:41.760 And then seeing them do that, then that really retooled 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:44.959 our relationship with each other. And then the third part 0:08:45.000 --> 0:08:48.560 was that just personal rehearsal time. Like now that we 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:52.120 have a steady job and I almost feel like I've 0:08:52.200 --> 0:08:55.200 robbed our fan base for eighteen years because I've learned 0:08:55.200 --> 0:08:57.680 so much in these past ten years of doing the 0:08:57.720 --> 0:09:03.240 show that I didn't know. I got educated on how 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:05.200 to make music, how to be a band, how to 0:09:05.200 --> 0:09:08.400 be a better musician in these past ten years that 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:12.600 I didn't know between nineteen ninety two and two thousand 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:16.680 and eight, which is weird, amazing, it's amazing. I'm not 0:09:16.679 --> 0:09:20.200 giving back refunds either. It's funny. It's funny when you 0:09:20.200 --> 0:09:22.800 say that about the Chili Peppers in the circle. It's 0:09:22.840 --> 0:09:25.480 like you you said they weren't talking about anything important. 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:28.120 They were actually talking about the only thing that was important. 0:09:28.400 --> 0:09:30.400 Had they only been talking about the show, it wouldn't 0:09:30.400 --> 0:09:35.280 have mattered, you know, they were interested in something higher. 0:09:35.400 --> 0:09:38.600 Let's yeah, I didn't realize it at the tiple. I 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:42.760 get it now, but I didn't realize that talking about 0:09:42.760 --> 0:09:47.200 the show. Who comes to mind of a musical artist 0:09:47.240 --> 0:09:50.280 who's been on the show, who completely blew you away, 0:09:50.480 --> 0:09:53.479 and you were it really caught you by surprise, unexpected, 0:09:54.040 --> 0:09:58.560 hands mind blowing, hands down. I did not know how 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:02.720 powerful Bruce Springs was at the time. I believe you 0:10:02.800 --> 0:10:07.400 celebrate me the anniversary. It wasn't the River, it wasn't 0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:13.480 Nebraska because the night Belongs to Us incredible. Maybe it 0:10:13.520 --> 0:10:16.600 was Darkness on the Edge of Town. It was one 0:10:16.600 --> 0:10:19.840 of the albums that he was celebrating, like the thirty 0:10:19.880 --> 0:10:24.080 fifth anniversary release of He had asked the Roots to 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:28.080 kind of amalgamate themselves into the EA Street Band, so 0:10:28.120 --> 0:10:31.320 he had the supergroup. I mean, we could have just 0:10:32.320 --> 0:10:37.760 first off in to orbit the energy. I've never seen 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:39.880 anything like that in my life. And then that night 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:44.720 he played the Apollo Theater, he literally climbed the scoffolds 0:10:44.720 --> 0:10:48.000 like the wall like Spider Man. He climbed up the 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:52.560 wall of the Apollo Theater to the top tier level. 0:10:53.640 --> 0:11:00.240 I only seen Fishbone do that like climb. I was 0:11:00.280 --> 0:11:02.800 just like, I have no energy this. I've never seen 0:11:02.960 --> 0:11:06.920 energy like this in my life. And then watched him 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:09.920 at Madison Square Garden two days later, like I was 0:11:09.960 --> 0:11:14.080 an honorary East Reader for like two weeks, and I 0:11:14.160 --> 0:11:19.280 was flabbergasted that all that greatness I'd known about and 0:11:19.360 --> 0:11:23.319 really didn't investigate and really regreted. But playing with him 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:26.920 was amazing. But I mean, every act that's ever been 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:31.920 in existence, it is such a bucket list moment for us. 0:11:32.000 --> 0:11:34.680 But you what did you guys play do you remember 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:38.240 we did because the night belongs to us. And then 0:11:38.320 --> 0:11:40.360 the second time he came back to the show, we 0:11:40.480 --> 0:11:43.360 did the while the Innocent of the East Shuffle, which 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:48.880 he invited all four hundred members of the audience to 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:54.360 rush the stage because why not it was the NBC 0:11:54.400 --> 0:11:59.280 Security was like no, but you know, it's the greatest 0:12:00.440 --> 0:12:02.400 job in the world. And people always ask like you 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:05.000 tired of yet? You tired of yet? I mean not 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:08.959 every day is the fourth of July. But there's a takeaway. 