WEBVTT - Charlamagne Tha God: How He Turned Anxiety and Failure into Success 0:00:15.436 --> 0:00:22.876 Pushkin. For me growing up, it was oh, oh, oh, 0:00:22.956 --> 0:00:26.116 it's the time join the morning show because you know, 0:00:26.156 --> 0:00:29.236 my mom was a school teacher, so we was up early, early, 0:00:29.316 --> 0:00:31.356 so I was listening to the time join up. And 0:00:31.396 --> 0:00:33.596 then you know, Z ninety three played such a big 0:00:33.676 --> 0:00:36.596 role in my life because you know, their original morning 0:00:36.636 --> 0:00:40.516 show that I remember was The Breakfast Club, Baby Jay 0:00:40.556 --> 0:00:44.396 and Tessa Tessa Spencer. My guest today is someone I've 0:00:44.436 --> 0:00:47.636 wanted to interview for a long time because of what 0:00:47.676 --> 0:00:51.476 he's meant over the last decade to the culture, black culture, 0:00:51.756 --> 0:00:55.836 hip hop culture, internet culture, youth culture, all the cultures, 0:00:55.876 --> 0:00:58.876 you name it. But if I'm being completely honest, the 0:00:58.916 --> 0:01:00.596 real reason I wanted to sit down and talk to 0:01:00.676 --> 0:01:02.716 Charlotte Magne the God is to see if some of 0:01:02.716 --> 0:01:06.236 his confidence can run off on me. Most of my career, 0:01:06.436 --> 0:01:08.956 I've been terrified to bring my full self to work 0:01:09.676 --> 0:01:11.836 out of fear of rejection or fear that I wouldn't 0:01:11.876 --> 0:01:13.796 be enough. I don't know. I'm working through it with 0:01:13.836 --> 0:01:17.596 my therapist. But what I admire about Charlemagne is that 0:01:17.636 --> 0:01:20.916 he seems to not care at all about being rejected 0:01:21.116 --> 0:01:26.036 by his peers, his co workers, his audience, anyone, and 0:01:26.156 --> 0:01:29.316 that confidence has led to some of the most impactful 0:01:29.476 --> 0:01:33.676 and sometimes controversial interviews over the last decade. As co 0:01:33.796 --> 0:01:35.876 host of one of the most popular radio shows of 0:01:35.876 --> 0:01:40.036 all time, The Breakfast Club, Charlemagne made time to sit 0:01:40.076 --> 0:01:41.956 down with me in New York City to discuss all 0:01:41.996 --> 0:01:46.396 of this, plus his upbringing, parenting, and the criticisms that 0:01:46.436 --> 0:01:50.076 have come with his success and more. This has started 0:01:50.076 --> 0:01:54.036 from the bottom, hard earned success stories from people like us. 0:01:58.516 --> 0:02:01.276 First time I ever saw you was it was you 0:02:01.356 --> 0:02:04.276 on the Wendy Williams radio show going toe to toe 0:02:04.316 --> 0:02:07.076 with Andrew Dice Club. Yeah. Yeah, that was like two 0:02:07.436 --> 0:02:11.916 seven Yeah, the most amazing things ever. And even though 0:02:13.156 --> 0:02:15.476 you kind of got uh, I don't know, I feel 0:02:15.476 --> 0:02:17.996 like Andrew kind of put it on you that day. 0:02:17.596 --> 0:02:19.636 It was the way they edited it too, but it 0:02:19.716 --> 0:02:22.916 was like, yeah, I had some I had some good ones, 0:02:22.916 --> 0:02:24.476 but they didn't put all of them, and they put 0:02:24.516 --> 0:02:26.836 the one about me calling them a fat fanzie. But 0:02:26.876 --> 0:02:28.636 that's right. Looking back, you actually did a lot better 0:02:28.676 --> 0:02:30.156 than I remember at the time. I was a dang 0:02:30.196 --> 0:02:32.196 like Andrew, like I still got it. I've remember been like, 0:02:32.196 --> 0:02:34.036 oh man, but then I kind of put you on 0:02:34.076 --> 0:02:35.836 my radar. And then I remember when the Breakfast Club came, 0:02:35.876 --> 0:02:37.196 I was like, oh, it makes sense, like this guy 0:02:37.276 --> 0:02:39.876 clearly clearly had it. But yeah, I want to run 0:02:39.916 --> 0:02:42.596 through your radio trajectory. But first I thought it'd be 0:02:42.636 --> 0:02:47.436 good to start with growing up in Monk's Corner, South Carolina. Um, 0:02:47.436 --> 0:02:50.436 it's interesting, right, because you know, I've been thinking about 0:02:50.476 --> 0:02:52.876 that a lot more lately, only because, like you know, 0:02:53.116 --> 0:02:54.996 when I'm in therapy, I'm doing like a lot of 0:02:55.156 --> 0:02:59.836 um in a child work, you know, because I feel 0:02:59.876 --> 0:03:02.236 like a lot of the issues that you deal with 0:03:02.356 --> 0:03:05.316 as an adult, most of them directly connected something that 0:03:05.356 --> 0:03:07.996 happened in your childhood. And so I've been thinking about, 0:03:08.036 --> 0:03:12.716 like what was that upbringing, like growing up in Monsts Corner, 0:03:12.756 --> 0:03:17.636 South Carolina, and the word I've come to realize that 0:03:17.716 --> 0:03:22.236 it is associated with that that upbringing. It's simple. You know, 0:03:22.476 --> 0:03:25.516 Monst Corner when I was young created a sense of 0:03:25.636 --> 0:03:29.236 ease in my life that I feel like really helped 0:03:29.236 --> 0:03:31.916 me growing up because I didn't move too fast and 0:03:31.956 --> 0:03:36.396 I didn't move too slow. That still is a big, 0:03:36.436 --> 0:03:39.156 big part of me. So when like, you know, that 0:03:39.276 --> 0:03:41.836 anxiety that I've been feeling my whole life, sets in. 0:03:42.756 --> 0:03:44.996 I feel like, Okay, I might be moving too fast, 0:03:45.076 --> 0:03:46.796 but then I don't want to move too slow. But 0:03:46.836 --> 0:03:49.596 then it's just a certain ease, like like baby Bears 0:03:49.636 --> 0:03:53.236 part just just it's a just right level of ease 0:03:53.396 --> 0:03:55.556 that growing up in Monst Corner gave me that I 0:03:56.036 --> 0:03:58.916 tend to tap into whenever, like things get really hectic. 0:03:59.116 --> 0:04:02.636 You mentioned some of the anxiety that you have. When 0:04:02.636 --> 0:04:05.316 did that start? Really, Yeah, as long as I know. 0:04:05.396 --> 0:04:08.196 I mean, the first panic attack I remember having was 0:04:08.236 --> 0:04:11.276 first grade, my mom dropping me off, Like I can 0:04:11.356 --> 0:04:14.996 feel it right now, my mom dropping me off first grade, 0:04:15.076 --> 0:04:18.196 first day of first grade, and like I just cried uncontrollably, 0:04:18.316 --> 0:04:26.196 like like I just felt like abandoned, lost and just 0:04:26.556 --> 0:04:32.036 scared like that that that same, you know, unexplainable feeling 0:04:32.116 --> 0:04:36.236 of fear and panic and worry. And I think my 0:04:36.276 --> 0:04:38.196 mom even says that I might have cried for like 0:04:38.436 --> 0:04:40.836 the first week. I don't remember the first week. I 0:04:40.836 --> 0:04:44.476 remember that one particular day, but it's like, yeah, that's 0:04:44.476 --> 0:04:47.116 the first time I remember ever having like a panic attack, 0:04:47.116 --> 0:04:49.716 and I had him throughout my life, like I've been 0:04:49.836 --> 0:04:52.876 going to the emergency room thinking that I'm having a 0:04:52.916 --> 0:04:55.156 heart attack. You know, thinking that I'm dying, you know, 0:04:55.196 --> 0:04:56.876 and then you get there and the doctor's like, oh, 0:04:56.916 --> 0:04:58.556 did you have an energy drink today? And you're like, 0:04:58.876 --> 0:05:00.556 I did drink a red Bull earlier. And it's like, oh, 0:05:00.596 --> 0:05:02.996 that's probably why your heart is doing that. That's the 0:05:02.996 --> 0:05:04.996 worst feeling, you know. So it wasn't to tell twenty 0:05:05.356 --> 0:05:08.716 ten that a doctor actually said to me, it sounds 0:05:08.756 --> 0:05:12.276 like you you have anxiety. He was literally was like, 0:05:12.276 --> 0:05:15.236 it sounds like you had a panic attack the things 0:05:15.236 --> 0:05:17.396 that you're describing. And he was like, has this happened 0:05:17.396 --> 0:05:19.196 to you before? And I'm like all the time, And 0:05:19.876 --> 0:05:22.716 you know, he asked me what I stretched out about anything, 0:05:22.716 --> 0:05:24.476 and I'm like, hell yeah, because at the time, I 0:05:24.516 --> 0:05:26.476 had just been fired for the fourth time from radio, 0:05:26.516 --> 0:05:28.636 and I'm back living at home with my mom at 0:05:28.636 --> 0:05:30.836 like thirty one, thirty two years old. My daughter's like 0:05:31.116 --> 0:05:33.676 one or two. My wife is back living at home 0:05:33.676 --> 0:05:35.676 with her parents, you know what I mean. In Monk's corner. 0:05:35.756 --> 0:05:38.476 So it's like I was super stressed out collecting unemployment 0:05:38.516 --> 0:05:40.556 checks every week. So in my mind, all I had 0:05:40.556 --> 0:05:41.996 to do was get back in position and get me 0:05:42.036 --> 0:05:45.756 another job, and all of that would go away, and 0:05:45.996 --> 0:05:48.036 that wasn't the case. You know. I ended up getting 0:05:48.316 --> 0:05:51.356 the Breakfast Club gig and having the most success I've 0:05:51.356 --> 0:05:53.396 ever had in my life. And it felt like all 0:05:53.436 --> 0:05:57.196 of those issues I had historically dealt with were magnified 0:05:57.556 --> 0:06:00.676 times a hundred now. Yeah, you know, And so that's 0:06:00.676 --> 0:06:02.756 what I decided to, like finally go get some help 0:06:02.796 --> 0:06:05.116 and like go to therapy. What do you think do 0:06:05.116 --> 0:06:06.756 you see that? Do you see that same anxiety in 0:06:06.836 --> 0:06:13.316 your kids? Yeah, I haven't. I haven't seen it show 0:06:13.356 --> 0:06:16.836 up as bad as mine was when I was at age. 0:06:16.876 --> 0:06:21.156 And I think the beauty of life now is not 0:06:21.276 --> 0:06:23.636 only do I have the language, I have the experience. 