WEBVTT - DJ Premier 0:00:15.476 --> 0:00:22.836 Pushkin. DJ Premier is one of the most celebrated producers 0:00:22.876 --> 0:00:25.636 in hip hop history. Known as the architect of hip 0:00:25.676 --> 0:00:29.316 hop's venerated boombab sound, Primo first caught people's attention with 0:00:29.436 --> 0:00:33.836 Guru and Gangstar during the late eighties. Guru's lyrical precision 0:00:33.876 --> 0:00:37.436 over Premiere's jazzy sample bassed beats made Gangstar one of 0:00:37.436 --> 0:00:41.996 the most influential rap duos of all time. Outside of Gangstar, 0:00:42.156 --> 0:00:44.996 DJ Premier has produced classic records for a long list 0:00:44.996 --> 0:00:48.596 of hip hop lluminaries, including New York's Big Three, Biggie 0:00:48.716 --> 0:00:51.956 jay Z, and Nas. His expert ability to create a 0:00:51.956 --> 0:00:55.796 patchwork of musical and lyrical samples is both instantly identifiable 0:00:55.916 --> 0:00:59.916 and impossible to replicate. On today's episode, We'll Hear, a 0:00:59.956 --> 0:01:02.716 live conversation are recorded with Premiere at the on Air 0:01:02.796 --> 0:01:06.556 podcast Festival. Premiere talked in detail about hanging out and 0:01:06.596 --> 0:01:09.836 working with his late friend, the Notorious Big. He also 0:01:09.876 --> 0:01:13.076 reminisces about when he and Guru lived with Branford Marsalis 0:01:13.156 --> 0:01:15.676 in Brooklyn. He also recalls what it was like to 0:01:15.716 --> 0:01:18.116 work with D'Angelo on that fateful night at Electric Ladies 0:01:18.156 --> 0:01:24.796 Studios when they recorded Devil's Pie. This is broken record 0:01:25.116 --> 0:01:28.836 liner notes to the Digital Age. I'm justin Mitchman. Here's 0:01:28.876 --> 0:01:33.676 my conversation with DJ Premiere live from Brooklyn. When they 0:01:33.676 --> 0:01:35.396 asked me if I was gonna do this, and I'm 0:01:35.396 --> 0:01:36.996 coming out from the West Coast and I know we're 0:01:36.996 --> 0:01:39.636 gonna be doing this in Brooklyn. I felt like, there's 0:01:39.676 --> 0:01:42.516 no way I could do a recording a broken record 0:01:42.556 --> 0:01:46.196 in Brooklyn without having a legend, someone who could really 0:01:46.236 --> 0:01:50.356 represent Brooklyn. And come on, y'all, we got DJ Premier, 0:01:55.316 --> 0:02:00.956 decent me want absolute hip hop legend. You were the 0:02:00.996 --> 0:02:02.636 greatest hip hop producer of all time. But no matter 0:02:02.636 --> 0:02:04.836 who you ask, you good And we top two, three, four, 0:02:04.956 --> 0:02:05.516 so this is. 0:02:05.756 --> 0:02:08.436 Yeah, they say top three, so I'll take one of 0:02:08.436 --> 0:02:09.476 those numbers. 0:02:11.396 --> 0:02:12.476 On two or three is fine. 0:02:13.516 --> 0:02:17.036 Maybe we can start with the fact that that you 0:02:17.156 --> 0:02:20.316 lived at one point in Brooklyn with Branford Marsalis and 0:02:20.356 --> 0:02:20.756 his wife. 0:02:20.836 --> 0:02:22.876 Yeah, and his son Reese. 0:02:22.956 --> 0:02:26.476 Shout to Reese in Clinton Hill. Yeah, And this is 0:02:26.516 --> 0:02:28.876 st at the beginning of Gagstar. How did you meet Branford? 0:02:28.916 --> 0:02:30.196 First of all, I. 0:02:30.316 --> 0:02:33.916 Just joined Gang Star officially in nineteen eighty eight. We 0:02:33.956 --> 0:02:38.236 did a single Gang Star. First of all, is originated 0:02:38.236 --> 0:02:42.396 in Boston, Massachusetts. I'm originally from Texas by way of 0:02:42.436 --> 0:02:46.596 Houston and through a town called Prairie View, which I 0:02:46.636 --> 0:02:48.916 went to Prairie U A and M University, which is 0:02:48.916 --> 0:02:51.956 an HBCU school was through the Texas A and M 0:02:52.076 --> 0:02:55.596 University system, which that's the Aggies. My father taught at 0:02:55.636 --> 0:02:59.916 the school and my mother taught art, so I had 0:02:59.916 --> 0:03:02.716 a little bit of both. My father, DA was a dean, right, yeah, 0:03:02.756 --> 0:03:05.756 he was a dean. He was my dean of arts 0:03:05.756 --> 0:03:09.636 and sciences. Because I took computer science and I was 0:03:09.716 --> 0:03:11.996 I was always like not going to school, you. 0:03:11.956 --> 0:03:14.396 Know, typical wasting your parents' money. 