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Speaker 1: What's Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio.

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Speaker 2: Ladies and Gentlemen. Another QLs is upon us. As I've

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Speaker 2: always stated in previous shows, it is fun talking to

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Speaker 2: the artists, but oftentimes I find it more fun getting

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Speaker 2: the four one one the information from a different perspective,

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Speaker 2: and oftentimes, you know, promotion people and our people CEOs

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Speaker 2: kind of have a different perspective. And I guess, you know,

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Speaker 2: maybe I'm secretly a suit more than I am an artist,

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Speaker 2: So I think I enjoy those episodes better. But even

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Speaker 2: with the response we get from the podcast, it's often

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Speaker 2: when we talk to label CEOs that I get the

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Speaker 2: most feedback. So hopefully, if you're like me, this episode

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Speaker 2: should be one for the record books and a lot

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Speaker 2: of you hip hop junkies out there, you're in retreat

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Speaker 2: when you hear Kats my age speak of okay now

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Speaker 2: the word of course of the year's renaissance. And you

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Speaker 2: know this isn't a Queen Bee reference, but when we're

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Speaker 2: speaking of the renaissance era of hip hop, we're talking

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Speaker 2: about a specific time period in which I will say

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Speaker 2: the Renaissance era of hip hop versus the classic era

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Speaker 2: of hip hop is sort of when the music palette,

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Speaker 2: as far as sampling is concerned, extended a further reach

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Speaker 2: past the first layer of sampling, you know, like the

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Speaker 2: first round was like James Brown, George Clinton, and the

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Speaker 2: what I call the Wikipedia of crate digging known as

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Speaker 2: Ultimate Beats and Breaks compilation, shout out to break Bloo,

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Speaker 2: good friend of the show. But all of a sudden,

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Speaker 2: you know, all those jazz records and all those boring

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Speaker 2: albums in your uncle aunt's record collections started to get

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Speaker 2: utilized in this particular era of hip hop, starting with

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Speaker 2: kind of in the early nine and extending in the

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Speaker 2: decade and oftentimes when we talk about the Renaissance period,

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Speaker 2: usually Illmatic is kind of synonymous with that era. However,

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Speaker 2: and yes, I will say Illmatic is the pinnacle of

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Speaker 2: that particular sound. But from a creative standpoint that the

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Speaker 2: label owned by our guest today was probably one of

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Speaker 2: the most forward thinking, consistent, envelope pushing hip hop labels

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Speaker 2: that pretty much led the charge culturally for the directions

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Speaker 2: of what credible hip hop sounded like in a way

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Speaker 2: that kind of like def jam was established in the eighties,

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Speaker 2: I can go I have to write some of the

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Speaker 2: names down Twist a mad Cap. I could spend an

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Speaker 2: hour mad Cap alone because I thought, oh, that's a

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Speaker 2: lane for the roots, the alcoholics of course, the Wu

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Speaker 2: Tang clan, whoever they are, Selah Duellas Mob Deep, Big

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Speaker 2: Pun exhibit of my all time favorites. And when we

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Speaker 2: ever released a project Pat song, I don't know, Project Pat, Delinquent, Habits,

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Speaker 2: Dead Press, Gangsta Boo, Little Flip, the Executioners, even with

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Speaker 2: R and B, with Divina LV and Yuvette, Michelle Hey, Yeah,

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Speaker 2: Adriana Evans, even like well known vets like Pete Rock,

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Speaker 2: beat Nuts, MP three six, Mafia, Uncle, Luke, fump Aster,

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Speaker 2: Flex Read Alert. All these, all these greats came to

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Speaker 2: uh basically the House of Loud, as I say, but

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Speaker 2: it would be who me had also mentioned that our

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Speaker 2: guests was very crucial also in the art of what

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Speaker 2: we call street promotion, which I guess we take it

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Speaker 2: for granted now seeing snipes on the street and seeing

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Speaker 2: raps on the vans and seeing stickers everywhere. But a

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Speaker 2: lot of that revolution was started in the early nineties

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Speaker 2: and our guests had a very extream impact in developing that.

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Speaker 2: And not to mention I have to say that it'll

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Speaker 2: be exciting to talk to kind of a lineage person

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Speaker 2: in terms of the fact that you know his very father,

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Speaker 2: you know, the great Jules Rifkin, who owns Spring Records,

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Speaker 2: which you know, home to Joe Simon and Millie Jackson

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Speaker 2: and Fat Back. You know, his father released the very

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Speaker 2: first hip hop single ever, which of course is King

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Speaker 2: Tim the Third by Fat Back. You know that if

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Speaker 2: the intro is fifteen minutes long, I pray the show

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Speaker 2: is nine hours long. We Steve Rifkin. I used to say,

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Speaker 2: if you guys can see Steve Rifkin's face right now, but.

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Speaker 3: He is like, do we need to talk?

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Speaker 2: This is the kind of show in which we're just

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Speaker 2: finding out that we're on YouTube, or at least we

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Speaker 2: haven't really pumped from the show facked up, so we

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Speaker 2: should I now say that, ladies and gentlemen, I don't

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Speaker 2: know if you know this, but you know, since what episode?

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Speaker 2: What was our first? Tevin camb what was our first?

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Speaker 3: It wasn't. No, we go further back than that. Jake,

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Speaker 3: what was the first?

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Speaker 2: Oh jeez, what was it? Maybe Monica Lynch, Jesus Christ. Okay,

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Speaker 2: So yeah, if you go on YouTube, you can actually

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Speaker 2: watch these episodes, and I pray that you don't because

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Speaker 2: we're mot leap Liia's glam. But the rest of us

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Speaker 2: out of mister Rifkin. How are you?

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Speaker 4: I'm great? How are you guys?

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Speaker 2: I'm great, I'm excited.

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Speaker 4: I gotta tell you a funny story. Wendy Golds team signed.

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Speaker 4: I know it.

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Speaker 2: No, no, don't even I'm gonna ask you about the story.

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Speaker 1: Don't even sorry, big go big home, all.

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Speaker 2: Right, story Storry. I was like, wait, should I ask

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Speaker 2: Hi about the Windy Gold see story?

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Speaker 4: So when he signed you, I mean you guys, and

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Speaker 4: she signed another artist. You know who that artist was, right, Jiz.

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Speaker 4: So she calls me, besides that, I had the Stephen

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Speaker 4: Rifkin Company, which had all the Street team and the

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Speaker 4: whole street marketing stuff. So she goes, hey, Geffen is

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Speaker 4: having a conference. Will you come and speak? And I'm

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Speaker 4: like about what she goes about, you know the marketing.

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Speaker 4: You know it's really a rock and roll label, and

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Speaker 4: you know we just signed Jizz and we just signed

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Speaker 4: Actually I think she said she just signed you guys

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Speaker 4: that day.

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Speaker 2: Yeah she did.

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Speaker 4: And I'm like, but I needed to like drive a

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Speaker 4: Peter Vegas I knew Wenday, but I really didn't know

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Speaker 4: that well. I'm like, do I really want to be

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Speaker 4: in a car with her for five hours?

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Speaker 2: You know?

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Speaker 4: But the amazing thing was I didn't even want to

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Speaker 4: hear Just's album. All I heard you guys had like

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Speaker 4: a three or four song demo, right, And I kept

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Speaker 4: it on repeat for five fucking hours. And then so

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Speaker 4: we get there. My uncle owns at a restaurant. We

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Speaker 4: have dinner at the restaurant, I go back to my

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Speaker 4: room and I'm just a man. I was like, this

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Speaker 4: is some groundbreak and shit, and I must have lost

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Speaker 4: those days. I must have lost like fifteen hundred dollars.

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Speaker 4: It was like fifty thousand dollars, you know. I was

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Speaker 4: just starting out less than five o'clock in the morning,

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Speaker 4: and I went to the craft table and Just I

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Speaker 4: don't remember the name of the songs, but it motivated me.

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Speaker 4: And I ended up winning five thousand dollars and I

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Speaker 4: thought I won a million dollars all because of the roots.

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Speaker 4: So thank you.

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Speaker 2: Oh shit, all right, Steve Rifkin, Wait, I see I

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Speaker 2: was going to ask you, all right, so.

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Speaker 3: You would have signed them? Then, I'm sorry. I'm just

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Speaker 3: going to ask the FANSI no.

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Speaker 4: No, no signed them. I didn't had the opportunity to sign.

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Speaker 3: You had the opportunity, right because they were already signed.

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Speaker 2: I will say that Loud was one of the three

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Speaker 2: labels that we didn't go to only because literally, I

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Speaker 2: mean I've said the story before. You know, the Roots

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Speaker 2: were going to sign to Mercury, to PolyGram, and we

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Speaker 2: were like super excited. Oh man, Black Sheep's going to

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Speaker 2: be our label mates Da Da Da Da Da. And

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Speaker 2: they gave us the contract and three of the names

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Speaker 2: were misspelled, so the kind was no all and boy

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Speaker 2: because three names were misspelled, and they were like, send

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Speaker 2: a new contract with our correct name spelled. And in

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Speaker 2: that seventy two hour period, Wendy Goldstein literally came in,

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Speaker 2: swooped down and you know, like we did the audition

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Speaker 2: for Geffen because we wanted a free dinner. You remember

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Speaker 2: book binders on yes and real nice. Right by that point,

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Speaker 2: we you know, we were like impressed with like, wow,

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Speaker 2: they have orange juice and refrigerator. Like that's how impressed

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Speaker 2: we were with That's the first thing. Like we went

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Speaker 2: to Wendy Goldsea's office and guess what she had a mirror.

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Speaker 2: She had orange juice in the refrigerator all you can drink,

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Speaker 2: and we're like what But literally we were like, all right,

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Speaker 2: we're gonna do it for the free lobster and steak

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Speaker 2: and then we'll sign to PolyGram. And just at the table,

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Speaker 2: we literally were like, all right, let's call her bluff

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Speaker 2: and just be like, all right, we need two cars,

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Speaker 2: and we need like three apartments, and we want a

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Speaker 2: full studio da da da da and a partridge in

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Speaker 2: a pear tree. And she fucked around and called our

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Speaker 2: bluffins like okay.

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Speaker 3: And death and money.

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Speaker 2: Suddenly no other label mattered anymore, because like it was like, shit,

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Speaker 2: she's given us everything we want.

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Speaker 4: So who Mercury was going to sign you?

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Speaker 2: Ken Yata bell A wow Yo. The anger that he

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Speaker 2: had for I always wanted to know what happened to

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Speaker 2: his assistant that messed up that contract, Like he was

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Speaker 2: near I'm not trying to be hyperbolic, like near suicidal,

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Speaker 2: but you know, I've talked to Ed Eckstein since that moment.

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Speaker 2: And let's just say the building was not happy with

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Speaker 2: losing the roots on a technicality.

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Speaker 4: But so my cousin was head of sales and this

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Speaker 4: is when they had a sales department and they were

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Speaker 4: right stars. He was head of sales for Mercury, and

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Speaker 4: I remember him. I didn't know that he was. I mean,

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Speaker 4: I didn't know that you were supposed to sign with them.

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Speaker 4: So right, he's my older cousin, and I really looked

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Speaker 4: up to him. So I was telling him that, you know,

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Speaker 4: I how to do this. I had to speak in

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Speaker 4: Vegas to this rock and roll craft, which, like I mean,

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Speaker 4: I was definitely talking a different language, right, And and

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Speaker 4: he goes, we were supposed to sign them. He didn't know,

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Speaker 4: he didn't know exactly what happened, but he knew about

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Speaker 4: you guys. I said, I said, man, that you guys

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Speaker 4: fucked up.

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Speaker 2: Oh they were angry. They were angry. I want to

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Speaker 2: skip since we're talking this and this is this is

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Speaker 2: the thing that I wanted to ask you because you know,

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Speaker 2: I know that. I mean, basically, the first album and

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Speaker 2: a half was made extremely like just just unorthodox. We

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Speaker 2: We did not have a staff whatsoever at Geffen. All

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Speaker 2: we had was Wendy Goldstein and like seven credit cards,

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Speaker 2: and so you know, we established trust with them where

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Speaker 2: they were like here here the credit cards don't you know,

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Speaker 2: start traveling to Ruber or whatever, like be responsible. We

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Speaker 2: were super responsible. But essentially we were calling out for

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Speaker 2: favors from almost every label. You include it, like you

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Speaker 2: know Steve Riff Gabill handle street promotions and that I

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Speaker 2: at Deaf Jam, like Jessica and Derek will handle that

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Speaker 2: at Deaf Jam. Like we were literally moonlighting every label

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Speaker 2: for do you Want More?

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Speaker 3: And the thing was, I didn't even know you could

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Speaker 3: do that.

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Speaker 2: I don't you know. It was just different back then.

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Speaker 2: But here here's the question I have. So can you

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Speaker 2: and I want you to explain to me, because this

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Speaker 2: is what I never got explained to me. At least

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Speaker 2: the system, Like you remember the periodical. I think that

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Speaker 2: it was called Hits. It is still a thing. Yeah, okay,

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Speaker 2: So I knew for us there was there was a

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Speaker 2: system of you break in college first, and then after

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Speaker 2: the college then you break to mainstream radio. And the

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Speaker 2: Roots released their first single the same At least, we

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Speaker 2: were under the impression that we released the same time

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Speaker 2: that Biggie released Juicy. Now, this is what I think happened.

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Speaker 2: What I believed happened was that the buzz for Juicy

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Speaker 2: was so big that they leaked it a week early,

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Speaker 2: maybe like two days early. So the initial numbers of

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Speaker 2: our first single, which I think was like distortion is

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Speaker 2: static versus Juicy, was like, Oh, we're gonna crush Biggie.

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Speaker 2: But what I think happened was we had a full week,

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Speaker 2: seven days of ads on whereas maybe like they decided

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Speaker 2: to just you know, leak Juicy a day early, so

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Speaker 2: it was like a week of the roots versus one

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Speaker 2: day of Biggie, and we were just under the impression

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Speaker 2: of like, oh shit, man, we're gonna be kings of

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Speaker 2: the world. Like we were like that whole week. It

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Speaker 2: was like whatever the equivalent of fight and cigars one

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Speaker 2: hundred dollars bills and champagne everywhere, only for the next

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Speaker 2: week to come and suddenly, like Biggi's numbers were like

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Speaker 2: in the three digits and we were like at thirty eight,

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Speaker 2: like literally crush. Can you explain the system of how

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Speaker 2: at least back then? And I'm not going to say

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Speaker 2: start with protect your neck, because that's just a whole

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Speaker 2: nother animal, but say, if you're doing rainy days like

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Speaker 2: a single, that doesn't matter, how do you break that

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Speaker 2: first to explode and what's the importance of college numbers?

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Speaker 4: So for me, I made my living off of college.

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Speaker 4: So let's go just go back to you for a second. Okay,

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Speaker 4: Wendy was the only one who understood what I was

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Speaker 4: working those records. This. I was doing the whole street team, right,

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Speaker 4: I know, if you guys were so alternative in the

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Speaker 4: hip hop market, I said, just don't rush this, let

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Speaker 4: this just marinate and just have the guy that live

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Speaker 4: on the road, don't worry about you know, don't worry

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Speaker 4: about anything hapened to just go visitologists and maybe even

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Speaker 4: some mix shows. And that's it. I mean I never

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Speaker 4: really even saw you guys. I didn't even see a

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Speaker 4: video yet, but just sonically what I heard, I was like,

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Speaker 4: remember like digg Old Planets, Yeah right, I mean it

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Speaker 4: was that that. I mean that took eighteen months to break.

