Speaker 1: Welcome to All the Smoke, a production of The Black
Speaker 1: Effect and our Heart Radio and partnership with Showtime. Welcome
Speaker 1: back All the Smoke Season two. Jackie back in l
Speaker 1: A brother, my brother, Happy to be back in these seats.
Speaker 1: We got the iced out Vivid, We got a man,
Speaker 1: a multi talented array of talents. Uh, I mean, rapper, poet, activists, actor,
Speaker 1: Jack of all trade man. I can't say enough good
Speaker 1: things about our brother today, common Man, welcome, Thank you
Speaker 1: for coming already. Now let's jump into it. May you
Speaker 1: started a a campaign we Matter Too. Can you tell
Speaker 1: us in the fans what that's about. So that was really,
Speaker 1: you know, I've been doing a lot of work with
Speaker 1: with people that's incarcerated, and you know, when COVID hit,
Speaker 1: of course they were forgotten. They've been forgotten in many
Speaker 1: ways before COVID, So um, you know what we did
Speaker 1: was really team out with different organizations that was already
Speaker 1: doing some of the work and just start started figuring
Speaker 1: ways that we can highlight the Hey, some of these
Speaker 1: people that's been locked up for for charges that we
Speaker 1: know they should be out on to be getting released.
Speaker 1: We did a quick short film that was directed by
Speaker 1: the sister and ain't Savannah. She did a dope job
Speaker 1: just giving us a quick view of how people were
Speaker 1: feeling in there, because you know, as we were talking
Speaker 1: before off cameras, like, man, a lot of people that
Speaker 1: I met inside just man, we just need to be heard.
Speaker 1: We want to be seen, we want to like feel
Speaker 1: like we are a person and human being. So during
Speaker 1: this time, they really needed that. So that's why we
Speaker 1: decided to get into that. We matter too. I think
Speaker 1: what's important too, and not just in what you're doing,
Speaker 1: but overall you partner with people that are already doing
Speaker 1: something in the space. I think often we think we
Speaker 1: need to reinvent the wheel. When we don't. We can.
Speaker 1: We can lend our platform, our voice, our likeness to
Speaker 1: two groups that are doing great work. They're just seem
Speaker 1: some magnification, magnification or a little bit of a push.
Speaker 1: Oh that's key. That's that's wisdom right there. Because you know,
Speaker 1: sometimes when you first thinking, like a lot of people say, man,
Speaker 1: I want to do something. I want to do something,
Speaker 1: and I first say, man, find out what you care about,
Speaker 1: what are you passionate about? Like what? And then along
Speaker 1: with that it's like, man, there's people out there doing that.
Speaker 1: So find if you can team up with them, and
Speaker 1: if you don't find it's the right connection. By point black,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't be doing I wouldn't have been able to
Speaker 1: do the work I've been doing in prisons if I
Speaker 1: didn't team up with where A r c Scomputing because
Speaker 1: he had already established him been doing it for years.
Speaker 1: You're just enhanced what he's doing. Yes, simple as that
Speaker 1: and that and as you said, it's strengthened in the
Speaker 1: numbers of its just building together. Yeah together. So that's that, man,
Speaker 1: that's the important like thing for me to be reminded
Speaker 1: and remind everybody. Man. And it ain't like we always
Speaker 1: got to invent the will. Just ready taking your heart
Speaker 1: and soul and you know stack you've been in it.
Speaker 1: You've been in it too doing like some of the
Speaker 1: things you're gonna do, like with with with just your team.
Speaker 1: Some of it you go team up with other people
Speaker 1: that's doing it. Some people just go may ask you
Speaker 1: to just show up for them, and you do that too.
Speaker 1: But it's you know, it's all different ways, but it's
Speaker 1: people that's been doing this work long before, long before
Speaker 1: everything Everything is really recyclable but what you're doing is
Speaker 1: similar to what we are there doing in the streets.
Speaker 1: We're given the voiceless a voice, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: the narrative, and and this thing of us being twisted
Speaker 1: and displayed as as thugs and just wrong for so long.
Speaker 1: We finally have a chance to control our own narrative
Speaker 1: and speak our own truths, our own stories. And people
Speaker 1: that like mothers that have their son's murdered for police
Speaker 1: justice and and don't have a Stephen Jackson to speak
Speaker 1: up for them, you know what I mean, they need
Speaker 1: a voice, and you're doing That's the same way in
Speaker 1: the prison SYSM with these a lot of guys should
Speaker 1: definitely be out of jail, probably in jail for nothing,
Speaker 1: and they don't, and nobody would never know because they
Speaker 1: don't have a voice, you know what I'm saying. So
Speaker 1: what you're doing is similar to what we're doing. I
Speaker 1: applaud you for that, man, Yeah, give thanks to we
Speaker 1: I mean for me it even you know, at a
Speaker 1: certain point, even just when I first stopped rhyming, I
Speaker 1: was like, okay, I want to just be dope. I
Speaker 1: wanted to know who I am. That's just the essence
Speaker 1: of what like I love hip hop, but then eventually
Speaker 1: just looking around and seeing where I grew up, getting
Speaker 1: to go to different cities, I was like, man, I
Speaker 1: got a chance to like really be a voice for
Speaker 1: them to do through this through the music. And that's
Speaker 1: where the music started becoming that. And then eventually I
Speaker 1: was like, oh, man, I gotta put my body in this,
Speaker 1: you know, I gotta be there like for certain things
Speaker 1: and like start thinking of creative ways to actually see
Speaker 1: the change happening, like seeing like changing people's lives, right,
Speaker 1: And like one of the things that we did in
Speaker 1: California that I'm like always a lot of things I've
Speaker 1: done and accomplished whatever professionally, Like we've been able to
Speaker 1: get some bills passed that was like for for people
Speaker 1: who was doing serving l WASPS, life without parole, for
Speaker 1: juveniles who was serving l WASPS, they no longer can
Speaker 1: be sentenced to life without parole and as a juvenile.
Speaker 1: And and it took us some time. We was up
Speaker 1: in Sacramento. We had a concert up there where we
Speaker 1: you know, Jacole performed with us, Andrew Day. Let us
Speaker 1: see different artists. Man, they thought, like ten thousand people
Speaker 1: gonna show We had like thirty thousand people on the
Speaker 1: capitol when we rocked, and then the next day we
Speaker 1: went and went and sat down and met with legislators
Speaker 1: about like hey, this is some and we sat down
Speaker 1: with people who you know, it was Republicans, different people.
Speaker 1: Wasn't necessarily always with that, but as you said, when
Speaker 1: we out of voices, for those who don't get a
Speaker 1: chance to sit in those rooms, you know they're gonna
Speaker 1: respond then like they're gonna want to sit out and talk.
Speaker 1: And as long as we you know, know what we're
Speaker 1: there for and just be from the hot man. We
Speaker 1: we took some people who was not thinking about prison
Speaker 1: reform and criminal justice reform. We took them to follow
Speaker 1: some prison different government officials. Man, we had them. We
Speaker 1: had the former chief of staff to the to the
Speaker 1: last governor of California. God bless us. So she passed.
Speaker 1: But she sat in the circle with all these men
Speaker 1: and that were inconcerrating. We just sat man and talked
Speaker 1: and had man, we said a prayer together. She heard
Speaker 1: their stories. Some of them brothers that deserve to be
Speaker 1: out ended up getting out because of that moment. It's
Speaker 1: just like, man, we gotta be the bridges and the avenues.
Speaker 1: And I think that's huge because I mean, they have
Speaker 1: to feel it and they've never wanted to feel it before.
Speaker 1: And I think inies now as you have to, you
Speaker 1: have to step outside yourself because it's bigger than you,
Speaker 1: and at least try to put our shoes on. You
Speaker 1: ain't even gotta walk a mile our step, just at
Speaker 1: least have the you know, the the ability to have
Speaker 1: enough compassion to be like, Okay, well maybe this doesn't
Speaker 1: directly affect me, but it doesn't directly affect another human being.
Speaker 1: So let me see what this is about. And I
Speaker 1: think that's what has has brought us. You know, it's
Speaker 1: been a domino effective negative thing since Kobe, you know,
Speaker 1: since Kobe passed and then the pandemic and then you know,
Speaker 1: George passed, But we were all still kind of looking
Speaker 1: for stuff and we were forced to kind of see
Speaker 1: that America conty finally reared its nasty head and its
Speaker 1: nasty history. And although some people still want to fight
Speaker 1: in and say there's not issues enough, people of other
Speaker 1: races have seen that there is a real issue here.
Speaker 1: So now what is our plan moving forward? And it
Speaker 1: doesn't just stop with elections in a week. You know,
Speaker 1: this is this is something that we're we have to
Speaker 1: carry the torch for like everyone in the past has
Speaker 1: done for us. It's our turn now and we have
Speaker 1: to carry the torch and and and November three is
Speaker 1: not the finish line. It's really the start, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, Because it's it's just a continuous process.
Speaker 1: And I think in the past people have got gotten
Speaker 1: a past thing. It's not for me. My voice hasn't heard.
Speaker 1: You know that my my vote doesn't count, and we
Speaker 1: are you're right with this, Like now, I think we
Speaker 1: have to take it as responsibility as as African Americans
Speaker 1: particularly to understand like what is at stake and everything
Speaker 1: we're fighting for now. We may not directly feel, but
Speaker 1: our kids are gonna feel and their kids are gonna feel,
Speaker 1: so hopefully they don't have to go through this again. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's the man. I mean. The elections is super important.
Speaker 1: Like you said, that's one aspect, but it's a it's
Speaker 1: a necessary aspect because ultimately those those policy makers are
Speaker 1: making decisions on the way we live. At the end
Speaker 1: of the day, y'all see the difference in between what's
Speaker 1: happening in Minnesota and what was happening in Kentucky Like
Speaker 1: and that's people in government positions who are making those decisions.
Speaker 1: I went to Minnesota right after you, but but I
Speaker 1: went there and just sat down with some community leaders
Speaker 1: and and their governor and Congresswoman Irhan Omar and it
Speaker 1: was a congresswoman um Ayana Presley, And I was like, man,
Speaker 1: these the government men officials who really can't like they
Speaker 1: had people organize it from the hood there that was like,
Speaker 1: you know, cast it was like your uncle that was
Speaker 1: doing it for a long time that he had a
Speaker 1: chance to speak. And I was like, man, the fact
Speaker 1: and the governors and know and the mayor of both
Speaker 1: cities of St. Paul and in Minneapolis was sitting there listening.