0:03:14.396 --> 0:03:16.076 And my father's like, you're not gonna be wasting my 0:03:16.116 --> 0:03:18.756 money going to college and then and not go to class, 0:03:18.836 --> 0:03:22.516 you know. So I even tried to uh sneak away 0:03:23.036 --> 0:03:24.956 for my eight o'clock class two or three times. 0:03:25.196 --> 0:03:25.556 One day. 0:03:25.676 --> 0:03:27.356 My dad act like he was going because he taught 0:03:27.356 --> 0:03:30.316 at eight o'clock class. I was drunk the night before, 0:03:30.796 --> 0:03:32.716 so I definitely didn't want to go from hanging out 0:03:32.756 --> 0:03:35.356 with my friends and he acted like he was going. 0:03:35.476 --> 0:03:37.796 I act like I was going. Then I went back 0:03:37.836 --> 0:03:39.236 to bed and he doubled back. 0:03:40.396 --> 0:03:42.636 So all of a sudden, I heard the door go kaboom. 0:03:42.916 --> 0:03:45.556 I tried to jump up and get dressed, and he 0:03:45.676 --> 0:03:47.836 was like, I knew you wasn't going to class and 0:03:47.876 --> 0:03:49.196 I was like, I want to. 0:03:49.196 --> 0:03:50.236 Go pursue music. 0:03:50.636 --> 0:03:53.396 He's like, and waste my money. You've been going to school. 0:03:53.436 --> 0:03:56.836 But I've always tell people follow your gut, and if 0:03:56.836 --> 0:03:59.356 your gut tells you to make a move, do it. 0:03:59.476 --> 0:04:01.436 The one thing I do appreciate by my dad, God 0:04:01.436 --> 0:04:03.476 blessing me, is he's why no, he's watching. 0:04:03.316 --> 0:04:04.236 God bless his soul. 0:04:04.316 --> 0:04:07.756 He He said, if you're gonna do this, show me 0:04:07.796 --> 0:04:10.596 you can make a name for yourself that people will 0:04:10.716 --> 0:04:14.436 will remember and that you leave a legacy behind. I said, Pop, 0:04:14.476 --> 0:04:16.556 I'm telling you, I'm that focused. 0:04:16.596 --> 0:04:19.116 I will do it. And everything transitioned. 0:04:19.476 --> 0:04:24.876 So Being at a Gang Star originated in Boston with 0:04:24.916 --> 0:04:27.316 a guy named He was called Sugar Bear at the time, 0:04:27.316 --> 0:04:29.876 but he changes to Big Sug, not to be confused 0:04:29.916 --> 0:04:32.196 with Sugar Night, who we also know it very well. 0:04:32.676 --> 0:04:36.156 Him and Guru formed the group. There was other members, 0:04:36.196 --> 0:04:38.676 but they moved to New York to pursue the career. 0:04:39.396 --> 0:04:42.556 Sug went to prison for three years, so the other 0:04:42.596 --> 0:04:45.356 two members that were in the group before I met 0:04:45.836 --> 0:04:48.956 Guru didn't want to move to New York to carry 0:04:48.996 --> 0:04:52.556 on trying to get more famous, so gru said, I'm 0:04:52.596 --> 0:04:53.956 doing it on my own. I'm gonna just look for 0:04:53.956 --> 0:04:56.596 a new DJ, because he had a DJ already and 0:04:56.676 --> 0:04:59.956 actually Sugs DJ was the first one. Then he left, 0:05:00.036 --> 0:05:02.916 then there was another DJ, then he left, and then 0:05:02.956 --> 0:05:03.556 I joined. 0:05:03.556 --> 0:05:07.036 You know what a wild amount of incarnations of Gangstar, 0:05:07.196 --> 0:05:08.356 like I'm. 0:05:08.156 --> 0:05:08.996 The third generation. 