WEBVTT - Questlove Supreme: Taboo of The Black Eyed Peas 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:02.960 What's Love Supreme is a production of iHeart Brady. 0:00:09.200 --> 0:00:15.760 Yo. Look at Fante Fanti My man, what up on? 0:00:15.840 --> 0:00:16.040 Brother? 0:00:16.079 --> 0:00:17.639 Good to meet you, man, you could to meet you. 0:00:17.640 --> 0:00:21.319 It's an honor to meet you. Brother. No no, I 0:00:21.320 --> 0:00:24.360 mean what you've done. I mean from from slum conversations 0:00:24.400 --> 0:00:27.800 with T three to the Daylight conversations. Bro, your name 0:00:27.880 --> 0:00:30.960 is synonymous, your clue is synonymous, and I always have 0:00:31.000 --> 0:00:33.680 to show my salute from my ultimate respect to the 0:00:33.760 --> 0:00:34.839 pioneers like yourself. 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:36.839 Oh man, that's love, brother, Thank you so much. I 0:00:36.920 --> 0:00:37.360 received that. 0:00:37.479 --> 0:00:37.639 Man. 0:00:37.880 --> 0:00:39.200 Likewise, thank you for sure. 0:00:39.240 --> 0:00:41.920 Bro. You just don't know how much your music means 0:00:41.960 --> 0:00:44.880 to all of us man, like you know, us being 0:00:44.920 --> 0:00:47.199 sons of Dayla and tribe and just coming from that 0:00:47.520 --> 0:00:52.120 cloth groups like yourselves like you Slum Village, you guys. 0:00:52.479 --> 0:00:55.360 You guys definitely continues at the time, and I'm proud 0:00:55.400 --> 0:00:58.120 of everything that you've done and even transition into this 0:00:58.240 --> 0:00:59.800 new medium. It's really dope. 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:01.440 Thank you so much, man. 0:01:01.560 --> 0:01:03.640 So I guess we just started the episode already. 0:01:04.120 --> 0:01:05.520 Flowers started with flowers. 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:08.600 We started with flowers. 0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:11.640 I start with humility, brothers, because you guys, you guys 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:14.319 are always giving people flowers. Now it's time for you 0:01:14.360 --> 0:01:16.760 to know what you mean to hip hop culture and 0:01:16.800 --> 0:01:19.120 to hip hop kids like myself that started as be 0:01:19.280 --> 0:01:22.760 boys breakdancers on the block just wanted to put on 0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:26.920 for our communities, h you know, our ancestry. Unfortunately, hip 0:01:26.920 --> 0:01:28.960 hop was the conduit. You know, breaking was the first 0:01:29.000 --> 0:01:32.280 thing I got into. Then I got into graffiti mcm 0:01:32.520 --> 0:01:34.920 I met my tribe where I am an apple the 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:37.520 app and we became uh, you know, we became brothers 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:40.240 and became black eyed peas. So when I see folks 0:01:40.319 --> 0:01:43.440 like yourself, like a mirror and Fonte who set the 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:45.200 tone for hip hop culture, I always got to give 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:46.040 you your flowers. 0:01:46.440 --> 0:01:47.760 That's love, brother, Thanks, thank you. 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:50.120 Wow. This is the first time where the guest actually 0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:54.480 winds up entering the show. All right, ladies and gentlemen 0:01:54.640 --> 0:01:58.520 of the internets, welcome to another exciting episode of course 0:01:58.600 --> 0:02:01.920 Live Supreme. I'm your host, quest Love. We have fun 0:02:02.000 --> 0:02:05.640 Tickeolo in the house. Brother. How's it going all right? 0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:09.960 Man, I'm cool, just resting and uh yeah, getting ready 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:12.640 for Thursday and Friday of this week. This will it'll 0:02:12.760 --> 0:02:14.720 have been passed by the time it's air, But yeah, 0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:17.680 we Boston and New York this week, So I'm just 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:18.480 resting getting ready. 0:02:18.560 --> 0:02:20.880 Man, is this a major tour or is this? 