Speaker 1: No no government officials said nothing. They just listened to
Speaker 1: the people. And I felt like, you can see the
Speaker 1: difference between them and the people in Kentucky. They mata
Speaker 1: in Minnesota. That's what I'm saying. They make it and
Speaker 1: and and that to me is a direct thing of
Speaker 1: us saying, man, we we gotta have elected officials who
Speaker 1: represent us, who are us, they think like us, and
Speaker 1: everything is not gonna We're not gonna agree with everything
Speaker 1: that will. Y'all don't agree with everything your brothers. We
Speaker 1: brother we ain't gonna agree on everything. But it's like, man,
Speaker 1: we see this. We got, like you said, the same vision,
Speaker 1: We got the same We got the same place we want.
Speaker 1: And it's politicians out there that that have that. And
Speaker 1: I think you know, this election is like one of
Speaker 1: the most They always say it's the most important, but
Speaker 1: it's is very important because man, it's the step that
Speaker 1: we're taking. People already in movement, were already moving towards
Speaker 1: what we're saying that goal. The election gott to happen
Speaker 1: for certain things. I mean, the voting got to happen
Speaker 1: for certain things to keep moving in that direction. And
Speaker 1: we continue to hold them accountable when we vote for them.
Speaker 1: But then we do our community work, yes, you know,
Speaker 1: taking each other while take each other like I always
Speaker 1: be like, man, it ain't know one or the other.
Speaker 1: Why can't you know what from doing? But also what
Speaker 1: people have to realize, and we spoke about this earlier,
Speaker 1: is it's not just the federal vote like you said,
Speaker 1: it's the local and state vote that we're talking about.
Speaker 1: We directly can we put people in place that are
Speaker 1: directly responsible for either you know, putting a police chief
Speaker 1: in the spot. We vote for the mayor, we vote
Speaker 1: for the d These are all people that have a
Speaker 1: say or hands somewhat some way into charging these cops.
Speaker 1: You know. I mean, that's all stuff on that we
Speaker 1: can see direct turnaround for. So you know, we talked
Speaker 1: about voting and we gotta wake up and we got
Speaker 1: to educate ourselves. But we're so far behind because we
Speaker 1: were never even supposed to get to this point. We're
Speaker 1: never supposed to have a footing, we're never supposed to
Speaker 1: have a voice, so we can't tackle all this ship
Speaker 1: at once. To me, it's about bite sized pieces. You
Speaker 1: like you said, start small something. You're passionate Prop sixteen
Speaker 1: that California is trying to pass, the prop that you
Speaker 1: passed with the police reform. Like there's stuff that you
Speaker 1: can directly see immediate change on when you vote and
Speaker 1: you see some kind of reward, And then to me,
Speaker 1: I think that's going to encourage you to be like, Okay,
Speaker 1: well let me learn about some more stuff and then
Speaker 1: next time I'm gonna vote for more and continue to
Speaker 1: educate ourselves, because like I said, we were never meant
Speaker 1: to have to say anyway, and now that we actually
Speaker 1: do have a say, what what are we trying to say?
Speaker 1: What are we trying to say? And then you know,
Speaker 1: it is intimidating. I was voted yesterday, um in Chicago.
Speaker 1: I was in Chicago and I voted, and I was
Speaker 1: looking and I was like, you know, I had to
Speaker 1: call and get information on something there point it's a lot,
Speaker 1: and then something I just didn't know. So I'm like, Okay,
Speaker 1: it's intimid that when you look at that ballot and
Speaker 1: you're like, oh, man, so I understand what you're saying
Speaker 1: is as far as man, take a step, vote for
Speaker 1: something that you believe in or something certain people you know,
Speaker 1: you might not know everybody, but I'm sorry. And and
Speaker 1: one of the things we're doing, like with this Organization
Speaker 1: Urgency that we're doing and we've been doing for the
Speaker 1: past days, is going to different cities and states educame
Speaker 1: people on down the ticket. Like we went to South Carolina,
Speaker 1: we went to Florida, we went you know, we went
Speaker 1: to Yeah, we're doing swinging states and then some stuff
Speaker 1: in Wisconsin and saying hey, y'all, these are some of
Speaker 1: the people and eight black people, brown people, we gotta
Speaker 1: get out and vote, and like these are people that actually,
Speaker 1: you know, care for you and they aligned and you know,
Speaker 1: for me, I'm like, I ain't speaking up for nobody
Speaker 1: unless out of and sat and looked them in their
Speaker 1: house and I know that, like, Okay, you're gonna we're gonna.
Speaker 1: We got something a lot in alignment, and we're gonna
Speaker 1: do this. So like Jamie Harrison is one of the
Speaker 1: people in South Carolina, they got a chance to change
Speaker 1: those things. And and my thing is educating people, just
Speaker 1: like I needed to be educated. I ain't know I
Speaker 1: stayed attorney in Chicago is a woman named Kim Fox
Speaker 1: who obviously makes decisions on She came for Cabrini Green.
Speaker 1: I didn't know about her until it was I was
Speaker 1: doing a documentary and I got to sit down and
Speaker 1: build with her. But from that point on, I started
Speaker 1: like seeing what she was doing in the community and
Speaker 1: our support her, and it's like a little did I
Speaker 1: know that that's the woman is making decisions on like
Speaker 1: if somebody, if a police officer kills you know, I didn't,
Speaker 1: I didn't point Blake. I needed to learn that. Like
Speaker 1: I said, we learned and we find out because, like
Speaker 1: I said, there's stuff that we can align our likeness
Speaker 1: to for situations to to shine light on people who
Speaker 1: really do care about us and really do have our
Speaker 1: best interest in at heart. But most of the time
Speaker 1: we don't know, so we don't feel like there's no
Speaker 1: one to represents us, so we don't vote. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: then that's what they count on. That's what the other
Speaker 1: stuff they they want us not to. They want us
Speaker 1: to be discouraged like we get this or sometimes with
Speaker 1: with with do calls because it's very discouraging, you know,
Speaker 1: voter suppression and all the fake ballots and fake information
Speaker 1: and fake boxes. I mean, it's tough, but like I said,
Speaker 1: I think now is the time that we gotta stand
Speaker 1: and we have to unite. Like I think it's great
Speaker 1: that there's so many different I don't recall another time
Speaker 1: where there are so many people with the platform, whether
Speaker 1: it's actors, musicians, athletes that are actually you know, talking
Speaker 1: about voting and talking about registering the vote and how
Speaker 1: important it is to be a part and have your
Speaker 1: voice heard, even if we haven't done it in the
Speaker 1: pastor you don't feel like it's gonna work, it's never
Speaker 1: gonna change if we don't. So let's let's let's come
Speaker 1: together and figure out what we're gonna do. That's what
Speaker 1: you just said. Like, I'll be like, man, it ain't
Speaker 1: like even the first time I voted, I was like, man,
Speaker 1: even if this ship don't count, I just know I
Speaker 1: did it. I made the effort to try to do it,
Speaker 1: you know, like and and and it ain't hurt me
Speaker 1: to like the other day I voted, it took five minutes.
Speaker 1: So I'm like, I took you know some time. I'm
Speaker 1: five minutes out of my day. I'm making this effort.
Speaker 1: I know it's gonna work. I know it's gonna count.
Speaker 1: And it is discouraging because I've been a part of
Speaker 1: things where it's like man, we're going like like like
Speaker 1: like yeah, and it's but but man, I feel like
Speaker 1: if I fight, I fight for everything else. Man, I
Speaker 1: fight for a lot of things, you know, Like and
Speaker 1: I keep I kept working on my my art phone
Speaker 1: to get better as an MC. I kept I keep
Speaker 1: working on my acting. I keep working on different things,
Speaker 1: like I can keep pushing and kicking that door down
Speaker 1: for people. You're part of the Showtime family with there
Speaker 1: with the show shy. Uh, you know, you do a
Speaker 1: little executive producing and acting on it. How did that
Speaker 1: situation come about? You know, Lena Lena away to who
Speaker 1: created the shot. She she from Chicago and she uh,
Speaker 1: one of one of my producing partners was like, man,
Speaker 1: this this assistant with the script is dope. You should
Speaker 1: check it out. So um I eventually checked it out
Speaker 1: and I was like, man, this is dope, and I
Speaker 1: was geeked to that it was a show about Chicago
Speaker 1: and you know, and she was being creative. It was
Speaker 1: like it wasn't like a documentary, but it's dope. You
Speaker 1: message that thanks and she's dopey. Thank you, man, I
Speaker 1: really appreciate it, and we Man, I ain't gonna lie
Speaker 1: have one of the proudest things I'm a part of
Speaker 1: because you know, first of all, she doing her thing
Speaker 1: and telling the story, but we got so many like
Speaker 1: Chicago people working on it was like to go home
Speaker 1: and be like, man, the makeup artist, I mean, the
Speaker 1: person to do heir used to do my mother's hair
Speaker 1: growing up. You know what I'm saying, Like the locations manager,
Speaker 1: the black woman from Chicago, actors from you know, It's
Speaker 1: it's great to be able to go on. The authenticity
Speaker 1: is that much stronger, you know, when you involved the
Speaker 1: community that the community feels like they have a hand
Speaker 1: and like one of the biggest shows on television. Point
Speaker 1: like that's my city right there. What else are you
Speaker 1: working on right now? In in in the creative space
Speaker 1: acting space, because I know you're you're you're big and
Speaker 1: I'm a fan like you were one of the guys
Speaker 1: that like low key crossed over and some people like
Speaker 1: coming the actor comment like no, the rapper the comming
Speaker 1: that actually acts to like you've been able to make
Speaker 1: that transition. So what else he working on in this space?
Speaker 1: I'm working on a new new film. Actually I'm leaving
Speaker 1: to go out in a couple of days to go
Speaker 1: film this movie called Alice. It's an independent movie um
Speaker 1: that this woman wrote that named Kristen Verlinden and Kiki
Speaker 1: Palm and starting in it too. But it's a cool
Speaker 1: I really like, it's a really dope piece that I'm
Speaker 1: excited about that. And also working on producing a couple
Speaker 1: of TV shows and I'll be acting in and creatively. Also,
Speaker 1: you know, recorded a new album coming out speak so
Speaker 1: but thirty If it's called a Beautiful Revolution Part one
Speaker 1: and the single just dropped yesterday, Black Dog called Say Peace.
Speaker 1: So man, I got inspired on that. I ain't never
Speaker 1: made album like in about a month and a half.
Speaker 1: I always take a long time, but I was like, man,
Speaker 1: I just seen I think after being still in the
Speaker 1: when when the pandemic first hit, and just kind of
Speaker 1: just getting a chance to reflect on life and where
Speaker 1: I am, who I am, what I want looking at all,
Speaker 1: what's going on with people having some time to read
Speaker 1: just be still. I wasn't trying to write and do
Speaker 1: nothing at that point. But then eventually as I started
Speaker 1: getting into the creative like energy, I was like, man,
Speaker 1: I just was feeling it. So we cooked up. Uh, man,
Speaker 1: I got a piece. Man, I can't wait till it's
Speaker 1: out on the thirties, you know what I mean? Jack,
Speaker 1: you just dropped your your piece and same energy, you know.