0:05:09.316 --> 0:05:12.356 Yeah, but then obviously when I joined, it became that 0:05:12.556 --> 0:05:13.556 the rest of the way. 0:05:13.516 --> 0:05:15.516 And in terms of like the discography, when you go 0:05:15.516 --> 0:05:18.156 through the albums, it's you and Guru from the start 0:05:18.196 --> 0:05:19.956 to that, but before that there are a couple of 0:05:19.996 --> 0:05:20.916 different iterations. 0:05:21.476 --> 0:05:24.316 So we were on an independent label called Wild Pitch Records. 0:05:24.396 --> 0:05:27.196 Gangster was already signed there. Once I joined the group. 0:05:27.196 --> 0:05:30.116 We did a word record called Words I Manifest and 0:05:30.156 --> 0:05:33.236 it blew up right away even as an independent from 0:05:33.316 --> 0:05:36.716 there we did it. The owner, Stu Fine, was like, 0:05:36.876 --> 0:05:38.676 we got to do an album real fast. So I 0:05:38.716 --> 0:05:41.716 was going back to college, came back to New York 0:05:41.796 --> 0:05:45.716 to do the album in like maybe twelve days, and 0:05:45.796 --> 0:05:47.236 it was called No Moments to Night's. 0:05:47.036 --> 0:05:48.596 Sky well and hold on, hold on, I mean hold on, 0:05:48.596 --> 0:05:49.996 I don't want to know the story. But like, were 0:05:50.036 --> 0:05:53.036 you at this point you were DJ in Texas, wax 0:05:53.116 --> 0:05:56.316 Master c yep, at some point you become DJ Premier, Yeah, 0:05:56.556 --> 0:05:57.356 but you do. 0:05:57.476 --> 0:05:57.716 Fine. 0:05:57.756 --> 0:05:59.396 Didn't like my name, so that's why I changed it 0:05:59.396 --> 0:06:02.556 to Premiere. So that's how they're like Wax's Master season. 0:06:02.676 --> 0:06:05.236 I'm very good at imitating people, so if I go 0:06:05.316 --> 0:06:08.196 into different voices, I pretty much sound like the person 0:06:08.276 --> 0:06:11.676 I'm talking to, and he's and my name is Christopher, 0:06:11.756 --> 0:06:14.196 but he'd call me Chris, but he would always sound like. 0:06:14.116 --> 0:06:15.836 He said, crass, crass. 0:06:16.436 --> 0:06:18.676 I don't really like wax Master, see, And I was 0:06:18.716 --> 0:06:21.116 like I do, and plus everybody in college just call 0:06:21.196 --> 0:06:23.516 me Wax. So I'm like, I don't want to change it. 0:06:23.556 --> 0:06:25.436 He goes, just just see if you can think of 0:06:25.476 --> 0:06:27.796 some other names. So I called my mom and said, hey, 0:06:27.796 --> 0:06:30.076 he wants me to change my name. She goes, why 0:06:30.076 --> 0:06:33.636 don't you make a list of different names and we'll 0:06:33.676 --> 0:06:34.156 pick one. 0:06:34.716 --> 0:06:36.836 Premiere was one of them. I remember one was. 0:06:36.796 --> 0:06:39.996 Called Scratch and Cut DJ platter, which there is a 0:06:40.036 --> 0:06:43.396 DJ platter now. The platter is what spins what you 0:06:43.396 --> 0:06:45.036 put the record on. All that spends. 0:06:45.076 --> 0:06:45.476 We call it. 0:06:45.476 --> 0:06:48.476 It's the platter, so DJs would get it. Everything I 0:06:48.476 --> 0:06:50.716 would do was so DJ's would get it. I would 0:06:51.156 --> 0:06:54.876 a DJ quick mix, which I'm glad I didn't take 0:06:54.916 --> 0:06:55.996 that one. 0:06:56.356 --> 0:06:57.956 Uh Premiere was one of them. 0:06:57.996 --> 0:07:00.756 And my mom looked at the list and said, uh, 0:07:00.996 --> 0:07:04.236 Premiere sounds like the one because she said take the 0:07:04.276 --> 0:07:08.236 E off, you know, because like a movie premiere, the 0:07:08.396 --> 0:07:10.076 you know, the E is on it. But she says, 0:07:10.116 --> 0:07:12.236 take the E off and it'll be like you're the 0:07:12.276 --> 0:07:16.556 first at everything. We call stuffin from Texas and I say, hey, 0:07:17.076 --> 0:07:20.036 how about DJ Premiere. He goes, I love it, and 0:07:20.196 --> 0:07:23.156 I was like, all right, I'm now DJ Premiere. 