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:24.600 Uh nah, I mean it's not. Well, it's not major 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:26.080 in the sense of it's a lot of dates. We 0:02:26.160 --> 0:02:30.519 just did San Diego and Orange County last weekend and 0:02:30.639 --> 0:02:33.720 then this week is Boston and New York. 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:41.840 June we played Roots Picnic and yeah, it's fuck this. 0:02:43.400 --> 0:02:44.720 I'm back in the outs like. 0:02:45.600 --> 0:02:49.320 Really, oh yeah, wait, wait, I gotta ask, do you 0:02:49.360 --> 0:02:52.680 do you feel like you? You? I know that of 0:02:53.240 --> 0:02:56.400 all of us in this on this show that you, 0:02:56.440 --> 0:03:01.919 more than anyone, has been extremely like almost it's Fort 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:07.880 Knox level protective of not catching the VID. And you 0:03:07.919 --> 0:03:10.920 went out and then you you, you got caught out there. 0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:13.680 I got that my first time leaving the house, my 0:03:13.720 --> 0:03:18.120 first run in three years, our first LB run. You 0:03:18.160 --> 0:03:19.960 know that we went and we did San Diego in 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:21.480 Orange County and. 0:03:22.919 --> 0:03:23.960 Yeah, I got hit. 0:03:24.360 --> 0:03:26.440 Well now that you got I mean, was it like 0:03:26.680 --> 0:03:28.680 for me it was like just having a cold. Was 0:03:28.720 --> 0:03:30.959 it that way for you or was it like a 0:03:31.040 --> 0:03:32.440 little worried there. 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:35.480 It was like having a cold, But for me it 0:03:35.520 --> 0:03:37.760 was more so it wasn't necessarily just having a cold. 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:41.480 It was just participating in the delusion that this ship 0:03:41.600 --> 0:03:44.120 is gone right, and like that's the part that I 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:46.640 just refused to do anymore. Like it's not in terms 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:49.560 of what touring is now, Touring pre COVID and turn 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:52.920 post COVID is just very different. And it's like now, 0:03:53.040 --> 0:03:56.240 particularly for artists like us, I mean, where you're pretty 0:03:56.280 --> 0:03:59.920 much doing everything like motors don't really do shit no 0:04:00.200 --> 0:04:02.720 or so for me, I just looked at from the 0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:07.559 standpoint of like, okay, I gotta play promoter, producer, performer, 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:10.080 curator and the fucking CDC. 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:17.240 Fuck this, dude, No, damn, I'm good, I'm paid Bill. 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:20.160 I went to get cigarettes again. I went to Australia. 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:20.760 I'm back. 0:04:21.160 --> 0:04:22.120 You went to Australia. 0:04:22.560 --> 0:04:24.599 I was in Australia for a few weeks to put 0:04:24.680 --> 0:04:27.800 up a show. Now it's up. Now the show. Uh 0:04:28.000 --> 0:04:30.279 it's called and Juliette. You haven't seen it yet, but 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:33.080 you've threatened to a few times. It's on Broadway. Now 0:04:33.080 --> 0:04:33.839 it's in Australia. 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:36.400 Wait, you guys are making it worldwide already. 0:04:36.880 --> 0:04:40.480 Global domination, my friend, Global domination. That's how we do well. 0:04:40.600 --> 0:04:44.120 Dan with the songbook, I would suspect that Anne Juliet 0:04:44.120 --> 0:04:47.600 will probably be a five to ten year staple. 0:04:48.320 --> 0:04:50.720 I hope, so that'd be nice for my kids college 0:04:50.720 --> 0:04:51.480 tuition and all. 0:04:52.080 --> 0:04:57.080 That's what's up, man, That's what's up, sugar, Steve Esteemed 0:04:58.200 --> 0:05:00.599 jazz labelhead. What's going going on? 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:06.400 How are you? Everything's okay? I we finished three records 0:05:06.400 --> 0:05:10.600 this past weekend. For the one of them yours. Yes, 0:05:11.320 --> 0:05:14.960 we finished mixing David Mury Ray Angry and Questlova, a 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:17.719 four platter box set that you can look forward to see. 0:05:18.400 --> 0:05:22.919 She ends up making my second jazz offering in my life. 