0:06:23.676 --> 0:06:26.476 So it's just like that, and I wish that, you know, 0:06:26.516 --> 0:06:28.516 somebody had put me in therapy when I was thirteen 0:06:28.556 --> 0:06:31.796 fourteen now me, I definitely needed it because I was 0:06:31.836 --> 0:06:34.836 getting sexually abused at eight years old. I didn't realize 0:06:34.876 --> 0:06:37.396 that at the time. I didn't realize that was molestaid 0:06:37.436 --> 0:06:39.116 until I was twenty something years old. You know. At 0:06:39.156 --> 0:06:40.956 the time, I just thought I was eight year old 0:06:40.996 --> 0:06:44.396 kids the neighborhood. Yeah, yeah, we we would all a 0:06:44.396 --> 0:06:47.036 bunch of young men, We all be around having conversations 0:06:47.076 --> 0:06:49.276 about older women that we were messing with, you know, 0:06:49.436 --> 0:06:51.636 in the neighborhood, Like we all thought we were lying, 0:06:51.756 --> 0:06:55.636 but clearly we allays like telling the truth in different ways. Right, So, Um, 0:06:57.436 --> 0:07:00.796 when I was fourteen, I definitely needed to unpack some 0:07:00.876 --> 0:07:02.036 of that. Do you think you would have had it 0:07:02.076 --> 0:07:03.636 at that age? Do you think the trajectory would have 0:07:03.676 --> 0:07:05.076 been the same, Like you think you would have been 0:07:05.156 --> 0:07:08.196 ended up in the streets the way you did? Probably not? 0:07:08.396 --> 0:07:10.436 And the reason probably not, just because you know, even 0:07:10.476 --> 0:07:14.156 with the screech, Right, it's like a lot of that is, Um, 0:07:14.796 --> 0:07:17.756 you trauma bond with people, yeah, because it's all a 0:07:17.796 --> 0:07:22.036 bunch of individuals that are missing something, and like we 0:07:22.116 --> 0:07:26.236 all want camaraderie, we all want family, we all want 0:07:26.676 --> 0:07:30.756 a crew. And it's just sometimes men, we trauma bond 0:07:30.756 --> 0:07:34.076 over bullshit, you know. So we trauma bond sometimes over crime, 0:07:34.836 --> 0:07:37.836 you know, we trauma bond over drugs, We trauma bond 0:07:37.876 --> 0:07:41.316 over alcohol, you know. But most of the time it's like, yeah, 0:07:41.316 --> 0:07:44.316 we're all trauma bonding to do the wrong thing, Like 0:07:44.396 --> 0:07:47.156 you know what I mean, Like let's go rob this 0:07:47.676 --> 0:07:50.516 you know, individual, or go rob this store, break into 0:07:50.516 --> 0:07:52.676 this house, and let's go, you know, figure out a 0:07:52.676 --> 0:07:54.716 way to get some a pack the hustle. But it's 0:07:54.756 --> 0:08:00.556 like what we're all lacking is like together this like everybody, 0:08:00.556 --> 0:08:04.116 we're all tribal, and we all long for family, right 0:08:04.156 --> 0:08:06.476 And I think that's what that's what a lot of 0:08:06.516 --> 0:08:09.716 guys do when they when they click up in that way. 0:08:09.836 --> 0:08:13.076 So I think for me, I definitely was longing for 0:08:13.196 --> 0:08:16.196 like some type of family structure, even though I grew 0:08:16.276 --> 0:08:19.116 up in a house with the oldest sister, two younger brothers, 0:08:19.116 --> 0:08:21.876 and a younger sister. I was the second oldest. My 0:08:21.916 --> 0:08:24.156 oldest sisters like ten twelve years older than me, and 0:08:24.196 --> 0:08:26.876 my younger siblings are like ten twelve years younger than me, 0:08:26.916 --> 0:08:29.596 So I was kind of I didn't have on an island, yeah, exactly. 0:08:29.636 --> 0:08:32.276 So I ended up kicking it with brothers and who 0:08:32.356 --> 0:08:35.356 are around my age, and we all ended up doing 0:08:35.396 --> 0:08:36.636 a bunch of dirt. And I don't even like to 0:08:36.676 --> 0:08:39.076 call it pear pressure, because I don't believe there's anything. 0:08:40.156 --> 0:08:42.156 I don't believe peer pressure exists. I believe we all 0:08:42.156 --> 0:08:44.956 just want to be accepted, you know what I'm saying. 0:08:45.036 --> 0:08:49.076 And I think that when somebody pushes you to do something, 0:08:49.796 --> 0:08:53.476 you do it because you don't want to let them down. 0:08:53.676 --> 0:08:57.036 So it's a lot of people pleasing that goals and age, 0:08:57.636 --> 0:09:00.076 especially at that age man. And it stays with you though, 0:09:00.236 --> 0:09:02.276 That people pleasing stays with you. Like, that's something that 0:09:02.276 --> 0:09:05.396 I had to unpacking therapy, like stop being a people pleaser, like, 0:09:05.436 --> 0:09:07.036 you know, because sometimes you'll be a people pleased to 0:09:07.036 --> 0:09:09.796 your own detriment. Yeah, you know, I believe anyone's ever 0:09:09.836 --> 0:09:12.476 accused you being the people pleaser. Man, No, I think 0:09:12.516 --> 0:09:15.156 that a lot of that. Man. That's because you seem 0:09:15.316 --> 0:09:17.996 you have strong opinions, not scared of voice even if 0:09:18.036 --> 0:09:20.716 it alienates you. Yeah, well, no, you're right, I've always 0:09:20.716 --> 0:09:24.036 been that way. But no, there's there's been plenty of 0:09:24.076 --> 0:09:26.996 times in my life where I just wanted to be down. Literally, 0:09:27.036 --> 0:09:29.156 I just wanted to be down. I wanted to be accepted. 0:09:29.196 --> 0:09:31.036 I wanted to be embraced, And you know, I can 0:09:31.116 --> 0:09:33.836 think about you know, that time, at that moment, like 0:09:33.876 --> 0:09:37.156 I just wanted to be embraced by you know, my peers. 0:09:37.436 --> 0:09:39.236 You know. So that's why I started doing what a 0:09:39.236 --> 0:09:40.956 lot of my PIDs was doing, which was a lot 0:09:40.956 --> 0:09:42.356 of bullshit. You know, I mean, because I wanted to 0:09:42.356 --> 0:09:45.836 be accepted some of that early stuff. A couple couple 0:09:45.836 --> 0:09:49.556 of drug cases. U. The last one was you were 0:09:50.316 --> 0:09:54.156 around the shooting. The first one was the first one. 0:09:54.396 --> 0:09:55.916 The first one, I was in the backseat of a 0:09:55.996 --> 0:09:59.436 car and my homeboy was in the front seat. Somebody 0:09:59.556 --> 0:10:03.196 was driving, and we was in this neighborhood like like 0:10:03.196 --> 0:10:04.916 like a two neighborhoods over from where we are in 0:10:04.996 --> 0:10:07.396 Monst Corner, two towns over rather from where we are 0:10:07.436 --> 0:10:10.156 in Monst Corner. And we were just having, you know, 0:10:10.316 --> 0:10:13.156 some conversations with some young ladies. Then some guys in 0:10:13.196 --> 0:10:15.796 the neighborhood didn't like that we would there. And you know, 0:10:15.876 --> 0:10:18.436 I'm on my fake tough guys ship, my fake hardcore shit, 0:10:18.556 --> 0:10:21.116 so I'm acting like doughboy and boys in the hood. 0:10:21.156 --> 0:10:24.036 I got my hand under my shirt was up up yo, sup, 0:10:24.076 --> 0:10:27.156 because like the fuck that means like what's up a problem? 0:10:27.196 --> 0:10:29.596 You know what I mean? And they, you know, drove off. 0:10:29.676 --> 0:10:30.956 Then we went to like I think it was Burger 0:10:30.996 --> 0:10:33.116 King McDonald's. I don't remember. I think it was Burger King. 0:10:33.196 --> 0:10:35.996 So he went to Burger King. As we're leaving, I 0:10:36.116 --> 0:10:38.956 see the truck that those guys were in pulling up 0:10:38.956 --> 0:10:41.756 behind us, and I say, I'd say tell him. I dude, like, oh, 0:10:42.636 --> 0:10:44.956 that some guys from the neighborhood. And so they pulled 0:10:45.036 --> 0:10:46.636 up on the side of us. So I'm in the 0:10:46.636 --> 0:10:49.756 back seat of the car, dudes talking shit out the window. 0:10:50.756 --> 0:10:52.716 One of my guys pulled out and shot from the 0:10:52.756 --> 0:10:56.036 passenger seat, and you know, luckily nobody was in the 0:10:56.076 --> 0:10:58.556 fourth seat, so it was the driver passenger and somebody 0:10:58.596 --> 0:11:00.916 was sitting behind the driver with the bullet hit the 0:11:00.956 --> 0:11:05.196 headrest in the fourth seat behind the passenger seat, you 0:11:05.236 --> 0:11:07.876 know what I mean. Yeah, all praises do the God 0:11:07.916 --> 0:11:11.916 because you know, that could have been a situation where 0:11:11.916 --> 0:11:15.356 somebody got killed. Now were all in jail for twenty 0:11:15.636 --> 0:11:18.396 thirty years, you know what I mean. So so even 0:11:18.396 --> 0:11:20.996 now when I think about stuff like that, I'm like, oh, yeah, 0:11:21.036 --> 0:11:23.196 you know, because I'm a big back to the future guy. 0:11:23.476 --> 0:11:26.396 You know, you watch those those time heist movies. People 0:11:26.436 --> 0:11:28.316 go back and little things change here and there and 0:11:28.396 --> 0:11:31.196 change the whole trajectory of everything. And so yeah, that 0:11:31.276 --> 0:11:33.436 was the first time I ever got arrested. Did it 0:11:33.556 --> 0:11:36.636 change your relationship with your parents? It didn't change my 0:11:36.676 --> 0:11:39.236 relationship with my parents. That actually made me realize my 0:11:39.316 --> 0:11:41.636 dad was right, because my dad was always telling me 0:11:41.676 --> 0:11:44.116 if I don't change my lifestyle, I'm gonna end up 0:11:44.156 --> 0:11:47.316 in jail, dad, or broke sitting under the tree, you know. 0:11:47.396 --> 0:11:50.636 So when I came home, I really was just looking 0:11:50.676 --> 0:11:53.676 for positive things to do. Like, you know, I started 0:11:53.676 --> 0:11:57.916 working at a warehouse called Industrial Acoustics Company, and you know, 0:11:57.956 --> 0:11:59.756 from that point on, I wanted to keep a job. 0:12:00.076 --> 0:12:02.076 But I worked there for like two to three weeks. 