0:07:23.316 --> 0:07:26.116 Incredible shout out to here. So when we did the album, 0:07:27.156 --> 0:07:28.676 when did you start doing beats? Like when did you 0:07:28.716 --> 0:07:29.996 start producing records? 0:07:30.036 --> 0:07:33.716 I was just starting to learn to perfect my craft 0:07:33.756 --> 0:07:36.516 on the first album, and we did a record called 0:07:36.676 --> 0:07:42.556 Jazz Music. When Spike Lee saw the words on Manifest video, 0:07:42.876 --> 0:07:46.036 he said that Guru looked like Malcolm X in the 0:07:46.156 --> 0:07:48.436 video when he's on the podium with the koofie and 0:07:48.476 --> 0:07:49.116 the glasses and. 0:07:51.596 --> 0:07:52.356 The cheek bones. 0:07:52.356 --> 0:07:55.476 He does resemble Malcolm X in the video that made 0:07:55.556 --> 0:07:58.876 Spike by the album, and when he heard jazz music, 0:07:59.036 --> 0:08:01.796 it just happened to be at the same time that 0:08:01.836 --> 0:08:05.996 he was shooting Mobeta Blues with Denzel Washington and we'sy 0:08:06.076 --> 0:08:10.276 snipe with that. Spike reached out and he knew we 0:08:10.276 --> 0:08:12.916 were living in Brooklyn. So but at that time we 0:08:12.916 --> 0:08:14.996 were at Branford Jed. I had just moved to the 0:08:15.036 --> 0:08:17.756 Bronx with Guru and we were about to move back 0:08:17.996 --> 0:08:20.836 to Brooklyn together. We had the studio apartment with our 0:08:20.916 --> 0:08:25.596 dancer and Guru had a big, king sized bed with 0:08:25.756 --> 0:08:30.116 no frame, just the mattresses and in a studio apartment 0:08:30.156 --> 0:08:31.796 that takes up all the space because the rest of 0:08:31.836 --> 0:08:34.076 the space was taken up by my records and my 0:08:34.156 --> 0:08:37.876 turntables and my speakers. So me and my dancer were 0:08:37.956 --> 0:08:40.516 sleeping sleeping bags on the floor with the mice crawling 0:08:40.556 --> 0:08:43.516 over it, squeaking and all that stuff, and Guru had 0:08:43.516 --> 0:08:46.436 the bed from there. When we got the call about 0:08:46.756 --> 0:08:51.196 doing a theme song to Mobeta Blues, Spike said, the 0:08:51.236 --> 0:08:54.756 one on y'all's album is not in depth enough about 0:08:54.836 --> 0:08:56.476 talking about jazz artists. 0:08:56.556 --> 0:08:59.916 I have a guy named Eric Eli who wrote a poem. 0:09:00.156 --> 0:09:02.156 He gave that to Guru and said, can you make 0:09:02.236 --> 0:09:05.236 a rap about this using this? So Guru looked at 0:09:05.276 --> 0:09:07.636 it like, oh man, I can just take this John 0:09:07.676 --> 0:09:10.276 Coltrane man Supreme, you know, it was the wise one, 0:09:10.436 --> 0:09:12.676 and just put little things in it and made it 0:09:12.716 --> 0:09:16.676 into a rhyme. He said, Branford, Marcellus is gonna oversee 0:09:16.716 --> 0:09:21.436 the song, so we got with him. Bramford had just 0:09:21.556 --> 0:09:24.556 gotten the job at the Tonight Show because Johnny Carson 0:09:24.596 --> 0:09:28.156 was stepping down. Jay Leno was just taking over and 0:09:28.196 --> 0:09:29.316 he hired Bramford to. 0:09:29.276 --> 0:09:30.316 Be the music director. 0:09:31.116 --> 0:09:33.556 So he said, Hey, we were like, we're looking for 0:09:33.556 --> 0:09:35.516 a crib to move to Brooklyn. He said, well, I'm 0:09:35.516 --> 0:09:38.356 about to move out of my place in about another 0:09:38.396 --> 0:09:41.316 month or two and moved to La He said, if 0:09:41.316 --> 0:09:43.556 you want to live with me and my wife and 0:09:43.596 --> 0:09:46.996 my son, fuck like a month or two, you could 0:09:46.996 --> 0:09:49.516 do that and then we'll be gone and you just 0:09:49.516 --> 0:09:52.236 pay the rent to my manager. And he said, and 0:09:52.316 --> 0:09:54.556 if you ever laid on the rent, we're kicking you out, 0:09:54.836 --> 0:09:59.076 which we got threatened several times. So we always laid 0:09:59.076 --> 0:10:01.916 on the rent, you know, regular young guy stuff. And 0:10:02.396 --> 0:10:04.716 from there we worked on the song. 0:10:04.876 --> 0:10:07.516 We put it together. We did two versions. 