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:25.320 We're calling the Philadelphi Experiment the first one. 0:05:26.640 --> 0:05:29.360 Yeah, that's the first one, okay, so I don't necessarily 0:05:29.360 --> 0:05:32.719 called jazz, but you know this, this one was actually 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:36.560 probably I have more fun doing this one. I think 0:05:36.680 --> 0:05:38.799 there's a lot of treats in there. So you're saying 0:05:38.800 --> 0:05:39.960 it's a box set that we're. 0:05:39.839 --> 0:05:43.920 Releasing, Yeah, four platters and a seven echine side and 0:05:45.080 --> 0:05:46.960 it's going to be coming later this year. 0:05:47.520 --> 0:05:49.960 Have son shiit? I might have to line of news 0:05:49.960 --> 0:05:55.200 for that. Have we lost our queen today? 0:05:55.400 --> 0:05:58.600 Yeah, she's on stage doing something something for. 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:03.919 Jill Oh okay, he came and set us up. That's nice, 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:06.840 ladies and gentlemen. I will say that our distinguished guest 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:14.760 today has checked many a bucket list fulfillment since having 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:18.720 entered our lives some twenty five plus years ago, as 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:21.680 one third or one fourth how you want to look 0:06:21.720 --> 0:06:24.800 at it, as a one third member of a legendary, 0:06:24.880 --> 0:06:29.960 legendary hip hop outfit, having created over nine studio albums 0:06:29.960 --> 0:06:33.599 that have worldwide sales over thirty three million. 0:06:33.680 --> 0:06:33.760 Yo. 0:06:33.960 --> 0:06:36.920 Just looking at the stats made me feel like I'm 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:42.159 not working hard enough. Of ninety seven platinum awards, I 0:06:42.320 --> 0:06:45.560 was way too lazy to keep total of the gold awards, 0:06:45.560 --> 0:06:49.200 but I stopped counting after one hundred, over twelve major 0:06:49.320 --> 0:06:55.560 world tours, over sixty sixty various awards from the MAAS 0:06:55.680 --> 0:07:00.359 to BT, Soul Train Awards, Latin Awards for Bill Ward 0:07:00.480 --> 0:07:05.680 for even the NAACP Awards, six Grammys, six Grammys, countless 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:09.880 MTV awards. But you know, it's not even about the quantity, 0:07:10.320 --> 0:07:14.560 ladies and gentlemen's. It's to me the achievements are cool. 0:07:14.640 --> 0:07:16.680 But you know, in this episode, we get to know. 0:07:17.240 --> 0:07:21.000 We aim to get to know the person behind the 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:25.040 achievements and get to know them, and you know, many 0:07:25.040 --> 0:07:28.640 of us were pretty much a majority of us were 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:31.960 unaware of his of his advocacy work. Now, the thing is, 0:07:32.000 --> 0:07:35.120 when I start talking, I feel like I expose myself 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:38.680 when I try to talk sports, Shut up Steve, or comics, 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:43.600 Shut up Steve. Okay, yes, I'm the guy that says 0:07:43.680 --> 0:07:46.880 the sports, the comics. But I you know, I'll say 0:07:46.920 --> 0:07:52.480 that with you know, having created indigenous characters and it's 0:07:52.520 --> 0:07:57.000 sort of expanding the world of Marvel is a wonderful thing, 0:07:57.480 --> 0:08:01.480 be it the Red Wolf series or Deadly Neighborhood Spider Man. 