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Speaker 3: Mhm, what we forget this?

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Speaker 4: Yeah? Yeah, you're right, so you know and stretch stretch

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Speaker 4: of Barbido broke down record.

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Speaker 2: You're right.

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Speaker 4: That was on a new label called Pendulum Records. That

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Speaker 4: was on by reading Yeah right, So, and I forget

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Speaker 4: who the head of promotion I think it's his name

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Speaker 4: was Steve Too, And I just forget who the head

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Speaker 4: of promotion was. And I was like, you don't have

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Speaker 4: to worry about radio. Let us just keep this at

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Speaker 4: college radio. Brian Sampson, who was running the Gavin Report

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Speaker 4: at College Radio, was flipping over the music and that's

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Speaker 4: all we needed right this second, and they just wanted

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Speaker 4: to take it to radio, and then you know, it

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Speaker 4: was what it was now.

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Speaker 2: Of course, the second part of that story is like

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Speaker 2: we were like super depressed and thought like our lives

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Speaker 2: were over, and you know, but now that thirty years

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Speaker 2: have passed, it's almost like, you know, this, this tortoise

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Speaker 2: in the hair journey that we took was worth it all,

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Speaker 2: you know, to kind of still be here. But for me,

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Speaker 2: I just never because we weren't in the States, you know,

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Speaker 2: we were living in Europe, so between like ninety three

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Speaker 2: and ninety eight, I had zero clue of what the

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Speaker 2: system was on how to jump in the double Dutch

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Speaker 2: rope and thrive and survive like that sort of thing.

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Speaker 2: And you know, because we were asked like can we

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Speaker 2: do Jack the Rapper, can we do how can I

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Speaker 2: be down? Like all those things that we hear about,

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Speaker 2: and we just always felt like Rudolph the Red Dudes,

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Speaker 2: Like we didn't start meeting hip hop gods, like you know,

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Speaker 2: we didn't meet Wu Tang until like ninety nine at

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Speaker 2: that at that great day in Harlem. Shoot, that's the

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Speaker 2: that was like the first.

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Speaker 3: Ever did the convention circuit y'all never did br.

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Speaker 2: Like we were living in Europe just like our whole

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Speaker 2: thing was like, well, you know, we're not going to

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Speaker 2: be breakout stars in the States, so we better just

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Speaker 2: like plan our seeds for longevity over here in Europe.

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Speaker 2: And by things all apart, they were like, Okay, you

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Speaker 2: guys got to come home and actually promote this record,

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Speaker 2: not like be there. But anyway, I digress. I do

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Speaker 2: want to start from the beginning. Steve Rifkin, what was

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Speaker 2: your very first musical memory?

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Speaker 4: My very first musical memory was five years old at

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Speaker 4: the Apollo Theater watching in Jackson five.

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Speaker 2: Wow, do you know what year? This was?

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Speaker 4: Sixty seven? Sixty eight.

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Speaker 2: Six. This is the third story we've had of people

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Speaker 2: that have been at that particular Jackson's concert.

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Speaker 4: And No, I was with my dad. I was with

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Speaker 4: my dad. So my dad managed a DJ called Tommy

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Speaker 4: Small and Tommy had a club puffing home called the

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Speaker 4: Smallest Paradise.

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Speaker 3: Carlem Knights, that's real. I never I'm sorry, I got you.

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Speaker 2: Sorry.

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Speaker 4: So before Frankie Krackett, Tommy Small's was the most powerful

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Speaker 4: DJ in urban music or armbu set right, and it

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Speaker 4: was a station called w w r L and it

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Speaker 4: was based out of Jersey. I saw the Jack and

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Speaker 4: five you know, on the Ed Sullivan Show, and then

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Speaker 4: like two weeks later there at the Apollo and it

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Speaker 4: was it was my first live show.

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Speaker 3: The scene are you at the seat?

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Speaker 4: We were on the stage.

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Speaker 3: Of course, that's what I didn't want to as soon.

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Speaker 2: How old were you when you recognized what your dad did? Man,

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Speaker 2: I have the feeling that he kind of lured you

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Speaker 2: into the business early or without knowing, or trained you

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Speaker 2: without knowing.

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Speaker 4: It was my grandfather. I was major league the I

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Speaker 4: didn't know how to read it right till I was

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Speaker 4: fourteen fifteen years old, okay. So I was getting in

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Speaker 4: a lot of trouble, and not that I need you know,

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Speaker 4: I didn't need to steal because I didn't need the money.

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Speaker 4: You know. My dad had James Brown, you know, and

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Speaker 4: he had Joe Simon bat back then. So I was

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Speaker 4: just doing it to look to get to attention, but

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Speaker 4: it was really getting to a place where I was

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Speaker 4: to go to jail or get killed. And like my

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Speaker 4: grandfather called me down to Florida. We'll all juice go

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Speaker 4: and he was in the nightclub business, and he said,

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Speaker 4: he said, he goes, He goes, you gotta get your

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Speaker 4: shit together. He goes, you're gonna end up dead or

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Speaker 4: in jail. And he goes, why don't you do what

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Speaker 4: your cousin Randy did? And then my cousin who worked

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Speaker 4: at I go, what did he do? Because he goes

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Speaker 4: to visit radio stations. I'm like, who am I going

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Speaker 4: to do it for? He goes, I follow. My father

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Speaker 4: wants nothing to do with me. He goes and my

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Speaker 4: father was partners with my uncle, and he goes, I'll

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Speaker 4: deal with it. So like a week later he called

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Speaker 4: the house. You know, there were no cell phones. This

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Speaker 4: is nineteen seventy nine, nineteen eighty, and he just pick

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Speaker 4: me up at the airport at four o'clock. So I

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Speaker 4: go pick them up at the airport and go where

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Speaker 4: we're going. I thought I was going back to my

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Speaker 4: house because now we're going into the city. We could

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Speaker 4: go see your father and uncle, and they pretty much

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Speaker 4: sit me down. They said, you're gonna go on the

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Speaker 4: road for three weeks, and you didn't go visit radio stations.

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Speaker 4: So I'm eighteen years old, and those three weeks turned

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Speaker 4: to be close to three years, a little into three

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Speaker 4: years where I zigzagged all across the country. You know,

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Speaker 4: I always had ten dollars worth of cordings. There were

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Speaker 4: no cell phones, there was no GPS. I didn't even

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Speaker 4: know how to read a map. I would just get

359
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Speaker 4: a payphone, put in fifty cents, I called the next station,

360
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Speaker 4: how do I get there from here? And I would

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Speaker 4: write it that long and I wish I still had

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Speaker 4: the book.

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Speaker 2: Really.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so radio promotions.

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Speaker 4: Yeah there was. There was There was no mixture. There

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Speaker 4: wasn't anything at the time. You know.

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Speaker 2: It's just so I'm clear now. You know when I

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Speaker 2: mentioned Spring Records, which is you know, subsidiary of Polydor,

369
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Speaker 2: was he was your father promoting all black acts on Polydor?

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Speaker 2: Like did this also include Mandreil and James Brown as well?

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Speaker 2: Or just strictly the Spring acts like Millie Jackson, Joe Simon.

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Speaker 4: So James, my dad brought PolyGram into the States.

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Speaker 2: Oh so he gave James Brown his first offer.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, so so what happened was PolyGram. I think the

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Speaker 4: president's name was Erwin Steinberg. Yes, he goes, he goes,

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Speaker 4: give us, give us James under the PolyGram logo. But

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Speaker 4: you'll eat the way it's your label. Were it's still.

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Speaker 2: Signed to you. So he would have been on Spring Records.

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Speaker 4: He would have, but it was it was like PolyGram's

380
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Speaker 4: first urban artist. So, I mean James performed at my

381
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Speaker 4: bay Mitza what you know?

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Speaker 2: You can't skip that shit?

383
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Speaker 4: Wait?

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Speaker 2: Thirteen was what year for you? Where year were you born?

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Speaker 4: I was born sixty two February first, nineteen seventy five.

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Speaker 2: Ah damn yeah, mustache James out of curiosity?

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Speaker 5: Do you know.

388
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Speaker 4: What?

389
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Speaker 2: At least what negotiations were just in terms of him

390
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Speaker 2: leaving King. I never knew how he went from King

391
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Speaker 2: two PolyGram.

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Speaker 4: I was eighty, you know, probably so you know, my

393
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Speaker 4: dad was really a special guy, like he really like,

394
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Speaker 4: you know, he didn't see color. You know, you mentioned

395
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Speaker 4: Jack the rapper earlier, right, you know, so you know Jack,

396
00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:54,480
Speaker 4: Jack start off in radio and then he became like

397
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Speaker 4: a promotion guy, you know, and Jack was really light skinned,

398
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Speaker 4: you know.

399
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Speaker 3: Right, yeah, almost yeah, ass and and and the.

400
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Speaker 4: Whole and the hotels. You know, they wouldn't let black

401
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Speaker 4: people sleep in certain hotels. You know, my dad would

402
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Speaker 4: bring him into the hotel.

403
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Speaker 2: Wow, did they know he.

404
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Speaker 5: Was black though when he brought the because because Jack

405
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Speaker 5: could have went either way, so he just passed.

406
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Speaker 4: And yeah, but but the thing was this, if they did,

407
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Speaker 4: you know, there'd be two dead bodies, you know. And

408
00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:23,879
Speaker 4: my father you know kept this. You know his guys right,

409
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Speaker 4: you know, nobody was allowed to even go near the road.

410
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Speaker 3: Can I ask you, Steve?

411
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Speaker 5: It's fascinating because you said, like, so your dad has

412
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Speaker 5: been on this side of when did he start getting

413
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Speaker 5: into music in this lane, like in this R and

414
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Speaker 5: B lane? Was it your grandfather because you said your

415
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Speaker 5: grandfather was also a part of your process.

416
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Speaker 4: So my my grandfather owned the club called the Boulevard.

417
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Speaker 4: So you had the Copa which was which was like

418
00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:50,320
Speaker 4: the highlight, you know, the major player. But before you

419
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Speaker 4: get before you could even get a shot at the Copa,

420
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Speaker 4: you had a kick ass at the Boulevard. And the

421
00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:58,960
Speaker 4: Boulevard was was in Queens, on Queens Boulevard, you know,

422
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Speaker 4: So what happened was you know, my grandfather was somebody

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Speaker 4: that you didn't want to mess with. You know, his

424
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Speaker 4: three best friends were you know, pretty powerful guys.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I was gonna say, I'm always curious about the

426
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Speaker 2: I mean, the only person I know this era that

427
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Speaker 2: had muscle that often our guest talks about is Mars

428
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Speaker 2: Levy Mars Leave. Yeah, Mars.

429
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Speaker 4: Mars had a lot of muscle. But my grandfather was

430
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Speaker 4: extremely close with Mars. But my grandfather would put you

431
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Speaker 4: in a headline and said, my two sons have to imagine. Oh,

432
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Speaker 4: so Flip Wilson came out of there, Lola came out

433
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Speaker 4: of there, that Churels came out of there. I could

434
00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:39,800
Speaker 4: call my mom and I could just you know, find

435
00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:41,160
Speaker 4: out a whole everybody.

436
00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:46,800
Speaker 2: But yeah, according to you, what year did quote that

437
00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:52,399
Speaker 2: level of business? And and the what I what I

438
00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:56,080
Speaker 2: dubbed the starbucksification of it. Like I don't know if

439
00:23:56,119 --> 00:23:59,240
Speaker 2: you remember the episode of The Sopranos when those guys

440
00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:01,800
Speaker 2: saw the like the first Starbucks, and they try to

441
00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:05,520
Speaker 2: go inside to shake them down, and then realize like, oh,

442
00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:07,480
Speaker 2: this is like a corporate thing, This is not like

443
00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:09,879
Speaker 2: just a local mom and pop thing. And this is

444
00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:13,080
Speaker 2: when they realized that we just can't shake you down

445
00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:15,640
Speaker 2: and do business like on our level, like in your

446
00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:18,879
Speaker 2: in your mind and mind. You I know that you

447
00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:22,359
Speaker 2: entering hip hop. I don't know how as big as

448
00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:26,720
Speaker 2: your label was, you didn't somehow fall into the crossfires

449
00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:31,840
Speaker 2: of what was ninety two to ninety eight.

450
00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:35,280
Speaker 4: I mean, they knew they couldn't do anything to me, right,

451
00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:38,040
Speaker 4: So you're talking about the East coast, West coast, right,

452
00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:41,240
Speaker 4: So I mean we had a passive that office is

453
00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:46,119
Speaker 4: in la entity. So we made it clear from the

454
00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:48,520
Speaker 4: from the get go, we're staying out of it with

455
00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:52,520
Speaker 4: minding our own business and if we're going to get touched,

456
00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:54,080
Speaker 4: people going to get touched back.

457
00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:56,800
Speaker 3: Says for all your roster too, not just Usty, but

458
00:24:56,920 --> 00:24:58,960
Speaker 3: like that was the roster everybody.

459
00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:02,639
Speaker 4: Well no, well, you know, so like when Park was

460
00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:07,840
Speaker 4: my roommate, like I marketed Pak's first record when he

461
00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:10,760
Speaker 4: was just signed to Endoscope directly, and he would stay

462
00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:13,360
Speaker 4: with me. We would be on the road Thursday through Monday,

463
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:15,040
Speaker 4: and even though he was living up in the Bay,

464
00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:16,920
Speaker 4: he would stay with me for those two days because

465
00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:21,240
Speaker 4: we had a shipload of work. So you know, when

466
00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:25,080
Speaker 4: that whole thing started, I'm like I'm walking into the

467
00:25:25,119 --> 00:25:27,879
Speaker 4: House of Blues and he's there, you know, and I

468
00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:29,440
Speaker 4: got a ball head, you know, and he smacks me

469
00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:31,280
Speaker 4: in the head, but you know, and it's stung, so

470
00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:34,159
Speaker 4: I don't know if it's a love pat or a

471
00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:36,919
Speaker 4: real smack, right, And he looked and he looks me, Look,

472
00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:38,359
Speaker 4: you're not gonna say a load to me. I'm like, man,

473
00:25:38,400 --> 00:25:39,800
Speaker 4: I don't know where I stand with you. And he

474
00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:43,160
Speaker 4: goes tell those two little lens that I'm just doing

475
00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:44,440
Speaker 4: this to keep myself relevant.

476
00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:55,640
Speaker 2: I love this ship somehow, I knew that h somehow ire.

477
00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:58,400
Speaker 4: And we hugged, and you know, like two weeks later

478
00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:00,080
Speaker 4: he was gone, oh.

479
00:26:02,119 --> 00:26:06,240
Speaker 2: Shit, all right, where's theick zaging back and forth?

480
00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:09,119
Speaker 5: Wait on that note, I will I do invite everybody

481
00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:10,560
Speaker 5: to go to the top two pockets. Have you been

482
00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:14,879
Speaker 5: to the exhibit Steve out in La Downtown. It's a

483
00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:17,480
Speaker 5: beyond all notebook pages, all everything. I just want to

484
00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:18,160
Speaker 5: stay on that note.