0:10:07.556 --> 0:10:09.876 The soundtrack has more of an in that version with 0:10:09.916 --> 0:10:12.676 the band, but when Spike decided to do a video, 0:10:12.756 --> 0:10:14.836 he said, I need the more simple version that you 0:10:14.956 --> 0:10:18.516 presented when y'all started to collaborate. So they used my 0:10:18.596 --> 0:10:21.276 original version for the video, which we were happy with 0:10:21.476 --> 0:10:24.196 just because it sounded more like what a gang starting 0:10:24.516 --> 0:10:26.956 sound like. And we shot the video to it, which 0:10:26.996 --> 0:10:29.236 is you know, you can find it anywhere, and that 0:10:29.556 --> 0:10:31.196 one's called jazz Thing. 0:10:31.476 --> 0:10:32.756 So it's jazz music. 0:10:32.876 --> 0:10:35.076 Jazz music is the Gangstar album. 0:10:35.516 --> 0:10:39.516 The Mobile the Blues soundtrack is jazz thing, and uh yeah, 0:10:39.556 --> 0:10:41.876 we all the the five of us lived together. 0:10:42.356 --> 0:10:44.876 What was that like? Because I think of Branford, you know, 0:10:44.916 --> 0:10:47.996 it was incredible talent, his brother went and all his brothers, 0:10:48.316 --> 0:10:50.596 the father, all of them incredible. But I think of 0:10:50.636 --> 0:10:52.756 them as being a little more, you know, on the 0:10:52.796 --> 0:10:56.636 conservative side of things. And you and Guru, you know. 0:10:57.396 --> 0:10:59.836 Yeah, I used to always be like, oh man, I 0:10:59.836 --> 0:11:01.996 don't like the fact that winning don't like hip hop, 0:11:02.276 --> 0:11:04.956 you know, And I was like, he's not official because 0:11:04.956 --> 0:11:06.236 he don't like hip hop because he was, you know, 0:11:06.276 --> 0:11:08.276 he at that time. He was like it's it's noise, 0:11:08.316 --> 0:11:12.476 it's not music, and y'all are just using machines. But 0:11:12.636 --> 0:11:16.356 me and went cool and uh. But Branford was always 0:11:16.396 --> 0:11:18.396 branching out because he used to get flack when he 0:11:18.476 --> 0:11:21.516 joined Stings band to you know, for Dreaming of the 0:11:21.516 --> 0:11:25.196 Blue Turtles. Everybody's like, ah, man, you're a pure jazz purist. 0:11:25.316 --> 0:11:28.236 Now you're doing stuff with Sting. You're ruining your your reputation. 0:11:28.356 --> 0:11:30.196 This before social media, he was getting a lot of 0:11:30.236 --> 0:11:33.196 flat and Branford is so cool because. 0:11:33.036 --> 0:11:34.436 He talks like a jazz cat. 0:11:34.516 --> 0:11:36.516 He'd be like, hey, brother, you know what I'm saying, 0:11:36.716 --> 0:11:38.636 but fuck these motherfuckers, you know, Like. 0:11:39.356 --> 0:11:42.396 That's what I like. Like he'll still curse and say 0:11:42.396 --> 0:11:44.636 stuff like that, man, fuck that bitch ass brother, I 0:11:44.636 --> 0:11:46.636 don't get fun, and then go to put it up, 0:11:47.876 --> 0:11:51.556 you know. So that's that's brand. I call him brand Lover. 0:11:51.676 --> 0:11:53.436 He's like, Yo, give me a hip hop nickname. 0:11:53.516 --> 0:11:56.156 I said, brand Lover. I even made him my hat. 0:11:56.196 --> 0:11:58.796 I went to the Compton Swap meet in La and 0:11:58.836 --> 0:12:00.996 where where all the sham bangers were, and made him 0:12:01.036 --> 0:12:03.476 a real hat in blue with brand. 