WEBVTT - QLS Classic: Steve Stoute 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:03.800 Of Course, Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. This 0:00:03.840 --> 0:00:07.040 classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora. 0:00:10.280 --> 0:00:12.240 What If the Office Zu paid bill for this week's 0:00:12.240 --> 0:00:15.840 classic We're revisiting September fifth, twenty eighteens QLs with Steve Stout. 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:19.040 Steve talks about managing NAS's career to superstardom, growing up 0:00:19.040 --> 0:00:21.760 around hip hop and Will Smith's comeback episode of one 0:00:21.880 --> 0:00:23.880 hundred with the Commissioner Enjoy. 0:00:31.560 --> 0:00:36.720 Supremo Sun Sun Subpremo, roll call SUPREMEA. 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:39.120 Suck Suck Supremo roll call. 0:00:39.400 --> 0:00:45.840 Suprema suck Suck Subpremo roll call Suprema Suck Suck Subpremo 0:00:46.040 --> 0:00:47.080 ro quest Love. 0:00:46.960 --> 0:00:50.560 Got nineteen jobs man, Yeah, I'm on a hot streak. Yeah, 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:53.800 because if you don't work, Yeah, you can't eat. 0:00:54.120 --> 0:01:00.480 Roll call Supremo Suck Suck Supremo roll call Suprema Sucking 0:01:01.120 --> 0:01:02.600 Suprema role called. 0:01:02.680 --> 0:01:05.760 My name is Sponse Yeah, and I ain't dising you 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:12.800 yea quest Love Supreme Yeah, with the commissioner, Sir, su 0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:14.400 I forgot I remember a roll. 0:01:14.440 --> 0:01:18.479 Called Suprema Suck Suck Supreme roll call. 0:01:18.600 --> 0:01:22.360 I'm Sugar Steve. Yeah, but there ain't no doubt. Yeah, 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:25.760 the greatest Steve. Yeah is Arkle. 0:01:27.120 --> 0:01:34.479 Suprema something something Suprema role called Supreme Supreme roll call. 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:38.920 Yeah, the one that only Steve Stout. Yeah, I'm here 0:01:38.959 --> 0:01:41.039 for the money advice. Yeah, I don't know what you're 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:41.559 talking about. 0:01:41.920 --> 0:01:48.440 Roll call Suprema Sun Sun supremea role called Suprema Suck. 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:52.560 Suck Suprema roll call. My name is Steve, Yeah, and 0:01:52.840 --> 0:01:56.280 you know what I'm about. Yeah, they call me Stout. Yeah, 0:01:56.960 --> 0:02:03.760 you got sup Supremo roll call sup Preme. That was 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:05.400 my Jordan's six seconds pre. 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:13.040 Suprema Son Sun Subprema roll call Supprevo Son Sun sub 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:15.919 Freeo roll call Sugar. 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:19.280 Steve. Let it be known that that's how you insisted. 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:20.280 Again you do it. 0:02:20.400 --> 0:02:22.280 You saw the ball, Timmate, It's like three seconds, like 0:02:23.120 --> 0:02:25.480 it was hanging on the rim. Yeah, there it goes. There, 0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:31.119 it goes Thompson because he's still mentioned that. By the way, 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:35.440 Now on long story, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another 0:02:35.680 --> 0:02:38.680 episode of Quest Love Supreme only on Pandora. 0:02:38.880 --> 0:02:41.520 I'm your host Quest Love. We're here with Team Supreme. 0:02:41.880 --> 0:02:44.400 What's up? Hello? What up? What up? What up? Hello? 0:02:45.440 --> 0:02:46.679 I'm good, mister Love. 0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:50.320 How are you. I love you. I love you. See 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:54.160 this is gonna be. We're not in a minute and 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:59.560 we shots passive aggressive bench j stand up. Yeah. 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:02.440 But see that's why I'm glad we we we have 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:07.959 a a man of business, someone that can play a 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:08.840 bridge between us. 0:03:09.560 --> 0:03:10.720 Interesting, Yes, this will be. 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:14.440 You're actually here, Steve Stout too to doctor Phield. 0:03:14.480 --> 0:03:18.560 Referre to doctor Field exactly as a therapy session, exactly, 0:03:19.680 --> 0:03:22.440 ladies and gentlemen. Most of our episodes we sort of 0:03:22.480 --> 0:03:27.760 speak on the conflict that is art and commerce, and 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:31.519 often the theme of it is it truly possible for 0:03:31.760 --> 0:03:35.040 both sides of that world to exist in art and commerce? 0:03:35.160 --> 0:03:39.640 And for most hip hop purists usually the latter is 0:03:39.840 --> 0:03:43.680 seen as a seven on commerce is actually eight letters, 0:03:43.720 --> 0:03:47.720 so an eight letter word. But I believe that our 0:03:47.800 --> 0:03:53.000 guest today can shed light for us that one can 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:58.840 be a creative and in business without compromising either side. 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:04.760 He has been artist manager for most of the nineties 0:04:05.200 --> 0:04:12.320 like you were four years old, Yeah, okay, so he 0:04:12.480 --> 0:04:15.520 soon rolls up in the ranks as a record executive 0:04:16.000 --> 0:04:21.080 sonian Interscope, and soon after that used his promotional talents 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:25.279 for the boardroom by establishing the marketing firm Translation, which 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:28.600 served as a i'll say, a crucial bridge for companies 0:04:29.240 --> 0:04:33.080 to figure out ways to hit key demographics and market 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:37.800 other than the tried and true face of Middle America 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:41.479 and brings some much needed color and diversity to the game. 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:44.040 Yep, and he's not done. 0:04:44.600 --> 0:04:50.560 Hopefully, Hopefully he will establish the dawning of a new 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:55.200 era of how music gets distributed by launching United Masters. 0:04:55.400 --> 0:04:57.240 There's so much to do. I can go off his 0:04:57.360 --> 0:05:00.440 whole resume, but that'd be twelve hours. Ldies and John, 0:05:00.560 --> 0:05:05.400 please welcome author, speaker, marketing, director of CEO Philanthropists, executive 0:05:06.160 --> 0:05:09.599 and still the commissioner Steve Stout. 0:05:09.640 --> 0:05:16.280 The question, Yeah, so thank you for having me quest. 0:05:16.640 --> 0:05:20.160 Thank you. I shouldn't know we've we've been talking about 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:22.960 this for a while and I'm glad it worked out. 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:25.520 I'm very honored to be a part of what you're doing. 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:29.880 And you know this is let's let's go there, let's 0:05:29.920 --> 0:05:30.360 go ask me. 0:05:30.960 --> 0:05:33.000 I'll say the very the very first time I met 0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:37.240 Steve Stout, I was I was half asleep on a 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:43.680 couch at the HIT factory and I think I think 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:47.920 this was during the we were working I was working 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:53.520 on the soundtrack to Space Jams with di'angelo. We were 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:56.000 trying to figure out what player there's like the beginnings 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:58.159 of player player back when it was on Space Jams, 0:05:59.080 --> 0:06:02.320 and he was in the break room and this is 0:06:02.400 --> 0:06:04.040 like right when it was written. 0:06:04.960 --> 0:06:06.920 It was like maybe a month or two old. 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:13.400 And you know, back then when your opinionated twenty twenty 0:06:13.480 --> 0:06:16.240 year old hip hop head, you know, you're unfiltered whatever. 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:19.640 And his first words to me, he was like, wait, 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:26.479 you hate Little Black Girl Loss. Yeah. 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:29.360 I was like, yeah, I was obvious, right, and he 0:06:29.480 --> 0:06:32.559 was like no, Like I had no idea who Steve 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:35.640 was or his tiges to nods of the track masters. 0:06:35.720 --> 0:06:38.400 But it was just like that was my introduction that 0:06:38.640 --> 0:06:41.560 like i'd see, just ask you that without even having 0:06:42.120 --> 0:06:44.279 a warm up. I just want it just because yeah, 0:06:44.440 --> 0:06:46.160 like you would you would do that. That's the reason 0:06:46.240 --> 0:06:50.680 I'm just it's crazy hearing shit that I did back then. 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:53.280 I was like twenty six. But the thing was, but 0:06:53.440 --> 0:06:55.919 what I did was I went back that night because 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:56.719 he he. 0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:00.640 I know that he's a great busines man because his 0:07:00.839 --> 0:07:04.480 debate points were on on point and to the point 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:06.520 where I don't know if he's stock on him syndrome 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:09.760 me into liking it eventually, but all the points he 0:07:09.840 --> 0:07:12.320 gave then I went home that like I actually gave 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:15.800 an hour to that song, Like, okay, what do I remember? 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:19.880 I remember everything around that time because he was supposed 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:23.280 to do it well. The whole thing was super sensitive 0:07:24.400 --> 0:07:29.760 making that it was written album. Essentially, you know, everyone 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:33.360 loved Nas and obviously Illmatic is one of the greatest 0:07:33.400 --> 0:07:37.160 albums ever made. And I come in and I'm making 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:42.360 it was written and everyone wants Nas to be the 0:07:42.400 --> 0:07:45.400 guy on Illmatic. Nobody wants him to. It just feels 0:07:45.400 --> 0:07:48.440 like nobody wants him to grow. They just wanted him 0:07:48.920 --> 0:07:51.880 stuck in that spot. They want him to be a 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:55.520 cougie rap guy, right, And I'm sitting there going, I'm 0:07:55.560 --> 0:07:58.240 not doing that. This is guy. This guy could wrap 0:07:58.320 --> 0:08:01.160 his ass off. Good looking dude, like he can move 0:08:01.240 --> 0:08:05.080 and like the art form is growing, like why can't 0:08:05.120 --> 0:08:08.000 he be a part of it. So when I was 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:13.160 making the album, the first person that really put me 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:15.000 in a corner because a lot I didn't use a 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:17.440 lot of producers that was on the first albums, right, 0:08:18.480 --> 0:08:21.920 was was Q Tip and I mean Tips my man, 0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:26.080 but like kid Tip was like hated I ruled the world, 0:08:26.120 --> 0:08:29.320 like thought it was blasphemous that I would have this 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:32.960 man do that song. And I'm sitting there thinking, well, 0:08:33.240 --> 0:08:37.080 it's friends the beat rather than his friends. We got 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:39.760 Lauryn Hill. It's Curtis, but we got Lauren Hill singing 0:08:39.800 --> 0:08:43.960 the hook. The fuck are you talking about? Like why 0:08:44.000 --> 0:08:46.880 are you holding him to this standard that he can't 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:50.280 do that? And I made sure I mixed the record 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:55.080 maybe fifteen times, man, just to make sure the drums 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:57.599 was hitting the herd, so that nobody could say it 0:08:57.720 --> 0:09:00.960 wasn't bagging or whatever and it wasn't him. And then 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:03.880 obviously the song work. But anytime I had met anyone, 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:09.040 anyone that understood music and was a purist, I always 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:11.360 wanted to have that conversation with them. And when I 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:13.839 look at the album twenty years later, twenty five years later, 0:09:13.880 --> 0:09:16.920 whatever it is now people love that album, like people 0:09:17.000 --> 0:09:21.560 talk about that album as like people call it a classic. 0:09:21.600 --> 0:09:23.760 I don't think it was a classic at all. I 0:09:23.880 --> 0:09:27.840 think it was a great transition piece for nas where 0:09:27.960 --> 0:09:30.160 music was going, and I'm very very proud of it. 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:35.160 So not a classic, but like I think it's I 0:09:35.200 --> 0:09:35.640 think it's. 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:38.720 Served its purpose, and it was I don't think everything 0:09:39.200 --> 0:09:41.480 like I feel like the pressure of Bill Madic was that, 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:45.480 like metaphorically speaking as an artist, like everything had to 0:09:45.520 --> 0:09:48.920 be a rem Brandt or a Picasso, Yeah, which I 0:09:49.000 --> 0:09:52.840 mean wasn't necessary. I don't think anything will ever reach 0:09:52.960 --> 0:09:56.040 the heights of Illmatic was a moment in a time 0:09:56.240 --> 0:09:56.920 more than anything. 0:09:57.160 --> 0:09:59.040 And that's like trying to capture lightning in a bottle. 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:03.160 Were you with the damn? I hate starting. No, No, 0:10:03.240 --> 0:10:05.080 normally I started at the beginning, and. 0:10:06.040 --> 0:10:09.440 This is we just show, all right? 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:12.720 So were you with him the night of the Source Awards, 0:10:13.000 --> 0:10:16.960 sitting right next to him? Okay, I need a first person. 0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:18.520 I can tell you everything about that night. 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:20.360 Wait wait, wait, wait wait, I gotta tell you when 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:22.200 I first heard about you before we get to that night. 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:29.839 Now I'm almost I remember hearing about the group, and 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:33.959 I forgot was that who was the A and R 0:10:34.160 --> 0:10:39.679 was a woman Wendy Wendy Goldstein talking about signing you guys, 0:10:40.240 --> 0:10:42.920 and it was way ahead of its time, live music 0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:45.720 and all that. But I remember Wendy Goldstein talking about 0:10:46.360 --> 0:10:49.760 the group and like it was this live band guys 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:54.720 from Philly, And I'm like really wow that she because 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:57.520 Faith Newman had signed NAS so there was like they 0:10:57.559 --> 0:11:01.560 were women, white women in in in the record business 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:04.640 that was putting rappers on and putting hip hop on. 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:07.840 So I looked at Faith and I looked at at 0:11:07.920 --> 0:11:12.199 Wendy and and actually Wendy was Wendy was cool. She 0:11:12.240 --> 0:11:16.160 had really broad taste and like, so that's when I 0:11:16.200 --> 0:11:19.640 first heard about That's when I first heard about the Roots, right, 0:11:20.880 --> 0:11:21.160 So that. 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:24.800 Was when you guys get signed in ninety ninety three, No, no, no, 0:11:24.960 --> 0:11:30.000 ninety three. She signed us December of ninety three. Yeah, wow, 0:11:30.240 --> 0:11:33.400 like that year, like it was like eight labels and 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:35.839 then on a fluke, we were supposed to sign to 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:38.280 Mercury PolyGram with. 0:11:40.280 --> 0:11:40.559 Lisa. 0:11:40.760 --> 0:11:44.000 Lisa was all right, she was mad as shit, basically 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:49.760 on on a lucky fluke, which prevented us from signing 0:11:49.800 --> 0:11:53.240 the contract for that particularly day, Like the contract was 0:11:53.280 --> 0:11:55.280 messed up. We you know, ripped it up. They were 0:11:55.280 --> 0:11:57.760 going to send a new contract on Monday. But in 0:11:57.880 --> 0:12:02.400 that weekend, Wendy Goldstein just swooped in and offered the 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:07.440 world And what label was she at, uh, no, Geffen 0:12:07.640 --> 0:12:10.240 Geffin right, And at the time we were like geffin. 