0:12:08.960 --> 0:12:11.760 There's there's something exciting, and it doesn't even have to 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:15.679 be music. I'm doing stuff with Steve Martin and doing 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:21.200 sketches with Martin Scorsese. There's always something that's entertaining, like 0:12:21.240 --> 0:12:24.480 I realize now, and it's weird, Like from the age 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:27.920 of two when my parents kind of be into the 0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:30.920 music business, every aspect of it, until I became their 0:12:30.920 --> 0:12:34.600 band leader at twelve, I didn't realize that this is 0:12:34.640 --> 0:12:37.880 the job I've been training for. Like in my mind, 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:40.640 I'm like, Okay, I'm gonna start a band and then 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:44.600 we're gonna win Grammys, play this place in that place, 0:12:44.640 --> 0:12:47.840 and sell out this arena in that and that's not 0:12:47.920 --> 0:12:50.440 even half of it. All the knowledge and the wisdom 0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:53.280 that I have of music gets utilized in the show. 0:12:54.280 --> 0:12:59.160 So I love it. We'll be back with more quest 0:12:59.200 --> 0:13:07.079 Love after this break. We're back with more from Questlove. 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:10.559 How is your taste in music changed from the time 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:16.600 you were a little kid? It's you're wide open. Lately, 0:13:16.640 --> 0:13:21.199 I've been exploring the stuff I shouldn't have not shouldn't 0:13:21.240 --> 0:13:24.640 have been listening to. But it's like, Okay, I'm a 0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:27.960 member of a Columbia house record club. Why did I 0:13:28.040 --> 0:13:31.920 get Debbie Gibson's Out of the Blue album? What I've 0:13:31.960 --> 0:13:33.840 been the critic of me now, Like once I discovered 0:13:33.920 --> 0:13:36.960 Rolling Stone, then suddenly I became like a rock snap critic, 0:13:37.000 --> 0:13:40.040 and I know, buying those record guys and whatnot. But 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:44.240 I'm like, yeah, Christine sixteen was the first Kiss forty 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:47.840 five ever brought. I love Kiss Meets the Phantom and 0:13:47.880 --> 0:13:50.160 then only reading on it later that oh that that 0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:52.680 was their jumped the Shark moment or that sort of thing. 0:13:52.720 --> 0:13:56.040 And I mean, I know all opinions are subjective critically 0:13:56.120 --> 0:14:00.839 about action and whatnot, but as far as like how 0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:04.160 I listen to it, it's weird now, Like I wish 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:06.600 I could. I mean the way that I'm describing getting 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:11.320 an orgasm from music, that excitement. It doesn't happen so 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:15.280 much now because you know, I believe that songs that 0:14:15.320 --> 0:14:17.840 you consider good songs that you consider bad. But then 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:20.960 there are songs that you know are effective and not effective, 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:25.360 And especially as a DJ, that world always conflicts with me. 