0:12:03.196 --> 0:12:03.756 Lover on it. 0:12:03.836 --> 0:12:05.636 And you know, I was like, yeah, so one of 0:12:05.676 --> 0:12:09.116 the funniest things was coow and I had so many 0:12:09.196 --> 0:12:12.556 girlfriends and stuff at that time that were always coming 0:12:12.596 --> 0:12:13.276 by to see. 0:12:13.156 --> 0:12:15.436 Us, young man stuff and Branford. 0:12:15.476 --> 0:12:18.396 Bramford said that we could give the home number because 0:12:18.396 --> 0:12:21.476 he had an answer machine, so we were always hang 0:12:21.556 --> 0:12:24.876 out guys, and so we might come back two three 0:12:24.916 --> 0:12:27.156 in the morning, and it just happened to be a 0:12:27.236 --> 0:12:29.956 time that a night that Branford had an argument with 0:12:30.036 --> 0:12:32.396 his wife, so he was sleeping on the couch. But 0:12:32.516 --> 0:12:34.956 we didn't know that because the area where we're going 0:12:35.036 --> 0:12:37.836 to sleep at the answer machine, you get to see 0:12:37.836 --> 0:12:39.996 the number lit up, you know, if all the light's off, 0:12:40.036 --> 0:12:42.036 you'll see you know, one, two, three, four, five or six. 0:12:42.356 --> 0:12:44.596 And we're like, oh man, it's like eight or nine messages. 0:12:44.876 --> 0:12:47.636 We hit the thing big hey, Keith, we're looking at it. 0:12:47.716 --> 0:12:51.396 And also Brandna goes, motherfucker and he turns on the 0:12:51.476 --> 0:12:54.516 light because it scared us, and he's on the couch. 0:12:54.756 --> 0:12:56.316 I'm like, man, we didn't know you were on the couch. 0:12:56.316 --> 0:12:58.316 He goes, man, I had an argument with my wife, 0:12:58.356 --> 0:13:00.836 and now y'all are ruining my sleep checking the goddamn 0:13:00.836 --> 0:13:02.916 answer So you can't wait till tomorrow. And I was like, well, 0:13:02.956 --> 0:13:05.836 you said we can use your home numbers. So he's like, 0:13:06.556 --> 0:13:08.796 you know what, just forget it. I'm going back upstairs 0:13:08.836 --> 0:13:10.636 with the and I'll go go in the bedroom with 0:13:10.676 --> 0:13:11.996 her and we'd go okay. 0:13:12.836 --> 0:13:15.396 Okay, you know, like checking the rest of the messages. 0:13:15.476 --> 0:13:17.956 See how many people called us, you know, so that's 0:13:17.996 --> 0:13:20.956 how much the old answer machine. How many people remember 0:13:20.996 --> 0:13:24.516 the answer machine era? So yeah, so you know where 0:13:24.556 --> 0:13:26.756 I'm coming from. Even if he wasn't on the couch, 0:13:27.076 --> 0:13:29.476 everybody checks it when they get home and see who 0:13:29.516 --> 0:13:29.916 they called. 0:13:29.996 --> 0:13:30.556 You know, we didn't. 0:13:30.636 --> 0:13:33.356 It was either a pager or checked that. It wasn't 0:13:33.476 --> 0:13:35.716 cell phones yet unless you had a car phone. 0:13:35.596 --> 0:13:37.556 Right, And in the process, sounds like you saved his 0:13:37.636 --> 0:13:38.476 marriage maybe too. 0:13:40.156 --> 0:13:45.396 Well they're actually divorced now. Well so maybe I ruined 0:13:45.396 --> 0:13:48.356 it now. But nah, shout shout to his for his 0:13:48.436 --> 0:13:50.276 ex wife. Tests she's a sweetheart. 0:13:50.596 --> 0:13:53.396 Her brother Michae who lived underneath us in the basement, 0:13:53.796 --> 0:13:55.596 and we all we all had a great relationship with 0:13:55.636 --> 0:13:57.676 each other. And son Reds, who I always talked to 0:13:57.716 --> 0:14:00.276 this very day. He moved from North Carolina back to 0:14:00.316 --> 0:14:01.596 New York. So he's in New York. 0:14:01.676 --> 0:14:02.556 So it's incredible. 