Speaker 1: You're listening to Comedy Central. We been going to pep
Speaker 1: se mm hmm. The Man, the myth, the legend. I
Speaker 1: don't know about that. How are you doing? My friend
Speaker 1: has been a long time man. Yeah, you've been conquering.
Speaker 1: The last time we spoke, we were just talking about
Speaker 1: how amazing your album was going African Giant. It was
Speaker 1: killing it. People were loving it was blowing up all
Speaker 1: over the globe. I was talking about the Grammys, your
Speaker 1: future aspirations. Then the pandemic hits. You produced an album
Speaker 1: in that pandemic and you went on to win your
Speaker 1: first Grammy. Congratulations, brother, congratulations. That's up. So let's let's
Speaker 1: start with that. I was shocked to find out that
Speaker 1: you produced the album like on zoom. I mean, you've
Speaker 1: got some of the biggest features on the you know,
Speaker 1: got everybody from Chris Martin, and you do this on
Speaker 1: zoom technology. But how do you know it's going well
Speaker 1: on zoom? Like, I don't even know something? You don't okay,
Speaker 1: you hope for the best. Was there ever a moment
Speaker 1: where you were recording something on zoom it sounded great,
Speaker 1: then you got it, Then you're like, no, it doesn't
Speaker 1: sound it's not like you record the song go on
Speaker 1: zooms like Zoom has a recording studio. I don't know, man,
Speaker 1: I don't know how zoom works. So basically you just
Speaker 1: have the laptop on in the studio with all the
Speaker 1: parties involved, and while while we're making the music and stuff,
Speaker 1: and then you know, everyone's like, Okay, yeah, this is
Speaker 1: the song we have to choose. We're going to choose this,
Speaker 1: you know, and then yeah, it just worked out. I
Speaker 1: want to ask you about the artists though. You know,
Speaker 1: one thing I've truly loved is how like Nigerian artists
Speaker 1: have taken Africa to the world. Man, you loan up
Speaker 1: the content. Everyone is now trying to emulate what Nigerian
Speaker 1: answers are creating. But but surely are the answers that
Speaker 1: you dreamed of working off, that you were shocked to
Speaker 1: be working with when you were working with them? Everyone
Speaker 1: everyone on my last album was and the previous like
Speaker 1: working with Angeli ki Jo on the previous one and
Speaker 1: working with you soon do like these are people that
Speaker 1: I worked on TV when I was in Pampas, you know,
Speaker 1: like so it's like seeing them in real life and
Speaker 1: actually making music with them. And you know, getting the
Speaker 1: love and writing all that. It's it's sometimes it gets
Speaker 1: kind of weird because I'm like, ah, it's like my
Speaker 1: mom loves you. Your mom. A lot of people may
Speaker 1: not know this, but your mom is your manager. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: Mama Berner crushes it. By the way. I love it.
Speaker 1: I love it. But but here's but here's what I've
Speaker 1: always wondered. And it seems differently. You know, in America,
Speaker 1: there's a culture of they call them the managers, you know,
Speaker 1: and it's like this idea is like if your parents
Speaker 1: is your manager, things always go wrong on your side.
Speaker 1: It feels like it's going the exact American manager. But
Speaker 1: sure it was. It was there not a part of
Speaker 1: you that was worried about having your mom be your manager.
Speaker 1: I mean it's it's like it's it's obviously it's not.
Speaker 1: It's not all peaches and roses, you get me. But
Speaker 1: it's a lot of food. So I mean that makes
Speaker 1: me happy enough. You're the artist, your mom is the manager. Technically,
Speaker 1: that's a power balance that has shifted over. But now
Speaker 1: she's your mom and she's an African mom, which means
Speaker 1: the power balance never shifts over exactly So are there
Speaker 1: moments where your mom goes like, no, this is this
Speaker 1: is how we're doing and that's how we do it well,
Speaker 1: I mean you know what she does now, like she
Speaker 1: used to do that and then that wouldn't work out
Speaker 1: for her because you know it's like me, like I
Speaker 1: just get stomach. I'm not exactly so she figured out
Speaker 1: an other way. She would make me feel like it's
Speaker 1: my decisions. Mama Bernard. You got your family with you,
Speaker 1: you tour with them, You're traveling around the world. Can
Speaker 1: I just say congratulations as well? And everything? I mean,
Speaker 1: selling out the Old two Arena in London, selling out,
Speaker 1: um you know the Forum in Hollywood now, the first
Speaker 1: Nigerian artist to ever sell out Madison Square Guarden and
Speaker 1: to play it as well. But you know one thing,
Speaker 1: do you know one thing I always wondered, like why why?
Speaker 1: How come what it's me? They always point out that
Speaker 1: the fact that I'm the first to do it, like
Speaker 1: like the first landed on the Moon's like why why
Speaker 1: when rock bands performed in in Tokyo and stuff? They
Speaker 1: don't say the first American rock band to perform in Tokyo.
Speaker 1: I think because they're surprised. This is an element of surprise,
Speaker 1: you know, but why because we've come a long way.
Speaker 1: Do you know how far Medicine's square garden is from Africa? Yeah?
Speaker 1: But like do you know how far way Tokyo is
Speaker 1: for for kids that money? But you see, that's the thing,
Speaker 1: if you think about it, culture has for such a
Speaker 1: long time been defined by America, and so it makes
Speaker 1: sense in a way for people to go like of
Speaker 1: course the music is gonna go there, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean? But now think about things like two women.