485
00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:18,920
Speaker 3: Get to know your man.

486
00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:22,359
Speaker 2: Yes, I've heard, I've heard a lot about this beautiful

487
00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:27,680
Speaker 2: So for you, what do you consider really your your

488
00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:33,000
Speaker 2: true entry as far as like both feet on the ground,

489
00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:38,600
Speaker 2: this is my entry into the music business. What marks

490
00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:40,600
Speaker 2: that for you, like, what year? What project?

491
00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:48,560
Speaker 4: So it was nineteen eighty three maybe and with Jimmy

492
00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:49,640
Speaker 4: Spicer laill y'all.

493
00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:52,760
Speaker 2: Shit, that's right. That is on Spring.

494
00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:56,119
Speaker 4: Yeah, it was Russell's first steal and that.

495
00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:59,080
Speaker 2: Wait a minute, is this the connection to is this

496
00:26:59,240 --> 00:26:59,920
Speaker 2: how this makes it?

497
00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:01,680
Speaker 4: Cream? No?

498
00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:03,600
Speaker 2: They just did that. He knew it. I'm not.

499
00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:06,359
Speaker 4: I don't know if they knew it. They just I

500
00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:08,240
Speaker 4: mean Jet When I heard, I was like, holy shit,

501
00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:13,080
Speaker 4: I mean, but who is Jimmy Spice and Fatback had

502
00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:16,560
Speaker 4: a record called Spread Love? Yes, and then they had

503
00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:21,040
Speaker 4: another one. But actually when you mentioned the second second singles, So,

504
00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:22,960
Speaker 4: but there was a record on the album called Just

505
00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:25,600
Speaker 4: the Sign of the Future featuring Jerry bloodsoell.

506
00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:27,080
Speaker 2: You mean is this the future?

507
00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:29,639
Speaker 4: Or is this the future? Yeah? It's just the future?

508
00:27:30,359 --> 00:27:31,480
Speaker 2: Wait that was you guys too?

509
00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:33,320
Speaker 4: That was Fatback?

510
00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:35,639
Speaker 2: Yeah, so shit.

511
00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:39,640
Speaker 4: So they wanted me to meet this old promotion guy

512
00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:44,840
Speaker 4: but named it David Clark. H and I'm eight, I'm

513
00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:48,280
Speaker 4: twenty one years old. That Dave Clark is in his

514
00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:52,760
Speaker 4: late sixties and he's like an old school promotion guy,

515
00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:55,280
Speaker 4: but one of the best promotion guys ever in the

516
00:27:55,359 --> 00:27:59,320
Speaker 4: history of promotion right, and he closed me up and

517
00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:02,840
Speaker 4: he says, you know, we're gonna have dinner with It

518
00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:05,399
Speaker 4: was a radio station called w HRK, which was in Memphis.

519
00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:11,680
Speaker 4: We're going to dinner, and I'm saying to myself, this

520
00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:15,920
Speaker 4: guy's sixty six, sixty seven years old, and he wants

521
00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:17,480
Speaker 4: me to go to the club with him afterwards, and

522
00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:20,560
Speaker 4: I'm like, I'm not going to the club. So I

523
00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:26,280
Speaker 4: find the college, so it was University of Memphis, and

524
00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:30,040
Speaker 4: I forget who the DJ was at the time, but

525
00:28:30,119 --> 00:28:32,240
Speaker 4: he takes me to the club and there is Dave

526
00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:34,080
Speaker 4: Clark with for of the most beautiful women. I've got

527
00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:36,720
Speaker 4: this shit in my life, and I was like, motherfucker.

528
00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:41,800
Speaker 4: But literally that's how I ended up putting the whole

529
00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:45,080
Speaker 4: Street team together. I would after going visiting the program

530
00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:47,360
Speaker 4: directors and music directors, doing what I have to do.

531
00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:50,360
Speaker 4: I started building my own network at just that college radio,

532
00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:52,720
Speaker 4: and that was always my foundation in my base.

533
00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:56,320
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, I'm also just visualizing this in my head

534
00:28:56,520 --> 00:29:00,560
Speaker 2: and now this is this is totally this is make consense.

535
00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:07,320
Speaker 2: All right. Okay, Look, we've had radio people CEOs on

536
00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:11,000
Speaker 2: the show before, and you know, I've maybe dipped my

537
00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:14,040
Speaker 2: toe in the water with asking these questions. So I'm

538
00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:17,240
Speaker 2: going to ask you under the guys that yes, you know,

539
00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:21,240
Speaker 2: I'm certain that the statue limitations or the grace period

540
00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:22,000
Speaker 2: has passed.

541
00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:23,000
Speaker 4: Now.

542
00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:25,440
Speaker 2: A lot of the times when this question gets deflected,

543
00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:30,000
Speaker 2: he's usually like, oh, so long ago, I don't even remember. Okay,

544
00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:34,440
Speaker 2: take that Jimmy Spicer record in nineteen eighty three. You

545
00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:38,480
Speaker 2: don't even have to specifically mention yourself. But if I

546
00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:43,960
Speaker 2: am a promotion guy trying to get that song played

547
00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:50,600
Speaker 2: on the radio, work levels of negotiations? Do I just

548
00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:54,880
Speaker 2: stoop to to get that played on the radio?

549
00:29:55,840 --> 00:29:57,920
Speaker 4: I mean, it really all depends how good a promotion

550
00:29:58,000 --> 00:29:58,880
Speaker 4: guy you really are.

551
00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:03,600
Speaker 2: All right, so how much how much juice? What juice

552
00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:07,400
Speaker 2: do you have to use? And again, whatever story, whatever

553
00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:08,320
Speaker 2: stories you can tell.

554
00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:11,280
Speaker 4: So I'm going to tell you a story, thank you. Right,

555
00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:16,240
Speaker 4: Frankie Crocker a WBLS, Yes, right, right, right, There was

556
00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:16,840
Speaker 4: a club.

557
00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:18,640
Speaker 2: Called the Garage Paradise.

558
00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:24,200
Speaker 4: Garage Paradise best sound system in New York. Right, Larry

559
00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:26,479
Speaker 4: was the DJ. The club opened up at at six

560
00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:27,520
Speaker 4: six thirty in the morning.

561
00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:28,959
Speaker 2: Wait, what right?

562
00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:32,680
Speaker 4: I mean people, that's when people would leave whatever club,

563
00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:35,400
Speaker 4: and then they would go to the Slumber, you know,

564
00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:37,840
Speaker 4: and it was a gay club but with the best

565
00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:40,320
Speaker 4: sound system in the world. And Larry was such a

566
00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:43,960
Speaker 4: trendset of DJing wise, so I go, I go with

567
00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:48,200
Speaker 4: Frankie one night and what that like? Well, frank I've

568
00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:50,960
Speaker 4: known Frankie since I was eleven years old. Right when

569
00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:53,760
Speaker 4: Frankie came home after the payover scandal, I think my

570
00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:55,680
Speaker 4: dad and a few other people mars leaving a few

571
00:30:55,680 --> 00:30:58,240
Speaker 4: other people throw him a party at Studio fifty four.

572
00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:05,600
Speaker 4: It's he and he goes upstairs to the DJ booth

573
00:31:05,640 --> 00:31:09,040
Speaker 4: and he stepped around anywhere between thirty forty five minutes.

574
00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:11,480
Speaker 4: So you know, in those days, you know the twelve

575
00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:13,440
Speaker 4: inch you know, a record would be ten to fifteen

576
00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:20,640
Speaker 4: minutes slong. So whatever Larry played, say between six thirty

577
00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:23,960
Speaker 4: and seven o'clock in the morning, Frankie was going to add.

578
00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:27,120
Speaker 4: So when I went back to following week, I was like,

579
00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:30,560
Speaker 4: he's he I just put two and two together. So

580
00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:33,719
Speaker 4: I would call Wendy Goldsen and say, hey, I can

581
00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:36,560
Speaker 4: get the Roots record added the BLS because I knew

582
00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:38,680
Speaker 4: and I'm looking at the time, and I knew Frankie's

583
00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:41,640
Speaker 4: up there, those three records would play, and I used

584
00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:45,360
Speaker 4: to and I took a a guest and it worked,

585
00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:49,080
Speaker 4: and I was making a shitload of money, and I was,

586
00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:51,880
Speaker 4: you know, people saying, how are you doing this? And

587
00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:53,680
Speaker 4: then I realized I just kept it to myself. I

588
00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:55,440
Speaker 4: didn't tell my father, I didn't tell my uncle, I

589
00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:56,640
Speaker 4: didn't tal I didn't even tell Frankie.

590
00:31:56,960 --> 00:32:00,960
Speaker 2: So basically, you're saying Frankie would use Larry Levan as

591
00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:02,440
Speaker 2: his human shizam.

592
00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:06,200
Speaker 4: As his right So everybody has like, you know what,

593
00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:08,840
Speaker 4: what's that? So Larry was Franky's.

594
00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:14,920
Speaker 2: So did what I'm asking though, is the payola truly

595
00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:18,480
Speaker 2: truly stoped? And what was what was like the case

596
00:32:18,560 --> 00:32:22,160
Speaker 2: that broke Paola, like to the point where the FEDS

597
00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:22,800
Speaker 2: got involved.

598
00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:24,960
Speaker 4: I mean there were a lot of cases. There was

599
00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:27,960
Speaker 4: something in the late eighties of the mid eighties on

600
00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:32,400
Speaker 4: the pop side, but I never really I'm being honest.

601
00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:34,520
Speaker 2: I'm asking who would be the person that would snitch

602
00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:38,719
Speaker 2: and say, hey, like, is it is it a label

603
00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:42,760
Speaker 2: that can't get airtime or can't get played? And they're like, well,

604
00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:46,000
Speaker 2: obviously they're playing thriller every twelve seconds, So let's call

605
00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:49,800
Speaker 2: the FEDS on. It's almost like the DJ drama situation

606
00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:53,280
Speaker 2: to me, like who has enough time to like make

607
00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:57,520
Speaker 2: a phone call to the top of the pyramid to say, hey,

608
00:32:57,840 --> 00:32:59,520
Speaker 2: we got to arrest blah blah blah.

609
00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:02,480
Speaker 4: Because me personally, I think I think it were the

610
00:33:02,560 --> 00:33:05,280
Speaker 4: markets that were probably not getting whatever they needed to

611
00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:07,600
Speaker 4: get and they were probably riding out on the bigger markets.

612
00:33:07,760 --> 00:33:11,720
Speaker 4: But you're right, who has the time? I don't understand

613
00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:14,240
Speaker 4: the rat mentality, So it's.

614
00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:16,160
Speaker 5: A mean it's only enough space, but so much based

615
00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:20,080
Speaker 5: on a playlist, So yeah, if you take enough five slots,

616
00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:20,959
Speaker 5: that's a problem.

617
00:33:22,080 --> 00:33:25,920
Speaker 2: Did you find it, like I know there was a

618
00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:30,160
Speaker 2: sort of a seed change in around ninety six, like

619
00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:34,600
Speaker 2: once Clear Channel, once a new level of radio comes

620
00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:38,480
Speaker 2: in which like they're now pre programming songs way ahead

621
00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:41,280
Speaker 2: of time. For you, what was the period in which

622
00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:46,920
Speaker 2: your actual DJ, your personality when did they lose their

623
00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:50,720
Speaker 2: power like the Frankie Croppers of the world, the Taste Makers.

624
00:33:51,160 --> 00:33:53,880
Speaker 4: Well, Frankie was the program direct so he never he

625
00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:57,400
Speaker 4: never really lost his power. Like you said, I think

626
00:33:57,440 --> 00:33:59,320
Speaker 4: when the Clear Channels came in the world, when it

627
00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:01,600
Speaker 4: when it became when it became corporate, you know you

628
00:34:01,880 --> 00:34:04,479
Speaker 4: you were trying to ask earlier. It's like, when did

629
00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:07,959
Speaker 4: the Mob leave the music business? Right, or you know whatever.

630
00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:12,000
Speaker 4: I think once everything started getting corporate, like when Vegas

631
00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:17,840
Speaker 4: came and the major corporation started getting buying the hotels boom,

632
00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:22,960
Speaker 4: I think when major corporations started buying the major record companies,

633
00:34:23,200 --> 00:34:27,719
Speaker 4: like when General Electric, you know, I think, I get yeah,

634
00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:30,279
Speaker 4: you know, so I think that's when all that shit

635
00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:32,680
Speaker 4: just got cut to the wayside.

636
00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:36,879
Speaker 2: All right, So in your opinion, what's the better era,

637
00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:40,280
Speaker 2: the Mob era of the record business or the corporate

638
00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:41,480
Speaker 2: era of the record business.

639
00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:43,880
Speaker 4: To me, the Mob era, of course, it was more

640
00:34:43,880 --> 00:34:44,800
Speaker 4: of a creative business.

641
00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:47,480
Speaker 5: But then a Mob era it was it was a

642
00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:52,400
Speaker 5: ceiling for people of color to be in executive positions

643
00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:54,279
Speaker 5: and to make decisions and stuff like that.

644
00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:58,480
Speaker 2: So it's kind of like right also, but then the

645
00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:02,080
Speaker 2: other side of that is a lot of the creative

646
00:35:03,239 --> 00:35:06,480
Speaker 2: you know, a guy like Crocker or even you. I mean,

647
00:35:06,760 --> 00:35:09,960
Speaker 2: if you decided like you could have been the person

648
00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:10,920
Speaker 2: that broke the roots out.

649
00:35:11,040 --> 00:35:14,000
Speaker 3: I know that's true for radio people. It sucked.

650
00:35:14,520 --> 00:35:16,400
Speaker 5: I mean, however, I will say it didn't suck for

651
00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:21,040
Speaker 5: mixed DJs up until the odds because although corporate took

652
00:35:21,080 --> 00:35:24,040
Speaker 5: over radio, mixed DJs could still do they little wiggle

653
00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:25,120
Speaker 5: wiggle wiggle you know.

654
00:35:25,840 --> 00:35:28,920
Speaker 4: Maybe I mean they still like the program directors have

655
00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:33,440
Speaker 4: to play this record, so you know, I think they.

656
00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:34,279
Speaker 3: Was but they did, they did.

657
00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:35,640
Speaker 5: I just mean it was it was a middle and

658
00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:38,680
Speaker 5: in between of what a MIRR was talking about with corporate. Yes,

659
00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:40,680
Speaker 5: but then all of a sudden, mix DJs had to

660
00:35:40,719 --> 00:35:42,719
Speaker 5: play certain records that their pds were telling them that

661
00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:45,000
Speaker 5: they had to play. But I'm just saying you also

662
00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:47,400
Speaker 5: remember if you think about it, and were certain DJs

663
00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:49,600
Speaker 5: in Philadelphia, they was getting a couple of dollars for

664
00:35:49,880 --> 00:35:50,439
Speaker 5: the mix show.