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:06.520 He's also an author of a kid's book about identity, 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:11.240 and most importantly, he's been extremely, extremely vocal in his 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:15.520 memoirs and his interviews being an advocate for surviving cancer 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:20.480 and using this platform to connect and encourage others that 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:23.880 share that same experience. And at the end of the day, 0:08:24.040 --> 0:08:26.080 you know, I will say that he's just an overall 0:08:26.520 --> 0:08:29.880 a shining light and a really cool dude. And please 0:08:29.920 --> 0:08:39.120 welcome to QLs MC. Author, political activists, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, producer, 0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:44.600 and yes, survivor. Jamie Gomez aka Taboo of the Black 0:08:44.679 --> 0:08:46.160 Eyed Peace, Welcome. 0:08:45.800 --> 0:08:50.320 To thank you for a lot. Yo. First of all, 0:08:50.320 --> 0:08:52.880 I gotta acknowledge Steve for being a comic head. Steve, 0:08:53.000 --> 0:08:55.520 salutes to you brother, the fact that Emir passed it 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:58.960 on to you and said sports comics not my thing. 0:08:59.000 --> 0:09:03.040 It's all good, all good at storytelling. So salute to you, Steve. 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:09.439 And then Bill, you had me at two daughters. No, seriously, 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:14.520 when you said I'm a father of two daughters, I 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:17.680 would say my greatest gift is being a husband and 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:21.680 a father, because there's no motives behind that other than love. 0:09:22.480 --> 0:09:25.160 And I'm not trying to be Kumbaya a Hallmark card, 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:27.640 but this is real. This is who I am. All 0:09:27.720 --> 0:09:31.040 the accolades and all the stuff that's monetary and all 0:09:31.080 --> 0:09:33.880 that stuff when you're battling cancer ladies and gentlemen, that 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:37.760 shits so irrelevant. That shit is so irrelevant because you're like, YO, 0:09:37.920 --> 0:09:40.640 just give me one more chance to be with my kids, 0:09:40.880 --> 0:09:43.320 Let me hug my wife one more time, let me 0:09:43.320 --> 0:09:45.240 get on that stage one more time with my crew 0:09:45.280 --> 0:09:48.280 so that I can perform and bring healing to people 0:09:48.280 --> 0:09:50.800 that need it. So I just wanted to get that 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:54.120 and be transparent and candidate about how much love I 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:58.880 have for life, beyond any music, beyond any career. I'm 0:09:59.000 --> 0:10:01.680 enjoying just being able to have opportunities like this to 0:10:01.720 --> 0:10:04.440 give my testimony and meet people like you, Bill, and 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:07.920 meet people like you Steve, who you know I've met Emir. 0:10:08.360 --> 0:10:10.840 I'm a fan of Fante. I know what they bring 0:10:10.920 --> 0:10:13.160 to culture. I love them for what they bring and 0:10:13.480 --> 0:10:15.480 who they are as human beings. But to be able 0:10:15.480 --> 0:10:18.840 to see the team that brings us all together and 0:10:18.960 --> 0:10:21.320 give you your flowers and salute you for what you 0:10:21.400 --> 0:10:24.520 make this whole team happen. You guys got to know 0:10:24.559 --> 0:10:26.720 that too, So I just wanted to kind of put 0:10:26.720 --> 0:10:30.720 that out there. I'm all about that, man. I'm telling you, 0:10:30.880 --> 0:10:33.679 humility is freaking key. A lot of people get caught 0:10:33.760 --> 0:10:35.440 up in their own ship and I'm not trying to 0:10:35.480 --> 0:10:37.680 do that. Brother. I surrendered evil a long time ago. 0:10:38.160 --> 0:10:40.199 And so how old are your daughters? Man? 0:10:41.080 --> 0:10:44.520 Well, I have one daughter. Guess what, I have three 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:46.760 boys and one daughter. My daughter was born as a 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:49.599 miracle baby after my doctor said you're not gonna be 0:10:49.600 --> 0:10:52.600 able to have any more children because you have stage 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:56.240 two testicular cancer. So the chemotherapy is going to be 0:10:56.240 --> 0:11:01.600 so aggressive, intense and it's gonna break down everything that's 0:11:01.600 --> 0:11:04.120 good in your body to kill that one thing that's 0:11:04.360 --> 0:11:08.079 bad in your body. And so he said, unfortunately, you're 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:10.920 probably not gonna have any more children. So my daughter, 0:11:11.080 --> 0:11:14.360 my one and only daughter, jet Juliana, was born as 0:11:14.400 --> 0:11:16.960 a miracle baby. And so when you said that, Bill, 0:11:17.000 --> 0:11:20.080 I was like, Yo, There's only been one other person 0:11:20.120 --> 0:11:23.000 that has inspired me like that, and that was Kobe Bryant. 