0:14:02.556 --> 0:14:04.996 Man Brand brandfor came by to visit me recently and 0:14:05.036 --> 0:14:07.956 we had just a good time hanging and reminiscing. He's 0:14:07.956 --> 0:14:11.836 one of the greatest human beings ever. He knows sports, music, 0:14:12.716 --> 0:14:16.716 his philosophies on life is just really good to get 0:14:16.716 --> 0:14:19.316 to grab on whenever I have I need some advice. 0:14:19.396 --> 0:14:20.436 I still call him for that. 0:14:20.556 --> 0:14:22.636 He seems like an incredible person to be like. I mean, 0:14:22.676 --> 0:14:25.676 the fortune of moving from Texas to New York to 0:14:25.716 --> 0:14:28.156 do music and then getting to me, I mean, I 0:14:28.156 --> 0:14:30.876 guess first of all, Spike seeing the video, Yeah, you 0:14:30.876 --> 0:14:32.676 get on the soundtrack, but just getting access to guy 0:14:32.716 --> 0:14:34.996 like Brand from Marsalas, that your career. 0:14:35.516 --> 0:14:38.196 He's official man. Shout to Brand Brand lover. 0:14:39.836 --> 0:14:41.516 That house. Once he moves out, it seems like that 0:14:41.596 --> 0:14:45.116 kind of became the center of your world, and kind 0:14:45.116 --> 0:14:47.676 of like the hip hop world in general. Like the 0:14:47.716 --> 0:14:50.396 way who was in the neighborhood. 0:14:50.676 --> 0:14:54.436 Chubb Rock, the Lady of Rage who eventually moved to 0:14:54.556 --> 0:14:57.396 La to get with doctor Dre and became one of 0:14:57.396 --> 0:14:59.636 the first females on death Row records, you know, and 0:14:59.636 --> 0:15:01.636 that's how we messed you know her the Snoop Dogg 0:15:01.676 --> 0:15:02.476 for the first time. 0:15:02.716 --> 0:15:06.796 He was Snoop Doggie Dog then and Nikki d the. 0:15:06.756 --> 0:15:10.636 First female of Death Jam Records, and then uh Jam 0:15:10.716 --> 0:15:13.396 Master Jay, God bless him, and I'm glad he's getting there. 0:15:13.596 --> 0:15:16.876 His family's getting closure because they just found the killers guilty, 0:15:17.356 --> 0:15:18.916 so justice has been served. 0:15:19.316 --> 0:15:21.196 He used to date April. 0:15:20.836 --> 0:15:24.076 Walker, who had Walker Wear, which was very popular clothing 0:15:24.076 --> 0:15:27.756 line back then. Everybody knows Mike Tyson used to walk 0:15:27.796 --> 0:15:30.676 on in the ring with the towel with the WW 0:15:30.836 --> 0:15:33.476 on the front. That's her line, and she's actually back 0:15:33.516 --> 0:15:36.156 out now, still repping Brooklyn. I used to date her 0:15:36.196 --> 0:15:39.556 sister at the time, so we were all friends and 0:15:39.596 --> 0:15:41.236 I see JMSJA all the time. 0:15:41.316 --> 0:15:41.716 And uh. 0:15:42.236 --> 0:15:46.316 Then a couple years later, Kuru comes to the house 0:15:46.356 --> 0:15:50.036 and says, Yo, there's this guy named Biggie Small's down 0:15:50.076 --> 0:15:52.436 the block. You got to come here him Rome, And 0:15:52.756 --> 0:15:55.596 I'm like, yeah, Mr C who was Big Daddy Kynes 0:15:55.676 --> 0:15:59.276 DJ has been pressing me because he wasn't notorious big yet. 0:15:59.636 --> 0:16:01.596 And we went down to the corner because at that 0:16:01.676 --> 0:16:04.556 time we used to drink forty ounces of malt liquor. 0:16:05.396 --> 0:16:08.036 Old English was the preference, and we go down there 0:16:08.036 --> 0:16:10.396 and we met the little his Big and he would 0:16:10.476 --> 0:16:12.356 rhym in front of us, and he was like, what 0:16:12.396 --> 0:16:13.956 can I do to get a deal, And he. 0:16:13.916 --> 0:16:15.636 Said, Puffy wants to sign me. 0:16:15.716 --> 0:16:18.556 And I'm like, you know, if he wants to sign you, 0:16:18.556 --> 0:16:20.196 you know, just have all your business straight, have a 0:16:20.236 --> 0:16:23.116 good lawyer, and if everything works out, you could be 0:16:23.156 --> 0:16:25.836 the next star. And he became one of the biggest thing. 