Speaker 1: That was one thing Jack said that he felt like
Speaker 1: he's learned so much in this last six eight months,
Speaker 1: and he then he's ever learned, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: And he took it out and put it out in
Speaker 1: this music as well. So I'm sure, as you know,
Speaker 1: to be able to as an artist, to be able
Speaker 1: to put his feelings out on the paper and then
Speaker 1: sharing what the world is always a blessing you are.
Speaker 1: You always been able to do that though, to think
Speaker 1: as a culture, we expect that from you. We expect
Speaker 1: that music that's gonna take us there, that that's gonna
Speaker 1: make us feel what's going on in the days. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's gonna take us there. We expect that from you. Man, I, man,
Speaker 1: what's going on is like exactly, like that's what I'm on,
Speaker 1: like meaning I'll be wanting that that music to feel
Speaker 1: like Marvin Gay or Bob Marley or Stevie Wonder or
Speaker 1: care Us one. I also feel like it's a duty
Speaker 1: when you do music that's conscious or or like a
Speaker 1: where it's still gotta be dope, like like that the
Speaker 1: music that I love listening to and grew up. It
Speaker 1: ain't only just conscious music, but when it is conscious music,
Speaker 1: it's dopeless that you gotta be dope and you gotta
Speaker 1: style on it and give that. But but stack you know,
Speaker 1: probably when you get more information, like you, like you said,
Speaker 1: you have something to say on on this project, because
Speaker 1: you know, I mean you rhyme, So you're like, man,
Speaker 1: I probably you probably like Yo, I experienced all this
Speaker 1: different stuff. It was easier this time because I was
Speaker 1: in the middle of it, like I was, this is
Speaker 1: my real pain. I wasn't just rapping for the hell
Speaker 1: of it. Like what I was saying this time with
Speaker 1: stuff that I've really been, that I really seen and
Speaker 1: that that I really want to say because I can't
Speaker 1: get it out in no other way, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. And this was totally different than anything I've
Speaker 1: ever dropped. Man, I ain't even know that rat would
Speaker 1: be that for me, but that's what it has been like,
Speaker 1: certain things you can't get out like in no other way.
Speaker 1: But just as an artist, especially when you do have
Speaker 1: an outlet or you discover that this is man something
Speaker 1: I do, This is what I want to do. And
Speaker 1: it's always been like I been like that for me.
Speaker 1: So if I see other people's pain or I'm experiencing
Speaker 1: my pain, always been like I'm gonna speak to it,
Speaker 1: but my my goal is to speak to it and
Speaker 1: put a charge to it, like get them uplifted and
Speaker 1: get them out of the darkness. But I'm gonna speak
Speaker 1: on the darkness if it's there. But it's like, man,
Speaker 1: I like giving solutions to because I ain't gonna just say, man,
Speaker 1: we we're in the hole and not be like, yo,
Speaker 1: let me try to help you get out of this
Speaker 1: hole if I can. You know, I'm gonna tell you
Speaker 1: I got out of this whole help. Well, that's what
Speaker 1: most people realize too. Whether you're you're putting in your
Speaker 1: music or you're acting, or we're just speaking out of publicly,
Speaker 1: most of the time we don't. You know, it's not
Speaker 1: we know that us sharing our ups and downs or
Speaker 1: mostly our downs are gonna inspire someone else because look
Speaker 1: at me coming went through this ship, Jack went through
Speaker 1: this ship, Matt with the ship, Lebron went through this ship.
Speaker 1: So I can make it, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: If we can affect one mind or encourage one person
Speaker 1: out of you know, that's at the end of the
Speaker 1: days to win, you know, I mean. But when you're
Speaker 1: able to encourage millions upon millions of people just by
Speaker 1: being real and spilling spilling your truth, that's where the
Speaker 1: real reward comes from. Yeah, yeah, you know. I was like,
Speaker 1: like early on in my career, I was writing a song.
Speaker 1: I was writing a song about abortion, and this was
Speaker 1: like early on, and I was like some ship I
Speaker 1: had been through with the girl I was with, and
Speaker 1: I just wrote it because it was like I was
Speaker 1: reading these different poems poetry, and I was like, man,
Speaker 1: they'd be saying whatever they feel. So I was kind
Speaker 1: of like, I'm just gonna go there with it. I
Speaker 1: might actually just tell this story. And I did, and
Speaker 1: I put the record. I was a record that Lauren
Speaker 1: Hill actually singing. And week you know, the rerecord came out.
Speaker 1: We just shot a video and everything, and I'm remember
Speaker 1: performing in the concert and then this dude came up
Speaker 1: to me afterwards and was like, yo, man, that record man,
Speaker 1: it's called Retrospect for Life. Was like that record man
Speaker 1: made me decide to have my child because I was
Speaker 1: going through the same things and this and that. I
Speaker 1: was like, yo, I was just telling my stories. I
Speaker 1: didn't know that this exactly, this thing could really like
Speaker 1: shift people's lives like that. That That was one of
Speaker 1: them moments where you're like, dag, Okay, this is really
Speaker 1: meaningful and I could do something with this. Growing up
Speaker 1: in Chicago, basketball has been a part of your life.
Speaker 1: Most people don't know you want I wanted to be
Speaker 1: yall know, most people don't know you were a ball
Speaker 1: boy for the for the Bulls in the eighties and
Speaker 1: that before JT Therapy. Was there any crossover with m J? Yeah,
Speaker 1: yeah I was. I was right there when m J came.
Speaker 1: I started a year before. How I was like eleven
Speaker 1: or twelve. Okay, See my father played in the A. B.
Speaker 1: A a couple of years, so yeah, god, but it's
Speaker 1: the thank you brother and um rock Thorne was hit
Speaker 1: one of his teammates. So Rock Thorne kind of was
Speaker 1: the general manager for the Bulls got me. He said, Yo,
Speaker 1: you write a letter, you get the job. You know
Speaker 1: pretty much get the job. So I wrote the letter,
Speaker 1: I got the job. I was there when Mike first came.
Speaker 1: You know, I used to have man I used to
Speaker 1: get you know, you know y'all used to give away
Speaker 1: gym shoes after a few games. I used to get
Speaker 1: gym shoes. I'll be selling them, getting them my teachers.
Speaker 1: I had a pair of ed Jows, like some of
Speaker 1: the first jos, and he signed them and I gave
Speaker 1: him to my father, but my father stopped wearing them.
Speaker 1: He was wearing them to my shows and something like, yo, yo,
Speaker 1: you gotta put them job. It is ain't meant to
Speaker 1: be but yeah, it was. It was an incredible experience,
Speaker 1: you know. I was just geek to be around all
Speaker 1: that and be there when Mike first came. And I
Speaker 1: remember Mike. Mike was playing um, Hohodini like and he
Speaker 1: had the radio playing Houdini when he first came, like
Speaker 1: one of the first exhibition games, and they was like, no,
Speaker 1: you can't play that music. Then after that first game,
Speaker 1: you could play whatever he wants. Really yeah, yeah he Mike.
Speaker 1: They was like, oh, whatever you want. Any cool one
Speaker 1: on one interaction you had with him at a young
Speaker 1: age you can recall just you know, shooting around with him.
Speaker 1: That's more. Well. One thing happened that that um where
Speaker 1: I was like, these kids asked me to get an autograph,
Speaker 1: and I was like, okay, I'll do five dollars. So
Speaker 1: I went and took it down to Mike. I said, Yo,
Speaker 1: can you give me get this autograph? He told me
Speaker 1: to sign it, you know, He's like, oh, you sign
Speaker 1: it and signed it. So I signed it and took
Speaker 1: it up to the kids and the kid looked and
Speaker 1: was like, man, this ain't Michael because I spelled Michael Row.
Speaker 1: He was like, man, what the hell? But I mean,
Speaker 1: obviously I ain't give my five but now, man, I
Speaker 1: mean even later. You know, as I said, I had
Speaker 1: hoop dreams. Y'all know that. But but but I saw Mike.
Speaker 1: This was I played in one of the celebrity games.
Speaker 1: I thought I did good, and Mike saw me. It
Speaker 1: was like, man, you better stick to wrapping and acting.
Speaker 1: I was like, man, this is you know, m classic
Speaker 1: got a chance playing the Hoop movie though, Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: just right, yea. Many know she is. She one of
Speaker 1: my favorite people to collaborate with. People I met in
Speaker 1: just overall. She loved her so normally this is at
Speaker 1: the end of the show. But since we're talking about
Speaker 1: her and you know, or help her get up, we
Speaker 1: need we need her on the show. Man. Yeah, queen,
Speaker 1: she's just down to earth yea. And she doping every
Speaker 1: aspect we're talking about, like somebody is super dope acting.
Speaker 1: She could sing right right yeo man, yeah that person.
Speaker 1: And she beautiful, she beautiful broke she doing that movie.
Speaker 1: I was like, yo, you know that was my chance
Speaker 1: to really live out the hoop dreams because I was
Speaker 1: like playing the NBA. Yeah yeah, the injury had to
Speaker 1: do the injury and all the injury and all. Somebody
Speaker 1: called me just yesterday like, yo, you really you did
Speaker 1: the injury for real? I was like, yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: I just wanted to get my all because that was
Speaker 1: my first my first leading roles too, and it was
Speaker 1: like kind of living two dreams in one. Okay, I
Speaker 1: get to play this NBA playing but and it's my
Speaker 1: first leading role. So man, I gave him all. We
Speaker 1: did our best. I'm glad to this day people come
Speaker 1: up to me like, yo, just right movie it's kids
Speaker 1: and women and be like, you know, that's just right, movie.
Speaker 1: I messed with that. Um. Obviously, growing up in Chicago,
Speaker 1: tons of basketball talent comes through there, and then you
Speaker 1: also were shaped through basketball and then your creativity with
Speaker 1: your music and your art. Who is anyone in particular
Speaker 1: shaped you or inspired you in either of those lanes? Yeah?
Speaker 1: For me, uh, Isaiah Thomas was like a real inspiration.
Speaker 1: He being from Chicago, like he was the first point guard,
Speaker 1: was like that. I you know, I was like, I
Speaker 1: mean I saw like Kenny Patterson and cats like that,
Speaker 1: but they there was from Chicago, so it was like
Speaker 1: and he was man, he was different. He was a killer.
Speaker 1: So I love his game. Man, that was that's somebody
Speaker 1: who really, I would say, and then I ain't a
Speaker 1: lot like a lot of y'all. You know, we get
Speaker 1: inspired by y'all because man, y'all made it to the
Speaker 1: highest level. Kenney Smith say something that I was like, damn,
Speaker 1: he said, man, only like five thousand people or something
Speaker 1: some number like late in the NBA court, and you
Speaker 1: know how many millions people try to try to make
Speaker 1: it like, so that's like to be chosen out of
Speaker 1: like man, some people don't understand. It's crazy. I mean,
Speaker 1: especially today with the disrespect. Everyone is crazy because they
Speaker 1: don't have to be helped for your accountable, for your words.