0:11:23.320 --> 0:11:25.880 I had a chance to build my brother Kobe, and 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:28.800 his love and his appreciation for being such an amazing 0:11:28.880 --> 0:11:32.160 girl dad was something that sparked me to become a 0:11:32.679 --> 0:11:37.120 writer of books and comics and be a storyteller and 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:40.000 really focus on my kids and kids around the world, 0:11:40.280 --> 0:11:44.599 bring inclusion, bring a mosaic of cultures that's represented through storytelling, 0:11:44.880 --> 0:11:47.200 and do it in a way where it's fun. There's music, 0:11:47.240 --> 0:11:50.600 there's art, there's culture, and it's done very genuine and authentic. 0:11:51.320 --> 0:11:55.760 So let me ask you for your life, when was 0:11:55.840 --> 0:12:02.440 the paradigm shift in which you had this awakening and 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:03.600 this zest for life. 0:12:03.960 --> 0:12:06.720 For people that remember the earlier work of the Black 0:12:06.760 --> 0:12:09.839 Eyed Peas, I was I looked very different back then 0:12:09.920 --> 0:12:14.640 because I wasn't taking care of myself. I looked more depleted. 0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:20.920 My cheek bone structure was very profound. I had long hair. 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:24.320 I was like weighed like one hundred and ten pounds 0:12:24.360 --> 0:12:27.480 because I was using and abusing, and I'm very candid 0:12:27.480 --> 0:12:31.120 about it. When I became sobers, when I found that 0:12:31.160 --> 0:12:33.640 first moment of clarity for myself, and I only speak 0:12:33.679 --> 0:12:35.920 for me, because I was going crazy, bro. I was 0:12:35.960 --> 0:12:38.680 living the rock star lifestyle. I went from sleeping on 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:43.520 mom's couch to having my first you know whatever success 0:12:43.520 --> 0:12:45.120 with whereas the Love, and that was in two thousand 0:12:45.160 --> 0:12:48.280 and three. So from twenty from nineteen ninety five when 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:52.080 we started Black Eyed Peas to two thousand and three, 0:12:52.120 --> 0:12:55.240 I was building this like bravado and this energy, you 0:12:55.240 --> 0:12:58.480 know hip hop, Grab your crotch all that shit. I'm 0:12:58.480 --> 0:13:00.880 an MC, I'm a b boy. I'm gonna battle you. 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:04.080 Yah yah yah yah. Right, your building is bravado. Your 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:08.080 confidence sometimes turns into ego, especially when you're going crazy 0:13:08.160 --> 0:13:12.120 with over indulging. And so I started over indulging, started 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:14.680 getting money over indulging, and I wrote a book about it, 0:13:14.760 --> 0:13:17.040 another book before I wrote the kids book about identity, 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:19.320 because I wanted to help people that have addiction or 0:13:19.320 --> 0:13:23.320 going through addition. And in two thousand and seven, March 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:26.440 twenty seventh, that was the day that I changed my 0:13:26.480 --> 0:13:29.559 whole perspective because I wanted to live for my kids. 0:13:30.200 --> 0:13:34.600 I was living dangerously, I was living recklessly, and you know, 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:36.360 I had a surrender. That was my first moment of 0:13:36.400 --> 0:13:39.959 surrendering because my ego was out of control and it 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:42.880 kept saying You're the shit, nobody could fuck with you, 