0:12:02.556 --> 0:12:05.076 Got fired from there, you know, to supervisor and I 0:12:05.156 --> 0:12:07.996 never forget her name. Her name was Gail cop Supervisor 0:12:08.116 --> 0:12:11.076 was like, you don't fit in here. You're not what 0:12:11.156 --> 0:12:13.316 we're looking for now, mind you up. My job was 0:12:13.356 --> 0:12:16.516 literally like I was clearing out an area, like a 0:12:16.516 --> 0:12:19.276 wooded area. So I'm like, oh god, damn, I'm not 0:12:19.316 --> 0:12:22.116 fit to clean out a wooded area, you know. But 0:12:22.156 --> 0:12:23.996 she was like, you don't fit in here. So then 0:12:24.036 --> 0:12:25.996 I started working out a flower garden just because I 0:12:26.036 --> 0:12:28.796 was looking to do, you know, something positive. And the 0:12:28.916 --> 0:12:31.836 flower garden literally, and now that I think back on it, 0:12:31.836 --> 0:12:34.316 it was literally a bunch of like migrants working there, 0:12:34.556 --> 0:12:36.076 Like you know what I mean, It was clearly a 0:12:36.076 --> 0:12:40.116 bunch of people who you know, weren't from this country, 0:12:40.236 --> 0:12:44.756 who were just looking for work. Now now looking back 0:12:44.756 --> 0:12:46.356 on it, that's what it was. It was literally just 0:12:46.396 --> 0:12:49.076 a bunch of like Mexicans and you know, who knows 0:12:49.116 --> 0:12:52.636 what else, like just working there, right, And so I 0:12:53.116 --> 0:12:56.716 was there for like two weeks never his name was Dominique, 0:12:56.716 --> 0:12:58.436 the same thing, and him got into a shouting match 0:12:58.436 --> 0:13:00.236 because I was just like it, shit feels like a 0:13:00.636 --> 0:13:03.636 It was a plantation. It literally was a flower garden. 0:13:03.676 --> 0:13:06.556 It was actually called the yeah, it was called it 0:13:06.716 --> 0:13:11.316 something plantation, flower garden. But it literally was just we 0:13:11.356 --> 0:13:14.276 were out there in the hot sun picking flowers and 0:13:14.596 --> 0:13:16.996 you know, other types of shit. So I quit that 0:13:17.316 --> 0:13:20.756 and then that's when I started like flirting with the street, 0:13:20.876 --> 0:13:23.076 you know what I mean. That's when it was like, man, 0:13:23.236 --> 0:13:25.196 I figured out some ways to make money because you know, 0:13:25.236 --> 0:13:27.716 I still got to pay my probation officer and shit 0:13:27.836 --> 0:13:30.396 like that. And it was just a stupid mentality, right, 0:13:30.396 --> 0:13:32.716 because when you're on probation, you got to keep a job. 0:13:32.836 --> 0:13:36.076 That's number one, and you gotta pay your probation fees. 0:13:36.756 --> 0:13:39.276 So I started just saying that I was working with 0:13:39.316 --> 0:13:41.916 my dad and I was doing tempt services but also 0:13:42.276 --> 0:13:45.476 had got a fifty dollars slab. Fifty dollars slabs when 0:13:45.516 --> 0:13:47.676 you're getting fifty dollars worth of rock, and you know, 0:13:47.676 --> 0:13:49.756 I think you posted big, Like I think it supposed 0:13:49.756 --> 0:13:52.116 to be one hundred dollars off each gram. So I 0:13:52.196 --> 0:13:55.196 think a slab was one gram that you paid fifty 0:13:55.196 --> 0:13:57.556 dollars for and you cut it up and you posted 0:13:57.556 --> 0:13:59.796 it cuts up into like one hundred dollars worth a rock. 0:14:00.036 --> 0:14:04.556 So that was the first time I like dabbled in, like, yeah, hustling. 0:14:05.196 --> 0:14:07.956 So yeah, did I left my Did I feel like, well, 0:14:07.956 --> 0:14:10.716 how did my relationship with my parents changed? Yeah? I 0:14:10.716 --> 0:14:13.556 thought they were right, but I still was young and 0:14:13.676 --> 0:14:15.676 had to figure things out for myself, which led me, 0:14:15.916 --> 0:14:18.676 which led me back, which led me into actually hustling. 0:14:18.796 --> 0:14:21.876 You know. After the break, Charlotte Magne's gonna take us 0:14:21.916 --> 0:14:25.396 on a ride through his earliest experiences with radio and 0:14:25.476 --> 0:14:35.116 how that helped build his foundation in the business. When 0:14:35.116 --> 0:14:37.476 did radio enter your life, like, not only not as 0:14:37.476 --> 0:14:40.356 a career, as a listener, Like, what's your earliest experiences 0:14:40.356 --> 0:14:45.476 with radio? Like forever, forever? And the reason I say 0:14:45.516 --> 0:14:48.156 forever because like when I said, small town, Monst Corner, 0:14:48.156 --> 0:14:51.516 South Carolina. So the radio station was Z ninety three Jams. 0:14:52.036 --> 0:14:54.196 We were always around the radio. If it wasn't Z 0:14:54.356 --> 0:14:57.116 ninety three Jams, it was another station called wpa L 0:14:57.436 --> 0:14:59.836 one hundred point nine, and one hundred point nine was 0:14:59.876 --> 0:15:02.116 like more underground with it, so they were playing like 0:15:02.596 --> 0:15:05.396 underground stuff, not the mainscreen stuff. And like you know, 0:15:05.476 --> 0:15:08.356 there was always like bone boxes around, like my cousin, 0:15:08.756 --> 0:15:10.956 you know, my cousin Tye Sluth. My cousin Tye. He 0:15:11.916 --> 0:15:15.596 was the first person let me hear like a real 0:15:15.716 --> 0:15:18.036 hip hop record. Like prior to that, my sister had 0:15:18.036 --> 0:15:20.076 her radio in her room. So my sister was listening 0:15:20.116 --> 0:15:24.556 to like Kiddn't Play and Salt and Pepper, you know 0:15:24.596 --> 0:15:28.676 what I mean, stuff like that Hammer all the pop stuff, 0:15:28.956 --> 0:15:31.036 you know what I mean. But my cousin let me 0:15:31.116 --> 0:15:34.276 hear Eric B and Rock Kemp paid in full. Wow, 0:15:34.716 --> 0:15:38.156 and that changed everything. Wow. That was like I don't 0:15:38.156 --> 0:15:42.356 know what this thing is called hip hop, but I 0:15:42.476 --> 0:15:45.436 love it. It felt like rock Kim was saying stuff 0:15:45.476 --> 0:15:49.316 like he was telling stories, like you know what I mean. Yeah, 0:15:49.676 --> 0:15:52.836 just just that is what introduced me to radio and 0:15:53.156 --> 0:15:56.556 always wanting to be around a radio. It felt like 0:15:56.556 --> 0:15:58.956 we might even have been around radio more than TV. 0:15:59.556 --> 0:16:01.556 You know, back in the day TV it was certain 0:16:01.596 --> 0:16:04.316 shows we were watching, but we weren't just turning the 0:16:04.356 --> 0:16:06.476 TV on and keeping it on all day. If it 0:16:06.516 --> 0:16:13.476 wasn't like Nintendo, are you the radio man? We were outside, yeah, 0:16:13.516 --> 0:16:15.636 like you know what I mean, running around, playing around. 0:16:15.676 --> 0:16:18.676 So it's like, for me, radio has always been in 0:16:18.716 --> 0:16:21.716 my life as a listener, like who are the personalities are? 0:16:21.716 --> 0:16:23.676 Because like I know, like in LA and later I 0:16:23.716 --> 0:16:25.476 came to us, it was like syndicated, but you know, 0:16:25.516 --> 0:16:27.236 in LA always felt like it was like Big Boy 0:16:27.436 --> 0:16:29.236 was like was huge, you know, and I felt like 0:16:29.276 --> 0:16:33.836 our guy. For me growing up, it was oh, oh, oh, 0:16:33.956 --> 0:16:37.076 it's the time Join Them morning show because you know, 0:16:37.156 --> 0:16:39.556 my mom was a school teacher, so we was up 0:16:39.596 --> 0:16:42.156 early early, so I was listening to the Time Join Them. 0:16:42.196 --> 0:16:44.396 And then you know, ZE ninety three played such a 0:16:44.436 --> 0:16:47.196 big role in my life because you know, their original 0:16:47.276 --> 0:16:51.236 morning show that I remember was the Breakfast Club Baby 0:16:51.316 --> 0:16:55.156 Jay and Tessa Tessa Spencer, and then you know, in 0:16:55.196 --> 0:16:58.516 the afternoons it was like, um my man, y'all need 0:16:58.556 --> 0:17:00.996 a rude boy. But then it was like you know 0:17:01.116 --> 0:17:03.436 the night shows, the Top nine at nine, you know, 0:17:03.476 --> 0:17:06.396 you want to call in and request the song and 0:17:06.476 --> 0:17:09.876 hear your voice on the radio, shout out your school whatever, whatever. 0:17:10.396 --> 0:17:12.316 But yeah, those were the people like growing up, like 0:17:12.636 --> 0:17:16.156 people like Sean Dobe, like, those are the personalities that 0:17:16.996 --> 0:17:19.396 I would hear, Reggie c You'd hear these people, and 0:17:20.036 --> 0:17:23.596 they were just like regular voices that you would hear 0:17:23.756 --> 0:17:27.236 all the time. Ken Moore like, I don't even know 0:17:27.236 --> 0:17:28.956 if Kim was Ki on Z. I don't know if 0:17:29.036 --> 0:17:31.436 Ki was on Deep. I just did the voices I remember. Yeah, 0:17:31.556 --> 0:17:35.076 you know, growing up like those voices, those local radio voices. 0:17:35.036 --> 0:17:39.556 Are you growing up? Absolutely miss anyone in the country absolutely. 0:17:39.756 --> 0:17:41.756 Do you remember your first time on the radio. I 0:17:41.796 --> 0:17:44.676 don't remember the very first time, but it definitely one 0:17:44.756 --> 0:17:47.916 of the first times was my man Willy Will. There 0:17:47.996 --> 0:17:50.116 was a guy named Willie Will. He was the night 0:17:50.196 --> 0:17:54.716 jock there at the ninety three jams in Charleston, South Carolina. 