665
00:35:51,560 --> 00:35:53,640
Speaker 2: Well, I'll say, now it's a little exciting. I mean,

666
00:35:53,800 --> 00:35:57,279
Speaker 2: I you know, I don't know how far what fump

667
00:35:57,360 --> 00:36:01,600
Speaker 2: Master Flex is doing now, huh, which is you know, like,

668
00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:06,440
Speaker 2: to me, this is probably the best thing that I've

669
00:36:06,520 --> 00:36:10,920
Speaker 2: seen fump Master Flex dude during his entire tenure, like

670
00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:17,960
Speaker 2: at Hot ninety seven, which is basically challenge acts to

671
00:36:18,480 --> 00:36:21,719
Speaker 2: you know, provide him with us. Okay, you complain out

672
00:36:21,760 --> 00:36:24,000
Speaker 2: and support you. Okay, you got seven days to make

673
00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:28,480
Speaker 2: a song and bring it to me, and it's really

674
00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:31,719
Speaker 2: at least the buzz of it now, at least from

675
00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:35,360
Speaker 2: like my inner circle. Cats are now like it's almost

676
00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:38,480
Speaker 2: like they have a reason to live, Like suddenly their

677
00:36:38,520 --> 00:36:42,160
Speaker 2: antenna is on high and they're like more excited to

678
00:36:42,200 --> 00:36:45,960
Speaker 2: make music now because of the pressure of Flex called

679
00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:47,799
Speaker 2: me out. I got to have a song in seven days.

680
00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:52,960
Speaker 2: So now, wow, No, it's it's buzzed. I mean even

681
00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:55,799
Speaker 2: to the point where you know, we us like, hey

682
00:36:56,440 --> 00:36:58,560
Speaker 2: we might get that call. Let's let's start getting our

683
00:36:58,640 --> 00:37:00,840
Speaker 2: arsenal ready. Like that's things happening.

684
00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:03,919
Speaker 3: So that's an interesting question for Steve because I was like, man,

685
00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:04,600
Speaker 3: it just makes me.

686
00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:06,640
Speaker 5: It really reminds me of like when mixed DJ's like

687
00:37:06,760 --> 00:37:09,359
Speaker 5: in every city there was a mixed DJ that was King, right,

688
00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:11,919
Speaker 5: I mean kind of in a way right radio mixed DJ.

689
00:37:12,320 --> 00:37:15,000
Speaker 3: So now I'm curious if Funk.

690
00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:16,840
Speaker 5: Glass and Flecks and people like that still have the

691
00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:21,640
Speaker 5: same level of like pull influence that they used to.

692
00:37:22,400 --> 00:37:25,920
Speaker 4: Like I think with Flex, I think he's still I

693
00:37:25,960 --> 00:37:28,319
Speaker 4: think his voice is still something as you guys were

694
00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:29,880
Speaker 4: just saying, you know, if he's on Instagram and he's

695
00:37:29,960 --> 00:37:33,640
Speaker 4: challenging really to put out a record, you know, you

696
00:37:33,719 --> 00:37:35,799
Speaker 4: know Bus to just put something out the other day,

697
00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:38,840
Speaker 4: you know, he challenged Buss to put something out. So

698
00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:43,160
Speaker 4: I think it's really just in your DNA, like in

699
00:37:43,239 --> 00:37:44,000
Speaker 4: your personality.

700
00:37:44,160 --> 00:37:44,320
Speaker 5: You know.

701
00:37:45,160 --> 00:37:49,239
Speaker 4: Flex you know has always you know been you know,

702
00:37:49,400 --> 00:37:52,280
Speaker 4: he's bringing like he you know, he's always reinventing himself.

703
00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:54,279
Speaker 4: You know, you got to take your hat off to him.

704
00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:56,160
Speaker 4: He's making it, he's keeping himself relevant.

705
00:37:56,680 --> 00:37:59,720
Speaker 2: I hope this this spreads like wildfire, like we complaining

706
00:38:00,239 --> 00:38:03,799
Speaker 2: about the state of hip hop, but oftentimes, like we're

707
00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:08,200
Speaker 2: not challenged to really you know, bring it because oftentimes

708
00:38:08,239 --> 00:38:12,040
Speaker 2: it's just a survival game, you know for a lot

709
00:38:12,120 --> 00:38:12,720
Speaker 2: of these acts.

710
00:38:13,160 --> 00:38:15,080
Speaker 4: Now, you're right, but you know what, I challenge the

711
00:38:15,200 --> 00:38:20,200
Speaker 4: executives too, to start finding a new route, you know,

712
00:38:20,480 --> 00:38:24,560
Speaker 4: and taking chances and get off yours and be outside

713
00:38:25,160 --> 00:38:28,439
Speaker 4: and and find something new and exciting that thirty years

714
00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:30,839
Speaker 4: from now it's going to have fucking longevity, that it's

715
00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:33,520
Speaker 4: still going to be relevant to something. And these executives

716
00:38:33,600 --> 00:38:36,520
Speaker 4: today aren't doing that. Preach and that's and and and

717
00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:38,960
Speaker 4: and that's and that's coming from the top. I'm not

718
00:38:39,040 --> 00:38:42,200
Speaker 4: even blaming them. You know, it's all about a fucking

719
00:38:42,280 --> 00:38:45,960
Speaker 4: TikTok and a number. You know, I just remamped my

720
00:38:46,080 --> 00:38:48,399
Speaker 4: dad's label and it's like, and you know, my son

721
00:38:48,480 --> 00:38:51,960
Speaker 4: is running the labies twenty seventy years old, and I'm like,

722
00:38:52,400 --> 00:38:55,719
Speaker 4: his name is Alex. I'm like, Alex. People still got

723
00:38:55,840 --> 00:38:58,279
Speaker 4: to touch the fucking street and they got to touch people,

724
00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:03,399
Speaker 4: you know, So find the fucking way where you can

725
00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:07,359
Speaker 4: merge both, you know, And that's what quality control, that's

726
00:39:07,360 --> 00:39:10,000
Speaker 4: what topic, you know. And it's like they still own

727
00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:16,720
Speaker 4: the streets, and so the business doesn't really change. Words change,

728
00:39:17,080 --> 00:39:20,080
Speaker 4: but people. You know, what made the music business so great.

729
00:39:20,680 --> 00:39:24,759
Speaker 4: People took chances. I mean, look like what Russell did,

730
00:39:24,960 --> 00:39:27,360
Speaker 4: Joe and Sylvia Robinson. You know, let's go back to

731
00:39:27,440 --> 00:39:31,279
Speaker 4: the time of hip hop, right, I mean they all

732
00:39:31,400 --> 00:39:32,080
Speaker 4: took chances.

733
00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:40,719
Speaker 2: I know about that initial period in eighty three, but

734
00:39:40,880 --> 00:39:47,000
Speaker 2: once hip hop really truly gains momentum, What was your

735
00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:50,759
Speaker 2: view on it in terms of like what it was

736
00:39:51,160 --> 00:39:55,200
Speaker 2: in the mid eighties to late eighties during that sort

737
00:39:55,200 --> 00:39:59,279
Speaker 2: of that first golden era, What was your role in it.

738
00:40:00,239 --> 00:40:02,759
Speaker 4: I was just an independent promotion guy at the time.

739
00:40:02,880 --> 00:40:03,719
Speaker 2: You know the three.

740
00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:06,000
Speaker 4: You know, there's a guy by the name of Hiram

741
00:40:06,080 --> 00:40:11,960
Speaker 4: Hicks was from Philly, oh yeah, and we became extremely close.

742
00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:15,200
Speaker 4: And you know, he was extremely close to Mike Bivin

743
00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:18,920
Speaker 4: from New Addition, and they were coming up to New

744
00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:20,719
Speaker 4: York and I was in the I was. I wasn't

745
00:40:20,719 --> 00:40:22,560
Speaker 4: on the road at the time. I was up and

746
00:40:22,760 --> 00:40:25,040
Speaker 4: I was, I was in New York and he was,

747
00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:28,000
Speaker 4: I'm gonna be in towent with Mike from the audition,

748
00:40:28,280 --> 00:40:29,960
Speaker 4: and I was like, all right, cool, come by the office.

749
00:40:30,520 --> 00:40:34,000
Speaker 4: We came by. I guess they're having issues with their manager.

750
00:40:34,040 --> 00:40:38,120
Speaker 4: They wanted to find their manager. Hiram, myself, my dad,

751
00:40:38,160 --> 00:40:40,360
Speaker 4: and my uncle. We started my managing the audition. That

752
00:40:40,520 --> 00:40:43,200
Speaker 4: was like eighty five eighty six, so.

753
00:40:43,320 --> 00:40:47,560
Speaker 2: For the All for Love period, no I remember now.

754
00:40:47,440 --> 00:40:50,399
Speaker 4: I'll tell you the we got involved with the Once

755
00:40:50,440 --> 00:40:51,880
Speaker 4: a Lifetime Grove single.

756
00:40:52,600 --> 00:40:58,000
Speaker 2: Okay, so right after right after Cooling now yeah, yeah, okay.

757
00:40:58,040 --> 00:41:03,920
Speaker 4: Okay, and then when was the Any Heartbreak album eighty

758
00:41:03,960 --> 00:41:09,959
Speaker 4: seven eight eight. So I moved to la in eighty

759
00:41:10,040 --> 00:41:13,560
Speaker 4: eight as we're managing New Edition, and I hooked up

760
00:41:13,560 --> 00:41:19,879
Speaker 4: with a label called Malicious viol which at Young FC. Yeah,

761
00:41:20,600 --> 00:41:23,440
Speaker 4: so that was Mike Ross Rick Ross that day and

762
00:41:23,560 --> 00:41:26,920
Speaker 4: then the tone Wold video I think costs like five

763
00:41:27,040 --> 00:41:29,759
Speaker 4: hundred hours. Yes, And there was a guy they named

764
00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:34,680
Speaker 4: Rick Krim. Yes, just Rick was at MTV and he

765
00:41:34,680 --> 00:41:36,839
Speaker 4: would just happen to be just a really good friend

766
00:41:36,880 --> 00:41:40,879
Speaker 4: of mine, you know. And MTV was playing just rock shit,

767
00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:43,120
Speaker 4: so I never had any business with him. And they

768
00:41:43,160 --> 00:41:45,719
Speaker 4: were starting. He called me up and he said, we

769
00:41:45,760 --> 00:41:49,439
Speaker 4: was starting this new thing called Joe MTV. This wasn't dead,

770
00:41:49,560 --> 00:41:52,960
Speaker 4: this was just weekly because it was with Freddie the fact, right.

771
00:41:53,640 --> 00:41:56,279
Speaker 4: I said, Oh, it's funny that you said that, I'm

772
00:41:56,280 --> 00:41:58,680
Speaker 4: going to send you a video with this kid and

773
00:41:58,840 --> 00:42:01,480
Speaker 4: see if you like it. And it was torn Boat,

774
00:42:01,719 --> 00:42:03,839
Speaker 4: you know, and they put it in your for one

775
00:42:03,880 --> 00:42:05,920
Speaker 4: week and then it went into whatever the word was,

776
00:42:06,160 --> 00:42:10,960
Speaker 4: buzz bin or whatever, and the record just took off.

777
00:42:11,880 --> 00:42:14,440
Speaker 2: All right, So casually just dropping these bombs, can you

778
00:42:15,600 --> 00:42:19,480
Speaker 2: pre loud? Can you just name other projects you just

779
00:42:21,040 --> 00:42:23,760
Speaker 2: just happened to Forrest gump your way into.

780
00:42:24,480 --> 00:42:28,480
Speaker 4: From eighty seven to until I sold Laps in ninety nine,

781
00:42:28,680 --> 00:42:30,440
Speaker 4: you know, the only record I never really worked good.

782
00:42:31,160 --> 00:42:33,480
Speaker 4: I mean I pretty much worked everything except for Death ROWT.

783
00:42:34,320 --> 00:42:37,560
Speaker 4: But I even did some records for Russell and and

784
00:42:38,480 --> 00:42:42,240
Speaker 4: puff puffed at or something, but ship from Dose Effects

785
00:42:42,320 --> 00:42:48,319
Speaker 4: to EPMD to K Solo to Q tip and try.

786
00:42:48,280 --> 00:42:51,160
Speaker 3: To well, what's the first street team you did, though, Steve?

787
00:42:51,239 --> 00:42:51,279
Speaker 5: Like?

788
00:42:51,360 --> 00:42:51,919
Speaker 3: What was the first?

789
00:42:52,120 --> 00:42:54,480
Speaker 4: Like the first record was brand newby and slowed Down.

790
00:42:54,840 --> 00:42:56,680
Speaker 5: I just I need you to break down your whole

791
00:42:56,760 --> 00:42:58,520
Speaker 5: I'm sorry, Mirror, I don't even break down your whole

792
00:42:58,600 --> 00:43:01,440
Speaker 5: mind state of creating street Team because I'm fascinated from

793
00:43:01,640 --> 00:43:03,919
Speaker 5: being at a radio station and them then turning their

794
00:43:03,960 --> 00:43:07,440
Speaker 5: promo teams into street teams, and every other record company

795
00:43:07,520 --> 00:43:08,880
Speaker 5: turn in their think your situation.

796
00:43:09,120 --> 00:43:11,760
Speaker 3: So tell me, please, you have to ask.

797
00:43:11,640 --> 00:43:15,440
Speaker 2: Your question, because what was the year that you consider

798
00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:20,000
Speaker 2: street team to actually be like a flag planning moment?

799
00:43:20,360 --> 00:43:22,120
Speaker 2: And are you saying that before then?

800
00:43:22,480 --> 00:43:25,080
Speaker 4: So I'm gonna tall I'm going to tell you, okay

801
00:43:25,160 --> 00:43:28,120
Speaker 4: for me, okay, when the brand New being Slowdown come out?

802
00:43:28,320 --> 00:43:34,120
Speaker 4: All right? So eighty nine, well, no, I would say

803
00:43:34,400 --> 00:43:37,759
Speaker 4: eighty nine. I took my last three thousand dollars MM

804
00:43:38,600 --> 00:43:41,360
Speaker 4: and I made these pamphlets and I sent it to

805
00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:43,879
Speaker 4: all the record companies, and I came and I came

806
00:43:43,920 --> 00:43:45,800
Speaker 4: to New York and I stood up meetings with everybody,

807
00:43:46,600 --> 00:43:48,239
Speaker 4: and I told them we were going to do. We

808
00:43:48,320 --> 00:43:50,000
Speaker 4: weren't going to focus on radio because you said you

809
00:43:50,040 --> 00:43:52,280
Speaker 4: came from radio, right, you weren't playing that many rapp words.

810
00:43:52,760 --> 00:43:54,600
Speaker 5: Yes, the people before me, five years before me, Yes,

811
00:43:54,640 --> 00:43:58,239
Speaker 5: but I got you ye right, So nine wrap radio.

812
00:43:58,600 --> 00:44:01,600
Speaker 4: Yeah right. So at the at the end of the day,

813
00:44:01,719 --> 00:44:04,680
Speaker 4: I came back with one hundred and forty six thousand

814
00:44:04,680 --> 00:44:10,160
Speaker 4: dollars run of business, oh pamphlet from the pamphlet, and

815
00:44:10,560 --> 00:44:13,120
Speaker 4: it was just and I covered everything, like, you know,

816
00:44:13,640 --> 00:44:16,160
Speaker 4: we empowered the mixed show DJ, We empowered the college

817
00:44:16,280 --> 00:44:20,640
Speaker 4: radio like and just you know, the barbershops like and

818
00:44:20,760 --> 00:44:22,760
Speaker 4: it was just wherever there were a group of people,

819
00:44:23,960 --> 00:44:26,160
Speaker 4: we would just go and attack and just you know

820
00:44:26,480 --> 00:44:28,480
Speaker 4: where the map, you know. And my philosophy is even

821
00:44:28,560 --> 00:44:30,360
Speaker 4: to this day, how many times have you ready to

822
00:44:30,440 --> 00:44:32,600
Speaker 4: be you if it's a recular movie, a restaurant whatever

823
00:44:32,640 --> 00:44:36,000
Speaker 4: it was that the review is straight garbage, but the

824
00:44:36,080 --> 00:44:40,120
Speaker 4: ship was incredible. Shank me down right, really, I mean

825
00:44:40,280 --> 00:44:42,680
Speaker 4: bad news, harviews.