Speaker 1: But to be the last minute on the bench like
Speaker 1: he's a very good player, you go around and bust
Speaker 1: anybody's asking any kind of gym. But people don't understand
Speaker 1: because just because you don't get a lot of time
Speaker 1: on an NBA team, if you have a better chance
Speaker 1: of being struck by lightning and making it to the NBA,
Speaker 1: and people don't understand. Like the world wants to be
Speaker 1: in the world where you keep it real, Like that's
Speaker 1: the one sport globally that everyone wants to play. Everyone
Speaker 1: wants to be Kobe, Mike Lebron. That's the one sport
Speaker 1: and to make it and have some longevity and there
Speaker 1: like you really did something. If you have some longevity
Speaker 1: in a game like that respect to both of your brothers.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's like and you know in the breach
Speaker 1: the highest level and stay there and win championships too,
Speaker 1: but just even to get there on that court, it's like,
Speaker 1: I mean still to this day, you see like from
Speaker 1: I mean from actors to rappers to everybody wanted like
Speaker 1: you said, where or why I want to do it?
Speaker 1: Everybody want to everybody want to hoop man, Jacob. I
Speaker 1: heard Jay Cole going for his Yeah, the Master, he
Speaker 1: had his run let Jacole, he can get it if
Speaker 1: you could do what you could do it? What you mean,
Speaker 1: I don't don't matter no labels. When do you feel
Speaker 1: like you found your footing as an artist? You know
Speaker 1: what I feel like I find my footing. I found
Speaker 1: it first when I was like going into this album
Speaker 1: called Resurrection because that was that was four. Because I
Speaker 1: released the album and it didn't get the response I thought,
Speaker 1: because you know, when I first I was releasing the music,
Speaker 1: I was thinking, Okay, people released the album, they got
Speaker 1: a video they made it, but I did, I released
Speaker 1: it and people weren't responded to it. So it made
Speaker 1: me have to do a lot of souls so you know,
Speaker 1: and just be like, man, you gotta get better. This
Speaker 1: ain't about the label, it ain't about the beats, ain't
Speaker 1: about what radio, and it's about yo, you like are
Speaker 1: you gonna? Are you built for this? Like? And man,
Speaker 1: I just started like as you just and say going
Speaker 1: in the ship. I was freestyle and rhyming. I was
Speaker 1: reading different books, started listening to John Coltrane and different
Speaker 1: things that I wasn't up on that would give me
Speaker 1: like open my mind space up. I remember writing this
Speaker 1: song I used to love her and you know that
Speaker 1: song eventually went on and became something where they made
Speaker 1: a movie about it and people did different things about
Speaker 1: it because I was talking about hip hop as a woman,
Speaker 1: and that's where I felt like I first hit myself,
Speaker 1: like you all right, this album, man, I'm an artist,
Speaker 1: like like I know and I don't know everything yet,
Speaker 1: but I know where I want to go with it.
Speaker 1: And I was starting to get my own voice and
Speaker 1: that's when it came and in to tell the truth,
Speaker 1: like you know, as an artist, you kind of as
Speaker 1: a man to a human being, you kind of start
Speaker 1: you find things about yourself, and then you you fall
Speaker 1: off and go this way, you know, like it's like
Speaker 1: it's a journey, like because when you asked that question,
Speaker 1: I was like, well, I found myself then, but then
Speaker 1: I was seeking other things and and and things ain't
Speaker 1: a line. I released another album and it might not connect,
Speaker 1: but then I go release another one and it did.
Speaker 1: So it's like you find your footing. And I think
Speaker 1: the most important thing I found was to be truthful
Speaker 1: with who, who and where I am at the time.
Speaker 1: Like and then you know, sometimes people are gonna be
Speaker 1: rocking with it and sometimes they're not. But it's like
Speaker 1: that's up being an artist is about. It ain't always
Speaker 1: gonna be like it ain't always hit at the time
Speaker 1: where the whole world is celebrating it, and then sometimes
Speaker 1: it make so but you know, I just decided to
Speaker 1: keep putting my intention and then putting with the love
Speaker 1: and putting my truth in it, and you know, God
Speaker 1: willing everything works out the way it done. I mean,
Speaker 1: look at your longevil. They in twenty five plus years
Speaker 1: in the game, what's changed since the first time you
Speaker 1: were you know, started using your pen to your you
Speaker 1: know you're about to drop an album tomorrow. What is
Speaker 1: changing in that time from your point of view? In
Speaker 1: your music? Man, in my music, I think I definitely
Speaker 1: become more confident, like you know, after after doing it
Speaker 1: more times, and even like doing other things like acting
Speaker 1: is actually helped me. Like being more open as a
Speaker 1: human being has helped me. And then you know, the
Speaker 1: experiences I've had made me be like, man, it's I like,
Speaker 1: I ain't afraid to fall and I ain't gonna I
Speaker 1: envisioned myself always excelling and fly it, so I don't,
Speaker 1: you know. And and the way that shows up in
Speaker 1: my music is that I don't like it used to
Speaker 1: take me a year a year to do an album, bro,
Speaker 1: like I go because I was looking for stuff to
Speaker 1: write about. But now it's like, if I catch that inspiration,
Speaker 1: I ain't thinking twice. And and as this album is
Speaker 1: coming out, this is an album I started like in
Speaker 1: the August, and now it's coming out, and and it's
Speaker 1: like I didn't second guess myself. I said, this is
Speaker 1: what I'm supposed to feel, that this is what I'm
Speaker 1: feeling at the moment, and I'm and I'm allowed that
Speaker 1: to be. I ain't gonna think twice. I know what's dope,
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna stay on what's dope and and go
Speaker 1: do that. So I think that's health. And then you know,
Speaker 1: I've been exposed to a lot more things. And you
Speaker 1: know on the South Side, dude, just growing up what
Speaker 1: I knew on the South Side. But then eventually, you know,
Speaker 1: you get to travel the world, you get too exposed
Speaker 1: to do different people, You watch different films, foods, all
Speaker 1: of it, all the information. I always one of my
Speaker 1: good friends as a musician was like, man, every time
Speaker 1: you you digested new things, new information, you you're feeding
Speaker 1: your like musical like palette. You know, absolutely moving to
Speaker 1: New York? What did that do to your creativity? Man?
Speaker 1: That was that catapulted my creativity because Chicago gave me
Speaker 1: a strong foundation. Man, no other places I want to
Speaker 1: be from them from Chicago. And as I built on
Speaker 1: that foundation, where New York was like all these different
Speaker 1: artists from different places that were there coming as a
Speaker 1: melting pots. So I was around artists that were fashion designers,
Speaker 1: that were musicians, that were like chefs as artists, and
Speaker 1: we all were like feeding each other. I was in
Speaker 1: the molting part, and I would be able to go
Speaker 1: to work like it was jams that's going on at
Speaker 1: one in the morning, so I could go work on
Speaker 1: the craft. There, I could go see some Gordon Parks
Speaker 1: exhibit which I ended up using for my album cover
Speaker 1: for like Water for Chocolate, because my homie or Here
Speaker 1: the sister to make Fashion, told me about it. So
Speaker 1: I was around a lot of just dope art and
Speaker 1: New York is one of those places where it's like
Speaker 1: helps you to be free, like you you can you
Speaker 1: can walk down the street where whatever the hell you
Speaker 1: want and they ain't gonna look twice at you. So
Speaker 1: I think I was. I was in one of those
Speaker 1: stages where I was discovering another thing, another thing about
Speaker 1: you know, me and what I wanted to express, so
Speaker 1: I was able to do it in a free space
Speaker 1: and not have to. There were all my homies like rosh,
Speaker 1: what you're doing, man, that's that's terrible, Like what are
Speaker 1: you doing? What you wear? So you know that's probably
Speaker 1: like growing as a as a as a person's confidence, Yeah,
Speaker 1: and yourself no matter what other people, that confidence in
Speaker 1: yourself as a motherfucker for us, you know, knowing that
Speaker 1: the coach has confidence in us. You know what you're
Speaker 1: you're doing something that all the confidence has to come
Speaker 1: from you. You gotta believe in yourself first. When y'all
Speaker 1: hit that spot where you know, like, okay, I can
Speaker 1: actually go to the league McDonald game. Uh, Kobe Bryant
Speaker 1: timtoime was Jermaine O'Neil. I let the game is scoring. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's when I did. That's when I knew I should
Speaker 1: have got the MVP, should have got the Kobe said
Speaker 1: I got it. He thought I got it, So I
Speaker 1: want on my mind. That's all that matters for me.
Speaker 1: It was just, you know, in college, you know, I
Speaker 1: was kind of a labeling arts more of a football
Speaker 1: player than basketball players. In college is kind of where
Speaker 1: I found my ground. And even when similar to Jack,
Speaker 1: even when we first got drafted and we didn't make
Speaker 1: it because he went somewhere, I had to go play
Speaker 1: in the G League. Like our ship was a grind, grind, grind,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. And I think it made
Speaker 1: me appreciate it more. And that's why I played the
Speaker 1: way I played because you know, almost for the first
Speaker 1: handful of years of my career, every game was an
Speaker 1: audition only for my team, but other teams around the league.
Speaker 1: So it was either gonna be me or you. That's
Speaker 1: how I looked at it, and that's how you know
Speaker 1: I got my reputation. But you know, that's what I
Speaker 1: had to do to survive in this space. And then
Speaker 1: you know, I turned it into fifteen years. But the
Speaker 1: ship you gotta do to get on or just it's
Speaker 1: gonna be someone else. Yeah, straight up two thousand three,
Speaker 1: you and your first Grammy with Eric about do for
Speaker 1: Love of my Life? What was that experience? Like? Still yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: thanks man. Yeah, that was amazing, man, because Grammy was
Speaker 1: something I didn't know. I love her too, goddamn bro everybody.
Speaker 1: And he said we're gonna talk to you about We're
Speaker 1: gonna talk to you about some ship off camera, but
Speaker 1: he was saying some ship right for you pull up,
Speaker 1: Like do you realize? I'm like, yeah, we're gonna talk
Speaker 1: about that if you know, you know words up man
Speaker 1: like that. That was an incredible time and night like
Speaker 1: there to win a Grammy, like the first Grammy and
Speaker 1: it was you know, like I said, Love of My
Speaker 1: Life was really based on I used to love her,
Speaker 1: but we did this song for Brown Sugar, which was
Speaker 1: also based on I used to love it. So it
Speaker 1: was kind of like incredible that that that it all
Speaker 1: went full circle. And then with Erica, you know at
Speaker 1: the time, that was my lady, so it was like, man,
Speaker 1: we are we're doing this. That was everything ever at
Speaker 1: the time, and that record that was every thing, man,
Speaker 1: and it felt and I felt so good to be
Speaker 1: able to do that record with it because she she
Speaker 1: obviously is a dope ass like singer, but she a
Speaker 1: hip hop type, you know what I'm saying. And we
Speaker 1: had she got bars, man, she fret. She from Texas,
Speaker 1: you know. Yeah, but you know we have Cobambada, who's
Speaker 1: the father of hip hop, he was in the video.