0:17:54.996 --> 0:17:57.476 Me and him used to wrap together. I met him 0:17:57.516 --> 0:17:59.596 at you know, a couple of recording studios that were 0:17:59.596 --> 0:18:02.356 in Charleston. When I got my internship up there. I 0:18:02.356 --> 0:18:04.516 would always just be up there and I'd be sitting 0:18:04.516 --> 0:18:07.156 in on his show and you know, he would definitely 0:18:07.676 --> 0:18:09.676 you know, call me to the microphone, you know, and 0:18:09.716 --> 0:18:11.836 I'd be on the mike talking. So definitely my first 0:18:11.876 --> 0:18:15.836 time on air, I'm sure was with Willie will And 0:18:16.276 --> 0:18:18.396 in some way, shape or form, because I remember wanted 0:18:18.436 --> 0:18:21.396 to remember the program director telling him like, you know, 0:18:21.556 --> 0:18:23.796 you need to get a cardboard cut out of Charlemagne 0:18:23.836 --> 0:18:26.716 and put it in the studio because your energy goes up, 0:18:27.356 --> 0:18:29.916 you know, when he's in here, you know, with you. 0:18:30.236 --> 0:18:33.876 I remember I remember him saying that to him, and um, yeah, 0:18:34.076 --> 0:18:36.316 which which probably ultimately led to me being on air 0:18:36.356 --> 0:18:38.796 because my man Ron White, you know Suothron White. Me 0:18:38.796 --> 0:18:40.996 and Ron still talked to this day. Round was like 0:18:41.396 --> 0:18:42.916 you just asked me one day, like, Yo, do you 0:18:42.956 --> 0:18:45.596 want to be on the radio? And I'm like, sure, 0:18:46.156 --> 0:18:48.596 why not? And so they started putting me on Sundays 0:18:48.956 --> 0:18:51.556 eleven am to three pm. When you say sure, like, 0:18:52.156 --> 0:18:53.636 was there a part of you that had was that 0:18:53.716 --> 0:18:55.876 just you playing the cool or were you really not 0:18:55.916 --> 0:18:59.116 even sure you wanted to be on the radio like that? Yeah? 0:18:59.156 --> 0:19:00.836 I never had thought about it, you know what I mean. 0:19:00.956 --> 0:19:04.236 I just was really happy to be working at Z 0:19:04.436 --> 0:19:07.156 ninety three Jams because it was like the most corporate 0:19:07.196 --> 0:19:09.676 thing I had ever done. Yeah, you know it was. 0:19:09.876 --> 0:19:11.716 It was the place. It was a place where, like 0:19:12.836 --> 0:19:14.956 in South Carolina, people saw you at the ninety three 0:19:14.996 --> 0:19:16.556 They're like, oh, he must be he must be doing something, 0:19:16.596 --> 0:19:17.836 you know what I mean, Like he must be doing 0:19:17.876 --> 0:19:20.356 something with his with his life, you know what I mean. 0:19:20.436 --> 0:19:22.876 And for me being like a guy who was in 0:19:22.956 --> 0:19:25.236 and out of jail at the time and was getting 0:19:25.236 --> 0:19:28.076 in a lot of trouble and graduated from high school 0:19:28.076 --> 0:19:30.596 in night school, had gotten kicked out of two high schools, 0:19:30.796 --> 0:19:32.996 Like for me, that was a big deal for me 0:19:33.076 --> 0:19:35.476 to be like pulling up in a most corner driving 0:19:35.516 --> 0:19:39.036 this station vehicle like the big white band with the 0:19:39.156 --> 0:19:40.876 Z ninety three Jams on the logo, you know what 0:19:40.876 --> 0:19:43.076 I mean, pulling it down my dim road, you know 0:19:43.116 --> 0:19:45.476 what I mean, hoping that some of the girls that 0:19:45.556 --> 0:19:47.716 lived on my road saw me, you know what I mean. 0:19:47.796 --> 0:19:52.596 Like that was a big deal for me back then. 0:19:52.716 --> 0:19:56.876 So yeah, just to be there felt like you did. Yeah, 0:19:56.996 --> 0:19:58.596 I just was just happy to be there. Like so 0:19:58.636 --> 0:20:02.196 when he asked me to be on air, like hell, yeah, yeah, 0:20:02.356 --> 0:20:05.916 whatever's gonna keep me here, yea. And of course when 0:20:05.916 --> 0:20:09.396 you think radio, you think on air personality. You're not 0:20:09.436 --> 0:20:13.076 thinking promotions or programming or anything like that. So hell yeah, 0:20:13.076 --> 0:20:14.956 I'd love to be on it. Now I can really 0:20:15.036 --> 0:20:20.236 say I work here and now I'm a personality, And yeah, 0:20:20.276 --> 0:20:22.556 I really loved it and appreciate it. How was that 0:20:22.596 --> 0:20:24.916 first show that you had? I was scaring all the 0:20:24.996 --> 0:20:27.076 church folks because it was what they had me do. 0:20:27.156 --> 0:20:29.476 They had me do something called voice track. And when 0:20:29.476 --> 0:20:32.236 your voice track is when you record your voice and 0:20:32.316 --> 0:20:34.476 you gotta record your voice, and you know, it's like 0:20:34.676 --> 0:20:36.836 it's a time slot from like eleven to three, so 0:20:37.196 --> 0:20:40.156 you're talking like three four times an hour, introducing songs, 0:20:40.196 --> 0:20:42.836 time temperature and stuff like that. So I didn't know 0:20:42.876 --> 0:20:45.716 how to do radio, you know, I really didn't. So 0:20:45.756 --> 0:20:48.556 I was just going in there talking like yeah I was. 0:20:48.676 --> 0:20:50.356 I was actually screaming. When I go back and listening 0:20:50.356 --> 0:20:52.036 to my old voice tapes, I was screaming. And it's 0:20:52.036 --> 0:20:53.756 funny because they all were telling me I was screaming, 0:20:53.756 --> 0:20:56.196 like I'm not screaming. I was just old. I don't 0:20:56.236 --> 0:20:58.276 understand how we talk about I was really yelling like 0:20:59.196 --> 0:21:01.676 ninety three jams are being hip hop. My go by 0:21:01.716 --> 0:21:03.836 the name is Charlemagne and gods that I was yelling, 0:21:03.916 --> 0:21:06.916 like screaming at people and so like, you know, when 0:21:06.916 --> 0:21:10.236 I finally started listening to the people who actually do 0:21:10.316 --> 0:21:13.636 this for a living, I started to acquire a more 0:21:13.676 --> 0:21:16.676 conversational tone. You know when in the beginning, I was 0:21:16.716 --> 0:21:19.636 just yelling, like yelling, like literally yelling at people on 0:21:19.676 --> 0:21:21.636 the radio, and that's what I was doing. And I 0:21:21.676 --> 0:21:23.556 did that. I think I might have voice tracked a 0:21:23.556 --> 0:21:26.436 few Sundays, and then Ron was like, all right, enough 0:21:26.516 --> 0:21:28.756 of that. You're gonna have your voice track on Saturday 0:21:28.876 --> 0:21:31.156 nights now seven to ten, and then you're gonna go 0:21:31.276 --> 0:21:35.276 live from ten to midnight. And I was everything because 0:21:35.276 --> 0:21:38.756 it's Saturday nights so I can have this high energy. 0:21:39.076 --> 0:21:40.956 But then when we go live, or I could take 0:21:40.996 --> 0:21:44.116 phone calls. Now it's like I'm taking phone calls and 0:21:44.156 --> 0:21:46.956 I'm working with people when they're calling then making jokes 0:21:46.956 --> 0:21:50.036 bla blash. So it's just like for me, the best 0:21:50.036 --> 0:21:51.516 thing that ever happened to me was I didn't know 0:21:51.556 --> 0:21:55.076 how to do radio. Nobody taught me how to do radio. 0:21:55.156 --> 0:21:58.916 I wasn't a person who came from you know, doing 0:21:58.956 --> 0:22:02.036 college radio or nowadays you can have a podcast or 0:22:02.076 --> 0:22:04.276 a YouTube page. I was just fresh off the dirt 0:22:04.356 --> 0:22:07.596 road in Monst Corner, South Carolina, getting on the air 0:22:07.916 --> 0:22:10.396 in Charleston, South Carolina on the biggest radio station at 0:22:10.436 --> 0:22:14.516 the time, Z ninety three, and that rawdness showed. I 0:22:14.596 --> 0:22:18.756 sounded different than everybody else because I didn't have that announcer, 0:22:19.396 --> 0:22:22.156 you know, background, So it worked for me. Yeah, you 0:22:22.156 --> 0:22:26.036 didn't have the announcer broadcast, Yeah, petty or whatever. Was 0:22:26.076 --> 0:22:29.076 just coming at it with your own angles. What was 0:22:29.116 --> 0:22:33.276 your journey after that? After z SO, I worked as 0:22:33.276 --> 0:22:37.556 an intern in ninety eight, started there in ninety nine 0:22:37.596 --> 0:22:41.436 from the promotions department to um being on there, and 0:22:41.476 --> 0:22:43.636 then a news station came in the market, Hot ninety 0:22:43.676 --> 0:22:47.836 eight nine, much smaller station ran by a guy named 0:22:48.716 --> 0:22:51.796 my Man. George Cook was the program director. I was 0:22:51.836 --> 0:22:54.076 doing part time as z SO. I had some conversations 0:22:54.076 --> 0:22:56.316 with Hot ninety eight nine. They wanted me to come 0:22:56.316 --> 0:22:58.156 over there and do nights. They wanted me to do 0:22:58.196 --> 0:23:01.996 Monday through Saturday, seven to midnight full time, and I 0:23:02.076 --> 0:23:04.356 was I think the pay was like nineteen grand a year, 0:23:04.996 --> 0:23:07.156 and at the time that was a lot of money, 0:23:07.316 --> 0:23:10.076 and it was a salary just to be able to say, 0:23:10.196 --> 0:23:13.916 first time on salary. I didn't go to college, you 0:23:13.956 --> 0:23:16.956 know what I mean. I graduated from night school and like, 0:23:16.996 --> 0:23:20.876 so I didn't just oh I got a salary now 0:23:21.396 --> 0:23:24.436 A yeah, I'm just happy to be making nineteen grand 0:23:24.436 --> 0:23:28.196 a year like that sounded like some shit, And so yeah, 0:23:28.276 --> 0:23:30.396 I started working there every night and it wasn't even 0:23:30.436 --> 0:23:32.396 about to check. It was about the opportunity to be 0:23:32.476 --> 0:23:35.836 on every night. And my man, George Cookman, who's still 0:23:35.916 --> 0:23:38.236 a great mentor to me to this day. He actually 0:23:38.836 --> 0:23:40.996 George is not only the first person to give me 0:23:41.036 --> 0:23:44.836 a full time position on radio, he told me some 0:23:45.156 --> 0:23:48.636 information that just changed my whole life. And the information was, 0:23:49.396 --> 0:23:51.916 I want you to have a morning show at night. 