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:31.320 So songs that I wouldn't normally listen to in my 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:35.320 spare time, I know are crucial and work for me 0:14:35.440 --> 0:14:38.080 well at DJ gigs. And then there will be songs 0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:39.760 that I'll play at a DJ gig in which I 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:42.960 know I'm gonna lose the audience by more than half, 0:14:43.600 --> 0:14:45.680 and I'm still committing to it because I feel that 0:14:46.240 --> 0:14:49.760 what's a good example of something new one I'll never 0:14:49.760 --> 0:14:52.160 play a root song. And the first time we ever 0:14:52.200 --> 0:14:53.960 went to North Carolina, like the DJ like, oh we 0:14:54.000 --> 0:14:55.400 got the Roots in the house, there was like one 0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:59.400 clap and then and then he put the song on 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:03.000 and the dance floor absolutely cleared, and you know, rightfully 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:05.840 so like there's no establishing other one. You can't have 0:15:05.880 --> 0:15:08.440 any type of funk music or any soul without the 0:15:08.560 --> 0:15:11.280 establishing other one. Like we were playing everywhere, but the one. 0:15:12.040 --> 0:15:15.720 It's like, now, I'm interested in telling stories when im DJ, 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:20.880 so I plan these meticulous, scientifically proven it's like a 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:23.920 beautiful mind. Like I'm doing these math graphics of the 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:26.000 songs in this key and okay, this is a flat 0:15:26.000 --> 0:15:27.960 and the Beatles modul eight two D, and then I 0:15:27.960 --> 0:15:30.000 could put Human League after that and da da da da. 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:33.240 So that's how I craft my DJ gigs. Now. To 0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:35.880 give me an example, I did the gig of my life, 0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:38.880 a six hour DJ gig in Central Park for the 0:15:38.920 --> 0:15:42.360 Hamilton after party for the Tonys from eleven PM till 0:15:42.440 --> 0:15:45.720 five in the morning. I was god. Every song was 0:15:45.800 --> 0:15:49.680 perfectly segued, was in the right key. It told a story. 0:15:49.720 --> 0:15:52.480 People write me letters. Oh my god. There was the 0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:55.280 most life changing display of music. You went from Current 0:15:55.360 --> 0:15:58.280 the Frog to dinner and I did everything anything with 0:15:58.440 --> 0:16:02.200 music from Benny Goodman on down to Drake from nineteen thirty. 0:16:02.920 --> 0:16:05.920 I covered it and they ate it up like nerds. 0:16:06.640 --> 0:16:10.040 I did the same shit at the White House two 0:16:10.120 --> 0:16:13.960 days later for Obama's Last Night in the White House. 0:16:14.000 --> 0:16:17.640 Oh that's that famous party fail. Oh yeah, it was 0:16:18.120 --> 0:16:21.280 so Two hours into it, he tasted me on the shoulder, 0:16:21.920 --> 0:16:26.520 say you know you're doing good job. I love the 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:29.200 Donna summer and the old school hip hop and the jazz, 0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:32.040 and but look at them. They want to have fun too. 0:16:32.560 --> 0:16:35.280 And he's pointing to his kids. They're having a sit in. 0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:38.680 They're having a sit in, and they're just like looking 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:41.720 at me and like, nah, none of this shit works. 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:45.880 And a man. So then I became the DJ I hated. 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:49.480 I'm like googling, all right, let me go to Spotify, 0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:51.640 see what kids are listening to, like that sort of thing. 0:16:51.720 --> 0:16:54.400 So I became that guy, the guy I hate the most. 