Speaker 1: Or Cool Hurt. We had Cool Hurt in there, who's
Speaker 1: the father hip hop in there, and man, it was
Speaker 1: just like you know that night, man, we had the
Speaker 1: best jail session ever, Like it was Prince was there,
Speaker 1: like Jill Scott, like it was all like flow at
Speaker 1: to the girls, marshing them, Raphael Sade you know, in
Speaker 1: Quest Love and the Roots and James Poison's cat was
Speaker 1: playing playing fly on the wall there you know it
Speaker 1: was even a fly smoker to join on the wall.
Speaker 1: Was the jail session, bro, like that June turned down incredible?
Speaker 1: So that that one, that Grammy, I was like, okay,
Speaker 1: I left that my mother's house. My mother is the
Speaker 1: first one. You experienced commercial success in two thousand and
Speaker 1: five with your album. Be the grind to get there
Speaker 1: and to finally kind of be able to be crossed
Speaker 1: over to that. But oh six is like your album,
Speaker 1: your whole album is recognized by by the committee. What
Speaker 1: was that crossover? Liking? Is that when you feel like
Speaker 1: you that was? That was? You know, I ain't gonna
Speaker 1: fin I don't never feel like, man, oh man, it's
Speaker 1: done like I made it, Like I do sit there now.
Speaker 1: I take on moments where I'm like, man, let me
Speaker 1: appreciate this moment. Work too often we don't, Man, I
Speaker 1: do that now, Like I mean, I'm grateful to be
Speaker 1: here with y'all brothers, Bill and I would have never
Speaker 1: known watching the games, I don't be sitting here Bill
Speaker 1: with y'all. Right, So I take in the moment, but
Speaker 1: but I don't celebrate too long, like I'll just be like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I still got I still got new things. That I
Speaker 1: want to accomplish and create. That moment I definitely was
Speaker 1: like more than anything when I was taking in was
Speaker 1: like I just come off from being like people was like, man,
Speaker 1: comment doing this crazy Like I did an album that
Speaker 1: was out there, It's called Electric Circus and it was
Speaker 1: like real different. So it was getting ridicuted and I
Speaker 1: ain't getting no critical claiming nothing. It was just like
Speaker 1: cash was writing me off. So it was like a
Speaker 1: rebirth to do be So now only did I feel like,
Speaker 1: oh man, I'm arriving in a in a new way,
Speaker 1: but also it was like that was a moment in
Speaker 1: my life where I started having to really practice like
Speaker 1: speaking things into existence and really believe in what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: Like no matter if people talking ship or whatever, I
Speaker 1: gotta just be like believing who I am. And I
Speaker 1: started seeing it coming to fruition at that time. So
Speaker 1: b was that moment for me to be like, hey man,
Speaker 1: you got power in your mind, you got like your
Speaker 1: word means something, so so do that and I and
Speaker 1: I became more confident in the way that you know,
Speaker 1: I was around Yea and different casts. There was like
Speaker 1: there was more like out there with this like look
Speaker 1: I'm dope blah blah blah, and and you know, and
Speaker 1: it made me see like, yo, you gotta claim what
Speaker 1: you are, like you know, I would do it on
Speaker 1: the mike, but then it's like even the times when
Speaker 1: we was doing listening sessions, you can't just sit back
Speaker 1: and be like bashful about it. I ain't never tried
Speaker 1: to do it like yea, you did it or this too,
Speaker 1: but I still needed to be like yo, my way,
Speaker 1: like Yo, this is this is dope. Check it out y'all.
Speaker 1: Like yeah, So I kind of got into That's what
Speaker 1: b ended up being for me something speaking to Kanye,
Speaker 1: you guys want a grammar together, someone from you know, Chicago.
Speaker 1: What was that experience like working with him and and
Speaker 1: the type of relationship you guys have. Yeah, yeah, he
Speaker 1: was uh see, I know yea since he was like
Speaker 1: nineteen years old because he was no idea produced my
Speaker 1: first albums and just wanted that's my brother from you
Speaker 1: know he's silent, Yeah, that's the guy. He He brought
Speaker 1: Kanye around because Kanye was like their mom's teased together
Speaker 1: and you know, they knew each other. So Kanye was
Speaker 1: his young producer would come around and he was hungry.
Speaker 1: But you know, at the time his beats worth they
Speaker 1: was good, but they wasn't like better than no Idea.
Speaker 1: So I was like, yo, I got these no I
Speaker 1: D beats. But we were still with Bill. We were Bill.
Speaker 1: He come ryme, so we was always cool. But in
Speaker 1: two thousand three, when I was starting to work on
Speaker 1: the other stuff, I was like, yo, yeah, let's get
Speaker 1: on some beats. He was like all right, cool, you know,
Speaker 1: because I just did get him high for his album
Speaker 1: and he was like cool. He started cooking up beasts
Speaker 1: and it was just a real It was I felt
Speaker 1: like I grew a lot working with you because he
Speaker 1: had he had a vision of he loved hip hop
Speaker 1: and love like he knew the hip hop that I knew.
Speaker 1: But he also had a vision of how to make
Speaker 1: songs sound big where everybody can hear it, but it's
Speaker 1: still got that soul. And he was able to take
Speaker 1: you know, my rhymes and we were able to create
Speaker 1: songs like he and he was one of the producers
Speaker 1: who would be like, now you should rewrap that, or no,
Speaker 1: don't change that, or now we're gonna get this hooked
Speaker 1: like this, and even like this song called the Corners.
Speaker 1: As soon as I laid the vocals, he was like, Okay,
Speaker 1: the video go look like this in Chicago to smoke.
Speaker 1: So he had even the invisage so he was working
Speaker 1: with him. Was was like that, and you know, and
Speaker 1: it was good too, Like I was on his label.
Speaker 1: I was on good music. So it was good to
Speaker 1: be supporting my brother and he was getting something out
Speaker 1: of it too. So who are some of the people
Speaker 1: you looked up to in your space? I go start
Speaker 1: from some of the earlier For me, it was like
Speaker 1: rock Him and caress One and Big Daddy came E
Speaker 1: P M D. Then casting my age group, I mean,
Speaker 1: and then n W a Ice Cuban and then casting
Speaker 1: my age group became like the Na's, Biggie's UM and
Speaker 1: uh Black Moon and and and cats like that. And
Speaker 1: now you know, I feel like it's still like new artists,
Speaker 1: whether it's Kendrick Um, you know, just doing stuff. That's
Speaker 1: the span I would say, from Carest to Kendrick. It's
Speaker 1: it's kind of like what it ended up being. But
Speaker 1: you know, I ain't gonna lie. I've been listening to
Speaker 1: a lot of nineties hip hop lately. Just getting inspired
Speaker 1: music was different back then, I don't think we knew,
Speaker 1: like we didn't have like as much things going on.
Speaker 1: So it was like we put off my soul into
Speaker 1: the into the hip hop, into these rhymes, into the
Speaker 1: beasts and the way the drums sound and the way
Speaker 1: the scratches were. And it's something prolific about artists nowadays.
Speaker 1: They put out a lot of music, but and some
Speaker 1: of it is great and then something sometimes it don't
Speaker 1: stick with you, Like and what I was listening to
Speaker 1: with some of these some of the nineties hip hop,
Speaker 1: was like, man, this music, Like I'm bringing up nineties
Speaker 1: hip hop because when the pandemic hit, I kind of
Speaker 1: went straight to what what I needed to hear. Like,
Speaker 1: I wasn't trying to be like, let me try to people,
Speaker 1: you know, please somebody else. I'm playing in my house,
Speaker 1: I'm playing this nineties hip hop along with I listened
Speaker 1: to jazz music. I listen to gospel music. But that
Speaker 1: being said, nineties hip hop was feeding me for what
Speaker 1: I was doing working out in these things, and that
Speaker 1: made me see the essence of what what what I
Speaker 1: loved about it was, man, cast was doing different things
Speaker 1: and experimenting with things and being flavorful and everybody kind
Speaker 1: of was having their own sound overalls like whether whether
Speaker 1: it was you know yetto boys like they were who
Speaker 1: they were, um, you know outcasts who they who they were,
Speaker 1: soul is of mischief like these do a die man, man,
Speaker 1: come on, do a die? Twisted like yo, early two
Speaker 1: thousand's you got the acting bug? How did that come about? Yeah?
Speaker 1: My A and I who was working at the label
Speaker 1: I was on was I was on m c A.
Speaker 1: She said, Man, I got an acting coach that I
Speaker 1: think you should work with because she knew I wanted
Speaker 1: to get into acting. I always love fils. He wanted
Speaker 1: to get in an acting too. You got man, we
Speaker 1: got me in, Zack. I'm gonna pull you in and
Speaker 1: put you through. You know you're gonna be We're gonna
Speaker 1: be working work on the craft thing. That's what Jack wants.
Speaker 1: Work on the craft. Yeah. Yeah, so that's what I
Speaker 1: ended up doing. I worked on the craft. I'm like,
Speaker 1: I ain't trying to be a rapper actor. I want
Speaker 1: to be I'm an actor. I told you something. Some
Speaker 1: people like, do you know, look at you as an actor,
Speaker 1: you know, not like a rapper, like an actor. And
Speaker 1: that's that's credit to you, dude. I ain't gonna lot.
Speaker 1: Sometimes I'll be like Dawn and made it made me
Speaker 1: feel good because it's you know, you're not not no
Speaker 1: disrespect to the music, but at the same time, like
Speaker 1: you've you've not mastered, but you're you're a legitimate actor
Speaker 1: as well. Yeah, and I mean yeah, I've definitely had
Speaker 1: like I've did this thing and and I one of
Speaker 1: the comments was like I ain't know the actor comment raps,
Speaker 1: and I was like, don't want to be down because
Speaker 1: I'm multi talented. Exactly, yeah, exactly. But that that being said, man,
Speaker 1: I really took the craft serious and just started studying.
Speaker 1: And when I was going to classes, and I was
Speaker 1: going to classes any time in between twur I just
Speaker 1: going to classes and working on it. And I started
Speaker 1: going on audition and I wasn't doing good, but it's
Speaker 1: still working at it, and just working at the craft.
Speaker 1: Kept going to class. This one script or sides, you know,
Speaker 1: sides are like what you get when you're about to audition.