826
00:44:43,280 --> 00:44:48,000
Speaker 2: We're still here. Yeah, So you're saying before that, like,

827
00:44:48,239 --> 00:44:52,360
Speaker 2: because I can't imagine New York without seeing snipes of

828
00:44:52,440 --> 00:44:56,880
Speaker 2: an album coming out or stickers everywhere of all those things.

829
00:44:57,280 --> 00:45:02,240
Speaker 2: So between you and Renee, who was the first to really.

830
00:45:03,120 --> 00:45:04,840
Speaker 4: That was early night, you know. But I'm gonna you

831
00:45:04,880 --> 00:45:07,320
Speaker 4: know the one when we did I'm gonna get that

832
00:45:07,400 --> 00:45:10,920
Speaker 4: Joe a lot of credit. Okay, So when we signed punk,

833
00:45:11,880 --> 00:45:15,320
Speaker 4: you drove down the West Side Highway. We must have

834
00:45:15,320 --> 00:45:17,680
Speaker 4: spent twenty thousand dollars on posted.

835
00:45:17,760 --> 00:45:21,960
Speaker 3: I mean, You're literally was black and yellows right from the.

836
00:45:22,080 --> 00:45:25,000
Speaker 4: Bridge to fucking Basketball City.

837
00:45:25,360 --> 00:45:26,960
Speaker 3: What can I see those? I can see it?

838
00:45:27,719 --> 00:45:31,520
Speaker 4: That's I mean that that was Joe saying this is

839
00:45:31,560 --> 00:45:33,880
Speaker 4: what we got to do, you know, And and that

840
00:45:34,040 --> 00:45:36,080
Speaker 4: was just my philosophy. It's like, I didn't grow up

841
00:45:36,120 --> 00:45:38,560
Speaker 4: on the street. The street excites me. I mean I

842
00:45:38,640 --> 00:45:42,279
Speaker 4: go along alur right, So who am I to say

843
00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:44,600
Speaker 4: no to somebody like when they had that type of

844
00:45:44,719 --> 00:45:46,040
Speaker 4: passion and.

845
00:45:46,080 --> 00:45:49,799
Speaker 3: The full concept of everybody wearing something similar to Yeah.

846
00:45:50,400 --> 00:45:52,120
Speaker 4: But like my head of my the head of my

847
00:45:52,160 --> 00:45:54,319
Speaker 4: street team in New York closed me up one night

848
00:45:54,840 --> 00:45:57,800
Speaker 4: fucking ecstatic. He was, I just wrapped the attenor of

849
00:45:57,840 --> 00:46:02,160
Speaker 4: the Empire State Building. I'm like, say what, And I'm

850
00:46:02,239 --> 00:46:06,440
Speaker 4: like the antenna of the I'm like, first of all,

851
00:46:06,480 --> 00:46:09,080
Speaker 4: that's the dumbest thing like, I mean, you know, like

852
00:46:09,200 --> 00:46:12,680
Speaker 4: you can. It's the dumbest thing I've ever heard because

853
00:46:12,680 --> 00:46:13,680
Speaker 4: you can't fucking see it.

854
00:46:15,040 --> 00:46:17,000
Speaker 5: So on that note, then have you had to bail

855
00:46:17,040 --> 00:46:19,319
Speaker 5: people out of jail and stuff? Because sometimes three teens

856
00:46:19,360 --> 00:46:21,200
Speaker 5: go hard? I was like this say, and then they

857
00:46:21,280 --> 00:46:21,839
Speaker 5: fight each other.

858
00:46:23,600 --> 00:46:26,920
Speaker 2: You violate the post no bills of all, like when

859
00:46:26,960 --> 00:46:29,440
Speaker 2: you walk into our office, like behind me exceptions.

860
00:46:29,719 --> 00:46:34,000
Speaker 4: You know, there was like five bells, bonds and a

861
00:46:34,000 --> 00:46:36,080
Speaker 4: bunch of criminal attorneys pretty much in every city.

862
00:46:38,080 --> 00:46:40,719
Speaker 2: Wait a minute, it just hit me. It just hit

863
00:46:40,800 --> 00:46:45,759
Speaker 2: me the night. If you you older Roots fans can

864
00:46:45,840 --> 00:46:50,480
Speaker 2: remember the infamous Old Dirty Bastard moment with the Roots

865
00:46:50,640 --> 00:46:57,120
Speaker 2: at uh at Irving Plaza. I believe that Irving Plaza

866
00:46:57,560 --> 00:47:02,400
Speaker 2: was one of the first clubs too, and the Roots

867
00:47:02,560 --> 00:47:05,560
Speaker 2: not because of us in general or or the fight

868
00:47:05,680 --> 00:47:09,000
Speaker 2: between Old Dirty Bastard. What's what's the thing when you

869
00:47:09,600 --> 00:47:15,840
Speaker 2: get spray paint and then you lay a like you

870
00:47:15,960 --> 00:47:18,239
Speaker 2: lay a grid on the on the ground, and then.

871
00:47:18,160 --> 00:47:21,600
Speaker 4: You spray paint it and then it's just stencil.

872
00:47:22,280 --> 00:47:28,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, I remember that that there was a bunch of

873
00:47:29,000 --> 00:47:31,960
Speaker 2: hell on Earth. There was a bunch of mob deep

874
00:47:32,040 --> 00:47:38,280
Speaker 2: hell on Earth. Stencils all over Irving Plaza.

875
00:47:38,640 --> 00:47:38,719
Speaker 5: And.

876
00:47:40,640 --> 00:47:44,680
Speaker 4: You know there was also a bunch of Nike swishes too.

877
00:47:45,400 --> 00:47:50,320
Speaker 2: Okay, no, no, I'm not playing.

878
00:47:50,440 --> 00:47:50,600
Speaker 4: You know.

879
00:47:50,800 --> 00:47:54,000
Speaker 2: It was just like there was just like no more wrapping,

880
00:47:54,400 --> 00:47:59,880
Speaker 2: like they actually mob deep like so for like two years,

881
00:48:00,160 --> 00:48:02,800
Speaker 2: like no hip hop was allowed an IRB implative just

882
00:48:02,880 --> 00:48:07,080
Speaker 2: because of the level of Street team. But okay, without

883
00:48:07,200 --> 00:48:10,840
Speaker 2: a college degree in terms of knowing the power that

884
00:48:10,960 --> 00:48:15,000
Speaker 2: you have with this type of marketing, because you know, essentially,

885
00:48:15,680 --> 00:48:20,439
Speaker 2: if you're in a car, you got about two point

886
00:48:20,600 --> 00:48:22,759
Speaker 2: nine seconds to just look to your right to see

887
00:48:22,840 --> 00:48:25,480
Speaker 2: something and have it stick to your brain. Were you

888
00:48:26,840 --> 00:48:29,759
Speaker 2: in terms like doing these snipes and doing this this

889
00:48:29,920 --> 00:48:36,120
Speaker 2: sort of level of street promotion, were you also like

890
00:48:36,239 --> 00:48:39,279
Speaker 2: designing the snipes, like would you know that with big

891
00:48:39,360 --> 00:48:41,520
Speaker 2: pun that yellow and black will stand out?

892
00:48:41,680 --> 00:48:46,160
Speaker 4: And so we had our own art, you know. So

893
00:48:46,440 --> 00:48:49,000
Speaker 4: I mean they would be working twenty four seven, like

894
00:48:49,160 --> 00:48:51,840
Speaker 4: you know, and they would just until Joe approved whatever

895
00:48:52,400 --> 00:48:56,000
Speaker 4: needed to get done. Joe approved it. But you know,

896
00:48:57,200 --> 00:49:00,359
Speaker 4: but with the street team, to me, everybody as their

897
00:49:00,440 --> 00:49:02,759
Speaker 4: research now you know, and you know, is it doing this,

898
00:49:02,920 --> 00:49:05,920
Speaker 4: it's doing that. But whatever the city was in, like

899
00:49:06,080 --> 00:49:10,000
Speaker 4: we knew the most popular bus, where the kids were going,

900
00:49:10,280 --> 00:49:14,280
Speaker 4: you know, from school to to the to the deli

901
00:49:14,440 --> 00:49:17,160
Speaker 4: or you know whatever it was, so that that's the

902
00:49:17,239 --> 00:49:20,360
Speaker 4: type of research that that we were doing it. I

903
00:49:20,440 --> 00:49:23,719
Speaker 4: didn't care about anything else. It's just where are the kids,

904
00:49:23,800 --> 00:49:25,719
Speaker 4: and where are the kids populating? And where the kids

905
00:49:25,760 --> 00:49:28,960
Speaker 4: hanging out? You know, And that's and that's really all

906
00:49:29,000 --> 00:49:31,960
Speaker 4: I care about. I didn't care about every time we

907
00:49:32,120 --> 00:49:34,000
Speaker 4: came with the record, I would say, if we get

908
00:49:34,040 --> 00:49:37,880
Speaker 4: these five stations, we'll do three hundred thousand. We get

909
00:49:37,960 --> 00:49:41,000
Speaker 4: these fifteen stations, we'll go go. We get twenty five stations,

910
00:49:41,239 --> 00:49:43,919
Speaker 4: we'll go planning. If we run the gamut, we're gonna

911
00:49:43,920 --> 00:49:47,400
Speaker 4: go multiplan. I didn't give a fuck about that whole thing.

912
00:49:47,560 --> 00:49:49,359
Speaker 4: All I can't, you know, I have a corny saying

913
00:49:49,400 --> 00:49:51,759
Speaker 4: the streets don't lie. And it could be whatever you

914
00:49:51,800 --> 00:49:53,640
Speaker 4: could be on a day or drive franch are one

915
00:49:53,719 --> 00:49:56,880
Speaker 4: hundred and twenty fifty, whatever it is. You know, you

916
00:49:57,080 --> 00:49:58,720
Speaker 4: just got to find your base and your foundation.

917
00:49:59,800 --> 00:50:05,440
Speaker 2: So so with having this this this well oiled machine

918
00:50:06,600 --> 00:50:10,640
Speaker 2: establishing in the early nineties and whatnot, why step into

919
00:50:10,840 --> 00:50:15,399
Speaker 2: starting your own label? Why not like turn this into

920
00:50:16,400 --> 00:50:18,759
Speaker 2: like the one thing you focus on and making that.

921
00:50:19,080 --> 00:50:24,359
Speaker 4: The So this is a great question. So I think

922
00:50:24,400 --> 00:50:27,080
Speaker 4: I'm a multi multi millionaires. I'm doing a few hundred

923
00:50:27,080 --> 00:50:29,840
Speaker 4: thousand dollars a year now, and I come back to

924
00:50:29,960 --> 00:50:32,480
Speaker 4: New York. I'm living in LA I come back to

925
00:50:32,520 --> 00:50:34,640
Speaker 4: New York for my cousin's wedding. And there was a

926
00:50:34,680 --> 00:50:37,360
Speaker 4: guy that named a Jerry Ad from the Famous Artists Agency,

927
00:50:37,840 --> 00:50:39,800
Speaker 4: and every time I came, every time I came to

928
00:50:39,880 --> 00:50:41,560
Speaker 4: New York, he would let me work out of his office.

929
00:50:42,239 --> 00:50:43,280
Speaker 4: And he goes, I don't understand.

930
00:50:43,320 --> 00:50:43,880
Speaker 2: He was, what do you mean?

931
00:50:43,920 --> 00:50:45,279
Speaker 4: He goes, why don't you have your own labor? Like,

932
00:50:45,360 --> 00:50:47,319
Speaker 4: why the fuck do I want my own label? I'm good,

933
00:50:47,560 --> 00:50:50,759
Speaker 4: Like I would work the three o'clock change, go to

934
00:50:50,960 --> 00:50:54,680
Speaker 4: basketball courts, playball, go home, shower and eat dinner, go

935
00:50:54,760 --> 00:50:57,640
Speaker 4: back to your office and send out my reports. So

936
00:50:58,440 --> 00:51:01,319
Speaker 4: you know, as we said earlier, and my family really

937
00:51:01,360 --> 00:51:05,399
Speaker 4: doesn't play. So he goes, well, we take this meeting

938
00:51:05,440 --> 00:51:08,000
Speaker 4: with Paul Marshall. I'm like, yeah, Paul is my dad's lafer.

939
00:51:08,160 --> 00:51:09,719
Speaker 4: So you know, Paul says, I could get you this

940
00:51:09,800 --> 00:51:12,719
Speaker 4: tremendous deal with BMG. I'm like, I'm good. I don't

941
00:51:12,760 --> 00:51:15,000
Speaker 4: want it right. So by the time I get to

942
00:51:16,000 --> 00:51:18,279
Speaker 4: Richardsson's apartment, who is my partner or a lot of

943
00:51:18,320 --> 00:51:21,279
Speaker 4: my childhood best friend, my Dad's called and he goes,

944
00:51:22,440 --> 00:51:24,160
Speaker 4: I need you to come to the house. I go,

945
00:51:24,239 --> 00:51:26,520
Speaker 4: I'm in the city. It's a forty five minute train ride, Like,

946
00:51:26,560 --> 00:51:28,200
Speaker 4: who knows what time to train for the country is.

947
00:51:28,560 --> 00:51:30,239
Speaker 4: I don't give a fuck, come to the house now.

948
00:51:31,600 --> 00:51:35,200
Speaker 4: And he was with you know, some of his people,

949
00:51:35,360 --> 00:51:37,000
Speaker 4: and you know, he was ready to beat the shit

950
00:51:37,000 --> 00:51:39,640
Speaker 4: out of me. He goes, don't you ever turn down

951
00:51:39,680 --> 00:51:41,800
Speaker 4: a fucking record deal? He goes, you know the difference

952
00:51:41,840 --> 00:51:45,120
Speaker 4: between a record deal or a label deal and what

953
00:51:45,280 --> 00:51:48,759
Speaker 4: you're doing now. I'm like, no, he goes, what you're

954
00:51:48,800 --> 00:51:50,640
Speaker 4: doing now, you're only as good as your last record

955
00:51:50,719 --> 00:51:54,279
Speaker 4: or your last contract. With owning a record company, you

956
00:51:54,360 --> 00:51:57,920
Speaker 4: have true assets, so even when you're not doing something,

957
00:51:58,440 --> 00:52:01,040
Speaker 4: it could be making money. And it was probably the

958
00:52:01,120 --> 00:52:06,000
Speaker 4: first time that we ever agreed, and like it clicked

959
00:52:06,040 --> 00:52:07,560
Speaker 4: into my fucking head. I was like, you know what,

960
00:52:08,120 --> 00:52:10,120
Speaker 4: you're right, And I said, you know what, I'm gonna

961
00:52:10,160 --> 00:52:13,480
Speaker 4: call Paul in the morning and I'll go see He

962
00:52:13,520 --> 00:52:16,840
Speaker 4: didn't believe me. Knowing how fucking crazy I am. So

963
00:52:17,120 --> 00:52:19,160
Speaker 4: he called Paul. He says, we'll see you at two o'clock,

964
00:52:22,400 --> 00:52:26,280
Speaker 4: and you know, and that's how Loud pretty much started.