0:13:42.880 --> 0:13:47.079 You're unstoppable, You're part of this mega crew, YadA, YadA, YadA. 0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:49.000 But in actuality, I was just a human that was 0:13:49.240 --> 0:13:53.160 trying to fill voids with alcoholism and drug use. And 0:13:53.240 --> 0:13:55.760 I'm candid about it because I want people to take 0:13:55.840 --> 0:13:58.839 inspiration from this, even if they're like, wow, we didn't 0:13:58.840 --> 0:14:00.800 know that you were going to that. Well, I never 0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:04.040 really publicly talked about it. I actually did the work 0:14:04.080 --> 0:14:06.320 and the due diligence and the ways to be able 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:08.720 to get back and to be of service. And so 0:14:08.800 --> 0:14:12.520 from that point on, my first step of moment of 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:16.280 clarity was sobriety. So now going on sixteen years of 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:19.440 being removed from that time period, in twenty fourteen, I 0:14:19.480 --> 0:14:23.120 get hit with cancer and as man we don't talk 0:14:23.160 --> 0:14:27.560 about that shit ever. I ain't gotta get tested. Oh man, 0:14:27.600 --> 0:14:29.960 my testicles. You mean to touch my nuts? I ain't 0:14:29.960 --> 0:14:32.760 got what do you mean go to the doctor. Now, 0:14:32.760 --> 0:14:35.400 I'm gonna go on tour. I got tours. I got 0:14:35.480 --> 0:14:39.160 shows to do, right, So that was the mentality. I 0:14:39.240 --> 0:14:42.080 got shows to do. So I had this back pain 0:14:43.200 --> 0:14:45.600 and my right testicle is hurting, but I was like, ah, 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:48.680 that's cool, it's all right, it's wearing terbit of the road. 0:14:49.120 --> 0:14:53.720 And so in twenty fourteen was the year that it 0:14:53.760 --> 0:14:55.840 all came crashing down for me and I got diagnosed 0:14:55.880 --> 0:14:59.040 with stage two testicular cancer, which it went to my 0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:01.920 two lift notes in my spine, and I did have 0:15:01.960 --> 0:15:05.600 to go into aggressive chemotherapy six days a week, excuse me, 0:15:05.680 --> 0:15:09.560 six hours a day, five days a week, many many long, 0:15:09.680 --> 0:15:13.520 strenuous hours of torture and trauma, mental and physical. 0:15:14.200 --> 0:15:18.280 I've only probably really been close to one person that 0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:22.560 had to go through testing and that stuff for leukemia. 0:15:23.240 --> 0:15:27.400 Shout out to Rich Nichols, who even then, like Rich 0:15:27.520 --> 0:15:32.680 was such a hard ass cynic that he didn't want 0:15:32.720 --> 0:15:36.320 to burden us with the human side of what it 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:40.400 felt like. But what what does what is the process 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:43.840 of going through that level of chemo where six hours 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:47.320 every day? What is what is the process? 0:15:47.720 --> 0:15:51.240 It's different for every type of cancer. You know, for 0:15:51.440 --> 0:15:54.760 the Kids Unit, which is the cancer treatment center for 0:15:54.880 --> 0:16:00.680 kids McDonald's Center in Los Angeles, they have different varieties 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:04.800 of chemotherapy that some of them are aggressive, but also 0:16:04.880 --> 0:16:07.320 you don't want to you don't want to bring trauma 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:10.440 to the kids so much that it causes permanent damage. 0:16:11.080 --> 0:16:13.480 So with me, it was like, I'm going to go 0:16:13.520 --> 0:16:15.960 aggressive because I want to be back on stage. So 0:16:16.160 --> 0:16:19.680 I opted to do aggressive chemo because it was spreading 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:23.040 at such a rapid rate that if I didn't do 0:16:23.120 --> 0:16:25.240 it the way that I did it with five hours 0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:27.120 a day, I mean, excuse me, six hours a day, 0:16:27.160 --> 0:16:29.680 five days a week, then it would have prolonged the 0:16:29.680 --> 0:16:32.080 process and I probably it probably would have went from 0:16:32.120 --> 0:16:34.880 my spine, my lungs, and then my brain and I 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:36.840 would have died. And that that was how the doctor 0:16:36.880 --> 0:16:37.600 explained it to me. 0:16:38.280 --> 0:16:41.400 How long from the moment that you found that you 0:16:41.440 --> 0:16:46.280 had it, how long did it take you to acknowledge it? 0:16:46.360 --> 0:16:48.960 And like, all right, let me start treatment. 