Speaker 1: They only give you a piece of a scene. Besides,
Speaker 1: I really loved and I got to read the script
Speaker 1: for the movie Smoking Aces, and uh, I was like,
Speaker 1: I love this, I gotta go get better, get better.
Speaker 1: So I went in and man, and that was the
Speaker 1: first call back I got. And then I was geek
Speaker 1: and I remember continue to work on it, work on it,
Speaker 1: like work on the scenes. While I was on tour.
Speaker 1: I flew back and got got got in in that
Speaker 1: room for my second audition and I felt great with
Speaker 1: the audition. And man, I remember I remember getting a
Speaker 1: call like three weeks later. I was sitting there. I
Speaker 1: was at a music conference with Kanye. We were about
Speaker 1: to I was supposed to go on tour with Ya.
Speaker 1: And I was like, we was about to the tour
Speaker 1: was booked and everything, and I got the call from
Speaker 1: the director Joe Kanahan that I got my role, got
Speaker 1: the role. And it was like it was like God
Speaker 1: a sweet in a way because I was about that
Speaker 1: to go tell ya, yo, yeah, I can't do this
Speaker 1: to him. Understood. My brother is still bazy understood. And
Speaker 1: it was just you know, that was from that point on. Man,
Speaker 1: it was just like even even roles where I didn't
Speaker 1: have a lot to do, it was like and and
Speaker 1: it's one of the things exactly like at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, some of it is just looking and
Speaker 1: getting roles, so you can get the experience to just
Speaker 1: being on the set, just like getting shots up in
Speaker 1: the gym. Getting simple as that, because then eventually I
Speaker 1: really saw my acting improve and grow. When I got
Speaker 1: to I did a TV show that was called Hell
Speaker 1: on Wheels. It was like a Western man. I was
Speaker 1: working so consistently. I was getting shots up, and at
Speaker 1: that point I started getting in front of the camera
Speaker 1: and I could start trying things instead of just being like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I got these lines down and and I was doing
Speaker 1: all the other work. But sometimes you can forget to
Speaker 1: be as creative as you could be in front of
Speaker 1: the camera, you know what I mean, because you like
Speaker 1: thinking about somebody, You think about other stuff and like
Speaker 1: you and you're thinking about how to do it right
Speaker 1: when right it's just being in the moment, being president,
Speaker 1: letting it flow to and if you prepare, it's like
Speaker 1: what y'all would probably feel in the game is like,
Speaker 1: if you've been putting up shots, you know what you're
Speaker 1: getting the game. It's gonna be natural with the trust,
Speaker 1: the process and you put in the work. Was it
Speaker 1: awkward to see yourself on on TV acting the first
Speaker 1: couple of times you've seen it, or or on a
Speaker 1: big screen, like what was that experiences that's yeah, that's
Speaker 1: it was like the first time. Man, I was so
Speaker 1: geek because all my homies came, my mother was there.
Speaker 1: I even took my daughter. She was too young and
Speaker 1: probably see smoking aces. But I like it just was
Speaker 1: a joy. I ain't gonna lie. I was watching every
Speaker 1: little moment. But I'm to be honest, I felt good
Speaker 1: about what I did in that movie. So after I
Speaker 1: got over my myself just like being critical, I was like, man,
Speaker 1: this is good man in the movie. And then eventually,
Speaker 1: like some of the fight scenes, like I get to
Speaker 1: doing John Wick. Sometimes I'm like, damn, we did all
Speaker 1: that like we did because it's like it's a lot
Speaker 1: of work. Boy, So I love I know you love that.
Speaker 1: I love getting through that one man. We like preparation,
Speaker 1: we go hard man and it's like, man, Keanu reeves
Speaker 1: just he he the top level when it comes to that,
Speaker 1: he's someone this I feel like he's been great. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think he gets overlooked. He's been a great actor
Speaker 1: for a long He's been great and done great movies,
Speaker 1: and he'd been committed to it. Not man for me,
Speaker 1: It reminded me of just like what athletes would do,
Speaker 1: because he wanted to work as hard as I like
Speaker 1: working hard to get to where I get to and
Speaker 1: and because then it gives me like I know that,
Speaker 1: I'm like I'm ready. So and the crazy part with
Speaker 1: John Wick though, is the director Chad. I love him
Speaker 1: and incredible he did all the John Wicks him and
Speaker 1: his partner today. But you'll work on the whole scene
Speaker 1: and blah blah, like you working for weeks months, really
Speaker 1: work in the choreography for to a fight scene, and man,
Speaker 1: he had changed it right there. You know, when it's
Speaker 1: time to shoot, you'll be like, no, let's shot. And
Speaker 1: that is a lot to to you know, try to adjust.
Speaker 1: But because we did all that preparation they study, you
Speaker 1: kind of feel confident. Okay, I'm gonna make it happy
Speaker 1: to just trusted. Yeah, yeah, I love working on that
Speaker 1: and action action in drama movies or some of my
Speaker 1: favorite things to do. You gotta be the movie had
Speaker 1: to be good to make three of the same movie
Speaker 1: three times e times. But the beginning of the third
Speaker 1: one man about two million people died. It was that
Speaker 1: ship was fired. You work, you got a chance to
Speaker 1: one of my all time favorite movies with a deep
Speaker 1: fund cast. You got a chance to work on the
Speaker 1: American Gangster with this What was that? Like? Man? That
Speaker 1: was incredible that that was one of the ones where
Speaker 1: I was like, man, I tried out for one one
Speaker 1: role and they said, um, nah, we think you you're
Speaker 1: too young for that role, so try for this other one.
Speaker 1: And I tried out. Then it was like nah, And
Speaker 1: I ended up making another tape and just took it
Speaker 1: to the casting director and she was like, man, your
Speaker 1: passion for this is we just got. So they cast
Speaker 1: me as one of the brothers um which is funny
Speaker 1: because some people don't know. But in that movie, I
Speaker 1: was playing tas father. It was I got a crazy
Speaker 1: because you know, you know, about eight years older. But hey,
Speaker 1: we was acting, so we made it work. But I
Speaker 1: just was geeked to be in the movie because it
Speaker 1: was Denzel Washington and Ruby d the Great Ruby Dan
Speaker 1: God bless Us Souls, and then Russell Crowe and really
Speaker 1: Scott directing and the story was just so dope. When
Speaker 1: I read that story and all the dope actors from
Speaker 1: chest elb to Hotel as You for all, Like I
Speaker 1: was like Man, this is an incredible cast. So they
Speaker 1: had a rism. The risd was dope in that too, man.
Speaker 1: So yeah, man, that's one of my favorite movies I
Speaker 1: ever got to do it, and that was one of
Speaker 1: the ones. Man. Literally I only had like a few lines,
Speaker 1: but still I was like, I'm a classic. Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: a classic. Sure, you launched your own entertainment company, being
Speaker 1: Coming after doing under a couple of other labels. What
Speaker 1: was that experience like being able to finally launch your
Speaker 1: own label? You know, early on, my friends like, man,
Speaker 1: you need to start a label and start a label,
Speaker 1: and I wanted to be able to provide the channel
Speaker 1: for people to to get out there. But I didn't
Speaker 1: feel like I had the team and one thing I
Speaker 1: always I want to do because man, when you're starting
Speaker 1: to label, you're dealing with people's dreams. Man, Like when
Speaker 1: somebody come up and say, man, I got this music,
Speaker 1: that's their dream and I know that feeling. So I
Speaker 1: was like, once we were I had the right team around,
Speaker 1: we ended up starting Thing Coming, and you know, now
Speaker 1: it's spread out to like I got something called start
Speaker 1: Us Films, which you know, which is film and TV
Speaker 1: production company, and start Us kids, which is like really
Speaker 1: a collective where we put musicians, but it's also fashion
Speaker 1: designers and photographers just giving them platforms. Yeah, and so
Speaker 1: so it's it's really been good because I feel like, oh, man,
Speaker 1: now I got the team in place in the infrastructure
Speaker 1: to really be able to go out and and give
Speaker 1: people opportunities and not play with their dream, give them
Speaker 1: a real opportunity. Uh, Selma two thousand and fourteen, you
Speaker 1: got a chance to co star, Uh, played James Bevil.
Speaker 1: What was it like, Uh, you know, to play that
Speaker 1: movie and and that kind of impact considering where we
Speaker 1: are in two thousand twenty now Selma was for me
Speaker 1: that was like a life changing moment um for me
Speaker 1: because it was the first time I got on the
Speaker 1: movie set and the movie was directed by Ava douven
Speaker 1: A um a black woman, and everybody on the set,
Speaker 1: from the director of photography Bradford Young who's super dope,
Speaker 1: to like costume designer Ruth Ruth Carter who ended up
Speaker 1: winning up. Yeah, co like the makeup it was black,
Speaker 1: black men, black women, like the lighting guy. So it
Speaker 1: was like, Yo, this could this can happen? Man? Like,
Speaker 1: this is dope? And then you know, Oprah came in
Speaker 1: and was she was a producer on it, and it
Speaker 1: was just cool with everybody. We have like good times
Speaker 1: that like just even at her place that she had
Speaker 1: down there, and I was like, man, this is a
Speaker 1: I never felt this on a movie. Like getting to
Speaker 1: work and see all these you know, different black people
Speaker 1: working and I really started to learn what we could
Speaker 1: do with the films. And then when another thing that
Speaker 1: it hit me was we got to sit down and
Speaker 1: talk with Ambassador Andrew Young, who was one of Dr Kings.
Speaker 1: You know, he's one of the men in a civil
Speaker 1: rights movement doing a lot of work. And he sat
Speaker 1: down and when he was like, man, what are you
Speaker 1: willing to die for? Live for that? He was like, man,
Speaker 1: we was willing to die for freedom and justice. So
Speaker 1: we lived for every day. And man, that really struck
Speaker 1: me because I was like, man, what am I What
Speaker 1: am I really willing to die for? What am I
Speaker 1: living for? It put the spark in me to be like,
Speaker 1: I gotta do more. When we talked about activism, that's
Speaker 1: when I was like, I gotta do more. I gotta
Speaker 1: I gotta figure out ways and learning that these people
Speaker 1: were strategizing and coming up using their creativity to come
Speaker 1: up with ways so that we can't vote, so that
Speaker 1: we can't sit in the area we need to sit in,
Speaker 1: so that our schools, you know, working to get our
Speaker 1: schools better. So all that work that they did, I
Speaker 1: just felt I started learning more and feeling like that
Speaker 1: was as you said, the torch, it is our turn
Speaker 1: coming from Chicago. When you hear the word icon in
Speaker 1: your name next to it, how does that make you feel? Man,
Speaker 1: That's a great feeling. Man, It's like incredible. I'mna embrace it.