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:12.360 They haven't got nobody like whatever, like we're not going 0:12:12.400 --> 0:12:15.600 to do but we did it because that whole year 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:18.920 was about them courting us. And you know when you're 0:12:19.080 --> 0:12:21.080 like courting an artists, you take them to the best 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:23.120 restaurants and all that stuff. Like we came from nothing 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:27.160 like like an addicts, like an executive has orange juice 0:12:27.200 --> 0:12:30.480 in their office. That was like she has a refrigerator, 0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:33.599 don't let her have a bathroom forget. 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:35.400 It right, Like we've never seen shit like that. 0:12:35.640 --> 0:12:39.120 So all that year we just basically said all right, 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:41.559 well we'll do it for the steak in the and 0:12:41.640 --> 0:12:43.760 the lobster, like we're least going to get a good 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:45.920 dinner out of this, and just messing with her. We 0:12:46.120 --> 0:12:48.560 just gave her this laundry list of ship we wanted 0:12:49.480 --> 0:12:51.160 and she called her bluff the next day and it 0:12:51.240 --> 0:12:52.839 was like, all right, I'll give it to you. And 0:12:52.920 --> 0:12:55.160 then we were like, oh man, we gotta tell Ed 0:12:55.320 --> 0:12:57.000 X time and we're not going to sign and breaking 0:12:57.600 --> 0:12:59.559 and go there. But wait, I gotta ask you something. 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:06.040 That night the Source Awards, I'm sitting and. 0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:08.640 You must you knew Ed's father when you grew up 0:13:08.640 --> 0:13:10.880 in his music so you yeah, I know I'm gonna 0:13:10.880 --> 0:13:16.080 sign that I wanted to. Yeah, So I'm sitting four 0:13:16.240 --> 0:13:19.520 rows behind Nas. All I remember was. 0:13:22.080 --> 0:13:25.400 I remember I didn't know it was Nas because I 0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:28.520 remember he had a very specific Tommy Hill figure shirt on, 0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:31.280 and all. 0:13:31.240 --> 0:13:32.800 I knew Nas was my. 0:13:34.440 --> 0:13:38.920 Nas was my uh barometer for how that night was going, 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:40.400 because when he first. 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:42.640 Arrived, we were in. If you notice they had us 0:13:42.640 --> 0:13:45.400 all separate, like the underground heads were on the floor, right. 0:13:45.559 --> 0:13:45.719 Yeah. 0:13:46.000 --> 0:13:48.840 They set it up like that Midwest cruise and they 0:13:49.000 --> 0:13:52.360 moved Southern rappers over here. The whole thing was set 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:53.040 up like so the. 0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:56.120 New York underground rap side was our side, and you know, 0:13:56.200 --> 0:13:59.079 Wu tang, everyone's big up Nas and everything like he 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:02.599 came in, you know, and then as each award that 0:14:02.720 --> 0:14:07.600 biggie won, I just watched NAS's body language like we'll 0:14:08.000 --> 0:14:10.160 like just just get smaller and smaller. 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:14.280 Do you remember the crowd getting upset? Yeah, we was mad. 0:14:14.280 --> 0:14:17.079 As the crowd was upset that Nas didn't win the 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:19.960 Lyricists of the Year or something like that. Everybody was like, 0:14:20.120 --> 0:14:22.160 what the fix is on? 0:14:22.640 --> 0:14:25.200 So I told Tuik we were looking at him the 0:14:25.200 --> 0:14:28.000 whole time, And I told Treike. I said he's never 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:30.040 going to be the same after this night. I don't 0:14:30.080 --> 0:14:32.840 know what it is but to watch and I never 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:34.920 like read a person's body language, but he came in 0:14:35.120 --> 0:14:37.520 like like like. 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:40.360 Came in like a king. 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:44.280 And when I watched his body wilt as each award 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:49.800 was was won by Biggie, I was just like, Yo, this. 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:58.280 Something, something's about to happen to him that I want 0:14:58.280 --> 0:15:00.080 to tell you. I want you to tell me, you 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:02.200 know what it is. Well, it was my whole thing 0:15:02.240 --> 0:15:07.200 with Nas the entire time was I'm not gonna be 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:11.600 surprised about any of this stuff because we have to 0:15:13.280 --> 0:15:16.040 fuck these guys, fuck all these guys, like we're gonna 0:15:16.080 --> 0:15:22.040 build our own shit and not let the industry sort 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:25.040 of dictate the rules. So going there and let and 0:15:25.160 --> 0:15:30.320 watching that happen, it was like, yeah, his body language 0:15:30.400 --> 0:15:33.080 was fucked up, but he he was in bad spirits 0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:37.560 that day because the record company like didn't they like 0:15:37.640 --> 0:15:39.760 he wanted money to go like get fresh for the thing, 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:42.520 to get fresh for the show, and like the record 0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:44.880 company didn't want to give him any money, didn't want 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:47.920 to give him like anything to help him. There was 0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:50.400 no like artist development thing like he's gonna go. He 0:15:50.480 --> 0:15:52.760 may win awards. He had to go on stage like 0:15:53.000 --> 0:15:56.080 there's not a stylus involved. It's not like any They 0:15:56.120 --> 0:15:59.240 didn't give a shit about the Source Awards or really 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:02.680 about him at that time to put money behind him. 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:07.720 Who was at the helm Jermaine. Jermaine's dad was yeah, 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:12.480 I forget that part, so so Donne and it was 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:17.000 Donnie and I we didn't know, but like remember that 0:16:17.120 --> 0:16:21.480 during that time it was all about like Mariah Carey, 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:24.560 Michael Bolton and all that that stuff. Then it's saying 0:16:24.920 --> 0:16:26.600 like that's what it was about. Those things were selling 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:30.120 a lot of records and Ill Madick hadn't gone gold 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:33.520 at that time. It was it wasn't It wasn't a 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:37.600 big money maker, so they weren't really about putting money 0:16:37.600 --> 0:16:41.200 into him and all that. So that was one reason 0:16:41.720 --> 0:16:44.840 that you know, he was walking in and people were 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:47.400 dapping him up, but he wasn't feeling good because he 0:16:47.440 --> 0:16:51.400 wanted a whole nother look, being very really intricate here. 0:16:51.880 --> 0:16:54.360 And then when the whole thing happened with Big and 0:16:54.440 --> 0:17:00.320 him not winning the award, I was just charged up, like, oh, 0:17:00.360 --> 0:17:03.840 we're gonna go. We're gonna make records. Bro, We're gonna 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:06.119 we're gonna do this thing big Like, I got it, 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:09.639 they're doing that. What was the conversation that left the 0:17:09.720 --> 0:17:14.800 conversation when we left, Well, the conversation we left we 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:16.920 went to the tunnel. After that, we we did someone 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:20.879 was gonna die. I mean we we You gotta remember 0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:26.640 when Sugar went up on stage, right, Yeah, the only 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:29.160 thing that mattered at that point was not awards anymore. 0:17:29.400 --> 0:17:31.159 So let's let's say our first thing was then you 0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:34.040 can't you believe Biggie One. I think carris One got 0:17:34.119 --> 0:17:37.760 jerked that night too. Yeah, best Live Yeah, best Live 0:17:37.800 --> 0:17:41.320 performance one that Biggie One that like, yeah, well we 0:17:41.400 --> 0:17:43.600 were there too, because that was our nomination. But I 0:17:43.720 --> 0:17:45.520 was like even I was like, oh karros One got 0:17:45.560 --> 0:17:47.040 that one. Yeah exactly. 0:17:47.160 --> 0:17:50.280 But Biggie actually said, yo, man, like he big up 0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:52.639 everyone else. He's like, I don't even deserve this, Like. 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:56.000 Yeah, so carros One, that's a good recall. So carros 0:17:56.119 --> 0:17:58.280 One got jerked. So it was the whole thing. Once 0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:00.920 that happened, everybody was like, oh, the this is not 0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:04.000 a real thing. It's like with the how you when 0:18:04.000 --> 0:18:06.080 you look at the Grammys and you're like, this ain't 0:18:06.119 --> 0:18:08.240 the real thing. That's how we felt about the Source 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:12.720 Awards when they gave lycists to the Year whatever, like 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:16.320 live performance. I mean, Kris One has been ripping down 0:18:16.359 --> 0:18:19.840 every stage, so anyhow, but by the time she got 0:18:19.880 --> 0:18:24.639 on stage, it didn't matter anymore because it was the conversation. 0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:27.840 What we were holding on to was now, like, yo, 0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:31.120 somebody's gonna get shot, somebody's gonna die, and Na's had 0:18:31.960 --> 0:18:36.639 you know, Queensbridge was out, was ready, and you know, 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:39.960 Wu Tang was ready, and like the whole thing was. 0:18:40.600 --> 0:18:45.320 Of course Dre and those guys obviously they didn't come 0:18:45.359 --> 0:18:50.600 out to New York unprepared, and it was remember that 0:18:50.800 --> 0:18:55.159 night the production like they had better production at the 0:18:55.520 --> 0:18:59.240 like Biggie and like uh Puffy performed and it was 0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:01.399 like cool. But when they came out, I think they 0:19:01.480 --> 0:19:03.439 had like it opened up and they had jail they 0:19:03.480 --> 0:19:08.760 came it was like, man, these guys got money and 0:19:08.880 --> 0:19:12.639 production and this is fantastic. And then after that they 0:19:12.760 --> 0:19:16.840 talking ship. Yeah, but the truth of the matter that nobody. 0:19:16.520 --> 0:19:19.159 Would I ran out after Dre when Snoop did that 0:19:19.240 --> 0:19:20.280 whole diatribe a belt. 0:19:20.720 --> 0:19:25.560 Yeah, but Snoop I ran out the door. I tell 0:19:25.600 --> 0:19:29.880 you one thing, Snoop actually saved that night from going 0:19:29.960 --> 0:19:34.040 crazy because he pushed it, but he didn't go so far. 0:19:35.240 --> 0:19:37.960 Like New York ain't got loved for Snoop Dogg and 0:19:38.040 --> 0:19:41.600 Doctor Dre and like everybody was kind of giving it up, 0:19:41.880 --> 0:19:43.960 but like it was dominated with the industry people, so 0:19:44.040 --> 0:19:45.760 they weren't going to give it up. But some of 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:47.879 the fans started to give it up a bit, and 0:19:48.119 --> 0:19:50.879 like he could have said when fuck y'all, that's what 0:19:51.000 --> 0:19:55.040 it felt like he was gonna do. We know, Yeah, 0:19:55.440 --> 0:20:00.359 So it was so when he didn't do that, he 0:20:00.520 --> 0:20:03.680 kind of calmed it back down, which was which is 0:20:03.720 --> 0:20:07.680 the only reason why it wasn't like people got trampled 0:20:07.720 --> 0:20:10.760 and shots went off and all that. It could have 0:20:10.840 --> 0:20:12.639 been that it was by the way, it was the 0:20:13.520 --> 0:20:19.200 most dangerous thing room I've been in. I consider that 0:20:19.359 --> 0:20:23.520 hip hop's funeral. No, no, no, room. No, you don't know. 0:20:23.880 --> 0:20:26.440 I don't understand how I felt. I've said, that's hip 0:20:26.440 --> 0:20:29.000 hop's funeral, Like, no, no, you don't understand what that 0:20:29.320 --> 0:20:32.400 from a dangerous ding, Like you're sitting in the room 0:20:33.240 --> 0:20:38.840 and all you know, there's guns and there's bad intentions 0:20:39.520 --> 0:20:44.600 and and everything looks like it's about to happen. And 0:20:44.760 --> 0:20:46.840 when he went up on stage once he shit it 0:20:46.960 --> 0:20:52.240 on Puff and then Snoop started talking like that it 0:20:52.400 --> 0:20:55.080 was it was about to happen, like it was, and 0:20:55.200 --> 0:20:58.200 it felt like in fact, the fact that it didn't 0:20:58.280 --> 0:21:00.240 happen is amazing cool. 0:21:01.920 --> 0:21:07.480 Iran metd' angelo at that got the Brown Sugar cassette 0:21:07.520 --> 0:21:10.159 and that was it. Iran like, as soon as that 0:21:10.200 --> 0:21:11.120 should happened, right. 0:21:11.119 --> 0:21:12.720 The cruise don't go through metal detectives. 0:21:13.119 --> 0:21:21.000 Yeah, I ran so Steve, I want to know where 0:21:21.040 --> 0:21:24.320 were you born? I was born in New York, in 0:21:24.640 --> 0:21:25.920 New York, New York, what part. 0:21:27.480 --> 0:21:27.879 No no no? 0:21:27.960 --> 0:21:30.800 I was born in Manhattan, but my whole life and 0:21:30.840 --> 0:21:33.879 I was born in Manhattan, but I spent my my 0:21:34.080 --> 0:21:38.480 life in Queens, in Queens Village right off of Jamaica 0:21:38.880 --> 0:21:44.480 and Jamaica Queens. And my parents are from Trinidad. Oh okay, okay, okay. 0:21:45.040 --> 0:21:49.399 So your early your earliest hip hop experience, Oh it 0:21:49.520 --> 0:21:52.680 was great. My my I had. I have an older brother. 0:21:52.760 --> 0:21:55.560 He passed away, but he got hit by a car 0:21:56.280 --> 0:21:58.600 going to the there's so much about this story. So 0:21:58.680 --> 0:22:01.080 my brother got hit by a car and he was 0:22:01.160 --> 0:22:10.040 going to a show, the Superfest at It was at 0:22:10.080 --> 0:22:12.320 Belmont Race Track, which we could walk to from our house. 0:22:12.920 --> 0:22:15.600 So he's on his way there and like the Pointer 0:22:15.760 --> 0:22:19.119 Sisters and Luther Vandros. It was that, you know, that 0:22:19.280 --> 0:22:24.080 kind of kind of early eighties, early eighties show, and 0:22:24.200 --> 0:22:25.600 he's on his way there, he gets hit by a 0:22:25.680 --> 0:22:31.600 car to hit and run. A year later, he just 0:22:31.720 --> 0:22:35.200 gets of age and he gets the check, the insurance check, 0:22:35.760 --> 0:22:38.440 like thirty grand or something like that. It felt like 0:22:39.040 --> 0:22:42.040 thirty it felt like that. And he takes the money 0:22:42.640 --> 0:22:46.280 and he buys all of this equipment and this is 0:22:46.520 --> 0:22:57.800 eighty two coughing techniques, all kind of reverbs, everything, like 0:22:57.880 --> 0:23:01.359 a DJ set, right, so he could roll up, do 0:23:01.480 --> 0:23:05.040 block parties, whatever. And it was that. It was when 0:23:05.160 --> 0:23:08.520 he did that is when I first got into really 0:23:08.560 --> 0:23:11.480 into the music, because guys would come over in DJ. 0:23:12.080 --> 0:23:14.120 He was alright, but his friends would come over in DJ, 0:23:14.640 --> 0:23:16.640 but it was like, oh, Mickey, you're so fine, You're 0:23:16.680 --> 0:23:20.000 so fine. You it was like that. It was don't 0:23:20.000 --> 0:23:22.359 stop the music. It was like every breakbeat, it was 0:23:22.480 --> 0:23:24.840 all of that kind of stuff. And that's when I 0:23:24.920 --> 0:23:29.840 first got interested in the art form, and I started 0:23:29.840 --> 0:23:32.119 to love it. So I grew up from from twelve 0:23:32.240 --> 0:23:36.119 years old, from nineteen eighty two, I've been in hip 0:23:36.160 --> 0:23:39.280 hop music. Did you ever have rap aspirations of? Oh yeah, 0:23:39.280 --> 0:23:40.760 I thought I was a rapper. I thought I was 0:23:41.040 --> 0:23:44.320 Steve Ski. I had Steve Ski I was. I was 0:23:44.400 --> 0:23:47.120 doing the whole thing. Yeah, out of course, what else 0:23:47.280 --> 0:23:51.320 name was there? Rock? Yeah? With Steve Ski, I already 0:23:51.359 --> 0:23:53.520 had where I was going to tag. I used to 0:23:53.560 --> 0:23:55.680 write my little graffiti, write my name, practice how I 0:23:55.760 --> 0:24:00.399 was going to do it. I was spitting rhymes everything. 0:24:01.240 --> 0:24:04.760 So was management your first foray into the business or like, 0:24:05.200 --> 0:24:06.639 oh yeah, my first roady? 