Speaker 1: But think about it right for for for the world
Speaker 1: to change the way it has. I mean you you
Speaker 1: you see Beyonce incorporating your music into her vibe? Do
Speaker 1: you get what I'm saying? These are big things that
Speaker 1: have never happened. It's beautiful, Like everyone's everyone. I would
Speaker 1: incorporate my music into her you know every time when
Speaker 1: I love speaking to you every time I see the
Speaker 1: biggest difference between Bigerians and almost every other African is
Speaker 1: that like every other African has like a very um
Speaker 1: what's the word I'm looking for? Very timid approach to life,
Speaker 1: like literally with like if you say to like a
Speaker 1: South African, Hey, Trevor, You're doing well, how are things going? Then,
Speaker 1: as a South African, my instinct to respond, it's like
Speaker 1: I'm trying, man, I'm you know, I'm doing okay, I'm trying,
Speaker 1: you know, like you see you see, this is what
Speaker 1: I mean about Nigerians. That's what I mean. No, no,
Speaker 1: but that's what I mean. So and everywhere you go
Speaker 1: to Kenya everything, how how are thing? We don't lie
Speaker 1: unless you want to stop you. This is Nigerians Nigerian.
Speaker 1: I've never met a Nigerian who's going to be like, no,
Speaker 1: I'm not killing it. If they're killing it, they won't
Speaker 1: be like yeah, So you think it's you think it's that.
Speaker 1: It's just like sometime to lie about. Like if you're
Speaker 1: in court and you're about to go to jail, you
Speaker 1: should lie, you get me. But if you're killing it,
Speaker 1: if you're killing it, like you should be happy. Um,
Speaker 1: let's talk about the new album. I've noticed you've teased
Speaker 1: a few nippets from it. But you're doing that thing,
Speaker 1: always talk about that. Let's talk about this. Why have
Speaker 1: we time this second time? I come here? You never
Speaker 1: for me? No, drink this for me chocolate and see
Speaker 1: and like like I'm bugs Bunny attended, But what I
Speaker 1: need to drink? What are you going to offer you
Speaker 1: things that people that look like me would maybe think?
Speaker 1: Maybe think this glasses up to you on that side.
Speaker 1: So you see, I mean, I'm I'm actually repressing that
Speaker 1: I need to drink. You know what I love. I
Speaker 1: can always get you a drink. The only thing I
Speaker 1: have to remember is to switch out the things that happened,
Speaker 1: because I'll get you the drink, and then I'll leave
Speaker 1: the drinks there, and then you find like, let's say,
Speaker 1: like Kamala Harris comes to the show the next day
Speaker 1: and then backstage she's like, wow, I was getting turned um,
Speaker 1: what what is your drink of choice? What would you
Speaker 1: like next? I'll make sure I get a you next time.
Speaker 1: What you want? Man, I don't want to promote no
Speaker 1: one right now? Okay, you'll tell me, but you want
Speaker 1: so Water's not for burner, you know what? That's definitely
Speaker 1: for me. But it's like, you know, when I'm when
Speaker 1: I'm dressed like this, make sure make sure we get burner.
Speaker 1: What else would you like? What else would you like? Backstage? Well,
Speaker 1: I mean, I've really got some weeds. I'm good, That's
Speaker 1: just what I love about it, right with you? All right?
Speaker 1: Now can we talk about the album? Yeah, now that
Speaker 1: you've called me out for stiff drinks, I like, how
Speaker 1: angry about the chocolates are you offer me? Cho? Um?
Speaker 1: What did they bread to? Like? Oh? Man, Um, you've
Speaker 1: teased the album, but you've done that thing artists do
Speaker 1: where we don't know when it's coming, we don't know
Speaker 1: who's going to be. Like I saw a snippet of
Speaker 1: you in the studio. I saw I saw Edge Sheering
Speaker 1: and people lost their mindstars like Edge Sheering looks like
Speaker 1: he's going to be on the album. But you won't
Speaker 1: tell when is the album coming out? Brenad Ah. Okay, okay,
Speaker 1: So now the Nigerian doesn't want to tell the truth. Okay.
Speaker 1: You see that's the thing. I didn't say anything like
Speaker 1: silence all right, okay about it because you're my guy.
Speaker 1: You know I won't. I won't let you down in
Speaker 1: front of all these people. Um, okay, So it's gonna
Speaker 1: I'll give you a hint. It's gonna come out on
Speaker 1: a day everyone celebrates for theirself when it's their own day.
Speaker 1: All right. I don't know what that means, but I
Speaker 1: see I can I feel it something deep for you
Speaker 1: to tackle. You just left me with a riddle that
Speaker 1: I've got to go and figure out. I'm like, is
Speaker 1: it a Friday? Is it a birthday? Is it a Sunday?
Speaker 1: Is a Saturday? Depends on the day that you celebrate
Speaker 1: what you do? No know what you do? Is you
Speaker 1: just everybody? It's like, it's not everybody in the world
Speaker 1: that has a job, you know, So it's like nobody, no,
Speaker 1: everybody asks, but this everybody has it, So everybody has
Speaker 1: their day to celebrate it. Okay, we're gonna figure this out, man,
Speaker 1: We're gonna figure this out. Burn a boy, everybody, Thank you,
Speaker 1: but heaven, I'll have a drink next time. Watch The
Speaker 1: Daily Show weeknights at eleven ten Central on Comedy Central
Speaker 1: and stream full episodes anytime I'm on Paramount Plus. This
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