0:23:52.916 --> 0:23:55.876 I want you to treat this night show that you 0:23:56.076 --> 0:23:59.956 have like a morning show at night. Parody songs and 0:23:59.996 --> 0:24:02.156 a lot of sketches and a lot of topics and 0:24:02.316 --> 0:24:04.756 a lot of interaction with listeners via the phone and 0:24:05.276 --> 0:24:08.916 you know, playing new music and all of that been 0:24:08.956 --> 0:24:11.956 a fitting me so well in the future, because that's 0:24:11.956 --> 0:24:15.316 what I ultimately treated every single show like. I treated 0:24:15.356 --> 0:24:17.156 every single show like it was a morning show. So 0:24:17.196 --> 0:24:19.596 no matter where I went from High ninety eighty nine 0:24:19.916 --> 0:24:22.956 to the big DM in Columbia. Then it was Hot 0:24:22.956 --> 0:24:25.196 one of three nine in Columbia, then it was Wendy 0:24:25.196 --> 0:24:27.956 Williams show, and it was my own morning show in Philly. 0:24:27.996 --> 0:24:30.036 By the time I got to my own morning show 0:24:30.076 --> 0:24:32.836 in Philly, I had approached every single one of those 0:24:33.196 --> 0:24:35.596 situations like it was a morning show. So by the 0:24:35.636 --> 0:24:37.476 time I was ready to do my own morning show, 0:24:37.516 --> 0:24:40.396 I was overprepared. Yeah, you know, So it was he 0:24:40.476 --> 0:24:44.596 planned to seed early on that basically stuck with me 0:24:44.636 --> 0:24:48.156 throughout my whole career and ultimately led to me being 0:24:48.196 --> 0:24:51.916 the morning guy I am. Now let me come back. 0:24:51.956 --> 0:24:54.316 You'll get a chance to hear what Charlemagne learned from 0:24:54.356 --> 0:24:58.196 the legendary radio host Wendy Williams and lessons he had 0:24:58.236 --> 0:25:10.036 to teach himself to achieve success. Tell me about meeting 0:25:10.036 --> 0:25:14.836 Wendy Williams, man Man, I met Wendy because I was 0:25:14.876 --> 0:25:18.716 doing radio in Columbia, South Carolina, Columbia had a really 0:25:18.756 --> 0:25:21.236 dope station called Hot one with three nine. So Hot 0:25:21.236 --> 0:25:24.196 one with three nine started syndicating Wendy Williams in the 0:25:24.236 --> 0:25:29.196 afternoons and so Wendy and her husband would come down 0:25:29.276 --> 0:25:31.996 for station visits, like they would come down to like 0:25:32.036 --> 0:25:34.396 see the market and stuff like that, and so I 0:25:34.516 --> 0:25:37.196 just would break bread, you know. And I remember the 0:25:37.196 --> 0:25:39.036 first time I even tried to break bread with Wendy. 0:25:39.076 --> 0:25:41.516 Wendy was in the studio trying to do her show, 0:25:41.556 --> 0:25:43.436 which I totally understand, now, you know what I mean. 0:25:43.476 --> 0:25:46.556 But I came in there with mixtapes and parody songs, 0:25:46.596 --> 0:25:48.916 all of this stuff I wanted her to hear and 0:25:49.516 --> 0:25:51.356 while she was doing her show, Yeah, I mean, but 0:25:51.396 --> 0:25:53.076 she was in between breaks, you know what I mean. 0:25:53.116 --> 0:25:55.996 But now when I under now understanding the hecticness of 0:25:56.036 --> 0:25:59.116 a syndicated show, it wasn't like breaks like us, but 0:25:59.236 --> 0:26:02.036 we break for twenty minutes, thirty minutes and got time 0:26:02.116 --> 0:26:05.396 the bullshit she's on like on on on on, Like 0:26:05.396 --> 0:26:07.596 it might have only been like three minutes. In between songs. 0:26:07.836 --> 0:26:12.076 Wendy goes, little yo, Yo, take that mixtape shit out 0:26:12.076 --> 0:26:15.236 of here. I'm trying to do my fucking show. Take 0:26:15.276 --> 0:26:20.156 that mixtape shit to my husband. I didn't feel offended 0:26:20.196 --> 0:26:21.996 by that. Yeah, I was just like, where's your husband? 0:26:21.996 --> 0:26:23.796 She's like, I think if he's in that room somewhere 0:26:23.836 --> 0:26:27.036 like in the conference room across the hall. Cool. So 0:26:27.156 --> 0:26:30.516 I went across the room, gave him the mixtape, started 0:26:30.556 --> 0:26:33.196 pitching ship to him, you know, pitching ship to him. 0:26:33.196 --> 0:26:36.316 And then we started talking and we you know, kept 0:26:36.356 --> 0:26:38.476 in contact from there, you know, and I used to 0:26:38.516 --> 0:26:40.436 like give them the heads up on things that were 0:26:40.436 --> 0:26:43.716 going on at the station. So he invited me to 0:26:43.716 --> 0:26:45.636 come up to New York for a party. He was like, yeah, 0:26:45.636 --> 0:26:46.916 want you to come up to New York. We're having 0:26:46.956 --> 0:26:48.716 a party. Blah zah blah. And I'm like, all right. 0:26:49.476 --> 0:26:51.436 I went to the party just to kick it. And 0:26:51.556 --> 0:26:55.236 in the party, Wendy was like, oh shit, Charlemagne, Yo, 0:26:55.356 --> 0:26:57.396 won't you come to my show? How long are you 0:26:57.476 --> 0:26:58.876 in town? I like, oh, just for a couple of days. 0:26:58.956 --> 0:27:03.036 Come to my show tomorrow, Like, come to your show tomorrow. 0:27:03.436 --> 0:27:06.996 Can't tell me shit like that. I'm going I'm going 0:27:07.116 --> 0:27:09.996 to be like, yo, all right, who do I call? 0:27:10.476 --> 0:27:13.076 What do I do? And so I'm hitting CAV like Yo, Cav, 0:27:13.156 --> 0:27:14.756 Wendy said, come to our show. He's like, all right, 0:27:14.796 --> 0:27:16.636 I bet. So he just told me that. He told 0:27:16.636 --> 0:27:18.836 me to go up there, went up there, sat in 0:27:18.876 --> 0:27:20.996 the pink room to paint the office for a while. 0:27:21.316 --> 0:27:23.556 Then she invited me on the show and I was 0:27:23.596 --> 0:27:27.596 there for like twenty five minutes, and literally that evening 0:27:27.876 --> 0:27:31.836 they were offering me the position as her co host sidekick. 0:27:31.876 --> 0:27:34.476 And they was like, look, we can't pay you, but 0:27:34.556 --> 0:27:37.316 we can give you a place to stay. And I'm 0:27:37.396 --> 0:27:38.876 just like, all right, just let me go back down 0:27:38.876 --> 0:27:42.036 South and like, you know, figure some things out, like 0:27:42.076 --> 0:27:43.716 just you know, lett my girl, know what I'm about 0:27:43.756 --> 0:27:46.276 to do and everything else. And that's what I did. 0:27:46.396 --> 0:27:49.156 You knew the opportunity, yo. Man, you gotta recognize the 0:27:49.156 --> 0:27:51.316 opportunity even when it's not a paycheck attached to it. 0:27:51.676 --> 0:27:53.996 So my mindset was never I never I never wanted 0:27:54.076 --> 0:27:55.436 like how much I'm gonna get paid. It was like, 0:27:55.556 --> 0:27:58.156 we cannot pay you, but we can give you a 0:27:58.156 --> 0:28:02.276 place to stay. I'm out the opportunity to be on 0:28:02.316 --> 0:28:07.716 Wendy Williams Show Monday through Friday in the afternoon, nationally 0:28:07.716 --> 0:28:10.636 syndicated show What are some lessons you learned on the 0:28:10.636 --> 0:28:14.316 Wonder william Show? That Wendy's a legend no matter how 0:28:14.316 --> 0:28:16.156 you feel about her, No matter how you feel about her, 0:28:16.196 --> 0:28:18.836 bona farre legend. One of the most talented people, one 0:28:18.836 --> 0:28:21.236 of the most talented media personalities of all time. You know, 0:28:21.276 --> 0:28:24.236 one of the people few people who can like literally 0:28:24.276 --> 0:28:29.116 sit down in front of a TV camera and just go. Yeah, 0:28:29.236 --> 0:28:30.556 person who could just sit down in front of a 0:28:30.596 --> 0:28:34.116 microphone and just go. And you realize the reason she's 0:28:34.116 --> 0:28:35.836 able to do that is number one, she had does 0:28:35.876 --> 0:28:37.956 have just the natural gift to gab. But one of 0:28:37.996 --> 0:28:41.316 the lessons I learned that everything is showprep. Like a 0:28:41.316 --> 0:28:42.756 lot of times, you know, back in the day, we 0:28:42.796 --> 0:28:44.556 would think that show prep is like just picking up 0:28:44.556 --> 0:28:47.356 the latest magazine or picking up the latest tabloid and 0:28:47.396 --> 0:28:50.036 just downloading what's in there. Wendy taught me that your 0:28:50.036 --> 0:28:53.916 whole life is showprep. Every single experience that you go 0:28:53.996 --> 0:28:56.756 through can be brought to the radio. You know, every 0:28:56.756 --> 0:28:59.676 single experience that you go through can be bought, you know, 0:28:59.916 --> 0:29:02.076 the television. I would watch her, I'd be out with 0:29:02.116 --> 0:29:06.836 her during the day, watch these things happen to her, 0:29:07.036 --> 0:29:08.756 and then watch her get on the radio and talk 0:29:08.796 --> 0:29:11.276 about these things like, oh, I was there, and of 0:29:11.316 --> 0:29:12.916 course he's making me part of the story because and 0:29:13.036 --> 0:29:15.996 Charlemagne said this. Charlemagne was right there and Charlotmagne acted 0:29:16.036 --> 0:29:17.316 like he didn't see it and it isn't that Like 0:29:17.436 --> 0:29:20.076 I'm like, god, damn, she's incredible, you know what I mean, 0:29:20.196 --> 0:29:23.876 Like he's just an incredible storyteller. So you know, um, 0:29:24.796 --> 0:29:29.036 she taught me how to tell stories via radio, even 0:29:29.076 --> 0:29:30.596 though I was already doing it, but I was doing 0:29:30.636 --> 0:29:33.716 it more so through sketches. But now just to make 0:29:33.796 --> 0:29:37.316 your life a story, to make the things that happened 0:29:37.316 --> 0:29:40.356 to you throughout the day a story. That was like 0:29:40.396 --> 0:29:42.676 one of the biggest things, like everything is show prep. 0:29:42.716 --> 0:29:44.596 And the other thing was like you're either gonna be 0:29:44.596 --> 0:29:47.796 of the people or of the industry, because when you're 0:29:47.796 --> 0:29:51.836 of the people, you're always going to speak like for 0:29:51.956 --> 0:29:54.636 the people and you're gonna speak how the people speak. 