Speaker 1: You know before times you'd be like, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: trying to I'm embrace and say, man, I'm so grateful
Speaker 1: to be from Chicago and to be called that. And
Speaker 1: I hope that like other shorties in Chicago and wherever
Speaker 1: you from, inspired by that and know that Yeah, at
Speaker 1: first I didn't see myself as being that, but you
Speaker 1: at some point will and you and as you see it,
Speaker 1: you will be it. But you know, from the beginning,
Speaker 1: it was just a dream and just something that that
Speaker 1: I saw myself doing something in the world and not
Speaker 1: And with that being said, I just hope that that
Speaker 1: any youngs could feel like Man, I don't know what
Speaker 1: I want to do yet, but I'm gonna do something.
Speaker 1: And you know, if I can go beside your name,
Speaker 1: then embrace that and use it for you know, for
Speaker 1: the good all before we leave selling for you and
Speaker 1: John Legend created Glory, the original original song that you know,
Speaker 1: I highly acclaimed, clearly acclaimed once some awards for it.
Speaker 1: How did that come about? After doing the movie something
Speaker 1: I was and like I said, it affected me in
Speaker 1: different ways. So I was really inspired and they were
Speaker 1: looking for a song for the They were looking for
Speaker 1: music for the for the movie, but they hadn't come
Speaker 1: to me or whatever. So one day, man, you know
Speaker 1: that's why I say, man, listen to God, listen to yourself. Man,
Speaker 1: when you get that gut feeling, go ready to go
Speaker 1: with it. Because I had a gut feeling. I was
Speaker 1: just like I was talking to about to My manager
Speaker 1: was my manager at the time. He one of my
Speaker 1: best friends, Derry d and we was and we had
Speaker 1: been saying, man, you should do this and do that.
Speaker 1: I said, Man, let me just call John. I'm about
Speaker 1: to call John Legend. I hung up the phone with
Speaker 1: him and call John and just explain to him everything.
Speaker 1: Like look, I was part of this movie, Selma. They
Speaker 1: ain't expecting a song from us, but let's create something.
Speaker 1: This is what this one, this is what it is.
Speaker 1: He was like, Man, I'm in London, I'm on tour.
Speaker 1: I won't be back in the States for another month
Speaker 1: two months, but I work on something. I'm off on Wednesday.
Speaker 1: I remember I'm off on Wednesday. I said. Cool. I
Speaker 1: hung up the phone, and soon as I hung up,
Speaker 1: I texted him some titles because I just had some title.
Speaker 1: I was getting sparked it and I tell when Glory
Speaker 1: was the third title text him. So he took that title.
Speaker 1: He said he heard he saw that tight on. He
Speaker 1: just went to the piano and started recording like that,
Speaker 1: that hook and in the in the in the chords.
Speaker 1: And when he sent that to me, I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: got wet. My daughter said, uh. My daughter said, I
Speaker 1: walked out of that booth because she was at the studio.
Speaker 1: I told her, I said, yo, I'm gonna get an
Speaker 1: Oscar for this. She said, I said, yo, We're gonna
Speaker 1: get an Oscar for this, and she said she was
Speaker 1: looking at me like this, yeah, he he go get
Speaker 1: an Oscar. And then she she said she was watching
Speaker 1: on TV that night on the night of the Oscars,
Speaker 1: and was like, damn, he said he was gonna get
Speaker 1: a Oscar energy out there. Yeah, congratulations man of many hats.
Speaker 1: Activism is something you're very passionate about. Where do we
Speaker 1: go from here? Uh? With our society? How do we
Speaker 1: get more representation and looks like us? What are some
Speaker 1: some things you want to give to your audience, our
Speaker 1: audience and people who are leaning on us for information. Man,
Speaker 1: First of all, one of the things I do want
Speaker 1: to say activism is it's key, Like it's key, and
Speaker 1: a lot of activism does start with first self activism too,
Speaker 1: meaning as much work as you do for others, you
Speaker 1: still want to do work on yourself too. It's like
Speaker 1: you work, you work on simultaneously. So like getting knowledge itself,
Speaker 1: taking care ofself is gonna be important, so you could
Speaker 1: be the best activists you can be. That being said,
Speaker 1: you know it's identifying things. Both of you have have
Speaker 1: been activists, like you got thrown into it even more
Speaker 1: because of what happened this year. Um, when the situation
Speaker 1: is called upon, you gotta just embrace it, embrace it
Speaker 1: and just go do it and uh, and and know
Speaker 1: that you you're not gonna have all the answers. I
Speaker 1: ain't got all the answers. We ain't got all the answers.
Speaker 1: But we we seek us and we find what we
Speaker 1: what we find, and we liver and like the things
Speaker 1: that we learned, and we take those lessons and move
Speaker 1: forward with him. I think it's important to identify the
Speaker 1: things that you want to see change, from the smallest
Speaker 1: thing in your neighborhood. One lady when I was doing
Speaker 1: a visual in Baltimore, was like, man, I just want
Speaker 1: the streets to be clean, like to pick up trash
Speaker 1: as a simple thing, but it's a pride thing. She
Speaker 1: wanted that you can make sure somebody in your neighborhood,
Speaker 1: a political person or organization, is doing that, or if
Speaker 1: you want to see the educational system be changed, figure
Speaker 1: out ways that you can partner with people to open
Speaker 1: up schools. We've been able to open up a school
Speaker 1: in Chicago called aim Art in Motion, and we less
Speaker 1: than two miles from my career where I grew up.
Speaker 1: We got our kids, our kids meditating. Our kids are
Speaker 1: like they you know, they learned about every different aspect
Speaker 1: of things that I never got introduced to. And that
Speaker 1: when the point is from the biggest thing, we don't
Speaker 1: have to be You don't have to be dr king,
Speaker 1: you don't have to be an athlete, you don't have
Speaker 1: to be an artist to make the change we talking about, UM,
Speaker 1: and it's just really identifying what you're passionate about and
Speaker 1: if you can't every day, make a step towards it,
Speaker 1: and you can so do it every day, just make
Speaker 1: a step towards it. And then that being said, if
Speaker 1: we spoke earlier, team up with people who can teach
Speaker 1: you and and and you grow with them and build
Speaker 1: with them. I think those are some of the things
Speaker 1: that are key to us moving forward. So you're on
Speaker 1: a five state tour right now. Tell us a little
Speaker 1: bit about that. Yeah, So we've been going to different
Speaker 1: swing states. That's dealing with the election and also just
Speaker 1: states that really affect the election right now, UM, and
Speaker 1: just building with the people, encouraging people to vote, supporting
Speaker 1: the people who have been working at the polls for
Speaker 1: a long time. We're actually performing for them, performing music,
Speaker 1: just music, just giving them love. And we're also meeting
Speaker 1: with some of the candidates. So if for me, if
Speaker 1: I'm gonna put, if I'm gonna say, hey, support Jamie Harrison.
Speaker 1: Like you said, I gotta look. I say, look, these
Speaker 1: are something the things I'm looking for, Like from the
Speaker 1: people in the community. They're telling me this is what
Speaker 1: they need. You're gonna deliver that from me. Uh, you
Speaker 1: know where we're at, and then you know, just be
Speaker 1: able to look so in their eyes. So we we've
Speaker 1: been and I've been going in with different candidates like
Speaker 1: Jamie Harrison and going around and meeting with the people
Speaker 1: and going into their their communities and just saying, hey, y'all,
Speaker 1: let's vote as people here to care about you. So
Speaker 1: it's been a powerful experience, um to go to these
Speaker 1: different places and just connect with the people, especially during
Speaker 1: the time where everything has been you know, we ain't
Speaker 1: been able to be on the grounds with people, but
Speaker 1: I think it's necessary sometimes. You know, as much as
Speaker 1: we can have influence on social media and different things,
Speaker 1: it is great to be able to be face to face.
Speaker 1: Well that's what Jack something Jack spoke on, you know,
Speaker 1: through all his endeavors he's still doing, just came from somewhere,
Speaker 1: but looking at these people face to face and being
Speaker 1: in the trenches with them, and how important and what
Speaker 1: the difference is made and on the way Jack looks
Speaker 1: at things. Yeah, Jack, that's the whole other thing. You
Speaker 1: just find out how many people really need, how bad
Speaker 1: the situation is, you know what I mean, and how
Speaker 1: many people need people like us to speak up for him.
Speaker 1: I never would have known, you know, how many people
Speaker 1: and how many people that need our voice, you know.
Speaker 1: But actually being out there touching these people, talking to
Speaker 1: them and hear their stories and seeing their face when
Speaker 1: they see us there, knowing that we care about them,
Speaker 1: knowing somebody care, it's a totally different feeling. Bro changes.
Speaker 1: Well people always like people want to say, like, well,
Speaker 1: you don't you you don't live in the hood no more,
Speaker 1: you don't have no you have money. Why does this
Speaker 1: bother you on? What people don't understand is we were
Speaker 1: the lucky ones that made it out, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. It could have been one incident, one thing
Speaker 1: in school, one incident that we could have been these statistics.
Speaker 1: We could have been these same people that never looked
Speaker 1: made it out, you know. So like you guys are
Speaker 1: both saying, it's our almost our duty to be the
Speaker 1: voices for the people that weren't fortunate enough to make
Speaker 1: it out, but still show them that there's you know,
Speaker 1: there's some brighter days coming. Uh. And I was taught
Speaker 1: as a youngster never jump ship and end up in
Speaker 1: the same boat. Yeah, that's that's the wisdom. Yeah, the
Speaker 1: the show. That s all right, We almost to the end.
Speaker 1: Quick hitters, your rout Mount Rushmore Artists. Yeah, I want
Speaker 1: to hear this. Is it a hip hop artists? Is
Speaker 1: this artists? Is your mountain? All right? My mouth, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna putting Stevie Wonder in there. I'm putting lies in there.
Speaker 1: I put John Coltrane and um, I put Aretha Franklin
Speaker 1: in there. Um, how many people I can put on
Speaker 1: Mount Russia? Give you two more and that's four. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm gonna put earthmen and fire and then over
Speaker 1: put Lauren Hill. That's my mouth, Russia More. I want
Speaker 1: to hear your mouth. I want to speak on that, Stephen,
Speaker 1: because I said a line on my album I say,
Speaker 1: people don't understand how talent to Stevie isn't how deep
Speaker 1: he had to be. He blind, but he's seen the
Speaker 1: ribbon in the sky. Just think how deep that is,
Speaker 1: How deep he had to be. It was on your
Speaker 1: Mount Rushmore hip hop period, just artist period. I'm going
Speaker 1: with Michael Jackson, miss Michael's man. Hold on, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: get three or four. Yeah, I'm good for I'm Michael Jackson,
Speaker 1: probably uh Al Green, Whitney Houston, and it's gonna be corny,
Speaker 1: but he one of my favorites. Michael McDonald, like Michael
Speaker 1: McDonald favorite on my own class. That's the classic. I
Speaker 1: got Michael Jackson, I got tupac Rafael Sad, I'm a
Speaker 1: huge We can't miss Rael Sack and probably jay Z. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: you can't miss like we all came. Yeah, you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: we all put some names out there, but just it's
Speaker 1: always been so dupe because we've been athletes. But it's
Speaker 1: just like you know, he's bade the crossover. Like the
Speaker 1: world doesn't move without music. I mean, you couldn't always
Speaker 1: put a p you can. You can remember a time
Speaker 1: in your life when you hear a song like Ship.