965
00:52:26,719 --> 00:52:29,560
Speaker 3: I was just curious your father, since you guys always

966
00:52:29,560 --> 00:52:31,279
Speaker 3: wondering how he thought it about hip hop.

967
00:52:32,280 --> 00:52:33,960
Speaker 4: My dad put us first hip hop record. I mean,

968
00:52:34,000 --> 00:52:37,120
Speaker 4: but my dad never consider himself. He never considered himself

969
00:52:37,120 --> 00:52:39,239
Speaker 4: an an ar guy. He just considered himself a promotion guy.

970
00:52:39,400 --> 00:52:44,000
Speaker 4: And you know, and he just truly loved people. And

971
00:52:44,120 --> 00:52:46,399
Speaker 4: he didn't see he didn't see color, he didn't see anything.

972
00:52:46,400 --> 00:52:46,520
Speaker 3: You know.

973
00:52:47,239 --> 00:52:50,120
Speaker 4: It's like our house was like United.

974
00:52:49,960 --> 00:52:52,360
Speaker 5: Nations, right, So you guys, it was a nice evolution.

975
00:52:52,440 --> 00:52:53,840
Speaker 5: That's what I kind of mean for your family, Like

976
00:52:53,920 --> 00:52:55,400
Speaker 5: you were the perfect kind of evolution.

977
00:52:56,280 --> 00:52:57,799
Speaker 4: I mean, Sharpton lives in our house.

978
00:52:59,239 --> 00:53:03,920
Speaker 2: The first act you signed was Twist, correct. Yeah, So

979
00:53:06,520 --> 00:53:10,200
Speaker 2: it's always curious to see flagship artists on these big labels,

980
00:53:10,280 --> 00:53:12,920
Speaker 2: Like you know, I'm just finding out that Rico Suave

981
00:53:13,160 --> 00:53:18,360
Speaker 2: was the first act on the interscope. What was that

982
00:53:18,480 --> 00:53:23,160
Speaker 2: about Twister? And actually, for me, I think the first

983
00:53:23,200 --> 00:53:26,520
Speaker 2: thing I heard about Twista was like a beef with

984
00:53:26,680 --> 00:53:30,239
Speaker 2: treats from naughty by nature, like that's what was it

985
00:53:30,320 --> 00:53:35,520
Speaker 2: about Twister that attracted you to him? And said I

986
00:53:35,600 --> 00:53:38,120
Speaker 2: can sell this or was it just like it's dope

987
00:53:38,239 --> 00:53:39,160
Speaker 2: and let me put it out.

988
00:53:39,960 --> 00:53:42,640
Speaker 4: So the record was called Mister Tongue Twist. And my

989
00:53:42,960 --> 00:53:46,200
Speaker 4: staff was losing their mind and they were comparing I

990
00:53:46,239 --> 00:53:48,879
Speaker 4: forget who the the guy was a poor righteous.

991
00:53:48,520 --> 00:53:53,520
Speaker 2: Teachers right where I was intelligent, right, and they.

992
00:53:53,480 --> 00:53:55,840
Speaker 4: Were comparing him to and they were comparing him to

993
00:53:55,960 --> 00:53:59,400
Speaker 4: that and just it was my first act that I

994
00:53:59,520 --> 00:54:02,680
Speaker 4: ever really, you know, I was like, all right, this

995
00:54:02,760 --> 00:54:06,600
Speaker 4: could be something that special. So and that was the

996
00:54:06,680 --> 00:54:10,040
Speaker 4: first act that I brought to BMG. And we found

997
00:54:10,040 --> 00:54:11,879
Speaker 4: it through my We found it through my street team

998
00:54:11,920 --> 00:54:15,800
Speaker 4: and was a guy named of Jack Sterling. He was

999
00:54:15,840 --> 00:54:18,200
Speaker 4: out of Chicago street rep and he sent it to

1000
00:54:18,280 --> 00:54:20,880
Speaker 4: a guy name of Faye Dubinet who was doing my

1001
00:54:21,000 --> 00:54:23,719
Speaker 4: college radio and Mick show. We were stigned to call

1002
00:54:23,840 --> 00:54:28,200
Speaker 4: Mix Show and he was managed by DJ in Chicago

1003
00:54:28,320 --> 00:54:31,040
Speaker 4: and GCI by the name of Eric de Witz. I

1004
00:54:31,120 --> 00:54:34,759
Speaker 4: flew him out. We did a deal and and I

1005
00:54:34,840 --> 00:54:36,880
Speaker 4: had something to show BMG.

1006
00:54:38,040 --> 00:54:43,960
Speaker 2: Let me ask you, why did you choose BMG, because

1007
00:54:44,440 --> 00:54:48,880
Speaker 2: you know, for me at least. I never considered r

1008
00:54:49,000 --> 00:54:54,239
Speaker 2: c A as a front runner in urban music, like

1009
00:54:54,320 --> 00:54:59,040
Speaker 2: the way that Columbia was, or I'm a maybe warner

1010
00:54:59,160 --> 00:55:02,120
Speaker 2: with with Tommy Boy. But was it the fact that

1011
00:55:02,200 --> 00:55:06,400
Speaker 2: they had new track record whatsoever and they offered you space.

1012
00:55:07,600 --> 00:55:07,919
Speaker 2: I didn't.

1013
00:55:07,920 --> 00:55:09,279
Speaker 4: I didn't even look at that. I just had so

1014
00:55:09,400 --> 00:55:13,440
Speaker 4: much confidence to myself. You know, when I first was going,

1015
00:55:13,480 --> 00:55:15,359
Speaker 4: there was a guy named of Lou Mallam who had

1016
00:55:15,400 --> 00:55:17,920
Speaker 4: Zoo Entertainment that b b MD financed. It was supposed

1017
00:55:17,920 --> 00:55:20,359
Speaker 4: to be a new company. Twist was the only thing

1018
00:55:20,560 --> 00:55:23,919
Speaker 4: that really came out of Zoo, and they shut Zoo down.

1019
00:55:24,360 --> 00:55:26,960
Speaker 4: So then a guy named Ron Urban, who was a

1020
00:55:27,040 --> 00:55:29,880
Speaker 4: finance guy who was the CFO and CEO of r

1021
00:55:29,960 --> 00:55:33,759
Speaker 4: c A. He was in Atlanta visiting this attorney, Joel Katz,

1022
00:55:33,760 --> 00:55:37,560
Speaker 4: and it was Jack the Rapper, and we came in

1023
00:55:37,680 --> 00:55:39,840
Speaker 4: and I just took a liking to Rot and he says,

1024
00:55:40,800 --> 00:55:42,920
Speaker 4: you know, I say it now, He goes, you give

1025
00:55:42,960 --> 00:55:45,040
Speaker 4: me an inch and I'll give you whatever you need.

1026
00:55:45,800 --> 00:55:48,000
Speaker 4: So and it was like, how much heavy lifting are

1027
00:55:48,040 --> 00:55:50,320
Speaker 4: you going to need from us? I'm like, I'm not

1028
00:55:50,360 --> 00:55:51,799
Speaker 4: going to ged you guys to do a fucking thing.

1029
00:55:52,560 --> 00:55:54,680
Speaker 4: You know, we already we were already staffed up through

1030
00:55:54,719 --> 00:55:57,240
Speaker 4: the marketing company, you know, and then we got lucky.

1031
00:55:57,880 --> 00:56:00,279
Speaker 4: There was somebody who worked at our RCA. He became

1032
00:56:00,360 --> 00:56:03,040
Speaker 4: my brother pretty much a partner. I me't even Mojo

1033
00:56:03,120 --> 00:56:06,120
Speaker 4: and you can see it. And Mojo ended up after

1034
00:56:06,160 --> 00:56:08,120
Speaker 4: a year year and a half at our say, you know,

1035
00:56:08,480 --> 00:56:09,560
Speaker 4: he's been with me ever since.

1036
00:56:09,880 --> 00:56:13,239
Speaker 5: I'm curious what your expectations were or I guess, yeah,

1037
00:56:13,239 --> 00:56:15,200
Speaker 5: what you told them to expect from this record.

1038
00:56:15,719 --> 00:56:17,440
Speaker 4: I didn't want a penny for the What they had

1039
00:56:17,480 --> 00:56:19,200
Speaker 4: to do is just give me money to make the album.

1040
00:56:19,239 --> 00:56:22,280
Speaker 4: And I think the album budget was fifty thousand dollars. Okay,

1041
00:56:22,760 --> 00:56:25,640
Speaker 4: I'll handle all the marketing money, and then once I

1042
00:56:25,680 --> 00:56:27,719
Speaker 4: get into one hundred thousand, you got to give me

1043
00:56:27,760 --> 00:56:28,880
Speaker 4: a few hundred thousand dollars.

1044
00:56:29,520 --> 00:56:34,279
Speaker 2: At the time, were you trying to figure out how

1045
00:56:34,320 --> 00:56:38,880
Speaker 2: to position yourself next to a deaf jam, a Tommy

1046
00:56:38,920 --> 00:56:41,880
Speaker 2: boy a Jive or were you just going to be

1047
00:56:41,960 --> 00:56:43,919
Speaker 2: so underground you were the abyss.

1048
00:56:44,680 --> 00:56:46,759
Speaker 4: I you know, once you really get to know me,

1049
00:56:47,280 --> 00:56:49,160
Speaker 4: you know, you're running a race. You can't worry what

1050
00:56:49,239 --> 00:56:51,719
Speaker 4: the next person's doing, Like if you if you look over.

1051
00:56:51,800 --> 00:56:56,200
Speaker 4: You showed me You've got a trip. Eventually, so Russell

1052
00:56:56,280 --> 00:56:58,520
Speaker 4: had that jam, jive had jibe.

1053
00:56:58,640 --> 00:56:58,800
Speaker 2: You know.

1054
00:56:59,320 --> 00:57:01,680
Speaker 4: You know Maran Clyde, I mean Clyde Club had to

1055
00:57:01,719 --> 00:57:03,239
Speaker 4: be the fast guy in the records. I mean he

1056
00:57:03,320 --> 00:57:07,279
Speaker 4: took everybody you know when he when he sold. But

1057
00:57:08,200 --> 00:57:10,360
Speaker 4: I never I never looked at that way because and

1058
00:57:10,440 --> 00:57:13,040
Speaker 4: I looked at them as allies because they were still

1059
00:57:13,080 --> 00:57:14,280
Speaker 4: paying me to rook their records.

1060
00:57:14,880 --> 00:57:16,640
Speaker 2: And it's never a conflict of interest at all.

1061
00:57:17,920 --> 00:57:20,480
Speaker 4: I had to you know, no, I mean, if you

1062
00:57:20,560 --> 00:57:22,360
Speaker 4: know me, it's like I'm going to be a straight shooter,

1063
00:57:22,680 --> 00:57:24,080
Speaker 4: Like if you're going to pay me, I'm going to

1064
00:57:24,160 --> 00:57:26,200
Speaker 4: do the job. And if I can't do your job,

1065
00:57:26,200 --> 00:57:27,200
Speaker 4: I'm not going to take your money.

1066
00:57:27,840 --> 00:57:29,920
Speaker 5: And here's the question that you work in their records too,

1067
00:57:30,040 --> 00:57:32,000
Speaker 5: do you have an ear now to say to people

1068
00:57:32,080 --> 00:57:34,760
Speaker 5: to other labels, like, I know I can work this

1069
00:57:34,880 --> 00:57:38,240
Speaker 5: on college and mix, but commercial.

1070
00:57:39,480 --> 00:57:42,480
Speaker 3: This is a more college mixed, you know, Like how

1071
00:57:42,520 --> 00:57:43,160
Speaker 3: does that work?

1072
00:57:43,640 --> 00:57:46,400
Speaker 4: So by this time, pretty much we were on retaining

1073
00:57:46,480 --> 00:57:49,120
Speaker 4: with every major. I mean I was making more money

1074
00:57:49,120 --> 00:57:50,040
Speaker 4: with the marketing company than I.

1075
00:57:50,080 --> 00:57:53,200
Speaker 3: Was making with the label, right, So they listening to

1076
00:57:53,320 --> 00:57:55,600
Speaker 3: you so like we would be.

1077
00:57:55,600 --> 00:57:58,000
Speaker 4: Part of their staff, you know, and then finally they're saying,

1078
00:57:58,000 --> 00:58:00,320
Speaker 4: why are we paying you know them so much money.

1079
00:58:01,040 --> 00:58:03,800
Speaker 4: Some of the retainers you know, got dropped, and people

1080
00:58:03,840 --> 00:58:07,040
Speaker 4: started putting the departments in place, but they were still

1081
00:58:07,240 --> 00:58:10,120
Speaker 4: everybody pretty much all came under my umbrella.

1082
00:58:10,840 --> 00:58:11,160
Speaker 2: Mm hm.

1083
00:58:11,800 --> 00:58:14,680
Speaker 4: So I some you know, so like Fade, who was

1084
00:58:14,720 --> 00:58:16,840
Speaker 4: one of my first employees. He went over to Scope,

1085
00:58:16,920 --> 00:58:19,920
Speaker 4: and he actually came with the loud name. So when

1086
00:58:19,960 --> 00:58:24,440
Speaker 4: Interscope cut the retainer with Medade would still put me

1087
00:58:24,520 --> 00:58:28,640
Speaker 4: on certain records, you know. So I just had everybody

1088
00:58:28,680 --> 00:58:29,080
Speaker 4: in place.

1089
00:58:34,280 --> 00:58:36,520
Speaker 2: All right, I'm dying to ask you to get in

1090
00:58:36,600 --> 00:58:40,360
Speaker 2: the Wu Tang territory, but I can't forget what was

1091
00:58:40,400 --> 00:58:43,920
Speaker 2: it about. And you know, I think it's also notable

1092
00:58:44,040 --> 00:58:48,240
Speaker 2: to point out that, you know, in the early nineties,

1093
00:58:48,320 --> 00:58:54,320
Speaker 2: suddenly the regionalism of hip hop is expanding more. You know.

1094
00:58:55,480 --> 00:58:57,920
Speaker 2: Of course, we saw like the Ghetto Boys and rap

1095
00:58:57,960 --> 00:59:01,160
Speaker 2: a lot in Houston happened like really go mainstream in

1096
00:59:01,200 --> 00:59:04,760
Speaker 2: the nineties, and then suddenly like we're realizing that, oh,

1097
00:59:04,840 --> 00:59:08,760
Speaker 2: California has good MC's and this territory in Atlanta, and

1098
00:59:09,240 --> 00:59:11,600
Speaker 2: you know, that sort of thing for you though, with

1099
00:59:11,720 --> 00:59:16,200
Speaker 2: the signing of the Alcoholics and mad Cap, especially mad Cap,

1100
00:59:16,600 --> 00:59:19,600
Speaker 2: I was one of those people that you know, I

1101
00:59:20,000 --> 00:59:23,000
Speaker 2: saw like a mad Cap show, and you know, the

1102
00:59:23,080 --> 00:59:26,400
Speaker 2: mad Cap was like, just listen to that tape. And

1103
00:59:26,440 --> 00:59:28,320
Speaker 2: I listened to that tape so much like they were

1104
00:59:28,400 --> 00:59:30,400
Speaker 2: like a mixture of They were kind of the idea

1105
00:59:30,440 --> 00:59:33,880
Speaker 2: of what I thought, because even in ninety two ninety three,

1106
00:59:34,360 --> 00:59:36,720
Speaker 2: I didn't know what the roots were gonna be.