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:59.240 And then suddenly that night became animal house like. It 0:16:59.320 --> 0:17:03.560 was the most, the botchers the most. I mean, I 0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:06.360 could describe the smells like teen Spirit video to give 0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:10.199 you an but it was like that crazy. They consider 0:17:10.240 --> 0:17:12.199 it the best night they ever had in their lives, 0:17:12.240 --> 0:17:17.480 and I'm having There's some I heard some story, possibly apocryphal, 0:17:17.800 --> 0:17:20.679 that involves us sure getting into a getting into it 0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:23.720 on the dance floor with who with Barack Obama like 0:17:23.720 --> 0:17:27.119 they're they're they're they're dancing like he's coming up to 0:17:27.200 --> 0:17:31.000 me like a player. Do you have French Montana? And 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:33.440 I was like, sir, uh, I don't have the clean 0:17:33.520 --> 0:17:36.320 versions of that. He's looking like we're all adult to 0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:39.000 go go play it. I was like, sir, I'm not 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:41.120 gonna play pop that pussy, but what you're working with, 0:17:44.800 --> 0:17:47.919 you know, literally like I'm you listen to Grant. All 0:17:47.960 --> 0:17:49.960 these presidents are like looking at me in the Hall 0:17:50.000 --> 0:17:53.800 of Presidents, shaking their head like I will say that. 0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:57.439 At one point, like I was really depressed because I 0:17:57.480 --> 0:18:00.840 have planned to make my grand stay. They were going 0:18:00.920 --> 0:18:03.960 to declare a national holiday after me because I'm I'm 0:18:04.000 --> 0:18:07.800 the function way DJT Like I knew I was going 0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:10.800 to get a MacArthur Genie's scrant for this shit. And uh. 0:18:11.200 --> 0:18:13.840 At one point again, I'm like looking on the internet 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:19.359 songs kids like, and Springsteen walks in and I'm telling 0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:23.879 you it's you can't imagine a wilder like think of 0:18:23.920 --> 0:18:28.919 the Eagles backstage stories, think of Freddie Mercury's Queen Jazz 0:18:28.960 --> 0:18:32.960 released album, party Tales, think of Animal House, think of 0:18:33.320 --> 0:18:36.760 like think of everything. That's how wild that party was. 0:18:37.000 --> 0:18:40.959 And Springsteen walks in and instantly Patty's like, we're going 0:18:41.000 --> 0:18:44.479 to party. He pulls and he looks at me. He 0:18:44.520 --> 0:18:47.200 gives me that look and shakes his head a little 0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:51.760 bit like I know, you know better than that, and 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:56.000 I just I felt a shame, like, yeah, I'm sorry, 0:18:56.119 --> 0:18:59.360 I sold out. Why does the what is the World's 0:18:59.400 --> 0:19:03.080 Greatest set list? Not work? At the White House? What 0:19:03.200 --> 0:19:07.879 went wrong? So here were his words. I was on 0:19:07.960 --> 0:19:10.520 the verge of teers because I built this up to 0:19:10.560 --> 0:19:12.240 be like, this is gonna be my grand statement. I've 0:19:12.240 --> 0:19:14.679 been waiting for eight years to have this moment. And 0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:16.560 whenever you build something up in your head and it 0:19:16.600 --> 0:19:19.359 doesn't go out in your favor, okay, you're gonna have 0:19:19.359 --> 0:19:21.480 a panic attack. And I knew I was going to 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:23.160 have a panic attack. So I was like trying to 0:19:23.400 --> 0:19:25.640 exit stage left and get out of there. No no 0:19:25.680 --> 0:19:29.800 come back, and you know they're all like play more 0:19:29.840 --> 0:19:32.399 and I gotta go and okay, thanks, thanks, thanks. So 0:19:32.800 --> 0:19:35.720 afterwards i'm walking, He's like, so you have a good time. 0:19:36.240 --> 0:19:39.639 I was like, yeah, it is no did you have 0:19:39.640 --> 0:19:43.119 a good time? I was like, oh, it was cool. 0:19:43.200 --> 0:19:45.240 Because then I didn't want to make it about me. 0:19:45.600 --> 0:19:48.320 This is his last night, his night to get loose 0:19:48.359 --> 0:19:51.159 and everything. They're all everyone's crazy, drunken, all this stuff. 