0:16:25.836 --> 0:16:27.636 In the world. They already knew who we work or 0:16:27.636 --> 0:16:28.516 we were established. 0:16:28.756 --> 0:16:31.396 We were on our third album, and he would just 0:16:31.676 --> 0:16:34.596 wrap every Friday. We would go hang out with Big 0:16:34.716 --> 0:16:37.476 and we met Lil Kim and hold you in your 0:16:37.476 --> 0:16:41.316 Mafia And that became the norm. To see him outside 0:16:41.356 --> 0:16:43.916 every every weekend and just drink and smoke weed and 0:16:44.036 --> 0:16:46.036 just have a good time with Big. 0:16:46.316 --> 0:16:48.836 That's incredible. Did he already have the chrisma? Did you 0:16:48.876 --> 0:16:49.596 know he was gonna be? 0:16:49.836 --> 0:16:53.916 He was funny naturally, not trying to be a jokester. 0:16:54.636 --> 0:16:57.356 He was just that naturally him and Big L always 0:16:57.356 --> 0:16:59.716 say that Big L God bless him. He was another 0:16:59.716 --> 0:17:01.956 one that was just naturally funny. They weren't sitting there 0:17:01.996 --> 0:17:04.916 trying to be the funny guy on the block. They 0:17:04.996 --> 0:17:06.876 just were naturally with that type of humor. 0:17:07.276 --> 0:17:10.436 Yeah, didn't you go with Big to pick up Guru 0:17:10.476 --> 0:17:12.236 from prison one time? Or from jail? 0:17:12.316 --> 0:17:15.556 Yeah, what happened was people doing a fraud on your 0:17:15.596 --> 0:17:18.196 credit card was a new thing. Somebody did a fraud 0:17:18.236 --> 0:17:21.156 on Guru's credit card and when they ran and h 0:17:21.716 --> 0:17:24.236 he was double part, cops told him to move your card. 0:17:24.316 --> 0:17:26.316 Matter of fact, let me see I D He checked 0:17:26.316 --> 0:17:28.436 his ID and it said that there was a fraud 0:17:28.476 --> 0:17:31.236 on his name, but that the cops are thinking he's 0:17:31.276 --> 0:17:34.596 the one that's that's fraudulent and uh, you know, using 0:17:34.596 --> 0:17:37.276 a fake card. They took him to jail at the 0:17:37.316 --> 0:17:39.516 precinct which was we call it LG but it's called 0:17:39.556 --> 0:17:42.996 Lafiat Gardens. And they call us and tell us that 0:17:43.076 --> 0:17:45.076 he got locked up. Biggie calls me and tells me 0:17:45.276 --> 0:17:47.796 he got locked up and h somebody that get him. 0:17:47.836 --> 0:17:49.836 I said, okay, I'm coming down the block, which we like. 0:17:49.916 --> 0:17:52.716 I said, we're only like five blocks away. Go there 0:17:53.036 --> 0:17:56.756 the old junior mafia. Biggie, everybody's on the corner. He said, 0:17:56.756 --> 0:17:59.476 I'm gonna go to the precinct. Can one of y'all 0:17:59.516 --> 0:18:02.116 move his car? And then once we get him out 0:18:02.156 --> 0:18:04.796 and figure out what's going on. We'll come get the car. 0:18:05.516 --> 0:18:08.116 And Biggie said, okay, I said, Biggie, won't you drive 0:18:08.156 --> 0:18:08.756 it and move it? 0:18:09.196 --> 0:18:09.516 Okay. 0:18:09.756 --> 0:18:12.276 Biggie gets in the driver's seat and just sits there 0:18:12.436 --> 0:18:14.796 looking like kind of like staring. I'm like, you're not 0:18:14.796 --> 0:18:16.756 gonna move the car because the police is still like 0:18:16.836 --> 0:18:17.956 move the car, and. 0:18:17.916 --> 0:18:22.116 Biggie goes, I don't know how to drive. Like, why 0:18:22.236 --> 0:18:24.356 you sit in the driver's seat, he said, because this 0:18:24.396 --> 0:18:27.436 is a Jaguar and it looks nice and I want 0:18:27.436 --> 0:18:29.636 to see how it feels to sit in one. He's like, 0:18:29.716 --> 0:18:31.476 cause I might buy one, he said, but I have 0:18:31.516 --> 0:18:34.916