0:24:06.720 --> 0:24:09.240 First? Were you carrying records? Were you yeah? I was 0:24:09.280 --> 0:24:12.480 a ROADI I was a roadie, then a road manager, 0:24:12.600 --> 0:24:16.600 and then a manager. Who were your first clients? My 0:24:16.760 --> 0:24:20.200 first class was kid and play? Oh okay, oh yeah, 0:24:20.440 --> 0:24:23.480 we kidd and play early on. But I had the 0:24:23.560 --> 0:24:25.400 truth of the matter is I was selling real estate, 0:24:26.480 --> 0:24:29.960 so I had money, Like I already had money, like 0:24:30.200 --> 0:24:33.359 more money than than than than I needed. So by 0:24:33.400 --> 0:24:35.200 the time I was a roadie, it was really me 0:24:35.359 --> 0:24:39.040 learning the business. I wasn't doing it for money, but 0:24:39.400 --> 0:24:42.000 the first thing I did I during that process, I 0:24:42.040 --> 0:24:46.160 found this guy. His name is Steve Kitt, and he's 0:24:46.200 --> 0:24:51.439 a Jehovah's witness and he was producing for Herbie. Herbie 0:24:51.840 --> 0:24:57.160 azof Herbie loved her yeah right, And Herbie was doing 0:24:57.240 --> 0:25:01.000 the typical thing like taking credit for everything, buying guys out. 0:25:01.080 --> 0:25:05.280 Oh wait, please don't tell me that. Yeah, Herbie wasn't 0:25:05.320 --> 0:25:11.240 doing He was sort of the figurehead for he may. 0:25:11.200 --> 0:25:15.000 Have produced some records. He was a conceptual guy, right, Like, 0:25:15.119 --> 0:25:17.680 he definitely was a concept guy. He was the puff 0:25:17.960 --> 0:25:20.480 like so he was man no, no, no, no. He 0:25:20.640 --> 0:25:22.879 knew like what salt and pepper should look like, and 0:25:23.359 --> 0:25:26.320 he knew like what kidden play should be like. He 0:25:26.440 --> 0:25:30.639 had that kind of But it was a bunch of 0:25:30.720 --> 0:25:33.120 guys making the records. I think they had a name. 0:25:33.240 --> 0:25:35.479 It was like the Hitman type of dudes that they 0:25:35.560 --> 0:25:40.679 had a name. Oh Herbie, Yeah, you're right, the right man, right, 0:25:41.080 --> 0:25:45.359 we're good. Right, So he had the dudes. So guys 0:25:45.440 --> 0:25:47.280 wanted to be down with the Invincibles and a lot, 0:25:48.160 --> 0:25:50.240 but they wasn't, you know, they weren't getting their credit 0:25:50.280 --> 0:25:51.960 and all that other kind of stuff for getting jerked 0:25:52.000 --> 0:25:54.960 up and there was a guy named Steve kitt. He 0:25:55.200 --> 0:25:58.359 was a Jehovah witnesses. As I said, so he didn't 0:25:58.400 --> 0:26:00.840 mind not getting the credit because he didn't even want 0:26:00.840 --> 0:26:03.159 to like his name out there, and they associated with 0:26:03.560 --> 0:26:07.639 curse words and all that. But the first thing I 0:26:07.720 --> 0:26:10.720 did was I got him and we were on. I 0:26:10.840 --> 0:26:14.199 was doing roady work. Martin Lawrence used to open up 0:26:14.240 --> 0:26:17.480 the kid and play and when so I got to 0:26:17.560 --> 0:26:19.760 know Martin, and then then Martin got his TV show. 0:26:20.480 --> 0:26:25.280 Martin gave me the opportunity to make the theme song. 0:26:26.080 --> 0:26:28.920 So the first work I've ever published or been a 0:26:29.000 --> 0:26:31.760 part of doing, was the theme song to the Martin 0:26:31.840 --> 0:26:35.640 Lawrence Show. Yeah, we took that from Caprie. No, that's 0:26:35.680 --> 0:26:38.240 the second one. Yeah, they changed it up on us, 0:26:38.320 --> 0:26:40.320 Like I don't do the second one. The first one 0:26:40.400 --> 0:26:42.920 was way better. Martin took the second one because somebody 0:26:43.000 --> 0:26:44.479 in this camp must have said, you know, you can 0:26:44.560 --> 0:26:47.160 make money off of this, So all of a sudden 0:26:47.240 --> 0:26:51.800 we probably had a four or five year run. That's 0:26:51.840 --> 0:26:54.440 the one. The other one was stupid. 0:26:55.119 --> 0:26:57.480 Wait, so you said, and you always credit Whiz with 0:26:57.560 --> 0:26:59.840 a lot of like your beginnings, your trajectory, MBM. 0:27:00.200 --> 0:27:03.879 Where's is the one who DJ. Where's Mark Eastman was 0:27:03.920 --> 0:27:04.680 the one who put me on? 0:27:04.960 --> 0:27:07.320 He seemed a little a little for anyway, because I remember, 0:27:07.400 --> 0:27:08.920 like I feel like it was a decade ago. He 0:27:09.040 --> 0:27:11.480 was the first one that started doing the video DJ 0:27:11.600 --> 0:27:13.080 and and whatnot. Was he always that dude? 0:27:13.119 --> 0:27:13.280 Yeah? 0:27:15.000 --> 0:27:18.480 Yeah, that I were so you you helped helm him 0:27:18.600 --> 0:27:21.480 to Yeah we signed a kid, by the way, we did. 0:27:21.640 --> 0:27:24.520 I got the kid, But the first dude I got 0:27:24.600 --> 0:27:28.160 a record deal for was the kid from Philly, Shadacious. 0:27:28.920 --> 0:27:34.360 I'm gonna put my wait time out, Yeah, time out. 0:27:34.960 --> 0:27:36.359 That's right, it's Whi's artist. 0:27:37.160 --> 0:27:39.080 All right, here's the how is that r c A 0:27:39.640 --> 0:27:44.160 so in ninety two, ninety three, it's such a Philly title. 0:27:44.200 --> 0:27:46.840 I'm gonna put my thing down like it was. It 0:27:46.960 --> 0:27:50.240 was making a lot of little record he was making noise. Yeah, 0:27:50.240 --> 0:27:51.320 and I remember, all right. 0:27:51.320 --> 0:27:54.119 See here's the funny ship, which leads back to the 0:27:54.359 --> 0:27:56.679 Wendy Goldstein situation, which is. 0:27:58.160 --> 0:28:01.240 Me not knowing the business. Like when word got. 0:28:01.119 --> 0:28:05.440 Out yo shat Dasius signed RCA Records Peeping for a 0:28:05.680 --> 0:28:10.160 fourteen album deal. Me thinking like yo, he's gonna make 0:28:10.200 --> 0:28:13.639 records until two thousand and seven, Like this Is back 0:28:13.680 --> 0:28:15.880 in nineteen ninety two, I didn't know about the whole 0:28:16.200 --> 0:28:18.400 option deal with they can drop you, but you can't leave, 0:28:18.800 --> 0:28:23.199 like that sort of thing. So in my mind there 0:28:23.240 --> 0:28:27.440 were two artists that were always referenced to and Roots 0:28:27.520 --> 0:28:29.760 Camp until my manager and lawyer were like, no, that's 0:28:29.800 --> 0:28:32.920 not the right president to set. It was Shat Dasious, 0:28:33.080 --> 0:28:37.960 and then it was Helmet, the Seattle grunge band, because 0:28:38.000 --> 0:28:38.640 they got signed for. 0:28:38.600 --> 0:28:40.240 A million dollars, so we're like, yo, helmet. 0:28:40.720 --> 0:28:44.840 We pulled a helmet on Wendy Goldstein by saying we 0:28:44.920 --> 0:28:48.600 want two land cruises, an apartment, a studio, da da 0:28:48.680 --> 0:28:51.600 da da, and and she was like okay. But back 0:28:51.720 --> 0:28:54.080 then it was just like yo, man, I just want 0:28:54.120 --> 0:28:57.240 a shot Dacius, I want a fourteen fourteen. 0:28:57.720 --> 0:28:58.760 I don't know about it. I don't know where you 0:28:58.840 --> 0:29:00.400 guys get the fourteen album from. 0:29:00.880 --> 0:29:03.920 Maybe you know, people always fabricating this story because they 0:29:04.000 --> 0:29:06.280 make it sound He probably was putting it out there 0:29:06.520 --> 0:29:08.280 to make it seem like he was getting more money. 0:29:08.600 --> 0:29:13.120 Yes, yes, and because money yeah, but it wasn't Yeah, 0:29:13.120 --> 0:29:14.680 it wasn't that. And then like I'm not saying it 0:29:14.800 --> 0:29:16.800 was a great deal, we signed the r c A, 0:29:17.280 --> 0:29:18.520 the Standard probably seven. 0:29:18.680 --> 0:29:21.320 That was a big deal for Philadelphia. Oh yeah, where 0:29:21.440 --> 0:29:24.280 is shot if you happen to know, I don't know, but. 0:29:24.400 --> 0:29:27.080 I have no idea. But the video Boyce to Man 0:29:27.200 --> 0:29:30.520 was in the video. Yeah, I think Randall Cunningham may 0:29:30.560 --> 0:29:31.280 have been in the video. 0:29:31.800 --> 0:29:36.120 He was Philly's hope is gonna put Philly on the map? 0:29:36.200 --> 0:29:38.960 Boy damn shot Dacious. 0:29:39.040 --> 0:29:41.160 Record high School. 0:29:41.200 --> 0:29:44.200 So this is like, this is neck and neck with 0:29:44.240 --> 0:29:48.160 the organics. Okay, Like he was like the street. The 0:29:48.240 --> 0:29:50.520 thing was like he would go on we do these 0:29:50.520 --> 0:29:52.960 shows with Shad Dash's and he had a creel dudes 0:29:53.000 --> 0:29:56.360 around him that was rapping. Yes, they were like the 0:29:56.400 --> 0:29:57.600 street Wu Tang element. 0:29:57.680 --> 0:30:00.480 They were on that ship and then he coming with 0:30:00.600 --> 0:30:04.680 our birken Stocks and the Oscars were arrested development. But 0:30:04.760 --> 0:30:07.320 the thing on was is like we they underestimated us 0:30:07.360 --> 0:30:10.560 so much that then, like when you underestimate somebody and 0:30:10.600 --> 0:30:12.160 then may rise to the casion, it's like. 0:30:12.240 --> 0:30:13.160 Oh shit, they dope. 0:30:13.560 --> 0:30:17.600 So it kind of helped open for sadasis anyway. All right, 0:30:17.720 --> 0:30:19.560 So back to Where's Entertainment? 0:30:19.640 --> 0:30:23.000 So that's how and you were managing him at the time, 0:30:23.160 --> 0:30:25.240 managing that's how you got him. No no, no, no, 0:30:25.320 --> 0:30:28.120 no no no, I was well he managed didn't playing 0:30:28.160 --> 0:30:34.600 with I. No, no. In fact, Wiz had his thing, Wizentertainment, 0:30:35.240 --> 0:30:38.640 and I did. Me and Kid had a thing called 0:30:40.240 --> 0:30:43.920 Kid Entertainment. Actually okay, yeah, so you had different entities. Yeah, 0:30:43.960 --> 0:30:45.760 we like and it was me and Kid partner. And 0:30:45.840 --> 0:30:51.280 then I had gotten a a production deal with our CA. Okay, 0:30:51.600 --> 0:30:55.480 so Whiz had the guy already signed Chadasius and the 0:30:55.560 --> 0:30:58.480 record was bubbling, so we signed the record. We signed 0:30:58.560 --> 0:31:02.320 him to our deal that we had at r C A, 0:31:03.000 --> 0:31:05.920 and I became an an r guy at r C 0:31:06.040 --> 0:31:11.040 A shortly after that. Wow. Okay. So this is also 0:31:11.160 --> 0:31:17.120 during the time when the other Steve Yes with Loud. 0:31:17.280 --> 0:31:20.120 So Riff was I was what was the difference between 0:31:20.240 --> 0:31:23.600 like r C A proper like I know, s w 0:31:23.760 --> 0:31:25.560 V and all they didn't have They didn't have no 0:31:25.680 --> 0:31:27.920 rappers on this show. 0:31:28.680 --> 0:31:30.560 You could talk about all of this type of stuff 0:31:31.120 --> 0:31:32.880 and like you don't care, like it don't have to 0:31:32.960 --> 0:31:36.320 be like the audience is into all of us. We 0:31:36.600 --> 0:31:41.880 we are the the the black NPR n PR, We're 0:31:41.920 --> 0:31:43.440 the Black n BR. Yes we have. 0:31:45.320 --> 0:31:49.200 Could we got some ships some bucks, and you know, 0:31:49.920 --> 0:31:50.520 I wasn't even. 0:31:50.680 --> 0:31:56.280 It wasn't even the courage, just like the subject. That's 0:31:56.280 --> 0:31:59.160 that's what the audience gets off on the nerves. So yeah, 0:31:59.200 --> 0:32:02.000 I was at R C A the time and the 0:32:02.160 --> 0:32:05.160 kid after we put the Shatass record out, it didn't 0:32:05.400 --> 0:32:08.080 work like we thought it was gonna work, and we 0:32:08.120 --> 0:32:10.160 picked up the record. He was about to go and 0:32:10.480 --> 0:32:14.160 then for some strange reason it converted and I became 0:32:14.200 --> 0:32:15.960 an A and R guy, And as an A and 0:32:16.080 --> 0:32:21.000 R guy, I was there and Clue was my assistant, 0:32:23.040 --> 0:32:26.760 and I knew him because I grew up in Queen's 0:32:27.800 --> 0:32:30.560 where I grew up at the area. Now they went 0:32:30.640 --> 0:32:34.360 from like two Shadyville's they call the area okay, And like, 0:32:34.920 --> 0:32:38.240 Clue's out there making those mixtapes. His shit was going. 0:32:38.720 --> 0:32:40.239 And then I broke Clue, and I'm like, if he's 0:32:40.280 --> 0:32:42.800 making mixtapes, he's probably a good A and R guy. 0:32:43.200 --> 0:32:46.920 So I made him my assistant whatever. So we started whatever, 0:32:47.000 --> 0:32:50.920 we started, you know, finding music, and my younger brother 0:32:51.080 --> 0:32:54.960 was his manager, was clues manager. So I signed Clue, 0:32:55.440 --> 0:32:58.600 I mean, he was my assistant and a guy named 0:32:58.680 --> 0:33:00.640 the Big Dude. At the time, it was this Guy Nam, 0:33:00.720 --> 0:33:08.000 Kenny Art Kenny signed s w V and like all 0:33:08.080 --> 0:33:10.720 Star used to come around, and that's when I first 0:33:10.800 --> 0:33:14.600 met Farrell. Uh, Farrell came around. Farrell did work on 0:33:14.760 --> 0:33:20.160 s w V, has been around. Yeah, so Farrell came around. 0:33:20.760 --> 0:33:24.200 I met him, and I also met Dave Matthews. They 0:33:24.200 --> 0:33:30.200 were He was super cool, like very very very cool, 0:33:30.240 --> 0:33:32.160 but like I knew that back then as an A 0:33:32.240 --> 0:33:34.520 and R guy, and then I was got. I got. 0:33:34.600 --> 0:33:37.000 I was really close with all the dudes from Wu 0:33:37.040 --> 0:33:39.680 Tang because they got signed and I was there in 0:33:39.760 --> 0:33:42.280 the office, and they would come around and walk around 0:33:42.320 --> 0:33:44.840 the building. In fact, they shot cream in the r 0:33:44.920 --> 0:33:48.240 C A building they seen when they were at a 0:33:48.320 --> 0:33:51.800 compensation the conference. And I was cool with Power Ray 0:33:52.680 --> 0:33:56.960 ghost Rizza, like you know, and I had known, I 0:33:57.000 --> 0:34:00.720 didn't know. I knew that he was on Tommy Boy 0:34:01.320 --> 0:34:02.960 when he had the others when he put out the 0:34:03.000 --> 0:34:06.840 solo joint and then like so i'd like I knew 0:34:06.880 --> 0:34:07.560 those guys. 0:34:07.560 --> 0:34:10.520 As an an R and most of an rs that 0:34:10.600 --> 0:34:13.160 we get on the show, they give us their three 0:34:13.360 --> 0:34:17.719 like ones that almost got away, who were your three? 0:34:19.320 --> 0:34:21.480 Could have had him, could have signed, could have had 0:34:21.600 --> 0:34:24.160 him and missed, oh easy. 0:34:26.920 --> 0:34:31.840 Alicia Keys for sure, and I always have the caveat 0:34:31.880 --> 0:34:34.400 because she didn't play the piano. And then when she 0:34:34.440 --> 0:34:37.960 did get signed, when they signed it to Sony, and 0:34:38.040 --> 0:34:40.920 then they obviously they dropped her at Sony. But when 0:34:40.920 --> 0:34:44.399 they signed her, they didn't drop Hurts on it. They 0:34:44.400 --> 0:34:45.960 didn't want to deal with her manager, and they just 0:34:46.040 --> 0:34:50.120 discarded the situation. Nobody questioned her unbelievable talent. But when 0:34:50.160 --> 0:34:53.399 they signed her, initially she had played the piano. When 0:34:53.440 --> 0:34:56.320 I had gotten to see her, we had just started. 0:34:56.320 --> 0:34:59.120 It was ninety six ninety seven, had an office of 0:34:59.200 --> 0:35:02.320 four people, and that same manager brought it in and 0:35:02.440 --> 0:35:06.319 she sang and she could sing. But like, I didn't 0:35:06.360 --> 0:35:08.759 see the piano thing, and the truth of the matter, 0:35:09.280 --> 0:35:11.120 I didn't see I didn't see the potential. And the 0:35:11.160 --> 0:35:14.640 truth of the matter is I wasn't the hip hop 0:35:14.719 --> 0:35:17.280 shit at the time. I probably was too short sighted. 0:35:17.560 --> 0:35:20.920 I definitely was too short sighted to even think like, 0:35:21.160 --> 0:35:23.120 maybe they could be a piano involved and what that 0:35:23.200 --> 0:35:25.560 would what that would be? So I would say that 0:35:25.600 --> 0:35:31.280 who got away? I signed fifty cent? Originally I signed 0:35:31.280 --> 0:35:38.400 fifty cent. Yeah, that I did all that, But I 0:35:38.440 --> 0:35:40.400 could have re signed him again at in a scope, 0:35:41.760 --> 0:35:43.480 and in fact I should have resigned him again in 0:35:43.560 --> 0:35:46.840 the scope. And a lot of the reasons why like 0:35:47.080 --> 0:35:50.800 him and I have had this not good relationship is 0:35:50.880 --> 0:35:52.520 because I told him I would sign him at in 0:35:52.560 --> 0:35:54.960 a scope and I thought I could get him signed. 0:35:55.080 --> 0:35:59.640 Even to this day. Oh yes, I've known the guy 0:36:00.360 --> 0:36:02.600 I bought him. He wasn't a deal with jam Master J. 0:36:02.719 --> 0:36:05.320 I bought him at the deal with jams GM to 0:36:05.440 --> 0:36:07.320 sign him. He was with the Onyx and all that 0:36:07.680 --> 0:36:10.320 I signed him Boom, he was with current NAS. We 0:36:10.400 --> 0:36:12.560 went up to Bearsville, up to Woodstock and did all 0:36:12.560 --> 0:36:14.759 those joints made power to Dollar. I put him with 0:36:14.800 --> 0:36:17.400 Shy Money. Shaw Money was another kid in my neighborhood, 0:36:17.800 --> 0:36:20.239 so it was clue shaw Money. I started putting these 0:36:20.280 --> 0:36:24.680 guys on. They grew up in my neighborhood, my younger 0:36:24.880 --> 0:36:27.640 they were friends with my younger brother. They were talented, obviously, 0:36:29.360 --> 0:36:32.319 and I should have resigned him. And and I'm like, okay. 0:36:33.440 --> 0:36:35.880 I went to Timberland, I went to the Rough Riders. 0:36:35.920 --> 0:36:38.879 I went to everybody like okay, this guy sign them. 0:36:39.160 --> 0:36:43.400 But at Inner School we were signing everybody under labels. 0:36:43.400 --> 0:36:46.439 We were basically giving producers had labels and everybody would 0:36:46.440 --> 0:36:50.040 sign it to that. So I asked everyone would they 0:36:50.840 --> 0:36:53.279 did they want them? And when they didn't want them, 0:36:54.640 --> 0:36:59.879 for whatever the reasons were, I couldn't deliver on my work. 0:37:00.360 --> 0:37:02.440 I said I was gonna sign them. And even with 0:37:02.560 --> 0:37:06.720 the heat, with all the mixtapes that he was wings 0:37:06.760 --> 0:37:10.480 that had just started bubbling, Nah, they didn't you know 0:37:10.480 --> 0:37:13.480 what it was. It was like it was obviously got 0:37:13.520 --> 0:37:16.360 shot at. So there was problems, right, So it was 0:37:16.400 --> 0:37:18.480 a bit. It was a bit of do we want 0:37:18.520 --> 0:37:20.359 to deal with these problems? Do we want to get 0:37:20.360 --> 0:37:23.399 in the middle of all this shit? But the only 0:37:23.520 --> 0:37:27.000 person obviously that wasn't aware and didn't give a fuck 0:37:27.600 --> 0:37:27.960 was Drey. 0:37:29.080 --> 0:37:31.160 I was about to ask you Eminem and ed different. 