0:19:52.000 --> 0:19:53.600 This was his night. So I was just like, yeah, 0:19:53.600 --> 0:19:55.879 it was cool, and he's like, what's wrong. I was like, 0:19:56.200 --> 0:19:58.560 you don't want to hear it? I'm cool, tell me 0:19:59.680 --> 0:20:02.680 and he's all right, let me guess you're you're liking 0:20:02.680 --> 0:20:09.879 an artist and you you planned your your grand artistic 0:20:09.960 --> 0:20:14.920 vision of how you thought the night should go and 0:20:15.400 --> 0:20:19.560 didn't work out, and you're overthinking it and you're thinking 0:20:19.560 --> 0:20:24.719 that you know, I sucked And I was like, well yeah, yeah, 0:20:25.280 --> 0:20:27.160 he said. So he tells me a story. He says 0:20:28.240 --> 0:20:31.399 he talks about Charleston in the Dylan Roof situation with 0:20:31.520 --> 0:20:35.520 the massacre. He said he knew that thirty seconds after 0:20:36.000 --> 0:20:37.879 the shooting happened that he was going to have to 0:20:37.920 --> 0:20:41.080 speak at that funeral, so he had crafted He had 0:20:41.119 --> 0:20:43.600 instantly knew. It's like, okay, I got to craft the 0:20:43.600 --> 0:20:45.040 speech of my career. This is going to be my 0:20:45.160 --> 0:20:47.680 profiles and courage, you know, ask not what your country 0:20:47.720 --> 0:20:49.960 can do. So he says he has the speech of 0:20:50.000 --> 0:20:52.280 his life, like ready to go. He's been working on it, 0:20:52.480 --> 0:20:56.120 perfecting it, and he goes down to Charleston, South Carolina, 0:20:56.840 --> 0:21:01.520 and he knew three minutes into that speech it wasn't 0:21:01.560 --> 0:21:06.240 going to work. And so he's like going in and say. 0:21:06.320 --> 0:21:07.879 He's like, I'm not I'm not reaching the people. And 0:21:07.920 --> 0:21:10.359 he's like looking at his people trying to warn him 0:21:10.359 --> 0:21:12.440 in some sort of baseball signal that I'm gonna go 0:21:12.560 --> 0:21:15.399 rogue and freestyle, and they're getting them set. They're like, oh, 0:21:15.680 --> 0:21:18.399 you're the worst when you go on your own without 0:21:18.760 --> 0:21:23.080 us approving the script. And he said, some just told me. 0:21:23.160 --> 0:21:26.560 Barry starts singing amazing Grace. Then he starts singing amazing grace. 0:21:26.640 --> 0:21:30.520 Incredible moment, right and everything turned around. He says, you 0:21:30.560 --> 0:21:33.280 know what I did? He said, I served the people. 0:21:34.720 --> 0:21:37.879 I served the people. I saw that something was wrong. 0:21:38.400 --> 0:21:41.720 I figured, how can I fix this. I took a moment, 0:21:41.880 --> 0:21:46.359 I breathed, collected myself, and I served the people. He said, 0:21:46.359 --> 0:21:50.560 And what you did tonight you saw someone was a 0:21:50.600 --> 0:21:54.639 little off and you served the people. There's honoring that 0:21:55.240 --> 0:21:57.080 you did the right thing. We at the time of 0:21:57.119 --> 0:21:59.959 our lives. You served the people. So you should be 0:22:00.040 --> 0:22:04.760 proud of yourself. Now, do you feel better? No? I don't. 0:22:08.160 --> 0:22:15.320 I cannot so as as the way, No, I mean, 0:22:16.000 --> 0:22:19.560 it really messed me up. A majority of twenty sixteen 0:22:20.400 --> 0:22:24.080 I rejected, like eighty percent of the gigs. Was I 0:22:24.119 --> 0:22:27.120 was depressed. I was just like, if you fail at records, 0:22:27.160 --> 0:22:29.600 what good is your life? And then that's when I 0:22:29.640 --> 0:22:31.439 started my thing, like, well, I'm gonna stop DJing at 0:22:31.480 --> 0:22:34.440 nightclubs and just do it for the kids. And hopefully 0:22:34.480 --> 0:22:36.440 when these parents bring their three year old kids here, 0:22:36.520 --> 0:22:38.480 they'll see me the same way that I was doing 0:22:38.600 --> 0:22:41.159 on the block party, and oh, I want to do that. 0:22:41.160 --> 0:22:44.000 That was my mission. But no, his wife asked me 0:22:44.080 --> 0:22:48.320 to curate her book, Becoming, and again they asked me 0:22:48.440 --> 0:22:51.000 to just put like thirty songs together, and I wound 0:22:51.119 --> 0:22:58.000 up putting one thousand, four hundred, fourteen hundred songs. They 0:22:58.040 --> 0:22:59.560 were like a mirror. We didn't ask for the story 0:22:59.560 --> 0:23:01.879 of my life, but we'll take it anyway. So you know, 0:23:02.800 --> 0:23:10.399 I had to redeem myself. Thanks to Questlove for kicking 0:23:10.400 --> 0:23:13.000 off our second season, you can go to Broken Record 0:23:13.040 --> 0:23:16.280 podcast dot com to hear the songs discussed in this 0:23:16.359 --> 0:23:20.960 episode and in Part one. Broken Record is produced by 0:23:21.119 --> 0:23:25.680 Justin Richmond and Jason Gambrell, with help from Mielobel, Jacob Smith, 0:23:25.760 --> 0:23:29.480 Julia Barton, Jacob Weisberg, and of course Rick Rubin and 0:23:29.520 --> 0:23:33.040 Bruce Headlam. Our Broken Record theme song is by the 0:23:33.080 --> 0:23:36.440 great Kenny Beats. This show is brought to you by 0:23:36.560 --> 0:23:39.320 Pushkin Industries. I'm Malcolm Gladwell.