Speaker 1: I remember what I was doing when I was twelve
Speaker 1: and ninety two when I heard this Ship. You know
Speaker 1: what I mean? That's music is so inspirational and I
Speaker 1: admire people who have been able to have longevity and
Speaker 1: do it because, like I said, it's it's the soundtrack
Speaker 1: to our life ship through everything you go through. Music
Speaker 1: is what gets you through, helps you through anything. You know.
Speaker 1: That's why I'm a big fan of TUPAP because Tupac
Speaker 1: could have you ready to fun somebody up, but you
Speaker 1: had me ready to suck somebody up. And then you
Speaker 1: also talked about you know, dear Mama, and he's got
Speaker 1: a baby and the Black Panther. You know, he has it.
Speaker 1: He has a song for every emotion. And that's why
Speaker 1: I love music so much, and music I really like
Speaker 1: begetting appreciate it even I mean, I appreciate it throughout
Speaker 1: my whole life because like you said, it's just it's
Speaker 1: moments in my life where music has been it. That's it.
Speaker 1: But but it's the sound track. But then, you know,
Speaker 1: during this time, it was like, man, I was you know,
Speaker 1: whether it was just hopping on like hearing DJ spending,
Speaker 1: whether it's d nice or quest love and they just
Speaker 1: seeing people like how we was coming together through music,
Speaker 1: or just people yearning to hear music, and even me
Speaker 1: playing music at home. I was like, man, music is, Man,
Speaker 1: It's it's essential. It's fine. Brother a month, Yeah, so
Speaker 1: I feel you know, It's a crazy feeling when you
Speaker 1: when you're around you people and somebody play that song
Speaker 1: all here, everybody. Yeah, that's the wonderful feeling. We got
Speaker 1: to do and make that noise. Yeah, we going down.
Speaker 1: So we're here. You got a basketball training, you still
Speaker 1: work on your game. You're starting five. Four other people
Speaker 1: with you pastor present, my starting five, but you in it.
Speaker 1: Yeah but wait, let me be clear about every care
Speaker 1: about basketball. I had a trainer. I used the trainer
Speaker 1: when I was working for the trying to get I was.
Speaker 1: I was playing for the Celebrity Game. I was trying
Speaker 1: to because we was in Chicago, and I was like,
Speaker 1: I got shot. Yeah I got by the way. Yeah yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: gotta give no disclaiming. I was. I was coming home.
Speaker 1: I had I had to win. Hey, but uh man,
Speaker 1: I'm going Mike Lebron Magic and I need a big
Speaker 1: man and a shack man. I'm gonna go with shack
Speaker 1: because a sack of dominant man like sack the most
Speaker 1: dominating player. I gotta hear from y'all. I know we
Speaker 1: gotta go, but I gotta starting five. I don't want
Speaker 1: to put myself. He did that. He didn't play though,
Speaker 1: but still you gotta put yourself in be the sixth man. Then,
Speaker 1: so I got Mike Lebron, Magic and Shock. All right,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna small line up. I don't give you my shoe,
Speaker 1: and I just gave you a bunch of dogs. Okay,
Speaker 1: Braun at the one, Kobe at the two, Me at
Speaker 1: the three, I'm gonna be big, Shock and Tim Duncan.
Speaker 1: You're not gonna be able to stay with our line
Speaker 1: up though, Yeah, I just like going on. I'm really
Speaker 1: over the spotting up. I'm in the corner. Yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: load already, n loaded. Who was the players that made
Speaker 1: job like most that you can remember, made you most mad?
Speaker 1: Like yo, I hate playing against this mother? Well, it
Speaker 1: wasn't a hate. It was I knew that this was
Speaker 1: gonna be the night where I could possibly get forty
Speaker 1: put on me. It was gonna be a night we
Speaker 1: had to work the hardest, and on Koe by far,
Speaker 1: you're gonna work the hardest that night. But before any
Speaker 1: two guards, every night I played with and we met
Speaker 1: him guarded everybody, Dirk the Whiskey to small guards, Chris Paul,
Speaker 1: all of them. Nobody makes you work harder than cold,
Speaker 1: was it? Just relentless every place. He's gonna get the
Speaker 1: ball every place. Got that. I don't give a gene
Speaker 1: so cold told me one time, it's like I missed
Speaker 1: thirty straight shot and take the thirty first shot like
Speaker 1: the other first thirty didn't matter. That's a cold and
Speaker 1: making them know it's like, yeah, now he was relentless.
Speaker 1: Brow he was a monster. Yeah, I mean because you know,
Speaker 1: like jack said, our job every night outside the spot
Speaker 1: up for shooting and was guarding the best player on
Speaker 1: every team. So that's the way. One night Carmelo one night,
Speaker 1: Katie one night, Janoby one night, CP three one night,
Speaker 1: Clay Thompson one night, Yeah, Kobe one night. Then some
Speaker 1: nights we gotta go out. Christo boozes all that big
Speaker 1: strong to sixty to seventy that the rest ever talk
Speaker 1: back to you. Oh yes, sir, especially me Jackie cussing
Speaker 1: them all out like that. We believe team. I used
Speaker 1: to have to like I used to be the peacemaker.
Speaker 1: And if you know anything about me me being a peacemaker,
Speaker 1: waite out doesn't work. Yeah, he was actually my my
Speaker 1: my shrink like because I'm just say and that's how
Speaker 1: astod like I was like, we both can't be off
Speaker 1: the off the rocket there, So I got to be
Speaker 1: some sort of sense because if we both off the
Speaker 1: rocket with this whole motherfuckering arena might get burnt down.
Speaker 1: We had the game, we both got kicked out. Probably, yeah,
Speaker 1: we got on the bus. Yeah, is what it is?
Speaker 1: Five five dinner guests dead or alive. I've dinner guests.
Speaker 1: This is always one of the best questions. You know,
Speaker 1: I love this, This is amazing. Um Malcolm X yeah, solid, Yeah.
Speaker 1: I probably would go with um Marvin Gaye to Michael Jackson. Man.
Speaker 1: I always wanted Michael Yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't how
Speaker 1: to pick Mike's man. I'm gonna say Frederick Douglas, And
Speaker 1: I'm saying Freddie Douglas because he lived in a time
Speaker 1: where I would be like, what the hell, how is
Speaker 1: this going down? So is that four or five? Four
Speaker 1: or four four? I'm gonna say Nina Simone because I
Speaker 1: love Nina Simon, So yeah, that would be that would
Speaker 1: be mine. A good book you'd recommend, considering that that
Speaker 1: the current climate of America. You know what I think
Speaker 1: the book I would suggested a book called The Prophet
Speaker 1: Is by Khalil Gobron is short, but it's written well man,
Speaker 1: and it's um and man. I always go to it
Speaker 1: because it's like it just reminds you about philosophies in
Speaker 1: life and not getting too caught up in and stuff.
Speaker 1: And I feel like you could be from any walk
Speaker 1: of life and read the Prophet. And so I'm gonna
Speaker 1: say the prophet kalele Kalibro, I'll read, I'll read a
Speaker 1: lot of Ye. What's the book y'all got from me?
Speaker 1: I'm halfway through Message to the Black Man, man, I was.
Speaker 1: I'm halfway through that one man, The New Dym Crow. Man,
Speaker 1: I've been sitting on it for a minute. I get
Speaker 1: hot and cold with it. But I picked it back
Speaker 1: up this recently. So yeah, that was one of the
Speaker 1: things that I got to sit down with Michael Alexander,
Speaker 1: And that's what, honestly was the thing that I read,
Speaker 1: The New Gym Crow. But then sitting down with her,
Speaker 1: she was like showing me how the prison system because
Speaker 1: I was like, man, I'm to do this work in
Speaker 1: Chicago all the violence, trying to stop the violency. Was like,
Speaker 1: you know, the prison system is tied into that, because
Speaker 1: you know, the more we put people incarcerated and then
Speaker 1: they come back and they ain't got no you know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and it's money too, and but just them coming back
Speaker 1: to society, they don't they if they ain't been really
Speaker 1: rehabilitated or hell is the word I'd like to use,
Speaker 1: then they're bound to come back with yeam deep programs,
Speaker 1: simple as that. So yeah, I love the new gym
Speaker 1: crow to mess to the black man I used to.
Speaker 1: I was reading that yo man, that was that book,
Speaker 1: got a lot of a lot of knowledge. And I
Speaker 1: was reading How to Eat to Live too, because that's
Speaker 1: that book was helping me get you know, learned like
Speaker 1: well I eat. Yeah, exactly the last question and we
Speaker 1: kind of touched on it earlier. I guess you would
Speaker 1: like to see on our show. Yeah, well, we said,
Speaker 1: Queen Latifa. So I like to see naas ony man
Speaker 1: and tell him when we say that finishing the you
Speaker 1: could tell him tell him then when you say that
Speaker 1: you gotta help us get it. Get him on the guy.
Speaker 1: And we spoke before actually a while back, probably like
Speaker 1: six seven years ago. I bust the rhyme for him
Speaker 1: on on this radio station that we both was on it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he was impressed, but I never met him in person,
Speaker 1: but we want to have no nas on the show
Speaker 1: from sure, so you can help us. Jungle make your
Speaker 1: hand Jung gonna hit you up. We need God now
Speaker 1: a yeah yeah the God yeah boy killed it. Well
Speaker 1: that's a wrap, man, Thank you coming for your time,
Speaker 1: good luck with everything. And we really want to we
Speaker 1: really want to link with you with the you know,
Speaker 1: the prison system stuff you're doing man, so we can
Speaker 1: get along. We're gonna exchange it from from one of
Speaker 1: these prisons or something and let these guys tell the story.
Speaker 1: And I got another acting coach. Yeah, let's go on here.
Speaker 1: I mean between him and Jamie Fox. Bro, you can't lose.
Speaker 1: I know they both come back. That's a rap. All
Speaker 1: the smoke. Thank you to coming again, my brother Jack.
Speaker 1: Great show. You can find this on Showtime Basketball YouTube sponsors. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you find a Showtime Basketball YouTube and I Heart Family
Speaker 1: with Black Effects. We'll see how next time. This is
Speaker 1: all a smoke. A production of The Black Effect and
Speaker 1: Our Heart Radio in partnership with Showtime