1107
00:59:37,440 --> 00:59:39,520
Speaker 4: So the reason why you like mad Cap Bunch is

1108
00:59:39,560 --> 00:59:42,760
Speaker 4: because of Joe the trumpet play right and he was

1109
00:59:42,840 --> 00:59:43,840
Speaker 4: live right.

1110
00:59:44,720 --> 00:59:47,160
Speaker 2: But also I mean, you know, like there were live

1111
00:59:47,240 --> 00:59:51,280
Speaker 2: elements on that record. Yep. And I you know, again,

1112
00:59:51,440 --> 00:59:56,560
Speaker 2: we were just starting our first record, and we weren't

1113
00:59:56,600 --> 00:59:59,240
Speaker 2: in full agreeance on whether or not what we were

1114
00:59:59,360 --> 01:00:02,320
Speaker 2: in concert should also be the same thing that we're

1115
01:00:02,360 --> 01:00:04,920
Speaker 2: on in the studio. Actually I was. I was against it.

1116
01:00:05,000 --> 01:00:06,560
Speaker 2: I'm like, we don't want to be a band in

1117
01:00:06,600 --> 01:00:09,560
Speaker 2: the studio, like let's be a regular rap group. But

1118
01:00:11,120 --> 01:00:13,160
Speaker 2: I heard the Cap record and I was like, oh,

1119
01:00:14,360 --> 01:00:17,400
Speaker 2: all right, between that and what the Forest Side was doing,

1120
01:00:17,440 --> 01:00:19,320
Speaker 2: then I was like, Okay, I see an entry there,

1121
01:00:19,400 --> 01:00:25,200
Speaker 2: but for me or you at least like, why were

1122
01:00:25,280 --> 01:00:26,800
Speaker 2: they just too early for their time?

1123
01:00:27,720 --> 01:00:29,120
Speaker 4: I think they were a little bit too early for

1124
01:00:29,280 --> 01:00:32,440
Speaker 4: their time. And then you know, they had two records

1125
01:00:33,280 --> 01:00:37,280
Speaker 4: that I thought could have been the first single, the

1126
01:00:37,440 --> 01:00:41,000
Speaker 4: kit Kable, produced by Broadway, and then right second record,

1127
01:00:41,040 --> 01:00:42,400
Speaker 4: Proof in the Pudding, which was you know, a lot

1128
01:00:42,440 --> 01:00:47,160
Speaker 4: of live instruments. I think, of course, you know, the

1129
01:00:47,240 --> 01:00:50,000
Speaker 4: only one who really had it. And they were from Pasadena.

1130
01:00:50,200 --> 01:00:54,000
Speaker 4: They weren't from South Central. So even though Pasadena was

1131
01:00:54,080 --> 01:00:58,040
Speaker 4: a huge, I mean a tough fucking area, it still

1132
01:00:58,120 --> 01:01:01,280
Speaker 4: wasn't South Central and South Center was already branded right,

1133
01:01:01,440 --> 01:01:05,600
Speaker 4: so easy I had a lock and all that, so,

1134
01:01:06,800 --> 01:01:11,480
Speaker 4: you know, And and it wasn't gangster music, right, I mean,

1135
01:01:11,520 --> 01:01:15,680
Speaker 4: it was more hippie music. And you know, and I

1136
01:01:15,760 --> 01:01:17,440
Speaker 4: tell this to Broadway. I haven't spoken to him in

1137
01:01:17,440 --> 01:01:19,320
Speaker 4: a while, but I tell the Broadway all the time,

1138
01:01:19,800 --> 01:01:23,240
Speaker 4: but there was a hook in the whole Kule directly

1139
01:01:23,280 --> 01:01:24,320
Speaker 4: would have been a fucking monster.

1140
01:01:25,840 --> 01:01:26,880
Speaker 2: You're right, you know.

1141
01:01:27,240 --> 01:01:30,960
Speaker 4: But the funny the great thing now is Koch, who

1142
01:01:31,080 --> 01:01:33,200
Speaker 4: was in the group, you know, was a huge director,

1143
01:01:33,280 --> 01:01:38,680
Speaker 4: now really yeah, huge movie director, like does these amazing

1144
01:01:39,680 --> 01:01:42,080
Speaker 4: urban films, you know, and he you know, and he

1145
01:01:42,280 --> 01:01:45,440
Speaker 4: and he finances him hisself and he just you know,

1146
01:01:45,560 --> 01:01:47,960
Speaker 4: he runs the board. I mean, it's it's fucking amazing

1147
01:01:48,000 --> 01:01:48,480
Speaker 4: what he's doing.

1148
01:01:49,200 --> 01:01:51,400
Speaker 2: Well, then let me ask you about the alcoholics, because

1149
01:01:51,920 --> 01:01:56,360
Speaker 2: you know, that was also an era of which we're

1150
01:01:56,720 --> 01:01:59,520
Speaker 2: you know, we had our idea of what LA was,

1151
01:02:00,280 --> 01:02:04,720
Speaker 2: and then groups like the far Side, the alcoholics, groups

1152
01:02:04,760 --> 01:02:07,040
Speaker 2: like Souls and Mischief, you know up in the Bay

1153
01:02:07,120 --> 01:02:10,080
Speaker 2: Area and the whole Hiro crew, like we didn't know.

1154
01:02:10,200 --> 01:02:12,080
Speaker 2: It was like an anomaly. Like when we first heard

1155
01:02:12,120 --> 01:02:16,720
Speaker 2: the alcoholics, were like, wait, they're from California, like this,

1156
01:02:17,760 --> 01:02:19,560
Speaker 2: how did how did you come across there?

1157
01:02:20,480 --> 01:02:24,040
Speaker 4: So Fade went to see he went to the studio

1158
01:02:24,800 --> 01:02:30,680
Speaker 4: to see Mecca and East Swift was was there, and

1159
01:02:31,160 --> 01:02:33,120
Speaker 4: ship Fade just shows up in my house like at

1160
01:02:33,120 --> 01:02:35,680
Speaker 4: eleven o'clock at night, like pounding on the fucking dog.

1161
01:02:35,880 --> 01:02:39,520
Speaker 4: He's like, I just found, you know, the best thing

1162
01:02:39,600 --> 01:02:41,320
Speaker 4: you know since white bread, you know, and it was

1163
01:02:41,440 --> 01:02:43,120
Speaker 4: just like you got to come to the studio now,

1164
01:02:43,520 --> 01:02:45,120
Speaker 4: and I'm like, I'm not going. I'm not going to

1165
01:02:45,240 --> 01:02:47,120
Speaker 4: the studio. I didn't believe it. To me, I didn't

1166
01:02:47,120 --> 01:02:50,360
Speaker 4: really believe in the studio because I mean, I needed

1167
01:02:50,680 --> 01:02:58,880
Speaker 4: only bet it happened in studios, so I was like, no, like, untrue,

1168
01:02:59,600 --> 01:03:02,400
Speaker 4: they in the office in the morning. Oh whatever, And

1169
01:03:02,680 --> 01:03:04,600
Speaker 4: just it was a Friday. It was a Thursday night

1170
01:03:04,640 --> 01:03:07,520
Speaker 4: when he came pounding on the door and they came

1171
01:03:07,640 --> 01:03:10,520
Speaker 4: up the original demo. To me, I thought they were

1172
01:03:10,560 --> 01:03:11,320
Speaker 4: the next CPMD.

1173
01:03:12,360 --> 01:03:16,240
Speaker 2: Yeah. Nothing, I I can't even like, I wish I

1174
01:03:16,280 --> 01:03:18,720
Speaker 2: could just bottle up. Like when you're living in it,

1175
01:03:19,240 --> 01:03:22,400
Speaker 2: you just take for granted that this sort of brilliance

1176
01:03:22,520 --> 01:03:24,440
Speaker 2: is just going to be the norm, so you know,

1177
01:03:24,560 --> 01:03:26,760
Speaker 2: you just you don't take a time out to really

1178
01:03:26,800 --> 01:03:30,640
Speaker 2: appreciate it. But yeah, nothing will ever be the feeling

1179
01:03:30,760 --> 01:03:33,560
Speaker 2: of you know, I come from Philly, in which you know,

1180
01:03:33,720 --> 01:03:39,880
Speaker 2: cosmic keev aj Shine just deph like basically our version

1181
01:03:39,920 --> 01:03:44,640
Speaker 2: of stretching Barbido. At Drexel University would play that whole

1182
01:03:44,760 --> 01:03:47,400
Speaker 2: album insanely like just on radio, and.

1183
01:03:48,080 --> 01:03:51,640
Speaker 4: The West Coast loved them. But again, it wasn't NWA,

1184
01:03:51,800 --> 01:03:55,960
Speaker 4: it wasn't Dre. Stupid's just coming right, so they hadn't

1185
01:03:55,960 --> 01:03:58,680
Speaker 4: met I mean, Ralph did a lot of their videos.

1186
01:03:59,640 --> 01:04:02,840
Speaker 2: M wait a minute, Okay, this is this is a

1187
01:04:03,040 --> 01:04:09,240
Speaker 2: crazy off kilter question, but only because I'm I'm okay, yeah,

1188
01:04:09,360 --> 01:04:12,480
Speaker 2: I'm working on soul Train right now to get the

1189
01:04:12,680 --> 01:04:18,040
Speaker 2: Alcoholics mainstream Soul Train play, and Don's like notorious for

1190
01:04:19,160 --> 01:04:23,600
Speaker 2: not like literally like I think there's I've counted three

1191
01:04:23,800 --> 01:04:28,720
Speaker 2: dance lines to make Room, which is just unheard of

1192
01:04:29,480 --> 01:04:35,120
Speaker 2: for like a real rap song that potent to get

1193
01:04:36,360 --> 01:04:40,760
Speaker 2: like almost that level of love. I was like when

1194
01:04:40,920 --> 01:04:45,880
Speaker 2: when the Alcoholics were like regularly played on Soul Train,

1195
01:04:46,440 --> 01:04:49,400
Speaker 2: which a group of that level should have just been

1196
01:04:49,600 --> 01:04:52,880
Speaker 2: underground status and maybe some MTV love and that sort

1197
01:04:52,920 --> 01:04:58,600
Speaker 2: of thing. But no, Doctor Newi's Sarah, Really, how did

1198
01:04:58,640 --> 01:04:59,720
Speaker 2: you guys pull this off?

1199
01:05:00,440 --> 01:05:04,040
Speaker 4: We knew the booker and Don truly loved the record. Huh.

1200
01:05:06,000 --> 01:05:08,640
Speaker 2: It's just unheard of? Is unheard of? All right? Right,

1201
01:05:08,640 --> 01:05:09,400
Speaker 2: I gotta get to it.

1202
01:05:09,600 --> 01:05:12,560
Speaker 4: So make Room wasn't even though they were from the

1203
01:05:12,640 --> 01:05:15,560
Speaker 4: West Coast. It was a non threatening record. They didn't

1204
01:05:15,560 --> 01:05:16,800
Speaker 4: really curse on the record.

1205
01:05:17,160 --> 01:05:21,440
Speaker 2: I know, like so so they were humorous, they were funny,

1206
01:05:21,800 --> 01:05:23,840
Speaker 2: so and was awesome.

1207
01:05:24,320 --> 01:05:26,920
Speaker 5: That's what like, can I can I just ask real

1208
01:05:27,000 --> 01:05:29,560
Speaker 5: quick Steve at this point, are you developing what is

1209
01:05:29,640 --> 01:05:31,080
Speaker 5: the loud philosophy?

1210
01:05:31,640 --> 01:05:34,760
Speaker 3: Like because you like you said you ain't deaf, jam

1211
01:05:34,800 --> 01:05:36,480
Speaker 3: you ain't John. We all know this. We know we

1212
01:05:36,680 --> 01:05:39,880
Speaker 3: went to loud for certain things, but like in your mind,

1213
01:05:40,440 --> 01:05:41,560
Speaker 3: what is it?

1214
01:05:42,680 --> 01:05:45,000
Speaker 4: So I didn't really have an a in our staff yet.

1215
01:05:45,240 --> 01:05:50,040
Speaker 4: So to me, that cap was self contained. Alcoholics are

1216
01:05:50,040 --> 01:05:52,880
Speaker 4: self contained, and we had we did okay with them.

1217
01:05:53,120 --> 01:05:57,720
Speaker 4: Twister wasn't self contained. And you know, even though he

1218
01:05:57,920 --> 01:06:00,760
Speaker 4: broke you know, we did marketing wise, we did an

1219
01:06:00,800 --> 01:06:03,120
Speaker 4: amazing job. We had we flew in the guy from

1220
01:06:03,120 --> 01:06:07,200
Speaker 4: the Guinness broke the world records from London and we

1221
01:06:07,280 --> 01:06:09,960
Speaker 4: had we had him on MTV and behind him he was,

1222
01:06:10,120 --> 01:06:14,080
Speaker 4: you know, voted the fastest rapper in the world. But really,

1223
01:06:14,320 --> 01:06:19,480
Speaker 4: you know, it wasn't an amazing album. So I needed

1224
01:06:19,560 --> 01:06:22,000
Speaker 4: people who could really be self contained.

1225
01:06:22,760 --> 01:06:26,720
Speaker 3: Right, Okay, Right, that's the common that's the commonality.

1226
01:06:27,080 --> 01:06:30,640
Speaker 4: And then from that Wu Tang self contained. Okay, my

1227
01:06:30,840 --> 01:06:31,360
Speaker 4: deep self.

1228
01:06:32,080 --> 01:06:37,160
Speaker 2: Okay, Now let me ask you we're here, knowing what

1229
01:06:37,720 --> 01:06:42,560
Speaker 2: you know now, knowing what you know now, of the

1230
01:06:42,680 --> 01:06:47,760
Speaker 2: past thirty years of Wu Tang ology, would you have

1231
01:06:48,040 --> 01:06:52,880
Speaker 2: struck a different deal with the Riza You still would

1232
01:06:52,920 --> 01:06:55,280
Speaker 2: have just given them their running papers.

1233
01:06:55,600 --> 01:06:59,720
Speaker 4: I'm going to tell you what why thirty years me

1234
01:06:59,840 --> 01:07:02,080
Speaker 4: and is still talk two or three times a week.

1235
01:07:02,400 --> 01:07:06,320
Speaker 4: It matters, right, I will never fight over money. So

1236
01:07:06,960 --> 01:07:10,000
Speaker 4: by me I was in survival mode. I needed that platque.

1237
01:07:10,040 --> 01:07:13,120
Speaker 4: I needed to go down right. So when right I

1238
01:07:13,280 --> 01:07:16,720
Speaker 4: met them on March third, nineteen ninety three, a day

1239
01:07:16,760 --> 01:07:19,160
Speaker 4: after my thirty first birthday, I was with East Swift.