0:37:31.239 --> 0:37:33.640 They didn't. They didn't get I mean, you're talking about 0:37:34.960 --> 0:37:37.120 everybody else. Yeah, that's they were dealing with the music. 0:37:37.400 --> 0:37:40.200 Everybody else was dealing with the super knife and for 0:37:40.320 --> 0:37:43.759 that he's you know, I didn't do so that got away. 0:37:44.080 --> 0:37:47.400 But I tell you, probably those two things. There's some 0:37:47.560 --> 0:37:51.120 songs that got away, some songs I wanted, Butterfly. I 0:37:51.200 --> 0:37:53.719 went for a group of that song Butterfly before they 0:37:53.760 --> 0:37:56.399 gave it to Michael Jackson. I had the song seven 0:37:56.520 --> 0:37:58.080 or two where my girls had I had that for 0:37:58.200 --> 0:38:01.640 a group and then ship uh from Missy and Mona 0:38:02.040 --> 0:38:04.480 gave it to somebody else. But like the thing that 0:38:04.600 --> 0:38:08.359 got away from me that I signed and the guys 0:38:08.440 --> 0:38:14.400 around them sucked it up badly. It was blah yo. 0:38:14.560 --> 0:38:16.200 For half a second, I was like, wait, I know 0:38:16.280 --> 0:38:20.279 that name, break that down. 0:38:20.320 --> 0:38:25.280 They signed him bad awful singles except for maybe. 0:38:25.440 --> 0:38:29.000 Fast fast Lane was not the no no awful singles. 0:38:29.360 --> 0:38:31.120 Well, I say fast Lane, which is not the single. 0:38:31.200 --> 0:38:33.360 As a radio person at the time, on the radio, it. 0:38:33.440 --> 0:38:41.520 Was okay, it was the first song was the video 0:38:41.640 --> 0:38:46.920 was dope like it was. That was crazy. And remember 0:38:47.040 --> 0:38:49.279 he had these guys around them. I can't remember it 0:38:49.520 --> 0:38:55.440 was yeah, and they was so not wanting to hear 0:38:55.640 --> 0:38:59.359 anything that I would say you want alone. They would 0:38:59.400 --> 0:39:02.480 not even listen at all. And then they and then 0:39:02.520 --> 0:39:05.120 they did the dumb ship, which is go around me, 0:39:05.320 --> 0:39:07.600 thinking they were gonna go to Jimmy and like they 0:39:07.640 --> 0:39:11.160 were gonna get a different outcome, and no, that didn't 0:39:11.200 --> 0:39:17.120 work and it was fucked up because that guy. I mean, 0:39:17.320 --> 0:39:20.600 it was so crazy, Like I had signed him, and 0:39:20.719 --> 0:39:25.480 I'm like, man, hmm, this guy is gonna go. Prince 0:39:25.600 --> 0:39:28.520 came to his show to see him because they were like, 0:39:28.640 --> 0:39:32.480 this is the next guy, the next prodigy of music 0:39:34.480 --> 0:39:36.759 and I and I was ready for that moment for him. 0:39:38.080 --> 0:39:41.040 And then like after all this shit ended, I remember 0:39:41.440 --> 0:39:46.759 like I gave Maxwell fortunate, I got the r Kelly song, 0:39:47.400 --> 0:39:50.399 and then like what the the m two ma guy 0:39:50.680 --> 0:39:54.879 what's his name? Was like, why didn't you give Bellalassan? 0:39:54.960 --> 0:39:58.200 I'm like, y'all don't even listen, You'll have records. 0:39:58.320 --> 0:40:00.840 It's funny because at the time I was on Radio BLACKBNW. 0:40:00.880 --> 0:40:02.480 I said, call a mirror all the time and be like, 0:40:02.880 --> 0:40:07.400 but sometimes it's just so sometimes I don't understand. 0:40:07.440 --> 0:40:10.040 It's easy nine minutes song. 0:40:10.040 --> 0:40:11.480 It was, but it was it was a way to 0:40:11.640 --> 0:40:12.759 edit and it was a way to make it. 0:40:12.880 --> 0:40:17.120 You can. Time is great right now? What fast Lane 0:40:17.239 --> 0:40:18.480 was dre and Jada. 0:40:18.280 --> 0:40:22.240 Kiss Ontrength alone. It wasn't we're. 0:40:22.120 --> 0:40:25.640 Trying to do something, but look, it was one of 0:40:25.719 --> 0:40:29.560 those things that I That's why I said almost because 0:40:29.600 --> 0:40:34.560 that guy should have been a contender, way more than 0:40:34.600 --> 0:40:35.120 a contender. 0:40:36.360 --> 0:40:38.399 Yeah, I wouldn't been curious to hear how you would 0:40:38.440 --> 0:40:42.000 have it was written Bloald, like, what would have it 0:40:42.160 --> 0:40:42.600 was written? 0:40:42.800 --> 0:40:44.560 I wanted to do that? Yeah, I would have. I 0:40:44.600 --> 0:40:49.400 would have Like you knew what di'angelo was doing, so 0:40:49.560 --> 0:40:55.520 that was super clear, and he like he definitely wanted 0:40:55.560 --> 0:40:59.600 to do like jazz. He wanted to feel jazz around it. 0:41:02.160 --> 0:41:03.880 But I think that there was a way that you 0:41:03.960 --> 0:41:08.960 could have found the guy, the other kid that came 0:41:09.000 --> 0:41:12.239 out of Philly music music like there was a way 0:41:12.320 --> 0:41:14.759 to split the gap where he could have ran and 0:41:14.880 --> 0:41:18.600 that was the available and I mean Ericabad when she 0:41:18.680 --> 0:41:22.040 first came out, like that was there and he was 0:41:22.120 --> 0:41:27.600 the better singer out of everybody by far, performer, good 0:41:27.640 --> 0:41:31.360 looking kid like it was that was the thing. But 0:41:31.480 --> 0:41:33.680 we couldn't even experiment with all that because they already 0:41:33.680 --> 0:41:36.600 had some producers in their back pocket. They just wanted 0:41:36.600 --> 0:41:39.279 the money to take the money. Let them come back 0:41:39.320 --> 0:41:41.239 and say is this it now? But why don't we 0:41:41.320 --> 0:41:43.480 try this? Nope? Aren't you shut the fuck up? And 0:41:43.520 --> 0:41:45.680 then let us go back to the lord ship. Yeah. 0:41:50.920 --> 0:41:58.400 In an atmosphere like Interscope, which had easily fifteen to 0:41:58.480 --> 0:42:02.280 sixteen multi platinum, arn't is like, how are you able 0:42:02.520 --> 0:42:07.680 to get a seat at the table to get Jimmy, 0:42:07.760 --> 0:42:12.680 I mean, especially with everyone else that's yeah fighting for it, Like, 0:42:12.840 --> 0:42:15.520 how are you able to unless it's a clear cut winner, 0:42:16.600 --> 0:42:20.040 Like how are you able to develop something from like 0:42:20.320 --> 0:42:20.799 you did? 0:42:21.000 --> 0:42:24.640 You were part of the City High helming correct. Yeah, yeah, 0:42:24.800 --> 0:42:29.680 I didn't sign City I made the record that I 0:42:29.800 --> 0:42:36.880 think we made. Oh oh the remix remix put on. 0:42:37.560 --> 0:42:41.480 Record that went crazy. That was my second goal record. 0:42:42.320 --> 0:42:46.160 You record they sampled. It was based on a root song. 0:42:47.120 --> 0:42:50.600 The original Caramel was based on our song Silent Treatment. 0:42:51.200 --> 0:42:55.360 So I have a history of collecting golden platinum records 0:42:55.400 --> 0:42:56.080 that weren't mine. 0:42:57.120 --> 0:43:02.040 Youn't until five years into my career. So they're like 0:43:02.080 --> 0:43:04.919 hear me. I was like, oh it's that Oh great? Yeah, 0:43:05.000 --> 0:43:06.960 so still hanging up there. Yeah. So I A and 0:43:07.120 --> 0:43:13.360 R the the the City High. I was the president. 0:43:13.680 --> 0:43:15.960 I was running all the black music in the scope. 0:43:16.400 --> 0:43:23.000 And then I I was Jimmy's right hand So all 0:43:23.040 --> 0:43:25.120 the music that I was dealing with had a had 0:43:25.160 --> 0:43:26.680 a seat at the table. To be honest with you, 0:43:27.120 --> 0:43:31.960 And as it relates to Belal, Jimmy looked at Belaal 0:43:32.719 --> 0:43:39.360 like a rock star. Jimmy thought that Belaw was gonna 0:43:39.400 --> 0:43:44.040 go like like all the way like he Jimmy didn't 0:43:44.120 --> 0:43:46.960 like that type of music, but he thought that kid 0:43:47.719 --> 0:43:51.279 had something to be. Like I don't want to say 0:43:51.280 --> 0:43:54.000 anybody's name because if I say, like if you if 0:43:54.040 --> 0:43:56.960 you connect them to anybody who's great and people don't 0:43:56.960 --> 0:43:58.759 even know who Blal is or may not know, it 0:43:58.960 --> 0:44:02.840 just sounds crazy. But Jimmy thought that Blal could have 0:44:03.040 --> 0:44:07.480 been one of the great artists of the time. Forget 0:44:08.400 --> 0:44:12.520 hip hop, R and B whatever, That kid could be anything. 0:44:13.400 --> 0:44:20.600 He's special and that obviously didn't happen as a recording 0:44:20.680 --> 0:44:24.319 artist on Interscope, But so it was easy to get 0:44:24.560 --> 0:44:27.280 a seat at the table for him with like Maya 0:44:27.480 --> 0:44:31.279 and City High and all the other things. I think 0:44:31.360 --> 0:44:34.440 Jimmy was like, Steve, go do your thing, you know, 0:44:34.600 --> 0:44:37.000 And so I was over there doing my thing. But 0:44:37.200 --> 0:44:40.200 is there really a black music department an Interscope, because 0:44:40.440 --> 0:44:42.640 to me, Interscope is like a label. Was like you're 0:44:42.719 --> 0:44:46.359 either winning or you didn't get there. Yeah, it wasn't. 0:44:46.560 --> 0:44:49.080 It wasn't a black department. The first member early they 0:44:49.160 --> 0:44:51.960 signed Akinelly. That was the guy who got the big deal. 0:44:52.320 --> 0:44:56.200 Akinella got four hundred thousand dollars in like Ninember one night. 0:44:56.360 --> 0:45:00.560 It was like fucking huge. Wow. Acanelli's first album was 0:45:00.680 --> 0:45:05.920 signed to Coming Off Alive at the Barbecue. He got 0:45:05.960 --> 0:45:09.040 paid and went to Interscope. They signed him, They signed 0:45:09.080 --> 0:45:11.680 Marky Mark and the Funky Butt You had good Vibrations. 0:45:11.960 --> 0:45:19.279 They signed Gerrado, so they were they were signing. It 0:45:19.320 --> 0:45:21.880 didn't make a different, Like there was no black music department. 0:45:22.080 --> 0:45:25.719 You're right at Innoscope. Jimmy was just trying to really 0:45:26.080 --> 0:45:30.040 what did he felt madd at culturally and like we 0:45:30.080 --> 0:45:34.040 should be in business with those people. Wow, were you okay? 0:45:34.239 --> 0:45:38.000 Were you there for the hot Crawl period? It was 0:45:38.040 --> 0:45:43.279 hot call? Okay? Maybe not? What's damn okay? So damn? 0:45:43.320 --> 0:45:45.080 And I gotta look up his name. I can't remember 0:45:45.120 --> 0:45:48.120 his real name, Dolan. Don't give me lying. He was 0:45:48.160 --> 0:45:50.000 basically he was a white rapper. He signed the Terscope 0:45:50.000 --> 0:45:56.400 around oh oh one something like that. No, I wasn't involved. 0:45:56.440 --> 0:45:58.200 I didn't, I don't. I don't know about that two. 0:45:58.080 --> 0:46:00.560 Thousand and one. Uh yeah, I mean he was like 0:46:00.920 --> 0:46:04.200 could have been a contender. And he has a book 0:46:04.239 --> 0:46:05.400 out now called. 0:46:06.880 --> 0:46:09.799 Inger carp what's his name Carp. Yeah. 0:46:10.160 --> 0:46:13.640 Gener Carp is now the showrunner of Dropped the Mic, 0:46:14.480 --> 0:46:23.120 and he occasionally writes for My wife showtime. Who's America, Yeah, 0:46:23.160 --> 0:46:26.200 he's he writes for Who's America as well. But he 0:46:26.360 --> 0:46:29.319 was a battle rapper that was on the Baker Boys 0:46:29.360 --> 0:46:31.880 show that he had like a two year streak and 0:46:32.080 --> 0:46:33.920 Jimmy signed him for a million. 0:46:34.920 --> 0:46:36.680 And in his book. 0:46:36.760 --> 0:46:39.800 His book is entitled Kanye West Owes Me three hundred Dollars, 0:46:39.960 --> 0:46:43.360 and it's a memoir of his life between ninety five 0:46:44.120 --> 0:46:47.080 in two thousand and five, like this senior period. But 0:46:47.280 --> 0:46:52.359 it's he awesome to write that book. No, it's it's 0:46:52.800 --> 0:46:55.360 one of the most I couldn't put it down. I 0:46:55.480 --> 0:47:01.000 finished it in like two days. But he insinuated without 0:47:01.080 --> 0:47:08.399 being specific. My guess is that, uh, Paul Rosenberg really 0:47:08.640 --> 0:47:12.879 wasn't keen on Jimmy, you know, promoting both. 0:47:14.120 --> 0:47:15.919 Yeah, well the truth of him, I was gonna say, 0:47:16.680 --> 0:47:20.680 knowing Jimmy, like it sounds like eminem but just like 0:47:20.760 --> 0:47:24.760 an like Battle Wrapper Baker Boys, That's exactly how Jimmy 0:47:24.800 --> 0:47:26.960 found it wasn't Baker Boys. 0:47:27.000 --> 0:47:30.200 It was the same but the same same structure. Well, 0:47:30.239 --> 0:47:31.680 initially in the book he was saying that. You know, 0:47:31.760 --> 0:47:33.759 Jimmy was like, look, I have different rock acts, Like 0:47:33.840 --> 0:47:35.960 why can't I have the same you know, hip hop X. 0:47:36.560 --> 0:47:39.600 But then something happened and then like so I was 0:47:39.680 --> 0:47:46.640 there at that time, but it it went away so fast. Wow, 0:47:46.920 --> 0:47:49.879 because I didn't even I didn't recalls the flip. 0:47:50.239 --> 0:47:50.919 That's what I'm saying. 0:47:51.000 --> 0:47:56.839 Everything at Interscope was such a highlight that how does 0:47:56.880 --> 0:47:57.920 one even navigate? 0:47:58.280 --> 0:48:01.120 Usually a label is lucky enough to have like two. 0:48:01.160 --> 0:48:04.120 Or three lulls and a lull at all. 0:48:04.160 --> 0:48:06.399 He's saying, it is a minute, not for a minute. 0:48:11.800 --> 0:48:16.239 There were lows and not long lulls. I mean, because 0:48:16.239 --> 0:48:17.719 you had an M and M album that you could 0:48:17.719 --> 0:48:20.239 put out and it was just clean everything up, and 0:48:20.320 --> 0:48:22.719 it was always a moment and then like Drake came 0:48:22.920 --> 0:48:24.680 and then like there was a moment and then so 0:48:24.800 --> 0:48:29.440 there was always moments, but like there was a moment between. 0:48:29.640 --> 0:48:31.920 This is how I came over there when Death Row 0:48:32.040 --> 0:48:36.160 was essentially leaving and Aftermath Records started. That's the reason 0:48:36.200 --> 0:48:38.640 why the firm was on Aftermath. That was the that 0:48:38.800 --> 0:48:42.440 was Dre's first thing he did when he when he left. 0:48:45.800 --> 0:48:49.640 Understand I'm saying, so that was a law because because 0:48:50.000 --> 0:48:53.400 Teddy Riley. Basically they had Teddy staying and he had 0:48:53.480 --> 0:48:55.839 Queen Pin and but and then I kind of thing 0:48:55.920 --> 0:48:59.080 stopped and then it was like it was that and 0:48:59.120 --> 0:49:02.080 then death Row and and those are the production deals 0:49:02.080 --> 0:49:05.080 he had. So then we when I came, it was 0:49:05.120 --> 0:49:08.000 always like finding new things. I was finding new things 0:49:08.080 --> 0:49:11.920 or getting new uh new opportunities for us, And it 0:49:12.120 --> 0:49:18.200 was like, okay, so I signed, I signed, Yeah, well, 0:49:18.239 --> 0:49:22.759 I signed the rough Riders, and then we did r 0:49:22.840 --> 0:49:34.839 Kelly's deal, uh, Rockland Sparkle right. Then we had Robin Thick, 0:49:35.480 --> 0:49:39.280 We did Pharrell's deal, and we did Timberland's beat Club, 0:49:39.360 --> 0:49:42.879 Beat Club. We had Bubba spoks Man. That was great. 0:49:43.400 --> 0:49:47.239 That was Deliverate album. Let me tell you something. You 0:49:47.320 --> 0:49:54.000 got to read a book because says a book too well. Basically, 0:49:55.560 --> 0:49:58.040 I can't stop calling him hot Jensen's. 0:49:58.600 --> 0:50:03.719 Jensen basically states like him and Bubba's book at a 0:50:03.840 --> 0:50:05.040 lot about the situation. 0:50:05.160 --> 0:50:07.160 I'm like, wait a minute, each other's shoulder. 0:50:07.320 --> 0:50:11.480 Yeah, pretty much like they cried on each other. Yeah. 0:50:11.719 --> 0:50:13.680 Meanwhile, Paul Waller, I don't know what y'all talking about. 0:50:13.880 --> 0:50:17.239 He was on Asylum to Go. I want to go 0:50:17.280 --> 0:50:21.719 to something there, Bubba's Sparks, because we're gonna skip over 0:50:21.800 --> 0:50:24.319 this because I learned something and it helped me write 0:50:24.360 --> 0:50:28.760 The Tank of America. So I go down to Atlanta 0:50:29.960 --> 0:50:32.560 and I'm gonna go meet Timbland wants to sign this 0:50:32.719 --> 0:50:36.440 artist Bubba's box, and I want to go meet him. 0:50:36.719 --> 0:50:40.239 Like what is Timbland signing? So I go on there 0:50:40.560 --> 0:50:43.400 and usually go to Atlanta. Used to you know, I 0:50:44.000 --> 0:50:47.120 went to Atlanta. I'd stay in Atlanta. I had to 0:50:47.280 --> 0:50:51.680 drive fifteen minutes out from Atlanta. Fifteen minutes out from Atlanta. 0:50:51.880 --> 0:51:01.160 Bro Yes, you are in fucking trailer parking Beverly Hills. 0:51:01.200 --> 0:51:02.279 Billy Dukeson has it. 0:51:02.920 --> 0:51:03.040 You know. 0:51:03.280 --> 0:51:05.239 I just realized the other day that Dukeson has it 0:51:05.800 --> 0:51:10.080 on the side of that car. I just realized this 0:51:10.320 --> 0:51:15.400 is crazy. Didn't even know what was going on. So anyhow, 0:51:16.600 --> 0:51:21.000 go out there and they're obviously poor, and uh, it's poor. 0:51:21.800 --> 0:51:25.799 And this guy tells me it's like, who's your favorite artist? Man? 0:51:27.600 --> 0:51:34.120 I love Andre three thousand and I love Golf Brooks. Wow. Wow. 0:51:34.880 --> 0:51:39.719 I was like, oh, ship, this is a real, real thing. 0:51:42.160 --> 0:51:46.000 The time it was a real thing, and and then. 0:51:45.880 --> 0:51:49.480 There was a then there was a Fader cover or 0:51:50.000 --> 0:51:54.000 whatever magazine was not Complex. I forget what it was. No, 0:51:54.120 --> 0:51:58.440 it wasn't beccon, No, it was ludicrous and Dale Earnhardt 0:51:59.560 --> 0:52:03.759 on a cover and I remember thinking, I know what 0:52:03.960 --> 0:52:06.640 this is, but nobody would believe me. 0:52:07.040 --> 0:52:10.920 So I'd go speak to Complex. You found it, y, 0:52:11.040 --> 0:52:11.920 it's a Complex cover. 