0:29:55.236 --> 0:29:57.196 When you're of the industry, like you're gonna try to 0:29:57.196 --> 0:30:01.796 protect relationships and you're gonna try to you know, protect people. 0:30:02.156 --> 0:30:04.876 You know, so you're not gonna have those opinions that 0:30:04.956 --> 0:30:08.916 you that you probably once had that was good advice 0:30:09.116 --> 0:30:12.236 at the time. I think that there's an adjustment to 0:30:12.276 --> 0:30:14.956 be made in that rhetoric because it's gonna come a 0:30:14.996 --> 0:30:18.556 time where like you're going to be industry. Yeah, you 0:30:18.596 --> 0:30:21.556 get too big. Yeah, and everybody around you was gonna 0:30:21.556 --> 0:30:23.396 be industry too. I've been in the game for twenty 0:30:23.476 --> 0:30:26.436 five years. So not only have I grown as a 0:30:26.476 --> 0:30:34.396 personality and a businessman, a media just everything right, people 0:30:34.436 --> 0:30:37.396 around me have to Now. I got people who run 0:30:37.476 --> 0:30:39.716 record labels. I got people who are in rs. I 0:30:39.756 --> 0:30:43.676 got people who work at these social media platforms, you 0:30:43.676 --> 0:30:46.276 know what I mean. I got friends that are artists 0:30:46.676 --> 0:30:48.596 in big celebrities. We all I've been doing it for 0:30:48.716 --> 0:30:52.516 twenty five years. We all came up together. And not 0:30:52.596 --> 0:30:55.316 only just the people I came up with, those next 0:30:55.356 --> 0:30:58.636 generations of people that now I'm in position. But oh 0:30:58.676 --> 0:31:01.036 I see this person coming. Let me embrace this in 0:31:01.076 --> 0:31:02.796 the VILDI and brace that in the Viddle school. We're 0:31:02.836 --> 0:31:06.516 all industry, you know what I mean. So your authentic 0:31:06.556 --> 0:31:09.956 self has to change. It's like reason doubt was authentic 0:31:09.996 --> 0:31:14.196 for jay z or for its authentic for jay Zay. 0:31:14.596 --> 0:31:16.116 But what you just said hit it on the head 0:31:16.156 --> 0:31:20.916 because people don't pay attention to that. Like you saw 0:31:20.996 --> 0:31:24.636 me when I was one version of myself. If I 0:31:24.676 --> 0:31:28.676 had stayed that version and never grown into anything else, 0:31:28.756 --> 0:31:31.956 it's no way I'm being authentic. Yeah, Muhammad Alis said, 0:31:31.956 --> 0:31:33.956 the person who's doing the same thing at fifty that 0:31:33.996 --> 0:31:36.396 he was at twenty wasted thirty years as his fucking Like, 0:31:36.516 --> 0:31:39.396 ain't I believe that, you know what I mean. It's 0:31:39.436 --> 0:31:42.476 just like you're I'm never going to be that version again. 0:31:42.476 --> 0:31:43.716 But the only thing I could do is be the 0:31:43.756 --> 0:31:48.156 best version of my authentic self, whatever that may be, 0:31:48.316 --> 0:31:51.836 whatever I grow into, you know, And like that's why 0:31:51.956 --> 0:31:53.596 me at forty four, you got damn right, I'm not 0:31:53.596 --> 0:31:55.156 the same way I was at thirty one. I better 0:31:55.196 --> 0:31:59.276 not be. I mean, I'm my true authentic self right now. 0:31:59.316 --> 0:32:02.836 And you know, you realize like the power of the platform, 0:32:02.916 --> 0:32:05.196 and what I mean by that is like, man, there's 0:32:05.236 --> 0:32:08.196 just certain things that we got to protect people from 0:32:08.796 --> 0:32:12.556 because we have these platforms, and sometimes the wrong information 0:32:12.716 --> 0:32:15.036 is viewed over the platform, you know, and people get 0:32:15.116 --> 0:32:18.716 hurt because of that. Yeah, you know, And I'm not 0:32:18.796 --> 0:32:20.436 in the business of hurting nobody. I don't want to 0:32:20.476 --> 0:32:23.996 hurt nobody, and I don't want the person putting out 0:32:23.996 --> 0:32:27.556 the information to be hurt. Yeah you know. So, yeah, 0:32:27.676 --> 0:32:29.836 well that's interesting because and I don't know if this 0:32:29.956 --> 0:32:33.196 was necessarily this person being hurt by you, but after 0:32:33.276 --> 0:32:37.076 Wendy Williams. You get your own show in Philly and 0:32:37.196 --> 0:32:40.316 you get fired because you bring Beanie Seagull on, who's 0:32:40.356 --> 0:32:42.676 a who's a Philly rapper. Yeah. If I tell me 0:32:42.716 --> 0:32:43.996 if I'm not getting a story right, If you bring 0:32:44.036 --> 0:32:46.556 on Beanie Seagull, who's a Philly rapper at one point 0:32:46.596 --> 0:32:49.716 was signed to Rockefeller Records, came up under Jay jay 0:32:49.836 --> 0:32:53.516 Z and you do an interview with beans on the 0:32:53.516 --> 0:32:57.116 show and he says something about Jay that makes Jay mad, 0:32:57.156 --> 0:32:59.836 and you get get fired that Yeah, that's the story. 0:32:59.916 --> 0:33:03.956 The story is that I got fired because Beanie Segul 0:33:04.036 --> 0:33:06.716 got on the air and aired out Jay Z. And 0:33:06.796 --> 0:33:09.556 I'm the one who recorded it. I'll put it on air. 0:33:09.636 --> 0:33:11.676 That's the story. I don't know if that's true or not. 0:33:12.876 --> 0:33:16.316 Jay never has confirmed what Jay has Jay never confirmed 0:33:16.396 --> 0:33:19.556 or denied on air. Behind the scenes, he has said 0:33:19.596 --> 0:33:21.836 to me like that, did that really gets you fight? Like? 0:33:21.876 --> 0:33:24.916 You know what I mean? And that's the story, right, 0:33:25.116 --> 0:33:27.156 I don't. I doubt that's highly the case, you know 0:33:27.196 --> 0:33:28.676 what I mean. When I think back then, I think 0:33:28.796 --> 0:33:32.236 um I had a new program director was hired, and 0:33:32.276 --> 0:33:34.196 I think that new program director just wanted to bring 0:33:34.196 --> 0:33:37.396 in his people, and that new program director like he 0:33:37.476 --> 0:33:38.876 don't know, he had his chest out a little bit. 0:33:38.916 --> 0:33:40.236 I remember the first time I met him, he was like, 0:33:40.236 --> 0:33:41.636 oh me, and you're gonna be able to get along. 0:33:42.156 --> 0:33:44.436 So he came in there on some like snapping the 0:33:44.436 --> 0:33:47.436 whip ship, let me get this guy in line type thing, 0:33:47.556 --> 0:33:50.956 and I think that, um, it was a combination of 0:33:51.076 --> 0:33:52.876 just him being new and wanting to bring in his 0:33:52.916 --> 0:33:56.116 own people, but also a combination of people thinking they're 0:33:56.196 --> 0:34:00.036 doing the right thing for jay Z. But jay Z's 0:34:00.036 --> 0:34:02.796 not even thinking about this. He's you know what I mean. 0:34:02.916 --> 0:34:04.676 It's one of those things like I know, I know 0:34:04.756 --> 0:34:06.636 Charlotmagne did it, but we got rid of Charlomagne and 0:34:06.676 --> 0:34:08.636 you let Jay know I did it whatever whatever you know. 0:34:08.916 --> 0:34:10.636 So I don't know. I do feel like maybe a 0:34:10.716 --> 0:34:15.116 higher up might have might have just pulled the trigger 0:34:15.116 --> 0:34:17.956 on that firing just to get in Jay's good graces. 0:34:18.036 --> 0:34:20.796 But I don't think that was a hey, i'm jay Z, 0:34:20.876 --> 0:34:23.036 I'm offended, body, just get this guy off the airthing. No. 0:34:23.156 --> 0:34:26.036 I don't believe that at all. Okay, okay, but that 0:34:26.076 --> 0:34:27.956 does get you fired, and that was your own show. 0:34:27.996 --> 0:34:29.516 I mean, that's like your own show in Philly. That's 0:34:29.516 --> 0:34:31.396 like and if your first time happened like your own show, 0:34:31.396 --> 0:34:34.916 that's like, yeah, um, that's that big that I was killing. 0:34:34.956 --> 0:34:37.396 I was number I think two in the market. I 0:34:37.396 --> 0:34:39.156 was number two in the market at the time, and 0:34:39.236 --> 0:34:42.436 that was in a PPM world, So I was I 0:34:42.516 --> 0:34:44.556 was doing great and it was literally just me and 0:34:44.596 --> 0:34:47.476 my homegirl, Sa. I should suo to Sasha Katie. That's 0:34:47.476 --> 0:34:48.956 the homie, you know what I mean. She we used 0:34:48.996 --> 0:34:50.916 to work together when I used to work at Wendy 0:34:50.916 --> 0:34:53.356 at WBLS, and so when I got my own show 0:34:53.356 --> 0:34:55.476 in Philly, just asked, yo, you want to be my 0:34:55.556 --> 0:34:58.556 producer and she was like hell yeah. So we literally 0:34:58.556 --> 0:35:02.996 would drive from New Jersey every morning back and forth 0:35:03.436 --> 0:35:06.196 the Pennsylvania like like an hour and a half away. 0:35:06.276 --> 0:35:10.236 We would drive back and forth every day three I 0:35:10.276 --> 0:35:12.156 have to get up at three in the morning, pick 0:35:12.196 --> 0:35:14.316 her up by like four three thirty four o'clock to 0:35:14.356 --> 0:35:18.676 be there on time. And we did that every single day, wow, 0:35:18.876 --> 0:35:21.916 for like six seven months. The funny part is I 0:35:21.996 --> 0:35:24.396 got fired to day I was supposed to move into 0:35:24.396 --> 0:35:26.356 the townhouse because I was still living in New Jersey, 0:35:27.196 --> 0:35:30.596 so me and my wife had got a townhouse, and 0:35:30.716 --> 0:35:32.116 I'm like, yeah, this is gonna be great. Now I 0:35:32.196 --> 0:35:34.316 gotta wake up sore early, like I don't have to drive, 0:35:34.316 --> 0:35:36.436 like I'm in my basket. I'm processing all this in 0:35:36.516 --> 0:35:38.996 my mind. Were living in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, on 0:35:39.036 --> 0:35:42.556 the outskirts of Philadelphia, going roll my daughter in school here, 0:35:42.596 --> 0:35:45.916 all of that type of ship. And the day I 0:35:45.956 --> 0:35:48.996 got fired, I literally had all my stuff in the 0:35:49.076 --> 0:35:51.516 fucking I had a two thousand two escalated with like 0:35:51.916 --> 0:35:53.836 one hundred and fifty thousand miles on it, and I 0:35:53.876 --> 0:35:57.436 had all that in the car, ready to move into 0:35:57.436 --> 0:36:01.396 the townhouse. And I got fired on that day, literally 0:36:01.476 --> 0:36:04.756 that day, and went back to South Carolina, back in 0:36:04.836 --> 0:36:06.636 Most Corner for a year. And what was going through 0:36:06.636 --> 0:36:11.836 your head at that point? Failure? I failed. I gotta 0:36:11.836 --> 0:36:14.636 go back to Mons Corner, after being you know, on 0:36:14.756 --> 0:36:18.756 Wendy Show, after having my own show in Philly, after 0:36:18.836 --> 0:36:21.836 having these viral moments, after being on VH one TV 0:36:21.996 --> 0:36:24.036 with Wendy. Now I got to go back to the 0:36:24.036 --> 0:36:27.356 Month's Corner and collect unemployment for real, because I don't 0:36:27.396 --> 0:36:31.116 know when I'm gonna get another gig. And now I 0:36:31.116 --> 0:36:34.796 got a daughter. So I literally was in South Carolina 0:36:34.916 --> 0:36:40.356 from November two thousand and nine to November two and ten, 0:36:40.836 --> 0:36:42.956 so I was able to collect a year of unemployment. 