1240
01:07:19,600 --> 01:07:22,040
Speaker 4: I was with East Spliff from the Alcoholics. We're in

1241
01:07:22,160 --> 01:07:24,880
Speaker 4: New York. I'm in a guest office in New York

1242
01:07:25,320 --> 01:07:29,200
Speaker 4: and the receptionist comes. You know, in those days, there's

1243
01:07:29,240 --> 01:07:32,280
Speaker 4: no security, right, you know, we just pop up at

1244
01:07:32,320 --> 01:07:37,720
Speaker 4: a record like jam okay, right right, and they said,

1245
01:07:37,920 --> 01:07:40,240
Speaker 4: a Prince Racken is here. I've been trying to chase

1246
01:07:40,320 --> 01:07:43,720
Speaker 4: him down since the beginning of the year. And he

1247
01:07:43,840 --> 01:07:46,800
Speaker 4: shows up and it's me. He's sucking. He goes, I

1248
01:07:46,880 --> 01:07:47,960
Speaker 4: have the guys downstairs.

1249
01:07:48,400 --> 01:07:48,520
Speaker 2: Now.

1250
01:07:48,560 --> 01:07:50,600
Speaker 4: I don't know if there are three guys, nine guys,

1251
01:07:50,840 --> 01:07:53,000
Speaker 4: you know, whatever it is. But I'm in your office

1252
01:07:53,040 --> 01:07:55,280
Speaker 4: as big as the fucking square on my zoom right

1253
01:07:55,320 --> 01:07:58,000
Speaker 4: a second, right, and he Swift is behind me and

1254
01:07:58,120 --> 01:08:01,560
Speaker 4: they perform protect You and that live to the record.

1255
01:08:02,200 --> 01:08:06,520
Speaker 4: Somebody comes barging into the room and says, that's that ship.

1256
01:08:07,280 --> 01:08:09,360
Speaker 4: I don't know if he was an animals set me

1257
01:08:09,480 --> 01:08:14,680
Speaker 4: up right and and he left. I never saw the

1258
01:08:14,720 --> 01:08:20,520
Speaker 4: guy again, but the energy in that fucking room was ridiculous.

1259
01:08:21,280 --> 01:08:23,880
Speaker 4: And Riza said, this is the only way we're going

1260
01:08:23,920 --> 01:08:25,519
Speaker 4: to do the deal. And I was like, you know what,

1261
01:08:25,640 --> 01:08:28,720
Speaker 4: I was managing New Addition. Ralph was always threatening to leave,

1262
01:08:29,040 --> 01:08:33,599
Speaker 4: and the own and the only one where the group

1263
01:08:33,680 --> 01:08:38,200
Speaker 4: to me was always bigger than the BBD solo except

1264
01:08:38,320 --> 01:08:41,920
Speaker 4: Michael Jackson. But even when Michael Jackson tour, when it

1265
01:08:42,000 --> 01:08:44,200
Speaker 4: came time to do a Jackson Tour or the Jackson

1266
01:08:44,200 --> 01:08:45,880
Speaker 4: BIB or whatever they would call that the end, they

1267
01:08:46,000 --> 01:08:47,519
Speaker 4: still outed Michael's tour.

1268
01:08:48,560 --> 01:08:52,320
Speaker 2: Wait a damn now, she said that I wanted to ask.

1269
01:08:52,560 --> 01:08:56,639
Speaker 2: I wanted to ask because even at the Essence Festival

1270
01:08:56,720 --> 01:08:59,880
Speaker 2: this year, I was like, this might be the rare

1271
01:09:00,120 --> 01:09:06,879
Speaker 2: case in which Tito is more successful than Michael. How

1272
01:09:07,040 --> 01:09:10,000
Speaker 2: did that? How did that affect Ralph at least during

1273
01:09:10,080 --> 01:09:13,160
Speaker 2: that time? You know, I know that I don't know

1274
01:09:13,240 --> 01:09:17,040
Speaker 2: when you left New Addition, but you know you were

1275
01:09:17,080 --> 01:09:19,760
Speaker 2: there for heartbreaking which when when they came to you

1276
01:09:19,840 --> 01:09:22,120
Speaker 2: with the idea of like, hey, we're going to do

1277
01:09:22,160 --> 01:09:25,840
Speaker 2: our side project with Poison, Were you guys like whatever,

1278
01:09:26,120 --> 01:09:29,160
Speaker 2: I know, No, I was already you're out, Okay, I

1279
01:09:29,200 --> 01:09:31,040
Speaker 2: got but I was.

1280
01:09:31,040 --> 01:09:32,760
Speaker 4: There when Mike caubbed me and said, we want to

1281
01:09:32,760 --> 01:09:35,280
Speaker 4: put Johnny in the group. So you know, got it

1282
01:09:35,400 --> 01:09:37,040
Speaker 4: wrapped up the leads. We have a lead singer.

1283
01:09:38,800 --> 01:09:39,840
Speaker 2: Okay. So it was like that.

1284
01:09:41,479 --> 01:09:44,479
Speaker 4: But at the end of the day, like I just

1285
01:09:44,640 --> 01:09:46,880
Speaker 4: always believed the group will still always be bigger than

1286
01:09:46,920 --> 01:09:49,439
Speaker 4: the whole. And the truth of the matter is he

1287
01:09:49,640 --> 01:09:51,000
Speaker 4: let me still have matching rights.

1288
01:09:51,720 --> 01:09:55,080
Speaker 2: But I just unprecedented. You heard method Man's voice, it

1289
01:09:55,240 --> 01:09:56,200
Speaker 2: was like, I'll let you go.

1290
01:09:56,840 --> 01:09:57,240
Speaker 3: So wait.

1291
01:09:57,439 --> 01:10:00,719
Speaker 5: So then Steve, this was portrayed correctly and the saga

1292
01:10:00,800 --> 01:10:03,040
Speaker 5: of the wolf then right, because they did this whole

1293
01:10:03,120 --> 01:10:07,360
Speaker 5: process on this show, on the Hulu show you yeah, Okay.

1294
01:10:07,960 --> 01:10:16,000
Speaker 4: Albums us cheap, not a lot sixty right, So how

1295
01:10:16,040 --> 01:10:20,360
Speaker 4: many albums you think I sold between Wu Tang Forever

1296
01:10:20,680 --> 01:10:21,639
Speaker 4: and thirty six years?

1297
01:10:22,120 --> 01:10:26,880
Speaker 3: I get it, and Ray, I get it, and you're

1298
01:10:26,920 --> 01:10:29,000
Speaker 3: not the bad guy. And you're not the bad guy,

1299
01:10:29,080 --> 01:10:30,080
Speaker 3: like I just remember in the.

1300
01:10:30,720 --> 01:10:33,200
Speaker 4: Show, and I still had the best soul.

1301
01:10:35,040 --> 01:10:37,120
Speaker 2: I know, but all right, but look but look, but

1302
01:10:37,320 --> 01:10:41,920
Speaker 2: again again, I'm just saying that this is lightning in

1303
01:10:42,320 --> 01:10:46,560
Speaker 2: a bottle. You literally have super friends. And yes, I

1304
01:10:46,680 --> 01:10:50,559
Speaker 2: agree that when when the smoke is cleared, the Cuban

1305
01:10:50,680 --> 01:10:55,960
Speaker 2: Links is probably I almost feel like I yes, I

1306
01:10:56,120 --> 01:10:58,760
Speaker 2: know that we can't say anything bad about Into the

1307
01:10:58,800 --> 01:11:02,680
Speaker 2: Wu Tang, but for me, like Cuba Links is the

1308
01:11:02,840 --> 01:11:05,080
Speaker 2: pinnacle Wu Tang project.

1309
01:11:05,479 --> 01:11:09,559
Speaker 4: Oh, everybody agrees that should have been this second album.

1310
01:11:09,840 --> 01:11:12,400
Speaker 2: Part of me wasn't a little bit greedy, like, ah,

1311
01:11:12,600 --> 01:11:15,800
Speaker 2: let me take Dirty or at least get method Man.

1312
01:11:15,880 --> 01:11:18,800
Speaker 4: First of all, Dirty was already signed. But but but

1313
01:11:19,040 --> 01:11:22,240
Speaker 4: but this is this is where my head's at and

1314
01:11:22,680 --> 01:11:26,320
Speaker 4: this is my thing. I still made money, right because

1315
01:11:26,360 --> 01:11:28,920
Speaker 4: when Dirty was signed to Electra, I still had the

1316
01:11:28,960 --> 01:11:33,760
Speaker 4: marketing company. Electra paid me triple what I normally got get,

1317
01:11:33,840 --> 01:11:37,120
Speaker 4: then paid me triple do what I normally got, right,

1318
01:11:37,400 --> 01:11:41,000
Speaker 4: So I was good And like I said, I'm not

1319
01:11:41,080 --> 01:11:44,720
Speaker 4: going to fight over money and I'm not greedy, right,

1320
01:11:45,080 --> 01:11:48,360
Speaker 4: So I did okay, and I feel I won and

1321
01:11:48,520 --> 01:11:51,240
Speaker 4: it made loud what it was, and it gave me

1322
01:11:51,360 --> 01:11:54,640
Speaker 4: the reputation that the artist came first. You forget. I

1323
01:11:54,680 --> 01:11:56,360
Speaker 4: also got arrested fighting for them.

1324
01:11:57,880 --> 01:11:58,639
Speaker 2: WHOA what happened?

1325
01:11:58,720 --> 01:12:00,719
Speaker 3: Wait, I'm remember I remember discounts some millions.

1326
01:12:01,280 --> 01:12:07,240
Speaker 4: So renegotiating raised first album, Cuban Links and Mutang's second

1327
01:12:07,840 --> 01:12:11,800
Speaker 4: deal and second album. They came in to renegotiate and

1328
01:12:13,320 --> 01:12:16,200
Speaker 4: I'm supposed to be an RCAA side. But before that

1329
01:12:16,320 --> 01:12:20,080
Speaker 4: even happened me, his lawyers and my attorney, they came in.

1330
01:12:21,160 --> 01:12:26,479
Speaker 4: We came in and we're going to we're going to

1331
01:12:26,560 --> 01:12:29,280
Speaker 4: do this together. I haven't gotten paid yet. I'm making

1332
01:12:29,320 --> 01:12:31,439
Speaker 4: my money through the market company, right, you know. We

1333
01:12:31,960 --> 01:12:34,599
Speaker 4: we're like a million and a half records. So now

1334
01:12:34,840 --> 01:12:40,599
Speaker 4: and the business affairs she was a woman is holding

1335
01:12:40,680 --> 01:12:44,920
Speaker 4: still for twenty thousand dollars, and I'm like, and bring

1336
01:12:45,040 --> 01:12:47,439
Speaker 4: the pain is blowing the fuck up. And I'm like,

1337
01:12:48,479 --> 01:12:50,439
Speaker 4: just give him the twenty thousand dollars and I'll write

1338
01:12:50,479 --> 01:12:52,720
Speaker 4: a fucking check. Like I'll figure a way to get

1339
01:12:52,760 --> 01:12:54,800
Speaker 4: him to twenty thousand dollars. I never hit a woman

1340
01:12:54,840 --> 01:12:56,800
Speaker 4: in my life to this day, you know. All right,

1341
01:12:57,439 --> 01:13:00,240
Speaker 4: But she says, go fuck yourself, Steve Kin one in

1342
01:13:00,280 --> 01:13:03,479
Speaker 4: the thirty six floor conferencey, I take this chair and

1343
01:13:03,520 --> 01:13:06,519
Speaker 4: I'm ready to throw the chair through that window. That's

1344
01:13:06,560 --> 01:13:08,479
Speaker 4: going to break the window and it's going to land

1345
01:13:08,560 --> 01:13:11,680
Speaker 4: on somebody on Broadway. I catched the chair. I just

1346
01:13:11,760 --> 01:13:14,320
Speaker 4: lookate my thumb. I turn around and I throw it

1347
01:13:14,400 --> 01:13:20,679
Speaker 4: through the glass door in the lobby and they called

1348
01:13:20,720 --> 01:13:23,479
Speaker 4: the cops. Cops came the rest of me. It was

1349
01:13:23,520 --> 01:13:26,519
Speaker 4: a Friday. I just found out I was having my

1350
01:13:26,600 --> 01:13:33,840
Speaker 4: first child three days before that, and damn, that's it

1351
01:13:33,960 --> 01:13:36,840
Speaker 4: was intense, right, I didn't there was no email, so

1352
01:13:37,160 --> 01:13:42,559
Speaker 4: this was literally I sent them a voicemail. I sent

1353
01:13:42,640 --> 01:13:46,640
Speaker 4: them a call. I was in Florida for Thanksgiving and

1354
01:13:46,800 --> 01:13:48,599
Speaker 4: met the man. Just did one hundred and twenty thousand

1355
01:13:48,680 --> 01:13:55,120
Speaker 4: first week. No, you know, like those numbers were crazy,

1356
01:13:55,160 --> 01:13:57,759
Speaker 4: as like you just fucked yourself, like and Reson wouldn't

1357
01:13:57,760 --> 01:14:02,400
Speaker 4: sign the deal yet until you know, and I went

1358
01:14:02,439 --> 01:14:08,519
Speaker 4: off and it just created a war between me and BMG.

1359
01:14:09,240 --> 01:14:13,840
Speaker 4: But the thing was, Rizzi says, don't worry, we're going

1360
01:14:13,920 --> 01:14:17,200
Speaker 4: to come back in in February and we're gonna take

1361
01:14:17,240 --> 01:14:20,840
Speaker 4: up at every fuckpenny they had. And they ended up

1362
01:14:20,880 --> 01:14:25,080
Speaker 4: getting a new CEO and a new president, and we

1363
01:14:25,200 --> 01:14:26,799
Speaker 4: came in and we put him in a fucking headlock.

1364
01:14:27,280 --> 01:14:29,880
Speaker 4: It's just that we took him for every fucking penny

1365
01:14:29,920 --> 01:14:30,240
Speaker 4: they had.

1366
01:14:32,040 --> 01:14:34,200
Speaker 6: What up Quols Famous is Unpaid Bill, What Paul Is?

1367
01:14:34,240 --> 01:14:34,559
Speaker 2: Part one?

1368
01:14:34,640 --> 01:14:35,240
Speaker 4: Right Here for Now is.

1369
01:14:35,280 --> 01:14:37,200
Speaker 6: This episode covers a lot of ground. Come back next

1370
01:14:37,240 --> 01:14:39,120
Speaker 6: week a part two where Steve Rifton talks about just

1371
01:14:39,160 --> 01:14:41,439
Speaker 6: how much you wanted to sign Acon, Tommy put hands

1372
01:14:41,479 --> 01:14:43,640
Speaker 6: on a certain film mogul and It's new venture. We

1373
01:14:43,720 --> 01:14:45,559
Speaker 6: had fun recording this episode and I hope you're into

1374
01:14:45,600 --> 01:14:45,840
Speaker 6: it too.

1375
01:14:49,320 --> 01:14:56,400
Speaker 1: What's Up Supreme is a production of iHeart Radio. For

1376
01:14:56,520 --> 01:14:59,559
Speaker 1: more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app,

1377
01:15:00,000 --> 01:15:02,880
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.