0:52:13.280 --> 0:52:19.120 Wow? Oh yeah, oh yeah. And I remember telling everybody 0:52:19.480 --> 0:52:23.080 that's where the world is going, and nobody I wanted to. 0:52:23.160 --> 0:52:26.640 I was telling it to advertising companies, anybody that can 0:52:26.719 --> 0:52:28.759 find like this is crazy. And this guy just told 0:52:28.800 --> 0:52:32.040 me like Dale Earnhardt Jr. And fucking go, I mean 0:52:32.239 --> 0:52:35.120 goth books in one hundred three thousand. Then when we 0:52:35.160 --> 0:52:40.160 shoot the video, if you remember the video, Timberland and 0:52:40.320 --> 0:52:47.399 Missy are racing and tracking trailers and there and they 0:52:47.520 --> 0:52:52.239 do a fight, a mud fight in a But this 0:52:52.400 --> 0:52:55.840 is not even them making this up. This is like 0:52:56.640 --> 0:52:59.600 if like we get money, and like black guys will 0:52:59.600 --> 0:53:01.560 getting money at the time, it's like, by the car, 0:53:01.640 --> 0:53:03.120 you want to shoot the video, make it look like 0:53:04.680 --> 0:53:07.640 more of what you already are, more of what they 0:53:07.719 --> 0:53:13.480 were of. What he already was was fucking mud wrestling fun. 0:53:13.760 --> 0:53:17.120 The guy who he fought in It was like starting 0:53:17.160 --> 0:53:21.320 offensive lineman for the Denver Broncos he was into it. Wow. 0:53:21.480 --> 0:53:23.399 But that's why we with Bubba Sparks because he seemed 0:53:23.440 --> 0:53:23.759 like he was. 0:53:23.760 --> 0:53:27.080 Being he was being his authentic self and that was 0:53:27.160 --> 0:53:27.839 some new ship. 0:53:27.960 --> 0:53:28.040 Bro. 0:53:28.560 --> 0:53:31.400 Like when I seen that, Bubba Sparks taught me so 0:53:31.640 --> 0:53:34.480 much about where the world was. 0:53:34.520 --> 0:53:38.200 Going time I listened to him, that that record to him, 0:53:39.680 --> 0:53:41.319 that regulars he was way ahead of his time. 0:53:41.360 --> 0:53:43.480 Where is what Didjensen say? Where do you say? 0:53:43.480 --> 0:53:43.880 Where he is? 0:53:44.640 --> 0:53:48.480 I don't know where Bubba is right now, but yeah, 0:53:48.560 --> 0:53:52.160 he definitely had he fell to depression. 0:53:52.360 --> 0:53:54.640 Like when the second album was and that was the 0:53:54.719 --> 0:53:56.799 one that was the third album, It's called the Charm. 0:53:56.880 --> 0:53:58.719 That was the miss New Booty record. Deliverance was the 0:53:58.800 --> 0:53:59.720 second one where. 0:53:59.560 --> 0:54:04.040 Like which to me, which is funny because most was 0:54:04.080 --> 0:54:07.160 also on Interscope, Like it was a period were right, 0:54:07.200 --> 0:54:07.400 it was. 0:54:11.239 --> 0:54:13.800 Signed. It was funny for all mc A. Raucus was 0:54:13.880 --> 0:54:18.000 on us. They were signing Raucous. It's funny Raucous. The 0:54:18.120 --> 0:54:25.360 lead investor in Raucus it was James Murdoch. Yeah, son, yeah, yikes, 0:54:25.920 --> 0:54:28.919 Yeah you know that? How I forgot that? Yeah? Maybe 0:54:28.960 --> 0:54:30.600 you wanted to forget that right. 0:54:32.680 --> 0:54:36.040 Story, but you know what, wait before because you mentioned 0:54:36.120 --> 0:54:42.480 something critical, Uh, the the Firm album, yeah, which should 0:54:42.520 --> 0:54:45.759 have on paper, on paper it was, but it should 0:54:45.800 --> 0:54:48.880 have been easy as a field goal kicked on the 0:54:48.920 --> 0:54:49.839 twenty yard line. 0:54:51.960 --> 0:54:56.920 Why why didn't it work? Why was the ball dropped 0:54:56.920 --> 0:54:59.640 on that? Or was the ball dropped on Yeah it 0:54:59.760 --> 0:55:14.400 will Yeah, I'm here. So what happened was you just 0:55:14.440 --> 0:55:18.520 said it earlier, like when you when people when they expectations, 0:55:18.520 --> 0:55:22.239 they don't expect much from you, and then you when 0:55:22.239 --> 0:55:26.480 you're underestimate something. And what we were trying to do 0:55:27.320 --> 0:55:30.640 it was doctor dre producing half track masters doing half. 0:55:32.280 --> 0:55:32.759 It was. 0:55:34.360 --> 0:55:38.200 Who was in the firm? Was it Cormega or Nature 0:55:38.480 --> 0:55:49.240 and this and that and egos egos with the artists 0:55:51.040 --> 0:55:56.920 M and just like I wish I could take that 0:55:57.000 --> 0:56:01.520 one back because outside of phone on tap, that was 0:56:01.600 --> 0:56:05.120 it and we could have we could have we could 0:56:05.120 --> 0:56:07.759 have over delivered it. I mean, it's obviously some good 0:56:07.800 --> 0:56:12.000 rhymes on it, but it's not that's all it was 0:56:12.239 --> 0:56:15.320 was like good rhymes. And I'm proud of it because 0:56:16.040 --> 0:56:20.759 for me to get nas on Sony and as on 0:56:20.880 --> 0:56:25.360 E M I and Foxy on Deaf Jam to record 0:56:25.400 --> 0:56:28.839 an album for Inniscope. Wait, how did you pull that off? 0:56:30.480 --> 0:56:32.360 Was having that? That's why they called me the commissioner, 0:56:32.400 --> 0:56:35.799 bro I'm not even joking around. I feel you. That's 0:56:35.960 --> 0:56:38.239 that's what I do. I feel you could tell me 0:56:38.280 --> 0:56:40.160 the Brooklyn Bridge right now. That's what I do. 0:56:40.640 --> 0:56:45.720 Did the moniker come from that? Move though? The commissioner monitors. 0:56:45.480 --> 0:56:50.239 Call me the commissioners on the street dreams read? Because 0:56:50.280 --> 0:56:51.680 I went to the r Kelly that was a whole 0:56:51.719 --> 0:56:54.120 other thing. I got the r Kelly thing done, like 0:56:54.560 --> 0:56:56.200 and my whole thing was, we're gonna get the r 0:56:56.280 --> 0:56:59.960 Kelly thing done before Biggie puts out his R Kelly right, 0:57:00.160 --> 0:57:02.160 fuck you tonight. Yeah, I want to get this one 0:57:02.200 --> 0:57:04.440 out first. So I went in and got the remix done. 0:57:04.520 --> 0:57:07.120 We went like I was just always on it like 0:57:07.200 --> 0:57:10.560 that because at that time, back then, everybody was like, 0:57:10.960 --> 0:57:13.520 who can get the R and B singer first? Like 0:57:14.000 --> 0:57:15.880 you didn't want to be second, right, So we had 0:57:15.960 --> 0:57:19.000 Lauren Hill first. You know what, Biggie was gonna get 0:57:19.080 --> 0:57:21.640 r Kelly first. It was like, nah, forget that, but 0:57:21.760 --> 0:57:24.560 we can't wait for our next album because Biggie's album 0:57:24.560 --> 0:57:27.080 will be Oh we're gonna do it a remix and 0:57:27.200 --> 0:57:30.520 it was like, oh shit, okay, yes it was that 0:57:30.720 --> 0:57:34.760 type of energy. Hoyhow how or good? That's how I 0:57:34.800 --> 0:57:37.320 got to So it was that and plus all of 0:57:37.440 --> 0:57:39.880 the things I was doing where the Monica came from, 0:57:40.000 --> 0:57:44.000 and then obviously doing the Firm ab and all that 0:57:44.040 --> 0:57:45.680 stuff was on. 0:57:45.800 --> 0:57:50.840 An average Yeah, your daily life, how many fires do 0:57:50.960 --> 0:57:55.760 you have to put out before three pm? Like to 0:57:55.880 --> 0:58:00.160 you as a good day where it's just like I 0:58:00.200 --> 0:58:02.560 don't got to worry about and I know your life 0:58:02.640 --> 0:58:04.680 is different now back then. I'm talking about back then 0:58:04.920 --> 0:58:08.040 and when you were knee deeper than music, like the 0:58:08.120 --> 0:58:10.600 idea of like oh shit, Big and Kells about to 0:58:10.600 --> 0:58:11.840 do some of it together, we got to do it 0:58:11.880 --> 0:58:12.640 first before they do it. 0:58:12.920 --> 0:58:18.520 It was always well, I was looking for fires and 0:58:18.840 --> 0:58:21.800 probably creating some fires too. We want all to smoke, right. 0:58:22.160 --> 0:58:26.560 So it wasn't My job was to make Nas the 0:58:26.640 --> 0:58:30.720 biggest rap star in the world. So I didn't give 0:58:30.720 --> 0:58:36.800 a fuck about like Biggie or jay Z or Tupac 0:58:37.040 --> 0:58:40.720 or this like. I was just going very single minded 0:58:40.800 --> 0:58:46.280 focused on that thing. And that's what it was. And 0:58:46.400 --> 0:58:48.600 the track Mass is I was like, we have to 0:58:48.640 --> 0:58:52.120 have a number one record like once a month, like 0:58:52.200 --> 0:58:54.840 because that's what we need to do. And like fuck 0:58:55.240 --> 0:58:59.840 the Hitman and all those guys. We're making We're making joints. 0:59:00.640 --> 0:59:03.840 And it wasn't just toning poke, it was just it 0:59:03.960 --> 0:59:11.480 was ton It was like a live musicians Spanah Door, Yeah, 0:59:11.720 --> 0:59:19.320 who was playing like on Fiesta Spanah Door from Yeah, wait, 0:59:19.480 --> 0:59:21.320 how do you know it? How did you know that? 0:59:21.480 --> 0:59:24.040 I read it in something. I'm not the nerd he 0:59:24.240 --> 0:59:28.680 is for real, Yes, Spaniah Door. So Spaniah was crazy, 0:59:28.800 --> 0:59:31.760 you know. Spaniah Dog was playing Lisa Lisa Coaches yep, 0:59:31.920 --> 0:59:34.120 and he was on like that's when and you could 0:59:34.160 --> 0:59:39.520 listen to uh the City High remix here that's Spaniah Door. 0:59:40.320 --> 0:59:40.960 I thought that was. 0:59:43.280 --> 0:59:45.240 That's funny, that's funny. 0:59:45.720 --> 0:59:48.560 Ship. I was about to say, they're the ones that 0:59:48.720 --> 0:59:54.120 brought yeah, yeah, they brought yeah tracks for the tricky 0:59:54.280 --> 0:59:55.200 Chicken Grease scenario. 0:59:55.840 --> 0:59:56.240 Spanish. 0:59:57.120 --> 1:00:02.240 I feel like I'm a official track master. Yeah, that's 1:00:02.280 --> 1:00:03.640 better playing yesterday. 1:00:11.080 --> 1:00:12.240 When did you. 1:00:13.880 --> 1:00:17.800 Make the decision or when did you finally realize that 1:00:18.160 --> 1:00:25.920 the music executive platform was uh not as sturdy as 1:00:26.040 --> 1:00:29.040 a platform as it should be and that you should 1:00:30.200 --> 1:00:32.960 sort of finagle your way into the business room. 1:00:33.360 --> 1:00:37.400 In the boardroom, when did you have enough of music? 1:00:37.520 --> 1:00:41.920 Like well, no, I say this a lot, but I was. 1:00:42.080 --> 1:00:46.600 I did this soundtrack for Men in Black and Will 1:00:46.680 --> 1:00:49.520 Smith just the backstory on the nerd ship had gotten 1:00:49.640 --> 1:00:55.960 dropped from John Jive, right. And I had known Will 1:00:56.040 --> 1:00:58.360 Smith from the kid in play days because they were 1:00:59.000 --> 1:01:02.080 the light skin rappids, you know so and they were 1:01:02.120 --> 1:01:07.240 always doing uh they were they were to safe rappers 1:01:07.280 --> 1:01:10.080 and they would mostly do things together or they'd be 1:01:10.720 --> 1:01:14.919 either one like house party. Could have gone to Will 1:01:15.000 --> 1:01:17.720 Spells like it's all that kind of stuff. Right, So 1:01:17.800 --> 1:01:22.160 I had known Will and James Lassiter and Charlie Mack 1:01:22.560 --> 1:01:27.120 and I had gone to so they brought I was 1:01:27.160 --> 1:01:30.400 at Sony at the time, Columbia Boom, we get the soundtrack. 1:01:30.840 --> 1:01:33.720 The ship does what it's supposed to do. Will walked 1:01:33.760 --> 1:01:38.760 in with that sample. It wasn't like that. It was 1:01:38.880 --> 1:01:41.160 like they had they had a thing going. It's kidding. 1:01:41.720 --> 1:01:45.680 I think Omar. I think Omar was involved. Uh No, No, 1:01:46.200 --> 1:01:50.800 willis Omar, his former dancer that later became an Overbrook. Yeah, 1:01:51.440 --> 1:01:55.880 had Omar's coolest ship and like they had they had 1:01:55.920 --> 1:01:58.440 the skeleton of it, and of course that's right up 1:01:58.480 --> 1:02:01.320 track masters alley. So we did that and this is 1:02:01.480 --> 1:02:03.560 this is the Men in Black and yeah, so we 1:02:03.680 --> 1:02:08.520 signed the soundtrack Boom woke walks in with that joint 1:02:09.880 --> 1:02:13.320 track masters Boom we get s w V. Will Smith 1:02:13.440 --> 1:02:17.160 is so cold at the time that s w V 1:02:17.960 --> 1:02:20.280 don't even want to be in the video. They sang 1:02:20.440 --> 1:02:24.160 the song and didn't even want to be in the video. 1:02:24.360 --> 1:02:26.920 So that's s WV singing the hook on minute. Yeah, 1:02:27.000 --> 1:02:31.320 Coca iays wondering why are they not? I thought, you 1:02:31.400 --> 1:02:34.640 guys are like, no kidding me. We as if we 1:02:34.720 --> 1:02:36.400 wanted him in the video, they didn't want to. 1:02:36.440 --> 1:02:36.640 Do it. 1:02:38.160 --> 1:02:45.160 A blockbuster Moca. I just he just got dropped. They 1:02:45.200 --> 1:02:46.720 thought like, oh it was it was it was the 1:02:46.760 --> 1:02:51.200 Wu Tang Biggie Nas nobody. It wasn't that time. And 1:02:51.360 --> 1:02:57.200 Will Smith changed the music. Uh definitely Will Smith the 1:02:57.240 --> 1:03:01.200 whole ship and like boom ten million hours later, But 1:03:01.240 --> 1:03:06.240 the glasses were selling like crazy, and the company that 1:03:06.400 --> 1:03:08.880 did the product placement to get those ray bands on 1:03:09.560 --> 1:03:12.120 in the movie and on Will I'm like how they 1:03:12.160 --> 1:03:15.000 go making all this money and like we have nothing 1:03:15.040 --> 1:03:18.040 to do with but we're the ones driving in the sales. 1:03:18.520 --> 1:03:24.200 And literally I left Sony, I went to Interscope, and 1:03:24.320 --> 1:03:27.320 I decided it was a lot of dumb shit in 1:03:27.360 --> 1:03:31.720 the music business at that time. It was street shit, 1:03:35.360 --> 1:03:37.640 and the business didn't know the difference between good and great. 1:03:38.880 --> 1:03:41.280 And when an industry doesn't know the difference between good 1:03:41.320 --> 1:03:46.280 and great, that industry is in trouble. And I could 1:03:46.320 --> 1:03:49.080 show you many examples of that. When an industry can't 1:03:49.160 --> 1:03:52.040 tell the difference between good and great, when you don't know, 1:03:55.000 --> 1:03:58.440 you don't know why it's working or why it's not working, 1:03:59.120 --> 1:04:02.160 but it's just working for reasons that no one understands. 1:04:02.800 --> 1:04:05.520 That industry is in trouble. Because that is not a 1:04:05.720 --> 1:04:10.400 real metric for success. You're supposed to understand it. It 1:04:10.560 --> 1:04:12.919 was just like it's wrap it's selling. It's wrapped, it's selling, 1:04:13.480 --> 1:04:15.360 and no one really understood what and they would hire 1:04:15.440 --> 1:04:18.880 these guys, but dude, artists really know the science behind 1:04:19.200 --> 1:04:21.480 you're talking about the executives that were getting jobs, Oh 1:04:21.680 --> 1:04:26.040 there you go. There they were bums getting jobs and 1:04:26.160 --> 1:04:28.920 making seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year because 1:04:28.960 --> 1:04:31.760 they were because no one knew they were bums because 1:04:31.840 --> 1:04:34.520 it was like, Oh, it's rap, it's selling, give him 1:04:34.560 --> 1:04:39.800 high up. No, it wasn't even nepotism they were hiring. 1:04:40.680 --> 1:04:44.960 It would be executive at a company finding some guy 1:04:45.040 --> 1:04:48.720 who was standing next to a hot group, a manager, 1:04:49.240 --> 1:04:52.880 some guy who didn't know to run a record company 1:04:53.000 --> 1:04:56.000 or run a division, but he would get a job 1:04:56.680 --> 1:04:59.680 and get paid seven hundred and fifty million dollars. And 1:04:59.760 --> 1:05:04.720 the I literally wasn't talented at all. He was just 1:05:05.360 --> 1:05:08.280 a guy who was around something that was hot, and 1:05:08.320 --> 1:05:10.160 he'd get this job and then he'd be responsible for 1:05:10.200 --> 1:05:12.680 a bunch of shit. And I'm sitting there saying, that's 1:05:12.800 --> 1:05:18.360 my peer. Be fucking crazy, you know. It's that kind 1:05:18.400 --> 1:05:20.000 of thing. It's hard. I was speaking to jay Z 1:05:20.520 --> 1:05:23.360 about this recently, about how hard it must have been 1:05:23.440 --> 1:05:28.000 for him to go through a period of time writing 1:05:28.040 --> 1:05:32.360 those rhymes and doing all that work, and like Ludacris 1:05:32.400 --> 1:05:34.480 and Nelly and all these guys are selling three times 1:05:34.600 --> 1:05:37.920 more records than him and getting much more accolades in him, 1:05:39.040 --> 1:05:42.400 and yet you still got to keep doing that every 1:05:42.520 --> 1:05:47.200 single day. That's a hard thing to do. And as 1:05:47.280 --> 1:05:51.880 a true artist, that's your north star. The art. But 1:05:52.280 --> 1:05:54.720 if you're in the business and the business doesn't realize 1:05:56.040 --> 1:05:58.840 how to appreciate your art, I'm sure it's difficult. 1:05:58.960 --> 1:06:01.200 It's like the Root story, right, Yeah, very similar. 1:06:01.200 --> 1:06:04.880 That's that. That's why they liked that story. That's why question. 1:06:05.240 --> 1:06:08.560 That's why question Jane. All the real guys know who 1:06:08.600 --> 1:06:11.760 the real guys are because they went through that story, 1:06:12.600 --> 1:06:15.720 my favorite, and they went through that period of time. 1:06:17.680 --> 1:06:19.160 I forgot what we were just saying. What made me 1:06:19.240 --> 1:06:22.680 go to that? But it's so I was like, I'm 1:06:22.720 --> 1:06:25.280 not doing this anymore. In fact, if I know that 1:06:25.360 --> 1:06:29.520 the music business can actually drive sales of things around 1:06:29.600 --> 1:06:34.800 the music business like more efficiently, then I'll actually be 1:06:35.080 --> 1:06:36.280 down with the glasses. 1:06:36.880 --> 1:06:39.760 So you figuring out that ray band made a grip 1:06:39.840 --> 1:06:43.040 of money off of something that you created a platform for, 1:06:44.400 --> 1:06:46.120 you wanted to know how to get involved in that 1:06:46.360 --> 1:06:46.560 and that. 1:06:46.720 --> 1:06:49.800 And I actually went to that Advoca business school or like, no, 1:06:50.440 --> 1:06:53.480 so how did you? I knew that I met the company, 1:06:54.000 --> 1:06:57.040 the guy who did the who did the product placement, 1:06:57.520 --> 1:06:59.320 because I was that close to the to the movie, 1:06:59.440 --> 1:07:02.480 to the soundtra right, and then that's the only person 1:07:02.480 --> 1:07:05.280 I knew in advertising. I ended up leaving to go 1:07:05.440 --> 1:07:08.280 be a partner in that company, Like it was the 1:07:08.360 --> 1:07:10.800 only company I knew, and I became a partner in 1:07:10.840 --> 1:07:15.200 that company, and then I did it. It was the 1:07:15.280 --> 1:07:22.919 first thing I did, jay z reebox perfect, that was you. Yeah, 1:07:23.680 --> 1:07:27.280 all every sneak, all of this rap sneaker ship. I've 1:07:27.360 --> 1:07:30.520 seen that ship. I started that ship. Period. 