0:36:43.876 --> 0:36:45.196 You know what I mean. I'm living at home with 0:36:45.236 --> 0:36:49.476 my mom, depressed, this shit, you know, anxiety through the roof, 0:36:50.596 --> 0:36:52.636 just trying to figure out what's gonna happen. But you know, 0:36:52.756 --> 0:36:56.316 I used that opportunity to m There was a new 0:36:56.396 --> 0:36:59.676 station launching in Charleston, South Carolina. It was called The Box. 0:36:59.716 --> 0:37:01.556 I think it was like ninety two five The Box 0:37:01.676 --> 0:37:03.756 or something like that. So I was there with them, 0:37:03.756 --> 0:37:06.956 helping them launch the station, helping them write promos and 0:37:07.276 --> 0:37:10.756 creating imaging for the station, did the voiceovers for the station. 0:37:10.956 --> 0:37:12.996 Like in my mind, I was like, Okay, I'm gonna 0:37:13.036 --> 0:37:16.156 end up getting a shift on ninety two five. I'm 0:37:16.156 --> 0:37:19.476 gonna make my twenty grand a year here in South Carolina, 0:37:19.556 --> 0:37:21.716 and we're gonna live a great life. Yeah that was 0:37:21.756 --> 0:37:24.796 my mindseting. But you know, clearly God had other plans 0:37:24.796 --> 0:37:28.756 because the Breakfast Club came shortly after that. How did 0:37:28.756 --> 0:37:33.436 that come? Um? When I was in Philly, there was 0:37:33.476 --> 0:37:35.036 a there was a time where I had met with 0:37:35.676 --> 0:37:38.516 my man g Spen um before I me and g 0:37:38.676 --> 0:37:41.516 Spen met in a restaurant or something. It was me 0:37:41.636 --> 0:37:44.516 and at the time my then uh my then manager 0:37:44.756 --> 0:37:48.636 named it was Kevin Wendy's husband, and you know, you 0:37:48.676 --> 0:37:51.316 don't have the best reputation in the business man, and 0:37:51.396 --> 0:37:54.996 so even though we met, g Spen wasn't really feeling it. 0:37:55.676 --> 0:37:58.276 And then later on that turned into a meeting with 0:37:58.356 --> 0:38:01.316 my man Cadillac Jack and cad was with me then 0:38:01.356 --> 0:38:03.436 and it was the same thing. Like literally I found 0:38:03.436 --> 0:38:06.356 out that after we left the meeting, mad people came 0:38:06.396 --> 0:38:11.396 from like the sales department was like, you cannot Charlotta 0:38:11.396 --> 0:38:13.836 Magne's great, but if as long as you know Kevin 0:38:13.956 --> 0:38:17.036 is his manager, you know we can't hire him, and YadA, YadA, YadA, 0:38:17.476 --> 0:38:19.236 the energy will be bad and terrible all of this 0:38:19.316 --> 0:38:21.996 type of stuff. I didn't know that, you know. And 0:38:22.036 --> 0:38:24.236 then you know, me and Kevin ended up having a 0:38:24.276 --> 0:38:28.276 fallen out parting ways. And so I was in New 0:38:28.356 --> 0:38:30.156 York because I had moved back to South Carolina, but 0:38:30.156 --> 0:38:32.516 I was in New York for a couple of days 0:38:32.596 --> 0:38:36.836 and I remember just texting g Spend like, yo, you 0:38:36.876 --> 0:38:39.716 know where you at And he was like I'm in 0:38:39.716 --> 0:38:41.596 New York where you at. I'm like, I'm in Jersey 0:38:41.676 --> 0:38:42.916 right now. I was standing in Fort Lee. I was 0:38:43.236 --> 0:38:45.836 at the Double Tree in four League, and he was like, yo, man, 0:38:47.516 --> 0:38:50.596 he was like, yo, come to the station. I'm like word. 0:38:50.596 --> 0:38:51.956 He was like, yeah, yeah, come to the station. Come 0:38:51.996 --> 0:38:55.076 to the station right now. And so I got in 0:38:55.156 --> 0:38:57.916 the rental car drove seem it took me like three 0:38:57.956 --> 0:38:59.836 hours to get there because it was like four o'clock 0:38:59.876 --> 0:39:02.836 in the aftern So we was at the GW Bridge 0:39:02.836 --> 0:39:04.476 for what seemed like an hour and trying to get 0:39:04.516 --> 0:39:06.796 down to the West Side, creeping down and Tribeca. But 0:39:06.956 --> 0:39:10.276 I finally get there and Spend is like, yo, U 0:39:11.316 --> 0:39:15.436 my boss, Cadillac Jack has been watching your stuff all 0:39:15.556 --> 0:39:18.636 day long, watching you and Duval with the Hood, State 0:39:18.676 --> 0:39:21.156 of the Union and listen under like some old interviews 0:39:21.196 --> 0:39:23.396 when you was on the radio in Philly. So I 0:39:23.396 --> 0:39:25.316 sit down with Cadillac, and me and Cadillac just have 0:39:25.356 --> 0:39:27.196 a great conversation. And one of the first things he 0:39:27.236 --> 0:39:30.236 says to me is like, you know, is keV still 0:39:30.276 --> 0:39:35.916 you're managing I'm like, nah, you know. And that's how 0:39:35.916 --> 0:39:40.316 the relationship started. So like a few months later, I 0:39:40.356 --> 0:39:42.596 got high on probably one or five one. I remember 0:39:42.596 --> 0:39:44.716 Cadillac saying like, how long can you wait for this job? 0:39:44.756 --> 0:39:47.316 And I'm like, for this job as long as it takes. 0:39:47.876 --> 0:39:50.756 And so like five six months later, you know, the 0:39:50.796 --> 0:39:52.876 wheels really started to move where you want him that 0:39:52.916 --> 0:39:55.876 whole five six months, like yo, like, oh yes, yeah, 0:39:56.796 --> 0:39:58.836 you couldn't just sit back and no, no, no, definitely 0:39:58.836 --> 0:40:01.956 stayed in touch, would send him new episodes and me 0:40:01.996 --> 0:40:05.196 and duvall show, you know, just just anything anything that 0:40:05.236 --> 0:40:07.796 I was doing in that space, I would because we 0:40:07.836 --> 0:40:09.796 was early on social media. He was all over my 0:40:09.876 --> 0:40:12.836 space and Twitter and everything else. So yeah, like I 0:40:12.876 --> 0:40:16.436 was definitely keeping in real touch with him and g Span, 0:40:16.516 --> 0:40:19.956 you know what I mean, and sometimes popping up, popping up, 0:40:20.036 --> 0:40:22.516 you know, and be like because I knew kind of 0:40:22.516 --> 0:40:24.636 like the gig might be mine, so I was kind 0:40:24.676 --> 0:40:26.356 of like popping up. And it felt bad because there 0:40:26.436 --> 0:40:29.236 was like people who I was like really cool with 0:40:29.316 --> 0:40:32.636 that work there, and I couldn't say anything, you know 0:40:32.716 --> 0:40:37.356 about the conversations me and Cadillac we're having, you know 0:40:37.396 --> 0:40:39.836 what I mean, And I had to like lie to 0:40:39.956 --> 0:40:43.356 some of these people, and it felt bad, you know 0:40:43.356 --> 0:40:46.636 what I mean because I just couldn't tell the truth 0:40:46.716 --> 0:40:49.356 because this business still to be handled, you know. So 0:40:50.396 --> 0:40:53.556 but yeah, that's how I got there. That's amazing, man. 0:40:53.676 --> 0:40:55.756 And then and then basically from that, I mean, from 0:40:55.756 --> 0:40:59.476 that point, are you still there obviously Breakfast Club, Yeah, 0:40:59.516 --> 0:41:02.276 thirteen years later, man. And what's so interesting is that 0:41:02.636 --> 0:41:04.596 any of them would tell you. Angelie will tell you, 0:41:05.036 --> 0:41:07.516 NB will tell you. Our radio consultant, Dennis Clark, g 0:41:07.676 --> 0:41:11.756 Span Cadillac, the guy saying We're gonna be one of 0:41:11.796 --> 0:41:15.076 the biggest nationally syndicated shows in the country. Like, like, 0:41:15.116 --> 0:41:18.596 I just I knew it. I saw what this show 0:41:19.196 --> 0:41:21.436 had the potential of being. And like from day one 0:41:22.196 --> 0:41:25.916 me in v Angela, we always recorded our interviews and 0:41:25.956 --> 0:41:27.996 put them online. That's how I was aware of what 0:41:28.036 --> 0:41:30.156 Angela was doing. I was aware of what you know, 0:41:30.356 --> 0:41:32.996 Envy was doing. You know, people like my homegirl Kendred 0:41:32.996 --> 0:41:36.716 g deVie Brown, we were all utilizing the Internet. And 0:41:36.756 --> 0:41:38.436 so when we got with the Breklast Club, that's all 0:41:38.476 --> 0:41:40.356 we didn't have no money from marketing. They don't have 0:41:40.356 --> 0:41:42.636 no money for marketing, no money for promotions. This was 0:41:42.716 --> 0:41:45.156 kind of like a last ditch thing to see if 0:41:45.196 --> 0:41:47.716 something will work to even keep the lights on that 0:41:47.836 --> 0:41:50.276 power one oh five one. And so all we asked 0:41:50.276 --> 0:41:52.196 for was a cameraman every day to come in here 0:41:52.236 --> 0:41:55.516 and record, you know, these