0:16:50.240 --> 0:16:54.040 From I got checked in on a Thursday. I was 0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:57.320 doing chemo on that Monday. So I had surgery Friday 0:16:57.600 --> 0:16:59.080 to get my right testicle removed. 0:16:59.440 --> 0:17:01.920 So as you were concerned, you were just like, damn, man, 0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:03.720 like my back is killing me. I can't dance like 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:06.080 I used to. Let me go get this fix, and 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:08.560 then that's how you found out you had cancer or. 0:17:09.280 --> 0:17:11.400 Well, it was like I had pain in my back 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:13.040 and it was more about like being able to pick 0:17:13.080 --> 0:17:16.439 my kids up more than dancing. Okay, it was something 0:17:16.600 --> 0:17:19.640 very innate to my life, Like the dancing thing is 0:17:19.680 --> 0:17:22.679 only like an hour or two hours when I'm on stage, right, 0:17:22.720 --> 0:17:25.479 I live a daily life of being a father, and 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:28.000 so something as simple as like trying to bend over 0:17:28.040 --> 0:17:29.840 to pick on my kid, I had this sharp pain 0:17:29.880 --> 0:17:32.320 in my back. So I was like, yo, there's something 0:17:32.320 --> 0:17:33.959 wrong with me. I just don't know what it is. 0:17:34.080 --> 0:17:36.760 Maybe it's wear and tear of being on tour. Tell 0:17:36.800 --> 0:17:40.159 my wife. My wife says, hey, if this continues to 0:17:40.200 --> 0:17:43.680 get worse, you need to go to the er. Unfortunately, 0:17:43.720 --> 0:17:46.040 at twelve midnight it got worse, so I drove. I 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:47.720 don't know how I did it. I got in my car, 0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:51.959 drove to the er, and I went straight into getting 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:56.760 MIRI cat scans CT scans, and by seven am they 0:17:56.800 --> 0:17:59.240 told me I was diagnosed with cancer. They didn't tell 0:17:59.240 --> 0:18:01.920 me what type of cancer. They just said, we found 0:18:01.960 --> 0:18:05.200 a mass which is for centimeters wide four centimeters long 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:07.960 like a tennis ball, and it's in your spine and 0:18:08.200 --> 0:18:10.160 it came from your right testicle. 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:12.119 In your family? Is it hereditary? 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:13.560 That was the first one, brother. 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:14.200 Wow. 0:18:16.000 --> 0:18:18.040 So so let me let me just give you guys, 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:20.760 because I know this is a fun show and everybody. 0:18:21.200 --> 0:18:22.800 No no, this is a human no no, no, no, 0:18:23.240 --> 0:18:25.520 a human show and there's a human show. Normally I 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:28.160 just start with your creative life, but you went there, 0:18:28.240 --> 0:18:29.919 so I want to know this for me. 0:18:30.640 --> 0:18:32.840 So so so I just wanted to give you guys 0:18:33.800 --> 0:18:36.679 the ultimate connection to me as a human being, because 0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:38.240 I love what you guys do with the show, how 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:42.240 you guys take journeys of like the dark side the light, 0:18:42.440 --> 0:18:45.479 the career of triumphs. But this one, for me was 0:18:45.520 --> 0:18:47.960 the thing that kind of shape and molded who I 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:51.120 am today as a father, as a husband, as a storyteller, 0:18:51.240 --> 0:18:55.000 as a creative because I probably wouldn't have understood being 0:18:55.040 --> 0:18:58.520 a voice to indigenous communities if I didn't go through 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:03.560 this trauma. Because after I beat this horrible disease, I 0:19:03.600 --> 0:19:07.400 said to myself, what's my higher purpose beyond being an entertainertainer, 0:19:07.520 --> 0:19:10.920 beyond doing music? Wait a minute, I think I gotta 0:19:11.000 --> 0:19:13.160 go and be of service. So I went to Standing Rock. 