1:07:31.040 --> 1:07:33.000 So what was the difference in the s dot deal 1:07:33.120 --> 1:07:34.960 versus what was going well ship? I guess you want 1:07:34.960 --> 1:07:35.200 to say it? 1:07:35.240 --> 1:07:38.160 What no deal? There was no deal? Did you get 1:07:38.200 --> 1:07:48.560 fifty his deal or did you yes? So for re 1:07:50.040 --> 1:07:56.720 uh yes? Ice creams? Okay, it had diamonds on I remember, 1:07:56.720 --> 1:08:03.760 I just forgot like represented ms Nikas brought China. Yeah, 1:08:03.800 --> 1:08:08.200 the ice creams. Then we did fifty G units and 1:08:08.240 --> 1:08:10.760 then we had s Carter's You remember that commercial with 1:08:10.840 --> 1:08:13.640 jay z Yeah I did. I was that was me. 1:08:13.840 --> 1:08:15.360 I was doing all that. That's why you're here to 1:08:15.440 --> 1:08:18.280 tell us that. Yeah, I was. So I was trying 1:08:18.320 --> 1:08:21.360 to figure out and that connects to why United Masses 1:08:21.400 --> 1:08:25.320 and why I'm back any music business. So it's just like, okay, 1:08:27.080 --> 1:08:30.320 the s Carters with my version of the Will Smith glasses, 1:08:31.920 --> 1:08:34.120 the G units was the Will Smith glasses. I just 1:08:34.240 --> 1:08:37.400 kept on trying to make glasses. Again. You were not 1:08:37.560 --> 1:08:41.080 involved in the Funk Flex lugs, were you? No? Those 1:08:41.080 --> 1:08:45.080 are all said that. No, Lukes, this love for me 1:08:45.200 --> 1:08:48.439 path because you know, I was gonna say the Funk 1:08:48.640 --> 1:08:51.760 the Funk Flex lugs actually sold. They did. They did. 1:08:58.960 --> 1:09:01.600 And then by the way, you got the bird the 1:09:01.640 --> 1:09:04.040 bird Man. The bird Man came right after that. The 1:09:04.120 --> 1:09:06.800 Birdman came right behind that. Then there was a couple 1:09:06.840 --> 1:09:09.439 of other stupid ship that just this was terrible. But 1:09:09.640 --> 1:09:13.519 like you know, it's a me too business, so where 1:09:13.560 --> 1:09:21.320 people copy what they've seen before the original to yeah. Yeah, so, 1:09:21.960 --> 1:09:24.120 but I was always I was thinking we launched it 1:09:24.200 --> 1:09:27.760 the card. I put the Rebox Star on South Street. Dude, I. 1:09:29.360 --> 1:09:32.519 Copped about eight. They were a comfortable, like I know, 1:09:32.800 --> 1:09:35.439 fashionable or whatever. Those are some price West. 1:09:35.720 --> 1:09:41.120 They were the original easy, Yes they were. They were 1:09:41.160 --> 1:09:43.680 a little narrow. If you got wide feet, they're a 1:09:43.680 --> 1:09:47.800 little narrow. But I mean we gotpied the Gucci shoe 1:09:48.120 --> 1:09:53.840 from back and I mean we should have been locked up. Yeah, 1:09:53.920 --> 1:09:56.960 but it's comfortable. I missed that sneaker I got, like 1:09:57.800 --> 1:10:01.840 I'm waiting for like the turnaround to half but Gucci 1:10:01.920 --> 1:10:05.800 put Gucci put them there, Gucci put their copy the 1:10:05.960 --> 1:10:07.840 starters out. I know, it's just like it's like a 1:10:07.960 --> 1:10:09.559 meta meta. 1:10:10.280 --> 1:10:12.960 So fast forward to your your relationship with Gucci then, right, 1:10:13.040 --> 1:10:16.360 because you're the deal is done with Dan right right? 1:10:16.880 --> 1:10:19.920 So how did that relationship grow? Did it start at 1:10:19.960 --> 1:10:20.519 that moment with. 1:10:23.479 --> 1:10:23.719 Steve? 1:10:26.360 --> 1:10:27.360 We just got to see. 1:10:29.400 --> 1:10:31.800 Just literally, I know, I feel so disgusted when you 1:10:31.920 --> 1:10:37.960 ask questions because I needed this platform to find out 1:10:38.000 --> 1:10:42.400 who's behind you and real business people, Real business people 1:10:42.560 --> 1:10:45.479 like people that that yell from the rafters and with 1:10:45.640 --> 1:10:50.200 their megaphones. Like the loudest person is always the lowest tote. 1:10:50.400 --> 1:10:53.240 It's the quiet people that make moves. 1:10:53.840 --> 1:10:58.200 And Steve ain't quiet though, but you've. 1:10:57.680 --> 1:10:59.600 Never been out there, but like you, I mean a 1:10:59.640 --> 1:11:01.920 lot of the stuff. I mean, I'm just found out 1:11:01.920 --> 1:11:03.479 you were the guy behind I mean, I was aware 1:11:03.520 --> 1:11:05.880 of all of it, but I'm listening. I know that 1:11:06.000 --> 1:11:08.320 you're everywhere, and you're and everywhere I see you. 1:11:08.800 --> 1:11:11.400 You know what it is. I don't know how to 1:11:11.560 --> 1:11:20.280 comfortably do my job and then stand there loudly and 1:11:20.439 --> 1:11:24.360 take credit for it. Like I get like, like this 1:11:24.600 --> 1:11:27.160 is the forum that have that conversation. But what else 1:11:27.200 --> 1:11:29.559 to do stand in front of Dapper Dan and say 1:11:29.880 --> 1:11:33.000 it's me, it's sucking Dapper Dan. Bro it's jay Z, 1:11:33.720 --> 1:11:34.320 It's for row. 1:11:34.479 --> 1:11:36.040 But Dapper Dan knows no anyway. 1:11:36.720 --> 1:11:38.559 Can you just give me let me a launch your 1:11:38.600 --> 1:11:40.519 list of deals that you broke her that I might 1:11:40.600 --> 1:11:41.960 have known the belt I. 1:11:41.960 --> 1:11:47.280 Know about, dude. Stop, that's what we got. We got 1:11:47.360 --> 1:11:49.840 thrown off. So my brother get hit. My brother gets 1:11:49.880 --> 1:11:56.040 hit by the car. You're not listening, Okay, I'm listening. 1:11:56.280 --> 1:12:00.760 And he was going where super And that's where I 1:12:00.960 --> 1:12:04.640 copied Made in America from because I and all I 1:12:04.720 --> 1:12:07.519 kept on remember hearing was it that's an Al Hayman 1:12:07.600 --> 1:12:15.960 production that deserves a siren good. And I was like, yo, Jay, 1:12:16.160 --> 1:12:18.880 remember the Budweiser made in America, the super Fest ship. 1:12:19.560 --> 1:12:23.599 He's just like us, he remembers the whole ship. I'm like, yo, 1:12:24.080 --> 1:12:27.240 I just want Budweiser. I'm gonna go pitch them. We're 1:12:27.280 --> 1:12:31.720 gonna do that today. And made in America was a 1:12:33.080 --> 1:12:34.560 that's a whole nother time. He even got to the 1:12:34.600 --> 1:12:36.840 made in America thing. But it was like they had 1:12:37.560 --> 1:12:41.240 they owned the trademark made in America bud Wise. Oh 1:12:44.680 --> 1:12:48.040 so it was just like, oh, this is perfect made 1:12:48.080 --> 1:12:52.759 in America. Boom, that's a superfest. We're gonna do it, remember, 1:12:52.880 --> 1:12:54.360 and then we're gonna put all these acts on the 1:12:54.400 --> 1:12:56.559 same way Al Hayman did when we grew up. 1:12:57.840 --> 1:13:02.200 It never even hit me right now, America, did you 1:13:02.240 --> 1:13:04.320 shed a little gangster tear? Because you It was like 1:13:04.439 --> 1:13:06.479 it was awful circle between the wat. 1:13:08.160 --> 1:13:14.000 You know what it is. I haven't taken the time, 1:13:14.680 --> 1:13:16.479 and I don't take enough time, and the people who 1:13:17.160 --> 1:13:19.160 are close to me and and and love and care 1:13:19.200 --> 1:13:22.680 about me want me to reflect more on that kind 1:13:22.680 --> 1:13:25.559 of stuff. I want to do it. Yeah, I don't sell. 1:13:27.479 --> 1:13:29.720 I was there, I looked at it. I was like, 1:13:31.800 --> 1:13:36.120 this is the biggest ship. This is important. Got Ron 1:13:36.200 --> 1:13:38.080 Howard to do the documentary. 1:13:38.160 --> 1:13:39.680 Yes, I remember he was around that year. 1:13:40.000 --> 1:13:43.160 You know, jay All the stuff that Jaye and I 1:13:43.240 --> 1:13:51.760 have done together specifically has been easy to do because, like, 1:13:52.160 --> 1:13:53.720 once we say we're gonna do it, there's a very 1:13:53.800 --> 1:13:58.240 shared vision and it gets executed really well. He has 1:13:58.280 --> 1:14:01.000 a great team around him. I've great team around me. 1:14:01.760 --> 1:14:07.320 It gets executed well. But from day one, we had 1:14:07.360 --> 1:14:11.599 the we we we we wanted to be two steps ahead, 1:14:12.240 --> 1:14:16.840 and we were in front of everybody, including jay Z Blue, 1:14:16.920 --> 1:14:19.479 which was like if hot that would That was the 1:14:20.280 --> 1:14:23.760 most brilliant thing that I've ever had thought. What was 1:14:23.840 --> 1:14:28.160 jay Z Blue? Jay Z Blue was like we wanted 1:14:28.200 --> 1:14:33.760 to authenticate things, but not have him in it all 1:14:33.800 --> 1:14:36.519 the time. Like, so what you do to get somebody 1:14:36.560 --> 1:14:39.680 to go, oh, that's cool is you stand next to 1:14:39.800 --> 1:14:44.280 it and through some proximity you say it's cool, right, 1:14:44.640 --> 1:14:47.760 and then because jay Z said so whatever whatever, But 1:14:47.960 --> 1:14:49.960 how could you do it? Like the Good Housekeeping seal? 1:14:50.160 --> 1:14:51.920 You know, the Good Housekeeping seal. He used to do 1:14:52.000 --> 1:14:54.120 that in the fifties so that moms knew to buy 1:14:54.520 --> 1:14:57.640 stuff for their kids that was child proof. If you 1:14:57.680 --> 1:14:59.960 were to copy that idea, how do you make something 1:15:00.120 --> 1:15:03.720 so that everybody knows it has so if we if 1:15:03.720 --> 1:15:07.559 we made a color, and if it only if things 1:15:07.640 --> 1:15:12.680 that came in that color. So I'm like, okay, I 1:15:12.800 --> 1:15:15.639 gave this color. I gave the idea to this guy 1:15:16.160 --> 1:15:20.320 who used to take like Motorola two way pages and 1:15:20.360 --> 1:15:25.320 shit like that and like could make special versions of 1:15:25.400 --> 1:15:28.200 them by painting them or whatever. But he was really 1:15:28.479 --> 1:15:31.360 like a mixologist with paint and I said, make a 1:15:31.560 --> 1:15:35.720 unique blue, paralyze it. And I kept on showing jay 1:15:35.800 --> 1:15:38.760 Z different versions of this that was coming back, and 1:15:38.880 --> 1:15:42.519 we finally found the color. Then I went and found 1:15:42.560 --> 1:15:45.600 the Pantone family who makes all the paint chips, the 1:15:45.720 --> 1:15:50.679 Pantone charts. They're like the Encyclopedia of color, and got 1:15:50.760 --> 1:15:53.320 it so that they were going to put it and 1:15:53.479 --> 1:15:56.760 run it as a as a color option. So now 1:15:56.800 --> 1:15:58.760 we're basically inside the encyclopedia. 1:15:58.840 --> 1:15:59.920 So you can own hues? 1:16:00.520 --> 1:16:04.000 Yes, what the fuck the stout? 1:16:04.200 --> 1:16:06.240 I did not know you can own a huge? Nobody 1:16:06.320 --> 1:16:09.160 knew this. I'm googling right now. This is an actual hue. 1:16:09.280 --> 1:16:10.800 Yeah, I'm looking at jay Z blue. 1:16:10.960 --> 1:16:13.960 See this explains, all right, the favorite huge jay Z blue. 1:16:14.280 --> 1:16:17.680 But so now, all right, then we went and I 1:16:17.920 --> 1:16:20.000 sold that two GM. 1:16:21.240 --> 1:16:22.160 Yes he did. 1:16:22.240 --> 1:16:23.840 I'm sorry. I just saw the picture of the truck 1:16:23.880 --> 1:16:24.519 in jay Z blue. 1:16:25.800 --> 1:16:30.720 The fucking around man or not? This is all right? 1:16:31.040 --> 1:16:35.479 Time out this money. This this explains all right now 1:16:35.560 --> 1:16:39.960 that you explain that, all right, real quick? I did it. 1:16:40.040 --> 1:16:45.120 I did a coke commercial like two thousand and the 1:16:45.160 --> 1:16:46.880 one where he was in the booth with the with 1:16:47.040 --> 1:16:51.960 the window that was or even before this, and I 1:16:52.120 --> 1:16:55.879 met a woman on set and her job was strictly 1:16:56.680 --> 1:16:59.320 to see what color the coke. 1:16:59.320 --> 1:16:59.920 Was in the light. 1:17:00.720 --> 1:17:02.800 And I was like, that's a weird job. He's like, no, 1:17:03.000 --> 1:17:07.040 you don't get it. See we own brown number nineteen 1:17:07.520 --> 1:17:11.360 to brown forty seven, but Pepsi owns Wow, brown forty 1:17:11.560 --> 1:17:14.280 seven to brown Da da da da day. And if 1:17:14.320 --> 1:17:18.240 someone's at home watching and guarantee they will, they'll they'll 1:17:18.280 --> 1:17:22.240 compare hughes then they consue us for And I was like, well, 1:17:22.240 --> 1:17:23.960 it's not like I buy the can of coke and 1:17:24.000 --> 1:17:26.760 then look inside and see like this is Pepsi's color. 1:17:27.040 --> 1:17:30.400 So literally, I thought it was the silliest shit I 1:17:30.439 --> 1:17:34.679 ever heard of people fighting over hue colors and didn't 1:17:34.720 --> 1:17:37.679 realize that this is a multi million dollar business. 1:17:37.880 --> 1:17:38.839 That's fucking crazy. 1:17:39.880 --> 1:17:45.960 How I have a question, Yes, for the people listening 1:17:46.080 --> 1:17:50.720 on the show, you keep mentioning throughout the show that 1:17:50.880 --> 1:17:52.960 you did a deal with this person, you got the 1:17:53.040 --> 1:17:56.040 deal done with that person. Deals, deals, deals, deals, deal, 1:17:56.960 --> 1:17:59.920 but then you don't mention all the work that goes 1:18:00.080 --> 1:18:04.720 into negotiating those deals. So just to me, that's the 1:18:04.920 --> 1:18:06.599 that seems like the tricky part I mean I could 1:18:06.640 --> 1:18:10.880 cut deals all day longwork you know for you know, 1:18:11.000 --> 1:18:13.840 because I mean we all want to cut more deals, 1:18:13.920 --> 1:18:16.920 don't we? So how is like, you know, do you 1:18:17.080 --> 1:18:20.280 just come up with the concept cut the deal, uh, 1:18:20.479 --> 1:18:23.040 you know, in in with a handshake, and then leave 1:18:23.160 --> 1:18:25.680 all the other things to to lawyers and things like that. 1:18:25.840 --> 1:18:29.400 To actually get get a deal done, usually you gotta 1:18:29.479 --> 1:18:36.080 know sort of what what your intentions are. What do 1:18:36.160 --> 1:18:37.080 you want out the deal? 1:18:37.880 --> 1:18:37.920 What? 1:18:38.400 --> 1:18:42.200 What not money? What do you want out the deal? What? 1:18:42.800 --> 1:18:45.880 Like if this deal start backwards, if this deal is successful, 1:18:46.280 --> 1:18:48.519 this is what it looks like to me, right, And 1:18:48.640 --> 1:18:50.720 if you if you start thinking about it that way, 1:18:51.800 --> 1:18:55.880 then you'll know sort of the general architecture of what 1:18:55.960 --> 1:18:58.240 you want the deal to get to look like, and 1:18:58.320 --> 1:19:01.320 then you give that to the lawyer. Right, That's the 1:19:01.360 --> 1:19:03.799 way I do it. I would basically out the bullet 1:19:03.840 --> 1:19:06.760 points of what I know needs to be done, and 1:19:06.880 --> 1:19:10.439 then let the lawyers deal with it. But then manage it. 1:19:10.760 --> 1:19:14.479 But make sure these things are non negotiable, like whether 1:19:14.520 --> 1:19:17.560 it's equity or the amount of money or whatever it is. 1:19:18.080 --> 1:19:21.160 You sort of lay out the non negotiable things because 1:19:21.200 --> 1:19:23.960 those are the only reasons why you're doing it? Okay, 1:19:24.200 --> 1:19:26.160 thank you? It does. Yes. 1:19:26.400 --> 1:19:28.360 Can I ask you, since we mentioned made in America, 1:19:28.520 --> 1:19:32.000 we gotta I gotta ask you the moment that Mary 1:19:32.160 --> 1:19:35.400 Kenny made that announcement. Of course, by now everything has 1:19:35.439 --> 1:19:37.880 been cleared Made in America will stay in Philadelphia. But 1:19:38.000 --> 1:19:41.120 the moment that that dropped, what was the process of 1:19:41.640 --> 1:19:46.160 from your your thoughts to jay Z's response in the paper, like, 1:19:47.360 --> 1:19:48.920 what was the I don't even want to say emotional, 1:19:48.920 --> 1:19:50.519 because I know y'all are business man, so y'all don't 1:19:50.560 --> 1:19:53.000 get emotional. But how did the thought change? 1:19:53.800 --> 1:19:57.719 By the way, I do get emotional and that's probably 1:19:58.120 --> 1:20:04.040 what I shouldn't do. Yeah, I yeah, Well I don't 1:20:04.080 --> 1:20:09.200 know if it's wise. I don't it worked. It'll take 1:20:09.280 --> 1:20:10.720 me as far as it'll take me. 1:20:11.040 --> 1:20:14.160 Okay, So then did you get emotional when well, no, 1:20:14.760 --> 1:20:19.320 And in fact J and and and the team at 1:20:19.400 --> 1:20:21.439 Rock Nation they handle it. 1:20:21.560 --> 1:20:24.120 I had nothing to do with Yeah. I set the 1:20:24.160 --> 1:20:28.000 whole thing up and they run the show. The other 1:20:28.080 --> 1:20:31.320 mayor may Nutter, he was the one who did it 1:20:32.040 --> 1:20:35.439 originally and he was a big fan of bringing that 1:20:35.880 --> 1:20:38.920 show to Philly, and I figure a new mayor came 1:20:39.000 --> 1:20:42.799 in and between noise complaints and he didn't invent the idea. 1:20:43.240 --> 1:20:45.479 Yeah, that's the latter. I was going to say, we 1:20:46.080 --> 1:20:48.720 we have that same problem with him. We do two 1:20:48.800 --> 1:20:52.519 festivals in Philly, and his first thing to his staff 1:20:52.640 --> 1:20:56.040 was like, well, you know that's Nutter's area era, Like 1:20:56.120 --> 1:20:57.800 I want to start my own era, so. 1:20:58.360 --> 1:20:59.720 Well, you need to get rid of the bicycles and 1:20:59.760 --> 1:21:00.400 everything else. 1:21:00.439 --> 1:21:01.200 Good and up. 1:21:01.760 --> 1:21:04.000 He's just he's petty, like it's almost like Trump, like 1:21:04.080 --> 1:21:06.920 he wants to race the entire plan to build his 1:21:07.120 --> 1:21:10.920 own thing instead of just moving forward what was already 1:21:11.040 --> 1:21:13.880 established and working and lucrative. 1:21:15.479 --> 1:21:17.280 Yeah. So well, I'm glad you guys. 1:21:17.200 --> 1:21:20.720 Selled that ship, because how did you deal at the 1:21:20.800 --> 1:21:23.120 time When I think the first time I've ever met you, 1:21:23.320 --> 1:21:26.519 it was like super quick. It was in Baseline and 1:21:26.680 --> 1:21:29.000 this was I mean, this was like back in oh five, 1:21:29.080 --> 1:21:31.639 I want to say, when Little Brother we were mixing 1:21:31.680 --> 1:21:34.439 the Mental Show with Guru and uh no, no, no. 1:21:34.520 --> 1:21:35.880 I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It was before that. 1:21:36.360 --> 1:21:39.400 This was when Ninth had got threat on h on 1:21:39.800 --> 1:21:43.080 Black album and uh we Ninth it came he brought 1:21:43.160 --> 1:21:44.680 us the Baseline. He was like, yo, y'all gonna meet 1:21:44.720 --> 1:21:46.640 Jay whatever, and like we set up, but you were 1:21:46.680 --> 1:21:49.160 in there and I was like, oh shit, Steve's in here. 1:21:49.200 --> 1:21:51.280 So we tapped each other real quick. That's about the fault. 