interviews. And that's what we did. 0:41:55.556 --> 0:41:58.996 We started recording these interviews, putting them up online, recording 0:41:59.036 --> 0:42:00.996 these interviews, putting them on websites. And then at the 0:42:01.036 --> 0:42:04.156 time all these blogs and the world Stars and all 0:42:04.156 --> 0:42:08.716 of these different platforms, these websites existed sending our interviews out, 0:42:09.276 --> 0:42:13.476 they started posting them. Yeah, next thing, you know, it 0:42:13.676 --> 0:42:17.236 took off in a real way, and here we are. 0:42:17.916 --> 0:42:19.876 How do you how do you manage that? Like, how 0:42:19.916 --> 0:42:21.596 do you manage the expectation of how do you manage 0:42:21.596 --> 0:42:25.756 the success? How do you manage what is just out 0:42:25.756 --> 0:42:27.396 of reach at the moment that's that's gonna be coming 0:42:27.476 --> 0:42:31.116 up for you. I manage it just by like realizing 0:42:31.156 --> 0:42:33.036 what my daddy always says, you never as good as 0:42:33.036 --> 0:42:34.276 they say you are, and you never as bad as 0:42:34.276 --> 0:42:36.076 they say you are. Like I've already had my moments 0:42:36.076 --> 0:42:41.196 of like ego. I've had my moments of like being 0:42:41.236 --> 0:42:45.876 that narcissistic, arrogant person that you know, you can't tell 0:42:45.916 --> 0:42:49.756 anything too whether people realize that or not. I'm sure 0:42:49.796 --> 0:42:51.596 that they did, because I'm sure I projected it, you 0:42:51.636 --> 0:42:54.676 know what I mean. But I went through that, and 0:42:54.716 --> 0:42:57.996 I went through that at a time where, like God, 0:42:58.076 --> 0:43:00.156 knew I had to get over that in order to 0:43:00.236 --> 0:43:05.436 be where I am now. So I knew that I 0:43:05.476 --> 0:43:08.756 had to start doing some work on myself. I was 0:43:08.796 --> 0:43:12.596 really coming everything that I said I didn't like. You know, 0:43:12.716 --> 0:43:15.356 I was looking in the mirror and really becoming my father. 0:43:15.516 --> 0:43:18.316 I love my father, but I hated how my father's 0:43:18.636 --> 0:43:24.756 infidelity ruined his marriage with my mom, you know, and 0:43:24.836 --> 0:43:29.036 ruined our family. Right. So for me, I didn't want 0:43:29.036 --> 0:43:32.556 to do that, and I felt myself going down that 0:43:32.596 --> 0:43:35.316 path in a real way. So it was just like, 0:43:35.556 --> 0:43:40.556 let me check myself before I wrecked myself. You know why? 0:43:40.676 --> 0:43:43.036 Let you go? Man? Last question, if you can pick 0:43:43.036 --> 0:43:45.356 out one thing that's helped you be successful, that's sort 0:43:45.356 --> 0:43:47.676 of been with you through every period of your of 0:43:47.716 --> 0:43:52.156 your career, what do I think that thing would be? Man? 0:43:53.876 --> 0:43:56.636 For me, it would like to really be authentic. And 0:43:56.756 --> 0:43:59.676 what I mean by that is you're not authentic when 0:43:59.676 --> 0:44:02.996 you're being a character to yourself. You're not authentic when 0:44:04.196 --> 0:44:06.996 you see something working for you and you're getting rewarded 0:44:07.036 --> 0:44:10.036 for it, so you start doubling and trippling down on 0:44:10.196 --> 0:44:15.996 that thing. You're not authentic when you're being a second 0:44:16.116 --> 0:44:18.716 rate version of somebody else instead of a first rate 0:44:18.796 --> 0:44:20.876 version of yourself. And one of the things that hurt 0:44:20.916 --> 0:44:22.436 me the most is when they started calling me to 0:44:22.516 --> 0:44:25.956 hip hop Howard Stern. I love Howard Stern, right, but 0:44:26.436 --> 0:44:28.276 I didn't even stop to think why they were calling 0:44:28.316 --> 0:44:31.316 me that. I just took it and ran with it, 0:44:31.596 --> 0:44:36.676 you know, and started giving them like all of the 0:44:36.756 --> 0:44:39.236 examples of Howard that Howard might not even be proud 0:44:39.276 --> 0:44:41.356 of now, you know. For me, it was like a 0:44:41.396 --> 0:44:49.236 lot of the the frat boy, creepy ass, overly sexual humor, 0:44:49.876 --> 0:44:53.836 you know, like the low vibrational energy is what I 0:44:53.916 --> 0:44:56.756 was really doing, the limbo with how low can you go? 0:44:56.836 --> 0:44:59.116 You know what I mean? Like literally like how low 0:44:59.196 --> 0:45:02.196 can you go? Like literally, And that's the type of 0:45:02.196 --> 0:45:04.156 shit I was doing. So like when you go online 0:45:04.156 --> 0:45:06.396 and you see like videos of me like sniffing chairs 0:45:06.516 --> 0:45:09.596 or like tying porn stars up and all of that, 0:45:09.676 --> 0:45:14.396 it was literally for the shock. Yeah, And so like 0:45:14.476 --> 0:45:17.316 that stuck with me for like, man, maybe maybe a 0:45:17.396 --> 0:45:21.116 year or two I was on that and then just 0:45:21.156 --> 0:45:23.116 started to eat me up, Like, Yo, this ain't making 0:45:23.156 --> 0:45:25.436 me happy. This shit is whacked. And you got your 0:45:25.916 --> 0:45:27.756 you know, your wife. You know I got married in 0:45:27.756 --> 0:45:30.516 twenty fourteen, so you got your wife on your head 0:45:30.556 --> 0:45:32.076 at the time. She's my girl, Like what the fuck 0:45:32.116 --> 0:45:35.716 are you doing? Like, you know, you out here wilding, 0:45:35.956 --> 0:45:38.556 you cheating on me, and you you're on the radio 0:45:38.636 --> 0:45:41.476 and you're damning bragging about word of the ball like 0:45:41.916 --> 0:45:44.316 it was that type of conversation. I'm like, man, are 0:45:44.316 --> 0:45:46.596 you tripping? Like you know you it's just entertainment. That 0:45:46.676 --> 0:45:48.916 was my life. It's just entertainment. But it's not. Yeah, 0:45:49.156 --> 0:45:51.156 it's really not, you know, because you know, but when 0:45:51.156 --> 0:45:54.116 you're influencing mad people, and in this case, I'm hurting 0:45:54.156 --> 0:45:57.156 somebody and hurting the person that's the closest to me, 0:45:57.276 --> 0:46:00.236 and you can start to believe your own bullshit. That's 0:46:00.276 --> 0:46:02.236 the worst when you get into character and you start 0:46:02.316 --> 0:46:06.236 believing that you really are this dude. So it's like 0:46:06.316 --> 0:46:09.356 for me, man, that's what made me like really start 0:46:09.436 --> 0:46:12.276 like going to therapy and like doing the work because 0:46:12.276 --> 0:46:15.156 I did not like the version of myself that I 0:46:15.316 --> 0:46:19.036 was becoming. So my advice to anybody would just to 0:46:19.196 --> 0:46:24.596 just be authentic, always leave yourself open to growth, and 0:46:24.676 --> 0:46:26.916 don't be afraid of where that growth takes you. I 0:46:26.916 --> 0:46:29.956 don't give a fuck what people like about you today. 0:46:30.156 --> 0:46:33.476 If you're growing into something else tomorrow, follow that shit, 0:46:34.396 --> 0:46:37.036 you know what I mean, Because if you don't, you know, 0:46:37.516 --> 0:46:40.276 you're really just stunting your growth and you really don't 0:46:40.276 --> 0:46:43.796 know how big you could possibly be. You're putting a 0:46:43.876 --> 0:46:48.716 cap on you, like, you're literally putting a limit on 0:46:48.756 --> 0:46:52.436 how far you could possibly grow, how big you could get, 0:46:52.596 --> 0:46:54.916 because you're like, Nope, that's what they like about me, 0:46:55.076 --> 0:46:57.276 So I'm gonna keep it here as opposed to just 0:46:57.356 --> 0:47:00.196 leaving yourself open to see what else is out there 0:47:00.716 --> 0:47:03.036 and how much more you could continue to grow. So 0:47:03.116 --> 0:47:05.156 that's what I tell people. Be authentic, man, and just 0:47:05.756 --> 0:47:08.756 don't be afraid to grow. Yeah yeah, man, thanks for 0:47:08.756 --> 0:47:12.676 bringing you authentic self to everything, man. I appreciate thanks. Man, 0:47:12.676 --> 0:47:18.516 appreciate Charlemagne, who the ups and downs are building a 0:47:18.556 --> 0:47:22.196 media career in one of the most cutthroat of mediums radio, 0:47:22.836 --> 0:47:25.076 has shown up ready to bring his full self to 0:47:25.276 --> 0:47:28.116 whatever it is he does, and the brilliance of that 0:47:28.756 --> 0:47:32.036 is he's been impossible to ignore. I want to thank 0:47:32.116 --> 0:47:34.116 him for that confidence and for taking the time to 0:47:34.156 --> 0:47:37.036 talk with me. I plan on spending more time working 0:47:37.076 --> 0:47:39.316 on my fear of being rejected just for being me. 0:47:39.996 --> 0:47:42.956 Thanks for listening. To Start It from the Bottom, I'm out. 0:47:44.076 --> 0:47:46.996 He started from the Bottom is produced by David Jah, 0:47:47.156 --> 0:47:51.396 edited by Keishaw Williams, Engineered by Bentaliday, Booked by Laura 0:47:51.436 --> 0:47:55.916 Morgan with production help from Lea Rose. The show's executive 0:47:55.956 --> 0:47:58.556 produced by Jacob Bolstein, who's not all up in the 0:47:58.636 --> 0:48:02.516 videos for Pushkin Industries. Our theme music is by Ben 0:48:02.596 --> 0:48:06.356 Taliday and David Jaw, featuring Anthony Yaggas and Savanna Joe Lack. 0:48:07.196 --> 0:48:09.316 Listen to Start It from the Bottom. Wherever you at 0:48:09.316 --> 0:48:12.596 your podcast and if you want ad free episodes available 0:48:12.636 --> 0:48:16.276 one week early sign up for Pushkin Plus. Check out 0:48:16.276 --> 0:48:20.116 Pushkin dot fm or the Apple show page for more information. 0:48:20.556 --> 0:48:22.556 If you like our show, please remember to share, rate, 0:48:22.556 --> 0:48:26.076 and review us on your podcast app. I'm justin Richmond.