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:17.520 Standing Rock was a they say it's a protest, we 0:19:17.640 --> 0:19:20.240 call it a protection of sacred land. At that time, 0:19:20.520 --> 0:19:22.960 which is any rocks to tribe. They were trying to 0:19:22.960 --> 0:19:27.440 build the oil pipeline that would eventually bring oil into 0:19:27.440 --> 0:19:30.360 the water drinking water of the tribal community around. 0:19:30.040 --> 0:19:32.480 That you were part of those protesters that I went. 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:36.200 I went there as Jimmy Gomez, an activist, as a 0:19:36.320 --> 0:19:39.399 Native kid that just wanted to stand in solidarity. It 0:19:39.440 --> 0:19:42.400 wasn't about Black Eyed Peas. It's just me. I took 0:19:42.440 --> 0:19:45.199 my oldest son, Josh, and we were there as Native 0:19:46.000 --> 0:19:49.520 activists giving back to the community, trying to just be 0:19:49.600 --> 0:19:52.000 of service. And then I figured out how I can 0:19:52.040 --> 0:19:54.840 be a voice and really use this huge megaphone that 0:19:54.960 --> 0:19:58.280 is Black Eyed Peas to bring more eyeballs and more 0:19:58.359 --> 0:20:02.639 visibility to tribal issue, whether we're talking about you know, pipelines, 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:05.200 or we're talking about indigenous peoples be in Los Angeles, 0:20:05.320 --> 0:20:08.359 we're talking about the Native Nations March or bringing more 0:20:10.280 --> 0:20:14.600 conversation in mainstream media that has an indigenous lens that's 0:20:14.720 --> 0:20:17.640 very genuine and authentic and not stereotypical like we've seen 0:20:17.680 --> 0:20:19.919 in the past. And so that was kind of like 0:20:20.000 --> 0:20:23.160 my AHA moment to be that guy. He's like, Yo, 0:20:23.320 --> 0:20:27.399 Black Eyed Peas, Yo, Will's all about technology, Apple's all 0:20:27.400 --> 0:20:31.120 about the Philippines. Yo, I'm going to be about this. 0:20:31.400 --> 0:20:35.359 I'm going to activate this amazing opportunity to inspire the 0:20:35.400 --> 0:20:38.600 youth in tribal communities, in the Latino community because I'm 0:20:38.640 --> 0:20:41.840 Mexican as well. Why don't I use this energy that 0:20:41.920 --> 0:20:44.639 I've been putting on stage for so many years and 0:20:44.720 --> 0:20:49.080 now bring light to the fight against cancer, advocating for 0:20:49.119 --> 0:20:52.040 indigenous communities and actually do something to bring light and 0:20:52.080 --> 0:20:53.320 hope to the people. 0:20:54.440 --> 0:20:57.760 Yeah. I was going to say that. In doing research 0:20:58.640 --> 0:21:02.280 for your story, and you know, having just turned fifty 0:21:02.320 --> 0:21:07.600 two two months ago, I suddenly asked myself a question. 0:21:07.640 --> 0:21:10.040 I'm like, wait a minute, I think when you turn 0:21:10.160 --> 0:21:14.960 fifty you're supposed to start getting tests to see you know, 0:21:15.240 --> 0:21:18.600 because I'm one of those people, you know, I have 0:21:18.720 --> 0:21:25.760 been living with like stage two lymphedema for about yeah, 0:21:25.920 --> 0:21:30.040 like since like ninety eight, like for twenty five years. 0:21:30.400 --> 0:21:31.200 With you about something. 0:21:31.440 --> 0:21:33.040 Yeah, I noticed that. 0:21:33.720 --> 0:21:36.840 I noticed that about you because I saw the fluctuating 0:21:36.840 --> 0:21:41.119 of Europe. Yeah, and for exactly a friend from Afar 0:21:41.560 --> 0:21:44.280 seeing you at certain events, I'd be like, yo, you know, 0:21:44.680 --> 0:21:47.320 just going through my struggles in my illness. Same thing 0:21:47.359 --> 0:21:49.840 that happened with Dave Rest in peace for boy, I 0:21:49.880 --> 0:21:52.800 had that same conversation and it was so candid and 0:21:52.800 --> 0:21:55.600