1:21:51.680 --> 1:21:55.200 But how how were you how did you position yourself 1:21:55.240 --> 1:21:56.680 and what were your thoughts at the time when Jay 1:21:56.680 --> 1:21:59.880 and Knives were going through the ship cause you were friends, 1:22:00.040 --> 1:22:01.080 they have relationships with both. 1:22:01.120 --> 1:22:03.519 Shit. I never thought they ask that question, how did you? 1:22:03.640 --> 1:22:05.120 How did you do that? How did you prollay that? 1:22:08.400 --> 1:22:14.120 I knew that there was the underlying way I dealt 1:22:14.120 --> 1:22:16.720 with it that I always kept there was that I 1:22:17.000 --> 1:22:20.200 know the amount of mutual respect they have for each 1:22:20.240 --> 1:22:23.400 other because of me being close with both of them. 1:22:24.160 --> 1:22:34.360 They have ultimate admiration for each other. And it was 1:22:34.600 --> 1:22:38.720 never they would never have let it turn into anything else. 1:22:38.760 --> 1:22:43.479 Reat shit, So I knew those two things like a 1:22:44.160 --> 1:22:47.960 there's mutual admiration and then I gonna let this thing 1:22:48.000 --> 1:22:50.000 get out of hand. So you never felt you had 1:22:50.040 --> 1:22:52.360 to pick aside. No, I always felt like I had 1:22:52.400 --> 1:22:57.360 to try to fix it and I could never fix it. 1:23:01.240 --> 1:23:06.680 But I could be a voice of reason, and I 1:23:06.840 --> 1:23:09.800 tried to be and I believe I was a voice 1:23:09.840 --> 1:23:14.000 of reason for many years with both of them, and 1:23:14.520 --> 1:23:22.599 it was I think it was stupid but necessary at 1:23:22.640 --> 1:23:24.880 the time. I mean there was a lot of things 1:23:24.920 --> 1:23:27.080 that were stupid and necessary at the time. East Coast 1:23:27.200 --> 1:23:30.960 versus West Coast and this versus that, and the competition, 1:23:31.160 --> 1:23:35.200 and nobody knew how big the whole thing was going 1:23:35.280 --> 1:23:39.120 to be, so everybody was fighting for what they thought 1:23:39.479 --> 1:23:43.360 the pie really was, right, no one knew how big. 1:23:43.800 --> 1:23:46.600 Like the truth of the matter is that Nas and 1:23:46.760 --> 1:23:53.479 jay Z's conflict, the East Coast West Coast conflict or 1:23:53.520 --> 1:23:55.559 whatever it was, everybody was fighting to be the best 1:23:56.720 --> 1:24:00.720 and this thing that was small when real everyone could 1:24:00.760 --> 1:24:04.960 have won outside of that because the no one saw 1:24:05.000 --> 1:24:08.879 a bigger picture. But I do believe that these stories 1:24:09.479 --> 1:24:14.479 actually help create or part of creating the bigger picture. 1:24:18.880 --> 1:24:22.840 The interest in it, the global interest in it, the 1:24:23.520 --> 1:24:27.479 narratives of it all are the things that anywhere you 1:24:27.600 --> 1:24:32.960 go around the world there's interest in you know, and 1:24:33.080 --> 1:24:35.960 it's fucked up. It's like the unintended effect of something 1:24:36.120 --> 1:24:40.360 like you know, Biggie in Tupac's thing. There's a lot 1:24:40.439 --> 1:24:43.320 of people who've made a lot of money and built 1:24:43.400 --> 1:24:49.720 careers benefiting because of that. And you see it when 1:24:49.720 --> 1:24:51.599 you go around the world. It's like you go around 1:24:51.640 --> 1:24:56.200 the world, you see graffiti everywhere, right, why and that's 1:24:56.240 --> 1:25:00.240 a bronx thing? Like what it's just you know, it's 1:25:00.320 --> 1:25:04.519 like conflict and all of the stories that we went through, 1:25:05.720 --> 1:25:09.760 the art form has gone through, has helped grow the 1:25:10.280 --> 1:25:13.600 art form worldwide and created these opportunities. It's not like 1:25:13.720 --> 1:25:18.040 you think you want that to be the case, but 1:25:18.160 --> 1:25:20.960 those are the unintended effects of what took place as 1:25:20.960 --> 1:25:23.320 a result of that taking place. 1:25:28.120 --> 1:25:33.080 What was the story Jim Jones the flower What was 1:25:33.120 --> 1:25:35.000 the flower pot stories that involved it was something you 1:25:35.040 --> 1:25:39.640 got hit with a Jim Jones. It was I'm I 1:25:39.680 --> 1:25:41.680 don't want to make sure I'm not mixing something. Were 1:25:41.720 --> 1:25:43.960 you you were hit with you that got hit with a. 1:25:45.720 --> 1:25:52.599 Yeah, so over to hate me now video I got jumped. 1:25:52.680 --> 1:25:55.800 Puffy came in my office with three other guys and 1:25:55.880 --> 1:26:00.639 I got jumped and because it was Puffy and they 1:26:00.800 --> 1:26:03.000 was just became I got hit in the head with 1:26:03.080 --> 1:26:05.760 a champagne bottle. But I mean that's not the You 1:26:05.800 --> 1:26:08.120 don't get hitt it like i'd have. I wouldn't have 1:26:08.160 --> 1:26:10.640 a ball at if you get cut up and all 1:26:10.640 --> 1:26:15.439 that ship No, that wasn't the case. I did get jumped. 1:26:15.479 --> 1:26:17.479 That was the case. That was fucked up. That was 1:26:17.520 --> 1:26:19.320 the case. It was hard to deal with. What was that? 1:26:19.520 --> 1:26:22.040 What was the what was the beef? There was a 1:26:22.120 --> 1:26:25.960 scene in the video where they were on crosses and 1:26:26.800 --> 1:26:30.160 you know, Puffy shot it and didn't want his his 1:26:30.439 --> 1:26:35.559 his passer decided like two three days before he didn't 1:26:35.560 --> 1:26:38.360 want to him on the cross It was the video 1:26:38.439 --> 1:26:41.360 was a million dollars, and you know, the record company, 1:26:41.479 --> 1:26:44.439 Donnie Einer and those guys was like, when I taking 1:26:44.479 --> 1:26:46.000 those scenes out, that's the reason why we paid a 1:26:46.040 --> 1:26:46.679 million dollars. 1:26:47.600 --> 1:26:50.080 And you know, but they ain't jump Donnie. 1:26:49.800 --> 1:26:52.000 Though, which I never understood that. 1:26:53.200 --> 1:26:56.240 Yes you did, Yes you did. That's like, you know, 1:26:56.960 --> 1:26:59.040 come one anyway, No, no, no, no. 1:26:59.360 --> 1:27:01.720 The reason why, but the reason why I'm saying I 1:27:01.760 --> 1:27:06.719 don't understand is because if the video is a million dollars, 1:27:06.920 --> 1:27:11.240 you know it's not You're the only. 1:27:11.120 --> 1:27:14.720 One that they could touch and not getting real. Yeah, 1:27:15.920 --> 1:27:18.200 fast forward, Now y'all are Friendsly, y'all must have made 1:27:18.200 --> 1:27:19.680 a lot of money together to you know. 1:27:19.960 --> 1:27:27.040 No, I think that I hope that we all grow 1:27:27.600 --> 1:27:32.200 over time. It was believe me, it was embarrassing, it 1:27:32.360 --> 1:27:36.560 was fucked up. The first thing I asked him to 1:27:36.600 --> 1:27:39.640 do was speak to my mom because my mother was 1:27:39.800 --> 1:27:42.320 very like her son's out there in the wild wild 1:27:42.360 --> 1:27:52.840 west of the music business and ship. And that's it 1:27:53.000 --> 1:27:55.080 was hard for like three or four years, but it 1:27:55.200 --> 1:27:59.479 certainly made me know I was not going to be 1:27:59.600 --> 1:28:04.080 known as the guy that I got jumped or got 1:28:04.160 --> 1:28:05.640 hit in the head with a champagne bottle. I can 1:28:05.680 --> 1:28:07.560 tell you that for sure. That's the one thing that 1:28:07.680 --> 1:28:11.639 kept on thinking, like, oh, I'm gonna run so far. 1:28:14.800 --> 1:28:17.080 I remember I used to look at the beginning of 1:28:17.160 --> 1:28:19.920 Google and see how far where it was because I 1:28:20.040 --> 1:28:23.200 was just, oh yeah, because I was just I was 1:28:23.320 --> 1:28:25.760 just gonna do all kinds of crazy shit. Like you 1:28:25.800 --> 1:28:28.479 guys are hearing now, I'm only giving you pieces of it. 1:28:29.280 --> 1:28:31.880 Like there's so much things that I've I've done to 1:28:32.040 --> 1:28:35.639 contribute to hip hop and contribute to culture to moving forward. 1:28:36.040 --> 1:28:39.760 But like I was always saying, fuck this shit, it 1:28:39.800 --> 1:28:42.080 ain't gonna be that. It's gonna be all of this 1:28:42.240 --> 1:28:46.080 great work that I've done. And that's so it was. 1:28:46.280 --> 1:28:50.400 It was certainly something to motivate me to do great 1:28:50.479 --> 1:28:52.400 ship because I didn't want to be known as that. 1:28:53.560 --> 1:28:58.679 Can I ask you something speaking of no, no, no nigga, 1:28:58.760 --> 1:29:00.680 Like you ever had like a Philly cheese steak in 1:29:00.720 --> 1:29:03.160 your hand and somebody just slapped that ship on the floor. 1:29:03.520 --> 1:29:05.479 Never because you don't be going by the time they 1:29:05.520 --> 1:29:11.720 start back. I just would you call it? Okay, we 1:29:11.800 --> 1:29:14.400 call it Philly because New York. I just did that 1:29:14.479 --> 1:29:18.040 to somebody the other day. It was hilarious. Slap a 1:29:18.080 --> 1:29:26.639 sandwich was never as funny as hell that it still 1:29:26.720 --> 1:29:32.280 works cruel hands. I want to know, uh, with the 1:29:32.720 --> 1:29:33.280 the the. 1:29:34.760 --> 1:29:41.519 The uh this arrival of Nas as a businessman, Yeah, like, 1:29:41.920 --> 1:29:46.519 what are your opinions of he's now becoming like to me, 1:29:46.760 --> 1:29:51.960 the definition of I never knew that lightning could could 1:29:52.040 --> 1:29:55.920 strike four times in a row like his. Well, I 1:29:55.960 --> 1:29:59.360 don't know the team he rolls with now, but every 1:29:59.800 --> 1:30:03.439 month one and a half I'm hearing you know, Na's 1:30:03.760 --> 1:30:08.280 broke a sixty and this pharmaceutical company there, Like, what 1:30:08.640 --> 1:30:10.640 are you what are your opinions on that? 1:30:10.680 --> 1:30:16.280 Are you surprised? Well, a couple of things. So Nas 1:30:16.280 --> 1:30:18.720 and I are really really close, and I hope that 1:30:19.720 --> 1:30:24.920 you know all the years he's seen me push him 1:30:27.880 --> 1:30:32.880 and watch my career grow even outside of him, that 1:30:35.000 --> 1:30:39.360 that was part of that. Prior his thoughts, NAS hired 1:30:39.400 --> 1:30:45.599 a manager kid, Anthony Selei. Anthony's really smart young guy. 1:30:47.680 --> 1:30:52.240 I work closely with him, and but like, I have 1:30:52.320 --> 1:30:53.960 nothing to do with Nas doing those deals. I'm just 1:30:54.000 --> 1:30:59.759 saying we're very close as far as what we talk about, 1:31:00.439 --> 1:31:05.559 the relationships that we've built, and Nas is a great person. 1:31:06.439 --> 1:31:08.840 Like at the end of the day, he really is 1:31:08.920 --> 1:31:14.160 a great person. He always means well, and he may 1:31:15.000 --> 1:31:16.560 take his time to do what he got to do, 1:31:16.720 --> 1:31:20.240 and we all have our now stories of waiting for shit. 1:31:23.600 --> 1:31:28.240 But he's a great artist with a beautiful soul and 1:31:28.280 --> 1:31:33.600 great intentions. And the fact now that he's using that 1:31:34.040 --> 1:31:39.519 energy and applying it to business in a very bespoke way. 1:31:39.520 --> 1:31:42.360 He's not running around, let's get a deal, Let's get 1:31:42.360 --> 1:31:44.519 a deal. He's not doing that type of shit. He's 1:31:44.560 --> 1:31:47.400 picking and choosing his spots. He put a good team 1:31:47.439 --> 1:31:53.599 around him and it's working all right. Before we close, 1:31:54.640 --> 1:31:58.400 I do want to talk about United Masters. United Masters. 1:31:58.520 --> 1:32:03.040 Let's talk about it so well, he explained to our 1:32:03.120 --> 1:32:04.680 listeners what United Masters is. 1:32:05.000 --> 1:32:08.720 Yes, So, how I got to the idea was, I'm like, 1:32:10.400 --> 1:32:13.240 we need to be able to build a distribution service 1:32:13.280 --> 1:32:16.920 for artists so that they can not only distribute their 1:32:17.000 --> 1:32:21.120 music and circumvent a record company. But if you build 1:32:21.160 --> 1:32:25.640 a really smart distribution system, then because music is all 1:32:25.720 --> 1:32:29.120 digital now, you'd be able to find who are the 1:32:29.200 --> 1:32:33.120 people who are listening to your songs. So if you're 1:32:33.120 --> 1:32:36.400 an artist and like you put your music up and 1:32:36.479 --> 1:32:39.360 it's on Spotify and this, that and the third, you'd 1:32:39.479 --> 1:32:42.080 like to know who's the person who's listening to it 1:32:42.160 --> 1:32:45.200 the most, so you can target that person to sell 1:32:45.240 --> 1:32:47.760 them tickets. Suck because they're because they're a fan of you. 1:32:48.640 --> 1:32:51.479 But like the way these services work, and there's no 1:32:51.560 --> 1:32:56.320 algorithm with Spotify or any of the no Spotify, there's 1:32:56.360 --> 1:32:59.640 a spot there's an algorithm for a lot you're distributing. 1:33:00.320 --> 1:33:06.320 The distribution service is the person who feeds the music 1:33:06.400 --> 1:33:12.760 to Pandora, Spotify, right. But if you built a smart aggregator, 1:33:13.800 --> 1:33:16.640 a smart district that was able to take the feedback 1:33:16.680 --> 1:33:20.960 that came back from those platforms and then turn that 1:33:21.080 --> 1:33:25.439 information into a way that the artists can find their 1:33:25.520 --> 1:33:30.960 own fans, then now the artists are empowered to build 1:33:31.040 --> 1:33:34.479 businesses on their own. So whether you have five million 1:33:34.560 --> 1:33:38.760 fans or one hundred thousand fans, the fact of the 1:33:38.840 --> 1:33:40.840 matter is that you can build a business because you 1:33:40.920 --> 1:33:43.240 know who those people are. You can direct and you 1:33:43.320 --> 1:33:46.879 can sell directly to them. And that's the record companies 1:33:46.960 --> 1:33:48.920 never wanted the artists to know who their fans were, 1:33:49.320 --> 1:33:51.320 because if the artists knew who their fans were, they 1:33:51.360 --> 1:33:54.040 wouldn't need a record company. So I wanted to build 1:33:54.600 --> 1:33:58.040 my intention, and what we are building with United Masters 1:33:58.200 --> 1:34:00.960 is a way so that artists can get their music 1:34:01.040 --> 1:34:04.080 and all these streaming services and then in turn, not 1:34:04.200 --> 1:34:06.519 only do they get paid and they own their rights, 1:34:06.960 --> 1:34:11.160 but in the background, we're building a data capturing engineering 1:34:11.320 --> 1:34:15.160 a team a team of engineers that's getting that data 1:34:15.240 --> 1:34:19.799 and then turning it into CRM systems. And CRM systems 1:34:20.320 --> 1:34:25.240 is basically customer relationship management, but it's knowing who the 1:34:25.360 --> 1:34:30.400 people are that are listening or engage with your content 1:34:31.120 --> 1:34:32.960 the way they use it now, it's like when you 1:34:33.080 --> 1:34:37.000 go on Amazon and you buy, you go, you go, 1:34:37.800 --> 1:34:39.840 you listen to q tip and it's just people who 1:34:39.920 --> 1:34:42.800 like q tip also like Pharoh. That's not what q 1:34:42.960 --> 1:34:46.439 tip wants. Q tip wants people who like q tip 1:34:46.840 --> 1:34:50.280 also wants to buy trib tickets, also wants to buy 1:34:50.520 --> 1:34:53.559 tried shirts. Here's a want. But they're using the data 1:34:53.760 --> 1:34:57.360 in service of veable, but no one's using the data 1:34:57.439 --> 1:35:00.320 in service of the artists. And none of the are artists, 1:35:00.360 --> 1:35:03.719 managers or anybody has the money or spent the time 1:35:04.080 --> 1:35:07.000 to build an engineer and infrastructure to be able to 1:35:07.080 --> 1:35:10.160 do that on their own. That makes sense. It makes sense. 1:35:10.920 --> 1:35:13.640 So how do you in your opinion, when do you 1:35:13.760 --> 1:35:19.519 think the old system of the labels will be done with? Well, 1:35:19.720 --> 1:35:21.880 I think done with three sixty deals and done with I. 1:35:21.880 --> 1:35:24.640 Think yeah, I think the labels look farrel said it 1:35:24.720 --> 1:35:27.120 to me a while ago, like you got to be 1:35:28.080 --> 1:35:32.320 rights protectors, not rights holders. So don't sign artists and 1:35:32.360 --> 1:35:35.439 take their rights. You should partner with artists and protect 1:35:35.479 --> 1:35:39.320 their rights. So United Masters is about rights protection, not 1:35:39.560 --> 1:35:43.800 rights holding, and I think artists are now you're seeing 1:35:43.840 --> 1:35:49.560 it every day. The value of a major label is 1:35:49.680 --> 1:35:54.560 diminishing quickly. There was a report that came out a 1:35:54.720 --> 1:36:00.640 time back City Bank put out this report basically that 1:36:00.800 --> 1:36:05.679 twelve percent of the there's forty three billion dollars created 1:36:05.720 --> 1:36:10.040 in music in twenty seventeen and the artist received twelve 1:36:10.080 --> 1:36:13.599 percent of thatized. I mean, this is this is a problem. 1:36:13.920 --> 1:36:19.000 So you're you're creating the work but not getting paid 1:36:19.000 --> 1:36:20.479 for it. And all of the work that the record 1:36:20.520 --> 1:36:25.360 companies used to do historically, print it, ship it, set 1:36:25.400 --> 1:36:27.840 it up. They're not going to do that no more. 1:36:27.920 --> 1:36:31.639 But yet the economics are not shifting back. And I thought, 1:36:31.680 --> 1:36:35.880 that's what that's what technology is supposed to do. Redistribute value, 1:36:36.000 --> 1:36:39.680 the value chain to who provides the most value, and 1:36:39.800 --> 1:36:44.000 the consumer gets the best price. The consumer is getting 1:36:44.000 --> 1:36:46.680 the best price, but the value chain is still on 1:36:46.800 --> 1:36:50.439 the record company side, and that's that's what's solving that. 1:36:50.760 --> 1:36:54.360 And United is it dangerous for you to dangerous? 1:36:54.479 --> 1:36:59.920 Like how I mean you're kind of doing the Samson 1:37:00.200 --> 1:37:06.120 seeing the pillars and destroying well the building. 1:37:06.439 --> 1:37:09.559 Charlie Chapman, that's where United. He did that with United Artists. 1:37:10.040 --> 1:37:13.679 United Artists was that. Yeah, it's just the same idea. 1:37:14.280 --> 1:37:18.080 The movie studios locked all the talent up to seven 1:37:18.160 --> 1:37:21.280 picture deals and you had to go through if you 1:37:21.360 --> 1:37:24.400 assigned the paramount, you did seven movies with paramount, and 1:37:24.520 --> 1:37:28.240 your movies only were distributed in paramount theaters. And that 1:37:28.360 --> 1:37:31.960 hole got broken up. But Charlie Chapman was the driver 1:37:32.080 --> 1:37:36.679 of that by creating a studio in which the artists 1:37:36.880 --> 1:37:38.959 made movies that they wanted and they were not beholden 1:37:39.360 --> 1:37:43.719 to these major studios. And the United Masters is basically 1:37:44.720 --> 1:37:48.160 a derivative of that idea, all those values of like, man, 1:37:49.000 --> 1:37:51.920 you should be independent, you made it, you should own it. 1:37:52.720 --> 1:37:57.960 We should get paid a small fee to be your distributor. 1:37:59.479 --> 1:38:02.160 If you want other services, those are things that we 1:38:02.280 --> 1:38:06.080 can barter and engage on, but like, you don't need 1:38:06.200 --> 1:38:08.360 us to distribute your music, And like the way it 1:38:08.439 --> 1:38:12.920 works today, Instagram is MTV and radio it is, right, 1:38:13.400 --> 1:38:21.479 and Pandora, Spotify title those are the record stores, right, Okay, 1:38:22.400 --> 1:38:26.080 Like that's where the commerce takes place. And Instagram is 1:38:26.160 --> 1:38:30.040 the where radio discovery and MTV that's where that takes place. 1:38:31.560 --> 1:38:33.519 You don't need a record company for those two things. 1:38:34.400 --> 1:38:37.559 But if there's a distribution service in the middle that's 1:38:37.680 --> 1:38:41.880 really smart, that's intelligent, that's gonna give you not just data. 1:38:42.120 --> 1:38:44.599 People throw that word around all the time, data data. 1:38:44.840 --> 1:38:47.439 So they give you a fucking dashboard that says fifty 1:38:47.640 --> 1:38:51.439 four hey quest hey goes a big idea. Sixty two 1:38:51.439 --> 1:38:55.519 percent of your fans are in Philadelphia. Who fucking cares? 1:38:58.680 --> 1:39:02.240 I see? I want to know who are the people 1:39:02.760 --> 1:39:06.519 that are listening to my album my songs the most, 1:39:06.920 --> 1:39:09.680 because those are the people that are super fans of me, 1:39:10.240 --> 1:39:14.560 and I can then if I can find them, I 1:39:14.640 --> 1:39:17.439 can actually do business and conduct business with them, because 1:39:17.479 --> 1:39:19.920 with Instagram and all that stuff does just like it's 1:39:19.960 --> 1:39:24.040 even along with it, like saying like it's not that 1:39:24.120 --> 1:39:27.479 doesn't mean you're a fan. Like Nicki Minaj has ninety 1:39:27.600 --> 1:39:30.800 million people following her. That has nothing to do with 1:39:31.240 --> 1:39:32.799 how many people are gonna. 1:39:32.560 --> 1:39:36.519 Buy her, which is pushing back, Yeah, pushing back. 1:39:36.680 --> 1:39:42.200 Yeah, I'm not talking about that. Who's figured it out 1:39:42.720 --> 1:39:45.599 is the video game business. Yes, you play video games. 1:39:45.640 --> 1:39:47.519 They know exactly who you are, and you know what 1:39:47.600 --> 1:39:50.639 they're doing. They upsell you right there, the virtual jacket, 1:39:50.680 --> 1:39:52.839 the virtual of this. It's the same place fortnit. 1:39:52.960 --> 1:39:55.280 And he's getting the game, ain't even he's still I 1:39:55.320 --> 1:39:57.320 think he's playing like the demo of the game. 1:39:57.800 --> 1:40:01.120 But it's all the end game, end game purchases. But 1:40:01.439 --> 1:40:03.760 and the in game purchases are bespoke to your son, 1:40:04.960 --> 1:40:08.320 not in game certain in game purchases are based off 1:40:08.400 --> 1:40:10.560 his playing behavior, it'd be like in the middle of 1:40:10.640 --> 1:40:13.960 it'd be like in the middle of big pimping. If 1:40:14.000 --> 1:40:16.080 the song plays and right before the hook comes, it 1:40:16.160 --> 1:40:19.400 stops and goes, Yo, I'm gonna be touring in your 1:40:19.439 --> 1:40:22.280 city sometime soon. You want to buy a ticket right 1:40:22.320 --> 1:40:28.559 now and then like yes or no? Big pimp They 1:40:29.160 --> 1:40:30.800 you can't do that in music, but they do that 1:40:30.920 --> 1:40:34.080 in video games. They get you right at the hot state, 1:40:34.400 --> 1:40:38.200 and they upsell you in music. If Kanye West knows 1:40:38.680 --> 1:40:43.000 who listen, If if you listen specifically Steve to Father 1:40:43.120 --> 1:40:48.680 stretch my hands seventy times, that didn't that's a great quote, right, 1:40:49.240 --> 1:40:53.200 but yeah, right, he could then sell you the Easies 1:40:53.280 --> 1:40:57.960 directly because he knows how highly engaged you are, and 1:40:58.080 --> 1:41:00.600 him as an artist at least you're a whether or 1:41:00.640 --> 1:41:02.479 not you want to buy the Easies or not. He's 1:41:02.560 --> 1:41:06.000 no fishing in the right water. But the way it 1:41:06.120 --> 1:41:08.280 is right now, it's random as fuck. Guys don't know 1:41:08.320 --> 1:41:10.639 where to tour. They're waiting for a promoter to call, 1:41:11.160 --> 1:41:14.280 they don't know who their fans are. They're running around 1:41:14.360 --> 1:41:16.719 looking for them. Like that's not the way the business 1:41:16.760 --> 1:41:19.360 should be that's supposed to be the pros of digital. 1:41:19.720 --> 1:41:22.559 You make less money, transparent, but there's but there's much 1:41:22.640 --> 1:41:27.080 more efficiency in your marketing. That's why that's what Amazon does. 1:41:27.520 --> 1:41:30.080 They know you're gonna buy tiede as soon as you 1:41:30.160 --> 1:41:32.280 get on the ship that's tied there. You're an artist, 1:41:32.320 --> 1:41:34.400 you put out a record, you put out music. You're 1:41:34.400 --> 1:41:36.439 supposed to know who the people are you're making the 1:41:36.560 --> 1:41:38.280 music for you. It can't. 1:41:38.720 --> 1:41:40.799 And when you say know the people, so united masters 1:41:41.000 --> 1:41:43.519 you say know the people mean you know them first 1:41:43.560 --> 1:41:46.800 and last name, or you just know, well you know, yeah, 1:41:46.800 --> 1:41:50.160 because yeah, I'm big enough data like that sounds kind 1:41:50.200 --> 1:41:50.599 of scary. 1:41:50.640 --> 1:41:54.559 Now, how person you well, how much of the person 1:41:54.600 --> 1:41:56.479 do you know? I mean, it's as personal as you 1:41:56.520 --> 1:42:00.200 can get without violating the law. Yeah, I mean yeah, 1:42:01.000 --> 1:42:03.559 personal enough to know this is the device that's been 1:42:03.600 --> 1:42:07.840 streaming it. Ah. Okay, okay, gotcha, Okay, okay, well now 1:42:07.920 --> 1:42:10.840 we know we gotta wrap up the show. I had 1:42:10.880 --> 1:42:13.200 a good time with you guys. Look, I'm super sorry 1:42:13.479 --> 1:42:15.200 you're cut off. That's like slapping. 1:42:18.000 --> 1:42:20.000 From earlier. Remember when we was outside, did you'll have 1:42:20.040 --> 1:42:21.200 a finish that we didn't finish? 1:42:21.600 --> 1:42:21.640 Me? 1:42:21.640 --> 1:42:23.840 And Steve were having a little brother conversation and he 1:42:24.000 --> 1:42:25.760 was like, yo, man's man, niggas jack your ship. 1:42:26.080 --> 1:42:28.679 And I was like, yeah, like these niggas your ship. 1:42:29.240 --> 1:42:32.200 Well listen, we all know Drake. We said it. I mean, 1:42:32.280 --> 1:42:34.240 and this is Drake admitted it. They know that. Yeah, 1:42:34.280 --> 1:42:34.880 all these guys. 1:42:34.960 --> 1:42:36.760 That's why for me, it's never no because all these 1:42:36.840 --> 1:42:41.479 dudes told me so Drake uh Cole shit walle. 1:42:42.640 --> 1:42:44.880 I mean when I say told me, they were like, like, yo, 1:42:45.120 --> 1:42:47.720 we came up acknowledgement. 1:42:48.760 --> 1:42:52.000 Like kend Lamar he opened for us like like twenty 1:42:52.120 --> 1:42:54.280 ten like him, j Rock and all of them, Like, 1:42:55.120 --> 1:42:57.840 I mean, this is he was, you know, just coming up. 1:42:58.120 --> 1:42:59.960 But yeah, yeah, all those dudes man, all of them cats, 1:43:00.120 --> 1:43:03.040 Like I got love for all of them. The production, 1:43:03.240 --> 1:43:09.120 the album's tight. I was always like a New York 1:43:09.520 --> 1:43:14.320 hardcore hip hop fan, right, it's the stuff I listened 1:43:14.320 --> 1:43:17.840 to and then I was never a big day Lost 1:43:17.880 --> 1:43:21.879 Soul fan for instance, Like I just didn't I respected 1:43:21.920 --> 1:43:24.000 what they were doing. I just wasn't a fan of it. 1:43:24.640 --> 1:43:28.000 I wouldn't listen to it. Were you try fan low 1:43:28.120 --> 1:43:32.600 end theory that was it. I wasn't a fan like 1:43:32.680 --> 1:43:35.360 I wasn't like every time a Trybe album came out, 1:43:35.720 --> 1:43:40.479 I was on it like that. But like jay Z Nas, Gee, 1:43:40.600 --> 1:43:41.360 it's so funny. 1:43:41.479 --> 1:43:43.639 I was cute, Yo, now that you're saying this, it's 1:43:43.680 --> 1:43:45.800 so funny that you say you want a Daylight Soul fan. 1:43:45.920 --> 1:43:49.760 Because me and my homies always we specifically mark the 1:43:49.920 --> 1:43:51.000 day that it was written. 1:43:51.160 --> 1:43:53.920 And Stakes is High dropped on the same day that 1:43:54.320 --> 1:43:58.880 literally that was the Beatles. Beatles, Yeah, that was straight 1:43:59.000 --> 1:44:03.120 like hip hop apartheid. That was when. I mean it 1:44:03.280 --> 1:44:04.759 was like that was the start of it, like because 1:44:05.040 --> 1:44:05.679 it was written. 1:44:06.160 --> 1:44:09.040 And I agree with you, I personally didn't like the 1:44:09.120 --> 1:44:13.040 record when it dropped, but I to think it grew 1:44:13.080 --> 1:44:13.800 on me and too. 1:44:14.000 --> 1:44:16.160 I understand that Nas would not be where he is 1:44:16.240 --> 1:44:17.519 now if not for that record. 1:44:17.600 --> 1:44:19.679 He if he would have there's no way he could 1:44:19.720 --> 1:44:23.880 have out undergrounded illmatic. So him trying to do that 1:44:24.000 --> 1:44:25.840 record again, I mean, he just would have been it 1:44:25.840 --> 1:44:26.479 would have been over. 1:44:26.840 --> 1:44:30.080 I didn't I didn't even realize how big the art 1:44:30.200 --> 1:44:33.320 talking about how big the art form was, that there 1:44:33.439 --> 1:44:38.080 was all these different artists that had different experiences, so 1:44:38.200 --> 1:44:40.360 their opinions and the way they made music was different. 1:44:40.680 --> 1:44:44.560 I just thought they couldn't make what rock. He was like, 1:44:44.680 --> 1:44:46.439 you can't rap like rock, Kim, So you did that, 1:44:47.160 --> 1:44:49.840 you can't rap like so you do. And then I 1:44:49.960 --> 1:44:54.160 realized that's just another way of expressing your urban your 1:44:54.439 --> 1:44:58.200 you know, the urban, the urban experience as told through 1:44:58.320 --> 1:45:01.200 as told through New Orleans. Yeah. I didn't even I 1:45:01.360 --> 1:45:03.479 wasn't thinking about it like that at the time. Yeah. 1:45:03.560 --> 1:45:05.439 So it's funny you said, because for me, both those 1:45:05.479 --> 1:45:07.800 records dropping on the same day, and I remember listening 1:45:07.800 --> 1:45:11.080 to and I was like, I liked I liked the message. 1:45:11.160 --> 1:45:14.120 I like shootouts, like I like, I like like the 1:45:14.400 --> 1:45:17.320 street ship, but Steaks Is High was the one where 1:45:17.320 --> 1:45:19.000 I was like, Okay, this is where I want to 1:45:19.040 --> 1:45:21.320 be and that just kind of that led me in 1:45:21.360 --> 1:45:23.360 the dealer and all that ship. So it's odd that 1:45:23.479 --> 1:45:25.479 you say you weren't a fan because that was that 1:45:25.680 --> 1:45:28.240 literally day and did not know that. 1:45:28.600 --> 1:45:34.320 Yeah, I mean yeah, but I. 1:45:34.320 --> 1:45:36.840 Want to ask you, man yo about the stash. Trying 1:45:36.880 --> 1:45:40.120 to go, man, we're about to stashed real quick. 1:45:40.680 --> 1:45:43.720 What's going on? My buddy? Uh kazine He was over 1:45:43.800 --> 1:45:47.560 there for a while and he yeah, it's his it 1:45:47.680 --> 1:45:48.920 was his company. Uh. 1:45:49.040 --> 1:45:51.840 We did an interview me, Primo and Royce. We did 1:45:51.880 --> 1:45:55.560 an interview over there magazine for the mag and and 1:45:55.760 --> 1:45:58.719 and becauzine. He he orchestrated it and we were sitting 1:45:58.760 --> 1:46:00.439 there and he was, this was before or you know, 1:46:00.479 --> 1:46:02.360 this is a couple of years ago. And I said, man, 1:46:02.439 --> 1:46:04.560 so Steve, I said, I've never had a lot of 1:46:04.640 --> 1:46:06.439 dealings with him. I said, but he just lets you 1:46:06.760 --> 1:46:07.280 just do this. 1:46:07.400 --> 1:46:08.240 He was like, yo, man. 1:46:08.479 --> 1:46:10.400 He came to me and was like, yo, if I 1:46:10.439 --> 1:46:12.280 don't give a fuck with the interviews, is twenty minutes. 1:46:12.280 --> 1:46:14.439 If the shit is dope, we'll throw it up. I 1:46:14.560 --> 1:46:18.120 was like, word and so, so what happened, Yeah it 1:46:18.200 --> 1:46:18.880 was dope, But thank you. 1:46:19.040 --> 1:46:25.599 I wanted because he Kazem had the idea, he had 1:46:25.600 --> 1:46:30.680 a small team, We're gonna build some a magazine, a website, 1:46:31.439 --> 1:46:37.040 you know, uh, and just tell great stories. And after 1:46:37.160 --> 1:46:39.519 some time he left to go take a job at 1:46:39.640 --> 1:46:43.240 like someplace bleacher Report or whatever, and I think the 1:46:43.320 --> 1:46:45.679 team got kind of mismanaged and he left or whatever. 1:46:47.320 --> 1:46:51.200 I always like the name, and I'm like, if I was, 1:46:51.320 --> 1:46:54.200 if if the content thing was to keep going, what 1:46:54.320 --> 1:46:57.360 would I do as an extension of it. I'm like, man, 1:46:57.439 --> 1:47:01.439 you can build a great retail store. And so I 1:47:01.600 --> 1:47:05.759 just felt like my entire company with translation in United 1:47:05.840 --> 1:47:11.400 Masses is the convergence of technology, culture, and storytelling. And 1:47:11.479 --> 1:47:14.720 I believe that those three things coming together is what's 1:47:14.760 --> 1:47:18.080 going to disrupt the incumbents, all the companies that are 1:47:18.400 --> 1:47:20.559 sitting there now that are slow. That if you can 1:47:20.600 --> 1:47:25.360 build nimble companies that have those three elements baked inside 1:47:25.400 --> 1:47:27.800 of each person, you have to have two or three 1:47:27.840 --> 1:47:29.560 of those things inside of you. You have to be 1:47:29.600 --> 1:47:32.479 a storyteller and a person in culture. You have to 1:47:32.520 --> 1:47:35.800 be a technologist that understands culture or story like you 1:47:35.920 --> 1:47:38.040 need two or three of those things to work at 1:47:38.120 --> 1:47:43.040 my company. And So in San Francisco, where where all 1:47:43.080 --> 1:47:45.519 the engineers are who are doing all the data shit 1:47:46.000 --> 1:47:50.479 for United Masters, I put it was an art gallery 1:47:50.560 --> 1:47:52.800 in the space, and I said, I'm gonna put the 1:47:52.880 --> 1:47:56.200 sneakert store stash right there. So while the engineers are coding, 1:47:57.120 --> 1:47:59.519 is a line of two hundred kids trying to buy easies. 1:48:00.479 --> 1:48:02.439 So like that, I stand outside the place and I 1:48:02.520 --> 1:48:05.200 look at it, and there's guys up there headphones on 1:48:05.760 --> 1:48:10.240 building some dope ship, love culture, and they are engineers 1:48:10.680 --> 1:48:17.800 some of the best engineers in technology, guys from Dropbox, Facebook, uh, Pandora, 1:48:18.479 --> 1:48:22.000 like great talented engineers. And there's these two hundred kids 1:48:22.040 --> 1:48:25.520 down there lined up to buy off White Human made Yeezy's, 1:48:25.880 --> 1:48:30.599 Nikes whatever. And to me, that's where the industry is going. 1:48:31.000 --> 1:48:33.439 When you can put culture and technology together in the 1:48:33.600 --> 1:48:38.080 same proximity. So I thought that name Stash was working. 1:48:38.520 --> 1:48:41.400 Put that together. That's where it is. Thank you so 1:48:41.520 --> 1:48:45.479 much for having me, sir, Thanks for. 1:48:45.520 --> 1:48:47.160 Saving me on the don't need to talk about the 1:48:47.160 --> 1:48:48.920 tenet of America. We don't even get to the book. 1:48:49.400 --> 1:48:53.479 We got a lots not leaving earth. We can do 1:48:53.680 --> 1:48:54.360 another Internet. 1:48:55.479 --> 1:48:57.439 We gotta make we gotta make that. Yes his the 1:48:57.600 --> 1:48:58.120 these style. 1:48:58.240 --> 1:49:00.600 Yes has to be a light for now as be 1:49:00.680 --> 1:49:03.240 a bit got this gotta be a sound bite when 1:49:03.360 --> 1:49:05.519 they will take it. Yes, like it's just the look 1:49:05.560 --> 1:49:09.840 of discuss when niggas ask you about it. Yes I did, Yes, 1:49:10.280 --> 1:49:11.080 that's just funny. 1:49:11.240 --> 1:49:14.160 Thank you man. All right, we have a team Supreme. Uh, 1:49:14.320 --> 1:49:16.280 this is Court Love. Thank you Steve Stout once again, 1:49:16.320 --> 1:49:17.760 and we will see you on the next go round, 1:49:17.800 --> 1:49:18.519 of course, Love. 1:49:18.400 --> 1:49:29.800 Supreme see you. Court Love. 1:49:29.880 --> 1:49:33.080 Supreme is a production on my heart Radio. This classic 1:49:33.120 --> 1:49:39.800 episode was produced by the team at Endora. For more 1:49:39.880 --> 1:49:43.880 podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 1:49:44.320 --> 1:49:46.000 or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.